All fun and games at Wolf Point

There are very few forced carries at Wolf Point Club.  One of them, the creek at the 15th, can be cleared by a 10 year old girl, who has only been on a golf course twice!  I wish there were other places for us to play.  For now it doesn't get any better than this!

And a bonus video inspired by Happy Gilmore's protagonist!

Speaker on Affordable Golf

I've been asked to speak and share my experiences at the Symposium on Affordable Golf this fall.  Specifically I'll be describing how we built so much great golf at Wolf Point for an incredibly low price.  The symposium location is very cool: Pinehurst.  This is the third year that Richard Mandell has hosted this grass roots event.  Here is the website:  http://www.symposiumonaffordablegolf.com/.  
Please fill out their survey: http://bit.ly/golfsymposium.


Some highlights from the Agenda:

2012 Symposium On Affordable Golf Agenda Complete 
The third annual Symposium On Affordable Golf will once again be held at the Southern Pines Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, October 29th and 30th. This year, the Symposium will be one and a half days, followed by a golf outing on the Donald Ross-designed Southern Pines Golf Club Tuesday afternoon.

The Symposium On Affordable Golf raises awareness and understanding of the challenges of the golf industry through open discussion, exchange of ideas and highlighting successes that promote the health and sustainability of the game of golf. As in previous years, there is no fee for attendance. Also, as in past years, members of the PGA, the LPGA and the GCSAA will be eligible to receive continuing education credits. 


There will be three case studies detailing successful and affordable golf operations, each from different regions of the world. Other topics include "The Curious Case of the Taj-Mahalics," "Let's Start Romancing the Game Again Instead of Selling the Business," and "Where Sustainability and GolfSpeak Intersect."


The picture below is the last time Rich and I spoke together.  That is Pete Dye's son, Perry, to our left.

Golf Club Atlas Next 50

By design Wolf Point Club hasn't shown up on any magazine best lists, top world or anything similar.  A number of our friends are magazine panelists and have even enjoyed an escorted round with us.  But they have all been instructed to never submit any ratings of the course.  A few journalists have also played with us, the big magazine architecture editors have not.  I guess if they can't add it to their list Wolf Point is of little interest.


There is one list that Wolf Point did appear on a few years ago.  My friends Ran and Ben at GolfClubAtlas.com added our course to their Next Fifty list.  These are the courses they'd most like to see.  "We have not yet played the following but hope to profile them sooner rather than later."


Back in 2009 our work showed up at #8 with a promise to visit soon.  I just recently noticed that we jumped to #4.  (see below).  Even nicer was that the few that we passed haven't been crossed off their list, but just bumped lower.


Ran and Ben have been busy of late.  Here is hoping they get a chance to appreciate our work sooner rather than later.  I think they will find it unique for a number of reasons.


Cheers

Don Mahaffey Should Write a Book

Recently there was a post on Turfnet about the Teachings of Don.  Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Common sense practical golf course maintenance strategies that result in lower overall costs yet still improve playability.

If you are not familiar with Don Mahaffey, he is a golf renaissance man, gifted with superintendent skills, a strong knowledge of golf course architecture–both neo-classical and post-modern–the ability to operate as both project manager and grow-in superintendent, an irrigation genius, a guy who understands business and shaping with a dozer.  Don blends all these skills together to create a philosophy of practical golf course construction and maintenance.

And Don's previous blog posts that Randy references:

19 Suggestions for lower golf course maintenance costs in2012

Don Mahaffey's 7 tips for successful gang mowing

An interesting putting green

In designing a pair of practice putting greens for a public course, I drew a set of green surfaces that included interesting, yet subtle contour. I was asked to redraw the green contours to be simple sloped planes to match those on the course.


It is a valid request, but these putting greens are where the new player will first meet the golf course, or maybe any golf course.  I'd rather it be an interesting meeting.


Their request inspired me to compose this quote: 


One neat element of a creative putting green is you can always find a straight or flat putt on one, but the converse is not true. 
You can never find a creative putt on a flat green. 
 -- Mike Nuzzo


The following videos, while very cool, show how predictable a flat planar surface can be: