I have to disagree with GD’s choices for their “Best New” awards in some areas. They missed big by not including Pradera as a best new Private and Monterey Peninsula Country Club as a best redeisgn this year. Here were my votes, click on the link for a more detailed...
I’m glad Bully Pulpit won Golf Diget’s best new affordable public award. North Dakota has a nice triumverate of courses now – Bully Pulpit, Hawktree by Jim Engh and Links of North Dakota by Stephen Kay. My vote went to Lakota Canyon Ranch this year. Personally, I thought...
THE GOLF CLUB at REDLANDS MESA 2325 West Ridges Boulevard Grand Junction, CO 81503 970.263.9270 www.redlandsmesa.com Architect: Jim Engh Par – 72 Excitement Level – 11/12 Difficulty – 6/12 Conditioning – Four and 1/2 stars Cost – $75 Peak Yearly memberships...
Please note: Part one of the interview is here. Tom answered some Qs by email, others by tape. In two cases, we hit the same topic twice. Enjoy. Jay: We know that you love telling people the joys of being a minimalist. What do you do different in building golf courses? What’s unique...
So I’m researching for a golf trip to Hawaii and Lo and behold! There is Steve Czaban to the rescue as usual. This time the sportsworld’s everyman (who also possesses rapier wit) hooked me up with Triumph the Insult comic dog…who gave us all the weather report for the...
Normally, this site is about great public courses, but let’s take a quick look at some great private clubs for your family to join. Boston: Black Rock G.C. – Brian Silva’s collection of terrfic designs for golf holes is a living, breathing encyclopaedia of golf...
Remember this name: Liberty National Golf Club. You will see it again. Reebok CEO Paul Fireman envisioned a private club just minutes from Manhattan where wall street execs could play nine holes after work or cut monumental business deals in an opulent club setting in the shadow of the...
When he was President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Dan Maples once observed at their annual meeting “Each year we try for twelve months to beat each others brains in but I can’t think of a better group of people I would rather spend my lifetime working...
The golf media may be star struck by Michelle Wie, but they better break out the band-aids and bactine cause they are gonna get burned. Nothing galls them worse than when they are wrong about someone they themselves anointed as the chosen one. (See Mickelson, Phil and the SAVAGING he had...
Nothing erodes confidence in the American Justice system faster than when athletes and celebrities get preferential treatment. In a ghastly and grotesque parody of “justice,” Superior Court Judge M. Gino Brogdon ordered Georgia Tech to reinstate cornerback Reuben Houston to...
Great stuff on the Internet today regarding architecture. Geoff Shackelford has an absolutely hilarious satire of the Golf Digest Panel winter meeting here. Defending his panel (and his loyalty commands respect) Rob Thompson takes Geoff to the woodshed as more puerile than poignant. I...
2005 JAZZY AWARDS – BEST CLASSIC PRIVATE COURSE: CRYSTAL DOWNS C.C., Frankfort, MI “We don’t often have seventy degree days in October, Jay” said Tom Doak I his usual matter-of-fact timbre. Confident but reserved, Doak doesn’t turn cartwheels down the fairway...
As I noted in part one of my interview with Jim Engh here, people mistakenly attribute Jim Engh’s success to beautiful natural settings and not his talent for building fascinating golf holes with multiple playing options. Pradera is a treasure trove of all of Engh’s favorite...
2005 JAZZY AWARDS – BEST GOLF HOLE: #4 at BLACK ROCK, Boston, MA After seeing close to 100 courses this year, many ranked in the top 10 in America in either the public or private rankings, this was exceptionally difficult. I played many incredible, creative, beautiful, and strategic...
I have always loved Red Tail as a masterpiece of architectural echo, bringing old design features from great courses like National Golf Links of America to public players. Happily, after a rugged 2003 season (where most NE golf courses suffered to some extent), Red Tail was in pristine...
I realized last week that on November 16th I will complete my first full year as a published golf writer. Coincidentally, with the New Year rapidly approaching, most writers turn to introspective “year in review” columns. So happily, I am introducing ***drum roll please*** THE...
…OK this time it’s NFL cheerleaders, but just when you slam people for real-life story lines from ESPN’s “Playmakers” it only gets worse…check out this from the “sports societal rocket sled to hell” division. As Steve czaban said “how...
It’s amusing watching ESPN, the holy church of the professional athelete, finally burn one of their own at the stake for heresy. “The Owenstein Monster ” started eating his own teammates. Of course, Dr. Frankenstein had to destroy his own monster too. The lesson to be...
JIM ENGH – PLAYING THE ENGHLES Since forming his own design firm in 1997, Colorado’s Jim Engh has won four “best new course” awards from Golf Digest, been named “Architect of the Year” in 2003 ahead of such luminaries as Fazio, Dye, and Doak, built a...
I’m still busy compiling all my notes from the Michigan trip, but after a wonderful round at the charming, refined and eminently natural Crystal Downs (Alistair Mackenzie, 1932) Tom Doak shared some thoughts over chili dogs and root beer at the Frankfort, MI A&W stand. JF: How...
Moonset over Arcadia Bluffs. The sun is rising behind me. See why I play golf every full moon in October?
Arcadia Bluffs G.C. 14710 Northwood Hwy Arcadia, MI 49613 800.494.8666 www.arcadiabluffs.com Architect: Warren Henderson and Rick Smith Par – 72 (5 par-3s and 5 par-5s) Price – $175, $125 at 4PM Conditioning – Four and 1/2 stars Design and strategy – Four and 1/2...
FOREST DUNES G.C. 6376 Forest Dunes Drive Roscommon, MI 800.DUNES-MI www.forestdunesgolf.com Architect – Tom Weiskopf Par – 72 (75 if you add in the 117 yard par-3 19th hole!) Price – $125, $100 twilight Conditioning – Five and 1/2 stars (all ratings out of 7)...
LAKEWOOD SHORES – GAILES COURSE 7751 Cedar Lake Rd. Oscoda, MI 800.882.2493 www.lakewoodshores.com Architect – Kevin Aldridge Par – 36-36=72 Price – Seasonal Unlimited Golf Packages $68-114 including one night stay, minimum two nights required Design: Four stars...
by Peter Black, Jr. The New York State Bar Association CLE lecture at Fordham University Friday featured some litigation shots that may have far reaching implications in the world of golf. New York intellectual property law expert Robert Clarida of Cowan Liebowitz & Latman in...
Three bits of housekeeping today. First, Tifosi, a Georgia company sent me two pairs of sunglasses to try on the golf course. The specs are supposed to cut out not only harmful UV rays, but are designed to provide sharp clarity of vision. I hate wearing sunglasses on the golf course, no...
Reason number 1,000,000 why the lore of Sawgrass is every bit as storied as any major venue. Noone who saw Tom Watson chip in at the 17th at Pebble Beach to edge Jack Nicklaus and win the U.S. Open will ever forget it. The next year, in an effort to capitalize on the shot’s legend...
The full interview will follow, but here are some snippets of the interview I did with Jim Engh, Golf Digest’s architect of the year in 2003. JIM ENGH IN HIS OWN WORDS JF: What’s the most important goal for you in creating a successful design. Engh: For me, it’s all...
Author’s Note: While this site is primarily about public courses and golf course architecture, we will spend some time over the next month or two reviewing some courses up for this year’s Best New Private Club award. The author’s views are his own and are in not meant to...
The view from the 16th teebox at Pradera, near castle Rock, Colorado. Randomly placed pot bunkers place a premium on strategy.