Wish me luck - golf "test" tomorrow

[jimbo843]

If anyone read my intro in the Welcome section (I suspect not) - apologies for repeating myself.

I'm a UK ex-pat living in Germany for the last 10 years. As you may have heard from other European forum members - playing golf in a lot of EU countries ain't as easy as just turning up and paying your fee.

You have to go through a "Platzreife" (literally: course ripeness(!)) course. You get 6 group lessons on irons, chipping, putting, course management, etiquette, rules etc.. At the end you do a test on the rules, and then play 9 holes. You need to get 11 Stableford points based on a HCP of 54 (yes, 54). Given the slope index on the course where I'm doing this, effective HCP is 60.

So anyway, after hitting many, many, many buckets, making lots of new friends (both on my course, and other members of the club), tomorrow is the big day. We get tested on the rules, and then go out on the front nine and see what we can shoot.

I'm aiming for 36 Stableford points tomorrow for the 9 holes tomorrow. Anything about 27 I'll be happy with. Anything less than that I'll be disappointed. I should say that I played golf for about 15 years before I moved to Germany and started a family 10 years ago. So I'm not exactly new, but I was never that good (mid 90's was a good round for me).

So wish me luck and I'll let you know how it goes, and barring all kinds of disasters, I'll be able to put a handicap number (probably the highest one on the whole board) in my profile tomorrow night.

[JoeC36]

good luck

[Gerald]

So you are getting at least 3 strokes at the holes, I know what being tested means ...... I would advise you to play with your mind, just try to make those 11 points in 5 holes or so, take a little risk as needed, avoid problems 2 or 3 points per hole ..... take it easy, don't try to impress ..... making pars etc.

At a double bogey you still have 3 or 4 points, who cares !

Good Luck ...... from the Netherlands !

[jimbo843]

Thank guys.

Gerald - yes, I know you're right. I'm suffering from the problem that I really want to put all I've learnt into practice on the course (and I've not been allowed to play apart from the Course Management lesson where we played 6 holes).That can of course lead to a 250 yd drive - where I end up on the next fairway, still with 200 yds to play on a par 4.

I'm tempted to play every hole as a bogey hole (i.e., plan for 4 on a par 3, 5 on a par 4, etc.) because then as long as I make my fake par, I'm in like Flynn.

Is it the same process in The Netherlands?

[NI4NI]

Good luck with your test.  Since I never heard of Platzreife, I did a little web research, and read a bunch of mixed reviews.  A 54 HCP is ridiculous.  How expensive is a round of golf, on average, in Germany?

Having a basic understanding of golf (swing and terminology), and knowing golf etiquette are both great things that I wish more people had before venturing onto a course, but being forced through a test/license process seems a bit much, IMO.

Golf is supposed to be relaxing - taking tests runs counter to that, even if it is an easy process to pass.

Tell us how you did.

[q7w]

did you win?

[jimbo843]

Had the test yesterday. Got 31 points from 9 holes which I'm very happy with. I am now "ripe" to play properly! So I have an official HCP of 54 which I want to get down to 28 by the end of Summer.

Thanks for your wishes and interest.

[WUTiger]

"Platzreife".

Heard about this back around 2003. I had a chance for a business trip to Germany, and was told about a local resort coursewhich let area visitors play (can't remember which course // and trip didn't happen).

Back then I looked on the course website, and it told about a certification test you had to take to show you knew how to play golf.  This was a spot skills test, more like the uncle of Big Break. Test events included:

• Hit five tee shots with a 3W, two must stay in fairway (looked fairly wide)
• Hit five short irons (your choice) and land two balls on green
• From 15 meters (??) away, put three of five chip shots on green, and two within X meters of pin
• Something about short putts and lag putts

Details are fuzzy, but I think each part was pass-fail. You got a second chance if Day 1 didn't work out.

[NI4NI]

  jimbo843 said:

Originally Posted by jimbo843

Had the test yesterday. Got 31 points from 9 holes which I'm very happy with. I am now "ripe" to play properly! So I have an official HCP of 54 which I want to get down to 28 by the end of Summer.

Thanks for your wishes and interest.

How expensive is a round of golf, on average, in Germany (18 holes with or without a cart, public versus private)?

[Gerald]

  jimbo843 said:

Originally Posted by jimbo843

Thank guys.

Gerald - yes, I know you're right. I'm suffering from the problem that I really want to put all I've learnt into practice on the course (and I've not been allowed to play apart from the Course Management lesson where we played 6 holes).That can of course lead to a 250 yd drive - where I end up on the next fairway, still with 200 yds to play on a par 4.

I'm tempted to play every hole as a bogey hole (i.e., plan for 4 on a par 3, 5 on a par 4, etc.) because then as long as I make my fake par, I'm in like Flynn.

Is it the same process in The Netherlands?

Yepp about the same, still few people don't pass, but it happens.....

  NI4NI said:

Originally Posted by NI4NI

How expensive is a round of golf, on average, in Germany (18 holes with or without a cart, public versus private)?

Can't tell of Germany, but in the Netherlands average would be about 50-60 euro's, some are cheaper and some charge as much as 100-120 euro's