HawkeyeMS
Ryder Cup Winner
I'm back home from Florida and thought I'd give an update on my Bermuda grass experience. The front nine of the 1st round was a bit of a mess but nothing to do with the grass. I was playing the Reserve course at Orange Lake which weaves it's way nicely between the Villas on the resort and has a multitude of lakes. The 1st hole is only about 290yds so I decided to take 5i off the tee. Whether it was the fact I hadn't warmed up, that I was playing with strangers or the dirty great alligator staring at me out of the lake I was about to hit over I don't know but I hit a horrible hook straight into the adjoining driving range. By the time I knew where I was 6 holes later I'd made alligator food out of 6 balls. The last 3 holes of the front 9 are largely water-less so I managed to to work myself into a bit of a rythm and started to hit it really well. The greens were indeed tricky, there was a definate shine to downgrain putts and these were without question much quicker, the course attendant tells me that in the afternoons they can reach 12 on the stimp and I can quite believe him. Into the grain is like putting on a different course. I can't say for certain how much difference it made to my putting. I 3 putted more often than usual but being a resort course, some of the greens were huge so I left myself with some monsters which I would probably 3 stab at home so I don't count them. I did miss a few more 3 to 6 footers than I would expect where the ball didn't break as much as I expected which could have been down to the grain.
The second round was on the Orange Lake signature course, an Arnold Palmer Creation called "The Legends", with plenty of water but not so many Villas. The buggies here had GPS and scoring built in but I have questions over it's accuracy so I used my trusty bushnell when playing to the green. I had a good warm up this time and hit the ball beautifully for most of the round but couldn't buy a putt for love nor money, reading in too much break most of the time and just shaving the hole on several occasions, I had two horseshoe back out at me which was frustrating but I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and didn't lose a single ball which was nice. Again the greens were quick downgrain and slow up and with plenty of slopes, it appeared to me that some putts were downgrain part of the way and up the other which made pace really tricky. I had 37 putts which is 5 or 6 more than I'm used to and ended up shooting 15 over which I wasn't too disappointed with as it could have been much better.
I had the option for the 3rd round of which course to play and while I think The Legends was the better course, I had unfinished business on The Reserve and wanted to test my skills around the tighter fairways through the villas and lakes so I went back there but this time with a warm up - and this time I came out on top. I think I'd learnt a bit from the 1st 2 rounds and started to make a few putts on top of hitting the ball really well and ended up shooting 79 (+8). I still 3 stabbed 3 times for bogey but I was starting to get a bit of feel.
So what do I make of the Bermuda? I actually enjoyed it in the end. Those who replied to my original post saying just play your own game would very soon find out that that doesn't work. The grain makes a massive difference and it takes time to adjust to. Chipping downhill, down grain towards water is squeaky bum time. Chipping into the grain is like chipping into the 1st cut of rough.
Once you get use to it though it's not all bad and at least you get some visible signs of what you've got to deal with.
The second round was on the Orange Lake signature course, an Arnold Palmer Creation called "The Legends", with plenty of water but not so many Villas. The buggies here had GPS and scoring built in but I have questions over it's accuracy so I used my trusty bushnell when playing to the green. I had a good warm up this time and hit the ball beautifully for most of the round but couldn't buy a putt for love nor money, reading in too much break most of the time and just shaving the hole on several occasions, I had two horseshoe back out at me which was frustrating but I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and didn't lose a single ball which was nice. Again the greens were quick downgrain and slow up and with plenty of slopes, it appeared to me that some putts were downgrain part of the way and up the other which made pace really tricky. I had 37 putts which is 5 or 6 more than I'm used to and ended up shooting 15 over which I wasn't too disappointed with as it could have been much better.
I had the option for the 3rd round of which course to play and while I think The Legends was the better course, I had unfinished business on The Reserve and wanted to test my skills around the tighter fairways through the villas and lakes so I went back there but this time with a warm up - and this time I came out on top. I think I'd learnt a bit from the 1st 2 rounds and started to make a few putts on top of hitting the ball really well and ended up shooting 79 (+8). I still 3 stabbed 3 times for bogey but I was starting to get a bit of feel.
So what do I make of the Bermuda? I actually enjoyed it in the end. Those who replied to my original post saying just play your own game would very soon find out that that doesn't work. The grain makes a massive difference and it takes time to adjust to. Chipping downhill, down grain towards water is squeaky bum time. Chipping into the grain is like chipping into the 1st cut of rough.
Once you get use to it though it's not all bad and at least you get some visible signs of what you've got to deal with.
