Golfing highlight of 2019.

[Ash Towe]

Time for this annual thread.


I had 2 highlights.


One, I am still playing.


Two, a trip I took to Melbourne in April. Played Royal Melbourne West first. Plenty has been said very recently about this wonderful course and I won’t add anything more.


Second course was Kingston Heath. Absolutely magnificent. There is more short grass around the greens and provides a great opportunity to test your short game skills and imagination.


Third and Fourth courses were Peninsula North and South. Mike Clayton and his team have done a magnificent job. They are both a pleasure to play and should be near the very top of the list for any visitor.


I would also like to thank my hosts. It was great to catch up with you all. Thanks for your help, time and patience.

[Mark_F]

It was terrific to see you again Ash.  It was a lovely couple of days.  So glad you finally managed to see the North course.

Hope you and Chris are well.
All the best for Christmas.

[JC Jones]

I somehow continue to get blessed with great opportunities year after year.


For 2019 I was fortunate to play 2 courses I consider among my personal top 5.  However, one of the great things was being proven flat ass wrong (a thing I love and constantly happens to me).  That thing was experiencing the brilliance of Fishers Island.  3-12 is as good of a damn stretch of golf holes as I’ve played.  So much for being just a template by the sea....

[Ronald Montesano]

Wandering around a certain, midwestern course, while my three friends played as guests of our host. I had my cameras out, and took photos along the way. As happens with photography, you never get all the shots you wanted, but the experience was unforgettable. It allowed me to experience the course in every way but the golf swings. What I loved was, I could imagine the difficult of each tee ball, each approach, each recovery, chip and putt, despite not ever hitting a shot. Host was a wonderful guide.

[Brad Tufts]

I have two as well:


Our club winning the Boston Metropolitan League for the first time since 1975, and teaming with my brother for 6 of the 10 matches I played.  This is a great fourball league that goes back to the 1940s, with Salem, Winchester, Charles River, Weston, Wellesley, Pine Brook, Brae Burn, Oakley, and Woodland.  The golf is great, but the dinners hanging out with our competition at each club after our matches are even better.


A three-day stretch of Ohio classics...MVGC, Scioto, and Camargo.  My network continues to astound me, and it's always fun to meet great new people.  I'm very thankful for my hosts, for the rounds we had, and for being able to see their great golf courses.

[Mike Hendren]

On a day where the weather was so severe that I had the course to myself, I played a 7-iron into the 15th green at Dooks from 120 yards out that was as straight as a gig handle and never got higher than a clothesline, skirting the left green-side bunker by a couple of feet as planned.  You have no reason to give a sh*t but it was among the best ten shots I've hit in 50 years of playing the game.  For a shining moment I was as good once as I ever was. 

Bogey

[Matthew Rose]

Ballyneal

[Duncan Cheslett]

Finally getting to play The Old Course.


As soon as I was drawn against St Andrews member Clyde Johnson in the UK GCA knockout I knew that my chances of winning mattered little compared to the opportunity of playing at the home of golf.


I travelled up to Leuchers by train, and I am now a confirmed advocate of rail travel to play golf. The experience of playing the course surpassed all my expectations and it was great to have such a knowledgeable guide, even though our match was over by around the 11th hole. Neither of us was really counting. All I know is that I birdied the 12th and parred the 17th!


A couple of pints in the St Andrews clubhouse and Clyde dropped me off at the station.


All that and home before midnight. A grand day out!

[Dan_Callahan]

Highlight of the year was a trip to northwest Ireland that included:

1. Getting a tour of St. Patrick's with Tom Doak

2. Stumbling on one of the biggest surprises of any trip I've taken: Narin & Portnoo, which will probably result in a return trip next summer because I can't stop thinking about it.

3. Unexpectedly getting a chance to play the Kilmore 9 at Carne, which I didn't know existed. A conversation in the pro shop in between nines on the Hackett course led to an invitation to jump out on Kilmore after my round. The combination of perfect weather, great hospitality, and some unforgettable holes made it a standout moment on a trip full of great moments.

[James Brown]

1.  Two perfect days at Pennard.  That place might have the highest ratio of experience to expectation of anywhere I have played, and my expectations were high. 


2.  First time at the Masters.  Felt like I had been going there for years even though this was my first time.  It was exactly what I expected.  The roars for Tiger on Sunday will stick with me forever. 

[David_Tepper]

After 35 golf visits to Scotland, I finally got to visit St. Andrews and play the Old Course, followed by lunch in the R&A clubhouse and a tour of the premises. Thanks to our gracious host, it was a memorable day for myself and my wife. The next morning we played the New Course for the first time.

I also had a chance to visit Bill McBride's ashes at the Dunvegan. It was a memorable 48 hours.

We also played a round at Royal Dornoch with the Golf Channel's (and 2-time US Women's Am Champ) Kay Cockerill and her husband. She is a very nice lady and a VERY good golfer.

[Pete_Pittock]

Ash,
Glad your swing is holding up. 


For me, the Cabot resort. The little things like the quote on your door. The putting carpet and cup. Enjoying what C&C and Whitman presented, whether wind or calm.

[Tim Martin]

I got to play twenty eight new courses in ten different states. Went to a practice round at the Players Championship.

[Peter Pallotta]

A very nice read -- the good feelings & pleasant memories are so palpable. And Michael H  - of course we care! You're Bogey, and the heavens opened for a few moments and made you young again! Good news indeed.

[Ash Towe]

Pete,


Thank you for the comment. Much appreciated.


Cheers, Ash

[mike_malone]

Played the short course at Pine Valley and then the course.
Played 36 at North Berwick.

[John Kavanaugh]

Moved up a set of tees and shot 7 under 64. Moved back a set of tees.

[HarryBrinkerhoffDoyleIV_aka_Barry]

Played 72 holes at Ardfin and Askernish.
Played all 4 courses @ Bandon in a single day (can't wait to try for 5).
Admired Jones' "creativity" @ Fishers and Oakmont.
Marveled at Kavanaugh's architectural awakening on Pebble's first tee and the Spanish Bay fire pit.
Thrilled every time I step on Trinity's first tee.
Very thankful to have so many amazing friends from GCA in my life!
Thank you Ran!

[Aaron Hanson]

36 at North Berwick on a beautiful sunny day. An afternoon ride up to St Andrews and playing the New Course for the 1st time. Chicago golf weekend with longtime good friends. Annual guys’ fall weekend to Sand Valley.

[Ira Fishman]

Playing: teeing off in the fog and rain at Elie and having the skies clear just as we got to the back corner near the water.


Spectating: tie between seeing all of the players stay around to congratulate Tiger at the Masters and the 18th hole of the last match of the Solheim Cup.


Ira

[David_Tepper]

the 18th hole of the last match of the Solheim Cup.

Ira -

Yes, that was a great moment in golf.

DT

[John Kavanaugh]

On a life changing note I was paired with Gary Player at the PNC Father/Son Pro-am. I've been around Popes and Presidents and have never be so influenced by the positive energy of one man. It was how I can only imagine it must have been to be taught to shoot free throws by John Wooden. I don't think I have missed a shot since. Positive energy and fundamentals. Easier said than done.

[MCirba]

On a life changing note I was paired with Gary Player at the PNC Father/Son Pro-am. I've been around Popes and Presidents and have never be so influenced by the positive energy of one man. It was how I can only imagine it must have been to be taught to shoot free throws by John Wooden. I don't think I have missed a shot since. Positive energy and fundamentals. Easier said than done.

+1

[Tommy Williamsen]

I shot my one under (71) my age (72)at Ballyhack with a bogey. The best round I played in twenty years. It was only from the 6100 yard tees but I still got it in the hole.

[John Kavanaugh]

I shot my one under (71) my age (72)at Ballyhack with a bogey. The best round I played in twenty years. It was only from the 6100 yard tees but I still got it in the hole.

Congrats on shooting your age!!! Ballyhack is legit.


I was recently at an outing where a friend introduced me to his wife as the guy who shot 64 the week before. The first words out of her mouth was congratulating me on shooting my age. I’m 59.