Rest of 2017…North Carolina
and South Carolina
From about November 5 to
December 15 Pat and I were been hunkered down in North and South Carolina, with
golf sprinkled through our schedules.
Jason Mills, the First
Assistant Professional at Brookline joined us to play in CCNC’s Member-Pro
event November 10-11. Both Cardinal and
Dogwood are now in the best shape since I joined the club almost 20 years
ago. The greens are true and lightning
fast (about 12.5’ on stimp) and the fairways are playing fast and firm as
well. Dogwood’s greens might have been
too firm 3-6 weeks ago (not unusual with new Bermuda greens) but now are
receptive to a well-hit approach (but not a mis-hit). I will write up the key courses I played
since November 9, but be fairly brief on courses I have written up before.
Starmount Forest Country
Club, November 15, 2017: Located in Greensboro, NC, Starmount opened
in 1930 on 18 holes designed by Wayne Stiles and John Van Cleek. This partnership also designed Norwood
Hills-West (MO) (see Blog Post #103), Gulph Mills (PA), Prouts Neck CC (ME),
and some 35 courses in MA (including Putterham, the municipal course that abuts
Brookline).
Starmount hosted the 1947 US
Women’s Open and between 1938 and 1960, the Greater Greensboro Open 15 times
(including 4 of Sam Snead’s victories at the GGO). Today it totals 6728 yards (par 71) from the
tips and is a classic example of a PGA Tour course that today is simply too
short for today’s Tour players, but is an very good course for most
amateurs. The greens are very
interesting and difficult at today’s speeds, and the course is built on
excellent terrain. It has never been on
a USA Top 100.
I played Starmount with Hayes
H., who is another Golf Magazine Panelist and is from Greensboro. My game was poor at best and I posted 42 – 44
= 86. Was scheduled to play Pinehurst #2
the next day and if I play like this I might not finish.
Pinehurst #2, November 16,
2017: The Pinehurst Resort was founded by a soda
fountain magnate named James Tufts in 1895.
He stepped of his Florida àBoston train in nearby
Southern Pines and fell in love with the dry, crisp environment, and purchased
some 5500 acres. Later that year he opened
the Holly Inn and encouraged his New England friends to built vacation cottages
in the area. The Village of Pinehurst
was incorporated shortly thereafter.
During the Resort’s first
full year, Tufts noticed than many guests were bringing their own golf clubs
and shag bags to Pinehurst and hitting balls in open fields; as a result, he
decided to build a golf course (which became Pinehurst #1). Back in Boston, he was introduced to Donald
Ross, by then the professional at Oakley CC in Watertown, MA. Ross was born in Dornoch, Scotland and
immigrated to the USA in 1898 or 1899. Tufts
talked Ross into designing a golf course for him at the resort…which turned out
to be the world famous Pinehurst #2. Ross
ended up creating three of Pinehurst’s initial five courses (#2, #3, and #4) as
well as renovating Pinehurst #1, and throughout the USA and Canada his
architectural and construction firm is credited with designing or revising some
425 different courses. While a few of
these credits may not be appropriate (see fascinating WSJ article regarding
Bloomfield Hills CC, north of Detroit at https://www.wsj.com/articles/country-clubs-dig-up-their-golf-histories-1386994516) his trail of glory is
impressive to say the very least (e.g., Seminole, Oakland Hills, Aronomink,
Inverness, and #2).
Seeing some of these 425
courses, some say Ross simply did one-day look-sees at many of his designs
leaving the rest of the work to his subordinates without much hands-on
supervision. However, poor current
conditions may be more a function of inadequate routine maintenance than
initial design. In any case, Ross clearly had his favorites, including the
brilliant Essex County Club in MA, where he redesigned the original nine holes
and built an additional 9 starting between 1908 and 1917…and lived in a house
off the current 15th tee. But
it is doubtful that Ross spent more time nurturing any course more than #2,
where his home overlooked the 3rd and 5th greens until he
passed away in 1948.
Pinehurst eventually became
the “home” of American golf (with #2 as the centerpiece)…not exactly like St.
Andrews is in Scotland, but as close as we upstarts could manage! Since opening in 1907, it has hosted and will host:
·
The
North and South Open, 1902-1951
·
The
North and South Men’s Amateur, 1901-today
·
The
North and South Women’s Amateur, 1903-today
·
The
PGA Championship, 1936
·
The
Ryder Cup, 1951
·
The
PGA Tour’s Tour Championship, 1991-92
·
The
US Open Championship, 1999, 2005, 2014, 2024
·
The
US Senior Open Championship, 1994
·
The
US Women’s Open Championship, 2014
·
The
US Amateur Championship, 1962, 2008, 2019
·
The
US Women’s Amateur Championship, 1989.
In 2014 it stretched out to
7562 yards (par 70) for the US Open. After
a masterful renovation by Coore-Crenshaw completed in 2011, it is back to Ross’
original “look” and “feel”…wide open with critical angles, no rough, sandy
waste areas, and turtlebacked greens with sharp falloffs to tight lies on all
four sides. When I first played #2 in
April 1971, it looked this way. The
Tufts family had sold the resort in 1970 to a company controlled by shipping
magnate Malcolm McLean. By late 1971
they were busy installing deep rough and narrowing the fairways, almost killing
the majestic design. Fortunately they
left most of the greens and their surrounding areas untouched. The Coore-Crenshaw renovation IMO has been a
huge success. I first played the redesigned
#2 in May 2011, about two months after its reopening and distinctly recall seeing
“flashbacks” to the course I remembered from 1971 after playing holes 1&2.
World Top 100 rating have
improved since the renovation on Top100golfcourses.com and PlanetGolf but not
moved much on Golf Magazine. Current
World ratings for #2 are #18 on GM, #63 (??) on Golf Digest, #32 on PlanetGolf
and #25 on Top100golfcourses.com.
Current USA ratings are #10 on GM, #30 (??) on GD, #18 on the merged
GolfWeek list, and #15 on “Top100” website.
I was playing #2 this day
with Simon Holt, who good readers of this blog will recall from our visits to
St Andrews and North Berwick in September (Post #100). Simon was “on tour” (as he works toward
completing a GM World Top 100 listing) for about 7-10 days in FL, SC, NC, and
NY and stayed with us the night before our round. Pat and I absolutely loved
catching up with him, and the round on #2 was my first chance to play 18 with
him. The course was in wonderful
condition, firm and fast from tees thru greens.
As noted above, #2 is very long (although we obviously did not play the
back tees), but the fairways look quite wide.
However, while firm/fast conditions shorten courses, they also result in
some shots running through fairways into waste areas. And #2’s infamous “turtleback” greens
consistently reject shots hit from the wrong angle or not crisply enough. I ended up with a poorly played 44-43 = 87 caused
mostly by not respecting #2 enough. Good
scores are available on #2…but not by going after it and not thinking clearly
and decisively. Taking 4 to get down
from just off holes 2 and 14 was not helpful…but the birdie on #13 (4-utility
to kick in putt) felt great.
After the round Simon headed
up to New York and played Winged Foot East with a high temp of about 45F,
steady winds of 17mph and gusts up to 30mph!!
Then he headed back to the warmth of Scotland!
One last point on #2…a friend
of mine who is in Pinehurst part time and recently joint a Top 100 Panel told
me he thought #2 might be the most “playable” of USA’s great courses for the
average player. I think he is right on
in a “relative” sense. #2 will be tough
for most average players, but a smart average player can absolutely score well
by laying up short of the greens…leaving a good angle into the pin
location. A good player will be hitting
longer irons into some very difficult pins…and little misses here when one is
“going for it” can be disastrous.
Interesting observation on his part!
Old Town Club, November 17,
2017: Located in the heart of Winston-Salem, NC,
OTC is a brilliant 1939 design by Perry Maxwell. I first played OTC in the summer of 2006 in
my third attempt (all failed but at least in the first two I came close) to
qualify for the US Senior Amateur. In
2013, Coore and Crenshaw returned to allow OTC to highlight the wonderful
design features presented by Maxwell and I have been fortunate to have been
able to play OTC every year starting in 2013 (see my Post #65 regarding the
2016 visit).
I went up there with John
Hill (CCNC, Toronto Golf, and Chechessee) and for the first time we were able
to play with Dunlop White III, who “led the charge” to renovate OTC. Said “charge” proved to be highly successful
but was a tough sell and highly controversial initially.
The fairways were firm and
fast and the greens were simply firm and lightening
fast…even to the point of being too fast as the front left pin on #7 had to
be moved in the middle of the day! This is the fall season, when bent grass greens can get out of control very easily!
Since
the invention of the stimpmeter golfers have focused on the stimpmeter
readings…forgetting that these represent the ball’s roll out distance on a flat
green. Experiments have shown that with
a stimp reading of 7.5’ the roll out downhill as a function of green slope is
as follows:
Slope Downhill Roll
o
Flat 7.5’
o
0.5% 8.0’
o
1.3% 9.5’
o
2.1% 10.5’
o
4.4% 17.7’
o
5.6% 22.8’
So just think what happened
with a green with 4.4% slope and greens stimping at 12 (answer…something like 28+
feet of roll out )! The introduction of
new hybrid strains of both Bent and Bermuda grasses have enabled courses to
substantially increase the speeds of their greens…but many times this requires
that the greens be re-sloped to accommodate these speeds. If my recollection is correct, the infamous
par 3 10th green at Winged Foot West has been de-lofted either 2 or
3 times in the past 50 years.
I was pleased to see that
Coore continues to “nurture” his work at OTC (which he knows well from his days
at Wake Forest U next door), including removal of trees behind #14 green. Wholesale changes to courses are dangerous as
mistakes are difficult to undo. If an
important tree is removed, it takes decades to replace. But “working the project” incrementally,
while taking more time, is often superior in the long run. The same is true of new courses…they need to
evolve to see in which direction the owners want to take it.
 |
| View of "hollow" short of 16 green (green being trees in distance). Do not be "just short" or "just right" on 16 approach. View from 13th fairway. |
There is lots I can comment
on regarding OTC…but most was covered in Post #63. One new fact is that it made the GM World 100
for the first time this year at #76…and it is rapidly rising on USA Top 100’s
including the GW Merged (now #33), GM (now #59), and Top100 website (now
#36). Solid, well earned performance.
My game was simply awful
44-45 = 89 but performances like that can assist cash flow over time!
Chechessee Creek Club,
November 21-22, 2017: We spent the Thanksgiving week in South
Carolina mostly at Chechessee Creek for the sixth straight year. Since first playing CCC in March 2011, I have
played it 23 times on 8 trips (see Blog Post #65). Pat has been on every trip and logged 17.5
rounds…and it still gives both of us fits!
My game was so so at CCC,
shooting an 86 and an 83. Hit a good
number of quality shots but continue to be plagued by mental errors. Frustrating game but wonderful club.
Congaree Club, November 24,
2017: I first learned of Congaree about a year ago
when someone directed me to an article in Forbes. At the time it had not opened but
construction was almost complete. The
concept behind Congaree is basically philanthropic and explained better than I
could in the following articles from Forbes
and Links Magazine:
https://www.linksmagazine.com/congaree-a-south-carolina-golf-club-with-a-mission/
I will be brief as I try to
add to what is said in these articles.
First and foremost, I am convinced the founders of Congaree are 1000%
serious about the importance of philanthropy in their efforts. They face a tough tough task but are giving
it a hell of a shot. I put one of
Congaree’s Managing Partners, John McNeeley, together with a Pinehurst friend
who 20 years ago founded a highly successful New England venture with a similar
goal (but much smaller financial resources) and my Pinehurst friend came away
from their conversation highly impressed.
Second, the club is simply
world class. The service and food are as
good or better than I have experienced at literally every other club I have
ever visited. Many of the people at
Conaree are associated with Diamond Creek Golf Club in NC. In fact it reminded me of Pinehurst’s
relationship with Roaring Gap Golf Club.
About 20 years after golf got started in Pinehurst, Donald Ross designed
Roaring Gap in the mountains just west of Winston-Salem. In those days, Pinehurst would close down for
the summer, and a number of members of Pinehurst would move to Roaring Gap for
the summer months…and much of the staff would journey by bus to Roaring Gap to
work the summer months there.
The golf course is
wonderful…firm and fast, very tough but fair, fun and playable, and with much
more interesting terrain than one would expect in this part of SC. But like all great tracks, be careful when
you go “hunting”…small misses to tight spots at the wrong moment can pay a
heavy penalty (too far right on par 4 8th and the ball will roll
some 50-60 yards further right and end up about 40 feet below the green’s
surface…but there are plenty of opinions that will allow you to play #8 safely,
just that you’ll have to play a great up and down to par it). The conditioning
is ridiculous…one could literally eat off the fairways! The course reminded me of Tiger Woods’
Bluejack National NW of Houston…and that is meant as a high compliment for
both.
Third, my game came back like
dormant Bermuda grass in the warmth of springtime! I started with a good drive on #1 and dumped
a 7-iron into a tough bunker…totally shortsided with a green sloping away from
me…and then proceeded to hole out for a birdie.
 |
| 1st green in distance; my 7 iron was already short sided in front right bunker...and I soon canned the bunker shot |
Suffice it to say that I played the front in even par 36, with 15 putts
(including 2 3-putt greens), 7 pars, 1 bird, and 1 bogey. Canning the bunker shot on #1 and then a 60’
putt for par on #7 did help a bit! And
reached the par 5 4th in two…first time did that in too long to
remember (but that was one of my 3 putts).
 |
| Par 5 2nd from tee...gorgeous hole and very surprising elevation for "low country" |
 |
| Short par 4 15th...safe play off tee to right...but then you have to clear bunker on right front of green |
As you might have guessed, my
ugly twin showed up for the back nine and he had a 44…but we’ll take an 80 here
almost any time! And, the good news is
that I could not post it for handicap purposes as the course has yet to be
rated for handicap purposes.
Pat and I and four others
played and loved it. It is a great
experience and a wonderful venture.
 |
| Location of "dog cemetery" dating back to plantation days! |
Eagle Point Golf Club,
November 30, 2017: An old friend from Quaker Ridge, Michael F.,
introduced me via email to Gordon D., a fellow GM panelist who runs a very
large golf travel agency and lives in Wilmington, NC. We traded emails, agreed to some home and
home golf, and started at his club in Wilmington, Eagle Point GC, a Tom Fazio
design completed in 2000. I had played
Eagle Point once in 2006 with an old friend from Citibank, Barry B. Gordon set up a game with a client of his, a
friend of his from EPGC, himself and me.
I had a 2:45 hour drive each way and had to leave around 8:15 for lunch
at 11:45 and golf thereafter. The drive
went smoothly and I warmed up hitting some balls at EPGC’s outstanding driving
range.
Unfortunately for you the
reader this brings me to a related topic that I would like to briefly
discuss…practice facilities. Those of
you who have been playing this silly game for less than 10 years or so might
think that golf courses always had 100+ yard wide, 325 yard deep ranges for
full shots (stocked of course with virtually new practice balls…Pro V1’s at
very exclusive clubs), several short game areas to practice long/short bunker
shots, pitch shots, running chip shots, etc., and large practice greens
manicured to replicate green conditions on the course itself. If you do think that, you probably also
believe the internet has been available for at least 75 years, with today’s
speeds and breadth. I’m here to tell you
it just ain’t so.
Courses built before about
1920 rarely had an area dedicated to practice (other than a practice
green). Golfers prior to the Bobby Jones
era simply did not practice or “warm-up”. If you want to see prove of this assertion, I
suggest that you visit some of the finest clubs in the USA, including Winged
Foot (170 yard deep range with mats sandwiched into a triangular area to the
right of the first tee of West’s #1), Quaker Ridge (simply no dedicated
practice area), National Golf Links of America (nothing but a hitting net until
some 20-30 years ago), etc. If you go to
a club built prior to 1920 and they have an expansive range, then you can bet
that the club’s facilities either (1) included a polo field, or (2) expanded
through an acquisition of additional land.
Additionally, the target
greens, precise distance markers, almost new practice balls, and superbly
manicured ranges of today simply did not exist 40-50 years ago. There were no target greens (even at Augusta
National), yardage markers we large wooden signed paces at 100/150/200/250
yards placed with highly dubious accuracy (btw, laser guns did not exist then
either), the range balls at “great” practice ranges almost always were old,
often were out of round and rarely were washed (and you paid a fee for a small
bag and I can assure you that at least at late as 1974 Tour players paid for
practice balls at the US Open practice range), and you hoped there were some
weeds on the hitting areas…easier to hit from weeds than bare dirt!
One final point regarding
this diversion…paying for practice balls is something that IMO should come
back. Any decent non-communistic
economist (there still are a small number around) will tell you that giving
away something creates huge waste. When
players paid small amounts for a bucket of balls, they practiced with thought
and purpose. Contrast that with what you
see at all clubs today on the range...and think about it.
Back to EPGC. In May 2017 EPGC hosted the Wells Fargo
Championship as the normal host course, Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC hosted
the PGA Championship in August 2017.
Today the course is a strong 7471 yards (up from 7258 in 2009), par
72. In terms of USA Top 100’s, it has
been on GD’s list since 2009 (#100 in 2017), but has never made a GM or GW
Merged list. It is a good Fazio
course…with excellent settings and in wonderful condition, but IMHO, not worthy
of a USA Top 100 rating. Best hole is
#17, a 442-yard par 4 rising and turning slightly left with a creek and about 6
bunkers along the left side and two bunkers on the right. In some ways, it reminded me of #18 at Quail
Hollow.
The best part of the day was
meeting the other three players at lunch.
The “other client” was Richard L., who is from NY and I have hosted at
Brookline twice (most recently this summer).
Both Gordon and the “other member”, Adam S., knew Dave and RuthAnn
Phillips when they lived at Landfall in Wilmington. Dave was my best friend and Pat and I met at
his memorial service in 2006. He had
taught a class for UNC-Wilmington’s business program, and Adam remembered him
as the best teacher he had ever had (Adam is now a highly successful
businessman). It was fun exchanging
“Dave stories” and RuthAnn was pleased to hear about it when I called her on my
drive home. Plus I renewed contact with
Barry. The golf world is vast but seems
so small and special. As special as the
game is, the folks who play it are even more special.
The ugly twin returned, but
this time on the first 9 holes we played.
We started on #10 and I had a 41-48 = 89.
Leaving the club around
5pm…didn’t get home until about 8:15pm…
Yeamans Hall Club, December
4, 2017: Designed by the brilliant Seth Raynor and
opened in 1925, Yeamans Hall is certainly one of Raynor’s best designs. It sits about 3 miles northeast of Charleston
International Airport and about 12 miles north of downtown Charleston. Founded by a group of northerners looking for
a place to play within a one-day train ride from New York, it was conceived as
a 36-hole development with hundreds of home sites. The landscaping and grounds layout were
designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (Sr./Jr.
earned credits for the likes of NY’s Central Park, The Country Club’s land
plan, Mountain Lake-FL, the Village of Pinehurst amongst others). As a result of a small matter known as the Depression, the club
never built the second course and housing development stopped at 35 homes (plus
the first golf course). Additionally, the
club sold off some land to help get through the Depression…what was apparently
about 1370 acres in 1908 (at least 7 years before the land was acquired) is now
somewhere between 900 and 1000 acres.
Starting with the Depression
and then during WWII (due to rationing of petrol), green cutting techniques
were changed and Raynor’s large green surfaces shrunk from an average of 8000 sq.
ft. to about 4500 sq. ft. Additionally,
many of the contours and features like vertical spines and false fronts simply
disappeared or became part of the surrounding aprons. In 1998 the club retained Tom Doak...a then
young architect who deeply understood Raynor’s “intent” …and Doak’s then
associate, Jim Urbina, and Yeamans Hall’s return to greatness commenced. Over the past year, Urbina completed the
latest round of changes to Yeamans, rebuilding greens and bunkers where
appropriate and leaving the course in wonderful condition.
I first played it with Pat in
2007, as among her best friends are Bill and Margo W., then “proprietors” (members
and one of the 35 homeowners). Including
this round I have been honored to play it eight times. The entrance is classic…simple, and
perfect. And the long drive to the
clubhouse through majestic oak trees literally dripping with Spanish moss
signals a property that has been around for more than its “official” 90-95
years…there is a “forever” feeling to Yeamans that seems to also permeate so
many of the great clubs built before WWII.
The views of the tidal marshes from holes 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 contribute
to that feeling as well.
The course is open and
inviting, but better get your angles right approaching these greens and beware
of the false fronts, ridges, mounds, slopes, and other features of the greens
themselves. Above all, remember that
Raynor, a civil engineer and surveyor before he met C. B. Macdonald loved to
“play chess” with golfers and force golfers to think their way around a
course. And somehow, I thought well this
day, firing a 39-38 = 77.
Yeamans plays to 6783 (par
70) yards from the back and in terms of ratings has been getting the
recognition it deserves since Doak and Urbina started their efforts about 20
years ago. Its first appearance on a USA
Top 100 was #64 on GM’s 1999 listing and #75 on the Merged GW 2000 list. GD did not include Yeamans until 2015. Its highest current USA ranking is #53 on
top100golfcourses.com’s USA list. Its
highest World ranking was in GM in 2003 as #92.
 |
| #1 green from front right...note higher shelves on greens' front left and back right |
 |
| Green #3...note fall front and back to front slope of green...and spine running up center of green |
 |
| Approach shot to par 4 #8 with tidal marsh behind green...so do not be over |
 |
| #16 Biarritz with "hollow" before green (from right front); there is a mound directly behind this pin that make this pin setting close to impossible!! |
My sense is that this grand
old lady will be “moving up the charts” starting in about three years. Urbina’s recent work there is superb
(including the return of two Dragon’s Teeth on #12…as there are some ladies who
read this site I will withhold an alternative description but see the picture
below and form your own conclusions).
 |
| Green #12 from 75 yards short...see Dragon's Teeth on right |
 |
| From right dished of green...wait a minute, they ain't no Dragon's Teeth! |
However, the work got off to a slow start last spring and the efforts
required to rebuild the fabulous first green were far more extensive than was
expected. Hence the efforts conclusion
was late and this restricted the growing season available before first frosts
set in. As a precaution, the green were
purposely left a little long for this winter to ensure that the new Bermuda
grass would hold up through the winter.
Given that the actual/forecast daily lows for the first six days of 2018
are in the low 20’s for this area, sounds like the appropriate decision to
me. But slow greens for a few more
months might slow the recognition down a bit…but like a roaring fright train,
you can hear it coming.
2017 Summary
All in all, 2017 was a
wonderful year. I completed exactly 222
rounds (or 3996 holes) a personal best since I started tracking this in
November 2009. In terms of golf courses,
I played on 157 different courses including:
·
23
overseas; Mexico-4 and Scotland-19
·
134
in the USA located in 34 states (CA with the most-19)
·
115
were “first timers” for me; there were 42 that I had played before 2017
·
at
6 of the 157, I just played 9 holes: 4
are nine hole courses, one was under construction with just nine holes
finished, and on another we ran out of time (and I had played it before).
Important bucket lists
completed:
·
1000
courses lifetime (completed year at 1009);
·
finished
playing in all 50 states;
·
US
Amateur Venues EVER;
·
Golf
Magazine USA Top 100 EVER;
·
Golf
Week 100 Modern and 100 Classic for 2016 and 2017.
Of
my 115 new courses, I would classify the following of
“hidden gems” and/or “seriously underrated" (in chronological order of
play):
·
Wolf Point, TX
·
Rustic Canyon, CA
·
We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro), AZ
·
Beverly CC, IL
·
Moraine CC, OH
·
Harvester, IA
·
Sunningdale, NY
·
Wykagyl, NY
·
Old Elm, IL
·
Waverley, OR
·
Wine Valley, WA
·
Blue Mound, WI
·
Askernish GC, Scotland
·
Brora GC, Scotland
·
Huntingdon Valley, PA
·
Sweetens Cove, TN
They range from amongst the world’s most exclusive clubs to low
cost public access facilities with port-o-lets.
The most common characteristic is that they are all FUN to play. Every one will yield to good, thoughtful
play, but all can bite you and all require time to get to know...they are all
worthy chess opponents.
Hopefully, this blog can help get some of them more recognized…so
spread the word, they are more than deserving!!
Finally, in the last two
months of the year two articles about my “quests” appeared on the web. The first was on Pinehurst’s website and came
about when I completed by 1000th course at Pinehurst’s new Gil Hanse
designed 9 hole par 3 course named “The Cradle” and may be found at:
Shorty thereafter, Golf
Digest did a short interview with me regarding my travel routines, and this
appeared on my website:
2018 Plans
While I did certainly cut
back on overseas travel last year (visiting only Mexico and Scotland), I admit
to more than making up for it with USA travel.
I can tell you I will not play anything like 157 courses in 2018.
My plans revolve around
finishing my bucket lists, playing a few of the really fun unusual courses I
have missed to date, and hopefully visiting a few more of the great ones I have
not seen in years.
First, I must report that my
friends at www.Top100golfcourses.com have thrown me from my perch. About 25 days ago I was provided advanced
notice regarding their 2018 World Top 100 List, and not surprisingly, they had
added Yokohama Country Club-West to this list, thereby bringing me from:
having
played 318 of 318 still existing
courses as ever published by 10 sources on 43
lists of World Top 100 Courses, to
having
played 318 of 319 still existing
courses as ever published by 10 sources on 44
lists of World Top 100 Courses.
As you might have guessed, I
am in the midst of planning a short trip to Japan in April or May 2018 to play
Yokohama-West and hopefully correct this situation. From what I have heard from others I respect,
Yokohama is more than well deserving of this listing. My plan is also to take a quick run on this
journey to Melbourne to play Greg Norman’s new design, Cathedral Lodge, which
opened in late 2017 and is expected to be a strong Top 100 candidate.
In the USA, I hope to finish
my USA Bucket Lists. Ass you may recall,
I had 10 courses to go…to that list I must add Steamsong-Black (FL), which I was
planning to play in any case. On the
other hand, the situation with The Greenbrier Course (1979 Ryder Cup and 1994
Solheim Cup has become muddied). The
course closed in 2017 and 6 holes (one of which has been changed substantially)
are now part of the redesigned Meadows Course.
The other 12 holes are closed and will probably be totally
redesigned. The land they occupy will
become part of a new Greenbrier Course being designed by Phil Mickelson and “estimated”
(which is a less precise word than “planned”) to open sometime in 2019. I think I will go play the six holes in
2018…and at that point will have played all of the “still existing” holes!!
Other courses I would like to
see in 2018 include:
o
The
Sheep Ranch at Bandon, OR (before its land is used for a new Hanse course);
o
Hanse’s
Mossy Oak in MS
o
Coore-Crenshaw’s
Trinity Forest in Dallas, TX
o
Farmington
in Chartlottsville, VA
o
Mammoth
Dunes in WI (played 9 of 18 holes in August 2017)
Need to get off this
treadmill (have heard me say that before…).
Finally…wishing all of you a
Healthy and Happy New Year!!!!!
