Mid-Pines
Played Mid-Pines today. Picked up on one hole where my ESC would have kicked in. We were the first off the tee and played around in about four hours.Mid-Pines measures only 6200 yards, but wedges aren't necessarily the shots you want to hit into Donald Ross greens. Sometimes it's smarter to hit the hybrid from the tee and play in with a knockdown 8I. And the trees have grown a lot since Donald's day, so the fairways are a tad smaller on some sides than others.
Shot 82. Had a nice 15-foot birdie (and missed two other similar shots of similar lengths). Played with the BlackMAX today and did not like it. The distance was a bit less than the V1x/B330, but the spin was really lacking on the short shots around the green. I've gotten really good at hitting the 40-yard wedge that hits, bounces, and then just stops dead. I even sucked a B330 back just a little on a short pitch like that. The BlackMAX keeps rolling. Maybe the greens were a bit firmer, but teh ball cost me a few shots.
Some may say the course is "boring" or "seen it, done it a thousand times already" but I'm a fan of the classics, particularly Ross. Nearly every shot I had today had its own risk/reward. I hit a shot into a 150-yard par 3 today, my normal 8I yardage. Instead I hit a low drawing 6I punch that, had it gone 5 feet further, would have ended up two feet from the hole. Instead, I had a 40 foot putt. Ask a golfer to overcome a challenge, reward those that do, and dole out appropriate levels of punishment.
Small greens, collection areas, mounding.
After golf we met up with an architect and had lunch at Pinehurst. Walked out the back door and boom, there's #18 and the Payne Stewart statue. Took a picture or two and headed on home.
Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain or ice, I'll be playing Mid-South.
