ScottishGolfer

Don't care for the man at all, however he knows what he is doing when it comes to golf courses. I have been lucky enough to play Turnberry since the renovation and it is the best golf course I've ever played. Playing of the medal tees offers some great golf holes not just visually but also from a playing perspective too. The amount of consideration, work and money that has been invested at Turnberry is exceptional. I played it late last year and the fees were reduced for winter, still cost £180. I played with a member and he knows that rates have been raised for this summer, talking fees of £300. Despite it being a fantastic day out and once in a lifetime experience, the price seems a little excessive...especially as it goes a long way to lining his never ending pockets.

69, +3 round home course. Course is mostly on full greens bar a few on temporary greens due to usual wet and windy conditions in Scotland! Happy with my round though. Out in 3 over, hit drive OB on 2nd hole but recovered well to make a 5. Back in level par, including a few birdies. Season starts in 3 weeks, hopefully weather improves and I can get in a few more reps before the start of the season. Happy with my game at the moment considering I haven't played as much as I would like over the winter.

Rory is number 1 for me, love his personality, views on the game and life in general. Great to watch on course and actually very approachable. That being said I actually prefer watching Spieth on TV as I thoroughly enjoy listening to his discussions with Mike and see how he tackles his situations, it's just like having your own on course commentator! 3rd would be DJ. I could watch him hit the driver all day long and he has vastly improved his short game. His attitude on the course, neutral whether good or bad things are happening is an effective outlook to have however sometimes I feel like he doesn't care enough. He probably does care a lot but just wish sometimes he would allow himself to express it. Day is last in my view. So painful to watch him play, his nickname Jason "All" Day is very apt. Granted he is a great player but just tedious to watch.

Funny you say @David in FL, I entered a regular amateur competition and one of my playing partners had his name embroidered on his bag and prior to teeing off the competition organiser DQ'd him for it! Bit extreme but it's something to do with using your skill/reputation for advertising purposes. Not sure if this is just a UK/European thing though, anyone is the US heard of this before?

Love watching European Tour and PGA Tour, actually prefer the coverage we receive for the PGA Tour...insight, analysis is far better. I think Gary Woodland will have a good week this week, he is in good form. Just needs to be more clinical on the greens. Any other predictions?

Thanks @bkuehn1952@No Mulligans and @Lihu for your insight. Going to read the USGA sloping guide to understand that better as it seems like it would benefit our system here too as some courses here should be weighted differently too. Glad to hear a universal handicap system might be on it's way too. Would make sense if they are simplifying the rules then they should also consider changing the handicap system too.

So you do not submit a scorecard into a handicapping system or handicap official at your club? Your handicap is fully self-regulated? Does seem like a good way to be fully honest to yourself, competitors and the game. Also, it is a bonus that your handicap can be deducted for social rounds of golf too. Sadly we have to wait for competition days only to have the opportunity to lower our handicaps. Maybe this idea is something we should consider doing here.

How many golfers playing off of 1.4 usually make the field for local qualifying? In the UK the entry requirements are 0.4 but even then the chances of making the field are minimal at 0.4...it usually gets cut off at 0.0 at highest. The British Amateur is usually even harder as the handicap cut off is normal at +0.5 or more! Very impressive standard of golf. Fully admire any of you attempting to qualify for the US Open and wish you all the best! I hope one day I can enter The Open qualifying here one day...will need to up my practicing though!

@bkuehn1952 interesting to here how the US system works. So if you play a social round with a friend and if you play well then you can self-report the score and it can decrease your handicap? If so, it seems a lot of honesty and integrity is placed on the individual to self-regulate. As those are two characteristics of the foundation of golf it is much admired and hopefully followed however seems like there is quite a bit of room for a few false scores to slip by. Also, how does the course rating/slope work? Are courses observed/played by USGA officials and a rating is given? I agree with the difference in course styles, weather etc as conditions here are far different from the average club course in the US. I do suspect that this is the reason for higher scores when players play here. Just wonder if a universal handicap system would result in a fairer game? Especially for amateur players playing around the globe or someone moving country and wanting to take their handicap with them to a new club in a new country.

Hi everyone, I am young golfer in my early 20's and I've played golf for the past 10 years and in that time I have been lucky enough to get my handicap down to an index of 3.7. I am proud of getting myself down to this number and have put in a good amount of practice to do so. However, when I was growing up and entering to play in a number of Scottish National events and UK events I always found myself either on a waiting list or losing out to international players, many of whom were from the USA. I had no issue with this, however many of my friends who played in these competitions were paired with players from the US and they all really struggled, even those who were playing off extremely low handicap indexes. Whilst I always said course conditions, pressure and weather probably all affected them, many of my friends mentioned the USGA handicapping system was flawed and their handicaps weren't a true reflection of the golfer's abilities. The CONGU system used here in Scotland is based on Standard Scratch Scores (Course Rating) and Competition Standard Scratch (calculated using Gross and Nett Scores compared to the par of course). Moreover, every competition we enter affects our handicap index. For example, I play 30 competitions a year and I play terribly in every one (nett score above the CSS) then my handicap would go up 3.0 (0.1 were competition) resulting in me now having a handicap index of 6.7. If i played well in a competition then my handicap would come down 0.1 for every stroke under the nett CSS. I am wondering is this is similar to what happens in the US? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Really interested in peoples thoughts on the handicap system and if we can learn from each other on the fairest way possible to get our truest handicap index. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your reply @Silent. Interesting stats from last week and also your insight in general on Joost Luiten. As I say, I do like Joost and as I am part of the European Tour Fantasy league he regularly has a birth on my team due to his consistency. I hope that he finds a way to manage his short game on the courses which demand an exceptional short game. I will continue to follow your posts and his progress. Hopefully he has another good season!

As a regular viewer of the European Tour over the past 10 years I have seen Joost Luiten become a skilled, consistent player. Indeed, he is often touted as a contender for most tournaments he enters on the European circuit. However, I have noticed from watching him play (both on tv and live) that he struggles around the greens with his chipping and pitching. He often uses a putter in situations where most would chip or pitch. His results suggest that this approach regularly works but often he limits his scoring/up-and-down percentage by putting. With Joost playing in more international events, specifically many with poa annua grass, I am concerned he might struggle with this strategy. @Silent as you follow Joost's career intently I was wondering what your thoughts are on his game and what's holding him back from making it as one of golf's elite players? Also, very niche and interesting topic to read through. I have enjoyed reading it and look forward to hearing your insights into Joost's game.

Hi @Golfwidow25, Firstly that is a great gift for your partner, sure he will love it! As I live in Scotland I have been lucky enough to go to the Open several times. Indeed, as a golf fanatic I have been for the whole week including 6am starts and 8pm finishes on some days! However, to make the most of your day on the Sunday I would still advise going relatively early as groups still tend to tee off around 9. What I usually do in order to see as much golf and to be as close the action as possible is to pick a hole on the first 9, go there early and watch the whole field come through. If you head to hole say the 4th/5th hole for example you will usually be able to get a great seat either in one of the grandstands or next to the green itself and watch all the best players come through, even the ones leading. I would then recommend going to a hole on the back 9 and do the same thing oror go to the 18th grandstands early as they can get pretty busy. If you do this you will be able to see the winner playing the final hole. Another great tip is to either buy a radio at the Open which covers all the on course action, that way if someone is playing really well you could go and follow their group. The frequencies for the radio station can also be found on your phone too. Hope this info helps, any other questions just ask

Thanks for all being so welcoming! @DaveP043 thanks for the link will take a look. Also, great to hear you have been in my neck of the woods and have played some courses over here. Hope you enjoyed your experience