I say play from the tips and embrace the struggle, gain perspective on how much better the pros are.
Haha. Yeah those 230-yard Par 3's are so enticing....
I say play from the tips and embrace the struggle, gain perspective on how much better the pros are.
I say play from the tips and embrace the struggle, gain perspective on how much better the pros are.
Favorites Played in/near Iowa:
1. Harvester
2. Glen Oaks
3. Hunter's Ridge
4. Deere Run (local to me in the QC)
5. Cedar Rapids CC
Favorites played elsewhere:
1. Pebble Beach
2. Torrey Pines (South)
3. Dinosaur Mountain in Gold Canyon, AZ
4. TPC Sawgrass
5. Broadmoor (East)
Bucket List:
1. Augusta National
2. Pine Valley
3. St Andrews
4. Pinehurst 2 (playing this in a few weeks!!)
5. Spyglass
the range balls at chambers bay all say "tee it forward, play faster, have more fun" otherwise they get 20 handicappers playing 6 hr rounds from the tips.
5 Played:
1. Spring Valley (Seriously a gem tucked in Livermore)
2. The Preserve at Lake Rathbun
3. The Legacy
4. Coldwater
5. Riverside Resort
5 Want to Play:
1. DMGCC
2. Brooks
3. TCI
4. Wakonda
5. Deere Run
5 Bucket List:
1. Augusta National
2. Irish Trip - Doing this in a year (Portmarnock, Royal Dublin, The Island, The Euro Club, The K Club, Baltray)
3. Midwest Trip - Will try this in a few years (Whistling Straights, Black Wolf Run, Deere Run, Hazeltine)
4. Sawgrass Trip - Will try once the lady wants to go (Valley Course, Sawgrass)
5. Pebble Beach Trip - Same as Sawgrass (Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill)
I could go on with the bucket list...
Hahaha...yeah, Beaver South. Not sure what you don't like about it, but I know those pines have given me fits in the past. You go in there on some of those holes, and "good luck" isn't enough. I've had to just take a drop on a couple of occasions, because I couldn't even put a chunk swing on the ball...in any direction, including backwards.
I do like:
- #2 (long par 3, with 3 tiered green. There is room to bailout left, but that's it)
- #3 (tee shot looks daunting, but there is a lot more room than it looks like from the tee. Want to give yourself 130-150 to the island green)
- #7 (I like elevated tees, for no other reason than max hang time. The approach can be tricky too, but the green does give a good backboard)
I would like 6, but it takes an absolutely perfect drive, and a nutted 2nd to have any chance to reach in 2. A par 5 should be reachable, IMO, which is why holes like #14 at Bos are dumb. Again...my opinion).
The rest of that 9 require a certain level of precision due to the pine trees.
I say play from the tips and embrace the struggle, gain perspective on how much better the pros are.
Wife and I went to Ireland 2 years back. It wasn't a golf trip but I did get to play a couple courses, including Ballybunion. I'm jealous that you are going to play all those courses.
I'd like to do an Ireland/Scotland one but I think if I had to pick, I'd do Scotland and hit up St. Andrews and Carnoustie. I really want a piece of Carnoustie.
I did that once at a course called the Highlands near Chicago. I don't feel the need to gain that perspective again. Now, I didn't play well that day but 7500 yards or whatever it was was way too much.
Report back on Pinehurst, please. I'm jealous. Pine Valley and Brookline are bucket listers for me as well. Not on my original list, but I only had 5 to work with :smile:
For those who have played some of the big name courses like Sawgrass, Pebble Beach, Whistling, etc....I am an 8 handicap at the public courses in and around Des Moines. Would I really struggle trying to play these other courses? Or are there plenty of hackers that get out and play those?
5 Played:
1. Spring Valley (Seriously a gem tucked in Livermore)
2. The Preserve at Lake Rathbun
3. The Legacy
4. Coldwater
5. Riverside Resort
5 Want to Play:
1. DMGCC
2. Brooks
3. TCI
4. Wakonda
5. Deere Run
5 Bucket List:
1. Augusta National
2. Irish Trip - Doing this in a year (Portmarnock, Royal Dublin, The Island, The Euro Club, The K Club, Baltray)
3. Midwest Trip - Will try this in a few years (Whistling Straights, Black Wolf Run, Deere Run, Hazeltine)
4. Sawgrass Trip - Will try once the lady wants to go (Valley Course, Sawgrass)
5. Pebble Beach Trip - Same as Sawgrass (Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill)
I could go on with the bucket list...
Favorites played elsewhere:
3. Dinosaur Mountain in Gold Canyon, AZ
Favorites Played in/near Iowa:
1. Harvester
2. Glen Oaks
3. Hunter's Ridge
4. Deere Run (local to me in the QC)
5. Cedar Rapids CC
Favorites played elsewhere:
1. Pebble Beach
2. Torrey Pines (South)
3. Dinosaur Mountain in Gold Canyon, AZ
4. TPC Sawgrass
5. Broadmoor (East)
Bucket List:
1. Augusta National
2. Pine Valley
3. St Andrews
4. Pinehurst 2 (playing this in a few weeks!!)
5. Spyglass
Favorite ones played local to me in the Twin Cities.
1. Hazeltine
2. Windsong Farm Golf Club
3. The Meadows at Mystic Lake
4. Mississippi Dunes
Haven't played much in central Iowa but my favorites were
1. Veenker (mostly a nostalgic thing)
2. Briarwood
3. TCI
4. Coldwater
5. The Legacy
Bucketlist (ones that I actually could play)
1. Pebble Beach
2. Pinehurst #2
3. TPC Sawgrass
4. Bethpage Black
5. Bay Hill
6. Spyglass
7. Kapalua Plantation Course
8. TPC Stadium @ PGA West
9. Road trip through Black Wolf Run, Whistling Straights and Erin Hills
10. Blue Monster, it seems pretty good now but still overpriced