gbogey

I think if the course maintains the bunkers in a decent fashion rakes wouldn't be needed. As an alternative, I did play at one course in Florida (carts only) where each cart had its own rake (kind of like having divot mix). Of course, I not being used to this, raked a bunker early in the round and left my rake behind. When the marshal came by I apologized and told him I had left my rake in a bunker several holes earlier. He said, "why don't you take the one off my cart." A few holes later I hit my ball into a bunker, raked the sand, and left that one too.

I agree that raised cups seem easier - it just looks bigger. I see no difference in swim noodles or upside down liners as long as they are done properly. As I've said, I'm okay with that being permanent.

In the rounds I've played that have a competition element they are "ground under repair." For my casual rounds it has depended on the course. On courses with decently maintained bunkers its business as usual and the foot rake afterwards. The course I played last night the bunkers hadn't been maintained in a least a month so that became GUR. Some of the municipal courses here have gone to 20 minute intervals but still allow foursomes. What I've seen happen several times is two twosomes book the same time and then tee off 10 minutes apart. Let's just say pace of play has been great.

I can travel 15 minutes from my home and be subject to five different municipal governments in three states. Any of those eight governments have different guidelines, to say nothing of enforcement. And yet are all part of the same metropolitan area. As a side note, I went to the driving range yesterday. This one just reopened. There's another further out that's been open a while, but that's a different municipal government. I am amazed by the ingenuity that people are coming up to enforce social distancing and be open. I had to order my balls from a young lady behind plexiglas and pay with credit, another young lady got the bucket and assigned me to a stall that was safely away from others. Afterwards they wipe the basket with disinfectant. Really smart operation. Sadly the range was very empty compared to similar days in March when it was totally packed.

Somehow I missed this but I thought the PCC adjustment was a one way adjustment that can help but not hurt. Today I saw that Sunday was my first PCC adjustment and it was negative, meaning it made my score higher. Funny but the course didn't seem particularly easy that day. It was actually windier than usual although I would say the fairways were firm enough for the ball to run. Makes me wonder if a fluke PCC is possible.

You live among one of the best county systems in the country IMO. I was never dying to play more courses when I lived there because the county rotation was so good. Would love to have that at my disposal. For the record, played my home course for the first time since the lock downs. Course is in beautiful shape. I've been putting lights out this year. Had my worst putting day of the year on a course I'm supposed to know best. Maybe it should have stayed closed.

Is your 56 a low bounce wedge? I have something similar with my 58 where it is about 5 yards shorter than it should be compared to my 54? I think it's me, not the wedge, but my theory is I think I do something different at set up because it is a lower bounce wedge. Just a theory. I've decided it's easier to take 5 yards off my 54 than fix the 58 distance.

I'm surprised by that. I wouldn't typically expect to make that high of a percentage form 10', unless your percentage is exceptionally low.

I would have guessed that you should average 34-35 putts per round. Found this via google: If you are averaging 38 putts per round, it could be that You are a below average putter or you are an averaage / good putter but any of the following could be true: The courses you play have really big greens Your short game is below snuff and therefore leaves you more difficult putts Your approach game is below snuff and your approaches are too far from the hole (and interesting as mentioned before, most golfers think that their putting gets worse as their swing improves - the real issue is that they are just hitting more greens and giving themselves more chances to three putt). Total putts can generally tell you if you're putting really well or really badly at the extremes, but as mentioned it is hard to get a gauge unless you are at the extremes and a strokes gained is going to be more meaningful.

I think you're missing the point. The purpose of limiting distance is not to equalize the DJ's and Zach's. Distance will always be an advantage in golf. Nicklaus, Palmer, Snead, Hogan - they were all long for their eras. The point is to make the longer player hit more of their bag. At the end of the Master's champion's press conference there traditionally is a segment when the winner goes through his round and lists the club he hit on each approach shot. I remember listening to Bubba when he won. I don't think he hit longer than 8i all day. That's on a course considered long. I've had good driving days on short courses and golf is a much easier game when you are hitting D/PW, D/8i all day than when you are hitting D/8i, D/5i. Ball striking is accentuated when you have to hit a wider range of clubs. Some people believe it's important. I'm personally not sure, but I understand the point and I think it could make golf more interesting.

I think in terms of the ideas that have been thrown out to limit pro' distances, this is one of the better ones. It would lengthen a lot of par 4's and par 5's by 30-50 yards - you have to remember that many of the big hitters don't hit driver on a lot of holes so the impact would be lessened. But the bomber who's hitting driver then 8i-SW on every hole would certainly have to hit some longer clubs on approach shots. I think it would raise ball striking as a skill over driving long. Yes it is a bifurcation but it is also a bifurcation that is easily copied - any amateur can decide to play that way. Much better idea than having the pros play a different ball. Whether the pro's distances need to be reined in, I'm on the fence. I admire the skill and athleticism that they have. I also sometimes feel that the pro game has become too much of a power game.

If they've had 76 cases for 125,000 people their infection rate is running one-fifth of the national average. My impression is that certain risks groups, one of them being the elderly, are being pretty careful.

I get this. My natural ball is a pretty straight ball. No it doesn't go straight, but it has been generally straight and I was just as likely to miss left as right. Again I'm with PatCav - I hit the ball best when I try to hit it straight. I generally have bad results if I try to hit a fade or draw on an approach shot. I have over time, developed a little more tendency to go left than right, but I'm playing the ball straight and aiming such that a big miss left doesn't hurt me.

The municipal courses here are doing that. Not sure how that helps as much - there are still foursomes. I'm guessing it has to do with skipping every other tee time to space things out more. 15 minutes should have been more than enough. Or do twosomes every 10 minutes.

Yeah, assuming it's not a foul ball, if you truly hit into someone and you weren't hitting your longest club, why were you hitting anyway.

My ball flight chose me, not the other way around. In my mind I love the idea of a baby fade. Spent countless hours practicing it. But the reality is that I have a strong grip and a tendency to close the face. Every club but driver the ball is likely to go straight to draw. That part isn't too bad. My driver, however, tends to go straight with a two way miss. That isn't good. I've again spent countless hours trying to limit the miss to one way or the other. Getting better at it but not where I want to be.

You are right. If you play this game long enough, you will eventually hit into someone whether it be a stray shot into a neighboring tee box or just came closer than you thought possible. Only one of my shots stands out. The first hole at my regular course is a 497 yards par 5. When I hit two really really good shots, I’m typically 20-40 yards short of the green. Never made it in two. One week last summer I hit a huge drive and then followed up with the greatest FW of all time. The FW got a HUGE bounce forward, some favorable roll, and ended up one yard short of the green. For the record, chip ended up six inches from the hole for tap in birdie. The very next week I hit another big drive, but according to my laser I thought I was 10-15 yards behind the previous week. The guys on the green were taking a bit to finish out. Meanwhile the rest of my group has hit as I had by far the biggest drive and I’m waiting. The guys on the green keep looking at me and I am chomping to hit because this feels like one of those situations where you wait forever to hit and then top a ball 100 yards. Plus the guys on the tee are waiting for me to move on. Finally I decide to hit because the previous week I hit the best FW of all time and I am 10-15 yards back and even with the roll I was short of the green. And the hole was cut at the very back of the green. Worst case I was expecting close enough to the green to be rude. Of course I hit an even greatest FW of all time. The ball flew in the air to the front of the green, actually landing on the green, and rolled perfectly in between the group on the green 10 feet from the hole. I dropped my head in shame and then hurried to the 2nd tee as fast as I could (I was walking) to apologize. First guy was like “I kept looking at you and I told the others that guy wants to hit. He should go ahead because there’s no way he can hit that far.” Another guy said, “no problem. we just enjoyed seeing such a great shot. Go make the putt.” I apologized profusely and then went and missed the putt. I made sure to stay well back from them the rest of the day.

I don't know if you're being stupid or just trying to rile me up. Yes, a golf ball to the head can kill someone. The fact that the shot went OVER my head indicates it was in range to hit someone in the head. So if you want to line up your kids or grand children on the green and let people hit shots at them, then go ahead. But if you purposely hit at me or my kids or maybe someday my grandchildren, I'm not afraid to scream bloody murder at you.

Sorry but no - no matter how slow someone is it isn't right to hit into them like that. One of my kids could easily have been killed. I looked back previously to wave them through but they weren't paying attention. They were only on our tails for 2-3 holes max. I don't remember but there were at least 3 guys behind us. When I was screaming at the guy who hit the shot the other guys were like, "we don't know him." And yes, the shot that flew over us was on the 9th green.

I know nothing about Urbana University. I have had dinner with a very well respected individual who makes his living consulting to colleges and universities. He told me two years ago that there were a great many colleges that were on the edge of not making it and would shut down. With an event like Covid-19, I expect that we will see many more of these.

If someone hits into me and doesn't yell fore, then I usually find a way to say to them, "next time please yell fore" and leave it at that. Never had an issue. 99% of the time someone who hits into you is very apologetic. Only two incidents stand out where this didn't happen: one time I was playing with my boys who were probably 10 and 14 at the time. We were slow and I was planning on letting them pass at the turn. Well a guy hits into us. I turn around and stare but let it go, but it was obvious that I wasn't happy. While we were on the green a ball flies over our heads. I totally lost it and walked 100-150 yards down the fairway screaming at the guy that if he better not hit into my kids again and if he can't play golf safely to get the F*** off the course. Let's just say he didn't do it again. The other time some guys hit into us and we had a standard apology / fore conversation. No big deal. Two holes later while I'm standing in the middle of the fairway one of the guys comes way too close to me. I take a few steps to his ball and his middle of fairway ball went into the woods. Never heard from those guys again either.

I am going to say 10-20 minutes but it's more complicated than that. Most days I do a 30 minute stretching routine whether I'm playing or not. So assuming my stretching is reasonably close to my tee time, I'm likely to show up and do 5 minutes of quick stretching and less than 5 minutes on the putting green (if I'm familiar withe the course). If I'm not pre-stretched I often take a good 10-15 minutes to stretch out and if I'm not familiar with the course I will putt for at least 10 minutes. I almost never hit balls before I play and many of the courses I play do not have ranges anyway. If I do use a range on a rare occasion, AFTER a lot of stretching I will hit no more than 10-15 full swings although I may chip/pitch several balls as well. I think you get the message, stretching is important to me.

I think the tree got cut the year before I moved. I'm one of those love it people. Not sure why as it didn't really fit my game, but probably because it makes you think and I like courses that make you think. Saw way too many guys take driver on holes like #14 with that left to right slope and end up in the woods - dumb - I would hit hybrid and then wedge it safely on. The other reason I liked it is that when I first started playing it was the only course that I could get a good tee time. So I just kept playing until I was used to the funky lies and stuff. Shot most of my best rounds there despite the difficulty.

If you are dreaming about trips / courses you might take/play when this is all over, and isn't everybody doing that, then the Pete Dye Trail in Indiana is pretty accessible to you. Indiana and especially Indianapolis is full of Pete Dye courses as he was a native son. I've played 5 of the 7 courses "listed" on the trail. Four are really good courses that IMO are bargains for the quality of the course (in addition there are two high quality muni's in Indy that he designed). The other, Pete Dye Course at French Lick, is far from reasonably priced but it was one of the highest quality bucket list experiences I have had.

I loved Warrenbrook when I lived in NJ. There also used to be a star on a tree at the 2nd hole. You just had to know that the star was 30 yards past the green. I think the most unique shot at Warrenbrook is the tee shot on #11. For the uninitiated, it's blind tee shot. There's a mound / hill maybe 50 yards in front of the green that I would guess is 25-30 feet high, then the hole goes downhill to the green. Standing on the tee you wouldn't think a driver would get over the hill, but any decently struck shot will. Still plenty of tee shots go straight into the hill and are quickly lost as the grass there is several feet thick. The other odd part about the hole is that it plays about 40 yards further right than one would think from the tee box. There's a big tree that you can see from the tee that seems like the right target but if you hit it you will be in the 13th fairway. I would tell newcomers to look at the tree and hit right and then hit even further right. They were always amazed when they walked around the mound to see how far right the hole played. Yes Brickyard Crossing is a very nice course. It has been redesigned in the past IDK 30 years by Pete Dye so that now only 4 holes are inside the speedway - used to be 18. Two are extremely tough holes and two are short par 4's. The par 3 is this dome shaped green that's impossible to hit and if you miss the ball is going to roll 30 feet below the hole on all sides. From the tee and green you can see cars going around when the track is active: I've only played when drivers are practicing so single cars at a time but it's loud and cool nonetheless. The Equinox golf course in Vermont is a Walter Travis course with an active road through the middle of a par 5. The fairway has an up slope and then a drop as it crosses the road. Therefore, a ball that carries will fly over the road without hitting a car. A ball that rolls over the edge will simply roll down onto the road. Still, it takes some getting used to. BTW - the Equinox is an extremely "fun" course to play.