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Leave your ego at the door... what would your shoot...

MtlJeff said:
Oh boy. We had this discussion somewhere else and it ended badly.

So , let me get this started while i put on my flame retardant suit....Augusta is still golf at the end of the day, its not some kind of sorcery/mystic thing where the laws of physics and gravity don't apply. If you are for example a 3, and expect to shoot 100 there...you are pretty much saying you think the course rating is like 95, which of course it isn't.

On a Masters Sunday--it can't be higher than what? 80-81?

It's not like you couldn't have some birdie putts or tap in pars. A low index is perfectly capable of not butchering the par 5's and having some birdie putts.

my goal would be to break 85 (ducks and covers)
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I agree, and to add another hot sports opinion:

Would chipping from plush lies and hitting from expertly manicured fairways help vs the hardpan goat tracks many of us peasants regularly play? What about having a pro caddy personally coach you around the course? Or using a green reading book that told you and your coach/caddy what was going to happen on each putt? What if you got to play a couple practice rounds before making it official? I’d bet that if you took all the same advantages the pros get as part of the tour, you’d do a lot better than you think.
 
I remember a couple decades back, Matt Lauer from the Today Show, was challenged to break 100 on a US Open venue. I think it might have been Pebble, but honestly don't remember. Only that it was a day after the Open finished or the day before it started. It was in full Open conditioning. At the time, we didn't know what a sleaze he is and he still had hair. But I digress. He was purportedly a 6 or 7 handicapper back then. There was some TV coverage of it, but I don't remember if the whole event was televised. Bottom line, I think he shot somewhere around 102-103. I'll have to go check Google to see if I can find it.

Edit: Okay, found the story. I stand corrected. It was Torrey Pines and he shot 100. It was a Golf Digest challenge/contest. He played with Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake., plus and everyday Joe contest winner. Romo and Timberlake broke 100. https://www.today.com/allday/matts-golf-challenge-1C9385161
 
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85 is what I thinking.
 
My only goal would be to break 100. I think the green speed might make that damn near impossible as I tend to putt really bad on fast greens.
 
DougE said:
I remember a couple decades back, Matt Lauer from the Today Show, was challenged to break 100 on a US Open venue. I think it might have been Pebble, but honestly don't remember. Only that it was a day after the Open finished or the day before it started. It was in full Open conditioning. At the time, we didn't know what a sleaze he is and he still had hair. But I digress. He was purportedly a 6 or 7 handicapper back then. There was some TV coverage of it, but I don't remember if the whole event was televised. Bottom line, I think he shot somewhere around 102-103. I'll have to go check Google to see if I can find it.

Edit: Okay, found the story. I stand corrected. It was Torrey Pines and he shot 100. It was a Golf Digest challenge/contest. He played with Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake., plus and everyday Joe contest winner. Romo and Timberlake broke 100. https://www.today.com/allday/matts-golf-challenge-1C9385161
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They did this a few years and it was called the US Open challenge or something like that. The real eye opener to me was Bethpage, where Ben Rothlesberger and Michael Jordan, both of them maybe 5-6 indexes each shot something like 84-86. (Jordan called himself a 0-1 but was a notorious vanity cap)

Romo shot an 81 when he played if i recall. But Romo and Timberlake are both pretty darn good golfers and actually play a lot in celebrity stuff. Big Ben was really more of an amateur 5 index.

These courses are certainly very challenging. But as mentioned earlier it's still golf. Even on a challenging hole, you hit 2 good shots and walk off thinking "that wasn't so bad"
 
MtlJeff said:
Oh boy. We had this discussion somewhere else and it ended badly.

So , let me get this started while i put on my flame retardant suit....Augusta is still golf at the end of the day, its not some kind of sorcery/mystic thing where the laws of physics and gravity don't apply. If you are for example a 3, and expect to shoot 100 there...you are pretty much saying you think the course rating is like 95, which of course it isn't.

On a Masters Sunday--it can't be higher than what? 80-81?

It's not like you couldn't have some birdie putts or tap in pars. A low index is perfectly capable of not butchering the par 5's and having some birdie putts.

my goal would be to break 85 (ducks and covers)
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I'm right with you. At the end of the day, it's its still a golf course. 100 yard wedge shot there is the same 100 yard wedge shot here.

That being said from the master's tees I'd be really happy around 85 but would expect to break 90.

I played Oak Hill a little over a week after the 2013 open from the back amateur tees ( not the Open tees ) and was given a great piece of advice by the forecaddy.

He said "Don't let the course beat you before you have even hit a shot. Yes it's Oak Hill but it's still just a golf course."

Wise words that I have remembered ever since. I shot 81 that day and was thrilled. He earned a big tip that day.
 
According to a top 100 course panelist at Golf.com, the Master's Tees are Rated 74.8. Slope: 141. He says you're not going to lose a lot of balls because the driving areas are very liberal. The Black tees at my home course are rated 74.3; slope 136. The member tees at Augusta are 72.1/129 - we'll call the "member's tees" at my home course the blue tees 72.1/123. Not that the courses are equal. On one of my best days, I shot a 90 from the white tees (6300 yds) Rated for men at 70.3, Slope 120. We'll neglect the women's rating for this exercise. Bottom line - I play a pretty tough course.

I'm going to say that since it wasn't mentioned in the OP, that we're playing from the Master's tees with Member's conditions. The conditions were not set as "tournament conditions" in the rules. Just the tees.

So going by this we can add 5 strokes for the rating alone. That's 95. The USGA table gives me 5 more strokes for the slope. That's 100.

Now if I'm playing Augusta, my caddie isn't my Garmin G80. It's someone who works there as a caddie and who is going to tell me what club to use, where to hit the ball, and help me line up putts. So I have the potential to shoot 100. The biggest factor would be the heat and humidity. That could add 20 strokes alone because if I'm gassed by the 9th hole it will be a very long round. I'm a Washingtonian. Perfect golf weather to me is 73 degrees with a slight breeze. The second factor is inconsistency which could add another 5 to 10.
 
I have absolutely no way of knowing, but I don't think under standard conditions it would be that insanely tough. And I'm pretty used to the length. What do first time amateurs usually put up there? I don't think it's anything to write home about, so around there maybe? Tournament conditions and practice rounds kind of balancing out? Hard to say on a course with that much nuance though. I'd kill for a practice round before finding out. Lol
 
I’d like to think I would have a shot at breaking 100 but that’s not likely.
 
87. Just because
 
gbtrsc said:
I’d like to think I would have a shot at breaking 100 but that’s not likely.
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When I played Bethpage a few years ago with THPers, it was definitely the greens that were a challenge and not so much layout and length. The greens were fast when you expected them to be slow, and broke when they looked flat (then putts you were convinced would break, stayed true). I’m not sure I made a putt outside of 3 feet. It was almost like each green was designed as an optical illusion. We didn’t have a caddy, and I’m sure that would’ve helped a bit, but with greens and putting, I’d shoot 110-120 and still have a big old smile on my face.
 
*LONG POST ALERT*

This thread got me thinking, so I played that famous course in Georgia this morning… on my Xbox.

I set up my bag to reflect my actual carry yardages, which are noted below:

Driver - 220 carry
3w - 210
5w - 200
4i - 185
5i - 175
6i - 165
7i - 150
8i - 140
9i - 130
PW - 115
GW - 105
SW - 90
LW - 75

I played from the tips on the Sunday pins (you all know where they are).

I also followed the same rules I set for myself on the course: if it’s over 185y in, I lay up to a comfortable wedge yardage.

In real life, I’m a 13, and - funny how this works - I shot my handicap (without any adjustments for slope/rating). 41/44-85.

Now - do I really think I would shoot 85 there? No. There were no chunks or sh@nks during my Xbox round… ball striking is super consistent on a video game compared to IRL, so I figure that warrants an adjustment.

What would that cost me in real strokes? Well, that’s hard to say. I feel like 10 strokes is a fair bet. Throw in a few chunky bunker shots and I am probably at +15 over Video Game Me.

So - from the tips, at Augusta, all things considered, I think I would be super pleased if I broke 100, and just fine at 105-110.

As if this post wasn’t long enough already, here is a blow-by-blow of the Xbox round:

1 - driver, short of the trap and left center. 198y left. Laid up to 96y, pin in the middle. 2 putts for par.

2 - driver missed FW right. 352y in. 4i to 155y. Pin back right. Played to middle of green. 3 putt bogey.

3 - 4i off tee. 151y in. Pin is left. Played to middle of green. Hooked it a bit long and left… 15y pitch from the valley. Up/down for par.

4 - 232y par 4… hmmm. I’d need driver or maybe 3w since it plays downhill. Pin left center. It’s painful, but, I should lay up. No way I’m stopping driver or 3w on this green. 9i to 82y. Pitched an 8i to 24f. 2 putt bogey.

5 - driver missed fairway right. 258y left. Laid up to 107y, pin back left. GW to middle of green. 3 putt double.

6 - back right pin. 5i just off the back. Up/down for par.

7 - driver upwind. 217y left. Laid up to 80y. Right middle pin. SW spun back into the bunker! Up/down for bogey.

8 - 3w well short of the bunker. 319y in. 3w to 115. Front right pin. Wedge to 11f, pin high, made the birdie putt.

9 - driver would put me at the narrow spot in the FW… hmmm… tried it anyway, striped it and had 194y in. Pin is on bottom tier, left. Laid up down the right to 60y. Pitched to 9f, made the par putt.

10 - hit driver with a little draw but didn’t catch the speed slot and had 235y left (down 38 feet) to middle left pin. There’s no great place to layup due to the large FW bunker, but I can’t get it there reliably either. Laid up short of the bunker to leave a full wedge in from 126. Left it above the hole… made the 9 footer for par and immediately bought a lottery ticket.

11 - 215y carry to the fairway upwind so I have to hit driver. 248y to front of green, pin is back at 285y. Laid up to 111y. 2 putt bogey from 15f.

12 - pin was right. I hit 7i just off the back middle fringe. Hit a poor chip and two putted for bogey.

13 - driver, didn’t get around the corner. 250y in to middle right pin. Laid up to 101y. Pitched it to the wrong tier… ugh. 19f putt downhill towards Raes Creek. Kept in on the green, but 3 putted for bogey.

14 - driver, had 220y left in to back pin. With no bunkers around the green I broke my 185y layup rule and hit 3w, which reached the front of the green and rolled back to the fringe leaving 27y. Tried to pitch it long and use the backstop but it hung up above the pin! Two putt bogey.

15 - driver, had 269 left in. Left center pin. Laid up down the right to 108y. This is the scariest pitch shot on the course so far… tight pin, downhill lie, shallow green. I’d be sh!tting myself IRL. Went a bit long and ended up with 17f from the back fringe… and putted it off the green to the front fringe. Two more putts for a bogey.

16 - missed the ridge! Left it up on the front right tier. Ugh. This is the first putt I feel like it’ll be a win just to keep it on the green. Managed not to de-green myself and left a 12 footer for par, which I missed, for a 3 putt bogey.

17 - driver, 219y left. Laid up to 93y, front right pin on a car hood. Yanked a wedge to 39f. A VERY CAREFUL 2 putt bogey.

18 - found the fairway with driver. Had 208y left in. Left center pin. Laid up to 103. Hit the green… but spun back into the trap. Up/down for bogey.
 
I'd not be breaking 100, and not even close. The length is on thing, but the greens would be the killer. A decent caddy giving the lines and reads on the green would shave a few strokes off but it would still be a long day. And the best day ever.
 
The caddy would be doing a lot of this in Georgia that day....

As I'd be posting a few on the card....
 
I would like to think I would break 100 and with a caddy would be really disappointed if I didn't.
Playing sensible bogey golf with the odd 3 putt I think something in the range 90 -95 feels possible.
 
I think I'd be somewhere between 90-100. Around and on the greens would be the difference maker.
 
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