Mystic Golf Club mystifies; Murray on Caddyshack II; Changes at Cruden Bay

Lots of debate about the new Tom Pearson designed Mystic Golf Club near Ancaster. I reviewed it in November and found parts of it intriguing (including the terrific 9th and 18th holes), but also mused about the business model ($125 in Ancaster? Who will pay that?) and felt several of the holes were quite plain, on the verge of being dull.
Anyway, few saw the course last year and there's been tons of discussion about it on Torontogolfnuts.com, a forum of average hackers who talk about everything from the latest sale at Golftown to the value of Watsons Glen. In this case, there's been quite the debate on about the merits of Mystic, with some suggesting I'm off my rocker with my comments or that I must have had a bad game there.
I stick by what I had to say -- I think the course is great in spots, but I don't understand the business model or the notion of building an extraordinarily difficult golf course in the current market. Mystic also brings about questions about the value of golf. In other words, how does one value a course with a $125 green fee versus one with a $60 green fee? It is a fascinating question. Does nearby Copetown Woods, which has a green fee that is half of Mystic, present a better value to the average golfer? I'd say yes, if only because the average golfer rarely, if ever, pays more than $100 for a game. Apparently Mystic is now offering players all the golf they want for the green fee -- so if you're into 36 holes, this makes more sense.
Time will tell how successful the club will be -- and considering there are several clubs currently up for sale, this could prove an interesting time for Canadian golf.
And, for the record, I had one of my best games last year at Mystic, playing from the 6,800 yard tees.

In other news, Bill Murray was recently grilled by an astute media observer as to why he never made a Caddyshack II. Only problem was someone did -- Murray just wasn't involved. His response to the question is quite funny:

BILL MURRAY: You know, I'm under a doctor's care (laughter). You know, Caddyshack was a great thing. There were some extraordinary people in it, Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield, the guy who played the bishop, these are people who have passed away. They were great people, great actors and lots of fun, and it was an unusual thing. Can't you be happy with having seen it and watched it? You want it again? You're one of those guys that wants to make love twice a week. Once is plenty (laughter).

Thanks to Geoff Shackelford for pointing this one out.

The powers that be (re: greens committee) at Cruden Bay are preparing to blow up several holes at the fabled course in order "to make it better." Interestingly, Pete Dye thought it was pretty good as it was -- good enough to inspire him to build links-style holes in North America in the 1980s. Well, apparently that's not good enough -- and several holes, including part of the back nine, are in danger of being reconfigured. Read about it here as part of a thread on Golfclubatlas.com. It sports some amazing photos of the current course.