I am going to my first World Am, who is else is going? Also if you sign up before april 26 you can save $125. I am excited. [/b]

Good deal, good luck sir. You should have a fun week. I haven't made up my mind, but leaning towards doing it. I did it last year for my first time. It was well organized I thought.

Thanks. I know I'll be nervous as can be but I'll be spending the summer working on my short game and mental game! Do you know if they take oobgolfs handicap number?

GolfSmith7 wrote:

Do you know if they take oobgolfs handicap number?

They have in the past. Check with Nate (the admin here) to confirm.

with the upcoming nuptials and the bills for the house, i'm not going to be able to make it this year... definitely going next year though. Been there the last 2 years and had a great time!

birdieXris wrote:

with the upcoming nuptials and the bills for the house, i'm not going to be able to make it this year... definitely going next year though. Been there the last 2 years and had a great time!

Congrats on the wedding any advice for a first timer?

GolfSmith7 wrote:

birdieXris wrote: with the upcoming nuptials and the bills for the house, i'm not going to be able to make it this year... definitely going next year though. Been there the last 2 years and had a great time! Congrats on the wedding any advice for a first timer?

Play your own game!!!! Do NOT try to keep up with anyone else's game. The courses tend to be hard enough as it is, so if you go hitting shots that you don't normally have, you're gonna end up in some tight spots. The courses are set up for different handicaps though so you will be playing a course that will challenge your skill without killing you haha.

Rent a car. If you haven't thought about it already, i would recommend having your own transportation. you can call taxis or whatever but some of the courses are way out of the way and i've foujnd that their "ride share" system is a little thin.

birdieXris wrote:

GolfSmith7 wrote: birdieXris wrote: with the upcoming nuptials and the bills for the house, i'm not going to be able to make it this year... definitely going next year though. Been there the last 2 years and had a great time! Congrats on the wedding any advice for a first timer? Play your own game!!!! Do NOT try to keep up with anyone else's game. The courses tend to be hard enough as it is, so if you go hitting shots that you don't normally have, you're gonna end up in some tight spots. The courses are set up for different handicaps though so you will be playing a course that will challenge your skill without killing you haha. Rent a car. If you haven't thought about it already, i would recommend having your own transportation. you can call taxis or whatever but some of the courses are way out of the way and i've foujnd that their "ride share" system is a little thin.

Ok thanks for the heads up and I will be renting my own car bc I like getting places early and don't want to have to wait on someone else. Thanks.

Last edited by GolfSmith7 on Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:45 am; edited 1 time in total

oh, also bring some money for the skins. Just saying. I bought into the skins every day last year. 4 days, 20 bucks each day except for the last day it was 40. I won one skin and came out way ahead and took a bite out of the trip.

GolfSmith7 wrote:

Any advice for a first timer?

I have not played in the World Am but I do play in multi-day tournaments and single day competitions with 100+ players. Here is what I recommend:

If you want to do your best, play in some local competitions prior to making the trip to Myrtle Beach. Playing with 3 strangers on a new course with every stroke counting for the next 3-4 days can create sensory overload. Get your feet wet by playing a few lesser competitions first.

Refresh your knowledge of the Rules. Make sure you understand all the options available for water hazards, lateral water hazards, unplayable lies and lost/OB balls. Once you are on the course, ask/advise all the guys in your group before proceeding with touching your ball or otherwise proceeding under a Rule you think you understand. Sometimes others might help you avoid making an error.

Finally, keep your expectations low. You are not going to shoot your handicap every day and almost everyone (except the inevitable sandbaggers) will have an off day. Just enjoy the experience. Performing well in a competition is a thrill and doing poorly is a downer. At the end of the day, I have found the thrills more than off-set the bad times and I hope you find that to be true, also.

[quote="bkuehn1952"]

GolfSmith7 wrote:

Any advice for a first timer?

I have not played in the World Am but I do play in multi-day tournaments and single day competitions with 100+ players. Here is what I recommend:

If you want to do your best, play in some local competitions prior to making the trip to Myrtle Beach. Playing with 3 strangers on a new course with every stroke counting for the next 3-4 days can create sensory overload. Get your feet wet by playing a few lesser competitions first.


I am a minister so its tough to find tournaments that aren't on the weekend but well noted and I'll try to find one. Also I am horrible about the rules time to start studying them. Thanks any other advice keep it coming.

I was somewhat surprised that the courses I went to the range balls were not included, so you might want to have some cash to buy a bucket if you want to warm up.

All the golfers I met were friendly, and the skill levels seemed matched up properly. Like always, someone will have a great day and someone will have a bad day.

Think carefully about all possible options regarding if you are in a hazard or unplayable lie. I tried to play the ball out of a red staked area on day one instead of taking the drop and it did not go well and compounded errors which crushed my day, and effectively my mood thereafter for worse. There is no stroke limit, so a 13 on a par four in the first hour of a 4 day tournament is not fun. I eventually got over it though and made the best of the week. The courses got better in my group as the days went on and had a blast the last day and finally played pretty decently.

The 19th hole shindig is okay. The flight results are printed up and you can get a copy in the scoring room. They charge for parking at the convention center. I elected to pay for parking instead of parking in a closed business lot and walking because that part of MB is sketchy around the convention center I think. The thursday night at the party is big, if you want to see the speakers get a seat early, they fill up.

Last year we got a 10 dollar gift card at the golf shop during sign in. I used mine to get a pocket rule book (the graphical easy reference version) and some bottled drinks to stuff in my golf bag. Having a rule book might be a good thing just in case.

The rounds are slow and long, so be prepared with plans on having beverages, food etc. Make sure to mark your golf balls uniquely, and describe to your partners, in case you need to identify a provisional or something like that.

birdieXris wrote:

oh, also bring some money for the skins. Just saying. I bought into the skins every day last year. 4 days, 20 bucks each day except for the last day it was 40. I won one skin and came out way ahead and took a bite out of the trip.

yeah, I was on a tight budget and didn't get in the skins. My birdie on first day would have netted a couple hundred. But I was literally scraping the change out of the bottom of the car cupholders and golf bag pockets for food money on the first day. (waiting on pay day)

GolfSmith7 wrote:

Thanks. I know I'll be nervous as can be but I'll be spending the summer working on my short game and mental game! Do you know if they take oobgolfs handicap number?

A friend was considering going last year, but his only handicap tracking was on ClubSG (which is basically Skygolf's version of OOB). He called them and they said it was okay. But, you should double check!

Thanks guys for all the advice on the world am keep it coming. I checked with the oobgolf guys and the world am excepts the handicap here so thats good. How is is Myrtle Beach as far as wind? I live in texas and there isn't a day were the wind doesn't have an affect. It was weird playing with no wind when I played a course in michigan last year.