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Tom Culley

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A little about me.
« on: June 20, 2012, 05:38:18 AM »
Ok, i never quite know the etiquette for joining a new forum, so I'm just going to go ahead and write a little something about myself, and hope not to take too much abuse for it.

My name is Tom and I am a 20 year old marketing student from Buckinghamshire, England.
I have played golf for all of my life, and currently play off 13.

My parents own and run a small 9 hole golf course in Bucks, built by my great grandfather Reg Garrad, who was a fairly well known professional in his day. The course, whilst short, is extremely demanding of the player, and I hope to write a profile on it later this month. I am extremely interested to hear the views about our course of people 'in the know', and discuss some potential improvement ideas i have had.

Whilst at university in Canterbury, i play my golf at Colt's Canterbury Golf Club as i cannot quite afford the fees at Sandwich.

I am a keen collector of all things golf, however my main interests are open championship and walker cup programmes.

Favourite course played: St Enedoc (Church)
Favourite course not played: Merion
Favourite player of all time: Tom Watson

I will happily host at either Ivinghoe or Canterbury if anyone is interested.

Congratulations if you have made it this far :P

Signing Off.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Mark Pearce

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2012, 05:41:53 AM »
Tom,

Which 9 holer in Bucks do your parents own?  Whereabouts in Bucks do you come from?  I grew up in Chalfont St Giles.
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In July I will be riding two stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity, including Mont Ventoux for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2012, 05:47:41 AM »
Mark,

Ivinghoe Golf Club is our family course, it was built by my great grandfather Reg in 1967. Reg also built Little Chalfont golf club, and my Mother hit the opening tee shot there as a teenager! He was also head professional at Ellesborough for many moons, before resigning from the PGA in a well documented dispute over the price that clubs were sold for.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Kris Shreiner

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2012, 06:21:41 AM »
Tom,

Thanks for the intro, and welcome to the tree house! Sounds like Reg was a doer. Nice contributions to the game in your area...hope you carry on the legacy. If you can make it over to Merion next year let me know and we'll put you on the guest list for our event we are hosting there during the 2013 U.S. Open week.

Cheers,
Kris 8)

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"I said in a talk at the Dunhill Tournament in St. Andrews a few years back that I thought any of the caddies I'd had that week would probably make a good golf course architect. We all want to ask golfers of all abilities to get more out of their games -caddies do that for a living." T.Doak

Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2012, 06:32:37 AM »
Kris,

Thanks for that kind offer, if i win the lottery i will be sure to make it out to Merion for the US Open :p

If you are interested, here are some newspaper article from the 60s about my great grandfather: http://ivinghoegolfclub.co.uk/history/ they make for quite interesting reading in my opinion.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Adam Makepeace

Re: A little about me.
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2012, 06:34:00 AM »
Your own 9 hole course - what an awesome way to grow up!

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David_Elvins

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2012, 06:48:57 AM »
Quote from: Tom Culley on June 20, 2012, 06:32:37 AM
Kris,

Thanks for that kind offer, if i win the lottery i will be sure to make it out to Merion for the US Open :p

If you are interested, here are some newspaper article from the 60s about my great grandfather: http://ivinghoegolfclub.co.uk/history/ they make for quite interesting reading in my opinion.

Oh no, Reg drove a golf cart. Don't let Melvyn see that.

Welcome aboard, I look forward to you profile of ivinghoe. 
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Ask not what GolfClubAtlas can do for you; ask what you can do for GolfClubAtlas.

Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2012, 06:53:43 AM »
Haha not to name drop or anything, but the photo of him in the cart is when he was waiting for his game with Eisenhower...
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Sean Walsh

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2012, 07:04:58 AM »
As far as name dropping goes that's well above banal.

Welcome
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Scott Warren

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2012, 07:28:04 AM »
Tom,

Welcome. You'll find a great group of GCA folks around your neck of the woods.

Canterbury is a fine course over some great land, and remarkably faithful to what Colt put on the ground all those years ago. From memory of what our resident Colt expert Paul Turner told me a couple of years back when I visited, only the 4th (originally played straight) and 18th (fairway realigned to accommodate practice fairway) have been substantially altered.

I particularly enjoyed the par threes -- 2, 11 and 17 are outstanding holes and 8 has a great green -- though the topiary is something I never quite reconciled myself with. Part of me found it amusing in a charming way, part of me hates it.

It's not Sandwich, sure, but for a student of golf architecture that must be a really interesting course to get to know well.
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Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2012, 08:04:25 AM »
Scott,

It's nice to see that other GCA members know of Canterbury. When i moved to Kent i had never heard of the course, and was extremely impressed on first playing. I feel there are is only one very weak hole, 6, but i don't know what else could have been done on that land.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Scott Warren

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2012, 08:11:52 AM »
Tony Muldoon played alongside me the day I visited and was similarly impressed.

I agree that 6 is a weak spot, but there's not much else you could have done to link 5 green to 7 tee, and the trees right seem somewhat necessary given the 7th tee being where it is.

Of the par fours, 10, 12, 14 and 15 stand out in my memory as highlights, with the latter proof that the ODG (old dead guys) could move dirt when they needed to, such as building up that green on the hillside.

One thing I recall really fondly of Canterbury is that -- perhaps because the club is limited in means -- many of Colt's cavernous, large scale greenside bunkers haven't been minced with and separated into two or three small insipid hazards. Those big, bold traps are a highlight of the course.
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Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2012, 08:19:36 AM »
The trouble with 6 is that when the course is firm is, the best spot for you ball off the tee is the left rough, and that just doesn't seem right.

14 is my favourite hole on the golf course, it prevents a challenge no matter what club you hit off the tee, and on a windy day can prove extremely troubling for a hole of short length.

With regards to the bunkers i could not agree with you more, the bunkering on 15, and the green side trap on the first are superb.

Are you from the area? I will happily host there if you would like to play it again.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Jud_T

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2012, 08:27:52 AM »
Tom,

Welcome aboard.  Don't want to preempt your photo tour but in taking a quick look at the Ivinghoe site the first thing that jumps out is the demanding drive off the "out of bounds" first!:

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Golf is a game. We play it. Somewhere along the way we took the fun out of it and charged a premium to be punished.- - Ron Sirak

Scott Warren

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2012, 08:33:00 AM »
Unfortunately (in some ways, fortunately in others) I'm now living back in Sydney. I lived in London from 2008-2010 and fortunately got down to Kent fairly regularly.

As well as the obvious allure of the links courses down there, try to get across to Chart Hills some time. It is much better than it appears. Likewise, Knole Park, Wildernesse and West Kent have pedigree and plenty to recommend them.
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Tom Culley

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #15 on: June 20, 2012, 08:35:31 AM »
Jud,

I must admit, it can be a nerve wracking first tee shot in the Club Championship! Fortunately, the way to play the hole it to hit about a 170 yard shot down the hill, and depending on the wind, this can be between a 5 or 8 iron. This shot leaves either a running shot to a back pin, or a 70 yard wedge shot.

The green can actually be taken on from the tee, but the shot required is not easy in the slightest.
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

James Boon

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2012, 08:40:23 AM »
Tom,

Welcome to Golf Club Atlas!

If you ever find yourself heading to the Midlands, let me know as I'm always happy to host GCAers at Notts GC.

Its good to see that despite the bad press the younger generation in this country gets that all is not lost. I'm of course referring to your choice of the phrase "many moons ago" ;D

Cheers,

James
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2023 Highlights: Hollinwell, Brora, Parkstone, Cavendish, Hallamshire, Sandmoor, Moortown, Elie, Crail, St Andrews (Himalayas & Eden), Chantilly, M, Hardelot Les Pins, Alwoodley

Mark McKeever

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #17 on: June 20, 2012, 08:53:20 AM »
Welcome to the madness Tom.  Another young gun on the board!

Mark
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Best MGA showers - Bayonne

"Dude, he's a total d***"

Tom Culley

  • Total Karma: 0
Re: A little about me.
« Reply #18 on: June 20, 2012, 09:10:33 AM »
Quote from: James Boon on June 20, 2012, 08:40:23 AM
Tom,

Welcome to Golf Club Atlas!

If you ever find yourself heading to the Midlands, let me know as I'm always happy to host GCAers at Notts GC.

Its good to see that despite the bad press the younger generation in this country gets that all is not lost. I'm of course referring to your choice of the phrase "many moons ago" ;D

Cheers,

James


James,

Thank you very much for that kind offer. I loved Hollinwell when i caddied there for a game, but am yet to play it.

I have several friends at university in the midlands, so will definitely be up there at some point next year. Last month i visited a friend in Nottingham and played Beeston Fields, it was a very enjoyable course!
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"Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf."

Brian Colbert

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Re: A little about me.
« Reply #19 on: June 20, 2012, 09:25:42 AM »
20-somethings invading GCA! We takin' over
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