We knew it was coming – the 8,000+ yard tournament course
It was only a matter of time, and it happened at a course that is getting serious consideration for a U.S. Open. Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin held a tournament over the weekend for a group of 38 club pros and amateurs with the course set at 8,400 yards. Now, it was for 19 holes [...]
TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course shuts down
This is an interesting environmental note. The course had been using gray water to irrigate its fairways.
Sales and marketing director Tiffany Nelson said the root structure on the course has deteriorated since 2000, when it stopped irrigating with Central Arizona Project water and switched to reclaimed water.
The reclaimed water has high salt content, which [...]
Jeff Mingay ending his blog
A sad day – blogger and golf course architect Jeff Mingay announced that he’s moving on to other things and will no longer update his blog. That’s a real loss to the golf blog community. Jeff only had 29 blogs – the first of which appeared on January 1st of this year – but the [...]
Is Great Britain becoming hostile to golf?
The home of golf is becoming not so sweet for both existing and proposed golf courses. A new golf course and proposed junior golf facility were rejected in Cumbrian, which is in northwest England.
Mr Cullingford said there was “no demonstrable deficiency in the provision of golf courses either in the Lake District National Park or [...]
Shocking: Golf market in trouble
Ray Tennenbaum writes an interesting article for Golf Business Magazine on the sorry state of the golf industry, which has joined the residential real estate industry in the toilet. (Welcome – the water’s @&$#!) In any event, the article is an interesting one and spurred a great discussion at GolfClubAtlas.com on the subject. (There’s too [...]
Faldo turns Fifty
Nice interview with Nick Faldo at the Times. Although, I have to admit to amusement when the article’s author is amazed that Faldo hasn’t hit the hard drugs. Imagine a person of strong enough will, integrity and intelligence that they can find a release without turning to the crack pipe. Novel!
“EVER tried cocaine?” I ask. [...]
Site News: A slight change in location
You may have noticed that the “golf” folder has been dropped from the website. In other words, the site is located at www.earthgolf.com instead of www.earthgolf.com/golf. You shouldn’t have noticed any interruption – in fact, you may not have noticed it at all since a redirection is in place to keep everything running smoothly. But [...]
Oakmont rated as toughest in Pittsburgh area – sky color to be determined next
A poll taken for what reason? The question: Rate the most difficult course within 100 miles of Pittsburgh. Not sure what the point of the survey was, but what the heck, huh?
Oakmont was the only unanimous choice among tournament sites, but a dozen courses received multiple votes. Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier was [...]
Brandt Snedeker goes back in time – with 80s golf equipment
USA Today with PGA Tour rookie Brandt Snedeker conducted something of a test – Snedeker played consecutive rounds with equipment from the 1980s and modern equipment at Sea Island, Georgia.
He shot 80 with the 1980s era equipment and 75 with modern equipment.
Snedeker broke out in laughter when he saw an age-worn short iron that had [...]
Course Review: The Creek Club – Reynolds Plantation
Golf course architect Jim Engh has spent the majority of his career designing courses out west and dabbled a little in Michigan. Reynolds Plantation had 81 holes of golf from the likes of Cupp, Fazio, Nicklaus and Rees Jones. The first 81 holes are good golf, as you’d expect from those four architects. But Reynolds [...]
