What do you think a golfer on the PGA tour would score at your local public golf course?

[theworldengine]

I think people underestimate how the good conditions on the PGA Tour allow for the scores they shoot. I think most PGA Tour players would be hard pressed to average 62 or lower so long as the course yardage isn't silly short.

Can you expand on this? I always thought virtually any muni is easier than the PGA setup

[theworldengine]

At my home course if there was a one day tourney with 150 guys from any normal PGA field, there would be at least be 5 dudes in the 50s.

[lumpuckeroo]

They would tear up my home course, it only plays to 6100 yards.  They could probably drive 7 or 8 of the par 4's and 2 more they could hit a driver to within 30 or 40 yards.  Probably just as important, the green complexes are nothing like you would see on tour, the greens do not have a lot of undulation in them.  I think the biggest issue with the green is no two greens run the same speed, it's taken me 2 years to figure out which greens run fast and which ones run slow.

[TourSpoon]

Would you say he played well, average, really good, or what?

A 65 seems like about what I would expect regularly for these guys on a normal day for them (i.e., playing well).  It's the claims of "averaging 62" with "regularly" breaking 60 that I think are a bit far-fetched.

He played pretty well that day. I think that on an average course par is a given so it's more about how many birdies you can rack up. He was able to get up and down with no problem from almost anywhere (of course his misses were not extreme) and even chipped in once. Par was never a reach. Playing from that yardage and hitting it 280 with a balata, put a lot of wedges and 9 irons in his hands which he stuffed on a few par 4s. Chipping and pitching for eagle on the par 5s set up a couple of other birds, and the par 3s at 150-185 yards were no problem. His putting was great, never 3 putted and made almost everything 10 feet and in. The one thing he did before the round was to spend about an hour chipping and putting on the practice green so he had the speed down perfectly.

This guy was getting ready for a return back to Q school after just finishing top 10 in Canadian Tour so his form was really good. He would come out spend an hour or two on the range, and then spend at least 2 hours on his short game. I played another time with him at a different course when the wind was blowing 20+. He was still under par, but the conditions were challenging. This is the first time I ever saw the "Quail High Draw" hit to perfection. One day, in a money game, a guy bet him he couldn't hit driver from the fairway 260 out (think Taylor Made metal second generation). He missed, doubled down, and hit the green on his second attempt.

Normally I would expect a Tour Pro to play an average course (6800/72/135) and be able to shoot 65-69 without too much trouble. If it's set up for tournament conditions then a little more. These guys are playing at +4s for a reason, they are really good.

[iacas]

Can you expand on this? I always thought virtually any muni is easier than the PGA setup

• They'll struggle with some of the lousy lies you can get on a crappy golf course.
• They won't make nearly as many putts due to the greens.
• They'll get more odd bounces.
• They'll make up for a lot of that with the shorter distances and lighter rough.

Claims that they'll all average 62 are, IMO, far-fetched.

[Jeremie Boop]

They'll struggle with some of the lousy lies you can get on a crappy golf course.

They won't make nearly as many putts due to the greens.

They'll get more odd bounces.

They'll make up for a lot of that with the shorter distances and lighter rough.

Claims that they'll all average 62 are, IMO, far-fetched.

I've noticed a lot of people who have played on higher end courses and/or tour courses have said something like "it wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be" and seem to shoot scores basically the same as they would on their home course because of the exceptional quality of the course and greens. I get very frustrated with how little most people care about keeping the course nice in my area. Also the sand traps at my courses I play tend to hold water and makes it very difficult to play anything out of them, I doubt you'll ever see such drainage issues on the courses the pros play.

[TourSpoon]

They'll struggle with some of the lousy lies you can get on a crappy golf course.

They won't make nearly as many putts due to the greens.

They'll get more odd bounces.

They'll make up for a lot of that with the shorter distances and lighter rough.

Claims that they'll all average 62 are, IMO, far-fetched.

These guys will get less than perfect lies for sure, but they have been playing the ball down as pros, in college and am events their entire lives. They will not struggle, but it will be more challenging. The shorter distances mean shorter irons which mean closer proximity to the hole. The greens are slower and typically hold better (most munis do not double cut and roll) so they will make just as many putts by getting it closer more often. Like you say in the last bullet, this makes up for the other 3 big time.

Will they average 62? No. Posting a 62 means that you are having a career putting day to go along with everything else. Will it happen, sure, but will it be an average score, no. There is nothing average about a 62 on any course that is in the 6800/72/135 range.

[Maddog10]

I think people underestimate how the good conditions on the PGA Tour allow for the scores they shoot. I think most PGA Tour players would be hard pressed to average 62 or lower so long as the course yardage isn't silly short.

My home course is silly short. It barely creeps over the 6,000 yard mark. They try to make up for the yardage with challenging rough and tough greens, but I really don't think they would offer much resistance to a top PGA pro. The greens do have a lot of undulation, but they are soft and the pros would be sticking it close with wedges on every hole they didn't drive. I play with a good friend of mine several times a week, who is a pro at the local/regional level, and he consistently shoots around 66. He also holds the course record with a 63. This guy is good, but he's nowhere even near the level of the players that we are talking about.

I think the field would be hard pressed to average 62, but I think the top guys could do it. Soft greens and short yardage is a recipe for a low score... However, you may have a point that they could struggle on the greens since they are not nearly the caliber that the pros are used to putting on. This could raise the scores a bit.

[colin007]

My home course is silly short. It barely creeps over the 6,000 yard mark. They try to make up for the yardage with challenging rough and tough greens, but I really don't think they would offer much resistance to a top PGA pro. The greens do have a lot of undulation, but they are soft and the pros would be sticking it close with wedges on every hole they didn't drive. I play with a good friend of mine several times a week, who is a pro at the local/regional level, and he consistently shoots around 66. He also holds the course record with a 63. This guy is good, but he's nowhere even near the level of the players that we are talking about.

I think the field would be hard pressed to average 62, but I think the top guys could do it. Soft greens and short yardage is a recipe for a low score... However, you may have a point that they could struggle on the greens since they are not nearly the caliber that the pros are used to putting on. This could raise the scores a bit.

so he consistently shoots only 3 strokes off the course record?  that doesnt make sense...

[Maddog10]

so he consistently shoots only 3 strokes off the course record?  that doesnt make sense...

Logical or not, it's true. I mean 66 is a good round for him, but every time we play he seems to be between 66-68. I guess maybe I should have said 67? Sure, he has bad rounds (70ish), but his good rounds are close to the record. It may sound strange, but as I'm sure you know, there is a big difference in 3 shots at that level. Also, he just set the course record this year so it's not like it's a long-standing record that he consistently plays close to without ever breaking.

Regardless, my point is that my home course is really short and quite easy for a + handicap player. He's very good, but he can't hold a candle to the top players in the world. For that reason, I think it's reasonable to believe that they could average somewhere in the 62 range. Granted, he's better at his home course than anywhere else so the gap between him and a PGA pro would be less than it would be at any other course, but he's still not going to beat a Tiger or Phil or any top level pro.

[Wally Fairway]

2 stories:

- I have a cousin who was a club pro, and he played occasionally with us regular schmucks - typically from the blues, and he would shoot in the high 60's. When we'd ask him what he thought tour players would shoot he said probably about the same but if they were playing from the tips.

- There is a local guy who has tried to make the tour several times, made it through Q-school 1 time but hasn't been able to stick on any tour (PGA, Web/Nationwide, Hooters...in a radio interview a couple of years ago he was asked this question by the local sports host & his answer was that every par 5 on the best local course would be a par 4 to the tour guys, that they would be hitting no more than 9 irons & probably wedges into almost all the par 4's and that the majority of the guys on tour would shoot mid 60's and there would be several at 60 or 61, maybe lower if the putter got hot.

These guys are so long, and so good with a wedge that without rough up to your shoe tops, greens that stimp at 12+ and pins tucked in corners or ledges they are able to get reasonable birdie putts on 50% or more of the holes....and the score will just depend on how good they are that day with the flat stick.

[RayG]

I would also assume that while some folks here are using their "Club" as a base point, most others are basing their opinions on that local muni with 1 or 2 guys with lawnmowers, and a 40 year old green mower (the machine, not the guy mowing). The pro would certainly do better at a "club" type of environment since their upkeep is probably miles above that muni. The members make sure of that. A town muni is kept up based on how much they can afford with SOME input from the people and the 'pro'. They can only do so much with so little.

[braincramp]

Our local course is pretty tough even at only 6600 yards from the tips.Small elevated greens make it tricky. If a tour pro played a practice round he would have no problem shooting low 60's.They would be hitting driver, 9 iron into most of our par 5's.