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.

The Halford Hewitt

The Hewitt being contested on Royal St. Georges

This last week was my first trip overseas and one of the things I was most excited about was to meet new people and learn about different ways of life. While we in the States speak the same language and have a lot of similar interest to our English counterparts, there are little intricacies about the ways of life that lend themselves unique traditions. One is the rich history of boy’s preps schools in England. Though maybe more common in New England, this is rare type of school in the westerns states and from what I can imagine quite different to our traditional high school environment. It’s the comradery that is made at these school that lend themselves to the Halford Hewitt.

I first heard about the Halford Hewitt from Will on my train ride out to Sandwich. He was there to support his school. He told me about the cup and it being the largest competitive amateur tournament in the world and I thought, “Impossible! I would have heard about this before.” Chalk one up to American ignorance. Indeed, the Hewitt has 640 players from 64 schools playing on Sandwich’s prestigious courses, Royal St. Georges and Royal Ports. The teams are made up of 10 best amateurs that have attended the school. Some schools, have many interested parties so a try-out is held. Will’s school held a 36-hole competition consisting of stroke play and a match play portion where the team captains watched and chose the best 10 players to represent the group. The mates I met while playing Prince’s were from Rugby School (they invented their namesake game, a long, long time ago).  This year Rugby only had 12 players interested in the event and one was a new father so a tryout this year wasn’t necessary. As long as the schools keep fielding a team, they will keep being invited back. If they can’t field, there is a long list of prep schools waiting to get in. The format is simple, the 10 players from each team are paired making five-twosomes. They are then matched against a single competitor school to compete in an alternate-shot (foursomes), match-play event. At the end the round, whichever team has won more matches moves-on, the loser goes home. It’s March Madness for golf and I love it! I am convinced the Olympics should adopt something similar to bring out the spirit of the game. 

The boys from Rugby were great fun during our practice round, talented golfers and good all-round individuals. Two of the three had played Rugby at the university level, one at Creighton and the other at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Johnny, who attended St. Andrews, use to wake-up in his dorm room and overlook the 18^th hole at the Old Course. He explained, he wished he had spent less time drinking and more time golfing during his days at the university, but then again, don’t most of us.

A Premier Day

West Ham United vs. Swansea City

It was beautiful spring afternoon in London Stadium for my first Premier League game. I’ve been to many soccer games from the MLS’s Sounders and Real Salt Lake to college and high school games, but this was a bucket list item. Though the two teams weren’t close to being at the top of the table, the points they earned during the match would be valuable to avoid relegation. Though, still not my favorite sport to watch, I can appreciate the great game, especially the history. West Ham just moved into London Stadium this year from their long term home of Boleyn Ground. Fortunately, the team brought most of their traditions to their new home though the supports say the atmosphere at the 60,000+ person stadium, host of the 2012 Olympics, isn’t quite the same. Originally est. in 1895 as the Thames Iron Workers, the club affectionately goes by the nicknames the Irons or Hammers. The popular hashtag for the team’s social media posts is #COYI, which means, “Come On You Irons.” The shouts of the saying can be heard often during the game. It must be said that the game was one the most vulgar experiences that I’ve been to and I wouldn’t recommend for those with sensitive ears. The crowds for the matches can be so raucous that it is standard for the Premier League to not allow alcohol in the seats, though you can have a pint or two in the concourse before the match, and the visiting fans face a separate entrance. There were some pretty awesome moments including a goal in the 44’ minute that ignited the crowd in the team song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” which has a long history dating back to late 1920’s. Watch this video below to get the full-effect and see the teams old stadium. The score remained 1-0 for the remainder of the game and all the Hammers went home content for the day.

 

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

Sand Hollow

Sand Hollow Resort
Hurricane, UT

Sand Hollow is ranked the top course to play in Utah according to my friends over at the Golf Course Gurus and it did not disappoint. I would need a few more rounds to give it fully my top spot for the state but I can comfortably put it in a 1A/1B situation with the Gold Course at Solider Hollow.   We played from the black tees, which can stretch the course to over 7300 yards, but the course was playing closer to 7000 for second 18 of our 36 hole day (we played Coral Canyon first). Distance isn't the toughest part of the course, rather it's the big undulating greens and well placed bunkers. It seemed like the real grit of the course was found between holes 3-7 (a 200 yard par 3, two par 4's that are close to 500 yards and a par 5 that is near 600 yards) and how you played there could make or break the rest of your round. The back nine is along the edge of the canyon and provides some of the best views I've seen on the golf course. The in-cart GPS that gives you an accurate reading to the flag is always a nice bonus and should improve your scoring, if you trust it. We took advantage the twilight rate ($80/person) and teed off around 2:30 pm. The course was fairly empty for the great conditions and we finished with plenty of daylight. This is definitely a course I'm looking forward to playing again.

Coral Canyon

Coral Canyon Golf Course
Washington, UT

Coral Canyon was the first course to be played during our guys weekend this March. It was the second time I've played Coral and it was as good as I remember. As far as the layout goes, this course has a little bit of everything from par fives that lend themselves to birdies to short par threes where if you miss the green it's certain doom, as is the case with my favorite hole #6. My second favorite hole is the drive-able par 4, #8, which from the tips is only 312 yards. It forces a decision and you are just as likely to birdie as you are to bogey (as I did last week). There are a total of five par five's on the course including three in the last five holes, allowing you to make up (or lose) some serious ground in stroke or match play events. The course has great red-rock and desert views. Though you aren't that far out of the metro area, there is definitely a resort feel. The fairways were in good shape but the tees (not-level) and greens (cut short and nearly bald) weren't as good as they could have been.We were able to play the a course for about $50/person including cart thanks to Dixie Direct Card.

Golf Club of Estrella

A year has past since I wrote any reviews but after just returning from my annual trip to Arizona with my father, I'm dedicated once again. I have also given some thought to ranking courses after reviewing them by using the CIPA metric. (Don't worry if you don't know the acronym, I made it up. It stands for: Courses I'd Play Again.) Similar to last year, we played two new courses for us and enjoyed three Spring Training games. More on the the baseball later!

Golf Club of Estrella, Goodyear, AZ

After looking for courses on the west side of the Phoenix Valley, Estrella popped up as one of the Top 20 Courses You Can Play in Arizona according to GolfWeek. The pictures on the website lead you to believe that this course a Nicklaus designed desert golf paradise. That was far from the truth. For the most part, the course was generic, nestled between a planned community, and worn down thus making the $115/person rate seem very over-priced. You could see where the last 30 cups had been cut on each green and there were plenty of un-replaced divots. This was much different than what we had experienced at the last Troon managed course, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, we played which was in great condition. The worst hole on the course in my opinion was #5, ironically named "Oasis", with a large fake pond guarding the left side of the green and lined by homes. The first 16 holes of Estrella could have been dropped in any locale (Nevada, California, the flat parts of Idaho) almost as a "strip-mall" of desert golf. Jack Nicklaus II did save the best for last, the 17th (pictured) and 18th holes had impressive elevation changes and views, but that was about all worth remembering from the course.

Papago Golf Course

Papago Golf Course

I didn't quite know what to expect from Papago but we needed a course close the airport and I had viewed plenty of interesting pictures and videos from the The CartBarnguys. I was pleasantly surprised! But not by the looks of the place... The clubhouse is a modular and has been for the last eight years according to one of real Cart Barn guys. The staff looked cozy in there, baking cookies and telling jokes. Cart Barn guy went on to explain that the Arizona State University golf teams will soon use Papago as their home facility and when they do, they will build a new clubhouse. At this time though, no visible clubhouse construction. Anyways, once you get past the modular clubhouse and the unkempt desert areas, the red rock views and immaculate condition of the tees, fairways, bunkers, and greens made Papago a memorable experience. The course was a classic competition course with a great mixture of long and short holes according to their par. There were plenty of scoring opportunities on a few short par 4's and plenty of opportunities to make mistakes with properly placed bunkers. Overall, though far from a resort, Papago was a great track and a place that I would be happy to call home if I lived in the area. The round cost roughly $85/person with cart.