Going to play a course in my hometown...

[Aithos]

So I am heading back home (only an hour, so not far) for my brother's birthday next weekend. He's been wanting to get out and play but can't really afford it so I decided for his birthday we are going to go play one of the local courses. There are two in particular we are looking at, one that I played when I first started golfing and one that is really close to where our mom lives that I only ever played once or twice. I was trying to decide based on difficulty because he hasn't golfed in a few years and never played much in comparison to me.

 

So what I found is that the course I "thought" was the harder one (near my mom's house) is actually a par 69 that clocks in at 4964 from the whites for a rating of 64 and slope of 109. It clocks in at 5316 from the tips for a rating of 65.6 and slope of 113. I guess I never realized how easy that course was in comparison to everything I've played since I moved to my current area back in 2000. So here I am thinking that compared to what I play now (6400 70.5 rating 121 slope) I'm going to go out and have a field day!!!

 

 

 

Of course I don't think I can really count that round towards my goals for this year even if I shoot really well because the course is so much easier. But at least I should be able to put up a good number to make me feel better going into my next couple rounds on my new home course! If I do go out and shoot a 90 I'm going to be demoralized though, better hit irons off most of the tees!

[larrybud]

Depends on your game. Handicap wise, I'm much better off going to a course which a high rating and slope than a low one, because I seem to hit the same # of greens regardless of the difficulty of the course, so my average score is a much tighter pattern than the ratings of the courses in which I play.

[Sean2]

I read somewhere, but I don't know how true it is, that the average slope is 113. I don't know if that helps or not. In any case, have fun! :-)

[Aithos]

Depends on your game. Handicap wise, I'm much better off going to a course which a high rating and slope than a low one, because I seem to hit the same # of greens regardless of the difficulty of the course, so my average score is a much tighter pattern than the ratings of the courses in which I play.

 

Here is what I'm looking at:

 

 

 

Here is a quick assessment of my game: I'm currently pretty much a bogey golfer. I just started playing again after barely playing for the last 7 years and I'm very quickly improving. I used to shoot in the low-mid 80s pretty consistently without using any sort of handicap. The worst part of my game is driving accuracy, with my new driver I just haven't gotten it under control yet. I hit my 3 wood pretty solidly 220-240 off the tee and rarely miss it more than 10 yards right or left depending on the day. The best part of my game is my iron striking, I feel very comfortable with anywhere from 4-9i and it isn't until I am full swinging wedges that I get uncomfortable. I have greatly improved my chipping lately and my putting is solid averaging well under 2 putts per green.

 

I look at that card and every hole besides #1, #5, #8 I can hit a 3 wood or shorter off the tee and be left with no more than 100-150 yards to the green (really it's under 100 except for some of the doglegs which might leave me a bit longer). If I hit a bucket and am striping my driver there are 7-10 greens I can reach in 1 and both of the par 5s are much shorter than the one I've had eagle/birdie chances nearly every round so far this year at my home course. I've played 13 times this year (which bests my total from the last three years combined) and I'm finally feeling confident.

 

My 90 yesterday was a bad score for how I hit the ball, I shot 41 on the back 9 with a 6 on a par three and two missed putts inside 5 feet. I shot an 82 on this course my second or third year playing golf when I had hardly played (mostly par 3 courses) and definitely didn't have the experience I have now. I am not expecting to go out and shoot par, but if I don't handily break 90 I'm going to be pretty bummed. I think if I played a few rounds on this course I could break 80 there easily, it just isn't a hard course. I shot either 73 or 75 (can't remember) on another course in my hometown a couple years later with similar length/holes but don't count it as breaking 80 since I had a mulligan and it just isn't the same as playing a 71 rating 121 slope course like my home course is...

[Aithos]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1334539256' post='4728522']
I read somewhere, but I don't know how true it is, that the average slope is 113. I don't know if that helps or not. In any case, have fun! :-)
[/quote]

113 slope is the average and tells a regular golfer (not scratch) how close to their average they will shoot. So an 18 handicap (bogey golfer) should shoot +18 on a 113 slope course, on a 121 or 130 course they can expect to shoot above 90 and on 100 or 90 slope they can expect to shoot below 90. I play a 121 slope course with a rating a 71 and the other courses I played when I was a 82-85 per round avg golfer were the same. So on a course like this I could have reasonably expected to shoot 75-80 (back in 2004ish). I may not get there this weekend since I've got some work to do this year. But I'm scoring better already this year than I did my last "full" year of golf where I played once a week and twice a week every 2-3 weeks on average.

I've never had an eagle, I've had several putts for one this year. I never got many birdies, most of my good rounds (80-83) were a lot of pars and the rest of bogeys. This year I already have 2 birdies, missed quite a few more by inches and have more pars per round than I ever did when I was a better golfer. I just haven't been able to eliminate the big blowups yet. My 6 on the par three where my tee shot was pin high15 feet right of the hole and I hit it heavy into a bunker and chaos ensued is the perfect example of it. I'm really looking forward to this weekend because I can relax and not worry about hitting driver all over creation and having long recovery shots. I am seriously considering hitting irons off every tee to keep it in play and see just how low I can go...

[Sean2]

Yeah, those blow up holes are VERY annoying. I'm finally starting to eliminate those.

I've played the forward tees with just my irons when I just wanted to work simply work on my irons, especially off the tee. It was fun, and good practice.

It certainly sounds like your moving in the right directions and your patience is paying off. Keep up the good work Aithos. :-)

[Aithos]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1334541041' post='4728706']
Yeah, those blow up holes are VERY annoying. I'm finally starting to eliminate those.

I've played the forward tees with just my irons when I just wanted to work simply work on my irons, especially off the tee. It was fun, and good practice.

It certainly sounds like your moving in the right directions and your patience is paying off. Keep up the good work Aithos. :-)
[/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate the words of encouragement. I don't even know if I'm moving in the right direction yet, I've just been playing enough that I am finally getting some carry-over between rounds. When I wasn't able to afford to play it seemed like everytime I stepped foot on a golf course I was relearning the entire game again. 13 times out in 1 month is more than double the most rounds I've ever played over that stretch, so when I start making good shots it is a lot easier to remember that feeling!

[Sean2]

[quote name='Aithos' timestamp='1334541629' post='4728800']
[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1334541041' post='4728706']
Yeah, those blow up holes are VERY annoying. I'm finally starting to eliminate those.

I've played the forward tees with just my irons when I just wanted to work simply work on my irons, especially off the tee. It was fun, and good practice.

It certainly sounds like your moving in the right directions and your patience is paying off. Keep up the good work Aithos. :-)
[/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate the words of encouragement. I don't even know if I'm moving in the right direction yet, I've just been playing enough that I am finally getting some carry-over between rounds. When I wasn't able to afford to play it seemed like everytime I stepped foot on a golf course I was relearning the entire game again. 13 times out in 1 month is more than double the most rounds I've ever played over that stretch, [b]so when I start making good shots it is a lot easier to remember that feeling![/b]
[/quote]
And it wants to make you come back for more! It's a great feeling hitting a shot pure and watching it soar through the air. :-)