Shanks, Whiffs and One-Irons, Laura Aiken – The New and The Old.

I had the privilege of playing a brand new golf course last week and a very old one this week. The juxtaposition of the new Dragon’s Fire GC in Carlisle and the old Cutten Club in Guelph reminds one of all the things to take into account when you are treading on young or ancient territory.

Dragon’s Fire is a solid layout. It’s not riddled with visual “wow” but green fees ranging from $55-$74 do not call for cliffhanger holes anyway. Reasonable fees call for a pleasing to the eye round that makes good use of the natural topography, and Dragon’s Fire does just that. However, it’s an infant, and there a few things to keep in mind about newbies or you may become very frustrated with your round. The greens are hard and don’t hold. This is common of new greens. Put the fancy stick away and plan to execute some bump n’ runs. Don’t beat yourself up about score. New greens can be incredibly unjust and they don’t serve as an example of how the course will play when it matures. The fairways are generous at Dragon’s Fire but it seemed impossible to find your ball when you missed them. It will take time and player feedback for ownership to determine where or if they need to grub areas of the forest.

On the other hand, the private Cutten Club was showcasing its restoration of their historical Stanley Thompson design. The Cutten Club has had since 1931 to get it right and they certainly have done just that. The 18th hole was renovated to reflect how far modern technology sends the ball, bunkers were added and trees were removed around the course amongst other finishing touches. The greens were magnificent and the golf course played as I imagine Thompson envisioned. It was as it was expected to be.

The Cutten Club and Dragon’s Fire were treats to play, and further fostered my appreciation of how long it takes to raise a golf course.

Laura Aiken is the editor of Bay Area Golfing magazine and communications director for the BAGS Junior Golf Tour. She has been a golf writer for six years, and a mediocre player and fashion activist for 10. Laura can be reached at laura@gallowstudios.com.

Shanks, Whiffs and One-Irons, Laura Aiken – Rockin’ at The Rock.

The Rock GC had their spring media day on Tuesday, June 3. Ken Fowler, owner, asked the media to write up their honest thoughts on the changes. Here goes:

When I played the golf course in 2003 I thought The Rock was more like The Anvil that dropped on my golf game. It was too tough but it definitely had the visual “wow” factor of crème de la crème golf.

If The Rock was an anvil then, it’s a soap stone now. It’s still a challenging course to carve, but it’s a much softer creature. It’s tight, but if you’re going to call it out for that reason you’d be laying a gem like Pines of Georgina down for slaughter (Pines is probably the tightest course in the province). If you hit a wild driver just leave it in the bag.

There is a goofy hole—number 4. It’s a 383 yard par 4. Even if you lay up to an ideal approach shot (which I did this week), you’re still going to have a tough time nailing the distance. I smoked a 9-iron and it fell just shy of the green into the sludge-edge of the stone bordered pond protecting the front. If I would have hit an 8-iron I would have been bouncing off the back of the exposed rock wall behind the green. It was a no-win situation with the safest play having been to aim for right of the green and hope to find it in the trees. The little pond should be a sliver of a creek, allowing the green to become larger. However, every golf course has at least one silly hole, so it’s to be expected when you find one.

The tee boxes are appropriately set up for low and high handicappers and I didn’t struggle with the distance. If you hit it sideways, you’re going to be in trouble. On some holes, if you can’t get it off the ground you’re going to be in trouble. If you’re a player that’s still at that stage then you probably don’t care about just carrying your ball up and dropping it somewhere in the fairway anyway.

The staff was very warm and easy to joke with from breakfast until evening hors d’oeuvre. Their demeanor helped create a less pretentious atmosphere in a luxury place.

There is no harm in being a challenging golf course, so long as players know what they are getting into. Once I went to a restaurant without clearly understanding that tapas were small portions. You can imagine how upset my starving stomach was to see my meal turn out to be a few forkfuls. Your experience at a golf course can be affected by your preconceived notion of it. If you are heading up to play The Rock and you believe it is the toughest golf course on earth and every hole is set up to take your balls into the Bermuda Triangle then you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a good, strategic golf course and great eye candy. Well worth the trip.

Laura Aiken is the editor of Bay Area Golfing magazine and communications director for the BAGS Junior Golf Tour. She has been a golf writer for six years, and a mediocre player and fashion activist for 10. Laura can be reached at laura@gallowstudios.com.