Indoor Golf Arena

Saw a news article about a new golf arena, and immediately got excited as the poor weather is on its way. I was certainly disappointed to realize it is located in the Netherlands, yet it still looks like quite an interesting project. The project is being constructed by Zwarts en Jansma, and from reviewing their website, the company has a diverse profile of recent projects. There is very little information regarding the project on the Zwarts en Jansma website, but it does note that it will be the largest and most diverse indoor golf facility in the world. The project calls for 20 state-of-the-art golf simulators and 34 bays on a rooftop driving range.

A little further clicking identified the Indoor Golf Arena website, which had far more comprehensive details about the facility, including 14,000 square meters of putting services designed by Nicklaus Design, a Short Game Centre of Excellence, and even a four-star hotel and restaurant. Looks like an outstanding facility, and I'm going to try and get a brief interview with the developers on this project. Stay tuned for more information.

New Feature: Golf Site of the Week

Note: Not getting to play (or watch) much golf lately, so wanted to introduce some fresh content to the site. Have a couple more things in the work that will hopefully go up next week -- but today I am starting  a new weekly feature, the Golf Site of the Week.
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Golf Site of the Week - Itinerant Golf - http://www.itinerantgolf.com/

One of my new favorite sites is Itinerant Golf, a website featuring a wandering golfer's quest to play all the top 100 courses in America. Over the past 27 months he has played 41 courses, including some of most famous courses on the list, to include Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, and Cypress Point. It is a very impressive list, but what is even more impressive are the write-ups he produces for each course. I think I've read probably half of them, and will most certainly read the rest in the near future. He has high hopes to finish the course list in 5-7 years, and I hope he keeps posting as he progresses.

I hope to make contact with the Itinerant Golfer soon to conduct a short interview regarding the site and his goals, so watch for that hopefully coming soon.

I'd strongly encourage everyone to check out the site, and please read the course reviews. As the author describes, they are much more than course reviews really, including an almost diary-type feel which provides a great story to read.

Stay tuned for future courses...

Thunder Hill Golf Club, Madison, OH

This weekend while visiting family in northeast Ohio, I took advantage of the available time and played 18 holes at Thunder Hill Golf Club, probably my favorite course on the planet. I played it several times during high school golf, and always walked away disappointed with my score, yet appreciative of the terrific layout and condition of the course. The course was built by Fred Slagle, who bit-by-bit purchased farm land in Madison, Ohio, to build a golf course among other projects. My father worked at the course during the early days, and provided me with some of the history of the course. Unfortunately I was not able to write it down, as we were mid-round, but maybe sometime I can get it down on paper or find it elsewhere on the web. 

The basics of the story goes that the course was built and initially maintained by Slagle, and eventually a couple decades later it was handed over to a few management companies who ran the course up until 2007. During the late 1990's, the course underwent a significant renovation, which saw building of new tees and re-routing of several holes. Early in 2007 Todd Bishop and Kevin Laymaster took over ownership of the course, and have got it back to its pristine conditioning. Although we played on a cold fall day where leaves covered nearly all the turf, it was still easy to see the plush fairways and greens. This is not surprising, however, as the course was awarded 4.5 stars from Golf Digest for 2008-2009.

The complex also features a short course called Little Thunder, which plays around 3,200 yards. The course was designed to make golf available to youngsters, and although that it is still its focus, it appears to receive a fair amount of play from adults as well. I personally have yet to play Little Thunder, but hope to do so in the spring.

The popularity of the golf course focuses on its difficulty, which was cited by Golf Digest in 2007 during its listing of America's Toughest Golf Courses. The publication ranked Thunder Hill No. 46, joining some extremely elusive company on that list. Notably, the closest location to my home is the P.B. Dye Golf Club in Ijamsville, Md., which falls at No. 26. The course features five sets of tees, with the back tees referred to as the "Thunder Tees," which according to the scorecard "Playing the Thunder Tees may be hazardous to your golf game." The Thunder Tees play to 7,504 yards, with a rating of 78.5 and a slope of 152, both among the highest in the state of Ohio. The yellow and green tees are 6,866 and 6,436 respectively, with slopes of 74.5 and 72.5. At one point in its past the course featured just under 100 lakes, however, over 20 were removed during its most recent renovation.

One perfect example of the course's difficulty lies in one of the greens on a difficult par four on the back nine. According to credible sources, the club employed an old beat-up Volkswagen Beetle as a utility card to travel around the golf course. One day it was parked on the side of the green and simply would not start. Rather that tow the car back to the maintenance shed, the workers expanded the green to include the Beetle, which now is a very large hump in the right side of the green (see pictures to the left).

The course is very reasonably priced, with rates varying depending on time of the year as well as weekday vs. weekend, but the top rack rate is $49, and deals are to be found for those with flexible schedules or those willing to sign up for E-mail specials. I also found a cheap tee time at GolfSigma, and would highly recommend their services.

Rory McIlroy -- NOT PGA Tour Bound in 2010

Latest report from the UK paper Guardian claims that Rory McIlroy (or rather his management team) has decided that it is best for the young phenom to play the European Tour again in 2010. This is obviously a blow to the PGA Tour, who would clearly prefer the youngster to play primarily on the American circuit. It is interesting that the management team repeatedly sights the travel wear and tear as the prime reason behind the decision...though not having traveled overseas in my life, I cannot speak to such fatigue.

I've followed Rory quite a bit over the years, and thought it might be interesting to cite his performances in 2009, courtesy of his website.

Dubai Desert Classic - 1st
Honda Classic - T13th
WGC CA Championship - 20th
Masters - T20th
BMW PGA Championship - 5th
US Open - T10th
BMW International Open - 15th
Open Championship - T47th
PGA Championship - T3th
Omega European Masters - T7th
Kolon Hana Bank Korea Open - T3rd
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - T2nd
Portugal Masters - T30th

Rory seems like a good kid to me and I think he will be a big star in this game, both on and off the course. (Plus he's Irish and a Titleist ambassador, which earns points in my book.) I very much look forward to the American events he plays in during 2010 (majors, WGC events) and will be interested to see if he can earn a win on the big-time stage. He's clearly been close several times, to include two top-tens in majors during 2009.

Best Par Threes...

Just flipping through the TV channels I stumbled upon the Golf Channel’s top ten par threes, listed below from top to bottom. I think I agree with most of them, except for the 16th at Scottsdale and the 17th at Warwick Hills. Both of these holes are significant because of the crowd reaction there, which essentially means they are great holes four days out of the year. Not that they are terrible golf holes, they are still pretty good, I don’t think that crowd ambiance should get those holes on this elusive list.

1. 12th at Augusta
2. 17th at Sawgrass
3. 7th at Pebble
4. 15th & 16th at Cypress Point
5. 16th at TPC Scottsdale
6. 17th at Pebble
7. 16th at Augusta National
8. 17th at Warwick Hills
9. 18th at Eastlake
10. 8th at Royal Troon

It is interesting that both Pebble and August land two holes each, as amazing as those courses are, I would hazard a guess that there are two holes better than the 16th at Augusta and the 17th at Pebble.

I think that if I could pick just one of those to play, it would probably be the pair at Cypress Point. Those holes are on the best piece of real estate in the world, and guaranteed to provide a lifetime of memories in probably ten shots or less.

Best par three that I have ever played would have to be the 14th at Cog Hill. When I played, the back tees were closed due to the fact the tour would be there in a couple weeks, so we played it at 194 yards into a heavily bunkered green. See picture above for an idea of what is in store at Dubsdread.

I would love to hear thoughts about the holes on the list.

Presidents Cup Thoughts

With the Presidents Cup in the books for 2009, I thought I would scribble a few thoughts after watching pretty much every shot during Sunday’s singles matches.
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- Captain Fred Couples could not have asked for more out of his opening groups. Hunter Mahan fought hard after a disastrous start, and ended up winning 2 & 1 over Camillo Villegas. Follow that up with the second pairing resulting in a 4 & 3 win courtesy of Stewart Cink over Adam Scott, and the U.S. was well on their way to victory very ealry on Sunday.

- While Tiger took much of the media’s attention on Sunday, it cannot be understated how well Anthony Kim and Sean O’Hair played on Sunday. Kim dominated red-hot Robert Allenby 5 & 3, while O’Hair trounced Ernie Els 6 & 4.

- Ryo Ishikawa is most certainly a player to watch. NBC did a nice job of giving him quite a bit of airtime, and I thought he even deserved more of it. He is a good ball striker, and is an incredible putter. I may do a bit of research on him and write up a future post. One of the NBC guys said something about how Tiger said that Ryo is far more advanced than he was at age 18, and said he has many more tools in his arsenal. 

- The actual clinching of the event was pretty awkward, in that it appears Tiger had no idea, and Captain Couples may or may not have told Tiger that his putt had just clinched the event. One of the obvious downsides to this format is that there is a certain likelihood that there will not be a dramatic closure to the event -- no big put on the 72nd hole, but rather an incidental putt on the 13th when many were unaware of its consequences.

- I think (from my seat on the couch) that Harding Park played a great host to the world’s best. The course seemed fairly challenging, yet also had holes which challenged the players to play aggressively with several short par 4s. I am lucky enough to have family in the SF area, and playing a round at Harding Park is definitely on the “must-do” list for our next trip out west.

- The big three for the U.S. team, Woods, Stricker, and Mickelson, came through time and time again, collectively compiling a 13-1-1 record. The team of Stricker and Woods tallied a perfect 4-0 record, dominating whichever pair International captain Greg Norman threw at them.

- I don’t often comment on TV coverage, as I feel there are plenty out there who do so, but I really enjoyed the Azinger/Faldo team on the Golf Channel’s coverage Thursday and Friday. Their immediate past experience as Ryder Cup captains provided them with an excellent vantage point to provide analysis into captain decisions and such.

- Speaking of Azinger, I was shocked by his comment that Corey Pavin had not approached him whatsoever with regard to the Ryder Cup. Pavin is of course the American captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup, and it would be downright foolish not to gleam any bit of knowledge he can from Zinger, the architect of the American victory in Kentucky last fall. Let’s hope Pavin makes that call soon.

- I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the American team room...between all the personalities on that team, toss in Couples and Jordan, and it most certainly would have made for a good time.

Golf Sketch - Check it Out...

Last weekend I stumbled upon a website called Golf Sketch, which is the product of Paris-based golf architect Nick O'Connell. The sample sketches he had on the website were very interesting, and I decided to order the calendar last week. Just got the calendar yesterday, and I must say it is a wonderful product. The sketches are black and white drawings of courses throughout the United Kingdom, as well as a cover design sketched by architect as "an idea for a golf hole."

Also of note is that a percentage of all purchases on Golf Sketch are donated to Just a Drop, an international charity which delivers clean water all over the world, so a portion of your purchase goes to a great cause. Take a look at the website, and be sure to check out the calendar, it's a great product.

Cold(er) Weather is Upon Us...

Depending on where you are reading this from, cold weather may be creeping up on you as we head toward the winter months. Though not an issue for courses countrywide yet, the issue of early morning frost has the possibility to present some issues. The folks over at the Country Club at Castle Pines have a great blog dedicated to maintenance and upkeep of their course, and they have a good post from yesterday reminding us how important it is to let the turf warm up on those cold mornings.

I've been there myself, having an early tee time held back to due frost can be frustrating, but not as frustrating as having your ball land in a chunk of dead turf because someone just couldn't wait and extra 15 minutes.

Course Profile: Lake Presidential Golf Club

One of the newest golf courses in the Washington D.C. metro area is also becoming one of the area’s finest public facilities. Lake Presidential, located in Upper Marlboro, Md., opened to the public during the spring of 2008. The course is one of the most recent projects for Landmark Land, a golf and resort community developer well-known for projects to include PGA West and La Quinta, each of which has hosted multiple PGA Tour events.

Lake Presidential’s origins trace back to a different development company, however, as the land was originally routed by Greg Norman’s design company during the late 1990’s. According to Nathan Presnal, the current Head Professional and General Manager at Lake Presidential, Norman was involved with the land in a hands-on fashion. “Norman was on the property at least once during the time his company was routing the land,” said Presnal, “but a moratorium on golf course construction in the late 1990’s resulted in Norman’s company losing interest.” Norman’s loss was Landmark’s gain, as shortly after the moratorium was lifted, a real estate developer teamed up with Landmark through their connection on previous work in Houston and the plan for Lake Presidential was born.

Real Estate 101

In the modern age of golf course construction, the focus on features surrounding the golf course are almost as important as the golf course itself. Lake Presidential was designed from the start to be featured in a golf course community called Beechtree. The matter of building a golf course surrounded by homes is no simple matter, trying to achieve the balance of a great residential community without disturbing the golfing public. “In the master plan of a community, you want to try optimize the elevations for real estate, not only to get good real estate views, but to make sure you don’t have houses on the cart paths just to get those views,” said Presnal. There are currently over 400 residences in the Beechtree community, and according to the front page of their website, over 600 of Beechtree’s 1,200 acres will remain open space for the homeowners to enjoy.

During my time on the golf course, I found it noticable that the course is built in a residential community, however, I would not by any means call it obtrusive in any regard. Most of the courses in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area feature similar housing developments, and Lake Presidential’s layout is among the best.

High Praise

From its earliest days Lake Presidential has received high praise from the golf media. In Golfweek’s ranking issue published in March, less than one year after Lake Presidential’s opening, the publication ranked the course No. 2 behind only Bulle Rock in its overall ranking. In 2008, the same magazine listed the course as one of the top-25 new courses for 2008. On their website, Golf Magazine wrote that “the only point of debate here is which par 5 is better: the fishhook-shaped, 570-yard 8th, which features a tee shot from out of a chute of trees, or the reachable 515-yard 18th, which tackles the namesake lake from the get-go with an imposing, forced-carry tee shot.”  The site also makes note that it named Lake Presidential one of the Best New Courses for 2008.

The Future at Lake Presidential

Although the course has only been opened for less than two years, the staff at Lake Presidential continues to strive for improvement. Perhaps the lone criticism among online course reviews comes down on the course’s extensive use, citing divot-filled fairways and worn tee boxes. Presnal acknowledges that the course can look well-used at times, although that’s not always a bad thing. “The positive is that if you have worn tee boxes, then you know you’re getting lots of players, and that is a great problem to have,” said Presnal. He continued to explain that the greenskeeping staff at Lake Presidential have employed extensive measures to attempt to solidify the turf from tee to green through regular maintenance which is for the most part invisible to the everyday player. “Our groundskeeping philosophy has a lot to do with topdressing and putting lots of sand on the course. First of all, this helps to improve the drainage and keep us in good shape during the inevitable rainy periods. Second, this process creates a stronger root system which will help the turf once the hot weather comes next summer,” explained Presnal. Their process of topdressing begins by punching tiny holes in the tees, fairways, and greens, and then adding a layer of sand as topdressing, a process which when repeated regularly has eliminated the need for a fall round of green aerations, which of course is welcome news for all who have ever putted on a freshly punched green.

Though the greenskeeping staff does not have any large scale plans ahead of them, they are working on a couple of smaller changes to make life easier for the everyday player. “We are in the process of building an additional tee box on the first hole which will play to 340 yards,” said Presnal. “We have heard comments that the opening hole can lead to a difficult start, and this new tee will allow players a better chance to get around the dog leg and open up the hole a bit more,” he added. Presnal also explained that the staff is continuing to conduct select clearing, where instead of removing entire trees, they remove the underbrush from the sides of the fairways, causing fewer lost balls and allowing the player to advance his or her ball back to the fairway as opposed to having to drop.

The course also continues to look toward the future in terms of hosting events, both single-day and those which may span the course of a weekend. In their young history, Lake Presidential has already held several day-long tournaments. “Last year we held a qualifier for the Maryland State Amateur tournament,” explained Presnal, “And we have also hosted The Golf Channel’s Amateur Tour several times as well. Once we get into our third and fourth year, and hopefully more good rankings come out, the course will catch the attention of more people.”

Golf Resume?

Was browsing other golf blogs the other day, and saw where someone had listed all of the courses he had played during his short golf career. That got me thinking...what is my number? Took a couple minutes while watching Sunday Night Football and came up with the list......unless I am forgetting some, I count 32. The blog referenced above had each of them hyperlinked. Call me lazy, but you are probably just as skilled using Google as I am.

Chapel Hills Golf Course - Ashtabula, OH
Maple Ridge Golf Club - Ashtabula, OH
Village Green Golf Course - North Kingsville, OH
Hemlock Springs Golf Course - Austinburg, OH
Geneva-on-the-Lake Golf Course - Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH
Powderhorn Golf Club - Madison, OH
Thunder Hill Golf Club - Madison, OH
Hickory Grove Golf Club - Jefferson, OH
Riverside Country Club - Perry, OH
Harbor Golf Club (formerly Ashtabula Country Club) - Ashtabula, OH
Conneaut Shores Golf Club - Conneaut, OH
Windy Hill Golf Course - Conneaut, OH
Fairway Pines Golf Course - Painesville, OH
South Toledo Golf Course - Maumee, OH
Beechwood Golf Club - Erie, PA
JC Martin Golf Club - Erie, PA
Over Lake Golf Course - Girard, PA
Downing Golf Club - Erie, PA
Lawrence Park Golf Club - Erie, PA
Whispering Woods Golf Club - Erie, PA
Cog Hill Golf Club - Chicago, IL
Fairway Hills Golf Course - Columbia, MD
Waverly Woods Golf Course - Marriottsville, MD
Blue Mash Golf Course - Laytonsville, MD
Musket Ridge Golf Course - Myersville, MD
Maryland National Golf Course - Middletown, MD
Hobbits Glen Golf Club - Columbia, MD
Timbers at Troy - Columbia, MD
Diamond Ridge Golf Course - Baltimore, MD
Eisenhower Golf Course - Annapolis, MD
Bay Hills Golf Club - Arnold, MD
Lake Presidential Golf Club - Upper Marlboro, MD

Sad part is that only one of those courses is ranked by Golf Digest as the Top 100 You Can Play. I suppose that is a future goal.