[Tom_Doak]

Joh Kavanaugh whats your handicap? College player ? Mini tour?  just wondering....64 pretty good from any tees!

Thanks. We all have two or three good holes in a row so why not 18?  Simply put I was playing Wolf from 6015 yds and giving between 18 and 25 shots to the other 5 guys. I had to make 4 of the birdies just to tie. Hit all 18 greens, made my longest two putts and had a kick in eagle. The course was in such perfect condition and the wind so calm that it was sinful. That was the first and last time the old men insisted on playing the up tees.


As 6 man wolf is played I was given a few short 2nd putts so perhaps it never really happened. I did post it and managed to lose the member/member by one shot the day before it went off the rolls and raised my handicap by 2 shots. Currently a 4.3 index 300lb 60 yr old man. Thankfully when I was pissing away talent back in the late 70’s it never got randomly tested.

How could you enjoy this experience, since the course was relatively short and easy?  I'm just asking because you are one of the posters who consistently says that making the game easier in any way will ruin it.


P.S.  Merry Christmas!

[Jim Hoak]

Everyone else has positive highlights, so I hate to be negative.  But on the night before a trip to England to play two courses I'd never played--Rye and Royal St. George's--I injured my back, had to cancel and was out for several months.  Sad.

[Joel_Stewart]

Had a short trip to Long Island and played NGLA, Maidstone and Garden City.  I was blown away by the restoration work at Maidstone and Garden City.


Played in a foursome with Mike Keiser and Stu Francis the president of the USGA.


Knocked off a few bucket list courses.


2020 will be a better year.

[John Kavanaugh]

Joh Kavanaugh whats your handicap? College player ? Mini tour?  just wondering....64 pretty good from any tees!

Thanks. We all have two or three good holes in a row so why not 18?  Simply put I was playing Wolf from 6015 yds and giving between 18 and 25 shots to the other 5 guys. I had to make 4 of the birdies just to tie. Hit all 18 greens, made my longest two putts and had a kick in eagle. The course was in such perfect condition and the wind so calm that it was sinful. That was the first and last time the old men insisted on playing the up tees.


As 6 man wolf is played I was given a few short 2nd putts so perhaps it never really happened. I did post it and managed to lose the member/member by one shot the day before it went off the rolls and raised my handicap by 2 shots. Currently a 4.3 index 300lb 60 yr old man. Thankfully when I was pissing away talent back in the late 70’s it never got randomly tested.

How could you enjoy this experience, since the course was relatively short and easy?  I'm just asking because you are one of the posters who consistently says that making the game easier in any way will ruin it.


P.S.  Merry Christmas!

Perfection is a great place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.

[Ted Sturges]

2019 was a big year for me.  Having suffered through 2018 with an impinged nerve so severe that it caused frequent numbness in my left arm and significant muscle loss, I bit the bullet and had C5/C6 fusion surgery in the spring.  I had a great doctor and the recovery went as well as I could have expected.  By the end of the season I was getting most of my strength back.


My highlight was a Sunday round in November with Ran and his brother Bill, and Bill's pal Kent.  Ran and I and Bill and Kent had been partners in the Yeamans Hall Baldwin Cup that weekend. Both teams had missed the cup by a shot, and we went out for a bonus round the next morning.  The match was highlighted with good play from all 4 players, and was punctuated by a laser iron shot by Ran on the home hole to secure a halve (Kent had stuffed it close on 17 to make 3 and square the match).  The round was significant for me because I made more putts than I would ever expect to make (I one-putted 6 of the first 10 greens...for someone who has endured the yips, this simply isn't supposed to happen), and I broke 80 for the first time since my surgery.  If I'm honest, there were many days during my recovery when I thought scores in the 70's would not happen again for me.  It was a special day at my favorite course.


TS

[Peter Flory]

I shot in the 60s and the 80s on the same day in a tournament.  I'm going to count that as a highlight because I feel like it is a very difficult club to join and it is probably filled with interesting people.   

My architecture highlight was probably playing Blue Mound for the first time.  It was a perfect day and it seemed like we had the course to ourselves. 

[John Kavanaugh]

I shot in the 60s and the 80s on the same day in a tournament.  I'm going to count that as a highlight because I feel like it is a very difficult club to join and it is probably filled with interesting people.   

My architecture highlight was probably playing Blue Mound for the first time.  It was a perfect day and it seemed like we had the course to ourselves.

Which did you shoot first and why?

[Peter Flory]

I shot in the 60s and the 80s on the same day in a tournament.  I'm going to count that as a highlight because I feel like it is a very difficult club to join and it is probably filled with interesting people.   

My architecture highlight was probably playing Blue Mound for the first time.  It was a perfect day and it seemed like we had the course to ourselves.

Which did you shoot first and why?

Shot the low round first.  Swing felt great and everything was going exactly as planned.  In the 2nd round, swing felt exactly the same, but took a visit to the twilight zone.

[John Kavanaugh]

Peter,


That’s the best way to do it. I used to get pissed at blowing leads until I quit having them.

[Chris Flamion]

I played golf for the first time in almost 8 years.  More importantly I played without pain.


This is a huge deal for me as it took almost 5 years after fusing my vertebrae to even swing a club.


I played horrible, but I had a great time with some of my friends. 


Bear Slide is a course I highly recommend.

[Jeff Schley]

I played golf for the first time in almost 8 years.  More importantly I played without pain.


This is a huge deal for me as it took almost 5 years after fusing my vertebrae to even swing a club.


I played horrible, but I had a great time with some of my friends. 


Bear Slide is a course I highly recommend.

Congrats Chris and hope God continues to bless you with golf as you heal. 

[Rob Marshall]

" I used to get pissed at blowing leads until I quit having them"
[/size][/color]
[/size]John,[/color]
[/size]I love that. How true the older we get.[/color]

[Tim Martin]

CC of Buffalo-Varied terrain including 6 holes that use a limestone quarry as part of the routing. Fantastic set of par threes with number six "Pulpit" as good a rendition of a "Volcano" hole as I have seen. A great variety of greens with some at grade and others pushed up depending on the land. Two holes afforded me the thrill of having a fairway wood approach bounce up on the green and the firm conditions were consistent throughout. Ross delivers the toughest hole on the inward nine in the form of a 440 yard(member tee) par four with a green that sits below a natural rock formation with plenty of movement. Clubhouse and surrounds are amazing and loaded with history. I would never tire of the set of holes and the way the golf course is presented. Lunch at Ted's and Niagara Falls make this a tough day to beat!

[James Reader]

Setting aside the obvious highlight of winning the GCA UK knock-out  , my two highlights of the year were both on courses of less than 18 holes.  Of the more than 20 new courses for me that I played in 2019, the two that I think will live longest in the memory were an early morning round at Shiskine and a summer’s evening at Worlington. 


I played a fair number of “better” golf courses but for sheer enjoyment I’d take either of those.

[Lov Goel]

Other than getting to play with several members of this distinguished forum (a few several times), I'd have to say the following:


re the actual golf: shooting 33 at the back 9 at Cal Club, and shooting 79 at Shinnecock (this was actually a choke job - I was -3 through 5  [size=78%]).[/size]


re architecture: Getting to see my first two Raynor designs (Country Club of Charleston and Southampton), and finally playing a course with the architect who most recently worked on it.  All were absolutely fantastic experiences!


Looking forward to continuing this crazy journey in 2020, hopefully with more of you!

[Michael Whitaker]

Partnering with Ward Peyronnin in a competition during my first trip ever to Evansville, IN.

and

Helping Eric Smith celebrate his 50th birthday by playing Sweetens Cove... and winning most of the closest-to-the-pin bets! 

[Jay Mickle]

Out of golf from March thru September due to significant arthritis in my neck. Wednesday at the Masters but too much pain to walk the entire course . Back to golf in October with first round, with abbreviated swing, at The Ocean Course followed by meeting up with Lou Duran and Joe Andriole at Kiawah Island Club, 2 more rounds, a few with Wesley Bryan. All followed by a talk by Tom Watson who I could have listened to for hours.
Now back to playing regularly with minimal pain and so appreciative of the work done by the doctors at Duke. Hopeful.

[Steve Salmen]

I had 4 golfing highlights of 2019. 


Spent a week playing Royal Dornoch with Ian Lagowitz in July.
My partner and I defended our silver cup at his club four ball.
Partnering with Pat Craig at the Mashie and halving my friend, Andrew Calcutt and his partner, Mike Treitler in a golf jihad for the ages.
Spending my 48th birthday playing Cal Club with friends and enjoying 2 stiff Manhattans afterwards.

[Steve Wilson]

Holes 12-15 at Goswick

[Garland Bayley]

Joh Kavanaugh whats your handicap? College player ? Mini tour?  just wondering....64 pretty good from any tees!

Truth is the course rating is 60.5 with a slope of 83, and he didn't even play to his handicap.

[Mark Pearce]

Three days in Fife with Scott Warren and several other GCAers.  Made even better by an evening reading Garland's ludicrous denim jeans thread.


BUDA.  As the organiser you're always concerned whether people will enjoy the event and like the courses, so for it to go off smoothly and see posts like Jason's and Steve's above is both a relief and a joy!

[Steve Wilson]

Mark,
I knew you were very high on Goswick and so I expected a good golf course, but I was not prepared for the overall quality to be found in such a relatively remote area.  That being said, I think I could play those four holes over and over and never get bored.
I meant to do a more detailed precis of the course earlier but didn't get around to it.  And, I know I complimented you at the time on your choice of courses and the organization of the event, but as I recall the verbal exchange was just between the two of us. 


So now I'm putting out here a little late but for everyone to see.  It was a fabulous BUDA, Goswick was just tremendous, and Dunstanburgh Castle was no slouch either. It had its own quirk, shortish par fours that I would enjoy playing over and over.


I'll try to indulge in your local vernacular, "Well done, mate!"

[Jim Sherma]

Architecture Wise: 36 hole day at Sunnehanna CC followed by 18 at Bedford Springs the next morning. Played in beautiful fall weather both days.


Tee to green Sunnehanna is classy and nice, but nothing dramatic or overly special. But... Sunnehanna's greens are as good as any I've played in how they dictate the strategic playing of the hole through their tilt and contour. Bedford is a really neat old school course with a lot of very nice touches and retro-style shaping. I thought that Sunnehanna was the "better" course in total but that Bedford had more really interesting and unique features. Bedford definitely has more blow-up holes due to tighter playing corridors and it being much more likely to be penalized with lost balls off of shots that were not that far off line. However, a day of being in the wrong spots on and around the greens at Sunnehanna could add up to some big numbers as well.


Sunnehanna's clubhouse was interesting given that every wall appears to be loaded with photos of the Sunnehanna AM/Calcutta through the years and has somewhat of a museum type of feel. Both courses are very worthy of a play and it was a really wonderful back to back days.


Playing Wise: The 81-75 I shot at Sunnehanna was probably the single best day I had all year in terms of controlling my ball and playing both startegically and tactically. The quality of the course certainly focused me shot to shot without anything goofy to trick me on my first day playing it. The craziest round was in Hershey CC's Sr Club Championship - 6 birds and two triples to shoot 3-over 74 on the East Course and tie for the best round of the day. Absolutely psychotic and bi-polar day, each triple was followed by three birds within the next 6 holes, feel pretty proud of the ability to not mentally shut down.

[David_Tepper]

Experience Wise: spending 3 days and 2 nights at the Carnegie Club/Skibo Castle to celebrate my 70th birthday. Thanks to my wife's initiative (and deep pockets ), we had what I suspect will be a "once in a lifetime" experience. The accommodations, food, attentive service, etc. are even better than you might think. We played 3 rounds on the very, very good course there. Hard to imagine a more scenic spot.   

[jeffwarne]

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Opening Tee shot Goat Open




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