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Mike_Young

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Passing golf courses by.....
« on: January 12, 2012, 10:10:10 PM »
READ THE BELOW AND THINK HOW OFTEN WE TREAT GOLF COURSES THE SAME WAY...
         
"In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?"
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

JESII

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2012, 10:18:11 PM »
The Touch of the Masters Hand
Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
but held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then two!" "Only
two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three
dollars twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a
gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody
pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make
it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and
gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not
quite understnad what changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touch
of a master's hand."

And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin, A
"mess of pottage," a glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. "He is
going" once, and "going twice, He's going and almost gone." But the Master
comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand.

Myra 'Brooks' Welch





Similar but not the same sentiment...

Jimmy Chandler

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2012, 10:32:04 PM »
I've walked through that metro station many times, too bad I wasn't there that day. I *hope* I would have noticed Mr Bell, or at least the quality of the music. To me, the best of Bach (Cello Suites, Mass in B Minor, several others) are Doak 10s  :)

The full article by Gene Weingarten won a Pulitzer Prize.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Ronald Montesano

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2012, 10:40:19 PM »
I've played Charlotte Golf Links twice and see it as a nice step in the Renaissance progression. I'd play it each time I get to Charlotte, if I could (and if I got there often enough.)

Life is a balance of making a name for ourselves and recognizing the name that others have made for themselves. If we get out of balance the wrong way, we miss things like violinists.
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Mike_Young

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2012, 11:04:33 PM »
What I got out of the article as it relates to golf was that so often people pass up some really good golf courses and have no lcue how good they are because they have not heard of the architect yet if one of the signature architect's names was attached they would swoon over it....it would be interesting if we could replace the violinist situation with golf courses instead of music...
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

jeffwarne

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2012, 11:12:13 PM »
What I got out of it was assuming no debt that the cost per round at Ballyneal should be $32

John Kavanaugh
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Bill_McBride

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2012, 11:18:03 PM »
Moral (as an occasional Metro rider in the past):

There is absolutely nothing about the rushed and harried Metro experience that's conducive to a great classical music experience, and the acoustics are dreadful.

Mike_Young

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2012, 11:18:41 PM »
What I got out of it was assuming no debt that the cost per round at Ballyneal should be $32

John Kavanaugh

 ;D ;D ;D
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

Tim Bert

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2012, 12:06:02 AM »
What I got out of the article as it relates to golf was that so often people pass up some really good golf courses and have no lcue how good they are because they have not heard of the architect yet if one of the signature architect's names was attached they would swoon over it....it would be interesting if we could replace the violinist situation with golf courses instead of music...

Mike - I get your point and agree to some extent, but I think your scenario is actually the opposite of the story as I interpreted it. I think a closer parallel would be to send 1,000 golfers with no interest in architecture to a highly rated course without explaining the purpose. Most of them would go about their routine and play golf and be done with it. They might notice if the conditioning was top notch.

What you got out of the article is more like if they had taken a lesser professional violinist and told the audience he was a world class musician and had him play some pieces of music. Many folks probably wouldn't be able to decipher the hoax.

But the second scenario doesn't automatically follow from the first in my opinion.

Mike Nuzzo

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2012, 12:14:20 AM »
Yes Mike many people are not present or aware.
So should Joshua Bell not have tried/studied so hard or much?
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Adam Clayman

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2012, 01:01:15 AM »
I bet you could say the same about most Art, wine and/or any other discipline where there's different levels of sophistication.

I don't know the specifics, but there was a story last week about a woman who intentionally soiled a $40m painting. Everyone's a critic.
 And in each discipline, the person who takes the time to learn and appreciates the finer points, would do well not to care about what the other 99.9% think do or say.

The smallest minority is the individual.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2012, 08:41:22 AM by Adam Clayman »
"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

RJ_Daley

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2012, 02:27:46 AM »
Trying my hand at interpretation of this interesting juxtaposition of a virtuoso playing an opus magnum amidst the hub-bub of a train station filled with harried commuters and relate it to golf courses passed by...

It seems to me that an actual scenario to compare is near impossible to replicate.  But, if it could be done, I'd go for taking the next 100 customers in a discount golf equipment store who buy a new $400 driver or $1200 set of irons without a fitting, and with little regard to shaft and weight lie angle other than regular, stiff, etc., and magically blindfolded and transported them to Pine Valley or some other land locked top rated course with no distant identifiable landmarks for a clue, and had them play that course in maintenance conditions that are cut back to just average of what the local muni presents.  Then have them rate that course on a 1-10 quality scale.

Or, pass them by two courses; one a muni or cheap public course that had been given an unlimitted maintenance budget for a year and had landscaping accents of flower bed and crushed white marble sand, and totally emerald green turf soft and lush; the second an Oakmont, Pine Valley, Merion, that had been let go in maintenance just barely getting the greens mowed every other day, and dried out or baked out fairways, yellow to brown in color, hard and fast.  Then ask them to pick the best golf course.

Either way, I'll bet the majority of them miss the masterpiece.
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Ronald Montesano

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2012, 06:52:05 AM »
So... is this a critique of the human condition? A criticism of people who need to follow a precise schedule?

I've spent the past 20 years driving our children here, there and everywhere. My focus has been on them and I've certainly missed pretty faces, excellent athletes, top-shelf musicians and creative writers along the way. Has my charge been to notice and benefit from, everything?

Next, who knows how many of the folks who passed by the fiddler without so much as a glance, were immersed in the activities at which they excel, if only in thought?

Finally, did/would the violinist notice their brilliance?

Oh, by the way, Mike Young, I'll stay with your thought a while longer if you wish to expound, but what percentage of golfers would correctly isolate the architects name from within:

Ross Donald...Ronald Ross...Donald Ross...Donald Rump

to say nothing of:

Alexander MacDonald...Alister MacDonald...Alexander MacKenzie...Alister MacKenzie
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Matt MacIver

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2012, 09:12:39 AM »
I understand the desire to draw a parallel but it's tough...I guess asking busy morning commuters to walk an 18 hole golf course on their way to work and see if they notice the architecture? 

Of the 100 person sample most would like or play golf (or know or enjoy classical music), several have headphones on, looking down, fretting about something. 

I like wine, but even if someone set up a tasting booth in the metro at 8:00 a.m. I wouldn't / couldn't stop.  But at 5:00....

Mike_Young

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2012, 09:27:31 AM »
I guess what I am really talking about is "herd mentality" in people.  Most people don't know good from bad as evidenced by the violinist example.
If thousands of people tell someone something is good and they decide it is cool then they will pay $100 to go hear or see it. 
People buy albums of music because of one or two good songs knowing that many of the songs on the album they will not enjoy. 
But golf courses are the same way.  We pass so many good golf courses by because they are not marketed correctly or they don't have the "right name" on them.  And why?  Because the marketing companies know that most people could care less about the architecture of the course than they do the condition and the "coolness" of the place.
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

BCrosby

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2012, 09:40:54 AM »
Mike -

The Joshua Bell thing shows how much context matters. You don't expect to hear a world class violinist in the subway, so you don't hear him.

Context for great gca is provided by the fact that I have to go to a course to play it. When I drive past the guardhouse at PV, bingo - context. I am at a place where I expect to see great golf holes. And that is what I see.

Your point (I think) is that we often miss great holes when they are in the context of not-great or unknown golf courses. No doubt that is correct. The context is missing on those courses. To see great holes in that context requires a modicum of independent thinking and some basic knowledge about gca. Which is a bridge too far for most people.

I always think of poor old Chastain when this issue comes up. It has some of the best holes in the city, but very few people "see" them. Because of the course on which they are found - their context - I'm guessing very few ever will.

Bob








Mike_Young

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2012, 09:45:49 AM »
Mike -

The Joshua Bell thing shows how much context matters. You don't expect to hear a world class violinist in the subway, so you don't hear him.

Context for great gca is provided by the fact that I have to go to a course to play it. When I drive past the guardhouse at PV, bingo - context. I am at a place where I expect to see great golf holes. And that is what I see.

Your point (I think) is that we often miss great holes when they are in the context of not-great or unknown golf courses. No doubt that is correct. The context is missing on those courses. To see great holes in that context requires a modicum of independent thinking and some basic knowledge about gca. Which is a bridge too far for most people.

I always think of poor old Chastain when this issue comes up. It has some of the best holes in the city, but very few people "see" them. Because of the course on which they are found - their context - I'm guessing very few ever will.

Bob









Bob,

Again your Ivy League education, brilliant mind and your unceasing dorkism ( two of these traits I will never know) have allowed you to put into words what I could not.  And Chastain is a great example.   ;)   Happy Birthday...
« Last Edit: January 13, 2012, 11:19:31 AM by Mike_Young »
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

Ian Andrew

Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2012, 10:13:27 AM »
Mike,

Back in 1989 I sat beside the 14th green at St. Andrew's for a little over an hour watching approaches played into a pin cut right behind the front mound. Almost everyone complained about the inaccessiblity of the pin.

I watched a very old and wise man play a 100 yard runner into six feet by going over the mound along the ground. I asked him how he knew the shot and he explained it took him years to figure out how to play to that pin. He explained that it was one of his favourite pins on the course since it required incredibly thought to understand where the lay-up had to be.


The story you posted, which I loved, remainded me of that day. We lost our tee time and chance to play St. Andrew's so I spent my time on foot instead. I always wondered if I learnt more that day then I did playing a number of years later.

Mike Hendren

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2012, 10:16:54 AM »
One of the great joys is finding just one piece of golf architectural greatness in the most unexpected place - a Joshua Bell moment.  

I expect everyone on this site would fawn over the sixth green oof the modest nine-holer I grew up on:  A shallow oval pushed up a couple of feet set perpendicular to the line of play generally approached from less than 100 yards of dead flat ground.  A slight false edge in the middle front and back.  A back left corner curled three feet up to provide a back-stop on that side of the "8" only.  

Come to think of it, the collection of very small pushed up greens are classic.  I need to get back home and do a course review.  I suspect you'd all like the uphill 290 yards reverse redan 7th as well.  

Bogey
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

Mike_Young

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2012, 11:20:32 AM »
One of the great joys is finding just one piece of golf architectural greatness in the most unexpected place - a Joshua Bell moment.  

I expect everyone on this site would fawn over the sixth green oof the modest nine-holer I grew up on:  A shallow oval pushed up a couple of feet set perpendicular to the line of play generally approached from less than 100 yards of dead flat ground.  A slight false edge in the middle front and back.  A back left corner curled three feet up to provide a back-stop on that side of the "8" only.  

Come to think of it, the collection of very small pushed up greens are classic.  I need to get back home and do a course review.  I suspect you'd all like the uphill 290 yards reverse redan 7th as well.  

Bogey
Now we be talkin' ;D
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

Lou Cutolo

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2012, 01:10:05 PM »
I grew up playing at Brentwood Country Club on Long Island which is operated by the Town of Islip. Being a public town owned course would put off most “serious golfer” thinking the place must be void of any architectural merit. But the truth is even though it is short and sometimes crowed it has some great green complexes. My guess is none of the golfers who play there would know that the bones of the course were laid out by Devereux Emmet in 1925.

Niall C

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2012, 03:12:16 PM »
What I got out of the article as it relates to golf was that so often people pass up some really good golf courses and have no lcue how good they are because they have not heard of the architect yet if one of the signature architect's names was attached they would swoon over it....it would be interesting if we could replace the violinist situation with golf courses instead of music...

Mike

The article got me thinking about place and particularly thinking back to all those threads on what courses people should play in Scotland. Almost without exception you get a list of posters promoting seaside courses with barely a mention of an inland course. Far better courses get ignored because they aren't in the right location eg. no views of the sea. The classic is playing Royal Tarlair, a course I quite like, and missing out on Duff House Royal an infinitely superior course nearby that doesn't have the sea view.

I guess the moral is people go to the concert hall to see violinists and to the sea side to play Scottish golf courses.

Niall

Lloyd_Cole

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #22 on: January 13, 2012, 03:57:29 PM »
I think it is fair to say that we all encounter a great deal of noise during our days. Noise being, I'd say, meaningless sound, or unwanted sound. We learn to ignore it, and we learn not to pay attention to certain things because most of the time nothing good will come of it.
Buskers, in my not so humble opinion, generate noise pollution 99% of the time. And when they cause bottlennecks at subway stations they are even more infuriating than usual. Ok, I guess some folk - those who may have stopped to listen, disagree. I have, on several occasions, offered to pay buskers not to play. So I think it is quite likely that I too might have missed to virtuoso at the station.

Having said all that... late last year in Glasgow I was walking down Byers Road and I heard electric guitar. Damned busker was my initial thought, obviously. The relationship between his spot and my destination meant that I heard him for a couple of blocks and I eventually stopped. I crossed the road and gave him a pound. He was a fantastic and actually quite unique musician. Very much the exception proving the rule.

Michael Goldstein

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2012, 06:58:45 PM »
Mike, thank you so much for posting a link to an inspirational article.

I think you can relate the underlying message to golf courses.  For a layman golfer, it is very easy to dismiss a golf course because of poor conditioning and even too much width. 

Thanks again, an awesome read for half an hour this morning. 
@Pure_Golf

Tiger_Bernhardt

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Re: Passing golf courses by.....
« Reply #24 on: January 15, 2012, 12:50:25 PM »
Mike not bad at all for a Georgia Bulldog. I think I would be yes and do, slow down and pause, stop if not rushed, and make a mental note of yes if really good.  While I doubt I have passed a gifted person like that before. It is one of the pleasures in life in certain cities. I miss that in San Francisco, but love that about New Orleans.   As for applicability to golf, I actually would take as long a look as the road or view allowed for much of my life. I have always said there is beauty and great shots to be had on every golf course. You just have to play there a few times to find them. Oh on a personal note. The single and I mean single good part of the walk straight back to my hotel room after the game Monday night was a sax player a block from the dome. I got lost in his music for a block before the horrid of Roll tide came back into my life. Sadly there was no golf course for me to wear earplugs at available at 11PM Monday night.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2012, 12:56:14 PM by Tiger_Bernhardt »

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