Tag: Golf

Golf Course Architecture

It has been years since I was really into golf. My desire to play faded through college, and went away altogether while I was working in Washington D.C. Law school consumed me for another year and sent me to China during the prime golfing months this past summer. There was always an excuse. And I was lazy and busy, if that makes any sense.

But now, for some reason, I’m returning to the game that I grew up loving. The only problem is that with winter nearing (although, you wouldn’t know it if you looked outside today – 70* and sunny), the PGA Tour winding down and the Silly Season offering only mild entertainment, I’m looking for new sources of golf entertainment to satisfy my recently rejuvenated jones for all things golf.

The topic of golf course architecture has caught my eye. I’ve subscribed to several blogs that write about it frequently – Geoff Shackelford, Ian Andrew’s “Caddy Shack”, On Golf Architecture, and The Golf Course as Art. I have no desire to design a golf course. My interest is form a player’s perspective. If I can understand the courses I’m playing better and the design elements behind them, then perhaps I can better position my shots during a round. The history of it is intriguing, too.

My two home courses while growing up were very different in design. One was the Traverse City Golf and Country Club, a course “designed and built by Tom Bendelow, a Scotsman from Aberdeen who was one of America’s pioneer golf course architects.” The course is a traditional tree lined country club type course and the management has recently made an effort to open up some of the holes with the addition of heather.

The other course was The Bear at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, Michigan. The Bear is a Jack Nicklaus designed course, and is very typical of an early Nicklaus design – many holes demand high fade shots.

In fact, the playing experience at The Bear is summarized perfectly by this quote from a recent article in The Weekly Standard titled, “Putting Golf Back on Course.”

On many of [Jack’s] courses, the average player will lose half a dozen balls a round, many of them having found a watery grave in one of the man-made water-hazards of which Nicklaus is so fond. As a player, Nicklaus probably wouldn’t even notice many of the water hazards that litter his courses. But the typical golfer does.

My novice observation is that there is a clash between minimalist architects who favor using what the land provides and fitting a design to the land and new-age architects who strive to define exactly how each hole should be played.

I’ll be reading more about golf course architecture and seeking books and articles as winter settles in.

Roundup: Beaver Meadows GC

I played the front nine of Beaver Meadows Golf Club for the second time this past Wednesday. Like last time, I played about five balls on each hole – usually into the green. The weather was nice – 60* – and I was striking the ball better than a week ago. My biggest complaint is that I seem to be pushing a lot of my tee shots, especially with my driver.

“Getting stuck,” they call it.

Fry’s Electronics Open

The Fry’s Electronics Open starts today in Scottsdale, AZ. Phil Mickelson is a playing, so that’s kind of a reason to watch a Fall Series event. If you care about who keeps their tour card, then that’s another reason to watch. A lot of golf blogs are smothering the issue of what players are on the bubble.

Use your imagination to make the remaining few weeks of the PGA Tour’s 2007 season matter.

These guys’ lives are on the line. If they don’t make the cut, they’re either heading back to Q-School or hunting around for sponsor’s exemptions for a year. Their livelihood is at stake. A guy could be having a baby and need to secure his card to feed the kid. Or he could be waiting on that big win to buy an engagement ring for his sweetheart.

The failure or success of these pursuits is televised. Live. Love could go unanswered. Children could starve. Tune in.

Seasonal Club Selection

Running with the topic of the last post, club selection, I’m curious whether players often change the clubs in their bag depending on the season. This is probably more of a temperature issue. Hitting a 2-iron in 50* weather is not a fun thing to do, and the sting of a mishit can leave your hands ringing for the rest of the round.

I don’t like 5-woods, but I would consider swapping my 2-iron for a 5-wood. Other than that, I wouldn’t change much.

Limited Club Selection

I just answered a post at TheSandTrap, which prompted:

You can only use five clubs to play your next round. Quick! What do you pick?

My response:

The five clubs I would take are:

1) Putter
2) 56* sand wedge
3) 8 iron
4) 3 iron
5) Driver

Wost case scenario, I’m left with a 120 – 135 yard carry over something and the 8 iron flies too far and the wedge too short. But, I suppose I would do a good bit of positioning during the round to avoid that yardage / situation.

Taking a putter seems to be a given for many people. I’m not convinced I would need it. I do pretty well using the blade of my sand wedge. The driver is somewhat irrelevant, too. I could drive with a three-iron and be sufficiently long to score well. On most courses, with the five clubs above I would probably be using the three-iron off of the tee to position for the eight-iron.

Range Notes: To the Course!

I played for the first time in months today. I’ve been hitting range balls every few days for weeks now, savoring the final golfable days of the fall season in New England. The course was beautiful, empty and quiet. The foliage was in full swing. For nine holes, I walked through a corridor of color. The brick red and muted yellow leaves reminded me of high school golf. Back then, the leaves were distractions. They coved up my ball in the fairway and littered my putting line. This afternoon, though, the leaves were a perfect backdrop.

Saying I played nine holes is a little misleading. I basically took the range onto the course and got my $22 worth by playing five to eight balls per hole. It was much more enjoyable than hitting balls on the range, although my weaknesses were highlighted. I drove the ball well. I hit my irons well. I hit some miraculous flop-shots. Putting it all together, however, is something that I’m saving for my next late-fall round.

Where Have All The Characters Gone?

One of my favorite TV shows lately is HBO’s “Deadwood,” a Western set in the 1870s in what later became South Dakota. The strength of the show lies with its characters, the prime example being Al Swearengen, a saloon owner and general overseer of the town. Al’s authenticity jumps off of the screen. He is cruel, funny and intelligent all at once. And that’s before he’s opened his mouth to swear at you and offer you a drink.

When I watch golf, I’m watching for entertainment. As a good golfer, the players’ performances go a long way towards accomplishing that goal. However, to a less dedicated golfer or to a non-golf fan, golf is very unwatchable. The players performances cannot be appreciated and golf doesn’t seem to conjure up that universal nostalgic feeling that baseball does for many folks. Instead, non-golf fans are left with dorky commentary and an abundance of quickly clipped shots of various no-name golfers.

Part of the reason I became so enamored with golf in the first place was because some of the players of the past had such strong characters. They put their personalities on display instead of tucking them neatly into the side-pocket of their golf bag along with their watch and other valuables. Guys – who seemed more like guys than professionals or men – like Chi Chi Rodriguez and Lee Travino had fun with the game. They joked with the gallery and seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing. Even Arnold Palmer would hitch his pants for the gallery.

You don’t see players’ personalities anymore more unless it’s in a made for TV special. Only then might they cautiously reveal that they’re wine connoisseurs or they like to snowboard. Whoopie. But, get them back on the course and it’s like they’re in a business meeting – a focus fest – an anti-smile-a-thon.

Well, they’ve raised a lot of money lately. Maybe it’s time to give some back. Crack a smile guys. Give a fan a high-five. It’s good for the game and who knows, maybe you’ll inspire some other nine-year old kid to pick up a club and start talking up his game on the range.