What Do You Consider A Long Course?

[laconic517]

Id say it really depends no the layout of the course.

Forest akers here in Lansing is 7000, but doesnt play "long" at all IMO because there really arent any super long par 4's. Theres only a couple par 4's under 400, and all the par 3's except 1 are 200+ so it adds length to the course.

Id say a course starts getting long when the par 4's get up around 440 regularly (say half or 40% of the time) Then if its into the wind and I hit a bad shot or something i might have a wood in.

Theres a course here in lansing that is 6800 but plays much longer just beacuse of the layout with carries over bunkers and stuff.

[Fourputt]

Not an easy answer to this one. I'm probably not the best judge either, as I don't care much for courses which require long forced carries on a majority of the holes. I prefer strategic courses where you even have to be thinking on the tee rather than just ripping the driver every time. For that reason, I feel that a course is starting to get lengthy when it passes about 6600 yards.

My home course is just under 7000 yards from the tips (6500 from the middle tee), but the par 4 holes still vary from 370 to just over 450. And even the longer holes do offer some options... they don't demand a driver to carry to the fairway. Even an average hitter can get by from the back tees ( I shot 83 from there last month), just playing the longer par 4 holes as if they were par 5's. If those long par 4 holes required a 240+ yard carry, then they would be out of reach for all but the biggest hitters. Even a very good player who has lost distance through age or whatever would be relegated to the middle tees whether he liked it or not.

So I'm saying about 6600 yards is my cutoff, but a course can still be quite playable from 7000 if there are no forced carries.

[goblue107501]

I consider a long course anything 7000 yards and over.

That being said, I agree with this statement...

I would much rather play a long course with large fairways as opposed to a shorter tight course.

I hate playing the 'target golf' courses. Especially when the course is so short you could hit 4-iron off the tee on the par 4's, and never have more than a 8-iron to the green. Not too much fun for me. I want to have the pressure on the tee knowing I have to hit a driver well just to have a chance on the hole. Then, even if you hit a good drive, there still might be 175 to the green and you have to hit another good shot. I just like the challenge the longer courses have.

[Crafty]

I consider a long course anything 7000 yards and over.

I love playin target golf. But i digress.

I would say anything over 7000 gets to be pretty long

[pshizz]

long... all the courses ppl mentioned are nothig compared to the international golf lcub in western mass. Longest course in the world at 8300 yards. Has a par 6, 715 yards, and has the largest green that is 90 yards deep. I wanna play there so badly but its private... Also the tips are called the tiger tees, and no one can play them unless your scratch or below.

[onthehunt526]

8325... so you sneak back and play from the gold tees... lol... never played there... Considering the courses in my area are a joke... (Robert Trent Jones's Thesis ain't a bad course...) but I think like 7400 would be a long course... The longest I have ever played is Cog Hill Golf and Country Club's Dubsdread Course (yes that one) I shot 65 there playing from the same exact tees as were used for the then Western Open (now its the BMW championship) which is 7325 yards... and that didn't play long... I used to live in Endicott, NY and basically played En-Joie Golf Club most of my life... that's slightly over 7000 and I think its short considering it doesn't have a par 4 longer than 441...

[907golfer12]

For me a long course is about 6700+ yards for me. I generally play from the blues which is about 6800 yards, but I play that for the challenge, and then when I go to Oregon and play high school we will play from 6800 so I need the practice.

[kyldo]

How the wind affects the distance of the course is a big factor where I live. A super nice course in the area plays 7300 from the tips, but all the long holes are usually down wind, making it seem shorter. However, another course I've played is 6800 with the longer holes up wind, and it seems to play longer than the other course (a tight 600 yrd par 5 into a 40 mph wind is NOT fun).

To answer your question, anything that plays over 7000 is fairly long I think.

[TommyD69]

My golf league plays the tees closest to 6300 yards. A lot of guys (mostly the more "seasoned" players) think that is a little long...

I think a course over 6800 yards is starting to get a "little long", but I welcome the challenge!!!

[Clublink7]

If any of you play in Canada, Wyndance (a greg norman designed course) plays a nice 7500 with 2 par 3s over 250 yards, 3 par 4s over 480 yards and the average par 5 playing around 590.

Now thats a challenge

[cnixon83]

hmmmmm..... Erin Hills in WI is long from the tips. Purgatory in IN is LONG. i'd say anything over 7500yds. is long. my home course is a little over 7300yds. and i find that to be in my comfort range. there are a few holes that are too long, but you're gonna get that pretty much anywhere you play.

[mako224]

A long course is any course that requires me to play driver and long irons on its par 4s from the middle and back Ts.

There is more to a course than length. My home course is a good example of an old course that is not particularly long but it is extremely difficult from the back Ts. Our par 4 second hole is a good example of this. It was originally designed as a Par 5 so the set up of the elevated green was intended for wedges not mid or long irons. Even a 300 yard drive leaves you a difficult shot at the green. If you leave yourself 175 to the green, forget about par unless you have an excellent short game.

[FLOG4]

Have played the International from Tigers at 8325. But that was 20 years ago when it was par 77. Today although they have adjusted a couple holes +/- still 8325 but par 73. Played it early Oct. Couple other Long gems. Concord Monster in Catskills. A few years a bunch of us played tips in our Annual "This course is too LONG" Tournament. Tips about 7850. Great fun and 2nd shot woods all day. Fairways always pretty soft. If reopens highly recommend. Another crazy track is Reserve at Thunder Hill in Eastern Ohio. Back tees around 7800. Couple teeboxes difficult to find...Use to only play tips....Now play em when with my + Handicap Son. We played Bethpage Black from tips a month ago. 7500 wet yards...A lot of golf.

[MiniMoe]

I have played a course that was 7300 from the tips, but did not play it because of hard fairways and elevation. I have also played on courses that were 6500 yards from the tips and it played 7000. Say you have a 312 yard par 4, but from 150 yards into the green there is a lake. Did that hole play 312, or 412?

Personally, the key to any course are the par three's. If they are really long, the course is going to play hard. Just my observation.

[onthehunt526]

Have played the International from Tigers at 8325. But that was 20 years ago when it was par 77. Today although they have adjusted a couple holes +/- still 8325 but par 73. Played it early Oct. Couple other Long gems. Concord Monster in Catskills. A few years a bunch of us played tips in our Annual "This course is too LONG" Tournament. Tips about 7850. Great fun and 2nd shot woods all day. Fairways always pretty soft. If reopens highly recommend. Another crazy track is Reserve at Thunder Hill in Eastern Ohio. Back tees around 7800. Couple teeboxes difficult to find...Use to only play tips....Now play em when with my + Handicap Son. We played Bethpage Black from tips a month ago. 7500 wet yards...A lot of golf.

Is that 7500 yards at Bethpage Black from the '09 Open tees that supposedly aren't finished?

with the basically 4000 yard second nine... (in other words was 13 at 554 or 614)

[flap]

The open Tees are finished but usually not open for play.They played some local tourneys this year and 13 is a 3 wood off the tee for the pro's to keep away from the leftside bunkers and then a layup and wedge.Or so all the guys out there tell me.I gave up playing the Blues there about 10 years ago.10 and 13 have the biggest difference in the course in my opinion.

[DaveLeeNC]

I heard a quote from some golf announcer/former pro type (Judy Rankin maybe?) that made sense to me. She/he said "the right length for you is a course where you are hitting 7i or less on half the par 4's. If you are hitting long irons and fairway woods on all the par 4's, that course is too long.

For me long kicks in somewhere in the 6600 range.

dave

[Prodigy]

i like to keep it simple and say if i hit a good drive and i have a seven iron or more into most par 4's on the course haha