Roadgolf: Fishkill GC&DR, Fishkill NY

These are strange, wondrous times we live in. Back in the analog era, you didn’t just hop in the car and drive for hours to some strange area without a specific idea of what you were going to do once you got there. You had to plan. Make calls. Unfold maps.

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.

Roadrange: San Juan Hills CC, San Juan Capistrano CA

Last time I was out this way, I was really disappointed to find the driving range at Saddleback College, where I’d had some nice practices in past years, closed for good.

But Orange County is not exactly a golf wasteland and so where one door was closed, another open one was found without looking too far.

Roadrange: Scoring Zone Golf Range, Monroe NY

The Legitimategolf crew took off for a day of hiking and who knows what else, up in Harriman State Park up in Rockland County, inside of an hour from NYC.

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.

Home, home on the Range

For the last couple of weekends I've been hitting buckets up at Randall's Island. Getting there is a minor pain in the ass, but I put up with it because Randall's is the superior choice in the city for whacking balls.

Lately I've been actually enjoying the time spent at the range for a change. I guess I am liking what I'm seeing out here. Swingwise whatever it is I'm grinding away at seems to be working and now it feels pretty good to launch balls on repeat.

Dark Thoughts, vol X: Cold comfort

In normal circumstances the practice range is somewhere I go only when I feel it's truly necessary, like if I'm trying to make some sort of revolutionary swing change, have to re-learn to hit a ball and need the repetition. Not a fun, recreation activity. Some people might enjoy it; to me the driving range has about as much to do with actual golf as a drive-thru carwash does to actual driving.

Ghetto Golf, volume X: Alley Pond Golf Center, Douglaston, Queens

Queens, New York is possibly the most wildly multi-ethnic region on the planet. You name it, they got it. An especially big and thriving enclave is its Koreatown, and not surprisingly there's a place within the community dedicated to serving the golfer in need, a funky intersection of Korean-American culture and golf obsession.