What Makes A Golf Course Great?
You're reading What Makes A Golf Course Great?, posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 12:08 pm in Courses, Tips, on BrainBloggers at the Golf Tips blog. More after the jump.
True golf aficionados know that to be a great golfer you need to have the right tools. You need the right golf clubs for each important shot that you will need to make and you need to know when the right time to use them is. You need to know how hard to hit the ball and even how soft. You need to know what to do to avoid hitting the bunker and if it were to get stuck you need to understand what steps you need to take to get it out.
Golf amateurs believe that too practice all they need to do is to find their nearest golf course and try their hand at it and try to improve. What most fail to understand is that choosing a golf course can be as important as choosing which club to use for your next shot.
Keep in mind that you will very rarely ever find a truly perfect score (unless you are willing to pay the big money for it) – but you can at least find some that come close. There are many different things to consider when trying finding a good golf course; condition, where the holes are, how the bunkers have been placed, length, and history.
First you need to look at the course and ask yourself, “Is it in good condition?” You want to make sure that the grounds look like someone keeps up on them daily. None of us would go to a restaurant that had food and garbage all over the floor. Why should we be any different with the golf course that we choose? We want one where the grass looks fresh and everything looks natural.
Some people don’t care where the each of the holes and bunkers are placed on the field – but there are some who try to make sure that they are not placed in spots that make absolutely no sense. You may find on some of the less appealing courses that they are in places that are almost impossible to get to or maybe too easy to get to. Of course this also depends on how challenging you want your course to be.
Many golfers are torn on the subject of length. This particular category is more dependent on personal style than anything else. There are some who love the challenge of a course that is larger and takes longer to get through. However, there are some who don’t have the patience for this and prefer to stick to some of the shorter courses.
History is not one of the more crucial things to look at– but it can be one of the more important ones. If you are ever near a golf course hat has been played on by a professional golfer wouldn’t you choose to go there? The feeling and satisfaction that can be had from knowing that you are standing right where Tiger Woods stood can make you feel proud and may even give you more spirit to play. Also knowing that they felt it was good enough to play on helps you to know that if it is good enough for them it’s good enough for you.