GCA Lollapalooza @ Paramount

[Brian Chapin]

Only a few days left to sign up!  The field has been growing fast the last 2 weeks. Now that the wet weather has passed the golf course has firmed up nicely and the course is playing really well!  We are hosting a MetAm SQR on Monday, July 1st so those of you attending can expect our best effort!  A few GCA guys have been out to play this past week and hopefully they can back me up so I'm not just patting myself on the back!

Those of you who have written to express interest but not yet confirmed, please do so ASAP so that we can get the pairings done this week.  Also a reminder to please let me know if you would like to have a caddie so that I can ensure availability.

[Michael Blake]

This thing still on?

I'll be coming up from Chatham NJ if anyone wants to carpool.

[Brian Chapin]

Definetly still on.  See you all Tuesday.

[Steve Lapper]

For all planning on attending tomorrow's soiree, It's most definitely  still ON!!

While the NY Metro area is getting drenched, the club has received less than the regional averages. In fact, we hosted the Met AM Qualifier today and had only a single rain delay. The low medal # in the house (with half the field in) is +1. I'd venture to guess that had is not rained as much as it did, that # might be closer to +4-5!!! (We don't Merionize either).

On behalf of Steve Scott, Brian and myself, we look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!!

[Brian Finn]

I was fortunate to play Paramount last weekend, and it was outstanding.  The bunker work is terrific - not only the restoration of original bunkers, but also the addition of new bunkers that fit perfectly, like they were part of the original design.  The greens were also quite good, with surface areas reclaimed allowing for additional pin positions and some interesting shots into and around the greens.  The course is in excellent condition and is tremendous fun to play (for all skill levels).  I am sure you will all have a great time.

[Robert West]

This will be my first GCA event, I have to admit I'm a little nervous... Looking forward to meeting you all.

[Stewart Abramson]

Thanks to Brian Chapin, Steve Scott, Steve Lapper, Jeff Mandelbaum and the entire staff at Paramount CC for hosting a wonderful day of golf and camaraderie today. They are rightly proud of the work that has been done at the course. Everyone I met had a great time and the rain held off for all but two holes. It was nice to meet a bunch of GCAer's. The day began with interesting presentations by Phil Young and Brad Klein and ended with a lively Q&A session, including a few Q's from the green- penned one himself and believe it or not, no moronic questions.  I was sorry to hear that Jim Urbina, who missed the event, is having medical issues with his knee. Get well soon Jim, and Kudos for the work at Paramount.

[Mike Sweeney]

A couple of thoughts:

* I played the course just before the Urbina restoration and liked the course, and the greens are now really fabulous and Brian had the place in perfect condition.

* It was the second time that I had "Billy" as a caddie and he had some fabulous reads on the greens.

* The people mentioned above really care about the course and they care, debate and listen to member and outside opinions before they make any decisions.

* Steve Lapper did a fabulous job of "getting the band back together". I apologize for not meeting more newbies, but it was fun to catch up with old friends.

* The club really reached out to us as a group and they wanted the feedback. I missed the speeches before, but the talk afterwards was interesting and unique. The food, staff and service were fantastic.

Thanks to all, a quick recovery by Jim Urbina and have a Happy 4th.

[Bill Brightly]

Thanks to Brian Chapin, Steve Scott, Steve Lapper, Jeff Mandelbaum and the entire staff at Paramount CC for hosting a wonderful day of golf and camaraderie today. They are rightly proud of the work that has been done at the course. Everyone I met had a great time and the rain held off for all but two holes. It was nice to meet a bunch of GCAer's. The day began with interesting presentations by Phil Young and Brad Klein and ended with a lively Q&A session, including a few Q's from the green- penned one himself and believe it or not, no moronic questions.  I was sorry to hear that Jim Urbina, who missed the event, is having medical issues with his knee. Get well soon Jim, and Kudos for the work at Paramount.

+1

A completely enjoyable GCA event, one of the best I have ever attended. It was so cool is to see the kind of restoration work we all would applaud done to a lesser known Tillinghast course. The green expansions were superb, and the absence of "protetctive rough collars" around fairway and greenside bunkers was a welcome sight. Although we had heavy rain yesterday and some more today, it is clear that the ground game is required to properly play the course on a daily basis. The green contours and pace of the greens make recovery shots a real challenge. A very interesting course that would require many plays to fully comprehend.

Congrats to to everyone mentioned above and thank you for hosting us!

Thanks also to the members who joined us. I'm sure they are still in a bit of shock after listening to such a large group of gca geeks, and I'd say the two white pines blocking a nice view of the Ramapo mountains on Hole 10 are toast.

[Dan Herrmann]

Was the road addressed as part of Jim's work?

[Mark Steffey]

i was confused as all get-go during lunch when Phil was talking about the reef hole.   he tells us that there are 4 known, and one is at newport.

ok, i immediately thought, #11!

drivable par 4 or par 3 (check)
mounding (check, two big mounds on the left and right of the green protecting it)
the 'reef' that protects the hole and makes the player think over options (check, the bunkers right side, and in the middle of the fairway guarding the landing area - in addition to the bunker on the other side of the fairway left and the property line preventing someone from just blowing it far over the 'reef'.
a place the player can play 'safe' (check - short and left of the middle fairway bunker).

but no..... Phil turns to the next slide and shows us that it is either 3 or 4.

3 is no way drivable (unless you are dustin johnson'ish).
4 isn't exactly an eden, but i think one could bunt a driver/3wd and run it up with little issue.

this made my head hurt on the drive home, as though a 6hr round trip wasn't enough 

[Patrick_Mucci]

It was a terrific day.

The playing surfaces were superb, especially considering the weather over the past month or so.

Fairways were tight and the greens fast and true.
Mark and his staff have done a remarkable job.

What's clear is ownership's committment to provide a superior product.
and, the keeping of an open mind when it comes to constructive suggestions, such as the one to remove the two white pines on the right side of the 10th hole 

I was shocked by the size of the putting surfaces, they're huge, totaling five acres.
I also liked the squared off green fronts and the ability to run the ball to almost every green.
The fairways are generous, making play more enjoyable for all levels of golfers.

Bill and I played with a member, Steve, who was delightful company, a good golfer and a great reader of greens.

What made the day even more enjoyable was that Steve and I managed to win some cash from Steve Lapper on the 5th hole.

All in all the club did a great job in making everyone feel welcome and Mark and his staff presented a terrific golf course.

Continued good luck to all involved.

[Mike Sweeney]

Was the road addressed as part of Jim's work?

Yes and no.

On number 1 (my 11th of the day), there may be a new tee but you still have to make a decision short or long of the road. They built some catch bunkers in front of the road. On #7, they moved the tee forward to make it easy to drive over the road and a now par 4. We talked about it afterwards, and it is still a discussion and a work in progress.

I personally like both the holes, but it is a genuine safety issue for car drivers.

[Brad Klein]

Lovely course, the greens are just fascinating. That road is obviously the major drawback but there's a way to get around it to avoid playing any shots across it; Would take a bit of rerouting. All it takes is a commitment and some money. Yesterday, we even "played" the par-3 hole (to the imagined new green site) needed to make the solution possible.

[Mark McKeever]

Where are the pictures??  (cough...Joe...cough..)

Mark

[Brian Chapin]

It was a terrific day.

The playing surfaces were superb, especially considering the weather over the past month or so.

Fairways were tight and the greens fast and true.
Mark and his staff have done a remarkable job. who is this Mark fellow?  I'd like to meet him!

[Joe Bausch]

Where are the pictures??  (cough...Joe...cough..)

Mark

Stay tuned of course.

Work calls this morning however.

[Brad Klein]

Kelly,

How would you propose closing a public course that provides access to a public park?

Playing "challenge" aside, the first hole is such a safety liability there little reason to save it. Convert the fairway to a short game area, preserve the first green as a practice putting green. Just start on 2, add length on 6 & 8 and create a new drop-down par-3 after the existing 6th skyline green -- this new hole would be the par-3 hole we "played" yesterday" and it's fine) and you've eliminated playing across the road. Then just play existing 7 as a short, nearly drivable par-4. The back nine is already wonderful and this way you'd reduce the obvious liabilities of the front nine.

[SteveOgulukian]

Has anyone recommended moving the road closer to the first green, at the base of the hill? Thiis way it's too far to reach off 1 tee, and close enough to clear from 7 tee.

[Brad Klein]

The topographic grades won't let you move that road closer to the green. And in any case, trying to move a public road, with all the permitting and engineering required, would cost a fortune and still be a safety nightmare.

[Patrick_Mucci]

 Brad,

# 1 and # 7 present a unique modern day challenge.

And I gave them some thought since yesterday.

On # 7, I'd rather move the tee back, beyond the old par 5 tee, such that drives could not reach the road.
Then, berm the tee side of the road, ala NGLA.

# 1 is more of a dilema.

I wondered what the cost to reroute the road for 200-400 yards would be.

There used to be a traffic light on the 7th tee that was synced with the traffic light on the corner.
Golfers could not tee off on # 7 until the light on the tee was green.
However, with right turns on red, that matter is complicated, hence you'd have to include a "no right turn on red" sign if you reinstated the traffic light, which the county might object to.

As to your suggestion to make the first half of # 1 fairway a practice area, I'd rather see the current 18th hole, a 195 yard par 3, extended to a par 4 utilizing the first  half of the 1st fairway.

As a finishing hole, I think it would be an improvement.

Then, you could use the area over the road as a short game practice area.

Westchester used to have a par 3 starting hole, hence, you could change the second half of # 1 to a par 3.

I'm sure that more than a few creative minds are at work trying to figure out solutions to the "road"

Hopefully, a practical and playable solution will be arrived at.

[Dan Herrmann]

Thanks for the info.  I too am a big fan of Paramount, and wish all involved nothing but success.

[Brad Klein]

Kelly,

is every classic-era golf hole designed by a Golden Age architect worth preserving under all circumstances, or are there standards that would pertain? I can certainly appreciate and welcome a preference or bias for doing so, but is that absolute? How about the -- purely hypothetical -- case of a classic-era golf hole that today has become a safety liability, is out of character with the rest of the course, renders walking the rest of the very walkable course less likely, and is simply a really bad hole to begin with. If that were the case, would you think it worthwhile to spend a considerable amount of money to preserve its basic faulty character? I understand you might not agree with the problematic conditions applying to any one particular hole,. but as general case, are there considerations that would lead you to admit that such a hole might need to be abandoned if there's a reasonable alternative elsewhere? Or is your respect for the genius of the Golden Age architects basically absolute?

[Joe Bausch]

It was a terrific day.

The playing surfaces were superb, especially considering the weather over the past month or so.

Fairways were tight and the greens fast and true.
Mark and his staff have done a remarkable job. who is this Mark fellow?  I'd like to meet him!

Had a wonderful time chatting with you about your course Mark Brian.

 

[Joe Bausch]

Paramount (par 70) has an interesting hole-sequencing and I wonder if it is unique:

Of holes 4-16, eleven of them are par 4s, the other two par 3's.

Other notes:

Both the front and back finish with par 3's (I know this is uncommon, but not unique)

And the No 1 stroke hole is the first! (ditto).