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John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Thank you but I had proper notice that I would be playing in Scotland. My wife has asked me to schedule another trip just for the weight loss. Greatest scam ever.

Peter Pallotta

Hey, that Eric Smith is one solidly built golfer right there.
Wow - I mean he practically dwarfs the big man himself, John K. 
And he's got that cool Darren Clarke thing going on - very nice!

Peter
You see - when I stick together, I really stick close   

Eric Smith

  • Karma: +0/-0
Yeah, Peter - "solidly built" .... by McDonald's!

Adam Clayman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ran should've thought about sticking together when he deleted the archives which was the best of gca.com

"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

Mike Hendren

  • Karma: +0/-0
Why am I not surprised that Barney's wife is a total babe?

Bogey
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
That's her in the corner of my Myspace page. 1st and only, married 35 years this July. It is a shame I hate cameras given how artfully I juxtaposed her elbows with the Red Rocks at the park named the same in Colorado.

Kirk Gill

  • Karma: +0/-0

I don't really know how to respond to all of the ideas and memories that have been included on this thread, but as is typical, I will forge ahead anyway. Why let ignorance get in the way of a few hundred words.


First of all, Peter, I just don't think that the notion of "sticking together" in any way implies a shared value system or consensus about golf course architecture. I read the quote as being more of a general "We're all in this together, this group of oddballs who spend at least a decent portion of their lives thinking about golf course architecture." Of course, I could be wrong. I have a great deal of respect for you, so that is probably the case!


I do wonder about this question - what is the difference between wanting to play a course to put a notch in your belt, and wanting to play a course to better appreciate the architecture of a course? Are they mutually exclusive?


I was driving by a private club near my old house once and made a joking reply to one of my kids when he asked why I didn't play golf there -"because we're the kind of riff raff that they're trying to keep out."


REALLY pissed my wife off.


And ultimately, it wasn't totally true, either. I ended up receiving several invitations to play. And while the reality is that I don't have the money to join such a place, there were a lot of friendly faces to be found there. More than I expected, anyway.


And John, I have to admit that I have received, and even accepted, invitations to play a couple other private clubs as a result of my membership on this site. I never considered the invitations to be heroic, and I never felt less of myself for accepting a couple of them. I particularly think of the time that Jim Engh saw that I lived nearby and invited me down to his club for a beer and a look at his course. We didn't play, he just drove me around in a cart and pointed out items of interest, and asked me questions. I'm seriously nobody, but the invite was extended, accepted, and really appreciated. No heroism involved. And I will always be thankful to Doug Wright, who shot me an invite to play at his club. The walls around the course had always existed there just to keep me out, but I ended up finding that the walls were more prominent in my mind than in reality, and a follow-up GCA dinner there with guest Erik Iverson was a true GCA learning experience. To be fair, John, perhaps a little hero-worship there.


Seeing that picture of the guys at Sand Hills makes me think a few things, because I've gotten to "know" a couple of them through interaction on this site, and out in the real world. Tom Huckaby, so friendly and funny. He once referred to me in a post as "a sage for our times." Ha! My wife still gives me shit about that. George Bahto, generous with his time and knowledge. Pat Mucci, legendary battler. I once showed him how to change font colors and sizes in the forum. Guilty. Ran, who continues to allow me to post here. And most of all, Tom Paul, who I've never met in person, but who has shown me great kindness in sharing good conversation both in print and on the phone. How does a guy from his world end up talking golf course architecture with ME? Well, it's this site, obviously. I honestly don't know if there ever existed a consensus between those guys and me regarding golf course architecture, or any other subject. That never seemed like the point.
"After all, we're not communists."
                             -Don Barzini

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Here are a couple of pics from my very first event...A KP in California in 2008 IIRC.


I must apologize that I cant quite put a name to all the faces but I can try:


John Mayhugh, Pete Pittock, Bob Huntley,  Kyle Henderson ?, Jordan Wall, and yours truly on the right...







David Stamm and Bob Huntley in the back, Shivas on the right.







Bonus points for this one..oldie but goodie.  Andy Troeger and mystery GCA'er in the cart..


 
« Last Edit: June 06, 2017, 10:15:58 PM by Kalen Braley »

Mike Sweeney

  • Karma: +0/-0
Actually did some recruitment today. I played with Member #126 at Yale today (members 1-100 are no longer with us, and I am #2089), and we all loved the new mowing patterns on the 17th at Yale:

« Last Edit: June 09, 2017, 09:06:42 PM by Mike Sweeney »
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us."

Dr. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Jeff Shelman

  • Karma: +0/-0
How do we stick together? We play golf.

One of things I appreciate most about this site are my fellow Minnesotans here.

About once a month during the golf season, we get together and tee it up. We've been doing it for three or four years. There have been a few times where we have only had one group, but usually we have 3-4 groups. We're playing this Sunday and we have nine guys playing.

Sometimes we have someone host at their club. Sometimes we play a public course. The venue doesn't really matter to me. I look forward to the each month's round and seeing the other GCA guys each month.

We have even had some interlopers from other parts of the country who were in town at the right time.

So find a reason to play golf. Host someone. Reach out to someone when you are traveling. Have a great walk. Hit some good shots. Have a lovely day.


Mike Sweeney

  • Karma: +0/-0
How do we stick together? We play golf.

So find a reason to play golf. Host someone. Reach out to someone when you are traveling. Have a great walk. Hit some good shots. Have a lovely day.


Trip back to Philly for the weekend and I caught up with some old friends from Philly/Merion. My buddy has "re-framed" the 18 month closing of Merion - East as an opportunity to finally take his game on the road. There is no way he comes to Yale unless they close his course for 18 months. We have a tentative date for the Spring of 2018 at Yale :)


"We have to stick together!"

 :) :D ;D
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us."

Dr. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Mike Sweeney

  • Karma: +0/-0
Why am I not surprised that Barney's wife is a total babe?

Bogey


And Bogey even says nice things about wives!!
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us."

Dr. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark