Would You Play A Tough Course?

[Patch]

As an amateur, would you pass up playing on a course, if you knew that course was a tough one?

I wouldn't. I have two courses that I know will shame me, and my game to no end. Spyglass, and Rockwood will rip me up. There's a couple at Bandon that are not easy for me. That said, I still want to play them when ever I get a  chance. For me, these tougher courses are my ultimate challenges in my golf game. 

The golf course will always beat the golfer. By how much is up to the golfer's talent level. 

I have a buddy who won't play a couple of courses in Vegas due how tough they play. His reasoning? It's a waste of time, and money to have course beat him up. 

[krupa]

I don't think difficulty would bother me as much as cost. If I knew it was a tough course, I simply wouldn't keep score and pick up after I reached say double or triple-bogey.

[HJJ003]

3 minutes ago, Patch said:

As an amateur, would you pass up playing on a course, if you knew that course was a tough one?

I wouldn't. I have two courses that I know will shame me, and my game to no end. Spyglass, and Rockwood will rip me up. There's a couple at Bandon that are not easy for me. That said, I still want to play them when ever I get a  chance. For me, these tougher courses are my ultimate challenges in my golf game. 

The golf course will always beat the golfer. By how much is up to the golfer's talent level. 

I have a buddy who won't play a couple of courses in Vegas due how tough they play. His reasoning? It's a waste of time, and money to have course beat him up. 

No, I would not pass on the course because of its difficulty. If it is so difficult that I would fear not playing well...then why not tee it forward? Or why play stroke play when you and a buddy can just do match play or something? I like the challenge of difficult courses, as much as I love the playability of more strategic layouts. 

[NJpatbee]

No, and living in NJ I am still waiting for my invitation to Pine Valley.

[scotth]

When I go on trips or golf vacations I want to play the well known places no matter how difficult.  I might wait to go during the off season to try and keep the cost down, but love to play famous courses.

The biggest drawback was playing Pebble Beach with my cousin who is an absolutely awful golfer (at least he paid for both of us).  By the end of the first nine he had already lost a dozen balls.... but that's a different story.

 

Edited June 20, 2018 by scotth

[ScouseJohnny]

41 minutes ago, Patch said:

I have a buddy who won't play a couple of courses in Vegas due how tough they play. His reasoning? It's a waste of time, and money to have course beat him up. 

I know people like that. I often wonder how much of it is actually - "I don't want to play courses that don't lend themselves to my preferred game."

If crushing it off the tee with the big stick is an inherent, joyous part of the golfing experience (which it is for a couple of my friends, who actually are decent golfers and carry respectable handicaps, nonetheless), a course with very narrow fairways and deep rough just isn't fun. For myself, it's a good excuse to reach in my bag for my old 2 iron.

 

[klineka]

4 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

I know people like that. I often wonder how much of it is actually - "I don't want to play courses that don't lend themselves to my preferred game."

If crushing it off the tee with the big stick is an inherent, joyous part of the golfing experience (which it is for a couple of my friends, who actually are decent golfers and carry respectable handicaps, nonetheless), a course with very narrow fairways and deep rough just isn't fun. For myself, it's a good excuse to reach in my bag for my old 2 iron.

 

I agree with this ^^^

I like hitting driver. I hate holes that place a creek or pond right in the landing area of 80-90% of the golfers would land, forcing you to hit something shorter off the tee. Narrow is one thing, because I still have the option to hit driver, but a long iron might be the better choice. I dont like courses that force me into not hitting a specific club off the tee.

I would much rather play a harder and longer course where I could hit driver on every non par 3 if I wanted, vs an easier course that has multiple holes of 90 degree doglegs at 150 yds and multiple holes where water stretches from 240-280yds off the tee.

I'm not that great with my driver, so I dont feel this way just because I think only hitting driver will lower my score (im sure many times I'd be better off keeping it in play with an iron), but hitting a driver is fun for me, and thats the #1 reason I play golf.

So yes, I would play a tougher course if it meant I'd get to hit driver more often compared to an easier course.

Although if the number of times I got to hit driver was equal, I would probably choose the easier course simply because it would probably be cheaper than the tougher course (unless its a super exclusive, once in a lifetime kind of course then sure i'd pay for it). 

[iacas]

I added a poll.

It's pretty easy to do @Patch and other folks: https://thesandtrap.com/how-to/create-a-poll/.

I voted "yes" in the poll, too.

[Jeremie Boop]

I have played a couple tough courses. I wouldn't make a habit of it as it's very difficult for me to have a good time while scoring really badly. So, that said, if I'm on a trip and have the chance to play a really nice course that happens to be tough, sure I'll play. Now, if there were a course near me that was extra difficult I would probably not play it. I don't see the point in playing a course that you know is going to eat you up, losing balls all the time, etc. It's all well and good to challenge yourself, but if you know for a fact that a course is way too difficult for your game, then playing it just doesn't make sense to me.

[Rkrider99]

Playing a tougher course really confirms where I think my game is at. Sure, I'm a 9.8 index at my home course, but what can I do on a really tough course? I enjoy getting out and playing other courses. It doesn't matter if they're easy or hard. It's somewhat satisfying when I have a good game at a tough course, and not so satisfying when I have a bad game at an easy course. Anything in between those two extremes and I'm a happy golfer.

[jimnm]

I voted Yes. Having a San Diego resident card means I get to play Torrey Pines for pretty cheap. Playing Torrey in early January is very tough as they let the rough grow pretty tall in preparation for the Famers Ins. Open. It's fun playing in those conditions even though my scores go up because of it. It makes me appreciate how good the tour players are.

[mcanadiens]

Depends on the circumstances.

How much do I have to pay to play on the tough course?

Answer - If it's free, it's for me.

Is the tough course anything besides tough - like a famous course or a particular beautiful course?

Answer - You can have a tough dog track. There needs to be an upside to playing a course I know I'm going to struggle with.

 

[JonMA1]

With my game every course qualifies as "tough".

Of course I'd play a tough course from the appropriate tees.

It's easy for me to feel ok about shooting a higher-than-normal score at a tough course, just as it's easy to properly evaluate shooting a lower-than-normal score on a course without any teeth.

3 hours ago, Patch said:

I have a buddy who won't play a couple of courses in Vegas due how tough they play. His reasoning? It's a waste of time, and money to have course beat him up.

Even though I may not feel this way, I understand your friend's point of view. Golf means different things to different folks.

Edited June 20, 2018 by JonMA1

[NJpatbee]

4 hours ago, NJpatbee said:

No, and living in NJ I am still waiting for my invitation to Pine Valley.

I meant yes

[Buckeyebowman]

Absolutely! We play Fowler's Mill and Windmill Lakes here in NE Ohio on a semi-regular basis, and both are tough tracks. We've also played Manakiki, Hawthorne Valley, and Tangle wood National. We just make sure to play the tees that are best suited to us. We're both Seniors, so we're living in Gold Tee City.

The guys I don't understand are those who may be Seniors or just not very good golfers, go to some expensive, upscale course, and insist on playing from the tips because "they want to see the whole thing!"

Oh, you'll see the whole thing alright. As it slowly beats your brains out!

[scotth]

11 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

The guys I don't understand are those who may be Seniors or just not very good golfers, go to some expensive, upscale course, and insist on playing from the tips because "they want to see the whole thing!"

Oh, you'll see the whole thing alright. As it slowly beats your brains out!

I agree.  I have never understood this line of thought either.  Drives me crazy when I am with somebody and they say it and then can't drive the ball past the most forward set of tees.  

[Shindig]

Yes.  I welcome the challenge.  I'll pick appropriate tees and do my best.  I am going to play a Pete Dye course on my birthday this year, although it isn't necessarily among the toughest of his courses (and it'll be my fourth time playing that particular course). 

[Moxley]

Depends on how tough and why it's tough. A course that needs me to be long and straight I'd be happy with , but not so much one with lots of fw bunkers and slopey greens. 

Tour level tough I'd probably play, major championship tough, I'd probably wait to improve more.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Moxley
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