Taos Golf

There will be a lot of talking this week in the golf world about St. Andrews, THE Open Championship, etc.

Here's my golf story.

This is a picture of my Dad and a couple of his buddies playing golf at the Taos Country Club about 1960.  It was a private 9 hole golf course carved out of sagebrush (duh - just look at the surroundings) and a clubhouse where lots of the business leaders ate, drank, played poker, and watched 16mm black and white movies of famous golf matches.

This is a picture of the golf course taken last week.  What once was the Taos Country Club, on the road to Taos Ski Valley, became the Quail Run Resort and the home to condos, etc.

I actually worked at a golf course when I was in high school.  It was developed by two of my uncles, Sid and Clinton Johnson in an area east of Taos known as Tienditas.   It is part of a beautiful valley, and the development was ahead of its time.  It remains a hidden valley.

And the golf course remains open.  The summer rains have helped keep it in nice mountain condition. I recall working there - slip sliding around the dirt roads after a summer rain - driving the road grader and dump drunks. And I remember having the responsibility for pin placements on the greens.

This pond - which we called a lake - was right outside the front door of Uncle Sid's first cabin on the site.  The pond remains.

Valley Escondido remains hidden - there are some locals and some Texans who have vacation cabins there - and I can certainly see why.  A beautiful place to get away from it all - and I mean that!

PGA Tour, USGA, PGA of America Should Dump Trump

It's about time the leadership of the major golf organizations in the USA (and abroad for that matter, like Scotland) dump any tournaments that are held on golf courses owned, developed or managed by the Donald Trump organizations.

I am sure it is within the abilities of the PGA Tour, the United States Golf Association, the PGA of America and the Royal and Ancient in Europe to find locations for golf events that don't further the growth of that red mop of hair.

What Trump has said with regards to the Mexican immigration issue should be reason enough - say nothing of his other spout offs.

Anybody with any sense at all knows that much of the labor in his hotels, at his resorts, in his businesses and on his golf courses is done by people who are immigrants.  They are probably offended too, but afraid to say anything for fear of losing their jobs.

I'm waiting for the major media outlets to start reporting on the misdeeds of Mr. Trump and his organizations.  It can't come soon enough!


Update -  The Dump Trump parade is organizing:

1)   Los Angeles school district officials have canceled plans to hold a fundraising tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in response to comments made by Donald Trump about immigrants.   The L.A. Unified School District asked the club to return its $7,500 deposit. So far, the club has declined to refund the money, according to the school system.

2)   The ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic was scheduled for Trump National Golf Club on July 14 but has been switched to Pelican Hill near Newport Beach.

 3)  The PGA of America announced Tuesday that the 2015 Grand Slam of Golf scheduled for this October at Trump National Golf Club will be moved to another location.