MaxEntropy

Three Hours Twenty Eight Minutes To Play Nine Holes. Trying to make it as painful for you guys as it was for me. I was playing with a group of 15 other guys that go to church with a friend and man were we slow. Some had rarely played, a couple others have had serious health issues and are trying to get back to it. Due to the weather, we pretty much had the course to ourselves so we used the opportunity for some instruction, mulligans, etc., so it wasn't really as bad as it sounds. I knew we took a long time but was a bit shocked to see that number at the bottom of the Arccos stats screen. For some reason I couldn't hit a driver. The course we played is a really nice 9-hole course but it seems like if you aren't in position for par, double is a pretty likely outcome. Bad drives lead to high scores. Approach game kind of saved it from being worse. Ended up +10 45. Heck of a warm-up for the MGS outing tomorrow.

As of right now, chance of rain Sunday is essentially gone while we are on the course. Maybe a chance for a shower as we are finishing, but that's about it. I still plan to post an update Sunday morning, but guys driving in, make sure you are searching for Portage Lakes in your weather app if you don't want to depend on me or it's not posted by the time you were planning to leave.

Not a problem. I'll try to post an update around 8-ish for the benefit of C-bus guys.

Weather update: Looking better Let's get it on...

First official night of league is in the books and it was a good night - Driver was (mostly) very good. Predictable baby fade was (mostly) back. Irons were also pretty sharp. 6 pars, 2 bogies (one of them a 3-putt ), and a triple(!!!) for a +5 41. The last couple weeks, I have been occasionally suffering from an over-the-top, pull hook. Not sure how or why I am closing the face, but it is happening. On our 15th hole, this is NOT something you want to happen - slight dogleg right, woods are definitely within reach on the left line. I did it last week and, since the score didn't count, I tried to clear a tree in my way with a hybrid with (predictably) disastrous results. Since the score counted this week, I decided to play it smart and hit a wedge over the tree to the middle of the fairway, leaving about 120 to the pin for my 4th. Hit a very crisp 9 iron towards the middle of the green. While it was in the air, I was thinking, "Great, reasonable bogey putt, double at worst." Then the ball lands and zips back, catches the false front and runs off the green into thick rough. A chip and 2 putts later and I walk off with a triple. Even with the blow-up hole, I am very pleased with the round and hope it is a good sign for the MGS outing we are having this weekend, weather permitting, of course. In other news, I witnessed a rare occurrence - all 4 balls in the fairway on the hardest hole on this 9. Normally, I am one of the causes for this to NOT be the case as I can count the number of times I have hit this fairway on a couple fingers. Photographic evidence: Part of what makes this hole difficult is the guy on the left had no shot - the pin was behind the far tree on the left and he is too far back for the type of loft needed to safely get over the trees.

Congrats, everyone! Can't wait to see what is in store for the challenges!

The two sites/apps I'm looking at are a bit conflicting - one looks like it might not be too bad, maybe some sprinkles, the other looks like light rain pretty much the whole time.

Wouldn't be so bad bad if it was 120 yards, but Google Earth says it's more like 180 depending on tee and pin locations.

Mike is also in. I assume we will play the blues.

I'm in. Not 100% sure on Mike yet, but I'll try to find out quickly. Wait until you try to putt on 13. Quite the front-to-back slope and false front. Long is really bad is there is no chance of stopping near the hole. 4 putts were not unheard of when I was in a league out there. 8 isn't too bad as it is very downhill and plays 20-ish yards shorter. Generally, these are about the best greens in Akron and can be really fast. Unsure what kind of shape they'll be in so early in the season. They may not be fast, but I'm sure they'll roll nicely.

Wow, quite the improvement!

I can count the numbers of times I've attempted a true flop shot on the course probably on one hand. More often than not I do try to bring it in a little higher with my 58* and rely on the spin to be predictable. If I do want more of a bump and run, I may grab a gap wedge but more than likely will deloft a 54*. This is a timely topic because I have been struggling the last week or so with the spin being predictable (I assume it is a combination of lie and contact). Too many shots have checked when I don't expect them to or rolled when they were supposed to check. Maybe I need to practice more running shot and forget about spinning it for the time being. I can see where it could simplify things if there is enough green to play with.

I think an important thing for beginners to understand is communication and asking questions. Sure, they may not know exactly what questions to ask, so it's our job to help them. We have a guy that subs in our league frequently that is very much into "proper" order of play (I guess you could call him old school). I have seen people really get under his skin by playing out of order. I fault him though. He doesn't communicate his preferences - everyone else is playing ready golf. Most people I play with have no problem with people watching them putt directly down the line. I don't even notice when people are doing it to me. But some are sensitive to it. I always ask when I'm playing with someone I haven't played with before. We also had a guy in a former league that was a Vietnam vet with PTSD and he really did not like people standing directly behind him, almost no matter the distance. That was one I never would have worried about if he did not tell me.

As of now, my preference would be the 30th. If 29th works best for the rest, I can make it work.

Weather was beautiful, albeit quite breezy. The golf was UGLY. Got off the tee pretty well but approach and short game were terrible. Irons were either piercing through the wind and long or ballooning and getting the crap beat out of them by the wind. Pitches were biting when I didn't expect them to and rolling out when they were supposed to bite. Hard to score when those things are happening. Result was too many doubles for a +12 (48). So far my league scores are 38, 44, 48. If that trend continues, be on the lookout for some deals in the BST forum

Congrats everyone!

I've done both - first trip to Hawaii had a large chunk of family there and I knew we were going to play a fair amount, so I brought my clubs. I sort of regret taking them as we also had a 14 month old, stroller, car seat, etc., so it was pain to add one more big item. The other three times, I was only planning on one round, so I rented.

I've walked it a ton - it's not a bad walk, although I will need to catch my breath after walking up 5 and 7.

A bit of a rough night in league last night. Biggest issue was chipping. While I had some decent ones, twice it took me two chips just to get on the green - both times resulting in double bogies. I know double avoidance is the way to reduce scores, so I have to make sure I resist the temptation to get too cute and just get them on the green. I ended up with a +9 44. Weather was fantastic, though. The course was closed last week as an energy company that has easement for a natural gas pipeline was there removing tress (and flying them out by helicopter due to location). Unfortunately, it really changed two holes. The pipeline enter the property at the red arrow on the lower right. The yellow ovals are the two main areas where trees were removed. Right on the lower hole and left on the upper hole used to be serious trouble. Now they are very benign and there is plenty of room to bailout. It'll be interesting to see if our scores drop on this 9.

Congrats all! Enjoy the process!

As of now, I don't think I have a particular preference. I'll check with Mike at league tonight and see if something works better for him.

What he said. I took a pretty long break from golf until about 8 years ago. Part of it was some crappy stuff going on in life, the rest of it had to do with young, active kids. For me, the things I wanted to do had to take a back seat, but I didn't really miss it.

You know me. I'd be up for it. I assume Mike would be, too.

Our league uses a variation of the old USGA calculation except it is based on 8 of last 16 so it does not potentially take a new person more than 1 season to fully establish. With some of our other rules, especially lost balls (you and opponent agree on drop location, 1 stroke penalty and keep it moving), I would guess a GHIN-compliant hdcp would probably be a couple strokes higher for me.

@Mr_Theoo and I played there a few years ago. I don't remember what you had going on. I really enjoyed the course, but don't recall it being as pricey as it was when we were trying to plan something last year. Maybe it was an early spring discount?