The LinksGems bylaws prohibit discussion of Florida golf courses without a post on perhaps my favorite Sunshine State course of all: the Mountain Lake Country Club.
Located in Lake Wales, essentially smack in the middle of the state, Mountain Lake was founded by Frederick Ruth as a southern retreat for businessmen. Like many great golden age courses, the location was chosen for proximity to the trains.
Ruth hired famed architect Frederick Law Olmstead and Seth Raynor to lay out the community and the golf course, respectively. This trio likewise collaborated farther north on the famed Fishers Island Club.
The famed Colony House, built by Olmstead and backdropping the 18th hole, isn’t used as the clubhouse, but is iconic as any of the game’s great golf buildings.
All in all, Mountain Lake is a lovely winter retreat with an outstanding golf course.
Lando Norris about Verstappen’s win: “It’s not talent, it’s just luck.”
That is unsportsmanlike, especially after Verstappen didn’t discredit him at all in Miami.
A common practice recently is slightly softening old, steep greens to produce new flagstick locations. We try not to perform this work too often or with a heavy hand and only scan and rebuild when completely necessary or at the request of the Club/Client. At Brae Burn CC in Newton, MA, we found that three of the original greens had only one legitimate flagstick location, and these greens had to be lightly edited. The USGA Women’s Mid-Am was also looming. See the scans back to back of “Before and After”. The feedback from the USGA has been incredible, too!
Shrinking the size of driver will bring a lot of shotmaking back into the game. Swinging as hard as you can and having wedges in all day will just further scoring records.
Did anyone notice the drives hit by young Michael Thorbjonson and Luke Clanton at the PGA tour event. In the 350 range! Ball speeds at 185 mph! Scoring records broken. One “59” on a long tour prepared golf course. I know I’m a broken record on distance but the new young players have trained for distance their entire lives with lightweight, great modern day technology. Golf courses are just not long enough for them. It’s driver and 5 iron to long par 5’s. Well, they are not long anymore. There are thousands of young guys (not golf pros) carrying the ball well over 300 yards and every year the ball and equipment gets better. It’s taken some of the strategy out of the game. To win you fire at pins and rip the driver. It’s still fun to watch but it’s definitely a different game for the younger generation and of course men and women professionals. Forget conservation of land or water. And build your driving range at least 400 yards long.
It shows exactly who you are as a person and as a professional to not even take accountability for your childish actions following the round. Real champions lose with pride and humility as much as they win with it.
@Top100Rick Here’s another transformation for you. 7th hole at Moraine County Club in Dayton, Ohio. Pic on the left is out of the Confidential Guide and the other one is mine. Took down a couple of trees.
Nine-time Pro-Bowl QB and former Super-Bowl champ Russell Wilson plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per league sources. Wilson will sign a team-friendly, one-year deal in which the Broncos will wind up paying $38 million of his salary while Wilson wears the black and yellow.
Tune in to @SiriusXMPGATOUR radio Channel 92, this Saturday morning at 10:00am to listen to my interview with @DMarr3. Stay tuned afterwards for golf and broadcast legend Judy Rankin, this year’s @PGA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. #welovethisgame
Every single golfer in the US has had a dream of standing on the first tee of the Ryder Cup to represent their nation. Most of which would do it for free. Despicable and petty.
Understand from several sources that the US team room is fractured, a split led predominantly by Patrick Cantlay.
Cantlay believes players should be paid to participate in the Ryder Cup, and is demonstrating his frustration at not being paid by refusing to wear a team cap.
Barstool has ruined sports journalism. They have completely inhibited people’s ability to critically think and then use this platform as an echo chamber.
Really a shame that this is the solution to making the golf course harder. Using the same funds to build new tee boxes, remove unneeded trees, and reshaping bunkers would have a greater R.O.I.
I feel like I don't pass judgement on smaller-town Ohioans too frequently. But I recently received a report that Mohawk Golf & Country Club in Tiffin, with nine Donald Ross holes on its north side, is undergoing a tree-planting program? In 2023?!?