Recent updates: I've slacked off, there are none.
Pending updates: GT review of Hunter GC in Meriden; recap of the 2012 GT Open held 4/12.
Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx).Tracks reviewed, 2011. We didn't post as many reviews in 2011 as we did in 2010, but it's still a pretty good cross-section of what's out there. The trend in 2011 seemed to be "east of the river" and dipping into points north of the GT Nerve Center. As Sherpa JB says, "informative, in a useless sort of way." Course reviews are posted on the CT GT and More Tracks pages.
Cedar Knob GC, Somers
Edgewood CC, (front 9) Southwick, Mass, (back 9 previously reviewed)
Harrisville GC, Woodstock
Southington CC
Stonybrook GC, Litchfield
St. Anne CC, Feeding Hills, Mass.
Tallwood CC, Hebron
Tater Hill GC, North Windham, Vermont
Disclaimer: Even the most dedicated of Goat-Track.com readers will admit that the site's a sprawling mess. On the other hand, maybe its "junkyard organization" is part of the appeal. Adding new content is always a higher priority than site clean-up.
The 2010 Goat Tracker of the Year Trophy (presented at the GT Open 4/14/11) ...
Why this trophy? Why not?
We've still got some Official GT Minor Event T-shirts available in the GT online store. A hat, towel or shirt purchased from the GT online store helps fund the irreverent nonsense we post here. 20 - 30% off list price for most merchandise in stock.
Thanks.
pictured above: the sign snagged by Sherpa Jeff from #6 at Simsbury Farms GC (Oct. 2010), after it was relocated to his yard because there was no camera access during the round). A great day in Goat Tracking History, as Sherpa Jeff chipped in for his first birdie...ever... during this round.
rule of thumb: even if no one before you has logged a "closest to pin" distance in a charity scramble event, it's probably best not to attempt to measure anything longer than the tape measure; otherwise one ends up with this mess (which was hilarious).
Based on this pic, Daly can go Tracking with us any time.
(kudos to Ornery Bob for sending this pic and caption our way)
The SI caption: "John Daly hasn't had a top 10 in a major since he won the 1995 British Open. In fact, he's only made the weekend four times at the British Open since beating Constantino Rocca in a playoff.
But Daly will forever be a member of the eclectic British Open champion fraternity, and he'll continue to get invited to photo ops like these.
So that's Padraig Harrington standing on the left, Daly in the middle, and Woods on the right. Roberto de Vicenzo is sitting on the left, Lee Trevino is frozen there in the middle and Tom Watson is on the right.
Daly's one-track mind desperately needs a drink. Woods is not only sketched out by the technicolor zombie Daly, but also that Watson is sitting directly in fron of him. Maybe Woods could be more uncomfortable if Elin was also raising a 9-iron above her head. Maybe.
And then there's Harrrington, amused at the whole situation, just like the rest of us would be.
Old Tom Morris is rolling over in his grave."
(we recognize that there's substantial work to be done on this site to make make it as presentable as the first tee box at Keney or the "practice range" at Coventry Pines, but we're working on it, almost as diligently as we're working on fine-tuning our short game.)
(pictured above: signage from, Fairchild-Wheeler a/k/a "Ferris Bueller")
(pictured above) the legendary "Frog Rock" poised in the right rough on #7 at Simsbury Farms. The Frog Rock is always in mid-season form!
Reviews on the Goat-Track.com Radar Screen, 2012:
The Goat Tracker known as Rabbit Ears has been pitching Shennecossett in Groton for at least 4 years (notable Track feature, hitting over the road from the 1st tee, where a spotter is required to give the "all clear" signal before launching a drive into crossing traffic). There's renewed interest on this front and we hope to get to Shenny, maybe even over the winter; with Wink, Sherpa JB and Rabbit Ears providing their expert insights. (Shenny has recently been downgraded based on its place on the "GT Value Proposition" scale; still remains on the to-do list)
A trip to Thompsonville and the refurbished Willimantic CC ranks high on the list, as well.
An excursion to Little G in NY is on the radar, mainly because Golfer Number Two hasn't yet been able savor that sweet nectar of Golfing Nirvanah. I don't expect to be able to add to the review that earned "Little G" the 2009 Goat Track of the Year Award, but it'd be a shame not to play it.
The rest of the "must do" review list is open for debate;
Anyone who has a Goat Track recommendation or review is encouraged to email it to goattracker@yahoo.com. We always appreciate hearing from our readers and may even send some GT swag your way.
GOAT TRACK MINOR EVENTS
What are the Goat Trackers up to?
The PGA has the "Majors", the Goat Trackers have the "Minors"; the only similarity is that there should be four in any given year
Recaps of prior GT Minor Events can be found on the Minor Notes page
The 2012 GT Minor Event schedule
| Theirs (PGA Majors) |
Ours (GT Minors) |
| First Major The Masters 4/5 - 4/8 Augusta National |
First Minor The GT Open 4/12 The prestigious Copper Hill GC a/k/a "The Goat Track" |
| Second Major US Open 6/16 - 6/19 Congressional CC Bethesda, MD |
Second Minor The Willie Li Memorial Open 6/30 TBD |
| Third Major British Open 7/14 - 7/17 Royal St. George's Golf Club |
Third Minor The 'Over the River' British Experience 7/21 Grassmere CC, Enfield |
| Fourth Major PGA Championship 8/11 - 8/14 Atlanta Athletic Club Johns Creek, Georgia |
Fourth Minor The GT Championship 8/18 The alternate runway for Bradley Int'l Airport Airways GC |
Other GT stuff to help you waste/pass your time...
A fan of the GT site was kind enough to send a link to "The Tiger Game," which is pretty amusing. Enjoy.
"The Office" Golf Game. Play the Dunder-Mifflin Mini-Golf Course.
Courtesy of 2008 Goat Tracker of the Year, Wink, at the 2010 Willie Li Memorial Open 6/24/10 (directed toward Golfer Number Two on the 16th),"That looks like an interesting lie you've got there. Do you have a club in your bag for that shot... one that you can hit from.... the fairway?"
The esteemed Tracker known as Friar Tuck provided some interesting insight to the "real estate angle" of the TW fiasco, "The last time an angry Swede went to an island to get away from it all, it was called England."
Per Sherpa JB 8/09, "Wink called me to say he was driving up for some Tracking. I said, 'Hey, that's a long ride for just 9 holes and by the way, it may rain.' Without a second's hesitation, Wink responded, 'That's what the Goat Tracker of the Year does. See you later.'" Truly a man who takes his status within the Goat Tracking community seriously.
"In honor of Michael Jackson, we're all wearing one glove today." Deep thought from Rabbit Ears at the Willie Li Memorial Open, 6/25/09.
"It's a good idea to keep your greens fee receipt on you at Keney. Not so much for the ranger, but if your body ends up in the woods, the time stamp may prove useful in establishing a time line for the investigation." Insight from Rabbit Ears on the Urban Goat Tracking Experience, 6/10/09.
"I wanted to make sure not to step in your line, I might improve it," GTC on the putting conditions on #4 at the GT Open 4/16/09.
Other Notable Quotables
"When primative man screamed and banged clubs into the ground, they called it witchcraft. When modern man does it, they call it golf." Source unknown, posted on a plaque above the urinal at Chanticlair GC.
"[Barkley] has a great coach. [Haney] coached Tiger. On the other hand, Phil Jackson coached Kwami Brown." TNT basketball studio analyst Kenny Smith, on the Barkley/Haney project.
"What Greg Norman has done so far this week is nothing compared to what Hef does every single day." Tim Kurkjian, ESPN, re. the 2008 Open.
"Somewhere in hell, there's a course where every shot is 55 yards from the hole." Jeff Foxworthy
GT QUOTE OF THE MILLENEUM (not sure which tour player to credit): "[Augusta National] is the most unassuming clubhouse I've ever been in." As John McEnroe would say, "You CANNOT be serious!" Whoever made this comment has obviously never been to Keney's Great Room or the watering hole (can't really call it the 19th, since it's a 9-hole course) at Canaan CC. His loss.
Other "classic" archived GT-inspired quotes
Featured ad: this FedEx ad is pretty well-traveled territory for most of us...
We'd like to post a link to the summer, 2010 Heineken ad about "winning back some of that cheese," but it the site requires a login and is a pain in the ass to link to. If you've seen the commercial, you no doubt appreciate it.
Featured Clips: Kudos to Friar Tuck for providing this clip from NPR, which is generally off the radar as far as all things golf and Goat Tracking are concerned. This voice clip works on several levels, but the two most significant ones are: 1) it reinforces Friar Tuck's long held position that "the golf gods always punish hubris" and 2) Ana Gasteyer's NPR skits on SNL with Molly Shannon, occasionally with Alec Baldwin (Schweddy balls, Schweddy wieners), were more spot on than we could've imagined.
Let's cut to the chase, shall we...
...you may own some "TW" logo stuff; may have even proudly worn it on the links, thinking that glomming onto the TW phenomenon made you cooler. Consider this your chance at redemption. No matter how you choose to achieve closure with your TW licensed merch (burn it, chuck it, cry yourself to sleep in it or... best for your Tracking karma...put it in a Goodwill box), you can upgrade...to Goat Track Gear. Your golf karma will skyrocket. Trust us, we're GT Sherpas. As one fan of the site noted, "Why 'TW' when you can 'GT'?"
Free shipping on all orders over $25 (first class mail, excl. AK & HI)
THE KENEYRIFFIC INDEX: Is it a good day to golf in the greater Hartford area (8 chalk outlines out of 10 or above)? Forget Doppler! You can (usually) trust the Keneyriffic Index.
The Keneyriffic Index (5/14-4/18) is...
Monday: 7 chalk outlines out of 10
Tuesday: 2
Wednesday: 6
Thursday: 8
Friday: 7
Why the chalk outlines on the Keneyriffic Index? (that's just one example; feel free to google the rest of the Keney blotter for more recent incidents)
Award Winning Goat Tracks
Have a Track to add to the list? email your suggestion to goattracker@yahoo.com. To see all courses reviewed, check the CT GT and More Tracks pages.
Harrisville GC, Woodstock, Connecticut, 2011 Goat Track of the Year.
If you don't mind driving for a while...and a while after that, you're sure to enjoy Harrisville GC. This course exceeded expectations and was the most enjoyable course played in 2011. (reviewed on the CTGT page)
2010 Goat Track of the Year
Ferris Bueller Red, a/k/a the "Fairchild-Wheeler Red Course,"
In recent years we've thrown some offbeat courses out as potential "Goat Track of the Year" candidates, but this year we got back to our roots.
Ferris Bueller Red ran into some stiff competition on the nomination front, but in the end, it could not be denied the honor of being named Goat Track of the Year. There was so much going for it; pace of play (we can't vouch for weekend pace of play, nor would we want to, but 4 1/2 hours was a long round when we played on Thursdays & Fridays); there's the Goat Tracking equivalent of "Amen Corner" on the back 9, and as we previously noted in the GT review, #18 is just phenomenal. From our perspective, it's fair to say that if you don't enjoy playing FB Red, it's possible that you just don't like golf.
Grossinger's Little G, 2009 Goat Track of the Year
Tucked away in the former resort town of Liberty, New York, this was a great find. There were a couple of other contenders for this prestigious award in 2009, namely Chanticlair and Edgewood, but Sherpa JB's review of "Little G" drove the green and left the other two at the tee box. Of note, this is the only course/Track reviewed by the folks at Goat-Track.com that has received a perfect 4 out of 4 GT Logo rating. There may never be another.
Hawk's Landing CC, 2008 Goat Track of the Year
In a decision that created a stir within the Goat Tracking Community and may have offended some of the course's regular patrons, Hawk's Landing CC (f/k/a Pattonbrook GC) earned the distinction of being named "2008 Goat Track of the Year" by Goat-Track.com. Course reviewed on More Tracks; side note, after being on their mailing list for two years and hearing complaints from some Trackers, HLCC's Track Cred has been diminished)
"Goody" 2007 Goat Track of the Year
The reasons for avoiding this Track (Keney's alter ego) were weak at best. When we finally got to play/review Goodwin Public in August 2007, we were more than impressed by its superb Goat Track feel and couldn't play it often enough during the late summer and fall. A more than worthy recipient of the first "Goat Track of the Year" award (course review posted on the CT GT page). This esteemed Track hosted the 2009 GHO (Greater Hick Open)
For the Tracker seeking to maximize the value of his golf dollar, below are some twilight rates at local courses, generally effective weekdays after 5:30 and/or after the afternoon leagues have teed off.
Confirmed for 2011:
Goody (a/k/a the Urban Goat Track-South [Hartford]) $13 after the leagues finish teeing off, generally 5:30 - 5:45
Keney (a/k/a The Urban Goat Track [Hartford]): Twilight rate? Screw that! $10 to walk 9 all day, every day. Nothing short of Keneyriffic.
Tallwood CC (Hebron) $13 after leagues tee off, can be as early as 5:00, 5:30 or so when there's full league turnout.
Blue Fox Run (Avon) $13 after 5:30, best to call ahead to make sure they haven't booked an afternoon scramble event, in which case you generally have no shot at getting out before 6:15 or so.
Outside Connecticut
Edgewood (Southwick, Mass.) Home of the unsurpassed $6 after 6:00 Twilight Special. A potential clusterf**k if you don't time it right, but still...
(Courtesy of Sherpa JB) The folks at Eagle Ridge in Fort Myers, Florida are staying ahead of the curve with their latest promotion. We'd post a link here, but the promos change too often. Point being, we like their creative approach to providing Tracker Value.
The twilight rates below are unconfirmed for 2011, but we're posting the most recent rates we have available; probably advisable to check with the pro shop at the Track of your choice before showing up with only $10 in your wallet.
Simsbury Farms: $10 after 6 p.m,
Copper Hill (The Goat Track): $12 after 6 p.m., nothing to write home about, really; we think there's also a weekend afternoon discount, which generally doesn't concern us; best to call the Track for details.
Tradition GC (Windsor) site of the third GT Minor Event: "Twilight rate? We don't need no stinkin' twilight rate!" $13 all day Monday through Thursday ($20 for 18 holes w/o cart).
Check ctgolfdeals.com for other cut rate greens fees in Connecticut.
...not gonna happen...
New management at The Urban Goat Track officially killed off Keney Dollar Day in 2009. To all who enjoyed all that was the Keney Dollar Day experience, raise a Natty Light, the official $1 beverage of Dollar Day, in its honor.
What was Keney Dollar Day, you ask? Just the best reason to skip or bolt early from work...ever! Reasonably close to downtown and $18 for 18 holes w/cart, plus $1 food & beverage, not to mention the unique entertainment that only The Urban Goat Track can provide. For those not familiar with it, there was no such thing as a bad time at Keney Dollar Day, unless your enjoyment hinged on finishing 18 holes in less than 4 1/2 hours, in which case you were probably s.o.l. (although we did close the loop quickly once)
Displays of "Track Acumen"
Miguel Angel Jimenez' shot off the wall at St. Andrew's during round three of The Open: Track Acumen at its finest.
Y.E. Yang's shot on #18 during the final round of the PGA had a little something extra and defines the quintessence of Track Acumen in a pressure situation. A tree, a hybrid, a stuck landing...too perfect, (not to take anything away from the Track Acumen displays of Sherpa Jeff, which some of us are fortunate enough to appreciate on a weekly basis).
His 2009 PGA win may have earned Y.E Yang a trip to the Masters in 2010, but we'd still like to extend him an offer to participate in the 2010 GT Minor Event of his choice. That shot makes him our kind of guy.
Vijay Singh's hole-in-one trick shot on the par-3 16th at Augusta National, during the practice round. Not sure how we missed this on the first go round, but this came to our attention when it resurfaced via a youtube clip 3/10. Best part about this shot is that it reminds all Trackers familiar with Copper Hill of the 5th hole.
In addition to the google Goat Track Golf forum, GT posts about all things Goat Track (and some things PGA) can be found on...
 |
| Goat Track Golf |
| Visit this group |
OTHER TRACKING RELATED NEWS...
There's a lot of "Goat Track" related material floating around on the web; we occasionally sift through it and provide the best, Tracker-relevant info. (contributions from GT readers are greatly appreciated).
7/9/10 "30 Arrested, $1,622 Seized in Keney Park Drug Ring," (ctnow.com/Hartford Courant). Putting the "contact high" achieved upon departure from the Willie Li Memorial Open 6/24 at the UGT into context.
5/31/10 "Hartford Hopes to Build Driving Range at Keney Park" (ctnow.com). We can think of a few things that should probably be higher on the list of priorities at the Urban Goat Track, but what do we know, we're just Goat Trackers. What's next, a maitre d' and sommelier in the Great Room?
11/3/09 "4.1 Pounds of Pot Found in Keney Park," (WFSB.com). Par for the course at the Urban Goat Track.
8/1/09 "Golf Cart Mishap Sidelines New Lion Bryant Johnson." Where to begin...at least it wasn't a self-inflicted gunshot wound caused by holstering in a pair of sweatpants.
6/3/09 "The Word's Toughest Golf Tourney: One Hole, Three Miles Long" (Yahoo Sports). Extreme Goat Tracking in Mexico...pretty cool.
5/26/09 "East Hartford: Man Dies after Police Shooting" (Hartford Courant). Noteworthy because of the location and the tie-in to the original June, 2007 review of East Hartford GC/Long Hill CC.
4/28/09 "Columbia Golfers Win Without Golf Course" (WSJ)
4/14/09 "Public Hearings Set for Next Month on Controversial Golf Course Plan" (Hartford Courant) We generally try to keep Goat-Track.com out of the political fray. We only wish that politicians would reciprocate in kind. Not so. Rabbit Ears forwarded the above article about a contentious golf course development in the northwest corner of CT. What's noteworthy here, from a non-GT perspective, is that this looks like Attorney General Blumenthal's second major overreach in as many months. We're sure that Senator Dodd has extra room in his club car out of town; we're looking forward to the AG tagging along for the ride.
4/4/09: Warning! Not all hazards are listed on the scorecard...or hitting the fairway is overrated..."Woman Dies After Falling into Hole at Golf Course" We're providing two links to this disturbing story; one with a picture of the sinkhole/death trap, just to help one wrap one's mind around it, the second with the more detailed news story.
1/25/09: "Bearly Open Golf Tournament" Golf on a frozen White Bear Lake. We like that they stuck some old Christmas trees in the ice to make it look more like a course. Nice touch.
1/5/09: "Playing Golf Can Damage Hearing" (BBC). Fore! What?
Check the Tracking News Archives for older news articles and/or the Recommended Tracker Reading section of the More Tracks page for other golf related pieces.
Track Stat (furnished by 2008 Goat Tracker of the Year, Wink): "Joe Durant led the PGA Tour in greens hit in regulation, while Olin Browne led the tour in driving accuracy. Both had to go back to Q-School, where they failed to earn their cards." Does this not speak volumes about the importance of Track Acumen?
Other links, sites, etc. of Goat Tracker interest can be found at the bottom of the More Tracks page.
