gortyl

We had caddies, so that REALLY helped out. No way I shoot 89 without them. And that # 4 hole was very interesting. In all honesty, I pulled my drive left of where they told me to hit it and the ball barely cleared the bunkers down the left side and it rolled almost to the edge of the fairway. It was a blind second shot. The caddie told me to hit a 190 shot, which saved me because I thought it was playing a lot more uphill and would have hit a choked-down 4-wood without any other guidance. I trusted the caddie and hit a pure 5-iron that ended up pin high (pin was middle), about 18 feet right of the pin. What's also funny about this, and probably helped me a LOT, is that as we were making our way to that tee box, my buddy mentioned that the pros play # 4 from the top of the hill and he said it plays as a 501 yard par 4. So I actually played the hole thinking it was a par 4 and when I missed the putt, I thought I missed a par putt, not an eagle putt. Only then as everyone was finishing up did I realize it was a Par 5. Yes, the sand shots killed me as well. My short game is in disarray right now too and wasn't helped by the thick rough 3 feet off the green which is a great protector of that course too. It's kind of a tough course to walk, but definitely tough for the caddies carrying two bags all over the place. Anyway, yes, it was great time finished off by a great steak dinner in the city late that night!

Sorry I'm just now getting back, but today was a travel day after yesterday's perfect day. It's funny, going in to the round yesterday, two of the guys were asking me why it's so hard. I talked about its length and it's tough green complexes, but I had no idea that they basically force you to play from 6700 yards. The only other tees are 6200, but they're the red tees and they're specifically called out as Ladies Tees on the scorecard so there's no way most of us men are going to play from 6200, so you have to step back to the next set of tees, which is 6700. It was just a perfect day for golf yesterday. Got there early, got some shirts, ate lunch out back on the patio, hit some balls, putted a few and we were off. The only negatives I'd say are: 1. the absolute crazy, maniacal process that they force you to go through to even play there; 2. the practice green was the fastest green I putted on all day; 3. the 15th green was a bit sketchy in spots; 4. slow play; 5. all the losers honking their horn as they drive by the course (happened at least 10 times during my round). Other than that, it was fantastic. I shot 89 from the white tees with two triple bogeys on the front. I birdied # 4 with a driver, 5-iron, just missing my eagle putt. I was in the sand a lot, which was bright white and very soft, but not too deep. We had caddies, although they were a hole late. We teed off at 2:21pm and finished 18 in basically complete darkness. We couldn't see any of our drives, but I hit mine right down the middle of the fairway between the bunkers, one of my better drives of the day, leaving me 98 yards out, uphill, hit it thin over the green, miraculously found it, chipped on and two putt for the 89. My goal was to break 90, so I was very happy. Can't wait to get back some day....

Thanks man. Appreciate the help. One of the guys hosting us finally got on the reservation system and booked us for this afternoon. Looking forward to it...perfect day for some golf!

Rent a car for sure....Myrtle is very spread out. Even if you stayed on the resort, you may not have short walks to everywhere you want to go. Barefoot would be a good example of this. And like I said, the bad greens didn't take too much away from the golf itself. You're a Bethpage guy, if I stay the night and get the wristband, etc., can I take an afternoon tee time or do I HAVE to play in the morning?

Weather is definitely an issue, but more so in the winter. Of course after about 90 straight days of sunshine and 70 degrees, it rained 3 of our 5 rounds including a downpour Saturday morning. It was a "light" rain, not a storm, which is typical of the climate. We were able to play in rain gear and not really have the rain itself impact the golf at all. Caddies said that the winter (which is late October to early April, really) is a crapshoot - it might rain like it did Saturday and be in the 50s instead of the 60s like it was or it could be sunny and 65. The beauty of going in the winter is that it is less crowded and less costly.

Just got back from Bandon Dunes. Played all four courses there. Spectacular, spectacular golf! Collectively, I can't imagine four other courses in the same location that are so unique, so challenging, so fun in such a great setting. It's truly all about golf there. The only bad part is how tough it is to get too, especially if you aren't on the west coast. It's funny too, since this thread is about rankings. We asked about 15 employees what their own ranking of the four courses were. 12 of them (!) said Bandon Trails, which is the lowest-ranked course in GD's rankings of public courses. Because of that, we played Trails twice, so five rounds in three days. No carts on the course and it is very hilly or "dunesie", so they were tough to walk. My own personal ranking was in this order: Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald. Not that I thought Old Mac was "bad" by any stretch, in fact I loved it and felt it was the closest of any of them to Scottish links-style courses, I just thought the other three were slightly better. Interesting though, if I were to go back and play just ONE course, it'd be Pacific Dunes. It was the hardest course for me and I'd like another crack, but if I had to play one course over and over out of those four, it'd be Bandon. Anyway, best pure golf trip I've ever been on.

Played all the Barefoot courses 30 days ago and the greens (not unlike most other places in the country) were in bad shape. Didn't totally take away from the golf, but figuring it's your first time through Myrtle so you'd like to know. As the weather cools down, hopefully they get them back. I think Caledonia is a fun course myself and feel like the Legends (which was also on our rotation on this year's August trip) had some tricked up holes. Heathland was very nice and I thought true to links-style golf (the greens were some of the best I've played on this year). Moorland I hope catches fire some time very soon so they can add the proper mini-golf structures that course deserves. Investing $100 in a golf bag is better than risking $500 or $1000 or more in golf club damage.

Gents - I'm sure you NYers are sick of all the "how to get on Bethpage" questions, but I do have yet another question that I haven't found on any previous threads. If I spend the night and get the wristband, etc., do I HAVE to play in the morning or can I reserve an afternoon tee time? I'm thinking most of the afternoon tee times will be booked by locals and those who are in the reservation system (which I am not). My colleague won't get to the course to meet us three until about 12:30pm, so I'd want to wait for him. Desired tee time is this Wednesday afternoon....appreciate the help.

Of courses I've never played, so just a guess: Cypress Point, Augusta National. Of courses I've played: You asked for one, so I just wanted to acknowledge that I read that. However, like everyone else, I'll choose more than one. Really, the thing they have in common is the challenge. If I'm going to play "just one course", it best be challenging and all I can handle. Pebble Beach - the history, the views, the challenge, the changing conditions, the beauty. Sawgrass - it's just a beast that will never make you feel like you've got it figured out, which would be such great competition. Carnoustie - similar to Sawgrass, the challenge would be just magnificent every time and the history and stories are amazing (my caddy tried to tell me all of them during my round and afterwards at the Carnoustie Club; could have listened for months).

I'll be in Myrtle that same week. 10th trip down there with my buddies. I've only seen the ocean once in 10 years. We'll play 7 rounds in five days. More of an endurance challenge than a golf challenge. I can give a great review of Thee Doll House, but since you'll be with the family....

Played 20 of the 100 and will add four more next month while at Bandon. That will be 6 of the top 10. This is what I live for...another notch in the golf bag.

There are three courses that jump to mind when I think of the "most difficult": - The Prince Course at Princeville on Kauai in early 2007. Conditions were perfect, but it was target golf with a capital T; absolutely zero room for error. I'm sure I shot over 100. - Carnoustie in September 2004. Sunny, but a wee bit breezy....try 30 mph sustained winds the entire round. I know what I shot because my scorecard from that day is sitting right above this computer in my office in a frame -102...and it was probably the best round I have played up to that time considering I was around a 27 handicap (had to fudge my GHIN card just to be allowed to play since I think the max men's handicap was 24). - Wolf Creek (Mesquite, NV) in summer of 2003 (2nd vote for this course on this thread). No wind when I played, but it was 108 degrees, I was hungover and drove in a compact car with three other guys for 90 minutes. If you don't hit the fairway, your ball is likely gone. I must have lost 10 balls on the front 9 and shot around 60. On the way to hole #10, you have to drive by the parking lot. We were all sunburned, dehydrated, golf ball poor and feeling like we just spent two hours in the ring with a hungry Mike Tyson. We all looked out at the parking lot, looked each other in the eyes as sweat was gushing down our foreheads and without saying a word, we stopped the carts at bag drop, grabbed our bags and hightailed it out of there!

With money no object and everything else being equal and you had one round to play out of the ones you mention, which would you go with (noting the weather tomorrow afternoon)????? Thanks!!

I like the reply almost a year after the last post! Honestly, I do...actually used the search feature. Which is what I just did so I have to throw this out there - I am headed to Seattle Tuesday and want to play. You've all mentioned many courses but I'd like to ideally find a course no more than 20 or 30 minutes or so from Bellevue (where I'm staying). I've already played the Newcastle courses, so would be looking for your favorite Seattle course within 20-30 minutes from Bellevue. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Three pages of posts and no one said "towels". I just want a simple, cheap towel in each cubby hole of the cart that I can take out for every shot and for every trip to the green. Whether it's dew, rain, mud, sand or just a place to lay your other clubs, a simple towel would be most welcome.

Possible, yes. Likely, no. That's just my take with everything I know about your situation - zero. If you're an above average athlete, have good hand-eye coordination, good hands/touch, pretty flexible, very motivated, have a good teacher, listen well and most importantly, have at least 4 to 5 hours for 26 of the next 52 weeks to practice (60-75% of practice being on short game plus playing a round or two) then you've got a decent shot at it, but still no sure thing by any stretch of the imagination. I, humbly, feel I had most of the above when I was a 28 back in late 2004 and still haven't reached a 5. The practice time is the hardest part if your job isn't a golf professional, real estate agent, independently wealthy or single in a warm climate. All that said, you can do a search on the Internet (even on this forum) and see all kinds of folks that have dropped a dozen or more strokes off their handicap in a year. You're talking almost 20 strokes, so if I had to say yes you'll do it or no you'll not, I'd go with no.

Well boys, big life change here....taking a new job and moving to Denver (not to mention, wife is 2 mos. pregnant with first child, selling a house, buying a house). But on to the important things - golf in Denver. I'm sending this out to all you Denver area residents. I need a lay of the land. Obviously earlier in this thread I got some course names, but can someone summarize for me? We'll be living in the Washington Park area and I'll be working in Broomfield. Specifically looking for the best public courses within 30 minute drive for me. How are some of the "city" courses near downtown? Need general locations of where these are so I can map them out too. Is there a local website for golfers? Is there a local magazine for golfers? Any great range near Wash Park? Indoor ranges out there? The biggest golf bummer for me is that I'm leaving my private club here in STL and likely won't have anything I can afford within 20 minute drive (and I won't join anything over that drive time). But if you know of a private club near Wash Park that might be worth a look, let me know. Obviously DCC with its initiation fee and wait list is out. Would have to be something under $30-40k initiation and 20 minutes or less drive time for Wash Park. In spite of playing 190 different courses throughout the country, I've never once played in Denver, so it'll be a sweet experience to get to know the golf layout out there..... Thanks for the help!

I'd have to agree, although I haven't been fortunate enough to play Cypress. I just played Pebble and thought the whole experience was amazing. The course, to me, was breathtaking. I played Spyglass as well and while I thought it was a great course, there was no comparison. If I had one round left and those two were my choices, I'd pick Pebble every time without hesitation. Additionally, I'd probably take Spanish Bay over Spyglass as well (although the 30 mph winds pretty much ruined any chances of a good score, the experience was sweet!). Would love to hear the stories of how you guys got on Cypress. Assuming it's just that you know a member or someone you know knows a member, but always find that interesting...

which telecom firm might i ask? in the industry, so just curious...

Every cart at our club has two nice towels in the cubbie holes plus a club/ball washer on the back side of the cart with two more towels affixed to the back so that as you get back to the cart, you can dip your club in the washer and towel it off and throw it in. No towels is a pet peeve of mine and most clubs don't have anything. It'd probably cost $500 one time to buy enough cheap towels to throw in the carts and they'd last for years. If it's not rain, it's the mud or the sand or the dew or sweat, just throw a towel in there.

When I teed off it had been pouring rain for an hour and it rained for the first three holes. Never did I see one puddle anywhere. It's all sand-based, so seriously no issues. But a lot of tight lies because of that (not a lot of grass). And be sure to wear your comfortable shoes because it's a hard course to walk. Sounds like you're already in the area, so may not have your comfortable shoes. Maybe even throw your tennis shoes in your bag or something. I had blisters by hole 7, but didn't have my comfortable shoes; learned lesson.

Let me preface this by saying that I have never played in Westchester County, but am familiar with the area and several of the private clubs there. I would say there is a 90% chance that there are zero private country clubs in that area that you can get into under $75k initiation, more likely $150k plus. Now, there may be some local munis that offer an annual discount or something, but for a full service country club (golf, range, casual dining, pool, tennis, etc.), I'd be shocked if you'll find anything under $75k (not to mention most of those clubs up there are $1k per month absolute minimum). And to finally add to DJ's point, you need a sponsor to have a chance.

Agreed - if you called enough courses, you'd find one that would be cool with the fivesome. May not be the best course around, but problem solved. Better solution is to just find one more person for two threesomes.

That's great man. I didn't say that it was reasonable for a lot of people. The thread is about club membership so I listed why I enjoy my membership and said that I don't see any down sides IF you can afford it and can play other courses.

I absolutely love my club. It is, what I consider, pretty damn expensive but that's part of being a member at a really nice club. If you're trying to join based on cost-savings, then you're probably out of luck save for some public course with a discount if you buy an annual package. And I still play other courses, in fact 8 of my last 20 rounds have been on other courses. Here are some of the benefits that my wife and I enjoy: - Casual dining. We don't have kiddos yet so we tend to eat out 90% of the time. They'll make us whatever we want, on-menu or off-menu. - Pool. My wife loves to lay out at the pool and does so about twice a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This will be nice when we have kids too. - Tee times. My club doesn't have tee times, you just show up. I've never waited more than 10 minutes to tee off and I've played there over 50 times this year. If #1 is backed up, you can scoot over to #10 or since it's a private club, you can shoot over to #3 or #12 or wherever. - Club fitting. My club does free club fitting for members. - Merchandise/Equipment. They can order me anything I want including logo balls, different clubs, a particular pair of shoes, a rangefinder - all of which I've purchased since joining. And I get a 20% discount as a member. Anything I buy just goes on my monthly bill, no need for a receipt or signing anything and no return policy to worry about. - Lessons. My lessons with the head pro are $40/hour, quite a bit better than the $150/hour I was paying another guy before joining. - Practice. I love to practice and my club has a full grass range, one huge putting green, two short game areas that include bunkers and chipping areas. All included. We only get 12-14k rounds per year, so sometimes I'll even go play 9 and just drop 10 balls on a particular spot that I've been having trouble with and won't have anyone come up on me for 15 minutes or more. - Demo Days. Once a year we have 6-7 club manufacturers come out so that we can all try out their clubs, all day event. Other 364 days of the year, we have access to dozens of demo clubs (irons, iron sets, wedges, woods, putters) to try out. - Reciprocity. I travel quite a bit so my pro has set me up to play other private clubs across the country like Medinah, Congressional, Southern Hills. - Access to Private Rooms. I threw my dad a surprise 60th birthday party in one of the rooms at the club. It fit 50 people comfortably, had a giant fireplace and awesome views of the river valley. The room rental didn't cost anything (obviously I pay for that right with my monthly dues). There are other rooms available that can hold up to 500 (weddings, conventions, etc.). - Men's Card Room. It's a men-only room with two flat-panels and fully stocked bar. Great place to bring friends, find a card game, watch big sporting events or just hang out. - Games. You can always find a game at my club. There's a 7am group, a 8:30am group, Thursday AM group, Thursday PM group, Friday PM group and many others. - Shoe shines. I love having clean, shiny shoes and they do this. - Clean clubs. After every round, they clean my clubs. - No tipping. # 1 rule of the club is that you can't tip anyone except a caddie and that includes wait staf at the restaurant ($100 dinner? No tip). Instead, we pay $75/month that covers all of this. I dig that. - Access to Caddies. Don't always use them, but like throwing the high school kids some money and hearing about what's going on with them plus I don't lose any balls! - Awesome service. All of the staff knows us and greets us by name every time they see us. They know what beer I drink and that my wife wants her water with no ice and that I need extra ketchup if I order fries . I had an "accident" with my FT-3 driver Wednesday and it snapped in half. As I made the turn from 9 to 10, I saw my head pro giving a lesson. I didn't interrupt, just showed him the two pieces and put them in his cart. By the time I was getting to #10 tee, the assistant pro was walking up and handed me a demo FT-5. I love that kind of service. - Prestige. This wasn't a big factor for us. No one really has heard of my club outside of STL, so there's no prestige in the name (we are considered at the top of the "tier 2" clubs in the area). But I am kind of proud to take my mom and dad to the club or friends who come in town. OK, who wants to join? Seriously, if you are a golf junkie like me and can afford a club, I don't see a down side to it as long as you keep it real and play other courses from time to time.