Woodmere Club Celebrates One Hundred Years Of Class And Style

The Woodmere Club on Long Island's south shore sets the mark for classic style both in the club facilities and the surprisingly challenging golf course. Just a short drive from Manhattan, the club has a gorgeous Georgian clubhouse with a fitness center and dining venue, tennis, swimming, and a links-like Robert Trent Jones golf course that's both enjoyable and a fine test of shot-making golf. This year, Woodmere celebrates its 100th anniversary, a testament to the fact that class never goes out of style. The club was also chosen as the Club of the Year by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.

At first glance, the course looks like a bit of a pushover. It's only 6316 yards from the tips and not weighted with extreme elevation changes or heavy forestation. What it does have--narrow fairways, demanding greens, perfectly-placed bunkering, and water in all the right (or wrong) places--more than makes up for any shortcomings in the yardage department. And then there is the wind, which is the course's real secret weapon when it comes to protecting par. Hitting onto a par three that's all carry over water into the teeth of an Atlantic breeze is a heck of a lot harder than whaling away with a driver on a 450-yard par four.

Above all, Woodmere is a thinking golfer's course. The double dog-leg fourth hole is a prime example of how important precise shot-making is to the game. It's "only" 358 yards, but the fairway snakes around trees on the left and then on the right, meaning you have to hit first a perfect draw and then a fade if you want to reach the green in regulation. Straight shots will get you in nothing but trouble on this hole!

Big hitters will drool on the seventh tee. At 293 straight-away yards, it's perfectly driveable. You'll see some cross bunkers, but they're really not in play. What is a danger, though, is a bunker 200 yards out on the right, not to mention the trees lining that side of the fairway. And whatever you do, don't get your ball above the cup on this funky two-tiered green.

The back nine is notable for a pair of 185-yard par threes, the eleventh and sixteenth holes, that play side by side. Both are fully exposed to the ocean winds and both greens are fronted by water. In match play, it's not unusual for competitors to lay up and play for a four, especially on the sixteenth.

The seventeenth presents a host of challenges. It's 370 yards and usually plays directly into the wind. Your tee shot has to carry the water, avoid the fescue rough, and stay out of the bunkers squeezing the fairway in the landing area. Even into the wind, it's not unusual for better players to hit something less than a driver off the tee. That leaves a tough iron shot into a small, well-bunkered green. A long bump-and-run isn't a bad play for the second shot if the wind is up.

Woodmere has hosted three Met Opens as well as numerous other events in its proud 100-year history. It was also the playground of many notables like "Diamond Jim" Brady, 20th Century Fox owner William Fox, Henry Zeigler of Steinway Pianos, and actress-singer Lillian Russell.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

New Take On The Foot Wedge

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With full leather uppers and durable rubber compound sole for comfort and durability, the look is colorful and contemporary. The wedge sole provides better balance and stability during the golf swing and helps the player maintain positive posture. It’s hard to say how they’ll perform on the dance floor, but TipTeeToe shoes come in a variety of fun colors and even have a built-in ball marker. 

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Bill Pennington (Kind Of) Saved My Life

In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess that I owe Bill Pennington my life, or at least the use of my limbs. A couple of years ago, after more than forty years playing golf, I suddenly lost my ability to putt. It didn't just have the yips. I had the yaws, the yahoos, and the you've-got-to-be-kidding-mes. I tried a dozen different putters including some that were clearly not legal. I putted cross-handed, one-handed, and would have putted no-handed if I could have figured out how to hold the putter in my teeth, but I still counted as many as 45 putts on some rounds. I was about to give up the game and take up a sane sport like chainsaw juggling when I read Pennington's NY Times column about putting while looking at the hole instead of the ball. That column saved my game, not to mention my fingers.

So is this an unbiased review? Mostly.

In On Par: The Everyday Golfer's Survival Guide, Pennington writes about golf in a way that resonates with the regular golfer. The subtitle notwithstanding, this isn't a golf instruction book. It's more of an extended, rambling conversation about the game like the ones you have with your buddies at the nineteenth hole. The difference is, Pennington knows what he's talking about, whereas your buddies....

On Par is full of gentle, self-deprecating humor and dozens if not hundreds of little stories that illustrate the beautiful ironies of golf. Like a conversation he had once with Gary Player about how humiliating it is to hit a ball into the water. Or the time he almost killed the club president's wife with an errant six iron, a club selection that reminded me of the story in Weird Golf that begins "Just ask the guy in the tenth fairway staring at the six iron covered in blood." Pennington also reveals how jealous Annika Sorenstam is of her sister Charlotta, who won only one pro tournament but has three times as many holes in one. In other words, if you're looking for a book to fix your slice, look elsewhere.

There's plenty here to enjoy and learn from without pages full of illustrated swing tips. Pennington writes about nine places every golfer should play (hint: it's not a list of courses), what the pros are like and how they got that way, and one particularly distressing chapter titled "Shanks, Choking, and Other Tales of the Dark Side." Oh, and there's a section about putting while looking at the hole that you don't want to miss.

More than anything, I think, On Par expresses an attitude about golf that more of us should have. As Pennington says, "It is a silly game, somewhat childish....The allure of golf is its simplicity, which leads to a thousand complexities." And more than a few laughs along the way.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Winter Work Pays Off For Mount Kisco CC

photo courtesy of Mount Kisco CC

I visited Mount Kisco Country Club today and was delighted to see the results of the work done over the winter. It's always refreshing to visit a club where the membership believes in the game enough to invest in their course.

I've always felt Mount Kisco is one of the most under-rated courses in Westchester. It has one of the best arrays of hole shapes and lengths I've encountered, with everything from short but tight par fours to three back-breaking monsters at 446, 453, and 466--all playing uphill! The par threes range from 163 yards to 208, and even the three par fives differ greatly from one another, running from 490 to 549 yards, one uphill, one with cross bunkers, another (the 17th) with water in front of the green. The greens themselves are small and devilishly difficult, adding extra teeth to the 6552-yard, par-71 layout.

Among other improvements, Mount Kisco spent a large, large sum during the winter months to upgrade the course drainage system. In the past, there were often problems with water in the fairways, not surprising when you consider that a network of streams meander through 13 of the holes. Today, however, even after three straight days of rain this week, we didn't encounter a single bit of water in any of the fairways. Not one!

The biggest change was to the signature tenth hole, a 201-yard one-shotter where the green is fronted by a pond and protected by flanking bunkers. Several superfluous trees were removed, mostly to improve turf conditions, and the pond was expanded and given a classic finished look with a stone wall enclosing it on three sides. The result is quite pleasing to the eye and serves to only increase the intimidation factor of a tee shot that has to carry the picturesque pond.

Also receiving a makeover of sorts was the sixth hole, a 349-yard par four with an island-like green surrounded by deep bunkers and swales. It used to be a dark and forbidding green crowded by grass-killing trees. Now, with the encroaching foliage gone, it has a whole new look that emphasizes the precision required for the second shot by making the green stand out from the topography. It's also a lot more difficult to judge the distance for the second shot since the back of the green resembles nothing so much as the eye-fooling edge of an infinity pool.

The changes made this winter were actually the continuation of a facility upgrade begun in 2007. Improved practice facilities, several new tee boxes and remodeled green complexes have been added through the last five years. There's still work being done and probably always will be given the highly commendable resolve of the membership to make Mount Kisco CC a stellar golf course.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Weird Golf Named "Best Golf Book of 2012"

It warms an old scribbler's heart to be named "Best Of" anything. GolfbloggerUK gave that honor to Weird Golf today. Something tells me it was the "morally reprehensible" part of the title that garnered the praise.

Look closely and you'll notice that Colin Montgomerie's autobiography also received that accolade. I wonder if Monty knows he plays a role in one of the 18 tales in Weird Golf?

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Mental Prep Wins Golf Tournaments

Greg Bisconti has some great advice for golfers competing at all levels: practice your mental game as well as your swing. The assistant pro at St. Andrew's in Hastings has plenty of cred when it comes to tournament play. He's competed in three PGA Championships and was in the winners circle as low club pro in 2009 at Hazeltine. Last year, Bisconti won both the Westchester Open and the Metropolitan Professional Championship. I heard him speak at this year's Met PGA Spring Forum.

"There are times when your knees are shaking," Bisconti says, "and you've got to rely on your routine to enable you to play." He's a big believer in visualizing the shot you're about to hit. "Do it while the other guy is playing," he recommends.

Mental practice can take many forms. "I spent two months preparing for the first tee shot in 2006 at Hazeltine," Bisconti says. "I would visualize the crowds and try to build up the pressure internally" while playing practice rounds. He also likes to practice putts with his eyes closed to develop confidence and feel.

When you're getting ready for a big game, Bisconti says, "Keep a diary that details all of your good and bad habits before, during, and after a round of golf. Writing down these experiences will help you take ownership of what happened and help you get past any obstacles that may present themselves in the future. Look for changes in eating habits, workouts, length of preparation on game day, how you handled adversity during the round, how you performed when in contention, shot tendencies, etc."

His best advice: Every round of golf should be a learning experience.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

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Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf