RickK

Depends on what the round is all about and time of year. Dead heat of summer tournament, I drink PowerAde Zero Grape. Usually 2 large bottles per round maybe 3. Add some water in between. Dead heat of summer, out having fun...up to 7oz Scotch on ice...not over 8 oz or it goes downhill fast. Wintertime golf(tournament or fun...does not matter) start out with 1/2 coffee and 1/2 Baileys, then switch to Dr. Pepper and Canadian whiskey.

Totally agree. I know of only a couple of clubs where tee times are a rarity. The vast majority, the same groups generally always play at certain times of the day and reserving tee times is a necessity. Now, the club I belong to...most days if you just show up after 1pm...you can get out on the course within 15 or 20 minutes or so either by yourself of wait to go out with someone else. Same cannot be said before noon.

I play in a Senior Traveling tournament league pretty much every week. We play 25 different courses this year. Some of those will be a 2 hour drive for me because we play on Thursdays and have to deal with rush hour work and school traffic.

Several courses in my area have TifEagle and they do not overseed in the winter time. During the warm growing months when heavy traffic, they are usually 7 to 9. Once we get cold(er) weather and a frost the color of these greens gets very dark looking...almost a blackish tint to them. When that happens...the speed of them gets upwards of 10 to 11. Since they aren't growing, they mow them usually only once or twice a week but roll them every other day.

Curiosity question for those of you who have attended the seminars concerning WHS or have a much better understanding of what is coming than I do... There are several courses I can think of in our area where the slope rating is probably off quite a bit. For instance...one particular course added some new tee boxes. In doing so, they backed up every other set of tee markers then had the course rated. The rating for the "regular (white) tees" jumped from 124 to 130. The members there complained loudly about having to play from so much farther back when playing the tees they normally played. Then the club pretty much put all the tee markers back up to where they used to be when rating was 124. Thus, you shoot a good score here...you get dinged pretty hard on your handicap. Another course did quite the opposite. They added new tee boxes, moved everything back but did not have the course re-rated. In effect, pretty much everyone at that club's handicap increased. So, my question is with the changes for WHS, would some courses be "required" to have their course re-rated if the scores shot there indicate either the courses is rated too high or too low?

This statement from the OP's post...."The earliest bunkers were natural: un-raked, unpredictable, full of footprints and debris and divots. They were genuine hazards; if you went in one, you couldn’t be sure what would happen next." I would not have an issue if they were like I would envision the earliest bunkers. The problem I would have with then not being maintained today is, at least in the beginning of unmaintaned, you have bunkers where you get sand so deep that you can plug a ball and maybe never find it. I envision those earliest bunkers to be harder, more dirt like as opposed to this loose white stuff many prefer to see today. A little layer of sand/loose dirt would be ok. But, bunkers where you can walk in them and leave 2 or 3 inch deep footprints...no thanks...those would need to be maintained.

13* fairway wood....problem solved. 😁

Would you care explaining to me "doesn't want to follow the rules"? I don't understand that statement at all. If the Local Rule is in play my question is/was where would the drop be. Not wanting to not go back to the tee box surely isn't against the rules, if the LR is in play here. So...please explain exactly how he would be "violating" the rules? And, if you see Missouri Swede's post with the diagram...he DID NOT have to go back to the tee box. Again...he would not be violating any rules. It was a simple uphill straight away 190 yard par 3. He just hit too much club and OB was behind the green. I think Missouri Swede's diagram posted explained what he could have done. As I stated...I simply did not know myself. Had he gone OB right or left before the green, then the assumption on my part would have been that he would drop over in the fairway just as he would on a par 4 or par 5. But, since he was over the green...this issue came up. it does...thank you. And maybe clears it up for someone else here who thinks he would not be playing by the rules by not going back.

But, if the player did not want to go back to the tee box (190 yard par 3), where would he drop. Would he come back between the tee box and the green in edge of fairway? He was probably 25 yards behind the green and 35 from the pin where the ball went OB.

Question...please. This came up recently and honestly I have no clue as to the answer. The Men's Golf Association at one of the clubs I play has the Local Rule taking stroke and distance away and you drop with the 2 stroke penalty in the edge of the fairway. The situation came up on a par 3. The player hits his tee shot and believes his ball to be just over the green. We find his ball has bounded off the back slope of the green and gone OB. Since the MGA has adopted the local rule, the question came up as to where does he drop and play from. Can someone help with this please?

In my 60s when I gave up walking 36. I am 73 now and I can still walk 18 unless the course is hilly...but not every day. I really don't have an interest in walking that much. I play around 200 rounds every year. The last time I walked 54 holes(carrying my bag, not pulling) I was in my early 50s. I have never liked walking and using a pull/push cart/trolley.

Ahhh yes #7. I was waiting to see this one. For years, I told everyone that this was the only dogleg left Par 3 I knew of. From the back tees, if the pin was back left, you were forced to hit a draw around that big pine tree. 😊

I played Memorial Park probably 2 or 3 times a week for the first 5 years I lived in Houston after moving here in mid-70s. Then played it a few times every year probably up until 15 years ago. Played in the City Amateur there 2 times. I can truly say that I hardly recognize the holes they have shown so far. What a transformation!!! If they can keep it in good shape should be a wonderful track. Looking forward to playing it once again.

One of the reasons I like having a GPS device is knowing yardage to front edge of the green and back edge of the green as well as the middle. I know my yardages pretty well. I do not want to come up short of the green and I do not want to hit it long and over. So, armed with that info, I try to hit the club which will get me closest to where the pin is without coming up short or going over the green. I do play some courses that have huge, really huge greens. There can be a full 4 club difference between the front and back of the greens or maybe even a bit more. One thing I really don't try to do is hit a let up shot or stand on it try and get just a bit more. That usually never works well for me. So, let's say the pin is 100 yards but the back edge of the green is 110. I am going to hit my SW and probably come up just a little short (95) instead of trying to hit GW (110) and possibly going off the back of the green. Easier to putt 15 feet than to have to chip out of 2inch grass with the pin so close.

Yep, easily understandable. I played in one a few years back, 4 man team, handicaps were 2, 5, 7, 9 and we shot 52 with no string or mulligans. Fortunately, because of the payout, there was another team playing with our group, so total of 8 on every hole. People were complaining that we cheated and the guys who played against us basically said..."it was real, we witnessed it". So, yep, it can be done.

At the club I belong to we have Blue tees (7101), White tee (6529), Gold (6029), Red (5504) and recently added a marker at the beginning edge of every fairway which is Orange. Don't know the yardage on that just yet. That tee box is being used by beginners, ladies at their discretion and agreement amongst their playing partners and men who are over 80 years old. Now...if you play in the Men's Golf Association (MGA), they normally play from the White tees. However, if you play in the MGA and you are over 70yrs old, you are allowed to play from the Gold tees but you give up 2 strokes doing so. It is optional to do that. If you play in the Senior Men's Golf Association (SMGA), they normally play the Gold tees. But, if you are over 70, you are allowed to play from the Red tees and you give up 2 strokes. And, if you are over 80, you can play the Orange tees and you give up only 2 strokes or the same as you would give up by just moving up to the Red tees. Moving up in any case is optional. I can't really say how the Ladies play. Have yet to get to play in their group but we do have 2 ladies that play with the SMGA from time to time. Both of them can beat most of the seniors on any given day. I think the only time the MGA uses the Blue tees is during the Club Championship and only if you are in the Championship flight.

Once the group ahead is out of range, whether on the green or not, hit the stupid ball. You can't reach them. Why hold everyone else up?

You would be a basket case playing in the tournament leagues I play in. At my home club on "play days", 3.5 hour round is pretty easy. But, in the tournament leagues, it generally is 4-1/2 to 5 hour rounds. Yes, it can get to you if you dwell on it but I have been doing it long enough most of the times, I just accept it and play on.

I only move the ball if the play for that day is allowing it otherwise I play it down. One of the tournament leagues I play in sometimes is a little too generous, or so I think, with playing LCP thru the green especially this time of the year. But, I am not dumb enough to not take advantage of it if the rest of the field is going to play LCP.

I remember this shoe from several years ago being ruled illegal for use by the USGA. But as far as wearing shoes or not...only course/club rules that I am aware of. A Golf Shoe Under Fire - The New York Times

I voted Zero but the statement I never lose a ball does not fit me. And, I don't lose 1 or 2 a round. Let's just say it is rare when I lose a ball. I may go for days/weeks and never lose a ball and then play and lose 2 or 3 in one day. If the 2 or 3 happens, I am having a horrible round for whatever reason. Played 6 times week before last and never lost a ball. Played 4 rounds last week and lost 2 (drowned them actually because of 2 ugly 7 irons into 2 greens...same hole both times.

Played in 1 tournament, a scramble event, and they had the 12" hole on holes 9 and 18. My comment "if golf were to go this way in the future, I QUIT!" Maybe for young kids event or something like that but sooner or later you need to progress to playing real golf.

I was thinking the same thing. Immediately in the video, "walking towards your ball". Not many that I play with do that from the tee box anymore. We are all just OLD. The video has a bunch of common sense that everyone should know. Oh...and the gal who was slow in her pre-shot routine (red cap/black outfit), she needs to get a different golf bag. She struggles to get her club(s) in and out of it. 😃

When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I could walk, carry my clubs and play 54 holes without much of an issue. Now that I am in my 70s, when our group goes to Myrtle Beach each year, a group of us will play 36 holes usually 4 out of 8 days riding in carts. I am the oldest guy in the group that does this. I am ok afterwards. Good enough to go take a shower and then go out to eat. Get up the next day and do it all over again. 😃 The last time I actually played 54 holes in same day, I was 64 and we were riding in carts on a hilly golf course. Still did not bother me all that much. We did it 2 days in a row. It was fun.

You say he made a "negative comment" but you did not tell us what the comment was. What did he say? And, how did he hit the ball? Just curious trying to gain more information before making any comment.