Golf at St Andrews

[Ferrins]

If you live there you can play about 8 courses if you purchase a pass.
How different would your golf game be when you return after a year there, say playing on average twice a week? And how would your current kit hold up?

[Hux]

I'd have really good wet weather gear and doubt I would get 2 games a week during a scottish winter :-)

[Ferrins]

Jaybam is right, you are a wuss.

[Hux]

Born & bred Qlder. Cold, wet and dark is fine for Guinness but **** all else.

[Daves]

A mate was in the ballot for a round at the Old Course. He turned up on the morning of the ballot, missed out and was actually very pleased!. He said those that were playing were wearing trench coats, it was that bloody wet and miserable!

[matty]

A mate was in the ballot for a round at the Old Course. He turned up on the morning of the ballot, missed out and was actually very pleased!. He said those that were playing were wearing trench coats, it was that bloody wet and miserable!

If I was in the ballot I'd play whatever the conditions. Will get there one day.

[razaar]

I'll ask the wife's relly, Chris. He has lived in St. Andrews all his life. Nice old guy, he sent me the trilogy of the History of the R&A.
http://www.burkespeerage.com/articles/fsfeb02.aspx

[TourFit]

If you live there you can play about 8 courses if you purchase a pass.
How different would your golf game be when you return after a year there, say playing on average twice a week? And how would your current kit hold up?

I wouldn't return...not a chance.

[Scottt]

I haven't spent a year at St Andrews, but I have spent the best part of two years playing almost exclusively on links and heathland courses (mostly links), which play very much the same, particularly around the greens.

I came here with a solid pitching game and recovery around the green was done almost exclusively with a 56* wedge in hand. I had 5-6 shots, but all with a 56. I was also wayward off the tee in the pursuit of length because I could afford to be on the courses I was playing.

On fairways lined either by links rough or heather, hitting it sideways is suicide (and expensive). My driving has straightened out, but is no shorter, largely because of the run you get on links and heath courses between about April and October. I am sure I am carrying it shorter, so I expect my driving distance will be less when I am in the USA and then when I get back to Australia.

Around the greens is the major difference. I only touch the 56 if I am in the sand. Otherwise it's 7irons, 9irons, quite often the putter from 30 out! The lies are just too tight for a lofted club and the greens get so firm that using spin to access the pin is a low percentage play.

But the thing that makes long putts and chip and run shots much easier is that on most links and heathland courses the fairways and greens run at very similar speeds, in fact at Deal in summer I would say the fairways run slightly faster than the greens! As a result, putting from off the green is easier because you can very easily judge the speed of the putt - it's consistant from fairway to green, and the chip and run is much easier because the ball will react on the first bounce pretty well identically if it lands in the fringe (what there is of one) or the green.

I am definitely a better player for the experience, but there is no guarantee that will translate back to my golf in Australia because you use different shots, and going from links in the summer to US courses in the autumn I expect will be a big change (with no time to adjust seeing it's a brief visit). I do think I will remain a better golfer when I get back because staying straight is a benefit on any course, and while I will lose some length I still will be driving it 220-230m, which is enough. Also, I just make smarter decisions now.

The one thing you start to get with extended periods of links play is the ability to visualise a creative shot and execute it, and the ability to play in the wind and still get your ball around the course, working with the wind rather than fighting it.

Maybe those skills won't convert back - I definitely need to do some practise with a 56 in my hand - but in general I think a year at St Andrews would make anyone a more complete golfer and that is bound to show in your scores.

The other thing about St Andrews - with a year there you would learn a heap about placing the ball - both laterally and distance - to maximise your approach. Some would probably just blaze driver at the middle of the fairway and never think about it, but that would be a skill many would gain that probably isn't required to any great degree on a lot of Aussie tracks.

[Ferrins]

great read