The 60 and over Thread

At 415, I don’t have the fire power with that forced carry approach. My driver is 30+ behind you. Add prevailing wind in your face and it’s dink a second shot near the edge of the pond and 3 or 5H over.
How about 421 uphill and into the prevailing wind. There’s a ridge 225 off the tee that leaves just under 200, but it’s still at least a club uphill. Did not get on in regulation at all this year. Hit it pin high right and left and over once. Was just short on the fringe a few times too. Will take 5 on that hole anyway and walk away.
 
Sounds like a VERY tough hole….is it the #1 Hcp hole? If not, it oughtta be!! My first question would be are you playing the right tees? If not, moving up is a possible solution. If you’re already on the Sr. tees, is laying up on your second shot an option? If so, how long a 3rd shot are you looking at?? FWIW, at my age, I absolutely
HATE forced carries with little to no options for laying up. I can think of two of the courses we play in our travel group that present us with this “non-choice.” It’s like the course designer is saying “You have to play this one MY way!!”
Interestingly, it’s not the #1 HCP hole on the scorecard. It shows up as #7, which is insane. But the card is wrong on so many levels, showing #1 and #10 as harder than this hole and both are 2 of the easiest holes on the course. Everyone familiar with the course agrees that this is the toughest hole, primarily because of the tee shot, which leaves no margin for error.

I play the whites and the hole is 401 yards from that box. But that’s a little misleading. If you get your drive over a ridge, which is probably around 180 yards, the fairway tilts downhill and to the left, towards the green. When hard packed in the summer, I’ve had balls hit up the right side roll down and all the way across the fairway to the pond. It’s a narrow fairway, too, with a thick tree line down the right side, creek feeding the pond down the left. White tee is the right tee for me and my group.

Yes, 2nd shot layup is an option and the one I normally take. The green is tucked behind a pond on the left, so I tend to hit straight down the fairway, favoring the right side, just in case. A draw can get to the green, even rolling on, but there’s a slight berm in front of the green that can redirect your ball into the bunker, so it’s kinda tricky. 3rd shot is almost always less than 100 yards and often inside of 50. Just depends on how close I get to the edge of the pond.

Here’s a picture from the green looking back up the fairway.

1735054791882.png
 
How about 421 uphill and into the prevailing wind. There’s a ridge 225 off the tee that leaves just under 200, but it’s still at least a club uphill. Did not get on in regulation at all this year. Hit it pin high right and left and over once. Was just short on the fringe a few times too. Will take 5 on that hole anyway and walk away.
Hell…..at our age, that’s a par FIVE!!! In fact, there’s a hole of about that length at the course I consider my “home course” (played there for 50 years, LOL!) that is 420 from the back tees. They’ve moved the senior tees up to about 300 now, so once in a while a buddy of mine and I will go back to the back tees and play it as a par 5!!! Just something a little different to keep it interesting!
 
How about 421 uphill and into the prevailing wind. There’s a ridge 225 off the tee that leaves just under 200, but it’s still at least a club uphill. Did not get on in regulation at all this year. Hit it pin high right and left and over once. Was just short on the fringe a few times too. Will take 5 on that hole anyway and walk away.
There’s a similar hole on my course plays 420 to 430 except it’s about 250 to the top of the hill. I was on once this year in regulation. I play for the hope of a one putt par.
 
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Course was packed by time I finished!
Glad to see you get out there playing. Not sure when I will, probably next spring?

My 94 year old mother lives in Upper East Tennessee and when I visit her during the offseason, the grass looks just like in your photo.
 
I've been working on a back friendly golf wing (I broke my back a few years ago), and modern swing methodology puts too much pressure on my back (there is a lot of scientific evidence that shows just how much pressure). In any case, I've been working on a variety of swing not involving modern swing theory (MST).

As an example, with MST I carry my SW 70 yards, with my hands swing it carries 85 yards. With MST my 7-iron goes from 125 yards carry to 145 yards carry with the hands swing. This all sounds nice, but the hand swing requires very good timing. If my timing is off, so is the golf ball. I've got all off season to fiddle around with it. If it remains too inaccurate I'll bail on it and go for accuracy.
 
Tomorrow is Xmas day free golf at the courses near me. Nothing like free golf on Xmas! 🎅
 
I just finished watching a replay of the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship. To get into the tournament the kid had to go through local and regional qualifying.

10-11: the kid who won shot a final round 66. These kids were reaching a 465 yard par 5 in two.
12-13: another final round 66 to win. Longest drive in this bracket was 330 yards.
14-15: final round 62 by the winner.
16-18: final round 64 by the winner. Longest drive 365 yards.

Seems like the game is in good hands. We've already seen a few college kids jump on Tour and become successful right away. Makes you wonder what this generation of kids will do.
 
Glad to see you get out there playing. Not sure when I will, probably next spring?

My 94 year old mother lives in Upper East Tennessee and when I visit her during the offseason, the grass looks just like in your photo.
👍🏼
 
There is nothing wrong with laying up. My home course has a similar type hole. A bogey 5 with the occasional par is fine. The rounds where we avoid anything worse than a bogey almost always result in a good scoring day.
That hole is a good hole to play it for a bogie and if you get a par feel lucky! lol
Same. From those tees I'm not getting my tee shot close enough to the edge of the water to attempt that carry, I'd have to try and lay up closer to the water to have a chance. I moved up a set of tees when I played this course in April and still doubled 18.

... And @bkuehn1952 just beat me to it. Lol.
Some days it seems like I am a mile back from the water and some days if feels like I am close enough to play a FW. A double isn't that bad on that hole either because the green isn't small or easy to putt on.
 
Merry Christmas to everyone on this thread. It is my pleasure reading and learning each day. Good guys and a fearless leader @grandstaranded :cool: Love the banter and the opinions. Keep swinging into 2025 🎄
 
Guys, have a great week with Christmas and New Years. As others have said, this thread is fun and/or interesting to peruse daily. I do Wordle or check this out, in that order or the opposite, depending what I remember first that day. I may need to take a trip south this winter to the Sarasota area. I am getting the itch to tee it up.

Keep yacking away, I am sort of listening. 😉
 
This is a great group! Merry Christmas to all.
 
Since I turn 70 next spring, I’ll be able to play the reds @5200 for scrambles and events At my home club. Our golds are @5700. So yesterday with my buddies I tried the reds for the first time ever. Three of the par 5s become reachable. Barely, but reachable none the less. Irons or wedge approaches on all holes. Interesting not hitting hybrids into most holes. Even with a poor day striking the ball, I shot 78. I can easily see shooting par or better with a decent ball striking day.
it was a bit of a fun ego boost, but I don’t see playing that yardage much at all. Seemed like it just took most of the challenge out.
 
Just wanted to echo the comments of some earlier posters, wishing everyone on The 60 and Over Thread a Merry Christmas! I enjoy this
thread and all the regular posters here immensely!!!
 
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I want to wish every one of you a Merry Christmas (or Happy Holiday) and a happy, prosperous, but most importantly, healthy New Year for not only you, but all your loved ones.
This thread isn’t just a place where golfers over 60 can talk about their game, it’s a place where we come to check in regularly with our friends.
From the day it started it’s probably been the single most active thread on this site, and any other golf message board I know of. As cool as that is, it’s nothing compared to what so many of us regulars have gotten out of it. We share just about everything that happens in our life with each other… the good and bad, the funny and yes, the sad, because that’s what friends do.
 
Merry Christmas to everyone on this thread. It is my pleasure reading and learning each day. Good guys and a fearless leader @grandstaranded :cool: Love the banter and the opinions. Keep swinging into 2025 🎄
Hope everyone stays happy and healthy in the new year.
 
I want to wish every one of you a Merry Christmas (or Happy Holiday) and a happy, prosperous, but most importantly, healthy New Year for not only you, but all your loved ones.
This thread isn’t just a place where golfers over 60 can talk about their game, it’s a place where we come to check in regularly with our friends.
From the day it started it’s probably been the single most active thread on this site, and any other golf message board I know of. As cool as that is, it’s nothing compared to what so many of us regulars have gotten out of it. We share just about everything that happens in our life with each other… the good and bad, the funny and yes, the sad, because that’s what friends do.
Looking forward to a continuation of this in 25. Thanks to everyone who contributes to or reads this thread.
 
Merry Christmas to everyone on this thread. It is my pleasure reading and learning each day. Good guys and a fearless leader @grandstaranded :cool: Love the banter and the opinions. Keep swinging into 2025 🎄
I just got back to my daughter’s house after spending five hours with the rest of my family celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes (if any of you know, you know) and drinking a little more wine than I probably should have. When that happens I tend to get sentimental.
I’m not going to do that now, so all I’ll say to you is, Merry Christmas to my friend, the Southern Gentleman.
 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! And many rounds of golf!
 
Merry Christmas to all. As been echoed many times here, this thread is about so much more than about a group of individuals of similar age with a passion for a game. We can relate in ways we can’t elsewhere. About golf and life as well. Have a great day my friends.
 
Even as old as we are. And with that comes the joy of giving over receiving, there still that kid in all of us thinking at this moment, what new golf surprise awaits us under the tree! 🤣🤣
 
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