Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: JJShanley on December 31, 2016, 05:55:16 PM
-
We've a thread on magazine rankings that call into question whether we can rank golf courses, for a variety of good reasons. Several posters have suggested that rankings are a half-truth: Yes we enjoy some courses more than others, but we can't compare two courses on drastically contrasting sites. (NB: I consider a half-truth as containing 100% truth and 100% error.)
The following represents the courses which have somehow played an important part in my development as a golfer, with a brief explanation.
- Bethpage State Park (Green): My first course in the U.S., played during a road trip across the U.S. in 2003. I took a cracking photo of #4, which hangs in my parents' house in Edinburgh. I played with someone who didn't speak English, a drunk financier, and a decent New Yorker. I'd a beer that day, which was great as I was only 20 on that trip, and they didn't card on the course.
- Blackthorn: Where I broke 80 for the first time after hand surgery that might have prevented me playing golf again.
- Braid Hills (#1): Possibly the most impressive skyline green of all (17); where you should tee it up on your first afternoon after arriving at Edinburgh Airport.
- Camargo: Where I begun to understand what architecture involved, after having sat on the patio at lunch thinking "this looks awfully wide open." I three-putted Redan, but that didn't stop me from developing a profound appreciation for that template.
- Carrick-on-Shannon: Where I introduced a cousin to golf.
- Craigmillar Park: The course that I have played the most.
- Mount Prospect: First GCA outing.
- Rolling Green: Where I begun to understand how tree removal improves a course.
- Strandhill: An excellent example of a members' course, which offers a fun day out for visitors without any pretense.
- Warren at Notre Dame:Where I fell in love with golf again, and found a community of like-minded participants.
- Wigwam (Gold): Where I had the hat 32 years before I teed it up there.
Honorable Mention: Forest Highland (Canyon): Where I only played three holes due to lightning, but where I enjoyed a fascinating afternoon with a lately-deceased fellow Domer who shared his love of golf and the 46556.
I'd love to see a similar lists from other members of our community.
You can include any course, for any reason; just do so in alphabetical order. You can have played it only once, or have played it over a hundred times. Just tell us why you have listed it.
As much as anything else, I intend this as a thread where members can share the experiences they've enjoyed that don't fit into a Top-25 thread. Similar to the "Guilty Pleasure" thread of a while back, where I got to know another poster after he talked about playing my old home course in Edinburgh while studying at University of Edinburgh.
-
I would have to start with Grosse Ile circa 1977-82 because I was inundated with classic architecture ala Ross from day 1 even if I didn't fully realize it at the time. To this day I use Grosse Ile's greens as a quality bar. I still treat golf as a walking game and retained my appreciation for courses which are well designed to walk.
Royal Troon circa 1992: It was the first links I ever played after a long lay off from golf. I was fascinated much more by the conditions than the architecture and still don't think Troon is all that. However, I do recall being in awe of Postage Stamp.
West Links circa 1993: I didn't really know much about the course, but as with everybody else, I found it fascinating that walls, weird greens and blind shots could be such an integral part of architecture and the game. This style of design was worlds apart from my daily dose in Michigan.
TOC circa 1994: TOC is more akin with West Links than any championship links and the very thought that this type of architecture could be "validated" by hosting the golf's most important championship ~ every five years is still a bit mind blowing to me.
Pennard circa 1997: There are few things Pennard did for me.
1. It was this course which solidified for me that what courses I was reading about in books and magazines only scratched the surface of the quality available if one is willing to look.
2. I fully embraced the concept of extreme sites as a positive attribute if we allow for the fact that the best players won't be visiting....sort of TOC on steroids.
3. Courses don't have to be well conditioned to be great.
4. Just as we can relive memories of youth through song, we can relive our golfing childhood through courses like Pennard.
Kington circa 1999: Who needs bunkers? Why can't more courses use completely artificial earthworks as features?
Cleeve Cloud circa 2010: Width.
Sacred 9 circa 2014: I heard about economy of design quite a bit, but this course really drove home the concept.
Ciao
-
You guys will laugh at this, but there is a replica course northeast of Toronto called Wooden Sticks that I played some 20 years ago and that was instrumental in helping me understand/appreciate architecture as architecture. To this day I have not played a fairway so wide nor a green so large as on the replicate 18th at St Andrews, nor have I ever again found a fairway hazard as frightening or penal as the faux Church Pew bunkers there. Was it gimmicky? I honestly didn't find it so (though then and now I feel a slight urge to pretend I did) -- but if it was gimicky it also sure made crystal clear how certain architectural features 'worked' in the game of golf.
-
BeverlyBandon Dunes (PAC D mainly)
Sand Hills
LACC North
Shoreacres
Olympia Fields N&S
-
Nice topic. Thanks JJ
Southport (Australia)...grew up here in the 60's while my father was the original Club Professional. A childhood full of memories buffing members clubs and foxing practise balls while my father gave lessons
Cararra Par 3 & Range (Australia & NLE)...where my father went after Southport. Maybe Australia's first stand alone range. No such thing as ball picker uppers in the late 60's. 3 sons to fill that role doing it by hand - where I learned to have eyes in the back of my head. I guess I learned my short game on the par 3 course
Yarra Yarra (Australia)...first GREAT club & course where I had/have the honour of membership
National Old (Australia)...most fun course I get to play on a regular basis. Scene of some of my best and saddest memories. My father's ashes spread behind black tee on #7
Tobacco Road...maybe the "WOW" moment for me when I found my real interest in GCA
Cypress Point...nothing for me to say about the course but the scene of my wife/my favourite on course day together. One play only & we've turned down a couple of subsequent opportunities because we do not want to spoil the memory!
TOC...I love the course, the history, the town & the anticipation when driving in. Never tire of it. Looking forward to one more trip "home" someday
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (all for different reasons)...Pine Valley, Cruden Bay, NGLA & Morfontaine
-
Pasatiempo and Bandon Dunes. It would take a small pamphlet to explain, but large portions of my golf life, my life, are framed by Pasatiempo in the '50/'60s and Bandon '99-on. I'm blessed.
-
Airco Golf Course Clearwater Florida-The club where my father first got me started. We had many 36 hole days and one 45 hole day while on vacation at my Grandmothers house. I've never looked back.
Pebble Beach/Spyglass-35 years later I played both and wished that my father was still with us so I could tell him what a great experience it was.
Penfield CC-a few years ago holing out a wedge on number 4 for an eagle from at spot in the fairway where I spread some of my fathers ashes. Oh and it was on fathers day.......
-
Lincoln GC in Michigan in 1956. The first course I played. I was eight years old. I didn't care about the course just tried to get the ball airborne. I played with hickories my Dad got me. I was hooked. I played the course years later and decided that playing golf was more important than the course. Then played it again and changed my mind. The quality of the course was more important to the enjoyment of the round than score.
Fort Meade golf club 1961-1964. I grew up on those two courses and learned how to play a variety of shots. When I think of playing my thoughts always go back there.
Riviera in 1983 was my first really good course. I didn't know how good golf could be.
Musgrove Mill in 1995. I had never seen anything like. I joined on the spot. It was fun, difficult, and beautiful with some of the most interesting greens and hazards I had played.
Ballybunion in 1991 was my first experience with links golf and fell in love.
Royal County Down in 1991 on my first trip to GB&I. It was the most difficult course I had ever played and loved every minute. It still is my favorite course in the world.
-
Petrifying Springs, park district course, Kenosha, WI - where I learned the game
Kenosha Country Club - my first private golf experience - Ross track that showed the power of small greens
Thunderhawk - park district course, Waukegan-ish, IL - experienced the joy of "bargain" golf
Skokie, Shoreacreas - where I learned the secrete sauce is benevolence off the tee with thumb screws applied at, and on, the greens
Every narrow, tree-lined course in the world - where I understood how it can all go wrong
Cal Club - the course that sits on my mantle. What I want my golf to be - wide, firm, vista-rich and with a great bar
DC Ranch, Scottsdale - where I realized great golf to me will sometimes vary significantly from the cognoscenti
-
My golfing life is very young still but even so a fanatic dedication can make up for lost time or a late start.
My first ever pure golf trip greatly defined my golfing life so rather than a single course it was this mix that sealed my fait.
I arranged the trip for a close friends father who had just retired. We played: Old Course, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, North Berwick, Gullan #1, Muirfield and St. Andrews Bay (because we stayed here 1 night). My friends father was a very wealthy man and he stayed in the likes of Greywalls and a suite in the Old Course Hotel while I stayed right up the street in both cases in B&B's for less than 1/10th the price and had a wonderful time.
Noordwijkse Golf Club - I've probably learned more from Noordwijkse as any other course. It's the first and only personal membership I've ever had and still have. I spent a few years on the greens committee fighting an impossible fight. Sometimes you can learn a lot more from something that's done completely wrong than you can from something completely right because you have to work your way through all these details, what could be better and why. I strongly believe that Noordwijkse has one of the best pieces of land you could ever have for a golf course (and a links course at that) and through a history of unconscious incompetence it may never reach it's potential as one of the world's great links. A wonderful and certainly defining learning school!
Cypress Point - Because it freed me from the clutches of inevitability and a suffocating relationship.
-
Going to keep this pretty simple.
TOC - There's nothing like The Old Course.
Eastward Ho - This is my ideal golf course. Absolutely spectacular in every way.
Tobacco Road - If there is or was ever a more daring golf course I've yet to find it.
St. Georges (Toronto) - This is really just a masterpiece in the city and one of Stanley Thompson's finest. It spurred my GCA obsession.
Beacon Hall (Toronto) - I started working at Beacon Hall at just 11 years old as a caddy and walked those fairways for 6 years. It's a Bob Cupp/Tom McBroom design with two distinct, modern nines. I have always had a soft spot for the course, but it is very, very good with some really cool features throughout.
-
Cypress Point - Because it freed me from the clutches of inevitability and a suffocating relationship.
Loved that story David and I understand completely!
I may have to unfriend you on FB though... I have had Sir Mixalot in my head for a couple of days now! Damn you.
Happy New Year.
-
A few phases, some overlapping to various degrees -
a - pitch-n-putt muni's
b - muni's
c - low spec private club membership
d - higher quality private club membership
e - open comps at other good quality courses
f - golf trips to higher standard and/or interesting courses
g - playing occasionally with hickories
h - the future? Who knows, a few targets exist although the front tees are beckoning! :)
Atb
-
I am new thanks to Ran's graciousness, but found this thread a great way on the New Year to reflect on the intersections between golf and real life.
Skokie Playfield (Winnetka IL)--Sleeping in car to get tee time so I could play with my father and his friends.
Cog Hill--Riding L from Skokie with my clubs at 7:30am to meet friends in Lincoln Park for breakfast and drive out for an every week 10:36 tee time which meant 11:45. Reverse commute with pizza for dinner and getting home by 10pm or so. Worth every minute because of quality of companions and fierceness of $1 skins and 25 cent Hogans.
Hog Neck (Easton MD)--Big highlight break from rota of mediocre publics in DC area for group of golf fanatic friends.
Silverado/Broadmoor--Played first with then girlfriend and now wife when she took up game because of fanaticism described above. She was horrified when a low line drive 3 wood hit a bird. But she too fell in love with the game. Hence a honeymoon at the Broadmoor (25th Anniversary too) plus at least twice yearly golf vacations.
Bryn Mawr--Playing so many times with my Father who traded in Playfield after having to sleep himself in the car. Do not understand why some on CGA have praise for the course, but for me the company more than compensated for its averageness.
Lahinch--As so many have noted, a simply transformative magical experience as the last round of the "classic" Irish trip by Americans.
Pine Needles/Mid Pines/Hope Valley--Our recent regular Rota which after all these years taught me what good routing really means. And although my wife is not an architecture buff, she takes great delight in explaining false fronts and back to front greens to non-golfers.
Thanks for letting me join and Happy New Year to all.
-
a - pitch-n-putt muni'slly with hickories
Atb
I can't believe I missed out Bruntsfield Links! Site of my first ever tourney, which ended in a 9&8 loss in a 36 hole tie.
-
I came to "serious" golf later in life. Growing up playing hockey through college, golf was a past time. I had my fun courses I'd play growing up in Massachusetts (how I wish I knew then what Golden Age gems were nearby). Once out of college, the healthy obsession began.
Golf Club of Georgia: I was hired on as a forecaddie. The club had just won GD's "Best New Private Course." I was introduced to guys trying to play for a living, guys who were playing for a living, executives from major corporations and what the hottest golf course architecture at the time looked like. This was my first experience in "big time golf."
Blackthorn GC: My first experience opening a course and deciding to make golf my profession.
Warren GC at Notre Dame: So many positive things happened when I was lucky enough to get the head professional position. I met Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, Jeff Bradley and other team members. I was introduced to this site. I began to cut my teeth on what made a golf course great, not necessarily what makes it hard. It's a shame I wasn't mature enough at the time to know I'd learn more if I spoke less and listened more. There were some really solid people involved with that project.
Kingsley Club & Crystal Downs: Fred Mueller from Crystal Downs invited the Director of Golf at Warren GC and I to visit him and play Crystal Downs. He recommended we stop and play a new course about 40 minutes east of Crystal before coming over to play. We took Mayfield Trail sure we made a wrong turn. I stood on the first tee at Kingsley Club and my jaw dropped. We played the front nine and I declared the course right then my favorite anywhere. Then we drove to CD. I stood on the first tee and my jaw dropped again. We finished 18 exhausted from the best golf day I had had up to that point. My interest in architecture took off from there. I would never look at golf courses the same way (for the better).
Lawsonia: This one is simple. Inexpensive golf doesn't have to mean dumbed down architecture. Plus, golf can be REALLY FUN without being sadistically hard.
Happy New Year all! All the best to more meaningful rounds in 2017.
Ken
-
Pacific Dunes the first course I saw under construction, my perfect course. Was there the week the final routing was chosen.
When asked my opinion (after the fact) I said that if that was the best routing golfers would accept it despite the disparate sides.
Sandpines Winter golf in the PNW is rain and soft ground conditions. When the course opened I could look forward to playing golf year round. The more I played there, the more I saw the missed opportunity.
Sagebrush I joined the Posse despite sitting out a lot of the GCA outing with a sprained ankle. That was a blessing in disguise
because I spent a lot of time talking with Terry, Richard and Don. Relegated to riding it became my replacement for Bandon, despite being a 7 hour drive, one way.
St. Andrews Always wanted to play it. Talked my father into the trip. Discovered Prestwick and North Berwick along the way, as well as finding my game was much more suited to links golf. Made a pilgrimage to play the reverse course. It started my golf course architecture library, which morphed into travel planning sources before Gore invented the internet.
Tualatin Joined there the year after the St Andrews trip so I could access private clubs on golf vacations here and overseas. Became involved with the Green committee for a number of years, including a rerouting and improvements of the course.
Can't claim too much influence because we had two USGA champions, a future pro and a future architect on the committee.
-
Ken,
good stuff.
Interesting evolution-wish others in the biz could evolve as well
-
Paraparaumu in 1957 as a very young teenager. I remember it well even to this day 60 years later.
Royal Melbourne 1961. I recall every hole I played that sweltering day in January of that year as well as my playing partners, including a 76-year-old doctor who almost equaled his age by shooting a 77 over the magnificent West Course.
-
For me, there is one golf course that stands above all others, although I doubt it has ever been discussed here and has no claim to fame except a guy named Babe Ruth was a member and apparently played there often.
The course is Leewood Golf Club in Eastchester, New York. That is where I feel in love with golf courses at about three years old.
Every great golf course I have had the good fortune to see became part of my life because of Leewood and the huge impression it made on me as a toddler.
-
There's no doubt that Pasatiempo tops this list for me, when I made my first go-around it in high school, it was seeing that course which ultimately got me into architecture, as I marveled at the the green contours and bunker placement. Caddying for a friend the next day as he played in a US Am qualifier (where they had the greens stimped at 13!!!). Doing research on Pasatiempo brought me to this site, and I can confidently say that Pasa has had more influence on my life than any other golf course.
From a personal standpoint, no place has made me fall in love with the game than Nicklaus' Old Greenwood in Tahoe. Playing up there in the summers through what was one of the most difficult times in my life as a kid was everything. It was the place I went to to escape, relax, and reflect. It's not an architectural treasure by any means, but there's enough there to make it interesting, and there is no place I have more of a personal connection with.
But without going into further detail, the other courses which significantly changed the way I viewed golf architecture and have ultimately come to define much of my golfing life are as follows (and surely I could add more to this list): Shinnecock Hills, Camargo, TOC, Lawsonia, Sheep Ranch, and Tobacco Road
-
Stanford University GC
Pumpkin Ridge GC
Pacific Dunes
Ballyneal
I'm a lucky guy. I've had a nice golfing life.
-
After I took up golf as a youngster, about 40 years ago, I was lucky enough to play a lot of golf at De Pan in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Back then, I wasn't aware of Harry Colt, who designed De Pan, let alone of his fame as golf course architect. But those early rounds defined my ideas about the way a golf course should play and look: natural, simple, elegant and completely balanced.My love for golf became permanent after a round at The Old Course as a student. With a half set of old clubs in a pencil bag around my shoulders, I played in a flight with a wealthy American and his daughter. They were lousy golfers but extremely friendly and more importantly, they had hired two Scottish top caddies. From that moment on, I realized that this was the home of the greatest game ever invented.
-
JJ, this is a great thread, and I’ve been enjoying the entries so far.
I’m sure I’ll see lots of well known courses on here. My entry into golf, and therefore golf course architecture appreciation, is a bit different.
Delhi Hills Par 3 - Cincinnati, OH
My parents had a house on the third tee, so I basically grew up on this course my entire youth. While I could do the occasion loop and possibly sneak on to play a couple holes, I was not a golfer in my youth. I was a soccer player through my sophomore year of college. The course is family built, owned and operated, and I’m sure only exists today as a write-off.
Arcadian Shores Golf Club - Myrtle Beach, SC
What I believe was my first 18 holes on a big boy course; at the age of 16. Didn’t plan on golfing during that family vacation, but we drove by the course on the way to our villa and it looked interesting. I didn’t know a thing about Rees Jones at that point. While I played mostly terrible, but I remember most is a tee shot into a par 3 that hit a rake and ended up a foot from the cup. Still the closest I’ve come to a hole-in-one.
Kiawah Island Resort (Cougar Point) - Kiawah Island, SC
When I was 21, I took a trip with some friends and stayed in their parent’s villa. Similar story as above; drove by a lot of golf that week, and finally decided to bite the bullet and play. I’m not sure what I was thinking putting that much money into a round of golf at the time. Somehow I pared the first hole and had a 5ft putt to par the 18th (which I missed). This time, the golf bug stuck and wouldn’t let go.
Indian Ridge Golf Club - Oxford, OH
This is basically where I learned to play golf while I finished school at Miami University. As much as I realistically could, between studying and socializing, I would try to get out there and play. Hueston Woods had the cheap student rate on Thursdays, but I enjoyed the variety of holes at Indian Ridge much better.
Canterbury Golf Club - Beachwood, OH
Playing in the 2014 Midwest Mashie was the first time I got to meet a lot of the people I’ve met through GCA in person. It was also my first time playing a club with a high level of stature and history. My rounds at Canterbury showed me what a club and course could be at its highest level. While I played poorly, I used that experience to improve many aspects of my game. I also won’t soon forget the friendships forged during that weekend either.
-
The course that shaped my basic game was Dewsbury District Golf Club which is a hilly part wooded, part exposed heath/moorland course full of awkward lies and shaped shots. Here I learned the importance of being able to play from an uneven lie and tricky shots around the green.
Howley Hall GC between Batley and Morley which is an early Mackenzie for the main part where I learned the importance of keeping the next shot playable by plotting my way round the course and playing sensible shots where needed.
TOC in the late 80's where I learned ground contours not hasards make a course challenging and width adds opportunities to the play.
Finally, Kilspindie where I learned that it is the short course that is the most fun to play.
Jon
-
I started playing golf at 14, following a couple of mates to a local municipal for a round and then a nearby club that had a second course of 9 holes that you didnt need to be a member to play. I talked to my mum and dad about joining the club, but then about the same time a new course opened nearer to home and I was lucky enough that my parents signed me up for there...
Horsley Lodge 1991
The first club that I was a member at, that made great use of the undulating former farmland, criss-crossed with streams, to make an interesting layout, however the greens and some of the conditioning left a little to be desired. Very much part of the late 80s/early 90s golf boom, at the time the course was nothing special, but it did start my love of golf and my love for courses that use the land well and ask plenty of your short game (it had very small greens!)
Cavendish circa 1992
A trip from Horsley where a group of us went to play Cavendish, the only thing I was told beforehand was that it was designed by the same guy who did Augusta where I'd seen the Masters on TV. WOW! This really opened my eyes to what a golf course could be and I made every effort to return to Cavendish for various junior Opens in the coming years.
Brora circa 1992
A family holiday to the caravan site adjacent to the 12th hole at Brora, started my love affair with links golf. playing golf at times from dawn till dusk, that was so totally alien to the inland golf I'd played previously, was a revelation. Having watched The Open on TV I wondered why the Open wasnt played at a course like Brora (I know, I was young) as it was so good and such a challenge, using the landscape wonderfully!
The Belfry (Brabazon) 1993
It was only a couple of weeks after the Ryder Cup that I got an opportunity to play the Belfry. My first real trip to what I had been lead to believe based on other peoples comments and seeing it on TV, was a great course... Afraid to say I was disappointed, and I have recollection of thinking if Cavendish or Brora can be so good and yet hardly known, but the Belfry so dull and yet known internationally, what is involved, why do I love one and not the other, and who designs these things? My interest in GCA was born...
Notts (Hollinwell) circa 1994
My reading of anything I could regarding golf courses and their architecture, naturally lead to looking at lists (sorry Melvyn) and the search for the best course near to home. It was Notts and so arranged for a days golf there that summer. This started my love of heathland golf and also a love affair with a course, that quite a few years later I'm now very proud to call my home club.
Horsley Lodge 1999
By this time, I'd looked into becoming a golf course architect, but had moved away from this for various reasons to look at an architect of buildings instead, and was studying this at university, with GCA taking a back seat in my interests. However my home club Horsley had decided to go through a significant rebuild, with 18 new undulating greens, some in totally new locations, and new tees and some completely realigned fairways opening up a strategic challenge. Getting to see this work taking place up close, again rekindled my interest in GCA.
By the time I joined GCA and met many of you, I'd pretty much read everything I could, though still had plenty of courses to play and experience. However having now been able to play some excellent and interesting course its these early courses and the positive or perhaps negative effect on how they've defined my as a golfer and GCA enthusiats that probably say the most about me?
Cheers,
James
-
Reflecting back, there are a couple of courses that I would say have defined my golfing life.
Needwood Golf Course
A muni that has a full 18, and an executive 9, I played my first round of golf on the exec with my older brother. I had birthday parties there, fell in love with the drinks girls every summer, worked there as a cart boy, had my high school team tryouts there, and ate more french fries than I care to remember. I learned golf there sure, but I learned a lot of skills there such as how to talk to new acquaintances (I was always paired up as a single), I learned golf etiquette, and I learned how to play quick. I wouldn't trade my rounds there for much.
Manor Country Club
The first private course that I played, we had a number of families in the neighborhood who were members, and I remember how elegant the place was/is. I watched the 2000 US Open from a 10" screen in the pro shop, and that may be the earliest memory I have of Tiger. I foolishly asked if anyone had a chance to catch him on the Sunday. The pro just laughed and said 'not a chance'.
Hilton Head Harbor Town
We stayed in Sea Pines when I was in high school and got two free rounds on the Harbor Town course. My folks didn't play golf, so I went around twice and was paired with others. It was plain old fun, and was the first time I truly understood how a course didn't have to be long to be hard. I was continually on the wrong side of the fairway, and found the entire course very perplexing, and yet, so much fun.
North Berwick West Links
This course and a few other links courses in Scotland grew my love for golf, and has made it a life long passion that has given me much more than I will ever be able to give back. Architecturally, as I have become more interested in the subject, it has provided me a first-hand look at one of the most architecturally interesting courses in the world. And for that, I am forever grateful.
-
Olde Salem Greens (Salem Municipal)
My early golf years, ages 10-13, were spent on this 9-holer that was about $15 to play. The course is very quirky and fun, while also being full-length with a Wayne Stiles pedigree. Because the country club down the street was not yet accessible for me, this taught me what golf was and how fun it could be before any other course did. Fun also that it was our primary practice venue for HS golf team, so that added another fun 20 rounds per year at Salem Myoon.
Pavement golf in front of my house
We had Franklin plastic clubs (usually a wood and an iron), and we would design our own 18 around the 200y by 200y area around our house, playing to trees, fences, bushes, etc. Many shots came off pavement, and you didn't want to destroy the neighbor's lawn, so this is why I think I became a sweeper. I learned to shape shots, use my imagination, and ballstriking, as you had to hit it solid for the plastic balls to go anywhere (maybe 50y max). Also taught me subtle golf design principles, as I loved any hole I could dream up that plausibly looked like a real one.
Tedesco Country Club
My dad joined in the mid-90s, giving me a place to practice and play, often with one of my grandfathers. I'm now the only active 4th-generation member, I'm on several committees, and I've won the club champ 4 times, so Tedesco is part of the family. TCC is home in more ways than one, as it serves as my definition of "Golf." All aspects of my other golf experiences are compared to my home course, and I'm lucky that my definition is a Golden Age design with small push-up greens, more challenge than its scorecard length, and is a real pure golf experience. Can't say enough about "the real" TCC (take that Brookline)...it's in my blood!
Essex County Club
The first great course I played, complete with fescue waving in the breeze, and a bit more primitive Golden Age look. It was (and is) an intoxicating place, and only made me want to learn more and see what other courses were like. Amazing that it is still my favorite course in my home state, and I have scored everything from 68 to 119 there over the years!
Links golf
My first trip to Scotland in 1999 opened my eyes to a completely different world of golf that required imagination and a different set of shots than those I had learned back playing parkland golf in Boston. Turnberry was my first round, but seeing Dornoch (pure, challenging test), Cruden Bay (wild, whimsy), and TOC (unique among links for age and openness) really were the most influential to me.
I would guess most if not all of my golf experiences have been reactions on some level to the above!
-
Though I had played golf for several years prior to my becoming a member, Stafford Country Club is the setting that has provided my sweetest moments related to golf. My wife and I made the decision to join there after suffering through seasons of 6 hour rounds on local munis, notably the Durand-Eastmangfgfd course, in Rochester, NY, that was a gem before it was butchered, architecturally.
When we joined Stafford, in 1975, I knew nothing about golf course architecture (still consider myself a neophyte). Stafford’s terrific old Travis course started me down the road of interest in the architecture of a golf course. It’s remaining, original Travis greens taught me a lot about the intricacies of old, classic greens. I began to appreciate the rhythm and flow of Stafford’s routing, and how Travis used the distinct features of the land for the siting of his greens. I began to resent those who had not respected the old features of the course, and bulldozed them away. As a member, and eventual Chairman, of the Green Committee I was introduced to the challenge of preserving, and caring for this course that I had grown to love. As Chairman, I was privileged to lead the effort to develop a long range golf course plan, working closely with architect Ian Andrew and our golf course superintendent, Pete Cavanaugh. My continuing education took a major leap during the bunker project recommended in the long range plan. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to observe, up close, the work of the architect, contractor, and shaper.
My very first impression of Stafford was that it seemed “easy”. Much, much later, I learned that Travis said something to the effect of “my courses look easy, at first”. I soon learned that I was way off in my first impressions. Meeting its challenges drove me to work on improving my game. I was a pretty strong 11 to13 handicap for many years. The work, and lessons, paid off with my first sub-80 round, and a period of time as a single digit handicapper. Now, as I approach my 9th decade, I am very pleased when I break 100. But, mostly, I just enjoy being out on that old course.
Stafford’s reciprocals contributed greatly to my golfing experience and, particularly, to my appreciation of golf course architecture. Cherry Hill Club and Lookout Point CC, in southern Ontario, and Yahnundasis Golf Club and CC of Troy expanded my appreciation of Walter Travis. For several years, one of my favorite reciprocals was Teugaga Country Club, in Rome, NY. I have played each of the Donald Ross courses in Rochester, plus CC of Buffalo and Bellevue CC, in Syracuse, NY, but I am most impressed with what Ross did at Teugaga.
Offshoots of Stafford’s influence on my golf life include founding an inter-club Travis Cup event involving Stafford, Orchard Park CC, and the afore-mentioned southern Ontario Travis courses. That led to the founding of The Walter J. Travis Society.
All thanks to Stafford CC.
-
Though I had played golf for several years prior to my becoming a member, Stafford Country Club is the setting that has provided my sweetest moments related to golf. My wife and I made the decision to join there after suffering through seasons of 6 hour rounds on local munis, notably the Durand-Eastman golf course, in Rochester, NY, that was a gem before it was butchered, architecturally.
When we joined Stafford, in 1975, I knew nothing about golf course architecture (still consider myself a neophyte). Stafford’s terrific old Travis course started me down the road of interest in the architecture of a golf course. It’s remaining, original Travis greens taught me a lot about the intricacies of old, classic greens. I began to appreciate the rhythm and flow of Stafford’s routing, and how Travis used the distinct features of the land for the siting of his greens. I began to resent those who had not respected the old features of the course, and bulldozed them away. As a member, and eventual Chairman, of the Green Committee I was introduced to the challenge of preserving, and caring for this course that I had grown to love. As Chairman, I was privileged to lead the effort to develop a long range golf course plan, working closely with architect Ian Andrew and our golf course superintendent, Pete Cavanaugh. My continuing education took a major leap during the bunker project recommended in the long range plan. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to observe, up close, the work of the architect, contractor, and shaper.
My very first impression of Stafford was that it seemed “easy”. Much, much later, I learned that Travis said something to the effect of “my courses look easy, at first”. I soon learned that I was way off in my first impressions. Meeting its challenges drove me to work on improving my game. I was a pretty strong 11 to13 handicap for many years. The work, and lessons, paid off with my first sub-80 round, and a period of time as a single digit handicapper. Now, as I approach my 9th decade, I am very pleased when I break 100. But, mostly, I just enjoy being out on that old course.
Stafford’s reciprocals contributed greatly to my golfing experience and, particularly, to my appreciation of golf course architecture. Cherry Hill Club and Lookout Point CC, in southern Ontario, and Yahnundasis Golf Club and CC of Troy expanded my appreciation of Walter Travis. For several years, one of my favorite reciprocals was Teugaga Country Club, in Rome, NY. I have played each of the Donald Ross courses in Rochester, plus CC of Buffalo and Bellevue CC, in Syracuse, NY, but I am most impressed with what Ross did at Teugaga.
Offshoots of Stafford’s influence on my golf life include founding an inter-club Travis Cup event involving Stafford, Orchard Park CC, and the afore-mentioned southern Ontario Travis courses. That led to the founding of The Walter J. Travis Society.
All thanks to Stafford CC.
-
While I grew up playing a couple of public courses, it’s hard to define your golfing life from 13 to 16. The first great course I ever played was Cape Breton Highlands (Highlands Links) with my father. He had made his mind up to show me a series of great courses each year so that I could study them. I played the course when I was 16 and was awestruck by the constant changes in setting and how that was part of the golfing experience. Being there now is both the most frustrating and most exciting part of my architectural life ... what it should be ... sigh!
Pinehurst #2 was my greatest educational moment as a golf and future architect. My father and played it when I was 17. I played a really great game, but for all the good I had done, a series of mistakes had prevented what should have been a sub 80 round. I thought my father played poorly, ending up constantly short, but he managed to get up and down a lot for a smooth 77. I bitched about how he had won despite playing poorly – as he always did – and he laughed at me. Dad scoffed at this and explained the architecture of the course and how he had played for position all day. Often short of greens – to ensure he wouldn’t waste a single stroke. He explained in detail what he intended to avoid and why. Where he thought he could take a chance. He pointed out my arrogance in chasing a couple of deadly pins and explained how I had wasted a particularly strong day with a "weak mind". I sat stunned … floored really … and it was the moment when I saw architecture differently. I realized where I got sucked in, the impact of a near miss ... what I could do to other golfers!
-
The course that sticks out re: this topic most for me has to do with my own golf game, and it's Pawleys Plantation G&CC in Pawleys Island, SC. I reckon that I've logged around 500 rounds at the course, and it's shaped my game. For a course that isn't crazy long, it has both a high rating and a very high slope. It also has a lot of holes where a right-to-left shot works particularly well off pretty much every tee.
Pawleys Plantation being a late-80s Nicklaus affair, the small, narrow, angled greens have honed my scrambling abilities over the years, to the point where I was (and still am) much better at grinding out pars than making birdies. If you've played the course, you know how relentlessly difficult it can be, and it absolutely toughened me as a golfer.
As a result, I still have much better prospects in competition on courses where even par is good than courses where lots of low scores will be returned.
Pawleys Plantation is not a "great" golf course, but I value greatly the effect it had on my golf game, and I'm damned lucky to have had the opportunity to play it so many times in my life.
-
I've borrowed from many courses I've seen, but the ones that have defined my life in golf are probably these:
Sterling Farms, Stamford, CT. If there hadn't been an affordable public course a mile from my parents' home in CT, I would probably never have become a golfer.
Harbour Town, SC. It was the third course I ever saw, and had gone straight into the GOLF DIGEST top 10 (!) when it opened. Charles Price's small guide book for the course was my real introduction to golf design strategy.
Cypress Point, CA. My dad's former boss was a member, and when I was 15, he set up for us to play. That was when I realized how beautiful a golf course could be, and became captivated by the idea of building something that beautiful myself someday.
Long Cove, SC. The first construction job I ever worked on. I still can't believe how much Mr. Dye actually talked to me out there in the dirt.
The Old Course at St. Andrews. Caddying here for those two months at the start of my year overseas was my Master's degree.
Crystal Downs, MI. Hanging around here not only led to me getting my first solo design job, but the more I played the course, the more convinced I became that difficult greens were the key to building a great course. [EDIT: I didn't say this as well as I should have. What I meant was that getting to know Crystal Downs well made me unafraid to build difficult greens. You can have a great course without difficult greens ... but there really aren't that many of them.]
High Pointe, MI. Proved that I could build an interesting course shaping all the greens myself, and on a modest budget.
Pacific Dunes, OR. Put our reputation in a different stratosphere, leading to all the opportunities that have come since.
-
Good place to start for my first post. Just wanted to say first how much I've enjoyed this site over the years before getting the invite to actually post here from Ran after his review of my home course, Wykagyl.
Packanack Golf Club
A little nine holer that back in the 80's, a parent could write a check for $150 a season and never worry about where their child was, all summer. If every community had a course like this, golf would flourish. Very tight, with soft turf conditions and water on half the holes, you learned how to control the ball or you didn't score well. Not to mention the probative cost of balls for a kid playing around all the water. That was a problem until we started sneaking into the ponds at night and it turned into a little business. I can still smell the mud!
North Berwick
After taking the game up again in my forties, I put a lot of time into getting better and on my first trip to Scotland, it finally came together. The golf Gods over there somehow got me to focus on my club head position at the top and was finally able to link that to the impact position below. Shot a 75 on my first go round on that magical little course (Alright, it was a calm day) and the double digit handicap was gone for good. My group makes a trip there every year, never deviating on: Gullane 1 to start, Muirfield on day two, two rounds on NB day three, Dunbar followed by alternate shot, beer and buggies on the Glenn, to close out the weekend. To quote Peter Alliss, "Majestic."
Wykagyl
After being a member at another NY area course where driver, high irons was 90% of the puzzle, at Wykagyl the 200-220 club is nearly as important as the high irons. The wind and false fronts on all the raised green complexes require distance control and good decision making as missed greens into the deep bunkers and up hill pitch shots out of heavy rough, make getting up and down difficult. A lot of width off the tee although the odds of GIR's deteriorate significantly with the declining quality of the angles but you almost always feel like you have a chance. As fun a golf course as I've ever played and the kind of place where you can always get a game with people you want to be out there with.
-
Good place to start for my first post. Just wanted to say first how much I've enjoyed this site over the years before getting the invite to actually post here from Ran after his review of my home course, Wykagyl.
North Berwick
After taking the game up again in my forties, I put a lot of time into getting better and on my first trip to Scotland, it finally came together. The golf Gods over there somehow got me to focus on my club head position at the top and was finally able to link that to the impact position below. Shot a 75 on my first go round on that magical little course (Alright, it was a calm day) and the double digit handicap was gone for good. My group makes a trip there every year, never deviating on: Gullane 1 to start, Muirfield on day two, two rounds on NB day three, Dunbar followed by alternate shot, beer and buggies on the Glenn, to close out the weekend. To quote Peter Alliss, "Majestic."
Now that's a great first post!
I've only taken a buggy once overseas (Cashen course-at the comped insistence of the pro due to a couple of tempoaries causing long walks)
But the Glen in such a rotation under such a format would make sense
like Wykagyl as well
-
Thanks, Jeff. And if any GCA'ers want to play a round at Wykagyl I'd be happy to bring you out or arrange something. Just email me and I'll be in touch come spring.
-
Ed Homsey,
Can you describe some of the architectural deterioration of Durand-Eastman GC that you mentioned in your post?
It's on my upstate NY list given the pedigree and interesting history, along with the fact that I get to Corning regularly and a day trip up to Rochester is very easy to do.
-
Mike--When I played the Durand-Eastman course in the '60s, there were 10 holes on the "front" section of the course, with #11, across the road, starting the back section. The 2nd hole was a very challenging medium length par four that provided two options of play; one on the left side of the ditch/creek, and the other to the right side of the ditch, requiring a rather difficult angle to the green. The green was protected by a couple of bunkers and a couple of well-placed trees. The left side option has been eliminated, as have the bunkers and trees. It is still a nice hole, but not quite as interesting. The fourth hole was a jewell of a short par-3, requiring a tee shot from an elevated tee, across a ravine to a shallow green set against a ridge. That hole was eliminated and merged with the next hole to make an awkward par 5. (I believe the rationale was to create 9 holes for the front section of the course. The green for this new par 5 is in the same location as the original, with the original tier removed. The next hole (the original 6th) was another jewel of a medium length par 3, with the rather narrow, 3-tiered green set up against a morraine, with very interesting contoured surrounds. For a period of time, they abandoned that hole and built another vanilla par 3 that shortened the walk from the 5th to the 6th tee. At present, I believe they alternate between the two par 3 settings, and the original 3-tiered green has been essentially flattened. Thankfully, the medium length original 7th (now the 6th), remains untouched. It has one of the most interesting greens on the property. The original 8th green has been softened, but is very similar. On the original 9th, a 190 yard par 3, I believe the green remains as was, but they've planted an obnoxious row of trees down the left side of the hole. I presume to provide some separation from the next hole--but it was never needed in the old days. From the current 9th to the current 15th, there are no obvious changes that I can think of. To create another hole on the "back", they built a 180 yard par 3 that is actually a pretty decent hole. A lot of visual distractions from the tee, and with the elevated green, you have to hit the green. That is followed by another beautiful short par-3 from an highly elevated tee and Lake Ontario as a backdrop. I believe that the hole retains the original green, with its rather interesting and challenging contours. The 18th hole is a wicked closing hole through a tightly forested corridor that leaves no room for error. It's a long par 4 (actually, I think they have it as a par 5, currently) to a green that is approximately 20 feet above the fairway, sitting on a shelf.
Recent changes in management of the course has resulted in better conditioning. And, if you didn't know what the course was like, at one time, it still offers a very interesting, challenging, and enjoyable round of golf in a beautiful setting. Walk it, if you can. Not an easy walk, but much more enjoyable, as I recall. The website presents further info about the evolution of the course:
http://www.durandeastmangolfclub.org/scorecard.html (http://www.durandeastmangolfclub.org/scorecard.html)
I would welcome the opportunity to meet you, should you come to town. Let me know.
-
Mike--I just clicked on the "history" link in the Durand-Eastman website. It contains a GCA thread from 2012 that contains some interesting info that Jim Kennedy and others provided.
-
Ed,
Thanks for that terrific information.
I will certainly let you know when I am in town and it would be my pleasure, I'm certain.
-
For me these courses would be:
River Club - Johannesburg: the course I played most golf in growing up as a child, reckoned by many to have best closing 5 holes in South Africa.
Hermanus, Cape, South Africa - first introduction to seaside golf, scene of most of my childhood summer holiday golf. Winning a better ball competition there aged 18 - which involved a miraculous constellation of events to beat highly contested field with normal smattering of holiday bandits (think 48 stableford type of score).
Huntercombe - the course that introduced me to English golf, coincided with GCA awakening and serves as an ongoing reminder of the basic ingredients of a good golf course.
Royal Dornoch and Brora - playing multiple rounds at these courses over 20 years with substantially the same group of eight is probably my central golfing experience!
There have been many other jewels along the way, but these are the defining courses.
Philip
-
Deal GCC New Jersey
Dad was head pro, mom was an assistant. Worked all areas, bag room, caddy, range, golf course. Learned to play a tight, small green course where staying play and hitting small targets led me to being a pretty good ball striker who played a bit too conservative
Forest Park CC. Adams, MA
Grandfather ran this nine holes as head pro in the summers. As a child, I would visit for a week, and was in heaven playing endless holes with no time restraints on junior golfers during the week. A quirky place totally different from Deal, holes 3/4, 6/8,7/8, all crossed each other. Blue collar, working class club that I loved.
NSW, Kingston Heath, Royal Melbourne
I lump them together because I went to Australia in 1987 and learned that as spoiled as I was growing up playing around the New York area, there was a huge world out there, and the Australian course were a revelation in design, and maintenance. S till believe I was meant to be in Australia. The golf, the people everything had a huge impact on me
Cresta Verde GC Corona, Ca
Helped run a non profit foundation for kids on an absolute dump of a course. Introduced kids to the game for free, but had amazing impact on numerous kids and their families by simply reaching out and helping. Learned the game can be a conduit to really helping kids if you can find a way, even on ancrappy little course.
-
Famous tracks
Atlantic City CC - the history and the 'fun factor' of the course captivated me and still does.
ANGC - no explanation needed.
Bandon Dunes - played it as a preview round in 1999 and looking forward to heading back this year to see what has been added since then. :)
Bethpage Black - the first brute test I ever faced. The rough conditions back when I first played it did not deter my love for the place nor diminish its beauty.
Pine Valley - the 'Disney World' effect of driving through the gate gets me every time.
Saucon Valley - the best multi-course club and I love every experience there. The courses are all similar but play decidedly different. Just a joy to be associated with.
The local public tracks of my youth cannot be beat though when it comes to defining my golfing passion. Being dropped off at a course at 7:00 am as a kid and then picked up at dark is immeasurable. Walking 72+ holes, role-playing being a pro in a major, and picturing re-designs of the course in front of you are awesome memories.
I've enjoyed this thread. Thanks guys!
-
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's stories about the courses that are personal to them. Here are my selections:
- Kittyhawk Golf Center, Dayton, OH (Hawk Course) – I started playing golf when I was 14-years-old. My grandfather retired after working 30 years as an engineer at NCR Corporation in Dayton, OH. While an employee of NCR, he was a member at NCR Country Club and loved to play golf. Frankly, I think he was too cheap to maintain his membership at NCR and pay the monthly dues, so when he retired, he gave up the membership and opted to play the public courses around the Dayton area instead. The summer following his retirement (when I was fourteen), he began to teach me to play golf. I was hooked immediately. Grandpa's preferred course was the Hawk course at Kittyhawk Golf Center on the north side of Dayton (a muni course owned by the City of Dayton). Grandpa loved playing Kittyhawk because he always walked when he played and the course was dead flat. Twice per week during the summers, we would play Kittyhawk. Notably, the course is located across the street from a Cargill plant, which emits a certain smell over the golf course - I will never forget that smell.
- Community Golf Course, Dayton, OH - Dales Course (i.e. "the inside") - The City of Dayton owns three golf facilities. The aforementioned Kittyhawk, plus Community Golf Course and Madden Golf Course. Community was located about 10 minutes from my house. My grandfather refused to play Community because it was "too hilly." Nevertheless, due to my newly-discovered obsession with golf, I wanted to play nearly every day that I could. On days when my grandfather did not want to play, my mom would drop me off at Community Golf Course in the morning, where the junior green fee was $6 for 18 holes, and I would be paired-up as a single with whoever had an opening in their group. I played hundreds of rounds at Community and met some very interesting individuals from all walks of life while playing.
- Beavercreek Golf Club – In the mid-90’s, amidst the golf boom, the City where I grew-up in the Dayton area (Beavercreek, OH) decided it was a good idea to get in on the action and build a city-owned facility. Fuzzy Zoeller was selected as the “Signature” architect, although I believe Brian Huntley was the actual brains behind the course’s creation. As a teenager, this was very interesting to watch a golf course get shaped from nothing as well as the grow-in process. The course opened when I was 16 and I took my first job there as a cart boy. I worked there for two-and-a-half years before I left for college. An added perk was that the pro at the course would allow the staff to play anytime there was an opening on the tee sheet.
- Fowler’s Mill Golf Course, Cleveland, OH – After attending college, I was completely burned-out with playing and practicing golf. I had lost almost complete interest in the game and barely touched a club during the subsequent three years while attending law school. During the summer that I was studying for the bar exam, an attorney from the law firm that I clerked at during law school invited me to play in an outing at Fowler’s Mill. That round was the “ah-ha” moment for me for developing an interest in golf architecture and, with it, renewed my interest in the game. I had played some of the great courses in the world prior to that round, but rarely were my thoughts beyond the desire of posting a good score. With that round, my outlook on the game changed. I play for enjoyment now and became inquisitive about golf architecture. I have been fortunate to have played some of the greats since that round more than ten years ago, but that round was the start of my desire to dive deeper into the golf courses of the world, their history and design.
-
Like Dave Schmidt, mine is Medinah. Neighbors were members and snuck me on at age 12 for my first rounds. Played 3 holes on No. 2 the first time out. Anyway, I fell in love with golf that first day, and went home and told my folks I was going to be a golf architect.
Second time out (in March, 1967) it snowed and rained, but we kept going to play all 54. The old pro, John Marshall, sat in a golf cart as we came on the tee and when putting out, presented us each with a guest bill for $142, which translates to 1,026 today. Imagine taking that home to Dad at age 12!
I guess Lake Arrowhead would be my professional course as an associate - moved up to Nekoosa, WI and built it with an irrigation foreman, one drunk shaper and a bunch of high school kids on break, mostly entitled kids from people who had bought property in the original development.
My aha courses might have been Pinehurst (played in 1979 while living in Lynchburg, VA and building another course), my first trip to Scotland in 1981 (hard to pick just one) and my Australia trip in 1994 to play Mac courses.
My first design, Brookstone near Atlanta, and some of my best designs, like Quarry at Giants Ridge would be up there, too.
And then, of course, there is the next design, which I expect to define me even more!
-
These are the courses I've played the most, hence they've had the most impact on my golfing life.
Rivermont
The Golf Club
Dismal River (White and Red)
East Lake
St. Ives
-
Second time out (in March, 1967) it snowed and rained, but we kept going to play all 54. The old pro, John Marshall, sat in a golf cart as we came on the tee and when putting out, presented us each with a guest bill for $142, which translates to 1,026 today. Imagine taking that home to Dad at age 12!
Wow! Don't leave us hanging details!
How'd that come about and what happened when you went home?
-
I’m thinking this should be about golf and not about me, but, of course, I tried and that is impossible. I had a very long courtship with the game before falling in love. This evolution may not be interesting but drifting off in these thoughts seemed to be therapeutic for me, if no one else. It was a page or so. This time through I picked off a few sentences and left the rest, mostly personal history where I was when it happened.
Blue Lakes CC. Located in the rugged Snake River Canyon in south central Idaho. 9-holer in those days, hacked out of rugged rock, blow sand, bubbling springs, rapids, and cold, clear lakes. The course occupies the first homestead in the region, the Blue Lakes Ranch, an oasis in the then barren high desert (late 1880’s). As kids we didn’t play much golf (too many other sports). However, during summer we spent countless days roaming the canyons around the course, often camping there for days at a time, living off the land. Apparently our parents were comfortable dropping us off, knowing that if we got hurt, in trouble, or too hungry that we could just make our way back to the clubhouse, get a hamburger, get help, or bum a ride home. So, it was a Huck Finn like adventure that evolved for a dozen summers under the protection of this benign entity, a golf course. I guess we learned how to smack a golf ball at some point, but that was so far down the list of why we wanted to be there, it escapes memory. First and foremost, golf indirectly nurtured a life-long love of nature and wild places.
Canyon Springs GC. About the time I was in High School my father started buying up the land on the other side of the river directly across from BLCC. He did this piece by piece, no doubt helping the owners of the old homestead transition from operating a shabby, run down fruit orchard to a new life (father and son became greenkeepers.) This greatly expanded our free range territory and diversified our food sources beyond hunting and fishing. Yet, by then we could drive, were busy with girls, school, those other sports, and the mysteries of adolescence. The canyon was still an important escape. We just had less time for it.
Off to college and inventing careers. In my mid-twenties, my father announced he was building a golf course. My wife and I were heading to grad school in LA. However, we had a little more than a year with nothing better to do, so I said I would help. Sold our house in Oregon and moved back to a farm house in the canyon that I loved and helped build a golf course. Still didn’t play golf, yet had to learn quite a lot about how to construct the playing fields.
So, off to life in the city for the next 18+ years. I’d play semi-annual rounds of golf on visits home to see how the course was evolving. Maybe every year or so, I’d play with someone visiting SoCal wishing to escape winter somewhere. Wasn’t a golfer. Had some sticks, could knock it around, badly, that’s it.
Moved back to the mountains of Idaho to raise some kids and help run some family businesses because my folks were retired and snowbirds for half the year. This included the golf course. I think I oversaw its operation for something like six years before it occurred to me to play. Only then, after 40 years around golf and golf courses, was I infected with the disease. Should have known better, but love is blind. In a slight twist in how most found their way here, I helped build and design golf holes before really learning how to play (not recommended). Getting interested in architecture was both an occupational necessity and the product of a life-long emotional and visual love for the landscape of golf. Oh, and I liked to read about golf and GCA.
Starting so late in life, I was never much of a player. I am grateful that I reached the peak of my modest competency as a golfer and that coincided with trips to GB&I and being introduced to great links courses. Now, as my skills decline, I’m back where it all started. It all makes sense to me and I wouldn’t change much if I could about how I got here. The exception would be that I could just while my remaining time away helping golfers to enjoy the golf for whatever reasons they fell in love with the game. The business of golf makes this difficult and turns such fantasies toward the cynical. That’s a shame given the great things I’ve learned from friends I’ve shared it all with along the way.
I think I just made the original piece longer. Best to stop here. Golf is a passion, an obsession that makes no sense to the uninfected, and above all, a path to connect to people in a meaningful way that we might never appreciate elsewhere. A small wonder, hardly unique, perhaps boring or mundane, yet it has a soul that may be as transcendent as witchcraft.
Go ahead and tell me I’m full of shit.
Dave
-
Ottawa Park, Toledo (1961) & Old Orchard Schoolyard (1962-70) _ Free range 9 year old sees and watches golfers out southern apartment window, borrows Mom’s 7 iron and putter from storage locker, finds some golf balls and the perfect three hole loop on 6, 7, & 5, a one, two and three shotter across Kenwood Blvd. and later learns the meaning of being grounded. Memories of play for fifty cents before 10 AM , meeting other kids from the north, east, & south flanks at the pro shop, and Dudley’s at the 11th hole, playing our way home to the west, avoiding the marshals. OO schoolyard became best friend Bud’s & my favored playing field and evening transit golf path to and from Ottawa, aka The Country Club, past the back of wright’s greenhouse and across the tracks. OO home of the greatest par 15 in golf from the teeing ground at the corners of Cheltenham & Pelham Roads.
Southern Pines CC _“The Elks Club” (March 1980) _ First Ross play in the Sandhills of Moore County, NC, which became the Sunday start off tradition for yearly springtime weeklong buddy trips from NW Ohio over a 27 year period, i think 22 times. Always wondered if the Cardinal 9 down the street from the pool was a full scale testing ground for designs.
Wilderness Valley-Black Forest (1991-2) / High Pointe (1988-9) _ The first courses I ever saw being built and have played all their years, unfortunately the latter is NLE, growing hops on the fronting acreage for different kinds of rounds.
The Old Course / Ganton _ One beautiful week in September 1996, a Sunday touring and a Monday playing TOC with Ms Sheila, the ultimate seaside links, being helped by two caddies who’s players (from NYC & NJ) couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn or railway shed for that matter, being called Laddy, eating it all up and playing well, except 3 putting the two par 5’s for pars. Truly experiencing the ground game. Thursday traveling from Broadway on the edge of the Cotswolds back north to York to be kicked up by "Dr. Allister” whom I had hosted several times at The WCC, to play Ganton, his home course, a truly great “inland links"; lingering in the little clubhouse too long and just missing my departing train, like being in the movies watching it pull away, and having to stay overnight in York… quel dommage!
Banff & Jasper Parks (July 2004) _ GCA trip.. Stanley Thompson deluxe, need I say anything more,... other than meeting Ran's family plus Ben Dewar in one of his coat & brilliant tie ensembles, playing the original Banff routing, driving with an Adam Clayman autographed Rawlings balata and hickory driver from old #1 and finally giving that Bad Baby at Jasper a proper spanking?
Ballyneal (2009)_ First exposure to a head-scratching, how is this great destination golf economic development going to work out?
Reddish Vale (May 2016) Dr. Mackensie's excellent adventure at Stockport, UK and my classic afternoon with Duncan; 3 months into a restart in golf after R-C repair, and as said before, barely surviving the climb at 18.
-
These are the courses I've played the most, hence they've had the most impact on my golfing life.
Rivermont
The Golf Club
Dismal River (White and Red)
East Lake
St. Ives
The one in Michigan?
-
Second time out (in March, 1967) it snowed and rained, but we kept going to play all 54. The old pro, John Marshall, sat in a golf cart as we came on the tee and when putting out, presented us each with a guest bill for $142, which translates to 1,026 today. Imagine taking that home to Dad at age 12!
Wow! Don't leave us hanging details!
How'd that come about and what happened when you went home?
I was actually surprised. Dad said a few things, but wrote the check. Deep down, they were never comfy with me sponging golf on the neighbors, didn't like them fleecing their own club, and did pay his bills. Overall, I think Dad figured in I had gotten in way more free golf at Medinah than that amount......and it would have been the same for me to play public golf courses on his dime.....
There was another guy there, too, but his Dad refused to pay. Interesting, but as age, we (I?) tend to think of the past as more honest, etc., but I doubt things have changed much. Some people are stand up, others aren't. At least, to me, it seems the percentage of honest folks creeps down a bit every year, but maybe that is just part of the aging process. Hey, I remember that gum cost a nickel before that round! :)
And in the name of honesty, after thinking about it, it was 1969 or 1970, and I had just turned 15 when we got caught, because all three of us were on the Freshman Golf team......So, the bill would only be about $884, not nearly so bad!
-
Nice topic JJ.
I have had four courses that have defined my golfing life than most others for a variety of reasons.
I grew up in Northern California and probably played Ukiah Golf Course 200 times per year from age 14-18. It was nothing special architecturally, nor was it very difficult. However there were several good junior players, of which I was the worst, and we had great games and matches. The head pro was Steve Frye. He devoted a disproportionate amount of his time to the junior program. Were it not for him, I probably would not have continued playing.
When I went to Scotland for the first time in 1991, my first experience with links golf was at Muirfield. I looked out over the course from the clubhouse and saw golfing terrain the kind of which I had never seen. TV just did not do justice to the land. It left an impression that remains, as it is my favorite golf course. I've gotten to play it several times since and turn into the 19 year old kid I was the first time around.
I went to Dornoch for two rounds in 1999. I met several members and was proposed for membership. Since that trip, I have not returned to Scotland without going to Dornoch. At this point, visiting friends is nearly as important as playing golf there. In 2009 my wife and I spent four months living in a house on the second hole. In all likelihood, my ashes will be scattered in the sea off the course.
I was a member at Flossmoor CC from 2005 through 2008. The golf course is very good. It is the kind of course that you can take your game anywhere. The greens play firm and fast so approach shots from all distances and lies must be struck properly. I went there with a 4 handicap. After my first lesson with Mr. Ogilvie, it went to 1 where it remained for two or three years. He helped me become a better player and better at practicing. I probably played 60-80 times per year while at Flossmoor. I return once a year to Flossmoor to see Mr. Ogilvie and will always remember my time with him on the range as the best time at Flossmoor.
-
I suppose the first is Aurora Hills, a really terrible muni in the Denver suburb where I grew up. Not a good golf course, nor the first place I played, but probably the place I played the most growing up. I remember taking city lessons here and how on Friday mornings we could go out and play the back nine for a buck. I remember my mom dropping off me and my friends here in the morning and we'd play 18, 27, 36, as many holes as we could. It's the site of my first birdie, first hole out (same shot), and first eagle. I had the chance to play a lot of other better courses growing up, but well into high school I was still more than happy to meet a friend at Aurora Hills for a round. I was a course junkie from an early age and I knew this course was terrible in almost every way, but it was golf and I've always been happy to tee it up anytime anywhere.
The next is probably Castle Pines, which I visited as a spectator every year attending the now defunct International PGA Tour stop. This is a Nicklaus design in the foothills with huge elevation changes and waterfalls and no shame in their effort to emulate Augusta. As a kid, this was the best example to me of what a great golf course was--exclusive, hyper conditioned, hard, gaudy. In a few years I would come to reject almost all of that as 'good' in any way, perhaps especially including the mid-80's style of Nicklaus design.
In college in Tucson, I spent a summer playing a ton of rounds at a muni called El Rio. Built as a private club by Billy Bell in the late 20s and then re-worked by Tillinghast in the 30s (so they say--the Tillinghast society makes no mention of it) and an early site of the Tucson Open, by the time I was playing there it was a beat up maybe near death muni that was in the wrong part of town and on the wrong side of history. It's a short course, not well preserved, but with a nice layout on a small site and the holes have movement. They also have, almost universally, tiny little crowned greens and this is what led me to discover the real pleasures of golf on firm ground. I was playing here over a Tucson summer, usually on a walking rate of $4 for rounds after 4pm. In early summer that course was a s dry as it gets and holding a tony crowned green with any kind of lofted shot was absolutely impossible. You could bomb drives but miss the green even with a "good" wedge shot from inside 100 yards. So I had to learn to bounce it in, and not just bounce it in, but really judge where to land it, assess how much the hill in front might kill it, all that. It was a blast. Then the monsoons hit and suddenly the course was wet enough that you could stop your ball easily. And suddenly, even though I was scoring better (a late summer round here was the first time I shot in the 60s), it wasn't nearly as much fun. It would still be a few years before I'd make it up to Phoenix and see, via Talking Stick, how great a course can be playing firm when it's really designed for it.
Finally, I have to put out Pebble Beach. I think I visited Pebble four times before playing it. A couple times on vacation, just stopping to look at it--my dad had turned me on to golf and bless her heart my mom didn't complain too much if large portions of our vacations were devoted to just stopping in at golf courses ... just to look, maybe get a scorecard or a yardage book. I also got to see the 2000 US Open there. My dad was slated to go--I was back in Colorado for the summer, home from college--as a work deal and at the last minute someone dropped out and he somehow pulled strings to get me to come along. I literally left in the middle of a work shift to go pack and get to the airport. That was the first time I walked the course. It was also on that trip that I first said to myself, "I have to play here with my dad someday." And that was just one of those thoughts that lives in the back of your head. I was serious about it, but because the idea had first occurred to me in college when it was a complete impossibility, it sort of stayed like that, this idea of a thing I definitely intended to do someday, but without any realistic plan of when or how it was going to happen. Fast forward many years later, my dad is retired at 63 and has a heart attack. Little more than a year after my son, his first grandchild, was born. He had a triple bypass and made it through, but it was horrifying. That was late January 2011 (I was watching the Torrey Pines tournament when mom called with the news.) A year later I'm watching the tournament at Pebble and the thought of how I've always wanted to play there passes through my head and this time it kinda stuck. The memory of what my dad had gone through was fresh, because we were right around a year out from it. It really hit home--someday is something that can stop being a possibility. The next day at work I started actually looking at what it would really cost to go to Pebble, stay at the resort, play a couple times. And, yeah, it was a hell of a lot of money, but it was feasible. I talked to my wife, I talked to my mom, and pretty soon we were all in. And so in July 2012, the week he turned 65, I took my parents (and my wife and son) to Pebble Beach and played Spyglass and Pebble with my dad.
-
Sunkissed Meadows a NLE Par 3 course in Fort Dodge IA. In a very rough part of town but the only public option within the city limits. Hole in one on my 18th birthday remains my only 1*.
Waveland Municipal in Des Moines -- spent 3 years playing there after College and really became obsessed by the game here. Aspiring Pro Friend lived above the pro shop who taught me to play. Lots of playing golf 'til dark after work all season long and a great place to play.
Gateway National in St Louis - Keith Foster design that had nothing going for it --dead flat brownfield site sandwiched between a race track, a landfill and a rendering plant that could all overwhelm your senses depending on the wind but somehow it was a very good golf course with outstanding strategy.
Kingsley Club-For a kid who started playing on #1 being a member at a place like this seems unimaginable. Still pinch myself every time I get a chance to tee it up here and nowhere I'd rather do it.
-
Arcadia Bluffs - Arcadia MI
My first road trip alone strictly for enjoyment of golf
Black Sheep - Sugar Grove IL
My first GCA outing. Met with course architect David Esler and talked with him about ongoing project at Pacific Gales
Erin Hills - Erin WI
Walking an amazing peiece of property watching Kelly Kraft/Patrick Cantlay from only feet away. No ropes, no huge galleries, just golf fans watching the US Amateur up close instead of on television
Forest Dunes and Kinglsley Club - Northern MI
Furthest road trip to ever play golf. Probably the best 48 hours of my golf history as a single player with nearly the course entirely to myself
Honeywell - Wabash IN
My "home" course growing up
Sagamore - Noblesville IN
First private golf club experience, as a player, and not a spectator
Valhalla - Louisville KY
Most excited I have ever been on a golf course. Ryder Cup 2008
Soon to add in 2017. Ballyneal, Dismal (Red/White), Prairie Club, Wild Horse
-
Pebble Beach and Pine Valley
-
Siasconset Golf Club - Nantucket, MA: Site of my first 9 hole playing experience as a young boy.
Springdale Golf Club - Princeton, NJ (Flynn): Where I grew up as a caddy listening to the Old-timers from Trenton tell stories in the yard. Where, on a Monday, the caddymaster (ex-tour pro) saw me on the range with my lefty set. He stopped, yelled at me, gave me a right hand driver and three pointers....BOOM....I play righty now.
Lawrenceville School Golf Course - Lawrenceville, NJ (Reid?): Where I spent hundreds of happy hours playing with my (lifelong) friends. Location where I first got to "second base"...;-)....and found a 60 year old antique putter burried in a bunker. Where, in my first ever tournament, i topped my drive on #8 and it was heading into the pond where it hit the shell of a surfaced turtle and bounced harmlessly to the other side.
-
Aronimink GC – Newtown Square, PA. The first Big Boy course. Growing up there and tooling around with my grandfather and father was my introduction to golf. When Fazio renovated the course in preparation for the 1993 PGA Championship, I thought that is the kind of golf course everyone wants to play. WRONG. When Ron Prichard came in a number of years later and undid much of Fazio’s work with a plan to restore to Ross’ original intent, is when I first learned of course architecture. I think it was not long after that I heard about, searched out, and finally got my hands on the Confidential Guide.
Old Masters GC – Newtown Square, PA. Shitty little par-3 course that my friends and I would play seemingly daily, during the summers as a kid. Low on quality, but overflowing with great times.
The Olympic Club (Lake) – San Francisco, CA. The first time I played it, I didn’t know what it was that got to me. Now that I get to play it often, I think it’s one of those courses that has a “sense of place”. Obviously other courses have this as well, and many have it in spades, but the Lake Course, especially on a foggy summer afternoon reminds me how special a course can be based on its environment.
Victoria National GC – Newburgh, IN. Where I realized that I’m not good enough to enjoy really difficult courses, and that fun is what I’m looking for.
Shoreacres – Lake Forest, IL. Where I realized that a course that’s fun to play is the kind of course that I’m looking for.
Prestwick – Scotland. Fun, interesting, and even weird is way better than hit it straight then hit it straight again.
Seminole GC – Juno Beach, FL. Played here with my father and a friend of his, both of whom suffered from the Augusta effect (i.e. Green good. Brown bad). Our host “lectured” us around the third hole on how the club wants brown, firm & fast conditions and how he thought that brings the entire course into play. It was fun to watch my dad and his buddy start to see the benefits as well.
-
Like Matthew Petersen, I was raised on muni golf, and in my case it was the City of Denver munis, especially Willis Case. Not a bad course - it has "good bones." It has a lot of the things you want in a course where you're learning to play this game - wide fairways, par fours of various lengths, a crazy green or two, a blind shot here and there...... the fifth and sixth were a favorite stretch, with the fifth a long uphill par 5 against the prevailing wind that doglegs to the left with the hillside falling away to the right, and then the sixth, a very short, downhill, dogleg right par 5 with the prevailing wind. I can still remember the first time I parred the fifth, and the very first eagle of my life on the sixth - although they've since made the sixth a par 4, now the #1 handicap hole on the course!
the other thing that I think defined my golfing life wasn't really a course, it was a book ABOUT courses. The World Atlas of Golf, with the painted renderings of the various great courses of the world. It let me dream about playing those places. Before the internet and great sites like this one, it was the go-to place to read about the courses, their history, and the way they play.
-
These are the courses I've played the most, hence they've had the most impact on my golfing life.
Rivermont
The Golf Club
Dismal River (White and Red)
East Lake
St. Ives
The one in Michigan?
Sorry for the delay. Nope. The St. Ives I'm talking about is the one in Duluth, GA. I was a member there a few years back and played it a bunch. Very nice club. Very well manicured Fazio course.
-
Crumpin Fox (MA) - The first really challenging course I ever played, early in my golf career. Set the bar for all courses which came after it.
Troon North (AZ) - (when there was only one course) 1995. My introduction to target/desert golf, as well as my first trip to the southwest US. Showed me what expensive conditioning was supposed to look like. Fastest greens I had ever played.
Dormie Club (NC) - my first experience w C&C design, just loved how the course seemed to flow with the land, in a part of the country that I had never seen before.
Desert Forest (AZ) - I was introduced to it by hearing a friend say it was "the hardest f'ing course I have ever played." I called up, showed up, played it twice, and joined. Best decision of my golf life.