The Step-Mother of All Golf Trips (Days 1-3)

A blog covering the first three days of a nine day trip the Gurus took back east in 2010 (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) where we played some of the finest courses in the country.

Blog by: Mike Sutorius

September 14, 2010 - Garden City Golf Club and Plainfield Country Club

Our first round of the trip was at the great Garden City Golf Club. We had heard that jackets were absolutely required. So, we brought them along. In fact, we wore them on the plane hoping to get upgraded. As mentioned, that didn’t happen. As it turns out, it fully appeared that the Garden City experience could have been accomplished without a suit coat. A coat is not required at the little golf shop where the round begins, and even the locker room seemed to be accessible without spending any undue time in any “jackets required” areas. Oh well, we had them, and we looked terrific!

We were the first round of the day, so we hit a couple of balls off the soaking wet mats in the very tiny, irons-only practice area. We then hit a couple practice putts, on the practice green, that is actually part of the 18th green, and soon started our round with our caddie, “Sammy.” The next 3 ½ hours were one of our most unique golfing experiences ever. I find it difficult to imagine a less dramatic piece of golf property, and yet the simplicity of the terrain actually highlighted the genius of the routing that it contained. Other than the remains of an old sand quarry on the second hole, there was no elevation change to speak of; greens and mounds and an occasional tee box were modestly pushed up to accentuate a particular contour, or to emphasize the advantage for one shape of shot or another, but primarily Garden City is a open, expansive plain. The greens were fantastic, built to accept and encourage the ground game, but with their real brilliance being the actual putting surface. Bunkers were neither excessive nor minimal in their numbers or shapes, but seemed to be placed and sized in the most strategic of locations. Did I mention that it was truly a unique golfing experience? That fact is actually an unfortunate one, because thousands of courses across the country, with a million excuses of why they can never be great, could learn countless lessons from the spectacular, unassuming Garden City Golf Club.

We were scheduled to play our second round of the day at another classic track, Plainfield Country Club in Plainfield, New Jersey. So, we jumped in the car and trusted our long-time, golf-tripping partner, Nikki (our GPS unit named after Nicole Kidman) to take us there. Somehow, she took us right through the heart of Manhattan, and gave us our first exposure to the worst driving conditions in America! I thought we might die. I knew we would, at minimum, suffer severe body damage to our brand new, Impala rental car. I felt like I was in a video game, and I was on my last life. Cabs, busses, and pedestrians were the enemies, and they were free to come at our vehicle from every direction, at great rates of speed, with no regard for traffic laws, and without warning. They also could stop in front of you, anytime, any place, and without warning. And, all of this had to be navigated while trying to take in one of the most incredible visual metropolitan spectacles in the world. Twice, on our way through Manhattan, I tried to “save the game” because I seriously doubted that we could ever overcome so many levels, and get that far ever again. Somehow we made it unscathed . . . physically.

Plainfield CC is a course that was designed in 1921 by the legendary Donald Ross on part of the site of the Revolutionary War Battle of the Short Hills in 1777. Gil Hanse was recently commissioned to, through the use of Ross’s original drawings and photos from the early days of the course, formulate a master plan that included restoration and tree removal. When we played it, this restoration was nearly complete, and the course was fantastic. Our caddie was local product, who had played and caddied at many of the region’s top courses. He was great at helping us recognize, throughout the round, original design features as well as their intended affect on shot making. Ross is a master designer, and Plainfield is one of his greats.

That night we were ready for some quality sleep. Our 6:20 am arrival time, preceded by almost no sleep on the cross-country flight, followed by walking 36 holes (especially at the hilly Plainfield C.C.), and rudely and violently interrupted by the most nerve-wracking traffic navigation of my life (to that point) had left us ready for good night’s rest. Fortunately, we had committed prior to the trip, to do all in our penny-pinching power to stay somewhere other than Motel 6 throughout the trip. We had gotten aggressive with Priceline, and wound up with some quality accommodations at some great prices. So, the first night of the trip, we relaxed in a Crowne Plaza, slept hard, and woke up ready for our second day of 36 holes of golf.

September 15, 2010 - Bayonne Golf Club and Trump National Bedminster (New)

On Wednesday, the 15th, our first round of the day was at Bayonne Golf Club. What a place! Tom Fazio is widely known for having taken a barren piece of Las Vegas desert, excavated it to a depth of 60’, and created the famous Shadow Creek. Shadow Creek exists today as the standard for golf course creation. Bayonne should be equivalently heralded. Eric Bergstol, though, took a featureless New Jersey landfill and piled 7.5 million cubic yards of dredged-up harbor sludge upon it, and created on 140 acres one of my favorite golf courses of all time. Rather than digging down, Bergstol went up. From an original 10’ above sea level to nearly 100’ above sea level, and every elevation in between. Bayonne G.C., to me is a masterpiece of golf course engineering equivalent, if not superior to, Shadow Creek.

Our caddie for the day was one of our best ever – if not the best. His name was Luke, his family had immigrated to Bayonne from Poland when he was young, and somehow he had picked up the art of the caddie. The round was sensational. Pictures don’t do the place justice . . . and they are pretty unreal. One of our cool moments came on the 10th hole when we let a fast-moving single play through our two-some when we reached the tee box. When he approached, he looked slightly familiar, was outgoing, and really appreciative that we had stopped to allow him play through. He shook our hands, said “thanks,” and introduced himself as “Billy.” After he left, our caddy informed us that he was the actor, Billy Crudup, and that he is one of the more golf-obsessed members at Bayonne. Nice guy. Looked like a good golfer. Heard him drop a few choice words a couple of holes later after a bad shot. It made us like him even more.

We had planned for our second round of the day to be at nearby Liberty National Golf Club. To the every extent possible, we had made arrangements ahead of time, but due to the course being closed to typical play in preparation for a Cristie Kerr Celebrity Fundraiser the following day, we were not guaranteed that we were going to play the course. As it turned out, too many conflicts existed, and we were unable to play. Unfortunately, we did not find this out until after our round at Bayonne had been completed. At this point, most people would have chosen to spend a half a day seeing the sites – visiting Times Square, going to the Statue of Liberty, visiting the World Trade Center Memorial, etc., but we were on a golf trip . . .and we are the Golf Course Gurus . . . so there is only one activity that is approved during daylight hours, so we improvised.

Bill put in a call to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey and asked if there was any possibility for a last-minute opportunity to play either the New or the Old Course. Our contact, was one that Bill had communicated with previously and he came through like a champion and said that, while there was a tournament going on at the Old Course, that he would find a spot for us on the New. To quote Chip Douglas, Cable Guy, “Call it one guy doing another guy a solid.”

The New Course is a Tom Fazio II 2008 design, and should not be confused with Old Course which is a Tom Fazio 2004 design. Fazio II is the nephew of Tom Fazio. I love that a course that was designed in 2004 is referred to as the “Old” Course. Maybe The Donald does courses like most people do girlfriends – if I started dating one girl in ’04, and another in ’08, the one in ’04 would definitely be my “old” girlfriend.

The course was tough. From the back tees it plays to a stout 7534 yards and 76.3/147 rating and slope. The 6th hole is a 270 yard par 3 (which, ahem, I parred), the 8th is a 582 yard, uphill, upwind beast of a par 5 (I doubled bogeyed that one), and the 14th is an island green par 3. All in all, it was a great course; one that we were really glad to have played, especially in a last-minute pinch.

When the round was finished, we were faced with one of the bigger legs of the trip. Our round the next morning was a first-tee-time-of-the-day round at Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, NY on Long Island. Again, Nikki had us going back through the Holland Tunnel and across Manhattan. Again, we blindly followed her directions and found ourselves right back in the traffic madness. This time it was about 10 pm, and we hoped that we would be passing through late enough to avoid the mayhem. However, NYC is not called the “city that never sleeps” for nothing. As we entered the city, Bill made the wild suggestion that, since we were here, we drive around a little and see the city, and maybe find a place to park and check things out. So, naïve as we are, (and apparently with short memories, to boot) we started looking for a parking spot. In the process, we suddenly, and unknowingly, found ourselves in the middle of Times Square! This was like Level 700 on the video game. Busses, cabs, and pedestrians were still insane, but the visual distractions now were off the charts. My brain almost exploded. Fortunately, my brain and the rental car almost inexplicably made it through, unscathed, to Level 701, but we now felt compelled to find a parking spot and come back and take it all in from a substantially safer vantage point.

Soon we found a spot along a curb near an Econo Lodge Hotel a few blocks away, changed into our running shoes, tried to pay a meter, determined that we were in a legal area, and headed off to see New York City! We first went back to Times Square. It is awesome. We almost made ourselves dizzy trying to take it all in . . . even from a standing position. Then, we headed toward Rockefeller Center, and then toward Central Park. In our travels we saw multiple broadway theatres, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We cut through the end of Central Park in the dark, just to say that we had been there, and to be able to brag that we had done it without being mugged, and headed back to our car. As we approached the corner nearest our parking spot, we looked, and the car was gone!

We briefly hoped that we had lost our way, and that we were not at the right spot. Once we realized, though, that we were in the right location, we thought the car had been stolen. This was the worst case scenario. Our clubs, clothes, and wallets were in the car. We had only kept out the car keys, our phones, a little cash, and credit card for running through the streets of New York. At that point, we actually hoped that maybe it had been towed. Ultimately, we went into the Econo Lodge and asked if they had a seen a tow truck, and old Asian guy confirmed that it had indeed been towed (in fact, we are quite confident that he is the one who called the tow truck). Apparently, some portion of our car was in a “No Standing” zone. In Idaho, no standing means you need to get off of your feet. In NYC, it means “no parking,” “no waiting,” and “we will tow your car.”

Fairly soon, we were advised that if we had been towed, that our car would most likely be taken to the Manhattan Area Impound Yard about a mile away. So, we started jogging. When we arrived, we immediately recognized that an already long night was about to get a lot longer. Three government-employed women were “on duty.” This generally meant that one of them stood apathetically at a window, while two of them were on break. I am not exaggerating. In fact, I may be over-exaggerating their efforts. Additionally, we found that the computers were down, and that our car may or may not have arrived; which still meant that we may or may not have been towed. Note: When, without question, the best news of the night is that your car has been towed, it is not a good evening. The next several hours consisted of indefinite, uncontrolled waiting – we didn’t know when we could leave, but we did know there was nothing we could do about it. Ultimately, our car did arrive, and we were informed it would cost a non-negotiable $185 in order to have it released. We were also informed that there was a large dent in the passenger side, and that we had a $115 parking ticket. Fortunately, there was no dent. Unfortunately, it was now after 2 a.m., we were an hour from our hotel, and we had just gotten stuck with $300 in fines and tickets, for a violation that we didn’t feel we had committed. I am sure that the New York City Visitor and Convention Bureau does a great job, but they will never undo the nightmare that was our first visit to The City.

September 16, 2010 - Piping Rock Club and Quaker Ridge Golf Club

After a 3 ½ hours of sleep, we were on our way to the C.B. Macdonald –designed Piping Rock Club. This won’t be the first time or the last that we tell you that we love his courses. At Piping Rock, as with many of his other designs, Macdonald features classic holes, that each have their own distinct personalities. Here we found a Redan, a Long, a Road, a Short, an Eden, and a Biarritz. These are all replica holes, but each offer a unique twist, and are a ton of fun to play. Our caddie for the round was named Wally, but we affectionately referred to him as “Wazzle” for at least the last 16 holes. Of all the rounds on the trip, Piping is the most fuzzy in my memory. I blame NYPD and an old Asian guy for this.

Our second round of the day was at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, NY. Quaker Ridge is the next door, lesser-known neighbor of the 2 Winged Foot courses. This comparable lack of notoriety is commonly attributed to the scarcity of major events that Quaker Ridge has hosted, with only the 1937 Metropolitan Open and the 1997 Walker Cup as its “major” tournaments. This in comparison to the 5 U.S. Opens, 2 U.S. Amateurs, 2 U.S. Women’s Opens, 1 PGA Championship, and a U.S. Senior Open being hosted by its famous neighbors. Head to head, course to course(s), however, Quaker Ridge more than holds its own. Improvements to bunkering, original green designs, and a tree removal plan that were started in 2008 by a Gil Hanse-led team have made this even more apparent. For one thing, Tillinghast had a much better piece of property to work with at Quaker Ridge, where natural changes in elevation and terrain were available to enhance hole designs, rather than being forced to create most of the personality of both Winged Foot courses through the building and fashioning of great green complexes. Quaker Ridge is also a less excruciating test of golf, than the heralded Winged Foot West, but really, isn’t excruciating the antithesis of enjoyable?

Throughout the round, we watched huge, dark storm clouds collect and hoped that we would make it through the round. As soon as we had teed off on the final hole and begun walking up the last fairway of day, a siren began to screech. It was fairly deafening. Our caddie, “Eduardo,” informed us that this was mandatory-exit-the-golf-course-immediately alarm that sounded when lightening was in the area. However, since we had already hit our tee shots we would be allowed to finish the hole. As it turned out, we were the final group to finish, and we had a decent audience as golfers from across the course were collectively headed to the shelter of the clubhouse. No sooner, had we finished than a massive rainstorm hit, one that ended up washing out local roads, and making it quite interesting to reach our motel for the night.

At the end of the round it was almost dark, and we had a 3 ½ hour drive to Philadelphia ahead of us. So, I remotely popped the trunk on the rental for the caddies to put away the clubs, we got a recommendation from Justin on a local pizza place to eat, and hit the road. The pizza ended up being good – our first and only authentic “New York Pizza.” We got an extra large with everything on it, and ate it all. The drive to Philadelphia was fairly uneventful, we got our first real exposure to endless tolls, forgot to have the SpeedPass open on our windshield once, and found ourselves at the Motel 6 in King of Prussia, Philadelphia very close to midnight.

• The recommended use of sleep aids on cross-country “red-eyes” - Not Hype
• Tourist attractions, of any magnitude, as options on a golf trip - Hype
• The utter and onslaught on human safety carried out by NYC cabs and busses - Not Hype
• The need to “find” great golf courses and golf holes rather than to “create” them - Hype
• The stereotypical lack of productivity by government employed, graveyard shift employees – Not Hype

Continue reading about the Gurus' experience at Hudson National, Sleepy Hollow, The Ridge at Back Brook, Aronimink, Merion (East), and Hidden Creek: (2010 NY Trip Days 4-6) >>.

Read about the Gurus' experience at Galloway National, Atlantic City CC, Trump Philadelphia (formerly Pine Hill), Pine Valley, and The Creek Club: (2010 NY Trip Days 7-9) >>>.

Read about the Gurus' experience at Garden City, Plainfield, Bayonne, Trump National Bedminster (New), Rock, and Quaker Ridge: (2010 NY Trip Days 1-3) >.

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