Lusting for Links

I am hungover.  I am in a links golf hangover.  It was such a joy this summer to see the best players in the world take on all those beautiful links with strategy and creativity. For about a month long stretch, we were treated to the Scottish Open (Castle Stuart), Open Championship (Muirfield), Senior Open Championship (Royal Birkdale), and Women's US and British Open (Old Course and Sebonack).  Since then, with few exceptions, the one dimensional parkland style course which has played the canvas for so many professional events has resulted in a serious lack of interest on my part.

Playing golf during this time of year also makes me yearn for links golf.  Whether it is the firmer and faster conditions, the cold breezes, or the seemingly less claustrophobic trees, golf at this time of year reminds me of the most superior form of golf - links golf.  Here's why:

• Fewer hazards.  With less water and out of bounds there are less penalty shots, resulting in faster rounds and greater enjoyment.   
• Wider fairways, less rough, slower greens.  All three combine for speedier play, creative shotmaking and a seemingly endless variety of ways to play the same hole, all resulting in more fun.
• Fewer trees.  Less trees, or no trees, means less water required, less dead turf, less leaves, less maintenance.   

All of the above elements allow for faster rounds, more enjoyment, and lower maintenance costs. And there is little argument that golf could use more of all three.

Throwback architects such as Doak and Coore/Crenshaw are doing their best to develop links style courses here in North America, and are drawing rave reviews.  Courses such as Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links, Streamsong Resort - to name a few - were built with the ideals of links golf at heart.  This style of golf has typically only existed on the links style courses of the UK, but is growing here in North America.  Kudos to those architects and the developers for having the courage to create such courses.

Golf is golf.  It's fun whether you are playing a local tree lined muni or one of the best links in the world. But links golf embodies the true essence of the game and we need more of it in this great game.  The firm and fast turf requires creative shotmaking, and when the wind blows (as it so often does in links golf) one needs to shape their shots to effectively control the ball against the wind and the firm ground.  It is something that cannot be fully explained without experiencing links golf on a windy day.  Speaking of, I'm off for one more round of autumn golf...a great remedy for my hangover.

Hit 'em well.
MG

Mr. Dawson's Mulligan

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, was questioned earlier this week about hosting the Open championship at all-male Muirfield, aka The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.  He was asked whether or not he sees the exclusion of female members at Muirfield as a form of discrimination, similar to racism.  One of his responses, to one of the many questions asked on this topic, was as follows.

“I don’t really think, to be honest, that a golf club which has a policy of being a place where like-minded men, or indeed, like-minded women, go and want to play golf together and do their thing ranks up against some of these other forms of discrimination.” 

If that were a first tee shot, it might not be out of bounds, but it certainly wasn't striped down the fairway.  To paraphrase his many responses, Mr. Dawson simply doesn't view Muirfield's all-male policy as a big deal.  Not a surprise.  The R&A doesn't have any female members either, similar to many other private golf clubs in the UK. Additionally, Royal Troon and Royal St. George's are other courses on the Open rota which do not have female members.  But the question that begs asking is why he even addressed these types of questions regarding membership?  The membership policies of these clubs have absolutely nothing to do with the R&A, or the Open Championship.  Imagine if Mr. Dawson was granted a mulligan, and instead responded with something along the lines of the following:

"Our job at the R&A is to identify the finest tests of championship links golf in the United Kingdom for staging the Open Championship.  We believe Muirfield is one of the finest links in the world and that golf fans deserve to see the Open contested here.  It is not our right to involve ourselves in the affairs of a private golf club.  Muirfield is a private golf club and as a result, we don't allow ourselves an opinion on anything regarding their club, we are only concerned with the course.  We feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to host the Open at such a world class golf course."

Now if that was a first tee shot it would be described as "far and sure."  This type of response would not only have diffused the argument, but more importantly wedged a much needed divide between the R&A championship committee and the affairs of the host clubs.  It would have also focused the remainder of the press conference back on the tournament, where it belongs.  The R&A does not need to concern themselves with the policies of the host club, only the 18 holes.  And there is little argument that Muirfield is one of the best 18 holes that links golf has to offer.  

Hit 'em well.
-MG

Swinging in Solitude

Late last week, I made a tee time at a local course.  7:27am, solo.  No one else.  For whatever reason, playing golf by myself has always provided me great pleasure.  Taking some time to walk, think and swing without any outside influence is something under appreciated in the world of golf.  Maybe I'm a loner.  Maybe I'm an old soul.  I remember my mother often saying in my childhood, "every now and then a little alone time is good for the mind, body and soul."  Smart lady.

It was an overcast morning at a course I didn't terribly enjoy.  The course is literally suffocating from trees.  As Colt once said, "trees are a fluky and obnoxious hazard," and I couldn't agree more. But I digress.  The first tee time was booked and it was a warm summer day.  I am a golfer who generally likes to play at a good pace, so that could be a large part why I like playing solo.  Coffee in hand, the first tee ball was struck at 7:27 am.  I made the turn around 8:35 or so and one of the backshop guys asked me if I was trying to set a record.  I finished up around 9:45, and soon after bumped into the starter who asked how I enjoyed the front nine.  He didn't believe me when I told him I just finished 18.  I hopped in my car, and jumped on a conference call at 10:00 am.  That conference call was a bit of a buzzkill but what a perfect way to start the day.

It had been some time since I played by myself.  In the working world, with lots of friends to play with at my home club, I always have weekend games arranged.  On this morning I realized that I miss this element of golf in my life.  During my time in St Andrews, I would occasionally walk down to the Old, New, or Jubilee early in the morning or late in the evening to play a few solo.  There is little argument that squeezing in a  few holes at dawn or dusk is a special treat in the town of St Andrews, but golf is golf.  The chance to spend some time alone with your thoughts - or swing thoughts - free from work, home, or society in general should be relished.  Playing solo is much more of a true "break" from the world, versus playing with others.

Many people with whom I have discussed this topic seem to think there is something wrong with me, but every now and then, someone wholeheartedly agrees.  When it does happen, it is like meeting a kindred spirit.  Don't get me wrong, I would go a little stir crazy playing solo all the time, but every now and then, it provides such a great experience.  Give it a go sometime soon.  Take enjoyment in the solitude.  And always listen to your mother.

Hit 'em well.
- MG

#40 - LACC North

Please allow me to describe the start of a recent vacation day.

- 6:00 am wake up call
- No coffee or breakfast snacks available in the hotel lobby
- Navigate through LA traffic for about 30-40 minutes half asleep while the pleasant voice of google maps barks turn by turn directions

This doesn't really seem like an ideal scenario, does it?  

However, on this beautiful spring morning, pretty much nothing could dissuade my enthusiasm for what was on the agenda today.  From the moment I made the turn onto Wilshire, stole some glimpses through the fences, I just knew Los Angeles Country Club was going to be a special place.  When I received the text the night prior from my member friend saying, "First tee time.  Caddies.  And oh, you must wear pants - no shorts allowed." I just knew this was going to be one of the special places in the game of golf.

I pulled up to the gate as the sun was coming up.  The security guard was very welcoming but instructed me to leave my cell phone in the car.  He also handed me this quaint little guest card which outlined rules and regulations of the club.  I love unique customs and traditions at private clubs, so this was right up my alley.

                                            

                                                Guest card at LACC.  

I had the sincere privilege to play this course through a friend of mine who is a longtime member.  He and I were paired together in the 2004 World Club Championship, a fantastic amateur competition between Golf Magazine's World Top 100 Golf Clubs.  LACC has it all - a world class golf course, a classic old clubhouse, a great practice area, but most of all a passionate member base.  (Oh, and a quintessentially art deco LA mint green tiled bathroom in the men's locker room)

Back in 2009, this member base felt the need to re-assess their golf course.  I had the pleasure of playing LACC North with a longtime member who was instrumental in the restoration of this classic old George Thomas design.  It wasn't that the course had been in disrepair, it's just that a lot of the strategy and beauty of it had been lost in the overgrowth over the years, something commonplace in many courses today.  Excessive trees, non-native grasses, and just plain claustrophobia that had resulted over time wasn't the course Thomas intended when he set foot on the grounds at the turn of the 20th century.  Thus a small group of members set forth an action plan to restore the course to its original design.

Gil Hanse and his team were hired to restore the course to George Thomas' original design.  First and foremost, Hanse and his team restored the natural "barranca" - aka natural valley/ravine - which weaves its way so beautifully now throughout so many holes, especially on the front nine.  Some of the original greens were brought back to their original form, and some were even rediscovered - #6 and #17 (see below).  Rumor has it that all in, approximately 2000 trees in the past three years since the restoration began. I cannot post pictures of the before and after of the course, but anyone who believes that tree removal can harm a layout, should go visit LACC North.  It is a testament to how less trees on a golf course can increase shot value, improve turf conditions, increase variety of playing options and create a more beautiful scenic vistas.  Golf invariably becomes less one dimensional with less trees, which in this writers opinion, is always a good thing.

Onto the course now.  There are so many great holes at LACC it is really hard to single out the best.  But here are my favorites anyway...

#6 - 335 yd Par 4
Hanse restored Thomas' original green, making this a phenomenal risk reward par 4.  Playing downhill at 335, it is deceptively reachable for longer hitters.  A relatively easy layup with an iron leaves a no-gimme short iron or wedge into this extremely shallow green.

#8 - 537 yd Par 5 (pictured below)
This is a fantastic double dogleg par 5 with the barranca coming into play on both the tee shot and the approach.  In my opinion, the strongest hole on the course.  Quite simply one of the best par 5's I've ever played.

#11 - 249 yd Par 3 (pictured below)

The signature hole at LACC.  This hole plays downhill, with views of downtown LA in the distance on a clear day.  This is a reverse redan green and can play anywhere from 190 - 250 yards.

#15 - 133 yd Par 3
This hole is proof that you don't need distance to create difficulty.  This tiny one-shotter leaves zero room for error.  Example - I pulled a wedge into the side bunker with a front pin and made a phenomenal bogey.

*17 - 115 yd Par 3 (pictured below)
This hole has an asterisk as this is the "extra" hole at LACC.  It was uncovered/discovered by Hanse and his team while restoring the barranca on the right side of the existing 17th hole.  This par 3 was used in previous LA opens hosted at LACC, and they have restored it as a 19th hole of sorts, a "bye hole" as they call it.  The club actually used it as a playoff hole at the recent US Girls Junior Qualifier.  This is a very cool example of a "course within a course" and proof that courses don't need to adhere to an exact 18 holes.  Options and variety are the magic ingredients of a great golf course.  Kudos to the club for resurrecting this fantastic golf hole.

#18 - 451 yd Par 4
One of the great finishing holes in golf.  A shared fairway with #1 gives one a feeling of St Andrews, but the shared bunkers make it distinctly unique.  The beautiful clubhouse behind the green, the challenging approach, the great green complex at 18 - this finishing hole has everything a great course demands.

As I was playing the course, I couldn't help but think that this course was worthy of hosting a major golf event of some kind.  However, I also knew the membership also put a premium on privacy.   As we strolled down the 10th fairway, I inquired with my host if there were any plans to host any big events.  He informed me the 2017 Walker Cup is being held at LACC North.  What a perfect venue for the Walker Cup.  I wouldn't be surprised if LACC got a few more marquee events down the road.  The have the land to support it and it has the history and tradition that the major events in golf are looking for in a championship venue.

LACC is also renowned as one of the elite private clubs in the game.  They have a membership comprised of very few celebrities, and when I asked my fantastic caddy why this was so, he simply replied "...the members just don't like the noise."  Well put.  If I was a member I wouldn't want it either.  In a city like LA, the desire to "get away" is even more warranted.  One of the great parts of golf is it is an escape.  You arrive on the first tee, or arrive to have dinner or drinks at your club, and you want to forget about the world for a few hours.  My host told me a great story about when Hugh Hefner bought the land to the right of the 14th tee back in the 1950's and which now is home to the infamous Playboy mansion.  Hugh telephoned the general manager of the club and asked if he could purchase the land behind the 14th tee so he could install a helicopter landing, and if he could buy a membership as well.  As legend has it, the general manager eloquently replied, "No and no Mr Hefner.  Welcome to the neighborhood. Click."

This is the type of place LACC has always been, and always will be.  A quiet, no-nonsense place for golf.  Little "noise" from celebrities, and even from the city itself.  It's so quiet at times on the course you forget you are in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world.  LACC is an escape from the omnipresent traffic and claustrophobia of the city.  I knew pulling up that morning that it was going to be one of the special places in golf and boy, was I right.

Hit 'em well.
-MG

*photos courtesy of www.thelacc.org

Fighting the Good Fight

What's great about golf is that we grab a club, put it in our hands, put our best swing on it, and hope for the best.  We do not grab a club, proceed to shove it into our belly/chest and rock our chest back and through.  This is not a "stroke" or a "swing," at least in this writer's humble opinion.

In the words of Mike Davis at the USGA, "Throughout the 600-year history of golf, the essence of playing the game has been to grip the club with the hands and swing it freely at the ball.  The player’s challenge is to control the movement of the entire club in striking the ball, and anchoring the club alters the nature of that challenge. Our conclusion is that the Rules of Golf should be amended to preserve the traditional character of the golf swing by eliminating the growing practice of anchoring the club."   Couldn't have said it better myself. 

And then yesterday happened.  Commissioner Finchem's bizarre news conference yesterday during the finals of the World Golf Championship certainly muddied the waters a bit.  Passionate golfers on both sides of the argument are coming out of the woodwork, myself included.  

So we know now where everyone stands on the issue.  The USGA and R&A obviously want to ban anchoring.  The PGA Tour, or should I say more specifically, the Player Advisory Council (PAC), does not want the ban to take effect.  We also have Mark King, the CEO/King of Taylor Made, behemoth of equipment companies, coming out and saying that the would prefer if the R&A and USGA were "obselete."  Yikes.

The better question to ask one self is who out of the three parties listed above, likely puts the most genuine interest of the game at the forefront?  Let's briefly explore all three.

PGA Tour:

Their players live and die by their own success at the game. Knowing this, there is absolutely no chance they will ever limit something that makes the game easier or allows them another option to get the ball in the hole.   (Footnote:  Kudos to Geoff Ogilvy, Brandt Snedker and several others for arguing the counterpoint, outside of the PAC)

Equipment Companies:

They live and die by the success that the everyday golfer has with their products to either improve their game, or enhance their enjoyment of it. The anchored putter has long been sold as a product that will quell the notion of the yips, so it is unlikely that they are going to argue in favour of banning the anchored putter.  For them, the wider the range of allowable products to make the game more enjoyable, the better. 

Governing Bodies (R&A, USGA):

To paraphrase both mission statements of the R&A and USGA, their sole purpose is to act in the best interests of the game.  They are NOT acting in the best interests of the people who play golf, or retailers of golf equipment.  Their actions are intended to maintain the integrity of this great game.

I don't know about you, but when you lay it out like that, I'm siding with the governing bodies on this one.  Doesn't it just seem like a ludicrous argument after reading the above?  Is it just me?  Personally, it seems like a non-discussion.  And just because it has been allowed for 20+ years doesn't make it OK to not proceed with the ban.  You have to make the best decision for the game, irrelevant of the time that has passed.  It's never too late to make a good decision.

Stand your ground R&A and USGA.  I truly believe you have the best interests of the game at heart and I applaud you for your efforts in maintaining the integrity of the game.  Keep fighting the good fight.

Hit 'em well

- MG

#54 - Kingsbarns v2.0

(pictured - #9, a fantastic par 5)

Kingsbarns.  When you utter this word to most golfers, they swoon.  If they have ever been lucky enough to have visited, it conjures great memories of the seaside links just minutes south of St Andrews, one of the great experiences in golf.  Myself, for whatever reason, I just think of the 18th hole.

On July 14, 2011 I wrote a review of Kingsbarns Golf Links which can be found here.  Let me state for the record that this is a magnificent golf course. It is truly one of the best in the world.  The point of the article was that I simply don't care for the location of the clubhouse and the 18th hole.  I have played and/or discussed Kingsbarns with all levels of players, from higher handicaps players to professional golfers who have competed in the Dunhill Links.  And all agree that the 18th is one of the weaker holes on the course.

Moving on...

A few years ago, my father and some friends started a website called Golf Traditions.  They were in need of some content for their site, so I allowed them to use whatever articles they wished from my blog.  I suppose they liked the somewhat controversial nature of the Kingsbarns article in hoping to get a little more social comments and interaction with their site.  For me, since essentially no one reads my blog, having someone pay attention or care about what I had written was unlikely, but very welcome!  So who came across my article on Golf Traditions?  None other than Art Dunkley, co-founder of Kingsbarns.  No joke.  I couldn't believe it.

I was soon after asked by a gentleman at Golf Traditions to touch base with his friend Art to discuss the article.  Of course I was willing!  What a great opportunity to discuss my point of view and maybe learn a few things about Kingsbarns.  I do have to admit that I had a bit of the "being called to the principal's office" type of feeling, but hey, first amendment and all, I picked up the phone.

I reached Art at his office in San Francisco back in November, and after some initial pleasantries, he basically asked who I was and why I was bashing the 18th at Kingsbarns.  (Side note - coincidentally, a family friend of mine went to high school with Mark Parsinen, co-developer of Kingsbarns with Art.  Such a small world - even smaller in golf.)  I explained my background, my involvement with Golf Traditions, opinions on courses, where I have played, my involvement with the game of golf, etc.  I explained that I truly loved the course, the variety, the magnificent location on the north sea, but I just simply did not care for the 18th hole.  Art obviously agreed that I had every right to voice my opinion but wanted to explain to me why the 18th hole is the way it is.  This was when the conversation got interesting - and to be honest, the exact reason why I made the call.

Art took me back to when they were unearthing the Scottish farmland and literally finding the course.  I could already sense the passion and sentimentality that Art had for Kingsbarns in his tone of voice.  He explained that the creek - or if you speak Scottish, a "cundy" - that winds it's way from the back of the 10th tee, all the way down around the clubhouse, and down around what is now the 18th green was not always so visible and prominent.  They dug it out.  Wow.  And while they were excavating this cundy in the efforts of using it as a strategic hazard for the course, they found an old stone bridge.  Double Wow.  When this bridge was found, it became a catalyst for the location of the clubhouse and the finishing hole - and rightly so.  They wanted to end with the dramatic cundy and bridge.  I get it.  Now it makes sense.

Art also addressed my additional concerns with the 18th in that it is a bit of a unfair, difficult hole, especially for the higher handicappers.  He said there are changes being made to the 18th over the winter months, including widening and deepening the green, as well as raising the cundy a few feet or so to make the rise to 18 green less severe.  He said that they are continually tweaking and improving upon the course, from making the back shelf of #9 green less severe, to making the too-often-muddy front right swale on #11 green into a sand bunker which, as Art says, "helps take away some of the randomness."  When I heard those words, I knew Art knew golf.  (I knew it already but I loved hearing this comment) Randomness is the beauty of links golf, but not when it comes to conditioning.  That front right swale was always wet and muddy, which when chipping on a firm and fast links course is never fair - or fun.  So rest assured that they're not resting on their laurels at Kingsbarns.  Art said he and the Kingsbarns staff "are tirelessly looking to improve the experience."  What more can you ask for out of a golf course?

As a youngster, whenever I came home from school, or from anything for that matter, my father always asked, "what did you learn?"  Habits being hard to kick, I asked myself the same question after I hung up the phone with Art.   I already knew it was one of the best courses in the world, but I did learn that Kingsbarns is going to continually remain one of the finest experiences in links golf, due to the passion and pride that Art and the Kingsbarns staff has in their golf course.

But I still don't love the 18th.

Hit 'em well
- MG

P.S. I want to sincerely thank Art Dunkley for his time in teaching me a few things about Kingsbarns.  It was invigorating to learn of the pride Art and his crew have for this truly great links.