#1 is of course, the Blue Monster course at Doral Resort &
Spa, in Miami, FL, designed by Dick Wilson. Ray Flowd did
renovation work in 1996 and the resort's teaching guru and
Golf Channel staple, Jim McLean, did bunker work in 1999.
Officially the "Blue" course, and dubbed a "monster" long ago
due to it's difficulty, it has hosted the PGA event since I
believe it's inception in the early 60's. Currently titled the
Genuity Championship, the recent name was the Doral-Ryder Open.
Doral has 4 other courses, one of which is the fairly new
Great White course, by Greg Norman, which was a previous AOTD.
here's the resort's web site, which has almost no info on the course:
http://www.doralresort.com/golf/courses.aspand the PGA Tour's course page, with hole-by-hole
descriptions and more info including details on the recent work:
http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r008/course.htmlclues include:
"smoking", "Virginia Slims" = cigarettes, specifically Doral
brand. V.S. sponsors (or used to) a slew of women's tennis
tournaments.
"scary", previous famous AOTD with same nickname that is
not as scary as it used to be, "beastly" = "Monster" and
Oakland Hills
"spent a lot of green" = Doral is expensive to play, usually
over $200.
"blue"
"tournament", "on TV in winter"
retirees around here= S. Fla. Oy! refers to high number of
Jewish retirees in area (all stereotypes, I apologize).
"epidoral"
"former sponsor"..."didn't move out" = Ryder
#2 is Cape Arundel, in Kennebunkport, ME, designed by
Walter Travis. It is under 6000 yards, making it, as someone
said above, probably the shortest of the AOTDs to date.
Ran has mentioned it a few times as a hidden gem.
clues include:
not a long course
"well-known tennis ball service machines" = delicacy served
up here = "Lob-sters"
"secret service roamed the course", "prudent at this
juncture", "1000 points of light" all refer to President Bush
(mostly "Dad"), who have their vacation home in
Kennebunkport and have played Cape Arundel many times.
Bush also known for his love of "fishing" here.
"Hyannis of sorts" refers to Kennedy family vacation home
vs. Bush family vacation home.
"Cape"
"Travis"
"Jack" =GCA poster "Mainely" Jack
GCA poster "Michael Moore" is from Maine also.
First AOTD from Maine was Samoset Resort.