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THP NorCal Crew at Pasatiempo 7-26-14

TheHeez said:
Glad I wasn't the only one that got kicked in the teeth on 11! I think next time I'm going 7i/7i/whatever it takes and just accepting that its a three shot par 4. If memory serves I lipped out my double putt for a quality 7.

Tim got hosed, he had an impossible lie and made a great shot only to watch his ball stop on the green, then roll 60 yards down the fairway. Abused.
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Yeah, I inadvertently played it as a 3-shot (actually turned into a 7-shot par 4, ugh), because I hit my second fat, which ended up fine over on the left fairway, but pulled and thinned my 65-yard pitch just enough to catch a terrible lie in the upper left bunker. Being scared of coming out of the bunker and running all the way off the front, I made a complete mess of it from there. Ended up putting a few shots later from 15 yards below the front edge of the green, all the way to the back, where it slowly rolled its way back down to within a foot of the hole. Weirdest/worst hole I've played in as long as I can remember, so again, I left with a mission for next time :banghead:
 
Great time. Everybody in our group struggled to score, course had some areas of rough shape due to some top dressing applied this past Monday and the fairways tended to show the impact of the drought. All that did, however, was change the way it played a bit. The course design was a blast to play and the huge, undulating greens rolled mostly true and were unlike anything else I have seen.


A great time and special thanks to Eddie and the local members for all the coordination and securing the great price.


A few pics


5a8eme8y.jpg


2ubaqyre.jpg


dysebyhe.jpg


by8avy9a.jpg
 
LordByron said:
Great picture of that 16th green! yikes!
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the worst part is that the fairway is running towards the bottom of the green so your second shot is from a down hill lie

I stuffed a 9i in to 12ft and felt good with a 2 putt
 
TheHeez said:
Glad I wasn't the only one that got kicked in the teeth on 11! I think next time I'm going 7i/7i/whatever it takes and just accepting that its a three shot par 4. If memory serves I lipped out my double putt for a quality 7.

Tim got hosed, he had an impossible lie and made a great shot only to watch his ball stop on the green, then roll 60 yards down the fairway. Abused.
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I went 3H then 4H to the right side just inbounds then hit a great 60* to 8ft and 2 putted
 
the above was a copy/paste from the get-together thread...some other thoughts:


  • I am truly grateful for Eddie's efforts and the graciousness of our member hosts at this wonderful course. What a privilege to be able to play on a piece of history

In the clubhouse, there is list of Alister Mckenzie's idea course design premises:

1. The course should be arranged in two loops of nine holes.


2. There should be a large proportion of good two-shot holes, two or three drive-and-pitch holes, and at least four one-shot holes.


3. There should be little walking between greens and tees and the course should be arranged so that in the first instance there is always a slight walk forwards from the green to the next tee; then the holes are sufficiently elastic to be lengthened in the future if necessary.


4. The greens and fairways should be sufficiently undulating, but there should be no hill climbing.


5. Every hole should have a different character.


6. There should be a minimum of blindness for the approach shots.


7. The course should have beautiful surroundings and all the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself.


8. There should be a sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee but the course should be arranged so that the weaker player with the loss of a stroke or portion of a stroke shall always have an alternative route open to him.


9. There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes…interesting brassy shots (fairway woods), iron shots, pitch shots and run up shots.


10. There should be a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls.


11. The course should be so interesting that even the plus man (scratch) is constantly stimulated to improve his game in attempting shots he has hitherto been unable to play.


12. The course should be so arranged so that the long handicap player, or even the absolute beginner, should be able to enjoy his round in spite of the fact that he is piling up a big score.


13. The course should be equally good during winter and summer, the texture of the greens and fairways should be perfect and the approaches should have the same consistency as the greens.

The ones that stand out for me with the Pasatiempo experience is the "character" of each hole, variety of strokes required to play the various holes, and the ability to enjoy despite piling up a big score.


  • TheHeez (Steve) is correct in that once we all accepted that this course is hard, we all started to relax and have a good time. I should have opened Par-Par, but missed a 4-footer on #2. It was all downhill for me after that as the course ate me up. So, I had an unrealistic beginning to overcome.


  • I LOVED the huge greens and the crazy breaks. You *had* to think about what you wanted to do with your approach shots relative to pin placement and green slope. If not, you risked being above the hole and having to tap-start a putt and end up off the front of the green. Rob told us the greens were actually a bit shaggy from the top dressing applied...they would be simply brutal in normal conditions and I would *love* to come back and play it.


  • I had a memorable interaction with a resident when my 2nd shot got pulled into a net in front of her house. Steve and I started chatting her up and it was clear she was a little out of it. However, as I addressed my 3rd shot, she yelled in a kind of crazy-old lady voice, "Now, let's see it". While cracking up in my backswing, I stuck a pitching wedge to 4', which was equally hysterical (missed the putt...yay).


  • I think Tim found every bunker on the first few holes. It made me avoid them at all costs. Scared the bejesus out of me.


  • Good tee shots were rewarded and poor ones 'punished'. There were very few times where you would hit a great shot and find that you had some impossible lie or view into the green.


  • I suck at hitting downhill lies


  • I only had two 3 putts. That surprised me. Then I saw that I had 0% GIR. That's right. ZERO. Wow. To the range I go.


  • Tim bombs the driver


  • Chris is unflappable in his enjoyment of the game. He just has a blast and a healthy detachment from the score


  • Steve and I hit enough duck hooks and blocks right for 3 rounds of golf. We laughed about it the whole time (mostly).


  • After the round, D'John asked me if my calves were sore from pushing up the hills, etc. I told him I was fine and he looked at me funny, saying I'll feel it tomorrow. He was so, so, so right. Ouch. Great walk, though.

I could go on, but this is too long already. Great stuff!
 
syndicate559 said:
Oh man, I don't know if you've been there or not, but it looks 10 times worse in person! There is easily a 20-foot elevation change from the upper tier (where the pin was) to the front, lower tier. mancest made an 80-footer from the bottom fringe all the way to the top. Easily the best bomb I've ever seen in person.
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Have not been, on my bucket list!
 
chicogolf said:
the above was a copy/paste from the get-together thread...some other thoughts:

In the clubhouse, there is list of Alister Mckenzie's idea course design premises:

1. The course should be arranged in two loops of nine holes.


2. There should be a large proportion of good two-shot holes, two or three drive-and-pitch holes, and at least four one-shot holes.


3. There should be little walking between greens and tees and the course should be arranged so that in the first instance there is always a slight walk forwards from the green to the next tee; then the holes are sufficiently elastic to be lengthened in the future if necessary.


4. The greens and fairways should be sufficiently undulating, but there should be no hill climbing.


5. Every hole should have a different character.


6. There should be a minimum of blindness for the approach shots.


7. The course should have beautiful surroundings and all the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself.


8. There should be a sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee but the course should be arranged so that the weaker player with the loss of a stroke or portion of a stroke shall always have an alternative route open to him.


9. There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes…interesting brassy shots (fairway woods), iron shots, pitch shots and run up shots.


10. There should be a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls.


11. The course should be so interesting that even the plus man (scratch) is constantly stimulated to improve his game in attempting shots he has hitherto been unable to play.


12. The course should be so arranged so that the long handicap player, or even the absolute beginner, should be able to enjoy his round in spite of the fact that he is piling up a big score.


13. The course should be equally good during winter and summer, the texture of the greens and fairways should be perfect and the approaches should have the same consistency as the greens.

The ones that stand out for me with the Pasatiempo experience is the "character" of each hole, variety of strokes required to play the various holes, and the ability to enjoy despite piling up a big score.


  • TheHeez (Steve) is correct in that once we all accepted that this course is hard, we all started to relax and have a good time. I should have opened Par-Par, but missed a 4-footer on #2. It was all downhill for me after that as the course ate me up. So, I had an unrealistic beginning to overcome.


  • I LOVED the huge greens and the crazy breaks. You *had* to think about what you wanted to do with your approach shots relative to pin placement and green slope. If not, you risked being above the hole and having to tap-start a putt and end up off the front of the green. Rob told us the greens were actually a bit shaggy from the top dressing applied...they would be simply brutal in normal conditions and I would *love* to come back and play it.


  • I had a memorable interaction with a resident when my 2nd shot got pulled into a net in front of her house. Steve and I started chatting her up and it was clear she was a little out of it. However, as I addressed my 3rd shot, she yelled in a kind of crazy-old lady voice, "Now, let's see it". While cracking up in my backswing, I stuck a pitching wedge to 4', which was equally hysterical (missed the putt...yay).


  • I think Tim found every bunker on the first few holes. It made me avoid them at all costs. Scared the bejesus out of me.


  • Good tee shots were rewarded and poor ones 'punished'. There were very few times where you would hit a great shot and find that you had some impossible lie or view into the green.


  • I suck at hitting downhill lies


  • I only had two 3 putts. That surprised me. Then I saw that I had 0% GIR. That's right. ZERO. Wow. To the range I go.


  • Tim bombs the driver


  • Chris is unflappable in his enjoyment of the game. He just has a blast and a healthy detachment from the score


  • Steve and I hit enough duck hooks and blocks right for 3 rounds of golf. We laughed about it the whole time (mostly).


  • After the round, D'John asked me if my calves were sore from pushing up the hills, etc. I told him I was fine and he looked at me funny, saying I'll feel it tomorrow. He was so, so, so right. Ouch. Great walk, though.

I could go on, but this is too long already. Great stuff!
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Fantastic post, Matt! I missed all of that stuff about MacKenzie in the clubhouse, so that's really cool to read. It really gives you some insight into the design of the course after you've experienced it firsthand. Really cool theories. It makes me want to play more of his courses, for sure. So, maybe a NorCal Crew trip to Augusta next spring? :D
 
syndicate559 said:
Oh man, I don't know if you've been there or not, but it looks 10 times worse in person! There is easily a 20-foot elevation change from the upper tier (where the pin was) to the front, lower tier. mancest made an 80-footer from the bottom fringe all the way to the top. Easily the best bomb I've ever seen in person.
Click to expand...

PURE

FREAKING

LUCK

I couldn't see the bottom 3ft of the pin when I hit it, my only thought was Eddie's "no way you can get it to the hole" reverberating in my brain.
 
Thanks to all you guys for actually taking some pics, that was an absolute blast even though I totally stunk.

Eddie, thanks for setting it up, RoundersRob is the man, not only did he get us on for a great deal, but was our defacto caddy telling us where to hit and where not to, then showing us himself more often then not.

Great fun, now I need to get my game in shape and try to go back and keep it under triple digits.

Great to meet Gingerista and look forward to seeing her and all the others at our next outing!
 
mancest said:
PURE

FREAKING

LUCK

I couldn't see the bottom 3ft of the pin when I hit it, my only thought was Eddie's "no way you can get it to the hole" reverberating in my brain.
Click to expand...

That is awesome. I was in the same spot for my third and I gave it a good thwack. It got right to the top of the last tier (about 4 feet short of the hole), stopped, and rolled all the way back about 5 feet further back than when I started. I raised my fist and cursed the ghost of Alister for creating such a mean putting green.

Fortunately it rolled clean off the green so it only counts as a three putt! Its the small victories...
 
Just had a chance to catch up on this thread awesome job guys! Hopefully next time I'll be there. Keep up the good work NorCal crew!
 
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