HJJ003

What a great Presidents Cup. The course was fantastic, the storylines compelling, and the competition was thrilling. Hats off to the international team for a week well played, but way to go USA for the come from behind victory! Another feather in the cap of Tiger as well.

Ok just need half a point from Kuch or Fowler. After all that has happened this year I wouldn’t have guessed I would be rooting for Kuchar...but here I sit.

It was removed from the Rules of Golf with the 2019 changes. Also, you don’t “halve” holes anymore. Even though most of us still use the lingo it isn’t official anymore.

That comeback by Finau though..

It doesn’t bother me. If anything it helps me keep perspective. Like man maybe I shouldn’t get so upset with my below average shots if there are people out there that would be happy with them.

I am liking the current trend of the matches...let’s keep it up USA!

Plenty to like about Royal Melbourne, but especially fond of the firm and fast conditions. Makes for creative shotmaking!

I have clicked on this thread like 5 times now thinking (hoping) it was about the Minimalist school of Golf Course architecture....lol. Anyway..I think that this form of minimalist golf is a good way to work on your game from time to time, and I even keep a pretty minimal set at my in-laws in Colorado so I can have something to play with when I visit, and it always gives me a different perspective of the game when I do that. Do I hit my hybrid and take on the nasty green side bunkers? or hit the next highest club which is the 6I and lay way back and play for an angle? Fun times.

The scale is obviously skewed to split hairs between really good golf courses, and really he focuses on what makes golf courses different. So a 3 just isn't really different than any other course out there in the world. The closer to 10 a course gets the more special or unique in a good way a course becomes. Yeah, I agree that the bottom of the scale is much more common to find, and the vast majority of golfers have access to some 4's and 5's. (unless your in Alaska as Doak Jokes). Doak states that conditioning never adds to a Doak score on his scale, but can remove a point (maybe more?) if the course falls on bad times. I heard Apache Stronghold got really bad there for a while on conditioning...and knowing Doak gave it a 6 still he may not follow his own advice all the time haha!

Or Houston... it’s sunny and 60s and 70s for the next week or so:)

Took the driver out of my bag for over a year. Horrible mistake. I’m starting to still utilize it on the days I’m struggling with it, opting to hit a bit of a bunt shot with it instead of gearing down a club (unless it’s a must for whatever reason). The bunt shot is a good one to develop I think for those that struggle with their driver.

Agreed. Doak actually acknowledges this in his book series. He states something along the lines of if his “4” is our “6” then we just need to take that into consideration when reading the books. I looked yours up after you had posted the first time and thought I would rate them a little higher than you originally did. Impossible for me to know though without playing them.

It absolutely is. The scale just helps quantify the subjection. my home course is a 2. It would likely be a three but poor conditioning and a few too many long tee to green transitions bring it down a notch. Memorial Park is a 6 (after the renovation) and that is my special Houston area course I play every so often.

Well... I finally played here last Wednesday! Been wanting to post about it, just been busy. Overall I was pleased with the renovation and the opportunity to play it. Here is a brief hole by hole rundown: 1. Same basic tee shot as before. Good opening hole with a fairly difficult green. Par 5. 2. Holy moly what a golf hole! Best hole in Houston by far, and certainly on the course. Short Par 3 over a beautiful deep ravine. Tough green too. 3. Tough Par 5, that really wasn’t very interesting to me. Bunker of death 25 yards short of the green is vicious. Tee shot heavily favors draw 4. Toughest hole on the course for the good player I think. Long tee shot leaves mid iron until a green with a lot of undulations that feed into the ravines. Par 4. 5. Beauty of a golf hole with the ravine down the left side and a off set bunker that collects errant long drives. Par 4 6. Decent Par 4 with a really fun approach shot. Most players will have short iron or wedge in, but don’t miss left! 7. Redan Par 3. Really pretty hole, and plenty challenging. 8. Long par 5 they are calling “The Monster”. Very basic hole that serves as a routing hole. Also don’t miss left on approach. 9. Another great challenge Par 3 with a heck of a green complex. The Par 3s really make this course. 10. Much more interesting par 4 than I originally thought. Good start to the back. 11. A long challenging par 3, with a green that has a decent amount of movement. I didn’t play this hole very well lol. 12. Long straightforward Par 4 with tough green. 13. Driveable Par 4 with no bunkers. It’s a par and half type of hole with the “half” in the golfers favor. 14. Short Par 5. Nothing really interesting about it. A stream runs in front of the tee box and around the left side of the hole but mostly out of play. 15. Short Par 3, with plenty of movement in green. When the banks around the Green are shaved it will be a “Do or die” hole 16. The “lynchpin” if the back nine. Plenty of room but slicers will fear the water right. The peninsula green is a nice touch And provides drama to every level of golfer. 17. Short Par 4. Almost drivable, but most players shouldn’t. Too much risk with the water on both sides. 18. Pretty basic closing hole with a well protected green. The cleared the trees behind the green to get a good view of the clubhouse from the tee. I liked that. Overall, it’s good course that needs a lot of maturing especially in the Peripheral areas. I give it a 6 on the Doak scale once everything grows in. I do fear that the pros may light it up like they do trinity forest in Dallas, but we will see. Some tough greens out there for sure. I hope to play It again this spring!

I have just read the first three volumes of the confidential guide by Doak and Co. and have been thinking the last few months on why I consider a golf course good, bad etc.. I have found that many of my friends and strangers I play with just want a well conditioned very green course (Overrated IMO), and the harder the better even if they can’t fake their way to breaking 100. Anyway- it got me thinking about the courses I play and how I would rate them on the Doak scale. I’m curious to what you guys would say as well. sooo... what do you think your home course would score on the Doak Scale...and why? Here is a link to the Doak Scale as reference: Rankings | GolfCourseGurus

I’d actually think I would prefer to practice 6 days a week and play the other day. My game would benefit from it more, my wallet would benefit from that vs playing 6 days a week, and it would give me more time to do other things.

I’ve had a few... My most embarrassing individual moment was at a crappy little golf course called bear creek here in Houston. Was teaching my then girlfriend-now wife to play the game. We got to a hole that had a road down the left side, but out of play....or so I thought. I snap hooked my tee shot so bad that I swear it took off left at a 90 degree angle from the path it started on. Pegged a BMW suv that was coming down the road. Car stopped, driver wasn’t happy (but weren’t overly angry either). I had to go over and talk to them and inspect the car and turns out I pegged the license plate....whew. They gave me some scolding about my game in front of my girlfriend and we went about our day. But man I was so embarrassed...I’m the one teaching her and I had no idea where my ball was going! Wasn’t my finest moment.

Finally snagged a tee time! I tee off Wednesday at 1pm with sunny skies and 70 degree weather forecasted (Fall in Houston lol). I will plan on taking pictures and giving a write up on my thoughts on the course!

I voted some. They will make an example a person or two just to be able to have something to point at and say "see we are doing something", but with no transparency on this so called list I don't see how this will have any major impact. Also- I think the people they penalize will not be anyone that is a household name...

In echo of what has been said, I like a course that is well presented...but hazards are hazards and would still play a course even if the bunkers were not "well maintained"....which is a matter of opinion on what that looks like anyway.

Shot 92. Haven’t played 18 holes in about 6 weeks due to work, weather, and family stuff. Wasn’t expecting much from today. Played a course I have historically played well, and was pretty consistent all day this time around. No real blow up holes, but not enough pars to make up for my doubles. Played from 6500 yards.

For real man. My buddy thinks this will get enough flack (more than few people have started raising heck about it) will bring back the lottery, but I don't know. I am not sure one method is better than another it just sucks cause I am dying to play it haha.

Well the new method of booking tee time is to get online at 6am three days before your desired day of play, and me and my buddy both got on (he was up at like 4:15 checking just in case!) at the right time and no tee times were available before 3pm. I called the golf course to see if they had a tournament or if there was technical issues but the lady just told me they sold out in less than 1 minute. To be honest, I am not entirely sure I believe that, but I have no evidence to say it isn't true either. Unfortunately, I will not be playing the course this week and maybe not anytime soon due to work and holidays. Bummed!

Awesome. Very jealous. Thanks for the video, fun to see someone playing the course and fun to see good quality architecture on video. Pasa is on the hit list for me one of these days.

Dang man that sucks. Sorry to hear hopefully the recover is as fast as it can be, and no long term lingering issues arise from it.