2019 Golf Thread

TFP

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Played Myopia Hunt Club today. Holy shit what a track and experience. That place just oozes history.
 

bostonbeerbelly

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Played Myopia Hunt Club today. Holy shit what a track and experience. That place just oozes history.
Very jealous! One of the few north of Boston courses I have never found an invite onto. Worst thing is I live 4-5 minutes from it and my Uncle's house abuts the course. I have a couple nice weeks ahead for golf while gearing up for Ireland in September. Tomorrow is Ipswich Country Club, then Tedesco and Renaissance the following week, and finishing with a round at Turner Hill.
 

TFP

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Very jealous! One of the few north of Boston courses I have never found an invite onto. Worst thing is I live 4-5 minutes from it and my Uncle's house abuts the course. I have a couple nice weeks ahead for golf while gearing up for Ireland in September. Tomorrow is Ipswich Country Club, then Tedesco and Renaissance the following week, and finishing with a round at Turner Hill.
I found Myopia to be a better version of Renaissance. I was playing in a business/amateur tourney there (Turkish Airlines World Golf Open) and started quad, double, triple, triple, triple without losing a ball and honestly not even hitting many bad shots. The fescue and bunkers are just incredibly punishing and I found them on the first 5 holes, I think I hit more shots out of fescue and sand than green grass. Settled down and played +10 for the next 13 holes which is much more in line with my game, finishing with a 97 that frankly felt like an 87. It says something that despite playing/scoring awful I still loved the course.

The last 3 months I've played Renaissance, Salem CC, and Myopia. Myopia is definitely the best of the 3. Naturally I'd like another crack at each because they all punish you for being out of position and I didn't realize that until it was too late on most of them. Granted the only one I have a chance of getting back on is Renaissance.

I'm also finding that when I play new courses, especially nice ones, I struggle with nerves and my swing. I think I just revert back to my old ways if I'm not feeling comfortable somewhere, which leads to some real bad play which snowballs on itself.
 
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TFP

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Finished up our 3 day Member guest this weekend - what a scene. 12 flights of 8 teams - 96 total. So it was 7 nine hole matches over 3 days across our two courses, with events on Thursday/Friday night. Here comes a long recap:

My guest and I ended up in the 8th flight - I went in as a 10.2 index and he was a 14.8. The competition in our flight was very fair - we had as low as a 4 and as high as a 20 but no one seemed to play below their handicap. However - the results did not reflect that, as we won every match. Each hole is worth a point, 1/2 for a halve obviously. We won our matches 6-3, 6-3, 5-4, 7-2, 8.5-.5, 6-3, and 6-3 in what was the most incredible display of ham and egg team golf in the world. My partner didn't break 90 on any 18 holes or 45 on any 9. I had one incredible round in our 8.5-.5 match where I started triple, double and still shot 38, but other than that I was between 41 and 48. They cap the score at 7 points in a match so we didn't even get credit for the full 8.5 and still had the most points in the whole tournament by a lot, getting a total of 44.5 out of 63 points.

The most amazing part is that no one was mad at us (as you would normally expect) because it was obvious to every team we weren't sandbagging or even taking advantage of strokes, we just played great team golf while the other teams fell apart on us. Additionally, we were really fun to play with and just having a good time out there, so there were no issues really. We won multiple holes with double bogeys, even won a hole with a triple, etc. Additionally our team only made one gross birdie all weekend (plus an eagle which comes later). It was not the case of us running off incredible scores while other teams played well.

Overall I played pretty well. Shot an 85, 83, and 86 plus a 48 on the additional 9. Just kept the ball in the play, had almost no terrible shots, and was solid around the greens. Only lost 2 balls all weekend, which is remarkable for me. It was very encouraging because usually I fall apart under pressure, lose my swing, etc but this weekend I just chugged along making pars and bogeys consistently without hitting a ton of incredible shots. Being a 10.2 shooting in the mid-80s is very reasonable to me, but it was good to be able to do that over the entire weekend.

The only issue that came up was the match I shot 38. It was our 5th match and we were the clear flight leader and had just won the prior match 7-2. I started awful - got stuck in a bunker to pick up for triple and 3 putted for double on the first two holes. But my teammate went bogey net par and then par net par to win the first two holes. Then I went crazy and he pretty much checked out of the match. I went par, birdie, par, par, par, par, eagle to win 6 of the holes (with no strokes) and halve the other. The guys were jokingly mad after 17 when we halved with pars because we were capped at our 7 points and they kinda wanted us to kick them some holes. We asked them "do you want me to card a bogey? I can, but..." with the implication that it's a shitty thing to do and what the heck are you really asking us. We buy them a huge round from the cart girl on the 18th tee to smooth things over. 18 is a par 5, we all hit good drives, all hit good 2nd shots to be within wedges from the green. I'm 113 out, hit a gap wedge, and jar it on the fly. Directly into the cup, no bounce, rattled the flagstick hard. I just drop my club and shrug my shoulders and start laughing because at this point it's kind of ridiculous, and I know those guys are probably furious. We go up to finish the hole out (even though it's over), everyone else 2 putts for par and I fix the cup with a huge chunk in it. Meanwhile the member on the other team just walks to his cart and sits down and scowls while the rest of us shake hands. I walk over to shake his hand and semi-apologize and he just says "nice 38" and drives away.

Anyway - amazing weekend, ton of fun, gorgeous weather, good golf, and a decent amount of cash made by us.
 
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FL4WL3SS

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Sandbagger!!

Awesome weekend, congrats. I'm glad you didn't let Mr. Sourpuss ruin it for you. I'm honestly not even sure what they wanted you to do, you should be protecting the field and they are asking for gift points? Definitely a shitty thing to ask.
 

Zomp

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Asking for points is bullshit. The guy that walked to his cart without shaking hands I just would have given him the shh finger as I drive away.
 

Phragle

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I'm also finding that when I play new courses, especially nice ones, I struggle with nerves and my swing. I think I just revert back to my old ways if I'm not feeling comfortable somewhere, which leads to some real bad play which snowballs on itself.
I'm the same. Plus I've never played a great course when the heat index is under 96.

I just would have given him the shh finger as I drive away.
Like a shitty Patrick Reed
 

The Needler

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18 is a par 5, we all hit good drives, all hit good 2nd shots to be within wedges from the green. I'm 113 out, hit a gap wedge, and jar it on the fly. Directly into the cup, no bounce, rattled the flagstick hard. I just drop my club and shrug my shoulders and start laughing because at this point it's kind of ridiculous, and I know those guys are probably furious. We go up to finish the hole out (even though it's over), everyone else 2 putts for par and I fix the cup with a huge chunk in it. Meanwhile the member on the other team just walks to his cart and sits down and scowls while the rest of us shake hands. I walk over to shake his hand and semi-apologize and he just says "nice 38" and drives away.

Anyway - amazing weekend, ton of fun, gorgeous weather, good golf, and a decent amount of cash made by us.
There's a few of these guys in every tournament. Congrats!
 

TFP

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Thanks everyone, and to be fair about that moment those guys were super nice the whole match leading up to it too. I think frustration/embarrassment just got the better of the moment and I did feel kinda bad. I've been on the other side of that before too and it sucks.
 
I was back in action in a regular medal (stroke play competition) at Dunbar today, with a 20+ mph wind blowing out of the southwest consistently through the round. This was a typical Scottish round on an out-and-back layout: easy going out, with a three-quarters wind out of the right, and difficult coming back, with a mostly quartering wind out of the left. Going out I had eight pars and a bogey, and everything seemed pretty easy; I even missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 3rd, albeit after getting very lucky with my tee shot at the par 3. But after a good up-and-down to par the 10th, we turned back into the wind, and I immediately went double-bogey-bogey-bogey-par-double-par-double to shoot 81. The 18th was particularly annoying, as I calculated that I probably needed a bogey to be in the buffer zone and not have my handicap go up by 0.1, and I promptly drove into a fairway bunker and had to pitch out, and then after finding the green with a 2-iron, I three-putted from 40 feet. I'd putted really well for most of the round apart from that short birdie putt, but I gacked the five-footer I left myself at the end.

I don't know how many of you regularly play out-and-back layouts that don't often change directions, but golf is very different when you're playing in the same wind for a number of holes and then change directions and play in the same wind for another number of holes. It's amazing how you adjust your swing to cope with the first wind direction in ways that are entirely unhelpful when you then tack back in a different direction.
 

The Needler

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I was back in action in a regular medal (stroke play competition) at Dunbar today, with a 20+ mph wind blowing out of the southwest consistently through the round. This was a typical Scottish round on an out-and-back layout: easy going out, with a three-quarters wind out of the right, and difficult coming back, with a mostly quartering wind out of the left. Going out I had eight pars and a bogey, and everything seemed pretty easy; I even missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 3rd, albeit after getting very lucky with my tee shot at the par 3. But after a good up-and-down to par the 10th, we turned back into the wind, and I immediately went double-bogey-bogey-bogey-par-double-par-double to shoot 81. The 18th was particularly annoying, as I calculated that I probably needed a bogey to be in the buffer zone and not have my handicap go up by 0.1, and I promptly drove into a fairway bunker and had to pitch out, and then after finding the green with a 2-iron, I three-putted from 40 feet. I'd putted really well for most of the round apart from that short birdie putt, but I gacked the five-footer I left myself at the end.

I don't know how many of you regularly play out-and-back layouts that don't often change directions, but golf is very different when you're playing in the same wind for a number of holes and then change directions and play in the same wind for another number of holes. It's amazing how you adjust your swing to cope with the first wind direction in ways that are entirely unhelpful when you then tack back in a different direction.
Soon enough you won't have to worry about things to such an extent, as your handicap will be calculated from your best 8 of your last 20 scores, including recreation rounds. (It was you I was talking to who hadn't heard about the changes, right? Has your club started to give notice?) Sounds like you've got at least another year under CONGU, though.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoFrzP1u4E8
 
Soon enough you won't have to worry about things to such an extent, as your handicap will be calculated from your best 8 of your last 20 scores, including recreation rounds. (It was you I was talking to who hadn't heard about the changes, right? Has your club started to give notice?) Sounds like you've got at least another year under CONGU, though.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoFrzP1u4E8
Yes, I think it was me...and no, nobody at my club has said anything about this yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!
 

mostman

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The US is moving to that new system too, right? Is there a good breakdown of how the new math works?

Edit, I found one.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/usga-randa-unveil-new-world-handicap-system-set-to-debut-in-2020
Seems pretty much the same as we have now in the US except that it’s best 8 instead of 10 and match strokes are now calculated off par, not rating.

Also, I’m interested to see how the automatic adjustment based off other players reporting scores works. This is supposed to help account for conditions. Most people wait days to put in their scores. I typically do it once a week. So.. what happens? It’ll go back and update everyone else’s differentials continuously?
 
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jercra

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The US is moving to that new system too, right? Is there a good breakdown of how the new math works?

Edit, I found one.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/usga-randa-unveil-new-world-handicap-system-set-to-debut-in-2020
Seems pretty much the same as we have now in the US except that it’s best 8 instead of 10 and match strokes are now calculated off par, not rating.

Also, I’m interested to see how the automatic adjustment based off other players reporting scores works. This is supposed to help account for conditions. Most people wait days to put in their scores. I typically do it once a week. So.. what happens? It’ll go back and update everyone else’s differentials continuously?
Yeah, the whole world is going to the new system. There are there other big changes too, the biggest being equitable stroke control and daily calculation rather than revisions. ESC will now be net double bogey for all handicaps. Daily revisions does make the statistical changes for weather interesting but I suspect the changes won't be frequent or large enough to worry about going back to make adjustments after enough people post. There's also likely to be a minimum number of posts for the day to trigger the adjustment.
 
After reading the article to which @mostman helpfully linked and pondering the new system a bit, I can only say that I hate pretty much everything about it - from my own perspective. At the moment, I play most of my golf in competitions or by myself. The rounds I play by myself don't count. My competitive strokeplay rounds now become best-8-out-of-20, which means a majority of the rounds I currently play in strokeplay competitions won't have any impact on my handicap, whereas all of them currently count. And for my competitive (and even informal) matchplay rounds, I now have to track my score and can't just focus on how I do on a hole relative to my opponent, which defeats the entire purpose of matchplay golf from my perspective.

The general goal of trying to harmonize every handicap around the world is laudable, and I reckon more golfers in the world will appreciate and benefit from the changes than not. But this is a lowest-common-denominator solution that I reckon a lot of golfers based in the UK or Ireland like me are going to come to really, really dislike.
 

jercra

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Well, the point of the USGA system, as well as this new one, is not to measure your average scoring capability but your potential. The current R&A system measures your avg by counting each score. IMO it's better for competition to be based off how you play when playing well, rather than an avg day. I'd rather know how good my opponent can be than how good he is on average.

I'm not sure I understand the point about tracking your score in match play. You post long and detailed recaps of your rounds on here. I have a hard time believing you don't always know your score. There's already a system in place for assigning a score on holes you don't finish and I don't believe that's changing.

In the US there's not nearly enough competitive golf played to use the current R&A system. To unify, there was really no choice but to go with a modified USGA system.
 
You don't need to defend the new system - I get why the changes are being made, and I just said that I thought more people than not would appreciate them. But from my perspective:
Well, the point of the USGA system, as well as this new one, is not to measure your average scoring capability but your potential. The current R&A system measures your avg by counting each score. IMO it's better for competition to be based off how you play when playing well, rather than an avg day. I'd rather know how good my opponent can be than how good he is on average.
Actually the CONGU system used in the UK and Ireland also measures potential - it just measures it differently. If you're a 13-handicapper in the UK and have nine terrible rounds in competition but shoot one 10-over-par round (after CSS adjustments), your handicap will remain exactly the same at the end of the day: each of those nine rounds push your handicap up by 0.1, but the one good round puts you down by 0.9 (3 under net, times 0.3 for being a Category 3 golfer - handicap between 13 and 20). That's more a measure of potential than ability, right?
I'm not sure I understand the point about tracking your score in match play. You post long and detailed recaps of your rounds on here. I have a hard time believing you don't always know your score. There's already a system in place for assigning a score on holes you don't finish and I don't believe that's changing.
If you're playing matchplay golf focused at all on your strokeplay score and not entirely on your opponent and the hole-by-hole score, you're doing it wrong. Example: if I have a gently downhill six-footer for par and two putts to win the hole, in a matchplay setting I'm absolutely lagging that putt to the hole and removing any possibility of running it three feet by, even if in strokeplay I'd go more decisively for the putt and trust I'd make the comebacker if I miss. Or more likely, my opponent would probably be a dick not to concede a six-footer to me when I've got two putts to win anyway; what do I write on my card then? You're supposed to make your best guess about the score you would have made, right? Six-footers are roughly 50-50 propositions for decent putters...there is no such thing as a best guess at the end of the day.

Golf in the US is almost exclusively a scorecard-and-pencil affair. Even when you're playing a match, most golfers play every hole to completion, or at least to within gimme range (or until you've made a net double-bogey or worse). Matchplay is much more intrinsic to the golfing culture in the UK, and golfers do put their scores to one side when playing formal matches. And particularly when playing in a strong Scottish wind that would otherwise make strokeplay golf virtually unbearable, in matchplay I can always enjoy trying to do better than my opponent on any given hole; I don't want to have to keep my score, even if I might retroactively go back and count my score to get a rough idea of what I would have shot, and I don't want the purity of winning a match to be spoiled by the joy or frustration at having my handicap also go up or down at the same time. I'd predict that forcing matchplay-centered golfers in the UK to keep scorecards for their matches is going to be culturally problematic.
In the US there's not nearly enough competitive golf played to use the current R&A system. To unify, there was really no choice but to go with a modified USGA system.
This much I agree with. But for me, that's why full unification doesn't make a lot of sense. I'd rather have seen a two-track solution implemented - one for countries with a culture of competitive golf, and one for countries without one - and brought them together that way. For example, in the UK we could still only count scores in formal strokeplay competitions, but count something like 4 of your last 10 medal scores as the starting point. The approach being taken is America-centric by necessity...but doesn't America stick its nose in foreign affairs more often than it needs to already? ;)
 

jercra

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Yeah, I didn't really mean that you change your strategy when in a match, just that you probably know your score and can write it down. The number of times being aggressive to win a hole will impact your final score is likely negligible enough and offset by the number of times you'd miss that 18" conceded putt. As to the purity of winning, well, sometimes it's just golf.
 
Some highlights from my third-round match yesterday in the Titleist Matchplay Competition I've been talking about:

--On the par-5 1st I went for the green in two and somehow found my ball resting inside the hazard line, virtually against the stone bridge crossing the burn to the front and left of the green. I had to stand on the bridge to play my shot, or possibly go left-handed; in the end I had to turn my putter sideways, reach down from the bridge and hit the ball off the toe of the club, because otherwise I might have risked scraping my shaft against the bridge. (I managed to get the ball to within On20 feet of the flag and win the hole.)

--On the par-4 4th I was through the green in two, and my opponent was within eight feet of the hole for birdie. From about 70 feet and facing at least four feet of right-to-left break I chose to putt, and I hit one of those putts which just felt and looked great from the moment I hit it until the moment it gently clattered into the flagstick and dropped into the hole. Such an awesome feeling. (We halved the hole in birdies.)

--On the par-4 8th I pulled my drive into some juicy rough - I was playing a Pro V1 with the number "7" on it, and eventually my opponent spotted the ball and said it had a "7" on it. After I hacked out of the rough, I discovered that it was actually a "1" and had to concede the hole. Moral of the story: always, always confirm your ball's identity yourself.

--On the par-4 11th, I can often struggle to reach the green into the prevailing wind with two drivers. Yesterday, the tees were up and the 10mph wind had turned behind us, and after crushing a drive I had a little cut 8-iron into the green - a shot I couldn't have hit any better, pitching into the false front of the green and rolling 8 feet past the hole, leaving me a putt I made for birdie to level the match.

--I went into the par-4 17th one down with two to play, and after my opponent three-putted for a bogey, I left myself two-and-a-half feet for par to square the match. I left my putt short. No words. (I'd again been putting well for most of the day, but I guess I was so concerned with getting the line right that I forgot to hit it.)

--So, on the par-4 18th my opponent drove into a bunker and left his second 60 yards short of the green. My 5-iron approach covered the flagstick but finished 30 feet short - I just pitched into the upslope at the front of the green, and if it had carried another few feet I might have had a kick-in birdie. Instead, my opponent hit his pitch to within 7-8 feet of the hole, and after I missed my birdie putt he rolled his into the hole for the win.

Pity, but a great match against a friendly opponent on a lovely day. (FWIW, my opponent - who was from Northern Ireland - was also violently opposed to the new handicapping system as of next year when I explained it to him, at least when it comes to recording scores during a matchplay match. "They're two entirely different forms of golf," he said.)
 

cshea

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Psyched myself out pretty good today. Played a quick 9 with my brother, made birdie at the 7th hole and realized I was only +2 for the day. Made a par at the par 3 8th. Needed a bogey 5 at the last to break 40 for the first time in a long long time. Hit a great drive, had 125-130, slightly uphill so probably like 135ish, left from the middle of the fairway. That’s in between an 8 or a 9 for me. Decided on a 9 reasoning that short was an easier up and down than going long.

Skulled the ever loving shit out of it, wound up directly behind a tree over the green, made a triple for a more pedestrian looking 41. Golf is frustrating sometimes.
 

kenneycb

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Ha, reminds me of my recent round. Played Thursday at Fresh Pond after work. Struggled on the first few and got it together to be +1 on 4-8. Then snapped a drive into the hazard, hozzled a hybrid into the hazard, hit the approach into the bunker and made triple-ish. Lovely game but at least I had those 5 holes of bliss.
 

doldmoose34

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guess its been a while since I posted in here, bit of a humble brag coming up
my index to start the season was 15.7 and that really wasn't true honestly because it was affected by myself and the guy who kept score one day both posted the same score for me and the MGA re-rating the Walk to 70.3/141 from the Whites... and i had a few shitty weeks in late June Early July that pumped the ole index to 17.0... and thats when everything changed (ok I'm now semi-retired and playing 4 days a week)
I'm playing with some friends on a Friday afternoon when I pull my 3 wood on the 6th hole (504 par 5) and hit it good but into the woods on the right. One of the guys, a 80 year old (we should all be so lucky) who plays to a 14 turns and says "what the fuck are you doing.. you're -1 on the 6th tee and you hit your fucking 3 wood?" I found the ball, unplayable, made bogey, doubled 7 and ended up with a 20' downhill slider for bird on 9 to shoot 39 and left it 6" short. +3 40 was just the start. I haven't shot higher then a 45 (and that was once) since and index with yesterday's revision is now 13.9 by far my lowest ever, and I'm playing the best golf of my life...
 

4 6 3 DP

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Thats fantastic. About a month ago I was playing terrible and just snaphooking the ball all over the course. Ive always used a very strong grip and manipulated the ball all over the place.

Literally went out one day with a neutral grip, didn't even go to the range with it. Shot 47 for first 9, 40 second. It still feels awful and I fight a block when I don't get through it completely. But it feels like progress and Im thrilled I did it.

Winter will be lots of range time inside or out, really working that neutral grip again and again and again.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Nov 29, 2005
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I am going down to Myrtle Beach in October and will get in a few rounds. I am going with OGG SR, so a lot of the courses will be of his choosing- he like the Legends Group (also, can't beat Breakfast, Lunch Golf for a single rate), as well as Wizard/Witch/Man'o'War. It is possible that I will be breaking in a new set of A7s -- a friend of a work friend is looking to unload them. I'd be going from -1" to +1" so there would be some adjustments to distances. Anyone here who has met me / played a round with me knows that I can probably stand to go from -1 to +1 in terms of length.
 

TFP

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I'm heading there a week from today on our 20 man Ryder Cup trip (we expanded this year). Hoping the courses are in decent shape after today.

Unrelated - has anyone used a GPS watch before? I'm debating get a watch that doubles as a GPS and activity tracker. The Garmin Approach x40 looks intriguing, but I'm worried about wearing it on the course while playing and if it's good enough. Open to other suggestions as well. I don't currently wear a watch of any kind but have in the past (including fitbits etc).
 

bostonbeerbelly

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I'm heading there a week from today on our 20 man Ryder Cup trip (we expanded this year). Hoping the courses are in decent shape after today.

Unrelated - has anyone used a GPS watch before? I'm debating get a watch that doubles as a GPS and activity tracker. The Garmin Approach x40 looks intriguing, but I'm worried about wearing it on the course while playing and if it's good enough. Open to other suggestions as well. I don't currently wear a watch of any kind but have in the past (including fitbits etc).
I used my apple watch for a while, and an app on that. But then eventually just didn't like it anymore, I didn't like the feeling of it on my wrist and felt constrictive, I know many who love the Garmin golf watchs, but they aren't for me. I would say see if a buddy (not going on the trip) has one you can borrow for the long weekend before you throw down the cash.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I think I am going to give up GPS stuff, and go back to old school pacing out distances. There is something to be said for being able to eyeball distances. A few years back down in MB, OGGSR and I played at the World Tour. 1 and 9 were replicas of 1 and 18 at St. Andrews. So there is no way you can miss a fairway. SR hit the ball so far left, it was in the right rough on 9 . He got to the ball and his cart GPS said "720 yards to the hole", because he went past hole 1, so it was calculating to hole 2. He said "this looks like a 5 iron" and put it to 20 feet. I am pretty sure he then 4 putted, but that is another story for another day...
 

Comfortably Lomb

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I'm heading there a week from today on our 20 man Ryder Cup trip (we expanded this year). Hoping the courses are in decent shape after today.

Unrelated - has anyone used a GPS watch before? I'm debating get a watch that doubles as a GPS and activity tracker. The Garmin Approach x40 looks intriguing, but I'm worried about wearing it on the course while playing and if it's good enough. Open to other suggestions as well. I don't currently wear a watch of any kind but have in the past (including fitbits etc).
Same deal: I don’t wear a watch and don’t want to so I use SkyDroid on my phone. It was cheap and works well for front/middle/back. You can update the yardage spots for your course via their website too.
 

TFP

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Dec 10, 2007
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I think I am going to give up GPS stuff, and go back to old school pacing out distances. There is something to be said for being able to eyeball distances. A few years back down in MB, OGGSR and I played at the World Tour. 1 and 9 were replicas of 1 and 18 at St. Andrews. So there is no way you can miss a fairway. SR hit the ball so far left, it was in the right rough on 9 . He got to the ball and his cart GPS said "720 yards to the hole", because he went past hole 1, so it was calculating to hole 2. He said "this looks like a 5 iron" and put it to 20 feet. I am pretty sure he then 4 putted, but that is another story for another day...
In general, that's my approach. I prefer to calculate to the middle of the green and think through my shot. When I use a laser I generally just see the number and grab a club without thinking about it, which is rarely correct. I really only need it within 10ish yards anyway, I'm not good or consistent enough to be precise. I know people who laser every single shot, including some from like 30 yards out and I just laugh. Playing by eyeball and feel is often more successful, for me at least.

I do like having the GPS for layups, hazards, tee shots, etc more than the approach shots, personally.

Same deal: I don’t wear a watch and don’t want to so I use SkyDroid on my phone. It was cheap and works well for front/middle/back. You can update the yardage spots for your course via their website too.
I use the Grint to track all my hole by hole scores (and have for years) and I use their GPS in a pinch to get a rough idea, but it's not accurate enough for consistent use. And I hate lugging my phone around.

Side note: I have detailed stats (score, putts, fairway, green, penalty strokes, bunkers) for over 200 rounds now with The Grint. It's pretty awesome to look at them over time and by course. I'm glad I've kept up with that.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
I think I am going to give up GPS stuff, and go back to old school pacing out distances. There is something to be said for being able to eyeball distances. A few years back down in MB, OGGSR and I played at the World Tour. 1 and 9 were replicas of 1 and 18 at St. Andrews. So there is no way you can miss a fairway. SR hit the ball so far left, it was in the right rough on 9 . He got to the ball and his cart GPS said "720 yards to the hole", because he went past hole 1, so it was calculating to hole 2. He said "this looks like a 5 iron" and put it to 20 feet. I am pretty sure he then 4 putted, but that is another story for another day...
I’ll never go back to pacing off distances. GPS is a heck of a lot faster, more accurate, and having distance to front/back is a huge difference maker on some shots. Course markers are also, in my experience, often more inaccurate than the GPS too. Your mileage may vary.
 

Over Guapo Grande

panty merchant
SoSH Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,459
Worcester
I’ll never go back to pacing off distances. GPS is a heck of a lot faster, more accurate, and having distance to front/back is a huge difference maker on some shots. Course markers are also, in my experience, often more inaccurate than the GPS too. Your mileage may vary.
The "heck of a lot faster" is debatable, for me.
Scenario 1: I walk up to my ball, pull out my phone, wait for it to find me, calculate the distance
Scenario 2: As I am walking to my ball, I find a sprinkler head, and step it out from there.

FBM... most coursees will have flag colour designating that, or give you a pin book. And honestly, I have come to grips with not being the next Rob Oppenheim. So front/middle/back is really irrelevant 90% of the time
 
Unrelated - has anyone used a GPS watch before?
Yes, for years. (For so long, in fact, that the bands on the old-model Garmin have now rotted away...but the watch itself still works, so I just keep it in my pocket.) And not only is it definitely much quicker - particularly when you're playing out of the rough or the wrong fairway - I find it's also more sociable, as you don't have to stop any conversations to concentrate on pacing your yardages. Two thumbs up from me.
 

4 6 3 DP

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 24, 2001
2,370
I use a Garmin G10. It's portable, in my pocket, works instantly, usually very very very accurate. Excellent device you can keep in a pocket or clip to a hat.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
I've used a Garmin Vivoactive 3 for a couple of years now and I'm never going back to not having a GPS watch on the golf course. I also use a range finder. Pacing out from a sprinkler head is fine if you're always in the fairway, otherwise it's inaccurate and slow. If you hit it far away from your target you're just screwed. Hit it behind some trees or a mound and a range finder won't help. You need both, IMO. It's very helpful to know that the front of the green is 150, the back is 170 and the pin is 163. Now I know the pin is in the back of the green and how much green I have to work with. I can't do that with sprinklers, GPS alone or range finder alone. I play a lot of courses so it's more important to me than to people who mostly play the same course so YMMV there. The watches also detect impact and measure your shots. It's been fairly insightful to see yardages of different shot types/impacts of different clubs. It's pretty minor, but another advantage.
 

Zomp

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Aug 28, 2006
13,942
The Slums of Shaolin
I love my rangefinder. I guess the GPS watch is better for when you don't have a direct line to the pin i.e. in another fairway, but typically all I'll use is my ragefinder. I think the best one, but expensive, is the rangefinder/GPS combo.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
The "heck of a lot faster" is debatable, for me.
Scenario 1: I walk up to my ball, pull out my phone, wait for it to find me, calculate the distance
Scenario 2: As I am walking to my ball, I find a sprinkler head, and step it out from there.

FBM... most coursees will have flag colour designating that, or give you a pin book. And honestly, I have come to grips with not being the next Rob Oppenheim. So front/middle/back is really irrelevant 90% of the time
It’s front and back that really matter IMO. Most course yardage is to the middle but what I care about is how far do I need to carry and how much will get me in trouble.

YMMV depending on you game, I guess. I find using GPS is faster for me though, a huge help for dialing in more often, and I walk and play faster than most players.

I’m also playing a set of shovels that are kind of a joke in terms of forgiveness so tech tech tech.
 

bostonbeerbelly

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 26, 2008
2,224
San Fran
I personally love my range finder, I am surprised a bit by some of the negativity towards them. It is useful to me and takes nearly no time for me to get a quick number, grab a club and hit. Instead of trying to find a sprinkler head in my general area, hope it is marked, hope it is marked correctly, and then calculate front/back/middle for pin location. I am no where near a great golfer, but I do care about +/- 7-10 yards on a shot.
 

Over Guapo Grande

panty merchant
SoSH Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,459
Worcester
I think we are saying the same thing, but differently. I took up the game using the set of blades that my dad used in high school. I think it was one generation past hickory shafts (i do have a bunch of hickory shafted clubs that eventually I will put on ebay... but will give SoSH first dibs). I have never been a "good" golfer..As a youngin, I modeled my game after Corey Pavin. Not long off the tee, but a darn good short game
I figure that if I have a putt for par on every hole, my score will be decent. So I just want middle of the green.

All That being said- my brother has played in a few Mass AM events where he has had me on his bag. And while not using GPS, giving front / middle/ back is big, as well as figuring out rise/drop (yah, it is 115, but it is about 30 feet downhiil so play it as 105)
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
It really depends a bit on the hole for me. Middle is often fine. Front/back can be instructive to what club to pull to avoid a bad miss though. Missing in the right spots (or avoiding missing in the wrong spots) is just too important. Same as you, I’m generally playing a little better than bogey golf, just trying to make sure I always at least have a par putt.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
For me, both are invaluable on greens where you can't actually see the whole green. Many courses I play have gone to a single colored flag rather than a front/middle/back flag color. If I have a yellow flag on an uphill green it's not nearly enough information to know that front is 100 and back is 130. I suppose it does depend on what you're game is like, but I'm a relatively low handicap (2.5) so there's a pretty big difference between 100 and 130 to me. That's the difference between birdie opportunity and avoiding bogey with a 50 footer. You can find Garmin watches on Ebay for just north of $100. That's the cost of a low end wedge, will last years and provides instant yardages from all over the course. To me it's a no-brainer. Oh, and I never wore a watch of any kind before getting my watch for golf. Now I feel naked without it.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
SoSH Member
Apr 12, 2005
41,946
Dude! Congrats. I've vowed to myself I'm going to ace one of the par 3s on the Oaks this year, and I've come REAL close on 13 already.

PM me - I'm a member at the International and have put in probably 25-30 rounds there this year already. We have a group of about 10 of us there, if you ever want to play, let me know. I've had a blast being a member there.

edit: my brother has played Worcester CC many times too so he could fill you in on that one.
I hit a hole in one on the 17th at the Oaks in 2012. About 40 guys from my club (Andover) used to do an annual Calcutta (2 man teams, with an A/B guy drawn out of a hat, teams are auctioned off, and winning bidder has to sell 50% of a team to the team for half the price if they want to buy a share of themselves, total purse was usually around 75k-100k, yeah it was messy). Hit a perfect 5 iron, one bounce and it rolled in. We got really, really messed up that night. That was my 2nd one, the first one was a worm burner 3 wood from 201 at the 6th at Pine Meadows in Lexington that rolled about 40 yards into the cup, it was the 10th time I'd ever been on a course, so I figured, wrongly, that it must happen a lot.

I haven't posted in these threads in years, so should probably update a bit. I've been a member at Andover for about 15 years, and I was playing as a 9 handicap (like a 7.8 index) in 2014, when all of a sudden, it was like a light switch went off, and every iron I hit went off the hozzle. Literally, every single one. For months. I'd go to the range, with the pro, almost every day, and stripe everything, but then I'd get on the course, and it would fall apart. No idea why. Swing felt the same, but everything else felt wrong. After losing a small fortune in 3 months, I played the 3 day member guest in late July, and it came to a head on the last day when I was on the short part 3 5th (about 140 yards) and I'm hitting a choked down 5 wood that I normally hit 220, just so I don't have to hit an iron. When that round finally, and thankfully, ended, I walked into the locker room, told the locker room attendant to give me the biggest trash bag he had, and I then emptied my locker into the trash bag, walked out of the locker room and in front of the whole club, I announced that I quit, and I left. I literally did not touch a golf club for 5 years. I didn't go to a range, didn't go mini golfing, nothing. I didn't even realize I left my sticks at the club until I got a call from a friend 18 months later, and he said the new head pro found them in the back of the bag room and didn't know whose they were.

About a month ago, one of my friends invited me up to play Turner Hill (he had just joined there, because he got pissed when he didn't get his email in time, and couldn't play the member guest at Andover, so he joined Turner so he could play theirs and invite the same guest he was going to bring to Andover's), and I went out and shot 88. Without setting foot on the range. Hit my driver great, hit my woods really well, and the first Iron I hit was a 6 iron and I flushed it giving myself a 15 footer for birdie (that I missed).

Since then, I've played about a half dozen times, mostly at Andover, but also played at Walpole CC. Playing basically bogey golf, but I can feel the irons coming back, and my putting/chipping has always been the best part of my game. Basically just hitting one bad shot a hole, but in almost every hole. Considering I took 5 years off, I'm about as happy as I can be, and will probably go back to full time next year. It helps that my son will be 12 next year, and he really wants to start playing seriously. Got a new handicap, which is at 13.0 right now, so I can play some member guest stuff when invited. Going to try to get out a couple times next week, and see how it goes.
Still can't hit an iron out of the rough for some reason. Not sure why, but it's the same thing, just comes off the hozzle. Feel like I'm not turning for some reason, but out of the fairway, I've been fine, except when i get in my own head and hit a "don't go right" swing and yank the shit out of it. Oh well, I miss it, and I'm glad I'm trying it again.
 

Zomp

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Aug 28, 2006
13,942
The Slums of Shaolin
Glad to see you're back playing. I was shocked when you told me you haven't picked up a club after 5 years.

I got out about once a week this year. Consistently in the low 80's, broke 80 two or three times.

I did branch out a lot this year playing with a few friends, and took advantage of some of Golfnow's sales. I don't think I'll be at my club next year with baby #2 on the way. Its pricier than most clubs in the same conditions. We pay more because of the pool and other facilities but we never use the pool since my parents have one. There's a course of shorter distance to me that's about half the rate of mine with similar conditions and pace of play.

I bought 2 new wedges that I'm getting soon. 54 degree Mack Daddy raw X-grind that is bent to a 53 and the 58 PM Grind Mack Daddy in tour grey. I can't see switching out my irons for a few years since I haven't played that much over the past few years and they are still in great condition. Other than my wedges, which the grooves started to wear down, I'm happy with my set.

I usually do 1 or 2 scrambles a year. Over Labor Day weekend myself and a few buddies shot -15 at one. That was fun.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
Playing Pleasant Valley this afternoon, first time for me there. Hoping the rain holds off. Report will follow the round.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
Playing Pleasant Valley this afternoon, first time for me there. Hoping the rain holds off. Report will follow the round.
It was in better condition last year, at least compared to a few years ago when it looked like they were struggling. I wonder if they’re going to struggle more than most going forward as volume of play declines.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
It was in fantastic shape today. Really in perfect condition, I was extremely impressed.

Overall I really like the track. I’d like to play it again to understand the layout better and not have 15 mph wind but I really enjoyed the variation in holes. It might be the most New England course ever, though.
 
Any of you guys caddy at all? I had a few loops last year around Gullane #1 and am on the Gullane caddymaster's email list, but this year I don't think I'd caddied at all until today - yesterday I had just landed in Zurich (en route to Scotland from Austria) and turned on my phone, and as my plane taxied to the gate I got a mass email asking if anyone who knew the course at Muirfield pretty well was available to help loop for a group there today. I rather quickly volunteered, and wound up spending a perfect morning at Muirfield today with a group of four Brazilian golfers, each of them with a 5 handicap. Such a great golf course - it's not the very first course I'd choose to play if given just one round to play in Scotland, but it's pretty darn close. (I guess my one complaint would be that the par 3s are all just a bit too similar in concept, even if they're all really good holes in and of themselves - and the uphill 13th is truly outstanding.) In contrast, the caddy shack at Muirfield was hilariously dilapidated, with all sorts of mismatched and falling-apart furniture; curiously, there was also a whiteboard on which the pin yardages from the front of the green on each hole had been written, and I had to take a scrap of paper and write them all myself.

I was a bit worried that I'd make an arse of myself for not quite knowing the course as well as I should have done, but apart from giving one bad line off the tee on the semi-blind dogleg par-4 6th hole - where my partner drove exactly where I told him to and wound up just in the right rough - I did pretty well and read the greens almost perfectly throughout, which was encouraging. The next time I play, I think it'd actually help for me to think as a caddy and speak to myself the sort of advice I'd give as a caddy; maybe talking it out like that will help my own putting! I did have a scare on the 18th when I put my golfer's bag down in the rough and kicked one of the legs on its stand out with my foot and heard a small crack...and when I picked the bag up, the leg had snapped in half and came right off. Turns out that it had been broken previously and jerry-rigged back together with an inset wooden rod, and it wasn't a big deal at all, but for a minute there I saw my tip and possibly even my fee disappearing in an instant.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,958
The Paris of the 80s
No, but I caddied one summer in high school. It was OK but the problem was there was no guarantee of actually getting on the course. Straight cash was a nice way of getting paid though, and the members were occasionally overly generous.
 

The Needler

New Member
Dec 7, 2016
1,803
Any of you guys caddy at all? I had a few loops last year around Gullane #1 and am on the Gullane caddymaster's email list, but this year I don't think I'd caddied at all until today - yesterday I had just landed in Zurich (en route to Scotland from Austria) and turned on my phone, and as my plane taxied to the gate I got a mass email asking if anyone who knew the course at Muirfield pretty well was available to help loop for a group there today. I rather quickly volunteered, and wound up spending a perfect morning at Muirfield today with a group of four Brazilian golfers, each of them with a 5 handicap. Such a great golf course - it's not the very first course I'd choose to play if given just one round to play in Scotland, but it's pretty darn close. (I guess my one complaint would be that the par 3s are all just a bit too similar in concept, even if they're all really good holes in and of themselves - and the uphill 13th is truly outstanding.) In contrast, the caddy shack at Muirfield was hilariously dilapidated, with all sorts of mismatched and falling-apart furniture; curiously, there was also a whiteboard on which the pin yardages from the front of the green on each hole had been written, and I had to take a scrap of paper and write them all myself.

I was a bit worried that I'd make an arse of myself for not quite knowing the course as well as I should have done, but apart from giving one bad line off the tee on the semi-blind dogleg par-4 6th hole - where my partner drove exactly where I told him to and wound up just in the right rough - I did pretty well and read the greens almost perfectly throughout, which was encouraging. The next time I play, I think it'd actually help for me to think as a caddy and speak to myself the sort of advice I'd give as a caddy; maybe talking it out like that will help my own putting! I did have a scare on the 18th when I put my golfer's bag down in the rough and kicked one of the legs on its stand out with my foot and heard a small crack...and when I picked the bag up, the leg had snapped in half and came right off. Turns out that it had been broken previously and jerry-rigged back together with an inset wooden rod, and it wasn't a big deal at all, but for a minute there I saw my tip and possibly even my fee disappearing in an instant.
That's amazing. I'd walk that course every day for free if I could. Now you've got me thinking about dropping everything to move to Gullane to become a fulltime caddy.

If I'm being honest, though, when dropping £250 for a round at Muirfield (not to mention the ~£100 caddy fee and tip) that I've been planning for the better part of a year, I'm expecting a caddy with intimate, everyday course knowledge. And frankly, a Scottish accent.

EDIT: Although it's possible your Brazilian group didn't request their caddies far in advance like most visitors do, so there's probably a certain fairness in take-what-you-get last minute stuff if that's the context. Also, the scrap of paper with the yardages tracks my experience exactly.

Oh, and answer to your question: I did caddy one summer at Brae Burn Country Club. I liked it okay, and they were pretty generous in giving us an opportunity to play the main course, as well as making it fairly easy to get on the 9-hole. But I was a lazy college student then, and didn't take advantage of either the work or playing opportunities as much as I should have.
 
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