Backyard
Adventure
For renowned sculptor HUBERT PHIPPS, a break means
some time on his own personal golf hole | by LEONARD SHAPIRO
ubert Phipps was a championship racecar driver, still
flies his own helicopter and is a highly regarded sculp-
tor whose work has been exhibited around the coun-
try. He’s also dabbled in golf since his teenage years
living in South Florida. These days, he can walk just a
few steps out of his majestic art studio and tee off on a
slightly downhill golf hole located on his 70-acre
property in the bucolic horse country of Middleburg.
Once he arrives at the 2,500 square-foot green in-
stalled about five years ago, he can stroke putts on a yawning two-tiered sur-
face of warp-speed artificial turf that allows him every sort of break imagin-
able. Left to right, right to left, downhill, uphill, 60-footers to tap-ins.
A bit of sand sprinkled all around can also slow the greens down just a touch
from their 10 to 11 Stimpmeter readings. And if Phipps gets a little bored with
putting to seven different hole locations, there are three bunkers—two pro-
tecting the left side of the green and one on the right—to practice hitting out
of the sand. There’s also short and long grass all around to work on chipping
or flop shots over the bunkers.
Phipps said he’s so busy in the art studio these days preparing for upcom-
ing shows for his imposing and often large-scale sculptures that he doesn’t
have much time to spend on his game (check out some of Phipps’ work at
hubertphipps.com). Still, he enjoys coming out every once in a while to bomb
drives from an artificially turfed tee 270 yards from the green, or to move up
to another tee box at 150 yards.
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