How you too can be a purist...or fake it for a day..

[Mike_Sweeney]

Saying, "No I haven't see the Golf Digest rankings," as you hit your tee shot on the 11th @ Plainfield.

[Mike Benham]

Purists absolutely, positively do not refer to their wedges by number, as in the "52" or the "56" or the "60" (which they shouldn't even have in the first place).  The are the gap wedge, the sand wedge and the lob wedge.  And, BTW, purists cringe at saying the words "gap wedge".  

One better, purists have a pitching wedge and a sand wedge.  And they can make the ball (balata of course) dance.

[Ted Kramer]

A purist plays his or her ball down.

-Ted

[Ted Kramer]

A few more . . .

*Purists bet on their matches.
*Purists know what shot they can count on in crunch time.
*Purists don't bitch and moan about bad lies.
*Purists like playing in the wind.
*Purists know where every ball in their foursome is at all times.
*Purists walk (obviously).
*Purists putt from off the green.
*Purists are eager to play with and help out anyone new to the game who shows proper respect.

-Ted

[Joe Hancock]

Purists make you believe they're having fun by saying " It's just like playing in the British Open", when indeed the weather really does suck.

Joe

[Philippe Binette]

Purists:

take off their hat to shake hands after a match (match play is a must).

carry their bags or have a caddie, no pull cart...

use their feet to level the bunkers after their shots

walk with confidence, happiness, humility and respect (all at once)...

[cary lichtenstein]

Purists refuse to take a mulligan on the first tee shot of the day

Purists carry a 2 iron, and not a 5 wood

Purists do not carry a cell phone

[Bob_Huntley]

Purists refuse to take a mulligan on the first tee shot of the day

Purists carry a 2 iron, and not a 5 wood

Purists do not carry a cell phone

A cell phone saved the life of a member at the Preserve the other day.

Bob

[Evan Fleisher]

When I want to really be cool, I'll wear one of my John Deere hats.

More seriously, when playing match play, a purist picks up his ball if he's out of the hole, even on a great course he's playing for the first time.  My cousin Austin did this at Carnoustie; it left a lasting impression.

Our own Mr. Huntley was wearing his John Deere hat on the Sunday of KPIV...to which he informed me it was his MASTERS hat, not a JD hat.

My mistake!!!  

[mike_beene]

Clubs from at least two different manufacturers.Grips new.Faces worn.Putter not most expensive club in bag.No Callaway,ever.Need therapy after Hogan purchase.

[Philip Gawith]

A purist will definitely have an old leather bag, c 1970/80's, probably Macgregor or Wilson branding.

They will probably have a very old Taylor Made metal wood as a concession to modernity, but nothing post-1990.

The head-covers of their woods will look like they were knitted by Granny for Christmas.

[JakaB]

You only read Golf Digest in the grocery isle...

Your only pro is quid quo..

[Kyle Harris]

Your locker room is your trunk.

The only proper place to discuss architecture is the grill room after a round (hehehehehehe  )

You only hand your bag to a caddy asking to take it for you, and not a club employee.

You're tempted to (but don't) hook a shot into the pool either off the first tee or coming down 18.

You play so many junk bets that giving or getting strokes isn't necessary, but you still don't purposely dump it into the bunkers when your sand game is on for the sandies.

Speaking of junk bets, you know what a "Hogan" a "Seve" and a "Watson" are...

A putter is a viable option for a lot of your shots from 50 yards in...

Instead of buying a lob wedge, you bend your sand wedge to 58 degrees... but...

Sarazen ruined the game when he invented it...

[TEPaul]

If you really want to be a purist for a day or do a great fake-job of a purist you must definitely do one thing---and that is to criticize Tom Fazio at absolutely every opportunity you get!   If you'd like to throw a few Reeses in there, so much the better.

[JakaB]

You never simply wonder, you only research...

[TEPaul]

Another mandatory thing you must do as a purist is to recommend that every single hole and every single feature of the original architect must be put back presisely the way it originally was.

If someone tries to explain to you why something original didn't work well in play over time you must respond that that doesn't matter. If you're told the membership back in the 1930s just didn't like something that was original (that essentially something basically didn't pass "the test of time" you must respond that a membership's opinion has nothing to do with it--that this is simply great art and how it plays in the idiotic opinions of people like a club's membership is not worth knowing about or considering.

If you're told that some feature was basically viewed as a mistake and played like one you must respond that mistakes are cool, quirky, and even greater art---that must be restored and preserved at all cost.

And lastly if you're told that a feature like the "pimple" on the 18th green at PVGC was built by Crump but considered by him to be temporary you must respond that it doesn't even matter what Crump thought about it, in this case, because in fact he did build it even if temporarily and the man shot himself before he could change it and therefore the club should never have been allowed to remove it and it must be restored despite what anyone thinks who knows the course and its history better than you do.

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

The only reality is:  we ONLY know what Crump did, what he conceived, designed and built.  

We DON"T KNOW what he thought.

If they did know what he thought they would have seen his impending suicide, tried to prevent it and written about it extensively.

But, none of that happened.

The ONLY thing that DID HAPPEN was that Crump built the
18th green with a hump in the middle, and John Arthur Brown, that world famous architect removed it.

If it was good enough for Crump, it's good enough for me.

[TEPaul]

"We DON"T KNOW what he thought.
If they did know what he thought they would have seen his impending suicide, tried to prevent it and written about it extensively.
But, none of that happened."

Pat:

That is a typical reasponse on your part and a bit more than a hilarious one. We do, in fact, know what Crump thought about that "pimple" although perhaps you don't or are unable for some reason to recoginize it.

Nevertheless, that's some excellent purist logic on your part on that post. Carr and Smith left a written record of what Crump told them he felt about that "pimple" on #18 but of course a bona fide "purist" must automatically suspect that his two best friends (Father Carr, a Catholic priest and W.P. Smith) were lying about it!

And a bona fide purist must conclude that since he did not also tell them he planned to shoot himself that no one should conclude that he really meant what he told them about the "pimple" on #18 or for that matter whatever he thought or even said was unknowable.

Congratulations, you are ever bit the illogical purist I thought you were.  

[TEPaul]

Pat:

Would you also conclude that the great left 8th green, the great left 9th green should never have been redone by Maxwell, and greens #6, right #9, #11 and #17 should never have been done by Hugh Alison?  

Apparently, no one, including Crump thought any of those greens worked particularly well but I guess that doesn't matter to you either, huh?

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

You should know that "hearsay" is inadmissable as evidence because of its INHERENT UNRELIABILITY.

Maybe Carr and Smith wanted that hump removed and stated so to Crump, who humored them by telling them that he intended to remove it and replace it with a roll.  That's not beyond the realm of being possible.

As to the other issues, they are not related to the 18th green, and your attempt to divert focus from the 18th green by starting a debate on these other issues will not succeed.

Why don't you start a thread on each one of them individually so that we can analyze them and draw reasonable conclusions.

Restore the hump.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

A lot of great stuff here.

Please add:  

Pick up your host's caddie as well as your own.  Be sure to privately discuss appropriate amount with your host so as too not under or overpay (Overpaying is worse because you embarass the member by upstaging his normal dole).

Learn the Locker Room Attendant's name and tip him at least $10 ($5 for the street shoes + $5 for the golf shoes).

In regards to the matching logos issue, I completely disagree with matching logos on shirt and hat.  We call it "Granimal tagging" (Kids match the clothes by the tags)  We also call it a double logo foul.  The double logo match can give an appearance of limited invitational desirability - "Is that the only place you've every been, or do you serve lunch there, etc.?  The only thing worse in terms of logos is wearing a logo to the course that you have been invited to that day.  In which case, you may be asked to serve lunch by other members who assume that you are a new employee.  

One good rule of thumb is to never wear a logo unless you liked the course/club.  I usually like to wear a logoed shirt from a course who shared a designer with the one that I am visiting.  The hat is a color accent and is usually something that is NOT from a club/course/event that is in the U.S., British, PGA rota that year.  Augusta logos should not be worn until June 1st.  Who wants to see you in a shirt that your uncle sent you during the practice rounds.

Flame away>>>

JWK

[Mike_Cirba]

You take a scorecard but no pencil.

You walk the course instead of playing, perhaps with a putter and a few balls.