GOLF ODITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, part three . . .

By Mike Hamiel, member California Golf Writers Association

MOST EXPENSIVE GOLF COURSE TO BUILD – Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, N.J., less than 1000 yards from the Statue of Liberty, was designed by Robert Cupp and Tom Kite. Carrying a price tag of $250 million, it’s a big course, 7400 yards from the tips. Including a heliport, yacht services, spa and restaurants all built on a former landfill with the Manhattan skyline in the distance. Membership fees are $500,000, apparently cheap enough to attract members like Eli Manning, Phil Mickelson, Rudolph Giuliani, and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.

HALF OF THE 32,000 –golf courses in the world, are in the United States

GOLF IN RUSSIA – Modern Russia’s first golf course only opened in 1989, over 20 years later this huge country only has 14 courses (Riverside County in California has 130) the 15,000 golfers in Russia are also the wealthiest, metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska has a Jack Nicklaus designed club in Moscow that cost him $29 million to build and membership’s starting at $285,000. But Russia does have a world ranked course in the top 100, Le Meridien Moscow Country Club the “Home of The Cadillac Russian Open” – an event on the PGA European tour Calendar and designed by Robert Trent Jones. This place is a real resort destination with 5 restaurants, hotel, tennis courts, spa, etc, check out their web site: www.lemeridien-mcc.com.

HIGHEST AND LOWEST GOLF COURSES – The highest altitude one is the Yak Golf Course at 13,025 feet above sea level in Kupup, East Sikkim, India. The previous champ was the Tuctu Golf Club in Peru at 14,335 feet above sea level. Swallowed up in clouds and dense vegetation, the mining company that owned the course abandoned it many years ago. Interestingly enough, the world’s lowest golf course also happens to be an occasional advertiser in this magazine. 18-hole Furnace Creek Golf Course built in 1931 in Death Valley, California. At 214 feet below sea level you would suspect that your ball wouldn’t travel as far as your home club, right? actually it makes a good story, but you probably won’t see any difference. Surprisingly water comes into play on nine holes.

LOWEST GOLF SCORE EVER- In 1962, amateur Homero Blancos, playing in the Premier Invitational, in Longview, Texas, put together a 27 on the front nine and a back nine of 28 for a score of 55 over 18 holes. He had 13 birdies and 1 eagle with only 20 putts. The course no longer exists, it was a 9 holer with two different tee boxes on each hole to create a different look on the ‘front 9’ and the ‘back 9’. It was a par of 70 at 5,000 yards but all the greens were domed and out-of-bounds markers tightly lined every hole. It’s the only known 55 on an 18-hole golf course that has a regulation par. Blancos went on as a pro and won four times on the PGA Tour and once on the Senior Tour.

GOLF IN VIETNAM – This small Asian nation will always be remembered as the site of America’s longest war, but today American’s are coming back to this beautiful country and again trudging thru the jungle, but today it’s the errant Titleist their looking for, with thirty resorts to choose from including Colin Montgomerie’s signature course in Da Nang golf in Vietnam is proving to be a winning proposition by the government where Americans are welcomed with open arms.

NICKLAUS’S MAJORS – Jack’s 18 majors are still the bench mark the rest of the golfing world has been chasing for decades, its well documented that Tiger set out as a teenager to take that record and make it his own, time will tell. Lets look at some more records: Nicklaus came in 2^nd place 19 times, and 3^rd place, 9 times . . . 46 times, I, 2 and 3, pretty impressive don’t you think?

A PERFECT ROUND – If a golfer birdied all 18 holes leaving a 54 on his score card on a par 72 course that, indeed, would be a perfect score unfortunately no professional golfer has ever accomplished this feat.

HOLE NICK NAMES – One over par, “Going round in Bogey” originally meant an overall par score, starting at the great Yarmouth Golf Club in 1890, and based on a popular music hall song “Here Comes the Bogey Man”. Par, the golfer has taken as many strokes as the holes par number. Par derives its name from Latin, in which “par” means equal. Birdie, one under par (-1). This expression was coined in 1899 when George Crump (who later built Pine Valley C.C.) hit his second shot only inches from the cup on a par-four hole after his first shot had struck a bird in flight. Crump’s playing partner called that shot “a bird”. His short putt left him one under par for the hole, and from that day on, his playing partners referred to such a score as a “birdie.” Eagle, two under par (-2). Eagles most commonly happen on par-fives, though it occasionally occurs on short par-fours. A hole-in-one on a par-three also results in an eagle. The name was given to be a larger bird for a better score. Albatross, three under par (-3). Also called a double eagle (Jack Nicklaus had three in his whole career). Extremely rare, and occurs most commonly on par-fives with a strong drive and a holed approach shot. Holes-in-one on par-four holes are also albatrosses. Fewer than three per year are recorded on the PGA Tour. Paul Lawrie did it in the final round of the 2009 Open Championship followed that same year by Camilo Villegas at the Chevron World Challenge. Condor, four under par (-4). This is the lowest individual hole score ever made. This would be a hole-in-one on a par five or a 2 on a par six. It has only been recorded four times in history, only once on a straight drive (for a record 517 yards) and never during a professional tournament.

AMATEUR GOLFER, PROFESSIONAL ASTRONAUT – thirty-nine years have passed since Alan Shepard described his exaggerated moon shot as “miles and miles and miles.” The first was reported to be a duff but the next connected. Although those two golf balls, Shepard estimated the distances in the 200 to 400 yard range. Still not bad with one hand and encumbered by a suit that prevented any kind of follow through. Shepard was the first American in space and the oldest astronaut to walk on the moon at the age of 47. You can see that 6-iron that’s been to the moon and back at the USGA Museum in Far Hills, N.J. While there, check out the driver Argentina’s Angel Cabrera used to win the U.S.Open last year at Oakmont C.C. with an astonishing 390-yard drive during the final round. Let me know if it has a dent in it.

PRESIDENTIAL HOLE-IN-ONES – Richard Nixon, at the age of 44, using a Spalding five iron landed in the hole at #2 at the Bel Air Country Club on September 4^th, 1961. He called it “the greatest thrill in my life – even better than being elected. While golfing February 6^th, 1968, in Palm Springs, California, 77-year-old former President Dwight Eisenhower achieved every golfer’s dream. He scored a hole-in-one on the par-3, thirteenth hole at Seven Lakes C.C.

COMMENTS/QUESTIONS? . . . . . michaelhamiel@comcast.net