"currently battling with my dear friend, the Silverstripe CMS" - 18 hours ago
"is thoroughly relaxed at another Irish farmhouse B&B, this time one run by a character and a half, Sharon Moore.... http://fb.me/Fd1zVe5z" - 1 day ago
"Is this the Nellie bunker you were talking about mate? Safely avoided I'm pleased to report http://fb.me/EHAvCmyU" - 2 days ago
Sluggish from a week at St Andrews, on Monday four kiwis took to the Dukes course at St Andrews along with our man Chris Barnard from Kingsbarns. Quality chap who, one day, might also become a kiwi provided our immigration guys sort themselves out and let him in to start his job as a greenkeeper at Paraparaumu Beach GC.
There was some very Scottish weather (i.e, rain and dreariness) and the wet weather gear was coming out left right and centre. Tim Borren, caddying for the day, had made the amateur error of wearing jeans so my wet weather pants were with him.
The first tee shot gave us an indication of what was to follow – gorse everywhere and long wet rough. It looked like there was nowhere to hit it, but then as we wandered down the hole wasn’t too narrow at all.
I think the rain started on the second hole. And with the rain the 200 yard tee shots with no roll. It was definitely a driver day. The rain got heavier and heavier to the extent that JP commented that it was very ‘wet rain’. Smart guy. T Borren subsided to the clubhouse and I reclaimed my wet weathers – not after my linen pants had turned a much darker colour of blue.
Doug Mathews, an old mate from back in NZ who has moved to the UK made up the 4 ball which was his first round of golf in the northern hemisphere and it looked like it! This action shot doesn't look so bad though. Playing golf for 200 days in a row, you realise how epicly long Douggie hits the ball.
Despite the rain the four of us kept trooping on. As we do. I will admit to a split second or two of worry as after a particularly severe downpoud the 4th green looked like it was trying to flood. But the 5th green had no such issues. The photographs today are courtesy of Chris as our camera was hiding from the rain. It is not much of a fan. But the beaut thing about the photography skills of Chris is that he is the master of catching us mid-action. So you may notice a theme in the pictures below (it also helps this his camera does not click like ours which is rather off-putting and I know what Steve Williams would do if that happened mid downswing for Tiger).
The golf was rather awol and looking for golf balls in the long stuff became less of a priority – that was after a first crack at it on the 5th caused my waterproof callaway shoes to open the floodgates. My feet were now wet.
In the rain the course plays long. 480 yard par fours, 220 yard uphill par threes and the like. This is a ball strikers course. The type of course a pro would shoot 68 on, but us mere mortals battle to go under 80. A bit like the TPC numbers in the US. If you can bomb your drive you should be able to hit it on the large greens and scoring is manageable. If you can't bomb your drives, well the trouble compounds - particularly when the rough is long.
Of course we had a match, a hotly contested one at that as the childhood competitiveness with Jamie was doubled when he was partnered up with Doug. The match, and the standard of golf was affected by our energy levels which dropped considerably and we were all hanging out for Tim to return with some food as we were starting to fade. But a significant lead for the good guys proved unassailable despite Douggie finding his rhythm on the back nine.
The food didn’t arrive, but we trooped on through the amen corner of 10, 11, 12 which cost a few of double bogeys amongst the group, and the 11th well it is a monster of a par five played along the fence with a burn rolling across short of the green and bunkers everywhere. Probably the signature hole on the course.
Then the last few holes, recently redesigned were pretty sharp with more undulating greens and strong golf holes which combine well with the routing which was clearly put there to make the most of the views below towards the township and the water beyond. The highlights reel included a cheeky birdie on 13, a close (unconverted) tee shot on 16 (see pic below) and Doug’s (unconverted) approach to 17. Which I must add is a quality hole framed by four huge trees. Quite American-esque.
There was no excuse for putting woes as the Dukes course is in great condition. Probably because of our man Leo from Paraparaumu Beach and his influence working here on the greens staff (for 5 weeks a number of years ago).
We climbed the 18th and finished to some bread rolls and cheese. Then it was off with four bodies and far too much gear in the car back to Burnt Island where we crashed for some much needed sleep with very old family friends of JP, the Lowes. Thanks Chris for arranging day 200 of puregolf2010 and The Dukes course for hosting us. Birdie Count thru one week: 19. Contact us to get involved in the birdie challenge fundraising!
Mountain Ridge was the venue for day 179 – a private club based in the Northern part of New Jersey. After a bit of a hike up from Princeton Junction we arrived at the club and met our host Ned Steiner.
Ned’s grandfather was one of the dozen or so gents who set up Mountain Ridge in the early part of last century. Mr Steiner senior senior was one of a dozen members of the jewish community who were not welcome to join other clubs in the area and so did something about it, hired Donald Ross and created the Mountain Ridge Club. This culture of golf clubs segregated by race or religion is a long way removed from life in New Zealand as we know it today.
Looking around the walls of the club through memorabilia and of past Presidents there were a number of ‘Steins and even one Mr Goldstein who was a past President in the 50s.
Ned is quite the player and I’m sure he has won the club championships here a few times (although he never admitted as such). He now plays in the senior amateur events around the show and, like us and the many people we’ve been meeting, is a lover of the game of golf. Not just for playing it, but everything that golf stands for. We were put in touch with Ned through our friend Norman Swenson, and both of these chaps are also members of the R&A where we will be heading in a couple of weeks time. It’s been a couple of days since we played Mountain Ridge but since then we’ve seen Ned again, buzzing in the Pine Valley locker rooms after coming in with a 33 to shoot a +2 round. Ned is a great ambassador for golf and is a member of the NY MET golf association, has involvement with The First Tee and still plays competitive amateur golf many years on. He’s also enthusiastic as anything and a hell of a nice guy.
Due to the weather we saw a fair bit of the Mountain Ridge clubhouse and the memorabilia inside it. One piece included a plaque to Ned for equaling the course record for the back nine at Baltusrol during a leading amateur tournament. Ned knocked it around the back nine in 31 shots including 5 birdies in a row to finish. Because of this feat Ned was invited to the US Open and introduced to the leading professionals most of whom congratulated him on his performance but for Tom Kite who scoffed – “but was the course set up in the US Open condition?” and walked away. Golf is more than just a game.. Back to the thunder storms and Big Rai which quickly flooded the car park, the golf course and everything in sight. Of course, we needed to play on and complete the remaining 13 holes we hadn’t got around before the storms. For the next 2/3 hours we skirted on for a couple of holes here and there between the cells of lightening, until we got a good run and completed the last nine holes in an hour or so. A disjointed round.
The golf course is a Donald Ross design and is blessed with those distinctive Ross characteristics – the coffin bunkering, demonic greens and a course that seems playable to golfers of all abilities. What gives the course teeth is the rough – all around the greens you get in it and have to really hit your chip shots hard to get out. Similar to Olympic where it’s either a splash out of the rough or you’re putting on the greens. The course also has long fescue rough dotted around the show, both on top of the fairway bunkers and in parts of the heavy rough. So it’s definitely penal.
Despite the soaked nature of the course the greens were still rolling quickly and it was hard to remember to hit the putts softly when everything is so wet. It’s tough to give a full review of the course because of the rushed manor in which we knocked around to complete our round. But, as a Donald Ross course it had ‘that charm’ and birdies were still very much on offer, as were less pleasant scores when you went awry! And I should note, this course has some very good drainage and we could comfortably play (cart paths only) despite the huge deluge of rain. So we made it around to 18 (pictured below), and negotiated our way around the huge back to front slope on that green which has surely been a cause of much consternation to members and visiting players (Jamie putted it off the green from 15 feet), shook hands with Ned and went to grab some chicken soup and a root beer.
Well well well we were lucky lads to get a completed round of golf in this day.
In Florida there is one constant at this time of the year and that is electrical storms. As sure as the sun coming up you know that between 3 and 5pm there is going to be an almighty storm when the trade winds from the east and the west converge over the southern part of Florida and all hell breaks loose.
After three days of this phenomenon, our original plan for a quick 9 hole knock-a-round at La Cita Country Club wisely turned into a full 18 hole round when we displayed a bit of foresight. We were hosted at La Cita by Mr John Zambos and we played with John’s brother Tony and Jason Bruno – two guys mentioned in yesterdays blog who are joining us for three days straight.
Being honest, when I was teeing off on the 1st at 730am the last thing I wanted to be doing was be playing a round of golf that (at that stage) didn’t contribute towards our puregolf challenge. Even after making birdie, I would have happily gone straight back to bed. But after a couple of holes, a couple of doubles and a couple of waters to wake me up we were away laughing. And come the 9th we thought it best to hedge our bets and skip round the other nine – it helped that we were loving the course!
La Cita was a very playable course. Shorter than the monsters we have been playing, much tighter holes cut through the trees and much smaller greens. It’s a pleasant wee track, and adjoined by accommodation and a stately clubhouse.
Unfortunately the greens had been punched (it’s that time of the year down here in Florida) so again putting was hard work. Jason thought it was a great ‘old school’ course because you needed to shape the ball off the tee. I followed a piece of advice I read by Mike Clayton - to hit it to the point of the dogleg and go from there. Not being a shot course, many of the holes played this way were a 2 iron / 3 wood and then 9 iron. A thinking mans course and one that if you played a few times you’d know exactly where to hit it and be able to score really well.
A highlight at La Cita was the chance to meet the owners, Dale and Jim who bought the course a few years back, terrific lucid humans who clearly share our entrepreneurial streak. They joined us for the back nine and we heard about their careers in the golf world – both originally from Pinehurst (where we’re going next week) Jim (the professional), and Dale (the greenkeeper), decided it would be best to work for themselves and now they’re their own bosses at La Cita.
A quick bite (burgers washed down with iced tea – Of Course), we were back in Dodgy and cruising north to Hammock Beach (Dodgy wasn’t necessarily cruising I think he has a minor cold). After the entre that was La Cita Hammock Beach was the main meal (or entre as they call it in the US? Still bemuses me every time I read a menu and all these huge steaks are called entre’s).
The Ocean Course at Hammock Beach is a relatively new course built by Jack Nicklaus. A couple of holes run alongside the ocean but the others actually play inland amongst lakes. Not a traditional links feature you might say but the wind and the ocean definitely play their part. Tony Zambos had arranged this game at Hammock and I was joining him in a cart game against Jamie and Jason. I started pretty well, missing a 6 footer on the first for birdie but then making a ‘tweeter’ (as Tony the greek with the big personality would say) on the next couple. Probably the pick of the holes on the front was the par three 8th which plays back towards the ocean. An elevated green but when you get the ball up in the air you’d normally get hammered by the wind.
On the 9th hole the weather started to get a bit iffy. We paused for 5 minutes or so. But then the clouds above got pretty dark. We kept going as the storm rolled in, and I managed to squeeze in bird #3 & 4. But then as Tony and I skirted back to pick up the camera (which was charging in the clubhouse) the first cell of lightening hit. And it was serious stuff. Jamie and Jason were holed up in the tunnel between 12 and 13. Tony and I weren’t moving from the cart bay. Yarning with the locals, I realized we need not hang around to finish our round as we had already completed one full round that morning at La Cita. Jason and I wanted to continue as the round was going OK but there was no chance whatsoever. So a quick phone call later and JP and Jason braved it back in amidst the lightening and rain and minutes later we were packed up and outties. An aborted round at Hammock Beach but still a Huge Day of Golf.
Henry here, Mike's brother and Queensland resident. As Mike continues on the PureGolf 2010 odyssey, I've been given the honour of writing a guest blog;
After an emotionally intense twenty-four hours for PureGolf, Mike, Bryan (fellow Medical Student & good friend) and I rolled up to Bribie Island's Pacific Harbour Golf Club.
We were greeted by the immensely friendly staff, treated like VIPs and were very well looked after. In particular, the Pro running the show, Chris, did a stellar job of keeping us informed and catered for. It was a particularly nice touch that the staff badges had not only their full names, but also home town.
Pacific Harbour is managed by Troon Golf, a company that runs more than 200 courses in 26 countries. PureGolf's first Troon course for the year; certainly not the last.
Mike, having played a good 113 more rounds this year than either Bryan or myself, was charged with determining the haggle. He wisely waited for our drives on The First Tee before appointing handicaps and explaining split sixes. We all pared the opener, a 501m par 5 with a broad fairway, and a splash of water to the right.
The course, Mike tells me, has matured nicely from his previous outing here - with our parents and Grandfather Ernie - four years earlier. The scrub and native regeneration feels decidedly natural, given it was likely flattened by earth-moving equipment upon the course's creation. The bunker also had a distinctly desert-island sand-dune feel, without being overstated or facetious.
By the sixth hole, the match was rolling along nicely, with Mike holding a narrow lead over Bryan and myself. As we played our approach shots, the grey skies made good on their threats and opened wholeheartedly. This has been par for the course all week, unfortunately, and in this case would have done little to ease the flooding on several holes.
Water, the big lake (dam) type - as opposed to the casual-water-free-drop type - is certainly a feature of Pacific Harbour, and as a high handicapper, it's supposed to scare the heck out of me. That there's water on almost every hole, however, certainly makes it easier to mentally block it out. I'd say ignore, but I'm now thirteen unlucky balls poorer for my troubles, so I shan't get too confident.
At the twelfth, Mike had surged to a fourteen point lead in the split sixes, and he suggested that for holes 13 through 17, the part-timers points count for double. At eighteen, all points were doubled. Bryan's pendulous driving and iron-play netted him wins on thirteen and another of the next three holes, with another halved. In fact, Bryan lipped out for what would have been PureGolf's first associated Ace on the 140m par-3 thirteenth, before clinching a solid par for the win.
I claimed sixteen and seventeen after finally deciding my driver was more foe than friend. Seventeen, indeed, a 200ish-metre par 3 (across a beach & lake) and well defended by bunkers, saw me take full advantage of my many extra (but needed) shots.
As we stepped onto the eighteenth tee, Mike mentioned that Bribie's finishing holes were particulary memorable, from his previous outing, and that the course is easily in the top couple he's played in the Maroon State. The Pacific Harbour website says that it's just been rated as the Number 1 Public Access course in Queensland.
The picturesque 408m par-4 eighteenth runs along the opposite side of the 17th's lake, gently breaking around to the right. Now, a brief tangent; Some summers previously, I met with Mike and some friends for a day at the beach and an afternoon of solubrious banter. As one thing led to another, arm-wrestles began. That day, Mike beat me in an arm-wrestle for the first time. Today, I claimed the eighteenth hole and my maiden golfing victory over my younger brother. To be fair, he had given me more shots than those consumed at a 21st birthday party. For twins.
Bryan, almost-Ace and all, gave it a red-hot go, what he missed in putting, he recouped in goodwill with a sterling meal of shark and taties on the Bribie esplanade.
It was a pleasure to be a part of the PureGolf experience. Playing every day certainly has some unique stressors, but by gum, it looks like fun; meeting interesting folk, unique opportunities, blogging and international travel. As we drove home, Mike and Bryan slipped into the land of nod as Sgt Pepper's clicked over to A Day in the Life.
The wettest day of puregolf2010, without a doubt. But what fun we had at Club Pelican anyway.
The madness kicked off with a photo shoot for the local rag, The Sunshine Coast Daily. Brett had us in all sorts of compromising poses. Photographers have had real fun with us this year; we are but putty in their hands. Dean - the Pro at Club Pelican, who joined us on course - waited patiently and even lent a hand in procuring props for the photo shoot (cart, "USA?" sign, clubs, etc). Bless him. Eventually Brett had his shot, and it was down to business.
Dean's a Kiwi of Central Otago extraction, and has lived in our stomping ground (Christchurch) for the last few years. Christchurch being the big village that it is - with 2 degrees of separation - he knows a lot of folk we've grown up with, including one of our good mates, Dougie. What a small world. Anyway he only recently came to Club Pelican, some 4 months ago, but seems to be settling in nicely (he lives with his partner in a plush apartment in the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel, overlooking the 18th hole). He's also in the process of building his client base, so if you live in the area and are looking for a lesson (top value at $90 p/hour), drop him a line.
The golf was pretty slow; the group 2 or 3 ahead rather selfishly played at snail like pace and held the rest of us up. Initially this was aggravated by the torrential rain too. But once we were so wet that we no longer cared and indeed embraced our lot (this only took a couple of holes), nothing really fazed us and we just enjoyed each other's company. God we got wet. No umbrellas; waterproofs were about as effective as tissue paper; and the rain seemed to be coming from both sides and above. Hilarious. The cat that named this place the Sunshine Coast was having a laugh - and was probably a Scotsman.
The rain aside we managed to appreciate what a quality layout Club Pelican is. You may have heard of the designer - a chap by the name of Gregory Norman. Apparently he has blonde hair and can play a bit. Word around the traps is that his golf courses tend to be too hard, and can't be played with much enjoyment by The Average Golfer. Certainly we've seen glimpses of this at some of the other Norman tracks we've encountered this year, but I don't agree entirely with the murmurings of the masses. In any event it's certainly not the case with Club Pelican, which is very fair.
CP has some cracking holes too. Like the 16th, a par 5 that narrows and narrows and narrows as you approach the green. Or the 5th, a dogleg left par 4 that's bordered entirely on the left by water, has a stream guarding the front of the green and is patrolled by several officious looking kangaroos. Or the 12th, a short par 4 that's driveable off the members' tees in favourable conditions, is listed in some book as one of 1001 holes you must play before you die, and holds particularly fond memories for me because it was kind enough to give me a birdie.
Standing on the 14th tee (waiting, of course) the rain got as heavy as rain can possibly get. There was a lovely moment where we all stood there, looked at each other and laughed. No one moved a muscle. When the time came to step up and hit the wee white thing, there was a sense of anticipation among the others - none of us knew which way the ball was going to go (and whether the club was going to fly in the same direction).
On 16 I flew a 3 wood into the greenside trap, which is also home to a small forest (not small actually, just a forest). On this occasion it was also home to a lake. My ball was 10 inches under water and, under normal circumstances, I would've taken a casual water drop. But because I was so wet this was too good an opportunity to miss. Dean readied the camera; I waded into the middle of the "bunker"; and swung for dear life. Needless to say I didn't make contact with my ball; all I hit was H2O. Good clean fun.
By the time we reached the 18th tee green it was pretty well pitch black. If I hadn't been a guest of Club Pelican, I would've told the muppets in front just what I thought of their slow, selfish play. But I was and therefore I didn't. However I can name and shame them: Tom Wilkinson, James O'Callaghan, Phil Terry and Joe McLaughlin. (I read the timesheet). If you jokers are reading this, get your act together.
On a more serious note (those weren't their real names, I didn't think to look at the timesheet until 30 seconds ago), slow golf didn't tarnish what was a pearler of a day. Sure, we were glad of a hot shower at the end - but having embraced our soaked state early in the piece, we just got on with it and had a good time. 'Twas particularly nice to chew the fat with a fellow Kiwi on the way round, and interesting to compare notes on cultural differences between the humans on each side of the Tasman Sea.
Thanks Club Pelican (Dean, in particular) for making Day 111 a memorable one.
A soaked JP
Shinnecock
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