MD/VA/DC Golfers - Ten Seconds or Less

[xoted]

Virginia oaks is closing end of the month, permanently.

 

Course is in awful shape. Not even cutting the grass. Greens play like wooden boards.

[FAbb]

City played the other Turf Valley course with my buddy Alex who D.C. And FABB played with. Legit excited for his post reviewing the round.

tomorrow

 

So much bater breath right now, waiting for TheCityReview.

[dcmidnight]

Who will be the first to get the new Taylor made irons? P750 or p770. Has anyone hit them yet.

 

I hit the P770s, really good looking iron. Did not like the 750, just a little too compact for me. Good iron players would probably like it though.

[SullGolf]

Speaking of irons, what's the updated verdict on the single-length irons DC? I know you were pretty hyped about the 5-iron, but I didn't ask about the other end of the set with the PW. Outside of potentially a new 4-hybrid, the single-length set is the only mildly intriguing thing out there for me this year, equipment-wise. The biggest reason I see myself not getting them is just price: I'd like to keep using the recoil 110s, but have to buy all of that brand new from Cobra or someone else. It's about $140/club.

[TheCityGame]

So, I got to play the Hialeah course at TV yesterday. Essentially I went to the course yesterday almost looking for a reason NOT to join.

 

That course could almost do it to you.

 

A little FLAVA. . .

 

HOLE 1 is 375 from the tips. There's a hill on the left side that is OB. LattyHazzy on the right, so as you surmised, the hole cants a little left to right and is a little dog leg left. Off-camber. At 150 yards from the green -- the "Kent Zone" -- would be a 225 yard shot. The fairway at this point is 30* yards wide, and from OB to LattyHaz, it's 45 yards wide. It remains that width for the length of the hole. I hit a nice little bunt-fade that I started down the left. It went high, and landed soft in the fairway and rolled out about a yard into the right rough. Let's get to that asterisk.

 

(*) The fairway is 30 yards wide. About the last 5 yards of the fairway, and all of the rough on the right is totally blocked from the green by limbs. And, there's no way to hold the left side of the fairway, probably even with a draw. I had to hit a ball left of the green and try to get up and down. The effective width of this hole seems to be about 20 yards. Welcome to Hialeah, b1tch.

 

 

HOLE 4 is 440 from the tips. The drive is about 220 carry to the fairway over a ravine, and you hit into a giant hill. Also, there's on-course OB left, and basically a ravine to the right, and about 170 yards out from the tee are two overgrown trees that provide a window of about 20 yards to shoot through/over. You can see a patch of fairway that goes from about 220 to 250 that looks like a tiny green protected by trees and sand and you better hit it if you want a shot at the green. From there, you have an uphill shot to a two-tiered green protected by sand on 3 sides. Also, the tee box is very slanted. I hit one OB left here. Very difficult green. Number 1 handicap hole. I think it's a hole where you would generally be happy with a 5. This is like 5 at Gunpowder if that hole was 440 yards instead of 260 yards.

 

 

HOLE 13 is a beautiful downhill par 3 over the water.

 

HOLE 14 is "one of those". Big hill on the right with long grasses. LatzoHazMo all the way down the left. 150 out from the green, the fairway is about 18 yards wide and pinches from there. It's also 396, so a good 3-iron to keep it in play will leave you about 185 in. Also, at that point, the fairway is about 20 yards wide, and runs towards the creek, so don't draw it. I hit a ball into the rough on the right hill with a driver and had 155 in with a baseball swing. I hit a 7 iron to about 20 feet. It was the best shot I hit all day.

 

HOLE 15 is a very nice hole. 422 from the tips. Takes a long drive that you have to keep right, and all carry into the green over a pond from there.

 

 

FUNNY STORY INTERLUDE. . ."Barbie Levy Jewelry Designs" is on my map because I know her because of my wife. Because of the 16-character limit on our old land line, when she used to call the house, her caller ID would come up, "BARBARA LEVY JEW". I had no idea she lived that close to the course. I'm totally going to smash her bowl mid-round one day.

 

HOLE 16 is a narrow, uphill par 4. 360 on the card (we were actually shorter). 240 out from the tee, the fairway is about 15 yards wide. You can play short of that. I drew a yellow line to indicate where you have to be LEFT OF in order to see the green. The white line was my 3-iron. I was blocked out. I tried to hit a 30 yard cut with a 7-iron from 140. It only cut about 5 yards and I wound up in that left bunker. Left rough > right fairway. Also, trees left.

 

 

Course finishes with a 575 yard par 5 (I hit a horrible smother hook here) and a 165 yard par 3. Cute finishing hole. You can see the club house and the 9th on the Original course. You wouldn't want that everywhere, but it seems appropriate for this weird course.

 

I played a match against 2More's buddy. He parred the first 4 holes and I went bogey-bogey-bogey-X. I was 4dn after 4, and basically lost 4&2, so things got all right after that. On the par 5 12th, I smashed a drive down the middle and hit 4W to the front fringe. He lost his drive right and punched out to 185, laying 2. We both made birdie. Ouch.

 

I missed 2 or 3 short putts from above the hole.

 

OVERALL SUMMARY : This was a difficult course to play on first sight. But, it's going to make a golfer play a lot of different shots. It's a tense, thinky, stressful, sometimes frustrating, experience, but if your ball striking is on for a day and you find the correct side of the fairways, you should be able to mince it up. I can already see rounds where you're +2 going into 14 and you make 2 doubles coming in.

 

I played a nice fade all day, but I'm used to starting the fade left side of fairway and letting it come back. Here, for most holes, I would have had to start the fade at trouble. That's a shot I'm going to have to get comfortable with, or hit the ball straighter. Also, I'm really going to have to master the driver-stinger, but preferably get back to playing a bullet 4W draw. A lot of holes definitely favor a draw, but will absolutely punish a hook. I think to master it, I'm going to have to go out some day and hit driver, 3 iron, 4W off the tee and see where they wind up. Going to have to learn to trust starting the ball at trouble, and just "learn the lines" off the tee. . .see how much the ball really runs across some of those fairways as conditions change.

 

If you can confidently move the ball both ways (IOW, if you're a very good golfer), you could play this course very well.

 

Course conditions were generally very good. This course gets about 1/3rd of the play of the original and the greens were in great shape. Sort of worried about the low lying areas getting soggy and crabby grassed.

 

Very hilly walk, corresponding to a hilly course, which I like. Going to be a beast to walk in mid-summer heat around here.

 

Nice green complexes. Plenty of tiers, and odd folds and ridges that can send balls this way and that. Sand was in great shape. Definitely a "keep it below the hole" course. If they upped the stimp by a foot, you could have some "please stay on the green" moments.

 

If that was the ONLY course at a club, you would have to be a masochist to join, but I think it's a nice complement to the other course, or basically any other course anywhere. I could see people liking this course and it provided us with a pretty good match. There's some nice views on it, plenty of places to skip around. There's actually a 9-hole route that goes 1-2-3-13-14-15-16-17-18.

 

Tuesdays were half-price guest day and half-price burger night. Burgers and fries were very good. Playing partner told me he has days where he rolls up, parks right next to the Original 10th tee, just gets out of his car and plays. That's very cool. I like "golf efficiency".

 

Yesterday. . .30 mins from work. 30 mins from home. Not too bad. Work to home is 50 minutes anyway.

[Puppetmaster]

Going back through my phone for something else and came across this...

 

 

Watching the March Madness games, eating a Klondike, while in a Pinehurst hotel room on a golf trip. Not to mention, DCM's clubs gracing us with their presence. I believe this was post Lonnie Poole and bbq brisket, waiting for Sully to arrive.

 

[FAbb]

What kind of dip did you have for those tostitos, tho?

[dcmidnight]

Speaking of irons, what's the updated verdict on the single-length irons DC? I know you were pretty hyped about the 5-iron, but I didn't ask about the other end of the set with the PW. Outside of potentially a new 4-hybrid, the single-length set is the only mildly intriguing thing out there for me this year, equipment-wise. The biggest reason I see myself not getting them is just price: I'd like to keep using the recoil 110s, but have to buy all of that brand new from Cobra or someone else. It's about $140/club.

 

I really like them, I'm a fan so far. I know this is easy to say - and impossible to pull off - but this is one set where you really need to spend a month or so with the entire set. Its one reason I bought them off BST, I got a good enough price I knew that I could play with them for a while and then dump them for almost what I paid if I didn't like them.

 

It would be hard to just have a demo club or two to really judge if they'd work for you though. I know how stupid it sounds to say "just buy a whole set of used irons to demo for 6-8 weeks" but that's almost whats best. Its also why I wonder how well sales really are for Cobra.

 

I cant/wont speak for any of the "sciencey" stuff behind them - I just think that they work for me so far.

[Ocgolfrick]

FUNNY STORY INTERLUDE. . ."Barbie Levy Jewelry Designs" is on my map because I know her because of my wife. Because of the 16-character limit on our old land line, when she used to call the house, her caller ID would come up, "BARBARA LEVY JEW". I had no idea she lived that close to the course. I'm totally going to smash her mid-round one day.

 

 

 

Fixed.

[Puppetmaster]

What kind of dip did you have for those tostitos, tho?

 

Beer and scotch...

[Puppetmaster]

Virginia oaks is closing end of the month, permanently.

 

Course is in awful shape. Not even cutting the grass. Greens play like wooden boards.

 

Always sad when a golf course closes, but that one was due.

[Puppetmaster]

It's about $140/club.

 

[FAbb]

VA Oaks is one of the biggest pieces of $hit I've ever played. It's the only time I can ever remember wanting to stop playing because I disliked the course so much.

[2moreTerps]

In training this week. Warning there may be a lot of responses to Hialeah discussion

 

(*) The fairway is 30 yards wide. About the last 5 yards of the fairway, and all of the rough on the right is totally blocked from the green by limbs. And, there's no way to hold the left side of the fairway, probably even with a draw. I had to hit a ball left of the green and try to get up and down. The effective width of this hole seems to be about 20 yards. Welcome to Hialeah, b1tch.

 

That's why it's a three iron hole. The downhill makes the tee shot play effectively shorter. Also that hole and that course make you a more patient more accepting golfer. You WILL miss on that course. Just have to know that.

 

Also I played Hialeah before original, shot 93, and told my wife I wasn't joining. I play Hialeah about 1 in 3.5 times at turf and have come to really like it

[TheCityGame]

It's the only time I can ever remember wanting to stop playing because I disliked the course so much.

Oh, what's that you say? You haven't played River Downs?

[siegel159]

On this topic, I would like to nominate Stony Brook GC in NJ for the worst course ever played: http://stonybrookgolfnj.com/

 

By the time I reached hole 6, my buddy and I were talking about packing up and heading to a different course down the road a bit

[FAbb]

Totally going to happen.

 

[FAbb]

What kind of dip did you have for those tostitos, tho?

 

Beer and scotch...

 

My favorite junk food dip. Must be eaten with Fritos, of course.

 

[Puppetmaster]

What kind of dip did you have for those tostitos, tho?

 

Beer and scotch...

 

My favorite junk food dip. Must be eaten with Fritos, of course.

 

 

I like the Tostitos queso with salsa mixed in. I can also be vulnerable to excessive consumption if you put chips along with a good sour cream and onion/chive dip in front of me.

[TheCityGame]

Hole 10 is completely changed. It's another hole with a very tight landing area. It's about 250 to the NEW BUNKERS that I drew. They moved the green about 80 yards or something. Very narrow landing area.

 

I hit driver into the right trees, and punched out over the green, only to find out that over the green was a very very bad place to be.

 

The gray line that looks like I drew it on there is a line I drew on there. It's an extension of the road. There was a ton of construction going on back there. They're building a ton of houses around this place.

 

[dcmidnight]

So is that hole eventually going to have you teeing off over the road?

[TheCityGame]

DC -- NO.

 

They moved the tee box so that you will not hit across the road. The guy I played with said something about that's illegal (either golf wise, or in the world). I might have mis-heard him.

 

Totally going to happen.

 

On hole 2, there's a creek about 220 out. I hit 3 iron short of it and had 7 iron in. I think it's possible to hit D over this creek. There's room to the left if you do that.

 

On 16, they both hit D and I hit 3 iron. The one guy was right side of the FW, but was so far up he didn't have tree issues. The hole did not set up well for the fade I was hitting all day.

 

6 has a creek running across it that I don't think you could carry, but you'd have to take a little off the D.

 

3,4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 are all definitely D.

 

You could get away with it on 1, 2, 6, 16.

 

14 is really really weird. Literally, a full D for you would land in an area about 15 yards wide with trouble both sides.

[dcmidnight]

And I'm definitely still sleeping on the fact that John Daly won this weekend with the Vertical Groove driver in the bag.

[dcmidnight]

DC -- NO.

 

They moved the tee box so that you will not hit across the road. The guy I played with said something about that's illegal (either golf wise, or in the world). I might have mis-heard him.

 

Probably mis-heard, and I only say that because I can think of a couple courses offhand where you are teeing off over a road.

 

Tobacco Road 18 - we didn't even realize it was a road until a truck drove right in front of us.

 

Caves Valley 10 - Teeing off essentially in the parking lot, right over the neighborhood road.

[TheCityGame]

DC -- NO.

 

They moved the tee box so that you will not hit across the road. The guy I played with said something about that's illegal (either golf wise, or in the world). I might have mis-heard him.

 

Probably mis-heard, and I only say that because I can think of a couple courses offhand where you are teeing off over a road.

 

Tobacco Road 18 - we didn't even realize it was a road until a truck drove right in front of us.

 

Caves Valley 10 - Teeing off essentially in the parking lot, right over the neighborhood road.

Yes, but aren't both of those roads sort of part of the property?

 

Like CV, that road only goes into the housing associated with the course. And, I think TR goes into the club house.

 

At Mt. Pleasant in Baltimore, you tee off over a road, but it's part of the entry way for the course.

 

Although, you might be able to say the same thing about the road I'm talking about at Turf. I actually have no idea if it's going to be a "through" street or if it's all part of the complex (for instance, like the CV road you're talking about). I can't tell on the map where it might run out to.

[2moreTerps]

Woodholme has a hole where you drive over a road but that's a private road. My understanding is that you can't hitnover an actual hole.

 

City

 

1 3i

2 3i (why better drivers don't hit driver I don't know)

3 d

4 d

5 who knows

7 d

8 3i

10 3i (I think you have to almost slice a driver to hit it here)

11 d (into 12 fairway usually oops)

12 d

14 3i

15 d

16 3i

17 d

 

When my friend hits driver on 16 it tilts me so hard. I hit 3i 9i on that hole a couple weeks back. And I'm hitting driver their OB 100x more often than driver.

 

Now city knows why I object to driver all day. HIALEAH

[TheCityGame]

5 is a perfect hole for the 4W draw I used to hit. I'm going to have to practice that shot.

 

Also, might work on 4W draw for some of the Original course. My fade is actually totally playable on holes like O2 and O10, but a draw is preferable.

 

Woodholme has a hole where you drive over a road but that's a private road. My understanding is that you can't hitnover an actual hole.

 

City

 

1 3i

2 3i (why better drivers don't hit driver I don't know)

3 d

4 d

5 who knows

7 d

8 3i

10 3i (I think you have to almost slice a driver to hit it here)

11 d (into 12 fairway usually oops)

12 d

14 3i

15 d

16 3i

17 d

Is all that from tips?

[baddomes]

At Latrobe Country Club you hit over a road on #1, and maybe #18, same with Harrisburg Country Club, but those are both driveways for the golf course, not public thru-roads. I think Tobacco Road is like this as well.

[therealsneek]

Is the original course at TV the one you can see from route 40 and the entry road? We cut through TV often to go to the Harris Teeter.

[thechief16]

VA Oaks is one of the biggest pieces of $hit I've ever played. It's the only time I can ever remember wanting to stop playing because I disliked the course so much.

 

This