News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Mike_Cirba

Writer's Block
« on: February 10, 2003, 09:39:20 PM »
Perhaps it's just the winter...

Perhaps it's just the fact I haven't picked up a club since mid-November, my longest golfing hiatus in memory...

Perhaps it's just the fact that the professional driving distance competitions masquerading as tournaments this winter have left me sitting stupified in numb disinterest...

Perhaps it's just a healthy realization that there are other things in life besides golf...or just being too busy to divert enough attention to the subject to germinate useful or interesting thoughts worth sharing.

However, the bottom line is that I've continued to read this board over the past couple of months without being able to muster anything more than a brief comment or two.

I recall John Conley afflicted with a similar syndrome some months ago, and likewise wondering what might be the cause.  So, I've decided to come here and ask others if they sometimes suffer comparative lags in activity, and what they do about it when they feel they are losing touch with this discussion group.  

On one level, I miss it, but I'd rather sit on the sidelines for awhile than risk becoming reiterative, boring, negative, or otherwise irrelevant.  

Perhaps I just need to smell the freshly cut grass again, or be inspired by the look of a bunker face or green site that is particuarly finessed and complementary with its natural surroundings.  Perhaps I need to feel the flush feel of the ball compressed against the clubhead, and watch the ball soar as if by magic and destiny towards its target.  Perhaps I just need to look out over some particularly interesting land that is now draped in man-made golf features, and wonder what the architect was thinking when he first arrived at the raw site...

Perhaps I just need Spring.  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:02 PM by -1 »

Tommy_Naccarato

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2003, 11:39:27 PM »
Mike, For someone with writers block, you certainly did an excellent job of describing your symptoms and possible cures.

I myself, find that there are times to just sit back and let the Jack-ass-a-bee's (Just kidding John) of the world carry the board. I run for cover inside my warm and fuzzy shell, and READ BOOKS. It all adds to the learning process, and this way I find countless other subjects to post on or start, and then don't.

So Mike, have you made any attempt to  read or re-read Architectural Side of Golf or gotten into tyour automobile and made the drive to the Not So Far Away Far Hills and studied a bit?

There is little excuse for your behavior, and I want bring back a few memories of the travails of one Robert Downey Jr.

I was being compared to the Great Party Animal himself a few years back, and found that I needed to be GCA-free for a spell. It was exactly like rehab. It got to the point that I was 42 days GCA-free, but then, it all started-up again.

This living Hell.

And just like Robert Downey Jr, who is in fact still getting movie roles despite all of the internal melt-down and psychological problems, I'm still on GCA posting, and getting in more and more trouble everyday.

So, I can only suggest to run and run fast and far. California is the place you want to be because the weather is warm and the girls are beautiful, and there is really only one golf course left of any substance that Tom Fazio hasn't changed. (Rustic Canyon) We have Game there, and it is totally awesome as you know. To Hell with staying indoors because it is too cold.

So I say to you Mike Cirba, get out of your shell and be like Led Zepplin, by "Going to California with an achin' in your heart"

Gotta go now, the jaccuzzi's looking pretty good for this achin' back!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Jack-ass-a-bee

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2003, 07:01:07 AM »
Men, take as long as you need on your hiatus.

Don't know how we can do it, but we will try to keep this thing together until your return.

 ::)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike_Cirba

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2003, 07:24:42 AM »
Jack-ass-a-bee;

I certainly meant no offense to anyone here.  You fellows are doing a fine job in my absence and I've enjoyed reading any number of threads.

I just feel a bit badly that my creative juices for participation have dried up a bit over the long winter.  

A musician and lyricist suffering from writer's block was lamenting to a friend about his condition, and his friend suggested that he "write a song about Writer's Block".  That guy was Billy Joel, and although the outcome of his first efforts led to the little known song "If I only had the words to tell you", it did break the ice and led to the hugely successful "Piano Man" album.  

I'm just trying the same approach here.   :-/
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Lou Duran

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2003, 07:57:53 AM »
MC,

Can't think anything to write about?  A lack of inspiration?  Or is it just positioning for the KP ("winter", "haven't touched a club since November", etc.)?  BS on gca making you a better golfer but not a player.  You'll have a hard time hiding your new Tigeresque physique, suntan, and callouses on your hands.    I suspect that John Bernhardt will have one strong competitor for the title of most "new and improved".  Which means that I better plan an extra trip to the bank before heading out west.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

THuckaby2

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2003, 08:04:20 AM »
Well said, Lou.  I have never seen such a plaintive wail for sympathy strokes.  Writer's block indeed.   ;)

The real problem is the melancholy and dementia that comes from exposure to sun that's not supposed to be here in winter.  I need 15 shots at least come March 15.  And yeah, I can't think of anything good to write here either.  

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

John Foley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2003, 08:12:34 AM »
Enjoy the respite. Recharge your batteries. Work on your putting stroke. Take your daughter to the library. Read a novel. Spend more time in Corning ;)

It will come back. The site seems to have times of great challange & intrigue and times of limbo. If your in a literary purgatory, sit back and take for a while. Your time will come soon.

Before you know, it'll be May you'll have a list courses to see a mile long and you'll be wishing for more of this time.

BTW - It is the weather!!!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Integrity in the moment of choice

Mike_Cirba

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2003, 08:19:24 AM »
Lou/Tom;

Realizing that mid-March is just a short month away, I picked up my putter this past weekend, and wanted to try a few four-footers just to get the feel again.

My first attempt, best described as a spasmodized, St. Vitusian body hurl of a stroke, hit the cat sitting in the corner 20 feet away.  

Did I mention my chronic rotator cuff problem?

My sniffling allergy to Cypress trees?

My jet lag??   ;)

Oh...I want strokes!!! (giving my best plaintive wail)   :'(
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

THuckaby2

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2003, 08:23:33 AM »
Mike, you get whatever # of strokes you want just for use of the term "St. Vitusian".  That did elicit audible yuks out here...

 ;D

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2003, 09:44:00 AM »
Mike, perhaps only you and Huckaby actually would know which St. is patron to those who suffer the Sydenham's Chorea, (St Vitus' dance-characterised ceaseless body motion) known in modern times as the yips, or which sacrificial ritual one must undertake to ward them off  :P

http://saintvitus.com/

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintv07.htm


« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

THuckaby2

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2003, 09:51:06 AM »
Dick:

Canonization proceedings are under way even as we speak, so that Blessed Hogan becomes St. Hogan and thus St. Hogan's Disease gets its rightful honorific.  I believe the only way to ward off the effects of St. Hogan's Disease is full exorcism, and even then it's an iffy proposition.   ;)

BTW, if you are into our Catholic saints, check out the wonderful one after whom I am named....

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt04.htm

TH

ps - I mean no offense to Hogan re this, hey I'm Catholic myself and I'm just having fun here.  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

JakaB

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2003, 03:29:25 PM »
Tommy,

Thanks for the laugh as I am the real JakaB.....I feel sorry for myself and those who have had to muddle through my lack of positive attitude for the last six months....I have struggled with why people like MC leave this board after so much time....The best reason I have come up with struck me yesterday when I asked ms if he really learns anything from his study or if he just forms opinions....he didn't answer me...but in truth I don't really deserve an answer because I've never attempted to learn anything...so I might be wrong.

So it comes down to this simple fact....in search of trying to learn about architecture we find that there really isn't anything to learn except what we like.   There are no facts, no formulas, no solutions...just stuff we like and stuff we don't...kind of depressing really that such good effort can be wasted because with age we might even start liking what we used to not....It all makes for good and sometimes clever discussion but after a year we find our tastes are our tastes and it really becomes quite boring caring what anybody else thinks.   That is unless you have convinced yourself you know what everyone else should like and believe the effort to shape their likes is worth the effort.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Timothy Moore

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2003, 03:59:27 PM »
JakaB
Beautiful prose! I enjoy reading writing poetry....no facts, no formulas, no solutions....I think I will blow my brains out.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Lou Duran

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2003, 04:13:02 PM »
JakaB,

Man, you got to start taking some calcium and getting some sunshine.  It can't be that dismal up there.  You are wrong, wrong.  We all learn something from playing golf and studying architecture.  Even those obstinate types like me have an epiphany now and then.  Ten years ago I believed that hazards should always be on the sides, the driving areas should be remarkably flat, the target should always be visible, and a balanced routing with variety should be ideal loops of 4-3-4-5-4-3-4-5-4.  Now I like some blindness, quirk, irregular bounces, and hazards which orient me away from the middle of the fairway (line of instinct?).  And who can argue with a routing like CPC's?  I've even learned a little bit about playing from folks on this site (reading putts from off the fairway).  So, quit being so pessimistic, get your airline tickets, and put in your two cents worth.

Mike, Huck, and Dick,

Now that you've made us aware that there are a scientific and popular names for the dreaded disease, and that there is a patron saint to appeal to, is there a special prayer that's superior to the usual after-the-fact utterances (G-- D---, SOB, etc.)?  Not that I am personally having any f-----' prrrrrrrrrrroblems!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Paul Turner

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2003, 07:24:51 PM »
Mike

Post pics!

(if a pic is really worth 1000 words, I'm up with Tom Paul!)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Tommy_Naccarato

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2003, 11:30:12 PM »
John, Do you think for one minute I'm going to believe that BS? ? ? ?

But you do bring up a point. The fact is that I do think people should have opinons of what they see, as well as describe what they are seeing. So many seem to be consumed with their own game, and not consumed about the feature which dictates all sorts of play and challenges.

Yes, it can be about personal likes and dislikes and experiences and traumas. Such is life! We hit a golf ball, and if it succeeds in our quest of challenge, GREAT! If it doesn't I can only hope to try again! I guess so many are so consumed with their score-card mentality we forget why we are here in the first place.

It moves me to see Donald Ross' quirky features that dictated his style; or Dr. MacKenzie's abilities to mix natural settings with artificial ones and not know the difference. (sadly you can really only experience this nowadays at Cypress Point or Royal Melbourne, because so many of his courses have changed so drastically.) There was Tillie and his uncanny ability to change design styles from site to site and still capture the strategy and beauty of Nature's themes. Then there was Captain George C. Thomas, whose abilty to apply all of the same principles of all of the above mentioned names, and translate them so perfectly for golf. He was the very best of amateurs at this trade. Unfortunately, you probably haven't fully gotten to appreciate his works, even from afar, because-(1) so little of his original work is left, and (2) You have the biggest name in Modern Golf Architecture screwing-up his masterpiece--Riviera. Tell me John, after so many people talking on this website about Golf Architecture In America, have you actually picked it up and read it, and where you could actually make the statements above and get away with it?

There is also C.B. and Seth and Banks and Bende. Colt & Alison, Wilson and Stanley; Flyn was also "in" and so many more I can't begin to type, all that priacticed their art with great passion and without spite. Yes, some of them did it for money and for a living. But there are others that didn't even think about presenting a bill.

Do you actually think for one minute that C.B. MacDonald designed courses in the same reasons as Tom Fazio? What about George Thomas as compared to Rees Jones?

I have been surprized many times by people that have mentioned an architectural feature here or there, that I either missed or had never even fathomed seeing. I can learn from the most meager to the most humble to the most arrogant, just as long as I have an open mind to learn.

In closing-----

I have spent the majority of this night, not looking at Golf Club Atlas, but actually studying an aerial photo from 1938 of a mundane local public course that is now 83 years old. It was a 12 hole course up until the 40's, and due to the bright reflected light of the aerial, you can't make out a lot of features. However, a while back I located some softwear for free off of the internet that allows you to not only layer a transparency over the newer Mapquest aerial, it allow you to adjust the band colors which block out some of the reflected light; which has allowed me to see holes that were once Redan's, chevron-shaped bunkers, and horseshoe-shaped greens that have disappeared over that 83 year period of time.

Does any of this sound like I haven't tried to learn a thing or two about golf architecture? I hope with your VERY smart, wise and creative mind you can see where I'm going with this.

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Slag_Bandoon

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2003, 12:04:32 AM »
 So Tommy, are you saying that we cannot help but learn, even though we are just out for fun?  A heinous byproduct through passive osmosis?   Next thing someone's gonna blurt out is that it's healthy.  Or that chicks dig golfers.  

 On writer's block....

 "A blank page is God's way of showing us how hard it is to be God."   Unk.  

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Dan King

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2003, 01:52:57 AM »
I get writers block all the time, hence the stealing of other peoples' words. I even have a quote that ties writers block and golf together:
Quote
"The only equivalent plunge from genius I could think of was Ernest Hemingway's tragic loss of ability to write. Hemingway got up one morning and shot himself. Nicklaus got up the next morning and shot 66."
 --Ian Woolridge (British journalist, on Nicklaus shooting 83 in the first round of the Open Championship)
On a semi-regular basis I've prepared followups to posts, and then never sent them, realizing that so many of them are arguments I've made in the past.

I've become bored by my own convictions. Maybe I should work on developing new ones.

I'm also having a tough time getting out and playing golf. It's been months since I've played, and since I'm in California I can't blame it on the weather. I've told Geoff it is his fault, since I've had very little urge to play since returning from Rustic Canyon. I just don't want the typical Northern California round to ruin the feeling I had after playing Rustic.

Dan King

P.S. Slag, nice Dobereiner quote. I don't believe I've ever seen that one.

P.P.S. For the Hogan comments:
Quote
"I never saw any of man's baser acts of inhumanity to man. I never saw screaming 'witches' burned at the stake, Christians tossed to starving lions, maidens pushed over the edge of active volcanoes. I never even saw a man going to the electric chair. But until I do, watching Ben Hogan walk up to a five-foot putt is my idea of cruel and inhuman punishment, only a Hitler would enjoy. You feel like saying 'Go home to your wife and kiddies and don't look upon this terrible thing!'"
 --Jim Murray (on Ben Hogan with the yips)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

William Mizner

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #18 on: February 12, 2003, 03:22:34 AM »
When you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

TEPaul

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #19 on: February 12, 2003, 03:33:53 AM »
Writer's block?

What's that?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

THuckaby2

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #20 on: February 12, 2003, 07:28:30 AM »
Dan King:

The world doesn't revolve around Rustic Canyon.  You know darn well there are several places up here you could go play and get that same feeling, or more, cuz it's more "home"... get back out to Stevinson Ranch... go down to Pacific Grove Muni... go out early at Sunol, for God's sake... the game remains great, Dan, and this ennui of yours is getting scary.

Mr. Papazian:  there will ALWAYS be a place for you in THE KING'S PUTTER event.  So can I now count you in and add you to the list?  Will you be playing Saturday at Pasa and Sunday at Pajaro, or one or the other?  Please do let me know as soon as you can.

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

azangus

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #21 on: February 12, 2003, 07:39:24 AM »
That original post was way too sappy for a 'topic'.
Pull it together.
Play golf, enjoy it.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike_Cirba

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #22 on: February 12, 2003, 07:59:20 AM »
Michael Angus;

Sappy, huh?  

Your second post on GCA, with a whole wealth of topics to post on and that's all you can think of?   ::)

Dude...you'd best birdie the next few holes because you're at least +2 at this point.  ;)

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

azangus

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #23 on: February 12, 2003, 08:43:15 AM »
Well said...
but...
if your other 2,061 posts are as 'sappy', I would prefer to not participate.
Get those clubs out of the closet, play some golf!
 :)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike_Cirba

Re: Writer's Block
« Reply #24 on: February 12, 2003, 08:50:33 AM »
Hahahaha....good one, Monsieur Anus...er..Angus..  ;)

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back