Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
The 1&2 club tourney's must be a new thing? Sounds like fun, I'll have to see if I can find one around here.
Another fun thing we used to do when we were bored and the course was deserted, is to make up crazy long distance holes. Like play from the 1st tee to the 12th green on the far side of the course, then play from the 13th tee back to the 18th green.
Who needs to find a tournament? Just find 3 friends that want to play, put a few bucks on the line and play with one club. I've played a couple of those superlong cross-country hole games, they have to be the most boring thing ever invented. Good golf courses have hazards located in specific shots to force to players to avoid them. Those superlong par 10's that get invented are nothing but long. Rarely do hazards come into play and rarely are actual golf shots required, you just whale on the ball. If you want to do that just go to a driving range. Some fun games to play on a golf course that require actual skill:
1) Worst ball: Sort of reverse mulligans. Everyone hits two tee shots and must then finish off the rest of the hole with the worse of the two rather than the better of the two. Forces you to learn a lot more recovery shots. You can also make the game harder as your skill improves. Hit two tee shots and play the worse, then hit two shots from there and play the worse, then finish out the hole. Eventually you can move up to where you need to play two shots from EVERY position. Brutal game, even great players will almost never make a birdie except on short par 5's. Only play that game when the course is empty. If you're hitting multiple balls with a group behind you you're going to get your ass thrown out.
2) No Flukes: A great 4-some game, each player can make each other player replay 1 shot per nine, 2 shots per 18. So if you hit a great drive, stiff an approach, hole a bunker shot or drain an impossible putt one of the other guys can call "Fluke!" and make you replay the shot. The first ball doesn't count and you must take the result of the second one. You'd be amazed how many time the replay costs you 2 strokes or more as a great drive winds up in the woods on the replay, a great approach leaving a sure birdie putt winds up in the bunker on the replay, a holed bunker shot gets bladed over the green into another bunker on the replay, etc. With 4 guys each getting to "Fluke" the others once per side your best 6 shots of the day get wiped out.
3) Superintendents Revenge: Our club does one of these events every year. It's got to be done with the clubs approval, it's not something you can just set up on your own. The course gets set up worse than US Open conditions. The greens get triple cut and the pins get stuck on the most impossible spot imaginable. Usually it's a supersteep hill that the ball can't stop on when they're cut so close. So it's either make the putt or it rolls all the way back to the bottom of the hill. It's do or die, no way to lag the putt in close for a tap-in. Scores SKYROCKET! It's not unusual to see bad putters 10-putt because they're always faced with a tough left-t0-right 15 footer that rolls right back to their feet if it doesn't go in.