Sunday, September 11, 2011

News just in

Comp results just posted. Somehow I managed to avoid a .1 to take me to 12.5.

CSS was 72 (Par is 71), and as 18 gets cut to a net double bogey I just about hit the buffer zone.

So I guess that's lucky.

How to Destroy a Round in 3 Easy Holes

I think the title says it all. Medal Comp today in dry but windy conditions.

Got off to a steady start. and was net level after 3. Dropped a shot on 4. Still 1 down after 5 then run off 4 par's to finish the front 9 2 under with a total of 40.

Solid back 9. Got myself to 3 under standing on 16th. Wind howling left to right and OOB all down the right and I have a habit of sticking it OOB here.

Not this time though. Started the teeshot way left and let the wind bring it back to the middle of the fairway.

Then my round went downhill rapidly.

16 is a long uphill par 5. So took out my favourite 3w to knock it up to about the 140-150 yard mark. Struck it well enough but it started to drift right, the wind hit it as well, but it looked to be safe. Got up top of the hill and couldn't see it. After a bit of a search i found it about sitting about 2 inches OOB. So a march back down the fairway to play another.

Hit this one ok. Thought I hit a good 5i at the green from 160 but the wind hit it hard and pushed it to the right of the green. Chip and 2 putts and I've got an 8.

Still 1 under at this point.

17th. long Par 3. 215 yards, Wind behind. Struck a good 5i but it just stayed right of the green. Easy 15 yard chip shot, well it should have been, but shanked it. i just don;t know how. Duffed second chip then 2 putts and I card a 5 and chucked another shot away.

Now Net Level Par.

18th. Par 4 SI 18. Right into the wind. Hit an ok drive but finds the bunker on the right leaving about 180.

The ball was far enough back in the bunker so decide to give it a go with the 5w. Probably a mistake given what happened on the last 2 holes, but I fancied it as the ball was sitting clean.

Caught the ball cleanly enough but push sliced it right, OOB. Argh. Reloaded. Tried again and just got enough of it to advance it 100 yards. 9i to the middle of the green. Then somehow managed to 4 putt. First putt was about 30 ft and hit the ground before the putt and left it 15ft short. Ran the next 3ft past then didn't really think about the next and just putted it in disgust and missed. Took a 9.

40 out, 49 back for a 89 net 77.

Just picked my ball out the hole and launched it onto the driving range.

Walked off in complete shock at what had happened. I didn't feel under any pressure. 1 Bad shot on 16. 1 Bad shot on 17 and 1 bad shot selection on 18. Amazing how quickly a round can go south.

Drove the ball pretty well all round. Didn't hit that many fairways, but was only just off most of the time.

Hit my irons really well. Chipped and putted well also.

Just 3 insane holes.

oh well. Got 2 weeks off now. Going to play tomorrow, maybe twice. Going to play Whitehills in the morning and maybe go play Chesfield in the afternoon if I feel like it.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hit a few and 9 Holes

Gave the golf a rest for a few days after the club champs. Didn't pick up a club until Thursday when i went up the range and just hit a few balls to see what was going on.

In the main struck the ball ok.

Played 9 on Friday after work just to get some course time in. Played pretty steady. Shot 41 with a 7 on the par 5 5th after a good drive and good layup.

Highlight. Hit the pin on the par 3 9th with my tee shot and finished the 4 foot putt it left me for a nice Birdy finish. 140 Yards, Wind a bit from behind, hit an easy 9i to a front pin location. Started right and started to draw. Was still about 4 yards right and caught the bank which kicked it left a bit into the pin :-)

Comp on Sunday. Medal 7:44 start.

Might be able to get in 18 later today.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Club Champs Roundup

So Gary Wing won the Scratch and Nigel Jones won the Handicap.

We had an interesting discussion in the bar afterwards why we have a scratch and a handicap champ. The scratch champ being considered the 'Club Champ'. Surely the best net score should be the champ ?

Or why don't we have a champ for each Catagory of Golfer ?

Anyway. I'm neither so doesn't matter.

Well refecting back on the weekend I can't be too unhappy.

My driving on Saturday killed me. Yes I hit just about every bunker on the course over the two days, but on 3-4 occasions it took me more than one shot to get out. I recon I must have lost at least 6 shots due to not getting out first time.

Putted pretty well overall. I think 31 and 33 putts. I think only 1 or 2 3-putts. Missed a few short ones as well. One on the 18th on the last round which would have got me a little handicap cut to award my efforts.

Hot some great irons shots and some really good 3w,5w and hydrids.. Couple of bad wedge shots. But nothing major and in general my wedges from inside 100 were ok.

Around the greens I was pretty solid which pitches and chip and runs. All giving me good 1 putt changes and many leaving tap ins.

Not sure where I came overall. I know I finished 9th on Sundays score. But was 70th on Saturdays. Might find out later if I get time to go up the club..

Next Comp is a Medal on Sunday. Out early, 7:44, again.

I'm going to have to re-think my goals for this year as the qualifying comps are running out. I think 10 is going to be a stretch.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Club Champs Day 2

Much better.

Still hit a ton of sand and took a couple of shots to get out a few times but put a half decent score together.

Went out in 44, with a double on the 9th, AGAIN, from the same bunker. But came back in 39, should have been 38 but missed a3ft putt on the last for Par which would have got me a .2 cut.

83, So shot to my handicap, so can't be too unhappy about that after yesterday.

in reality I could (should) have shot a level par back 9. Bogeyed 10, 13 and 18.

10 I was just off the back of the green after 2 and about 10ft from the pin and missed a 4ft putt for par.

13 I was middle of the green for 2 and 3 putted, again missed a shortish putt for par. And the 3ft putt on 18.

So all in all pretty happy with the last round. Just a shame I couldn't have got a little cut out of this weekends exploits.

That round should shift me up the quite a way. Doubt it will get me any OOM points though. Top 20 would be nice, but a stretch.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Club Champs Day 1

Well that didn't go as planned.

Driving was absolutely dreadful. Loads of huge slices right.

Started badly. Took a triple bogey 7 on the 1st, and missed an 18 inch putt. Double bogeyed the 2nd after another teeshot right.

Then got a good par on the par 3 3rd.

lost a ball with a way right tee-shot on the 4th. But managed to get away with a double bogey 6.

Then strung a few holes together to get me back into it. Par, Birdy, Par, Par. Then Double bogeyed the par 3 9th. To go out in 42. So could have been better. Could also have been a lot worse !!!!

Back 9 started ok. Great drive down the 10th then shanked an easy 8i. Chip and a couple of putts and get away with a bogey.

Another double bogey on the 12 after hitting sand off the tee, then again on my approach shot to the green.

Then came the par 3 12th. This hole is going to stick in my memory for a long time. Hit an ok teeshot into the left hand bunker. Then flew the green into the bunker on the other side. No sand under the ball and the club just bounced into the ball. Then take 3 to get out. And carded a 7.

That's it my round was over. No coming back from that.

Bogeyed 13, double bogey 14 after having to hit balls from the tee after slicing my first two into the deep rough. But found them. So could have been even worse.

Par, Par then double,double. For a 48 back 9. 90 net 78. 7 shots over par and 13 shots off the lead when I left the club.

I think the thing that really pissed me off is that I really fought hard to get myself back into it and then just threw it away on the 12th.

My driving was probably the worse it's been in a long long time. Again after driving really well for the past couple of weeks.

Oh well. I'll be out early-ish tomorrow I guess with the other high scores. At least that will give me an afternoon to do other stuff.

This is why God Hates Golfers !!! He giveth and he taketh away.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Club Champs Prep is Complete

Just got back from playing 9.

Pretty happy with how I played.

Drove the ball really well. Hit my irons well, except the 7i into the par 3 3rd which I thinned a little and dumped into the water.

Chipping was ok, although didn't need to much as I hit the greens in reg quite a bit.

And putted ok. 1 stupid 3 putt.

So I'm about as ready as I can be for tomorrow.

Mentally I feel good and confident in my game. Which is half the battle won.