The story of my 3000th Golf Course
When it comes to milestone courses, I peaked very early. I played Pine Valley, the number one ranked golf course in the world, for my 1000th golf course.  |
| Me on the 18th hole at Pine Valley, Golf Course #1000 |
Once you've done that, no milestone course will come remotely close. So selecting milestone courses now is more about the experience, the course designer, and the approximate location where it is going to happen. I knew going in that my 2000th golf course was going to take place in South Florida and I chose a course, The Everglades Club, with an architectural history linked to one of my favorite designers, Seth Raynor.
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| The Everglades Club, Golf Course #2000 |
As I approached the playing of my 3000th golf course, it became obvious I was going to be in the Boston area when it was going to happen. I started looking at the various courses in the area I hadn't played yet and I kept coming back to one course. George Wright Golf Course was designed by Donald Ross and is considered one of the best municipal courses in the country. I was enthralled with the idea of playing a wonderful Donald Ross designed course with my wife, and if we could somehow play it early in the morning, that would be absolute perfection. Thanks to the help of some wonderful people at George Wright, that is exactly what happened. Here is the story of the round of my 3000th golf course, George Wright in Boston, Massachusetts.
The round began at dawn, 6:20 am. My wife and I were the first group off, well the first official group, more on that later. We could barely see as we hit our opening tee shots, but even then we still knew this round was going to be special.
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| Me teeing off on #1 with the help of a sophisticated camera! |
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What it looked like on the 1st tee as we teed off at 6:20 am
The course is everything you hope for from a Donald Ross design. It has a great routing that moves up and down the undulating property, and expertly places holes in places that result in great variety and fun. The par 3's are especially good at George Wright.  | | The Par three 4th hole at George Wright |
The standout par four on the golf course was the 12th. You hit a semi-blind tee shot over a hill to a fairway that ends abrubtly, with a thrilling 2nd shot down a hill to a wonderful green. | | Par four 12th hole at George Wright |
Earlier I mentioned that even though we had the first tee time of the day, we weren't the first golfers on the course. That is because two ladies teed off at 5:40 in the morning. Having to play fully in the dark for at least 40 minutes did not deter these two ladies, and in talking with the pro before the round, I found out that this happens quite often. Some people bring glow balls, others just play in the dark and do the best they can. He told me it's not uncommon to have people teeing off at 4 am in the summer. This is exactly what I love about a course like George Wright. It is the soul of the game. People there enjoy playing the course so much they are willing to play it in the dark! Amazing! | | The two ladies in front of us on the 16th hole. They teed off at 5:40 am walking and even though we played very quickly, we never caught them! |
My favorite hole on the course was seventeen. A brilliant 145 yard Ross par three with tremendous bunkering and a great green. One of the best things about playing three thousand at George Wright is that I got to experience it with my wife. Below is us on 17 tee.
 | | My wife and I on the par three 17th hole |
A mere two hours and fifteen minutes after we started, my 3000th golf course was complete. Many thanks to the wonderful golf professional and staff at George Wright for giving us such an incredible experience! | | A quick but memorable round around my 3000th golf course! |
 | | 9th Hole, Biarritz at Yale |
One other fun story I'll leave you with. When I played my 1000th golf course in 2012, the next day I played Yale Golf Course with some friends. The day after I played my 3000th course, I played Yale for the first time since 2012. I didn't even realize the coincidence until after it happened! Golf really can be funny sometimes.
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