It’s always an honor and a pleasure to write about golf architect Mike Strantz, “The Maverick” to his friends. Caledonia and True Blue are both instant classic and bucket list courses for any well-traveled golfer and student of design – amateur or otherwise! Special thanks to all the folks a both courses, and of course to the Golf Course...
Thanks again to Golf Course Trades for making my piece on Monterey Peninsula Country Club sparkle. I love both courses; Strantz’s Shore Course is a masterpiece and a west coast pantheon to his legacy, while the Dunes Course is one of Fazio’s unqualified best in the world.From the story: “Strantz knew he was designing between Pebble and Cypress...
My first “The Road Hole” column for Back 9 Network is up! Today we look at one of my all-time favorites: Bulls Bay! Here’s the link.
I recently wrote that Tom Doak’s rise to prominence as one of the two greatest living golf architects most closely resembles the career arc of a band that’s a shoo-in for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Phish. Like Phish, Doak conquered the World, and did it his way showing everyone that all the mainstream artistic concepts and business models they had...
Outstanding news for fans of golf course architecture: Mike Strantz’s redesign of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course will stay in the rotation for the AT&T through 2014. The other courses in the rotation are Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. I love what Jack Nicklaus said about Pebble vs. Spyglass…”when I play Pebble Beach...
Tot Hill Farm Golf Club in Ashboro, NC is hosting the first annual Mike Strantz Memorial golf tournament. The club’s annual “Custormer Appreciation Tournament” has been renamed in Mike’s honor and will be contested on November 21 as a 3-player Texas style Scramble/best ball hybrid event designed to also pay homage to the colorful spirit of the...
In a potential nod to both great golf course architecture and Mike Strantz’s precious legacy to golf, the AT&T Pro Am may move one day of play from Poppy Hills to the Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course. GolfObserver.com found this on-line article. Hat tip: Sal Johnson A brief review of my day there is here. This is unbelievable news. here are...
There should be further updates coming, as the web page is a confused jumble right now. But in a few minutes, they should have the full story. In the meantime, Dustin Johnson has been declared the winner. Congratulations also to Joe Rice, owner of Bulls Bay G.C., (the only private design Mike Strantz ever did), for winning the Pro-Am. Moreover, he won with...
So Mom and Dad sat through a whole week of dismal weather at Hilton Head last week, but things cleared starting wed, when they went up for a few days in Myrtle Beach. For those of you keeping score, dad is 84 and mom is 73…Mr. and Mrs. Havekamp…only with some game:) ..and instead of “That’s a peach hun” it’s “will you...
So I sent my mom and dad to Caledonia Golf and Fish Club yesterday and mom made me spit iced tea all over my laptop. You remember they went to The Hideout in Naples, Fla. last year and reported back? Well, Mr. and Mrs. Havekamp are back with their own inimitable golf course reviews. Dad: “The greens were massive! They had to be 50 yards long and the last one...
The best part of my job is when someone asks me where to play, I tell them, and then they go and have a great time. My sportscaster buddy Steve Czaban – a man who knows a thing or two about golf – asked me what course I should add to his Pinehurst getaway weekend. I told him simply, “if you miss Tobacco Road, you’ll be missing the best course...
[Author’s Note: This piece was supposed to be published as my 2007 Hootie at Bulls Bay wrap up, but between work at both jobs, tax season and other articles, it fell by the wayside until tonight. I hope you like it.] The members of Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, South Carolina are blessed with a privilege unique in the world of golf. They belong to the only...
AWENDAW, SC – Charles Dickens wrote in his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities:  Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away.             Dickens was wrong. ...
Sal Johnson is a genius – you have to see the AMAZING photo he found of Mike planting the Hinkle Tree at the 1979 U.S. Open. While I have the floor, to dispel a myth, Mike Strantz never worked on Tom Fazio’s terrific designs at World Woods. I know it looks that way, but Mike told me in interviews (Part One and Part Two) that he never set foot on the...
I got great news from Andy Bemis, head pro at Royal New Kent and Stonehouse. After having some issues with some greens last year, the new super has RNK firing on all cylindars again. Run to go play it, don’t even stop to part your hair on the way out the door - it’ll just get mussed up by the wind anyway. On that note, I wrote a Mark Twain like...