Conference 7.286::golf

    Re:                      <<< Note 1625.0 by POWDML::VARLEY >>>

    This is  not  exactly  answering your subject, Jack since when I went
    there it was  covered by snow, so I can't give you any impressions on
    the course.
    
    I stayed at the  Equinox  during  Christmas and the people there were
    really talking about how much  money they had spent in the course and
    the inn (more than $10M on both),  and  if  you  go  by  names  if  I
    remember correctly it was Rees(?) Jones who did the work so it should
    be a good one. But  what  I can tell you is that the  inn  management
    still needs to get better for what they charge, but the  place itself
    is elegant.
    
    Also  I  understand  that  the green fees were on the high side, i.e.
    more than $50.  But I don't want to dicourage anyone for giving it  a
    try.
    
    Tavo

    The Manchester area is really one of my favorites, and I've played
    Equinox since I was a kid, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it.
    Along with Ekwanok, which abuts it, Equinox was designed by Walter
    Travis around the turn of the century. People will remember Travis as
    the player who sparked the center shafted putter controversy with his
    "Schenectady" putter. He was also a fine player and fine designer.
    
     According to my pals at RT Jones - Florida Golf, Rees is a nice guy,
    and does great work. Mr. Jones' other son, Bobby, is apparently
    neither... Ekwanok, which I mentioned above, is an EXTREMELY private
    place, with a membership that would make Shoal Creek look enlightened.
    However, it is a beautiful place, with about the finest greens you'd
    ever want to see. I have a friend who played for years in their 4th of
    July invitational - the Robert Todd Lincoln tournament, and I could
    tell you some stories about that ! They get players from everywhere -
    Augusta National, Pine Valley, Merion, Winged Foot, Shinnecock etc.,
    and some of the guys in the upper flights can really play. Ahh, what
    the hell - here's one story.
    
     My friend is a prep school teacher at Hotchkiss, and the golf coach,
    so he gets some kids from old, established courses on his team. One of
    them was the grandson of Hord Hardin, former chairman at Augusta
    National, and he invited Dave (my friend) to play. I went up and played
    a practicec round with 'em, and walked around during qualifying. Dave
    shoots a 67 on his own ball (he can play a little too...), and they get
    into the championship flight. The night before his second match, Dave
    and I went out to dinner, got into the beverages pretty well and ran
    into some ladies. One of 'em told us she belonged to a special "club,"
    and invited us to check it out. The club opened at 1:30 am - it was a
    "members only bottle club," so, to make a long story short, Dave makes
    his 8:30 tee time with about a shower's worth of rest. One of his
    opponents was a terrific guy - club champ at Seminole - who played
    goalie years back for the U.S. Olympic hockey team. He was from a very
    socially prominent family, and I'd seen his brother play in the Crosby
    Pro Am many times. Anyway, he and Dave were basically carrying their
    respective teams, and were discussing Dave's rather unique "training
    method" of the previous evening. Dave holed a 15 footer on 18 to win
    the match, and his opponent shook hands, laughed and said, "I can't
    believe I got beat by a #$%@ schoolteacher with no sleep. My wife is
    coming down tonight, so I've got a designated driver - I'm going to get
    into the gin and tonics with both hands !" Great guy - and you should
    have SEEN his wife...
    
    __Jack

	I played there last October and the place was in excellent shape.
	The greens are fabulous and the fairways where in excellent shape as
	well.  My wife and I played 36+ (3 day golf package with unlimited 
	golf) holes a day and we where the only people on the course!!! with 
	sunshine and temps in the high 60's almost hard to believe!!!  The 
	course is a little on the short side if I remember correctly I 
	usually hit from the whites and moved back to the blues to stretch it
	out a little.   In October they where still making some improvements
	to the course and had plans to do more work this spring..  It is 
	currently owned by GUINNESS Brewing Co. of Stout fame and they have
	a 3 million dollar improvement buget to be implemented over 3 years 
	last year being the first year...

	Paul   

	Just came back from the three day golf package. The course is in great
	condition. No drought there. Everything is green (unlike Stow Acres).

	After the first round, I swore to stay in the fairways or in the traps.
	The rough is vicious, a 5 ft short cut then into 5 in. bluegrass which
	is next to impossible to get out of. The fairways and traps (which are
	plentiful) are beautiful. 

	Since the course is layed out in a valley, crossing back and forth, you
	hit down to the fairway and then up to the greens on most holes. This
	means the greens are slanted down toward the valley and sidehill lies on
	the greens are plentiful and awful.

	Only one hole with water. But, the deceptive part is that while you can
	reach the 150 marker on most holes with a good drive, your next shot was
	150 up a steep hill requiring an extra club or two and accuracy to avoid
	the traps. (The 6th, a par 5 across the road, had 8 traps surrounding a
	green which your third shot from 150ish had to avoid)

	Got a lot of sand play...

	I'm going back for more.

Larry