Report

On Saturday I played a short (~5900yds) but narrow course that has some quirky holes and very mature trees. Shot a 34-34 for a 68 on a par 71 which tied my lowest score relative to par at -3 (all time lowest round is a 67 on a par 70) and set my new record for most birdies in a round with 6.  That included a penalty stroke bogey on a par 5 and another sloppy bogey from 125 in the middle of the fairway. Hit a wedge from 110 to a foot on a par 4 and a knockdown flighted 9 iron from 140 to 2 feet on a par 3 for easy birdies. Add in driving it greenside on a par 4 and a couple tap in birdies on par 5s and it was a good day. Also helps that I made every putt inside 10 feet and only ended up with 27 putts for the round.  This is the SG compared to scratch and that includes losing 1.01 strokes approach on the 1st hole when I sliced a 5 iron into a hazard. 

Gotcha, yeah it's hard to tell from single aerial pictures what the rough is like. From that picture everything on the right just looks like traditional rough, not necessarily fescue. But that makes sense now.

I mean maybe? Or maybe they just aren't playing frequently enough to stay super sharp.  Just because they don't put up good results doesn't mean they aren't trying/practicing.

Left is all lateral hazard, yea. Half the fairway slopes left towards it. You can kind of make out the mow line where the rough ends on the right and the fescue begins, which lines the entire hole. And now that the fescue is grown in, it’s just pure luck finding a ball in it. The hole plays narrower than it appears. I don’t mind hitting 7 iron or something into this green. It’s fairly large with a wide collection area short. And I’m apparently much better out of a fairway bunker than I give myself credit for. I think avoiding a big number is a much higher priority than trying to shoot a low one. It’s the #2 handicap hole on this nine.

There are a couple of local courses that would qualify for US Open qualifiers.    The Flint Elks Club was used as a qualifier for the Buick Open back in the day and plays 6900+.  It can be challenging for elite golfers if they let the rough grow.   I believe Fred Couples has the course record at 63. The other course that could be used for a US qualifier is Sugarbush in Davison.  If they left the rough long it would challenge any golfer.  It plays 7283 from the tips with a rating of 75.9 / 147.  It was voted one of the best public courses in Michigan recently.