Having completed the two-week “clean” eating regimen that kicks off the “Weight Loss for Golfers” program, I’m on to the one-by-one reintroduction of certain foods to see if they produce adverse reactions. So far, so good — that is, I’ve thus far discovered no food allergies; and though there are a couple of foodstuffs yet to be tested, major dietary components like dairy seem to agree with my digestive system.

As was true in my previous dispatch about the program devised by weight loss coach Larry Jacobs, the numbers are good: My weight’s down by roughly 13 pounds and, more importantly, the feeling of “bulk” is definitely diminished, as is my waist size. I’ve also trimmed the blood pressure by a few millimeters of mercury, though variable results make it difficult to quantify precisely.

In fact, if I have a concern, it’s that the program works almost too well: The dramatic initial results threaten to trigger the “always-available-option” response and thus non-compliance, particularly as I’m not battling morbid obesity.

(This is further complicated by external circumstances, like a recent visit home to celebrate my father’s 91^st birthday. Shared meals give me a chance to get him to eat more, but at this point, he’s not about to reach for the tofu.)

Luckily for me, the next step in Jacobs’ “Thin for Life” discipline is a set of individualized guidelines to help achieve the desired end. At this point, I’m predisposed to think that the experience will be transformational, even as my diet continues to include the odd verboten items.

 #       #       #

Turns out, though, that that initial cleansing interval of “Weight Loss for Golfers” not only was not so tortuous, it also produced the advertised result: immediate shedding of a half-dozen pounds, one peg less on the belt, more energy. But the other salutary by-products of the endeavor – reduced blood sugar levels and blood pressure, relief from joint inflammation, a less puffy appearance – are at least as significant as sheer weight loss.

(Indeed, Jacobs advises clients not to obsess over the scale, as it’s at best an imperfect yardstick of progress. Based on feedback from other clients, as well as my own experience, changes in appearance are more dramatic than the raw number of pounds shed might indicate.)

I’m naturally sworn to secrecy regarding a detailed description of how the program works – Jacobs avoids the term “diet,” as it implies short-term behavior modification rather than a lifestyle change – but, to oversimplify: The first two weeks consist of the elimination of foods — some obvious, others less so — that promote fat storage. Think vegan, with some modifications.

It sounds Spartan, but besides foods to avoid, Jacobs lists more than 50 to enjoy, including some protein from fish or chicken. You’re free to eat whenever you’re hungry, so it’s not a fast, nor is there any calorie counting.

(Exercise, moderate but preferably daily, is the second part of the equation, but this isn’t a departure from routine for me.)

The second two-week session begins the process of gradually reintroducing some of the banned foods to test for adverse reactions, while the two final segments focus on individual long-term plans for nutritional well-being. Each segment begins with a 60-90-minute teleseminar, also available on the Internet, and an accompanying pdf file. Jacobs also answers questions by e-mail and phone.

The editor in me notes that the production values of the materials are not what you’d call slick, but you tend to overlook that in light of Jacobs’ zealotry for his subject.

The connection to golf, too, of “Weight Loss for Golfers” is more thematic than substantive: Obviously, the discipline would benefit anyone wishing to lose weight, although Jacobs claims that 70 percent of golfers are overweight.

On the other hand, Jacobs – a 4 handicapper and Special Olympics golf coach – certainly knows his market: baby boomers and senior golfers heading down “the back nine of life” and thinking about extending their playing career as long as possible.

Jacobs has also had a number of golf celebrities who’ve endorsed the program, including Roger Maltbie, Dottie Pepper, Fred Funk, and Alan Doyle.

Another aspect of Jacob’s appeal to golfers is that he realizes that weight loss, like golf, is not a game of perfect. You’re going to make your bogeys – as I did in attending a lavish media dinner in Manhattan one night – as long as you continue to strive for a “cleaner” approach to nutrition.

Progress reports to follow.

But as Harmon put it in a pre-release teleconference, this magnum opus is “about everything in golf there is,” not just instruction. Officially titled “Butch Harmon About Golf presented by Titleist” (there are several corporate sponsors), the production works on multiple levels.

For the golf bibliophile, or whatever its electronic equivalent is called, “Butch Harmon About Golf” may achieve canonical status comparable to, say, Tom Doak’s “Confidential Guide” to golf course architecture.

For the devoted follower of the pro game, Harmon’s interaction with many of the last four decade’s best – including “Phil, Ernie, Greg, Tiger, Seve, Freddie,” and several up-and-coming players, such as “Adam, Nick, and Dustin,” many of whom are interviewed – he offers up a cross-section of the modern era from an instructional perspective. At the very least, this gives solid visual cred to the old saw about every swing being different – a maxim repeated so frequently as to sometimes sound hollow.

For the technophile, you could watch “Butch Harmon About Golf” just for the production values, the same way you marvel at PGA pros, even knowing you can never attain such a game. Produced by golf veteran Terry Jastrow, the motion-capture material is astounding, the presentation lucid.

Anyone who’s ever taken a lesson, though, understands that the instructor’s personality plays at least as great a role in the experience as the nuts-and-bolts. So it’s hardly original scholarship to point out that Harmon wouldn’t have gotten as far as he has without the charisma that comes across in conversations with his students or just spinning a story.

An interesting experiment would be to take a player completely new to the game, presumably a junior, and wean him or her solely on “Butch Harmon About Golf.” The rest of us will most likely cherry-pick tips for particular shots or encounters with favorite players.

Available online at www.butchharmondvd.com, $79.95.

# # #

Photo: 18 Greatest Golf / John Kernick

Our fantasy St. Patrick’s Day includes a sun-dappled round at a favorite Irish links – a Lahinch, Enniscrone, Royal County Down – followed by an early and extended happy hour in the clubhouse to mark the occasion. But circumstances, including the weather (this is a fantasy, remember), may call for a Plan B in indulging one’s Irish golf jones.

And it’s tough to do better than 18 Greatest Irish Golf Holes, a lavishly produced, annotated, composite portrait of the game on the Emerald Isle. Written by Craig Morrison and Andrew Ross, the crew that produced the same treatment for Scottish Golf, this edition features photography by John Kernick.

You can, of course, treat the book as simple golf pornography, flipping through the images of exotic landforms. But the 271-page folio, printed by an upscale Italian house, also makes for a good read, from a foreword by Padraig Harrington to interviews with club pros, secretaries, and innkeepers, as well as golf celebrities like Rory McIlroy, Nick Faldo, Arnold Palmer, and others. The non-golf photos reinforce the warmth of the place.

Meticulously rendered illustrations by Siobhan Royer-Hardy add depth to individual hole design elements and local flora and fauna.

As always, the selection of holes may invite quibbles – or, sometimes, drunken brawls – but a map of the chosen 18 suggests this may be mostly a function of geographical correctness, embracing inland and coastal examples. Certainly the majority of picks are mind-blowing, beginning with Chapter 1, the 7^th hole at The European Club, a colossal par 4, with photos accompanied by remarks from the voluble Pat Ruddy, the architect.

A limited edition of 5,000 copies, 18 Greatest Irish Golf Holes is published by 18 Greatest Golf and is priced at $300.

#         #         #

Actually, not quite true. The captious will notice that the emphasis here is on comfort rather than, say, explosive power, perhaps indicative of its author being “in transition,” as a psychotherapist might describe it.

TRUE linkswear. Having once seemed to be the only guy in town ever to wear golf-and-travel shoes – a pair of Rockports and a pair of Bites – I’ve wondered why the concept hasn’t caught on. It probably took the airlines and their baggage regulations to provide the necessary inertia, and now the show is lousy with course-to-street shoes. My favorites were the discretely logoed TRUE linkswear models. Although I can’t vouch for their “feel the course,” improve your game claim, they are as comfortable, if pricey, as advertised.

CROSS Golf. A golf trip to Sweden several years ago confirmed it an underrated destination, including an enthusiastic golfing population that also seemed generally more fashionably turned out than we are. Founded in Sweden in 1986, the CROSS line, just introduced here, seems of a piece with the national sensibilities and, according to the promos, inspired by Swedish pop icons: It’s colorful, with plenty of solids and plain geometric patterns. The fabric has an agreeably loose elasticity devoid of that spandex feel, especially in the outerwear, and the line includes a pair of slacks that would appear to be most comfortable in warm, muggy weather – a rarity.

INNOVEX Golf. Comparatively affordable golf balls have been available since the advent of mass production processes, but Innovex is unusual in its attempt to join the ball elite – at a substantially reduced MSRP. Is it a “tour level” ball, as claimed? We’ll see, but initial reviews have been favorable. And any embrace of affordability – the biggest culprit in declining rates of participation – is welcome. Comes in cast urethane and three-piece models.

BAG BOY. An old-line company that’s always generated its share of common-sense innovation. This year’s contributions from Bag Boy include a travel cover, the T2000, with a swivel handle that rotates to prevent arm-and-wrist torque and keep the wheels on the tracks. There’s also the TriSwivel push cart, a three-wheel model featuring a front wheel designed to rotate 360º, though it can also be locked in a fixed, straight-ahead position.

aboutGOLF. Is it symptomatic of schizophrenia to be an avowed traditionalist and simultaneously dazzled by some of the new technology? I sure hope not. Because aboutGOLF’s golf simulators have always seemed really cool and the company seems committed to making them cooler. This year’s enhancements include a three-screen, 150º hitting bay where the course before you can be made to “rotate” to match your lines of vision; a portable, wireless launch monitor for indoor and outdoor use; and in conjunction with sister company Henry-Griffitts, a hitting mat with an intricate network of sensors to precisely measure weight transfer during the swing.

#       #       #

Nah. Like a lot of us human golfers, computers would outsmart themselves. Despite the technical sophistication of many training aids and other gizmos, golf remains an elemental undertaking, however difficult.

That’s the appeal of the gift suggestions below. Not only do they trigger the “why didn’t someone think of that before?” reaction, they’re affordable, especially relative to, say, a golf simulator with a five- or six-figure price tag. They are also portable and – important to fellow golfers in the suddenly snowbound Northeast – can be used indoors and out. Plus, I like their names.

The Zoom Boom. In the absence of actually hitting golf balls, teaching professionals have long touted the value of simply swinging a golf club to maintain flexibility, tempo, and so forth. The Zoom Boom Swing Trainer takes the notion a step further.

It’s a weighted shaft with two counter-balancing nodes that force hands and arms into the correct impact position as you make the swing. Heavy enough to provide a “golf workout” just by devoting five minutes a day, it’s designed to prevent users from repeating swing flaws that may accompany just swinging a regular club.

“And there’s no thinking or analyzing involved,” says Lance McWilliams, the Texas-based pro who invented Zoom Boom. “You just swing the thing. It’s also a great way to warm up for a round or, at this time of year, to winterize your golf game.”

The Little One. The miniaturization concept has been tried in other ball sports: A smaller rim for honing basketball shooting, the rod-like Thunder Stick to sharpen baseball batting skills, even a smaller cup to refine putting acuity. Originally developed by “another frustrated golfer,” Dan Bonomo, a decade ago, The Little One is a club with a head just slightly larger than a golf ball and the loft and heft of a 7-iron. The extra focus required to hit the ball boosts ball-striking consistency.

Bonomo founded Scottsdale-based PSP (for Pure Solid Perfect) in 2007 and recently paired with clubfitting pioneer Henry-Griffitts , who now carries The Little One in their fitting cart. (If you’re already a Henry-Griffitts user, as I am, you can get a custom-fit model of The Little One using the swing specifications already on file in the company’s database.) PSP also offers The Wee One, designed specifically for juniors.

It’s too late in the season to assess The Little One’s potential for improving this writer’s ball-striking, but it’s definitely effective on the practice range: My pre-round warm-up has traditionally been devoted exclusively to physical flexibility, with little regard to quality ball contact. True, you can’t remake your game minutes before heading to the first tee, but The Little One helps me concentrate on striking the ball solidly, not just a limber motion.

Ball of Steel. Even for the pros, the most common culprit in missing short putts is a tentative stroke. As a serial gagger, I can’t wait to reap the benefits of Ball of Steel – Balls, to be precise, as the package includes three red balls, the same size as the regulation golf ball but five times heavier. Again, the concept is elementary: The heavier object’s inertia forces you to make solid contact.

A product of Eyeline Golf , Ball of Steel encourages a rhythmic backstroke and acceleration through the ball. Pulls and pushes are instantly recognizable, reinforcing the importance of striking the ball on the sweet spot.

Unlike the Zoom Boom and The Little One, which have other short-game-improvement applications, the Ball of Steel is intended to improve your putting from six feet and in, not for lag putting or chipping. Also, when there’s snow on the ground, as shown here, be sure to take it indoors.

# # #

Two layouts by Donald Ross seem to beckon repeat play – a residue of his design vocabulary. Today’s example is The Sagamore, in Bolton’s Landing, New York.

The uphill, dogleg left 7th hole exemplifies The Sagamore's rugged topography. Photos: Tom Harack

Though of the same vintage as Mountain Ridge , The Sagamore’s location at the base of the Adirondacks means much more precipitous terrain. Indeed, while you get the sense of a fairly compact site overall – mature hardwoods make great buffers between many of the holes – the course is not readily walkable (having tried it once myself). That’s a deduction in my “course-you-could-play-everyday” score, although several cart-path-only forays per round make a round at The Sagamore a workout.

The panorama from the steeply elevated 1^st tee, with Lake George as the backdrop, is the shot by which The Sagamore is known, but there are other great landforms. These include wetlands and meadows where Ross is said to have planted heather from his native Scotland.

The routing is efficient but varied. Some of the best holes are short ones, but

Landing areas may offer multiple approach angles, but the target remains small and, as here on the 5th hole, a 380-yard par 4, long is big trouble.

even the longest holes suggest safe areas to play, typically to chipping aprons leading to crowned, push-up greens – a difficult but doable shot.

A great example is the 13^th, a par 4 that at 446 yards from the tips approaches the outer limits of golden age golf architecture. Despite a marsh on the right, there’s ample landing zone, but the second shot has to carry marsh #2. As is true of many of Ross’s water hazards, though, a solidly struck ball will easily carry the marsh, though it may come to rest on a 75-yard apron fronting an elevated green.

The Sagamore is, of course, part of the resort of the same name, so most of the packages on offer combine golf with accommodations and dining. Outside play is also welcome, though, and it’s a quality golf experience.

What golf course characteristics make you want to go back, the sooner the better?

Some cross-bunkers are more decorative than strategic, like this one on the 4th hole, but still manage to conform to the overall proportions.

#         #         #

The 16th at Mountain Ridge. Photo: LC Lambrecht Photography

It may seem borderline sadomasochistic to deconstruct the cliché – “a course you can play every day” – immediately following the first substantial snowfall here in the northeast. On the other hand, there will soon be time aplenty to ponder the question.

And unlike, say, “using every club in your bag,” the everyday-course thing is open to interpretation. Certainly there are some traits that would apply uniformly to courses you don’t want to play every day: too long, too difficult, too slow, badly maintained, and, for most of us, too expensive.

But beyond these deal-breakers, there’s plenty of room for subjectivity. Walkability is important to many of us; riding a necessity for others. For a certain stratum of player, no challenge is too stiff; to others, it’s secondary to a friendly staff. Then again, one of my golf buddies, a single-digit handicap, admits to being enthralled by courses conducive to finding golf balls – a throwback to his caddy days.

How do you define that archetypal course you could play every day? Two recent season-beating rounds suggested a partial explanation to me: When playing reasonably well – the test doesn’t work if you’re stinkin’ it up — you feel that the next level of golf competence is just out of reach, but attainable.

That the two rounds happened to both be Donald Ross designs is coincidence, though it’s also true that while they’re playable for the same reasons, even as they’re on substantially different terrain.

Both Mountain Ridge Golf Club, a private in West Caldwell, New Jersey, and The Sagamore, a layout at the eponymous resort in Bolton Landing, New York, are a manageable 6,800+ yards from the back tees.

But Mountain Ridge, in the foothills around the Passaic River Valley, has a more pronounced up-and-down rhythm, with numerous elevated tees and green complexes. Native grasses make some bunkers even more problematic, but most approaches are receptive to a variety of trajectories, and most offer bailout areas, generally short of the putting surfaces. There’s plenty enough contour on those surfaces to make things interesting, but not many auto-three-jacks.

As part of its centennial celebration in 2012, Mountain Ridge will host next year’s US Senior Open. (The Donald Ross design dates to 1931 and was recently reworked by Ron Pritchard.) The place also features a clubhouse from central casting, as well as food that — by golf-writer consensus, anyway – you could eat every day.

Monday: The Sagamore

#         #         #

I’m only half-joking. The underlying assumption of his, er, critique is that playing 18 holes together is supposed to result in a meeting of minds on something other than, say, club selection. As subsequent history demonstrates, unless Pollyanna is in your foursome, this isn’t likely to happen.

No, the salutary effect of playing golf with someone of diametrically opposed views is that, for four hours at least, everyone behaves better than they do most of the rest of the time. That’s why it’s “a gentleman’s game” – a description that naturally invites mockery when tied, across the board, to players rather than the game itself.

And as any seasoned golfer can attest, this really works.

# # #

The closing hole at Kaluhyat

Hurricane Irene was famously capricious in her march through the Northeast, with towns in Vermont and the Catskills washed away and others, directly across the Hudson, doused but otherwise unscathed. And while Turning Stone Resort – Casino, 30 miles east of Syracuse, wasn’t directly in the storm’s path, we didn’t know what to expect in terms of conditioning on the resort’s robust troika of 18-hole layouts.

It turns out, no pun intended, that we’d never seen them in better shape, after a summer with a lot of rainfall but ultimately temperate conditions. The courses remain among the best trifecta at a single property to be found anywhere.

It also seems that the vision of the owners, the Oneida Indian Nation, has in some sense been validated, as the golf operation was conceived to stand on its own, rather than as a standard amenity. Considering that the place only opened in 1993 and that the first 18-hole course – Rick Smith-designed Shenendoah – debuted in 2000, it’s no mean achievement, as Turning Stone has become a household name among golf-centric destinations.

As is frequently the case, it’s tough to top the original, and Shenendoah Golf Club remains a favorite among the regulars. It’s easy to see why, as it touches all the bases of resort-course design: playable, slicer- and women-friendly, with mostly modest forced carries, although it can play as long as 7,129 yards from the most-distant of five sets of tees.

Best of all, it winds through greatly varied topography, forest and meadowland, with the only reminders of the outside world the faint drone of motor traffic where the layout jogs within earshot of the Thruway and the occasional glimpse of the resort’s towering hotel. It’s a showcase for the region’s rugged terrain.

The next course to come online was Kaluhyat Golf Club — pronounced gah-LOO-yut, an Oneida word meaning “the other side of the sky” – a strapping track that slopes out at 146 from the back tees, among the half-dozen highest slope ratings in the state.  Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and built on a 220-acre site, it is hillier and more narrow, though slightly shorter, than Shenandoah.

A glorious survey of the lush local ecosystem, Kaluhyat also has a number of dauntingly difficult holes, like the 11^th, named “Uncertain Passage,” that’s 621 yards from all the way back and 563 yards from the white tees, most of it uphill. The greens also have considerable contour – problematic, no doubt, for first-timers on the course.

Atunyote Golf Club – uh-DUNE-yote, meaning “eagle” – is the most recent course addition and plays the most like a “resort” layout, slightly less punishing than the other two.  Unlike its sister courses, it is several miles from the resort, and the contours of its grassland setting can be reminiscent of designer Tom Fazio’s work in Florida or the tropics — vast open spaces, gently rolling terrain, and some adroitly deployed water features.

Good fun for average players, it can also be made testy enough for the pros, some of whom, including Tiger, were there to play in the fund-raiser for Notah Begay’s charity during our visit.

Turning Stone also has two nine-hole layouts, Pleasant Knolls and Sandstone Hollow, which presumably comes in handy in accommodating guests who play golf only during their annual casino pilgrimage.

It also has the Golf Dome, an elaborate practice facility with academy, clubfitting, and two-tiered range with 48 bays, a truly welcome buffer against upstate New York’s sometimes-punishing winters.

In fact, you have to quibble to find fault with the golf operation – this reporter’s gripe would be that the three courses are unwalkable, for instance. Seen in the context of the whole package, however, it’s pretty remarkable.

Much has been made of the connection between golf and gambling, but the Turning Stone golf experience suggests

Turning Stone's sometimes raucous atmosphere contrasts with its serious-golf counterpart. The Tower serves as action headquarters.

that they can co-exist with limited symbiosis. When we asked about a late checkout from the hotel – The Lodge is the smaller, upscale option – we were given an extra hour, as the desk was expecting the arrival of seven wedding parties for the weekend. The ex-desk clerk in me immediately empathized.

The point is that Turning Stone Resort – Casino generally is a pulsating concern, handling more than four million visitors annually. Establishing a first-rate golf destination that’s both right next door and a world away is a clever twist.

www.turningstone.com;

#         #         #