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Who gets scared about course yardage?

I have a mate who refuses to play off the whites when're yardage is over 6600 with me. He isn't short off the tee either. He just knows that I hit it longer than him and he gets a mental block that the course will suit me more and always opts for the Yellows. Bugs the heck out of me because he is better than me and doesn't back himself. I will play any course of any length. Played Elements in South Africa with a bunch of pro's who were having a local knock. The course plays 7750 yards off the back tees and we were playing off the back of the mown area on the back tee! It was long but actually pretty enjoyable. Helped that we were at 3000 feet above sea level and the ball travels a lot longer.
 
How the yardage is distributed on the holes is more of a "frightener" really.

I'm playing a course set up off the tips on Sunday @ 2yds shy of 7k. Only one of the par 4s is over 420yds - it is 500 (can't see any point in that either, but that's a different story). Only three par 3s but none over 180yds. The three par 5s are all around 550yds.

Nothing too scary about that :)
 
Captainron said:
I have a mate who refuses to play off the whites when're yardage is over 6600 with me. He isn't short off the tee either. He just knows that I hit it longer than him and he gets a mental block that the course will suit me more and always opts for the Yellows. Bugs the heck out of me because he is better than me and doesn't back himself. I will play any course of any length. Played Elements in South Africa with a bunch of pro's who were having a local knock. The course plays 7750 yards off the back tees and we were playing off the back of the mown area on the back tee! It was long but actually pretty enjoyable. Helped that we were at 3000 feet above sea level and the ball travels a lot longer.
Click to expand...

How much extra yardage would you say you was getting due to the altitude?
 
garyinderry said:
long courses tend to be wide. I don't mind this. more room to go wild off the tee. 450 yard par 4's is the thing I don't like.
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Hardest hole on our course is a slightly uphill 445 yard par 4 (off the yellows) which I see as a real challenge rather than dreading it. Managed to par it for the first time last week but still only managed to half the hole as my playing partner had a shot on me on that hole :D
 
Concra Wood in the Republic have a monthly Black tee Open event. from the back sticks it is 7400.
I really, really want to go down to play it as I have heard only good things, even better is its only something like 30-35 euros a round!!!
 
It's not just about yardage, it's about the distribution of yardage and the setup of the course. Bunker positioning can play a large part in difficulty, as can they severity of the rough, difficulty of greens etc.
 
doesnt bother me. my home course is sub 6000 yards, i can still knock it round in cricket scores! it all depends on the set up of the course, long straight wide open, 7000+ is fairly easy, sub 6000 tight, tree lines, bunkers, tough pins... more of a challenge!
 
HawkeyeMS said:
It's not just about yardage, it's about the distribution of yardage and the setup of the course. Bunker positioning can play a large part in difficulty, as can they severity of the rough, difficulty of greens etc.
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Totally agree... So no point getting all up tight or impressed by the yardage. I think Merion made its point very well and courses that brag about yardage are not that hard. I look at stuff like this and think well 3 easy 7 irons are in excess of 450 yards on a still day...
 
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harpo_72 said:
Totally agree... So no point getting all up tight or impressed by the yardage. I think Merion made its point very well and courses that brag about yardage are not that hard. I look at stuff like this and think well 3 easy 7 irons are in excess of 450 yards on a still day...
Click to expand...


that's the thing though. still days are fine. I went home at easter and played my old home course. it was about 2 degrees, soft and blowing a gale. it was a long long day. 6637 yards. the course can play easy in the height of the summer. that day it really showed its teeth!



brendy - get down to concra wood. best course ive played. sod links courses, ill have concra wood any day. ;)
 
harpo_72 said:
Totally agree... So no point getting all up tight or impressed by the yardage. I think Merion made its point very well and courses that brag about yardage are not that hard. I look at stuff like this and think well 3 easy 7 irons are in excess of 450 yards on a still day...
Click to expand...


Exactly right. The West Sussex at Pulborough is a short course but the yardage distribution makes it a very difficult test of golf.
 
Captainron said:
I have a mate who refuses to play off the whites when're yardage is over 6600 with me. He isn't short off the tee either. He just knows that I hit it longer than him and he gets a mental block that the course will suit me more and always opts for the Yellows. Bugs the heck out of me because he is better than me and doesn't back himself. I will play any course of any length. Played Elements in South Africa with a bunch of pro's who were having a local knock. The course plays 7750 yards off the back tees and we were playing off the back of the mown area on the back tee! It was long but actually pretty enjoyable. Helped that we were at 3000 feet above sea level and the ball travels a lot longer.
Click to expand...

10% more as a minimum
 
garyinderry said:
that's the thing though. still days are fine. I went home at easter and played my old home course. it was about 2 degrees, soft and blowing a gale. it was a long long day. 6637 yards. the course can play easy in the height of the summer. that day it really showed its teeth!



brendy - get down to concra wood. best course ive played. sod links courses, ill have concra wood any day. ;)
Click to expand...
I have neglected to tell you I have a ping eye2 1 iron, which was the links killer... I don't think my short irons were ever much used, everything was done below 6ft in the winter. But saying that playing a parkland with the wind isn't that hard coming from a links background, the tree line helps you. Also knowing that keeping the spin down is key, I used to really back off and my ball would just go past my playing partners who were ballooning everything. The problem with the wind is ego, people don't want to play 3/4 7 irons instead of full 9s etc..
 
harpo_72 said:
I have neglected to tell you I have a ping eye2 1 iron, which was the links killer... I don't think my short irons were ever much used, everything was done below 6ft in the winter. But saying that playing a parkland with the wind isn't that hard coming from a links background, the tree line helps you. Also knowing that keeping the spin down is key, I used to really back off and my ball would just go past my playing partners who were ballooning everything. The problem with the wind is ego, people don't want to play 3/4 7 irons instead of full 9s etc..
Click to expand...


my home course is on the west coast of Ireland. the wind never ends. :mmm:
 
Robobum said:
How the yardage is distributed on the holes is more of a "frightener" really.

I'm playing a course set up off the tips on Sunday @ 2yds shy of 7k. Only one of the par 4s is over 420yds - it is 500 (can't see any point in that either, but that's a different story). Only three par 3s but none over 180yds. The three par 5s are all around 550yds.

Nothing too scary about that :)
Click to expand...

Sounds good.

Personally I wouldn't mind if there was a par 3 in there at 205yds a par 5 in there at 600yds and a par 4 at 470yds so there's another 125yds you could add without making the course unplayable.
 
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