course conditions around KC? Tiffany Greens, Dubs Dread, Ironhorse, Falcon Lakes, etc?

[tnord]

so i have a very cobbled together foursome for tomorrow; my sisters boyfriend is driving down from MN to play today at ironhorse on his own, then he'll play tomorrow with the rest of us..he's a 2 capper. my father in law, a pretty good player, is also driving up from central KS and wants to play with me and his sons. i'm a 5, FIL is about a 9, his sons are more like 20+.....which presents some interesting challenges in getting a course that both the 2 capper and 20+ will enjoy.

 

i've never played Tiffany Greens and have heard it's pretty good, so i thought i'd try there, but don't want to go if it's super soggy and conditions aren't "good." the 2 capper is playing ironhorse today which i like, but i know it can get soggy so not sure after the big melt if it has drained yet. Dubs and Falcon i think are challenging for the rest of us without being completely unplayable for the 20s, but not sure what sort of shape they're in.

 

anyone that has played any of these tracks recently let me know how they're playing, or if you have any other suggestions that might work for me feel free to toss them out.

 

it's all very last minute so i understand my partners have kinda put me in a tough spot to get this all arranged.

[bhj83]

I haven't played Tiffany Greens since the end of January because of all the stupid snow, but I play it most frequently since it's the closest course to me and I have The Club Member card. It's always in pretty good shape. I would think with a 70 degree day yesterday and 80 degrees today, it shouldn't be soggy. Maybe just the fairway on the 1st hole since it tends to be the wettest part of that course...but once you get past there it should be just fine. The greens are always in good shape and roll great. I played Dub's on Monday and it was in pretty good shape as well, but it is definitely a tougher course for me. You can usually find a tee time there for a pretty reasonable price as well...around $25 this time of year I believe with a cart. I have never played Ironhorse or Falcon, so I can't help with that. With TG and Dub's, they're both zoysia grass so you will be playing off of yellow, dormant grass (assuming you make it in the fairway mostly).

[jth3333]

Falcon Ridge is zoysia pretty nice. Tiffany would be ok . It is supposed to be 46 tomorrow. You could also try falcon lakes. The other option would be shoal creek. It is a nice course. I belong at the National.

[vernon]

Stone Canyon is one of the best in the area and because they have bent grass fairways, the carts are not restricted to the paths so long as it's not too wet. However, it normally drains extremely well so might at least be worth a phone call to inquire further about conditions. I live at Falcon Lakes and it's still pretty mushy and like most all zoysia courses in the area is still cart path only. Prairie Highlands also might be worth a shot. Good luck regardless, gonna be a beautiful day. Looks like the weather's gonna kinda suck for the next few days after this though.

[QMany]

I haven't played Tiffany, but I will try to comment on the other three. To start, I think Falcon Lakes would be your best bet of those four.

I have played FL 2-3 times and was pleasantly surprised. It is a pretty good track. Good greens. It would be a good challenge for the 2 but also has accessible fairways for the 20+ guys.
I played DD once in a scramble. It has some history, but I was not impressed. It is a run of the mill muni to me. 2-3 good holes, 2-3 funky holes, and the rest forgetable.
Ironhorse is a good track. I thouroughly enjoyed the 2-3 rounds I've played there. I think they redid one of the nines? It would be good for the 2 but not for the 20+ guys.

Falcon Ridge would also be a good time. I would say my review for FL would apply here. I've played FR 15-20 times and always enjoyed it.

[tnord]

thanks for the feedback.

prairie highlands doesn't have any times available, neither does falcon ridge. i think sycamore's back 9 is too narrow to consider for the 20+ guys, otherwise i'd want to go there for the bent grass. stone canyon was a thought, but it's a little more $ than the rest from what i could tell. my first thought was Falcon Lakes for this grouping as well, but i didn't think the 2 guy driving down from MN would be as impressed with it.

my main concern is how wide off the tee it is, and given that i've never been to TG if you guys have any feedback on that it'd be appreciated. FL is fair off the tee, and DD is narrower, but being an older style of architecture you can at least find your ball most of the time.

i went ahead and made a time for 1245 tomorrow at Tiffany Greens, now lets hope the rain holds off.

[QMany]

I've heard good things about TG. Can't go wrong.
FWIW, I think the 2 would have been more impressed with FL than DD, but that is just my opinion.

[bhj83]

TG has some of the widest fairways around. It also plays to a slicer as the right side is usually pretty open and the left side has a lot of trees and hazard. There's also a lot of water on the course.

[tnord]

i think you're probably right about the FL vs DD, they're just very different courses. i think DD in the fall is a really neat place to play, but both the 2 and I are members at older style courses similar to the architecture at DD....so a change of pace at FL is probably a better choice for him.

[tnord]

[quote name='bhj83' timestamp='1363359596' post='6616733']
TG has some of the widest fairways around. It also plays to a slicer as the right side is usually pretty open and the left side has a lot of trees and hazard. There's also a lot of water on the course.
[/quote]

right side open and wide fairways = winner.

[vernon]

You'll enjoy TG. The greens are always among the best in the area and the layout is entertaining. Get the high HC's on the right set of tees and they'll have a good time. Tough to lose a ball on that course so that's a plus. FL used to be really good but they've mowed the rough back so far and cut down so many trees that it's just a plain old, wide open muni now. Pretty boring for better players in my opinion. Turn more rounds now I guess though and that's all anybody cares about these days.

Personally don't like DD even a little bit. Of course, I've been playing there off and on since the early 70's so the history and tradition aren't that impressive anymore. Plus the course doesn't even vaguely resemble the good ol' days when it was 8,000 plus yards. Longest course in the world at the time. Nicklaus, Palmer, Snead, Hogan, Nelson all the boys used to play exhibitions there back in the day cause of Jug McSpaden being the owner. Remember one time Nicklaus said he hit the ball as good as he could hit it and shot 75!

[tnord]

what will likely happen is i'll go play tips with the 2 capper, and the 20 and his dad will play whites.

i agree that FL is fairly open, but the wind can get howling pretty good out there which can make it interesting.

[tnord]

tough day to play yesterday...especially after being spoiled by 80deg on fri. TG worked well for us, the 20capper kept the ball in play on most holes which really helped us keep the pace reasonable (i think we finished in 420 with a foursome on cartpath only), and i found the course to be mostly challenging, the par 5s i thought were good holes. i don't know if they have some more sets of tees to afford them some flexibility in setup, but it really felt like i was hitting a 3w to layup in front of a bunker at 250yds on most par 4s, which were right around 360-380 total. i can't remember a par 3 that wasn't surrounded by water either.

but, greens were in very good shape, and the course was fun to play...even with the low 40s temp with a north wind i had a good time. probably because i played pretty well, if i wasn't the weather would've seemed worse. no warmup took a double on #2, hit one ball OB but saved bogy, birdied #9, and doubled 18 trying to cut the corner. walked out with an 81 and all things considered felt like i played pretty well. would love to go play it again in the summer with a normal southwest wind rather than the north wind from yesterday.

[bhj83]

Glad you enjoyed it. It is a fun course to play for sure. I was out there yesterday as well for a 9:15 tee time, but didn't play all that well (damn the swing changes)! I did notice that they seemed to have most of the tees pushed up a little further than usual...probably due to the weather conditions.