A Pieeater Speaks

Askernish

2009-10-16T14:40:00.002+01:00

Sylt

2009-06-06T15:14:00.003+01:00

Been in Germany visiting golf courses this week. Here are a few pics from the island of Sylt, off the coast, close to the Danish border.

There is a causeway linking the island to the mainland, but you can't drive across it. Instead, you take your car on the Auto Zug, a shuttle train. It was pretty amazing to see huge trucks on the back of the train.

This church is in Westerland, the island's main town. Quite nice brickwork, and an appealing spire, I thought.

Here is the Rathaus.

I had no idea Germans were so into their tea. There were loads of tea-related shops: here is one of them.

Maggie Maggie Maggie Out Out Out

2009-03-21T14:24:00.002Z

(must be twenty years since I've chanted that)

Cat in Cavolo Nero

2009-03-21T14:19:00.001Z

A beautiful spring day, so Maisie snoozes among the veg....

LIVEBLOG Aftermath

2009-02-27T15:18:00.002Z

This huge branch crashed down from a great height into two fence panels (shortly to be replaced) and unfortunately took a branch of our apple tree with it. It's only a small tree though, so it'll grow back quickly enough. Darcey says it's the first time he's had a branch take out a fence in three years.

The trunk will be cut down to just above ground level, then, in a few weeks, Darcey will return with the stump grinder.

The back garden is in a state!

And here is Maisie among the debris for you cat lovers.

LIVEBLOG The trunk falls!

2009-02-27T14:39:00.001Z

LIVEBLOG Naked eucalyptus trunk

2009-02-27T13:46:00.002Z

LIVEBLOG Headless man up a tree

2009-02-27T13:25:00.002Z

LIVEBLOG - A Man, High in a Eucalyptus

2009-02-27T12:55:00.002Z

LIVEBLOG - The Late Pine Tree!

2009-02-27T11:18:00.001Z

Eric, Darcey's sidekick, clears up the remains of the pine tree....

LIVEBLOG - Pine tree stump

2009-02-27T10:53:00.002Z

LIVEBLOG - Pine tree almost gone!

2009-02-27T10:44:00.001Z

LIVEBLOG! Tree Surgery

2009-02-27T10:31:00.004Z

Darcey the tree surgeon is removing our eucalyptus and the pine tree in next door's garden. I'll be sorry to see them go (especially the pine which I really like) but they are too big and too close to the house.

Here's an update after about half an hour's work:

Cat Pile

2009-02-26T13:32:00.002Z

Even by the standards of our two nutjobs this is going a bit far. I wonder which order they climbed on?

Will Harry Have Learned To Play The Guitar...

2009-02-20T10:55:00.003Z

... by the time the Hunts return from Oz in four years?

Safe travels, Hunts.

Mississippi Dining

2009-02-09T15:56:00.004Z

I didn't have enough time in New Orleans even to scratch the surface of its legendary food culture. No beignets at Cafe du Monde, no visit to Mother's, no gumbo. We did eat twice at Mulate's, which was fun if not earthshaking, and had a terrific dinner at a nice restaurant in the Warehouse District called Cochon.

But the thing I most wanted to eat while in town was a muffuletta from Central Grocery. So that's where I went on Saturday lunchtime. It's a helluva sandwich, and even better when taken out onto the levee and eaten while watching the ol' man river rolling on.

To Live in the Quarter?

2009-02-09T15:48:00.002Z

From a distance, keeping the district's reputation in mind, you might be forgiven for thinking that no-one in their right mind would live in the French Quarter. But then you see lovely old houses like this, and change your tune. Surprisingly, on a glorious Saturday afternoon only a couple of weeks before Mardi Gras, there was no-one around, even though I was no more than a hundred yards from the zoo that is Bourbon Street. It reminded me of walking down Oxford Street in London on the last Saturday before Christmas, some years ago. A wall of people were crushing along the pavement, but step only five or ten yards up a side road, and you had space to yourself. Crowds are strange creatures.

Yes We Did!

2009-02-09T15:44:00.006Z

I guess this little expostulation, in the window of a rather wonderful second hand cookbook store in the French Quarter (I could have spent so much money - and blown my baggage allocation sky high - in there) would have been more timely a couple of weeks back. But it warmed the cockles of my heart.

Rebirth of a City

2009-02-09T15:39:00.003Z

Unsurprisingly, there is a pretty vast amount of construction going on in New Orleans at the moment. But what I hadn't quite expected was the extent to which that's taking place in the city centre - which I had heard escaped the worst of Katrina's ravages. But then if a city loses the majority of its inhabitants for a couple of years at least, I guess it isn't surprising that buildings will look worse for wear.

This hotel was a particularly beautiful building.

Jackson Square

2009-02-09T15:35:00.005Z

Previously known as Place d'Armes. The building is St Louis' Cathedral. They don't call it the French Quarter just for the fun of it, you know...

Loup Garou

2009-02-07T21:50:00.003Z

Can one trust a dog in the French Quarter? Even one as cute as this?

A Streetcar Named...?

2009-02-07T18:53:00.001Z

Carondelet Street, New Orleans.

Texan Sunset

2009-02-04T15:39:00.002Z

The sun sets over Wolf Point Club, Sunday February 1, 2009.

Bagpuss

2009-01-17T12:34:00.003Z

Saggy, baggy, etc? You decide:

But Lucy loved her.

I am twitchy....

2008-12-11T17:01:00.004Z

Looking up from my desk a few minutes ago, I saw a glorious full moon, framed by the velux window and filtered by wispy cloud. The light around it was wonderful, rather as in a Whistler nocturne. So I dashed downstairs for the camera (with barely more than a nod to her ladyship), ran back up and started shooting.

Not easy, taking pics at night. Here is the first attempt, when I failed to put the camera on its night setting, and the flash shot up....

I soon realised my mistake and set the camera properly. It didn't entirely help...

This third attempt is a little bit better. I tried resting the camera on the velux window itself, but the flaming thing kept moving....

And this is the best of the bunch, shot with the camera on the window frame. Still not fantastic though. Moral: use a tripod if you are prone to shaking, or more generously, shivering...

A Study in What, Exactly?

2008-12-11T12:54:00.003Z

So there is clearly something that interests Maisie in the front garden. It doesn't show in a still photo, obviously, but her tail was flicking from side to side rather vigorously, too....

A Decent Swing!

2008-12-10T15:47:00.005Z

Wow - a picture of me that I actually quite like. OK, the gut is a wee bit larger than one might wish, and I'm squinting a bit to try and see my damned golf ball, but the finish of the golf swing is really rather good...

Photo taken at Lübker Golf Resort, near Århus in Denmark, by Frank Undall

Lucy in Aspendos

2008-10-21T05:06:00.004+01:00

Here is a photo of her Ladyship seated in the rather fabulous Roman theatre at Aspendos in southern Turkey. We paid a visit en route to a golf course t'other week....

Denmark Hangovers

2008-10-19T12:39:00.006+01:00

I just found a few shots on my phone that I'd taken while in Denmark a few weeks ago.

Here's the wake of the fast ferry that took us from Sjaellands Odde to Århus. I've always been amazed by the way these things go. They don't half kick up the sea.

Copenhagen has a new Metro system which you take to get to and from the airport. The trains are completely automatic - no driver - which means you can sit at the front and watch the tunnels race past. It's a pretty weird experience. Sadly it doesn't photo all that well - moving quickly, plus a thick sheet of glass - but I still think this is quite a fun image.

Falsterbo - The Point Where Two Seas Meet

2008-09-21T22:59:00.004+01:00

So I am in Sweden at the moment. We're having a great trip - we've seen some good golf and had some good fun. But today was probably the highlight, so far at least. We visited Falsterbo Golf Club, which occupies the most southwesterly point of Sweden. The seventeenth tee is literally as far as you can go in the country - to one side you have the Baltic, and on the other side you have the Oresund. Great place, a terrific golf course and a fabulous welcome too. Go.

Copenhagen Airport

2008-09-18T21:13:00.002+01:00

I have always been very hostile to smoking.... here is a smoker's prison cell at Kastrup airport in Copenhagen.

And here are some Georg Jensen silver crosses. I shall be back at that airport next week. Should I buy one for Lucy?

Bookending the Day - Kirtlington Sunrise

2008-09-15T09:37:00.002+01:00

Taken this morning....

Kirtlington Sunset

2008-09-11T10:18:00.004+01:00

Saw the sun for the first time in weeks (or so it felt) last night, while driving home. The sunset was lovely, so I stopped the car, jumped out and took a few shots. I love sunsets (and sunrises too for that matter). Must be the Turner inside. Although it's pretty melancholic to realise that, in a few weeks, I'll be driving to and from work in the dark again. I hate the autumn.

New Wembley - It's Bloody Huge!

2008-09-11T10:10:00.003+01:00

Went to the Challenge Cup final t'other week and sneaked a couple of shots of the stadium on the phone. It's very, very impressive. I had expected the seats to be a little more comfortable (though the legroom was good) - but my stadium informant tells me that such things always fall by the wayside on fixed-price builds, because they are the last thing done and by that time the contractor knows he is going to lose money and just wants to get it finished as quickly and cheaply as possible.

The final was entertaining, especially the second half. We were sat right among the Hull fans. By God, they make some noise. I can't imagine how loud it would have been had they won. But bloody Satans took the cup, as we all knew they would.

Me on (digital) TV

2008-08-22T22:54:00.002+01:00

I did an interview about the Askernish golf project today. More 4 did a really nice item about the course (Linky)

Globalisation, A Meditation on Too Much Travel

2008-07-31T15:28:00.003+01:00

Or do I just keep forgetting to pack an adaptor and end up buying another at the airport? You decide.

Me in a Learjet

2008-07-21T08:41:00.003+01:00

Photo copyright Kevin Murray.

Crime in the City (well village...)

2008-04-26T12:17:00.000+01:00

Bit of excitement last night, as the police knocked on the door quite late. A silver Ford Focus had been parked fifty yards up the road and set on fire. This kind of thing doesn't happen very often in sleepy little Eynsham. Or not in our part of the village anyway. I can't speak about West Eynsham, for all I know that could well be a hotbed of crime, vice and iniquity.

Yin and Yang the Cats

2008-04-25T15:27:00.001+01:00

Who knew that two cats could represent "generalised descriptions of the antitheses or mutual correlations in human perceptions of phenomena in the natural world"? I thought they were just a pair of useless, good for nothing, bald/podgy food buckets.

(guest cat photography by Her Ladyship, but posted by me because the phrase is mine).

Cat and Gopher in Perfect Harmony

2008-04-01T17:40:00.000+01:00

Sandy the GCA gopher in an unusually relaxed pose....

Random Shots from Madeira

2008-03-24T11:20:00.000Z

Golfers and rainbow at Santo da Serra, venue for the Madeira Islands Open. We had three seasons in a few minutes during the pro-am, in which I played my worst golf in years.

Funchal by night, taken from the roof of the restaurant Molhe, which is in a building on the mole of the harbour. Great view, good food too.

The helicopter that took us over to Porto Santo, where there is a new-ish golf course designed by Seve Ballesteros's company, Trajectory. I've always been terrified of flying in helicopters; for some reason I wasn't nervous on this occasion. I suppose I'm just less bothered by flying than I used to be.

Miss T by night

2008-03-17T09:34:00.000Z

Another camera phone shot, taken late last evening by the pool of our hotel here in Madeira, as we enjoyed a cold one after our flight. The model doesn't like it much, she says her skin looks too shiny. But I think it's lovely.

Save the Pig

2008-03-14T20:56:00.000Z

Saw this in the Criterion tonight and was quite taken with it. Not that it will induce me to give up meat even for a day or two, I'm afraid.

Glorious Sunrise - Spring is Coming!

2008-02-27T12:33:00.000Z

I took this photo on my camera phone just a couple of minutes after the sun rose, around seven this morning (I was in a queue on the A43 between Oxford and Northampton). Shame I didn't get it a few minutes earlier, in the last moments of twilight, because it was beautiful, really Turneresque. Still, it's lovely to be driving to work mostly in daylight again. Spring will soon be here - the best season!

Dubai

2008-02-16T17:47:00.001Z

Here I am in Dubai for two days, before I continue south and east to India, the real goal of this trip. I wish I had more time - and more chance to visit golf projects - here in Dubai though. It is the boom market of the world at the moment. Everywhere on this side of town (Sheikh Zayed Road/Jumeirah Beach) there are residential developments or huge hotels in construction. The Shangri-La, where I am, is a 40-0dd storey five star hotel, beautifully done and with exquisite service. But it's next to the freeway, and the swimming pool is on a rooftop above the parking lot. Go figure. I'll try and take some pics around the pool to show what I mean. Meanwhile, this is across the road - I took the photo from the landing of the 34th floor, where my room is.

Here's a shot over the pool of the soon-to-be tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai('Dubai Tower'). Oh, it probably won't even be the tallest building in Dubai for long.

And here is a photo of the view down Sheikh Zayed Road. Apparently none (absolutely none) of this existed ten years ago.

This place is nuts.

SA - the last day

2007-11-27T08:20:00.000Z

Saturday didn't dawn so much as explode. A huge electrical storm raged most of the night, and was still filling the sky with light and my ears with noise when Elvis bashed on the door at ten past five. I still have no idea why he did this, as we had been told that we would be leaving around seven o'clock. I showered, dressed and packed, and the rain finally relented enough for me to make the short dash from my room to the main lodge building without drowning.

Eventually a lift materialised. Unfortunately - as, by this time, the rain had returned - it was an open Land Rover. We ten guests climbed aboard, pulled on the waterproof ponchos, and kept our heads right down as driver John set off through the game park. Wildlife might have been abundant, but our only concern was keeping the hoods from flying off.

Our destination was Extreme Nineteen. This is the bonus hole that co-designer David Riddle has built as an addition to the main golf course. It is lunacy, but inspired. Picture, if you will, a massive green shaped like Africa, with its contours echoing the continent's relief. Above the green, the mountain rises, steadily at first, but eventually turning into a sheer cliff perhaps 200m high. There is 100m or so of fairway, cleared (mostly) of trees and rocks, and shaped so as to encourage shots to funnel down towards the green.

And golfers will need this sympathetic shaping, because Extreme Nineteen lives up to its name. The tee, located on top of that sheer cliff I mentioned, is more than 400m above the level of the green, accessible only by helicopter. There have been some severe drop shot holes built on golf courses before, but nothing could prepare you for this.

It didn't look likely that we would be able to experience the hole, though. Clouds clung to the mountainside, and the helicopter could surely not land up top:

(the tee is located just to the left of the steep bit).

Nonetheless, aware that I and a few others were leaving that afternoon, David departed to inquire of the pilot if he thought it safe to fly. I - a certified helicopter-hater - was torn to put it mildly, but when the clouds lifted a little, we climbed into the red bird and flew up without incident.

Here is a better shot (taken later in the day) of the view up the mountain. I tried hard to get some green, or at least fairway, into view, but, conscious that there could be lions out there, wasn't able go back far enough:

And here are a few views of the green from the top. Although some might argue the focus is wrong, I like best the shot with most rock - it emphasises just how far it is. The horizontal distance from tee to green is about 400m, as is the drop: mathmeticians will immediately deploy Pythgoras' Theorem to see that the shot must travel 566m. Better mathmeticians might also be able to calculate the speed at which a well-struck shot will hit the green and the amount of forward momentum it will retain, but both are beyond me.

So too, I'm afraid, was the shot from the tee. I had three attempts, one that went left, another right, and a final one that seemed straight but couldn't be found by the spotters below. At this point, I decided that enough was enough, and ceded the tee to others. Now, back in wintery England, I'm bitterly regretful: I wish I had stood there beating balls until one found the fairway. In my defence, the cloudy, breezy and wet morning air was clearly having an effect on ball flight - David, who reckons normally to reach the green with a hybrid, struck a fine driver 40 yards short of the putting surface. I suspect the hole will need a little more fairway if it is genuinely to be playable by most golfers in all conditions. But bravo anyway.

Weather now turning nice, we re-embarked in the Land Rover and headed for the site construction camp, where breakfast and a press conference awaited. But even now, as I left the game reserve for the last time, the animals hadn't had enough. Had David and his client Peet Cilliers somehow arranged for this?

And then, as for the lion, it was time for me to go. Back to Johannesburg airport, back then to England, back to wind, rain and cold. Boo Hiss.

Flora, Fauna and Golf of South Africa

2007-11-26T21:33:00.000Z

OK, so I am home. Here is a quick precis of what I saw and did.

Arrived at Jo'burg on Thursday morning after a fairly painless flight - although I only managed about three hours sleep. Richard, the golf consultant who had arranged the trip, flew in from Paris an hour or so later, and we headed off towards Entabeni. On arrival, we found we'd been upgraded from the Wildside bush camp to the top-end Earthsong lodge.

Around six, our ranger Elvis asked us if we'd like to go out for an evening safari. Does a bear, etc? A good start - we saw four white rhinos, including a baby, some jackal pups, and finally, as it was getting really dark, the pride of lions, chowing down on a wildebeest they had killed a little earlier.

Sadly it was a little too dark to get really good photos of any of these creatures. I have got a few, and hopefully a little Photoshop work will make them worth publishing. Lorna?!

Elvis woke us at five the following morning (ouch!) for a dawn safari. This was terrific. We spotted, among other things, several giraffes:

There was a water monitor:

A bird whose name I can't remember (I will leaf through my bird book eventually and add it):

And a vulture (this, rather entertainingly, put in an appearance about five minutes after Elvis had told me there were no vultures on the property):

After a bite of lunch, we headed back out, to visit the golf course for the first time. But the game hadn't stopped giving - on the way, we passed the lake and saw the lady hippo pictured in the previous blog entry. She was with her baby:

More later.....

An SA Taster - Hippo Money Shot

2007-11-24T16:27:00.000Z

I've been in South Africa for the last two days, and here I am at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg waiting for my flight home. It's been a fantastic trip. There will be more when I get home, but meanwhile here's a mother hippo who obviously thought we were too close to her baby....

New Mattress!

2007-11-06T19:59:00.000Z

Both her ladyship and I have been sleeping badly recently. I doubt there's a single, simple explanation for this, but we have needed a new mattress for some time.

Expensive things, mattresses. I bought the one we've been sleeping on since 1998 when I moved into my flat in Tunbridge Wells. It was one of the worst days of my life. Anyone remember the great heatwave of August 1997? No? Well, it was bloody hot. I had taken possession of said flat (on the second floor of a large mansion house), and Peter, my godfather, had come up from Sussex to help me move in.

Having never owned a home before, I had little in the way of furniture. My dear parents bought me a sofa (and I bought another), but the six week delivery lead time meant I'd be sitting on the floor for some time to come. That's okay; a bean bag, a telly and a case of red wine doth a decent evening make, but I'm not inclined to sleep rough. So the bed had to be bought. We went to Ikea at Thurrock, over the Dartford crossing, and bought a large wrought iron bedstead (must have been expecting to get lucky), slats, mattress, quilt, bed linen and pillows.

All this booty we took to the checkout. I paid, and headed for the home delivery department. Now, at ten years' distance, I can't really believe I was expecting to get the stuff delivered that day, but I was hoping not to have to sleep on the floor for more than a day or two. So I was rather shaken to learn that Tunbridge Wells fell in the ambit not of Ikea Thurrock, but Ikea Croydon, and that, in order for them to deliver my mattress it would have to go to Croydon and then wait for their van to head my way, and that this process would take about two weeks.

As I said, it's ten year ago, but I have a pretty vivid memory of my reaction. 'Fuck that,' I think it was. At the time Ikea operated a roof rack loan scheme, so I attempted to find a suitable rack. Did they have one to fit the Audi I was then driving? Oh no. So across the retail park to Halfords I went, and for about eighty quid, I purchased some roof bars, which Peter and I proceeded to fit to my car in the Ikea car park. We then loaded the mattress and bed frame onto the roof of the car - Peter taking the opportunity to test out the knots he'd learned in the Royal Naval Reserve - and off we went.

I will admit that I didn't enjoy that journey. Going over the QEII Bridge with a heavy load on the roof, not entirely trusting either the installation of the roof bars or Peter's knots, I drove very gingerly. Peter, bless him, had his arm raised through the open sunroof, with his index finger on the rope. You may ask, what would you have done if the rope had started to slip 200 feet above the Thames Estuary, and you would have a fair point. I have no idea. But we made it back to the flat, and lugged our gains up the steep flights of stairs to the flat.

It was at that point I realised I'd bought the wrong size of bed slats. The air turned blue. Back to Ikea I went, and swapped them for the correct ones. Eventually, the bed was assembled, Peter and I managed to get a bite to eat, and I ran him back to Sussex. As days go, that was one of the longer ones.

The Worst Day of the Year

2007-10-27T22:34:00.001+01:00

Clocks go back tonight. For me, this is the most depressing day of the most depressing season. Some people love the autumn for its colours, for the cold mornings and for the tastes of the season (I admit that the food of autumn is the best). But I hate it. The story of autumn is the story of death, of decline and of darkness. I am a creature of the light - for me the finest month of the year is May, full of promise and light. This time of year is tough.

Aperitif Fascism

2007-10-26T09:49:00.000+01:00

Now, I know I have a bit of a reputation for brooking few if any objections, so let's enhance that reputation.

I was in Copenhagen earlier this week for a Microsoft customer conference. They put us up in a very nice hotel, the Skt Petri, which, as most trendy hotels have to nowadays, had a bunch of silly cocktails on its bar menu.

Why do people drink this filth? I'm not a fan myself, but if you want a martini or a negroni before dinner, be my guest. It'll kill your palate for any decent food but hey, I drink gin and tonic on occasion, so I have no room to talk. But the horrifying concotions, full of sugary syrups, that seem to be the order of the day in most of these places - well, I have no words. They are just upmarket, and fearfully expensive, versions of the alcopops that are so popular in rather less exalted bars these days.

Right, here comes the fascism. There are only three acceptable things to drink as an aperitif before a good dinner:

* Gin and tonic (but, as my dear wife explains here, it had better be mixed properly)
* Dry sherry (I like manzanilla, and it needs to be i) fresh and ii) cold
* Champagne (or other dry and acidic sparkling wine. Not bloody Cava. If you want to be all French and have a kir I will reluctantly tolerate it).

That's it. No stupid fruity concotions (Pimm's; filth). Nothing sweet and sickly. And I bow to no man in my love for France and the French, but their habit of drinking port before dinner is an abomination and must be utterly cryit doon.

Black Sand: golf in Iceland

2007-09-07T09:18:00.000+01:00

No posts for two months: bad Adam. Not because I haven't been travelling, quite the reverse - I have, if anything, been travelling too much.

Here, to make up, is an extended photo essay on the exciting Black Sand golf project in Iceland, which I visited in August. American architect Steve Smyers has been hired to build a links course on a huge stretch of sand dunes about 40km from Reykjavik. The dunes, as you'd guessed from the name, are made of black volcanic sand from the interior. A river brings the sand down to the sea at the eastern end of the dunes: the sand-laden water then hits the ocean current coming up from the south-east, and the sand is dumped on the beach. Over the years, it has been formed into a huge sea wall and a massive expanse of smaller, inland dunes by the wind.

For more on Black Sand, see the next issue of Golf Course Architecture, due out in October.

This is the seawall dune from the inland side. You can see its size: fully 25m high:

The sheer scale of the site is immense. This is a view taken from the top of the sea wall dune looking inland to the nearby mountains:

A similar view shows the bed of the spring-fed lake (empty after the driest summer on record). This lakebed will be deepened to ensure it remains wet all year round, and the housing will sit on the far bank, protected by a huge dune to be constructed with the fill from the lake excavation:

The dunes are young, having all been created in the last 50-60 years, and thus still very unstable. Here, you can see the dune literally slipping away as I stood next to it with the camera (apologies for shadow):

The fierce wind from the Atlantic creates massive blowouts on the seaward side of the dunes. This is the biggest problem for golf. These blowouts must be fixed, and the sea wall strengthened, or it will be impossible to grow suitable grass because of the movement of the sand.

Parts of the site show the impact of work carried out by Landgræðsla ríkisins, the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland. This area of the sea wall was strengthened and levelled some five years ago. You can see that the wind has already got to work on the top of the levelled dune, creating smaller undulations, ideal for golf.

The Soil Conservation Service was also responsible for planting the site with coarse lime grass to aid stabilisation of the dunes. As a result of these efforts, in some areas, finer grasses, more typical of UK links, are starting to emerge.

But large areas of bare sand remain. How cool is this ridge?

Not to mention these wind-blown patterns in the sand - quite beautiful.

To the inland side of the property it's easy to see opportunities for great holes. But much of this landscape will have to be changed, because it must be built up to strengthen the sea wall.

Just to prove it's volcanic:

And glacial (the white-topped mountain in the distance is the glacier of Mýrdalsjökull):

This is the view along the bay, which curves round at the western end. The fishing village of Þorlákshöfn is found here. The villagers built their own golf course a few years ago.

A bunker-to-be?

A Bit of Irish Golf - Cork GC

2007-07-03T11:14:00.001+01:00

Cork Golf Club dates from the nineteenth century, but the course was redesigned by Alister MacKenzie in 1927. It's wonderful - set next to Cork Harbour and with several holes occupying an old quarry down by the waterline. The holes near to the clubhouse are less interesting, though, and the course desperately needs a sympathetic architect to do some work on it - especially recapturing lost green space, removing trees and scrub, and recreating MacKenzie's bunker shaping.

Here's the view from the fifth tee, which has been moved closer to the water in recent years. The new location creates a nice angle, but how about that for an intimidating tee shot?

This old kiln dates from 1811, and can be seen while walking on to the fifth fairway

This is the view back from the side of the fifth green, which has, again, been moved closer to the water

The sixth is a wonderful short par four playing to a green set right in the quarry. Don't go long!

The ninth hole is a fabulous par three - look at that green - but whoever built the bunker front left needs his head examining.

The par five eleventh features Seve's Tree, a Spanish chestnut planted to commemorate Ballesteros's monster 322 metre drive during an exhibition match back in 1983

And the thirteenth is a lovely little par three to a sliver of green that is now close to being ruined by the forestry that's growing up from the quarry. Half an hour with a chainsaw could fix this

Ma Vie en Bain

2007-06-29T20:29:00.001+01:00

After a whistletop tour across Ireland, here I am at the Sheraton Fota Island Hotel in Cork.

There are things I don't like about fancy hotels (folding the end of bog rolls into triangles tops the list) but I DO like posh bathrooms. This one is ace.

Here is the bath running

Here is a closeup of the tap. Cool innit?

Here, the shower

And last, but not least, the monster bed

OH NO!

2007-06-15T15:25:00.000+01:00

I have been forbidden to eat cheese!

Slovenia Reflections

2007-06-11T20:36:00.000+01:00

Readers may have noted the dramatic difference between the photos I took while in Slovenia, and the one of Lake Bled I posted before I went. Yes, the weather was rotten (although I'm not surprised that Dr Bones liked the look of it). However, even with cloud slightly above knee level and a fair amount of rain, I still found the country very appealing. The people, according to my Googling, have a reputation for being reserved, but I found them extremely friendly (although obviously I was introduced to everyone I met, so it might not be a representative experience). The scenery, even when largely obscured by cloud, is pretty stunning. The food was really not bad at all - imagine a cross between the good bits of Germanic and Italian cooking. Yes, the salami was excellent. And the coffee was universally superb. I shall return.

Another pic from Bled...

2007-06-11T09:28:00.000+01:00

The church on the island....

More Bled pics

2007-06-06T23:06:00.001+01:00

None of these pics are anything special, and I hope I'll be able to replace them with something better before I leave.....

but here are some swans and cygnets.....

... and this is a church on the other side of the lake...

... and here is Castle Bled....

Sunset over Lake Bled

2007-06-06T18:23:00.000+01:00

Pleased with this. Photo taken from my hotel room balcony about five minutes ago.

Here is where I am off today...

2007-06-06T09:04:00.001+01:00

Reports to follow... yes, of course there's a golf course there!

The Critters of the New Forest

2007-05-22T20:47:00.000+01:00

A quick visit to the New Forest Otters, Owls and Wildlife Park.

There were otters....

... deer (who weren't as friendly as advertised)....

.... a big pussycat...

... a smaller pussycat...

... and various other varmints that didn't choose to co-operate with the photographer. Notably the owls.

Budapest

2007-05-16T23:07:00.000+01:00

Oh, I am a lucky boy. Here are two photos of the view from my hotel room.....

And here's a shot of the city skyline from the Castle District, where I am...

This is the hotel, from the street.....

And this is the less attractive view of the hotel, from the Danube side....

Here's an interesting plaster panel I saw while out walking this afternoon....

And here is another view of Pest from Buda...

These cacti in a window caught my eye....

And this is a photo of the Church of Our Lady in Buda Castle (the one on view from my room) taken from the street....

Off to Budapest

2007-05-15T22:38:00.000+01:00

I'm off to Budapest first thing tomorrow morning... given the opportunity I'll take a few pics and put them up here.

Sue's Tag

2007-05-15T22:24:00.000+01:00

Apparently I must disclose seven things about myself that no-one else knows. As the person who reads this most frequently is my beloved wife, this could be challenging. However:

1. Although I've earned my living writing about the infernal industry for over ten years, I still can't type the word 'manufacturing' properly. It even took me three goes on this occasion!

2. I can't hit my new lob wedge properly (Sue - ask Gary!)

3. If I had loads of money I'd own an Austin Healey 3000.

4. To my eternal shame, as a precocious 9-year old, I was a passionate supporter of Margaret Thatcher at the 1979 election. In my defence, it didn't take long to learn the error of my ways.

5. During the Falklands War, my interest in current affairs saw me nicknamed 'Mr Pym' (after then Foreign Secretary Francis) by a schoolmate.

6. I vowed never to play rugby again after being the victim of a powerful handoff during a 'Games Instruction' lesson at QEGS. So far, I have made good on this promise.

7. Yes, Iona, I have received a blow job while driving.

My car...

2007-05-13T09:57:00.000+01:00

I took this last weekend... have since added the best part of a thousand miles! Now, true, we did take a quick trip to France, but this should help you understand why it's not worth me spending big money (even if I had it) 0n a car. When a journey to and from the office is 150 miles, and you make that journey three times a week, a car loses its value fast....

Tobacco Road

2007-05-10T11:01:00.000+01:00

Tobacco Road is a golf course in North Carolina, about half-way between the main city of Raleigh and the golf mecca that is Pinehurst. The architect, Mike Strantz, who sadly died from cancer at the age of only 50 in 2005, was given a piece of land in an old sand quarry. This meant not only did he have good drainage, but he also had no limitations on the way he could shape the course. And, as I hope these photos will show, he went to town....

Visual intimidation is at the heart of Tobacco Road. The view from the first tee is terrifying, but actually, any half-decent drive should thread the apparent needle between the two giant sandhills and find the wide fairway beyond....

I think I said 'any decent drive'. Well, dear reader, here is Toby, most of the way up the left mound, after a catastrophic hook. My tee shot (not pictured!) finished a similar distance up the right mound.....

Strantz made the most of all that sand. The uphill par five eleventh hole curves its way around one huge waste bunker. At the tee, player and bunker are at the same level. By the time the player is on the green, the bunker is fully thirty feet deep. As you see. By some miracle, my escape shot just cleared the lip of the bunker, where the sympathetic slopes built into the green by the architect funnelled it to within a foot of the hole - and I recorded a very unlikely par.

I think I mentioned visual intimidation? Here is the eighteenth hole from behind the back tee. Where, you may ask, is the fairway? Answer: it's over that ridge at the end of the sand quarry. From the back tee, the carry to the fairway is 200 yards, a fact the long hitting and cunning (and dormie one up!) Toby knew full well when he insisted we play the hole from its maximum length. The golfing gods smiled on me though, as I smashed a perfect tee shot over the marker post. It bounced happily forward and settled in the centre of the fairway, right next to the 150 yards to go plate. And Toby? Ha! He hooked his tee shot into the woods on the left, and the half was seemingly within my grasp!

The approach to the final green is also essentially blind. You can see the flagstick, but not the green surface. So I didn't see my eight-iron approach, which I knew was right on line, but which I thought I'd hit slightly fat, land on the putting surface and roll up within a couple of inches of the hole. One more revolution of the ball, and I'd have holed my first ever full iron shot. Still, a tap-in birdie was a pretty good closer, and won me the half. Not a bad finish to a week in the USA - from here, we went straight to the airport and home.

By Popular Demand...

2007-05-08T09:01:00.000+01:00

... the greenkeeper's dog from Las Palomas in Mexico.......

A golf course (first of many?)

2007-04-30T09:03:00.000+01:00

This is the new Saguaro course at the We-ko-pa Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. I visited the course as part of the trip referred to below. Lovely place to play golf, at least in February. Suspect it might be a bit hot in the summer, mind....

Long par five fourth hole:

Par three fifth:

Seventeenth:

Eighteenth:

Sunset over the Sea of Cortes

2007-04-27T08:29:00.000+01:00

I took these pics a couple of months ago while on a side trip from my visit to the Golf Industry Show in Anaheim. Las Palomas is a large resort development near the town of Puerto Penasco in Mexico, about an hour from the US border. The golf course is pretty good too. See http://www.lplgc.com/.

Masaccio and ego

2007-04-24T17:34:00.000+01:00

As my dear wife says on her blog (http://lucytraves.blogspot.com), this image of Masaccio's Expulsion from Paradise in the Brancacci Chapel doesn't really do the painting justice, but in a fit of ego I've decided to put it up here anyway - because it might just be the most stunningly affecting work of art I have ever seen.

See how the angel swoops down from the sky like a falcon diving for its prey. See the pain on Eve's face. What on earth must this have looked like to the mindset of the 1420s?

OK, the focus isn't perfect, nor is the lighting. But I spent quite a while playing with the low light setting on the camera to get this close-up, and it means a lot to me. It's vanity publishing. Sue me.