Travis Invitational at Garden City

[Stuart Goldstein]

With the tournament in a week or so how does Garden City rate with the other great courses in the MET area?  I have played many of the great ones here but have not had the pleaseure of visitng Garden City.

[Jay Flemma]

Among the very greatest - ancient golfing splendor in all its glory.  Bucket list must play.

Who's going to be at the Travis.  Lets have a roll call!

[Niall Hay]

With the tournament in a week or so how does Garden City rate with the other great courses in the MET area? 

"It's Christmas Day for amateur golfers," gushed an ebullient Pat Mucci, and it is.

But for one week in May, Garden City outdoes itself with a celebration of golf history, tradition and competition which is unparalleled in all of golf - the Walter J. Travis Invitational, which turns 101 years young this year - the greatest amateur golf tournament in America, save for the U.S. Amateur.

http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/the_101st_travis_invitational_at_garden_city_christmas_comes_for_amateurs

[Jay Flemma]

I think the greatness of GCGC lies in the number of half-par holes.  Long brutes like 15, and short but dangerous holes like one.  It's a fantastic match play course where fortunes can change with one swing.  You can be in the3 catbird seat in the fwy and your opponent in trouble and then you can short-side yourself near the green and suddenly be fighting for a half.

And don't you love how ebullient Pat Mucci is?   

Can't wait to share a dark and Stormy with you, Pat!

[Niall Hay]

I think the greatness of GCGC lies in the number of half-par holes.  Long brutes like 15, and short but dangerous holes like one.  It's a fantastic match play course where fortunes can change with one swing.  You can be in the3 catbird seat in the fwy and your opponent in trouble and then you can short-side yourself near the green and suddenly be fighting for a half.

And don't you love how ebullient Pat Mucci is?   

Can't wait to share a dark and Stormy with you, Pat!

"And don't you love how ebullient Pat Mucci is?"    - great line!

[Jay Flemma]

I have so much fun covering that event.  Thank you for the link.  That's LAST year's preview, BTW.  This year's is here:  

http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=4379

It's a bummer Michael Wharton-Palmer and Jamie Slonis will miss this year.  Are there any other GCAers playing besides them?

One last thing - my favorite part of last year was this:

"The day saw one more bit of eye-popping drama: the horrible, yet mesmerizing self-immolation of Garden City member, bon vivant, and all-around great guy Billy Kreitsek. I don’t know how he offended them, but he did something that made all the Furies of the Golf Gods come riding down on his head on their Steeds of Vengeance. Out of contention for the championship flight, but still well within the cut-off to play the weekend, Billy came to the 18th looking to give the large gallery of members and friends a thrill.

What they got was a massacre.

Billy has been fighting a swing flaw too – a much deadlier one than Ed "Scissorhands" Gibstein faces.

“I’ve been taking the club way too far inside and fighting the ____.”

You know what word he used there. The dreaded “s-word.” Rhymes with rank.

“I proceeded to hit four hosel rockets into the water or into John Garcia’s backyard,” he moaned miserably. “I had already lost two balls, so I was down to my last one.”

And here’s where the Golf Gods turn the Steeds of Vengeance around and come rumbling back for another pass, shouting, “Get him again! He’s still kicking!”

“I sh____ed another one which hit a tree and came back in play, landing a whopping 15 foot off the tee box. But I was blocked out by a tree, and all I could do was hit sideways back onto the tee box,” he lamented. “I hit that at least, but then I took out wedge and hit a sixth hosel rocket right into the pond. I would have been lying 10 hitting 11, but I was out of balls…in front of everyone, the whole place watching. It was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened in my golf life. I started with seven balls and lost five on 18, a par 3!”

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

As a very good friend of Ed's, and sometimes his instructor, the nickname was erronously used.  It is true that Ed was once referred to as Edward Scissorhands, but that was for something that at least 98% of the participants on GCA would applaud--as greens chairman at Enginners CC, he had hundreds of trees cut down and an older tree hugging member came up with the nickname.  This nickname has never been used among his friends and fellow competitors since what he helped bring about at Engineers has been very popular among Long Island's bettert players.  The Long Island Amateur returns to Engineers in mid-June. 
As for the Travis, there always are some great stories emerging from the competition.

[Jay Flemma]

I'm fully aware of why he's called Scissorhands, and I never said it was b/c of the swing flaw he fought that day.  If you read the entire article in which the quote comes from it tells the story of the tree-cutting up above the Billy K story.

The Garden City members were the ones who told me about the nickname.  And in my first ever Travis he was a high finisher in the stroke play qualifier.  I met him and interviewed him and asked about the nickname.  He chuckles about it, because everybody - like you said - applauded his work at Engineers.  I've written him as Ed Scissorhands Gibstein for five years now, and I'll write him as Scissorhands again!  We all love him:)  He's another reason why the Travis is so much fun - its the characters, members, players , and otherwise.  The people who play golf are just as interesting as their golf shots, especially when they are like you or me.

[Alex Lagowitz]

It's a bummer Michael Wharton-Palmer and Jamie Slonis will miss this year.  Are there any other GCAers playing besides them?

Although he doesn't frequent the site as much as he used to, I believe fellow ECCC member and GCAer Greg Stebbins will be playing.

[Jay Flemma]

That's great news   I think he's been there a few times recently, right?

[Joey Chase]

  Having only had the opportunity to play Garden City a handful of times is all I've needed to come to one conclusion.  If there was one club I could have the chance to join it would be there.  It is just the most unique club and course that I've ever been to.  They've got it right in that is about the golf there.  I've played several of the big name Met area courses and, if given the choice, I would play GCGC over any of them.
 
  I met Jim Urbina once recently and the one question I had for him, with all that I could've asked (and maybe should've), I asked when they were gonna do the work on the 12th? I am hoping to someday see the work when it's finished as it will make the one issue I had with the course rectified.   Garden City is everything we all love about GCA.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jay,

Billy is a great guy, as is his dad.

One of the unique and great things about the Travis and GCGC is that the give the competitors the use of the course from the Sunday prior to the qualifier on Friday, thru the entire week.

No other club does that

And, I could be wrong, but I don't believe there's an entry fee

Jay, I'm in AZ, IM me your cell #

[John_Cullum]

What was Scissorhands' swing flaw?

[Jay Flemma]

Sarge and Robert:

From the article:

"Scissorhands, who earned his nickname by spearheading a much-needed tree-removal campaign at his home course, birdied the first three holes of the day, missing a hole-in-one at the short Redan-ish par-3 second hole by a whisker.

“We watched it lip out,” he recalled with a pained expression. “But I made the one inch tap-in.”

The man who is also called “Gibby” by his friends played solidly until 14, when his swing flaw suddenly resurfaced.

“I’ve been working on swing changes and it’s actually been slow going,” he admitted candidly. “I’ve been flipping my wrists lately, but I had a terrific session on the range today, the best in ages, and I carried it out on the course for 13 holes. Then the flips came back, and I held on for dear life.”

“Holding on for dear life” included some fireworks at 17, the short par-5 that the field needs to take advantage of to maintain pace in a tournament of this caliber. After hitting a goofy hook into the third fairway – “the best place to miss,” as Scissorhands put it – he laid up with a 5-iron, then got up-and down for a birdie that gave him enough breathing room to enjoy the rest of the day’s play without worry. He’ll face 12th seed David Hayes, while 4th seeded Scott Osler faces 13th seed Kevin Gai."

MInd you, that was last year. 

[Jay Flemma]

Bump for Travis week:)

[DonJ]

Can we follow groups and walk the course?

[Stuart Goldstein]

Look forward to hearing from those who will make it out there.

[Angela Moser]

hej guys,

garden city... what shall i say. As a girl I would die for just walking it. Tom D. mentioned a tournament which is held in GC once a year, where women are allowed to enter the property. I somehow forgot the name, is it the Travis Invitational? When is it in May?

cheers,
angela

[Jay Flemma]

The general public are invited to walk the course and watch the finals on Sunday afternoon (usually after 1pm).  They won't be allowed in the clubhouse though.

[Angela Moser]

Jay,

is it this upcoming Sunday? Walking the course would be more than fine with me, as women are normally banned from Garden City.

I heard they even moved their post box out of the property, onto the street, since it was a female postman.

[Jay Flemma]

It is this coming Sunday. I think I got the time wrong though in my earlier post - The final should start around 1:30 pm, and that's around when the public is invited to come out.

Angela, are you doing any more work with RD in the future?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jay,

is it this upcoming Sunday? Walking the course would be more than fine with me, as women are normally banned from Garden City.

From whom did you hear that women are banned ?
Are you sure that wives and daughters can't play, take lessons and shop in the Pro Shop.


I heard they even moved their post box out of the property, onto the street, since it was a female postman.

From whom did you hear that ?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

My favourite event of any year and hate that I will be missing it this year.
Pat..are you saying that women can walk the course during the event? My fiance would love to see the course but has always stayed home because I thought I would get blacklisted if she walked the course ...

As for the aforementioned Eddie Gibstein...I will second he is one of the things that makes the Travis so much fun...seeing Eddie there every year and catching up with life is always a joy.
One of the things that make this game so great, you can go an entire year without crossing paths and then you are best friends again..Jay please say hello to Eddie for me.

Have  a great Travis everybody...

[Jay Flemma]

Yes, women may walk the course on Sunday with everyone else for the final.  I remember walking with Andrew Giuliani's mom one year and again with other mothers/sisters in other years.  Also, family members may walk with their husbands/sons/family any round - family members.  Of course, no non-members may go in the clubhouse.

Angela, I wonder if the stories you heard are greatly exaggerated. Rumor loves to make the hearer's flesh creep, but if you believe half of the stories you hear about people, then you probably believe at least twice as much as might actually be true.

[Angela Moser]

hej guys,

well... thank you very much for the information. I caddied for a Garden City member today and he also said that I can walk the course on Sunday afternoon. I'm so happy and looking so much forward to it

There are different sources who told me that women are forbidden to play and enter the property. I'm surprised that you are saying those are all rumors.... It seemed to me that it is harder to get on Garden City than on Muirfield, SCO.

So who is joining for Sunday afternoon? Anyone who wants to discuss a bit about GCA afterwards?