Course Yardages

What yardage would you guys say a course should be before you'll take it seriously. The course i play on is 5348 yards which i know is fairly short but it's tricky. I actually take an 8 iron of the tee on a par 4 i could drive just to take hazards out of play. I just don't wanna go down the road of thinking i'm better than I am.

I don't consider yardage to be the determiner of a 'real' course.

I consider a course having a slope and rating (or SSS) to be a real course.

My home course isn't very long, but it's got some trickiness to it.

And I don't score really any differently on other courses (I miss a lot of greens).

It just feels like a bit of a cheat when you have 350 yard pars 4 and you can make a good drive and have a PW into the green sometime a SW.
Also there are a few 250 / 260 yard par 4's that are drivable. I've hit a 3 wood onto the 250 yard green a couple of times.

Well being very new to golf myself and having played quite a few different courses around me before I joined a club, then I would say anything above 6000 yards is when to take it serious. As every drive has to be spot on and taking the shots to the green you need to know your game play.

But my views are that knowledge and understanding of a course plus knowing your distances you hit for every club in your bag really do pay off.
Cheers
Mark

Where abouts in the UK do you play Mark?

There is more to it than just a scorecard yardage. A course with hard pan fairways, easily cuttable doglegs, more holes that play down-hill than up, placement of fairway bunkers, all of these play into how long a course actually plays.

(Big)Some pro's hit driver PW on some really long holes...

Official slope of the courses makes them "real" but as far as stacking up to competition course conditions.... Few if any, courses are setup the same as most courses played by the PGA. Tuffest Pins available etc...

However I think, "Perfect sand", "Perfect Fairways" and "Perfect Greens" makes the game way! easier! I live in colorado and although you can hit the ball longer...(Altitude) holding a green is sometimes impossible (spin rates are much lower) and the Greens are bumpy, poor quality and dry.

I find that being just in the Rough is sometimes better than the fairway at my home course. this would not be the case... on a compitition course.



Gary

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My course is by no means easy. It's hilly, you rarely have a flat lie, your target is usually above or below you, the target of often blind, greens are well protected often tucked behind greenside bunkers or ponds, greens are fast a sloping and some are multi tiered and there is plenty of OBs. I just feel it's a little short thats all. It doesn't matter how many bunkers surround a green if you've got a PW in your hand and not a 5I your feeling more confident.

I am a member of the old padeswood golf club that is about 10 miles outside of Chester. I have played a few other courses around (Northwest - Live Chester) my area and the top 5 are

1)Northop Hall - Flintshire
2)Old Padeswood - Flintshire
3)Chirk - Outside Wrexham
4)Eastham Lodge - Wirral
5)Caldy - Wirral

I dont know if you have found this web site already but its great for info on clubs in the UK http://www.uk-golfguide.com/

Cheers
Mark

Hi i do know that website. It's very useful.
You're in a similar area of the world to me.
I play around around Northwich area, mainly on Municipal Courses because i can't afford the cost of more expensive clubs. The club i play at Hartford in Northwich do a Pay and Play membership that works out nicely for me.
I love Flintshire been through Mold an Ruthin many times.
I see your course old padeswood is 6200 yards. That's more reasonable in length.
I do think that a Course should be over 6000 yards.

+6000 is the number. Or its an exec. course.

I would agree with Low Post, I do not think you can tell just by pure yardage.

Besides most courses if designed correctly stress diferent parts of your game or diferent shots. A short narrow course may/should stress keeping the ball in the fairway and and your wedge game. While some wide open courses almost reward pure distance off the tee, is one better/harder then the other not sure but definately there are players who score better on one type v. the other type.

But having a good short game and getting up and down consistently from any lie around the green is the key to being able to go out and shoot a good round on any course.

My home course is 6446 yards. My wife and I have a home that overlooks the eight fairway. http://www.beaconwoodsgolf.com/ I also play at a nine hole course that is 2864 yards.

The nine hole course is not easy at all. The fouth hole is a killer. It's a 452 yard par 5, myself and the guys I play with think it should be a par 10. Last week three out of four of us shot an eleven, the other guy shot a nine. It's a very intimidating from the tee box. Standing at the tee box you are looking at water to the left that runs about two hundred yards, then there are the two bridges, trees running to the left of the water, homes to the right of the fairway, oh, and water running along the right of the fairway. It's also a dogleg left. You finally get to see the flag when you are about 150 yards out, unless you hit your ball to right side of the fairway or into the right rough. If you peek through the trees on the right you can barely see the flag. I think you get my point, this hole is the pits, but fun just the same.

Happy golfing.