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Post by catcherman22 on Jun 5, 2021 18:47:03 GMT -5
Welcome to week 38 at The Riverlands by cathalos1991 Bet you didn't know there was a Gainesville in Ireland? I also bet you went and looked it up. This course is a position game. You won't need to hit driver on every hole, and I would suggest you think about where you're hitting it.. and making sure you're in the fairway. Conditions are rather moderate, except for round 3 which I feel will play the hardest (Although that depends on what the default winds do in round 2... but the up tee should counteract that). Good luck! Enjoy the view... this one is pleasing to the eye if the golf is not going well.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Jun 6, 2021 2:39:20 GMT -5
Best of luck to everyone this week, really excited to have you all play The Riverlands this week.
The best tip I can give is just to second the one above. Its a position course, with water on 17 of 18 holes (not always completely in play) it's about knowing when to pull back and hit 3wood and when to smash driver. Nothing wrong with aiming for the fat parts of the fairway and plotting your way around.
As always, would love to get some feedback on the course. Have a great game and hope you are in the mix with a chance to win later in the week.
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spiggott483
Caddy
Posts: 21
TGCT Name: Spiggott483
Tour: Challenge Circuit
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Post by spiggott483 on Jun 6, 2021 9:14:58 GMT -5
That was interesting. Sailing along fairly comfortably at -4 after 27 holes, then went in the water three times on one hole, ended up with an 11, and completely lost the plot for the rest of the round.
Nice course, though.
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Post by SkyBlueBen on Jun 6, 2021 9:28:06 GMT -5
Really enjoyed the course and found it a good challenge while trying to get my game back on track. Caught the water twice on the 2nd in Round 2 red fasting but generally didn’t find the water as troublesome as I anticipated. Can’t go wrong with Cathal’s courses, always enjoyable to play. Probably helped my game the way it is at the moment by forcing me to put a little more thought into my shots. -9 through 2 which after my performances since the updates, and considering it included a quad bogie, is definitely progress.
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Post by SkyBlueBen on Jun 6, 2021 14:01:25 GMT -5
Course, or rather tempo, stuffed me in Round 4. Lovely place for a nice cooling dip on a hot summer’s day though 🤣
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Post by JosiaDB on Jun 6, 2021 15:57:59 GMT -5
what an awful start.
I was playing fairly well in my warmup round. Started on hole one with a birdie. was feeling awesome. Second hole- right club, but red slow and put it in the water. Knew I had the right club, so sighed and tried again. red slow, in the drink, again. clubbed up and smacked it hard enough to avoid the red slow, and got a red fast. ended up with 5 over on one hole. got another quad bogie out of frustration, before finally settling down.
played the rest of the round even, but finished +9 from those two holes.
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Post by twofor22 on Jun 6, 2021 20:23:29 GMT -5
-6 and -3 for the first two rounds this week. Sitting in 6th place in CCA at this early stage but clearly won't stay up there. Probably will make the cut though so I'll finish the event off in case I do as I'll be away from Friday across the weekend on a golf trip. 3 rounds in 3 days, can't wait.
The course itself I enjoy, bit more thinking about some of the tee shots rather than blasting driver on anything that isn't a par 3, and some risk reward situations that I often take on. I like the look and style of it too, nicely done 👍
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Post by deacondrake on Jun 6, 2021 23:03:39 GMT -5
Difficult course. Can’t imagine having to play strong winds. The water really infringes on natural landing areas and can quickly blow up your score. I didn’t have a lot of birdies in practice and 1 eagle. I started one round triple/double/double/single/eagle... then settled in. The developers must still be tinkering because I have been flawless pitching the ball of late. Was having tempo issues with short splash shots (60-80%) and remedied by going near max distance (95-100%) and going high loft and/or spin. I’ll update after I play a couple rounds for record. Expecting ~+2 per round.
1. Short par for that brings a lot of danger in the play both off the tee and the approach. Don’t recommend trying to mash the driver here. 250 will leave a wedge or nine iron in. The tree sticking out blocking the fairway pushing for a high fade. With a decent headwind, I was able to finesse a 90% driver short of the bunker and water. The water is deceptively close to the green and that bunker up front is hell. Gotta blast out... full power. Should be a birdie start but if you don’t come warmed up you can quickly escalate to a double or triple bogey.
2. This little green sits up on a little berm in the middle of the lake. Everything rolls off the front and sides so the safe place to play is deep. Not a good time to have your tempo off kilter. The pin at back is preferred for birdie opps.
3. Reachable in two if you play a controlled driver to the very end of the fairway… any tailwind definitely brings the water in to play on the left and straight away. 3W/3W is also effective to get into short pitch range. What you don’t want is to plug into one of those two bunkers upfront and then have to scramble for par.
4. It defaulted me to a hybrid off the tee which was a little odd. At 475, I don’t think hybrid Threewood is a particularly wise play even with the water on the right. The fairway does slope pretty hard right so make sure to play a draw into the hill regardless of what you’re hitting. Every time I rolled into the short rough. Pin one is in the back right corner and if you played the wrong side you will leave yourself a putt over 100 feet so beware. Trap on the left is deep and will make for another beach adventure. Also noted that there does not seem to be any fringe or apron on the greens so plan accordingly for that as well. Sometimes, like the fringe at old sunset field, It doesn’t even seem to exist or matter.
5. I could see in some of the more windy conditions wanting to lay up, But this hole really is set up to try to drive. Nice high 98% driver should drop you right on the front. The danger up around the green is nothing to sneeze at but it’s worth the risk.
6. I feel like this one is pretty straightforward as well. Use the wind to help you shape your shot over the hazards. Aiming to the middle of the green may leave an awkward lag putt to pins out on the wings. The back of the green slopes downhill but presented a pretty easy chip back for par.
7. This hole is an absolute beast. Any hitch on your drive Will leave you well over 200 yards across the hazard to a postage stamp sized green that is crowned and won’t hold a drop of water, let alone your ball. There are so many ways this can go wrong in a hurry. If you do hit the right drive that gets over the hill, it can run out well over 350 yards and leave you a very manageable approach shot. Scoring birdie here is going to be a chore. Zero luck on this hole in practice. Finally got saved par with a perfect 50 yard pitch. Other than that... doubles and triples.
8. The landing area for this par five necessitates a nice draw… even so it is unlikely that you will have a manageable shot to get home in two. There is a little creek hiding over on the left so beware when you go to rip your 105% Threewood. It does play downhill and the hill on the left side should kick your ball back out in the fairway if you miss hit, but this favors a three shot approach. The green is slightly larger than Indiana so you don’t wanna blindly run one onto it and leave yourself about 150 feet from the hole still.
9. The designer and initial review said that there were many Tee shots that would test your creativity and this is definitely one of them. The water is quite invasive to a long drive but anything Short can get stirred up by the hill and leave you 170 yards at some heavy rough. This is a good hold a practice on and find out where your Ball is going to check up best. I had a nice little tailwind and thought that I could punch a high Threewood over the trees and drop onto the lower mantle. Wrong answer. Recommend working a fade through the fairway. Another large green that is fairly excepting with a little bank on the back to keep you from running deep.
10. It’s tempting to try to hit a driver and down that narrow little band fairway but don’t bother… The water is right there and anything within like 6 yards of the edge of the fairway will end up catching the water. Recommend playing a Threewood or a hybrid off to the right. Even a perfect drive is still going to have to deal with that tree to get home in two. I played a great hole to Save par despite hitting the water once.
11. and so this is another short par four that will be very tempting for everybody to bomb. The water is certainly in play and you don’t want to risk any red fast. But the grassy slope in front will hold your ball and not dump it back in the water, and the green is shaped such even if it runs through it’s not running forever leaving a short trip back to the pin. Would expect some Eagles and birdies here. Fun fact: some how I shanked my drive landed on that island... twice... still possible to get up and down from there. I have feeling there will be some odd scores here.
12. The right side of the green is pure evil. I stayed away so I don’t know if that slope will hold your ball if you miss what would assume anything right is in the water. The bunker is deep, pop it hard with spin or you aren’t getting out. I’m pretty sure a careless putt could end up in the water.
13. If you can comfortably make the landing area at the end of the fairway that is certainly your best approach in. With the pin up front it may favor landing just short of the green and trickling on for a short uphill putt as beyond the cup it rolls away. In the back, there is a huge ridge to clear.
14. The fairway contours nicely to catch a right to left draw and really it comes down to which club you hit better off the tee to get the most out of the position. I had an awkward lie up near the sand trap so playing past 300 would put you on a more level footing. That is important because the sloped lie will naturally pull the ball towards the water side of the green. There is not a flat surface on this green so expect a few three putts out there.
15. I’m not sure what to describe this fairway as but it is certainly difficult to hit. Laying up short of the bunker leaves 200, manageable, with bailout to the right. You need to be on the fairway though to have a reasonable expectation to hit the green, and anything short and right is going to fall all the way to the bottom of the hill next to the water. Be careful with pitching chipping and other short game aspects as anything that doesn’t get to the middle of the green rolls back... no need for backspin here either. Another rolling green where you can find yourself a foot or two above the cup so plan ahead
16. Another Tee shot that will test what you prefer. Hitting the narrow right fairway will take crossing the sand traps out of play. However the fairway on the left may actually be easier to hit with some conditions.
17. This is a much trickier par three given the length and target. A hybrid isn’t going to hold this very well and anything that center is going to find a way to roll off and down the hill somewhere you don’t want to chip back from.
18. Another par 5 better suited for a three shot approach unless you have a tailwind. A lot of trouble on this hole. short off the T introduces a lot of risk hitting to the next fairway segment as you will be using a wood instead of a middle iron.
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Post by twofor22 on Jun 7, 2021 1:07:04 GMT -5
Pretty up and down frustrating third round. Got stuck on a run of slows for some reason, felt like I had to slam the stick just to avoid a red slow, then all of a sudden it decided to sort itself out and I hit a red fast into the water, ended up with par after replaying the tee shot, hitting the green then sinking an 18 metre putt. Would have been the second eagle of the round if not for the first into the water.
The round was more ruined on the second hole though, where I hit a red fast into the water, then a grey slow that dribbled back down the hill into the water. Third shot fell short again, then chip and putt for quad bogey.
In the end it was a -1 round to sit at -10 through 3 rounds. Probably won't earn any promo marks this week unless I can pull a -18 or something out of my arse in the final round 😂
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Post by twofor22 on Jun 7, 2021 7:34:37 GMT -5
-4 final round for a total of -14. That round mirrored my real life golf aside from the score, hitting decent drives the majority of the time only to stuff up the approaches and miss greens. Too many slows 🤬
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Post by deacondrake on Jun 7, 2021 12:33:56 GMT -5
+4 round 1
Started great with a birdie, hit the water on 2, clubbed up to get on and holed a 50 footer to save bogey. Then it got weirder. Perfect drive on 3, only to red fast the approach into the first bunker.... pitched to the second, blasted out into the rough, had my first chip roll back to me (a theme on this course) and fought my way to triple, bogeyed 4 after 3 poor shots. Went for it on 5, only to red slow into the bunker, from which I stuck a pitch off the pin to pull bird. Good par on 6... 7 would have taken my lunch money had I not gotten a miracle bounce of the isthmus cart path and grabbed bogey, then a bird on 8 followed by a terrible tee shot and approach on 9 to drop another stroke... then I pulled nine straight pars on the back nine (which included hitting the water on 11 and nearly holing the pitch up from 120). WTF?
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Post by timh on Jun 7, 2021 13:28:02 GMT -5
+4 round 1 Started great with a birdie, hit the water on 2, clubbed up to get on and holed a 50 footer to save bogey. Then it got weirder. Perfect drive on 3, only to red fast the approach into the first bunker.... pitched to the second, blasted out into the rough, had my first chip roll back to me (a theme on this course) and fought my way to triple, bogeyed 4 after 3 poor shots. Went for it on 5, only to red slow into the bunker, from which I stuck a pitch off the pin to pull bird. Good par on 6... 7 would have taken my lunch money had I not gotten a miracle bounce of the isthmus cart path and grabbed bogey, then a bird on 8 followed by a terrible tee shot and approach on 9 to drop another stroke... then I pulled nine straight pars on the back nine (which included hitting the water on 11 and nearly holing the pitch up from 120). WTF? +11 for round1 Took an 8 on 2. The initial club offering to cover 170 yards is correct by all rational thinking, but NOOOO. Red Fast of tee...water. Club up, red fast...still in the drink but initially hit dry land but rolled into the water. Double clubbed up...190 yard carry...hit back bunker. What a crap show. +6 going to the 3rd hole, birdied this and the next, missed the next by a micro inch drifting by the whole settle for easy par. Birdied the next hole...mini rally going on, but all good things must come to an end. Missed opportunities. Partial pitches near the greens in the rough...fighting to save bogey. Sigh...nice course, but key crap scoring on critical holes. Yes Deacon...WTF... Onwards to the next round, should be fun...high winds?
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Post by Riotous on Jun 7, 2021 22:54:53 GMT -5
There was a lot I loved about this course, the highlight being you had to plan your hole, it’s not simply smash driver. It’s a beautifully golf course, expertly made. Unfortunately there were a couple of greens on mountain tops and any more than one hole where you are beholden to the tempo gods is a problem in this game. Maybe I just need to be a better player but Pin 4 was tough, very tough
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Post by Giraffe72 on Jun 8, 2021 3:43:49 GMT -5
Yes, same. I'm enjoying plotting my way around this course at the moment and it's very easy on the eye, but I've been lucky to have been blessed with pretty solid tempo (so far). Thanks to the recent changes in the mechanics it's the kind of course where you can rack up a big score in a hurry, there's more than the fair share of forced carries. Personally I think you need to be a little careful scheduling courses like this because you'll just turn people away. Reaching the stroke limit on par 3's is not fun! It's not the course's fault, she's a beauty.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Jun 8, 2021 3:50:11 GMT -5
Yes, same. I'm enjoying plotting my way around this course at the moment and it's very easy on the eye, but I've been lucky to have been blessed with pretty solid tempo (so far). Thanks to the recent changes in the mechanics it's the kind of course where you can rack up a big score in a hurry, there's more than the fair share of forced carries. Personally I think you need to be a little careful scheduling courses like this because you'll just turn people away. Reaching the stroke limit on par 3's is not fun! It's not the course's fault, she's a beauty. I do agree with you here, the red tempo changes came into the game right around publish and upped the difficulty for a number of holes that were pretty testy to begin with. If your tempo is solid there's plenty opportunities for sure
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