• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Official OGBoards Golf Thread

How does it recover? Is it more golfers paying less? Or just so tethered to the economy? I have certainly done my part to contribute to the industry in the last three years.

It's really only partially tethered to the economy. Time to play a round of golf is absolutely crushing participation. The technology boom in the last 15 years ushered in a new era of longer courses and nobody considered the fact that taking a course from 6400 to 7000 yards made it cost 10% more to maintain it and it upped the average round time by 30+ minutes.

Your typical father of 2 is not going to be able to skip out for a 5 hour round every Saturday without his wife wanting to chop his balls off.

Golfers paying less only works in certain cases. The private club model is absolutely gutted except for all but the best, well capitalized private clubs. There are so many private clubs with staggering debt loads that simply cannot survive on the current economic model where golfers expect (and get!!!) greens fees for under $30 all the time or monthly dues for $150 when they previously barely broke even at $250/mo dues levels?
 
Finally got fitted for some irons the other day and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It was amazing what difference the right shaft and 2 degrees of upright made immediately. We'll see if it translates to the course.
 
There's a green target (think plywood covered in green felt with a hole cut out of it) that they put in the fireplace in the lobby of the inn. People try to chip golf balls into the hole while they are usually gettting hammered at night. Interesting bets are made. Good golfers get on crazy streaks. It's fun. There's a worn spot in the carpet from where most people take their shots, but late night you'll see people taking shots from all over the place. It's been there forever and there's a plaque somewhere with "records" of famous tour guys...I think Watson had like 50 something in a row, Palmer too.

Let's not get carried away. Crenshaw has the record at 10 (or 12?) in a row...
 
I have a 3:00 tee time today. Praying the rain holds out.

That didn't work out too well for you did it?

I managed to tee off around 11:30 yesterday and only had the rain hit me on the 18th hole.
 
That didn't work out too well for you did it?

I managed to tee off around 11:30 yesterday and only had the rain hit me on the 18th hole.

Nope. Unfortunately, I was trying to use a Groupon to Pinebrook, so I was locked in to the afternoon. It was depressing, because the rain held out for so long. Maybe next weekend. I have 4 rounds of golf out there paid for between now and October (3 to be redeemed before July)
 
Headed back to Charlotte to play a 7,500+ yard beast this weekend. Rated 76.5/142

:jerkit:
 
That didn't work out too well for you did it?

I managed to tee off around 11:30 yesterday and only had the rain hit me on the 18th hole.

I was supposed to play TPC Potomac today. Had to bail on a pre-paid tee time due to the weather and work emergencies.

Usually I'll play through pretty much anything, but 41 degrees and 30mph winds with rain is a bit much even for me. Plus showing up for work soaked and covered in mud from flying sod is kinda tough to pull off.
 
I got new sticks last fall and I seem to have picked up about a club and half in distance. So that's great. But I did not upgrade my driver and I feel like the difference in the grips is screwing up my tee shots. Im just coming over the top of everything with the driver. I mean everything is hooking. I never had this problem before. I really feel like its my grip. Anybody know any drills I can use to straighten this out or do I need to suck it up and get a new driver that matches my irons.
 
I got new sticks last fall and I seem to have picked up about a club and half in distance. So that's great. But I did not upgrade my driver and I feel like the difference in the grips is screwing up my tee shots. Im just coming over the top of everything with the driver. I mean everything is hooking. I never had this problem before. I really feel like its my grip. Anybody know any drills I can use to straighten this out or do I need to suck it up and get a new driver that matches my irons.


There is no way different grips should affect your swing, unless it is all mental. You could always just get the driver regripped with the same as what you have on your other clubs. Now it is possible that your driver has a significantly weaker shaft than your other clubs, making it more likely for you to turn the club over and hook the ball..
 
I was supposed to play TPC Potomac today. Had to bail on a pre-paid tee time due to the weather and work emergencies.

Usually I'll play through pretty much anything, but 41 degrees and 30mph winds with rain is a bit much even for me. Plus showing up for work soaked and covered in mud from flying sod is kinda tough to pull off.

I used yesterday to break in a new dry joy rain suit I bought a couple months ago. The good: made 6 birdies. The bad: still shot 74.

Conditions here in Winston were very tame from about 11:00 to 3:00. 55ish with a steady drizzle and a little wind.
 
There is no way different grips should affect your swing, unless it is all mental. You could always just get the driver regripped with the same as what you have on your other clubs. Now it is possible that your driver has a significantly weaker shaft than your other clubs, making it more likely for you to turn the club over and hook the ball..

Yeah. Based on the huge increase in distance on the irons, I'm going with swing change as the culprit. I have about 4 different grips in my bag. They don't make a noticeable difference in the way I actually hit the ball on a macro scale.
 
I used yesterday to break in a new dry joy rain suit I bought a couple months ago. The good: made 6 birdies. The bad: still shot 74.

Sounds like my year so far...

And talk about a fail - the guy I was going to play with emailed me. Apparently the weather wasn't that bad besides being a little chilly. No rain, not much wind, course was in awesome shape and apparently has crazy good drainage so it wasn't even that wet. And the huge emergency I got into work at 6am for was a complete non-issue and waste of my time. Love it.

Ah well. Have a pro-am shamble on Wednesday so I'll get my fix in soon enough. Need to win some golf balls... Running low...
 
LK and others who have experience in qualifiers - I have a quick question for you.

A friend of mine is choosing his US Open Qualifier site this week and is having trouble deciding where to play. For background, he won the sectional for the US Pub Links last year and played at Bandon Dunes, so he is legit.

Anyway, the two options are Four Streams and Clustered Spires. Four Streams is one of the best courses in the area - very nice country club, incredible greens, very tough layout, tall grass lines every hole. Clustered Spires is a muni, albeit one with hard, fast greens that are well protected. The rest of the course is apparently pretty bland and not too difficult. I've played Four Streams a fair amount but haven't played Spires.

I recommended Four Streams initially because it's one of my favorite courses, putts roll well, it will separate pretenders from contenders, and rewards long straight hitters which is my friend's strength.

The more I thought about it though, the more I started thinking that the best players will likely go for the country club, and many of them might have a significant advantage having played there before (he's never played either course). I doubt many of the big names or elite college guys will be hitting up Clustered Spires, so it might be easier to get in.

Thoughts?
 
LK and others who have experience in qualifiers - I have a quick question for you.

A friend of mine is choosing his US Open Qualifier site this week and is having trouble deciding where to play. For background, he won the sectional for the US Pub Links last year and played at Bandon Dunes, so he is legit.

Anyway, the two options are Four Streams and Clustered Spires. Four Streams is one of the best courses in the area - very nice country club, incredible greens, very tough layout, tall grass lines every hole. Clustered Spires is a muni, albeit one with hard, fast greens that are well protected. The rest of the course is apparently pretty bland and not too difficult. I've played Four Streams a fair amount but haven't played Spires.

I recommended Four Streams initially because it's one of my favorite courses, putts roll well, it will separate pretenders from contenders, and rewards long straight hitters which is my friend's strength.

The more I thought about it though, the more I started thinking that the best players will likely go for the country club, and many of them might have a significant advantage having played there before (he's never played either course). I doubt many of the big names or elite college guys will be hitting up Clustered Spires, so it might be easier to get in.

Thoughts?


My thinking is to go where the best players are expected to be because the USGA awards spots based on strength of field and they absolutely take into account things like how many touring pros are at a given site.

I could be completely wrong on this, but I feel it's easier to qualify at a site with better golfers and say 7 or 8 spots, than a site with a mediocre field and only 2 or 3 spots.

So I personally always go for sites with the better players for state and national level qualifiers. Then I consider course difficulty. I personally want the longest, hardest course possible because it plays to my own strength as a long high ball flight player. A course that puts too much stress on my wedge game leaves me at a disadvantage against too many players in the field.

A final consideration, for me at least, is to consider how easy it will be to walk a 36 hole qualifier at the course. Touring pros are flat out used to walking anything and everything for many days a week, so it's less an issue for them. But for top level ams who aren't necessarily used to walking a 36 hole Q, it makes a difference to pick a course that's less hilly if at all possible. I've personally played my way out of a US Am field two different times when I couldn't hack it the final 9 holes of a 36 hole day. I just fell completely apart and I now go for the sites that are split over 2 days instead of 1.
 
I also want to add that I love qualifiers. They are purely democratic. You may not have the game to even think about playing golf for a living or winning to level amateur events, but if you can play exceptional golf for just 36 holes you can give yourself a chance to play with the very best.

I've missed out by a couple shots at qualifying for the US Junior (lost in playoff), US Am (by 2 shots 2 different times) and US Mid Am (by a single stroke) and I will keep putting myself through the grind year after year with the hope that the stars align just once and I get to go play with the very best for a few days.

I regrettably never tried to qualify for the publinx when I was a muni golfer.
 
Interesting. I was under the impression qualifying spots were strictly based on the size of the field - not the quality of the applicants.

Is that incorrect?

BTW if you're ever in DC we need to get a round in...
 
Interesting. I was under the impression qualifying spots were strictly based on the size of the field - not the quality of the applicants.

Is that incorrect?

BTW if you're ever in DC we need to get a round in...

Just take a look at the number of qualifiers in the sectional field in Ohio right after the memorial.
 
Back
Top