[David Miller]

Welcome another person to the Carolina Chapter of GCA.com  We will have to add you to the email list for potential get togethers around the area.  Probably time to get a little Musgrove Mill outing going sometime this fall (the next two months are shot already).

Hey Daryl--Thanks for the welcome.  Would love to get together with some other GCAers in the Carolinas for an outing.  I've also heard great things about Musgrove Mill, so I'd surely be up for a trip own south in the fall.

[Kyle Harris]

With all the new guys, thought I'd give this a bump.

pnwge of n00bs, r0x0r

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

Hey Kyle, I met a guy today that knows you.

Matt (?Perry?) was an assistant at Mt. Lake.  I saw him today at Linville.  He said hello.

[Richard Boult]

Guess I've never introduced myself. I'm 48 and just started playing golf regularly a little over 2 years ago. Just never had time and money at the same time in the past. Now have 2 kids in college, so I have the time ingredient. I live near San Luis Obispo, CA, work at home as a software engineer (and software architect), and play golf 2-3 times a week, mostly at Monarch Dunes, a new course designed by Damian Pascuzzo, recently rated as a 2006 Top 10 New Courses You Can Play by Golf Magazine.

In my first year, I played once a week and got down to a 10. The next year I started playing more frequently, joined a men's club, and got down to a 4 and won our "Net Club Championship".  My first round at Monarch Dunes was a 92. A year later, I shot an even par 71!. My goal this year is to break 70 for the first time and get down to a 2 (running out of time).

On the side, I also do some volunteer website work - www.slojrgolf.com and www.golfslo.com.

I simply love the game and plan to play as many quality courses as I can over the upcoming years. I'll be playing Bandon for the first time next month on a trip hosted by Fred Shoemaker, the author of Extraordinary Golf - the book that has influenced my game the most. I shot a 76 the day after I read the book, only 6 months after starting the game.

If I could, I'd switch from doing software architecture to golf course architecture in a heartbeat

[Christopher Klingenstein]

Hey all at GCA, my name is Chris Klingenstein and I live in Chicago Illinois,

Born in Denver, Raised in New Jersey, I came out here for college (Lake Forest) and never left. Also where I met my wife ( just married about a year),

I work for Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. where I am Sr. Sales consultant selling fine and Rare wines to private collectors all over the world.

I have been playing golf all my life, some times a bit more serious than others, I play to a 9 handicap at the moment, and I guess the older I have gotten the more I have become intreagued with course architecture and course design in general.

I belong to Ravisole CC in Homewood ( Ross 1911?) and think it one of the real hidden gems in the chiagoland area,

Some of my favorite courses played: The Dunes Club, Merion,Baltusrol (biased as I played most of my Jr. Golf There), Sankaty Head, Most corses on LI . . .


Anyways, I defenitly am a newbie when it comes to the scope of discussion on this board but I very much look forward to learing a bit and maybe even contributing some thoughtful dialogue myself,

If anyone ever finds themselves in the Chicago area I would be happy to have you out to play,

Kind Regards,

[Evan Fleisher]

Welcome Christopher!

Do you happen to know Paul Thomas?  He is another GCA'r from Ravisloe.

[Patrick Kiser]

Patrick H. Kiser
San Francisco, CA (aka Nutville)
Born: Fort Ord, CA
Raised: Lille, France
Age: Mid old fart (e.g. 39)
DINK
Gig: Financial Product Manager
Member: Club Des Supporters De L'Equipe De France, Tillinghast Association
Home Courses: Harding Park / Sharp Park
Favorite Course (thus far):  Pasatiempo, CA
Handicap: 17 this year

Best quote from this site goes to Gib:
"I've been imprisoned in Nutville for so long I cannot remember what I don't know . . . . . "

Little more about moi...

Alma Mater: UCSD
Favorite Movie:  Shawshank Redemption
Favorite Line: "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'..."
Favorite Car: '72 BMW 2002tii Polaris
Soccer Team: Olympic Marseille
Football Team: Chargers & Bruins
Baseball Team: Padres
Favorite Beer: Leffe
Favorite Dram: Highland Park 18yr
Favorite Moment (besides the obvious): Deschamps raising the cup ...

I certainly read much much more than I post.  Just trying to learn more and more about the subject.  If anything I'll ask questions.  Been snooping for a few years on GCA since I hung up my cleats and was "told" by my boss at the time I'd have to learn to play.  Figure that: have to learn.  This was about fall '99.  Dealing with vendor relationships got me into the game.  Seeing how boring golf looked on TV, I assumed for sure this would be sheer misery.  But ... I like to think I'm pretty open minded, so I approached things without too many expectations.  Low and behold, I took a liking to the game.  I surprised even myself.  The rest is sort of history.  Pretty quickly though I found myself being more and more interested in the golf courses themselves.  Especially the golf course experience and the quality of that experience.  Thus it was just a matter of time I guess before I caught on to GCA.

Voila!

[Jim Nugent]

If I could, I'd switch from doing software architecture to golf course architecture in a heartbeat

 

R. Boult, with the progress you're making, you should consider switching to the Champions Tour in a few years.  Spectacular results, for someone who took up the game at your age, and so recently.  

[Richard Boult]

R. Boult, with the progress you're making, you should consider switching to the Champions Tour in a few years.  Spectacular results, for someone who took up the game at your age, and so recently.  

Thanks Jim, I've really enjoyed making steady improvement over the past couple years, but it's becoming very hard to improve from here!  Maybe I need a belly putter

[RJ_Daley]

R. Boult:

I'm heading out to find Shoemaker's book.  Forgive me if I'm being a suspicious old cop... but I hope you and your story aren't a plant to sell books...  

Has anyone ever heard of a fellow taking up golf at 48years old, and getting to a point of shooting under par in 2 years with play 2 or 3X a week?  

Perhaps you should write the book if you can explain your technique and golf thoughts, because you would be able to retire based on how many would buy that book.

[Richard Boult]

RJD: glad to find a fellow cynic .  However, I really think you'll find the money spent on the book well worth it.  Even so, it's just a book. It still requires a lot of effort and patience to gradually incorporate all that it offers. Also, we're all different. This book resonated with me, but may not for others. In general, it really helped me learn how to "be" on the course, to let go of bad shots and to imagine the possibility of making the upcoming shot a great one. The book also helped me learn how to coach myself instead of depending on others for tips and instruction. I find that it's helped me to be "present" and entirely focused on the target instead of on aspects of my swing. And although I've only been playing regularly for just over 2 years, I had played a few dozen times off and on over the years prior to that, so it wasn't like I'd never swung a club .  Also, a big contributer to my progress is that I came from playing hockey. It didn't take any time at all to learn to hit down on the ball!  And having a job that offers the opportunity to play 2-3 times week for the past year has been a huge factor!!

[RJ_Daley]

As I mentioned to Richard in a nice e-mail he sent me, he is a sport for taking my suspicious nature so well...

I'll get the book and then lend it to my pal Randy as well, (the old excellent college hockey player) who is now in the same boat as me... old, fat, and can hardly ever break 80.  

Maybe by next Dixie Cup we'll be so good we can challenge Rhymer and Young.  

[Doug Spets]

Doug Spets - Columbia South Carolina
Age -44
Single
Handicap - 11.2

I currently caddy fulltime at a fairly well-known golf venue in Georgia.  In addition...I caddied for a summer at an older course in East Neuk, Fife, Scotland...and a few others in Fife.  I also enjoy sarcasm.

Love everything about golf...from history to architecture to fashion to TV criticism.  You might see that I left out golf instruction.  Hence, the 11.2 handicap.  

Grew up on a Tom Bendelow - William James Spear course in west Central Illinois.  Been in SC for 22 years and am only about a third of the way to playing all the courses in the state.  What a slacker.

When not toting golf clubs, I am the morning news anchor at an FM radio station in Columbia SC.

[TEPaul]

It seems like this must be the second or third or even fourth generation thread of this subject and title. I think I've posted on all of them explaining who I am.

But it seems like I haven't done it in a long time.

And so, my name is Tom Paul, I'm 63 years old, my Handicap Index is 1.5 and its completely irrelevent because I've play so rarely these last few years. What I seem to do these days is just go out and hit about 500 balls about one day a month and as a result of that I have to go to bed for a day or so and then lightly rest for about a week or so.

I belong to Gulph Mills G.C. in Philadelphia but for various reasons very many think I belong to many more clubs than that, including, thankfully, some of the most interesting clubs themselves who for whatever reason think I belong to them too.  

I have just been diagnosed with Lyme's Disease for the eighth time which should largely explain my semi-addled mind and body but the larger reason for it is my over-arching and uncontrollable fixation with golf course architecture and its elusive mysteries.

I have learned, at this point, that there are probably a few eternal truths in golf architecture but the greatest of them all is that I will never know what the others truly are.   The only other sort of minor truth about golf and architecture I AM certain of is that Patrick Mucci is wrong approximately 97% of the time.

That in this business and art form the greatest thing anyone can know is "to always remember to know what you don't know" and the best anyone can probably do is to be a good student and forget about ever being a master.

I feel the best thing that can be done with golf and architecture is what some of the best architects have said for years---that it should somehow give the most enjoyment and pleasure to the most people. If that is a changing and evolving thing, then, so be it.

I can only say that for whatever reasons I have never been interested in anything else this much.

Some say and some even tell me that this should perhaps not be considered a very good thing, but as I always have, and as I always will continue to do, I disagree!  

[Bart Bradley]

I'm Bart Bradley.  New to the forum this month.

I am married to my high school sweetheart, have 2 beautiful children (Matthew 12 and Katie 9) and live in Bristol, TN.

I graduated from Notre Dame undergrad and Indiana Medical School and have practiced Ophthalmology in Bristol since 1997.

I am a golf nut and belong to two clubs...The Virginian (a Tom Fazio design) in Bristol, VA and Grandfather Golf and CC (an Ellis Maples design) in Linville, NC.  I recently joined the Green committee at GGCC and am enjoying learning from all of you.

I have been fortunate to play many of the courses discussed on this website, but certainly not all of them.  I am a better than average player, but far from great.  My golfing highlight was to shoot 74 at Turnberry from the tips last summer.

I feel honored to be part of this discussion group.  

[Michael Ryan]

Michael Ryan
Stamford, CT (born and raised in Warwick, NY)
Age: 33
Engaged (getting married on 10/20, less than two weeks to go)
Tournament Director of the Sybase Classic, LPGA event played at Upper Montclair CC in Clifton, NJ
Handicap: 4.5 index

No club affiliation, muni guy who never turns down an invite.  Found the website after getting the call to play Pine Valley, my boss sent me a link as well as a taunting email with pictures to try and get me even more nervous (not really possible at that time).  He sent me a note with a picture of the 5th saying that he hit 7 iron, probably a 6 for me.  Had to smile when my caddy told me its the best hybrid I could muster.  Found the middle of the green and 2 putted for par...

Haven't met anyone from the site yet (hoping to change that), but I did have the pleasure of caddying for Patrick Mucci on multiple occasions at Pine Tree Golf Club about 10 years ago.  

Thanks for letting me be a part of, I really enjoy the discussions.

Mike

[Lyman Gallup]

Name:  Lyman Gallup
Residence:  Boise, Idaho
Occupation:  Professor in the College of Business at Boise State Unversity, specialty in business statistics
PhD from the University of Oregon
Age:  59

I was born and raised in western Montana but have lived in Boise for the past 30 years.  My wife and I recently built a winter home in Goodyear, AZ, where we hope to spend about 6 months a year starting in January, 2008.  I have been playing golf for over 40 years and I typically post from 80 to 100 rounds a year.  My handicap index has been between 0.0 and about 4.0 for the last 30 years.  I have won a handful of club championships but not any tournaments that I would consider "good" amateur events.  I made a golf trip to Scotland some years ago and played Royal Troon, Turnberry-Ailsa, the Old Course at SA, Carnoustie, and Muirfield as well as 5 others of less notoriety.  

At one time I was on the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship committee and I also spent 6 years as the Executive Director of the Idaho Golf Association in the 1990's.  During that time I was Chairman of the Rules Committee for the Pacific Coast Golf Association.  I was turned on to GCA by Mike Cirba and Bill Vostniak at a Golfweek Course Rater retreat in Tucson in the spring of 2006 and have really enjoyed the site.  I have been on the GolfWeek Course Rating Panel for about 5 years and I learn more and more about golf course architecture every day.  Since visiting GCA I have found some friends from my past including John VanderBorght (spelling?, sorry John) who also spent some time in Portland with the PCGA.  

In no particular order, some of my favorite courses among those I have played include Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, the Fazio course at Pronghorn, Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Plantation@ Kapalua, Royal Melbourne (West), Troon North (Monument), We-Ko-Pa  (Saguaro), Forest Highlands, Desert Mountain (Cochise), The Old Course, Muirfield, Western Gailes, La Quinta Hotel (Mountain), and The Quarry @ LaQuinta.

Thank you to Ran for granting me access to this site.

[Bill Brightly]

Bump

[Bryce Mueller]

Bryce Mueller
Handicap: +4

currently a senior at Duke University, where i am a member of the golf team. greatest golf moment was setting the course record at bulls bay last summer.
I'm getting ready to head into the abyss that is investment banking in NYC at the end of my senior year. looking forward to wiping that plus off my handicap so i can actually have somebody give me strokes for a change

Home Course:
Hope Valley Country Club in Durham, NC

[Mike Benham]

Bryce -

Welcome aboard and to add to Shivas comments, being a participant of this group also adds strokes to your handicap !!!

I would also suggest that after you make your first $ 2-3 million, don't be afraid to slow down a bit, chop those 60-80 hour work weeks, so that you still can enjoy your family and golf and maintain your hairline (or hair color for that matter )

Mike

[Bryce Mueller]

thanks for the responses guys.
to be honest,
i'm almost excited to lose my competitive edge. I've been lucky enough to do a lot of things in the last 8 years with my golf game, including winning an acc championship on the duke team. But with the courses in the NY area that i might be lucky enough to play in the next 20 years, I'm really excited to start a new golf life. i'm also excited to play golf not expecting to play great everytime out. it sorta gets tiring expecting urself to perform, becomes more of a job and less of a game. i'm looking forward to ENJOYING a solid 75 with 4 birdies and a couple of skins haha

[BVince]

Name:  Bryon Vincent
Residence:  Fort Lewis, WA
Occupation:  US ARMY, Executive Officer
College: USMA at West Point
Major: B.S. Engineering Management
Age:  25
Handicap: 2

My father raised me on the game of golf since the age of 4.  In 2000, I left home to play golf for USMA.  I graduated in May of '05 and completed military training before spending a year long tour as a platoon leader in Baghdad, Iraq.  Returned home in December of 06 and married my wonderful wife and now reside at Fort Lewis, WA.  I love everything about golf and especially appreciate GCA.  I enjoy coming to the website to learn what others think about various designs and topics while maintaining a good sense of humor.  Thanks to Ran for helping me become a member of the discussion group.

[Joe Hancock]

 I enjoy coming to the website to learn what others think about various designs and topics while maintaining a good sense of humor.  

Welcome, Myron....

I sit on GCA's Sense of Humor Maintenance Committee. Please feel free to contact anyone else on the committee if you have any issues or concerns. Then, when the Committee reconvenes, we'll laugh at your issues, and make fun of your concerns.

Semi-seriously, Bryon.....Welcome!  

Joe

[Ray Richard]

Bryon-I'm honored to have somebody who served in Iraq as a fellow bloggee. Tee it up and enjoy life!

[Brad Swanson]

So basically what I'm saying is that unless you practice like a banshee, between investment banking, a wife and 2 kids, you run the serious risk of waking up for your 30th birthday as a 4 handicap... a dangerous-as-hell 4 with a crapload of offense that everybody in the world will want for better-ball and team events[/i], for sure, but a 4 nonetheless....it happens...these are the tradeoffs in life...

Note to Mike Kennedy:

Forthwith, your services as Scotch match partner for a particualr, unnamed GCAer for matches in and around the New York area  are no longer required.  Your +1.5 doesn't cut it any more laddie.


Sincerely,
Brad Swanson

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