Golf Talk Tuesdays - 2021

[Dawg52]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 I’ve been planning some golf trips and, through mostly serendipity, it looks like I will be taking three golf trips in the month of September. So, I’ll spend 20 days in September golfing or traveling to/from golf. First to Kiawah, second to Copper Valley, CA and, third to St George/Vegas. [emoji106] Hope my body holds up. [emoji848]

I'm wore out just reading about it.

[Midpack]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 I’ve been planning some golf trips and, through mostly serendipity, it looks like I will be taking three golf trips in the month of September. So, I’ll spend 20 days in September golfing or traveling to/from golf. First to Kiawah, second to Copper Valley, CA and, third to St George/Vegas. [emoji106] Hope my body holds up. [emoji848]

Sounds great, you’ll have fun. One of my golf buddies played The Ocean Course a few months ago and absolutely loved it - even though it kicked his butt.

[harllee]

If you are going to play the Kiawah Ocean Course take plenty of balls, don't ask me how many I lost there.

[garyt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huston55 I’ve been planning some golf trips and, through mostly serendipity, it looks like I will be taking three golf trips in the month of September. So, I’ll spend 20 days in September golfing or traveling to/from golf. First to Kiawah, second to Copper Valley, CA and, third to St George/Vegas. [emoji106] Hope my body holds up. [emoji848]

I'm sure you know this but Wolf creek and Conestoga are must plays in Mesquite and of course Sand Hollow in St. George area, absolutely stunning. Pauite courses in Vegas are sweet, too.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by harllee If you are going to play the Kiawah Ocean Course take plenty of balls, don't ask me how many I lost there.

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Originally Posted by Midpack Sounds great, you’ll have fun. One of my golf buddies played The Ocean Course a few months ago and absolutely loved it - even though it kicked his butt.

I organized an 8-some to Kiawah for 14 yrs starting in 2004; then we stopped for a few years. This year it’s just a 4-some. It’s a fantastic place for golfers. The only place I’ve been that compares is Bandon Dunes. I’ve played the Ocean Course on each trip and always had a great time even as it was kicking my butt. I love walking with a caddy. This is our backup plan for St Andrews, etc, which we had to cancel due to UK travel restrictions.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by garyt I'm sure you know this but Wolf creek and Conestoga are must plays in Mesquite and of course Sand Hollow in St. George area, absolutely stunning. Pauite courses in Vegas are sweet, too.

I’ve played Wolf Creek; enjoyed it but, once is enough for me. I wanted to play Conestoga but, they’re over seeding that time of year. I’ve also played all the Paiute courses, which are wonderful. Our St George/Vegas itinerary is:

-The Ledges
-Copper Rock
-Sand Hollow
-Coyote Springs
-Reflection Bay
-Bear’s Best

I’ve played the first three but not the last three. Looking forward to it. [emoji41]

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huston55 I organized an 8-some to Kiawah for 14 yrs starting in 2004; then we stopped for a few years. This year it’s just a 4-some. It’s a fantastic place for golfers. The only place I’ve been that compares is Bandon Dunes. I’ve played the Ocean Course on each trip and always had a great time even as it was kicking my butt. I love walking with a caddy. This is our backup plan for St Andrews, etc, which we had to cancel due to UK travel restrictions.

When you can you need to reschedule your trip to St Andrews. I have played the Old Course 3 times, what a wonderful experience. When they announce your name on the first tee and you look over that historic ground it is just thrilling. The caddies there are a treat. When I played it a number of years ago you had to have proof of your handicap, for women I think your handicap had to be 20 or under and DH I think had to be 15 or under, it may have changed by now. I have also played the St Andrews "New Course", new being a relative term since it opened in 1895. I toured the Scottish courses 3 times with Perry Golf and I highly recommend them.

If you make it to Scotland there are many other wonderful old courses you should play. My favorite is Machrihanish, an ancient course far out in the western part of Scotland, designed by Old Tom Morris. It is hard to get to but so wonderful and not many tourists. Look it up on their website.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by harllee When you can you need to reschedule your trip to St Andrews. I have played the Old Course 3 times, what a wonderful experience. When they announce your name on the first tee and you look over that historic ground it is just thrilling.

Absolutely! It’s a bucket list thing for me so, I will go at the next opportunity. Unfortunately, that will be 2023 at the earliest since The Open is @ St Andrews in 2022 and there are no open spots during the good weather season.

[zinger1457]

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Originally Posted by harllee When I played it a number of years ago you had to have proof of your handicap, for women I think your handicap had to be 20 or under and DH I think had to be 15 or under, it may have changed by now.

If it was that low it would disqualify about half the golfers in the US, believe the requirement now is 36 and under. Haven't played at St Andrews but remember reading that during ~4 months of the year (winter) you have to carry around a hitting mat, they don't want you to damage the fairway turf. Would imagine winter isn't a popular time to take a golfing trip to GB so probably not that big a deal for most travelers.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by zinger1457 If it was that low it would disqualify about half the golfers in the US, believe the requirement now is 36 and under. Haven't played at St Andrews but remember reading that during ~4 months of the year (winter) you have to carry around a hitting mat, they don't want you to damage the fairway turf. Would imagine winter isn't a popular time to take a golfing trip to GB so probably not that big a deal for most travelers.

These were three of the courses & their men’s handicap requirements on our (now cancelled) Scotland trip:

St Andrews Old Course-36
Carnoustie-28
Muirfield-18

[harllee]

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Originally Posted by zinger1457 If it was that low it would disqualify about half the golfers in the US, believe the requirement now is 36 and under. Haven't played at St Andrews but remember reading that during ~4 months of the year (winter) you have to carry around a hitting mat, they don't want you to damage the fairway turf. Would imagine winter isn't a popular time to take a golfing trip to GB so probably not that big a deal for most travelers.

I think the point was to disqualify golfers with a high handicap, when I was there it was very difficult to get a tee time (sometimes they had lottery). It is a very difficult course. When I played it I was a 14 handicap and it was all I could handle. A 36 handicapper would be miserable on the Old Course. For sure you would not want to be there in the winter. I played one time in August and it was about 50 degrees and howling wind.

[garyt]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 I’ve played Wolf Creek; enjoyed it but, once is enough for me. I wanted to play Conestoga but, they’re over seeding that time of year. I’ve also played all the Paiute courses, which are wonderful. Our St George/Vegas itinerary is: -The Ledges -Copper Rock -Sand Hollow -Coyote Springs -Reflection Bay -Bear’s Best I’ve played the first three but not the last three. Looking forward to it. [emoji41]

Coyote Springs is nice, out in the middle of nowhere. Tough Nicklaus design.

[Jerry1]

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Originally Posted by garyt Coyote Springs is nice, out in the middle of nowhere. Tough Nicklaus design.

We have a Nicklaus designed course near us that is deceivingly tough. Not sure about Coyote Springs, but the local course requires target golf and course management. You don’t just go there and swing away. You have to think about it.

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 I’ve played Wolf Creek; enjoyed it but, once is enough for me. I wanted to play Conestoga but, they’re over seeding that time of year. I’ve also played all the Paiute courses, which are wonderful. Our St George/Vegas itinerary is: -The Ledges -Copper Rock -Sand Hollow -Coyote Springs -Reflection Bay -Bear’s Best I’ve played the first three but not the last three. Looking forward to it. [emoji41]

We've rented condos at two of those courses and we don't even play golf. The views are to die for.. have you played Coral Canyon, we have rented there too.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan We've rented condos at two of those courses and we don't even play golf. The views are to die for.. have you played Coral Canyon, we have rented there too.

I have played Coral Canyon; didn’t care for it as much as the other courses in St G.

[NoiseBoy]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 I thought about a Poll but, decided to just ask the questions here to keep it in this thread. 1. Do you have a Golf Club membership? Yes/No 2. What do you think the Pros/Cons of membership are?

My answers:
1. No. I'm just getting back into the game, so not sure I will play enough to make a membership worthwhile.
2. Pre-retirement, the main advantage to a membership is the ability to get a tee time during peak periods. Now that I'm playing in retirement, I go on weekdays right after lunch and I just walk onto the first tee at the public courses in the area.

What I've found out this year is that most of the local public courses (city or university) have done away with their 9 hole rates But, when I turn 60 their senior rates kick in

[harllee]

Regarding golf memberships, DH and I used to both pay 3-4 times a week and we found the golf membership to be a good deal. As we got older we played less (maybe once a week) and we dropped the membership. One issue I had with the golf membership is that we felt locked into playing at just the one course most of the time. There are so many good courses where we live that we enjoy playing different courses. There are very few courses that are exclusively private--most courses you can get a t-time during the week even if you are not a member.

[garyt]

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Originally Posted by harllee Regarding golf memberships, DH and I used to both pay 3-4 times a week and we found the golf membership to be a good deal. As we got older we played less (maybe once a week) and we dropped the membership. One issue I had with the golf membership is that we felt locked into playing at just the one course most of the time. There are so many good courses where we live that we enjoy playing different courses. There are very few courses that are exclusively private--most courses you can get a t-time during the week even if you are not a member.

Same here, I can't imagine playing the same course over and over. There are some perks to club membership I like like tournaments. But man we have so many courses here in Michigan and I'm still tired of playing some of them. Playing one course two or three times a week doesn't sound like fun to me.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by harllee Regarding golf memberships, DH and I used to both pay 3-4 times a week and we found the golf membership to be a good deal. As we got older we played less (maybe once a week) and we dropped the membership. One issue I had with the golf membership is that we felt locked into playing at just the one course most of the time. There are so many good courses where we live that we enjoy playing different courses. There are very few courses that are exclusively private--most courses you can get a t-time during the week even if you are not a member.

Same here. I used to take clients to play on "Men's Guest Day" at my club in California. And here in Texas I had a membership for 10 years but as I aged and retired, I only played occasionally. Now at 77, I play once per week on a semi-private course with friends or we find a public course to visit.

[Huston55]

Visited friends in Carmel last week and played Quail Lodge for the first time. Fantastic course! And, it didn’t hurt that I played well. [emoji41]