Thursday, August 28, 2014

Stuck in the mud



The happy roadtrip times are over. I am back in the city to ride out the dog days of summer. The weather has been unsettlingly cool this year, yet the deep summer blahs are still in full effect. At this point I feel like I'm only playing to fill a need, to avoid the withdrawals. To get back to zero.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Street Scenes: decline of golf, hits Manhattan

Came across a rather dismal tidbit on the internet yesterday. EV Grieve is a neighborhood blog that covers the goings on in (and let's face it, the cultural demise of) the East Village area of Manhattan, which is where I've lived for most of my time in New York. It is still my neighborhood though in a sense, because while I moved out three years ago, it was only to the next neighborhood over. I'm only a par 4 length away, and when it's time to eat out I usually end up back in the old 'hood.

Besides news the blog covers all sorts of ephemera, some of which involves semi-interesting garbage left out on the sidewalk. This one hit close to home, especially since I'm a stand bag user myself. (Apologies for the graphic filth in the photos.)

Street trends: Empty golf bags

We spotted these two empty (and unattended) golf bags yesterday morning outside the new Cooper Union building… they weren't for the taking though… 



Frankly I'm not sure what to make of this. It's a little disconcerting that all three of those bags seemed to be in decent condition, fairly modern, and name brand items. Especially the Ping. Everyone knows that the best stand bag in the business is a Ping stand bag. Even an Ogio is not half bad. I've used one myself.

Plus this all happened within a day or two. One doesn't just throw out a good Ping stand bag, unless something really bad has gone down. Or one has just stopped caring completely.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Roadgolf: Hanover CC, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (Doggie on board)



I never expected to wind up here in New Hampshire, never mind on the campus of an Ivy League college. But we're staying in the ultra-quaint town of Woodstock, Vermont, and the only golf course there--the RTJ Sr.-designed Woodstock CC--happens to be hosting a gigantic tournament today. Very disappointing, but at least the lady on the phone was extremely apologetic about it--that softened the blow a bit.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Roadgolf: Catamount Golf Club, Williston, Vermont


After a full day of wandering around Burlington, then hiking around a place called Niquette Bay State Park, there was still a bite of daylight left. So we found a quiet little semi-private 9-holer in tiny nearby Williston. This was the view that greeted us as soon as we got out of the car, but that didn't keep me from interrogating the lonely pro shop guy about whether "it was busy out there", hopeless gutter-rat that I am. I felt so out of place as soon as that came out of my mouth. Here we are well into the super-twilight hour, certainly don't see much of anyone out there and yet, I cannot stop myself from stressing about a crowded course. In a remote town with population under 8,000. In the 2nd least-populated state in the goddamn union. The only crowds here are the ones in my cluttered mind. Sad. I wonder if there is any hope for the likes of me.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Roadgolf: Ferrisburgh Driving Range, Ferrisburgh, Vermont (Moving to the country, gonna hit me a lot of range balls)


Greetings from the road again. This time the path has taken the Legitimategolf crew to the Green Mountain State. It's our first time here, and this really is a magical place exploding with maple-covered hills and verdant pastures the likes of which these city-eyes have never seen. No wonder Vermont is forever associated with cows and dairy--this is a goddamn wonderland of grazing.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Sucking in the 80s



I found a rare tee time deal at DBGC, and then actually looked forward to seeing the old haunt again. Maybe I could rediscover some old positive vibes, maybe even some of my vintage scoring.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Ghettogolf Radio: "Feel the Pain"


Let's flashback to a simpler time--when music still had heart and soul, and the music video was still considered a legitimate form of entertainment--The Nineties! This alternative rock semi-hit by indie guitar rock heros Dinosaur Jr. popped up on my internet radio recently and hearing it I thought: "Wasn't there also a wacky golf-themed video?"

Friday, August 1, 2014

Hanging out in the local scene


It had to happen. I've been playing at Silver Lake with some regularity now, and sooner or later I was bound to start mixing in with the locals. When I first discovered this course it was late fall, and I played largely on my own, zipping in and out in a matter of a couple of hours, almost wholly unnoticed for the most part. But now it's peak season and there's a lot of people out there and it has become more apparent that this is a locals-heavy place. You certainly don't see many high falutin' Manhattan folk like myself on this island, so it's probably best that I make an effort to blend in without rocking the proverbial boat.