[Jason Way]

The season has essentially wrapped up for me, which is cause for reflection.  Specifically, I find myself reflecting on the ends of the spectrum that could be labelled Running Around and Staying Home.


By all accounts, what I did this year was Running Around.  I played 45 different courses, 35 of which were new for me.  I played all over the country.  I drove, I flew, I sacrificed plenty of sleep.  It was a really cool year and I am grateful for the experiences.  Got to play amazing courses, and spent time with a bunch of great people (including some of y'all).  My understanding and appreciation of GCA broadened and deepened.


By contrast, a buddy of mine is a member at Old Elm and Sankaty Head.  He also spends time with his aging father at Seminole, and takes an annual vacation to Casa De Campo.  When he is in any of these locations, he does not play anywhere but his home clubs.  If I suggest that there might be a benefit to checking out something like Eastward Ho! while he is out there, he looks at me like I have two heads.  He could play anywhere he wants, but he doesn't (not that he is lacking for great golf in his small rota).


Toward the end of this season of Running Around, I started to get fatigued and overloaded a bit, so I cancelled my late-season trips.  I also now find myself wishing that I had logged a few more rounds at Kingsley, rather than running all over N. MI during the summer. 


Definitely not complaining, but I do wonder if I might be tending more toward my buddy's mentality of Staying Home, rather than continuing to Run Around as I did this year. 


Where do you fall on this spectrum, and have you experienced a shift in one direction or the other?  And as it relates to GCA, could you argue that getting to know a short list of courses very well can teach you as much (or more) than seeing hundreds?


Candy-fueled musings as the temperature begins to drop.  Happy Halloween.

[BHoover]

I would love to explore more new courses, but the demands of family and work mean that I have limited opportunities to play golf. So I take advantage of that by playing as much as I can at my home course. I still played about 10 new courses this year (as a result of relocating for work), but I would rather play more golf at my home course than fewer rounds at more courses.

[Bill Vogeney]

I traveled a lot this year. I scheduled a big trip to NY/CT in September and played Leatherstocking, Yale, Shinnecock Hills, Friar's Head and Maidstone. I had three or four other trips where I played golf at least three different days on top of four trips to Prairie Dunes.


I am more likely to be a homebody next year. I have my club here in Colorado Springs, and my home away from home at Prairie Dunes. Thinking about joining Ballyneal in NE Colorado and fund it through eliminating some of my other travel. Doubt I would get bored with that lineup. If I play elsewhere it will be based on work travel.


Part of my motivation is I really do not have a decent bucket list anymore. Knocked off #1 and 2 this year with CPC and Shinnecock. I guess my current bucket list would be NGLA, Fisher's Island, Sand Hills, Merion, Camargo, Mountain Lake and a revisit to LACC North now that it has been restored. And I know I will be lucky to get half of that list accomplished, so why really spend a lot of time and effort getting those done?

[John Kavanaugh]

If you are a rater and great clubs roll out the red carpet for you, go for it. If you are a member surrounded by friends both on and at the course stay home. In either case it's not really about the golf. We all like to feel special and should never pass up the opportunity as long as it lasts.

[Pete_Pittock]

I'm still doing the runaround. I joined a Tuesday travelling league, parttime which ran Mar/Oct. I've taken up playing every golf course in Oregon, under 40 to go, and next week clear out the area south of Roseburg. Tennesse fo the Dixie Cup . A pottery trip to Mata Ortiz with golf in CA, AZ, NM.  Probably 25 rounds at my home courses. Debating whether to re-up at Sagebrush if it re-opens.
Guess I like the new, as long as it isn't too expensive or a clone of what I can play near home.

[Bob Montle]

This is an easy question for me.  I do both!

In my 20s and 30s I would travel all over trying different courses with my friends. Road trips every weekend.
After I moved to NC in my 40s, leaving all my golfing buddies I pretty much quit golfing for many years.

Now (in my 60's) I play year round with a small group of friends at an inexpensive but fun course.  $7.50 to walk 9 holes.
All year long I play five or six times a week for cheap, saving my money, then go to Scotland for two weeks in April or May.
Over there I try to play as many different courses as i can cram into the trip,

[John Kavanaugh]

Jason,


From the sound of it your friend plays golf as part of a great life. He's not one of those guys whose life is great because where he plays golf. Which would you rather be?

[Jason Way]

From the sound of it your friend plays golf as part of a great life. He's not one of those guys whose life is great because where he plays golf. Which would you rather be?

I won't speak for my friend John.  For me, life is fundamentally great.  Running around or staying home.  With golf or without it.  It's great, regardless.  At the end of the day, that is because of the people with whom I am fortunate enough to spend my time, on and off the golf course. 


My recent experience indicates that time well spent with good folks is possible whether I play another 50 courses next year, or only tee it up at Canal Shores and Kingsley Club, so that aspect of it isn't really the essence of my reflection/inquiry. 

[jeffwarne]

Playing Old Elm, Sankaty Head, Seminole, and Casa de Campo...


is not exactly "staying home".


Given those choices vs "running around", I'd take your friend"s anyday, but I'd say very few have those choices.


Now if he stayed at one "home" club, you'd have a more reasonable choice to make

[David_Tepper]

Jason W. -

45 different courses? How many rounds did you play so far this year?

DT

[Jason Way]

I see your point, Jeff.  Set the club names/quality aside though and what I mean by Staying Home with regard to my buddy is that he could get around and play pretty much anywhere he wants, but he doesn't.  I scratched my head about that for a while, but I think I might be starting to get it.


Where do you fit on the spectrum Jeff?

[Lyndell Young]

Jason, I think both can be enjoyable. Lately due to my three kids all being in college my wife and I have enjoyed traveling to areas of the US that we haven't seen. Taking the Doak method if possible, if we are near great courses we try and experience them.  We were just up your way touring Michigan and Wisconsin, and wow what a beautiful area. I was blown away by the landscape you have which is ideal for great golf. We were fortunate to play some of the great courses in the area Classic and Modern. I'm am fascinated by  how great courses are uniquely tied to natural landforms available in different areas, and how the great archies used these features. But I still enjoy a round on an average course with my best friends near home.

[Jason Way]

45 different courses? How many rounds did you play so far this year?

Not counting the times when I went out to knock it around a few holes casually at Canal Shores, my guess would be 60-65.

[jeffwarne]

I see your point, Jeff.  Set the club names/quality aside though and what I mean by Staying Home with regard to my buddy is that he could get around and play pretty much anywhere he wants, but he doesn't.  I scratched my head about that for a while, but I think I might be starting to get it.


Where do you fit on the spectrum Jeff?

Lately, I play the majority of my golf on the road-PGA Section events. overseas trips , so like you I am a bit travel weary (even my local events are 2-3 hour commutes EACH way-daily.)
Ideally(in the absence of a job [size=78%]) I would play a majority of my golf at my two clubs Southampton and Palmetto, but I haven't played a round at either this year. In a perfect world I would supplement this with 2-3 golf vacations.[/size]

[John Kavanaugh]

Jason,


Are you a rater?  If you're not IM me your address and I'll send you Doak's confidential guide so you can discriminate on what courses you will play next year.

[Peter Pallotta]

I haven't travelled much, but if I think of great golf courses as great cities it does makes me a bit sad that I haven't. I mean, if playing Garden City, Fishers Island, Ballyneal, Walton Heath, and Royal Melbourne provides as wide and varied a set of experiences as does visiting New York, Rome, Jerusalem, New Delhi, and Beijing, then I have indeed missed a great deal.
Peter   

[Tom_Doak]

I haven't travelled much, but if I think of great golf courses as great cities it does makes me a bit sad that I haven't. I mean, if playing Garden City, Fishers Island, Ballyneal, Walton Heath, and Royal Melbourne provides as wide and varied a set of experiences as does visiting New York, Rome, Jerusalem, New Delhi, and Beijing, then I have indeed missed a great deal.
Peter

When I started reading your list I thought I had played all of those courses this year, but in fact I missed Fishers Island, and substituted Morfontaine for Walton Heath.


I was definitely running around this year, having made the commitment to work on my book project.  So far I've visited 98 courses I'd never seen before; I might break 100 in Australia this coming week, or might not.  I've seen a lifetime's worth of cool things this year, even though only a handful of the ones I've seen are actual top-100 courses.


By the same token, I only managed to get over to Crystal Downs 8 times this year, and four of them were for consulting work rather than for golf.  That's not a good return on my dues [although the consulting work did pay for them], and not really a good work-life balance.  I look forward to more vacations with my wife in 2016.

[John Kirk]

I did the opposite this year.  I only played two new courses, driving out to Wine Valley for two days, and playing Forest Dunes (Old) with Jason, both in July.

Because I played all the old same (and very nice) places, golf was less exciting this year; it's so fun to play new courses, regardless of their perceived quality.  I think I appreciate playing a new golf course more than ever.

I think the days of playing lots of new courses are over, but I'm going to try and arrange to see some old friends in New York/New Jersey next summer.  At least one more East Coast swing.  It's all about friends now.  I've seen enough great golf courses to know a lot about it, and am comfortable with an incomplete resumé.

It was great meeting you this summer, Jason.  Perhaps our experiences will be similar, several years of exploration before settling into a routine.  But I'll say it again.  Playing new courses is very exciting, even if one is disappointed with the course.  So much to see and think about. 

[Chuck Glowacki]

If the golf course is more than 1 hour's drive from home. nah.  Last week I was invited to play Creek Club and
Deepdale, didn't make either, they are both in Nassau  County and beyond the 1 hour max drive.  The only
exception to the hour drive rule is Montauk Downs, the only "golf trip" I make all year.
I'ts all about being with friends and not so much the golf.

[Tim Gallant]

Still a relative young buck (or so I think!) I enjoy traveling around, and this year made 5 golf trips longer than just a day trip and played 13 new courses.

The thing I love most about traveling for golf is the people you meet along the way and the kindness you encounter. I was lucky to be hosted at a great course this Summer by a guy I had never met, who treated me as if we were old friends. Only in golf can that happen.

[Sean_A]

I don't really have the option to stay at home because the golf around my house isn't stuff I want to play on a monthly basis.  I end up doing a lot of day trips and I admit that it is getting tiresome the more traffic builds in England...and its getting worse by the day.  I tend to take one long weekend golf holiday a year and get some games in during one other holiday plus a small handful one nighters here and there.  I think I played 17 new courses this year...quite a lot for me...and I admit there were a few times I wasn't terribly interested in making the effort to play.  I would love to stay at home (even though I am not a terribly clubby guy), but I need to move somewhere more conducive to that end  The thought of meeting cool people and perhaps seeing some cool sites along the way keeps me going at least as much as the golf does.  For instance, I can't get the least bit enthusiastic over the big C&C news for golf in Scotland...it will be another course among what seems like dozens these days that are starting to look the same to me.  Probably great stuff, but I wonder if it isn't time for something new on the scene.


Ciao 

[RJ_Daley]

Jason, I apologize in that I started a new thread upon return from a long golf trip before seeing your thread, and my comments and questions mirror some of your own.

While I've explained myself on my thread in regards to some of the issues you raise, I'd say that I am also a blend of stay at home and travel when I can.

Obviously it takes serious ping ($) to make a constant effort to travel widely and experience a great variety of golf in other setttings, and countries, etc.  But, assuming one can from time to time afford to seek out new experiences and golf design styles and settings, I certainly would encourage folks to do as much of it as they can justify in their budgets. 

At the heart of the matter, in my opinion, is the cultivation of golf friendships and relationships.  I've made some of these travels and played great courses alone as a walk-on single player, and a single round at great courses.  That is fine.  You can take the pictures of the things you see and impress you, etc.  You can think about that sort of thing as you play....

But, the benefit of either playing with your usual partners and fellow club friends and local club events, is one of the most important things for me.  The GCA.com and other internet friends I have made along the way of nearly two decades here and previous GCA web site can not be replaced by mere hit and run play.   Just this last trip playing golf at Portmarnoch, or Cork, or Leven with long cherished friends not previously met personally, can not have a value placed on it.  I'll take on day of golf with such friends while travelling to a significant course, to 10 hit and run solo rounds, even at significant courses. 

There have been years due to health or budget, where I did not travel, and merely played sparingly with my friends at my home club, and I did not feel like my golf experience and enjoyment were particularly diminished.  As I get older, I find that just being satisfied with what you have, and seizing the opportunities when they come and being equally satisfied with those special good fortunes seems key to being happy.

[Jason Way]

The thing I love most about traveling for golf is the people you meet along the way and the kindness you encounter. I was lucky to be hosted at a great course this Summer by a guy I had never met, who treated me as if we were old friends. Only in golf can that happen.

Thanks for sharing your perspective fellas.  Tim's comment above resonates with me.  I find it interesting that what our shared passion for the game and its playing fields ultimately does is create connections.  I joined this site to learn and gain information, but what I find I am gaining more is relationships.  That is a very cool bonus.


On the GCA side, I still do wonder.  Would I be gaining as much understanding of the art by sticking close to home and playing 4-6 courses over and over until I knew every inch of them, in every weather condition?  What do you think?  Would your answer change if I said that I lived in Pinehurst, or Long Island, or Melbourne, or St. Andrews?

[JJShanley]

As a young(?) man in my thirties, with responsibilities that extend to simply finishing a doctoral dissertation, I play wherever I can, wherever I find myself.  I play about half my rounds at Notre Dame's Warren Course, along with visits to various part of Michigan as and when I can schedule it.  I'll leave the midwest in 18 months, and hope to play a good bit there in case I don't get back.  As I get older I'll play fewer courses, I'd imagine. 


The GCA outing to Mount Prospect ranks as some of the most fun I've had this year!

[Dave McCollum]

As I read Dick’s and Jason’s threads, many of the responses more or less echo my own.  My epiphany came about 5 years ago on a trip to Ireland.  I spent the first week with a group of new friends led by an ex-super who has become a standup comic.  Play golf, get on the bus, and laugh all the way to the next course or hotel.   The next week, just in case I never make it back, I played all the other courses I wanted to see.  It was October, so I ended up playing many of the rounds solo.  The contrast between the experiences was so dramatic, I began to question why I travel to play these great courses.  Traveling alone and playing solitary golf provides plenty of time to ponder many things.  However, I more or less concluded that my golf education was about as good as it was ever going to get and that, for me, golf is basically better if shared with friends.  Also, that if I had practical reasons to apply what I learned (I do every day), such as building, maintaining, renovating, and running a golf course, that too is a collaborative activity that involves as many good and talented people as you can find and afford.  In other words, no matter how much you know, you still need good people to pull it off. 

Since then I’ve seen a few new courses, but I don’t think I’ve played another solitary round just to study the architecture.  Some of my favorite rounds have been with golf architects, builders, and passionate people who cherish great design.  I also enjoy taking average golfers to see good to great courses and seeing them experience exceptional golf.  However, bottom line, it’s all about spending time with friends, new and old.  I make changes all the time to my course.  I’ve designed new holes and changed routings.  Despite all I have learned, my first move, if I were able to renovate our course and make it better, would be to hire expert, creative designers and builders.

As for running around or staying home, it’s all about the people you do it with and meet along the way.  That’s golf on almost any level.

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