Thomas Dunne from Out-and-Back had some very nice comments about my essay here
I was completely chuffed to receive an e-mail from someone who read my essay - in print form from Paul Daley's Book.
Here it is with the club name removed...
I have just read your article in Paul Daley's latest book. At our club we have a MacKenzie course which is rated very highly in the world. Needless to say being a MacKenzie course it fits into the enjoyable category; a sentiment confirmed by Bobby Jones in his forward to "The Spirit of St Andrews". I am a member of the Course Strategy Committee and some on the committee and a number of the club members are saying it is too easy. Of course, when I try to say MacKenzie wrote, "If you cant make a hole more enjoyable don't change it", my remarks are treated as those of an old has been, who can only hit the ball 2/3 the distance of the average single figure marker (if that).
Mike, with your permission I would like to make copies of your article and give each member a copy. With help from your article, I just might be able to save one of the most enjoyable golf courses in the world from suffering the fate of so many other enjoyable courses from the "card and pencil' players.
Thank you very much - I am deeply honored.
As an aside the above letter came from a past club champion -- I hope they listen(d) and continue to do so - he is far to valuable.
hey - great essay. I agree totally. On a related note, I develop software and I often tell my clients "Fast, Fantastic, or Frugal. Pick Two." I tell them to only pick two because that's all you can do. You can't write software that does all three. Likewise, maybe golf courses can be mainly ofone type, with a hint of a 2nd, but they can't be all three: Challenging, Fun, Pretty.
ReplyDeleteBTW, where the hell is Wolf Point? I am in Austin and I want to go play it!