2021 TST Birdie Challenge

[Frank F]

Added my hat to the ring. Filled in my line on the spread sheet. Hopefully I didn't screw things up!

Fairways and Greens,

Frank

[Billy Z]

Finally got a full 18 in Troy Michigan.

[boogielicious]

Finally got two birdies today on 4 and 6. 

[Frank F]

A single birdie today on our #6, par 5 today thanks to a wonderful Lob wedge leaving me 4 feet from the hole.

[dennyjones]

If you guys/gals that are playing would stop playing so well while us in the cold tundra are waiting for warm weather, it would be greatly appreciated...  🤣

It's nice to see new/old members enjoying the game and doing well.  

BTw... send us some warm weather and sunshine!  (suppose to be nice this weekend here in the Mitten)

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

If you guys/gals that are playing would stop playing so well while us in the cold tundra are waiting for warm weather, it would be greatly appreciated...  🤣

It's nice to see new/old members enjoying the game and doing well.  

BTw... send us some warm weather and sunshine!  (suppose to be nice this weekend here in the Mitten)

FWIW, I’ve played two rounds in 2021, yesterday and today. I only had one birdie in last years chart.

[Frank F]

4 hours ago, dennyjones said:

If you guys/gals that are playing would stop playing so well while us in the cold tundra are waiting for warm weather, it would be greatly appreciated...  🤣

It's nice to see new/old members enjoying the game and doing well.  

BTw... send us some warm weather and sunshine!  (suppose to be nice this weekend here in the Mitten)

As a recent transplant from Michigan to Florida (since 2019), I understand what you are going through personally. I've been there in the early spring with the course so wet that I needed flippers and a snorkel to play. I've also been there in the Autumn where I personally think, the world's most amazing color palette is on full display.

Hang in there, it's just around the corner.

[Roblar]

No birdies, but got hole #6, a long par-4, down to a par.  (A strong south wind helped make the hole much more accessible...)

[dagolfer18]

Last week I birdied the par-5 fourth hole. 5W to the middle of the fairway, 6I layup, and a 9I to about six feet. A good hole to birdie, because for me, it’s one of the tougher holes on the front.

[TourSpoon]

It was very dry for birdies for 3 rounds getting skunked, but then I added 3 and another one for rounds 12 and 13. Too bad I already have those holes! 

Still elusive is hole 1 (Easy par 5), 2 (tough driving hole and green complex), 8 (long par 3), 9 (shortish par 4), 15 (medium par 4), 16 (tough drive, severe green), and 18 (short par 4 with the most severe green on the course). 

 

[Dunit507]

This looks like a worthwhile project. I’ll throw my name in later when I have a few min. I just made 3 birdies yesterday so that should give me a nice run of momentum. I’ve actually got 4 holes on my course I’ve never made birdie on so I would absolutely like to complete this challenge this year!

Need 2 which is a long downhill par 3 and even a par feels like I’ve got a win. Need 6 which is a 2 tiered green par 4 that I just can’t seem to hit ever. I also need 12 which is a very straight forward par 4 that I hit 9 or wedge into yet can’t seem to birdie. I also need 13 which is a 7/8 iron par 3 that’s eluded me. The holes I got yesterday are 3 of the holes I tend to play very well at the course so those won’t be the last birds I make there. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Dunit507
Added info

[Pretzel]

Added myself into the spreadsheet for my home course. It's only 9 holes, but I am counting the front and back nine separately since I'm a little curious to see if I play better on the front nine than the back, or vice versa, and to keep things comparable. An easy enough course, the par 3's with either their length (190 yards w/ small green 5th) or crazy green slopes (the 9th has two greens, and both have severe slopes to make for tricky putts and even approaches trying to stick the ball without too much spin) would be the biggest challenges most likely, if only because par 3's are always more difficult to birdie.

I also added in TPC Colorado as an away course. I'm lucky enough to get to play that a few times a year for free, so may as well compare things to see how they go on a much more difficult track. I'm confident I'll be able to par or better all of the holes since I'll play it at least 3 times throughout the year, but I don't know how many I will birdie since there are holes that are far easier than others and some that are much more difficult than the rest.

For the easy holes, 3, 6, and 10 are all driveable par 4's. 3 is risk/reward over a lake with a 290 forced carry to go straight at the green or a 270 carry to feed it off the large hill making up the front face of a pot bunker. 6 is massively downhill and only 340 in a straight line with a very wide landing area (70 yards at the narrowest), but the green is quite shallow with an elevated green that feeds near-misses off into pot bunkers short and long. The green is also elevated and very firm, making short partial wedges difficult to stick without rolling off the back and into one of the aforementioned bunkers, so missing left or right is almost preferable to going straight at the green. 10 is just a short little par 4 that plays downwind somewhat often, and if you can get a 310 carry over the pot bunkers you're greenside off the tee and even with an iron off the tee you still have a wedge approach shot. 15 is another easier one, a pretty straightforward par 5 that's pretty short at 580 yards compared to the 7,991 total course length, if you hit a solid drive you're looking at a 220-240 carry over a 20ft deep pot bunker but you're home free with an easy eagle or birdie if you hit 2 solid shots down the left side. Just don't miss out right on the 2nd because you'll be 30+ feet below the green and still have 30-50 yards to go because of the very steep elevation on the green, but misses left are just fine and can even avoid that ridiculous pot bunker entirely.

2, 8, 13, 14, and 18 are all substantially more difficult holes. 2 is a 240 yard par 3 over water, but the green is where things get interesting - it's got a 4 foot deep swale across the entire center of the green, which makes front pins tough (water short, hard to stop it prior to the downhill unless you just bail out right and accept a very long put or chip) and make back pins even harder (can't bail out to the right, and you have to bounce/roll up a 4 foot hill but not all the way off the back and into the water after landing it in the middle). 8 is legitimately the toughest par 3 I've ever played, it's 200 yards long and the green is a 10 yard wide finger of land extending out into the reservoir. Miss it left or right and you're a goner, the steep slopes and firm ground ensure it will kick into the water, and the thick lining of trees to either side make it difficult to judge wind (but don't worry, your ball flies high enough to reach the wind above the trees still). 14 is the only par 3 I've played that may be more difficult than the hole I just described, at 273 yards long with deep pot bunkers guarding the front of the green. It's easier only because you can bail out left, just anything other than going long because the green slopes severely from back to front. 18 is just a difficult hole because it's long (531 yards), it usually plays into a headwind, it's uphill, and the green is mostly tucked behind a ridge with deep rough and bunkering (but you can safely bail out right to reach fairway).

The true test to make birdie is 13, however, as the longest par 5 ever played in a PGA Tour sanctioned event and, depending on where the tee markers are set that day, the longest par 5 in the entire United States at up to 778 yards long. It's got a dogleg, but even if you pipe a 350 yard drive in the perfect spot on the fairway you're still looking at 300 yards to carry the 20 foot deep pot bunkers between yourself and the green. Say you hit a solid 310 yard drive down the middle of the fairway? You still have a 275 carry over the bunkers at the corner to get to a layup shot, or you can hit it to the corner and still have 200 yards in after hitting it 310 and 275. In 2019 it was ranked as the 2nd most difficult par 5 in all PGA sanctioned events with a scoring average of 5.072, but when the wind is against you (like it was day 1 of the 2019 event) the Korn Ferry Tour scoring average climbs to 5.25 strokes or higher. This is really the claim to fame of this course, and good grief it's hard.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Pretzel

[iacas]

Birdied 5, 6, and 12 today at Whispering Woods, so I've got three down.

[Sammydreep]

Ticked off one of the par-3’s today and hit another par 3 to 6 feet ,which jumped off line about a foot from the hole, some of the greens had been sanded. 
Over halfway now 😀

Oops, just went to add it on the spreadsheet and it’s already there, don’t remember when I birdied it

[Hardspoon]

I'm going to just do the "away course" composite this year.  I don't expect I'll play more than 3 or 4 rounds at the same course.

I'm looking forward to seeing how well I can do!

[GREENMR003]

Got my first round in.  (technically had to do it across two evening 9's, but played all 18 holes so I figure it counts for this).  

I'm going to keep the training wheels on and target the "Par Challenge".  Maybe if I can get my handicap down below bogey golf we can get more aggressive.  

Picked up three checkmarks... 2 pars and 1 birdie.   Only sad part is that's three scores for 5 GIRs.  Something to work on for next week. 

[sjduffers]

I finished birdie, birdie (at the home course) today, but I already had those 2. Arggggh!

[David in FL]

Two birdies today. One was a prior, but the other was one of the few I couldn’t close out year!