3jacker

It's crazy. But the crazy ones aren't the ones setting the prices, it's the ones who pay it (other than those with plenty of throwaway money). We'll see if the demand is there. If it is, I guess it's not crazy to charge that much. I know I wouldn't be satisfied with the experience based on iacas' description of how it'd play out for a spectator. I don't care about the food/drinks, I want to see golf.

I will work on my lack of virtue.

I don't have any problem with women playing golf. But it's imperative that they not let it interfere with their responsibilities at home. And it can't interfere with the day to day activities at the club (taking offense at something, whining about this or that).

I've played a dozen links courses in NW Ireland. It is a very different game for me. My takeaways were: 1) Miss a fairway and you're dead. Done. This is not the Open Championship where you have spotters or dozens/hundreds of people standing alongside the hole to spot where the ball went in. You can't always see it down as there are often grass-covered dunes between you and the ball. You may find a dozen balls but finding your own is tough. STAY OUT OF THE HEATHER. Gorse goes w/o saying. 2) My irons seem to go further off the firm turf. Especially the wedges. You often aim to land your ball quite a ways of where you want the ball to end up. One uphill approach at Narin & Portnoo I had 110 yards to the pin. Uphill, severely. I was going to hit a gap and the caddy said, no, aim a 90 yard shot over there (15 yards right of the flag). I did, and he was right, the slope around the green kicked it on and it rolled to 10 feet. Had I aimed at the flag, it'd skipped over the green, likely into the tall grass behind the green and it could've been a lost ball. 3) Driving - when you have a 35 mph crosswind coming off the North Atlantic, it can be daunting to aim at Newfoundland. But you'd better. 4) Putting - not so bad! Beautiful landscape for golf (the original after all). Highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance. But if you're scratch on a parkland style course, be ready to get humbled.

People who know better that don't repair divots and ball marks are trash. It's an epidemic today after the influx of golfers with no training in etiquette. And let's face it, some people simply do not belong. 😛 I'll fix theirs for them the first time or two, and if they don't pick up on it I'll tell them to do it. I won't play with them again either.

As long as he keeps that haircut, he can never make me feel silly

I've been lucky to play with a few on my home course and local ones. Joe Durant, Bart Bryant, Scott Gump, Boo Weekley, Bubba Watson, Sammy Rachels. They easily were in the mid-60s, with the standout being Bart Bryant at Forest Lake here in the Orlando area. It was a weekly skins game and he made 8 birdies straight, hit one OB on one hole and still shot 61. SOB cancelled all of my skins and most others. He died in a car accident a couple years ago, was a hell of a fun guy to play golf with. Another time with Sammy, we were standing next to his ball about 210 yds out from a green on a par 5. I asked him what he was going to hit, and was amazed when he said "6 iron." This was in the 90s, so that was something. Today it'd probably be an 8 iron (it was downhill).

I feel the same. It's kind of a fun diversion once, maybe twice. It's not golf to me. I'd much rather practice on a real course w/real turf (even if it's scrappy, that's good practice). Or in a proper hitting bay with good equipment. Golf is in a weird place. The equipment manufacturers are sucking up all the $$. People are happy to buy a $600+ driver and $400+ putter to go out and shoot 86, but balk at lessons, greens fees (courses are obviously struggling). I think the game needs to contract, as painful as it sounds. In the 80s it seemed "right size," public and semi-private courses were in good shape, were able to maintain nice facilities, etc. There were even practice centers around, with a full grassed tee, practice pitching greens w/bunkers, putting greens, etc. All with less of a customer base. Now it seems like the only good course/facility conditions I see here (in central FL, once an epicenter of golf) are private clubs and high-end resorts. The middle range is quite ratty.

Lol! I bet. I clean them when it becomes unavoidable.

I like watching good players but watching amateurs is painful for me. Hell I could never even watch the AT&T and all those vanity handicaps skulling it across greens.

This. Don't try to figure it out on your own. It's a path to madness and despair. Stay off YouTube instruction vids (unless it's your instructor who created it).

Aw poor guy. Can't catch a break.

Pick a reputable teacher and stick with him/her. When you start to have doubts, dismiss them immediately because if you knew anything you wouldn't need them to begin with.

Rock salt in a 20g. would be fun to watch

I'm definitely not a fan. But wouldn't say nay, they can do what they like. It's their course. They don't even need a reason or have to explain it to me.