Despite a bleak forecast, the event went extremely well.
Brad Klein's presentation was simply phenomenal.
I should have recorded it.
Every Green Committee and every membership should be required to see that presentation.
It was highly informative, educational, funny and factual.
Brad spoke for about an hour and 15 minutes and could have gone on all day long.
We could have devoted the rest of the morning to Q&A after his presentation, it was that good and that interesting.
Brad has a unique style, he's very intelligent and he's funny and the mix is quite appealing.
Ron Prichard spoke about Mountain Ridge and the process of restoration.
Fortunately, very little had changed at Mountain Ridge since 1929.
The reclaiming/expansion of the greens back to their original foot/fill pads was a major accomplishment.
I think everyone marveled at the greens, which are large with terrific internal and perimeter undulations.
A good number of the perimeters feed balls off the green.
The vertical and horizontal spines divide the greens into tiers and sectors, making approaches, recovery and putting very challenging.
The wide, very generous fairways provide ample room for all levels of golfers, yet place a premium on driving position for the better golfer.
Mike Davis was terrific.
He was very informative, candid and humourous, providing great insight into course set-up for USGA events, and especially the U.S. Open. His presentation informed us that far, far more goes into preparing a course than we had previously thought.
Mike spoke for an hour and he could have gone on all morning.
I want to thank Brad, Ron and Mike for their participation, they made this a really outstanding event.
The golf course was spectacular despite the rain.
This became apparent on the first hole. Our foursome was Brad, Ran, myself and Cliff Moore the superintendent
On the first hole Ran had a 40 footer, slightly uphil for PAR. When he hit his putt, we all thought he left it 15 feet short, including Ran, but, the ball kept rolling and rolling and rolling and went past the hole by about a foot or so.
Brad Klein and I were piin high with birdie putts, slighly downhill. Obviously we both became immediately concerned about our ability to correctly gage the pace of our putts. Actually, concerned isn't the right term. Scared or frightened would be more apt.
Brad had convinced me not to make the hole locations too challenging, so there was a combination of routine and challenging hole locations.
I think I can say that no one was prepared for the greens at Mountain Ridge.
They're simply spectacular.
Large and highly contoured with plenty of roll offs.
The vertical and horizontal spines divide the greens into tiers or greens withing greens, making accuracy on your approach a premium.
Those tiers or quadrants also make recovery and putting a real challenge.
The course is FUN, but also challenging.
Ran, TEPaul, myself and others were trying to figure out how Ross accomplished that.
I think he starated with wide fairways and large greens.
After golf, Cliff Moore, the talented superintendent spoke and answered questions about how he administers to the golf course.
A nice Q&A followed
Based on the comments, it seemed that everyone enjoyed the presentations, golf, food and comraderie.
The only downside to the day was the outcome of my match with Ran.
Yes, I lost 3 & 2, but, when you're a five (5) handicap and you're playing an eight (
handicap and you give him NINE (9) shots, that's a daunting challenge, one I should have been able to overcome, but, sadly, I played down to his level.
I must say that the difference in the day was Ran's putting, he putted great, far, far, far beyond his ability.
Not to bore you, but, he made a 3 footer on # 2, a 9 footer on # 3, a downhill, side hill 6 footer on # 7 and a 20 footer on # 14.
And, a good number of very good two putters from different area codes.
I must say that I was impressed with his driving.
I had never seen him in the fairway prior to yesterday.
All in all it was a great day.
The staff at Mountain Ridge were terrific, the golf course was fabulous and in great shape, the food delicious and the comraderie very special.
I just might do this again