Golf Digest Ambush
The Pitt Boss
From left: the Blue Chip Golf Society at Cuscowilla in Georgia; Brad Pittman with his father, Jeff; Jackie Smith doing his best imitation of Maximus, his headcover.
Jeff Pittman runs a tight trip.
If you're one of the members of the Blue Chip Golf Society, you received an e-mail from Pittman last November reminding you to set aside dates in May. Pittman was planning the 14th annual buddies trip at Cuscowilla in Eatonton, Ga., 80 miles east of Atlanta.
You used to go in March, but two years ago there was rain, sleet, hail and snow. And that was on the front nine of the first round, so you didn't mind that Pittman bumped the trip back a couple of months.
Your $400 was due on Feb. 1, and this was not a deposit. It was for five rounds and lodging, and it was non-refundable. "It's a hard line," says Pittman, 56, "but I have another life to tend to."
If you had to bail out for any reason, you had a few options: You could find a replacement, but your substitute had to have a similar playing ability (handicaps range from 4 to 18), and he had to fit in with this trip's dynamics. "This is a pure golf trip," says Pittman. "It's just golf, gambling and eating, and fellowship is paramount."
The worst-case scenario would be if you couldn't find somebody to take your place. At a dinner on the trip, the guys might mention your name during the pre-meal prayers while huddled around a grill wobbling from the weight of tender steaks paid for with your entry fee.
John Mattioli didn't play this year because of heart complications, but Pittman was able to get Danny Taylor to fill in. (You'd remember Taylor from previous trips to Seabrook Island in South Carolina; Destin, Fla.; or several spots on the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama.)
The golf this year was at the 1997 Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore-designed Golf Club at Cuscowilla, No. 39 on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses. Cuscowilla is semiprivate, charging $85 during the week for unaccompanied guests, which includes a caddie but not a tip. It's $110 on weekends with a caddie, but it's reserved for resort guests and members.
The tradition-minded architects moved little dirt within the 600 acres of what was once an American Indian reservation on Lake Oconee. Now the course that bears the name of the chief of the Creek Indians is home to bunkers with rough edging and some of the best greens in the state (except for maybe that former nursery over in Augusta).
Your three nights of lodging was either at Pittman's cottage at Cuscowilla, which he bought in 2006, or you stayed across the street, at Mattioli's cottage. Both sleep six, and by staying there, as opposed to one of the other lodging options at Cuscowilla, you saved about $300.
Pittman and Mattioli only ask the group for a cleaning fee. "We all love golf," says Pittman, "but we don't want to go broke playing it."
If you were on this trip, I ambushed you with four bottles of wine, two boxes of cigars, balls, hats, sunglasses and gloves. Pittman got a golf bag for sending the itinerary to Golf Digest.
"The last time I was ambushed was by my mother-in-law," says Jackie Smith, the banker for the nightly card games and proof that, over time, a man can start to look a lot like his headcover.
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