Reed, and the field: The Yahoo way

January 28, 2014 By Leave a Comment

THE OPPORTUNISTIC Commander Zero will not pass up the chance to start the insanely talented Patrick Reed in his Yahoo lineup for the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Open. I love you, baby, don’t do me bad.

Besides Reed, Zero is calling on guys with names like Moore, Kirk, Simpson, Stuard, Every, English and Palmer (Ryan). Bums, all of them, until proven otherwise. The Commander is not bitter.

Progress
Imitation of myself, with liberal use of the strikethrough key, is the sincerest form of laziness.

Anybody who had Patrick Reed Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the lineup had a pretty good lousy Yahoo week at the Humana Challenge Farmers Insurance Open. They got 20 zero points from him them on the weekend for the day’s low round with his 63s each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and another 20-point and no bonus, nothing, for winning the whole thing missing the third-round cut (Woods) and withdrawing with an aching back (Mickelson).

Commander Zero clocked in with 165 102 points in the Graeme McDowell division, buoyed sunk by an empty final round 25 from Z. Johnson from our heroes, who went low were home by Sunday.  with a 62 and finished fourth in the tournament. If not for Charley Hoffman, a T-7 after a closing 67, the Zeroes wouldn’t have reached three digits.

It wasn’t enough to slide into even get close to the top 50 for the week in the Graeme Mac, but overall, – while Zero couldn’t crack cracked the magic 60,000 barrier,  – he improved improving all the way to 60,534th 58,569th place, ahead of most of the players who forget to turn in a  lineup most weeks, which zoomed inexplicably bumped him up into double digits at to the 14th 21st percentile.

So clearly, going forward, with the value stream duly mapped and all the metrics measured, with the non-linear opposing dynamics factored in direct proportion to their relative weight or lack thereof, the line chart is trending to the northeast  east, which is to say, generally upward no worser. It’s a long season.

Filed Under: PROS(E)

Returning to the fore at Southern Oregon’s Eagle Point

January 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Eagle Point Golf Club

Eagle Point Golf Club

This article appeared first in LocalGolfer.com.

by Jack Seybold
The development of golf courses in the early-to-mid-’90′s was part of the phenomenon described by Jim Kopenhaver in the September 2013 issue of  The Pelucid Perspective as the “build-a-course-a-day decade.” The supply of golf courses was seen as insufficient, lenders were gung-ho, and Tiger Woods’ dominance of the PGA tour was fueling a surge in the sport’s popularity.

Courses seemed to be popping up everywhere, much to the delight of everyone, from beginners to the discriminating golfer, who welcomed the chance to play more than one course in their area. Eagle Point Golf Club was part of the rising tide of course construction.

Riding the wave
Residents of Eagle Point, near Medford, in Southern Oregon, had long speculated about the Naumes property, known as Melrose Orchard, as a site for a golf course. The little valley had been a hay-growing operation for years when in 1992 Gregg Adams and Dan Bunn announced that they had contracted with Robert Trent Jones Jr. to develop a golf course there.

After breaking ground in 1994, Jones, keeping with his philosophy of course design, created fairways from the natural rolling landscape along with the strategic placement of four lakes, eighty-six bunkers (I think I have visited all of them), and eighteen undulating greens. Keenly aware of the Rogue Valley’s infamous “gumbo” soil, Jones invested over a million dollars worth of special sand, to facilitate drainage, and hydroseeding, to bring forth a verdant topping. Eagle Point Golf Club is only one of 275 course projects Jones has been involved with over his career. Eagle Point holds a special place in Jones’s heart as the only course he actually owned from the beginning.

Jones says he likes to play a golf course that feels like a golf course, which is what he tried to design at Eagle Point. In a recent article in Medford’s Mail Tribune, Jones told reporter Tim Trower, “I fight for the integrity of shot-making. We spent a lot of time here getting it right.  I think we did a pretty good job.”

Eagle Point opened in 1996.  With four sets of tees ranging from a hefty 7,099 yards from the tips to a comfortable 5,071 yards from the forward tees, players of all levels could look forward to an overall distance that catered to their abilities.  Featuring superior drainage, grass in the fairways that held the ball up like it was on a tee, and yawning cape- and bay-style bunkers, the course was quickly noticed as a premier golf facility. Golf Magazine listed it as one of its “Top 10 Public Courses of 1996,” and Golf Digest has ranked it as one of the top-15 “Best Places to Play” in the state of Oregon.

Over the years, Eagle Point has hosted many prestigious tournaments, including the Oregon Amateur Championship and the OGA Stroke Play Championship. Jones was the majority owner for several years before selling his share of the course to concentrate full-time on course design.

Between 2005 and 2010, according to Kopenhaver, the golf-course economy followed the natural flow of supply and demand. The number of rounds played per year mirrored the economic downturn of 2008.  Modern young people and die-hard golfers alike focused on the increasingly weighty tasks of earning a living with little space in their lives for a round of golf.  Financially troubled courses began to close as the industry contracted. Some  courses faced foreclosure, including Eagle Point, where budget cuts and cutting corners left the course in a state of “physical disability.” It was still one of the best courses to play in Southern Oregon, but it had lost its luster.

Noticeable change
Traveling during August and September this year kept me from my customary Monday seniors event at Eagle Point. In early October, my seniors partner, Earle, and I began playing regularly again, and we  noticed that subtle alterations had materialized in our absence. Little things, but definitely different. There was a new man behind the counter at the pro shop, an earnest, robust youngster, who addressed me by name. We picked out a golf cart. Hmm, new seats. It didn’t take long to land in a bunker, and to my delight I found that fluffy sand had replaced the shallow, packed dunes that in the past had sometimes caused me to bounce my sand wedge into the ball and knock it over the green. There were new ornamental plants and shrubs planted around the club house.  A fresh vibe had somehow animated Eagle Point. Soon we learned that the course was under new management.

For the love of golf
The story of Bob Hyer’s acquisition of Eagle Point Golf Club contains notes of serendipity and destiny.  It’s a story of opportune phone calls, chance meetings and timely transactions following unpredictable turns in the path.  Like Arnold Palmer and his Bay Hill, Hyer just wanted a place of his own to play golf. He is an avid golfer — to put it mildly — with an affinity for the courses of Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Robert Trent Jones Jr. (left) and Bob Hyer.

Robert Trent Jones Jr. (left) and Bob Hyer.

A business associate had alerted Hyer about the availability of Eagle Point. In a nutshell, Eagle Point’s owner, faced with foreclosure, had turned the property over to the bank.  Hyer made an offer, but the deal fell through due to a competing offer, which eventually failed. The bank changed hands, and Hyer’s original offer was accepted.

Hyer took possession of Eagle Point on July 30, 2013. That very day, a convergence of circumstances led to a chance meeting with Jones and a memorable round of golf at Chambers Bay, widely considered Jones’s grandest work. The original owner and the new owner immediately became friends, and in October Jones was on hand during a tournament that benefitted Habitat for Humanity.  He spoke admiringly of the course’s return to quality under Hyer’s ownership.

Patrick Oropallo has been Eagle Point’s head pro for eight years. His enthusiasm is evident for the new atmosphere brought about by Hyer’s ownership and the management expertise of Touchstone Golf, the firm hired by the bank, and retained by Hyer, to operate the course. Oropallo assured me the bunkers contain the same type of sand as before, but his budget now allows for more regular renewal of sand and more attention to bunker maintenance. Hyer’s wife, Chana (pronounced Shawna), a landscape designer, is putting her magical touches around the golf course as well.  She re-designed the plantings around the clubhouse, and will be landscaping the area around the comfort station adjacent to the 5th tee box this spring.

The recent attention to aesthetics and maintenance at Eagle Point hasn’t gone unnoticed by the patrons either.  Ray Embree, a retired college professor from Ashland, Ore., says, “Eagle Point is the finest course in the area.” Eagle Point has also made new investments in maintenance equipment and staff overseen by course superintendent Dave Stephens, who has held the position from day one.

Longtime member,Jim Brick pointed out the new introductory offer that aims to increase membership. Indeed, membership fees are lower than most other courses of similar quality, making an Eagle Point membership a great deal.

Offense vs. defense
Jones likes to build courses that require strategic shot-making.  A golfer plays against the course with the goal of getting around in the fewest shots possible.  Jones places fairways, rough and greens, and water and sand, to allow the course to have a chance to compete against the golfer’s attack.  “A course must have its defenses,” explains Oropallo. “Eagle Point is a thinking man’s course.  On any given par-4, it’s not always the best strategy to haul out a driver.”

The par-5, 522-yard 9th hole is particularly well-defended. You have to carry a pond on your tee shot, and cross a creek twice just to be in position for an approach (which crosses the creek again). Then you face the Scylla of a large greenside bunker on the right and the Charybdis of a steep bank on the left. There’s a smaller bunker on the left, too. The same creek you crossed three times lurks at the bottom of the bank.

Jones did not intend to make the course too difficult, either.  Well-placed shots on No. 9 can easily allow access to the putting surface in three and a one-putt for birdie. Risk and reward enthusiasts can go for the green in two, but the consequences can add strokes to your score.

Get through 9, and you arrive at the 348-yard 10th.  It’s a deceptive, short par-4 with dandy defenses.  The fairway bends left, and a long tee shot must fly over the edge of a golf ball cemetery–a jungle of blackberry bushes and tall trees. Long hitters can reach the green, but are more likely to bid adieu to a beloved Titleist. You can avoid the jungle by hitting toward a roomy steep bank down the entire right side of the fairway, often providing a side-hill lie for your approach. From there you must clear a greenside bunker with an imposing lip to a postage-stamp green, and a steep bank running down to more blackberries behind it.

Jones’s other expertise
Prevailing on well-defended holes provides much of the pleasure of a round at Eagle Point. Add to that the agreeable vistas, particularly the view from the 16th tee. I always imagine launching my drive to the majestic peak of Mount McLaughlin in the eastern distance. From the 2nd tee box, I might take more notice of the stolid Table Rocks to the west if two lakes, a creek and greenside bunkers weren’t immediate eye-catchers.  Each hole is unique and offers a singular challenge (or opportunity).

In tribute to Jones’s superior design, and just as agreeable as the vistas, is the smoothness of the fairways. Some golfers note that the fairways are so smooth you can write on your scorecard while in a moving cart.

Totem tells the tale
Oropallo says the totem pole on the property represents what has happened to Eagle Point over the years. During their round

The view to the clubhouse at Eagle Point Golf Club.

The view to the clubhouse at Eagle Point Golf Club.

at Chambers Bay, Jones asked Hyer about the totem pole, a gift from a golf course owner in British Columbia which he had placed near Eagle Point’s third tee box in the mid-’90s. The carved 26-foot art piece had aged and weathered. Hyer arranged for artist Deborah Lynn Hutchings to research the colors and paints on the original.  She treated, primed, and finally restored the pole to brilliance in time for Jones’s celebratory visit in October 2013.The pole is an appropriate symbol for the course’s renewal. It is still visited by acorn woodpeckers, as one can see upon close inspection. Crevices in the artwork, as well as holes chiseled by sharp beaks, serve as woodpeckers’ pantries filled with acorns stored for later consumption. But, the pantry is colorful and attractive, and signifies Hyer’s aspiration to make Eagle Point even more of a golf destination–a place where you feel like you’re at home – the “Cheers” of golf.

Regular Joe
Bob Hyer has made himself a welcome addition to Eagle Point. He is personable and approachable, and members seem pleased with his attention to the course. The whole atmosphere has lightened and brightened. He emphasizes that his attention is directed first of all to the club’s members and their needs.

The employees at Eagle Point mirror Hyer’s familial nature. Robbie Stassi, the new teaching pro, is starting a new instructional program. Chris Berg, the new chef, has turned Talon’s Grill into a first-rate restaurant. Omar at the bar is very attentive and welcoming. Tish, the girl in the hospitality cart, was friendly and good-natured. Hunter DeLange, the sturdy young man behind the counter in the golf shop, has worked his way up from managing the golf carts to now being able to run tournaments. And everybody knows my name. Eagle Point has truly reclaimed the title of “the Cheers of Golf.”

Eagle Point at a Glance

Stay and Play: Lodging

Eagle Point golf has a new stay-and-play partner:  Courtyard by Marriott in nearby Medford. The package ($194, plus tax) includes a room with one king-size bed or two queen-size, free breakfast, a round of golf with cart and a free range bucket.

Contact info:

Eagle Point Golf Club
100 EaglePoint Drive
Eagle Point, OR 97524
541-826-8225
http://www.eaglepointgolf.com/

Filed Under: Road Holes Tagged With: , ,

The kid takes the lead to the weekend

January 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment

ANYBODY WAITING on a return phone call from Jordan Spieth should realize a) he’s young and b) he’s busy acting like the best player on the planet.

If you’re Commander Zero, you settle for keeping the dude plugged into the front row on his Yahoo fantasy team. It worked Friday, when the phee-nom, playing with T. Woods, shot 63 at Torrey Pines, good for the day’s low round and the lead heading to the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Tiger his own self shot 71 Friday a day after an opening 72, so he’s in middling shape but in the field. He keeps the starting spot over Phil Mickelson, of the aching back, who actually has a stroke lead over Woods after two rounds but Zero hears what he hears — Lefty is hurtin’.

Status quo works in the B-List ranks … we’ll see who makes a move among Haas, Stuard and Mahan, all of whom are chasing Spieth.

Charley Hoffman, the C-List starter, keeps his spot and looks good heading home in 11th place after a 69-70 start.

Zero just loves these guys, for this week, anyway, and gee whiz, they’re good, so don’t do him wrong or there will be consequences.

Progress
Zero is movin’ on up, blowing right past 60,000 all the way to 58,704th place, which, if you’re keeping track at home, is all the way up to the 20th percentile,

Percentile, if you’re wondering, means a certain percentage are above you and a (much smaller) percentage sits below you. Such is the story of Zero’s life.

Filed Under: PROS(E) Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tiger and Phil: If you could, would you?

January 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment

THIS WEEK THE STUDS COME OUT, and so Commander Zero, being smarter than the average Yahoo, will disregard their looming hugeness and go with only dark horses at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Maybe not so much …

If you were the Ryder Cup captain, and you could have Woods and Mickelson on your team, wouldn’t you?

They’re here, and Zero is playing ‘em, at least this week, in their first tournament among the A-List choices in Yahoo fantasy golf.

On the B-List, Zero went with Bill Haas and Jordan Spieth as starters, with Hunter Mahan and Brian Stuard ready to step in. The C-List nod went to fast-starter Charley Hoffman, with Brendon Todd on the bench.

In making his decision, Zero had no season stats to go by with Tiger and Phil. He was forced to fall back on their career numbers, which helped some.

Progress
Anybody who had Patrick Reed in the lineup had a pretty good Yahoo week at the Humana Challenge. They got 20 points from him for the day’s low round with his 63s each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and another 20-point bonus for winning the whole thing … That is, if you had him in,, like Vinnie, boss man of the Tap-in Birdies, who knows a stallion when he’s ridin’ one, all the way to 199 points, good enough for a tie for sixth in the Fans of Graeme McDowell division.

Commander Zero clocked in with 165 points, buoyed by a final-round 25 from Z. Johnson, who went low Sunday with a 62 and finished fourth in the tournament.

It wasn’t enough to slide into the top 50 for the week in the Graeme Mac, but overall – while Zero couldn’t crack the magic 60,000 barrier – he improved to 60,534th place, which zoomed him into double digits at the 14th percentile.

So clearly, going forward, with the value stream duly mapped and all the metrics measured, with the non-linear opposing dynamics factored in direct proportion to their relative weight or lack thereof, the line chart is trending to the northeast, which is to say, generally upward. It’s a long season.

Filed Under: PROS(E) Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

This damn game 4: The survey

January 18, 2014 By 1 Comment

I BELIEVE THEY sincerely wanted to know how my golf round went yesterday — so I did the uncharacteristic: I filled out the e-mail survey of a golf course just north and east of Grey Goatee HQ.

I told them I would prefer to play without the rumble and grind of heavy construction equipment close by — but more jarring was the lack of trees. The removal of those hundreds of trees — thousands? — changed the character of a round there. I used to really like the course when meandering through it was a true ”woodlands” experience.

I wrote that it’s not the golf course’s fault — the houses are the product, I know, of some more or less tangential business relationship with a developer. I know the trees aren’t coming back, and the houses are surely coming in.

I hope the houses get sold — what a waste otherwise.

I was asked what might have made my round better … I had to assume the question meant something the course had control over, and I don’t think it has any sway over the weather, so I left that one blank. I doubt the course maintenance guys have as much control over drainage as they’d like, but in any case a half-dozen golf balls between me and my friend were lost in plain sight, presumably plugged too deep to find.

And the greens were s-l-o-w.

The last question of the survey asked what factors are most important in my overall golf experience. I answered, first of all, it’s about who I’m playing with. Yesterday, I went out with Eric T., and that’s never a bad thing.

The second important factor, I said, is that my feet are dry. As for yesterday, it’s sure not their fault I wore the wrong shoes.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Going with the orange

January 17, 2014 By 2 Comments

The master manipulator that is me was forced into some hasty Yahoo lineup changes because orange is the new black and Brandt Snedeker is in 113th after one day at the Humana Challenge in Partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Big Bubba is here to justify the longest tournament name on tour, and I do not mean Watson.

Rickie Fowler gets the nod for the A-List spot after a 4-under 68, good for 31st place, while Snedeker gets bumped to the bench after a 72, and will have to get better to make the cut in birdie-happy La Quinta. Patrick Reed, who is on someone else’s team, shot 63 for the first-day lead.

Among the B-Listers, Bill Haas’s 65 moved him past Webb Simpson (69) into play alongside Zach Johnson, who also shot 65. Matt Every made the lineup change a tough call with his own 65.

Harris English earned his slot in the C-List with a solid 67, and I’m with him, good or ill, because Boo, Weekley that is, withdrew with a knee injury.

My loyalty to these guys is unwavering, until such time as they miss the cut or piss me off.

Progress
I’m now in 60,828th place, 397 spots below yesterday. And I thought I had nowhere to go but up.

Filed Under: PROS(E)

An unknown will win, if only in my fantasies

January 15, 2014 By Leave a Comment

IT CAN’T BE SAID they’re waiting out the weather. The PGA Tour is careful to schedule its January events in warm-weather sites. Last week … Hawaii. Week before that … Hawaii. This week … Palm Springs, or close enough.

For whatever reasons, Tour stars like Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy, are not entered in the Humana Challenge in La Quinta this week. That makes it harder to fill out a fantasy lineup on Yahoo Sports, because you’re left with the Matt Everys and Brian Stuards of the world.

That, actually, is more fun than clicking on the big names and money leaders every week. And it’s really fun when these excellent players of no national profile step up and go low.

If that were to happen, and I was smart enough to start them, I could move out of a tie for 60,431st.

Look a little closer at the field, of course, and you see can pencil in Zach Johnson, the hottest golfer in the world after two (2) events. Bill Haas, two years removed from his FedEx Cup reward in heaven, is here, as is Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champ. Boo Weekley, a winner last year, is teeing it up.

So is Brandt Snedeker, of an age and talent that he’s perennially on the edge of being on the cusp of being elite. Maybe this year.

So even if the biggest big guns aren’t here, you still have guys who know their way around the heavy artillery.

Mickelson is playing this week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC championship, a non-Tour event. Woods kicks it off next week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

It’s fun to slot in Phil and Tiger for the first time every season, or anytime, in that fantasy world of Yahoo, so expect it.

But not this week.  This week, the commander of Team Zero Zero, which is in the Fans of Graeme McDowell group, is going with Snedeker, Z. Johnson, Simpson and Harris English, with Rickie Fowler, Haas, Every and Boo as backups.

A lot of the early money is on Charles Howell III. The Yahoo in-house “expert” pegged Howell for an A-list start. He also has Justin Leonard in his lineup, which only proves I’m way smarter than he is.

I’m not in 60,431st place for no reason.

Filed Under: PROS(E) Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The regal and rugged beauty of Royal County Down

January 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment

This article appeared first in LocalGolfer.com.

by Jack Seybold
About 10 years before his death in 1908, the legendary four-time British Open Champion Old Tom Morris worked on the design of one of his 75 courses, Royal County Down in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. At that time, the course occupied part of the property on which you’ll now find the elegant Slieve Donard Resort and Spa (named after the nearby principal summit of the Mountains of Mourne).

Now the course embraces the scenic coastline of Dundrum Bay. Newcastle’s desirability as a seaside resort led to development of a golf course there in Victorian times.

For at least two months, with about equal measures of eagerness and trepidation, I prepared to play Royal County Down’s championship golf course – recognized by Golf Digest as the “Finest Course Outside the USA.”  ESPN ranks it No. 4.  With accolades like that, I was eager to test my mettle with my metals.

The leading factor in the “dread” column appeared when I learned that the course does not have “buggies” – golf carts. My arthritic knees buckled at the prospect of hobbling around the very scenic but very rugged terrain. What’s the legal dose of ibuprofen?

The description and photos of the course on the Royal County Down Website were daunting for a golfer of my modest ability. “Bearded” bunkers? Domed, lightning-quick greens? Sand dunes? Rory McIlroy, who hails from Hollywood, County Down, might look forward with relish to his next round at the venerable course, but a 19-handicapper blanches from the intimidation. And what about the notorious Irish wind and rain?

When my 7:42 tee time finally materialized, Royal County Down proved worthy of both the anticipation and the dread. A brief light shower followed our first tee shots, then the sky settled into partial cloudiness and breezy sunshine. This summer, Ireland enjoyed the best weather in anyone’s memory. And Newcastle enjoys a microclimate milder than other parts of the island.

I joined two strapping young Americans and the father of one of them. The youngsters could rifle drives into the next postal code, but soon learned that the course rewarded accuracy more than distance.

The fairways were smoother than some municipal course greens I’ve played, and it was not unusual to putt from 15 yards off the green. The rough however was, well, rough. Stands of gorse could make an errant shot as unapproachable as Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Marram and red fescue grass and heather are abundant, and they keep your “hit it straight” resolution current.

Long drives are occasionally beneficial, if not essential, especially for four blind tee shots. After a par-5 initiation on No. 1, with a view of Dundrum Bay available after your drive, No. 2 offers the first blind tee shot, which must clear a ridge to find a narrow fairway, unless you have the length to reach the wider patch farther on.

The subject of blind shots brings to mind the splendid ninth hole. If you successfully boom it over a steep heathered slope, you hope to find your ball on the fairway 60 feet below the crest, between mounds on the left and tough rough on the right. At the summit, you will pause and enjoy a grand view: the stately Royal County Down clubhouse and the charming Slieve Donard Hotel adjacent to it are miniaturized by the backdrop of the celebrated Mountains of Mourne, their sturdy masses sweeping down to the sea beyond the town of Newcastle.

For two months, I battled doubts that I would belong on this illustrious course, the fear that I would be out of my league. Surprise: I parred two of the first three holes. My knees fortified by ibuprofen held up well, at least on the front nine. After that, I slogged along often thirty paces behind the others. But I spiced my round with some capable shots and sterling putts.

The well-maintained greens roll true. Those bunkers?  I had never seen such ominous shaggy pits, with long spikes of fescue and marram hanging over the lips like a cresting wave. But the sand was of a fine quality, and only once in four tries did I need two shots to escape.

Hole 18 is a demanding, narrow par-5 studded with bunkers. I arrived there with a smoldering ache in my knees, relief and contentment in my heart, and a chance to score in the nineties.

A major factor in the day’s success was the work of three fine caddies. Not only were they pleasant and supportive, their extensive course knowledge and green-reading skills saved who-knows-how-many strokes. And they worked together as smoothly as a new sewing machine.

While we were putting on No. 1, one of the caddies climbed the hill ahead where he would act as a marker defining the right edge of the unseen fairway, and also would be better able to eyeball our tee shots. Another caddie toted the lookout’s bag. Caddies are independent contractors, not required, but recommended. Without the caddies I would have unwittingly hit into difficult rough and added maybe half an hour in ball-hunting time.

Before I left for Ireland I was warned that four sleeves of balls might not be enough — I lost only three balls all day.

A TV commercial for a credit card company portrays a foursome of awed golfers being surprised in an elegant locker room by the arrival of Tom Watson and Graeme McDowell. It was not filmed at Royal County Down, but could have been. The club’s comfortable dressing room has showers, individual lockers, a sophisticated ambience and “drying facilities” — I suppose it does rain there.

The Murlough Bar and Dining Room, also upstairs from the pro shop, is a large, plush room with a bird’s-eye view of the 18th green and 10th tee, a perfect venue for enjoying a pint or a meal after your round.

My new ambition, when I win the lottery, is to become a regular at Royal County Down. It’s like a stern old grandfather you meet for the first time and find that beneath his gruff exterior is a sturdy, story-filled gentleman with a pocketful of treats. They say that everyone has two favorite cities, and one of them is San Francisco. I can imagine a similar saying about golf courses.

Greens fees at Royal County Down: 
May to October: Weekdays £180 per round a.m. / £165 per round p.m.   

Sunday pm £180 per round. Two rounds in one day £275.

November to February: £50 per round.

March: £75 per round. April: £100 per round. (At today’s conversion rate, that will be about $157.)

Caddie Fees:  
Senior Caddie – £40 (about $63)   Senior Caddie (Carrying two bags) – £70

Standard Caddie – £25                   Fore-Caddie (per group) – £50 

Stay and Play possibilities:
There is no stay and play package with the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa, although it is certainly the most convenient place to stay. Current rates start at $127 per night for bed and breakfast, based on a two-night stay.

Hastings Group Golf Site
There are plenty of lodgings and restaurants in and near Newcastle.  See the Royal County Down Golf Club website for suggestions:
http://www.royalcountydown.org/default.aspx

Filed Under: Road Holes

Teacher’s Corner: Charlie Thurston

January 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Today we introduce a new recurring feature in this space: Teacher’s Corner. Our first subject is Charlie Thurston, a 45-year-old Colbert, Wash.,  golf pro profiled yesterday about his company, Pacific Northwest Golf and Wine Tours.

Charlie Thurston

Charlie Thurston

CHARLIE THURSTON IS A TEACHER of golf, and when he talks golf he might end up talking Ben Hogan.

Hogan, one of the great ball-strikers of all time, also wrote a book – some say THE book – called “Five Lessons.” Hogan kept his hands quiet in his swing, Thurston says, and we all could learn from that.

“He eliminated any hand action,” Thurston says. “A lot of golfers are over-active with their hands.”

Too much hands – or any number of other things – could be what’s messing up your swing, says Thurston, who calls himself a “root cause” teacher: it usually comes down to one thing. He is blessed, he says, with an eye for picking it out.

“The majority of golfers are doing things they don’t need to or want to in their golf swing,” he says. ”I try to help them get rid of things that are getting in their way.”

Thurston, who’s been playing golf “literally since I could walk,” discovered he had a knack for teaching golf when he was in junior high and gave swing tips to his teachers.

He went on to a “fairly decent” high school career in Wenatchee, Wash., and was slated to play at Eastern Washington University only to have the school drop its golf program just before his first fall there.

Later, he ended up working for the Sherwin-Williams company. In his business golf rounds with vendors and clients, he would give tips, and he found a receptive audience.

“Why aren’t you a golf pro?” they would ask.

“The day I turned pro, I had students lined up.”

He doesn’t want to blow up your golf swing and start over.

“A lot of instructors feel like they’re obligated to change somebody’s swing,” he says. “I’ve never done that. I try to help them uncover their real golf swing.”

Five-Minute Lesson

If he had only five minutes to work with a student, Thurston would look for one “root cause.”

“In five minutes, I would give them the concepts to hit the ball forward,” he says. “I see a lot of problems with trying to get the ball airborne.”

It’s a simple concept, hitting the golf ball forward, but too many golfers consciously try to get the ball  in the air, rather than letting the loft of the club do the work.

“If people would just learn to hit the ball forward,” Thurston says, “they would do themselves a favor and maybe never even need a golf lesson.”

Filed Under: Teacher's Corner, The Craft, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Golf tours with tips and tippling

January 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Charlie Thurston at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland.

Charlie Thurston at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland.

LAYING UP MIGHT BE the smart play on a given hole on a given day at a given golf course.

Playing it safe, however, is not in the business plan for Charlie Thurston’s entrepreneurial golf venture.

Thurston, a 45-year-old PGA professional, recently fell victim to a downsizing at Spokane Country Club, where he’d been working as a teaching pro. Just like that, his job and his comfort zone were gone. But he still had his teaching chops … and time to devote to his dream.

Thus, Pacific Northwest Golf and Wine Tours LLC. It’s far from the only tour company combining wine and golf. It might be the only one that throws golf instruction into the package.

And you, the tourist golfer, get to customize your journey.

“This just feels like something I should be pursuing,” Thurston says. “Win, lose or draw, I’m excited to be doing something innovative.”

You can visit the Website for examples of tours – the courses, the duration, the after-hours wining and dining, the room to lay down your weary head. In short, pick your destination, and Thurston will help you chart your road trip.

Wine tourism is a nice niche if you can carve one out in a crowded marketplace. Golf tourism is in recovery, not yet at full health.

So it might be a tough nut to crack, but Thurston is in his element. He’s a student of the game as much as he is a teacher, he says.  He loves the history of golf and exploring the places where the game took root and flourished.

“Name another game that has 600 years of history,” he says. He might have added, but didn’t, that wine has an infinitely deeper history than golf.

And where there’s golf, there are players yearning to play it better. Thurston’s teaching sessions will include not only swing tips but specific techniques for attacking the course of the day. For instance, he might offer his thoughts on the bump-and-run approach to the fescue greensides of Chambers Bay, or how to play into the wind at Horn Rapids.

If the golf turistas in his group are into a little friendly gambling, he’ll help set up the day’s game. He’ll see to it that the beverage cart does not neglect his people. And, at the end of the round, he’ll get you to the wine-tasting or whatever is next on your itinerary.

While he loves the history of golf and all the places where it lives, he also loves the Pacific Northwest. In his view, the region is underappreciated for its golf and underutilized by tourists.

He’d like to be the guy to shine a light on the Northwest for the rest of the globe. Spokane, for instance, is one of the great regions for affordable golf.  Thurston has a special fondness for Wine Valley Golf Course in Walla Walla and the wine region around it.

The golf boomtown of Bend, Ore., has wineries, to be sure, but is better known for microbreweries and craft distillers. In fact, Thurston has cooked up a promotional offer for Bend featuring tours of the Deschutes Brewery and the Oregon Spirit Distillery, with lodging at Pronghorn Resort and golf at Pronghorn and Brasada Ranch.

Bellingham, Wash., is rich in good and low-cost golf, and head an hour north over the border into British Columbia and new worlds open up.

Portland, well, come on, there’s no better city golf in the world, and the potential for tie-ins to wine, beer and spirits is limitless.

The Coeur d’Alene region of Idaho, with its ravishing scenery, boasts golf that ranges from the iconic (Coeur d’Alene Resort course and its island green) to the sublime (Circling Raven).

And ring in the new: Salish Cliffs, near Shelton, Wash., is Washington’s newest active course and connected to a sprawling resort and casino. Gamble Sands, a new David McLay Kidd design, is due to open this summer near Brewster, Wash.

Which finally brings us ‘round to Bandon Dunes, the one place outliers will mention if they know anything of Northwest golf destinations.

“People don’t know it,” Thurston says, “but there are 20 wineries within reach of Bandon.”

Thursday: Charlie Thurston in the Teacher’s Corner.

 

Filed Under: Road Holes, The Craft, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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