Off-Topic

I haven't played a round since I did with DTC in mid August. Worker worker busy bee.

FYI DFC is now DGF.

I love Bulle Rock. I also love Dye courses. I'm willing to put up with the tricked up nature of them because the good stuff far outweighs the bogus stuff. Bulle Rock is in my top 3 courses I've ever played. First time there, years ago, we played 2 rounds from the tips. I went 93/83 as the first time around was brutal.

i *almost* think places like that should verify your handicap online when you check in if you want to play from the back tees or maybe even tees i played from.

First time I ever saw a place that forbade playing from the back tees was Lighthouse Sound, they only let you play the black tees if you have approval from the pro shop. We were a little pissed when they wouldn't let us - we didn't have time to go in an talk to the pro shop about it cause we were on the tee....at the end of the round we were glad for not playing them.

Lot of friends played an outing at PB Dye on Friday, and they said it was in horrificly awful shape.

I think those handicap verifications are a great idea, especially for courses as difficult as Lighthouse/Bulle Rock etc.

Every time I've played Bulle Rock the rough was very thick and very long, even right off the green. You miss the putting surface by 5 feet and you have a burred lie and a very difficult chip. 18 is a good example of why it's a good design. With water down the left side it is tempting to bail right, especially when our tees left us around 190 in. But if you do that you have a very scary downhill chip with water if you go long. That's just a good design IMO.

make it a verified handicap then. if you know my name, and go to msga.net, you can look me up and see if i'm a cheat or not. if they really go through that effort, oh well. at least it'll solve most of the problems.

pa if you don't remember it being unusually difficult, you just don't remember it that well, or were used to playing very difficult courses.

I'd like to give a shout out to one of my week-end golf buddies, who will be back in action in about 2 weeks, flush with a ton of Fed-Ex Cup cash, way to go Fluff!

Played Hunter's Oak yesterday. In decent shape, but the course has seen better days IMO. Weird course - extreme links-style layout, hardly any flat lies anywhere, even in the fairways (which are very narrow). Very tough course if you can't hit it straight.

I wonder if they're getting enough business to stay open much longer. I know I wouldn't want to play it more than once a year. That's a difficult business model to sustain, unless you're a destination-resort course.

Whos played Hollow Creek in Middletown?? I want to get atleast one more nice round in before its to late. Ive always wanted to play there but never have for some reason. Would you recommend it?

For some inexplicable reason I played Hollow Creek four times last year. I do not like the course. As stated, it is a housing development course and the houses, while not really in play (unless you do something goofy), are noticeable. I prefer to play golf in a more serene environment.

The course has one thing to recommend it - the 18th hole is an eagle hole if there ever was one. Apparently it was a par-4 when they first opened the course, and people complained it was too tough. It would indeed make a tough par 4 - uphill tee shot and water skirting the left side as you approach the green - but they just decided to call it a par-5 apparently without building any new tees. They just lie about the distance on the scorecard. So it's about a 420 yard par 5. I've had 3 eagle putts on that hole, yet to sink one though.

Yeah, I think I used my 5-iron about 9 times and not once did I take a full swing. Constantly chipping out of the woods to get back in play. We played the West course which is actually the nicer of the two. Still in bad shape, though.

Bull Run has gone through ups and downs but in terms of layout, its one of my favorites in northern va. I'd put it right up there with raspberry falls in fact. Previous management had let it go but its actually now owned by the same group that owns raspberry so they're bringing it back. Aside from 18, there really isn't a hole on the course that I don't like.

If you ever want to play it and need someone for your group, just let me know. Its about 20 minutes from me.