I had no life apart from the Ryder Cup from Friday through Sunday. I was fully invested and barely missed a single shot on the Golf Channel and NBC, running to the fridge and bathroom on the short commercial breaks. (I apologize, Mercedes.) I wanted the U.S. to win, but I wanted as much an exciting, sporting match -- which I got, to a fault. Mindful that second-guessing is a lot easier than two putting from 40 feet in the waning moments of a Ryder Cup, I can’t resist a few observations.

 

Addicted to Love

        Davis Love’s playing style has always been steady as she goes; consistency without any of the drama or, frankly, creativity of some of his contemporaries. He showed that same no-flash style in his captaincy of the Ryder team. Although his pairing of Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson was inspired, it emanated from a clichéd approach –- put

the experienced guy with the new guy to calm down the latter and energize the older.  But both are "excitable" personalities, not a term you would use in reference to Steve Stricker.  Although not as far apart in age as Mickelson and Bradley, the Tiger Woods and Stricker pairing made the same kind of sense to Love; the animated player with the steady personality (there’s a lot of Love in Stricker). But as Tiger has receded to “excellent player” from “otherworldly,” he’s begun to show mortality under weekend pressure; and Stricker has had a mediocre year and has never really distinguished himself under the pressure of major championships.  The pairing obviously did not work.

        Hindsight is easy, but it might have made more sense to pair Tiger with a younger, less sensitive player like Jason Dufner or Dustin Johnson than with the sometimes weepy Stricker. (Note: The young/old pairings didn’t exactly rock for the European side, as Lee Westwood did nothing for Francesco Molinari, and vice versa, in the Friday foursomes.)

 

U.S. captain’s picks get old

        In the age-old argument of whether experience or youth can handle pressure better, experience came out the loser for the American side. In the home stretch, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker wilted, especially on the greens, in the harsh glare of late-afternoon Medinah. For the most part, the kids and rookies on both sides –- Dufner, McIlroy, Molinari –- seemed anxiety proof. The usually deliberate Stricker engaged in self-atrophy, leaving his putter head behind the ball way longer than is customary for him; and after NBC made a big deal of how Stricker had analyzed the breaks on every green and shared the resulting maps with his team members, he totally misaligned the putt on the 18th hole by eight feet! (although it turned out not to matter after Martin Kaymer made his six-foot Cup-clinching putt.) It was Stricker’s miss of a six-footer on the 17^th that denied us all of the almost unbearable excitement of seeing Tiger Woods play the 18^th hole for The Cup.

        Captain Love’s picks for the team turned out to be a mixed bag. Dustin Johnson played wonderfully, Brandt Snedeker not so wonderfully after the opening day. Add Furyk’s and Stricker’s combined 1-6 record for the weekend, and the overall 5-8 performance of the U.S. captain’s picks was disappointing. Euro captain Olazabal’s picks were Nicolas Colsaerts (1-3) and Ian Poulter (4-0). Colsaerts single-handedly beat Woods and Stricker on Friday afternoon, going nine under on his own ball and dragging the inert Lee Westwood around like a papier-mache ball and chain.  And Poulter, of course, deserves the credit he is getting for reanimating the Euro squad with his hyperkinetic five-birdie finish on Saturday afternoon.

 

Guilty conscience

        The matches were totally absorbing this weekend. As an American, I was rooting for the home team, but as the U.S. side got out to a quick lead, I found myself wishing for a close match lest Sunday’s outcome be reached after less time than it takes for a 6-0, 6-0 tennis match. But as the noose tightened, I started to take it personally, thinking, “What have I done?”  I won’t make that mistake next time…if there is a next time. This was the best weekend of golf play I’ve ever watched, and it will be tough to duplicate.

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        My son, Tim, who has posted reviews of golf courses in this space, has a more "mystical" notion of how the Americans came to lose The Cup in such dramatic fashion.  For his article, click here.

        I am unabashed in my respect for Arthur Hills golf course designs largely because he does not generally dumb down his layouts to fit some golf community developer’s conception of what is playable for a retired golfer.  If anything, Hills goes the opposite way.

        Although you will find a fair number of Hills’ courses in destination locations (resorts, second-home spots), his layouts are no vacation for the average golfer and are sporting challenges for the single-digit player.  Curiously, some developers of age-restricted communities defer to the now 82-year old Hills, who presents them with layouts few aging, distance-diminished male golfers can play, short of teeing it up from the ladies’ tees.  Hills designs are muscular, geared to golfers who can hit the ball where they want to, and a long way (i.e. the younger players).

The second tee gives a strong hint of things to come on the Arthur Hills designed Heritage Shores golf course.  Water is in play for many tee shots.

 

        I first noticed this pre-disposition to non-compromise at the Williamsburg, VA, 55+ community Colonial Heritage, where the Hills golf course was among the most brutal I had played in years, with forced carries of considerable distance, tilted fairways and green complexes that would drive a Nationwide Tour player nuts.  Yesterday, during a week on the coast of Delaware, where I am scouting five golf communities, I played the Hills designed course at Heritage Shores, a 55+ community, with a 72 year old West Point graduate who is fit as a fiddle, played the tees from 5,900 yards, and still approached some of the par 4s as par 5s.  I chose the “Championship” tees at a total of 6,477 yards and had all I could handle on a layout with a rating of 70.5 and a slope of, gulp, 138.

        Heritage Shores, which opened in 2007 (Arthur Hills was 77 at the time), is not as relentlessly difficult as Colonial Heritage, but those 60-somethings who don’t hit the ball 200+ off the tee won’t find much comfort or entertainment in the ponds and lakes that are adjacent to all 18 holes, and in play at most.  The course is tough enough that a major distance accommodation is made to women, with their tee boxes at an unusually short 4,740 yards.

Par 3 14th at Heritage Shores.

 

        Conscious that the golf courses will not appeal substantially to the aging population in the homes that surround both Colonial Heritage and Heritage Shores, which is just off Highway 13 in central Delaware, about 40 minutes from the beaches, the two golf courses are open to public play.  For those heading from New England south to the Carolinas and Florida, Heritage Shores would make a great stop to break up the trip and play a terrific golf course at a reasonable price ($64, helpful GPS cart included).  The greens are smooth and receptive to well-struck approach shots and the fairways are, for the most part, wide (in some places, very wide).  Heritage Shores is all about the lay-up and approach shots and, often, the chipping around the tough green complexes.  (You might consider putting an extra wedge in the bag.)  Oh, yes, bring a long-handled ball retriever as well.

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        In the coming week, we will begin listing homes for sale in Delaware golf communities at our companion site, GolfHomesListed, including the Bayside Resort, Peninsula Club, King's Creek, Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club, Bear Trap Dunes and Heritage Shores.  Delaware's relatively mild winter climate -- golf courses stay open year round -- will appeal especially to second home owners and retirees looking to remain within a few hours drive of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.  New Jersey and New York residents can be on the first tee at any of these clubs in less than five hours with a drive down the Garden State Parkway and a one-hour ferry ride (with your car) from Cape May, NJ, to the charming town of Lewes, DE.  Contact me if you would like more information about golf homes for sale in Delaware.

The tee shot on the finishing hole at Heritage Shores is routine (top), but the lay-up shot (middle) is anything but, with bunkers at right a better alternative than pond to the left.  With wind blowing right to left at greenside, a slighly pulled or long wedge shot will find a marshy grave.  Note the almost perfectly rectangular green.