Conference 7.286::golf

    Hi,
    Lucky you!
    I grew up in Ohio, played high school golf for Logan and played
    as a freshman at Ohio University.
    Scioto was one of my favorite course as well as Columbus Country
    Club. I played both the OSU Scarlet and Grey courses many times.
    We held the Ohio High School tournament at Scarlet and I really
    'failed to qualify"! Inverness was one Toledo course I played one
    summer when I stayed in Walbridge with my grandparents.
    Try to play Canterbury in Cleveland and Moundbuilders in Newark.
    They are both worth the trips.
    Enjoy!
    Tom

     Cleveland C.C., Canterbury and Firestone (as well as N.C.R.) are
    scheduled for another trip. I never heard of MoundBuilders, but
    given your references, I'm sure it's a "must"!
     We did play Columbus before with a fellow named "Bones" Hamilton,
    whom I gather has been on the W.G.A. board and for 25 years has
    been President of the Ohio Golf Association. Great guy, and what
    a nice course! Like me, he's an old Colgate grad., but we got on
    through the efforts of my friend who is a Judge and knew "Bones".
    The judge also knew a guy who was a member at Scioto, Muirfield
    Village and The Golf Club (I think only Pandel Savic and Bob Hoag
    also belong to those 3), so we played 'em and loved 'em (except
    for the Golf Club - Pete Dye, yicchh!). I heard WestWood up in
    Cleveland is good too...
    
    --The skoal Bandit

You're very lucky, indeed.

As a devoted student of golf architecture as well as the game itself, 
I look upon your trip with the heaviest envy. How did you do it? How 
did you get on all those extraordinary--and extraordinarily 
private--courses? If you can give me advice that would get me on some 
of the country's emerald paradises, I'll gladly invite you up to my modest 
little club (Marlboro CC), give you ten a side, and pay off my 
losses without the slightest groan!

Yours in awe,
Tom

    Again,
    Savic was an OSU quarterback when I last played much back there.
    Bob H. was one of the better golfers and Hamiliton is unknown to
    me.
    Moundbuilders is nearby the great W. H. Burke Golf Company that
    put out many sets and is the company that caused Newark to now host
    both Toski as well as Golfworks!
    Moundbuilders is long, rolling and the home of many fine golfers
    who do well on a state-wide basis. Not as long as Granville Inn,
    but a better test of golf than many of the near-Columbus courses.
    You could also play Zanesville Country Club while in that section
    of Ohio and west of Columbus.
    I could go on and on about Ohio, but enough is enough!
    Tom

    
    Tom,
    
    Newark is also the home of Dynacraft (golf company)...

    Gene,
    
    >>    Newark is also the home of Dynacraft (golf company)...
    
    
    That ain't nothing to be proud of

    
    Kevin,
    
    There is nothing wrong with their products...! I have had less problems
    with them than any of the other companies I have dealt with...!
    
    I know you had some problems with them, but I guess as the saying
    goes, "you can please some of the people, some of the time, but
    you can't please all of the people all of the time".
    
    Gene

    Touche Gene.  But I just had to take that shot........ The Devil made
    me do it. :-)
    
    
    
    					KO

     Here's a brief trip report on my recent golf trip to the "Land
    of Lincoln":
    Skokie - we played the back tees (6950+) and it was VERY soft. Course
    was in perfect shape, with some of the hardest 3's I've ever played.
    #3 is 231 yds uphill over a lake with almost no landing area. Blew
    a driver right of the green and past it over a bridge and almost
    killed a guy on a cart... Real strong layout with some great short
    5's and long 4's. Great locker room and they have phones to call
    ahead to the snack bar at several tees. One of the guys we played
    with is up for membership at Pine Valley, and was a 5 hcp.
    
    Bob 'O Link - MEN ONLY! We saw Mike Ditka on #18 as we teed off.
    Played with a member who is an equipment editor at Golf Magazine,
    and he gave us each a dozen Balata balls to try (love 'em!). They've
    got an outdoor barbeque that would get 5 stars. Real interesting
    layout in perfect shape with a great range that uses Ultra balls.
    Guys were playing in their underwear (really!). The other guy we
    played with has a set of MINT 1967 VIP MacGregor woods and irons.
    The tees we played were about 6650 with no roll and some wind, so
    it was a stern test, but not for the Golf Mag guy, who shot 74.
    You can do anything you want at Bob 'O Link - on the course, or
    in the locker room. Our caddie was the best - boy, could he read
    greens!
    
    Shoreacres - my favorite to play over and over. 6550+ yards of British
    parkland type course with ravines, a Redan par 3, and one of Golf
    Digest's top 100 holes. Beautiful clubhouse right on Lake Michigan.
    It's really hard to describe this course; it's like a Deer Park
    (we saw tracks in the traps). Hit it kinda lousy and made no putts,
    but scraped it straight for 82. This may be on my top 5 all time
    courses.
    
    Olympia Fields North Course - About 6700 yds of trouble with no
    roll and another top 100 hole and very (!!) strong 4's! Drive it
    long and straight here, or you're dead. Fantastic par 70 rated about
    73 with real tough bentgrass rough off each fairway. I loved it,
    and thought there were a ton of great holes, especially on the back
    side. Largest lockerroom in the country (22000 square feet) with
    a great pro shop and super people. Another 82 here with no putts,
    but starting to hit it real strong.
    
    Medinah #3 - THE BEST GOLF COURSE I HAVE EVER SEEN ANYWHERE IN THE
    WORLD! PERIOD! 7018 from the regular tees and rated 76+ with perfect
    fairways and no roll. 18 great holes and par 4's that absolutely
    kill you! Par threes are perfect, 3 of the 5's are unreachable (580+
    yds; yeah, I know about all the big hitters out there that hit it
    275 on airport runways, but this is a GOLF COURSE!). We hooked up
    with a guy who turned out to be Club Champ, and a 2, and could he
    play! Not ultra long, but he shot 76 with 3 birds and a triple on
    the back! I just can't do Medinah #3 justice, and to prove it I
    shot 86 with almost no putts and hit it as well as I can.
    
    Inverness - How good is 4 U.S. Opens and 2 P.G. A.'s? This turned
    out to be unreal, with maybe the best group of par 4's we saw anywhere.
    Real lush and soft, a 420 par 4 turns into a 450+ nightmare! Hit
    it real solid, but my short game went to the bar early, so I shot
    85. Believe me, Inverness is a MUST - a real pure test of golf.
    
     Back spasms knocked me out for our last day at Chillicothe, but
    the trip was super. The best part was that until Inverness, we didn't
    pay a cart fee or greens fee (but I DO have shirts from these Shrines).
    At least we got free drinks, lunch and dinner at Inverness.
    
     Hope this is amusing, guys.
    
    --Jack. 

         Jack,
    
               Thanks for the results. Since I have never played any of
    the courses that you mentioned, how would you compare them to, say
    the International or Pleasant Valley ? It might help those of us
    who have never played the courses that you just mentioned get some
    better understanding of what it is like to play. 
     
    
    
                        Ken
    

     All of 'em are light years better than IGC - better design, more
    fair, more fun to play over and over, more challenge (is there a
    worse par 4 anywhere than #8 at IGC ? 1300 acres of land - and a
    normal course requires less than 150 - yet they ran out of room
    at IGC on #8), and better condition. I've played IGC a lot of times,
    and I like two par 3's and the fact that it's pretty, but that's
    about it. As far as I'm concerned, they could have built Augusta
    National there, but they built Augusta Mess! great bar though; Johnnie
    Walker Black is a "well drink"...
    
     Pleasant Valley is kind of a contrast. Great piece of land, but
    too many blind shots. I've played PV, and I think it's pretty hard
    - just not great. Whitinsville has 9 better holes, in my opinion.
    Around here the only real comparisons would be Worcester C.C. and
    Oak Hill. Both of these from the tips MIGHT be as good as Skokie
    or Bob O' Link from the regular tees, but not even close in condition.
    Worcester also has some pretty dorky members, and a Pro who can
    be a pain in the butt. Now, courses around Boston, that's another
    story... The nicest 9 holes I ever played might be the front 9 at
    Myopia Hunt.
    
    --Jack.

You really have to set foot on a championship course to appreciate how
unique they are (and how pedestrian our "normal" courses are). Well
designed and well conditioned courses are absolutely breathtaking! And
they also provide a level of challenge that make this the best golf
has to offer.

I walked several holes of Worcester CC during the Mass Am and was very
impressed by the demands Donald Ross designed into the track, and how the
superb condition of the course (speed and contours) effected play.

I guess I had learned: a few years earlier I had teased a very good golfer
about how much acreage of The Country Club he had seen while shooting 82-77
at the Mass Am. The next summer I saw TCC during the US Open and realized
just how good his scores really were. The constant demands these special
courses place on one's game completely challenge even the good golfer.

It is a feeling that is difficult to describe. The intensity naturally
rises. You need to visualize and execute course mangement strategy right
from the tee, good drives are rewarded with fair approaches from close
cropped fairways, errant tee shots result in tougher approaches due
to distance or hazards, the greens are quick but roll oh so true ...
everything is different. You can feel right away when you step onto a
major league course!

I too am envious. The Ohio trip played some very special layouts that most
of us will never experience. Thanks for sharing it with us (and please feel
free to tell us more about the trip)!

Thanks Again!

Eric