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Golf Courses - Fun and Different Everytime
Golf Courses - Fun and Different Everytime
By: J. Brian Keith
This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding golf courses. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about golf courses.
Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.
One thing every golfer will agree on is no golf course is ever the same. While playing different courses is fun and challenging, playing ones home course, no matter how many times it is done, is always going to be different.
Yes, it is the same course, nothing has been changed, except for the position of the cup on the green, but no golf course is ever exactly the same two days in a row, or, for that matter, the same day.
Will Smith in the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance" told his protégé how the grass follows the sun, which means a putt that broke one way in the morning will break in the opposite direction in the afternoon.
Another thing that makes the same course different every day is the weather conditions. Weather plays a big factor in golf, and how a course plays. A wet course will play slower and the ball will not travel as far after hitting the ground. On a dry course, the ball will roll farther after hitting the turf.
A course will also play differently in hot or cold weather. Colder weather keeps the ball from traveling as far, while a well hit ball will go further on a warm or hot day. Additionally, if an area has been dry for any length of time, the fairways, unless they are watered heavily every day, will become as hard as concrete and provide extra distance once the ball hits the ground.
Then comes the golfer's attitude. Yes, the frame of mind a golfer is in will have a direct affect on how well he or she plays and reacts to the course. Golf is a game requiring a calm, focused mind, so the player can concentrate on what he or she is trying to do on any particular shot.
One other thing that will make the same course play differently is how the grounds are kept. If the fairway is allowed to grow a little long, balls will not be able to roll as far, whereas, if they are kept trimmed close to the ground, the ball will roll further.
The rough is a whole other problem, as are other obstacles on the course, such as sprinkler heads. The rough is always going to be thick and hard to play out of, but a heavy, wet rough makes it almost impossible for a golfer to do much more than simply attempt to chip back onto the fairway. Sprinkler heads, which are positioned all over the course, will have an adverse affect on a ball that happens to hit them.
Believe it or not, who a person is playing with, or if he or she is playing alone when he or she normally plays with someone else will affect the way the course is played. So, this only goes to show how the same course, no matter how many times a person plays it, is never the same course twice.
Knowing enough about golf courses to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you've just learned about golf courses, you should have nothing to worry about.
Author Bio
Author J. Brian Keith is a proud contributing author for
Golf Course,
Exercise Equipment and enjoys writing about many different topics. Please visit my other web sites for Golf Articles and Free Photo Sharing.
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The 3 Types of Golf Handicaps
The 3 Types of Golf Handicaps
By: Brian Yager
There are 3 types of handicaps out there. They include: (1) honest handicaps; (2) sandbagger handicaps and (3) Hollywood handicaps.
Thankfully, the most common type of handicap is the honest handicap. This is a handicap that is determined by using a standard and accepted formula as defined by the governing golf body in a particular country. The golfer who carries an honest handicap is conscientious about keeping accurate scores, adhering to the accepted rules of golf and of considering all rounds played when applying the handicap formula.
The golfer who can be considered to be carrying a sandbagger handicap goes out of his way to make sure that his "official" handicap is somewhat higher than what it should be. The reason for doing this is pretty obvious. When competing in Net Score competitions (often involving money or prizes) he can have a distinct advantage.
A proper handicap, as mentioned above, must be based on all rounds played - good or bad. One "not so subtle" way to achieve the status of an elite sandbagger is to conveniently forget to enter good rounds but to be diligent to the extreme when it comes to entering bad rounds. If the golfer is "on a roll" with nothing but good rounds being shot, it may be necessary to make the supreme sacrifice and actually purposely play a bad round. "Gee, I just couldn't hit a fairway today!"
The third type of golfer is the one who carries a Hollywood handicap. This type of player is extremely interesting. This golfer has his heart in the right place - he takes the game seriously and desperately wants to improve and, perhaps more importantly, to be recognized as an accomplished player by his friends and peers. For the typical Hollywood handicap player, the handicap is everything. He would rather carry a low handicap and lose money than carry an inflated handicap and win money. A rare, but interesting breed!
To make my point, you should understand that the first step in computing a handicap using the standard USGA formula is to convert the Gross Score to what is called the Adjusted Gross Score (AGS). The AGS is equal to or lower than the gross score with an adjustment made by reducing unusually high hole scores. For example, in the US a typical bogey golfer (with a handicap between 10 and 19) cannot take more than a 7 on any hole.
OK, so you should now understand the difference between the Gross Score and the Adjusted Gross Score. Well, for the Hollywood handicap golfer, there is no difference. In fact, the concept of a gross score becomes obsolete. If the player happens to balloon to a triple bogey or worse on a par 5, he will typically say "just put me down for a double", knowing that anything higher will not affect his handicap. And of course, the "put me down for a double" statement will have that unmistakable inflection of "surely you would not expect a player of my stature to put down a number higher than that". Hmm, I have to wonder what would happen if Tiger, participating in a PGA event and after playing a rare bad hole, were to say "just jot down a par for that hole". It wouldn't be pretty.
The final interesting thing about the Hollywood handicapper is that he will enjoy a cold beverage after a round of golf and discuss nonchalantly his final score. It would never occur to him that his 9 on the eighth hole should have any bearing on the validity of the score he discusses - a result where a 7 appears on the scorecard.
Still, when all the dust settles, I would rather play a Hollywood handicapper than a sandbagger in a heads up battle. Hey, who wouldn't?
Author Bio
Brian Yager has keen interest in golf and his software development skills led to the creation of CaddieMasterPro, a personal handicap and performance analysis software program available at his website, CaddieMaster Golf Software and in North American retail outlets.
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