The Pleasure Of His Company

"When you hit solid rock on your green site, you've got to move your green site," he says. "You don't learn that playing the PGA Tour. You learn that being out in the field."

Rees has a stock speech about how he wants golfers to think their way around his courses. I challenged him on that one time. Golfers want to relax, I said. They don't want to solve 18 brain puzzlers. How can they relax when you're making them study?

The only way to relax during a round of golf is when you focus on the course, he replied. "If you're thinking about problems at work, problems at home, you're not relaxing. I'm trying to give you a four-hour escape. If the course doesn't demand your complete attention, if your mind wanders, then you're not going to relax."

He's right. Great courses are like great books and great movies: totally absorbing. Rees' best works are captivating, even seductive: Ocean Forest on the Georgia shoreline, Nantucket and Atlantic in the ocean crosswinds, Shadow Hawk in a Texas pecan orchard, Sandpines in Oregon dunes, Haig Point on Calibogue Sound, and Torrey Pines South amid Pacific canyons.

The worst thing any golfer can say about any golf course is that it's boring.

Rees Jones courses are never boring.

THE 59-CLUB LIMIT

PAID MEMBERSHIPS (6)
Maidstone C., East Hampton, N.Y.
Montclair G.C., West Orange, N.J.
National G. Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.
Pine Valley (N.J.) G.C.
Seminole G.C., Juno Beach, Fla.
Spyglass Hill G. Cse., Pebble Beach

HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS (53)
3 Creek Ranch G.C., Jackson, Wyo.
Andalusia C.C., La Quinta, Calif.
Atlanta Ath. C., Duluth, Ga.
Atlantic G.C., Bridgehampton, N.Y.
Bahia Maroma, Riviera Maya, Mexico
Baker Hill G.C., Newbury, N.H.
Ballybunion (Ireland) G.C.
Bear Creek G.C., Hilton Head Island
Belle Meade C.C., Nashville
Bellerive C.C., St. Louis
The Bridge, Bridgehampton, N.Y.
Canoe Brook C.C., Summit, N.J.
Carmel C.C., Charlotte
Cherry Valley C.C., Skillman, N.J.
Coral Ridge C.C., Fort Lauderdale
The Currituck C., Corolla, N.C.
Daniel Island C., Charleston, S.C.
The Dunes G. and Beach C., Myrtle Beach
East Lake G.C., Atlanta
The Georgia Tech C., Alpharetta, Ga.
The G.C. at Briar?s Creek, Johns Island, S.C.
The G.C. of Cape Cod, Falmouth, Mass.
G.C. of the Everglades, Naples, Fla.
Golf de Sperone (France)
Golden Hills G. & Turf C., Ocala, Fla.
Haig Point C., Daufuskie Island, S.C.
Hammock Dunes C., Palm Coast, Fla.
Huntsville G.C., Shavertown, Pa.
Kohanaiki G. and Ocean C., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Lake Merced G.C., Daly City, Calif.
Lake of Isles G.C., North Stonington, Conn.
LedgeRock G.C., Mohnton, Pa.
Lookaway G.C., Buckingham, Pa.
Medinah (Ill.) C.C.
The Nantucket G.C., Siasconset, Mass.
Naples (Fla.) Grande G.C.
Ocean Forest G.C., Sea Island, Ga.
Old Chatham G.C., Durham, N.C.
Olde Florida G.C., Naples, Fla.
The Oxfordshire G.C., Thame, England
Oyster Reef G.C., Hilton Head Island
Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort
Quintero G. & C.C., Peoria, Ariz.
RedStick G.C., Vero Beach, Fla.
Redstone G.C., Humble, Tex.
River Oaks C.C., Houston
Robert Trent Jones G.C., Gainsville, Va.
Shadow Hawk G.C., Richmond, Tex.
Totteridge G.C., Greensburg, Pa.
Victory Ranch C., Woodland, Utah
Viniterra G.C., New Kent, Va.
Wintergreen Resort, Wintergreen, Va.
Woodside Plantation C.C., Aiken, S.C.