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Even their very private places allow outside play. If you did the trip described and eliminated just Sunningdale which was about $500 for the day. You could play the other 9 for about $800. I have done 20 trips to British Isles...There are several spots where you can get great value. SW England and S Wales are both great rotations at good value.

Just got back from 11 round in 10 day trip to mostly SW England. Have never traveled over there this time of year. Had a few buds go this time last few years and they would rave about weather. So off I went with just one good bud. 11 rounds and not a drop of rain. Average was 55 degrees with 15mph winds...Wore shorts about half the rounds and ski cap almost all rounds. Just a fabulous trip. The area we covered mostly is a vacation spot for Londoners. So off season mostly except it was a bank holiday last weekend in Porthcawl. The courses... Burnham and Berrow- It is on way from London to the SW...Just a great course quite hilly with a few blind shots. Saunton East/West- One of our 2 days 36. Nice that carts available for 2nd round. Overall we walked 10 of 11 and bag on back for 9 of those for me. Saunton very nice. East rates higher but both quite good as they gently meander thru small hills valleys. Very dynamic membership. The place was packed on a Monday. Royal North Devon- Westward Ho....Oldest club in England. Had great expectations here. Nice but not special. A few great holes. Many that navigate marsh grass which defines the routes. Trevose- Classic Colt course which feels new. Course has very nice conditions almost depicting non links. Massive dunes next door and great views on crashing waves on rocky terrain near by. Perranporth- This is the diamond in rough...Crazy nice. Crazy blind hilly and a big walk. 7 blind teeballs. Massive hills and fantastic views of village and beach as this sits atop about a 500 foot hill overlooking. St Enodoc- This was the magnet which drew me to this area. And it did not disappoint. Wow. Special place with many great holes. Must play. Royal Porthcawl-Two Sr British Opens here in past 5 years. This place is special. True championship seaside links with many great holes. Fantastic little town with great restaurants. Pennard-One of Tom Doak favorite places...Mine too now. Called Links in Sky. Special views sits atop hill. electric fences to protect greens from cows that roam. Fabulous course. Sunningdale Old/New- Our last day with 36 and two courses ranked in top 50 of world. Just special place. This was the biggest expense place but well worth it. Possibly best 36 hole club in the world. Dynamite use of heather to define playing areas. Mild hills/valleys. Perfect conditioning. Only 3 of the rounds were over $100. All told just over $100 average per round. Eng pix.zip

Having spent my life crunching numbers actuarial stuff....I look at the reality of stuff...There are like 20.000 scratch golfers in the US. My son plays out of Little Mill in SNJ. They won the team GAP [Golf Assoc Philly]in 2017. Very prestigious. All the clubs from Philly area out for 100 miles participate. My son is scratch to 1 handicap. In 2017 he played on A team. He now plays on their B team. He shot 69 last week on their B team. The teams are 12 players. Little Mill has 12 guys who are scratch or better. I have played with many of them. None of them hold any aspirations of tour play. At this juncture the tour pro player is cultivated from age 5 or 6 or sooner. They play right thru their childhood at tournaments. They play HS and College... Anyway, good luck with your endeavors. My stat view is your outcome of tour pro is more than 3 standard deviations from the mean. The outcome of club pro is possible. Prove us wrong. Just Do It.

Jordan has excelled at every level. The top of the pyramid is very sharp. He will come back and soon. Positive outcomes will lead to more good things. He just needs to string a couple rounds together. Bethpage with flat greens...Watch out.

I have moved from ball to ball a lot the last few years. I got into the yellow ball by Srixon that was easy to find in heather as I was in Scotland a bit. I then tried the matte ball by Volvik but it was too sticky in the air and lost distance. Have done the Bridgestone measure and was fit for the tour ball for slower swing speed. the 330rs. So I got 6 dozen of those off eBay for about $25 each so I still have a few dozen of those. They have good action for a slower swinger who likes tour type ball.

I prefer to walk if it is allowed. Often it is not. At times with the newer courses which meander thru housing developments you can't really walk as sometimes it is a long way green to next tee. My last 20 rounds which I have gotten in the past 5 weeks have all been bag on back. My bag I keep light. I'm off to England in 5 days and 90% of courses there do not allow carts except for medical reasons. So I have been getting ready for that. Many of the newer places which are fabulous...Bandon Dunes Streamsong to name a couple are walking only most of the year.

I'm surprised nobody advised Harmon has won one PGA Tour event....Some event which was played same week as British Open way back when... The basic question of know how vs execution is applicable to every endeavor. All sports...The best managers of baseball, basketball, football, hockey....etal .....and many business jobs. The best salesman usually is not a good manager. The manager of salesmen was probably not a good salesman. The concept is relatively true that one skill does not necessarily transition to the other. There are something like 10,000 scratch golfers in the US. Only 200 or so are playing on tour. The difference between being tour quality and a very good golfer[scratch] is actually much more than most realize. The pinnacle of the pyramid is ridiculously difficult to achieve....even if you are really good.

The Sheep Ranch's new coat The mysterious - and final - chapter at Bandon Dunes nears completion.

I think Tiger got messed up by being over taught vs playing like he knew he could. There are many examples of players who had swings which were not that great....But they repeated them perfectly...Trevino, Miller Barber, Billy Casper

Agreed....Execution vs Knowledge of how best to are two different skill sets. I created this topic in response to the topic best handicap to appreciate golf course architecture....Knowledge of the How To's doesn't correlate to being a great golfer. Which is true in all sports. Sparky is a great example...as is Wooden.

If knowledge of how to best play the game of golf was true to perfected play.....Then why has Foley, Harmon, Leadbetter combined for zero PGA tour wins?

The best group to look at to answer the question posed are the actual persons that do the work. It is then best to look at those who are the best in their field to answer the question. If we take the architects of note today and review their playing abilities....That is the single best answer to the question. You can expand it to all architects historically. The answer is the same. Those that design the best courses are not per se expert golfers. They have a passion for the game. They know what works in course design. That view holds true to all sports. Those that were the best managers were not the best players. My guess is that most of the best architects were single digit handicaps.

I also used the comparison to professional managers. The best managers were not the best players. My opinion is the same holds true in golf architects/designers. The knowledge of how to do supersedes the ability to execute.

I would be of the opinion that playing ability....ie Handicap....has little to do with appreciation of GCA. It is relatively common for big name players to move into designing golf courses. But who are the current day designers which get the most accolades? Gil Hanse, Tom Doak, Coore/Crenshaw, David McKay Kidd....Tom Fazio, Pete Dye. Other than Crenshaw....The rest of them are not scratch type golfers. They understand the history of certain hole types....They work with the land and input their vision. But the vision is based on the desired outcome by the owner. Who is the customer that shall play the course? Look at baseball or any professional sport...Were the best managers the best players....It's a different skill set. As is design and appreciation vs playing ability.

I have been having issues with my driver. Watched the women play and saw one gal choke her driver like 3 inches....So went to the range and choked it up an inch or so. My driver is 45"....Anyway, It feels so much lighter choked up and my contact is much more solid. Confidence is back too.

Florida is quite big....My first rec would be go to Streamsong. Three courses....Red, Blue Black. Doak, Coore Crenshaw and Hanse...All 3 are rated very high. You will feel like you are in Ireland. Courses are big/open and playable. Depending on when you go they are sometimes walking only. Not cheap but worth the $ spent. THese courses are about 90 minutes from Orlando and 60 minutes from Tampa.

Was traveling thru weekend..So excuse delay. The day we played Dooks was 9/1/2000. It was the most insane weather I have ever played...And I have played in some doozies. And yea we were prepaid but when you go to play so far away....And the course is open...and others are out there playing...Well, My waist line can't handle all day at the pub...Ha

Back when I played IGC at 8325 it played to par 77. The yardage is the same today but is par 72. I played there quite a bit. Bought a charity deal two years ago...I was only bidder. $1000 for round on each course and overnight with dinner...for 4some. The Oaks course is public and is actually a better course. None of the Tigers were behind roads. On the 9th hole I use to ask guys I was with...Where is the Tiger tee?...It was up on the hill near 8 tee.You had to hit over the tree line...Well 30 years ago...No big deal. But it got to point where you had to elevate your tee ball quick... Tower Ridge....Yes, Big side hill left to right.....But as hat course has struggled for some time, they don't cut that hill.So a lie over there can be ridiculously hard shot....if you find it.

Use to play a "This course is too long" tournament at the Monster....Pro would set the pins on back of greens...and they are big greens....By the way. Monster is opening this summer with 9 holes and 18 by next spring.

No Have never been to South Africa....A bud actually sent this to me a few days ago. Thought I'd share.

longest+par+3+south+africa - Bing video

Another time was playing Prestwick in Scotland. Was on a green and it sloped severely. Asked caddie what do you see. He says hit it straight laddie. I said there is severe slope it should break 2 feet L to R. He says hit it straight...The wind will hold it up the hill. I could not do that so I hit it with a foot break....It went dead straight....The wind was 30/40 all day.

International Golf Club in Bolton, Mass. Course is 8325 from Tiger Tees. Played the signature hole 16th par 3 275 yards. Made par. Only played those tees once. The Tiger tees were named before Tiger. Played this course from those tees in 1988.

I have been blessed to travel overseas to play golf many times. When you are 3000 miles from home on the basis to play golf....You play golf. The worst weather I have played in....You may read this and think...He's full of S...But this was true. We arrived at Dooks. A hurricane had crossed the Atlantic and the remnants were on us. As we prepared to go to the 1st tee. I took my headcovers and half my irons out of bag and left them in the van. There was a hedgerow next to first tee. The way the wind was blowing we hid behind it. We then made our way out as it was our turn. The rain was pelting. The wind was unmeasurable...40/50 continuous...But what was mind numbing was a group of 4 teed off right in front of us. One of our 4, sat in the van. On the 3rd hole as we were waiting on these yellow rainjacketed dwebs in front of us...I said S it and hit into them. I pranced up and told the guy...we are playing thru. Waived the 2 others up and we went thru. These guys were everywhere...We got thru and 2 holes later we come to a par 3...Where is the hole. I align the tee markers...The card says 170...I say it should be right there and hit my shot. We arrive at the green and the flag is laying on the green. We played 15 holes in that rain wind. The rain stopped but the wind didn't. By the time we walked off 18 we were dry from 3 holes in 40/50 wind...