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Tyler Page

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: How many times do you need to play/see a course to really "get it"
« Reply #25 on: January 17, 2015, 01:07:27 AM »
In my opinion, the number of plays required to "get" a course varies widely and is entirely determined by the number of different ways the same holes and shots can be played.  Certain elements beyond the the control of the designer add to this, like a course location featuring varying weather, but the design itself can also require many plays even if the weather and wind stays the same.

Think of a hole like the 10th at Shinnecock:

-Do you lay back off the tee for a flat stance and a long approach or pound driver to have a shorter approach from a downhill stance to what is a very tricky green with trouble in the front and back?
-If you find that trouble in the front (the 50 yard backward roll down the fairway off the false front), how do you play the approach?  Lob wedge off a tight lie at the stick?  Play out to the left of the green where it is flatter and the false front less extreme?  Bump and run a chip into the slope?  Swing a putter hip-high and putt the ball up the mountain?  All options can succeed or fail.  A golfer has to know his own game well to determine the best option.

By this measurement, TOC reigns supreme in terms of number of plays required, and links golf generally is tougher to "get" without many rounds. 

Niall C

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: How many times do you need to play/see a course to really "get it"
« Reply #26 on: January 18, 2015, 09:54:47 AM »
I think it works only one way. Unfavourable first impression, I don't think is recoverable and rarely softens.

I suppose in the sense that you are unlikely to go back to a course you didn't enjoy therefore you won't change your opinion. However I know one course that I really didn't care for the first few times I played it but really grew on me the more I played it, and the only reason I went back initially is that is where most of my friends are members.

Some people have a remarkable eye for courses and see pretty much all there is to see on one play. Sean Arble springs to mind.

Nah, don't be fooled. Have you not seen his views on Nairn  ;D


Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: How many times do you need to play/see a course to really "get it"
« Reply #27 on: January 18, 2015, 01:33:17 PM »
I've always felt that a good way to understand a hole, to 'get it' if you like, is to stand or sit at the back of a green and watch loads of players, of various ability, play the hole. You see the angles and the hazards in a different way. The chips and putts too. A fine example would be the 18th at Saunton East. Sit or stand there for a while and watch the puzzle unfold.
Atb

Frank M

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: How many times do you need to play/see a course to really "get it" New
« Reply #28 on: January 18, 2015, 02:53:04 PM »
The definition of what it means to "get" something is different for everyone.

I know one thing for sure, it only takes me one round to "get" whether I want to go back or not.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2024, 10:15:09 PM by Frank M »