mstuk

play just one round and pay a little more and go to Portmarnock old course links played there in May its magnificent or if you have time drive up to royal county down around 1.5 hrs max and play the best course on this God's earth.

I do not think that women should be allowed to take part in the mens majors, particulally on the basis of equal opportunity considerations because that would dictate that men could also play in ladies events. So my feeling is that if the Masters wishes to retain it's status as a major no ladies should be allowed to participate if however they would like to include ladies the tournament should no longer be considered a major.

I played the Old Course last Friday , pure unadulterated magic.

You are without doubt the most ignorant and crass poster I have ever encountered on any golf forum anywhere.

These words may well come back to haunt me but you have more chance of getting a seat on the next space shuttle than those three have of winning the Open

Well this post just about encapsulates everything that's wrong with golf in the states in my opinion . Rather than play in the oldest and most prestigious championship in the world he should stay in Milwakee and get some fast cash little wonder you guys keep getting your arses kicked in the Ryder Cup.

Given its the Open none of yours that's for certain possibly except Segio Garcia. Luke Donald could not close a door Mickleson does not have any chance of winning the Open he is too in love with hitting high spectacular wedge shots that make the crowd go ooooooooh , no use at all on a links course. Adam Scott as per Luke Donald. Anthony Kim would have thought its unlikely given his inexperience and the weather is awful in UK at the moment so experiance on a links course will be essential. I quite like Lee Westwood .

Yes I am playing the Old Course at St Andrews then jumping on a plane and going to Doonbeg for the Saturday and Sunday.

Yes I am afraid you are .

I do around 6 golf trips per year with various mates or clients . So far this year have played Muirfield and North Berwick on one trip . Last month played Portmarnock , Royal County Down , The European Club and The K Club. Next trip is july 4th to Old Course at St Andrews on the Friday and then over to Doonbeg for the weekend. Also got a little golf in the US during the family hols this summer playing Whistling straits and Medina in Chicago , hoping to play torrey pines and then will play a couple of tracks in Vail Red Sky and Counrty club of the Rockies..........so much golf so little time

Spyglass is a simply fantastic course a real golfers course with good service and it's not overrun. Pebble is in my opinion a very overated golf course and one that I would not rush back to overpriced , overcrowded and overated .

If we hear it at the Open and the culprits are found to be visiting tourists I think a quiet word would be appropriate if however the culprits are found to be British golf fans just shoot then out of hand .

I can' t recall hearing "getindahole" or "youdaman" at the Open as you chaps would say go figure.

I think when Rocco looks back on this he will have few regrets over 90 holes of golf he held argueably the greatest player of all time to a draw not bad for a 45 year old. He did not leave anything out there, at 3 down he was a good as dead but staged a magnificent fight back . When it looked like he would take another shot off Tiger only to see Tiger hit possibly the finest 5 iron bunker shot of all time inside his ball did he crumble , no he sank a 15 foot downhill breaker .....pure class. All of this he did with a smile and a laugh that man has more to be proud about this morning than if he won or lost that playoff and he has something that winning would not have given him and thats an immense character. I would like to leave my american cousins with a thought did Tiger play in a manner that was consistent with the finest traditions of the game and a great champion ? or was his ponderously slow play , constant club changing and wind checking gamesmanship ?

you have played all these courses in Aus?

I will list the courses I ahve played that I most recommend England st georges hill , suningdale old and new , the grove , royal st georges Scotland Muirfield , kingsbarns , loch lomond , turnberry , prestwick , north berwick , gleneagles kings , gleneagles queens. Ireland Ballybunnion , ballyliffin , royal portrush , waterville , old head , killarney , doonbeg , lahinch Portugal Old Couse Villamoura , Victoria , quinta do lago , pionheiros altos , san lorenzo , vila sol , vale do lobo , quinta da ria Spain las brisas , Valderamma USA winged foot , red sky ranch , pebble beach , spyglass hill , monteray peninsular country club

That seems to me to be the observation of a man who cant afford the $100k rather than a man who can break 90 . I played winged foot last year and shot 94 which given that it is the hardest course I have ever played I was bloody chuffed with . Would I pay $100k to be a member if I lived near NY you bet your backside I would.

I cant beleive that Padraig Harrington does not appear on your list of possible winners you have I assume heard of the Open well he won it and is a pretty good player .

We had a guy at my club who was the world amateur champion and european amateur champion twice . He beat JB Holmes 5 and 4 in the Walker Cup and he got his card last year in Q school. At the end of the season he had made 4 cuts and won about $15,000 . Now the point of this is to illustrate just how talented the top 200 or so golfers in the world are . Take your avereage club pro who plays off +3 and there is no comaparisson I would wager they could not even break 80 at the US open. So why does a guy like Harmen become a teacher , well because he discovered that in terms of teaching he is as good as Tiger is at tournament play and we all want to be that good at something.

Been away for a while nice to be back and to opine on such an interesting topic. Regarding making Augusta harder I do not feel that lengthening the course achieves this end at all. I did not enjoy last years event, if I want to watch the best players in the world struggle to break par I watch the US Open, which I admit I do enjoy enormously. The Masters for me has always been about sublime shot making and amazing putting and it bothers me not one jot if the winner is 10 under par. I would in fact argue that this was a unique part of the character of the masters, in the same way that the toughness of the US Open sets it apart and the nature of links golf sets the Open apart from other majors. In fact I think you could argue that the PGA has recently been seen as the 4th major precisely because it lacks a uniqueness of its own since switching from the match play format many years ago. Making courses longer only plays into the hands of the very players you are seeking to protect the course from. Make the rough 12 inches deep. Have deep-faced bunkers in and around 280 yards to catch the longer players drives as they land but not the shorter hitters. Have the bunkers grooved in the same way Jack Nicklaus does at His tournament. All these things should encourage accuracy at the expense of prodigious distance which must be a better way than just making course longer surely. Just adressing another point made in this thread regarding the differances between US Open courses and Open courses I would suggest that the presentation of the course is the greatest differance . Pebble beach whilst being on the shore line is in no way a links course in so far as it is set up as a US target style golf course. Any of the Open courses run much firmer from tee to green and due to the unulations of the natural terrain ensure that a far grater variety of shots are needed to compete ones round.

you may as well rename the world rankings the US tour PGA rankings because Steve Stricker the third best player in the world is nowhere near accurate.

Well here was the final tally . The Buckinghamshire ( my home course in the UK) Pinheiros Altos ( my home course in Portugal ) Ballybunnion Waterville Old Head Ballyliffin Old Ballyliffin Glashedy Royal Portrush Gleneagles Queens Gleneagles Kings St Georges Hill Sunningdale Old The Grove Hanbury Manor Winged Foot Red Sky ranch Olympic Pebble Beach Spyglass Hill Monteray Peninsular Country Club Adare Manor Doonbeg Lahinch The Green monkey The Country Club at Sandy Lane Suningdale New

[QUOTE=iacas;84103][rant]You know, I'm getting tired of people hating on the 3-iron. " what sort of english is that ? one does not hate on something you either hate it or you do not.

yes because the 54 and 58 deg wegdes I use are vokey spinmilled and they aree quite simply the best wedges ever made . the next best wedge i have ever used is my 50 deg which is a 200 series .

I am pretty certain that by signing for a scorecard you knew to be incorrect you have broken the rules and should have been disqualified. Your actions have in effect cheated whoever came second and indeed everyone else in the field . I assume you are not playing in a proper club comp since this guy seems to make up his own handicap.