Thoughtfully select the site of your final, earthly round of golf

[Ronald Montesano]

Thanks to a concurrent thread (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,65829.0.html) this idea spawned in my creative mind: what elements would impact the selection of my final, earthly round of golf? I'll bullet-point the list. My case is different from that of John Barton, as my father never golfed, so my introduction to the game was a solo affair. Here goes...


My first and truly "home" course: Grover Cleveland golf course (formerly CC Buffalo, 1912 US Open site)~it's where I snuck over and under fences as a kid, sold golf balls out of egg cartons to golfers, and selected a 3-hole loop (3,4,2) for my adventures;


A course that I played once, on a summer family vacation~There are a few of these, as our parents loved New England, so we used to travel there, on the cheap, during the 1970s and very early 1980s. They evoke memories, but not recurring ones. Candidates are Webhannet, Putterham Meadows (now known as Robert T. Lynch municipal), and Taconic.


A course that I could visit with my wife, with our children~Since I will soon join (in this scenario) the cast of the afterlife, my memories will be left to those still on the orb, so where to go, to leave them a new, favorable, remarkable sense of us? Candidates are Banff, Jackson Hole, Moohan Links, Jockey Club.


I believe, after thought, that I would opt for the last option. It is, after all, about those with whom we've traveled. For me, at least, it is.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I started my golf at a funny little Colt course in Shropshire, Lilleshall Hall. It had a few fine holes on the back nine through dense forest, but when I got a little better I found it too short. Then came golf at Oxford and Southfield in particular, again Colt. It was a level higher than Lilleshall Hall and quite good if rather shabby in those days. But I'd go back to either if I deigned to play another round of golf.


The great courses came in the middle of my life TOC, Lytham, Birkdale, Hoylake, Rye, Sunningdale, Walton Heath (where I won an open medal competition) but I suppose I would have to take Royal Dornoch because that is where I had my lowest gross score, 77.


I have a great love of the courses of East Anglia though I haven't been for many a year, Hunstanton, Royal West Norfolk, Sheringham, Aldeburgh (a particular favourite), Woodbridge, but I opt for Royal Worlington because I had one of the happiest experiences there playing with my wife with only one other match out on the course. What bliss!


Finally I'm going to go overseas, including Ireland where I used to play Royal County Down frequently. In America I got to play Olympic Lake, Pasatiempo and Meadow Club on a visit to San Fransisco and a host of well known clubs in the New York area from Winged Foot East and West to Yale and I think it was a very private day at Gulph Mills that took the palm, I think.


So, which to take out of all these? None of them. I have effectively given up golf but I maintain a life membership of Conwy, and even if I only go down to play 3,4 or 5 holes twice a year I'll enjoy it, and standing on the 7th tee with the sea close at hand on the left and a glorious bounding fairway straight ahead it is the sort of place that when you get to the tee you say, 'This is why I came here, just to stand here.'

[Tom_Doak]

If I answer this question properly then I shall be wary of going back to the course in question for fear of my demise!


(Maybe that's why there are so few respondents?)

[Duncan Cheslett]

I have little doubt that my final round will be at my beloved Reddish Vale, if only because the precipitous climb up to the 18th green is likely to be the cause of my eventual demise.


The aforementioned exertions however, are also clearly life enhancing aerobic opportunities for our senior members. Saturday's major competition - the first of the season - was won by 87 year old Andy Hart off a handicap of 13.


Hopefully I will be able to emulate Andy and my final round will not come for another 30 years or so.

[Dan Smoot]

If I selected a course I have played, I would select Pacific Dunes.  I have a natural affinity for the ocean and love links golf.  After 15+ rounds, my excitement level for this layout has not diminished despite having played it the most extreme conditions.


If I picked a course that I haven't played, it would be between Augusta or Cypress Pt.

[Ira Fishman]

I have little doubt that my final round will be at my beloved Reddish Vale, if only because the precipitous climb up to the 18th green is likely to be the cause of my eventual demise.


The aforementioned exertions however, are also clearly life enhancing aerobic opportunities for our senior members. Saturday's major competition - the first of the season - was won by 87 year old Andy Hart off a handicap of 13.


Hopefully I will be able to emulate Andy and my final round will not come for another 30 years or so.

First, whatever Mr. Hart is drinking, please send me a couple of cases.  COD.


Second, the question is just too difficult.  Not only does it force us to confront our own mortality, and like Duncan, I hope mine is a few decades away, but it confronts us with why certain courses are so meaningful.  For me, the first course I played? (Edgebrook Park District); the first course I played with my Father in what was to be 30+ years of time playing together that can never be recaptured (Skokie Playfield); where my wife and I honeymooned and celebrated our 25th Anniversary? (Broadmoor); or where she and I have celebrated perfect days overlooking the 18th hole with a drink in hand? (Mid Pines). 


You pick.  I will be content with any choice.


Ira

[Mark Pearce]

As is the case with so many questions asked on here, the answer is Elie.  Wonderful fun but challenging course but so many family memories, too.  That last round would be playing foursomes with my eldest son in matchplay, against a couple of low handicappers.

[Kalen Braley]

Maybe its a homer pick, but who wouldn't want their final round to be at a course like CPC.


Play 15 thru 18 as the sun begins its descent to the West.  Then after putting out on 18 as the sun sets, while taking in that marvelous view for the last time... one of those trees everyone bitches about would fall right on top of me and that would be that.


I could live with that demise....

[Joe Zucker]

I think I agree with Kalen, although there is really no wrong answer.


I see two ways to answer the question (1) Go out on a high at Cypress or Augusta, playing somewhere that is at the pinnacle of the sport (2) Your home course where you learned the game and have great memories.  But maybe it doesn't really matter where we play our last rounds.  I think we all agree that good architecture enhances the game, but for most of us quality courses are not the reason we play.  We play because we like to hit the ball, find it, and hit it again.  As long as I can still do that in my last round, most places would do.

[Alex Miller]

I think I agree with Kalen, although there is really no wrong answer.


I see two ways to answer the question (1) Go out on a high at Cypress or Augusta, playing somewhere that is at the pinnacle of the sport (2) Your home course where you learned the game and have great memories.  But maybe it doesn't really matter where we play our last rounds.  I think we all agree that good architecture enhances the game, but for most of us quality courses are not the reason we play.  We play because we like to hit the ball, find it, and hit it again.  As long as I can still do that in my last round, most places would do.

This is where my head was at for this too... I'm hoping there are enough memories to be made that I can't answer adequately yet.


That said, the course where I grew up playing had ocean views and more memories than I've tried to access. Plus the 5.5 hour rounds would be a positive in this context! 

[Jason Topp]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

[Peter Flory]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

Best answer!

[V_Halyard]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

Best answer!

Agree. Topp Wins. I deleted my post.

[Rick Shefchik]

Sentimentality be damned. I pick Pine Valley, though I've never played it or seen it. I have to assume that it will still be at the top of my bucket list on the day I kick the bucket.

[Ira Fishman]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

Post of the Year so far...and will be tough to beat.


Ira

[Peter Pallotta]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

Post of the Year so far...and will be tough to beat.

Ira

+1 It really was terrific.
And along those lines I just might bring a set of hickories to Pine Valley. It'd take me days just to hole out on the 13th! And if Archie came along, we could film some version of Bergman's The Seventh Seal!

[Terry Lavin]

I would avoid any golf course, in favor of spending time with my loved ones. There’s no way I’d waste that much time on ANY golf course.

[Ira Fishman]

I might go with the Loop and argue repeatedly that the round has not ended yet.

Post of the Year so far...and will be tough to beat.

Ira

+1 It really was terrific.
And along those lines I just might bring a set of hickories to Pine Valley. It'd take me days just to hole out on the 13th! And if Archie came along, we could film some version of Bergman's The Seventh Seal!

Peter, sorry but the image of you in a bunker brings to mind Ishtar, not Bergman.


Ira

[Eric Smith]

Any of you guys or gals think often of your own mortality? I know I do, perhaps too much.


I have definite nostalgic tendencies, like listening to 80s music and not wanting to get a haircut. So for me I imagine if asked to choose one last earthly round of golf I think it would have to be the course I played most when I was a kid ... Lake Tansi.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Eric,


I will guess from your post you are twenty years younger than me.  After 60, I will say that creeps into your mind more and more, especially after people you know keep dying, reminding you or your mortality.


As to the OP, my suggestion is to enjoy every round of golf as if its your last, because, well.....you never know.


As an aside, thinking about which course you might want your ashes spread on (if at all thinking about it) is a more practical topic.  A former hockey ticket partner wanted us to spread his ashes on his beloved home club.  Not as welcoming as you might think, and we finally had to sneak on the course on a Monday in the dead of winter to accomplish his wishes.

[Eric Smith]

Eric,


I will guess from your post you are twenty years younger than me.  After 60, I will say that creeps into your mind more and more, especially after people you know keep dying, reminding you or your mortality.

Jeff,


Yeah, I'm 48, and agree with you, the funerals have a profound effect on the psyche.


Btw I played Gaylord Springs last week and can't believe that I hadn't made it over there before. I only live an hour away. It is so much fun and is in terrific condition for late April here in Tennessee. Kudos to you, sir!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Eric,


I wasn't too far off, LOL, 15 years difference.


Thanks for the comments on Opryland (as I will always call it)  Starting at Christmas, I started scanning my old pen and ink green details (to keep a digital record and avoid the attic fire hazard) and had a nice trip down memory lane with all my courses, including that one.  There are a few concepts there that I have since gotten away from but if I ever get to design another course, might make a comeback.


I will say, that was my first big opportunity for a resort course, and I always felt it was a bit over cooked and self conscious, given who we beat out for it.  Also, not a great site, and, we originally intended that all the perimeter mounding be covered in fescues, which got changed along the way.  The course always looked sterile on TV when they hosted a senior PGA Tour event.

[Eric Smith]

Thanks for the comments on Opryland (as I will always call it)  Starting at Christmas, I started scanning my old pen and ink green details (to keep a digital record and avoid the attic fire hazard) and had a nice trip down memory lane with all my courses, including that one.  There are a few concepts there that I have since gotten away from but if I ever get to design another course, might make a comeback.


I will say, that was my first big opportunity for a resort course, and I always felt it was a bit over cooked and self conscious, given who we beat out for it.  Also, not a great site, and, we originally intended that all the perimeter mounding be covered in fescues, which got changed along the way.  The course always looked sterile on TV when they hosted a senior PGA Tour event.

You should be proud of it. Yes, uninspiring site, but the course is fun and that is pretty rare when discussing public golf in and around Nashville.

[Rick Shefchik]

Eric,


I will guess from your post you are twenty years younger than me.  After 60, I will say that creeps into your mind more and more, especially after people you know keep dying, reminding you or your mortality.


As to the OP, my suggestion is to enjoy every round of golf as if its your last, because, well.....you never know.


As an aside, thinking about which course you might want your ashes spread on (if at all thinking about it) is a more practical topic.  A former hockey ticket partner wanted us to spread his ashes on his beloved home club.  Not as welcoming as you might think, and we finally had to sneak on the course on a Monday in the dead of winter to accomplish his wishes.

Jeff, I think you'll find (and unfortunately, the opportunity will probably come up more and more often) that very few, if any, courses will officially approve of ashes being spread on their grounds. It's more a don't ask, don't tell situation. Maybe the best way to carry it out during the golf season is the way the POWs in "The Great Escape" got rid of their tunnel dirt -- i.e., down the pants leg.

[Jeff_Brauer]

EEW!  Perhaps oddly, I have never really thought about spreading my ashes on one of my courses, although, a few have presumed that is what I would do.  If I was spread anywhere, it would probably be somewhere in the remnants of the old railroad yard where my grandfather used to work.  Great memories there for me.


Might be better to take small baggies and spread them around all 60 of my major designs/re-designs if I ever did do that.  Wonder how to handle my NLE projects, go spread some ashes in someone's now front yard?


Back on topic, I wouldn't expect most of us to know in advance just exactly when our last round would be.  Hence, the spread the ashes discussion......but I think there are a few old golf jokes about just that topic, along the "good news (golf courses in heaven), bad news (you have a tee time next week) variety.