DICK RUDOLPH & AETNA SPRINGS

Will Smith — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:46:54 +0000

AETNA SPRINGS' SIXTH (Courtesty of Larry Lambrect)

At the end of April, I was fortunate to get out to Aetna Springs in the northern Napa Valley for an afternoon of golf and a quick chat with Dick Rudolph, the course’s superintendent. I worked for a few months on the construction crew at Aetna in the fall of 2006 and I look back very fondly on this project partially because it was such a beautiful place to work but mostly because Dick Rudolph has to be one of the nicest people in all of golf. It was absolute pleasure working with him. Dick has done a great job getting the course in shape and Aetna is one of the prettiest places in the world to play nine holes. (video after the jump)

Another reason that I look back fondly on Aetna Springs is that I am very proud of the final product. Golf has been played on this ground since the late 19th century. Tom Doak was brought in to spruce up the nine holer in anticipation of it being included within a larger club with another eighteen hole course down the road. The decision on whether that project can proceed may come later this week. Currently, Aetna Springs is a fun little course that plays through amazing old oaks and over a plethora of creeks. There are some very good holes on the property.

The new clubhouse is small and understated. It fits into the hillside in an unobtrusive manner, just a stones throw from the old Aetna Springs Resort. The resort is now in unfortunate if picturesque disrepair and features some great historic buildings, one of which was reputedly designed by Bernard Maybeck, architect of the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco. I am frequently amazed at all of the cool things that we can miss merely by staying on on the beaten path. Aetna Springs is one of those places, and I highly recommend going out of your way to try and check it out.

CHRIS HUNT’S PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Chris Hunt — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:47:38 +0000

ROYAL WORLINGTON & NEWMARKET

I felt a strong inner call for soul purification this week, and in that vain, what course would spring to mind ahead of the overtly honest and aged Mildenhall, that famous 9-hole sandy flatland in Middle Earth England that was originally staked in the late 19th century. So it is in a field, and yes, the Cambridge folks golf their balls thereabouts, but what an amazing assortment of holes in such close proximity, with each subtle feature on the forty acre plot maximized and in play from multiple holes. The intelligentsia characterize the layout as one of the finest half-courses on the planet, and the 5th hole opitimizes why—a devilish 8-iron or knock down 6, with the narrow, firm terrace of a green dually flanked by significant hollows ready to deflect one’s ball and subsequent epithets with equal aplomb. For modern day shock value, the hole still plays as originally routed, that is directly over the 4th geen and crossing the 6th hole at the approach to boot. The greens are a close knit group and broadly sloping, and the bunkers seem perfectly deep with faces always slightly harsher than one would hope–defense for the course without militancy. The fashionable architects of our day will never muster the marbles to attempt such a course today, and so RW & M remains a singular treat to those who venture off of the beaten golfing paths for a visit. The simplicity of the land also makes the self-respecting, optimistic armchair architects among us believe that our banal back-yards might yield a quirky golfing masterpiece, if we were only given the chance to complete the conversion. For that and all the rest, we must raise a glass to Mildenhall and laud its continued preservation.

PUNCHBOWL GOLF » Nine Hole Courses

DICK RUDOLPH & AETNA SPRINGS

CHRIS HUNT’S PHOTO OF THE WEEK