Hello Treehouse,
I finally have a chance to sit down and write down some thoughts on this summer. For those of you who don't know, I spent this summer studying golf courses, much like Tom Doak did after his sophomore year of college, and got to see a lot of places in the US I didn't even dream of seeing or playing. I've been hesitant to post about it before/during the summer because I didn't want to fish for invites. For those of you who did, I'm still alive and did not fall asleep at the wheel! While the intention was to first see as many architects as possible, the summer really ended up being a "discovery" of the works of CB MacDonald and Seth Raynor, Donald Ross, Tillinghast, and Pete Dye, with a little bit of Doak, Coore & Crenshaw, Mike Strantz, Nicklaus, Hanse, and Flynn mixed in. It was a summer in which I learned an incredible amount about golf architecture, myself, my ability to play this game, and what makes the game of golf so endearing. It also strengthened my belief that in some form or capacity this is what I want to do with my life, as difficult as that may be to accomplish.
Before I go into the details about revelations I had in GCA, I wanted to thank a few people. First off, thanks to Eric Schmidt, Chris Johnston, and all of those out at Dismal River for hosting us all at the 5th Major. When people ask what my favorite parts of the trip were, it's always fun to say that meeting people I bicker with online 5 hours from a major city in Hooker County, Nebraska was one of them (usually, much like when I'd describe this trip to people, they would think that that was awesome, that I was unbelievably crazy, or a combination of both). For those who haven't gone to it, I highly recommend making the trip as difficult as it is. Both courses are phenomenal and getting the chance to meet everyone on this board was fantastic. I had the best partner in Lou Duran, and while our golf did not lead us to victory (Seriously, someone needs to take that trophy from Kavanaugh, this cannot stand!) I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Who would have thought that the oldest and youngest members at the 5th major would get along so well! Also a special thanks to Doug Siebert, who helped me out in a serious pinch! And thanks to all of you for making me, easily the youngest guy out there, feel so welcome. It meant a ton and I hope to see you all in the future.
Thanks to Tom Doak for taking the time to meet with me and showing me around the front 9 at Crystal Downs, which will be an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.
To Jon Stein and Mark Bourgeois, thanks for setting up the GCA event at Yale. I think over the course of the entire trip, Yale was one of the most eye popping. It expanded the boundaries of what was possible in design and remains one of my favorite places on earth. My grandfather received his undergrad and PhD from Yale, and while he is not a golfer (and didn't know that Yale had a golf course!), I told him that he can be very proud. It was a special moment for me on the trip and another great chance to meet so many on this board and put faces to the names I see all the time.
To all those who helped me in one form or another on this trip, both those on this discussion board and off, you know who you all are and I cannot thank you all enough for helping make this possible. This short line is not enough to show my gratitude and I hope to convey it more so in the next few months as I start to get some more free time.
And last but certainly not least, to my grandparents: without them, this trip would not have happened. I'm also lucky enough to have two of the best (and maybe craziest!) parents in the world for letting me do a trip like this and chase my goals in life.
And with that I'll transfer to the golf portion of the trip. I'm going to do this in installments so that there can be some discussion on the comments as we go through the thread.
Courses I was amazed by:
Yale Golf Club- Let's start where I left off. I won't go into much detail as so much of it is in the great "OMG Yale" thread started a few weeks ago, but that place pushes the boundaries. It's a great example of how a golf course can stand up with weaker conditioning: slower greens, greater contours, not the perfect lies. I learned so much seeing the place and reading the threads afterward.
Chicago Golf Club- Their current super is incredible and has been doing an incredible job getting the course firm and fast, almost to the extreme. The place is everything we love about architecture and a tremendous testament to the game. Their set of two-shotters are engrained in my head. Maybe someday I'll get the chance to play it.
Crystal Downs- The greens alone are just amazing. As far as nines go, the front may be the best 9 in the world.
Oakmont- If I could just play golf at one course for the rest of my life, this might be it. A fantastic set of greens and a demanding golf course that remains interesting. Much like Pine Valley the course was built with the championship caliber player in mind, why punish a tremendous design for that? Played it from the Open tees and I have to say some of their yardages, like the 280 yard 8th (par 3) and the 690 yard 12th are absurd. But in firmer conditions (it was pretty soft when we played it) those yardages are more reasonable and holes like the 8th actually become pretty interesting.
Camargo- Boy, I have no words for this place. I think of the courses I saw over the summer this was the most underrated and one of my absolute favorites. It had, in my opinion, the best set of par 3's I've ever seen (narrowly edging out Pine Valley, although that may change if I get the chance to actually play PV's one-shotters) and a collection of great Par 4's. But most importantly, every green was fascinating. For so long the back right has been considered the toughest location on the short hole, but I'm here to tell you that the pin they used for our US-Am qualifier, middle right outside the thumbprint, made that hole incredibly difficult. While the par 5's there aren't all worldly, they hold up better than most of Raynor's par 5's. Playing in that US Am qualifier remains one of the highlights of my life, and maybe the best moment of the trip for me. I'll tell the full story later.
Pinehurst No. 2: I went there with a preconceived thought in my head: Great course, but not worth the cost, made all the more aggravating by the fact that a caddie was required for one of golf's great walks. But I had a good caddie, and couldn't believe how good it was. It opened my eyes to creating target golf with contours, and that even on the most subtle land great holes are to be had. What a tremendous restoration done by C&C. One note though: They better pray that the weather works in their favor for the Open, because if the course is soft (I've heard the USGA is not putting in rough) the pros will tear the place apart.
Kiawah Ocean- Of the Pete Dye courses I've seen (and this does leave some of his better ones, like Pete Dye Golf Club, The Honors, Sawgrass, Crooked Stick) this was by far my favorite. There are some awesome golf holes there. I also thought the tee design was incredibly interesting and brings up a great question: How important is the aspect of strategy in golf course architecture for the weakest golfers? I noticed that many of the tee boxes for them faced wide open fairways, while the back tees (where I played from) had well placed hazards which strongly influenced decision making on the hole. Most bipolar round of the trip, as going out I shot 37 but proceeded to have a 45 on the back.
Pine Valley- I'm not going to do the place any injustice by saying anything on the matter. I'll just say, WOW.
Boston Golf Club- In my mind it's the only golf course you can compare to the hallowed one above. That place is about as good as anything I've ever seen. Gil challenged a lot of tenets in golf course architecture and the result is a golf course that is demanding, interesting, playable, and fun. Although I think, even now in November, I have a headache from trying to read those greens!
Winged Foot West AND East- This has to be the most unlikely place I ended up playing (we just played the west), as I enjoyed a round with my uncle's, college friend's, nephew. But both courses there are spectacular and I find the East to be rather underrated. Having seen some of the plans for Gil Hanse's work there, I'm really excited for the future of the two courses.
The National Golf Links of America- After a nightmare morning on the LIE, I finally made it out to Southampton for the Walker Cup practice round and got to see what the fuss was all about. Standing on the 18th green, I was in tears at the thought of leaving the place. Every hole there is perfect, and I think that it's here where there was more experimenting with the structure of the templates. I loved the Punchbowl rendition there and thought that it was very unique in comparison to the others. Not much more can be said about the Redan than already has. The Cape is the finest cape hole I've seen of theirs.
Just missing the cut: Lawsonia, Mid Pines, The Creek Club, Tobacco Road (which really did open my eyes a lot), Fenway, Old Sandwich, Stonewall (Old), Philadelphia Cricket Wissahickon (A course that by the looks of it could move into this group once the restoration/renovation is done)