OT - Thu Golf Chat
Based on the thread below, it seems like a lot of people have picked up golf as a new hobby or have been playing a lot more. It would be nice to have some discussions here with like-minded people if nothing other than just to get away from talking about Harbaugh.
I used to play a lot, but ever since getting a back surgery few years ago, I am just down to taking special buddy trips couple of times a year. But I have a great deal of interest in talking about golf courses and golf course architecture (if you are interested in that too, I would highly recommend golfclubatlas.com).
To kick it off, what is your favorite course to play and why? Not your bucket list golf course, but a place you play regularly and really enjoy playing there (other than being a bargain).
Mine is Chambers Bay. It is about 40min from where I live and it is the closest thing to playing at Bandon Dunes without driving 7 hours. Fairways are firm, it is hard to lose balls, par 4's are about as good as you are going to find anywhere, and dramatic Puget Sound view is inspiring. It really is a paradise for me and would happily choose it if I can only play that course for the rest of my life.
How about you?
April 29th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
I've played TPC Michigan and Wuskowhan Players Club (West Michigan), each one time and those are both gorgeous, immaculately kept courses.
As for a course I play more regularly, Pilgrim's Run in the Grand Rapids area would have to be my favorite. Not only is it underpriced IMO ($50-60 for 18 w/ a cart), it's also just such a pristine course that feels like you're driving into a private club upon entry. The layout of the course is great and it is extremely well-kept with a great staff there to assist and keep the play moving. There are also the little touches like free range balls, USB ports in the golf carts, and all of the beautiful facilities (club house and bathrooms on the course). This place is very enjoyable to play at and I would highly recommend this place to anyone.
Agree on Pilgrims Run, probably one of the best value plays I have seen!
More cheers for Pilgrim's Run. I probably get their 5x per year.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
I’d just like to know how to get rid of the geese that infest my local course. I’ve already had one take a run at me this year, and I thought I was going to have another problem last night.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
I’d just like to know how to get rid of the geese that infest my local course
12 gauge.
The thought crossed my mind, but it’s likely frowned upon at this local establishment. Besides, it may come off as a bit rude to have someone lining up a birdie putt in the middle of my Elmer Fudd act.
I'd recommend a 5 iron. For me, I'm not good at hitting with a 3 or 4 iron so I stick with the trusty 5.
Hooked my 5, shanked the six, skulled the 8, fatted the 9, chili-dipped the wedge, bladed the sand, but then there's the 7 iron.
On a more serious note, at the parks around my house, the city has put up silhouette cutouts of big dogs and that has kept the geese (and all their shit) away.
“Likes I always says, varieties is the spices of lifes”
Our local course hires a dog in the fall as the geese begin to migrate. The course is along the shore of a lake and hundreds of Canadian geese make a few months-long stop over on their way south (shakes fist at our northern neighbor).
The dog runs around and herds them off into the water. I think this is mostly an evening chore when the geese return from the cornfields. But a decently trained dog could do it during the day and stay out of the way of golfers.
Swans. The mortal enemy of geese.
I once drilled a goose with a 7 wood that never got more than a foot off the ground. Damn thing just shook it off and went back to what he was doing. Tough.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
Living in Switzerland, I don't have too many choices of courses. I play an easy course in France with friends on the weekend... I am hoping once confinement is over, I can play Evian with friends.
I, too, enjoy playing golf courses named after bottled waters.
Number 16 at Fiji is a bitch. Watch that bunker guarding the approach.
The atoll water hazard is bonkers, too.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
Northville Hills is my go too around my house, Best course was North Berwick in scotland, fantastic course i've never played anywhere better, sweet gimmick holes.
North Berwick is on my bucket list. The original home for famous template holes like redan, it would be like playing a museum.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
#1 - Pebble Beach
#2 - Acadia Bluffs
#3 - Pinehurst #4 (#2 is good but very difficult)
#4 - Jones Treetops
#5 - Bay Harbor or Forrest Dunes
Wow, I got nothing on my muni courses to compare with that list. I'm jealous that you get to play both Pebble Beach and Pinehurst #4 regularly.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED #4. Easily superior to #2 for me. I just found #2 to be boring other than the greens and even the greens are pretty repetitive.
Nothing beats the water holes at Pebble. If you just count those holes, it is easily the best course in the world. Inland holes are just so-so.
playing forrest dunes first time in a couple weeks. super excited about it.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
I've rarely played outside the Ann Arbor area, but my favorite local course is Eagle Crest. It's a beautiful course that is neither easy nor very difficult and it has a good variety. Leslie Park is a great municipal course.
I'm actually going in to get fitted for irons for the first time in a couple weeks and am looking forward to it. I've only played with hand-me-downs from my dad my entire adult life. I was looking into possibilities recently and discovered that most sets—at least those for high-handicapper like myself—don't come with 3-irons anymore so I've got some decisions to make.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
I briefly worked at Eagle Crest while an UG at Michigan. The job sucked, but I got good golf discounts. And I agree, its a good track.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
Both courses are great. Eagle Crest is a little pricey IMO, but I always buy the max coupons when Group Golfer posts it for Eagle Crest. My only complaint with Leslie Park is that it always seems like the pace of play is slow there. But I love the course.
I also got fitted for the fist time this past August at Miles of Golf. No complaints so far!
Yeah, Leslie is often slow and I think it's due to a lot of time spent looking for lost balls. Errant drives can really put you in trouble after the first few holes (he said from experience).
Agree on Leslie. Playing 9, 10, 11, and 12 in a row really slows down just on the difficulty and high chance of losing a ball.
Golfers are like cattle. They'll go anywhere where there's not a fence.
I go on a big golf trip with 24+ guys to Treetops every year and we had to institute a rule for looking for lost balls because the rounds were just taking fooooorever. But they spread out tee times pretty well, so not as much running into other groups, which is nice.
Though I usually come back from the trip with a dozen or more ProV1s. Usually not my own though lol
I haven’t carried a 3-iron in forever, and the only reason I carry a 4-iron is to punch out when I get in trouble (which is quite a bit).
The hybrid clubs seem to be much easier to hit, and far more forgiving for the average hack like me.
I'll probably go for a hybrid 3 and maybe 4 as well. I like the feeling when I hit my 3-iron solid, but frankly it doesn't happen that often and I could use the extra forgiveness.
I think you'll find that 4-irons these days are lofted the same as your old 3-irons, so you can expect similar distance. 3-irons from 90s and 00s had a loft of around 21 degrees, my 4-iron (about 5 years old) has a loft of 20.
I played Leslie for the first time last weekend and found it enjoyable. Different groups of holes between 1-3, 4-9ish, and 10-12 or so. Also played Washtenaw last year and found that to be fun. The greens were wild though. Difficult to keep some putts from rolling an extra 15 feet down a hill. Played Michigan's course a dozen or so times in life and have always found it challenging with the hills and blind shots.
at least those for high-handicapper like myself—don't come with 3-irons anymore so I've got some decisions to make.
I've been thinking about trading in my clubs and getting new ones. Got a new driver and hybrid this year and realized my clubs are close to 15 years old and I got them in middle school before having them lengthened because I kept growing. I only use my 3 iron for stingers and I'm not very good at them so I usually leave it in my bag. Would be good to get rid of that and replace it with another wedge between my 46 PW ad 60 LW.
In case you haven't seen it, I recommend this video and channel. Ian, the owner of TXG, is probably a top 10 fitter in North America, if not the world. Much of this is simple but can easily be lost in the build up to the fit and during the fitting process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6gF7wsAcc8
The TXG channel is great. I have no idea what to make of most of the info because I have not tracked my numbers using anything like the GC Quad so I have nothing to compare it to. Ian is super knowledgeable and it would be awesome to have a fitting done by him.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
My buddy and I made plans to take a day off work to go play Chambers Bay, and they closed for the season the next day to redo all the greens. It's at least a 1-1/2 hour drive to get there, so we don't just pick up and go. Been wanting to go since we went to the US Open there in 2015, but it just never works out. We generally play at all the courses in Skagit and Whatcom county, with Lake Padden being my favorite.
I can walk to Chambers from where I live! We’ll have to do an MGo Golf outing there!
Home Course in Olympia and Gold Mountain in Bremerton are worth the trips for the cost of playing.
Going to play the McLemore in NW Georgia this summer. Looks amazing. (www.theMcLemore.com)
You know I am willing to play CB any time! I have played over 100 rounds there and always find something new.
That's three. Just need a fourth. Just hope my game doesn't rub off on you.
I have absolutely butchered Gold Mountain a couple times. Was stationed in Bremerton and then played it last about 20 years ago when I moved to Burlington.
I'm in metro Detroit and over the last several years I and a few fellow alums try to play U of M golf course a couple times a year. What a fantastic course and at alumni rates very reasonable (I think it's around $65 with a cart). From the white tees it is not ridiculously difficult, with fairly forgiving fairways. It's just a really fun course with lots of options. Several of the first nine holes have blind tee shots uphill. The greens are rollercoasters but fair. An Alistair McKenzie masterpiece.
Another local favorite is Shepherd's Hollow in Clarkston.
For up north any of the courses at Treetops or Boyne are great.
I played the UM course as a student. I recall thinking all holes were uphill... then you get to 18 and get to finally hit downhill!
Likewise. My fav was when the clubhouse paired my buddy and I (walking) with a couple of fairly serious, cart riders. I was pretty in shape during college but walking those hills for all 18 was a haul. The second half of our foursome just ditched us at the turn, they sped out of there with just a puff of dust remaining, like a Roadrunner cartoon.
I play UofM most often and it's a favorite. I've never seen Augusta in person, but from the telecasts, I think you can see similarities with the MacKenzie design, especially the elevation changes and green complexes.
Playing on nice courses is a treat. But I find that even if it is on a cow pasture - doesn't get better than golfing with 3 fun and terrific friends with plenty of beer, shit talking and laughs on hand.
This. The course we play the most isn't the best, but they don't mind us being us. We also take a yearly trip to Alta Lake in Eastern Washington. Decent course with a crappy hotel on the ninth fairway. Just a party the whole weekend.
I've had the pleasure of living in Monterey, CA for the last 4 years and Augusta, GA for the 10 years prior to that. I haven't played Pebble yet, but hoping to do that sometime this year. For being in these two golf "meccas", I still don't find the golf as satisfying as I do in Michigan. The cypress trees are cool here, but they will eat your golf ball more often than not. The pine trees in Georgia are hideous and you find yourself hitting out of pine straw way too much (not an easy task). There's nothing like the hardwoods Michigan has to offer with the change in color as fall starts to set it. I can't wait to get back there and play a round.
Best course I've played: definitely Augusta Country Club and the members there are very kind (for the most part).
Another great one: Champion's Retreat in Augusta. I was told by a manager there, "if you are wondering what the membership cost is, this is not the club for you." I find that funny, yet refreshingly honest.
Cedar Chase in Cedar Springs: I only played it once, but I really liked it and I can still envision the layout of the course when I played it, several years later.
I've played it several times and it's near and dear to my heart, but Pine View in Three Rivers is good with 36 holes, not expensive, and a little bit of everything on the course.
I used to be a big golfer (my first job was a caddy), but since getting married and having kids, my golfing has been reduced to maybe 1-2 times per year.
With that said, I typically stick to Chicago area golf courses, but I would say that Chicago is probably the best city area for golf, so no complaints.
I've played some major courses all over (i.e. Treetops (Smith), Whistling Straights, etc.), but sticking to the theme, these are my top places I used to play regularly in Chicago that are not country clubs:
1. Thunderhawk. I prefer this over Medina #3
2. Mistwood.
3. Harborside (both courses are legit)
4. Cog Hill (Dubsdread in particular, but #2 is legit good as well)