Kwalks

Has anyone played in 2022? I'm trying to figure out the walk on policy and if camping out is still worth it/a thing. Not a NY resident, so chance of getting a time on the day I'm looking for is not great. Thanks! Update (8/9): You can still walk on to Bethpage. The gates open at 5AM and the first hour of tee times are available only for walk ons. Couldn't say what time to get there, but earlier is better.

So just got back from the trip and ended up playing Royal Hawaiian, Kahuku muni, and Mauna Kea. If you've played Royal Hawaiian multiple times, I can see why you wouldn't go back too much. I'd highly recommend for anyone visiting and looking for something for different. I wouldn't expect to score well and you'll lose a ton of balls, but it really is playing golf in a jungle. Kahuku is up on the northeast part of the island and 9 hole muni. I think it was $30 for out of towners to walk it and the conditions reflect that, but the views were still pretty awesome. Its actually on the beach, so had a ton of wind coming off the water. Not much trouble and massive fairways definitely made me feel good about the game after Royal Hawaiian. Bonus is that its right next to a bunch of the shrimp trucks, which was my fiance's favorite part. Finished off with Mauna Kea on the big island. The views were other worldly. Was a little disappointed with the conditions of the greens given the price, but everything else was great. Had no one around too, so played by ourselves and could go at our own pace. Happy to go into more detail if anyone has any questions or is curious about any of the courses

Any recommendations for inland/jungle type courses besides Royal Hawaii? I've got other rounds lined up on the beach on the big island at mauna kea and waikaloa, so was trying to find something a little different. Thanks!

I played Gaylord Springs this spring and the course was nice. Links-ish style with not many trees as mentioned, but decent amount of fescue and water. It poured heavy for 2 days before I played there, so was pretty impressed we could even play. Also had a buddy highly recommend Hermitage, but haven't played myself.

Like OP, I got fit both over the phone and in person. This was back in 2020 and I originally got the driver fitted over the phone during covid. I was itching for a new driver and in person wasn't an option. The person I spoke with was definitely knowledgeable, but things can still get lost in translation pretty easily (more on that later). After getting the driver and liking it, I decided to upgrade my irons from my old Taylormade Rocketballz. By this point the world had slightly opened up and I was able to get fitted in person. I would highly recommend this if possible - especially since you can go to Liberty National if you're in the NY/NJ area. (PXG has their own bay on the range, but I was able to get out on the club range for a swing or two). Like OP, I originally was going to get the 0211, but as I talked with the fitter, I found out the year old model 0311 (gen2 at that point) was only another $20 per club. I ended up going 4-6 in 0211 and 7-GW with 0311 gen2. The difference isn't massive, but I would say the 0311 is definitely softer off the face and my launch numbers were better. The biggest benefit though was as OP mentioned, the ability to change shafts that weren't listed online. I ended up getting KBS C-Taper 130g X-Stiff shafts for an upcharge per club. This is something I definitely feel wouldnt have happened over the phone - numbers were dramatically better with these than stock. The last cherry on top was I brought my driver I bought over the phone to get numbers and just confirm it was the best option, which they had no problem with. As I found out, I had the wrong driver head for my game. Like I said earlier, things can get lost in translation over the phone. I told them my big miss is a slice and I need more forgiveness, so they fitted me into the XF club head. This is the "more foregiving" club head. The fitter in person explained this is more forgiving if you have an issue getting the ball in the air, it will increase spin to help with that. Keeping the ball straight was my issue so this was actually creating more side spin and making the slice worse. Luckily they were happy for me to send my driver head back for the correct one. All in all - would highly recommend the fitting experience with PXG.