2012: Year of the Tiger Dragon?

According to the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the year of the Dragon and begins on January 23. In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the strongest sign. According to chinesezodiac.com, "Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion."

Does that sound like a certain feline golfer we all know? But Tiger's birthday is today and just missed being born in a dragon year by a month. Born on December 30, 1975, Tiger is technically a Wood Rabbit, a sign sandwiched between the Tiger and the Dragon.

Clearly, the Chinese calendar is slightly off. 2012 will be the Year of the Tiger for a number of reasons. First, Tiger will be well over 2 years removed from that fateful Thanksgiving car crash that sent his life spiraling out of control. Not having TMZ camped in front of your house will do wonders for your golf game, or so I'm told. Second, Tiger will start the year with a new looper on his bag, Joe LaCava. Dropped in mid-2011, the acerbic Stevie Williams has since proven to be a petty, bitter old man with the maturity of someone one-tenth of his age. This is hardly the kind of person who could be a positive influence for Tiger (good luck Adam!). Third, Tiger starts the year fully healthy. Extensive injuries to his knee and Achilles' tendon over the last several years made it virtually impossible for him to play anywhere close to his full potential.

But most importantly, Tiger's full swing is due to return to greatness. Historically, it takes Tiger around two years to fully incorporate a major swing change. Butch Harmon oversaw Tiger's first swing overhaul during the 1997 season that intended to sacrifice distance for accuracy. It took almost two years for Tiger to get comfortable with the changes that resulted in perhaps the greatest season in golf's history in the year 2000. Tiger started another major swing change in early 2004 under Hank Haney's tutelage. The intent of this change was to lessen the stress on Tiger's left knee. Again, it took almost two years for Tiger to adopt this change following a one-win 2004 with two major wins in 2005. However, Tiger never looked completely comfortable with Haney's single-plane concepts and began working with Sean Foley in the summer of 2010 on yet another swing revamp. If history repeats itself, Tiger's new swing transition will be complete by mid-2012.

In fact, Tiger's swing development may even be a little ahead of schedule. His swing over the tail-end of 2011 looked fantastic. More Butchie and less Haney, Tiger's swing is producing more power and more accuracy. As a result, Tiger was in contention more often and culminated with a win at the Chevron World Challenge.

So there looks to be a lot of positives in store for Tiger Woods next year. Go ahead and toss that inaccurate Chinese calendar in the trash. According to the Grouchy Golf calendar, 2012 is the Year of the Tiger. Happy birthday Tiger but you'll have to wait until next year to open your gifts. But the wait will be worth it because I think one of them might be an ugly green jacket!

5 Most Annoying Resort Practices

I absolutely love playing golf at resorts. There's nothing like a massage or herbal wrap at the spa after an arduous round or a cool libation on the veranda of a plush clubhouse. That said, there are some annoying practices by resorts that drive me crazy. Check out my latest post at the Golf Partners Club.

5 Best Golf Shots Ever

For my list of the 5 Best Golf Shots ever, go to my latest post at Golf Partners Club

Golf Tips - Hands Ahead of the Ball

A couple of weeks ago, my golf swing went through a little rough patch where I was making poor ball contact with my longer irons. Having played this godforsaken sport for so long, I knew that it most likely had to do with something basic. Well it did. After double-checking all the basics, I discovered that my hand position had drifted from the ideal position. From a first-person perspective looking down at my club, my hands were just a little too far to the right (for a right-handed golfer). As a result, I was losing the critical hands ahead of the ball impact position to achieve proper ball contact.

Once I got my hands back to the proper setup position, good ball striking returned. Here's a good photo (except for the barrel distortion caused by the wide-angle lense) of the ideal positions for a 4-iron courtesy of Mr. Woods:



There are two positions from this photo that I try to replicate when I look down at my setup position:

1) Left hand covering the left knee - When I look down, I like to see my golf glove covering my left knee. This ensures that the hands are positioned slightly in front of the golf ball and not too far away from the body. The left foot and the golf grip should form a "V".

2) The golf shaft is angled back to the ball and the clubface is square to the target - This creates a bit of an angle between the shaft and clubface. Visually, think of a hockey stick. It is important to return to this position at impact. I like to imagine pulling the club into the ball as a simple swing thought to reinforce this crucial hands ahead of the ball impact position.

If ball-striking with your irons is poor, try this tip and see if it improves. Let me know if it does!

Top IAGTO Award Winners for 2012

Check out some of the top golf destinations and resort award winners for 2012 at my latest post at Cvent

The Old Course Ballot Changes to 48 Hours Ahead

Here's a heads up for Old Course lovers:

The ballot for tee times on the world famous Old Course will be changing to being drawn two days ahead from January 2012.

The ballot has been drawn one day ahead for many years but St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the seven public courses in the town, is making the change to help people plan their golf more effectively.

On Saturday, January 7, 2012, the ballot will be drawn for Monday, January 9 and will continue to be drawn two days ahead from then onwards.

The plans to make the change were announced earlier this year and the Trust has been communicating with the many thousands of golfers from near and far who play the Old Course to make sure they are aware that the change is being made. The Trust conducted its Advanced Reservations for visiting golfers for play on the Old Course in 2012 on September 7 and has advised the more than 2500 applicants of the change.

The 48 hour ballot will dovetail with the one-day ahead booking system on the Castle, Jubilee, Eden and Strathtyrum courses and will enable golfers who have been unsuccessful in the ballot to book an alternative course for the day they want to play. The earlier draw will make it easier for visiting golfers to plan accommodation and travel arrangements and will encourage them to stay longer in St Andrews and play more golf in and around the town.

Euan Loudon, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The ballot is designed to ensure that golfers who haven’t been able to book in advance still have a chance to play the Old Course. It has been drawn one day ahead for many years but we conducted an extensive consultation exercise with a range of different stakeholders and the feedback was that people felt drawing it two days ahead would make it much easier for people to plan their golf. We believe the change will help to improve the experience of playing in St Andrews and to ensure that people have more opportunity to book golf on the other courses.”

To enter the ballot requires at least two golfers and they will have to enter their names, home clubs and handicaps by 2pm. The ballot will take place every day of the week with the exception of Friday as there is no play on the Old Course on Sundays. The entries can be made by phone on 01334 466666 or in person at any of the three clubhouses at the Links.

St Andrews Links Trust is a charitable organization responsible for the management and maintenance of the Links courses at St Andrews, including the famous Old Course, host of the 2010 Open Championship. The Trust was established in 1974. 

Around 200,000 rounds are played over six public courses, which feature two additional championship courses (the New and the Jubilee), two 18-hole courses (the Eden and the Strathtyrum) and a nine-hole course (the Balgove).

A seventh course, The Castle Course, opened for play in 2008 on a site to the south-east of St Andrews and has already won several international awards including being named by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine in America as the New Course of the Year and International Development of the Year by Golf Inc magazine in America. The course was also included in the prestigious Golf Digest Top 100 Courses in its first year.

The Trust manages a number of additional facilities including three clubhouses, a golf practice center and golf academy and five shops. It recently reopened The Tom Morris Shop, the oldest golf shop in the world. Artifacts belonging to the four-time Open champion such as his locker, fireplace and workbench are on display in the shop, which sits opposite the 18th green of the Old Course.

For more information visit www.standrews.org.uk.

We Love L.A.! - Los Angeles Country Club

This post continues a series of updated write-ups for courses I have played again, and which specifically, this time I brought my camera. It has been some five years since I played Los Angeles Country Club (#59 in the world). The club is located in the heart of some of the most valuable real estate on the planet. While technically accurate that the course is located in the City of Los Angeles, the city is made up of many neighborhoods. L.A.C.C. is located in the heart of one of the toniest neighborhoods. The course is bounded by Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Century City, Brentwood and Westwood.

The distinctive white L.A.C.C. Clubhouse

The southern boundary of the course is Santa Monica Boulevard. Wilshire Blvd. divides the North Course from the South. Sunset Blvd. forms the rough northern boundary of the course. L.A.C.C. is an oasis within one of the largest and most densely populated urban areas in the world. What makes the course even more special is that the members of Los Angeles C.C. guard the privacy jealously, making a visit here feel like a real behind-the-scenes getaway. You approach a guard gate set back off Wilshire and give your name to get into the enclave. While I have been to many courses and had to stop at a guard gate (Sunningdale, Pine Valley, Southern Hills, Riviera, Loch Lomond), at L.A.C.C. it really adds an element of exclusivity that feels appropriate for this part of L.A.

L.A.C.C. is one of only a very few remaining golf courses in the United States where you must wear long pants - there are no shorts allowed. The course does not have a lot of movie star or entertainment industry members, contrary to popular opinion. What it does have is world class golf. It is our understanding that the U.S.G.A. would like to host events at L.A.C.C., but the club has repeatedly declined (they are hosting a Walker Cup in 2017).

The first time I was fortunate enough to play L.A. Country Club was made even more special by the treatment I was given in the locker room. On the day of my summer visit, the locker room attendant let me use Ronald Reagan's locker. Reagan was a one-time member of L.A.C.C. With an American flag atop the locker, it was with real pride that I had the privilege to be able to use the locker of this great American.

L.A.C.C.'s unique custom made tee markers

L.A.C.C. was designed by George Thomas, who also designed nearby Riviera and Bel-Air. Thomas created the present layout in 1927 when he and his sidekick Billy Bell remodeled a course built by British architect Herbert Fowler. One of the first changes evident this time around was that there are now a lot less trees at L.A.C.C. Over 1,000 trees were taken out in a recent renovation done by architect Gil Hanse, and it enhances the property and the course greatly. Specifically, it opens up vistas that were previously closed off and shows the unique nature of the rolling land forms this part of west L.A. is blessed with. The other noticeable change is that many of the tee boxes now are mowed as if they are fairway. They seemlessly blend the tee and fairway, giving an infinite number of places to put tees and opening up some interesting new shots.

There are two courses at L.A.C.C., and the world ranked championship course is the North Course, which plays 7,010 yards from the black tees to a par of 70. As was Thomas's style, he starts off L.A.C.C. with an easy (easy being a relative term if you are jet lagged and amped up on coffee) par five. Your line off the tee is the "B" on the Beverly Hills Hilton sign atop the hotel, visible behind the green, which sits 544 yards from the tee.

Thomas makes up for the easy starting hole by throwing a killer par four at you on the second hole. This beast plays 484 yards from the tips and 428 yards from the white tees. The second hole also opens up a stretch which lasts until the eighth green that is simply breathtaking. It is as good a stretch of holes as you will find on any golf course, over a uniquely hilly terrain. Thomas used the barrancas (Spanish for gully or ditch) and sloping hillsides to route a masterpiece at L.A.C.C.

The tough par four third hole

You have to hit over a sloping hillside. Tee shots hit to the right side of the fairway will slide down the hillside and end up on the left side of the fairway. Your approach shot to the green has to clear a nasty barranca that fronts the elevated green. The other change Hanse made on the course was to restore the natural areas in front of the greens so that a shot that is not well struck will likely be findable now, but with a dodgy lie.

The difficult third green at L.A.C.C.

L.A.C.C. has only three par fives and five par threes, each of the latter, a gem. The first is the 210 yard fourth hole seen below. The hole plays downhill to a difficult to hold green. Note the barranca that runs in front of the green, penalizing short or topped shots.

The par three 4th hole

Like at Bel-Air and Riviera, all around you there are signs that you are in a very exclusive environment. Behind you, as you walk off the fourth green up on the hill is Lionel Richie's house. Wow.

Lionel Richie's house above L.A.C.C.

As Gil Hanse and Geoff Shackelford write in the L.A.C.C. North Course Commemorative Edition, published in 2010: "Every great course in the world features at least one par-4 under 350 yards allowing for multiple playing options. Designed with an eye toward risk and reward, these devilish little two-shotters accomplish one very simple axiom, as so eloquently written by George Thomas in Golf Architecture in America: The strategy of golf is the thing which gives the short accurate player a chance with a longer hitter who cannot control his direction or distance." Riviera's great par four under 350 yards is its tenth. At L.A.C.C. it is the sixth, and it's a doozie.

The hole plays 335 yards from the back tees, and you hit into a narrow valley where the ball will naturally kick right to left. If you are brazen, you can attempt to cut off the corner on the right and incur a big penalty if you miss. The hole doglegs sharply to the right and the approach to the elevated green is made quite tricky because it is such a small target. To me, the hole felt like any number of great risk-reward holes at Merion. It is the type of hole you could play dozens and dozens of times and still find exhilirating and challenging each time.

The ideal sixth green

The 242 yard (back tees), 219 yard (white tees) par three is the middle of the three par threes on the front that play a whopping 633 total yards! No little pitch shots on the par threes on the front!

The par three seventh

The seventh is followed by one of the coolest golf holes on the planet. The 537 yard eighth requires you to hit a tee shot through a narrow chute of trees to a fairway that slopes left and right. Your second shot requires you to carry the barranca. That is Century City seen over the tree tops below.

Par five 8th hole, dogleg right, then left over a barranca

The hole doglegs first to the right and then to the left. The second and third shots are both finesse shots where the player is trying to optimize his or her position on the correct side of the fairway or green. It is a true risk-reward, shot making, three-shot hole!

The par five 8th green

The par three eleventh hole at L.A.C.C. gets photographed a lot because it features Downtown L.A. as its backdrop. The day I took the picture has too much haze to see the skyline, but on a brilliant day it is a great look.

The par three 11th reverse Redan hole

The eleventh is a 249 yard (back tees), 225 yard (white tees) demanding reverse Redan hole. The green slopes back to front. You can get away with a shot hit left because the ball bounces down the natural slope of the terrain onto the green. A ball hit to the right side is in serious trouble and will likely leave you a recovery shot where you won't be able to see the green surface.

The right side of reverse redan 11th hole with its steep dropoff

In what has to be the most exciting non-golf related attraction next to a golf course anywhere in the world, off the thirteenth green of the North Course is the Playboy mansion. It is hemmed in by so many hedge rows it is hard to see anything, although you can normally hear the peacocks crowing.

The Playboy mansion sits behind hedges between 13th green and 14th tee

The entire right side of the fourteenth hole also has a building located off of it that at first appears to be a Ritz Carlton. In fact, it is the home of one of Hollywood's most famous producers, Aaron Spelling. The house has 123 rooms and is 56,000 square feet. Although Spelling is now deceased and the home is owned by someone else, it is an impressive and well maintained sight.

The par three fifteenth hole is one of the few on the course that can qualify as 'easy.' It is 133 yards from the tips, but you have to focus intently off the tee because the green is narrow and oblong to you.

The par three 15th green

As an Easterner (and poor golfer), the Bermuda grass at L.A.C.C. gave me fits. It is just so tough to hit through consistently, especially on finesse shots around the green where you are trying to hit a specific target.

The par four 455 yard seventeenth is the prettiest hole on the course. You drive from an elevated tee down into the fairway, then to a narrow, well bunkered green.

The 17th green

The little seventeenth hole is pictured below and is an 'extra' hole that was rediscovered during the recent renovations. It was love at first sight with this little beauty and me. It is just a visually stunning little gem. The hole can be used as an extra hole or just to hit into for fun.

Little 17 from the front


Little 17 as seen from the side

If you play L.A.C.C. bring long pants, leave your cell phone in your car and get ready for a delightful walk with caddies. The overall experience is first class from beginning to end.

Routing, variety and terrain combine to make it a world-class course. Given its geographic location, L.A.C.C. North will inevitably be compared with nearby Riviera. In my view L.A.C.C. is the superior course. Thomas simply had a better piece of land to work with at L.A.C.C. than at Riviera. Riviera is built within a valley and doesn't have the elevation changes or other elements that makes L.A.C.C. so unique. From a club standpoint also, I prefer L.A.C.C. to Riviera. Riviera is a large club with a corporate feel to it. L.A.C.C. is a more intimate, low key club.

In my own world rankings I would personally reverse the order of these two courses and rank Riviera #59 and Los Angeles #36. Both are world-class, however, as is nearby Bel-Air.

Our lunch of braised beef short ribs and the little cheesy bread sticks were memorable. The only issue I encountered at L.A.C.C. is that it is impossible to buy something from the pro shop, because it only sells to members.

My two visits to L.A.C.C. have been among my most memorable and truly enjoyable in all my travels. To paraphrase Cecil Rhodes's comment about the English, "To be a member of L.A.C.C. is to win first prize in the lottery of life." Lucky bastards.

If You Visit Orlando, Florida...

If you’re visiting Orlando for business, theme parks or some other reason next year, by all means play some of my favorite layouts and resorts. The list includes Bay Hill (a private club course you can play if you stay at the on-site lodge), MetroWest, an undulating layout near Universal Orlando, Grand Cypress Resort, home to 45 holes of Jack Nicklaus designed golf and Reunion Resort, which has three 18-hole golf courses designed separately by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.

Off-the-course, gentlemen start your engines. Debuting in January is the Exotic Driving Experience at Walt Disney World Speedway, which will offer you the opportunity to drive supercars such as the Ferrari F430 and 458, Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 and LP560-4, Porsche 997S and Audi R8.

You’ll get to accelerate these awesome cars to high speeds on a special course. The experience starts at $199 for 6 laps around the 1-mile course. Part of the Richard Petty Driving Experience, the Exotic Driving Experience will also offer “Thrill Rides” with a Petty instructor for $99.  Plans call for the Exotic Driving Experience to all be offered in the future at Daytona International Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

5 Most Underrated Golf Destinations

Check out my A-list of the top underrated U.S. golf destinations at Cvent.com

Best Golf Swings Ever

From Slammin' Sammy to the Big Easy Ernie Els, check out my list of the top golf swings ever to walk the fairways. 

Cabot Links

How many real links courses are there in North America? Not many. A real links golf course is one "built" on sandy soil near the sea and was formed over the millenium. The British Isles are chock full of links courses. In the U.S. and Canada, they are a lot rarer. The book True Links, published in 2010, lists only four true links courses in all of North America: Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald and Highland Links*. Cabot Links joins this small and special group.

Cabot Links is located on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada. This part of Canada is one time zone east of New York. Given the course's location, it would be natural to think that the course is located on the Atlantic facing east; however, it is not. Cabot is located on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the largest estuary in the world, which is on the Western coast of Nova Scotia. The location is blessed for a variety of reasons. First, because it is set right on the water; second, because this area is located in a micro climate and is impacted positively by the trade winds. This means it gets warmer weather than you would expect for this part of the world. Water temperatures can reach up to 74 degrees! And third, because of its western orientation, the sun sets over the water, creating some fabulous sunsets for those who play at twilight.

For our trip to Cabot we flew into Halifax, which is an hour and 20 minute flight from New York. This part of Nova Scotia is famous for the Cabot Trail, a scenic drive full of quaint Bed and Breakfasts and a haven for campers, hikers, canoeing and whale watching. The multi-hour drive up from Halifax was a scenic delight.

The golf course was designed by Canadian Rod Whitman, whose design philosophy is "strategic design coupled with great contour." His mentors were Bill Coore and Pete Dye. Cabot Links is located in the old coal mining town of Inverness, a classic company town whose early housing, built at the turn of the century, still stands today, and can be seen as you drive into Cabot. Mining ceased in Inverness in 1958; the town also has a fishing heritage, as is common in Maritime Canada.

The full eighteen holes were not open at Cabot Links when we played. They are expected to fully open in July 2012. We played the ten holes that are open, currently organized into a front five and a back five.

The hole numbers in this post reflect those that will be used in the final 18 hole routing. The second hole is a par five of 619 yards from the tips and plays up a very large sand dune. Your approach shot to the green will be a blind one to a putting surface whose entire right side falls down into an abyss. Approaching from the left gives the golfer a lot more options and some great bump and run choices.

The 2nd green at Cabot with the abyss to the right

The sixth hole is a tricky, very short par four. Although only 307 yards, you have to drive the ball between a marshy area on the right side of the fairway and scrub on the left hand side. It really shouldn't be that hard a shot, but there is a big chocolate drop mound down the left side of the fairway in the driving area that makes the fairway seem considerably smaller. The green is long and narrow and set over another chocolate drop which is situated right in front of the green. The day we played, the pin was positioned right behind the chocolate drop, making it very difficult to hold the ball anywhere near the pin. The hole plays into the prevailing wind coming off the Gulf, making approach shots even trickier. The hole reminded me of two short holes at Cruden Bay: its third and eighth holes. They are reminiscent because of the dunes landscape and their quirkiness.

The tricky, short par four sixth hole with its chocolate drops

Right behind the sixth hole is a charming, meandering boardwalk that predates the course and runs parallel to a handful of holes.

The meandering boardwalk behind the 6th green

The eleventh hole is a very good par five of 582 yards that plays parallel to the ocean. Like many of the tee shots at Cabot, there is a forced carry off the tee, this time over what looks like an expansive Saskatchewan wheat field.

The par five 11th hole from the tee

A good drive will leave you with a completely blind second shot over a sand dune that runs right through the hole, perpendicular to the water and your line of play. Similar to the second hole, your second shot will be a blind one up over the dune toward the green. The green is part of a double-green complex and the flag you are shooting for is to the left. The green and the area in front of it is pure links golf and an absolute joy to play.

As you would expect on a true links course, Cabot offers plenty of opportunities for bump and run shots that can either make you look like a brilliant golfer if you pull them off, or can make you look like a complete fool if you don't. I experienced both at Cabot, and I must say it is exhilirating to hit a long punch shot and watch it bounce along the humps and hollows and bound its way close to the hole. It is not so rewarding to stuff your wedge into the side of a hill and advance the ball five feet!

The sand ridge running through the eleventh fairway

The eleventh green is a challenging one with almost no flat spots on it. The hole was my favorite on the course.

The eleventh green as seen from a dune above, part of a double green complex

The short, 102 yard, par three fourteenth hole plays from the highest point on the property back down toward the water and directly into the prevailing wind. How can you dislike a hole with this water backdrop and when you get a birdie the first time you play it, like I did? The drop from tee to green is severe, so with no wind the hole will play as a half wedge shot. I have a feeling given the winds, though, that many mid-irons (or longer) will end up being hit here.

The fourteenth green as seen from the elevated tee

The next hole, the fifteenth, is in my view the prettiest on the course. A par four of 418 yards, it is a gem. Standing on the tee box you could be forgiven for mistaking that you are at Royal County Down with the beautiful Gillis Mountain in the distance. As you play the hole, the water is lapping on the nearby beach, the links landscape unfolds in front of you in a beautiful fashion, and the mountain backdrop has a similar shape and feel to that of the Northern Irish beauty. The hole itself requires a forced carry from the tee, and the green is well protected by a bunker right in the front. The contouring of the land around and in front of the bunker allows you to play some bank shots on your approach if you want to. The small, kidney shaped green has subtle contours.

A view of the gorgeous fifteenth hole as seen from the fourteenth tee

People often ask, what the best part of playing all these courses is? The answer is that it is moments like these, standing on the sixteenth tee at Cabot Links. Reminiscent of Maidstone's ninth hole, the sixteenth hole has a tee box right next to the water and the beach. All is good in the world as you stand here.

The water view from the 16th tee box could just as well be at Maidstone

Aside from the view, a beautifully laid-out hole awaits you. The drive on this hole looks rather straightforward, but it is not. There are two hidden bunkers over the ridge on the right side of the fairway and one hidden over a hill on the left side.

A view of the 16th green from the right side of the fairway

If you manage to navigate them, the approach shot requires finesse. As a true links, Cabot plays firm and fast; no hole more so than the sixteenth. All the golfers in our group learned the hard way on our first time around that on this hole, you MUST land it short and run it up to the green. The penalty for not doing so is to be in a small bunker behind the narrow green, which requires a delicate sand flop shot across the neck of the green, else you risk ending up in the small bunker in front of the green.

What separates a good golf course from a great one? The quality of the holes that are not natural locations for a golf hole. In other words, designing holes near the ocean or dramatic landscapes is no doubt a lot easier than designing inland holes, especially on a site like this. While many of the remaining holes still to open at Cabot are not as close to the water, if they are anything like the 171 yard par three seventeenth hole they will be equally as good as the holes along the water. Hint: the hole plays longer than the yardage and avoid the deep bunkers.

The tricky par three 17th hole at Cabot Links

Cabot is a walking course and is an easy walk. We played the course in late September in short sleeve golf shirts. Lodges are in the process of being built, and a second course is planned to be built on headlands located nearby. The concept is to develop an East Coast Bandon Dunes and I would say they are off to a smashing start.

The service and food at Cabot were great (I recommend the fish chowder), and the people of Nova Scotia are naturally very, very friendly. At first, it's a little off putting sitting in a restaurant having strangers come up and talk to you. One of the rules of walking the streets or taking the subway in New York City is to never make eye contact with anyone; so my immediate reaction when approached by a stranger is to put up my guard and think, ok, what do they want? The truth is they don't want anything; they are just friendly to a person: gas station attendants, store clerks, waitresses, the caddie master, the course rangers, the golf pro, etc.

We played Cabot Links on a Friday afternoon and as the evening went on the locals started coming out to play. As a links located directly between the water and the town, it could just as well have been in North Berwick or Prestwick. The laid-back atmosphere of the town combined with a world-class set of holes creates a great environment. It's really not too much of a stretch to imagine you are back in the homeland. Nova Scotia is after all Latin for "New Scotland".

Post Script

I look forward to a return trip to Cabot in the summer months with the Mrs., while she enjoys the wide beach and I can play a guilt-free round of golf. I would especially like to play the holes designed around the harbor that weren't yet open to play.

* While True Links is a nice book, not including Maidstone on its list of true links courses is inexcusable.

Sanding Your Grips to Improve Your Game

The golf grip is one of the most important parts of your golf club. It is the only direct contact that you have with your golf club. I completely agree with Golf Pride's explanation: "The traction that a fresh grip provides lets you hold the club lightly without the subconscious fear of losing the club during your swing. This relaxed state promotes proper swing mechanics and wrist action. While a worn grip causes you to grasp the club tighter, causing arm and wrist tension that inhibits proper swing mechanics."

In addition, Golf Pride recommends: "As a rule of thumb, you should regrip once every year. Regardless of whether you play golf every day or twice a year, ozone, heat, dirt, and oils are constantly at work breaking down the materials that make up your grips."

However, I've been able to extend the life of my golf grips by simply sanding them down when they start to get slick with medium grit sandpaper to reveal a fresh layer of rubber. As a reference, Fred Couples uses 220-grit sandpaper. To get them extra clean, follow the sanding with a wash using dish soap and rinse with water. Try it and discover how a little sandpaper can prolong the usefulness of your grips and save you some major coin!

Golf Travel Is Back

Just when you thought the last shovels of dirt were being thrown on the golf travel industry, along comes some great news about international golf tourism.

In a recent speech addressing the members of Thailand’s Golf In A Kingdom destination marketing program, Peter Walton, chief executive of the International Association of Golf Tourism Operators (IAGTO), said golf is one of the few international tourism sectors continuing to grow despite global economic uncertainty.

He said international golf tourism was expected to exceed 50 million travelers in 2011, and perhaps reach 55 million, which is equivalent to the level in 2007 before the global financial crisis.

“Golf tourism bounces back more quickly than other sectors,” he added. “In established markets, one in three golfers plan to travel in the next 12 months. That is a lot more than in other sectors like skiing. We also know that golfers spend 120 percent more per person per day when staying in a resort than other travelers.”

Regarding U.S. golf travel, Walton cited that while only 12 percent of the U.S. population plays golf, golfers were responsible for 27 percent of U.S. travel expenditures.

Walton highlighted Spain, the U.S. and Thailand as currently three popular international golf destinations, with Turkey and Portugal among countries that are rapidly increasing golf tourism sectors.

The IAGTO, with 1700 members in 94 countries, is a powerful voice in the golf travel industry. It claims that its members are responsible for 80 percent of golf packages sold worldwide.

Homestead (Cascades) Golf Course

The Cascades Golf Course (ranked #94 in the world) is part of the Homestead resort located in the Allegheny Mountains in southwest Virginia. I'm not quite sure how I let a public course in the same time zone I live in be one of the last courses played to complete my quest. Probably because the course is hard to get to, located three hours east of Charleston, WV, three hours west of Richmond, VA and four hours southwest of Washington, D.C.

Once you get off the interstate highway and onto local roads the real flavor of this part of Virginia comes to the fore. It is an unusual sight, for a Yankee at least, to pass a Robert E. Lee High School on the road up to the Homestead.

During the early part of the 20th century the Homestead was the place to see and be seen. J.P. Morgan was a frequent guest and had a financial stake in the resort. Between 1914 and 1929 it was a magnet for American Presidents, particularly those whose first and last names start with the same letter. During this period Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Woodrow Wilson all stayed at The Homestead. Not to be left out, Ronald Reagan also visited the resort in the '70s. More than half of all American Presidents have visited the Homestead, so it is long on history for sure and shows it off nicely, particularly in the Presidents Lounge.

Homestead has three golf courses: The Old Course (1892), The Lower Cascades (1963) and The Cascades (1923). It is The Cascades course that is ranked in the top 100. The course was designed by William Flynn, who also designed Cherry Hills, Shinnecock Hills (with others) and The Country Club at Brookline. Sam Snead was an assistant pro at the Homestead at age 19 and also served as head pro for many, many years. In many ways, the Homestead is a golfing shrine to Sam Snead, who was one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won 7 majors and 82 tournaments overall. For the avid golf fan, this alone is reason to visit this peaceful mountain resort.

The Cascades course is short, tree lined, narrow, hilly and has small greens. If you play well off uneven lies, then The Cascades is for you. The entire course can neatly be summarized by describing the second hole, which is indicative of the style of golf on the Cascades course. Named "The Dip," you hit your tee shot through a chute of trees up a large hill which slopes from left to right.

Your second shot is to a small green set in a hollow partially hidden behind a hill. While this hole is a long one, at 432 yards, the course plays 6,667 yards from the tips to a par of 70. Short does not equate to easy, as the course has a slope rating of 137.

The second hole at Cascades, "The Dip"

The third hole, "Shelf," is a 289 yard uphill par four that plays through a chute of trees to a small, elevated green.

The third hole's elevated green, "Shelf"

The fourth hole, "Carry On," is a testing 210 yard par three that plays down the mountain to a small green. My round at the Cascades was marred by a continual attack of gnats. I haven't been attacked this badly by the American version of midges since my round at Royal Dornoch about five years ago. It's tough to hit a ball with 100 gnats flying around your head; or to putt while one flies into your ear or eye; but these are minor inconveniences to suffer, being in such a beautiful setting.

The downhill par three third hole

The ninth hole, "The Take Off," is a wicked-hard 448 yard par four that features a tee shot hit down to a valley, followed by a second shot that plays blind to a small green set at the bottom of a hill. The front of the green has a little swale in it, making bump and run shots to the green tricky to judge. You can get some sense of how dense the trees are on the Cascades by looking at the trees behind this green and the next.

The par four ninth green

The tenth was my personal favorite hole called "Slippery Hollow," and you have no sense of how treacherous the hole is while standing on the tee. The smart play is to hit as far left as possible because a well struck drive on this 377 yard hole will bound all the way down the hill if you hit it on the correct line. The entire landing area shoots balls from the left to the right and if you are anywhere right of center you will have a hanging lie like you've never seen before in your life.

The green on the 10th hole, "Slippery Hollow"

Although a short hole, like a lot of what makes The Cascades course a challenge, it tests your ability to hit a precise shot to a small green off an uneven (often severely sloping) lie. I hit what I thought was a good drive down the middle but the ball ended up kicking down to the right. The lie I had was as severe as any I've ever experienced, with the ball sharply below my feet and sloping away from me.

The eleventh, "Lucky Strike," is a testing par three of 207 yards. It has a baby green size for such a long hole.

The par three 11th green

The course has a non-traditional finish, ending with pars of 3-5-5-3. The seventeenth, "Hemlocks," is a 522 yard dogleg left with a stream bordering the right side of the fairway and short right of the green. You can also get a sense of the majestic mountains in this part of Virginia looking at this picture. Since the Homestead is at an elevation of about 2,000 feet it also tends not to get the oppressive heat and humidity other parts of the South get in the summer.

The par three seventeenth with the beautiful mountain backdrop

The Cascades course is located about a 10 minute drive from the main resort. The old clubhouse predates the course and was the home of the Rubino family. It is quaint and picturesque and serves a fabulous trout sandwich for lunch. The Cascades is like an American version of the Gleneagles resort in Scotland. It features a ton of outdoor activites including falconry, fishing, shooting, tennis, archery, horseback riding, etc. Homestead is quite family friendly. When I was there the kids were swarming almost as badly as the gnats.

The Cascades course elegant clubhouse, whose picture adorns the scorecard

I suspect it is ranked in the top out of respect to Sam Snead more than anything else. The Homestead is a very nice, well run resort with charming Southern hospitality. Their formal dining room requires a jacket and has a charming gentility you expect in the South. I would like to return again and play in the autumn with the leaves turning colors; it must be fabulous.

My Journey Draws Near Its End

When the earthquake hit Japan and the meltdown struck the Fukujima reactor, I had to re-route my flight from New Zealand away from Japan, back directly to the U.S. Because of the late change, I had to suffer the indignity of riding in the back of the bus and sat next to a woman on the long flight back to LAX. It's never a good sign when the first thing the person next to you says (in broken English) is, "I'm sorry I'm so fat". She did the whole routine, including the seat belt extender, and lopped over onto me for the next 12 hours. No doubt this is just some kind of karmic payback for all the unkind things I have written about heavy people on airplanes over the years. As fate would have it, she's an operatic performer. A Samoan soprano, in fact. She was accompanying me back to the States to see me through until the end of my quest.

As I teed it up at The Cascades, I got a text message from her informing me that the opera has begun and they are in the first act, and she's getting ready to sing. Only two more courses left to play!

Post Script

I also played the Old Course while at the Homestead. This delightful course plays 6,227 yards from the tips but has some really fun and interesting holes. I especially liked the par five fourth hole, which features a blind tee shot and two islands of fairway separated by rough. It slopes right to left from tee to green and has a small elevated green. If you think 473 yards isn't a demanding length for a par five, play this beauty and think again. The course has a mixed, but great pedigree. It was designed or changed by Donald Ross, William Flynn and Rees Jones and has dramatic vistas of the mountain valley. I recommend playing it if you go to the Homestead.