2 things
1 - what’s a yob
2 - your course is Ivanhoe right
Tiger’s out. Anyone know how long a recovery takes for surgery to repair a pinched nerve?
http://espn.go.com/golf/masters14/story/_/id/10709313/tiger-woods-back-surgery-pulls-masters
Took Peyton Manning a year - though that was neck/shoulder.
Whoa! That’s way longer than I was thinking. Hopefully it turns out to be less than that . . .
golf thread got funny while I was away playing ‘easy’ Bay Hill.
Bay Hill
greens were pretty insanely quick
rough was still deep (although they were mowing it down each day)
fairways were perfect
All around the course was excellent. Best Florida course I’ve played, and I’ve played a bunch including PGA National Champions. It was just a solid place, with every hole being distinct, and interesting. And pure. The hole I thought was goofy on TV, the 6th (par 5 that goes right around a massive pond) was actually pretty awesome due to the strategy required to play it properly. First day I tried to drill it on an aggressive line but I hit a draw and it fought the prevailing (cut) wind the whole way and didn’t make it. Rest of the time there, I just hit it at the left bunker then either laid up, or drilled it at the greenside bunker. The hole is awesome and everytime I played it , I wanted to go try it again immediately.
Every hole has an elevated green with great protection (bunkering, deep rough) and some run off areas. I like chipping off closely mowed collection areas, so that was fun. I have no idea what the fuck Adam Scott was doing putting through 20-30 feet of fairway grass beside 15. I threw four balls down there and just flipped it up with a 60 and some spin and got it to 5-8 feet every time. We all tried it, and nobody thought putter was the right play. Our group’s combined handicap is 12, and one of the guys was an 8 to give you an idea of our skill level.
Favourite hole is 8. Just a pure par 4 of about 430 yards, and every part of every shot is interesting and difficult at once
18 was pretty easy the first 2 days, playing driver 8 iron or so for me in my pre-season shittiness. If I was in full mid-season form, I’d hit 3 wood to ensure I stayed short of the water. On the final day it was cold out, around 60 degrees, and there was a 20 mph north wind in our face. I hit it pretty pure (something that would go 290 if it was warm and not into the wind) and still had 202 yards to the pin, into the wind. I laid up to the sliver of fairway short of the green.
2 is the hardest hole maybe. It was just 230-235 every day, often a little into the wind, and damn…just a tough hole. 1 and 3 aren’t far off though…just a vicious 3 hole start.
Arnie was there all the time it seemed…he is very hands on. He was watching us tee off one day, near the range another day, in his office another day. He seems to live there. He has his own cart with some baller wheels on it, and has two staff bags chock full of clubs on it at all time (although I didn’t see him hit a shot).
Half way house has one cool thing that I’ve never seen before…they serve chili. They have a pot on the go all the time, and serve you in a Bay Hill cup that is like a McDonald’s cup, with a spoon. Excellent chili.
Clubhouse is old school…I don’t think they’ve changed anything since the 60s when it opened. It was nice, and had a good old school feel. Food was killer. Locker room was great with photos of shoot outs past. They have a member shootout pretty much every day, and it’s big on the weekends. You get a variety of players, all good, showing up, including a few pros. Arnie plays off a 6 now (5.2 index in the book). Not bad for someone who is 85ish.
All around, great member course, and I can’t wait to go back. We played 3 times in 4 days because of a rain out the one day.
Good write-up - sounds like you had a great time. Bummer that you had a rain-out, but three rounds is still pretty good.
Funny about the chili - that sounds like an odd thing to serve in central Florida. Unless it’s just a fall/winter/spring thing.
yeah probably a cool weather thing (chili)
the rain out was no biggie. Got a good practice session in before the alarm (alarm went off right before they called us to the tee). We had fun hanging out at the locker room bar and heard some good stories from other members and the bartender. And oddly Carlton was there (Alfonse Ribeiro).
Tiger’s out. Anyone know how long a recovery takes for surgery to repair a pinched nerve?
http://espn.go.com/golf/masters14/story/_/id/10709313/tiger-woods-back-surgery-pulls-masters
Took Peyton Manning a year - though that was neck/shoulder.
Whoa! That’s way longer than I was thinking. Hopefully it turns out to be less than that . . .
golf thread got funny while I was away playing ‘easy’ Bay Hill.
Bay Hill
greens were pretty insanely quick
rough was still deep (although they were mowing it down each day)
fairways were perfect
All around the course was excellent. Best Florida course I’ve played, and I’ve played a bunch including PGA National Champions. It was just a solid place, with every hole being distinct, and interesting. And pure. The hole I thought was goofy on TV, the 6th (par 5 that goes right around a massive pond) was actually pretty awesome due to the strategy required to play it properly. First day I tried to drill it on an aggressive line but I hit a draw and it fought the prevailing (cut) wind the whole way and didn’t make it. Rest of the time there, I just hit it at the left bunker then either laid up, or drilled it at the greenside bunker. The hole is awesome and everytime I played it , I wanted to go try it again immediately.
Every hole has an elevated green with great protection (bunkering, deep rough) and some run off areas. I like chipping off closely mowed collection areas, so that was fun. I have no idea what the fuck Adam Scott was doing putting through 20-30 feet of fairway grass beside 15. I threw four balls down there and just flipped it up with a 60 and some spin and got it to 5-8 feet every time. We all tried it, and nobody thought putter was the right play. Our group’s combined handicap is 12, and one of the guys was an 8 to give you an idea of our skill level.
Favourite hole is 8. Just a pure par 4 of about 430 yards, and every part of every shot is interesting and difficult at once
18 was pretty easy the first 2 days, playing driver 8 iron or so for me in my pre-season shittiness. If I was in full mid-season form, I’d hit 3 wood to ensure I stayed short of the water. On the final day it was cold out, around 60 degrees, and there was a 20 mph north wind in our face. I hit it pretty pure (something that would go 290 if it was warm and not into the wind) and still had 202 yards to the pin, into the wind. I laid up to the sliver of fairway short of the green.
2 is the hardest hole maybe. It was just 230-235 every day, often a little into the wind, and damn…just a tough hole. 1 and 3 aren’t far off though…just a vicious 3 hole start.
Arnie was there all the time it seemed…he is very hands on. He was watching us tee off one day, near the range another day, in his office another day. He seems to live there. He has his own cart with some baller wheels on it, and has two staff bags chock full of clubs on it at all time (although I didn’t see him hit a shot).
Half way house has one cool thing that I’ve never seen before…they serve chili. They have a pot on the go all the time, and serve you in a Bay Hill cup that is like a McDonald’s cup, with a spoon. Excellent chili.
Clubhouse is old school…I don’t think they’ve changed anything since the 60s when it opened. It was nice, and had a good old school feel. Food was killer. Locker room was great with photos of shoot outs past. They have a member shootout pretty much every day, and it’s big on the weekends. You get a variety of players, all good, showing up, including a few pros. Arnie plays off a 6 now (5.2 index in the book). Not bad for someone who is 85ish.
All around, great member course, and I can’t wait to go back. We played 3 times in 4 days because of a rain out the one day.
Good write-up - sounds like you had a great time. Bummer that you had a rain-out, but three rounds is still pretty good.
Funny about the chili - that sounds like an odd thing to serve in central Florida. Unless it’s just a fall/winter/spring thing.
yeah probably a cool weather thing (chili)
the rain out was no biggie. Got a good practice session in before the alarm (alarm went off right before they called us to the tee). We had fun hanging out at the locker room bar and heard some good stories from other members and the bartender. And oddly Carlton was there (Alfonse Ribeiro).
Goes back to what Bob Rotella says. Golf is a game of confidence. Arnie clearly has it, even now.
In his final Masters (at age 75ish) he shot 84-84. That’s a 75 year old, shooting 84 at Tournament Augusta. Physical advantages are right out the window with golf. I can go there in all my mid 30s physical glory at the peak of my “man strength” and expect to NOT be south of 100, even though I can hit the ball. And a 75 year old dude who frowns at a tall flight of stairs shoots 84. Yup, now that’s confidence. And a dose of experience I suppose.
Goes back to what Bob Rotella says. Golf is a game of confidence. Arnie clearly has it, even now.
In his final Masters (at age 75ish) he shot 84-84. That’s a 75 year old, shooting 84 at Tournament Augusta. Physical advantages are right out the window with golf. I can go there in all my mid 30s physical glory at the peak of my “man strength” and expect to NOT be south of 100, even though I can hit the ball. And a 75 year old dude who frowns at a tall flight of stairs shoots 84. Yup, now that’s confidence. And a dose of experience I suppose.
Saki - You’re a lucky guy, having had the opportunity to play Bay Hill. Sounds like you all had a great time.
My home course finally opened yesterday - temps in the mid-50s, light breeze and full sunshine, which is quite an improvement over recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, conditions are still pretty wet, so it played long (and they put the tees ALL the way back on pretty much every hole) but it was great to get out there. Seems as if the regular driving range visits and the new grips may have helped, because I played better than I had any right to expect.
Headed out again in a couple of hours - any weekend where I can sneak in 2 rounds is a huge win!
Sounds like you’re the lucky one…our courses are all delayed to late aoril early May opening. Its usually around April 10
What’d you shoot. You’re dying to tell us. Out with it.
I do feel lucky that we’re playing already. Whether by luck or by design, we avoided virtually all the damage that other area courses suffered this winter.
Saki - You’re a lucky guy, having had the opportunity to play Bay Hill. Sounds like you all had a great time.
My home course finally opened yesterday - temps in the mid-50s, light breeze and full sunshine, which is quite an improvement over recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, conditions are still pretty wet, so it played long (and they put the tees ALL the way back on pretty much every hole) but it was great to get out there. Seems as if the regular driving range visits and the new grips may have helped, because I played better than I had any right to expect.
Headed out again in a couple of hours - any weekend where I can sneak in 2 rounds is a huge win!
Sounds like you’re the lucky one…our courses are all delayed to late aoril early May opening. Its usually around April 10
What’d you shoot. You’re dying to tell us. Out with it.