MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[Terphack]

There were several tentative sales of Glenn Dale over the last few years that fell apart for whatever reason but it was inevitable. Prime real estate always garners attention from developers. I think the course conditions there the last 3-5 years reflect that inevitability. Certainly a quirky layout but in the past it was argued that Glenn Dale had some of the best greens of any muni in the area. More than anything I believe the 'fuss' is from nostalgia about the place. In the past if you lived in and played much golf in the Greenbelt- Bowie- College Park area you spent time at Glenn Dale. A lot of local charity tournaments were held there and the wooden nickel tournament players received certainly brought back many. The place always felt like the Mom & Pop that it was, maybe the last of its kind in the region. Will serious golfers miss the place? Probably not but local hackers will remember it fondly.

[dcmidnight]

> @FAbb said:

> At the end of the day though, it's not a charity. I don't have the slightest clue about the economics of operating a golf course, but losing money 20 out of the past 30 years sounds pretty poor to me. It seems like either the environment changed such that they were never going to make it consistently profitable again, or they operated it poorly.

 

Agreed. The news said they lost $1M in the last four years which I guess becomes a death spiral at some point. You dont have the revenue to put into the course but the bad conditions keep more people from playing.

[TheCityGame]

Some good thread candidates in the comment section at the Glenn Dale article.

 

 

[TheCityGame]

Planetary Excellence going DEEP. . .

 

 

[FAbb]

MerrillsComment FTW

[TheCityGame]

I was looking at a satellite image.

 

What the hot place is this guy doing in his back yard? Is he just going out and walking in circles for exercise? Does he have a dog tied up who spends his day at the end of his chain?

 

 

[dcmidnight]

Weird. Is it posssible it was construction traffic/grading of some kind?

 

Update Google Maps shot shows a huge deck and fence around the yard now too.

[SullGolf]

I've heard a lot about Glenn Dale being for the "local" community, meaning right around the course. I wonder how much a "local" public course really factors in. I don't view my closest muni (Falls Road) as any more "local" than Glenn Dale or Twin Lakes or Worthington Manor or Waverly Woods. I suppose you need to have regulars who live close enough to play there often, but you also need a compelling way to attract outsiders to come. I don't think GD had any reason to go there versus the dozens of other options I have within 45 minutes. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall golf course that has appeal to certain people, but not necessarily mass appeal. It's also a less densely populated area than most of MoCo/HoCo/Fairfax/Arlington, so your local base is smaller.

[Gmen1204]

> @TheCityGame said:

> I was looking at a satellite image.

>

> What the hot place is this guy doing in his back yard? Is he just going out and walking in circles for exercise? Does he have a dog tied up who spends his day at the end of his chain?

>

>

>

 

Probably old above ground pool.

[davechen]

> @Gmen1204 said:

> > @TheCityGame said:

> > I was looking at a satellite image.

> >

> > What the hot place is this guy doing in his back yard? Is he just going out and walking in circles for exercise? Does he have a dog tied up who spends his day at the end of his chain?

> >

> >

> >

>

> Probably old above ground pool.

 

That seems way too big to be a pool. I'm guessing alien spaceship landing port.

 

[baddomes]

short track grass speedskating rink

[TheCityGame]

The long axis is aligned with the location of the sun at sunrise on the Vernal Equinox. Clearly, the marks of an ancient learned civilization. Or an above ground pool.

 

 

[baddomes]

Wife and I just got back this morning from 8 days in the PNW. Spent the first 5 in BC, and the last 3 in Seattle.

 

Only one night in Vancouver, but I think I'd like to go back there. I thought the city was very cool, and we didn't get to do much of anything in and around.

 

three nights in Tofino, BC on Vancouver island (west of mainland canada. took a ferry then drove 3 hours to get there). Tofino is sick. It's a temperate rainforest, and we saw all kinds of cool shit. Bald eagles fishing, seals/sea lions/sea otters/whales. Surfed on an amazing beach. Sea kayaking. Hiking through the forest of REALLY big cedar and spruce trees. It was all good stuff. It's incredibly far to get to but well worth the trip. the whole town is very touristy, but it's basically an amusement park for outdoorsy stuff. I took very few pictures. Disconnected as much as possible. Phone time during bathroom time only.

 

Spent a night in Victoria, BC. Another cool town. Fun Fact: No one jaywalks in Canada, apparently.

 

Two more nights in Seattle. Love the city. I could definitely live there.

[davechen]

Seattle in the summer time is great. Seattle in the winter is a long, dark, wet, gloomy existence.

[TheCityGame]

Is this news?

 

I tend to gloss over when you guys talk about EPP and what not, but Doak and Hanse and doing some restorations?

 

https://thefriedegg.com/doak-hanse-east-potomac-rock-creek/

[dcmidnight]

> @TheCityGame said:

> Is this news?

>

> I tend to gloss over when you guys talk about EPP and what not, but Doak and Hanse and doing some restorations?

>

> https://thefriedegg.com/doak-hanse-east-potomac-rock-creek/

 

IMO this could be massive news.

 

I think...geologically (?)...there's only so much you can do with the land being at sea level. But bringing in some designers like that? I dont see how it could be bad news.

[misplacedtexan83]

Prime real estate right there...

 

Be interesting to see what happens..

[FAbb]

I've seen it tossed around before that Doak volunteered to work on EPP with that group bidding pro bono. I guess it's just official now. Plus the addition of Hanse's company working Rock Creek.

[baddomes]

Last time I played Rock Creek, I teed off on #1 and hit my ball into the rough, then a lawn mower came out of nowhere and ran over my ball before I could get to it.

[SullGolf]

Dig it. NLU's recent podcast was an interview with Doak about CommonGround in Colorado. They didn't do that one pro bono, but they did it at a sweetheart rate. It's worth a listen, and probably has a lot of overlap with what they could do for DC golf.

 

I love the idea of turning Rock Creek in to a 9-hole track and then adding a top notch practice facility/range. That would instantly become my preferred range.

[SullGolf]

> @baddomes said:

> Last time I played Rock Creek, I teed off on #1 and hit my ball into the rough, then a lawn mower came out of nowhere and ran over my ball before I could get to it.

 

The last time I played Rock Creek, I helped a guy find his wedding ring. It had fallen out of his bag somewhere, and I found it in the grass after we looked for about 15 minutes. Rock Creek doesn't have a bar, so he couldn't even buy me a beer for that.

 

Moral of the story is that Rock Creek should also add a clubhouse with a bar.

 

[TheCityGame]

> @SullGolf said:

> > @baddomes said:

> > Last time I played Rock Creek, I teed off on #1 and hit my ball into the rough, then a lawn mower came out of nowhere and ran over my ball before I could get to it.

>

> The last time I played Rock Creek, I helped a guy find his wedding ring. It had fallen out of his bag somewhere, and I found it in the grass after we looked for about 15 minutes. Rock Creek doesn't have a bar, so he couldn't even buy me a beer for that.

>

> Moral of the story is that Rock Creek should also add a clubhouse with a bar.

>

 

and metal detectors.

[thechief16]

That reminds me of the highlight of Friday's suckfest (except Sull) at Twin Lakes. Puppet hitting in to the 10th green, hits oblivious mower guy (his mower, not him) 30 yards left of the green. Sounded like a gunshot.

 

DC: "WTF was that?"

Me: "Puppet hit him"

DC: "Cool".

 

30 seconds later:

Puppet: "Damn, I didn't know he was in play"

Me: "He wasn't. He was 30 yards left of the green"

Puppet: 

 

[Puppetmaster]

And I still got up and down for par.

[Puppetmaster]

Speaking of oblivious, first I thought Korn Ferry was some journeyman pro who had some sort of wild success story I didn't know about... then I thought it might be some fourth tier mini-tour that was producing some exceptional talent... but alas, it is a legit name.

[Puppetmaster]

I also looked at the Tour Championship leader board and either didn't recognize half of em or thought the rest were Hooters Tour... I mean... Korn Ferry players.

[thechief16]

> @Puppetmaster said:

> And I still got up and down for par.

 

Only because you hit him so hard the ball bounced from 30 yards left of the green into the greenside rough all the way on the other side of the green, leaving you a much easier uphill chip with lots of green to work with.

[mizuno player]

To me the interesting aspect of Glen Dale closing is that fact that the same family owned in for so long. They had two course for a while. Twin shields.

Only played it a few times. I have nostalgia for Glen Dale. Feel bad for the employees.

[Puppetmaster]

> @thechief16 said:

> > @Puppetmaster said:

> > And I still got up and down for par.

>

> Only because you hit him so hard the ball bounced from 30 yards left of the green into the greenside rough all the way on the other side of the green, leaving you a much easier uphill chip with lots of green to work with.

 

Oh details...

[Puppetmaster]

Speaking of the Friday round, we had a good time out at Twin Lakes - DC, Chief, and Sully are always great company. And it was our Tobacco Rd reunion tour apparently. But yeah the condition of the course and some of our games were lacking. Sully however is pounding that driver and making pars like a boss. Best I’ve seem him play at least until he started losing a little gas. I actually had a few nice greenside saves for par, but that was about it. My mopar (mower-par) off the tractor was on the 10th was the grand finale apparently, because I struggled the rest of the way coming in. Good thing it only took us 4 hrs to get through the suckage. We went to Glory Days after for some much needed beer and copious amounts of calories.

 

Yeah that first picture is DC’s crab n cheese pretzels which were pretty awesome except when you think of that stuff cooling and congealing in your arteries. So worth it.