DaveP043
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About DaveP043
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- Birthday 01/03/1956
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I've been lucky enough to play at Whistling Straits, and at Pinehurst #2, and their prices are similar to Pebble Beach. In each case, I was glad to have had the experience, but I'm unlikely to ever play them again (at full price). Maybe its the distance from me, but I'm not all that interested in going to Pebble Beach, although its in the same general category as #2 as far as its golf history goes. But value is up to the individual, I understand those who would happily pay the price, and those who wouldn't. This image of Scotland as dreary, rainy, cold, and expensive is a bit off, in my experience. The price to pay the Old Course can be around half that of Pebble, there are lots of great courses nearby at even lower prices, lodging can be had relatively inexpensively, and the weather I've experienced has been much more sunny than rainy. Of course, its pretty convenient from the East Coast of the US as compared to the West. Again, personal tastes, and personal opinions of value will vary.
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I actually have a Pitchfix with the two tines, and I feel like they're too widely spaced for some grass conditions. If used correctly, the cheap angled "giveaway" devices work well in pretty much every grass situation. You might be interested to read reviews of the Pitchfix products here:
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The grain generally goes downhill. Read this from real scientists who study grass: https://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/ticpdf.py?file=/article/whitlark-agronomists-11-14-14.pdf I was just in the Pinehurst area, not too far from you, and I could see that from both the grass patterns where the hole was cut, and from the shiny/dull color patterns of the grass. At least in that area, most of the greens are the new miniature Bermuda grasses, which are cut very short, and have very little grain effect. If anything, the grain exaggerates the increased speed going downhill, and the speed decrease going uphill. So the thing to do is to learn to tell which way the slope is going. Aimpoint is an excellent method.
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No argument with your feels, I'm another one who tries to feel the body turn as driving the swing. One good thing at this site (I see you're pretty new) is that we can discuss both the reality of what should happen, and some feels that can help us make it happen, and distinguish between the two. Welcome to TheSandTrap!
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Just back from the VSGA Handicap Seminar, and the issue of par was discussed. What was said is that, for specific tees, par should be based on the way that hole places for the group of players who most often play those tees. The last bullet point in Appendix E is phrased slightly differently, but says much the same thing, and gives an example This flexibility will limit the number of time that a hole will play to different pars for people of the same gender playing from different tees. Many courses already have different par values for men and women, depending on the differences in the way a "scratch" woman player would play the hole, as compared to a male "scratch". From what I heard at the Seminar, the system will incorporate par as listed on current scorecards for use by GHIN, or any other handicap calculation services used by the local association. It makes sense to me that the normal regular re-rating of courses might expose some places where par should be revised.
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Trump Courses - Would You Pay to Play One Now?
DaveP043 replied to metaswinger's topic in Golf Courses and Architecture
I understand what you're saying, and in my eyes, you've stayed on the appropriate side of the line between golf talk and political talk. I also live near a Trump facility, the private club in Virginia, in the Washington DC suburbs. I play against the Trump club on a fairly regular basis in our local interclub league. As some of the guys here have experienced, my own home club is pretty rural, pretty informal, the complete opposite of the image you've portrayed of the high-end experience. Yet they guys I've played with and against from Trump National DC, whether playing at my club or at theirs, have generally just been golfers like all the rest of us. Yeah, they have more disposable money than I do, but they're regular guys. -
Most Difficult Course You’ve Played
DaveP043 replied to HJJ003's topic in Golf Courses and Architecture
I'm not at the level that @iacas is, but I understand what he's talking about. Perhaps you've come a bit south and played at Tobacco Road. To me, that course is "tricky". Many of the greens have huge slopes, there are lots of blind shots, lots of visual intimidation, but in most cases there's plenty of room. It doesn't play really long, but has a pretty high slope rating, meaning that its also pretty tough for bogey golfers, less so for better players. For me, its tricky, but not particularly difficult. -
Most Difficult Course You’ve Played
DaveP043 replied to HJJ003's topic in Golf Courses and Architecture
Thanks for the description, that makes it clearer. To me, that's not really tricky, but is definitely demanding, I can see why you mentioned it in this thread. -
Most Difficult Course You’ve Played
DaveP043 replied to HJJ003's topic in Golf Courses and Architecture
I've never played it either, but as someone who travels through that area regularly, I'd be interested in hearing what @dagolfer found to be tricky. Perhaps it had a straightforward routing, but sloping or tiered greens. Maybe there are a bunch of blind shots. That type of description would be welcome when we're discussing difficult courses, and it has nothing to do with the professional/amateur status of the poster. As for what PRO stands for, its pretty clearly defined in the rules of amateur standing. There's no question that there's a big gap between a player on the PGA Tour and a typical club pro, or even a good teaching pro. But that doesn't mean that any particular PGA Tour professional has a greater understanding or appreciation for golf architecture than the club or teaching pro. -
Trump Courses - Would You Pay to Play One Now?
DaveP043 replied to metaswinger's topic in Golf Courses and Architecture
I'd say that the Trump organization is very good at producing high-end luxury experiences, including golf when they've chosen to be involved with golf. I think they specifically choose to price them at a rather high point to foster the image of exclusivity, and there is certainly a market for people who enjoy that image of exclusivity. -
Bumping this up again. I'll be attending a Handicap Seminar next Tuesday, and I'm willing to ask any (reasonable) questions that any of y'all would want me to. I've kept up to date on most of the progress of the WHS, and have read through the new Handicap Rules. My interest will be primarily in the transition process. This will be particularly important for us in Virginia, as we have year-round handicap posting. From what I've read on the Carolina Golf Association pages, they anticipate just a few days of down time right around New Years for the computer systems to transition, I'd anticipate the same for us. Further north, you'll have a bit more time to learn and to adjust to the new system. Anyway, let me know if there are specific questions you'd like to get answered.
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Bending Cleveland 588 Wedges
DaveP043 replied to MGN's topic in Balls, Carts/Bags, Apparel, Gear, Etc.
When we visited the Ping factory in 2015, weren't most of the clubs they were bending cast rather than forged? They didn't seem to have any concerns. -
Should a Golf Course Be on a "Best Of" List if It Can't Be Played?
DaveP043 replied to xrayvizhen's topic in Golf Talk
And even with the lists that @iacas linked in, many are simply unattainable for people with limited financial resources. We each have limits on what we can spend, or on what we are willing to spend. You could conceivably develop lists of the Best Course with greens fees under $100, or $400, or Courses that don't require a hotel stay to book in advance, or any number of other distinguishing criteria. I have no problem with lists of golf course that are based solely on the quality of the golf course, but I'm fine with all of the other lists too. After all, what function do these lists serve besides stirring up discussion? -
But your handicaps are based on your current scoring on this course. The PCC will only go into effect when scores for a particular day are higher or lower than they are normally. Do you expect that your average scores as a group will be higher once you go into the new year? If the scores, in general, remain the same, it will prove nothing. If the scores go up, it might mean that the golf skills of your club are declining. I was just thinking along these lines. With a group of golfers playing the same course all the time, handicaps become normalized, whether the rating is "too high" or "too low." Its only when people play other courses that the "accuracy" of ratings comes into play. If your members consistently shoot lower differentials when you play away than they do at home, that might indicate that your rating is too low. Same thing if guests shoot higher differentials at your course than they do at home. It might be possible, with enough data, to evaluate which courses are rated too high, or too low, but I've never head that anything of this sort is being considered.
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Have you made plans to attend a Handicap Seminar? I know my state association is holding a bunch of them, and I'll be at one next week. It seems like an appropriate step for a handicap committee member hoping to be ready for the changes.