Trip to Deep South and Lower Plains, October 30-November 9, 2016
(Part II)
Annandale Country Club,
November 2, 2016: For the last two
years I have been trying to set up a trip through LA and MS to play Timberlane
and the three courses I am scheduled to play next in MS. My first efforts to play these four fell
apart as I was not able to arrange play at Annandale without playing with a
member…and given that I had never been to the state it was not surprising that
I didn’t know any members. Then I
realized that I had met Michael W. of CT at an event at Brookline and that he
had played a USA Top 100 list. I
contacted Michael and he gave me the name of the member he had been put in
touch with, and that seemed to quickly solve my Annandale problem. Michael W.’s contact was Michael C., a former
president of Annandale and a retired wealth management banker. Michael C. and I arranged to have dinner
together that evening before my round with him.
I planned to arrive in Jackson MS just in time for a quick shower before
dinner, but given that I had played Fallen Oak about 90 minutes earlier than
planned, I arrived in Jackson early and had a short but precious nap.
MC is a very engaging man…a
former music professor, very bright guy, and good listener. Sense that he has been very successful. Joined Annandale shortly after its opening in
1982. Dinner was very good and we
confirmed that we would play at 8:30ish (MC said that would guarantee we would
be the first off).
Arrived at the club around 8:10
and sure enough it was quite deserted.
We hit a few balls and were off the first tee by 8:25. Annandale was one of Jack Nicklaus’ early
designs. It now stretches to 7199 yards
(par 72) and the course rating/slope is a hefty 75.8/132. I was surprised by the course rating, as the
greens are subtle and difficult to read but not wildly undulating, and the
bunkers were not a deep as most JWN bunker complexes. On the other hand, we were playing it fairly
early so the dew was keeping the greens slower than usual. …and yours truly did
not exactly tear it up firing an 85 with some very generous gimmes (for you
non-golfers…that is the way we golfers cheat semi honestly). It is a very fine members course in a
beautiful setting, built on excellent topography, and hosted the US Mid-Amateur
in 1986. In terms of ratings, it made
the GD Top 100 at #75 in both 1987 and 1989 (probably after a positive reaction
from participants in the ’86 Mid-Am).
Best hole is #18 a flat 532 yard par 5 requiring players who do not hit
a good drive to decide whether to hit into the peninsula in front of the green,
and players who do hit a good drive to decide whether to go for the green
(which is fronted by a wide stream) in two.
At the end of the round I was able to claim a total of 44 states (need
to start thinking about that for 2017…especially regarding Iowa, North Dakota,
and South Dakota which are close together).
We finished around 11:30 and
shortly after that I headed north to Columbus, MS and Old Waverly, a drive of
about 2 hours 15 minutes.
Old Waverly Golf Club,
November 2, 2016: Located in the
northeastern part of MS, Old Waverly is about 40 miles south of Tupelo. I first became aware of it in 1999 when Julie
Inkster won the US Woman’s Open there.
It is located in the town of West Point, MS, very close to Mississippi
State University.
It plays to a relatively long
7088 yards (par 72). It was built in
1988 and designed by Bob Cupp and Jerry Pate.
It has appeared on a USA Top 100 five times, three on GD (1987, ’89 and
’95) and twice on GW’s merged list (1998 and ’99) and always within a fairly tight range, #84 to #98.
I thought it was very very
good. It has a dramatic entrance via a
long driveway between two rows of magnolia trees to a beautiful clubhouse, with
the golf course sitting right behind the clubhouse (where have I seen that
before?). Best holes are #1, 6, 10, 15
and 16 IMO, but there is a bit too much water on the back nine for my
taste. Course in excellent condition and
fun to play. Played well and had a 40-40
= 80.
Added local feature is the newly
completed Mossy Oak course designed by Gil Hanse which literally sits right
across the street from Old Waverly. I
was not aware of Mossy Oak and my schedule was much too jammed to fit it in,
which was too bad. Next USA golf “destination”…West
Point, Mississippi? Who would have thunk
it?
After the round, it was another
150-mile drive, this time to Memphis, TN.
Arrived at hotel around 9pm after a very long day. Immediately hit the sack.
Memphis Country Club,
November 3, 2016: Was scheduled to
play Memphis CC first thing in the morning and awoke early to do some
research. My spreadsheet showed it to
have hosted the US Amateur in 1948 (among a total of 7 USGA and Western Golf
Association events) but its only appearance on a Top 100 was on GD’s 1966 and
1967 200 Toughest lists (where courses were only listed alphabetically). It is a Donald Ross design (recently
renovated by Kris Spence who just finished the renovation of CCNC’s Dogwood
course) and opened in 1917 (the club was founded in 1905 and initially had a
nine hole course at another location).
Searching the web found close to
nothing, and I began to wonder if this was a club that had quietly gone under
or become semi-private or public.
Literally, Google found no club website and only one USGA Journal
article discussing the 1948 US Am.
I arrived at the club around
8am…and trust me this club had not disappeared, it just chooses to remain well
under the world’s radar (couldn’t do a better job of that if it was located in
Death Valley CA). When I arrived, there
was one member around (hitting balls on the range before work) otherwise the
entire facility was close to deserted.
It is located in an old part of town near the University of
Memphis. It is Memphis’ old waspy club
and is simply wonderful. I even took a few
pictures, including the one below of a plaque near the first tee commemorating
Cary Middlecoff’s membership at MCC.
 |
| Plaque behind Memphis CC 1st Tee |
To fill in for you kids,
Middlecoff was one of the great players of the 1950’s and 1960’s (when Rock and
Roll music was great) and won 40 PGA Tour events including the Masters in 1955
and the US Open in 1949 and 1956 at Medinah and Oak Hill respectively. He was a practicing dentist before becoming a
professional golfer and had a reputation as one of the slowest players on the
Tour (which probably means that he would be a fairly quick player today).
I met the head pro, Tim Rush,
and he confirmed the club’s desire to remain under the radar. My guess is that its absence from Top 100
lists since 1967 is due to the fact that most raters do not even know about it
and it lacks the minimum number of ratings.
The course is in wonderful
condition with Zoysia fairways and Tif-Eagle Bermuda greens. It has a very simple and wonderful routing
(front nine circling property in counter clockwise direction, and back nine
inside…like Quaker Ridge) with tees very close to previous greens and good
topology. The fairways are line with
magnificent old oak trees, which I was told have been thinned out considerably
(yours truly would take more out). I was
hitting the ball poorly which was unfortunate, as I really loved the
design…simple and clean. Favorite holes
were par 5 3rd and the green complexes on #14 and #17 (see pictures
below).
 |
| #3 par 5 uphill...note long stretch of trees bordering OB to right |
 |
| Memphis CC back of green #17--sharp falloff |
Relatively short but comfortable
6717 yard par 70…another great “play every day” track. Good thing for this club, which is trying to
stay hidden, that this blog is read about as much as liberal newspapers these
days J. After leaving the club, I realized that I had
neglected to get a look at Elvis Presley’s old locker (just kidding…).
After the round, drove over to
Colonial Country Club in Memphis’ eastern suburb of Cordova for my afternoon
round.
Colonial Country Club (South),
November 3, 2016: This is the
Colonial in Tennessee, not the one in Ft. Worth, TX (otherwise known as Hogan’s
Alley). This one is known as “The Home
of the 59” since Al Geiberger fired a 59 during the 2nd round of the
Danny Thomas Classic in June 1977 (the week before the US Open held at Southern
Hills in Tulsa, OK---more about Tulsa later).
Shooting a 59 is something huge (this was the first 59 ever shot on the
PGA Tour), but this was shot on a course that measured 7193 yards playing with
persimmon woods and balata balls when the average distances on the Tour were
about 80-90% of today’s (for you folks who didn’t major in arithmetic, that
makes Colonial in 1977 equivalent to a course measuring between 8000 and 9000
yards!!). After playing this course, I
find it inconceivable that someone shot a 59 there playing 1977 equipment.
Today’s Colonial stretches to
7334 yards (141 yards longer than in 1977) and remains a par 72. The club was founded in 1913 and the next
year opened an 18-hole course in Memphis. In 1968 the club purchased 385 acres
in the suburb of Cordova and soon thereafter commenced construction of two
courses (North and South) designed by Joe Finger that opened for play in 1972. The Memphis Invitational Open (which became
the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic and later evolved into the Fed Ex St. Jude
Classic) was last played on Colonial’s South course in 1988. Colonial-South was
included in the GD USA Top 100 in 1975, 1977, 1979, and 1981…and in all four of
those bi-annual listings it was included in the #51-100 bracket (which was
listed alphabetically).
I loved the course and fired a
40-36 = 76. Came very close to a
hole-in-one on #12 (218 yards from back, I played from 158 yds) as ball ended
up pin high 6” to the right of the cup.
Picture below is from behind the green on the par 5 16th.
 |
| Colonial South---hole #16 par 5 from behind green |
Greens were perfect and very fast. Course has good topography and is a very big
course. Strange the difference in how I
hit it at Memphis CC in morning and in the afternoon at Colonial, but as we all
know, that is golf.
After the round I rushed to the
Memphis airport to see if I could catch an earlier flight to Dallas Ft. Worth
and connecting on to Tulsa, OK. Was not
to be. This was my only “connecting
flights” of the trip and the connection was tight, but I made it (as did my
luggage) and arrived at my hotel in Broken Arrow, OK around 12:15am.
So, here I was shooting a great
round for me…heading for Tulsa…just like Geiberger did after his 59. Oh well, I thought that was interesting, even
if you did not!!
Cedar Ridge Country Club,
November 4, 2016: Founded in 1967,
Cedar Ridge today stretches out to 7444 yards (par 71). In 1983 Cedar Ridge hosted the US Woman’s
Open, and from 1975-85 it was included in GD’s #51-100 bracket on its USA Top
100. It also was designed by Joe Finger
and today is undergoing a renovation directed by Tripp Davis. Met head pro, David Bryan, whose
predecessor’s son, Tracy Phillips was an assistant pro at Hank Haney’s teaching
center in McKinney, TX (near Dallas) in the 1990’s. I had not seen Tracy since about 1994 and it
turns out that he is the teaching pro at Cedar Ridge, and I just missed him
when I left after my round. Tracy had
the best and most creative short game I have ever seen, and it would have been
fun to catch up.
I played with another GD rater,
Jack C., a very good guy and good player.
Jack clearly has been very involved with Cedar Ridge’s renovation and
has a wonderful understanding of its history.
The golf course itself is very long and tough. It beat me up pretty well (actual score is
classified but posted to help my handicap).
I thought best hole was #3 a 382 yard par 4 dogleg left with a creek
protecting the left side off the tee and the front of a two-tiered green
sloping sharply from back to front. Also
liked #5, a 571 yard par 5 uphill (with a pond left off the tee) to a green
tucked right and well protected by a very large front right bunker.
Overall, I would classify Cedar
Ridge as a very very good championship test but I would not want to play it
every day. Too long and tight, with not
enough angles and options.
After the round, I drove about
110 miles west to Oklahoma City, where I had three courses to play.
Twin Hills Golf & Country
Club, November 4, 2016: Designed by
Perry Maxwell, Twin Hills opened for play in 1923. In 1935 it hosted the PGA Championship won by
Johnny Revolta (5&4) in a match play final against Tommy Armour. The course had recently been overseeded and
was literally soaking wet. Playing in
those conditions is not great fun and the Maxwell features were well disguised
by these conditions. Enough said!!
Quail Creek Golf &
Country Club, November 5, 2016: I
guess my compulsion with bucket lists goes back a long way. In 1965 Sports Illustrated published the
pages from the Dan Jenkins/Ben Hogan book that presented Hogan’s favorite 18
holes in the USA. The list consisted of
Hogan’s favorite first hole (#1 at Merion), second (#2 at Scioto), though
Hogan’s favorite 18th (#18 at Pebble). Of course #6 was at Seminole (Hogan called it
his favorite hole anywhere).
Interestingly, no hole on Cypress Point made the list. I also remember that Quaker Ridge’s 6th
hole was Hogan’s second choice for his #6.
I played my first of these 18 in
1969 when I played Pebble (it was the 34th course I had played), and
I reached 17 of the 18 by playing Scioto’s #2 in 1982 (it was the 248th
course I had played). Since 1982, over
34 years had passed and I had not played Hogan’s #17 until this day (and this
was my 887th course played)!!
Truth of the matter is that the
course is good but not great, and the 17th hole is far from what I
would call the best 17th hole in the USA. Today it plays 462 yards, is relatively flat
(with some nice rolls in the fairway) and is dead straight. A 10 yard wide creek crosses the fairway
about 40 yards short of the green but really does not come into play unless the
player hits his drive in the rough. The
green is well contoured and protected by a large bunker front left. But it is always great to finish a list. I
had the book version of Hogan’s list but gave it to Brookline for its library a
couple of years ago. Will need to check
it out in detail next summer.
I played reasonable well at
Quail. It is 6919 yards, par 72 (I had a
40-42 = 82) and played with a group that goes off at 9am…and managed to win $20
in the process. The guys were a fun
bunch. It is amazing the great group of
individuals one meets playing golf around the world. The course was in tough condition due to an
invasion of nematode worms that had severely damaged the greens. Happily, the greens seem to be
recovering. The club itself seems to be
very active and family oriented.
Quail Creek appeared on GD’s USA
Top 100 from 1966-1971 with its inclusion in the 1966 and 1967 200 Toughest,
the 1969 Best Tests list’s #81-90 bracket, and the 1971 100 Greatest list’s
#51-100 bracket. It opened for play in
1962 and was designed by Floyd Parley and later remodeled by Robert von Hagge
in 1986 and Steve Wolford in 1999. It
hosted the PGA Tour’s Oklahoma City Open from 1962-68 and then the Southwestern
Bell Golf Classic from 1987-1990.
After a nice lunch with the guys
I played with, it was time for a short drive to Oklahoma City G&CC for the
trip’s final stop in OK.
Oklahoma City Golf &
Country Club, November 5, 2016:
OCGCC was founded in 1911 and in 1929 opened it current course designed
by Perry Maxwell (with co-design credit to Alistair MacKenzie). Today it measures 6861 yards from the tips
(par 71). While OCGCC has never been
included on a USA or World Top 100, it did host the 1953 US Amateur won by Gene
Littler.
I arrived at the club around 2pm
and met the head pro, Tim Fleming. I
played with three members (Jonathan, Jonathan, and David) who were about to
walk their 2nd 18. Now one of
them was about 35 years old so walking a second 18 was no big deal…but the
other two were clearly in their mid 60’s or so…very impressive. The practice range at OCGCC is very
interesting…it crosses the first fairway (and of course uses yellow golf balls),
which is a clever way to fit in a driving range where there never was one in
the original plans. The perimeter of the
course is lined with beautiful homes, and I got the sense that this is the
premier top club in OKC.
The greens have very steep
slopes and feature many of the infamous “Maxwell Rolls”, usually created by a
mound located in the middle of the green.
Course was in good shape although the fairway grass was a little long,
and I was surprised by the large number of broken and full tees left behind by
members and their guests. I shall spare
you readers from suffering through another of my rants about free tees, but do
suggest you take a trip to OCGCC to see the impact yourself! Last criticism is par 5 13th hole
which is a roundhouse right 563 yard hole.
I was playing from tees totaling 5997 yards and this hole played 540
yards…plus, because the hole takes a sharp right turn over it last 150 yards, a
shorter hitter must play further left to have any chance to hit toward the
green on their third shot…which makes the hole play more like 560 yards….way
too long and unfair for that length tees…the hole should be played from the 495
yard tee. Despite these criticisms I
very much liked the course. It also
clearly won the award for having the largest men’s pit stop in golf at the
turn.
After the round, I faced a 3
hour 15 minutes drive south to downtown Dallas.
I had survived the first four of my six consecutive 36 holes days and
the next two appeared to be threatened by rain.
One final note before leaving OK…loved the gasoline prices…saw regular
as low as $1.589/gallon.
As I exited I-35E in downtown
Dallas I headed east for the hotel, and in less than a mile realized I knew
where I was driving. I was headed east
on Commerce Street…I was entering Dealey Plaza going in the opposite direction
of JFK’s motorcade that fateful day in 1963.
A chill went through my body. I
had been here once before, but this time I was totally unprepared until I saw
the shape of the roads, the “grassy knoll” to my left, and the Texas Book
Depository Building ahead to my left. Enough
said.
I arrived at my hotel (a very
hip “W” hotel) around 10pm, but fortunately we turn the clocks back an hour
this night…so I can get some sleep before my 6:55am tee off.
Cedar Crest Golf Course,
November 6, 2016: Got up early and
repacked…the really tough part of this trip has been one night stands in 10
different cities…10 different hotels…figuring out where the bathroom is when I
wake up at 3am, etc. etc. Good news was
that the forecast was much improved, although still not good. Had my breakfast and drove about 15 minutes
to Cedar Crest, which is south of downtown Dallas. Now, if you know Dallas, you know that south
of downtown is not the place to be. But
at 7am on a Sunday morning the streets were totally empty and it was an easy
drive.
I was surprise to find a large,
clean, modern clubhouse. Cedar Crest originally
opened as Cedar Crest Country Club designed by A. W. Tillinghast. In 1927, the club hosted the 10th
PGA Championship, won by Walter Hagen.
The club had closed in 1929, was eventually purchased by the city of
Dallas in 1946 and today is a munid.
While never on a Top 100 list,
this is a superb municipal course. It
just opened after a very good renovation and is in very good condition. The property is very hilly…there is not a
flat hole on the course. The course
plays 6701 yards (par 71) and the best hole is #10 a 460-yard downhill par 4
with a creek fronting the green (see pic below):
 |
| Cedar Crest Hole #10...creek fronting green in depression and not visible above |
My honest opinion is that Cedar
Crest may be one of the best 25 true munis in the USA…glad I played it.
After the round, I drove about
20 minutes northwest to Brook Hollow Golf Club, one of Dallas’ great old clubs
located right next to Love Field, in another bad neighborhood of Dallas.
Brook Hollow Golf Club,
November 6, 2016: Brook Hollow was
also designed by Tillinghast and opened in the early 1920’s. Today it is 6752 yards long, and plays to a
par 71. The bunkering here is both
beautiful and tough, the airways are generous and the greens large and devilish. Overall, with its large bunkers, trees and
greens, the course has a very “large” feel to it.
I played with Owen H. a member
of Brook Hollow and CCNC, and Jay L., a friend of Owen’s. Both were real troopers. The weather seemed threatening when we teed
off…I have learned in previous trips to Dallas what “layered” clouds
portend. Fortunately, that did not
occur, but it did start raining when we reached the 4th hole. The 6th comes back to the
clubhouse, but by then the rain had stopped, only to restart on #8, a tough
downhill par 3 over water. When we made
the turn I asked Owen and Jay if they wanted to go in, but they would have no
part of it. Most of the back nine was
played in rain but we did finish. I
could get a good sense of the course and loved it…a great classic Tillie
track. Just a shame to have a round on
one of the best courses of the trip affected by weather, but given my luck on
this trip and all my trips to date, I cannot complain. Look forward to playing with Owen on his next
trip to CCNC and hopefully at Brookline as well.
Took a nice warm and long
shower, an even better dip in the whirlpool bath (who transported me to
Japan?), and dressed and repacked…flight to Austin coming up with rounds in
Austin and San Antonio scheduled for Monday.
Thirteen rounds completed and four to go!!
Flight to Austin went smoothly
but had to wait about 45 minutes for a taxi (no Uber cars available in
Austin…isn’t this supposed to be one of the high tech capitals of the
world??). Finally to bed around
11pm…first tee time Monday is 8am.
No comments:
Post a Comment