Golf Community Reviews

          The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times reported this morning that Balsam Mountain Preserve, a golf community near Waynesville, NC that I reviewed favorably earlier this year, is in foreclosure.  Developers Chaffin & Light say they cannot come up with the $20 million their banks are demanding.

         Chaffin & Light has been a well-regarded developer, known for its high-end communities and patient approach to development.  Their Arnold Palmer mountain-top golf course is breathtaking, if a bit over the top in its design.  The developer seemed to have a rational plan for Balsam Mountain.  This may be a case of a good company making some bad decisions, or it could be a signal of more badness to come in the high-end residential community sector.  I am hearing rumors about other similar Carolina mountain developments that are on the brink.  Stay tuned.

         You can read the Citizen-Times article by clicking here.  

          Serious golfers generally disdain nine hole and short "executive" courses.  Guilty as charged.  Eighteen is the only round number for us when it comes to a round of golf, and any 18-hole course under, say, 6,000 yards from the tips is, well, for wimps or beginners.  For us serious golfers to be caught on a 4,000-yard course probably means we have an eight-year-old child with us trying to learn the game, and we don't want to push her or embarrass ourselves on a longer "legitimate" track.

         But as I have traveled through New England these last few weeks, it is apparent that nine hole

         Asmundson, a landscape architect by training and painter of golf landscapes by hobby, has laid his hands on dozens of courses worldwide, including the much written about and photographed Coeur d'Alene Resort in Idaho; you may know it for its "floating" green that can be moved from spot to spot on the adjacent lake.  A serious architect like Asmundson does not design frivolous golf courses, no matter their length.

         There is nothing at all frivolous about Lang Farm, "Vermont's only championship executive golf course," according to the club's marketing.  The "championship" designation is a result of the U.S. Golf Association having put its seal of approval on the course.  At 3,905 yards from the tips, Lang Farms is designed for quick play and a test of the short game, with just six par 4s and the rest 3s.  I might be tempted to leave driver at home, but a couple of the par 4s are longer than 350 yards.  Still, if you want to travel light, you can leave all your metal woods in the trunk and adjust your tee boxes (there are three of them per hole).

Even the sea gulls from nearby Lake Champlain like the 12th at Lang Farm, a clever par four with a rock outcropping guarding the right and bunkers and trees taking care of the rest.

        The course was in impeccable condition on a cool October afternoon, the greens of varying sizes and a few significantly undulating and tiered.  Asmundson's landscaping experience is clearly evident in the way the ground swells in places where a little separation is needed between green and next tee box, or green and other nearby green.  Shrubbery has been planted to accent the landscape without interrupting views of the Green Mountains beyond.  Parallel fairways are well separated from each other, mostly by planted flora but by some good-sized ponds as well.  The painter in Asmundson must have been thinking about how to work the course visually against the mountain background, and he succeeded. 

         I arrived at the course an hour before sundown and did not get to play it -- I toured in a cart -- but serious golfer though I am, I won't hesitate to grab the clubs from the car trunk the next time I am in the Burlington, VT, area during golf season (which runs from May through October).  In addition to helping your short game and getting you around 18 holes in about three hours, The Links is an enjoyable walk, essentially flat although surrounded by those Green Mountains which, in October, are anything but green.  With only 11 clubs in my bag and at least three hours to devote, this will be the first course I walk in some time.

The Links at Lang Farm, 39 Essex Way, Essex, VT.  802-878-0298.  www.linksatlangfarm.com. The course is located across the street from The Essex, a culinary and spa resort across the street (golf packages, which include play at the private Vermont National Country Club, are available).

Designer:  Mike Asmundson.  Pro:  Steve Gonsalves.

Blue tees:  3,905 yards, rating 59.8, slope 103; White tees, 3,445 yards, 58.0, 96; Ladies, 3,007 yards, 57,89.

The par 3 16th at Lang Farm shows how designer Mike Asmundson, a landscaper by training and painter by hobby, layers the different elevations on the course to enhance the sweep to the distant mountains.

Tomorrow:  Across the street, the sweet part -- The Essex.

          On a billboard along a highway near Asheville, NC, Tiger Woods stands larger than life, poised (and posed) at the point of follow through, holding his finish and staring down the fairway -- or in this case, across the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The ad invites the drive bys to "See what inspired me" at High Carolina, the latest Cliffs community and Tiger's first American golf course design, for which he was reportedly paid a mind-numbing $20 million.

         Longtime residents of the Asheville area like their mountains just the way they are, and many have reacted to encroaching planned developments like High Carolina by raising their voices at town meetings, with letters to local editors and animated postings on local blog sites.  No matter how much land mega-developers like Jim Anthony of The Cliffs promise to put aside for preservation or how much they crank up their PR machines, people in Asheville, like folks in most areas threatened by over-development, worry about runoff issues, pollution of the streams and rivers and the overall threat to the fragile local ecosystem.

         Ashevile editorial cartoonist David Cohen has heard the anxieties about the "covered over trout streams and the usage of chemicals" that threaten the local environment over the long term.  David has "never played a round of golf in his life, but has fond memories of days spent at the Putt-Putt course."  While driving by the Tiger billboard he was inspired to create his own miniature golf billboard (below).

         David, who draws regularly for the Asheville Citizen-Times and is a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, can be contacted at david@cohencidents.com.

Newry, Maine (October 7, 2009) - Sunday River will host the 10th Annual North American Wife Carrying Championships on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11 a.m.   Among the 30 competitors already registered is Joe Decker... known as the "Word's Fittest Man."

        In addition to breaking the world fitness record, Joe has competed in many of the world's toughest endurance and adventure fitness events. Some of these include the Raid Gauloises, the Badwater 135, the Marathon des Sables ("The World's Toughest Footrace"), the Grandslam of UltraRunning, and The Tough Guy Challenge in England. Now, Decker is looking to compete in and win Sunday River's North American Wife Carrying Championship.

        "My wife and I are looking forward to the challenge," said Joe Decker, World's Fittest Man. "I do these events for fun and fortunately have a wife who is tougher than I am, so she supports these types of physical tests one hundred percent."

        The winners of the NAWCC will receive five times the wife's weight in cash and the traditional prize of the wife's weight in beer. Prizes are also awarded to second and third place finishers, as well as for special weight and age categories.

        Couples navigate a 278-yard obstacle course while the man literally "carries" the woman.  Women are allowed to carry men, which occurred for the first time in 2005. The teams do not have to comprise of married couples, but they must comprise of a man and a woman and both must be at least 21 years old to enter.

          I've written a first draft of our October Home On The Course newsletter and will have it in the mail (email) in the next week.  The lead article will be of interest to those who yearn to play golf year round.  There are not many climates where that is possible, but the housing market woes and consequent price drops are putting the two-home choice within reach for many who like their golf not too hot (think summers in Florida) and not too cold (think winters in Maine), but just right.

         I also describe in less than scholarly detail a 12-year old scholarly paper that investigates the irrational expectations sellers have about the value of their homes, and how buyers can use that psychology to their advantage during negotiations.  I don't know whether this article will help you save money when you negotiate to purchase someone else's home (or to sell your own), but it should make the process less anxiety riddled.

         If you are not a subscriber to our free newsletter, you can sign up now in the box at the top left of this page.  It is simple, secure and guarantees you will receive the next edition of Home On The Course.  Rest assured, we never share your email address with anyone.

Family compound:  Furnished condos at Owl's Nest in Campton, NH, are priced beginning in the $300s, and most have views of the terrific golf course (I played it).  Ski areas are just 20 minutes away.  Contact me if you would like more info.

          Global Position Systems have two main purposes:  Get you where you want to go, and suggest places to go that you might not know about.  While driving through New Hampshire and Vermont this week, I set my GPS on "leisure" and then "golf courses" and hit the "sort by distance to travel" button.  If I had not, I would have missed the Eagle Mountain resort.

         Eagle Mountain in Jackson, NH, is one of those old time mountain resorts that sit high on a hill with views to die for from the front porch, and a golf course that, by the looks of it, was built more by industriousness than some golf course design philosophy.  The final hole -- see photo at top below -- takes serious advantage of the change in elevation but adds no other accoutrements (water or sand).  Approach shots require an additional club or two, and if the wind is blowing, as it was as I stood on the precipice green, add or subtract another two clubs.  Overestimate and you might be apologizing to someone sitting on the front porch of the Inn, directly across the street, if your approach flies past the rock that sits at the rear right of the green.

         The course's pro shop is smaller than your living room, and you will be hard pressed to spend more than $20 to play nine holes.  Membership runs just $500 per year.  The Eagle Mountain course is definitely a throwback, in more ways than one (its designers, Patrick Marky and Brian Fox, are unknown to me and Mr. Google).

         Added note:  The fall appears to be intoxicating for golf course and lodging owners in New England.  The other day I posted a photo of an ornate pumpkin display at Mt. Anthony Golf Club in Bennington.  Eagle Mountain adds the Addams family to its holiday scene, with one obligatory pumpkin (see bottom photo).  Indeed the entire town of Jackson, which is also home to the Wayne Stiles designed Wentworth Golf Club, was bedecked with characters that ranged from Star Wars to the Blue Man Group, Jackson's answer to those ornately painted cows that have been showing up in New England towns the last few years.

Apparently "LVGLFRDIE" was taken.

        I stopped by the Candia Woods Golf Links yesterday in Candia, NH in the southern part of the state.  As it turned out, Peter Harrity, the owner of Candia Woods and its sister course, The Oaks, was on site and available for a chat.  We spent nearly an hour talking about the challenges of course ownership in these times, the oversupply of courses across the nation and some of the inventive ways Harrity and his staff are building rounds despite the recession and falling interest in the game for young people. 

        One of the ways Peter and his two golf courses have been able to stay a step ahead of the competition is by offering a Preferred Player card which, among other things, gives the cardholder 10% off on golf fees.  The card is free, and you can order it through the Candia Woods or The Oaks web sites.  If you are in southern New Hampshire any time in the future, it will save you enough for a couple of hot dogs and a drink on the back porch, overlooking the finishing hole and practice areas.

         The golf business, in all its various aspects, is a lot "smaller" than it appears, and Peter and I found we knew some of the same people.  We were both excited to learn we share Ken Doyle in common.  Ken, the pro at my former home course of Hop Meadow in Simsbury, CT, and Peter met decades ago at Waubeeka Springs golf course.  I had forgotten that Ken had started his 40+ year career there, a course I know from having followed around my son on cold October days for junior golf tournaments.  Waubeeka, by the way, has a new owner and has hired Mark Mungeam, out of Geoffrey Cornish's design shop, to reshape the course and practice areas.  Waubeeka should be dandy next spring and summer and, of course, this time next year, when the leaves turn again.  Those with some time on their hands could make a nice little swing through some fine golf courses in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Candia Woods' flat fairways (above) provide a good walk for those who like to tote their bags.  Peter Harrity and his staff have been able to keep revenues flowing by booking a large share of outings.  Their Evergreen Pavillion (below) can handle big and hungry post-round groups, as well as weddings and other events.