Favourite Slinger Tracks 41

EMC – Mahogany Run, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Highest point is Crown Mountain at 1550 ft. The general landscape is steep and the islands are all
pretty much pyramids sticking out of the water. The waters are crystal clear.
Mahogany Run was built on the side of the mountain and the course slopes down in various areas to maybe
200 ft above sea level. The Fazio bros did a very nice job. Not the best course on Earth but, show me another
like this one ?

What makes this course special is flat-out the views of the entire St. Thomas area. Dozens of islands.
My opinion is based on 3 things. 1. Views. 2. Very tight course except the perimeter holes along the sea.
3. The drive to get there. Picture this ?

The hotel shuttle to the course (or a cab) takes you up a virtual one lane road zig-zagging up the mountain.
Past small local neighborhoods that amaze you with both the flavor and smell of those who are less fortunate
but, who don’t seem to care. The shuttle must stop now and then for a herd of goats, or maybe chickens and a cow ?
Or, at a turn overlooking the town of Charlotte Amalie and its harbour, we broke out our cameras.
Finally, you pull into luxury, and a place to drool over the views. Once on the course, you have both the views and a number of the most difficult holes ever designed. The course ate me alive. The fun was, it ate up everyone else as well. I ran out of balls….in more ways than one.
I want to go back.

Hedge – Mahogany Run 

I flew from Indianapolis to Charlotte, NC to catch our flight into St. Thomas. As we banked the plane to approach the airport at St. Thomas I felt like we were paying a visit to Jurassic Park. As I recall there was a lone landing strip on this mountain jutting out of the Caribbean with lush vegetation everywhere you looked. Leaving the plane, the heat and humidity caused your clothes and hair to stick to your body. The terminal was a glorified quonset hut that wasn’t much cooler than the outside.

We took a 45 minute ferry ride to St. John where we were staying at The Westin. Two days later several of us guys took the ferry back to St. Thomas to play 18. The road up was just as Mike described it. We were in an 8 passenger van driven by a local who appeared to be in his mid-60s. We passed a well-kept baseball diamond which our driver informed us he used to play on. As a side note, I was the only one in our group who noticed that the driver had 6 fingers on each hand. I later joked that he probably played shortstop and nothing got by those hands. LOL

I don’t remember the course as well as Mike except for that par 3 he has pictured. It was the only hole I parred all day. The heat was so intense that some of us were ready to quit after 9, but we pressed through. The course was visually stunning! It seemed that there were places that you could have driven off a cliff if you weren’t alert. On one hole I hit my approach into some bushes and managed to get stung twice on the ear before I was able to scurry out of the foliage.

I had a great time and I have the golf shirt to prove it!

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Radar – Furry Creek, BC Canada

@EMC2 Great idea Mikey !!!! My favorite course I’ve ever played was Furry Creek near Whistler BC Canada , I’ve
talked about it before in the tree house. http://www.golfbc.com/courses/furry_creek designed by Robert Muir Graves It’s in between Vancouver and Whistler on what is called the sea to sky highway and it would be one of the most breathtaking scenic drives you’d ever take. Where the highway starts you see Vancouver Island to the south and a multitude of smaller islands in the strait of Georgia and eventually you make your way up to Whistler which of course is one of the premier ski resorts in N America and where the 2010 winter Olympics took place. On the way to Whistler you have spectacular stops like Brandywine falls, the old mining town of Squamish of you can turn off to Brackendale, the self proclaimed bald eagle capitol of the world http://www.brackendaleeagles.com/ Imagine that, this town in Canada has US national birds than most states !

Just the drive up there makes playing Furry Creek an adventure worth taking. One of the investors in the company I was working for at the time had golf course ownership and management as there main business and Furry creek was one of their more prized possessions , Nicklaus North in Whistler and Mayfair Lakes in Richmond ( where I watched my first semi professional tournament and was amazed how freaking good these players were) being a couple of other ones they owned.

First two times I played this course was a Sunday and a Monday on a labor day weekend probably 1999 . My Bday is Sept 2nd and the gift from my wife was a 2 day pass for me and 3 of my buddies on that weekend.

I’ve played it a total of 5 times and 4 times we had to wait for bear( s) crossing the fairways and I have the pictures to prove it ( in moving boxes in the garage somewhere). It’s a relatively short course but the elevation changes are so big you aren’t even allowed to walk this course. And of course there is a multitude of elevated tee boxes with spectacular views of the ocean on each one of them.

The signature hole is the par 3 14th that’s on the picture on the link. It’s about 200 yards with the green doglegging into an island into the pacific. Smart play of course is to not go for that green of the tee but who ever played golf with me knows that is not how Radar rolls…no guts no glory my friend. So in the first 4 times I played about a dozen balls found their watery grave short of the green, past the green and way out in left field off the green.

When I was working for the company in Canada we we’re doing a lot of expansion at the time and the super intendant in charge of construction actually worked for the investor that owned the golf courses. His name was Danny Schweers and an avid golfer himself. When I announced my resignation and planning to head to Arizona I was invited by Danny to go play Furry Creek one more time as a sort of goodbye gift from them. I played with Danny and of course when I got to the 14th I pulled out my 3 wood and went for it. I don’t remember if I landed two or four feet from the cup but in any case I sank the birdie. Likely my best golf shot ever ( with the exception of my lone hole in one), on one of the most beautiful golf holes ever on my favorite golf course, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Danny passed away a couple of years after I left for Arizona but I’m sure this story would put a smile on his face. R.I.P.my friend!

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Metro – New South Wales Golf Club, Sydney, Australia

Great idea Mike, but like Easy’s rock and Roll and the fav movies threads….. not so easy!!
I’ve been so lucky in playing many wonderful golf courses all over the world and to pick just one is incredibly difficult, but…
If I had too, then it would be N.S.W. in Sydney Aus.
NSW sits on the top of the Sydney Heads where the pacific rolls into Sydney Harbour. Beautiful, just from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, so to have a golf course there designed by no less than Alistair MacKenzie, is just icing on the cake.

My first look at NSW, was when I played a NSW Am there back in the dim dark ages. The 6th hole is one of the signature holes and is a par 5 playing downhill to a green perched out on the rocks of the Harbour. The first day of qualifying, I hit driver – 3 wood and two putted for an easy birdie. The second day the wind had switched. Driver, 3 wood, 3 wood, a chip and a putt for bloody hard earned par!
And that is the beauty of the place; every time you play it, you are presented with new and different challenges.

The course wanders across the Heads, down to the rocky shore and back up through sand dunes on tight links turf. You really don’t design a course in a place like this – God has already done the job for you and Alistair just put his magic finishing touches to the place.
NSW has hosted only one Aussie Open in 2009 and it was won by Adam Scott. It’s lack of big events is probably due to it’s lack of parking and infrastructure for a big event. It is also quite some way from Sydney central, unlike other more popular Open venues like The Lakes and The Australian. Unfortunately, like so many other majestic masterpieces worldwide, it has become quite short – unless the wind blows. If it does, it’s game on and you better bring your A game.
If any of you ever get down to Aus and you only have time for one round in Sydney, Do It!! You won’t be disappointed.

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GGS – Rasberry Falls, VA

I played this course several years ago and believe it to be one of the most well kept and picturesque courses I have ever played. It is located on the outskirts of Leesburg, Virginia. It is a Gary Player design and has five sets of tees playing anywhere from 4800 to 7200 yards. It is truly set up for any level of golfer. This is a standing trait for most Gary Player courses I have played.

Rather than take up a bunch of space, I suggest you visit their site (
http://raspberryfalls.phantomgolf.com/course/scorecard.html) to check it out. Lots of nice pictures and information. I have not had occasion to be in that part of the country, but if I am within 100 miles I will definitely make the trip to play it again. If any Slingers have a desire to play the course, let me know, and I will gladly make the trek from Kentucky.

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Tugoo – Linville G.C, NC

My fav is only about 3 miles from where I am typing this info. Hope the connection stays in place long enough to finish. The name is Linville Golf Club in Linville, NC. It is a Donald Ross course built before the invention of a bull dozer. Constructed with mules, sleds and drags and cut out of a rhododendron forest. There is not one level fairway lie on the golf course due to all of the huge stump holes just being smoothed over, reverse bowl greens for the most part like Pinehurst #2 with poa annua grass that rolls at about 12.

At about 3500 feet of elevation you can rightly assume there are some changes of elevation within the course, not a lot of water but the amazing thing about the course is you use all of your clubs during a round of play. You have to hit it high, low and move the ball both ways to score well. The course record is 68 shot by an old tour player by the name of Jim Colbert.

They still use caddies, carry and fore. An old style course and a classy place with a 5 star lodge/restaurant next to the property. Don’t know how to post any pics or I would do so. Some of the views are fabulous if you like mountains, one of which is the famous Grandfather Mountain. This was a hard decision for me as I have had the pleasure of playing some fine courses in my life, several of which have hosted major championships but I always come back to Linville Golf Club. Their website and pics:http://www.eseeola.com/golf-and-recreation/golf/.

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Splurj – Brynwood Country Club, MW

My all-time favorite golf course would have to be what used to be Brynwood Country Club in Milwaukee (60th & Good Hope). The course is now part of the Wisconsin or Milwaukee Athletic Club I believe… As Brynwood, it was a (the?!?!) Jewish country club. Two very close high school friends worked there as car parkers (actually just after high school). On Mondays the clubhouse was closed and they were allowed to bring a guest… I was a/the guest almost every summer week for 2/3 years. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE(D) THAT COURSE! More than likely because unlike the public/municipal courses I was used to playing, it had the “feel” of a pro course. The layout… the upkeep… the close cut “carpet” fairways… Immaculate greens with a “true” roll… I miss it 🙁 …

Did I ever tell my stories related to this course… I don’t remember?…

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Wendy – Golf De Baden, Brittany, France

I have played so many courses the length & breadth of France, including the two renowned courses of La Bretesche, Pays de Loire, with its magnificent fairytale chateau with turrets, tower, moat & lake & Les Bordes, a forest course just south of Orleans, with 12 waterholes. Google them! Boy, have they become more exclusive since I played them so many years ago. They wouldn’t let riff-raff like me back on them nowadays.

My favourite , however, remains Golf de Baden, in S. Brittany, which we came upon by chance, returning from an aborted skiing holiday (the snow melted OK?) a delightful seaside course with views over the pretty estuary of the River Auray. The first hole, a long par 4, runs steeply downhill to the estuary with bunkers to the right and left of the fairway, some strategically placed pine trees and a green guarded by a pond to the left and behind the green and large but not deep bunkers to the right. Perhaps it’s the memory of my very first tee-shot here that endears it to my memory? I didn’t have a handicap cert. with me, but perhaps the old scuffed shoes said I wasn’t an absolute beginner. However, the pro came out to watch me tee off. With knocking knees, I hit a long straight shot right down the middle of the fairway and he left me with an “Allez – jouez bien!”. Upon reaching the 1st green the noise coming from the frogs in the pond was deafening. Only way to manage it was for one person to approach the pond whereupon the frogs all leapt into the water and kept quiet whilst the other one putted and vice versa. The holes are so varied, links, parkland, forest, etc. The 18th has an elevated tee playing down to a lake two-thirds across the fairway, with out of bounds to the right, then sloping gently back up to the clubhouse. The longer hitters can carry the lake. I have never put a ball into the lake. I have put a few o/b though – such is my fear of that lake.

It is many, many years since I played Baden but I can still play every hole in my mind & often do so when I am drifting off to sleep. Cheers, Wendy

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Scrums – Osprey Ridge G.C – Orlando

After several days in Orlando ‘doing the parks’ my wife, Sue, suggested we had a break and play golf. Yes she is the perfect lady and wife. I visited the Disney Golf Centre and they allocated me a twilight tee time at the nearby Osprey Ridge course. After collecting a set of Titleist clubs and two carts , one for me and my son and one for Sue and her mother we set off for the tee. I had been teamed up with another visitor who introduced himself as Jim from Chicago. He was big and needed a buggy to himself. We set off and he suggested we play off the Crest Tee which I after realised was for 7 -15 handicap and at that time I did not have handicap, .First hole one over , second hole two over,third hole one over , fourth hole par and by now we had caught up with the group in front who were very very slow and no marshalls around to speed them up. We waited on the fifth tee for a good ten minutes and more groups had joined us, at last I took my shot over a valley and alongside water on the par three 198 yards. I lost the ball in flight but the group behind cheered and shouted ‘Its in’ . I could not believe it. Jim took his shot which landed well short. We approached the green and walked over to the pin and yes it was in the hole.The group behind clapped and cheered as I retrieved the ball and made sure I kept it safe.

We played one more hole and then Jim decided to quit as dusk was approaching fast and the group in front was getting slower and slower. We took the carts and clubs back and after visiting the Golf Shop and stating that I had achieved a hole in one was presented with a plaque of Mickey Mouse holding a figure one with a hole in which the ball fits in, engraved Osprey Ridge 5. Fortunately the bar was empty but we had a drink ourselves to celebrate.

On another visit some years later we played the course again but no repeat of that shot although we did play the whole course and it was great.

Scrums

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Golf2day – Druid Hills GC Atlanta, GA

In 2005 I played the USGA Mid Am qualifier at Druid Hills Golf Club here in Atlanta. It was an extremely hot August morning with incredibly high humidity, normal for Georgia. I began the tournament by hitting my second shot on the first hole into a deep bunker, while I was reaching down to get a rake I flipped head over heels flat on to my back into the bunker. Luckily my playing partner and his caddie were not paying attention, nobody saw it but I won’t forget it.

I had no caddy and by the end of the round I was drenched in sweat from the heat, probably shot around 82 or so, not good. When we finished up and I turned in the scorecard, the GSGA official told me that it was the first dry scorecard he had seen all day, the one thing I did do correctly was to keep the card in my bag instead of my pocket. The club is 100 years old, almost all of my favorite courses are old southern courses, the landscape just seems to feel like a course just belongs there. It is the closest golf course to my home but unfortunately very exclusive and expensive, back then I believe that membership was around $40,000 a year, one of the reasons I play the Mid Am tournaments, sometimes you get a couple of rounds on a very nice course for the price of a $100 entry fee.

Druid Hills has also held the Dogwood Invitational tournament since 1941, the top amateur golfers compete every summer, plenty of past and current tour players have played in this tournament, Webb Simpson won it in 2007. This June an Auburn University player, Michael Johnson, set a tournament record at -28 over 4 days, incredible for such a difficult course. A junior golfer from Tugoo’s state of North Carolina named Benjamin Griffin shot a 61 in the first round. It boggles the mind to think how good these kids are. It is by far the best course I have ever played, I have gone to watch pro’s play at East Lake, Atlanta Athletic Club, and Sugarloaf but just by looks I would still prefer to play Druid Hills again over going to any of those courses. Check out the links.
http://www.dhgc.org/club/scripts/golf/view_course.asp?GRP=9089&NS=PG&APP=32
http://www.thedogwood.com/

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Chevy – Coyote Hills. Orange County, CA

I thought I would add my favorite course to the list. I don’t think I can be as eloquent as some of y’all but I’ll do my best.

Now I’ve been fortunate enough to play some nice courses in my life. Playing Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc Michigan where they host he Buick Open 3 times for free was definitely a highlight of my golfing career. But I really can’t qualify it as my favorite. It was surely the most challenging however.

In 1997 I left my wife of 9 years and moved to Orange County California for a much needed change. The nice thing about Orange County is definitely the weather. It didn’t rain for the first 187 days I was there. Mild temps in the high 70s were pretty regular until August came around. Suffice it to say this made planning rounds of golf easy since I didn’t have to worry about the weather. Not having many friends to play with was the only downside. I would pick different courses to play each weekend and most were very nice. Anaheim Hills which was close by was affordable and quite nice. But my favorite was a place called Coyote Hills. I think even our good friend Mike would like this course. Many elevation changes and the views were breath taking. It’s too bad their website doesn’t have more pictures. Because I don’t know if I can do it justice.

Located in the foothills of Fullerton and Orange County, yet close to it all, experience Coyote Hills Golf Course. Designed by Cal Olson and PGA Tour Legend Payne Stewart, the 250-acre Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and championship golf course has been recognized for excellence by:

Golf Digest “Top 10 Best Places to Play in Greater Los Angeles”
ESPN/Zagat Survey “America’s Top Golf Courses”
Golf Digest “Best 200 Service Courses” in the Country
Golf for Women “Top 100 Women Friendly Courses”
Orange County Register “Best of Orange County – Critic’s Choice”
OC Weekly “Best of Orange County– Best Golf Course”
Greenskeeper.org “Best Playing Conditions in Orange County”

Here is the link to their site. There are a few pictures there at least.
http://www.coyotehillsgc.com/

I only played there once. Even back in 97 it was 80 bucks to play on the weekends and I was in the middle of a divorce and money was kind of tight. But it was well worth it. I went to the course alone and was teamed up with a couple of ladies who actually played quite well. I recall one hole in particular. The tee was basically on a mountain over looking a very wide and forgiving fairway some 300 feet below from the 4th of 5 tee positions. I hit a great drive off that tee and I swear it too 10 seconds before it hit the ground. But standing up there overlooking the course and surrounding areas was something I’ll never forget.

One little thing that I thought was really neat were the hummingbird feeders throughout the course and seeing all those little buggers competing for the sugar water with the bees.

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Easy – Crail Golf Club, the Balcomie, Scotland

Hello Slingers, my turn to throw in a favourite track to the excellent collection so far.
The Crail Golfing Society is the 7th oldest golf club in the world. One of the things I’m drawn to a golf course for, is the history of it, all the players who walked the fairways. It is believed that golf was played here before 1492. The year Columbus discovered America. 2 years before George Washington became the first US President, the Crail Golfing Society was born in 1786. Just think about that. When we look at other sports, Golf has been going quite a while. When I have bad rounds like I did today, think of all that swearing that has gone on during this time playing this crazy game!
In 1856, the first competition was played over the Balcomie links. From 1895 to 1900, the course was re-designed by Old Tom Morris to the 18 holes we see today. Only 12 miles south of St Andrews in Fife Scotland, many golfers could be excused for missing this little gem. At only 5,861 yards you might think it is a pushover. But the wind makes all the difference. The greens are never faster than 9 on the stimpmeter, or they would be unplayable in the winds off the North Sea.
The clubhouse is amazing. Wonderful views over the links and the North Sea. My bacon sandwich and coffee after my rounds there tasted as good as it gets!
I played it twice in 2002. I stayed up in Kingbarns, 5 miles up the coast, south of St Andrews. The welcome is very warm. The Aussie great Peter Thompson visits there when he is in Fife. I paid my fee and off I went. My brother in law took some of the pictures you see here, he doesn’t play golf but enjoyed the walk and was stunned by the views. I shot 77 and 82 that week there. The 77 was in a good 20 mph wind and I played great. Funny how a great round can make golfers smile like a child at Christmas. You can see from the look on my face how proud I was of my score.
I love the sea. Something about playing golf on the coast sends me to some spiritual place where I feel at ease. I’m not religious, but for me this is as close as it gets. Some of the holes run right along the sea, you can smell the wonderful salt air. Hear the waves. A well struck shot and the thump on the green. Working out the wind and the elements. Writing this right now, I know I have to go back there one day. Even now I feel it drawing me to go back there. Only 280 miles away, I have no excuse. I have played some great courses here in Britain, including 8 Open courses. But for me, Crail is right up there with the Old Course, the West Links at North Berwick and Turnberry.
Golf, for me has been/is an amazing thing. Meeting people, testing myself, seeing wonderful places a non golfer simply never see in their whole lifetime. I feel very fortunate to visit places like Crail and many more famous courses, like I said before, a spiritual thing on some of them. That, for me is a total golfing experience.
Thanks for reading, Easy.