By Mason Savage, A Good Walk Spoiled Contributor
Last week I realized I had not written anything for the website since the Sedge Valley Review. It has been a busy summer playing a surprising amount of golf and making the most out of what has been a really good Minnesota Summer. Realizing this, I threw out the call on Instagram for Questions to see if I could cobble together enough for a post. To my surprise, I had over 40 questions come in so I chose 4 of them. Choosing the four was difficult and there are some that are going to be individual articles and some that are going to be posted strictly in the Newsletter. So be sure to not miss out and subscribe to the Newsletter and if you want to ask a question for a future Mailbag, follow me on Instagram.
@airluke44 - What course do you think is most overdue for a renovation?!
This is a question that caused me to think a lot about the golf courses that I have played. While there are a lot of courses that I could throw out there, I decided to keep the answer to a public course and there is one that sprung to mind right away for me, Ravisloe Country Club. This is an old Donald Ross course with the bulk of the bones still intact. Dynamic green complex and a great routing are the mark of any good Donald Ross course and Ravisloe is no different but unfortunately there are somethings that have dampened this course over the years. The big things that the club could do is remove a good amount of trees and expand the green pads back to their original size. If you want to learn more about Ravisloe, Check out our YouTube here.
@mtcoleman89 - Any good books on golf, golf history, or golf architecture you’d recommend?
There are a lot of good books about Golf out there and unfortunately due to scaricty, a lot of these publications are really expensive. I will use this section to highlight 4 books currently on my shelf that I enjoy a lot.
Tom Doak’s Little Red Book of Golf Course Architecture - a great little read on some brief thoughts and ideas from Tom Doak as it pertains to Golf Course Architecture.
Be a Player - This book is probably the book that helped me the most with my personal golf game. The biggest takeaway is to just “be an athlete” when you are over the ball and do not think about your swing. Steph Curry doesn’t think about his shot in a game, he just shoots. He thinks about his shot when he practices.
Golf Course Architecture - I bought a legitimate used textbook on Golf Course Architecture. The book covers everything from drainage, routing, design and sustainability. A dense but comprehensive read. Only diehards could probably read this book and enjoy it.
The Golf Courses of Seth Raynor - I am obviously biased since my photography is featured in this book but in all sincerity, this is a really well put together project and belongs on every golf sicko's shelf.
@staasgaard - If you got a free membership in the metro (Twin Cities) and distance not a factor, what club would you join?
This is a great question. I think when it comes to any golf course that I want to play, the course needs to provide architectural interest/challenge and have a good culture surrounding the club. The culture I feel is especially important in this question given that this is a course that I will essentially be playing 90%+ of my golf. With that said, I will propose 3 Country Clubs I would choose for this question. Note: I am only choosing clubs that I have actually been able to play.
Somerset CC (Mendota Heights, MN) - This one is a bit of a nostalgia pick. Having worked there for almost 20 years of my life, it made me fall in love with golf. Additionally, the club is doing a lot of restoration work, they have a new clubhouse, a pool and a niche smaller community.
Midland Hills - I think this is the most underrated course in Minnesota. Everytime I think I am being dramatic, I play it and I am reminded of how good it is. Just some really well restored Raynor and there are so many memorable holes out there. It is truly a great course!
Minneapolis Golf Club - This one surprised me when I decided to throw it on this list, not because Minneapolis is a bad course but rather I didn't view it as a top Private Club in the area. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it doesn't do anything bad. Rather the club does everything at a high level and it leaves you with a club that is greater than the sum of its parts. Add to that some great history and some awesome Donald Ross greens and this decision starts to make a lot more sense.
@bdfreese - What makes for a great round of golf? What percentage is course? Pairing? Vibes?
For me personally, I think 100% of my enjoyment in a round of golf comes from the people I am playing with. If you are paired with people you do not care for or cannot relax around, the round of golf can feel like work. However, if you are paired with good people or friends, it is a shared experience and a chance to connect to old friends or the potential to meet new ones. This is the bases for a great round of golf.
All of this said, the Course does impact the enjoyment Level. If the People are responsible for 100% enjoyment, then the course is what the totality of the percentage is. For example, I have a friend I regularly play with. We recently played a local Muni and I enjoyed the round 100% but if we are rating the course, it was (for example sake) a 50. Now earlier this summer, that same friend and I played just us around Sand Valley. Still 100% enjoyment but instead of a 50, this course is like 500. I still enjoyed the round because I was with my friends but the course shifted the magnitude of the 100%.
Thank you all for reading. If you enjoyed to article, be sure to check out some of the other blog posts, our YouTube Channel for videos and follow on Instagram for great photography and an engaging community.
Best,
Mason
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