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Though his site is oriented to the U.K., Lorne Smith has created a web site devoted to helping golfers discover the “joy to be alive” element that special courses evoke in us.
Smith notes that Fine Golf has a threefold purpose: To raise the profile of the “running game” vs. target golf; to encourage support of greenskeeping according to the “Natural Principles” espoused by Jim Arthur; and to share information about courses that evoke that “joy to be alive” feeling.
Again, the 200 such courses that Smith lists are all in the U.K., but there is much more to the site for the golfer to glean. The are blogs and articles on the future of golf courses, pleas for speedier golf, anecdotes of players at tournaments such as the Masters, essays on particular courses – a recent one featured the Old Tom Morris masterpiece at Tain, reviews of courses, and the opportunity to receive the Fine Golf newsletter every six to eight weeks.
The most recent of these contained anecdotes from the Ryder Cup, a golf course review, news of upcoming books, even an update on recent research projects regarding strains that require less use of pesticides, water and fertilizer.
Though not essentially hickory golf oriented, you don’t have to be an exclusive aficionado of the mashie to understand that Smith’s emphasis on traditional golf and the “running game” compliments the hickory golfers’ desire to seek out and enjoy courses that evoke an earlier approach to the game. His principles of fine golf may be used with fine results by hickory golfers to identify similar courses on this side of the Great Pond.
A review of FineGolf by Golf Monthly may be seen by clicking here.
Send your favorite links to: jdavis2364@gmail.com. We’ll share them through the newsletter and on the SoHG website under “Resources.”