Get To Know Brian Colbert

[Ronald Montesano]

Certainly continue to get to know David Bartman. At the same time, let me present Brian Colbert.

What brought you to Golf :

I began playing golf when I was just three years old with my father. Throughout the years it became my greatest passion. I was a very athletic kid, excelling in golf along with tennis, baseball, and soccer. I was perhaps even better at some of these sports than I was at golf, but I just kept coming back to the game. I used to absolutely love the hours I would spend with my father on the course. The night before I was set to play a round of golf, I would be up awake out of pure excitement. I played my first tournament when I was about 10 or 11 and I played pretty well. I kept entering more and more tournaments and it became apparent that relative to the other kids in my grade that I was pretty good. I made the varsity team as a freshman in high school and had a very successful career which culminated in the chance to fulfill my dream and play Division I college golf at Villanova University outside of Philadelphia.

Now that my collegiate career is over I enjoy the game as a weekend hack. It is an absolute thrill for me to be on the golf course every time I get the chance. I am living my dream as a top level amateur. I have had thoughts of turning professional, but I think I can do better for the world in other areas than what I do with 14 metal sticks and a white ball. Having played in 4 USGA championships I have experienced the top level of competition that I will ever get to. I idolize people like Nathan Smith (who I was so thrilled to meet for the first time in Denver at the US Am this week) more than I idolize Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. I still get that giddy, restless feeling the night before a round of golf and I think I always will. As soon as I don't, I'll probably stop playing. But for now, I still have found no feeling to match the thrill of executing the perfect shot and I cannot wait for my next round.

What brought you to Golf Course Architecture:

My interest in golf course architecture began from a young age, drawing my own golf holes in my notebooks during class, and studying the scorecards of golf courses which I had collected. Of course, if these drawings were posted on GCA I would probably be thrown off of the board because they are terrible! Growing up I did not have a ton of exposure to the "great" golf courses of the world other than knowing them and seeing them on television. The amount and quality of invitations I have received since entering college continues to baffle me. I have managed to get to courses like Pine Valley, Merion, Oakmont, Garden City and had regular access to Aronimink in my four years at Villanova. There are many, many golf courses in the world which I would still like to see but I am thankful for the ones I have played. I love the strategy involved with playing the great courses and the history they carry with them.

It also became apparent to me that a knowledge of the architectural features of these courses may help me in my game. The knowledge of holes like the Redan and Biarritz, for example, and how they can be ideally played can help a player get the ball closer to the hole.

What brought you to Golf Club Atlas:

I had the good fortune of playing with Mark McKeever at my home club, White Manor earlier this summer. He suggested I join the message board. I have read the board for a few years, mostly searching for info about courses I was playing or interested in. I think the ability to be connected to a group of individuals who are as crazy about golf as I am was something that truly interested me.

[JNC Lyon]

Pretty interesting interview, and I'm glad we had a GCAer who was playing in the US Amateur!  I'm sorry you had to play golf with McKeever though...

I was lucky enough to play White Manor this past weekend.  I thought it was a really phenomenal golf course.  To me, it was very unique as a golf course with classic, intimate routing but a modern renovation.  It means the course feels old-school at times and modern at others, yet somehow it fits together very well.  Brian, what is your take on the place?  Best and worst holes?

[Ronald Montesano]

What misspelling, Lion?

[John Kavanaugh]

When does school start?

[Joe Bausch]

When does school start?

If you were to invite Brian to VN Jaka, right on the first tee. 

 

[Ronald Montesano]

Brian, I'll start with this question. Your thinnest response was to the third/GCA question. While this merry band is crazy about golf, the caveat is that the enthusiasm directly targets the course as much as or more than the actual playing of the game. Do you find yourself paying more attention to the course now (or in a different way) than when you were a collegiate player?

[Mac Plumart]

When does school start?

If you were to invite Brian to VN Jaka, right on the first tee.  

 

 


Brian...

What are your Top 5 Favorite courses played to date?

What are your Top 5 "want to" plays?

What are your Top 5 favorite holes played to date?

Please list as many details and reasons why as you can.

Welcome to the Discussion Group.  I'm excited you're part of it.

[Jim Colton]

Brian,

 Did you find that caring more about architecture than your average college golfer provided an advantage over the field?

 Jim

[Ronald Montesano]

All right, men, that makes five unanswered questions from Brian. Let's put a hold on new ones until he tackles those five. Don't want to shock the lad.

[Brian Colbert]

Well alright then. Let's start from the top.

best and worst holes at white manor?

Playing at White Manor Country Club is a thrill for me every time I tee it up. I have played some courses which are "ranked" higher than it that just absolutely baffle me. Personally if you gave me 10 plays I'd take 7 at White Manor and 3 at Aronimink down the street. There is only one club which I would rather be a member at in Philadelphia, and that would be Philadelphia Cricket.

Best holes:

2 is a fantastic par 4 with a great green. This hole is great because Bobby Weed took a relatively flat spot for a 450 yard hole and created one with strategic interest. This hole could be improved by cutting down a few trees on the left (and adding a new tee about 50 yards back for those playing the tips).

Both short 4s provide plenty of interest as well. I generally find that I go for hole 7 and hit an iron on hole 15. It seems like I can't hit driver on 15 without going in the bottom left bunker which is probably the worst spot on the entire course. For some reason, 7 sets up a lot better for my high draw. Last month I hit one onto the front edge of the green and watched as it ran across the green, hit off the flagstick, and bounced a few feet from the hole. And no, I still don't have a hole in one.

9 has the best green on the course and there are so many options on the hole. I think the tee shot is a tough test which places a premium on accuracy, and then the approach shot forces you to be on the right level or you will certainly 3 putt.

16 is a great hole because you can birdie it just as easily as you can bogey it. The green is elevated and the two bunkers to each side are generally regarded as death. It's a hole that if you need a birdie coming in you can make it, but you're probably going to be happy walking off with a 4. 

I also think 17 is one of my favorite holes in the Golf Association of Philadelphia. It is the best risk reward hole on the course and in my opinion the best hole on the course. Even hitting the green in two does not guarantee a birdie though as there are some really tough two putts with that ridge.

On to the weaker holes.

I think 1 is a pretty weak starting hole. I am generally not a fan of blind tee shots on the first hole and this one is weird because the fairway is not where the player thinks it is. I also think the bunkerless look is really different from the rest of the course and I don't know that it necessarily "fits."

99/100 members will tell you that 13 is the worst hole on the course but I don't agree. I think it's obviously a very difficult hole, but the green is fantastic (even though it may not necessarily fit with the difficulty of the hole tee to green).

I also think that 18 is a pretty weak finisher. It's different enough from 9 in that the green is completely unique, but it is hard to have two holes run parallel like that without getting come comparisons.

[Brian Colbert]

Do I find myself paying attention to the course more than the when I was a collegiate player?

Of course. I am continually learning about the art of golf course architecture and I think the more I read on this website the more I change my approach to looking at a golf course. I had the good fortune of playing a round with Tom Paul walking along and the wealth of knowledge he had was incredible to me. I hope I can have even 1 nth of that knowledge someday.

[John Kavanaugh]

Do you think bad players are more interactive with architecture than great players? Do you buy into the notion that you can be a great player without studying the architecture of the course?

[Brian Colbert]

Top 5 favorite courses to date?

1. Pine Valley. I would absolutely never get tired of this golf course. It is the most difficult but fair test of golf that I have ever seen. Each hole is unique in its own way and I don't think there are two holes out there that you could accuse as being similar. It has the best set of par 3s and the best set of par 4s that I have ever seen. The short holes are appropriately difficult around the green while the long holes are appropriately open. I could make this a 5 page essay but everyone here knows why this is a great golf course by now.

Best holes: 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18.

2. Merion. I think a course with this many difficult 330-400 yard holes is awesome. I think the bunkering and green sites are some of the best I have ever seen. The criticism this course gets for changing the holes is a little unfair in my opinion. The only hole which I think may be a stretch is 14, which now involves hitting a tee shot over the road. 9 is going to be a difficult hole but the tour guys will all be able to reach with their "short" long irons like their 6 and 5 irons. I am going to guess -10 will win out there next year.

Best holes: 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18.

3. Oakmont. This may be the most difficult course I have ever played. Unfortunately, when I got out there the course was pretty "slow" with the greens running about 10 or 11 and the fairways were pretty soft. THat said, the fairway bunkers were the most penal I had ever seen until I played Ballyneal last week  . That is just a long, difficult test which could host an open any time they had to.

Best holes: 1, 3, 5, 9 (as a par 4), 15, 17, 18.

4. Old Macdonald. I have played Pac Dunes, Old Mac, and Bandon Trails, and I think Old Macdonald is the best of the three. The template holes are all great interpretations of the originals and I think the par 3s are world class. Oddly enough, I think the hole on the course is 7, which is not a template hole!

Best holes: 3(!), 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 16(!)

5. As of this past week, BALLYNEAL!!!! What an incredible site for a golf course and I can't believe this doesn't get more hype than it does. The stretch from numbers 6-10 is one of the best stretches of holes I have ever seen. I thought the course had some of the most interesting bunkers I have ever seen and the artistry of the design is apparent throughout. I think I could stay and play there for a month and enjoy myself as much the last day as I did the first.

Best holes: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17

Some which I kicked around throwing on here but just couldn't make the cut:

Victoria National, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Garden City, Cherry Hills

[Brian Colbert]

Top 5 "want to" plays

I would love to see, in this order,

1. National Golf Links of America: I have had a crush on this course for years after looking through the pictures and course tours.
2. Cypress Point Club: I have never played a Mackenzie but my familiarity with Augusta National is already high so I think I'd rather see Cypress.
3. Chicago Golf Club: It's about 10 minutes from where I'm going to work next year and I've never even seen the property! It looks like I may have a connection to get out on this one in the fall.
4. Fishers Island Club: This looks like one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen. I'd love to see how they took a pretty small piece of land and turned it into a great course.
5. Seminole: This and Everglades are the only two golf courses "worth playing" in Florida that I haven't seen. Seminole is a great study of Ross and I would like to play a Florida golf course that I like.

Top 5 holes I've ever played

It is incredibly difficult to limit this to 5 holes.

1. Pine Valley hole 13. I think the tee shot is pretty cool because you just hit a hard one right at the middle and hope it turns left. There is room to miss right in the fairway but if you hit it too far on that line you will be blocked by trees. Then you get to the approach shot, which is one of the coolest views on the course. The green site is absolutely fantastic and the back bunker is one of the many spots on the course where once you are not in it and you look at it, you can't help but think "that's DEATH."

2. Pacific Dunes hole 13. The way this hole is carved into the dune and runs along the coast line makes the single most beautiful hole I have ever played. I still have a picture of this one on my desktop.

3. Bandon Trails hole 14. The best drivable 4 I have ever played. Sure, you can hit it on, but if you miss the green you will almost certainly make a 4 or worse.

4. Garden City Golf Club hole 5. I love the way this hole starts out wide and narrows as you progress further along the hole. My friend who is a member there had the chance to play with Mike Keiser and apparently he said that his two inspirations for the Bandon resort were Garden City and Pine Valley.

5. Chambers Bay Golf Club hole 10. This is an incredible par 4 cut into the dunes which is one of the most aesthetically pleasing holes I h ave ever seen. The options available to the player make it a great hole for the tour players and the weekend hacks like myself.

[Brian Colbert]

Do you find that caring for architecture provided an advantage over the field in college golf?

and

Do you think bad players are more interactive with architecture than great players? Do you buy into the notion that you can be a great player without studying the architecture of the course?

I think these questions can kind of be answered together. First of all, I do believe that bad players are more interactive with architecture than great players, because they need to be. Great players of today nearly all play an aerial game with little regard to the architectural features around the greens. Most players at the top level of amateur and professional golf use architectural features to get the ball just a bit closer to the holes i.e. backstops and slopes which move the ball to the side. However, I doubt you will ever see a player on the PGA Tour start playing exclusively the run-up ground game shots which you see from the worse players. It was very rare that I found an advantage over my fellow competitors by possessing a knowledge of golf course architecture, however it certainly helps when you're playing courses with a classic redan or biarritz par 3.

That is what is interesting about USGA Championships. They set up their courses firm and fast and this demands that the player understand the features better. Obviously it hasn't helped me make the match play yet as i'm 0 for 4 but still it is interesting to see this style of golf played in the US Open as opposed to the typical 8-irons the tour guys hit that just land and stop.

[John Kavanaugh]

So you are saying that great players choose the best options to play the hole.  Funny how often I see poor players make the worst choices.

[Mark Chaplin]

Brian - no desire to play the links?

[David Amarnek]

Brian,
Did you play Gulph Mills with Tom Paul walking alongside?  If so, I'd be curious to know your thoughts about it.
If not, I'd definitely get over there before you head to Chicago.  There's nothing like that place here in the Midwest (although I've never been to Chicago GC!).
Whenever I bring the guys from St. Louis to play in Philly, GMGC is a very pleasant surprise for all of them.
David

[Brian Colbert]

no desire to play the links?

I've enjoyed a few links golf courses in the United States, namely the Bandon Dunes courses and Chambers Bay, but the great courses of the United States are more interesting to me at this point, and there aren't many true links courses in the United States. I just don't think I have enough exposure to links golf past the Open Championship which is sad to me. Someday I will make the trip over to Scotland but I am much more keen on playing the great classic courses in the United States.

Did you get a chance to play Gulph Mills with Tom Paul?

I never did get the chance to play Gulph Mills with Tom Paul but I did have the chance to play it a couple years ago. I think Gulph Mills is a great golf course with some brilliant Donald Ross holes. From an architectural standpoint it reminded me a lot of Lu Lu, a course which I have played about 20 times. The 4th hole is one of my favorite short par 3s anywhere (maybe because I've stiffed it both times I've played it!). I really enjoy the opening 6 or 7 holes out there actually.

[Jason Thurman]

Brian, what are your long-term goals as an amateur player?

You mentioned you can do more good for the world in fields outside of golf. What are your plans in that regard?

[Brian Colbert]

What are your long term goals as an Amateur?

My true dream is to play on a Walker Cup team someday. Of course, I realize that is a lot easier said than done. I'd like to get to 50 USGA Championships. I've got 46 to go! I'd like to play most of the great amateur invitationals and someday establish myself as one of the premier middle-amateurs. As I mentioned earlier, I idolize guys like Nathan Smith more than Tiger Woods.

What are your plans to do more for the world outside of golf?

I'm going to start work in September as an auditor with a public accounting firm. Someday I hope to be in venture capital or a similar field. I think it should be everyone's goal to impact the world in a positive way before they leave it. I have yet to figure out exactly how I'm going to, but I'm confident that I'll find a way.

[Jeff Fortson]

What are your long term goals as an Amateur?

My true dream is to play on a Walker Cup team someday. Of course, I realize that is a lot easier said than done. I'd like to get to 50 USGA Championships. I've got 46 to go! I'd like to play most of the great amateur invitationals and someday establish myself as one of the premier middle-amateurs. As I mentioned earlier, I idolize guys like Nathan Smith more than Tiger Woods.

What are your plans to do more for the world outside of golf?

I'm going to start work in September as an auditor with a public accounting firm. Someday I hope to be in venture capital or a similar field. I think it should be everyone's goal to impact the world in a positive way before they leave it. I have yet to figure out exactly how I'm going to, but I'm confident that I'll find a way.

Brian,

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?  Those are some great goals, and you obviously have the game to pursue them.  I wish I had given up the professional dream at a much younger age myself.  When can we expect you out on the mid-am circuit? 

Jeff

P.S.: Nice playing getting to Cherry Hills.  Every national championship someone makes it to should be applauded.

[Brian Colbert]

Jeff,

I'm 22. My first US Mid-Amateur will be 2015, same year they bring the US Amateur to my home town at Olympia Fields. Until then I'll probably try and play tournaments like the Western and the Sunnehanna to get my fix.

[Mark McKeever]

I can only imagine how pumped you already are for your Mid Am debut.   

Mark

[Brian Colbert]

I can only imagine how pumped you already are for your Mid Am debut.   

Mark

11/10...