Unpopular opinions you have about golf?

[mvmac]

A golf course doesn't have to be a lush field of green in order for it to be a "good course". I think most golf courses should adopt this style of design. Saves a lot of money on water, maintenance and I love the way it looks. 

 

[Hacker James]

yah, me too Mac...the course I talked about a few weeks back "Boulder Oaks" is like that. They put in large waste areas in front of some of the tees. Greens are pristine too, fairways mostly newly planted.

[chilepepper]

Agreed on the wall to wall green. Particularly in SoCal......Carmel Mtn Ranch went through a similar redesign. It plays the same but sure saves on water and mowing time. The " look" is more interesting to my eye too

[Buckeyebowman]

8 hours ago, Hacker James said:

I am not much bothered by first tee jitters, but if waved through a hole, I really feel the pressure. Nothing like being waved through a hole and then look like a hack (even though I am one).

Oddly enough, neither am I. In those instances I usually hit a good drive. For instance, I was very nervous on the first tee at the TST outing at Eagle Creek this past August. Especially with iacas there with his iPhone making a video of us!

I like your example. The only reason your pushing the group in front is because you're a "better" golfer, right? It couldn't possibly be because some of them are having a bad day!

Here's another one. There's nothing like making the group behind you on a par 5 wait because you've busted a really good drive, and have decided to "go for it" in 2! They won't tee off, even though they don't have a hope in Hell of reaching you, because they are courteous, even though you know they are bitching like crazy! Especially if the group in front of you seems to have a million dollars bet on their round and are REALLY taking their time.

No better scenario for screwing up an approach than that!

[JonMA1]

19 hours ago, mvmac said:

A golf course doesn't have to be a lush field of green in order for it to be a "good course". I think most golf courses should adopt this style of design. Saves a lot of money on water, maintenance and I love the way it looks. 

I would think courses like the one you've shown might be something we'll all have to get used to - or at least a future generation of golfers. If given a choice, I'd play a course like that any day. It's not like an errant shot is an automatic lost ball, just that it's a tougher lie. Looks like a beautiful course.

A bit off-topic...

Spoiler

 

GolfCourse.pdf

While this 9 hole course design takes that conservation idea to the extreme, the idea is to use a minimal area for fairways and thus minimal irrigation and maintenance. The rest of the course would be made up of native grasses requiring little or no irrigation and mowed only to the point where one could easily find his or her ball and still be left with a reasonable shot.

 

 

[mcanadiens]

22 hours ago, mvmac said:

 

A golf course doesn't have to be a lush field of green in order for it to be a "good course". I think most golf courses should adopt this style of design. Saves a lot of money on water, maintenance and I love the way it looks. 

 

Lush fields of green generally are more conducive to allowing me to hit a half decent shot. That said, I'd take the waste areas over trees, water or sand any day of the week.

[Buckeyebowman]

Yes, I've played some courses that were WAY too lush! Many years ago I went to play Windmill Lakes, an Edward Ault design near Ravenna, Ohio that is the home of the Kent State University golf team, and hosts qualifying matches for the USGA Publinx Championship. A beautiful track.

This was during one of the hottest, driest Augusts on record, and I had drives hitting the fairway and jumping back a foot or two, leaving a ball mark in the fairway! Much like it does around here in say, March or April! Golfers around here live for high Summer when the courses dry out and we can actually get some roll!

I understand that the greenkeeper didn't want the course to burn out, but there's a right amount of water to put on it!

I have noticed that a lot of courses have stopped mowing areas if they really aren't in play. That's doesn't stop some people from bitching. My buddy was doing that one day when he missed a green 40 yards right, easy! Not his normal deal, BTW. It was all waist high weeds, and he was raging about the lack of upkeep. I finally had enough and said, "John! Look where you wound up and look where the green is! You're not supposed to hit the ball over here!"

[Strandly]

On 12/19/2016 at 11:12 AM, Blackjack Don said:

Once in awhile even I can hit a shot that is as good as a pro on tour can it. It's an accident, but thinking I can do that every time is a whole lot worse than keeping score. I've played a lot where I didn't even write down what I shot. It wasn't important. But every time I get up to the tee, or pitch, or putt, I am thinking of doing it like a pro. Perhaps that is fooling myself. Perhaps I should be hitting the shots I can hit and leaving the ones I can't to the practice range. It's seeing the pros do it, looking down at the score card and seeing a four where I should be happy with a five, maybe even a six. It's making it lots and lots harder than it should be.

I guess it's not that hard because lots of people are doing it badly and aren't stopping. Other things that are hard, they stop. Not golf.  Maybe it's that elusive shot that we can make like Phil.

Nah, people don't stop playing because of where it's played.  If golf had any other "court" than a manicured open space on a sunny day then yeah I think people would quit it in a heartbeat.

[saevel25]

The people who hit a 180 yard drive, and they have 250 yards in and they re waiting for the green to clear. 

On 12/24/2016 at 0:57 PM, mvmac said:

A golf course doesn't have to be a lush field of green in order for it to be a "good course". I think most golf courses should adopt this style of design. Saves a lot of money on water, maintenance and I love the way it looks. 

I agree. It's the reason why Pinehurst is probably my favorite golfing location I've been to so far. 

 

 

[Gunther]

12 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

 

I agree. It's the reason why Pinehurst is probably my favorite golfing location I've been to so far. 

 

 

It's good if the terrain and/or conditions complement it.  Don't force it.  My club uses 1MM gallons a day on the course in the summer.  Replenishable, totally necessary for the course Jack built.  

Love the waste areas on the coast or in the desert but no need to create it where it isn't natural.  Let topography be your guide when designing a golf course, which I think most do.

[saevel25]

2 minutes ago, Gunther said:

 Replenishable, totally necessary for the course Jack built.  

Who knows? Maybe they just do it because they can. 

3 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Love the waste areas on the coast or in the desert but no need to create it where it isn't natural. 

No one said that. The whole point of Pinehurst #2, and subsequently other courses in that area, was to let the natural terrain be present. So you got it right with your next sentence. 

[JonMA1]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

The whole point of Pinehurst #2, and subsequently other courses in that area, was to let the natural terrain be present.

My practice area is a field that never gets watered and is mowed once every week or two. It's patchy, sandy and uneven. Still, I'm able to practice on it.

I don't know much about Pinehurst #2 or any other course of that caliber, but my point is that even a hack like me doesn't need giant fairways from tee to green to advance the ball. Obviously, the idea would be to hit fairways and the first cut, but I don't think having more natural grasses or terrain surrounding smaller fairways would be that bad for the game.

[chilepepper]

I guess my unpopular opinion is that metal spikes are/ were never a problem. I see more scuffed up greens by folks using plastic claw spikes than I ever saw back in the 80's when I was in the maintenance side of the business.

[14ledo81]

On 12/27/2016 at 10:14 PM, saevel25 said:

No one said that. The whole point of Pinehurst #2, and subsequently other courses in that area, was to let the natural terrain be present. So you got it right with your next sentence. 

Actually, he just did.....

[GLFTPS]

For all he says about speeding up the game, Jack Nicklaus is the single most cause of slow play in the modern era. Golf was not a slow game until he became famous on TV and took forever to play a shot.

[mcanadiens]

22 hours ago, GLFTPS said:

For all he says about speeding up the game, Jack Nicklaus is the single most cause of slow play in the modern era. Golf was not a slow game until he became famous on TV and took forever to play a shot.

I was actually thumbing through an old copy of Golf Digest that had an interview with Jack. He admitted how slow he was.

[StefanUrkel]

Thought I would update this with one: Odds are, Your purchase you made recently of golf clubs wasnt the correct choice

[uitar9]

Talking about speed of play, Folks who spend 5 minutes looking for a ball without their clubs in close proximity. Should be a law