6th hole at NGLA

[George_Bahto]

Tom P: as far i know the bent is still there - he did it about 1.5 yrs ago and it was controversial to
the members but he got away with it - the darn ball just doesn't stop and goes right into the
bunker - no collar! excellent touch to such a wonderful green. The bunker there (back right) is
very shallow and as i said they were worried you would be able to putt out of it but they solved
that.

I think the right front pin is the most difficult to hit to but there are so many others that are
incredibly difficult to putt to.

Now as to the conversation about building a green like that today: ...... personally, given the
opportunity, i would build one like that (the idea of it, not an exact duplication) ..... i would built
that in a heart beat.

Hey, I'm an "old guy" - what the heck are they going to do to me ?  :-)   I just finished a
Redan at Sands Point whose green surface will certainly raise a few eyebrows ..... see, I'm a
"novice" so I can always blame it on stupidity   (planned stupidity)

[George_Bahto]

Patrick: I have copies of payroll and expense records (NGLA) from the 1920s which indicate a lot of time and money was spent on 6 green but as far as I can determine this work was done to the bunker areas surrounding the green (and possibly some tee work).

I believe the green surface was as built.

Now I'm really going to "twist" your mind.
When NGLA was first built CB got sold some incredibly bad seed and as a result all the greens were not much more that clumps of meadow grass - the good seed was crowded out. Over half the greens had to be plowed under less than a year after they were seeded. The rest of the greens had to be redone ssooooooooooooooo - lost were the original green undulation that CB had planned.

There's more: green's 8 - 16 - 14 and even 9 and 18 were moved and done over.

Who knows what was on those original greens - lost forever with no record surviving.

In the 1950's a major disaster took place ...... someone told the workmen to "clean out the basement of the clubhouse" - I know there were models of the greens down there that were thrown out along with the tons of paperwork.

Very sad.

[TEPaul]

Pat:

Do I think if #6 green was lost 30-40 years ago would the club restore it today??

That's a great question. If anybody would I think NGLA would and the direction they are going today, yes, I think that they definitely would restore it! They may be one of the few today who would do something like that!

I think NGLA just has everything going in the correct direction right now. They have tons of great research and the ability for more and how to analyze it correctly (Bahto). They have a super who is plugged in and really gets it! Apparently they now have an administration that is going down the right path and is giving most of the necessary green lights.

I ran into Olsen out on the course and he said things are back in the right direction and he expects them to continue to go that way. Not fair to him to talk about the particulars, and I really don't know them anyway, but to hear him say something like that is very encouraging--very encouraging!

[George_Bahto]

Tom Paul: Karl has a great greenchairman - no basic green committee and the chair has been in charge for a lot of yrs (note: NO COMMITTEE !!!!!!)

yes there are some who will whine etc but that goes anyplace

Karl has the place playing pretty firm - not an easy task to keep it "green" and firm but he is a master at it from what I've seen.

[TEPaul]

George:

No green committee, only a green czar? Wow, that's impressive--and effective! But I gotta ask you--who were those six guys standing around on the edge of the first green last year for about 30 minutes with Karl Olsen just as I was pulling out to go  home?

I thought about crawling up the hill on my stomach and getting into the bunker underneath them and listening in but it's been about 35 years since I did any Marine Recon work and I didn't feel like the risk/reward was in my favor so I just got in my car and left.