I don’t know what speed of play will be at the new course. When we’ve played it was around 4hr. At our current course, we really can’t complain about speed of play. We actually get miffed when the morning round approaches 4 hours. My app actually tracks the speed of play and we range in the 3:40 range. Our 9 holes in the afternoon are a little slower and are about 2:10. Mostly club members play in the early am and move along fairly quickly. Our course used to have start times 8min apart, during the height of Covid, when they finally opened it was 30min, now it seems they settled in at 10min. The new club is 9min. My biggest issue is this. I don’t mind when folks, on the first tee hit a bad first tee shot and hit another… it’s when they hit 3 or 4. Another pet peeve of mine is when a group is standing on the tee or the fairway waiting to hit and someone decides they want to rehash a poor chip or practice putting. As long as you are not holding up play, but you see players standing in the fairway, MOVE ON. Another one is the proverbial on the course golf lesson… you all know what I’m talking about. Some player with a bad swing who most likely is taking advice from another player with a bad swing, because the second player closed his eyes and got lucky and knocked one close! BTW, taking advice on course from someone who is going to barely break 90—WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR GAME— Bad swing advice begets a BAD SWING! OR players that don’t seem to understand cart etiquette. They all huddle around each other, someone hits a shot and then discuss the shot, then walk behind and clean the club and take their time putting it away, all whilst people are standing for 8min waiting behind them… just hit the shot, replace the divot and get in the cart and go! Put the club in the bag when you find the ball! Another thing that slows down play…someone hits a Drive, usually on a Par 5 or long par 4, they hit a nice tee shot that probably travelled 180-210… they have over 250 to go and stand there and wait wait for the green to clear… you ain’t Rory, hell—you ain’t even Fred Funk. You’re not going to reach the green with a bazooka! You know your limits, hit the ball and go, no need to hold up play! ONE MORE THING… has anyone run into this new thing of people playing loud music blaring out of the cart and you can hear it from like 100yds away, if you hear it outside of the cart…hey fellas…it’s too damn loud! I have a hard enough of a time with all the darn geese honking all over the place anymore! Anyone feel the same?
EXCUSE ME!!! The 8th hole, on our course, (WHICH, BTW has been rated as one of the best Public Tracks in the area) is a very difficult green. The hole is a PAR 3 which can play as long as 162yds, is protected by high rough around the green and the green itself which, if you can’t read slope, break and grading can play havoc with your game…especially if you hit a poor shot. Calling a course a Goat Track…is not exactly gentlemanly! The course was designed by Alexander Findlay in 1927, it has produced some of the best players in the world. Sam Snead came and played a match against Al Besselink, Charlie Lepri and Paul Midiri. George Low, who I got to meet, used hang out there…who is he? Well he taught Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus how to putt…that’s all! All guys that played in the 50’s and 60’s… As good as Sam was he “only” pieced together a 67, on this Goat Track! The 12th hole at Augusta can be set at 134yds, is that a “Goat Track” too? The first 11 holes at the course features several severe 70-90 degree doglegs that take a driver out of your hand, and when the wind blows, you actually have to think your way off the tee box as opposed to bombs away. The 11th plays 420 yards… 90 degree bend at the 200 yd mark. Over shoot the fairway you still have 220 in over a creek on a down slope to a well protected green out of 3 inch rough, leave it short you either layup to 200 or play a very high 8iron over trees just to get to the 100yd mark. This hole can be a nightmare. Members just play it as a par 5 even though it’s a par 4, and the average score on any given day is double bogey! A course that "only plays 6200yds… depending on the layout, can prove to be as challenging as one with alot of length. As a matter of fact, I prefer a layout that requires me to think and allows me to hit every club in the bag. Although, I played Firestone, which at the time was a bombs away track every hole long and str8… I prefer to play a layout like Merion or Aronomink or ACCC where each hole is defined on its own and allows you take chances or play conservative and still make a score. Hate to tell you, but in my book, “bombs away” is quite boring!
What I meant was, If someone will have that kind of struggle on/around the greens, it won’t be a fair test for the skill.
Putting toward the hole leaving it a chance to be ended off the green? Chipping/putting to the cup, with the golf ball rolling back to the same spot or beyond, all of these are either a bad pin placement or the design of the green lack of consideration, or it was intended to make it so difficult around the green to compensate for other parts of the golf course design.
In any case, you seemed to be enjoying the track, so good for you. I had not been near one of those since my earlier years with golf.
Personally, I’ll expect a challenge from the golf course but I’ll try to avoid punishment these days, after seeing many of the golf courses in different parts of the world.
The main thing is to let the patrons enjoy their time out on the golf course.
At the moment our 11th hole and 12th tee are being renovated and remodeled. That means you hit from the 11th tee across a valley to the 12th green a carry of 195m(par 4) Today with the wind behind me I flew to the back of the green finishing 4foot pin high, Then I found out from the group in front that it landed and hit the pin on the first bounce saving it from running through. Then on 17 my sw pitch came out low and hot. Again I hit the pin first bounce and ended up 5ft above the hole. Saved from blasting through the back. Lucky lucky lucky. My eagle putt stopped 1 roll short for a tap in birdie and I made the downhill putt on 17 for par
This remind me of a Halloween game we used to play some time ago. We did the cross link between the holes and the greens and one particular tee shot was on the roof of the club house. Stretching the 6,500 yards tree lined and rolling golf course into a 7,100 yards monster.
Not one of the 6,000 members made below par. Many of the low index holders got beat up pretty badly, some will card a triple digit score for that day.
Have not had it for almost 2 decades now since the management changed hands in the late 1990s. Changed hands a few more time since then.
Now the City owns and operate the golf course, so nothing like that will ever happen again; municipal liability you know.
I had never know that cities and the municipalities are being sued all the time. Learned that while golfing with an attorney specialized in defending the municipalities.
The 11th was a par 3 with a very deep(3m)bunker on the left and a bank you could bounce off on the right with a 4m drop off over the back. The 12th tee was down below the bunker. The green had terrible drainage and water used to pool along the the right side. What they are doing is dropping the green by a few metres and raising the 12th tee up to the same level. The have cut some of the trees on the right side to open up the approach.Still ob along the right side of the 12th tee. Hooked tee shots used to pepper the 12th tee. Now they are putting some mounds in for protection. I am not convinced. The green has been shaped with the plan to lay the grass next week. The 12th is normally a 90deg dogleg right with ob down the right. At the moment it is a driveable par 4 and the 18th normally a par five has been split into a 258m par 4 and a 110m par 3 to keep the course at 18 holes. When the 11th is finished the course will go back to normal and play harder
Well, I shot a 69 for the first time ever about 2 weeks ago on my local course. Been a good year. I won the points race on a amateur tour in my flight and won the Tour Championship in Alabama as well.
A beautiful calm warm and sunny day. The course is back to being solid after a very wet year. Played crappy with 7 doubles and 2 triples and 26 points. This is after having 38 points yesterday when I had a chip in birdie which helped me play the last 5 holes in one under. I didn’t get upset and just accepted “that is golf” Great company and great conditions. Drove the ball really well but hit crappy iron shots. On the first I hit my 5i 170m. On the 4th same club and only went 110m landing in a lake. Kept coming up short. Going to head out again on Christmas Day. Hopefully I can go back to playing some good iron shots
That’s right. You are in the Summer months there. We are having an ice storm through most of the country here, even in the traditional snowbird states are having record low temperatures.
Last night and this morning came 1/4"-1/2" of ice in the lowlands. When the moisture hit a warmer layer of air before hitting the ground, melted or partially melted snow re-freeze when hit the frozen ground.
My buddies will not be able to tee off next Monday as planned. Their usual Wednesday game was cancelled owing to the snow on the ground so they moved it to next Monday. Even if the snow and ice would melt away, the ground would be too soft and muddy to golf.
I had passed the enthusiast state to golf under any condition and I don’t like to clean up muddy shoes and pants afterward.
BTW, which “point system” you were referring to as of the 26/38 points?
Merry Christmas and please stay safe… weather here is also neither fit for man nor beast! Nor the creature known as the elusive, mindless Winter Golfer!
Stableford playing off 16.2 Off the stick Thursday was 15 over, Friday 26 over. Just saw on the news the mass pile up in Ohio. The forecast on Tuesday here is for 40degs It will be the first hot days this summer.
Yeah, people seem to be in a hurry going to important events. No one watch for safety like in the past. The semi- truck drivers used to be the safest drivers on the roadways. Because of the shortage of truck drivers, they pumped out many new and inexperienced drivers to fill the needing. I have to say, the drivers in passenger vehicles have no clue that the semi trucks can not stop like a passenger vehicle. I have seen unsafe lane changes all the time. No wonder the insurance rate went up for everyone as early as two years ago. TV News report with video of many SUV/Truck in the ditches. All wheel drive/4x4 does not mean all wheel stop. I wonder where are people’s common sense.
We have a warm day today, 36 degree F for the high temperature this afternoon. Shoveled 1"-2" of ice from driveway and walkway because kids will come home for the Holidays.
Not fun to have to break the ice before it can be moved. Hope we won’t have another ice storm anytime soon. Rather have snow than ice.
That is another world. Here in Adelaide we might have a 0 degree frosty morning in winter followed by a sunny 13 degree day and the whole reason it got frosty was there were no clouds over night to keep the warmth in. We have massive trucks here. B doubles are everywhere. Out of the north of the city you get 2 trailers with separate dollies and in the outback road trains with up to 4 trailers. They still have crashes but no 100 car pile ups. When I learned to drive we drove to the conditions. Just because the limit is 100km/hr doesn’t mean you do that speed regardless. People as you said are in a rush and are not thinking about the consequences.
Sounds like a pretty mild weather all year round.
People here are following too close for the condition of the road and always speeding.
Posted speed limit is 60 MPH near the metro area. We used to go 65 -70 MPH in the passing lane, but others will speed by us like we’re standing still. Some sports cars but mostly full size pick up trucks.
I don’t know where they used to live before they moved here, but, just wait for the judicial system gets back to pre-pandemics time and they’ll get stopped.
Social media is fanning the trend of everything, good and the bad. Somehow these drivers got the wind that Troopers are not issuing speeding tickets, so they made our freeways like a raceway.
Our coldest day this year still got to 11 and 11 is not a cold day. Sometimes it can be windy with wind chills but nothing like what you get in the US. Perfect for playing golf all year round. The only times I don’t play is when it is raining when I am about to leave home. I keep playing if I am on the course and it starts raining.
Teed of at my usual time of 0756 today. I went 6 4 6 4 4 6 4 6 4 on the front nine for 3 pars, 3 bogies and 3 doubles. Then on the back nine I had 6 pars and 3 bogies for 12 over. This made this years average score a whole 2 shots better than last year. Light breezes and plenty of sunshine.
Good for you to get out on the golf course.
We had just got out of the last deep freeze on the year and now is lots of rain from the Pineapple Express. No golf unless one wish to tread muddy golf course and search for buried tee shot in the fairway. Plus the out of season rate is no longer considered a bargain. Two more months to go with this winter months. Lots of snow in the mountains, So many rushed to the ski opening week that they ran out of parking, and many parked on the shoulders alongside the freeway, and got towed by the trooper. Another sign of over populated problem.
Move down under and play all year round! Yes the world is full of dumb people re parking on the freeway. We have had a very wet winter here and the course was very muddy for months at a time but that is behind us now until next winter. Our course is lush and in tip top condition.
Yesterday my best shot was a 145m fairway bunker shot I hit to 10ft. It landed just short missing the front bunker by a scant margin and ran up to the back left I lagged a slippery downhill putt to tap in range for an easy par
Nicely done. The longest fairway bunker which made it to the putting surface was about 10 yards shorter than yours at 150 yards.
The longest placement bunker shot I did with an iron was about 190 yards to a spot for the approach shot of a par 5 ( nice clean lie in the bunker with maybe 2’ lips at 15’ away from the lie ).
These are the shots which you get better with practice. Those who never practice will never improve on these shots.
Severiano Ballesteros was called a magician for golf shots because he played all sorts of different situation and he thrive on those difficult shots. Confidence is built on experience.
I have a very shallow swing and am good at getting ball first. Luckily that shot was about 4m away from the high lip. Lots of my fairway irons shots don’t take divots. My swing makes me good out of fairway bunkers but crap out of thick rough.