Getting It DONE…the
Homestretch (Stage I)…3rd (Final) Chapter
OK…Third Chapter of this six-day trip. But before I continue, I need to correct and
amplify one portion of the 2nd Chapter. The full name of the manager at Golf de
Chilberta is Estelle Nocera Raguno-Sirot.
One of the members I played with advised that Estelle is a championship
player. I did not inquire as to the
meaning of “championship player”, but a Google search does show her playing as
an amateur in a French pro-am and her handicap is listed as 1.3. Other tournament results have her with
handicaps of about 1.3 to 2.5, and she was a participant in the France Championship Team Mid – Amateur
2015 Division 2 "A" Ladies.
Touquet
Golf Club-La Mer, April 14, 2016: Early on Thursday 4/14 it was off from CDG north to
the English Channel coastline, about 40 miles south of Calais, to a town called
Le Touquet.
Played
with Relend Malfait of Zoute, Belgium. I
met Erlend one year earlier on another early spring visit to Continental
Europe. Erlend was the 24th
person to finish one of Golf Magazine’s World Top 100 lists (your truly was
#25). He is a member of Royal Zoute and
a first class guy.
This
course has real pedigreed. Designed by
Harry Colt and opened in 1931, it suffered extensive damage during WW II and is
currently in the midst of a major renovation program. We played temporary greens on holes 7, 8 and
9 but this was still a superb track. In
particular wished I could have played #7, which looks to be en excellent Redan. It lies right next to the English Channel, is
a true firm/fast links, and play is heavily influenced by winds. It has two courses, with La Mer (the Colt
design) being the better one. Its owners
are investing real $$ in this resort, restoring La Mer and constructing a all
new clubhouse.
I
played well…with a 40-37 = 77 finishing be hitting a 3-Utility to about 8” for
a birdie.
As in
the case of Chiberta, this MacWood selection (#31 on the spoof list) is a good
one…a very good and fun course, and one that I believe will also offer a stiff
test once the renovation is completed.
After
the round, Erlend and I headed in the same direction (in separate cars) into
Belgium. He was fortunate, with a drive
of only 2 hours…while I faced one of about 4 hours (per Google Maps). The traveling started to catch up with me…had
to take three 15 minute power naps along the way. Finally got to Spa, Belgium, about an hour
from Brussels. Weather forecast for
tomorrow not looking good and I have two rounds scheduled and a three our drive
in between…
Royal
Golf des Fagnes, Belgium, April 15, 2016: Woke early to
discover a completely different weather forecast. The next few hours will determine which is
proven to be accurate. Arrive at the
club at 7:35 (I had an 8:00 tee time)…no one there but a member and he
suggested that I go right off and pay after the round. The club looks to be very good…with a small
but impressive clubhouse that looks more like a private home (I never did enter
it…time was too squeezed).
The
course is set in a fairly hilly area and is cut through what were deep
forests. Designed by Tom Simpson in the
late 1920’s, it is difficult to tell what the course looked like when it opened…one
gets the feeling that the fairways may well have narrowed over the past 90
years as the trees have reclaimed some of their land. As it had rained the previous few days, the
course was very wet, as the dense forests make it very difficult for a course
to dry out. I enjoyed the course, but
would not want to “play it every day”.
Its best hole IMHO is #16. Plays
about 6500 yards from the tips. MacWood
had put it at #98 on his list.
I
walked the front nine and then between nines paid my fees and arranged a buggy
for the back nine, which turned out to be fortunate…the day was very
tight. Luckily, this morning’s forecast
proved mote accurate and I played the 18 with maybe 5-10 minutes of light rain. Ended up shooting an 85.
After
finishing 18, said thank you and was off to Germany, south of Frankfurt.
St
Leon-Rot (St Leon Course), Germany, April 15, 2016:
The drive to St Leon-Rot was easy and went smoothly. The course is owned by SAP (or its chairman
and founder) and is located right next to SAP’s headquarters. It was the venue for the Solheim Cup Matches in
2015 (remember the famous 18 inch putt not conceded by Suzann Pettersen?). The course has never been on a World 100, and
frankly that is appropriate. Looking
like the Solheim Cup organizers have the European Ryder Cup disease with regard
to sight selection. A very penal design
(and not a great one) built on a flat uninteresting piece of land, it is filled
with water and holes lacking multiple playing options. Designed by David Thomas, it opened in 2000
and stretches to about 7150 yards from the tips.
Shot an 86...course was very wet from all the rain (and we had a couple of downpours during the round, but nothing like Beltway). To be honest, this was somewhat of a “downer” way of
finishing off this trip…but that come with the territory of exploring new
courses.
After the round, it was north on a 70 mile drive to
Frankfurt airport for a flight to Dublin.
Saturday morning, I was supposed to play The European Club
and see my friend Pat Ruddy, but it was too cold in the morning (38F with
15-20mph winds) and I was too tired, so I displayed a brief period of wisdom
and slept in before my late afternoon flight to JFK…with connections to
Raleigh-Durham. Arrive home around
midnight. Pat was still in Boston,
returning Sunday morning with her eldest son Hunter and Hunter and Ann’s two
sons, Kingston (6) and Duggan (5) who are making their annual visit to
Pienhurst. Looking forward to this week!
Sooo, where am I? On
World Top 100 Ever, now down to last 9 (out of 286), and on MacWood Spoof, now
have 7 left. Stay tuned…more progress
may well be forthcoming.
Time to go play with my grandsons…
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