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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
April 22, 2003
Having recently begun coaching junior golfers at the high
school and middle school level, I’ve become even more appreciative
of the good work of the Tennessee Golf Association as it relates
to teaching young players the game.
In addition to the perennially popular golf schools the TGA has
sponsored for the last several years, there are more tournament
opportunities than ever before for the state’s juniors.
I’ve strongly recommended to all my players that they take part
in the Vince Gill Junior Tour. For modest entry fees, a junior
player can tee it up in up to seven tournaments during the summer,
testing their skills against the best players in the area. There’s
no measuring the importance of tournament experience.
The Vince Gill Tour offers other benefits as well. I didn’t
know this until last week, but tour members can establish their
handicaps free of charge at a TGA-PGA GHIN Handicap member club.
That’s important considering a number of junior tournaments
require a handicap. Tour officials are also available to help a
young golfer establish and keep current a golfing resume,
important in the all-important college recruiting process. The
TGA’s junior golf office conducts a college day every winter to
help players increase their chances to earn a scholarship.
I couldn’t recommend affiliation with the Vince Gill Tour
strongly enough. To sign up, you can access the TGA’s website
through chattanoogatpc.com, or you can go to
www.golfhousetennessee.com.
If all else fails, call the junior golf staff at 615-790-3336.
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The Honors Course and Black Creek have turned up recently in
polls conducted by two major national golf publications. In March,
GolfWeek released its list of top 100 modern courses (built after
1960). The Honors turned up at No. 9, one of four Pete
Dye-designed courses among the top 10.
Proving that the early positive buzz about Black Creek was no
fluke, GolfWeek rated the Brian Silva-designed layout No. 97.
Considering the course was barely two years old when GolfWeek’s
course raters considered it, Black Creek’s appearance in the list
is all the more impressive.
"This honor validates for me the original idea that the old
values of golf still have relevance, and add to the mystique of
the game," said Black Creek chairman Doug Stein. "Somehow American
golf went through a time wherein the idea of "fairness" gained too
much influence. If the game was intended to identify the longest,
straightest hitter, the player who could land the ball closest to
a target, the player who could most consistently stroke a putt on
line and distance, well, we could determine that player on the
range, and not use up so much land!
"But golf is played on a course, and the player who can choose
the best route around that course, and who can best deal with the
unfairness presented by a bad bounce, or a shot just very slightly
off line finding an impossible lie, will have an advantage. That's
why a course like Black Creek, with its broad fairways, random
hazards, and stark diagonal lines offering multiple strategies to
attack a hole—especially when conditions are firm and fast and the
added factor of the bounce is added—is a superior test of golf in
my mind. When we chose Brian to do the work, we knew he had those
sensibilities in mind and was able to execute them."
The Honors also turned up in Golf Digest’s list of the
America’s 100 Greatest Courses (No. 58). The magazine’s May issue
also listed the top ten courses in each state, and, as it has
since its inception, The Honors was listed No. 1. Black Creek
found its way onto the list for the first time at No. 8.
The complete list: 1. The Honors Course; 2. Spring Creek Ranch
Golf Club, Collierville; 3. Colonial Country Club (South); Cordova
4. Golf Club of Tennessee, Kingston Springs; 5. Holston Hills
Country Club, Knoxville; 6. Richland Country Club, Nashville; 7.
The Tennessean Golf Club, Paris; 8. Black Creek; 9. River Islands Golf Club, Kodak; 10. Belle Meade Country
Club, Nashville.
I haven’t yet played Spring Creek, but I’m told the Jack
Nicklaus-designed course is special. Likewise, I’ve heard good
reports on the Tennessean. A westward excursion is definitely in
order this spring.
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The USGA takes care of its past champions. That was evident
this week when it granted exemptions into the U.S. Open to former
winners Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and Tom Watson. Though their
competitive days on the regular circuit are long behind them, all
three provided memorable U.S. Open moments in their prime. It
isn’t likely any of the three Champions Tour regulars are going to
contend at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club June 12-15, but who
knows? Irwin in particular has been hard to beat on the senior
circuit the last several years. His game is suited for Open style
layouts.
The past accomplishments of Irwin, Kite and Watson more than
merit their inclusion into the U.S. Open field, regardless of
whether they have a chance to win. The USGA deserves credit for
recognizing that.
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