Grasslands

John's looking to get us on Grasslands for the Jamaican, on August 21st. But he needs to pre-pay for the rounds.

They usually make us go out after 11am, which is still on the table. But this time they said we can tee off at 8:48am.

 

Does anyone have an issue getting out to Lakeland for that tee time? We also need all you "question mark" people to decide if you're attending the Jamaican right now... so John doesn't end up with a bunch of unused rounds.

Go update your RSVPs!

FBGC Championship - Summer 2022 - LIV Edition

UPDATE: Long drive on 11 (previously said 13).

 

We're playing Lake Jovita (South) at 9am on Sunday... SHOTGUN START. Cost should be $70ish.

The shotgun was suggested by their Head Pro, and not something we've ever been offered or allowed to do in the past. They seem to like getting everyone off the course at the same time.

We'll have two groups start on 1, two on 18, one on 17, and one on 16. Going out in order of current standings.

It was brought to my attention that people think they should be allowed to pick what hole they start on. It is impossible for me to give a more emphatic "NO" to this request. We are not allowing groups to vote, especially when pairings will undoubtedly be shuffled as people bail. "We" also aren't interested in tracking any more things, such as your opinions. You'll be assigned a starting hole based on your current standings, and you will like it.

Below is a current scorecard. Everyone is on WHITE unless you tell me otherwise. Seniors (and Danny) can move up to White/Green if they ask.

Range balls are included. Greens were allegedly punched a week ago so they should be OK. Don't be late for your 9am start.

 

Dan is going to bring cash to pay all the winners (~$360 estimated purse), and will be reimbursed by the Club.

We have a couple of open spots if anyone wants to join. Let me know.

See you Sunday!

Match Play - Summer 2022 Recap

Troy came up to me before the round yesterday, and said he could be in for a big day. He loved his group, was happy to be going out first, and just had an overall excitement about playing River Strand.

 

He was right to be excited. It was by far the best facility we've played in awhile — which is saying a lot because the courses this season have been pretty solid. But River Strand was next level for this time of year. The course, the food, the service, the prices... I'll do my best to get us on again next summer.

 

Anyway, Troy just waxed the field and even had enough strokes to wisely throw away at the end. I heard a LOT of praise about how Buchert is striking the ball... and he still had the biggest loss (7&5).

 

Ho and Dave fired course record 77s (gross) to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

 

Everyone else seemed to struggle at various times, which was a surprise. The course was extremely fair... with the short "easy" holes tricked-up enough to make you think. I loved the green contours. The speed was slower than they looked, but they definitely had some movement to them.

 

Here's some random shit on my mind:

• The shorter Tributary — by about 200 yards — was only 0.42 strokes "easier" (gross) than Sanctuary.
• Ho made 4 birdies, which he thinks is the first time ever in his life.
• Dan made a 10 on the 17th hole after bragging that he has never had a +5 in Club history.
• Dave finished with 11 straight pars. Probably a Club record.
• Melberg has had 2 sandies in each of his last three rounds.
• Crum needs a hug.
  

[this is where a photo of the Big Check would go, but Geoff broke/lost/forgot it]

 

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Next we we are at Lake Jovita (South) for a 9am shotgun start. It's the first SS in our Club's history, and was recommended by their pro.

More on this later, but update your RSVP now. The number of people bailing within 72 hours is being noticed... and will eventually lead to another rule change.

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As of this writing, the following people who qualified for the Rapture have not sent me their $100 deposit. I need that this week, or we're going to offer spots to the alternates.

Reid

Casey

Billy

Danny

Melberg

No, you can't use any current Club Credit balances to pay it. The main reason is those ledgers are covered in duct tape and I don't want potentially ruin any of our accounting by shifting funds from one place to another. The Rapture is not tied to our league seasons.

All that being said, I've been speaking with our best Financial Advisor, and subsequently completed a full audit of the Club Credit system. I'm happy to report everything is accounted for, down to the penny. However he raised some valid questions, so expect policy changes in the off-season.

See you Sunday.

Match Play - Summer 2022 Preview

We're finally headed to River Strand, first tee time going off at 11:30am.

Parings for the rest of the year are based on standings: points, events played, wins, 2nd place finishes, looks. We use the bottom (ie: irrelevant) guys to fill holes and play "ghosts."

 

Expect the parings to change as people bail because of the course's mandated late tee time, or not liking who they're paired with.

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I type these rules out every season... mainly because you all need it...

Ride with your opponent. Stroke play event is still active so finish each hole as we normally do. Match Play allowance is 80% of course handicap. Mark up your own cards and don't trust anything you see on the internet, including this blog. Hit provisionals when you might be OB.

 

--------------------------

I don't have a recent card, but River Strand has three nines. Each side should have hole handicaps ranked 1-9. The FRONT side (allegedly Sanctuary) is the odd handicaps. The BACK side (allegedly Tributary) will be even. Let the smartest person in your group dot the card and keep track of your match.

Regardless of what tees you choose, Tributary is about 200 yards shorter than Sanctuary. This doesn't mean it's "easy." Based on the Bogey Rating, we'll set everyone on the WHITE tees. You can move back to B/W Combo, Blues, or Black. Let me know where you want to play from ASAP.

Card might be stale, and I added the alleged hole handicaps.

Course records are 84 (Faz) and 109 (Geoff).

 

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Nine people have yet to pay their Rapture deposit ($100). On August 1st we're going to start filling the spots with alternates. Read the previous post for details.

Summer 2022 - Hangover Invitational Recap

Waterlefe lived up to its hype in all the ways - great conditioning for this time of year, and a very challenging test of golf. The wind really picked up on the back nine, making the closing three holes much more difficult than they normally play. That being said, our scores didn't move the overall Median Net to Par for Waterlefe, which remains at +4 in our history (a medium difficulty).

Casey was coasting — and club snapping — his way to an impressive victory, until Chandler (hey, that's me!) decided to "protect the field" on the 18th hole... pointing out a win would be Casey's third straight victory at Waterlefe. This would be one of the most impressive stats in our Club's history.

Casey immediately pumped two balls into the lake on 18 (almost hitting the same boat twice) and fell from -2 (net) to +1.

Faz was the next contender, until he wasn't (back-to-back triples), until he was again (back-to-back pars)... matching Casey's +1 (net).

Then came Geoff, who looked to have it wrapped up... until everyone — including himself — remembered he was Geoff. A triple on 16 and quad on 17 ejected him into the Manatee River.

Dan just needed a par on the 18th to tie +1 (net), but made a double to fall to T5.

And Buchert overcame a horrendous start (2 quads in his first four holes) to finished par-par and grab a share of the victory. It's his 2nd win in a row, and he's now a few top finishes away from crashing the Champions Dinner!

There was a ton of late leader board movement, which was quite fun to watch. Even the Pitcher Zone was exciting, and somehow had Troy falling into it in the clubhouse after his round (due to a scoring mistake).

 

Also, Faz was on a streak of 57 starts without a victory... approaching JW's record of 61. Gary now has the longest active winless streak with 40.

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Waterlefe is more mentally challenging than physically. We had some "I'm never playing here again" quotes after the round. Nobody believes that. You'll play it every time we book it. Eventually you'll reflect on your course management and make some adjustments — which will make you an overall better player. 

 

Swing easier (ie: smoother) on those drivers, people.

It's definitely a course everyone can conquer.

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We had 13 of the 20* players attend our season party at Yoemans. The new bar addition was a lot of fun, and a really cool spot to hang out and play shuffleboard. We even had two of the Westchase Whipped in attendance... leading me to think that maybe we can go back up there next season. Just for their sake. Maybe.

In our first ever Hangover Side Pot, Faz picked up an extra $66 in Club Credit, while Chandler electronically pocketed $29. Outside of Casey and Buchert — who won the stroke play event fully rested and free of all good times with friends — most of the non party people finished near the bottom.

 

*Melberg bailed the morning of, but rumors are it was because he didn't want to drive to Bradenton... not because of a hangover. 

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We're off this week for the British Open, a built in bye-week since 2018.

We'll be back down in Bradenton at River Strand next week for Match Play. We haven't been able to get on that course in 8 years. They're only letting us out after their members, which right now is 11:30am. I can call 3 days in advance to *maybe* get us moved up a few spots. It'll be hot. We'll probably have some rain stoppages. But that's what we have to do to get on these private courses.

See you then. Update your RSVPs sooner than later if you're bailing, since it affects pairings more than normal next week.

Summer 2022 - Hangover Invitational Preview

We're back this Sunday with the new and "improved" Hangover Invitational. What's different?

Those of you who read the blog might recall our dues increased $5 per person. Everyone who plays on Sunday is putting a Lincoln into a Hangover side-pot. The lowest two net scores of those who attend the bar on Saturday will split the pot as close to 70/30 as we can make it. It's a little game within the game for those who will be severely handicapped Sunday morning. Equity is the word of the moment, and this is us doing our part.

Our season gathering will be at Yoeman's in downtown, starting at 8pm. They have a newly expanded space with a few golf simulators and very nice (professional looking) pool tables. Most people I've talked to (ie: the Board) aren't really interested in hitting balls. But Travis is all over it if others want to ($55ish an hour).

Make a comment ASAP if you're interested in the bays. If there looks to be enough to justify it, we'll get that rented.

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Gorecki's grand scheme was to book us at Buffy Creek super early in the morning. I allowed it to happen, and had an entire write-up ready to go about how it's not that terrible of a course (if conditions are decent). I went down there yesterday with Gary for a scouting trip. The course was flooded and range was closed due to recent storms. Sunday regulars were canceling their tee times. Every bunker was filled with water. Every ball that landed in the fairway plugged and some were lost. The round took almost 5:20 thanks to a mismanaged tee sheet (allowing a 5some out playing a scramble). And it poured right after we left, with more rain to come this week.

We 100% should (and will) go down there again. But I can't have us playing that course in those conditions. So I made some phone calls and got us on Waterlefe at 9:40am ($65ish). Definitely not as easy as Buffy, but hopefully less of you will feel like your Sunday was "wasted" — you know... wasted hanging out with friends playing golf.

I've once again exhibited the resolve and agility to change plans on the fly that led to me being named back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Club Chairman of the Year.

Everyone is on the BLACK, which are a combo of Blue/White, unless you want to move back. Let me know. Seniors and Gorecki are allowed to play WHITE. See you Sunday!

Update your RSVPs.

2022 Rapture - Oct 6th - 9th (nice!)

We're headed down to Sebring, FL — site of the first ever Rapture back in 2014, and the first ever FBGC Masters back in 2012.

We'll be staying in double-occupancy rooms at the historic Inn on the Lakes, checking in on Thursday, October 6th and leaving Sunday, October 9th. Breakfast is included each morning. Cost is going to be $400ish.

Golf is still tentative, but looking at:

Sun N' Lake (Turtle Run)

Sun N' Lake (Deer Run)

Highlands Ridge (North)

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Dave and Troy are captains, assuming they can attend. Troy's victory last Sunday vaulted him up 5 spots to barely edge out Reid.

 

We'll host a draft party much closer to the event. Here are the official standings and alternates:

Dave

Troy

Reid

Casey

Geoff

Billy

Chandler

Brendan

Gorecki

Travis

Darren

Tall Mike

Ho

Danny

Faz

Melberg

-------------------

(alternates)

Topor

Gary

John

Adam

Dan

Crum

Burchert

JW

You'll need to send me a $100 deposit before August 1st to claim your spot. After that deadline, we'll go down the alternate list in order to fill any open positions.

Congrats to all those that ascended. God speed to all the leftovers.

FBGC Boat Day Round 2

 

Our last boating event was such a success that we're doing it again! I have reserved a boat and Gorecki is supposed to be getting a second one. So comment if you're in so we know if we need a bigger boat. Bring your beers, your WAGs, and your cigars.

Boat(s) are leaving Ricks on the River at 2pm sharp on July 16th, so get there by 1 if you want to grab lunch beforehand.

FBGC Open - Summer 2022 Recap

Troy and Topor conquered the Bayou Club yesterday, shooting respectable -6s (net) on an oppressively steamy day. For Troy, it was his 7th victory and third top-2 finish in a row. Now that he has a driver — and apparently the hottest putter on the planet — he should be considered the favorite to win the season.

Topor got his first ever victory, and could have owed a "good pitcher" if not for imploding on the final two holes. His 91 (gross) is his lowest non-Concussion score to par since joining our Club. Prior to yesterday's round, Topor had never finished higher than 5th in a tournament! And it was his first ever event where he won money Club Credit.

For the second week in a row, I need to remind you people about Playing Rule #8...

 

Hitting a ball near OB is enough to require a provisional. If you think your playing partner is possibly OB, tell them to hit a provisional. Don't tell me about how you probably should have after the round.

 

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The reaction to the Bayou Club was the same as last time. A handful of people hated it, while a handful of people said "it's better than some places we play." To help us sort through the confusion, here are the correct takes:

 

Greens were awesome, especially since they were recovering from the aerification I was told didn't happen. The bunkers were trash and yet we had 7 sandies — probably a record. The fairways were dead in very weird spots. Tee boxes sucked due mainly to tree overgrowth. The rough was mostly fine around the greens.

The layout is terrible. The back nine is decent but front nine is not fun at all and somewhat dangerous. JW and I almost got hit multiple times going through the loop of 6 & 7. The routing also causes severe back-ups — with back-to-back par 3s (15 and 16) and the forever cart-path-only 17th in the swamp.

Unfortunately the routing isn't fixable, as there just isn't enough land. I'm sure we'll play it again years from now... but it's disappointing to have such limited Pinellas county options.

 

And yet... collectively our scores weren't atrocious. We've had double-winners in both events out there... and Course Handicaps were: 20, 21, 25, 26. Very strange.

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We're off next week for 4th of July. Rapture captains will be Dave and Troy. More on this later, as I'm still trying to get us booked.

 

See you soon!

Week 3 - FBGC Open Preview

We've all heard the complaints about tight, somewhat crappy courses that permeate our schedule. When reminded that our regional area only contains tight, somewhat crappy courses... you — especially you, dear reader — tend to reply: "wEll WhaT aBouT PRiVaTE cOUrSes?!?!"

Good question. Here are some we've looked into recently:

Carrollwood Country Club, Cypress Run, and Hunter's Green don't want us. Feather Sound has been closed, and if JW ever gets us out there he'll probably take the tee times away two days before the event. Gary finally ended his membership at Southern Hills - who at the moment would charge us near rack rate to play there ($189). I ask about Grasslands every season... so if you don't see that on the schedule it's because John wasn't able to make it happen. Black Diamond told us no for the 2022 Rapture, and hasn't responded to numerous emails/calls about doing a one-off event. Lone Palm said no a couple of years ago, and our connection there isn't going to push for it.

That brings us to this week's private course, Bayou Club, who will let us out after their members (10:50am) and charge us the same thing they did in 2020 ($65ish). I knew inflation was transitory!

When we last visited, COVID lockdowns were only days away. A lot of people complained they didn't like the course, with John specifically saying it was a "dump" and "the worst course ever." Adam and Geoff tied for the victory, winning by four shots. Dave shot a 99 and almost owed 3 pitchers. We had this thing called the "BGR" that whined about the expensive booze prices, but did say nice things about the dining experience.

I'm expecting nothing to change.

Here's a scorecard from two years ago that I believe is still valid.

 

Everyone is on the WHITE tees unless you tell me otherwise. The Sr. Chairman will be allowed only for the seniors (55+) and 25+ Indexes.

If you're going to bail, do so ASAP so we can free up a spot to replace you.

I was told by their Director of Golf that it wasn't punched, and "shouldn't be" before July 4th. If we find out this is wrong, I was lied to. There is a driving range and balls are included.

See you Sunday.

Dad's Day Out?

 Dads' Day Out:

Do you not like hanging out with your family or live too far from your father or kids?  Well this post is for you.

Does anyone want to play this Sunday (father's day)?  If we get enough people, I am open to a two man scramble (or another game) to mix it up.  

Leave a shit to gauge interest. 

Skins Game - Summer 2022 Recap

Apparently people only read (retain?) the first part of these write-ups. So let's switch up things up:

Rules reminder/clarification - Playing Rule 8 states: "If a shot is known to be OB (or in the vicinity of OB), a provisional must be taken."

 

This means you can't "choose" to take a 2-stroke penalty where your ball went OB. You need to re-hit (with penalty) if you or anyone in your group thinks your ball is out of play.

 

The 2-stroke penalty option (Rule 8.1) can be used if your entire group is surprised to discover your ball OB. It's a last resort thing to save you from riding back to the tee box.

 

At this time, we have not implemented the USGA's "drop in the fairway for 2 strokes" local rule.

 

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Tall Mike survived the heat yesterday, making par on the final hole to snatch away a shared "victory" with Faz. Mike's last win was two years ago at Esplanade, stealing the season title from Gorecki.

While it's been awhile since we've seen Moostie in the winners circle, Faz's winless streak is up to 56. JW still holds the record at 61, so we could see that mark tied at the Concussion.

 

Yesterday was funny. Danny was 2nd to DFL but won the most skins in his group. Almost as impressive as him hitting three different balls in three consecutive shots on a hole, two of which weren't his. Casey had some epic course management meltdowns — unaware of water hazards despite having a large image of each hole on his GPS watch the entire day. Travis was bogey-free through 12 holes, but not in the good way.

It was brutally hot out there. And while we knew the greens would be punched (my group actually putted well despite this), the pro shop did not inform me the range was closed for repairs. That definitely affected some of our early holes — as seen with Darren who would have won if not for a 9 on the easy first hole. We made a lot of birdies, and it's possibly the first time we've ever had two eagles in a tournament.

Overall I was surprised at the lack of hate for the course after the round. It's scoreable if you play smart, and the greens are usually excellent. We'll probably return in a couple of years.

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We're off next weekend for Father's Day. Enjoy your family time, and I'll see you at Bayou Club in two weeks.

 

Speaking of, we only have 20 spots available. So right now anyone who changes their RSVP to "IN" will be an alternate. Fear not, I'm sure someone will bail before the tournament.

 

Rapture rankings also lock after our next event. See you then.

Bandon Dunes - 2022

So many things have been written about Bandon Dunes, it's difficult to come up with any unique perspectives. But alas... here are my takes on our 2022 group trip... with every attempt made to avoid bias based on how I played, or the weather we experienced:

Bandon Dunes

The original course built on property — designed by unknown-at-the-time architect David McLay Kid. I thoroughly enjoyed this layout, and probably place it 2nd on my personal list of Bandon courses. Bandon Dunes and Sheep Ranch feel like the two most "natural" routings, but Bandon has more memorable holes. 

While you get a glimpse of the ocean throughout the entire round, only 6 holes play right up to the cliff edge. To me this was a good thing, as it didn't feel like McLay Kid forced the maximum number of ocean holes in his routing. The fairways are very wide, but thick gorse bushes await any stray ball.

A big part of what I like about any course is the playability for mid to high handicappers. Bandon Dunes is the 2nd "easiest" course out there. While each hole presented a challenge — there are some hidden trouble spots — none of the shots felt too daunting. This is not a course that should keep you up at night before your round. It's fun, enjoyable, and felt like the most authentic Scottish links at the resort.

Pacific Dunes

A Tom Doak design, Pacific Dunes is the "highest rated" course on property... if you put any weight in the completely subjective, fraudulent, and somewhat criminal course rankings published each year by golf websites/magazines.

This is a big-boy test of golf, as most of Tom Doak's layouts tend to be. I've currently only played three of his tracks: Pacific Dunes, Streamsong (Blue), and Old Macdonald. The first two are absolute ball-busters... while Old Mac, which I'll discuss below, shouldn't even be considered a "Tom Doak course."

Not to say Pac Dunes isn't amazing. Almost half the course touches the Pacific Ocean, and the other "inland" holes are still visually stimulating. But while views may be the most important thing to vacationing golfers, Doak isn't here to entertain you. He goes out of his way to make every hole a chess match... and Pacific Dunes is a Grandmaster.

Take for example the 4th along the cliffs. You have ample room to hit your tee shot left away from the ocean. But from that angle you now have to hit back toward the cliffs — over a deep bunker and dune — to a green that slopes away from you. It's near impossible to stop your ball on the green depending on the wind direction. The better play is to hit it up the right side off the tee, bringing in the real possibility of spraying it off North America. If you can successfully hit that tee shot, your approach is somewhat manageable.

Imagine this for 4.5 hours. Every hole, even the short ones, have a "milk carton bunker" (one where you'll never be seen again) or a green-side runoff that makes getting up-and-down nearly impossible. It's not unfair... it's just unrelenting.

Each individual hole on Pacific Dunes is strong. And what they're asking you to accomplish is obvious. But that becomes painfully obvious when you fail to execute the correct shot.

Great course... no chill.

Old Macdonald

Old Mac is the least played course at Bandon, which is a shame as it's my favorite. It was created as an homage to C.B. Macdonald, a renown golf architect from the early 1900's. Macdonald was known for identifying 21 "template" holes in Great Britain... which he felt tested the best players while still allowing poor players to score.

Sixteen of the holes at Old Mac are based on these templates. Most are done well — a few maybe miss the mark — but the strategy is still present. What resort guests don't like is the more inland property (ie: "lack of ocean views") with giant contrived greens.

Personally, I think ocean views are overrated. It can be a gimmick that takes away from the golf itself, and masks a bad hole. Scottish golf wasn't near the ocean because it looked cool. It was there because that's where the sandy soil was located — unusable for farming — which produced firm and fast conditions for the game to be played (mostly on the ground).

Old Macdonald has these conditions, which make the templates true to their purpose. The super-wide fairways, rolling mounds, and deep bunkering feels authentic. The pushed-up greens sometimes do not — but are true to the style of C.B. Macdonald, as seen with his famous designs: Chicago GC, National Golf Links of America, Shinnecock, Sleepy Hollow, etc. Back in the day they had to build giant, undulating, raised greens to keep water from pooling on them. Especially in America which lacked the Scottish sandy soils that promotes drainage.

Old Macdonald is unique, and endlessly playable thanks to the wide variety of angles you can attack each green. It's definitely not what most Americans are used to, but that's why we travel to destination resorts.

Bandon Trails

Trails is the most "normal" American course at Bandon. It's a Coore & Crenshaw design (for you Tampa people they created Streamsong Red) that starts in the dunes and loops through the inland forest. 

 

It's absolutely stunning to look it, especially in terms of scale. The fairways are wide and framed by giant pine trees. You won't feel the wind, but it's up there and definitely affects your ball... so you must always be aware of what direction you're facing without many visual cues.

Coore & Crenshaw are known for large flowing layouts that utilize the natural land. Even if they move a ton of dirt, their goal is to create a course that looks like they didn't. They don't always get this right — the fairway moguls on #16 come to mind as egregiously unnatural — but the overall product is a beautiful walk. Also a very difficult one due to the elevation changes.

Most of our 18 players ranked Bandon Trails as their favorite. If you put this course anywhere else in the country it would sink into the Earth due to the overwhelmingly amount of praise heaped upon it. It's that good.

But at Bandon... Trails just seems like a nice detour away from the coastline. After a few rounds getting blown out to sea, you'll enjoy the break and probably also rank it as your favorite.

Sheep Ranch

Another Coore & Crenshaw design, located on the best piece of coastal land at the resort. It's by far the easiest course to play and walk, with the most spectacular ocean views. The routing is particularly genius, weaving in and out of corners of the condensed footprint, creating a par-72 course that doesn't feel crowded. You'll only notice it in a few spots where multiple holes share the same tee-boxes.

There is absolutely nothing polarizing about Sheep Ranch. It's just 100% fun, picturesque golf. The stretch of 15, 16 and 17 is top notch. If you catch those holes on a clear sunny day, and it'll be one of your lasting memories.

The Resort

Lodging was well thought out for buddies trips. It was easy to get around, and if you don't want to drive you can call a shuttle any time. Each course has its own clubhouse with a unique menu. The food was the absolute best I've ever had at any resort.

Caddies were hit-or-miss. I'm told a few of them were great. A couple of them were beyond terrible. While I don't really need someone to misread putts for me... I also don't want to carry or pull my bag 15+ miles per day. So you're kinda stuck requesting something that might not be worth the price, just to physically save your legs and back.

Overall, Bandon Dunes has the best collection of courses in one physical location I've ever seen. It's impossible to beat a Scotland golf trip... but this is the closest you'll get in America.

Week 2 - Rosedale Golf & Country Club

This week we're heading to Rosedale G&CC, a course we've never played in official Club history. I found it in 2021, during my never ending quest for new locations.  I wasn't quite sure I wanted to drag y'all down there... so I set-up an off-season outing last month. 

 

Only one person vocally hated it (Gorecki) because it was too "tight" and target golf.  Well, it is designed by Ted McAnlis who did Waterlefe and Moccasin Wallow. But everyone else gave it a thumbs up. So... something new! Let's see what happens!

Tee time is 9:30am. Cost is $45ish. Greens will be 2-weeks recovered from aeration, so they could be dicey, but that's to be expected this time of year.

 

I'm setting WHITE as the base tees, which some might find "short" at 5,882. Here's a scorecard, and if anyone else wants to move back let me know.

 

For reference, Member's recent scores at Rosedale:

 

Dave -  84 (from golds at 6,714)

Chandler - 88, 86

Faz - 94

Ho - 89

Gary - 101, 87

Darren - 87

Geoff - 98, 110

Crum - 97

Gorecki - 115

Those are worse than I remember! It's going to be a bloodbath. Can't wait. See you Sunday.

Skins parings are based on Course Handicap & Index.

The Classic - Summer 2022 Recap

 

The Classic – Summer 2022 Recap:  Fox Hollow

Let’s start with the Good:  We got the round in despite the chance that we would be hit with a tropical storm.  The new season has finally started after what feels like an eternity.  There was grass on the course pretty much everywhere there should be grass.  While the mowers clearly had not been used for a couple of days, there was grass on the tee boxes and around the greens.  The layout is a typical Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design:  challenging but fair most of the time, with some diabolical holes and greens thrown in (Holes 3 & 18 immediately come to mind, as well as the green design on Hole #7 and the green design / pin placement on Hole #13).  There were no birdies on Hole 3.  Shout out to Adam and Dan who both birdied the 18th.  Dan did so from the Blue tees and into a stiff wind that really picked up over the last hour of the round.

Troy and Travis tied for 2^nd at 3 under Net.  Troy shot a 41 Gross, 29 Net on the Front 9, and was in great shape making the turn.  However, it is hard to imagine a hole that sets up worse for Troy’s game than #18 with a long forced carry off the tee and then again to get to the green.  Holes 14 and 17 are also very long Par 4’s that were playing more like Par 5’s due to the soft fairways and wind.  Troy gave 5 shots back to the field on the challenging Back 9.  Travis took advantage of the 4 extra strokes he received by moving to the Blues and avoided any really big numbers that could have blown up his round.  Overall, it looks like he had a pretty consistent day.  Dan birdied 3 holes on the Back 9 to scratch out an even par round and finished solo 4^th.  

Buchert (Hey, that’s me!) shot 1 over Gross, 10 under Net, on Holes 5 through 16 to help overcome a bad start and provide a cushion coming down the difficult stretch, finishing with a 2 shot victory at -5.  The victory is just my 5^th FBGC win and pushed my career winning percentage up to 5.88%.  For those keeping track at home, only JW, Topor, Crum, and Hauch have a worse career winning percentage and only JW would not jump back above me with a win in the next few tournaments.  In other words, despite winning, I’m still a loser.  Thankfully, it ended my winless streak at somewhere in the 30’s and I can go back to losing tournaments without fear of catching JW’s winless streak anytime soon.  Faz has to be getting close though, right?

The Bad:  It was hot, pace of play was slow, and the greens were very slow.  Really frickin’ slow.  Our group had lots of putts from less than 5 feet and downhill putts come up short.  I’m sure Fox Hollow either received a ton of rain Saturday or just expected a ton of rain so they decided not to mow Sunday morning and maybe Saturday morning as well.  This is completely understandable, but the greens were still very slow.  The grass on the tee boxes had also not been mowed, which I find kind of annoying on the Par 3’s.  Looking through the scorecards on the App, it looks like there were a lot of triples and quads.  This isn’t too surprising as pretty much every hole after #1 offers some way to blow up.  Despite the difficulty of the course, there were only two bad pitchers purchased.  Casey and Crum both owed their pitchers to a few holes where they got a little crooked off the tee, went OB, and had to reload.  It appears that the course is fairly rated from a Rating / Slope perspective even though it is quite challenging.

Overall, it’s just good to be back.  Sadly, I’m missing next weekend.  Not so sadly, I am also missing Bayou Club.  I hope you all have a good Father’s Day and 4^th of July.