[cary lichtenstein]

I was having dinner the other nite with a couple of higher handicap friends and they mentioned that they felt some of the courses were tricked up.


Is that a term that only higher handicaps use or do single digits use it as well?

[George Pazin]

I've heard the term used far more often by better golfers, as a means of saying the course was setup beyond their skill level.

HHers mostly just call courses hard.

 

[Wyatt Halliday]

Cary,

It can't possibly be good if it isn't "All right there in front of you".

My guess is that the lower the handicap, the greater chance quirkiness will be defined as tricked up.

WH

[Rick Shefchik]

I played an event recently with a bunch of single-digit seniors on an classic old course where the greens were lightning fast and some of the pins were in places where a ball would not stay on the green if it didn't go in the hole.

I heard the expression "tricked up" many times that day.

[Kalen Braley]

I'd concur,

I hear this far more often from low cappers than I do high ones.  That along with the course should be "all out there right in front of you". 

Granted a very notable exception to this was the low cappers I played with at the last KP event.  They all seemed to just blame thier poor play on exactly that...playing poorly.  Of course I noticed a disturbing trend that pretty much everyone I played with was off thier game.  Perhaps thier poor play could have just as well been blamed on me being in the group.   

[Richard Hetzel]

A few years ago when I played Aracadia Bluffs, a man from Chicago who joined us used this term extensively. He shot a legitimate 74 from the back tees here and all he talked about was how "tricked up" the greens at Arcadia Bluffs were....

[Ken Moum]

I hear it from all categories of player.

Usually it seems to mean the course doesn't "reward" good shots enough and/or it presents obstacles to scoring that they can't figure out.

The last two times I heard words like that in reference to course design they were used to describe Black Mesa and Cottonwood Hills. (This was in widely separate discussions, with different golfers)

In both cases, the opinion was uttered by someone who didn't like blind shots, odd bounces, undulating greens, centerline hazards, et. al.

In other words, they like vanilla courses where you can see the trouble, and a drive in the middle of the the fairway always results in a good shot at the green.

Ken

[Garland Bayley]

...
It can't possibly be good if it isn't "All right there in front of you".
...

I find it interesting that Hogan is said to have been a big advocate of it all being right there in front of you. I believe that of his contemporaries, Hogan made the most detailed analysis of a course before the competition began. It would seem once he had decided, before the competition began,  where he would hit each ball  on each hole, he wouldn't care if it was all right there in front of you. He might even prefer the opposite, so that those that didn't analyze so carefully would struggle.

[Steve Lang]

  first time i ever really used the term was back in mid 90's first time at Tallamore in Southern Pines or is it Aberdeen (near pinehurst).. was playing to 6 index..  shot well, scored poor.. 

[Tim Gavrich]

What is "tricked up" to most people is "quirky" to those who know better.

[Jamey Bryan]

I think this term has it's roots in the idea that, if you can't fire at the flag and not be penalized, a hole is "unfair."

My club hosts a fairly elite regional fourball event each year (this year a two man team needed a combined index of 3.5 or better to get in).  The course is an old Travis/Ross layout with small, severe greens.

One 140 yard par 3 has a spine running through the middle of the green, with a VERY severe slope left of middle falling off to a bunker and rough/hardpan.  The right side of the green is severe also, but with no falloff from the green.

One day of qualifying, a pin was cut back/middle, slightly left of the spine.  I watched play for a couple of hours and NOBODY who hit the green pin high or beyond made par (almost 3/4 putted off the green and made double or worse).  On the other hand, almost everyone who played the correct shot short of the hole had a fairly easy two putt par (there were only a couple of birdies, as it still was not a putt one could be aggressive with).

What I thought was a beautifully strategic pin caused more bitching and moaning about a "tricked up" setup simply because these "elite" golfers couldn't recognize a "red light" pin.

Jamey

[Philippe Binette]

I would say that some old courses designed when green speed was around 6 can kind of 'tricked up' thier course just by putting them at 11 on the stimp.

Nothing wrong with the stay below the pin on a couple of holes... but when it is automatic on every hole that a putt from above the hole would not stop on the green if it doesn't go in, then it kills the game which is to put the ball in the hole and turn it into a lay up and lag championship...

[Matt MacIver]

This weekend the pros are going to say the 17th green at Birkdale is tricked up. 

[Tom_Doak]

Tour pros rarely use that phrase because it might cost them a fine.  But they THINK it all the time.

I would never use the term myself.  However, as a creator of difficult greens, I cringe when I see them set up badly ... they are perfectly capable of defending themselves without silly hole locations or "warp 9" green speeds.  Such occasional set-up gaffes are inevitable I suppose, and they are almost enough to make me design more subtle greens.  (Almost.)

[C. Squier]

Tom, the last time I heard "tricked up" was on #4 at Lost Dunes.  However, it was said by a player who tried to reach the green in two and had a tricky approach to a top pin placement.  On the other hand, since we had both played the course before, I left an 80 yard pitch and hit a shot with the spin under control and played to both the correct tier and side of the pin to leave an easy 2 putt for par.  He 4 putted.  It was a matter of perspective....both he and I are low single digits.

As for the term, I don’t think it’s necessarily a low versus high handicap thing.  I think it’s a matter of who plays with strategy in mind and who blindly flails away.  “All in front of you” I think refers to the amount of blind shots you face, but not for holes that you can physically see everything.  When I bring a friend to Wolf Run, the first tee box is a perfect example.  Its straight downhill and the entire hole is right there for you to see.  But many play up the right side safely and complain that the approach to the green is unfair or too tough.  Play a little left over the bunkers and you’re left with possibly the easiest approach you’ll have all day. 

In essence, I believe “tricked up” is used by players who take the “obvious” route, only to find that the obvious wasn’t the best.  Probably not great chess players either.  Those who play with more strategy in mind probably don’t use the term quite as often. 

[cary lichtenstein]

Tour pros rarely use that phrase because it might cost them a fine.  But they THINK it all the time.

I would never use the term myself.  However, as a creator of difficult greens, I cringe when I see them set up badly ... they are perfectly capable of defending themselves without silly hole locations or "warp 9" green speeds.  Such occasional set-up gaffes are inevitable I suppose, and they are almost enough to make me design more subtle greens.  (Almost.)

I think that's the beuaty of the great greens at Barndougle Dunes

[Mike Mosely]

I remember seeing that term for the first time back in '84 to describe the U.S. Open...the article was called "The Tricked Up Open" and they were talking about the course set up.

Cary, its not a higher handicap term at all, it's more mainstream, and journalists and players of all skills use it occasionally.

[David Mulle]

I am a mid-handicap player and I don't think that tricked up is the same thing as quirky. 

For me a course can tricked up mainly as a result of set-up.  For example, I would describe a course with 18 yard fairways as tricked up - not quirky.  The 13th hole at North Berwick is quirky - not tricked up.  Very undulating greens are quirky - not tricked up.  Very undulating greens that are too fast or have pins in ridiculous places are tricked up - not quirky.

Just my two cents

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