One of our new golf features this year will place focus on our Sullivan County golf courses and those that provide the course management.

This week I have selected the Town of Fallsburg Municipal Tarry Brae public 18-hole golf course located in South Fallsburg.

This facility was first opened for play in 1958 and was designed by William F. Mitchell.

This beautifully designed golf course is a challenging mountain style course with tree-lined fairways and many scenic holes, as well as medium sized fast greens.

Tricky greens and many side hill lies will test even the best players.

There are many spectacular views of the lower Catskills lakes and valley.

Water comes into play on several holes and plenty of bunkers for you to work your way through.

Par for the course is 72 and the course plays from the back tees 6,965 yards. From the forward tees the course plays 5,514 yards.

The longest hole on the course is No. 10, a par 5 that plays to 543 yards. The shortest hole on the course is No. 7, a par 3 that plays to 169 yards from the back tees.

Hole No. 8 is a 417-yard par 4 challenge, and the No. 1 handicap on the course. The easiest hole at Tarry Brae is No. 10, the 543 yard 5. It’s long but it’s generally wide open and has an accommodating apron in front of the green that will feed your ball onto the short grass.

The experience provided at Tarry Brae by PGA Professional Geoff Walsh has been in place now for some four years.

Golf became an important part of Geoff’s life, which has carried him from the golf teams at Ellenville High School and Springfield College in Springfield, MA. He graduated college with a degree in Environmental Science and took his golf career to the professional level, when he completed studies to become a Class A PGA Professional in 1981.

In his 30 years as a golf professional, Walsh has worked at the Shawangunk Golf Course near Ellenville, the Harbor Links Golf Course on Long Island, the Casperkill Golf Course in Poughkeepsie and the Nevele Grand near Ellenville. This year, Walsh was appointed Director of Golf for the Town of Fallsburg.

Total staff members at the golf course range from 12-14.

Married to his high school sweetheart, Betty, the Walsh’s have two sons, Taylor and Devlin who are both accomplished golfers.

Taylor was appointed an Associate Head Professional at Fallsburg’s Lochmor Golf Course this year.

Ed’s Outlook

Hybrid Drivers

We love getting those press releases on what is available in golf clubs for the upcoming year.

The other day, one release caught my eye as it read, “Unique New Hybrid Driver Launches High, Carries Long and Splits Fairways Like Nothing You’ve Ever Played.”

When a press release insinuates that a golfer will benefit from using this Hybrid driver then I want to hear how.

This particular news release says, “Experts agree, your driver is too long and its head is too big. Finally, there’s an alternative.”

It’s really not amazing that there are so many golfers today that don’t have any trust in their driver and so many are counting on either luck or divine intervention.

I find it amazing that club manufacturers keep chasing the same dream: more distance. It’s not going to happen because, thanks to strict USGA limits on equipment, the major club makers have pretty much maxed out on length.

Well, guess what, the big manufactures reached those boundaries years ago.

Let’s take a brief look at the conventional driver today. Its loft is too low, the shaft is way too long, and the head is too big. So, what’s a frustrated golfer to do?

There are some golf club manufacturers saying, “Try a hybrid.”

We are seeing golfers turning to a hybrid called Teton HxD, allegedly this club will reduce or eliminate a slice and golfers nail the sweet spot far more times thanks to its manageable dimensions. It advertises better contact, more distance and accuracy.

Teton’s oversized hybrid-style club head is smaller than a driver, larger than a standard hybrid and it is said to be easy on the eyes and the swing.

Golfers have talked to love their hybrids saying above all, “we are getting round to round consistency.”

We don’t make endorsements in our column, and I already have a hybrid driver that I love. So golfers, we’ve offered a suggestion. Try a Teton. It might change your golf game.

Golf Tip By Robert Menges

Using Measuring Devices

If you have been playing golf over the past 7 years, you have noticed many people using measuring devices on the course to help them find out how far they are from the flag.

This practice has been around for quite some time. At one time the flagsticks had a special device implanted in them and you needed a special gun to hit the reflector to give you a yardage. There are many different types of devices used in today’s game.

Many golfers now carry range finders. They were typically used in hunting. You hold this device up to the flag and click a button when the crosshair is focused and it will give you a reading on how many yards away from you it is. You might hold the gun steady and make sure your cross hairs are focused on the flag and not a tree or object in front or behind the flag.

The golf watch has become a popular item as well. This works off a satellite and will give you yardages from where you are standing to the front, middle and back of the green. This is a much faster form of getting your information.

The new generation of golfers likes to play music when they are on the course. The wingman is a combination speaker and measuring device. You connect your phone through Bluetooth to play music, and when you want to know your yardage, you press a button on the fob that you carry in your pocket and the wingman will tell you the yardage to the front, middle and back of the green.

Whichever device you choose to use, remember, you better practice on the range and know what your average yardage is for each club to improve your game.