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[John Kavanaugh]

I have a feeling that this is one of those eternal "going out of business sales" that we see in the local furniture stores.  Any clue if rounds are up on the news of the closing?  Did they aerate the greens this fall?  That and other maintenance practices could be evidence of options being left open.

[Joe Bausch]

JK, too bad somebody with more knowledge than me of whether there are some signs of a change in maintenance was there on Saturday.  Hey, Kyle Harris, now why weren't you there?!  Oh yeah, the State Penn'ers were playing. 

I've played B'tree four or five times through the years and it was in a good of shape I've ever seen it.  I did notice late in the round one sprinkler head with the yardage marked on it was partially obscured with grass now covering at least 1/3 of it.  Perhaps this happens all the time....or maybe if I would have looked harder I might have noticed more things like it.

Also:  when I nice course like Beechtree goes under, will some golf course perhaps looking to redo their greens and/or fairways come a knocking to grab all that nice turf?

[Chip Gaskins]

John-

There was no sign of recent aeration that I saw.  Greens were perfect.  I too thought about the fact that Beechtree might not really close given the current real estate situation.  I am sure the Federal government will move forward with its expansion around Beechtree even in the face of this financial turmoil so it probably will end up closing.  However, if it were completely a private transaction then I bet they would take the bird in the hand (i.e. golf revenues) versus the potential to make money on condo sales in Aberdeen, MD over the next few years.

Fantastic course though!

Chip

[Jim Nantz]

Everyone thanks for making it out to Beechtree.  Chip thanks for organizing the thing.  Days like Saturday are the reason we come here to discuss the golf courses we love.  What an absolutely beautiful day.  I’m so glad that my old friend Jeff and I had the opportunity to make a road trip to Beechtree before it is plowed under.  Somewhere in between kissing the kids goodbye on Friday and kissing my wife good night last night, I was privileged to play my second Tom Doak course along with meeting some of the great guys behind the gca computer screen.  Just awesome.

Thanks Jimmy C for the kind words though you and Jeff were the gentlemen golfers.  I, on the other hand, definitely by the back nine anyway, was an Absolute and lemonade gentleman bogey golfer.  You know, you drive all day and night to get to the golf course and then it’s as good as or better than you had imagined, you want to celebrate, even if it’s by yourself, so I did.  Somebody told me it was the Beechtree Going Away Party.  The ladies in the snack bar, now they’ll be missed come December 7 - they were ready to serve.  Love that Beechtree lemonade!


Now I played like a pig, but had a great time in doing so.  I was most appreciative of the architect’s thoughtfulness in providing ample room off the tee for the pull and/or the push draw.  Unfortunately these are two of my most frequently played tee shots.  I never seemed to run out of room when those type shots were played.  I don’t think it was by accident, but maybe it was? 


edit: The 8th - Standing on the tee, seeing the clubhouse ahead, what a beautiful place

Generally on most of the courses I see, the same type shots I hit off the tee Saturday would run out of room in the corridor and bound across the path into the woods or native.  I seemed to always have a decent second shot attempt at Beechtree, yet still allowed myself to make the same awful bogey or double bogey score because the approaches were usually from a challenging angle to the pin and my propensity for going for it compounds the sad truth that I really don’t know how to play good golf anymore.  I just swing 110% every swing.  Hopefully I’ll take a time out and try to fix that.

Also the greens were difficult to read at times with a lot of stuff going on, both subtle and obvious.  Jeff noted that he thought they reminded him of Bobby Weed’s green design at Olde Farm where he works as a caddy.  He must’ve found them somewhat familiar as he rolled in 4 birdies after not having played since April!

An ideal public golf facility.  Can’t believe it’s going away.  I’d really like another day up there.  It IS worth the effort.  Go see it if you can.


So long Beechtree

I’d like to also thank Orenthal for providing me with that extra bounce I had in my step Saturday morning, so thanks juice.

[astavrides]

I have a feeling that this is one of those eternal "going out of business sales" that we see in the local furniture stores.  Any clue if rounds are up on the news of the closing?  Did they aerate the greens this fall?  That and other maintenance practices could be evidence of options being left open.

I'm not sure why 'going out of business' would make the rounds go up unless they offered a green fee discount (and they certainly were not).  If anything, it makes me not want to go play there to thumb my nose at them for closing the course.

[Jay Flemma]

Guys, I'll just add that the only thing better then the course was the company.  It was great meeting you, hearing stories of golf and life from so many different places and POVs, and playing a great golf course.

Great golf, great people, great times:  that's what GCA is supposed to be all about, golf too for that matter.

Thanks for the pix guiys, they are terrific.

[Andy Hughes]

I think you are missing my point.  Challenging the left side, even if you miss it in the rough yields a better angle to the green, even though it is still a difficult shot.  Playing safely away from the corner yields a ball above your feet and a shot with the slope of the green.  The raised left portion of the green makes this shot easier to hold the green.  I don't think that is a good balance on the tee shot.  It takes away the reward from the left side and rewards playing away from trouble up the right side.

Wayne, I see your point. That would make drives hit out to the right that much more difficult, though that is already the case to some extent--it's quite a bit longer and the visibility is hampered if you bail out to the right.  Missing the approach left currently yields a tough recovery (to a left pin anyway)--do you feel that would be mitigated a bit by lowering the left side of the green?

[Jay Flemma]

Sadly, John, it's not a never ending closing.  Beechtree is a goner.  I sat with a few of the staff and watched the sunset and several of them were misty eyed at the thought.  It's hitting some of them hard.

[Jeff Taylor]

I played this course last Monday. My drive ended up in the left side of the fairway about 245 out. The pin being back left, I hit a low draw 3 wood that rolled up and around to pin high. The ground shaped the shot perfectly. It's those kinds of shots that make it a tragedy for this course to close.

[John Kavanaugh]

Sadly, John, it's not a never ending closing.  Beechtree is a goner.  I sat with a few of the staff and watched the sunset and several of them were misty eyed at the thought.  It's hitting some of them hard.

Not so fast.  The going out of business model is a painless way to trim staff and cut costs.  You then hire back at 70% salaries and ta da...It's off to pretend land for another year.  The one thing that could fault my theory is if the government is the one buying the land.

[Phil Benedict]

At this point I wonder if government can afford to buy the land what with all the other obligations theyare taking on.

[Jay Flemma]

Sadly, John, it's not a never ending closing.  Beechtree is a goner.  I sat with a few of the staff and watched the sunset and several of them were misty eyed at the thought.  It's hitting some of them hard.

Not so fast.  The going out of business model is a painless way to trim staff and cut costs.  You then hire back at 70% salaries and ta da...It's off to pretend land for another year.  The one thing that could fault my theory is if the government is the one buying the land.

Well, there it is.  It's closing because of BRAC.  They'll be housing for Ft. Monmouth relocatees.

[Dan Herrmann]

But most all of the relocations are civilians, who will live on private property.  Sure, right now, credit markets are frozen, but in 6 months?   I'm hoping and praying that we're at that time that's darkest just before the dawn.

Amazing - 12 months ago, the Dow was at 14000 and our mantra at work was growth.  We've gone from that to frozen everything so quickly.

With that in mind, I have a feeling that this economy will take 1-2 years to recover, and I'll bet that Beechtree will survive.   BRAC will bring folks to Aberdeen, but you may see more folks living in Havre de Grace or out in the boonies up toward NorthEast MD or even Newark DE.

We live in interesting times.

[Garland Bayley]

That ball just has to on the green! (dedicated walker, Jay Flemma)

...

Garland->

Thanks for the welcome!  I am also a lefty who hits from the right side;)

I hate to break this to you Jay, but you don't hit from the right side! You hit from the left side! 

[Jay Flemma]

huh?  Look at the picture...I'm playing right handed...

[Garland Bayley]

When you approach your ball, you step to the left side to hit. No one said anything about whether or not you played right-handed.

[Jay Flemma]

I guess...

[Carl Rogers]

This may be about the last contribution to this thread.  What a g-- d--- shame.

Scott Weersing and I drove up from the Tidewater area of Virginia and played 54 holes at Beechtree on October 19 & 20 ... a real treat and for some one who has not traveled much to play golf, a significant golfing life event.

I want to prod the curiosity of many of you into teeing it up at Riverfront in Suffolk, VA.  There are many contrasts between the 2 courses.

[Jay Flemma]

lets explore those on the "what replaces beechtree" thread

[Scott Weersing]

Everyone thanks for making it out to Beechtree.  Chip thanks for organizing the thing.  Days like Saturday are the reason we come here to discuss the golf courses we love.  What an absolutely beautiful day.  I’m so glad that my old friend Jeff and I had the opportunity to make a road trip to Beechtree before it is plowed under.  Somewhere in between kissing the kids goodbye on Friday and kissing my wife good night last night, I was privileged to play my second Tom Doak course along with meeting some of the great guys behind the gca computer screen.  Just awesome.

Thanks Jimmy C for the kind words though you and Jeff were the gentlemen golfers.  I, on the other hand, definitely by the back nine anyway, was an Absolute and lemonade gentleman bogey golfer.  You know, you drive all day and night to get to the golf course and then it’s as good as or better than you had imagined, you want to celebrate, even if it’s by yourself, so I did.  Somebody told me it was the Beechtree Going Away Party.  The ladies in the snack bar, now they’ll be missed come December 7 - they were ready to serve.  Love that Beechtree lemonade!

Now I played like a pig, but had a great time in doing so.  I was most appreciative of the architect’s thoughtfulness in providing ample room off the tee for the pull and/or the push draw.  Unfortunately these are two of my most frequently played tee shots.  I never seemed to run out of room when those type shots were played.  I don’t think it was by accident, but maybe it was? 


The 9th - Standing on the tee, seeing the clubhouse ahead, what a beautiful place

Generally on most of the courses I see, the same type shots I hit off the tee Saturday would run out of room in the corridor and bound across the path into the woods or native.  I seemed to always have a decent second shot attempt at Beechtree, yet still allowed myself to make the same awful bogey or double bogey score because the approaches were usually from a challenging angle to the pin and my propensity for going for it compounds the sad truth that I really don’t know how to play good golf anymore.  I just swing 110% every swing.  Hopefully I’ll take a time out and try to fix that.

Also the greens were difficult to read at times with a lot of stuff going on, both subtle and obvious.  Jeff noted that he thought they reminded him of Bobby Weed’s green design at Olde Farm where he works as a caddy.  He must’ve found them somewhat familiar as he rolled in 4 birdies after not having played since April!

An ideal public golf facility.  Can’t believe it’s going away.  I’d really like another day up there.  It IS worth the effort.  Go see it if you can.


So long Beechtree

I’d like to also thank Orenthal for providing me with that extra bounce I had in my step Saturday morning, so thanks juice.

This is a picture of the 8th tee, not the 9th. I played it last Sunday into a north wind and it was a challenge to get a drive up the hill.

The course is amazing. I have never played a course that was fast and firm, and had bent grass.