GCA overexposure

[Brad Swanson]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

[Ash Towe]

Brad,
To be honest no.  I always want to see with my own eyes.  The pictures on GCA are usually outstanding but the lens view can be pretty narrow.  If anything it has wetted my appetite to see the course concerned.

[Reef Wilson]

I don't know that overexposure is the right word, but my desire to play Whistling Straits has definitely decreased due to reports I have heard here of it not playing firm and fast.  Along with the cost and learning more about Lawsonia, it has gone way down my list. I'll get to both eventually because my in laws are in Milwaukee, but my first stop will be Lawsonia.
Reef

[Emil Weber]

Yes, I think in some ways it does diminish the experience, becuase courses can be less exciting to play. For example, who would go for the flag playing a redan for the first time? Nobody, because they all know how to play the hole before having ever been to the place.

It is sad that sometimes I know every hole of a great course before playing it, because the expirience is just not what it ought to be when playing a course for the first time. Then again, I could spent HOURS looking at pictures of Pacific Dunes, Sand Hills etc...

[Sean_A]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

Brad

Yes, many courses that I would have really liked to have seen 10 years ago are now just courses of convenience - if I happen to be in the area - no special effort.  Some of that thinking is down to experience (not being bothered about championship status I often think the 2nd tier courses are just as good and far cheaper) and some is down to pix on this site.  On the other hand, I have discovered a few that I would never have thought much of that I now really want to see. 

Ciao

[Ross Tuddenham]

The pictures and descriptions of rounds on here just make me want to play the courses even more.  After seeing Kyle’s pictorials of Scotland who would not want to get out there and play those courses?


I have discovered many more courses through GCA discussions that I would want to play than ones I have been put of playing.  I love coming on here to read about courses I may not have previously heard about.

[Jay Flemma]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

I like the quote about your dog...trevino (I think) said nobody remembers who came in second but your wife and your dog and that's only if you have a great wife...I asked my wife if she'd still love me if I locked her in the trunk of the car and drove around for an hour...because the dog would!

[Michael Whitaker]

Brad - I have been encouraged to play MORE courses and not had my desire to play any "bucket list" courses diminished.

I guess you could say my bucket runneth over!

[Jack Vance]

After I wake up every morning, and make sure everything is working, and sufficiently drained. Next comes the wine decision for the evening meal....NEXT...what golf courses make up the TOP 10, and when will I get to play them!!

No over exposure problem here...Regards!

[Michael Dugger]

Nope, never.

[Sean Eidson]

It's the opposite for me.  This forum has led me to far more courses than it has led me away from.  I find that seeing the pictures ahead of time helps me understand more of what to look for and appreciate elements of the course that might not come into play in my round.  I  have even enjoyed reading the pictorials and their narratives more than playing the course. 

My golf game is pretty average to mediocre and I appreciate the perspectives and debates among better golfers.  I am often disappointed that I didn't get to enjoy a particular hole the way the architect designed it because I hit a truly lousy shot.

One example point for me was at Bandon Trails during the second round of the day with the wind blowing 30+ and the temperature about 50*.  By the last few holes, my brain was so cooked that I was really struggling to finish each hole.  Yet I saw the back of the 15th green and remembered a picture and comment from Kyle Henderson's thread where he complimented the way the green flowed into the hill.  I remember thinking "Just made a 6, but look at the cool green site"  Without the GCA exposure, I might have missed that chance to enjoy the hole regardless of my shotmaking skill.

[Cristian]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

Brad

Yes, many courses that I would have really liked to have seen 10 years ago are now just courses of convenience - if I happen to be in the area - no special effort.  Some of that thinking is down to experience (not being bothered about championship status I often think the 2nd tier courses are just as good and far cheaper) and some is down to pix on this site.  On the other hand, I have discovered a few that I would never have thought much of that I now really want to see. 

Ciao

Which ones fit into the latter category Sean?

[Sean_A]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

Brad

Yes, many courses that I would have really liked to have seen 10 years ago are now just courses of convenience - if I happen to be in the area - no special effort.  Some of that thinking is down to experience (not being bothered about championship status I often think the 2nd tier courses are just as good and far cheaper) and some is down to pix on this site.  On the other hand, I have discovered a few that I would never have thought much of that I now really want to see.  

Ciao

Which ones fit into the latter category Sean?

Christian

Off the top of my head the courses I reckon I wouldn't have paid much attention to without this site that I think look really good are:

Longshadow
Leatherstocking
Palmetto
Lawsonia
Eastward Ho!
Apache Stronghold
Cal GC
Garden City
Myopia
Plainfield
Yale
Pasa
Royal Zoute
Morfontaine
St Georges (Canada)

Probably a few in Oz as well.  I always forget the name of wee links course near Melbourne, I think the opposite side of Melbourne from the Mornington Peninusla.

Ciao

[Cristian]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

Brad

Yes, many courses that I would have really liked to have seen 10 years ago are now just courses of convenience - if I happen to be in the area - no special effort.  Some of that thinking is down to experience (not being bothered about championship status I often think the 2nd tier courses are just as good and far cheaper) and some is down to pix on this site.  On the other hand, I have discovered a few that I would never have thought much of that I now really want to see.  

Ciao

Which ones fit into the latter category Sean?

Christian

Off the top of my head the courses I reckon I wouldn't have paid much attention to without this site that I think look really good are:

Longshadow
Leatherstocking
Palmetto
Lawsonia
Eastward Ho!
Apache Stronghold
Cal GC
Garden City
Myopia
Plainfield
Yale
Pasa
Royal Zoute
Morfontaine
St Georges (Canada)

Probably a few in Oz as well.  I always forget the name of wee links course near Melbourne, I think the opposite side of Melbourne from the Mornington Peninusla.

Ciao

A nice list, is there a common denominator other than they are just good courses?

[Sean_A]

Question to the group, has the wealth of second-hand experience (pictures, round recaps, etc.) available on the discussion group diminished your desire to play any of the courses that were once in your bucket list?  If so, why?

Cheers,
Brad

Brad

Yes, many courses that I would have really liked to have seen 10 years ago are now just courses of convenience - if I happen to be in the area - no special effort.  Some of that thinking is down to experience (not being bothered about championship status I often think the 2nd tier courses are just as good and far cheaper) and some is down to pix on this site.  On the other hand, I have discovered a few that I would never have thought much of that I now really want to see.  

Ciao

Which ones fit into the latter category Sean?

Christian

Off the top of my head the courses I reckon I wouldn't have paid much attention to without this site that I think look really good are:

Longshadow
Leatherstocking
Palmetto
Lawsonia
Eastward Ho!
Apache Stronghold
Cal GC
Garden City
Myopia
Plainfield
Yale
Pasa
Royal Zoute
Morfontaine
St Georges (Canada)

Probably a few in Oz as well.  I always forget the name of wee links course near Melbourne, I think the opposite side of Melbourne from the Mornington Peninusla.

Ciao

A nice list, is there a common denominator other than they are just good courses?

Christian

I spose when you look at the list two courses stand out as being new - Longshadow and Apache Stronghold.  Desert golf intrigues me because I love the landscape, but to date only AS really grabs my attention.  I usually find the transitions from course to surrounds unbearably horrible to look at and this is the first thing I look for in pix of desert courses.  Longshadow just grabbed my attention from the get go.  It strikes me as being a bit different from the crowd, but still a regional course.  All the other courses are old time and I imagine a combination of good fun and a good walk.  

PS  You can add French Lick - the Ross course to the list.

Ciao

[James Bennett]

Probably a few in Oz as well.  I always forget the name of wee links course near Melbourne, I think the opposite side of Melbourne from the Mornington Peninusla.

Barwon Heads? Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong

James B

[Jason McNamara]

James, Sean may mean Port Fairy, though I realize that is close to Melbourne like Kalgoorlie is close to Perth.   

No overexposure here.  The new GCA photo era is confirmation... ah, so that's why ABC course is so highly regarded.

[RJ_Daley]

Participating on GCA.com over the years has certainly hightened my awareness of many golf courses that I'd still love to experience.  Yet, the manner or way some courses have been described (even if the writer is giving a thumbs up) cause me to yawn, because they describe features or aspects that really don't appeal to me.  But overall, I'd say the second hand recounting by our participants has caused me to increase my overall desire to see them. 

I also am getting skeptical of the so called "bucket list".  It suggests to me a sort of never satisfied, always pining for more mentality.  I think participation on GCA.com (whether it is viewed as an access enabler or not) has given me opportunities that I'd never have had to really see and play courses I probably other wise would not have.  If the bucket must be kicked, I'm happy enough to leave any remaining list to the future folk that would come on here and seek information, maybe only live vicariously through the descriptions of certain courses they likely will never see, and let their imaginations compare the vicarious to the real ones they actually do have the good fortune to play, eventually.  Life goes on, and buckets get kicked short of lists being filled. 

[Kenny Baer]

Brad,

No offense but that has to be one of the strangest questions I have seen on this site.

It seems as if you are asking "Does seeing pictures of Cypress Point make you want to play Cypress less?"  

Does smelling a delicious meal when you are hungry fill you up?  Does seeing an ad for a drink quench your thirst?

I would like to know the individual that would answer that question yes.....so I can avoid them.

If you are asking "Has GCA made me change which courses I thought were the best in the world?" then the answer to that question would be yes; I would say this site has taught me so much about what makes golf courses great and what I personally enjoy about different courses, and also what to look for.