106. Time to Catch Up…or at Least Start to Catch Up
It is August 4th, and I really haven’t posted anything so far this year…despite playing 60 new courses so far in 2018, plus 13 courses I had played before or a total of 73 different courses so far this year. And you, my devoted reader has been starved with nothing to cure your insomnia or constipation. I will try to do some catching up. Given the number of courses I need to cover to catch up, and the state of my memory…some of the descriptions may be somewhat brief. So here goes starting at the beginning of 2018.
In January the weather in Pinehurst was very cold so not much golf was on the agenda and then February was filled with personal tasks. As a result, I played a grand total of 6.7 rounds during the first nine weeks of the year. Only one of these seven rounds was out of the Pinehurst area…and the course is certainly worthy of some discussion.
Charlotte Country Club, February 16, 2018: A. J. Sikula, Head Pro at Grandfather G & CC-NC and a former assistant from Brookline, invited Tyler Gosselin (current head pro at Scarsdale GC-NY and also another former assistant at Brookline) and me to join him for a round at Charlotte CC. I had played Charlotte only once before, in October 2013.
Charlotte was founded in 1910 and by 1915 had built a full 18 holes. Its original design was by Donald Ross. In 2007, it received a major overall under the tutelage of Ron Pritchard. I fell in love with Charlotte (the course, not a gal…by then I had already fallen for my Pat) at that time and nothing I saw in mid February changed that opinion, it merely reinforced it.
Charlotte has hosted three important USGA events in its history, the 1972 US Amateur, the 2000 US Senior Amateur, and the 2010 US Woman’s Amateur. Later this year, it will play host to the 2018 US Mid-Amateur. For this event, it has been stretched to a hefty 7382 yards. It is built on wonderful land, very similar terrain to that of Old Town Club in Winston-Salem, NC, and that in my mind is a very high compliment. I think it will be a brilliant Mid Am site, and if you get the chance to play it, I would encourage you to grab the opportunity…but better bring your game, this is a big and tough but fair and fun track. While it has appeared on GD’s USA Top 100 four times (most recently in 1991 and highest at #65 in 1985), it never climbed in the GW Merged Top 100 list. Hopefully this year’s Mid Am will bring it some well-deserved recognition. I had a 40-42 = 82.
New Car!!: After almost 12 years and 205,000 miles, I finally broke down and purchased a new car…the 2006 Lexus 430LS served me very well but it was beginning to fell like I do…OLD. This time I moved to one made in South Korea, a 2018 Genesis G80, which I love and believe I got for a very good price. Hope to be driving it through at least 2029 (when I’ll be 85).
Pine Needles Golf Course. March 3, 2018: Designed by Donald Ross and completed around 1928, this is a wonderful, challenging and fun golf course. It was purchased by Peggy Kirk Bell (one of the first members of the LPGA Tour) and her husband Warren Bell in 1954. Pine Needles hosted the US Women’s Open in 1996, 2001, and 2007 (won by Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, and Christie Kerr respectively) and will do so again in 2022. It plays a total of 7015 yards to par 71. It is a classic Ross design and as close to exemplifying “Carolina golf” as any other course. It was renovated under the guidance of Kyle Franz in 2017.
Pine Needles was included in Golf Digest’s USA 200 Toughest in 1966 and was in Golf Week’s USA Classic Top 100 from 1997-2014, but never high enough to make my “merged Golf Week USA Top 100”. I had played Pine Needles about 7-10 times previously.
Southern Swing…March 8-22, 2018: Pat and I left Pinehurst on March 8 and drove that day down to Sea Island and St. Simons Island along the Georgia coast. After one day here we will travel together for about a week through Florida playing some golf and visiting friends. Then Pat will be off the Harbour Island in The Bahamas’ for about 5 days with two women friends from Pinehurst, and I will have to work my way through twelve courses in seven days through the states of FL, GA, MS, AL, TN, KY, and SC. I will be driving some 2400 miles on this part of the trip and just over 3550 miles from March 8-22. The new car got a great workout and is a joy to drive.
First we drove to Sea Island, GA. Had dinner that evening with an old friend of Pat’s from Boston, and his wife…Michael and Diane Fleischer, and then joined them for 18 holes the morning of 3/9 at Frederica Golf Club.
Frederica Golf Club, March 9, 2018: Completed in 2005 and designed by Tom Fazio with help from Sir Michael Bonallack (won Amateur Championship 1961, ’65, ’68, ’69, ’70; tied for 11thin 1959 Open Championship; member of nine Walker Cup teams including serving as playing captain twice; Secretary of R&A from 1983-99 and then Captain of R&A 1999-2000; inducted in World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000; and recipient of awards too numerous to list here…simply a giant in the game).
Very wide open layout in superb condition with extremely tight fairway lies (note: fairways are wide but playing conditions very firm/fast). Angles very important into huge, well guarded greens. Plenty of land moved in construction process to create gentle slopes that heavily impact play given the firm/fast conditions…so considerable thought required on most shots despite the seemingly open/easy landscape. I liked the course quite a bit and it reminded me of Congaree Golf Club (SC) (see previous post)…but Congaree is a far superior course. From back tees Frederica totals 7217 yards (par 72). I played very well and had a 40-40 = 80.
Sea Island in general and Frederica in particular is home for a large contingent of PGA Tour pros including the likes of Davis Love III, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Harris English, and Brian Harman. I think its playing conditions represent an ideal practice environment for the Masters.
Frederica appeared on GW’s 2010 Top 100 USA Modern course list at #94 and that resulting in a position of #180 on my GW Merged list for that year. It had never appeared on a true USA or World Top 100.
In 2010, after ill timed major investment expenditures just prior to the 2008 recession, the Sea island Company (developer of Frederica) was forced to sell its ownership to Wayne Huizenga who made important improvements to the club over the past 7-8 years and recently sold it to two members.
After a wonderful lunch Pat and I were off on a 5:15 drive to Streamsong where we would spend the next three days. The drive went well but was tiring and it was good to arrive.
Streamsong-Black, March 10, 2018: Pat and I were last here just over three years ago and ground was just being broken for the Black Course. Streamsong opened in late 2012 and has been a roaring success. The first two courses, Red (designed by Coore-Crenshaw) and Blue (Tom Doak) opened simultaneously and operate out of the same clubhouse. The Black, designed by Gil Hanse, opened last year, has its own clubhouse, and occupies quite a bit more land than either Red or Blue. The fairways are huge (generally about 50-70 yards wide and pinching in spots to about 30-40 yards wide; I hit 13 of 14). The greens are either huge or humongous depending on one’s definition of “green”. The “official greens” are designated by green paint dots and probably average around 10-12,000 sq ft. But the aprons around the greens are maintained exactly like the official greens…and including this area, they probably average over 15,000 sq ft. As a comparison, the greens at Brookline average (which are much much smaller than average greens) about 3,600 sq ft.
The Black plays to a par 73 (very unusual but certainly nothing “wrong” with it) and from the tips plays to 7331 yards. But this course is super fast/firm and therefore plays much shorter than its stated yardage. Having just opened in 2017, the Black has only been included on one USA Top 100 (2018 top100golfcourses.com at #95). I do not know of any USA Top 100 list published since Black opened for which it could have reasonably qualified (most lists require a minimum number of evaluations to be eligible for their lists).
Over the past few months I have heard many glowing reports regarding Streamsong-Black as well as others citing overly difficult/large greens. Put me in the favorable rating camp.
I played very well. Started by sinking a double breaking, up-down-up 50’-60’ putt for a birdie on the par 5 first…which generated some stares from my three playing partners (whom I had just met). I had a 3 over 39 on the front with a double bogey 7 on the par 5 4thhole (and to those who claim I only like holes/courses I play well I would point out that I loved #4 even after losing two balls on it). Followed on the back with a 41 for an 80…not bad for seeing it for the first time.
Too many great holes IMHO to describe…but I will point out that after the 10thor 11th hole I mentioned to my caddy that there had been no “false fronts” on the course. He just shook his head and said nothing. Within an hour I was facing the green on #14, a drivable (not by me) 298 yard par 4…with one of the most drastic false fronts I think I have ever played…if you don’t get to the top, you ball comes back some 30-40 yards…every time. Loved it...all the false fronts put on one hole!!
This course is pure fun…finish the 18thand one’s first thought is to do it again. Fast and firm it is all about controlling the ground game here…which makes it tougher to learn and understand. That is true of all true links courses and courses that play like links courses (e.g. all three at Streamsong). Playing a ground game requires the player to understand the contours on a significant portion of the course (especially the land just in front of the green)…when you can play an “air game” the key thing to understand is wind…which is easier to discern (and also a factor in links golf). One might question having links courses at resorts…since very few people have the opportunity to play resort courses enough times to really understand their subtleties. But that is an invalid argument IMO. The course is there to play as often or as infrequently as you wish. Scoring well takes work and should do so…not just work on your swing but work figuring out how to play a course. Those who make the effort should reap the rewards.
Streamsong-Red and Streamsong-Blue, March 11-12, 2018: This was my 5thvisit to Streamsong. My first was a preview round in November 2012. The resort opened for play shortly after that first visit and seems to be thriving. It is located about 1 hour 15 minutes east of Tampa, FL in the middle of absolutely nothing. The property is owned by Mosaic, a very large mining company that has mined phosphate at this facility for many years. A strip mining process mines phosphate and therefore operators of such facilities are usually required to put up a bond or deposit with sufficient funds to remediate the land after the mines close. About 10-15 years ago, the useful economic life if this mine was coming to a close and the General Counsel of Mosaic (who also is a very good golfer) traveled to FL to ensure that the remediation plan was sound and in place. While examining the property, he realized that this land, with a wonderful sand base, might be an outstanding prospect for a golf resort. Obviously, it was very remote, but much less so than places such as Bandon Dunes (OR) and Barnbougle (TAS, Australia) which had already proved highly successful and highly profitable in even more remote locations. And Mosaic had no choice but to remediate the land…so why not do so in a way that included a beautiful, job creating, and profit generating facility?
What came out of this concept has been a wonderful golf facility and one senses also a highly profitable one as well. And the now “retired” General Counsel of Mosaic is in charge of these golf operations…has to be the veritable “Life of Riley”. The two courses are “intertwined” with each other, and are very similar in length (Blue by Tom Doak par 72 of 7176 yards and Red by Coore & Crenshaw par 72 of 7148 yards). Red is tighter than Blue, and to me seems to be a better flow and routing. On the other hand, Blue to me has more truly great holes. In terms of ratings, Red has generally outperformed Blue. Red has been as high as #47 in GM’s USA Top 100, while Blue’s highest GM USA rating is #56. Neither has been included on a World Top 100.
After golf on Sunday March 11, we drove into Tampa (about 1:15) to have lunch with Pat’s long time neighbors from Milton, MA, Sheila & Alfred Angelone, which is always a fun time…then it was golf the next morning (Streamsong-Blue) and onto Vero Beach.
Vero Beach and Bent Pine CC, March 13, 2018: Always great to visit Vero Beach…both Pat and I have many old friends who winter down there. We stayed with Bill and Susan Friesell, old friends who I have known for over 50 years (business school, Ford Motor, and Citibank days) and played Bent Pine CC with Bill and two of his Lafayette College fraternity brothers including Paul Babcock of Sag Harbor fame. Caught up with the McColl’s and the Rusher’s of Brookline our two evening there.
Bent Pine was designed by Joe Lee and opened for play in 1979. It was the first private club in the Vero area to open west of the Vero Beach barrier island. The Vero area has literally exploded with development since I first saw it in 1975. In those days John’s Island had opened but was almost deserted. The folks who run Vero made a wise decision by amending zoning laws to prohibit tall structures. Interestingly, one of Vero’s initial negatives (difficult to get to by air and unusually far from I-95) became a huge positive for the community. The relative lack of access made it less attractive for weekend “snowbirds” but meant that those wishing to stay year round or for 6+ months would find a community of residents with real ties to the area.
Palm Beach and Broward Counties, March 14, 2018: We continued out way southbound along the coast visiting friends in Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton. No golf in any of these golf rich areas but great to see old friends down here (Laidlaw’s of CCNC, Weber’s from Citibank and NYC, and the Harris’…our “outlaws”…step-son Clark’s in-laws), as we made our way to Fort Lauderdale for Pat’s short flight to The Bahamas.
On the morning of March 15, I dropped Pat off at Fort Lauderdale Airport and then headed off on my six-day journey to work my bucket lists. With literally 63 new courses to catch up on (over 5 months) plus half a dozen “repeats”, I will keep it brief unless the course has something really special to bring up.
Inverrary Country Club, March 16, 2018: “Away we go…” Remember Jackie Gleason and The Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic? The event morphed into The Honda Classic over the decades. I am here simply because this course once hosted The Players Championship in 1976 and playing it meant I had played all Players Championship venues (five in total). Now a muni and in pretty bad condition…only thing memorable was the finish in 1978 (and the clips from Gleason’s TC shows during the TV coverage of the tournament), when Jack Nicklaus birdied the last five holes to win by one stroke. The nines have been reversed since then but I remembered a few of these 5 finishing holes. Suffice it to say that this place has seen better days. After the round drove about 200 miles (just over 3 hours) to Haines City in central FL…southwest of Orlando and stayed overnight. Needed sleep as Saturday was to be a long day.
Southern Dunes G&CC, March 17, 2018: Southern Dunes appeared on the first five GW USA Modern Top 100 lists (1997-2001) but never high enough to make my merged GW Top 100. Plays 7227 yards, par 72, designed by Steve Smyers, and completed in the early 1990’s after a winter freeze essentially destroyed a citrus farm that occupied the property. Front nine very flat and back nine fairly hilly (especially for FL). If you don’t like bunkers, do not come here…I think there are 146 (to compare…Augusta has 45 I think) and many are very large and deep. Course overwatered. Tough course but I managed an 80. Good to play once but certainly wouldn’t want this as a steady diet.
Osprey Cove, March 17, 2018: After finishing up at Southern Dunes, it was time to head north to the southwestern corner of GA to Osprey Cove…another 210 miles and 3:20. Osprey Cove was on GW’s USA Modern Top 100 for the first 3 years of the list (1997-99) but like Southern Dunes, not high enough to make the merged GW list. Designed by Mark McCumber (PGA Tour player from 1978 until 2001 and won 10 times including Player Championship and Tour Championship…then joined Champions Tour). Course is okay but nothing special…fairly flat terrain and wide open, 6778 yard par 72, real estate driven routing with long distances from greens to tees, and lots of houses lining course. Best holes are #8 and #9. Had an 80.
After the round, learned something new (to moi)…Florida is almost as wide as it is long!! Had to drive to Pensacola…another 385 miles (5:30) mostly at night. The new Genesis has been wonderful…so much easier to drive long distances than the 12 year old Lexus. Got to my hotel around 11:30 and immediately hit the sack. Playing at 6:45 Sunday.
Scenic Hills CC, March 18, 2018: Got up early and crawled to course. First one off on start on (another) long day…but I am getting g the joy of crossing items off my to-do lists!! Scenic Hills was designed by Chic Adamas and opened in 1958. In 1969 it hosted the US Women’s Open won by Donna Caponi. It is now open to the public. Plays to 6730 yards, not in great condition, fairly good land, but uninspiring design. Played quickly to avoid threatening thunderstorms and hit ball well for an 80. Then headed northwest into Philadelphia, MS, another drive of 230 miles (4:10). Drive was through several storm cells and in the South…when it rains, it pours!
Dancing Rabbit GC—Azaleas, March 18, 2018: I arrived just as it stopping pouring, and I wondered of the course would be open. Amazingly it was…carts restricted to cart paths. I was about the only person on the course…and the course was a mess due to several inches of rain that day and who knows how much that week. Azalea was on GW Modern Top 100 in 1999 and 2000 but again not high enough to make the Merged list. Designed by Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate (US Open winner 1976) and totals 7128 yards. Storms were still threatening so I played as quickly as possible and frankly do not remember course very well, but what I do remember is a fairly good course spread over a large footprint. This was certainly a “check off the list” stop. Shot an 86 and was pleased to finish before the rain restarted. Then headed to West Point, MS…where I had visited in November 2016 to play Old Waverly. That drive was only 90 miles (1:30).
Mossy Oak GC, March 19, 2018: In late 2016 I came to West Point, MS to play Old Waverly and upon arriving in the afternoon, saw a new Gil Hanse designed course that had just opened across the street…Mossy Oak…had no time to play it then but knew I would need to return. It is the home course for Mississippi State University’s golf team and has a bunch of rooms to stay in…and I took advantage of that.
Had a 7:30 tee time and was first off the next morning and almost immediately sensed that this would be different than most the tracks that I had played thus far this trip. Completed two years ago and playing at 7212 yards, this was built on a wonderful piece of land with just enough movement. Hanse created very wide fairways, large angled greens, and deep well placed bunkers…resulting in a superb strategic design. Despite the club’s young age, it has a sense of tradition already. Given the volume of rain that hit the south over the prior week or so, it was understandably a bit slow and soft, but amazingly the ball still would run out.
Put simply…this place is challenging, and fun. Wanted to replay, but the man on a bucket list mission had no time for that…it was time to get back into the car again. Just to put things in perspective, total driving was about 1175 miles from when Pat and I left Pinehurst on March 8 through dropping her at Ft Lauderdale airport March 14. Add to that another 1130 miles from Ft Lauderdale airport to Mossy Oak, and to date the trip has been 2305 miles!
Anyhow, next stop was Alabama for my first visit to the Robert Trent Jones Trail, a collection of 11 sites with 468 golf holes designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. My stop was at Grand National to play the Lakes course, in Opelika, AL. That meant a drive of 235 miles to get there from Mossy Oak.
Grand National Club—Lakes Course, March 19, 2018: The Lakes course is a hefty 7289 yards and was fairly soft from the rains. There is a reason is it called the Lakes (plural) course. Lake Saugahatchee and other ponds affect play on holes 1-3, 6, 8, 12, 15-17. A good tough course without much imagination. I was playing it because it was on the GW Top 100 Modern list during its first year (1997) as #99. I was able to play through several groups and was finished in time for my drive of 225 miles (3:25) to Chattanooga, TN.
Black Creek Club, March 20, 2018: I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Black Creek. All I knew was that it had been included on GW’s 2003 Top 100 Modern list. What I found was a fascinating modern adaption by Brian Silva of C. B. Macdonald’s and Seth Raynor’s work. The architectural features of the holes are wonderful and fun. However, the routing is ruined by the real estate lining almost all of the holes. Long distances from green to tee breaks up the flow of the course. As it was told to me, the real estate was largely in place with a fairly ordinary golf course design and the project ran into financial difficulties. It was then purchased and Brian Silva brought in…but by then too much of the real estate was in place. Was fun to play but “oh! what could have been…”.
After that round I had a short drive of 25 miles to revisit Sweetens Cove and meet its architect, Rob Collins. I had been to Sweetens Cove in November 2017 and loved this nine-hole creation. Was great to meet Rob and walk some of the holes with him. I did not play as it got cold and rainy and I figured the old body might want a brief rest this afternoon (obviously a rare show of wisdom).
Headed back north up to Nashville, TN (at 115 miles and 1:45 seemed like it was around the corner) to play a Jack Nicklaus course.
Richland CC, March 21, 2018: Richland CC dates back to 1900 and eventually had Donald Ross complete an 18-hole course in the 1920’s. In the 1980’s, the club moved to a new location in Nashville and retained Jack Nicklaus to build a new course. I was here because Richland had hosted the 1980 US Women’s Open…but as I discovered during my visit, the course where that Championship was played was the old Donald Ross course…which “no longer exists”. So I had no need to play it for my bucket lists.
Played with a Richland member, John A., who had played in the 1982 US Amateur at Brookline…and had played golf for UNC at Chapel Hill (with lots of rounds at CCNC). Was great fun playing with him and chatting about both clubs.
The Nicklaus course is build alongside a hill and the first 3-4 holes are as hilly a set of starting holes as you will find. And it was very cold early in the morning so we had a frost delay and needed several hand warmers to survive the beginning of the round.
As my regular readers know I am not a huge fan of JWN’s architectural efforts, but this is one of his better efforts…especially given the terrain he had to work with. It is a superb, very active club in the midst of an extensive clubhouse renovation.
After the round, had to hurry to get north to Bowling Green KY…to play Olde Stone CC, a drive of 75 miles/1:10.
Olde Stone CC, March 21, 2018: Designed by Arthur Hills and completed in 2007, Olde Stone is a very unusual course and certainly one of the better Arthur Hills tracks I have played. If you recall economic history, 2007 was not the best time ever to open a new golf club, but this one has survived.
It was included in Golf Week’s USA Top 100 Modern list in 2010 but not high enough to make my Merged GW list. It hits you right out of the box with a tough 469 yard dogleg left par 4 followed by a dramatic 580 yard par 5 from a highly elevated tee to a flat fairway well guarded by bunkers…and then a 235 yard par 3 to a narrow green. The fairways are 100% zoysia grass (greens are bentgrass) and the ball looked like it was siting on a tee in every fairway. I started out on fire and had a 39-40 = 79. Holes 2-7 are fairly flat and then the course comes back uphill to rolling terrain similar to #1.
Faced with a long drive to South Carolina after the round, I rushed through the 18 holes. It has some very good holes but its routing suffers from long distances from green to tee…an affliction I see all too often.
Then headed southeast to just outside Ashville, NC where I stayed the night before a short drive into SC the next morning. While most of this long trip (355 miles and 5:45) was on interstates, the Appalachian Mountains I was driving over made this a tough haul.
The Cliffs—Mountain Park, March 22, 2018: The good news is that this is the last stop on the trip! The Cliffs is a group of some 7 courses in NC and SC designed by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, Ben Wright , and Tom Jackson. Membership in any of the seven brings playing privileges at all. This was my first visit to any of the seven, and all are designed as retirement communities.
Designed by Gary Player, Mountain Park is a very good golf course. It was on the GW USA Modern Top 100 in 2015 but again, not high enough for my Merged GW list. I was a very tired puppy by this point and was glad to be able to play this one alone and get through the round quickly…I was more than overgolfed.
Looking back on the trip…knocked off 10 courses from the Golf Week 100+100 EVER bucket list, two former US Women’s Open venues (really just one since Richland had moved to a new location), completed the Players Championship EVER list (at Inverrary) and played two outstanding new tracks…Streamsong-Black and Mossy Oak, both by Gil Hanse. Those two were the clear highlight of the trip…but must report that no “Hidden Gems” were discovered on this journey.
More importantly, Pat and I had a fun trip through Florida and she had some well earned R ‘n R in the Bahamas. One last drive of 213 miles and 3:45 heading east through North Carolina brought me home to see her…and get some rest. At the end of the trip my remaining Bucket Lists had the following left to go:
--USA Top 100 EVER—4
--Golf Week 100+100 EVER—46
--World Top 100 EVER—2
--Men’s Major Venues EVER—1
--US Senior Open Venues EVER—1
--US Women’s Open Venues EVER—9
Next stop--out west on the way to Australia and Japan.
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