Metro Detroit Area Golfers (NO COVID-19, POLITICS)

[njspence]

Anyone here play fieldstone before? They switched around the AM qualifier and that’s the only date that works for me, I’ve played out on the east side at Gowanie CC last few years with success. Pretty open? Is it easily walkable?

 

Thanks!

[njspence]

I missed this, read through the thread as well. What’s it like there, never played out there before. Will be playing in an AM qualifier there since the dates got switched around. Pretty walkable? How are the greens?

[1puttTUT]

I generally only play it once or twice a year, but over time I've played it enough to know it pretty well. It's very good for a muni. You don't hit driver very often unless you're playing the tips (we always play one set up). The greens were good Monday; faster than they looked actually. You could see some remnants of aeration, but they didn't roll like it.

It's a pretty easy walk compared to most of the other courses I play. It's only slightly hilly and the greens are probably 50-100 yards from the next tees on average.

My only complaint is the par 5's. They are really tough to score on. Only #12 gives you a chance to get home in two. #6 is target golf with two hazards; one at ~250 yards. #7 is long and uphill. #16 has this big stupid tree blocking the left side of the fairway, so people like myself who like to work the ball left to right are forced to play off to the right and lay up short of the bunker at ~240, then hit 7 or 8 iron leaving ~100 in for their 3rd shot.

[Therealpatgiles]

Fieldstone is a pretty nice track. I wouldn't call it the most walking friendly but it's far from the worst. We played in a "mitten golf your" event there last year and it was a good time. Couple gimmicky holes. Someone of your caliber shouldn't have a problem with it. Hole 1 is quite the starter, number 1 handicap. Crap left. Crap right. Reachable bunker straight.

[njspence]

Thanks for the info. How is it off the tee lot of marshy waste-land or pretty open?

 

[njspence]

Sounds like it!

Did you walk that event?

Thanks for the info

[1puttTUT]

There are four or five marshy areas but other than that it's pretty open.

[3_Jack_Par]

I've played it a few times -- it's a hike from where I live in Canton, and it's mostly been Publinx tournaments that have gotten me out there. If I remember correctly, there's a few hilly areas, and a couple of spots where there's a fair distance between holes, but they play all sorts of qualifiers there, so it's definitely walkable. It is pretty open, overall. It's a Arthur Hills course, which are all fairly similar, so if you've played Lyon Oaks, Pheasant Run, Fox Hills, Stonebridge, Shepherd's Hollow, etc, you probably know about what to expect.

[Moo]

[Moo]

Lyon Oaks allows carts. If the $15 is on top of the standard rack rate, that seems a bit excessive to me. I'll find out. Rangers/starters have been called back to work in a limited capacity. Lyon Oaks Golf Course10 hrs ·

Starting Monday, May 11, golf carts will be allowed at the five Oakland County Parks Golf Courses.

Only one rider per cart is allowed, per the executive order issued by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Two riders per cart allowed if from the same household. Carts will be available on a first-come, first served basis.

Carts must be prepaid with tee times. No on-site in person payment option is available at this time due to clubhouses and pro shops being closed to the public. Cart rates are $10 for 9 holes and $15 for 18 holes. Juniors, 17 and under, ride for free with paid adult (same household). Golfers may make reservations seven days in advance; limit two tee times per golfer. No walk-in golfers are allowed at this time.

During the day, golf carts will be sanitized in the cart drop-off areas. After a 10-minute dry time, carts will be put back into rotation. At the end of the day, all golf carts will be cleaned/sanitized and stored for the next day.

[3_Jack_Par]

I love it that more courses might offer a walking rate now. And some places that are walkable, but didn’t allow it previously might might make it an option. During the short time I lived in California, basically every course I played (other than one in the mountains that would have been impossible to walk without a Sherpa) had the option to walk and charged a lower rate for that option. I’ve always hated how so many courses around here don’t let you walk or if they do, they still charge you the same rate.

[1puttTUT]

I agree 1000%. I don't understand the worry over pace of play, which is likely their excuse. When a group walks they can play ready golf. Only when a course has extreme distances between tees would it make a difference. Walking is also cheaper for the course, healthier and better for the environment.

It will be interesting to see what courses do as cart restrictions are further relaxed in the future. Do they continue to allow walking, will they give a discount, etc. Right now with it being limited to one cart per person, courses are still incentivized to have you walk so they don't run out of carts.

One other thing I've noticed is some courses charging the full rate to walk back when it was walking only. When courses were first opening back up in late April, Shepherd's Hollow was charging $60 for 18 during the week! Who's paying for that torture? It has to be one of the toughest courses to walk in Oakland county and you can't tell me the normal weekday April rate there was more than $60 in the past. I remember paying $45 for morning tee times in the spring early in the spring even on the weekend. It makes me curious how much business they got during that time period, especially when most of the other high end public courses in the area were charging half that.

[3_Jack_Par]

Yeah, the pace of play argument holds no water if you really look at how people use carts. I think all of us have played enough 5+ hour rounds on the weekends to know that carts don't speed up play the way most people use them, where people drive to every ball, and no one gets ready to play when other people are hitting. The real reason is that carts have become kind of the default expectation, and courses have invested a ton of money in their cart fleet, so they need to try to recoup their investment. It's an unfortunate holdover from the real estate golf boom from the early 2000s, where so many courses were built through subdivisions and they're all broken up with some long distances between holes. Still a ton of those courses are very walkable, even laid out that way. I live in Canton, and it' has always been super annoying that courses like Pheasant Run and Fox Hills require carts. They're both relatively flat, and not a difficult walk, but neither generally allows you to do that. Pheasant has a few long distances between holes (especially on the West 9), but Fox Hills doesn't even have that issue. If anything good comes out of this whole thing, maybe a reset of how courses and golfers think about walking will be it.

 

[Moo]

The deal with Lyon Oaks on rates is that for a short period (a few weeks) because they have no open pro shop they are doing a $35 play rate for walking plus $15 if you want a cart.

It's not a permanent thing.

 

[3_Jack_Par]

They should make it permanent. Encouraging walking is a good thing.

[Moo]

I too like to walk many courses, but several friends can't do it. And they are not all just advanced in years, but have injuries and surgeries and all that mess.

But, perhaps a trend will start at some of the courses to offer a better rate for walking. All I can tell you now is that Lyon Oaks is only focused on a path to get back to something like fully operational.

[Go_Blue!]

Any course update for Blackheath in Rochester? Are the cups up or pool noodles? Cant stand playing cup up. We need a list of courses and their setup.

[Moo]

Blackheath is one of my local favorites. I love that crazy course, including 11. But, they dropped off of Teeoff.com listings a week or two before Michigan reopened golf. Their website won't allow you to book tee times and they won't answer the phone (you get a message...not available).

So, right now it looks like Blackheath is behind the curve. Too bad, as my buddy lives in Rochester and we love to play it early as you can burn off 18 in under 3 hours.

 

[1puttTUT]

Fun course with some great short holes. 11 however, is terrible.

[Moo]

It is rather terrible. There is simply no way to defend it as a good design. But, we know it's there and there are some fun ways to play it.

[Mikey5e]

I like Blackheath, but the number 11 hole is just a terrible design. I got to believe they had to find enough land to make a par 5 and that's where they stuck it, as if it weren't a plan at all just what acreage was left over. One time when I played the course it rained so much the day before that hole number 1 green was completely under water, I mean deep underwater, so they had us start on hole 10 and by the time we made the turn they had cleared all the water out and we were able to play the front nine. Just an interesting situation. The rest of the course I really enjoy though, just not hole number 11.

[Moo]

Many have speculated that 11 was an attempt to squeeze a par 5 into land where a par 5 just wouldn't fit. It's as good a reason as I've heard.

But, 11 is there so we must play it and I've made a game out how to best do that. I have reached it in 2 several times and NEVER even made birdie on those attempts because my approach was completely in the wrong place for a 2 putt. So, it's not just the crazy layout of the fairway, but if the greens are quick, it's about getting your approach positioned to 2 putt. I've given up trying to get there in two and now I have two simple ways to play it. Lay-up to a 100 or so and throw a high wedge into the right side of the green and pray the ball stops on the green. The second method is to blast my second shot as close as I can towards the left side. I find you can get a ball to stick pretty nice if you are coming in from the far left side.

But again, we can't justify it as a good design, because it's not.

My favorite hole to watch people play is 14. I've seen a lot of crazy stuff on that hole.

[1puttTUT]

Is 14 the short par 4 with water left of the green? I usually hit a hybrid there, leaving 50-70 yards in.

As for 11, one thing you cannot do is go for the green in two and miss short right. That's absolutely brutal. Half the time you won't even find your ball. After making that mistake a couple times I started laying up short left and then trying to stick a little wedge onto the proper level of the green.

I do love the par three 12th hole that comes immediately after. Actually all the par 3's there are really solid.

[Moo]

Yes, that is 14. There are many good ways to play it and many really stupid ways. I find watching the stupid ways more entertaining. I usually hit 7 wood and always favor the left side. If there is a crazy wind from the right, which is not uncommon on a course with zero trees, I'll actually hit it into the rough on the left side just past the traps. It's an easy hole and yet I've seen more people blow themselves up on that hole than any other.

11 is a mess. Balls do seem to get lost in that maze of little hills on the right side. Equally bad is being deep left on the green. There are a few pin positions that are pretty close to impossible to get close to if you are deep left.

All that said, it's a fun little course and some basic strategy can make it a pretty easy course. I shoot some of my lowest rounds each year there, which is probably one of the reasons I love it so much.

 

[1puttTUT]

I see tee times on golfnow as I'm typing this.

[Moo]

Must be a recent addition as I called them just yesterday (no answer) and could find no listings on Teeoff. It's great they are now open, as all this discussion has me wanting to go play 11 as soon as possible.!

If anyone gets in a round there soon, give the thread an update on course conditions.

 

[Mikey5e]

I'll keep your tips in mind. Sadly, the best I could do last year for the two times I did play the course was a bogey. I had a good drive and a perfect second shot looking straight up the hill to the green. I pitched one up there within 8 feet but it was above the cup and there was no way to stop the putt near the hole. The first putt went past about 8 feet, which again was the best one could do from that point, then I missed the come back and three putted for the bogey.

Dang

[Mikey5e]

Also, looking to purchase a rangefinder this year with slope. Any recommendations?

[Moo]

With respect to putting on 11, I've had a similar experience many times. Unfortunately there is a good bit of luck at play on that green. If you play it soon, give us a course report.

As for a rangerfinder, mine turns 20 years old this year, so I have no idea what the new and better version is. I can say I got pretty good value out of this one! The Bushnell 600 Compact Pro! Still working perfect.

[Go_Blue!]

I'm playing Blackheath Thursday and will update soon after.