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The most notorious feature of the difficult Oakmont golf course, site of this year’s U.S. Open won by Dustin Johnson, is the Church Pews fairway bunker between the 3rd and 4th fairway. The tall islands of grass within the giant sand trap make it risky to try to advance the ball directly toward the green with a long club since a low shot might bury itself in the turf outcroppings.
Oakmont was designed by a Pittsburgh steel family, the Fownes, from 1903 onward. The Church Pews evolved out of earlier bunkers, perhaps as late as the 1920s.
The current version of the Church Pews (color photo) has 12 turf islands, while an earlier version was smaller and had only 7. The history of golf course architecture is a fairly woozy subject since large expanses of terrain, no matter how closely maintained, tend to change over time.
Golf course architects always say their courses look “natural,” but what looks appropriate changes over time. Classic early 20th Century golf courses tend to include a number of eccentric features that have at times seemed very hard to justify as natural. Post-war modernist designers such as Robert Trent Jones and Dick Wilson tended to design courses that seemed tasteful and natural in the 1948-1968.
One theory I’ve seen put forward (unfortunately I don’t remember the author) is that the geometrical tastes of Golden Age (1903-1930) golf designers came less from nature than from grassed over Civil War battlefield memorials, with their trenches and other linear battleworks.
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You should collect all of your golf course posts and tie them together into a book. Might sell well in airports and work as a Father’s Day gift. Hope you had a good one, btw.
Speaking of which:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcnFbCCgTo4Replies: @EriK
Steve, did you ever caddy?
Nah, I never did. I walked over to Lakeside in Toluca Lake to volunteer when I was 15 and then didn’t do it. I would have been pretty good at it.
When I caddied on Long Island in the 1970s we got $8 per bag (always carried two) and an extra $4-$6 for tending the cart in a foursome (that is if 2 of the players were riding). Big shots paid $10 per bag. Ladies paid $7 per bag. Nowadays - same course - caddies get $80-$100 per bag. $200 for 4 hours, not bad. But though the club has many more members today, less golf is played, so not as much need for caddies. Looking back, they got us cheap in the 1970s.
Speaking of golf courses and Robert Trent Jones, Sugar Creek golf course is being renovated. I am no expert, but perhaps others have an opinion. It is located in Sugar Land near Houston, Texas.
https://www.facebook.com/SugarCreekCountryClub/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1339269039420018
Fully agree with this sentiment, and I’ve suggested it as well. So much can be learned from previously underwritten aspects of the Scottish national game.
Speaking of which:
James Ellroy: “Caddying was good tax-free cash and allowed me to get home by 2 p.m. and write books…. I caddied right up to the sale of my fifth book”.
There’s a ton of waiting around in a caddyshack. Unless you’ve been doing it for a while all the best loops go to veterans. That ended my brief experiment as a young caddy.
DJ got it done. Good for him. He now goes from golfing degenerate with drug suspensions, affairs w other player’s wives etc to lovable rapscallion.
Oakmont played tough but fair on Sunday. Definitely identified the best player.
I have to say i find watching DJ frustrating. I often get a desire to slap him upside the head and say "wakeup dude!" All this natural talent whacking the crap outta the ball and i often think "can't you get a coach and actually *work* to *fix* some of this?"
And Paulina ... seriously? DJ could have had his pick of any number of gorgeous down home southern girls. One might hop knocking her up would help, but doesn't seem to have made her "his" or or changed her character. Paulina knew there was a great chance she'd be on camera for the champion's family moment, so she chose a clingy number designed precisely to call--to scream!--attention to her legs, thighs and ass. Then spends the entire walk to the clubhouse "modestly" tugging it down again and again so we won't get too good a look at the goods--and have our attention called again and again to not getting a look at her goods. What's a US Open when there's ... my ass!
That's the nature of women right there. (An iSteve target rich topic.)
I pity any young man venturing into the world today, dealing with these gals worst "look at me" instincts super-charged by cell phones, facebook, twitter. Especially pity the sort of solid, smart hard-working type who wants to find a nice girl who wants to be a wife and mother and have a family. (I.e. guys like my boy.) That sort of guy--the guys who made this nation a great place to live--are in the ditch dealing with the unleashed female id. All i can suggest is find the youngest, least spoiled girl you can and don't marry without a prenup! (Lock in 50-50 custody and no alimony\child support.) And pray you get lucky.Replies: @Njguy73, @Buffalo Joe
Sure, but you would have made connections that today would be pressuring you into silence. So we might be better off that you didn’t.
How about that natural one they had last year at the US open, a real beauty eh?
My son caddied for a while back in the 90’s at a local country club. The vulgar mouths and poor displays by quite a few members were too much. Got him to quit.
If working classes had a club I suspect behavior would have been better, now it’s uncouth all over.
I think the problem was the USGA\course management just didn't prepare the course properly. The wild card is that June is just a very iffy month here. Last year it was warm and stayed dry. This year, it was hot a couple weeks ago, then turned cool and a bit drippy. I even flipped the furnace back on one morning early last week. Saturday it absolutely dumped--midwest thundershower style which is atypical here. They were fortunate last year with playable weather, but they'd failed to water and keep the course looking green. Also some extra watering and\or fertilizing of the greens to make them "pop" on TV would have helped ... a lot.
But watching the top players figure out what to do on Chambers Bay was interesting. I didn't think Oakmont this year was very interesting or exciting, despite the difficulty of the golf course.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Trump Scores $ Big At “Public” Golf Course At Taxpayer Expense
The Art Of The Steal
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/
By Geoffrey Croft
As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park grossed over $ 8 million dollars in the first year of Trump’s sweetheart deal with the City of New York.
During its first full year of operation 28, 291 rounds of golf were played at the tax-payer built luxury course grossing $ 8,072, 529 according to financial documents obtained by NYC Park Advocates.
Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. He is allowed to charge more than four times what other city public courses are allowed to. Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.
The publicly funded project cost close to $ 230 million dollars, the most expensive municipally built golf course in the nation.
Trump’s sweetheart deal doesn’t end there: The taxpayers are also responsible for paying his water and sewage bill facility which runs more than $ 1 million dollars annually. Trump was reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. The city estimates he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for this fiscal year.
In 2015 the “progressive” de Blasio administration quietly allowed Trump to dramatically raise fees – already the highest in the City – before the taxpayer built course even opened.
Trump won the golf course operating concession, as 1 of 3 bidders. The Trump offer included a commitment to a $10 million investment to build a state-of-the-art golf clubhouse with amenities that include a cart-storage facility, locker rooms, and a grill room.
I did caddy- at Town and Country Club in St. Paul, a very old (1880s) club overlooking the Mississippi. A good job for me when I was in 7-9th grades. It was a real job too; you had to show up 6 days a week or you’d get fired. Caddies could play the course , A and Honor caddies on Fridays, B caddies on Mondays. It was hard to play the St. Paul Munis after playing at T&C! We had our own colorful lingo, too- to “get stabbed “was to not get a tip; a “fog” was a bad caddy, a “loop ” was a round. Your first round, with an experienced caddy, was called “being stooged” Dunno if the terms were peculiar to the upper Midwest, or known more widely.
On another note, although I get the idea that the aging of us boomers is a big part of the decline in rounds played, but other factors might be- the difficulty of many new courses- who wants to go out and shoot 110! Also- since a lot of golfers did not caddy, they don’t know about fixing ball marks and playing quickly. Oh- and carts are the death of the game!!!
I agree about Steve’s golf posts- such a book would get a spot in my bathroom!
My brother had one of his three weddings at Town and Country.Replies: @ganderson
Perceptions of what is “natural” are culture bound in the same way as perceptions of what is “historical” or “authentic”.
So the way George Washington or Cleopatra or Jesus are depicted in art and on stage and screen have more to do with CURRENT YEAR than the periods in which they actually lived. To take it to an extreme (we live in an extreme age), in current year 2016 Washington is a mulatto on Broadway.
But if you look at movies from say the ’60s, you can be pretty sure that Cleopatra didn’t really look much like Elizabeth Taylor, nor did she wear her hair and makeup and clothes like that either – they have more to do with 1963 AD than 63 BC.
Archaeological fakes that would not fool a high school student today because they scream Art Deco or whatever fooled the most eminent art experts 100 years ago because people are so immersed in the “look” of their time that they are not even aware of it, the way fish not aware that they are immersed in the sea.
Regarding Dustin Johnson’s ball moving toward his putter on the fifth hole, I wonder if he was using one of these:
http://golf-patents.com/finally-a-smart-golf-ball/
I wonder what Steve thought of the Fox coverage of the Open? I thought it was awful. I kept waiting for the announcers to talk about the golf holes, strategy, the difficulty of the upcoming shot, how far to the green, etc.
Instead in the last nine holes, we got endless talk about the rules for “moving the ball”, how it would effect Dustin’s mind, cliches, and “upclose and personal” soap opera.
I actually turned the sound off at one point.
Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks and Roger Maltbie are sorely missed.Replies: @Reactionary Utopian
Augusta National was designed in part by Dr. Alister MacKenzie who was a veteran of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). He wrote an article called “Military Entrenchments” that was featured in a 1915 issue of Golf Illustrated. It’s a short article and he only mentions golf once in the piece where he wrote
“It may be asked what earthly connection is there between golf course construction and trench making? The connection consists in the imitation of nature. The whole secret of successful course construction and concealment in trench making consists in making artificial features indistinguishable from natural ones, and for the last ten years I have been daily attempting to imitate nature.”
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/GolfIllustrated/1915/gi31r.pdf
If they ever want to have a ‘Special Needs’ Golf Championship, they’ll know what it should look like. That was terrible; making a 4 foot putt was a major feat! You could count on one hand all the great shots in the final round, it was just pathetic.
When Dustin Johnson got to the last hole, I’m thinking he’ll screw it up and we’ll get a 19 hole playoff (I know it’s an 18 hole, but in keeping with the screw up vibe, make it 19).
Then the USGA decides the play on the course isn’t cringe worthy enough, so they decide to jump in with the after the fact penalty on Johnson.
I could barely watch it. Last year at the Bozo Course, that was interesting, even if you couldn’t see the ball against the burned out ‘grass’ most of the time…..
Frederick Law Olmstead founded landscape architecture and his idea of natural eventually found it’s way in golf architecture curriculum.
The most famous of golf holes, The Redan was named after a military fort in the Crimean War.
During the golden age I suspect the aesthetic was due to the more geometric and formal English Garden influence. Olmstead did not dominate until later.
I too was a caddy through high school. I even caddied in The Western Open until the locals got kicked out in favor of tour bag rats. F@#$ you very much Greg Norman.
Tell that to Capability Brown. Or his predecessors.
DJ got it done. Good for him. He now goes from golfing degenerate with drug suspensions, affairs w other player's wives etc to lovable rapscallion.
Oakmont played tough but fair on Sunday. Definitely identified the best player.Replies: @AnotherDad
My thought as well. A solid steady quality performance on a tough course … especially considering who it was from.
I have to say i find watching DJ frustrating. I often get a desire to slap him upside the head and say “wakeup dude!” All this natural talent whacking the crap outta the ball and i often think “can’t you get a coach and actually *work* to *fix* some of this?”
And Paulina … seriously? DJ could have had his pick of any number of gorgeous down home southern girls. One might hop knocking her up would help, but doesn’t seem to have made her “his” or or changed her character. Paulina knew there was a great chance she’d be on camera for the champion’s family moment, so she chose a clingy number designed precisely to call–to scream!–attention to her legs, thighs and ass. Then spends the entire walk to the clubhouse “modestly” tugging it down again and again so we won’t get too good a look at the goods–and have our attention called again and again to not getting a look at her goods. What’s a US Open when there’s … my ass!
That’s the nature of women right there. (An iSteve target rich topic.)
I pity any young man venturing into the world today, dealing with these gals worst “look at me” instincts super-charged by cell phones, facebook, twitter. Especially pity the sort of solid, smart hard-working type who wants to find a nice girl who wants to be a wife and mother and have a family. (I.e. guys like my boy.) That sort of guy–the guys who made this nation a great place to live–are in the ditch dealing with the unleashed female id. All i can suggest is find the youngest, least spoiled girl you can and don’t marry without a prenup! (Lock in 50-50 custody and no alimony\child support.) And pray you get lucky.
Trump Scores $ Big At "Public" Golf Course At Taxpayer Expense
The Art Of The Steal
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/
By Geoffrey Croft
As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park grossed over $ 8 million dollars in the first year of Trump's sweetheart deal with the City of New York.
During its first full year of operation 28, 291 rounds of golf were played at the tax-payer built luxury course grossing $ 8,072, 529 according to financial documents obtained by NYC Park Advocates.
Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. He is allowed to charge more than four times what other city public courses are allowed to. Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.
The publicly funded project cost close to $ 230 million dollars, the most expensive municipally built golf course in the nation.
Trump’s sweetheart deal doesn’t end there: The taxpayers are also responsible for paying his water and sewage bill facility which runs more than $ 1 million dollars annually. Trump was reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. The city estimates he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for this fiscal year.
In 2015 the “progressive” de Blasio administration quietly allowed Trump to dramatically raise fees - already the highest in the City - before the taxpayer built course even opened.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk, @Jus' Sayin'..., @Crank, @Forbes
That’s the kind of guy I want negotiating our trade deals.
Speaking of which:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcnFbCCgTo4Replies: @EriK
Can’t please everyone. RW is one of the most overrated comics ever.
Trump Scores $ Big At "Public" Golf Course At Taxpayer Expense
The Art Of The Steal
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/
By Geoffrey Croft
As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park grossed over $ 8 million dollars in the first year of Trump's sweetheart deal with the City of New York.
During its first full year of operation 28, 291 rounds of golf were played at the tax-payer built luxury course grossing $ 8,072, 529 according to financial documents obtained by NYC Park Advocates.
Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. He is allowed to charge more than four times what other city public courses are allowed to. Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.
The publicly funded project cost close to $ 230 million dollars, the most expensive municipally built golf course in the nation.
Trump’s sweetheart deal doesn’t end there: The taxpayers are also responsible for paying his water and sewage bill facility which runs more than $ 1 million dollars annually. Trump was reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. The city estimates he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for this fiscal year.
In 2015 the “progressive” de Blasio administration quietly allowed Trump to dramatically raise fees - already the highest in the City - before the taxpayer built course even opened.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk, @Jus' Sayin'..., @Crank, @Forbes
Big deal! Clinton made $10 million starting a civil war in Ukraine.
Trump Scores $ Big At "Public" Golf Course At Taxpayer Expense
The Art Of The Steal
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/
By Geoffrey Croft
As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park grossed over $ 8 million dollars in the first year of Trump's sweetheart deal with the City of New York.
During its first full year of operation 28, 291 rounds of golf were played at the tax-payer built luxury course grossing $ 8,072, 529 according to financial documents obtained by NYC Park Advocates.
Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. He is allowed to charge more than four times what other city public courses are allowed to. Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.
The publicly funded project cost close to $ 230 million dollars, the most expensive municipally built golf course in the nation.
Trump’s sweetheart deal doesn’t end there: The taxpayers are also responsible for paying his water and sewage bill facility which runs more than $ 1 million dollars annually. Trump was reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. The city estimates he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for this fiscal year.
In 2015 the “progressive” de Blasio administration quietly allowed Trump to dramatically raise fees - already the highest in the City - before the taxpayer built course even opened.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk, @Jus' Sayin'..., @Crank, @Forbes
Sounds like Trump is right. He does negotiate all the best deals!
The interview with Jack Nicholas on Sunday was revealing. In reaction to a question about how he felt today as compared to his ’62 victory, he appeared stunned that they had taken out most of the trees–though he refrained from directly criticizing the change. His face said it all.
BTW--the church pews ... do nothing for me. They look super-unnatural, just stagey and ugly.
Trump Scores $ Big At "Public" Golf Course At Taxpayer Expense
The Art Of The Steal
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/
By Geoffrey Croft
As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park grossed over $ 8 million dollars in the first year of Trump's sweetheart deal with the City of New York.
During its first full year of operation 28, 291 rounds of golf were played at the tax-payer built luxury course grossing $ 8,072, 529 according to financial documents obtained by NYC Park Advocates.
Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. He is allowed to charge more than four times what other city public courses are allowed to. Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.
The publicly funded project cost close to $ 230 million dollars, the most expensive municipally built golf course in the nation.
Trump’s sweetheart deal doesn’t end there: The taxpayers are also responsible for paying his water and sewage bill facility which runs more than $ 1 million dollars annually. Trump was reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. The city estimates he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for this fiscal year.
In 2015 the “progressive” de Blasio administration quietly allowed Trump to dramatically raise fees - already the highest in the City - before the taxpayer built course even opened.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk, @Jus' Sayin'..., @Crank, @Forbes
Misleading write-up. NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation built the Jack Nicholas-designed golf course and other amenities in the park, e.g. sports fields, basketball and handball courts, barbecue areas, 8 soccer fields, 2 cricket fields and the 9/11 Living Memorial Forest and Hilltop Grove
Trump won the golf course operating concession, as 1 of 3 bidders. The Trump offer included a commitment to a $10 million investment to build a state-of-the-art golf clubhouse with amenities that include a cart-storage facility, locker rooms, and a grill room.
Yep. And who can blame him.
What did Italians taken over its golf course maintenance?
Are we supposed to think it’s a links course on the shores of the Allegheny River?
No argument against, thinning, taking down old in favor of new, keeping nature under control. But this idea that everything should look like the Scottish seaside, just makes a midwestern course look it was newly built from someones’ corn field.
~~~
BTW–the church pews … do nothing for me. They look super-unnatural, just stagey and ugly.
My son caddied for a while back in the 90's at a local country club. The vulgar mouths and poor displays by quite a few members were too much. Got him to quit.
If working classes had a club I suspect behavior would have been better, now it's uncouth all over.Replies: @AnotherDad
Well it’s not natural–not typical Puget Sound shoreline, Chamber’s Bay is an old gravel quarry–but i thought that tournament was more interesting than this one.
I think the problem was the USGA\course management just didn’t prepare the course properly. The wild card is that June is just a very iffy month here. Last year it was warm and stayed dry. This year, it was hot a couple weeks ago, then turned cool and a bit drippy. I even flipped the furnace back on one morning early last week. Saturday it absolutely dumped–midwest thundershower style which is atypical here. They were fortunate last year with playable weather, but they’d failed to water and keep the course looking green. Also some extra watering and\or fertilizing of the greens to make them “pop” on TV would have helped … a lot.
But watching the top players figure out what to do on Chambers Bay was interesting. I didn’t think Oakmont this year was very interesting or exciting, despite the difficulty of the golf course.
Instead in the last nine holes, we got endless talk about the rules for "moving the ball", how it would effect Dustin's mind, cliches, and "upclose and personal" soap opera.
I actually turned the sound off at one point.Replies: @Danindc
No chemistry in the booth. Azinger is a dolt 75% of the time. Buck is decent at best. The rest all sounded alike.
Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks and Roger Maltbie are sorely missed.
The most famous of golf holes, The Redan was named after a military fort in the Crimean War.
During the golden age I suspect the aesthetic was due to the more geometric and formal English Garden influence. Olmstead did not dominate until later.
I too was a caddy through high school. I even caddied in The Western Open until the locals got kicked out in favor of tour bag rats. F@#$ you very much Greg Norman.Replies: @Ganderson, @Buffalo Joe, @Justpassingby, @slumber_j
The 1970 US Open (this from memory) was at Hazeltine. We caddies in the Twin Cities area were given the opportunity to get a bag if we sold enough tix. I was too lazy and stupid and thus missed out. Thomas Friedman was on Chi Chi Rodiguez’ bag.
If they had a caddy draft it would make for gripping television. Bunch of know nothing kids drafting players, then seeing how well they played and how much the kids get paid.
Seriously. A history of golf course design? If it’s in English it’ll sell 100,000 copies at least. People are nuts about that stuff.
I have to say i find watching DJ frustrating. I often get a desire to slap him upside the head and say "wakeup dude!" All this natural talent whacking the crap outta the ball and i often think "can't you get a coach and actually *work* to *fix* some of this?"
And Paulina ... seriously? DJ could have had his pick of any number of gorgeous down home southern girls. One might hop knocking her up would help, but doesn't seem to have made her "his" or or changed her character. Paulina knew there was a great chance she'd be on camera for the champion's family moment, so she chose a clingy number designed precisely to call--to scream!--attention to her legs, thighs and ass. Then spends the entire walk to the clubhouse "modestly" tugging it down again and again so we won't get too good a look at the goods--and have our attention called again and again to not getting a look at her goods. What's a US Open when there's ... my ass!
That's the nature of women right there. (An iSteve target rich topic.)
I pity any young man venturing into the world today, dealing with these gals worst "look at me" instincts super-charged by cell phones, facebook, twitter. Especially pity the sort of solid, smart hard-working type who wants to find a nice girl who wants to be a wife and mother and have a family. (I.e. guys like my boy.) That sort of guy--the guys who made this nation a great place to live--are in the ditch dealing with the unleashed female id. All i can suggest is find the youngest, least spoiled girl you can and don't marry without a prenup! (Lock in 50-50 custody and no alimony\child support.) And pray you get lucky.Replies: @Njguy73, @Buffalo Joe
She can get away with it for the same reason Paris Hilton and various Kardashia can: her family name.
Yes, but his golf analysis is right on.
Did a golf ball bean him on the head?
You probably would have been could at it, and made decent money. I caddied for 8 years and hated it. I suck at golf too.
When I caddied on Long Island in the 1970s we got $8 per bag (always carried two) and an extra $4-$6 for tending the cart in a foursome (that is if 2 of the players were riding). Big shots paid $10 per bag. Ladies paid $7 per bag. Nowadays – same course – caddies get $80-$100 per bag. $200 for 4 hours, not bad. But though the club has many more members today, less golf is played, so not as much need for caddies. Looking back, they got us cheap in the 1970s.
Steve, My last uncle past away in January. In his prime he was a “scratch” golfer who represented his employer, a major manufacturing company, at many social events and corporate tournaments. He had a hole in one at Oakmont and was given a gold putter to commemorate the event. How did a first gen American, the son of Italian immigrants become a scratch golfer. He grew up caddying at the CC of Buffalo, which was walking distance from the family home. My best friend placed second at his club’s senior tournaments, shooting a one over 73, while the winner shot par. He too caddied at the old Jewish CC in WNY, Westwood. Golfers always blame their clubs and frequently give them away to caddies. The course pros give out free lessons to the better caddies. You should have shouldered a bag or two in your youth. Gene Sarazen, one of only five golfers with a career majors slam, started his career as the son of an immigrant grounds keeper, his birth name Eugenio Saraceni.
The most famous of golf holes, The Redan was named after a military fort in the Crimean War.
During the golden age I suspect the aesthetic was due to the more geometric and formal English Garden influence. Olmstead did not dominate until later.
I too was a caddy through high school. I even caddied in The Western Open until the locals got kicked out in favor of tour bag rats. F@#$ you very much Greg Norman.Replies: @Ganderson, @Buffalo Joe, @Justpassingby, @slumber_j
Hodag, Frederick Law Olmstead designed Buffalo’s notable parks system. Delaware Park includes a nine hole golf course that looks like a meadow, and that is not meant as a compliment. Worst look I have actually seem are the Pot Bunkers that dot a number of courses on Myrtle Beach, NC. You need a ladder or timber tie stair way to climb into and out of . I don’t own a club or possess the skills to hit a ball straight up and then have it make a 90 degree turn back into play.
I have to say i find watching DJ frustrating. I often get a desire to slap him upside the head and say "wakeup dude!" All this natural talent whacking the crap outta the ball and i often think "can't you get a coach and actually *work* to *fix* some of this?"
And Paulina ... seriously? DJ could have had his pick of any number of gorgeous down home southern girls. One might hop knocking her up would help, but doesn't seem to have made her "his" or or changed her character. Paulina knew there was a great chance she'd be on camera for the champion's family moment, so she chose a clingy number designed precisely to call--to scream!--attention to her legs, thighs and ass. Then spends the entire walk to the clubhouse "modestly" tugging it down again and again so we won't get too good a look at the goods--and have our attention called again and again to not getting a look at her goods. What's a US Open when there's ... my ass!
That's the nature of women right there. (An iSteve target rich topic.)
I pity any young man venturing into the world today, dealing with these gals worst "look at me" instincts super-charged by cell phones, facebook, twitter. Especially pity the sort of solid, smart hard-working type who wants to find a nice girl who wants to be a wife and mother and have a family. (I.e. guys like my boy.) That sort of guy--the guys who made this nation a great place to live--are in the ditch dealing with the unleashed female id. All i can suggest is find the youngest, least spoiled girl you can and don't marry without a prenup! (Lock in 50-50 custody and no alimony\child support.) And pray you get lucky.Replies: @Njguy73, @Buffalo Joe
Another Dad, Bingo on the Paulina comments….oh, don’t look at my ass, but please look at my ass. The cameraman raped her from behind with his lens, and good for him. Hope their kid turns out alright.
Chi Chi was past his prime in the mid 80s when I looped. But he was always a top ten pick in the caddy draft since he oaid so well. True gentleman, former caddy himself.
If they had a caddy draft it would make for gripping television. Bunch of know nothing kids drafting players, then seeing how well they played and how much the kids get paid.
I caddied in the ’70s at San Francisco Golf Club. My first loop, actually just following a cart, was for their oldest member, a 90-year old lawyer by the name of John Elliot Cook. He represented Joe Kapp in his antitrust case against the NFL. They lost.
One of a long list of bad antitrust decisions won by sports leagues going back to the Supreme Court around 1920.
Thanks for the heads-up & link. Very interesting.
The most famous of golf holes, The Redan was named after a military fort in the Crimean War.
During the golden age I suspect the aesthetic was due to the more geometric and formal English Garden influence. Olmstead did not dominate until later.
I too was a caddy through high school. I even caddied in The Western Open until the locals got kicked out in favor of tour bag rats. F@#$ you very much Greg Norman.Replies: @Ganderson, @Buffalo Joe, @Justpassingby, @slumber_j
One of the great American tournaments. And today few know it ever existed.
The Western has a home and it is called Butler National. But since the Tour nor the membership of Butler is willing to compromise...here we are.Replies: @AnotherDad
Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks and Roger Maltbie are sorely missed.Replies: @Reactionary Utopian
Johnny Miller? You’re kidding, right? I used to get embarrassed for the guy. Every time he opened his mouth, he reminded the audience yet again of his intense and thoroughly inappropriate desire to have Tiger Woods’s baby.
He knows how pressure affects these players and calls them out- they hate it but viewers (except some) love it
Completely agree re: people playing slowly, not repairing ball marks, etc. It drives me crazy. I never caddied. By my time, none of the courses around here had them anymore. But I learned to golf from my dad, who caddied for years and taught me the etiquette. Fun side note: Bobby Locke (the 4-time British Open champ) married a girl from my hometown and they would come visit her family every summer. My dad got to caddy for him on several occasions. He said Locke was a big drinker and kind of a prick, but the best putter he had ever seen.
Another note- it used to be common practice, when I was a lad, for the group on the green of a par 3 to allow the group on the tee to hit up. Does that happen anymore? I haven't seen it in years.
It still exists. Now it is called The BMW Championship, a WGC event in September. Played at Crooked Stick this year. Last year it was at Conway Farms, a Fazio in Lake Forest with Trump like gilding of the lilly which ruin the course. The creek on 18? Ugh. The revetted bunkers can’t live in the Midwest and were close to collapse last year. I looped in the pro am (charity thing) and the greens were fine. Great small clubhouse. Brian Doyle Murray holed out for birdie on his 18th from 45 yards.
The Western has a home and it is called Butler National. But since the Tour nor the membership of Butler is willing to compromise…here we are.
On a more consequential note: the trainwreck that is on going in the US military as PC absolutely lords it over military necessity and makes everyone bow--or bend over--and kiss its ring. (The Chinese have to be just laughing in stupendous wonder, as i'm sure they are about the larger implosion of the West.)
One can only wonder what further follies are in store? But the PGA requiring all hosting courses to have at least one trangendered member and appropriate locker room policy can't be too far out.
Heh…
My brother had one of his three weddings at Town and Country.
The most famous of golf holes, The Redan was named after a military fort in the Crimean War.
During the golden age I suspect the aesthetic was due to the more geometric and formal English Garden influence. Olmstead did not dominate until later.
I too was a caddy through high school. I even caddied in The Western Open until the locals got kicked out in favor of tour bag rats. F@#$ you very much Greg Norman.Replies: @Ganderson, @Buffalo Joe, @Justpassingby, @slumber_j
“Frederick Law Olmstead founded landscape architecture…”
Tell that to Capability Brown. Or his predecessors.
Bonus iSteviness there at the end. Does that mean Sarazen was descended from Saracens?
If you think carts are the end of the game you’ve never been the first group out behind the club’s Women’s Member-Guest. A 5 1/2 hour round, if they didn’t have carts I’d still be out there!
I’d allow a few people to take carts- the old and disabled, mostly. I’m not convinced carts speed up play- I think it does make low handicappers faster, but many average golfers are slower- they spray the ball around and NEVER get out of their carts. Walk the bleepin’ course.
I don't blame the carts. The thing about golf is its history of courtesy and honor, as Dan Jenkins constantly points out, it's the only sport/game where competitors call penalties on themselves. Courtesy and honor aren't exactly watchwords in our society anymore.
My girlfriend didn't take up golf until she was 40, when we first got together, and she's now an avid player. Ready golf was the first thing I taught her. She's always ready to set up and hit. I've noticed that playing in foursomes with her actually speeds up some slower players; if the GIRL is always ready, it makes them aware of slow play. Nobody wants the girl waiting for them.
My brother had one of his three weddings at Town and Country.Replies: @ganderson
Given the smallness of St. Paul we probably know each other- or in any case know a lot of people in common.
The “learning from dad” thing is huge. My dad was a fanatic about fast play and care of the course, and passed that trait on to his boys.
Another note- it used to be common practice, when I was a lad, for the group on the green of a par 3 to allow the group on the tee to hit up. Does that happen anymore? I haven’t seen it in years.
“As expected Donald Trump is making out like a bandit in the Bronx at the taxpayers expense.” Whatever Trump is banking fades into insignificance compared with the scores of millions already harvested by the Clinton Crime Family. The presidency of the Queen of Chaos would bring America down to a sub-Saharan African level of financial as well as moral corruption.
To each his own I guess. He has been very critical of Tiger as he is of every player. That’s actually been a criticism levied by players.
He knows how pressure affects these players and calls them out- they hate it but viewers (except some) love it
The Western has a home and it is called Butler National. But since the Tour nor the membership of Butler is willing to compromise...here we are.Replies: @AnotherDad
In the panoply of dumb ideas that is the progressive canon, this idea that women have to be doing *everything* that men are doing is one of the dumbest.
On a more consequential note: the trainwreck that is on going in the US military as PC absolutely lords it over military necessity and makes everyone bow–or bend over–and kiss its ring. (The Chinese have to be just laughing in stupendous wonder, as i’m sure they are about the larger implosion of the West.)
One can only wonder what further follies are in store? But the PGA requiring all hosting courses to have at least one trangendered member and appropriate locker room policy can’t be too far out.
For the most accurate examples of the term “natural” in course design in the United States that stood the test of time, look to Augusta, to Pebble, to the old courses in the Northeast like the Black course in Bethpage. There are others, Jack likes to keep the natural flow. Jones Senior liked his mounds, wherever he could place them. Mounds where the local topography is ill-suited to support such a feature is an egregious error. The error is magnified in Florida especially at an otherwise lovely course at Fox Hollow near Tampa, his final effort. The mounds don’t match anything in Florida, he tried to replicate the mountainous ridges in New England. They aren’t bedrock outcroppings, only mounds that need constant replenishment. TPC Myrtle is like that too, with phony-baloney mounds everywhere.
Meanwhile, every course is ruined over time because of the equipment. So that Ping and the rest can scratch more profit with ever-changing tech (the PGA Tour is ruining the entire thing anyway), the courses are ruined and the golfers made no better. It ain’t tennis, but it’s a racket. Face it, DJ and Rory and all the rest of the so-called “big hitters” hit no bigger than the older guys. The only difference is drivers and aggressive iron pitches. The crowds that “oooo, and ohhhh” over 350 yard drives are retards. They’re cheering the the clubs, they’re just too dopey to understand it. Yet, they sell their souls to buy the latest junk, never figuring out that you can’t buy a game..
I wanna see precious DJ and Rory and Jordon and the rest with Persimmons and McGregor irons and Titleist balata balls and an old Bullseye blade putter sometime. They would be no better, likely worse, but at least the old courses could still be played. The golf is worse, corrupted by commercials, the courses ruined, but they claim the game is better because money. The emperor wears no clothes. Somewhere along the way, the deception is laid bare and folks wise up.
Speaking of natural, the current fashion is saying that nothing was done to make the course (a la Sand Hills). But such courses outside of the Sand Hills and sandy sites is impossible. Yale is a force of nature but they blasted the hell out of that land.
Anyone seen Cabot Cliffs yet? The new Titleist commercials were shot there, the seaside scenes.
I think you responded to the wrong post
Interesting re golf course design.
Rory and DJ definitely have faster, more athletic swings than the old timers. They’d hit it further w persimmon than Watson, Player, etc. maybe not Jack. Similar to Bob Cousy trying to guard Russell Westbrook. Just much better in shape and highly trained athletes today even in golf.
Bigger, stronger, faster doesn’t really apply in Golf. That’s why 59 Y/o Tom Watson almost won the British Open.
Jack Nicklaus has seen anyone play, from Sam Snead to Tiger Woods. He still says Ben Hogan was the greatest Ball striker he’s ever seen.
And on a lighter note…
Once again, a PGA Tournament of which Eldrick did not win nor even finish in the top ten. And, he is now 40. TICK. TICK. TICK. I mean, the fact that he can no longer place in the top 30 isn’t even a major story (and hasn’t been for a few yrs now). It’s like, “Who is that? Didn’t he used to play golf or something? Or was that his twin?”
Is Eldrick going to have to start playing in land-of-never-heard-of-it, in town of Palookaville on a public course thats located on a literal freeway next to Vern’s Trailer Park across from Tom’s diner and Eat at Joes?
Nicklaus’s 18 Majors are quite safe in the record books.
The most natural golf course in the US is Sand Hills. National Golf Links filled in a lot of low land. They say Maidstone had the beat golf land in the US..but I don’t run in the circles where the Essex County courses are available for me to judge. Augusta took a lot of work to make it Augusta.
Speaking of natural, the current fashion is saying that nothing was done to make the course (a la Sand Hills). But such courses outside of the Sand Hills and sandy sites is impossible. Yale is a force of nature but they blasted the hell out of that land.
Anyone seen Cabot Cliffs yet? The new Titleist commercials were shot there, the seaside scenes.
The golf boom brought out too many “players” with no idea what “ready golf” means. Along with too many 35+ handicaps with no business plumb bobbing the greens.
I don’t blame the carts. The thing about golf is its history of courtesy and honor, as Dan Jenkins constantly points out, it’s the only sport/game where competitors call penalties on themselves. Courtesy and honor aren’t exactly watchwords in our society anymore.
My girlfriend didn’t take up golf until she was 40, when we first got together, and she’s now an avid player. Ready golf was the first thing I taught her. She’s always ready to set up and hit. I’ve noticed that playing in foursomes with her actually speeds up some slower players; if the GIRL is always ready, it makes them aware of slow play. Nobody wants the girl waiting for them.
Rory and DJ definitely have faster, more athletic swings than the old timers. They'd hit it further w persimmon than Watson, Player, etc. maybe not Jack. Similar to Bob Cousy trying to guard Russell Westbrook. Just much better in shape and highly trained athletes today even in golf.Replies: @Brutusale
Yeah, Grip It & Rip It John Daly was always quite the physical specimen.
Jim, I have a post above about my late uncle, a scratch golfer in his prime. He still shot around his age into his seventies. He used a set of well maintained persimmon woods. His quote…..” Doesn’t matter how big a club face gets, there is still only one sweet spot.”
Love Long John but he’s an anomaly. Also takes club back crazy distance. More like a long drive hitter with a short game.