NWR: Well done Grant.

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:09 pm

Grant Dodd made the cut in the Australian Masters and has just finished his final round. His final total was one under par. Excellent golf around a very tough golf course.
Congratulations Grant, what are you drinking tonight?

MM.

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 3:38 pm

Hey Mike,

Thanks for your support. I'd like to say it was tough this week but it was about as easy as i've played Huntingdale. No wind,soft greens, it all adds up to really low scores. I just didn't putt too good this week, signs of it getting better in patches but not really good enough to contend.

I've been off the juice for a while now, but I have big plans over x-mas! I get in a bit late tonight but tomorrow I have a big tasting planned, heaps of samples to get through, should make for a nice way to wind down.

All the best to all the phantom golfers out there, hit it straight!

Cheers

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 5:45 pm

Hey Grant,
I always hit it straight. Straight to where it goes. Go search for it. Hit it straight to where it finishes this time,etc.,etc. That's why I have ballooned to my current handicap.
MM.

PS - Maybe Santa will bring you a better putting game for next year.

707 · Post by **707** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:00 pm

Well done, I was sweating on you making the cut.

You doing the Jacobs Creek in Adelaide? I'm sure we can find you a feed with good wine again!

Cellar Rat · Post by **Cellar Rat** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:52 pm

707 wrote:Well done, I was sweating on you making the cut.

You doing the Jacobs Creek in Adelaide? I'm sure we can find you a feed with good wine again!

Hey, you know the rules. No turps, just meditation and Tony Bushby books for professional sports people !

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:42 am

Steve,

Still making my mind up about next year. I've had a lot of problems with my body in the last few years, 5 separate visits to the surgeon now. The spirit is willing but the body,well, you get the drift. I've got a few things going on outside of tournament golf, just a matter of deciding which direction I want to go in.

Either way, I'll be down in S.A. at some point or other and will avail myself of your offer. Hopefully this time i won't fall asleep at the table!

Cheers

707 · Post by **707** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:49 am

So your golf carrer is being hampered by a dodgy body, mine is hampered by a complete lack of ability.

Didn't think the three of us from Adelaide were that boring that we had you dozing off, are you now saying you were genuinely tired?

Look forward to catching up if you do make it to the centre of the wine universe hear in Adelaide.

Elvispga · Post by **Elvispga** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:45 am

Couldn't believe the scores were so good Grant. I see you finished 57th after average start. Well Done.

I worked for Richard Johnson at US Q School. He missed his card by 2 shot's which was a bit of a bummer. Wasn't able to be at any of the Aus tournaments which was disappointing.

Cheers
Elvis

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:15 pm

Elvis,

There was no wind all week,and they have made the course easier every year. All the tee-tree to the right of seven has been cut out,replaced with a bunker,so now the hardest tee shot in golf has been made pretty basic. A lot of the undergrowth has been taken out too, so the course just isn't as intimidating as in the past. It's really a shadow of what it once was. The general feeling is that whilst it has been changed, the changes havn't improved the course.

Cheers

Elvispga · Post by **Elvispga** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:20 pm

Bunch of F@#% Wits! Why do they have to change the course. The 7th was one of the best par 5 tee shots in the world!

BTW I wasn't in Aus for Wine Aus, did you make it along?

Elvis

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:36 pm

Missed the cut at the Oz Open so had a few days to kill- spent 3 of them at Wine Oz! Plenty of really good stuff,in short these were my picks

Hoddles Creek Chard and Pinot 03
Petaluma Shiraz 02
Wirra Wirra RSW 02
Carlei Estate Shiraz 02
Crawford River Riesling 04
Seppelt Chalambar 01&02
Seppelt St Peters 02
Old Plains Shiraz/Cab 03
Torzi Mathews Frost Dodger Shiraz 03
Kalleske Shiraz and Grenache 03

Heaps of other good stuff, too many to mention. Hope you're not freezing to death over there!

All the best

GD

ChrisH · Post by **ChrisH** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:17 pm

Grant

Many eons ago I was a member at Huntingdale. The tea-tree lined the fairways, and you had to take a few extra balls with you as you only had to miss the fairway slightly and it was lost ball !

regards
Chris

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:37 am

Chris,

The first Masters i played I remember thinking just how narrow the place was; there were some really intimidating tee shots and anything astray was in big trouble. It had its own character.

What you see now though is a course made a lot shorter by technology, but at the same time easier by design. The tournament is basically reduced to a putting comp as a result. Big greens,short holes. If you go back there you will no doubt be amazed at some of the green designs too. Ostentatious to say the least.

Cheers

707 · Post by **707** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:06 am

That's why it's slipped down the list in the Ausgolf course rankings.

What is it about committees and new CEOs that makes them want to change things?

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:23 pm

Steve,

I'm on the judging panel for Golf Digest's Top 100 courses, and whilst I won't speak for any of the other judges, I know there was a general feeling that the changes to the green designs were extravagant and out of character. The course is in great condition, just superb really, but there's no disguising the fact that a number of the new greens, especially 5, 14,15,17 &18, are of particularly poor design and detract from the overall quality.

Cheers

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:25 pm

Grant Dodd wrote:Steve,

I'm on the judging panel for Golf Digest's Top 100 courses, and whilst I won't speak for any of the other judges, I know there was a general feeling that the changes to the green designs were extravagant and out of character. The course is in great condition, just superb really, but there's no disguising the fact that a number of the new greens, especially 5, 14,15,17 &18, are of particularly poor design and detract from the overall quality.

Cheers

Grant,
I guess we have 'ol one-eyed Jack to thank for this?
MM.

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:26 am

Newton, Grant & Spencer were the designers. I'm not sure that they are still together as a team. Obviously, everyone has their own ideas on what constitutes good design, and the arguments on merit often imitate the level of disagreement we see in realtion to wine quality.

Many designers like to have a style that differentiates them from the rest of the pack, almost a signature, if you will. Often the adherence to that style is a limitation in itself, ie; you have to follow the structure that you began with at a particular course, otherwise it begins to look like a dogs breakfast should you have change of heart.

I always try to be objective about these things, but at the same time, I've had the chance to play all over the world at many of the greatest courses, so I've got a pretty good bank of info on which to make comparisons. To my way of thinking, the very best courses( usually built by the greatest designers) rarely rely on artificial trickery to challenge the player, and their beauty and excellence are built on subtlety of design and sleight of hand.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of what they've done, but thats just my opinion. I heard last week that the club is going to tear up some of the new greens and re-do them. That would be a good thing, but a slap in the face for the architects of the design.

Cheers

GraemeG · Post by **GraemeG** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:13 pm

Grant Dodd wrote: To my way of thinking, the very best courses( usually built by the greatest designers) rarely rely on artificial trickery to challenge the player, and their beauty and excellence are built on subtlety of design and sleight of hand.

Cheers

Oh no! It comes down to terroir again. :shock:

But, as in winemaking, the greats like McKenzie and Ross can make even something quite manipulated look perfectly natural. Whereas other courses constructed out of nowhere, so to speak - the Vintage in the Hunter comes to mind - you get the impression that the computer design was imposed onto the landscape...

Hell, what would I know? I play on a course that was built in the 20's and has - mostly - changed very little since 1938! Not a challenge for pros anymore - at least the ones who can hit deadly straight...

cheers,
Graeme

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:52 pm

[/quote]

Hell, what would I know? I play on a course that was built in the 20's and has - mostly - changed very little since 1938! Not a challenge for pros anymore - at least the ones who can hit deadly straight...

cheers,
Graeme[/quote]

Hogan and Moe Norman are dead GG.
MM.

GraemeG · Post by **GraemeG** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:22 pm

Muscat Mike wrote:
Hogan and Moe Norman are dead GG.
MM.

Ben Hogan is my sporting hero. Tiger's record in the majors (or anywhere else) still doesn't stack up against Hogan's.

Anyway, I thought Moe was famous for length, not direction?

cheers,
Graeme

Elvispga · Post by **Elvispga** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:34 pm

Moe Norman is famous for direction. Also, being a complete looney.

Saw him giving some of the Pro's some tips (Grant Waite (NZ) was one, hanging on every word) on the range at the Canadian Open at Angus Glen a couple of years back. He was the complete excentric almost in a trance like state. He was hitting balls with his driver and they were literally not moving outside a ten yard radius!! They were not going far, maybe 200 yards (180 meters) but dam straight.

Cheers
Elvis

707 · Post by **707** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:49 pm

Mo Norman could have been anything from what I've read, very sad he couldn't get acceptance and took his golf bats home to Canada without showing the world what he was capable of.

Grant Dodd · Post by **Grant Dodd** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:33 pm

Mo said everything twice,everything twice. Total eccentric. Never had a bank account until near the end of his life. Carried up to $30 000 around with him all the time. Never married. Never had an alcoholic drink. Never had a girlfriend. Probably better off :wink:

!

Absolute genius with a golf club. Hogan said he was the best ball striker he had seen. Once putted into a bunker on the last hole of a tournament when leading by three to see if he could get up and down to win by one!

There's a video around somewhere with him hitting balls, very impressive. Worth watching for the golf nuts.

Cheers

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:21 pm

Some have said that Moe may have suffered from ADD and that is why he acted as he did. As for gaining acceptance in the US, he did not like travelling outside of his beloved Canada and won numerous tournaments as both an amateur and pro.
He once bet a fellow pro that he could hit his driver straighter than this pro could hit his putts. The bet was that Moe would hit a flag quite some distance away before the pro sank an 80 foot putt. The bet was never accepted.
MM.