MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[dagoose383]

Yeah a handicap with many courses should be stronger than a handicap based on a lot of scores at the same track. 
 

same track leads to learning to “play that course” rather than play golf

[baddomes]

15 minutes ago, dagoose383 said:

Yeah a handicap with many courses should be stronger than a handicap based on a lot of scores at the same track. 
 

same track leads to learning to “play that course” rather than play golf

 

There's definitely some overlap between "Playing that course" and "Playing Golf", but I agree with you and everyone else that familiarity with one course will lead to better scores/differentials. 

 

Knowing where to miss still takes the ability to hit the ball at that target to be worth anything.  

[SullGolf]

I get that some handicaps travel better than others, but what kind of course do you think people are playing that their handicap doesn't travel to NORTHWEST?  It's one of the most straight forward courses that I've ever played.

 

I think the biggest thing that creates vanity caps is giving/taking putts that are too long.  A lot of people play with groups that give them a bunch of 5 footers, they are really 5+ handicaps instead of 1s.  Then they get in to a tournament with pressure and put up big numbers.

[Sterling_247]

3 minutes ago, SullGolf said:

I get that some handicaps travel better than others, but what kind of course do you think people are playing that their handicap doesn't travel to NORTHWEST?  It's one of the most straight forward courses that I've ever played.

 

I think the biggest thing that creates vanity caps is giving/taking putts that are too long.  A lot of people play with groups that give them a bunch of 5 footers, they are really 5+ handicaps instead of 1s.  Then they get in to a tournament with pressure and put up big numbers.

 

Never really thought about the giving/taking putts piece, but seems like it could definitely be an issue. I'm just not comfortable giving or taking one outside of 2ft. To each their own, just my thought

[Sterling_247]

1 hour ago, baddomes said:

 

There's definitely some overlap between "Playing that course" and "Playing Golf", but I agree with you and everyone else that familiarity with one course will lead to better scores/differentials. 

 

Knowing where to miss still takes the ability to hit the ball at that target to be worth anything.  

 

My biggest thing about playing different courses is the sight lines off the tees and terrible spots to end up around the greens. For me its much easier to play a course the second time rather than the first, but then after that its diminishing returns

[Puppetmaster]

Obviously those fake 1.4 caps are for winning GolfWRX arguments about blades vs CBs and other "magazine racing" debates. 

 

Agree with above ^^ that the second time is always better than the first time, then after that it's a lot about execution. In a former life, playing multi round tournaments at an unfamiliar course, the one or two practice rounds was usually enough. After that it more about staying focused and hitting the needed shots, vs "don't hit over there like yesterday". But then some here know that I am one of those paralysis by analysis players, so don't take my word for it 🤣

 

How about green reading though? One could argue that they were lots of courses where some local knowledge or experience helps with how the greens play. 

[dcmidnight]

Agree with Sully though, NW is about one of the best courses you could play for a qualy if you have never played the course. The greens are pretty basic for the most part, not a ton of tricky stuff out there.

[mizuno player]

I played the same course over a long period of time. My handicap did not travel great consistently. I would have my moments but majority were many strokes higher. 

 

It would be nice if some how a handicap calculation could take playing the same course into consideration. 

[FAbb]

8 hours ago, dagoose383 said:

Yeah a handicap with many courses should be stronger than a handicap based on a lot of scores at the same track. 
 

same track leads to learning to “play that course” rather than play golf

I think the golfers at Turf Valley that have been playing nothing but the Hialeah course since last September would disagree lol. There seem to be a LOT of people in the soft cap zone (Where GHIN suppresses upward cap movement, once you get 3 strokes over your lowest index). 
 

But I do get the sentiment. It’s probably true some places, and not others. 

[GooseHook]

18 hours ago, dagoose383 said:

Yeah a handicap with many courses should be stronger than a handicap based on a lot of scores at the same track. 
 

same track leads to learning to “play that course” rather than play golf

 

It depends on your definition of strong. More accurate in terms of diversity, maybe. If you are playing regular matches at the same course or a home club, it's better to be paired with and against players who play the majority of their rounds there. 

 

The system is good enough but I'm still not sure how much weight certain factors are considered in course ratings. Having been at CCMD for a full year now, it's pretty evident that the course and slope ratings give too much weight to yardage. It's a highly demanding round of golf when the greens are even at 70% of their peak speed and good freaking luck if you have to play in wind. 

 

I'd happily take my 9 index to a par 72 with 2 or 3 more par 5's and some more forgiving approach shots. 

 

 

[ALTSean]

Golf Digest's Top 100 list is out:

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking

 

Geoff Shackleford's article rips the list by using Golf Digest's own email to the raters:

 

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2021/5/3/golf-digest-course-ranking-2021-you-get-what-you-charge-for

 

By my math Maryland has 1 course in the Top 100 (Congressional) and Virginia has 1 (Kinloch).  Haven't played either, probably won't in 2021.  But at least we have Schoolhouse 9.  

 

[GooseHook]

15 hours ago, ALTSean said:

Golf Digest's Top 100 list is out:

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking

 

Geoff Shackleford's article rips the list by using Golf Digest's own email to the raters:

 

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2021/5/3/golf-digest-course-ranking-2021-you-get-what-you-charge-for

 

By my math Maryland has 1 course in the Top 100 (Congressional) and Virginia has 1 (Kinloch).  Haven't played either, probably won't in 2021.  But at least we have Schoolhouse 9.  

 

 

#33 is my favorite only because I have actually played it  😆

 

I'm surprised BCC East hasn't been on the list in a while. It's a Tillinghast design that was restored in '15 and hosted majors in the past, although none recently. 

[SullGolf]

The Fried Egg had a decent pod on the 3 major ranking lists.  I honestly didn’t know there were 3, and I just always thought it was the same mag putting them out.  Shows you what I know.

 

Outside of paying to be on the rating panel, they were also trashing Golf Digests category for course difficulty. I.e. why does how hard a course plays have anything to do with whether it’s good or not?

 

I find the regular Top 100 list to be a waste of time. I don’t care if Augusta is nicer than Pine Valley or not. I’ll never play either.  The Top 100 you can play is more intriguing to me, because I can actually use it as a reference if I’m traveling some place and want to see what’s great there.  My dads course made the top 100 you can play this year, and it holds the distinction of being the shortest course on the list, which is cool.

[dcmidnight]

Agreed, I've always said the "100 you can play" or "100 public" is far more interesting. Who gives AF how you rank Augusta and Pine Valley and Oakmont rate?

[ALTSean]

Just now, dcmidnight said:

Agreed, I've always said the "100 you can play" or "100 public" is far more interesting. Who gives AF how you rank Augusta and Pine Valley and Oakmont rate?

 

Agree.  It also seems like there is demand for for a solid list of Top Courses you can play by state.  A list of top accessible courses for MD and VA is a lot more use to us than debating if Cypress Point should be #3 or #4.  

[misplacedtexan83]

Picture of Sean at top #200 course in VA but #1 in your hearts

Edited May 7, 2021 by misplacedtexan83

[misplacedtexan83]

Lake Presidental was ranked over whiskey on another top 10 public in MD 

 

GTFO

[ALTSean]

6 minutes ago, misplacedtexan83 said:

Picture of Sean at top #200 course in VA but #1 in your hearts

 

SH9 is the #1 rated course in all of Sperryville.  I had to pull some strings to get us on.  You're welcome.  

 

 

[dcmidnight]

100% chance it has a Top 3 spicy chicken sandwich in Virginia, facts.

[ALTSean]

Has anyone played the renovated Preserve at Eisenhower, the artist formally known as Eisenhower, in Crownsville?

 

https://www.thepreserveateisenhower.com/

 

I played it years ago when it was Eisenhower and it was nothing great, but the renovated course that just reopened looks good and the architect who did the redesign is Andrew Green who also just did Congressional and the Naval Academy.

 

 

[ALTSean]

They took out all the bunkers and built hummocks, which I did not know was a thing or a word, but I guess I'm not a golf architect.  Andrew is very proud of his hummocks and they are on the site and his IG page:

 

[misplacedtexan83]

19 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

100% chance it has a Top 3 spicy chicken sandwich in Virginia, facts.

Facts 

[misplacedtexan83]

15 minutes ago, ALTSean said:

They took out all the bunkers and built hummocks, which I did not know was a thing or a word, but I guess I'm not a golf architect.  Andrew is very proud of his hummocks and they are on the site and his IG page:

 

A lot of monies was thrown into that course

[Puppetmaster]

Remember the former Fairfax Golfsmith? Apparently PGA Tour Superstore is gonna take the risk on the same retail space this year. And this is with DSG/Golf Galaxy down the street at the Fair Oaks Mall. I guess why not strike while the game is on the upswing, no pun intended. 

 

I'mma hit up their sims for the next 9 months before this too goes out of business. 

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pga-tour-superstore-announces-five-new-locations-in-new-york-texas-and-virginia-301266941.html

[Puppetmaster]

Oh and fun fact, there is a new(ish) Club Champion 3 miles down the street as well, that I only discovered because I went for some Moby Dick's kebabs next door to it... 

 

https://clubchampiongolf.com/golf-club-fitting/location/fairfax

Edited May 7, 2021 by Puppetmaster

[dcmidnight]

Yep, thats the CC I went to a couple years ago for a driver fitting...

 

 

[dcmidnight]

10 minutes ago, Puppetmaster said:

Remember the former Fairfax Golfsmith? Apparently PGA Tour Superstore is gonna take the risk on the same retail space this year. And this is with DSG/Golf Galaxy down the street at the Fair Oaks Mall. I guess why not strike while the game is on the upswing, no pun intended. 

 

I'mma hit up their sims for the next 9 months before this too goes out of business. 

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pga-tour-superstore-announces-five-new-locations-in-new-york-texas-and-virginia-301266941.html

 

Awesome news, the PGASS I've been too have all been good shops, I could see taking advantage of this place since its much closer than driving to Second Swing.

[ALTSean]

10 minutes ago, Puppetmaster said:

Oh and fun fact, there is a new(ish) Club Champion 3 miles down the street as well, that I only discovered because I went for some Moby Dick's kebabs next door to it... 

 

https://clubchampiongolf.com/golf-club-fitting/location/fairfax

 

I had that CC re-shaft my wife's putter after her car got rear ended and the shaft was bent.  It would have probably been cheaper to buy a new putter for the amount CC charged me for a re-shaft.

[Puppetmaster]

4 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

Yep, thats the CC I went to a couple years ago for a driver fitting...

 

 

 

A couple years ago? Damn... has been that long since I.... had kebabs? 

[ALTSean]

Just now, Puppetmaster said:

 

A couple years ago? Damn... has been that long since I.... had kebabs? 

 

It's at least a couple years old because it's about a 1/2 mile from Army / Navy Fairfax so I see it all the time.