great pictures, I like the look of that course.

lol that bunker picture is amazing thanks for posting, course looks fun.

Thx, yea was a cool course. Hope I don´t play nine holes that slow in a while though.

Haha yea dunno how that ball did not fall into a hoofprint, a couple other did

I have noticed that the older you are the more likely of a sandbagger you need to be. Here are the 65+ net scores in the tournament I played.

Position Name Rd.1 Total Score Points
1 Rick Page / Mike Wasylak 59 59 0
2 Bobby Kilgore / Raymond Ludwin 61 61 0
3 Thomas Schultz / Scott Hancock 64 64 0
4 Joe Brisley / Tom Weber 64 64 0
5 Allan Hewitt / Angus Hewitt 65 65 0
6 Clair McCloy / Bill Kazakis 65 65 0
7 Donald Brannon / George Fries 67 67 0
8 Jim Nichols / John Janovsky 68 68 0
9 Stanley Urban / Nelson Perez 68 68 0
10 Steve Beck / Mike Estridge 68 68 0
11 Larry Casale / Dick Powell 69 69 0
12 Mike Mathews / Horst Ruckert 69 69 0

Then the 50-64

Position Name Rd.1 Total Score Points
1 Sam Petricone / David Gorton 62 62 0
2 Bill Rush / Kelly Shivgolam 64 64 0
3 Michael Jay / Mark Kontny 66 66 0
4 Brian Sitler / Greg Hardwick 66 66 0
5 Bob Pike Sr / Steven Hauser 68 68 0
6 Vince Ciletti / Greg Smith Jr 70 70 0
7 Will Parks / John Morrison III 70 70 0
8 James Browning / Lawrence Potter 71 71 0
9 Doug Moseley / Wayne Hanners 72 72 0
10 Robert Strand / Timothy Bower 72 72 0
11 Jim Phillips / Jeffrey Pafunda 73 73 0
12 David Alford / Stephen Bussey Sr 73 73 0
13 Jack Enloe / H. Craig Schuler 73 73 0
14 Kevin Stubbe / Fritz Archerd 74 74 0
15 Dick Trenta / Mark Preziosi 74 74 0

And finally the under 50

1 Gary Donat / Kyle Walkiewicz 64 64 0
2 Dean Tanella / Jim DiCesaro 65 65 0
3 Scott Carlson / John Fagan 72 72 0
4 Wayne Marshall / Andrew Marshall 74 74 0
5 Logan Kittinger / Joseph Roszkowski 74 74 0
6 Roy Quinto / Affan Chaudry 74 74 0
7 Everett Atwell / James Landers 76 76 0
8 Mike See / Tom See 77 77 0

Shooting under 64 is pretty much impossible with a legitimate handicap.

Oh wait, that's a team score?

Did you play any if the nice Brainerd/Nisswa courses while you were there?

Yes, 2 man teams. Find it odd that it falls exactly on age groups.

No, a little too far for me. Only had time for one round when up in central MN and that was with the family.

So I just started playing in a local men's club and have a GHIN number now for the first time. I have been keeping score in an app in my phone for the past year plus, so I just entered my last 20 scores to get a handicap immediately instead of waiting to play 5 more rounds. I am usually pretty strict about the rules so I felt comfortable doing this. I have some questions about counting rounds for a handicap in the future.

Do you decide before a round whether it is going to count or not?

Do you count every round, or are there certain situations when you wouldn't count it?

My handicap came out to 10.7. I'm hoping to get into single digits by the end of the season!

I just include all rounds I play, unless it's a practice round and I'm taking mulligans and moving the ball a little, etc.

But if I'm counting the round, I make sure I'm playing by the rules.

Although...one group I play with always does a "breakfast ball" off the first tee...so I guess I'm a dirty, dirty cheater.

You may already be doing it, but make sure you know what ESC is and use it when you enter rounds.

There is a guy in my men's club with a 31 HCP who crushes in tournaments. Somehow it came up in conversation and he mentioned that if he makes a 13 on a hole, that's what we uses for posting the score. Oops.....

Hahaha...that's great...I bet a lot of people do that

You aren't supposed to use solo round in your handicap

Any tips or drills for practicing 3-5 foot putts? It's a slight leak in an otherwise improving golf game. I'm also going to replace my putter, I've lost all faith in it. Feels too heavy in my hands and leave a lot of mid length putts short.

Try the "gate drill" you see so many of the pga tour players do. Use 2 tees just a touch bigger than your putter and practice putting through the gate. Now that I mention it, I NEED TO DO THIS MYSELF.

Gate drill like Scott said. Also every day make 25 straight 3 footers and 25 straight 5 footers starting over when you mess up. It is boring and annoying but effective and adds a little pressure when you are on 24 knowing 1 more and you are done for the day.

I decide before hand about posting the score. Since you no longer post rounds where you play alone I always hit multiple balls ect. If it is a practice round before a tournament at a course I don't know that well I wont post and play multiple balls with different clubs off the tee and work on short game around the greens.

I am guilty of the occasional breakfast ball especially since my home course doesn't have a range. You also can't post scores from November-March where I live in Ohio. Other than that I post the rest. If i am plying awful and just start practicing in the middle of a round I will post the first 9 score.

Another good putting drill is a chalk line. Find a straight putt and get a chalk line down. Helps with alignment, path and let's you really see the roll of the ball. It's been a great drill for me; making more 3-6 footers than ever.

https://youtu.be/Y8v1gSBW44A

Me a buddy did a little road trip to Northern/Mid Michigan for some golf last week. We played 4 courses; Forest Dunes, Black Lake, Treetops Masterpiece (RTJ) and Eagle Eye. It's a toss up between Forest Dunes and Eagle Eye for the best course we played, but since I shot 78 on Eagle Eye, it's getting the nudge. Both of those courses were absolute gems and I'd highly recommend them if it's a close drive.

I'm putting together an album, but for now, here is #2 at Eagle Eye. Every single hole elicited a "wow, look at this" reaction from both of us.

Eagle Eye #2 by Stephen McAllister, on Flickr

Thanks for those that chimed in, didn't know about not posting when you play alone.

I was aware of the ESC. Always thought it was weird that an 8 on a par 5 gets adjusted, but a 7 on a par 3 doesn't. (assuming handicap 10-19)

I took a breakfast ball once this year, but when I posted the round I went back and added 2 strokes to my score because I felt guilty lol.

handicap calculators should already take ESC into account no?

Well, I'm a 7.1 and I can't post more than a double on any hole if I'm posting a score, so I have to adjust my score accordingly.

At least that's how it works in Nevada.

On the GHIN website you just enter a total score, not the hole by hole.

ah ok. I used to use an online tool where you can go hole by hole but yeah i guess if entering total score you will need to do it yourself.