Whose the Richest of Them All?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, whose the richest of them all?

I have just come into possession of the golf club equivalent of Snow White's mirror and it is very revealing regarding the U.S. based courses on the world top 100. The list shows the assets on the balance sheet of the top courses in the U.S. Unfortunately, the mirror only works for clubs in the United States so we can't do a complete world ranking. You can let your breath out now over at the R & A and Honourable Company, your secrets are still safe!

Pine Valley and Cypress Point may be #1 and #2 in the world rankings, but The Olympic Club of San Francisco puts them to shame in the asset department. The Olympic Club boasts $122 million in assets on its balance sheet. It exceeds the next richest club by almost a factor of four, with Congressional Country Club coming in at $31 million. Southern Hills in Oklahoma at #5 with $22 million? Things seem to be going pretty well in the in the oil patch these days!

After some detective work and sleuthing I found this interesting information. Most golf clubs in the U.S. are organized as non-for-profit enterprises. As such, they are required to file information with the US government each year and it is publicly available information if you know where to look. The list above excludes municipally or corporate-owned entities such as Bethpage Black, World Woods, Pinehurst and Pebble Beach. Sand Hills was too new to be included in the list.

Augusta is excluded from the analysis because it was formed as a Georgia corporation from its inception. Since their intent from the beginning was to host the Invitational Tournament as it was called, they (correctly) figured it made more sense. Little did they know it was a good thing too, since Martha Burke and her PC crew would have created a bigger stir if it was a non-profit entity.

The asset values listed also exclude the current market value of the land the courses are on, which in some cases would be in the mid-eight-digit range.

Just like trying to get on the course, some of the clubs did a good job of making it very difficult to obtain the above information (Pine Valley, Seminole, The National Golf Links, Baltusrol, Medinah, Merion, Shoreacres and Inverness). But, like trying to play the course, my persistence paid off and I was able to obtain it after jumping through an additional layer of red tape.

The list is below:

1. Olympic Club $122 million
2. Congressional C.C. $31 million
3. Medinah $29 million
4. Brookline $24 million
5. Southern Hills $22 million
6. Baltimore $22 million
7. Winged Foot $20 million
8. East Lake $20 million
9. Merion $20 million
10. Los Angeles C.C. $18 million
11. Baltusrol $15.5 million
12. Oak Hill $15 million
13. Scioto $13 million
14. Oakmont $11 million
15. Pine Valley $11 million
16. Garden City $10 million
17. Wade Hampton $10 million
18. Inverness $10 million
19. Maidstone $9 million
20. Cypress Point $9 million
21. Prairie Dunes $9 million
22. Seminole $8.8 million
23. Muirfield Village $8 million
24. Fishers Island $7 million
25. Shinnecock $6.8 million
26. The Valley Club of Montecito $6.5 million
27. San Francisco $6 million
28. Peachtree $6 million
29. Quaker Ridge $5 million
30. The Golf Club $5 million
31. Chicago Golf Club $5 million
32. Shoreacres $5 million
33. Camargo Club $4.4 million
34. Somerset Hills $4.3 million
35. Crystal Downs C.C. $3.5 million
36. National Golf Links of America $2 million

When you think about it the list isn't that surprising. Those clubs that are low key and don't host championships generally have a smaller balance sheet. Those at the top of the list are generally larger clubs, host major championships and are in large metropolitan areas. If you ever wondered why courses let the U.S.G.A. or P.G.A. take over for six months and disrupt the club and environs, here's one of your reasons why.

The only club that I could not obtain the information for was Oakland Hills. They have apparently found a way to keep this information away from nosey fools such as myself. And, I still haven't been able to play the course.

To them, I say, touché. Our golf hats off to you. Well done, boys.

Top 100 Golfer Podcast

Top 100 Golfer had the opportunity recently to be interviewed by Fred Greene who operates a golf podcast GolfSmarterPodcast.com, which is the #1 amateur sports podcast in the world.

Click below to listen to the interview which runs about 30 minutes. Once the main screen appears click on List of Podcasts and you will see the interview.


Top 100 Golfer Interview

You can listen to the interview either on your PC or download it from the iTunes Store download section.

Hopefully, I didn't give away too many secrets during the interview.

Inverness Club

18th hole and Inverness clubhouse at dusk

As I was driving from Detroit Metro Airport to Toledo, Ohio a friend called me on my cell phone. He asked where I was and I told him and started laughing with joy. He thought I should be in a rubber-padded room being excited about driving between two rust-belt cities. Obviously he's not a golf fanatic.

Playing the top 100 has really given me a new perspective on life. Yes, I am truly excited to travel to Detroit and Toledo to play great golf. It really has forced me to have a more open mind. The Inverness Club (ranked #58 in the world) is located in a lovely neighborhood of Toledo not far from the University of Toledo.

Inverness is a Donald Ross gem originally designed in 1919. The course has been changed over the years by Arthur Hills and Tom Fazio as well. Byron Nelson served as the pro at Inverness at one time. Inverness has played host to six major championships - the U.S. Open in 1920, 1931, 1957 and 1979 and the P.G.A. Championship in 1986 and 1993. It also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1973 won by Craig Stadler. Although the winners of the Opens at Inverness are not exactly household names (Edward Ray, Dick Mayer, Hale Irwin and Billy Burke) it is unquestionably a championship golf course.

If I had to sum up Inverness in two words: small greens. Inverness has the smallest greens of any golf course I have ever played. Almost every green is a postage stamp green.

The approach to the 2nd green

Not only is each green very small, but the predominant design feature of the course is well guarded greens with narrow openings that require accurate approaches. Each green has either mounds on both sides or bunkers with high lips as you can see in the pictures above and below. It is a fairly easy driving course, with wide fairways. The trick at Inverness is getting on the greens in regulation. It requires very precise iron play.

Approach to 8th green

I liked the layout and routing at Inverness. I especially liked the 7th hole, which is the #1 handicap. You play your tee shot from an elevated tee. The ideal tee shot favors the right side of the fairway, but in shades of Carnoustie, you have to flirt with a burn that snakes subtly throughout the entire course. The second shot is straight uphill and really favors an approach from the right as opposed to left side of the fairway since a big sycamore tree sits at the top of a plateau protecting the green.

The approach to the 7th green

As is customary in Ross's designs, Inverness has its fair share of holes with shaved areas around the small greens such as the one below on the 4th hole.

The 4th green

Sorry to disappoint, but no jokes about Toledo. It seems like a perfectly nice middle-America city to me. I very much enjoyed playing Inverness, although I didn't hit many of the greens in regulation. Inverness is another good example of how technology is ruining tournament golf. This gem of a course can no longer host professional tournaments because technology has made it too short, which is a shame.

Inverness is a private club and you are required to play with a member.

The club's web site

College Football is Killing Me!

To add insult to injury, my beloved college football team lost again last Saturday! Unfortunately, I witnessed the defeat in person as my team came into town to face the nation's #3 BCS team. It was a huge loss because it knocked us out of the coveted Rose Bowl.

At least we kept it respectable. We actually led at halftime but we couldn't keep the 'mo going through four quarters. Regardless, we lost and my depression has found new depths of despair. I don't feel like writing about anything right now, let alone golf! In fact, I vow never to write again until my team wins again. With only one more game left in the season, it may be indeed a very long time...

In the meantime, enjoy a newly updatedSwingvision video of Briny Baird hitting an iron off the tee. Oh yeah, Happy Friggin' Thanksgiving.

North Berwick and Prestwick - The Cradle of Golf

North Berwick

Two of the unquestionably best golf courses in the world, both located in Scotland, are curiously not ranked in the world's top 100. North Berwick, located a couple of miles south of Muirfield on the east coast and Prestwick, located immediately adjacent to Royal Troon on the west coast.

Perhaps it is because the courses are too short - Prestwick is 6,554 yards and North Berwick 6,420. Or perhaps because they don't host championships any more, they are overlooked. Or perhaps those that rank the courses for the magazines sadly underweight history and tradition.

Both courses were clearly great 100 years ago. The famous British amateur champion of that era, Horace Hutchinson, wrote at the time - "A man is less likely to be contradicted in lauding Prestwick than in singing the praises of any other course in Christendom." The question is, are they still great courses today?

If you like courses with a lot of cement cart paths or if you like Donald Trump over-hyped golf courses, you won't appreciate these so you can stop reading now. If, however, you are a student of the game, appreciate tradition and want to have some of the best golfing experiences of your lifetime, I highly recommend both courses.

Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club, founded in 1851 is the birthplace of the Open Championship (British Open). The first Open was held at Prestwick in 1860 and was won by Old Tom Morris. Prestwick hosted the first 12 Open Championships and in total has hosted 24 Opens, second only to The Old Course at St. Andrews.

Playing at Prestwick is like going back in time. The course has a timeless feel to it and is hallowed ground for golfers.

One of the best opening holes in golf

The first hole at Prestwick is one of the world's great starting holes, even to this day. It is a short par four at only 346 yards. The name of the hole is Railway, and it is aptly named. You tee off about 10-15 steps from the clubhouse, usually with caddies or other players watching. It is also not uncommon to have members sitting in the smoke room who are also watching through a large picture window. As is typical in Britain, since there is no driving range, you have to hit your tee shot without warming up. The right side of the hole is out of bounds from tee to green since a railroad line runs down the coast toward Turnberry. Between you and the railway there is a stone wall the entire length of the hole. Making the hole even more difficult is the fact that the left side of the fairway is protected by a large swath of gorse bushes, taking away the potential strategy of playing to the left. It is a good test to see if you are on your game, hitting an iron under these conditions. I rank it among the top three first holes in the world (the other two being the opening tee shots at Merion and The Old Course at St. Andrews).

The British golf writer Henry Longhurst has said of the first at Prestwick - "A tremendous wind is blowing and the slightest letting up will see your ball sailing away like a seagulls feather across the down platform of Prestwick station."

The first green at Prestwick

Horace Hutchinson also wrote extensively about the first - "The crime against which we have to chiefly be on our guard is that of slicing. There is apt to be an engine snorting loudly on the other side of the wall just as we are playing a critical and curly putt and the said putt is none easier from the engine having liberally besprinkled the green with cinders."


Fortunately, the trains are now all electric so we don't have to contend with cinders. But the sensation of playing the first hole remains with the modern golfer. Dell Leigh wrote eloquently about Prestwick's first hole in 1925, "Caddies, who have carried the clubs of champions, lean on the iron railings of their pen behind, taking stock of you. All along your right (or slicing hand), in terrible proximity, runs the railway line, over which rush whistle-blasting engines. Was it not Vardon who put his first two balls out of bounds on these same railway lines, and won the championship in spite of that?. Even if you play warily to the left here you have a grimly narrow opening to the green, and you are off the line of entry."

Detractors of Prestwick will tell you that they don't like the course because you can hit an iron off too many tees and granted, the eighteenth hole is a weak finishing hole. They will criticize the blind par three fifth hole, named Himalayas. The critics are wrong in my view. The place is worthy of being ranked among the top golf courses in the world. I will guarantee that you will think about Prestwick long after the memory of other courses fade. The sixteenth green, "Cardinal's Back":

It is interesting to note that when early American golf aficionados came to study the courses of The British Isles, among the courses they studied were Prestwick. Charles Blair Macdonald replicated two of the holes at Prestwick in his ideal golf course - The National Golf Links of America: the third hole, Cardinal, and the seventeenth, Alps. While some holes at Prestwick haven't stood the test of time, these two most certainly have. Both are excellent risk/reward holes that demand well played shots over difficult and massive bunkers.

The Alps hole is built on such a massive scale, it remains better than all attempts to copy it around the world. The seventeenth is seen greenside, below:

Pete Dye was also influenced by Prestwick where apparently he was inspired by the railway sleepers (ties as we call them in America) used to shore up bunkers. The course remains an important place in the history of the game and for this reason architects continue to study it.

Prestwick also allows you to appreciate its history to the fullest extent possible. If you book in advance, you can have lunch in the member dining room, shown below. You must wear a jacket and tie, and the hastle of changing into them is worth the trouble. You sit at a long table that seats 32 with dozens of pictures of past club captains in the dark green room. After lunch you can enjoy a Kummel (nasty) and a cigar as you contemplate your afternoon round and subliminally think - don't slice off that first tee.



North Berwick Golf Links

Similar in many respects to Prestwick, the West Links at North Berwick is an old, traditional golf course in the links style, founded in 1832. It is home to the most copied golf hole in history: the 15th hole at North Berwick is the original Redan hole. A Redan hole is a long par three (this one is 192 yards) that has a large bunker in front of the green and a deep bunker beyond the short side of the green. The green generally slopes from front-right to back-left. It is a hole that is approached diagonally and is quite difficult. At least 15 courses ranked in the top 100 have a Redan hole and I have heard often about how various Redan holes are better than the original. I don't agree with any of it. The original is the best.



One of the defining features of the North Berwick West Links are the stone walls that are throughout the course. In several instances you have to hit your shots over the stone walls. On the 13th hole, a stone wall protects the green. If you hit your shot to the right (wrong?) spot on this hole you will have to either chip or putt off the green through an opening in the stone wall. It is a lot of fun.



The sixth hole is also a very good one. It is a short par four where more likely than not you will be hitting your second shot from a downhill lie, over a small burn to a green that slopes down to the burn.

The 16th hole, close to The Marine Hotel, which looms over the course from a promontory nearby, has one of the most interesting greens you will ever encounter. The green is bisected by a gully which creates two distinct tiers that are separated from one another. If your ball is on the wrong side of the gully, you will have a miniature-golf style putt. Think it's silly? It's not, it's a blast.

Hutchinson captured the essence of North Berwick and it still rings true today - "It is an exceptionally good school in which to learn the art of approaching." Clearly, at 6,420 yards, driving is not of paramount importance, but hitting good and often creative approach shots, is.

North Berwick, like Prestwick, does have some weak holes, most notably the first and finishing holes. Its detractors will tell you that it is not a good test of golf. No doubt, these detractors have never played the course when the wind is up, which is the real defense of links courses. There are few places in the world to play like North Berwick that are magical and will inspire you to keep going out again and again to play.

North Berwick Golf Club Scorecard

North Berwick Golf Club Web Site

Prestwick Golf Club Web Site

Credits: The sensational pictures in this posting that capture the spirit of North Berwick are from Golf Club Atlas.

On Hiatus from the Agony of Defeat...

Last Saturday, my top-10 BCS-ranked college football team went down in flames to a crappy inter-conference team that my high school team could beat. It was an embarrassing defeat that shot our season to holy hell. This comes on top of my pathetic NFL team scrapping the very bottom of the AFC cellar. As a result, I've been sent into a very deep and dark depression. As you can understand, the last thing I want to do right now is write about friggin' golf!

I apologize to the handful of souls who visit this site weekly. However, I have made an appointment to see my therapist and maybe she'll bring me out of this funk soon. In the meantime, enjoy the Eye of the Tiger post that I have updated with a video of Tiger Woods swinging the driver. You can learn so much from these videos! Good luck, and bye for now...

المدينة المنورة‎ (Medinah Country Club)

I flew to Chicago for this?

The Club and Clubhouse

Medinah Country Club (ranked #52 in the world) is located in suburban Chicago. Medinah is a private member owned country club which has three golf courses featuring 640 acres of property and 18,000 trees. Medinah was founded in 1925 by the Shriners, who thought it would be interesting to build a clubhouse with an unusual style of architecture. The clubhouse is certainly one of the most unique in the world of golf at 60,000 square feet. It has an eclectic style evocative of the near east and contains elements of many architectural styles including Italian, Oriental, Louis XIV and Eastern. The club was named after the holy city of Islam in Saudi Arabia by the same name. Medinah is the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca and is famous for the presence of the shrine of Mohammad, known as the Green Dome, thus the likeness to the Medinah clubhouse. Like Mecca, Medinah permits only Muslins to enter. You can enter Medinah Country Club, however, if you are the guest of a member.

I am always excited about finally being able to play courses that have hosted major championships and that I have seen on TV. The clubhouse at Medinah displays its history to very good affect with memorabilia from Tiger's victories and many other historic pictures and collectables. The interior of the clubhouse is striking and it does impress, as you can see below.

Under the Green Dome

The Entry Foyer

At 60,000 square feet, it has room for everything. The pictures below were taken in the ball room of the clubhouse that is quite grand; it even has a stage for performances.

I especially like the architectural detailing of the pilasters in the ball room seen above and below.

History of A Championship Course

All three courses at Medinah were designed by Tom Bendelow. The course has hosted the US Open three times (1949, 1975 and 1990), the PGA twice (1999 and 2006, both won by Tiger Woods) and will play host to the Ryder Cup in 2012. The #3 championship course is one of the longest in championship golf at 7,500+ yards. One of the key features of the course is the man-made Lake Kadijah that comes into play several times, including early in the round on the second hole, seen below.

The par three second hole

I can see why Medinah hosts major championships. The world's best players like to bomb the ball and Medinah definitely has length. In addition, the greens are fast. There is plenty of room for tents, parking, concession stands, etc. The clubhouse, locker room and practice facilities are all world class and it is close to a major airport, actually quite close to one of the biggest in the world - O'Hare.

Holy Shit!

Unfortunately, hosting a big tournament and a great golf course are two separate and unique things. Medinah is not a great golf course and is completely overrated. It suffers from the same thing Wentworth does - it's a great course to host a professional tournament - it can handle large crowds, etc., but the course has no personality and requires no imagination to play it. I am not taking anything away from the club and the PGA and USGA for hosting tournaments there; no doubt it's a great choice for what they are trying to achieve. The problem is, the course is weak. Certainly long, but weak when compared to the world's other great courses.

I found the par threes to be BORING. Holes 2, 13 and 17 are almost identical par threes. All require you to hit a tee shot over the man-made lake to an uninteresting green. By the time you get to the 17th tee you think to yourself, "This looks familiar." Actually, it is familiar since you've played near identical holes at #2 and #13. These are the signature holes?

The 10th hole is the least idyllic hole I have ever played in my life. At Maidstone you experience the Atlantic Ocean lapping along the sands. At Casa de Campo, the waves crash around you. At Crystal Downs you have the beautiful view of the countryside and lake below. At Medinah, you get the noise of US-20, which runs down the entire left side of the hole. The lovely tee box is shown below.

While playing this hole, it was so loud I couldn't even hear my playing partner when he spoke. The same din from the highway is present on the 15th green and 16th tee. The hole is actually a pretty good par five; you just can't appreciate it with all the noise.

Like Wentworth, the other issue I found at Medinah is that there are a lot of jets flying over head. It is apparently directly over a landing pattern for O'Hare. O'Hare has parallel runways and often times you will see not one, but two low-flying jets. Sometimes, planes can be charming when near a golf course. I have played both the Old Course at St. Andrews and Royal Dornoch with the sounds of RAF jets taking off and landing and found it actually added to the ambiance. At the Moray Golf Club in Scotland, a runway from RAF Lossiemouth. It is at the end of one of the fairways. I found it exhilirating to have a fighter jet take off occasionally. I didn't find that here, probably because a plane flew overhead about every 30 seconds all day. I took the picture below from the 12th fairway. Notice the landing gear down and the passengers waving to us below.

I found the course to be shitty the day I played. Not shitty in the figurative sense. Shitty in the literal sense. To be precise, shit from Canadian geese was everywhere. I'm sure there are times when the course is in immaculate condition. Unfortunately, I was not there during one of them. I'm sure I will be accused of being unfair, but I can only call it by what I see firsthand. If you will allow me the liberty to repeat myself for emphasis: There were turds on every tee box, there was feces in the fairways and there was poop on the putting greens. Lest I be accused of making this up, through the wonders of my digital camera I present as exhibit 'A' the 8th green seen below.

Why doesn't the course invest in some border collies and be done with the geese? We played this green at about 1:00pm, so there was plenty of time for the greenskeeping staff to clear it off. Perhaps they were pre-occupied with the squirrels. Several of the greens had fairly significant holes in them, apparently from squirrels who thought they would be a good place to bury acorns. I kid you not.

While I am not a golf course architect, I can sum up what's wrong with the course with an analysis of the 15th hole. A 392 yard par four, it has a large stand of trees on the left side of the fairway, some of which overhang, making an approach shot from the left side of the hole difficult. The bunkers were also put on the left side, under the trees, leaving the entire right side of the hole open, with no hazards. A drive to the right leaves a clear shot to the slightly elevated green. It doesn't take a genius to see that this is not brilliant design. It would probably have been better to put the bunkers on the right side of the fairway to cause the golfer to hit the ball left and thus have a more restricted shot at the green. Or to require a precise shot in the middle of the fairway. All you have to do is aim right and you're fine. My point is, when a layman notices stuff like that, it's probably not a sign of brilliance in architecture.

In the interest of fairness, the trees at Medinah are beautiful, and they do create a park-like effect overall. I found the 12th hole interesting; it has a big slope from the left side of the fairway to the right side the entire length of the hole as you can see if you look at the cart riding toward the green. The picture was taken from the green looking back.

The 14th is an interesting par four with good use of the hilly terrain and a challenging shot to an elevated green. The 16th and 18th aren't bad and again are routed in an interesting fashion as are some of the elevated greens on the course, as pictured below.

As you've probably guessed by now, I didn't like Medinah. I was actually so taken aback after playing that I actually had to double check that I indeed had played the championship course - #3, since Medinah has multiple courses.

Indeed, I had.

To make my day even more special, we were paired up with a "gentleman" who had gotten on the course as an unaccompanied guest through "a friend of a friend of a friend," as he put it. The "sausage king of Chicago", he was a local purveyor of fine meats stuffed in animal intestines. He did a perfectly good impression of Tony Soprano on the golf course. He rode in a cart, although he could certainly have used the exercise. He had a cell phone strapped to his belt and would occasionally talk into it walkie-talkie style to provide color commentary to his friends "Joey, I'm on the 14th tee at Medinah, you know what I mean?" He wore a button down shirt with the first six (of seven) buttons un-buttoned so you could see his lovely white tee shirt. And the shirt was intentionally not tucked in all day. Call me a snob if you like, but this pretty much sums up everything in golf I don't like in a playing partner. Thank goodness, at least he played fast.

If you go to play Medinah I suggest doing so during baseball season. Go to Wrigley Field and see a Cubs game so the trip won't be a total disappointment.

And be sure to scrub your hands very good after playing to remove all the fecal matter.

Supinate The Wrist: The Key to a Solid Swing

As I have written before, all great swings, whether they be single-plane/two-plane, steep/flat or fast/slow, have one thing in common: the hands are ahead of the ball at impact.

It is truly a key position for proper ball-striking. Equally as important, if not more important, is the fundamental action that produces this key position.

It is a wrist/forearm motion known as supination. Ben Hogan emphasized that through impact, the left wrist and the back of the left hand (of a right-handed golfer) should gradually supinate. In other words, they rotate from nearly a palm-down position toward more of a palm-up position coming into the ball. At impact, the back of the left hand faces toward the target and the knuckles of the left hand should face the ground.

In addition, the left wrist should be flat or bowed through impact. In the April 1956 issue of Golf Digest, Hogan wrote, "I've noticed one thing that all good golfers do and all bad golfers do not. The good ones have their left wrist leading at impact. It seems a small thing, but I've found it to be universally true. At impact the left wrist of a good player is slightly convex, while that of a poor player is generally concave."

This is all easier said than done. Proper supination with a flat or bowed left wrist is an advanced concept and one that it very difficult for the average golfer to learn. The vast majority of golfers instinctively flip their left wrists forward through impact believing that such an action will produce the optimal results: maximum distance and trajectory. Unfortunately, this couldn't be any farther from the truth. As with most things in golf, intuition must be thrown out the window. Instead, think of rotating your left wrist without breaking it.

Supination is probably the single most important action in the proper golf swing. Unfortunately, it is also probably the least understood. If you are a golfer and have never heard of "supination" before, you owe it to yourself to fully understand this concept and ensure that it is a part of your swing. If you need hands-on assistance, your friendly neighborhood PGA teaching professional is your best bet. In the meantime, check out this helpful tip on supination. Also, here's a good reference for all the wrist actions in the golf swing: The 6 Actions of the Wrists and Forearms.

Is Tiger Bad for Golf? Ask Greg Norman

Golf has been an interest of mine since childhood. My grandfather was a golf nut and he passed the bug onto me. However, I wasn't completely bitten. I enjoyed whacking balls at the range once in a while, but that was about the extent of my golf passion. The simple truth was that chicks dug guys who played other sports, so golf naturally took a back seat.

Then in 1996, I was channel surfing on a lazy weekend and caught the final match of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pumpkin Ridge G.C. I had heard of this golf phenom named Tiger before, and this was my first opportunity to see what all the hoopla was about.

I was instantly mesmerized by Tiger's perfectly textbook swing. I was in awe as he routinely drove the ball over 300 yards, an amazing feat at the time. However, his opponent Steve Scott finished five up after the morning 18 holes. With another 18 to play, it didn't look good for Tiger. But Tiger came roaring back with some truly incredible putting. It was one of the most exciting sports moments that I had ever seen. I was so inspired by Tiger's masterful and passioned performance that I dusted off my hand-me-down Hogan blades and persimmon woods and headed to the range.

10 years later I'm a certified golf nut. I play golf or watch it on TV whenever I get a chance. I subscribe to Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and Golf World. As a self-taught golfer, I study golf instruction material like a PhD student. I research and experiment with golf equipment to eek out every possible performance gain. I write a freakin' golf blog for chissake! I can trace all this mania back to that one magical day in 1996 at Pumpkin Ridge.

Not only is Tiger Woods the reason that I developed a passion for golf, he was the main catalyst for golf's resurgence over the last 10 years. However, it seems that golf has been stuck in neutral lately. Greg Norman recently voiced his opinions on the subject. Surprisingly, he hints that Tiger is to blame! Is this just another case of a bitter old fart longing for the "good old days"? As a whole, I don't think that you can argue that Tiger hasn't been anything less than a boon to golf. People always prefer tigers over sharks anyway.

Golf de Morfontaine - Vive la France?

The 3rd hole at Morfontaine

I am adding a new feature to the blog to help give some insight into how I go about trying to get access to play some of the more difficult courses on the top 100 list. When I set about this quest I figured that Augusta National would be the most difficult to get on and that's probably true, although I do have two outside chances that I continue to pursue, but not too aggressively because it's bad form to ask to get on. I have a couple of things cooking to get me on to Pine Valley and, god willing, I am tentatively scheduled for Cypress Point in 2007. When I complete all 100 I will reveal some of my secrets to gaining access and how I was able to get on to some of the more private courses. I already consider myself lucky to have gained access to some very exclusive and difficult courses to get on such as Fishers Island, Los Angeles Country Club and The National Golf Links of America.

As I started this quest I made up a list of courses and broke them down into various categories - 'easy to get on', 'possible', 'difficult' and 'no clue'. The private courses in Japan go into the 'no clue' category as do several private US courses that I don't even have the remotest contact at. Morfontaine also goes into this category.

In an occasional series I will keep you appraised of how I am doing trying to get access to the course. Ranked #47 in the world, Morfontaine Golf Club is located in the Chantilly region of France, about 30 miles north of Paris and 10 miles south of Senlis. It has a reputation as being a very private club that visitors cannot play without a member. Or as they say in the native tongue: Club privé exclusivement réservé aux membres. I have heard great things about Morfontaine. It was designed in 1927 by Tom Simpson. I am a great admirer of other courses that Simpson has had a hand in - namely Cruden Bay and Ballybunion, so I thought this would be a good one to pick and attempt to play sooner rather than later.

The clubhouse at Morfontaine

Finding Golf Club de Morfontaine is not an easy task. I was able to obtain a picture of the clubhouse, shown above, from GolfClubAtlas.com. Again, in the local venacular, there is pas de site web to go online and find out information about the club and no email address. The closest I have found is a picture of the course from satellite. Click to see the Google maps. The hybrid or satellite view works best. aerial image of Golf Club de Morfontaine. If you look carefully you will see 27 holes. Nine holes were created in 1910 and an additional 18 holes, the world ranked course, in 1927.

In any event, I was able to locate the club's phone number (0033 344 54 68 27) so I figured I would just phone them up and see if they would let me come out and play. Mind you, this is not a completely irrational thing to do. After all, even such esteemed European courses such as Muirfield and Royal County Down will take your call and respond to your email and explain their booking procedures. Since I don't speak French, I had a French speaking female associate call on my behalf and see if we could politely book a tee time. I wanted to approach them with the utmost respect, which we did, and was completely flexible as to the date and time I was available to play.

Well, let's just say her inquiries were met with what can best be described as a chilly reception. I'm not sure of the exact English translation of what they told her but it's the rough equivalent of something that I can't print here. We were somewhat put off as this stance is so much at odds with the founding tenets of the French Republic - liberté, égalité, fraternité. After all - all the world's golfers share a fraternité do they not?

Well, at least we know where we stand.

Not easily put off I thought I would enlist the help of the American Embassy in Paris. This one I could do myself since they speak English. Morfontaine has long had a tradition of offering the current US ambassador a membership so they could play golf in the spirit of good relations. I'm not sure whether this tradition continues to this day, but I thought it was worth a shot. The US Ambassador would not take my call and I was transferred to the American Citizen Services Office of the Consular section which provides information and assistance to U.S. citizens in France. While the gentleman that took my call didn't tell me to go 'F' myself directly, he made it clear that he could be of no assistance.

Having struck out on the first two attempts it confirmed that this one was indeed going to be difficult. How exactly does one go about finding a member of Morfontaine? Before pursuing that I have one or two other ideas to pursue to find a way on.

I will let you know how I make out...

Click here for my 2007 writeup after playing the course.

Viewer Mail: Anonymous Writes...

Grouchy Golf welcomes your grouchy golf observations. If you have a grouchy golf observation that you would like to be posted on Grouchy Golf, please email it to the address in the sidebar. Remember, all submissions become the property of Grouchy Golf. Submissions chosen for publication may be edited for length and clarity.

The following grouchy golf observation was submitted by an anonymous grouchy golfer. I think that all golfers can relate to his story. I sure know that Darren Clarke does!

Shanks a Lot!

A little background - I am a 4 handicap, and over the winter my swing had become "unorthodox". I started standing closer to the ball, with less hip sway etc. The changes were amazing and I started playing some amazing golf. I was getting under par during some rounds, but I was just having a little trouble scoring. No biggy.

Well a week ago it all suddenly went to the crapper. I showed up at the range one day before a round and hit hosel rockets with everything. I headed out to the course and it was as if they were not there. They came and went for a few more days. Then on Saturday, I shanked so many I shot 49 on the front nine of my home course. I came back with a 37, and thought they were through. Next day I hit a few more but nothing bad.

First day of my tournament came, on Monday. I was a little nervous about shanking, but nothing came up, and I was 1 over on the front nine. I hit some more lack luster irons on the back, but nothing major round, for a 43, and an 80. I was very disappointed.

Second day was yesterday. No range at the course so no warm up. I hit a 3 wood right down the pipe on the opening short par 5. I then heeled a 3 wood so bad off the deck it dribbled into the hazard about 30 yards ahead of me. I dropped, hit two shanks, and ended up with a triple bogey. Next hole I hit a driver so far off the heel. Punched out, and had 140 to the flag. I hit another shank, flubbed a chip, and three putter for a triple. I heeled another drive on the next hole, and had to lay up. I then shanked a gap wedge and made another triple. I started with 3 triples. Next hole I actually hit a somewhat flush drive, landed in a divot, hit into another divot next to the green made bogey. I then bogeyed the next par 3. I then made a par on a par 5. Then I made an 8 on a par 3, shanking a few O.B. I ended up with a 54 on the front nine. At that point I almost just through my clubs in a lake and walked in. I decided to forge ahead, and shot a shank filled 40 on the back.

I went and played today and was probably around 50 for nine holes before quitting. I am seriously thinking of just walking away from golf for the first time in my life. I am not having any fun right now.

Correct Shaft Flex: Stiff or Regular? Can You Handle the Truth?

One of the biggest equipment faux pas that golfers make is playing with golf shafts that are too stiff for their swing. Most of this can be directly traced to the golfer's ego. Just like there are no men driving VW Beetles with those dainty flower holders, the macho factor won't allow male golfers to play anything less than a stiff flex.

However, it is important to understand just how shaft flexibility affects performance. After all, the shaft is often known as the "engine" of the golf club.

Theodore P. Jorgensen authored a book called "The Physics of Golf." He conducted several experiments to demonstrate that the shaft of the golf club during the golf swing actually bends forward at impact. Jorgensen provides a graph indicating that the clubhead lags behind the hands at the start of the downswing. However, by the time that the club is about horizontal to the ground, the clubhead catches up to the hands and eventually leads the shaft at impact.

This is counterintuitive to what most people believe. While all golfers acknowledge that the clubhead lags at the start of the downswing, most assume that it continues to lag until well after impact. Furthermore, it is commonly assumed that the more flexible the shaft, the more that the clubhead lags throughout the swing. Golfers assume these things because that's what it feels like during the swing. However, as with many things in golf, what you feel is not always what is real.

In reality, the shaft unloads during the downswing and kicks forward by impact, regardless of swing speed or shaft flex rating. Our hands simply cannot outpace the clubhead as the shaft unloads during the golf swing. In fact, the more flexible the shaft, the more that the clubhead will kick forward, increasing velocity and effective loft. Therefore, all other things being equal, softer shafts provide more distance and a higher trajectory than their stiffer siblings. This applies to all human-generated swing speeds, including that of Tiger Woods. Tiger himself acknowledges this phenomenon writing, "If I had weaker shafts I'd hit the ball farther just because there's more flex in the shaft and more kick in a regular-flex shaft than in the stiff shafts I use."

So why doesn't Tiger switch to "senior" flex shafts? While a more flexible shaft will provide more distance, the tradeoff is less control. It is simply much more difficult to control the clubface at impact with a more flexible shaft. The last thing that Tiger wants to do is to miss more fairways! For the rest of us, distance is probably our primary concern. Regardless, it is very important for us to play with the right flex for our unique swings. If you haven't done so already, I recommend that you visit your local golf retailer and receive a proper fitting. Finding the correct flex is fast, easy, and usually free.

Crystal Downs Country Club

The view from atop the opening hill at Crystal Downs

The architect that has designed the most courses on the top 100 list is Alister Mackenzie. Oddly enough, although I have played 54 courses I have not yet played a Mackenzie. Many of the courses he designed are in Australia and I have not yet made the journey. His other U.S. courses, Cypress Point, The Valley Club of Montecito and Augusta are on the difficult side to get on, shall we say?

My first exposure to Dr. Mackenzie is the Crystal Downs Country Club (ranked #24 in the world). Crystal Downs is located in Northern Michigan, not far from Traverse City in the town of Frankfort. The course was founded in 1927 and completed in 1929. Dr. Mackenzie worked with Perry Maxwell on the design and construction of the course.

The terrain that Crystal Downs is built on is hilly. Very hilly. The picture below can give you some appreciation for the terrain. I would say that thus far, the only other course I have played that compares to it in terms of the amount of hills is The Olympic Club. At times when walking Crystal Downs you feel like a billy goat. The course was co-designed by Perry Maxwell who also designed Southern Hills and Prairie Dunes, both of which I played within the last two months. I also see a lot of similarities between the fairways at Prairie Dunes and those at Crystal Downs. It looks like Maxwell had a lot of influence on the fairways and Mackenzie had a greater influence on the greens.

The wild and crazy undulations at Crystal Downs up close

I have recently completed reading Dream Golf by Steve Goodwin which is about the building of the Bandon Dunes resort (I highly recommend the book). One of Goodwin's observations is that architects tend to design courses that favor their game. Nicklaus builds long courses, Charles Blair Macdonald built courses that favored a slicer and Mackenzie designed courses with challenging greens because he was a good putter. The greens at Crystal Downs are difficult enough because the course is built among the hills. The undulations and contouring that Mackenzie and Maxwell added in make them very challenging indeed. One of the things you discover very quickly playing Crystal Downs is that there is a premium placed on putting well. I had better sharpen up my putter for the other 10 Mackenzie courses on the list.

The fifth hole features a blind shot to the green

Crystal Downs also reconfirmed what I have always felt, that blind shots are an integral part of the game and far from representing tricked up holes, are found throughout the top 100 courses, including several holes at Crystal Downs.

I found another hole to add to my list of unique and great golf holes in the world. The seventh hole pictured below has a tree in front of the green in the middle of the fairway. A well struck tee shot in the fairway requires you to hit over the tree onto a small undulating green. At 335 yards, you only have a short iron to the green, so it's a fair shot and genuine fun.

The seventh hole approach to the green, behind the tree

The next hole, the 8th, on the other hand is a patently unfair hole. Clearly the most difficult handicap hole on the course, and by a lot. Sometimes an architect can go too far and I feel that they did so on this hole. The hole is a 550-yard par five that plays uphill, uphill and then uphill with wild slopes throughout the fairway. The green slopes from back to front and is very difficult to hold. Once on the green, it is too fast to hold putts. Every golfer in our group putted off the green. To me, this is too much.

After you complete the front nine you tee off on the tenth tee right next to the clubhouse with a large picture window near the grill area of the clubhouse. The land is built up so that you are standing slightly above the table level of the golfers sitting inside. They are about three feet away from you, but behind glass. You have a tee shot that is gloriously downhill. It is a unique and fine setup and unlike anything I've seen before.

Transported in space and time

Against the advice of the pro we walked the course. Almost everyone else on the course was riding. It turned out to be a very demanding course to walk. After playing the eleventh hole at Crystal Downs, you literally take a hike through the woods. It takes you several minutes to walk to the next tee box. The walk is uphill and idyllic and you are wonderfully isolated. I was not prepared for what we found on the twelfth tee box. We were winded when we reached the tee and sat on a bench on the tee box. It is one of the special places in the world of golf.

Walking through that forest could have been the equivalent of flying across the Atlantic Ocean. The next five holes may as well be at Sunningdale or Walton Heath. The character of the terrain completely changes, the course becomes relatively flat and the mix of plants and trees is reminiscent of the heathlands around London. Lots of silver birch trees, fescue, some heather, etc.

The next five holes are as good as it gets; peaceful and isolated. You can occasionally glimpse Lake Michigan through the trees. We became giddy with excitement as we played this stretch of holes. A fine mix of long and short holes with challenging greens. World class.

The par three fourteenth from the tee

You re-emerge from the forest after walking off the sixteenth green and return to the real world. The seventeenth and eighteenth holes return to the hilly character that the first eleven holes had, making this unique stretch of holes (12-16) even more special.

I also experienced the Mackenzie camouflage effect at Crystal Downs. I didn't find that I hit into many of the bunkers, but their presence really causes you to aim your shots in the wrong direction in a subtle way. On the 12th hole the tree that appears to be in the middle-to-right side of the fairway from the tee is amazingly on the left side of the fairway when you get up to it. On the 4th, 5th and 6th tee shots you almost don't know where to aim off the tee, there is such a mix of trees, bunkers, severe hills and native grasses.

How is it that Dr. Mackenzie got a commission to design a golf course in Northern Michigan in the 1927? Tom Doak, a Michigan resident and member of Crystal Downs, by the way, in his excellent book The Life and Work of Dr. Alister Mackenzie, tells the story. The men that wanted to build a course wrote to Robert Hunter who had just written a book about golf course architecture. It turned out to be a prescient move. Hunter did design work with Mackenzie and recommended him for the job. In a stroke of luck we should all now be thankful for, it turns out Mackenzie was completing his design of Cypress Point and had to make the journey across the U.S. to make his way back to England. He met up with Perry Maxwell en route (Maxwell did a lot of work in the lower midwest) and they made the trip up to Michigan. Mackenzie first met Maxwell a tour of the British Isles in 1923 and Maxwell told him to look him up if he ever came over to the States. Once again, the stars seemed to align for the creation of this great golf course. Upon seeing the land, Mackenzie said that in England they would call this type of land "downs". Since the course overlooks Crystal Lake, the course was named Crystal Downs.

Apparently Mackenzie designed the front nine and then left Maxwell in charge of the construction. Mackenzie made Maxwell his partner "East of the Mississippi" according to his company's letterhead. In any event, the front nine is the clearly harder of the two nines with more difficult greens. Maxwell apparently designed and built the back nine two years later. It's no wonder Doak named his golf course design firm Renaissance. He is indeed a renaissance man, being both a world class designer and a fantastic author.

I have always found people from Michigan staunchly defend and love their home state, almost more so than any other state in the Union. They are hugely supportive of their sports teams, especially their college football teams. Many live there, vacation there and then retire there. It's nice to see such pride in a place. I am happy to report that their pride of place is completely justified at Crystal Downs. It justly deserves its world ranking as one of the best golf courses in the world.

Nick Faldo Joins CBS Sports: Birdie or Bogey?

Last week it was reported that Nick "Han" Faldo joined CBS Sports as its lead golf analyst. This is welcome news for anyone who was a fan of Faldo in the ABC booth and was concerned about his future when ABC bailed out on the PGA Tour. The news only gets sweeter as it means that Faldo replaces Lanny Wadkins, arguably the weakest link of the CBS golf team. Faldo now completes an all-star golf broadcast team that includes David Feherty, Peter Kostis, Bill Macatee, Gary McCord, Peter Oosterhuis, Bobby Clampett, and Jim Nantz. Faldo will take the co-captain's seat in the tower alongside Jim Nantz.

While adding Faldo to the CBS dream-team looks wonderful on paper, there's no guarantee that it will be a match made in heaven. Faldo worked out great at ABC because he injected a needed shot of humor into a broadcast team that was the television alternative to Ambien. Faldo also turned out to be a great foil to the usually serious but opinionated Paul Azinger. Both of them livened up ABC's golf coverage immensely.

However, Faldo will join a CBS team that's already the most entertaining in the business, chock-full of interesting and humorous personalities. David Feherty and Gary McCord are two of the funniest and wittiest sports commentators. I will always remember the time when I saw a pro hit an errant shot on a CBS telecast and then hearing Feherty quip, "Well, it looked good until he hit it." These are the kind of humorous comments that make CBS golf tops in my book. Will adding another funny fellow to the mix be too much?

Living in the heart of the entertainment industry, I have been exposed to the stand-up comedy culture first-hand. Surprisingly, it is a very competitive and cutthroat business where envy, jealousy and ego often turn comics against each other. Yes, comedians secretly want their fellow comedians to bomb. Sometimes, when these people are forced to work together, the results can be disastrous. Several casts of Saturday Night Live are proof of this phenomenon.

But if the chemistry is right, funny people can feed off of each other and produce great entertainment. The Howard Stern Show is one example where it keeps getting better every time they add a new cast member. While it remains to be seen whether the CBS golf team will improve with the addition of Faldo, can you really go wrong hiring someone with a Spinal Tap-esque British accent? Regardless, I can't wait to hear him comment about SwingVision. Also, it'll be interesting to see if Faldo mutters anything "offensive" during the Masters broadcast. Would the "Men of the Masters" dare banish a former Masters champion? I'm sure Gary McCord will take notice.

Fake Tiger Woods Putter?

Anytime someone takes the time and effort to link to this site, I'm extremely appreciative. Well, at least that's what I used to think.

Recently, I came across an eBay listing that linked to the Tiger Woods Scotty Cameron Putter post. To my astonishment, it appears that Grouchy Golf is being used to help sell a fake Tiger Woods Scotty Cameron Putter!

See it for yourself, if it's still available. It's an eBay auction entitled "Scotty Cameron Tiger Woods Red Circle Newport 2 Pro T."

From what I can tell, it's just a dinged-up Scotty Cameron Newport Two Pro Platinum not worth more than a C-note that's been doctored up to look like Tiger's Newport 2 303 GSS. The putter face and the bottom of the putter are the dead giveaways. While this technically may not be a counterfeit Scotty Cameron, it is grossly misleading at best with the seller claiming that "This club is the same club that Tiger Woods used on tour." To those in the know, it is obviously not the Cameron putter model that is in the hands of the world's #1.

It is such a blatant fake that it is laugh-out-loud, rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. It kinda reminds me of those cheesecocks who modified their Pontiac Fieros with cheap-looking fiberglass body panels to make them look like Ferrari Testarossas. Who are these people kidding?! If you're going to copy a Ferrari, at least get the color right. To my knowledge, Ferrari has never produced a car in Puke beige. Can you imagine if this guy tried to pawn this POS off as a bona fide Testarossa? I hope that no one would be fooled into buying it, just like I hope that no one would be fooled into buying that fake Tiger Woods putter.

Pine Valley Golf Club

The Crump Cup

Pine Valley is a very difficult course to gain access to, however, they admit the public once a year to view the final day of the Crump Cup championship. They allow you to walk the course unescorted. The great thing is that there are normally only a handful of matches of the course and you are allowed to walk wherever you want and I generally choose to walk the holes ahead of the match and can usually do so in quiet isolation. I don’t have any pictures of the course to share because they don’t allow you to bring a camera. You are also not allowed in the pro shop or clubhouse. Nevertheless, it may be the only way some of us will ever see the course.


A Reader's Impression of Pine Valley

I am waiting until I play the course to provide my personal impressions of the experience but I would like to share with you the experience of a reader who wrote to me after playing the course a couple of weeks ago. His passion and excitement are reflected in his writing. I can’t wait to play.

"I just returned from a memorable East Coast Swing, albeit short - it was indeed sweet. I now can just sum up all of the top 100 questers in the world like yourself by stating it all ends at Pine Valley. I have now played about 30 top 100's (depending on which year’s list) and Pine Valley definitely stands alone. That includes all of the top 25's that I have seen. It is golf's Holy Grail. It is a Mecca of perfection from A to Z. It is simply the best experience on this planet. Experiencing it ranks number four in my lifetime achievements, behind my wedding and the birth of my two sons. It is not just the course, but the whole package. If you could ever dream up how does it right, just blueprint everything about the place. Starting with the property itself, continuing to clubhouse, the cottages, and the simplicity of what a true great golf experience should be. It has it all. I had the privilege of a Saturday night dinner (that was exceptional yet simple - New York strip med. rare, a fine Bordeaux, incredible pie for dessert) followed by Port and Cuban cigars on the terrace. I was the first to stay overnight in my room in the new cottage building.

Perfection again with a simple room designed only for a comfortable night's sleep (A members mattress company provided the beds and it is so comfortable - many members order them for their own houses). The room only includes a flat screen television and an incredible overhead shower. No locks on any doors, no telephones, nothing written anywhere re. rules, etc. So we awake to breakfast (a small buffet that appeases a simple early a.m. appetite) and then golf. A perfect driving range, large and immaculate, of course with Pro V-1s. Before our early a.m. tee off, I noticed the course workers dragging the fairways to remove the morning dew and dry the fairways. Wow. Have not seen that at Riviera, LACC or anywhere for that matter. Then 18 different holes of absolute perfection. Waste areas, waste areas, waste areas. Perfect fairways, perfect rough, perfect greens. A layout and routing unmatched by any course in the world. With due respect to Old Tom, H.S., C.B., Dr. Mackenzie, Tillie, Raynor and Thomas.........Mr. Crump is the greatest golf architect that ever lived. Pine Valley is all he needed.

The caddies there are as great and colorful as any lot at St. Andrews or Augusta. On the course they even address members by first names and nicknames. It is not about the pomp at Pine Valley, it is about the golf and the nirvana like experience. The only yardage markers you see are codes on a few sprinkler heads.....for the caddies. Wow. No smoking on the golf course. Yes! No rakes on the golf course. Brilliant! After playing many of the holes you may have heard about or seen pictures of in books, magazines, the Golf Atlas on the web, etc., you come to the 13th tee and finish with best of the best. What a string of six finishing holes. Awesome.

I love the fact that there are only 350 members. A perfect amount. And women are not allowed to set foot on the property until Sundays after 1:00 p.m. Annika herself who wanted to play there this year was resigned to only that brief window of time. Love it! Tiger has never seen the course, albeit he has been invited. Trevino played there for the first time last year. I feel blessed, and as if my life is complete having had the whole Pine Valley experience. Passing thru the gates one gets the feeling of achieving a physical and spiritual wholeness. It is truly AWESOME.

If you can, save it for last. Play it after 99 others. Then go to heaven. "