The VP and Speaker discuss Sand Hills and Dismal

[Jim Nugent]

Neither Sand Hills or Dismal have a rating or slope. He can not post his scores even if he wanted to.

Any ideas what slope/CR would be at those courses? 

[Kalen Braley]

Two years ago, I was playing to a 20 handicap.  Just ask Jim or Andy if you don't believe me.  

Right in the midst of a stretch where I was regularly putting up scores in the mid to high 90s...

...I shot a straight up legit 5 over par 77 on  a par 72, 6300 yard course.  It included 3 birdies and for one day only I found my swing and it was just on.  I hit almost every fairway and my approaches were solid with few mishits.

After that round I went right back to my rounds in the 90s...and it hasn't been until this year that I'm finally playing better (13.6 currently)

[Bill Seitz]

     All I know is, if I were his handicap chairman, I'd have a problem.  The guy has a reputation for playing a lot of golf.  He's posted 6 scores this year.  I suspect he probably shot what he says he shot.  I also suspect he's better than a 10.  Let's see if the 69 shows up in his postings.

A couple questions, with the caveat that I'm no fan of the speaker, so take this how you will, but it seems like it's reported somewhere every time he plays.  Point being it could just seem like he plays a lot now.  Also, with a schedule like his, do we know if he always plays 18?  Just playing devil's advocate here. 

I wonder also what handicap he carried as a younger man.  If he used to play to a 3, for example, and now plays to a 10 (perhaps due to fewer opportunities to play), he could still have the game to put together a relatively low round once in a while.  Again, just trying to come up with plausible explanation. 

Tim,

Kind of surprised you got accused of sandbagging in a club championship.  Depending on the dynamics of the club, you would think a lot of the guys would be guys who had played with you before.  As such, they could probably attest to your index, and agree that you just had a great day on the course.

[John Kavanaugh]

The idea that the third in line to the Presidency posts on Ghin where he plays golf every time disturbs me.  Ghin really needs to find a way for public figures to post outside of the public eye.

[Dan Kelly]

Just playing devil's advocate here. 

I've heard Boehner called many things -- but "devil"? That's awfully harsh. Can't we all just get along? (Emoticons omitted.)

Seriously: Freakishly good rounds happen.

I shot a 71 once, a 72 once, a 73 a couple of times -- and dozens and dozens and dozens of 84s, 85s, and 86s ... some of them almost certainly right after the 71, the 72 or the 73s.

[Tony Ristola]

Just saw the most amazing thing..   CNN's showing the House and VP Biden enters and heads up to the podium with the Speaker.

Give each other a big smile and handshake, and then CNN says "let's hear what they have to say".

Speaker Boehner says to Biden, 'I was out in the sandhills of Nebraska - the middle of nowhere.  Played these courses - Sand Hills and Dismal...  Had the round of my life (?) under par...  We take a break and go back out for 9 more and I had 6 pars and 3 birdies and missed a 4-footer that would've been another birdie".

Pretty cool - Boehner has great taste in golf courses!    

Here's the video:  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/boehner-biden-talk-golf-ahead-obama-speech-005659224.html

Then Biden said, "Yeah, and Pelosi and Reid want to turn that vast region into a protected area."

.

[Mike Benham]

Boehner's a 7-8 handicap. Pretty impressive. My guess was it was at DR and not SH.

My guess would actually be that it was at Sand Hills.  I think SH is actually easier to score on than DR.

I would like to hear more on each of your comments/guesses as stated above

[Chris Johnston]

Mike - As mentioned earlier, Speaker Boehner played under par at Dismal River.  The following day he shot 83-84 at Sand Hills.  I think the wind was up a bit the second day.

[Mike Benham]

Chris - Thanks but I was more interested in why Jim selected DR and Matthew SH ... I assume their quick replies did not take into account the weather conditions ...

[Jim Colton]

Chris - Thanks but I was more interested in why Jim selected DR and Matthew SH ... I assume their quick replies did not take into account the weather conditions ...

Mike,

  Lucky guess, maybe. I did recall reading about some of the more player-friendly changes made to DR since it's extremely penal days, including more than a few examples of average Joe's shooting career rounds out there. That's probably what drove my guess of one over the other.

Jim

[Pete_Pittock]

I have played golf with John Boehner. One round at Olympic. We are very far apart, politically. He wasn't speaker when we played about 10 years ago. He has a very solid game with no weaknesses other than a ball flight which veered slightly to the right. .
He was about 4 or 5 at that time and my feeling was that the handicap was valid. I can see the handicap trending upward with ge and the stresses of the job. At no time did I ever have the slightest tingling that he cheats or needs to cheat. If given the opportunity I would play with him again

As I remember correctly we discussed our golf itineraries for the rest of the week - I had Pasatiempo and Stanford. He had SFCC, Presidio Pebble and Cypress.

[Mark Saltzman]

Chris - Thanks but I was more interested in why Jim selected DR and Matthew SH ... I assume their quick replies did not take into account the weather conditions ...

Mike,

My gut answer on which course is more likely would have been Dismal.

First off, I would say that neither course is easy.  Second, I would say that both courses are very 'gettable,' and I think the biggest reason for this is the width of the fairways and receptive nature of the greens.  When I say receptive, I mean that if one is playing well and reasonably able to hit his targets that day and has some imagination, a lot of the greens at both courses have sideboards, backboards and kickers that allow you to get the ball close to the hole with a good but not great shot.  Of course, if you're playing poorly, good luck getting up-and-down after missing in the wrong spot.

The reason I would say DR though, comes down to conditioning.  The greens at SH are really firm and really fast and very undulating.  Putting off the green is (I presume) a very regular occurrence. A 10 handicap striking it well at either course will have lots of birdie putts, but he might have a 4-putt or two at Sand Hills, making it really hard to have a career round out there.  As CJ told me, at Dismal they are much more about having fun.  They don't need their members 3 and 4 putting every hole, because, well, it's just not fun.  The greens are as severe (in a good way) at Dismal as they are at Sand Hills, but by making them just a bit softer and a bit slower, playability is drastically increased.   

[Chris Johnston]

Salz - good post.

DRGC and SHGC aren't easy, no courses out this way are given the variable wind. If you miss a shot, trouble looms.  Rub of the green, I'm afraid.

Good rounds are about good shots, good misses, good bounces, a good eye, good luck, and good putting.  Sometimes good company, too!   Birdies are out there on any course.

The goal for greens at Dismal River is between 10 and 10.5 - obviously the right range imo.  Much faster would "narrow" the window for shotmaking and increase three putts for most.  Mind you, they are still out there and a challenge at the speeds they are.  Much slower would be frustrating and limit challenge - too vanilla for my tastes.  People don't come all the way out here to get beat up, or bored.

Sand Hills greens are indeed kept faster than ours, they are fun but on windy days, scoring can be a bear.  Really good rounds on windy days are quite rare.  I've had ball blow off the greens a time or two.  Given greens and conditions, sometimes bogey is a good score.  Put the ball above the hole and...