List - The ones that got away

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Thought you might enjoy these stories of courses I could have played but didn't for a variety of reasons:

1. Cypress Point.  I am wiping the tears off my IPad screen as I type this.  The unaccompanied foursome was arranged through a long time member and I planned on bringing 3 clients with me.  I was forced to cancel due to a schedule conflict at work but forced myself to look at the weather the day we were supposed to play.  75 and Sunny, 10 mph breeze.

2. Oakmont.  Arranged to play on my way out to Columbus from Philly.  The day arrived and it was raining cats and dogs in Pittsburgh.  I drove right THROUGH the course but never played it.

3. Newport.  Scheduled a round during a weekend getaway with my wife.  Two days before, I wrenched my neck trying to hit a 4 iron on the 7th hole at Cobb's Creek.  I refused to cancel, and woke up at dawn the day of the round and headed out on Ocean Drive.  After pulling into someone's driveway thinking it was the course (they had a replica hole in their front yard), I was the first to arrive at the club.  I couldn't lift the club past my waist and had to cancel.  I ended up walking 18 holes with two ladies who were the first ones off.

4.  Pebble Beach.  I was single, in San Diego, and had a free weekend.  I heard Pebble might have openings for singles if you called the day before and I thought I might enjoy the trip up the coast.  They did have an opening when I called Friday morning but it was early Saturday morning requiring an 8 hour drive after work and no sleep (not to mention $400).  The only time I have ever wussed out.

5.  National.  I was booked to play in a corporate golf outing at Shinnecock, which teed off at 1pm.  I then arranged to play National that morning for my dream 36.  A number of the outing players complained they would be battling traffic after the round at Shinny so they moved up the start time.  I was only able to take a quick tour of National on a cart at dawn but it was still awesome.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

More to come...

[Jeff_Brauer]

Geoffrey,

I had a similar CP story, way back in about 1980.  I had arranged to play via a Chicago assistant pro who wintered there.  When I got up there, presented my name and my intro letter, the pro in question was "off for the day" although I suspected he was now permanently off the payroll, or hiding in back as the pro told me there was nothing on the books saying I was supposed to play.

Other than that, I would say I have been pretty lucky, although in choosing to play Royal Melbourne 3 times I did leave a few of the other worthy courses for a quick cart tour, which dissapointed me greatly after seeing them, and seeing them as nearly equals to RM.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

6. Double Eagle.  My dad was perplexed when I told him we were taking our annual golf trip to Columbus, OH.  Then when I told him about the itinerary (The Golf Club, Scioto, Muirfield Village, Scarlet and Double Eagle) he stopped asking questions.  Bottom line is we ran out of time and couldn't slot it in over the long weekend.  No greater compliment can be paid to a golf destination.

7. Sand Hills.  Another tearjerker for me that frankly I had forgotten.  I wrote Dick Youngscap in 1999 and he was gracious enough to grant me a foursome.  I then went about trying to find 3 people who would make the trip to central Nebraska.  Everyone thought I was out of my mind.  2 years later I gave up, which I still regret to this day.

8. Torrey Pines South.  As a Bethpage devotee I was excited to play the West Coast version.  Showed up only to find out Rees had started his work and all the greens were roped off.  I "played" the course with temp holes in the fairway 50 yards short of the greens.  One of the most frustrating rounds of my life.

9.  Pinehurst #2.  Initial golf trip with my Dad was at Pinehurst in 1999.  #2 was closed down for the championship.  We then flew to Vegas where my mom wanted me to put a bet on "the guy with the knickers" at 20 to 1.  I told her she didn't know what she was talking about.

10. Kapalua Plantation*.  Flew halfway across the globe to play the course.  Upon arrival, it rained so hard that you couldn't see the pool from the lobby of the hotel.  After two days (and still raining), I grabbed my clubs and headed out to the van.  The bellman greeted me with "we have an optimist!".  The starter rushed out to tell me there were no refunds.  I played the whole round but never saw any views.  My par from the tips on 18 was the highlight but I'd love to have the experience of playing it under normal conditions.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Jeff,

To make matters even sadder, the member passed away the following year.

All - apologies for the typos, I can't figure out how to scroll down in the message window on my IPad to correct them.

[Carl Nichols]

Geoffrey-
If you figure out how to do that on your ipad, let me know -- I've had the same issue.

[Tim Bert]

IPad window in screen scrolling. Use 3 finger and drag the direction you want to move. ...

Sorry, make that 2 fingers.

[John Foley]

7. Sand Hills.  Another tearjerker for me that frankly I had forgotten.  I wrote Dick Youngscap in 1999 and he was gracious enough to grant me a foursome.  I then went about trying to find 3 people who would make the trip to central Nebraska.  Everyone thought I was out of my mind.  2 years later I gave up.

Geoff - I did the same thing late in the same year. Was invited to bring a 4 some for 2000.

It astounds me the number of people I ask to fill out my group who love golf who looked at me and said there is no way I'm going to the middle to Nebraska to play golf. I had two solid guys, but it I could not get the 4th myself and one of my friends brought his dad.

Since then I did turn down a return trip because I was training for my first marathon. Would have loved it, but just had no way to do both.

[Mac Plumart]

I am having a hard time comprehending this.

Why not just go to Sand Hills by yourself to play if no one will go with you?  You passed up a round at NGLA because traffic would be too bad on the way home? 

I can't tell you home many times I've had to explain this to people, you've got to get your priorities straight.  Golf, first.  Everything else a distant second.   

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Mac,

The outing at Shinnecock was moved up by other participants making it impossible for me to play at National that morning.

As far as Sand Hills, I was in my early 20's had just gotten an entry level job and lived in the Northeast.  I just couldn't justify the time and cost to make the trip and play alone  I don't particularly enjoy playing alone... I would rather be able to share the expeience with others, especially at a place like Sand Hills.

[astavrides]

I am having a hard time comprehending this.

Why not just go to Sand Hills by yourself to play if no one will go with you?  You passed up a round at NGLA because traffic would be too bad on the way home? 

Mac, go back and reread the National one.

But in general, yeah, cry me a river, Geoff.

[Kyle Harris]

It seems that Geoff is understanding that these situations are somewhat inane - hence "the ones that got away."

[PThomas]

tough stuff Geoff, but maybe you have lots of good luck headed your way!

i must add, however, that not playing Torrey Pines does NOT belong on this list..you missed little if anything there!

[Bruce Katona]

Pine Valley- The boss & I were invited to play by a business contact.  Woke up to pouring rain in northern NJ.  Went to the office to fetch the boss for the 2 hour drive ( we had a 11:30  tee time), boss said he was not going to drive 2 hours to slog around for 5 hours being miserable on a very difficult golf course.  Called our host to cnacel as the sun broke our in southern NJ.  Oops

2 years later I am called in to pinch hit at the very last minute for my wife's boss who is hosting 2 foursomes at PV for the afternoon and dinner at.  What a beautiful sun shiny 75 degree day we had.  Don't remember much more than that.  I did keep my scorecard.

[Mike Cirba]

Geoff,

Good to have "recaptured" one with you this past fall.

You should have come to Boston, though. 

[Terry Lavin]

Ten years or so ago, I was in Palm Beach on business and my uncle hooked me up with a round at Seminole.  I awoke that day to a relentless rain.  We met at a coffee shop in Jupiter, I believe, and waited an hour while it continued to rain.  I had to catch a flight back to Chicago that evening, so my best shot at Seminole evaporated that day...

[Jud_T]

 I was supposed to play Beverly the day that Russia defaulted and had a buddy sitting on the Tarmac at Newark to come play Butler with me on 9/11...Moral of the story is, for the sake of society, under no circumstances invite me to your club!  

[Terry Lavin]

I was supposed to play Beverly the day that Russia defaulted and had a buddy sitting on the Tarmac at Kennedy to come play Butler with me on 9/11...Moral of the story is, for the sake of society, under no circumstances invite me to your club! 

If I had a dollar for every time somebody pulled the "Russia Defaulted" line to get out of a game at the Bev, I'd...BE BROKE!

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Many years ago I was recording some organ music for the BBC in a church in Helsingborg in Sweden. The recordings were made in the evening, so I had the days free. In advance I contacted three clubs to see if I could play. No trouble. Could I hire left-handed clubs? No problem. In Helsingborg I hired a bicycle. I road out to Rya - not the shortest ride in the world. At the pro's shop I produced their letter. The woman behind the counter was immediately very embarrassed. They only had one set of left-handed hire clubs and the pro had taken them with him to give a lesson somewhere else. He wasn't expected back that day. On another occasion I rode out past the topless beaches to Helsingborg's own 9-hole links course. There wasn't anybody there from whom one could have hired clubs. At least the journeys out and back were scenic. Finally I attempted the rather longer journey to play Molle. The final climb up to the course would have been easier on a mountain bike. It was a lovely spot, but the clubhouse/shop was closed and there was nobody about to ask. There were a number of children playing but no adults who might have been able to help. So I walked the course. It's very short at 5200 metres but fabulously scenic, wandering about on a rocky outcrop with spectacular views of the Baltic and no end of very pretty holes.

I've never managed to play Falsterbo, either, despite a number of trips to Sweden. But I've been very close - only a few hundred feet above it, looking down from a plane having just taken off from Copenhagen airport for Wroclaw.

[Phil McDade]

Passed on a round at The Old Course.

St. Andrews was the last stop on my 10-day trip through Scotland, and I had pre-arranged several rounds, including a Monday morning round at Crail. I played a wonderful round on the Eden on Sunday with two St. Andrews residents, walked TOC as night fell (passing Payne Stewart and Lee Janzen along the way -- this was in 1999, when the Open Championship was being played at Carnoustie, and many of the players were staying in St. Andrews and taking a hovercraft across the firth to play there), then had a wonderful dinner at the Dunvegan, where I hung out and drank beers with Nick Price, among others.

The next morning, just for kicks, I wandered down to the starter's booth at TOC, and inquired about a single getting on. The only opening (and he was quite gracious, contrary to what I'd heard to expect) was at exactly the time I had scheduled my round at Crail. During my trip, I took seriously the notion of being a "guest" in the country of my forefathers, and took very seriously the notion of keeping appointments and being on schedule. So I kept my appointed tee time at Crail, was paired up with a gentleman pastor from California (lucky me -- he knew the pro at Crail), and the two of us after our round spent hours in the clubhouse afterward, right next to the bay window of the clubhouse that overlooks the course, as my newly found pastor friend worked on a plot for the pro to get him onto Muirfield. Because those two days were so enjoyable, I've never really regretted bypassing TOC.

I haven't been back since.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

It seems that Geoff is understanding that these situations are somewhat inane - hence "the ones that got away."

astavrides - Kyle is spot on... I wasn't looking for sympathy.  I blame myself on a few of these for not making the effort/sacrifices to take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself for a variety of reasons.  My guess is that others have had similar situations which they still think about to this day.  It is also meant to reinforce to everyone that you should always live life (and play golf) with a sense of urgency... You never know if your first opportunity is your last!

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Geoff,

Good to have "recaptured" one with you this past fall.

You should have come to Boston, though. 

I would have been served divorce papers if I had accompanied you to Boston, but two of the MA based courses you played are deserving candidates for #11 & 12 on this list.

[Daryl David]

Was invited to play ANGC with a friend whose boss was a member.  The whole 9 yards: stay in a cabin, 3 rounds and dinners.  Once in a lifetime deal.  2 weeks before the trip my friend calls with what he calls great news.  He has just taken a new job with huge new responsibilities in a new company.  I ask if that changes our trip to Augusta with what will now be his old boss.  He say casually, that the trip is off due to how pissed off they are that he is quitting.  I have often wondered how hard it would have been to delay his resignation for 2 damn weeks! 

[PThomas]

Was invited to play ANGC with a friend whose boss was a member.  The whole 9 yards: stay in a cabin, 3 rounds and dinners.  Once in a lifetime deal.  2 weeks before the trip my friend calls with what he calls great news.  He has just taken a new job with huge new responsibilities in a new company.  I ask if that changes our trip to Augusta with what will now be his old boss.  He say casually, that the trip is off due to how pissed off they are that he is quitting.  I have often wondered how hard it would have been to delay his resignation for 2 damn weeks! 

now THAT is brutal

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Was invited to play ANGC with a friend whose boss was a member.  The whole 9 yards: stay in a cabin, 3 rounds and dinners.  Once in a lifetime deal.  2 weeks before the trip my friend calls with what he calls great news.  He has just taken a new job with huge new responsibilities in a new company.  I ask if that changes our trip to Augusta with what will now be his old boss.  He say casually, that the trip is off due to how pissed off they are that he is quitting.  I have often wondered how hard it would have been to delay his resignation for 2 damn weeks! 

I am speechless on that one.  I feel for you, Daryl!