Played with a kid with some serious talent yesterday

[aenemated]

So we've been in a weird transition period at the club the last two weeks due to the course closure for a total fairways and greens rebuild. Memberships are shifted over to TPC Vegas till after the Shriners in October but there's still been some public access meaning ... slow play. (Thankfully, this was the last weekend for that) So I've been hitting up some other local courses I haven't played before. 

 

Hit up Rhodes Ranch in the beautiful Spring Valley area of southwest Vegas - where I lived before that silly little jaunt off to LA for, um, 14 years. Just out by myself.

 

First 3 holes went by nicely but at 4, there was a backup and there were a couple kids in the cart in front of me; one of whom was like "Hey dude, wanna just play with us?" Figured I might as well since I obviously wasn't going anywhere. 

 

One was a lil 13 y/o dude who was new to the game (but did pretty alright) and the other I'd guess was 16 or 17 or so ... and DANG. Probably the shot that stood out the most, we were on a downhill par 3, shot it to around 180 with the pin at the front of a deep green, no trouble in front ... but there was a serious headwind. He's like "Whatcha thinkin here?" and I was like "Imma play this a good club and half headwind, thinking playing it around 200 to the pin so I'm gonna keep my 4 low and try to run it up." "Cool, yeah, that sounds right."

 

Proceed to hit an OK 4, turned it over a little too much trying to keep it down and missed the green just left but pin high. Not mad at that. Kid steps up and just pipes it - total tour flight, straight over the pin to the very back of the green. Easily a 200 yard carry in a seriously fierce headwind. Turned out it was a 5 iron. Just smoked it, gorgeous ball flight. He played in at even par, couple good looks at birdie but putts weren't dropping for any of us. Solid short game. 

 

It's a short course so I didn't even see him hit driver till 9 - which looked about like any tour drive I've ever seen. And he wasn't a big kid at all; total Ashkay Bhatia vibes. Tall, skinny, serious speed. And just an all-around good kid. 

 

Putt out on 9 and he's like "We're just doing 9 but it awesome playing with you dude!" and I was like "Likewise man - you've got a stellar game. I'll be looking for you at Augusta in a few years!" 

 

I knew kids these days had game but that was the first time I actually got to see it up close. (And hey, this old guy didn't play too shabby either.) Ton of fun and I rolled on to #10 thinking "Yeah, golf's in good hands." 

Edited May 1, 2022 by aenemated

[dcfas]

My son plays in the local PGA jr league. Last summer I accompanied him in a few tournaments and was surprised how well some of these little guys could move the ball. Wow. 
 

The programs are now everywhere. There are now so many youngsters in golf schools I expect par golf to be common in the near future. Lol. 
 

The deal I have with my 13 year old is the day he beats me fair and square, 18 holes, from the men’s tees, I buy him a car. That deal has both of us practicing!

[m d g]

It's a different dynamic these days.

 

Both of my boys have hit it tour distance or more since they were 16 or so.

 

They just don't have the 'touch' and sell software instead : )

[aenemated]

44 minutes ago, m d g said:

It's a different dynamic these days.

 

Both of my boys have hit it tour distance or more since they were 16 or so.

 

They just don't have the 'touch' and sell software instead : )

 

It's nuts. We played some great golf when me and my homies were that age ... but we weren't hitting it like THAT. 

 

Second hole we played would be an decently drivable par 4 in normal conditions but not in yesterday's wind. He pulls one of those Titleist TMB 2 irons and I was like "Oh nice, man - rad 2 iron." "You wanna hit it?" "Sure, why not - not reaching this one today." 

 

I hit it solid, got probably 210ish out there in the wind, drifted to the left side but overall totally solid shot. He steps up and pipes it like 30 yards past me and I'm like "C'mon dude, makin me look bad here 😂"

 

Software's a good business to be in! 

[nikeblades00]

I see it everyday at my course. Golf is saturated with tons of good players. It seems like every D1 player 'goes pro' after they graduate. I've seen it over and over. Alot of good players but only a few sharks. Most of them are great playing with members or practicing on the range, but s*** the bed in their low level 1 day 'pro' events. 🤣

Edited May 2, 2022 by nikeblades00

[bobfoster]

I love where golf is going. Was a walk on today, got paired with this old Korean woman. She was 58, and had just taken up golf two years ago because her son wanted to paly with her. Had gotten lessons. But she was totally into it (and quite intense). Sucked off the tee, but an amazing short game. Gotta say? I really love how many women are taking up the game. Would like to see a lot more of it. Would love to see it bump from 20% to 40%. 

[Notashank]

The future players of the LIV tour. 

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, bobfoster said:

I love where golf is going. Was a walk on today, got paired with this old Korean woman. She was 58, and had just taken up golf two years ago because her son wanted to paly with her. Had gotten lessons. But she was totally into it (and quite intense). Sucked off the tee, but an amazing short game. Gotta say? I really love how many women are taking up the game. Would like to see a lot more of it. Would love to see it bump from 20% to 40%. 

 

I think we collectively shared how much more fun it is to watch the LPGA than PGA these days. And I've seen some very talented young ladies doing work at the club.

 

It just fills my little twisted punk rock golfist heart with joy to see these kids out there killing it. I just have an innate avuncular nature. It's a cool role to play. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by aenemated

[DON SVO]

On 5/2/2022 at 12:49 AM, aenemated said:

 

I think we collectively shared how much more fun it is to watch the LPGA than PGA these days. And I've seen some very talented young ladies doing work at the club.

 

It just fills my little twisted punk rock golfist heart with joy to see these kids out there killing it. I just have an innate avuncular nature. It's a cool role to play. 

 

When they have the skill and the drive, it's fun to watch "youngsters" play great golf. My friend I played a lot of golf with years back was just shy of a +4hcp when he graduated high school. I took him to play rounds with some of my older friends and just let them figure it out on their own, LOL. He plays "boring a** golf" and you suddenly realize he's 3 under through 12 on a course he's not too familiar with. The reactions after everyone started catching on were priceless. I learned a while back that there's a lot of good sticks floating around, and there's a ton of them that barely even have a driver's license! 

[Nick M]

On 5/1/2022 at 11:20 PM, bobfoster said:

I love where golf is going. Was a walk on today, got paired with this old Korean woman. She was 58, and had just taken up golf two years ago because her son wanted to paly with her. Had gotten lessons. But she was totally into it (and quite intense). Sucked off the tee, but an amazing short game. Gotta say? I really love how many women are taking up the game. Would like to see a lot more of it. Would love to see it bump from 20% to 40%. 

Same situation to me, possibly 2 weeks ago.  Older woman had to be in her 60's, took up the game because her and her husband were moving to Florida eventually and needed something to do. Retired PE teacher from a local school back here a while ago. Took a bunch of lessons, grasped the game pretty well.  Trouble with the driver, but irons and short game were pretty damn good for not playing consistently!

[huskydawg]

I'm a bit curious how you all did on 5 and 6.  I hit #5 in 2 with a driver 5 iron, but that was from the blues.  6 is a pretty long hole also. 

[aenemated]

40 minutes ago, huskydawg said:

I'm a bit curious how you all did on 5 and 6.  I hit #5 in 2 with a driver 5 iron, but that was from the blues.  6 is a pretty long hole also. 

 

Not sure we're talking about the same course. RR is pretty short even from the tips - we were playing the blue tees that come in under 6200 yards. Tips aren't even 6600. 

 

5's just a little 360ish par 4, I hit driver up the left side then a knockdown 52° in. 6 would be a drivable par 4 in normal conditions (the hole I mentioned a few posts up) but I hit the kid's TMB 2 iron then totally airmailed the green trying to keep it down. 

[huskydawg]

13 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

Not sure we're talking about the same course. RR is pretty short even from the tips - we were playing the blue tees that come in under 6200 yards. Tips aren't even 6600. 

 

5's just a little 360ish par 4, I hit driver up the left side then a knockdown 52° in. 6 would be a drivable par 4 in normal conditions (the hole I mentioned a few posts up) but I hit the kid's TMB 2 iron then totally airmailed the green trying to keep it down. 

Huh, 5 used to be a par 5, but the newer cards have it as a par 4.  6 used to be over 400 yards.  Maybe they cut out part of the course.

 

The old card had it at 6900.

https://www.lasvegas.net/home/cat/detail/36676/Rhodes-Ranch-Golf-Club

 

Vegas always changes >.<

[smashdn]

Interesting you guys are saying how many good players you run into but in the Distance Debate threads "nobody is driving it that far" or "we don't have that many good players."

 

I tend to agree with you guys, give a 13-16 year old kid access to the club in summer when we are all at work and all he has to do is play golf, they get pretty darn good.  What they may not have in distance due to not being physically big yet, they make up somewhat by being wiry and fast.  After that it becomes about touch.

[aenemated]

15 hours ago, huskydawg said:

Huh, 5 used to be a par 5, but the newer cards have it as a par 4.  6 used to be over 400 yards.  Maybe they cut out part of the course.

 

The old card had it at 6900.

https://www.lasvegas.net/home/cat/detail/36676/Rhodes-Ranch-Golf-Club

 

Vegas always changes >.<

 

Whoa, weird! Yeah, totally different. I lived right by it (Jones and Warm Springs) for a handful of years before I moved off to LA and never played it back in the day. 

[aenemated]

1 hour ago, smashdn said:

Interesting you guys are saying how many good players you run into but in the Distance Debate threads "nobody is driving it that far" or "we don't have that many good players."

 

Haha well, it was unusual enough for me to start a thread about it. 🙂

[Maxharmon98]

@aenemated Its crazy.  I grew up playing lots of Jr golf in Texas.  I played with LOTS of studs.  Guys that could absolutely move the ball.  What i found the craziest was the ability for some of these kids to go so low.  I mean, even when I was playing my best golf, I just didn't have the ability to shoot -7 like some of these kids could.  And I was a pretty consistent 69-74 guy, and would shoot in that range 9.5/10 times.  But these kids would come out in a 2 day tournament and shoot -9 and just blow the doors off these fields.  

[Aaronwilson_95]

On 5/1/2022 at 8:46 PM, nikeblades00 said:

I see it everyday at my course. Golf is saturated with tons of good players. It seems like every D1 player 'goes pro' after they graduate. I've seen it over and over. Alot of good players but only a few sharks. Most of them are great playing with members or practicing on the range, but s*** the bed in their low level 1 day 'pro' events. 🤣

You must be super fun to hang out with.

[nikeblades00]

4 hours ago, Aaronwilson_95 said:

You must be super fun to hang out with.

Mrs.Wilson always seems to have a great time 😂

[Aaronwilson_95]

2 hours ago, nikeblades00 said:

Mrs.Wilson always seems to have a great time 😂

Good thing their isn’t a Mrs Wilson. That being said you seem like a very bitter person for attempting to make jokes about members of your club who are attempting to play professionally. In all likelyhood it’s because you never wanted to take the chance yourself .

[zonadub]

On 5/1/2022 at 9:04 AM, dcfas said:

…

The deal I have with my 13 year old is the day he beats me fair and square, 18 holes, from the men’s tees, I buy him a car. That deal has both of us practicing!

The price of getting beat has certainly gone up! My dad bought me a new set of clubs the first time I beat him, and I did they same deal for my son. But, I had already bought my son a set of irons about a month before the first time he beat me, so I just had to complete the set with woods.

[dcfas]

3 hours ago, zonadub said:

The price of getting beat has certainly gone up! My dad bought me a new set of clubs the first time I beat him, and I did they same deal for my son. But, I had already bought my son a set of irons about a month before the first time he beat me, so I just had to complete the set with woods.

That’s great! My thought was he would probably out golf me by the time he reached maybe 17, at which point we plan on getting him a car anyway. He turns 14 in October and I’m getting a bit nervous as he is playing some tough courses and is scoring in the low 90’s. I’m a single digit but also not getting any younger.

 

If I don’t keep up we will be car hunting by this time next summer!

[zonadub]

1 hour ago, dcfas said:

That’s great! My thought was he would probably out golf me by the time he reached maybe 17, at which point we plan on getting him a car anyway. He turns 14 in October and I’m getting a bit nervous as he is playing some tough courses and is scoring in the low 90’s. I’m a single digit but also not getting any younger.

 

If I don’t keep up we will be car hunting by this time next summer!

Yeah, I was about a 5 cap then, and he was 15  and I think I was about 15 when I got my dad. Start saving now.  😉

[Ghostwedge]

My son said he will buy me a new truck next time I beat him. 

Last time that happened was 10 years ago 😎 

Dad 74 son 75 👍

[golfer07840]

On 5/4/2022 at 10:49 AM, smashdn said:

Interesting you guys are saying how many good players you run into but in the Distance Debate threads "nobody is driving it that far" or "we don't have that many good players."

 

I tend to agree with you guys, give a 13-16 year old kid access to the club in summer when we are all at work and all he has to do is play golf, they get pretty darn good.  What they may not have in distance due to not being physically big yet, they make up somewhat by being wiry and fast.  After that it becomes about touch.

 

Could be a regional thing. I live in NJ, so technically golf season is April tru mid November, but ideal weather wise it's mid May thru Mid October and I've played with maybe 5 kids who were really talented and striping it. One was off to Morehead st on a golf scholarship. He had serious game. 

 

But generally, I don't see all these talented kids who are bombing it nearly as often as some of you. 

[smashdn]

Morehead St in KY?

[baitdragger]

Just played Pine Needles last week.  the US Kids teen tournament was going on.  
 

Starter said take it slow, play 2 balls.  Play holes twice as kids were practicing and bouncing all over the course.  It was annoying at first and then I caught up to a 6some.   Which was just a group of teens and their parent caddies.  So more carts than players.

 

the dads said you want to join the kids?   I got smoked by 2 13 year old girls.

They just piped their drivers, irons, putts.  I sent them on their way a few holes later, told them I didn’t want to ruin their practice with my awful play

 

good for them.   The amount of young kids down there this last weekend playing good golf was impressive 

 

[drumdude96]

On 7/29/2022 at 1:49 PM, golfer07840 said:

 

Could be a regional thing. I live in NJ, so technically golf season is April tru mid November, but ideal weather wise it's mid May thru Mid October and I've played with maybe 5 kids who were really talented and striping it. One was off to Morehead st on a golf scholarship. He had serious game. 

 

But generally, I don't see all these talented kids who are bombing it nearly as often as some of you. 

I'm guessing most of them are out west in Cali, with a sprinkling of them here and there around the rest of the country.

[golfer07840]

On 7/29/2022 at 3:10 PM, smashdn said:

Morehead St in KY?

Yes, same school that Giants QB Phil Simms went to. 

[smashdn]

32 minutes ago, golfer07840 said:

Yes, same school that Giants QB Phil Simms went to. 

 

Can't say as I have ever stopped in Morehead for anything.  We played baseball in a tournament in Catlettsburg one year.  That was the longest bus ride I had ever been on.  Absolutely brutal.

Coach also drug us over to Corbin one year.  Rained the whole way there and games were delayed four hours.  Played until 1 am Saturday night.  Game at 9:00am the next day.

 

That was the farthest east I had been in the state until I went to college and coached softball.  We ended up at Alice Lloyd in Pippa Passes to play them.

 

I do my best to stay south and west of Elizabethtown and most all costs.  Anything away from my end of the state is weird and yankee-ish.