America's Top 100

Golf Digest recently published their golf course rankings with Utah missing out on the overall Top 100 and the Top 100 public courses. Utah's top 10 list was dominated by Park City and included only 2 public courses (*). The rankings were as follows:
1- Glenwild G.C., Park City
2- Promontory, The Ranch C., (Painted Valley) Park City
3- Promontory, The Ranch C., (Dye Canyon) Park City
4- Tuhaye G.C., Kamas
5- Entrada at Snow Canyon C.C., St. George
6- The Country Club, Salt Lake City
7- Willow Creek C.C., Sandy
8- Coral Canyon G.C., Washington*
9- Hidden Valley C.C. (Lakes/Valley), Sandy
10- The G.C. at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi*
I haven't played any of these courses, but I'm looking forward to checking out the two public courses sometime this summer.

Fact or Fiction: Tiger Will Never be the Same...

I can't even say how tired I am of hearing about Tiger's slump and how he'll never be the same dominant player he has been. Let's take a look at the facts:

Tiger is currently leading the PGA Tour in scoring average at 69.13 per round. Number 2, David Toms, averages 69.69 per round for a difference of just over a half a stroke per round. To put that number in perspective numbers 2 through 17 are separated by just over a half a stroke per round.

Next let's look at results. After all, that's what counts right? Only two players have more top 10 finishes this year - Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry both have one up on Tiger in that statistic. They also have 11 and 12 starts, respectively, to Tiger's 6. Only two players have more wins than Tiger - Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy both have 2 wins to Tiger's 1. They have 10 starts each. So considering the percentages, Tiger has finished in the top 10 in 83.3% of his starts (and 100% of his stroke play starts) and has won 16.6% of the events he's entered. Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry have finished in the top 10 54.5% and 50% of the time, respectively. Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy have slightly higher win percetages at 20% a piece but do you honestly think one of them will win again before Tiger does? I don't...

At any rate, let's remember that no one on Tour is more competitive than Tiger. No one works harder. Tiger will keep on piling up top 10 finishes and my guess is that he'll win at least 5 or 6 events this year with 1 or 2 being majors making it a pretty average year for the world's best. Just because he isn't winning every tournament doesn't mean he's falling apart people!

Verdict: Fiction

Click here to read Doug Ferguson's article for PGA.com on this subject.

Weigh in on this topic - leave a comment and take the poll.

Logan River Golf Course

Type: Municipal
Driving Range: Yes
18 Holes - Par 71
550 West 1000 South
Logan, UT 84321
(435) 750-0123

Condition: +1 (Poor), This was a tough call for me. The greens are soft and it's a public course so it makes for a lot of unrepaired, or poorly repaired, ballmarks. Grounds are kept in pretty good condition but the many hazards aren't always clearly marked and defined.
Forgiveness: +2 (Straitjacket), This is a pretty hazardous course with water lurking on basically every hole. It earned the straitjacket score because a wayward shot generally means a lost ball and a penalty. Be prepared to lose a couple balls.
Diversity: 0 (Satisfactory), You could leave everything longer than a 6-iron in your car and probably score lower than otherwise. You might get tired of hitting irons because you'll hit one off of almost every tee. However, if you're feeling risky you can certainly be rewarded by great shots with a driver.
Uniqueness: -1 (Good), There aren't many courses that I've played that offer so many risk/reward opportunities. There are at least three par 4's that you can head at the green from the tee if you're confident with your driver. The signature hole is probably #4 - a severe dogleg right, you can play it safe down the middle of the fairway or head at the green, which is only 275 yards from the tee... though it's 275 yards of water.
Cost: -2 (A Few Fingers), $24 for 18 holes without a cart, $12 per rider for a cart.

Logan River's Overall Score: E
Mike's review score: 79

This is a pretty fun course and it's definitely worth the cost and the time on the road it takes to get all the way up to Logan. My tip to play well... lay up and hit your irons! UGA link to Logan River

- Full Review -

This course rewards accuracy and control while eating up wayward shots with water and thick marshland. The layout might be pretty frustrating for a beginner golfer. Fortunately it's not very long and low scores can be posted with good course management (or a long, straight, and soft-landing driver). My overall advice? When you're standing at the tee, or in the fairway, thinking "Should I go for it?", know that while a perfect shot might give you a chance at an eagle a mediocre shot will leave you scrambling for par and a bad shot might leave you scrambling for double bogey.

Tips for specific holes (all yardages are from the blue tees and are estimates, not GPS readings):

#1 Either go at the green (see above) or hit your 150 club. The tree on the left will come into playif you don't leave enough room to go over the top.
#3 Be straight! This hole is punishing to the left and right.
#4 After playing one safely in the fairway (hit your 170-180 club to stay short of the tree, taking it out of play) tee up a cheap ball and hit it over the lake just to see if you can put it on the green. However, if it's a busy day, as it often is on Saturday, don't upset everyone behind you by waiting for the green to clear unless that is going to be your legitimate tee shot. Know that if you don't clear the lake you'll be hitting three from the wrong side of the water. The yardage is generally about 270-280 yards to the middle of the green.
#6 The best play is your 200-220 club down the left middle of the fairway. Being on the left side of the fairway means you don't have greenside bunkers between your ball and the pin.
#7 Personally, I think the best/easiest way to play this hole is hitting 180 yards off the tee and then hitting two 150-yard shots into the green, or maybe a 200-yard shot followed by a 100 yarder. If you want to put your tee shot up next to the canal and go for the green in two, the canal is about 210-220 yards from the tee. The green is protected in the front left by two large bunkers. There is very little room behind the green.
#10 Don't miss too far right, it's O.B.
#11 It's only 250-260 yards over the marsh to the green. Playing 180 yards into the fairway should leave you a 100-yard approach.
#12 The fairway is widest at about 225 yards off the tee.
#15 A slight dogleg left, a canal runs through at about 230 yards from the tee. Hit your 200-yard club to the 150 marker.
#18 The canal is not in play unless you are exceptionally long off the tee - over 300 yards. Too far right is O.B.

If you have anything to add or correct - or just want to share you Logan River experience/score - leave a comment or send me an email. Play well!

18 Holes a Week!

I'm a recently graduated college student without a job so naturally my number one goal for the summer is to play and review a different golf course every week (or as long as my very limited funds last). Because it's golf, the ratings will be in reverse - the lower the better. I've decided on the areas I will be focusing on:

• Condition

No one likes playing Plinko on the greens. When a ball-mark keeps your birdie putt out of the hole it's pretty frustrating. When the course upkeep is good the golfing experience is just plain better. The lower the condition score the better the course condition.

• Forgiveness

It's hard to enjoy your round when you're losing golf balls left and right. Some courses penalize wayward shots much more than others. However, some courses don't penalize you enough, offering way too much open space that makes a course feel too easy. The closer to a happy median a course is, the lower its score in this area.

• Diversity

Some courses require a diversity of shots, whereas others seem to produce the same shots over and over again. The lower the diversity score the less monotonous the round will seem.

• Uniqueness

We all know those signature holes, or stretch of holes. Augusta has Amen Corner, Sawgrass has the island green on #17, and so on. Some holes are just cool and some experiences are only available at a small number of courses. The lower the uniqueness score the more likely you are to experience something original during your round.

• Cost

Sometimes the cost is the number one factor in deciding where to golf. A low score in this area means the greenfees are low (cart not included).