Jaka B,
No, not really,
It only shows that I have greater discriminating tastes then you credit me with.
The other factor is that I don't give much credence to top 50 or top 100 lists.
Are you going to tell me that course X, ranked 98 is definably better then course Y ranked 99th, or 107, or 121 ?
Do you really believe that courses ranked by a fixed criteria, determined by one party, but evaluated by another, a committee, is the Gospel ?
Is the question of whether Shinnecock is better then Pine Valley and where does Pebble Beach fit in answerable, and, is it really important ?
I like my test, and I'll give you an example of its workings.
I was staying at a friends house in East Hampton and he had arranged for us to play Maidstone in the morning. I had never played the golf course previously. We were then going to go back to his house to have a big Bar B-Q in the afternoon.
We played, and we both played exceptionally well.
As we holed out on # 18, we just looked at each other and walked a few paces to the 1st tee, teed it up, and played another 18.
When we got back to his house, only about 5 hours late,
we were not greeted warmly.
There were no happy faces, glad to see us.
Neither of our girl friends were talking to us.
I looked at them and asked, "Is this the gratitude we get, the thanks we get, for trying to help you make this a great party ? We searched every store, the entire length and breadth of Long Island, looking for charcoal briquets, and couldn't find any. And this is how we get rewarded for our efforts.?"
Needless to say there were no smiles or thank you's.
But, there was laughter. My host and I couldn't contain ourselves any longer. It was reminiscent of the scene in "Porky's, in the principal's office, when Bulla wanted a lineup to identify a particular feature.
So, what's the point of the story ?
It's the qualitative pressure of the test.
It's knowing the dire consequences of playing another 18, yet, the golf course is so outstanding, its lure so tempting and attractive, that it takes precendent over other compelling demands. That's a test.
Any schmuck can play another 18, but it takes a real schmuck to play 18 more knowing that there will be Trouble, that's with a capital T, in River City.
