Askernish: does this make you want more or less to play it?

[Mark Bourgeois]

I find John Garrity's enthusiasm infectious, but would you take this trip?
http://jgarrity2.com/2011/01/23/askernish-who-needs-winter-rules/

As an aside, I feel the posts on his blog collectively produce one of the greatest commentaries on course rankings. Very subversive but thanks to his excellent humor also very subtle -- takes reading deeply into his blog for the effect to really take. See here for the introduction:
http://www.golf.com/courses-and-travel/introduction-john-garritys-top-50

[Emil Weber]

I'd want to play it as much as before, but what a trip. I'd take it

[Bill_McBride]

Love that story.  Need to get to Askernish, but not in January!

[Michael Goldstein]

It is hard for words to describe an Askernish visit but this is brilliant.

[Steve Salmen]

It was Mr. Garrity's words about Askernish that inspired me to take the trip over.  I hope to get back one day.

This was just a story.  No person in their right mind could judge the place from how it is in January.  It was very windy the August I was there but nothing a pint couldn't fix after the round.

I would recommend Askernish as one of golf's special experiences.  Of course, there is no affiliated hotel so some folks shouldn't even bother.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41213.0.html

[Jud_T]

If golf is about getting away from it all and communing with nature then I can't really think of anything better than the trip described.  The article makes me want to play it more. (His top 50 makes me want to play it less however.  Guess I'm missing the humor, subtle or otherwise).

[BCrosby]

You don't see many sentences that begin:

"First of all, I don’t think the wind ever got above 60 or 65 miles per hour while I played,..."

Bob

[Rich Goodale]

To answer the initial post, can we dial down our amps to minus zero?

I very much respect what was done with Askernish, mostly through the charitable work of others, but I have never had any desire to visit there.  Now having read Garrity, I also have no desire to play there and less desire to read him again.  There are many more pristine OTM courses that I have not yet played and many, many better writers than Mr. G. that I have not yet read or read enough of.  Life is too short, unless you are now young and prepared to learn from your mistakes.

[Michael Goldstein]

Rich,

I can only speak from experience.  My two days at Askernish was spent entirely with nature, the wind, golf course and my thoughts. I've had a lot of amazing golf (and non-golf) experiences but it's very difficult to top this.

M

PS, am under no illusions that 99.9% would prefer a day out at any Trump course.   

[Joey Chase]

Mark,

Thanks for posting this.  I was trying to find a winter trip to make this coming December for some raw links golf.  I am not sure if I can get out there, but this makes it somewhat tempting! 

[Brent Hutto]

That piece didn't really do much for me one way or another regarding Askernish. It's a place I'm sure I'd enjoy playing but heck, playing at Brora on a weekday in June is plenty of solitude and down-home links goodness for me plus I can drive to get there from anywhere else in Scotland.

I wouldn't go to the Hebrides in January at any rate. That seems more like proving a point than anything else.

[Joey Chase]

That piece didn't really do much for me one way or another regarding Askernish. It's a place I'm sure I'd enjoy playing but heck, playing at Brora on a weekday in June is plenty of solitude and down-home links goodness for me plus I can drive to get there from anywhere else in Scotland.

I wouldn't go to the Hebrides in January at any rate. That seems more like proving a point than anything else.

Maybe I romanticize the idea of going out there a bit, but sometimes, for me, the journey can be just as much fun as the destination.

[Brent Hutto]

Are you retired and fairly well off?

Being a sort of middle-middle-class member of the nine-to-five ratrace myself, the journey and the destination compete for very limited time and money budgets!

[Paul Gray]

Mark,

Thanks for posting this.  I was trying to find a winter trip to make this coming December for some raw links golf.  I am not sure if I can get out there, but this makes it somewhat tempting! 

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about generally but if you're concerned about the weather you'd be getting better odds if you ventured south. You have Kent and you have The West. You also have Hayling and Littlehampton in between.

[Joey Chase]

Are you retired and fairly well off?

Being a sort of middle-middle-class member of the nine-to-five ratrace myself, the journey and the destination compete for very limited time and money budgets!

Not exactly retired yet,  I am a 35 year old green keeper living in Switzerland.  The cost of getting there is certainly not exorbitant.  As a green keeper in a cold climate, winter is my time off, and here, there is a fair amount of it.  As for the idea of going to the southern parts of England, I have been several times and enjoy the courses very much.  The idea of getting away is what appeals to me about the article, nothing more than that.

[Rich Goodale]

Rich,

I can only speak from experience.  My two days at Askernish was spent entirely with nature, the wind, golf course and my thoughts. I've had a lot of amazing golf (and non-golf) experiences but it's very difficult to top this.

M

PS, am under no illusions that 99.9% would prefer a day out at any Trump course.   

Really glad you enjoyed it, M.  I've had more than a few of those solitary days in special places, many of them in Scotland, but I'm not actively looking for any more such experiences these days.

PS--played one Trump course one time and it was excellent, GCA-wise.  I may or may not go back there some day, but then it is only a 2-hour drive from my house.  As Brent implies rightly below, too many golf courses and too little time.

rfg

[Brent Hutto]

Yes that's a very different situation than mine, Joey. I'm guessing the Hebrides might not be the worst place for a January trip. As I understand it (having briefly considered visiting there quite a few years back) it's likely cold, dark and windy in winter but unlikely to be icy or with golf courses covered in snow drifts.

Re-following up with Rich's followup to my comment...

After several UK golf trips of my own it's starting to dawn on me that the exact course(s) visited matter little. To me, I mean. Seeing a new course is always great but revisiting one that I'm fond of it great too. The "Top 100" type courses I've visited by and large have a great deal to recommended them but I can't say for sure that I have a better time at those than "Second 100" or lower-tier ones. At least not consistently so. Playing somewhere that I know people (whether the Deal contingent or a Buda group or individuals like Mark Rowlinson) is always a treat but I've had wonderful days playing solo as well.

Which is a long winded way of saying that I'm pretty much aligned with Sean Arble's classic formulation of minimizing "windshield time" on any given trip and just pitching up somewhere with a couple of good golf courses available and have at it for a few days, hopefully including some chances to play with fellow GCA obsessives if possible. Unfortunately, that takes me pretty much out of the Askernish target demographic I suppose. But if I live in Europe and needed a winter destination I would definitely be tempted as long as the logistics could be worked out satisfactorily.

[Jon Wiggett]

Hi Joey,

which club are you at? I was in Switzerland for 16 years so know most of the courses. Whilst I was working there I was in the same situation as you with holiday times mainly in the winter and I usually spent at least a couple of weeks golfing in Scotland. Weather is often very good, courses empty and GFs low. I now have my own course just north of Inverness in the Highlands so any advice I can give feel free to PM me.

Jon

[James Boon]

Mark,

Yes, I'd happily make the trip. But I've already made the trip to Askernish and I regularly travel to various parts of Scotland in the winter so my opinion comes from a biased perspective... So I cant say how much that article would make me want to?

I dont think there is such a thing as predictable weather in any part of the UK and even the Outer Hebrides is no different. I was there in October and experienced some of the fiercest storms I've ever had to endure, but these sandwiched some of the most spectacular calm weather I can remember in Scotland.

I think that the Askernish experience really should include getting a full flavour of the travel, scenery, wildlife, culture, food and people of the area. But if people just want to fly in, play, and fly out to see the place and help spread the word, then that's better than nothing so what are you all waiting for? 

Cheers,

James