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Tim_Weiman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Foulpointe, Madagascar
« on: May 14, 2003, 11:41:17 AM »
Tom MacWood was kind enough to share with us treasure in the form of an international course ranking from 1939 (see his In My Opinion).

Pehaps the most fascinating thing about this list is the appearance of a course in Foulpointe, Madagascar ranked #10 just ahead of Augusta National and well ahead of many fine, well known courses.

But, until this list was brought back to us by Tom, we never heard of this place. Tommy Naccarato and I were discussing who the hell would even know anything about it and how would we find such a person. And what about pictures? And is this course still there? In the same form as its apparent or reported former glory?

So, Tommy and I did the Google search thing last night without much luck.

That being the case, I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about getting an in depth report about Foulpointe. Who could possibly help us? How might we go about that?

P.S. I'm not volunteering for a trip to Madagascar......at least not yet!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Tim Weiman

ForkaB

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2003, 12:01:56 PM »
I believe that Bob Huntley was the Assistant Pro there in 1935 and held the course record until Bobby Locke came over for the Spotted Tail Lemur Open in 1952 and shot 66.  Maybe Sir Bob can elucidate, at his leisure......

I do also believe that it was the famous French music hall performer Lepetomaine who was responsible for naming the course Foulpointe, but like Tom Paul and Partick Mucci, I may be wrong..........
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2003, 12:37:30 PM »
The only course that I remember from the 1950's,  was Golf d'Antanarivo. I think that Foulpointe was also known as Manda Beach.

Rich, don't let the boys in their blazers at St. Andrews hear that I was on retainer in Madagascar, I might get drummed out of the regiment.

This is not the sort of spot that I would drop everythiing to go and play.

Rich's allusion to Mons. Lepotomaine is waftily put.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Tim_Weiman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2003, 01:03:54 PM »
Bob Huntley:

Tommy and I did find that Foulpointe may also have been called Manda Beach.

But, my question remains, who could we find that actually knows something about the place and why it may have been ranked so high?

If the ranking was anywhere near fair, surely this would be a fascinating issue to explore.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Tim Weiman

BCrosby

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2003, 01:31:32 PM »
Anybody think it was a gag?

I mean,.... Madagascar?

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2003, 01:59:54 PM »
Tim.

I have a couple of old Africa hands that I can call to get more information. I think there must be some hyperbole here, because the best courses in Africa were in South Africa, Southern and Northern Rhodesia. The latter were particularly well maintained as there was an abundance of money and water lavished on the courses by  benevolent miining companies.

One course that comes to mind was the Elizabethville Golf  Club in Katanga Province of the Belgian Congo. A good layout but the last time I was there the bunkers were occupied by mutinous remnants of the Force Publique, a triggerhappy lot if I ever saw one.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

BCrosby

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2003, 02:11:06 PM »
"A good layout but the last time I was there the bunkers were occupied by mutinous remnants of the Force Publique, a triggerhappy lot if I ever saw one."

That gives new meaning to "strategic choices".

Bob
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2003, 02:20:00 PM »
I scoured the C&W book and found no one that has a course attributed to them in Madagascar.  The only likely suspect of that age who is listed to have done work in South Africa seems to be S.V. Hotchkin.  Other than that, one wonders if MacKenzie made a stop on his way around Cape Good Hope or some such other architect traveller stopped by in the colonial days to have a visit with colonists and as a favor, laid out some golf course for a club.  Perhaps the only reason Foulpointe was included in the list provided by Tom Mac., was that the Manda Beach club was thought of for its exotic nature rather than as a destination for golf...  Maybe it was their idea of a joke? ::)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
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.

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2003, 02:55:07 PM »
RJ.

Rather than looking up British architects it might be worth while lchecking out the French ones. The island was a French colony from 1885 to 1958. I have some messages out to the cognoscenti, hopefully something will turn up.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

T_MacWood

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2003, 02:56:31 PM »
If its a joke I've wasted the last week scouring the library and Internet looking for a golf course in Madagascar.....Ceylon.....Indo-China. I know more about Madagascar than I've ever desired to. For example did you know that in 1939 Madagascar was the world's largest producer of rubusto (coffee). In 1947 there was an uprising when all hell broke loose. And the village of Foulpointe is also known as Mahavelona - Where one is reborn.

I've had better luck with the others:

http://www.webquarry.com/~raditha/srilanka/travel/nuwara-eliya.html

http://www.elephantguide.com/features_reviews/feat_dalat_sofitel_80years.htm
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:05 PM by -1 »

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2003, 02:59:03 PM »
Tom.

It is a wonderous place and the women are exceedingly beautiful.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Mike_Cirba

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2003, 07:24:50 PM »
I smell a GCA archeological roadtrip.

If we can't find the remains of Foulpointe, perhaps Mr. Huntley's "exceedingly beautiful women" can help soothe our collective disappointment.  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Tim_Weiman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2003, 07:30:30 PM »
Bob Huntley:

All this talk about exceedingly beautiful women......I thought I made clear I wasn't yet ready to volunteer for a scouting mission.

But, seriously, if you have any friends from that part of the world, it would be great to come up with someone who really knew the story of Foulpointe.

Unfortunately, I've got only one such friend, a former colleague at British Petroleum who did business in just about every African country but I never heard him mention Madagascar. Nor is he a golfer.

Gosh, I really hope we can come up with something. Perhaps this course was overrated, but it doesn't seem like the guys who put this list together were joking.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Tim Weiman

Rick Shefchik

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2003, 09:38:26 PM »
I found a French website that mentions a 9-hole course on Madagascar called "Foupointe." No further explanation or links, however -- but check out the picture of the local(?) lass next to the Ping bag:

http://www.dts.mg/contacts/golf/

Bet they have cart girls, too.

 

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:05 PM by -1 »
"Golf is 20 percent mechanics and technique. The other 80 percent is philosophy, humor, tragedy, romance, melodrama, companionship, camaraderie, cussedness and conversation." - Grantland Rice

Tommy_Naccarato

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2003, 09:51:29 PM »
I haven't had a second to even research this further. I'll tell you Tom, You had to go and start this didn't you!:)

Bob,
I was really hoping that Rich would have known of this place. He has failed us! Rich, it is either you or Steve Okula that are the closest to Madagascar. I suggest you catch the next flight and find out for us!:)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2003, 10:39:36 PM »
I'll bet that DM would have been able to tell us, if he was still out on the course playing so to speak...  He may have even had something to add to the exotic nature of Boab's observations of the Madagascar females.  What we really missed last year at Barona was having DM over to Mike LaVallee's that night for a little comarative discussion with Boab on their experience with the exotic.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
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.

ForkaB

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2003, 10:56:36 PM »
Tommy

I'd love to, but Ran is still questioning the expense reports I submitted for my trips to Painswick and Portsalon.  I'll be investigating Golf Club du Medoc in a couple of months to see if Coore knew his arse from a hole in the ground before he teamed up with Crenshaw.  I'll ask everybody I see there "Connaissez-vous Foulpointe?"
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

BCrosby

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #17 on: May 15, 2003, 05:23:00 AM »
I think Foulpointe/Foupointe was a fake entry.

A tip-off is that they list the last two spots as 100(a) and
100(b). Why else would you do that?

If it was a gag, it shows that even in 1939 there was plenty of scepticism about the notion of ranking golf courses. Good for them.

Bob

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

THuckaby2

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #18 on: May 15, 2003, 06:09:13 AM »
Rich's mention of Lepetomaine makes all other allusions "inert."

 ;)

TH
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

W.H. Cosgrove

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #19 on: May 15, 2003, 03:56:56 PM »
In 1978, I was travelling some of the lesser known planetary locations.  I am unable to illuminate the issue of Foulpointe in Madagascar but will say that Madagascar is one of the most interesting places I have ever been.  From one of the finest French meals I have ever had the joy to consume, to the open air market where one stand dispensed DDT by hand to waiting farmers.  The smell to this day is unforgettable.

Madagascar had fallen on hard times after socialist goverment had been leading the nation to ruin.  The populace had been stripping the countryside of available wood for charcoal which was there major source of fuel.  I am willing to consider an exploratory trip to this splendid land.  

Sri Lanka was also on my itinerary.  After a few weeks in Hikkaduwa (another story entirely) we took the train into the mountains of Sri Lanka.  Above the mountain town of Kandy was Nuwara Eliya.  This is truly a a wondrous place.  Built by British Tea growers, Nuwara Eliya may look more like Britain than Britain itself.  Post and beam, stucco buildings seemed so out of place in this foreign land.  In the valley was the golf club and on the hillside above was the Hill Club(http://www.srilankahotelstravel.com/thehillclub.html).  I certainly hope this amazing place has survived the years of rebellion that have wracked the nation.  

If you can imagine, the Hill Club required a sport coat for meals.  My blazer had been packed away at the bottom of my pack for three months.  I rang for the 'boy' who we heard running barefoot down the wooden hallway.  

"Sahib this will just not do!"  

He whisked the coat away and within twenty minutes it was returned pressed and cleaned.  The only other people staying in the hotel that night was a family from Texas.  

The following day we moved to the bunk room of the Nuwara Eliya golf club.  My buddy and I played 54 holes over the next two days.  Our caddies were Matu and James.  Matu had only three fingers on one hand but had still managed to win the Sri Lankan Championship several times.  James was the younger of the two.  Each time I hit a ball into the gorse, James would plunge into the thorny bush and return, bleeding, with my ball in hand.  

In the evening, we had planned a simple meal followed by some billiards and an early evening.  However, word had spread amongst the now Sri Lankan tea growers and several of them came to meet the crazy Americans.  We drank, played billiards and swapped lies into the wee hours of the morning.  Much to the chagrin of the club manager who simply wanted to lock us in for the evening and go home.  

As it came time to go, James and Matu carried our bags to the bus station.  We over tipped them and bid a fond farewell.  In the twenty five years since we were in Nuwara Eliya, I have thought of them often.  The golf was fun the service was grand and the generosity of the people was unforgettable.

  
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:05 PM by -1 »

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #20 on: May 15, 2003, 04:44:03 PM »
cos.

Thanks for the memories.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #21 on: May 15, 2003, 07:07:40 PM »
Cos, ah for the good old days when travelling golf was the good life.  I loved playing Wack Wack in Manila and Baguio in the mountains back in the 60's when I was in the Navy.  And Estoril outside Lisbon was wonderful.  But I never made it to Madagascar either.  This Foulpointe (great name!) has all the earmarks of a marvelous practical joke!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Tim_Weiman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #22 on: May 15, 2003, 09:52:32 PM »
Bill:

I'm not sure and will have to reserve judgment until someone comes forward who actually knows the real story.

Foulpointe apparently also goes by the name Manda Beach and it does seem like there is such a course, how good I haven't a clue.

But, maybe it will be like the lost city of Atlantis. Real.....unreal.....I just want to get to the bottom of this.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Tim Weiman

TEPaul

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2003, 02:49:55 AM »
So you guys think Foulpointe was a joke on the 1939 list of the best courses in the world do you? That only shows me how jaded some of you have become. You're probably the very same analysts who think my beloved Fernandina Beach Municipal is not one of the great hidden gems of the world.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

T_MacWood

Re: Foulpointe, Madagascar
« Reply #24 on: May 16, 2003, 03:38:18 AM »
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:05 PM by -1 »

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