48. Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Sweden May 16-28, 2016 (Part II)

Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Sweden May 16-28, 2016 (Part II)

            

The Belfry—The Brabazon Course, May 21, 2016:  I arrived at my hotel about 15 miles from The Belfry just past midnight on Saturday May 21, but was not scheduled to play until 1:20PM so could sleep in a little.  However, the weather forecast for Saturday was looking very wet, so needed some luck (again!).

Saturday morning it was heavily overcast but not raining (yet).  Figured I should get over to The Belfry…perhaps they would have some weather cancellations (even though these Englishmen go swimming when the temperature hits 55) and I could get off early.  Well, I got lucky.  Got over there and there was an opening at 11:10am, so I grabbed it…and later was very glad that I did. 

Most of you will remember the Belfry as the site of the 1985, 1989, 1993, and 2002 Ryder Cup Matches.  It was at the 1985 Match that the USA lost for the first time since 1957 (and only the 2^nd time since 1933 and the third time overall)…and then of course the floodgates opened!  By the way, since Brexit vote last night, I haven’t heard one word about whether the Euro’s will allow the Brits to play on their team.

Frankly I was not expecting a great golf course, and while I would not describe The Brabazon as great, I was actually pleasantly surprised…i.e., not as bad as expected.  The famous 10^th hole is very very interesting and a fabulous match play hole.  You will recall that it is a short downhill drivable par 4 with a narrow green with water front and left.  It was much more downhill than I remembered (TV always “flattens” the landscape)---see picture below.  

#10 at Belfry...tee shot should be further left

Other good holes are #6 and #15.  From the back plays to 7255 yards (par 72) and never made (or in my opinion deserved to make) a World 100 list.  But when all is said and done, when compared to the extensive collection of fabulous links and heathland courses throughout the British Isles, the influence of $$ in site selection becomes clear.  For sure, it was The Belfry that started this trend.  Prior to 1985, and certainly since 1960, The Ryder Cup was always played on great courses in GB.  Quite frankly, starting in 1985, there have been 16 matches played or announced (at 13 venues) in Europe…and only one of these venues (and as of today I have played them all), Valderrama in Spain, has ever been considered a World Top 100 candidate.  On the other hand…the European Tour (which owns/controls the European Ryder Cup matches) needs the cash it generates to support their regular tour events.  The European Tour might well collapse without the Ryder Cup.  Of course, the Europeans always criticize the US for being “too commercial”!!!

Anyhow, four slow foursomes waved me through on the front nine and I finished the round in about 3:15 (was held up on the back nine).  Good thing.  By the time I said thanks to the staff and loaded my car, it had started to pour.  Had a 41-44 = 85. 

One other thought…it definitely feels like a “golf factory”, but it is a well run factory!

Had a 104 mile drive to Celtic Manor (speaking of not great Ryder Cup courses) which took almost 2 hours in heavy rain.  Had been lucky today, but scheduled for 36 Sunday with another ugly forecast.

Celtic Manor—2010 Course, May 22, 2016:  Celtic Manor is a large luxurious resort located in Wales, about 10-15 miles east of Cardiff.  Of course, the great course in Wales is Royal Porthcawl (Pat and I were rained out their in June 2015).  I played it once back in 1981 and would love to play it again…but right now I am still a prisoner of my Bucket Lists…my freedom may be just over the horizon.

Celtic Manor has two hotels, the luxurious (and expensive) Celtic-Manor, and the cheapo (relatively) Coldra Court.  I of course stayed in the latter.  This was an important stop on the trip, as it was the only hotel where I was to stay two nights, so it was time to get the laundry done!

Site of the 2010 Ryder Cup (won by Europe), 2010 stretches to 7493 yards cut through very hilly countryside.  The words that come to mind when describing 2010 are big, long, tough and overdone. 

My tee time was late in the morning (10:50) and then I had to go over and play St. Pierre-Old at 5pm (sunset was to be at around 10pm).  I played with an American from Minnesota and his son.  Was an enjoyable round but the tough slog.  As a result of the rains over the prior 2-3 days, the course was very wet and carts were restricted to cartpaths…was a long tough walk. 

In summary, good to have this in the rear view mirror!!

St. Pierre Golf Club—Old Course, May 22, 2016:  The Old Course at St. Pierre is now associated with the Marriott Hotel located in the old castle.  This is the second Marriott hotel facility I have played within three weeks, having played Dalmahoy near Edinburgh, Scotland on May 1.  Dalmahoy had hosted the 1992 Solheim Cup and St. Pierre hosted both the 1980 Curtis Cup and the 1996 Solheim Cup (your hard working writer has checked and believes no one played as an amateur in the Curtis cup and then as a pro in the Solheim Cup for either side…although marriage related name change could have affected my research). 

This is a good if somewhat tight (needs some tree pruning) parkland course.  From the back plays 7028 yards and offers a good variety of holes.  After firing a smooth 90 at Celtic Manor, it was giood to hit the ball well again here and have a 39-41 = 80 here.  I was zipping around the course (lots of weather cancellations) when a downpour hit when I was near the 13the green…followed by a sharp crack of thunder.  I quickly got back to the clubhouse, and waited out the 10-15 minute long downpour.  In all my time in British Isles (my guess is 150+ days at least) this was only the second thunderstorm I have ever witnessed (the first being at the 1981 Open Championship at Royal St George’s).  When I got back out on the course, I was able to play the last 5 holes very quickly…which proved fortuitous as it started raining hard again about 5 minutes after I was in my car.

           

Certainly not a great course but a good parkland track.  To my mind, much more enjoyable than Celtic Manor but obviously not close to the same league as Royal Porthcawl.

Back to my hotel for dinner.  Have a busy but exciting week ahead…playing three very highly regarded old traditional courses in England and looking forward to that!!

47. Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Sweden May 16-28, 2016

Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Sweden May 16-28, 2016

This looked to be a tough trip.  From May 17-27, a span of 11 days, my itinerary called for 16.5 rounds on 16.5 courses (one of which was a nine holer and proved to be the best of the lot), plus 6 flights within between Great Britain and Ireland, France and Sweden (actually Copenhagen, Denmark), and some 1000-1200 miles of driving.  I was working three bucket lists on this journey, the Top World 100 EVER, MacWood Spoof, and Cups EVER.  The first two were far more important to me and if I got tired, I planned cut back on the Cups EVER courses.

Here is where I stood at the start of this trip, and my plan for this trip:

            Top 100 EVER—had 5 left and itinerary included 2 of these 5

            MacWood Spoof—had 7 left and itinerary included 6 of these 7

            Cups Ever—had 19 left (9 US; 10 Europe); itinerary included all 10 Europe

Note—Alwoodley was on both Top 100 Ever and MacWood

I ended up playing all 17 courses (including the one 9 holer)…and have decided to make this my last major major trip.  I will still travel, but will not squeeze in courses to such a tight schedule.

The afternoon of Monday May 16, my darling Pat dropped me off at Logan airport for my Boston to Dublin overnight flight, connecting to a Dublin to Manchester, England flight.  Flights went smoothly and late the next morning I was driving about 50 miles west to England’s west coast.

Southport & Ainsdale GC, May 17, 2016: S&A, a true links test, hosted two Ryder Cups (1933 and ’37).  Although separated by 4 years, because the Ryder Cup is held every two years and rotates between the US and British Isles (now Europe) these were “consecutive” events.  S&A sits on a wonderful piece of linksland which runs along the Merseyland coast from Royal Liverpool to the South and also includes Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Formby, and Hillside.  The club started as a 9 holer at another location in 1906 and then to its present location a few years later.  In 1923 James Braid completed a major redesign.  Many shots are played between large towering sand dunes.  The course has its share of blind shots and like most links courses, requires several rounds before the player has a good understanding of how to approach the greens.  I was tired from my trip and my focus certainly could have been better.  Played with two members (Paul R., who had lived and worked in the Boston area for about 10 years., and Allan ?).

After the round, I faced a 90 mile drive to Leeds and Paul R. suggested that I leave as soon as possible to avoid Manchester’s rush hour traffic.  As I was driving on the “ring road” motorway around Manchester in the far left lane, a car in the lane to my right suddenly edged close to and into my lane.  To avoid that car, I pulled left, but due to construction there was no shoulder at this point, just a barricade, which I side swiped (creating a rather sickening loud bang).  There was a service area about 200 yards up the motorway where I stopped to examine the damage.  While the car suffered no mechanical damage, the sheet metal and wheels on its left side were definitely scratched.  In the commotion of the accident, I did not get the license plate # for the other car and that driver may not have even noticed what happened.  Very fortunately, no injuries, no serious damages, and my car was very drivable.  I reported the accident and the insurance is still being sorted out.

I finally arrived at my hotel in Leeds and looked forward to a night of sleep in a real bed.  I faced 36 holes the next day at Alwoodley GC and Moortown GC, which lie across the street from one another.

Alwoodley GC May 18, 2016:  Alwoodley was founded in 1n 1907, with a local GP, Dr. Alister MacKenzie as one of the Founding Members and the Club’s first Hon. Secretary.  MacKenzie designed Alwoodley’s course, his first effort at course design.  The course was cut through acidic heathland and winds through outcroppings of heather and gorse.  One prominent feature of the land is “rigs and furrows” (akin to small waves) that were created by medieval farming practices on the land over many many decades.  The course has many of the trademarks of a MacKenzie track…heather “eyebrows” on top of bunker front edges, bunkers totally hidden when looking at the hole “backwards” (from green to tee), large greens with vexing subtle breaks, and wide fairways offering a variety of options and angles into the greens.  The par 5 8^th hole, which doglegs left to a wonderful green to my mind has a feel very much like Royal Melbourne West’s hole #2.

Shortly after the course was completed, the club sought the opinion of one of Britain’s (and the world’s) finest architects, Harry Colt.  Colt was so impressed by MacKenzie’s work that he later hired MacKenzie into his partnership.

Alwoodley has changed little over the years, and in fact in 1928 it leased extra land to allow the 10^th green to be extended back some 40 yards…just as MacKenzie had proposed in 1914.

Unfortunately, I played it on a heavily overcast day with rain hitting us on about 4 or 5 holes.  But I had the distinct honor of playing with Anthony B., the Club’s current Chairman and a true gentleman. 

Best holes on the course are probably the aforementioned #8,  #10 (235 yard par 3 with a deep bunker to the left, a grass hollow on the right, and a false front), #11 (179 uphill par 3 to heavily sloping green well guarded by bunkers and a false front), #17 (434 yard par 4 with menacing bunkers guarding both sides of fairway about 300 yards out, and a blind approach to a punch bowl green), and #18 (a very stout 484 yard par 4 into the prevailing wind and a fairway “littered” with 10 fairway bunkers). 

It is clear that over the past 25 years the club has had a program to upgrade the course and the other facilities to bring Alwoodley back to its historical greatness.  As part of a 20-25 year program to upgrade Alwoodley’s facilities, a new clubhouse was built and opened in 1995, provides a warm friendly atmosphere at what is clearly one of England’s finest clubs.  Additionally, new land has been acquired, tree cover thinned out, and bunkers and greens rebuilt. I only wish I had been able to experience it without the rain and the record breaking rains of this past winter that had raised the water table.

From the tips, Alwoodley plays to 6900 yards, par 70.  It is a mainstay on GB&I’s Top 50, and Golf Week (UK) had it as #88 on their 2011 World Top 100.  Because of the weather I am only guessing but that level feels right for 2011.  However, with the burst of great new courses in recent years, especially overseas, I think it will be difficult for Alwoodly to re-enter the World Top 100 ranks, except for listings focusing mainly on fun courses to “play every day”.  The MacWood Spoof list has such a focus and Alwoodley was posted at #91 there.

One last historical footnote… Alwoodley chose not to host the 1933 Ryder Cup Matches due to “lack of accommodation in the clubhouse.”

Moortown Golf Club, May 18, 2016:  After some drinks and snacks and meeting other members, it was time to go across the street and down the block to Moortown, MacKenzie’s second design and host to the first Ryder Cup Matches played on the "Eastern side" of the pond (1929).

This was to be a round played in rain for about 12 of the 18 holes, and standing water (again due to an unusually high water table) was prevalent in many places.  I was able to utilize a buggy, or certainly would not have finished the round. 

Given the conditions, it was difficult for me to evaluate the course.  Clouds were always threatening and I was hurrying to finish the round (played in 1:55), which turned out to be wise as it started to rain very hard about 10-15 minutes after I completed the round.  And I mentioned above, the unusually high water table resulted in lots of casual water on/in fairways, bunkers and greens.  The course has an excellent collection of long pars 4’s (six measuring 435-465 yards), but by far the best hole is its 10^th, a par 3 of 175 yards to a raised green guarded by deep bunkers front right and to the left and right of the green.  Word has it that the 10^th was the first hole that Dr. MacKenzie designed at Moortown and he succeeded in dispersing his 18 hole budget on this masterpiece hole.

From the tips Moortown is 6980 yards par 71 with the strong set of par 4’s offset by three relatively short par 5’s (488, 517 and 554 yards).  Good course, yes…great course, no.  Even adjusting for the weather conditions, I was clear to me that Alwoodley is the far superior course in this part of England.

After the round, I drove some 50 miles to Lindrick Golf Club, where I was scheduled to play early the next morning.  The good news on the drive was that the sky was showing signs of clearing.

Lindrick Golf Club, May 19, 2016:  A busy day ahead.  Was scheduled to play Lindrick at 8:00am, then drive to Manchester Airport (about 60 miles) and catch a flight to Paris.  I arrived early and teed off with a local member, Graham M., who has worked diligently to upgrade the historical records regarding Lindrick.

The Club was founded in 1891 and within 100 days of the initial meeting to form the club, a 9 hole courses had been laid out and was playable, and became a full 18 within 3 years.  From about 1912-16 Dr. MacKenzie was retained to help revise some of the course.  Other world-class architects to lend their hands and thoughts to the club include Harry Colt, Willie Park, Jr., William Fowler, and Tom Simpson.

Lindrick hosted the 1957 Ryder Cup, which was the only Ryder Cup Match won by GB&I after 1937 and before the European victory at The Belfry in 1985…so this club represents an “oasis” for GB&I golfers.  It also hosted the 1960 Curtis Club Matches.  Playing to 6606 yards (par 71) it is on the short side, but it is in excellent shape and today is utilized by members Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, and current Masters Champion Danny Willett when they are in the UK.

Probably in part because of the heavy rains in previous days, the course was far from firm and fast and seemed to be a nice course but not a great one.  In summary, certainly good but not great.  Ends with a strong par 3 of about 210 yards to a raised green and best hole probably 431-yard par 4 5^th with blind uphill drive and approach to a well guarded green.

After the round was running a little late (schedule was too tight) and had to pack up golf bag and get moving to Manchester airport (and possible delays due to car damage).  Flight was on time and took an Uber car to my hotel in Paris.

Les Bordes, May 20, 2016:  For the last almost two years as I looked to complete the “World Top 100 Ever”, it proved very difficult to gain access to two courses.  Going to play all the resy was not easy, but generally I was able to find a way on to these clubs (especially after I was invited to join the Golf Magazine panel).  Les Bordes in the Loire Valley of France and Ellerston about 150 miles north of Sydney Australia were the two real tough ones (one more in Canada was added by Golf Digest in January 2016...more on that in a later post). 

In December 2015 a good friend from Pinehurst (who lives in Toronto) Steve S. put me in touch with Richard W. who lives in Paris, and Richard played like Moses and the Red Sea.  Then in March, a game at Ellerston was arranged for late April by Ron L. of Hong Kong (see prior posts).  Having completed the round at Ellerston on April 26, I was anxious to get Les Bordes behind me and “in the bag.” 

Went to dinner the evening of May 19 with Richard and his wonderful bride, Annie at a local bistro.  Dinner was delicious and the company even better.  Richard is originally from PA and then the Midlands region of England and has had the golf bug almost as long as I.  Annie is from France and likes the game of golf but, like Pat (and unlike Richard and me), somehow keeps her enthusiasm under control. 

Early Friday morning, they picked me up at my hotel and we were off on the 1:30 drive south to Les Bordes.  We arrived at this phenomenally beautiful estate on time and the sights were amazing.  The estate encompasses some 1400 acres and the estate and golf course has been through a couple of ownership changes since the golf course was completed in 1986.  Designed by Robert von Hagge who apprenticed under Dick Wilson and is credited with well over 100 courses worldwide, Les Bordes is renowned for being both beautiful and very difficult.  It was initially built by the founder of Bic Pens (Baron Marcel Bich) and then later sold to a Japanese group who opened it up to play.  More recently, and English group bought out the Japanese and is restoring the club to its original very very exclusive nature (and perfect condition).

As I recall there were around 2000 rounds played there last year (pretty small number but like a NYC muni when compared w Ellerston).  We were (not surprisingly) the only golfers at Les Bordes that day.  And as you can see below, we were treated with great respect.

:-)

In every respect the place in visually beautiful…the clubhouse feels like it is 125 years old and is magnificent without being outrageous.  The golf course is beautiful as well although from an architectural standpoint I think it makes much too much use of water hazards and is a little too flat (but then again so it The Old Course).

Enough water??

The course stretches to 7053 yards (par 72) and water comes into play (for a class A player…so excluding 50-100 water carries off the tee) on 10 holes.  But the really tough part of this course is the rough…if you get 5 yards off a fairway you often find yourself (and frequently cannot find your ball) in 6-15” high rough, thereby dictating slashing it out with a wedge (if you find it) and eliminating the risk/reward choice and the possibility of a heroic recovery.  Yes, one of the world’s truly tough courses, but how many will want to play it more than once?

To give you a sense of just how tough a course Les Bordes is, the course record is 71 (by Jean van de Velde) and there is a board in the clubhouse listing all the players who have broken 80 from the back tees (see pic below…that is me pointing to the name of Fergal O’Leary, a friend from Boston…and the youngest ever to complete a GM World 100…who broke 80 there in September 2014.  Fortunately for the club, they did not have to incur the expense of adding my name to the board.

Moi pointing to Fergal's name...my board is in the sub-basement!

The club is in the process of constructing a number of townhouses they hope to sell to new members for not small $$ amounts.  I wish them the best, but have my doubts.  Am attaching some pictures of a spectacular home they have restored…I forget to inquire regarding price.

Just what I was looking for...

In terms of World 100, Les Bordes has been included on World 100’s published by top100golfcourses.co.uk (2006, 2011, and 2012), Rolex (both Editions), and UK GolfWeek (2010 and 2011) with the highest rating of #30 in UK GolfWeek in 2011.  I would suspect it might have made some other top 100 listings but was disqualified due to not satisfying minimal number of ratings criteria.  However, for what it is worth, this rater would not place it in a World 100.  It certainly is not the best course is France.  Morfontaine is superior in about every regard and frankly I would far prefer playing Chantilly, Le Touquet, and Chilberta.  Generous widening of the fairways, tree removal, and drastic rough height reduction is highly recommended by this rater.

After the round, we had a superb lunch and then had to run so that I could catch a late flight to England and make my way close to The Belfry.  The next few days would be very busy and probably very tiring.

46. NC-MA drive May 10-13, 2016

As I was way way behind, I posted a very brief catch-up to the Blog on May 28.  I am now trying to catch up, so the following post is for my drive north from NC to MA May 10-13.  After I post this, I will start describing in more detail my trip to GB&I, France, and Sweden May 16-28.

Drive North for the Summer…May 10-13, 2016

Each May, we head north to Milton, MA for the summer months (and then back south to Pinehurst in late September or early October).  The trip is about 800 miles each way. Almost always involves getting through some major construction projects, and includes at least two major bottlenecks…the cities of New York and Washington, DC.  Like many (or most) married couples, Pat and I can usually go about 50-100 miles driving together without getting on each other’s nerves, so these trips have never been the highlight of our marriage.  Additionally, she hates long drives in cars, and I view them as opportunities to play some new courses.  Finally, several years ago, we came up with the obvious solution that works for both of us…she flies and I drive (playing some golf along the way), thereby bringing peace back into the household!

Pat flew up to Boston on May 11, and I left early on May 10, finally arriving in Milton the afternoon of Friday, May 13.  My trip included 6 new courses for me, located in MD (1),  PA (2), NJ (2), and NY (1).  These trips with lots of driving do not leave much time for keeping up with this blog, so here I am a full five days after completing the journey drafting the write-up (and finishing it almost 4 weeks after the trip ended!).  Sorry folks, you get what you pay for…no apologies rendered.

Chevy Chase Club, May 10, 2016:  First day of the trip is the tough one.  It starts with a drive of about 360 miles from Pinehurst to the MD suburbs of Washington.  CCC has been one of Washington DC’s more venerable and waspy institutions for most of its 124 years (founded in 1892 originally as a riding and hunt club on some 40 acres).  Donald Ross was hired to design a golf course around 1910 and over the years the course has been renovated by the likes of Harry Colt/Charles Alison (1924), Robert Trent Jones (1948) and Arthur Hills (1990).  The club today is very active and its facilities include a heavily used hockey rink, 8 duck pin bowling alleys, 21 tennis courts, 3 swimming pools, and 7 paddle tennis courts.  Upon arrival at the club, I needed directions to the golf bag drop area, and asked a woman member, who was very helpful, but shockingly was wearing jeans…attire that historically was banned from institutions like CCC.  Times change, and CCC has lightened up in an effort to become more relevant to the younger generations…or has lost its way trying to deal with the younger set, depending on your view of these things.

Through all the architectural changes, the influence of Donald Ross is the most prevalent.  Today, modern equipment has reduced the effective length of this land locked course, which once was feared for its long par 4’s.  The greens, with sharp large sweeping slopes remain the course’s main line of defense…and they can be very difficult to putt if you end up above the hole.  I played it with Mitch R, a second generation member of CCC and more recently the latest member of the “Golf Magazine Top 100 Club”, having recently completed the 2007 list (thereby earning the title of “Mr. 31”…yours truly has the title of “Mr. 25”).  Mitch completed his feat without being a “rater” and that would be a tough tough task…kudos for that!  He is now trying to figure out what golf course challenges to take on at this point and seems to have more wisdom that moi in terms of keeping his tasks to a more manageable size.

Overall I liked CCC, although it appears that the 1990 Arthur Hills renovation pushed too hard to move par from 69 to 70 (total yardage today is 6918 from the tips) by converting a long par 4 to the now 481 yard par 5 10^th…a hole that is way too short to be a par 5 in today’s world, and more importantly, does not architecturally “fit” with the other 17 holes.  It was in excellent shape, and we were very lucky…the rain forecast for the day consisted of just two 5-10 minute light showers.   In sum, not a World or USA Top 100, but a course you could happily play every day.

We finished the round about 4:30, and Mitch gave me a tour of CCC’s impressive facilities while I waited out DC’s rush hour.  Finally around 6:30 I headed north to the Bethlehem/Allentown area of PA (about 50 miles north of Philadelphia).  I was lucky with the traffic and got to my hotel around 9:30pm. A long day…and 36 holes on the program for both Wednesday and Thursday!

Saucon Valley Country Club—Weyhill, May 11, 2016:  Saucon Valley CC, located near Bethlehem PA includes three championship courses and had played host to seven USGA Championships.  I first played the Grace Course in 1980, the Old Course in 2014, and now the Weyhill, located on an old farm adjoining SVCC’s original campus.  It was completed in 1968 and designed by William and David Gordon (who also designed the Grace Course) and subsequently renovated by Tom Fazio in 2010.  Today it stretches to 7099 yards. 

In terms of Top 100’s, the Grace Course was included in the GM World Top 100 in 1985,’87 and ’91, peaking at #83 in 1987.  Weyhill has not made a USA Top 100 list but is now #176 on the GW merged Top 100 (as a result of its position on GW’s Top 100 Modern list).  Both Grace and Old were formally included on a variety of USA Top 100 lists, with Grace peaking within the 31-40 bracket on Golf Digest in the 1970’s through 1983.

Weyhill a very good course and in excellent condition, but to my mind, like many Fazio tracks seems to lack that “something special” to place it among the greats.  Best hole by far is #13…a 393 yard sharp dogleg right par four, with a “reverse camber” fairway slope and an elevated very small green.  The back nine includes several holes around and near a large rock quarry that I believe created a real architectural challenge.  Hole #15 in particular (a 419 yard narrow par 4 to a severely elevated green) seems to be contorted to fit a difficult piece of land.

In summary, another “good but not great course”. 

Country Club of Scranton, May 11, 2016: Was well ahead of schedule leaving Weyhill but figured maybe I can get off Scranton’s first tee early and get to Melissa and Steve L’s in NJ at a reasonable time.  Got caught in traffic on the way and almost turned around and said forget about it…that would have been a huge mistake. 

The Clubhouse at Scranton is very simple and sits on top of a big hill overlooking the entire course.  Holes #1 and 10 head straight downhill from the clubhouse, and, you guessed it, #9 and #18 head straight uphill…and that was the last predictable thing about this fabulous track.

The head pro, Mike Molino, is new to his job and clearly loves it.  He is a very nice guy and justifiably proud of his club and course.  It is a Walter Travis gem, originally constructed in 1927.  In 1988 a third nine, designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan opened for play.  I played the Travis 18.

Before I teed off, Mike introduced me to Greg Boring (you can’t make up that name…I told him my wife would think he was a long lost cousin of mine) the head Greenskeeper.  Greg had apprenticed at Oakmont previously and has led and overseen a huge transformation at Scranton.  Over 3000 trees have been removed, opening up spectacular vistas, allowing air to circulate, and the sun to reach the turf a higher % of time…resulting in a firm and fast course that is a joy to play, a challenge to score on, and a course that brings out the true brilliance of Walter Travis’ design features.  By the way, in case you didn’t notice, I loved this track.

Better bring you ground game here…flying it to the pin will leave you behind the pin and possibly green with a straight downhill chip or putt that you will not be able to control.  And you better start thinking about the contours around the green when you are hitting an approach from either 100 or 190 yards.  Excellent practice for my up and coming trip to GB&I.

Here are a few pictures that may give you a “sense”.  There are two from where my 2^nd shot ended up on the downhill par 4 406 yard 10^th hole…just to the left of the green on a tight tight lie with a big mound between me and the pin, all of 30’ away.  I played two balls from here and ended up with 6’s on both!!  

Lying here in 2 on #10, it took me four shots to get down (and another 4 shots when I gave it another try!!)...from about 30'.

There is also a shot from the 18^th tee looking at the back right of the 10^th green…take a look at the mounding that has been exposed…simply brilliant.  

Back right of 10th greek (from 18th tee)...look at the terrain...and creek about 25 yards over.

There is also a shot of the 248 yard par 3 17^th…I did par this but from a very different tee.

248 yard 17th (par 3)

Go play this track…it is simply wonderful and getting better as Greg Boring continues his fabulous respiration work.  And a very active membership…great to see.

By the way, turns out that Ran Morrissett was here the day before…playing it with Joe A (the Golf Magazine rater who Pat and I saw at LAX in early February on our way to Aus/NZ).  Turns out Joe is originally from the Scranton area and is a member.

After the round it was back on the road and headed to Steve L’s house in NJ.  Was good to catch up, even if both of us had to suffer through listening to the other!!  For sure I got the worst of that deal.  J.  Steve’s bride Melissa and their daughters Sydney and Whitney brought some sanity to the evening.

Mountain Ridge Country Club May 12, 2016:  Mountain Ridge is one of the truly great designs and clubs in New Jersey.  Opened in 1929, this Donald Ross design features a fabulous set of Donald Ross greens.  It stretches to 7122 yards (par 71) and flies well under the radar…assiduously avoiding the spotlight.  The playing conditions were close to perfect, and trust me you do not want to be above the hole anyplace near these greens. 

Mountain Ridge’s clubhouse dominates the property and is a beautiful old Tudor that in many ways reminded me (both inside and out) of CC of Detroit located in Grosse Point MI.  The clubhouse sits high on a hill and overlooks the entire course.  In another way, Mountain Ridge reminded me of another great Donald Ross design, Oakland Hills-South.  I believe both courses have some of the finest green complexes and bunkering in the game, but that in both cases, have been “tightened” and “narrowed” and have lost some their original strategic design elements.  In the case of OHCC, this was done by RT Jones, Sr. and resulted in the “Monster” tag for the 1951 US Open (won by Ben Hogan) which has been its calling card ever since.  In the case of MRCC, the narrowness is obvious from examining Ross’s original hole-by-hole blueprints hanging in the clubhouse.  The original design featured fairways that generally ranged from 50-60+ yards wide (this is clearly obvious from the scaling and grid overlaid on the blueprints)…while today’s fairways are generally 30-35 yards wide.  When combined with tough rough and many trees, angles created by Ross’ original design become much more limited and less interesting, and in many cases, a heroic recovery option is not available.

Correcting this would be easy and make these courses more fun, just as tough as now, and much more interesting…at least in the eyes of this observer.  And I think it would give both OHCC and MRCC a big boost in Top 100 ratings.  MRCC has only appeared in GolfWeek’s USA Top 100 Classic course list. Peaking at #91 in 2004 and reappearing in the mid 90’s from 2012-14 (it has never made the GW merged Top 100…only the Classic Top 100).

Observant followers of this Blog will recall that Pat and I were originally scheduled to play MRCC on April 9 of this year…but cancelled due to very cold and wet weather.  Glad I finally got to play it, and only wish it could be brought to its true brilliant potential.

Liberty National Golf Club, May 12, 2016:  You may recall that Liberty National hosted the one of the PGA Tour Federal Express playoff championship events about 5 years ago.  At the time, this Tom Kite design (which was built over a former toxic waste dump) was severely criticized by members of the Tour.  One unnamed player was quoted as saying “…you mean they ruined a perfectly good toxic waste dump to build this?... (ouch).  Having heard that major improvements had been made and with the course scheduled to host the Presidents Cup in 2017, I put it on my schedule.  I will be brief and simply say that the views of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, and Lower Manhattan (see pic) 

View of Lower Manhattan from Liberty National GC

are spectacular, and the head pro (Steve Napoli, originally from Newport, RI) is a wonderful guy.  Other than those, I can think of no redeeming factors.  I am not sure what they “fixed”, but today’s product wouldn’t be in my Top 1000!!!.  If this thing ever makes a Top 100, those listings from that publication will be immediately be removed from my spreadsheet.  Oh, and btw, the views from Bayonne GC are better.  Enough said.

Whippoorwill Club May 13, 2016:  Ahhh…a fun golf course again!!  For some reason, I had never played Whippoorwill even though I knew some members and it is only about 10 miles from Quaker Ridge.  Built on VERY hilly terrain, this relatively short (6636 yard par 71) course is simply fun to play.  Designed by Donald Ross and Charles Banks (Seth Raynor’s protégé) it shows much more Banks than Ross influence today.  It was special to play it and catch up regarding old friends who belonged (including a couple who are among our closest friends in Pinehurst), as well as the head pro, Jim Wahl, whom I knew from when he was an assistant pro at Quaker Ridge in the 1990’s.  Whippoorwill has never made the GD, GM, or GW merged USA Top 100, but has consistently been included in the GW USA Top 100 Classic annual list from 2003-2016, ranging from #73 to #94 (and currently is #83 on the 2016 list).  I think that level is about right as this is a difficult piece of land for a golf course, but an excellent example of what a wonderful architect can accomplish with substandard land.  Best hole is #8, an excellent Biarritz (see pic), and best stretch of holes is #4-9.

#8 Biarritz 188 yards

That afternoon I drove home to our Milton condo.  Pat had flown up the day before and it was wonderful to reunite.  I was tired…and we were scheduled to leave for Europe in about four days.  Can’t wait to get these Bucket Lists done!!