Nothing but 2 irons
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@sundaybag @Soly was it harder to judge shots off the tee and run outs etc or shots into the green? That firmness - and how you both played - feel like shots into the greens weren’t the problem, I imagine it was harder to judge how to keep a ball in the fairway with a decent look
My thought is if I had tried to hit more drivers, tee shots would have become a big problem. Every approach shot had my mind in a blender. Every element is exaggerated (see soly’s approach on 14 and mine on 15). I personally have never had more desire to hit it in the fairway then out there. I can spin it with the best of em and it was so so necessary to have maximum spin on every shot. When you don’t, it became a real gamble.
I wish we had second cam for my shot on 5. I hit what I thought was the perfect shot. It landed on the front of the green and raced over the back and wasn’t even close. I just don’t know what else to do from 230. Looking back, I wish I would have tried to shape the ball a little more. Fade was necessary but didn’t feel that way from the ground. Was set up perfect for a little draw but needed to land 20 yards short of the green.
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I can see why you would not like it. To me, tee shots will need to be in certain sides of fairways, approach shots will require certain distance and trajectory, and green and bunkers look scary and punishes the smallest of misses.
It’s certainly not conducive to shooting a score, but some may like the challenge of solving this puzzle, and some may not because the questions are too hard.
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Yea - I got the sense from watching the asia-pacific that fairway was incredibly important for the added spin.
I suspect, on 5, the key is not to be 230. That isn’t glib, genuinely a wildly difficult shot. I am surprised you took that much club. But again, I’m not on the ground - arm chair easy to critique. I couldn’t tell from the video which was harder, seems like the absolute requirement of fairway made tee shots much more nervy
The APAC and this video are great evidence of how the great courses with the right soil, turf and maintenance practices can dial themselves up to 15 without much time needed.
A mate of mine who is a member played West 10 days before the APAC started and he didn’t think it was going to be possible to get it as firm and fast as he saw it on day one of the tournament.
Royal Melbourne in day-to-day condition is highly, highly playable and about as much fun as you can have on a golf course. I’m a 3-5 handicap and my last round on West I shot 75 with two doubles. The visit before on East I also shot 75. You can go low and have a lot of fun doing so — and you can also have your arse fed to you for four hours.
Soly & Ben were playing a course in major championship condition, which is crucial context for those saying the course looks unappetising and also those making merry with the way they both played.
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finally found the hat, if anyone besides me cares. but looks like it’s no longer sold. last one on ebay was even over a year ago.
this, but the grey one.
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Presuming my opponent is not a prick, I’m of the mindset that I’m playing my ball so am happy to root for others’ successes.
I also suck (badly) at golf.
Difference for me is stroke play vs match play. Much easier to watch someone in my group hit a lucky ass shot in a stroke play event when breaks should in theory even out over 18 holes vs match play when the entire match’s momentum can flip on a dime.
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Have read the rest of the thread & seen your replies to others responses, but just want to reassure you that RM is absolutely a fun time. Was lucky enough to play it in November last year, so probably nowhere near this with the APAC having just been held. However, there is plenty room off the tee and usually always an approach shot into the green. Hard to get it close if you’re coming in from the wrong spot, but reckon you could scrape it round without too many issues and thinking you want to opus dei yourself all day.
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So I obviously went way too far in what I said. My point was at that length, in those conditions with the wind and playing as fast as it seemed - I would have gotten beaten like a drum.
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