Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Waverley Country Club

This will always be a special place in my heart. It was the sight of my first real job, and job in golf. I caddied at Waverley CC for a couple of years and worked in the bag room. It was during this period that the 93' Junior Amateur was held and Tiger Woods defended for the second year in a row and won a Record three USGA Junior Amateur titles. I was among the small crowd that final round and watched as Ryan Armour birdied 15 to go 2 up with three holes remaining. Well, they halved 16 and then Tiger did the unthinkable and made birdie from very difficult sand shot up and downs on the closing 2 par 5's in order to force a play off. He won on the with a par on the first playoff hole, hole 1. This oil painting is the view across the river I would see every time I was dropped off at work. The course has always shined, but never as bright as it has after Gil Hanse and his crew made some modifications just over a year ago. The current course looks like it has been there forever in all the right ways and blends very well with the history and pedigree of the Club. I was happy to be asked by the GM to create an oil painting of a place that meant a lot to me personally. Best, Josh Smith

Home of Golf

In the last year, I took a couple months off from commission work to create a couple of paintings that I was really interested in seeing. One of which is a place I have yet to visit... St. Andrews... but I drew all the passion I have for the place and tried to put it into this original oil painting and create a timeless piece. Interestingly I sold both of my "break from commission" paintings fairly rapidly.
This has to be a subject that I will paint again, I just love the whole idea of it. PERIOD. Best, Josh Smith

Pinehurst Oil Painting

Pinehurst #1 that is. This is an oil painting I created for my friend and Golf Architect/Shaper talent, Kyle Franz. He provided me with some $$, a couple of old black and whites of this hole from early 1900's and described what he wanted to see the hole returned to. I sure hope he gets his way !!
The painting got me excited to see the work done on #2 and to hopefully oil paint it as well. It is a golf trip that I have yet to take, which could be well timed in the next couple of years based on the improvements in the area. Comments welcome. Best, Josh PS. Kyle has a nice interview posted on Golf Club Atlas hosted by Ran Morrissett, who is obviously a big fan. I am glad I could introduce the two of them. http://www.golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/kyle-franz-june-2011/