shorter course doesnt mean its any easier ...

[garyinderry]

When I moved from my home course of Foyle in Derry and joined Lee Park in Liverpool I was licking my lips at the prospect of playing this shorter course. Johnny Big Baws here thought it would be driver wedge all the way round. Wee buns.

After a few comps I realised that the small course still had ways of rolling up into a ball and baring its spikes. The main defence of this course is the pin placements on comp days. The greens are all pretty much upturned saucers. So easy to get yourself short sided here. Quite a number will on be a few yards from these slopes.

There are a number of fiendishly difficult holes on lee park. Ive kept an eye on the stats for the 7th as its only 341 yards off the back sticks yet no one ever birdies it. Take the par and run. The green slopes viciously from right to left with a big run off area. So hard to hold this green when the course dries out. I was so close to putting it to a few feet on Sunday only for my pitch to spin and take itself off down the slope. Heartbreak.


Anyhow, I have been looking at the stats for my old and new club and on the weekend just passed lee park had 4 holes that no one birdied. My old course only had 1. The 600yards shorter had more teeth.

I just thought it would be interesting to find out from those who have howdidido, how many holes at your club were not birdied in the last comp.

 

[Rooter]

Looking at the last medal, there were 2 holes not birdied. Not the 2 i would expect though!

 

[pokerjoke]

My home course is a par 65 and only 4500 yards.
It has 8 par3 and only 2 par 5s.
Its defence is tight fairways and lots of trees.
Fairways are 30-40 yards wide I would guess and the trees go down either side.
Basically if you don't find the fairway your next shot is either over,under or around
a tree.
The easy thing about the course is if you have found the fairway you usually have a wedge
or less into fairly small greens,these however are slow and generally hold a ball.
I would say my handicap does travel ok but I do struggle slightly with faster greens
and holding faster greens.

 

[gazr99]

Not sure how the birdied holes but agree with the shorter course premise.

I tend to play 3 courses near where I live one is a par 70 and much shorter with severable drivable par 4's which no ones dares go for. I find this course by far the toughest due to how tight it is, thicker rough and more trees to get in your way of your offline, which I often am

 

[Val]

I don't think a lack of birdies means the course is any harder, check how many holes play on average more than a shot harder to par.

Our course on Saturday only had 1 hole with no birdies (it had only 10 pars from 192 players) but 10 holes played on average over a shot more to par.

 

[simplyme]

3 holes not birdies this weekend, SI1, 2 and 10

Surprised by the Si 10 but it was playing directly into gale force winds

 

[garyinderry]

Lee park had 14 holes playing over a shot a hole. Foyle had 8.



Stats can be used to prove anything ill admit. I just find it interesting.

 

[Snelly]

Check out the West Sussex GC. Short in terms of yardage but a long way from being an easy test.

http://www.westsussexgolf.co.uk

 

[garyinderry]

Not birdied ...

215 yard par 3 Si 3 - hard hole at the best of times.
140 yard par 3. Si 18. - pin tucked back left. easy enough hole. I three putted for a bogey
554 yard par 5. Si 11. Surprised by this one. Plays slot longer than the normal yellow tees. I pulled 3wood, had to chop out. 3 wood and 9i to green an sunk putt for par.
434 yard par 4. Si2 - no surprise here. Very few birdie this one. Driver 5wood slightly out the back, chip putt par for me and pleased to get it. One of only 8 pars made here all day.


Two surprises and two usual suspects in the no birdie stakes.

 

[GreiginFife]

Gullane No.3 is a much shorter course than 1 or 2, but its much tighter and is just as tricky.

 

[garyinderry]

Check out the West Sussex GC. Short in terms of yardage but a long way from being an easy test.

http://www.westsussexgolf.co.uk

Looks nice. obviously conditions and pin placements can help to protect courses like this. On a calm day most courses leave themselves open to scoring.

I was talking to our starter at the weekend about the pin placements. He joked that the new green keeper is the course record holder and he won't want to give that up any time soon. 6 under around those kind of pins is unreal golf.

 

[jamielaing]

I am looking to move from my par 69 course to something longer. Not so it is easier, so I can develop my game further and to give me more opportunities against the field.

Not to go on about distance however my course has 1 par 5 and 4 par 3s. The rest are 300-350 par 4s with a couple of longer ones thrown in.

As I can generally reach most amateur course par 5s in 2 I want more of them. I want longer par 4s so my length is rewarded against short hitters. I have 2 par 3s which are 230 yards. Short hitters pull out their drivers and give it a go and I am mucking around trying to force a long iron or under hit a hybrid.

So in answer to the question, I don't think of courses as easier or harder as such. Just more suited to my game. For me playing a short course isn't necessarily harder just doesn't give me the opportunities I wish I had against the field.

 

[Thexindi]

I play on a fairly short course and its very difficult for its length, its tight a tree lined, many ditches going across the fairways, small difficult greens.
If you can bomb a drive 250 straight every time its still gonna be tricky around the greens, Most of us not that accurate with the driver so its a course you really gotta plan and manage.
Shorter does not mean easier

 

[Tongo]

There's something rather pleasing about a short course that provides a good test. The concept sits well.

 

[TheJezster]

I like this thread! I just checked the results from the monthly medal this month. Our course is short, very short infact (about 5,500 yards) but its by no means easy at all, it is very easy to go offline as its tree lined and muck your score up. So i just checked and it seems that 14 of the holes were not birdied in this months medal. That SEEMS like more than usual so probably not indicative but still, i was quite shocked to see that...

 

[Tongo]

There's a course in the West Midlands (Swindon GC) that measures just over 6000 yards from the whites but it is brutal! Played it three times and never managed any better than 99.