Golf on a 4-1/2-by-9!

[hemicudas]

Golf is one of the best games ever. Years ago it was common to find golf games in rooms over many states. I think the price of real estate was a big factor for the decline of this game.

Lets face it, the game needs to be played on 12 footers or it becomes too much of a run out game. Even then with decent position 5 holes runs are fairly common. Today a room owner can put two bar boxes in where the 12 footers sat. Sad thought but that price per square foot has to be paid for. More bang for the buck.

Few of the newer generation of pool players aren't interested in playing the game anyway. Most want a quick fast paced game, hit the balls hard and rifle them in the hole. That in itself doesn't make it favorable for the game to make a return. Once the game is gone in your area, it will never come back.

I'm glad to see some younger players taking up one pocket. There is some hope for them after all.

My experience started with 9' foot pool tables and 10' foot snooker tables. Once in a while, with a little trip, I played some on a 10' foot pool table. I liked all three but in the beginning snooker was my biggest challenge. Now, It's hard to even find a 10' snooker table.


If any of you have snooker tables in the area, I suggest you support them. Otherwise they may not be around.

Rod

Not a runout game if you play off the 7 ball spot, Rodd. No matter what size table you play on. Try to play straight in position for a side pocket from there,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Golf is the greatest game played with balls and a cue, followed closely by one pocket but like Rodd said, it is a runout game playing off the 6 ball spot. Playing off the 7 ball spot your first shot at a side pocket is usually a one rail or long three rail lag.

 

[jrhendy]

Golf On Big Bertha

I have played golf on Big Bertha in Bellflower in three different pool rooms starting sometime in the 70's when The Billiard Palace in Bellflower was owned by Verne Peterson. Verne rebuilt the table & made the pockets so tight & deep cut you could set a ball on top of the rails in the corner pockets. I remember playing with "Hippy Jimmy Reid" when he really did look like a hippy with long hair and played barefoot. The room changed hands & was still an action spot when Butch & his dad Brian owned it for a few years. They sold the table to Jim Morgan who open up a room down the street. Jim was a very good golf player who opened the room just to keep Bertha in action. We used to tease him that he was the 3rd best golf player in the country but the problem was, # 1 & # 2 hung out in his room. Grady beat me playing golf on Bertha when I was supposed to be the best player in Morgan's place. Course Grady used to play on the same table at Peterson's years before. The table ended up at Hard Times where it still is today. We played as much liability snooker on it as we did golf, and many of the top pool players in the country blew their cash trying to figure that table out. In the early 90's we played a lot of $50 a point liability. Keith was in quite a few of those games, and great player that he is, snooker or golf on the 6 x 12 wasn't his best game. They did try playing pay ball with him on Bertha though & he robbed them. When we did play, 20 or 30 hour sessions were common. I could tell a dozen stories about the action on this table, but one I remember well was when we had been playing off & on for $50 a point for about a week & a Canadien guy came in & got in the game. One of the better players in the game quit (had some important business to take care of), I played a little longer & then quit. When I came back the next day I asked the guys backer how they did. He said they won about $6,000 but the doctor bill was about half of that. The Canadian was still there playing Hawaiian Jimmy one pocket. When the smoke cleared, Jimmy busted the guy & won his Canadian snooker cue. (Rude Dog should remember this). Just remembering the good old days. If there was a room with a good golf game in the Sacramento area, I would be there every day.

 

[Josh Palmer]

haha.. Hawaiian Jimmy is one of the best hustlers... EVER! lol... he can play most games very well, so no one has to beat him, however he matches up. Jim Morgan cracks me up. He would take a small break to play his guitar outside every once in a while. Any one day you could hear 10,000 cuss words around that table, but great fun. There were two 6'x12's there, did they actually get rid of Bertha? That seems crazy, seeing as how it had ten times the amount of action as the whole tournament room put together in a day.

 

[Rod]

Not a runout game if you play off the 7 ball spot, Rodd. No matter what size table you play on. Try to play straight in position for a side pocket from there,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Golf is the greatest game played with balls and a cue, followed closely by one pocket but like Rodd said, it is a runout game playing off the 6 ball spot. Playing off the 7 ball spot your first shot at a side pocket is usually a one rail or long three rail lag.

Yep that would tighten the game up a bit, never played it that way. I'd think the two rail would look good from there. It makes the pocket larger. I never read but we played sell-out pays double.

Rod

 

[1-pocket-player]

Golf is probably the #1 Game here in Salt Lake. We end with the six hole(final hole) on the left-hand side pocket. The mexicans like to play it using obstacles throughout the middle of the table- usually skittles or pieces of chalk.

 

[JAM]

What is very revealing about this thread relating to golf is its popularity around the country, played in some places non-stop.

Here in my neck of the woods, you can't walk in any REAL pool room, not a billiard parlor or sports lounge, and not see a one-pocket game. This is the game of choice among most players I know who enjoy spending the day banging balls back and forth. I very rarely see 9-ball being played. Yet, 9-ball is the game seen on national TV, what little broadcast there is these days.

9-ball seems to be the EASEST game to understand for the non-pool-playing public. Golf, however, seems to be a game of choice among many veteran players, as evidenced by the some of the posters in AzBilliards Discussion Forum.

JAM

 

[1pRoscoe]

I'm glad to see some younger players taking up one pocket. There is some hope for them after all.

I think you'd be surprised.... I'm 27 and that is 80% of all I play. There are MANY "younger" people in Texas that are infatuated with the game. I also always make it a point to try to teach as many "younger" people the game as well. Funny how I learned this game many years ago from an 80 year old man...

Not a runout game if you play off the 7 ball spot, Rodd. No matter what size table you play on. Try to play straight in position for a side pocket from there,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Golf is the greatest game played with balls and a cue, followed closely by one pocket but like Rodd said, it is a runout game playing off the 6 ball spot. Playing off the 7 ball spot your first shot at a side pocket is usually a one rail or long three rail lag.

That's why we started playing the back rail on 3 and 6 hole. It was pretty boring starting the game when half of the people were already on the 5/out hole.... That is what you mean when you say "7 spot", correct? On the center diamond frozen to the back rail?

Here in my neck of the woods, you can't walk in any REAL pool room, not a billiard parlor or sports lounge, and not see a one-pocket game. This is the game of choice among most players I know who enjoy spending the day banging balls back and forth. I very rarely see 9-ball being played. Yet, 9-ball is the game seen on national TV, what little broadcast there is these days.

I wished that were the case here, I have to go looking for a 1p game half of the time....

 

[Rickw]

I learned to play golf on a 12' table years ago. We always played off the 7 spot. I didn't know anyone played off the 6 spot. I don't think 10 footers have to be easy. If the pockets are tight and the table is fast, could be a tough game. The place I play at now, they play on a 9' Diamond and put pocket reducers on. I don't like it because they make you shoot through or around the wire springs of the pocket reducers.

 

[lewdo26]

Not a runout game if you play off the 7 ball spot, Rodd. No matter what size table you play on. Try to play straight in position for a side pocket from there,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Golf is the greatest game played with balls and a cue, followed closely by one pocket but like Rodd said, it is a runout game playing off the 6 ball spot. Playing off the 7 ball spot your first shot at a side pocket is usually a one rail or long three rail lag.

Hemicudas,
Isn't kicking in the side allowed?

 

[Rude Dog]

He said they won about $6,000 but the doctor bill was about half of that. The Canadian was still there playing Hawaiian Jimmy one pocket. When the smoke cleared, Jimmy busted the guy & won his Canadian snooker cue. (Rude Dog should remember this).
.

I do remember that John, now that you mention it. Jimmy has the knack to get the money and always made it look so easy. That Canadian guy played his ass off on Big Bertha to take all that money but Jimmy just sat back and waited to pounce. ( It's kinda like what the Bicycle Club does to him, LOL ) Hell, that ain't even funny, I was in with him on too many occasions at The Bike after winning at Hard Times. I hate these words to this day, "Pikcha, pikcha". If you've ever played Pan Nine, you know what I'm talking about. Peace.

 

[hemicudas]

Yep that would tighten the game up a bit, never played it that way. I'd think the two rail would look good from there. It makes the pocket larger. I never read but we played sell-out pays double.

Rod

You got it, Rodd. Yea, the position shot is the short two rail in the side and play position straight in the next corner unless you need to leave the cue ball up table.

We use to play double if your man won but the problem was if the player ahead of him kept leaving him hooked or knocking the guys ball in a side. It wasn't as much your guy winning but the guy ahead of you letting the guy out. We found a solution for that too. If someone knocked the guys ball in the side,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we just shot him. JK,,,,,,,,, It can be a catch22.

Lewdo26, yes, you can kick at any ball in any pocket and frequently do. As I have explained before, you don't have to hit, another, rail after the kick either. You do have to hit your ball first though. We played any foul and your ball comes off the table until it is your shot again. Then it is spotted on what ever spot you are playing off of. Most people played off the 6 ball spot.

 

[Rod]

We use to play double if your man won but the problem was if the player ahead of him kept leaving him hooked or knocking the guys ball in a side. It wasn't as much your guy winning but the guy ahead of you letting the guy out.

Bill that is a problem. It's happened to all of us countless times. Leaving someone froze on one end rail with the o/b on the other and trying to play your opponent safe, well thats part of the game. Some guys are so scared of selling out they force some else too. Not to bright either.

The usual victims sometimes play and depending on who follows who, you can end up being a victum. Still has to be one of the best games though.

Rod

 

[Keith McCready]

I have played golf on Big Bertha in Bellflower in three different pool rooms starting sometime in the 70's when The Billiard Palace in Bellflower was owned by Verne Peterson...The table ended up at Hard Times where it still is today. We played as much liability snooker on it as we did golf, and many of the top pool players in the country blew their cash trying to figure that table out. In the early 90's we played a lot of $50 a point liability. Keith was in quite a few of those games, and great player that he is, snooker or golf on the 6 x 12 wasn't his best game. They did try playing pay ball with him on Bertha though & he robbed them....ust remembering the good old days. If there was a room with a good golf game in the Sacramento area, I would be there every day.

I remember all those games. Those guys played on that table every single day on the hour, by the hour. If this is the same "JR" that I think it is, you played in the games yourself, and sometimes won. Did you ever go to the track with Crusher?

Some of the regulars in the pay ball game at The Billiard Palace were Jimmy Reid, Larry Lisciotti, Cole Dixon, Ronnie Allen, Richie Florence, Billy Incardone, Wade Crane, New York Blackie, One-Eyed Tony, and myself. I think Liz-Diz was the most solidest player in the game at that time, but as you know, every single one of them could play. Those were the people I grew up around, and I feel like I learned from the best in the business.

The one head-up game I remember the most is when I beat Mexican Francisco Galendez. Mark Betor was staking me. We ended up playing a nickel and a dime a ball, big dollars, and I ended up beating him out of 21 large.

I had heard they took old Big Bertha down. I wonder where all the golfers would go if they ever did. Nice hearing from somebody from the old school. Don't see those kind of games anymore. Too bad they don't have a 30-year reunion. It'd be interesting to see who showed up!

 

[jrhendy]

The Track

I remember all those games. Those guys played on that table every single day on the hour, by the hour. If this is the same "JR" that I think it is, you played in the games yourself, and sometimes won. Did you ever go to the track with Crusher?

Some of the regulars in the pay ball game at The Billiard Palace were Jimmy Reid, Larry Lisciotti, Cole Dixon, Ronnie Allen, Richie Florence, Billy Incardone, Wade Crane, New York Blackie, One-Eyed Tony, and myself. I think Liz-Diz was the most solidest player in the game at that time, but as you know, every single one of them could play. Those were the people I grew up around, and I feel like I learned from the best in the business.

The one head-up game I remember the most is when I beat Mexican Francisco Galendez. Mark Betor was staking me. We ended up playing a nickel and a dime a ball, big dollars, and I ended up beating him out of 21 large.

I had heard they took old Big Bertha down. I wonder where all the golfers would go if they ever did. Nice hearing from somebody from the old school. Don't see those kind of games anymore. Too bad they don't have a 30-year reunion. It'd be interesting to see who showed up!

The game I was thinking about was when Morro won all that money at the card room in the early 90's and we played $50 a point liability on Bertha for about a week off and on. Davenport got most of the $$ and I made a pretty good lick. Morro, Galindo, Davenport & me were in the game most of the time but there were five or six other players, including you, who would rotate in and out of the game, and the game went on for about a week. I had just moved back to town from San Diego just to be around Hard times & Los Alamitos, and hadn't shown up for work yet at the new office. My boss wondered when I was going to come in and I told him I had 75 hundred dollar bills and would be back when they were gone. Took about three weeks between the pool room and the track and a little partying in between. Parica had shown up by then and he ended up getting most of the $$ in the liability game. Looks like you are hitting them pretty good back there. Ronnie is in town and we have been making sure the horses don't starve. There is a big carryover at Golden gate on Sunday-this might be the one. Happy Holidays to you and Jam, I enjoy her posts and pictures. John Henderson

 

[jrhendy]

Golf In Salt Lake

Golf is probably the #1 Game here in Salt Lake. We end with the six hole(final hole) on the left-hand side pocket. The mexicans like to play it using obstacles throughout the middle of the table- usually skittles or pieces of chalk.

It's been 18 or 20 years, but I played some golf with Mark Tad in a room called the Farmers Daughter in Salt Lake. I beat Mark (he was just a kid then) and he went back into a room where they were playing poker and brought another guy out to play. We played on a 6 x 12 and used regular pool balls. We even got a little action in a bar that had a 6 x 12 in it. We were on the tail end of a road trip that started in San Jose, Phoenix for about a week, New Mexico, Denver, Cheyenne, Wyoming and then Salt Lake. There was golf action in every town. I got stuck pretty good in Albuquerque and had to stay several days to get the $$ back. A guy who worked for Animal Control took me to a pool room downtown and robbed me. My road partner, Poker paul, looked at me when we got to the room and said "I got me a helluva road man, the dogcatcher beat him for $700". Turns out he used to own the pool room and was a very good player. I beat a few of the regulars at Colfax Billiards & Family Fun Center in Denver and then got beat by a guy named "Cigar Sam" at Family. I didn't hang around to play him anymore. I was lucky to only lose 3 or 4 hundred after being stuck pretty good. By the time we hit Salt Lake I had been playing golf every day for about a month and was hitting them pretty good. When Mark Tad came to Hard Times several years later he was an awesome player. John Henderson

 

[Troy]

I moved away from SLC in 1965, but I remember Farmer's Daughter from the late '50's early '60's. It wasn't far from my parent's house and was on my "triangle". After school I would take the "triangle" way home passing by a Bowling Alley (with 5 Pool tables) and/or Farmer's Daughter for more than a few hours. I was always getting home late for dinner and running back out to get more time at either place. Neither the Bowling Alley nor Farmer's still exist.

Troy

It's been 18 or 20 years, but I played some golf with Mark Tad in a room called the Farmers Daughter in Salt Lake. I beat Mark (he was just a kid then) and he went back into a room where they were playing poker and brought another guy out to play. We played on a 6 x 12 and used regular pool balls. We even got a little action in a bar that had a 6 x 12 in it. We were on the tail end of a road trip that started in San Jose, Phoenix for about a week, New Mexico, Denver, Cheyenne, Wyoming and then Salt Lake. There was golf action in every town. I got stuck pretty good in Albuquerque and had to stay several days to get the $$ back. A guy who worked for Animal Control took me to a pool room downtown and robbed me. My road partner, Poker paul, looked at me when we got to the room and said "I got me a helluva road man, the dogcatcher beat him for $700". Turns out he used to own the pool room and was a very good player. I beat a few of the regulars at Colfax Billiards & Family Fun Center in Denver and then got beat by a guy named "Cigar Sam" at Family. I didn't hang around to play him anymore. I was lucky to only lose 3 or 4 hundred after being stuck pretty good. By the time we hit Salt Lake I had been playing golf every day for about a month and was hitting them pretty good. When Mark Tad came to Hard Times several years later he was an awesome player. John Henderson

 

[theoneandonly]

i play golf on a gcv 9 footer from time to time....i would have to say golf is my favorite game to play..i play it with some old timers at a club i shoot around at from time to time...definately helps improve dink pool and the diamond system...it is also a good game cause it gets everyone involved