MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[FAbb]

Looking at the grint, there was A LOT of ball golf being played this past weekend. Looking forward to seeing some recaps.

 

I was at the beach with the family, but was able to sneak out for a mega early round at Bear Trap Dunes. We were first on the tee at 6:30am, and I'm not even sure I can call it a dew sweeper. The grass was SOAKED. Looking for balls in tall grass resulted in my pants being soaked from the knee down, and completely waterlogged shoes and socks.

 

Since Bear Trap is the home of the world's dumbest push cart rule (can't bring your own, but you're only allowed to use one of theirs if you're a member), so I knew I was going to have to carry. I thought about taking a half-set for a funsie, since I've been grinding lately, but I decided to bring 'em all and try to shoot a score, since you never know when a good streak is going to end.

 

I continued to hit it pretty well. I hit all the fairways, but they're approximately one million yards wide, so that's not a great metric. I just haven't been missing drives by much, lately. I'll hit toe balls, and heels, and whatever, but they're not going way offline. Irons and wedges were pretty good as well. Short game was ok, and putting is still showing some promise.

 

I feel very comfortable right now, overall. Like this is where my game is supposed to be. Hopefully tomorrow won't bring that crashing down, and bursting into flames. I'm playing Turf Valley Original Course, which for whatever reason is my kryptonite. I don't think I've played a good round on that course since one of my first few times out there. It's now or never to break that cycle.

 

How about this little piece of news?

 

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/despite-great-respect-dustin-johnson-splits-swing-coach-claude-harmon

 

How much longer until Brooks or DJ move on from the trainer they both use? Seems they're putting some space between one and other.

[dcmidnight]

> @FAbb said:

> How much longer until Brooks or DJ move on from the trainer they both use? Seems they're putting some space between one and other.

 

I guess I didnt read anything into it. The coach DJ is going to was his college coach and is the head teacher at his golf school? Didn't seem like a random thing to me.

 

I am feeling really good about a handful of US Open bets that I have down. Ricky and Jordan at 20-1. Fleetwood at 28-1. Cantlay and Scott at 40-1. Although I dont know if Cantlay winning is a good sign or a sign that, what are the odds he can catch lightning in a bottle twice?

 

 

[Sterling_247]

Any time any of y'all are looking for a partner for an afternoon round at LH I would be interested. I pass it every day on the way home from work and haven't played it yet

[dcmidnight]

I will say, I got to work @ 530 this morning and it was definitely light enough that you could have been teeing off.

[HighBoomingDraws]

#theresstillachance

 

 

[gregh729]

> @dcmidnight said:

> > @ALTSean said:

> > > @dcmidnight said:

> > > > @aiyyer said:

> > > > Punched greens at Laurel Hill but otherwise very good conditions and discounted rate yesterday. For a County course, the staff, service and practice areas are very good. The par 5s are legit and the long par 3 on the back 9 (14th) has to be one of the tougher par 3s in this area especially for a right to left ball flight. Laurel Hill seems to be the Worthington Manor of VA as most of my better and real golfer friends who are low or scratch play these two a lot.

> > > > It’s also amazing that a lot of the courses are coming back and looking this good after the miserable wet, muddy season.

> > > > LH logo has to be one of the best in this area.

> > >

> > > I am pretty lucky that LH is @ 5 minutes from my office and 10 minutes from my house. Very good track and they do a good job of keeping the place in good condition.

> >

> > My son is doing First Tee at LH, but I have yet to play there. The range and putting green are pretty solid so I try to get some practice in when I take him to First Tee.

>

> Let me know if you want to get out some night. The late afternoon/eveningish tee times are usually pretty cheap.

 

Count me in also!

[TheCityGame]

Weekend at the club. We had our "Spring Classic". It's a member-guest format, but all within the club. Pari-mutuel betting. The whole shebang. You play a 9 hole match against everyone in your flight.

 

Scoring : every hole matters. You get points for how much you win your match by.

 

Anyway, FIRST ROUND we start on 1. My partner **birdies** 1. Nice. Hole 2, I roll in a fast downhill 30 footer. **Birdie**. Hole 3, I roll in like a 20 footer. **Birdie**. Hole 4. My partner sticks one to 3 feet. **Birdie**. We had 4 birdies out of the gate and the other team didn't know what hit them.

 

Hole 6, long tough hole. Partner **birdies**. Hole 7, partner and I both fly the green. They have a guy in there at 18 feet. I chip in(*) from behind the green. **birdie**. We birdie 6 of the first 7 holes we play. We lose 9 and go +4 in this match.

 

Back 9, we stink the joint up. I think we're +1 and we lose 4 points.

 

You play a 3rd 9 on day 1, and this match was against a guy who is playing the Sectional Qualifying at Woodmont today, and let me tell you, he's IN FORM. We tie 2 & 3, then he rolls in a 20 foot **bird** on 4. a 15 footer on 5 for **birdie**. On 6, I'm inside him and getting .5 stroke, but he rolls THAT in for **birdie** and I miss and then he rolls one in on 7 from the back fringe for **birdie** (I fly this 7th again and lip out the birdie chip. My partner **birdies**.) On 8, the stud hits one to a foot from a bunker, then on 9, he makes a 2 putt **birdie**. He shot 31 on his own ball, and his partner made a net birdie on hole 2. We go to -4. DFL after day one.

 

So, we're in last going into Sunday and partner was like "goal today : let's win both matches and make birdies and try to skin". First hole, 4 of us put them in the trees and one guy punches out OB. Partner punches out in front. One guy chunks his punch out, and I drill a 5 iron under some limbs hard into a bunker, it scoots out and winds up in the fringe. I was like, "@ClubProGuy. Strokes gained punching out." I make par FTW. it was a great punch out and I'm not being funny.

 

Anyway, here I **birdie** 18 and partner **birdies** 10 with tough pins. We're thinking they may skin. The Qual guy comes through in the group behind us and birdies both of them. We get +2 here but still tied for last.

 

Next match. We're playing to get out of the basement, but I **birdie** 3 partner **birdies** 5. I _chip in from behind 7 AGAIN_ for **birdie** and 9, partner has a nice look at eagle, but instead we both **birdie**. We end up getting 3 points to move to +1. The winners were +10. They won every match and halved one. We have the tie breaker and snag second. TStraight pro shop cred, homie.

 

Partner and I made 14 birdies over 45 holes. 7 each and only one overlap. On the two full 18's that get posted, we were 65 and 66 gross. We're playing PQ and Fabb at tomorrow in the rubber match of a three fight trilogy.

 

Last bit, this winter, my partner and I on some random Sunday meet up these two players on the first tee. We get a match against them and I'm like, "how many strokes?" and they're like "we'll play you straight up". They were like a 5 and a 7, so OK. So, we beat them that day in the nassau, but they actually took money off us because they won ALL THE JUNK (sandies, birdies, etc.) that day. We get in the clubhouse and they've been there for about 2 minutes and everyone already knows they took our money. Because of that, I bet on one of these guys across the board in the pari-mutuel. The guy wins it and pays 59-1. I laid out $41 in bets and I think I'm collecting about $160 (I don't know what the show and place tix will pay exactly).

 

Last year, this event was a total washout, so this weekend was just aces.

[gregh729]

My beach weekend was drastically different than FABBs. 12 guys, all have know each other for 30+ years. Lots of hooping and hollering, drinking, cussing. What a blast. Played River Run Thursday which was in really good condition. We haven't played there in 7-8 years. Last time we played it was over a 6 hour round. Things moved nicely this time. Man O War Friday and War Admiral Saturday. I really like War Admiral. Some getable holes, and some I haven't figured out. Man O War is nothing special to me, but it is cheap because a couple guys have memberships. Bear Trap Dunes on Sunday. 5 minutes from one of the guys house. Good condition, very playable course.

We played the whites everywhere. Only two of us under 60, one guy is 70. The whites are pretty short. All but one course was under 6000 yards, so easy scoring. Tons of fun. Made the required stops at Macky's and Fager's to see all of the bachelorette parties, the Boathouse for uneeded nightcaps, and just acting like an idiot with these guys again. There won't be a lot of work coming from my desk today.

[siegel159]

If anyone is interest, I saw the new Godzilla movie over the weekend and it was awesome. Don't listen to the critics. There's some really phenomenal acting and character development. Also giant monster fights

[TheCityGame]

> @siegel159 said:

> If anyone is interest, I saw the new Godzilla movie over the weekend and it was awesome. Don't listen to the critics. There's some really phenomenal acting and character development. Also giant monster fights

 

I'm not paying to see Godzilla. I might if I heard better things. You're literally saying the opposite of everything I've heard about it. Literally no character development. Like the actors are just there to tell you things to move the story along. The script sounds undercooked.

 

I've heard the action is kind of a mess (which you absolutely can't do these days in a post Fury Road, post John Wick world). Or if you're keeping it mostly CGI, you're up against (some of) the MCU stuff or (some of) the Star Wars stuff.

 

I'm more interested in Booksmart and Ma and Brightburn if I was going to the movies.

 

Also "The Dead Don't Die" is coming up.

[siegel159]

> @TheCityGame said:

> > @siegel159 said:

> > If anyone is interest, I saw the new Godzilla movie over the weekend and it was awesome. Don't listen to the critics. There's some really phenomenal acting and character development. Also giant monster fights

>

> I'm not paying to see Godzilla. I might if I heard better things. You're literally saying the opposite of everything I've heard about it. Literally no character development. Like the actors are just there to tell you things to move the story along. The script sounds undercooked.

 

 

Fair. The script was a bit undercooked. And I was lying about the character development and acting. But I also couldn't really care less, because there were giant monster fights. John Wick is a way better action movie, but John Wick doesn't have a three headed space dragon.

 

Also, for what it's worth, my 91 year old grandmother hated Booksmart.

 

[XHoop24]

**Golf Store Recap**

Domes shoots me a text at like 10 AM Sat. morning - 'Driving to 2nd Swing in 45 minutes if interested.' If interested....he doesn't know me as well as I thought. Took 4 clubs that were sitting in the apartment and traded them in for like $180 in store credit. Wasn't letting that burn a hole in my pocket and walked out with a new Odyssey Double Wide putter. Have two anser style putters at home and was looking for something that mixed up the look every once in a while. Must have hit 25 putters. They have a cool camera setup to monitor the stroke. Sales associates were helpful and not too pushy. Loved the place.

**Round Recap**

Played EPP on Sunday AM. Weather was aces. Course was playing as easy as possible. Rough was cut, greens were in decent shape (for EPP standards), and greens were soft from watering. Could not get off the tee. If the round was anywhere other than EPP, I can't imagine what my score would have been based on my tee game. Was a bit hungover which didn't help (or maybe it did - who even knows these days).

[Ocgolfrick]

I insist we have Siegel's 91 year old grandmother give us her movie reviews every Monday.

"Godzilla- Its got Space Dragons dammit! What else do you need to know?"

"Booksmart- Meh, smart Word not allowed teenagers, I had that in the 60's. BORINGGGGG.."

[XHoop24]

> @siegel159 said:

> Also, for what it's worth, my 91 year old grandmother hated Booksmart.

>

Roommate loved Booksmart. I enjoyed it although not as much as the roomie.

Longshot also had some good jokes. But I would recommend Longshot as more of wait till its on TNT in a year than a must see in the theater.

[baddomes]

I saw Crazy Rich Asians recently

I saw it on an airplane

I saw it on a person's screen two rows up and across the aisle from me while I was listening to music.

I saw it without subtitles

I saw the second half of it, and then it restarted and saw the first half.

It was pretty mediocre. C+

[ceejay81]

Played a lot of ball golf this weekend. On Saturday morning, I teed off at 6:50am with HBD at Woodmore. We got done with that round just before 10. I had way too many penalties on the front 9, but I settled down on the back to finish with a 98. Then we hit up the breakfast/brunch buffet and did work on that for about 45 minutes. Pancakes, omelets, bacon, fried chicken, etc. After that we decided to head on back out for another 18. We started on 10 since the tee sheet was pretty busy and there was an opening for us to jump in there. I shot 48 on the back but then came back with a 44 on the front for a 92. Definitely my best front 9 score at Woodmore and it's my best overall round there, too. The front 9 always gives me fits. I had a strong stretch where I chipped in for birdie on the 4th, got up and down for a par 3 on the 5th, bogey on the par 5 6th, then a 2 putt par on 7. I had my driver working pretty well for most of the day. I was hitting fairways, but more importantly, my misses were just off the fairway and not deep into the junk. Thankfully there weren't very many push fades or pull hooks into the trees. Was just a great, low key day on the course with HBD. We both couldn't believe how "not crowded" the course was. We got done with 36 holes and a big a** brunch by 2pm on a Saturday. We briefly thought about getting 54 in and could have been done by 5pm. Can't beat that.

 

On Sunday I played with the club champ at Woodmore. Was just him and me at 6:50am. Real good dude and hits it super well. Has a sarcastic/smartas$ demeanor that I enjoy, so it was good company. It was another low key round on another gorgeous day. We finished up at about 10:15 before the heat kicked in. I played okay again and shot 94, with a few pars. No triple bogeys either, which is usually a bugaboo for me. I finally have my handicap trending downwards for the first time in, well, forever.

 

Gonna play Royal New Kent and Mattaponi Springs this coming Saturday. Really looking forward to playing these courses for the first time.

[aiyyer]

Had a great career round going on the front nine at NW with a high school kid who shamed me with his golf intellect. Kept talking about missing on the right side and using an iron off the tee for control. Beat him by about six shots and he sort of took off after the front.

Hooked up with a couple of British guys from DC who were shocked that Northwest was that good. They also wanted to play from the tips. Funny how so many DC guys think golf revolves around East Potomac or Falls Road!! Lot of three putts with lightning and thunder around. Anyway three holes later on the the par 3 12th, I hit my shot to 3 feet before the weather went absolutely crazy. The British guys took off but being proper came back for me. The ride back to the clubhouse with hail, rain and wind was pretty crazy - these guys drove over everything without knowing the course. Pretty proud that I hung on at the back all the way back to the clubhouse. I will never take weather lightly again on a golf course.

Sully, as you are the rules guy, do you get a break on missed putts for lightning reasons?

Also what score do you put down when you abandon a birdie putt for lightning reasons??

 

 

[therealsneek]

I came my closest in a long time to making a hole in one yesterday.

 

187 Par 3 8th playing into the wind. Hit a punch 4-iron that landed in the rough left of the pin and kicked right towards the pin. Looked like it was going to roll right into the hole from the tee. Ended up about a foot away.

 

There were some strong par 3's at this course yesterday. The 13th was 235 from the tippies. Good architecture in my opinion. Plenty of room to bail out left, but then you are left with a tough chip to a green sloping away from you.

 

 

 

[SoloShot84]

Played @ Pleasant Valley yesterday.

7am tee off was pretty nice considering how hot/humid it got yesterday afternoon.

Yet another frustrating round with couple blow ups.

Here is quick break down my score yesterday.

1 Par 4: Driver to fairway. 8 iron to 10yd left greenside rough. **chunk chip shot. ** then chip shot to 4 ft. Bogey.

2 Par 4: Driver. 9 iron on green. 2 putt Par.

3 Par 5: Driver to left side of fairway. with long rough, no one able to find **so take penalty** and drop. 6 iron layup. 8 iron to 6 ft on green. 1putt Par save

4 Par 3: 4 hybrid 15 yd left green. moderate pitch shot on green 15ft. 2 putt Bogey.

5 Par 5: Driver fairway. 6 Iron layup. 9 iron on green. 2 putt Par.

6 Par 4: **I was joking my cart mate that I am playing so well but my handicap will catch up.** Hook Driver. 7 iron layup. chunk 2 pitch shots. subpar chip shot and 2 putt **Triple**

7 Par 3: 5 iron on green 2 putt Par.

8 Par 4: Driver to fairway. **thin 7 iron** bad chip shot then 2 putt Bogey

9 Par 4: Driver. gap wedge 2 putt Par.

**should have not tally my score and realized I am having good round even though one triple**

10 Par 5: Hook driver to OB. 2nd tee to deep rough. 8iron layup. pulled 9 iron to green side rough. bad chip shots. frustrated 3 putts **Quadruple**

11 Par 3: 6 iron just short of green. good chip shot for tab in Par

12 Par 4: Nemesis hole and bogey in mind. Driver to rough. 7 iron layup then **shank 9 iron** gap wedge to green 2 putt Double

13 Par 5: Best Driver to fairway. **push 4 hybrid.** **shank 9 iron off ball 3 feet below stance** pitch shot just short of green. subpar chip shot then 2 putt Double

14 Par 3: 9iron short to front bunker. blade bunker shot to OB. chuck chip shot then 1 putt **Tripple**

15 Par 4: Driver. 6 iron. 15 yard bump and run hole out Birdie **BAAM!**

16 Par 4: 3 wood. 7 iron. decent chip shot and 1 putt Par save

17 Par 4: Driver. 7 iron to greenside rough. bad chip shot. 2 putt Bogey.

18 Par 4: Driver to fairway then **slice 7 iron into water hazard**. bad pitch shot took wrong kick. 2 putt Double

 

2 Triples and 1 Quadruple... what a day.

[TheCityGame]

Spent the afternoon at Woodmont. They had it playing fast and 7485 from the tees they set up. 140 maybe even 141 is going to qualify. I don't think I saw a putt over 6 feet go in. Windy. Rough wasn't even that bad.

 

That place is SWANK. EEEE.

 

Heard that the up front is 110k. Does that sound right?

 

Mostly followed around my guy. Didn't know the course so I didn't bounce around to see Hurley or McCarthy or anything. Guy who was second or in semis at us am a couple years back played with my guy and he was good. He was like 4 under after 18 but I saw he was like +5 after that.

[TheCityGame]

Just checked. Hurley is T2 at 141. Dang.

[baddomes]

Anyone have a pushie out there, City?

[gsrjc]

I heard $120k to join woodmont and you have to be voted in by the membership.

[dcmidnight]

I dont know if this Golf Channel show about how Tiger designs his equipment was a paid infomercial by TM or not - but it was pretty interesting for the most part.

[gsrjc]

> @dcmidnight said:

> I dont know if this Golf Channel show about how Tiger designs his equipment was a paid infomercial by TM or not - but it was pretty interesting for the most part.

 

Agreed. I watched it and thought it was cool. Too bad it didn’t give out his specs even though that can be found online. Did folks see the golf.com article about Tiger’s SAM put lab? That was cool too.

 

[HighBoomingDraws]

> @ceejay81 said:

> Played a lot of ball golf this weekend. On Saturday morning, I teed off at 6:50am with HBD at Woodmore. We got done with that round just before 10. I had way too many penalties on the front 9, but I settled down on the back to finish with a 98. Then we hit up the breakfast/brunch buffet and did work on that for about 45 minutes. Pancakes, omelets, bacon, fried chicken, etc. After that we decided to head on back out for another 18. We started on 10 since the tee sheet was pretty busy and there was an opening for us to jump in there. I shot 48 on the back but then came back with a 44 on the front for a 92. Definitely my best front 9 score at Woodmore and it's my best overall round there, too. The front 9 always gives me fits. I had a strong stretch where I chipped in for birdie on the 4th, got up and down for a par 3 on the 5th, bogey on the par 5 6th, then a 2 putt par on 7. I had my driver working pretty well for most of the day. I was hitting fairways, but more importantly, my misses were just off the fairway and not deep into the junk. Thankfully there weren't very many push fades or pull hooks into the trees. Was just a great, low key day on the course with HBD. We both couldn't believe how "not crowded" the course was. We got done with 36 holes and a big **** brunch by 2pm on a Saturday. We briefly thought about getting 54 in and could have been done by 5pm. Can't beat that.

>

> On Sunday I played with the club champ at Woodmore. Was just him and me at 6:50am. Real good dude and hits it super well. Has a sarcastic/smartas$ demeanor that I enjoy, so it was good company. It was another low key round on another gorgeous day. We finished up at about 10:15 before the heat kicked in. I played okay again and shot 94, with a few pars. No triple bogeys either, which is usually a bugaboo for me. I finally have my handicap trending downwards for the first time in, well, forever.

>

> Gonna play Royal New Kent and Mattaponi Springs this coming Saturday. Really looking forward to playing these courses for the first time.

 

This was the peak experience you’d hope for when joining a club. Lots of holes with not a lot of waiting with golfing friends. CJ switched away from his M3 back to ?G30? and it’s definitely helped. He was carrying bunkers and getting to parts of the fairway I haven’t been familiar with in playing so often with him this last few months.

 

My game is trash. I can’t score at Woodmore. So much trouble. So many unforced errors. Imma keep trying tho. I just carded a 92 today with a 10, a 9 and 2 birdies. Who TF knows.

[thechief16]

> @gsrjc said:

> I heard $120k to join woodmont and you have to be voted in by the membership.

 

Sounds about right. I played out there last year with a buddy from Washington Golf (they have privileges out there while their course is closed for renovation.) . Very nice facility. 2 courses in the middle of Rockville. Tons of space. Kinda crazy.

[FAbb]

> @HighBoomingDraws said:

> My game is trash. I can’t score at Woodmore. So much trouble. So many unforced errors. Imma keep trying tho. I just carded a 92 today with a 10, a 9 and 2 birdies. Who TF knows.

 

What's the saying - If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

 

Time to try something different. This a very good series. Short, and easy to follow.

 

https://golfsciencelab.com/practical-guide-to-course-management/

 

Especially belonging to a club, and playing so many rounds there, you should really be able to optimize your scoring there.

[TheCityGame]

> @baddomes said:

> Anyone have a pushie out there, City?

 

Yes, saw 1.

 

> @gsrjc said:

> I heard $120k to join woodmont and you have to be voted in by the membership.

 

Yeah, there are requirements beyond coming up with the cash, like a history of charitable donations to Jewish charities, or something. Or that's just rumors. But, it's considered a traditionally Jewish club. That's still a thing, just like clubs that a predominantly it non-Jewish. It's weird to me, but whatever.

 

At Woodmont, 142 got in. -2.

 

[This is the guy who played with my guy.](https://www.golfchannel.com/article/ryan-lavner/mystery-man-us-am-semifinals "This is the guy who played with my guy.")

 

Virginia State Am Champ. Plays/played at V.Tech.

 

He got Alt-2. He was so good. So long. He didn't make a bogey in Round 1(which is what I saw). He had a triple in Round 2. I saw him hit this downhill curling chip from 50 yards to a foot on one of the par 5's.

 

 

[Sterling_247]

That was a pretty good read City. Seems like the kind of guy it's easy to root for. Given it's only one article, but doesn't seem like a silver spoon kind of kid