A number of high end private and resort courses like Oak Hill in Rochester, Somerset Hills in N.J., The Country Club in Brookline, Mass, Royal Oaks in Dallas, Long Cove in Hilton Head, Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and others have broken the mold and allowed the use of hand carts at their facilities setting a new precedent in support of the health and well being of their members and patrons.  For anyone who has travelled across the pond you know that walking with “trolleys” is part of the fabric of golf throughout the British Isles.

Other courses around the nation are starting to change their view that hand carts  are pedestrian and allow those playing their courses to get the full benefit of a good walk spoiled without continuing to stipulate they carry their own bags.  For the over-50 crowd the orthopedic price of carrying for 18 holes can be a deal breaker.

Our club, Woodmont Country Club outside Washington, D.C., has recently followed this lead with the bold step of instituting a test program allowing our members to walk our golf course with the assistance of hand carts.  As you can see from this picture we still have our standards-we insist that our members wear traditional golf garb and have fun while they are out there.

Private clubs steeped in tradition will continue to resist this change.    In our health conscious society it swimming against the tide to deny people the pleasure of the golf walk and the calorie burn that goes with it.  Those clubs with progressive views that support the best interests of their members will soon realize that the future is now when it comes to modifying their stance on this issue.

December, 2012

He may not be the most talented guy out there, he hits it short, misses lots of greens, but as we have seen in his Ryder Cup performances Ian Poulter is a possessed junkyard dog when he sees a title within his reach. His 65-65 over the weekend at the HSBC Champions in China slung him around the pack on his way to grabbing this trophy by the scruff of it’s neck.

There was red everywhere at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills-birdies were coming in bunches from the entire field on Sunday. Jason Dufner shot 8-under, Scott Piercy 7-under, Nick Watney 10-under, Adam Scott and Ernie Els 5-under. But it was Ian who put his short game and decisive putting to work making 8 birdies through the first sixteen to create a gulf that others could not seem to traverse.

Eerie and unexplainable things started happening to all the pursuers, especially starting at the pivotal par 5 15th hole.

Lee Westwood, who led at the beginning of the day, hit an amazing approach to the par five out of a stepped lie in and out of the fairway bunker. It travelled over water, reeds, and a bevy of bunkers leaving a routine green side up and down for birdie. He proceeded to chunk his pitch short of the green, skinny a pitch over the green, stub a chip onto the green on his way to an untimely bogie. Lee goes into Roberto Duran mode around the greens.

Martin Kaymer, the defending champ seemed to be in deja vu mode as he was storming from behind as he had in last year’s final round. Five birdies on the first seven holes of the back nine got him within shouting distance at 18-under when he hit it a leaky fade into the green side bunker on the par 3 17th. He then skulled his bunker shot across the green into the high grass on the other side, Misty May-Trainored it back into the same bunker on the next pitch, finally found the putting surface, but barely. A two-putt triple bogey six ended his challenge.

Mickey, a two-time winner of this event, had put together six birdies in the first fifteen holes and looked like he was going to grab Ian by the tail and reel him in. Hunting the flag with a routine knock down approach into sixteen he misjudged the bounce on the front of the green leaving himself a monster two-putt for par from the back edge to stay alive. Then on the par 3 17th he hit a left handed draw that didn’t and missed the green entirely into the gnarly grass below the green side bunker. His first pitch was a near fan job on a change-up that did not get out of the batter’s box to reach the putting surface. Even he could not avoid the evil decree and make the par pitch, so his bogey left him two afar with one to play.

Poulter’s bogey on seventeen and missing the approach to eighteen into the green side bunker gave a ray of hope to those behind. But as he had done all day he deftly pitched it to about twelve feet and buried the par save to guarantee the win and take home the $1.2 winners check.

In vintage Poulter style he said, “I’ve already spent the check last week. Yes, it was a vehicle and yes, it was very expensive”.

Guess he had a premonition.

November, 2012