MD/VA/DC Golfers - Ten Seconds or Less

[misplacedtexan83]

 

Nice little par 3

[FAbb]

John (The Gambler) and Ed (The Dealer) were interesting for sure. After we realized what they were playing for, their odd-couple relationship made a lot more sense. I've got to think if you're playing for that kind of money with somebody, there are two ways it can work. The first case is that you're basically not friends. It's strictly a gambling-based relationship, where both parties are emotionally detached from the person they're winning/losing money from. That was John and Ed. The second case is that you're actually buddies (or at least golf buddies) that play against each other all the time. That way, the money basically ends up as a wash in the long run. In either case, that kind of thing just doesn't get my jimmies all tingly to play golf. I've said it before, but I just care more about going out there and scoring my golf ball than anything else. It's hard to imagine going out there and mentally being into the financial implications of every single shot. The accounting alone would be annoying to me. I can barely remember to write down or enter my scores on eaglegrint while I'm playing. For a guy like John, golf is just another way to scratch his gambling itch.

 

The 3-wood on the 2nd hole (our 11th) was pretty sweet. I was sitting at 240 yards to the flag, down wind. I knew if I hit a hybrid solid, with some wind help, it would make the green. The wind started dying down though, and I didn't want to leave my ball in the gooch in front of that green. I hit one of the best fairway woods off the deck I've hit in a while. It was dead at the flag, with almost no curve. It flew about 10 yards over the flag, and stopped within a couple feet. That one felt really good to pull off.

 

I botched the 16th and 3rd holes from position A1. Both times I was like 110-120 to the flag, in the center of the fairway. I fatted my wedge on 16, and came up short. On 3, I hit a great drive, right next to the 100 yard stick. You couldn't walk out there and place a ball better. Then, I proceeded to do one of the most vicious moonwalk slips with my right foot of all time. It was so bad I can't believe I made any kind of contact. I don't think my right foot was even on the ground by the time the club got to the ball. I hit so far behind the ball, it only went ~50 yards. The pin was back, and I tried to play a ball to release over the ridge in the middle of that green from there. Left it short and barely 2-putted to salvage a bogey. I might've snapped something if I doubled that hole from where my drive was.

 

I had a couple really good looks at birdie from inside 10ft that I just over-read the break on. I drained all my putts inside 10ft that were for par though, so it's probably a wash.

 

I got up and down a bunch yesterday, but I think it's mainly because I left myself really easy shots. My missed GIRs were basically all just off the green. I didn't need any CityGame level wizardry to make those saves.

 

The tee ball is starting to feel more in control again. The irons are tightening up. Just have to keep focused on the change I'm working on, but overall very pleased with the progress. It always feels good to make a solid score after fumbling around for the first couple rounds while making changes.

[Kent01putt]

Proximity to the hole on approaches is huge. So overall ball striking will get one to scratch faster than improved short game. But the ability to not 3 putt and make a lot of 5 to 8 footers will get you to the plus world, assuming you do everything else well.

 

I agree about the proximity. If your not on it is hard to make birdies. If your on put can't putt you have gained nothing. Getting up and down saves many of poor ball striking rounds. To be a good player you need to score well on your off days. I think you mainly do that with a short game JMHO. Keeping the ball in play can not be over stated enough.

[FAbb]

Fabb I understand that article. What I am saying is the object of playing different tee's is to make players have the same clubs in their hand on approach shots. I think (JMO) that scoring clubs start at 150 yds an in. So is a pro able to score as well as me or me as well as him with the same club in hand and what causes the difference. With both hitting a 7i should we be compared with the same scoring ability as a metrics.

 

You can't just negate their distance advantage when you're comparing yourself to pros using strokes gained metrics. That's a big part of where you lose strokes in relation to the benchmark.

[pquarta1]

Who's the benchmark for thredzien-only metrics? That's what we need to figure out. I think City is the benchmark for likes gained. Golfer, his Apple, might be benchmark for hilarity gained AND cyber beat downs.

[FAbb]

If city is the benchmark for likes gained, we're all losing ground. The benchmark is supposed to be the average, not the cream of the crop.

 

Likewise, 827 can not be the benchmark for shiggles gained. We're all losing in that case as well.

[pquarta1]

If city is the benchmark for likes gained, we're all losing ground. The benchmark is supposed to be the average, not the cream of the crop.

 

Likewise, 827 can not be the benchmark for shiggles gained. We're all losing in that case as well.

 

You want cyber life to be easy? Up dat game, son!

[FAbb]

If city is the benchmark for likes gained, we're all losing ground. The benchmark is supposed to be the average, not the cream of the crop.

 

Likewise, 827 can not be the benchmark for shiggles gained. We're all losing in that case as well.

 

You want cyber life to be easy? Up dat game, son!

 

I can't hang with the pros.

[FAbb]

Tex is live on eaglegrint right now. Recovered nicely from an opening double, and looks to be cruising along very nicely!

[dcmidnight]

The latest golf.com podcast was pretty good, recap of who/how/criteria they use to put together the Top 100 World courses list. Some interesting nuggets.

[TheCityGame]

Kent, if I understand what you're asking...

 

The basic idea is to compare you against a pro from 150 not 7i to 7i.

 

Think about it this way : if you average 3 shots to get it in from the fairway from 150, then at 150, you have "3 to go".

 

If you hit one to 1 foot, you just gained a stroke because you turned your 3 into a 2. If you chunk it, and you're still at 150, you just turned your 3 into a 4.

 

The bigger idea is this : from 150, an average pro probably has 2.5 "to go". You have "3 to go". He's gaining a half stroke on you from 150.

 

If you both have a 20 foot putt, maybe he averages 1.7 from there and you average 1.9. He's gaining .2 strokes on you from 20 feet.

 

If you back it up to the tee, you can really see the differences. If you're on a 400 yard hole and you hit one 250 and he hits one 300, then you're left with "3 to go" because you're at 150. So you can see how it's almost compounded from the tee... Not only is he better than you from 150 and 100, but he's now at 100 and you're at 150. You just lost a lot to him off the tee. He might have 2 to go from 100 (for example). You lost a stroke to him off the tee. Way more than you can lose to him around the green.

 

Another thing about pro putting is that when you play on faster greens, you can't put pins on severe slopes. We often putt to holes on more severe slopes than pros do. And worse greens. The pro percentages drop when they putt Riviera and - I think- Pebble which are both Po.

[thechief16]

Tex is live on eaglegrint right now. Recovered nicely from an opening double, and looks to be cruising along very nicely!

 

Looks familiar

 

 

[TheCityGame]

Very interesting video if anyone has 22 minutes to listen to a guy talk about golf balls.

 

[FAbb]

He may not realize it, but Kent is an OG when it comes to this strokes gained putting vs. long game discussion. He once claimed he was an equal or better putter than Tiger Woods. He got roasted pretty good for making that claim. Maybe he wasn't quite on Tiger's level, or maybe he was. There's at least a good chance that the gap wasn't anywhere near the gap in ball striking between Kent and Eldrick.

[pquarta1]

Very interesting video if anyone has 22 minutes to listen to a guy talk about golf balls.

 

 

Why is Russel Crowe discussing golf balls for 22 minutes?

[TheCityGame]

Very interesting video if anyone has 22 minutes to listen to a guy talk about golf balls.

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

Why is Russel Crowe discussing golf balls for 22 minutes?

are you not entertained? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

[FAbb]

Are you still in Florida, Domes? Hopefully you got the F out of there, or are hunkered down somewhere safe.

[baddomes]

Back from GA. Good trip. Golf down there is awesome. Reminded me of the Southern Pines area with the rolling hills. Mirror Lake had a few holes that looked a lot like Pinehurst #7.

 

Played Canongate 1 yesterday. #7 is a par 5. Reachable in two if you hit a good drive. So I hit one and have 222 to the green, which is uphill and surrounded by bunkers. Would take a really great 3w to get there, but I was hitting it well so I gave it a go. Didn't catch it flush, but it was online and came up just short of the bunkers. Satellite below:

 

 

 

So I get to the ball and realize.....that's not the green. It's this one:

 

 

 

I probably could have seen the correct green from my drive, but I was so focused on the green I hit at (it also didn't help that one of the guys walking up to that green was wearing a bright shirt, and I had seen him before on one of the holes in front of me. He must have sliced a drive into the fairway or something.) There's a couple of trees blocking the line of sight to the actual green, but it wasn't completely blind.

 

That stuff happens when you're playing new courses all the time. And also why I play these rounds as practice rounds (in addition to playing by myself usually). Just too much unknown.

 

I played basically two balls on every hole for each round. Really worked on the wedge game since it had been giving me trouble recently. Nothing cures the ails of a wedge game like nice fluffy Bermuda grass fairway lies all day, son.

 

Will probably be down in FL to look at the damage in a couple of weeks. PGA National would be a nice way to warm up for the Hive Strokeplay.

[TheCityGame]

The split screen is awesome in Oreo. Also, if you're watching a video in YouTube and start another app, it will do picture in picture on the video while you do other stuff. Not sure if that was new to Oreo or an update in Nougat.

 

 

[baddomes]

Are you still in Florida, Domes? Hopefully you got the F out of there, or are hunkered down somewhere safe.

 

No made the call on Tuesday night to cancel the FL leg of the trip. I probably would have been able to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale last night, but filling the rental car with gas would have been a nightmare, the airport would have been a disaster, and if for whatever reason my flight didn't get off the ground I would have been stuck.

 

Not to mention the last thing people running a nursing home want to do is deal with someone from the bank when they've got windows to board and residents to move.

[baddomes]

The split screen is awesome in Oreo. Also, if you're watching a video in YouTube and start another app, it will do picture in picture on the video while you do other stuff. Not sure if that was new to Oreo or an update in Nougat.

 

 

 

Agreed. Was watching the football game on the airplane last night and it worked PiP when I opened something else. Very cool. I think that's new with Oreo.

[eagle1997]

TEE TIME ALERT!

 

Saturday, September 16

South Riding Golf Club

10 am start time

Format: Two Person Team Six-Six-Six (scramble/shamble/better ball)

A DCGT Event - PM me for more deets

 

I hope a few wrxers can come out and join us!

[FAbb]

Glad to hear you're out of the danger zone!

 

That anecdote is pretty funny. It's obvious from the satellite photo you hit to the wrong green, but it's easy to see how that could be confusing in real life. I've had at least one person think the 17th green was the 10th green at Blue Mash before. That'd be a heck of an intimidating approach.

 

My Pixl upgraded shortly after I got it, so the PiP is new to me regardless. It put my navigation on PiP when I was in the car last weekend. I thought it was pretty awesome.

[baddomes]

Also, at baggage claim last night, a guy who was a dead ringer for bangas was there. Thought maybe he was back in town for work or something. I was about to say hello to him.

 

Then I saw him take a selfie and knew it definitely was bangas, and I didn't want to be friends with him anymore.

[FAbb]

Tex is live on eaglegrint right now. Recovered nicely from an opening double, and looks to be cruising along very nicely!

 

Looks familiar

 

 

 

Still look familiar?

 

[thechief16]

Nope. Because by this point I would have compensated by hitting a huge block right and then topped a couple.

[SullGolf]

TEE TIME ALERT!

 

Saturday, September 16

South Riding Golf Club

10 am start time

Format: Two Person Team Six-Six-Six (scramble/shamble/better ball)

A DCGT Event - PM me for more deets

 

I hope a few wrxers can come out and join us!

 

DCM and I are likely gonna play. Just being procrastinators on deciding.

[eagle1997]

you guys ever hear of looper?

 

considering offering them as an optional, at-cost, add-on to DCGT events. just got off the phone with one of their directors and he told me (DC is gonna love this) they explicitly tell caddies NOT to read greens. so basically, it's our baseline of a 'good' caddy experience: find balls, give yardages, rake traps, fix divots, clean clubs. if you had a foursome and got a forecaddie, it'd be $15 per person, plus tip.

 

i always used to get a caddy at blue mash during the week of The Open... not sure if they still do that. considering doing it for the hive stroke play championship.

[dcmidnight]

DCM and I are likely gonna play. Just being procrastinators on deciding.

 

Deciding/waiting on the weather. Right now the summary models seem to have the remainder of this storm on top of us in 7 days.

 

I now have two friends who live in the Tampa area - on the water - that are riding it out, even with the thing now forecast to go right over them. Even with their area being the #1 seed for mandatory evacuations and them being told to leave. I don't get this. If you can afford to and you can get in your car and, including traffic, be two states away in 8 hours - why wouldn't you? I'm convinced they do it just so they can post on social media how awesome they are for having stuck it out.

[dcmidnight]

EagleGrintLLC expands yet again...

 

In all seriousness, they advertise their caddie "certification exam" as being so easy you cant fail. Given that, there's no way I would want one of them reading anything.

 

I think I'd rather play 18 holes drinking nothing but GolferAids.