Colorado WRX 2023

[pseudoswede]

FRGC at Murphy Creek yesterday. We slogged through 18 in five hours because of some incredibly slow foursomes ahead of our tourney (didn't help our first three groups were just threesomes).

 

I played some of my best golf of the season on the front nine, shooting a 38. I was 3-over through 14 on the back, then I finished bogey-double-double-bogey (for a 45) to go from leading low net to miraculously finishing in 4th place for $15. Four times when my ball rolled in the rough, it would settle down a few inches, which required a hack job to make any forward progress.

 

Mrs. Swede and I tied for 2nd in couples league on Saturday evening for a sweet $18.

[pseudoswede]

Played with a FRGC rookie (and fellow Parker-ite) yesterday, too. He used to be a member at Spring Valley.

 

As you recall, it was put on the market a few years ago, and it was bought by a real estate developer (who owns the plot of land next to the golf course). He said the course conditions have worsened since the takeover, and now the course is closed "until further notice" due to damage from this summer's floods. He's heard second-hand that it will be closed for the rest of year because the owners don't want to pay for maintenance.

[ASak10]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:41 AM, pseudoswede said:

 

FRGC has instituted a season-long local rule. If you go OB off the tee, you can either re-tee (like a provisional) or you can simply drop at the point of entry and be lying 4 (so like a modified lateral hazard). Pretty surprised how many people in our league take the latter option. This is basically to eliminate people who always think their ball is in-bounds, find it OB, then have to do the "drive/walk of shame" back to the tee.

 

I actually like this rule for casual rounds, I think it was part of the big rules changes a few years ago that allowed this as an optional local rule for non-serious competition.  I think if you hit it far enough and OB, it's really not a bad option compared to having hit again and hope you hit it as far and in play.  Obviously if you duck hook one 30 yards away and OB then it makes no sense to take advantage of the rule.  But if it's up a ways?  I'd take it.  Don't love it in tournaments though.  

 

On 7/25/2023 at 11:33 PM, Joelness said:

I love these City Park discussions. There's a lot going on with the new design, internal OB, and some shots that I believe the prudent play is absolutely bailing out on another hole.

 

I believe that they are absolutely using internal OB for safety reasons. I hear the arguments against it but I have to disagree with @ASak10 as I agree with all of it out there. There could potentially be more like on 13 and 16 but I think that might be too much. I have no idea about the normal person but what else could the golf course do besides internal OB? Ultimately I think the only way to truly stop people from playing other holes is trees. Unfortunately the logistics of doing that also wouldn't work for a while since they need to be planted and grow for a decade to even think about being a playability differential.

 

Oh listen, I fully understand the logic of why they did it and where...I'm just opposed to internal OB in general.  I get why courses do it though.  

 

On 7/25/2023 at 11:38 PM, Joelness said:

 

The walk of shame is a right of passage. If you have not done it, you haven't played enough golf.

 

Hopefully it only takes once to learn and hit a f****** provisional. I have never understood the big deal. If your ball is in then it's a free shot to practice what went wrong. FYI - I literally tried to hit one on the first tee today (10) and had the guy stop me in the US Am Qual. Those of you that don't want to do it.... f****** get over it

 

CG Men's Club is pretty good about emphasizing hitting Provisionals.  Most that I play with are really good at doing it too if you're anywhere near the native out there.  Only saw one guy this year do the walk of shame back and it was only because a playing partner told him he saw his ball land and saw it sitting there.  Turns out he was wrong.  I felt for the guy who had to come back and hit it again. 

[ASak10]

Played in a member-guest with a good friend of mine this past weekend.  We actually won our flight this year! It was the top flight too which was nice.  We rolled people in the matches, accumulated 29.5 points in 5 matches, which was the most of any flight. That included only getting 3.5 points in the last match (our only loss in the group stages) because we knew we had the group locked up and I think it subconsciously impacted our play...which then led to a small freakout of whether we actually had it locked up and so we panicked and started pushing more, which then led to bad results.  Oh well, bound to happen I guess.

 

It was my first ever shootout and holy cow is that stressful!  Playing alternate shot while having all the other players and spouses and friends watching you was a pressure that I was not ready for. Standing over a 3 foot putt had my heart rate racing at what felt like 175 bpm. Thankfully I made it and we moved on to the second round, but unfortunately we lost in a chip off to the eventual champions.  I skulled my chip (🤬) and my partner did marginally better but not great.  We thought we might get away with it when the first guy flubbed his chip about 6 inches, but alas his partner came up big and hit it close enough to beat us.  What a great experience though.  Didn't take a ton of photos but here's two of the holes, it's a really gorgeous course. 

 

     

Edited July 31, 2023 by ASak10

[TheKrushh]

52 minutes ago, ASak10 said:

Played in a member-guest with a good friend of mine this past weekend.  We actually won our flight this year! It was the top flight too which was nice.  We rolled people in the matches, accumulated 29.5 points in 5 matches, which was the most of any flight. That included only getting 3.5 points in the last match (our only loss in the group stages) because we knew we had the group locked up and I think it subconsciously impacted our play...which then led to a small freakout of whether we actually had it locked up and so we panicked and started pushing more, which then led to bad results.  Oh well, bound to happen I guess.

 

It was my first ever shootout and holy cow is that stressful!  Playing alternate shot while having all the other players and spouses and friends watching you was a pressure that I was not ready for. Standing over a 3 foot putt had my heart rate racing at what felt like 175 bpm. Thankfully I made it and we moved on to the second round, but unfortunately we lost in a chip off to the eventual champions.  I skulled my chip (🤬) and my partner did marginally better but not great.  We thought we might get away with it when the first guy flubbed his chip about 6 inches, but alas his partner came up big and hit it close enough to beat us.  What a great experience though.  Didn't take a ton of photos but here's two of the holes, it's a really gorgeous course. 

 

     

Course looks sick! There's nothing like the pressure of everyone watching. 

[Dancin]

4 hours ago, pseudoswede said:

Played with a FRGC rookie (and fellow Parker-ite) yesterday, too. He used to be a member at Spring Valley.

 

As you recall, it was put on the market a few years ago, and it was bought by a real estate developer (who owns the plot of land next to the golf course). He said the course conditions have worsened since the takeover, and now the course is closed "until further notice" due to damage from this summer's floods. He's heard second-hand that it will be closed for the rest of year because the owners don't want to pay for maintenance.

That sucks. I had one of the best rounds of my life the first time I played Spring Valley and I like the layout. It's way too long a drive for me to play more than once a year though.

[bobbyclampett!!]

4 hours ago, ASak10 said:

Played in a member-guest with a good friend of mine this past weekend.  We actually won our flight this year! It was the top flight too which was nice.  We rolled people in the matches, accumulated 29.5 points in 5 matches, which was the most of any flight. That included only getting 3.5 points in the last match (our only loss in the group stages) because we knew we had the group locked up and I think it subconsciously impacted our play...which then led to a small freakout of whether we actually had it locked up and so we panicked and started pushing more, which then led to bad results.  Oh well, bound to happen I guess.

 

It was my first ever shootout and holy cow is that stressful!  Playing alternate shot while having all the other players and spouses and friends watching you was a pressure that I was not ready for. Standing over a 3 foot putt had my heart rate racing at what felt like 175 bpm. Thankfully I made it and we moved on to the second round, but unfortunately we lost in a chip off to the eventual champions.  I skulled my chip (🤬) and my partner did marginally better but not great.  We thought we might get away with it when the first guy flubbed his chip about 6 inches, but alas his partner came up big and hit it close enough to beat us.  What a great experience though.  Didn't take a ton of photos but here's two of the holes, it's a really gorgeous course. 

 

     

Looks nice! I may have missed it- what course is that?

[ASak10]

2 hours ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

Looks nice! I may have missed it- what course is that?

 

It’s called Trillium Links.  It’s just up the road from Wade Hampton (Wade is ranked 32nd in the Golf Digest 100 Greatest and was 15th at some point).  It is in Cashiers, NC.  A beautiful, tight, fun mountain course with some very tricky and treacherous greens to protect it since it’s not overly long, and almost every tee shot has either hazards, OB, or lots of trees off the fairway. A few fairways have some room to spray it a little but most are extremely tight and penal if you miss.  

[CDM]

11 hours ago, pseudoswede said:

FRGC at Murphy Creek yesterday. We slogged through 18 in five hours because of some incredibly slow foursomes ahead of our tourney (didn't help our first three groups were just threesomes).

 

I played some of my best golf of the season on the front nine, shooting a 38. I was 3-over through 14 on the back, then I finished bogey-double-double-bogey (for a 45) to go from leading low net to miraculously finishing in 4th place for $15. Four times when my ball rolled in the rough, it would settle down a few inches, which required a hack job to make any forward progress.

 

Mrs. Swede and I tied for 2nd in couples league on Saturday evening for a sweet $18.

 

Played MC on Saturday with a friend and his wife. I was shocked how good the conditions are given they shut down 9 holes earlier this year for how bad of shape the course was.   

[CDM]

9 hours ago, pseudoswede said:

Played with a FRGC rookie (and fellow Parker-ite) yesterday, too. He used to be a member at Spring Valley.

 

As you recall, it was put on the market a few years ago, and it was bought by a real estate developer (who owns the plot of land next to the golf course). He said the course conditions have worsened since the takeover, and now the course is closed "until further notice" due to damage from this summer's floods. He's heard second-hand that it will be closed for the rest of year because the owners don't want to pay for maintenance.

 

The rain hammered it.  Funny timing as the couple I played MC with on Saturday are members at Spring Valley as they live in Elizabeth area.  They said they have 4 holes open for members only and I think a number of the members are asking for refunds but sounding like the contract signed they will not get money back.  He and his wife are like F' it and just going to look around next year.

[CDM]

40 minutes ago, ASak10 said:

 

It’s called Trillium Links.  It’s just up the road from Wade Hampton (Wade is ranked 32nd in the Golf Digest 100 Greatest and was 15th at some point).  It is in Cashiers, NC.  A beautiful, tight, fun mountain course with some very tricky and treacherous greens to protect it since it’s not overly long, and almost every tee shot has either hazards, OB, or lots of trees off the fairway. A few fairways have some room to spray it a little but most are extremely tight and penal if you miss.  

 

Sweet looking course. Went to the website and the images of courses are impressive.

 

Wade Hampton always looked impressive to me.  I know it was ranked a lot higher years prior but keeps dropping and wondering why?  Joking but given it is Golf Digest I am sure because they did not "cater" to reviewers LOL  JK

 

** @Dancin though has said GD has gotten better on review criteria 

 

Seems most rely on  https://www.top100golfcourses.com/   for rankings now or considered more accurate.  Oddly Wade Hampton is 49 in the US on Top100????  Wonder why it is dropping??

[ASak10]

10 hours ago, CDM said:

 

Sweet looking course. Went to the website and the images of courses are impressive.

 

Wade Hampton always looked impressive to me.  I know it was ranked a lot higher years prior but keeps dropping and wondering why?  Joking but given it is Golf Digest I am sure because they did not "cater" to reviewers LOL  JK

 

** @Dancin though has said GD has gotten better on review criteria 

 

Seems most rely on  https://www.top100golfcourses.com/   for rankings now or considered more accurate.  Oddly Wade Hampton is 49 in the US on Top100????  Wonder why it is dropping??

Who knows with the rankings. New courses move up, redesigns, courses revisited…I don’t know how they work. Some places maybe lose their luster over time or attitudes about certain course types change. 
 

My friend got to play Wade once and absolutely loved it, said it was an amazing experience and the course was really fun to play. 

[ASak10]

10 hours ago, CDM said:

 

Played MC on Saturday with a friend and his wife. I was shocked how good the conditions are given they shut down 9 holes earlier this year for how bad of shape the course was.   

Good to know. I have a rain check I need to use out there, glad they got the conditions back. 

[Joelness]

On 7/31/2023 at 9:10 PM, CDM said:

Played MC on Saturday with a friend and his wife. I was shocked how good the conditions are given they shut down 9 holes earlier this year for how bad of shape the course was.   

 

I am pumped to hear the conditions are back also. The last US Mid-Am Qual is there next week.

 

Anyone want to play a practice round with me on the 8th?

[thaar]

10 hours ago, Joelness said:

 

I am pumped to hear the conditions are back also. The last US Mid-Am Qual is there next week.

 

Anyone want to play a practice round with me on the 8th?

What time you thinking of playing?

[CDM]

20 hours ago, Joelness said:

 

I am pumped to hear the conditions are back also. The last US Mid-Am Qual is there next week.

 

Anyone want to play a practice round with me on the 8th?

 

What time you thinking?  1pm on I could make it.  Just in Loveland first part of the morning.

[Joelness]

10 hours ago, thaar said:

What time you thinking of playing?

 

Doesn't matter too much to me. I think in this case ideally the afternoon though as that will give the USGA time to put their dots down in the AM.

[Dancin]

2 hours ago, Joelness said:

 

Doesn't matter too much to me. I think in this case ideally the afternoon though as that will give the USGA time to put their dots down in the AM.

What? You get to see where the pin positions are going to be during your practice round?

[Joelness]

It's not 100% but if I'm being honest, it has been 95%. The USGA has to approve the course set-up so they decide on these things early. Since they are so specific, the USGA generally comes out and marks the pins the day before. I'm assuming it's so they don't mess them up at 5am when cutting them for the day.

 

FYI for those of you that want to play that day: I will be in practice round mode. This will mean I will be hitting 10-20 putts at said dots while you are putting.

 

Does anyone have a good yardage book, like a Stracka line for Murphy? I was going to order one today but I'm not sure I will get it on time.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Joelness

[pseudoswede]

I would've been tempted to join if it was a late-afternoon round, but I realized that I have to be somewhere right after work.

[Joelness]

4 minutes ago, Joelness said:

It's not 100% but if I'm being honest, it has been 95%. The USGA has to approve the course set-up so they decide on these things early. Since they are so specific, the USGA generally comes out and marks the pins the day before. I'm assuming it's so they don't mess them up at 5am when cutting them for the day.

 

FYI for those of you that want to play that day: I will be in practice round mode. This will mean I will be hitting 10-20 putts at said dots while you are putting.

 

Does anyone have a good yardage book, like a Stracka line for Murphy? I was going to order one today but I'm not sure I will get it on time.

 

Side note on this for those of you that play CGA, they do it too. I've played the day before and seen all four dots for a 72 hole tournament. I didn't know which colors were which days but it was interesting.

 

Also, I found the old pin sheet from the 2017 US Mid-am at Murphy. I doubt they will be much different.

[EddyVN]

20 minutes ago, Joelness said:

 

Side note on this for those of you that play CGA, they do it too. I've played the day before and seen all four dots for a 72 hole tournament. I didn't know which colors were which days but it was interesting.

 

Also, I found the old pin sheet from the 2017 US Mid-am at Murphy. I doubt they will be much different.

 Fun pin on 1 to start, right on that upslope.

[Dancin]

I'm not knocking you for taking advantage of it. If they're going to mark it a day or two ahead you'd be crazy not to take advantage of that.

[Joelness]

Oh, absolutely

[thaar]

16 hours ago, Joelness said:

 

Doesn't matter too much to me. I think in this case ideally the afternoon though as that will give the USGA time to put their dots down in the AM.

 

I just looked at my calendar and realized I have to play chauffeur for my daughter that afternoon 😞

 

Definitely want to get out with you at some point again though.

[pseudoswede]

Is Legacy Ridge walkable? I can't remember if I've ever played it--I sure as heck can't remember it if I did. Looking forward to it not being a billion degrees outside tomorrow.

Edited August 5, 2023 by pseudoswede

[jda]

First time not just lurking...

 

Legacy is walkable.  I prefer to walk there.  There are more hills than some, but it is plenty manageable.  There are a few holes like 17 and 18 at Indian Peaks, if you know that one... one hole totally uphill with a few totally downhill.

[Joelness]

I would put it as a 7 out of 10 in walking difficulty. It's not as difficult as it's sister course (walnut) but it's no slouch.

 

I think the most underestimated knock on it's walkability are the amount of yards you will put in between holes. I feel like the average walk between holes out there is 75 yards.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Joelness

[Dancin]

5 hours ago, pseudoswede said:

Is Legacy Ridge walkable? I can't remember if I've ever played it--I sure as heck can't remember it if I did. Looking forward to it not being a billion degrees outside tomorrow.

I walk it every Friday. Up and down doesn't get you much but transitions are longer than the average course. It's in great shape. Don't spray it though. With all the rain if you go outside the hole it's waist high.

[pseudoswede]

2 hours ago, Dancin said:

Don't spray it though.

 

Based on how I played on Thursday and tonight, I'm screwed. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by pseudoswede