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Played with a +2.5 this weekend


tdiii
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I've played with several scratch and 1-2 index players, but this was a whole different level.  Former Div. 1 scholarship athlete who qualified for and played a year on the Canadian Tour almost 10 years ago.  Has since regained amateur status, plays only once a month, and still maintains a +2.5 index (made up mostly of tourney scores).  The length was absurd.  Some examples:  after the drive he had 280 yards uphill on a par 5, hits 3 wood to the fringe; 425 yard par 4, 60 yards for second; 435 yard par 4, 65 yards for second; 383 par 4 (downhill) he drove it to the apron 5 yards short of the green.  I hit a great drive (for me) on a par 5 and he was 15 yards past me -- except he hit from the tees which were 35 yards behind mine.  Another guy at this event, who played at UNLV with Justin Leonard, said he was the longest player he'd ever played with. 

Fun to watch.  But humbling.  Particularly when you think about the chasm between a player of that skill and a PGA pro. 

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41 minutes ago, tdiii said:

I've played with several scratch and 1-2 index players, but this was a whole different level.  Former Div. 1 scholarship athlete who qualified for and played a year on the Canadian Tour almost 10 years ago.  Has since regained amateur status, plays only once a month, and still maintains a +2.5 index (made up mostly of tourney scores).  The length was absurd.  Some examples:  after the drive he had 280 yards uphill on a par 5, hits 3 wood to the fringe; 425 yard par 4, 60 yards for second; 435 yard par 4, 65 yards for second; 383 par 4 (downhill) he drove it to the apron 5 yards short of the green.  I hit a great drive (for me) on a par 5 and he was 15 yards past me -- except he hit from the tees which were 35 yards behind mine.  Another guy at this event, who played at UNLV with Justin Leonard, said he was the longest player he'd ever played with. 

Fun to watch.  But humbling.  Particularly when you think about the chasm between a player of that skill and a PGA pro. 

Impressive, but I think if you look at Game Golf (GPS) distances he would probably be hitting shorter than the your quoted distances. The rated distances of the holes are not a good gauge to go by for driving distance.

By the way, I found your brother's ball. :-D

image.jpeg

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Justin Leonard played at Texas, maybe you're thinking of Ryan Moore?

In my Bag: Driver: Titelist 913 D3 9.5 deg. 3W: TaylorMade RBZ 14.5 3H: TaylorMade RBZ 18.5 4I - SW: TaylorMade R7 TP LW: Titelist Vokey 60 Putter: Odyssey 2-Ball

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Actually, played against Leonard; my bad.  

 

7 hours ago, Lihu said:

Impressive, but I think if you look at Game Golf (GPS) distances he would probably be hitting shorter than the your quoted distances. The rated distances of the holes are not a good gauge to go by for driving distance.

By the way, I found your brother's ball. :-D

image.jpeg

Good find!  He was cutting off dog legs on most of those, but his standard carry distance is 300 yards.  The 383 yard par 4 was straight away, if down hill.  Feel free to be skeptical -- everyone who played with him over the weekend (a 5 round tourney) saw the same kind of stuff. 

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35 minutes ago, tdiii said:

He was cutting off dog legs on most of those, but his standard carry distance is 300 yards.  The 383 yard par 4 was straight away, if down hill.  Feel free to be skeptical -- everyone who played with him over the weekend (a 5 round tourney) saw the same kind of stuff. 

Not skeptical at all, 300+ carry is very impressive. Just the hole yardages are not accurate for the reasons you already outlined.

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"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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10 hours ago, tdiii said:

I've played with several scratch and 1-2 index players, but this was a whole different level.  Former Div. 1 scholarship athlete who qualified for and played a year on the Canadian Tour almost 10 years ago.  Has since regained amateur status, plays only once a month, and still maintains a +2.5 index (made up mostly of tourney scores).  The length was absurd.  Some examples:  after the drive he had 280 yards uphill on a par 5, hits 3 wood to the fringe; 425 yard par 4, 60 yards for second; 435 yard par 4, 65 yards for second; 383 par 4 (downhill) he drove it to the apron 5 yards short of the green.  I hit a great drive (for me) on a par 5 and he was 15 yards past me -- except he hit from the tees which were 35 yards behind mine.  Another guy at this event, who played at UNLV with Justin Leonard, said he was the longest player he'd ever played with. 

Fun to watch.  But humbling.  Particularly when you think about the chasm between a player of that skill and a PGA pro. 

Go Rebels!  Class of 1999. 

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1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Just the hole yardages are not accurate for the reasons you already outlined.

How do you know that the hole yardages aren't accurate?  He didn't say whether or not the yardages he gave on his examples were from the scorecard or from that day, nor did he do the math.  Meaning, he didn't say "425 yard par 4, 60 yards for second, therefore his drive was 365 yards."

You're making assumptions.  You should be careful before telling somebody they are wrong.

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57 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

300 carry is monsterous. Thats like Jason Day or Dustin Johnson type stuff there... 

 

Yup.  The only thing I've ever seen like it was when I stood right behind the tee on a par 5 at Harding Park during the Amex Championship won by Tiger over Daly.  I saw Tiger and Daly bomb it there, but the guy who demolished his tee shot was Cabrera -- and this guy's ball flight was the same moon shot trajectory except he plays a draw not a fade. 

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4 minutes ago, tdiii said:

Yup.  The only thing I've ever seen like it was when I stood right behind the tee on a par 5 at Harding Park during the Amex Championship won by Tiger over Daly.  I saw Tiger and Daly bomb it there, but the guy who demolished his tee shot was Cabrera -- and this guy's ball flight was the same moon shot trajectory except he plays a draw not a fade. 

I just cant relate to being able to hit a golfball that far. Its a different game for those types of people. 

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Played with two pros last week. What was most noticeable was (i) the speed at which they played, straight over the ball and gone (ii) distance wise they weren't amazing but hitting fairways and into greens, chipping close etc seemed second nature. One was more aggressive in terms of tactics, one was completely risk averse.

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Just now, Lazarus said:

Played with two pros last week. What was most noticeable was (i) the speed at which they played, straight over the ball and gone (ii) distance wise they weren't amazing but hitting fairways and into greens, chipping close etc seemed second nature. One was more aggressive in terms of tactics, one was completely risk averse.

Funny you mention pace of play.  He played pretty quickly too and mentioned that he had not really liked college golf because rounds often took 6 hours.  Guys just grinding over everything. 

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1 hour ago, Golfingdad said:

How do you know that the hole yardages aren't accurate?  He didn't say whether or not the yardages he gave on his examples were from the scorecard or from that day, nor did he do the math.  Meaning, he didn't say "425 yard par 4, 60 yards for second, therefore his drive was 365 yards."

I was just cautioning against others from making a similar assumption that the person was making 365 yard drives all day. . .

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12 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

Played with two pros last week. What was most noticeable was (i) the speed at which they played, straight over the ball and gone (ii) distance wise they weren't amazing but hitting fairways and into greens, chipping close etc seemed second nature. One was more aggressive in terms of tactics, one was completely risk averse.

I can relate.  I played a few weeks ago with a teaching pro, about 27 or 28, not big and not long by pro standards, although much longer than me.  He played at Rice and plays the mini-tours now but can't quite crack that barrier.  

Anyway, what struck me was the sound on his tee shots, whether driver or 3W, the speed at which his balls left the club, and the trajectory on every shot.  It was an impressive display, I think he shot 1 over and really was just out there playing grab-ass golf with us, i.e., not trying.  

It's a different game for some.

In my Bag: Driver: Titelist 913 D3 9.5 deg. 3W: TaylorMade RBZ 14.5 3H: TaylorMade RBZ 18.5 4I - SW: TaylorMade R7 TP LW: Titelist Vokey 60 Putter: Odyssey 2-Ball

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Two guys in our men's league/weekend group hover between +1 & 0.  Neither are the longest hitters I have ever played with, but they always make solid contact.  They are both outstanding with wedges and I have never seen one of them three putt.  Both played Div 1 golf and learned a long time ago to let the bad shots/missed putts go.  They are fun to watch and I really enjoy listening to the sound of the ball off the club. 

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The big question is: was he able to shoot a 63 with his eyes closed?

In my UnderArmour Links stand bag...

Driver: '07 Burner 9.5° (stiff graphite shaft)
Woods: SasQuatch 17° 4-Wood (stiff graphite shaft)
Hybrid: 4DX Ironwood 20° (stiff graphite shaft)Irons/Wedges: Apex Edge 3-PW, GW, SW (stiff shaft); Carnoustie 60° LWPutter: Rossa AGSI+ Corzina...

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There was this guy who used to play at a club I used to belong to . he was probably mid 20's.  He always was playing by himself with an older guy who I figured was his coach.  I played behind them a time or 2 and it was ridiculous how good this guy was.  The length, too, was absurd.  The 18th hole is a downhill par 4 - 406 from the tips and 372 from the regular tees.  I'm not exactly sure what the distance was that day - somewhere in between - but I saw him drive the green while I was on the 17th.   

I found out later, from another member, that he tried to make it on what was then the Nationwide Tour and didn't have any luck.  So far, that's as close as I've come to greatness, lol . .that day on the 17th when I saw him drive the green. 

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On 5/25/2016 at 11:36 AM, tdiii said:

Yup.  The only thing I've ever seen like it was when I stood right behind the tee on a par 5 at Harding Park during the Amex Championship won by Tiger over Daly.  I saw Tiger and Daly bomb it there, but the guy who demolished his tee shot was Cabrera -- and this guy's ball flight was the same moon shot trajectory except he plays a draw not a fade. 

Reminds me of something I saw at Firestone. I was following Bubba Watson. There's a hole that is something like 487 or 497, par 4, dogleg right. At the bend of the dogleg it runs downhill to a pond with the green beyond. At the inside corner of the dogleg is a grove of enormous, old oaks at least 80 feet tall. What does Bubba, being a lefty, do? He just swats his drive over the tops of those oaks, and it wasn't even close! I almost crapped my pants!  When we walked down there, he had a little flip wedge of about 100 yards to the green.

On 5/25/2016 at 1:14 PM, Gunther said:

I can relate.  I played a few weeks ago with a teaching pro, about 27 or 28, not big and not long by pro standards, although much longer than me.  He played at Rice and plays the mini-tours now but can't quite crack that barrier.  

Anyway, what struck me was the sound on his tee shots, whether driver or 3W, the speed at which his balls left the club, and the trajectory on every shot.  It was an impressive display, I think he shot 1 over and really was just out there playing grab-ass golf with us, i.e., not trying.  

It's a different game for some.

It's kind of the same thing when you just begin golf and can't follow the ball flight of players who are better than you. Then, once I'd been playing a while and went out to watch the pros, it took a while before I could follow their ball flight. The ball gets small in a big hurry when a pro hits it! And, yes, the sound is different, even today. Although I do kind of miss the days of persimmon woods and balata balls. A tee shot then would crack like a 30.06 rifle going off!

Reminds me of something that Bobby Jones said about Nicklaus at the Masters. "He plays a game with which I am unfamiliar!"

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