Michigan Golf 2013 ....where have you been?

[BG5]

Hey Gang,

 

Curious as to how many rounds you have played this year and what courses you have played in 2013. Additionally what courses are you hoping to play in 2014. An injury cut my golf season short this year so I'm sitting at home feeling sorry for myself :)

 

2013 stats

 

Handicap - 15

Rounds played - 40 ( I'm a teacher so I played 40 rounds from May - August)

 

2013 courses I played

Oakland Hills (South)

Arcadia Bluffs

Forest Dunes

Bay Harbor

Black Lake

Harbor Shores

Tullymore

St. Ives

Little Traverse Bay

Hawkseye

The Chief

Hawkshead

The Medalist

Boyne Monument

A-ga-Ming

Hampshire

Yarrow

Ravines

Angles Crossing

Island Hills

Stonehenge

Medalist

Lynx

Heritage glen

Pineview

 

2014 hopefuls that I have yet to plAy

Gailes

Redhawk

Greywalls

Timberstone

Sweet grass

Art hills course (boyne)

The heather

Donal Ross memorial

Hidden river

Wuskowhan

The dream

The nightmare

Point o woods

Dunes club

Crystal downs

Egypt valley

 

 

[chickenpotpie]

Wow, I'd say you did pretty well for yourself, and I'm jealous. With 4 exceptions (Grand Cypress-Orlando, Arcadia, Flossmoor-Chicago, UM course), I managed to stay within a 20 mile radius of my house. 60 rounds total.

[knickerbocker]

I have posted 47 rounds this year and that does not include many rounds I played with my two sons (4 and 5) and those where I was just playing a few holes for practice. I am pretty happy with that.

I have played most of my rounds at Cedar Creek and Gull Lake CC.

New Courses that I have played this year:

Jackson CC
Crystal Downs
Tullymore
St. Ives
Bucks Run

Lowest Round of the Year: 67 (ties career low) – Differential was 0 because it is an easy course.

[3_Jack_Par]

56 rounds posted so far:
Bay Harbor 1 (new)
Beacon Hill 1
Boyne Heather 1
Boyne Hills 1
Boyne Moor 1 (new)
Boyne Ross 2
Coyote 1
Coyote Preserve 1
[size=5][b]Crystal Downs [/b][/size]1 (new)
Dunham Hills 1
Eagle Eye 1
Fox Hills - Classic 1
Grande 1
Huntmore 2
Lakes of Taylor 2
Little Traverse Bay 1 (new)
Majestic 1
Michaywe Pines 1
Norhville Hills 1
Orchards 1
Pierce Lake 1
Pheasant Run 4
Salem Hills 14
Stonebridge 1
Tanglewood 1
Taylor Meadows 1 (new)
The Lakes 1
The Loon 1
The Tribute 1
Timber Trace 1
Treetops-Jones 1
Treetops-Tradition 1
Wuskowhan Player's Club 1 (new)

Crystal Downs and Wuskowhan were obviously the highlights, and were made possible through WRX connections.

I play Salem Hills before work when possible, because it's the closest semi-decent course to my office, and if I get there early enough, I can get out first, and finish in about 2 hours.
I also played 3 rounds in Texas and one in New Hampshire this year. Still hoping that we have a good 6-8 weeks of the season left here in MI.

[Openwater22]

Wow. Nice lists. Cannot think of a single new course this season. Had to cancel an Oakland Hills South visit. Oh duh, Country club of Jackson yesterday

[odshot68]

[b]Only New tracks:[/b]
A-Ga-Ming
Belvedere
Boyne Highlands - Heather, Ross Memorial, & Arthur Hills
Boyne Mountain - Monument & Alpine
Otsego Club - Tribute

[itw419]

New courses for me this year:
Sundance
The Bear
The Wolverine
Lochenheath
University of Michigan Golf Course
Forest Akers West
Kingsley Club
Crystal Downs

[dozer996]

I have somewhere in the mid 40's with a lot of 9 hole rounds for league and emergency 9 hole rounds. This has been my lowest rounds to date, but we have another month or so to get in 8-10 rounds.

Highlight of the year might be this coming Monday Oakland Hills South.

Wuskowhan Players Club
Ross @Boyne Highlands
Cedar River @Shanty Creek
The Legend @Shanty Creek
Summit and Schuss @Shanty Creek - Blah...part of the package
Copperhead @Innisbrook (Florida)
Sarasota National (Florida)
Quest - Houghton Lake

Low round was a 70 @Schuss Mountain a couple weeks ago.

[MaxPower328]

Great thread. I have 55 rounds in the bank this year. The following were all new for me in 2013

Dearborn CC
Kingsley Club
Forest Dunes
Bedford Valley
Battle Creek CC
The Wolverine
Northville Hills

[odshot68]

Just looked, 55 rounds to date posted. That doesn't include 9 hole practice rounds where you hit different shots and play multiple balls.

[itw419]

I'm not even in the same universe as you guys for rounds played this year. I have posted 19 rounds. Add in a few scrambles, a couple Ryder Cup rounds and some terrible weather rounds and I've played somewhere between 27- 30 rounds.

[HackerDave]

New to me this year.

Island Hills
Lochenheath
Sundance
Harbor Shores
Bay Harbor (Links and Quarry)

[Dino81]

Pretty good year for me with an awful finish at the Tournament of Champions...17 at Eagle Eye is a hell of a hole to forget how to swing a golf club. Maybe the most embarrassing moment(s) of my life. That said, it was a heck of a year besides that. Quite a few rounds at +4 or better, just can't seem to get past that under par hump.

2013 Stats:
Current Handicap: 2.8
Local: 2.5
Rounds: 74

Courses (with number of rounds played):
Fountains: 44
OU Sharf: 1
OU Katke: 3
Pine Trace: 5
Stony Creek: 1
The Orchards: 1
Devil's Ridge: 1
Clio Country Club: 4
Forest Dunes: 1
Boyne - Arthur Hills: 2
Boyne - Moor: 2
Pontiac Country Club: 1
Brentwood: 1
Treetops Premier: 1
Treetops Masterpiece: 1
Treetops Threetops: 1
Heather Highlands: 1
Beacon Hills: 1
Sanctuary Lake: 1
Eagle Eye: 1

[geochitown]

[quote name='chickenpotpie' timestamp='1380637606' post='7937175']
Wow, I'd say you did pretty well for yourself, and I'm jealous. With 4 exceptions (Grand Cypress-Orlando, Arcadia, Flossmoor-Chicago, UM course), I managed to stay within a 20 mile radius of my house. 60 rounds total.
[/quote]

Would you care to write up your impressions of Flossmoor CC?

[Tarantula18t]

Well, I'm not from Michigan, but I was able to play a few new courses up there this year....

Tribute
Black Forest
Premier
Signature
Birchwood Farms.....which was the best of the bunch I thought.

Highlights this season were playing Muirfield Village, The Golf Club, and Victoria National (which was yesterday). Victoria National being the one I liked the best by far, and worthy of dropping everything to go play if you have the opportunity.

[3_Jack_Par]

[quote name='Dino81' timestamp='1380887271' post='7951519']
Pretty good year for me with an awful finish at the Tournament of Champions...17 at Eagle Eye is a hell of a hole to forget how to swing a golf club. Maybe the most embarrassing moment(s) of my life.
[/quote]
How bad was it? That would be a scary hole to play in a tournament.

I only ended up Forest Akers West to my list (first time this year, played it all the time growing up) -- the early freeze this year cut the season shorter than it has been the last few years. I think I had played in December at least once the last 3 or 4 years.

[Dino81]

[quote name='3 Jack Par' timestamp='1386706678' post='8279253']
[quote name='Dino81' timestamp='1380887271' post='7951519']
Pretty good year for me with an awful finish at the Tournament of Champions...17 at Eagle Eye is a hell of a hole to forget how to swing a golf club. Maybe the most embarrassing moment(s) of my life.
[/quote]
How bad was it? That would be a scary hole to play in a tournament.

I only ended up Forest Akers West to my list (first time this year, played it all the time growing up) -- the early freeze this year cut the season shorter than it has been the last few years. I think I had played in December at least once the last 3 or 4 years.
[/quote]

3 Jack...twenty effing three...that's how bad it was. Tee shot was about 2 yards short, never should have went to the drop area. The whole day was a disaster.

Got to the course early, hit some balls and felt great. Went to the putting green, and was having issues with the grain, but I thought I'd figure it out. When I was done warming up, I realized I still had about 40 minutes until my tee time. So my dumb a** went back to the range to hit a few more shots to keep loose. Out of nowhere I suddenly couldn't turn through the ball and was blocking everything right. I teed off on 10 and by the time I made it to 17 I was already 5 or 6 over, trying my damnedest to pull a shot and still blocking it right and WAY short.

So after the tee shot, I went to the drop area. I had 75 yards pin, about 95 to the back. I don't hit my wedges very far, and my 56 is normally about 90 yards, so I figured just smooth it and get this over with. Chunk, reload...thin it and it hits the green and runs off the back. The marshal at the hole tells me that I can drop at the green. I didn't think this was right, but I was going with it. So as I was just about to pop the parking brake on the cart, he rushes back and says that I have to keep going from the drop area. It was a nightmare...I felt like I'd never hit a ball in my life. If I went at it, I would drop my right shoulder. If I tried to just stay smooth, I'd flail at it and skull the living hell out of the ball. Good thing I had a ton of balls in my bag.

After that, I three jacked on 18 for bogey (I was ready to crawl into a hole). Picked up 4 beers at the turn and decided I was going to enjoy the sun on a nice day in October...and preceded to double 10. It's really all a blur, but I managed to play 1 or 2 over the rest of the way in from there still making terrible contact. The drive back to Auburn Hills from Lansing was maybe the longest drive of my life. At least the tournament director thanked me for sticking it out and noted that I didn't play like a complete donkey on the front (my second nine).

Naturally, I shot 1 or 2 over 3 days later...so much for having a handicap that hovered around 2-3 all summer, haha.

[3_Jack_Par]

[quote name='Dino81' timestamp='1386849226' post='8287785']
[quote name='3 Jack Par' timestamp='1386706678' post='8279253']
[quote name='Dino81' timestamp='1380887271' post='7951519']
Pretty good year for me with an awful finish at the Tournament of Champions...17 at Eagle Eye is a hell of a hole to forget how to swing a golf club. Maybe the most embarrassing moment(s) of my life.
[/quote]
How bad was it? That would be a scary hole to play in a tournament.

I only ended up Forest Akers West to my list (first time this year, played it all the time growing up) -- the early freeze this year cut the season shorter than it has been the last few years. I think I had played in December at least once the last 3 or 4 years.
[/quote]

3 Jack...twenty effing three...that's how bad it was. Tee shot was about 2 yards short, never should have went to the drop area. The whole day was a disaster.

Got to the course early, hit some balls and felt great. Went to the putting green, and was having issues with the grain, but I thought I'd figure it out. When I was done warming up, I realized I still had about 40 minutes until my tee time. So my dumb a** went back to the range to hit a few more shots to keep loose. Out of nowhere I suddenly couldn't turn through the ball and was blocking everything right. I teed off on 10 and by the time I made it to 17 I was already 5 or 6 over, trying my damnedest to pull a shot and still blocking it right and WAY short.

So after the tee shot, I went to the drop area. I had 75 yards pin, about 95 to the back. I don't hit my wedges very far, and my 56 is normally about 90 yards, so I figured just smooth it and get this over with. Chunk, reload...thin it and it hits the green and runs off the back. The marshal at the hole tells me that I can drop at the green. I didn't think this was right, but I was going with it. So as I was just about to pop the parking brake on the cart, he rushes back and says that I have to keep going from the drop area. It was a nightmare...I felt like I'd never hit a ball in my life. If I went at it, I would drop my right shoulder. If I tried to just stay smooth, I'd flail at it and skull the living hell out of the ball. Good thing I had a ton of balls in my bag.

After that, I three jacked on 18 for bogey (I was ready to crawl into a hole). Picked up 4 beers at the turn and decided I was going to enjoy the sun on a nice day in October...and preceded to double 10. It's really all a blur, but I managed to play 1 or 2 over the rest of the way in from there still making terrible contact. The drive back to Auburn Hills from Lansing was maybe the longest drive of my life. At least the tournament director thanked me for sticking it out and noted that I didn't play like a complete donkey on the front (my second nine).

Naturally, I shot 1 or 2 over 3 days later...so much for having a handicap that hovered around 2-3 all summer, haha.
[/quote]
Oh man, I'm sorry I just made you relive that! At least now you have a good story about your worst hole ever. I admire you for sticking it out for the rest of the round. A lot of guys would have tossed their whole bag into the lake after that. I've had that kind of total swing meltdown before -- once in a tournament I topped one into a lake and completely melted down from there (I hadn't topped a ball in a couple of years, probably, and haven't since), and one time just in an outing with nothing really on the line, I just could not find the bottom of my swing -- hit maybe 3 solid shots the whole day, the rest were fat or thin. But my worst swing breakdowns used to happen early in the season as I'm getting ready for a Michigan Am qualifier, which has often been my first tournament of the season, and I used to get a case of the hosel fades on the range, which basically reduces you to a quivering mass mentally. Knock wood, the stuff I've been working on with my swing with my instructor seems to have addressed the root cause of that, so it wasn't a problem this year, but it happened every year for about 3-4 years. Now I just blow up because of terrible putting

It sounds like you share a problem that I have with competition -- caring too much, which leads to getting tense, which leads to rushing, which leads to poorly thought out and/or poorly executed shots. It's hard to get yourself to slow down and relax, but it really does help. Having a good routine helps, too, but I've still never gotten totally consistent with that, either.

[Dino81]

Haha, no problems on the reliving it. I opened the can of worms, only because I came to terms with it all a week or two after the incident...

Pressure doesn't typically affect me too much, and I typically play better when dealing with it. I won my club championship to get into the ToC, and I was a bundle of nerves during both of those rounds. The first round was my first tourney at that club, so I didn't know what to expect as far as scores of my competitors. I didn't really realize I was on pace for a pretty good round until the 18th tee, and I damn near made a birdie there, shooting 71. Took a 1 shot lead into the final round, had it up to 3 on the front, was down 2 after 12, and ended up making a 10 footer on 18 to win it by 1.

My next big tourney was the ToC, and I think I've talked enough about that

10 days later I was played in a Ryder Cup type match for my club against another. Pressure was high and I couldn't miss the first day. The second day I had to grind but still managed a 74 in the rain. So all in all...I have no answer, haha. Maybe I was intimidated by the other good/great players around me. But the ToC incident is definitely what has kept me from trying to play in the MI Am the last few years despite having the ability to at least give it a good shot.

As far as the hosel knockers...I like to call them Strickers...that Sh... word is just a bad word to me.

[cassel191919]

I was able to add my favorite course Oakmont.

Also added

Whistling Straits and Irish
Erin Hills
Blackwolf Run River and Meadow valley
Harbor Shores

[Dino81]

That's one heck of a year Cassel!!

[hill2285]

For those of you who played island hills this year i was wondering what you thought of it. I am a member there and personally think its a great course. I myself posted 48 rounds with my best being a 68 island hills. I did however get to play Warren and it is a good track.

[BG5]

I like Island Hills alot. I had not played it in almost 10 years so I was pleasantly surprised at the conditioning and I really feel that its one of the better courses in SW Michigan but the only issue is for me and most others its considered in the middle of nowhere (which is not a bad thing) so that probably limits the amount of play it gets. My only knock on the course were the greens. They were in great shape and rolled true but man are they tough. Lots of breaks here and there but overall I will be back each year to play at least one round at Island Hills as its a great course.

How are the new owners treating the members out there?

[hill2285]

The new owner has been decent to members, with the course in a good as shape as it is, it is hard to complain. Glad to hear you liked it, if you ever need company while playing the course hit me up.

[chickenpotpie]

[quote name='geochitown' timestamp='1381177781' post='7966401']
[quote name='chickenpotpie' timestamp='1380637606' post='7937175']
Wow, I'd say you did pretty well for yourself, and I'm jealous. With 4 exceptions (Grand Cypress-Orlando, Arcadia, Flossmoor-Chicago, UM course), I managed to stay within a 20 mile radius of my house. 60 rounds total.
[/quote]

Would you care to write up your impressions of Flossmoor CC?
[/quote]

Sorry, just saw this. Overall, I liked it. Very old school country-clubish, but I like what they did with the redesign to make it more modern. Good mix of new and old features, and a lot of different types of holes. Greens were stupid fast, but that was part of the fun.

[MaxPower328]

[quote name='MaxPower328' timestamp='1380835377' post='7949101']
Great thread. I have 55 rounds in the bank this year. The following were all new for me in 2013

Dearborn CC
Kingsley Club
Forest Dunes
Bedford Valley
Battle Creek CC
The Wolverine
Northville Hills
[/quote]

Season is almost over. Where have we been in 2014? I got to cross off some biggies.

Crystal Downs
Grand Traverse Resort - The Bear
Oakland Hills South
Paint Creek CC
Fieldstone GC

CC of Rochester (back in my hometown - Rochester, NY)

[odshot68]

Only got in 55 rounds, and a lot of those were golf trips. Got minimal rounds at local club, as it was constantly packed. Next year will be the first year in ages I'm not joining anywhere and doing the public thing. Kind of looking forward to it, quite a few one day trips in my forecast.

New Michigan courses 2014:
The Bear
The Wolverine
Bucks Run
Hemlock

To play list:
Dunes Club
Lost Dunes
Warwick Hills
CCs in Detroit

[dozer996]

I got to play a couple new Michigan courses this year

A-Ga-Ming (Torch, Sundance, and Antrim Dells)
Warwick Hills Golf Club

Outside of Michigan

Valhalla Golf Club
Pebble Beach

[Tarantula18t]

I didn't play anything new in Michigan this year, except 2 quick rounds on the Treetops par 3. Being that I am only in the state about 6 days a year, it's getting hard to play new things in the Petoskey/Gaylord area. We are starting to play courses over and over now. Time to head over to the Traverse City area one of these years.

Although the 2015 trip we are going to mix in a few new ones that seem to be polarizing. I have been avoiding them purposely over the past 5 years, but we may give them a shot. Elk Ridge, The Chief, The Ross (not polarizing, just haven't been on it yet), and possibly the Masterpiece.

I played a few new private clubs in Ohio, but the only real notable new course I played was the Pete Dye club in WV. For those of you that have played Victoria National, it has a very similar feel to that course.

[Dino81]

Didn't play nearly as much this year as last...did get a few new courses in:[list]
[*]Lochenheath
[*]A-Ga-Ming (Sundance, Torch, and Antrim Dells)
[*]Oakland Hills South
[*]Rattle Run
[/list]