Play 200

[MacDutch]

So the OP wants me to play 14 200y par 3's and 4 others that could be shorter (but could be as long)?

Not gonna do that. But wait, he wants me also to score four of them as par 5's and 10 of them as par 4's? You bet I'm not gonna do that.  

[Blackjack Don]

My next time out I'm going to try the +200 route. Play as if I hit the tee shot 200 yards, so a 440 from the back tees would be 220. The only problem with this most courses have a medallion at 200. It's simply a way to practice the second half of golf--after the tee shot. We don't get enough practice on the short game, pitching and putting. While I'm working to get the driver together, I'm gaining experience with the rest of the game. I've got four rounds in now, and it's actually quite a bit of fun. Thanks for the improvement. We'll see.

Best wishes.

[Phil McGleno]

  On 2/25/2017 at 4:40 PM, Blackjack Don said:

My next time out I'm going to try the +200 route. Play as if I hit the tee shot 200 yards, so a 440 from the back tees would be 220.

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240

  On 2/25/2017 at 4:40 PM, Blackjack Don said:

We don't get enough practice on the short game, pitching and putting.

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Most people practice that stuff too much.

I do not know why you do not just play a forward set of tees and hit the longest club you can hit pretty well off the tee.-Tee up a 5-iron and play from the red or forward tees or something. All of this monkeying with yardages is dumb IMO.

[David in FL]

  On 2/25/2017 at 7:42 PM, Phil McGleno said:

240

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We may have just found the problem with his "distance control"...

[mcanadiens]

It's a shame there aren't more proper par-3 courses around. Sure you can walk up any hole on a regulation course and score it however you want, but there's something to be said about teeing off from an actual tee box.

As far as practicing the short game goes, my number of putts in the average round would suggest otherwise. Maybe I could just count a 2-putt as soon as I hit the green and call it a hole. That would be a variation for you.

[Hacker James]

  On 2/25/2017 at 8:08 PM, mcanadiens said:

It's a shame there aren't more proper par-3 courses around. Sure you can walk up any hole on a regulation course and score it however you want, but there's something to be said about teeing off from an actual tee box.

As far as practicing the short game goes, my number of putts in the average round would suggest otherwise. Maybe I could just count a 2-putt as soon as I hit the green and call it a hole. That would be a variation for you.

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But then, that would take all the fun out of "thinking out of the box" rant.  (only teasing, Don -keep on doing what works for you).

[Lihu]

  On 2/26/2017 at 4:52 PM, Hacker James said:

But then, that would take all the fun out of "thinking out of the box" rant.  (only teasing, Don -keep on doing what works for you).

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My buddy tells me he is sometimes guilty of  "Thinking outside the brain"

 

[Hacker James]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:25 PM, Lihu said:

My buddy tells me he is sometimes guilty of  "Thinking outside the brain"

 

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play "nice" now...

[Lihu]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:26 PM, Hacker James said:

play "nice" now...

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Wasn't directing that at anyone, it's just that the phrase "thinking outside the box" makes me think of my friend telling me his version.

Every time I hear the phrase I think of the alternative version.

 

[Patch]

Nothing wrong with "thinking outside the box". Most really good ideas, that turn into standards, originate from non standard thinking. The golf game is no different. 

[Hacker James]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:37 PM, Patch said:

Nothing wrong with "thinking outside the box". Most really good ideas, that turn into standards, originate from non standard thinking. The golf game is no different. 

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paradigms are meant to be broken. One of my personal pet peeves is "conventional wisdom" which I consider an oxymoron.

[iacas]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:37 PM, Patch said:

Nothing wrong with "thinking outside the box". Most really good ideas, that turn into standards, originate from non standard thinking. The golf game is no different. 

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That doesn't mean every idea from "outside the box" is good.

[Lihu]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:58 PM, iacas said:

That doesn't mean every idea from "outside the box" is good.

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Yeah, because sometime the also come from outside the...

 

[Fourputt]

  On 2/23/2017 at 5:24 PM, Lihu said:

So, I was playing a slow course (Brookside 1) yesterday afternoon while waiting for my kids, and things moved along okay but suddenly came to a standstill at 13. So, I decided to jump a few holes after finishing 12 and found a single on 16 on the way out. I partnered with him and he asked me when I started and we determined that he started almost 3 hours ahead of me. His other 3 partners just left in a huff just before I joined him because it was so slow. They started at noon and it was almost 5:00pm at the start of 16. Well, I finished up 16 and drove up past 2 more groups to leave the course and found out who was slowing down play on 18. There were two duffers who basically advanced the ball about 20 yards at a time from about the 220 yard mark. In the time I was driving past them along the Rose Bowl path, I could see them hitting the ball three times between the two of them. It was like watching duffy polo ball advancement. I'd guess that they could probably tee off okay, but couldn't hit off the ground at all. They would have been better off just teeing off then walking their ball to the 100 yard marker and play from there.

Also, the two groups that were behind them were smiling to me in a very sympathetic manner as I passed them possibly thinking that I waited the entire day with them and was leaving in a "huff"?

Now, I'm not saying anything about the fact that they were playing a 7000+ yard course and should have played it forward on the shorter course 2 or even the executive at Scholl canyon. I'm not going to say that they should spend more time on the range to get a reasonable swing before playing. Finally, I'm not going to say that if they played from 150 yards on every hole that things would be better.

However, I am going to say that I think this example illustrates what happens if people play in a manner that makes the game more difficult for them. I think the proposal in the OP is one of those ideas that makes for potentially 6 hour rounds.

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  On 2/24/2017 at 5:05 PM, Lihu said:

The concept of starting off 200 yards from the green doesn't really help a higher handicap with anything.

What makes sense is playing 200 yards from the tee box, that at least works on a reasonable approach game and short game skills as if you drive 200 yards on average. That would give you an idea how you will score once you can drive the ball 200 yards on average.

If you are playing from the correct tees, most courses for us handicap golfers will not leave you an average approach of 200 yards.

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How can shortening a course result in slower play?  I fail to grasp your point.  Say that I have a foursome.  One guy is struggling with his driver.  The rest of us tee off and we all head up the fairway.  As we get near our drives, he drops and ball plays.  No time has been lost - in fact, we eliminated one tee shot so we got off the tee as if we were a threesome.  Now the 4 of us play in from 200 yards or wherever our other 3 tee shots ended up, and we move to the next hole.  No time lost, no 6 hour round.  I can't fathom why you would think it any different.

 

  On 2/23/2017 at 5:45 PM, cutchemist42 said:

Yeah sounds like they could. This course doesnt sell it as kids towards but as a quicker 18 with the walking still thrown in.

 

How much time is spent over all on tee shots (setup, practise swings,looking for tee shot) * 18 holes. 3 mins? 42 mins shaved off then.

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Just because they aren't hitting from the "established" tees doesn't mean that they aren't playing a tee shot.  The kids I've played with who move up into the fairway always tee up wherever they start from, so nothing has been saved except the added shots they would have taken playing a longer course.  

However, most people I play with can get off the tee faster than that.  For me, when it's my turn I take about 20 seconds.  We can usually be headed up the fairway in under 2 minutes from the first guy teeing his ball.

 

[Lihu]

  On 2/28/2017 at 5:03 PM, Fourputt said:

 

How can shortening a course result in slower play?  I fail to grasp your point.  Say that I have a foursome.  One guy is struggling with his driver.  The rest of us tee of and we all head up the fairway.  As we get near our drives, he drops a ball plays.  No time has been lost - in fact, we eliminated one tee shot so we got off the tee as if we were a threesome.  Now the 4 of us play in from 200 yards or wherever our 3 tee shots ended up, and we move to the next tee.  No time lost, no 6 hour round.  I can't fathom why you would think it any different.

 

Just because they aren't hitting from the "established" tees doesn't mean that they aren't playing a tee shot.  The kids I've played with who move up into the fairway always tee up wherever they start from, so nothing has been saved except the added shots they would have taken playing a longer course.  

However, most people I play with can get off the tee faster than that.  For me, when it's my turn I take about 20 seconds.  We can usually be headed up the fairway in under 2 minutes from the first guy teeing his ball.

 

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You know what? I assumed that he was hitting off the ground from 200 yards away from the green. My bad.

[MacDutch]

So try playing the hole from 200 feet in. That is also out of the box. But that is an other game than the game of golf.

If you want to shorten the hole, thats ok, play it from the forward tees. But playing a par 5 from 200y? Thats not golf in my book.