BS: The 19th Hole

Subject: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 08:07 AM

As the golfers warm-up for The Open at Turnberry (can Harrington win 3 in a row..?), here's a golfing-lingo warm-up...

Poem 144 of 230: LINGOLF

(TUNE:

Eb G G G A A
A Bb C' C' C' Bb
Eb F G A A A
F A Bb G G G)

Your honour, Your Honour.
    Watch out - he's a burglar.
I'm to school on your putt.
    That's one heck of a cut!

It's my bread and butter -
    A left-to-right cutter.
That's where elephants die.
    That's a grave - not a lie.

I'm in the old plumb-duff;
    Tough - I'm on the cut-stuff.
The hooks with my driver,
    And fades with my putter.

There's a goalie in there.
    Trees are some nine-tenths air.
I have a soldier's plight -
    Always left, right, left, right.

Everything was fine -
    Apart from weight and line.
It took a member's bounce.
    A rare bird to announce.

An unlucky horseshoe.
    Had a look - liked the view.
Poetry in motion.
    Read with blind devotion.

He's just hit a cracker.
    I'm only a hacker.
I wish I'd missed the well.
    A fried-egg where it fell.

A crop of a divot.
    It was speed that killed it.
Your wedges land so neat -
    Butterflies with sore feet.

Like pitching in pudding.
    Never up, never in.
Drive for show, put for dough.
    Can't beat bad luck, you know.

He's just missed a gimme.
    That, then, would be dormy.
It went in the side-door.
    A Bradman of a score.

Just spoiled a good walk.
    Can't play, but can he talk!
'Twas daylight robbery.   
    Not "how" but "how many."

The nineteenth's not too far -
Have a jar at the bar..?

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 02:38 PM

It's a fair way to this 19th hole!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Rasener
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 01:20 PM

This is an interesting article about golf clubs in Scotland.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8151508.stm

Although they say its not too much to have to pay £450 a year, its important to remeber that it costa lot just for golf equipment, golf balls (on a bad day it could cost you a load of money), golf lessons when its all going wrong and of course the 19th hole :-).
Apart from that, you probably have to take the missus out for a meal just to keep her sweet, so that you can still play golf.

http://www.digerat.com/dig/turnberry+country+club

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 03:29 PM

Never actually played have you?   I was hoping for even more trite and hackneyed time worn(out) phrases...................

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: gnu
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 03:55 PM

Spaw... let it go... yer gonna go blind. >;-)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Amos
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 04:12 PM

Start walking, WAV. You can be there by next June and send back a poor report on the whole affair.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 08:59 AM

Grand Father, Father and Son are out for a round on the links, when they are approached by a stunningly gorgeous young lady.
She explains that she is relatively new to the game, and she asks if she can be the fourth. They all welcome her.
She hits the ball straight, without much distance, but she manages to shoot no worse than double boogie on the first 17 holes.
Her approach shot to the 18th leaves her with a 3 footer for her first ever birdie!
She explains this to her new golf buddies, and unabashedly professes that she will give whichever gentleman, the night of their lives, if they can assist her in making the putt.
The Son say's "I think it's 6" long and 1" to the right!
The Father say's "I thinks it's 6" long, but 2" to the right!
The Grand Father say's "Pick it up, it's a gimme!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 12:31 PM

Then the Ref goes and starts another thread on the very same topic..?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Rasener
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 03:06 PM

Ask Joe Offer to merge Refs with yours WV. Might be best to use the other thread title as I think you will get more people posting.

I remember when I worked in Scotland, I did a favour for somebody and he gave me a niblick. That was the most wonderful club I ever used. I treasured that club, but unfortunately many years later it was stolen and I never saw it again. I was so upset.

When I lived in Paignton, my next door neighbour had bought that house as a holiday home. He was a golf pro assistant up at a club in Maidenhead. At the time I was having problems using my Number 1 wood. I was slicing a lot. He got me to do some practice shots in my garden which was pretty big, but we used the plastic practice balls.. He then went next door and came out with a 1 iron and got me to practice with that. It corrected my slice immediately. I was amazed. He said that as I was tall and had a very strong swing, the wood I was using was not correct for me as it had too much whip.
At that he gave it too me and wouldn't accept anything from me. I used that from then on and it was brilliant for me.

Anybody else got any nice stories like that, when you realise that there are some really nice people in the world.
Or maybe some of the funniest things that happened to you on a golf course?


I think one of the following 3 will win

Jimenez, Senden, Goosen

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 03:10 PM

I didn't realize "The 19th Hole" was related to "The Open" I thought it would be about the Clubhouse!

Sorry!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 05:02 PM

(In hindsight, I probably should have included "The Open" in the title - never mind, they may be joined-up by the Mods, if need be.)

Greg Norman last year and, after one round, Tom Watson this shows that, unlike most other sports, some folks can play at a very high level well over 50...don't think I'll ever shoot my age - haven't even played for nearly a decade - but I have kept my very first set (with real "woods"), plus an old blade-putter I was pleased as punch to find at Portobello Market, in London, in the 90s...and, as with TV, there's a 1 iron in there, too.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 05:19 PM

What should you do when your caught in a thunderstorm on the golf course?
Stand in the middle of the fairway with a one iron raised far above your head.
Cuz even God can't hit a one iron!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Rasener
Date: 17 Jul 09 - 01:44 AM

LOL

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Jul 09 - 03:55 AM

I'll second that - first time I heard it was from a chap called Billy Dunk (a great putter and course-record setter) years ago watching a pro-am in Australia.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:59 AM

The poor 1-Iron......a much maligned club except by those who have experienced its potential for magic. The only problem there is that the even the most fervent defender of the Driving Iron will admit its other occasional potential for complete disaster.

Favorite golf expression?

"The best two balls I hit all day were when I stepped on a sand rake."


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Rasener
Date: 17 Jul 09 - 05:59 AM

LOL I like that one Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Jul 09 - 05:12 PM

Only saw bits of his round, but another great effort from the 59 year old, Watson, to be leading after 2 rounds.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 18 Jul 09 - 01:24 PM

Watson still tied for the lead on the 14th in round 3!

We have a traditional links course in the middle of town that was built in 1915. It's only a 9 hole course, but it has 2 sets of tee blocks for every hole. So, your front 9 looks nothing like the back 9. The fairways look more like moguls on a ski slope. But, it's one of the very few golf courses I've played where it says "Please Play Preferred Lies" on the scorecard.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 18 Jul 09 - 02:16 PM

Sounds like a canny use of space in your town, Ref; the oldest Open winner thus far is "Old Tom Morris" - way back; if "Old Tom Watson" wins tomorrow it will be a huge event in the wide world of sports.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 04:56 PM

The dream almost was........but then it wasn't.   

If you didn't see it, go read about it at any sports site. Great putting until the last one on 18. He could have ended it then, but the great putter he'd held all week failed him......and that was that. The playoff was a joke. Poor Tom knew it was over from the first.

I think back to he and Nicklaus walking off together many years ago when Jack had lost their "Duel in the Sun." at the same place and for the same trophy. Nicklaus grabbed him around the neck in a bear hug as they left the 18th and said, "Tom, I gave it my best shot, but it wasn't good enough. Congratulations." And today that was true for Tom Watson.

But you might also be interested in what The Golden Bear said just before today's round..........

"Whether or not Tom plays well [today], whether or not he wins, it doesn't make a difference. Of course, we would all love to see Tom win, but what he has accomplished already is a phenomenal achievement."

It sure as hell was.............

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 05:13 PM

I agree Spaw - Watson was unlucky; e.g., he hit that iron to the 18th very well and it just carried onto the rough making it that much more difficult to get up and down in 2. He had kept his cool as leader for much of the last round - Cink only became joint leader on the very last hole. In the play-off, with Watson's huge let-down, all was in Cink's favour - obviously still a fine effort by him, but the better man lost, I feel. And, as well as his play, we have to admire how Watson handled the ceremony and interviews afterwards - very impressive.

Not sure if we'll agree on this, though..?

Poem 221 of 230: MAJORS

If golf taps the world for its players
    (And few would deny that so),
Why, then, are three of four majors
    A United States Tour show?

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: GUEST,lox
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 04:45 AM

Second shot on 18 was unbelieveably unlucky.

If he had simply overhit into the rough he would have had an easier shot as it would have been from out of a cushion of light rough.

As it was, the ball trickled over the back so that it was sitting on the short stuff with its back against the rough.

This meant that the rough wouldn't be impeding the path of the ball, just the path of the club.

So it was a lottery how far or near it might get to the hole.

He was right to try and putt it as the room for error on a chip in that situation would have been even worse.

Sadly, his approach on 18 wasn't bad enough to go into the light rough proper - it teased the hole by sliding past just a foot to the left and taunted Tom and the rest of us as it went.

The Putt for the win ... missed ... was simply heartbreaking.

I know that what he achieved was fantastic, but it doesn't stop me from feeling like we was robbed.

What a superstar. The Grand Wizard of golf!

It will take me a while to cheer up after that one.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 03:24 PM

Being a golf fan, I found this to be one of the most memorable tournaments in years. Even though Tom lost, he had the whole golf world talking. I felt worse for Tom than I did when Van de Velde self destructed in 1999. It's not often you remember who came in second.
It also shows us how different it is between links golf and that target stuff we play over here. Personally, I play much better on a links coarse.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:23 PM

"Personally, I play much better on a links coarse." (Ref)...me too - not being able to hit the ball as far as others, I liked to run the ball up the hard ground onto the greens; there was 1 memorable exception, though: playing the first hole, for my first and only time at Saint Andrews (where the Open is next, I think), I thought I'd managed just such a run-up when suddenly my ball disappeared - I had no idea there was a "wee burn" there until I got closer the the green, and discovered the damage!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 02:36 AM

The putt from the edge of the rough on 18 (not the 2nd shot) was what did him in.
He muscled it past the hole and just pushed the comebacker.

If he'd bladed a wedge instead of putting that first one, he'd have won.
Unless, of course he missed the par putt.....

Ah the hell with it...we can debate it till the cows come home.

He had a helluva weekend, and Stewart Cink deserved the victory. Last man standing an all that..


Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 04:50 AM

He couldn't use a wedge cos the ball wasn't fully in the rough.

The wedge would have been held up and hit the ball thin

The ball on the other hand, sitting on the short stuff would have had nothing to stop it flying, so, thinned by the wedge, it would have shot across the green.

unless he anticipated that and used a putting stroke ...

... or a putter.

It was his only choice and he got it up over the hill onto the green which was the most important thing.

The last putt was like a knife to the gut.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 01:26 PM

Heading to a "new 9" tomorrow.
Premiere course(another one right in town)has just opened a reconfigured layout. 36 holes altogether, but a new 9. 2 years ago, they held the Ontario Senior Championships. The first time I ever played this club, I was on about my 3rd hole having a smoke. Normally, I'd just toss it somewhere out of the way, but I felt like I was butting out on someones livingroon carpet! Finished my beer and put the butts in the can for the rest of the round!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 02:14 PM

...Poem 97 of 230: COLLECTING THE CARDS

Some folks are plant diehards,
    Others keep foreign coins;
Twitchers collect sightings,
    And golfers their scorecards.

My hobby's the latter,
    And, in many places,
I've managed just one round -
    Scores? Another matter!

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 02:32 PM

Lox - when a ball is resting up against a short 'wall' of rough, you can use the wedge as a putter and strike the ball in the middle with a
putting stroke. That's what I mean by 'blading' it.

You don't hit under the ball and there's no loft.

The last time I won the Open, that's what I did. *G*

Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 04:17 PM

I had lessons when I was a kid from a guy everyone called "Unk" who held course records at 8 or 9 places in Ohio. He'd been caddying and playing since his boyhood back in the '20's. In the '40s after returning from the war, many people tried to convince him to turn Pro. But he had a really good job and after living through the depression, he figured that only an idiot would give things up to play pro golf which back then didn't pay nearly what it does now. So he kept golf alongside him as a sweet dessert, but held on tight to the meat and taters!

All that to say that his preference for that shot would have been to putt with a 2-Iron. Actually, he had in his bag an aged "CLEEK" (stamped right there on the bottom- CLEEK) that he carried for a variety of reasons and he would have used it here. Times and play changes though so most of us today would never do that.......but I've had it work myself more than once.

Truthfully, Unk's whole approach to the game (which invaded every lesson) was to point at his head and say, "80%."   After I figured out what that meant, it still took years (and a dose of maturity) to really understand. He's long dead now but after watching Watson end the round Unk would have pointed at his head and said, "80%."

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 04:32 PM

When I was about 12 years old, I used to bike out to Mountain Ridge Golf Course... about 4 miles... and caddy and mow lawns and spell off in the pro shop and run golfs carts and...

My old man bought me a 5 iron on sale at Kmart and told me to practice. I did. In the living room, putting into a glass... with the iron... backwards.

When there was nobody to caddy for, I would go to the putting green and practice. I knew every blade of grass on that green personally.

Word got around and the old guys would putt for quarters. I made a lot more money than I ever did as a caddy. But, I moved on and became an engineer... dumb fuck.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 06:51 PM

Well when I won the open I didn't have to worry about the rough ...

... I just went for holes in one on every hole ...

... but you try telling that to the kids today!!!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 01:28 AM

Those were the days, Lox. Par 5 - hole in one. Par 4 - hole in one.
Par 7 - hole in one.
Unless you missed the tee shot, in which case we took 2. And that's with the old equipment too!

Like Spaw's Cleek; or a baffie, or a spoon, or a bunchie, or a glipe.

It might have been easier if they'd let us use golf clubs; but you're right, the kids today don't know how easy they have it with their graphite shafts and big-headed titanium drivers.

I played with a fella last week whose driver (not chauffeur) looked like a Mini-Cooper on a stick. Where's the fun in that, I ask you?

Not all changes are for the best. Right, Lox, Spaw?


Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 03:57 AM

LMAO......"Mini Cooper on a stick"

Spaws

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 05:20 AM

Apart from the legendary Lox and SK, has anyone had a hole in one..?
I saw one first hand after calling-up the next group...but, alas, I've never had the pleasure; did score one eagle, though, by pitching-in on a par 5.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 05:51 AM

No hole in ones here!
I've come close many many times, but no luck. I've had one double eagle though. To this day, the guys I was with swear that the group in front of us put the ball in the cup!


Is that my buddy in the bunker? Or is that the bastard on green?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 06:04 AM

Is a "double eagle" the same as an "albatross" - I think past open winner Paul Lawrie managed one last weekend..?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 06:31 AM

I genuinely did score a hole in one once when I was about 14 I think.

I still have the certificate somewhere.

I won a bottle of Johnnie walker red label.

My Dad drank it!!

The annoying thing was convincing people that it happened as it occurred on April the 1st.

"No It's not a joke ... it's after 12 anyway ..."

They eventually believed me.

Came close a second time - theball hit the stick and hung on the lip.

Tenacious bugger refused to drop.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 06:40 AM

I believe you, Lox - The Boy Who Cried "Wolf" is another legend!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 07:45 AM

I once paid $500.00 to a guy who was supposed to be able to assure any golfer a hole-in-one. The fucker sent me a donut.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 08:19 AM

Albatross and double eagle is the same thing.
Double eagle sounds much better than getting a big, ugly looking bird!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 08:30 AM

But would John Cleese have been as funny walking round the Hollywood Bowl shouting "double eagle - double eagle" - I don't think so ...

... and besides, it wouldn't have been bloomin seabird flavoured!

ALBATROSS!!

There was a great card game calles "Cargo" which was utter genius.

You were dealt different clubs with varyng yardages and were given genuine scorecards (with yardages rounded up to the nearest 10 yards.

Was great fun to play and very realistic.

One player could play a drive of 200yards, and the next could play a card condemning him to the rough or out of bounds etc.

Penalties were missing a turn or two.

First in the hole was the winner and it was matchplay.

The clubs were: Driver, spoon, baffie, Iron, Mashie, Mashie Niblick, Niblick and putter.

Hazards you culd play on your opponents shots were rough, bunker, bad bunker, out of bounds, water hazard, stymie and missed putt.

The characters featured on the cards were kings queens and jacks.

I don't think it is made anymore, but if it is I'd love to get hold of a pack.

Any golfer should own it as it is utterly brilliant fun.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 08:45 AM

Sounds like a gas. We've played the drive with the putter and putt with the driver game before!
I'd love to play St Andrews, Augusta, Pebble Beach and all the other great courses of the world. One we are seriously trying to put together is The Canadian North Midnight Golf Classic in Yellowknife N.W.T. 24 hours of light allows you to get an awful lot of golf in!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 11:38 AM

Spaw, maybe you can help me out by answering this question that's been bothering me for years:

What is the qualitative difference between watching grass grow, watching paint dry, watching NASCAR, and watching people play golf?

I've never been able to figure that one out. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 12:23 PM

Ref: I played a course in the north of Sweden, finishing my round at about 11pm, where they (used to) hold such a Midnight Golf Tournament, with some folks teeing off at that very hour.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 08:26 PM

Awesome - was that in the snow with a bright coloured ball?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 22 Jul 09 - 10:37 PM

Hey WV. I got a hole-in-one a few years back and in my euphoria, I announced here on the 'Cat. Rick Fielding was still alive at the time.

There's a golf tournament in Alaska each year, up a mountain, par 170 (or something like that), and you're allowed to have an axe and a chainsaw in your bag.

Seriously.

Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 05:31 AM

Just got my collection of 90 cards out for the first time in ages, and (along with the Swedish one where, Lox, it was mid-summer/no snow) here are some of the more interesting courses:

- Thredbo Alpine Golf Club - "Australia's Highest Golf Course"
- Cape SCHANCK Golf Club, Aus.
- The Royal Hong Kong Golf Club (they somehow found the space)
- St. Andrews - Old Course
- Killarney, Ireland (2 beautiful courses I wrote a poem about)
- Ronnbacken, Skelleftea Golfklubb, Sweden - (midnight golf/most northerly 18 hole course in the world - in 1988, anyway)
- Government Golf Club, Gulmarg, India - highest green course in the world
- Royal Nepal, Kathmandu
- Royal Dusit Golf Club, Bangkok - which goes in and around a horse racecourse
- Kahuka Golf Course (beautiful north coast of Oahu)

But, frankly, the more-than-clubs-in-the-bag course SK mentions seems on another level!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 05:49 AM

..Poem 12 of 230: GOLF AT KILLARNEY

At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club,
    There's two great courses to be found;
Built on Ireland's fine Ring of Kerry,
    Both are really worth a round.

From the local social Youth Hostel,
    I hitched (doing as Irish do);
Then paid to play both the courses,
    But missed five holes - Hostel curfew.

The fairways were lush and nicely groomed,
    And the course views the best I've seen;                        
With walks beside the lakes and mountains,
    I'm proud to say to there I've been.

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: 3refs
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 08:26 AM

The new 9 was just spectacular. I love it when they do the cross-cut pattern on fairways.
Never looked before, but can you buy golf balls that float.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 10:15 AM

Not sure how green-keepers do it, but I agree on those patterns, Ref - and floating golf-balls could put a whole new meaning to the saying: "sink or swim"!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 05:08 PM

I've played Killarney, and it was nice, but not a Patch on either Ballybunion or Dooks - both utterly spectacular in design and location.

Last time I played Ballybunion was in the Summer of 1990 and we were passing a green, forgotten which one, and had to stand still as approach shots were played up.

One ball bounced in to about 10 feet and its owner, one Jack Nicklaus, marched up and popped it into the back of the cup.

No crowds, just a bunch of friends helping him prepare for the Open.


The highest course I've ever played was on Mount Gulmarg in Kashmir in about 1987 - 14,000 feet up in the Himalayas, the ball goes aa long way! (not that I benefitted as I played atrociously but it was nice watching my playing partners ball disappear over the horizon). Nowadays I reckon its standard procedure to include an AK47 in the bag for insurance purposes ...

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 05:43 PM

Must of been this one, Lox - "Government Golf Club, Gulmarg, India - highest green course in the world" (above list).

I've only seen professionals at a pro-am, but it was extra good as I'd played the same course a day or two before, and was able to tell the club selection differences - usually 2 clubs more for me on the par 3s.

When a keen junior-member of a golf club, I read one of Jack's books on strategy, etc...can't remember the name of it..?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 23 Jul 09 - 09:15 PM

The other one on your list that I know is Royal Hong Kong where I was a mamber for many years before I left HK in 1990.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Jul 09 - 09:29 AM

I vaguely recall being allowed to use the club locker/wash rooms at RHK, Lox, and they were quite nice, yes?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 26 Jul 09 - 03:43 PM

For some reason I can't remember the golf changing rooms, though I have vivid memories of the pool changing rooms.

There was a decidedly dodgy "men only" area which existed right up till I left. This included the obligatory snooker table and leather studded furniture.

There were also rooms to stay in, family ones with air conditioning and individual ones for the overnight golfer.

... it strikes me to ask whether you played the 9 hole at deep water bay (HK Island) or one of the three courses in Fanling? (New Territories)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Jul 09 - 04:18 PM

Just got my above collection out again, Lox, and read: "The Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, Deep Water Bay - Men". And I played 18 via the same 2-tee per fairway system that Ref mentioned above. And, on both 9s, all but 1 is a par 3.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 26 Jul 09 - 07:38 PM

That's where I wasted most of my formative years.

For Ladies the 9th and 18th were a par 4 as well as the 4th.

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 26 Jul 09 - 07:40 PM

(and 13th)

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Jul 09 - 05:46 AM

It was around the same time, 1988, for me; and I also took a train up to Beijing and back, but can't recall seeing a golf course (there are probably more now)...did you play any other such courses, Lox..?

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 27 Jul 09 - 09:04 AM

Not in China.

I was a member of a young peoples golf society whose name I've forgotten. We used to play all the courses in HK in rotation, including clearwater bay and Shek O.

Apart from that I played in Thailand, India and Ireland, the Irish courses not mentioned being Portmarnock and Royal Dublin.

Can't remember any others though I reckon there were probably a few - its been a while since I last played - around 15 years.

I miss it!!

Subject: RE: BS: The 19th Hole
From: Lox
Date: 27 Jul 09 - 09:05 AM

To clarify, - in those days HK wasn't part of China.