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2017 U.S. Open Qualifier


Pretzel
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CommonGround is one of my favorite courses in the Denver area. It has three primary defenses - length, thick native grass if you are wild, and huge, undulated greens. The greens could be really tough if they get them running fast. They're not insane with the undulation, but you're definitely going to work to avoid 3 putts if you it in the wrong spot. 

I played it all way back once when it was about 35 degrees out, and the greens are so large that it's still possible to hit them consistently with long irons. This looks like it's about 200 yards longer than what the normal tips are.

The good news is that none of the par 3s are overly tricky. 6 is over water, and they could put the pin in a spot that will make a 2 virtually impossible. 14 is visually tricky and really undulated. You really have to be careful where you leave your ball off the tee.

The par 5s are all really straightforward. You could have some water in play on 11 behind the green. A back pin could be a dangerous one to fire at there. There's not much of a trick to the rest of them.

The par 4s are mostly just long. There's a few holes where you have to think a bit, but it's mostly just hit a driver and put it in the fairway. 15 is pretty tough, because there's a deep bunker that's on your ideal line that you can easily end up in. If you carry it, you get a 9 iron into the green. If you're in it, it's a pitch out. 5 has hazard all along the left side. They must be playing 4 way back, because where the tees are normally, you can easily end up with a 50-75 yard approach shot with an aggressive line. 

Mostly the holes are just long. Keep it out of the native, and you should be able to avoid too much trouble. Good luck!

Edited by DeadMan

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

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3 hours ago, Shooting29 said:

@Pretzel, what is the course charging you for a practice round? The course hosting my qualifier is charging $125 which I felt was pretty extreme. I've played many qualifier practice rounds at both public and private and I've never been charged more than $40.

All practice rounds cost $45 for my greens fee, $18 for a cart fee (if you take one), and $6 for range fees. They essentially give you CGA member pricing for your practice rounds. 

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Good luck to you. I'm looking forward to seeing how things turn out.

Tristan Hilton

My Equipment: 
PXG 0211 Driver (Diamana S+ 60; 10.5°) · PXG 0211 FWs (Diamana S+ 60; 15° and 21°) · PXG 0211 Hybrids (MMT 80; 22°, 25°, and 28°) · PXG 0311P Gen 2 Irons (SteelFiber i95; 7-PW) · Edel Wedges (KBS Hi-Rev; 50°, 55°, 60°) · Edel Classic Blade Putter (32") · Vice Pro or Maxfli Tour · Pinned Prism Rangefinder · Star Grips · Flightscope Mevo · TRUE Linkswear Shoes · Sun Mountain C130S Bag

On my MacBook Pro:
Analyzr Pro

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On 5/8/2017 at 0:21 AM, Pretzel said:

All practice rounds cost $45 for my greens fee, $18 for a cart fee (if you take one), and $6 for range fees. They essentially give you CGA member pricing for your practice rounds. 

For us in Indiana it's usually $40 for the state events.

In my bag:

Taylormade R11S Driver
Taylormade RBZ 3-wood
Nike VRS Irons 4-9
SM4 Titleist Vokey Wedges 47, 54, 58
College freshman playing golf at Wabash College in Indiana!

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Good luck to you guys. That's a long day of golf. I played in a couple years ago and it was a 5 hour round of golf. The waiting actually wore me out before the course did. I shot a smooth little 77 and never even came close! :dance:

My bag:

Taylor Made R7 (x-stiff).
Taylor Made Burner 2 irons (stiff)
Cleveland Wedges (gap and 60)
Odyssey two ball putter (white) 

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4 hours ago, JetFan1983 said:

Tony Romo didn't make it thru with a 75 yesterday. Sounds like he's enjoying his golf though.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19337798/follow-2017-us-open-qualifying-round-live-golf-dallas-cowboys

I love that he tried though. He's a very good golfer. It'll be interesting to see what he tries to do with his game.

In my bag:

Taylormade R11S Driver
Taylormade RBZ 3-wood
Nike VRS Irons 4-9
SM4 Titleist Vokey Wedges 47, 54, 58
College freshman playing golf at Wabash College in Indiana!

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12 hours ago, MasonAsher2014 said:

For us in Indiana it's usually $40 for the state events.

 

On Monday, May 08, 2017 at 0:21 AM, Pretzel said:

All practice rounds cost $45 for my greens fee, $18 for a cart fee (if you take one), and $6 for range fees. They essentially give you CGA member pricing for your practice rounds. 

 

On Sunday, May 07, 2017 at 9:26 PM, phillyk said:

I haven't been charged in the past for practice rounds of qualifiers. At most maybe $40 like you said. $125 for practice is ridiculous. 

Ok, thank you for the info. I knew I wasn't out of line thinking $125 was an exorbitant amount. Many private clubs I have played practice rounds at have had no fee if you walked and a nominal fee to take a cart.

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Love this post´s, even more if you tell us all that happens arround it, before and after the Qualifier.
Will be waiting for more updates !!

Been a Qualifier and a long course i would definitivly aim all my shots to the middle of the green (fat part) in order to avoid all green side troubles. Long courses generally are not that penal on tee shots.

Because you are short on time for practice i would suggest you to focus your trainning on:
- Driver: you will hit a lot this club on a long course like this.
- Long irons: in par 4´s a 3´s you will hit a lot of this to the green, even a few on short par 5.
- Long and short putts: big greens + lot´s long irons = lots of long putts = A lot of 3-10 footer to save par.

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5 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

Good luck to you guys. That's a long day of golf. I played in a couple years ago and it was a 5 hour round of golf. The waiting actually wore me out before the course did. I shot a smooth little 77 and never even came close! :dance:

Unfortunately I have gotten used to rounds in the 5+ hour range due to how ridiculous some of the junior tournaments used to get. Five or six years ago, before the local tours started really pressing the pace of play issue, I played a 7 hour round in a tournament. My group got yelled at for being "out of position" as we walked off a green even though there were 2 groups waiting on the next teebox. It was an absolute nightmare, and because I didn't wear sunscreen on a hot day in Pueblo I fried to a crisp too.

I expect it to be a longer round, but that's okay so long as my playing partners and/or caddie (if I find one) aren't all stoic and silent the whole time.

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It's obviously long but don't forget that at those elevations the ball does travel significantly further. I've heard as much as 10%.

"Witty golf quote."

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(edited)
2 hours ago, Aguirre said:

It's obviously long but don't forget that at those elevations the ball does travel significantly further. I've heard as much as 10%.

It's not quite that large of a difference, from my experience, because of how dry Colorado is compared to everywhere else. Humidity makes the ball fly further since water vapor is less dense than the (mostly) nitrogen air it displaces. I found that, for me personally comparing between golfing in Puerto Rico/Michigan and Colorado, it's about half a club difference. So instead of a 7 iron, it might be a 3/4 6 iron. For wedge shots the difference wasn't very noticeable, simply because the ball is traveling through less air in the first place. 

That said, it does mean the course doesn't play quite as long as it may seem at first glance. To me it doesn't seem like too outlandish a number at all, because courses like Colorado National have tees that are 7676 yards long (without trying to trick the course out for a qualifier). Heritage at Westmoor, from what I heard, played to nearly 7,800 yards in the qualifier they held there a year or two ago compared to their standard tips of 7,370. 

I would say it's definitely not a 10% difference because this course will not play even close to the same distance as a 6,685 yard course would at sea level. I think this would most closely correspond to a course somewhere between 7,000 and 7,100 yards yards played at sea level with the high humidity.

Edited by Pretzel
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Rough is going to be juicy after 5 days of rain. They probably won't be able to mow until Sunday, maybe Saturday.

Dave :-)

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  • Administrator
On 5/7/2017 at 10:32 PM, DeadMan said:

CommonGround is one of my favorite courses in the Denver area.

I met one of the main guys at CommonGround at my national course rating seminar in Daytona Beach a month or two ago (March).

Cool.

Good luck.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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  • iacas changed the title to 2017 U.S. Open Qualifier
13 minutes ago, iacas said:

I met one of the main guys at CommonGround at my national course rating seminar in Daytona Beach a month or two ago (March).

It's a really great course. It's great for both lower and high handicappers, since there's both not a lot of trouble, but enough course that it's not a birdie fest. Frankly, the pro shop has the best customer service of any public course I've played in the Denver area, too. It's in very good condition considering it gets a lot of play.

Don't know if he would have mentioned it or not, but the half of the course was shut down for almost a year because of flooding. It's actually pretty remarkable it was able to stay open after the amount of damage it took. They had to rebuild most of 9 holes, if I remember correctly.

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

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4 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

Rough is going to be juicy after 5 days of rain. They probably won't be able to mow until Sunday, maybe Saturday.

If they mow at all, that is. I expect it to be thick.

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good luck and have fun getting prepared this weekend.  I hope to play in one next year if my new job schedule allows me to focus on my game over the next year

 

Driver: :tmade: R11S (9 degree)
Woods: :tmade: R11 3 (15.5 degree) & 5 (19 degree)
Irons: :tmade: R11 4-AW
Wedges: :tmade: ATV 54 & 60 degree
Putter: :scotty_cameron: 2012 Newport 2
Ball: :titleist: ProV1
Rangefinder: :bushnell: Tour V2

 

 

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Good luck.

-Matt-

"does it still count as a hit fairway if it is the next one over"

DRIVER-Callaway FTiz__3 WOOD-Nike SQ Dymo 15__HYBRIDS-3,4,5 Adams__IRONS-6-PW Adams__WEDGES-50,55,60 Wilson Harmonized__PUTTER-Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

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Note: This thread is 2508 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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