Golf/Golf Architecture
Running Down Westchester
This week’s SI/Golf magazine round table is mainly dedicated to breaking down what was an entertaining Solheim Cup, but toward the end the writers and editors turned the dialogue toward the upcoming Fedex Cup playoff opener–the Barclays, at Liberty National in New Jersey. The group (with the notable exception of Michael Bamberger, on point as usual) seemed to take a fair amount of pleasure in running down Westchester Country Club, which only supported the PGA Tour for forty-one years.
A few of the choice comments:
“Moving the Barclays to Liberty National was a good move–Tiger Woods simply was not going to play Westchester again…” –Jim Herre
“We won’t be mourning the loss of Westchester C.C. Neither will players, who complained of aging rooms, lack of hot water for showers and a definite feeling of being unwanted by the staff.” –Gary Van Sickle
“Tiger didn’t like Westchester. That’s why the Tour isn’t playing there. Period.” –Farrell Evans
A dissenting view:
The statements above may contain more than a kernel of truth, but the knights of the round table leave the ramifications mostly unexplored. When the question “Is Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?” is occasionally posed in some quarters (and it is), this is precisely the type of conversation to which they’re referring. Evans’s annoyingly terse comment may also happen to be spot-on accurate, but what follows from it? Tiger didn’t like Westchester, and he only played there when one of his sponsors hosted the event. So what? Tiger doesn’t like Kapalua, Riviera or Pebble Beach, either–should the Tour therefore choose alternative venues that are more to his liking?
Would there be any hue and cry from the golf media if the Northern Trust were to be moved from Riviera to Trump National? Because that’s pretty much exactly what this is. I’m fully aware that the PGA Tour will chase the greenbacks as surely as water seeks the low ground, and Tiger Woods moves the needle in this department like few athletes in history. But doesn’t anyone think the man has been catered to enough? He’s already had two events (AT&T National, Target World Challenge) where he’s actually been the host–highly unusual for an active player. The schedule has enough venues like Firestone and Warwick Hills, where Woods wins every year–the Tour should be striving to improve the diversity of their host courses. If Roger Federer can win the French Open on clay, his weakest surface, then Tiger can rack up wins on courses that aren’t his cup of tea. If what the Golf editors are saying is true, the greatest player of all-time doesn’t need the Tour as an active accomplice.
I’m less sure about the accuracy of Van Sickle’s comment. I don’t have an insider’s take on his assertion that the players had become unhappy with their reception at the club–though last year local reporter Sam Weinman filed a terrific backgrounder, also for Golf magazine, on some of the sticky issues and incidents. Substandard amenities and less-than-deferential members aside, though, I question whether the Tour’s rank-and-file would rather play a 7,400-yard ego trip in favor of a true shotmaker’s course. Westchester Country Club, year in and year out, produced some of the most diverse leaderboards of the season. WCC’s list of champions includes big guns like Ernie and Vijay, but the shorter hitters always knew they had a chance, and they played like it. And before the Fedex Cup came along and shook up the schedule, the event was the players’ final tuneup before the US Open, so Westchester always had a terrific field.
WCC also represented, along with Pebble and Riviera, one of the Tour’s last links to the Golden Age of golf architecture. It’s up to you if this matters or if it’s just sentimental carping, but it’s held as a truism that everything in golf trickles down from the Tour. Golfers are heavily influenced by what they see on TV (Augusta National Syndrome, anyone?), so if you feel the world needs more Liberty Nationals (initiation: $450,000), have at it. For me, it’s at least heartening to know that next year’s Barclays will be played at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, where architect Gil Hanse recently completed a super-sensitive restoration, including some Oakmont-esque tree clearing, of one of Donald Ross’s best layouts. Plainfield has some truly wicked greens–I expect it will acquit itself beautifully. CBS can beat us senseless with fancy blimp shots of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan, but it’ll never change my mind–real New York golf, and the best Tour venues, is still found at places like Plainfield and Westchester Country Club.
[Correction: The 2010 Barclays will be played at Ridgewood CC, then Plainfield the next year. I've left the original post as published since Ridgewood's inclusion in the calendar doesn't affect the argument much.]
Liberty National boasts Hummer-friendly cart paths
Tags: Barclays, Fedex Cup, Golf magazine, Liberty National, PGA Tour, Sam Weinman, Westchester Country Club Discussion
One comment for “Running Down Westchester”
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It will be interesting to hear the pros take on LN. I assume they will love it. Great locker room, views, etc. As you say, the rest of golf takes it cues from the tour, and this can only be a bad thing for those of us who care about golf course architecture.