132. Back to Rockies and Upper Plains

132.  Back to Rockies and Upper Plains

As noted at the end of my last post, in early July 2019 I had 45 courses left to finish my first priority bucket lists.  Some of these are grouped geographically within a relatively small area (10 of the 45 are located in the states of Oregon and Washington, and five are located in Texas), while others are dispersed over a much larger area.  This trip was to last for 6 days, and cover 6.5 courses (one club had 27 holes), but would cover two large sections of the USA, the Rockies (specifically Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana) and the Upper Plains (South Dakota and Nebraska, although I was not able to arrange play on this trip at the course in NE).  Six days for 6.5 courses looks like a virtual vacation compared to most of my other jaunts, but this would end up being more of a flying/driving journey than a golfing trip.

Ravenna Country Club, July 14, 2017:  I was at Boston’s Logan Airport bright and early this Sunday morning (left home at 5:40am) for a flight to Denver, CO.  Amazing how crowded Logan was at 6:00amon Sunday!  We arrived early at DEN and when awaiting my luggage, ran into a good friend from Pinehurst (CCNC member) and Toronto, Steve S.  Steve was also waiting for his luggage off his flight from Toronto and was headed to Ballyneal, one of the great courses built over the last 20 years and located in the northeast corner of CO (about 3 hours from DEN airport).  Pat and I played Ballyneal in 2010 one day after playing Sand Hills in NE (pre-blogging days so no post to refer you to).  Steve was headed for an Outpost Club event at Ballyneal.  Outpost Club is a “virtual” golf club that I belonged to about ten years ago…in fact Steve and I first met at an Outpost Club event at Palmetto GC in Aiken, SC in 2011…and we both think back often to that wonderful course and club.  Ballyneal was designed by Tom Doak and has generally been rated between #75 and #85 on Golf Magazine’s World listings and #45-#55 on top100golfcourses.com.

After a drive of about 50 miles (heading southwest) I arrived at Ravenna about 12:20. Ravenna was designed by Jay Morrish, who in earlier days partnered with Tom Weiskopf and had a strong hand in designing Loch Lomond (Scotland) and Double Eagle (Ohio)…this was Moorish’s last design (by plan).   It opened in 2007 with plans to sell lots of real estate.  Given the events of 2008, it is not surprising that the club was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2010.  It finally emerged from bankruptcy in 2014. Initially the course was a brute, with a course rating of 75.0 and a slope of 149, huge bunkers, sharply sloping fairways and wild greens.  Me thinks that after the financial crash in 2008, not many golfers were looking to get beat up on their home course.  In 2014, the new owner, Kevin Collins, started a major effort to “soften” the course.  It was shortened by 150 yards, bunkers covering over two acres of land were removed, and green/fairway contours were reduced.  As a result, the course rating dropped to 73.8 and the slope to 143…not a pushover but certainly more playable and fun.  A new clubhouse is now under construction after some 12 years in a “temporary” (but very well done) clubhouse.

I played with a Golf Week panelist from Kiawah Island, SC (Mac Frye) and we both had similar views of the course.  In essence, more softening seems to be in order…especially reducing the slope on the second fairway, opening up more options for the second shot on the par 5 14^thhole, and smoothing the contours on the 15^thgreen. The course is not walkable due to the mountainous terrain and long distances from green to tee…but correcting that would not be unfeasible given the terrain.  On the positive side, the course was in very good condition and despite being very green (lots of snow this past winter and rain over the last two months) played fast and firm…and most of the individual holes were quite good. My game was not great…42 – 46 = 88 in part because I was tired.

Ravenna #16, 240 yard downhill par 3...from a tilted camera!

Ravenna has never appeared on a USA true 100, but was on GW’s USA Top 100 Modern for six years between 2009 and 2016. It’s highest rating ever on my Merged GW Top 100 list was in was in 2010 (#153) with a position of #80 on GW’s Top 100 USA Modern that year.

My introduction to Ravenna was through J. J. Keegan, a business consultant to the golf industry and fellow Golf Magazine panelist.  JJ clearly has been advising Kevin Collins on his plans for Ravenna and both of them asked Mac and me for our candid reactions to the course and suggestions.  We both suggested softening the course more, especially 14 and 15…and that seemed to be in line with what they were thinking.  

I left Ravenna around 6:30 and headed west to Edwards, CO, just west of Vail on I-70.  Easy drive except to a pretty strong thunderstorm that lasted for about 10 minutes about 25 miles east of Vail.  

Red Sky Ranch-Norman, July 15, 2019:  Was up early for a 7:10 tee time at Red Sky Ranch’s course designed by Greg Norman. Red Sky sits at around 7500-8000’ above sea level and commands spectacular views of the Rockies.  The facility opened in 2003 with a Tom Fazio track and Norman’s course followed a year later.  I was playing the Norman because in 2013 Golf Digest listed it as #194 in its USA “Top 100”.  I know that makes little sense…but a number of listing have now expanded…sort of like golf’s version of multiple valedictorians.  This of course has nothingto do with the possibility of generating more advertising $$ because they are including more courses in their “top 100” listings.  In 2013 GD started publishing a listing of #101-200 in the USA.

As readers of this blog may be aware, I am not a huge fan of Greg Norman’s architectural efforts, but must admit to liking this puppy.  Greens are huge and have strong slopes that are difficult to discern in the mountainous setting…and very little in the way of interior mounding.  Fairways are generous and slope as well.  Course would be difficult to walk (somewhat more walkable than Ravenna but not much).  Overall it was in nearly perfect condition, if a little too green (to be fair, CO…and the Rockies in general…have received copious amounts of snow and rain this year).  I played with Patricia Peeples, whose job at Red Sky is to coordinate the scheduling of panelists and other “dignitaries” (note the bold typeface for those quotation marks). I was in a time crunch as my flight was scheduled to depart DEN at 1:50pm, and my drive back would be 2:15-2:30 (more on this in a minute).  I ended up with a 44 – 42 = 86.  For most of the back nine, Pat did not play so that we could finish the round before 10am…and I was off for DEN by 9:50.  

The start of the drive to DEN went well…then I hit a major delay just east of Vail where rock clearing was taking place…and sat in backed up traffic for over 45 minutes.  All looked fairly dire but I figured I might have a chance if I got lucky and hauled butt the rest of the trip. Problem was returning my rental car. Decided to drop my bag at curbside first as I knew it had to be checked at least 45 minutes before scheduled departure…or 1:05pm…and I got it checked at 1:02. Then made a mad dash to Hertz, and back to the terminal, through security and to the gate.   The rules say you need to be at the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled departure…I arrived at 1:38 (about 3 minutes late) just as they were making a last call for me…but I got on board, semi-exhausted, and knowing that my new heart valve had passed a major test.

Iron Horse Golf Club, July 16, 2019:  As I was planning this trip Iron Horse was the tough one in terms of gaining access. Eentually, I found a fellow Golf Digest Panelist who was a member…and though he was going to be out of town, he was able to set me up with two other members.  Iron Horse is located in Whitefish, MT in the northwest corner of MT. It is a spectacular location and the course sits above Whitefish Lake, about 25 miles from Glacier National Park.  Probably because of Glacier, there is a commercial airport within 15 miles of the course and this small town has become a haven for Texans looking to escape the summer heat of Dallas, Austin and Houston.

Car rental was very expensive so I planned on using taxis and Uber (if available) for this stop of about 26 hours.  However, when I arrived I was advised that UBER was highly unreliable, there were no taxis in sight, and calls to locals taxi companies yielded estimated waits of about 50 minutes and quotes of $65 for a 15 mile trip.  So online I went and found an UBER driver 3 minutes away!! Jessica came from upstate NY and claimed to be the only Jew is Whitefish…I responded that she was for the next 24 hours or so going to be one of two!  She became my chauffer for three trips (Airport to Hotel, Hotel to Iron Horse, and Iron Horse to Airport).  I was fairly tired at this point so just crashed at the hotel in order to catch up on missing sleep.  

On Tuesday morning I arrived at Iron Horse around 8am and met my hosts (both from Texas…Dallas and Austin) as well as a couple of other members.  Iron Horse is a very low key, quiet and comfortable club.  The course was designed by Tom Fazio, and opened in 2000. About 4-5 holes have spectacular views of Whitefish Lake, and the best holes IMO were two par 3’s  (7---a sharply downhill 188 yarder with a very tough green,  and 16---229 yards to a potato chip shaped green closely guarded by bunkers) and the par 4 dogleg right 8^th.  My very strong sense is that the basic bones of the course are really excellent...but that tree growth has started to tighten the course and reduced the options and fun quotient.  Paring back some of the fir trees would also do much to help this property recover from tough winter seasons (such as the last one), as well as enhance some of the already spectacular views.  

This is one that needs to be played and has even greater potential than it shows right now…with not a lot of effort!!

As much as I enjoyed my hosts and round here, the highlight was a conversation I had in the clubhouse with an older member who had introduced himself to me upon my arrival in the locker room.   He hailed from Pittsburgh, PA and had played at Oakmont.  After my round. the same gentleman was in the locker room again and I restarted our conversation.  Slowly it came out that he was a former President of Oakmont…after having served as the green chairman who initiated the tree removal program at Oakmont in the mid 1990’s: Jim M.  I told him how much I admired what he had done at Oakmont…and more importantly how it had commenced major efforts to reduce tree growth at hundreds of outstanding courses throughout the world…breathing new life into most of the classic tracks.

Anyhow, if you can find a way onto Iron Horse…it is very much worth playing and seeing.  And if they manage to clear out some of the tighter holes on the property and open up the course a bit, I believe this one would shoot up the rankings.  

Details wise, I played fairly well shooting a 40 – 42 = 82.  Iron Horse stretches to 7028 yards from the tips, and was included in GW’s Top 100 Modern list at spot #84 in 2002 (never on my Merged GW Top 100).

After a good shower, my UBER driver Jessica too me back to the airport.  While waiting for my flight, I spotted an older gentlemen at the airport wearing a Yarmulke (a Jewish skullcap)…I called Jessica to advise that she was now one of three…at least until the next flight departed!

Powder Horn Golf Club, July 17, 2019:  Leaving Whitefish MT and heading to Sheridan, WY meant either a drive of some 8-9 hours or two flights…I chose the latter, transferring in Salt Lake City and heading for Casper, WY.  Both Casper and Billings, MT are just over 2 hours from Sheridan WY, but my choice was always Casper.  One of my great buds and fraternity brother at MIT (Rick Lentz) was originally from Casper, and I always wanted to get there to see it.  Well, 50% completed…I got there, but being that it was just before 10pm, there was little to see…and no one seemed to remember Rick!

The drive north to Sheridan was uneventful but somewhat spectacular with major lightning strikes visible to the north, and I arrived at my hotel just past midnight.  

Early the next morning I was at Powder Horn, a 27-hole club featuring three nines by Dick Bailey.  Interestingly, Golf Week has included the combination of the Stag and Mountain nines on their Top 100 Modern listings in 2000 and 2002-2011 (peaking at #130 on my “Merged” GW list in 2003), while Golf Digest includes the combination of Stag and Eagle nines in its list of candidate courses.  As such I chose to play all 27 (not wanting to risk the need for a return visit to this rather remote location).  The three nines are very different from one another.  I played Mountain first, had a 39 but thought the nine was way too open and not very interesting.  Then I played Stag…which was quite the opposite, being fairly tight in spots and I thought had too much water (had another 39).  Finally I played Stag…fired a smooth 36…and thought it was a very good nine.  Overall, I would select the Eagle/Stag 18 as the best combination.  In terms of building sequence, Mountain came first in 1997, followed by Stag and then Eagle over the following 6-7 years.

Following the round, I had a quick lunch and hit the road…this time heading east to central South Dakota.

Sutton Bay Club, July 18, 2019:  Back in 2013 I was scheduled for a trip to South Dakota, Minneapolis, central IL, and Ft. Wayne IN.  The day before my scheduled departure, I was playing at Brookline with a member of Hazeltine National (MN) and we were discussing my first stop on my upcoming trip…Sutton Bay in SD.  The member of Hazeltine asked if I knew the history of the Old and New courses at Sutton Bay…and my reply was “I thought they only had one course”.  I then learned the history of Sutton Bay.  Its Old course, designed by Graham Marsh, opened in 2003, and in 2005 was rated #25 on GW’s Merged USA Top 100 and stayed on this Merged list through 2010.  In 2009 and 2011 it was rated #85 on Golf Magazine’s USA Top 100, and in 2012 it placed #95 on top100golfcourses.com.  However, starting around 2008 or 2009 sprinkler system pipes started breaking regularly as the land on which the course was constructed started to shift and literally fissure/split.  Before long, the Old course had become a safety hazard and had to be abandoned, and Marsh was brought back to build a replacement, higher up and further away from the Missouri River.  The New course opened in 2013 (just prior to my discussions)…but the ratings mentioned above were for the Old course, which had been on different land.  As it was described to me, the entire Old course had slid into the Missouri River. 

I notified Golf Digest of what I had learned and Sutton Bay was removed from their Best in State ratings. I also cancelled the first day of my trip…thereby saving myself from an arduous journey to central SD.  However, earlier this year, Sutton Bay’s New course was included on GW’s Top 100 USA Modern listing (but not the “Merged” list), thereby putting it back on my personal to-do list, ands requiring the same arduous journey…just six years later.  

So I headed east from Powder Horn mostly on Interstate 90 and then US-212 for a total of 410 miles and about 6 hours 10 minutes.  That was a long drive…but tomorrow’s would be worse (more later).

This is a spectacular setting…high above east bank of the Missouri.  Sutton Bay Club is beautifully done without being over the top. Activities include golf, fishing and hunting in their appropriate seasons, but my focus was to be golf…and some rest from the drive.  I inquired about the Old and whether it might be possible to play a few of the original holes.  The response was quick and clear…it would be a major safety risk (as the ground was filled with fissures) and the land was now infested in rattlesnakes.  Trust me, those warnings were enough for moi to keep the Old course in my “no longer exists” category.  

The next morning I was the first golfer off the tee.  Played with Cody, an assistant pro here and a fine, fine, young man.  I very much liked the course.  It has wide fairways, well placed bunkers that force the golfer to consider their options on almost every shot, and the greens are fairly large, filled with double breaking putts, and loaded up with mounds…there are some incredible putts on these greens, and to some extent they reminded me a little of Ohoopee Match Play (Post #123).  Best hole IMO is par 4 11^th…simply fits perfectly into the land forms.  The many views of The Missouri River and Lake Oahe are spectacular (reminding me of the views of the Missouri River from the Links of North Dakota (Post #85).  

As with about every course I have played over the past few months, Sutton Bay has received far more than its normal amount of rain (and/or snow) this year and is much greener than normal (so I was told…this being my first visit within 125 miles of here).  The course, which was in great condition, still played fairly firm and fast…but I would guess that under normal conditions it is really fast.  One other consequence of the rain was that the fescue lining the generous fairways was extremely thick and brutal.  Cody hit into it once or twice and I thought he might break a wrist getting out.  They are actively working to thin out the fescue.

Based on what I could discern from a distance, the Old course was much closer to the River/Lake, but the New course offers more expansive views from its higher perch.  I was told the Old course had more natural movement in its fairways, but the greens on the New are much tougher to play and understand. Additionally the Old was a much tougher walk.  Yardage wise New totals 7317 yards..  I came in with a 43 -42 = 85…not bad with 5 three putt greens.

Overall I came away very very impressed.  Let’s be clear, this place makes Bandon and Sandhills look convenient…but no question it is worth the effort.

Hiwan Golf Club, July 19, 2019:  After the round at Sutton Bay and saying thanks to the staff, I grabbed a box lunch and was back on my way…this time with a drive of almost 600 miles (9 hours) to Denver.  I had hoped to play Dismal River Club’s White Course on the way (I would be driving within 22 miles of it) but they now have a rule requiring all non-members to spend a night at the club in order to play either course (I played their Red Course in 2014, Post #4)…and they were booked solid that Thursday night.  This will mean another trip back to NE…not all bad as I will try to work in another round at Sandhills GC on that trip.  It also meant I had nothing to break up the trip.  Also tried a return to Ballyneal GC in northeastern CO, but they too were booked solid.  Good news for the game and its many clubs and businesses that depend on visiting players, full membership rosters, and strength of the economy.

The sights along the way were often spectacular…but few were better than the Rockies in the distance signaling that I was getting close to Denver.  I was heading to a town called Evergreen which is west of Denver (thereby extending the drive somewhat) and was scheduled to play Hiwan GC early Friday morning.  Mel H., who has completed at least one (and probably more) GM World list and is a fellow member of Global Golf Centurions Club had arranged for me to play Hiwan, his home club. No question in my mind that Mel is/has:

            - played more great golf courses than any other physicist who has ever lived; and

            - is the second best physicist/golfer to ever live (first would be Bryson DeChambeau).

Unfortunately, Mel was traveling on July 19 and could not join me, but he set up my game for which I am very grateful.  And I would be seeing him the following week.

Hiwan was included in GD’s 200 Toughest lists in 1996 and 1967, hosted the 1976 US Junior Championship. It also hosted the Colorado Open from 1964-1992.  It opened in 1965 with a Press Maxwell design and was remodeled by Dick Phelps in 1990.

Hiwan plays to 6932 yards from the tips (par 70), and is very hilly.  The first hole is straight up hill and is an indication of things to come. By my count eight holes are big time uphill or downhill, and I counted five major doglegs (all left to right). It was in excellent condition and played fairly firm/fast.  I finished this trip with a 39 – 39 = 78, showered and headed to the airport…quite tired. 

When I returned my car, I noted that I had driven my rental car (starting in Casper WY at about 10pm on 7/16 and returning at Denver Airport at 1:30pm on 7/19…a total of 63.5 hours) had logged 1217 miles.  My rental charges totaled $224.44 (18.4 cents/mile)…not too bad.  Total for the trip was 1612 miles (excluding miles in golf carts!).  Since you asked, my gas charges with the Casper-Denver car totaled $91.32.  This was more of a driving/flying trip than a golf trip (1612 miles plus 5 flights totaling almost 14 hours)…but I did knock off most of my hard to get to/isolated destinations.

Flight home was happily uneventful and I arrived home around 11:30PM.  Pat was fast asleep!

131. Visits to Portsmouth, NH, Ireland/England, and Michigan...Plus Some Miscellaneous

131.  Visits to Portsmouth, NH, Ireland/England, and Michigan...Plus Some Miscellaneous

Golf Club of New England, June 4, 2019:  There were two courses I wanted to play near Portsmouth in southern New Hampshire, so being free on June 4, I arranged to play both.  Portsmouth lies about 65 miles north of our home in Milton, MA.  I left around 5:45am to beat the early commuters.

GCNE opened in 2003 and was designed by Arnold Palmer, and was subsequently renovated to toughen it up.  In 2004, the club filed for bankruptcy.

Today it stretches to 7673 yards...I chose to play the White tees at 5797 (only a difference of 104 yards per hole).  The rough around the course was very very deep, and the bunkers were backed by some the thickest tall fescue I have seen.

It hosted the US Junior Championship in 2012.  I first heard of GCNE about four years ago as the New England Club Pro Championship was played there.  The next day I heard about this monster from the pros at Brookline as most were limping around from the experience.  Not knowing any better or being any wiser, I decided to give it a shot.  With a roaring start (6-6-6) I stood 5 over thought three holes, but settled down for a 45 on the front and then played well on the back, shooting 41 there for an 86.

If you want a simple description of the course, allow me to explain the 8th hole.  This is a 250 yard par 3 with a kidney shaped green angled from front left to back right.  To reach the left front edge of the green from the back tees it is 228 yards...and to the right front edge it is 242 yards...and it is all carry over water or marshes from the tees to the front of the green.

My simple "test" to measure the greatness of a courses is the following question:  when you finish on 18, are you anxious to get back to the first tee and do it again, or are you happy the ordeal is over.  I will let you guess where I place GCNE.

Portsmouth Country Club, June 4, 2019:   In 1901, Portsmouth CC was formed and a nine hole golf course designed by Alex Findlay was its home.  In the late 1920's, additional land was acquired and and 9 holes designed by Wayne Styles were added.  However, in the early 1950's the US Government acquired the club's property through eminent domain (to build an Air Force base).  The current home of Portsmouth CC was acquired in 1957 and designed by Robert Trent Jones...and renovated by Russ Forbes in 2007.  Today it stretches to 7153 yards, par 72.  Portsmouth appeared on both of the Golf Digest "200 Toughest" lists in 1966 and 1967.

Situated off Great Bay to the west of Portsmouth, six holes play alongside the Bay or its estuaries, including holes 12 and 14 which have greens situated on "points" jutting into the Bay.  Overall this is a fun course...not great and certainly not a USA Top 100...but one that would be fun to play regularly.  The Bay provides some wonderful vistas and the course has a number of very good holes (par 5 4th, par 4 12th, par 5 14th, and par 4 15th probably the best).  I had a 39 - 41 = 80.

Mount Juliet, June 10, 2019: As regular readers know from my last post (#130), I decided to finish off my two primary bucket lists (USA Top 100 Ever and World Top 100 Ever) as soon as possible and laid out two mini trips, each lasting 3-4 days, first to the British Isles, and then to Michigan, June 9-12 and June 16-19 respectively.  I needed to play Huntercombe Golf Club about 30 miles northwest of London's Heathrow Airport, and Treetop Resort's Smith Signature course in northern Michigan.

I also needed to play Ireland's Mount Juliet course as it had hosted the American Express World Golf Championship in 2002 and 2004 (won by Tiger Woods and Ernie Els respectively).  I flew from Boston to Shannon on Aer Lingus and arrived in Shannon early on Monday the 10th.  Mt. Juliet is about 2 hours east of Shannon (and 90 minutes southwest of Dublin) and I arrived about an hour earlier than I scheduled.

Matt Sandercock, who is Mt Juliet's Director of Golf and previously was an Assistant Pro at Sunningdale Golf Club, had made arrangements for me to play and Matt offered to play with me...which I happily accepted.

Mt. Juliet is a world class resort with beautiful accommodations and restaurants, but I am afraid that the course does not match that standard.  Designed by Jack Nicklaus, it opened in 1991and hosted three Irish Opens as well the WGC events mentioned above.   It is on a good piece of land but has far too many trees.  The 17th hole (534 yard par 5) has trees in the fairway and closely lining the fairway and reminded me of one of the par 5's at Sahalee (WA)...and that is not meant as a compliment.  The trees are suffocating and block what could be wonderful vistas, and the impact on turf conditions is also obvious and negative.  I had a 41 - 42 = 83 and was glad to get this one off my to do list.  On the other hand, Matt is a very good guy and fun to play and talk with...so the day was fun.

I was able to shower before departing and had some chocolate to keep myself awake for the drive to Dublin.  Arrived at DUB in plenty of time but my flight to Heathrow was late and it was raining hard when I arrived.  Finally arrived at my hotel in Surrey around 1:00am and had a tee time at 8am the next morning...it was a long day but was ready for Sunningdale and Huntercombe and the rain that had dominated the forecast a few days ago looked like it might hold off.  Looking forward to a special golf day on Tuesday!

Sunningdale Golf Club--Old, June 11, 2019:  Sunningdale GC is one of the UK's (and world's) great golfing institutions.  It is home to two golf courses that have been regulars on World Top 100 lists since the lists started some 40 years ago.  My World 100 spreadsheet current contains 49 separate lists from 11 sources/publications, and Sunningdale's Old and New courses have graced 47 and 28 of these lists respectively and their highest positions have been 17 and 15 respectively.  The only two course club can beat that record is the renowned Royal Melbourne GC whose West and East have graced all 49 and 20 respectively and had highest positions of 1 and 20.  The only better contiguous courses to my mind are Shinnecock Hills GC and National Golf Links of America.

Sunningdale's New course was completed in 1923 and designed by Harry Colt (who was the club's first Secretary).  The Old opened in 1910 and was designed by Willie Park, Jr., and later modified by Colt.  I first played New in 1977 and played it a second time on August 29, 2018 (Post #117).  I first played Old in 1980 and believe my prior round on Old was about 15-20 years ago (way too long an absence).  During my visit last August, the Secretary urged me to come back and replay Old, and it was a joy to be able to do so.

Due to heavy rains over the prior 24 hours, no "buggies" were allowed on the course.  I was playing 36 this day but I guessed (correctly as it turned out) that playing these courses would get sufficient adreneline pumped into my system to get me through the day.  My caddy, David and I were off the first tee at 8:04am.  I played the red tees (5847 yards).  The Old is fairly short (6329 yards from the medal tees) but is shear joy.  The second is perhaps the hardest hole and my favorite stretch is from 4 to 6.  But few holes in the world reveal a sight quite like the walk up the 18th at Sunningdale's Old with the magnificent clubhouse and famous oak tree behind the green.  The course is dotted with 110 bunkers by my count, and heather abounds.  Yes, short but demanding and fun.  Even in my younger days when I could hit it some long distances, the shorter Old was always my favorite compared to the longer and more demanding New.  It was a wonderful reunion...my game was OK...43 - 41 = 84 but somehow the score did not matter.

David was a wonderful caddy...and as we come up 18 he mentioned that he had caddied for another Quaker Ridge member within the last year, and we figured out it was Michael F.  Golf's small world shrinks again.

After good-byes, it was off the Huntercombe Golf Club, where an important mission needed to be fulfilled.

Huntercombe Golf Club, June 11, 2019: After a short drive, I arrived at Huntercombe around 1pm.  Founded in 1901, it was designed by Willie Park, Jr. (think Sunningdale-Old, Formby-England, Maidstone-NY, Notts-England, Olympia Field North-IL, and Silloth on Solway-England) and remains essentially an untouched Park design (routing changed slightly due to construction of new clubhouse in 1963...turned old 6th hole into the first...7th into 2nd, etc.).  Park Jr. won The Open Championship in 1887 and 1889 (at Prestwick and Musselburgh respectively).  His father, Willie Park Sr. was victorious four times including the first (1860, 1863, 1866, and 1875...all at Prestwick), and his uncle Mungo Park won it in 1874 at Musselburgh.   Huntercombe had never appeared on a World 100 until Golf Club Atlas' "147 Custodians" was published last August (it was ranked #97).

I arrived around 1pm and met the General Manager, Marcus Lovelock.  Marcus has been at Huntercombe about two years and this had always been his dream job...which becomes obvious after a short conversation.  He asked if he could join me for 5 holes (the 5th green returns to the clubhouse and he had an outside commitment later in the afternoon) and I quickly agreed.

The "new" clubhouse is very simple and most functional, and I was able to grab a quick sandwich before we teed off.

The first hole is a short (142 yard) par 3 that is fairly flat with a green that slopes from front left to back right.  In fact, the entire left side of the green cannot be seen from the left side of the tee, but is visible from the tee's right side.  From the first green one proceeds to the right and back to the second tee...and there I encountered one of the finest vistas I have encountered in golf.  Looking north and northwest, one can look over several miles of beautiful rolling farmland to an area known as Wittenham Clumps (such a wonderful, perfectly British name).  About four large "rolls" are obvious and the land looks like a beach with successive "waves" of farmland headed our way, and the waves were progressively higher as they became more distant.  I wanted to stay there just looking for about 15 minutes, but remembered that Marcus has an appointment to get to, and that having butchered the 1st hole, I should at least get moving on the second.  So I left the tee forgetting to even take a photo ☹️☹️.  BTW...the entire fairway and green slope sharply from right to left...and you better know the ground game here.

Then I came to the third green...which has a sharp over all slope from back right to front left punctuated by "waves" extending from front to back and running parallel to each other.  My guess is that Park was attempting to copy the background on #2 on the green of #3...see picture below...but we shall never know.

Huntercombe GC 3rd Green from right side

The 4th green is even more unusual, but I had seen it before.  The green has two parts, with the left plateau sitting some 4' above the right plateau.  Two years ago, I played Meadowbrook Golf Club, which lies in the suburbs northwest of Detroit (Post #88).  Meadowbrook was designed by Willie Park,  Jr. and its 3rd green is an adaptation of Huntercombe's 4th green!! The design works in both places...but do try to avoid putting from the upper level down to the lower!

The 8th green is also pretty unusual and looked familiar as well.  It is a relatively "normal" green in front...and then about 20 yards into the green there is a sharp slope rising some 3' vertically before a shelf with a depth of less than 15 yards on top.  There is almost no way to stop the ball if you land on top so the ground game is the only way to play this green with the pin in back.  Brookline has some photos of the 18th green at the conclusion of the playoff during the 1913 US open..and back then the green had a similar (although somewhat deeper) shelf above the upslope on the back of the current green.

The greens on 12, 13, and 15 are also full off surprises.  But Park's creativity was not limited to putting surfaces.  The course is well noted for the lack of sand filled bunkers (today only 13); instead, Park employed natural craters filled with small bushes, fescue grass, and other forms of vegetation.  The result is "hazards" (even if that works no longer exist in the Rules of Golf) that act like bunkers but require almost no maintenance.  The other unusual architectural feature is large mounds located at various parts of the course.

In summation, this course is as positively unusual as North Berwick's West Links in Scotland (Post #100).  It needs to be seen!!  As usual, Ran Morrissett's write up at GolfClubAtlas.com and accompanying photos are far superior to mine, so I urge you to go to:

          https://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/england/huntercombe-golf-club/

At 3:39 pm (London Daylight Time) on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, I sunk my second putt on 18 and the photo below documents the end of this round and completion of this bucket list.

With this putt sunk...World Top 100 EVER All Sources  conquered for third and last time!

This was a very special place to re-complete my World Top 100 Ever...and I certainly send my deep appreciation to Ran Morrissett for calling this hidden gem to my attention.

After the drive of some 30 minutes back to my hotel, I enjoyed a well needed nap!  Was a great day, and the rain held off for most of it.

Worplesdon Golf Club, June 12, 2019:  Wonderful Heathland dominates the land in Surrey just southwest of London.  Here there are three courses (West Hill, Woking and Worplesdon GC's...The Three W's) that almost abut each other and are renowned as outstanding examples of Heathland golf. Pat and I had played Woking GC in June 2015 (Post #11) and loved it, so I am now 2/3rds of the way done.

Worplesdon was designed by J. F. Abercromby and features bunkers by Willie Park, Jr.  While it has never been included on a World 100, it is a "regular" on GB&I Top 100 listings (currently #30 in England and #71 in GB&I on top100golfcourses.com).  It was in wonderful condition on this day.  I found try best holes to be #4 (171 yd uphill par 3--do not be short); #5 (405 yard par 4 with tons of heather right---do not be right off the tee); #10 (139 yard par 3--over large pond but i still liked it...green is tricky and slopes sharply from back to front towards water...do not be short or long); #11 (527 yard par 5 that requires some real local knowledge to fully understand the angles); and #13 a slightly downhill par three of 173 yards that is a thing of beauty and superb design).  I ended up quite pleased with a 42 -39 = 81 which included several shots tossed away due to my lack of local knowledge...so essential in this part of the world.

Teeing off at 8:45am I finished my round by 11:15, offers many thanks to the professional and the secretary and headed on to the trip's last round.

St George's Hill Golf Club (Green and Red), June 12, 2019:  This was a return visit to a club/course Pat and I flipped over on that same trip in June 2015 (Post #11).  St George's Hill was designed by Harry Colt and opened for play with 36 holes in 1913.  At some point thereafter it was cut back to 27 holes, probably to provide more land for additional homes.  Pat and I had played the "main course" (Red and Blue nines) in 2015 and I was scheduled to play R&B but play had been delayed by morning rain and I was concerned about catching my flight back that evening if I was playing behind an outing on R&B.  This gave me a chance to play the Green nine for the first time...2952 yards from White tees versus 3215 and 3331 yards on Red and Blue respectively, and I was pleased to do so.  I had a 39 (G) - 43 (R) = 82 and finished the round just was it started to rain again.

St George's Hill is laid out over some of the best inland land I have seen...the land rolls and tumbles across beautiful and treacherous mounds and up and down beautiful slopes...and most of the greens are sited in wonderfully nature settings.

The club is reputed to be the first golf club designed around real estate...and today is surrounded by grand estates...many of which are owned by Russian Oligarchs (reminding me once again how I missed the boat), including Putin's daughter.  Security here is very extensive, but when I provided my last name, the gates swung wide open.

After the round I was able grab a bite to eat and shower/change before my 8:10pm flight to Boston.  The flight arrived early and I was home by 11:30pm.  Successful journey and great to be back on top of the "World Top 100 Ever--11 Sources" bucket list for the third time...now to conquer the same for USA the following week!

Arcadia Bluffs (South), June 17, 2019:  Back in 2010 Pat and I made a trip to Chicago and Northern Michigan for golf and visiting friends.  It was a very special trip in all regards and we played golf and stayed at a new resort called Arcadia Bluffs right on Lake Michigan about an hour form Traverse City.  The rooms were excellent, the views spectacular, and the course was good and offered some beautiful holes along the Lake.  Sitting about 15 miles south of Alister MacKenzie's Crystal Downs GC (which were played on this trip), it is difficult for a course to stand out architecturally, but the Bluffs course can be fun (we played it in 25-30 mph winds which can negate a lot of fun).

Last year, Arcadia opened a second course ("South") located a little east of Bluffs and about a mile south.  South was designed by Fry/Straka (Dana Fry and Frank Straka) who are also responsible for Calusa Pines (FL), Devil's Paintbrush and Pulpit (Ontario), Erin Hills (WI), Hamilton Farms (NJ), and Shelter Harbor (RI).  This one is a Raynor adaptation BUT...they did this without a lot of Template holes...no Redan, no Short, No Road Hole, etc.  Hole #5, a par 3 of 200 yards from the tips has some Maiden aspects...but in many ways plays more like #11 at Shinnecock Hills... and if I had not picked up, I might still be there.  It has a false front, right side and back...and a long deep bunker on the left.  I have heard that the owner, Rich Postma did not want any Templates.  That may be, but Fry/Staka did sneak in two pair of Spectacles on #9 and #13, brought in some church pew bunkers on 17, and for the most part, the course looks and plays like a Raynor or Macdonald:

• almost no trees, 
• geometrically shaped tees, bunkers, and greens, 
• wide fairways with lots of options and angles to decide from,...and some pot bunkers in the center of fairways (perfectly fine with very wide fairways IMO) similar to Fry's efforts at Shelter Harbor in RI
• windy environment
• very firm and fast fairways and greens...course plays "bouncy", and 
• large greens broken into sections by spines and hollows. 

My favorite design aspect is the South's 6th green.  Yes, Raynor built many rectangular and square greens.  And the 6th green almost is...but rotated 90º so the green is "diamond" shaped.  A very simple change but one that makes for some interesting pin placements and real thinking when one figures out how far to fly the approach shot (you golfers who we're Liberal Arts majors better start studying up on the Pythagorean theorem).

The course is 7412 yards from the tips (par 72), but feels like an easy walk (I was playing 36 this day so was in a cart).  Tons of space, but the tees are close to the prior greens.  I had a 42 - 38 = 80.

Yes, the are some semi-negative things to point out...the bunker sand seems to be a bit soft, and the course is not quite ready...but these are things that get corrected naturally as a course grows in...and remember this one is almost brand new.  Overall it is a brilliant, but subtle, presentation of many aspects of the first golden age of golf architecture.  I am 200% sure this would work from a business standpoint at a upscale club near a large city...in an area loaded with "experienced golfers".  It will be interesting to see if this subtle presentation works in a resort environment where there are not a lot of "regulars".  No one going to Crystal Downs or any of the other great tracks in Northern Michigan should miss this one.  I truly hope it becomes a rousing success story!!

Hated to leave this place...a second round would have been wonderful...but I had two get over to Treetops to get on top of another mountain.

Treetops Resort--Smith Signature Course, June 17, 2019: The drive from Arcadia to Treetops takes about 2 hours 20 minutes, and toward the end of the drive I recognized the area around Treetops...as this was my third visit.  The first two were in July 2013 and June 2018.  I played the first 12 holes of the R T Jones Masterpiece course in 4 hours in 2013...and had to leave (no posts back then), and then went back last year to play holes 13-18 and finish it...only to learn in a discussion with another Paul R. (GW Panelist from Austin) that I had played the wrong course (after taking two trips to do it!!).  Dumb is not a strong enough word.  So this visit became necessary to play The Rick Smith Signature Course that was on my merged GW USA Top 100 lists for 1997 and 1998 (#34 in 1997).

The good news was that the course was fairly empty (Mondays are slow days at resorts and this was early in then season for Northern Michigan), so I was able to play it quickly.  This courses opened in 1993 and frankly, today looks very tired.  Every hole is surrounded by thick stands of trees, the distances from green to tee are way to long to walk, the bunkers need refurbishing as do the greens, and some holes are almost claustrophobic (175 yard par 3 6th looks like a bowling alley).  I played well (39 - 38 = 77) and was very glad to get this one done.

The round at Treetops (which I completed at 3:51pm EDT) brought me on top of the USA All Sources Top 100 EVER for the first time.  Thus, I had completed both the World and USA Top 100's EVER (from all sources for both listings).  As you may have seen in Post #130, that evening, after checking online to ensure that none of the sources for these lists had published a recent update, I announced that "I shall no longer 'chase' World to USA Top 100 lists."

My reward for this was a 3 hour 15 minute drive south to the Detroit area...I had 5 courses to play over the next two days.

Orchards Golf Club, June 18, 2019: Orchards is a daily fee course located about 40 miles north of Detroit, near Pontiac, MI.  I had tried to play it last summer but delays in league play meant the course was fairly jammed and it was clear I could not finish my round if I started as scheduled (around 6pm...see Post #111).  This year I booked the first tee time at 8:00am and talked to the head pro who assured me I would be the first player off .

Orchards GC was designed by R T Jones,  Jr. and opened in 1993.  Including unusable wetlands and residential housing, the original property (a former apple orchard) encompassed 525 acres.  In 1997 it was included on GW's USA Top 100 Modern list, but not my merged list.  It currently stretches to 7046 yards and in 2022 it hosted the US Amateur Public Links Championship.  I played quickly (about 2 hours 15 minutes) and well, shooting a 39 - 40 = 79.  After saying "thanks", I was on the road for an hour's drive to Dearborn, MI...on the way stopping for lunch with Jay H., whom I first met  in 1977 playing his home course, Plum Hollow GC (Post #88).  Jay and I caught up on each other's lives and golf stories and he returned to his plumbing supply business and I continued my trip to Dearborn.

TPC Michigan, June 18, 2019: Back in June 1968, after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Industrial Administration (longhand for Business School), I headed from Pittsburgh to Dearborn to work in finance at Ford Motor Company.  I worked at Ford for almost two years but never liked living in the Detroit area, and switched to Citibank in May 1970.  The good news for you right now is that I will not bore you with the details.  But this was a my first real stop in Dearborn since then.

In the late 1980's the PGA Tour, Ford, and other organizations collaborated to finance and build a new golf course less than a mile southeast of Ford's corporate headquarters (the "Glasshouse") located on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn.  The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and was meant to be a permanent home for the newly created Senior Players Championship (equivalent to the PGA's Tour's Players Championship played annually just south of Jacksonville FL since the early 1980's).  The Senior Players Championship has been one of five Senior Tour (now called Champions Tour) majors since its inception in 1990.  The inaugural event was hosted by Dearborn Country Club (I am guessing due to delays in the construction of this course) in 1990 and then here from 1991-2006.  Since 2006 it have moved frequently to the following venues:

2007-09 Baltimore CC, MD
2010 TPC Potomac at Avenal Farm, MD
2011 Westchester CC-West, NY
2012-14 Fox Chapel CC, PA
2015 Belmont CC, MA
2016 Caves Valley GC, MD
2017 Exmoor CC, IL
2018-today Firestone CC-South, OH

On this day a good number of local pros and top amateurs were playing in practice rounds for an initial qualifying round (held here the next day) for the PGA Tour Rocket Mortgage Championship that was completed June 30, 2019.  As a result, play was fairly slow.

TPC Michigan has never been on any Top 100 listing, and frankly, for good reason.  It plays to 7071 yards (par 72) and is constructed around major wetland sites.  Water and marshland come into play on  at least 12 of 18 holes, and hole #14 now wins my award for the worst single golf hole I have played. This hole plays 455 yards from the tips and 407 yards from the regular tees (where I played from).  Starting about 150 yards from the green, water and marshland encompass almost all of the hole with just a strip of "fairway" (more like single file walking path) that is about 8 yards wide to the right...all the way to the green.  For the Senior Tour players, leaving an approach shot of say 160-180 yards is not a big deal.  Now picture a 15-20 handicap playing this hole.  If he/she hits a so-so drive, they have to take out a wedge and lay up to the water...and then probably empty their golf bag attempting to carry the rest of the way to the green (assuming they are not smart enough to simply pick up).  So many times do you think they will come back to play this track?  In some ways it reminded me of Harbor Shoes near Benton Harbor, another Nicklaus track dominated by wetlands (Post #111)...very artificial

To be fair, I am not sure anything else could have been done with this portion of the property...but maybe the question should have been "why build a course here".  About 12 years ago, the entity operating the course declared bankruptcy.  The facility was subsequently purchased (and is still operated by) by Club Corp.

I posted a smooth 46 - 45 = 91 (might still be there if I was not using Equitable Stroke Control) and was most pleased to have this one in my rear view mirror.

Dearborn Country Club, June 19, 2019: This was to be a very long day...starting with a scheduled tee time at Dearborn CC at 7:30am, and attempting to play 54 holes (in carts obviously...btw I used carts on all rounds of this Michigan trip given it was to be 7 rounds in 3 days).

I arrived at Dearborn CC at 7:10 and was able to tee off at 7:15am.  This is a very flat but good golf course that could be better with the removal of more trees.  Originally designed by Donald Ross and opening in 1916, it was renovated by C. E. Robinson in 1966.  To be honest, in the late 1960's when I worked at Ford, I never knew of its existence about 2 miles from my office.  As mentioned above it hosted the initial Senior Players Championship in 1990 as well as the LPGA's Stroh's Open on 1978 and 1979.  Playing here meant that I was down to two more venues (Reserve Vineyards-South near Portland OR, and Port St Lucie CC--now a Club Med franchise in FL) to have completed the Senior Tour Major venues ever.

I fired a poor 42 - 43 = 85; this was a relaxing round and I was just pleased to get it gone by 9:30 and move north to Bloomfield Hills for my next round on a long day.

Forest Lake Country Club, June 19, 2019:  Forest Lake is a very very private club located in Bloomfield Hills (perhaps the most exclusive neighborhood in the Detroit region).  It hosted the Women's PGA Championship in 1956 and the US Women's Open in 1958 (won by Marlene Hagge and Mickey Wright respectively).  It was designed by William Diddle and opened in 1926 and was renovated by Arthur Hills.  Forest Lake is a fun but very short course (6279 yards from the tips and 5876 form the middle tees, where I played from).

I started off hitting the ball extremely well and had putts of less than 15' on holes 1-3 for birdies (alas...missed all three).  Fell apart from 4-8 and ended up shooting 41 - 41 = 82.  I enjoyed the course and it is clearly a very fine club.  I finished my round by 1pm...and then hoped over to Orchard Lake CC just 6 miles west of Forest Lake.

Orchard Lake Country Club, June 19, 2019:  Designed by Harry Colt and his partner Charles Alison, Orchard Lake CC opened in 1926.  Starting about 15 years ago, the club retained Keith Foster to bring back the boldness and spirit imbued by Allison almost 80 years earlier.  While I had never set eyes on Orchard Lake prior to this visit, I have heard that it had suffered from an illness common to many golf courses...unchecked tree growth resulting in the "life" and openness of the course being literally chocked out of the layout.   I witnessed it happening from 1975-2000 at Quaker Ridge but failed to recognize it until about 7-8 years later when I realized how the course had become claustrophobic.  Happily, Gil Hanse was brought in and reversed that trend in big ways...and the Hanse's, Foster's, DeVries', Crenshaw/Coore's, Doak's, Phillips', and too many others to mention reversed those trends at hundreds of courses across the world and have pushed an emphasis on fun in the game of golf.  It is important to also recognize the efforts of pioneers such as Al Jamieson (California Club of SF), Dunlop White III (Old Town Club, NC), Dick Youngscap (Sandhills GC, NE), Michael Keiser (Bandon Dunes Resort, etc.), and the leadership of Oakmont Country Club in the mid-1990's and thereafter.

Back to Orchard Lake.  The course now plays 7104 yards from the tips (par 71) and is a sight to see.  Large areas previously filled with thick bunches of trees now are open with beautiful tall fescue occupying the land.  As a result the vistas are marvelous, the sun and wind get to almost all of the ground and turf, thereby drying the land more quickly, and the turf is wonderfully healthy.  Net net...it is fast and firm!

The bunkers are big and bold and dominate the holes when looking from the tee.  Bunker size is a major factor here, but also the use of brilliant white sand contributed in a big way...as the white sand causes these hazards to really stand out...and it become more difficult for the player to ignore their presence.  And the bunker size is easily matched by the greens, all of which present difficult overall slopes with relatively little in the way of major interior mounding.

Finally, the open space allows the wonderful contours, mounds and valleys of Orchard Lake's rolling land to become more obvious...and the challenges this land presents (flat lies are rare events here) is never far from the players mind.

I had the pleasure of playing Orchard Lake with a good friend from Pinehurst who is a long term member and fairly well known player in the State of Michigan.  All Pete G. did was win the Michigan State Amateur Championship in four separate decades (think about that for as second).   Aside from that, Pete is also one very nice and wonderful gentlemen...or to put it more simply, a great guy!

It was very special to hear the history of the course from Pete as we played it.  After starting with double bogey 6 on the par 4 first (406 yards, turning slightly left, slightly downhill off the tee and then fairly level until about 30 yards short of the green which sits perched atop a small hill...with a very large yawning bunker protecting the right front) I started to hit the ball pretty well.  I ended the round with a solid 39 - 38 = 77, not too shabby for my third round of the day.

The club has kept pretty much under the radar during its 93 years, hosting one Western Amateur in 1962 and never appearing on a USA Top 100.  I loved playing it and would place it among the five best courses in the Detroit area (along with Franklin Hills, Indianwood-Old, Meadowbrook, and Oakland Hills-South...in alphabetical order).  A semi-hidden gem...take advantage if you get an invite.

Off to the airport which was a mess as Delta's systems were down.  Fortunately they came back up and we took off on time and landed ahead of schedule.  As always, good to be back home and with my bride!!

Rhode Island Country Club, June 28, 2019: RICC is about 65 miles from our home in Milton, MA and has hosted four US Women's Amateur Championships (1924, 1953, 1987, and 2011) as well as the 1975 US Senior Women's Amateur.  It also has hosted the CVS Classic since its inception in 1999.  It has never appeared on a USA or World Top 100.  While it has not been on any of my bucket lists, I have been curious about it since learning of its extensive USGA history, so I contacted a good friend from Pinehurst who has lived most of his life in RI and is know to many as Mr. Rhode Island Golf (most notably for his work in founding and building "Buttonhole Golf"...Google it), and Eddie M. arranged a fun game!

RICC is a fun course that I could play every day without getting bored (although in certain winter months I might get quite cold...just checking to see if you are reading this).  Relatively short (6393 yards par 71), RICC was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1911.  I had a 39 - 40 = 79 which was good for me as the course requires local knowledge.  Not a weak hole amongst the 18...and by far the best is the straight uphill 14th (377 yards) to a wonderful infinity green with excellent bunkering and a green loaded with outstanding pin placements.  The course is filled with false fronts and sides.

After playing RICC, and having played Newport two days earlier, I decided that Rhode Island may well have the best concentration of "fun" courses amongst the USA's fifty states.   It is filled with fun tracks, namely (again in alphabetical order and limited to courses I have played):

Misquamicut Club (Post #109)
Newport (Post #18)
Port Judith (play precedes Blog)
RICC (Post #131)
Saconnet (Post #56)
Shelter Harbor (Post #5)
Wannamoissett (play precedes Blog)

I have played an 8th course in RI but IMO it is unworthy of this list and shall go unmentioned (remember what our mothers told us...).  Note that there are absolutely no "big" championship tracks in the entire state (and who cares), specifically, if I am not mistaken, the longest of these seven is Shelter Harbor at 7032 yards.

Other Recent Repeats: Between June 26 and July 8 I played three courses I had played before and covered in prior Posts.  Nothing of great import to add to these prior Posts except as noted below (and the fact that I love all three tracks!):

June 16, Newport CC (Post #18)--to host the 2020 US Senior Open
July 7, Essex Country Club (Post #113)
July 8, Old Sandwich Golf Club (Post #83)

Bucket List Status:

Courses Played--1158 (20,438 golf holes)
World Top 100 EVER (all sources)--DONE
USA Top 100 EVER (all sources)--DONE
Fifty States--DONE
Men's Major Venues EVER--DONE
PGA Players Championships--DONE

Five Cups--1 to go (Denver CC, CO)
Senior Majors--2 to go
Women's Majors--5 to go
Amateur Majors--5 to go
Federal Express Playoffs--1 to go (TPC Southwind, TN)
World Golf Championships--2 to go
Golf Week USA Classic Top 100 EVER--1 to go (Astoria, OR)
Golf Week USA Modern Top 100 EVER--15 to go
Golf Digest USA Top 101-200 EVER--12 to go

Golf Digest 1966 and 1967 "200Toughest"--92 to go (not planning to finish)
US Junior Championship Venues--29 to go (not planning to finish)

To date for 2019 (through July 9), played:
16 repeat courses (had played before 2019)
43 new courses
59 total courses

Milestone missed...On May 3, 2019, according to my best calculation, I played my 20,000th golf hole...the 13th hole at International Country Club in Reston, VA.  Knew you would be thrilled!

Miscellaneous:  Think about the following thought/question:

English language question...did the word "if" exist before the game of golf was created?

Second English language question...why are many of our clubs called "Country Club"?  I remember when I was young and we lived in Jamaica, Queens, that if we were going out to Long Island or Westchester we would talk about going to "the country"...meaning away from the busy City (even though Jamaica was fairly suburban at that time).  Talking to others who are up elsewhere, it seems "going to the country" was a phrase used in most cities for those types of trips.  Me thinks that is where the "Country Club" title came from.

130. Rudo Reaches Two Major Milestones...and Makes Important Announcement

130.  Rudo Reaches Two Major Milestones...and Makes Important Announcement

Major Milestones:  Over the past two weeks or so, I have taken three trips:

1.  a day trip to Portsmouth, NH open June 4 to play Golf Club of New England and Portsmouth Country Club;

2.  a three day trip (departing June 9 and returning June 12) to Ireland and England to play Mount Juliet (Ireland), Sunningdale GC-Old (England), Huntercombe GC (England), Worplesdon GC (England), and St George's Hill GC-Green and Red 9's (England);  all four of the English courses are located within 30 miles of London's Heathrow Airport;

3.  a three day trip (departing June 16 and returning June 19) to Michigan to play two courses in northern Michigan (Arcadia Bluffs-South and Treetops Resort-Smith Signature on June 17) and five courses (to be announced at a later date) tentatively scheduled for June 18 and 19.

By playing Huntercombe GC and Treetops Resort-Smith Signature, I have now completed the World Top 100 EVER as well as the USA Top 100 EVER.

Readers of this Blog should recall that this is my third ascent of the top of the World Top 100.  The first occurred at Cabot Cliffs, in Nova Scotia, Canada, on July 8, 2016.  At the time the list was composed of 295 (still existing) courses.  Over the following 22 months, the list had grown to 322 still existing courses, of which I had not played two.  During a trip to Australia, China, and Japan I played these two thereby "re-ascenting" the World Top 100 EVER on April 8, 2018 by playing Yokohama Country Club-West.  Huntercombe GC on June 11, 2019 represents my third ascent...and by now the list totaled 343 still existing courses (plus 5 that no longer exist).  Of these 343, I have played 140 multiple times and 203 a single time.

This afternoon, I played Treetops Resort's Smith Signature course.  As readers of may blog may recall, I had previously made two trips to Treetops (12 holes in July 2013 and the other 6 holes in June 2018...Post #111) to play what turned out to be the "wrong" Treetops course.  I learned later last summer that I had played the wrong course so I needed to get back to play Smith Signature.  That completes the USA Top 100 EVER (for the first time for me).  This list now consists of 369 still existing courses and 4 that no longer exist.  I have played 118 of the still existing multiple times and 251 once.  Of the four NLE's, I played two once, but never played the other two.

To my knowledge, no one else has ever complete either of these lists, although a fellow member of the Global Golf Centurions Club is now within 12 courses of finishing the World Top 100 EVER, and hopes to complete it by the end of 2019.

Four of us have completed the Golf Magazine World 100 Ever (a subset of the World Top 100 EVER consisting of 201 courses); in order of time of completion the four are Tom Clasby, Paul Rudovsky, Bob McCoy, and Hong Seh Lim.

For your information, I have created a set of spreadsheets to show the courses on both of these EVER lists.  However, I do not think I can post spreadsheets on this blog.  The email announcing this post includes these spreadsheets.  If you did not receive this email, please contact me by and I will send the spreadsheet to you.

Important Announcement:  Having achieved the milestones cited above I am hereby announcing that I shall no longer "chase" World or USA Top 100 lists.  This can be a never ending cycle, and there comes a time to step off the treadmill.  This is that time for moi.

Please note...the above does not mean that I will stop visiting new (or previous played) courses.  And it does not mean that I will not work to finish some still remaining bucket lists.  What it does mean is that when top100golfcourses.com, golfclubatlas.com, or another other list generator comes up with a new list, I will not automatically work to finish that list.  If there are courses that interest me, I will go play them...if they do not interest me (in my sole judgement) I will not.

It has been great fun...but it is time for someone else to take over.

Oh...and I do plan to continue publishing my blog.

129. Eastward Ho! and Two Day Visit to Austin/San Antonio

129.  Eastward Ho! and Two Day Visit to Austin/San Antonio

Eastward Ho!, May 18, 2019:  Fellow GM Panelist and good friend Fergal O'Leary asked me to join his wife Karen and him for a round on Cape Cod at Eastward Ho!  I have played EH! about 5-6 times, there last time being in 2014, and was very much looking forward to returning.  Go to Post #1005 for my WH! write up from that visit, as my fingers are too tired to repeat my eloquent phrases.

EH! is still a Gem but no longer "hidden".  In World Top 100 ranking Planet Golf has consistently placed it in hi 60's-low 70's, Ran Morrissett's "147 Custodians" of the Game last year placed it at #65, and his MacWood Spoof placed it at #92.  Its USA listing generally has been about #50-70, except #26 on the "147 Custodians".  I would think something like #35-40 US and #75-85 World would be about right.  Given all the rain that had fallen in MA in prior weeks, it was far from as firm/fast as normal, but there still was good roll out.  And the weather was simply perfect...bright sunshine with a decent wind to make things interesting.

Every time I get here I marvel at how the land just heaves and lurches almost randomly...and how well it was utilized by Englishman Herbert Fowler and how well it was restored about 15 years ago by Keith Foster.   In the last few years, Mother Nature made some architectural improvements in the form of storms clearing out trees.  This opened up fairway #12 and 13 on the right side to spectacular vistas of Little Pleasant Bay to the north and west.

I played some pretty good golf and was 4 over through 16 holes, then finished double bogey (lost ball), bogey for a 37 - 41 = 78.  Despite the bad finish I really felt good about how I hit it.  It was great to catch up with Karen and Fergal.

Austin Golf Club, May 25, 2019: Saturday/Sunday of Memorial Day weekend Pat was heading to Toronto for a wedding of a high school friend of her older son, Hunter.  This of course gave me an opportunity to run off and squeeze as much golf as possible into 48 hours.  The plan was to fly to Austin, TX Friday night and then start off at 8am at Austin Golf Club Saturday morning.  

I played AGC with two members and was asked to not post any pictures or detailed course descriptions to social medial, or submit any rating to any Top 100 listing...and I shall respect that request.  

This is a GOLF club...no swimming pool, tennis courts, or even card tables.  It was designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore and is Ben's "little child".  He is here a lot and is constantly "tweaking" the course.  It is so much fun to play and very subtly difficult.  Greens are relatively small, seeded with bent grass (in southern Texas!!, but this place would be brutal with super firm Bermuda greens), and filled with hidden slopes (reminding me a little of the greens at Shady Oaks in Fort Worth), false fronts, little knobs at the back corners (and some front ones as well).  Short siding yourself here is not wise unless you dislike getting up and down.  The course is in simply perfect condition...no other description would apply.  

Just like the course, the clubhouse, staff and service are about perfect and deeply understated.  Very very special place and an honor to be there.  If you get invited...grab it.  But you must play with a member.

AGC was #93 on the "147 Protectors" World 100 list last year, as well as #39 for USA courses from that list.  Its highest rating before then was #147 on my Merged GolfWeek list in 2013.  Such low  historical ratings do not do much for my confidence in Top 100 lists (but I will continue to pursue them of course).  Speaking off that, by playing Austin GC, I am left with one course to conquer the World Golf Top 100 EVER list for the third time...and one course to conquer the USA Golf Top 100 EVER list for the first time!

After the round we had a quick lunch and I headed southwest over to Austin Country Club.  This was to be a golf filled day!

Austin Country Club, May 25, 2019:  Austin Country Club was founded in 1899 with a nine hole course.  In 1949 the club moved to its East Austin location and then in 1984 to its current site, with a new 18 holes course designed by Pete Dye.

Harvey Penick started his career in golf as a caddy at ACC's original location and served the club for 82 years at all three sites.  During his tenure he guided the careers of Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, and Sandra Palmer among others.

The course has never been included on a USA or World Top 100 but has hosted the World Golf Match Play Championship for the last four years.  Many of you are familiar with the layout from TV coverage.  The property has two distinctly different segments, known as "lowlands" (holes 3-7) alongside the Colorado River) and "highlands" (holes 1, 2, and 8-18) reflecting Texas Hill Country.  It plays 7062 yards (par 71).  Note:  the hole numbers here reflect the normal layout of the course; for the Match Play Championship, the nines are reversed so the "lowlands" encompass holes 12-16.

I arrived at ACC at 1:00pm and was scheduled to play with Ed L., a Golf Digest Panelist who is a member.  We teed off on #3 and played holes 3-11, then holes 1-2.  Play was very slow (the club allows fivesomes on weekend afternoons) and I had to leave after these 11 holes in order to make my third round.  We did see most of the remaining seven holes driving back to the clubhouse.

The PGA Tour requires the club to heavily overseed in order to ensure green fairways for the Match Play Championship.  As with most things in life, there is no "free lunch" from overseeding and it leaves the fairways in questionable condition during the late spring transition period and very wet and slow during the fall overseed grow in period.  This requirement is a source of controversy within the club (it also generates a hefty profit for the club, keeps dues lower, and helps the club maintain a full membership and a wait list).  Not that it matters, but I know how I would vote!  I also thought some of the forced carries off the tee (particularly on #11) were questionable.

Pete Dye is a highly controversial architect.  He has always pushed against "boundaries"...in many directions and has created many brilliant courses in locations many other architects would avoid.  A good number of today's best architects got their start "shaping" land on bulldozers working for Pete (including Bill Coore and Tom Doak).  He never shied away from risks...and was willing to try almost anything.  Generally that leads to both brilliant achievements and questionable results.  My guess is that a survey of golfers who have played ACC will generate a good number of both responses.  This had to be a difficult piece of land to work with, and he built a course that generates excitement for the PGA Tour, its players and fans.  Others may say it is not "consistent" enough...its pieces do not "fit" together and some of its holes are far too penal.  Like many things, there is no right answer.

Barton Creek Country Club, Canyons Course, May 25, 2019: The Canyons course at Barton Creek was completed in 1999 with Tom Fazio its designer.  In 1986 he completed the Foothills course at Barton Creek (which I played in November 2016--see post #64).  There are two other courses at Barton Creek, one designed by Arnold Palmer (finished 1986) and the other by Coore-Crenshaw (finished 1991).  The Canyons has never made a USA Top 100 but did make the GW Modern Top 100 from 2002-2005 (highest rating was #71 in 2003).

I played it with another GD panelist, Tom V., with whom I played the Foothills three years ago.  Like me he is no longer a young kid, but is filled with wonderful old golf stories and we traded a whole bunch of special one about the likes of Hogan and Trevino.  No question I was a  pretty tired.  Played in carts all three round but especially at ACC and here the overall terrain meant there are some steep hills to and from the carts.

I liked the course a lot.  The course fits nicely into some difficult terrain...better than Fazio did with Foothills IMO.  It was not in great shape for good reason...Omni is planning a major renovation to commence later this year.

We finished the round just before sunset and had a quick dinner in the clubhouse.  When we finished it was dark out.  I had left my phone in my car during the round and the battery was down to 5% at the end of dinner but I knew I could charge it during the drive back to my hotel...or at least I thought so.  After saying thanks again and goodbye to Tom, I got in the car and started driving...but the phone would not charge..and I had NO idea how to get back to the hotel...only that I needed to head east and a little south.  I have no idea what caused the problem but the phone would not take a charge.  I drove around for an hour before getting near where I knew the hotel was...and was much relieved when it started charging fine in the hotel room...at around 10:30pm!

Oak Hills CC, May 26, 2019:  Had to get up early for a 70 minute drive south to San Antonio for this one.  Was well worth it.  Oak Hills hosted the first Tour Championship in 1987 (won by Tom Watson) and by playing it, I had completed all of the Tour Championship host sites (a total of 8 different sites).  It also has hosted 23 Texas Opens, the 2001 US Junior Championship, and 9 Senior Tour SBC/AT&T Championships.  In total, 12 major champions have won events at Oak Hills.  Designed by A. W. Tillinghast, it opened in 1922 as Alamo Country Club and after closing for WW II, reopened as Oak Hills CC.  It has just completed a restoration/renovation by Tripp Davis, whose restoration work I have admired at Brook Hollow (TX--Post #62) (another Tillie), Meadow Brook (NY--Post #86), Sunnehanna (PA--Post #115), Whippoorwill (NY--Post #46), and Wichita (KS--Post #85).

Davis has done another superb job here.  The club is aptly named as the course is dominated by  grand oak trees and a major hill upon which the clubhouse sits and from which the course rolls off.  The oak trees are huge and really have a major impact on the course's six dogleg holes...where it is critical to either be long off the tee or play away from the corner of the dogleg to allow access to the green complex on your approach shot...therby lengthening the hole considerably.  The new bunkers are beautiful and, as one would expect at a Tillie, quite deep.  Some of the greens (sodded with Champions Bermuda) are having trouble coming in, but I would expect this issue to be resolved shortly.  One interesting aspect of the design is that both nines end with a par 3.

Overall I liked the course a lot...it is simple, fair, tough and classic...everything laid out in front of you, simply waiting for you to make a mistake.  I had a good 41 - 40 = 81 (par is 71...6886 yards) and was pleased with my game.  I again played with another GD panelist, Richard L., who did his undergraduate work at Carnegie-Mellon a few years after I was there for business school, and was nice enough to play with me at 7:15am (I awoke around 4:15am and was at Oak Hill by 6:15am...and proceeded to get a good 45 minute nap in my car!).

By 10:30 I was on an 80 minute drive north heading toward Spanish Oaks CC.

Spanish Oaks CC, May 26, 2019:  I arrived just before noon and quickly found Paul R. (no, not me) a GolfWeek rater who is almost a nuts as I am.  He had moved to Austin from Chicago last year and we had planned this meeting since last fall.  We played with his daughter, Emma, who is in high school and plays on her high school team.

Spanish Oaks was designed by Bobby Weed and opened in 2002.  It was owned at one point by Discovery Land, and probably in the 2009-2011, the development went into receivership.  It now seems to be bustling and thriving.  Certainly the real estate activity level is high with magnificent homes under construction on the hills overlooking the holes in the valleys of the property.  Sergio Garcia is building a home on the property and several other PGA Tour players already live there.  Weed has renovated the course twice (and extended its length to make it more accommodating for the Tour members).  It now plays to 7155 yards (par 71).  Spanish Oaks has never made a USA Top 100 but in 2009 was #87 on GW's Modern Top 100 (and #187 on my merged list).

Because it (like the back nine at ACC and Canyons at Barton Creek) are built in Hill Country, they feel and play very differently than most courses in Texas...which tend to be very flat.  They also can end up with long forced carries over gorges (e.g. #11 at ACC).  But this is a well designed and very good course.  I was tired but managed a 42 - 42 = 84, and was looking forward to a shower before my 6:55 flight home.  I thanked Paul and suggested to Emma that she needs to concentrate more on her putting.

The drive to the airport was easy and my flight was about 40 minutes early.  Monday morning (Memorial Day) I slept until just after 10am and then was off to Brookline to play in a "Chapman" (a form of alternate shot play created by the parents of a friend in Pinehurst) couples event...poor Pat had to deal with some the my tee shots as I put some in awful places.  But it was a fun event and as always, great to be back home with her!!

Bucket List Status:
Top 100's etc:
--World Top 100 Ever (11 sources)--348 courses, played 342, 5 no longer exist ("NLE"), and just one to go (Huntercombe, near Oxford in England) to get back on top of this mountain;

--USA Top 100 Ever (6 sources)--371 courses, played 368, 2 NLE, and just one to go (Treetops, MI--Smith Signature where I played the wrong course!!) to climb this mountain for the first time;

--USA Top 200 Ever (3 sources):
               --Golf Week 100 Classic & 100 Modern Ever--412 courses, played 393, 1 NLE, and 17 to play (including Treetops);
               --Golf Digest 1966/67 "200 Toughest"--249 courses, played 150, 5 NLE, and 94 to play;
               --Golf Digest 2013-19 200 Greatest (not on any other list)---25 courses. 13 played; 12 to go;

Hosts of Important Events and Other:
--Men's Majors: 129 courses, 122 played, 6 NLE, 1 to go (Ridgemoor-IL 1942 Hale America Nat'l Open)
--50 States: played in 50...DONE
--Senior Majors: 74 courses, 71 played, 3 to go
--Women's Majors: 88 courses, 78 played, 4 NLE, 6 to go
--5 Cups (Walker, Curtis, Ryder, Presidents, Solheim): 106 courses, 105 played, 1 to go (Denver CC)
--Am Majors (US Am, Mid Am, Senior Am, Amateur Champ); 178 courses, 170 played 3 NLE, 5 to go
--Player's Championship: 5 courses, 5 played...DONE
--Tour Championship: 8 courses, 8 played...DONE
--Other Fed Exp Playoff (& predecessors): 14 courses, 14 played...DONE
--WGC: 18 courses, 14 played, 4 to go

In Bold are Bucket Lists I have targeted...total to go: 43

Major accomplishments of this trip:

1.  Playing Austin Golf Club brought me down to one to go for both the World Top 100 (11 sources) and USA Top 100 (6 sources)...getting close!
2.  Playing Oak Hills CC finished off the Tour Championship host sites, as well as all courses that have held a Fed Exp Playoff event.

Onward and Upward!!

128. Trip North from Pinehurst, NC to Milton, MA

128. Trip North from Pinehurst, NC to Milton, MA

It has been over three months since my last post (#127 on March 7, 2019).  These weeks have not exactly been filled with golf.  In the fall of 2017 I learned that I had a heart murmur due to a defective aortic valve.  At that point my doctors expected that I would need to replace my aortic valve within 4-5 years...but with only on "data point" this had to be a "guesstimate."  

This past November, tests indicated that my valve my deteriorating more quickly than previously anticipated, and while I had been asymptomatic, by late February symptoms were starting to become noticeable.  On April 2, I underwent a TAVR procedure (look it up on Google), approved for use by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration about eight years ago.  Suffix it to say it is far easier on the patient than open heart surgery.  I was discharged from the hospital about 50 hours after the procedure concluded, was taking walks of 2-3 miles about 10 days later, and playing 18 holes of golf (walking 9) within three weeks.  Such are the miracles of modern medicine.

During the 4-5 weeks prior to the procedure, I stayed inside as much as possible and did not play golf.  Aside form noticing some symptoms, I wanted minimize any chance of catching a cold or the flu.  I tried to keep busy...filing 2018 taxes "helped" with that task.  I was also able to rebuild part of my "Top 100" spreadsheet (to be introduced within a few weeks) as well as organize my collection of scorecards and yardage books (which readers may recall will fuel the world's largest barn fire should I predecease Pat).  I found that I was missing some 180 yardage books from the 1128 courses I had played to this point and have been working to reduce this list (which currently stands at 145 missing).  

International Country Club. May 3, 2019: At about 6am on Friday May 3, Pat and I departed Pinehurst.  I dropped her off at RDU airport for her flight to Boston and then continued northward on a trip that would last until Thursday May 9...with a wee bit of golf along the way.  My first stop was at Reston (VA) National (formerly Reston-South) one of my "missing scorecards" from a round played in late 1982.  After that I went 5 miles south to International Country Club, also in Reston.  I was playing it because it was included on Golf Digest's "USA 200 Toughest" lists in 1966 and 1967.  To my knowledge, these lists were the first course rating lists ever published...and they represent an example of how hard it is to start something new with no "footprints in the snow to follow."  In those days, people did not travel anything like they do today, there obviously was no internet, and the media's footprint was far far smaller ("the good old days").  A total of 249 courses made one or both of these lists, and of those 249, fully 135 have never appeared on any other Top 100 list since that time.  Criticizing these lists is easy, but it is a little like criticizing a Commodore personal computer or a Model A Ford automobile.

I arrived at International around 11:50am.  I should note that my bride Pat and her ex-husband Vic were members here in the late 70's when they lived in Reston (she was a very good tennis player back then...never set foot on the golf course).  I played at 12:10 with two members.  The club was founded in 1961 and operated out of two locations.  Its clubhouse and a 9 hole course were located just inside the beltway on leased property and the present course had been constructed on owned land in Reston.  Seven years later the lease inside the beltway expired and a new clubhouse had been constructed next to the Reston course.  The course was designed by Ed Ault and Al Jamieson and had to be modified in later years (by Bill Love and Tom Clark in 1992 and then by Bob Cupp in 2005) when the club was forced to sell some its land under eminent domain proceedings.

The course now totals 6816 yards (par 71)...it was 6959 (143 yards longer...same par 71) in 1967.  It is a good golf course but frankly would not sniff a top 100 or 200 today...but that really is not an insult.  There are maybe 150 courses that should be considered for a USA or World 100...that is about 1.0% of the number of courses in the USA and about 0.4-0.5% of the number of courses in the world...pretty lofty status.  Best hole by far was #7 a 448 yard par 4 downhill off the tee, then flat then uphill to the green...with a creek left that cuts right at the base of the hill before the green.  I had a very strong par 4 there.

Shot a 41 - 42 = 83.  Wanted to finish quickly to avoid as much of the DC rush hour as possible...stupid of me...it would do no good.

Quaker Ridge Golf Club, May 4 2019:  I pulled out of International CC around 4:00pm and made good progress for about 18 miles (using the toll high occupancy lanes on the beltway) and then I hit a WALL...the next 10 miles took about 1 hour 45 minutes!!  So much fun!  I finally arrived in Westchester at about 10:15 pm, slightly exhausted.

Up early wondering about the weather on Saturday morning.  Arrived at Quaker around 7:45 and ran into old friends.   The place looked simply fabulous.  I was here in May 2018 (Post #110) for the Century Conquerors Club meeting (now the Global Golf Centurions Club) but could not play because of a recent skin surgery.  As I have covered QR in prior posts (#59 and #1005) I will not go into great detail here, but it was in superb shape and Gil Hanse's brilliant restoration literally has worked miracles.

Observing the changes at Quaker and other course over the years, I have learned a bit about how many "Golden Age" courses lost some of their "mojo" over the decades and how restorations bring it back.  During World War II, due to rationing of fuel, all clubs (irrespective of the extent of their resources) were forced to minimize use of scarce resources such as fuel.  As a result, at almost every club, maintenance staffs learned to cut the greens in a circular pattern.  As a result, greens shrunk and the "corners" of the greens...home of many of the interesting pin placements...were lost, and eventually forgotten.  Bunkers, which are costly to maintain, were also removed through the years.  Through careful study of old aerial photos and other sources, Gil (and other superb restorers) figure out original green (and bunker) dimensions and placement, and this is key (along with significant tree removal) to the restoration process.  Best green changes by Gil at QR are #1, 10, and 15 IMO.

I played with three old QR friends, Michael F. (who is almost as much of a golf nut as I), Steve S., and Larry L.  Of course the best thing was catching up with caddymaster/starter Richie, and Ziggy in the locker room.  I hit it well and had a 42 - 40 = 82 with three doubles.  And I walked about 2/3 of the way with no "symptoms"...good sign!

Had a great lunch, said goodbye until next year (hopefully) and headed to Sleepy Hollow.

Sleep Hollow Country Club, May 4, 2019:  My original plan was to play Quaker on Saturday, and Sleepy Hollow and Rockaway Hunting Club near JFK airport on Sunday.  However, the forecast for Sunday was horrendous...steady rain all day long virtually guaranteed.  I was staying with Jim G. who belongs to Sleepy, and he was able to switch our round from Sunday morning to Saturday afternoon.

I first played Sleepy in 1974 and my last round there had been in 2014 (see post #1005---go back and read if you are interested as I will not be repeating the same points).  In 2014 Gil Hanse was about half way finished with his renovation and now the work is close to "done" (in quotes because golf courses are living growing things...and there always is more work to be done).  The tree removal, green expansion, and bunker redo efforts have been hugely successful IMO.  He has successfully converted what was a "half Macdonald-half Tillinghast" into a "full Macdonald".  These changes could not have been easy as the course is build on top of huge boulders sweep down from the north during the last ice age, so "moving dirt" is not a simple task here and in many cases is close to impossible.  This course is now one of the really superb courses in the NY area.  But I still have issues with the par 5 6th (see Post #1005) as well as the par 3 10th (even though I parred them both this day).  The green at the par 3 16th ("Short") is much improved with a deeper thumbprint in the center.  It may be the finest "Short" in the entire collection of Macdonald/Raynor/Banks tracks...and I am pleased to report I posted a birdie 2 there.  Overall my play was poor on the front and good on the back (46 - 41 = 87).  No walking here unless one is a nanny goat!

All in all, not many days in my life playing two courses of this caliber.  And somehow the threatened rain held off all day.

We drove back to Jim's house...less than a mile from my old house in Purchase...then to dinner with Jim and his bride Wendy at Alba's in Portchester...site of the first dinner at the CCC/GGCC meeting last year.  Our waiter looked at me with a "I know you " look and I filled him in.  Another fabulous meal there.

"NO GOLF", Sunday, May 5, 2019: As predicted, this a was a day with steady continuous rain.  I called Rockaway Hunting Club...and they were open but no caddies no carts and apparently harder rain than in Westchester.  Head pro and I quickly agreed another date would be more appropriate.  According to my weather site, they had a mere 2.41" of rain that day!

Spent part of the morning driving around picking up "missing" scorecards around Westchester, then drove south to Atlantic City get to my hotel and be ready for golf in New Jersey on Monday.  Had 7 courses scheduled for Monday-Thursday and lots of driving, so this day of rest was much appreciated.

Ocean County Golf Course at Atlantis, May 6, 2019:  Located about 15 miles (as the crow flies) north of Atlantic City, this is a municipal course (and always has been) designed by George Fazio (Tom's uncle, who played a lot on the Tour in the 50's) a highly successful architect in the 1960's and 70's (Jupiter Hills-FL, Butler National-IL, Champions GC-Jackrabbit-TX, Hershey-East, National GC of Canada-ON, Moselem Springs-PA, and Edgewood Tahoe-NV).  I also loved Wild Dunes (SC) which today gives primary credit to Tom Fazio...but I first played it in 1983 and I recall  (perhaps incorrectly) George Fazio getting the lead credit back then...who knows?  Course was fabulous when it first opened but then ruined by close-in housing and Hurricane Hugo in 1989.  Ocean County was remodeled by Hal Purdy in 1992.

Ocean County has seen better days.  It is clear that it is suffering from maintenance cutbacks...plus the heavy rainfalls of the past 12 months and especially the day before did not help.  But it was interesting to see signs of "good bones" on a number of holes, especially around the greens.  It had been included on GD's 1966/and 1967 "200 Toughest lists but never reappeared on any other Top 100.

I had an excellent front and awful back nine (38 - 44 = 82).  Plays 6848 yards, par 72.  Afraid this one was not worth a stop...

Buena Vista CC, May 6, 2019:  After a 40 mile drive southwest (including a quick stop to pick up a "missing scorecard" in at Seaview in Atlantic City) I arrived at Buena Vista.  This is now a public course and suffers from the same neglect as Ocean County.  Opened in 1957 and designed by William Gordon (Saucon Valley-Grace and Sunnybrook in PA and Stanwich in CT) and his son David (same as his dad, plus Saucon Valley-Weyhill),  BV was also on the same GD Toughest lists as Ocean County.  But I must report that if it originally was blessed with good bones, they have deteriorated over the years.  The course had standing water on about 30-40% of its fairway acreage and was is very poor condition.  I did get my 18 holes in, and then proceeded north after a lackluster 43 - 39 = 82.

After the round it was north to the Princeton area (after one "missing scorecard" stop). The next morning I had breakfast with one of the true founders of our Global Golf Centurions Club, John Sabino. John created the website that first listed those of us who had completed a Golf Magazine World 100.  Early in May 2018,  he learned he had acute myeloid leukemia...with a genetic defect that made his case much worse.  John spent as horrifying a 9-11 month period as I can imagine, and kept enough of a sense of humor (and life) to document it on his blog (Google "Playing the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World" if you get down and want two find out how lucky you really are!).  It was simply wonderful to catch up with John...the last time I saw him was May 3, 2018 at University of Pennsylvania Hospital, just before he started his chemo routine and went into deep quarantine.  He has recovered and attended The Masters with The Wife last month!  Seeing him well was no question the highlight of the trip!!

Ridge at Back Brook, May 7, 2019:  In recent years most of the magazines responsible for "top 100" lists have expanded their lists (cynics would say in quest of greater advertising $$ but of course I am not a cynic).  About 8 years ago, GolfWeek expanded its Top 100 Modern and Top 100 Classic lists to 200 each, and in 2013 Golf Digest expanded its USA 100 Greatest list to 200.  To date, I have resisted siren calls to expand my bucket lists but on this day ventured to play Ranch at Back Brook in western NJ (close to the PA line) which was #182 on GD's USA list published earlier in 2019.  Before leaving Pinehurst, I learned that good friend of ours in Pinehurst (Mike and Gay F.) were founding members of Ridge at Back Brook (need to find an abbreviation or shorter name of my fingers will get worn out) when it opened in 2002...Mike warned me it was a tough course.  Might be one of Tom Fazio's toughest.

Well, after 6 holes I had five bogeys and a double bogey (playing from 6003 yards...the course plays to 7215 from the tips), and I was tired (playing in a cart).  I found my game on #7 and played the last 12 holes with 8 pars and 4 bogies (overall 44 - 39 = 83 or 11 over par).  The course is tough...especially holes 3-5 which can wear you down.  Hole #3 plays 438 yards turning left, with water all the way down the left side.  The approach is to an elevated green angled to the back left and protected by two large front bunkers...simply brutal with that day's pin position...back left.  Hole #4 (431 yards) drops down off the tee and then is strongly uphill doglegging right toward the green.

Overall the course is visually spectacular and offers great challenges for scratch players, has some superb holes, is in excellent condition, and boasts a gorgeous clubhouse.  The land moves very well with some 150' of elevation changes and multiple rock outcroppings.  On the other hand, it is not a course I would consider "fun", and certainly not a course I would want to play every day.  The superb holes are off set by many long walks from green to tee.  The club's website cites the fact that the no one broke 75 for a US Open qualifier.  If that is a statement of greatness in a course, the game is in trouble (at least in my opinion).  Beautiful to see, interesting to play one time, but not on a steady diet!

Ridgewood Counter Club-East/West, May 7, 2019:  I first played the 27 holes (East-West-Center) in late 1979, and then played it for a second time about a dozen years later, so I had not been back for almost 30 years.

The club as founded in 1890 and its present facility opened in 1929.  In includes 27 holes by A. W. Tillinghast and a Norman styled clubhouse designed by Clifford Wendehack...a powerful pair of architects.   Tillinghast also designed great courses such as Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge, Somerset Hills, San Francisco, Bethpage-Black & Red, Baltusrol, Baltimore, Mountain Ridge, Aronimink, Newport and many others.  Wendehack designed magnificent clubhouses including those at Winged Foot, Bethpage, Mountain Ridge, Park CC, and Hackensack.

From my round there in 1979 I remember a tight course with trees lining almost every fairway.  Several years ago the club completed a restoration project led by Gil Hanse, and the results are quite magnificent.  Thousands of trees are gone leaving the beauty of grand individual specimen trees.  the quality of the turf is superb, and the sights are simple yet classic.  This course is now classic, fun, challenging, and fair.  Playing it requires careful thinking, as there are optional ways of playing almost every hole, each with its own set of risks and rewards.  Best holes IMO are #2 East, #5 West (fabulous green setting!), and #8 West.  The greens are outstanding and the conditioning no less than superb.  Better bring your thinking cap here...just hitting it to an opening doesn't always work.

Over the years Ridgewood has hosted the 1935 Ryder Cup, 1974 US Amateur, 1990 US Senior, three Barclays/Northern Trust events, and the 2016 US Girl's Amateur among others and celebrated winners such as Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Vijay Singh, and Kathy Whitworth.  Over the years a number of different composite courses have been utilized during important championships at Ridgewood...I counted six different combinations.  And back in the 1930's it employed an assistant pro by the name of Byron Nelson!

In terms of ratings, Ridgewood has never made a World Top 100, and its position on USA top 100 list has generally hovered in the 80's and 90's (its highest current rating is #82 in Golf Magazine).  If it is missing anything, it is a spectacular setting and a couple of spectacular holes...tough to find in northern NJ.  But as a pure golf course, I would rate it as a top 75 in the world.

I was supposed to have dinner with a fellow GM panelist, Steve L., but traffic was its usual horrendous self, so we passed and I stayed in Paramus.  Would have been good to catch up with Steve but frankly I was a bit tired.

Hackensack Golf Club, May 8, 2019:  Readers may recall my trip to Tucson in December 2018 (Post #125).  I played The Gallery-North with member Cyrus W., a very good play and guy, who asked if I had played his club in NJ, Hackensack GC.  I told him that I had not played it and that I was embarrassed to say that I had not heard of it.  He advised that it was a Raynor/Banks, being restored, and worth a look.  Interestingly, two other people I knew mentioned Hackensack to me this winter, so I made sure to include it on this trip north.

That was a superb decision (for which I deserve zero credit).  I arrived around 7:30, and my walk through the clubhouse (designed by Clifford Wendehack) stirred my senses...clearly the place had a sense of history.  As I walked onto the back terrace, I turned to my right and saw the following view of the recently renovated first hole:

Hackensack #1 from clubhouse porch

I think I stood there staring for about three minutes.  Hole #1 is a fairly simple long straight par 4 (442 yards, slightly down hill, then up a bit to a slightly raised round green surrounded on three sides by deep bunkers).  It was love at first sight!!

The club started renovating its holes after receiving copies of original plans (I believe from Chicago GC).  They are doing 2-4 holes per year and have about three holes to go to finish the work.  I could not play #7 as it had recently been sodded and was not ready.  It was great fun to see some of the "unrenovated" holes next to the renovated ones.  The differences in bunkering was dramatic, with shallow uninteresting bunkers still in place on the former.

There are some wonderful other holes here, aside from #1...the third is a great Biarritz (green 77 yards deep),

Hackensack 3rd hole Biarritz

#12 a wonderful Redan, and #16 a superb punch bowl. Charles Banks' plans included a huge bunker (150 yards long and 7-8' deep along the right side of #11 (a 441 straight and level par 4), but the bunker was never built.  During the renovation process it was added and dominates the hole in a very positive way (not sure I would be saying that if I had hit my drive into it).  

Fun coincidence...while playing #16 I ran into Cyrus, who was back in NJ for a short trip (he only is here for a few rounds per year).  I reiterated my invitation for him to come up to Brookline.  

One important historical note...it turns out that Hackensack is either mostly or totally a Charles Banks design.  Many of you are well aware that Seth Raynor was the construction supervisor for C. B. Macdonald's courses.  When CBM retired from golf course architecture, he turned over his book of business to Raynor, who quickly grew into one of the finest architects in history (despite, or perhaps because he had never played the game).  Raynor hired Banks to be his construction supervisor.  When Raynor died in January 1926, Banks completed his unfinished projects and became an architect of high renown.  As there were ongoing tax disputes between the club and local authorities when Raynor passed away (in January 1926), the club did not gain title to the property until July 1926, thus it is likely that this was Banks' first solo design.

Rack this one up as a hidden gem for sure, even in its unfinished state.  Hopefully we will see it move up the ratings ladder...it would be well deserved (to date it had never been on a USA 100...until today...as it was #190 on GolfWeek's 1-200 list of Top Classic courses that I received by email this morning!!). Hackensack has hosted a Metropolitan Open (1973) and three Met Ams (1964, 1994, and 2009).

Oh...I had a 35 - 40 = 75...the front nine aided to some degree by the 7th hole being closed (I posted an 80 for handicap purposes).  Plays 7001 yards, par 72

Echo Lake Country Club, May 8, 2019:  After the round I drove south about 30 miles to Echo Lake CC.  I was able to grab a good lunch there and then get right off.

The club was founded in 1921 as the merger of two smaller clubs (Cranford GC and Westfield GC). In 1913 Cranford has retained Donald Ross to build an 18 hole course at the present location.  Over the next two years Echo Lake sold off 32 acres of its golf course and purchased an adjoining parcel of 32 acres...this swap enabled the course to gain needed length.  Architect Robert White then built six new holes (today's holes 11-16).  In 1928 Willard Wilkinson build three other new holes (6, 7, and 9 and a practice range).  The resulting course has remained in this approximate configuration since 1928...essentially with 9 holes by Donald Ross, 6 by White, and 3 by Wilkinson.  Recently, it was renovated by Rees Jones.

Echo Lake hosted the 1934 Met Open (at that time generally considered to have been a "major") as well as two USGA Championships, the 1994 Junior Boys' Championship and 2002 Junior Girls' Championship.  It has never been included on any Top 100.  Today it plays 7116 yards from the tips (par 71)...a healthy yardage.  I had a 43 - 40 = 83 playing poorly on the front and reasonably well from 14 in.

The clubhouse, pro shop, and first tee sit atop a bluff facing east.  The course was in very good condition.  A number of the greens are good examples of Ross' superb work, but others built by White and Wilkinson and more mundane.  Additionally there are a large number of parallel fairways and overall the course lacks design variety.  Best holes are #6, 9, and 16 IMO.

After the round I drove back to Westchester (and picked up more "missing scorecards").  One more round on the schedule on Thursday morning and then drive home to my bride!

Metropolis Country Club, May 9, 2019: During all my years at Quaker I had never played Metropolis (which is about 7 miles away).  As it was on the GD 200 Toughest lists in 1966 and 1967 I decided to rectify that error.  It was founded in 1922 in its present location with a courses designed by Herbert Strong (Canterbury-OH, Engineers-NY, Saucon Valley (Old)-PA; and Nassau-NY).  Over the following 90 years the course was altered by A. W. Tillinghast, Joe Finger, and Ken Dye.  Then in 2013 Ron Forse was retained to bring the course back to its roots with the help of the course superintendent, Davis McCaffrey.  The results are really very good, with 4 excellent par 3's (although they could use more variety in terms of playing length), and a very good flow and collection of holes on a site contained by lack of space and probably having a bit too much in the way of elevation changes.

Holes I liked the most were the par 3's (see two pics below), as well as uphill dogleg right par 4 #3,

Metropolis #9--158 yards

Metropolis #13--183 yards

long par 4 #7, and short drivable par 4 #17.  Course was in excellent condition.  Only thing I do not understand is how it has been ignored by the "top 100" community since 1967.  BUT...last minute correction:  GolfWeek for certain years published a Classic Top 200 and a Modern Top 200 (use in case you were wondering what happened to inflation) and included Metropolis as Classic #190 in 2015 and 2016.  The "200" lists were not published in 2017 or 2018 but just were published for 2019 where Metropolis moved up slightly to #188.

Metropolis has had a superb collection of head pros through the years, including Paul Runyan (PGA Champ in 1934 and 1938 and Golf Hall of Fame inductee) from 1931-1942, Jackie Burke, Jr. (Masters Champion and PGA, both in 1956, co-founder of Champions Golf Club in Houston, TX, and Golf Hall of Fame inductee) from 1948 to 1950, "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper (31 Tour victories and Golf Hall of Fame inductee), and Gene Borek (who fired a 65 at Oakmont in the 1973 US Open...two days before Johnny Miller's 63 ...which came after rains softened the course!).

I had a tired 45-45=90 to end the trip...and was anxious to get back to Pat and home.  Stopped for a few "missing scorecards" and arrived home around 5:15pm.  Trip was about 1550 miles and 10 golf courses in just under 7 days.  Straight drive from our home in Pinehurst to our hole in Milton, MA is 800 miles, so I was doing a lot for zigging and zagging in NY and NJ!

Overall, played 7 new courses, thereby knocking off 4 of my missing from the GD 1966/67 lists (now missing 94), and on host of a US Girls' union and US Boy's Junior Championships.  Golf-wise the highlights were finding another Hidden Gem (Hackensack), returning to Quaker again, and revisiting a beautifully restored Ridgewood.  Over all highlight was seeing a healthy John Sabino.