Cape Cod Country Club is owned by Friel Golf Management who is planning to sell the land so it can be turned into a solar field. This isn’t the only public golf course that the Friel’s are selling off. In Hudson, NH, their father’s 60 year old course is slated to become a logistics center.
Read MorePlaying a new golf course has the feeling of a courtship. There’s the research and website investigation. Sometimes a friend might set you up with a new course (“You’ll love this place. It’s way better than the last one, I promise. That was my bad.”). On the night before the round, you might head to Google Maps and check out a courses routing, just to have a better sense of what might be in store for you. If you’re lucky, the course might have some drone footage hole descriptions on the website. Yes, you read them a few days ago, but now it’s vital that you really understand the course. After all the this might the one.
Read MoreThis day at Mid Ocean was the crown jewel, though. And as we waited to start our round on the first tee, the topic of hole-in-ones came up. Rob, an excellent golfer who was in his early 50s at the time, lamented that he had never collected an ace, but recalled a few close calls and balls burning or hanging on lips. Most golfers have those close calls, the tee shot that willfully avoids the cup.
Read MoreSo what if a golf course tried the ski mountain set-up once or twice a year?
What do I mean by “The Ski Mountain Set-up?”
Well, first off, any paying patron for that day would purchase a “day-pass” that would allow you to be on the course all day. You’d have the course, range, putting green, and clubhouse at your disposal (we could probably come up with some cool badge or bag-tag that each player could wear.).
Read MoreThose long summer days with a couple friends on a tiny nine-hole public course were some of my favorites. Too young for a job, but old enough to have trusting parents willing to grant me some independence. All my parents knew was that I liked golf, I came home happy, and no one ever chased me down the car park to tell my mom her son and his friends are a menace to the sport and the club. Every now and then I’d proclaim a score I was proud of.
Read MoreThere’s a line of golfers on the tee box waiting like shoppers at the deli counter. A light mist falls that feels like it might turn to snow at any moment falls lightly. Even at the edges of the woods, the remains of a long winter lurk: crusty snow and mud. We’re high above the 9th green and there’s a back-up that will be the talk of the van ride home, probably because it was the talk of the van ride to the course. The veteran golfers warning the freshman about the 9th hole and having to wait for two, maybe even three groups to play. Various bags pock the tee box with good and bad logos, some guys talk to each other, some pace nervously, and others just stare out at the abyss, watching the group on the green barrel around one of the most famous greens in the world.
Read MoreChristmas and holiday shopping is upon us. Find the perfect gift for the golfer in your life using this guide. From gear to clothes to bags, it's all in here.
Read MoreThe Charles River teems with runners most days, no matter the weather. They weave between the walkers and the gawkers who are enjoying the views from either side of the river, looking over at Boston’s skyline or at Cambridge’s institutions of higher learner, snapping pictures for the ‘gram.
The great outdoors have been a blessing in the last eight months as the pandemic has forced us to search for a clear mind and some fresh air. Running and golf are the two things that have always offered me some escape, solitude, recalibration, and companionship.
Read MoreThere’s nothing like walking a golf course. The clubs clanging off each other, the blood pumping, the mind clearing. Like a mountain climber, the golf walker must consider what they wish to carry on a given round. Beers (or… soda…) provide a weighty start and a light finish at the summit. A pessimist might stash away too many golf balls, the optimist, too few. In the fall, an extra layer or winter hat might require space in the bag, too.
Read MoreOn Sunday at The Masters, Dustin Johnson ran away in record setting fashion. It was so record breaking that he beat other record breakers. Cam Smith became the first player in the history of the tournament to shoot four rounds in the 60s, and still couldn’t bother DJ on the second nice at Augusta.
Read MoreThis golf boom also reflects the “fluctuations of society.” In it’s simplest form, golf is played in a field with a stick, a ball, and a hole in the ground. That’s the “old game” that Campbell mentions. It’s the soul of the game that existed before massive, opulent clubhouses and perfectly maintained courses. Right now, society as a whole is looking for ways to escape reality during the day. To wander without a mask on, catch-up with old friends that you might typically meet at a bar for a drink.
Read MoreSome golf balls spend their eternity clanging around in a drawer or a compartment in the trunk of a car. Others sit on a wall plaque commemorating a hole-in-one or a favorite round. Others rest deep in the woods, after rattling through the trees. It hears the occasional group crunching through the forest but can’t call out for help. It watches time go by, leaves turning and growing, rain falling, sun blazing. The cycles of the year slowly helping the ground swallow the ball up until it’s completely buried, never to be found by another golfer again.
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Taconic’s 15th hole.
The parishioners rush through their prayers; their voices echo off the stain glass as each faithful servant finishes the “Our Father” at a different time. The priest’s sermon doesn’t drone on and on to the point of death inducing boredom, he seems more interested in setting the world record for transforming wine and bread into the body and blood of Christ. It would make Usain Bolt blush.
This is church in Ireland, held at breakneck speed. In and out in 35 minutes. The experience was a joy for a young boy used to hour long church services in America. My family would often joke about the mismatched church experiences. Ireland, a slow paced, “no bother” kind of place shouldn’t be rushing through Mass. It’s the home of St. Patrick, it’s a Catholic stronghold, a beacon of spirituality for the rest of the world. The religious spoken word sprint belongs in America, home of the micro-machine man. American’s are always in a rush, until they get to church, then everything slows to a screeching halt.
This same conundrum exists on the golf courses of both countries. The Irish play fast golf. Hit it, find it, hit it again. No frills and no bother. Maybe it’s the constant threat of rain that puts fire in the heels of Irish golfers. 18 holes and church on a Sunday morning in Ireland might take you 3.5 hours total. You’re lucky if you’re making the turn in that amount of time in the United States.
Golf is growing.
It’s growing slower. Most course rangers drive their carts around too nervous to ruffle any feathers and tell people to hurry up. The combination of hard seltzers and an “I paid to be here” attitude is quite combustable. Starters stand on first tees, shoulders slumped in defeat, telling a 1:30pm tee time that finishing before a 6:30 sundown might be a challenge because “it’s all backed up.” Many golfers are spending more time watching golf on the golf course than actually playing the game.
The challenge with pace of play in golf, especially weekend public golf, is tricky. On the one hand, people should be learning to golf. It’s an outdoor, active, lifelong sport. It’s a social sport, allowing for connection, and this CoVID summer has proven that golf is the perfect combination of being social, active, and outdoors. Otherwise, we’d be reading about crowded hiking trails and streams of people taking selfies on mountain summits. On the other hand, it should be played far more efficiently than it is. A day of golf is turning into a day of golf. A 30 minute drive to the course, a 4.5-5 hour and a 30 minute drive home is basically the entire day. Tear yourself out of bed early to beat the crowd? Sure, that’s sometimes a thing, but the early bird doesn’t always catch the fast-round worm. A Thursday morning round at 7:41 last week, as a twosome, took four hours.
The solutions are all available to us, there’s just no conviction to make it work. Rangers need to “Range” if you will. Push groups ahead if they fall behind, give groups a 9-hole check-in. If you’re behind after 9-holes, you don’t get to play the 10th hole (or the 11th if you’re way behind). Obviously, the fear of this mentality is that it might turn people off to the game. It’s too intimidating, too stuffy, unwelcoming to the newbie. All valid arguments. Not everyone has a friend in their lives that can usher them around a course and give them the tricks of faster play. Some people just suck and it takes them a really long time to play. If you really suck, you shouldn’t be keeping a sharp tally of your score and you shouldn’t be too worried about the tee shot you blew into the woods. Let it go, drop a ball, and continue on.
The biggest issue is just a simple awareness that we are all sharing this massive field with pins stuck in random spots. We all chose to chase a ball around and whack it with a stick. No one is more or less worthy to be there and play golf. However, this is where golf courses could really help themselves out in the long run if they did hold everyone accountable to some pace of play expectations.
Irish golfers don’t worry about their handicap and rarely play stroke play. On No Laying Up’s excellent Tourist Sauce episode about Bandon Dunes, David Mclay Kidd says that most golfers in the British Isles play stroke play once a one to keep their handicaps up to date, aside from that, they don’t care. They’re playing match play, and all they care about is winning that day’s match. When the hole is won, the hole is done. Americans are obsessed with the optics of the golf experience and their handicaps are a big part of that (I can be part of that epidemic myself) . Church, in some ways, is the same. The Irish don’t feel the need to spend longer than they need in church or on the golf course. They have no desire to prove anything to anyone about their religion or their other religion.
There are plenty of other possible explanations for the different golf and church experiences in these two countries.
Maybe the pace of play, and the pace of church, in Ireland is fast because they have other things they’d like to be doing, too. They value their time and want to spend it in different ways. Maybe they’re more aware of the people they are sharing the course with. Maybe they choose the proper tees to play from. Maybe they’re treating 18 holes more like a hike, not worrying about score all the time, and getting on with it. Maybe the rhythm of their prayers in church has found its way into their golf. Maybe, church and golf are so spiritually aligned that they’re the same thing to the Irish. Play fast and pray fast, I wonder if there’s a Saint for that.
Goldfish typically grow to fit their environment. Buy one at the pet shop, bring it home, stick it in a bowl, it’ll stay pretty small. However, toss it in a tank, it’s grow larger. The growth also depends on the quality of water and nutrients, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone. Feed a goldfish well, put it in a large tank, you’ll get something that looks like Bryson DeChambeau.
Golf is indeed a goldfish.
Read MoreAs rounds of golf slowly but surely grow longer and longer, snacks (and drinks) become more and more vital to a golfer’s survival. Hunger can be wreak havoc on those last few holes (so can one too many adult beverages). However, part of the experience a round these days is not just the quality of food and drink options, but the frequency of opportunities to crack open the wallet and buy a round.
Read MoreChipping-green-golf and driving-range-golf are very different beasts from golf-course-golf. My wife needed some reps on a golf course. The process of getting to a course, putting on your shoes, dropping your bag somewhere, and just knowing the rhythm of things can make a big difference to a newbie. Nothing like standing on a first tee box, either.
Read MoreSports anticipation is like nothing else. Those small moments within the game that leave us on the edge of our seat or standing in our living room. The point guard dribbling the ball down the court is just a spring loaded moment ready for that inevitable snap of a jump shot or drive to the hoop. Then the waiting begins: Will it go in? What happens when it doesn’t? Will I be able to sleep? Will my remote be lodged in the wall? Will they grab the rebound?
Read MoreOver the course of the summer and playing all sorts of new courses, I have found myself most intrigued by par threes. The shortest holes on a golf course can range from 75 yards to 250 yards, and I believe I have probably hit each club in my bag into a par 3 this summer, including a driver at the 245 yard third hole at Cedar Falls in Saugus and a sand wedge into the miniaturized 9th hole at Concord CC, which shortened for the day and usually plays around 140 yards.
Read MoreLast month I was playing in a 2-day best ball tournament with my friend Eliot. As we warmed up on the range among some very talented players, I overheard one of them remark that before most rounds they “hit three balls on the range” and then go play. Obviously, a tournament round requires a bit more preparation, so the range was lined with players finding their swing for the day. Ultimately though, we all want to play well when we tee it up on the first hole, and there’s nothing worse than standing on the fourth tee and cracking the “Well, the first three holes was the warm-up” joke.
Read MoreUp here in the Northeastern states, the day’s are notably shorter than they were in June and July. The sun dips below the horizon closer to 7:00pm than 8:00pm these days, the air is drier and a tad chillier, but the sun is out and the skies are typically clear.
It’s a wonderful month for golf in these parts, and in most of the country. Probably better than any other month to play golf.
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