Simulator Course Review
Intro
I had a lot more breathing room for this round. Arrived a bit early, hit some balls on the range. Driver was feeling better. I stepped onto the first tee at Fisheye with high hopes; and immediately felt at home. I play golf in Hilton Head every year, and this was the Sea Pines course I've always wanted. This had the best elements of all three mixed together--the tight, unforgiving lines at Harbor Town; the perfect layout of Atlantic Dunes; and the...grass?...of Heron Point. All without the people on their patios screaming drunken nonsense in your backswing. Everyone always asks HHI golfers what their favorite course is in the area (way more than other places, it seems). I always answered quickly with "Atlantic Dunes", because it's the best one hands down. Now, I'm going to say "Fisheye Bay", and walk away smiling knowing they'll always feel like they missed out on a great course because they couldn't find it on Google Maps. "Must be a private course, I dunno, let's just play RTJ, again."
How Simulator Play Works
For those of your who don't know, simulators can be set up to run TGC 2019 (the simulator version). This particular venue has GC2's: the Cadillac of launch monitors (if Cadillacs were Rolls Royces). They are spot-on accurate. After some acclimation (much like VR), you feel like you're playing real golf. The ball does exactly what you'd expect it to do. TGC has absolutely nailed the realism with this, and makes the previous top-dog Foresight software play like trash. The ball spins, rolls, and flies with extreme accuracy. There is no forgiveness.
When playing on a simulator, you usually shoot a bit lower than real life. There are no lie penalties. Meaning, if you're in the rough or bunkers, it doesn't matter. You're still hitting a real ball 100% from a flat, tight piece of turf. I believe TGC takes a little off bunker shots, but not much. This may make it seem like you'd play WAY better than real life, but the short game component compensates for that. You don't realize how much you rely on your eyes and feel for things like chipping and putting. This is why indoor golf is so good for offseason short-game work. By the end of the season I know exactly what a 26 yard, medium trajectory pitch with high spin feels like. I know exactly how much club to put on a 16 foot putt. It's invaluable, and I highly recommend finding a facility with a GC2 and TGC.
We also play the game with automatic gimmies inside of 9 feet. This is because putting is very difficult to get a feel for. It's much faster to pick up inside of close range than watch everyone miss 3 putts inside of 10 feet. Again, without looking at a real hole, your brain doesn't know what to do. You make very few putts in a simulator.
Disclaimers & Preamble
I played the Back 9 alone. I noticed my irons were all overdrawing on the range, even with the 3 degree in-to-out swing plane. I weakened my grip a tad, but still was closing it up too much at impact. Wristy I guess. This played a role on how I played. I also was hopped up on caffeine and my wife was alone with my 5 year old, so there was a touch of guilt hanging over me.
About Me
I ended the season at a 7.6. I am what you would call a "weak" 7.6. I have shot even par at 72+ rated courses, and I've also shot 94 in a tournament as recently as July. I went back-to-back 74-91 in a tournament this year in the same conditions. Anything can happen with me. Today, my driver was feeling much better. My irons were all left. My 30-100 game is still poor, at best. My chipping continued to be hot; and my putter was, again, mostly irrelevant.
THE REVIEW
Green tees (6,588), No wind, Default Greens/Fairway, Pin 1
Hole 10 - Par 5 - 554 yards
My drives were fading on the range, so I aimed a bit left and hit a bullet straight into the bunker, 261 yards. No chance I was going at the green on this one with water right and short (very short). Already I was in love with this course for the indirect punishment. "These bunkers may not be so bad to hit out of, but I'll be damned if I let you hit something long up here unless it's laser accurate." An 8 iron to the fat part left me a good ways in for a third shot on a Par 5. 9i landed and stopped quickly to 18 feet. Two putt. Even.
Hole 11 - Par 4 - 378 yards
Eh, here's a big negative to this course: the tee shots are a bit short from the Green tees. I was kind of caught in between on this one. I'm not going to play a tight course at over 7,000 yards. Looking back, I may have gotten away with it here even though it was not going to be fun with the tight tree-lined fairways and water hazards aplenty. But, the next shortest was all the way back to under 6,600 yards. Something in the middle of that would have been nice. I crushed a power fade that carried 276 yards into the bunker. It felt awesome and I immediately wanted to hit it again. Unfortunately, this was the last time I pulled it out the rest of the nine. My 52 degree failed me in the same way an honor student does when he tells his parents he wants to pursue video game design. Once the source of their pride, now a beleaguered disappointment. A one-hopper 10 yards too deep and off the back. It was an easy up and down, but still, I'm struggling to hit these fictional greens in regulation (my fault, not the courses'). Even.
Hole 12 - Par 4 - 331 yardsAnother very short Par 4. I like them, but they're just a bit too long to make me question if driver is the right play. 310 or less and I'd probably risk it. 331 means I'm going to have at least a half swing either way, so I might as well make it a good yardage. I hit 6i 185 to the left center of the fairway. My 9 iron ended up just short and left. Another very easy chip up to the hole that lipped out. Even.
Hole 13 - Par 4 - 288 yards
Yet another short Par 4; but you know what, every single one is different. This one made it very clear that driver wasn't really an option. Not only is the green surrounded by water, but it slope front to back enough that even if you do carry to the front edge, it'll still go over the back. I hit my 20 degree hybrid 216 yards to the center of the fairway, leaving my only 71 to the back pin. I hit a half 52 degree that landed just on, and proceeded to trickle all the way off the back. I checked my spin count after and at ~9,000, I'd expect it to hold a little better than it did. Maybe my least favorite green so far. Easy up and down, though. Even.
Hole 14 - Par 3 - 151 yardsThis front pin didn't look too tough, with the back stop, so I tried going right at it with a knock-down 9 iron from 139 yards. I closed it a touch early and it hit just left of the green--hole high--kicked right, and trickled down the hill to 7 feet. Best shot so far. -1.
Hole 15 - Par 4 - 445 yardsQuite the jump from the other Par 4's so far. 445 yards, and tight with trees right and water left. I don't think this would qualify as a "Narrows" hole, because it's not wide anywhere. I chose hybrid (bad choice), and went to 216 to the right side of the fairway, just under the trees. I regret this shot, and should have taken Driver, because you don't want a 235 yard approach into a Par 4 after hitting a nice drive. Another hybrid went right, short of the bunker. My pitch was the same as the rest have been the last few days: wristy and left. It trickled off into the fringe. Up and down for bogey, and I gave the birdie right back. Even.
Hole 16 - Par 4 - 429 yardsI opted for a 2 iron, and hit one 243 to the right side of the fairway. It's odd to me looking back that I was so afraid to hit driver despite me actually hitting it well that day. I chunked my next shot (5i) into the front bunker. My flop from the bunker was poor, and I left it short of the green. A tricky little shot, though, with some space between the bunker and green. Very impressive placement. Up and down, and I'm officially on tilt. +1.
Hole 17 - Par 3 - 110 yardsWhat a fantastic looking short reverse Redan (see! I'm learning!). This one played perfectly to my stock, smooth 52 degree to 105 yards; ideally letting it roll the rest of the way down to the hole. And it was as if my child said, "just kidding about the game design, I want to be an Engineer." I hit a beaut, see for yourself. Even.
Hole 18 - Par 5 - 472 yardsYes, a birdie here would have been awesome to go under Par for the first time in these reviews. However, I also haven't shot even; and I was not about to bogey the last hole. I took one look at that water, and grabbed my hybrid. So long as I'm going for 3 shots, I might as well stick to my money-maker club. 202 yards to the center of the fairway. I then hit another 207 yards to the left side of the landing area in the fairway. My 58 degree pitch was, of course, left from 62 yards. However, I had a very easy 9 yard chip. I went for it, missed by an inch, and luckily stopped about 3 feet past. Even.
RECAPI was a little too fearful, and that's exactly what feeling this course is trying to give you (I think). Reasons to think, but also isn't afraid to penalize you for smart plays. There are no massive landing areas or bailouts. There are no unnecessary penalties. No gimmicks. That's what made it so much fun. This is precision golf at it's finest. Even the theme of the course worked well, as nothing else would have felt as right.
I may be biased by the style and look, but I was mostly just in awe of the "golf" knowledge on this one. The layout screamed modern design, but it played like an old favorite. It was as unique a fictional course as I've seen, yet a style we see on TV all the time. I'm not sure from a design perspective if this is a hard theme/style to master or what, but I'm surprised I haven't seen more with this look. My heart rate was up for a lot of shots, but I wasn't made to look like a fool for being a little off. It was like a scary movie where for a second you think, "I know the danger isn't real, but hey, a fire could still break out in the theater, right?" It was awesome.
VISUALS : 5/5This looked real on the big screen. The lighting and shadows were PERFECT in conjunction with the water and bunker depth. I could see every green, I could see every bump, but I could also SEE what was going on, unlike some of these courses making me tee off at 7pm. The planting, trees, and water weren't "clean" but they shouldn't be. This is the swamp. It felt extremely natural. Another example of a course I can't believe doesn't exist already.
*Rated based on how it looks, visually, on the big screen.
REALISM : 5/5Again, not a misplaced bump. I didn't see anything that struck me as "video-gamey".
*Rated based on how the course plays between the lines compared to real life courses. Assumes the course is not an outlandish fantasy course.
MEMORABILITY : 4/5Without big vistas or elevation changes it can be hard to give different looks off the tee, but Fisheye absolutely nailed it. I remember so much about this course, and cannot wait to try the other 9. Again, it's so strange hitting a real golf ball well and remembering it from a fictional golf course. "You should have seen the shot I hit last week on 8 at Fisheye." - "Where?" - "Fishe...nevermind." If I forget it's fake, you know it's good.
*How easily am I able to remember holes, shots, landmarks, etc. on the course; and how much am I able to distinguish holes from each other afterwards.
PLAYABILITY FOR SINGLE-DIGIT HCP : 7/10Ahhh, I want this to be higher. Add a 6,750-6,800 tee box and you're at least a 9 here. It's just a touch too short from the Green tees, and a touch too long from the Blues. That isn't to say single digit guys couldn't handle it, but I think that's the sweet spot for most golfers in this range. I think if I played Blues and hit more driver, I would have been discouraged by just how punishing it is. It's not that I mind a tight, hard course. But, there would be some approaches that would be impossible without a perfect tee shot. There also were a few greens with pins in the front in very tucked areas, that felt just a tad forced. And the green on 13, alone, probably knocked a point off here. All that aside, it was so much fun to play. I'd even say the most fun I've played so far.
*The baseline being that the course is at least a well-designed, high-rated course in the game and in the community.
PLAYABILITY FOR BOGEY GOLFER : 9/10I don't believe playability means "easy". It means, how does it play? Are you punished for good shots? Are you rewarded for bad ones? Are you overly punished for a decent shot? Are the distances fair? Etc. While I wish I had more tee options for the single-digit guys, the bogey golfer has a great choice between the 6,588 Greens and the 5,568 Golds for seniors, ladies, and short hitters. This course makes you hit it straight, yes. But you also can always play from the realistically deep and fair bunkers. You can take a drop from the water. It's still golf, regardless of difficulty. Yes, the bogey golfer is probably going to shoot a handful over their hcp on this course; but they're going to blame themselves for it, not the course. One point docked for the green on 13, and the couple pot-ish bunkers in the middle of fairways that don't seem to add much other than frustration if someone hits it in them with a straight drive.
*Same requirement as above, but also with the stipulation that the course HAVE a front tee of reasonable length (<6,400ish).
OVERALL : 30/35Highly recommend for all skill levels, especially higher handicaps. Single-digit guys, play a round from the Greens but don't hit driver. Even if you hit 7 straight with driver, you'll be hitting wedges into every green. Trust me, you'll enjoy the variety more. If you want a challenge, play the Blues; but beware, this is a course fraught with danger from that range. Either way, this should still be on your short-list of courses to play. I can't wait to play a full 18.
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International Record: 7-0-0
