[Jason Topp]

While I did not have the pleasure of playing in the Dixie Cup, I did play the same courses a month earlier.  My reactions vary a bit from many expressed above.

Blindness - I found the blindness at Tobacco Road extremely well defined for the player.  I thought you always had a good idea where to hit it, especially after one time around. I am not sure how I would have handled Dormie without Cory guiding me around.  

Options - The advantage of Dormie is that it presents a wider variety of choices - no matter how far you hit the ball you have a variety of lines to choose from.  Tobacco Road presents more stark choices, often between two large targets - either an aggressive shot involving  a carry or a layup saving the carry for later.  

Par 3's - The biggest drawback of Tobacco Road is that the par threes feel like the same hole to me - a short iron to a skinny green.  I wish more courses had such holes but it seemed like all the par threes at Tobacco Road played that way.  If I recall correctly there are a lot of them.   Dormie has a terrific set of par threes.

[Craig Disher]

This has been discussed before but I'll bring it up again since it's relevant to Jason's point about the par 3s at Tobacco Road. There are a few awkward green-tee transitions at TR - 12-13 and the 16-17-18 triangle are two. The par 3s are similar, at least in that there is not an uphill one among them. Recall the long uphill trek from the 12th green to the 13th tee. Adding a par 3 at that junction would not only create an interesting uphill par 3 (the land form is already there, even a plateau for a green and a depression for a natural bunker), it would allow for the removing 17. The transition from the 16th green to the 18th tee is a natural and replacing the drop-shot 17th with an uphill par 3 after 12 would be a real benefit to the course. it might even help speed up play.

[Jim Sherma]

This has been discussed before but I'll bring it up again since it's relevant to Jason's point about the par 3s at Tobacco Road. There are a few awkward green-tee transitions at TR - 12-13 and the 16-17-18 triangle are two. The par 3s are similar, at least in that there is not an uphill one among them. Recall the long uphill trek from the 12th green to the 13th tee. Adding a par 3 at that junction would not only create an interesting uphill par 3 (the land form is already there, even a plateau for a green and a depression for a natural bunker), it would allow for the removing 17. The transition from the 16th green to the 18th tee is a natural and replacing the drop-shot 17th with an uphill par 3 after 12 would be a real benefit to the course. it might even help speed up play.

Craig - I think it will take more than that to help speed up play. I absoloutely loved Tobacco Road, but I was also hitting the ball very well and believe I only had one or two approach shots greater than a nine iron into any green. I thought that the course was visually very interesting and that the questions that it asked were very reasonable if you had good yardages available. Almost all of the meaningful forced carries were off of the tee and even if visually intimidating they were not to landing areas that were unreasonable in my opinion. If a consistent and reasonably straight 180-200 yeard carry is not in the players vocabulary however than the course is very trying and a nice pace of play is just not going to happen. Saying that, I agree that 17 was likely the weakest hole on the course and some other solution would have likely made for more interest if only to get a 160-170 yard shot into the course.  

[Evan Fleisher]

Steve - regarding 17 at Dormie I comfortably hit driver-3 wood into the front right bunker on Saturday. It's pretty reachable for a decent length player after a good drive.

Also, I prefer the blindness at Dormie to the blindness at Tobacco Road. The blindness at Dormie isn't as stark but I found just as effective in causing confusion or uneasiness.

The one negative that really stood out for me regarding Dormie is that it seemed almost exclusively a drawer's golf course. Because of the width and angles, a draw is not demanded or even necessary to play any of the holes. But, a draw will make them a lot easier. The only hole where a fade was clearly optimal was 15.

I have to agree with Steve K. here...as a lefty I found myself trying to "force" a fade on most tee shots as that shot shaped fit my eye on most holes...even though there is plenty of width to play the ball either direction it just felt more comfortable.  The blindness at Dormie seemed to be more "middle of the hole" as opposed to on the tee shots and I too found that to be less uncomfortable than the blindness at Tobacco road...although I really enjoyed the "fun factor" at TR.

[Evan Fleisher]

Well, official scores are all in and the final totals are South 11 / North 11...a "kissing your sister" tie.    Maybe we should use the number of team member participants at the Pik N' Pig BBQ gathering as the tie-breaker?    Here are the detailed match outcomes...

Pairings for the Sunday round at Dormie Club …South 11 / North 11
   ~ Match #1 - Bill Gayne (SOUTH) vs. Evan Fleisher (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #2 - Lou Duran (SOUTH) vs. Jim Sherma (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #3 - Joe Fairey (SOUTH) vs. Jerry Kluger (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #4 - Cory Lewis (SOUTH) vs. Steve Kline (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #5 - Greg Krueger (SOUTH) vs. Tyler Kearns (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #6 - Mike Whitaker (SOUTH) vs. David Royer (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #7 - Harwell Palmer (SOUTH) vs. Chip Royce (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #8 - Bill McBride (SOUTH) vs. Chris Shaida (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #9 - Mike Christensen (SOUTH) vs. Ward Peyronnin (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #10 - Craig Disher (SOUTH) vs. Morgan Clawson (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #11 - Eric Strulowitz (SOUTH) vs. Steve Wilson (NORTH) = HALVED

Pairings for the Saturday round at Dormie Club…South 7.5 / North 3.5
   ~ Match #1 – Harwell Palmer (SOUTH) vs. Steve Kline (NORTH)  ...and Ed Getka ("Marker") = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #2 – Lou Duran / Joe Fairey (SOUTH) vs. David Royer / Tyler Kearns (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #3 – Mike Whitaker / Cory Lewis  (SOUTH) vs. Jerry Kluger / Ward Peyronnin (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #4 – Craig Disher / Michael Christensen (SOUTH) vs. Evan Fleisher / Jim Sherma (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #5 – Eric Strulowitz / Greg Krueger (SOUTH) vs. Chris Shaida / Chip Royce (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #6 – Bill McBride / Bill Gayne (SOUTH) vs. Morgan Clawson / Steve Wilson (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER

Pairings for the Friday round at Tobacco Road…South 2.5 / North 2.5
   ~ Match #1 – Greg Krueger / Cory Lewis (SOUTH) vs. David Royer / Ward Peyronnin (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #2 – Bill McBride / Michael Christensen (SOUTH) vs. Morgan Clawson / Chris Shaida (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #3 – Craig Disher / Mike Whitaker (SOUTH) vs. Evan Fleisher / Chip Royce (NORTH) = NORTH WINNER
   ~ Match #4 – Lou Duran / Harwell Palmer (SOUTH) vs. Jerry Kluger / Tyler Kearns (NORTH) = SOUTH WINNER
   ~ Match #5 – Eric Strulowitz / Jim Sherma (SOUTH) vs. Steve Wilson / Steve Kline (NORTH) = HALVED

I'm going to organize the (few) pictures I took and post a few here shortly, stay tuned!  Hopefully, others will then follow suit.

[Evan Fleisher]

And now on to some candid shots from the weekend, along with descriptions.  We'll start with...what else, the important stuff...BBQ!

Thursday night pig-out at the Pik 'n Pig


Front view of the restaurant


Rear view of the restaurant, taken from near their driving range (yes, you read that right!)


Wanna eat some 'Que here? Sure! Wanna land your plane to get there? Sure! Wanna hit some balls? Sure!!!




Some of the "suspects" (clockwise from L-R)...Ward Peyronnin, Tyler Kearns, Eric Strulowitz, Chip Royce, Cory Lewis, Steve Kline, David Royer, Jerry Kluger, Morgan Clawson, Ed Getka, Chris Shaida


More "suspects" with a few wives thrown in for good measure! (clockwise from L-R)...Nancy & Mike Whitaker, Lou Duran, Craig & Susan Disher

[Evan Fleisher]

Okay, now the "boring" stuff...golf pictures.

Mike Whitaker, Cory Lewis and Craig Disher walking the fairways at Mid Pines


Dormie Club's short par-4 3rd hole, with the wildest green on the course...loved this hole!


Saturday afternoon's fun...putting competition at Pinehurst's "Thistle Dhu" 18-hole putting course...you've GOT to give this a try!




Lastly...even though it is not course related...a shot from Saturday night's dinner at Ran's house titles "A man and his faithful companion" (and I don't mean the glass of wine in his hand)  

[ward peyronnin]

I'm just sayin, the following was the motto at the Pinecrest Inn with Big Carl the barkeep:



 A real woman is a man's best friend.

 

She will never stand him up and never let him down.

She will reassure him when he feels insecure and comfort him after a bad day.

She will inspire him to do things he never thought he could do;
to live without fear and forget regret.

She will enable him to express his deepest emotions and give in to his most intimate desires.

She will make sure he always feels as though he's the most handsome man in the room and will enable him to be the most confident, sexy, seductive and invincible...





No wait...Sorry.

I'm thinking of whiskey. It's whiskey that does all that stuff.

Never mind.

[Steve Kline]

Classic Ward!

[Cory Lewis]

Ward Peyronnin and David Royer on the 11th hole at Tobacco Road.


These guys were a really tough team.  I had to make an 8 foot eagle putt on this hole to win the hole!  We had a very good match.

[ward peyronnin]

Cory shot a brilliant 68 that was a sight to behold. No shame losing to a round like that. Made it look easy and even tho i have a lot of issues with TB I am glad i gave it another chance with a bonus viewing included

[Tyler Kearns]

Just arrived home late last night after fitting in an additional 2 rounds at Mid Pines and Pinehurst No. 2 to wrap up an excellent week.  It was  a pleasure to meet the Dixie Cup crew, and to re-acquaint with those I'de met previously.  I enjoyed each and every round - even being easily defeated by Lou Duran (twice), Joe Fairey & Harwell Palmer.  Thankfully I got a little revenge by besting Greg Krueger in the singles after he had defeated me & my partner on the 4th playoff hole at the 2012 5th Major.  Thanks to Craig Disher & Cory Lewis for organizing the golf and to our captains Mike Christiensen & Evan Fleisher for organizing the matches and providing spirited enthusiasm for their respective teams.  A special thanks to Ran Morrisset for hosting us at his lovely home on Friday night and providing this wonderful platform for us to passionately discuss golf architecture which in turn has led to event like the Dixie Cup where great friends are made and great golf is experienced.

I am very much looking forward to next year's event, although I hope it doesn't fall on Canadian Thanksgiving again!!

TK

[Cory Lewis]

I appreciate everybody thanking me for helping with the Dixie Cup, but I have to say that Craig Disher deserves 99.9% of the credit for the success of this year's Dixie Cup.  All I did was setup the golf course that everybody hated and arranged for the caddies that failed to meet expectations      

[Eric Smith]

Cory shot a brilliant 68 that was a sight to behold. No shame losing to a round like that. Made it look easy and even tho i have a lot of issues with TB I am glad i gave it another chance with a bonus viewing included

68. Wowza! I've been on several golf trips with Cory. Roomed with him. Still haven't tee'd it up together. I hope to rectify this in the new year.

Many thanks to all for the updates and photos.

[Jim Sherma]

I appreciate everybody thanking me for helping with the Dixie Cup, but I have to say that Craig Disher deserves 99.9% of the credit for the success of this year's Dixie Cup.  All I did was setup the golf course that everybody hated and arranged for the caddies that failed to meet expectations      

Cory

The course was great, the caddy less so...

Dormie was my first C&C course and I found it wonderful. I am so happy we got to play it twice! The use of the broad slopes was very cool and the general scale and green complexes really suited my tastes. Great event and thanks to Craig, Cory, Evan and everyone else that made it happen!

[Tyler Kearns]

I appreciate everybody thanking me for helping with the Dixie Cup, but I have to say that Craig Disher deserves 99.9% of the credit for the success of this year's Dixie Cup.  All I did was setup the golf course that everybody hated and arranged for the caddies that failed to meet expectations      

Cory,

I for one, enjoyed Tobacco Road, albeit the conditioning was not great.  Like I mentioned to you, it certainly presented something different in the world of golf course architecture, and while it may not be universally praised, it takes some courage to build a course like that.  The visuals were stunning throughout and the green complexes and layout of the tees allows the golf course to be set-up quite differently from day-to-day which is another plus.  There were some spots that were overly penal for the average player (deep fescue grasses in first and second shot landing areas on #1, deep cavernous bunker on #11) that could leave a sour taste and limit repeat play, but overall I think the course was fun and looked more intimidating than it actually played.

TK

[Lou_Duran]

I'm just sayin, the following was the motto at the Pinecrest Inn with Big Carl the barkeep:

A real woman is a man's best friend.

.....

No wait...Sorry.

I'm thinking of whiskey. It's whiskey that does all that stuff.

Never mind.

I suppose something was lost in the translation.  The version I heard is that Big Carl was quite the REAL woman, and that you may have been trying to make her your "special" if not best friend.  No doubt that whiskey was involved, but the gentleman present didn't stay for the conclusion- expulsion from the bar or success in cementing the relationship.

I enjoyed each and every round - even being easily defeated by Lou Duran (twice), Joe Fairey & Harwell Palmer.

With JC Jones calling me a cheat in public (more on that later), you may have done me the courtesy of excluding my name from the above without sacrificing your message.  I was blessed with two excellent partners, Harwell at TR and Joe at Dormie.  Both are probably still smarting from wearing tight saddles and feeling much too frequent spurs.

Too bad that my partner didn't show up for the Singles match against the solid 5 handicapper Jim Sherma- reportedly once a scratch player- 20 years my junior and a Walmart Supercenter longer than me.  I knew early on that I was in a gun fight with only a pea shooter- he had me by 67 yards on a long par 4 I couldn't even reach- and only his one skanked shot for the entire round, on 17, allowed the match to finish semi-respectably with pars on the 18th hole.  Had his putter been working normally, the match would have been over several holes earlier.

As to JC, I suspect that he was trying to be cute, inserting himself in something he opted not to be a part of.  I've played one round with JC in the 2009 Dixie Cup at the short, easy Aiken GC (par 70, CR 68) where I shot 74.  Of course, he didn't see the 94 I shot with Brad Tufts as a partner the previous day at Palmetto, or the 85 at Camden CC against Ryan Simper the day after.  Four years and neck surgery (ACDF) later, one would think he might cut me a little slack.

Now, I know that JC was not being malicious, but with Jerry Kluger happily adding gas to the fire- what is it about lawyers?- I got a lot of crap from the group.  A couple guys who don't know JC took his single sentence posts seriously, wondering if we had some bad blood between us.  I did agree to play Jim Sherma even.  We had a good match and I don't doubt the veracity of his handicap, but if Vegas was handicapping the event, they'd have a hard time setting a betting line.  Enough said.

As always, the Dixie Cup was not short of fantastic.  Many thanks to Craig and Cory for organizing the event, getting such fine venues at great prices, and coordinating the other activities.   Thanks to the captains as well for the superb manner that they handled all the request for times and matches.  That the competition ended in a draw is a testament to their work.

As I noted earlier, I was blessed with great partners.  Harwell not only guided me around the course (though he never played it), but also through Pinehurst and Southern Pines (what amateur designer planned the streets?).  Without his help, I'd probably still be trying to find a way out of Ran's neighborhood.

Joe Fairey would have been my pick for the 5th Major 2014 if he hadn't already been drafted by his good friend Mike Whitaker.  Joe is an outstanding golfer and an equally interesting guy who has so many balls up in the air at one time I don't know how he can do so well with any one of them.  Mike is a great story teller.  With his great SC/Southern accent, Joe is probably better.  Great time being around these guys.

Ran and his friend Fritz were wonderful hosts on Friday night.  His "state of GCA" talk was illuminating as the data he receives routinely demonstrates that the site has broad reach.  He was asked by several attendees to post more, and though I think it would be great if he could, I understand that his limited time is probably better spent behind the scenes.  His comments about the importance of being more measured and reflective in our posts resonate.

Finally, it was my privilege to spend some time one-on-one with several fellow GCAers.  It continues to amaze me how such a diverse group of individuals, most strangers to each other but only briefly, can get along so well.  While the dynamics of an online group are quite different, it is my hope that the sniping can become more tempered.  Attending one of these wonderful events and putting a name to a face does make a difference (JC Jones being the exception   ).        

[JC Jones]

As to JC, I suspect that he was trying to be cute, inserting himself in something he opted not to be a part of.  I've played one round with JC in the 2009 Dixie Cup at the short, easy Aiken GC (par 70, CR 68) where I shot 74.  Of course, he didn't see the 94 I shot with Brad Tufts as a partner the previous day at Palmetto, or the 85 at Camden CC against Ryan Simper the day after.  Four years and neck surgery (ACDF) later, one would think he might cut me a little slack.

Now, I know that JC was not being malicious, but with Jerry Kluger happily adding gas to the fire- what is it about lawyers?- I got a lot of crap from the group.  A couple guys who don't know JC took his single sentence posts seriously, wondering if we had some bad blood between us.  I did agree to play Jim Sherma even.  We had a good match and I don't doubt the veracity of his handicap, but if Vegas was handicapping the event, they'd have a hard time setting a betting line.  Enough said.

Attending one of these wonderful events and putting a name to a face does make a difference (JC Jones being the exception   ).        

 

Has it really been four years?  Man how the time flies.

Lou is a great man and I should never be taken seriously.

[Tyler Kearns]

With JC Jones calling me a cheat in public (more on that later), you may have done me the courtesy of excluding my name from the above without sacrificing your message.  I was blessed with two excellent partners, Harwell at TR and Joe at Dormie.  Both are probably still smarting from wearing tight saddles and feeling much too frequent spurs.
     

Lou,

It was great meeting you at the Dixie Cup, and I enjoyed all three rounds with you immensely and your entertaining stories over dinner.  I can attest to your claim that you had two good partners in Harwell & Joe and that as a team, you ham & egged it well each round.  I do not question the handicap you were given and hope I have not added any further fuel to the fire as I was only stating the facts and was beaten fair & square.  I hope our paths cross again in the future.

TK

[Evan Fleisher]

How about THIS motley crew...taken at Ran's house, in the rain (looks like some ghosts are present as well!)

[ed_getka]

It was great to spend some time with my GCA brethren. Dormie is a nice place to spend a day golfing (if you don't have 3 groups on one hole!). Great land, love the low-key vibe of the place, some fun holes and some head-scratchers (may be too subtle for me to pick up on the strategy). Given my lack of golf game right now I was more focused on spending time with the guys and it was fun to meet some GCA'ers I haven't golfed with before. Looking forward to the next edition.

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