Our courses vs. Theirs

[elivate]

Pro courses I mean...

A recent article in my local newspaper was a real eye opener as to just how difficult the golf courses are on the major tours. A local pro who is now playing on the Nationwide tour was home for a week off, he played the local course, which is quite nice by the way, and shot a 66 with 31 putts...

He had 6 eagle putts on the day, hit all of the par 5's in 2 except one, where he was on the fringe, drove 2 par 4's (one with his 3 wood)... but obviously his poor putting held him back... Can you imagine shooting a 66, and without making any putts?? If he an average day putting(for a pro), say 27 putts that is a 62...

[thehillgolfer]

the thing u have to think about is that pro courses are "pro courses" one week of the year. So what all can you change about a golf course to make it extra hard for pros? speed and firmness of the green, length of rough, and if you are like hootie johnson, length of the course. they do play much harder than the course normally would, but my bet is that guy just had a pretty good ball striking day, on a course that is a bit short shorter than he usually plays.

[elivate]

Yup, you don't see too many 320 yard par 4' s on the PGA tour (or any other pro tour)... And our par 5's are usually 500 at most...

[iacas]

He had 6 eagle putts on the day, hit all of the par 5's in 2 except one, where he was on the fringe, drove 2 par 4's (one with his 3 wood)... but obviously his poor putting held him back... Can you imagine shooting a 66, and without making any putts?? If he an average day putting(for a pro), say 27 putts that is a 62...

Most pros don't hit 16 or so GIR, either, as this fellow seems to have done in that round.

Since pros get up and down so easily, their putt totals drop because they 1-putt a lot of those 6, 7, or 8 greens they miss in regulation. Throw in a few birdies and that's why they're easily down to 27 putts per round. What were this fellow's Putts per GIR? That'd give you more of a clue as to how badly he putted. You'll probably find (not that I expect you'll find that stat anywhere) that he putted pretty average.

[elivate]

No clue on the stats, it was just an article in the local paper describing his round, didnt get into that much detail...

Anyway, the guys name is Ron Harvey Jr. and he is from Sussex New Brunswick (Canada) He actually just posted his lowest round as a pro, a 63 in a qualifying tournament for this weekends Nationwide Tour event... In one stretch he had 6 straight birdies...

It is always nice to see a local do well, and he is only 23 or 24, so hopefully we will see him out on the PGA tour sometime soon...

[DDBowdoin]

our home course at college has a 605 par 5 for a finishing hole... the fairway starts at 230... I can't imagine how the pro's face the distances they do week in and week out, so impressive... I always wonder what Tiger would shoot at our course

[elivate]

The course I usually play is very short, it is a par 70... We are talking 4 drivable par 4's for average to long hitters. I am talking 245 - 280 yards... Lots pf trouble around the small greens, though... But I would say Tiger could shoot 55 easily on our course....

What a great promotion that would be, imagine getting Tiger to go and play a bunch of the easiest courses to see what the lowest score he could put up...

[DDBowdoin]

Tiger would birdie every par 4 at my course, don't know about the par 3's but probably them to and he would eagle on our par 5's and I'm not not sure about thr 605 par 5... birdie definately

that would be crazy to watch, a good friend of mine was the number one salesman when I was working at my local golf store and his prize was a round with Tiger, he said playing next to him was the craziest exerience he will ever have... Tiger out drove him with a 2 iron... I would feel like the smallest person on the earth

[thehillgolfer]

Tiger would birdie every par 4 at my course, don't know about the par 3's but probably them to and he would eagle on our par 5's and I'm not not sure about thr 605 par 5... birdie definately

tiger is still human remember....he could always lip out a putt or hit an errant drive (unthinkable i know)

[Lefty2380]

The course i play for College has a 153 slope from the black tees (a staggering 147 from the blues that we play) and it plays more than 2 full strokes over par...It has a towering 612 yard par 5 that slopes and has a narrow fairway just to make you feel worse about an already...erm..."Eventful" first few holes...


Its a beautiful course, check it out at http://www.sterlinggolf.com/ ...its The Shattuck Country Club...BEAUTIFUL place, i highly recommend it to anyone with a chance to play it...

Anyways i shot pretty badly my first (and currently only) time playing it...made a lot of clutch puts that would have led to bogey or worse had i missed...

The course is very much "old school" i guess you could say. its not based on length...i pulled out my driver once, the rest of the time i hit 4 or 5 iron and still could manage to reach in regulation...once i play it more i'll learn some better course managment and hopefully my scores will improve...Im going to be a Freshamn by the way so it should be a good solid 4 years at a most beautiful course...

[iacas]

My country club used to host some of the old pros. The 17th at my club is a reasonably long par 5 (540 or so, I believe, but it winds right after the drive making getting on in two difficult).

Lee Trevino would get on the tee and say "I hate this ****ing hole, there's nowhere to hit the ball."

The fairway is 17 yards wide. And trees come right to the edge of that 17 yards and overhang in a few spots, too. Go ahead and pace off 17 yards... I've been to courses with narrow fairways, and I've measured them, and they always turn out to be 24 or so.

Oh, BTW, I think Arnold Palmer holds the course record at my course with a 63 or so. My course has enough "goof" to it that Tiger would do well, but not spectacular. Some tough reads out there on the greens.

[Lefty2380]

17 yards wide through to the green?? now THATS rediculous...the course i mentioned above has a few areas where you would need air traffic control to land the ball near it because its so narrow, but not throughout the entire hole...either way it sounds like a nice course...i was going to go to Drexel U. but i decided against that...I do like philly though, however its got nothing on my boston!

[iacas]

17 yards wide through to the green?? now THATS rediculous...the course i mentioned above has a few areas where you would need air traffic control to land the ball near it because its so narrow, but not throughout the entire hole...either way it sounds like a nice course...i was going to go to Drexel U. but i decided against that...I do like philly though, however its got nothing on my boston!

It widens out to about 24 (but it slopes quite a bit, making it play a lot skinnier) in the area where my second shot lays up. But the entire driving area (200 to 350) is 17 yards wide, yeah.

[Lefty2380]

jesus, might i suggest killing whoever thought of a 17-yard wide fairway? thats rediculous! just lay up or drive through it I'd say...i mean its a beast of a drive but theres always hope for wind...and a visit from the holy trinity


anyways im glad i dont have to deal with 17 yard wide fairways...what are the greens, 5 feet in diameter??

haha sounds like a good time to me

let them consider this

"Lake view Country Club: Where the Fairways are tighter than a ten year old!"

[iacas]

jesus, might i suggest killing whoever thought of a 17-yard wide fairway? thats rediculous! just lay up or drive through it I'd say...i mean its a beast of a drive but theres always hope for wind...and a visit from the holy trinity

My course may be the toughest par-72, 6600-yard course you'll ever play. Click the link in my sig file to have a look at the course tour.

anyways im glad i dont have to deal with 17 yard wide fairways...what are the greens, 5 feet in diameter??

Long but skinny. Let's just say accuracy is well rewarded at my course over length.

"Lake view Country Club: Where the Fairways are tighter than a ten year old!"

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't make it out of committee...

[Lefty2380]

haha sorry, it was just a suggestion...i looked over the course...very nice, but you're right (not that i doubted you ) its narrow and accuracy seems to play quite the important factor in the game....