Golf 2023

It's been six years since I played the variety of golf courses as I have played this year. It's been nice to fall in love with the game and have access to some of the better tracks in this part of the world. It was also enjoyable to get back home and play a few of the courses I grew up on. Here is the complete list of courses I have gotten to play this year, in order of my subjective favorites. 

1. UGC De Pan*
2. Hillside Golf Club*
3. West Lancashire Golf Club*
4. Sahalee Country Club
5. Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club*
6. Royal Limburg*
7. Golf d Hardelot Les Pins
8. Lage Vuursche*
9. Goyer Golf and Country Club
10. Hesketh Golf Club*
11. Formby Ladies Golf Club*
12. Highland Golf Course
13. Jerome Country Club
14. Canyon Springs Golf Course
15. Houtrack Golf Club*
16. De Maastrichse*
17. Formby Hall Golf Club*
18. Spanderbosche*
19. Riverside Golf Course
20. Amelisweerd*
21. De Hoge Dijk*
22. Twin Falls Municipal

Royal Lytham and St Annes

1st Green with Club House and Dormie House

Last Friday evening work required that I be in Manchester so I took advantage of the playing a nearby Open Championship course. I figured if I could survive driving on the wrong side of the road, a championship golf course would be a great way to start my golf season off. Royal Lytham & St. Annes, one of the 66 clubs in the world that holds the “Royal” title won out over two over “Royal” courses in the area, Birkdale and Liverpool. I’m guessing primarily because it was open to guests on Monday. I paid £125 for the round, which was a little steep for the season in my opinion. It was a chilly and windy day, 42F to start, getting up to 47F with 30-50 mph winds. Nothing that this Idaho boy can’t handle!  It had just been a while since I swung a golf club with that many clothes on.

The course starts with a shorter par-3, one of the only opening par-3 holes I think I have ever played. A clunky seven iron got me on the front of the green where I was able to two-putt for par. I was playing with the wind on the first three holes but I only made it to the second before losing my first ball. On the third hole is where I noticed the first of the dramatic bunkering. The count that I’ve read is 206 bunkers in total. Some are hardly big enough to take swing, others look and act like snakes in the sense you don’t know they are there until it’s too late.

6th green in foreground, 7th fairway going away

My favorite stretch of the course were holes six through ten. Six is par 5 (plays as 4 in the Opens) that is a dog leg left, it’s under 500 yards and the wind is usually helping. Yet, here is where the course showed it’s teeth, I found a bunker just short of the green and I liked it so much, I stayed there for the next three strokes. Seven is a long sucker, playing close to 600 yards, with danger on both sides and a fairway tighter than your work wife’s pencil skirt. There is rough, bunkers, and trees to the left and rough, bunkers, grouse, and trees to the right. I lost my driver here and then slapped it down the fairway for a score of 9, I remind you the wind was helping here. Eight is a shorter, visually pleasing par 4 with an elevated tee and a green that elevates quickly. Even the longest hitters lay-up here as there are three bunkers that guard the green; a la the hole is a pinball machine where you ball goes in and you lose a turn. The ninth hole offers some relief but is still a tough par three and in my opinion is the most visually pleasing hole on the golf course. Found another bunker here… The tee shot on ten is blind, one the few blind shots on the whole course. There is room to miss, just miss big. 

Par 3 9th

The last six holes are all par fours, two you can make birdie on (13, 16), two that you will be happy with bogey on (15, 17) and then two that will make or break your round (14, 18). You can ask Adam Scott for the fact check here. Overall, this course is fun and was in good condition, especially for the time of the year. The staff and the few members I met while playing are really friendly. I’d include it on a list of must plays if you are golf fan! But there were a few things missing. The main one, the water views! There were none. The course is almost blocked in by houses. This caused the course to lose out on “mystique” and holiday feel. It is not a resort, there is only course at the club and it’s very tough. This is a home club where a golfer will be continually challenged.

Posting Score: 89

Actual Score: Somewhere between 90-100 (when it went bad, it went really bad)

Cost: £125

Golf Balls Lost/Found: -3 Net

PS- I have a new friend that will be traveling with me across the golf courses of Europe. Everyone welcome Spuddy Buddy! 

The Old Course - St. Andrews

Swilcan Bridge- No. 18 Old Course

Playing this course is a bucket list item for every golfer I know. So when we checked the open ballot results Wednesday afternoon for the Friday draw and saw our names listed for a 3:00 pm tee-time, you can imagine that my dad and I were beyond elated. To make the news that much sweeter, the weather forecast was for some clouds, a little breeze and no rain!

We arrived in the town of St. Andrews, Scotland on Thursday afternoon via Edinburg and really the

only way I can describe the town of 16,000 inhabitants is as a golf paradise. The links courses and the Old Course Hotel are among the first things you see on the roadway when entering town. Then as if right out of a fairy-tale, you see the 17^th and 18^th of the Old Course making up one of the most dynamic settings of all golf. The next day couldn’t come soon enough.

Luxembourg, where I have been living, has been lovely, but it has a serious lack of golf. The tee-shot off #1 of the Old Course would be the beginning of my first real round of golf in nearly nine months. With my caddie Allen’s help we picked a target that wouldn’t leave me in bad shape if I drew or cut the drive and we were off to the races. I picked up 5 straight pars before a stray drive led me to a bogey on the par 5 6^th. Three more pars led me to a 37 going out and I am left to believe that hiring a caddie was one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. The highlight of the front nine came when my dad drove the green on the 9^th and had about 15 feet for an eagle, his putt missed just to the left side and led to a tap in birdie. I got my own birdie on the 12^th after a drive just short of the green, a putt from the fairway left me only about 4 feet to finish. 

We didn’t play from the tips by any means, in fact the course was probably only playing 6500 yards on the day. There is one tee set for the day marked by flat markers and a moveable caddie box. The greens were rolling perfect but not fast. All-in-all the course wasn’t overly hard. It was easy to see that how on a calm day, the pros could post really good scores. Again, my perspective of this may have changed greatly without the help of a knowledgeable caddie and with a little more wind.

As we made our way to the final and most well-known two holes of the course, the sun began to poke out from behind the clouds. I was only two over on the day and had hopes of a birdie, birdie finish to cap off a near perfect day. Those dreams ended as fast as my tee-ball on the 17th faded out of bounds. I was yet another victim of the Road Hole. 

The last hole on the Old Course provides a golf experience unlike anything else, finishing in the heart of a historic village there are tourists and locals watching the last few shots and putts (cheers and jeers included for free). Of course we stopped on the Swilcan Bridge for a few good pictures before playing our approaches. And even after each hitting a good drive, my dad and I both found the deceptively big Valley of Sin from which I was unable to save par. We finished with bogeys but unforgettable memories and I can wait until I return to the Home of Golf.

Live from Luxembourg

The Grund, Luxembourg

So, I moved. To Luxembourg. No, not a city in Germany but a tiny country and city right next to Germany. The country is a little larger than the state of road and has almost as many inhabitants (600,000) of the Boise, ID area. I obviously moved here to try to make the country's Olympic golf team. Kidding, kinda. Amazon (work) gave me the opportunity and though I was extremely happy in Seattle, I couldn't say no to living abroad for few years.

There have been some cool/interesting sports moments for me already. I was invited to play golf at one of the country clubs in the area, Kikuoka, with another an Amazonian who is a member of one of the local golf society's. Think of a golf society like a men's league in the States without course sponsorship but exclusive, as in you need to be invited to join.  I must say, the first nine holes on continental Europe did go well as I was able to shoot a +1 (37) for nine holes and tied for the lowest score of the evening and won a sleeve of Pro V1's for having the lowest score as a guest. Hopefully, I will be invited back.

Another interesting event that happened in this first couple weeks is that Luxembourg's National soccer team played France to a tie in a World Cup Qualifying game. It was a huge moral victory for the team and the country as most of the Luxembourg team members are no where near the caliber as Les Bleus. I am hoping to go to see a qualifier when Luxembourg hosts here in the first week of October.

The thing I miss the most about the USA is football (and big kitchens, story for another time).  Thankfully, I have a good VPN and am streaming the Utah State football game as I type this.

Over the next few years, I hope to take in as many European sporting events in person as possible including:

The British Open
Wimbeldon
Ryder Cup (Sept. 2018 in France)
Tour de France
French Open
Champions League
... and who knows what else!

Along with golfing all the classics in the United Kingdom and skiing in the Alps, I should be busy. Stay tuned for more pictures and posts!

Chambers Bay

Chambers Bay

University Place, Washington

Hole 15- The Lone Fir

In my last course review on Prince's, I defined links golf; Chambers Bay redefines and modernizes that definition. The home to the 2015 U.S. Open is hard, fast, and unforgiving. It's also one of the most fun and fair courses I have played.

Being that I don't get the opportunity to play U.S. Open courses often, I wanted to make the most of the experience and teed it up from the back set. The course has the following stats: 7165 yards, a 75.6 rating, and a 139 slope. Oh, and in case you didn't know, the course is at sea level. I can confidently say it was the toughest recreational round of golf I have played. (The course played up to 7700 yards in the U.S. Open.)

Hole #3

The opening hole, a 559 yard, somewhat downhill par-5 is the most score-able hole on the course in my opinion. Of course, I went right under my 40 yard approach shot and made the first of many bogeys for the day. The fun really begins on the third hole, an average length par-3 with a huge two tiered and well guarded green and continues on the fourth hole, an uphill 530 yard par-5 rightly named "Hazard's Ascent."

The fifth hole is the first to offer the spectacular down hill views of the Puget Sound. Fourteen and fifteen offer similar views and start a set of spectacular set of finishing holes.

Hole #5

What I enjoyed the most about Chambers Bay was it wasn't the least bit gimmicky. It's a hard course but a fair course. Few tee-shots are blind and when they are, you have big landing areas. All the par-3's (with the occasional exception of number nine) are downhill and provide great attacking opportunities. There are so many ways to play this course, but long iron play is key. Unfortunately, it was one of the areas I was lacking in on the day I played.

My only real gripe about the course, would be the same as the players had in the 2015, the greens. They weren't always true and it did at times feel like you were putting over "broccoli".

The highlight for my round was driving the 12th green! (No blog pun intended.) It was the easiest par I had all day! I'm excited to get another crack at this course and definitely recommend it if you are in the area. I was able to get the twilight rate for my round and found at $100 the course is a great value.

Princes Golf Club

Prince's Golf Club

Sandwich Bay, Kent, England

There are good days and then there are unforgettable days. Thursday, April 6 was the latter. I awoke early and caught the tube from my London Hotel to Kings Cross/St. Pancras station where I boarded the 8:20 Southeastern Line train to Ramsgate via Sandwich. Why? To golf, of course. On the train, I met a few great people. One of my new mates, Will, explained to that he was headed out to the English Coast as well to watch the Halford Hewitt (click the link to lead more about this awesome tradition) taking place at Royal St. Georges and Royal Ports Golf Club. My goal for the day, however, was to conquer the most northern of the three Sandwich courses, Princes Golf Club.

I have played courses that are links style but never a true links course. Links is a term used to denote the “linking” of sea to suitable farmland. It should be known that links are generally a sandy, duney, wasteland, or golfer’s paradise. Princes is full of history, most prestigious hosting the 1932 Open Championship won by American Gene Sarazen. The course is on tap to host half of this year’s British Amateur as well. There are 27 holes at Prince's, I played the better two of the three nines in the Shore and Dunes. Most enjoyable about the layout was that there was an equal number of holes headed in each direction, including par 3’s and par 5’s. This is a crucial design feature as it can get very windy in these parts. I, however, enjoyed temperatures of 65 degrees F, nearly cloudless skies, and only a 10 MPH breeze (see the “unforgettable days” statement at the first of the post). Though it took me a few holes to get warmed up using the rental clubs, I was able to make back-to-back birdies on the 5^th and 6^th. I hit marvelous bunker shot, if I do say so myself, on 5 from about 95 yards that impressed my English playing partners greatly (more about these new mates in my next post about the Halford Hewitt). We played from the white tees and the yardage was about 6800 yards and even at sea level played short because of the immense amount of run you could get. A suggestion on two golf clubs that one might want to invest in for this style of play would include a 2-Iron and a good hybrid/rescue. Though I only lost one ball, the rescue will be necessary for all the fescue that surrounds ever whole. I was able to shoot in the 70’s on this new style of course for e and can’t wait to play something similar soon. Chambers Bay, anyone? 

If you ever have a free day in England this is a journey worth taking. Even if you have travel companions that aren’t interested in golf, they easily could get off the train in Dover and explore the castle and white cliff vistas while you play your round. The total price tag for the day was £165, around $200 with the current exchange rate, including golf (a £50 green fee), rental clubs, train ticket, lunch, and Sandwich Car (Uber is not yet a thing in this part of the world). Pro-tip: Renting clubs is not a bad option, it was a nearly new Titleist set, but bring your own golf glove and a few balls so you don’t have to pay club shop prices. Fortunately, I packed my own shoes.

Princes Dune #2

Princes Shore #1

Sandwich Train Station

Princes Dunes #4

Princes Dunes #5, First Bunker on the links

North Sea