This month is exciting for me because I’m going to read a book I haven’t read before, by an author whose name I know quite well but whose work I do not. The pick is Herbert Warren Wind’s 

The Story of American Golf: Its Champions and Its Championships

. Released in 1975, it chronicles the roots of golf in America all the way up through the time of publishing. Wind is a name I have grown to know but is a real blind spot for me. I look forward to going about changing that a bit.

The description of the book is as follows:

Here, in words & pictures, the whole story of American golf unfolds, from the inspiration of the Scottish game for the exclusive entertainment of millionaires in Newport, Tuxedo Park, & on Long Island & the golf madness that swept Chicago in 1895, down to the present day [1975]. From the triumphs of Walter Travis & Jerome Travers to the glorious 1975 Masters, here are the developments of the sport, the idiosyncrasies of the players, the courses, the tournaments, the club life, the historical & sociological insights, the drama & humor of golf.

Selection #13: June 2019

It’s that time again! You may be absorbed in the PGA Championship this weekend but I’d argue it’s absolutely not the most fun tournament being contested. That distinction goes to NCAA Division-I Women’s Golf championship, which kicks off Friday, May 17th. While television coverage won’t come until Monday, May 20th, you can follow along with the action thanks to 

. I said the exact same thing last year but it bears repeating—the women’s championship is the opening act of a two-part drama (the men begin their championship the week after the women) which is genuinely one of my favorite stretches within the golf calendar each and every year. It’s a perfect recipe of individual stroke play, passion-filled, team-based match play, and life-altering, yet wholly-intrinsic stakes. I urge you to check it out.

Friday, May 17th, through Wednesday, May 22rd, at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Blessings celebrates its 15thyear of existence by playing host to the 2019 NCAA Championships. The home course of the Arkansas Razorbacks, it’s a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design touched up more recently by Kyle Phillips. The private course was the brainchild of Tyson Foods chairman, John H. Tyson (if you want to enjoy some chicken nuggets while watching coverage be sure to also check out some of the warm, fuzzy press around Tyson’s practices. Yum!) Anyway, the course is par 72 (37-35) that can be stretched out to a comfy 7,900+ yards with a 79.1 rating and 153 slope. Exactly my type of track!

Two NCAA national championships will be awarded: one for the team champion and one for the individual champion.

The team format consists of 72 holes of stroke play to whittle the field from twenty-four programs to eight. The eight best teams are seeded 1 through 8 and square off in match play involving five duels. The team tournament from the quarterfinals through the finals is single elimination with individual matches consisting of 18 holes.

The individual format consists of the aforementioned 72 holes of stroke play. The low competitor from the competing twenty-four programs, plus an additional twelve individual qualifiers, is crowned the individual NCAA national champion.

: 4:00pm to 8:00pm EST (Final round of stroke play–individual champion crowned, plus match-play brackets finalized)

: 11:00am to 1:30pm EST (Team Quarterfinal Matches) AND 4:00pm to 8:00pm EST (Team Semifinal Matches)

: 4:00pm to 8:00pm (Team National Championship Matches)

As always, I couldn’t possibly tell you where to place your allegiance. Like last year, though, I’ve broken the field out in my own way which I hope will serve to help inform a rooting interest should you be searching (number in parenthesis next to each team is their 

There have been 36 NCAA D-I Women’s Golf Team national championships awarded throughout history. The following schools have won a combined 23 of them:

 –the Trojans have three team titles in their history. This year’s squad is led by sophomore Jennifer Chang, 3rd-ranked nationally. They’re young and deep, five players within the top-29, all sophomores or freshmen.

 –highest ranked player is sophomore Jaravee Boonchant (4th). Squad also features senior Virginia Elana-Carta, NCAA champion four years ago as a freshman, who comes in ranked 50th.

 –last year’s team champs will look to run it back with a very experienced squad. Haley Moore, who clinched the winning point last year on the 19th hole, is back. 

I urge you to read this piece on her by Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner.

 –have won 8 team titles, most in NCAA history. This year’s team is led by junior Olivia Mehaffey, ranked 7th nationally.

 –led by sophomore Patty Tavatanakit who comes in ranked 8th this year and was low amateur at the 2018 US Women’s Open.

These programs have a team title to their name, all in this decade. Another title would catapult them up a level:

won their sole team title in 2010; highest ranked player is senior Melati Putri (91st). Will be a tall feat to make the knockout stage.

Andrea Lee, ranked 2nd nationally, leads the Cardinal. They captured the team title in 2015.

won the team title in 2016; an experienced group which is fronted by their youngest member, Rino Sasaki, ranked 60th nationally.

Between 1985 and 1992 these two programs won a combined 5 team titles, none since, however. They’d obviously love to change that:

 –great depth on this Gators team with five players ranked between 41st (Sierra Brooks) and 94th (Addison Baggarly). My opinion is completely uninformed but I look for them to make serious noise.

 –led by the dynamic duo of freshman Natasha Andrea Oon (31st ranked) and senior Abegail Arevalo (36th ranked). No other Spartans rank in the top-250. Can the rest of the squad step up?

Deep in the heart of SEC country in Fayetteville there are four tried-and-true SEC programs to pick from. Each is seeking their first team title:

–host squad should be at an advantage. 5th-ranked Maria Fassi leads the group.

 –10th-ranked Julie McCarthy leads War Eagle.

 –Julia Johnson, ranked 57th, leads Ole Miss. They have an uphill climb facing them this week.

 –95th-ranked Micheala Williams leads the Lady Vols. Like Ole Miss, I don’t foresee a long week but of course I could be wrong!

These schools have ALL THE MONEY so you shouldn’t casually root for either of them, unless you enjoy playing the Don’t Pass line at the craps table:

–led by top-ranked freshman, Frida Kinhult. She is super decorated and if that last name sounds familiar, her brother, Marcus, just won the British Masters on the Euro Tour. Excited to see her play!

–Agathe Laisne (11th) and Kaitlyn Papp (12th) lead the Longhorns, and they’re peaking at the right time. Are seeking the program’s first team title.

Great schools, so I’m told, zero team titles to their name:

 –this is a deep team capable of winning their first title. They’re led by Jennifer Kupcho, who among other things won the 2018 individual NCAA title as well as the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this year.

 –does Vandy like being separated from the rest of the SEC? I don’t know, but it feels right. Auston Kim (37th) and Abbey Carlson (40th) offer a solid one-two punch.

 –Stephanie Lau (35th) and Brooke Riley (47th) lead this iteration of the Wildcats. They were runners-up in 2017.

 –no school has ever pulled off the men’s basketball/women’s golf double in the same year! That’s a completely arbitrary nugget I like with UVA having the opportunity this year. 39th-ranked senior, Anna Redding, leads the Cavs.

 –competing in the NCAA championships for the first time since 2007, the Hoosiers have battled back from a February swoon. Senior Erin Harper (137th) is the highest-ranked individual for IU. A berth in the knockout bracket would be a huge success.

Ranking-wise, Kent State is *not* an underdog, which makes their resource disadvantage more interesting:

 –The Flashes are experienced and looking to make serious noise this week. Led by Karoline Stormo (34th), Kent State will look to make the quarterfinals after just missing last year. As a Mid-American Conference honk I will always pull for Kent State.

 –freshman Elizabeth Moon (83rd) leads the squad. By virtue of being non-Power 5 I hope UCF makes a run this week.

–I couldn’t find a good spot for the Illini so here they are! This is their first NCAA championships, so anything past qualifying for knockouts would be a huge bonus.

As noted earlier, the field for the individual national championship consists of all the members of the twenty-four qualifying teams, along with twelve additional individual qualifiers. Those twelve qualifiers, with 

 –freshman has burst onto the scene this year. Ranks 5thin scoring average. Won the 2017 North & South Championship, finished second in 2018.

 –sophomore, native Oregonian set the school scoring average mark this year while ranking 10th nationally. Fun fact from her bio– she won every single league tournament in high school as a sophomore, junior and senior. Bet there were some coaches glad to see her graduate.

 –the pride of Norman, Oklahoma is 16th in scoring average nationally, having improved 2.5 strokes from her freshman year.

 –sophomore from Italy is currently 86thin scoring average. She captured the bronze medal at last summer’s European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, and we also share an October 10th birthday!

 –senior is peaking at the right time. Truthfully, I couldn’t find much else so apologies, Kathleen.

 –junior Michigan native is 59th in scoring average. A former Big10 Freshman of the Year, she has competed via sponsors exemption in the Meijer LPGA Classic on multiple occasions.

 –the redshirt senior from South Africa ranks 12th in scoring average and is back as an individual qualifier after doing so as a freshman in 2015.

 –sophomore from Thailand is 46th in scoring average. That $2 will get you a coffee tomorrow morning.

 –the Dane is 55th in scoring average across D1. She’s a senior so this is it.

 –junior from Arizona attended Xavier College Prep in Phoenix, which might have contractually obligated her to attend Xavier University (that’s a joke). All-Big East performer is a bit of a darkhorse nationally. No doubt my brother-in-law and the Maketewah faithful will be cheering her on from Cincinnati.

Amanda Hollandsworth, Virginia Tech (182nd)

 –cool tidbit here, the Virginia native was the first ever commit to the Va Tech women’s golf program back in 2013. A graduate student, she is also the first woman from the Hokie’s program to qualify for the US Open which she’ll compete in later this month.

 –a bit of a surprise qualifier perhaps as she’s not ranked in the top-250, but she was a very-highly touted freshman (3rd in 2018 class per Golfweek). Beware the streaky golfer!

-Used this tidbit last year but it holds–there’s never been a two-time NCAA individual champion. Jennifer Kupcho can change that this year, but so can Virginia Elena Carter! Something to keep an eye on.

-South Carolina is the highest ranked team (12th) to not make the championships. Similarly, Jiwon Jeon, ranked 9th for Alabama, the best player not competing this week.

-Since changing formats in 2015, the Pac-12 has won all four team titles, passing it around the league. If the trend holds look for one of the So Cal schools to win it.

-Very cool incentive starting this year as the 

individual champion will receive an exemption

 into the LPGA’s #NWAChampionship (that’s really the tourney name, I think) later this June in Rogers, Arkansas.

-San Jose State enters the week with all kinds of good karma as 

reports breaks that their athletic department has allegedly mishandled over $6 million in funds which were intended to fund athletic scholarships.

 This is the type of story I live for, and I hope the top gets blown off! Stay tuned, and as always, athletic administrators (and definitely revenue sport coaches) salaries are bloated, and athletes should be able to market their names and likenesses. And it’s all at the feet of the NCAA.

-Speaking of the NCAA, Melissa Luellen, head coach at Auburn, has her Tigers in this year’s championship. Last year I passed along the nuggets about the vacated 1988 women’s championship (team and individual titles). If you missed it, 

Jacob Bogage of the Chicago Tribune, details why Tulsa’s championships were revoked by the NCAA

. Apparently, though, the rules infractions didn’t have anything to do with the women’s golf team; instead, the NCAA vacated wins across the athletic department “after track and field coaches let athletes run under assumed names to bolster roster size.” Melissa Luellen won the individual title that year and still has the ring as nobody ever asked for it back. Tulsa still displays the championship banner and notes the titles in their media guides too. Hooray for the NCAA and I’m rooting for Luellen and her squad.

-In case you were curious about the volunteer setup, for $45 you too could volunteer. The details of what you receive are 

. On paper, begrudgingly, I understand it’s a ‘good’ deal. But I also am categorically opposed to having volunteers pay money on top of their unpaid labor, flimsy reasons be damned!

-Last thing, this is in all likelihood the last time the NCAA Championships will be held outside of Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ. I think it’s a mistake to tether them to one spot, as I’ve greatly enjoyed the unique flair and character of each course and venue.

2019 NCAA Women's Championship Preview

Two things influenced the selection this month–the PGA Championship moving to May and the fact I have yet to select a book from one of my favorite golf writers, Alan Shipnuck. So in that spirit, this month’s selection is 

Bud, Sweat & Tees: Rich Beem’s Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour.

 Beem of course is famous for outlasting Tiger at the 2002 PGA Championship and now does broadcast work. Hopefully you’ve come across this book, but if you haven’t I urge you to give it a read.

Rich Beem became an overnight folk hero with his victory at the 2002 PGA Championship, where he dazzled fans with fearless shotmaking and glib one-liners. By the time Beem had stared down Tiger Woods in an epic back nine and then danced a goofy jig on the final green, the sports world was clamoring to know, “Who is this guy, anyway?”



That question is answered in 

 Alan Shipnuck’s no-holds-barred look at modern professional golf. Shipnuck began tracking Beem during his rookie year in 1999, when he was a logo-free rube only a couple of years removed from a seven-dollar-an-hour job hawking cell phones. Beem and his hard-living caddie, Steve Duplantis, would find sudden fame and fortune, and Shipnuck enjoyed unparalleled access in chronicling their wild ride—sharing endless drives across the desert and eventful nights at strip clubs, cutthroat golf matches and late-night confessionals at assorted watering holes.



The result is an intimate portrait of two exceedingly colorful characters. Beem and Duplantis invite us deep into the world of the PGA Tour, exposing the rowdy, randy reality of the most interesting subculture in sports, which has always been a well-protected secret—until now. Sometimes bawdy, often hilarious, and always unpredictable, 

 stands as the finest insider sports book since 

Selection #12: May 2019

April in the golf world is synonymous with the Masters. This month’s selection is of course Augusta related though it’s not Masters specific. It’s a book written by Tripp Bowden about his relationship with longtime ANGC caddie master, Freddie Bennett. The description below does a pretty good job of conveying what it’s all about.

Though he was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, home of fabled Augusta National and The Masters, as a child Tripp Bowden was too young and too removed from the game of golf to realize what Augusta National really was, what it meant to his town and the world and the sport; its history, nostalgia, prestige and secrecy. All the ten year old Bowden knew about golf was that it was a stupid game that took up too much of his father’s time, and that he’d much rather kick around a soccer ball or stay home and read a book. But all that changed once Bowden’s father, a renowned local doctor, introduced him to one of his patients, Freddie Bennett, the legendary Augusta National caddie master.



Though Bowden was a white child of considerable privilege and Bennett was an older black gentleman of more modest means, the two formed an unusual bond. It was Bennett who introduced Bowden to the game of golf, a sport that would one day earn him a Division 1 golf scholarship and lead him to the final stage of a British Open qualifier. But it was the lessons Bennett taught the young Bowden off the course that had their profoundest impact on his life. Through Freddie and his particular brand of homespun wisdom, the author learned invaluable lessons about personal responsibility, hard work, and respect for others regardless of age, race or religion. He also learned that there’s much more to life than just playing golf.



Like the bestsellers 

 is a heartwarming tale of two unlikely friends and their uncommon bond forged through sport.

Hope you enjoy, and more than that, I hope golf season is officially upon you wherever you might reside!

Selection #11: April 2019

Given the sad news of the passing of legendary sportswriter Dan Jenkins late last week, I think it appropriate to read one of his works which has been on my list for quite some time. This month’s selection is:

, Dan Jenkins takes us on a tour of his legendary career as a sportswriter and novelist. Here we see Dan’s hone his craft, from his high school paper through to his first job at the

. Whether in Texas, New York, or anywhere for that matter, Dan was always at the center of it all—hanging out at Elaine’s while swapping stories with politicians and movie stars, covering every Masters and U.S. Open and British Open for over four decades. The result is a knee-slapping, star-studded, once-in-a-lifetime memoir from one of the most important, hilarious, and semi-cantankerous sportswriters ever.

There were a number of wonderful tributes to Jenkins published in the aftermath of the news. I greatly appreciated learning about his life and career. A couple of my favorites were:

Selection #10: March 2019

With February being Black History Month I think it’s perfect occasion to explore a book I’ve had my eye on for some time. This month’s pick is:

The book’s description reads as follows:

Golfers talk a lot about “love of the game,” but the phrase acquires a whole new level of meaning when it’s used in the context of the first African Americans who tried to make careers for themselves on the links. No mere coffee-table book, this attractively illustrated and designed volume by veteran golf writer McDaniel (one of the first blacks to achieve prominence as a golf journalist) tells the fascinating and inspirational story of the first black golf pros in riveting detail and with quiet eloquence. The stories of Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder, the first black pros to crack professional golf’s color line, are here, but it is the less-familiar sagas of such equally talented pros as Bill Spiller and Teddy Rhodes, who were denied a chance to succeed on the tour, that are the most revealing. Equally fascinating are the accounts of African Americans John Shippen, who played in the U. S. Open in 1896, and Dr. George Grant, who invented the golf tee. An essential addition to golf literature and to the history of race relations. -Bill Ott

I’m looking forward to this and hope you enjoy as well.

Selection #9: February 2019

With the new year we’re excited to launch the inaugural Fauxlex Series! Think of it as the world golf tour we would create if given the power to do so. It incorporates events from several tours across the world, bringing them together for a season-long points race in which you can create a team and compete for various ‘trophies’. Let’s get into the particulars…

Follow the link below to enter your team. Each team will consist of 32 players from the OWGR top-1000 based on year-end 2018 ranks. Specifically, you’ll select:

OWGR #1 to 10: 2 players
OWGR #11 to 30: 3 players
OWGR #31 to 50: 3 players
OWGR #51 to 100: 4 players
OWGR #101 to 250: 6 players
OWGR #251 to 500: 6 players
OWGR #501 to 1000: 8 players

Unlike other fantasy-type competitions, the team you select at the start of the year will be your #SQUAD throughout the year, so choose wisely and make sure to pick guys for which you want to ride!

The deadline for entry is January 11th at 5pm Eastern

Lastly, please note there is only one team per email, so please don’t feel the need or desire to sign-up multiple teams. Thank you.

What Tournaments are Included in the Fauxlex Series?

Great question! The current schedule looks like this:

Week 1: Sony Open (PGA Tour)
Week 2: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Euro Tour)
Week 3: Farmers Insurance Open (PGA Tour)
Week 4: Waste Management Phoenix Open (PGA Tour)
Week 5: ISPS Handa Vic Open (Euro Tour)
Week 6: Genesis Open (PGA Tour)
Week 7: WGC Mexico Championship (Joint event)
Week 8: Oman Open (Euro Tour)
Week 9: OFF
Week 10: The Players Championship (PGA Tour) 

 Kenya Open (Euro Tour)
Week 11: Valspar Championship (PGA Tour)
Week 12: Hero Indian Open (Euro Tour)
Week 13: OFF
Week 14: The Masters (Joint event)
Week 15: RBC Heritage (PGA Tour)
Week 16: Trophée Hassan II (Euro Tour)
Week 17: Wells Fargo Championship (PGA Tour)**
Week 18: British Masters Hosted by Tommy Fleetwood (Euro Tour)
Week 19: PGA Championship (Joint event)
Week 20: Charles Schwab Challenge (PGA Tour)
Week 21: The Memorial (PGA Tour)
Week 22: BMW Charity Pro-Am (Web.com Tour)
Week 23: US Open (Joint event)
Week 24: Travelers Championship (PGA Tour)
Week 25: Rocket Mortgage Classic (PGA Tour)**
Week 26: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (Euro Tour)
Week 27: John Deere Classic (PGA Tour)
Week 28: The Open Championship (Joint event)
Week 29: Reno-Tahoe Tournament (PGA Tour)
Week 30: Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae (Web.com Tour)
Week 31: Shot Clock Challenge (Euro Tour)
Week 32: BMW Championship (PGA Tour)
Week 33: Scandinavian Invitation (Euro Tour)
Week 34: Omega European Masters (Euro Tour)
Week 35: Mackenzie Investments Open (Mackenzie Tour)
Week 36: A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier (PGA Tour)
Week 37: BMW PGA Championship (Euro Tour)
Week 38: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (Euro Tour)
Week 39: Open de Espana (Euro Tour)
Week 40: Italian Open (Euro Tour)
Week 41: Japan Open Golf Championship (Japan Tour)
Week 42: The ZOZO Championship (PGA Tour)
Week 43: Bermuda Championship (PGA Tour)
Week 44: Gippsland Super 6 (Australasia Tour)
Week 45: 114 Visa Open de Argentina presentado por Macro (PGA Latino America Tour)
Week 46: Dunlop Phoenix (Japan Tour)
Week 47: OFF (THANKSGIVING WEEK)
Week 48: Emirates Australian Open (Australasia Tour)

Again, great question. You ask a lot of those. This is very important–each event is equally weighted. That means the John Deere Classic is equal to the Masters which is equal to the BMW Charity Pro-Am, and so on. The actual scoring mechanism will be the same as the PGA Tour’s scoring system used in their season-long points race for majors, which can be viewed in detail 

What Kind of Sweet Prizes Will I Get If I Win?

Let me be very clear–if you’re in this for material rewards, your head and heart is in the wrong place. This competition will be devoid of prizes except a piece of custom merchandise for the winner of the Fauxlex Series, plus each ‘cup’ winner.

Like the Tour de France, the Fauxlex Series will be awarding competition ‘cups’ across several ‘sub-competitions.’ These are meant to both add fun and allow people to get strategic in how they pick and choose their team. The ‘jerseys’ up for grabs this year are:

The Global Citizen (ie. “Globalist”) Cup

: points leader across all national Open events


: points leader across the five majors (Masters, US Open, British Open, PGA Championship and John Deere Classic)


: points leader across all non-PGA, non-Euro Tour events


The Fred Thompson Memorial Reverse Mortgage Cup**

: points “leader” for the Wells Fargo and Rocket Mortgage tournaments

**Please note: points earned by your team in these events will be subtracted from your overall Fauxlex score.

We will have a page with a permanent link to the standings on our website. Also, we will start a thread with a link to the standings on our message board, 

. It’s a great place to discuss the Fauxlex Series throughout the year.

Any other questions reach out to me on twitter (@BigRandyNLU) or on the Refuge. With all that said, sign up below!

The 2019 NLU Fauxlex Series

Let’s ring in the New Year with this selection:

Alister MacKenzie was one of golf’s greatest architects. He designed his courses so that players of all skill levels could enjoy the game while still creating fantastic challenges for the most experienced players. Several of MacKenzie’s courses, such as Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Pasatiempo, remain in the top 100 today. In his “lost” 1933 manuscript, published for the first time in 1995 and now finally available in paperback, MacKenzie leads you through the evolution of golf–from St. Andrews to the modern-day golf course–and shares his insight on great golf holes, the swing, technology and equipment, putting tips, the USGA, the Royal & Ancient, and more. With fascinating stories about Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, and many others, 

 gives valuable lessons for all golfers as well as an intimate portrait of Alister MacKenzie, a true legend of the game.

I’m not an architecture aficiendo by any means, but I believe this book is both enjoyable and important for all golf lovers to read. The insight into golf course design, and specifically MacKenzie’s beliefs, provides a wonderful foundation to think about and enjoy the game in a deeper manner. This is a book that countless people have reached out and told me is a must read (a good first book to begin an architectural deep-dive as well, if that’s among your goals and/or interests in the New Year).

Selection #8: January 2019

 is the story of four middle class buddies who live outside of Boston and for years have been 1) utterly obsessed with golf and 2) a regular foursome at Ponkaquoque Municipal Course and Deli, not so fondly known as Ponky, the single worst golf course in America. Just adjacent to these municipal links lies the Mayflower Country Club, the most exclusive private course in all of Boston and a major needle in their collective sides. Frustrated by the Mayflower’s finely manicured greens and snooty members, three of Ponky’s finest and most courageous—Two Down, Dannie, and Stick—set up a bet: $1,000.00 apiece, and the first man to somehow finagle his way on to the Mayflower course takes all. A long overdue tribute to dog-meat public courses and the incurables who play them, 

This is one of those books if you haven’t read yet, please do so immediately. And if you have read it, especially if it has been awhile, read it again. It’s a very rare book I’ve read cover to cover more than once. Don’t let any preconceived notions about the author sway your opinion–this is a fun, fantastic golf book. It feels right to read it in December, around the holidays, because it’s as close to golf comfort food and coziness as I know.

Selection #7: December 2018

Are you a museum person? I am, sort of, depends on what type of museum, I guess. What I like most about any museum, though, are the interactive displays and exhibits that are able to bring their subject material to life in cool, meaningful ways. I mention that because it’s exactly what Musselburgh does, and why it’s special. Think of it as entirely interactive golf museum, the lone exhibit being the oldest golf course in existence. Pause and reflect on that last line. Not only do you get to walk all around–there are no ropes or annoying security guards reminding you “no photos, please”–but you also get to actually play golf! Take divots, cause pitch marks, watch your ball bounce all over all while battling the elements and anguishing over the rub of the green and your messy swing. If you’re going to Scotland, and especially if you’re in and around East Lothian, it’s more than worth your time to get to Musselburgh and connect with the history. But here’s the really important part–DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN CLUBS. Leave them in the hotel, the car, wherever; you don’t need them and won’t want them. Period. End of story. Call ahead to the golf shop, rent a set of hickories (old-school balls included) and don’t worry about shooting a number. Just go out and play, have fun, and soak in as much of the history and aura as you can.

Cockenzie Power Station, a massive structure, used to stand right on the edge of the Firth of Forth near Musselburgh. It dominated both the skyline in town, as well as sightlines from the course. In late 2015, however, it was demolished. The video of the demo is worth a watch:

We learned that the ash from the coal being burned through the years at the plant began settling and accumulating all around. What’s crazy to think about is Musselburgh used to be situated much closer to the Firth, but now there is young terra firma built up making the Firth seem far away as you go around the course. In the picture below you can see the plot in the distance where the old power station stood, as well as get a sense of the way the land has expanded off to the Firth-side of the course through the years:

The 4th. It’s a 400+ yd par 4, meaning all you can handle with hickories and an old ball. It’s a slight dogleg right that plays through the first turn of the racetrack and out to the corner of the property where the green sits tucked between Mrs. Foreman’s pub long and left and a roadway to the right. My biggest disappointment with the hole is that Mrs. Foreman’s pub is not an operational bar! To read more about the situation, including some efforts to save and restore it, click 

Speaking of efforts to save and restore, there is a big effort to return Musselburgh closer to its original design. Blue Thistle Limited is a Scottish company created to raise and spend funds to make the Old Course at Musselburgh a “must-visit” golf venue. Part of their 

 is to commission Mackenzie & Ebert, renowned course architects, whose initial renderings call for “many of the course’s lost features” to be reintroduced and modern changes remodelled back to their original state.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?

Two necessities: reserve a set of hickory clubs and read up on the history.

The golf shop at Musselburgh clubhouse isn’t much in terms of food and clubhouse, you can pick up a drink and snack from the vending machines if you need something. The place to seek out, however, is the 

 located just a short jaunt from the course. According to Dave, general manager at Musselburgh, it’s “the friendliest place you’ll ever go.” He said it doesn’t have any of the airs or graces of a traditional golf club (eg. no shirt and tie requirement), but instead is a bit boisterous and a marvelous place to go have a sandwich and beer. According to Dave, they’ll “welcome you with open arms.” Maybe the biggest regret of the trip for me is there was nobody at the club on the Sunday evening after we played.

Tee Times: open to the public and can be made through the 

Greens Fees: greens fees top out at about 16 pounds, with a set of rental hickories costing an additional 39 pounds

Lodging: quick trip from wherever you’re staying in East Lothian

Tourist Sauce, Season 2: Musselburgh

John Dunn never expected that his summer job as a caddie at the local course in Connecticut might turn into something more. The lifers who plied the loops were an ensemble of misfits and degenerates who made the caddie yard look more like a gambling hall than a country club. But Dunn came of age in those yards and on those courses, and the magnetism of the game and the lifestyle proved irresistible. One adventure after another kept him coming back summer after summer, until he found himself migrating with the seasons, looping at some of the most exquisite and exclusive golf locations in the world. Dunn crisscrossed the country on his own big loop, working inside the privet hedges while camping on the mountains, following the back roads and stumbling across unexpected moments of profound natural beauty, and embracing the freedom of what he calls the last vagabond existence in America, all while trying to decide whether to quit the loop and get a real job. Maybe next season…

I first read this book about five years ago shortly after I moved to Northern Michigan to work for a golf season. I met and worked with a few guys like John, chasing the seasons across the country. I always thought such people were clued into a different, probably, higher wave-length about life and what it means to truly live and experience. As you’ll read, though, it’s a tough lifestyle with obvious sacrifices. As the cold weather sets in across most of the country, I thought this book would be apropos as a contingent of caddies migrate south.

Selection #6: November 2018

Tron and I made the trip up to South Pittsburg, Tennessee this past weekend for “The Ringer.” He gathered 60 golf junkies to help get the word out about his project in his home state of Tennessee called “The Buck Club.” He’s engaged King Collins Golf Design on the project, has all 18 holes laid out, as well as some bonus holes. He talks about how his world travels have influenced this golf course, and how Sweetens Cove synced him up with Rob Collins. Take a look at the video, and please do whatever you can to visit Sweetens Cove.

VIDEO: Zac Blair unveils his plans for the Buck Club at The Ringer at Sweetens Cove

The sensation of longing for a place one has not yet been.

The flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga is about 30 minutes from wheels-up to touch-down. The idle waiting on the tarmac at the world’s busiest airport was, of course, much longer.

Not that I was keeping track. I didn’t have to. The minutes waiting to push back from the jetway felt like hours, and no one could convince me that they were not. I was sitting in seat 36A on an MD-88, which, for the uninitiated, is a special little corner of personal hell. It is a “window” seat with no window, as one of the fuselage-mounted engines happens to be riveted directly into your left eardrum. To my right, across the aisle, sat a polite but talkative 16 year old girl who left her inside voice somewhere back in grade school. Her entire life story, spilled wistfully to her half-interested seat-mate, became the cadence of my last nerves zapping bright white spots in my narrowing vision, as a feeling of mild claustrophobia welled inside of me. I needed a distraction.

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths while I cocked my head to the side and rested it against the plastic interior of the airplane. In my mind’s eye, I replayed from memory the flyover video I’d watched no fewer than twenty times in the previous seven days–hole by hole, shot by shot–of the reason for enduring the pleasureless vibes of basic economy air travel.

Finally getting airborne was a relief. The whir of the fully spooled-up engines ignited my senses, as did the g-forces that pinned me further back in my already…

seat. I’ve flown all my life, but never had a flight felt so constricting, yet so liberating all at once. The quick hop gave me a few fleeting minutes to day-dream. I recalled, perhaps imperfectly, one of my favorite lines from Travis Hill’s splendid story in The Golfer’s Journal No. 2. “A glorious plume of vape smoke filled the morning air. ‘When that clears,’ he said, ‘you’ll see one of the greatest opening par fives in the world.'”

A calmness came over me. Our flight began descending as quickly as it reached its ultra-low cruising altitude of 14,000 feet. We touched down a few minutes later, and even though I was in the last row, I did not feel impatient while watching the passengers filter down the aisle, swiftly turning left and disappearing off the plane in single file. I grabbed my belongings and shimmied my way between the seats and past the flight crew who bid me a good night.

I pulled my suitcase up the jetway’s slight incline until I was thrust into the empty, dark terminal. Looking up, an advertisement crested the only hallway, over the escalator heading down toward the baggage claim.

“You’ve arrived! GIG CITY Home of the Nation’s Fastest Internet,” the mural proclaimed.

“Who woulda thunk it?” I mused to myself. As nice as the greeting was, and as ordinarily excited as a tech-literate millennial like me might otherwise be about such a revelation, I couldn’t help but shrug about the irony of such a first impression. After all, the internet had (thankfully) brought me and my companions for this trip together; soon enough, we’d all use the web to tell the world how great our pilgrimage had been. But for the next 24 hours, I wanted to get as far away from the real world as possible.

I deeply longed, in the truest sense of the word, for a place I had not yet been. But I was closer than ever to the destination of my daydreams–Sweetens Cove Golf Club.

The premise for our trip–or the excuse, if we’re being honest–was a 10 vs. 10 match play team event in honor of D.J. Piehowski’s thirtieth birthday. The Thirsty Cup, as we dubbed it, was nascent in its creation, but already historical in its importance–at least in our own little corner of the golf Twitterverse.

We didn’t have a clear set of rules. Or a definite format. We barely had a trophy.

But we had a vision, and two fearless leaders to execute it. The inaugural matches would be played between Team Tron and Team D.J.

While Team D.J. may have been slightly more golf-inclined, Team Tron, of which I was a part, “put a strong emphasis on team room vibes,” as our captain so eloquently put it. We were fine putting on the 

I summoned a ride as I waited outside the terminal in Chattanooga. After a ten minute jaunt through the sleepy river-edged town, my Uber driver promptly delivered me at the front porch of our 

 accommodations. As a working stiff, I was the last to arrive, shortly after midnight. I barged through the front door to a rousing cheer, obviously fueled by the collective consumption of a few adult beverages. Although the pairings party was already well-underway, it became apparent rather quickly that I hadn’t missed much in the way of locked-down information. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, shook a few hands, and found my way to the last available seat on the couch.

I sat quietly, watching Captains D.J. and Tron delve out pairings over cross-talk that would rival any cable news show at 2:30 in the afternoon. Thankfully, one of the participants, Kevin Van Valkenburg, kept studious journalistic notes on the matches–pairings, sequence, and all. I listened intently for my name to be called.

My first partner, for the two-man scramble, would be Travis “the Thrill” Hill, of The Golfer’s Journal fame. My second partner, for the alternate shot, would be Adam “So Good” Sarson, our resident ambassador from the Great White North. I could already tell this was going to approach levels of fun I hadn’t even considered.

While the pairings party started to wind down, I knew the only chance of making a contribution to my team was to get at least a modicum of precious sleep. Soly, benevolent soul that he is, offered me the opportunity to set up my air mattress in the master bedroom closet. It struck me as odd, to be sure, but also practical. And when I finally inflated the air mattress within it, I realized that in a house full of 16 dudes, I had actually lucked into a quiet, dark corner to call my own. This was becoming a theme of the day, but the closet was decidedly more comfortable than seat 36A that I’d occupied a few hours earlier.

The final obstacle to achieving a good night’s rest was my own excitement. Spoiler alert: I didn’t overcome it.

Less than an hour later, I was tip-toeing around downstairs, searching for coffee-related items, and trying not to wake the whole house. Second spoiler alert: I didn’t overcome that obstacle, either.

Our caravan approached the driveway, and slowed down as our tires crackled over the gravel. The little red sign that reads “Sweetens Cove Golf Club” is slightly overgrown and deliberately unassuming–in other words, the exact opposite of the course itself. A veer to the right reveals a little green shed and an unpaved parking lot–both as unassuming as the sign out front.

Then, you drive to the edge of the hill, and you see it.

A first impression that sticks with you. Photo by Jim Hartsell.

The first thing that hits you is the scale–you couldn’t imagine nine holes could occupy so much playable turf.

The second thing that hits you is the shear, unrelenting beauty of the place. The amber hues of the tall, waving grasses against the subtle hazel of the turf. The rolling mounds that mimic the smoky blue-grey mountains surrounding three sides of the property. For our group, that morning, we were treated to misty fog that settled right on top of us; it served as a bubble enclosing us in our own little world–just 20 young men, a “trophy,” and a little slice of golf paradise.

 features at Sweetens Cove; the place feels like a living monument to bold thinking in golf architecture. The course speaks loudly for itself. That’s one reason why everything else about the place is so understated. Perhaps most refreshing is that the architect, Rob Collins, and the general manager, Patrick Boyd, intuitively understand how the course bellows, and they don’t need to add much else in the form of spoken words. They let you find your own way of trying to express it. And if a simple google search for “Sweetens Cove” is any indication, 

. I must now try my best to conjure some that haven’t been written before. Here’s what I came up with:

Sweeten’s Cove is a Three Michelin Star restaurant in a truck-stop town that can notoriously support not one, but 

 Subways (and only one of them serves food that might qualify as edible). But locale, if not for the natural topography, is basically beside the point. As the Michelin Guide portends, “Three stars is the ultimate accolade, afforded only to those restaurants that offer ‘exceptional cuisine’ that is ‘worth a special journey.’” There is no doubt that what Sweetens is serving up is worth the meandering trip to South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Sweetens’ kitchen offers a sumptuous, indulgent nine-course tasting menu, and Executive Chef Collins knows how to make an impression.

If you first eat with your eyes, the par five opening hole is the perfect precursor upon which to begin your feast. Bombs away from the highest point on the property, the first tee shot is equal parts inviting and intriguing. Collins offers generous width to atone for the lack of your driving range aperitif. But his plating of bunkers and grasses and a far-flung water hazard also guide you on how to use your utensil of choice. The first bite is satisfying, sure. But it only hints at the depth and breadth of the assault on your palette to come. Indeed, the first green offers a sampling of two classic design features, with both a punchbowl and reverse redan incorporated into the same massive site. The green is fronted by a Dye-inspired bunker that would surely meet the approval of the man himself.

The Mitre Bunker that guards the first green. Photo by Kevin Livingood/Rob Collins.

Now that all your synapses are firing after your initial experience with a King/Collins green, the second hole offers no let-up from the intensity of the first. The green here is the capstone of a peppery dish–the spicy note of a stew composed from rolling undulations of the putting surface keeps building until you find the bottom hole and a much deserved reprieve.

The third hole is your first entree–this dish would be that perfectly rosy-colored duck breast at your favorite French bistro. The unrelenting shot values represent a new depth of flavor with each bite sized stroke you take, until you reach the finale and find that the course’s only aerial hazard, protecting the perched green, is waiting to ask one last question about how daring you feel.

Only upon reaching the fourth tee do you understand how special this feast of the senses is about to become. KING, as it is called, is the “we don’t really have a recipe–a pinch of this; a dash of that” course that changes in flavor profile every day but never deviates away from its delicious core concept. A front left pin may be a treasure hidden from view, while a back right pin shows you everything you need to know about the hole without revealing any secrets on the execution required. Maybe 120 yards today; maybe 190 yards tomorrow. A great chef must give his staff room to experiment with the menu.

By this point, you might be wondering about a less-inspired-by-comparison, transitional dish. At first glance, the mere 290 yards comprising the fifth would seem to be just that. But this small, rare, cheese and nuts course–ostensibly serving as a lighter bridge between the first half of the track and the second–is anything but a throwaway. The tee shot asks you more than a few questions, and only upon a second or third or fourth helping may you finally discover the answers. The green is guarded by a deathly pit one might say is the pungent danish blue cheese on the plate; not inedible, but perhaps delightfully bitter in taste if curiosity or carelessness leads to an unexpected detour.

The captivating fifth packs a lot of punch into a meager sub-300 yards of terror. Photo by Rob Collins.

If you ordered the wine pairings, you’ll finally get a big ol’ taste of water on the sixth to wash it all down. A nontraditional take on a classic, the cape-like vibe of this crescent wonder is a big, beefy wagyu feature. It is just the type of dish that deserves a preliminary tête-à-tête stare down for a minute while you build up enough courage to take it on. This brutally long and deftly protected hole is not for those with a weak heart (or high blood pressure).

If there is a palette cleansing hole, it would be the seventh. A shorter par 4, this hole reveals its hidden splendor as a tart, crisp coulee setting up the grand finale. In my trip to Sweetens, I first had the opportunity to meet Rob and Patrick, formally, as they sat behind this hole and watched our opening match of the Thirsty Cup. Admittedly, I may have been slightly more bashful had I not absolutely stuffed my approach to four feet while they looked on. But having conquered the hardest part of this hole (finding the appropriate tier of the multi-plateaued green), I puffed my chest and confidently strolled over to offer my hand to Rob and Patrick, giving my finest personal compliments to the Chef and Sous Chef, respectively. Ever humble and gracious to host us at the Chef’s table, Collins whipped up something truly delectable for a two-course dessert.

Architecturally, there is nothing I would change about Sweetens Cove. Every hole presents infinite strategic options–each shot demands your full attention–each hazard is deftly placed in the exact location from which you want to make your next swing. What’s more, we found out first hand that the mammoth greens, with all their swales and rolls and plateaus, truly define the strategy of the hole, all the way back to the tee.

A prime example is the non-traditional biarritz eighth. With its beastly swale, it could only be the devil’s food cake of our culinary experience. The green is almost comically large and oriented about forty degrees front-right to back-left from the fairway. The pitch, meanwhile, is in the opposite direction. While the majority of the green is perched four to six feet above the fairway, the middle portion is a deep swale in the biarritz vein; so deep, in fact, that a pin cut at the bottom of it is barely visible from certain places 130 yards away for the non-discerning taste-tester who couldn’t find the correct angle. I’m speaking from experience.

The spectacular eighth green, and the swale-bottom pin we were treated to in the morning sessions. The grounds crew, led by the incredible Brent Roberson, re-cut us a fresh “eff you” pin on every green while we ate lunch. Photo by Rob Collins.

Just when you think you’ve reached the richest part of the journey, Chef Collins serves his signature crème brûlée and double espresso to get your heart pumping one last time. The short ninth is a mega-redan style par 3. In many circles, an ending par 3 might be deemed anticlimactic–the unfortunate result of a poor routing that left the architect jammed up coming back to the clubhouse. This is not such a hole.

Instead, the ninth is a very intentional confectionery delight that caps off the crescendo building since your opening tee shot was struck a mere 10 feet away from from the final green. This dessert presents in a small dish, but below the crunchy surface of a perfectly crisped top layer, you will find a sweet, creamy center of the green that, depending on the day’s pin location, offers anywhere from a “better than usual” to “exceptional” chance to write a closing 1 or 2 on the card. If that’s not enough to leave you feeling satisfied, I can’t help you.

The extravagant design features, the cult following, and the off-the-map location could all lend itself to the type of pretentiousness one might typically associate with a haute cuisine establishment of such vaunted credentials and reputation. But maybe the most pleasant surprise of all is that nothing about the place is remotely stuffy, trendy, or chic. From the simplicity of the “clubhouse” to the lack of a driving range or shortgame practice area, to the two-figure price tag for an all-day pass, and beyond to the almost 

genuine southern hospitality of the staff, the ethos of Sweetens Cove is pure golf and pure fun.

Perhaps nothing exemplifies this better than Patrick’s jovial commentary as we stood on the first tee ready to hit our opening tee shots of the Thirsty Cup. As we watched touring pro Justin Hueber take a line so high and so far left off the first tee that left us all shaking our heads in disbelief, one of the uninitiated among us asked whether it might be out of bounds. Patrick immediately put such an inquiry to rest.

Articles

Selection #13: June 2019

2019 NCAA Women's Championship Preview

Selection #12: May 2019

Selection #11: April 2019

Selection #10: March 2019

Selection #9: February 2019

The 2019 NLU Fauxlex Series

Selection #8: January 2019

Selection #7: December 2018

Tourist Sauce, Season 2: Musselburgh

Selection #6: November 2018

VIDEO: Zac Blair unveils his plans for the Buck Club at The Ringer at Sweetens Cove

Unquenchable Thirst: A First-Timer’s Journey to Sweetens Cove

STRAPPED: Iowa (The Maize Runners)

Selection #5: October 2018

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

Enter the No Laying Up Ryder Cup Contest, Presented by Mizzen+Main

Home Game: Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup Room, Old Clubs, and Fishing Spot

Articles

Selection #13: June 2019

2019 NCAA Women's Championship Preview

Selection #12: May 2019

Selection #11: April 2019

Selection #10: March 2019

Selection #9: February 2019

The 2019 NLU Fauxlex Series

Selection #8: January 2019

Selection #7: December 2018

Tourist Sauce, Season 2: Musselburgh

Selection #6: November 2018

VIDEO: Zac Blair unveils his plans for the Buck Club at The Ringer at Sweetens Cove

Unquenchable Thirst: A First-Timer&#8217;s Journey to Sweetens Cove

STRAPPED: Iowa (The Maize Runners)

Selection #5: October 2018

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

Enter the No Laying Up Ryder Cup Contest, Presented by Mizzen+Main

Home Game: Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup Room, Old Clubs, and Fishing Spot

Unquenchable Thirst: A First-Timer’s Journey to Sweetens Cove