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Commenter Syon points out these two clips from an HBO Curb Your Enthusiasm episode.
First, Larry and his best friend Jeff get kicked out of their Jewish country club for some Seinfeldian infraction, which dismays their tennis-playing wives. Larry’s shiksa wife Cheryl points out that she’s gone along with their [Jewish] social set for all these years, but maybe now they should apply for membership at the [gentile] Beverly Park Country Club (i.e. the Los Angeles CC). Jeff’s Jewish wife Suzie (an amazing NSFW character) is incredulous that Larry imagines he could ever act “gentiley” enough to get through the interview.
Next, Larry and Cheryl meet with two polite LACC officials:
Interestingly, the sticking point (besides all the lies Larry has told about driving a Hummer, fundraising for Reagan, playing polo, and captaining a schooner) looks like it’s going to be LACC’s hyper-Scottish insistence that golfers walk (at least on the great North course) rather than ride in a motorized cart.
My general point in my revisionist history of country club discrimination in Taki’s Magazine is that different kinds of people set up different clubs because they have different interests and personalities and then they further socially construct separate cultures in which they each feel — to use that all-powerful word of 2014 — comfortable.
Amiable Jeff could probably get along with most people most places, but he doesn’t see the point of having to walk 18 holes like he’s supposed to be the great-grandson of Old Tom Morris. Jeff’s wife Suzie, however, is an acquired taste.
Los Angeles CC and Hillcrest CC might be the richest two groups of people in Los Angeles, and they evidently have different priorities involving how important their golf courses are to them. As far as I can tell, both groups have been rapturously happy for the last 90 years with their own country clubs each arranged the way they prefer. The conventional wisdom that it’s only Group A’s irrational hatred for Group B that keeps the two clubs from being mixed 50-50 (rather than about 95-5 and 5-95) is, shall we say, tendentious.
Actually, although the Playboy Mansion is directly behind the LACC’s 13th green, in real life Larry probably wouldn’t bother even trying to get in because LACC has had a general policy of not having anything to do with show biz people. (There have been a handful of exceptions such as the application in 1989 of an older gentleman who, admittedly, had started out as an actor, but then he became President.)
As Suzie says, LACC has some number of Jewish members — I was friends with a nice kid from Beverly Hills High School’s all-Jewish debate squad back in 1973-74 and his dad was an LACC member. But the membership is extremely low profile. A tech millionaire friend who tried to get in was informed by the guy he had lunch with that the small number of new members tend to be corporate lawyers.
As America becomes more unequal, most average country clubs are in decline these days. But the super-elite clubs are doing fine. LACC, for instance, just restored its North Course back to its 1929 peak.
11th hole at LACC
The Los Angeles CC is an astonishing piece of property, taking up 0.9 miles of frontage on both sides of Wilshire Boulevard between Beverly Hills to the east, Century City to the south, Westwood to the west, and Bel Air to the north. A back of an envelope calculation in this article suggests its 313 acres could sell for $19.5 billion. LACC only pays about $200,000 in property taxes annually, while Hillcrest, which only has one course, pays about $100,000.
I had lunch once with a golf course owner who told me his father had been the leader of Brentwood Country Club. In the early 1960s, his father had teamed up with Bob Hope and others to push through a ballot initiative so that country clubs wouldn’t be assessed for property taxes at their “highest and best use” (e.g., condos). The poor man was building an oceanfront Pete Dye golf course on clifftop family property in on the Palos Verde Peninsula, but his 18th hole had slid halfway down to the beach. Eventually, he and his brother ran out of money fixing the 18th hole and had to sell the golf course to Donald Trump.
Here’s an article from the Hollywood Reporter on the various entertainment industry golf clubs (i.e., not LACC). The article’s picture depicts Richard Kind (who once kindly helped me look for a putter I had lost at Robinson Ranch), Super Dave Einstein (Albert Brooks’ brother — yes, Brooks’ real name is Albert Einstein), Jeff Garlin, and Larry David.
Larry plays to an admirable 11 handicap at Riviera in Pacific Palisades. It’s a great old George C. Thomas course from the 1920s that hosts the pro tournament every winter. Riviera is famously not very clubby — rather than the members owning the club, it’s owned (I believe) by a Japanese corporation as a profit-making enterprise, which is one reason the USGA hasn’t gone back to Riviera to hold a U.S. Open since Ben Hogan won there in 1948. If you are willing to pay enough, you can probably find a way to play Riviera on a weekday without knowing a member, and if you are willing to pay enough you can probably join. So, it has a more diverse membership (e.g., Johnny Mathis). But Riviera did kick out O.J. in 1995.
The USGA desperately wants to hold another US Open in the huge Los Angeles market. They recently convinced their long-time first choice LACC to hold the 2023 Open. Hosting the US Open is the highest honor a golf course can enjoy in American golf. But LACC had long been one of those handful of out-of-sight elite clubs, like San Francisco GC, that felt that holding an Open would be a hassle they don’t need and would bring attention they don’t want.
I’m not sure why they changed their minds. But, I have this vague impression that the U.S. Open is turning into a sort of ethnic pride parade for WASPs. Perhaps since the Tiger Woods scandal of 2009, the high muckety-mucks of golf have started to lose interest in their long strategy of trying to expand the demographic appeal of the game and are starting to do things that they feel are part of their cultural tradition, such as playing the U.S. Open last summer on a half-brown Pinehurst, much to the disgust of Donald Trump, who knows a fair amount about what the masses like.
When did the Fox Hills Country Club in Culver City close? Pictures indicate it was a splendid course.
What other golf courses in the Los Angeles area no longer exist? Wasn’t the L.A. Country Club located in what is now Koreatown before it moved to Westwood?
What other golf courses in the Los Angeles area no longer exist? Wasn't the L.A. Country Club located in what is now Koreatown before it moved to Westwood?
I have an aerial picture on my wall of the 1920s Hollywood Country Club in North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley, along the south side of Ventura Blvd. at Coldwater Canyon. It went broke during the Depression and its clubhouse was sold to become the first building of the Harvard-Westlake prep school.
The course doesn’t look that great. The problem with Los Angeles terrain, especially in the Valley is that it’s usually either flat or precipitous. The main exception are the gentle foothills on the Westside, most notably the ideal land that LACC North is on. But even the muny Rancho Park is on very nice land, although the architect might have routed the course better. Hillcrest is next door to Rancho and appears to have fine land, although it’s kind of tightly squeezed in.
0.9 square miles or miles squared?
I swear I don’t do that on purpose. It’s like a curse.
A cursory Google image search seems to indicate that Susie Essman has had some (rather bad) plastic surgery. It’s a pity. Her natural self was a good-looking woman.
You’re driving down Wilshire Blvd. past Rodeo Drive and then suddenly for 0.9 linear miles, both sides of Wilshire Boulevard are just hedges with golf courses behind them.
Apparently, the two courses take up 0.5 square miles.
The White Shadow guy!
Tweets by golfclubwankers
golf for losers
kinda on/t. Was watching Aussie golf tournament today and the commentators mentioned the “rough” that all these restored U.S courses have. Puts foreign players at a disadvantage apparently.
The Donald’s course is on the Palos Verdes peninsula, site of numerous landslides to supplement the natural beauty.
Beverly Hills High is where Kaus went, right (though maybe he graduated a few years earlier?)? Did you know him back then?
There is a film called “Whatever Works” where Larry David briefly dates a woman (Evan Rachel Wood) who is a whopping 40 years younger than him.
That makes the age difference between Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas look small in comparison.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/11/17/364760889/in-straight-white-men-a-play-explores-the-reality-of-privilege
More privileged than homo Jews?
Looking at Google maps, you can see some interesting differences between the Los Angeles Country Club and Hillcrest Country Club.
LACC has far more property, and far more property devoted to golf. Aside from the golf courses, LACC has just four tennis courts.
Hillcrest CC has a big swimming pool, nine tennis courts, and what looks like a lot of covered patio tables for lunching alfresco.
That makes the age difference between Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas look small in comparison.
It’s a Woody Allen movie based on a script Woody had sitting around for decades.
There’s a reason that the screenplay wasn’t a high priority to be filmed by Woody, who has generally not lacked for chances to make movies.
LACC has far more property, and far more property devoted to golf. Aside from the golf courses, LACC has just four tennis courts.
Hillcrest CC has a big swimming pool, nine tennis courts, and what looks like a lot of covered patio tables for lunching alfresco.
Thanks. These are the richest two groups of people in Los Angeles, and they evidently have different priorities involving how important their golf course is to them. As far as I can tell, both groups have been rapturously happy for the last 90 years with their own country clubs each arranged the way they prefer. The conventional wisdom that it’s only Group A’s irrational hatred for Group B that keeps the two clubs from being mixed 50-50 (rather than about 95-5 and 5-95) is, shall we say, tendentious.
the whole faux-populist Dissident Right movement encapsulated right here!
And of course song lyrics are always appropriate:
O the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
First cabin and captain’s table regal company
Pardon the dust of the upper crust – fetch us a cup of tea
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh
(fair use, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
We are the very brave Dissident Right
We fight for the rights of all who're white
Against Jews, blacks, yids, spics, and Hebrews
But go against free markets? We'd rather lose
OT but have you noticed the riot at the football (soccer) in Ivory Coast?
http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/ivory-coast-supporters-celebrate-african-cup-of-nations-qualification-in-wild-style/story-e6frf423-1227129123343
http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/shocking-pictures-emerge-riot-police-4659156
Maybe the riote.. erm, fans, should have warned the police they were going to celebrate in such a rambunctious way. Clearly, they are all just putting their hands up, “don’t shoot.” Sorry, maybe I’m getting my narratives crossed here. Anyway, thought you might find this interesting.
Steve you ever thought about retiring in Naples, Florida ? It has the most golf holes per capita in the world.
Reminds me of a small headline in the Wall Street Journal back in 1985 or 1986, Golf capital of the US - Pittsfield, Mass?
Hard to believe but true. Myrtle Beach was moving on up though. Oh, and no Municipal courses in Pittsfield. Go figure.
And of course song lyrics are always appropriate:
O the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
First cabin and captain's table regal company
Pardon the dust of the upper crust - fetch us a cup of tea
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh
(fair use, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Oh, let me try:
We are the very brave Dissident Right
We fight for the rights of all who’re white
Against Jews, blacks, yids, spics, and Hebrews
But go against free markets? We’d rather lose
Yes: Albert “Brooks” Einstein’s parents lived just below the site of the Getty Center when it was being built, and for a long time before that. They were among the more vocal members of the community when it came to opposing everything about the project, which is saying something. Almost incredibly, the Getty ended up being built anyway.
Makes sense about Richard Kind helping you, by the way: he’s a friend of friends and a very nice guy in my (admittedly limited) experience.
The interview skit is very close to a classic joke about a Jewish man who goes to extreme lengths to present himself as a WASP to join an exclusive country club. Like Larry David, the renamed “Baxter Worthington” says he sails, plays polo, supports the right charities. Everything goes smoothly. He’s perfect, except…
“One little thing, ‘Mr. Worthington’. You left a line on the application blank. May I ask your religion?”
“I’m a goy.”
“hyper-Scottish insistence that golfers walk”: pah! Hyper-Scottish would be an insistence that they not only walk but carry their clubs. No sissie trolleys allowed!
Also in “In Living Color”, the Brothers Brothers tried to get into a country club and had to prove that they were white enough.
I’m pretty sure neither trollies not carrying your own clubs would be allowed.
Caddies are back in fashion at the ultra-elite courses.
Dad was 1 of 10 brothers. All 10 brothers caddied. So that would've been 1960-1985 or thereabouts. Even got an Evan's.
And starting back in about '01, Dad would get some spare cash and get a golfer's eye view of the country club he worked at by double-carrying on the weekends.
So I can't speak for the couple decades in the middle there, but at least at those 2 clubs, they were in fashion for those time periods.
Off topic, but interesting reader reactions to NYT editorial favoring Obama’s executive amnesty:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/opinion/at-long-last-immigration-action.html?ref=opinion&comments#commentsContainer
I never liked or watched Seinfeld but Curb Your Enthusiasm had me laughing. Each episode has a woman yelling loudly at Larry David calling him a insensitive idiot. Wanda Sykes did a good job at this.
“most average country clubs are in decline these days. I”
Tell your libertarian friends the government is here to help. Bethpage Black and the newly rebuilt Galloping
Hill allow metro New York’s fallen middle class to pretend. Pension expert John Bury has written alot on the financial history of Galloping Hill.
“I’m not sure why they changed their minds. But, I have this vague impression that the U.S. Open is turning into a sort of ethnic pride parade for WASPs. Perhaps since the Tiger Woods scandal of 2009, the high muckety-mucks of golf have started to lose interest in their long strategy of trying to expand the demographic appeal of the game and are starting to do things that they feel are part of their cultural tradition, such as playing the U.S. Open last summer on a half-brown Pinehurst, much to the disgust of Donald Trump, who knows a fair amount about what the masses like.”
The USGA is good about moving the Open around to a variety of courses/layouts, and has been able to balance a rotation of traditional Old Money courses (such as Merion, Oakmont, Winged Foot) alongside established public courses (Bethpage, Torrey Pines) with newer ones (Chambers Bay in 2015, Erin Hills in 2017). The redesign of Pinehurst was well-intentioned, but Trump was right. It lost its aesthetic appeal when it fetishized water conservation and turned the once rich green bermuda fairways (which contrast nicely with the sandy waste areas) into a dry wasteland more suitable to a goat pasture than championship golf course.
For what it’s worth, I hope the USGA continues to appeal to its base by holding the Open at prestigious, traditional tracks. It’d be great to get a U.S. Open at Pine Valley, or the Country Club (which would be more realistic). Many of us who can only afford to play so-so public courses enjoy experiencing the upper class feel of country clubs, even if only on TV.
But golf’s dear leaders haven’t quit pandering to minorities/women–like nearly everyone else they are desperately trapped in racial/gender egalitarianism. In fact golf’s place as an exclusively white, male, affluent sport has only exacerbated this nonsense–see PGA of America president Ted Bishop’s recent firing after his “sexist” comments (he called someone a “little girl”) or the “First Tee” program which has failed in bringing blacks into golf’s professional ranks.
Every once in a while at the San Francisco Golf Club, they do something they call “British Golf.” I’m not sure what that is. They already require all able to walk. I heard that at St. Andrews, sometimes they have foursomes hit alternate shots just to save time. Seems unlikely at SFGC since the course is always so empty. Maybe you’re required to run the ball up to the green rather than flying it in?
President Nixon on "that San Francisco crowd":
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon
“The Resurrection[edit]
In 2013, Reynolds was brought aboard as director for the planned project The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (also known more simply as The Resurrection),[5] a film intended as a mystery/thriller and “unofficial sequel” to The Passion of the Christ[6] set to depict the events surrounding the 40 days following Christ’s resurrection[7] in a script written by Paul Aiello[8][9] as told from the viewpoint of a Roman centurion ordered by Pontius Pilate to investigate growing rumors of a risen Jewish messiah and to locate the missing body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to quell an imminent uprising in Jerusalem.[6]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Reynolds_(director)#The_Resurrection
Eh?
Steve said, “Jeff’s wife Suzie, however, is an acquired taste.”
——-
She actually reminds me of this lady. Not trying to make any sort of point, just noticing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPVUeQtQQ_o
If you are so fat, old and decrepit, or lazy that you need a cart then either hire a caddy or better yet carry your own bag containing only seven clubs. What with modern hybrids most players could switch to seven clubs and not effect their handicap by even one stroke.
Were they ever out of fashion?
Dad was 1 of 10 brothers. All 10 brothers caddied. So that would’ve been 1960-1985 or thereabouts. Even got an Evan’s.
And starting back in about ’01, Dad would get some spare cash and get a golfer’s eye view of the country club he worked at by double-carrying on the weekends.
So I can’t speak for the couple decades in the middle there, but at least at those 2 clubs, they were in fashion for those time periods.
Nah, do it right and go to Bermuda. Fifty-two square miles of territory and NINE golf courses!
Hey Steve, Hussein Obama is going to announce something big today. I think you should do a blog about it.
Steve,
“they further socially construct separate cultures in which they each feel — to use that all-powerful word of 2014 — comfortable”
Good spot. Haven’t heard anything about afflicting the comfortable in a while (07=08ish?). Used to all the time. I actually preached a guest sermon in a prestigious mainline pulpit in ’04, arguing against it. Should have been careful what I wished for, I guess.
“part of their cultural tradition, such as playing the U.S. Open last summer on a half-brown Pinehurst, much to the disgust of Donald Trump, who knows a fair amount about what the masses like.”
My grandparents had a little vacation home off of No. 5 where we would sometimes walk on to play a couple holes after dinner in the late 70’s/early 80’s. It was more than half in those days, including No. 2 IIRC.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is a funny show, in large part because Larry’s over-the-top persona conforms to pretty much every Jewish stereotype. He’s cheap, pushy, argumentative, etc. Susie, among other characters, is also very Jewish.
The portrayal of Leon (the black hurricane refugee Larry takes in) as a quintessential underclass black guy is also deeply irreverent.
Bottom line, ethnic jokes are funny.
By the way, I love this meme that sometimes pops up about how Steve’s enjoyment of golf represents a betrayal of the Glorious Proletarian Cause or something.
First of all, lots of ordinary people play golf and enjoy good golf courses. The notion that golf–even country club golf–is something sinister and plutocratic is bizarre. It’s the sort of thing you might hear in a campus coffee shop, but most people should know better.
Second, the Dissident Right is not supposed to be some Jacobin national-socialist project. It’s basically conservatism in exile, and it quite rightly objects less to the existence of inequality than to the current elites’ hostility toward their fellow citizens.
OT, a Steveosphere headline – “You trust yourself first, your family, then your clan and then, slowly and hesitantly, something bigger” at
http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/mary-wakefield/9375202/patriotism-isnt-uncivilised-its-what-makes-civilisation-possible/
SF has one? I guess I should have known it must, somewhere. Where is that out in the part I never see, like by the zoo or something? Old Sutro baths?
“Club membership” is a major issue in Israel. There are hundreds of thousands of part-Jews or full-Jews-without-good-papers whose membership in the tribe is being held up by the rabbi-ruled religious membership committees. The part-Jews are allowed to “use the course” (so to speak) but do not have full participation in all activities. The goyim, of course, don’t even get to use the course.
Many people recognize the danger to the country of keeping so many people out of the club, but they are unable or unwilling to seize control from the membership committees.
The membership issue has been fortunately deflated due to the latest eruption by the goyim. The full Jews and part-Jews will put aside their membership struggles for a while longer.
“Membership committees” and the principle that you shouldn’t have to live around diversity has been recently enshrined in Israeli law. Apartment complexes and housing communities are empowered to decide whether someone is “compatible” with the existing residents and prevent them from moving in. It is common sense, of course. There are plenty of Israeli Jews who don’t want a goy moving into their apartment building. Different religion, different traditions, different behavior. Keep them out.
This cultural segregationism was a big deal back in the late 1900s and early 20th Century, when the big divisions between the “German” Jews and the “Eastern European” Jews blew up first. If you read German Jewish newspapers back then, the writings are scathing. The”German” Jews complain about the foods the Easterners eat, how they smell, don’t bathe, don’t get educated, yell and shout in the synagogue, get drunk a lot, etc. It is reminiscent of the attitudes of Episcopalians/Methodists toward Southern Baptists/Pentecostals/Assemblies of God. And reminiscent of Arthur Ruppin’s attitudes as well.
Across from the Daly City BART station, right on the county line. You’re surprised about that – I’m surprised that Cheryl in “Curb” is supposed to be goy.
Probably has something to do with buggery.
President Nixon on “that San Francisco crowd”:
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon
who once kindly helped me look for a putter I had lost at Robinson Ranch
How do you lose a putter? Are you the club-hurling type?
Steve, are you sure Reagan only joined the LACC in 1989? I heard that Henry Salvatori and Holmes Tuttle got him in, in the early ’60s when he was with GE. Granted, Salvatori himself told me that when he was about 95, so who knows.
The SFGC is down by Lake Merced in the SW of the city, across from Olympic and just south of the (dismal) SF State campus. It’s a very old school course and rather short. I think it’s probably too easy for a major, unlike the Lake course at Olympic, which is a seriously challenging course.
Must be a good, wholesome club if Hank Hooper the President of KableTown is a member.
In a vacuum, Curb is just as good as Seinfeld, but, and I hate to use this word, the style of comedy just doesn’t seem “fresh” anymore. That, and I mostly watch episodes in blocks online, and after a few episodes in a row, David’s schtick gets irritating.
That was the point of a late "Curb" episode when they finally do the Seinfeld reunion, but they alienate Jason and he walks off. So, Larry says he'll play George in the reunion show. After all, George is Larry, right? But Larry proves relatively terrible at playing George.
I’ve never met a Jewish person like Suzie.
They mismatched her character with stereotypes of other ethnicities. Of the ~300 Jews I’ve met, they’ve all been very mild-mannered.
Maybe there are lower class Jews in places like New Jersey?
Yes, I’m sure you are right.
Heeb Magazine on Cheryl Hines’s background: http://heebmagazine.com/the-accidental-shiksa-2
Larry David isn’t as talented at playing Larry David as Jason Alexander was.
That was the point of a late “Curb” episode when they finally do the Seinfeld reunion, but they alienate Jason and he walks off. So, Larry says he’ll play George in the reunion show. After all, George is Larry, right? But Larry proves relatively terrible at playing George.
Kind is a nice guy, I’ve read. He’s also a very good friend of Clooney’s. They go way back.
“Steve you ever thought about retiring in Naples, Florida ? It has the most golf holes per capita in the world.”
Reminds me of a small headline in the Wall Street Journal back in 1985 or 1986, Golf capital of the US – Pittsfield, Mass?
Hard to believe but true. Myrtle Beach was moving on up though. Oh, and no Municipal courses in Pittsfield. Go figure.
Reminds me of a small headline in the Wall Street Journal back in 1985 or 1986, Golf capital of the US - Pittsfield, Mass?
Hard to believe but true. Myrtle Beach was moving on up though. Oh, and no Municipal courses in Pittsfield. Go figure.
Lot of old money Bostonians live or summer in Western Massachusetts.
The old money (and new money) summering in Berkshire County hang out in south county (Stockbridge/Great Barrington, Tanglewood) or north county (Williamstown), they avoid Pittsfield like it is Compton, except maybe Pittsfield CC which is close to south county. Funny how that fits with your post #65
That was the point of a late "Curb" episode when they finally do the Seinfeld reunion, but they alienate Jason and he walks off. So, Larry says he'll play George in the reunion show. After all, George is Larry, right? But Larry proves relatively terrible at playing George.
Larry David is a lot more charming than the George character though. George is just neurotic and annoying.
They mismatched her character with stereotypes of other ethnicities. Of the ~300 Jews I've met, they've all been very mild-mannered.
Maybe there are lower class Jews in places like New Jersey?
That was an intimate setting with husbands and close friends. Jewish comedy tends to portray Jewish wives/mothers as tough ball-busters at home in domestic settings. That’s a common trope – the Jewish wife/mother being much nicer and mild-mannered outside the home while being especially hard on her husband/son.
I agree that the kind of humor and the way the different plot lines always tie together at the end in a humorous fashion aren’t that fresh after almost 3 decades of Seinfeld/David. On the other hand, most of the other sitcoms are worse and rely exclusively on a one-liners and the plots themselves aren’t really funny but merely serve as a backdrop for serving not very funny one-liners.
Not sure if I am right or not, I figured that you might have better information than the recollection of a 95 year old.
When I was in grad school, Salvatori sponsored some of us, and occasionally he would have us out to see him. He lived in a gorgeous Paul Revere Williams house in Bel Air (subsequently torn down by Gary Winnick, the jackass), kept an office in Century City (even though he hadn’t worked in decades), and went to the LACC for lunch nearly every day. Sometimes we would see him at his home, sometimes at the office, sometimes at the LACC. Though never to play, sadly. Your comments about the food are interesting, it was pretty much that way. Club sandwiches and stale bread.
Anyway, he liked to tell stories about his glory days as a Republican power broker. He’s the one, for instance, who had the idea for Reagan to give the “Time for Choosing” pro-Goldwater speech in 1964 that effectively kicked off Reagan’s campaign for governor.
What he told me, as best as I can recall, is that Reagan’s movie career ended rather early, which led him to take over the SAG, and then to “downgrade” to TV. He got a job with GE which included introducing their TV show and also touring GE plants to give motivational, pro-free enterprise speeches to employees. And to give the same kind of speeches at Rotary Clubs and the like.
From this he came to the attention of the conservative LA business community that would form the “kitchen cabinet”: Salvatori (oil exploration), Holmes Tuttle (car dealer), Justin Dart (drug stores) and William Wilson (oil tools) were considered the core four, though there were others.
They thought he might be a good candidate for something some day, maybe, but beyond that they just liked him so they, at Salvatori’s urging, proposed him for the LACC. The word came back “You know the rules: no movie people.” To which Salvatori replied “He’s out of the movies; he works for GE now. Put him down as an industrialist. And by the way, if you don’t do this, I’ll resign and take with me as many of my friends as I can.”
So they let him in.
When I was in grad school, Salvatori sponsored some of us, and occasionally he would have us out to see him. He lived in a gorgeous Paul Revere Williams house in Bel Air (subsequently torn down by Gary Winnick, the jackass), kept an office in Century City (even though he hadn't worked in decades), and went to the LACC for lunch nearly every day. Sometimes we would see him at his home, sometimes at the office, sometimes at the LACC. Though never to play, sadly. Your comments about the food are interesting, it was pretty much that way. Club sandwiches and stale bread.
Anyway, he liked to tell stories about his glory days as a Republican power broker. He's the one, for instance, who had the idea for Reagan to give the "Time for Choosing" pro-Goldwater speech in 1964 that effectively kicked off Reagan's campaign for governor.
What he told me, as best as I can recall, is that Reagan's movie career ended rather early, which led him to take over the SAG, and then to "downgrade" to TV. He got a job with GE which included introducing their TV show and also touring GE plants to give motivational, pro-free enterprise speeches to employees. And to give the same kind of speeches at Rotary Clubs and the like.
From this he came to the attention of the conservative LA business community that would form the "kitchen cabinet": Salvatori (oil exploration), Holmes Tuttle (car dealer), Justin Dart (drug stores) and William Wilson (oil tools) were considered the core four, though there were others.
They thought he might be a good candidate for something some day, maybe, but beyond that they just liked him so they, at Salvatori's urging, proposed him for the LACC. The word came back "You know the rules: no movie people." To which Salvatori replied "He's out of the movies; he works for GE now. Put him down as an industrialist. And by the way, if you don't do this, I'll resign and take with me as many of my friends as I can."
So they let him in.
Thanks, most informative. I think a grandson(?) of Mr. Salvatori was at Notre Dame HS in Sherman Oaks around my time. I recall the philanthropist bought all new state-of-the-art football helmets for the ND team when I was a senior.
The thing about courses with caddies is that over the last generation money has flowed back to the old money old school clubs. Like I played the ancient National Golf Links of America in the Hamptons in 1986 without a caddie, carrying my own bag (which was pretty funny when we got to the third fairway, the Alps hole, and it took us ten minutes to figure out where the green was). But when I played in 2004, everybody seemed to take caddies. My friend the member said the membership is a lot richer now than when he was able to join for a cheap price in 1982 when The National was out of fashion. Nowadays you have to be a zillionaire to join, and you probably ought to be a scratch golfer too.
These days, the most fashionable golf architect is the oldest one in American golf history, Charles Blair Macdonald, who designed the National in 1909. Back in the 1970s, however, The National just looked weird to most golfers.
In the second half of the 20th Century, when modernist (RTJ) and postmodernist (Dye) courses were in fashion, a lot of these clubs just hunkered down behind their unobtrusive gates. Eventually, fashions changed and these very old designs became fashionable again. These days there is very little going on in terms of building new courses because the country has plenty of courses, so most of the design interest these days is going into restorations of old courses, such as LACC by Gil Hanse.
These days, country clubs built in the 1950-1980 modern, mass man era tend to be in trouble. The country is becoming more unequal, fewer people can afford golf, and those who can prefer the more elaborate courses from early in the 20th century or late in the century.
These days, the most fashionable golf architect is the oldest one in American golf history, Charles Blair Macdonald, who designed the National in 1909. Back in the 1970s, however, The National just looked weird to most golfers.
Often, the most old money, old school course in a city is the one belonging to the club with the name of the city in the title: San Francisco Golf Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Chicago Golf Club, Detroit Country Club. The National is the extreme example of this.
In the second half of the 20th Century, when modernist (RTJ) and postmodernist (Dye) courses were in fashion, a lot of these clubs just hunkered down behind their unobtrusive gates. Eventually, fashions changed and these very old designs became fashionable again. These days there is very little going on in terms of building new courses because the country has plenty of courses, so most of the design interest these days is going into restorations of old courses, such as LACC by Gil Hanse.
These days, country clubs built in the 1950-1980 modern, mass man era tend to be in trouble. The country is becoming more unequal, fewer people can afford golf, and those who can prefer the more elaborate courses from early in the 20th century or late in the century.
Cory Pavin is a fine golfer. I think he won 15 tournaments including beating Greg Norman in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, which is highly legit.
Morris Hatalsky won four tournaments.
Wayne Levi won four times in one year. I can’t remember if he considers himself Jewish.
But, yes, Jews do a little better in tennis and a lot better in swimming. Jews are probably better in baseball than in golf.
Perhaps something that’s going on is that Jewish country clubs have been pretty secretive since the 1962 Brentwood disaster. The issue is “freedom of association.” Jewish lawyers from the ACLU and the like argued successfully in court against many kinds of freedom of association during the Civil Rights Era, but the country clubs they belong to don’t practice what they preach. My guess is that the country clubs resolved this conundrum by just lowering their profile to submarine levels.
Back in the 1920s and 1930s, Jewish country clubs sought publicity, hosting big tournaments, employing famous pros like Gene Sarazen. But during the Civil Rights Era, they disappeared from public consciousness (except in L.A., where the movie star connection keeps them talked about).
Golf course architect Tom Doak pointed out in his Confidential Guide to Golf Courses in 1990 that he was surprised to discover during the 1980s that there are a lot of outstanding golf courses around the country that, say, golf course raters from magazines have never seen: namely, Jewish country clubs, like Franklin Hills in Detroit. Only in the last 15 years has there been much discussion in golf architecture circles of high quality courses from the 1920s Golden Age like Fenway, and that’s mostly due to one journalist, Brad Klein who grew up at Inwood.
I suspect that’s bad for junior golf development. I don’t know much about junior golf but my guess would be it’s run on a favor bank system where clubs are pretty generous in hosting teens from other clubs. So if you are a young prodigy, you can get a lot of experience playing a lot of tough courses if you are in a club that’s friendly to other clubs’ youth golfers.
Perhaps the Jewish country clubs dropped out of the favor bank system? I don’t know, but I could see if they de-emphasized that that might lessen excitement within the club toward developing young golfers since there wouldn’t be as much interest in our kids beating another club’s kids.
Steve,
The old money (and new money) summering in Berkshire County hang out in south county (Stockbridge/Great Barrington, Tanglewood) or north county (Williamstown), they avoid Pittsfield like it is Compton, except maybe Pittsfield CC which is close to south county. Funny how that fits with your post #65
Berkshire Hills is the only Tillinghast course in Massachusetts. The Country Club of Pittsfield was founded in 1897. Private and exclusive, they’re summertime playgrounds for the Old Money 1/10 of 1%.