The problem with staring catatonic at the island of Molokai for a long period of time tends to get the mind wandering. So before you read on, understand that I have no idea what the point of this post is except that it began as an “In My Opinion” piece for Rand and John and ended up a sort of opinionless meandering.
While playing with the local gamblers on the Bay Course at Kapalua, the conversation turned to the effect of the internet on golf. The rest of the foursome were naturally more interested in using it for tee times and course information - not surprising because most golfers are focused more on the practical and less concerned with the theoretical.
I mentioned this site, and got blank stares all around. One of the guys wanted to know the “purpose” of it. In other words, “what do you USE if for?”
What do we “use” it for? Hmmmmm . . . . a rather innocuous question on the surface, but a far more complex one the deeper you delve. Most of us spend an inordinate amount of time - even feeling compelled to “check in” on vacation to see what is going on.
There is a strangely disorienting feeling after being away for a few days, like coming into a fascinating conversation midway through and needing time to reenter the flow.
Perhaps I should have explained it to the rest of the foursome that GCA is a sort of running dialogue with (hopefully) no end.
So perhaps I’m just grappling with what this website really is. I suppose it can be reduced to an exchange of sorts where like-minded afficionados can meet. A sort of international bulletin board where a tiny percentage of the golfing populace can find solace in conversation with each other?
I wonder sometimes if GCA hasn’t evolved into a support group for lost souls who have quaffed from the cup of golf beyond all reason and reality. A sounding board that actually “talks” back.
Speaking for myself, if an idea or concept or question or observation pops into my skull, there are woefully few places to express it. After a while, the choice becomes boring your regular group to tears with all this pedantic analysis or developing a screaming “architectural retention headache.”
I wonder if most of us just simply need a place to flush out an accumulation of thoughts from the septic tanks of our minds. Sometimes it feels downright cathartic to clean out the “odd’s and end’s drawer.” It is so difficult to move forward until you wrestle some of these disjointed concepts to the ground and pin them.
The ability to just blast away to fellow golfers patient enough to wade through all of these threads is immeasurably useful to me in my writings to readers in the “real world.” Baring extraordinary individual genius, analysis in a vacuum is the equivalent of placing a lone monkey in a closet hoping that he’ll eventually stumble on a comprehensive understanding of the “Road Hole.”
A few threads back, my friend Bob Huntley stated that we owe a debt of gratitude to Ran and John. I suppose the less architecturally observant owe a debt themselves. I’m no longer tempted to try and discuss some of this stuff with golfers who care only about green fees, their score and how true the greens roll.
Speaking of Bob - and the entire NorCal gang, we had an extraordinary experience a couple of weeks ago in Pebble Beach. If there is a “point” to this website, perhaps it became apparent that day in the Tap Room after a round at Pacific Grove.
At the time, I personally had a feeling that something memorable and important was going on, but still have difficulty grasping what it was.
Here we were, a group of golfers from all walks of life, enjoying each other’s company after playing a wonderful $32 golf course in a matchless setting. As I looked around the table, it occurred to me how fortunate we were. It is difficult to envision what set of circumstances independent of GCA could have brought such a diverse group together.
Most regular foursomes, clubs or whatever, are composed of like-minded people. Ethnically, socioeconomically or professionally, it’s a rare table that seats together a group that includes an Adam Clayman, Tom Huckaby, Dan King, Bob Huntley and even a lost Armenian. I regret that Goodale wasn’t there, especially because we will miss him terribly when he returns to Scotland, but that is a subject for another day.
What does this mean? I have no idea. But in my mind’s eye, it will always be like a sepia photograph on the wall of the Tap Room, astride Watson’s chip and Jack’s 1-iron. Those were important moments in golf history, but - to me at least - no more important than hearing Bob Huntley pass down an oral history of the game with stories of his adventures with Henry Longhurst.
Whether it was intended or not, maybe GCA isn’t really specifically about architecture. Perhaps it is far more important than that, because it brings people together across generations.
Around the world.