sjduffers

Added #12 to the composite page. I tried to cut the corner of the dogleg left, but caught the lip of the bunker, which slowed the ball down and left it on the downslope past the bunker, so I had a really low shot that bounced on and settled about 6 feet from the pin and then made the putt. I nearly also added #15, a 175yd par 3, the ball was tracking the flag but came up 15 feet short, and the putt came up 4 inches short. I only need #14 and #15 on the composite sheet: the home course is another story (still 10 holes needed).

Well, "some" elevation change for Lake Chabot is quite an understatement. There are some huge elevation changes at that course. Don't forget the last hole (par 6) which has about the last 200 yards going way uphill, gaining probably 30 or 40 yards (not feet). If you are at the bottom after your second, no matter what club you hit (unless you are DeChambeau), you will need another stroke to get up on the green. There is also the tiny green at the bottom of a par 3 (forgot the hole number), with a similar drop (40+ yards), on which you can easily take 3 clubs less... and still overshoot the green. Fun course as a novelty, but a bit too much, if you ask me. Good luck!

2 more birdies today at a non-home course, but only one added to the sheet (#9): only 3 more to go!

I added a birdie today on #15 after pushing a drive into a grove of trees on the inside of the dogleg right, basically in jail. Although a bit lucky as I missed my target by a couple of yards, intending to go left of a tree I picked as my target and cutting back towards the left side of the green to get the ball to run towards the pin, I hit a nice long low-ish shot that went through the V of the limbs of that tree and fed nicely to the front left of the green and ran to 2ft of the pin. Carrier shot! LOL.

The topic is the #1 hcp hole per rating. I don’t think anyone has said it’s the hardest hole right? I didn't aim this comment at anyone. But it's a commonly held perception, isn't it? True. But, It still means that a #2 stroke index hole could be more of an issue for a bogey golfer (or indeed for anyone as in my example) than a #1 stroke index, because all odd stroke indices are on one side and all the even ones are on the other side, and it isn't clear that the determination of odd/even stroke holes vs front/back is made solely on the #1 vs #2 holes: it most likely isn't. Maybe it's the total set of 9 holes that determine whether a side has the odd or even stroke holes? Perhaps @iacas can clarify that, as he is an experienced course rater?

Officially, it's on the front 9, #6, a 520 yds par 5, with a very steep hill right in front of the box, so you'd better get the ball really airborne or you won't make the top of the hill, then a right dogleg quite a ways down the fairway, which requires that the tee shot be placed in the left half of the fairway, but the left side is guarded by some tall trees from the top of the hill onward. The green is nothing special, no bunkers, just a bit of slope going in two directions (back to front and left to right). In my view, it's not a difficult hole, but it easily becomes a bogey hole for a slicer or someone failing to clear the top of the hill on the tee shot or hitting the trees on the left. I am not a long hitter by any means, but I once put my second 3 wood (also 3 wood from the tee) on the fringe. I had the wind behind me and those were too really good 3 woods. Most of the time I par this hole, with the occasional birdie when I wedge it close. In reality, the second handicap hole, #14, is the hardest, IMHO. It's a 400 yards uphill all the way, with a very sharp left dogleg up to a perched green (so it's doubly uphill). If you fade or slice, it obviously becomes a much longer second shot and it's made worse by the fairway sloping left to right severely which tends to make those balls curving right go further away from the green. The green is severely sloped left to right and back to front and almost any position above the hole is a very difficult putt, and one that is not easy to keep close to the hole for a tap-in or short putt. I think a fallacy is to think that the hardest hole is the #1 handicap: instead it's the hole where a bogey golfer might need a stroke the most, but there is also the consideration of front 9 vs back 9 and I think that the front 9 always have the odd handicap holes were the back 9 always have the even ones, so handicap #2 might actually be harder than #1...

I'd take the shanks early, perhaps even all 3 on the first hole, lol. What, that's not one of my choices? Fine, on the first 3 holes then. After that, they'll be out of the way and I'd have to be pretty good the rest of the round to get to net par after such a starting disaster. Incidentally, I have been having a little bit of a case of the shanks lately, post-shutdown, albeit seemingly randomly throughout the round, sometimes more than three per round, unfortunately. All with my partial wedges, sometimes from only 10-15 yards... I think because my takeaway is too far inside on those shots, as I may set up too open.

I have played a muni course around here twice now since it re-opened. The first time they had the pool noodles cut so that about half of the ball could drop below the ground level. With a speed dialed to die the ball into the hole, putting felt like normal (I typically leave the flagstick in, even from close range, unless it's leaning or flapping in the wind). The second time, they had the pool noodles cut much longer, with about 3-4 inches of foam above the hole, sort of like with the inverted cups, but made of foam. I am not sure what prompted the change, but I know I didn't like it. There, it had to be said, lol.

I think that if you saw the ball go into the sod face, but it's too deep to retrieve it, it is virtually certain where it is: embedded in the sod face (which is not part of the bunker, and is not sand), and as such get relief under the embedded ball rule (16.3), but I don't know where the relief reference point is since you don't really know the position of the ball, and yet you can't set it closer to the hole than the ball was. In fact, depending on the shape of the bunker in reference to the hole, there may be no place to drop, so an unplayable (from the point of origin, i.e. same as lost ball) might be the proper course of action. I don't know... Good question!

Another round with 3 birdies, on the home course. Repeated birdie on #3 (close, to 3.5 ft above the hole) and #12 (stiffed to a couple feet), and added #2 (long par 3, right past the hole, putting uphill from 9ft). I had a couple more good looks but they didn't go. Still hunting for my first 4-birdies day...

Wowzer! That's almost unfair, @mvmac, you get birdies like others get bogeys, lol. And you must know that course pretty well too, giving you an even better chance, at your level. As just into single digits, I am happy when I average 1 birdie per round, although I have had quite a few rounds with 3 birdies (still chasing the fourth!), but I see you get seven like it's nothing... Let's just say, I am just a bit jealous...

You can counter that by saying that when it's flat or downhill, it is easier to push than to carry. Pulling is out of the question, IMHO as it strains that one shoulder that is pulling. It's much better to push. There have been studies showing that the calories expanded while carrying are a bit higher than when pushing: I don't recall exactly but it was something like 1600 pushing and 1800 carrying (vs 800-1000 riding in a cart). Based on that, carrying would be harder than pushing, I would think. FWIW, I push a cart (with a heavy cart bag on it, too): I never liked the feeling of carrying and the clanking of the clubs. With a cart bag, I will never be tempted to carry: it's either ride of push for me (mostly walk and push).

First time on the "home" course since the stay at home orders, but I had 3 birdies today including 2 new ones, which are some of the most difficult on that course: 13 (a tough green with a lot of slope) and 18 (a chip-in on a long par 4).

A few months ago, I played with an older (much older) gentleman who grew up around Peeble Beach: so that must have been in the 60s or thereabout. He had some interesting stories and I recall him saying that he was paying less than $20, whenever he was paying, to get on. Good times, compared to what $600 now?

I have only played twice with the post-COVID adaptations and both times it was some foam filling the whole hole around the flagstick, sitting at 3/4 to 1" below the surface, so essentially half the ball stays above ground and half is below and it's easy to pick up without touching anything. I have to say it didn't change anything for me, as I usually get the ball to die in the hole or go very slightly past, not a firm putt and at that speed, the ball does not bounce back out. I also normally leave the flagstick in, unless it is leaning towards me or to the sides, it is buffeted by the wind or the flagstick shadow is on or very near my line (the shadow is straight but my line may not be...). Both of these factors (speed and flagstick in) result in no change at all for me. I haven't yet seen a raised cup: those might be easier to hit the liner, but not all putts hitting the liner would go in, so if I am honest about those putts and not counting them as good when they weren't, there probably is no change either.