Grumpter

If it were me I would track my overall handicap then for each course figure out my course handicap for the set of tees I am playing. Figuring in that you only beat your handicap about 20% of time I would probably add about 20% to my handicap for that course to figure out what I would deem a 'good' score. As a 9.2 Handicap at my home course my course handicap is a 10. It is a par 71 so 20% of the time I should shoot 80 or less and personally I consider 83 or less a decent round for that set of tees on that course. The 76 I shot over the weekend would be a great round. Too bad I can't count it for my handicap as I played the majority of the round as a single catching up to another group late in the back 9. As far as having more fun I have been working on salvaging poor rounds. If I am having a poor round I eventually start focusing more on trying to make some good shots amongst the poor ones and stop focusing so much on overall score. It has made those poor outings more enjoyable for me. Some days it just all goes to hell in hand basket though and hopefully then I at least have some good company in my group.

Give it time and they might all happen together. Twice in the last 2 years I had it happen for me. Once in about every 100'ish rounds.

I can't agree that some of them ARE good habits for people in my group on a course that overcrowds itself. I want people in my group to practice good habits for the given situation. Potential lost ball? Have someone else help you look for it even though there is a group, possibly 2 groups considering 2 groups every 15 minutes, behind you. If you rush through it we are just going to end waiting longer at the next tee box. The last thing I want is 4 very efficient players when the course is overcrowded. I would rather wait through a player in my group taking time with their shots than waiting 4 minutes or more at the next tee box. Sometimes we have a particular guy in our group who might shoot 135 at a short muni course. If it is one of the courses with 2 tee times every 15 minutes we have to remind him to slow down. All it does by speeding up our groups play is make us wait longer between full length shots. I would rather wait an extra 10 seconds for each of his full shots than wait forever at the next tee and approach shot. There is nothing wrong with courses giving out good tips for their players but when it comes to tee times that jammed up the tips are mostly useless for all except total newbs. They are acting like it's the players fault the rounds are taking 4:45+ when in fact the main cause is the number of players they jam on the course at one time.

I'm sure that more than one course is sending these around. Out of curiosity I put '8 More Tips to Speed Up Play' in a search engine and the first place I found was http://www.prescottgolfclub.ca/ .... 8 minutes, then 7 minutes between tee times . No use speeding up play when you are crammed in like sardines.

I would hazard a guess at either he had an emergency or thought your group was too slow. Hard to tell as we only have part of one persons side of the story.

Anyone else notice that GolfNow has tee times no longer available at their local courses? I used to compare a courses website with GolfNow and usually ended up at the courses website for the same tee time. Now I am noticing that some tee times available on GolfNow are not available on the courses website. I asked the course about it earlier this week and they were surprised. They said the original signups had cancelled and it should have refreshed to be available but I had checked more than a few hours apart and the times never became available. I was stuck and unfortunately had to book through GolfNow at the increased price (booking fee charge). Today I was looking for tomorrow trying to find a 2-some to add on to as a single and again see the same thing. I wonder if this is a problem is isolated to just this courses site or if others are seeing the same thing for local courses?

Yeah, that's how I figure I will go down. It would be nice if you could track it on their program to save the hassle of having to double track a lot of entries but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen. It will be interesting to see if it impacts how many rounds I play. Early and late in the season I would have a lot of 9 hole rounds (early morning, later in the day) that would not qualify. If they are 'unacceptable' then I am not sure how it will affect my motivation to drag my butt out of bed to get 9 holes in before work.

I used it for a short time and then gifted it to my father. Both of us went back to alternate forms of practicing. It's just not nearly the same as hitting an actual ball.

Yes, that I already knew and had been posting many 9 hole rounds. However, with the new rule change you are not supposed to count rounds where you were a single (for more than 2 holes out of 9). My question is can you post those 'unqualified' rounds to GHIN for personal handicapping tracking without them counting against your 'official' handicap? My guess is I now have to keep a separate non-official handicap to truly track my game.

Can you enter 9 hole scores on GHIN without them counting towards your handicap? My 'season' hasn't begun yet so I can't test it out. To further support the key System premise of peer review, scores made while playing alone will no longer be acceptable for handicap purposes.

I've been watching since your post but there really hasn't been any significant difference. If I want to hit warmer weather it looks like I need to go more south which is a pain for me as I have to go so far west to get going down 95.

Personally I would then wait until those changes are more well established.

In my opinion insurance should mostly only be bought for things you can't cover if they are lost/stolen. You are very likely to pay in much more than you ever get back. You not only have to pay for the replacement cost of the item but for the people to issue/maintain the insurance. It is a big waste for something so small. For my home that was almost completely burnt down in a fire that was worth the insurance costs. By the time I am gone I will still have likely paid in much, much more than I get back. Keep a reserve fund for emergencies and keep those deductibles as high as you reasonably can.

For some courses I would like to see a footnote added… *** Because we have tee times spaced 8 minutes (or 2 times for every 15 minutes) apart following these guidelines will likely only ensure that your wait times between shots will increase. It probably will not do anything to decrease your overall round time.

I thought it was gonna be this guy again...

The fact that Pennsylvania has Jeffersonville GC on the list makes the whole list a joke in my book. I don't think that would even make the top 50 maybe 100.

This threw me for a loop as I am so used to the mornings being more crowded an expensive. I am only a few hours right of Harrisburg in the Philly burbs and it is the complete opposite of what you describe. If I am playing on a weekday I prefer an afternoon tee-time so I only have to burn a half day off from work rather than use a full PTO day. On the weekends I prefer the afternoon because the courses are so expensive in the morning. If I am trying to get 9 in before work then I want to tee off as the sun is coming up.

This is why I keep the old driver for a period of time after purchasing a new one. You never know when you might decide to go back to the old one. If I really like it I will keep it for a long time even if it almost never gets used.

I think people rarely talk about the 'good bounce' days because in my experience it rarely results in someone's best score ever. Usually those are the days they walk away thinking 'that could have been much worse'. I had one just this past Sunday. After donking my first 4-iron off the tee only 170 yards to the far right leaving me about 170 into the green. I then hit a beautiful punch 4-iron under a tree, over a bunker and rolled it to 10 feet away from the hole then promptly sank the putt. Later in the round I hit my first green side bunker shot of the day that went almost nowhere as the sand was heavier/wetter than I expected. That left me a second bunker shot where I was very short sided. Thanks to very soft greens I put the next shot within tap-in range. After another wayward tee shot I had 150'ish left into the green, my path to pin on the right side of the green was blocked by a tree (25'ish yards away) and a green side bunker blocked most of the right side of the green. Instead of playing the safe shot to short-left of the green I played a slicing, punched 4-iron that skirted past the bunker, right past the pin and just off the back of the green. Lucky that I didn't end up in real trouble but I like to think there was some skill involved in being able to hit the shot shape I wanted. My goal was to get it in or near that green side bunker. Lastly on the last hole, par 3 with water before the right side of the green I hit what I felt was a good 6 -iron with a fade that ended up short and in the drink. Took the drop which I chipped to within tap in distance for the crowd pleasing 4. I honestly feel I could have shot 8 strokes higher but wouldn't talk about in the same terms as one of hose days where I scored really well but had a few shots that kept me from having my best day ever. It was just a decent overall score on a day that could have been much worse. It was nice to walk away with a decent score but nowhere near as exciting as almost breaking that lowest ever score.

If we are limiting it to the start of the round then sadly just -1 through 2 holes. I have had 3 birdies and 1 par in 4 holes but that came at the end of a round. I have been 3 under through 9 holes once but can't remember at what point I made those birdies.

Unfortunately me and my plus 1 are out. It doesn't work for my plus one this time so it is a no go for both of us then since my plans hinged around his availability. Sounds like fun though so I expect to see pictures of how great of a time you all had.

Color me pessimistic.

My questions would be what golf ball(s) are you playing and how firm are the greens? Sometimes you need to take your medicine when you haven't hit a bad shot... yet. On some chips I forget about where the pin is and my only goal is to get the ball to a point where I have a chance to make a putt. Sometimes that means hitting to the safest spot on a green (for that given chip) and leaving myself a 10 to even 20 foot putt. I think if you put your mind to it you could reduce the number of duffed chips and 3 putts.

I hear your point but with the WYSIWYG editors I barely even know HTML anymore.

It's easier to list the ones I haven't stopped for which would only be: Tired/Fatigue Cart Breaks Down or Other Equipment Issue The reason I stopped for 'Something Else - Please Describe' was after years of frustration I finally had a good front nine. Good enough that I was satisfied enough to call it a day and go home happy for once in a very long time.