Beer of the Week

The beer: After School Special

Brewed by: Covert Artisan Ales, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Description (from the can): "Fruited sour ale with peanut butter powder, Concorde grapes, and marshmallow creme."

Would I buy it again? From the description, I thought this was going to taste like a PB&J. It tastes like half of that. Actually, the closest analogue is probably grape juice. If you focus, there's a hint of peanut butter in the aftertaste, but the grape is grabbing 95% of the attention here. It's not the worst thing in the world to drink, but fruited sour ales continue to not impress me.

AI Is Coming For Exoplanet Detection

Another day, another story about how artificial intelligence is taking over the world. This time, a machine-learning program has successfully located an extrasolar planet (great, AI's not even satisfied with our world) within a protoplanetary disk around a young star. The program had been tested on solar systems that we already knew had planets, but when it was applied to a set of older images it hadn't analyzed yet, the AI identified a planet in a system that had previously been overlooked. We missed the exoplanet, the AI didn't. And, according to the researchers, the AI only took an hour to find the exoplanet, which is a lot faster than what humans can manage. Once the technology is scaled up and tested a bit more, it could go through a lot of data extremely quickly. Who knows how many exoplanets we've missed that it could find? There really will be nowhere for humanity to hide when the robot revolution comes.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Pin Seeker Pilsner

Brewed by: Humble Forager Brewing Company, Waunakee, Wisconsin

Description (from Untappd): "This brew is a collaboration with one of the best pilsner makers in all the land, Fair State Brewing Cooperative. Pin Seeker was inspired and dreamt up during many rounds with our favorite golf mate, Jack Lester of Jack's Bottle Shop. It is meant to be enjoyed with your longtime friends, new acquaintances and cherished loved ones."

Would I buy it again? With a name and design like this beer has, all it had to do was not taste terrible and I'd definitely buy it again. And I'm happy to say that it stuck the landing. It's not too hoppy, it's refreshing and easy to drink, it's a solid pilsner. What can I say? I'm in the proper demographic for this particular beer.

Review: Lancaster Country Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Lancaster Country Club, go here to see the front. I'd also like to apologize for the poor quality of the images toward the end. We had a very long round, it was cloudy and very nearly dark, and I am neither an expert photographer or photo editor.

The tenth hole is a very long par 4 at 480 yards, and it's just as tough as you'd expect. The fairway is reasonably generous, with two bunkers on the right side that the fairway bends around. A solid drive will leave a tricky second shot with a long iron from a somewhat downhill lie to a very well-bunkered green. This is not the easiest shot in the world to pull off. The fairway is also a bit of a double dogleg; after the bend in the driving area, the fairway curves right again about 50 yards short. This is a hole without an obvious discernable overarching strategy, but the bunkers and doglegs create so many interesting angles and mini-strategies that the hole can't help but be interesting.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is the same length as the previous hole and, if anything, plays even tougher, thanks to a positively evil green. The tee shot is steeply downhill to a fairway that climbs back up out of the valley, with a single bunker left that you'll want to skirt alongside on the drive. The reason for this is not obvious from the tee, and you'll probably be drawn right. But the green tilts severely from right to left; approaches from the right will simply take the hill and roll away, likely all the way through the green. Approaching the green from the left gives you a much better chance of holding this green.

The eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole is 180 yards and has a lot of things going on. The hole plays downhill, so you can club down, but there's a stream crossing right in front of the green and a ring of five bunkers around the back of the green. So you pretty much need to hit the green, which is also very shallow and sloped sharply from back to front. You don't want to miss it even remotely long. Bunker shots from beyond the flag will run out, and the stream bank in front of the green is maintained as fairway. I hit a not particularly good but not bad bunker shot from long and left, and I ended up in the water, making a neat little triple bogey. It's not a long hole, but boy is it a tough one if you don't hit the green. Can't say I'm a fan of the shaved bank letting shots run into the stream, but at least you can get the golf ball back, and I'm sure the membership would let their opinion be known if they also didn't appreciate the penalty stroke. 

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is not, from what I've seen and heard, regarded as Lancaster's best. As a result of the various tinkering around, what was once two separate holes has been combined into one 520-yard par 5. The hole is pressed up against the northern part of the property, playing around the sixteenth and seventeenth. As such, despite being a shortish par 5 with a significant dogleg (which usually means there's opportunity to shorten the hole), the thirteenth isn't really reachable in two, courtesy of some big trees about 100-150 yards away from the green, tucked into the dogleg. That makes this an exercise of hit fairway on drive, lay up to your ideal spot (avoiding a fairway bunker), and hit green. Now, the third shot isn't easy, as the green is protected by two bunkers and isn't particularly big, but this definitely isn't the course's most compelling hole.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a mid-length par 4 with a downhill drive playing to a fairway that slopes right back up. Lancaster does this a lot. The landing area is tight, with two bunkers left and three right. Driver is a tough play because of all the sand, but you don't really want to lay up short and leave a nearly 200-yard second up the hill on a hole that's just barely over 400 yards. The green is mostly tucked behind a large bunker front right, with another left; the green is sloped pretty sharply from back to front, so you don't want to be above the hole.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a longish par 4, playing 440 yards to a fairway that bends sharply from left to right. A good drive can carry the sand in the corner and shorten the hole, but the fairway does slope pretty severely from right to left, so you'll also want to hit a fade. That right-to-left tilt also complicates the second shot, since the green is sloped in the same direction and there's a big greenside bunker right where you'd want to hit your second shot to let it release down to the hole. Hitting a fade with a driver is one thing, but hitting a fade from a stance where the ball is above your feet (promoting a hook) is much more challenging. There's also a bunker left waiting to catch approach shots that don't manage to hold the green, which is long but pretty narrow. This hole doesn't look especially tough from the tee, but it is easy to walk away with a bogey or worse if you're not on top of things.

The fifteenth hole.

Not an ideal place to approach the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is, despite appearances, a welcome bit of respite on an otherwise-demanding back nine. The first thing you'll notice is a veritable sea of bunkers surrounding the fairway and green. Beyond 250 yards, the fairway is narrowed to maybe 15 yards as it winds through sand and past a hillside, but since this hole is just 360 yards, the smart play is to lay back in the wide part of the fairway. No need to be aggressive. Now, that does leave a semiblind second shot over sand to a small green, but you've still got a wedge (or short iron at most) in hand, so this isn't the biggest challenge in the world. The important thing here is finding the fairway on the drive. The green is also on the quieter side, so this represents a decent birdie opportunity for those who successfully negotiate all the sand.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a much quieter and subtle hole than you might expect at this point in the round. A mid-length par 3 playing over some of the course's only level terrain, there's not a whole lot to the seventeenth. The green is angled away and hidden behind a big bunker, with another off to the right, so it's not exactly an open target. And that's about it. No big secret, just a stern but relatively simple par 3. Not easy, but not difficult either.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole, however, is precisely as grand and difficult as you'd expect from a major championship–worthy golf course. At 470 yards, it's long, with a massive bunker eating into the right side. The second shot, if you can even get to the green in two (and there's a bunker 50 yards short to give those who can't something to think about), is steeply uphill to a massive green with a bunker right. That green is sloped severely from back to front, to the tune of seven or so feet from top to bottom. That is a lot, even considering the size of the green, when you factor in how fast the greens are. You will want to be very careful if you end up above the hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green. Sort of, anyway.

So, is Lancaster Country Club the best course I've ever played? It's complicated. Strictly speaking, yes, it probably is. The front nine especially is fantastic; the way the course winds through the various valleys and the way it uses the natural water features is superb. The front is also shorter and quirkier, and despite having a lot more water is friendlier to the less-skilled golfer. I especially liked the stretch from two to seven, that's probably the best golf I've ever seen (I'm assuming on No. 3). The back nine, however, I was less fond of. Not that it wasn't very good, because it was. But it felt like it was made for a better golfer than I am, and combined with the ninth there was just one too many long par 4s playing downhill and then right back up. Admittedly, I played very badly on the back nine, so I'm a little biased, but even so, I think the front is the better and more interesting nine here. 

This is where I'd usually talk about value, but obviously Lancaster Country is a very private golf course so there's no point. I wish the round hadn't taken 4.5 hours, which is frankly slow for a public course, let alone a prestigious private course, but again, I don't really have much room to complain. And don't get me wrong, I would love to play here again (preferably when I'm playing a little better and the weather's a little better). I don't think this is my favorite course (which I count separately from best), but it's certainly in my top 5. And if you get the chance to play it, you should jump on that. It's absolutely worth it.

Beer of the Week

The beer: King Size Stout

Brewed by: Backwoods Brewing Company, Stevenson, Washington

Description (from the website): "Though no candy bars were harmed in the making of this beer, it was carefully crafted to taste like your favorite chocolate, peanut, nougat, and caramel bar."

Would I buy it again? Since I don't have a favorite chocolate, peanut, nougat, and caramel bar (research has told me that would be a Snickers bar – I do not know candy at all), I'll just have to judge this beer on its own merits. And it's fine. Not spectacular, and it does nothing to convince me that peanuts belong in beer, but it's decent enough. I wouldn't buy it again, but it's not bad.

Review: Lancaster Country Club (Part 1)

William Flynn is best known for Shinnecock Hills, and rightly so. That course earns its place as one of the country's best. But if you want to study William Flynn and his golf courses, go to Philadelphia. You can hardly go 5 feet without tripping over a classic Flynn golf course. Except, of course, you can, because they're all extremely private and beyond the reach of the average golfer. My brother is an assistant pro and has gotten us onto private golf courses before, but we had very little luck with the various Philadelphia Flynn courses. Except, of course, for Lancaster Country Club.

Dating back to 1913, Lancaster began to take its current form a few years later when William Flynn came in and designed 18 holes on one side of the Conestoga River, and over the next 20 or 30 years intermittently adjusted the course, including a four-hole expansion on the far side of the river in the late 1930s. (A third nine was added nearby that expansion in the 1990s, which we didn't see or play.) After that, the course began the typical Golden Age golf course story of benign neglect. Trees grew in, greens shrunk, bunkers disappeared, the usual story. But in the mid 2000s, the club began a restoration process that is still ongoing. However, the restoration was far enough along in 2015 that Lancaster Country Club hosted the U.S. Women's Open, won by Chun In-Gee at –8. It's also scheduled to host the 2024 U.S. Women's Open. That's a pretty impressive honor, and a giveaway that this is no walk in the park. But the real question: Will this be the best course I've ever played? It has a real shot at it. 

The first hole is a longer par 4 at 425 yards, but since it plays downhill it's not too intimidating of a prospect. The fairway is reasonably wide, but there are large bunkers on both sides. The side you'll want to favor on the drive varies on where the hole is located; for the left side hole location we had, the right side is better. The green is pretty big and flanked by sand. In general, Lancaster doesn't have the most undulating greens in the world, but they play extremely firm and fast, as befitting a club capable of hosting major championships. I wouldn't call the first hole a warm-up hole, but it's definitely not the toughest par 4 Lancaster has to offer.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is one of the course's best holes, a fairly short par 4 at 375 yards, playing slightly uphill to a fairway sloped from right to left, doglegging left around a steep slope leading down to the Conestoga River. That slope increases the further left you go, so tee shots need to be careful lest they run out of the fairway entirely. My long iron tee shot landed just in the left-middle portion of the fairway and ended up in the rough. These fairways are quick. The fairway is narrowed beyond the 275- to 300-yard mark by bunkers left and a new bunker far right, so you also won't want to use driver. The green sloped fairly sharply from right to left, and is placed on the edge of the ravine, and is surrounded by four bunkers. It's a good hole, and somewhat remarkably, both my brothers and I birdied it. That is a rare occurrence, for all of us to make birdie.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole was sadly partially under construction for the round (it was late October and the end of the season, a good time for bunker rebuilding), but normally plays as a 400-yard par 4, with the tee shot crossing the river. While the drive is steeply downhill, the fairway slopes just as much uphill, especially once you pass the 250-yard mark. Long drives can get a reasonable view of the green and a wedge in, but if you can't carry up to the higher portion, you will have a completely blind and long approach. The green is angled from right to left, meaning you're better off favoring the right side, which is the more bunkered side. The green is tilted severely from right to left and is protected by three bunkers in front and on both sides. 

For our round, we had this hole as a 190-yard par 3, which makes this green an extremely difficult target. Uphill, no fairway to act as a run-up, it's not really a feasible par 3 or a fair one. But construction happens, and I won't hold that against the course in the end. 

The third hole. We played from the tee at bottom left.

The third green.

The fourth hole is also about 400 yards, with the drive playing down into a narrow valley. The fairway is bounded by a meandering stream right and a steep hillside left. Naturally, the closer you get to the stream, the shorter and easier the second shot will be. A good drive cozied up along the stream will leave just a wedge into the green, which is perched up on a hillside behind three bunkers. The green is long, shallow, and sloped pretty severely from back to front. You do not want to miss the green long, so the second needs to be precise. Not the easiest task from the ideal position from the fairway, but even more difficult if you play safely out left. 

Something else I'll mention is that the club has placed numerous ball retrievers alongside most of the water features that come into play. So even if you do go in the water and incur a penalty, you can often get your golf ball back. Which is a nice touch.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is 390 yards, similar to the previous two holes, but as one might expect from a course of such high caliber, all three holes play very differently. This one doglegs left as the drive crosses the narrow valley from the last hole; that severe downslope and trees also lurks left, waiting to catch hooked or overly aggressive drives. While you can cut the corner on this hole, leaving a shorter shot, you'll also have a severe sideslope to deal with on your second shot. Play out to the right side of the fairway and you'll have a much flatter stance. The green is the most undulating thus far and is closely guarded short and right by the stream.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is the first non–par 4 at Lancaster, but it honestly doesn't feel like it. All five of the first five holes play very differently. Anyway, what we have here is a 180-yard par 3 playing downhill to a medium-sized green tucked right alongside the creek. There's no sand or much of anything right, so that obviously makes it a tempting bailout, but of course the green slopes from right to left, making it extremely difficult to get a chip from the right side close. The golfer is definitely rewarded for taking the risk and aiming at the flag here.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is, at 530 yards, the longest hole at Lancaster Country Club and home to its most exciting tee shot. The tee is on one side of the Conestoga River and the fairway is on the other, with a ravine wall beyond. An aggressive drive, carrying as much of the water as you dare, can leave you with as little as a mid iron; a safe drive to the left makes the seventh a distinctly three-shot affair. If you're laying up, favor the left side with the second. There's a pond front left and four bunkers lining the back of the green, which is sloped toward the pond. Be very careful if you miss long, shots can absolutely drift over the green and into the pond. My third went just over the back, and my fourth shot got very lucky and avoided the water by about a foot.

While we didn't see it, there's also apparently a tee up on the hillside left, which would make the drive steeply downhill with the river lurking out right. I think the riverside tee is probably the better one, but still, it would be interesting to try out the alternate tee.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a 200-yard par 3 over a valley to a very small green sloped pretty severely from back to front. There's two bunkers left and right, and the land falls away right. Right isn't really a good miss, but of course neither is left, since the green doesn't really slope in your favor. The green is open at the front, as befits a par 3 of this length and difficulty, so if you're stumped, you could always try to bump one onto the green rather than aiming at the flag directly. Bogey is honestly not the worst score on this hole.

The eighth hole.

The ninth hole is the first in a three-hole stretch of long and very tough par 4s. This one is the shortest at 435 yards, but it plays straight uphill to a fairway routed between two large bunkers. You can lay up short of them to a very wide section of fairway, but that'll leave nearly 200 yards for the second shot. And with the green mostly tucked behind a large bunker, you don't really want that long an iron. The green here isn't the most interesting one in the world, so if you can hit the green in two, you should at least be guaranteed a par.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Maple Porter

Brewed by: Honor Brewing Company, Chantilly, Virginia

Description (from Untappd): "Silky and dark with nose that gives off hints of Maple syrup and sweet chocolate; finished with late additions of vanilla and cinnamon. Roasted malt gives off nice coffee note with earthy undertones from the hops."

Would I buy it again? I wasn't 100% sure about this one on my first couple sips, but it grew on me. The maple is there (though I wish it was a tiny bit stronger), and there's a bit of chocolate to go along with the roasted feel of the porter. I'd buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Peach AF

Brewed by: Covert Artisan Ales & Cellars, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Description (from the bottle): "Puncheon-aged American wild ale refermented with a TON of peaches."

Would I buy it again? Yeah, you know what, I absolutely believe that this was refermented with a ton of peaches. It's very peach flavored. I'm neutral on peaches in general, but I'm generally not a fan of this style of beer, and Peach AF did not change my opinion. So I would not go for it again, but hey, it's a beer from South Dakota, I had to give it a try.