Topic: Rules of Golf / Lift & clean

thanks a heap, Stebboko

Topic: Rules of Golf / Lift & clean

Two of my mates had a hit yesterday and are in dispute. 1 had a ball that was dirty on the edge of the green (short cut, not the dancefloor but not the fairway either). 1 picked it up to clean it. 2 reckons 1 should incur a two stroke penalty and loss of hole. 1 thinks 2’s a #@$% and should pull his head in.

I suspect they are both right.. can someone pls confirm the rule

Topic: Golf Talk / ISG Ireland trip

Sounds like a brilliant idea Styles; I’m keen subject to costs

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Tips for a Traveller - British Open 2009

Thank you one ands all for your advice to date – all brilliant and gratefully received – along the lines I was hoping for… please feel free to keep it coming!

james -
Brilliant inside info re. ticketing but possibly a bit risky.. definitely expect I’ll travel with mates more ready to take the risk.. how’d you score the free tix from the R&A? Now THAT would be some sweet action!

thevintage –
I’m a massive fan of research before a trip, it’s like the planning is half the fun for me, so thanks a heap for your clues for suggested reading

PeterHutch -
that private home clue sounds like a brilliant plan – will investigate further with STB – cheers!

St_Andrews -
Any tricks to get on the open course after? What chance Turnberry will be unreliable / cancel bokings made for the week following?

All -
Thinking about a double-up with the Scottish Open lead-in tournament. A good idea? Likely to effect access for non-open courses in the area during that period?

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Tips for a Traveller - British Open 2009

ballboy – playing is DEFINITELY part of the plan.. probably 10 days or so plus watching the Open…

Andrew – from your advice a few rounds at Turnberry would not be as good as playing other options / surrounding courses?

St_Andrews – thanks for the tips.. confirmed my initial thoughts to organise a fair bit of golf in Prestwick…

If there’s any other advice you guys can offer please keep it coming!

Cheers

Topic: Golf Talk / US too strong for Europe at Valhalla

Contest was phenomenal, as was the standard of golf played… so many amazing efforts.. How was the JBH display of long hitting? The putt from Stricker to keep it alive? Kim’s shotmaking brilliance in the singles? Poulter’s single mindedness and impression on the contest as a rookie? The GOLF was at such an AMAZING standard it was just a pleasure to watch and wish you were there.

I was fortunate to watch every shot played and I thought the final scoreline was in no way indicative of the closeness of the contest.
As Styles pointed out, it could have gone either way until Mahan dropped that monster.. Just an unbelievable effort… he had probably sent the ball almost off the green if it hadn’t caught the hole.. Harrington commented afterwards that he doesn’t agree the games should be played out after the overall result is decided.. think I agree..

There were some glaring negatives though that took away some of the sheen for what I thought was a spirited, brilliant fight from the US team.. Did unfortunately get the impression that the gamesmanship extended to plain poor sportsmanship in the latter stages of the contest.. There is a massive difference between feeding off the energy of a crowd, celebrating with the crowd in the immediate aftermath of a brilliant shot and wandering around the galleries like a bore between holes (read Weekley, Kim).

The arrogance was palpable at some stages and that was really disappointing. Anyone see Kim wandering around with a popped collar after his singles win? What a petulant flog. There’s gotta be a respect for your opponent at all times cos if there isn’t that… then what’s it all for?

The press conferences afterward and questioning of the europeans in particular was plain disgusting.. All so negative rather than celebrating an amazing contest – there can only be one winner – where I thought it was brilliant golf and some lucky breaks that decided the contest there was instead this mood that the europeans had put up a less than decent contest.. No doubt a number of the guns didn’t fire (Garcia, Westwood, Padraig) but you can’t all the time and I didn’t see any need to go down a path apportioning blame.. extremely disappointing. Can’t remember the exact question asked of Faldo but the audacity of the reporter who did, when Olazabal had to intervene and say the question wasn’t worthy of a response, it was a really sad (and disrespectful) way to treat a team that had, for the most part, offered up some absolutely brilliant golf.

Was it just me or were the commentators plain useless for the most part and outright bickering toward the end?

Also thought there was plenty of evidence of the crowd getting out of hand but Azinger and others not just ignoring but furthermore raving about how well behaved.. whiffs of Chinese Olympics right there.. Spectator who slagged Westwood’s mother on the 12th tee should have been expelled immediately..

Overall just a sensational format and contest and spectacle and surely one of the best ways to watch golf and enjoy everyhting that’s great about the game.

Sorry this has become an epistle. I’ll shut up now.

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Tips for a Traveller - British Open 2009

Hey all

Planning a trip to see the Open in 2009 at Turnberry.

Given the collective wealth of experience of isg posters, can people please chip in with some tips, tricks and local knowledge for someone who has never made the trip.

Info like best accommodation options, some rough ranking of the courses (or even courses to avoid).

As little or as much detail would be brilliant.

For example, there might be a massive upside to staying at a particular little pub before playing at x course rather than the more fancied/publicised hotel nearby…

..or there might be a particular night of the week better to check out a local restaurant..

Dunno where this thread might lead but hope some benefit might be gleaned from other people’s prior experience

cheers

Topic: ISG Feedback / New Forums Features & Suggestions

ISG

It would be great to have a forum section where you could post practical info, ideally linked in some way to Course Reviews. Posters could list a course (local, interstate or overseas) & using a preset format or template perhaps info could be left/updated such as nearby accommodation recommendations, travel times/options from nearby landmarks, etc,

I guess in a practical sense a resource where golfers could do some research on ‘inside knowledge’ before making a trip for a game somewhere overseas or interstate.

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / St Andrews Beach

...that’s a real shame for golf I reckon. The course sparked some pretty heated debate on this thread but all that aside I think it was a great course to play and am sorry to hear those days might be gone forever

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Hardest course in Australia?

Agree that West is best but have found East gets significantly more challenging in the wind

Topic: Golf Architecture / Expensive Resort Courses - Why do they do it?

Barnbougle, Eynesbury, Port Fairy.. I would have thought there is a long list of options at or around that number

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / St Andrews Beach

...so they’ve locked the gates and are watching the value of the asset fade away? What’s the most likely outcome for the course?

Topic: Golf Talk / Dummy Spitting!

We had a long par 4 which was alongside an open paddock (farmland). One of our threesome (who had a wee temper) pulled out his driver, and middled an awesome duck hook. The ball went through the fence about 10 metres off the tee.

He didn’t end his follow through, just went right around with his driver, whooshed it past the tee again and let it go. It hit a fencepost about half way down the fence from where the ball went through, and the head of the club travelled out in a tumbling fashion into the paddock.

He walked over to the headless shaft, and speared it into the paddock as well. All he said was ‘C%NT of a club, that one’. None of us were game to laugh, as we still had 16 holes to go with him.

‘C%NT of a club, that one’ ?
Sounds more like he was a C*%NT of a bloke to get stuck playing with

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / St Andrews Beach

What happened to the idea for the sandbelt courses to buy it as a collective group?

Topic: Golf Architecture / Expensive Resort Courses - Why do they do it?

Agree that $85 – $100 at a top track is reasonable

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Hardest course in Australia?

The toughest 3 I have played in Victoria would be

Eynesbury
(Playing in stiff wind and rain coming down sideways)
Royal Melbourne
(Greens rock hard & running at 13 as previously described)
Port Fairy
(In similar conditions to the evil Eynesbury experience)

On my last trip to Barnbougle the pro told me everyone talks about how tough it is in the wind but that they only see probably a dozen genuinely windy days a year…

Topic: Golf Talk / Keepers of the Turf forum

Awesome idea. My only hope is it doesn’t become another forum for posters to attack the input of the professionals, like the architecture section has become. Cheers

Topic: Golf Talk / GOLF GPS

I’ve been playing with a Sureshot since last December and it was a PHENOMENAL investment.

I can’t compare the device because it’s the first GPS I’ve owned but I can vouch for the accuracy and have a list of other situations where I think they’re brilliant:

(sorry if I’m repeating previous posts)

1. Playing a course for the first time, whether it’s an interstate or overseas trip, with a mate who’s invited you to his home course for the first time or whatever, you can get distances without needing advice from your playing partners

2. You find yourself on an adjoining fairway (who hasn’t?) and want something better than a guestimate a2+b2=c2

3. You’re fulfilling a lifelong golfing dream (e.g. Barnbougle, St. Andrews, Pebble Beach etc) and don’t want to waste the experience.. You’ve shelled out a small fortune to get yourself there and paid for the priviledge of standing on the tee – surely you want to couple that with a good score? Whether you’re hitting to a blind spot or need to know a water carry, there’s a benefit to local knowledge when you’re not a local

4. You want to keep scores and compare results from numerous rounds (with the added benefit of other stats like GIR, putts etc… automatically) so you can keep track of improvement or just analyse a game in greater detail

They are not cheap but QUICKLY PAY FOR THEMSELVES when you consider the savings with lost balls and ‘exploratory’ first rounds of great golf courses where a lack of distance knowledge costs you shots / enjoyment.

YOU WON’T REGRET IT

Topic: Golf Talk / Eynesbury golf club

Heard a whisper that the ratings, rego and affiliation is nearly finished so should be a solid option for formal competition shortly

Topic: Golf Architecture / What is your favourite Tony Cashmore course (and your least

Southern better than RM? Surely you jest…?

Topic: The Lounge / Underbelly

I caught up with some friends on an overseas trip recently and there seem to be pLenty of copies floating in the expat community, too

Topic: The Lounge / Tiger Woods has too much time on his hands

post the link for the BTS vid, Lefty…

Topic: Your Favourite Golf Courses / Your happy place

Can someone please post a link to see Ellerston on the web? Cheers

Topic: Golf Talk / Dummy Spitting!

I played with a guy last weekend that started throwing his driver from the tee after the 2nd hole… He nearly hit my other playing partners on a couple of occassions. It got to be so regular (every hole… even when he’d driven pretty well) that it was no fun for those around him.. He couldn’t have been having any fun.. Tell you one thing… If I got hit by a flying club that some dummy spitter sent flying in my direction they would either wear it or watch the club split over my knee

Serial dummy spitters should find another game

Topic: Golf Talk / making a putting green

Hey brissyjoe

If you’ve got the space, it might be worth asking a greenskeeper from one of the golf clubs in your area how much it would cost to build the real thing. A friend of mine has an actual green built in the front yard & nothing beats the real thing for practice… It doesn’t take too much maintenance.. mainly rolling and watering and obviously mowing but once it settles in you can get a fairly good result…

Otherwise Southwest in the US seem to have the most pro endorsements: www.southwestgreens.com/pro...

Others worth investigating:
www.puttinggreensdirect.com...
www.tourgreens.com
www.huxleygolf.co.uk/News/P...

GOOD LUCK!