The golf thread...

We're under a week until my trip. I'm not sure it's a coincidence that Ben Hogan just released an update to the PTx irons. I'm not 100% sure, but me and the other guy going think we'll be coming home with a set of PTx Pro's.

posted by justincredible

We're under a week until my trip. I'm not sure it's a coincidence that Ben Hogan just released an update to the PTx irons. I'm not 100% sure, but me and the other guy going think we'll be coming home with a set of PTx Pro's.

Good looking iron, but doesn’t look like they’d be the easiest iron in the world to hit. 

posted by kizer permanente

Good looking iron, but doesn’t look like they’d be the easiest iron in the world to hit. 

I hope I'll find out soon enough.

Just found out we aren't playing TPC Vegas twice, anymore. We're playing TPC once, and then Cascata. I had to look it up, but holy shit it looks incredible.

https://cascatagolf.com/

This video is better.

Back from Vegas. I ended up getting fit for a set of the Ben Hogan PTx Pro irons. They'll come with Recoil graphite shafts. The guy who did my fitting will be building the set and shipping them to me shortly.

TPC Las Vegas was a nice course. Great background views.

Cascata was absolutely unreal. The course was immaculate. The views were incredible. It was my first time playing with a caddie of any sort, our foursome had a forecaddie, and it was an awesome experience. The caddie has been there for 13 years and was on top of things for us the entire round.

Unfortunately my phone crapped out on me at Cascata yesterday and I lost a lot of pictures. This was the opening hole:

purdy

posted by justincredible

Back from Vegas. I ended up getting fit for a set of the Ben Hogan PTx Pro irons. They'll come with Recoil graphite shafts. The guy who did my fitting will be building the set and shipping them to me shortly.

TPC Las Vegas was a nice course. Great background views.

Cascata was absolutely unreal. The course was immaculate. The views were incredible. It was my first time playing with a caddie of any sort, our foursome had a forecaddie, and it was an awesome experience. The caddie has been there for 13 years and was on top of things for us the entire round.

Forecaddies are awesome. And when you get an experienced one like that, you save about 10 strokes on and around the greens lol.

Yeah, he was pretty good on his green reads. He really excelled at putting me in the right club for approach shots. We were dealing with a decent amount of wind, and the elevation changes were legit. I'd be looking at a 125 yard shot and he'd tell me to hit my 150 club, and it was almost always the correct club.

posted by justincredible

Yeah, he was pretty good on his green reads. He really excelled at putting me in the right club for approach shots. We were dealing with a decent amount of wind, and the elevation changes were legit. I'd be looking at a 125 yard shot and he'd tell me to hit my 150 club, and it was almost always the correct club.

Had them at Pebble Beach and Pinehurst last year. I'm not a terrible putter, but had 6 one-putts at Pebble and about 4-5 at Pinehurts. I wouldve expected to make maybe 1-2 at each course with "my reads". They know the speed coupled with where to aim. 

At Pebble, he was great with his yardage. At certain courses (like Pebble), thats most important. At Pinehurst, it was more important to know where on green to aim, especially from closer in (50 yards to greenside chips), where you can control the shot more. Wrong side of the pin on those greens was deadly, and often wouldnt even hold. Correct side, you often had a makeable uphill putt with 2-10 inches of break. 

It makes you understand why the pros get so damn mad when they seemingly hit a perfectly fine shot 25 feet left of a flag. 

Joined a country club the other day, our membership officially kicked in this morning. Looking forward to having easy access to a course 6-7 days a week.

posted by justincredible

Joined a country club the other day, our membership officially kicked in this morning. Looking forward to having easy access to a course 6-7 days a week.

Care to say the price? i'm looking to join one by my house, but have no clue what to expect for rates. i know the courses in OK and TX were really dropping their prices because the Oiflield had slowed down so much that their memberships where down. back in this part of the world i imagine that  doesn't play into it at all.

posted by justincredible

Joined a country club the other day, our membership officially kicked in this morning. Looking forward to having easy access to a course 6-7 days a week.

congrats and enjoy, but the thought of playing the same course over, and over, and over again just doesn't appeal to me...but again, different strokes, I guess (pun intended)

Most private clubs are hurting for members.  Many have dropped their initiation fees, sometimes altogether, in order to get monthly dues-paying members.  That may not be the case at the wealthiest suburban clubs, but it is certainly true elsewhere.

posted by QuakerOats

 

Most private clubs are hurting for members.  Many have dropped their initiation fees, sometimes altogether, in order to get monthly dues-paying members.  That may not be the case at the wealthiest suburban clubs, but it is certainly true elsewhere.

yeah where i was in OKC, the club we joined waived their initiation fee ($6k) and offered 1/2price dues for the first year. But like i said, it was due to the oilfield downturn, my buddy is on the board there and said that the initiation fee will be back next year at that club. 

posted by j_crazy

Care to say the price? i'm looking to join one by my house, but have no clue what to expect for rates. i know the courses in OK and TX were really dropping their prices because the Oiflield had slowed down so much that their memberships where down. back in this part of the world i imagine that  doesn't play into it at all.

We just missed the cutoff for $210/mo due to our age, our dues are $310 with a $40 food/beverage minimum. They just ran a promo to allow all current members to refer one member for no initiation fee so my brother-in-law referred us. The initiation fee ($3k) was my only hangup in joining so I jumped at the opportunity.

posted by vball10set

congrats and enjoy, but the thought of playing the same course over, and over, and over again just doesn't appeal to me...but again, different strokes, I guess (pun intended)

I can understand that. But it's a nice course, close to our house, and given how booked up courses around here get having easy access is a pretty big bonus.
 

I’ve been wanting to join a course for awhile now. I can’t afford country club status, but the New Era group has a nice package in the Columbus area. I just haven’t pulled the trigger on it. I might next year though. 

6 courses (Golf Club of Dublin, Royal American, Bent Tree, Glenross, New Albany Links, Clover Valkey), unlimited play 7 days for $2600+tax. Or a little cheaper to drop GCD. Pretty much most of the courses I play all the time as it is. 

And one of my favorite tracks is closing at the end of the season, Blackhawk in Galena. They sold the land for residential development. I’m sure they made a fortune, but it really sucks to see it go. 

Father in law is a member at Medinah, and it’s amazing to wake up and just go play if you feel like it. No tee times needed, never a wait. It’s wonderful. They have 3 courses, so you can mix it up a bit, but I would sacrifice the waits and bookings and overall time constraints of a local course for a CC any day. 

I travel enough (northern Michigan or elsewhere) where I get my full of diversity anyway. Or when someone else calls up for a random round. 

I have no earthly idea what he pays, but for a CC not quite of that stature, I’d jump at it for a couple hundred a month if you can afford it.