Scenes from the Struggle

For the people of Manhattan just being a golfer is a struggle, to say nothing of the steeper challenges faced by those who dare to try to be good at golf. And as I was reminded of on a recent visit I am far from alone in this plight. The struggle spreads across all ages and socioeconomic classes and its ramifications will run deep into future generations of shitty golfers.

Ghettogolf: from the practice green on Randall's Island

Greetings from practiceland. Another week gone by and still no actual golf. What gives? I'll probably discuss that soon. But til then I thought we ought to take a closer look at one of the darker, sadder forgotten corners of the golf universe, a place where I've been spending a lot of time lately--the short game practice facility at the golfer's exile on Randall's Island.

Summer In Review

Summer officially ended and quite frankly, good. Those who know, know that fall's a better season for playing better golf anyways. Around here at least. The sweat-soaked clothes, the ruined gloves, the constant rehydrating, the slathering of greasy sunblock. And the heat for god's sake, the plain old wilting heat... See you next year, is what I say to all that. Don't get me wrong--the summer solstice is a magical time. I still say that being outside playing golf well past eight o'clock is one of life's special joys.

Ghetto Golf, volume 3: Talkin' about practice II

In the last edition of Ghetto Golf we took a look at Manhattan's "one and only open air golf facility".

However that's not exactly true. There's actually one other option--the Randall's Island Golf Center. Technically in Manhattan, it's actually on a tiny (0.85 square mile) spot of land floating in the East River up next to Harlem, known as Randall's Island.