Lost in wonder

If only the 12th on Lost Canyons GC's Sky course was quite as simplistic as this photo suggests. I always think that holes stripped of traps and water and relying purely on contours for defence, represent the moment at which the architect begins to work without a safety net. At least one such hole should be mandatory on every course.

In this instance, as you can see, there is a lone bunker front left of the green but it remains a stunning hole nevertheless, on a course not lacking in them (gallery here). When Pete Dye calls this the best land he ever worked on, I don't think it's his publicist talking.

Scroll down here to find a video appraisal of the course.

Scottish golf and a very different bunker mentality

One of the trout fisheries I visited in Scotland last week as part of my day job, was Millhall, which happens to be virtually surrounded by Grangemouth Golf Club (no website, sadly but there are some old reviews here) which offers some fine views over the surrounding area.

What caught my eye in particular, were the bunkers at the par 3 7th (pictured) which is the signature hole, by dint of a tee shot that must fly the fishery's southern corner. One of the photographs accompanying the golf club link above features the 7th.

Unkempt and forbidding, these are traps that would cause palpitations among the groundstaff at any course with 'TPC' in its title, yet they took me back to the words of golf writer Peter Dobereiner in The Observer:

"Bunkers were...places to strike fear into the heart of the golfer...But not the professionals. Ever since Gene Sarazen invented the broad-soled wedge and perfected the technique of modern sand play, these hazards have lost their terror for the pro. ..Gary Player prefers his ball to lie in sand rather than in fluffy grass.

"...Peter Thomson, one of the very few professionals who is passionately concerned to preserve what he considers to be the essence of golf, believes that the rule of etiquette about smoothing bunkers should not only be repealed but reversed. ...Bunkers should be left as rough as possible so they would once more acquire the power to make the golfer quake with apprehension."

Those words were penned 39 years ago, beneath a headline that decreed Burn those rakes.

They still sound pretty fresh to me but I suspect pigs might fly before Dobereiner's persuasive logic catches on further afield than Scotland.

It puts substance ahead of image, you see. Its time is long gone.

Is new Dubai golf course really such a breeze?

Couple of little quibbles with the following promo for Dubai's Royal Breeze Golf Course:

• Given the predicted fate of low-lying coastal areas as climate change threatens to play havoc with global sea levels, some of those holes look disturbingly close to sea level
• Given its status as the new western playground in the very heart of the Middle East, how often do you suppose Dubai gets mentioned at your typical Al Quaeda project planning meeting?

Naturally, I hope neither of these eventualities come to pass but amid all the talk of swish golf clubs, 7 star hotels and shopping malls it would be nice to hear the occasional assurance that at least some of the Emirates' billions are being allocated to a 10-star defence system against both tides and terrorist.

XM Satellite Radio's coverage of this week's PGA Tour event just ran an ad for the British Open, immediately followed by one for the Fedex Cup.

Whichever Tour goof booked that slot, the gambit failed. Spectacularly...
..................................

And on that note, I'm off-line 'til Saturday; possibly the only golf fan in Britain who's heading to Scotland for the fishing this week and not the Open

Bedford Springs a designer cocktail on us

The Bedford Springs golf course is back with us and to read the tone of some welcomes, it's like the Great Gatsby returned from the grave. What we have in golfing terms is a mix of the styles of designers AW Tillinghast and Donald Ross, complementing the original design of Spencer Oldham (one of the few names that remains largely impervious even to Google's powers of investigation).

The hole-by-hole guide is here; the nuts-and-bolts here and the history here.

Perhaps the most interesting nugget, however, is here. Look at those pictures on the left - conclusive proof that dubious mounding did not begin with Pete Dye.

Everyone apologise...

Golf threatens life as we know it

Journalistic balance decrees that I must highlight this story, which takes issue with this one.

I'm thinking this is a man who's had his windscreen broken by an errant tee shot...

Forgettable, that's what you are...

Golf course list with a difference - 10 Courses To Forget - courtesy of Golf.com, although note the qualification at the end.

While it used to be my local course, I have to concede the point where The Belfry is concerned but in the 10th and 18th, it has two gems strong enough to carry the rest. You won't rue the day you played The Belfry but nor will it bring a twinkle to your eye when you recall it in your dotage.

Respect to the author just for daring to include Pinehurst...

Thailand golf course guide

Some nice course visuals here, if you want a quick overview of how Thai golf looks.

The New Wildlife Refuge: Golf Courses?

On the face of it, it is heartening to know that golf courses can have a purpose even nobler than fostering such rare species as the manufactured shot or the bump-and-run.

I just hope it won't be seized upon by developers as spurious justification for grabbing every piece of open countryside they can lay their hands on.

There is a major difference between a wildlife sanctuary that can be enjoyed by all and one whose benefits are available solely to those paying £900 a year for the privilege.

Best of Scottish golf not what you'd think

Just encountered this eclectic top-five of Scottish golf courses. The lady responsible presumably lives in Scotland, so we have to assume she's not just being perverse. At least it gives a golf course course blogger something new to write about.

Machrihanish, you may be familiar with but Edzell, Cruden Bay, Braemar and Isle of Colonsay (pictured, courtesy of Christine McIntosh) take you somewhat off the beaten path.

"Traditional links course reputedly 200 years old natural challenging and fun course. The 10th green has one of the best views in golf." - UKGolfguide.com on Colonsay

Tourists or sheep; I guess you take your pick.

Golf architecture: reputations count for nothing

Padraig Harrington may be famous on both sides of the Pond but it sounds like his design company are having real problems breaking into the American market...

Carnoustie: spectator's guide

An illustrated map of Carnoustie Golf Links: one of the better Carnoustie graphics you'll find, ahead of this month's Open Championship.

Poconos golf: 'brand name' designers at budget prices

Since learning just how many golfing treasures occupy the monied shores of Long Island, I have kept an eye out for other American golfing hotbeds, to be filed in my 'Not Myrtle Beach' category.

Now, a mailshot for tourism in the Pocono Mountain region may have unearthed a qualifier; one which comes a whole lot cheaper and more accessible than Long Island's hallowed gathering (Shinnecock, The National, Bethpage Black and Friar's Head).

Consider the following, all within a corridor roughly 80 miles by 60 and a $75 green fee budget:

Buck Hill Falls GC - architect Donald Ross & Robert White (Blue and White courses) - max. weekday green fee $45
"wooded, rolling mountainside terrain...Ridgeline silhouettes, relentless undulations, and classic subtleties define this 27-hole masterpiece"...hole feature

Country Club at Woodloch Springs - Rocky Roquemore - $75
"...winds its challenging way over 6,579 yards of fern-carpeted forests, lush wetlands and broad upland meadows"..."The outstanding signature 14th hole requires a dramatic 220-yard carry over 'Hells Gate Gorge' which is carved from the rugged mountainside by rushing water some 200 feet below"

The Inn at Pocono Manor, East Course - Donald Ross - $35
"...incorporates a mountain setting with rolling hills and plush tree-lined fairways"...hole feature

The Inn at Pocono Manor, West Course - George Fazio - $35
"a favorite of the long ball hitter"

Country Club of the Poconos - Jim Fazio - $55
"on only two occasions will you see another hole, other than the one you're playing"...hole feature

Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort - AW Tillinghast - $60
Tillinghast's first design...100 years old this year...hosted 1938 PGA Championship, won by Paul Runyan...Hale Irwin won 1967 NCAA title here...six former Shawnee Open winners also hold US Open titles...hole feature

Tamiment - Robert Trent Jones Snr - $30
Mountain-top course; 20 mile view from the 3rd tee..."the opportunity to experience a golf course that was created prior to the days of island greens, railroad ties and “Hershey Kiss” shaped mounding"..."the shifting winds play an important part and are a subtle factor in the playing value"...hole feature

Not a bad array of architects for the money. Rocky Roquemore, I confess, was a new name on me but having read this resume, as well as details of his extensive work in Portugal, I've decided he's in.

California golfin' - now we can all live there

When you see that Know the Course features Californian golf course residences and that their top-end properties are around the $20m mark, you can be forgiven for assuming that their sales team probably doesn't get out of bed for anything under a mill.

Not so.

In a display of egalitarianism that is a shining example to realtors everywhere, they refuse to put vanity before business, marketing properties that go as low as $14,500. Professional to the last, what's more, they talk them up doggedly.

In tribute to these true capitalists, I feature below just a flavour of their budget properties. Golf homes, shall we say, for the rest of us...

Property: Blower Rd, Twentynine Palms CA
Price $14,500
Nearest course: Roadrunner Dunes, Twentynine Palms
Sales pitch clincher: "Easy access...This is a bargain"

Property: 2595 Desert Drive, Salton City CA
Price $85,000
Nearest course: West Shores Golf Park, Salton (pitch and putt)
Sales pitch clincher: "...here we have a nice buildable lot with a Mobil already ready to set up"

Property: Sunfair Road, Joshua Tree, CA
Price $26,000
Nearest course: Blue Skies Country Club, Yucca Valley
Sales pitch clincher:"Water available...Fabulous views"