New Golf Season - High Hopes?

[Golden Bear]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

For our annual Aberdeen weekend trip for 8 of us this year I’ve got us three rounds of golf and two nights hotel with breakfast for £185 pp

Hotel - Holiday Inn Express £76

Fri - green fee at Scotscraig on way up £58 (discount for 4B after 12 noon)

Sat - Peterhead Open £25

Sun - Montrose Open 4BBB Pairs on way home £25

Thankfully there is still good value to be had in Open competitions, and even the Scotscraig green fee is semi reasonable and makes for a very affordable weekend trip.

£185 wouldn’t get you 9 holes at some courses!

That's a great deal Mr T.

👍

[blackpoolhibs]

Had a bit of a bad winter with being poorly and a bad back, so not played since end of October.

Started back on the 3rd of March and off my handicap of 7, hit 88 then 86, but last 2 rounds of 80 and 79 is getting back to normal.

Have a target this season to try and get down to 5, i doubt it if i will make it, but i do like to have a target each season and a challenge, something to aim at.

We have a few senior opens we are going to this season, Preston and Clitheroe that i can remember at the moment, both are under £30 and both very good tracks.

[greenlex]

Good to see Min Woo Lee has got rid of the Jambo and got a good Irish lad on the bag. I’m rooting for him at sawgrass after Bob of course.
As an aside I hit my first balls of the year in practice today. Not too many but relatively decent which is a worry.

[greenlex]

The world has really been turned upsides down and lost the plot. Scottie Scheffler is chucking clubs around and shouting the odds at himself.

How many times does McGinley want to say Giddy in a broadcast?

[blackpoolhibs]

Rory really does make things difficult for himself at the most crucial of times, 3 strokes to play with, with only 5 holes to play, and he's having to go into a playoff today in the players. Hope he wins,but it would not surprise me if he buggered it up again, so much talent, but does not seem to be able to get the job done enough for the positions he gets himself into.

[hibeg]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Rory really does make things difficult for himself at the most crucial of times, 3 strokes to play with, with only 5 holes to play, and he's having to go into a playoff today in the players. Hope he wins,but it would not surprise me if he buggered it up again, so much talent, but does not seem to be able to get the job done enough for the positions he gets himself into.

Agree. Short putts missed over the last year has cost him big time. Hope he gets over the line today
As an aside another top ten for Bob Macintyre which is good going

[BroxburnHibee]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Rory really does make things difficult for himself at the most crucial of times, 3 strokes to play with, with only 5 holes to play, and he's having to go into a playoff today in the players. Hope he wins,but it would not surprise me if he buggered it up again, so much talent, but does not seem to be able to get the job done enough for the positions he gets himself into.

His lack of a proper caddie yet again cost him on 16. He doesn't need to hit driver their He could easily get there with 3 wood off the tee. Driver brought all the trouble into play.

He could do with getting Foster on his bag but he won't

[greenlex]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Agree. Short putts missed over the last year has cost him big time. Hope he gets over the line today
As an aside another top ten for Bob Macintyre which is good going

Bobs picked up just shy of 1.2 million dollars in the last two weeks. Decent work if you can get it.

[blackpoolhibs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

His lack of a proper caddie yet again cost him on 16. He doesn't need to hit driver their He could easily get there with 3 wood off the tee. Driver brought all the trouble into play.

He could do with getting Foster on his bag but he won't

The daft thing about that is he's wonderful with a 3 wood, why wont he get a proper caddie, it cant be money, it must be ego?

[hibeg]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Bobs picked up just shy of 1.2 million dollars in the last two weeks. Decent work if you can get it.

Just shy of 10m in 61 official events, hasn’t missed many cuts since early last season when acclimating
I see he is going next week to the DP Tour in the Far East , he does some travelling !

[Golden Bear]

3 hole play off now underway. Mcilroy will be favourite but I'd like to see JJ win the title. He seems a quiet unassuming guy and if he does win then it will totally change the path of his career.

[greenlex]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

3 hole play off now underway. Mcilroy will be favourite but I'd like to see JJ win the title. He seems a quiet unassuming guy and if he does win then it will totally change the path of his career.

Clumsy putt on 16 there whilst in the box seat from Rory there.

[greenlex]

Peekin at Rory’s bag there did Spaun no favours. I was actually shouting at the telly at Rory he had too much club but a wee three quarter swing was just the job. That’s gotta be job done.
Mind you imagine walking out today knowing you’ve bagged 2.75 million even if you chop it round the three holes.

[blackpoolhibs]

Played the first 2 holes perfectly, and Spaun has been poor, Rory's to lose now.

Although after that put, what do i know?

[greenlex]

Driver at the last and just smash it up there. Doesn’t matter if it’s in the trees.

[greenlex]

He won’t have an easier play off.

[Golden Bear]

The dreaded 17th hole more or less finished JJ's challenge.

He maintains he hit a solid shot but was caught out by the wind and really that was that.

[greenlex]

First game in a while and possibly the worst golf in about 40years.

[Hibs90]

Alright chaps.

I have won a three ball with a member at North Berwick West Links in a charity auction, with the date to be arranged, hopefully in the summer. It's worked out at £200 per person, which is still around £90 cheaper than rack rate I believe. I don't have anyone for the other two spots at the minute so if anyone is interested please send me a PM.

If not allowed I'll delete this post but thought I'd offer it out.

[Donegal Hibby]

Brilliant 😃👏…

https://youtu.be/5VDHVCa7zA0?si=KbTxa5QkVyAvwJCP

[Hibrandenburg]

Holidaying up north this year. Contacted the local golf course who sorted out my 16 year old with an overseas membership for £30. Means he can play as much as he wants for nothing. Not bad for a club that charges £115 a round in high season. Really grateful to the club secretary for sorting this out. They'll make a few quid off me but at least I can relax about the boy's golf addiction bankrupting me.

[Golden Bear]

I'm still struggling to come to terms with the fabled "World Handicapping System."

I'm an auld relic playing from a six handicap and the chances of me winning a prize in a competition are almost zero.
I'm no longer good enough to pick up a scratch prize and with the number of members playing with HUGE handicaps then the handicap prizes are also well out of reach for me.

Under the previous system I always enjoyed the personal challenge of trying to save "point 1" in order to prevent my handicap from increasing but that incentive is no longer there.

In addition, we'll all know that some folk are submitting a load of scores for handicap purposes only in order to inflate their handicaps, wait until there is a prestigious competition, then come in with ridiculously low scores.

So really, I'm wasting my cash on competition entry fees and social bounce games are now more my cup of tea

Grrrr!

😠

[BroxburnHibee]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I'm still struggling to come to terms with the fabled "World Handicapping System."

I'm an auld relic playing from a six handicap and the chances of me winning a prize in a competition are almost zero.
I'm no longer good enough to pick up a scratch prize and with the number of members playing with HUGE handicaps then the handicap prizes are also well out of reach for me.

Under the previous system I always enjoyed the personal challenge of trying to save "point 1" in order to prevent my handicap from increasing but that incentive is no longer there.

In addition, we'll all know that some folk are submitting a load of scores for handicap purposes only in order to inflate their handicaps, wait until there is a prestigious competition, then come in with ridiculously low scores.

So really, I'm wasting my cash on competition entry fees and social bounce games are now more my cup of tea

Grrrr!

😠

Yep it's so easily open to abuse. Not sure what the solution is but I'd abolish general play scores to start with.

[BSEJVT]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Yep it's so easily open to abuse. Not sure what the solution is but I'd abolish general play scores to start with.

It's an interesting one, I agree entirely that general play scores should not be permitted.

We are now at the stage where those that submit a score every time they play criticise those that don't for not having representative handicaps

I come from an era where you had to put on your big boy pants every month and shoot a score on that given day

How folks handicaps aren't coming down in general is a mystery to me as without that pressure that this is your chance for the month, it must be easier.

There's no doubt that folk don't have the same view they once did, I have always striven to get my handicap as low as I can as more than anything I think that's a measure of the best golfer you can be, but a lot of folk I know want their handicaps as high as they can to have a chance at winning something.

I think they are deluding themselves if they think that that's winning, unless of course they have tried like a bear on each and every shot they have played in every single round that has contributed to their present handicap.

Don't get me started on the changes to course and playing handicaps

All of a sudden I am giving guys at Dunbar 4 more shots than I used to even though our handicaps have remained broadly static

It's a waste of time as Golden Bear says entering much.

One other thing I have found is that in yesteryear those of say 24 were truly terrible golfers who could do very little

That's not the case anymore

A guy at Archerfield won a recent medal by 4 having taken 44 putts of a high handicap!

[greenlex]

9 times out of ten I will play a counting round. I do it unless the weather is pretty bad. (Usually don’t even play to be honest)
I’m of the it gives a more representative of your ability at any given time school if you do it most of the time. I qualify that by saying I play most Friday evenings during the summer with three work colleagues with a regular rotation over our 4 different courses. Harburn, Ratho Park, Baberton and Royal Mussleburgh. I also am fortunate enough to have a decent network of friends over some very good courses over the central belt both parkland and links. Add in Golf in Scotland events and I’m fortunate enough to play fairly regularly with a golfing society over high end venues. All these games are more than just bounce games and can more often than not get very very competitive. I caveat that by saying I didn’t play nearly as much as usual last season.
I am very much of the get as low as I can mindset rather than the other way and don’t understand the high to win mindset. Cheating plain and simple.
There must be a mechanism to flag the bandits abusing the system but probably no appetite to address it.
I have been as low as 5 after a purple patch over a good few weeks but I’m getting on a bit now and after a poor couple of years or so am up at 9 (I think). Couldn’t compete at 5 and 7,8,9 has been the default for the last 30 years or so.
This season so far the least said the better. Anyhoo I’m away to peg it up this afternoon. Enjoy your golf as best you can is the answer.

[blackpoolhibs]

I play monday wednesday and friday with a good bunch of lads, we have our own little society.

We have a scoring system between us that says if you score over 36 points, your handicap comes down point 2 if you are under 10 handicap, point 3 11-20 and point 4 21 and above.

You get point 1 back if you score 33 or under.

My official handicap with the WHS is 10.6 and i put a score in every time i play, yet my handicap with my friends is 6.9.

There are certainly players who manipulate the handicap system, when i was at another golf course society, the amount of times i heard players say i need to score worse than an 85 to go up as an 84 was my 20th score on the list was shocking.

I dont know the answer, but like others, my games now are 99% against friends in our society who are being deducted much more fairly in my opinion with our system.

[Greenbeard]

Agree the WHS system is too open to abuse, indirectly acknowledged by the R&A given their pronouncement earlier this week. Read a post not so long ago from someone saying they were no longer going to play open scrambles because net 48 was the winning score in his last comp.
The other issue that bugs me is that course ratings appear to have been determined by one single visit by two folk and I understand that courses are reviewed c. once every 10 years. Surely there is now enough data collected to assess how accurate a course's rating is. Do players from that club generally score well or poorly when playing elsewhere? And vv, do visitors to the course score well or poorly?

[Golden Bear]

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news...s4cFAr5Q5fJH3w

Talk of the devil!

[patch1875]

Anyone play with a mini driver?

Been looking at the TM Brnr for a while and they seem to be in fashion as a few pros seem to carry them now and other manufacturers are bringing one out.

Driver has always been my weak point these are shorter and feel like a 3 wood with more distance and hopefully control, the shorter the club the better I hit!

[I'm_cabbaged]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Agree the WHS system is too open to abuse, indirectly acknowledged by the R&A given their pronouncement earlier this week. Read a post not so long ago from someone saying they were no longer going to play open scrambles because net 48 was the winning score in his last comp.
The other issue that bugs me is that course ratings appear to have been determined by one single visit by two folk and I understand that courses are reviewed c. once every 10 years. Surely there is now enough data collected to assess how accurate a course's rating is. Do players from that club generally score well or poorly when playing elsewhere? And vv, do visitors to the course score well or poorly?

Won the scramble at my club yesterday with a 52, definitely no cheating on our handicaps going on, just luck that we never had bad shots all at the same time.