great thread. especially liked carlsbad's story abt payne stewart.
i remember some 10 yrs ago, on a trip to hawaii w/ some of my bro's, we had a week of some of the most unforgettable golf i've ever had. when we were on kauai, we played the magnificent princeville course for the first time, one of the most beautiful courses i've ever seen, let alone played on. for much of the course, you play along and 300 ft. above the pacific ocean in tropical paradise. it's so breath-taking you almost forget, or at least don't mind, just how tough this course is from the blue or black tees. we played alot back then, n our games were as good as they were gonna get (i consistently shot very low 80's, sometimes high 70's). i've never recalled being on another course where i had to make as many difficult decisions regarding club, shot type, and target selection throughout a round, hole after hole, shot after shot. there was always something daring you to go around it, or over it, for a better attack angle on the next shot. if you laid up, you had to face small target areas from much greater distances. there were lava rock hazards, palm tree hazards, bush hazards, tall grass issues, water, sand, hula dancer hazards, etc., undulating fairway despressions, massively sloping fairway sections, it was just unreal. i've never been so challenged on a course before, maybe bcz it felt like the course was within reach, within my hands to hit or miss. anyways, i walked out of there w/ a 92, likely the worst score i posted that year, n yet i've never felt better about a round.
later when we were on maui, we played the kapalua plantation course (where the PGA plays the MB championship every year). par 73, 7411 yard monster of a course. we started playin' from the championship tees, black i think (the tournament tees are even further). some 450-500y par 4's, some 550-650y par 5's. anyways, it was just ludicrous; we were never really in it. from the black tees, you mostly cannot see your landing area from the tee. there's literally a stick in the ground on the crest of the hill, showing you where you should aim your drive (often fairways would slant off to the left of right; so you rarely drove straight down a line). once you drive it, the ball goes over the crest, you cannot see your ball, you cannot see it land. in other words, you better be damn accurate over the tee. if you don't hit it straight over the stick onto an imagined section of the fairway, there's a narrow strip of intermediate rough on the sides for you to land on, and then tall grass on either side, goodnite. if you have a fade or a draw, you better know what exactly you're doin', if you slice or hook it, it's gone. i usually hit dead straight, my buddy a slight fade. we were laughin' our asses off, because we didn't even make it through the front nine w/ two 3-ball sleeves. on like hole 8 or so, we saw a particularly vicious dog leg section, n went straight for that area of tall grass and bushes. we went in w/ wedges, n i swear we each came out with 30+ brand new, expensive balata balls. we played the rest of the course from the whites (hell, i would've played the reds) and drank the beer cart dry...
It's nice to see you around.
