Fore! Who's playing golf, yo-

[Steven S. Dallas]

Your mom has nice form. And she looks like a decent golfer, too.

[spook]

might have found an in to one of the clubs leading to a 1 month membership at one of the clubs here: unlimited golf, club rental and use of the rest of the facilities included for $450. if i play every other day it's almost tolerable. have to think about whether it's worth to do that or save that money and buy my own clubs when i get home. if i don't do the membership, i can still be invited to play twice in a month and i'm still going to play the nicklaus course on the coast for 3-4 days. i'm thinking saving the money and buying new clubs when i get home is a better deal, as much as i'd like to play my ass off here instead of posting on tgr.

[TahoeJ]

It's a fun course , but it's a public track , so you wind up playing with m0rans like spook sometimes .

I know you were kidding (or at least I think), but Golf Magazine once did an analysis of the differences between private courses and public and it revealed that the golfers on the public courses were substantially better. Which probably makes sense, since many of the people who can afford a private membership are too busy working all the time and don't have enough time to get any good (this is true of the people I golf with - the one with the private membership at the swanky club is the worst golfer of my regular group and he works crazy hours). Except of course for the ones who are wealthy and retired and have tons of time to get good.

Those who live in Arizona are so spoiled - such beautiful courses out there with a lot of interesting terrain.

[wooley12]

@Spook---Sounds like the wrong decision IMO. Get clubs, any clubs. Hell if your really want to get good get a putter, 6 or 7 iron and maybe a wedge and play those. If you play every other day with the right goals and mindset and don't keep score much you'll have a respectable golf game for life.

[spook]

Sounds like the wrong decision IMO. Get clubs, any clubs. Hell if your really want to get good get a putter, 6 or 7 iron and maybe a wedge and play those. If you play every other day with the right goals and mindset and don't keep score much you'll have a respectable golf game for life.

the $450 is only for a month. so i'd play 15 times and then be back home with my shitty clubs. you still think that's the better choice? i'm completely undecided at this point. i rarely spend $500 on anything but a ski pass.

the other factor here is that i'm basically home bound unless i join the club. which isn't all bad, but golf every other day sounds a lot better.

i could also just practice putting here at home and save the $450 for green fees at home. i won't be able to play every other day at home, though.

edit: are you saying get those clubs for when i'm at home in the states? i was just thinking that of the 13 or 14 clubs in my bag i don't use several of them. i use driver, 5 wood, 3, 5, 7-9, pw, sw, 60degree, putter, so i guess i don't really need to get a whole new set, particularly considering my skill level at this point.

i was thinking of doing what you're suggesting to play here if that's all i can get and that learning partial swings with some of the clubs to make up for yardage gaps would be a good thing to do. if i join the club, i have access to a full set for nothing.

[hawkgt]

front rangers.... golf next wed or thurs afternoon???? Thinking Heratige, Indian Tree, or ?????

[Tye 1on]

the $450 is only for a month. so i'd play 15 times and then be back home with my shitty clubs. you still think that's the better choice? i'm completely undecided at this point. i rarely spend $500 on anything but a ski pass.

the other factor here is that i'm basically home bound unless i join the club. which isn't all bad, but golf every other day sounds a lot better.

i could also just practice putting here at home and save the $450 for green fees at home. i won't be able to play every other day at home, though.

edit: are you saying get those clubs for when i'm at home in the states? i was just thinking that of the 13 or 14 clubs in my bag i don't use several of them. i use driver, 5 wood, 3, 5, 7-9, pw, sw, 60degree, putter, so i guess i don't really need to get a whole new set, particularly considering my skill level at this point.

i was thinking of doing what you're suggesting to play here if that's all i can get and that learning partial swings with some of the clubs to make up for yardage gaps would be a good thing to do. if i join the club, i have access to a full set for nothing.

15 rounds at $30 per, with a free rental set sounds like a lot of fun to me!

[spook]

15 rounds at $30 per, with a free rental set sounds like a lot of fun to me!

i agree, plus the chance to play with better clubs. i've only played with one set. probably a little indecisive because i'm still recovering from food poisoning. i could conceivably play more than 15 if my back and knee can take it.

[wooley12]

If you could play 15 rounds with a game improvement plan and go out another 8 or 10 times for 3 or 4 holes with only one club to knock the ball around and/or hang out and practice chipping and putting= He Got Game........What I'd do if I was holed up somewhere for a month.

Yes, playing a few holes with one club hitting full shots, half shots, slices, out from under trees, bump and run will improve your total game. Drop a second ball most of the time.

Last year I took a 9 on a par 5 using 5 clubs. Went right back with a 7 iron and pared it

But then again $450 is $450. What else would you be doing?

[spook]

if they have a putting and chipping green, i could practice on days between rounds. the crazy thing is my better half is the one who suggested joining. i'd probably be stupid not to after that.

[MotherFucker]

Noice, Fritz. That's triple points. Looks like you got out to some great courses.

front rangers.... golf next wed or thurs afternoon???? Thinking Heratige, Indian Tree, or ?????

Possibly. I'll let you know.


Got some practice in today with Guroo. Gave me some tips that are really gonna help my game. Dude knows what he's talking about.

How's the backswing lookin'?

[spook]

Noice, Fritz. That's triple points. Looks like you got out to some great courses.


.....


Possibly. I'll let you know.


Got some practice in today with Guroo. Gave me some tips that are really gonna help my game. Dude knows what he's talking about.

How's the backswing lookin'?

are you aiming right? just looking at your feet

[guroo270]

Yeah, he's aiming at the middle of that blue house in back. He has a tenancy to set up open and comes across the ball, but he hit three draws by the end of the day, and really tamed the fade. LOTS of progress in one day. It helps a lot that he's not afraid to take a divot.

Then MF filmed me and we realized my right heel comes off the ground about 5 seconds before my downswing. Not really, but I need to keep that bad boy under control. I push off the ball of my right foot pretty hard and it can make it so my hips fire through too fast and the hands can't catch up. Mostly with the driver.

[spook]

anybody know if you still yell "fore" in south america?

[4matic]

How's the backswing lookin'?

Chin up.

[TahoeJ]

Played Stonetree in Novato after work today. Every time I play a course designed by Johnny Miller (which in Northern California is somewhat often) I appreciate the scenery but am frustrated by the gimmicks of his designs. I've played this course nearly a dozen times and still feel like I don't know my way around as well as I should. It was a Jekyll & Hyde round of 79 ... 7 over on the front, even par on the back. I was 5 over after 4 holes and played pretty well after that. It plays several shots more difficult later in the day when the winds start gusting and swirling.

RockChalk already posted what it looks like off the tee on #9, here's what it looks like after hitting a perfect drive. Tougher than it looks. Dead into the wind. Flew it over that left bunker and missed the green by a few inches, and my ball nearly went into the lake that you can't quite see. Such a brutal hole.



The final stretch of holes are definitely impressive and demand accuracy off the tee. Here's #14...



#15...



#16...



#17...

[Smoova]

^^ wow, that looks tight.

[guroo270]

14 looks pretty unfair, and slightly stupid, but the rest seem pretty fun. I like it a lot more when there's a tree lined hole that makes you focus on certain areas as opposed to courses where you hit into some vague, open, vastness.

Did one of my favorite things today and went to the range early just to practice. Indian peaks practice facility is my new home.

[Steven S. Dallas]

I don't know if I'd call 14 unfair, but it's definitely un-fun. I'm all for challenging layouts but that hole just feels like a chore.

TJ, have you been to Silverado?

[guroo270]

Well, I see it as a tee shot where you have to hit a fade to hold the fairway, and if you do, it looks like you are still shafted with a shitty, ball above your feet lie, to an uphill shot - dead pull waiting to happen. There just seems to be no benefit of hitting any shot there. It looks like if you hit a draw and land it on the right side of the fairway you'd roll left of the cart path. And if you do hit it down the left side, you have to hit your second shot 120 ft uphill to a flat green you wouldn't be able to hold. Just reminds me of that really stupid hole at Cinnabar Hills where it just goes dead straight uphill so much so that they have a 25 ft tall flag on the green. Just a filler hole where they didn't know what else to do.

Probably hitting your drive at that brown patch and having it roll down into the right rough is the play there.

[JaytaeMoney]

i played redlands mesa on thursday and got my ass handed to me... greens were like putting on an ice rink compared to the course i usually play

[guroo270]

Redlands Mesa is a fun track. Lots of risk reward. Used to live 5 mins from there.

Redlands Mesa from afar.



I know no one asked, but my favorite ten courses I've played:
1) Torrey Pines
2) poppy hills
3) PGA West - cant remember which was my favorite, stadium or Palmer private
4) Arcadia bluffs in Michigan
5) thousand oaks in Michigan
6) bandon dunes
7) pacific dunes
8) palmetto dunes in Hilton head
9) cabo del sol
10) don't remember it all that well but I think greenhorn near angels camp.

[TahoeJ]

Well, I see it as a tee shot where you have to hit a fade to hold the fairway, and if you do, it looks like you are still shafted with a shitty, ball above your feet lie, to an uphill shot - dead pull waiting to happen. There just seems to be no benefit of hitting any shot there. It looks like if you hit a draw and land it on the right side of the fairway you'd roll left of the cart path. And if you do hit it down the left side, you have to hit your second shot 120 ft uphill to a flat green you wouldn't be able to hold. Just reminds me of that really stupid hole at Cinnabar Hills where it just goes dead straight uphill so much so that they have a 25 ft tall flag on the green. Just a filler hole where they didn't know what else to do.

Probably hitting your drive at that brown patch and having it roll down into the right rough is the play there.

Pretty much. It's narrower than it looks, since if you land on the left side of the fairway with a straight shot or draw there's a good chance it will kick left into the creek. It is a relatively short par 5 despite the awkwardness, so not really a bad hole; I've had eagle putts and I've had double bogies. Awkward for sure - here's where I was at for my second shot... about 195 to the front, although *slightly* uphill.



@Steven - I've played Silverado, but not for a number of years now. I used to play against Johnny Miller's son Andy in high school tournaments there and he'd destroy me. I'd be around even par or 1 over and he'd be like 5 under.

[guroo270]

Being a par five does make that more fair. That's when I punch a 5 iron just making sure it goes dead straight.

[spook]

Redlands Mesa is a fun track. Lots of risk reward. Used to live 5 mins from there.

Redlands Mesa from afar.



I know no one asked, but my favorite ten courses I've played:
1) Torrey Pines
2) poppy hills
3) PGA West - cant remember which was my favorite, stadium or Palmer private
4) Arcadia bluffs in Michigan
5) thousand oaks in Michigan
6) bandon dunes
7) pacific dunes
8) palmetto dunes in Hilton head
9) cabo del sol
10) don't remember it all that well but I think greenhorn near angels camp.

i played cabo del sol on wgt!