I have just completed a project I started on 3 years ago, and I'm so excited about it I just had to tell somebody (who would appreciate it). My "non-golf architecture nerd" friends just don't understand this.
I played Fishers Island for the first time in 1997. I had met Mr. Charles Ferguson who wrote the Fishers Island Club history and my father and I played the course with Charlie. He is an accomplished artist and I commissioned him to do a painting of the Biarritz hole at Fishers. When I got it, I had it framed and hung it on my wall in my golf den. I got to thinking, "wouldn't it be neat to have an original painting of all four traditional Raynor one shot holes displayed on that wall?". I decided that the four featured golf holes should be from four different Raynor courses. I then set out to "finish" this wall.
The second painting was of the Redan hole at Yeamans Hall Club. I'm a member there, and so I wanted one of the one shot holes on my wall to be from Yeamans. I think our redan hole is the strongest of a pretty good set of one shot holes, so I had a painting done by a Charleston artist by the name of Hermeine Tovey. She is a wonderful artist in water color and is very, very reasonable. She had done other paintings of Yeamans Hall golf holes, and she was delighted to do this for me.
When I played Shoreacres, I was convinced that their Short hole was among the best I had seen. The dramatic downhill shot was unique in my personal experience of playing Short holes. I was there with Ran on a beautiful fall day when the leaves were turning. I took a photo of this hole and sent it to Ms. Tovey who then produced another winner.
I couldn't decide on an Eden hole until last October. I had my second visit to Camargo in Cincinnati and snapped a photo of their great Eden hole. Today I received the finished painting back from Ms. Tovey.
The wall is now complete!
Sorry to bore you all with this, but I think this wall is way cool, and I just wanted to tell somebody! Anyway, all of you are invited over if you are in Indianapolis to view this prized wall in my golf den (I'll supply the wine). Also, if anyone is interested in obtaining great water color paintings of golf holes (she will work from photographs), I'll be happy to supply the phone number and address of Hermeine Tovey.
TS