Life was better...

[Steve Howe]

Inspired by the current middle age thread and some recent conversationions with friends, I'm interested to know people's thoughts on when (what era , year, decade, period) they feel was their personal golden age of playing golf or of golf club membership?

In responding, I think it's perfectly reasonable to name any time period - even if you were not a part of it. Use any reasoning you like.

As an example friends and I were talking about the best era for going to the cricket (in Australia) and we all zeroed in on the late 70's. Playing the West Indies (Richards, Lloyd batting; Marshall, Lillee bowling) with no phones, sunshine and an esky full of ice and beer. How could it be better than that?

My personal golden age of golf must be when I first took up the game in about 1991. A yearly green fee ticket at the public course about 300m from my house cost me $90.00. At the time ( I was 15) it was two nights work at my after school job for a year's worth of golf. I had the course virtually to myself every night after school and it set the tone for a life long love affair...

[Mark Bourgeois]

Picking 1978 as a representative year for "late 1970s," by my math Steve at aged 2 you were attending cricket matches, where you chugged beer from ice chests.

Man you Aussies get it going young!

And why not the 1950s? Canada Cup at RMGC and a serial killer on the loose in Perth. That's not nice but Robert Drewe's memoir made even that sound nostalgic.

[Kirk Moon]

NOW.

Despite the rather gloomy economic situation and the declining participation in the sport (at least in terms of "mass participation"), THIS is the Golden Age of golf.  

There are more amazing golf courses in existence at the present time (and still being built - e.g. Streamsong, Cabot Links, Trump Scotland, etc.) than at any time in history.  Some courses and clubs are struggling, but the truly quality courses are doing fine and there is more choice, greater variety, and higher quality available now than ever. 

For those individuals who truly love the game (as opposed to those who are trying to realize financial profit from association with the game) this is the Golden Age. 

Bad economic times will pass.  The excesses of the past thirty years have, to a large extent, been wrung out of the system.  Once the global economy recovers (which it inevitably will) golf will be in the best shape it has ever been.

I feel very fortunate to be playing golf now. 

[Chris_Hufnagel]

I agree - now...

-we are in the middle of a renaissance in golf course design
-over the past fifteen years world class golf courses have been built and many of them are accessible to the masses
-the upside of the economic collapse is that private club golf has become more accessible (if you haven't been too impacted by the downtown)
-the flow of information (like GCA) is prevalent and we can share and learn from each other in a way you could never do before
-travel is easy these days and the time/investment to see what you want to see is possible in a way it never has been before

I don't challenge the notion that the game has issues - serious issues - but I agree with Kirk, I consider myself fortunate to be playing today...

[Tom_Doak]

When I went to Britain & Ireland in 1982, I could stay in B & B's for $10 per night, and the highest green fee I encountered was fifteen pounds [$27] at St. Andrews.  Ballybunion was eight Irish pounds [about $10] PER DAY.

I've been happy to live in the era I have and to have the chance to work on some great projects.  But going and playing golf around the world was a hell of a lot more affordable then than it is today.

[David_Elvins]

When I went to Britain & Ireland in 1982, I could stay in B & B's for $10 per night, and the highest green fee I encountered was fifteen pounds [$27] at St. Andrews.  Ballybunion was eight Irish pounds [about $10] PER DAY.

The cost of air travel is a significant discount though, which would partly balance out higher green fees on shorter trips. 

I would be very jealous of what you were able to do on your 82 Scotland trip, but how many other places in the world would have been worthy destinations for a golf architecture student back then?  Whatever the number is, I would think it would be a lot higher now. 


Interestingly, the cost of a round at The Old Course was 16.5 pounds in 1990 (10% inc in 8 years), which shows how sudden and big the boom was after this. 

[Tom_Doak]

When I went to Britain & Ireland in 1982, I could stay in B & B's for $10 per night, and the highest green fee I encountered was fifteen pounds [$27] at St. Andrews.  Ballybunion was eight Irish pounds [about $10] PER DAY.

The cost of air travel is a significant discount though, which would partly balance out higher green fees on shorter trips. 

I would be very jealous of what you were able to do on your 82 Scotland trip, but how many other places in the world would have been worthy destinations for a golf architecture student back then?  Whatever the number is, I would think it would be a lot higher now. 


Interestingly, the cost of a round at The Old Course was 16.5 pounds in 1990 (10% inc in 8 years), which shows how sudden and big the boom was after this. 

Air fare was $199 each way from NYC, probably roughly comparable with today's.

You are right that there weren't as many other destinations to consider then -- but who needed one?   I spent NINE MONTHS in Britain and Ireland and did not run out of golf courses to see, in fact I missed a handful of good ones.

[Jon Byron]

I agree with Tom Doak.  In the '80's I showed up at Portmarnock after arrival in Dublin and was on the course with my colleague within a half an hour - maybe $30-$40 (in Irish punts) to play.  And the bar in the clubhouse after the round was delightful and friendly.
Similarly, even Turnberry and Crail were affordable.

[Scott Sander]

Thanks for the invitation to reminisce!

In my life so far, 1997 to 2004 is the golden era.

I was young and newly-married.  We lived in Denver.  She commuted to Colorado Springs, and my work schedule was Thurs-Sun.  That left me 3 days of idle hours and empty golf courses. 

It was a -wonderful- time to be a vagabond golfer on the Front Range. 
-Suburbs like Aurora and Lakewood had gone on a jag of building exceptionally high-quality munis.
-Residential developers were building on land that was guaranteed to yield either memorable successes or spectacularly interesting failures.
-Likely because of that, there was some very interesting architecture; a young Jim Engh was using the region as his own modern art studio, for instance.
-Water rights issues meant you rarely saw any of the new tracks too soggy.
-New construction aside, there was (and is) great -variety- in the more well-established courses.  Where else could you see so many different types of terrain -think Marianna Butte, Riverdale Dunes, Fox Hollow, Wellshire, and Arrowhead- all in the same tank of gas and play each for less than $40?

The weather was particuarly outstanding during that stretch, too - I played at least once a month most years and every -week- of '98.

So... good times!



All that said, the circumstances that ended that 'era' of my life -the birth of our baby boy and subsequent move east- may be leading to the dawn of an even better one:  my now-7-year-old is insane about the game, and seems to enjoy playing it with Dad almost as much as Dad likes playing it with him.

[Sean_A]

I didn't experience it, but I would have said before the big tourist boom in the 80s - where I live anyway.  Not only was the golf ridiculously affordable, but courses were probably better kept in terms of rough, f&f and watering. 

We are now seeing the watering trend enter its last stages - Rye has/is installing a fairway watering system.  We are going to install a new system at Burnham and the summer of '76 is the single biggest reason quoted as to why its necessary - heavy sigh.  The age of polyester and disco still wields it ugly influences.

Ciao

[Mark Bourgeois]

Sean

Didn't these people watch "Red Riding"?

What about in the 70s when they were giving away Shinny memberships?

[Cory Lewis]

My golden age was in 2004-2005.  I worked at Beechtree Golf Club, a tremendous NLE Doak course.  I lived 3 minutes from the course, which I probably played 200 times in two years.  The great thing about Beechtree was the course never got boring, every round was fun and interesting.  Beechtree really helped me foster my interest in golf course architecture.  At Beechtree I also had the best boss I have ever had in 14 years in the golf business!  That's important when you work for a few duds. 

I was very fortunate to play most of the big name courses in the Philadelphia area during those two years as well as a very special father-son golf trip to California that neither one of us will ever forget.

[David Harshbarger]

NOW.

Despite the rather gloomy economic situation and the declining participation in the sport (at least in terms of "mass participation"), THIS is the Golden Age of golf.  

There are more amazing golf courses in existence at the present time (and still being built - e.g. Streamsong, Cabot Links, Trump Scotland, etc.) than at any time in history.  Some courses and clubs are struggling, but the truly quality courses are doing fine and there is more choice, greater variety, and higher quality available now than ever. 

For those individuals who truly love the game (as opposed to those who are trying to realize financial profit from association with the game) this is the Golden Age. 

Bad economic times will pass.  The excesses of the past thirty years have, to a large extent, been wrung out of the system.  Once the global economy recovers (which it inevitably will) golf will be in the best shape it has ever been.

I feel very fortunate to be playing golf now. 

100% agree.  Very, very fortunate.