Expectations

[Jim Runser]

First-time player here and wondering what the experience will be. Looking forward to 4 days of golf Expect some slow play. But big difference between a 5- and a 6-hour round. Generally speaking, what’s the expectation? 19th hole sounds great… food, drinks, entertainment, vendors, gimmes(?)… But long lines? Can I expect to have dinner at the 19th hole or just an appetizer and get dinner elsewhere? Just trying to level set my expectations.

[Billy Burwick]

Great questions!

I am with you as a 1st timer. I am fully expecting 5-6 hour rounds.
Nothing like people grinding over a 2 foot putt for bogey to slow it down.

[Bruce Friend]

Everyone has a different perspective on the question of expectations. Here is mine.

It is a fabulous week but I view it more as my vacation filled with golf than I do a golf tournament. The rounds are slow regardless if it is a shotgun or tee times so don’t believe those that say tee times the rounds will be quicker. Unless you tee off first and everyone plays quick, rounds will be in excess of 5 hours. Last year with tee times, all my rounds were 5 1/2 and I had friends over 6. I have never had an over 6 with shotgun starts. I enjoy the 19th hole and Monday is the busiest night with the longest lines for food. There will be lines at the liquor bars as well. I drink beer and those lines are much shorter. The food is small tastings on small plates and it is what it is. If you eat many plates, you will be filled up and mostly enjoy the diversity of 16 different food stations plus delicious ice cream. It isn’t a sit down meal. The week will go fast and you will be exhausted. At the end of the week, you may question if it is worth it but after a week being home, the answer will be heck yes and you are looking forward to the next one in 12 months. All in all, the staff does a great job in the organization of the week and most complaints I hear is long rounds and condition of some of the courses which is nothing much the WAM staff can do. Those issues are the responsibility of individual courses in my view.

[Harry (The Hack) Radley]

Welcome to the group Billy and Jim believe me you will have a fantastic time all I have been coming for years and try to introduce it to everybody I have 3 1st timers coming with me this year and we are all expecting to have a great time we will be playing practice rounds on the Friday Saturday and Sunday don’t know where yet But if you would like to join us being 1st timers just let me know and we can have a meet and Greet. what is what is your handicaps and what age group are you in. Drop me A-line text or call 3176526063 or harry_s_radley@yahoo.com would love to have a chat

[Jim Runser]

Just the information I was looking for. Appreciate it, Bruce and Harry. Harry, I may hit you up as it gets closer.

[Billy Burwick]

I was thinking of playing a practice round but then thought maybe I should save it for the 4 days of grinding but I could probably be convinced to play a practice round.

I am 52 and a 24:( ATM.I am hoping to be down a few more strokes by the time the WA rolls around and planning on arriving on Sat.

I didn’t know there was Ice Cream at the 19th hole Now I am good to go. 🙂

55 more days.

[Ian MacLean]

Billy,
Welcome, I know you will have a great time. Every time I have brought 1st timers, they end up coming back over and over. In fact two have moved to the greater Myrtle Beach area. Come with expectations of enjoying yourself, you will meet some great people and play some great courses. Although every year some courses have issues, the over all experience you will have will be great. I now come 6 days early so get use to the heat, time zone and play extra golf. Hope you have a great time and you keep the ball in the short grass.

[Tom McCain]

Jim and Billy,
I’ve been playing every year except one since 2005. Always have a great time and it goes by way too fast. Meet and get contact info from your playing partners, they’ll be ones you can connect with through out the year and every year after. I met a good friend thru this event, and when he moved to MB, stayed at his house for 10 years, including 2 Thanksgiving trips. (Sadly, he passed from an auto accident last year). I’ve also stayed with a friend thru this event in the northern SC area and played golf with him and another friend from NY I met at the WA. Have an extra $20 bucks to play the fabulous Ewa Matawa in a game of 9 ball at the 19th Hole. Shes a sweetheart. Bring plenty of golf balls, the water here is plentiful (lost 12 one round), and just have fun. Skin money too, nothing more exciting than to take a couple hundred bucks in the clubhouse for one great hole. Hope you draw some fun guys that will follow the rules but not be too prickly about things. Life is about relationships, it’s what sustains us through hard times and gives us joy through the good times. And remember, that 6 inch gimme still has to be tapped in!! Don’t pick it up, seen that happen!
Ian, we’ve met before right? You’re from Hawaii?

[Rick Kimbrell]

Jim, I posted this on a different bulletin board for a first timer coming to the World Am.

This year will be my 35th consecutive year to play in the World Am so I can offer up a few tidbits.

First of all, let yourself have a good time. Do not put too much pressure on yourself. Enjoy the entire experience. You can’t win your flight on the first day but you can certainly just about shoot yourself out of contention on the first day. Do your best to avoid getting frustrated and down on yourself.

Rules…have a good understanding of your options if you hit a ball into a penalty area. Since it tends to be rainy season in MB area, understand your option when it comes to casual water. Hopefully it will not be wet but you never know. If dry, you will be playing the ball down. If you play a lot of casual golf at home, think about what you are doing. If playing flat, don’t mess up and roll the ball around. And, all putts must fall…none of the “that’s good, pick it up”. If you do familiarize yourself with the rules, you will be less nervous. Try to stay as positive as you can. Most likely you will have a bad hole or two along the way. Don’t dwell on what is already done…think about what lies ahead of you. Make sure the ball(s) you are playing have some distinguishing personal marks on them. If someone in your group(s) is trying to be a rules nazi, having a good understanding of the rules gives you a heads up if that person is trying to call something or tell you you have to do something that simply is not right. Carry the Rules of Golf rules book. It is ok to have the app on your phone but in a dispute with another competitor, I like to be able to point him to the printed rule to read for himself.

Because of rainy season…have good rain gear. Unless the course becomes unplayable or there is threatening weather in the area, you don’t just go in because of rain. You play in the rain. If you don’t usually play in the rain at home…if it rains…go out and play. Get used to it before you go. Rain gloves…make sure you have a good pair.

Slow play…it is a fact of life. Shouldn’t be, but it is. Try not to dwell on it being slow either. If we are waiting and waiting, I don’t grab a club and stand there. I figure out what club I am going to hit, what kind of shot I want to hit, and I sit in the cart and chit chat just to stay loose in the moment. Then when it is time, get out there and execute in 20 seconds or less.

19th hole…Monday night is very crowded, food and drink lines are long unless you purchase the “fast” whatever they are offering. (I am not). Tuesday on, smaller crowds, shorter lines. Many people complain about the 19th hole based solely on Monday nights. If you come back year after year like me, this is where you go to see the people you have played with in previous years. This is a big deal for me. The young man I played with my very first round ever in the WA and his wife are two of the people I look forward to seeing every year. I have been to their home in Tennessee. What a great friendship. I have made many many friends thru the years and I look forward to seeing all of them every year. Have I ever played with a total jerk…you bet I have. But, the great people I have met, some from outside the US, is probably the reason I keep coming back year after year.

Sorry for the long post. But remember…let yourself have a good time. Enjoy the whole experience. Hope to meet you at the 19th hole. Will “buy” you a drink of your choice.

[Rick Kimbrell]

Also, the question about a “meal” at the 19th hole. It is finger food, some quite good, some not so good. If you are one who has to have a full meal at night, I am not, you will not get that at the 19th hole. In my post above, I mentioned Monday night is the worst but still worth attending. All nights are worth attending in my opinion.
And to give patronage to a great place to go before going to the Convention Center…Harry The Hat. Especially Tuesday after the round and before the Convention Center. Taco Tuesday…hard to beat.
This may get deleted and if it does, sorry wasn’t sure I could post the name.

[Jim Runser]

A lot of great information here. Tough to express how much I appreciate it. Almost think this thread should be a sticky so it’s available for future first timers.

My takeaways from the advice so far:
Pace of play: Enjoy the ride. Don’t stress it. Control what I can and let the rest go. Not my favorite but it’s not unusual for my weekly 9-hole league to play 2.5-3 hours. Sad but guess I’m ready for pace of play.
Bottom line: Any round I play, my primary competition is myself. If I’m hitting decent shots, it’s good. Focus on that. There will be bad shots, holes, sides, etc. Enjoy the company, maybe some music and a few beverages of one sort or another.

Beverages: I’m a beer guy, too, Bruce. I’ll take advantage of the relatively shorter lines.

Food: Understood. Maybe I’ll get enough at the 19th hole, maybe I’ll find a good steak, wings, or tacos after priming the pump.

Competition: Plan on some great people and a couple buttheads. Sounds like my weekly golf league. Enjoy the fun ones, and don’t stress the others. It’s golf. We gotta have rules and play within them. Know the rules and play to them.

Weather: Gotta replace my rain hood. I always have rain gear and gloves in the bag for the summer anyway.

Fingers crossed that work doesn’t hose things up like it did in 2021.

Thank you, gentlemen. Looking forward to about 7.5 weeks! Hope I get the chance to meet most or all of you, and buy (fetch) you one at the 19th hole!

[Bruce Friend]

Jim – For the best beer stations with shortest lines, if they bring back the one out by the pool tables which is not in either of the big rooms but sorta between the two rooms, that is my favorite one. Last year they didn’t have it as they set up outside. I don’t see anything on the website about having the outside section this year so hopefully they bring this one back. Same guys have been manning this booth for quite a few years and they know us well.

Inside the main room if you are looking at the stage, all the way to the left there is one in front of the room and one in the back of the room. These will be busy at the start of the night as with everything else but after the first 30 minutes or so, much shorter. The worst one is right in the middle of the room which always has a long line but they man it with more people so the line usually goes decently. The beer is cold and fresh at all stands. Last year they put on the news section of the website a schematic of the 19th hole which they also hand out every night as you enter. I hope they do it again this year so you can see what I am talking about.

[Jim Runser]

I won’t share the secret w/ anyone, Bruce. 😉 Maybe I’ll see you in line. Thanks!

[William Aleshire Jr.]

One other piece of advise, is to have someone or maybe both carts record a full score card of the round. At the end sit down and verify that both score cards, or a combination of both the score cards and your personal record match what you have. Then transfer the scores to the official upper section of your sheet.

This will help to eliminate any questions or concerns by turning in a clean (No scribble/erase free) score sheet.

It also helps if you unfortunately run into a player who thinks they can shave points by erasing/changing their scores on a hole after your have signed and given the official score sheet to them… Which I have run into before. (Said but true but it has happened)

[James Carter]

Great advice William. I had that happen one year. Since then, I always fill out the official card with a sharpie. No erasures or questions. Looking forward to to being back at the world am this year.

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