Odyssey 2013 Another Trilogy
Greetings to all my golf friends,
Just like 2012, there are three distinctive trips in 2013 (please see Itineraries section):
- Dominican Republic - early May - 10 courses in 7 days
- Ireland - early June - 12 courses in 9 days
- Austria & England – late August/early September - 13 courses in 11 days in Austria; England: Stoke Park, Littlestone, Royal St. George’s
Other significant items in 2013:
- Golf Magazine 2013 World Top 100 list published
- Golf Digest 2013 USA Top 100 Top list published
- Writing of book “A Golf Odyssey With The Real McCoy” actually started
- Website/Blog “Golf Odyssey” under development
Golf Magazine World Top 100 Changes
Every two years, in the odd number years, both leading U.S. golf magazines come out with revised Top 100 lists. The five additions to the World 100 were:
#50 Trump International, Scotland (north of Aberdeen)
#78 Shanqin Bay, China (Hainan Island)
#82 Cabot Links, Canada (Inverness, Nova Scotia)
#94 Royal Melbourne (East), Australia (Black Rock)
#96 Rye, England (Camber)
Royal Melbourne (East) and Rye had previously been on the list and then fell off.
As I have already played all five new additions I do not have to lift a finger to stay current with playing all 100 (first done in 1988 and repeated every two years since then).
Leaving the World Top 100:
#75 Winged Foot (East), Mamaroneck, NY
#84 Nanea, Big Island, Hawaii
#87 Chambers Bay, near Tacoma, Washington)
#97 Valley Club of Montecito, Santa Barbara, CA
#98 Highland Links, Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada
Golf Digest U.S. Top 100 Changes
The eight additions:
#27 Gozzer Ranch, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
#45 Pikewood National, Morgantown, West Virginia
#49 Old Macdonald, Bandon, Oregon
#59 Baltusrol (Upper), Springfield, New Jersey
#69 Quaker Ridge, Scarsdale, New York
#75 Whispering Pines, Trinity, Texas
#93 The Pete Dye Course at French Lick, Indiana
#98 Grandfather, Lineville, North Carolina
Quaker Ridge and Grandfather had previously been on the list and then fell off.
I have not played two of the six “new” additions – Pikewood and Pete Dye at French Lick. I’m hoping to do both next spring.
Leaving the U.S. list (nine courses as there were actually 101 courses on the 2011 list due to a tie at number 100):
#61 East Lake, Atlanta, GA
#69 Sycamore Hills, Fort Wayne, Indiana
#81 Sage Valley, Granitville, South Carolina
#85 Eugene, Eugene, Oregon
#91 Galloway National, Galloway, New Jersey
#92 Shoreacres, Lake Bluff, Illinois
#97 The Prince Course, Kauai, Hawaii
#99 Forest Dunes, Roscommon, Michigan
#100 (T) Ocean Forest, Sea Island, Georgia
The Book
As many of you know, I’ve been threatening for so many years to write a book about the life and times of a golf course rater. The reason that it has taken so long to get off the ground is that there are so many other interesting things to do than sitting down to pound on the computer writing a book. Fortunately, earlier this year friend and North Shore of Boston neighbor Gary Larrabee put the bug in my ear. He is an “author/historian” of golf, having written the club histories of Salem CC, Winchester CC, Wellesley CC, and Nashawtuc CC. Gary is a 35-year member of the Golf Writers Association of America. He also had a personal relationship with world famous golf writers Herbert Warren Wind and John Updike.
Gary has given the project direction and focus. Much of the material is coming from the yearly “Odyssey’s” which began in 1985. The working title is “A Golf Odyssey With The Real McCoy”. This title was the inspiration of San Jose, CA friend Gary Vandeweghe. Projected publication date is late 2014. We do not have a publisher at the moment.
Website/Blog
Recently I registered “thegolfodyssey.com” using a service called WordPress. I naively thought I would be able to do everything by myself and even purchased “WordPress for Dummies”. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t even get out of the batter’s box. Coming to the rescue has been Gary Larrabee’s son Kevin who is a wiz at this technology stuff. I would expect we would have a “live” site with substantial content by the end of the year. So stay tuned!
Conclusion
I thank everyone who helped to make the 2013 events possible. There is no way I could do any of what has happened in 2013, or for that matter all the other years of golf travel, without the help of so many people. As a friend said “you are living the dream”. How lucky can a guy be?
Wishing all the readers of the “O” good health and enjoyable golf.
Bob