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A few questions about Merion......

• drumstick66 156 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 1:01 AM

  Hi all , i've a few questions about Merion ( and how best to play it )

  How on earth can there be so many scores in the 50's , unbelievable , i know i'm only an average player but i couldn't hope to get near that , so......

  Is it a case of putting the ball on the green in a certain place ?

  Not always going for the pin and playing percentages ?

  Some of the holes seem impossible to get anywhere close , actually most of them .

  I've only played two completed rounds on it ( both 65 ) and loads of incomplete rounds where i've quit with frustration , the 65's were 100% concentration and i don't think i could do very much better , if at all .

  I find putting on it an absolute nightmare , slopes are horrendous  , also i putt by missing the ding , don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing ?

  My driving's not too bad but i tend to play virtually all my iron shots with full backspin , again is this a good or a bad thing ? I think i already know the answer to that one .

   Thanks in advance for any constructive advice that anyone can give me .

   

   

   

• oneeyedjohn 9,589 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 2:38 AM

  I pla yreal golf and virtual golf, but I live by the adage from Gary Player when asked how do you get backspin on a 3 iron, and when answered with 175 yards, he says, why the hell do you need backspin.

  So forget backspin, with good balls, good clubs, and legend or champ greens it is a killer.

  Merion requires management off the the tee and to the green, learn the slopes on the green, and where you must land.

  simple example - #13 below the hole is good, above the hole is crap. to the right or left is crap.

• WGTicon 12,511 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 2:46 AM

  hi

  simple answer maybe not the one you are looking for but...

  the players who post low scores are pro's who play 100's of ready go's a month, which means to 2 things: they can go low and they can get on streaks. When I competed, I had rounds where i'd post 65 and 64 and then 57. Difference was streak + slightly better timing.

  I was never in the top 10, but many of the players, with highest end equipment, can get on a streak and post a sub 60 round.  I would recommend to practice and practice :)

  -wgticon

• courteneyfish 15,796 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 3:14 AM

  The really good players on here use all of the options. How many people have never punched a drive or played a flop & run. etc.

• barbarella24 513 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 3:50 AM

  I've only played Merion a few times in stoke play but from what I've seen there is a big benefit to leaving yourself uphill parts. Its always good to leave uphill putts but the downhill'ers on Merion can be real tough.

• bluey403 1,533 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 5:27 AM

  Be aggressive on holes 1 2 4,try for middle of green on 3&5. #6 is a very hard hole.THE ULTIMATE SHOT is to carry bunker left of pin,but beware this shot will make or break your round.

  7 8 9 10 11 is where you can score,all these holes are birdieable by playin conservative.leave your shots short of hole on 12&13. #14 is middle of green.

  Hole 15 is a must to leave your approach below the hole,the most difficult short iron shot on the course.hit the fairway on 16 and its a birdie chance for sure.17 is a great par3,best to be long &left,no reward for being short.

  the lucky last is definately fairway off the tee,add 1 club with your 2nd shot,as you will nomally come up short.

  im only a bit of a hacker but hope this helps.

• Oldstir 434 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 1:41 PM

  Hi, though I think Merion is a nice course and plays smoothly, I absolutely agree with you; there should be "no way on Earth" that there are already so many scores near the mid-50s especially when the Course Just Opened. So you'll probably NEVER get the true answer to that question? So it's just 'Believe It Or Not' but it is a tough course IMO too. In fact, my Level 88 282-yards rated R11 9.0 Driver couldn't even get a Starter ball over the rough off the tee box on #18 just because it was into a ¾ 14 Wind. Ridiculous! ;) Which, once again, means that Only the players that can afford the Better balls and adequate Drivers can reach the fairway into a ¾ 14 Wind on #18 and have a 'normal' chance to par, birdie or eagle it.  That is perhaps the Biggest drawback on Merion so far? Simply because it essentially means that probably All players from Tour Pro down to Hack will ALWAYS HAVE TO PLAY OUT THE ROUGH AFTER TEEING OFF ON HOLE #18, with or without a Wind from the tee box? Although I have no idea where the Hacks to Tour Pros Tee off from; so maybe some of them can make it but I doubt it? Not to mention; even many Masters and Tour Masters don't have the Driver and/or Good balls to clear the rough from the tee box on #18 into a 3/4 14 Wind and maybe not even some Legends too? Anyway, I'm in no position to give You any advice since you're already breaking par at 65 but with more practice, I fully expect a chance to break par on Merion too one day even with Starter balls? Kind regards.

• bubbadork 984 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 2:53 PM

  Stay in the fairway and hit the greens. A couple of rounds, you'll know which greens to NOT go for the pin on.

• drumstick66 156 Posts

  Mon, May 6 2013 7:15 PM

  Thank you all , played another round , tee to green went quite well , once there i was absolutely clueless , seems my putting needs a drastic overhaul .

  So my other question - is it better to putt by missing the ding or moving the marker ?

   

• ProGreggC 57 Posts

  Tue, May 7 2013 1:11 PM

  Oldstir:

  Hi, though I think Merion is a nice course and plays smoothly, I absolutely agree with you; there should be "no way on Earth" that there are already so many scores near the mid-50s especially when the Course Just Opened. So you'll probably NEVER get the true answer to that question? So it's just 'Believe It Or Not' but it is a tough course IMO too. In fact, my Level 88 282-yards rated R11 9.0 Driver couldn't even get a Starter ball over the rough off the tee box on #18 just because it was into a ¾ 14 Wind. Ridiculous! ;) Which, once again, means that Only the players that can afford the Better balls and adequate Drivers can reach the fairway into a ¾ 14 Wind on #18 and have a 'normal' chance to par, birdie or eagle it.  That is perhaps the Biggest drawback on Merion so far? Simply because it essentially means that probably All players from Tour Pro down to Hack will ALWAYS HAVE TO PLAY OUT THE ROUGH AFTER TEEING OFF ON HOLE #18, with or without a Wind from the tee box? Although I have no idea where the Hacks to Tour Pros Tee off from; so maybe some of them can make it but I doubt it? Not to mention; even many Masters and Tour Masters don't have the Driver and/or Good balls to clear the rough from the tee box on #18 into a 3/4 14 Wind and maybe not even some Legends too? Anyway, I'm in no position to give You any advice since you're already breaking par at 65 but with more practice, I fully expect a chance to break par on Merion too one day even with Starter balls? Kind regards.

  the same peolalways complain. usallythe quitters which is the case here