GolfHos

What a glorious Western Washington Sunday, gray, the first round of the GofHos Ryder Cup was upon us, MFAWG called me enemy, I said something clever like "Naaaaaaaah"  that was the extent of the trash talking.

In the following picture you would normally see our states tallest mountain, over 14,000 feet. But clouds got in the way. Do note the dandelions in the "fairway", they look as though they hadn't been cut in two weeks.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2454.jpg)

In the following pic we thought it appropriate that we take a GolfHos picture in front of the port o potty.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2456.jpg)

One of the unique features of this golf course, this crooked tree. That's MFAWG on the left.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2473.jpg)

This course also has the coolest wood carvings.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2458.jpg)
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2459.jpg)
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2460.jpg)

And how about these birdies!
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2461.jpg)
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2462.jpg)

And this one is just for Miss E-A-G-L-E!
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2464.jpg)

MFAWG
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2466.jpg)

Seamus
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2470.jpg)

Maybe the shot of the day. 125 Yards with a little wind in our face to 18 inches.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2471.jpg)

And the walk down the 18th to the cheers of the massive crowds gathered for the Ryder cup. MFAWG and Seamus both shooting respectable scores. PS. the 18th green tore us all a new one, two doubles and two triples on a par 5, the pin placement was brutal.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2474.jpg)

Nothing like a good beer after a hard fought day on the links.
MFAWG.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2476.jpg)

Seamus.
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/gvandel454/Golf%20Stuff/100_2477.jpg)

I really liked the soaring eagle carving.  I played a course near Detroit that had a couple.

BTW, what kind of beer was MFAWG drinking?

I don't remember what that was, to be honest.

It was decent, maybe an Alaska Breweries product?

Seamus and I are now 2 for 2 in picking overpriced golf courses, although Auburn was a known quantity.

I had heard good things about High Cedars, but the reality turned out to be a little different.

Maybe an Alaskan Amber or Pale Ale? I only glanced at the bottle once.

This is how sad  the fairways were, I was in the middle of the "fairway" in between two huge dandelions with the leading edge of my ball touching one (I should have snapped a picture) since we were in the GHRC competition I called for a rules official to come in from the clubhouse, the bastage said I had to play it as it lies.

Alaska Pale, I'm thinking.

I was so bedazzled by the uberhelpful and oh-so-polite  :airquotes: Restauraunt Staff :airquotes: that I forgot...

It was good enough that I had 2...  ;D

Why are you ashamed of your lips?

Nothing wrong with my lips.

Why do you ask?


















 [sm_devil]

Maybe Uisce missed that we are wanted by the FBI and therefore cannot show are faces are teh internet?  [sm_dunno]

I really enjoyed reading this post. :D
Great pictures, and great incognito pictures!!!!!! ;D
You have a great camera, the quality of the pictures are fantastic!!!!!
I was very impressed by the shot that was only a few inches away from the hole!!!! ;D

I'm really impressed by the average Joe's you got to pose as you two. The modern men of mystery. You paid them with the beer right?

Very nice!  Thanks for the pic.s.   8)

The geometrically correct flattop and  (seriously) red neck identify that as me.

Who Seamus REALLY is is anybodie's guess.

He's Kaiser Soze.

Looks like it would be a fun course to play.  I love taking pictures of trees on the golf course, and the one of the slanted pine tree is great!  (If there was even a possibility of Kev walking into the pick I would request that he stay out - I really like scenic pics).  Wood carvings are so fun, and your pics show some impressive work and excellent detailing.  There are quite a few good carvings in the Hinckley (and Bemidji, too, I think - been a while since I've been there, though, so I could be thinking of another little town). 

The greens were in good shape, and it's a good layout with a little variety to it. It's got some longish flat holes,  a few doglegs that make you think, and a reasonable assortment of par 3's.

But it's way the *fudge* out in Orting, which is a 70 mile round trip for me, and it's 50 bucks to walk it with a bucket of balls. It hadn't been mowed in at least a week, and there was no difference between 'Fairway' and 'Rough'.


I told Seamus we should have been playing 'Lift, Clean and Weed'.... ;D

Add in the more than slightly surly 'Waitstaff', which amounted to a grandmother aged, but not grandmotherly in the slightest, trailerpark queen standing behind the bar/snack counter asking (literally in my case) 'Whaddayawant?' and obnoxious locals and it was not what it could have been.

MFAWG rates it 1.5 stars.

On the plus side, you had green grass.  Last time out, our course was lacking much of that.  Been better since it rained, but we haven't been out. 

Doglegs that make you think?  What's to think about.  Drive goes to the turn, take out 4iw and make it almost to the green, then pw close the cup, and putt for par.  Oh, wait, those would be the clubs that I would use.  And that's also saying that I wouldn't top my 4iw.  I almost always top that club, then I make the mistake of giving the club another chance to do well, possibly a third... better change it to driver, two 7i shots with a pw and 2 putt. ;)

Speaking of dandelions, the ones in our yard seems to have doubled since yesterday.  I'm not looking forward to ripping them all out. 

I'll let Seamus tell ya about the dogleg's.

Suffice it to say I had to Seve out from 125 and under a tree after blowing 3w right through the corner, and Seamus was deeper than I was...

So you're saying you tried to go around the corner and failed?

At times it can be nice not having much distance of the tee. :D

I think he's saying they both drove through the dogleg.  For example, teeing off from the top of a capital "L" the ball goes out the bottom of the letter. 

Isn't that the same as failing to get around the corner?  Well, your way of describing it is more tactful I suppose.

Not really.  Failing to get around the corner suggests a player tried to cut off a portion of the rough/etc. and driving through the dogleg is simply playing long down the fairway.  They got past (not necessarily around) the corner and then some.

No biggie but they ARE different to me.

Too many. But more than that (for me) they were too short, I mean how many times are you supposed to go 5 wood then wedge to the green?
MFAWG did hit that shot and it had to be the recovery shot of the day, I took 3 wood off the tee also and pulled it a bit, and the problem with that hole is that you have to aim for a group of trees at the dogleg as kind of a "goal post guide" and hope you miss them just barely.
Yeah but too many 3 woods and 5 woods off the tee isn't fun either, the yardages for the par 4's shaped up like this;
299
399
314
333
405
373
336
306
405
370
and it's reflected in the course slope rating of 113. But like MFAWG said, 50 bux for that and they hadn't mown the fairways in a month, there literally was no difference between the rough and the fairway, sheeesh, and Granny Clampett running the bar was a SPECIAL treat, I actually shivered when she called me sweetheart. 
:fear:

[quote author=Seamus McDuff link=topic=3326.msg43271#msg43271
Yeah but too many 3 woods and 5 woods off the tee isn't fun either, the yardages for the par 4's shaped up like this;
299
399
314
333
405
373
336
306
405
370
[/quote]

total    avg      stdev
3540   354   41.55050474


 :o

and  :o  at the flat top
hadn't seen one of those in 20 years

WTF is stdev?

Aske's just being mean.

He better be careful 'cuz I KNOW how to open a can of whoop ass.  :D

standard deviation.

Ok.

WTF is standard deviation?  [sm_devil]

Ah, okay.  That makes sense.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/8/5/3/853c79575bd7e5a9fdbc480844b76337.png)

what if the hole is a double dogleg, like an S.  you get around the corner of the 1st dogleg but run through the fairway as it turns back
?
 [sm_shock]

There's a par 5 like this at Northwoods in Monte Rio, and anothe at Chuck Corica in Alameda, which is actually U shaped

Been "only" 6 years for me.  For MFAWG's sake, I won't say who the person was that always had a flat top. 

Wait, never mind, I take that back.  It's been about 2 weeks. 

The hardest thing about the flattop is finding somebody that can cut it so it looks at least half assed. Fortunately, the shop where I get mine done has 2 competent practitioners of a dying art...

As many times as needed. :D


I don't see a single 3 or 5 wood shot there. :P ;) :D 


Mixed reviews here, you say it's been a month since they mowed, but MFAWG says it had been at least a week. 



:D

Kewl! 8)

It actually is a cool hole.

Good players can take both doglegs out of play if they can can bust a 280ish drive that will clear some VERY tall trees to the bottom of the U. Anything short is dead.  Normal people have to play it 3 or 5w, 7i,7i or some variation thereof. 190ish drive, and 2 fairly  precise layups...

And what about the not-so-normal person that struggles to even make bogey?

I should have pointed out that probably half of those par 4's were doglegs where the smart play was to play a 3-5 wood, I'm still having fun trying out a new driver so smart is not in my bag right now. And besides I don't like to pay 50 bucks to hit 3-5 wood off of half my par 4 holes, I think I even tried 7 wood once.  [sm_bs]

Dandelions: You tell me how long it takes for them to get 8 inches high and sprout seeds, there is your answer. The fact is there was NO difference between the rough and the fairway.  :-\

Question for future reference...why is sheeesh a bad word?

They struggle to make double. TRUST me on this one...

Cool pics.  I see you guys were doing your best "Wilson" imitations.[sm_anon]

heidyho.

Okay. ;D

And we have a WINNER ladies and gentlemen. You get karma!

[sm_thankyou]

Of course you want to take a new driver out of the bag as much as possible, I certainly do!  Of course, there's probably only 1 or 2 holes that I probably wouldn't need to use it at my home course (short 140 yard par 3s) so I don't have any reason not to take it out, but that's another matter.

The dandelions made it to the seed stage? :o  That has to be about 2 weeks maybe more?

Well, 'cause it's a euphemism.  I don't use them either.  I really do appreciate your consideration in this area - it truly hasn't gone unnoticed.  It's so kind of you to, um, refrain from using a word or phrase because it would be offensive to me.  There are even, um, well I guess most people think of them as "softer words", that I don't use just because they replace a word that I don't say.  That you all are thoughtful in this way is one more reason I consider you to be my friends - it's not just having a sport in common, it's not just talk, it's thinking about the other people, being considerate, remembering things that are happening in their lives, and so much more.  I deeply thank you all.

This is one more thing that is going right over my head.  Anybody have a link, or a more complete phrase I can wiki, or willing to give me a quick explanation?

wiki for tim taylor

this one:  Tim Taylor (fictional character), a character in the United States TV show Home Improvement

?

yeh. then his neighbor wilson wilson

Okay, I think I understand the reference now.  Thanks, Aske. :)

Nice pics and recap. 8)

Patron saint of nerds.