Yeah GCOD let us on for an event last summer, not exactly gate keeping anything.
Definitely thought GCoD was full private. My fault there guys. Good course? Never been.
It’s at least a Maxwell
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So, it has great bones and is worth a look.
It’s one of Maxwell’s last designs, it’s routed through a fairly small ball park that while not massively hilly, uses the topography on several holes in a way that really impacts the tee shot and approach, playing both along, up, down, and around the ridgelines over and over. It’s greens are probably much smaller than they used to be, and while I don’t think they have more than 1-2 with distinct tiers, some of the greens have pretty solid sloping in spots, which can make some pin placements pretty tough, especially if windy.
While I think they’ve done some tree removal the last couple years, if the qualifying is from the tips and not during the dormant season, you’ll have multiple tee shots on par 3s (2 and 7) and par 4s (12, 16, 18) hitting through shoots, or where one side of the fairway, even if FIR (11, 12, 15), could be somewhat tree-blocked on approach, where shot shaping could be beneficial to a higher level player. That said, it’s not very penal and is fairly open off the tee as far as keeping the ball in play.
Greens are kept in decent shape most of the year, but fairway maintenance can lead to some barren lies, especially at the edges.
Also, if you go out early, your first two tee shots are directly into the sun which is really unsettling.
As a much higher capper (17 index), it’s a place where I always score worse in a medal round than I think I should, but at the same time a place where I get more scoring opportunities as well. I think if you went out there and got familiar with the course, it might be a place you could score relative to competition.
That said, I’ve never played Hawk’s Creek.
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It certainly sounds like it could be a challenge. The qualifier is going to be in May so everything will be grown out and more than likely windy. I’m interested in playing it because my strength is off the tee and irons. Anyone interested in playing? I’m free most Sundays. Work the other 6. (Thanks FedEx)
Most recent TFE podcast Garrett Morrison managing editor @ The Fried Egg says he has plans to do a piece on Colligan/Kemp sometime this year. He was slated to do it April/May of 2020 but you know, Vid. Pretty cool.
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Pumped for this episode!
For DFW area folks - I recently played Texas Star and Bear Creek, both in the Euless/airport area. I really enjoyed both courses, and if you haven’t ventured into the mid-cities area to play them, give it a try.
Texas Star has wide fairways, but is heavily wooded, and is a great short-game test. Greens were well defended by bunkers and lots of them are sort of raised or next to water so you really have to stick them. Tough putting, there’s a lot going on in those greens, not a lot of straight putts. The 15th hole was a highlight - you can lay up to like 190 and then go straight over the pond, or you can try to drive a separate fairway that curves around the pond on the right.
Bear Creek has two courses, I played the East course, which is a little cheaper. Haven’t played the West yet, but I’ve heard good things. It’s just a really fun course, not too hard, but lots of holes where you have to really think about your plans and hit the right shot. Only negative was the bunkers were pretty hard-packed, so I’d recommend taking a drop behind the bunker on those, and I heard the West course has pristine bunkers, don’t know why there’s a difference. The par 4 8th was my favorite - hard dogleg right and bisected by the creek. You can lay up to 180-200 then hit straight over the creek toward the green. Or, if you’re feeling frisky, hit a good fade like 250 over the creek and thread it between the woods on both sides.
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Played Texas Star two weeks ago in the cold, rain, and then heavy winds. Shot 100 for the first time in I can’t even remember. Despite that, I absolutely loved it. Can’t wait for another shot at it. Agreed on #15. So many ways to play that hole, however, the low hook… I don’t recommend.
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100% a fan of Texas Star, less so on Bear Creek. In general, I have found the greens to be rock hard and the fairways and tees to have some pretty poor conditioning. Not to mention pace of play always seems to be super slow.
Yeah texas star kinda took my lunch money, but I’m excited to play it again. The low hook will get ya; I leaned into my natural slice on 15 because of, uh, research purposes.
Agreed on bear creek. Lots of forced lay ups off the tee and run offs that lead to lost balls.
How’s everyone doing?
We somehow kept power the entire time until this morning when it finally went out, but we had a pipe burst in our kitchen yesterday and I had to shut the water off at the main to stop it. We also haven’t had internet or cell service since Monday, even with power. I made it to parents house today as they have everything I don’t (power/water/internet) so I can finally take a shower but I’ll need to head back to my place soon.
Everyone else safe at least?
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Safe here in Dallas. I’ve got power for chucks at a time (hours) but then without for hours at a time. No pattern to predict when it will be on/off. Luckily all good on water. Cell service was pretty rough Monday night but has been improved since.
Hang in there, guis. We’ve got this.
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Pretty similar here in east Dallas. It’s been better for us today, but last two days were rough - really short spells of power and long stretches without, still better than many who went 24-48 without. Tankless water heater is frozen still and finally grabbed a shower today at the neighbors when the power clicked back on at noon. Thankfully have a gas range so could still cook soup and boil water for coffee and hot chocolate during these long, dark outages. Whiskey and Valentines candy consumption has been high to quite high.
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Doing ok in Austin. Have had rotating blackouts since Monday and our heat is electric, not propane, which is good. Have lots of people in Lakeway on propane that ran out Sunday and no trucks to deliver, so many have electricity, but no heat. We have had water and thankfully no pipe issues yet (knock on wood). No 4x4, so not going anywhere until it starts to melt on Friday. A nice ice layer on top of compacted snow makes the road completely impassable. Let’s hope we don’t get anymore snow tomorrow - up to 3” possible, but not probable.
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I’ve been lucky so far here in Waco, we haven’t lost power yet. My in-laws, though, have been without for over 24 hours, so I went and picked them up since I have 4wd and brought them to our place yesterday. We also have a wood-burning fireplace, so if we lost power we’d be able to close off that room and stay warm. One of my buddies here lost power Sunday night and his house got down to 44* before they went somewhere else.
Holding steady in Far North Dallas. We haven’t lost power, but we have multiple friends who have been out for over a day. So far the pipes are still working as well and we set them all to drip everynight. Hoping we’re coming out of this mess now.
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We finally got power back (but no water) to our apartment in Houston. Spent some time with a friend that had everything up and running but their power went out this morning. Bit crazy all across the state, hope everyone is stayign warm.
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Doing well in East Texas. Lost power today for a few hours. Also my city ran out of water. But have plenty for now. Biggest concern is my wife and my own mental health being home with an almost three year old and a two month old.