21. Continue Trip from MA to NC October 3-9, 2015

Continue Trip from MA to NC October 3-9, 2015

Medford Village CC October 7, 2015:  Medford Village lies in NJ about 15 miles from Philadelphia.  In 1969, Golf Digest published it’s first USA Top 100 (and perhaps the first Top 100 ever…as GD’s 1966/67 efforts were “200 Toughest” listed alphabetically, and the 1939 World list from golfclubatlas.com was a spoof).  GD’s 1969 list was intended to be the top 100 “Tests” in the USA, and Medford Village was in the 51-60 bracket.

Simply put, its inclusion is a prime example of the poor quality of lists way back then.  People didn’t travel like they do now, there was no internet (Al Gore was busy inventing other things), and the editors (I doubt there were panelists then) were in many cases just guessing or going off course ratings.  Not to mention the sacrifices your truly must make to complete his stupid bucket lists J

At 7135 yards (par 72), Medford Village is a long test.  It is flat, tight (every fairway lined with trees…a wee bit claustrophobic), over watered, and boring (for a top 100…compared to most to the 15,000 or so courses in the USA, it is OK to good).  One surprise...completed in 1964, its greens are very small for that era.  In any case, I am pleased to have it in my rear view mirror.

Plainfield CC, October 7, 2015:  Plainfield CC was founded in 1890 as a tennis club and evolved into more of a golf club over the decades.  I had played it once before in 1986 and hardly remembered it.  In those days it was choked with evergreens.  In fact, I could not recall a single aspect of the club or course during my visit this week.  In recent years Plainfield went through a set of brilliant renovations that included the removal of hundreds of trees and opened up the course and its vistas. 

Plainfield hosted the 1978 US Am (won by John Cook) and the 1987 US Woman’s Open (won by Laura Davies) as well as the 2011 and 2015 Fed Exp Cup Barclays.  The grandstands from the 2015 Barclay were still being disassembled on 10/7, about three weeks after the event.

The course was designed by Donald Ross and opened for play in 1921.  It has been a mainstay on the USA lists, only missing two early Golf Week lists and appearing in 56 of the 58 Top 100 lists.  When looking at the full Golf Week classic/modern lists and including the 1966/67 200 Toughest from GD, Plainfield has appeared in 59 of 60 (only missing the 1966 GD Toughest).  Its highest rating on a USA list was #34 (GD in 1985) and its highest current rating is #37 on my Golf Week merged list.

I must confess to have mixed emotions about Plainfield.  No question that the tree removal program and renovation have revealed the brilliance of the Ross design.  The land is excellent (with rolling fairways creating strategic decisions on many shots), the greens and bunkering are among Ross’ best (with more false fronts than my Junior High School classes), and the course is very fair, while being a real test.  It also was stretched to 7110 yards (par 72) for the PGA tour Barclays event…and that took some creative positioning of tees.  While these tees created a test worthy of the Fed Ex Cup playoffs, I believe they had a negative affect on the “flow” of the course, and I wonder if the club will come to regret this quest for hosting (every five years) such an important event.  Must say that I am not quite sure how I come out about Plainfield.  It is a brilliant design with one of the best sets of greens to be found anywhere, and I love the open vistas…but I am not enamored with the “feel” and “flow” with some of the new tees. 

One final point, it condition was good, and reflected the stress created by having such a large event three weeks prior with tons of play since, and heavy rains the previous weekend.  My strong sense is that on a regular basis, the playing conditions are excellent, firm, and fast.

Hollywood Golf Club, October 8, 2015:  The club was founded in 1898 and in 1916 its course underwent a major renovation under the guidance of Walter Travis (think Garden City GC and Ekwanok).  More recently, Rees Jones led a restoration project in 1998, and Tom Doak led one than was completed in two years ago.  It hosted the US Woman’s Senior Amateur won by Joan Higgins last year. 

While Hollywood has regularly been on Golf Week’s USA Top 100 Classic list, it has never been high enough to make the GW merged top 100.  It was, however, #59 in the spoofed 1939 World 100.

Over the years I had heard numerous positive comments about Hollywood.  The late Robert “Bobby” Jacobson won the club championship 25 times in a period of 28 years.  One of Bobby’s sons was a member of Quaker Ridge when I played there and Bobby’s golf exploits were legendary.  A friend in Pinehurst was a very senior partner at the Wall Street firm founded by Bobby as speaks in glowing terms about him.

On the other side of the coin, if you remember the demise of Bear Stearns, Hollywood GC was reputed to be where Bear Stearns’ chairman, Jimmy Cayne, spent a fair amount of time playing bridge while Bear fell apart in 2007-08.  While I played the course, I did not get a chance to see its bridge room.  Think that was the right choice.

The course is brilliant.  Sitting within a mile of the Atlantic (in Deal, NJ at the north end of the New Jersey Shore) it has a sand base, perfect for a great golf course.  The condition was just plain perfect…firm and fast with greens that were receptive to good shots but not to others.  The course was laid out on a large plot of land and has accommodated a stretching to 7,040 yards (par 71) without contorting the layout or flow of the 18 holes.  The greens and bunkering are fabulous, and the fairways are quite wide, creating strategic decisions for the player.  This is another “hidden gem” and certainly one that a golfer could play every day without getting bored. 

Best holes are:

            --#3…462 yard par 4 with green sharply sloping from back left to front right, places a real premium on the approach shot (do not be above the hole) while giving the player several strategic alternatives for the approach (since the front of the green is wide open albeit with a mild false front)

            --#4…150 yard uphill par 3 to a green with 7 deep bunkers in front and on both sides of the green…and a green sloping severely from back to front (thereby protecting the back of the putting surface and a very deep sharply sloping false front)…no place to hide on this one!  (See pic)

            --#12…460 yard par 4 from raised tee and then flat to green…with a mere 39 bunkers (yup, I did count them) guiding your way through a split fairway..a brute of a hole

            --#13…334 yard par 4 doglegging sharply left with perfectly place fairway bunkers (including a Principal’s Nose bunker) forcing a player to decide what direction and distance to play their tee shot.  Green is very narrow up front and widens in back, while sloping sharply from back to front and left to right (reminding me of the 3^rd green at Winged Foot West)…a great drivable par 4

            ---#14…438 yard par 4 uphill of tee to fairway that crests and then flows down hill to large green sloping from back left to front right and fronted by an angled stream (that was a mouthful).  Fairway protected by bunkers left and right near the crest of the hill.

This was a wonderful way to complete by tour of New Jersey...especially with the help of a 10’ par putt to allow me to bring it home with 79 strokes.

Had to run after the round to try to avoid as much of Washington DC’s traffic as possible.  Drove down to Williamsburg VA for last round of journey the next morning.  But looking back, amazed that I actually got in all 10 rounds at the 10 courses that I had originally planned (plus a bonus 9 holes at Montclair GC) despite some horrendous weather along the way.  Patience, and flexibility pays off.

Stonehouse Golf Club, October 9, 2015:  Stonehouse is a Mike Stranz creation that in 1998 was rated #31 on Golf Week’s USA Top 100 Modern courses and #62 on my merged Golf week list.  Simply put, it ain’t no longer.  It is in terrible shape, requires immense drives (you wouldn’t dare try to walk it) from green to tee, has deep holes around sprinklers and drains in the fairways that are like potholes in NYC, etc etc etc.  This course is awful (to put it nicely) and I am pleased to have it in my rear view mirror. Enough said.

Roaring Gap Golf Club, October 11, 2015:  Pat and I made a quick trip to the NC mountains on Sunday to visit friends and play Roaring Gap GC, a wonderful Donald Ross creation (restored by Kris Spence a few years ago) with a fascinating history.  The Tuft’s family (founders of Pinehurst) and Donald Ross created Roaring Gap as a summer retreat for members of Pinehurst.  In late Spring, much of the staff from Pinehurst would move to Roaring Gap for the summer months, and members of both would be served by the same staff they knew from Pinehurst.  A little event known as the Great Depression created some problems with that business model, but Roaring Gap continued on as a separate entity controlled by the wealthy families of Winston-Salem, NC (big $$ there being associated with Reynolds Tobacco which was not as drastically affected by the Depression as other companies).  With Winston a mere hour away, Roaring Gap is a perfect weekend retreat for escaping the hot NC summers in the mountains (3600’ elevation).

While Sunday was a glorious day, it had rained heavily the day before, so the course was not playing its usual fast/firm conditions.  But the bones of the course are obviously superb, and I hope to get back when it is playing as it normal does…question is, when?, since we are in Boston from Late May thru early Oct each year.

Status of Bucket Lists

1.     --Worldwide Top 100 Ever from seven sources: 263 courses on list, 244 played, and 19 to go (Asia—11, Australia/NZ—5; Europe, USA, and Caribbean 1 each).

2.     US Open Venues: 54 in total, 52 played and two to go (Skokie-IL and Brae Burn-MA)

3.     1939 “First Top 100” (spoof): 101 courses (two tied for 100 spot), 81 played, 5 no longer exist, and 15 to go (England-6; USA-1; Cont Europe-3; S Africa-2; Canada-1; Sri Lanka-1; Vietnam-1)

4.     USA Top 100 Ever from five sources: 338 courses on list, 291 played, 2 no longer exist, and 45 to play

5.     Men’s Major Venues Ever:  total of 121 courses, 93 played, 1 no longer exists, and 29 to go (2 US Open...see #2 above; 27 PGA)

6.     “Cups”—Walker, Ryder, and Presidents: total of 70 courses, 56 played, and 14 to play (WC-1; RC-12; PC-1)

Next Trip—West coast quickie on way to Asia…South Korea, Bali, China, and Singapore…Oct 25-Nov 12!!!  Stay tuned.  Hoping to make a small dent in some of the above lists.