130 replies to this topic

[will227457]

I was invited to play Hobe Sound once, my buddy and I were hooked up with a single who introduced himself as Jonathan Goldsmith older guy i'd say almost 60, a very interesting guy. Crazy round Jonathan played from the tips, Longest I have ever seen out of the box just a rocket with every tee shot. hit "almost" every fairway, "almost didn't miss a green" , had an eagle putt on every par five and was no further than 25 ft from the hole on every green.

Really an outstanding round of golf.

So here comes the crazy part I noted that he hit "almost" every fairway and green, well we get to the 18th tee box he pulls out his driver and hits one of the worst tee shots I have ever seen a 100 yd slice that looks like a bananna. His next shot is even worse he came in fat on his approach and advanced the ball 50yds. my buddy and I could not believe it, it takes him 4 strokes to get to the green on this long par 4, he then 4 putts....this from a guy who didn't miss anything outside of 20' for the day.

After the first hole and my buddy and I could see that this guy could really play we kept track of his score, even with the snowman on 18 he shot a 63....a 63 I couldn't believe it.

We shook hands and left, we went into the club house for a couple of drinks and I see Jonathan sitting at the bar drinking a Dos Equis, my buddy and I are sitting in a table behind him talking about our round and the round that we just witnessed, when in walks Tiger Woods....Tiger I almost S__t my pants. Well Tiger ignores us walks up to Jonathan thanks him for the swing advice from some previous meeting I assume,  and for not breaking his course record.

[Tmiller72]

He sounds like a very interesting man.

[eagles1]

Tmiller72, on 05 September 2012 - 06:07 PM, said:

He sounds like a very interesting man.

[forrre]

I have a good friend that was club pro for many years. He played in the PGA at southern hills in 2007. I have watched him shoot ho hum rounds that ended up 3-4 under and they could have been 6-7 under had a few more putts dropped. I am 10-15 yards longer off the tee an a club longer with irons but his misses are 10 to 15 times better than mine. Great player and even better person!

[swbyps]

When I was a freshman in high school, my neighbor a few houses down the street was Billy Ray Brown. We were pseudo friends I guess. He was a senior big time golfer and I was just a freshman. We played together a few times and since then I have not played with anyone who was as good as Billy Ray was back then. We had 72 holes of golf in our neighborhood (2 18 hole courses an executive 9 and a 9 hole par 3) which was absolutely ideal for working on all aspect of the game, and BR was just crazy good. He would shoot par or better every time out and he was only 17 or 18 at the time. I know thats not so unusual these days, but back in 1981 it wasnt so common. He went on to be an All American at University of Houston and won a couple national championships on those great golf teams in the 80s. He made it out on tour and won a couple times until injuries got the best of him. Hes out there now as one of the on course reporters on Golf Channel. Mostly on the Champions Tour events.

[Hattori Hanzo]

Every year, they hold a qualifier for the Mylan Classic on the Nationwide Tour at my home course.  It's not particularly long, but some local knowledge is definitely required or you can make some bogeys that leave you shaking your head.  So anyways, each year, I usually take a guy out for a practice round, just to show them the course and explain how some holes need to be played, so I've seen some ridiculously good golf. (And I've gotten guys through the qualifier the last 3 years!) Probably the best I've seen is a kid named Chesson Hadley (who is now #2 on the eGolf Tour money list). It was almost hypnotizing to watch him play. Fairway, green, birdie. Fairway, green birdie. I'm not exactly sure what he shot that day, but it had to have been about 62 (-8) or 63 (-7). I think he ended up shooting 66 in the actual qualifier to medal.

[mogc60]

Played a match against Jeff Kern from AZ and he impressed me with every aspect of his game.  He was as solid a player as I had ever seen.  If I remember right, he bogeyed 17 and 18 to shoot 64.  I also had the honor of playing with the late Bert Yancey, and even with the mental illness he fought and the medication that affected his nerves, he was the smoothest swinger of a golf club that I have ever seen.  I actually played quite well that day and after every shot I hit he would say "Too Fast."  He was a true golf talent and the most knowledgable and intelligent person I have ever been around.

[swbyps]

This thread reminded me of one of the best posts I have ever read on this site. Scroll down until you see the post by PhilTickelson. Enjoy!

http://www.golfwrx.c...my#entry3039225

[bigred90gt]

A buddy of mine plays on the mini tours, and playing with him is an experience. I am longer than almost everyone I play with. This guy is about 5'10" and 150 soaking wet, and is a good 10-15 yard s longer than me. He hits a nice mid-high draw on most shots, rarely misses a fairway or green (and when he does, it is usually by a couple of feet at most), and he can get up and down from anywhere. I'm a 5 index, and he is a struggling mini tour player, and he is playing a completely different game. Last time we played, he gave me 2 a side and we played for a beer. I shot a 78, which is about average. He shot a 66. Course is 7000 yards, 73.4/138 slope/rating.

[Hutch306]

will227457, on 05 September 2012 - 05:35 PM, said:

I was invited to play Hobe Sound once, my buddy and I were hooked up with a single who introduced himself as Jonathan Goldsmith older guy i'd say almost 60, a very interesting guy. Crazy round Jonathan played from the tips, Longest I have ever seen out of the box just a rocket with every tee shot. hit "almost" every fairway, "almost didn't miss a green" , had an eagle putt on every par five and was no further than 25 ft from the hole on every green.

Really an outstanding round of golf.

So here comes the crazy part I noted that he hit "almost" every fairway and green, well we get to the 18th tee box he pulls out his driver and hits one of the worst tee shots I have ever seen a 100 yd slice that looks like a bananna. His next shot is even worse he came in fat on his approach and advanced the ball 50yds. my buddy and I could not believe it, it takes him 4 strokes to get to the green on this long par 4, he then 4 putts....this from a guy who didn't miss anything outside of 20' for the day.

After the first hole and my buddy and I could see that this guy could really play we kept track of his score, even with the snowman on 18 he shot a 63....a 63 I couldn't believe it.

We shook hands and left, we went into the club house for a couple of drinks and I see Jonathan sitting at the bar drinking a Dos Equis, my buddy and I are sitting in a table behind him talking about our round and the round that we just witnessed, when in walks Tiger Woods....Tiger I almost S__t my pants. Well Tiger ignores us walks up to Jonathan thanks him for the swing advice from some previous meeting I assume,  and for not breaking his course record.

The first time I read this, it went over like a ton of bricks. Completely missed it.

Funny story.

[etmccain]

i played 18 with Tommy Bolt about 6 years before he passed away, I would have been 15 or 16 at the time.  He was a member at the same course in Arkansas as my grandpa so I got to meet and speak with him many times, but only got to play a round with him once.  He shot 75 from the seniors tees and didn't miss a fairway the whole round.  The guy was a real gentleman and was awesome to be around.

I also played 18 in a foursome behind Chris Smith's foursome when he was still on tour.  It was at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru, IN, a course that his family owns.  It was awesome to see how pure he hit everything.  He was a really nice guy to, we caught up with him off of 18 green and chatted a bit and he signed a couple golf balls and score cards for us.

[BallPincher]

etmccain, on 11 September 2012 - 04:13 AM, said:

i played 18 with Tommy Bolt about 6 years before he passed away, I would have been 15 or 16 at the time.  He was a member at the same course in Arkansas as my grandpa so I got to meet and speak with him many times, but only got to play a round with him once.  He shot 75 from the seniors tees and didn't miss a fairway the whole round.  The guy was a real gentleman and was awesome to be around.

I also played 18 in a foursome behind Chris Smith's foursome when he was still on tour.  It was at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru, IN, a course that his family owns.  It was awesome to see how pure he hit everything.  He was a really nice guy to, we caught up with him off of 18 green and chatted a bit and he signed a couple golf balls and score cards for us.

If my math is correct, he would have been 86 and dropped a 75! Talk about shooting your age!!!

I think pure irons is the one standard denominator among all of these current and former pro's.

[butch33611]

I played in a 4 man scramble years ago. It was a shotgun start with a lot of teams. The word was the group hitting first on the par 5 in front of us had some pro, I dont remember who it was. I was like, Whatever, lets play!! I was pretty much dismissing it with my team. This guy gets up on the tee and just crushes a drive. I think they all hit wedges on all the par 4's. Needless to say, They won.

[Rpardygolfpro]

I used to be an assistant pro in Alberta and while he isn't the best I've ever seen i got to play with Jamie Sadlowski and he is certainly the longest player i've ever seen. I'm by no means a short hitter average around 3bills but he did that with a 3 iron. he hit the ball sooo much higher than anyone i've seen on such a great penetrating flight it just launches and never seems to stop climbing then falls like a missile outta the sky and rolls another 20+yds. just amazing to watch.

[hoselrocket63]

I played in the 2002 AJGA Canon Cup tournament. In a foursomes match I was paired with Kevin Kisner, and we went up against Anthony Kim and Spencer Levin. We lost 5 and 4. Webb Simpson, Chris Kirk and Morgan Pressel were on my team and Paula Creamer was on the other side as well.

Edited by hoselrocket63, 01 October 2012 - 02:17 PM.

[kirkaz]

I played 4 holes with Billy Mayfair back when I was working at Troon North in the late 90's, I won't count that though.  Played several times while there with Doug LaBelle (Web.com, a few years on PGA). He shot -9 once with me as his happy partner in a match. Would have been course record, but we played the front 9 of Pinnacle and and front 9 of Monument, not one course.  That was in 99 or 2000.

[Johnny Biarritz]

The pro at my old course. Won the North Carolina Open a couple of times, Carolinas Open, qualified for 2 PGA Championships, National Club Pro Championship like 15 straight years, solid player. I remember playing with him and his 9 year old son one afternoon, 18 holes, son out goofing around (as you'd expect; this guy's dad owned the club, btw) and this guy shot 66 playing with no shoes on. Pretty solid for not caring at all.

Beyond him...I've played with a number of mini-tour guys and some reasonably top class amateurs, but no tour players or elite level amateurs.

[MarkFromTheUK]

I played 18 holes with Nick Price in 1994, when I was aged 15. 2 weeks later he won The Open.

[Jack Pearsall]

The answer would seem rather obvious to a Jack Golden Pearsall.

[rama5]

I was able to play a private course in Brandson years ago, playing with my father on a wide open course.  A ranger approached and told us another would be joining us shortly,  Andy williams came up behind and joined us for four holes, until he we caught up to the rest of the William brothers.  Awesome people, all polite good golfers and boy do they a have  million dollar smiles.

[Wknd_Warrior]

I've played with a few guys that were very good.  Some local players that are at the top of the am list, some great golf I've seen there, but the best story is from a guy I played with back in the late 80s.  He said he was a scratch, I'm not sure if he was plus or not, he was about 5'8" and like, 135lbs with a classic swing that tugged on the cleets in his shoes when he hit parallel.  He played a bunch of good golfall day, but on the 18th he hit a monster tee shot (this is back using persimmon and balata balls)  and I remarked something like, wow, I guess you can really go at it when it's teed up like that, so as we were walking down the fairway, about 30 yards off the tee he looks at me a smiles, throws a bal on the grass, pulls the driver out and smokes one of the longest flat liners I've ever seen in my life.  For those of you that aren't old enough to remember, a lot of drive with the old persimmon drivers would sort of spin up to a plateau and just sit on the shelf until they came down.  We watched this ball sit on that shelf untill it disappeared from sight lol, and I mean on a sting straight down the pipe.  We never found the ball, it was over the back of the green somewhere.

He said "they taught us to hit it hard, then they taught us to hit it straight"

Edited by Wknd_Warrior, 02 October 2012 - 08:33 PM.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

swbyps, on 08 September 2012 - 09:34 AM, said:

This thread reminded me of one of the best posts I have ever read on this site. Scroll down until you see the post by PhilTickelson. Enjoy!

http://www.golfwrx.c...my#entry3039225

That was a hilarious read!!  Thanks for posting that.

[rge]

pencilwhipper, on 31 August 2012 - 10:04 AM, said:

One of my best golf buds has a smash factor of 1.8.... need i say more?

I would be a bit skeptical of that number as maximum smash factor based on a conforming COR of .83 using a standard ball would be ever so slightly over 1.5 if it surpasses that number at all and even this number would be dependent on the loft of the driver.  Just thinking out loud.

[SurfDuffer]

I play a 2-day LPGA Pro-Am every year so I've played with some of the best female players out there.  The 10th ranked American player is the best I've been paired with so far.  2 years ago my 4-some came in third place finishing behind Christi Kerr and Se Ri Pak.  Good stuff.

[RobGW]

Doug, a friend of a friend. Played for Florida in the '70s, US Amateur runner-up twice. Back then the runner up also got an invitation, so he's played in the Masters twice (once with Nicklaus in his prime). Now in his late 50s and is still about a +5. He was a last minute fill-in for a scramble team. On one of the par 3s he told us, "I haven't had a hole-in-one in a while. I like the look of this shot." One-hopped into the pin, settled about a foot away.

[natural_one]

rge, on 05 October 2012 - 10:02 AM, said:

pencilwhipper, on 31 August 2012 - 10:04 AM, said:

One of my best golf buds has a smash factor of 1.8.... need i say more?

I would be a bit skeptical of that number as maximum smash factor based on a conforming COR of .83 using a standard ball would be ever so slightly over 1.5 if it surpasses that number at all and even this number would be dependent on the loft of the driver.  Just thinking out loud.

I kind of raised an eyebrow on that one too.   Tiger's is reportedly 1.48 and Bubba is at 1.52 (Golf Tips, April 2012)

[Conrad1953]

Wow, I read every post. Good stuff. Nothing to add.
Thanks for all the great stories.

[ThatGuy27]

this is actually one of the most enjoyable threads I've read on this site. Thanks to everyone for posting!

[Onewaggle]

Played a round with Tom Watson, very gracious, humble and funny guy.  It was a joy.  He made great shots look effortless.

Also played with John Daly, his short game blew me away.

[Teetogreen86]

My buddy Brett Munson back in 2005.  He ended up winning the Jack Nicklaus Award a couple years ago.  But back when we were at the Golf Academy of America we were playing individual matches in the same group at Black Bear in Eustis, FL.  He drained a 70 footer on the first hole to win.  Eagled the second.  Birdied the third.  Parred the fourth.  Birdied fifth through the 8th.  Parred 9.  He was 9 up through 9.  He lost 10 with a bogey.  And birdied the 220 yard par 3 11th to win the match.  It was the best ball striking/putting display I've ever seen.   We felt bad for the kid he was playing against because he looked like he just got run over by a train.  Brett played some mini tour events and did alright last year but haven't heard much about him this year.  One of the nicest kids I met while I was at school.

Attached Files

•  munsonaward.jpg   27.34K   2 downloads

Edited by Teetogreen86, 08 October 2012 - 05:17 PM.