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Originally Posted by GoDeViLs
Do you specifically remember any differences in holes 12, 13 or 14 in regards to this? Or any particular holes?
During the renovation in summer '13, the greens mix (recipe of sand mixtures) of those holes was different from the rest of the course. Some higher-ups made a change after the mix on those holes was already installed. I think the change was made due to some problems with the trucking company.
That's interesting, but I'd really be reaching by trying to recall a difference between those three and the other holes. For one, both 12 and 13 were playing into a strong wind and were beasts; that I parred 13 after reaching the greenside bunker was probably my biggest brag of the day.
14 is notable in that every time we play I get to hear my member friend moan about how he HATES the redesign on the hole, and in particular the green. It's smallish, protected, and one thing that is probably true but not easily visible is that the green probably slopes towards the back, which means it slopes away from the golfer, downgrain, and on that day way downwind.
Of course, part of the problem with this is if you don't leave yourself the proper distance, good luck getting a half wedge to hold. Either try and drive the green - which was doable from the back tees that day - or lay back far enough to try to have a shot you can spin. Member friend did neither, leaving himself a dreaded 70-ish yard shot to a back flag. He was forced to play to the front left of the green, about 45 degrees away from the hole, and it bounded over the side. From there he couldn't hold the green on his pitch and rolled into the back right bunker, which led to a double bogey. Some of this is on him for bad golf I.Q., but it still seemed perhaps overly punitive.
I had a bit of an adventure, pulling my 7-iron layup drive into the desert (lol) after being reminded about how the right side of the fairway is the wrong angle. After dropping in the desert I hit a fairly nice high wedge which landed near the front of the green, rolled all the way to the back, t-boned the flagstick, and proceeded about another ten feet past. Fairly insane amount of roll.
Not sure if you're suggesting these three greens are firmer than the others but it's certainly believable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondercall
Talking Stick
I'm curious as to how things will sort out with the new management and how it will affect pricing and conditions. I've always suspected that being under the Troon umbrella is a bit of a boon for courses since they get passholders as well as golfnow and probably more visibility than they'd get with other operators. But with the casino adjacent and proximity to town they may not need any of that as some other tracks do.