Where in Golf? Quiz

[johnk]

A bunch of snaps mostly from my recent UK trip, with a couple of odd ones thrown in for fun.  

Guess the course / locale / hole.  I appear in 2 of the shots.

I don't have the clue creation talents of Scott B, so here they are:

1.


2.



3.


4.




5.




6.




7.



8.



9.

[Mike Benham]

#5 is Poppy Hills - 13th hole if I recall your story

[Mike Benham]

A bunch of snaps mostly from my recent UK trip ...

You went again?

[johnk]

A bunch of snaps mostly from my recent UK trip ...

You went again?

Yes, Apr 28 - May 7.  Special thanks to two kind GCA hosts - Senor Goodale and FBD!

It's funny the number of times I'm asked to explain how I know a good number of people over in the UK.  It's due to GCA!

In fact, the UK immigration officer was training a new person at Heathrow, and she interrogated me about where I was going, and who I was staying with:

Q: "And how do you know these people?"
Me: "Uh - I met them on the ... um, I mean I've known them a long time..."  

[Marc Haring]

1.   Royal County Down
2.   Dornoch
3.   #1 Blue course, The Berkshire
4.   Littlestone
5.   You’re having a laugh! Got to be Wentworth
6.   Sunningdale Old #17
7.   Yeah, as if!
8.   I think it’s Princes, or is it next door. No Princes, definitely Princes
9.   #5 Painswick

[Sean_A]

#4 has to be Littlestone
#8 is Princes

Marc, you jest.  If #9 is Painswick I will host anybody there anytime, despite my well known feelings for this course.  Actually, I don't dislike Painswick.  I think crossing an ocean to play it is mad.  Especially considering how many great courses are within 100 miles.

I will guess #2 is Dornoch

Ciao

Sean

Sean

[Marc Haring]

#9 is Painswick Sean but I agree with you, not worth a plane trip for.
What I do love about it is the myriad of differing hazards.
Irate dog walkers, irate horse riders, flying golf balls on every hole, road rage when you hit a car on #17, cardiac arrest following the assent of the 5th.

[johnk]

#9 is Painswick, but I think it's #6.  Marc got almost everything, except a couple.

You know, I do cross oceans regularly just to play golf, and I've never been at a club like Painswick.  The reception that the GCA group got and the way the club treated us was really special.  The course is a great match play course, and a great foursomes venue!
Given all that, in hindsight, I wouldn't have traded it for anywhere else for the GCA get together last year.

[THuckaby2]

You see gents, everything that Marc just described is
exactly WHY the zanies from here will cross the pond
specifically for Painswick.  One of the big reasons we
go over there is to experience a DIFFERENT type of golf
and well, there can't be any greater difference than what one finds at Painswick.

I haven't been there myself... and looking at the card alone, well hell no I wouldn't seek out such a short course on the face of things... but reading about it here... it's the first course I go see if and when I get to England again.  And yep, that's at the expense of all the more famous greats.

Now as for JK's pics, man I can't place any of them.  I trust you gents have it correct.

TH

[Sean_A]

Makes sense, because #5 is blind, no?  #6 is the best hole on the course.  A very tricky 185ish to a smallish, almost shelflike green.

Either way, I didn't say which hole on Painswick.  So I will stand by my rather foolish statement.

John, what did you think of Princes?

Ciao

Sean

[johnk]

Prince's was mildly undulating - a few holes had ripples, like 9 on the Shore which had a ridge of small dunes down the fairway, on a scale with say Prestwick fairways, but not R.St.George level. Most of the holes ran straight into or down wind.  It was a pretty good driving test, with the rough being very penal and it has some really nice cross-bunkering.  Greens are pretty straightforward.  We played it from pretty far back - close to 7000yds, which was cool, since you don't often get to play a links at that length, but it was also pretty playable at that length.  Greenside bunkers weren't too threatening in most cases - I don't remember being in any.  I do remember playing several low running 80-yard nine irons, and chipping in from 60 yards with a 9iron on the first hole.  It was a real links game.  The greens were insanely slow that day, though, but that made for some fun, too.

[Sean_A]

John

Sounds like you played a great mix of courses.  You should have called me.  I would have driven down to Painswick for  re-edumacatin.  What was the list of courses you played?

Ciao

Sean

[ForkaB]

I know #1 and it ain't in Ireland.......

John

Did you play Painswick with Robin H again, or was that from last year?  Also, where are the pictures of Herschel's chihuahua?

[johnk]

Yeah, the Painswick pic is from last year.  I never made it to the west half of the country this time.

I played the following courses:

Dornoch, Tain, Balbirnie (FBD's home course), Littlestone, Princes, The Berkshire Bleu, Sunningdale Old.

Marc Haring got nearly every one of the pix right.

#1 is the fabulous and lovely Tain - Alps hole #11.  Played in serious wind - even in the pic, it looks like the wind is blowing everything away - because it was!  Tain's a great routing, each hole changes direction, and each hole is pretty isolated from the others.  Also, the undulations on many of the holes are brilliant.

#2 was sunrise on the 4th green at Dornoch, 5am.

#5 is Mickelson at Poppy Hills in February, I'm standing behind him to the right, with khaki pants & blue hat, as he makes a miracle shot that resulted in birdie.  Just threw that one in for fun.

#7 is "Muslim" (his rather generic, but real, name) from EasyCar.com at Heathrow.  I don't recommend hiring a car from them even though they are cheap - and not just because the office is a Mercedes Van in a random car park. The problem is that the easycar rental cars have a big orange stickers on the side that advertise easycar.com, and pretty much read: "HEY YOU! Steal the good kit bound to be encased herein!"

[johnk]

BTW, Rich, I didn't snap any Chihuahua pix, but I'm sure I know where you can get some if you like - just say the word