Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 12, 2010 19:24:44 GMT -5
Today I decided to play Walkabout GC in Mims, FL. You can see the hole-by-hole layout at www.walkaboutgolf.com/course/hole-by-hole-gallery
I was thinking of joining Walkabout when I moved here and it's a course that iteachgolf recommends. It's a Pete Dye design that plays 7,100 from the back tees and a 143 slope. Very hot and windy today (it's near the Ocean). The course was in mediocre condition. The greens look bad as some of the grass is dead or diseased, but they actually roll very well and hold just fine.
I went to the range and only mis-hit one shot...and I start all of my range sessions with a 2-iron. In fact, my first swing I caught one flush.
#1 (435 yds) - Good driver down the middle. Had a 8-iron into the green, flushed it at the flag and flew the green. Pitched to 10 feet and drained the par save (E)
#2 - (557 yds) - Good driver down the right side, Hit a good 3-wood and then choked up on a 9-iron and the wind caught it and I missed the green just left. Chip hit the flagstick and I tapped in for par (E)
#3 - (187 yds) - Good 4-iron, but over-drawed it and almost went into the hazard. Pitched to 5-feet and made the par putt (E)
#4 - (455 yds) - Good driver down the right side. Hit a 4-iron flush, but just pushed it. Had an easy up and down, but I tend to screw these up so I paid more attention this time and almost chipped it in the cup and made par (E)
#5 - (335 yds) - hit a driver well, but I thought the hole went further to the right than it did and I almost went into the hazard. Instead I was in a waste bunker and hit a good SW to 20 feet. Rammed the first putt 4-feet bye, but made the comebacker (E)
#6 - (377 yds) - Didn't really know how to hit the tee shot and chose a 3-wood and push faded it into the hazard. Hit a 6-iron flush, but the wind caught it and it came up short of the green. Poor pitch shot to only 20 feet and 2-putted for double (+2)
#7 - (214 yds) - Crunched a 3-hyrid, but it caught the slope and almost went into the hazard. Hit a pitch to 5-feet and made the par save (+2)
#8 - (401 yds) - got lazy with my pre-shot routine and didn't align myself correctly. Wound up pulling the driver despite hitting it on the screws and it must've hit a tree and it wound up by the cart path. Punched out with a 7-iron and hit a 9-iron well to 10 feet. Badly pulled the par save (+3)
#9 - (563 yds) - I hit a good driver right down the middle. The group ahead of us let us play through and despite 7 people looking at it, we couldn't find the ball. I'll get to this later in the post. Anyway, I dropped as I had to be down the middle and hit a hybrid to 80 yards. Struck a SW flush, but didn't account for the wind and wound up to 20 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#10 - (396 yds) - Pretty good driver down the right side. Hit a good 5-iron from a bad lie and it landed short, but rolled up to 10 feet and I made the birdie (+2)
#11 - (208 yds) - hit a nice 3-hybrid to 12 feet, but didn't play enough break and made par (+2)
#12 - (468 yds par 4) - hit a driver well, but pull hooked it a bit (face pull-hook). Wound up in this gully of sorts and hit a 3-hybrid, but hit it fat and well short of the green. Pitched to 15 feet and 2-putted for bogey (+3)
#13 - (589 yds) - Another pull draw into another gulley, but a good 3-wood out of there and then a 8-iron to 30 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#14 - (402 yds) - Good driver down the middle. Good 6-iron to 20 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#15 - (168 yds) - Hit a 6-iron well, but pushed it a tad and found the right side of the green. Excellent first putt to a few inches and made the par (+3)
#16 - (357 yds) - I don't think this yardage is correct or I hit a 210 yard driver square. I think they added a tee and moved it back. Wound up in a divot and I'm playing it down. But flushed a 7-iron to the back of the green and a great 2-putt from 60 feet. (+3)
#17 - (558 yds) - Good driver down the middle, perfectly faded just like I wanted it to be. But, I found ANOTHER DIVOT in the fairway. I don't think I've ever had that happen two holes in a row. This time I have to hit a 3-wood and hit one well.
Growing up I became a Payne Stewart fan when at the US Open at Olympic Club he found a divot in the fairway. The announcers kept talking about what a lousy break it was and how Payne got 'robbed' of winning the Open that year. But the first thing out of Payne's mouth was 'I didn't play well enough to win today.' While a divot isn't optional, I remember at the time thinking that a pro golfer who is a Major champion winner should be able to hit out of a sanded divot and find the green. In the end, the late great Payne Stewart agreed with me. That's how I felt after hitting 2 divots in a row, if you're good you can hit out of them and still be okay. If not, you have work to do.
I then hit a SW to 8 feet and made the birdie, so there was some karma (+2)
#18 - Didn't know where I was going and thought I was going to be in the rightside of the fairway. Instead I wound up into another gulley. I hit a 3-hybrid out of there, just wanting to make it over the water. I did, barely. Then I hit a SW well, but it caught the slope and ran to 20 feet away. Hit a par save putt that just ran over the edge and made bogey (+3)
I hit the ball from a contact standpoint, like a good PGA Tour player today. I only hit 3-shots that were not compressed today and 2 of them were on the range. My clubface control was a little off, but I think I was getting sloppy with my pre-shot routine.
The course condition wasn't very good, but my issue is the potential for lost golf balls there. I was playing with 2 other guys and we were looking for their golf balls that we thought were fine all round long. Then on #9 I hit one dead down the middle and 7 guys can't find it.
This is a TOUGH course. Probably one of the toughest, but fairest courses I've ever played. The front side is really tough and probably too many blind tee shots or semi-blind tee shots for my tastes. Back side is excellent. And overall, pretty good for $30. I'd like to play it again since now I know where I'm going. I hit the ball a ton better than my fwy's and GIR will show.
39-36=75 (+3)
8/14 FWY
9/18 GIR
29 putts
5/8 scramble
3JACK
I was thinking of joining Walkabout when I moved here and it's a course that iteachgolf recommends. It's a Pete Dye design that plays 7,100 from the back tees and a 143 slope. Very hot and windy today (it's near the Ocean). The course was in mediocre condition. The greens look bad as some of the grass is dead or diseased, but they actually roll very well and hold just fine.
I went to the range and only mis-hit one shot...and I start all of my range sessions with a 2-iron. In fact, my first swing I caught one flush.
#1 (435 yds) - Good driver down the middle. Had a 8-iron into the green, flushed it at the flag and flew the green. Pitched to 10 feet and drained the par save (E)
#2 - (557 yds) - Good driver down the right side, Hit a good 3-wood and then choked up on a 9-iron and the wind caught it and I missed the green just left. Chip hit the flagstick and I tapped in for par (E)
#3 - (187 yds) - Good 4-iron, but over-drawed it and almost went into the hazard. Pitched to 5-feet and made the par putt (E)
#4 - (455 yds) - Good driver down the right side. Hit a 4-iron flush, but just pushed it. Had an easy up and down, but I tend to screw these up so I paid more attention this time and almost chipped it in the cup and made par (E)
#5 - (335 yds) - hit a driver well, but I thought the hole went further to the right than it did and I almost went into the hazard. Instead I was in a waste bunker and hit a good SW to 20 feet. Rammed the first putt 4-feet bye, but made the comebacker (E)
#6 - (377 yds) - Didn't really know how to hit the tee shot and chose a 3-wood and push faded it into the hazard. Hit a 6-iron flush, but the wind caught it and it came up short of the green. Poor pitch shot to only 20 feet and 2-putted for double (+2)
#7 - (214 yds) - Crunched a 3-hyrid, but it caught the slope and almost went into the hazard. Hit a pitch to 5-feet and made the par save (+2)
#8 - (401 yds) - got lazy with my pre-shot routine and didn't align myself correctly. Wound up pulling the driver despite hitting it on the screws and it must've hit a tree and it wound up by the cart path. Punched out with a 7-iron and hit a 9-iron well to 10 feet. Badly pulled the par save (+3)
#9 - (563 yds) - I hit a good driver right down the middle. The group ahead of us let us play through and despite 7 people looking at it, we couldn't find the ball. I'll get to this later in the post. Anyway, I dropped as I had to be down the middle and hit a hybrid to 80 yards. Struck a SW flush, but didn't account for the wind and wound up to 20 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#10 - (396 yds) - Pretty good driver down the right side. Hit a good 5-iron from a bad lie and it landed short, but rolled up to 10 feet and I made the birdie (+2)
#11 - (208 yds) - hit a nice 3-hybrid to 12 feet, but didn't play enough break and made par (+2)
#12 - (468 yds par 4) - hit a driver well, but pull hooked it a bit (face pull-hook). Wound up in this gully of sorts and hit a 3-hybrid, but hit it fat and well short of the green. Pitched to 15 feet and 2-putted for bogey (+3)
#13 - (589 yds) - Another pull draw into another gulley, but a good 3-wood out of there and then a 8-iron to 30 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#14 - (402 yds) - Good driver down the middle. Good 6-iron to 20 feet and 2-putted for par (+3)
#15 - (168 yds) - Hit a 6-iron well, but pushed it a tad and found the right side of the green. Excellent first putt to a few inches and made the par (+3)
#16 - (357 yds) - I don't think this yardage is correct or I hit a 210 yard driver square. I think they added a tee and moved it back. Wound up in a divot and I'm playing it down. But flushed a 7-iron to the back of the green and a great 2-putt from 60 feet. (+3)
#17 - (558 yds) - Good driver down the middle, perfectly faded just like I wanted it to be. But, I found ANOTHER DIVOT in the fairway. I don't think I've ever had that happen two holes in a row. This time I have to hit a 3-wood and hit one well.
Growing up I became a Payne Stewart fan when at the US Open at Olympic Club he found a divot in the fairway. The announcers kept talking about what a lousy break it was and how Payne got 'robbed' of winning the Open that year. But the first thing out of Payne's mouth was 'I didn't play well enough to win today.' While a divot isn't optional, I remember at the time thinking that a pro golfer who is a Major champion winner should be able to hit out of a sanded divot and find the green. In the end, the late great Payne Stewart agreed with me. That's how I felt after hitting 2 divots in a row, if you're good you can hit out of them and still be okay. If not, you have work to do.
I then hit a SW to 8 feet and made the birdie, so there was some karma (+2)
#18 - Didn't know where I was going and thought I was going to be in the rightside of the fairway. Instead I wound up into another gulley. I hit a 3-hybrid out of there, just wanting to make it over the water. I did, barely. Then I hit a SW well, but it caught the slope and ran to 20 feet away. Hit a par save putt that just ran over the edge and made bogey (+3)
I hit the ball from a contact standpoint, like a good PGA Tour player today. I only hit 3-shots that were not compressed today and 2 of them were on the range. My clubface control was a little off, but I think I was getting sloppy with my pre-shot routine.
The course condition wasn't very good, but my issue is the potential for lost golf balls there. I was playing with 2 other guys and we were looking for their golf balls that we thought were fine all round long. Then on #9 I hit one dead down the middle and 7 guys can't find it.
This is a TOUGH course. Probably one of the toughest, but fairest courses I've ever played. The front side is really tough and probably too many blind tee shots or semi-blind tee shots for my tastes. Back side is excellent. And overall, pretty good for $30. I'd like to play it again since now I know where I'm going. I hit the ball a ton better than my fwy's and GIR will show.
39-36=75 (+3)
8/14 FWY
9/18 GIR
29 putts
5/8 scramble
3JACK
