The debate that couldn't wait!or..
We will sell no wine before its time? Take it away, Orson...
http://youtu.be/VFevH5vP32s?t=22s
OW:
Ahhh...A question I am often asked is "Which do you pair with the pork chop - white or red?" To which my reply is to leave such decisions until AFTER the golf, suggesting that BOTH go nicely with all of the culinary and varietal delights at Dismal River..
Thank you, Mr. Welles, and thank you, GCA, for indulging me. My intent is to have a little fun with the names of our courses, and, generally, to have a little fun with everything else, while you get your questions and commentary ready for what promises to be a riveting exercise in free publicity for Paul Masson.
Very well. I present you a GCA match play thread pitting the White and the Red courses at Dismal River against one another in an internet blood bath most likely NOT to earn a Neti Award for brevity / bandwidth.
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Although situated side-by-side, the two courses at Dismal are quite distinctive in their design and topography, and, in my opinion, complement one another superbly. I've yet to identify a clear favorite, though I imagine you'd have a hard time convincing me not to head straight for the first tee of the White on my next visit. Old habits really do die hard.
The
White Course opened for play in 2006. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the course, then known simply as Dismal River, was Nicklaus's 250th design. The course has had a history of eliciting strong and often polarizing opinions from internet and magazine pundits alike. [See
Matt Ward's write-up on GCA,
Brad Klein's notebook in GOLFWEEK and
Tom Dunne's review in DEPARTURES Magazine]. For this member, it was love at first sight. Massive dunes. Blind shots. Discernible quirk. (A windmill in front of the green? Hello!) Punchbowls. Sideboards. Backstops. Attributes that, at the end of the day, add up to FUN each and every time I go around it.
The new
Red Course, designed and built by Tom Doak and his team at Renaissance Golf Design, (with an assist from Don Mahaffey), opened for preview play last summer. I would describe the course as having a more refined character than Nicklaus's design (OW:
with hints of elderberry, finnel and mountain shrubs adding to its complexity). It is an extremely attractive golf course, being much more 'communal' throughout, with very wide playing areas, allowing for long views to other nearby holes. The routing takes you through a variety of interesting terrain, culminating along the banks of the river, underneath the shadows of some enormous sand hills. 2014 will be the Red's first full season out of the cask and we should see the fescue further tightening to create a more consistent playing surface throughout the course.
Hopefully, via match play, we will be able to expand on specific elements that differentiate the courses from one another. I'll need some assistance, as Orson and I may be zonkered before we get to the next hole. I encourage those who know Dismal to please chime in, and, by all means, score the match! I'd also ask those who haven't played them to fire away and ask questions (!) so that we may all, hopefully, learn a few things. For simplicity's sake, let's stick with match play (win, loss, tie) as our scoring format.
Without further ado, let's head out (in our carts) to the White Course.
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The first tee of the White Course is one of my favorite spots in golf and a real eye opener for the first time sand hills visitor. You're standing there among these majestic sand dunes, prairie grasses waving in the wind, without a tree or bush in sight. Just these glorious green ribbons of fairway along with a smattering of exposed sand pits rising in the distance. It is so different than any place I've ever been. I liken it to how I might imagine the surface of some far off distant planet. A desolate, windswept plane under a vast and endless sky. Dismal? Hardly.
Hole 1
The first is a mid length par 4 measuring a little more than 400 yards from the square tees nearest the practice green. The fairway here is generous, but a roving eye will undoubtedly be drawn toward the nest of gnarly bunkers cut into the base of the hill on the left hand side of the fairway. You do not want to find yourself in there, so focus instead on the path beyond the crown of the hogsback. Get your ball on a line just left of it to have a better look at what's around the corner.
The tee shot has always suited me. Reason #1 why I love the hole. After a pot of coffee and 4 Advil, my early morning push draw is fairly reliable enough to get it out onto the top of the hill..
The goal though is to carry it far enough to catch the down slope of the hill, which will propel the ball an extra 50-75 yards, leaving 100 yards or so to the green. What a fun green too. A large tiered punchbowl, stretched more like a bathtub, provides a much appreciated helping hand at the start of the day.
Red 1 to follow..
