Wow . . . I was just exploring the new top100 web site, and they list their top ten reviewers of courses.
The guy who's reviewed more courses than any other is M. James Ward.
At least we know he's playing them all from the tips!
a long hitterand known blow hard
I didn't mean to declare open season on Matt. On the contrary, listening to his perspective on how golf courses "rewarded driver play" helped me to understand that point of view better.
By the same token, I'd agree that his analysis was a bit one-sided, and I highlighted his involvement because I thought everyone would take the rankings a little less seriously if they knew it was the collective opinion of guys like Matt.
Pffffft!
Your post, intentional or not, was like the proverbial opening of the pickle jar that had been loosened through the previous efforts of others.
I don’t know many on this site personally, but I would bet there are a dozen or so who have a story exactly like Tommy Williamsen’s vis a vis use of the driver. I have personally heard at least three similar stories. Invariably with him, it’s the fault of the course not the strategy of bombs away off the tee.
Then you layer in the bombastic posts. It’s one thing that we all have different tastes in architecture. It’s another to be an internet bully who suggests that anyone with a point of view different from his is unworthy.
I had largely forgotten about him since he doesn’t post here anymore - plus I took a 12 year hiatus from GCA due to my military service and deployments to Afghanistan. But after playing Rock Creek Cattle Company this autumn, I went back to see what others here had posted about it. I do this to see if I missed something or to confirm my first thoughts. I came across a 2008 post from him where he just trashed the 18th hole — unnecessarily and gratuitously. I also noticed a different post where he criticized the placement of consecutive par 3s on the back 9 - also unnecessary and gratuitous. He tends (or tended) to make the same point in repetitive posts in the same thread — unnecessarily, and gratuitously.
Of course, I didn’t have to post all this. I simply could’ve repeated my initial thought – – KNOWN BLOWHARD