Playing Backwards

[Steve_ Shaffer]

One of the better tips given to me when I resumed playing golf after a long hiatus was to walk the course from the 18th green to the first tee. That's right- backwards. You get a different perspective on the land and its nuances. Here's Bill Pennington's video:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=c2ec647d01e6f53e01d20628fd00e8c6ea2943e7

[Tim Bert]

I found your comments to be insightful as I thnk a great deal can be learned from walking a course in its entirety from finish to start.

That being said... this video is a tip that you should sometimes punch out backwards when there's trouble in front.  Not sure I get the connection between your thought and the video other than the word backwards.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Well...there is an obvious difference between walking a course backwards and playing backwards.  Who knew what I was thinking. This brings to mind the "Cross Country" event at my former club where holes were created backwards- 18th tee to 14th green, etc. A real fun event.

[Jay Flemma]

I do it all the time at the Majors, at tournaments I cover, and if I can at other times too.  The course reveals secrets to you you don't see playing forwards.

Try it on a raynor!  wait till you see the military fortifications...I see why they are called "bunkers!"

[Phil McDade]

The best and last word(s) on this is here:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=21055.0

[Ronald Montesano]

Phil,
I'd call them words at best, not best nor last.  If you're not in the loop on that one, you're not in.

Now, on to this thread...top-notch teams will always walk a course backward.  It is something they do out of habit, noting the angles to seek, the places to avoid, the routes to favor.  However, the greens suffer when you tee off them, so tread lightly! (I'm not going to use one of those yellow faces here, so please, please, PLEASE catch my wee bit of ingenuous sarcasm.)

I agree with Flemma on the fortifications note.  Fox Chapel has some serious bunkering; when armageddon arrives, find me hidden in one of their pits.

[Bill_McBride]

One of the great experiences is the Old Course at St Andrews played in reverse.  The Links Trust does a great job of organizing this, the tees are set up properly and nothing seems jury-rigged at all.  It's a different course, with some forced carries which you never find on the Old in regular sequence.

[Phil McDade]

Hmmm.....the sarcasm didn't come through in the reference to the Jans. Oh well.

Bill -- Given how Tiger has dominated at TOC during the two Opens there, I'm absolutely certain he has studied the Old Course in reverse, and probably even walked it extensively. There are several awkward approaches to TOC greens (12 in particular) when it's played in the current order that become more benign when played in reverse. Tiger at times has played 12 -- a great short par 4 when the wind is up -- in which he's bombed it OVER the green, and played back to the hole ala how it might play in reverse. I distinctly remember him making a two-putt birdie at 12 in one of the Opens this way.

[Jay Flemma]

That's another trip we ought to schedule...we should get a group to do reverse old course day...that and the causeway coast open...

[Doug_Feeney]

One of the great experiences is the Old Course at St Andrews played in reverse.  The Links Trust does a great job of organizing this, the tees are set up properly and nothing seems jury-rigged at all.  It's a different course, with some forced carries which you never find on the Old in regular sequence.

When do they set the schedule for the reverse Old Course?  Or I guess I should first ask if they do it every year??  Times for 2009 open Sept 3 so I imagine it is prior to that...

Never mind...answer to my own question.  The Old Course will be set up in reverse for three days in 2009– Friday 03 April, Saturday 04 April, and Monday 06 April.