Golf Scrapbook Blog (The Next Ones)

April 2024 – Just played The Concession with my buddy Mike, brother and Asst. GM Hunter. As a bogey golfer and non-design nerd, my golf rankings come down to one thing: Do all of the elements come together for a memorable round of golf? Clubhouse. People. Uniqueness. These all count as much as the design/layout of the course to me. The Concession hits on all of these, including a memorable Jack Nicklaus/Tony Jacklin design. The course is always ranked near the top of the best in Florida and like other great courses (Pine Valley and Dallas National come to mind), you can’t see one hole from the next and feel as though you are on the course by yourselves.

The Concession is tough though. We played the blue tees which slope to 141! This is a hell of a golf course from there and I stopped keeping score somewhere along the back. Is it a course you can play everyday? Well, I may find out. As I near retirement I am looking at moving to the Bradenton area and played The Concession after previously touring there. Let’s start with that then – joining a club.

So the Tampa area has a ton of courses – many are of the 55+/retirement variety. These cater more to folks who don’t want to get kicked in the nuts for 18 holes than golf design aficionados. Now trust me, golf can be a trudge if you’re playing like shit and spending your morning/ afternoon searching for wayward balls. But, playing a home course that is tough makes travel golf more enjoyable as you are prepped for any challenge (like I have now with my home course, Commonwealth National). Also, a 55+ course attracts 55+ golfers. There is no variety of golfer at these places. I don’t want to join heaven’s waiting room, I like to hang with peeps of all ages and skill levels.

I will play a few more clubs down there before making my final decision in a few years; then most clubs have a waiting list so I likely won’t be able to be a full member at any club here for another 4+ years if I hold out for two while seeing what happens in my final working years. It’s also not easy to try and justify the expense. If you do that you will never join a club or will sacrifice on quality to amortize your investment better in your head. Don’t do that. Joining any club takes some $$$ and if you’re of the financial ilk to join one, I say, “in for a penny in for a pound.” A big initiation fee can be daunting and even I was disinclined to look at The Concession-level of club because of it. But if you’ve earned a good nest egg and have your family obligations all taken care of and still saved up enough, then treat yourself for your remaining years. This actually was my wife’s recommendations while I was originally trying to justify the cost!

On this trip to the Tampa area, we stopped at the “go-to” steak house, Bern’s. Nothing makes for a good Tampa weekend more than a round of golf at a great course, hanging outside with Miller Lites and a night at Bern’s. If you’ve never been, GO! Now it’s not a spur-of-the-moment place. You need to make reservations a good two months in advance. Trust me I booked on the first day at first thing in the morning 60-days out and still only got a 9 PM time. More than any other steakhouse I’ve been though, this is an insane experience. Make sure you tour the kitchen and wine cellar on your visit and book a “pod” in the dessert room – the Bananas Foster is great. So as I talk a lot through the blog about restaurants and steakhouses, I will list the top 20 steakhouses I’ve visited. They have to be a steakhouse though and restaurants that are not known as a proper, meat-slinging, American-style, traditional steakhouse (IE The Saloon in South Philly that is an Italian steakhouse so ain’t listed), they’re not on this list. Maybe I’ll do the best Italian, Mexican, etc. elsewhere on the blog later. Maybe. Oh, and no national chains.

Gibson’s (both the downtown Chicago and Rosemont locations): Cheating a little bit as I should rank these separately but wow, this is as traditional as you can get and offers THE best steak. They have their own grade of meat!
Bern’s (Tampa): See above.
Frankie & Johnny’s (Midtown NYC): This is more of a nod to the old Theater District one but the midtown one is great too. And the new Thearter District one – while not as good as the original or midtown – is still right there.
Mastro’s City Hall (Scottsdale): cool vibe, great steaks and wine. I know I said no chains but I will make an exception.
Peter Luger (Brooklyn NYC): The steakhouse of steakhouses.
Barclay Prime (Philly): Hometown fave!
Kevin Rathbun (Atlanta): Great traditional and modern vibe to it. Steaks are awesome. I think this is a Michelin Star as well as Peter Luger and Barclay Prime above.
Cut (Beverly Hills): The celebrity vibe and great steaks.
Buckhorn Exchange (Denver): The exotic game they serve, stuffed animal heads on the wall and the fact that it is the oldest restaurant in Colorado with a liquor license puts this firmly in the top ten.
Al Biernat’s (Dallas): Texas has some great steakhouses but this is the best of the best.
Pappa’s Brothers (Houston): Traditional steakhouse vibe, old school!
The Red Steakhouse (Miami): There are a few Reds out there, never ate at the others. A hip South Beach vibe but swanky steakhouse.
Provender Hall (Fort Worth): Okay this is a stretch as a steakhouse as it’s more of a smokehouse but right in the Stockyards and such a cool vibe.
Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina (Nashville): It’s on the 36th floor of the JW Marriott downtown. View great. Steaks great. Love the trio of sauces. I originally had Old Hickory in the 20 but forgot about Bourbon. Much, much better.
St. Elmo (Indianapolis): The only reason I would go out of my way to go to Indianapolis is an Eagles game and a stop at St. Elmo’s.
Jeff Ruby’s (Louisville): Yes it’s a chain but a small one and the piano player can whip out any request you throw his way. Steaks obviously great, too.
House of Prime Rib (San Francisco): I know that SF has become a complete shithole and I wouldn’t be caught dead there but The HoPR has been slinging English-style roast beef since the 40’s.
Butcher & Singer (Philly): This is actually close to Barclay Prime in my rankings. Both are great but this is just a notch below on vibe.
Cau (Amsterdam): Right near the Dam Square. From their Google listing: Charcoal-grilled steaks from grass-fed Argentine cattle in a sleek space with a sidewalk terrace.
Delmonico (Las Vegas): In the Venetian. Lagasse’s place. Think there’s one in LA and maybe more but this is the place to go IMO in Las Vegas. Lot’s of great ones here though.

Then of the chains, while it depends on the franchise/location, I’d say DelFrisco’s followed by Capital Grille. Morton’s is hit or miss. Ruth’s Chris is below that. And the Palm, eh, though I like the caricatures on the wall.

To the course. The Concession is named after the famous Ryder Cup putt concession that Nicklaus offered to Jacklin, tying the Ryder Cup (though the US retained the cup). Read more about it here: THE CONCESSION – SEPTEMBER 20, 1969.

As noted the Concession is tough. We played from 6,500 yards but at some point I will swallow my pride and play from the whites which is just under 6,000 though drives are not the issue here, the green complexes are! I was in the sand a lot! I got new clubs from Club Champion (a different blog topic for a different review) and don’t have a feel for the wedges from the tight lies yet and was back and forth with the old Lovett and the new 58 and 54’s. Think I had a 98 but don’t have the card. I had one birdie and maybe a couple of pars but struggled to score. There’s a good amount of water and I know one hole I had the dreaded “sleever” – an entire sleeve of lost golf balls on one hole. This is a course that just feels like a great course the entire journey. There’s no individual hole that stands out – save 18 – but just hole-after-hole you come away thinking how great the course is and want to play it again despite its toughness. I won’t go into great detail on a hole-by-hole basis but will label as best I can. I know I was pretty sporadic with the camera. A lot of members are on Thousand Greens so if you’re on the app and a better home course than the bottom tier, shouldn’t be an issue getting on.

Hole number one. Almost 400 yards so no slouch though listed as the number 13 handicap.

The second – what you can’t see is the water right that stretches the entire way down to the green.

Three: Par-five, 518 yards. The water is more visually intimidating than it is in reality but if you push it right out of fear, you’ll cost yourself one golf ball!

Four is a 188-yard par three. No water but I left it way short and have generally been sucking on par threes with clubs both old and new.

I missed the very tough 5th hole and this is 6. Not a long par three – 147 yards – but again I’ve been sucking on par threes.

Notice a lot of the tight driving corridors. You can’t play a wide-sweeping draw or fade off the tee. No water on this 526-yard par 5 but it is the number one handicap so beware of the sand.

Number 8 is a 330-yard par four, doglegs right. Again no room to aim left to move it right unless you go over the trees.

Missed nine and ten with the camera. Ten features just 350 yards but water all up the right. This is the par three 11th. I actually hit the green here far right but would three putt.

Twelve is a short par four. I think this was my birdie hole. Just 294 yards But chock full of water (easily overcome) and sand (not so easily overcome).