The Heritage

Heading here on Saturday and looking forward to it!

Can you submit scores for handicap purposes here at the moment? I'd love to shave another bit off it if I can.

How much did you get cut at the Links. Must have been an ESR?

You can if it is qualifying and there is another GUI registered player to attest your score in your group

I struggled on my home course last year and left as a result. It didn't suit my game. Any time I came close to or breaking 36 points last year was mostly on away courses

Thankfully there was placing everywhere so I couldn't submit it. Because I played utter crap. 6 balls lost on the first 6 holes. I actually settled down score wise after that and played okay for the last twelve. But my driving was desperate - big dirty slices all day long. And putting was fairly awful too - 4 three putts. All on holes where I'd reached the green in regulation / a par 5 in 2. I don't know does that make them better or worse.

It's a very nice course though. Incredibly open - you can go a long way right and still find your ball in play. I didn't check out the left side of holes. We were off the greens which was probably the right call at this time of year, although I would have rathered the whites. The tee on the index 1 was on the ladies tee box - that's a bit disappointing. The par 3s were still a good length though. I hit a 5 iron into the last. The whites were a good bit behind us - I'd say if you'd a wind into you from them it would be a very very long hole. From the blues it would probably be a par 4 for many.

I'd definitely go back. But maybe in summer when it would be a bit dryer and the whites would be out.

For the shorter hitters (generally older golfers) Corballis probably is as relatively easy as it's rating suggests. And remember, the majority of golfers fit into this bracket. I hear there's a member in our place playing off 8 or so who is 83. That's incredible regardless of the course. I do wonder though if he'd be able to maintain that handicap playing off the whites in the Heritage every Sunday.

But on days where I come in from Corballis feeling I've played really well I'd be lucky to have a score differential of 16, especially from the whites. Whereas on other courses I can come in feeling I played rubbish or threw away a good score and have a score differential of 18. I remember saying it at the time of the new system coming in that if you're rating courses based on criteria like length, bunkers, etc, then a course as unusual as Corballis is going to throw up a strange rating. What they should be looking at now, is a year into it how are people doing on home and away courses. If people are playing better away, their course is probably rated as too easy. I'm actually averaging 6.3 shots better on away courses in my last 20 rounds. And I don't feel I play better on away courses, I just get away missing fairways and greens. So in the heritage I was slicing my drives - they'd mostly be lost balls in Corballis. Whereas I often had a mid-high iron left to the green in the Heritage. There's a two shot swing on about 10 holes.

We have a couple of elderly members that play with us, very short hitters. One has already left and joined elsewhere, the other also intends to leave. Both find it way too difficult there and as with us the majority of their counting scores are from away courses. So I actually dont think that logic stands up either. The course is only "short" because the is so many par 3s, not because the par 4s/5 are notably shorter than par 4s/5s on other courses. nad some of the short par 4s are actually very difficult, 13 and 17 for example.

Our par 4s are very short in fairness. 2 and 11 are driveable any day. 7 driveable from the whites. And downwind without a freak drive I think you could reach 5 and 18 as well. That's half the par 4s that you could reach from the tee. 8 and 14 are fairly short too.

I wouldn't call them easy at all. But they're definitely short.

I take your point, although I havent ever seen anyone getting near to driving 5 or 18 so its definitely not half the par 4s you could reach from the tee . But as you say none of those are easy, no matter what the age profile of the golfer is. hence why I feel the slope rating is "wrong"

If you're serious about a score I wouldn't be trying to drive anything other than 11. And I take that one on mainly because I hate the lay up area. A blind shot at a distance I hate. And it's always a sandy lie down there and possibly a divot.

I think if the second was later in the round it would be a temptation. But you'd have to land it short and relatively steep. If you run through the green you're in lost ball territory.

I don't understand people taking on 7. If it's downwind you'll have even less green to work with. And you can't be left, right long or short. It's a crazy shot to me.

5 is a long one to drive and you need to be very straight. Again, it's not the play if you're interested in a score.

All great reading but its on The Heritage Thread