Golf Random Irritations

I actually played with a +1 handicapper round my place once. It was quite funny how different he played it. All those holes where I hit 3 wood, he was hitting driver to try and drive the green, and most of the holes where I hit driver he was hitting 4 iron. Different game! 😂

It is a different game and it's even more different from scratch to tour pro, I imagine.

If it's driveable, I'm having a go, and usually at least twice from the tee.
 
It is a different game and it's even more different from scratch to tour pro, I imagine.

If it's driveable, I'm having a go, and usually at least twice from the tee.
Very different definitions of 'driveable' though - to me that only means 250 tops - with a bit of roll.
 
I actually played with a +1 handicapper round my place once. It was quite funny how different he played it. All those holes where I hit 3 wood, he was hitting driver to try and drive the green, and most of the holes where I hit driver he was hitting 4 iron. Different game! 😂

Played with a mate at West Surrey who knocked it about on the Asian Tour and a few times on the European Tour. He shot -7, and I think he said he had shot that the day before as well. That beats the course record by a shot!

He hit driver on every single par 4 and 5 - despite it being tighter lines, cutting dog legs, narrower landing zones etc to do so, whereas I was hitting hybrids to the corners of the dog legs or short of the bunkers. The result was, I had 150 into some of the par 4s and he was in a greenside bunker or flicking a wedge from 40 yards.
 
How do the 5 short par fours at Grimsdyke compare to 12-14 at Haste Hill?
I actually did drive the 14th at HH twice so it must be incredibly short. 😄 Although that was most likely off yellows. Never quite made the 13th, but plenty did. I definitely think those two were shorter than any par 4 at GD, or certainly played shorter.

I think HH is in trouble at the moment - council are desperate for someone to take it over, and if nobody does it potentially will close.
 
I think HH is in trouble at the moment - council are desperate for someone to take it over, and if nobody does it potentially will close.
I seem to recall a rumour a few years back that Northwood GC was looking into taking over HH. Did nothing come of that?
 
I seem to recall a rumour a few years back that Northwood GC was looking into taking over HH. Did nothing come of that?
Guess not - last I heard (via a HH WhatsApp I'm still in) that there are three bidders in the mix though and the council reckons one of them will go through with it. I hope we don't lose it, I'd like to go back and play it again some day but it's just been run into the ground by the council at the moment.
 
Played a course recently where they took a hole out of play, the 10th, said to give yourself 2 points for the hole and move to the 11th tee, cards still went in for handicap purposes.

Found out that the hole was out of action for at least two months and this was there normal procedure.

Not a small club, plus they have West Aussie Golf Officials.

What are your thoughts on this ?
 
Played a course recently where they took a hole out of play, the 10th, said to give yourself 2 points for the hole and move to the 11th tee, cards still went in for handicap purposes.

Found out that the hole was out of action for at least two months and this was there normal procedure.

Not a small club, plus they have West Aussie Golf Officials.

What are your thoughts on this ?
You should be putting NS down for the hole you didn’t play and then you get a score with an * and the hole is given as an expected score
 
Played a course recently where they took a hole out of play, the 10th, said to give yourself 2 points for the hole and move to the 11th tee, cards still went in for handicap purposes.

Found out that the hole was out of action for at least two months and this was there normal procedure.

Not a small club, plus they have West Aussie Golf Officials.

What are your thoughts on this ?
My club did the same while one of our holes was being rebuilt. Although less a case of 'giving yourself' two points, but that was essentially how it worked when you put your card in. On the handicap record the unplayed hole showed as net par I believe, so 2 points effectively.
 
I seem to recall a rumour a few years back that Northwood GC was looking into taking over HH. Did nothing come of that?

I would be stunned if Northwood members would be interested in doing that. Loads of investment required, it's only attractive to Northwood if they get the land (freehold or long cheap lease), to expand their own course and develop their facilities.
 
I think HH is in trouble at the moment - council are desperate for someone to take it over, and if nobody does it potentially will close.

It would be a real shame if HH closed. I'm nostaligic because it was the first 18 hole course I played. But there is a good reason for that, it is an excellent little course and the perfect place to graduate from 9 holers / pitch & putt to full size 18 hole golf.

I'm seeing a drop off in accessible courses in the area. Northwick Park has a great little 9 holer and range and that is currently closed. The pitch and putt and range at Edgware/Stanmore closed. Ruislip and Uxbridge/Harefield are closed. Horsendon Hill converted to foot golf and then closed ages ago.

Maybe the evolving demographic in the area just isn't interested in golf, but it's a shame because there's no easy route to try the game and "get into golf", turning up at a private golf course always feels intimidating to beginners.
 
It would be a real shame if HH closed. I'm nostaligic because it was the first 18 hole course I played. But there is a good reason for that, it is an excellent little course and the perfect place to graduate from 9 holers / pitch & putt to full size 18 hole golf.

I'm seeing a drop off in accessible courses in the area. Northwick Park has a great little 9 holer and range and that is currently closed. The pitch and putt and range at Edgware/Stanmore closed. Ruislip and Uxbridge/Harefield are closed. Horsendon Hill converted to foot golf and then closed ages ago.

Maybe the evolving demographic in the area just isn't interested in golf, but it's a shame because there's no easy route to try the game and "get into golf", turning up at a private golf course always feels intimidating to beginners.
Yeah, something odd going on at Northwick Park - apparently they're ripped out all of their driving range gear, rumours that they never got planning permission to upgrade it or something. The Haste Hill club members have been playing competitions at Rickmansworth and Stockley I believe. You're absolutely right, hardly any entry-level golf courses left now.
 
Yeah, something odd going on at Northwick Park - apparently they're ripped out all of their driving range gear, rumours that they never got planning permission to upgrade it or something. The Haste Hill club members have been playing competitions at Rickmansworth and Stockley I believe. You're absolutely right, hardly any entry-level golf courses left now.

More likely the bailiffs have taken away anything they think has value.
 
More likely the bailiffs have taken away anything they think has value.
I did also see a rumour that they'd ripped out and hidden anything that bailiffs might have been interested in... It's a shame though, that was a decent set-up there when they first put it in.
 
I did also see a rumour that they'd ripped out and hidden anything that bailiffs might have been interested in... It's a shame though, that was a decent set-up there when they first put it in.
It was a brilliant facility when it first opened in 2005. I grew up around the corner, wish it had been there when I was young.

The short game area was the best I’ve ever seen, 3 well maintained greens with ample run off areas and bunkers, including an exact replica of the road hole bunker. There was enough room to practice any shot under 80 yards. The greens on the course were maintained to championship standard. It was very high quality, not really a surprise they couldn’t sustain that.
 
It was a brilliant facility when it first opened in 2005. I grew up around the corner, wish it had been there when I was young.

The short game area was the best I’ve ever seen, 3 well maintained greens with ample run off areas and bunkers, including an exact replica of the road hole bunker. There was enough room to practice any shot under 80 yards. The greens on the course were maintained to championship standard. It was very high quality, not really a surprise they couldn’t sustain that.
I don't recall much of that, since I went there they had the nine hole course with replicas of the famous major holes, but they were never in a great condition. Playable though for a quick knock. It used to have a normal driving range and a fantastic American Golf outlet that was full of second-hand gear that I use to fill my bag with back in 2017-18. The shop closed but BigShots took over a few years back and made it all TopTracer/Trackman - in the week you could get an hour of unlimited balls for a tenner which was decent. The last few times I went the mats were all torn and half the ball dispensers didn't work though.

That massive baseball cage thing has always been there but I literally never saw it in use once. 😂
 
I don't recall much of that, since I went there they had the nine hole course with replicas of the famous major holes, but they were never in a great condition. Playable though for a quick knock. It used to have a normal driving range and a fantastic American Golf outlet that was full of second-hand gear that I use to fill my bag with back in 2017-18. The shop closed but BigShots took over a few years back and made it all TopTracer/Trackman - in the week you could get an hour of unlimited balls for a tenner which was decent. The last few times I went the mats were all torn and half the ball dispensers didn't work though.

That massive baseball cage thing has always been there but I literally never saw it in use once. 😂
Imagine the replica holes in immaculate condition… as good as the real thing. They used to hand out free pitchmark repairers, tees and pencils with your scorecard just like a premium course.

They shortened the first hole and removed a practice putting green to accommodate the batting cage. To begin with, that hole was the same length as the original at Riviera. Complete waste of time, that was the beginning of the end.

The way the range was set up, people having a bit of fun would use the top tier next to the bar and restaurant, whilst golfers looking for serious practice would go downstairs. There was a professional club fitter based downstairs who worked with tour pros, and you could easily walk out to the short game area. There was a good gym downstairs too, I was a member for a while, with a physio and a personal trainer who specialised in golf fitness. It was amazing. I guess the 2008 financial crisis destroyed the vision.
 
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