HJJ003

I had two Friday that should qualify as a tie lol. First- I hit a block cut tee shot into a parallel fairway that left me about 150 from the stick but nearly blocked out by some trees. I decided to hit a hard 8 iron and take on the trees. Hit it perfectly and just made it over the top and could see through a small gap of the trees my ball come down right near the stick. Turns out it ran out about 15 feet but a great outcome nonetheless. Made Par. Second- After topping a fairway shot into a hazard I needed to get up and down from about 105 yards for a bogey and likely halve the hole in my match. Knocked down an approach wedge and it came off beautifully and the ball struck a backstop about 5 feet behind the back and sucked back to less than a foot. Kick in bogey save...and yes I halved the hole 🙂

Played a new course today and was pleased with my efforts. Tough course and I challenged myself today by playing the tips (nearly 6700 yards). I shot 91 which was good enough for a 16.9 differential. Best round differential in a while for me. My driver was decent on the front nine but I had a wicked slice on the back nine. Found the ball every time, though had some interesting recovery shots. My recovery game was pretty good, and my around the green game and putting was solid all day. Irons were also a little bit come and go but I made it work.

I play because I can still be better than I was yesterday. My track and field career bests are behind me, and while I can still compete against people within my age group I will never be the same guy who was able to hold his own in flights and heats against world champs and olympians. I just can’t be that fast and jump that far anymore. I still believe the best Golf of my life is ahead of me. I also play because it is a game that challenges the mind and the body. It’s not physically taxing per se but the body has to be in technically sound positions to deliver the clubhead to the ball as desired repeatedly. I have to think and use my mind to accurately strategize around the course and overcome the bad times and shots. Lastly- I play for fun. Fun of friendly competition, fun of architecture and its impact on the game, fun of just playing with my Dad or a friend I haven’t seen in awhile. Some many reasons and ways to have fun playing this game.

Another rough day this weekend. 100. Taking a new priority piece to the golf course is hard lol. I’ll keep working as my practice sessions have been fruitful.

Played like Hammered dog crap this week. Shot north of 100 for the first time in a LONG time. Pulls and pull hooks galore. Practice session today had me focused on my club face position at the top of the back swing. Had to get a feeling of some wrist action from shaft parallel to the top and it put the club in a much better position and I started hitting balls better. May be a new priority piece for me as my initial takeaway has gotten significantly better.

Another thread bump. I’ll be teeing off tomorrow at 2pm here in Houston, and will be walking. 92 is the high, and 40% humidity expected (actually pretty darn low). Will be interesting as usually a tee time like that on the summer is cartball for me. Gonna have to really hydrate in advance and while out there.

Reviving this thread... I’m playing with a half set on Thursday at Memorial Park here in Houston. Going with D, 3H, 5I, 7I, 9I, SW, and Putter. The only club I am not 100% on is the SW. it’s my usual around the green club, but there aren’t many bunkers (19) and the greens have shaved edges so a lot of putting will be done from just off the green...maybe some 9I bump and runs. I’ll stick with the SW I guess, for those partial wedges shots less than 100 yards and such. Will be interested to see how it works out and if I can score with the minimal set.

Just updated the sheet finally. I changed home courses due to COVID and needed to update my progress. 3 holes so far. 6, 7, and 11. Two par threes and one Par 4. 5 rounds so far. The one I had on #6 was practically a tap in, I hit it to like two feet from 155 or so. The other two were in the 10-12' foot range and just made a good putt.

Shot 90 today. Second round in a row where I needed a bogey to break 90 and made double. Same course too lol. Oh well.

I would lay up given the scenario you laid out. I have the length currently to reach with no head wind, but into a severe headwind no chance so might as well take the bunkers out of play. Depending on how severe the headwind is might hit anything from a 3w to 5i to accomplish that.

I am in the category that Seminole is over-rated, but only slightly so. Tough greens are not the only reason a course can be great, however tough AND interesting greens go a long way to making a course special. Elevated table top greens were genius for the seminole design, because it forces the golfer to take an aerial route to hold many of the greens...but for a coastal course the aerial route can be extremely challenging due to the usually high winds coming off the coast. And the nasty green side bunkers make short siding oneself something to absolutely avoid..otherwise forget golf your playing ping pong! However, though the great challenge awaits the good player that wants to get aggressive...the average Joe can scrap together a score in their usual range if they drive the ball ok and just avoid taking too much risk on approach shots. Very playable off the tee, which is why some claim it is overrated. The routing is what really makes the course stand out to architecture nerds. Ross took a fairly uninteresting piece of land (except for the coastal view) and routing much of the course (many greens and tees and even a few fairways!) along two ridges on opposite ends of the property that allow for great views, the most wind exposure, different angles to encounter the wind, and of course constantly bringing the golfer back to the most interesting topography on the course throughout the round. I (like many others) am not a fan of the numerous man made lakes through the middle of the course, but Ross had no choice really because of the bowl like nature between the ridges...he ad some drainage problems to deal with. There are many architects out there that should take a lesson from Ross on how to route a golf course and maybe we would have less dull courses on interesting land! Also...I have come to the conclusion that Seminole is the American version of Muirfield in the UK. Both courses have their admirers and their strong critics. Both courses are textbook examples of how a golf course can be routed. Both are coastal, and both have less than special topography. The weaknesses are similar but in different ways...Seminole is more challenging around the greens and more playable tee to green, while Muirfield has very subtle green contours, but can be a bear Tee to green. Both are great courses in my opinion, but both are a hair over-rated by some as well (again IMO).

The city owned courses of Houston (most importantly Memorial Park) open on June 1st. Limited tee times. There were already 1200-1500 people per day trying to get tee times before COVID. It was extremely hard to grab tee time. I figure less tee times will make it even harder, though one could argue less people might be trying to golf....but at the other public tracks in the area that doesn't appear to be true!

I can't remember the last time it happened. Less than once a year for sure, and I play year round in Houston.

Shot 90 today. Had a chance to break 90 but doubled 18. Played fairly consistent from a scoring perspective but my swing came and went throughout the round. Scrapped together a decent score for me. Handicap will come down again.

I have played twice in the past week. Both times played the front 9 well and fell apart on the back. Same course (72.1/127, 6600yds). First was 46-55-101, and then the next was 41-53-94. Both times I fell apart starting with the second shot on #12. One time I hit into the one bunker I shouldn’t have (bad decisions), and the second time I pulled my shot and smoked a tree that sent be back into lost ball territory. I feel like I’m gonna our together a good round here again soon...just need to finish.

Golf courses have re-opened here...most were only closed for about a week in the early part of April. I am playing tomorrow!

less than 10 minutes on average. Usually just putting and chipping and then a few swings on the first tee.

Looks like Ko-olau goal club. Supposedly one of the hardest golf courses in the world.

I am on like day 7 of this, and have only been practicing once every other day ( I started late as well) so I haven't chimed in on this, but just wanted to say thanks for this. probably the best concentration of practice videos and drills I have seen.

I would be hitting a 3-wood down the left hand side and play my normal shot shape which should leave me short of where the bunkers pinch in. Would leave me a full wedge or 9 iron in. Likely would play to the back of the green to avoid the trouble in the front. Playing from 360 yard tees.

Ill focus a bit more on the course for mine: Land: To me, a truly great Course is most often on a great piece of land. For me, in order for me to see it is as "perfect" it would need to be sand based soil, micro undulations rippling throughout the course (with a few macro undulations for good measure), and some great scenery (mountains, ocean, or something) Holes: Variety is the spice of life. Total Par isn't as important to me, but I guess a fairly normal par 72 would be fine. I think the Par 4 holes are really what give any good course its backbone, and I would need everything from a Driver-Hybrid type of hole down to a really good risk reward drivable par 4. I prefer my holes to be more strategic than penal, but sometimes you have to hit a golf shot at the right time so perhaps one golf hole or so per 9 that is truly penal golf architecture. Par 3's are key to having a great course. In my perfect course I would have one that requires a hybrid or so off the tee, two mid iron type holes that favor different shot shapes, and one really good short par 3 where missing the green requires some astoundingly good short game skills to save Par. A golf course can really go wrong with its Par 5's (especially for the average Joe) so I would keep all of these holes pretty strategic. I would prefer at least one to be a three shot hole for generally everyone that would play it, and two that are reachable for the long hitters if they take on some more risk off the tee or maybe even on the second shot after a good drive. I would make one truly reachable for everyone, but make sure it does give everyone some risk to consider (Im thinking Great Hazard Template..) Greens: I am a sucker for a great set of greens. I prefer my "perfect" set of greens to be very undulating but kept at reasonable green speeds for the slopes. I prefer shaved edges around the greens to challenge the better players more and to repel shots. This will mean the average player will often be able to use putter from well off the green. Greens would reward well played shots from the correct angles, but also be a fairly large in size on average to give a safe area of the green to target when the flag is tucked. Hazards: I would keep these more minimal than we see in a lot of modern golf course architecture, and I think I would prefer to rely more on bunkers than water hazards (unless natural). The hazards generally need to be playable, but definitely something a players wants to avoid if they want to score well. I do think a few hazards (especially on the ore accessible holes) would need need to be a bit more penal and really give the good players something to consider. Routing: This kind of falls in line with holes section above, but I would want the variety of golf holes spread out throughout the round, and for some reason would like a "Pete Dye Finish" (Risk-Reward Par 5, Short but Penal Par 3, and very strong challenging par 4). My perfect course would be routed in such a way to ensure that the best views are taken advantage of, and the wind is encountered from all directions. The course would be generally walking only (with special permission as necessary for carts)and therefore the green to tee transitions would be smooth, and the asks in between quite pleasant. Not really a "routing" feature per se, but I would prefer to have tee offerings ranging from 6800 max to just below 5000. Organization: Semi-private club. I like the model. 4-5 days a week where only member and their guests can play, and 2-3 days a week where if planned in advance a visitor can schedule a tee time. So now the only question I have is...who wants to put up the money for me to realize my dream? 🙂

Harris county just shut down all non-essential businesses with the latest order. Golf courses won't qualify is my guess. Today will be last chance to play golf per my understanding.

Andy Johnson (thefriedegg) will love this. By “this” I mean no fans at a golf tournament. He is always clamoring for that on the podcast.

No to both questions.

Doak and his Co-Authors see a lot of those courses. However, you would be shocked at how many of those courses they do not like or at least don’t rate near as highly as one would expect. One of the co-authors actually runs that site, but the rankings are review driven. Course rating websites and magazine ratings are often slanted to courses with large advertising budgets.