19 Comments
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Rob Kimball's avatar

Does the real estate come with a Bel-Air membership?

If so, I might think about it. I could use a second home.

Ed Pattermann's avatar

Thanks Geoff.

Love the hole by hole tour. Always been a fascinating golf course to admire from a distance.

As an aside,

“Number of Curtis Cup Volunteers: 3”

Now that seems low?

Geoff Shackelford's avatar

That’s for maintenance! They have 300 or so for the event.

John Matthew IV's avatar

Thanks for an update on LA Real Estate News.

Peter Nicholson's avatar

Fantastic and fun golf at Bel Air! I hope the TV production doesn’t skimp on camera inventory and can deliver on the bolder features. Thought USWomens Am was well covered.

Larry Baush's avatar

I'm reading "Unreal Estate" by Michael Gross, so I loved your section on the real estate around Bel Air.

Geoff Shackelford's avatar

I ran out of time to study up on the latest real estate lingo as I'm sure it needs satirizing!

Hook's avatar

Ourstanding photography!

Geoff Shackelford's avatar

Channing does beautiful work!

JoeGaboo's avatar

Getting a little ahead but before I forget ...

Prevailing wind at Shinnecock? ... I notice 3 large airports in the vicinity that have their major runway pointed in the same direction-SW. Runways normally point into the prevailing wind.

Geoff Shackelford's avatar

It's a windy place! Those Gulfstreams handle it fine I'm sure. I'm looking forward to testing the Windy app out next week. This week...it's all about sunscreen and light breezes.

John Hughes's avatar

Thanks for the West LA history lesson and amazing photographs! Wowzers!

John Sabino's avatar

Excellent summary of Bel-Air. I played it once prior to Tom Doak's restoration, and I loved it. I met Eddie Merrins on the range, what a legend.

Looking forward to the Curtis Cup. I attended the matches at Merion, and just like the Walker Cup, it has a great vibe. Golf, but quieter!

Randy Schultz's avatar

Geoff, looking forward to watching. I love that course. I played it in 2015. What would I have seen different after 2017?

Randy

Pmbenedict@icloud.com's avatar

What was the division of labor between Thomas and Bell? I’ve always assumed that if you allocate credit for their designs Thomas deserves a larger share.

Geoff Shackelford's avatar

Thomas set the vision and Bell got it built. But Bell was the on-site person who supervised the details and undoubtedly made refinements. Bell also was the one who figured out how to make some of the tough sites work.

Pmbenedict@icloud.com's avatar

So would you say Bell’s role was similar to Raynor’s in his early days with McDonald?