Looks like Matt is poised to make the cut and advance to the match play with a 154.

I've played with Todd Strible, whose tied for 18th. Fantastic player. He's a member at Pauma Valley and is the club champ there. Very nice guy as well. Hang in there Matt!

Now the wind today did blow and the scores soared along with it.

Our own Matt Cohn made the cut and congratulations to him for a gutsy four over today.

I do hope that Matt, Andrew and David Ober come on and tell us what it was like out there today.

We played as the first foursome after the tail end of the Cal Am on the Shore and I was quite proud of my 95.

Go to NCGA.org for all of the scores.


Bob

Unfortunately Matt did not advance through the playoff, but I'll let him tell you all about that.  As caddy for that one hole, I of course take all the blame.

The wind was strong (by my standards) today, but not quite as strong as yesterday.  Said in a more informative way, I was adding between 30-40 yards for shots that were directly into the wind.  I'll repeat what I said yesterday, because it's true and because I don't want to be interpreted as complaining: it was loads of fun.

On the Dunes, the windy holes were 10, the drive on 11, the second half of 13, 14, 15, and even 16 and 17 somewhat.  Bob, I think the second half of 11 and 12 are protected from some of the wind and that may have made the wind seem less strong when you were there.   However, I also don't doubt that your definition of a strong wind and mine are quite different, given that you play out at MPCC so often.  I'm not surprised to hear that wind of this strength is common on the holes right near the coast.

On the Shore, the wind started getting much stronger when we got to the sixth tee.  The conditions became more difficult heading into the wind on nine through 13, but it got a bit easier once we turned back on 14.  The wind was still very much a factor all the way to my approach shot into 18.

The pace of play got painfully slow on par fives and during the windiest stretches.  When I got to the 14th green of the Dunes course yesterday, we were the third group on the tee.  We waited a long time on nine and 13 also.  The pace was again slow today  but there were not as many lengthy waits as yesterday.  The wind really caused play to grind to a halt because players were hitting more shots into long grass (search time) and taking longer to figure out how to play shots.  For reference, the CGA allotted 4:48 for us all to finish the round in threesomes under the NCGA pace of play policy (which nicely turns unbearable six hour rounds into barely tolerable five hour rounds).  I think we came pretty close to that time both days, but I don't think we met it (because of waiting on the groups in front and our own troubles searching for balls).

Many thanks to the MPCC membership for hosting the event.  I think all the players felt lucky to get to play these wonderful courses and we really were treated as well as anyone could hope for.  Getting to play the courses was definitely a special experience for me (despite my play), and even more given the normal windy conditions.

I would not be at all surprised to see Blake Trimble go on to win this event or many others down the road.  I played with him both days and he hits it a mile and has a great short game.  As an example, today 17 of the Shore was playing downwind.  I hit a solid driver and that left me with 141 to the hole; Blake hit a driver and was left with 55 to the hole.  On 18 I hit a good cut driver and he outdrove me with his Titleist hybrid.  I'm not long by anyone's standards, but even still.  He and his Dad are both very nice folks, too.

That's all I can think of for now ...

Are we sure that Jose isn't Steven Seagal undercover?

Hello All,

I meant to post during the tournament but unfortunately $49 hotel rooms don't come with internet connections.

I appreciate all of your good wishes and I'm awfully disappointed that I didn't make it into match play. I had plenty of chances, and the bounces were going my way, too. I really don't have anything to blame. I just made a handful of bad mistakes - e.g., bogeying two downwind par 5's from inside of 250 yards. My run ended with a 3-putt on the first playoff hole.

I'll try to add a few thoughts on relevant topics.

The speed of the greens: I've sat here for ten minutes at a loss for words. If they started at 13.5 early Monday morning, I wonder what they finished at? If you've never putted 13.5, it feels twice as fast as an 11 and 3 times as fast as a 9. I know it's not, but it feels that way.

The wind: Bob, I'd also respectfully submit that the wind was blowing very hard out there. On #12 Shore, I hit a good driver and a very good 3-wood just under 430 yards. Then on #16, I hit driver, 8-iron 520 yards, and that wasn't even straight downwind. I think the scores speak for themselves, too.

That every hole on both courses remained entirely playable under those conditions is great evidence of thoughtfulness in the design, maintenance, and setup of both courses. (Playable doesn't mean they weren't wickedly hard in certain spots - but there was no reason to lose a golf ball anywhere on either course.)

The Shore will be a wonderful match play course.

Tim Honeycutt's 69 on the Dunes today - teeing off at 11:30! - was a jaw-dropper (though I'm not forgetting about Blake Trimble's 67). I met Tim on Monday at lunch. He seems like a good kid and I hope that his round Tuesday will draw notice from some college coaches.

Final thought: The list of clubs with multiple courses of comparable quality is incredibly short. The fact that the courses are so distinct, yet so equally appealing, is somewhat astounding.

It's late and I'm sure there are better things for my mental health right now than sitting here at 12:30 a.m. thinking through everything. I'll post again if I think of anything else. Questions are welcome.

Matt

I have but one question to ask of you, how low do you think you could go on both courses, sans wind?

That's an interesting question.  I told someone last week after seeing the Shore that I expected to see both very low and very high scores.  There is a lot of room to play but if you aren't hitting the fairways then you're in for a long, long day.  The greens are so true that if you're hitting good putts and are comfortable with the speed, you should make a lot of them.  A smart and solid ball striker can position their approach shots to leave uphill putts most of the way around, but that's much easier said than done.  There are also five par fives, three of which (one, 10, and 16) are likely reachable for me without wind and six is likely reachable by the longer hitters.

In short, I don't know how low I could go, but I bet a tour pro playing well could shoot in the low 60s.  What is the course record?

Let me take a few minutes to ponder the same question about the Dunes course.

Perhaps it was a bit more windy then normal but the play of these top notch amateur golfers, specifically the college guys who are in top form, demonstrates what a wonderful course Mike Stranz designed, one that can challenge the best golfers but also be very playable for the every day membership.

A wise friend just told me another possible cause for the higher than expected scores, that America's top amateur golfers (the college kids), specifically those in the "good weather" areas of our country, aren't very adept at playing in non-perfect conditions.


CGA Round 2 Recap - Andrew Biggadike shakes hands with medalist

Andrew Biggadike from the Carnegie Shield in "Season in Dornoch."

Yikes.  Setting the record for worst defeat in a Shield final (at least according to Robin Wilson) was not one of my finer moments.  I prefer to remember 2003 and 2005.  Lorne got a few of my facts wrong in that book too (I'm not from NC and he misspelled Guilford).

It seems all threads lead back to Dornoch ...

Perhaps it was a bit more windy then normal but the play of these top notch amateur golfers, specifically the college guys who are in top form, demonstrates what a wonderful course Mike Stranz designed, one that can challenge the best golfers but also be very playable for the every day membership.

A wise friend just told me another possible cause for the higher than expected scores, that America's top amateur golfers (the college kids), specifically those in the "good weather" areas of our country, aren't very adept at playing in non-perfect conditions.

Agreed on your first point.  To your second, I think that applies to all golfers in those areas, not just the top amateur golfers.  Also, strong wind has the effect of bringing more of the course into play, so what's around the greens means a lot too.  That is, it's a lot different to miss right and end up in the Pacific Ocean or have to deal with the challenging contours that Stranz and Raynor/Jones designed, than if you were to miss a green and end up with a straight-forward up and down.  I suspect the latter is more often the case on most courses that the general golfing world gets to play on; as you said, these two courses are challenging and I doubt most players are used to such a test  (especially the green speeds).  As an example, it gets pretty windy out at Palo Alto Muni, but I don't think playing there all the time would have properly prepared me for this.

CGA Round 2 Recap - Andrew Biggadike shakes hands with medalist

At least I did one thing right out there this week ...

You may be interested to know that on the par five twelth hole he drove over the ditch, which is some three hundred yards from the tee and hit a five iron second onto the green.

I can't even imagine carrying the ball that far.  I'd have to add 70 yards to my carry to make that ditch, at least.  I sure hope it was playing downwind (which would also make the stretch of nine through 13 easier rather than harder, which is the wind we had both days).

Andrew, did I steer you wrong about the use of the new back tees?

No, not at all.  I hope I didn't say something that made you think that.  The new tee across the road on the fourth of the Shore was not used, as you said, and the new tee on the 11th was used, as you said.  On six and 10 they did put us all the way back, but we suspected that.  I don't know if there were any others in doubt.

I walked both courses with my father yesterday (Tuesday) --The Dunes early in foggy, calm conditions. By the early afternoon, it was howling on the Shore course, but nothing out of hand. Mr. Trimble's game is very impressive. I would definitley compare it favorably with many of the Nationwide Tour guys I've witnessed duiring the Wente tournaments.

I liked the Dunes course. I LOVED the Shore course. To repeat a frequent sentiment on this board, Mike Strantz was a genius.

I'd consider the local talent to have an edge.

Go Casey!

It seems that match play has brought out the best in some golfers games (and probably better weather).  Checkout the scorecard for Joseph Greiner, who was 7 under through 12 holes in his match today that finished in less than 2 hours.

2nd Round Match Play

Interesting results for sure.  Man that Greiner (from the home of the state HS football champion Canyon Cowboys, btw) shot 28 on the front nine!  Whoa....

  But what about that three-hole gap between matches (as I type this one match is through 11 holes and the next only .  They do go consecutively, every 10 minutes or so, right?  How can a match get three holes behind?

Tom,

Because one guy one putted seven times. Seeing how some of these youngsters prepare to putt by going through a pantomime of a brain surgery procedure, it doesn't surprise me one bit.

Bob