Better golf on better courses???

[Outfoxed]

My latest blog entry got me thinking. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/blog.php?b=236

After having a great round playing Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach for the first time, a round I will never forget, I wonder how many of you'all feel like your game improves with the quality of the course?


Btw- tried to search for this topic, but better, golf, and courses may be a little broad.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Mine does definaltly. Better conditions always make for better scoring. I feel like i have more options for shots at higher end courses. The designs are usually better, the greens are more predictable, and horrible lies are rare.

[saevel25]

I rather play a course that is in better condition than play a course thats might be more interesting asthetically, especially if the greens are good. My favorite course i have been on was Firestone North in Akron, ohio. It was absolutely amazing to play, and it kicked my butt. I don't mind saying it, i deserved to be humbled once in a while and it did. The one course i really want to play is the Quarry in South Canton, Ohio. New course, about 3-4 years old. But its built in an old quarry, so elevation changes everywere, but its suppose to be just an amazing course.

[Par Fore]

I don't necessarily score better, depending on the difficulty, but I do "play" better.......it's nice to have good lies in the fairway, grass on the teeboxes, greens that roll true, and manicured traps.....adds to the enjoyment and experience....

[Woters]

Any top quality course will be more enjoyable to play than the average Muni somewhere, especially if its well maintained & has challenging holes. Some of the best tracks I have played havent even been over 6500 yards but superb course design has made my golfing experience increase tenfold. Where I live now (Yorkshire,England) has an abundance of Dr Alister Mackenzie designed courses, for those who dont know he designed Augusta National, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne etc so Im very lucky to be able to not travel far & play exceptional courses. They dont make me score any lower but they are a joy to play.

[kpaulhus]

Dr Alister Mackenzie designed courses, for those who dont know he designed Augusta National,

Correct me if I am wrong, but didnt Bobby Jones design Augusta?

[Teklabz]

I'm so bad, that I DEFINITELY DO NOT play better at better courses. I play better when there is no water and no sand (or very little of either!). But it's definitely more awe inspiring and fun on the better courses I have played, which ultimately means more to me.

[trog2233]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didnt Bobby Jones design Augusta?

Bobby Jones created it.....but Alister Mackenzie designed it.

[goblue107501]

Pretty much all the time for me. Better lies in the fairway, predictable lies in the rough. The sand is in good shape and consistent. The greens typically roll better and are more consistend through the round. Tee boxes are in good shape. All of these things add to the experience and beg for better play.

The big thing for me is the consistency. I want a ball hit from the fairway to react the same each time. I want the greens to be the same speed. If I am in the rough around the green on 3, I want the rough to be the play the same on 12 around the green.

I don't demand that a course be perfect, and can play fine just about anywhere. But I will score/play better on the better courses because of these reasons.

[GaijinGolfer]

I find that I play better on better courses. I find the greens easier to putt on and I think part of it also is that Im just more inspired to play my best.

[Outfoxed]

I find that I play better on better courses. I find the greens easier to putt on and I think part of it also is that Im just more inspired to play my best.

Yeah, Poppy Hills ispired me to play my best.

[golfro]

Nothing as displeasing as having to hit an iron off a jacked up, not so grassy dirt heavy fairway. Better yet, having your ball land on a green that is not well kept and having it hit a dirt patch on the green and fly 30 more yards over the green isn't too pleasing either.

[kpaulhus]

Bobby Jones created it.....but Alister Mackenzie designed it.

Thank you for the clarification.

[BallStriker]

A good friend from college who is now a golf pro once told me that "only shitty players play shitty courses."

[kevin.chan]

Yes, definitely can play better in the courses that are well maintained ( Fairway / Bunker / Green ).

So far all my good rounds were from better golf courses.

[authentic_golfer]

Great topic.

No doubt better conditions = better golf. I'd love to see a study done on that, in fact. Maybe take a representative group of players of varying HC's, put them on a sampling of courses with similar yardages/ratings/slopes but a range of different conditions, and track their scores.

Such a study could actually be useful for the industry. Golfers naturally prefer good conditions to poor, and typically pay a premium for nicer courses. But if there was empirical evidence that they actually score better under better conditions, that could be pretty powerful for marketing etc.

Then again, the industry is currently moving away from the ridiculously lush conditions that require boatloads of water, pesticides, fertilizer, etc... So maybe now's not the best time.

Cheers,
Sean

[BonoVox]

Pretty much all the time for me. Better lies in the fairway, predictable lies in the rough. The sand is in good shape and consistent. The greens typically roll better and are more consistend through the round. Tee boxes are in good shape. All of these things add to the experience and beg for better play.

Yeah I have to agree for all the same reasons.

But if you can get good playing courses that are a little on the rough side then it makes it that much easier when you get to a well manicured course.

[groovezilla79]

For me, it's all in the tee box. If I'm on a bad tee box, I can't seem to shake it. The way it feels to have bumps and humps under your feet, the way you sometimes feel like you need a jackhammer to get the tee in the ground and worst of all when you know the ball is above or below your feet. I can handle most other things pretty well such as poor yardage markers, bad fairways, etc. But if you put me on a course with horrible tee boxes, I'm not finding too many fairways.