www.globalgolfpost.com
JULY 2, 2012
L. A. North Passes The Test For Elite Mid-Ams
JIM NUGENT
E-MAIL JIM
The American mid and senior amateur
game got another shot in the arm last week
when Los Angeles Country Club debuted
the George C. Thomas Jr. Invitational. The
first-year event drew a superb field from
across the country, and it is a welcome
addition to the amateur schedule. It is also
added some badly needed west coast
balance to the mid-amateur rota.
Established in 1897, LACC opened in
the heart of Beverly Hills in 1911. The two
courses, North and South, were originally
built by a committee of founding members. However, it is the famed architect
Thomas who is most closely identified with
the club. An amateur architect from Philadelphia where he was a founding member
of Pine Valley, Thomas moved to California
in 1920 and helped Herbert Fowler with
his renovation of the two courses.
In 1927, by then a member of LACC,
he began to update Fowler’s earlier work.
Thomas, affectionately known as the “
Captain,” also designed neighboring Bel-Air
and Riviera CC. He believed strategy was
“the soul of the game,” and he was the chief
proponent of the concept of “a course within
a course;” with a change of a pin position or
a tee ground, the character of a hole could
change, as could par. The scorecard at LACC
– 7,100 yards long from the tips – says par is
70, but it can play anywhere from 69 to 72.
More recently, golf course designer Gil
Hanse was called in to renovate the North
Course, to bring back that Thomas empha-
sis on strategic design that had slipped away
over the decades. Hanse had overseen reno-
vations at such gems as the Country Club
and the Kittansett Club in Massachusetts, as
well as Fishers Island Club in New York. He
was also recently selected to design the golf
course for the 2016 Rio Olympics. By all ac-
counts, the work he did to restore the North
Course was spectacular.
since then it has somewhat deliberately
fallen off the radar. It shuns the local
tinsel-town scene; by reputation, Hol-lywood-types are encouraged to look
elsewhere for membership. However,
the club had become enamored with the
Hanse work, and a group of competitive
mid-amateurs led by John McClure, Jerry
Chang and inaugural champion Brad Shaw
felt it was too good to remain a secret.
If the response of the contestants is any
indication, the secret that is LACC North
is no more. The players I checked in with
afterward overwhelmingly loved the course.
6) that is 335 yards and provides plenty of
options. And then there is the “little 17th,”
a tiny par 3 that Hanse rediscovered during
his renovation. The hole is not part of the
regulation course, but it can be used as an
extra hole or a wager-settler. The club calls
it an “ode to George Thomas.” It is brilliant.
Hanse, himself, had this to say about
the whole LACC renovation experience:
“I learned more about architecture and
the restoration of that golf course than I
may have learned 15 or 20 years prior to
that. George Thomas is a genius discuss-
ing courses within a course and different
strategies and options.”
LACC used to host the Los Angeles
Open occasionally in the 1920s and ’30s;
Chang was a four-year letterman at
Stanford, who has six USGA appearances to
his credit. McClure, who played his college
golf at Oklahoma, has 12 USGA appearances on his résumé, as well as three LACC
club championships. Shaw grew up at
LACC and played his college golf locally at
USC. They are part of a cadre of competitive
mid and senior amateurs who play regularly on the North and which banded together
to make the tournament come to life.
Some motivation likely came from
LACC being selected to host the 2017
Walker Cup. The Thomas event gave the
club a chance to see how the new design
stood up to first-rate amateur competition
and to test tee and pin locations.
If the response of the contestants is any
indication, the secret that is LACC North
is no more. The players I checked in with
afterward overwhelmingly loved the course,
as well as the tournament. Typifying most
of the reaction was this observation from
veteran competitor Steve Smyers, a noted
architect in his own right: “The tournament
was first class in every respect. The course
was interesting and stimulating.”
Echoed Scott Rowe, “The club was
very creative with the course set-up. This
course is terrific.”
There was a lot to like about the event,
as it was a competitors dream. The format
was 54 holes medal play for mid and senior
amateurs, no entry fee, no cut. Caddies
were provided, and play was in twosomes,
with re-pairing after each round. And while
much of the nation baked in June heat, the
temperatures in Los Angeles were in the
comfortable mid-70s all week. Throw in a
fabulous golf course and a receptive mem-
bership and you have a winning formula.
Earlier this year, the Crane Cup made a
successful debut at the Floridian. Expected
soon is an announcement concerning the
Claude Harmon Invitational at Lochinvar GC
in Houston. The Timuquana Cup will make
its debut this fall on a wonderful Donald
Ross track in Jacksonville, Fla. Add the
Thomas Invitational, and you have an unusually expansive year on the mid and senior
amateur circuit. No wonder these guys are
leaving the flat belly circuit behind; these
events are real alternatives that offer exceptional competition at tremendous venues. l
