Before I go forward with the last three course of the trip,
I wanted to cover two things. First, in
writing about how Wack Wack got its name, I forgot to include a copy of WW’s
logo, which, of course, features two crows…copy shown below.
Secondly, after I played it, and clearly not because of my
input, South Cape (S Korea) was listed on http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk
‘s 2016 Worldwide Top 100 ranked at #91.
Stone Forest (Leader’s Peak C Course) November 7, 2015: Stone Forest is located about 30 miles east
of Spring City and had received some rave reviews and was reputed be very hard
to get access to. Last year I reached
them and secured a time for their Leader’s Peak or “C” course, which is private
and not open to outsiders. You may
recall that I had to cancel that trip, but was able to re-set it up for this
one. It has never made a Worldwide Top
100 list, but was rumored to have missed only because it has not received
enough ratings (appropriately, the people who run these lists have strict
minimum number of ratings required to make a Top 100 list…in order to make it
harder to “stuff the ballot box” and jam a new club onto the list). The Leader’s Peak course is par 72 stretching
to a big 7528 yards and was designed by Brian Curley. Stone Forest also have “A” and “B” courses and they are open to the public
and we were scheduled to play “A” that afternoon.
I was very anxious to see it, and was going out there with
Kimi Hoshiyama. As we drove in and then
walked through the clubhouse, there were immediate signs of problems…lack of up
to date maintenance, etc. Sure enough,
when we got on to the course, the deferred maintenance issues became very very
obvious. The fairways were in terrible
condition as were the bunkers and rough.
The greens had been punched probably 5-6 days earlier and were soft and
a little slow. It was very clear that
the club was in deep financial trouble (more below). However, even if it was in good shape, I
would have been disappointed, nit by the architecture, but rather the
location. The club is named after the
region of Yunnan Province where it is located.
The “Stone Forest” is filled with limestone “rock outcroppings” which
look like stalagmites. They are
stunningly beautiful and on the back nine, the course wanders through these
outcroppings. So much so, that on the
par 3 12th hole, you must carefully walk thru the stones to get to
the green. Frankly, I was embarrassed,
and almost felt like we were walking through sacred ground. In sum, and quite frankly, I felt the course
was a poster child for everything that is wrong with golf today.
I chose not to play the “A” course that afternoon, in part
because it also is built within the Stone Forest. I took the car back to Spring City and
replayed the first 10 holes of the Lake Course…which was just as good as the
day before if not better. On 11, I ran
into a group of foursomes and went in.
Early the next morning (before heading to the airport, I went out and
played #11-18 on Lake.
As an aside, I learned that evening that Stone Forest was in
deep trouble financially and that a sale was in the works, but had not closed
due to disputes closing adjustments…so in the meantime it continues to
deteriorate.
Ayodhya Links November 8, 2015: Last year I started hearing about Ayodhya
here and there. Most of the reports were
that Ayodhya was very special. It is
located about an hour north of downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Then about 3 months ago, Golf Magazine’s
Worldwide Top 100 for 2015 included Ayodhya at #76…immediately after that
listing was published, the Discussion Groups on http://www.golfclubatlas.com went
nuts. The listing added one more course
to my bucket list and I had planned to play it in January…but the volcanic ash
in Bali gave me time to play it this trip and then the opportunity was
presented. While I understand the
reasons for the controversy, I find it interesting that most of those who have
criticized this selection have not been to Ayodhya yet. A number of these critics have cited Old
Macdonald’s dropping off the list as proof that Ayodhya did not belong. That is fallacious to my mind. Ayodhya did not displace Old Macdonald (which
I truly love) and comparing them is not the way to analyze the situation…if you
believe that Old Mac is better than Ayodhya (and I would agree with that
statement), then the problem with the 2015 list may be the exclusion of OM,
rather than the inclusion of Ayodhya.
Frankly, my reaction to Ayodhya based on one round is that
it probably is a Top 100…but I am not sure.
The area had received a lot of rain the previous evenings so it was very
very soft and wet. If what I played is
its natural condition, it is not a Top 100, but I am assuming that it normally
is firm and fast. I am hoping to return
at one point to test that conclusion.
The golf course was built on perfectly flat marshland…yes it
is not natural and to me that is a negative…but are we going to exclude
“manufactured” courses from the listings?
There goes Pete Dye, there goes, Calusa, probably Kingsbarns is out, and
by the way, if Lido still existed then it would have been excluded!! About 5 years ago it was hit by a world class
flooding situation (obviously caused by global warming as it never rained in
the tropics prior to the burning of fossil fuels) that put the course under
about 10-30’ of water…yes, 10-30 feet, not inches!! I saw some of the photos. I cannot imagine the amount of drainage that
was installed to prevent a reoccurrence.
But let me get back to the track itself.
The greens are very tricky, tough and fair. It is critical to come into then from the
proper angle. And the fairways are
subtle. For example…#10. From the tee you can see undulations but
nothing looks dramatic. It is a dogleg
right, with a large bunker in the center of the fairway. So off the tee, there are three choices:
--blow it
over the fairway bunker (carry is 255);
--play down
the left side and add maybe 20-25 yards to this 437 yard hole; or
--play down
the right side and shorten the hole.
Only problem with the third strategy is that there is a big
mound down the right side that totally blocks any view of the green from the
right. Some may say that this is unfair
as it is not obvious from the tee, but I completely disagree. I do not like courses that are totally
obvious from the tee the first time you play them. I love nuances that you learn over time and
force the player to think and choose with each shot…in fact plan a hole from
the tee, not just plan a tee shot. My
favorite holes are #3, 6, 8-10, 12 (which I four putted), 13, and 17. Great collection of par 5’s.
Overall the club is stunning. One photo and one video below.
The photo is of #12, a 188 yard par 3 that I 4 putted…you can see the pin to
the left…my tee shot hit the green, way right.
Enough said. The video is from
the clubhouse and is a panorama first of the 18 the hole (on the right) and the
9th hole (on the left).
Stunning view…but does not compare to the view from the clubhouse at
Oakmont! Enough said.
In sum, I am not sure if it is a Top 100, but based on what
I have seen, I have no problem with the listing (unless conditions are often or
usually that soft).
Sheshan Golf Club November 12, 2015: Home of the HSBC World Championship that
concluded three days earlier. I was
fortunate to be able to play it the first day it was open after the event (at
least until I hit it in the left rough on the short par 4 third hole). Sheshan, located about 20 miles southeast of
Shanghai has appeared on one World Top 100 listing, Golf Digest’s initial 2014
listing at position #82. It’s clubhouse
is strikingly similar in appearance to the new clubhouse at TPC-Sawgrass.
On November 11, it was very very wet and soft and extremely
green. The course is good but more of a
“championship” than “fun” venue. As wet
as it was, it played very long and the course was crowded with members eager to
test their skills again a tour quality setup.
The members I played with failed that teat (as did I). Truth be know, I was very tired going into
the round, and the slow play caused me to lose my focus. It is a good course, but I would not have it
on my World 100.
Stop in Seoul and trip home: After the round, had lunch with the GM, Roger
Foo, and the Director of Golf, Gavin Eckford.
Then it was back into a taxi for a long drive to PVG airport on my way
back to Seoul. As we approached the
airport, my taxi driver got lost, kept driving around without asking how to get
back to the airport, and for about 45 minutes I was wondering if I would miss
my flight. If nothing else, those 45
minutes showed that my stents are working!
The following morning I went over to JNGCK (I was staying in
Incheon about 2 miles away) and played holes 14-18 (as you may recall, I had only
played 1-14 on November 4. Then after a
shower at my hotel, it was back to the airport for the long trip home. It was so good to get home and see my
bride. The jetlag over the past 4 days
has been tough but that too shall pass.
Time to start planning the next journey.
Bucket List Status
Major progress on this trip, especially regarding World Top
100 Ever. Here is where I stand right
now:
1. Worldwide
Top 100 Ever from seven sources: 264 courses on list, 254 played, and 10 to go
(Asia—3, Australia/NZ—5; Europe and Caribbean 1 each). Was 19 to go at start of
trip. Improvement from 19 courses to go
to 10 to go.
2. US
Open Venues: 54 in total, 52 played and two to go (Skokie-IL and Brae
Burn-MA). No change on trip.
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). No
change.
4. USA
Top 100 Ever from five sources: 338 courses on list, 293 played, 2 no longer
exist, and 43 to play (improvement of 2 courses). Improvement of two courses.
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). No change
6. “Cups”—Walker,
Ryder, and Presidents: total of 70 courses, 59 played, and 11 to play (WC-0;
RC-10; PC-1).
Good to be caught up again.
As I look back on this trip, while the volcano messed some things up, it
certainly could have been worse…if it had erupted 3 hours later, I would have
been stranded on Bali for several days.
Also, given where I went, almost no rain. It rained for my last 4 holes or so in
Seattle, plus maybe 20 minutes in Singapore.
Big positive surprises among courses were Spring City-Lake and Anyang…big
negative surprise was South Bay.
Time to go take another nap!! Next trip is back to Asia 2nd half
of January!!
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