Rob Runs Into A Round-Wrecker

We've all had it happen to us. Rob Labritz, the only club pro to make the cut at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, had an excellent third round going for 17 holes. Then a quadruple bogey jumped up and bit him.

You can read the details of how one of Pete Dye's 1,000 bunkers snagged Labritz's approach shot on the 446-yard par-four ninth hole (his 18th of the round since he started on the back nine) at the blog he's writing with Ralph Wimbish at the NY Post. But we've all had it happen to us...an awkward stance, a bad lie, a little extra adrenaline and the next thing you know your scorecard has a blot on it.

Up until that point, Labritz was cruising. He'd started the round at even par, then scored a birdie on the first hole. Here's some video of the precise second shot that set up the tweeter that put him under par for the tournament.



He poured in this putt for another bird on the 12th hole.



Labritz added yet a another circled number at the 569-yard par-five 16th hole. He dropped a couple of shots in the early going on the back nine, but got one back with another kick-in birdie at the 507-yard par-four 8th hole, his 17th of the day. All together, a much-more-than-respectable round that shows Labritz, the Director of Golf at Bedford's GlenArbor Golf Club, can keep pace with the best.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Labritz Scores At PGA Using Positive Mindset

Rob Labritz, Director of Golf at Bedford's GlenArbor and one of 20 club pros competing in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, went to bed last night feeling mighty good about his chances for moving up the leaderboard. He told Ralph Wimbish of the NY Post that he felt great calm after finishing the first nine holes of his delayed second round.

Labritz had reason to feel good; he scored two birdies and parred the treacherous 18th hole (his ninth for the day) that had put him over par for the first round. With that out of the way, he went to the course this morning to finish the second round expecting much lighter winds and facing the much easier front nine.

A birdie on the second hole, a 593-yard par 5, gave Labritz a one-under 71 for the round and puts him at even par for the tournament. While there are still players on the course finishing their second rounds as of this writing, that should put Labritz well inside the cut line. We'll be watching (and rooting) this afternoon.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Sweet Swing at Whistling Straits

Rob Labritz had a fine first round at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The Director of Golf at Bedford's GlenArbor Golf Club shot a one-over 73 in a round that included four birdies on the front nine. He was one under going into the final hole, the treacherous 500-yard par-four 18th, which he told the NY Post's Ralph Wimbish has been his nemesis in the practice rounds.

Here's video of Labritz's tee shot at the 148-yard par-three 12th hole, which he safely two-putted for a par.


For the inside scoop on Labritz's experience at the PGA Championship, visit the blog he's writing for the NY Post with Ralph Wimbish.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Buddy Trip? Try Whistling Straits

Enchanted by the TV coverage of Whistling Straits? Consider it as a destination for a buddy trip.

First you fly to Milwaukee. Milwaukee? You bet. The land of polka fests and cheeseheads also happens to be the home of the Midwest’s only AAA Five-Diamond resort and the site of the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. When they played it there in 2004, you may recall, Vijay Singh won his third career major. The Straits course, which opened in 1998, is two miles of rugged Lake Michigan shoreline sculpted into brutal, windswept links by golf architecture’s bad boy Pete Dye.

At the same complex and just inland from the Straits Course, Dye built the deceivingly tranquil Irish Course, where the grassland and dunes are crossed by four meandering streams. There’s also a flock of Blackfaced sheep complete with bells, which makes for an other-worldly experience when they trot between the pot bunkers as you’re aiming your tee shot. Kohler also offers two slightly more conventional courses at nearby Blackwolf Run, also Pete Dye designs. All the courses—-and everything else in town—-are operated by Destination Kohler, a division of the well-known plumbing fixture company.

There are basically two places to stay in Kohler, a quaint, carefully manicured company town where stately elms line the streets and even the bricks in the old factories look scrupulously clean. The AAA Five-Diamond facility is the distinguished American Club, where every room features a Kohler whirlpool bath (it is a plumbing fixture company), down comforters, and memorabilia honoring famous Americans. Less posh but still comfortable is the Inn on Woodlake, a 121-room hotel overlooking an eleven-acre lake with private beach and its own putting green. The tiny village also offers ten places to dine, including the Whistling Straits Restaurant in the stone clubhouse overlooking Lake Michigan, which received the 2005 Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Inside The Ropes At The PGA Championship With Rob Labritz

Only 20 club pros made it to the PGA Championship that starts today at Whistling Straits--Rob Labritz from GlenArbor is one of them. He's chronicling his experience with the help of Ralph Wimbish in a blog for the NY Post.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Eye-Popping Greens At Forsgate

Scottish immigrant John Forster made many great decisions in his life. He founded Crum & Forster Insurance Company and made a boatload of money. He used some of it to buy 50 bucolic acres of farmland in central New Jersey and developed a dairy farm where he and his family and friends could escape the daily grind of Manhattan. The smartest thing he ever did, though, was buy some additional land and turn that farm into a challenging golf course designed by golf architect Charles Banks. Today, the Banks course is the gem of Forsgate Country Club, a private, non-equity club in Monroe Township, N.J.

The architect, known as "Steam Shovel" Banks due to his fondness for that particular piece of earth-moving equipment, created some of the most dramatic green complexes in the game for Forster's course. Sam Snead said in Golf Magazine that the Banks Course had "the most eye-popping greens" he had ever seen. The course has been upgraded many times since it opened in 1931, but the greens and their protective bunkers, swales, moguls, and fescue rough remain true to Banks' imaginative vision.

The course isn't long, 6,844 yards from the tips with a par of 71, but each hole is unique, making for a fascinating round of golf. Banks drew on his and Forster's favorite holes from other courses they had played around the world. Banks was also an associate of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, so many of their trademarks can be found on the course as well. The second hole, for example, is a 420-yard par 4 modeled after the 15th hole at Macdonald's National Golf Links while the fifth hole, "Punchbowl," a 417-yard par four, is a copy of the ninth hole at Hoylake, a fixture on many Banks, Raynor, and Macdonald courses.

The greens on Forsgate's Banks course are what you'll revisit in your dreams, though. I don't believe I have ever seen so many different ways to use tiers, terraces, ridges, humps, hog backs, false fronts, and other severe contours. While many courses have difficult putting surfaces, few of them have greens large enough to enable multiple--and fair--pin positions.

The par threes are truly unforgettable. The 216-yard third hole has a healthy ridge that effectively cuts the target area in half and forces you to challenge the deep bunkers on either side of the green to get close to the pin off the tee. Hole #7 is a true Redan and a real challenge at 216 yards.

Number 12 is a manageable 163 yards to a green completely surrounded by bunkers. It's called "Horseshoe" because the green incorporates a horseshoe-shaped ridge that circles the putting surface. The 17th hole is patterned after Willie Dunn's famous par three at Biarritz, France. This one features a long, narrow green divided in two parts by a chest-deep swale. It also plays 239 yards, so par is truly an accomplishment.

Forsgate is an RDC Golf Group property. The club also has a traditional course, the 6,625-yard Palmer Course, as well as family-friendly amenities like a fitness facility, aquatic center, tennis, and excellent dining options.

The practice facility and putting green are first-rate and you won't find a friendlier, more knowledgeable staff of golf professionals. They are led by Director of Golf Carolyn McKenzie Andrews. Also on staff are head pro Scott Barnaby and former PGA Tour and Nationwide player Bobby Gage.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.

Newsworthy In Wales

Writers love feedback (with the exception of nasty book reviews), so I got a big kick out of this newspaper article from the Tenby Observer:

Tenby Golf Club has proved a big hit in America.
An American journalist, Dave Donelson, recently wrote an article for the Westchester Magazine titled ‘Where Dragons Play, the 2010 Ryder Cup shines a spotlight on Wales - the next great golf destination’.
After playing the Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor Resort and Royal Porthcawl, the journalist says his favourite round was at Tenby.
“Today’s Tenby is a fascinating seaside course full of quirky challenges,” wrote Mr. Donelson, who also praised St. Brides Hotel, Saundersfoot, where he stayed.
The article was brought to the attention of Tenby Town Council by Clr. David Morgan, who said there had been American visitors at the golf club this week who had read about the course in the article!

I'll be blogging here about my trip to Wales in September as the Ryder Cup approaches.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo.