Athletes and fans keep score, and we all make lists. We have lists for errands, thank you notes, career goals, amends we have to make, and for golfers… its where we must go. I certainly want to attend games at some of the great sports venues of the world starting with the All England Lawn and Croquet Club for Wimbledon. I’ve been to games at Lambeau Field, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Fenway Park, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Madison Square Garden, and The Big House. Many of those experiences were work related or simply reflective of a game I wanted to attend without pining for years to get to those venues. Golf is different and golfers make lists of places they dream of playing and when they check courses off their lists, they keep score with the ones they play the most golf with. It’s silly and petty and a driving force for those things we all want on the horizon. As I’ve said before, we all need things to look forward to in this life.
Many of the best and first experiences I had in golf I shared with my dad. First rounds at Pine Valley, Pinehurst #2, Pebble Beach, Muirfield, Royal County Down and the Old Course were with my only hero. The memories have stood up and will always galvanize those places as extra special way beyond the holes and the hang. The last 15 years of my life and career have been an embarrassment of invites and opportunity. Places with historical relevance in championship golf have been a particular pursuit like Oakmont and the Country Club. Newer places like Ohoopee, Old Sandwich, and Friars Head because they have cultivated a superior experience by threading the needle in every category of experiential golf. Nostalgic locales like Fishers Island, Cypress Point and Newport Country Club because they are golf time capsules that rely on their soul and their healthy heartbeats that will stand the test of time. I was never really having to construct a list because the opportunity was there, and I never took any of the days for granted. Sand Hills hung out on my horizon for years as my own white whale and I satisfied that desire in September of 2019 and again last summer. It is a mecca, and it satisfied every element of what I hoped it would be. Circumstances in the spring and summer of 2023 will give me new experiences and I know I will take of all of them with a healthy level of gratitude. It still won’t stop me from being critical of design features I don’t care for, the signature soup that will be bland and the merchandise in the shop that will have me wanting to come out of retirement to set the professional staff straight on what is essential to “repping” a shop expertly. When I took on that responsibility at Seminole in the mid 90’s it was the most stimulating thing I did in my time as a member of the PGA of America.
My list is short, but there is one club and course I am determined to visit in 2023, Crystal Downs. Dr. Alistair Mackenzie’s body of work is not as prolific as some of his contemporaries, but he has several of the most important golf courses in American golf history on his resume and the story of Crystal Downs and its adherence to its modest presentation as a club is endearing. The short season of the Midwest, especially that of Northern Michigan makes the playing opportunities finite compared to other parts of the country but the pleasant climate and the extended daylight make the notion of a late, late afternoon tee time at Crystal Downs the most desirous experience I want to share in 2023. I spent many fantastic days in Leland, Michigan as a kid with the family of a lifelong friend and it’s been decades since I’ve been in that part of the world. Couple that with the reputation of Crystal Downs as a laboratory for design geeks to wig out at the sublime use of the land by Dr. Mackenzie and Perry Maxwell, the green contours and the sleepy and humble vibe of the club itself, and you have the perfect combination of things that wind me up as a golfer.
Why do you want to go where it is you want to go? The list is about the top 100 and you are currently lagging behind your gluttonous buddies who have checked more boxes? It’s the forbidden city like Augusta National or Pine Valley because they are the boldest notches on your golf bedpost? It’s about the hottest hangs in the game like Ohoopee, Groove XXIII, or Gosser Ranch because you want to share it with your boys? Whatever the reasons, they’re all good and shared by countless others. It’s such a particular element of the game that helps sustain it and what other sport would have my mind fixated on getting to Frankfort, Michigan on a summer day? When and if the day presents itself, I’ll share all the details and then I’ll move on to the next thing that has taken up residence in my golf-centric mind. Playing and exploring what I am calling the Jay Gatsby golf trail. What could that possibly consist of….Stay tuned.