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JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #25 on: April 05, 2013, 01:15:07 PM »
Good choices, but how does Rosalind Russell not get on that list?! And what about Myrna Loy? (Just for the opening in The Thin Man - "I'll have five martinis, please"). Not to mention Rita Hayworth, and also Maureen O'Hara (even just for The Quiet Man alone). Yes, my goodness Grace Kelly was remarkably lovely.  And for a little quirk (that i don't think is quirk at all) Charlotte Rampling is right there - I mean, a little younger (in Stardust Memories) and then a little older (in The Verdict) -- wow!

Peter

Peter,+1000 on Myrna Loy in that scene,but come on,Garbo and Deneuve are the RM-W and PVGC of this competition.

Peter Pallotta

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #26 on: April 05, 2013, 01:40:48 PM »
I wouldn't even argue with you, Jeff - but to mangle the analogy, Rosalind Russell and Myrna Loy are the type of girls that a fella could happily hang around with every single day...

Peter

PS - And yes, like David O, I want to know what Sandy shot!

Gib_Papazian

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #27 on: April 06, 2013, 01:24:58 AM »
Michelle Pfeiffer

End of discussion.

Ben Sims

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #28 on: April 06, 2013, 12:55:31 PM »
Gib,

Sweet tea coursing through my veins, it's damn near impossible not to be in love with Augusta National.  I guess it's a Georgia thing.  But as you know, last year I got to spend a few days with the girl.  Lets be very honest, she's stupid hot.  But there's a brain there too.  Cynical Luddites are the first on this site to dismiss Augusta. And I love me some classic, scruffy, architecture.  But Augusta is THAT good. 

I've seen a few of the tip toppy bests in this country and my assertion is this.  If I had five rounds left to play in my life, Augusta would be right up at #1.  Followed closely by NGLA, Ballyneal, Cypress, and somewhere at Bandon.  How's that strike you?

Gib_Papazian

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #29 on: April 06, 2013, 03:59:33 PM »
Ben,

Again, I am not discounting or quarreling with the opinions or selections of anybody on this board. Everybody here - even Anthony Butler - has a valid reason for liking this course better than that one. Art and the philosophy of aesthetics are obviously extremely subjective; taste is both intellectual and visceral and deep thinkers are all hardwired differently.

It has just always surprised me how few architecture intellectuals jump to the defense of Augusta National over PV or NGLA. Clearly, there are a few here, but I'll still assert that the majority would not put Augusta atop their personal list. This might be a perception the golf course is not treated as a holy shrine - and that over time with different tweaks and permutations, Augusta National is more movie set than historic layout.

The only MacKenzie bunker on the course is largely decorative - which makes the layout more R.T. Jones Sr. than anything else, including St. Bobby Jones himself. The presentation of the golf course is ephemeral at best and the 18th hole appears no better than #18 at Cypress Point. It is impossible to evaluate in a vacuum - unless one could find a group of architecture experts who have never heard of The Masters.

I myself have to admit a complete inability to impartially rate a Raynor course; The Evangelist of Golf penetrated my DNA and yet my father - quite well traveled himself - thought NGLA was a silly exercise in "goofy golf" and wondered aloud why I had spent so much time writing about it. He rolled his eyes at the statue of C.B. in the library and thought my talking to the paintings above the hearth symptomatic of heat stroke or an acid flashback from my misspent youth.

It is all in how your eyes and brain filter and arrange the stimulus. Lauren Bacall looks to me like a horse-faced cautionary tale of a sex-change operation gone awry, but 90% of my fellow filmmakers place her top 10 sexiest actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I would crawl over nine miles of broken glass to undress Julianne Moore, but my best friend thinks she is a lipless librarian with small tits and pasty skin.

I think Gauguin's paintings are no better than Matt Groening's cartoons, but find Monet and van Gogh's work hypnotically beautiful. My first inclination is to set key lights as Rembrandt would have placed a candle, yet spent far less time in the Louvre than the Impressionist Museum. Why? Because I like NGLA better than even P.V. or County Down for the same reason I'll sit through a horrible movie like Dogville because I cannot avert my eyes from Nicole Kidman.

Not sure if that makes sense - but Armenians are not known for mystical koans.    
« Last Edit: April 06, 2013, 06:53:23 PM by Gib Papazian »

Mike Hendren

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #30 on: April 06, 2013, 05:33:49 PM »
Sandy, at what yardage did you play?

What was the most difficult tee shot you faced?  The easiest?

What was the most difficult approach?  The easiest?

Where were you duped?

Where were you psyched out?

How many times did you 3+ putt?  Did you de-green?

What was your favorite par four?  Par three?  Par five?

How was the second shot at the 8th?

Thanks.

Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #31 on: April 06, 2013, 05:49:52 PM »
Peter P., you don't have Ms. Scicolone on your list.  I'm surprised at you!!!! 
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #32 on: April 06, 2013, 06:13:20 PM »
Gib,

I understand what you're saying about # 1.

ANGC is certainly a great golf course, one that anyone would be happy to play on a one time or daily basis.

But, I wonder if the failure to attain # 1 has something to do with the "eggshell" factor ?

I don't know how relaxed one feels while on site at alot of clubs, especially the icons.

Of the courses you named, SHGC is probably the most relaxed.

Certainly, we'd be happy playing ANGC  every day, to the exclusion of every other course.

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #33 on: April 06, 2013, 06:27:07 PM »
Sandy, at what yardage did you play?

What was the most difficult tee shot you faced?  The easiest?

What was the most difficult approach?  The easiest?

Where were you duped?

Where were you psyched out?

How many times did you 3+ putt?  Did you de-green?

What was your favorite par four?  Par three?  Par five?

How was the second shot at the 8th?

Thanks.



Sandy has a very tidy golf game.  These answers will be interesting. 

Jeff Taylor

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #34 on: April 06, 2013, 06:43:24 PM »
"It is splitting hairs to be sure, but NGLA - to me - stands alone."

Thank you for the validation.
The best day of my life.

Wade Whitehead

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #35 on: April 06, 2013, 07:04:14 PM »
Thou shalt not covet, but, man, I am.

WW

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #36 on: April 06, 2013, 11:04:16 PM »
Gib,

If given the choice to play one course, for the rest of my life, to the exclusion of all others, it would be NGLA.

I've often asked myself why I'd make that election.

I think there are a number of factors, and not in any particular order:

1.    The course isn't overpowering
2.    The variety in the holes and individual shots is enormous
3.    It's fun
4.    It's challenging
5.    The wind
6.    Fast and firm enhance the architecture, play and variety
7.    Width
8.    The putting surfaces
9.    The surrounds and use of runoff
10.  The chain decisions create
11    The uncertainty and chance created by blind and semi blind shots
12.   The wind
13.   The terrain
14.   Views of the holes from the tee
15.   The way the course is maintained
16.   Greens within greens

I'll think of more later

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #37 on: April 07, 2013, 09:42:01 AM »
Gib, Jeff and all those that prefer NGLA,

Would you say that the amount of "quirk" factors, significantly, into your decision ?

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #38 on: April 07, 2013, 11:13:23 AM »
Gib,

Regarding your secondary selection.
We have different choices

If I was stranded on a desert island with five women, they would be.

Megan Kelly
Chelsea Handler
Allie Laforce
Savanah Guthrie
Martha Maccallum

And Joan Rivers would be a passing by in a raft swept by the currents every 6th day  ;D

Sandy Smith

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #39 on: April 07, 2013, 01:08:46 PM »
Pete , what is this fade thing you talk about? Have never seen or heard of such a thing!

I truly think ANGC is so different of a course and club that it is very hard to compare it with any thing else. It certainly was like no other I've seen before.
For what it's worth I shot 84. I had 37 putts and dunked it in the pond on 16. My index is 3.1.
The course was much tougher than I imagined. We played the members tees at  6400 yards. The conditions were perfect. The fairways and greens both firm and fast.
Some thoughts
- Around the greens the course has a links feel. The putter is not a poor play.
- Tee shots on 7,11,17 and 18 are tighter than I expected.
-  Because of the wonderful routing I didn't notice the changes in elevation as I expected.
-  I did not see a putt over 10 feet that I thought was simple. I can now see why older players have an advantage playing there. Course knowledge 
    is a huge advantage. I would love to see Crenshaw roll it there.
- #12 is a scarier hole than one can imagine.
-  The par 3 course is a treat to play and is kept just like the big course.

Like I've said earlier I feel very lucky to have been invited.

 
Firm greens, firmer fairways.

Dan Herrmann

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #40 on: April 07, 2013, 01:21:18 PM »
Sandy - thanks for sharing!

My Augusta experience was during 2 practice rounds in 2005.  Parked in back, up on top of #13.  Queued up at 6:30 because I was so excited.  After walking down the steps, I found myself in one of the most amazingly beautiful places I've ever been; a truly special place.  This GCA geek fell in love with the course, and the lust persists.

If you don't like ANGC, check out the 3-D coverage.  Only then can you appreciate on TV what you "get" in person.


Gib_Papazian

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #41 on: April 07, 2013, 02:41:38 PM »
Patrick,

Sitting and thinking about it, the primary allure of NGLA (to me) is the overwhelming sensation of playing golf in an enormous Fun House - a combination of Disneyland, Chutes and Ladders, three dimensional chess and a perseverative compulsion to keep running the same movie over and over again without ever coming close to fully digesting it. It is trite, but that old saw about golf in which "you may exhaust yourself, but never your subject" holds true here.

It is certainly possible Augusta would inspire the same kind of obsessive madness, I just don't know. Cypress Point is interesting because the least spectacular of the holes are often the most intellectually challenging. My favorite on the golf course is #4 - which surprises nearly everyone - yet my sense is that the otherworldly ocular overload on a macro scale tends to divert attention away from the little details that make Cypress so outstanding.

NGLA is absolutely beautiful, but let's face it, the eastern wall of America does not compare to the grandiose spectacle of the Pacific pounding against our jagged coastline here. That may annoy the Eastophiles, but them be the facts. That stated, the least intricate hole at NGLA is more intricate than the most intricate hole anywhere out west - with the possible exception of a couple standouts in Bandon.

Patrick, when evaluating the relative merits of the fairer sex, my history of serial monogamy - interspersed with the occasional torrid tryst - puts me in upper management for certain, but not in the boardroom. You are the CEO Emeritus of all things femina pulchra, so I'll defer to your superior wisdom.      
« Last Edit: April 07, 2013, 02:44:22 PM by Gib Papazian »

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #42 on: April 07, 2013, 03:07:41 PM »
Gib,

I like the "funhouse" analogy.

ANGC is a wonderful golf course but the scale almost eliminates the opportunity for the quirk found at NGLA.

Both courses enjoy width, both have interesting topography, both have interesting greens and both are the product of great architects and great players, but somehow they "feel" entirely different.

ANGC is a great golf course, but I seem, like many, to have formed a more intimate feel with NGLA

Jeff Taylor

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Very lucky
« Reply #43 on: April 07, 2013, 08:12:37 PM »
"Would you say that the amount of "quirk" factors, significantly, into your decision ?"

If that were true, I would have picked North Berwick.

NGLA is the meeting of truth and beauty. Sometimes, they get it right. NGLA is one of those examples. We can talk about art all we want. It will just be a conversation about art. NGLA wins every time, for me.

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Very lucky
« Reply #44 on: April 08, 2013, 07:54:40 AM »
Jeff,

When "quirk" equates to a challenge that's fun to meet, the answer is yes.