Things I appreciated about this video: James’s approach to the game (checking the wind, strategy on every shot/putt, “stick to the process don’t jump to conclusions” @12:10) Things I REALLY appreciated about this video: Golfcity showing the content we all want to see, James not once complaining about the conditions or pace of play and being an overall gentleman during the entire round Thing I REALLY did not appreciate: someone found his 8 iron and didn’t turn it in. Cmon fellow golfers, we’re better than that!
Great to hear! Restored my faith in our fellow public golf course players. Played Spook couple times and everyone from the staff to the local folks were awesome!
You know not a single fkn thing about him & his character by watching him play portions of one round of golf on a YT video. FFS... tell us you're stupid without telling us you're stupid.
Great Vid! No matter what Tee's you play from, it's the mindset and the approach for each green. A lot of Hackers like to play from the Tips and then complain about everything. Yet here James proves it's still challenging from even from the different Tee boxes. I like how he explains what he normally would do and how if he crushes it, it could go in the woods. Even if he is in the woods....he jst plays the shot. One thing I learned.....his "duck Walk" to the hole. It looked goofy, but wow, he was confirming the break on the green. It was a joy to watch how (with his skill level) how he can attack each hole. To control the fade/draw, the power, club selection, jst all aspects. It makes it fun for hackers like us and how we can work on different aspects of our own game. FUN!
James - thank you for taking the time to do this! I love your attitude on the misses, focus on the prep/action vs. result. Now I’m follow and root for you the rest of your career! Cheers!
Did my research on him and it turns out his dad performed surgery on both my right and left knees. And I gotta be honest but I thought I was a good athlete but this guy takes the cake. Definitely going to be rooting for him if I ever see him on TV playing in a tournament. And I've played Spook Rock many times and this is just not fair. Only if we could all hit the ball 340 off the tee. Great job James and good luck on tour!!
Great to see a video with a tour pro playing a “normal” common man course!! the muni’s and standard public courses generally have more playing surface challenges than the perfect tournament condition courses, it adds an element of uncertainty, for sure.
Interesting round to see at my second home course where we all shoot in the 80’s. He didn’t drive it particularly well, but his length off the white tees meant he’s pitching to every green. It’s a bit like us playing off the reds. Would have liked to see him play from the tips, which are still 500 yards shorter than a Tour course. If he had striped his drives he might have shot 62 or 63, since he parred all four par 5’s
The very best are humble because they’ve played with so many great players as good or better than them. The arrogant players are the ones playing off 2 or 3 who think they are McIlroy because they’ve never played with top players before.
Great video. First time watcher. One subtle video editing thing I reeaallyy loved was on hole 7 at around 13:00 of this video you guys continued the audio of golf cart conversation while overlaying James finishing the hole. Thought that was a clever way to capture the importance of the conversation but also continuing on with the content. Liked and subscribed. Looking forward to more of your content in my feed.
Great video guys. Nice to see a lovely humble pro playing great around a public course and giving such great insight into his thought pattern with every shot. I've also left a club out on a course, so it happens to us all! Sometimes in a way it may be more difficult around the greens for him than what he's used to, as the quality on a public course isn't going to match what he's used to on a course set up immaculately for a pro tournament Five under shot with ease. I bet we'd all love to do that. Well done and best wishes for the future.
Great video fellas! Awesome to hear the thought process from a Pro and what they are thinking for each shot. Things amatures never think about - but should!
He sounds like Michael Cera to me. Great casual 5 under though... I mean... He left at least 5 or so out there and didn't really look like he was even remotely worried at any point. This just goes to show that on a super average or maybe even below average day, the level that you have to be on to compete against world-class opposition. I will probably never have a 5 under round. So cool to watch; also great to hear him explain his thought process and evaluation of trouble situations on every shot. Great content.
This is great content. Getting to see insight like this from a pro golfer is really cool. Love all th explanations and hearing the thought process. Great work boys
I love hearing the strategy behind his shots. It also shows how consistent professional courses are compared to many of the public golf course I play in my videos.
Awesome video!! I guessed that he would shoot -5!! Though he easily could have gone lower. I bet if he didn't have his driver, he would go lower playing from the white tees. I mean, it was pretty evident playing aggressive off the tee didn't;t help much. Where as, he could have easily placed him self on every par 4 with an 80-120 yards in approach. Where hole outs from that distance aren't far from at his level. Anyhow it was great to hear his thought process for every shot. Thanks for posting
Great video and James seems like a great guy. Will definitely be rooting for him going forward. I loved seeing a pro dealing with the conditions I usually deal with and thrilled when I recognized the course as one I've played multiple times in the past!
Craziest part is it looked like he played super sloppy and still shot 5 under!! The rest of us hacks play like that and we are 19 over, easy. It's just not fair how good these guys are.
It's nuts that James is practicing for Q-School and is this good. Like, mind boggling just how good pro golfers are. His second shot on hole 1 I would've hit four trees and ended up closer to the tee box than the green.
you want a good example of that go watch rick shiels videos with james robinson. guy was an ex pro who played in the open but is a teaching pro now because basically he wasnt good enough to make it on tour. he shot 1 under par on 9 holes with a 70 euro package set they bought from a costco equivalent store, played another 9 holes with rick i believe he finished 2 under but whats crazy about that is the challenge was he was only able to use 4 golf clubs
James Robinson was very, very good. I couldn't believe he wasn't on the tour. But, he was super nice. I wonder if he was missing the killer instinct. Kind of like a guy who wanted to stay out of the way of everyone and keep it friendly. Just saying@@zesolodar
Awesome vid. A real insight to a pros mind. I kept thinking that this guy is a tool the way he takes about his approach, but then I remember he is a professional. Impressive.
The fact that he hit his first drive into the woods made me feel better for 57 seconds. Then it was on the middle of the green in 2 and if I was lucky enough to be on that fairway after my first drive, I would almost definitely not been on the green in 2. :D Loved hearing his process on each shot.
I am a scratch golfer myself. Enjoyed watching him play. Would like to have seen a tougher course. A lot of open areas under the trees which gave him good shots. Like to see pros show how scrambling makes the game and not always the big bombs. Great video.
@@Jeff-lf6hv your right. But I also don't have the luxury of someone marking my ball in a hazard or thick rough. Saves pros avg 3 shots a round. That's 12 a tournament. Do the math. Not saying they are not awesome but, playing straight up I can hang right there.
@@erniestarkey8856 have you ever played at that level play touring pros. It's a whole new game. Faster greens, more bunkers, tighter fairways and the pressure is totally different. I know because I played on tour in the 90s. It was fun but damn miss 1 putt or 1 fairway that can cause you to miss a cut. It's that close as all the way around. Every shot is your life
@@Jeff-lf6hv I have played several PGA PRO Am's and twice beat the Touring pro I played with. When no one is marking the ball, they lose strokes same as you and me. Not all Touring Pros are that consistent. Not patting myself on the back just stating facts. Have a good day.
This just proves that crappy public courses can actually be more difficult than say a country club. Nothing is manicured well, crab grass, dirt lies, greens are crappy, a million trees overhanging and blocking greens. Hard to play good golf when everything is different every hole
Tree branches hanging over the fairways are not good course maintenance. That is probably not the way the course was intended to be played. If 100 trees were removed no one would notice and the pace of play would get much faster.
Could have easily been 8 under. The info you get from walking with pros while they play is almost overwhelming. They are surgeons. When in trouble, they see and can hit though "windows" us amaetures don't see let alone can hit. I keep saying I appreciate you guys and the work you do. It was GREAT to watch James Nicholas play. I will check out the podcast and will cheer him on too. Have to, he's a Golficity homie, one of us.
Most people have no idea. Anytime a. Pro level golfer plays my local club, they go so low, even from the tips on a tough course. I’ve seen a guy shoot -9 and it should’ve been -11. He shot it pretty easily. They really take advantage of par 5s so it’s like they’re playing par 67s or 68s on most courses. He was getting home in 2 with irons for the most part and hitting them inside 10 to 20 ft and make a ton of putts. An elite player like Spieth or scheffler shoots low 60s every round at the local club that he’s familiar with.
Wish there were more videos of this style with pros walking you through verbally what they are thinking during the entire round…shot by shot. Learn a lot of how they think and their course management
I wish James all the best in his quest to play the PGA Tour. He's an all-around athlete. He was recruited to play football at Yale. He was also the 6th highest career scoring in HS hockey in New York state history. He eventually stopped playing football to only play on Yale's golf team where he was all Ivy League multiple times.
so watching in 2024... very likeable fellow, career earnings at $111,000 yet goes out and shoots -5 making it look easy at that. Goes to show everyone how good tour players are. Great video.
I’ve always found Spook Rock challenging. It’s on the upper edge of my comfortable distance and there’s tons of trees. I love this video so much because he’s like yawning while he dominates the course.
My primary courses are a couple of very nice munis with greens the speed of this course. I was stoked that the women's tour would be playing there & wondered if I could compete with them if I could have played with them by at least making the cut at 4 under. Meg Mallon went & shot a 10 under 60 with rough so bad there are times when you knew exactly where the ball would be & you couldn't find it. Brutal. Also played with a visiting retired senior tour player & his buddies got him a crappy set of graphite irons but a decent driver. He didn't birdie any par 5's plus left a bunch out there & shot a 6 under 64. Followed Annika for 3 rounds on the other muni course for an LPGA event & she missed a ton of 6 to 12 footers & she shot 24 under. Ridiculous different world.
It’s nice to see a pro roughing it like the rest of up on bumpy greens = reality, and add a 15 minute wait time on the tee box. Good luck on the 2024 season!
What this video showcased is how difficult golf is to your recreational golfers. So many variables come into play. Course familiarity is a big one. The maintenance of the course itself (greens, fairways, rough, fringe, bunkers etc when compared to tour level courses). Makes me feel much better knowing breaking 95 is a big achievement.
Had my best and worst round on the same day. When I was playing as a professional we were in Florida on a 7200 yard track. I had 9 birdies, 2 eagles and finished with a 73. Two weeks later in Vegas I started a round five over after five holes and finished with a 67. Remember, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. I've had dozens of rounds like this and there's a lesson from them, "Never give up on yourself"!
I would argue that a lot of "public" courses would actually be harder for these pros. Not because of layouts or anything like that, but no manicured fairways, no 12 on the stimp meter greens, no perfectly raked sand traps, and may of these courses have a quirky hole or two you wouldn't see on tour.
Love this!!! My home course! I would not move back to the blues until I shot par from the whites! I was wondering when this was coming out! Great video! That drive on 18!!! Holy Cow!
A friend plays on the Asian Tour, and has had starts on the DP and US Tours. When we played at my club we squeezed 14 holes in. He was 11 under. This course was only 6,400 yards and he tore it apart.
Love how he talks about the bumps in the greens im so used to them i dont notice anymore but imagine if i got to play perfect greens how many more putts id make
Been playing our munis for 20 years. The greens are excellent now due to Troon taking over management but in the past they have often stimped at no kidding 6 or 8. You may as well putt with a 3 wood. Drove me nuts that good putts would bobble left or right but never seemed to get a bobble going in on a bad putt. Got to play a few rounds on flawless bent grass & made all kinds of putts so on rough muni greens its more about luck than skill.
These tour pros are so good because even with a bad/slow start they know a good stretch is coming. They stay focused and even on a not so great day shoot mid 60's Pretty amazing.
There are definitely disadvantages on the Munis, and closer tees are not necessarily a help. I don't hit it far at all, but all of my best rounds are from the back tees, mainly because there's less trouble off the tee. I'm sure a pro would destroy them if they get used to them, but coming straight from their world into ours is no picnic.
The thing about a lot of public course is the condition of the fairways and greens. I have played courses that being in the fairway ends up being on hard bare ground
Gotta say…as a 7 handicap this video definitely changes my personal expectations if a tour pro is only shooting -5 at a muni course while playing from the whites….guess I should be happy with my 85
I managed a public city course, for 6 years, and our lost and found, was bonkers lol. I’m talking hundreds of clubs over the years. That’s the problem, when you end up with half your bag on the ground, in those scenarios. The other culprit, was not leaving your extra clubs, between the hole and your cart, when putting.
Spook!!!! This is my home course, I learned how to play here. Took lessons with Chris Cohen who is one of the head guys at Spook Rock. Keep up the great content !
As a pro (pga pro I’m not on tour but my handicap is +5). These course are actually harder to play bc the greens aren’t as true the fairways are way less forgiving and the tee boxes aren’t the best. I still score well on them bc I play on them a lot but I know why these guys don’t come out here and shoot 60s
@@tomsanger5548think about it from a net score perspective and it makes sense. If you are a 10 handicap that is actually "-10" because you get to subtract 10 strokes from your gross score to get your net handicap score (ex: shoot 85, subtract 10, net 75) If someone is better than scratch, in this case the guy is a +5, he has to add 5 strokes to his gross score to get his net handicap score because he is better than scratch (shoot 68, +5, net 73).
At first the sadistic side of me was hoping for him to stink it up but seeing what a genuinely nice guy he is I was rooting for him. Easy name to remember, will keep an eye out for him
Those greens and what your use to playing on are totally opposite. I played professional in the 90s and I can tell you your games just gets much better on tour level golf courses. I played alot of public golf courses and I found it my game was not at the level of play of playing on tour . Greens were slower and did not break correctly. Fairways were fluffy or not cut tight. Hard to spin the ball. This video is really good for people to see that way they can understand that sometimes or alot times your putts a missing are not always your fault.
Exactly my experience of playing 25 years on muni courses primarily but also being able to play some tour grade courses. You know the putt breaks slightly left & then it doesn't move. Try it again & suddenly it breaks not only left but misses left by a lot with the same stroke. Skill is taken out of the equation on a lot of muni greens. Tiger said he grew up on velcro greens. Give me beautiful 12 stimp bent grass & I become a very good putter. Also bunkers with just a dusting of sand on one hole & then the next deep sand but no way of telling. I got to where I was just trying to hit a half decent shot & not go flying over the green from what turned out to be hard pan or digging too deep & leaving it in the bunker.
325 with a driver. The furthest I ever hit one was roughly 300 - but that was with a blistering wind at my back and downhill to the green from 100 yards. In other words I don't hit long at all, so 325 is absolutely insane.
Ya I’ve played plenty of tournament golf as well as plenty of one-off, never seen the course before, rounds. It is exceedingly difficult to “score” on a course you’ve never played before, ESPECIALLY if no one in your group knows the course either. If that is the case, you can add at least four strokes to your score due to the “oh well I never would have hit it there if I knew THAT” or “how could I have known to NOT miss on this side” and a dozen more, like “hitting a driver is not the right club off the tee here”. Where there are at least 10 shots you would have taken a totally different approach on. Not to mention having no clue about ANY putts on any hole. With that said, if I could shoot even on a first go around, that would be a pretty good accomplishment. Much different than shooting even on your third time, which eliminates almost all of the “lost shots” due to ignorance. Plus the conditions of public golf courses are no where near as pristine as pro tournament set up courses, which is hard to state how important that is for trusting the greens to be consistent and the cups cut clean. The tournament I’ve always wanted to see is one round, 18 holes. The top 50 players. Regular public golf course in the regular weekday conditions. No one can have ever played it or walked it or seen it prior to tournament t day. No caddies, no yardage books. They will get a green size/pin location sheet. Play from the tips. No electronic yardage aids. 25 pre-round practice putts/chips total. 20 minutes Range. Carry own bag. I think any golfer would love to see the pros play the course & conditions they play in.
I worked at Ciba-Geigy off Airmont road from 1979 to 81, never picked up a golf club in my life. My co-workers would chip in a field behind the plant at lunch, so I said I how hard could this be. Oh yeah, I became addicted, learned to play at Spook Rock what a place to learn the game, still addicted and living in Murrells inlet right next to the TPC myrtle beach...
For those who don't know, a pro's handicap is usually a few shots better than scratch or "0". So on scorecards there are typically two numbers, a large one called the slope rating and then a smaller number around par called the rating. The smaller number is based on what a scratch, "0" handicap would shoot on that particular course. I would guess this guy's handicap is 3-6 shots better than scratch, so if the rating of this course is a 70 then he would average 64-67. Just puts it into perspective how good those guys are when the ratings of high level country clubs are in the 75-77 range from the back tees.
![What 2 Handicap Golf Look Like... [Every Shot]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/N42jwuhoEKQ/mqdefault.jpg)
PART 2 with James is now Live on the channel where he TRIES AGAIN!
Things I appreciated about this video: James’s approach to the game (checking the wind, strategy on every shot/putt, “stick to the process don’t jump to conclusions” @12:10)
Things I REALLY appreciated about this video: Golfcity showing the content we all want to see, James not once complaining about the conditions or pace of play and being an overall gentleman during the entire round
Thing I REALLY did not appreciate: someone found his 8 iron and didn’t turn it in. Cmon fellow golfers, we’re better than that!
Thank you!🙏
But he got his iron back - someone returned it!
Great to hear! Restored my faith in our fellow public golf course players. Played Spook couple times and everyone from the staff to the local folks were awesome!
@@Golficity that is awesome.
James is the best, played a pro-am with him at the Wichita Open. He’s one of the nicest guys around.
He might be nice, but he is NEVER going to be a top class pro...
ok? why would a successful tour pro care what a couch potato who shoots 93 thinks@@rpw1013
Quite clearly not the best, but you met him, therefore he's better than he is 😅
what a nice dude. Extremely humble and you can tell he absolutely loves what he does. Watched this entire vid through it was fantastic
You know not a single fkn thing about him & his character by watching him play portions of one round of golf on a YT video.
FFS... tell us you're stupid without telling us you're stupid.
We appreciate you!
second this. all the best to James
Totally I’d be his caddy tired of douches at country clubs
Great Vid! No matter what Tee's you play from, it's the mindset and the approach for each green. A lot of Hackers like to play from the Tips and then complain about everything. Yet here James proves it's still challenging from even from the different Tee boxes. I like how he explains what he normally would do and how if he crushes it, it could go in the woods. Even if he is in the woods....he jst plays the shot.
One thing I learned.....his "duck Walk" to the hole. It looked goofy, but wow, he was confirming the break on the green.
It was a joy to watch how (with his skill level) how he can attack each hole. To control the fade/draw, the power, club selection, jst all aspects.
It makes it fun for hackers like us and how we can work on different aspects of our own game.
FUN!
This was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I have watched in a long time.
James - thank you for taking the time to do this! I love your attitude on the misses, focus on the prep/action vs. result. Now I’m follow and root for you the rest of your career! Cheers!
Did my research on him and it turns out his dad performed surgery on both my right and left knees. And I gotta be honest but I thought I was a good athlete but this guy takes the cake. Definitely going to be rooting for him if I ever see him on TV playing in a tournament. And I've played Spook Rock many times and this is just not fair. Only if we could all hit the ball 340 off the tee. Great job James and good luck on tour!!
Small world! He secured his DP WORLD TOUR CARD so you’ll be seeing him!
7:06 the dew line from a previous ball lines up perfectly with your line!! satisfying
This is exactly the content I want to see. I really want to see folks at courses i play.
Great to see a video with a tour pro playing a “normal” common man course!! the muni’s and standard public courses generally have more playing surface challenges than the perfect tournament condition courses, it adds an element of uncertainty, for sure.
Yeah, they should make an annual event out of this.
What always strikes me the most is the Sound of a Good Swing!!! The “click” at contact is so Crisp, Beautiful 😊
Interesting round to see at my second home course where we all shoot in the 80’s. He didn’t drive it particularly well, but his length off the white tees meant he’s pitching to every green. It’s a bit like us playing off the reds. Would have liked to see him play from the tips, which are still 500 yards shorter than a Tour course.
If he had striped his drives he might have shot 62 or 63, since he parred all four par 5’s
He had an eagle putt on 11, he made birdie on that par 5.
You are right!
Most pros I've seen are very humble. I think the game does that. What a game. What a pro.
The very best are humble because they’ve played with so many great players as good or better than them. The arrogant players are the ones playing off 2 or 3 who think they are McIlroy because they’ve never played with top players before.
Great video. First time watcher. One subtle video editing thing I reeaallyy loved was on hole 7 at around 13:00 of this video you guys continued the audio of golf cart conversation while overlaying James finishing the hole. Thought that was a clever way to capture the importance of the conversation but also continuing on with the content.
Liked and subscribed. Looking forward to more of your content in my feed.
Great video guys.
Nice to see a lovely humble pro playing great around a public course and giving such great insight into his thought pattern with every shot.
I've also left a club out on a course, so it happens to us all!
Sometimes in a way it may be more difficult around the greens for him than what he's used to, as the quality on a public course isn't going to match what he's used to on a course set up immaculately for a pro tournament
Five under shot with ease. I bet we'd all love to do that.
Well done and best wishes for the future.
Really enjoyed hearing the thought process going into each shot
Right? Cool how they think.
Great video fellas! Awesome to hear the thought process from a Pro and what they are thinking for each shot. Things amatures never think about - but should!
He sounds like Michael Cera to me. Great casual 5 under though... I mean... He left at least 5 or so out there and didn't really look like he was even remotely worried at any point. This just goes to show that on a super average or maybe even below average day, the level that you have to be on to compete against world-class opposition. I will probably never have a 5 under round. So cool to watch; also great to hear him explain his thought process and evaluation of trouble situations on every shot. Great content.
This is great content. Getting to see insight like this from a pro golfer is really cool. Love all th explanations and hearing the thought process. Great work boys
Great Video, top shelf walking us through the process of each shot and hole
I love hearing the strategy behind his shots. It also shows how consistent professional courses are compared to many of the public golf course I play in my videos.
James is a pretty chill guy.
Always fun to watch...
Awesome video!! I guessed that he would shoot -5!! Though he easily could have gone lower. I bet if he didn't have his driver, he would go lower playing from the white tees. I mean, it was pretty evident playing aggressive off the tee didn't;t help much. Where as, he could have easily placed him self on every par 4 with an 80-120 yards in approach. Where hole outs from that distance aren't far from at his level. Anyhow it was great to hear his thought process for every shot. Thanks for posting
Cool video, no point of bunkers they are not in play. Love to see some more of these at other Municipal courses.
Great video and James seems like a great guy. Will definitely be rooting for him going forward. I loved seeing a pro dealing with the conditions I usually deal with and thrilled when I recognized the course as one I've played multiple times in the past!
Man, what a great video!!!!! James was fantastic. On another day he is -9/-10 easily. Superb to watch.
Serious....you need to watch professionals.
Great golfer, even better character.
I hadn't personally heard of James before watching this but he has all my support!
Craziest part is it looked like he played super sloppy and still shot 5 under!! The rest of us hacks play like that and we are 19 over, easy. It's just not fair how good these guys are.
total confidence, but humble confidence. "i'm gonna do this, but if not, we'll deal with it". proceeds to do what he's trying to do, most of the time.
Fantastic vid!! Love your channel and just your overall attitude toward golf. One of the best on YT. 👏
🙏🏼
Thank you guys and good luck in your career James. A pleasure to watch!
It's nuts that James is practicing for Q-School and is this good. Like, mind boggling just how good pro golfers are. His second shot on hole 1 I would've hit four trees and ended up closer to the tee box than the green.
Also the way he is processing the shot at hand is very insightful.
you want a good example of that go watch rick shiels videos with james robinson. guy was an ex pro who played in the open but is a teaching pro now because basically he wasnt good enough to make it on tour. he shot 1 under par on 9 holes with a 70 euro package set they bought from a costco equivalent store, played another 9 holes with rick i believe he finished 2 under but whats crazy about that is the challenge was he was only able to use 4 golf clubs
@@zesolodaryeah I watch Rick and James. I like James a lot. He turned me on to Takomo irons a few years back!
James Robinson was very, very good. I couldn't believe he wasn't on the tour. But, he was super nice. I wonder if he was missing the killer instinct. Kind of like a guy who wanted to stay out of the way of everyone and keep it friendly. Just saying@@zesolodar
Awesome vid. A real insight to a pros mind.
I kept thinking that this guy is a tool the way he takes about his approach, but then I remember he is a professional. Impressive.
Getting that bogey first hole really gave me hope.
wouldd love to see red shot tracers (or any color) on those bright skies
The fact that he hit his first drive into the woods made me feel better for 57 seconds. Then it was on the middle of the green in 2 and if I was lucky enough to be on that fairway after my first drive, I would almost definitely not been on the green in 2. :D
Loved hearing his process on each shot.
I am a scratch golfer myself. Enjoyed watching him play. Would like to have seen a tougher course. A lot of open areas under the trees which gave him good shots. Like to see pros show how scrambling makes the game and not always the big bombs. Great video.
There is a difference between scratch golfers and touring professionals.
@@Jeff-lf6hv your right. But I also don't have the luxury of someone marking my ball in a hazard or thick rough. Saves pros avg 3 shots a round. That's 12 a tournament. Do the math. Not saying they are not awesome but, playing straight up I can hang right there.
@@erniestarkey8856 have you ever played at that level play touring pros. It's a whole new game. Faster greens, more bunkers, tighter fairways and the pressure is totally different. I know because I played on tour in the 90s. It was fun but damn miss 1 putt or 1 fairway that can cause you to miss a cut. It's that close as all the way around. Every shot is your life
@@Jeff-lf6hv I have played several PGA PRO Am's and twice beat the Touring pro I played with. When no one is marking the ball, they lose strokes same as you and me. Not all Touring Pros are that consistent. Not patting myself on the back just stating facts. Have a good day.
@@erniestarkey8856where are you from?
This just proves that crappy public courses can actually be more difficult than say a country club. Nothing is manicured well, crab grass, dirt lies, greens are crappy, a million trees overhanging and blocking greens. Hard to play good golf when everything is different every hole
Never thought of it that way, but it's a solid point!
Tree branches hanging over the fairways are not good course maintenance. That is probably not the way the course was intended to be played. If 100 trees were removed no one would notice and the pace of play would get much faster.
Trees are there to protect from hackers hitting you from another fairway. They tend to spray and never call fore
Let's turn everything into a wasteland so we can sprint through the game. Sounds great.
@@SwimmingBird846took the words right out of my mouth. Great little muni golf course.
I hate all the leaves on the ground where your all lands 😢
That’s a beautiful course. The trees aren’t a problem, your swing is
Any news on the 8 iron?? Was he rescued??
He got it back!
Could have easily been 8 under. The info you get from walking with pros while they play is almost overwhelming. They are surgeons. When in trouble, they see and can hit though "windows" us amaetures don't see let alone can hit. I keep saying I appreciate you guys and the work you do. It was GREAT to watch James Nicholas play. I will check out the podcast and will cheer him on too. Have to, he's a Golficity homie, one of us.
I planned on skipping around, but I watched every second. I learned so much from the commentary
Most people have no idea. Anytime a. Pro level golfer plays my local club, they go so low, even from the tips on a tough course. I’ve seen a guy shoot -9 and it should’ve been -11. He shot it pretty easily. They really take advantage of par 5s so it’s like they’re playing par 67s or 68s on most courses. He was getting home in 2 with irons for the most part and hitting them inside 10 to 20 ft and make a ton of putts. An elite player like Spieth or scheffler shoots low 60s every round at the local club that he’s familiar with.
You guys are so lucky to know someone like him.
Wish there were more videos of this style with pros walking you through verbally what they are thinking during the entire round…shot by shot. Learn a lot of how they think and their course management
LOL Makes first birdie at hole 3 - "Finally"!
6:48 cleaning club with gloves is funny😂😂😂
spook rock is my home track too. cool to see him tear it up
I wish James all the best in his quest to play the PGA Tour. He's an all-around athlete. He was recruited to play football at Yale. He was also the 6th highest career scoring in HS hockey in New York state history. He eventually stopped playing football to only play on Yale's golf team where he was all Ivy League multiple times.
My oldest son played goalie against James for 4 years in high school and he was a beast!
This is great for the insights alone from James.
I really appreciate him talking through every shot and his mindset. Thats part of the game I need to learn being a beginner golfer
so watching in 2024... very likeable fellow, career earnings at $111,000 yet goes out and shoots -5 making it look easy at that. Goes to show everyone how good tour players are. Great video.
Loved this video. Would love to see more videos like this
Your boy working the camera is an absolute savage. Getting a shot of the 8 iron in the grass and not saying a word for the content. W
I think they found out in the edit. Not intentionally leaving it for content
I’ve always found Spook Rock challenging. It’s on the upper edge of my comfortable distance and there’s tons of trees. I love this video so much because he’s like yawning while he dominates the course.
Yeh it’s a tough one David no doubt
Did he really dominate the course? Definitely was enjoyable watching him play. However, he finished at a gross score of 73.
Excellent video! Good luck to this dude on tour!
My primary courses are a couple of very nice munis with greens the speed of this course. I was stoked that the women's tour would be playing there & wondered if I could compete with them if I could have played with them by at least making the cut at 4 under. Meg Mallon went & shot a 10 under 60 with rough so bad there are times when you knew exactly where the ball would be & you couldn't find it. Brutal. Also played with a visiting retired senior tour player & his buddies got him a crappy set of graphite irons but a decent driver. He didn't birdie any par 5's plus left a bunch out there & shot a 6 under 64. Followed Annika for 3 rounds on the other muni course for an LPGA event & she missed a ton of 6 to 12 footers & she shot 24 under. Ridiculous different world.
It’s nice to see a pro roughing it like the rest of up on bumpy greens = reality, and add a 15 minute wait time on the tee box. Good luck on the 2024 season!
What a class act he is!
What this video showcased is how difficult golf is to your recreational golfers. So many variables come into play. Course familiarity is a big one. The maintenance of the course itself (greens, fairways, rough, fringe, bunkers etc when compared to tour level courses). Makes me feel much better knowing breaking 95 is a big achievement.
Excellent golf! I am pumped up right now! Yelling at the phone screen and punching holes in my drywall. LETS GO!!!!!
Had my best and worst round on the same day. When I was playing as a professional we were in Florida on a 7200 yard track. I had 9 birdies, 2 eagles and finished with a 73. Two weeks later in Vegas I started a round five over after five holes and finished with a 67. Remember, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. I've had dozens of rounds like this and there's a lesson from them, "Never give up on yourself"!
I would argue that a lot of "public" courses would actually be harder for these pros. Not because of layouts or anything like that, but no manicured fairways, no 12 on the stimp meter greens, no perfectly raked sand traps, and may of these courses have a quirky hole or two you wouldn't see on tour.
What a video! He smashed it. Have you seen the yoing saudi pro Amah Dragmah? His swing is so similar!
Love this!!! My home course! I would not move back to the blues until I shot par from the whites! I was wondering when this was coming out! Great video! That drive on 18!!! Holy Cow!
Appreciate you!
A friend plays on the Asian Tour, and has had starts on the DP and US Tours.
When we played at my club we squeezed 14 holes in. He was 11 under. This course was only 6,400 yards and he tore it apart.
James Nicholas is the man. Really rock with this dude
Getting a 5 hole 1 with a lost club.... this made me feel a lot better becasue i do this exact same thing!.... rip to my gap wedge
Love how he talks about the bumps in the greens im so used to them i dont notice anymore but imagine if i got to play perfect greens how many more putts id make
Been playing our munis for 20 years. The greens are excellent now due to Troon taking over management but in the past they have often stimped at no kidding 6 or 8. You may as well putt with a 3 wood. Drove me nuts that good putts would bobble left or right but never seemed to get a bobble going in on a bad putt. Got to play a few rounds on flawless bent grass & made all kinds of putts so on rough muni greens its more about luck than skill.
These tour pros are so good because even with a bad/slow start they know a good stretch is coming. They stay focused and even on a not so great day shoot mid 60's
Pretty amazing.
Awesome content and concept, wish I could see a pro cane my local courses.
There are definitely disadvantages on the Munis, and closer tees are not necessarily a help. I don't hit it far at all, but all of my best rounds are from the back tees, mainly because there's less trouble off the tee. I'm sure a pro would destroy them if they get used to them, but coming straight from their world into ours is no picnic.
The thing about a lot of public course is the condition of the fairways and greens. I have played courses that being in the fairway ends up being on hard bare ground
Gotta say…as a 7 handicap this video definitely changes my personal expectations if a tour pro is only shooting -5 at a muni course while playing from the whites….guess I should be happy with my 85
Cart path only... cut to the drone shot on #7 with the group ahead driving through the fairway lol
So you can’t have slope/wind on during tournaments that allow distance measuring devices, but you can use a compass?
So interesting to listen to a pro and the thought process
Thanks, we just released part 2!
I grew up on this course and worked on the driving range in high school. Haven't been back in a couple years. Maybe next season.
Same! Grew up here playing it.
Love Spook Rock golf course, 1st hole James proceeds to take a line I wouldn't dare dream of. Just once, I want to know what that feels like
Another great video guys! I saw you at Cabot Farms.......
👊🏼
im new to golf and i loved this video. thanks
Cool to see Spook Rock on UA-cam! I shot my lifetime PB there many years ago.
Hole 1 2nd shot, what club was that? Amazing shot btw.
I managed a public city course, for 6 years, and our lost and found, was bonkers lol. I’m talking hundreds of clubs over the years. That’s the problem, when you end up with half your bag on the ground, in those scenarios. The other culprit, was not leaving your extra clubs, between the hole and your cart, when putting.
Spook!!!! This is my home course, I learned how to play here. Took lessons with Chris Cohen who is one of the head guys at Spook Rock. Keep up the great content !
Same! My home course too! Cheers! - Mike
Oh man on a day with a bit better luck, he'd killlll that course!
Would love to see him play this again with a bit more course knowledge
I’m now a fan of this young dude!!!!!
He's a great dude, lots a positive energy. Looking to re-do this video with him soon!
"I'm not thinking of anything", proceeds to tell what he's thinking about. 😂
This was really nice to watch
As a pro (pga pro I’m not on tour but my handicap is +5). These course are actually harder to play bc the greens aren’t as true the fairways are way less forgiving and the tee boxes aren’t the best. I still score well on them bc I play on them a lot but I know why these guys don’t come out here and shoot 60s
For folks who don't know +5 handicap is actually a -5 thus 5 shots under scratch. Not sure why they do that in their system since its confusing.
@@tomsanger5548think about it from a net score perspective and it makes sense. If you are a 10 handicap that is actually "-10" because you get to subtract 10 strokes from your gross score to get your net handicap score (ex: shoot 85, subtract 10, net 75)
If someone is better than scratch, in this case the guy is a +5, he has to add 5 strokes to his gross score to get his net handicap score because he is better than scratch (shoot 68, +5, net 73).
At first the sadistic side of me was hoping for him to stink it up but seeing what a genuinely nice guy he is I was rooting for him. Easy name to remember, will keep an eye out for him
Those greens and what your use to playing on are totally opposite. I played professional in the 90s and I can tell you your games just gets much better on tour level golf courses. I played alot of public golf courses and I found it my game was not at the level of play of playing on tour . Greens were slower and did not break correctly. Fairways were fluffy or not cut tight. Hard to spin the ball. This video is really good for people to see that way they can understand that sometimes or alot times your putts a missing are not always your fault.
Exactly my experience of playing 25 years on muni courses primarily but also being able to play some tour grade courses. You know the putt breaks slightly left & then it doesn't move. Try it again & suddenly it breaks not only left but misses left by a lot with the same stroke. Skill is taken out of the equation on a lot of muni greens. Tiger said he grew up on velcro greens. Give me beautiful 12 stimp bent grass & I become a very good putter. Also bunkers with just a dusting of sand on one hole & then the next deep sand but no way of telling. I got to where I was just trying to hit a half decent shot & not go flying over the green from what turned out to be hard pan or digging too deep & leaving it in the bunker.
Did you guys review the tape and find his 8 Iron?
He got it back next day
325 with a driver. The furthest I ever hit one was roughly 300 - but that was with a blistering wind at my back and downhill to the green from 100 yards. In other words I don't hit long at all, so 325 is absolutely insane.
Ya I’ve played plenty of tournament golf as well as plenty of one-off, never seen the course before, rounds. It is exceedingly difficult to “score” on a course you’ve never played before, ESPECIALLY if no one in your group knows the course either. If that is the case, you can add at least four strokes to your score due to the “oh well I never would have hit it there if I knew THAT” or “how could I have known to NOT miss on this side” and a dozen more, like “hitting a driver is not the right club off the tee here”. Where there are at least 10 shots you would have taken a totally different approach on. Not to mention having no clue about ANY putts on any hole.
With that said, if I could shoot even on a first go around, that would be a pretty good accomplishment. Much different than shooting even on your third time, which eliminates almost all of the “lost shots” due to ignorance. Plus the conditions of public golf courses are no where near as pristine as pro tournament set up courses, which is hard to state how important that is for trusting the greens to be consistent and the cups cut clean.
The tournament I’ve always wanted to see is one round, 18 holes. The top 50 players. Regular public golf course in the regular weekday conditions. No one can have ever played it or walked it or seen it prior to tournament t day. No caddies, no yardage books. They will get a green size/pin location sheet. Play from the tips. No electronic yardage aids. 25 pre-round practice putts/chips total. 20 minutes Range. Carry own bag. I think any golfer would love to see the pros play the course & conditions they play in.
I worked at Ciba-Geigy off Airmont road from 1979 to 81, never picked up a golf club in my life. My co-workers would chip in a field behind the plant at lunch, so I said I how hard could this be. Oh yeah, I became addicted, learned to play at Spook Rock what a place to learn the game, still addicted and living in Murrells inlet right next to the TPC myrtle beach...
Love this!
Great Job editing that was enjoyable 18 to watcg
Amazing player, love the journey!
For those who don't know, a pro's handicap is usually a few shots better than scratch or "0". So on scorecards there are typically two numbers, a large one called the slope rating and then a smaller number around par called the rating. The smaller number is based on what a scratch, "0" handicap would shoot on that particular course.
I would guess this guy's handicap is 3-6 shots better than scratch, so if the rating of this course is a 70 then he would average 64-67. Just puts it into perspective how good those guys are when the ratings of high level country clubs are in the 75-77 range from the back tees.