The New Slow

Americans are generally slow players at the game of golf; better – more deliberate players being the culprits and Ladies unjustly receiving the blame. That isn’t far from the truth as virtually nothing is more intolerable than following four single digit players grinding out their match. Those Americans who have had been players for 20 years or more and especially those with at least 40 years experience with the game have seen pace of play in America deteriorate to a remarkable degree. Some comments on slower players in the 1990’s lay the blame on players from Japan. Rather deliberate in their ways respecting a ritual - perhaps cultural manner of playing. It is rather relaxing and somewhat ceremonial in nature and sometimes lead to slower rounds of golf that even the horribly slow Americans noticed. Japanese players in America have done a very good job of accommodating to American golf norms by assimilating their playing character at American Resorts to a much more representative average American style. I certainly respect that approach to the game wherein a nearly three hour nine holes is followed by lunch and then another ceremonial nine. Given how that evolved, I am fine with it as it is closer to religion than disease.
Professional golfers whether at stroke play or match play are maddening to watch I person and on the television isn’t much better with the emphasis on staying “in one’s self”. Club players with five or more years under their belts at their own home course taking five minutes to execute a putt that they’ve had dozens of times before is hard to fathom. Maybe I just read putts better than most or am motivated to get out of the players behind me’s way. Slow play abounds.
Recently in Scotland I noticed at a well-known but not Open Rota club a list of average playing times comparing those of members vs. outsiders. It showed nearly an hour’s difference of time playing this lovely course (3:35) comparing several month’s average time (vs. 4:25) of visitors. I am certain that Americans contribute their fair share and visitors are to be expected to get about slower. However, I learned firsthand at another Club of the new slow. It is the Swedes. They have taken the methodical, ritual pre-shot routine, stay in focus, execute only when you are ready process to previously incomprehensible levels. They must all be trying to shoot 54 it seems. Fortunately it was a lovely day, windy, but not a rainy one. Our two-ball thus became intimately acquainted with the four-ball in front of us as two successive three-balls from Sweden leading our groups executed (badly?) the Swedish routine to perfection. The shots were far from perfection. Tops, foozles, laterals were all in play and the record will reflect that over five hours were required for these groups to complete its round. Our time was in the 4:30 range including perhaps 1:30 of literally standing around, walking backwards, practicing chipping and putting as we literally had nothing else to do and we were the final morning group. A routine is one thing, gross inconsideration is another. Our two cadies and the three in our group ahead were livid and your not-so-even tempered reporter was on very good behavior. Apparently we have a new plague to try and stop as the caddies were all too familiar with the process already.

Deliberate needs to be reworked as golf enters more deeply into the 21st century. Routines can be pared, steps eliminated, confidence in perception can be found with less repetition. Wholesale repeats of the routine can be modified at the point of the grip, the alignment, the stance – somewhere.

Damn, I had really wanted to play golf in Sweden one of these days, I’ve found a couple of interesting courses …

Forsgate

Charles Banks was generally considered the less-talented member of the trio yet his distinctive style can hardly be called “lite”. He likely had little of his own ideas to input as he was a construction man and in fact once the oeuvre was created in the first five years of their work as a design team, little else was added by anyone. Banks cannot be faulted in any way for lack of creativity. Some of what he did was of course to finish off the work of Raynor when Seth passed on. Macdonald gets most of the credit for introducing the design principles first brought to America in most grand style at NGLA. Chicago Golf Club, Raynor fully gutted to create a “superior design” in Macdonald’s words and much of what we know is done in Raynor’s style at the courses Macdonald Raynor and Banks put their names on. Banks is honored at Forsgate and his design especially at the green complexes has been lovingly preserved and enhanced at Forsgate. The aficionado should seek it out as it is certainly contending for top 25 in golf-rich New Jersey.

Banks is a bit of a forgotten man at the triumvirate with much of his distinction being proffered by critics as more crude and of course more mechanical and angular. The Banks course at Forsgate in Monroe Twp., NJ, is a fine example of Banks work. It is immediate to exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike, exceptionally easy to find. I was first introduced to it years ago and indeed felt fortunate to be playing two Charles Banks in a seven day span. Later that week in Bermuda I had my sole play at the exquisite (N.L.E.) Castle Harbour. Sadly what exists now as Tucker’s Town is not a Banks course and has little of architectural interest or curiosity. Forsgate on the other hand keeps getting loving attention bringing it further forward as a particularly good example of Banks’ work.
Bold Greenside Bunkering

Eden (ish)

Reverse Redan (aka Nader)

A Bold Biarritz, 63 paces deep

Swale in perspective


Routing: Overall a simple affair with a bit of parallelism but extremely walkable without a glitch. The greens are immediate to tees and nine next to ten, rather good; quite efficient if not too dramatic.
Overall quality of individual holes: Par 3’s are exceptional with Biarritz, reverse Redan and Horseshoe (Short) all exceptional. Eden (not really an Eden, but none ever are) is also a fine hole. Par fours have some variety, mostly at greens with little heroics needed to negotiate their play. Par fives, lacking interesting fairway bunkering come down to the greens although the Plateau ninth has excellent rolls in the fairway. These aren’t up to the level of the other holes.
Cohesion of the course: Excellent with such a tight routing and consistent style, it is a pleasure to play and there is never a questioning moment.
Green Complexes: These generally fall into a couple of types – templates, rolling waves and the more simple affairs. Punchbowl is not quite, but the reverse Redan is spot on fallaway, the newly-revved-up Biarritz is astoundingly good (it always was notable,
Bunkering schema: A bit tame except certain spots most notably the Biarritz, recently renovated. Much of the fairway bunkering is un inspired but commensurate with aspirations.
Conditioning: Superior turf on greens, rest more than serviceable for an enjoyable round, a good balance actually.
Use of trees: Kept to the periphery, one struggles to find a criticizable tree.
Ideal: Rather better than average as water is not in play and rough is severe only when far off line.
Rest of Club: Pretty average but that’s far better than over-the-top -matches aspirations. Extremely comfortable.

A Challenge from 93 years ago

Why I am a golfer in 100 words or less

I am a golfer because it is a pastime for a lifetime, somewhere between religion and disease. It is a microcosm of life, continually challenging the body and psyche to different degrees in a satisfying, encouraging way yet never allowing a full measure of satisfaction nor dismay. Allowing us to frequently start anew it refreshes and seduces as no other. Leading us to believe that we are somehow in control, it constantly reminds us that we are not. It allows us our own measure and gives us great pride to merely be a part of it. We are one with her.

my take

State by State - New Jersey today

Americans are by and large fascinated if not obsessed with lists and of course "The Best". I've rated courses for years, contributed to lists and defined groups of my own, finding it hard to say that course A is better than B if they are of similar merit. Top 100 lists for the world and the US more or less come out reasonably correct in the wash if many people contribute to them and biases go mostly by the wayside. Individual lists are to be taken with a grain of salt, they always reflect positive and negative preferences of the compiler.

The lists that are the most suspect are state by state lists as they are compiled for the major US magazines. The biggest fault is that they are far too heavily weighted by where the voters are A) Told to go and B) Choose to go. Choice A because someone has pre-selected the choices and B because of three separate but not so distinct reasons. One is that newer courses get disproportionate visits by first or casual visitors to an area and then those with established histories of being great and/or preferred architects get disproportionate endorsement.

I would venture to say that regional magazines are not immune to this malady. The traveler wants fair and balanced information on which to make decisions, the private club golfer can get reciprocity from his home club and the public golfer plays in his price range. If one likes Jack Nicklaus designs, Tom Fazio, Jim Engh or some other designer whose teams work across the country, seeking out a known entity often fulfills one's needs. I hope that golfers try to branch out and try new architects work and expand their horizons. Every region has a home architect or two that might very well be worth seeking out.

caveat: be careful who compiles a "Best of" list - ones created by players themselves are notoriously stacked. One really has to be careful with a list such as Golf Digest's Places to Play - perhaps the least reliable guide one can choose for just this reason. The truly best places in any given area are hidden as low as ** ½ and on the other hand **** ½ courses can be just little more than extremely well-conditioned pasture pool palaces.

I'm going to ask my readers to help out on this one. E-mail me with your state's best courses. Reader comments have been turned off due to Asian spam latching onto my blogs comments section. Look for yours.

Here’s a state I really know well (reserved right to edit as I did this fast)

Golf Digest panelists
Pine Valley
Baltusrol Lower
Galloway National
Plainfield
Sommersett Hills
Ridge at Back Brook
Ridgewood (E&W)
Baltusrol Upper
Bayonne
Hidden Creek
Liberty National
Trump (Old)
Metedeconk
Hamilton Farms
Hollywood
Atlantic City
Mountain Ridge
Pine Hill
Neshantic Valley
Shore Gate

This Humble Observer's View:
Pine Valley – arguable world #1

Plainfield – most unappreciated great course in America

Sommersett Hills – Tillie’s quirkiest
Ridgewood (Championship)- below R@BB??? In what universe?
Baltusrol Upper – far more interesting than more famous bottom half
Hollywood – among very best “flat” courses
Galloway National – uneven but solid, worst greenhead flies in USA
Atlantic City – nice interpretive restoration
Hidden Creek – really nice “member’s club” by MFA’s

(Now by alpha)
Alpine – deserves more respect
Baltusrol Lower - famous
Bayonne – engineering feat. So what?
Trump (Old) –Trump’s best, very good Fazio

Canoe Brook (N) – fits in about here
Metedeconk – 27 holes of “Hard”
Montclair – four (4!) “nines”
Mountain Ridge – has its fans, wild greens, overall uneven

Better than below +/- equal to some of last 5 above:
Canoe Brook (S)
Deal
Echo Lake
Forsgate
Manasquan River

Better than below:
Fiddler’s Elbow (Forest)
Royce Brook (both)
Sand Barrens – 27 solid holes at shore
Scotland Run - somewhat modest public, far better than Shore Gate

- All probably not in top 50 NJ (ALL top 25 GD)
Hamilton Farms – incredible mish-mash of design - very posh
Liberty National – nearly universally panned despite very posh
Neshantic Valley – nice neighborhood public Doak 3
Pine Hill – every Fazio cliché in the book Doak 4 at best
Ridge at Back Brook – very posh, Doak 4, but posh
Shore Gate – definition of hideous - not posh, don't get this one at all

Oakmont and the Ladies, The Old Course and The Open

Slow play is killing golf. Fast greens breed slow play, was Oakmont the Mother of slow play?

Not necessarily, but very few of the women (as I suppose most handicap visiting players of Oakmont) had any sort of feel for what was really needed. One can even say that with the tilted flat portions of greens at Oakmont requiring pinpoint precision of shots that not only was Oakmont guilty of prolonging and perhaps even breeding modern slow play, it becomes the ultimate in target golf - hit it here or die.

William Fownes once said "A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost". That is the mantra of Oakmont to the nth degree. They have hundreds of single digit handicaps, so maybe once you are used to the uni-dimensionality of the play requirements, it might just lead to tighter score dispersion amongst members.

Here's a list of Pennsylvania Golfers winning the state Amateur.
Nathan Smith
Mike Van Sickle
Adam Hofmann
Chad Bricker
Alex Knoll
Blaine Peffley
Brandon Knaub
Nathan T. Smith 2nd) John G Jones (Oakmont)
Peter A. Toole
Michael McDermott
Chris Lange

These are the last few years and the only Oakmont golfer in the winner or runner-up spot. Have the conditions at Oakmont day-to-day produced champions?

Fast greens are an end unto themselves and often don't translate well. It becomes difficult to play fast greens for the player of slow greens much more so than the player of fast greens accommodating the other way. Familiarity thus breeds contempt, funny how truism are so. Are the super fast greens at Oakmont nothing more than a mind jerk for the members? I have yet to play there, but I think variety is the lifeblood of golf.

Poor Tiger Woods whined like a 12-year old girl about the greens at The Old course last week at The Open Championship, switched putters twice and was probably perturbed that he was denied a record third Open at st. Andrews that he felt was an entitlement for him (seems no change there). Maybe A) He's no longer the "Best Player in the World" and his time of reign is ending with a whimper not a bang or B) He's similar to most professional golfers in America in that there is a comfort zone that the majority don't like to leave. Either way The R & A have widened the gap over the USGA. The list of USGA Open winners has been comprised of mostly players backing into the title while the R & A have seemed to identify the players most wanting to win that week rather than the one least wanting to lose.

Oakmont for the Ladies put Pebble Beach for the men to shame, even though each provided a deserving winner. Yet The Old Course again welcomed a great win and winner.

Louis Oosthuizen (weist-hoyzen') played surgical golf reminiscent of Sir Nick Faldo as much as anyone else in the era post-Hogan.

Here's to playing quickly - and Louis did!