About this site:
There are a lot of golf review sites out there. I started this one for me, to act as a quasi journal of my play. It has grown to include reviews of the courses that I play. I do NOT claim (professional or otherwise) objectivity and I am not affiliated with any golf companies, courses, or personnel and I do not receive money for any of the information provided on this website. In my professional life I am a researcher and statistician so I do claim some ability to “evaluate” novel conditions and data (whether social or golf play related).
I have found people often report that they didn’t like a course that I loved, and vice versa. I have also come to realize that a person’s scorecard for the round impacts these so-called “ratings.”
So with that in mind: Welcome to my golf / review site. If you find it helpful, great. If not, I claim no authority to evaluate golf according to parameters that are in any way official. I am a golfaholic that likes to take pictures of his play and rate how things went.
About Me:
My role-sets include the following:
- Husband/Partner
- Father
- Son
- Friend
- Academic
- Golfer
- Fanboy
Most “official” golf course reviews weigh the layout and conditions as paramount, with a bias for difficulty (how well people can/ought to play a course–read Pros for big “official” lists) even a certain architect. Despite the tendencies of the “official” ratings old Lefty Phil Mickelson has said, “A great golf course is…challenging for the good player but playable for the average player.” I completely agree!
The point is, lists are inherently subjective, and obviously bias is present even when subjective reviews are aggregated. This should not be news to anyone who has played a round and thought, “Why isn’t this course ranked higher?” or “Why is this course ranked so highly?!”
So, why bother reading my reviews? Good question! The bigger question: why read any course reviews?! With respect to my reviews I can say this: I love all types of golf: links, parkland, mountain, dunes, et cetera. Further, I appreciate good golf from any of these designs, but to me golf is not just about the design. So, I try to bring a more holistic “review” to the courses I play, from the “everyman golfer” point of view.
According to my perception golf is an experience, and to me four things stand out as important to my enjoyment of a round. All four bear equal weight on the TCS™, an increase in one category or loss in another can move a course up and down, even above or below what you might consider when just thinking about the play.