In perhaps its biggest score yet, founder/owner Doud Fish nailed down Powder Mountain as the latest resort to join the IndyPass revolution. Already celebrated as, perhaps, the most affordable multi-venue pass in skiing/boarding, IndyPass also added two more resorts to bring the total number of facilities to a whopping 66, spanning all across the United States. From...
I’ll be hosting a half-hour Golf Course Trades event with the folks from Philly Cricket Club on May 27, 2021 at 12pm. PGA Head Professional Jim Smith, Jr. and Director of Grounds Dan Meersman will join me for a talk about their wonderful renovation by architect Keith Foster, their upcoming 100th year anniversary celebrations, and where they fit in A.W...
So a big thank you to Golf Course Trades for running my interview with Dr. Richard Hurley, PhD., a.k.a. Dr. Turfgrass. From the article: “For 40 years Dr. Hurley has been at the forefront of turfgrass development. He’s named strains of grass after Arnold Palmer and Ben Crenshaw, (that was handsomely done, a fine tribute). He’s installed a putting...
So both Golf Course Trades and Resort Trades magazines are running a second Loon Mountain story that I wrote after my January trip. (Jay Peak is next, by the way.) It was quite an impressive place, but best of all, it was low impact, fun, and easy in every respect low hanging fruit for anyone planning a trip. Here’s a link to the piece. Golf season has...
It was either going to be the Green Jacket or a straightjacket; there was no middle road for Hideki Matsuyama. Japan’s newly-minted greatest golfer ever won the 2021 Masters, but only after nearly squandering a 6-shot lead and hanging on narrowly after late charges by Xander Schauffle and Will Zalatoris fizzled. Matsuyama’s 10-under score edged major...
It was a bullet-grey sky that blanketed Southport, England, on a July Sunday in 1998, but the low clouds that hung oppressively over Royal Birkdale Golf Club were parted by the radiant sunshine of a young, fresh-faced high school kid who carried all of England on his shoulders. Skinny as a broomstick, blushing with the rosy cheeks of youth, and his red sweater and...
Everyone always says the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday, but you can’t get to the back nine without playing the front nine. And that’s no walk in the park. Maybe Tiger Woods can fire a front nine 40 during the first round and still win the Masters, but mere mortals can’t. While both per-5s are reachable in two and birdie...
Odds to win the 2021 Masters Championship, April 8-11, Augusta National Country Club Dustin Johnson +850 17/2 Bryson Dechambeau +900 9/1 Justin Thomas +1000 10/1 Jon Rahm +1100 11/1 Jordan Spieth +1200 12/1 Rory McIlroy +1400 14/1 Brooks Koepka +2000 20/1 Xander Schauffele +2000 20/1 Collin Morikawa +2200 22/1 Patrick Cantlay +2200 22/1 Patrick Reed +2700 27/1 Tony...
A huge thank you again to the National Ski Council Federation for running a portion of and posting a link to my Loon Mountain article. (Click the link above.) As usual, they do a fantastic job; we’re grateful for their support. By the way, join a local ski club or two: it’s a great way to incerase your circle of friends and have some new mates to shred...
It’s still a sure bar bet winner: what’s the oldest country club in America? It’s Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854. It’s always a joy to get a day at Philly Cricket, but now that restoration architect Keith Foster and head super Dan Meersman have their recent restoration firing on all cylinders, the sky is the limit for A.W...
(Pic courtesy of Loon Mtn.) Border War! Vermont vs. New Hampshire Skiing Part 9 – Loon Mountain —by Jay Flemma LINCOLN, NH – Day 1 of 2, circa 1:00 pm – It’s not often that one can tiptoe past a sleeping dragon, but occasionally even dragons must doze. And so it was that I caught Ripsaw – Loon Mountain’s ferocious, serpentine...
Last week saw an excellent premiere of Golf Course Trades’ webinar series. The first subject was upstate New York’s Copake Country Club, a 1921 Devereux Emmet design. I interviewed restoration architect Mark Fine and Head Superintendent Mark Anderson for the segment. Â The link to the webinar is here.
Don’t look now, but Indypass is eating Vail’s and Alterra’s lunch as the best value in the mega-pass game. Already amassing an impressive lineup of winter sports parks including Jay Peak, Cannon Mountain, and Magic Mountain in the east, and Red Lodge, Brundage, and Tamarack out west, Indypass, just added east coast grande dame Waterville Valley and...
PGA Tour legend and 15 time major champion Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a one-car accident in Orange County California early this morning. The car rolled over several times, ended laying up on its driver’s side door, and Woods had to be extricated though the vehicle’s windshield with prying tools and axes. As of this report, Woods was in surgery...
I’m really grateful to both the National Ski Council Federation and the North American Snowsports Journalists Association for running my Greek Peak article and interview with their marketing maven Drew Broderick. Thanks also, of course, to Greek Peak. Happily, I’ll be writing a longer piece later this season about Greek Peak, a recent Indypass inductee...