Stonebridge Revisited

[BC MIST]

Played Stonebridge today as a "practice" round for the Citizen tournament, and I must say that after ripping the course last year for its poorly designed greens, I gained some appreciation for the unique challenge that it presents.

While some of the slopes and possible pin positions are still a joke, with the speed of the greens today, it is possible to cozy an approach shot or a long putt close to the hole without the ball rolling off the green into a drainage grate.

Being a relatively short, but usually an accurate driver of the ball, Stonebridge is a classic shotmaker's golf course which suits my game. Being long off the tee can be quite disadvantageous, in fact, but being straight gives you a good chance to hit your approach shot to a position where a birdie is a good possibility. If the greens continue to hold an approach as they did today and if they are cut to about 9 at the most on the Stimpmeter, then there should be some good scores when the Citizen tournament round is held there.

[LobWedge]

Played Stonebridge today as a "practice" round for the Citizen tournament, and I must say that after ripping the course last year for its poorly designed greens, I gained some appreciation for the unique challenge that it presents.

While some of the slopes and possible pin positions are still a joke, with the speed of the greens today, it is possible to cozy an approach shot or a long putt close to the hole without the ball rolling off the green into a drainage grate.

Being a relatively short, but usually an accurate driver of the ball, Stonebridge is a classic shotmaker's golf course which suits my game. Being long off the tee can be quite disadvantageous, in fact, but being straight gives you a good chance to hit your approach shot to a position where a birdie is a good possibility. If the greens continue to hold an approach as they did today and if they are cut to about 9 at the most on the Stimpmeter, then there should be some good scores when the Citizen tournament round is held there.

The only reason that the greens we're receptive today is because of the rain last night. You had better pray for rain the night before your round, because if you're playing there after a week of sunshine and heat, mark my words, the pins will be brutal and the greens will be almost un-puttable.

[Marmotte]

The only reason that the greens we're receptive today is because of the rain last night. You had better pray for rain the night before your round, because if you're playing there after a week of sunshine and heat, mark my words, the pins will be brutal and the greens will be almost un-puttable.

This is usually the case for the vast majority of greens built in the Ottawa and Gatineau area. Seems that the quality of earth/sand used is the culprit.... but the greens get hard for all the players and you have to get used to play with all types of conditions. Unless you limit your game to only the courses and holes that will give you better chances of birdies.

[jvincent]

Just as an FYI they have changed the pin rotation philosophy at Stonebridge recently.

They used to rotate through four areas on the greens but they are now down to three. This gives them more room to play with so hopefully there won't be as many wacky pin placements.

Personal opinion, I enjoy playing Stonebridge more than any course in the area. From the back, where I usually play, it's not tremendously long so you don't have to hit driver. Yet at the same time it still has enough holes that you can hit driver that you don't feel "cheated". I use all my clubs when I play there and unless I'm having a truly spastic day off the tee I like the fact that I have to think about where I'm hitting my ball on the green.

I'd love to see what you guys say about the courses at Pinehurst. I played there a couple of years ago and my first round after that locally was at Stonebridge. I had a strange feeling of deja vu after my round. If you think you are going to miss a green at Pinehurst, you need to make sure you miss it in the correct spot or forget about making par. The same is true of a lot of the Stonebridge greens. And if you think the greens at SB are hard and fast, you haven't seen anything.

Comparing SB to my other favourite course, Eagle Creek, and you have an entirely different experience. At EC from the back you are pretty much hitting driver all the time but it's generally more forgiving off the tee. It's also very soft, fairways and greens, compared to SB and the greens are a lot easier. But it has to be because on average you're going to be hitting longer clubs into the greens.

[stinger]

Not to rain on anybody's fun, but I play stonebridge almost daily and I found the greens painfully slow in the last couple of days, even shaggy at places. I like them hard and fast. Unfortunately when they have bad pin placements, you pay the price. Stonebridge is a quality course, but unfortunately, they lack serious maintenance. The marshalls instead of chatting away or hiding should be filling the divots on the fairways and they should educate people to repair their ball marks. This is a huge issue. Especially for a course that seems empty most of the time (other than weekends).
My two cents.

[Kilroy]

I have played there a few times this season. Every time I have seen the marshals with the pitch mark tools (the long ones), fixing greens. I thought it was kinda interesting, as this seems like a greenskeeper's job, but I also thought it was great service.

Last time I played it, 3 balls that were not really "too fast" by the cup, ended up off the green. Frustrating, perhaps even a bit unfair to the "average" golfer, but not unheard of at better courses. I was watching the golf channel the other day and they were talking about greens like that and refering to them as great tests shotmaking to get on the right tier. They showed a few clips of false fronted greens and undulations that fead into collection areas, stressing that this too is a great test of putting.

It is fun to watch it happen to your opponent's ball

[sensfan63]

Comparing SB to my other favourite course, Eagle Creek, and you have an entirely different experience. At EC from the back you are pretty much hitting driver all the time but it's generally more forgiving off the tee. It's also very soft, fairways and greens, compared to SB and the greens are a lot easier. But it has to be because on average you're going to be hitting longer clubs into the greens.

Played Eagle Creek today, and for the first time in a LONG time, the conditions were different than what you had said up there...

The fairways were firm enough that you would get some roll with the driver and three wood, and approach shots were not making the huge ball marks in the greens, In fact, the ball was taking a decent bounce before stopping. The best conditions to play in, IMO. are firm fairways (so straight drives are rewarded, and slightly wayward drives may roll into the rough) and greens where you one-hop the ball and then stop it.

Wish the greens were a little bit faster, although the ball holds its line terrifically. They're just not that fast. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers...

[BC MIST]

Just as an FYI they have changed the pin rotation philosophy at Stonebridge recently.
They used to rotate through four areas on the greens but they are now down to three. This gives them more room to play with so hopefully there won't be as many wacky pin placements.

What is the significance of this change in philosophy? The shape and area of the greens have not changed so the quadrants have just become "tri-grants." They can still put the pin anywhere they want.

If you are referring to placing the pin on a location like the far right side of #2 East, does it mean that they would put the flag down there less often?

Imagine what the Tour pros would say about coming into that pin position from 185 yards or so.

My guess is that the official in charge of pin placements for the Citizen tournament, and it will probably be someone with RCGA training and experience who knows how a golf course should be set up for good amateur players, will place the pins in challenging, but fair positions, as they should be. Doing this will keep the pace of play reasonable. I will also bet that they have already crossed off the portions of the greens where pins could be placed, that are ridiculous, the areas where the frost has pushed up the buried trees to form mounds or where the huge rocks have settled underground to form depressions.

[jvincent]

What is the significance of this change in philosophy? The shape and area of the greens have not changed so the quadrants have just become "tri-grants." They can still put the pin anywhere they want.

When I was talking to the marshall he said that going to three zones gave them more "friendly" options to place the pin. With the quadrants there were a couple of zones that only had very small areas to place the flag.

Since they have moved to "tri-grants" I can't say that I've seen a really bad pin placement. Note that there is a difference between "bad", i.e. on a slope with no chance of getting the ball close, and "tough".

Played this morning BTW, and let me tell you, playing the west nine in a 3+ club wind is NOT easy. If the wind is up for the Citizen tournament there will be some big scores posted.

[GarthM]

If you are referring to placing the pin on a location like the far right side of #2 East, does it mean that they would put the flag down there less often?

Imagine what the Tour pros would say about coming into that pin position from 185 yards or so.

They would most likely say "wow that is a good par 3 with a tough pin placement".

[BC MIST]

They would most likely say "wow that is a good par 3 with a tough pin placement".

or, conversely, "What a tough par 3 with a #$%&*$# pin placement."

[GarthM]

or, conversely, "What a tough par 3 with a #$%&*$# pin placement."

tomatoe tomato.....