Some Streamsong Black Pics

[Joe Bausch]

Selfishly, I still would love a photo tour of the Black!!

We have a full-on tour of ANGC from its beginning, but not a very buzzworthy course that 25 GCAers played last fall!

Sorry, rant over...

Very soon, Brad.  Very soon.   

In the meantime you can enjoy SSRed from my recent visit:   

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/StreamsongRed/

[John Kavanaugh]

Perhaps the most unfair aspect of a Streamsong Black photo tour will be because it is in Florida you are going to believe it is as flat as the photos make it appear. It is truly a wonderful course to discover from the ground without any preconceived notions. But that takes discipline from both the amateur photographer and golfer.


The one good thing being that from the drone tours you might think you are playing Tara Iti. Absolute Drone-Clones.

[Joe Bausch]

Maybe I’ll do a full photo tour thread of the Black course at some point. If you can’t wait for that thread, you can view my typical presentation of the course here (I think the photos are good, grin):

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/StreamsongBlack/

[Rob Rigg]

Thanks so much for the pics Joe! Been waiting for patiently for someone to post 'em.

SS Black looks fun and linksy! Tons of sand make for interesting visual clutter on the horizon and some mammoth greens (like Old Mac sized greens???) appear to provide some challenging/creative/frustrating/quirky putting scenarios?

[Joe Bausch]

SS Black looks fun and linksy! Tons of sand make for interesting visual clutter on the horizon and some mammoth greens (like Old Mac sized greens???) appear to provide some challenging/creative/frustrating/quirky putting scenarios?

Yes!


Not much happening around Villanova currently.  Grin.

[Mark_Fine]

John mentioned earlier that he would never attempt a flop shot if he was "on the green".  I am anxious to play The Black (only played the other two) but am hearing reports of greens being scalped by the mowers because they are so severe and players chipping on the greens rather than facing putts that break a half a dozen different ways up and over mounds?  I guess the question is, should chipping be allowed on overly severe greens?  I don't think there is a rule against it, it is more etiquette.  I know Phil played a flop shot on the 14th hole at the Masters one year to avoid what he said was an impossible putt to otherwise get it close.  Maybe chipping on crazy greens will become the norm and superintendents will just have to deal with divots? 

[Rick Lane]

SS Black is unique and different in that (and I think it was covered in another thread), the greens COMPLEXES are huge......and the turfgrass on the whole complex is the same, clearly delineated from the fairway or rough, its a different color.    But then in a smaller subset of the complex there is a circle of dots that show you where the green is.   Like a smaller circle within a circle.   So while the grass is the same and you feel like you are on the green, you may not be.   Either way, we didn't chip there out of respect for the course, we putted or used hybrids or whatever.  Never played a course like that before.....

[John Foley]

Mark - Was just there two weeks ago and did not see a scalp mark and I looked specifically for them. Given the swales on the Black I was amazed. Hopefully Kyle can come aboard and educate how they are able to do that so well.


Also anyone who tries to get the ball up in the air w/ the LW vs playing the ball on the ground w/ a putter or hybrid should loose their playing privileges!!

[Mark_Fine]

Thanks for the update Rick.  I am anxious to see the place myself rather than rely on pictures and thoughts from others.


John,
Not sure I follow you about not getting the ball up in the air?  If you watch young players today, they almost all use a LW around the greens.  They will be a foot off the green and when most of us are putting, they are using that LW to play some kind of chip or pitch shot and they are very good at it.  If the highest percentage shot to get the ball close is to get it up in the air, then that should be the shot played regardless of where your ball is located.  I was looking at some of the green photos and I could see how someone would think  that trying to putt a ball 100 feet over all kinds of mounds and valleys is a little crazy when you can carry all that stuff with a little chip or aerial shot.  From what Rick was saying, he could hardy tell if he was on the green or not because it was cut the same.  If the grass/lie is the same, why not play the shot you are most confident with?  What is the difference if you make a pitch mark a foot short of the green or a foot onto the green?  I've seen guys pitch/flop the ball over the center of the green bunker on #6 at Riviera to get to a pin.  What is the difference?


 

[John Foley]

Mark - my point is in my two rounds there I putted everything around the greens. Probably 2 shots (one on 5 and one on 14) where a wedge that could spin the ball would have been an option but in the end I stayed with putter. It was just soooo much fun to play those shots. Chipping them may be an option, but IMHO just not as much fun as using the putter.

[Mark Saltzman]

John, you really think it’s the most fun when you use putter on every single shot around the green?

[John Kavanaugh]

I putted everything also except on 11 where my only shot was to hit a flop from no more than a foot off the green. That front right quadrant is crazy. There was no way with a front pin to roll the ball and stop anywhere near the hole. It worked as I got up and down for par.




Drained a 50 ft putt.

[John Foley]

John, you really think it’s the most fun when you use putter on every single shot around the green?

Mark - On the Black course on that day  I did. But the only 2 times I was ever in a place where I thought about it was where the spin from a  wedge would have been needed to try and stop the ball (as John mentioned also). In each case I chose putter and the result was fine. I never had to go over a corner of a bunker so that helped and the swales were manageable. It was very fun to play that way and the conditions (F&F) made it receptive.

[Tim Martin]

The caddies talked about some players choosing to chip while on certain greens although no one in our group attempted same. I loved the golf course although the walk is not for the faint of heart when the temps ramp up. Finally the caddies were 5 star and really helped the group get around.