Playing a course for the first time

[Moxley]

Howdy, 

I am due to play a mini tournament next Friday playing a course I haven't played before. I normally play with this group on a familiar course and rely on my history of the course to really help me out ( I play it a lot), and would have like to practise this new course, but I don't think I'll get the chance. 

Of course, I can use a course plan and also satellite , but other than highlight hazards I don't find they help much. They can't tell you how long the grass is. 

So, i'm after tips for how people to play a course you haven't played before, what to look for to give you cues. 

A few of my own :

 - Look for yardage markers to guage distance

- Check stroke index, if hole is a difficult hole but looks easy, proceed with caution.

- Don't gamble on landing in rough until you've got a feel for its length/playability

-  Give extra time to get to the green to assess slope when playing short pitch shots

 

Any other thoughts?

 

 

[dennyjones]

Get a feel for the greens.   I've played about 29 different courses this year and the difference in green speed is alarming.  Take enough time to get the bead, read and speed correct.  

[scotth]

A couple of things you might want to try:

• See if you can find a Facebook page for that course and post something on the timeline.   State that you are looking to talk to a member that plays the course for some local knowledge.  
• Go to trip advisor or some other review sites and see what other first timers have said about course.  Can often find holes comments that might alert you to things that  on a hole that trip people up.
• Some resort courses have yardage books that you can find on eBay that have all kinds of insider knowledge.

[David in FL]

Grab stick, hit ball.  Rinse and repeat for 18 holes.

Have fun.  

 

[mcanadiens]

I agree with @David in FL, but one bit of information I like to have is the condition of the traps.

The public courses I tend to play run the gamut from decent sand to no sand at all. It's nice to know how much of a penalty those traps figure to be and how aggressive you want to be as a result.

 

[Patch]

I love playing courses for the first time. It's the unknown, that will tell me just how good (or poor) my game really is. 

Greens are the important info for me. I will try some putts on the practice greens, but rely on the first couple of course greens for my final info. After that, I just look for good landing spots to support my next shot, while on my way to those . 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Patch

[NJpatbee]

If you can get a scorecard take note of the difficulty rating for each hole.  Also, distance does not tell the whole story so if you can find any information on elevation changes and hazards that may help.  My home course is just over 5600 from the whites but I have trouble getting friends and family to play because they say it is too difficult of a course.  I also do not recommend any side bets with members of the course since they know the course like you know your home course. Other than that and the good advice above just have some fun!

[Runnin]

Take dead aim on tee shots to the middle of the fairway and forget everything else. (Little Red Book)

Stay below the hole almost always, especially if greens are big and fast, even if that means missing short on some wedges.  For me, a short chip uphill is preferable to a long, downhill putt. 

Playing a new course tomorrow.  Will I follow my own advice???

Edited September 22, 2017 by Runnin

[Yukari]

I always make it a point to buy a yardage book (if available) when I play the course for the first time.  Since many courses now have onscreen GPS, it sort of defeats having a yardage book, but I still buy one on a new course as they tend to give more information on the greens, e.g., which way it slopes, the length and the width of the green, etc.

In addition, as many have said above, knowing the speed of the green is very important.

[woodzie264]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 8:32 AM, David in FL said:

Grab stick, hit ball.  Rinse and repeat for 18 holes.

Have fun.  

 

same - probably the only reason why I'm not on Tour

[Kalnoky]

Don't try to carry the hazards unless you can do it comfortably. There could be some bad lies on the other side. The pictures in the scorecard/yardage book are sometimes a bit off or not to scale. You just don't know until you've played it the course a few times.