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Golf Channel Am Tour

The tournaments I have played in with the Golf Channel tour have all been 5 to 5 1/2. The reasons vary but some of the players, when you get into the higher handicap flights, tend to take longer. Im sure not all of them play by the rules when they are just out playing for fun and when every shot counts they tend to take more time. Multiple missed shots off the fairway take more time to look for. Yes you get 5 minutes to find your ball but it is not just one ball per round you end up looking for. I had one guy I played with last tournament who took 5 practices swings on every shot. We fell over a hole behind and were warned to pick up the pace and it was all because of this one guy. Overall it has been fun and I have had a good time playing.
 
dont they play most of these when courses have thier "twilight rates", of so, man some of their entry fees are a bit steep
 
TrueFX said:
What makes the rounds so long? Are your tee times right behind normal player times? Are the AM Players just really slow?
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I think it is because there is money or prizes involved they take more time with club and shot selection and spend way too much time standing over every shot not to mention hunting for balls. They make more mistakes trying too hard so a guy who normally can play a decent round in a good time shoots 12 -15 strokes or more over his normal score and takes a lot longer to do it. I have seen single digit handicaps shoot mid 90s or worse from time to time because they are pressing and all the higher handicaps are way over 100. It just takes a lot of time to play these events. It really helps to have a no worse than triple bogey limit otherwise these rounds could take 7 hours. One of the reasons I stopped doing these events, it takes all day even if you tee off at 8AM.
 
pjcedog said:
I think it is because there is money or prizes involved they take more time with club and shot selection and spend way too much time standing over every shot not to mention hunting for balls. They make more mistakes trying too hard so a guy who normally can play a decent round in a good time shoots 12 -15 strokes or more over his normal score and takes a lot longer to do it. I have seen single digit handicaps shoot mid 90s or worse from time to time because they are pressing and all the higher handicaps are way over 100. It just takes a lot of time to play these events. It really helps to have a no worse than triple bogey limit otherwise these rounds could take 7 hours. One of the reasons I stopped doing these events, it takes all day even if you tee off at 8AM.
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We all have times when we hit into the tree or ob, but I think what makes the events take so long is people tend to take it way more seriously than if they were just out playing with their friends. They take 2 or 3 practice swings/putts, line everything up, multiple looks, etc. Extrapolate that for 4 golfers over 18 holes, makes for a long round. In the Golfweek tour, they do drive around and keep tabs on all the groups and issue warnings for slow play. But I have yet to see they actually issue penalty strokes. One of the events I played in, our groups was stuck behind a group that was warned twice for slow play. No penalty though. They need to start penalizing people for slow play.
 
I have played in the Golf Channel AM Tour for two years now. Finished 12th in the Nationals last year in my flight. Its great golf, competitive, fun, and its GOLF. There are really really good things about the tour. You get to meet new golfing buddies, win prize money, and trophies. There's nothing better for your game than playing for real and not just hacking it with your buddies, every shot counts, full rules are in affect. I was fortunate enough to get to play in multiple tournaments all over my area, a few outside of my area and at PGA West last year. All great courses with guys my own speed in golf. It has pushed me to become a better golfer, in two seasons i have gone from the upper 90's to mid 80's.

Just like with everything there is a few things that suck about the tour, but the things that suck are just a part of golf. You always get the one guy who thinks he is Tiger Woods and practices his swing 90 times before each shot. And also like Tiger he whines when things don't go his way. There are also the random guys who like to SAndBag, the best part of the tour is they can only do it once. The tour adjust your index every month and sometimes after tournaments.

Overall this is the best thing I have found in golf for someone trying to improve. Its competitive, fun, you get to play golf.
the national championship this year is in TPC Sawgrass Im going See You There
 
Can anyone post an update from an event they've played recently? I just dug up this thread while looking for info.

Thanks!


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Did you enjoy it? I assume you must if you played in 8 tourneys. Were any of them 'majors'? Are your experiences similar to others from earlier in the thread?

Thanks

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Yes I have enjoyed it. BamaHacker has it spelled out pretty well. I have not played any majors at this time. Everyone I have played with has been fun to play with, of course we play in the seniors flights so it is not as serious as the younger bunch, :drinks: But don't get me wrong, everyone is out there to win for sure.
 
threeboysdad said:
Yes I have enjoyed it. BamaHacker has it spelled out pretty well. I have not played any majors at this time. Everyone I have played with has been fun to play with, of course we play in the seniors flights so it is not as serious as the younger bunch, :drinks: But don't get me wrong, everyone is out there to win for sure.
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I have thought about joining this...but for me because I live over an hour away from Houston proper, all the events are a really long drive for me...some being over 2 hours and the entry fees are pretty steep if you ask me.
 
Would it be worthwhile to join up halfway through the season or better to just play from the beginning?
 
I was just reading about this a couple days ago... I'd remembered (finally) threeboysdad telling me about it at the TX outing.

They even have it for women... Something else to work toward :)
 
RoundersRob said:
Would it be worthwhile to join up halfway through the season or better to just play from the beginning?
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You can join at anytime as the entry fee for the tour last a full year not just the season. If you joined now and did not make this years champioship(there is still plenty of time) and you made it to next years, you would have to pay the yearly dues this time next year to play in it.
 
Not totally sure... Just found the initial info in the FAQs. When I'm actually playing well enough to attempt something like that, I'll check it out more.

We might have to get a THP TX group together to follow you around as your "gallery" :)
 
Bump, anyone still playing these events? I am thinking of joining the Palm Springs region.
 
Wingnut said:
Bump, anyone still playing these events? I am thinking of joining the Palm Springs region.
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I'm going to be playing the full circuit for the Bay Area next season. I might try to play in a couple of events this year as well.
 
Just from poking around, the Golfweek one seems just as active and cheaper, despite playing many of the same courses.
 
Is it carts or walking? I would love to walk.
 
I played in the Los Angeles one for a while. I found another tour much cheaper in the area and have moved to that.

I have played in events with them where people have used push carts.
 
C-Mac13 said:
I played in the Los Angeles one for a while. I found another tour much cheaper in the area and have moved to that.

I have played in events with them where people have used push carts.
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What tour? Interested in golfing more seriously and have been looking in to local SCGA clubs but still remain undecided.
 
MoparMan said:
What tour? Interested in golfing more seriously and have been looking in to local SCGA clubs but still remain undecided.
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Medal Golf Tour. Unfortunately this is their last season and will be merging with World Golfers Amateur Tour-USA http://www.wgatusa.com/ I'm still deciding if I'm going to sign up.
 
C-Mac13 said:
Medal Golf Tour. Unfortunately this is their last season and will be merging with World Golfers Amateur Tour-USA http://www.wgatusa.com/ I'm still deciding if I'm going to sign up.
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I've heard of the WGAT organization. Supposed to be decent but in California they do everything down south with zero events in Northern California so that's not an option.
 
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