Now I know how Tiger feels--well sort of

[dbuck47]

I have started this post several times, but got interrupted or the effort got too long.

 

On June 27-28, I played in a golf tournament using the classic kit in my sig. I wish I could report that I did well, but I can't. I finished dead last.

 

Now that I have spit out the sour taste, I will give a few details and excuses. The first excuse is that I was sick with the worst case of bronchitis I have had in years. The 95 degree weather didn't help that, but I was determined to play. I have been intending to play this event for a couple of years, but life or work has intervened. This is one of the few "real golf" play your own ball, play it down, putt it out tournaments in my area. So much for the excuses.

 

My tee game was actually quite acceptable, and putting was generally ok. The problem was I had little-to-nothing in between. I was pleased overall with the driving. I did not lose a single shot off the tee. That is not to say every drive was in the short grass and long, but every drive was playable. There were a few where I kept up with my pretty decent titanium swinging fellow players. On the last hole of the tournament, one of my companions hit a really decent drive right down the middle. My Big Herb persimmon put one right beside him.

 

The guys I was playing with were pretty good golfers, but as we have discussed many times in these pages, when they missed, it was magnified by the modern driver. There were a number of holes where their total distance exceeded mine off the tee, but mine was closer to the hole even though I also missed the fairway.

 

I just had nothing from the fairway. My swing was just off. As we discussed in another recent thread, game improvement clubs would not have helped me; the shots were bad. I can't think of a single shot where I would have been better off with the latest wonder iron. Though I can't blame it on my sickness, it was a contributing factor, along with nerves and lack of mojo.

 

Anyway, I hope to play again next year, and hopefully do a little better. It was great fun.

[birly-shirly]

Glad you enjoyed it dbuck - that's the main thing. Even though a close second has to be how you played, I tend to think that you've done the hard part well. It always used to be a commonplace, in persimmon days, to hear that the driver was the hardest to hit club in the bag (I guess most people weren't carrying 1 irons!). If you're consistently driving the ball into spots from where you have a reasonable opportunity to go at the green, then that's a great foundation for scoring well.

Kudos for entering a tournament with a real classic bag.

[dbuck47]

B-S, thanks for the encouragement.

[Kathy Marie]

Dbuck47,

My apologies for chiming in late... Please allow me to add my Respect And Salutations for playing your Classic Bag, not to mention even having the courage to *enter* a tournament!!!

As birly-shirly so wisely pointed out, enjoyment is the main thing. I mean, we play for FUN right???

SO Glad you had some & Thanks for sharing with us!





Kathy Marie

[oldschoolrocker]

Bravo Zulu dbuck... takes a lot of fortitude to stick to your guns with the classics.

[Wriggles]

I really don't play any tournaments, but back in 1995, my Dad told me of a local charity tournament and encouraged me to sign up. At that time, I was playing on one course regularly with a bunch of guys I worked with. Anyhow, I signed up as a 12 hcp, which was about right for the familiar course I was used to playing. At that time, I played a modern set of irons with classic wooden woods.

A 90+ day in August, I arrive at the course I never played before and meet my three other playing partners. The other three were riding, I insisted on walking. The first hole, par 4, I bogey. The second hole, I hit two tee shots OB, actually without the OB's would have had par 5. Third hole, I bogey a par 3. The fourth hole, I hit 3 balls OB into the woods, and couldn't find my 4th tee shot in the rough. I had the worst game of my life that day. I could hear two of the guys (in their 50's) muttering about what a jerk (they didn't use the word jerk) I was, and why I just don't quit. It strengthened my desire to finish. Those guys just ignored me the rest of the game.

I rallied a bit to finish with a 118. The two guys supposedly played in the seventies, I suspect they were cheating. The other young fellow riding picked up his ball on the 16th green, actually DQ's himself. He asks me about it, and I told him to forget it, those other two were cheating.

After that, I limited my competitive golf to games with friends.