My Top 10 Courses Played

I play to an 11.3 Hdcp Index but I've never broken 80. I am also a public links golfer, but, as you will see, I have been lucky enough to have been invited to some swanky places. I'd like to think that I'm representative of the masses in that I am limited to public courses (and too broke to play Pebble, Whistling Straights, Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst, etc), but I've always got my ear to the ground for chances to play the great layouts. Here are the finest tracks I've enjoyed:

1. Shinnecock Hills- This place is #3 on the Golf Digest Top 100 for a reason. The scorecard has a quote from Ben Crenshaw who said that Shinnecock is the U.S. Open, The Masters, and The British Open all rolled into one. Need I say more? I'll only add that my caddie was amazing. Thanks to him I only had one or two three putts. I shot 88 from 6200 yds which in the Shinnecock wind is no short-course!
   
2. Bethpage Black- This place is harder than Shinnecock and the USGA's money has made the grass the nicest I've ever seen...anywhere.
   
3. Sleepy Hollow CC- What a treat it was to be invited to this C.B. McDonald masterpiece. The design of this course is world class as are the facilities.
   
4. Huntsville Golf Club, Shavertown, PA- I'm lucky to know a member at this Rees Jones original. Layed-out over 300 acres without a home in site, this place is golf at its finest.
   
5. Tobacco Road- what an awesome place! Hard to define, this Mike Strantz design is a break from any other golf course design mold. Make the journey to Tobacco Road.
   
6. Taconic Golf Club, Williams College, Williamstown, MA - If you live in the Northeast you have got to play this old-school course set in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.
   
7. Seven Oaks, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY - This RTJ layout is big and bold with beautiful greens. The Central New York breeze and the Colgate campus make this experience one of a kind.
   
8. Atlantic City Country Club - This is my favorite golf "discovery." Designed by Willie Flynn of Shinnecock fame, ACCC is steeped in tradition, traditions much older than the AC skyline which is well within view but which does not stop the ocean breeze! Make this trip.
   
9. Montauk Downs- My proud "home course." Home to many, in fact. Other than Bethpage, you won't find a finer State Park golf course in the whole country. Rees Jones is currently making it more visually appealing and harder...which is nice.
   
10. Soldier Hollow-Gold Course, Heber City, Utah - Home to my career-best 81...on my wedding day!

Honorable Mention: Shennecosset (Groton, CT), Thendara (Old Forge, NY), Bretwood (Keene, NH), Okemo Mountain Golf Course (Vermont)

Stadiums

It pissed me off to no-end yesterday watching the Yankee game and not noticing any wildly dramatic differences between the new stadium and the old. The view from the center field camera? I could not have guessed it was a new field. Double down the right field line? The way the RF fielded the ball in the corner, I would have guessed it was the old stadium. The ball hugged the wall in the exact same fashion. The black seats in CF, the facade, the dimensions, it goes on and on...

Meanwhile, CitiField is a circus...a pathetic hybrid of Ebbets Field, Camden Yards, The Jake, Houston's Enron/Minute Maid, Coors, The Ballpark at Arlington, the new Comiskey(or the old Comiskey with the chain link field level fence in the outfield). But the real killer for me is the god damn Slurve of a warning track in Right-Center Field. I hate the brick behind home plate, I hate the Pepsi sign, and I hate the Black fence in left center and its strange height.

I'll have more once I've been to each park, but for now the Yankee legacy lives on and the Mets continue to struggle to find an identity. Seaver and Piazza throwing and catching the opening pitch was comforting, but what else do we have? We don't even have our team colors, Blue and Orange.

Unlike the Tar Heels, I'm not quitting the Mets. But I am desperate for a reason to be excited or a reminder of why I'm a lifelong Met fan. A new house isn't enough. A John Maine no-hitter would be nice (actually I'd prefer Pelphrey but he's hurt), Beltran hitting .370 would be nice, Jose Reyes walking 80 times and stealing 80 bases would be nice, K-Rod saving 60 games would be nice, Delgado hitting the Pepsi sign...give me a reason to Believe!

April Sports Television

I'm struggling now that the Final Four and The Masters have come and gone and with Spring waiting to arrive here in the Northeast. Others bemoan the weeks following the Super Bowl as the dullest stretch in American Sports, but I contend that this period is far worse.

Obviously, baseball is upon us and I did peek at last night's Mets home opener at the new CitiField. The talk radio is already slamming David Wright and Jose Reyes for not hustling to first-base. Has anyone else ever felt their hamstring about to pop because they were playing baseball in April in 50-degrees and went from standing still for 2+ hours to a full-on sprint? Of course guys aren't going to hustle to first every time! And get off your high horses for slamming those who do not. I don't care if they get paid millions...it's your problem for worshiping these baseball drones If you want nine David Ecksteins, then you can have them. Alas, there's no GM that does. Again, this Blog is not meant to bash baseball but it's just too early for me to worry about the Mets bullpen, etc.

So what is there to watch?

• Have you ever had a friend who randomly decided he was going to choose a NASCAR driver or an English Premier League soccer team and suddenly become a fanatic of that driver or club? I do not recommend either, but I do recommend the NHL Playoffs. I'm excited to watch the Rangers and High Definitition TV makes it all the more fun. Heck, I might even try to go to a game at MSG. Stay tuned for more on the NHL...
• The NBA playoffs can be entertaining, but it appears that we're destined for a Lebron vs Kobe Finals. The NBA sure could use the Knicks and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference race, but that appears to be a few years away. Thankfully, the Celtics will challenge the Cavs, but will the Lakers hit any roadblocks? It seems doubtful. Nevetheless, I love TNT's 40 Games in 40 Nights. Plus, you get to hear tons of hysterical commentary from Charles Barkely.
• The Haney Project: The Golf Channel hit a homerun with this series which features Charles Barkley and Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' swing coach. Catch the re-runs to see Sir Charles hacking up the course and improving his golf swing little by little. Not to be missed!

I cannot recap The Masters and do it justice. I'm just sad that it is over and I look forward to one day walking the grounds of Augusta National. I will say that Phil Mickelson has really grown on me. Phil's skill, competitive spirit, gracious demeanor with the media, and his newfound confidence that he's going to win more majors...way to go Phil. Can't wait to have you back to Bethpage!

Quitting the Tar Heels

My own Carolina obsession began in fourth-grade when my teacher, Mr. Brown, ran a March Madness bracket with each student choosing two or three teams out of a hat. I drew JR Reid and the North Carolina Tar Heels. I think it was the 1988 tourney won by Danny Manning and the Kansas Jayhawks. It was not long before an entire wall in my bedroom was painted Carolina Blue, I began dreaming of playing for Dean Smith, and never did I have enough UNC gear. I read all the Carolina books. My favorite part of Michael Jordan's "Come Fly With Me" video were the clips from his Tar Heel days. Beating the Michigan Fab Five was cool, but not as cool as watching Stackhouse, Rasheed, Vince, and Antawn.

In college, I met a guy more nuts about the Tar Heels than I. We swapped stories, drafted our all-time Carolina teams, and we even drove to the Dean Dome together. Before I go on, here are my all-time favorite Heels.
My favorites (1988-present):
PG Ed Cota
SG Dante Calabria and Wayne Ellington
SF Jerry Stackhouse and Vince Carter
PF Rasheed Wallace
C Tyler Hansbrough

Things started to go south for me with Joe Forte and the 2000 Final Four team. The 2005 Champs (Felton, May, McCants) were not loveable. I'm thankful to Roy Williams for compiling and leading this 2009 Championship team, but I think they may be my last.

I'm tired of picking UNC to win it every year. I'm tired of picking them with thousands of others. I'm tired of their merchandise on every street corner. Though I was never a bandwagon fan, I hate being associated.

Congrats to the 2009 UNC Tar Heels; an All-Time great champion. I quit you.