September 8th 2007– Notes made at the Mecca of Golf – St. Andrews!
I was fortunate to visit and pay homage at the Royal and Ancient at St. Andrews while recently on holiday with my wife in Scotland, that lovely land of Malt Whisky, Heather clad Moorland, Kilts, Old Nessie and of course, the home of the game we all love so well, Golf!
Contrary to popular belief that the game was invented here and so on, the facts appear a little different, with racial types as far removed from the Anglo Saxons, as the Ancient Egyptians, the Ancient Chinese and the Medieval Dutch laying claim to the invention of the Game of Golf. Indeed there even seems to have been some sort of similar game called “Kolven” having been played in Medieval Holland.
It also happens indeed, that the Scots Shepherds, to while away the interminable hours spent on the vast, wild and bleak moorland, watching their woolly wards, played a game involving their staffs or some sort of stick and a rounded object, probably a stone, which can, I presume be loosely compared to the game of golf as we know it. Having said all this, whatever its roots, we do know for a fact that the first organization per se around the game of golf, was the “Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers” and that the first ever competition was played at Muirfield in Scotland.
Over the last six hundred years, with the steady development of the game, St. Andrews has assumed command as the “Home of Golf” and indeed, simply and indisputably IS, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club – possibly being occasioned to some degree by the fact that this little coastal town bears the name of the Patron Saint of Scotland, St. Andrew.
As a golfer or golf enthusiast, it is necessary to visit this Hallowed Ground at least once in one’s lifetime, to pay homage, as it were, to the “Mecca” of the game. I can personally swear to getting ‘gooseflesh”, and a queer prickling sensation at the back of my neck while I padded by the entrance to the “Caddie Pavilion” and the “Starter’s cabin” – somewhat akin to the feeling one gets when one visits sanctified ground at other hallowed places in the world; for example the Vatican or even Wimbledon or Lord’s.
The town of St. Andrews is situated on a little tip of land at the eastern edge of Fife, Scotland, overlooking the North Sea. As a town, though quaint, it is rather unremarkable except as a centre for production of wool. However, its predominantly grey-brown stone buildings are today deeply impregnated with all manner of things to do with golf as a religion, no doubt partially due to the famed business acumen of the Scots, and aimed at the masses of golf-mad visitors from all over the world.
Practically every stone in this area is steeped in enormous amounts of History and Tradition, with the line of quaint, beautifully preserved shop fronts like “Bobby Jones at Auchterlonies” (located in the town), “Old Tom Morris’ Golf Shop”, “The St. Andrews Links Golf Shop” and of course, “The Old Course Shop”, all engaged in purveying vast quantities of a wide array of golf merchandise and occupying some superbly valuable real estate, overlooking the Old Course. Also notable is the Museum of Golf abutting the road on Eastern edge of the clubhouse – a lovely and highly interesting experience and very well worth visiting.
The extent of facilities on the links are surprising to the first time visitor; Two luxurious clubhouses (one of which was the scene of the (now infamous) turning away of that famed “professional golfer”, Walter Hagen, as he was not an amateur and not a member, despite being one of the most famous, skilled and flamboyant exponents of the game) – lots of unquestioning tradition and of course in hindsight, water under the (Swilcan!!??) bridge; because in its best traditions, golf was never intended by any means to be a preserve of the Elite or a Select few. However, the St. Andrews Links remains completely Public Land giving thousands of enthusiasts a chance to play the same links that their heroes have played. The famous golf club, with its five 18 hole golf courses and one 9 hole course, all of which I may add, are public courses, appears to a small degree to have ceded some of its hallowed antiquity to sybaritic modernity in the imposing presence of the famous and luxurious St. Andrews Golf Resort, Hotel and Spa to the left perpendicular of the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and which also overlooks the First Fairway with the Ocean in the middle-distance.
Seeing it now, the casual visitor will marvel that what once was a single track hacked into gorse bushes and heather has developed into six golf courses attracting thousands if not hundreds of thousands of golf pilgrims! The “designer” of the Old Course is said to be Mother Nature herself, with so many changes of perspective and memorable details.
The beautiful old clubhouse looks (from the outside) to be exactly the same as it probably was, when the likes of Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen drew up outside it in their Rolls Royce’s, to meet in their gentlemanly clash, in the “Open” ! Today, by rather stark contrast, I observed vehicles of the likes of Honda, Audi, Volkswagen, Lexus etc parked quite possibly in the same places!
Worth mentioning is the fact that each hole here carries an unique name; ranging from the Par 4, 376 yard “Burn” going out, whose fairway is spanned by the famed “Swilcan” bridge and at whose close comes the famous “Himalayas” putting green! (As a Proud Indian I was pleased to set eyes on this, I can tell you!), to the Par 4, 411 yard “Dyke”, the Par 4, 419 yard “Ginger Beer” and “Short” (which can readily be visualized as a Par 3 of 166 yards.) The back nine coming in, has names ranging from the great Par 4, 340 yard “Bobby Jones”, the Par 4, 316 yard “Heathery” which is also the home of a rather nasty family of pot bunkers, the Par 4, 381 yard “Corner-of-the-Dyke”, the famous 455 yard Par 4 “Road” and back to the great Par 4, 357 yard “Tom Morris”!
Standing at the edge of the first tee with its sweeping view of the ocean on one side and the fairway on the other, in absolute awestruck silence, I fervently muttered a little prayer that one day I might get to “pay and play” this great course or at the very least, one of the five others, in the company of some of my good golf buddies. I was forced by the constraints of time, to turn reluctantly away from there and wandering over to the golf shops I bought some memorabilia and gifts to cement my ties to the place, taking lots of photographs all the time to create my own visual memories of the visit, prior to resuming our tour.
But I promised myself then, to be back someday and get in a round of 18, possibly washing the spirit of each hole down with a wee dram of that rich golden malt, rather in the manner of Archie – Bobby Jones’ one time golf tutor!
I state here most definitely, that St. Andrews simply must take its rightful place amongst those ”1000 places to see (as a golfer) before you tee off onto the fairway to heaven”!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Water's Edge Golf Club- Sri Lanka
Water’s Edge Golf Club, Colombo – Sri Lanka-Sep 18th 2007.
Arriving recently in Sri Lanka after a long and tiring overnight flight, at the tail-end of an exceedingly well spent holiday, I was more than pleased, despite the lack of real rest, to get a chance to play a round with some friends at “Water’s Edge Golf Club”.
Again, as seemed to be fast becoming a habit with me, strategically steering the dear wife off to the tender mercies of some Retail Therapy at Odel, Noritake and Crescat Boulevard, I vanished in a cloud of dust and small pebbles to beat the ball off the tee at Water’s Edge!
This being the last leg of our holiday and faced with the immediate and not-so-welcome prospect of going back to work from the very next day onwards (somewhat the same feeling as at the end of the school holidays), I was very keen to make the most of our last day and play and enjoy this course. Additionally, the last time I had visited Sri Lanka, only 11 of its 18 holes were open for play and it is only in April this year (2007) that all 18 holes were readied.
Located in the Capital City of Sri Jayawardenepura, a mere 20 minutes drive from the Colombo city centre, this is a massive MICE resort facility set in about 200 odd acres of lush green landscape and targeted at Corporates, Institutions and the Wedding business.
The Emerald Green Island of Sri Lanka numbers just Four Golf Courses amongst its varied attractions, two of these being in Colombo proper; the traditional and classy Royal Colombo Golf Club and Water’s Edge with the other two being Victoria in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in the Hill country respectively. However, each of these four courses embodies considerable differences in character and “feel”.
Adjoining the luxurious club house and spa etc at Water’s Edge is an 18 hole, par 72, 6500 odd yard golf course. Apparently this entire area was a lowland swamp in the not too distant past and this fact can readily be believed if one were to consider the extensive water bodies all over the course.
My friend Jehan had very kindly arranged with his Brother Senaka and two other friends, Raju Chandiram and Chanaka (fondly known as Casper the Friendly Ghost), to take me around Water’s edge. The round was great fun, though pretty chaotic for all of us in the foursome comprising the three Merry Islanders and myself.
Playing off the black markers, the first hole is an interesting Par 4 360 yard devil, with a water body ahead and another long strip of water between the fairway and the green, where the ideal play would be to lay up and smoothly cross the strip to get on the green for a decent score.
Senaka having kindly purloined a beautiful set of his father’s clubs (a complete set of forgiving Taylor made R7 Irons, an dreamboat of an Odyssey 2 Ball Putter, a couple of Oil Can finish Cleveland Wedges, a Ping Rapture Rescue, a Regular Flex Ping G 2 Driver with the additional choice of a wicked Nike SQ monster, I was completely spoiled for choice and it certainly would be very bad form to blame my scores on the tools given to me!)
I observed here that after holing out, it was a bit of a walk to the next tee, which went on to a longing 376 yard par 4 where the urge was to pull out the Big Dog, to complete, un-utterable, indubitable destruction!
The fourth hole of Water’s Edge is a lively Par 3 of some 214 yards – with the Wind in evidence that afternoon, some of us hauled off and trashed the ball with the Three wood but electing to play carefully, I preferred a four Iron, but only for a bogey unfortunately.
All sorts of dangers abounded on this course, not the least of which were the bulrushes abutting almost all the fairways – fuelled and fed by the abundance of water, these serve as superbly laid lurking traps for the wayward balls which most of us are guilty of clobbering.
Meandering along laughing, joking and generally having ourselves an afternoon of fun, I don’t think any of the four of us would willingly confess to the scores we racked up on our cards. Even our caddies were surreptitiously sworn to silence lest they unwittingly let the cats out of the bags!
There is really no signature hole as such on this course – it having been entirely designed by the firm of architects who were instrumental in building the main resort itself, but having said that, with the exception of the excessive criss-cross which could prove a bit of a walk, the course itself is scenically very beautiful and a near perfect setting for a leisurely round where time means nothing.
Moving up to the 8th hole, another Par 3 of 142 yards, we found ourselves faced with the usual water and rushes but didn’t do too badly with Bogey, considering…
The front nine ends quite close to the clubhouse, with a bit of a walk up from there to the actual terrace, where we sat for a while, sipping a soft drink and giving our caddies a drink too.
Then it was on to the second half of the course, wherein the 10th hole lies completely in a different direction and the whole back nine bears a completely different aspect to the front. For all of us it was completely unknown territory, since as mentioned before only 11 holes were first opened and the remaining 7 were opened for play only in April 2007. Consequently, all of us were playing that bit for the first time and making if I may say so, pretty much the same wrong judgements of club and distance.
The feel of the round was more like a familiarization exercise than anything else – however, this fact was more than compensated for, by the lovely setting in which we were.
Notable on the back nine is the 15th hole, a long and difficult par 5 which Senaka and Chanaka, made par on, the rest of us having fallen prey to the various hazards that infest that area.
Indeed, at one point Raju, even informed me sotto voce that a well known reptile research scientist had even released a few baby crocodiles into the water bodies on this course and this was done some time ago. Therefore, it may well be that one of our average wayward shots, might have been found if at all, reposing in the giant maw of a fully grown Saurian! (We didn’t however; see any such denizens and I can tell you quite categorically that this knowledge served to cure completely any urge that one might have had, to chase after mis-hit golf balls!)
By way of compensation for our lost balls and generally guffy golf was the lovely sight and photo op, of a pair of beautiful “Blue Coot”, water fowl, which were flapping about in one of the Water bodies along the Fairway. Apparently Water’s Edge is home to several varied species of birdlife, which will delight the nature and wildlife enthusiast. I’ve never seen this particular species before and they are really very pretty I may tell you.
The mantle of darkness was coming upon us as we were going over to the 17th which is a 193 yard Par 3, ideally met with a Three Wood if one is an accurate hitter or with a Number four if one wishes to control the ball better. At least this wasn’t a complete botch up!
The 18th and final hole is another long Par 4 of 441 yards – tough, because one has to again carry some water on one’s second shot, though the fairway is wide enough for a Driver off the Tee. With the fast failing light and the 18th green being lit up by the reflected lights of the clubhouse garden lamps, we finished a rather long round of over four and a half hours.
Meeting Mr. Billimoria, the amiable Pro, at the clubhouse, we were told a few home truths about this course – it would certainly not seem so daunting if one were to play percentage golf, carefully using one’s irons off the tees rather than horsing around with the Big Drivers etc. In hind sight (as with most other things in life), I realize that if one were to play humble as it were, one would be able to play to one’s handicap or even better it because though long and winding, the course per se is not really a monster!
Having said all this, I still do believe that it would be difficult to stage a tournament here, like for example the Sri Lankan Airlines Golf Classic, which has over 200 golfers on shotgun start on the course at any given time, because of the huge amount of criss-crossing that one has to contend with.
However, it would still prove to be an interesting and worthwhile challenge if they were to at least stage one of the practice rounds here, to show all those International Wolves that a healthy respect for Water bodies and the bulrushes at the Water’s Edge (Pun Intended), is absolutely necessary, for low scores!
Arriving recently in Sri Lanka after a long and tiring overnight flight, at the tail-end of an exceedingly well spent holiday, I was more than pleased, despite the lack of real rest, to get a chance to play a round with some friends at “Water’s Edge Golf Club”.
Again, as seemed to be fast becoming a habit with me, strategically steering the dear wife off to the tender mercies of some Retail Therapy at Odel, Noritake and Crescat Boulevard, I vanished in a cloud of dust and small pebbles to beat the ball off the tee at Water’s Edge!
This being the last leg of our holiday and faced with the immediate and not-so-welcome prospect of going back to work from the very next day onwards (somewhat the same feeling as at the end of the school holidays), I was very keen to make the most of our last day and play and enjoy this course. Additionally, the last time I had visited Sri Lanka, only 11 of its 18 holes were open for play and it is only in April this year (2007) that all 18 holes were readied.
Located in the Capital City of Sri Jayawardenepura, a mere 20 minutes drive from the Colombo city centre, this is a massive MICE resort facility set in about 200 odd acres of lush green landscape and targeted at Corporates, Institutions and the Wedding business.
The Emerald Green Island of Sri Lanka numbers just Four Golf Courses amongst its varied attractions, two of these being in Colombo proper; the traditional and classy Royal Colombo Golf Club and Water’s Edge with the other two being Victoria in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in the Hill country respectively. However, each of these four courses embodies considerable differences in character and “feel”.
Adjoining the luxurious club house and spa etc at Water’s Edge is an 18 hole, par 72, 6500 odd yard golf course. Apparently this entire area was a lowland swamp in the not too distant past and this fact can readily be believed if one were to consider the extensive water bodies all over the course.
My friend Jehan had very kindly arranged with his Brother Senaka and two other friends, Raju Chandiram and Chanaka (fondly known as Casper the Friendly Ghost), to take me around Water’s edge. The round was great fun, though pretty chaotic for all of us in the foursome comprising the three Merry Islanders and myself.
Playing off the black markers, the first hole is an interesting Par 4 360 yard devil, with a water body ahead and another long strip of water between the fairway and the green, where the ideal play would be to lay up and smoothly cross the strip to get on the green for a decent score.
Senaka having kindly purloined a beautiful set of his father’s clubs (a complete set of forgiving Taylor made R7 Irons, an dreamboat of an Odyssey 2 Ball Putter, a couple of Oil Can finish Cleveland Wedges, a Ping Rapture Rescue, a Regular Flex Ping G 2 Driver with the additional choice of a wicked Nike SQ monster, I was completely spoiled for choice and it certainly would be very bad form to blame my scores on the tools given to me!)
I observed here that after holing out, it was a bit of a walk to the next tee, which went on to a longing 376 yard par 4 where the urge was to pull out the Big Dog, to complete, un-utterable, indubitable destruction!
The fourth hole of Water’s Edge is a lively Par 3 of some 214 yards – with the Wind in evidence that afternoon, some of us hauled off and trashed the ball with the Three wood but electing to play carefully, I preferred a four Iron, but only for a bogey unfortunately.
All sorts of dangers abounded on this course, not the least of which were the bulrushes abutting almost all the fairways – fuelled and fed by the abundance of water, these serve as superbly laid lurking traps for the wayward balls which most of us are guilty of clobbering.
Meandering along laughing, joking and generally having ourselves an afternoon of fun, I don’t think any of the four of us would willingly confess to the scores we racked up on our cards. Even our caddies were surreptitiously sworn to silence lest they unwittingly let the cats out of the bags!
There is really no signature hole as such on this course – it having been entirely designed by the firm of architects who were instrumental in building the main resort itself, but having said that, with the exception of the excessive criss-cross which could prove a bit of a walk, the course itself is scenically very beautiful and a near perfect setting for a leisurely round where time means nothing.
Moving up to the 8th hole, another Par 3 of 142 yards, we found ourselves faced with the usual water and rushes but didn’t do too badly with Bogey, considering…
The front nine ends quite close to the clubhouse, with a bit of a walk up from there to the actual terrace, where we sat for a while, sipping a soft drink and giving our caddies a drink too.
Then it was on to the second half of the course, wherein the 10th hole lies completely in a different direction and the whole back nine bears a completely different aspect to the front. For all of us it was completely unknown territory, since as mentioned before only 11 holes were first opened and the remaining 7 were opened for play only in April 2007. Consequently, all of us were playing that bit for the first time and making if I may say so, pretty much the same wrong judgements of club and distance.
The feel of the round was more like a familiarization exercise than anything else – however, this fact was more than compensated for, by the lovely setting in which we were.
Notable on the back nine is the 15th hole, a long and difficult par 5 which Senaka and Chanaka, made par on, the rest of us having fallen prey to the various hazards that infest that area.
Indeed, at one point Raju, even informed me sotto voce that a well known reptile research scientist had even released a few baby crocodiles into the water bodies on this course and this was done some time ago. Therefore, it may well be that one of our average wayward shots, might have been found if at all, reposing in the giant maw of a fully grown Saurian! (We didn’t however; see any such denizens and I can tell you quite categorically that this knowledge served to cure completely any urge that one might have had, to chase after mis-hit golf balls!)
By way of compensation for our lost balls and generally guffy golf was the lovely sight and photo op, of a pair of beautiful “Blue Coot”, water fowl, which were flapping about in one of the Water bodies along the Fairway. Apparently Water’s Edge is home to several varied species of birdlife, which will delight the nature and wildlife enthusiast. I’ve never seen this particular species before and they are really very pretty I may tell you.
The mantle of darkness was coming upon us as we were going over to the 17th which is a 193 yard Par 3, ideally met with a Three Wood if one is an accurate hitter or with a Number four if one wishes to control the ball better. At least this wasn’t a complete botch up!
The 18th and final hole is another long Par 4 of 441 yards – tough, because one has to again carry some water on one’s second shot, though the fairway is wide enough for a Driver off the Tee. With the fast failing light and the 18th green being lit up by the reflected lights of the clubhouse garden lamps, we finished a rather long round of over four and a half hours.
Meeting Mr. Billimoria, the amiable Pro, at the clubhouse, we were told a few home truths about this course – it would certainly not seem so daunting if one were to play percentage golf, carefully using one’s irons off the tees rather than horsing around with the Big Drivers etc. In hind sight (as with most other things in life), I realize that if one were to play humble as it were, one would be able to play to one’s handicap or even better it because though long and winding, the course per se is not really a monster!
Having said all this, I still do believe that it would be difficult to stage a tournament here, like for example the Sri Lankan Airlines Golf Classic, which has over 200 golfers on shotgun start on the course at any given time, because of the huge amount of criss-crossing that one has to contend with.
However, it would still prove to be an interesting and worthwhile challenge if they were to at least stage one of the practice rounds here, to show all those International Wolves that a healthy respect for Water bodies and the bulrushes at the Water’s Edge (Pun Intended), is absolutely necessary, for low scores!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
MidSummer Midlothian Golf Edinburgh Sep 7-07
Mid-summer Golf in the Mid-Lothians, Scotland.
Prestonfield Golf Club, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland, famed as the “Athens of the North” and the home, amongst many other things, to the Great Edinburgh Castle, Greyfriars Bobby, Mid-Lothian Single Malt Whiskies, the Holyrood Palace and interestingly, to the first ever officially formed Golf Club, the “ Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers”.
Prestonfield Golf Club (formerly known as Priestfield) is a little jewel of a club, located as it is a short taxi ride from the Edinburgh City Centre and the enticing temptations of Princes Street and the Royal Mile. Nestled in a nice hollow amongst lovely parkland it is bounded on one side by the breathtaking and towering presence of the volcanic “Arthur’s Seat” and on the other three sides by Holyrood Park, the grounds of Prestonfield House, Braid Burn and Peffermill Mansion. Painstakingly laid out over 6200 odd yards, this James Braid designed; Par 70 course offers lots of challenges for golfers of varying abilities, as I found out at first hand.
It seems that Priestfield was first recorded in a Royal Charter of 1153 but apparently the present day Mansion only dates back to 1687, when it was built by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in replacement to an earlier building destroyed by fire. The club itself was originally established in 1920 and the course was extended twice, in 1928 and again in 1933 when they acquired more land.
Somewhat coincidentally, earlier that day, my wife and I were on a guided tour of the City, visiting as we were on our Honeymoon and when we were driving around near Arthur’s Seat, Davy, our guide, pointed out various bird’s eye views of the meandering fairways and silver white bunkers of the Prestonfield Golf Club which of course I duly photographed. While the views were pleasing enough, they served only to whet my appetite for a round there in the latter half of the same day. After all, Honeymoon notwithstanding, Golfing in Scotland, the home of Golf, is the cherished dream of every Golfer and indeed I was more than happy to indulge that dream!
My wife having elected to give herself up to the spiritual pursuits of a “Whisky Tour” that afternoon, I trundled along to Prestonfield at about 1230 pm that Friday and introduced myself to Mr. John Archibald, the General Manager, who in turn connected me up with Russell McIntyre, the Pro. Russell was most helpful in kitting me out with a set of Muscle Back Cleveland Irons and a Ping G 2 Driver but I was faced with the prospect of going around the course as a Singleton till a couple of Members turned up for their tee time of 130pm.
I was lucky that both these gentlemen, Ken Craig and Robert Fletcher, very kindly invited me to join them and thus, we set off along the first fairway in a companionable manner, conversing, joking and generally enjoying ourselves!
I happily bogeyed the 277 yard Par 4, first hole, “Crag End” and the next, which is a short, 125 yard Par 3 called “Hunter’s Bog”. Robert, whose official handicap is 24 and who also, like me, was playing this course for the very first time, performed very creditably making par on both these, while Ken had a complete wild card, going off the fairway on the second, but getting back in there for a bogey!
The true challenge and character of this course lies partly in the Wind which can be rather treacherous, as I found out to my cost a couple of times. This is simply due to the fact that the course itself is set in a hollow or shallow valley which acts a bit like a Wind Tunnel, considering the higher ground all around it forming a perfect natural funnel for the wind to blow up and down!
Each hole at Prestonfield is interestingly and varyingly named from “Crag End”, through “Peffermill”, to “Little France” and “Arthur’s Seat”! It is a very quaint idea and ever so apt, given the setting which is simply gorgeous. Nature at her very best, a lovely nip in the air, warm sunshine and golf – no man can ask for more. The best thing is that the air is so pure and clean, I was trying to take deep breaths and fill my lungs to capacity with each breath.
The third, “Wells O’ Wearie” is a 528 yard Par 5, which doglegs sweepingly to the left and where I was extremely happy to make par, with Ken going down in a double and Robert for Bogey. It is very important to place your ball so as not to go OB on this hole and I suppose it was beginner’s luck with me!
Going on to the 6th, “Pentlands”, which is a Par 4, 352 yard journey, I managed a Bogey along with the others, holding my own I think! Not a very difficult hole, with a fairly wide fairway.
Ending the front nine is “Peffermill”, a Par 3, 140 yard beauty, which I simply botched up and bogeyed by under clubbing with a 9. I can’t imagine what possessed me to use a 9 when a 7 would have left me with enough margin for error. Ken, despite his local knowledge also ended up with the same score while Robert, our friendly bandit, made par yet again!
Unlike our typical weekend rounds in India, we did not stop after the 9th for a breather – also occasioned by the fact that the 9th is not a clubhouse green.
Going straight onto the back nine, I was surprised by the change in the lie of the land so to say – this course had more surprises in store for the unwary golfer! The forepart has the aspect of rolling parkland, gently undulating landscape with vistas of green as far as eye can see. Moving into the middle of the course, one is beset by large-ish, older and mature trees which can trap the over confident golfer!
Indeed I hit a wayward shot off the tee on the 12th (Little France) which is a nice par 4 of 400 yards and unfortunately hooked into some mid-sized bushes there. Hunting for the ball, peering under the shrubbery I observed that it had come to rest at the foot of a thick shrub. I didn’t feel like taking a stroke penalty and a drop so I chose to get down on my knees and get creative, playing the shot horizontally with the toe of my 7 iron to hit the ball back on the fairway and thus resume play!
The 14th which is aptly named “Dog Leg” is a pretty daunting 337 yard Par 4, which I can loosely compare to the 7th Hole at the Army Golf Course in Bangalore! If one is a bit of a Wolf, one would tee it up high and smash it with a three wood over the trees on the left hand side, to get a clear approach to the green – if I’d had access to my trusty V-Steel, I would probably have chanced it but as it happens, playing with relatively strange clubs and in the company of new partners, I chose to be humble and drive straight with a number four. Despite the cautious approach, I ended up with a double as did Robert. Only Ken made Par and I bow here to local knowledge. He played this hole brilliantly, perfectly placing his tee shot and his second and putting like a master!
The course takes on an undulating though open aspect around here, where the 16th heaves into view – Named “Arthur’s Seat” this is a lovely hole a 193 yard Par 3, which has a nice green closely guarded by bunkers. There are some great views to be had all around which compensated for my bogeying this hole while only Robert made par!
The 18th – a 328 yard par 4, somewhat prosaically if aptly named “Home” after all the other interestingly named holes is a lovely hole with a sweeping aspect from the tee, slightly curving through the left. Bounded by trees on the right side, the sensible shot to play is slightly to the right placing one’s self at the edge of the trees for the second approach shot avoiding the lurking menace of the bunkers guarding the green.
Here it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the brilliant play by Ken, who missed an Eagle but got a Birdie by simply thrashing the ball with a Driver off the tee, avoiding the bunkers and right onto the green! Unfortunately he two-putted to make a very respectable Birdie while Robert made Par and I bogeyed, thus ending the round!
Thanking Ken and Robert for a thoroughly enjoyable round I took my leave since I had an evening of unbridled Scottish Revelry to look forward to, complete with several “wee drams” of the “Water of Life”, of which, like Golf, I am very fond too!
Prestonfield Golf Club, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland, famed as the “Athens of the North” and the home, amongst many other things, to the Great Edinburgh Castle, Greyfriars Bobby, Mid-Lothian Single Malt Whiskies, the Holyrood Palace and interestingly, to the first ever officially formed Golf Club, the “ Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers”.
Prestonfield Golf Club (formerly known as Priestfield) is a little jewel of a club, located as it is a short taxi ride from the Edinburgh City Centre and the enticing temptations of Princes Street and the Royal Mile. Nestled in a nice hollow amongst lovely parkland it is bounded on one side by the breathtaking and towering presence of the volcanic “Arthur’s Seat” and on the other three sides by Holyrood Park, the grounds of Prestonfield House, Braid Burn and Peffermill Mansion. Painstakingly laid out over 6200 odd yards, this James Braid designed; Par 70 course offers lots of challenges for golfers of varying abilities, as I found out at first hand.
It seems that Priestfield was first recorded in a Royal Charter of 1153 but apparently the present day Mansion only dates back to 1687, when it was built by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in replacement to an earlier building destroyed by fire. The club itself was originally established in 1920 and the course was extended twice, in 1928 and again in 1933 when they acquired more land.
Somewhat coincidentally, earlier that day, my wife and I were on a guided tour of the City, visiting as we were on our Honeymoon and when we were driving around near Arthur’s Seat, Davy, our guide, pointed out various bird’s eye views of the meandering fairways and silver white bunkers of the Prestonfield Golf Club which of course I duly photographed. While the views were pleasing enough, they served only to whet my appetite for a round there in the latter half of the same day. After all, Honeymoon notwithstanding, Golfing in Scotland, the home of Golf, is the cherished dream of every Golfer and indeed I was more than happy to indulge that dream!
My wife having elected to give herself up to the spiritual pursuits of a “Whisky Tour” that afternoon, I trundled along to Prestonfield at about 1230 pm that Friday and introduced myself to Mr. John Archibald, the General Manager, who in turn connected me up with Russell McIntyre, the Pro. Russell was most helpful in kitting me out with a set of Muscle Back Cleveland Irons and a Ping G 2 Driver but I was faced with the prospect of going around the course as a Singleton till a couple of Members turned up for their tee time of 130pm.
I was lucky that both these gentlemen, Ken Craig and Robert Fletcher, very kindly invited me to join them and thus, we set off along the first fairway in a companionable manner, conversing, joking and generally enjoying ourselves!
I happily bogeyed the 277 yard Par 4, first hole, “Crag End” and the next, which is a short, 125 yard Par 3 called “Hunter’s Bog”. Robert, whose official handicap is 24 and who also, like me, was playing this course for the very first time, performed very creditably making par on both these, while Ken had a complete wild card, going off the fairway on the second, but getting back in there for a bogey!
The true challenge and character of this course lies partly in the Wind which can be rather treacherous, as I found out to my cost a couple of times. This is simply due to the fact that the course itself is set in a hollow or shallow valley which acts a bit like a Wind Tunnel, considering the higher ground all around it forming a perfect natural funnel for the wind to blow up and down!
Each hole at Prestonfield is interestingly and varyingly named from “Crag End”, through “Peffermill”, to “Little France” and “Arthur’s Seat”! It is a very quaint idea and ever so apt, given the setting which is simply gorgeous. Nature at her very best, a lovely nip in the air, warm sunshine and golf – no man can ask for more. The best thing is that the air is so pure and clean, I was trying to take deep breaths and fill my lungs to capacity with each breath.
The third, “Wells O’ Wearie” is a 528 yard Par 5, which doglegs sweepingly to the left and where I was extremely happy to make par, with Ken going down in a double and Robert for Bogey. It is very important to place your ball so as not to go OB on this hole and I suppose it was beginner’s luck with me!
Going on to the 6th, “Pentlands”, which is a Par 4, 352 yard journey, I managed a Bogey along with the others, holding my own I think! Not a very difficult hole, with a fairly wide fairway.
Ending the front nine is “Peffermill”, a Par 3, 140 yard beauty, which I simply botched up and bogeyed by under clubbing with a 9. I can’t imagine what possessed me to use a 9 when a 7 would have left me with enough margin for error. Ken, despite his local knowledge also ended up with the same score while Robert, our friendly bandit, made par yet again!
Unlike our typical weekend rounds in India, we did not stop after the 9th for a breather – also occasioned by the fact that the 9th is not a clubhouse green.
Going straight onto the back nine, I was surprised by the change in the lie of the land so to say – this course had more surprises in store for the unwary golfer! The forepart has the aspect of rolling parkland, gently undulating landscape with vistas of green as far as eye can see. Moving into the middle of the course, one is beset by large-ish, older and mature trees which can trap the over confident golfer!
Indeed I hit a wayward shot off the tee on the 12th (Little France) which is a nice par 4 of 400 yards and unfortunately hooked into some mid-sized bushes there. Hunting for the ball, peering under the shrubbery I observed that it had come to rest at the foot of a thick shrub. I didn’t feel like taking a stroke penalty and a drop so I chose to get down on my knees and get creative, playing the shot horizontally with the toe of my 7 iron to hit the ball back on the fairway and thus resume play!
The 14th which is aptly named “Dog Leg” is a pretty daunting 337 yard Par 4, which I can loosely compare to the 7th Hole at the Army Golf Course in Bangalore! If one is a bit of a Wolf, one would tee it up high and smash it with a three wood over the trees on the left hand side, to get a clear approach to the green – if I’d had access to my trusty V-Steel, I would probably have chanced it but as it happens, playing with relatively strange clubs and in the company of new partners, I chose to be humble and drive straight with a number four. Despite the cautious approach, I ended up with a double as did Robert. Only Ken made Par and I bow here to local knowledge. He played this hole brilliantly, perfectly placing his tee shot and his second and putting like a master!
The course takes on an undulating though open aspect around here, where the 16th heaves into view – Named “Arthur’s Seat” this is a lovely hole a 193 yard Par 3, which has a nice green closely guarded by bunkers. There are some great views to be had all around which compensated for my bogeying this hole while only Robert made par!
The 18th – a 328 yard par 4, somewhat prosaically if aptly named “Home” after all the other interestingly named holes is a lovely hole with a sweeping aspect from the tee, slightly curving through the left. Bounded by trees on the right side, the sensible shot to play is slightly to the right placing one’s self at the edge of the trees for the second approach shot avoiding the lurking menace of the bunkers guarding the green.
Here it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the brilliant play by Ken, who missed an Eagle but got a Birdie by simply thrashing the ball with a Driver off the tee, avoiding the bunkers and right onto the green! Unfortunately he two-putted to make a very respectable Birdie while Robert made Par and I bogeyed, thus ending the round!
Thanking Ken and Robert for a thoroughly enjoyable round I took my leave since I had an evening of unbridled Scottish Revelry to look forward to, complete with several “wee drams” of the “Water of Life”, of which, like Golf, I am very fond too!
Finchley Golf Club, London Sep 3rd 07
Finchley Golf Club – Suburban Heaven.
The chill, bright morning of 3rd September dawned, the third day of our Honeymoon Holiday in the UK.
Donning my kit, I bid a hasty though fond farewell to my dear wife. (Choosing a round of Golf over the dubious prospect of half a day’s meandering around mouldy museums, was for me a foregone conclusion.) Leaping jauntily into the Tube, I meandered from Paddington to Finchley Central, in the North West of London, to meet David Brown, the estimable and amiable Pro at Finchley Golf Club.
Arriving at 730 am, after about an hour’s silent subterranean communion with my fellow commuters (I now know how a mole or a miner probably feels!), I found rather to my chagrin that there were no obliging local cabbies around to take me to Frith Lane, the lovely wooded parkland area in which the club is located. David was most kind when I called him and very obligingly drove over to pick me up.
Kitting me out with a nice set of Ping Eye 2 Irons, a G2 Driver and a Course Planner booklet was the work of a moment and we turned to the next job of finding me a partner. Luckily Sydney Levy, one of the members drove up just then and I was able to join him and the members of his regular company to make up the fourth.
We decided to play partners with the stakes for the round being a Golf Ball each to the winning twosome. Tossing our Golf Balls, it panned out that Sydney Levy and Leon Smith would be partners and that I would partner Derick Petter. It was rather enjoyable to be a part of the easy camaraderie of these three gentlemen of middle years, all of whom are sportsmen in the best traditions of the game of golf! Walking down to the first tee, I was seized with the familiar addictive feeling of playing hooky from school, on a Monday morning, running off as it were, to play Golf!
Located in Frith lane since 1930, Finchley is a challenging par 72 course, designed by the great James Braid and laid out over some 6000 odd yards in beautiful, rolling landscape once belonging to a Victorian stately home, now converted into Finchley’s well appointed clubhouse. It is a picturesque course and being bounded by great trees and numerous shrubs, quite easily gives one the illusion of being deep in the countryside whilst actually being located in the middle of a great city.
The beauties of Nature bathed in the morning sun were apparent all around us and adding to our enjoyment was that ever-so-slight nip in the air – crystal clear atmosphere, birds chirping, the fragrance of freshly mown grass and all the other intangibles that go to make up a truly wonderful morning golf experience.
The first hole is an interesting Par 4 of 282 yards – a pretty straight approach with no lurking dangers so we had a net five, losing to our opponents.
I hadn’t frankly had time to refer to the course planner and was quite literally flying blind as it were, but I am of the firm belief that those of us who play golf for the camaraderie, fun and exercise enjoy ourselves much better when we judge the lie of the land for ourselves, without relying on the more modern aids. Of course, it is not so often that one gets a “second chance” as it were and this fact is nowhere more evident than on the golf course where one must try and make each shot count, but having said that, I enjoyed myself so much on the course, that the scores didn’t really matter very much!
The 126 yard par 3 third hole is a sheer joy to play, thramming the ball with a Pitching Wedge to land on the edge of the green for a chip, a putt and a par. Very satisfying indeed!
The beauties of James Braid’s design became more and more apparent when we saw that not one fairway criss-crossed with any other, the whole course being laid out in a clear forward progression with each tee and fairway being set away from the previous one.
I must pause here to compliment the quality of maintenance of the fairways and greens. Having played most of my golf in India, it genuinely was a pleasure to play through the “roughs” at Finchley whenever it was occasioned by a mis-hit, because apart from the lurking dangers of some few Gorse bushes here and there, the roughs are certainly so much more civilized than the ones I am used to!
Worthy of mention is the quality of the green-keeping – while the pin positions were quite straightforward, the greens are very lively indeed, with all sorts of hidden dangers from sudden slopes, different breaks and extremely slick surfaces!
The 7th hole, a pretty testing Par 3, 198 yard hole, was well tried with a 4 Iron for accuracy and coming down in four, I didn’t feel too bad, because I was pleased with the way I had judged the tee shot and then approach wedged the second onto the green.
Finishing the front nine are the longest hole, the par 5, 505 yard, 8th where I am pleased to have had a bogey and an equally daunting 470 yard par 5, 9th where we went down for par!
Moving on to the back nine, I must mention the 12th Hole in particular, as this is considered to be the real signature hole of the Finchley Course. A wicked 152 yard Par 3, with terrifying Pines and Conifers bounding the right side of your approach will surely cause any but the toughest minds to quail!
However, the terror of this hole is amply compensated when you walk up to the steeply sloping green and behold the imposing view of the Club house behind it! My partner Derick and I made a 4 on this, which we promptly forgave ourselves for!
I had been warned that the fairways were narrow and one might get a bit tangled up in the tall trees which abounded, but to my mind, the fairways seemed much wider than those at our Bangalore Golf Club!
Throughout the round, my three playing partners kept each other and me regaled with much good natured ribbing. I was witness, at regular intervals to their strange battle cry of “hot cheese” whenever one of their esteemed number landed in one of the numerous bunkers around!
The 122 yard Par 3 15th hole is also a joy to play off with an 8 iron to get one sufficient distance coupled with the necessary loft.
The course has its ups and downs, with rolling fairways and some decent climbs, but all in all, it is a relatively “user friendly” course, which doesn’t tax one too much in the physical sense.
Of course those of us who play regularly in India and Asia, need to get used to the fact that there are no caddies and so on, but truth be told, pulling one’s own trolley along, judging one’s own distances, choosing one’s own clubs and figuring out one’s own putting line are very good things, since one learns immense self reliance and at the same time, begins to appreciate the little things which one takes for granted here at home in India!
Finishing the 17th, another Par 5 of 442 yards in 6, we meandered along to the 18th and final hole of the day, a deceptive Par 4 of 412 yards. You are required to place your shot well to the left, in order to guarantee reasonable success being on the clubhouse green in two. While the green is a decent sized one it is not always true that “the bigger the target the easier it is to hit”, as I found out to my cost. Going down in 5 we bogeyed our last hole that day to lose a Golf Ball each to our opponents!
In the best spirits of sportsmanship the four of us repaired to the 19th and had ourselves a couple of tall glasses of tissue restorative tonic each prior to exchanging email id’s and parting ways. A fitting finale indeed, to a good round of golf and for me a highly enjoyable experience!
I will wholeheartedly endorse Finchley’s claim to being one of the friendliest clubs in North London – they certainly are very welcoming and make a visitor feel completely at home there!
The chill, bright morning of 3rd September dawned, the third day of our Honeymoon Holiday in the UK.
Donning my kit, I bid a hasty though fond farewell to my dear wife. (Choosing a round of Golf over the dubious prospect of half a day’s meandering around mouldy museums, was for me a foregone conclusion.) Leaping jauntily into the Tube, I meandered from Paddington to Finchley Central, in the North West of London, to meet David Brown, the estimable and amiable Pro at Finchley Golf Club.
Arriving at 730 am, after about an hour’s silent subterranean communion with my fellow commuters (I now know how a mole or a miner probably feels!), I found rather to my chagrin that there were no obliging local cabbies around to take me to Frith Lane, the lovely wooded parkland area in which the club is located. David was most kind when I called him and very obligingly drove over to pick me up.
Kitting me out with a nice set of Ping Eye 2 Irons, a G2 Driver and a Course Planner booklet was the work of a moment and we turned to the next job of finding me a partner. Luckily Sydney Levy, one of the members drove up just then and I was able to join him and the members of his regular company to make up the fourth.
We decided to play partners with the stakes for the round being a Golf Ball each to the winning twosome. Tossing our Golf Balls, it panned out that Sydney Levy and Leon Smith would be partners and that I would partner Derick Petter. It was rather enjoyable to be a part of the easy camaraderie of these three gentlemen of middle years, all of whom are sportsmen in the best traditions of the game of golf! Walking down to the first tee, I was seized with the familiar addictive feeling of playing hooky from school, on a Monday morning, running off as it were, to play Golf!
Located in Frith lane since 1930, Finchley is a challenging par 72 course, designed by the great James Braid and laid out over some 6000 odd yards in beautiful, rolling landscape once belonging to a Victorian stately home, now converted into Finchley’s well appointed clubhouse. It is a picturesque course and being bounded by great trees and numerous shrubs, quite easily gives one the illusion of being deep in the countryside whilst actually being located in the middle of a great city.
The beauties of Nature bathed in the morning sun were apparent all around us and adding to our enjoyment was that ever-so-slight nip in the air – crystal clear atmosphere, birds chirping, the fragrance of freshly mown grass and all the other intangibles that go to make up a truly wonderful morning golf experience.
The first hole is an interesting Par 4 of 282 yards – a pretty straight approach with no lurking dangers so we had a net five, losing to our opponents.
I hadn’t frankly had time to refer to the course planner and was quite literally flying blind as it were, but I am of the firm belief that those of us who play golf for the camaraderie, fun and exercise enjoy ourselves much better when we judge the lie of the land for ourselves, without relying on the more modern aids. Of course, it is not so often that one gets a “second chance” as it were and this fact is nowhere more evident than on the golf course where one must try and make each shot count, but having said that, I enjoyed myself so much on the course, that the scores didn’t really matter very much!
The 126 yard par 3 third hole is a sheer joy to play, thramming the ball with a Pitching Wedge to land on the edge of the green for a chip, a putt and a par. Very satisfying indeed!
The beauties of James Braid’s design became more and more apparent when we saw that not one fairway criss-crossed with any other, the whole course being laid out in a clear forward progression with each tee and fairway being set away from the previous one.
I must pause here to compliment the quality of maintenance of the fairways and greens. Having played most of my golf in India, it genuinely was a pleasure to play through the “roughs” at Finchley whenever it was occasioned by a mis-hit, because apart from the lurking dangers of some few Gorse bushes here and there, the roughs are certainly so much more civilized than the ones I am used to!
Worthy of mention is the quality of the green-keeping – while the pin positions were quite straightforward, the greens are very lively indeed, with all sorts of hidden dangers from sudden slopes, different breaks and extremely slick surfaces!
The 7th hole, a pretty testing Par 3, 198 yard hole, was well tried with a 4 Iron for accuracy and coming down in four, I didn’t feel too bad, because I was pleased with the way I had judged the tee shot and then approach wedged the second onto the green.
Finishing the front nine are the longest hole, the par 5, 505 yard, 8th where I am pleased to have had a bogey and an equally daunting 470 yard par 5, 9th where we went down for par!
Moving on to the back nine, I must mention the 12th Hole in particular, as this is considered to be the real signature hole of the Finchley Course. A wicked 152 yard Par 3, with terrifying Pines and Conifers bounding the right side of your approach will surely cause any but the toughest minds to quail!
However, the terror of this hole is amply compensated when you walk up to the steeply sloping green and behold the imposing view of the Club house behind it! My partner Derick and I made a 4 on this, which we promptly forgave ourselves for!
I had been warned that the fairways were narrow and one might get a bit tangled up in the tall trees which abounded, but to my mind, the fairways seemed much wider than those at our Bangalore Golf Club!
Throughout the round, my three playing partners kept each other and me regaled with much good natured ribbing. I was witness, at regular intervals to their strange battle cry of “hot cheese” whenever one of their esteemed number landed in one of the numerous bunkers around!
The 122 yard Par 3 15th hole is also a joy to play off with an 8 iron to get one sufficient distance coupled with the necessary loft.
The course has its ups and downs, with rolling fairways and some decent climbs, but all in all, it is a relatively “user friendly” course, which doesn’t tax one too much in the physical sense.
Of course those of us who play regularly in India and Asia, need to get used to the fact that there are no caddies and so on, but truth be told, pulling one’s own trolley along, judging one’s own distances, choosing one’s own clubs and figuring out one’s own putting line are very good things, since one learns immense self reliance and at the same time, begins to appreciate the little things which one takes for granted here at home in India!
Finishing the 17th, another Par 5 of 442 yards in 6, we meandered along to the 18th and final hole of the day, a deceptive Par 4 of 412 yards. You are required to place your shot well to the left, in order to guarantee reasonable success being on the clubhouse green in two. While the green is a decent sized one it is not always true that “the bigger the target the easier it is to hit”, as I found out to my cost. Going down in 5 we bogeyed our last hole that day to lose a Golf Ball each to our opponents!
In the best spirits of sportsmanship the four of us repaired to the 19th and had ourselves a couple of tall glasses of tissue restorative tonic each prior to exchanging email id’s and parting ways. A fitting finale indeed, to a good round of golf and for me a highly enjoyable experience!
I will wholeheartedly endorse Finchley’s claim to being one of the friendliest clubs in North London – they certainly are very welcoming and make a visitor feel completely at home there!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Golf at Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire, UK.
Golf at Heythrop Park – Enstone, Oxfordshire, England.
Driving through the beautiful mid-summer countryside of England, I was struck by the similarity to details gleaned from years of reading Dick Francis, P. G. Wodehouse, James Herriot and of course innumerable movies and so on.
From the depths of “Horse Country” – Cheltenham town and a number of quaint little market towns like Stow-on-the-wold, Chipping Norton, Bourton-on-the-water and the like, we drove through the lovely “A” Roads, completely deserted except for the occasional Land Rover, complete with attached horse-box, to get to Heythrop Park, an Historic Country Manor located in Enstone, Oxfordshire.
Heythrop is a magnificent pile, commissioned by the then Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot in the early eighteenth century and built lovingly by architect Thomas Archer, incorporating all the beautiful Roman influences much loved by Charles Talbot. Owing to certain financial setbacks the estate was leased (according to the fact sheet) to the Duke of Beaufort, who apparently used, for light recreation, to bring his thoroughbred hunters and pedigreed hounds from Badminton in not-so-far-away Gloucestershire, to chivvy the red and bushy tailed British fox in what is today Heythrop Hunt country.
The Manor House hove into view at the end of a 3 or 4 km long wooded driveway, where we saw a few rabbits and hares darting across the road and stopping suddenly, mesmerized by our powerful headlights. The facilities which are today run by a commercial venture and primarily used for large weddings, conferences and so on, include amongst other things, a nice 9 hole golf course located within the rolling, undulating parkland, dotted with fine English Yew and Oak trees, with occasional views of the surrounding hills, woods and pretty stone crofters cottages and stables.
Replete with and fortified suitably by a rather hearty full English breakfast – scads of scrambled eggs, toast, butter, cheese, legions of sausages and nice crisp bacon washed down with approximately a gallon or two of coffee, I decided to try and get a round of golf before wending our way towards the afternoon horse races at Windsor, our next stop. (My old pal Tarun and I had rather over indulged ourselves on the fine malts the previous night, having been rather overcome by the experience of fine living and playing at being Lord of the Manor!).
The first fairway rolls out from the main front gate of the Manor House while the Golf Club and Pro Shop are located in one of the Wings of the main building. I waddled (quite literally) off to the clubhouse, collected a half set of assorted irons, woods and a middling putter and wandered off to the first tee in search of a playing partner or two. I chanced upon two friendly members, Alan Betts and his son Ben, both of whom were just warming up. They welcomed me to join them and we set off in a companionable manner along the wide first fairway. On my third shot (since I had tangled myself up unwittingly in some shrubbery), I pulled out my 7 Iron to roll the little white sphere back onto the fairway – only to find, to my chagrin, that the 7 Iron in my half set, was a child’s golf club! (Serves me right for not checking the bag first and anyway trying to play golf nursing a sore head!).
Meandering along the undulating fairways, I was (in between shots) enjoying the hilly scenery around me – breathing in the clean country air and simply revelling in the atmosphere (taking time out as it were, to smell the flowers.) The UK in Summertime was so powerfully evocative of dear old Ooty and the surrounding Nilgiri Hills, where I grew up, right down to the assorted flora and even in some cases fauna, not to mention the surrounding grassland, which is ablaze with summer flowers, that I felt completely at home!
Well, at the end of the round, walking along the path back to the Clubhouse from the 9th green, I found to the surprise of Alan and Ben, that I had racked up a reasonable score that morning, shooting 39, at 3 over par for nine holes. (It must be true that Dame Fortune favours the brave in collusion with the God Dionysus, because to be completely honest, I simply hauled off and let fly at every tee with whatever suitable club came to hand except, of course, that fore-shortened number 7!).
Heythrop is quite centrally located in that it serves as the Gateway to the Cotswold Hills and within very comfortable driving access to places of interest like Stratford-Upon-Avon (William Shakespeare’s birthplace), Henley-on- Thames (where the great annual Oxford and Cambridge Regatta is held), Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill), the historic medieval town of Warwick, the University Town of Oxford (the city of dreaming spires), Silverstone Racetrack (for Motor sport enthusiasts) and again, not very far away, is the Town of Windsor famous for the Castle and its historic racecourse (for those aficionados preferring the Sport of Kings - horse racing, to noisy and smelly cars!).
My suggestion is that it is well worth trying out if you intend a holiday or even a weekend, in that part of the world. You are more than likely to find some rather excellent and surprisingly inexpensive deals going, via the Internet – and I can personally vouch for the fact that the sheer beauty of the Main Building, the scenery around, the bar’s selection of wines and spirits, the breakfast, AND the Golf, will make it worth your while!
Driving through the beautiful mid-summer countryside of England, I was struck by the similarity to details gleaned from years of reading Dick Francis, P. G. Wodehouse, James Herriot and of course innumerable movies and so on.
From the depths of “Horse Country” – Cheltenham town and a number of quaint little market towns like Stow-on-the-wold, Chipping Norton, Bourton-on-the-water and the like, we drove through the lovely “A” Roads, completely deserted except for the occasional Land Rover, complete with attached horse-box, to get to Heythrop Park, an Historic Country Manor located in Enstone, Oxfordshire.
Heythrop is a magnificent pile, commissioned by the then Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot in the early eighteenth century and built lovingly by architect Thomas Archer, incorporating all the beautiful Roman influences much loved by Charles Talbot. Owing to certain financial setbacks the estate was leased (according to the fact sheet) to the Duke of Beaufort, who apparently used, for light recreation, to bring his thoroughbred hunters and pedigreed hounds from Badminton in not-so-far-away Gloucestershire, to chivvy the red and bushy tailed British fox in what is today Heythrop Hunt country.
The Manor House hove into view at the end of a 3 or 4 km long wooded driveway, where we saw a few rabbits and hares darting across the road and stopping suddenly, mesmerized by our powerful headlights. The facilities which are today run by a commercial venture and primarily used for large weddings, conferences and so on, include amongst other things, a nice 9 hole golf course located within the rolling, undulating parkland, dotted with fine English Yew and Oak trees, with occasional views of the surrounding hills, woods and pretty stone crofters cottages and stables.
Replete with and fortified suitably by a rather hearty full English breakfast – scads of scrambled eggs, toast, butter, cheese, legions of sausages and nice crisp bacon washed down with approximately a gallon or two of coffee, I decided to try and get a round of golf before wending our way towards the afternoon horse races at Windsor, our next stop. (My old pal Tarun and I had rather over indulged ourselves on the fine malts the previous night, having been rather overcome by the experience of fine living and playing at being Lord of the Manor!).
The first fairway rolls out from the main front gate of the Manor House while the Golf Club and Pro Shop are located in one of the Wings of the main building. I waddled (quite literally) off to the clubhouse, collected a half set of assorted irons, woods and a middling putter and wandered off to the first tee in search of a playing partner or two. I chanced upon two friendly members, Alan Betts and his son Ben, both of whom were just warming up. They welcomed me to join them and we set off in a companionable manner along the wide first fairway. On my third shot (since I had tangled myself up unwittingly in some shrubbery), I pulled out my 7 Iron to roll the little white sphere back onto the fairway – only to find, to my chagrin, that the 7 Iron in my half set, was a child’s golf club! (Serves me right for not checking the bag first and anyway trying to play golf nursing a sore head!).
Meandering along the undulating fairways, I was (in between shots) enjoying the hilly scenery around me – breathing in the clean country air and simply revelling in the atmosphere (taking time out as it were, to smell the flowers.) The UK in Summertime was so powerfully evocative of dear old Ooty and the surrounding Nilgiri Hills, where I grew up, right down to the assorted flora and even in some cases fauna, not to mention the surrounding grassland, which is ablaze with summer flowers, that I felt completely at home!
Well, at the end of the round, walking along the path back to the Clubhouse from the 9th green, I found to the surprise of Alan and Ben, that I had racked up a reasonable score that morning, shooting 39, at 3 over par for nine holes. (It must be true that Dame Fortune favours the brave in collusion with the God Dionysus, because to be completely honest, I simply hauled off and let fly at every tee with whatever suitable club came to hand except, of course, that fore-shortened number 7!).
Heythrop is quite centrally located in that it serves as the Gateway to the Cotswold Hills and within very comfortable driving access to places of interest like Stratford-Upon-Avon (William Shakespeare’s birthplace), Henley-on- Thames (where the great annual Oxford and Cambridge Regatta is held), Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill), the historic medieval town of Warwick, the University Town of Oxford (the city of dreaming spires), Silverstone Racetrack (for Motor sport enthusiasts) and again, not very far away, is the Town of Windsor famous for the Castle and its historic racecourse (for those aficionados preferring the Sport of Kings - horse racing, to noisy and smelly cars!).
My suggestion is that it is well worth trying out if you intend a holiday or even a weekend, in that part of the world. You are more than likely to find some rather excellent and surprisingly inexpensive deals going, via the Internet – and I can personally vouch for the fact that the sheer beauty of the Main Building, the scenery around, the bar’s selection of wines and spirits, the breakfast, AND the Golf, will make it worth your while!
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Kundale Golf Club
Golfing in Munnar – The Kundale Golf Club.
Probably the last preserve or bastion of the British Raj in India, an absolute jewel of a place located a matter of 9 hours easy drive from Bangalore, the lovely scenery of Munnar district certainly qualifies it to be considered as a fore-runner for the title of the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of God’s Own Country!
A sense of déjà vu for me, since as a child, I was privileged to grow up amongst these lush tea plantations spread all around like a lovely green carpet, nestling amongst mist wrapped hills with a constant drizzly rain falling down and seemingly impermeable tropical rain forest everywhere with the superbly refreshing fragrance of tea wafting up from the numerous tea factories…I could go on and on.
We were visiting some friends, a tea planter and his family and understandably, I was more than happy to join him in a round of golf while there, at the Planter’s Private Preserve - The Kundale Club! The club is located a little off the beaten track and quite close to the highest point in Munnar, aptly named Top Station. On the drive there, one passes the lovely Madupatty dam and reservoir which once, (not so long ago), used to be quiet and pristine, but whose placid waters are now torn asunder with the wakes of high speed boats, not to mention the roar of their high revving engines.
Luckily, the Kundale Club cannot be accessed by the general public and one can only go there along with a member at his express invitation – so while I may not quite agree to being a complete elitist, I most certainly am rather pleased that at least this lovely place is still free from the evil depredations of the cohorts of uncaring, noisy, litter-bug tourist types whose ubiquitous and raucous presence almost everywhere else worth visiting, is a guaranteed irritant to normal civilized human beings.
The Golf course is beautiful– a nice nine hole course carved from the contours of a natural valley, bounded all around by hills with some steep climbs, where one plays the front nine beginning off the first tee, above and behind the clubhouse. As with most of the golf courses of this type, one needs definitely to be reasonably fit in order to labour up the bridle paths to each tee box and then muster sufficient energy to clobber the ball with reasonable force and of course, reasonable accuracy as well!
There are no serious water hazards and sand traps as one may encounter on the new fangled manicured golf courses of the cities, but playing on such a course is an absolutely charming experience in itself and well worth it, I may add.
Don’t be lulled by the sheer beauty of the place into a false sense of security though, because there are other, somewhat wicked hazards – notably the ditches that run criss cross around the fairways, a couple of streams bridged by rickety old timbers and last but not least, a proliferation of God’s rather unpleasant creatures, namely leeches of different shapes and sizes, including a vicious sub species - the dreaded tiger leeches (as if the normal ones weren’t enough for the unsuspecting golfer to contend with!
You can see these little monsters in the monsoon rearing their blood sucking heads up as you pass, almost sniffing the air like trained bloodhounds. They lurk in large gangs in the wet grass and on the tee boxes. They are silent and deadly because if they attach themselves to one, (even through one’s thick golf socks and by finding gaps in one’s shoes), one will never realize till one comes back to the clubhouse and sees them sticking to one’s person, feasting as it were!
The most effective antidotes to these so to say are common salt and of course tobacco – so here is one of the few times where being a smoker has its advantages (at least in the defence of one’s person against the full fledged offensive mounted by legions of leeches)
There are some interesting local rules - while playing the front nine, one can shoot to the road which passes through the fairway and still be within one’s rights, but while playing the back nine round (off different tees) of course, the self same road is completely out of bounds! Can be tough-ish for the first timer I assure you!
On the brighter side, the course is bounded all around by lush shola or forest to the uninitiated, where during one’s leisurely afternoon round, one can quite comfortably bump into a bison, quite possibly a pack of wild dogs and if one is really lucky, catch a glimpse of that beautiful big cat, the panther.
The Kundale Golf Course is one of the lovely natural golf courses of India – built by the British Tea Planters in their sporting tradition. It is today an inheritance, which we simply must preserve as part of our heritage.
The lovely old clubhouse is a typical bungalow style building, with sloping tiled roofs to enable the constant rain to run off and its long verandah dotted with easy chairs offering a pristine view of the golf course.
There is a quaint little bar inside (well stocked, I may add), where one simply helps one’s self and writes down in a register what one has imbibed (albeit in large quantities) – a truly gentlemanly and decent system, which is entirely dependent on one’s innate sense of honesty and personal honour. I shudder to think of the consequences that may arise if such a system were transplanted into some of our new fangled clubs though!
Well worth mentioning here is the fact that despite the advance of modernity everywhere else, this club is still not on the telephone and is staffed solely by an elderly and soft spoken major domo, who is quite possibly the last remnant of a dying breed of club staff.
In conclusion, I would suggest that you pull out that old diary of yours, search most diligently in it till you locate some old acquaintance or friend who has some kind of live connection with Munnar and see this jewel of a place for yourself. I will wager a substantial sum that you will not be disappointed!
Probably the last preserve or bastion of the British Raj in India, an absolute jewel of a place located a matter of 9 hours easy drive from Bangalore, the lovely scenery of Munnar district certainly qualifies it to be considered as a fore-runner for the title of the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of God’s Own Country!
A sense of déjà vu for me, since as a child, I was privileged to grow up amongst these lush tea plantations spread all around like a lovely green carpet, nestling amongst mist wrapped hills with a constant drizzly rain falling down and seemingly impermeable tropical rain forest everywhere with the superbly refreshing fragrance of tea wafting up from the numerous tea factories…I could go on and on.
We were visiting some friends, a tea planter and his family and understandably, I was more than happy to join him in a round of golf while there, at the Planter’s Private Preserve - The Kundale Club! The club is located a little off the beaten track and quite close to the highest point in Munnar, aptly named Top Station. On the drive there, one passes the lovely Madupatty dam and reservoir which once, (not so long ago), used to be quiet and pristine, but whose placid waters are now torn asunder with the wakes of high speed boats, not to mention the roar of their high revving engines.
Luckily, the Kundale Club cannot be accessed by the general public and one can only go there along with a member at his express invitation – so while I may not quite agree to being a complete elitist, I most certainly am rather pleased that at least this lovely place is still free from the evil depredations of the cohorts of uncaring, noisy, litter-bug tourist types whose ubiquitous and raucous presence almost everywhere else worth visiting, is a guaranteed irritant to normal civilized human beings.
The Golf course is beautiful– a nice nine hole course carved from the contours of a natural valley, bounded all around by hills with some steep climbs, where one plays the front nine beginning off the first tee, above and behind the clubhouse. As with most of the golf courses of this type, one needs definitely to be reasonably fit in order to labour up the bridle paths to each tee box and then muster sufficient energy to clobber the ball with reasonable force and of course, reasonable accuracy as well!
There are no serious water hazards and sand traps as one may encounter on the new fangled manicured golf courses of the cities, but playing on such a course is an absolutely charming experience in itself and well worth it, I may add.
Don’t be lulled by the sheer beauty of the place into a false sense of security though, because there are other, somewhat wicked hazards – notably the ditches that run criss cross around the fairways, a couple of streams bridged by rickety old timbers and last but not least, a proliferation of God’s rather unpleasant creatures, namely leeches of different shapes and sizes, including a vicious sub species - the dreaded tiger leeches (as if the normal ones weren’t enough for the unsuspecting golfer to contend with!
You can see these little monsters in the monsoon rearing their blood sucking heads up as you pass, almost sniffing the air like trained bloodhounds. They lurk in large gangs in the wet grass and on the tee boxes. They are silent and deadly because if they attach themselves to one, (even through one’s thick golf socks and by finding gaps in one’s shoes), one will never realize till one comes back to the clubhouse and sees them sticking to one’s person, feasting as it were!
The most effective antidotes to these so to say are common salt and of course tobacco – so here is one of the few times where being a smoker has its advantages (at least in the defence of one’s person against the full fledged offensive mounted by legions of leeches)
There are some interesting local rules - while playing the front nine, one can shoot to the road which passes through the fairway and still be within one’s rights, but while playing the back nine round (off different tees) of course, the self same road is completely out of bounds! Can be tough-ish for the first timer I assure you!
On the brighter side, the course is bounded all around by lush shola or forest to the uninitiated, where during one’s leisurely afternoon round, one can quite comfortably bump into a bison, quite possibly a pack of wild dogs and if one is really lucky, catch a glimpse of that beautiful big cat, the panther.
The Kundale Golf Course is one of the lovely natural golf courses of India – built by the British Tea Planters in their sporting tradition. It is today an inheritance, which we simply must preserve as part of our heritage.
The lovely old clubhouse is a typical bungalow style building, with sloping tiled roofs to enable the constant rain to run off and its long verandah dotted with easy chairs offering a pristine view of the golf course.
There is a quaint little bar inside (well stocked, I may add), where one simply helps one’s self and writes down in a register what one has imbibed (albeit in large quantities) – a truly gentlemanly and decent system, which is entirely dependent on one’s innate sense of honesty and personal honour. I shudder to think of the consequences that may arise if such a system were transplanted into some of our new fangled clubs though!
Well worth mentioning here is the fact that despite the advance of modernity everywhere else, this club is still not on the telephone and is staffed solely by an elderly and soft spoken major domo, who is quite possibly the last remnant of a dying breed of club staff.
In conclusion, I would suggest that you pull out that old diary of yours, search most diligently in it till you locate some old acquaintance or friend who has some kind of live connection with Munnar and see this jewel of a place for yourself. I will wager a substantial sum that you will not be disappointed!
The Kundale Golf Club
Golfing in Munnar – The Kundale Golf Club.
Probably the last preserve or bastion of the British Raj in India, an absolute jewel of a place located a matter of 9 hours easy drive from Bangalore, the lovely scenery of Munnar district certainly qualifies it to be considered as a fore-runner for the title of the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of God’s Own Country!
A sense of déjà vu for me, since as a child, I was privileged to grow up amongst these lush tea plantations spread all around like a lovely green carpet, nestling amongst mist wrapped hills with a constant drizzly rain falling down and seemingly impermeable tropical rain forest everywhere with the superbly refreshing fragrance of tea wafting up from the numerous tea factories…I could go on and on.
We were visiting some friends, a tea planter and his family and understandably, I was more than happy to join him in a round of golf while there, at the Planter’s Private Preserve - The Kundale Club! The club is located a little off the beaten track and quite close to the highest point in Munnar, aptly named Top Station. On the drive there, one passes the lovely Madupatty dam and reservoir which once, (not so long ago), used to be quiet and pristine, but whose placid waters are now torn asunder with the wakes of high speed boats, not to mention the roar of their high revving engines.
Luckily, the Kundale Club cannot be accessed by the general public and one can only go there along with a member at his express invitation – so while I may not quite agree to being a complete elitist, I most certainly am rather pleased that at least this lovely place is still free from the evil depredations of the cohorts of uncaring, noisy, litter-bug tourist types whose ubiquitous and raucous presence almost everywhere else worth visiting, is a guaranteed irritant to normal civilized human beings.
The Golf course is beautiful– a nice nine hole course carved from the contours of a natural valley, bounded all around by hills with some steep climbs, where one plays the front nine beginning off the first tee, above and behind the clubhouse. As with most of the golf courses of this type, one needs definitely to be reasonably fit in order to labour up the bridle paths to each tee box and then muster sufficient energy to clobber the ball with reasonable force and of course, reasonable accuracy as well!
There are no serious water hazards and sand traps as one may encounter on the new fangled manicured golf courses of the cities, but playing on such a course is an absolutely charming experience in itself and well worth it, I may add.
Don’t be lulled by the sheer beauty of the place into a false sense of security though, because there are other, somewhat wicked hazards – notably the ditches that run criss cross around the fairways, a couple of streams bridged by rickety old timbers and last but not least, a proliferation of God’s rather unpleasant creatures, namely leeches of different shapes and sizes, including a vicious sub species - the dreaded tiger leeches (as if the normal ones weren’t enough for the unsuspecting golfer to contend with!
You can see these little monsters in the monsoon rearing their blood sucking heads up as you pass, almost sniffing the air like trained bloodhounds. They lurk in large gangs in the wet grass and on the tee boxes. They are silent and deadly because if they attach themselves to one, (even through one’s thick golf socks and by finding gaps in one’s shoes), one will never realize till one comes back to the clubhouse and sees them sticking to one’s person, feasting as it were!
The most effective antidotes to these so to say are common salt and of course tobacco – so here is one of the few times where being a smoker has its advantages (at least in the defence of one’s person against the full fledged offensive mounted by legions of leeches)
There are some interesting local rules - while playing the front nine, one can shoot to the road which passes through the fairway and still be within one’s rights, but while playing the back nine round (off different tees) of course, the self same road is completely out of bounds! Can be tough-ish for the first timer I assure you!
On the brighter side, the course is bounded all around by lush shola or forest to the uninitiated, where during one’s leisurely afternoon round, one can quite comfortably bump into a bison, quite possibly a pack of wild dogs and if one is really lucky, catch a glimpse of that beautiful big cat, the panther.
The Kundale Golf Course is one of the lovely natural golf courses of India – built by the British Tea Planters in their sporting tradition. It is today an inheritance, which we simply must preserve as part of our heritage.
The lovely old clubhouse is a typical bungalow style building, with sloping tiled roofs to enable the constant rain to run off and its long verandah dotted with easy chairs offering a pristine view of the golf course.
There is a quaint little bar inside (well stocked, I may add), where one simply helps one’s self and writes down in a register what one has imbibed (albeit in large quantities) – a truly gentlemanly and decent system, which is entirely dependent on one’s innate sense of honesty and personal honour. I shudder to think of the consequences that may arise if such a system were transplanted into some of our new fangled clubs though!
Well worth mentioning here is the fact that despite the advance of modernity everywhere else, this club is still not on the telephone and is staffed solely by an elderly and soft spoken major domo, who is quite possibly the last remnant of a dying breed of club staff.
In conclusion, I would suggest that you pull out that old diary of yours, search most diligently in it till you locate some old acquaintance or friend who has some kind of live connection with Munnar and see this jewel of a place for yourself. I will wager a substantial sum that you will not be disappointed!
Probably the last preserve or bastion of the British Raj in India, an absolute jewel of a place located a matter of 9 hours easy drive from Bangalore, the lovely scenery of Munnar district certainly qualifies it to be considered as a fore-runner for the title of the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of God’s Own Country!
A sense of déjà vu for me, since as a child, I was privileged to grow up amongst these lush tea plantations spread all around like a lovely green carpet, nestling amongst mist wrapped hills with a constant drizzly rain falling down and seemingly impermeable tropical rain forest everywhere with the superbly refreshing fragrance of tea wafting up from the numerous tea factories…I could go on and on.
We were visiting some friends, a tea planter and his family and understandably, I was more than happy to join him in a round of golf while there, at the Planter’s Private Preserve - The Kundale Club! The club is located a little off the beaten track and quite close to the highest point in Munnar, aptly named Top Station. On the drive there, one passes the lovely Madupatty dam and reservoir which once, (not so long ago), used to be quiet and pristine, but whose placid waters are now torn asunder with the wakes of high speed boats, not to mention the roar of their high revving engines.
Luckily, the Kundale Club cannot be accessed by the general public and one can only go there along with a member at his express invitation – so while I may not quite agree to being a complete elitist, I most certainly am rather pleased that at least this lovely place is still free from the evil depredations of the cohorts of uncaring, noisy, litter-bug tourist types whose ubiquitous and raucous presence almost everywhere else worth visiting, is a guaranteed irritant to normal civilized human beings.
The Golf course is beautiful– a nice nine hole course carved from the contours of a natural valley, bounded all around by hills with some steep climbs, where one plays the front nine beginning off the first tee, above and behind the clubhouse. As with most of the golf courses of this type, one needs definitely to be reasonably fit in order to labour up the bridle paths to each tee box and then muster sufficient energy to clobber the ball with reasonable force and of course, reasonable accuracy as well!
There are no serious water hazards and sand traps as one may encounter on the new fangled manicured golf courses of the cities, but playing on such a course is an absolutely charming experience in itself and well worth it, I may add.
Don’t be lulled by the sheer beauty of the place into a false sense of security though, because there are other, somewhat wicked hazards – notably the ditches that run criss cross around the fairways, a couple of streams bridged by rickety old timbers and last but not least, a proliferation of God’s rather unpleasant creatures, namely leeches of different shapes and sizes, including a vicious sub species - the dreaded tiger leeches (as if the normal ones weren’t enough for the unsuspecting golfer to contend with!
You can see these little monsters in the monsoon rearing their blood sucking heads up as you pass, almost sniffing the air like trained bloodhounds. They lurk in large gangs in the wet grass and on the tee boxes. They are silent and deadly because if they attach themselves to one, (even through one’s thick golf socks and by finding gaps in one’s shoes), one will never realize till one comes back to the clubhouse and sees them sticking to one’s person, feasting as it were!
The most effective antidotes to these so to say are common salt and of course tobacco – so here is one of the few times where being a smoker has its advantages (at least in the defence of one’s person against the full fledged offensive mounted by legions of leeches)
There are some interesting local rules - while playing the front nine, one can shoot to the road which passes through the fairway and still be within one’s rights, but while playing the back nine round (off different tees) of course, the self same road is completely out of bounds! Can be tough-ish for the first timer I assure you!
On the brighter side, the course is bounded all around by lush shola or forest to the uninitiated, where during one’s leisurely afternoon round, one can quite comfortably bump into a bison, quite possibly a pack of wild dogs and if one is really lucky, catch a glimpse of that beautiful big cat, the panther.
The Kundale Golf Course is one of the lovely natural golf courses of India – built by the British Tea Planters in their sporting tradition. It is today an inheritance, which we simply must preserve as part of our heritage.
The lovely old clubhouse is a typical bungalow style building, with sloping tiled roofs to enable the constant rain to run off and its long verandah dotted with easy chairs offering a pristine view of the golf course.
There is a quaint little bar inside (well stocked, I may add), where one simply helps one’s self and writes down in a register what one has imbibed (albeit in large quantities) – a truly gentlemanly and decent system, which is entirely dependent on one’s innate sense of honesty and personal honour. I shudder to think of the consequences that may arise if such a system were transplanted into some of our new fangled clubs though!
Well worth mentioning here is the fact that despite the advance of modernity everywhere else, this club is still not on the telephone and is staffed solely by an elderly and soft spoken major domo, who is quite possibly the last remnant of a dying breed of club staff.
In conclusion, I would suggest that you pull out that old diary of yours, search most diligently in it till you locate some old acquaintance or friend who has some kind of live connection with Munnar and see this jewel of a place for yourself. I will wager a substantial sum that you will not be disappointed!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Cellphones on Golf Courses
Sensitizing one’s self to the use and abuse of cell phones on course:
As a regular golfer I agree completely with the letter written by Mr Paramjit Singh Sethi of Delhi in Golf Digest’s Feb issue lamenting the rudeness of using the ubiquitous cell phone on the golf course, something which is completely eschewed by the “unspoken etiquette of the course.”
I can vouch for the seriousness with which this is taken across the world since I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer for Golfline Magazine, Bangalore.
While we all appreciate the necessity of the phone and the fact that it regularly helps us in case of emergency etc, I still do believe that if we really tried, we could put it away for those few hours that we spend each week at the golf course, in pursuit of the game we all love so well!
A most disconcerting feeling it is, I may say, to hear the ghastly ringing tone of yet another phone, just as one steps up to address the ball at the tee or just as one decided to take a particular line through a putt!
I sincerely hope that more and more golfers take this step as a voluntary one thereby contributing hugely to their own enjoyment of the game as well as that of other golfers around them!
As a regular golfer I agree completely with the letter written by Mr Paramjit Singh Sethi of Delhi in Golf Digest’s Feb issue lamenting the rudeness of using the ubiquitous cell phone on the golf course, something which is completely eschewed by the “unspoken etiquette of the course.”
I can vouch for the seriousness with which this is taken across the world since I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer for Golfline Magazine, Bangalore.
While we all appreciate the necessity of the phone and the fact that it regularly helps us in case of emergency etc, I still do believe that if we really tried, we could put it away for those few hours that we spend each week at the golf course, in pursuit of the game we all love so well!
A most disconcerting feeling it is, I may say, to hear the ghastly ringing tone of yet another phone, just as one steps up to address the ball at the tee or just as one decided to take a particular line through a putt!
I sincerely hope that more and more golfers take this step as a voluntary one thereby contributing hugely to their own enjoyment of the game as well as that of other golfers around them!
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Army Golf Course Bangalore - Thoughts
Some thoughts and suggestions for the ASC Golf Course, Bangalore.
I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer.
Several friends of mine and I play golf regularly at the ASC Golf Course in Bangalore and indeed, have been playing here over the last few years with a great deal of enjoyment. IGU members have access to this course and are able to play here by paying the applicable Green Fees and of course the relevant Caddy fees etc.
Indeed, in my memory of the ASC golf course, unlike the BGC and KGA (which are also far more crowded), there has always been much gentlemanly camaraderie and give and take here between various groups of golfers in terms of courteously letting faster groups through, accommodating other keen golfers who may not sometimes have a regular playing partner with them or those golfers who have been stood up by their partners or what have you!
Indeed, it is to be commended and appreciated that, albeit in an unspoken, un-stated manner, the ASC course has always visibly had many of the old value systems stay very easily in place, a fact largely due to the decorous Army culture.
Now the Green fees charged by ASC have gone up by over 60% in one fell swoop a couple of months ago. I may mention that one is yet frankly to really see any real and tangible results at the course since this raise, given the standard of maintenance of this course and the facilities provided there at the moment. However, given today’s economic situation and the relative value of the rupee, no one grudges this at all, even remotely. Indeed, like is the norm all over the World, most of the IGU golfers playing here even tip the poor ASC caddies a bit over the norm as a simple gesture of appreciation and gratitude for what can be a rather trying job (for the caddies of course)!
As a regular golfer on this course, I would definitely consider myself amongst its more outspoken well-wishers and would therefore like to suggest certain small pointers which could be taken into account to ensure that those who use this course continue to enjoy it and at the same time, with the growing popularity of this game, more people take it up.
The Turf cut from the KGA whose course is undergoing a major overhaul has been brought in (donated by KGA) to the ASC. However, this turf has been placed all over the ASC course in a rather haphazard and unscientific manner without even the benefit of the staff having prepared the ground adequately to accept new turf. This fact, combined with the complete lack of water resources in this dry season, will seal the NON - SURVIVAL of this turf, as anyone with common sense will be able to see!
Ideally, in this season, the turf should be carefully nurtured in a typical plantation -type hessian covered nursery, so as to ensure diffused, controlled, indirect sunlight. The turf should be watered frequently to ensure its preservation, till the root formation process takes place. In tandem, the course should be prepared by digging wherever required and placing proper growth promoters and fertile soil.
The actual placement of the strips of turf should be planned properly at the right places on the fairways, where a well hit ball is likely to land, in order to ensure the proper and valuable deployment of this excellent turf!
Similar to the other good clubs, the ASC could have a simple caddy line up (looper) system with a caddy master cum starter, who completely controls the movements of all the caddies.
At the moment, I’m sure a lot of people will agree that it is rather haphazard and unlike anywhere else, it is not on a first come first served basis; indeed the caddies run rapidly after those golfers from whom they think they will gain most by way of tips! While at the caddie’s level, tips are all important, this “running after tips” is a fact which can get rather irritating for the Senior Serving Officer Golfers who play here regularly, as also for the equally important Early Bird Golfers, who are forced to wait for no fault of theirs! After all, time is a valuable commodity in today’s world and must definitely be respected.
A way around this could be that Caddy Fees at acceptable levels for a 9 hole round or 18 hole round as applicable, are collected at the start along with the Green Fees and paid to the caddies at the end of the round by the starter.
In addition, there could be a simple caddy welfare drop box introduced, to which golfers are encouraged to contribute a “little something” over and above the regular caddy fees and whose contents are shared between all those caddies on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
The manners of the starter and some of the full and regular members, sometimes leaves much to be desired, as also the etiquette of some of our playing compatriots. Just imagine our chagrin when recently, some of us were told by the starter at ASC (who indeed is NOT the regular starter), that any “Guests” including all IGU members and “suchlike” would only be allowed on the course at a time suitable to the ASC management and full members, when until now, it has been on a purely first come -first served basis, which system has worked quite well. Bearing what I have said above in mind, this state of affairs seems rather ironic, especially considering that the current President of IGU is General J.J. Singh, the Chief of Army Staff!
Let it be quite clear that those who do play at ASC either play as full and regular members, OR, via their IGU memberships by paying the normal green fees. It is a documented fact that as per the rules and bye-law’s of IGU, those members who have paid green fees and registered for a round at any of the IGU affiliated clubs, are deemed to be and considered as full-fledged members of the club for the duration of the round and thus, entitled to the use of all the normal club facilities during that time.
Thus, it would be quite fair and correct to state that the ASC Course and its full and regular members are really not doing the IGU members any great favour by allowing them to use the course – it is a simple commercial transaction which most definitely benefits the course considerably in terms of revenue gains, word of mouth publicity and is a working system which has hitherto been handled in a decent and gentlemanly manner as befitting the ideals of Golf, the “Gentleman’s Game”! After all, it is the people frequenting it that make or break any place!
Of course, it goes without saying that the rules, regulations, decorum, manners and other etiquette of the game, the club and the course need to be adhered to, which I am sure everyone would be happy to follow.
It would genuinely be nice if the ASC Golf Authorities would please take these views into account so as to enable the continued conviviality of this game and an enjoyable atmosphere at the Army Golf Course for all the regular golfers there!
I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer.
Several friends of mine and I play golf regularly at the ASC Golf Course in Bangalore and indeed, have been playing here over the last few years with a great deal of enjoyment. IGU members have access to this course and are able to play here by paying the applicable Green Fees and of course the relevant Caddy fees etc.
Indeed, in my memory of the ASC golf course, unlike the BGC and KGA (which are also far more crowded), there has always been much gentlemanly camaraderie and give and take here between various groups of golfers in terms of courteously letting faster groups through, accommodating other keen golfers who may not sometimes have a regular playing partner with them or those golfers who have been stood up by their partners or what have you!
Indeed, it is to be commended and appreciated that, albeit in an unspoken, un-stated manner, the ASC course has always visibly had many of the old value systems stay very easily in place, a fact largely due to the decorous Army culture.
Now the Green fees charged by ASC have gone up by over 60% in one fell swoop a couple of months ago. I may mention that one is yet frankly to really see any real and tangible results at the course since this raise, given the standard of maintenance of this course and the facilities provided there at the moment. However, given today’s economic situation and the relative value of the rupee, no one grudges this at all, even remotely. Indeed, like is the norm all over the World, most of the IGU golfers playing here even tip the poor ASC caddies a bit over the norm as a simple gesture of appreciation and gratitude for what can be a rather trying job (for the caddies of course)!
As a regular golfer on this course, I would definitely consider myself amongst its more outspoken well-wishers and would therefore like to suggest certain small pointers which could be taken into account to ensure that those who use this course continue to enjoy it and at the same time, with the growing popularity of this game, more people take it up.
The Turf cut from the KGA whose course is undergoing a major overhaul has been brought in (donated by KGA) to the ASC. However, this turf has been placed all over the ASC course in a rather haphazard and unscientific manner without even the benefit of the staff having prepared the ground adequately to accept new turf. This fact, combined with the complete lack of water resources in this dry season, will seal the NON - SURVIVAL of this turf, as anyone with common sense will be able to see!
Ideally, in this season, the turf should be carefully nurtured in a typical plantation -type hessian covered nursery, so as to ensure diffused, controlled, indirect sunlight. The turf should be watered frequently to ensure its preservation, till the root formation process takes place. In tandem, the course should be prepared by digging wherever required and placing proper growth promoters and fertile soil.
The actual placement of the strips of turf should be planned properly at the right places on the fairways, where a well hit ball is likely to land, in order to ensure the proper and valuable deployment of this excellent turf!
Similar to the other good clubs, the ASC could have a simple caddy line up (looper) system with a caddy master cum starter, who completely controls the movements of all the caddies.
At the moment, I’m sure a lot of people will agree that it is rather haphazard and unlike anywhere else, it is not on a first come first served basis; indeed the caddies run rapidly after those golfers from whom they think they will gain most by way of tips! While at the caddie’s level, tips are all important, this “running after tips” is a fact which can get rather irritating for the Senior Serving Officer Golfers who play here regularly, as also for the equally important Early Bird Golfers, who are forced to wait for no fault of theirs! After all, time is a valuable commodity in today’s world and must definitely be respected.
A way around this could be that Caddy Fees at acceptable levels for a 9 hole round or 18 hole round as applicable, are collected at the start along with the Green Fees and paid to the caddies at the end of the round by the starter.
In addition, there could be a simple caddy welfare drop box introduced, to which golfers are encouraged to contribute a “little something” over and above the regular caddy fees and whose contents are shared between all those caddies on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
The manners of the starter and some of the full and regular members, sometimes leaves much to be desired, as also the etiquette of some of our playing compatriots. Just imagine our chagrin when recently, some of us were told by the starter at ASC (who indeed is NOT the regular starter), that any “Guests” including all IGU members and “suchlike” would only be allowed on the course at a time suitable to the ASC management and full members, when until now, it has been on a purely first come -first served basis, which system has worked quite well. Bearing what I have said above in mind, this state of affairs seems rather ironic, especially considering that the current President of IGU is General J.J. Singh, the Chief of Army Staff!
Let it be quite clear that those who do play at ASC either play as full and regular members, OR, via their IGU memberships by paying the normal green fees. It is a documented fact that as per the rules and bye-law’s of IGU, those members who have paid green fees and registered for a round at any of the IGU affiliated clubs, are deemed to be and considered as full-fledged members of the club for the duration of the round and thus, entitled to the use of all the normal club facilities during that time.
Thus, it would be quite fair and correct to state that the ASC Course and its full and regular members are really not doing the IGU members any great favour by allowing them to use the course – it is a simple commercial transaction which most definitely benefits the course considerably in terms of revenue gains, word of mouth publicity and is a working system which has hitherto been handled in a decent and gentlemanly manner as befitting the ideals of Golf, the “Gentleman’s Game”! After all, it is the people frequenting it that make or break any place!
Of course, it goes without saying that the rules, regulations, decorum, manners and other etiquette of the game, the club and the course need to be adhered to, which I am sure everyone would be happy to follow.
It would genuinely be nice if the ASC Golf Authorities would please take these views into account so as to enable the continued conviviality of this game and an enjoyable atmosphere at the Army Golf Course for all the regular golfers there!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Coorg Golf Links - A Birdie's (Bird's Eye) View
Coorg Golf Links, Bittangala, South Coorg – A Birdie’s (Bird’s Eye) View!
A sylvan setting, a lovingly tended course, a functional yet comfortable clubhouse, first class staff and nice food - all of this in the middle of Kodagu district, around four and a half hours drive out of Bangalore, Coorg Golf Links is a carefully thought out man-made course, which uses the existing landscape to the hilt, while giving the golf enthusiast a series of challenges and the opportunity for a whole lot of fun.
Coorg has been known as the “Scotland of the South”, with its affable and hospitable, yet strongly martial race of people, primarily agrarian economy and of course, nature’s bounty at its best, its lovely mist wrapped hills, lush, forested, verdant green valleys and sparkling mountain streams.
Since I am fortunate to number a host of schoolmates, college-mates and other good friends from the Coorg community, many of whom are good golfers and permanently resident in the district, my fiancé and I decided to spend the New Year’s weekend with some of my buddies there, in particular my old college buddy, Mr C.B. Muthanna or Ajay, as he is generally known. He is currently the Secretary of Coorg Golf Links and an avid 7 handicapper.
He and I both have a few things we hold sacred, notable amongst these, the clear undivided intention of beginning each New Year in an auspicious manner with a round of golf on the First of January (in the earnest hope that the rest of the year proves a “Good Golf Year” for us!).
Coorg Golf links is unique in that it combines clearly two different types of terrain, the front nine being hilly, rough and quite difficult, requiring a good level of physical fitness. Playing the front is aptly compensated by the challenge of each hole combined with the sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding countryside of low hills clad in Coffee Plantations and the flat paddy field lands interspersing these. Nature has smiled generously upon this land and how!
The Back nine on the other hand, has been carved out of land that was originally used for the cultivation of Paddy and believe me, it still bears the signs, with its tuft laden fairways, sudden ditches and irrigation waterways as well as the presence of an inordinately large number of land crabs, who, apparently rather indignant at being thus dispossessed of their hunting grounds by the demands of the local golfers, lose absolutely no opportunity in staking their claims, as it were, on every available patch of tufty grass and indeed, on the carefully tended greens as well!
Playing off the regulation tees, we enjoyed a brilliant round of Golf, with me ending up (much to my surprise, knocking ten bucks off Ajay – a feat whose tom-tom-ing I can easily be forgiven for), since I am the epitome of the average high handicapper who simply cannot get the various aspects of the game to work smoothly together, which fact, combined with a lack of adequate ‘local knowledge’ normally ensures that I have some rather high scores!
Notable amongst the holes on the front nine is the wicked Par 4, third hole, which requires an accurate tee shot, placed well on the fairway to the left of the large guarding tree (which guards, I may say, a sharp drop right which is anyway completely out of bounds). One’s second shot needs to be a well hit number 4 or 5 which will take one to pole position on the flag line, because this is a completely blind shot from below. Very challenging and incidentally, for most city golfers, very demanding, in the physical sense. This is one of the few courses, which have three Par 3 holes each immediately after the other, namely, the 4th, 5th and 6th Holes!
Climbing up to the 5th which is a fantastic par 3 – normally thunked with a Number 9, one needs to use one’s local knowledge to smartly strike the hill side on the right of the green and gently cause the ball to ricochet (gently being the operative word here) onto the green, since the left is another sharp drop to hell whence one may never venture forth! I had to do a Walter Hagen here, since my ball lodged itself rather nicely amidst some rocks and I had to thwack it out holding the club with the head the other way round and playing my wedge off with my left hand in order to plop on the green in two for par with my putt! Ajay was generous in his praise for that shot, telling me as he did, that it was as important to have a good memory and use it, while playing, as much as having skill at golf! I was most gratified to hear this from a good golfer like him!
Playing on through the next few holes, I realized that other golfers who may not have age/ fitness on their side, have to be very careful with the pressure they put on their knees, while navigating the treacherously narrow tow paths where one’s entire body weight is supported by one’s knees, so be careful!
The 9th hole is a lovely Par 4, guarded very well with a huge tree on the right of the green. One has to place the tee shot well to the right, in order to avoid the waterhole on the left and one’s second shot ought by rights to soar over the tree OR to the left of it, to land well on the fast, undulating green, to make two putts and par! Great!
The Back nine is characterized as I said earlier by tufty grass, tough-ish lies and plenty of smelly mud! A relatively easy road though, compared with the front. It is interesting to watch the little land crabs scuttling around and disappearing rapidly into their little shelters, each characterized by the little mound of crusty mud at the entrance! The apron of the 12th hole (if I remember right) looked quite like a little enclave of these tiny denizens, with a cluster of these mounds visible as I approached it!
The 13th Hole, according to me, is the real Signature Hole of Coorg Golf Links – a savage Par 3, requiring one to hit a 9 iron off a reasonably high tee, almost blind. Between the tee box and the green is this nice little Banana Plantation, which belongs to a local farmer, is NOT part of the Course and is certainly, indubitably and completely out of bounds! This is an absolutely brilliant hole to play! Accurate hitters will have fun, as will the brave-hearts amongst the golfing fraternity, but believe me, the average Joe golfer, will be neck deep in Bananas more often than not! I would compare this hole with the 4th hole at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club in Sri Lanka, which also has an ‘out-of-bounds’ Banana Plantation to the right of the tee, where most slicer’s would end up, if they hit a wayward shot!
It is also worth noting that at the Coorg Golf Links course, there are a number of beautiful little cottages and tiny villas, each offering phenomenal views of the course. Their idea is to let these cottages out for holidaymakers and avid golfers who literally can roll out of bed onto the course while there! An automatic comparison I would make is to Victoria Golf and Country Club, Kandy, Sri Lanka, where the concept is very similar, as is the architecture! The CGL cottages would be operational very soon; indeed, several were almost ready for occupation when I saw them!
The Coorg Golf Links course is affiliated to the Karnataka Golf Association and the Bangalore Golf Club as also the Indian Golf Union. For the Bangalore based golfer, this destination is most definitely worth a visit, located as it is, just four and a half hours away by road, with the roads currently being quite excellent all the way to Coorg. I, for one, would very happily endorse the fact that it is a near-perfect setting and a fantastic place to unwind from the stresses and strains of modern day life in the cities!
A sylvan setting, a lovingly tended course, a functional yet comfortable clubhouse, first class staff and nice food - all of this in the middle of Kodagu district, around four and a half hours drive out of Bangalore, Coorg Golf Links is a carefully thought out man-made course, which uses the existing landscape to the hilt, while giving the golf enthusiast a series of challenges and the opportunity for a whole lot of fun.
Coorg has been known as the “Scotland of the South”, with its affable and hospitable, yet strongly martial race of people, primarily agrarian economy and of course, nature’s bounty at its best, its lovely mist wrapped hills, lush, forested, verdant green valleys and sparkling mountain streams.
Since I am fortunate to number a host of schoolmates, college-mates and other good friends from the Coorg community, many of whom are good golfers and permanently resident in the district, my fiancé and I decided to spend the New Year’s weekend with some of my buddies there, in particular my old college buddy, Mr C.B. Muthanna or Ajay, as he is generally known. He is currently the Secretary of Coorg Golf Links and an avid 7 handicapper.
He and I both have a few things we hold sacred, notable amongst these, the clear undivided intention of beginning each New Year in an auspicious manner with a round of golf on the First of January (in the earnest hope that the rest of the year proves a “Good Golf Year” for us!).
Coorg Golf links is unique in that it combines clearly two different types of terrain, the front nine being hilly, rough and quite difficult, requiring a good level of physical fitness. Playing the front is aptly compensated by the challenge of each hole combined with the sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding countryside of low hills clad in Coffee Plantations and the flat paddy field lands interspersing these. Nature has smiled generously upon this land and how!
The Back nine on the other hand, has been carved out of land that was originally used for the cultivation of Paddy and believe me, it still bears the signs, with its tuft laden fairways, sudden ditches and irrigation waterways as well as the presence of an inordinately large number of land crabs, who, apparently rather indignant at being thus dispossessed of their hunting grounds by the demands of the local golfers, lose absolutely no opportunity in staking their claims, as it were, on every available patch of tufty grass and indeed, on the carefully tended greens as well!
Playing off the regulation tees, we enjoyed a brilliant round of Golf, with me ending up (much to my surprise, knocking ten bucks off Ajay – a feat whose tom-tom-ing I can easily be forgiven for), since I am the epitome of the average high handicapper who simply cannot get the various aspects of the game to work smoothly together, which fact, combined with a lack of adequate ‘local knowledge’ normally ensures that I have some rather high scores!
Notable amongst the holes on the front nine is the wicked Par 4, third hole, which requires an accurate tee shot, placed well on the fairway to the left of the large guarding tree (which guards, I may say, a sharp drop right which is anyway completely out of bounds). One’s second shot needs to be a well hit number 4 or 5 which will take one to pole position on the flag line, because this is a completely blind shot from below. Very challenging and incidentally, for most city golfers, very demanding, in the physical sense. This is one of the few courses, which have three Par 3 holes each immediately after the other, namely, the 4th, 5th and 6th Holes!
Climbing up to the 5th which is a fantastic par 3 – normally thunked with a Number 9, one needs to use one’s local knowledge to smartly strike the hill side on the right of the green and gently cause the ball to ricochet (gently being the operative word here) onto the green, since the left is another sharp drop to hell whence one may never venture forth! I had to do a Walter Hagen here, since my ball lodged itself rather nicely amidst some rocks and I had to thwack it out holding the club with the head the other way round and playing my wedge off with my left hand in order to plop on the green in two for par with my putt! Ajay was generous in his praise for that shot, telling me as he did, that it was as important to have a good memory and use it, while playing, as much as having skill at golf! I was most gratified to hear this from a good golfer like him!
Playing on through the next few holes, I realized that other golfers who may not have age/ fitness on their side, have to be very careful with the pressure they put on their knees, while navigating the treacherously narrow tow paths where one’s entire body weight is supported by one’s knees, so be careful!
The 9th hole is a lovely Par 4, guarded very well with a huge tree on the right of the green. One has to place the tee shot well to the right, in order to avoid the waterhole on the left and one’s second shot ought by rights to soar over the tree OR to the left of it, to land well on the fast, undulating green, to make two putts and par! Great!
The Back nine is characterized as I said earlier by tufty grass, tough-ish lies and plenty of smelly mud! A relatively easy road though, compared with the front. It is interesting to watch the little land crabs scuttling around and disappearing rapidly into their little shelters, each characterized by the little mound of crusty mud at the entrance! The apron of the 12th hole (if I remember right) looked quite like a little enclave of these tiny denizens, with a cluster of these mounds visible as I approached it!
The 13th Hole, according to me, is the real Signature Hole of Coorg Golf Links – a savage Par 3, requiring one to hit a 9 iron off a reasonably high tee, almost blind. Between the tee box and the green is this nice little Banana Plantation, which belongs to a local farmer, is NOT part of the Course and is certainly, indubitably and completely out of bounds! This is an absolutely brilliant hole to play! Accurate hitters will have fun, as will the brave-hearts amongst the golfing fraternity, but believe me, the average Joe golfer, will be neck deep in Bananas more often than not! I would compare this hole with the 4th hole at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club in Sri Lanka, which also has an ‘out-of-bounds’ Banana Plantation to the right of the tee, where most slicer’s would end up, if they hit a wayward shot!
It is also worth noting that at the Coorg Golf Links course, there are a number of beautiful little cottages and tiny villas, each offering phenomenal views of the course. Their idea is to let these cottages out for holidaymakers and avid golfers who literally can roll out of bed onto the course while there! An automatic comparison I would make is to Victoria Golf and Country Club, Kandy, Sri Lanka, where the concept is very similar, as is the architecture! The CGL cottages would be operational very soon; indeed, several were almost ready for occupation when I saw them!
The Coorg Golf Links course is affiliated to the Karnataka Golf Association and the Bangalore Golf Club as also the Indian Golf Union. For the Bangalore based golfer, this destination is most definitely worth a visit, located as it is, just four and a half hours away by road, with the roads currently being quite excellent all the way to Coorg. I, for one, would very happily endorse the fact that it is a near-perfect setting and a fantastic place to unwind from the stresses and strains of modern day life in the cities!
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