Bethpage Black course is a unique beast. Entirely run by the State of New York, they have developed this course over the last few years so that now it is a course of true championship quality and has proved this by hosting two fantastic US Opens in 2002 and 2009.
Bethpage Black is a course many people can relate to because they have played it before (like my folks when they came to NYC last year) Being a public course anyone can get a game. Getting a tee time here can be tough and the ??right way?? of ensuring you can play is to camp out in the parking lot for one of the first 6 tee times that are left free and available every day. We intended to try and sneak one such spot before the pro at Winged Foot kindly made a call for us and before we knew it we had an 1157am guaranteed spot.
Despite our tee time we still camped out to get the full Bethpage experience but were surprised at the lack of festivity around the parking lot. This was probably because it was the 4th of July in the morning which a family day here and so we caught Bethpage on an uncharacteristically slow day. Instead of the normal 1800 or so golfers playing on the 6 golf courses in the complex there were probably only 1400 today? That is about as many rounds as are played a year on some of the courses we??ve been playing recently? (note: it sounds like Bethpage Red is a course worth playing as well if you??re in the area)
The black course is a monster of a golf course. It??s about 7500 yards, but is stretched right back to 8000 for the Open. And it is grand ?? each hole has a huge footprint and often includes significant undulations. It??s a solid walk around here particularly when it is 95 degrees. When we met Doug Batty at Bel Air (kiwi pro who qualified for the 2009 Open) he told us about his experience playing here when shot a pair of 74??s and was hitting 4 iron or 3 wood into almost every green - after today I can understand where he was coming from. For the 2009 Open it was wet and there was no roll and some of these par fours would be nearly impossible. You really need to bomb your driver here and it was a good thing that we were both hitting the ball pretty well as the length of the course combined with the wind and the relentless heat made it tough going.
I??ve put together a slideshow of the course (below) which has some great photographs of this Tillinghast monster (I understand that it was recently redesigned by Rees Jones). You will see that the bunkering here is out of this world and the design of the holes is classical and strong. There aren??t many scoring opportunities around here. But the green complexes here are very different to the Tillinghast greens we have been playing at Winged Foot and Somerset Hills as they are generally very flat although as the round went on the later holes started to have more of a pronounced tilt to the greens.
Some of the pictures in the slideshow been given to us from our playing partner, Gary, who photographed the course a year or so ago. Gary was a really enthusiastic guy who took a rather ??zen?? attitude to golf. He is a landscape gardener and for Gary the best part of golf is the walk and he??s not going to let his game get in the way of the beauty of a golf course. A good philosophy indeed. We were also joined by Maurice who made a pretty good fist at suggesting golf courses to play in and around the greater New York area?
There is a huge difference between public and private golf courses in the US. The rigmarole to get on the golf course here reminds me of an amusement park. You go to the tellers, pay your green fee where you are given a bracelet to wear which you then take to the starter who cuts the bracelet and allows you through to the first tee. There are people swilling around everywhere and a 5 and a half hour round beckons. What is cool is that the public have access to this world class golf course and residents of NY can play here for about $40 ($150 for out of towners).
I hate to say this but the decorum of Bethpage did not match the quality of the golf course. There were more than a few loudmouths floating around and golfing attire appeared to be optional. But the thing that stood out to me was the lack of respect shown by the players to the golf course. One of the first things I was taught was that you should try to leave the golf course it in better condition than you found it. And fixing pitch marks was something to take pride in as it meant that you had hit the green! So it is a real shame that the patrons here don??t seem to appreciate or respect the gem that the state is providing for them. The greens were covered in pitch marks and the bunkers were often left un-raked. These bunkers are not designed to be left unkempt. Jamie described the sand as like fresh powder on a skifield and you can only image the craters that were left all through the bunkers by the time we got to the back nine in the mid afternoon. I will disclose that this particularly agitated me as I was grinding out a decent round only to find myself in three such huge craters and the resulting double, double, triple, quickly put an end to a decent round (I have subsequently learnt that many of the locals play a local rule that if you go into a bunker here you can rake it and then place your ball. But that??s just not cricket and we play the ball as it lies).
After golf we headed out along Long Island. With nowhere to play the next day we just cruised right out to the point at Montauk, just missing the 4th of July fireworks after a protracted session catching up on our admin at Starbucks. Once out on the Point we found a camping area and nestled in for another night in Dodgy ?? one of the last as we??ve found a buyer for him ?? two swiss guys who are traveling across the US over two months in the reverse of what we??ve just done. Brilliant.
Winged Foot may just be the coolest name in golf. And one of the coolest places I??ve ever been. You can use a word like ??cool? when you??re talking about Winged Foot too, because it??s unpretentious and I reckon it??s how half the members would describe the place. A bunch of solid New Yorkers inhabit this domain, this Mecca for serious golfers. On a fine afternoon last Saturday our host was Terry Toll Jnr., a well set man who hits the ball further than Daly, and who rightly is proud of his family??s long held ties to The Foot. What a phenomenal host he was too.
Winged Foot can lay claim to having one of the best pairs of golf courses in the world, if not the best. By that I mean that both courses are world class (and are always ranked in the Top 100). They play The US Open on the West Course ?? the last one was held back in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy won ?? so it??s regarded as the big brother of the two. The East Course however is just as interesting and indeed the preferred track for many of the members. Tillinghast really had some fun with both of ??em. Some people like to make the comparison with Baltusrol (which he also designed), and reckon The Foot is really Baltusrol on steroids. Certainly it has more undulation than The Lower Course, but I??m not sure that it??s more intimidating. Anyway.
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive is the gothic looking clubhouse. Apparently the same chap that designed the hut at Mountain Ridge did this one too. I??m a big fan. It??s some building. Probably the best vantage point to admire it is the 9th fairway on West, or 18th fairway on East. It??s a real thrill standing over your approach shot, glancing up to the green, and picturing that perfect 6 iron dancing around the pin for the amusement of the lunch crowd looking on. I can confirm that I hit no such shot.
Speaking of lunch, Terry treated us to the WF lunch experience in the Members?? Grill (no longer the ??Men??s Grill? in these times). Being a Saturday afternoon the place was buzzing, and sitting next to Terry in that Grill is like sitting next to Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill. Everyone knows him. Terry Senior flew past and said g??day, as did about 36 other members. All the staff knew him well, and knew what he??d be ordering to drink. A well liked member by the looks of things. Apparently most of the staff have been at The Foot for years ?? a sign of a healthy club. Terry likes to sit at one of the four corner tables, so he can people watch across the room. If walls could talk...that place has seen some antics over the years, some of which he shared with us (but which I won??t be sharing with you lot!).
Fuelled up and raring to go, we stepped out into the oven. It was hot. The range balls are Pro V1s embossed with the club logo ?? class. Not those nasty tinny Callaways, or even worse those yellow numbers. When the time came to blast off, we were advised to play one forward from the tips ?? and for once we listened! The sight of that tangled (probably triple seeded) rough was enough to convince us not to go All The Way Back. A good call. Terry (pictured below, left) and I teamed up against Mike and Terry??s pal Greg (pictured below, right). Greg was quite the College sportsman back in the day, and played several sports at an elite level. A football injury however put the cat amongst the pigeons: no longer could he swing the golf club right handed. So he switched and is now a lefty! Quite amazing. Poor Greg had just had a lesson earlier in the day, which inevitably meant he wasn??t swinging it as he usually would ?? he saw more of the course than most.
The course played fast, which we really enjoyed. As Terry said, that??s how Tillinghast designed it to be played. Drives run through doglegs if you??re not pinpoint accurate but you can play wee runners up to the greens. I spent the entire afternoon marvelling at the green complexes; at Albert??s artistry. A favourite was the 2nd (pictured below), which is split into two quadrants offset from one another. The hole would play totally different were the pin in the back, which is guarded by a huge overhanging elm tree.
On the 3rd the history started flowing from our hosts. In a US Open many moons ago Billy Casper laid up every day of the tournament, and pitched on. It??s a 200 yard hole, but is guarded fiercely on both sides by sand traps and the green is menacing to say the least. Billy took trouble out of the equation and made four pars! I got under my 4 iron and left it short left, prompting the ??Billy Casper? quip. (Only difference was he did it on purpose; oh, and he made par too!).
Juan and Jorge our caddies were pretty sharp at reading the greens, which helped considerably. At least, it helped when I could understand them! Good characters.
The West Course though long is not a slogger??s track. There are quality short par 4s like the 6th, and short par 3s like the 7th. Ironically though these holes are just as likely to ruin your scorecard as the brutes ?? because what they lack in length they make up for in trickery. Tillinghast knew how to get his man (but also how to let him play). The 6th green for example (pictured below) is kidney shaped and as shallow as Paris Hilton; the 7th is raised up to the heavens like one of Donald Ross?? tabletops at Pinehurst No.2.
It??s really quite something standing on 9 tee which, as I mentioned before, looks down the hole to the clubhouse. What a sensation. Come the end of the year I??m going to put together a video blog of the grandest holes we??ve played ?? number 9 at The West Course will be near the top of the pile, I can tell you. As will 18 at Royal Sydney, Baltusrol, San Francisco, Olympic, Riviera and Commonwealth. A few from Scotland might make it in too (St. Andrews anyone?)...
The back 9 on West is pure. The shamrock bunker on 14; mind boggling green on 16; graceful dogleg right on 17; and approach on 18 were all memorable features. My partner Terry smoked a 7 iron out of the fairway bunker on 18 to 12 feet to close out the match ?? a shot he won??t forget for a while. That was after Mike rolled in 30 footers on 17 and 18 to apply unexpected pressure, the rascal.
It was 6.30 when we walked off, and the sun still had some juice in it. So we grabbed a beer; hopped in a couple of carts; and shot out to play the back 9 on The East Course. Why not? We had the place to ourselves, on a glorious Saturday evening. Pure golf indeed. An interesting chap by the name of Neil Regan ?? who happens to be the club historian ?? introduced himself as we were teeing off, then joined us a few holes later. He was out playing solo, with his favourite caddy, a dark skinned gentleman who looked like he??s been carrying bags since Moses Struck The Rock.
We zipped round 11 thru 18 at a frantic pace in probably an hour. Some very cool holes, like the 14th, 15th (pictured below) and 17th (Davis Love's favourite hole). Although what stuck most in my mind was the group of glamorous women at a garden party by the 14th green! Neil??s climbing low cut with a driver off the deck on 16 deserves special mention too. Oh, and the approach to 18 I mentioned before.
Neil pointed out where they??d made changes to the course in recent years, after having brought in Gil Hanse the restoration mantis. Getting back to original designs is very much en vogue right now, it appears.
Terry assured me the showers were as good as any ?? even those huge wide brim numbers at Merion and Pine Valley. He wasn??t fibbing. Not quite as wide as the aforementioned, but probably a faster flow. I could??ve stood there for days. Although I would??ve got those manky wrinkles. Terry being the consummate host also pointed us towards a little beaker of liquid that you??re supposed to chuck on y??er paws before dousing them in talcum powder. Sensational stuff ?? similar feeling to menthol shampoo.
WF gift bags also appeared in our lockers ?? each containing a Winged Foot polo shirt, a dozen Pro V1 Xs (WF embossed, of course) and a WF bag tag. We were very embarassed to say the least. Suffice to say Saint Terry is among the most generous characters we??ve come across this year; he couldn??t possibly have made our experience at The Foot any better.
Since none of us had to be anywhere, Terry floated the idea of dinner in the Grill. As if lunch; 18 on West; 8 on East; those showers; that foot solution; and Terry??s gift bags weren??t enough of a treat... The 3 course meal I inhaled would be right up there with the most memorable of the trip. If you told me the club was hiding a Michelin starred chef back in the kitchen I??d believe you. We must??ve sat there telling lies for a couple of hours, after One Hell Of A Day.
A huge thank you to Terry ?? you??re the greatest. Looking forward to showing you a huge day at Paraparaumu Beach when you make it down our way!
We left The Foot late in the evening bound for a place called Bethpage. We slept in Dodgy in the carpark, on one of our last few nights with the old fella. Terry had his pro phone ahead to get us a tee time, saving us the trouble of having to queue up. We would play the Black Course in the morning, our 2nd US Open course in two days...
JP
Below is a Guest Blog by my partner, the best 14 handicapper this side of Jupiter, Rich Oelkers. As you'll see from Rich's notes, we had a day to remember.
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Michael and Jamie were meeting my son and me this morning at 8 pm. My son, Ryan Oelkers is the member and I am thrilled to be playing with him and especially the ??boys? from New Zeeland. I have been following their blogs for the past 2 weeks after Ryan alerted me to their ??magical mystery golf tour? around the world. I really didn??t know what to expect. Were they hackers or serious golfers? Are they travel bums or were they just the two greatest golf enthusiasts in America today.
After driving in past the Baltusrol gates, dropping off my clubs at the bag drop, I went to the parking lot to try to find Ryan and the 2 kids from the Land of Kiwi. It did not take a great deal of searching since the parking lot was full of European sedans, American sport cars, and a few high end SUV??s. Standing out by itself, was an old, brown, Dodge Van with California plates and two very lean, handsome young guys unpacking their clubs and my equally handsome son who parked in the adjacent spot. After a few introductions, we went to the clubhouse, changed, ate a quick breakfast, and proceeded to the practice area to loosen up. I was impressed form the get-go on the fluidity of both Michael and Jamie??s golf swings. (Oh what I wouldn??t give to have a young back!) After 10 minutes on the range, we walked to the area near the 1st tee. Jamie was very impressed by the Rolex Clock in the staging area and said that any golf course with a Rolex clock has to be very important and equally impressive.
Ryan gave the lads a short history of Baltusrol. The club was founded in 1895. It has two Championship courses? lower and the upper. The courses were designed by A.W. Tillinghast and together the courses have hosted 16 national championships including 7 US opens and 1 PGA Championship. Legends who have left their historic marks on Baltusrols fairways are jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Tiger woods, Phil Mickelson, lee Jansen, Payne Stewart, John Daly, and now Jamie Patton and Michael ??????.
Anyway, our tee time of 8:50 came and I humbly went to the first tee. After checking my index against the handicap conversion chart, I determined that I was in for a long day with these three youngsters. I asked which tees they wanted to play. ??Green? 6385 yards?or Blue 6652 yards. I was shocked when Michael said they wanted to play back. ??Oh, I asked. You want to play 7015 yards? (Since that was the back tees on the scorecard) ??No?, Michel replied. We play all the courses from the tips.? I didn??t even know there was yet another sets of tees. But there they were; hiding back by the boxwoods in a shady area that had NO divots on the teeing area and no scorecards telling you that the slope was 147 and the course rating was 76. The Championships tees play 7400 yards and you have to go into the pro shop to find a card for the handicaps and yardage. I really felt small and agreed to give it a try. Why not? Why can??t a 65 year old 10.9 handicap index player keep up with two 25 year old lads who have played for 176 days straight? I suddenly realize I was daft, outmatched, outgunned and certainly crazy.
We threw the balls in the air and chose partners. Ryan paired with Michael and I got Jamie. We went one up on Baltusrol??s signature 4th hole. Jamie hit a 5 iron 205 yards to within 6 inches on this challenging 3 par hole. It was quite a shot and Jamie posed for an incredible picture doing his Birdie dance. We got to 2 up on the 482 yard 6th hole, par 4.
Ryan and Michael fought back with stunning long shots and tied the match on the 15th hole. Somehow, we all halved the 17th hole which is a monster at 647 yards, even for a 5 par. (John Daly is the only golfer to have ever gotten on this green in two. He hit driver and one iron.) The match was going to the 18th with Jamie and I in the comfortable position of being dormy 1 up. This is such a storied hole. This par 5 plays 553 yards, crosses a relatively large stream and rises in elevation to a very well protected slick green. It is the hole that Jack Nicklaus won the 1967 US Open by hitting his one iron 247yards to the hole. Anyway, I made par to win with my incredible partner Jamie.
Playing the game of golf is such a privilege. Its rules have endured for a century. The handicap system is ingenious, making pairings fair when abilities are so different. It is a game where honor is more important than the competitiveness of the moment. I feel very honored to have been able to share this day with the two greatest golf ??nuts? that I have ever met, and my son Ryan who helps to keep me thinking young. Thanks Ryan for setting up this match and making contact with Michael and Jamie.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with me.
Rich Oelkers
The second of the four major golf championships has arrived as the U.S Open will begin tomorrow at Pebble Beach. We were there only a few weeks ago and the course looked pretty gnarly then so I can only imagine the condition it will be in tomorrow when the pro??s give it a whirl.
It is five years since Michael Campbell, that kiwi lad from Titahi Bay won the US Open at Pinehurst Number 2. So we??re pretty gutted that we??re not going to get a chance to play #2 this week whilst we are staying in Pinehurst. The memorabilia dotted all around the town of Pinehurst is pretty amazing and I can only imagine what it would have been like to be a kiwi in Pinehurst for ??that week?? in 2005. Our host from yesterday, Mr Kelly Miller, who you will read all about in the coming blogs, had Cambo staying at his course at Pine Needles and it sounded like some party afterwards. By the way if anyone knows how we can get in touch with Cambo please let us know as Kelly wants to give him some good news.
If you're a golf fan and tuning in to the 2010 US Open, you should consider checking out the US Open Golf odds for the odds of the random guys in the field who might have a win reminiscent of Cambo??s or even Lucas Glover in 2009. The qualifying here is pretty stringent and heaps of guys haven??t even made the field such as Justin Rose. Shame that Doug Batty didn??t have a blinder and make it through qualifying again!
Anyway 156 players are having a crack at the second of the years majors ?? we??ll be at the next one, the Open Championship at St Andrews, and no doubt will be watching the PGA Championship later in the year.
The huge news in the USA is whether Phil Mickelson is going to snake Tiger as the world number one. One chap we met tonight rekins that Tiger will never win another major. Big call. Stay tuned for a huge week at the US Open, I know from walking around Pebble that if the wind blows that is going to be some golf course to tame.
It??s not every day you get to play with a rock star. So when Robbie Krieger ?? a.k.a. guitarist for The Doors ?? called a few days back, asking if we??d like to come out to ??Riv? for a hit, there would only be one answer. A resounding ??yes, please.? Riviera Country Club is a top track in it??s own right ?? having held US Opens, PGAs and the like ?? so Day 143 promised to be doubly exciting.
My heart stopped for a moment when Robbie called at lunchtime, saying he??d had a minor surgery on his back on Friday, and might not be able to swing the club. ??Don??t tell me you??re going to cancel Robbie!? I thought in my head. Argh. Thankfully he didn??t, and braved the pain to join us for the front 9. Phew.
Rolling up to Riv in Dodgy was just as thrilling an experience as it has been recently at the likes of SFGC, Cypress and Bel Air. No one batted an eyelid ?? maybe all the members used to have one before they retired? Robbie greeted us in the carpark and took us down to the majestic clubhouse. What a building. The pictures you??ll see below don??t do it justice ?? particularly because we weren??t snapping around the corridors and in the bar (well, you wouldn??t, would you?). There??s first rate service too. A chap in the locker room offered me a guest locker and to polish my shoes while I played. Naturally I accepted his kind offer.
On the way past the first tee ?? down to the range ?? I glanced up at one of the infamous green Rolex clocks, which I reckon they must have at all the US Open courses. Correct me if I??m wrong. Seeing those clocks, for me, let??s you know you??re about to play a tough, quality golf course. I wasn??t wrong, on this occasion.
I picked Robbie??s brains down on the range about life on tour, and what they were up to these days. Still playing; still touring; and still writing new music. What a legend. He plays with the keyboardist from The Doors and a few other lads. Soon they??re off for an East Coast tour; then off to Europe. I said I??d try to jack him up at Royal County Down for a game, a track he mentioned he??d love to steal a day off to play while in Nor??n Ireland. Hopefully I can help return the favour; with his back in stitches, it was very good of him to bring us down here.
Our 3 became 5 when a couple of young lads joined us on the tee. Jay and Jerry are the two youngest members at Riv, at 32 and 36. Both are tech / web guys ?? Jay does internet poker promotion; Jerry is a publisher of various web forums, at the moment for home theatre systems ?? and good golfers too (Jay??s off 1; Jerry off about 5). Being late afternoon on a cold Sunday, our 5 wouldn??t be holding anyone up. In fact there was hardly anyone out there (although we saw Tom Brady, the 3 time Superbowl winner that??s married to Gisele Bunchen ?? ba#@ard!).
1 at Riv leads you into a false sense of security. At about 500 yards, from a raised tee, it??s a short par 5 without much defence. I hit 6 iron for my approach, but ended up in the bunker and could do no better than par. We all had between 10 and 20 feet for birdie, but none dropped. An opportunity missed.
At Riv you??ve got to take advantage of the easy holes ?? which are rare than hen??s teeth ?? because there are plenty gnarly ones to torment you. It??s a golf course that messes with you. Relentlessly. I love it.
2 was about 460 yards into the wind, and slightly uphill: a brutal par 4. No pars in the group. Things didn??t improve on 3 when a few of us were faced with seemingly straightforward chips / pitches. Kikuyu grass (that??s probably not how you spell it) is horrific stuff, and particularly impossible to chip from. Sometimes it grabs your club; other times the balls jumps out hot. If your ball lands short of the green, it ain??t gonna bump up there unless it??s coming in low and hard. Velcro, the locals call it.
Then we came across Ben Hogan??s favourite par 3 in America, the 4th (see below). He won the US Open here in 1958 (I think the last time it was held here). He also shot commercials for his clubs here back in the day; in fact the only commercial ever shot showing his golf swing was shot here on the 4th. If this was Hogan??s favourite hole, then he??s a masochist. At 240 yards over a huge cross bunker to a tilted green ?? into the prevailing wind 9 times out of 10 ?? it??s a beast. My driver (yes, driver) ducked into the bunker, predictably, resulting in another bogey. Jay was the only one of us to hit the surface from the tee, yielding a treasured par 3. While the rest of the boys were scrambling ??round for their bogeys I stood and admired the mesmerising maple tree standing on its lonesome behind the green. I??ve never seen a tree like that before. Very striking.
5 might just be my favourite hole in LA (see pic below). A right to left sloping, doglegging fairway sits in front of you, with OB on the right under a string of mansions (what??s the correct collective noun here?). The 5 of us hit blazing drives down the middle, to the top of the hill. You??re then looking down over a shoulder and front right bunker to a MacKenzie-like green. (It looks from the fairway like it slopes towards the tee, but when you get up there it goes front to back). Robbie stepped up first and crashed a 3 wood to the middle of the green ?? not bad for an old timer. We all, in turn, knocked it on there, raising the prospect of a few unlikely birdies. All pars, I??m afraid.
6 is world famous. A 220 yard par 3 up the hill, WITH A BUNKER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREEN! The pin was behind the bunker too, at the back. How cruel. I knocked a 10 footer in for par, which might??ve won me a few skins had Goldy not snatched a half with his 8 footer. Drat.
I??ll stop describing all the holes now, for otherwise my entry would be more essay than blog. Forgive me. I can??t move on however without mentioning 10 ?? a unique, nigh on impossible short par 4. From the tee a U shape of massive bunkers splits the fairway with a tongue to the right and the more prudent left side strip. A bunker at 270 yards at the end of the fairway frames the fairway, giving you a few options. I went straight at it ?? the wind was blowing into ?? and, thank the Gods, came up just short. Robbie hit a final tee shot for giggles, then bid us farewell. The others went left. Right is dead, by the way.
What makes 10 so deadly is the green. It??s about 10 paces wide and runs from 8 o??clock to 2 o??clock from the fairway. Oh, and it slopes hard front right to back left; there??s a deep pot bunker short of the middle; and severe slopes take anything remotely offline into swails right, left and centre. George Thomas, you??ve had a blinder.
With 60 yards to the pin, coming from the perfect angle, you??d think birdie would be on my mind. Wrong. I was so nervous I shanked my lob wedge...to the worst possible spot, behind the pot bunker...! A flop shot from the cucuya, over the bunker, onto the downslope ?? no problem. Ha! Mike, who was coming from way out left, probably had a better angle ?? and didn??t shank his approach. Rather he left it in the fringe and 2 putted for a magnificent par. I took 6. Just goes to show a par 4 doesn??t need to be 460 yards to do you damage.
It was a shame Robbie couldn??t hang out for longer; I enjoyed hearing about his music and life as a member of The Doors. Truth be told I??d love to have had longer to draw out a few juicy tales of acidic adventures, but on the flipside I??m sure he??s probably sick of recounting stories of yesteryear. Anyway, as I said before, not every day you get to hang out with a rock star. (You??ll be pleased to know I managed to avoid humming the tune to his songs while zipping round in the cart with him ?? surely nothing could be more annoying than some punk trying to built a rapport ?? on the golf course ?? by openly rejoicing in your music?). The fact that there was a Lakers game on not long after he left might??ve had something to do with his departure too...although I didn??t put that to him, of course.
The back 9??s as strong as the front, if not stronger. 11 is the longest par 4 I??ve ever seen. We walked back to the back back back tee block, just to check out how the hole might play if the Superintendent woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Long, I can tell you. 500 yards into the wind, with a watery ravine just short of the small green (which is also guarded on the left by a maple tree - see pic below). You get the picture. If I??d flushed driver from the back, my approach would??ve been a mere 230 yards into the wind to said postage stamp. Yeah, right. Goldy hit a memorable punch 6 iron to 15 feet, straight at the stick. Had he rolled the putt in it would??ve been one of the best birdies of 2010, no doubt. But Scott, our caddy, was giving bum reads match fixing styles. After about 12 holes I stopped listening to him, but asked his opinion anyway out of politeness.
It doesn??t get any easier, along the back 9, either. More monster par 4s, and a par 3 surrounded by a desert worth of sand (16 - see pic below). By the 18th green we were washed, after being tormented again by the kikuyu rough for one last time. Take my advice: don??t try flopshots out of the stuff unless you are better than Tiger Woods. It just won??t work.
Jerry kindly shouted us a roadie in the bar afterwards. I could spend a lifetime in that clubhouse, and might??ve spent an hour or two in the jacuzzi had they not closed the locker room up before I had time to drop my breeks.
Riv is a special place; a purist golfer??s dream. The course is tough as nails; the mansions perched atop the cliffs surrounding the course are something to behold; the members ?? or at least the ones we met ?? are gentlemen; and the clubhouse, as I said, is a palace. God I??d love to play there again tomorrow!
Thanks again Robbie for bringing us down ?? another memorable experience among what have been an amazing few days in LA. Jerry and Jay, thank you too for your hospitality ?? look forward to catching up down under when you boys pluck up the courage to (convince your girlfriends / wives to let you) jump on an Air New Zealand plane.
Off to Mountain Gate tomorrow, for a Kiwi gathering. Sweeeeet.
JP
Check it - our first couple of days in the US. A whirlwind affair.
Chisholm Park
12 holes bart cape kidnappers christchurch christmas doak ed bayley hawke's bay heretaunga jane poole napier golf club new zealand puregolf2010 rangiora rarangi gc royal royal wellington the first tee the interislander waiohiki
