My Road to Improvement - swing video 3/15/24

[bortass]

Saturday's 18 aka my normal 18 each week. I get to the club and find out my PING 5H came in the day before but they didn't call me since I'd be there to play. So I put it in my bag but never used it. The plastic is still on the head, lol. I want to hit it on the range before I use it on the course, so I'll be experimenting with it probably later this week.

 

Sunny and in the 70s with some wind. I warmed up on the range and it went well. 

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. I aim to the left with driver and hit a push, 214 yards, near the stand of trees on the right side. I'm about 200 yards from center and have to keep my next shot low and decide to punch my 5i. This shot is a layup and I chose the 5i because I need to keep the ball as low as possible, I may have punched a few 5i close to 200 yards earlier in the week but that is not my intention. Contact is a bit thin but it travels 140 yards down the fairway, so I'm fine with it. The hole is near the middle of the green and I hit a nice partial SW that goes 61 yards and 20 feet past the hole. My par putt gets to about 2 feet and I have an opening bogey, 5.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The hole is right front and I aim more for the center with my 7i. I blade a push, lol. The ball never gets more than 6 feet off the ground it seems. It's a line drive into the front right bunker. My ball lands and skips out the back of the bunker, 147 yard shot. I'm on the green and 21 feet above the hole. A GIR! Also the little thing we use to track closest to the pin is off the green, so no one has claimed this greenie. I'm in the last group and the other guys with me missed the green. So it's all mine if I can just 2 putt since you need par or better to confirm greenies with this group. I hit my birdie putt and my read is off and I miss low and have 3 feet to go. I hit the par putt firm and sink it, 3.

 

Good opening and I won something. Not too bad, lol.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. I hit a solid draw down my line, 211 yards. I'm in the fairway on the left. I can't reach this green in 2 and am about 230 yards out or so. My punched 5i has been working well for me and I decide to hit that instead of my 4w. The distances can be pretty close to the same but the 5i is straighter. I swing the 5i and leave the face wide open at impact. It's a thin, weak, severe push slice that goes 87 yards on a line that's probably 45* right of my target line. I'm in the right rough and don't have a shot because of trees. I figure I can punch my 7i to the left to set up a short approach. I blade it and it hits the exposed edge of the cart path and the ball kicks left instead of forward, so I'm going to be further out that I was tryin for. The shot went about 125 yards and I'm in the fairway on the left short of the green. The hole is on the right and I have a bunker to carry. I hit a partial SW and it lands on the green and stops about 12 feet to the left of the hole. A 59 yard shot and I'm pin high and on the correct tier. I don't sink the par putt and have a 2 footer for bogey which I make, 6.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I hit a bit of a pull with my driver and it's also a touch thin. The ball travels 190 yards into the left rough. I'm about 105ish out and the hole is back left. Arccos is suggesting my PW and I agree. I don't recall the exact mishit, think I was thin and off the toe, but the ball goes 81 yards into the front left bunker. I use my SW and hit a 32 yard shot to 7 feet. My par putt stops 3 inches short, lol. Bogey, 5.

 

Last hole wasn't what I wanted since it's a par hole for me because it's so short. Oh well.

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. Hilarity is about to ensue... I top my driver 45 yards into the thick rough in front of the tee box. I try to hack it out with my AW and the ball squirts dead right about 25 yards into a little stream area. I have to drop and I mishit a punched 7i 65 yards. I'll just stop here. I'm laying 4 and am probably 130ish yards off the tee. I don't lose another ball but I pick up after missing my first putt which is stroke #10 and just card an 11...

 

Well so much for this round. Now it's just about playing golf and limiting the damage as much as I can since I can't reach my goal.

 

The lesson is if I top my tee shot on this hole into that thick rough, I'm just gonna take the S&D penalty and retee. I never advance the ball out of it. S&D sucks but maybe I can pull a double or triple out...

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. I catch the ball a bit thin with driver. It's a low shot that hits the right slope and rolls back across the cart poath and into the fairway, 199 yards. I'm 175-185ish out, so a 7w or 4w could do the trick. I take my 5i instead and just punch a ball 138 yards down the fairway. Contact wasn't clean but the ball went straight. The hole is front middle and I'm inside my partial wedge distance, so I pitch with the SW. It's a 35 yard shot that lands on the green and I have 13 feet for par. I miss the putt and sink the 2 footer that remained for bogey, 5.

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I hit a solid draw down the left side with driver. It's 244 yards and i'm in the fairway on the left. Great shot and position to be in. I can't recall exactly how far out I was but it's around 100 yards. I hit my PW and the ball goes 116 yards into the right rough by the green. It's too much to go through with my putter, so I chip with my SW. Contact is good and it's a 24 yard chip that stops 3 feet from the hole. I sink the par putt, 4.

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is middkle left and I figure 7i is the club. Well, it's the club if I hit it... It's a top that goes 58 yards into the rough of the face of the slope the tee box sits on. I find my ball and punch my AW 94 yards onto the right side of the green. I'm 25 feet from the hole and miss the par putt. I have 2 feet to go and sink it for bogey, 4.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. I top my driver but it goes 145 yards down the fairway. No way am I trying to go for it with the pond. I'll layup with a 9i punch down the right side. I hit my shot and it's solid and a touch left. I watch as it lands and rolls into the pond.... Sigh. I find my ball in the water and retrieve it and drop. I look at arccos to get my yardage and see that I hit my 6i not my 9i..... Oops, that was dumb. Explains why the ball went 145 yards when I wasn't trying to hit it that hard/far. I drop and hit a partial SW, 67 yards, onto the green and about 6 feet from the hole. I sink the putt for a bogey, 5.

 

I'm kinda shaking my head about the club mix up but overall I feel like I played decent on the front minus that 11 on #5. A new 9 awaits.

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. My personal hole from hell.... I always play poorly. I decide to follow the advice I was given in this thread and hit my driver. It's a nice draw that goes 218 yards and sets me up in the fairway on the left. I'm about 100 yards out and ball is above my feet a little. This is great! I'll have a decent score for a change on this hole. I swing my PW and shank it dead right into the trees/hazard.... Seriously? Drop and chunk my AW short of the green. Use my putter to chip and blow the ball 12 feet long. My double bogey putt stops 6 inches out... Triple bogey, 7.

 

Someday I will make a decent number on this hole but not today, sigh. I'll just keep telling myself that until I do.

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. I decide to punch my 5i and try to draw it. I'm successful except it's a bit of a pull, 163 yards, into the left rough and I'm blocked out by trees. My plan is to layup to the bottom of the slope and short of the stream with my AW. I set up and decide I can im more left. I adjust and hit the ball right into a tree on my left. The ball catches a branch and just drops, 36 yards. Should have stayed with my original aim... I'm on bare dirt with rocks and roots. I probe with a tee and there';s nothing near the ball. So I use my PW and hit it through leaves, over the stream, and to the left of the green in the rough. I then baby my chip and leave it short of the green. I chip with the putter and it's bad too, ending up 6 feet out. Two putts later I have another triple bogey, 7.

 

Lol, the new 9 is not going well and it's all self inflicted.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. I hit driver and it's a good looking draw that goes 216 and almost through the fairway at the corner. I hit my AW and it lands on the slope short of the green and rolls back a few yards, 74 yards total. I chip with my SW about 14 yards and am now 11 feet from the hole. I hit my putt and it drops for par, 4.

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is middle back and the sloping means I want to land my ball to the left and let it feed right. I hit my 8i and it's good contact but too far left. My shot went 128 yards, uphill, and I'm in the left rough. I chip with my putter, 14 yards, to 3 feet. I sink the par putt, 3.

 

Wow, a couple good holes!

 

14 – par 4, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated teeshot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. Have a tailwind, so I hit the ball a bit thin and keep it under the wind with my driver, lol. It's still a solid draw down the middle that lands and takes the slope, 266 yards. I'm on the right side of the fairway now and hit my 4w to the left side, 173 yards. I'm around 100 yards out and go with my PW. I aim a bit left and hit a nice looking shot, 104 yards, into the back left bunker, lol. I should have been more aggressive and aimed for the middle but I'm leery of that pond. I use my SW to get out of the bunker, 19 yards, to 9 feet. I sink the par putt, 5.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I almost drove this green the last time I played. I hit my driver and it's a great looking draw down the right side. My ball lands in the right rough near the green, 242 yards. Once again Imy ball is past the front edge of the green. I have to pitch over a bunker and hit a decent shot with my SW that rolls off the back left of the green, near the hole. I chip with my putter to 4 feet and miss the putt, lol. Bogey, 5.

 

Well my par streak ends at 3....

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope. Forward hole and into the wind. I decide to hit 6i and it's a high shot off the toe that lands short of the green, 122 yards. Chip again with the putter, about 11 yards, and send it 12 feet long... I two putt from there for bogey, 4.

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. I hit a low pull with the driver, 184, under the left trees. I haven't been in here before but I have a decent lie. I figure I can punch a 7i as a layup down the fairway. I make good contact and my ball hit a tree trunk and kicks back and right. I'm not in the fairway but that shot only went 55 yards, so I didn't really gain much. I hit 7i for my approach and it's a toe shot that goes 119 yards and into a green side bunker. The flag is to my right, so i'm going down the slope of this green, not good... I hit a great looking sand shot and the ball stops just over 3 feet from the hole. It's still not an easy putt from above the hole because a miss will send it a long ways as it trickles down the green... I hit my putt and miss. I didn't try to be firm and the break was too much, so a 2 putt for a double bogey, 6.

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... I hit a fade with my driver, 211 yards, into the right fairway bunker. I'm no hero, so I just punch a 9i out and advance the ball 101 yards and short of the stream. A great layup. I decide to hit my 8i down the left side and hit the green in 4. This is my normal strategy. I'm not sure what I do but it's a worm burner to the right that carries the stream and rolls into the pond... I drop and hit my AW into the back left fringe. The flag is to the right and I chip with my putter about 12 yards and it never gets onto the green.... I'm aove the hole and chip with the putter again and it gores in saving a double bogey, 7.

 

48/48 96 with an 11 on the card. It's actually not a terrible round. I was surprised the score was that low because of my blow ups. Still lots of work to do, as always. My golfing spree is over, so it's back to the range and trying to get 27 - 36 holes a week in. 

 

birdies: 0

pars: 5

bogeys: 8

double bogeys: 2

triple+: 3

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 196 yards

Longest drive: 266 yards

Fairways: 11/14

GIR: 1/18

Avg Approach: 94 yards

Up & down: 4/13

Putts: 29

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: - 11.3 strokes

driving: -1.3, not terrible though the tops really hurt in the long run.

Approach: -13.6, #5 murdered me as did the mishits on 10 and 11.

Short game: +3.4, I had some good chips and sand shots. Still need to improve this area though.

Putting: +0.2, this is kinda musing because I did good from 10+ feet and not so good inside 10 feet.

 

[bortass]

Monthly stat update for May. Overall my game was worse.

 

Overall: -16.3 strokes gained. This is -3.3 SG since the 5/1 stats update. 

 

GHIN 23.8, an improvement of 0.6 strokes.
 

Driving – Any non par 3 tee shot regardless of club

Overall: -5.0, a change of +0.6, A slight improvement overall. I'm a bit surprised since I developed a bad case of the rights with driver.

Distance : -0.7, an improvement of +1.0 strokes. Average distance 199( a 12 averages 228), a gain of 17 yards.

Accuracy: -0.5, +0.6 SG , another slight improvement and my directional misses are almost even

FW hit 53%, + 4.0%no change

left 11%, 14%

right 36%, +10%

Penalties: -3.8, -0.9 SG – not a huge surprise since I had a couple very bad rounds off the tee.

 

Approach – any par 3 tee shot and all non tee shots from outside of 50 yards

Overall: -8.1 a change of – 1.6. I've been adjusting to the new irons but my partial wedges which will fall into this category have been quite off for a period of time in May.

Par 3: -1.1, a change of – 0.8.

Fairway: -5.6, a change of -1.2

Rough: -1.4, a change of +0.4.

Sand: -0.0, no change

GIR: Hit 15% , - 7%.

Long: 9%, change of +3%, so going long a tiny bit more.

Short: 56% , -12%, not as short as often

left: 7%, no change

Right: 11% , +2%

GIR Avg distance to pin: 22 ft, 3 feet closer than last time.

All approaches avg distance to pin: 122 ft , 10 feet closer.

 

Short game – any non putts 50 yards and in.

Overall -0.8, -0.8,

Chips 0-25 yards: -+0.9, +0.4, slight improvement here

Chips 25-50 yards: -1.5, - 1.0 not doing well with these.

Chip 0-25 average distance from pin: 12 ft, 3 feet closer

Chips 25-50 yards average distance from pin: 30 ft, 4 feet further

 

Sand 0-25 yards: +0.3, no change

Sand 25-50 yards: -0.5, -0.2 SG worse

 

Sand 0-25 average distance to pin: 15 ft, no change

Sand 25 – 50 yards average distance to pin: 39 feet, 5 feet better

 

Putting – Getting a bit worse and I just started to practice this. I expect to see positive changes over time as I keep at it.

Overall : -2.4, -1.6

First putt 0-10 feet: -1.2, - 1.0

First putt 10-25 feet: -0.0, +0.7

First putt 25-50 feet -1.2, -1.4

First putt 50+ feet: -0.0, no change
 

One putts: 3.8, no change

Two putts: 11.2, -0.4

Three+: 2.9, +0.6

 

Putts per hole: 1.9, no change

Putts per GIR 2.1, no change

Edited June 1, 2021 by bortass

[betarhoalphadelta]

Your round, quite frankly, reminds me of mine lol... A lot of good holes (I consider bogeys in that category for guys like us lol), a few bad ones, and one giant blow-up... 

 

But the same thing you said to me applies--that 11 didn't throw you off track mentally, nor did the two consecutive triples, which you followed up with three straight pars. That's good. 

 

Your round was 5 pars. Mine was four pars and a birdie. If we'd managed to keep all those other holes to bogey? That's breaking 85.

 

If you can make three pars in a row, they're not a rarity and you can break 85.

 

Looks like you're on the right track, just need to keep grinding and you'll get there. 

[bortass]

12 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Your round, quite frankly, reminds me of mine lol... A lot of good holes (I consider bogeys in that category for guys like us lol), a few bad ones, and one giant blow-up... 

 

But the same thing you said to me applies--that 11 didn't throw you off track mentally, nor did the two consecutive triples, which you followed up with three straight pars. That's good. 

 

Your round was 5 pars. Mine was four pars and a birdie. If we'd managed to keep all those other holes to bogey? That's breaking 85.

 

If you can make three pars in a row, they're not a rarity and you can break 85.

 

Looks like you're on the right track, just need to keep grinding and you'll get there. 

Funny you mention it because I was thinking the same thing when I read about your round. 

 

I agree that bogey is a good score for us. Someday that will change as we improve but until then a bogey is solid. Mainly because it doesn't really hurt us score wise. 85 is 13 bogeys and 5 pars on a par 72 course. It sounds so easy because I know I can bogey every hole on my course and there are only a few where I really don't think par is all that likely. Reality is different though because the execution isn't so straight forward, lol.

 

Something that has to happen, unless you catch lightning in a bottle one day, is to have some sort of consistency. That's why we need to look at how we arrived at said score. Okay I shot a 96 and I'm trying to shoot an 84. Doesn't sound like I'm close at all, and maybe I'm not, but if I look at my card there are only 3 bad holes. I played very good on 5, the pars, did what I had to on 8, the bogeys. The two doubles are unfortunate but not the end of the world. A double doesn't mean I can't break 84, just makes it harder. Triple+ is the death knell. Sure the first time I broke 90, I had an 8 on my card but that was a different ball of wax.

 

So now it's about stringing together the pars and bogeys because while I know those are good, I have done it enough where it doesn't make me nervous when I do start to string them together. Been there, done that. I feel like I'm golfing when I play that way. It's nothing flashy and it's not a struggle. Hit ball, find ball, hit ball. It's pressure free and very enjoyable.

 

Granted I'm not all zen like on the course. Some of my mishits frustrate me to no end and negative crap is running through my head when it does, like that second shot into the trees on #10. I mean I am finally in play off the tee on this hole and I still lose a ball from 100 yards out? 

 

Something else I try to build on is if I did it once, I can do it again. I got a lesson back in 2008 a few weeks after starting my quest to break 100 thread. I went out for the weekly 9 with the guys and the last three holes were birdie, par, birdie and I shot a 45. Did I do it again? Not for a very long time and it still took another 2 years to actually break 100 playing 18. But I knew I could do it, so no matter how unlikely it could happen again and wouldn't be as big of a surprise as that summer morning in '08.

[Chip Duffer]

8 hours ago, bortass said:

Yup, it was great even if practice would have been more productive, lol.

 

Been playing much?

I've been playing at least once a week again for the past couple of months after more than 2 months off. It has taken a bit to begin to get my swing somewhere near solid and I'm chasing the "Break 85" once again. I've been playing in a standing Sunday morning scramble lately and having fun with it as I regroup. The course is a nice layout, but the greens are a marginal, so it's a good ball striking exercise. I did manage a 38 last weekend while playing an extra 9 with a buddy. It was a good day. I managed a couple of birdies and after hooking a drive OB on a par 5 managed a bogey, so I think I'm gaining on it. 

 

Shot an 88 yesterday on a course I've only played 3 times. We played from the Blues, so the second longest on the course. The course and especially the greens are MUCH better and faster, so I struggled with speed and a couple of subtle breaks. With 34 putts and one penalty I had an 88. I'm focusing now on regaining my iron game. I'm missing too many greens inside 175. I did manage to hit the 2 long par 3's though, 179 and 170 (into a one club wind). It's kind of fun to rediscover a level of comfort with wedges again. I'm finally starting to regain some confidence in my short game. 

 

All in all, life is good and golf is still the Greatest Game Ever Played.

[bortass]

@Chip DufferSounds great!

 

Liking the PXG irons?

[Chip Duffer]

On 6/2/2021 at 12:22 PM, bortass said:

@Chip DufferSounds great!

 

Liking the PXG irons?

I am. So much in fact that Saturday I'm going to a fitting to try the Gen3 0311's. The 0211's are very good irons. I want to see the difference in the profile and turf interaction of the 0311's, especially want to hit the P's. I think the profile is a bit closer, but more forgiving than my old irons. Good chance I don't make a change, but I'm open to the possibility. The 0311 P's look a bit more "familiar". We'll see. 

 

I will let you know after I have a chance to compare them side by side. 

 

I do Love the 0811X Proto driver with the Hazardous Yellow stiff shaft. I am more confident off the tee with this than I have been in a very long time and the distance is very nice. 

[Chip Duffer]

The fitting was very good. I really like the profile and the 0311's, but I need to decide between the 0211's being great on the long and short irons and the gapping in the scoring irons in the 0311's.

 

At this time, I'm sticking with the 0211's. But, I'm thinking a bit outside the box in my set makeup.  I have looked closely at lofts and have decided to keep the 0211's in the bag and return the PW and AW from my old Wishon iron set to the bag. I have taken out the 0211 4i and Gap wedge. 

 

While the bottoms of the clubs say I now have 2 PW's in the bag, the loft gapping is now the 4* that I am used to in the short end of the bag. While I have been having success by gripping down on the gap and pitching wedges, I think this change will afford me a standard 10-12 yard gapping between clubs. I also think the new PW and AW will be easier for me to align to the target as they have less offset.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this home made "combo" set plays out on the course. It should be fun!

[bortass]

12 hours ago, Chip Duffer said:

The fitting was very good. I really like the profile and the 0311's, but I need to decide between the 0211's being great on the long and short irons and the gapping in the scoring irons in the 0311's.

 

At this time, I'm sticking with the 0211's. But, I'm thinking a bit outside the box in my set makeup.  I have looked closely at lofts and have decided to keep the 0211's in the bag and return the PW and AW from my old Wishon iron set to the bag. I have taken out the 0211 4i and Gap wedge. 

 

While the bottoms of the clubs say I now have 2 PW's in the bag, the loft gapping is now the 4* that I am used to in the short end of the bag. While I have been having success by gripping down on the gap and pitching wedges, I think this change will afford me a standard 10-12 yard gapping between clubs. I also think the new PW and AW will be easier for me to align to the target as they have less offset.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this home made "combo" set plays out on the course. It should be fun!

That sounds like a good plan to me. Just don't pull the wrong PW... I still can't believe I hit my 6i last week instead of my 9i. 

[bortass]

I was able to get to the range once last week. My focus was chipping with range balls since I watched part of UTB 2.0 again last week. I hit a number of partial wedges, including the 56* TS. I then spent some time working on short putts, inside 4 feet and it was so so. I found myself hitting it firm but missing high. I did hit the new PING 5h a few times as well to just see how it performs and it seems decent. No idea on the yardages though.

 

Saturdays 18 started overcast and the sun burnt through eventually. It was humid but otherwise dry. I warmed up on the range with chips and partial wedges. Also did some short putts with same results as my prior practice session. Overall the warm up was good, IMO. No glaring issues.

 

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. I dropkick my driver but still manage a decent draw out of it, good thing it's been dry the last few weeks. I really got away with one because the ball went 222 yards and I'm in the middle of the fairway. The hole is back right behind the bunker. I decide to hit a partial 5i, instead of a wood, and aim for the middle since a ball can possibly run onto the green anyplace except where the right front bunker is.

 

Something goes wrong and it may have been ball position being forward. It's a low pull that goes dead left and is heading for the lower range. 'Luckily', my mishit is low and it hits a mound in the left rough and stops, 107 yards from the prior spot. I'm now in the rough on a slope, I think ball below my feet, and about 90 yards to thje flag roughly. I hit a partial PW and it lands in the bunker, 73 yards. Contact was decent but the lie conditions played a part in thre shot being short IMO. I could be wrong though.

 

I have plenty of green to work with and use my SW to get out of the bunker. It's not a great shot, caught it thin, and it goes 32 yards and off the back of the green. I'm about 20ish feet from the hole now. I chip with my putter through the rough and the ball stops a foot from the cup. I tap in for a double bogey, 6.

 

Not the start I want.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The tees are back and the flag is in the front middle of the green. I go with my 7i and it's a high pull off the toe. A bit of a surprise to see the ball go left. I find it in the left front bunker, 19 yards off the tee. Again I have green to work with and a decent lie on the up slope since my ball is towards the back of the bunker.

 

I use my normal square SW shot and I feel the club head skip and I blade the ball 35 yards over the green and into the rough well off it. I look down and there's a nice mark in red clay. I entered the sand a few inches behind the ball, took the maybe ¼ inch of sand, and hit clay which caused my SW to skip.

 

I now have a long pitch/chip to the green which is elevated and slopes away from me. So I blade it with the SW again about 30 yards and through the left side if the green. You don't want to know what's going through my head as this travesty is unfolding. I chip with my putter to 9 feet and two putt for a triple bogey, 6.

 

Yup, this sucks. Two 6s out of the gate and the one on #2 really hurts even though it's rub of the green. I can't blame my sand shot because it was likely fine if I didn't find clay like that. Sure I shouldn't have hit my tee shot into the bunker but it'll happen. My 'recovery' from the bad luck out of the bunker was poor though.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. I hit a solid fade around the corner and into the middle of the fairway, 238 yards. I'm 210-215 from center and my normal shot is a 4w from here. I leave it in the bag and hit a partial 5i. I'm just trying to punch it close and straight. Contact isn't super solid but it goes 153 yards down my target line which is really all I wanted.

 

The hole is on the right behind bunkers. The right side of the green is also narrow, so there's no front right or back right. I'm in the fairway and the GPS is giving me about 80ish yards to the hole. I hit a partial AW and make real nice contact. It's a high shot that lands on the green. I can't see what the ball does because of the bunker lips. I get to the green and I'm just off the back of the green near the hole. It's about 20 feet and I chip with my putter. The ball breaks low and stops 3 feet out. I sink the par putt, 5.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I smoke a drive down the left side. It's a high fade that goes 244 yards and stops a bit short of the rough that's by the greenside bunkers. The hole is middle right. I hit a 50 yard pitch with my SW that gets on the green and I'm 26 feet below the hole. I strike my birdie putt and it's going at the hole and breaks at the last second. My ball is inside 3 inches on the low side. Tap in par, 4.

 

Okay, I'm feeling pretty good about the last two holes.

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. Last week I topped my driver in to the rough and it led to disaster. Today I hit driver and it's a push fade into the bushes on the right on top of the ridge. Not good.... I find my ball and can get a club on it if I hack down on the back. An unplayablye would get me into long rough on the side of a mound. I take my AW and hack the ball 8 yards sideways to a flat spot. All I could do.

 

I hit 5i to get past the corner and it's a bit low but a draw that goes 147 yards into the left hand slope that's past the corner. The slope kinds killed my runout but that's fine. I'm in the left rough and past the corner in 3. Not good but much better than last week. I'm too far to think about going for it because of the hazards near the green. I hit a partial 9i layup, 114 yards, into the fairway on the left to setup my approach.

 

The hole is front right, on the lower tier. It's around 80 yards and I hit a partial AW. Another good looking shot, nice and high. It lands on the green and releases some. An 81 yard shot that's a bit past the hole. I have a 12 foot putt going down a bit of the slope of the tier. I have the right idea but aim too low. The putt stops hole high 6 inches out on the low side. I tap in for a double bogey, 7.

 

Unfortunate but I'm fine to limit the damage of the wayward tee shot to a double. After all last week I had an 11 on this hole thanks to a dubbed tee shot...

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. I hit a solid drive down the middle with not a lot of curve, so I can't recall the shape. It's a 233 yard shot into the middle of the fairway and I'm on top of the slope that leads down to the green. The hole is on the left and about 150ish.

 

I hit my 6i and it's a low pull that misses the green left and bounces into the left trees... I find my ball and there's a 3 inch trunk right behind it. I can't get a club on the ball but the trees are marked as a hazard, so I drop on some moss, 151 yards from prior spot. I'm pretty much hole high, maybe a bit past it. I chip with my SW and it slides under the moss but I get the ball onto the green, barely. I'm 19 feet short and my bogey putt gets to 2 feet. Another tap in for double bogey, 6.

 

That pull hurt but it is what it is.

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I nail a high fade down the left side and watch the ball land and roll down by the drainage grate on the left side. That area is the low point of this hole and it's a great place to be. The drive was 270 yards and I'm about 70 yards or so from the hole. I hit a partial SW and it's a bit heavy. The ball lands in the front bunker. I don't have as much room to work with this time. I swing softly with my SW and it's a great shot that stops 4 feet from the hole. I have plenty of time as my partners do their thing. I aim for the cup and plan to hit it firm. I don't commit.... The ball isn't hit hard enough and it breaks right at the cup.... Bogey, 5.

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is front right and I hit 8i. It's a high draw, 143 yards, into the rough just left of the green. I chip with my putter, about 18 yards, to 4 feet. This time I hit it firm and the par putt drops, 3.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. I swing drive and crush it... It's a mid height draw down the right side. It lands and runs out, 275 yards. My best driver ever on this hole. I'm in the fairway on the right and the hole is front left. 80ish yards and I hit a partial AW. I do aim a bit right of the hole to reduce pond risk. It's a high shot that lands on the green above and right of the hole, 84 yards. I have a 23 foot birdie putt and it breaks right to left and I have the slope of the tier to deal with. I hit my putt to 3 feet. Staying firm, I sink the par putt, 4.

 

A rare GIR and par for me on this hole!

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. My personal hole from hell... I stay with driver because what the heck, if I lose a bal it may as well be as close to the hole as possible. I hit a great looking draw down the middle, 231 yards. I'm in the fairway and it's not a side hill lie. I'm on a bit of a down slope but nothing major.

 

The hole is back right and the green is elevated, so it's a blind shot. I hit my 9i and it's a good looking shot that should be near the hole. My ball went 116 yards and I'm off the back right of the green. I'm about 12 feet from the hole. I chip with putter and it catches the lip on the low side but doesn't drop. I tap in from less than 3 inches for par, 4!

 

Holy crap! Lol, I was quite excited with how this turned out.

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. I decide to try to hook my 5i with a punch shot. Contact is real good but I forgot to add the hook part... It's a draw straight down the right side, 172 yards, into the fairway. Well, I made this a long hole.... The hole is front left and I'm 170 or so from center. I'm above the green but there's the stream. I have hit my 7w from here across but I decide to play smart and lay up. I punch my PW, 115 yards, to the flat area at the bottom of the slope, short of the stream.

 

I just need to hit a pitch across and on. I fluff it across the water into the rocks on the bank of the stream on the far side..... Can't play out of there, so I drop and blade my pitch 56 yards across the stream and over the back of the green. My chip sucks and I'm 30 feet above the hole. My triple bogey putt stops a foot out... Quad, 8.

 

What a kick in the teeth. I guess I should have just hit my 5i across. If I'm wet it saves a stroke compared to laying up and dropping my third into the stream.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. I hit a push fade with driver into the right trees... Awesome. No sign of my ball and I drop since it's marked as a hazard, 189 yards off the tee. I hit my 7i at the green and it's a high pull that hits the slope to the left of the green and my ball kicks right onto the cart path, 118 yards. I take releif from the cart path and my chip is a touch thin. I'm 21 feet past the hole. I hit my putt too hard and I miss high and 6 feet long.... So a three putt, triple bogey 7.

 

Way to stink it up....

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is back right which is an 8i now. I hit it heavy and it's a high shot that lands in the strip of rough that's between the two front bunkers near the middle of the green. I have the entire green to go, so chip with my SW, 24 yards, to 5 feet. I screw up the putt and have 2.5 feet for bogey, 4.

 

At least it's not a double+....

 

14 – par 4, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated tee shot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. I hit a solid drive down the left side, 236 yards and my ball takes the slope to end up in the middle. I decide to try the 5h. I aim left and thin it and watch it run, 195 yards, lol. The hole is back left, so as far as possible. I hit my 8i and it's a high shot onto the green by the hole, 129 yards. I'm 14 feet past the hole and my birdie putt misses barely and goes 2 feet long. I sink the par putt, 5.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I have come close to driving this green my last two times playing. I hit a great looking draw down the right side, 242 yards, through the fairway into the right rough, pin high.... Guess I need to wait for this green to clear in the future if the conditions are good. I have to pitch over a bunker and it's a great looking shot that lands short of the green and rolls on, 21 yard shot, to 5 feet past the hole. I miss the birdie putt low and tap in from 6 inches for par, 4.

 

LOL.

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope. Hole is on the right, so I want to be left of it and let the slope feed my ball to it. I hit 7i and it's a push that clips the tops of a tree on the right. I can't see the ball but it's a 143 yard shot into the right rough, almost pin high. My ball is sitting up and I chip with my SW. It slides under the ball and I fluff it short of the green...

 

I chip with my putter to 4 feet and two putt for double bogey, 5. Crap, again I screwed up a short one.

 

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. I top my driver, 141 yards, into the fairway. I'm 180ish out and decide to hit my 4w for the first time in weeks. It's a low push fade into the right trees.... I drop and my partial SW comes up short. I chip with my putter to 3 feet and two putt fro a triple bogey, 7.

 

I know what I'm working on now. This is pathetic.

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... I nail a high fade down the middle, 246 yards. My ball ends up in the fairway on the right and I see no reason why I can't cross the stream with my second shot. I aim left and hit my 5i. It's a mid height draw that lands well past the stream and runs out, 192 yards.... I am able to go for this green in 3 with no water in play for the first time ever. I hit a partial SW, 72 yards, and end up in the back fringe. The hole is about 36 feet away and I chip with my putter to a foot. Tap in par, 5. The best I have ever played this hole I think.

 

A 46/49 95. Feast or famine, I either did good or bad. No real middle ground. The driver was on, sure I had 3 bad holes but man I was really hitting that thing for me. I'm getting used to the new irons and the mishits are not as bad. It's still not perfect and i'm working through the distances. They are definitely longer though. I had three personal bests according to Arccos around chipping, fairways hit, and # of pars. 

 

I think I may have to get more aggressive at times. The layup on #11 is the smart play but my mishit on the short pitch lead to a disaster. Maybe it's not as smart but I could probably have hot my 5i on the green and it not, I'm dropping 3, not 4. Any thoughts?

 

End of the day I am very happy with the round. I felt like I was playing boring golf for almost half of the holes. 

 

Next steps is keep working on the same stuff with a shift to more focus on short putts. Things may be starting to come together unless it's just a flash in the pan with my driver.

 

birdies: 0

pars: 8

bogeys: 2

double bogeys: 4

triple+: 4

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 223 yards

Longest drive: 275 yards

Fairways: 12/14

GIR: 4/18

Avg Approach: 112 yards

Up & down: 5/15

Putts: 32

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -10.2 strokes

driving: +0.8, possibly one of my best driving days ever.

Approach: -8.0, yup this still sucks

Short game: -0.3, some good and some bad but overall this is okay.

Putting: -2.9, short putts killed me. I was -2.4 strokes from inside 10 feet.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Layup determination needs to be based more off probabilities and consequences vs what happens on one round. Chunking it into the pond doesn't mean the layup was the wrong decision. 

 

If you're 7w is consistent enough and if don't have to drop behind the hazard to play your 4th. I'd recommend going for it.

[bortass]

46 minutes ago, SNIPERBBB said:

Layup determination needs to be based more off probabilities and consequences vs what happens on one round. Chunking it into the pond doesn't mean the layup was the wrong decision. 

 

If you're 7w is consistent enough and if don't have to drop behind the hazard to play your 4th. I'd recommend going for it.

I agree. In this case my ball never cleared the far side of the hazard. So I had to drop a few yards in front of where I had been and try again. I'll have to think about it and look at previous rounds. I know I have gone for it before from that distance with no problems a few times last year. It frustrating to play safe and proceed to  screw up what should be an easy shot. One thing is the layup zone puts me inside the yardages i use for partial wedges. It's a pitch shot and I'm clearly not good with those yet.

[BigTerp1524]

You seem to be getting a really good gauge on the things you need to focus/work on. Should be encouraging considering the improvements you already have been making. Now you can really dial in your focus and drop some more strokes. You were hitting your driver well. Seems like things are really starting to come together for you. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hop on here and see you broke 90 sometime soon. 

[bortass]

1 hour ago, BigTerp1524 said:

You seem to be getting a really good gauge on the things you need to focus/work on. Should be encouraging considering the improvements you already have been making. Now you can really dial in your focus and drop some more strokes. You were hitting your driver well. Seems like things are really starting to come together for you. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hop on here and see you broke 90 sometime soon. 

Arccos is really helping me with where my 'issues' are. It's one thing years ago when based on my round descriptions I thought my full swing was the biggest issue. I averaged just under 2 putts a green, think it was 1.98, lol, so I was okay there. That was just my opinion though, Arccos, unless their metrics are all garbage, is giving me something solid to point to for a metric that says my approach game is very weak and other aspects are okay for now. Kinda nice to know where the holes in my game are.

 

I am noticing something that I have read about and experienced many years ago. Changes are working into my on course swing without thinking about them much. Most of my work are shorter shots. NTC cast B mainly, along with more chipping and pitching. The shorter swing work is effecting my full swing. What I felt with my driver and irons during my last round was the feeling of swinging that club head through the ball during the downswing, aka cast B. Was I doing it? No clue, but that feeling of slinging the shaft through the ball and even seeing the shaft move in conjunction with that feeling really made a difference. I only had this feel with full swings though. My guess is it's just based on having  a bit more time for my brain to process what's going on and actually notice.

 

The 90 will come, just a question of when. My two 89s since returning were at one of the sister courses last summer. I don't think I have gone under 90 at my home course yet. It'll happen though.

My biggest take away from Saturday were all of the pars. I didn't feel like I worked hard for any of them. It's not in the description but I almost had a few birdies. Pretty sure I had three balls almost drop and I just barely missed. The guys in my group started to give me a ribbing starting around #7. Talking about "it must be nice playing boring golf." Or after saying par on 18, one looks to the rest and says "just another par" as boringly as possible close to deadpan. I called them a bunch of  bastids and we had a good laugh, lol.

 

Any how, making that many pars and it feeling routine is a great feeling. I hit solid shots, not miracle shots, so it's repeatable. Don't get me wrong I know it's not routine and I had a strong sense of accomplishment after the round from it. It may have been boring golf but it was also very fun!

[Chip Duffer]

12 of 14 fairways, 32 putts,  8 pars and 2 bogeys. That's solid golf. As you continue to play and practice with the new clubs and your new swing, the "others" will become doubles, bogeys and pars. 

 

Like BigTerp said, 90 is in play at any given round for you. 

 

The long misses are a sign that you're hitting and exceeding expectations for your irons. That's a solid improvement over the rounds I can recall from the past. You are definitely making improvement. The thing I see that's significant is that you're making more shot choices based on your improving ability rather than your fear of failure or limitations you place on yourself.

 

Nice solid golf on a majority of the round. You had as many pars as doubles and others. Add in the bogeys and I think you have every right to feel good about playing most of the round in such a "boring" fashion. Congrats! 

[MattC555]

Laying up from 170 seems a bit conservative to me.  Seems like you're trending in the right direction.  Nice work on all of those pars.  A little more consistency and you'll definitely be in the 80s.  

[BigTerp1524]

16 hours ago, bortass said:

Arccos is really helping me with where my 'issues' are. It's one thing years ago when based on my round descriptions I thought my full swing was the biggest issue. I averaged just under 2 putts a green, think it was 1.98, lol, so I was okay there. That was just my opinion though, Arccos, unless their metrics are all garbage, is giving me something solid to point to for a metric that says my approach game is very weak and other aspects are okay for now. Kinda nice to know where the holes in my game are.

 

I am noticing something that I have read about and experienced many years ago. Changes are working into my on course swing without thinking about them much. Most of my work are shorter shots. NTC cast B mainly, along with more chipping and pitching. The shorter swing work is effecting my full swing. What I felt with my driver and irons during my last round was the feeling of swinging that club head through the ball during the downswing, aka cast B. Was I doing it? No clue, but that feeling of slinging the shaft through the ball and even seeing the shaft move in conjunction with that feeling really made a difference. I only had this feel with full swings though. My guess is it's just based on having  a bit more time for my brain to process what's going on and actually notice.

 

The 90 will come, just a question of when. My two 89s since returning were at one of the sister courses last summer. I don't think I have gone under 90 at my home course yet. It'll happen though.

My biggest take away from Saturday were all of the pars. I didn't feel like I worked hard for any of them. It's not in the description but I almost had a few birdies. Pretty sure I had three balls almost drop and I just barely missed. The guys in my group started to give me a ribbing starting around #7. Talking about "it must be nice playing boring golf." Or after saying par on 18, one looks to the rest and says "just another par" as boringly as possible close to deadpan. I called them a bunch of  bastids and we had a good laugh, lol.

 

Any how, making that many pars and it feeling routine is a great feeling. I hit solid shots, not miracle shots, so it's repeatable. Don't get me wrong I know it's not routine and I had a strong sense of accomplishment after the round from it. It may have been boring golf but it was also very fun!

I use Golf Pad GPS to track stats. I'm getting better at accurately tracking my shots and it's starting to show some trends. I've been using mostly for getting a good gauge on club lengths, as I had no real data on how far I hit different clubs. It's been really helpful for that and should help me adjust quickly to my new set. Stats will eventually be useful, but right now I don't pay a ton of attention to them.

 

It's such a good feeling to feel the swing changes work their way onto the course, especially when they just happen without having to think about them. I did a ton of half swing work as I was working my way through the NTC. Half swings have definitely been the biggest improvement I've noticed personally. 

 

Yeah man!! We discussed this earlier, but when you're working hard on your swing and practicing a bunch, hitting solid shots, seeing good ball flight, etc. etc. on the course is extremely rewarding regardless of the score. I'm looking forward to experience a "boring" round such as yours sometime soon. LOL!!! 

[bortass]

11 hours ago, Chip Duffer said:

12 of 14 fairways, 32 putts,  8 pars and 2 bogeys. That's solid golf. As you continue to play and practice with the new clubs and your new swing, the "others" will become doubles, bogeys and pars. 

 

Like BigTerp said, 90 is in play at any given round for you. 

 

The long misses are a sign that you're hitting and exceeding expectations for your irons. That's a solid improvement over the rounds I can recall from the past. You are definitely making improvement. The thing I see that's significant is that you're making more shot choices based on your improving ability rather than your fear of failure or limitations you place on yourself.

 

Nice solid golf on a majority of the round. You had as many pars as doubles and others. Add in the bogeys and I think you have every right to feel good about playing most of the round in such a "boring" fashion. Congrats! 

Thanks! Things are changing for the better and I hear ya on the decision making. It will start to be more about what I can do versus what I can't. I can try to be aggressive but still need to be smart about it. 150 yard shot over water, okay I can probably do that. 200 yard shot with water, nope.

 

 

40 minutes ago, MattC555 said:

Laying up from 170 seems a bit conservative to me.  Seems like you're trending in the right direction.  Nice work on all of those pars.  A little more consistency and you'll definitely be in the 80s.  

It's related to my distances, I don't hit it far. Prior to the new irons, my 5i was my 150 club. So 170 was a 7w shot, which I have been able to hit. It's not a given though and the stream is  probably around a 10 yard forced carry.  The banks covered with chunks of rock and there's no dirt to hit off, so you have to drop if your ball is in. A shot on the fly can ricochet in any direction, I have had a shot hit the far bank and come flying back to land on the near side of the hazard. Odds are it'll do something else though.

 

My new 5i is going about 160, that seems to be the trend right now, a gain of 10 yards per club. I think I can carry my 5i over if I'm 170 from center and be near the front of the green since the elevation of the fairway will add some yards to the shot. So it's probably worth starting to try unless it's a day where I'm just making poor contact all the time.

 

 

[MattC555]

I hear you, but I still think it is worth the risk.  As you said, worst case is you take a drop.  If you were hitting 3W I'd say lay up.  But I think you can hit a 7W reliably enough to take the risk. 

[bortass]

45 minutes ago, BigTerp1524 said:

I use Golf Pad GPS to track stats. I'm getting better at accurately tracking my shots and it's starting to show some trends. I've been using mostly for getting a good gauge on club lengths, as I had no real data on how far I hit different clubs. It's been really helpful for that and should help me adjust quickly to my new set. Stats will eventually be useful, but right now I don't pay a ton of attention to them.

 

It's such a good feeling to feel the swing changes work their way onto the course, especially when they just happen without having to think about them. I did a ton of half swing work as I was working my way through the NTC. Half swings have definitely been the biggest improvement I've noticed personally. 

 

Yeah man!! We discussed this earlier, but when you're working hard on your swing and practicing a bunch, hitting solid shots, seeing good ball flight, etc. etc. on the course is extremely rewarding regardless of the score. I'm looking forward to experience a "boring" round such as yours sometime soon. LOL!!! 

Stats are useful if you have a good way to analyze them otherwise it's just data.  I kept stats for years in OOB golf. I added every round after the fact. I think the biggest help it gave me was in writing my round descriptions back then. I didn't have how far I hit each club, just the driver since I marked that distance with my GPS all the time and then how far from the green I was for my approach and if I hit it or not. So the best I could do is try to track trends but it wasn't simple. Arccos makes it simple, lol.

 

Broad trends are really all you and I care about right now. Our games have so much room for improvement that it's possible to say "my putting needs work" and with practice it'll get better. That will change over time and to improve my putting I'll need to focus on something more specific.

 

[BigTerp1524]

5 hours ago, bortass said:

Broad trends are really all you and I care about right now. Our games have so much room for improvement that it's possible to say "my putting needs work" and with practice it'll get better. That will change over time and to improve my putting I'll need to focus on something more specific.

100% agree with this. I may look at my driver dispersion, for example, and see I'm missing a ton right. Not surprising, my miss has always been a fade/slice. But then I look a few rounds later and see more down the middle with some starting to draw left. Confirmation like that does a lot for confidence in my case. Don't necessarily digest and breakdown all the detailed information, but like you said, the broader stats and data are definitely useful.

[bortass]

Got out to practice for about 35 minutes or so. It started to sprinkle and there were some dark clouds in the distance, so I left sooner than I wanted. I was likely fine but didn't want to deal with wet grips and possible t boomer rolling in. Guess I'm turning soft on more than just the physical level.

 

The range was packed when i got there but that was fine since my plan was to work on putting first. It just made it even easier to follow through. I spent about 20 minutes hitting short putts. I had two balls and I'd toss them near  a hole. Putt out and repeat with a different hole. This way I have two different putts at each hole and don't have to worry about sinking them because I got used to the same line and speed. This also replicates what happens on the course. I never have the same putt twice in a row. I did mix in 6 putts from a longer range just for the heck of it but everything else was just putting inside 4 feet on average. I'm sure a few snuck out closer to 5 but that's fine IMO.

 

Results were good but not perfect. I missed some high because I hit it too hard and there were also a few that missed low because I didn't give them enough gas. Still, I sank most of them and got a bit better near the end with the speed on the ones that I had been missing. Those were mostly downhill putts with break or a side hill putt.

 

The rest of my short range time was just hitting chips and pitches with the AW. My focus is on contact and not distance control. I'm just trying to get in reps with the motion from UTB 2.0. The results were promising with only a few miscues. I added in a few partial AW shots as it started to rain and those were very solid.

 

Hopefully I can get out there again before the weekend and work on the putting and chips some more.

[berndgeurts]

Nice to hear you got some practice in. Keep up the good work.

I played my home course from the front tees yesterday, which was fun to do. I experienced a different course. Bunkers were easily carried and had short approach shots. Even drove the green on a par 4. It is fun to do sometimes. 

[95124hacker]

Good job overcoming your demons hole (#10)!  Like I said… Draw off the tee, then fade approach!

[bortass]

8 hours ago, berndgeurts said:

Nice to hear you got some practice in. Keep up the good work.

I played my home course from the front tees yesterday, which was fun to do. I experienced a different course. Bunkers were easily carried and had short approach shots. Even drove the green on a par 4. It is fun to do sometimes. 

 I have done that a few times in the past.  I played the ladies tees and had fun with it a couple times when I was playing a solo 9 in the evening. It changed the course where I didn't hit driver on every non par 3 and had shorter irons in. Can't say it made a huge difference to my score but I was also still trying to break 100 at the time. I've thought about moving up one tee box to our 'senior' tees just to see how I do with a slightly shorter course. The yardage difference isn't huge but it's all on 5 - 6 holes. I'm a bit curious how it would go since I feel that my game is quite different than it was when I stopped playing them last May.  

 

 

8 hours ago, 95124hacker said:

Good job overcoming your demons hole (#10)!  Like I said… Draw off the tee, then fade approach!

If only I could hit the draw then fade on purpose... lol.

[scooterhd2]

Hole 11 is a short par 4 at 329 yards. #12 hdcp shows its not a particularly hard hole. How much room do you have before running out of fairway because of the dog leg? Is it possible to cut the hole with a high shot or draw a wood? Seems like hitting 5 iron is getting you into play, which is excellent, but also putting you in a spot where you are forced to lay up. Basically playing this short par 4 as a par 5. Save for a low percentage up and down over the creek you are basically conceding bogey as the best score possible.

 

Is there a chance we can hit a 4 wood or something off the tee and get your approach down under 130 yards where you actually have a chance to reach the green? Almost rather take my chance off the tee than try to hit a 7 wood off the deck over a creek. 

[bortass]

39 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

Hole 11 is a short par 4 at 329 yards. #12 hdcp shows its not a particularly hard hole. How much room do you have before running out of fairway because of the dog leg? Is it possible to cut the hole with a high shot or draw a wood? Seems like hitting 5 iron is getting you into play, which is excellent, but also putting you in a spot where you are forced to lay up. Basically playing this short par 4 as a par 5. Save for a low percentage up and down over the creek you are basically conceding bogey as the best score possible.

 

Is there a chance we can hit a 4 wood or something off the tee and get your approach down under 130 yards where you actually have a chance to reach the green? Almost rather take my chance off the tee than try to hit a 7 wood off the deck over a creek. 

  Below is a picture of the hole from a round where I screwed up off the tee and managed a bogey somehow. The edge of the first FW bunker aka bottom one in picture, is about 191 yards. The other one is about 206. I have hit my 4w into the trees behind the bunkers but don't recall when and it's dead in there. No good shot except back into the fairway. The steeper slope that leads to the stream starts just past that 206 yard bunker and is around 100 yards from center. The bottom of the slope aka the flat area short of the stream is 40-50 yards from center.  Left trees at the corner near my 5i shot are bare dirt and rocks and slopes hard left.  No great shots from in there either.

 

I started using the 5i from the forward tee which you can see below the bubble for my 9i shot because I hit the 4i into the bunker. This was early last year and my iron distances were lower. The white tees where my 7w shot is from are elevated. I stopped hitting the 7w because I ran into a patch of push fades and tops with it. Lost all faith in it and felt an iron off the tee was the safer play.

 

If I hit a draw, it'll shorten the hole a fair amount since everything feeds towards the stream. So I aim at the bunkers and try to force the ball left which is something I do know how to do but only attempt with a punched iron. I just didn't succeed Saturday. This is turning into a hole that's giving me fits like #10. The stream is 260 - 275 yards from the white tees BTW. I may start trying the 5h on this hole and seeing what happens. I just don't think I can hit driver or 4w...

 

 

[scooterhd2]

6 minutes ago, bortass said:

  Below is a picture of the hole from a round where I screwed up off the tee and managed a bogey somehow. The edge of the first FW bunker aka bottom one in picture, is about 191 yards. The other one is about 206. I have hit my 4w into the trees behind the bunkers but don't recall when and it's dead in there. No good shot except back into the fairway. The steeper slope that leads to the stream starts just past that 206 yard bunker and is around 100 yards from center. The bottom of the slope aka the flat area short of the stream is 40-50 yards from center.  Left trees at the corner near my 5i shot are bare dirt and rocks and slopes hard left.  No great shots from in there either.

 

I started using the 5i from the forward tee which you can see below the bubble for my 9i shot because I hit the 4i into the bunker. This was early last year and my iron distances were lower. The white tees where my 7w shot is from are elevated. I stopped hitting the 7w because I ran into a patch of push fades and tops with it. Lost all faith in it and felt an iron off the tee was the safer play.

 

If I hit a draw, it'll shorten the hole a fair amount since everything feeds towards the stream. So I aim at the bunkers and try to force the ball left which is something I do know how to do but only attempt with a punched iron. I just didn't succeed Saturday. This is turning into a hole that's giving me fits like #10. The stream is 260 - 275 yards from the white tees BTW. I may start trying the 5h on this hole and seeing what happens. I just don't think I can hit driver or 4w...

 

 

 

Yeah certainly dont want to run out of fairway there. But looks like the simplest shot (not requiring working the ball or hitting above the tree line) is right at the bunkers. Hitting something that goes 195 when flushed. Since you are routinely laying up short of the stream anyway, going into the bunkers is not really a penalty even if you wedge out. It's worth the risk for me for the reward of the approach shot. Looks like just short of the bunkers is 120-150? Seems like a safe distance to get something over that stream. Wedge and a 2 putt from there is a nice bogey. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

We have a hole like that at our little exec course that I play with my son... Much shorter, of course, but gives you the same choice:

 

 

The area left of the fairway is a creek with trees all the way down until the "dogleg", at which the trees thin out. If you get far enough down, you have a clear shot. 

 

That said, everything slopes down to the creek, and if you're actually trying to hit that landing area they identify 193 yards out, it's VERY narrow. Given the length of the approach, there's no real payoff for getting down there. Anything left and short puts you hitting over tall trees. Anything left and long is in the penalty area, and anything right leaves you a 100 yard FW bunker shot. 

 

I aim straight at the bunkers with a club that won't reach them, shooting for the landing area I've marked in blue. From there it's a PW to the green for me, maybe a 9i if I leave it too far right. 

 

Last time I played it (I detailed it in my thread), the tees were back so it was a 7i to stay short of the bunkers, but I drew it too much and had to hit over trees to get to the green. My SW is typically a 100-105 club and I needed that loft to get over the trees, but I was about 125 out. I had to seriously step on it, and luckily got myself pin-high just right of the green and saved par. 

[berndgeurts]

9 hours ago, bortass said:

  Below is a picture of the hole from a round where I screwed up off the tee and managed a bogey somehow. The edge of the first FW bunker aka bottom one in picture, is about 191 yards. The other one is about 206. I have hit my 4w into the trees behind the bunkers but don't recall when and it's dead in there. No good shot except back into the fairway. The steeper slope that leads to the stream starts just past that 206 yard bunker and is around 100 yards from center. The bottom of the slope aka the flat area short of the stream is 40-50 yards from center.  Left trees at the corner near my 5i shot are bare dirt and rocks and slopes hard left.  No great shots from in there either.

 

I started using the 5i from the forward tee which you can see below the bubble for my 9i shot because I hit the 4i into the bunker. This was early last year and my iron distances were lower. The white tees where my 7w shot is from are elevated. I stopped hitting the 7w because I ran into a patch of push fades and tops with it. Lost all faith in it and felt an iron off the tee was the safer play.

 

If I hit a draw, it'll shorten the hole a fair amount since everything feeds towards the stream. So I aim at the bunkers and try to force the ball left which is something I do know how to do but only attempt with a punched iron. I just didn't succeed Saturday. This is turning into a hole that's giving me fits like #10. The stream is 260 - 275 yards from the white tees BTW. I may start trying the 5h on this hole and seeing what happens. I just don't think I can hit driver or 4w...

 

 

2 choices from the tee:

A. Hit it 180 yards in front of the bunkers to the fat part of the fairway.160 yard shot into the green

B. Bomb a driver past the bunkers in front of the stream.

 

A is the smart and safe option.

I would play i5 and then i7/i8, but that's for me and my distances

Edited June 11, 2021 by berndgeurts