The US Open at Pinehurst #2

          Good Morning. In this post you will find pictured above a cell phone quality photo of the paiting as it looks now. Down below is the earlier version, which just didn't quite excite me enough to call it finished. I decided to get a little more sand scrub in view in the foreground, along with two or three other minor tweeks. Can you see them? I hope you enjoy my painting.

           US Opens always draw excitement for me, but this one is different. The news that Pinehurst #2 was going to be restored by Coore and Crenshwaw was such a great surprise a few years back. The Pinehurst brain trust has made a monumental decision and they will not regret this. The course looks like a throw back, has torn edged bunkers, sandy waste areas abound, burnt out turf at the margins and unclean lines. It pulls people 180 degrees from the "green and manicured" that has plagued much of US Golf and #2 for the last few decades.
   
           It has been a pleasure to know Bill Coore personally for the last 7 or 8 years. He is my idol and owns an original painting of mine. His legend was planted at Sand Hills in 1993 for most of us and each course he and Ben Crenshaw took on after that has come on scene looking as if it had existed for a century or more. I had the pleasure of meeting Ben at the Streamsong grand opening and we met while standing in front of two of my original paintings. I surely couldn't have wished for a better scenario. A month or so later Ben had written me a letter endorsing my work. Here is my most recent oil painting of the restoration of the ninth at Pinehurst #2. It is 24x36 and looking for a good home. It is only the 3rd painting I have done not as a commissioned painting in the last 2-3 years. The new look excited me to another level and I knew I wanted to see if I could creates something worthy.

           "For several years I have admired your work and considered you to be among the elite golf course artists in the world. Having seen several of your most recent paintings, I could make the argument that you are the best in the profession. Your technique and style bring to canvas the life, vibrancy and realism of the landscapes you paint. I also appreciate that your work presents golf hole from the golfer's perspective. The holes you paint are actually recognizable to a golfer fortunate enough to have played them! I was very please to see Ron Whitten's recent article on you in GOLF WORLD and am happy to see your talent being recognized by the golfing community." -Bill Coore 

           "We are great admirers of your work. Your paintings are beautiful and I must say that they appeal to Bill and me from that aspect that there is a good deal of impressionism painted so admirably by you." -Ben Crenshaw 

 Enjoy the US Open.

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/

So Glad Someone Had a Camera ...Streamsong Opening

Tom Doak, golf's most accomplished architect commissioned two Streamsong oil paintings as a gift to the Mosaic company. A year ago, he flew me out to play the juvenile version of the course with him. This was a great moment, as we had never golfed together and I hit shots while taking photos trying to figure out great painting angles, of which there were many. Fast forward a year to last weekend. The weekend was filled with amazing weather, two fantastic courses debuted and great personalities coming together. This presentation happened at the grand opening and it was fantastic as I finally got to meet Ben Crenshaw. He was pretty excited about seeing my painting of his course. He and Bill Coore couldn't have been more complimentary, but of course you would expect nothing less from these two gentlemen. Tom completely caught the ownership off guard with this generous gift. Thanks to Masa Nishijima for the best photo on the subject. Being among these three gentleman and talents is a moment I will never forget. Cheers to a great 2013 and a huge year in my life with the birth of our first Daughter expected within the month!!!!

A Streamsong Blue Story

Tom Doak's wonderfully rugged new course at Streamsong.


What a fantastic hole !! The photo above depicts the par three 5th hole, a mid-length one shotter with plenty going on. It will leave an indelible mark on your golfing memory bank after you see it. Left is an absolute no-no as it drops 30 feet down towards the previous hole. To me it does the best job of linking Streamsong to its ancient golfing roots. Namely, the staggered layout of the small bunkers with their peaked and tattered edges, the low profile "non framed" backdrop and the ultra random shape and undulation that the long slender green follows.


Here you see Tom walking the breadth of the 5th green again in afternoon light to show where all the unique pin locations are and their respective elevations. I had the good fortune of previewing the course on his invite, he flew me out from California in order to scout out Oil Paining possibilities for him, of which there are many. It was a dream of mine to play golf with Tom at some point and I am so thrilled that it happened in this forum. Wind will surely be a factor on this hole and with the depth of the green calling for a possible 4 club alteration in the absence of wind, one can only imagine the fun that will ensue. It may be a great hole to try to hit putter off the tee and take the wind completely out. ;) This photo may end up an oil painting coming soon. Oh yeah, this resort will open in 2012 and will also feature the Red course, a Coore and Crenshaw 18 holes interwoven with the Blue.

Streamsong Golf

Red Course @ Streamsong Golf, photo by Keith Rhebb

Just returned from a fantastic trip to preview the Streamsong Golf Club's 36 holes. After having a Rock Creek Cattle Company trip postponed last year as well as a Cabot Links visit pushed into the future, it was great to get the wheels up and research some upcoming oil paintings at this "Instant Classic". The Red course is built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and the Blue course is built by Tom Doak. This resort will WOW any golf lovers who find it. The courses are slated to open late this year and are open to the public. To have 36 built on amazing sand dunes and representing some of the best work of Doak and Coore Crenshaw is truly "Bandon Like". The terrain is like a combination Sand Hills of Nebraska and Lost Dunes of Tasmania, Aus, with some large lakes scattered around the property.
My trip was sponsored by Tom Doak with the thought of doing a couple of oil paintings. Took hundreds of photos, but will start it off with an amazing construction photo taken by Coore Crenshaw shaper/photographer Keith Rhebb.

This is a photo of the Red. Keith was kind enough to tour me around the Red course after I had the opportunity to play the Blue with T. Doak. It is going to be hard to compare these two. I don't really see the need, they are both winners. Will post some of my photos soon of both courses.

Cheers.

Josh CF Smith

Renaissance Cup, Old Macdonald and Bandon Dunes

Not to confuse you...This photo is one I took of the new Conservation Course at Bandon Dunes. Now, enough about that...

Every year Tom Doak hosts an invitational tournament for friends and colleagues at a course that he has designed or improved. The point is to unveil some new work and glean feedback from those in attendance. You partner up with one person and play fourball scratch 9 hole matches. Previous winners have included Ben Crenshaw, Mike Keiser, Fred Muller to name a few. It isn't the easiest invite to procure...and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I had hopes of someday getting the chance to play. To my surprise, a timely email to Tom on another subject unfolded into an invitation to play in my first Renaissance Cup hosted at Old Macdonald at Bandon Dunes. It was really a great time, we even upset the "ringer" team and won our first match. What a fun course to play Match Play on !!! Got a chance to meet a few other like minded ladies and fellows and as a bonus spent a beautiful morning walking around the new Conservation Course at Bandon. It is a quaint little, 13 hole par three course that Coore and Crenshaw draped over "linksy" dunes overlooking the Pacific. I cannot wait to return to play it and paint it, along with Old Macdonald.

Yardage Book

Since visiting Old Sandwich Golf Club a couple years ago, I've looked at each golf course a little differently. The architects, Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw and the club have done such an amazing job of turning back the clock there. From the moment you drive on site, you are overwhelmed with a timeless, throw back feel. While it was only built a few years ago, you would swear it is 100 years old. From the style of clubhouse, heirloom grassing choices, course hardware, down to the everyday maintenance, it screams Old and Wise. I left with great memories, a memory card full of photos, an OS baseball cap and probably the best yardage book ever created. While I don't have a photo of their book here, I do have photos of my first attempt at a Yardage Book.




Their yardage book was drawn by Bill Coore and features loose sketches of each hole tee to green. Each line was sketched with care as if he had designed the course... ;) ;) ;) When asked by the California Golf Club to create a yardage book of my own, my mind raced to the OS book. I asked myself how can I create something with such feel without ripping off the style completely. After sketching for a while with pencil, it became clear to me I needed to "dance with the date I brung" and oil paint the book. It would be completely original and give me a better chance to attain something special. My hope was to paint it in color and have the book produced in black and white. The Board of Directors overruled and wanted the book printed in color. Hope to be lucky enough to do another Yardage Book some day, in between Original Oil Paintings.




Cheers,

Josh Smith