Be Better, Brad! (Update 4-11-2024 with new swing videos)

[aenemated]

39 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

I didn't take anything you said badly or negatively or anything. All good on my end.

 

Hate to seemingly hijack my man's thread here but totally didn't take it that way at all!

 

I tend to stay out commenting in the whole "actually playing golf" stuff around here because there're so, so many folks around here (like yourself) that know way more than I do. Super dig reading this thread and that caught me and I coulda been a bit more specific. As noted, it's a thing I struggled with (I was a pretty stellar jr. player but for reasons, stopped really playing for about 20 years) and HOPEFULLY finally have fixed. 

 

Cheers, homey! And keep up the rad thread, B. 

[berndgeurts]

7 hours ago, aenemated said:

 

My all-time best friend and nemesis once told me ... "One of these days, Trent ... I'm going to teach you some tact."

 

He never did. 😂

Sounds like one to keep close.

 

Agree with the backswing part. Fix the backswing, then the transition and afterwards the downswing.

I think @betarhoalphadelta needs to film himself more often during practice. Check the club positions. Monte is also very clear in his videos: don't go to the next phase before you got the first steps right.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks @aenemated @iacas @chigolfer1 @Dufferonius @berndgeurts

 

Guess I'm gonna have to go see the man (Monte) soon. 

[chigolfer1]

4 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Thanks @aenemated @iacas @chigolfer1 @Dufferonius @berndgeurts

 

Guess I'm gonna have to go see the man (Monte) soon. 

 

or send in a video to Monte or Dan.  For this sort of "macro" stuff, online is great at the start.

[betarhoalphadelta]

14 minutes ago, chigolfer1 said:

 

or send in a video to Monte or Dan.  For this sort of "macro" stuff, online is great at the start.

 

I'm lucky in that he's local. While I'm sure online is good and works for many people, I know with my learning style I'll get more out of it in person. And since it's not like I have to wait for him to host a clinic to me, or fly from somewhere else to see him, local is easy. 

 

In fact, my wife has been hounding me about what I want for my birthday as it's coming up, and I just told her last night "maybe a lesson with Monte."

Edited June 20, 2023 by betarhoalphadelta

[chigolfer1]

10 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I'm lucky in that he's local. While I'm sure online is good and works for many people, I know with my learning style I'll get more out of it in person. And since it's not like I have to wait for him to host a clinic to me, or fly from somewhere else to see him, local is easy. 

 

In fact, my wife has been hounding me about what I want for my birthday as it's coming up, and I just told her last night "maybe a lesson with Monte."

 

oh, that's right.   Mission Viejo.   Perfect!

[pappaf2]

4 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I'm lucky in that he's local. While I'm sure online is good and works for many people, I know with my learning style I'll get more out of it in person. And since it's not like I have to wait for him to host a clinic to me, or fly from somewhere else to see him, local is easy. 

 

In fact, my wife has been hounding me about what I want for my birthday as it's coming up, and I just told her last night "maybe a lesson with Monte."

Nice to be so close. In the meantime, the Backswing A section in the NTC has some good checkpoints to work on getting the backswing in a more optimal position. Backswing A is good to isolate what your wrists need to do. 
 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 minutes ago, pappaf2 said:

Nice to be so close. In the meantime, the Backswing A section in the NTC has some good checkpoints to work on getting the backswing in a more optimal position. Backswing A is good to isolate what your wrists need to do. 
 

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I have a shorter drive to where he teaches than he does 😉 

 

Thanks for the tip on NTC. I'll take a look at that and that might get me started until I can see him. 

 

[aenemated]

5 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Thanks @aenemated @iacas @chigolfer1 @Dufferonius @berndgeurts

 

Guess I'm gonna have to go see the man (Monte) soon. 

 

It took me like 3 years to groove in the stuff Monte wanted me to work on when I had my lessons with him back in the day 😂

 

And it was like ... "tiny" stuff! 

Edited June 20, 2023 by aenemated

[Dufferonius]

9 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

It took me like 3 years to groove in the stuff Monte wanted me to work on when I had my lessons with him back in the day 😂

 

And it was like ... "tiny" stuff! 

Ok, now I don't feel so bad taking swing lessons for three years 

[chigolfer1]

This is what I was talking about above.  Perfect for your backswing issue and the nice thing is, you can do it in a live swing, it's not just like a drill you do in the living room.  Will force you to get depth and more vertical shaft.  Given where you're starting from, will feel impossible at first I bet:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrV3_Y8r0nk/

[betarhoalphadelta]

44 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

It took me like 3 years to groove in the stuff Monte wanted me to work on when I had my lessons with him back in the day 😂

 

And it was like ... "tiny" stuff! 

 

And yet my son takes one lesson with the guy, and beats me for the first time two weeks later? On Father's Day weekend for that matter? How rude! 😉 

 

9 minutes ago, chigolfer1 said:

This is what I was talking about above.  Perfect for your backswing issue and the nice thing is, you can do it in a live swing, it's not just like a drill you do in the living room.  Will force you to get depth and more vertical shaft.  Given where you're starting from, will feel impossible at first I bet:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrV3_Y8r0nk/

 

Hmm... How does that end up working? I generally have my hands ahead of the ball a little at address with an iron, so I don't know how I'd get the alignment rod onto my right side unless it's either bending against me or I set up very different. 

 

But it looks like an interesting one... And one I could easily do into my backyard hitting net. 

 

[chigolfer1]

2 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

And yet my son takes one lesson with the guy, and beats me for the first time two weeks later? On Father's Day weekend for that matter? How rude! 😉 

 

 

Hmm... How does that end up working? I generally have my hands ahead of the ball a little at address with an iron, so I don't know how I'd get the alignment rod onto my right side unless it's either bending against me or I set up very different. 

 

But it looks like an interesting one... And one I could easily do into my backyard hitting net. 

 

 

well the starting position is definitely unnatural...

[aenemated]

5 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

And yet my son takes one lesson with the guy, and beats me for the first time two weeks later? On Father's Day weekend for that matter? How rude! 😉 

 

Damn kids!

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 6/20/2023 at 12:13 PM, pappaf2 said:

Nice to be so close. In the meantime, the Backswing A section in the NTC has some good checkpoints to work on getting the backswing in a more optimal position. Backswing A is good to isolate what your wrists need to do. 
 

 

So I was just watching the Backswing A section. Monte says if you get to roughly this position at left arm parallel, it's probably not your problem...

 

 

And here's me. 

 

 

So... Yeah... Gonna keep watching 😉

 

[pappaf2]

15 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

So I was just watching the Backswing A section. Monte says if you get to roughly this position at left arm parallel, it's probably not your problem...

 

 

And here's me. 

 

 

So... Yeah... Gonna keep watching 😉

 

That’s exactly what I was thinking when I saw your swing! 

 

You might need to have some crazy exaggeration in the beginning to c0ck the club up enough. Like the hands c0ck the club straight up from the ball  (while ensuring your left wrist is flat, which will make it c0ck up at an angle towards your shoulder and not totally vertical)

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by pappaf2

[betarhoalphadelta]

I decided to take a look at Efficient Swing as well, and noticed that he has drills for both the takeaway and then moving on to left arm parallel. 

 

I think given the initial point made by @aenemated from the DTL still that the initial takeaway may need to be my first point of fix. I worry that the Backswing A drill might progress me right through what I'm doing wrong on takeaway and not make it easy to fix. 

 

So I was thinking step 1 should be the takeaway drill to ensure I'm getting proper wrist movement and club position at the start...

 

Any thoughts? 

 

I have my next round on Sunday and then won't have another for two weeks, so I'm not going to mess with anything between now and Sunday morning. But then I'll have two weeks to drill it.

 

---------------------

 

Second question -- anyone who is reading this thread knows that I have SEVERE issues with contact on chips and short pitches. How much do you think this is impacted by a poor takeaway? 

 

Essentially if I think about it logically, on a full swing I think I've ingrained quite a few compensations for what I do in the backswing. I get a little steep in transition but I'm able to still get the club more on plane eventually and instead of being OTT and hitting weak wipey fades, I do come at the ball from the inside and have a high draw ballflight on center contact. So how I got there is probably inefficient and brings in inconsistency, but with a full swing I'm repeatable *enough* that it sorta kinda works, most of the time. 

 

But with a partial swing, especially a partial swing where I'm taking it back a different length every time to hit a different distance shot, having a takeaway that's in a bad position with bad wrist movement is causing me to have absolutely NO consistency in my ability to return it back to the ball. And that fixing the takeaway will bring in more consistency on those chips and short pitches because I don't have to try to compensate on every swing. 

 

Does that make any sense?

 

[Dufferonius]

5 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

So I was thinking step 1 should be the takeaway drill to ensure I'm getting proper wrist movement and club position at the start...

 

Any thoughts? 

Stance/setup, takeaway, back-swing, down-swing, finish need to be corrected/refined in that order, since each is dependent upon the preceding one.

[pappaf2]

2 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

I decided to take a look at Efficient Swing as well, and noticed that he has drills for both the takeaway and then moving on to left arm parallel. 

 

I think given the initial point made by @aenemated from the DTL still that the initial takeaway may need to be my first point of fix. I worry that the Backswing A drill might progress me right through what I'm doing wrong on takeaway and not make it easy to fix. 

 

So I was thinking step 1 should be the takeaway drill to ensure I'm getting proper wrist movement and club position at the start...

 

Any thoughts? 

 

I have my next round on Sunday and then won't have another for two weeks, so I'm not going to mess with anything between now and Sunday morning. But then I'll have two weeks to drill it.

 

---------------------

 

Second question -- anyone who is reading this thread knows that I have SEVERE issues with contact on chips and short pitches. How much do you think this is impacted by a poor takeaway? 

 

Essentially if I think about it logically, on a full swing I think I've ingrained quite a few compensations for what I do in the backswing. I get a little steep in transition but I'm able to still get the club more on plane eventually and instead of being OTT and hitting weak wipey fades, I do come at the ball from the inside and have a high draw ballflight on center contact. So how I got there is probably inefficient and brings in inconsistency, but with a full swing I'm repeatable *enough* that it sorta kinda works, most of the time. 

 

But with a partial swing, especially a partial swing where I'm taking it back a different length every time to hit a different distance shot, having a takeaway that's in a bad position with bad wrist movement is causing me to have absolutely NO consistency in my ability to return it back to the ball. And that fixing the takeaway will bring in more consistency on those chips and short pitches because I don't have to try to compensate on every swing. 

 

Does that make any sense?

 

I think working on the proper wrist movements in takeaway is a great place to start. That’s really the stuff in backswing A I was talking about, just getting the wrist moves right at the takeaway will help get the club in a better spot.
 

In terms of short chips/pitches, if you take the club back in those shots like you do in your full swing it’s hard to have consistent contact as the club gets inside and wants to drop behind. Thing that helped me with this is making sure to keep the club head outside of the hands on these shots. I watched a couple videos from Fredrick Lindblom and it really helped my short shots. 
 

 

my personal feels on this are upper arms(humorous) swing the club back and the right wrist keeps the club head outside the hands with various amounts of cocking depending on the shot I’m hitting. You can also add some cast B in the forward swing which is right in line with montes UTB stuff

Edited June 23, 2023 by pappaf2

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

So I was thinking step 1 should be the takeaway drill to ensure I'm getting proper wrist movement and club position at the start...

 

Any thoughts? 

 

Totally agree. I really dig Adam Porzak's stuff on setup and takeaway. And he has a ton of content out there for it. 

 

2 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Second question -- anyone who is reading this thread knows that I have SEVERE issues with contact on chips and short pitches. How much do you think this is impacted by a poor takeaway? 

 

When I came back from my long layoff, this was the most absolute garbage part of my game. Put a ton of work into it last year cuz I was just so tired of throwing shots away inside of ~50yds. So I was spending HOURS around the short game area to get this figured out; largely with a lot of Monte's "Use The Bounce" in mind along with some other stuff I saw.

 

Couple big things I learned that really turned it all around for me:

 

- Right hand only drill. I seriously spent hours doing nothing but that from all sorts of lies and with both my 56° and 60°. Nothing all that specific in mind with the takeaway with the exception of focusing on letting the wedge swing itself. By which I mean, don't "pick it up" and try to purposely manipulate my wrists then try to hit the ball with some wristy motion - but letting the weight of the club set my wrist going back and then a smooth transition and letting it swing through the hitting area. I did this so much, when faced with these shots on the course, I'll get my feel with some right hand only swings then just BARELY put my left hand on (for stability more than anything else) My range warmups start with one handed swings now - and the first handful are usually pretty bad 😂 But after say 5 or 10, I'll find my rhythm for the day and start clipping it nicely - I'll move on into my full warmup.

 

- At setup, making sure I'm not already exposing the leading edge. This usually just means my hands are even with if not slightly behind the ball and you can see that the leading edge is sitting up above the bounce. For years, I'd setup with my hands way forward and the leading edge already set up to dig. 

 

- Keeping my ground pressure firmly to the inside of my left foot and keeping it there. 

 

- I noticed the pros tend to have their hands really close to their body at setup for these sorts of shots. Almost like a putting setup in a way. 

 

Just a few bits that - with work - took me from being like "Welp, missed the green ... here comes bogey or worse" to "Sweet, that's makeable for birdie!" 😂

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played Oso yesterday. Shot 85 (+25), but that's an 82 for handicap because of some severe blowup holes. 

 

The round overall wasn't as bad as the score. I got around the front 9 in bogey golf. A bit of a rough first few holes (double/bogey/double), but then cleaned it up so I had 3 doubles, 3 bogeys, and 3 pars on the front. Then it all went to hell. Went Quad/Double/Quad/Triple from holes 10-13. Just a mess. But from there I went bogey/birdie/par/par before making triple on 18. 

 

Putting was probably the highlight. 31 putts total and only one 3-putt. Ballstriking and short game were both questionable. Only 3 GIR and I just don't feel all that comfortable over the ball on those chips and short pitches. I relied on the Texas wedge quite a bit when off the green. 

 

HDCP went from 21.7 to 22.3, as an 18.3 differential aged out of the most recent 20. 

 

So now it'll be two weeks before playing again, so let's see what the Efficient Swing takeaway drill can do for me between now and than!

[betarhoalphadelta]

First attempt of the takeaway drill. Won't post vid b/c I was shirtless in the backyard, and nobody needs to see that!

 

Short story--despite every attempt to get the shaft parallel to the target line, it never was. Despite trying to get earlier vertical hinge on the wrists, it was still late. 

 

So... Work to do!

[aenemated]

17 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

First attempt of the takeaway drill. Won't post vid b/c I was shirtless in the backyard, and nobody needs to see that!

 

Short story--despite every attempt to get the shaft parallel to the target line, it never was. Despite trying to get earlier vertical hinge on the wrists, it was still late. 

 

So... Work to do!

 

A thing I like to keep in mind that helps me a lot is thinking about keeping my right hand "on top." If that makes sense. Adapted from some Adam Porzak stuff. Effectively like feeling like I'm pushing my right hand down as if I were trying to push the club into the ground as my takeaway starts. Like a competing forces thing - like I'm pushing down and to the left while also turning to the right. 

 

Sigh. This is the sort of crap that stays in my head and why I can't ever get to sleep 😂 

[betarhoalphadelta]

3 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

A thing I like to keep in mind that helps me a lot is thinking about keeping my right hand "on top." If that makes sense. Adapted from some Adam Porzak stuff. Effectively like feeling like I'm pushing my right hand down as if I were trying to push the club into the ground as my takeaway starts. Like a competing forces thing - like I'm pushing down and to the left while also turning to the right. 

 

Sigh. This is the sort of crap that stays in my head and why I can't ever get to sleep 😂 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Third round in a row that makes me question why I play this stupid game. San Juan Hills and it was a 111* (picked up on 9 and scored NDB). Front 9 was trash. Almost thought I was putting something together on the back, until I made a +4 on the 17th hole and a +5 on the 18th. 

 

Failed in all phases of the game today... 5 penalties off the tee. Approaches were terrible--only 3 GIR. Made worse by wasting *perfect* drives on #3 and #11 and turning both into double. Sand play was atrocious. Putting was bad--38 putts despite missing all those greens. 

 

And the beer cart rolled by on #10 as I was searching for my lost ball and didn't stop, so I didn't even get a sudsy respite from the misery. 

 

I try to be the sort that enjoys myself playing bad golf, because even what I consider my "good" golf is worse than most people on this forum. But I find myself not wanting to be out there when it's going like this. 

 

[bortass]

18 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Third round in a row that makes me question why I play this stupid game. San Juan Hills and it was a 111* (picked up on 9 and scored NDB). Front 9 was trash. Almost thought I was putting something together on the back, until I made a +4 on the 17th hole and a +5 on the 18th. 

 

Failed in all phases of the game today... 5 penalties off the tee. Approaches were terrible--only 3 GIR. Made worse by wasting *perfect* drives on #3 and #11 and turning both into double. Sand play was atrocious. Putting was bad--38 putts despite missing all those greens. 

 

And the beer cart rolled by on #10 as I was searching for my lost ball and didn't stop, so I didn't even get a sudsy respite from the misery. 

 

I try to be the sort that enjoys myself playing bad golf, because even what I consider my "good" golf is worse than most people on this forum. But I find myself not wanting to be out there when it's going like this. 

 

Damn, wish there was an easy fix for that feeling to share.

 

A lot of people on this forum and I'm sure a number of former members have been in the same exact place. I got so frustrated with my bad play back in 2012 that I pretty much quit the game entirely for the next 7 years. I did have fun with the round or two a year I got in because I was just out there with friends playing. I had no expectations because solid golf doesn't happen if the only time you touch a club is to play either 9/18 holes a year. 

 

Expectations is the operative word for me personally. I think there's only been a round or two in my life where the other people I played with made it not fun to be there. Everything other time it's been because I played worse than I thought I should. I saw how good I could play and when I didn't, it sucked. I would get so mad/frustrated at myself, it just wasn't fun. I've walked off the course a few times while playing solo. It's part of my personality and it's all in my own head. No outside influence ever said I should play 'good' and then castigated me for hitting drives off the planet and carding  a score 20 shots higher than what 'good' was at the time. It was all me.

 

I have made big strides, IMO, on how I handle this scenario on the course, but it's still present. Just not as bad. The biggest help was reframing my expectations. I'm not always going to play 'good'. I shot that personal low 82 a few weeks ago and shot a 101 this last weekend. I wasn't happy about it and was getting frustrated with myself but I can't say it wasn't fun, which is a big win. The section on expectations in Four Foundations of Golf by Jon Sherman really helped me, along with what Monte has been posting about it. I always have more fun on the course when I have no expectations. Learning to let go after a bad shot/round ain't easy though.

 

Looking back I have mixed feeling about quitting. It's not like I removed hobby related frustration my life because I was doing the same thing  with rec volleyball, lol. I just removed golf as a possible trigger. I like playing golf and I sometimes wonder if quitting set me back with skill development, now that I'm playing again. That's neither here nor there though.

 

One question, any other factors on the course that helped make it less fun than just how you played? For example, Saturday was hot and humid, it was also pretty slow compared to the normal pace of play my course normally has for a Saturday morning. I didn't play well at all, the 101 mentioned above, and I was glad to be teeing off on 18 knowing the end was near. The combination of all three made the round feel worse than just one of them would.

 

I wish I had a cure. I consider you a virtual golf buddy and want you to have fun out there. Being selfish, I enjoy reading about how you and your son are doing, along with the comments you provide in other threads. End of the day, this is a hobby and we are out there to have fun.

[pappaf2]

4 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Third round in a row that makes me question why I play this stupid game. San Juan Hills and it was a 111* (picked up on 9 and scored NDB). Front 9 was trash. Almost thought I was putting something together on the back, until I made a +4 on the 17th hole and a +5 on the 18th. 

 

Failed in all phases of the game today... 5 penalties off the tee. Approaches were terrible--only 3 GIR. Made worse by wasting *perfect* drives on #3 and #11 and turning both into double. Sand play was atrocious. Putting was bad--38 putts despite missing all those greens. 

 

And the beer cart rolled by on #10 as I was searching for my lost ball and didn't stop, so I didn't even get a sudsy respite from the misery. 

 

I try to be the sort that enjoys myself playing bad golf, because even what I consider my "good" golf is worse than most people on this forum. But I find myself not wanting to be out there when it's going like this. 

 

Know that you aren’t alone, so many of us have been to or go to that place from time to time. 
 

I think what Bort touched on above is huge, managing expectations. John Sherman and Lou Stagner on twitter both have good data talking about what kinds of shots/outcomes  various levels of golfer are actually having on the course. It helps to give some comfort to know that hey, my shots aren’t really bad compared to x skill level golfer.

 

The other thing I’ve found helpful is something that sounds simple but isn’t necessarily easy. People say it all the time but when you are at the golf course you are there to play golf, not golf-swing. Save practice time for working on your swing, when you go to the course to play a round don’t try and and  do everything you are trying to do in your practice sessions. If you want to try and rehearse a move you have been trying to make in practice so it during your pre-shot routine practice swing. Pick something for the day, don’t go bouncing around trying something different on every shot. Just one and don’t grind on it, just get a general feel for it. Then when you are done with that you just have to trust it to be there when you step up the ball and make your swing. It doesn’t guarantee a perfect shot every time but your brain/body will likely do a better job hitting the ball if you trust it to do its thing. 

In my own experience this has been hard for me to do and I have struggled with “trusting” my swing on the course. It’s something I’m working on getting better at it and it has improved my game.
 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by pappaf2

[betarhoalphadelta]

Don't mind me... Just woke up in a funk this morning and having a little pity party... 

 

Did a ride on the Peloton, then took the Jeep w/ the top down b/c I had to go into the office today and listened to some unnecessarily loud grunge and alternative. I upgraded the stereo as I need it to be loud and clear when rolling down the freeway at 80 with no top, so when I say unnecessarily loud... My ears are still ringing lol. 

 

It cheered me up. I know what I probably need to do is actually just play more golf. Maybe I need to start running over to the exec course first thing in the morning and playing 9 just to keep things sharp...

 

So let's recap the round. You'll start to understand my frustrations lol. It'll be good to vent. 

Hole 1 - 316 yards, par 4, HDCP 11: The hole has a pond off the first tee with a straight fairway lined on both sides by trees, but no fairway hazards or features. It then heads uphill to a blind approach to an elevated green, with bunkers fronting left and right. I've been thinking about the fact that I never get through this hole well with driver... And it sure isn't long enough to need it. So I tee off with 5i... And top it into the pond. Great start. Reload, and hit a bullet low off the face but knocked it out there 180 or so with rollout. From there I think I had 9i in, hit it off the toe and a little right but cleared the right side bunker and lands on the green, 30 feet short. Two putt and walk away with a par. Oh, wait... A par NOT counting that tee ball. Double, +2. 

Hole 2 - 351 yards, par 4, HDCP 1: Elevated tee down to a wide fairway with a tree and OB left, and some fairway bunkers to the right. Then the hole goes STEEPLY uphill to a blind green, fairway bunkers front left. Take driver and it's a worm-burner that goes maybe 70-80 yards. Yay. I'm WAY too far to get anything up the hill, so I take (I think) 7i and just hit a nice high draw into the right side of the fairway at the bottom of the hill. I have maybe 95 left, playing long due to the elevation change, and hit my 56*. Perfect contact and everything looks great from down below, but I get up there and find my ball BEHIND the green on the cart path. I guess I nuked it. Take relief, chip on to the green, and two-putt from 20 feet. Double, +4.
 

Hole 3 - 357 yards, par 4, HDCP 7: OB down the right, and a decent sized pond down the right as well. The back edge of the pond is basically just at/beyond my driver carry distance, so definitely in play. Lots of room left, but going too far left gets you into slope and tree trouble. Green is fully visible and slopes back to front, with bunkers fronting left and right. On this hole even with my left miss my goal is to take water out of play, so I set up on the right side of the tee box and play well left. I smoke one! It's a nice little pull fade starting left of the fairway and cutting back. I end up 1 yard off the fairway on the left side with a little over 100 in to the pin. I take my 56*, and I don't know if I just failed to close the face, but it's going right--it goes past the greenside bunker and kicks right almost to the cart path. I've got a pitch here and just don't give it enough, and it stops short of the green. Putt from the rough on, then two-putt from 10 feet. Double, +6.

 

Finally hit something good off the tee, and can't capitalize.  

 

Hole 4 - 328 yards, par 4, HDCP 9: Straight uphill par 4, with OB right and trees plus the slope down to #3 left. Fairway bunker left. Another blind green with big bunkers fronting left and right. Take driver and badly mishit it low and left, maybe 75 yards. Probably topped it; can't remember. From there I hit a 5i, and it's not grreat contact, low off the face, but it gets well up there to where I've got maybe 90 yards and a 56* wedge in. Which I chunk 20 yards. So, now I've got a partial wedge, and what do you do after a chunk? Blade it over the green, of course! Nice... I chip it back on and get rather lucky because I didn't give it enough, but it catches the collar which kicks it towards the hole and I end up 10 feet out. 2-putt. Triple, +9.  

 
Hole 5 - 327 yards, par 4, HDCP 5: Another straight uphill par 4. Wide fairway but hazards left and right, and fairway bunkers right. Big green well protected by bunkers front, left, and right. One of the trickiest greens on the course. I take driver and make great contact, but it's a high push fade and looking OB. I get up there, can't find it, so take 2 penalty strokes for MLR E-5 and I'm hitting 4 from the right edge. I've been feeling like distance has been improving, so for a back pin at about 140 I take my 130-135 club (PW) thinking as long as I'm anywhere near the middle I'm ok. I catch it perfectly and think I'm gonna be close, only to find that I've airmailed the green and it went OB behind the green. GRR! So I take another drop (improperly probably as I dropped near the entry point to OB, not in the fairway), take two more penalty strokes under MLR E-5, and I'm now hitting 7. I chip it onto the green but being shortsided and with this being a horrible green, it rolls 50 feet past. The Grint says I three-putted, but I also carded this as a 9... Three putts would be 10. I don't know which is correct (probably the 10), but we'll call this a 9. Quintuple, +14. 
  

Hole 6 - 546 yards, par 5, HDCP 3: Significantly elevated tee down the hill to a sharp dogleg left fairway. 200 yards or so to the turn--the first time I played here I screwed up and took driver and hit it perfectly--and straight through the dogleg OB. Good players can take a lot of distance out of this hole cutting the corner, but it's basically penalty area if you don't make it. From there it's narrow with trees left and right, and a bunker right about 130 short of the green. Slopes down into a valley and then back up to the green, fronted left by a bunker and a steep slope off the green to the right. I take 5i here and hit a low draw that's starting center and heading a little left, but should be safe. All good, right in the middle of the fairway at the bottom of the hill. I'm still 300ish out, so I take my 4h and hit another low draw that ends up in the last bit of fairway before the cart path crosses the fairway, leaving me about 115. Take my 52* and hit a nice high shot, it's slightly pulled so I'm flirting with the left greenside bunker, but it clears it, lands pin-high, and spins back a few yards. First GIR! I've got 15 feet for birdie, which I proceed to hit 6 feet past the hole. So now I'm thinking "3 putt bogey, I do so love those", but I sink the putt! Par, +14. 
 

Hole 7 - 164 yards, par 3, HDCP 15: Straightforward par 3. Decent size green, with a large right bunker. Only think you can't do is miss left. Trees and a slope will make it basically impossible to get up and down from over there. Playing 175, so I take 7i, and... Miss left. I'm down on one of the tee boxes for hole #3. However, I've got an angle between trees where if I can just elevate my 60*, I might have a chance! Well, no. Mishit, clips the tree, and now I'm down the hill but at least have an angle. Hit it again--leave it short. Get up to it, and mis-hit it into the bunker. Get out of the bunker in one shot (more on this later), leaving myself 15'. I at least one-putt that. Triple, +17. 

 

Hole 8 - 498 yards, par 5, HDCP 17: Straight par 5, with fairway bunkers left and some mounds and sparse small trees right. Green is well-protected by bunkers, but generally straightforward hole. I hit a pull hook of a drive and it's headed towards the left side fairway bunkers. I can't tell if it's in or bounces over, but as bad as my greenside bunker play is, I trust my fairway bunker play, so my hope is that it if it get over the bunker that it doesn't go too far and end up OB. Well, turns out it DID get over, but it stayed in play in the rough left of the cart path. Okay. I can work with that. I'm way too far out to consider the green, so I lay up with 7i and it's a beautiful push draw that ends up stopping just along the right side rough. I think I'm about 80 out and so it's a partial 56* and I hit it nicely--or so I thought. Nope... Long. Thankfully not too long though. But my chip is poor, leaving 30 feet for par, and I two-putt. Bogey, +18. 

Often when you don't make bogey until hole #8 it means good things are happening. I guess not today!

 
Hole 9 - 177 yards, par 3, HDCP 13: Par 3 with a bunker front center, and bunkers left and right. I take 7i and it's a beautiful strike, just pushed a little right... Into the bunker. I see a splash and think I'm gonna be dealing with a fried egg (which would be just my luck) but, thankfully, no. It *is* wet sand and a downhill lie, but it shouldn't be too tricky. First attempt: splash it but it doesn't get out, rolls back to at least an uphill lie. Second attempt: splash it but it doesn't get out. Third attempt: oh, it gets out all right... Clipped a little too cleanly and it's WAY over the green and my playing partner identifies it in a nasty bush. I'm on tilt so I say screw it and pick up and card NDB. Triple, +21. 

 

Got through the front 9 with a 57*, which might be a 58*, which would probably be 60 or more if I completed #9. Just utter trash. Complete garbage. Right now I'm REALLY hoping the cart lady is going to come around and I can at least buy a couple IPAs. 
 

Hole 10 - 369 yards, par 4, HDCP 6: Lateral hazard and trees all down the left side, but the right side is wide open. Green slopes back to front with a large bunker in the front right. I take driver. it starts straight/leftish and it's curving farther left. No chance I'm finding that, but it's a lateral so I take my drop estimating where it crossed. I've got 140 or so hitting 3, and I'm a bit stymied by a tree, so I take 6i, put it back in my stance, in order to punch it out. I do that moderately successfully, but expecting a draw and didn't get one, so it's greenside on the right of the front bunker. As I am walking back to the cart, I see the beverage cart down the way heading towards the 10th tee. Missed that! I don't want to bring the bunker into play (for obvious reasons), so I aim right of the pin knowing it'll feed down left. And I badly mishit it, skittering through the rough, across, and ending up in the fringe on the other side of the green. Oh well. At least it's not in the bunker! Chip w/ putter from the fringe to 10 feet, and then two-putt that. Triple, +24. 
 

Hole 11 - 419 yards, par 4, HDCP 4: This is a rough hole. Long par 4, with water all down the right side. Left has more room, but far left is the same lateral as #10, and there's a giant tree on the left side that will block any approaches that stray too far left. So I tee up on the right side and aim over the corner of the water straight at that tree, the safest line I've got. I take driver and smoke one, it starts a little right of my line, but it drawing back. Ends up dead in the center of the fairway. A perfect drive! I'm about 175 out, so I take 7i, and pull hook it into the lateral hazard short and left of the green. Great way to celebrate the drive, huh? Turns out it's playable, though, although I have to worry about a large rock. So I play it, and I don't know how I hit a low slice with a 56* wedge, but instead of going at the pin, it ends up rolling into the fairway in front of the green. Oh well. At least I didn't hit the rock and whiff at it! So I pitch with my 56*, and this one is actually a great shot that rolls up 10 feet short from maybe 40 yards. Unfortunately, I still two-putt it. Double, +26.

Second hole now that I've taken a great drive and turned it into double bogey. 
 

Hole 12 - 474 yards, par 5, HDCP 14: Straight and flat par 5. Trees and OB left, and sparse trees and OB right, but with MUCH more generous room to the right. Green is fronted on the right by a bunker, with another bunker to the left. I make great contact with the drive, but it's a push fade and I'm worried it's OB. I get up there and can't find it, so again drop right edge of the fairway and with MLR E-5, I'm hitting four. I had put the 3u in the bag instead of the 5w, and think this is a good time to use it since I can't reach. Well it's a low bullet that ends up down the left side of the fairway. Not bad. I don't recall exact distance to hole--I think maybe 130ish. I take my GW and it's a slight pull, but lands on the front of the green and hops a yard back to end up 1" onto the fringe. I don't recall the distance, but I think about 35 feet, and I lag it to gimme range. Double, +28.

 

Much like hole #1, this would be a potential par w/o a tee ball penalty. Too bad I couldn't keep it on the planet. 

 

Hole 13 - 338 yards, par 4, HDCP 12: A very unique hole... Dogleg left with a landing area 200y off the tee that asks for a layup. OB right, and a HUGE fairway bunker going all the way up the left side. Trees and a bunch of junk down there left of the bunker, and farther left is OB and houses. Valley down from the fairway before the green. Green is large and multi-tiered, with a bunker left, and the area approaching the green narrowing significantly with trees. I take 5i off the tee, and it's a low push draw that's starting right and curving back to the fairway. I get a cart path bounce as the cart path crosses left to right, and then catch something which basically stops the ball and knocks it right, but I'm still in the fairway. I've got 9i in, and aim a bit right as the ball is above my feet on a sidehill lie so I think that plus my natural tendency to turn things left could be troublesome. But I block it out right of the green, into a low area. I've got a very direct chip, and I roll it up to 15 feet. Unfortunately, two putt so I don't save par here. Bogey, +29.

 
Hole 14 - 117 yards, par 3, HDCP 18: The picturesque hole of the course. Downhill par 3 over a lake, with numerous greenside bunkers. Says it's playing 114 downhill to a center pin. I take my 52*, hit it beautifully, land it deep and spin it back to 10 feet. I've got a 10 footer for birdie that I read as dead straight. Only concern is knocking it way past the hole and three-putting. I stroke the putt, and....... It stops 1 cm from the hole. Ugh! But hey, a tap-in par is better than nothing. Par, +29.

  

Hole 15 - 413 yards, par 4, HDCP 2: I posted about this hole a while back. Dogleg left with water down the left side, some bailout area to the right, that almost invites you to lay up off the tee but then you realize that doing so leaves a too-long approach shot, and that you may have SLIGHTLY wider landing area with driver. Another valley below the green, and a bunker fronting right and slope down to low rough off to the left. I take driver and absolutely blitz one right down the pipe. Gorgeous drive! I think I was left with an 8i, which I ended up hitting a tad fat and slight pull, and so I was still in the fairway short left. I pitch and it's one of my best pitches of recent memory, right into the slope and rolls out 10' past the hole. Now I've got a tricky downhill slider, and I nearly hole it, but leaves a tap-in for bogey. Bogey, +30

At least I didn't turn a perfect drive into double this time! Just a single bogey. 

Hole 16: 144 yards, par 3, HDCP 10: Straightforward par 3 with bunkers fronting left and right. OB left, and a nasty slope down off the right once you're past the cart path, so you really can't miss badly here. Rangefinder says it's 137 true, 140 uphill. Into the wind, center pin. With my distances lately I worry that even with the wind, an 8i might be nuked over the green. A 9i will take a great strike but I've been hitting my 9i longer, so I figure I'll take it. I end up hitting the ball with PERFECT contact right at the pin, and... It drops onto the green 30 feet short lol. I guess I should have used the 8i with that wind lol! I'm about 5" off the collar of the green, and end up hitting the collar on the downstroke of the putt, leaving my putt 10+ feet short. I miss that one, so now I've got the ever-popular three-putt bogey. Bogey, +31.

 

While a three-putt bogey is always terrible, it's a little less so emotionally because of hitting the collar. I can live with it. But I just strung together four holes of seemingly competent play. Maybe I just screwed the pooch on the front nine and I'll start resembling a golfer again, right? Famous last words...
 

Hole 17 - 497 yards, par 5, HDCP 8: Straight par 5 from an elevated tee. OB left, and the right side is rough with sparse trees and OB farther right. Bunkers fronting the green center, left and right IIRC. I hit a drive and it's well-struck, pulled a bit left, and it enters the bushes OB probably 2 yards from safety. If it had been 2 yards right, it would have caught the sideslope and bounced right back towards the middle. We get down there to see if the ball came out, and no luck. So drop, MLR E-5, and I'm hitting 4 again. Grab the 4h and duff it forward and to the right about 50 yards. So now I'm about 200 to the green, 225 to a back pin, into the wind, and my only clubs are my 4h (200y club) and my 3u (I have no idea club). But since I've been doing well with distance, I say screw it and go with the 4h. And I smoke it. Perfect contact. Dead straight. Lands just short of the green in the ONE safe place it could land due to the bunker. I'll freakin' take it! So now I'm chipping with the putter from off the green, for bogey due to the 2 penalty strokes, from about 85 feet. I putt, but it's going too fast and ends up near the back of the green. Somehow in The Grint I didn't mark the length of my leave, but I was probably 15 feet out. And of course, because this is how my day is going... I three putt from 15 feet. Quad, +35. 

 

Mercifully, this will all be over soon.  

 

Hole 18 - 135 yards, par 3, HDCP 16: Simple par 3, with bunkers fronting left and right. I take GW, hit a nice ball, but tugged just a bit left... Into the left greenside bunker. Well, I just REALLY want to get out in one... And I do. skull it into the lip of the left greenside bunker, rolls out over the green, and drops right into the RIGHT greenside bunker. Long story short, 3 more strokes and I'm finally dug out of the bunker and on the green, 30 feet past the hole. And of course, I three-putt it for an 8. Quint, +40. 

So that's how you shoot a 111. Or maybe a little more, because in retrospect I think I miscounted hole #5, and obviously I picked up on #9. 

 

[bortass]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

[snip] when rolling down the freeway at 80 with no top[snip]

 

My eyes! 😜 

 

Sorry couldn't resist.....

 

Two quick observations/opinions from reading your recap.

 

Double bogey after dealing with a S&D penalty is the best we can hope for. The two ways to look at it are 'I should of had par there but I suck' or 'I did good with what I had and limited the damage as realistically as possible'. It still sucks but I have been taking the second option more often. It may be mental gymnastics but I can stand behind the double bogey after laying 3 off the tee, though I'd rather not.

 

You had a couple of shots that hurt you because of how well you hit them. That is awesome. Realistically we need to play towards our averages, which is probably a mishit, so catching one pure often hurts when it sails long into trouble. I was talking to one of the guys I play with about this weekend because I had the same scenario. Hit a great looking high draw with an iron over the green which was bad on that hole. Hurt my score but I was so pleased with the shot itself because I did it right for a change. The whole 'focus on the process, not the result' mentality.

 

Glad to see you were mostly venting earlier.

 

You ever get Arccos up and running? I thought I read you had picked it up.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

12 minutes ago, bortass said:

 

Glad to see you were mostly venting earlier.

 

You ever get Arccos up and running? I thought I read you had picked it up.

 

 

Yeah, I mean it's not like I'm quitting. I just need to get in a better mental place. 

 

Arccos is still in the box. I need to get them on the clubs.