GREAT FALLS, VA – The name may be nondescript – there are at least half a dozen courses called River Bend in America – but thanks to a remodel by golf architect Keith Foster, you’ll be hearing about the River Bend Club in Great Falls, Virginia soon and often. It’s yet another masterful reworking by Foster, who is riding the crest of a...
PINEHURST, NC – If I had a dime for every club in America that wanted to host a U.S. Open, I’d be able to buy Turnberry back from Donald Trump. Sadly, too many clubs spend inordinate amounts of time, energy and money in a futile pursuit of U.S. Open glory, and end up needlessly turning their clubs into unplayable torture chambers just to show how hard...
MAMARONECK, NY – They may not have made it to the World Cup soccer tournament, but now Peru is the toast of the entire amateur golf world as Lima Golf Club’s Fernando Barca and Patricio Alzamora won the 78th Anderson Memorial at Winged Foot Golf Club, defeating Bethesda Country Club’s Tim Kane and Matt Sughrue 4&3 in the final match. With the...
MAMARONECK, NY – You better hope that the getaway car Westchester Country Club’s Max Christiana and Max Buckley are driving has a super turbo boost because the cops will be looking for them after seeing what they did to mighty Winged Foot in the 78th Anderson Memorial tournament. It’s downright criminal, I tell ya! First the tandem carded a pair of...
FLOURTOWN, PA – From out of the mists of history, an ancient adage still rings true: Gods and Wonders always appear to attend the birth of Kings. And with the Sun beaming so brightly it was as though Apollo himself was driving his fiery chariot through the skies once more, Philadelphia Cricket Club’s fabled Wissahickon Course re-opened in a golden blaze...
We had a great day at the Grand Reopening of Philly Cricket Club. Cybergolf has my piece here. From the article: “All in all, the restoration was nothing short of a monumental success.If, as an old mentor of mine used to say, “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting,” then the myriad accolades golfers and pundits are already heaping upon Philly...
This is going to be amusing – the Virginia State Amateur is heading to fabled Ballyhack, which means the golfers may be lambs to the slaughter. Ballyhack is going to drive the players crazy; you have to play defensive golf yo survive. It’s an all-World golf course…but I know a lot of the golfers that will be playing in this event, and they are NOT...
STONY BROOK, NY – Your heart sings every time you step out of the car in the parking lot at St. George’s Golf & Country Club on Long Island. Whatever weight you carry with you lifts, and your cares dissolve as you behold the White Tree stately standing beside the clubhouse next to the tall American flagpole where Old Glory gallantly streams in the...
SANDS POINT, NY – Remember this name: Sands Point. You’re going to be hearing a lot about this A.W. Tillinghast-designed Long Island private club in the near future, because after a sparkling Keith Foster renovation-restoration it’s been polished to a high shine. Tillinghast’s career was in full ascension when he re-designed nine holes at...
Though they had three holes closed last year after Hurricane Sandy tore through the Mid-Atlantic, North Shore Country Club rallied nicely and has been firing on all cylinders this year, even while other clubs have suffered greatly from the torrential rains, North Shore has been pristine. “What a place,” admired a duly impressed design expert Rodney Zilla...
NEW HARTFORD, NY – Spring rarely treats I-90 well, not from Boston to Buffalo. If it comes at all it comes late, in fits and spurts, sometimes soothing and reinvigorating, sometimes savage and wild, with unpredictable, vengeful snows, as if reluctant winter were trying to crawl back out of its yearly grave. Spring here is too short and too uncertain to be...
Special to Cybergolf and AWITP By Spook Rogers MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ – With a stirring late rally New York’s golf writing team of Loveable Lugnuts defeated the Fighting Donkeys of Philadelphia, successfully defending their title and narrowing the all-time series deficit to 4-2 Philly. Golf architect Doug Smith and blogger Barry Solomon led New York, while...
ARDMORE, PA – “Forget about moving it around, exclaimed Dan Jenkins, the dean of all golf writers. “Play it here all the time!” he said, referring to Merion’s venerable East course, which is proving all the lowest common denominator broadcasters by proving quite the tough test despite the rain, thank you very much. Still, the U.S.G.A...
Cybergolf ran my article on other courses that should host a U.S. Open. Did your pick make the list? From the piece: Pine Valley “The place is like a shrine, and it would be so great for golf fans to get a peek inside,” said gonzo golf fan Charles “Chucky” Cordova. “It’s always rated No. 1 in all the rankings, the members all talk...
ARDMORE, PA – It’s going to be a tough week at the U.S. Open for everyone: players, officials, fans, broadcasters, writers, and locals alike. The choice of Merion – which is one of the most important golf courses in the world architecturally and historically – is proving uncommonly difficult logistically. Merion is tiny, and the U.S. Open is...