The day was finally here…  Playing two of the most prestigious golf courses in the world on the same day.  National Golf Links of America #10 and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club #3 are located next door to each other in Southhampton, New York along the Peconic Bay.  When Ashley and I started this journey in 2012; the 6 private golf courses on Long Island (Shinnecock, National, Friars Head, Sebonick, Garden City and Maidstone) seemed like a distant dream.  Neither of us had any connection or a clue as to how we would get on these great courses. Our luck would change when I met a National member in the summer of 2013 while playing golf in Scotland.  The member stated that when Ashley and I planned our Long Island trip he would facilitate not only us getting on National but also Shinnecock where a close friend of his was a member.  Needless to say, this members generosity started our desire to plan our Long Island trip for 2015.

Arriving at National Golf Club is a little different than most golf clubs. Since we were playing unaccompanied we first had to register at the main desk and sign in. What a formal process as all of us were wearing a sport coat since we knew it was required to eat the “famous lobster lunch”.  After checking in we placed our items in a locker, had breakfast and waited for Gene to show up.

Ashley at the entrance to National Golf Club.

Gene was a gentleman we met online when figuring out how we would play the 6 courses in Long Island.  Gene had posted a charity auction for an accompanied threesome at Sebonack benefitting The Viscardi Center.  When the auction closed, I emailed The Viscardi Center and asked if they would deliver an email to the sponsor.  Our offer was simple….  We would host him at National and Shinnecock and in return the following day he would host the 3 of us at Sebonack.  What golfer would turn down that offer!  Definitely not Gene!!  Within an hour we had confirmation that he was in.

National is a golf course I had been looking forward to since playing Chicago Golf Club in 2013.  I played horrendously at Chicago GC and was looking forward to getting some revenge on a similarly styled MacDonald design.  We started our round at 8:15AM with Greg and Gene paired against Ashley and Ryan.  We were accompanied by our two fabulous caddies Mike and Jim.  The handicaps this week were set as Greg playing as a 3, Ashley a 9, Ryan a 12 and Gene also a 9.  The team of Ashley and Ryan came out smoking hot by winning the first 4 holes and held on to win the front 4/2/0. Memorable scores from the front included my birdie on 7 and Ashley’s birdie on 9.

Hole #4 Redan

The front nine at National has some remarkable holes.  My favorites were  #4 and #8.  #4 called Redan has a sister at Chicago Golf Club (Hole #7) which bears the same name.  A par 3 with an extremely sloped green where tee accuracy is a must.  Interestingly both holes on the day we played had the pin positions in the far left corner.  I also enjoyed #8 called Bottle.  A beautifully designed hole with trees on the right and bunkers down the middle of the fairway.  Bottle also has some extremely punitive traps shaping a small green.  Unfortunately, the front 9 at National also had a few holes I really didn’t care for.  They were #2 “Sahara” and #4 “Alps”.  Both holes involved blind shots..  On Sahara the drive is blind up a steep hill and on Alps the approach shot into the green is completely blind. I have just never been a fan of blind shots.

Hole #8 “Bottle”

The back nine at National is golf heaven.  Gene and I were determined to fight our way back into the match after Ashley and Ryan’s victory on the front. Personally, the back nine at National is now one of my favorite 9’s I have  played.  Heading back to the Peconic Bay with constant views of the National Clubhouse and its windmill sets the stage for one of the best walks in golf..

11th hole “Eden” Fashioned after the 11th at St. Andrews

The final 5 holes at National is why the course is in the Top 10 of most golf listings. An absolutely amazing walk!

Ashley and I walking up 15.

Gene, Ryan, Greg and Ashley on the 16th tee. National Clubhouse in the background.

Our match on the back nine was much closer than the front.  There were 3 birdies with Ashley making a great birdie on 14 and my 2 birdies on 14 and 18.  Even though Gene and I won the back even plus 2 we still lost 2 ways on the overall bet.  However, my 37 on the back was good enough to beat Ashley 4/2/0 to halve our match.  Obviously, my match with Ashley is the most important bet I make each round!  Overall, I shot 77 (40/37), Ashley shot 84(41/43), Gene shot 86 (43/43) and Ryan shot 91 (44/47).

After our round, we proceeded to the locker room to throw on our sports coats in order to indulge in the “famous lobster lunch”.  Wow!  That’s really all I can say..  What a feast…  Immediately after sitting down we were given 2 lobster tails apiece and a choice of 6 entrees.  I had the shephards pie and a few cocktails while soaking in the fabulous view of Peconic Bay.  Overall, I truly enjoyed National Golf Links and completely agree with it’s elevated ranking.

Waking up not feeling our best (a normal occurrence for Ashley and I on these trips), we started our day by driving Ryan’s Jeep back to his house.  Ryan had left his Jeep at our hotel the night before after much prodding about not drinking and driving.  Luckily, Ryan’s Jeep had a “find home” button so it was very easy to navigate our way.  It was also easy because Chicago morning rush hour is absolutely awful. Going 37 miles north of the city took us almost 3 hours.

Once we had Ryan, it was game on.  The banter continued off immediately about Ashley’s field goal prowess.  The night before, Ashley had convinced himself that he could make 5 out of 10 field goals from 45 yards.  Ryan and I had a plan to test him.  Ryan had a kicking tee, cleats and a football ready upon our arrival.  Our plan was to stop at a local high school, jump on their field and have Ashley kick 10 field goals.  Unfortunately, Ashley didn’t like our plan much.  Immediately, he came up with a litany of excuses.  Some of them included: having the wrong shoes, not wearing the right clothes, the football not having enough air, his hamstring being tight, being late for our tee time, etc etc. The highlight of the ride was pulling into our second school of the morning (a very high end catholic school near Shoreacres).   Upon entering the parking lot, we were stopped by a very large security guard named Joe.  Joe asked us what we were doing on the property and we went into our spiel about Ashley’s field goal bravado and how we needed to find some uprights before we played golf next door at Shoreacres.  Joe was beside himself with bewilderment.  Here he was at 9:15AM with 3 thirty something guys dressed in golf clothes wanting to kick field goals at his $50,000 plus a year Catholic School.   After a few minutes, Joe confessed that the field goal uprights had just been taken down the previous summer but that he would have loved to watch our bet.  He recommended a high school about 5 minutes down the road which had some uprights we could use.  By  this point, we were late for our tee time and Ashley was working on his 97th different excuse as to why he couldn’t kick this morning.  The field goal bet will have to wait for another top 100 trip that includes Ryan.  Overall, the morning ride to Shoreacres will go down as one of the best preludes to a Top 100 golf round ever.

Shoreacres is located in Lake Bluff, Illinois, about 45 minutes north of Chicago. It is located on Lake Michigan which you can see from the clubhouse. The course was designed by Seth Raynor in 1919.  Upon arrival, we were greeted by the club professionals who delivered 2 very stern messages.  First we were late for our tee time and second there would be absolutely no cell phones or cameras allowed on the course.  They actually watched us take our cell phones out of our pockets to place them in the car glove compartment.  Very strange arrival to say the least. Definitely, the strangest welcome I have ever experienced at a private golf club.  It didn’t help that we were playing unaccompanied and were about an hour late for our tee time.  I thought about explaining the field goal bet to the pro but figured we might get thrown off the property.

After hitting a few warm up shots on the smallest driving range ever, we were off.  Our 4th today was a good friend of Ryan’s named Jeff.  Jeff had arranged our round through his good friend who was a Shoreacres member. We threw up balls and Jeff and I were paired up against Ashley and Ryan. Shoreacres is known for its multitude of ravines and fabulous fast greens. It seems like every hole there is a ravine you must clear off the tee or on your approach. The most memorable ravines being on the 4th,  the 11th tee, and the 11th approach shot.  My favorite hole was number 12 “The Short Hole”.  Twelve is a short par 3 playing 127 yards with an elevated tee box playing down to a large green tucked into a very small valley.  Hitting the green is imperative as left is dead on the hill and right is either water or in the forest.  Unfortunately, Ashley couldn’t find his original tee ball and drove back to the tee to hit a second.  I guess he couldn’t pick up on “the short hole”.  Overall, the team bet ended up even while Ashley beat me 2 ways in our side Nassau.  I ended up shooting 82 while Ashley shot a respectable 84.  After the round, we immediately hopped in our Jeep and drove to Northmoor Country Club.

Northmoor Country Club is located in Highland Park, Illinois and is about a 15 minute drive from Shoreacres.  It is also the home course of our great friend Ryan.  Northmoor has 27 holes designed by the famous golf course architect Donald Ross.  Immediately upon entering the club, we were greeted friendly by everyone.  Staff, other members, caddies all seemed to want to meet us and say hello to Ryan.  A very welcoming feeling.  It is very different playing at a private club with a member as opposed to being  an unaccompanied guest. Unaccompanied almost means unwelcome at some places.  This is something that Ashley and I have learned very strikingly on this trip.  After getting something to eat and drink we headed to the tee. We were joined again by Ryan’s friend Jeff and another member named Rich.  We threw balls on the tee and it was decided that Ashley and Jeff would have the “wheel” against  the teams combined of Rich, Ryan and Greg.  Ashley and Jeff came out on fire and held on down the stretch for a comfortable win in the Nassau games.  Both of them played well while Rich  was the only leg of the other teams.  Unfortunately, Ryan and I were enjoying the cocktails and camaraderie a little more than the golf.  Overall, the two nines at  Northmoor were outstanding. Course was in great shape and the greens were fast.

After golf, we showered up and headed outside to enjoy Northmoor’s Steak and Cigar Night.  During a fabulous dinner,  we were rushed inside to avoid a very strong storm which came up and soaked most of us.  Once inside we settled into the bar and enjoyed the Jets-Patriots game with our scotches.  After dinner, we were offered a ride back into Chicago with Jeff and his driver Iz.

Jeff, Greg, Ryan and Ashley at Scotch and Cigar Night at Northmoor Country Club.

Iz was a great guy and an extremely large African-American.  During the ride, it was apparent that our new friend Jeff had been a little over served. He referred to Iz as “his boy Iz” at least 50 times and became definitely the worst  DJ I have ever heard.  While Ashley and I were sitting in the back seat; Jeff blared the likes of Miley Cyrus,  Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry to unfathomable levels for our 40 minute journey into Chicago.  Not only were Ashley and I a little worried about our new friend we were also becoming deaf.  Once back to our hotel, we were thankful to be alive and very cognizant of the fact that we would never ride home with Jeff again.

Overall, this day will go down as one of my favorite days of all time. It had everything.  Great friends, great laughter, great golf and some extremely memorable car rides. Thanks to Ryan for making this day happen!  I will always remember it.

Yes, our golfing journey has landed us in downtown Manhattan! After playing Pine Valley yesterday, we drove our rental car back to the Newark airport and got a ride into the city.  After a few beers we were off to bed around midnight excited for our round at Bethpage Black early in the morning.

Having your alarm go off at 4:30AM is never fun. It is especially tough when in Manhattan.

Bethpage Black is a public golf course located in Farmington, New York.  It’s about a 45 minute train or car ride from Manhattan.  Getting on the black course can be challenging.  On the weekend it requires camping out in the parking lot.  During the week, we were advised to get to the course no later than 6:00AM as the pro shop opens at 5:30AM and then dispenses tee times.  We got a private car from our hotel at 5:00AM and arrived at Bethpage State Park around 5:35AM.  Once there, we noticed the line of golfers waiting to secure a tee time on one of the 5 championship courses at Bethage. At the window, we were disappointed to learn that the black course had just reopened after being closed for a week for aerification.  What a bummer!  Additionally, the first tee time was being delayed until 9:00AM because the superintendent needed more time to get the course ready for play.  We purchased two spots at 9:06AM and proceeded to have some coffee (and breakfast).

Bethpage State Park Clubhouse

Welcome Sign at Bethpage State Park

At breakfast, Ashley and I decided we didn’t want to sit around for 3 hours to play the black course so we went back to the pro shop and purchased 9 holes on the blue course.  We teed off at 6:36AM on number 10 of the blue course and had a very pleasant 9 hole warm up with two retired locals, Mike and Pat.   The course was in decent shape with a few memorable holes.  My favorite was number 12 which was a 473 yard dog left left par 5.  It was a very challenging hole which demanded a right to left tee shot and had a small green on top of a hill.  Overall, Ashley shot 43 and I shot 41.  However, taking full  advantage of his shots; Ashley won $10 on the blue course.

Walking to the first tee of Bethpage Black Course was quite intimidating.  First, we had to walk by the sign below. Second, there was a small gallery of people watching on the railing above the first tee.  Third, the starter informed us that the fairways and greens were recently aerified and that  the rough was still very long. What a difficult setup for one of the hardest courses in the world.

Ashley next to one of the most famous signs in golf.

On the tee, we met our two local playing partners, Ted and Jim, who were both singles out for their weekly round on the black course.  Bethpage Black is probably one of the best deals in golf for locals.  While Ashley and I paid $130 for our round; Jim and Ted only had to  pay $65.

Bethpage Black opens with a difficult 430 yard par 4 which demands a well placed tee shot.  The 2nd hole is a tight uphill  short par 4 which also demands a well positioned tee shot. Since the course was recently aerified and the greens were  covered with sand; Ashley and I  decided not to get caddies.  In hindsight, we probably should have. Ball position is a premium at Bethpage Black and we were constantly in poor positions.  After an average start for both of us, we came to the famous par 5 4th hole. The 4th is a visually stunning golf hole as can be seen below.

Par 5 4th hole from the champonship tee.

8th tee at Bethpage Black

Overall, the front nine at Bethpage is a challenge.  I particularly liked holes 4 through 6.  Neither Ashley nor I played very well.  Ashley shot 47 and I shot 43. Our Nassau bet was even as we headed for number 10.

The back nine starts with a difficult par 4 which extends to  the edge of the property.  The wind was starting to blow pretty hard and our games were leaking a little oil.  At one point, I thought Ashley was going to give up because his game was not cooperating with his mind.  I got a little cocky and was throwing verbal  jabs at Ashley.  Unfortunately for me, Ashley stepped up his game and came back with 4 pars over the last five holes to win 2 bets on the back.  Overall, I shot 84 (43-41) and Ashley shot 93  (47-46).  Even with his poor round, his strong finish enabled Ashley to win $40 on the black course and $50 overall  for the day at Bethpage.

15th hole from fairway. #1 handicap.

18th tee box

After our 27 holes, Ashley and I visited the restaurant to have a few beers.  We were served by the same woman who helped us earlier named Ginger.  Ginger had a fabulous personality and was obviously a very hard-working woman. She served us breakfast at 6:00AM and then drinks at 3:00PM.  We shared our story with Ginger and promised to put her in our blog. Cheers to you Ginger!!

Ashley with Ginger

Being our last round of the trip, we decided to have a big night out in Manhattan.  We hooked up with a few friends of ours, Jed and Mick, and Jed was kind enough to get us all into the Boom Boom Room at the Soho House.  It was a fun night with many stories but the wake up call at 4:30AM sucked… One thing I will remember next time visiting Manhattan is that 4:30AM wake up calls are brutal especially 2 days in a row!!

Greg

We have just started our adventure and the first stop is Philadelphia where we are scheduled to play Merion East tomorrow and then Pine Valley the following day.  To say we are excited is an extreme understatement.  Months of planning and preparation have landed us at the Le Meridien Downtown Philadelphia Hotel Bar talking with our new-found friends, David and Dara, who are from Oklahoma.  Over a few drinks we start telling them about our journey and why we are sitting next to them enjoying cocktails (Hendricks and Tonic for Ashley and a Chopin Dry Vodka Martini Up for myself). David and Dara seem like a very fun couple as they are extolling on the virtues of their bar hopping adventure the night before.  Basically, they know exactly where the restaurant we are planning on going later is, however, they can’t really give us exact directions because it was the very last  bar of their tour. I really like these two already!  Before we leave, David asks us if there are any  courses in Oklahoma on the top 100 list.  We explain the only course is Southern Hills in Tulsa which is number 38.  (Ashley knows the list almost by heart). David then offers to  help us get on Southern Hills as between them they know a lot of golfers in Tulsa who are probably members.  We exchange numbers with David and head off to dinner.  What a great first few cocktails on this journey. Met some nice people, had some seriously strong libations and got a hook up to Southern Hills!  Wow!  We look forward to seeing David and Dara again in Oklahoma!

After a very nice dinner at Pub and Kitchen with some of Ashley’s work colleagues; we head back to our room in anticipation of playing Merion East when we wake up.  We have been in touch with our host and she has graciously offered to play golf with us rain or shine.   The weather forecast is abysmal for tomorrow but Ashley and I have played in snow so we feel confident that anything the storm gods throw our way we can handle.

Unfortunately, I wake up to an email from our host displaying clearly in the subject line “Merion Closed”. What a bummer!  Ashley isn’t awake yet so I decide to go for a walk and find a local Starbucks.  After a massive caffeine intake, I am ready to move on from this monumental disappointment. I have been so excited to play Merion East that I was almost giddy.  Merion East is the number 7 ranked course on our list and is the site of the 2013 US Open. Additionally, our host has been awesome to communicate with and is a good friend of a friend of mine from Newport Beach.   Not only was I looking forward to  playing the course but I knew that we would meet some great people.  For both of us, meeting people along our journey is almost as fun as playing fabulous golf courses. 

To say the weather forecast for today is poor is a massive understatement.  The meteorologists are expecting over an inch of rain, 40 mile per hour plus winds and the city is currently in a tornado warning.  So what should we do today??  Pretty easy decision for Ashley and I.  We are playing golf!  

After checking local public golf course rankings and calling courses to see if they are open (3 of the 5 we called are closed due to weather), we decide to drive about 45 minutes to The Golf Course at Glen Mills.  Glen Mills was opened in 2001 and was designed by noted architect Bobby Weed. Glen Mills has hosted qualifiers for both the US Open and US Amateur and has been voted the best public golf course in Philadelphia several times.  Upon arriving at the course around 11:30AM, we are greeted by several shocked PGA Professionals.  They tell us there is only one other group on the course and that they teed off before the weather “turned sour”. We are welcome to play but given the weather the course is cart path only and we need to be very careful of lightning.  After checking our handicaps for the course (I’m a 2 and Ashley is an 11), getting a quick bite to eat (snack bar was closed except for hot dogs), and agreeing on our standard wager of a $20 Nassau; we settle into our cart and go right to the first tee.  No warm up necessary for this round!

Glen Mills after the round.

Overall, the course was very nice.  It was in magnificent shape, had a lot of extremely demanding golf holes and played incredibly fair.  Unfortunately, the weather was miserable.  It rained almost the entire round and the wind was a steady 30-40 miles per hour.  Since this course is not on our overall top 100 list and the weather didn’t allow for any note taking; I am not going to write much about the round. That might also be due to the fact that I played my worst round in years. I ended up shooting a 96 (47-49) and Ashley shot a very respectable 86 (43-43).  No birdies for either one of us. This round now represents the first time that Ashley has ever beaten me straight up.   We have probably played over 100 rounds together and to say that I wanted the first round of our journey to be the day that he finally beat me would be a lie.  The only saving grace to the round was that Ashley played a miserable 17th and 18th to only win $40 from me in our Nassau bet.

Greg

 

Ashley hitting his 3rd shot on the 17th at Glen Mills.

Scorecard from The Golf Course at Glen Mills

We played the blue tees at Glen Mills