Todd Smith
2025 Fried Egg Golf Events Memories
11/30/25
The event at Moraine was fun too - dodging raindrops!
Link to commentRoger Carter
Fegc Bay Area Meetup December 28 11 A M
11/30/25
I can't make this date, but I recently had a chance to play Poppy Ridge with Jay. It's a great layout with some really fun greens. If you can attend, you are in for a treat. If you get a chance, do a quick tour of the old 9 that was not remodeled and it will give you perspective on what an amazing transformation Jay achieved with his work.
Link to commentMike Ihm
2025 Fried Egg Golf Events Memories
11/30/25
Always Thankful for what you do and hoping to get to a couple more events next year! That Commadore room dinner was really cool and lucky I got to have a member out with us. Playing Interlachen with the club historian and dropping that lazer of a foul ball at the Twins game are experiences I'll always remember.
Link to commentMike Ihm
Playing Landmand In July Any Impressions
11/29/25
Played it a few times. Be prepared for usual high winds and wild greens that are fun to mess around on. It can beat you up but also be scoreable from hole to hole. Just need to have a "have fun and mess around" mindset. I've know guys try to take it very seriously and hate it (they are big 90s design fans though). Ive seen my brother shoot 67 and have the tips course record for years, but also have seen him shoot 80 there.
Side note: wonder if Old Dane will be open by then. I cant remember off hand.
Link to commentMatt Marquart
Ohio Indiana Michigan Kentucky
11/29/25
Co-sign Hidden River
Link to commentBenjamin Keveson
London Golf Vacay
11/29/25
Ahh, very good, maybe I give up golf for London and then head out to whales on the same trip for some golf
Link to commentJames Reader
London Golf Vacay
11/29/25
It’s easy enough to get into the city from there and the course is decent but there’s a lot better golf (and a lot better hotels) to be had around London. You’re compromising on both the golf and the hotel to go somewhere that has them together, which may be the right option for you.
Link to commentBenjamin Keveson
London Golf Vacay
11/29/25
The grove looks like it might be the ticket! Easy enough to take a car into the city from there?
Link to commentRobert Downey
London Golf Vacay
11/29/25
I live in Belgium, but visit the UK often for work and play. If you want luxury, I recommend Woodhall Spa. Renovated by Doak. There is a Marriott there that can be a place to stay right at the property. Another is The Grove, Kyle Phillips 18 hole course and a hotel and spa. https://www.thegrove.co.uk/golf/
Other option, harder to get to...which is towards the coast, is Princes GC, which has a small lodge (Royal St. George and Royal Cinque Ports are also nearby)
Link to commentRobert Downey
Go play Dunedin GC. Original Donald Ross, recently renovated (mostly greens, bunkers) by Kris Spence. Lots of fun, and you can walk. It's a semi-private, and you can get tee times, but you are at the mercy of the season...peak winter season has a pretty full tee sheet. March may be busy because of Spring Training crowds, particularly the Canadians, as Toronto plays in Dunedin.
Link to commentDavid Eldred
That S A Wrap On The 2025 Lpga Season
11/29/25
I have exactly one memory: I heard the ending of the Evian was wild, so watched it on golf channel replay that night. Grace Kim taking 10 strokes on 9 swings playing the 18th three consecutive times fulfilled the wild promise.
Link to commentDavid Eldred
Will do! Wherever my addled brain ends up, thank you for the kind offer.
Link to commentJoshua Lambert
April Masters Trip
11/29/25
I lived in Augusta for 5 years so know the area decently well.
Aiken GC is a fun course. Highly recommend.
Forest Hills might be a little cheaper and it’s an old Donald Ross. Unsure of the conditions right now though.
Augusta Country Club is a great track but probably hard to get onto.
Palmetto Golf Club is solid.
Another cheaper option is Bartram Trail in Evans, GA. It’s nothing special but it’s pretty fun.
Link to commentSteven Wade
Practice Areas At Clubs Courses A Few Questions
11/29/25
This architect last worked on the course 11 years ago. It wasn’t an all encompassing work plan back then.
Link to commentTrevor Morvay
The Economics Of Golf Events
11/29/25
This is an interesting conversation. I have attended 3 events run by the FE. All three were Kingsley club, where the courses in the area were a huge attracttion. I could spend abit more on a day at Kingsley, and play some great, affordable golf (Wolf River, Champion HIll and Belvedere) around the event. When Belvedere was added, the event went up in cost, but not to the extent that my 36 holes and having to feed myself 3 meals did when I played Belvedere the previous 2 seasons on my own.
I have also played a Golfers Journal event, at a club I play at for free several times a season and could golf weekly if I really wanted to. I found this event was in their "lower tier" for pricing, and I felt the club did a great job hosting, but TGJ did a weak job as our hosts. Gifting was poor (socks, a journal and a hat), we missed lunch as pace of play was not enforced, and subsequently missed awards that evening. Drinks were advertised as to be provided, but were not.
The cost vs value was not there with TGJ, but I have left all 3 trips to a FE event happy and wanting to get back to another. I was super impressed this year with WIll and Abby's work. I can't stress enough how delighted I was to know we could play Belvedere until the sun went down because dinner was arranged, but I did not remember seeing that advertised.
As for costing, I am in the golf industry and golf has never been more expensive to maintain. For example, I will pick on a FE sponsor, but a Toro 6500D fairway mower used to run you about $65,000-$85,000 (Canadian funds...I work in Canada) and now that unit will run you closer to $145,000 and you have to wait up to 18 months to get it. If the cost of production or parts increases before delivery is made, you're on the hook for that too!
Urea (nitrogen) prices have early doubled since covid, Phosphours is being hoarded by China, and wildly expensive. Trucking product across north america wth fuel costs has gone through the roof as well. A typical maintenance budget has likely gone up 35% since covid on just inputs alone (fertilizer/pesticides) and course accessories most golfers can't do without (benches, yardage signs, bunker rakes) are about to go up by somewhere between 10-25% due to tariff wars. And, the more rounds a golf course puts out, the more inputs need to go into it to get it back up to "standard". Superintendents get fired when they can't provide the standard set, but a clubs popularity/number of rounds are truly to blame in most cases for the conditions.
All these get passed onto the consumer.
Personally, I wish FE ran more events closer to me. They do a great job. The food, gifts and clubs they pick are awesome. The people who show up are delightful and I have truly made friends across North America who I have seen at the Kingsley event the last 3 seasons. I also find it cool that they go back to the same clubs. I love going to my local coffee shop and they know who I am. But being at Kingsley or Belvedere only for a day the past two years, and knowing the staff and them knowing me from my two previous visits was a real treat.
Keep up the tremedous work on these events!
Link to commentTrevor Morvay
The Economics Of Golf Events
11/29/25
This is an interesting conversation. I have attended 3 events run by the FE. All three were Kingsley club, where the courses in the area were a huge attracttion. I could spend abit more on a day at Kingsley, and play some great, affordable golf (Wolf River, Champion HIll and Belvedere) around the event. When Belvedere was added, the event went up in cost, but not to the extent that my 36 holes and having to feed myself 3 meals did when I played Belvedere the previous 2 seasons on my own.
I have also played a Golfers Journal event, at a club I play at for free several times a season and could golf weekly if I really wanted to. I found this event was in their "lower tier" for pricing, and I felt the club did a great job hosting, but TGJ did a weak job as our hosts. Gifting was poor (socks, a journal and a hat), we missed lunch as pace of play was not enforced, and subsequently missed awards that evening. Drinks were advertised as to be provided, but were not.
The cost vs value was not there with TGJ, but I have left all 3 trips to a FE event happy and wanting to get back to another. I was super impressed this year with WIll and Abby's work. I can't stress enough how delighted I was to know we could play Belvedere until the sun went down because dinner was arranged, but I did not remember seeing that advertised.
As for costing, I am in the golf industry and golf has never been more expensive to maintain. For example, I will pick on a FE sponsor, but a Toro 6500D fairway mower used to run you about $65,000-$85,000 (Canadian funds...I work in Canada) and now that unit will run you closer to $145,000 and you have to wait up to 18 months to get it. If the cost of production or parts increases before delivery is made, you're on the hook for that too!
Urea (nitrogen) prices have early doubled since covid, Phosphours is being hoarded by China, and wildly expensive. Trucking product across north america wth fuel costs has gone through the roof as well. A typical maintenance budget has likely gone up 35% since covid on just inputs alone (fertilizer/pesticides) and course accessories most golfers can't do without (benches, yardage signs, bunker rakes) are about to go up by somewhere between 10-25% due to tariff wars. And, the more rounds a golf course puts out, the more inputs need to go into it to get it back up to "standard". Superintendents get fired when they can't provide the standard set, but a clubs popularity/number of rounds are truly to blame in most cases for the conditions.
All these get passed onto the consumer.
Personally, I wish FE ran more events closer to me. They do a great job. The food, gifts and clubs they pick are awesome. The people who show up are delightful and I have truly made friends across North America who I have seen at the Kingsley event the last 3 seasons. I also find it cool that they go back to the same clubs. I love going to my local coffee shop and they know who I am. But being at Kingsley or Belvedere only for a day the past two years, and knowing the staff and them knowing me from my two previous visits was a real treat.
Keep up the tremedous work on these events!
Link to commentBrian Gracely
Not sure about the rest of the clubs. He wasn’t a golfer, so they probably went to a garage sale. Shoot me a note to bgracely@gmail.com if you decide to give it a try.
Link to commentTrevor Morvay
Chocolate Drop North Berwick Hires Gil Hanse
11/28/25
I am glad we have paid for our 2026 round already, as surely adding Gil to the webstire will add a few more quid to the cost.
I think as clubs (just not in the UK, but everywhere) chase to be "greater than they currently are", they run the risk of losing what makes them popular in the first place. So many clubs work to keep up with their neighbours, but did they really make themselves better? Or did they spend money to do some work, and that offers everyone a sugar high that wears off quickly?
Link to commentTrevor Morvay
Practice Areas At Clubs Courses A Few Questions
11/28/25
Steven,
I think having one arcithect stems from the fact that when a club engages in a plan (long or short term) with an architecht, it is all encompassing. Most arcitechts would not want a clubs project if the mission to do work was not cohesive, and the best way to ensure that is only have one architect.
Personally, I hate practice. Driving ranges are great to see a few ball flights if you are into a warm up (I do not, hand me a tee and I will do my shoes up while we walk down the first fairway). I think short game areas are great for kids to learn the game. How to play, etitquette, and keeps the group tight, interactive and active.
I do not understand why more clubs don't see what Augusta did with their practice range, and take this concept of warming up with actual shots you will hit on the course and turn this concept into a driving range for their golf simulators. Have trackman or the like set up to get some feedback. But doing this would significalty bring down costs as a digital is much cheaper than moving earth. I am not member at a club, by the local one in my area only has a short game area, nets near the first tee and their members want a driving range and have no land to build one. Instead, they want to blow up their routing, move holes and redesign to make room for one. Oh, and this is top 100 course in Canada how just went through a 2 year renovation of their golf course.
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