2009 was truly a year to remember for me and I will carry the warm memories of great courses and great friends with me for a long, long time. I’d like to make a couple of comments regarding the list of courses. First, for those who bemoan lack of access to great courses in the U.S., 12 of the 22 courses listed were accessed via rounds purchased through charity auctions, including some that might surprise you. Charity auctions offer a way to play courses that might not otherwise be accessible, while at the same time giving something back to the community. If anyone is interested in knowing which charity featured a specific course, please send me a PM and I will be happy to let you know. Second, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a member at Hidden Creek in New Jersey, so please receive any of my remarks about Hidden Creek with that in mind. Courses in each location are listed in no certain order.
Los Angeles
• Bel-Air
• LACC
• Riviera
San Francisco
• Cal Club
• Olympic
• SFGC
Dallas/FW
• Dallas National
• Colonial
Northeast
• Sleepy Hollow
• Carnegie Abbey
• Boston Golf Club
• The Country Club
• Old Sandwich
Long Island*
• Shinnecock
• NGLA
• Friar’s Head
• Fisher’s Island* (actually CT)
NJ/PA
• Hidden Creek
• Metedeconk National
• Merion
Other
• Jockey Club, Argentina
• The Honors Course (TN)
• Farmington Country Club (VA)
• Walker Cup at Merion
And now, with all due acknowledgement to “The Doak Gazetteer” from Tom Doak’s Confidential Guide, which served as my inspiration, here is my own personal gazetteer for 2009.
Best Course – Merion (my love affair with Merion only gets stronger over time, it’s held 17 USGA championships for a reason), Runner Up – Shinnecock (the American classic, held the Open 100 years apart, a pretty good testament to the fact that it has withstood the test of time)
Most Underrated Golf Course – Cal Club (the best golf course in SF in my opinion), Runner Up – Boston Golf Club (I was absolutely blown away by what Gil Hanse did here, a modern day masterpiece that stands with Sand Hills as the best course I've seen that was built after 1990)
Most Overrated Golf Course – Honors Course (great setting and atmosphere, but not even in my personal Top 100), Runner Up – Dallas National (again, great atmosphere, but doesn’t even belong in the same sentence as Colonial)
Hardest Course – Olympic Lake (plays longest vs. the yardage of any course I’ve ever played), Runner Up – Metedeconk National (trouble aplenty and lightening fast greens)
Best Walking Course – Hidden Creek (proximity of tees and greens make it a joy to walk), Runner Up – Merion (a delight to walk)
Most Spectacular Course – Fisher’s Island (visually, even more spectacular than Cypress Point), Runner Up – Friar’s Head (the holes in the dunes are breathtaking)
Course I'd Most Like to See Again – When I played LACC North, it was still in the midst of the Gil Hanse bunker restoration (LACC is scary good already, and when the renovations are completed, I think it will easily be the best of George Thomas' LA triumverate)
Best Conditioned Course – Cal Club (extremely firm and fast, flawless), Runner Up – Shinnecock (firm and fast with beautifully maintained fescue grasses, which is no small feat)
Coolest Man-Made Object on a Golf Course – Windmill at NLGA (iconic), Runner Up – Swinging Bridge and Tunnels at Bel-Air (marvels of engineering back in the day and clever way to accomplish the routing)
Best Clubhouse – Shinnecock (America’ first clubhouse, and designed by Stanford White to boot), Runner Up – Farmington Country Club (designed by Thomas Jefferson, that’s all)
Best Locker Room – Merion (the locker room by which all others should be measured), Runner Up – tie between SFGC (love the framed portrait of Harvey Ward over the fireplace and the dueling pistols in the corner) and TCC (an entire building unto itself, with old metal lockers from the last century)
Best Shower – Merion (imagine standing under Niagara Falls and you’d be close), Runner Up – Boston Golf Club (outside shower overlooking the 18th green, with a chest-high stone wall for privacy)
Best Bar – Cal Club (full of great characters, a guy’s guy kind of place), Runner Up – Bel-Air (full of celebrities, hard not to be captivated when the great Carroll Shelby is sitting at the table next to you)
Best Bartender – Curly at NGLA (there’s just something about that red jacket), Runner Up – tie between Fernando at TCC (you know he’s good when there’s a drink named after him) and Steve Healey at Carnegie Abbey (see reference below on Friendliest Staff)
Best Cocktail – “Southside” with Mount Gay Rum at NGLA (all others are mere imposters), “Fernando” at The Country Club (a rum based concoction invented and served by Fernando, the legendary bartender at TCC, one's not enough and two's too many)
Best Lunch – NGLA (I have to agree with the consensus that the lobster lunch in the dining room is the best lunch in all of golf), Runner Up – Jockey Club (Argentine Bife de Chorizo served with a nice Malbec, while overlooking the beautiful grounds)
Best Halfway House Food – Burger Dog at Olympic Club (it more than lives up to its reputation as the best halfway house food in all of golf), Runner Up – Fish Tacos at Dallas National (to die for)
Friendliest Staff – Hidden Creek (name me another club where the waitresses give you a hug when they see you), Runner Up – Carnegie Abbey (the bartender actually drove out to our group on the golf course with aged single malt scotch served from a traditional pewter Quaich)
Best Lodging – Sleepy Hollow (the rooms are in a clubhouse built for the Vanderbilt family, what more need I say), Runner-Up – Hidden Creek (nothing can beat the Lodge at Hidden Creek for a group)
Most Charming Feature – The shoe cubbies at Fisher’s Island (no locker room, just a tiny room off the golf shop with slots for your street shoes, classic Yankee sensibility), Runner Up – The separate North and South locker rooms at Cal Club (with old framed black and white photos of each member attached to their locker)
Things That Gave Me Chills – The reconstructed office of Ben Hogan adjacent to the golf shop at Colonial and the Ben Hogan Trophy Room upstairs in the clubhouse (those five US Open medals sure look the same to me, except that one says “Hale America Open” on the back), Runner Up – tie between the Macdonald Library at NGLA, the Trophy Room at Merion and the Francis Ouimet Wall in the Grill Room at TCC (you can feel the ghosts of Macdonald, Jones and Ouimet)
Best Overall Experience – Merion (my favorite golf course on the planet) on my birthday with my good buddy (West in the morning, lunch on the patio, East in the afternoon, drinks in the Trophy Room…it just doesn’t get any better than that), Runner Up – a tie between NGLA and The Country Club (both are near mythical experiences, full of history, tradition, and charm – places that I had read about and dreamed of someday playing, and both exceeded my lofty expectations)
Most Fun Round – My day at The Honors with a terrific host was by far the most fun I've had all year on the golf course. We had a great match with a couple of friends that featured one of my opponents needing to make a 3 footer on 18 to halve the match....the pressure was so great his hands were visibly shaking (he made the putt and avoided losing the two dollar bet).
Best Event – The Walker Cup at Merion was hands down the best golf event I've ever attended. Sitting on the patio having breakfast while the best college players teed off 10 feet away is a memory I'll carry with me always. There's just something about watching match play over my favorite course in the world with young, talented players who played for their countries. The ability to walk with the players in the fairways was easily one of my favorite experiences at any sporting event. One observation: Watch out for Ricky Fowler –- he's the real deal and he was hitting shots that no other player had. A future star in the making if ever I saw one. It's players like Ricky Fowler and Anthony Kim that give me hope in a post-Tiger world of golf.
Club Where I’d Most Like to be a Member – Merion (I love everything about it; the quintessential golf club), Runner Up – Cal Club (a great golf course and an even greater bunch of guys; wish it were closer)
Best wishes to all for a joyous holiday season.
Jim