The Pinehurst Trip
A Great Way to Start the Golf Season
February 17, 2005
It is February. That means slim green fingers, tulips to be, stretch out from soil softened by the sun after another night’s freeze, seeking Gulf moisture in the air and some warmth, which lingers a day or two before Canada gets blustery again and reminds us that there are still several weeks to winter. Read more
Summer in the Shenandoah Valley
When the Middle Days Arrive
June 11, 2006
The Valley has been changing, and the daylight stretching out, as the solstice draws near. There is a fullness along the country roads where trees recently bare take on a middle-aged kind of thickness, swaying contentedly with the last of spring breezes. The cacophony of cicadas, tree frogs, crickets, and a million other mate-seeking critters makes such a steady droning that you actually have to think about it to hear their song. In the fields that twist to fit the Shenandoah River sit tawny bales of fresh-hewn hay which, from a distance, speckle the countryside like Civil War infantry frozen in time. Read more
Subcultures in Golf
This Game Takes all Types
November 17, 2005
Golf was once considered an elitist, old-man’s sport, a world where the only diversity was the hideous mixture of colors on the players’ plaid pants. But as things go in a relatively open and free society over time, golf has become accessible to almost everyone. The cookie-cutter country club types of yesteryear have had to make room for John and Jane Doe. And now there are subcultures within golf, different species of golfers, and the game has become a melting pot of personality types who are united only by their infatuation with herding little white balls into small holes with crooked sticks. Read more
Praising Lakeview
A Scenic Best-Buy in the Shenandoah Valley
January 19, 2005
In the 1980s the economy boomed with real estate speculation, and developers built golf courses all over the place. In the 90s, the dot-coms were on fire and developers built golf courses all over the place. Those days of prosperity were celebrated with upscale daily- fee golf courses—open to the public, at least to people who are willing and able to pay $50-$100 to play golf. But in the days since 9/11, the stock market seems to be looking over its shoulder, and the golf industry has gotten a little soft. In times like this it is a good old, rural, inexpensive, take a pull cart, and grab a hot dog at the turn type of golf that appeals to people. Welcome to Lakeview Golf Club. Read more
Spring in the Shenandoah Valley
A Time and Place for New Beginnings
April 24, 2005
Spring wanders into the Shenandoah Valley like a vagrant, on no particular schedule, and likely to jump a ride out of town just when we get used to him being there. Technically, spring arrives around March 21 when the sun passes through the vernal equinox, whatever that means. Read more
A Battle of High Principles
Is Golf a Game of Walking or Riding?
November 3, 2004
This will be the thirteenth time that the Walkers and Riders have knocked heads.
It all started in 1997, when Casey Martin, a tour player with a circulatory disease in his leg, sued the PGA for the right to use a golf cart in their tournaments. Late that year, a group of members from Lakeview Golf Club were sitting in Luigi’s restaurant nursing their own legs after a grueling hour of wallyball, which is volleyball played in a racquetball court. It is one of those things that golfers do when the days are too short for nine holes after work. Read more
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