Colorado WRX 2023

[CDM]

2 hours ago, pseudoswede said:

Wellshire and Meadow Hills offer early morning back 9, but you do have to make a tee time. Would be cool if more courses offered first-come, first-serve.

 

Thursday night beer league got moved to Friday night, and we played at Highlands Ranch Golf Club. Talk about a course with absolutely pristine fairways. The greens are also in great shape, but they're also really beat up because lots of people don't bother fixing their pitch marks, or they do it poorly. After a disastrous 9 there as well as last night in couples league, my whole game is in shambles. Might be good to take a small break. My next FRGC isn't until September 10, and we might miss the next two couples leagues as well. Not that I'm going to do anything about it like go to the range--I'll be busy sending my kid off to CU-Boulder and making up for lost time in the yard and cleaning up the house.

 

@TheKrushh probably knows how that feels.

[ASak10]

Played in the CG championship this weekend. Really fun to play…even though I felt like I didn’t play well at all. I cold topped a drive about 50 yards on hole 1, day 1 - not an ideal start! Hung in though and shot 80-83, not great but somewhat respectable for me. Even though I think the front is much easier out there I fired a 42 and 44 on the front nines but 38 and 39 on the back. Makes no sense to me, this silly game. 

[Dancin]

Long Drive hitters play Inverness Denver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnjJqyAV_iw

 

[birdiemachine]

23 hours ago, ASak10 said:

Played in the CG championship this weekend. Really fun to play…even though I felt like I didn’t play well at all. I cold topped a drive about 50 yards on hole 1, day 1 - not an ideal start! Hung in though and shot 80-83, not great but somewhat respectable for me. Even though I think the front is much easier out there I fired a 42 and 44 on the front nines but 38 and 39 on the back. Makes no sense to me, this silly game. 

I think we were in the same flight. Shot my best score at cg this year in the first round. Started on fire second round, then I stepped in front of someone’s birdie on the 7th tee box (unintentionally; was not thinking) and went bogey, bogey, double, double. Oof. Recovered a bit. Then missed a 2 footer on 17 which was too bad because I had been putting great all day. Then hit first putt FAT on 18 for a three putt bogey. Yuck. Finished T-1 gross and T-2 net in the flight so was a bit pissed with the finish. 

[ASak10]

28 minutes ago, birdiemachine said:

I think we were in the same flight. Shot my best score at cg this year in the first round. Started on fire second round, then I stepped in front of someone’s birdie on the 7th tee box (unintentionally; was not thinking) and went bogey, bogey, double, double. Oof. Recovered a bit. Then missed a 2 footer on 17 which was too bad because I had been putting great all day. Then hit first putt FAT on 18 for a three putt bogey. Yuck. Finished T-1 gross and T-2 net in the flight so was a bit pissed with the finish. 

Oh yeah, we definitely were! Nice job, still a great tournament, don’t blame you for being mad though.
 

Guy in my group had a rough go on 18 too on Sunday…. he was just off the green in 2 in a good spot on the left/middle of the green and ended up 4 putting for bogey. Felt bad for him. 

[birdiemachine]

1 hour ago, ASak10 said:

Oh yeah, we definitely were! Nice job, still a great tournament, don’t blame you for being mad though.
 

Guy in my group had a rough go on 18 too on Sunday…. he was just off the green in 2 in a good spot on the left/middle of the green and ended up 4 putting for bogey. Felt bad for him. 

Thanks.  I'm happy with overall performance.  In the grand scheme of things I'm playing in like the women's JV flight.  I know that I will never be able to play in the first 2 flights, so that's a little sad.  Just don't have the length for it.  Several of the guys I played with can hit their drives a hundred yards past me so their ceiling is a lot higher.

[Joelness]

Congrats on the play gentlemen. I love that through the war stories you guys both actually ended up shooting decent numbers.

 

We had ours at Fox Hill this last weekend also and I finally got it done. It was easily the most relaxed win I've ever had since I was six shots up after five on Sunday. 

[ztull]

18 hours ago, Dancin said:

Long Drive hitters play Inverness Denver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnjJqyAV_iw

 

I didn't make it through the whole thing, but I also deploy the old bang one into the trees on the right side and hope for the best strategy when I play two from the blue tees there.

[ASak10]

23 minutes ago, Joelness said:

Congrats on the play gentlemen. I love that through the war stories you guys both actually ended up shooting decent numbers.

 

We had ours at Fox Hill this last weekend also and I finally got it done. It was easily the most relaxed win I've ever had since I was six shots up after five on Sunday. 

 

Sweet!  That's a nice victory, congrats! 

[thaar]

Had my quarterfinals for match play this afternoon. I was giving up 5 strokes so I needed to play pretty well. I struggled on several holes off of the tee with my 4w and 4h. I hit a pathetic 5/14 fairways today and six of those misses were those two clubs. Very frustrating as those are my more consistent/favorite clubs. I couldn't believe how many balls I lost today though I ended up shooting an adjusted 79.

 

Overall, I hit 12 greens, had a couple birdies (missed two putts from within 5ft though, grrr), and only had one three-putt. Unfortunately, I lost in 19 holes after being up one going into 18, where I choked big time, though he did pop. Oh well, it was a good run, and I learned a couple things for club championship starting Friday. Hopefully I can right the ship and play well.

[thaar]

Day 1 of Club Championship was a round to be forgotten. It was miserable with this weather and I probably had the worst round putting in 5yrs. Shot a 40/47 with 42 putts. Closing with a penalty off the tee then getting plugged in the wall at the top of the bunker on 18 certainly didn't help my score lol. I missed 2 putts early on from 3ft and I think that started to shatter my confidence. I missed 6 putts from within 5ft. I've been putting well this year, so it was beyond frustrating. My putts from 5-25ft were great - burned a couple edges and left one on the edge of the cup though - no idea how it didn't fall. I'm not in last place, but I have a lot of catching up to do in the next two days. Hopefully this weather settles down a bit for tomorrow morning and my game comes back into shape.

[ztull]

I was in Hilton Head last month, Harbour Town lived up to expectations and then some. Here's a blog:

https://straightgross.com/2023/08/26/inclusivity-and-green-grass/

Edited August 28, 2023 by ztull
stray comma

[thaar]

Day 2 of club championship went slightly better, but I had a bad 3-hole stretch where I was +6. Putting was better (not sure how it could have gotten worse lol), but still not great. 39/43 for an 82. I didn't move a spot, so I had a commanding hold on 15th place out of 19 😂

 

Hobbled into day 3 with a broken toe from the previous night, and played surprisingly well given the situation. Shot a 40/37 with 4 3-putts and 4 lipped out putts (one of them was admittedly hit too hard though). I felt like the golf gods were not on my side this weekend! I closed out with two birdies which was a nice feeling, which also got me a skin. Ended up winning the day 3 consolation tourney (if you're 10 shots out, you can enter), and finished in 8th place overall. 

 

The guy that won the championship flight in gross was -16 over the three days. He had 3 bogeys, 16 birdies and an albatross 🤯. He's a +4.3. He won by 15 strokes, so he clearly had a Joel-like, pressure-free win!

[thaar]

On 8/26/2023 at 1:53 PM, ztull said:

I was in Hilton Head last month, Harbour Town lived up to expectations, and then some. Here's a blog:

https://straightgross.com/2023/08/26/inclusivity-and-green-grass/

I always enjoy your writings. I wish I had an opportunity to play Harbour Town when we were out there a couple years go. Unfortunately, it was closed for us, so we played Atlantic Dunes instead, which I still enjoyed but would have much preferred playing HT. 

[ASak10]

On 8/26/2023 at 1:53 PM, ztull said:

I was in Hilton Head last month, Harbour Town lived up to expectations, and then some. Here's a blog:

https://straightgross.com/2023/08/26/inclusivity-and-green-grass/

 

Harbour Town is hands down one of my favorite courses that I've ever played.  I would go back and play there in a heartbeat.  We played the week after the PGA event was there and the course was immaculate.  Loved it.  Did you play Heron Point or Atlantic Dunes while out there?  

[ztull]

7 hours ago, ASak10 said:

 

Harbour Town is hands down one of my favorite courses that I've ever played.  I would go back and play there in a heartbeat.  We played the week after the PGA event was there and the course was immaculate.  Loved it.  Did you play Heron Point or Atlantic Dunes while out there?  

Getting into some circle of trust stuff here, my wife is very pregnant and my inlaws are advanced in age, I was the only person on the trip who could carry our two-year-old to the beach.

So not only did I not play either of the other Sea Pines Courses, I canceled a tee time at Yeaman's Hall. The time was the first day they were open after their summer maintenance closure.

The good news is I'm still married 😉 

Edited August 28, 2023 by ztull

[movinggolfer]

Hey Everyone, I am planning on moving to the Longmont CO area in the next year. My wife and I are avid golfers and are considering what courses we should try to live near or be members at. One option we were looking at was Fox Hill Country Club, does anyone have any thoughts on the clubs in that area? Thanks for any tips or advice!

[Dancin]

Unfortunately the north side of Denver to Boulder is a private club wasteland and you don't have a lot of options within a reasonable drive time from Longmont. Fox Hill is a good club and course. Nothing amazing but solid and priced well. The best private in that area is TPC Colorado, but that's 15-20 minutes away from Longmont. If you have the money for it and don't mind the drive, that should be your decision as it is in another class compared to everything else in the area.

 

The other options also 15-20 minutes away are Lake Valley and Boulder Country Club. BCC is likely a multi year wait and much more expensive than Fox Hill. Lake Valley is more of a golf club than a country club, so it might be a little cheaper, but if you are living in Longmont there's really no reason to pick Lake Valley and the longer drive over Fox Hill. Most would probably say Fox Hill is a better course than Lake Valley too.

 

As far as public courses, Ute Creek, Colorado National and Marianna Butte are three solid courses in your area. Again you need to be willing to drive a lot further from Longmont to expand your options.

 

[thaar]

1 hour ago, movinggolfer said:

Hey Everyone, I am planning on moving to the Longmont CO area in the next year. My wife and I are avid golfers and are considering what courses we should try to live near or be members at. One option we were looking at was Fox Hill Country Club, does anyone have any thoughts on the clubs in that area? Thanks for any tips or advice!

 

I believe @Joelness was a member at Fox Hill, so I'm sure he will chime in.

[jda]

55 minutes ago, movinggolfer said:

Hey Everyone, I am planning on moving to the Longmont CO area in the next year. My wife and I are avid golfers and are considering what courses we should try to live near or be members at. One option we were looking at was Fox Hill Country Club, does anyone have any thoughts on the clubs in that area? Thanks for any tips or advice!

 

This is near my area.  Fox Hill is the low-end private club in the area.  People who leave here join at Lake Valley near Boulder, Boulder Country Club in Gunbarrel, Colorado National in Erie (semi private, but good member perks) and there is a real TPC in Berthoud that hosts events and stuff.  The Ranch is not too far in Broomfield.

 

I was a member at Fox Hill for a while and I left because I did not like the golf course that much, there is a culture there on the mens side where the scratch folks would mostly play the whites and did not want to compete with other clubs (which I enjoy the competition and traveling of inter-club matches), about half of the members were not folks that I cared to play with getting too personal with politics and religion and stuff AND WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT WHILE PLAYING.  Even though I told them that I just wanted to golf and not talk about EITHER SIDE of politics, religion or Amway (or whatever), too many just did not get it.  I would often NOT put my name on the tee sheet or else folks would join me that I did not want to play with... and I can get along with almost anybody.  The course is tree lined like many older courses and it can wear down lots of people.  Most of the members were older than us as empty nesters or beyond and it was hard to do things as couples since we still have kids in High School and stuff - this is starting to change, but my wife does not golf and she had very few connections.  The other half of the folks were great - I imagine that any club is like this.  On the plus side, they do really maintain the course, they are serious about a 4 hour round, the course is easy to walk, they let you bring your own golf cart, the food and bev minimum is not too high.  There are some long-running weekly games that are welcoming to all, or at least they were to me.  They have a litany of member guest events.  Mens and Women's league night is popular.  When my HS daughters played, they only got minor garbage from a few of the old guys about keeping up when they saw them on the first tee, but this was never a real problem and they accepted their tee time at 10:00 on a Sat like any other member.  In the end, I wanted to get better to compete in state-wide tournaments and not just be good at my niche home course and the club part did not do much for me beyond golf, so I left.

 

If I join again, I am going to the TPC, but I am enjoying playing the public courses which are nearly always available and there is plenty of opportunity to play the private clubs too.

 

As far as private goes, most of the COVID boom is over and you might be able to get a deal on initiation if you can lay out some pre-paid dues and stuff - I have been asking around since I might be in the market soon.

 

Ute Creek is the best golf course in Longmont... it is public and can get some wear, but it is a real RTJ.  There is a 9 hole course that I have never played by choice.  Twin Peaks is an older course in Longmont where every green is the same and I hate it and limit to like once a year, but many people like it OK - it is one of those where the folks who love it talk about how nice the greens are (the old "they have a nice personality' thing when being set up on a date).  Mariana Butte, Indian Peaks, Walnut Creek, Broadlands, Colorado National, Legacy Ridge, Todd Creek, Highland Meadows, Riverdale Dunes and many more are very nice public courses that were similar to private clubs where I moved from in Missouri and I like all of these better than Fox Hill.  You can often Golf Now for less than $50-60 at most of these places once the nice-weather May rush is done.  You are ninety minutes from mountain golf which is awesome this time of year and you can usually get cheap tee times on Golf Now for those during the week... then you can play, enjoy the small towns, get a nice meal and make a day of it if you are retired or can set your own schedule.

[jda]

Oh, one of my good Longmont friends left Fox Hill for Harmony Ridge.  This is like 30 minutes at non-peak driving times, but they are mostly retired and they make a day out of it.  It is really nice, but kinda far... and you have to take the interstate which can be a house of cards if you go during the rush hours (not rush hour).  Ptarmigan Club is up that way too if you decide to move a bit further north.  Fort Collins is nice, IMO.

 

None of the courses in Longmont have any real ties with neighborhoods that surround them.  

 

When we moved here a while back, anything north of 470 was in our wheelhouse.  We settled on Longmont because Fort Collins was a quick drive north and Denver Suburbs are not too far south.  I am a real estate appraiser in the area - if you have any questions send me a message and I will help if I can... and I am not selling anything.

[pseudoswede]

I'm playing Todd Creek on 9/10 and Ute Creek (had no idea this was a RTJ design) on 9/16. Two courses I've never played. Looking forward to it.

Edited August 30, 2023 by pseudoswede

[jda]

One last thing about Fox Hill is that with all of the trees, it is one of the last to open during nice stretch in the winter or the spring.  Snow melts fast here with the sun and much of that course is in the shade including many of the greens.  That shade can be great in July or August.

[bobbyclampett!!]

1 hour ago, jda said:

 

This is near my area.  Fox Hill is the low-end private club in the area.  People who leave here join at Lake Valley near Boulder, Boulder Country Club in Gunbarrel, Colorado National in Erie (semi private, but good member perks) and there is a real TPC in Berthoud that hosts events and stuff.  The Ranch is not too far in Broomfield.

 

I was a member at Fox Hill for a while and I left because I did not like the golf course that much, there is a culture there on the mens side where the scratch folks would mostly play the whites and did not want to compete with other clubs (which I enjoy the competition and traveling of inter-club matches), about half of the members were not folks that I cared to play with getting too personal with politics and religion and stuff AND WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT WHILE PLAYING.  Even though I told them that I just wanted to golf and not talk about EITHER SIDE of politics, religion or Amway (or whatever), too many just did not get it.  I would often NOT put my name on the tee sheet or else folks would join me that I did not want to play with... and I can get along with almost anybody.  The course is tree lined like many older courses and it can wear down lots of people.  Most of the members were older than us as empty nesters or beyond and it was hard to do things as couples since we still have kids in High School and stuff - this is starting to change, but my wife does not golf and she had very few connections.  The other half of the folks were great - I imagine that any club is like this.  On the plus side, they do really maintain the course, they are serious about a 4 hour round, the course is easy to walk, they let you bring your own golf cart, the food and bev minimum is not too high.  There are some long-running weekly games that are welcoming to all, or at least they were to me.  They have a litany of member guest events.  Mens and Women's league night is popular.  When my HS daughters played, they only got minor garbage from a few of the old guys about keeping up when they saw them on the first tee, but this was never a real problem and they accepted their tee time at 10:00 on a Sat like any other member.  In the end, I wanted to get better to compete in state-wide tournaments and not just be good at my niche home course and the club part did not do much for me beyond golf, so I left.

 

If I join again, I am going to the TPC, but I am enjoying playing the public courses which are nearly always available and there is plenty of opportunity to play the private clubs too.

 

As far as private goes, most of the COVID boom is over and you might be able to get a deal on initiation if you can lay out some pre-paid dues and stuff - I have been asking around since I might be in the market soon.

 

Ute Creek is the best golf course in Longmont... it is public and can get some wear, but it is a real RTJ.  There is a 9 hole course that I have never played by choice.  Twin Peaks is an older course in Longmont where every green is the same and I hate it and limit to like once a year, but many people like it OK - it is one of those where the folks who love it talk about how nice the greens are (the old "they have a nice personality' thing when being set up on a date).  Mariana Butte, Indian Peaks, Walnut Creek, Broadlands, Colorado National, Legacy Ridge, Todd Creek, Highland Meadows, Riverdale Dunes and many more are very nice public courses that were similar to private clubs where I moved from in Missouri and I like all of these better than Fox Hill.  You can often Golf Now for less than $50-60 at most of these places once the nice-weather May rush is done.  You are ninety minutes from mountain golf which is awesome this time of year and you can usually get cheap tee times on Golf Now for those during the week... then you can play, enjoy the small towns, get a nice meal and make a day of it if you are retired or can set your own schedule.

Thanks, @jda, for the good round up of NoCo golf. I agree with all of this, although I have not played all the courses you mention.  There are so many awesome courses within 1 hour of Longmont (and Fort Collins, where I live), that it just doesn't make sense to me to join one place and play there nearly exclusively. I run to Collindale for quick nines, and try to get on other courses throughout the year once or twice, and play in tournaments that go to all different courses. This year I have played Collindale, Rain Dance, Fort Collins Country Club, City Park Nine in FC, and City Park Denver. I have not made it to Ute Creek, Riverdale Dunes, TPC, Marianna Butte, Highland Meadows, Harmony Club, Murphy Creek, Walnut Creek, and on and on, as I would like. I think we are truly blessed with some of the best golf in the country here in Northern Colorado. Most places are relatively affordable and you can almost always find someone to play with at the more private clubs. I just don't see any reason to join anywhere for the golf, but I guess I could see joining for the community or networking.

[TheKrushh]

1 hour ago, pseudoswede said:

I'm playing Todd Creek on 9/10 and Ute Creek (had no idea this was a RTJ design) on 9/16. Two courses I've never played. Looking forward to it.

I'm playing Todd Creek this saturday as well. I can't remember ever playing it either. I'll let you know!

[Dancin]

I really like Todd Creek. It's a good design with a lot of interesting holes and the homes are back far enough to not intrude too much. Ute Creek is a good layout too but the homes are on top of you everywhere. It was much better 20 years ago before all the homes were built.

[bobbyclampett!!]

The talk of courses near Longmont had me look up Colorado National. That place looks pretty cool. But then that led me to look up Colorado Golf Club, which was confusing to me before, which was which. I’m not confused anymore. CGC has a flyover video for each hole on its website. Man, that place looks special. I can’t imagine what more I would want out of a golf course. 10/10, from the looks of it. 

[ASak10]

1 hour ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

The talk of courses near Longmont had me look up Colorado National. That place looks pretty cool. But then that led me to look up Colorado Golf Club, which was confusing to me before, which was which. I’m not confused anymore. CGC has a flyover video for each hole on its website. Man, that place looks special. I can’t imagine what more I would want out of a golf course. 10/10, from the looks of it. 

I just played there this afternoon ☺️ I love that course so much. I wish I could afford to join but for now, I’m happy to have friends who can! It’s a really great course and the clubhouse/staff/ amenities are top notch. 

[pseudoswede]

2 hours ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

The talk of courses near Longmont had me look up Colorado National. That place looks pretty cool.

 

FRGC was supposed to have an event this year at Colorado National, but they have been having irrigation issues/repairs, so we were able to back out and find another course to host us.

[thaar]

Got out to play Pradera yesterday for the first time. I really enjoyed it. It's a fun, challenging layout. There are some cool holes with good elevation changes. It is an Engh course so several of the greens are a bowl, which I know some people don't like. The greens were pretty tough - large and undulating. My only gripe is I do wish I could have used driver more often - I think I only used it four or five times. The one thing I was really surprised at though is how many ball marks there are on the green. Apparently the members don't take pride in their course or have standard golf etiquette.

 

As for my play, I don't think I have ever swung the club that well before, and felt like I could have shot under par. I ended up shooting a 74 with 3 3-putts and two birdie putts that lipped out, one of which I have no idea how. Two of the 3-putts were from over 50ft, so those were understandable - one of those was a bad club choice off of the tee. And the other 3-putt was just a really tough pin placement. It was a great feeling overall though, particularly for a course I've never played before.

 

I keep learning more and more about my swing and have never felt this confident about it.  I'm sure I'll go out this weekend and shoot a 90 😂 . I'm also paying closer attention to my lie to understand how it will impact my shot, and continue to learn more about good course management. I feel like I'm just hitting my stride this season and am hopeful I can get my handicap below 5, but it could be tough since I'm about to hit the point where I won't be able to play as often.