#853-The Cradle (9) & Thistle Dhu Putting Course at Pinehurst 6/23/21

I've played many Short and Putting courses around the world but none as busy as this 2017 Gil Hanse design. You got 8somes of players relaxing after the days round and families with the kids having fun listening to the music. This is a wonderful use of this parcel and an excellent way to grow the game of golf. The Cradle costs $50 for an all day pass. If your are ambitious you could get in 432 holes, like the daily record holder. It took me about 45 minutes to get around so you could play 144 holes easy if you had nothing else to do. I had already played 18 so one walking loop was all my foot could tolerate. The Thistle Dhu was lots of fun with some of the most impossible pin placements. The only way to get some putts close was to make it, if not you ended up a long ways away. If in the Pinehurst area and have a few hours stop by and tour the history in the clubhouse, play The Cradle, and sharpen your putting game on Thistle Dhu. GOLD rated.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/euKTEKXWVYSMAzPt8

To view these Photo's please go to my Twitter account or copy and paste the link **

#852-Tobacco Road GC 6/22/2021

Mike Strantz's, 1998 design, at Tobacco Road is the wildest layout of all his courses I've now played (5 out of 7). It is rated as high as #52 in Public Courses in the US, #8 in NC. It would be a golf supt nightmare to maintain it with all the sand and bunkers. If you love blindshots, risk/reward, heroic shots, massive greens with lots of undulations, and the genius of Strantz who puts so much detail into each hole, this is your nirvana. I've played several FUN courses,(Cruden Bay, NBerwick, Prestwick, Greywalls) but this tops all of them. Don't expect to shoot low here, just enjoy the experience and excitement. Every hole was unique and memorable with #1,5,6,9,11,13,14,16,18 exceptional. A course when you walk off you are already planning the next time you can play it. God willing I will be back again. Black++ rating.
I misplaced my camera and had to use my old phone for these pictures. So coupled with the cloudy day the quality of pictures are lacking.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PFQg4aC4kDgFdbWw8

Go to TWITTER@inpursuitof1000 to see the above photo's or copy and paste the link.

#851-True Blue GC 6/21/21

True Blue GC was designed in 1998 by Mike Strantz and is located across the street from Caledonia on Pawleys Island. It rained about 5" overnight and when we arrived at the first tee the starter elicted the three words I despise "Cart path only". I was dealing with a foot injury and had to decide if I wanted to just aim for the cart paths or drop near them instead of hitting The Big Dog. Unfortunately, The Big Dog has become a puppy and presently isn't flying very far. Strantz came out of the box at True Blue with many interesting holes, lots of risk/reward doglegs, and a bolder design than next door. It is only ranked #28 in SC by Top100golfcourses.com , which I feel is way underated. He always pays lots of attention to his par 3 designs and #14 is one of his best. With all the expansive sand on this hole , I found the tiny pot bunker. As usual Strantz finishes with a strong #18, right in front of the clubhouse so everyone can admire or chuckle at your apporaoch over water. It is a toss up of which Strantz course I would want to play first here, probably True Blue. Blue rated.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jLmWJ5wFWGFxT8V69

Please go to my Twitter account to view the slideshow or copy and paste link.**

#850-Caledonia Golf & Fish Club 6/20/21

My first golf trip in several months takes me to Pawleys Island and the Pinehurst area for six rounds. I dodged a TS for the first three days and got to enjoy three more Mike Strantz courses. This 1994 Strantz design on Pawleys Isalnd, was his first, and is more sedate and traditional due to the low country flat terrain than his other top courses. No blind shots at Caledonia but after the opening three holes a challenging test with generous fairways. I shot my lowest score of the trip here. 9th ranked in SC and #65 in US public courses. Blue

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MfSyDWLT66kB6cdC6

To see the slideshow please go to my Twitter account or copy and paste link.**

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. To find your gift is happiness."- Terry Pratchett

Google Blog changes

Google has made internal changes that my low tech mind has no comprehension of how to deal with. Until I can find a tech person to explain it (probably not for a few months) I am going to make a couple of changes.

Why are they always changing things that work perfectly?? All courses played before this date (#850) can still be viewed by clicking on the Slideshow header.

From this point forward everytime I play a new course and photograph it, I will post the pictures link right here on the main page not on SLIDESHOWS header. All the other spots I added that course like (Recent Course Photo's) on the blog in the past will not be used.
Please go to my TWITTER@inpusuitof1000 account and follow me to see the latest Course Photo's or COPY and PASTE the attached link.

Best viewed on larger monitors, not smart phones.

A Golfer's Dream- Pat Keeney

Approaching the golf course the other day

It was a crisp morn that beckoned me to play.

I cleaned my ball and put on my glove,

Preparing myself for the sport I love.

Confidently, I addressed my ball on the tee

As my swing aroused a new found energy.

My tiny white ball sailed thru the friendly skies,

As a graceful dancer before my anxious eyes.

For a brief moment the ball was out of sight,

Lost in the clouds and a little to the right?

As the dewy anointed grass greeted my ball

It was straight down the fairway after all!

Ah, the position was perfect to approach the green,

And my wedge shot was the prettiest I've ever seen.

When with only one putt my ball found the hole

The birdie I recorded gladdened my soul.

It took me by surprise and I'm sure you will agree,

When my husband awoke me, I did so reluctantly!

GolfPlayed app

Recently, I discovered a great app for those golfers who want to keep track of all the courses they have played. For years, I have had two large maps on my wall of North America and Britain/Ireland. Every new course played I would place one of 6 different colored pins on it. 

With this new app you basically do what I have been doing but on your iPhone. They have five different colored pins and up to 5 stars to rate each of your courses. There are also several lists that you can pull up to see how you rank against everyone else in courses played and Top 100's. You want to see who else has played in remote places that is also available.

The group out of South Africa, who founded this app, have 99% of all the courses in the world already on the app. You type its name in and it is brought up and you add it to your play history. That said, I have probably caused them more headaches researching several obscure and no longer existing (NLE) courses in the world that were not on their list.

For more information go to golfplayed.com

"The Income Tax has made Liars out of more Americans than Golf"- Will Rogers

Golf Terms L-Z

Lance Armstrong- a putt that is one ball left.

Looper- a Caddie.

Off the Deck- a stroke played off the turf, usually with a driver.

Prom Date- a putt that is all lip and no hole.

Snakie- a three putt.

Snowman- score of an 8.

TC Chen- a double hit, term started after the 85 US Open.

Texas Wedge- a putter used from out of the bunker.

Wayne Gretzky- a score of 99.

Worm Burner- a mishit that never gets off the ground.

" I guess there is nothing that will get your mind off everything like golf. I have never been depressed enough to take up the game, but they say you get so sore at yourself you forget to hate your enemies."- Will Rogers

Golf Terms A-K

 Afraid of the Dark- a ball that doesn't want to go in the hole.

Barkie- making par after hitting a tree.

Bo Derek- a 10 on a hole.

Capt Kirk- where no ball has gone before.

Dew Sweepers- first group off the tee.

Dog Track/Goat Farm- course that is poorly maintained or laid out.

Good-Good- agreement between two non-confident golfers.

Hockey Sticks- a score of 77.

Hosel Rocket- a shank, never say that word.

Joe Pesci- a tough 5 footer.

Condor- a score of 4 under par. A 2 on a par 6 or an ace on a par 5. A very rare bird.

"It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."- Hank Aaron R.I.P.

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."- Arnold Palmer

Mickey Smith-The Villages most prolific golfer? 2/21/2017 update

Located an hour NW of Orlando, The Villages with its 630 holes is the largest collection of holes in the world. They have 12 championship and 36 executive courses (2 more are under construction) all nicely manicured and decently designed. I have in the past few weeks played all the courses but not all the holes as 10 of the championship courses have 27 holes.

All but a couple of the courses are designed by the Cliffton Golf Design Group out of nearby Apopka, FL. The executive courses I find more challenging from the back tees than the championship. The championship courses are a resort style design with some mundane holes interspersed among a few good ones. I understand the philosophy here, with the millions of rounds played they need to move the golfers along. It would have been more interesting to have had more variety of design from several architects. It does get a bit boring for me looking at essentially the same design characteristics hole after hole. My favorite Championship course on the property is the Palmer designed Legends course. The executive courses have green complexes designed the same as the championship so there is not a drop off in difficulty. The Roosevelt/Truman complex is my favorite executives due mainly to their rolling topography. I enjoy walking and usually do so on the executives but the design of most of the championships have a few long hikes between some holes.

One might think with that many holes it would be easy to find a tee time. With about 115,000 residents, of which most play golf, 99.5% of the 10,000 daily tee times are filled each day during the winter season. If you are a single you can get on somewhere everyday, but if you wish to play with friends you certainly will not be playing everyday. In 2016 there were 3.072 MILLION rounds played, 2,241 holes in one, 770 Villagers shot their age, and nearly 8 million cart miles driven on the golf courses alone!!  Of course at The Villages there are hundreds of other clubs and activities to keep you busy. It is a fun, friendly place to live or visit.

I had heard about a gentleman who routinely plays all 36 executive courses every month and that he had been doing this for several years. When I played at the Lopez Legacy course, I unknowingly met him as he works there three days a week at the bag drop. Luckily, near the end of my tour of all the courses I was paired up with the Legend- Mickey Smith. Starting in 2006 till the end of 2016 he played 6440 executive and 328 champion nines!! That averages out to over 315 eighteen hole rounds for 11 straight years, plus he works three days a week. Mickey is a golfing machine, one year he played 800 executive rounds and he walks every one of them. During that time period he has had streaks of 48 and 69 straight months were he played every executive course monthly. Having played all the courses over 200 times he knows every tidbit about each hole. I suggested to him he needs to write a book about his knowledge of the Executive courses. In addition to golf he and his wife swim in all the 73 pools at The Villages every year. It was a pleasure to play with this Villages Legend.

12/24/2020 UPDATE

My son and I played Bacall executive on Christmas Eve and to my surprise we are paired up with Mickey. It has been almost 4 years and 76 year old Mickey is still playing everyday, but not three times a day. He peaked out at a record 830 rounds in one year. That has since been surpassed by a lady who played 838 rounds.You put up a number and it becomes a target for everyone else. Currently, there is a rumor that a gentleman has already played over 1100 rounds so far this year. He is really raising the bar for the next challenger!! We will see what the final tally is in another week. My guess is that Mickey is still the most prolific golfer overall in the history of The Villages.

So what has happened in the Villages since our last game? I have now played ALL 693 holes of golf, 54 golf courses, over 3.5 million rounds played in 2020, 2500 holes in one, 214 pickleball courts, and the 100th pool just opened. A huge parcel of land was acquired South of the turnpike, which will connect another 50,000 homes over the next 20 years. Population is now over 130,000 and growing.

For my Rankings of all 54 Village courses please scroll down the blog and you will find two articles where I break down all the courses into a numerical value by Championship and Executive. Not all courses are created equal, so if you want to play the best ones check it out.       I have photographed all 306 Championship holes, click on the Slideshows tab above and scroll down you will be able to view all 12 courses.                                                     Merry Christmas

"A good 9-holer knows what it is- intimate, local, welcoming- and avoids what it isn't: pretentious, punitive, grand." -Mike Button

"Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees."- Bob Hope

What is a Links Course?

The British Golf Museum defines a links course as "a stretch of land near the coast characterized by undulating terrain, often associated with dunes, infertile sandy soil, and indigenous grasses such as marram, sea lyme, and the fescues and bents which, when properly managed, produce the fine-textured, tight turf for which links are famed."

The Links Diary states "Links land is characterized by fast running, hard turf, undulations and sand dunes....This is the purest form of golf where the running game is the key to good play. The elements are part of the defense of these seemingly living and breathing courses. The sand under the soil creates the links magic that we all love."

To me the joy and exhilaration of playing a Links course comes from the proximity to the ocean, where the weather is always unpredictable and its firm and fast playing conditions. I love the challenge of a stiff, cool breeze making me focus on all the variables it brings to shotmaking. The worse the weather, the more focused I become, and the more enjoyment I get out of a good shot.

The most severe wind and elements I can recall playing in was 2011 at Narin and Portnoo on the west coast of Ireland. 45 MPH of sustained wind with intermittent showers. The par 5, #14 which is uphill and was playing directly into the wind was the highlight of my day when I parred it. I hit a driving iron three times, a wedge on the green, and dropped the putt. It felt like an eagle!

To see all the pictures of True Links courses I have played around the world, please go to the header on the main page.

'The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back in the bag."- Byron Nelson

The thrill of golf is not a function of how far you hit the ball but how well"- Tom Doak

'Golf is a lot like life. When you make a decision, stick with it."- Byron Nelson

"Hazards should not be built solely with the idea of penalizing bad play, but with the object of encouraging thoughtful golf and rewarding the player who possesses the ability to play a variety of strokes with each club"- Wm Langford

"We're not trying to embarrass the best players in the world: we're trying to identify them."- Sandy Tatum @ 1974 US Open

 Future US Open sites:

2021- Torrey Pines South

2022- The Country Club

2023- L.A. CC North

2024- Pinehurst #2

2025- Oakmont

2026- Shinnecock

2027- Pebble Beach

"It is better to walk alone, than with a crowd going in the wrong direction."- Herman Siu