Would you pay the price?

[Bill Brightly]

You can pick trip A or B. A limo will pick you up at your house, and a private plane will take you to each course, where you will play 36 holes over two days,5 star hotels, all expenses paid. Trip will take place in late May over a two week period.

Won't cost you a dime, except you have to promise not to play another round of golf that year.

Trip A
Augusta National
Cypress Point
Winged Foot
Sand Hills
Merion
Shinnecock Hills
Pasatiempo


Trip B
Pine Valley
National
Merion
Pacific Dunes
Oakmont
Pebble Beach
Bethpage Black

Would you take the deal?
No golf in June...July...August...September....

[wsmorrison]

Bill,

Interesting that you had Merion in both Trip A and B.  You are a wise man  

I wouldn't give up play for the year to play any 7 courses, but I might only be tempted by Trip C (East Coast version)

Kittansett
Shinnecock Hills
NGLA
Merion
Pine Valley
Indian Creek
Seminole

[Michael Dugger]

Not really seeing where you are going with this.....and Merion is on both lists!

Each has some publics and privates......

I'd probably go for #2, but I think this exercise might be more interesting if the lists looked like this....

1)
Augusta
Baltusrol
The Atlantic
Southern Hills
Oak Hill
Winged Foot
Hazeltine
Cherry Hills

2)
Sand Hills
Sebonack
Ballyneal
Friars Head
Kingsley Club
Cypress Point
Seminole
Prairie Dunes

Each is full of privates.  Many U.S. Open venues.....many totally not.

Which list would you prefer to play?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I would take trip A and #2 and would give up golf for the rest of the year for either opportunity in a heart beat.

[Doug Wright]

You can pick trip A or B. A limo will pick you up at your house, and a private plane will take you to each course, where you will play 36 holes over two days,5 star hotels, all expenses paid. Trip will take place in late May over a two week period.

Won't cost you a dime, except you have to promise not to play another round of golf that year.

Trip A
Augusta National
Cypress Point
Winged Foot
Sand Hills
Merion
Shinnecock Hills
Pasatiempo


Trip B
Pine Valley
National
Merion
Pacific Dunes
Oakmont
Pebble Beach
Bethpage Black

Would you take the deal?
No golf in June...July...August...September....

Bill,

Trip A is a no brainer for me. Augusta National is a nice course, but there's only one Cypress Point...

And your condition that there be no more golf that year? Not a problem! If I took off on a 2 week golf outing I'm sure my wife would see to that.

[Andrew Summerell]

Trip A, because I've played all but one of trip B, whereas I've only played Merion & Pasa in trip A.

[Jim Thompson]

No way!  I'd have to miss the Dixie Cup and that's just not negotiable!!!!

[Garland Bayley]

No!

Silly question IMHO.

[Mike_Young]

nope.....

[Bart Bradley]

It is my opinion that it is only a silly question if you believe that you have the chance to play these courses another way....I would hesitate, but do it.  Give me trip A...especially if I can take my best golfing buddies with me....

I am getting ready to have shoulder surgery so can I take the trip "now" so I can recover from surgery during the prohibited time.  

[Andrew Summerell]

Silly question IMHO.

To 99.9% of the world, that covers 99.9% of the questions on this site.  

[Dave Bourgeois]

I would take trip B and bag the year.  My second son is due next week, so that will give me him and his 18 month old brother.  Bagging the season would work out for me.


On my list PV and National are way up @ the top. Merion is important as well, but its on both lists. Its tough to turn down Sand Hills, but I get chills just thinking of stepping on @ PV.  

More privates in A, but PV and National are just to important for me to see to pass up.  

[Tim Leahy]

Trip A, but kick Pasa and add SFCC and you have a deal, I'll start playing softball again to kill the summer. Augusta and Cypress would be lifetime goals.

[Doug Ralston]

No chance ..... and they are all courses I will likely never get to play  in any other circumstance. But give up a year of great golf? Nyet!

Doug

[Joe Bausch]

Would I take the deal?  No way.  I cannot give up my ~30 rounds each summer with my golfing buds at usually boring muni's.  Yeah, I love great architecture, but golf w/ my buds is more important.

If I was forced to take A or B, I would go route B for perhaps unexpected reasons:  I've played two of the courses on the B team and they were awesome, and I'd love to play them again as well the rest of the HofF courses there.

[Bill_McBride]

No way!  I'd have to miss the Dixie Cup and that's just not negotiable!!!!

YOU DA MAN!!  

[Brock Peyer]

Yep, I would take trip A and skip the rest of the year in a heart beat.  

If you offered me a trip to Augusta and Cypress but I couldn't play the rest of the year, I would probably be ok with that too.

Keep in mind that I have played 9 rounds this year and average only 13 or 14, that works for me.

[Steve Lang]

 

You know.. we play 12 months a year here..  14 rounds vs 140???

NO WAY..  I'd rather go to Southern Pines area

[Joe Hancock]

I would take the deal. It would increase my number of rounds per year, plus I could participate on some of the bedpost notching list threads that so frequently appear on here.

 

Joe

[Kirk Gill]

I'm with Joe. A trip like the ones suggested would, at this stage of the game, actually increase my total number of annual rounds. One day, my kids will be older. I keep saying that.

Pine Valley remains, for me, the "Holiest of Grails," with National and Merion just a wee bit back. List B. And bag the limo.

[Tom Huckaby]

You've basically described Ed Getka's life!  Each year for him is some version of A or B or close to it, with zero other golf.  Did he put you up to this?

And we argue about it from time to time... I just can't see the value in saving up one's time, money, marital capital to splurge on great courses - and ONLY do that - as Ed does... To me the playing of the game, with friends especially, trumps the venue big time.  

There is no way I could give up the game for a year, no matter what.

The funny thing is though with my life reality these days - like Joe and Kirk are alluding to - it wouldn't be that much of a stretch!  But I'd quite literally go insane if I didn't have the CHANCE to play, somewhere, somehow.  This is also why I live where we're supposed to have mild winters, and get really pissed when it rains.

Great question, in any case.  But I still think Getka put you up to it.

 

[Brad Swanson]

You've basically described Ed Getka's life!  Each year for him is some version of A or B or close to it, with zero other golf.  Did he put you up to this?

 

That's funny, Tom, as even before I got to your post regarding Ed, I was going to say something to the effect that either A or B sounds like a week in the life of one Tom Huckaby (albeit from a few years back ).

As far as my own choice, I'm starting to climb out of my lack of playing rut and, as of late, am actually enjoying the game/recreation regardless of the venue.  In addition, I prefer to have some time to digest a great course I have just played rather than doing a weeklong blitzkrieg ("hit and run") tour.  So, I'm afraid I would have to pass.

Cheers,
Brad

[JC Jones]

Id take either and I'd do it in a second.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Brad:

 
Yeah, I have had some good weeks, or months.  Not in a few years though... but oh yes I have been very very lucky.

The funny thing is though, after the great courses played, I never ceased playing Santa Teresa, Santa Clara Muni and the other standard fare of my normal life.

Though I do love playing great venues - hell, who doesn't? - it does remain all about playing the game, for me.

Time to trot out my old line again....

I could have fun playing this game on a parking lot if the beer is cold and the friends are good.

TH

[tlavin]

I'd take the deal with trip A.  The best part about the concept is that you have to put the sticks away for a year.  Like a 12-month step program for golf.  We could probably all use a year off.