Thanks to the handful of Best In Golf readers who have hung in through my post drought…and if you noticed any post drought, thanks even more.
I’m afraid I’m having a little crisis in faith so to speak. No not the big G kind but one of far less importance…the little g…just can’t get jazzed to play golf.
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Maybe it’s because I stink and lose every match lately…or maybe it was the heat…but no matter I’m out of it.
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Last Sunday I had the pleasure of playing Jim Engh’s new layout at Reynold’s Plantation.
First of all The Creek Club has a top 10 logo in golf…or at the very least new golf. I wish I could show it to you but it’s not up on their website…you’ll just have to trust me.
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The staff is great. I got to our game a little late and the nice young girl who drove me to the group knew my name and assured me she would get me there as fast as possible. We slowed down a little when I convinced her the further along the group got, the better. If I missed the first five holes I might break 80 for the first time in a while.
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The course is unlike anything I’ve ever played…that could be a backhanded compliment but in this case it’s not. The architect says, and this is a loose characterization, that the design of a golf hole is like a dollar bill. Make the green too complex and too undulating for it’s speed and you’ve “spent” .70 out of your buck…essentially leaving you very little to spend on the rest of the hole…unless you want to play a downright nasty golf hole…string a few of those together and you have The Ocean Course to pick on one.
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Don’t get me wrong, I love The Ocean Course. But play it every day? Think I’d rather give the cat a bath naked…me not the cat.
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So Jim’s greens are receptive, bowl like in many cases. Hit it a little too far left or right and you could very well end up with a short putt. No good you say? Too goofy? To the contrary, the average golfer is treated to what is almost always reserved for the courtesy car -free Rolex set.
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That is the golf ball moves laterally on the green…east and west in addition to north and south to put it another way. You are in the fairway an 8-iron away, strike a good not great shot and suddenly the ball is headed for the hole and, as far as you can tell, might go in…that’s just plain fun.
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Number 13 (I think) is a par 3 with a boomerang shaped green. From the back tees to the back left it must play close to 210 to a hole location you can’t see…not that the hole is hidden, but the hole, the flag, and the whole side of the green is hidden. Hit a good one in the right direction and you can’t wait to get up there and see where it ended up.
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So if you get a chance to play a Jim Engh course, do yourself a favor and jump at it.
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