Sunday, October 30, 2016

59. Trip from Milton, MA to Pinehurst, NC October 4-12, 2016


Trip from Milton, MA to Pinehurst, NC October 4-12, 2016

So, were you wondering where the hell I was?  Truth is we spent three weeks in MA and my golf was limited to Brookline during that period (not a bad purgatory by any means).  Then we flew down to Pinehurst on Friday 9/30 for a wedding, returning on Sunday 10/2.  A good friend, Steve Smith was married to Karin Torgerson.  Both Karin and Steve are lawyers (as they say…no one is perfect), Karin from Dallas and Steve is from Toronto.  I met Steve at an Outpost Club outing about 5 years ago where we played Sage Valley together after playing the previous day at Palmetto GC (Palmetto being so much better than Sage Valley that I cannot express it adequately in words).  Steve has a vacation house in Pinehurst and is a member of CCNC.  Karin does not play the silly game of golf, but is charming.

The wedding went very well and the weather was great.  On Saturday Pat and I were able to play the newly renovated Dogwood Course, which had reopened about 4 weeks earlier.

Country Club of North Carolina—Dogwood, October 1, 2016:  CCNC was (to my knowledge) the first private club in Pinehurst, founded in 1963.  It started with 18 holes, (Dogwood) designed by Ellis Maples and William Byrd, and then built an additional nine designed by William Byrd which opened in 1970.  This third nine would later become holes 1-5 and 15-18 of the Cardinal Course.  The “outward nine” of Cardinal (holes 6-14) was completed in 1981 and was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. with help from his son Rees.  The Jones’ work in the late 1970’s also included some updating of the other Cardinal holes deemed necessary as a result of increased distance of golfers at all levels.

In the period from 1999-2001 CCNC retained Arthur Hills to renovate Dogwood’s greens and later, Hills led more extensive renovations to Cardinal’s greens and overall design.  Finally, in 2012 Cardinal’s bent greens were replaced with Champion Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grass…which had an huge positive impact on the condition of Cardinal. 

However, Dogwood’s bent greens continued to have problems given the summer climate in NC, and the fairways in many spots were almost always way too soft and wet.  In 2015 CCNC brought in architect Kris Spence to renovate Dogwood and this renovation included the installation of Champion Bermuda greens, capping the soft fairways with sand and improving the drainage.  The course reopened in early September 2016.

Condition-wise…the course is at minimum 5000% improved.  The fairways are firm and fast (and they were that way on 10/1 which was after 4.46” of rain from 9/27-29 (including 3.4” on 9/29)…and also that way on 10/15, 7 days after Hurricane Matthew dumped 6.83” on October 8).  The greens are beautiful and very firm (as new greens always are at first), and the sand in the bunkers is also 5000% better.  In terms of individual holes, hole #4 is now superb, much much better than previously and it is the best improvement. 

On an overall basis, from the forward and regular tees (white and blue), the course is shorter (and plays much shorter because of the firmness) and wider, the greens are still tough, but a bit flatter, and the bunkers are a little bit shallower.  I think all these are for the better…but the combination may have taken too much fire out of the course.  I say “may” because it takes time for all new courses and renovated courses to “shake out”…changes are almost always made a year or two after the job is “done”…so it will be interesting to see how Dogwood evolves…but in any case, on an overall basis it is much much better than it was two years ago…no question about that.

Background wise, Dogwood hosted a US Amateur (1980) won by Hal Sutton and a US Girl’s Junior in 2010.  In terms of ratings, Dogwood was:

--#99 on Golf Magazine’s World Top 100 list in 1985 (the first year that GM had a World Top100…prior lists were a Top 50);
--within Golf Digest’s Top 20-40 in their 1969-79 USA lists and exited the GD USA Top 100 after a #86 in 1997; and
--#78 in GM’s USA Top 100 in 1991 (note that when GM listed Dogwood as #99 in the world in 1985, GM did not publish a USA Top 100).

In terms of full disclosure, I have been a member of CCNC since 1998 and first played it (Dogwood) in 1976.

On Sunday October 2, Pat and I flew back to North Carolina.  Our flight was delayed which meant that we missed a good part of the Ryder Cup singles matches.  I would like to find out who won so if some of the European readers of this blog could let me know, that would be much appreciated.

Quaker Ridge GC, October 4-5, 2016: Then on Tuesday morning, Pat and I drove from Milton, MA to Scarsdale, NY to play in a “Walker Cup Reunion” being held at Quaker Ridge.  I was a member of QR from 1975-2000 (full disclosure again) and Quaker is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  Alan Howard, a former president of QR was put in charge of the 100th anniversary events and in addition to what may have been the “standard” 100th Anniversary party for members, came up with the idea of a Walker Cup Reunion (QR hosted the Walker Cup in 1997) inviting all living former players and captains, representatives from all clubs that have hosted the event, and representatives/officials of the USGA and R&A.  According to Alan, when he first proposed the Reunion during a conference call with senior representatives of the USGA and the R&A, it was met with a period of total silence.  Shortly, others started warming to the idea and it turned out to be a wonderful event that was superbly run…at least a “home run” and perhaps a “grand slam” IMO.  Pat and I attended as representatives of The Country Club along with good friend Lawrie Foster (Lawrie’s wife Daphne could not attend).  To date, there have been 46 Walker Cup Matches conducted at a total of 32 clubs, 14 in GB&I and 18 in the USA (all of which have been played by your truly).  The event was attended by representatives of 25 of these clubs (13 of 14 of the GB&I clubs with Royal Lytham & St. Annes absent and 12 of 18 of the USA clubs with Baltimore, Cypress Point, Interlachen, Milwaukee, Minikahda, and Seattle absent…two of which are in Minneapolis and probably had post Ryder Cup events).  In total, some 150 people attended the dinner on October 4 and heard many wonderful anecdotes about the history of the Matches.  Of course, the passing of Arnold Palmer was in everyone’s mind during the entire event and many special examples of his generosity and warmth filled the two days.

Lawrie and I were able to play QR twice and Pat joined us for the October 4 practice round….where we were also joined by an old friend from QR, Michael Frankel, whom I had not seen for about 20 years.  Michael had read about my travel/golfing exploits on the internet and had reached out to me this past summer and it was special to relive old times (even if some of his stories about my lack of accuracy with the driver were somewhat exaggerated). 

Quaker was in great condition and never looked better.  Gil Hanse completed an outstanding renovation/restoration of this Tillinghast gem that has brought the course back to its original intent, severely cut back on tree growth (IMO, QR is a poster child for tree removal), and resulted in a very tough but fair parkland course.  It now stretches to 7008 yards (par 70) with its real strength resting in its par 4’s (2 between 351 and 400 yards, 6 between 401 and 450 yards, and 4 above 450 yards) and a great variety of par 3’s.  The tree removal program has resulted in firmer and healthier turf and greens that are much firmer and faster.  I had balls come back and roll off the green on two false fronts which I never knew existed during probably 2000 rounds at QR between 1975 and 2000.  Simply put, it is a very different (and much much better course).
In terms of ratings, Quaker has appeared in every Golf Magazine World Top 100 list starting in 1983 (the 1979 and ’81 lists were Top 50’s), reaching a pinnacle of  #33 in 1987 and most recently at #74 in 2015.  In terms of USA Top 100’s, it has appeared on every list from all sources except GD’s 1966 and 2011.  It’s highest rating was #14 on GD in 1989 and its highest current rating is #39 on top100golfcourses.co.uk and #40 on GM.

Winged Foot GC-East, October 6, 2016:  Winged Foot lies just across the street from Quaker and with WF’s 36, this almost contiguous combination of 54 holes is certainly one of the 3 or 4 most outstanding combinations of 3 courses in the world (only rivals seem to be Shinnecock/NGLA/Sebanock, Bandon Dunes, and Royal Melbourne GC (36)/Victoria GC.  I have excluded the stretch from Gullane GC (#1) through North Berwick (West) which also includes Muirfield and Renaissance, because of the gap between Gullane #1 and Muirfield and Archerfield GC (a less than stellar pair of tracks) sitting between Renaissance and N Berwick (W).  No question that the WF/QR combination is the best almost contiguous 54 combination designed by a single architect.  Tillinghast did his initial work at QR in 1916 and made major revisions in 1927; his WF efforts were completed in 1923.

In 1929, the US Open was scheduled to be played over WF’s East course.  However, heavy rains and flooding just prior to the event caused the USGA to move the event to the West course, where Bobby Jones won his 3rd of 4 US Opens in a playoff against Al Espinosa.  Since then, Winged Foot has hosted 4 US Opens (with another scheduled for 2020), 1 PGA Championship, one Walker Cup, and 2 US Am’s on the West Course and 2 US Woman’s Opens and 1 US Senior Open on the East Course.  Many observers consider the West Course to be the 2nd most difficult course in the USA (with Oakmont as the toughest) and its US Open results back that up.  In 1974 Hale Irwin won at 7 over par and in 2006 Geoff Ogilvy won at five over.

I had the opportunity to play Winged Foot many times starting in the 1970’s, and I distinctly recall that members referred to the East Course as being for “ladies and kids.”  After the Hanse renovation, no one is saying that anymore.  Rumor (from WF members) has it that something like 65-70% of member rounds are now played on the East…and members choose which course they want to play.  Apparently, most rounds on West these days are when members have guests who want to play the “US Open” course.  To be fair, Hanse has just commenced his renovation of West, so the mix of play after the West’s renovation will be a better “test.”

Now to the course…it is simply brilliant.  The greens are perfect…fast and firm in terms of condition and I personally think East has the best set of Tillie greens…each green is different from the others and yet they all work together beautifully.  The bunkering is extremely subtle and tough.  From a distance, the bunkers do not look that challenging, but when you get in them, you realize that Hanse has created concave surfaces in most of the bunkers.  With most of the greens sitting well above the bunkers, the player finds that most shots run to the “outside” half of the bunkers, leaving him with a downhill lie to a green sitting 5-7’ above the ball.  In fact, I hit into 5 greenside bunkers and faced this situation in 4 of the 5.  The fairways have generous width which brings the cross bunkers into play on most recovery shots (and Tillie loved cross bunkers).  The best holes to my mind are #3 (a downhill148 yd devilish par 3 with a huge false front); #13 (a 146 yard par 3 to a green angled to the right, a huge bunker protecting the right side of the green, and a precipitous drop off behind the green; #15 (a 336 yard par 4 with an infinity green sitting on top of a mound protected by a creek at the start of the mound and a bunker sitting at least 8’ below green level on the right side; and #17 (a 227 yard par three that must be approached from left to right).  Throw in the huge magnificent clubhouse and a pure golf atmosphere, and you have one of the best golf clubs in existence.  Was special to have Pat finally play one of WF’s courses, and see the inside of the clubhouse.

The East Course measures 6792 yards (par 72).  In terms of Worldwide ratings, East has been on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 every year since 1993 with the exception of 2013 and currently sits at #84 (its high point was #59 in 2001).  At present it is not on any other current World Top 100.  In USA Top 100 ratings, it has appeared on 55 of 66 listing shown on my spreadsheet, reaching a high of #24 in Golf Digest’s 1993 list.  Its highest current rating is #44 on Golf Magazine’s 2015 list.  It will be interesting to see where it sits in 2017 and 2019 (it takes a few years for enough raters to see a course after it is renovated).

After our round it was a quick lunch, then I dropped Pat off at Westchester County Airport for her flight to Raleigh-Durham.  Then I got back in the car for about 6 days of golf as I wound my way down to Pinehurst with a whole bunch of golf stops along the way.  Want to finish the USA Top 100 EVER plus the PGA Championship venues, so there is work to be done!

Siwanoy Country Club, October 6, 2016:  So, if I’m going after PGA Championship venues, why not go after the first, 100 years after the event?  Siwanoy hosted the first PGA Championship in 1916 won by Jim Barnes.  The club was founded in 1901, built a 9 hole course and moved to its current location and built an 18 hole track designed by Donald Ross in 1914.  Today the course totals 6383 yards (par 70)…very short but a lot of fun.  It sits on excellent terrain (there are only two flat holes on the course and about that many opportunities for flat lies) and a recent restoration has brought back to life the Ross greens, which are in perfect condition.  Located in the southern portion of Westchester County and near the NYC line, it is landlocked with no place to expand.  It has never been included in any Top 100 listing and while its days as a great championship course are well behind it, it would be a fun track to play every day and it is a superb club.  During 1986-87 I lived about 2-3 miles from Siwanoy but never had the opportunity to play it.  Best holes are the par 3 third, par 4 eighth, and par 4 15th. 

After the round I drove down to Nassau County on Long Island, happily through less traffic than I expected.  With another 36 hole day scheduled for Friday, I needed some rest.

Eisenhower Park-Red Course, October 7, 2016:  Located in East Meadow (about 5-7 miles east of Bethpage), Eisenhower Park started off as a very exclusive private club…Salisbury Golf Club designed by Devereux Emmet in 1914.  In 1926 it hosted the PGA Championship that was won by Walter Hagen.  Unable to pay its real estate taxes during the Depression, it closed down and was taken over by Nassau County.  Today, the park has three courses, with the Red being the “premier” course, stretching to 7199 yards (par 72).  For a number of years it hosted a Senior tour event.

The Red is built on very flat terrain and is in awful condition.  In 2010 I went back and played the Queens NY (Kissena Golf Course) muni I played as a kid (which was great fun) and quite frankly it was in much better condition than the Red.  I was here simply because of my dumb quest to play all the PGA venues (having already completed the Open Championship, US Open, and Masters venues).  Sorry if I sound like a golf snob (can’t be one since I loved going back to Kissena), but this place has no redeeming values.

Nassau Country Club, October 7, 2016:  After finishing my round at the Red, I drove about eight miles north to Glen Cove to play Nassau Country Club.  Here on the northern part of Long Island, the terrain is totally different that the terrain on LI’s southern portion.  During the last Ice Age, the glaciers stretched south and eventually stopped about half way across LI, before the earth started re-warming (obviously due to the first uses of fossil fuels) leading to the glaciers receding to the Artic.  Funny, I thought “global warming” and “climate change” were more recent phenomena.  Have to write Al Gore and see what he has to say.  In any case, the glaciers brought with them huge rocks and boulders from more northerly land and created the hilly terrain of northern LI, upper NYS, and New England.  These rocks and boulders are now the large rock outcroppings that are found in these regions.  The southern portion of LI were never touched by the glaciers and remained very flat.  If you are familiar with the borough of Queens, Hillside Avenue (running east-west) marks the bottom of the hill where the debris dragged down by the glacier stopped (I know since I grew up at the top of that hill).

Nassau Country Club was founded in 1896 as Queens County Club, as the County of Nassau did not exist in 1896 (Queens County encompassed what is now Queens and Nassau).  In 1899, the current Queens County became a borough of New York City, Nassau County was incorporated, and the club changed its name to Nassau County Club.  In 1903, it hosted the US Amateur (which is why I placed it on this itinerary…as I am also trying to complete the US Amateur venues) and in both 1914 and 2014 it hosted the US Woman’s Amateur.  The club is also where the Nassau golf bet was created (non golfers…a Nassau is a match play bet where there are equal amounts bet on the results of the front nine, back nine, and all 18…creating three separate bets).  A member, Mr. J. B. Coles Tappan, created the concept as a way to keep a game interesting in cases where one played or team gets off to a very strong start…the idea was to create a new game on the back nine to keep all the golfers focused longer.  Finally, Nassau CC is where Bobby Jones started putting with his Calamity Jane putter.  In 1923, Jones was on Long Island preparing for the US Open to be played at Inwood.  Nassau’s head pro, Jim Maiden (and brother of Stuart Maiden, the head pro at Jones’ East Lake club in Atlanta) asked Jones to try his putter (that he had nicknamed Calamity Jane) and Jones started sinking almost everything.  As they say, the rest is history.  Now lets move along from our geology and history lessons…

Nassau CC was originally designed by Devereux Emmet.  Seth Raynor renovated the course in the 1920’s…which is obvious from the 5th green.  The shape of that green and its surrounding bunkers reflect the Short Hole “template” used by C. B. MacDonald, Seth Raynor, and Charles Banks…even to the point of the oft-included raised “ledge” along the back and side portions of the green.  Sometime later this hole was stretched to 204 yards…but it clearly was at one time a “Short”. 

Subsequent renovations were completed by Herb Strong and Tom Fazio (2012) and unfortunately somewhere along the way many of the bunkers were redone (badly), and the 5th hole was stretched to 204 yards.  The club is planning another renovation to bring the bunkers back to their Raynor design and I applaud that plan.  Today, the course totals 6702 yards (par 70), is in excellent condition and is fun to play.  The greens are very tough but fair and the rolling terrain is similar to Siwanoy’s.  Best holes are 6, 13 and 15 and the most unusual part of the course is the old cemetery (which predates the club) located next to the 10th tee.  One of the Long Island railroad’s lines runs along the left side of holes 6-8 and the local train station is only about 400 yards from the clubhouse, a great convenience for commuting members and a reminder that almost all older courses were built near railroad lines.  I had my first decent round of the trip at Nassau ever after starting with a double bogey…40-43=83.

Again, here is a course that never was on a top 100 and probably never will be…but a fun fun course to play.

After completing the round before sunset I drove into Manhattan for dinner with my sister Jean, her husband Amatzia, and my sister Ann.  Jean moved to Israel over 55 years ago where she met Amatzia and they still live, and Ann lives in Manhattan.  With the exception of some back and forth volleys regarding this year’s presidential candidates, the dinner was nice and all were well behaved (even I).  After dinner I had to drive to New Jersey for Saturday’s round at Essex County Country Club.  Got there past 11pm…and was fairly tired to say the least.