Starting where he left off in what amounts to A Call to Arms, Melvyn delves into outside aids like riding and distance devices in the first question of his Feature Interview Act II. Right away (and not surprisingly), you gain a clear sense of where he stands with carts when he writes ‘The very idea of cheating oneself to save time and energy, perhaps in the belief that it will enhance one’s performance, makes me wonder if you have selected the right game for yourself.’ To avoid any confusion
, he goes on to say, ’The game is actually that simple, it just requires the player to walk and think. No pressure whatsoever, but the laziness of our modern society is like a terminal virus constantly eating away the healthy quality parts of life or in this case a great game.’
Let’s call it the Melvyn Manifesto and it is a cry for a simpler (and therefore less expensive) game. When he writes, ‘Walk and you become at one with the course. You are forced by the mere fact of walking to notice the contours, the potential traps and possible routes subject to your playing skills,’ who can argue? Or ‘With Distance Aids it’s just about getting over the belief that they do help when, in fact, all they actually help is to drain your bank account chasing what you already possess. There can be no more enjoyment or satisfaction in knowing you did it your way, unaided, and if it was a good shot, that inward joy that makes us play the game time after time.’
Melvyn’s prose is such that you know he isn’t running for office as he tries to appease no one. One senses his ever mounting frustration at the way the game continues to be allowed to drift aimlessly away from its core. Personally, I sympathize with various of his points of view including some of these heart-felt zingers:
1) Regarding carts, ‘But for able bodied golfers to even consider using one shows a lack of commitment to the game, course and him/herself.’
2) Relative to technology, ‘a potential edge (or in other words a loser looking for options to combat a poor round).’
3) Relative to over-maintained immaculate courses, ‘super green manicured Greens and Fairways, crisscrossed by cart paths and carts, with zombie players only showing signs of life when using their electronic distance aids.’
His answers dance all over the place. I like one suggestion - though it certainly will never come to pass - and that is the notion that all players use the same equipment in a tournament. I suppose Melvyn would allow shaft lengths to be adjusted from standard so that the short-armed or long-armed player wasn’t disadvantaged but what if every player at the Masters one year played the same ball and set of fourteen clubs from one manufacturer? It is an out of the box notion to be sure and one that has as much appeal as it does impracticalities. Rather than a namby-pamby approach, Melvyn serves up a fiery concoction that makes you think. And given his genealogy, isn’t that what you would hope for – a strict traditionalist who doesn't mince words?
As a tour guide, he points us in the direction of several hidden gems with Warkworth Golf Club seeming to be a Sean Arble type find if ever there was one! I have never heard of it yet the three photographs are most encouraging. Also, anyone who reads Part II of his Feature Interview is bound to have renewed interest in getting to Askernish. In many ways, Askernish is his modern day poster child course for ‘land fit for purpose.’ He describes it as ‘...real Golf, 19th Century Golf as it was when golf was exported all over the world. It’s a true Links Course offering up all the conditions, sometimes with a vengeance, that one expects from a Links Course. You know you have combated Nature at Askernish and all the modern aids are of little help being made more or less redundant by the effect of the environment.’
Like many of us, Melvyn deeply cares for nature and how man interacts with it. He writes, ‘We need to relook at the brutal stripping of the land back to bedrock, just to place drainage and/or irrigations systems then re-float the subsoil/soil. Settlement is, I believe key to a good course, but before that happens we get an unheard of amount of water being used to generate greenery, and as lush as possible. It is overkill, the land has been raped, but for what actual benefit? So we can have super manicured courses, but that is just not golf. Because we have the money, worst still the technology, we jump in fast, to produce what the owner/club wants and to hell if it’s right for the site, the land or region. Ladies & Gentlemen, golf needs that natural, special ingredients which Nature is so good at creating and maintaining. So why destroy it then try to reproduce what was already there? Is it all just vanity or is it just Man’s destructive soul, knowing that with modern technology we can rebuild it if we have enough money?’ He goes on to beg, ‘show nature some respect, because whatever we can do, she can always do better. TOC teaches us what can be achieved if we work with Nature; how it can be maintained at sensible levels. All it takes from us a little sign of respect and some intelligence in building courses on land fit for purpose. Or are we still going to choose unfit sites and build Disneyland type courses like The Castle (St Andrews 7th Course) for silly money that looks so out of place with its own surroundings and environment.’
One thing is for sure: Melvyn is unlikely to get a job in public relations for a course. Read this: ‘I still get drawn back to TOC, while the above courses are new they have not had the foot traffic of 6 Centuries that has helped compact the land. For 5 of those 6 centuries the course matured by allowing free ranging of the sheep and cattle and the humble, earth worm. Old Tom stopped the cattle grazing but allowed the sheep to continue cropping the grass while their droppings improved the turf. In many an old report on other new courses, we read that the course needs to have some play to help improve its quality, well, TOC has certainly had that with the result being that the turf is so enjoyable to play upon. The worms have gone but still modern machinery has taken their place giving us a fast and firm links course that is a joy to walk, let alone play upon. Courses like cars need to be run in, soil needs to settle, grass and turf need to mature, binding together for that fast and firmness being the ultimate goal. In time Askernish, Castle Stuart and Renaissance will fare as TOC and we will then be able to really judge their true qualities. Alas, it will be at least another century or two before that will happen.” Can you imagine the developer of a new course having his PR person say, 'I really liked how we built the course and how sensitive we were to nature but it will be ~ 100 to 200 years before we get a true sense if we really accomplished anything here.’
I LOVE IT as this is GolfClubAtlas.com at its commercial free best with there being no reprisal for no one being safe from the crosshair of his bow.
In some ways, Melvyn is the Taliban with strict views that only a few wholly support. For instance, many (though not me) might disagree with the following: ‘A Caddie was originally there to carry a Gentleman’s clubs – not in a bag but loose. Their silence was expected but today Caddies are regarded as Tourist/Golf Information Centres. If you use a Caddie, seek his silence mode to enable you to fully interact with the virgin course you are about to play. After all, they say you always remember your first time – it will mean so much more if you play it unaided. Utilise the Caddies experience (if you must) on your second round.’ I give him great credit for consistency of message. As he repeats in many varied ways, golf is meant to be the ‘oldest of challenges Man against the Elements, not Man with his aids.’ How true, how true yet it is a message that the governing bodies don't cleanly deliver!
Ultimately, Melvyn pleads for Golfers as opposed to Players. ‘The game needs Golfers. We need Golfers in place of Players. The game needs golfers who accept and work within the rules of the course etiquette. Also, the teaching of the game of golf to novices should incorporate more than just how to grip a club and hit the ball.’ I agree with those sentiments. And it is with more than a touch of family pride that he writes ‘The Old Course is like a beacon of stability and continuity that the game needs so much due to the failures of the governing bodies to govern and to protect the heart and spirit of the great game of Golf.’ Just like The Old Course, his forty page two part Feature Interview - here forth known as the Melvyn Manifesto - is a beacon as well in regards to the game’s core values.
Melvyn delivers it with such punch that I am actually a little worried. Several lads and I are gathering at Southern Pines Country Club for a foursomes match in thirty minutes. Of course we will be walking, leather bags slung over our shoulders. However, some will have pipes and some flasks to combat the 46F temperature and drizzle. I just hope Melvyn doesn’t take too dim a view on such outside
aids!
Cheers,