1. Reverse Camber – the holes turn one way, but the land flows the other, making distance control off the tee just as important as accuracy. 2. “Trees trees trees trees trees” – as the great Art Spander put it. “No water or OB, just forty thousand trees…” 3. Or as golf architect Tom Doak called it, “one of the most...
GARDEN CITY, NY – Hands stopped at five minutes to midnight, the inexorable march of Big Ben was halted at the 102nd Walter J. Travis Invitational as Long Island’s Joe Saladino defeated 2010 Travis champion “Big Ben” Hayes 2&0 in the tournament final at fabled Garden City Golf Club. Saladino took a 1-up lead with a 35-foot birdie putt at...
TRAVIS TRIVIA! Here’s a new feature for this year – each day you’ll get a Travis trivia question. Answer after the article. Q. This winner of the 1998 Travis Invitational played out of Sunningdale in Westchester, defeated popular amateur competitor Ed “Scissorhands” Gibstein in the final, and was the only golfer in a five year period to...
We caught up with Bill Love, the architect responsible for getting Olympic Club ready for this year’s U.S. Open. Jay Flemma: We’ve heard that the opening stretch of holes at Olympic Club will be the toughest start to a U.S. Open in recent memory, but that there might be some birdies coming home. What look to be the toughest holes at Olympic Club and what...
Let’s have MORE than just a golf clap for Todd Edelman, Director of Business Development at Forsgate Country Club, because he’s been featured in this month’s issue of Golf Business Magazine. Music lover, outstanding golfer, father of the year candidate – his little daughter is adorable – and now golf business exec non pariel. Way to go...
Rick Shefchik has written “The Book” on classic golf courses in Minnesota – the definitive article as it were. “From Fields to Fairways” is a highly-detailed, thoroughly researched, encyclopaedia of classic Minnesota private country clubs and their architectural histories. “Minnesota has more golfers per capita than any other state...
WESTFIELD, NJ – One thing is for certain: in the coming months you’ll hear a lot about Shackamaxon Country Club, just a half an hour west of the City, in northern New Jersey. While the name of the golf course is indeed a double-breaking putt, if you think that’s tough, you should come and play the course. An old A.W. Tillinghast design from 1916...
Since all great epics come in trilogies (except Harry Potter), and since I’m still finishing my Tallgrass/Gil Hanse piece, here’s the sizzling climax of Golf and Spas! COEUR D’ALENE Britt and friends mentioned they were interested in possibly going to the Pacific Northwest, so how about Coeur D’Alene? “The water really is that blue and...
On a Monday night in October 2006 Arizona Cardinals head coach Denny Green cemented his legacy in sports infamy with a tirade for the ages. His Cards had just blown a gargantuan lead to the Chicago Bears, and in his post-game press conference, he raved like a madman: “The Bears are who we thought they were! They are who we thought they were!” he fumed in...
The Other St. George’s (Long Island) …In the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George, I give you the right to bear arms and the power to dispense justice. Rise, King Arthur… —The words spoken by Sir Uriens of Gore as he used Excalibur to knight Arthur Pendragon and install him as King— STONY BROOK, NY – Never have I been so...
I’ve never seen a course where pretty much every opinion pretty much agreed with every other opinion! What everybody said turned out to be right. There’s a goodly amount of Emmet left there – especially in the green surrounds. There’s a smattering of really fun holes: 6-9 for example, and 11. They had good green contours, (They were doing some...
So a quick reset for the week: Tony Korologos of the Golf Space is in town, so he, his lovely wife Ali, my cast off-beat friends and yours truly will be taking Manhattan by storm for the next few days. I’ll be playing some more Devereux Emmet golf this weekend, this time a Cherry Valley on Long Island. The course has a little Walter Travis and a little Robert...
MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ – Annika Sorenstam has still got the magic, as hundreds of delighted fans got to see first-hand when she and PGA Tour star Brad Faxon visited Forsgate Country Club to host the club’s annual Charity Classic last month. Everyone came away deeply impressed by Annika the person as well as Annika the professional golfer on every level. She...
CLIFTON, NJ – For a club that’s 110 years old Upper Montclair still has the vitality of a twenty-something. They’re the only club in America to host professional events from all three U.S. tours, (PGA, LPGA, Seniors). They have 27 holes of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. golf over a routing laid out mostly by A.W. Tillinghast. They just finished a $6.2...
It’s time for Jay’s Birthday celebrations, and this years festivities will be as much fun for you as for me. We’ll have golf and music – what else? Golf will be in upstate New York so I can also celebrate with my dad (I haven’t done that in ages!) and the rest of my family – dinner is steak al cicco at the Savoy. Golf will be at...