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

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range again today. Definitely making progress with the move, and contact was pretty decent overall. Not the best day, but not the worst. Biggest problem today was face control. Don't know what the heck was going on.

 

Playing again Sunday at that "River View" course. I feel like I'm starting to get the idea of the right motion into my swing again. I just want to make good contact throughout the day. I feel like with this new movement, it somewhat mitigates the giant sweeping hook when I do it right, and if I can make decent contact and at least reduce the number of hooks, it should be an easier day than last time there. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played yesterday. The course is "River View" in Santa Ana, CA... So you'd think there's a fair bit of water, right? Not in SoCal in the summer--the "river" is a dry bed consisting of gritty sand, that comes into play on quite a lot of holes. It's playable out of that sand, but really difficult to get any shot to go anywhere unless you get a good lie and pick it clean. We're playing from the blue tees, so total distance is 6190 yards, par 70, rating 68.4 and slope of 120.

 

Weather was hot... High 90s. At least in SoCal it's a dry heat, but that's still freakin' hot. But as it's a cart-only course, that is the perfect time to be confined to a cart.

 

I got there early to hit some balls and roll a few putts. On the range, I was hitting EVERYTHING pure. Just effortless swinging and ball off the center of the face. Really happy with contact. 

 

Hole 1 - 325 yard par 4, HDCP 15: Nice and easy start, right? Relatively tight with the range on the right side and trees down the left. A couple bunkers short left and right of the green. I take 4h off the tee because I was hitting it well on the range. Just trying to take a nice easy swing and keep the move going. I line up towards the right side of the fairway playing my draw (hoping I don't hook it across into the trees) and I hit a low draw that rolls out 197 into the center of the fairway. Very happy with that start. Left with a little over 100, I just take a slightly under 100% shot with the 52*, and it's straight at the pin, drops on the green about 12 feet short. Good start! I miss the birdie putt by about 6 inches low of the hole, but leave a tap-in. Par, E. 

 

Hole 2 - 178 yard par 3, HDCP 11: Relatively benign hole. There's a small pot bunker short left of the green, but otherwise no trouble. Pin is center-right and tees are up, so it's playing 166 to pin but with slope should play about 161. I take 8i, and make good contact. It starts at the pin but curves left, landing and stopping just on the left fringe, pin-high. I get to the ball and it's got a big mud spot on it. I probably should have asked my playing partners to approve LCP, but I putt-it as-is. I'm about 45 feet away. Speed control is decent, but I miss it about 9 feet low of the hole. Thankfully, I putt that one dead center into the hole, counting as a 1-putt. Par, E. 

 

A good start! But then I par'd the first two in my last round en route to a 109 😉

 

Hole 3 - 199 yard par 3, HDCP 5: Long narrow tree-lined par 3 with a bunker protecting the front/right of the green. It's playing short today, about 170-175, to a front pin. I take 7i and make great contact but push it right. It takes a while to find because it's buried in rough under the trees, but I find it roughly center of green high. Unfortunately I don't have a play ANYWHERE near the pin. I've got low-hanging tree branches so I can't pitch it up, but I've got the bunker directly between me and the green so I can't run it at that front pin. I end up pitching it towards the back half of the green because it's my only play. My pitch stops just short of the green. I pitch again as I now have an angle at the pin, and run it about 7 feet past the hole. Unfortunately I miss the putt to save bogey, but have a tap-in remaining. Double, +2. 

 

Hole 4 - 392 yard par 4, HDCP 1: Here's the first encounter with the river bed. The hole is a dogleg right from an elevated tee down to the fairway, with the river bed all the way along the fairway. The [intended] 2nd shot then goes from the fairway to a shallow elevated green. Tricky. I take driver because I'm making great contact today and I've been doing so at the range too. I pull it left, and I see it basically tracking straight down the "cart path" on top of a large berm between #3 and the valley we're in on #4. I get to the ball, and I must have gotten some MAJOR cart path assistance because it's rolled out all the way to being even with the middle of the green, resting in the center of the cart path. I take relief to get it on the grass, and I've now got what should be a pretty easy 125 yard shot across the valley to the green, level elevation relative to me because I'm up on the berm and the green is raised. I pull my GW and chunk it right into the nasty riverbed. Oof! So now I'm down at the bottom of the riverbed and hitting up to the heavily elevated (and blind) green, and I've got a terrible lie and can't pick it clean. So I hit GW again and just try to give it everything I've got, and I make it about halfway to the green. I pitch from there up to the green, and it rolls out 20 feet past the hole. My putt is spot on for distance but it doesn't break, so I miss it 18" high of the hole. Double, +4. 

 

Hole 5 - 545 yard par 5, HDCP 7: Long par 5 from an elevated tee hitting down to the fairway in the valley with the river bed all the way down the right side of the hole. Doglegs to the left at the very end to an elevated green. I pull the driver. My aim point is along the right side of the fairway thinking that I've got a long way to the river bed and can't reach it. I hit the driver pure but a shade of a push, and I still think I'm good until my playing partners say "I guess you're in the river bed again, Brad..." Ugh. So we go down there, and I can't find my ball. Can't find it anywhere. It's made harder because while I'm playing the yellow Snell, the range is above the river bed and any sliced range balls over the fence end up down here--a lot of yellow. Can't find it after a lengthy search so I drop. I'm still a ways out, so I hit 4h. I make good contact, but the hook shows up and I end up 60 yards short of the hole up in the trees to the left near the boundary fence. I've got at least enough of a look that I can try to hit my 60* over a tree at the green. However, I end up making terrible contact and again only make it about halfway to the green. I pitch to about 15 feet, and two putt. Double with the penalty stroke, +6.
 
Hole 6 - 195 yard par 3, HDCP 3: Another long par 3, flat. Anything right will go down a huge slope into the river bed, and there's the same big net to the left protecting a walking trail and houses beyond. Bunker and trees left of the green. Playing short from the tees up and the pin in the front, so it's actually only playing about 150. I take 9i, and think I must have hit it slightly fat, pulling it left and short of the bunker, about 135 yards. I pitch with the 52*, landing it about exactly where I wanted, short of the pin, but without spin so it rolls out 20 feet past. I nearly hole the save for par, but it rolls out about 3-4 feet past. I make the comeback for bogey. Bogey, +7.  

 

Hole 7 - 375 yard par 4, HDCP 9: Elevated tee dogleg right over the riverbed to a fairway landing spot in the valley, and then hitting up to a severely elevated green again. I take driver, and I try to give it too much effort, BARELY making contact and send the ball dribbling about 15 yards to the front of the tee box. Ouch! Grab the 4h and shank that down into the river bed. Ouch again! At least I have a lie I can pick clean here, but I'm not in range of the hole so I just pull 5i and try to pick it clean and get to the fairway. I do make contact, but it's a push, and my playing partner ahead sees it go into a weed patch. I get to the ball, and I have NO chance to hit it out of there, so I need to take an unplayable for a penalty. I do so, so I'm laying 4 with the penalty. I hit from there, and it goes a bit long left into a greenside bunker. I'm still terrible out of the bunker, and hit it thin, but I get lucky as it hits the front of the lip and squirts over, ending up on the green about 45 feet from the hole. And then I hole that 45 foot putt! 45-foot putt to save triple lol... Triple, +10.

 

Hole 8 - 525 yard par 5, HDCP 13: We've now crossed the large berm that was between 3 and 4 again, so we're out of the river bed unless you slice the ball off the planet. This is a long and straight par 5, with the berm and trees all down the right side, and trees all down the left side. Small green protected on the right by a bunker. I pull driver again, and try not to kill it this time. I hit it decently, but a bit low on the face, with a slight draw right into the center of the fairway. I remember to measure it with my app, and it's 239 yards. Not bad. I take 4h from there, and make good contact again, but the hook shows up. I hook it over the trees and yell "FORE!" because I know the 10th hole is over those trees. I find the ball short and left of the 10th tee, and nobody is angry at me, so I guess I didn't hit anyone or anything. I'm about 90 from the hole, so I try to take a bit off my 56*. I catch it well, and it goes about 100 and ends up above the right side bunker, in nasty rough, RIGHT behind a tree trunk on a horrific downhill lie. I try to get it out, but it just ends up in the bunker. My shot out of the bunker goes over the green into light rough. I putt from there, getting it close enough to make the next putt. Double, +12.

 

Nothing worse than hitting a good drive on a par 5 and then making double, huh?
 
Hole 9 - 110 yard par 3, HDCP 17: Very short par 3 over a small pond--the only water on "River View Golf Course" today and it's not even natural lol. Narrow window between trees, to the green if you don't hit the ball with height, but anyone hitting a nice high wedge shot it won't be in play as you'll be over them. Playing barely over 90 yards to a front pin, so I take the 56*. And I chunk it. Luckily I chunk it SHORT of the water so I'm still ok. I then pitch it over the pond very nicely with the 56* to about 15 feet. I then drain the breaking par save right in the middle of the cup. Par, +12.

 

It's getting hot, and I've already been through two gatorades and some water, so I grab a few IPAs at the turn. 

 

Hole 10 - 198 yard par 3, HDCP 8: Flat par 3, with bunkers protecting the front left and front right of the green. Center pin but the tees are a bit up, playing about 175. I take 7i. Make great contact but the hook shows up again, and I again yell "FORE!" because it's heading for the 11th tee. There's a fence protecting the 11th tee, but I fly that and hit it about 30 yards past that tee box. I'm way long and left of the hole, facing about a 50-60 yard pitch. I take the 60* and I'm goaded by the marshal who is in the area with a "let's see it!" I hit the pitch well, directly at the pin, but long. I go over the green by about 5 yards. Chipping it back, I chunk it about 6 feet. Ugh. I'm frustrated, so I just putt from there. I leave about 12 feet and two-putt that. Triple, +15.

 

Time to crack that first 19.2oz Lagunitas IPA!

 

Hole 11 - 340 yard par 4, HDCP 10: Flat par 4 (we're still away from the river bed), but with a narrow fairway. Trees and OB line the right side, and there are trees down the left as well, but I know that with my miss (left) I'm safe as the 8th hole runs parallel (in reverse) to the 11th on the left, so I pull out the driver. I hit the ball well but it's got some hook going on, and unfortunately gets caught up in a tree and drops straight down about 100 off the tee. So now I'm still a little out of range of the 4h, so I hit that just trying to advance it. I make poor contact and it's a low runner that stops in the fairway about 95 from the [back pin] hole. This should be perfect for a pretty full 56*, but I've gotta clear a bunker. I hit the ball, and I think I've hit it perfectly, but it just dies and lands right in the bunker. Ahh, back in my nemesis, the sand. I pick it too clean and it goes over the green. I pitch it back, and it rolls out 50 feet past the hole to the front of the green. I three putt. Quad, +19.

 

Hole 12 - 470 yard par 4, HDCP 2: This hole is another example of dogleg math. My garmin says it's 400 to the green, but it's a 470 yard hole. This hole is a perfect risk-reward hole, as you're on an elevated tee and have to carry over the river bed which hugs the right side of the fairway on a dogleg right. So it's a matter of what line you take based on your carry distance to see just how much of that dogleg you can take the yardage out. I take the driver and aim it on the same line I used last time, over some trees. I make great contact but it's a push a little too far right of my intended line, and I'm in the riverbed. I'm about 120 out to an elevated green. I don't have a great lie, but just try to advance it with the GW. I hit a shot out of the nastiness, but it shoots well right of the green and still well below it. I try to pitch up to the green, and chunk it. Pitch again, and leave it just short. Chip on, two putt from 15 feet. Triple, +22.

 

What a horrific set of holes that was!

 

Hole 13 - 548 yard par 5, HDCP 16: After crossing under the 22 freeway and enduring the smell of vagrant urine in the tunnel under the freeway, we get to the tee. Long dogleg left par 5 with the river bed all the way down the right side, mostly flat from the tee to the fairway and then turning left at the end to--another elevated green. Trees all the way down the left. Hit driver, making good contact but hooking it into those trees. From there I get to the ball, and I've got a decent look at advancing the ball, under some branches, with a 5i. Ball below my feet, I hit and and it's a thin shot that gets me ahead, but still ~130 out. I hit GW from there, and get it up next to the green. I pitch on, leaving myself 15 feet. Two putt. Bogey, +23. 

 

Hole 14 - 160 yard par 3, HDCP 12: Hitting over a huge valley in the riverbed here, but tee-to-green is flat. Shallow, wide green, with only a bunker behind the green on the left. Looks like it's about 150 to a center pin. I pull the 9i and strike it absolutely pure. It starts right of the pin with a slight draw [and a little breeze] pushing it back to the center. It drops almost pin high 10 feet from the cup. Unfortunately I don't sink the birdie putt, but leave myself a tap-in. Par, +23.

 

Hole 15 - 480 yard par 5, HDCP 12: Now a shorter par 5, with the river bed all the way down the right side and trees on the left. Surprise surprise, it's an elevated tee to a low fairway and dogleg left to an elevated green! I hit driver, and it's a perfect trajectory, slight draw, landing right in the middle of the fairway. The Grint screwed up the measurement and stopped at 219 yards where I stopped for another ball--I was about 25 past that. I get to the ball and I'm just about within range of a 4h, so I'm dreaming of making it on in 2 on a par 5. Karma responds and I shank it about 20 yards. Yeesh. Get up to the ball, pull the 5i, and knock it just short right of the green. I pitch it to 5 feet, and make the putt. Par, +23.

 

Hole 16 - 418 yard par 4, HDCP 4: Long par 4, dogleg left to an elevated green. River bed down the right, trees down the left. Pull driver again and hit another absolutely gorgeous shot drawing dead into the middle of the fairway. Used the measurement--The Grint says 251 yards. With this being a dogleg, I'm actually about the right distance for the 52* here. I hit it, making middling contact and it ends up right and short of the green. I pitch to about 15 feet, and two-putt. Bogey, +24.

 

Hole 17 - 538 yard par 5, HDCP 6: Guess what, it's an elevated tee and an elevated green, with river bed down the right and trees and the berm down the left... But--it's a dogleg RIGHT over the river bed this time! I take driver and it's another absolutely beautiful shot. It's one of those "pick up the tee before it lands" shots. It's almost perfectly straight (slight draw), heading right for the middle of the fairway. We ooh and ahh at my third good drive in a row, get out to the fairway and... NO BALL. Literally the ball has disappeared. Can't find it anywhere. I can't even fathom how this happened. The ball was perfect, and now it's gone. WTF?!?! So I have to take a drop. Hitting 3, I take 5i and try to get up near the green, but it's a bit short and right. It's under a tree to the right of the fairway about 60 yards short of the green, blind and uphill. I take the 52* and try to pitch it up the hill, but I end up short on the top of the hill still 15y short of the green. I duff the pitch from there, pitch again leaving myself 15 feet, and two putt. Triple, +27.

 

Hole 18 - 194 yard par 3, HDCP 14: Hitting back over the river bed again, from tee to green, but flat elevation-wise to the green. Pin in the center and tees up a bit, so playing about 175. I take 7i, and make good contact but hook it well left of the green, hitting a tree. I'm short of the green and significantly left, about 50 yards to the pin. I've got just enough of a window to take my 60 under the tree I'm close to and over the tree near the green. I do that, clipping a few leaves, but it lands on the green rolling out 30 feet past the cup. I make a pretty solid run at the putt, leaving myself 2 feet, which I make. Bogey, +28.

 

Out 46, in 52. The stretch from 10-12 was pretty horrible, but once I got past that I mostly kept it within reason. 17 pissed me off, though, and clearly I think my frustration showed up in that triple. How do you lose a ball that's tracking dead center of the fairway? 

 

Stats:
Strokes from <100 yards: 58, for an average of 3.22 per hole
Putts: 33
FIR: 5/11
GIR: 3/18 (counting #2 as GIR as I was 8" onto the fringe)

 

Scoring: 
Birdies: 0
Pars: 5
Bogeys: 4
Doubles: 4
Triples+: 5

 

Overall, some positives. Ballstriking was a lot better than my past two rounds. What I'm working on is, well, working. At least when I do it. When I get lazy and don't get my left hip back, I dump the hands inside and get that big in->out path and a huge hook. But that's happening less and less often. When I do it right, I get a much more neutral path and the ball goes straight. Putting was pretty good overall for me. A few missed chances at one putts (and birdies), but only one three-putt on the day and that was from 50 feet. Driver is starting to come around for me too--the missed fairway on 5 was more an alignment problem than a swing problem. Finally, I was about to go into the tank after holes 10-12 and didn't. In fact, when I looked at my score I was surprised I'd done so badly on the back 9 because I had mentally just forgotten about going triple/quad/triple in a three hole stretch. Maybe it was the IPAs... 

 

Negatives... My game around the green was terrible. Too many wasted strokes. To putt halfway decently but still average 3.22 strokes from <100 is not good. Squandering good drives was also a negative. I put the ball dead in the middle of the fairway on 8 and ended up with a double, and then put the ball dead in the middle of the fairway on 17 (not sure where it went) and had to take a penalty stroke and made triple. And frankly, just too many blow up holes where the errors compounded. 

[NoTalentLefty]

Try reading earnest Jones or Manuel del la Torre book.

[95124hacker]

Is this the same course you shot close to 110-120 last time? So a 98 is a huge improvement. I would feel happy about that as a 20-cap if I were you, esp. the 5 pars.

[bortass]

Good to read that your driver is coming around. It’ll make things much easier on the course. I also agree that this round had some positives and a 98 isn’t bad either.

 

Maybe it’s just me but trying to step on a club rarely leads to good things. I know Monte isn’t a fan of doing that with wedges but it’s any club for me.

[betarhoalphadelta]

13 hours ago, 95124hacker said:

Is this the same course you shot close to 110-120 last time? So a 98 is a huge improvement. I would feel happy about that as a 20-cap if I were you, esp. the 5 pars.

 

This is my second time there, and I shot a 103, so the score wasn't that different. But how I got the score was--my ballstriking was trash that day. I only had 3 pars and I felt like I was hacking my way around the course. Today I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well, but I had a couple blow-up holes and some short game mistakes. 

 

Given that the bulk of my work all year has been on ingraining a swing change, to actually have the ballstriking be the improvement made me feel a lot better about the day. 

 

11 hours ago, bortass said:

 

Maybe it’s just me but trying to step on a club rarely leads to good things. I know Monte isn’t a fan of doing that with wedges but it’s any club for me.

 

Yeah, and when I let the driver do the work it goes plenty far anyway... Might as well not try to kill it. That's the thing I always need to remember with my 4h and my 5i too--most of the time if I'm hitting those it's because I might be out of range of the hole (or off the tee) so I'm hitting them as "distance" clubs. I need to lay back and swing them like a short iron, because they're SL clubs and basically have the length and lie of a short iron. When I lay back I make better contact, and good contact is a lot more likely to go far than swinging hard and hitting way off center. 

[BigTerp1524]

22 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

This is my second time there, and I shot a 103, so the score wasn't that different. But how I got the score was--my ballstriking was trash that day. I only had 3 pars and I felt like I was hacking my way around the course. Today I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well, but I had a couple blow-up holes and some short game mistakes. 

 

Given that the bulk of my work all year has been on ingraining a swing change, to actually have the ballstriking be the improvement made me feel a lot better about the day. 

 

 

Yeah, and when I let the driver do the work it goes plenty far anyway... Might as well not try to kill it. That's the thing I always need to remember with my 4h and my 5i too--most of the time if I'm hitting those it's because I might be out of range of the hole (or off the tee) so I'm hitting them as "distance" clubs. I need to lay back and swing them like a short iron, because they're SL clubs and basically have the length and lie of a short iron. When I lay back I make better contact, and good contact is a lot more likely to go far than swinging hard and hitting way off center. 

 

I agree with @bortass in regards to trying to muscle up, with any club really. My biggest gains recently have come from dialing in my distances with half swing wedges and short irons. So much confidence, rather quickly, with shots from around 125 and in. I actually feel like I'm playing golf with these shots now. Attacking the flag and being fairly successful with it. Quite the difference from 115 with a controlled and compact half swing PW versus a full swing 50*. Monte has a thread on here somewhere specifically talking about this, which is what caused me to start working on it. I can't find it currently though.

 

Driver and long irons are tough though. They are literally "hit it long clubs", like you said, and it's tough to make a controlled and sound swing. I don't say easy, because I not necessarily swing easy in general, but keeping it under control is the hard part. Overswinging my driver and long irons is just as detrimental as swinging easy with my partial swing wedges. The length of the partial swing is what controls the distance and accuracy, not the speed of the swing. All sorts of things breakdown when I try to swing easy just as it does when I overswing my longer clubs.  

[TheDeanAbides]

15 minutes ago, BigTerp1524 said:

 

I agree with @bortass in regards to trying to muscle up, with any club really. My biggest gains recently have come from dialing in my distances with half swing wedges and short irons. So much confidence, rather quickly, with shots from around 125 and in. I actually feel like I'm playing golf with these shots now. Attacking the flag and being fairly successful with it. Quite the difference from 115 with a controlled and compact half swing PW versus a full swing 50*. Monte has a thread on here somewhere specifically talking about this, which is what caused me to start working on it. I can't find it currently though.

 

Driver and long irons are tough though. They are literally "hit it long clubs", like you said, and it's tough to make a controlled and sound swing. I don't say easy, because I not necessarily swing easy in general, but keeping it under control is the hard part. Overswinging my driver and long irons is just as detrimental as swinging easy with my partial swing wedges. The length of the partial swing is what controls the distance and accuracy, not the speed of the swing. All sorts of things breakdown when I try to swing easy just as it does when I overswing my longer clubs.  

This is the thread...

 

 

[BigTerp1524]

44 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

This is the thread...

 

 

 

That's the one!!

 

It was pretty eye opening for me. Similar to how @TheDeanAbides suggested I play a round or 5, LOL, without my long clubs, it really made a lot of sense and made me question why I would try to hit, for example, my PW 130 with a full tilt swing, when I can do the same with a partial swing 9i. So much more control and accuracy this way.

[betarhoalphadelta]

57 minutes ago, BigTerp1524 said:

 

I agree with @bortass in regards to trying to muscle up, with any club really. My biggest gains recently have come from dialing in my distances with half swing wedges and short irons. So much confidence, rather quickly, with shots from around 125 and in. I actually feel like I'm playing golf with these shots now. Attacking the flag and being fairly successful with it. Quite the difference from 115 with a controlled and compact half swing PW versus a full swing 50*. Monte has a thread on here somewhere specifically talking about this, which is what caused me to start working on it. I can't find it currently though.

 

Driver and long irons are tough though. They are literally "hit it long clubs", like you said, and it's tough to make a controlled and sound swing. I don't say easy, because I not necessarily swing easy in general, but keeping it under control is the hard part. Overswinging my driver and long irons is just as detrimental as swinging easy with my partial swing wedges. The length of the partial swing is what controls the distance and accuracy, not the speed of the swing. All sorts of things breakdown when I try to swing easy just as it does when I overswing my longer clubs.  

Yeah, I'm with you. I feel like I do a good job with anything 7/8i and below of swinging it like I'm hitting to a target rather than hitting to a distance. When I start getting to the "long" irons and hybrids (which aren't any longer for me) I let that mental hit it for distance mindset creep in. I'm working on it though. On the first tee on Sunday I took 4h and just swung it for the fairway, and it was great. 

 

And yeah, I get the idea of swinging "easy". I think we discussed before that sometimes when you're deliberately trying to take something off it, the results aren't great either. I've said that one of the issues I used to have with partial wedges is that I wouldn't "commit" to the shot in the sense that I wouldn't complete the swing and close the face--I pushed a lot of those right. 

 

For me the mental reminder is more that I can let the club do the work. If I swing my swing, and if I get my sequencing and mechanics right, the ball is going to go a decent distance. I don't have to add anything to make it do that. 

[BigTerp1524]

5 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Yeah, I'm with you. I feel like I do a good job with anything 7/8i and below of swinging it like I'm hitting to a target rather than hitting to a distance. When I start getting to the "long" irons and hybrids (which aren't any longer for me) I let that mental hit it for distance mindset creep in. I'm working on it though. On the first tee on Sunday I took 4h and just swung it for the fairway, and it was great. 

 

It's honestly a new feeling for me hitting to a target versus for distance, not just with partial swing wedges but even with my short irons and. It's come with confidence in those partial swings and repetition with full swings with the other clubs. But quite a different feeling of being aggressive and hitting to a target, versus just hoping to get it there. Something that helped me with my 4h was I started thinking it was a 7i and I'm going to "swing it like my 7i". No reason in particular that I picked 7i, but this has seemed to help me get more consistent with it. I think I was trying to sweep it treating it more like a wood or driver.

 

15 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

And yeah, I get the idea of swinging "easy". I think we discussed before that sometimes when you're deliberately trying to take something off it, the results aren't great either. I've said that one of the issues I used to have with partial wedges is that I wouldn't "commit" to the shot in the sense that I wouldn't complete the swing and close the face--I pushed a lot of those right. 

 

Yep, we talked about this before. It was a huge issue for me, even with pitching and chipping where it caused chunked shots that went no where. With partial wedges, like you said, I'd sail it WAY right when swinging easy. It was a bit of a leap of faith for me to take partial swings but still swing fully. It was just so engrained that to fly it shorter than normal you just swing easier.

 

28 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

For me the mental reminder is more that I can let the club do the work. If I swing my swing, and if I get my sequencing and mechanics right, the ball is going to go a decent distance. I don't have to add anything to make it do that. 

 

Agreed. It's just such a hard thing to do, for me at least. If I'm 200+ plus out, for example, either on a par 5 or because of a mishit drive I'll instinctively muscle up a 4i or 4h because I know I've gotta get all of it. Sometimes I'll hit it square and crush it that 200+, which only reinforces the bad habit. But other times I severely mishit the ball and end up in no better shape, or even worse shape than before.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played Sunday, but I've been too busy to offer a full writeup of the round, and now that I'm three days out, will probably forget shots here or there. 

 

The round was at Oso Creek, the par-60, 3670 yard course. I hadn't hit the range since my previous round two weeks prior, due to heat and being busy. So I went into this one pretty well cold.

 

Ended up shooting an 89, so +29. 

 

Birdies: 1

Pars: 2

Bogeys: 4

Doubles: 8

Triples+: 3

 

Fairways: 2/6

GIR: 3

Putts: 41 (!)(!)(!)

 

Lowlights: Putting. I count 41 putts. Five 3-putts and one 4-putt. Granted the one 4-putt doesn't technically count, because I putted from the fringe, over the green onto the fringe again, then putted on to the green and two putted from there. But when you pull putter four times on a hole, you have to card that as a 4-putt in shame. 

 

Midlights: Decent ballstriking but still turning everything left. This I attribute to not having any range work between rounds, and not wanting to play "golf swing" on the course. I was making pretty good contact on a lot of shots, but controlling that left curve was difficult because I hadn't had a lot of work on getting the rotation correct. On a couple holes it put me in bad spots, but on several other holes it was the difference between a GIR and a par and a non-GIR that my ability to get up and down (with my horrific putting) wasn't going to recover.

 

Highlight: The 6th hole. 296 yard par 4 and the below is where my drive ended up. I missed driving the green by 18". GPS measured it at 279 yards. And yes, that was the hole that ended in a birdie. If I'd finished that as a par, I don't think it would qualify as a highlight lol...

 

 

 

[bortass]

Great drive on #6! Now you know you may be able to reach it in the future off the tee and it'll become more likely as you straighten out your drives and get better face contact.

 

What was the trend with your putting or were you all over the map with the misses?

 

Proximity to the hole plays a big role in total putts in my experience.  The days when it looks like I'm putting good because total putts is low are the days when my first putt is inside 5 feet a lot. If I'm averaging say 25 feet for my first putt, it'll be more of my normal 2 putts/hole. Sure, sometimes the longer putts drop but it's not something to count on IMO. Three putts suck but will happen especially when you're 50+ feet from the hole or it's a tricky first putt because of slopes/tiers. It sucks but accepting it was a likely outcome, after the fact, can help prevent someone from letting a three putt derail their confidence. I try to avoid looking at my first putt and thinking it's gonna be a three putt but it happens more than I'd like when I FUBAR an approach or short game shot.

[betarhoalphadelta]

48 minutes ago, bortass said:

 

What was the trend with your putting or were you all over the map with the misses?

 

 

Kinda two issues killed me:

 

1. Speed control on lag putts. That's one area that I've been doing well in general to keep from three-putting, but my speed control just wasn't even close. I wasn't leaving myself easy putts.
2. Not making enough of the shorter-to-midrange length putts. This hurts me when I make a decent pitch/chip and have a chance to get out in 1 putt, and obviously hurts me when I make a poor lag putt that I can't convert and it becomes a three-putt.

I've been lax about putting practice. I'm going to start getting more time on the putting mat to work on making sure I'm striking the ball well and starting properly on line. 

 

Any idea how much the ball affects lag putting? I did recently switch from the Kirkland to the Snell MTB-X. This was only my second round with the Snell. I don't know how much this affects putting, or if it's just because I sucked.

[bortass]

26 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Any idea how much the ball affects lag putting? I did recently switch from the Kirkland to the Snell MTB-X. This was only my second round with the Snell. I don't know how much this affects putting, or if it's just because I sucked.

This is just my opinion because I do not have any empirical data. I think the ball plays a role. Every type of ball is going to react differently off the putter and in the short game, long game too but that's out of scope. A hard ball won't spin off a wedge as well and will come off the putter faster than a softer ball.

 

I have used the same two models of ball since probably 2008, TopFlite Gamers and Noodle Long and Soft+. Are these balls the best possible for me? No clue. Because I don't change my ball much, I don't need to think about it after a while though. It just becomes part of my short game/putting feel. I'm sure if I switched ball right now that I would need to adjust for a bit and then it would become second nature. I do know that there was a brand of ball I tried once that I didn't use after the first box because of how it affected my putting, lol. I felt like I didn't have as much 'touch' with them.

 

So yes, I think changing the ball could have an impact on your putting, especially speed control. Is it enough to cause 41 putts? No idea but it is a new variable and can't just be brushed off. I would suspect that with enough use and practice, you'll get used to how the Snell comes off your putter and thus your speed control will be better.

 

As an aside, I have never understood the people that play whatever random ball they find in the trees. How do you build feel and consistency with your short game and putting if the ball varies from round to round or even hole to hole? I know the price is great on those balls but still, lol.

[betarhoalphadelta]

29 minutes ago, bortass said:

As an aside, I have never understood the people that play whatever random ball they find in the trees. How do you build feel and consistency with your short game and putting if the ball varies from round to round or even hole to hole? I know the price is great on those balls but still, lol.

 

Agreed. A lot of people think they aren't good enough to worry about what ball they play, and to an extent I agree. I'm not really good enough that the difference between a ProV1 and a Chrome Soft and a TP5x are really material to me.

 

However, the very fact that I'm not good enough is why I choose to play one and only one ball consistently. My game is inconsistent enough. When I hit a shot and it does something I don't like, I don't want to wonder if it's my swing or if it's the ball, or if it's a combination of the two. By removing the ball from contention, I know when it does something I don't like that it's 100% my fault. It takes away one variable, and by reducing potential variables I know that my [usually terrible] score is based purely on my own ability and not inconsistency elsewhere.

 

That said, I switched from the Kirkland to the Snell MTB-X based on the results of that other site's 2021 ball test. The Kirkland was highest spin and in the bottom of the distribution for distance basically across all club and swing speed combinations, and the distance loss was not trivial. I like spin, but I don't think I need *that* much spin, and the distance difference at my swing speed could be a full club to club and a half into greens on par 4's given the difference of driver being 8-9 yards and irons of 4-5 yards. The Kirkland was a significant outlier in the test. Seemed like a ball that's more "middle of the road" for distance and spin would be better for me, and the Snell, while >2x the price of the Kirkland, is still significantly cheaper than most of the premium tour balls. Plus it comes in yellow 😉 

Edited September 23, 2021 by betarhoalphadelta
clarity

[bortass]

I hear ya. I started using Gamers because they were a 'poor man's Pro-V1'. No way was I gonna pay $5 a ball for a Pro-V1 back in 2008 nor would I now. Lose too many balls. I'm sure there's a 'perfect' ball out there for each of us but I don't have the time or resources to bother trying to find it. I have no complaints with my ball even if I am losing some distance since I've always been willing to trade distance for green side reaction.

 

And like you said, are we even good enough for it to matter enough in some cases? That doesn't mean it's not worth trying what your doing though. I'm sure if I was playing the old 'Top Rock' distance balls, I'd do better with something else, lol.

 

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yeah, I'll worry about things like optimizing my ball choice for trajectory and spin when I can hit the center of the face more consistently. I don't have some insane swing speed where I need a "low spin" ball like a Left Dash or something like that. So "middle of the bell curve" in both distance and spin is fine. I figure that buying a proper urethane cover ball is important, but beyond that I'm not interested in optimizing. Kirkland was way out on the long tail of the bell curve, so I figured I'm giving up too much out there.

 

I did manage to make it through the last round on one ball. So that's nice.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 9 with my son Sunday at the par-29 exec course. For reminder, this is a course where no par 3 requires anything more than 52 off the tee, and there are two short par 4s.

 

Not going to give a full write-up. I shot a 40. A typical score for me on such a short easy course is mid-30s. All in all, I didn't play horrifically, but I had two blow-up holes and too many missed opportunities.

 

Holes 1-3: Made GIR on all three holes. Felt like I made great contact on every tee shot. Unfortunately I went par/bogey/bogey. I killed myself on #2 and #3 with speed control on the lag putts. I left myself 6-8 feet and couldn't convert to save par. 

 

Holes 4 & 6: Both are TINY holes (one playing 70ish to back pin and the other playing about 45 to the center location). I shanked both shots to the right. I managed on 4 to pitch and two-putt for bogey, and amazingly pitched on 6 to 27 feet and sunk the putt for par. But I don't know WHAT the hell happened with those tee shots.

 

Hole 5: Short par 4 playing only ~185, so I went for it. Hooked my tee shot over the pond to the left, it kicked off the bank and into the water. Dropped over there in heavy rough, and missed clearing the water pitching to the green by a foot. So I lost two balls on this hole. Made triple with the two penalty strokes.

 

Hole 7-8: Two screwed up wedge shots off the tee. 7 was low on the face and went 20 yards past the pin. 8 was just all sorts of messed up, and way short but bounced its way up to just shy of the green. Managed bogey on 7 and par on 8.

 

Hole 9: Short dogleg par 4 with the approach over a ravine. Laid up perfectly with an 8i exactly how and where I wanted it, leaving myself a hard 52 or easy GW (48*) to the pin. Chose the easy GW and chunked it into the ravine. With the penalty, horrible approach after the drop, and three-put, made a quad. 

 

Three pars, four bogeys, and two blow-ups. You can maybe claim it wasn't that bad of a day except the blow-ups, but three-putting for bogeys, shanking partial wedges, and screwing up my contact on 7-8 means that even beyond the blow-ups, I was just inconsistent in all facets. 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

What this tells me is that I need to practice. I've been neglecting range time, and need to get out there at least once this week (maybe twice) before playing this weekend. 

 

The putting is a problem. I need to also spend some time on the putting mat. I don't feel like I've been great at starting the ball on line for those mid-range (5-12 feet) putts that can be the difference between getting up and down for par instead bogey after a pitch, or the difference between turning a three-putt into a two-putt after a poor lag and not doing so. 

 

I'm playing again Sunday at Rancho San Joaquin in Irvine, which is a longer (~6200 from the blues) course than my usual Oso Creek but isn't as much of a screwy layout as River View. No dry stream beds to hit out of, not dealing with half the holes being elevated greens, etc. I like that it's more of a challenge due to the length, but it gives me a lot more recovery capability on a lot of holes when shots go errant--it's nowhere near as penal as some courses. 

 

So with a little practice this week, maybe I can try not to embarrass myself and score in double digit range lol...

[bortass]

13 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

What this tells me is that I need to practice. I've been neglecting range time, and need to get out there at least once this week (maybe twice) before playing this weekend. 

 

The putting is a problem. I need to also spend some time on the putting mat. I don't feel like I've been great at starting the ball on line for those mid-range (5-12 feet) putts that can be the difference between getting up and down for par instead bogey after a pitch, or the difference between turning a three-putt into a two-putt after a poor lag and not doing so. 

 

I'm playing again Sunday at Rancho San Joaquin in Irvine, which is a longer (~6200 from the blues) course than my usual Oso Creek but isn't as much of a screwy layout as River View. No dry stream beds to hit out of, not dealing with half the holes being elevated greens, etc. I like that it's more of a challenge due to the length, but it gives me a lot more recovery capability on a lot of holes when shots go errant--it's nowhere near as penal as some courses. 

 

So with a little practice this week, maybe I can try not to embarrass myself and score in double digit range lol...

Do you have a metal yardstick? It's a great tool for working on starting the ball online. Put the ball in the hole that's to hang it on a nail and putt the ball down the entire length of the yardstick/ruler. If it rolls off the left or right side, you didn't start it online.

 

You could also try a drill I found for short putts but you could try it for some longer ones. Place an alignment stick across the front of the hole and you have to putt the ball over the stick into the hole. I found that it made sure that I got the ball to the hole. I just don't know how well that would work on longer putts.

 

Another lag drill is to put some tees a set distance to the left and right of the middle of the hole and then place some the same distance around the back of the hole. It makes a semi circle and the goal is to get the putt in the hole or leave it inside the tees. Maybe start with tees that are 2 feet from the hole. It'll give you a window to miss long but still have a very makeable putt if you miss.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I don't have a metal yardstick, but my putting mat has a line on it that I can use to see how well I'm starting on line. I just need to use it.

 

I'm not all that concerned about the speed control. It's actually generally been one of my putting strengths. One thing I've noticed is that as I progress through a round, it gets better. So it's not something that I can't do--it's just that I'm not adjusting well at the beginning of rounds. That might be due to adjusting to the new ball, and it also might be due to playing a bunch of different courses with different green conditions so it takes a few holes to get the speed of the greens right. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Went to the range today. Needed it. Unfortunately it wasn't right and I left probably 60% through the bucket. 

 

Highlights: I started with PW, and was just focusing on the move. After the first few "knock off the rust" swings, I was just flushing the wedges. It was great. I also was sprinkling in pitches with the 52/56/60, and focusing on the follow-through move from Monte's UTB 2.0, and I think that's a huge difference for me. My contact and consistency on all pitch shots is so much better when I focus on getting the right arm/shoulder through. 

 

Lowlights: I think I was getting impatient and swinging too hard with some of the other clubs. Sequencing, as a result, was off. Had trouble with the 4h and the driver. 

 

I realized my mind wasn't right. Didn't want to turn bad swings into bad habits. Walked off.

[TheDeanAbides]

12 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Went to the range today. Needed it. Unfortunately it wasn't right and I left probably 60% through the bucket. 

 

Highlights: I started with PW, and was just focusing on the move. After the first few "knock off the rust" swings, I was just flushing the wedges. It was great. I also was sprinkling in pitches with the 52/56/60, and focusing on the follow-through move from Monte's UTB 2.0, and I think that's a huge difference for me. My contact and consistency on all pitch shots is so much better when I focus on getting the right arm/shoulder through. 

 

Lowlights: I think I was getting impatient and swinging too hard with some of the other clubs. Sequencing, as a result, was off. Had trouble with the 4h and the driver. 

 

I realized my mind wasn't right. Didn't want to turn bad swings into bad habits. Walked off.

If that swinging too hard thing happens again try picking up a wedge and hitting a couple of smooth ones. Then grab a longer club and hit one. If you try to muscle it go back to the wedge for a shot. Try to feel like you take the same rhythm into the longer club. 

 

If you still can't stop over hitting drop down a club. Think of it like a dance and recognise where in your bag the belief that you need to muscle it begins. Then go to the range for another session with just that club and a wedge and play the dancing game. Eventually you'll become more comfortable with that club and you can move up the bag. 

 

There's an unconscious intelligence behind this too because you realise that as you get to the longer clubs you don't have the loft to cover your sins so anxiety sets in. 

 

The answer is then twofold: better mechanics and beating the anxiety. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by TheDeanAbides

[betarhoalphadelta]

5 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

If that swinging too hard thing happens again try picking up a wedge and hitting a couple of smooth ones. Then grab a longer club and hit one. If you try to muscle it go back to the wedge for a shot. Try to feel like you take the same rhythm into the longer club. 

 

If you still can't stop over hitting drop down a club. Think of it like a dance and recognise where in your bag the belief that you need to muscle it begins. Then go to the range for another session with just that club and a wedge and play the dancing game. Eventually you'll become more comfortable with that club and you can move up the bag. 

 

There's an unconscious intelligence behind this too because you realise that as you get to the longer clubs you don't have the loft to cover your sins so anxiety sets in. 

 

The answer is then twofold: better mechanics and beating the anxiety. 

 

Thanks. I'll give that a try. I think for me it's right about 5i and up. Everything 6i and down I feel like I'm hitting to a target, and once I get to 5i and up I feel like I'm hitting to a distance, and that's where I start swinging hard. 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

27 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Thanks. I'll give that a try. I think for me it's right about 5i and up. Everything 6i and down I feel like I'm hitting to a target, and once I get to 5i and up I feel like I'm hitting to a distance, and that's where I start swinging hard. 

 

That's where most people start to struggle. Have you ever had that experience when you're at the range where you pick up your 6 iron and hit a few nice ones before realising it's actually your 5 iron that you struggle to hit? As soon as you know it's the 5 iron you hit it crap again. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I played 18 yesterday. Course is Rancho San Joaquin in Irvine. It's listed as 6128 yards, par 72, 69.4/123 from the blues (where we played).

 

In the writeup, I'll throw out some shot yardages. I did not actively measure these with my app, The Grint. They were measured by my Garmin watch, which is designed to automatically detect the swing of a golf club. So a few of them may be off.  

 

I intended to hit the range, but was running a little late taking the dog for a walk so I just arrived and spent time on the putting green instead. Weather was sunny, with the start of the round quite nice (we teed off at 842a), but with predicted highs in the low 90s. 

 

Hole 1, 505 par 5, HDCP 5: Slight dogleg left par 5. Open fairway with trees right between the first hole and the range. To the left is sparse trees and farther left is the 18th fairway. Left can be bad if you're stuck too close to a tree, but can also be pretty open. Green is protected front left, and pin-high right, by bunkers. I teed off with driver, aiming towards the right edge of the fairway/rough in case of draw/hook. I hit a beautiful baby draw starting just right of my intended line, drawing back in, but stopping about 2 yards into the right rough, 279 yards. I'm now left with ~240 or so. I'm about to grab my 4w, and then think that discretion is the better part of valor and grab my 7i instead, to lay up. I hit a shot low off the face but straight, 151 yards. I'm left with a partial wedge, IIRC it was measuring ~80 yards. I think I took the 56*. I made good contact and good line, and it landed on the green but rolled just off the back fringe. I was still able to putt from there (~25 feet), and the birdie try had great distance and was about 18" right of the hole. Made that. Par, E. 
 

Hole 2, 142 par 3, HDCP 17: Short par 3 on a normal day, playing to an extreme front pin. Green is protected by a big and nasty bunker front left, and is elevated so misses can leave tricky chips. The front of the green is very heavily sloped. Playing about 120. I take a full-swing 52*, and pull it left. I'm sitting there praying I either hit it long/left (over the bunker) or left it short of the bunker. It lands about 3 yards short of the bunker. Oddly because of the shape of the bunker, it was only about 4 yards shy of pin high, so on line might have just made the front of the green. Now I've got to pitch over the bunker to a short-sided placement. I take the 60* and pitch nicely, but land it JUST a shade far and it rolls out just onto the opposite fringe. I putt from the fringe (~18 feet), and with the heavily sloped green it falls down a LOT farther than I played for break, and I'm left with 5' for bogey. I miss it and two-putt. Double, +2. 

 

Hole 3, 325 par 4, HDCP 15: Shorter par 4 that plays a very slight dogleg left. To the right is OB, to the left is sparse trees. Green protected front left by a bunker. I hit driver again, and it's a pull draw. I don't see it land but suspect it was held up by the trees, as it ended up underneath one tree. I'm left with about 130 to the pin, so I take the GW. I make somewhat decent contact, leaving it a little right, but it lands and sticks on the front right portion of the green. I pace it off and I think I've got about 35ish feet uphill to the pin. I leave that lag pretty close, and make the par putt. Par, +2. 
 

Hole 4, 336 par 4, HDCP 11: Another shorter par 4, but tricky. From the tee, the green is directly in line with a large fairway bunker that's usually about 200-210 off the tee. The fairway curls around the left side, and then there's a big valley between the bunker and the green, so if you're down there you're hitting to an elevated green, protected front right by a large bunker. OB all the way down the right side, and safe but sparse trees between fairways if you end up left. This is a good driver hole now that I can hit driver, because that fairway bunker is right in the range I can reach with a good 5i or normal 4h. I take driver and hit it dead straight over the bunker, ending up in the middle of the fairway and Garmin says 266 yards. I think I'm about 70 to a back pin and hit a partial wedge, and I make the green but defintely didn't give it enough. I'm about 45' short of the pin. It's a long uphill putt to get up to the tier where the pin is, and I hit another great lag putt to be almost tap-in range. I make that putt. Par, +2. 
 

 

Hole 5, 502 (460) par 5, HDCP 1: Tough hole. Off the tee there's a bunker guarding the right side of the fairway. Right is OP all the way down, left is safer (trees or adjacent fairway) but if you get over there you only have a play back into the correct fairway and can't likely recover without it costing a stroke. After the bunker and down a hill, your second shot plays to a landing area where the fairway is narrow and guarded left and right by lakes. The green is wide but shallow, guarded by the right lake, and elevated 15' from water level. Not only that, 3 palm trees just off the shore of the right lake can get in your way depending on pin placement. Leaving your second short of the lakes gives a mid-long iron and good luck stopping it on that green, if you reach. I take driver off the tee. I make pretty good contact but it's another pull draw headed for the trees. I find the ball in the trees about 235 out, but I'm stuck with a tough look having to punch it out low. I check and the pond on the right is about 175 out, so I figure a 7i punch shouldn't be able to reach. I aim at the left pond knowing my tendency--especially with the ball back in my stance for a punch, is a draw, and punch out. Ball goes perfectly straight and stops about 5 yards short of the pond in the rough. I've now got 150 left directly over those tall palm trees. I take 9i and aim a little right playing for a draw, and end up pulling over the trees and landing safely past the water but still not getting the distance. The rough held the club up--should have taken 8i. I try to pitch onto the green and flub it about 6 yards. Pitch again and I roll past the hole, 7 feet. I miss that putt and tap in. Double, +4.

 

Overall this is a hole that can turn into an ugly number a lot of ways. I really only count one wasted shot, though, the bad pitch. I'll take it. Would have loved to make my 5-footer for bogey on 2, and to make my 7-footer for bogey here, but +4 through 5 holes is good by me. 

 

Hole 6, 366 par 4, HDCP 3: Short par 4, but with a big lake that is in play if you're long-left off the tee. OB down the right side but this hole is diagonal at the corner of the property, so the farther you are from the tee, the more room there is. The water follows the fairway all the way down the left side, and then there's a bunker between the water and the green protecting the green. This is the hole I probably shouldn't take driver on with my left miss, but I'm feeling good today. I take driver aim WELL right--at a copse of trees about 230-240 off the tee in the right rough. I know going straight is safe as long as I'm not behind a tree trunk, and I want to give myself room for a draw or pull. I end up hitting a monster DEAD straight--on my intended line lol. I don't see it land. I get up towards the trees--no ball. I keep going past the trees--no ball. I go farther than I think I can possibly hit, and there my ball is, sitting nicely in the rough. Garmin says 303 yards--I must have gotten a good bounce off the cart path beyond the trees lol. I believe it too, because I'm even with the green. I now have a 80 yard partial wedge. IIRC I took the 56 with a near-full swing. I hit it well and onto the green, but a bit short, leaving myself 20 feet. I hit a good lag putt and make the next. Par, +4. 

 

Hole 7, 346, par 4, HDCP 9: Hole has a giant tree down the right side that can really mess with approach shots if your tee shot is out right, and the left side is much more open. Green is protected front left by a bunker, and has a bunker behind. Tees are up, which scares me because there's a large net to protect houses from anything going right off the tee. Because of my natural shot shape I usually aim a bit right and there's not a lot of room there. So I take driver and aim down the center. I hit another great drive, with... A slight FADE?! It lands in the middle of the fairway. Garmin says 245. I've now got about 90 to a back pin. I hit an almost-full 56*, and the instant it comes off the club I'm calling it long and I'm worried I'll fly into that back bunker. Turns out I was long, but just barely; I see it land on a slope behind the green and feed just back onto the back edge of the green. I'm left with a 10-footer downhill putt for birdie. I miss the putt 2" to the right of the hole and 4 feet past, but I make the comeback. Par, +4. 

 

Hole 8, 166 par 3, HDCP 13: Hole plays uphill over a pond to a blind green, with big bunkers fronting the green on the left and right. Pin is on the front edge, and with the elevated green my laser says it's playing 160 with the slope. I take 8i and make great contact, but it's a push to the right. It lands in the bunker and stays up on the uplope facing the green, about pin high. I get up to the ball and I see it's embedded. Well, crap. That said, I get out well with my 56* and it only rolls out about 16 feet past the pin. Unfortunately I miss the par save and tap in for a two-putt. Bogey, +5. 

 

Hole 9, 414 par 4, HDCP 7: Pretty open hole. Decently wide fairway, with sparse trees left and right, and this hole is between #5 (left) and #10 (right), so you're actually pretty safe no matter where you end up (but #10 cuts the corner a little). Tricky multi-sloped green is protected by small bunkers all around. I aim down the right side with the driver, and make great contact and again see a slight fade... I find my ball just off the cart path in the rough between #9 and #10, 263 yards. I'm left with 130 to the green, and I'm behind a tree but should be able to get over it with GW, so I swing that--and chunk it about 50-60 yards off to the right from there. Get up to my ball and I've got about 70 left, and now I really need to elevate over a different tree, but I'm within 60* range. So I hit that with almost a full swing, and it launches nice and high over the tree and lands on the green. I have a tricky 30 footer to save par, which I miss and put about 4 feet, but I make the putt coming back. Bogey, +6.

 

Out in 42. That's a damn good start. 

 

Hole 10, 355 par 4, HDCP 10: A bit of a tricky dogleg left, with houses and OB down the left side but still some room to cut the corner if you're brave. There's a fairway bunker at the corner and trees just to the left of that. There's bunker left of the green, but otherwise it's pretty open once you're past the corner. I take driver, and I think I just felt myself try to muscle it. I top it ~80 yards left. Oof. Now I'm (with the dog leg) about 240 out and reach for my 4w... And again put that sucker back. No need for hero ball after I just hit a shot like that. I take 7i and aim over the tree/fairway bunker, and hit a nice perfect straight shot that puts me in the middle of the fairway where a drive should have been. Left with a partial wedge to a back pin, I hit a really nice shot that ends up about 15 feet past the hole on the right. It's a tricky downhill putt, and I lag it to 18". Make that. Bogey, +7.

 

Obviously I don't feel good about that drive, but I feel great about saving bogey out of it. 

 

Hole 11, 368 par 4, HDCP 6: This is HDCP 6 for two reasons. There are a couple of big trees down the left side that if you're over there, you have nothing other than trying to punch under them, lay up over them, or draw around them. That, and the green is very well protected by one bunker front left, and two bunkers to the right. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. I take driver and hit a solid shot, but it's towards the right rough. I see it land and I'm not sure whether it rolls backwards on the cart path or not. Garmin says 228 yards and I end up with about 140 to a front pin, so I suspect it did. Hit PW from there, and pull it just short left of the green. I flub a chip to the fringe, putt from there to 18", and make that. Bogey, +8 

 

Hole 12, 527 par 5, HDCP 2: There's water down the right side that normally requires a hell of a drive to reach (and usually is in play for a second shot). Houses and OB down the left side, but decent room between the fairway and those houses that you have to REALLY end up left to be OB. The fairway narrows about 100 yards short of the green near the end of the lake to the left and the encroaching trees on the right, and then the green is protected left and front-right with bunkers. I hit driver and it's a low pull just above worm-burner height that gets hung up in the rough and stops about 130 yards from the tee. Not great. I'm 400 out and hit the 4h. I was really trying to make just a nice easy swing with it instead of killing it, and I'm rewarded with perfect contact and a nice high trajectory, slight draw, that goes 200 and I'm in the fairway along the left side. Got another 200 to go, and hit the 4h again. Contact isn't as good and it's more of a push draw starting right and curving back left, and I think it's got a chance of running up--but it hits the slope in front of the green and stops DEAD. Literally I got up to the ball and my ball was a foot behind its ball mark in the wet fairway--somehow I backed up a 4h lol! I'm pitching to the green and, lo and behold, flub it up to the fringe again. I'm at least close enough to putt, and from ~45 feet or so lag it to 18". Which... I lip out. Ugh! Double, +10.

 

Not a good hole. I was in decent scoring position making up for the terrible drive, but one flubbed chip and two-putting from 18" is just awful. 

 

Hole 13, 157 par 3, HDCP 14: Forced carry over water, protecting the green short and right. Bunker to the left, and the green is pretty heavily sloped so putting can be tricky, but otherwise a pretty straightforward par 3. Tee is up and I have 150 to a back pin. I hit 9i. Contact is ok but not great, and it's pushed right--right into the front right bunker. From there I've got a 20 yard sand shot, and I clip the ball clean instead of taking sand, and thus send it 50 yards past the pin. OOF! So now I've got a pitch back and the green. I have a tall tree in front of me that I have to get under, but I have to get it over a shorter tree farther out. I hit the 56* and hit it EXACTLY how I want--and it clips the tall tree and kicks left. Now I've gotta get over the smaller tree. Which I should be capable of with the 56*, but I chunk it and it goes under the tree rather than over. One more pitch and I get onto the green, but with the slope it rolls out about 21 feet past the hole. I drain that 21-footer dead in the middle of the cup. Triple, +13.

 

My playing partners joke that for some reason, I can sink just about any length putt to save triple bogey. Can't hit them for birdie, or to save par. But if the hole is already trash, somehow putts have a tendency to drop. I guess that's my superpower??

 

Hole 14, 348 par 4, HDCP 8: This hole has a completely blind tee shot down a hill. Trees down the left side and open on the right. Bunker short left of the green, but the hole is not all that hard to play as long as you're not left... I hit driver and it's heading left, but not REALLY far left. If it isn't far enough, the slope down from the ridge the trees are on will feed it right back into the center. If it's too far, it can kick even farther left and you're hitting at the green through the trees. I get down there and see my ball sitting perfectly in the middle of the fairway, so I'll take it. Garmin is confused but based on the fact that I left myself about a 50 yard pitch, I think the drive was closer to 300 aided by the massive elevation drop. And of course I chunked that pitch about halfway. Next pitch I hit pin-high left of the pin about 10 feet from the cup, and 2-putt. Bogey, +14.

 

Well, hate to bogey after that drive, but I got lucky that the drive fed back into the center so I guess I can't complain. 

 

Hole 15, 156 par 3, HDCP 12: This hole is under construction. So temporary tee box and temporary green, 100 yards, no bunkers/obstructions. I hit a full swing 56* and drop it pin-high about 16 feet left of the cup. The "green" is absolutely trash and I manage to walk away with a two putt, and happy to get it on this POS green. Par, +14.
 
Hole 16, 396 par 4, HDCP 4: Another relatively open hole as it sits between #9 and #4/5. Left isn't that great on this hole, but right is fine. There's no trouble in the fairway, but three bunkers protect the green front-left, front-right, and back-right. I hit driver, a nice long draw down the left side, 258 according to Garmin and it finishes in the left rough. Due to angle and tees, I'm still sitting with 170 to the hole, and I take 7i. I make a good swing but the rough catches the club and I end up 30 yards short in the fairway. I pitch to a center pin, and I really like it coming off the club, but it hits the upslope on the front of the green and stops far short of where I thought it would, leaving me 30 feet to save par. I putt and leave myself a not-easy bogey putt, but I make it. Bogey, +15.

 

Hole 17, 292 par 4, HDCP 18: Short, straight hole, but 3 bunkers ring a small green, and the fairway is pretty tight, so accuracy is a premium here. On the right side the trees are pretty dense, and if you get stuck there a few near the green are nigh-impossible to hit over. Down the left is more sparse, but still a lot of trees. Playing to a front pin location, and my watch is telling me it's 272 to the front edge. And I'm thinking "go for it!" So I pull driver, swing too hard, and hit a low worm-burner pull. FFS. 190 more to go from the left rough, I take 5i and again the rough is too much and knocks a bunch of speed off my club. I hit a low pull down the left side of the fairway, about 150 or so. From there I have a short pitch of about 40 yards, so I pull my 56* and hit the ball exactly as I want, but oddly it hits and finishes 30 feet past the hole. Hmm. Go to put the 56* away and it's sitting in my bag, and I realize this was my 52* wedge. Ooops. I guess with the little half-swing that's why it went 7-8 yards too far. Now I've got a tricky breaker that I don't play enough break, and it rolls past low and finishes 5 feet from the hole. I putt that and stop it an inch from the cup. Ugh. Double, +17.

 

Easiest hole on the course and I screw it up with a bad tee shot AND a three putt. Ouch. 

 

Hole 18, 457 par 5, HDCP 16: Short par 5, but narrow fairway in the first landing area. It opens up as you approach the hole, but with bunkers left and right of the green. I hit driver and it's a nice big shot but it's a straight pull headed towards the trees between #18 and #1. I find the ball under a tree, Garmin says 267 out from the tee. I've got a clear shot and I'm just under 200 from the hole, so I pull the 4h and start dreaming of getting there in two. Famous last words. I shank it off the toe, about 60 yards across to the right side of the fairway. Now I've got 160 to the pin, which is still salvageable. I take 8i and I hit it a little bit thick, and it only goes about 130 and ends up in a bunker well short of the green. I do manage a decent SW shot there, make it onto the green, about 20 feet short of the hole with a decent uphill putt to save par. I *barely* miss that par save and tap in. Bogey, +18.

 

Strokes from 100 yards in - 61, average of 3.39 per hole

Putts - 34
Fairways hit - 6/14
Greens in regulation - 5/18

Birdies: 0
Pars: 6
Bogeys: 7
Doubles: 4
Triples+: 1

 

So I went 42/48 for a 90 (+18). I'm damn proud of that. That might be my best round ever. I know I've recently got that 69 (+9) and a 75 (+15) and a couple 78s (+18) at Oso Creek in my history, but I can't really look at a course that's 3670 yards and slope of 99 and call those scores "real" compared to a 6200 yard course with a slope of 123. 

 

Golf is so much more fun when the driver is working. This course is one that makes it easy to pull out driver, because even when you're in the trees you'll find your ball and at worst you're punching out, and if you're really wild, you're probably just playing from the adjacent fairway lol. 

 

My "strokes from 100 in" is deceptive in how bad it was. It was actually negatively impacted by the fact that I was driving the ball well enough that I had a lot of approaches, partial wedges, and pitches from that 60-100 yard range, a lot of them specifically on par 4's in the 80-100 yard range. So that skewed up the numbers. 

 

Highlights: The driver first and foremost. God it's just so much fun to stand up and blast balls. We had a single with our threesome and he remarked I should be playing from the gold tees, not the blue. I don't get told that very often lol. Second is that in the entire round, I only had one hole that I consider a blow-up (triple or worse). I realize good golfers see a double as a blow up, but that's not my standard. Third is that overall, contact was good today, and that what I've been working on in my swing (moderating my in->out path and not hooking everything off the planet) came together on the course. Fourth, I got through the round on one ball. No water, not OB, no penalty drops. 

 

Lowlights: Flubbed pitches, and the skulled sand shot. Also, although my putting was much better than a few of my recent rounds, it wasn't a strength. I had SO many opportunities. I could have made bogey on 2 and 5 instead of double with better putting, and missing the putt on 12 to save bogey was inexcusable. I had a three-putt. Although I carded 34 putts, that doesn't include a fair number from the fringe that aren't technically putts, but would have put me over 36 for the round. Last, my distance control on some of those partial wedges was not stellar. I might have had more realistic birdie tries and more makeable par saves if I could have gotten a few of those closer.

 

But, still... A 90 on a regulation course with a slope of 123. I'll take that any day of the week. My index had been creeping up and had just gotten from 20.4 where it was after the 69 (+9) round to 21.0 as some of my scores aged out, and this round brought it back down to 20.2. 

 

That was fun.

[bortass]

Great round! A working driver makes such a difference, it's amazing. 

 

Not going crazy and trying to crush your longer clubs seemed to work well. I can't tell if the 4h on 18 was just a mishit or you tried to kill it.

 

It's great to read about the improvement, keep it up!

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

3 minutes ago, bortass said:

Great round! A working driver makes such a difference, it's amazing. 

 

Not going crazy and trying to crush your longer clubs seemed to work well. I can't tell if the 4h on 18 was just a mishit or you tried to kill it.

 

It's great to read about the improvement, keep it up!

 

 

I think it was tension. I was focused too much on trying to make the green in two that I got into my own head. It probably did make me swing harder and less controlled, but it was that the 4h is a club that I almost need to remind myself every time I grab it "just swing nice and easy like any other club" and I didn't do that. 

 

The two shots with the 4h on 12 were the opposite. I was really focusing on taking a nice swing through the ball and just trusting that it'll go at least in the general direction and distance I wanted. 

 

So whether I was trying to kill it or not--I might have been--it was a mental error. 

[95124hacker]

Congrats on the 90. Yeah I have a hard time comparing your scores at your regular par 60 course to a par 72, so this is a good data point. We all know “x over” at an easy course won’t be the same “x over” at a harder course. Course handicap seems to underestimate for higher index players IMO.