Well, I may have a little first hand experience on this topic. I worked at the RTJ course in AU for years. I’ve never seen those weekend hustlers some of y’all are referencing. Not saying there’s not a few, but there’s not many. And there’s absolutely no 65 year olds that could hustle a pro. That’s insane and stupid talk.

I worked maintenance and watched everybody coming thru since we stopped working while groups played thru. I then played with some maintenance and clubhouse guys after work, almost every day. Including the club pro. Some good players in the group.

I was there when they setup the course for the NCAA ship in the early 2000’s. It was insane what we did to that course. The championship tees were way back the normal tees. And a bunch of other little things to make the course tough. I thought, this is crazy. Then - the top college guys came in and shot mid 60’s. Another level that most folks just don’t understand. And the driver was the least important club in the bag.

Does a tater gun count?

No, they would not. It might happen now and then, similar to a July snowfall in Montana, but on a regular basis they would not.

Jimmy Schmedlap might hustle some in the bottom half now and then for five large at Hairy Taint County Club, but he wouldn't do it in the ones in the top 50-65 and not consistently. They hit spots, not areas. They get pissed if a ball is offline in flight by 5 yards and misses a subtle ridge to pick up an extra 25 on the roll. They hit 38 of 40 putts from inside 8 feet. They're consistent with everything, which is why we think it's ignorant or silly when they say a blister on their index finger bothered them or the clubface wasn't the right angle ... because they know it was off a degree or two for some reason.

Jimmy Schmedlap might be able to do some of that at Hairy Taint CC, but he's not going to do it consistently enough to beat PGA Tour professionals. If he can and he's still hustling goobers at HTCC then he's not too bright because he could be making far more money even on the mini-tours than from Dr. Dillweed and the other losers who show up for the Tuesday game.

We played Grand National a couple of months before the first Barbasol when some of the prep was underway. LOT of trees trimmed back, tee boxes moved and built -- No. 1 and 9, if I remember, were extended like 40-60 yards? -- and other changes you mention. And then those guys who were second-tier and didn't qualify for The Open went out and pounded the schitt out of it for four days.

Like most RTJ courses it has a couple of holes that IMO are stinkers. Every RTJ course has at least one.

I haven't played it but was told the Links course also got a lot of changes but was used for promotion, sponsors and such.

Pretty sure they flipped 9 and 18 too. We were one of the last groups to play it before they shut it down for the tourney, was in great shape.

I can't remember if they flipped those. Seems like on 9 they added a built-up island into the lake to extend the tee. Maybe on 18, too.

Always wanted to fish on that lake, too.

Does look fishy

We played the Links more than the Lake, but it wasn’t designed right for a tourney setup. I loved that place and have great memories from there.

[quote=turkey247]Well, I may have a little first hand experience on this topic. I worked at the RTJ course in AU for years. I’ve never seen those weekend hustlers some of y’all are referencing. Not saying there’s not a few, but there’s not many. And there’s absolutely no 65 year olds that could hustle a pro. That’s insane and stupid talk.



You think the hustlers are playing RTJ? C’mon man. You think there isn’t a 65 year old who can’t hustle a senior tour pro then you wrong. Nobody said there’s anyone gonna hustle Brooks or DJ. There’s a lot more tour pros than just the top 50 in the world.

Working maintenance at RTJ must be like staying in a holiday inn express

Hustlers play everywhere they think they can get a game and win.

I'd like to see a 65-year-old play against some of the senior tour guys. Would be fun to watch.

Point of the whole debate is that there are guys who can consistently hit it 300 plus who aren’t on tour. Not talking 65 year olds. I made mention of a 65 year old who I played with that shot a 69 and now all of a sudden he’s hustling people on tour. I never said that. Never said he drove over 300 either. Said another guy I played with did. I did say a lot of hustling goes on on golf courses but didn’t say who was hustling. But there are guys out there who are plenty good enough to play on tour but don’t. I’m sure they have there reasons.

But it doesn’t really matter cause only a select few on here know anything anyway. Obviously I’m not one of those few.

Clem, how much are dues at the Hairy Taint! 😂😂😂

More than I can afford, but easy for hustlers who aren't on Tour.

Shifty Ballzak Country Club has lower dues but the monthly hit is steep.

There aren't regular guys that can hustle tour pros if they are playing straight up. I was a 2 handicap and played with 2 different guys that regularly recorded rounds in the low 60s on our home courses. They also both have a 59 on their resume' and I witnessed one of them personally. Neither of those guys started on their college golf team. They were really good and played even or under nearly anywhere we went but they had zero shot at ever being good enough for even a mini tour. Tour pros are playing a different game but lots of guys have the belief they know someone that could just beat those tour guys if they had a shot. It might happen on the local hero's home course but it's not happening on a tour set up. I know a 5 handicap that played Congressional 2 days after a tour event was there and he played the same tees they did and he shot 98. I asked him about it and he said he hit it great but the rough and speed of the greens were unlike anything he'd ever played. Trevino was hustling back in the day but it's a different era and the guys good enough to hustle a tour player are already on tour.

This is a great point. The courses I/We play are very very different from Tour level courses.

Absolutely true. Tour courses are completely different from your average tracks. If you shoot 85 on your local course, you couldn't break 100 on most tour courses. On a major course, you wouldn't stand a chance in Hades of breaking 100.

I can’t remember who was talking about hustlers.......... but naw they ain’t gonna hustle PGA players. Those guys would be bored while shooting about 58 or so on most courses I’ve played in Alabama.

After reading this thread........ I caught one really good this evening and paced it off at 266. That’s mashed for me. I envy you guys that hit it 300+ Every time. If I could do that and had a wedge into every green i think I could be a scratch golfer on these local courses

There is a golf course in Oneonta mean as hell It ain't long but it has Sequoyas for trees. It has a par 3 surrounded by boulders filled with rattlers. Thankfully I hit the green. In addition it has a hole with a boulder right in the dang way.

I went to hell when sum jackass bought it....🤣