February 2011: Where's Matty G?: Golf Digest

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Where's Matty G Travel Blog: golfdigest.com

Results for February 2011 Back to Where's Matty G? Index

Wild Winter: Snow Days At Bandon Dunes

Monday, February 28, 2011

No one plays more rounds at Bandon Dunes than Mother Nature--especially in February--but she rarely closes the course. Last week was an exception.

“On Thursday at 5 o’clock, the course was clear,” says Marie Krebsbach, guest-appreciation coordinator at Bandon Dunes. “By 9 o’clock, it got cold, and there was snow everywhere.”

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Gamble Ranch: "...The Next Sand Hills."

Friday, February 25, 2011

I was beginning to think Tom Doak and Bill Coore were the only active course builders on U.S. soil. Then I caught up with David McLay Kidd, who was taking a break from meetings and skiing in central Oregon on a Friday afternoon.

“The U.S. is quiet,” Kidd says, “but I’ve got a project in central Washington that might be the next Sand Hills.”

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Catching Up With Mike Keiser, Owner Of Bandon Dunes

Friday, February 18, 2011

“I’ll make three trips, and it will be done,” says Mike Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes.

Cowboys ride fences. Doctors make rounds. Reporters make calls.

I make it a habit to check in with Keiser, and he never disappoints. On my latest call, I was looking for an update on his new 12-hole par-3 course, which is being built by Bill Coore of the Coore/Crenshaw design team. (The two built Bandon Trails for Keiser, and they’re now renovating Pinehurst No. 2.)

“It’s going fast,” says Keiser, who will meet Coore on site next Thursday for one of his three trips to monitor the progress. Keiser anticipates some very limited play by the end of this summer and an official opening by next spring.

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What's Next For Pinehurst And The Pit?

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Is the Pit going to become Pinehurst No. 9? Not likely.

On Monday, the Pinehurst Resort, which has eight golf courses under its umbrella, bought the shuttered Pit Golf Links in Aberdeen, about five miles South of the Carolina Hotel.

Why? Not necessarily to add a course and satisfy a surge in demand, but more likely, it’s because the Pit was cheap, and it made sense given the layout of the Pinehurst property.

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A Quick Q&A With A Beverage Cart Girl: Leilani Rodriguez

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day; an excuse to give a gift to your loved one.

Believe me, I know who butters this blog--you, the avid golfer who appreciates a great buddies trip, good value and a beverage-cart girl with a positive attitude.

My Valentine’s Day gift to you is Leilani Rodriguez, 23, who tends cart at PGA West in La Quinta. I met her on the Norman course, and she was sweeter than the desert weather in December.

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Playing In A Pro-Am? Here Are 10 Things You Should Know

Thursday, February 10, 2011

As you might have heard by now, I played in the Bob Hope Classic Pro-Am a few weeks ago.

In one of my six posts about the greatest week of my life, I wrote about my round with Jerry Kelly. What I had to cut was the bit about my caddie tending the flag; and dislodging the cup.

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Face Off: One Course, Two Perspectives

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Have you seen the new page in the travel section of Golf Digest? We’re calling it Face Off: one course, two perspectives.

The first perspective is from Ron Whitten, the “architecture guru” at Golf Digest. Whitten has walked more courses than Nicklaus; designed or co-designed six courses, including Erin Hills, site of the 2017 U.S. Open; and has written four books on the subject of architecture.

The second perspective is mine, the “avid golfer.” I’ve played nine of the top 10 best public courses in the country (at a $500 green fee, I’ll keep passing on Shadow Creek), and 59 of the top 100 (and counting). I’m trying to celebrate the courses doing it right; not charging too much and treating you like a paying customer. (Is that too much to ask?)

In the Face Off, Whitten provides a brief history of the course design and some things to look for if and when you get there.

I try to give practical observations on the green fee, the fun factor and some local knowledge.

The first three courses we’ve featured are TPC Scottsdale, Caledonia in Myrtle Beach and Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, Calif. (Click here for a link to the Pasatiempo Face Off. Click here for the link to Caledonia. TPC Scottsdale hasn’t been posted yet.)

Let me know what you think of the page. Whitten and I welcome ides on which courses you’d like to see in upcoming issues of the magazine.

You can follow more of Ron Whitten’s observations on golf and architecture on Twitter: @RonWhittenGD.

You can also follow me and my fortunate travels via Twitter: @Matt_Ginella.

--Matty G.

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Something New At The Old Course

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The year was probably 1997, and a mixed bag of Sports Illustrated staffers were on their annual buddies trip to Scotland. A young Matt Ginella and Alan Shipnuck (who’s still a scribe for the competition) were invited to tag along, but if we wanted to play the Old Course, we would be on our own that day. The group had already done the Old Course in previous years and had passed on the process of getting tee times.

Shipnuck and I got out to the starter shed at 6ish in the morning and put our names in the ballot box as singles. We were told we had a good chance of getting out; now all we had to do was pay the green fee, coordinate a caddie if we’d like and to produce the mandatory handicap cards.

Right . . . handicap cards?! We told the cold red face behind the small white window that we needed to go back to our car to get our handicap cards.

We had no car to go back to because the group had dropped us off, but more important--we didn’t have handicap cards.

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A Rookie Tours The PGA Merchandise Show

Thursday, February 3, 2011

A few hours into The Show, which is the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, it all started feeling scripted.

“Hey, when did you get here?”

“Where are you staying?”

“When do you leave?”

“Wouldn’t you agree, The Show is about half the size it was in the '90s?”

“Can I get your card?”

“Did you rent a car?”

“What are you doing for dinner?”

“See you at The Peabody for a drink later?”

And even if they don’t really mean it, almost every conversation ends with:

“Have a good show.”

Repeat, but as the hours turn to days, throw in some coffee breath, blood-red eyes, long looks at name tags, sore feet, bad backs and duck parades. Everyone starts looking like it's day three of a golf buddies trip, but without the golf and with all the wrong buddies.

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