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Golf Trick Shots in Wine Country

Grant Dodd is a former professional golfer who now leads Network Ten/One HD’s golf commentary team in all their domestic golf broadcasts providing expert analysis. He also writes for Australian Golf Digest, co-author of Barossa Wine Traveler and more importantly a wine connoisseur.

If you are really trying to hone in on your chip shots, grab a glass of wine and watch this video on knocking down wine bottles with pinpoint accuracy. It may be April’s fools (just like the tennis video of Roger Federer), but we’ve heard those guys down under can really dial in their wedges!

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“Flight Plan” Takes Off

Below is Flight Plan by artist Michael David Murphy. Twenty five different ball flight sequences of eleven different golfers, all on one major championship afternoon and masterfully timed gives you Flight Plan.

If you are wondering who’s ball flight you’re watching, the list is below. You can see more of Michael David Murphy’s work here. These images were captured during the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Continue reading ““Flight Plan” Takes Off”

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These guys are good – part 2

Following up on our Every Shot Imaginable post, the European Tour has come out with a new promo video, this time defending Scotland against imaginary pirates.

Every play “hit the target” on the golf range? Well, it’s a bit like that, except you are aiming for the 3 foot mouth of a barrel, bobbing in a dinghy 150+ yards out to sea in high winds.

These guys are good.

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How To Get Masters Tickets?

“Having tickets to The Masters is the best dowry a wife could have in the South.” Those were the exact words exchanged in a brief conversation I had with a young lady late last week. She’s right – as of 2000, there is no direct way to get Masters badges to the tournament. That said, with the tournament coming up next month (April 2-8, 2012) there are some indirect ways to get a hold of tickets and experience the Tournament.

Ten years ago, patrons would get their individual daily badges for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Most of the badges were used by those who originally go them, however too many were traded, exchanged, and sold online. As a result, members began to crack down on this abuse of the system by adapting to the times.  First, they created a single tournament badge. This cut down on the exchange significantly because if you sold your badge for Thursday it was gone for the rest of the week — unless you knew the person using it and they gave it back to you. Further, if you sold your badge to someone who acted inappropriately on the grounds, their (i.e. your) badges would be taken away and you would not receive another one come this time next year.

So how do you grace one of the game’s most hollowed grounds; a place that fosters the sport’s greatest traditions by an organization that advocates its finest lessons? Continue reading “How To Get Masters Tickets?”

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Top 100 Courses: #40 The Golf Club

The Golf Club
Location: New Albany, OH
Architect: Pete Dye
Year Constructed: 1967
Played: June 21, 2009

If I were to start my own golf club today I would hope it came out looking exactly like The Golf Club in New Albany, OH. The Golf Club was founded in 1967 by Fred Jones with the simple goal of having a private club where he and his friends could play golf and enjoy themselves. Mr. Jones managed to piece together a 400 acre parcel of land and then took a chance on a virtually unknown architect by the name of Pete Dye to build his golf course. When the project was finished a world class golf club was left as a monument to their partnership.

Thanks to my fellow Top 100 golfer Larry Berle. I’m playing The Golf Club today with his friend Bob. I cut through the quaint little pro shop and over to the main clubhouse building where the dining and locker rooms are located. When I stepped through the door to the locker room I saw what might be my favorite locker room ever. There were tables and chairs in a bar area, leather couches for lounging, card tables, stacks of books and magazines on golf, exposed wooden beams, a huge fireplace and rows of nicely aged dark wooden lockers.

Once we were sufficiently warmed up we went to the putting green to wait our turn. The practice green here is unique in that it is a shared green with the 18th hole. This is something I’ve not ever seen before. As there are no tee times at The Golf Club so members just hang around on the putting green until its their turn to go off. The membership is VERY small at 150 so even at its busiest times there aren’t many golfers on the course.

We played from the white tees which were 6632 yards. The first hole pictured below is a 349 yard par 4 dogleg right. The smart player will avoid the bunker on the right. Its very much in play for a sliced shot and the grass in the middle of the bunker is very long and very penal . . . trust me on that. The 2nd hole is a long par 4 at 444 yards with a blind tee shot.

The 1st hole

The 3rd hole pictured below is a fantastic par 3 that plays 185 yards. Shots that fall short will find the water and those that are long will get in the nasty bunkers behind the green. Note that Pete Dye was using his signature railroad ties even this early in his career. The 4th hole is a 518 yard par 5. In the photo below you can see that the fairway throws everything to the right so the line is to play down the left hand side as close to the tree as possible.

Continue reading “Top 100 Courses: #40 The Golf Club”

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What’s your max?

 
The short answer: There is none.

For handicap purposes, the USGA imposes stroke limits (called Equitable Stroke Control, or ESC) to prevent golfers from sandbagging one hole to keep their handicaps high. Thus, when you enter a score into MyScorecard, we ask you to adjust that score for any holes where your strokes exceed that limit.

However, when you’re on the course, there is no “maximum” to take. Even a professional golfer can run up scores into the double digits. And just to prove a point, back in April of this year, Tour Player Kevin Na posted a 16 on the par 4 ninth hole at the Valero Texas Open.

Continue reading “What’s your max?”

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The World’s Most Expensive Golf Book

Setting you back $46,605, Wonderland Publications recently published a luxury Golf Bible, simply called Golf.

Measuring over 3 feet in width, weighing over 80 lbs, and bound in an extremely rare 400-year-old Russian Hide leather cove, this golf bible has eighteen chapters that tell the story of the game with contributions from over 50 individuals worldwide in the golf industry.

Our mission has been to create a satirical, informed work of prose and art, designed to capture the true spirit of the game from it’s formative growth, through to the realities of the recent financial depression, and on towards new and exciting horizons

Weitzman, Co-Author

The publication also features many restored, rare and never seen before photographs and letters from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Ryder, Morris, Jones, Vardon, Duncan, MacKenzie, Park and Hollins, as well as an exclusive insight into the world of Mark McCormack and a look at the comparable evolution of cricket, completed in collaboration with Lords and the MCC archive.

If you are not quite ready to shell out the price of a luxury vehicle, a Collector’s edition is available that is priced at a much affordable $544.

Looking to browse before you by? Feel free to peruse, Chapter 6

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Top 100 Courses: #13 Seminole Golf Club

Seminole Golf Club
 Location: Juno Beach, FL
Architect: Donald Ross
Year Constructed: 1929
Played: June 28, 2011

Playing the Top 100 is rife with hurdles and pitfalls. Anyone who has been following my quest at this website knows that the largest and most difficult obstacle is the fact that about 85% of the courses are private and require a member host or sponsor to play. Searching for members is difficult when it comes to all clubs, but for a variety of reasons some are considerably more difficult than others. Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida is one of the most difficult ones on the list.

Seminole is only open for a 5-6 month period of time and, as I understand it, most of the members live outside of Florida during the summer. This leaves me once again searching nationwide for the proverbial snowball in a snowstorm. Guest play at Seminole must be accompanied by a member. For Seminole members who wish to have guests but are unable to play with them, there is a very small window for two member sponsored groups of unaccompanied guests each day.

One of the many great things about the Top 100 Quest is the incredible people I have met along the way. Golf is full of kind and friendly people who have been enormous supporters of my quest which never ceases to amaze me. One of those people is a young club pro from Michigan. Corey and I became friends about two years ago and like me Corey loves, appreciates and respects great golf courses. Corey also has the great fortune to work at a top quality club that includes a large number of members who belong to multiple clubs, many of them on the Top 100 list. One day in January of this year I received a phone call from Corey who informed me that his member friend had sponsored an unaccompanied group and that Corey had a spot for me to join him!

We arrived at the club at 8:30 and the nice lady in the office opened her window and gave us the book to sign in before we made our way to the locker room. I have to say that it was a great feeling to write my name in the guest book. That simple little act was a bit of pinch me moment and drove home the gravity of the situation in which we were currently ensconced. Continue reading “Top 100 Courses: #13 Seminole Golf Club”