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What's the Most Exclusive Course You've Ever Played?


The LoneStar
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Originally Posted by Chief Broom

I got to play the Augusta National this year during their end of season outing week for tournament volunteers, club employees, and other invitees who participate in some way with the tournament.  It was an awesome time.  It's an all day thing.  The gates open for invitees at 6:30AM and close at 8PM.  Pretty much everything is open to you from the practice facilites to the clubhouse and pro shop.  They serve a buffet lunch on the grounds behind the clubhouse that is top notch, beer, soft drinks, and light snacks are provided all day.  You can eat on the veranda of the clubhouse or on tables under the big oak tree.  You're given a tee time and can only play the big course once, but the par 3 course is also open for play.  Depending on your tee time you play the par 3 before or after and plan on having lunch some time inbetween.  I had a 8:52 AM tee time (the last tee time of the day was 3PM), so I played with a foursome (3 guys I'd never met, but who like me do business with the club during the tournament) after warming up on the range.  We ate lunch together afterward, then we played the par 3.  We then put up our gear and just hung out at the clubhouse drinking beer and touring the buildings.  It was fantastic made better by the fact that it didn't cost a cent.  I left about 5PM and just went home (I'm an Augusta native) and basked in the afterglow.  I preferred the par 3 course over the big course, but that was mainly because I was a nervous wreck for most of the front nine.  I played horribly with what has to be near a career high 41 putts.  A caddy would definitely be worth it, but with the number of people who go out on those outing days (I think they said about 250 that day) the course is full and they aren't offered. They provided golf carts and you were on your own.  It's funny because there are no ball washers on the course (that would be your caddy's job) and there are no hole markers.  We almost teed off on number 9 tee because the number 2 tee is a bit of a hike from the number 1 green.  Again your caddy would take care of that.  I nearly aced the second hole on the par 3 course and I wondered aloud to my partners why I was able to play so much better there rather than out on the big course, but of course there was no pressure there.  I did par the two par 3's on the back nine of the big course (12 and 16).  Should have birdied 12, but I never figured out how to putt those greens.  Another bright spot was teeing off on the first tee.  The tee was crowded because no one wanted to miss their tee time, and as I was about to hit a guy standing about 10' behind me dropped his fully loaded staff bag.  He began appologizing profusely, but I ignored him and took my swing and striped one down the center of the fairway to about 100 out from the green.  Everyone was really impressed and the honest truth was I was so nervous that there could have been an earthquake and I still was going to take a swipe at the ball.  All in all a good time and I hope to be able to do it again next year.


I think we have a winner....hands down.  Congrats on a fine outing.  I've played many fine private courses over the years, but none that I'd consider exclusive.  I'd argue the above is as exclusive as it gets...........thanks for sharing your story.

What's in Paul's Bag:
- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha Driver
- Big Bertha Alpha 815 3-wood
- Callaway Razr Fit 5-wood
- Callaway Big Bertha 4-5 Rescue Clubs
-- Mizuno Mx-25 six iron-gap wedge
- Mizuno Mp-T4 56degree SW
- Mizuno Mp-T11 60degree SW
- Putter- Ping Cadence Ketsch

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Originally Posted by FLOG4

I have been fortunate to play many great courses.  Pine Valley was the ultimate.


Wow..........interesting read!!!!  No yardage markers?  really??  LOL

Augusta, Seminole and Pine Valley..........easily the 3 most exclusive in this thread.  Thanks for sharing!!

PS...Olympic Club, Valhalla, and colonial deserve special mention too!!  Very nice!!!

What's in Paul's Bag:
- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha Driver
- Big Bertha Alpha 815 3-wood
- Callaway Razr Fit 5-wood
- Callaway Big Bertha 4-5 Rescue Clubs
-- Mizuno Mx-25 six iron-gap wedge
- Mizuno Mp-T4 56degree SW
- Mizuno Mp-T11 60degree SW
- Putter- Ping Cadence Ketsch

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I played the Eldorado in Cabo San Lucas. I also played Sanctuary and Castle Pines CC in Denver CO.

Danny    In my :ping: Hoofer Tour golf bag on my :clicgear: 8.0 Cart

Driver:   :pxg: 0311 Gen 5  X-Stiff.                        Irons:  :callaway: 4-PW APEX TCB Irons 
3 Wood: :callaway: Mavrik SZ Rogue X-Stiff                            Nippon Pro Modus 130 X-Stiff
3 Hybrid: :callaway: Mavrik Pro KBS Tour Proto X   Wedges: :vokey:  50°, 54°, 60° 
Putter: :odyssey:  2-Ball Ten Arm Lock        Ball: :titleist: ProV 1

 

 

 

 

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  • Posts

    • Taking your dispersion and distance in consideration I analyzed the 4 posible ways to play the hole, or at least the ones that were listed here. I took the brown grass on the left as fescue were you need to punch out sideways to the fairway and rigth of the car path to be fescue too.  Driver "going for the green"  You have to aim more rigth, to the bunker in order to center your shotzone in between the fescue.  Wood of 240 over the bunkers I already like this one more for you. More room to land between the fescue. Balls in the fescue 11% down from 30% with driver. Improve of score from 4.55 to 4.40. 4 iron 210 yards besides the bunkers.    Also a wide area and your shot zone is better than previous ones. This makes almost the fescue dissapear. You really need to hit a bad one (sometimes shit happens). Because of that and only having 120 yards in this is the best choice so far. Down to 4.32 from 4.40. Finally the 6 Iron 180 yards to avoid all trouble.    Wide area an narrow dispersion for almost been in the fairway all the time. Similar than the previous one but 25 yards farther for the hole to avoid been in the bunkers. Average remains the same, 4.33 to 4.32.  Conclusion is easy. Either your 4iron or 6 iron of the tee are equaly good for you. Glad that you made par!
    • Wish I could have spent 5 minutes in the middle of the morning round to hit some balls at the range. Just did much more of right side through with keeping the shoulders feeling level (not dipping), and I was flushing them. Lol. Maybe too much focus on hands stuff while playing.
    • Last year I made an excel that can easily measure with my own SG data the average score for each club of the tee. Even the difference in score if you aim more left or right with the same club. I like it because it can be tweaked to account for different kind of rough, trees, hazards, greens etc.     As an example, On Par 5's that you have fescue on both sides were you can count them as a water hazard (penalty or punch out sideways), unless 3 wood or hybrid lands in a wider area between the fescue you should always hit driver. With a shorter club you are going to hit a couple less balls in the fescue than driver but you are not going to offset the fact that 100% of the shots are going to be played 30 or more yards longer. Here is a 560 par 5. Driver distance 280 yards total, 3 wood 250, hybrid 220. Distance between fescue is 30 yards (pretty tight). Dispersion for Driver is 62 yards. 56 for 3 wood and 49 for hybrid. Aiming of course at the middle of the fairway (20 yards wide) with driver you are going to hit 34% of balls on the fescue (17% left/17% right). 48% to the fairway and the rest to the rough.  The average score is going to be around 5.14. Looking at the result with 3 wood and hybrid you are going to hit less balls in the fescue but because of having longer 2nd shots you are going to score slightly worst. 5.17 and 5.25 respectively.    Things changes when the fescue is taller and you are probably going to loose the ball so changing the penalty of hitting there playing a 3 wood or hybrid gives a better score in the hole.  Off course 30 yards between penalty hazards is way to small. You normally have 60 or more, in that cases the score is going to be more close to 5 and been the Driver the weapon of choice.  The point is to see that no matter how tight the hole is, depending on the hole sometimes Driver is the play and sometimes 6 irons is the play. Is easy to see that on easy holes, but holes like this:  you need to crunch the numbers to find the best strategy.     
    • Very much so. I think the intimidation factor that a lot of people feel playing against someone who's actually very good is significant. I know that Winged Foot pride themselves on the strength of the club. I think they have something like 40-50 players who are plus something. Club championships there are pretty competitive. Can't imagine Oakmont isn't similar. The more I think about this, the more likely it seems that this club is legit. Winning also breeds confidence and I'm sure the other clubs when they play this one are expecting to lose - that can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    • Ah ok I misunderstood. But you did bring to light an oversight on my part.
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