September 7, 2005

Mr. Crenshaw,

I missed the turn off Nebraska Highway 97 yesterday, but that's ok I wouldn't want your sign to be any bigger anyway. We drove our way, my brother and I, down that winding road to your little heaven. What a special place you have, and in our home state.

How did you do it? How did you find those holes out there? Better yet, what made you build them where you did? Certainly, you have a special talent for getting things done properly.

What did it look like, Ben, when you first saw that land? Did you see yourself hitting a wedge to that first green in the hill, or driving to the far off green past the bunker in front of the seventh green? Did you give it your all with the 3-wood like I did on the 13th into a 30-mph wind -- and still come up short? How much of that bunker did you want to cut off on the 16th?

Or, did you cut those prairie grasses down to the end and see all of the bumps and humps that God gave you like the impresssive greens at the second and third? Or the big speed slot that you can drive it in on the 14th?

These are things I wonder about. But, there could be more. The good Lord knows everything was right there waiting for you, you just had to find it. But, what a task that must be, I thought.

I hope you enjoyed your day, too. As we enjoyed our burger after the first round my brother, spoke up, "I'd recognize that follow through anywhere." Sure enough, there you were on the first tee. Inspecting your handiwork and having a little fun, I suppose.

Thank you, for the Sand Hills Golf Club. Thanks for being a part of a memory that will last a long time for us. And, thanks for making a golf course that is enjoyable to play.

Sincerely,

Tony Chapman
Grand Island, NE

Well written letter Tony.  Knowing my luck, I would run into my boss or mother in law on the first tee and you get to meet Ben Crenshaw.

Jason

Maybe I should make an addendum to this post.

First, I didn't take my laptop to SH. I played there yesterday and didn't get to stay. The bad thing about living three hours from Sand Hills is that your family wants you to make it a one day trip; no big deal.

Mike - My brother and I (I'm the fat guy on the right) played with Brian and his brother Kevin. They are still up there today. And, his best Nebraska experience will be this weekend at Memorial Stadium.  

Shivas,

What is wi-fi?

Mike

John - You are correct. I guess I figured since I played with Gracely and that he and Coore are both Wake Forest grads that he could write him.  

Don't you'all think this letter should be written to Bill Coore? He probably did 97% of the work!!!!!!!

Easy boys, Tony was just recognizing Crenshaw's contribution. He was not denigrating or discrediting the efforts of Bill Coore or Dick Youngscap.

TEP,

I don't have any inside information but I sense that Ben's contributions to the partnership are greatly underestimated.  No doubt that Coore is extremely talented.  I think that Ben provides that intangible of sense and feel that makes their courses so interesting, beautiful, and very playable.  Ben seems to be intuitive and very much of a feel player.  I am unaware that Bill Coore enjoyed so much acclaim before his association with Crenshaw.  This could be one of the most successful true design partnerships in golf history.  

TEP,

I am assuming that you're being serious.  Perhaps they are like an old couple who can communicate with a scarcity of words.  I do hope that their collaboration continues for many years to come.  At their rate of production and given the exclusivity of some of their projects, not many golfers will be aware of their contribution to the game.

Not a shot at Weiskopf, but can you imagine walking up to Tom at one of his courses and asking him to pose for a picture?  Just looking at the picture starting this thread, is there any doubt regarding the essence of Mr. Crenshaw?

I guess I should chime in here since some people think that I think Ben Crenshaw bought the land, thought of the idea and did the entire course himself.  

I was simply trying to put into words what I thought of my experience at the Sand Hills and the fact that I happened to meet Mr. Crenshaw the day I was there was the reason for the post. Nothing could be further from the truth that I think he was solely responsible for the place.

Dick Youngscap has brought two of the great modern courses in the US to Nebraska (I inlcude Firethorn here) and he deserves loads of credit. The stories that I have heard are that he worked on that dream south of Mullen for a much longer period of time than I had ever thought of previously.

And, obviously Bill Coore knows what he is doing. But, since the Huskers are playing Wake Forest this week I can't praise him tooooo much.  

Sand Hills, is, quite simply a masterful golf course full of fun shots and that is all that should matter.

It's interesting talking to Dick Youngscap about some of the things Ben did and some of the things Bill did out there. According to him Ben walked right off the property and found holes #14 and #15 precipitating the entire course to get shifted up in that direction even requiring a shifting of deeds.

Tom - I've been thinking. Is there a better set of three consecutive 1/2 par holes in the world than 13, 14 and 15 at Sand Hills? Playing 13 and 15 into the wind and 14 down wind like we did on Tuesday certainly made the back nine a difficult affair to score on. I think Ben was primarily responsible for this stretch.