Views vs Golf

[Dan Herrmann]

Willie - I was looking through old posts with zero replies trying to find a gem or two.  I think I succeeded

[Jim_Kennedy]

Huck,

The emoticon in my post should have been a  instead of a 

[Tom Huckaby]

Huck,

The emoticon in my post should have been a  instead of a 

I kinda figured that upon the re-read.  Good stuff, my friend.

You're a New Englander, correct?  Well... life-long Laker fan here.  Hopefully we have something to discuss next week besides golf.

 

[Jed Peters]

I just skimmed this thread, but I will add this--

If a course has NO views, there better be some pretty amazing architecture to elevate it to any kind of a worthwhile GCA conversation....

[Dan Herrmann]

Jed - One could say that Merion West has better views than East.  But there's no way West is a better golf course.  Needless to say, East has amazing architecture.

Likewise, Oak Hill sits in a pretty area surrounded in part by Monroe Ave's strip malls and a big Wegmans.  But there is amazing architecture there too.

[John Foley]

Dan - Thanks for the catch. I was not very observant.

Willie - glad to see you enjoyed it. -I'd recomend it to anyone in the NE area - it's really that good.

[Willie_Dow]

Thanks for bringing back my thoughts .  All of you guys (and girls) on here have been thru a few of what I would call of concerns about this web site, and how it has been laid out.  But to have Dan pick out something as far back as "then", and make a view so important suggests something that Ran had in mind.

Thank you, Monsieur

[Tom_Doak]

I do remember being out in Bandon one time when the place was entirely fogged in for two days and yet people loved playing the courses.  I remember one guy telling me that for all he knew, "the ocean was just a giant sound effect," but he loved the golf courses.

[Dan Herrmann]

Willie - It's my privilege.  And that's exactly the spirit that I was going for.

Tom - Yeah, fog IS a mystical experience at Bandon - even more so if it's not terribly windy.  I used to love driving to the Oregon coast after a tough day at work (Cannon Beach was the usual destination) and just walking the beach - fog added to the experience...  But it made for a fun trip back to Beaverton.

[Tim Bert]

We played Pacific Dunes 4-8 in a dense fog that blasted in from way off the coast and then blasted right out.  It was a really cool feel on a great stretch of holes.  Might have been disappointing it were to be the only time I got to play the course, but I had played it enough previously to enjoy this as a different experience.  A few foggy photos to follow on the Pacific Dunes thread as we get to those holes.

[Dan Herrmann]

Tim - you missed the sense of terror you might have had if your ball ended up on #4 over by the cliff.  As one that's afraid of heights, that's one view I could have done without.

[Tom Huckaby]

I do remember being out in Bandon one time when the place was entirely fogged in for two days and yet people loved playing the courses.  I remember one guy telling me that for all he knew, "the ocean was just a giant sound effect," but he loved the golf courses.

And THAT is the mark of true greatness - that is, that little of the fun or joy is removed when the views are obscured.  The same could be said for Pebble Beach, or at least I think so.

But in saying this, it in no way means that views do not matter AT ALL.  The very best stand on their own without them, of course.  But to say they don't matter at all when they are available is to really miss the spirt of golf, I think.  I go back to Dan Kelly's eloquent questions at the beginning of this thread.

TH

[Willie_Dow]

Yes - Tom

I'm sure Ben Hogan didn't concern himself with the views around Merion during his final round !

But I'm sure those who watched his triumph felt something ?

Willie

[Dave Givnish]

Can anyone think of a course with great views and so-so architecture?  Where you'd just as soon take a walk along the grounds as play golf.

Estancia (Scottsdale)