Awesome time visiting & playing Humewood this evening… a true links course-brilliant! An Old Course St. Andrews feel for sure! Great ciurse, great people, great club! (Facebook Post 11 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/28/16)
Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club
December 14, 2015 By
Fantastic day playing Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club with all my new friends! Set to host the Joburg Open in one month on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour. I hope to be back with a media credential and play here again and participate in ‘Beat the Beast’ the Monday after the tournamment! Unbelievable golfing opportunity with @Joburg Gems– stay at the Fairway Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort and play the @Joburg Gems trifecta- Randpark Golf Club, The Bryanston Country Club & Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club… (Facebook Post 4 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/14/15)
Back in Joburg playing the East Course at Royal Johanessburg & Kensington Golf Club with friends Jenny & John & LET professional golfer Mandy Adamson. What a treat! Great course, will be back here in 3 weeks to cover the Joburg Open! In South Africa 9 days, played golf every one of those first 9 days! Taking a few days off to recharge the batteries & plan Durban, Garden Route & Cape Town. Definitely in the Christmas Spirit even though it is 85 degrees! Merry Christmas! (-: (Facebook Post 10 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/21/15)
Enjoying the Sunshine Tour’s Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club… only one more week to the Golf Journey to South Africa… (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/16/16)
Congratulations to 21-year old South African Haydn Porteous for winning his first European Tour & Sunshine Tour event at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club. Solid final round 69 to win by 2 strokes. He along with Zander Lombard & Anthony Wall earned spots in the 145th Open Championship to be played at Troon. Exciting day, can’t tell you how much fun I have had and how well I have been treated these past two weeks on tour in South Africa! Great country, great people & great golf! Loving Joburg! (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/17/16)
Third time playing here at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club, host to 2016 Joburg Open won by Haydn Porteous on Sunday… he driver, 5-iron on 18 from the tips, me driver, hybrid, 9-iron from club tees… great time with my SA golfing buddies John, Rob & Barry… Ladies Joburg Open on the West Course… pic with Sweden 4some… sad to be leaving Royal, truly is a Royal Experience… thanks Jayde!
Charlottesville’s Keswick Hall has History, Personality, & Golf to Dye for!!!
September 8, 2015 By
Communications Manager & Resident Historian Patricia Castelli has thoroughly researched the history of Keswick Hall and written a book about it.
Came across a gem today outside Charlottesville, Virginia called Keswick Hall! Interviewed Resident Historian Patricia Castelli (property dates back to 1912) and PGA Head Golf Professional Eric McGraw today. Playing the new Pete Dye design that opened last fall tomorrow morning! Excited to say the least. (Facebook Post with 7 pics, Andy Reistetter, 9-8-15)
Full Cry is the name of the golf course! Not a fox hunter but sure I will be crying fully and loudly tomorrow!
Keswick Hall dates back to 1912 when it was know as the Villa Crawford.
Communications Manager & Resident Historian Patricia Castelli has thoroughly researched the history of Keswick Hall and written a book about it.
PGA Head Golf Professional Eric McGraw’s father worked for Ben Hogan and he works for the man who bought the AMF/Ben Hogan Company Bill Goodwin.
PGA Head Golf Professional Eric McGraw’s father worked for Ben Hogan and he works for the man who bought the AMF/Ben Hogan Company Bill Goodwin.
This is a 5-star luxury hotel with an infinity pool.
Where the infinity pool ends, golf on the Pete Dye designed Full Cry golf course begins!
A links-like Pete Dye design… intriguing to say the least…
This is a 5-star luxury hotel with an infinity pool.
Where the infinity pool ends, golf on the Pete Dye designed Full Cry golf course begins!
A links-like Pete Dye design… intriguing to say the least…
Keswick Hall dates back to 1912 when it was know as the Villa Crawford.
Full Cry is the name of the golf course! Not a fox hunter but sure I will be crying fully and loudly tomorrow!
Erin go Braugh: Wisconsin’s Erin Hills; Host of the 2017 U.S. Open Won by Brooks Koepka!
August 17, 2015 By
Golf Writer Andy Reistetter continues his exclusive “Play-Write” series with the host course of the 2011 U.S. Amateur (Kelly Kraft) and 2017 United States Open (Brooks Koepka) Championships- Erin Hills Golf Course. Located in rural Wisconsin a little more than 60 miles from Kohler and a little less than 40 miles from Milwaukee, Reistetter was invited to play Erin Hills the Monday after the 2015 PGA Championship (Jason Day) at Whistling Straits. Here’s his account of the diamond in rough that became the gem in the eye of the U.S.G.A.
Erin Hills with Holy Hill in the distance.
It was as if I was in Ireland leaving the seaside course at Ballybunion and traveling inland a wee bit to Killarney to play a park-like course to experience all facets of Irish golf.
The beautiful countryside, known as the Kettle Moraine landform came to be as the result of glaciers and has dramatic elevation changes.
The town of Erin, dating back to the mid 1800s, has less than 4,000 residents and having a Guinness while consuming an Irish Patty Melt at the Tally Ho Pub on the main street near St. Patrick’s Lane is a “must do” along with playing golf at Erin Hills.
The Roman Catholic National Shrine of Mary is located nearby the golf course on Holy Hill and is the highest point in southeastern Wisconsin.
With limited sight lines, only steeples in the distance, no GPS and being jostled amongst the hills I became lost on my trip down from Kohler.
The vast openness at Erin Hills….
No problem as the locals are more than friendly in those parts of Ireland, I mean Wisconsin.
I found the spot to turn down what seemed to be a two mile winding, desolate entrance road.
I told Toto we weren’t in Wisconsin anymore.
The arrival was that magical.
Not a house or anything manmade in site anywhere near the golf course with the exception of the manor home that includes some guest rooms and a pub.
Do you need anything more in life?
The clubhouse at Erin Hills and the barn that serves as a pro shop.
A refurbished barn served as the pro shop.
My first realization about the golf course is that it is no inland park-like golf course.
Erin Hills is a seaside links without the sea.
Things had changed since I played the course shortly after it opened in 2006.
The design team of Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry had made improvements in their original design with Ron Whitten of only a few years prior.
The words on the Erin Hills website say it all with respect to their design philosophy and the attitude of owner Andy Ziegler and his management team:
The fairway bunker on No. 2 is a thing of beauty whether your ball lies within it or not.
“As is the case with many great courses, Erin Hills was designed with the knowledge that it would be a work in progress, with refinements made after it was seen how the course actually played. Only arrogance and foolishness would have an architect believe that his work is beyond improvement before the course is even played. In its brief five years after opening, Erin Hills has been closed twice for significant work to the course. When Hurdzan, Fry and Whitten initially designed the course, they did so with the mindset of erring on the side of moving too little earth – a refreshing perspective after decades of heavy earth moving in the industry. While it is possible to return and push earth around, it is impossible to go back and return the ground to its natural state.”
With such commitment to the heritage and essential elements of the game it is no wonder Erin Hills is a “walking only” golf course.
The final approach to the majestic par-5 7th hole.
Like so many grand historic courses in America, Philadelphia’s Aronimink to name one, many trees had been removed to allow for more open, breath-taking vistas of the land on which the golf course rests.
Throughout the vast landscape separating the fairways is tall fescue grass with its whispery whitish tops.
According to my host Rich Tock, who runs the operations for owner Andy Ziegler, planting the fescue and growing it in to maturity is a four year process.
While only three inches tall when planted the fescue grass, like Erin Hills reached maturity with the arrival of the 2011 United States Amateur Championship.
Kelly Kraft won the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills. Who will win the 2017 U.S.. Open the first in the state of Wisconsin? Photo Credit: Google Images & Golfweek
Erin Hills was the first to host a U.S. Open in the state of Wisconsin.
Erin Hills was the sixth public golf course to host a U.S. Open following Pebble Beach (1972, 1982, 1992, 2000. 2010, 2019), Pinehurst (1995, 2005, 2014), Bethpage Black (2002, 2009), Torrey Pines (2008), Chalmers Bay (2015).
Mike Davis, Executive Director of the U.S.G.A. made some impressive comments on Erin Hills this past week.
“In terms of putting on a championship, there are none in terms of operations that is close to this.”
“Space, (there is) acre after acre of dunes with no trees where you can watch multiple holes.”
“Erin Hills has really turned out to be everything and more than we thought it would be when we first came here in 2004.”
“(The golf course design and setup) requires players to play every shot in the bag, (with) very Bouncy fairways where you have the element of what happens after your ball lands.”
“(at Erin Hills we) always have some wind (which) for good players adds another worry.”
“A golf course that is being universally praised this week at the US Amateur and it will keep getting better.”
Ringing the bell with my golfing buddy Sir Walter!
Davis went on to summarize that “Erin Hills is pretty much where we want it to be and very little will change for that 2017 U.S. Open.”
Echoing how much wind strength and direction can impact playing Erin Hills was Patrick Cantlay after his semi-final win on Saturday.
“It’s still very firm, and the wind was blowing early this morning, made some holes play much different. I chipped 3-wood into 8, and yesterday I hit 9-iron or pitching wedge into 8. So that’s just how much the golf course can change.”
The World No. 1 ranked amateur who lost in the final to Kelly Kraft went on to say…
“I like when it’s firm and fast. I just think you have to have much more feel, and you have to leave yourself in the right spot so it rewards knowing where you want to hit it and controlling your golf ball.”
Erin Hills, Host of the 2017 U.S. Open! Photo Credit: Google Images & U.S.G.A.
No one had to ask U.S. Amateur Champion Kelly Kraft is he likes the golf course at Erin Hills.
Someone did ask him if this was his best putting performance of his life.
“Probably pretty close, yeah.”
“Erin go braugh” is a slogan that translates to “Ireland forever.”
I think “Erin Hills go braugh” is a fitting thought as we celebrate play there in the U.S. Amateur this week.
We can look forward to an amazing U.S. Open there in 2017.
Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer as well as a research and broadcast assistant for the major golf broadcast companies. He spends time on all four major American golf tours: The PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.
Reistetter resides within two miles of the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.
A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame and THE PLAYERS while pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary or by e-mailing him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com.
Rancho Bernardo Inn: Why say No when YES! feels so Good?
June 30, 2015 By
Your arrival at Rancho Bernardo Inn is a bit secluded, relaxed and certainly welcoming!
There are golfing experiences that one easily remembers. My ‘stay n’ play’ at Rancho Bernardo Inn (RBI) in San Diego was definitely one for a variety of reasons—the golf, the people, the culinary delights and the accommodations for sure. Did I say the people? The staff for sure, the ones I saw and the ones I benefited from but did not see. But my hosts—Food & Beverage Director Jocelyn Kraus and Director of Golf Blake Dobson—were incredibly welcoming and a lot of fun to be around!
RBI, as it is affectionately known, has been around since 1963. It’s premier Buddy Bell-designed golf course, the same man who designed Torrey Pines, hosted the San Diego Open, a PGA TOUR in 1964 and the LPGA for several years. From there came national notoriety, a 10-fold expansion in guest rooms and most recently a $2.5 million renovation and the opening of AVANT, continuing its renowned fine-dining experience. There are old and new traditions when combined with the people certainly bring forth a unique and diverse spirit to a golf resort. So much so the locals are regulars too for dining, the spa, golf or just hanging out in the Veranda Bar.
With Jocelyn Kraus and Blake Dobson on the 18th fairway after a challenging and entertaining golfing experience!
Back to my exceptional personal experience with and compliments of Jocelyn and Blake. One can easily see where the source of the high standards and various facets of the guest experience comes— from within the personalities and leadership of these two directors.
CLICK here for a Video Interview of Jocelyn Kraus & a Tour of the Dining Options at RBI.
With a home on the golf course Jocelyn is never too far from work which works to the benefit of the guests at the Rancho Bernard Inn. Dining options at RBI start with AVANT, a forward thinking restaurant that goes beyond what other restaurants have in terms of facilities and menu. An intimate yet spacious demonstration kitchen complete enables Matt Sramek, Chef de Cuisine and Margaret Nolan Carvallo, Pastry Chef to show their skills to groups as large as twelve people. The menu, and I certainly agree with the words of their website: draws on the best of wine country dining and moves it forward with a contemporary California mindset. Vibrant, creative dishes and artisan libations are served to delight every guest. Even the cheese plate appetizer is extraordinary!
This was no ordinary cheese platter… and neither was the rest of my culinary experience at RBI!
The Veranda restaurant serves three meals a day starting with a breakfast buffet. The outside patio overlooks the golf course and there is nightly music in the fireside lounge. The Veranda Bar is the place to be and where I watched James Hahn win for the first time on the PGA TOUR when he outlasted Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey in a playoff at the Northern Trust Open. Afterwards, smitten by the golf bug of our childhood and inspired by what we saw on the television, my brother Dave and I went out to play a few holes. That’s RBI, as elegant and formal as you want or as casual and impromptu as you like. After all, don’t forget to check out the ‘Golf Grill at the Turn!’
CLICK here for a Video Interview of Blake Dobson, Director of Golf.
The picturesque first green at Rancho Bernard Inn. Will you par or birdie the hole?
On the golf side of the resort it is all first class as is evidenced by the golf course and JC Golf’s Blake Dobson. It was one of the most fun rounds of my life! As you can see in the video Blake is quite a character with a tremendous amount of golfing talent. That backwards putt between the legs, perfectly within the rules of golf by the way, was for a birdie on the uphill par-4 15th hole. The golf course is memorable with my favorite holes being the short iron over water to a tight green on the 9th, the semi-blind approach shot on the 15th (which Blake easily mastered), the short driveable par-4 16th and the ‘I-definitely-want-to-play-it-again’ complex uphill par-5 finishing hole. Plus the margarita cart is quite refreshing and unique in my mind as I have never seen one of those before! JC Golf, by the way, operates eight golf courses in all.
I think this was my room! So comfortable, spacious and luxurious!
As far as accommodations, they were awesome—luxurious, spacious and extremely comfortable. JC Resorts operates three other resort properties—Temecula Creek Inn in the Wine Country, Scripps Inn in La Jolla and Surf & Sand in Laguna Beach.
Now is the time to book your visit to the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego. As Blake says—’why say no when yes feels so good?’ Enjoy!
CLICK here for an entertaining Video of my day with Blake!
NCGA & Poppy Hills is Getting Youth on Course!
June 28, 2015 By
Youth on Course in golf and in life! Photo Credit: NCGA & Poppy Hills GC.
There is something special about an amateur golf association like the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) owning two of their own golf courses and then having a program called ‘Youth on Course’ where kids can play 170 different golf courses for five dollars or less. They, the organization, have been around since 1901. That was even before golf was last played in the Olympics in 1904 at Glenn Echo CC in St. Louis. NCGA, one of the premier amateur golf associations in the world, was the first to own and operate its own member course when Poppy Hills Golf Course came into existence in 1986. Both of their golf courses, Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach on the Monterrey Peninsula and Poppy Ridge in the Livermore Valley on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay area are included in the ‘Youth on Course’ program. That’s not only incredible, it is inspirational!
I played Poppy Hills before it closed and after it reopened. Completely different golf course, completely different experience!
In golf, as in life, some things change while other things remain the same. My apology for digressing a bit here to my childhood growing up in Binghamton, New York but hey this is a diary! Where I grew up in Binghamton, New York is far from Poppy Hills and Northern California. My father introduced me to golf at a very young age and we played together up at Ely Park Municipal Golf Course atop Mount Prospect. The golf professional Ernest Smith had designed the sporty 18-hole golf course in 1933 and nearly 30 years later a nine holer of all par-3s for junior golfers like me. I still remember the day I graduated from the small course to the big course.
Beautiful golf course, beautiful experience… you can walk and pull a buggy for your clubs if you like!
The first “world-class” golf course I ever played was the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University. My older brother Larry followed in RTJ Senior’s footsteps there taking the same courses and graduating with a degree in golf course architecture. He played on Cornell’s golf team and brought me up to play the course about the time I was turning into a teenager. I remember nearly holing a 5-iron on the par-3 second hole with the golf coach watching. I wish I could swing and play like that my whole life through.
What does that have to do with Poppy Hills and the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA)?
Interviewing Robert Trent Jones, Jr. at the NCGA headquarters at Poppy Hills Golf Course in February 2014 when Poppy Hills was shutdown for reconstruction. I have played so many of his father’s golf courses that I feel like I knew him too.
Nothing really other than the Cornell course was designed by the Senior Jones. In fact Jones grew up in East Rochester and became the first golf professional at Sodus Bay Heights Golf Club about 50 miles east of his hometown. His first golf course design in 1931 was the Midvale Golf Club right next to his hometown. Coming out of the Depression, he built WPA courses like Green Lakes State Park by Syracuse, New York in 1936. After WWII, Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s career prospered when he collaborated with the other Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer ever, to build the Peachtree Golf Club in Bobby’s beloved hometown of Atlanta. All in all, the World Golf Hall of Fame member designed over 500 golf courses around the world in 36 countries.
NCGA Headquarters and Poppy Hills Golf Course conveniently located on one site in Pebble Beach.
The world has changed quite a bit over the course of the 20th century. Whether West Coast with the NCGA or East Coast in my hometown with the Triple Cities (Binghamton, Endicott and Johnson City) Golf Association (TCGA), golf being affordable and accessible to kids has remained the same thanks to organizations like the NGGA.
Playing the new Poppy Hills Golf Course after this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was a sensational experience. Mind you that I played the old Poppy Hills for the last time in a rainstorm on a cold Crosby-like February day two years ago. I actually liked the old course as it was built according to the times of the 1980s—tough, tough, tough. I absolutely love the new course with its return to natural elevations, natural areas (less water and fertilizer needed) and limitless fairways with no rough until you reach the trees which I am more capable of doing than anyone.
CLICK here for a VIDEO Interview with Cole Handley, Head Golf Professional at Poppy Hills GC.
With Cole Handley in his office at Poppy Hills.
Who gets hired on as an assistant pro a couple of years before being informed of a course shutdown (which means no golfers, no job) and complete reconstruction, then becomes part of the crew driving a bulldozer and shaping fairways and green complexes, only to be promoted to Head Golf Professional upon reopening? His name is Cole Handley and his storytelling of his experiences from Thailand to Pebble Beach are extraordinary. He has seen Poppy Hills exterminated and rebuilt from the dirt up and will tell you not to miss the Poppy Hills experience for three reasons—the peaceful scenery, the incredible staff and the variety of fun shots that you will be challenged to hit on the new course.
Handley calls it “thinking outside the green,” use the land, never boring, tactical shot-making—better bring your imagination to Poppy Hills when you visit. Remember who designed this golf course for the second time—Robert Trent Jones Jr.—who recently joined his father Robert Trent Jones Sr. (whose first U.S. Open course design was Bellerive CC in 1959 for the 1965 U.S. Open) and his brother Rees Jones, the ‘Open Doctor,’ (who has renovated 12 golf courses to host the U.S. Open) as a U.S. Open contributor with his design of Chambers Bay. Maybe Poppy Hills was his warm-up or warm-down depending on how you look at it. Grab the opportunity when you can to play this exciting course.
CLICK here for Video Interview Introducing NCGA’s Richard J. Cerame and Kevin Merfeld.
With Kevin Merfeld (L) and Richard J. Cerame (R) on the deck at Poppy Hills.
With the NCGA headquarters on site at Poppy Hills there is some interesting synergy going on between the ‘grow the game’ and ‘play the game’ folks. The interviews of Richard J. Cerame, NCGA Marketing Manager and Kevin Merfeld, NCGA Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing clearing demonstrate the creativity of what is going on in golf in the northern part of the Golden Bear state.
CLICK here for Video Interview with Richard J. Cerame, NCGA Marketing Manager.
‘RJ’ hails from literally growing up on RTJ Senior’s first masterpiece of Midvale CC in Rochester, New York. and is bringing history to life on the golf course designated to be built on land reserved exactly for that purpose by Samuel F. Morse (not the telegraph guy) who founded the Pebble Beach Company in 1916.. The only Monterrey golf course completely in the Del Monte Forest. Cerame is fairly new to the new Poppy Hills and the NCGA but will not only market you a golfing experience but deliver it with “a private country club experience at an affordable price.”
The Northern California Golf Association has been around since 1901.
Like Head Golf Pro Handley, Kevin Merfeld was a before-and-after guy at Poppy Hills during the reconstruction. Unlike the handy dozer-driving pro, Kevin saw the action at Poppy Hills with notebook and pen in hand, while handling his NCGA responsibilities. Here’s a young man who grew up in the area and is a product of the junior program and high school. He tried to walk on the golf team at USC (versus swinging into?) and after graduation the journalist major was a newspaper man before come home to the NCGA and Poppy Hills. Youth, like Kevin, in organization, like Youth on Course is a good thing!
Some things remain the same as they are changing. Poppy Hills is an example of that. Before and after golf course is totally different. Before and after organization behind the golf course and behind amateur golf in Northern California the same and getting better all the time. Not only have nearly 400,000 of those five dollars or less rounds have been played but over one hundred kids have been hired as caddies, half of that number as interns and over $600,000 given out on scholarships to college-bound youngsters.
Golf, raising charity dollars for kids helping them develop life skills and getting them out on the golf course is all natural for the NCGA and Poppy Hills.
In addition, the new Poppy Hills Golf Course joined Pebble Beach in 2014 to once again host professional golf at its highest levels with the Nature Valley First Tee Open on the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour. I have always wanted to go to this tournament as it showcases First Tee kids playing with the professionals. Scott Langley won the pro-junior event in 2006 and became the first First Tee graduate to play on the PGA TOUR in 2012. Though the First Tee is way more than golf, it is about life skills and developing children to have a successful life wherever life takes them. With a goal of reaching twenty million kids in their first twenty years I am sure in the years ahead we might see a First Tee president in addition to a First Tee golfer winning on the PGA TOUR.
I have been a regular at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am since 2009 and have always stayed at the Portola Hotel & Spa in downtown Monterrey, my California home away from home. During February’s Pebble Beach week Poppy Hills ‘pops up’ at the Portola and brings their state-of-the art launch monitor for a fun little festival in the lobby with live music. I hope to ‘pop in’ one of these years in the fall or the Nature Valley First Tee Open.
Whether one grows up in Binghamton, New York or across the country in Monterrey, California or even today around the world in Asia or Latin America. golf is golf and the people and organizations behind the game are the same, with the same benefit to young people growing up.
Some things, apparently and hopefully, never change in golf and in life.
The par-3 second hole on the new Poppy Hills Golf Course.
The par-3 17th green.
The new Poppy Hills, the only things that haven’t changed are the poppies and being in the Del Monte Forest!
BEST Ticket for THE PLAYERS includes Playing Dye’s Valley!
May 4, 2015 By
THE PLAYERS starts with the Military Celebration and Concert on Tuesday night on the back lawn of the Clubhouse.
We are down to the last night before the world gets fixated on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for the 42nd rendition of THE PLAYERS Championship! If you are lucky enough to be in Ponte Vedra Beach there are plans to be made. Which players to follow, where is the best location to be a spectator or if you are even more lucky, choosing which corporate hospitality tent to stop by? Or should I just hang out in Nineteen in the Clubhouse? I took a close look and came up with five spectator tips for THE PLAYERS.
CLICK here for Andy’s Top 5 Spectator Tips for THE PLAYERS Championship!
But what is the ULTIMATE PLAYERS Ticket?
In my opinion, the ultimate PLAYERS ticket is to do all of the above for the entire week and play the Dye Valley Course after THE PLAYERS. There are tee times available here for Tuesday, May 12th.
Watch golf at the Stadium Course but be sure to play golf at the Valley!
You may not realize it but the Dye Valley Course has hosted some great golf competitions of its own. Golf history made on the Valley include two Senior Players Championship and three Web.com tournaments. Since 2013 the Valley has become the permanent home of the Web.com Tour Championship. Dye’s other creati0n at TPC Sawgrass is an ongoing Fountain of Youth quenching the thirst for young talent on the PGA TOUR with champions like Russell Henley, Derek Fathauer and Chesson Hadley.
Milan Moore, Dye’s Valley Project Manager making the rounds as the restoration neared completion.
From an amateur golfer’s perspective the Valley is a guaranteed playground in great shape. Last year’s course renovation was completed in time for the September Playoff Finale. The project, managed by Milan Moore, a course designer in the PGA TOUR Design Services Group, restored the greens to their original size (roughly 30% larger) with a change to Bermuda TifEagle grass (which the Stadium will change to after THE PLAYERS this year). The fairways and tees were changed to Celebration Bermuda, following the recent change on the Stadium. With a new irrigation and drainage systems installed, the course is now available in prime condition even if it happens to rain a little before your tee time.
CLICK here for a Video Interview with Lucas Andrews, Dye’s Valley Golf Course Superintendent.
With Lucas Andrews, Golf Course Superintendent in John Deere Land at TPC Sawgrass.
Lucas Andrews, the Golf Course Superintendent for Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass, is the guy that creates the “firm and fast” conditions for the Web.com Tour Championship. With five years experience at TPC Sawgrass he commands the army of John Deere equipment during championship week in September. Educated in Canada, Lucas was at The Old Course in St. Andrews for a year-long internship before coming to TPC Sawgrass. His favorite time on the Valley is early in the morning or late in the evening when the low sun highlights all the bumps and hollows. Here is a guy that has come from the ‘Home of Golf’ to the ‘Home of THE PLAYERS.’
CLICK here for a Video Interview with Brian Riddle, Resident Golf Professional at TPC Sawgrass.
Brian Riddle, Golf Professional resides at TPC Sawgrass, Home of the PLAYERS on the Stadium and The Web.com Championship on Dye’s Valley.
Brian Riddle, the Resident Golf Professional at TPC Sawgrass, is a lover of the game of golf and working at TPC Sawgrass. His Dad put a golf club in his hand as a young child and after playing junior and high school golf he tried to walk on at UNC Wilmington. While not successful as a competitive golfer he turned to the business side of golf After earning his Business Management degree, he went to NC State and graduated from the Professional Golf Management program. His favorite hole on the Valley is the dogleg right No. 6 (Tournament No. 15) with water all the way down the right hand side. Brian has an interesting title and he laughed when I asked him if he lives at the Clubhouse. I think he does.
Enjoy THE PLAYERS this year and play Dye’s Valley! You will be happy you did!
Penn State has Happy Valley, we have Dye’s Fun Valley! With John Anderson, Dennis Berkholtz and Stokes Hill (L to R).
Day 47: Played the Course Where the Pro’s Played at RACV Royal Pines!
December 15, 2014 By
Walking the new nine with architect Graham Marsh on Saturday helped me a great deal on Monday as I shot a 39 on his nine!
One would think that the ultimate ticket in golf for an Aussie was to be at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 14th, 2013 to see Adam Scott win The Masters and become the first Aussie to do so. In reality that is ancient history and the ticket in demand was yesterday’s Sunday final round ticket at the PGA Championship. What a show that was as Greg Chalmers outlasted Wade Ormsby and World No. 3 Adam Scott to win his 4th Australian major. But there was even a better ticket, the Monday morning ticket to play the Championship Course at the RACV Resort, to “play the course where the pro’s played.”
Thank you RACV, the PGA of Australia and Kathie, the women behind it all, for giving me the ultimate thrill in sports, to play and experience as nearly as possible what the professionals experience in the heat of battle. Same back tees (7,336 yards at sea level was all the course I ever need to see thankfully only once per year), same firm and fast fairways (even more so with one more day of heat and sunshine). same rough (very heavy, punitive and a shot lost for sure), and fast greens. Thank you to my partners Troy, Jamie and Gene`. We survived the challenge, embraced and enjoyed it and shot a net 64, tied for fourth place.
Great experience playing the RACV Royal Pines Resort Championship Course the day after Greg Chalmers shot 64 and won an epic 7-hole playoff in the Australian PGA Championship… (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14)
Now off to complete the adventure I call the ‘Golf Journey to Australia!
So here goes a night in my Blue Berlin rental car traveling back from the Gold Coast to Sydney to meet and interview two special people in Australian golf history… morning spent playing golf in a 5-star event… rest of day driving south… currently in a McDonald’s in Coffs Harbor… 525 km and six hours from my 10:30 am appointment which is 12 hours away… where will I see the sunrise in 7 hours at 5:38 am… life is good, always! (-: (Facebook Post 1 Pic, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14)
Sadly this happened as I was heading down to Sydney from the Gold Coast…
My thoughts are with the hostages in Sydney, praying for a peaceful resolution and a safe return home for them with family and friends for the holidays… I am heading back to Sydney tonight to fly to New Zealand… spent several days in the CBD not far from this area… Aussie spirit of diverse and respectful community is shining through on radio and TV coverage here… (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14)
Here are some pics from my day at the RACV Resort and playing the Championship Course:
Best ticket on the Gold Coast!
Australian PGA Championship & RACV Royal Pines Resort, a dynamic duo for sure!
Front Nine masterfully redesigned by Graham Marsh… this is the par-5 3rd green.
I think walking the front 9 with its creator Graham Marsh helped me a great deal as I shot a 39 with 3 bogeys and 1 birdie on the par-3 2nd hole.
Lunch with the team afterwards. First class well run event just like the PGA Championship!
2014 Australian PGA Championship, what a week and what a Monday After!
Day 45: Walking the New Royal Pines Course with its Architect Graham Marsh!
December 13, 2014 By
The spectacularly Graham Marsh- redesign complements the spectacular RACV Royal Pines Resort.
What an insightful and extraordinary experience it was to walk the new front nine on Saturday morning with none other than its creator, golf course architect Graham Marsh. An Australian golfing legend turned legendary golf course architect, everyone knows Graham for his 70 worldwide professional wins, including his last two being majors on the Champions Tour. More of a secret to most Americans is his over 30-year Graham Marsh Golf Design business, unless of course, you have played his two gems at Sutton Bay or the Prairie Club in Nebraska; Wild Marsh in Minnesota or Old Silo in Kentucky. With only five of his fifty golf course designs in the United States, the rest of the world, namely Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and the Middle East have come to know Marsh and have enjoyed playing golf on the courses he has designed.
We met in the Media Center and headed right out to the first hole as the Robert Allenby, Jun Seok Lee and Mark Brown pairing began their third rounds. An architect, by design, likes to be where the ball lands, whether in the fairway or on the green. This is the moment of impact, the moment of truth, for both the architect and the professional golfer. Armed with hole statistics from the first two rounds, Graham notes that his nine is playing slightly easier than the older, still original back nine. A difference easily rationalized by length, with the front nine being nearly 200 meters shorter. Over the next couple of hours I would be entertained and educated while coming to the realization at how complicated and complex the work is of a golf course architect.
The Allenby group walking up towards the 4th green.
After video taping our first segment on the side of the first green, I watched and listened as Graham interacted with Allenby as he headed to the second tee. Allenby had hit it right off the tee and made a nice recovery from the woods to save par. Graham half joked that he was wondering why Allenby played the hole he designed that way. The architect, especially one like Graham with lots of success as a professional golfer, like the on-course television reporter, has an intimate and informal relationship with the golfers.
As you will see in the video interviews, Graham is thorough and decisive in his design work, never afraid to challenge the player or make him think his or her way around his courses. We spoke of the angled ‘dividing bunker’ the golfer faces in the middle of the fairway on their first tee shot. It’s the third live rail of golf design—make the golfer think from the get-go, not an easy warmup first at The Old Course or the impossible first at Muirfield. The bunker is placed in the middle of the fairway seemingly splitting it evenly making left and right choices the same and complimented by the layup or carry-over possibilities. Once carried, though, because of the angle, the landing areas are no longer equal. The wider carried right side has a more limited view especially with the flag stick placed behind the mounds on the right side of the green. These are the hidden calculations the thinking golfer must compute to be successful on a Marsh design. As Graham stated, “let the player learn the golf course, don’t show it to him.” Even if thinking is critical, as Allenby demonstrated, luck and skill, is a powerful combination too.
Graham getting player performance updates from a rules official. The day’s update was that the new nine played a stroke and a half harder than the old nine even though it is 200 meters shorter.
On the second hole, a 179-meter par-3, one of Graham’s favorites, I learned what Allenby suffered, making a bogey. What visually looks like a big green from the tee is anything but easily reached by the tee shot. The numbers in Graham’s grasp support the genius of his design with the hole playing over par both of the first two days of competition. The green complex featured a back false edge which reduces the playable size of the green. Also, bumps in the runoff areas to force the player to pitch instead of running the ball back up to the hole. This is a complicated hole and one which Robert was fully aware of as he urged his ball to “get down” immediately after impact. It didn’t, the ball ended up in the runoff area and Allenby was forced to pitch, missed the 10-foot par putt and suffered a bogey. All is fair in golf and golf course design with Graham commenting “good shots are not enough, need great shots” on this hole for a par.
By this point I realized what a great opportunity this was to see inside of the mind of a gifted player and architect. Graham was generous with his time and responsive to my prompts to capture his design genius on each hole. As I interacted with him, it seemed as he spoke to me with his eyes, an indication to me of how passionate, creative and committed he is to his artwork. For whatever reason, his eyes reminded me of another great guy, though a fierce and focused competitor in golf—Steve Stricker.
Graham conversing with another golf course design aficionado, seemed like there was at least one or two a hole that came by to chat and tell him how impressied they are by the new the new design and can’t wait to play it!
The third hole is another example and validation that what us amateur golfers see on the face of a golf hole is not what we need to know before playing it. Here is seemingly an easy hole with no fairway bunkers. But the creator and the professional golfer knows (or should know) that if played aggressively and the fairway missed, there is a penalty to be paid. Landing in the heavily roughed grassy hollow and being forced to escape by playing an 8- or 9-iron versus a 5-iron recovery from a fairway bunker. We spoke of Graham’s work as a commentator, with his conclusion that “to put something in the ground that will last for 50 or 60 years” is more meaningful than words that become yesterday’s old news. Here is a dynamic, young, interactive sort of spirit, that will be preserved forever, was my thought.
We arrived at the first dogleg, one to the right on the par-4 fourth hole. Atypically, Graham placed a bunker on the inside of the dogleg to steer the golfer’s thinking and his golf ball away from boundary residences. This was only a tidbit of the community awareness and responsibility of this golf course architect. We spoke at length of the constraints of the property being in a flood plain. Generally, no ground could be added to the property, as it would displace possible flood water capacity and threaten adjacent property and buildings. Not only is golf course design about water flow, for the RACV Royal Pines project, it is about water retaining capacity in the event of a flood. Detailed surveys before and after construction work, on a hole-by-hole basis, are part of the normal course of business. Only 16,000 cubic meters of dirt was moved in the redesign of the front nine.If a mound is to be built up for spectator viewing, a swale or a hollow must be dug to compensate. Golf course design and construction is more complicated than previously thought by this arm-chair amateur architect.
With Graham Marsha and his wife Julie along with Jim Norfolk and his partner Amber.
Graham readily credits the original architect, Japan’s Tomojiro Maruyama, for the course routing which he has not altered in any significant manner. Constrained by the flood plain stipulations and by time itself, as the redesign could only start after the completion of the Ladies European Tour Sanctioned RACV Ladies Masters in February, Marsh has germinated the miraculous golfing baby in only nine months time. Its twin to be duplicated and born in another year’s time.
I met Jim Norfolk, Golf Business Manager for McMahons, a golf course construction company with over 20 years of experience. Diversified outside of golf, McMahons constructed the surface of Stadium Australia, the home for the 2000 Olympic Games. I was fascinated to learn from Jim and read of the continually emerging technology on their website. They implement a proposed design at a remarkable level of accuracy, with shaping to a tolerance of +/- 5 to 10mm, without using a single survey peg in the construction. Traditional methods of construction, even when it comes to golf courses, are no longer traditional but high-tech. To date, Jim and McMahons have worked side-by-side with Graham Marsh Golf Design on three grassroots full-construction courses in Australia—the Growling Frog Golf Course and the Eynesbury Golf Club in Victoria and Twin Creeks in New South Wales.
Day 3 of competitive golf upon the new Graham Marsh-designed front nine revealed its potential bite. The field averaged 37.1 on the first nine and 35.6 on the second nine, even with the length differential. Maybe it was Graham meeting with the PGA of Australia officials and giving input as to hole locations? Allenby and Senden each shot a 2-over par 38 on Moving Day. The trio of third round leaders— Adam Scott, Scott Strange and Wade Ormsby shot 35,35, and 36 respectively. Something tells me the PGA Championship this year at RACV Royal Pines Resort begins on the front nine on Sunday morning!
With golf course architect, champion golfer and all-around great guy Graham Marsh.
Walking the new nine at RACV Royal Pine Resort with its designer was an experience I did not want to end. I captured as much of Graham’s brilliance as I could in the video interview segments. We watched even the long hitting John Senden lay up on the shortened to 252-meters par-4 8th hole. Senden was able to reach the 495-meter par-5 fifth hole in two shots, albeit he was wide right, though he pitched and made the putt for a birdie. I wondered why the new nine was not the finishing nine this year with an exciting short par-4 and reachable par-5 finish. Likely, the reason was space for corporate hospitality around the final green. No worries as this time next year the entire 18 holes will be Graham Marsh-designed and spectacular, like the resort, for sure. As he says, “the best is yet to come,” and it will come to the Championship Course at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, the new long-term home of the Australian PGA Championship.
Saturday was Moving Day for me as I walked the new front nine with golf legend and legendary golf course architect Graham Marsh at the Australian PGA Championship at the RACV Royal Pines Resort… (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/13/14)
Day 42: Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort—Australia’s Gold Coast Standard!!!
December 10, 2014 By
The grounds at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort match the beauty of any golf course I have ever seen! Photo Credit: Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort.
One night was all it took to fall in love with the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort. I came to known Intercontinental Hotels on last year’s “Journey to Olympic Golf.” They were my safe haven and luxury at its best as I travelled down through Central America and stayed in capital cities like San Salvador, Tegucigalpa and San Jose. Staying at an Intercontinental Hotel implies a high standard of service and privacy, which was delivered by a courteous and attentive staff. In Australia, on the Gold Coast, not far from Brisbane, the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, as the name implies, was my harbor of delight once again.
Springtime in Australia brings out the beautiful flowering orange pōhutukawa trees.
Resort to me means there is a golf course and in this case there are two—the private Pines, the only Arnold Palmer-Signature Golf Course in Australia and the recently renovated Ross Watson-designed Palms. As fate would have it I expected to play the Palms and was excited to see the renovation work but there was an outing on the Palms and I was “forced” to play the private Palmer Pines. So I meandered through a pine forest instead of trying to navigate my ball on undulating fairways surrounded by bunkers and palm tree. While Surfer’s Paradise is a few minute drive away, this is Golfer’s Paradise and no driving, except your golf ball, is needed once you are on site!
The Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort is the Gold Standard for golf resorts on the Gold Coast and throughout Australia!
With Monique Harmer, the charming General Manager of the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort.
This is likely the most unique property in all of Australia with “the grand and graceful architecture of a Queensland estate” Like the design of a stately manor, you arrive at the high point of the property entering in the Great House and passing through, if you like, down gently sloping manicured terrain to the lagoon pool below. The views from the windows everywhere on property have sensation sight lines that mix the water, the greenery and the blue sky in majestic and creative ways. This is a resort you will remember for a lifetime!
My interview with General Manager Monique Harmer tells more of the elegance, service and comfort that you will find at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort. While the resort was built as the first master planned community in Australia twenty-five years ago, the affiliation with Intercontinental is relatively recent beginning in 2012.
You will find a spacious room, comfortable bed and a balcony with a view. Photo Credit: Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort.
As the first Intercontinental resort in Australia and the first branded Intercontinental in Queensland, this is a high profile property. Intercontinental is the first truly worldwide luxury brand hotel with 170-plus Intercontinental locations. There are about twenty Intercontinental Hotels in the United States mainly situated in major cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Check one out in the homeland and I am sure you will be as captivated as I was and then seek them out abroad when away from home.
I visited during the holiday season and it was a festive atmosphere. Year round the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort offers an ideal place for the whole spectrum of relationships within the life of any family. From an early romantic relationship getaways to engagement and wedding celebrations to family vacations to a place to enjoy with adult children and your grandchildren. The Kids Club, aptly called Planet Trekkers, has a full range of activities and creative personalized attention for each child. Monique said there are families coming back each year since it opened looking for and enjoying their “understated luxury” and making special memories of everybody’s lifetime, young and old.
Outside is a good place to be day or night! Photo Credit: Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort.
The Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort is also a place to conduct corporate business. Intercontinental meetings for up to 500 participants occur within 14 dedicated meeting rooms or outside on ten acres of manicured lawns. There are 243 guest rooms, including 24 suites, and each one has a balcony. My room overlooked the marina while others have golf course, lagoon pool and garden views. To recreate when not meeting, as mentioned there are two golf courses and five tennis courts and a 25-meter lap pool along with a gymnasium.
On the culinary side there are four options ranging from the signature Fireplace restaurant featuring authentic fine dining Australian cuisine to casual dining in the Cove Café. The Verandah Restaurant Bar offers spectacular views of the resort grounds. Create your own collage of Intercontinental dining, recreating, relaxing and relating experiences.
Enough of the resort accommodations and staying experiences, as no matter how grand they are, it is still about the golfing experience with me!
The Palms Clubhouse at Sanctuary Golf & Country Club.
While Frank Sinatra may have been the main act for Opening Night of Sanctuary Cove, but it is Arnold Palmer that is the staying act with the challenging, championship Pines Course. Arnold Palmer won the 1966 Australian Open at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane not far from the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort. He came back to build a legacy course, the only Arnold Palmer signature designed golf course in Australia, and like the club so much he served as its president for the first two years.
What a great course the Pines is! A classic design with the first nine routing generally clockwise and the second nine counterclockwise. There is water, pine trees and kangaroos galore to watch your round but don’t expect any applause for a shot well played. I particularly liked the short 325-meter par-4 seventh hole, a dog-leg left, lay up tee shot with a short iron across water to a well bunkered green. The 425-meter par-4 finishing hole is a great test of golf to conclude any match or medal play. With water on the left from tee to green, the hole bends to the left and the green is guarded by water front and two sand bunkers. With “Sanctuary Cove” in shrubbery on a knoll across the water and sleek modern clubhouse set on a hill, this is the ultimate member spectator viewing area to see the conclusion of club events.
CLICK here for video interview with Dave Saunders, Golf Manager at Sanctuary Cove Golf & CC.
Adam Scott putting in the 7-hole playoff loss to Greg Chalmers at the 2014 Australian PGA Championship. Note the guy with the camera in the background. Photo Credit: Bruce Young.
Mr. Palmer may have designed a fabulous golf course on what is known as Hope Island but a local golfer kept the hope of an Aussie winning The Masters alive and brought home the trophy in 2013. Adam Scott was born in Adelaide but his family moved to up to Queensland when he was only 7-years old. His father Phil is a member of the Australian PGA and his mother Pam is a keen competitive golfer. They, like Adam, live at Sanctuary Cove and Pam has her name on a plaque in the clubhouse for winning The Pines Cup in 2007.
The 18th, a great finishing hole at the Sanctuary Cove Golf & CC Pines Course.
When you talk about golf in Australia, one doesn’t have to look too far to see that the Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club is the heart of the sport. As Adam found out at an early age the Gold Coast is also quite the paradise for surfers.
While I was joking in the interview with Monique I really wasn’t joking in my mind. If I could come back as one to the 370 kangaroos on site at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort I would! I would be the Joey Golfer Kangaroo with the big smile on his face and a driver in my forepaw ready to hop into your foursome if needed. I hope to see you there!
There are kangaroos amongst the pine trees and one day I hope to be one of them!
Mr. Palmer was the original Club President at Sanctuary Cove Golf & CC.
Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, one of Australia’s premier golf resorts!
