Cold Open
Welcome back. This week’s edition will be slightly abridged, as I am in Paris on vacation. I’ve been eyeing some indoor golf simulators, but the gravitational pull of the Louvre and other sightseeing opportunities will make it difficult to pull the trigger on playing golf during my time here.
There will be no main essay this week, and although I originally planned to take the week off, some content came across my feed that must be addressed.
I’ll touch on that today, and I will be writing a deeper dive about hidden cultural difference in golf for next week’s edition. Stay tuned.
3 Things I Know I Know
The Good Good ad with Callaway is one of the worst social blunders I’ve seen in a very long time. I’ve never watched a minute of YouTube Golf, and now I see why I never plan to. It’s a net-negative for the game. More on that to come next week.
In my three days away, I’ve missed some hilarious internet content, including a guy showing off(?) his golf stylist choices for his trip to Bandon. Please don’t ever pay for a “golf stylist”. If you’re here reading this, I’m confident you won’t ever seek this sort of council, but if you do have questions, just email me.
If you’re stuck on what to wear or How To Pack for a Golf Trip, I suggest you find one or two brands that fit you well. Brand name doesn’t really matter. Purchase 90% of your golf attire from those one or two brands, and mix/match the shirts/pants/vests etc. Keep it simple, and avoid microprints and low-grade synthetic fibers when possible.
Clandestine Golf Club of the Week - Cow Neck
Cow Neck Preserve is tucked on a 540-acre peninsula in North Sea, just northeast of National Golf Links and a short boat ride from Shinnecock. This private nine-hole layout belongs solely to hedge-fund billionaire Louis Bacon. There is no membership and little knowledge of it’s existence.
Bacon purchased the land in 1998 for $25 million and placed a permanent conservation easement on it with the Peconic Land Trust, locking out development while retaining rights for equestrian facilities, a polo field, and up to nine golf holes.
The result is paradise. Locals driving the nearby roads rarely realize a golf course is there. Access is by personal invitation only. In a region dense with celebrated private clubs, Cow Neck remains the purest form of clandestine golf: a personal playground that the owner has deliberately kept off every map.
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Merci d'avoir lu, au revoir.
-BTG