OK, what the heck happened today?!?

Today was a very strange and wonderful golf day. I saw an $18 special w/cart on golfnow and grabbed it, figured...Friday...slow work day...hooky time! Tee time was 12:06 - I hit a 1/2 bucket of balls and went to check in...ended up teeing off at Noon. Nobody was in front of me...so away I went.

Here's where it gets a little strange. I go into my bag and pull out a Wilson Prostaff "Distance" ball - I think I got them in 45-packs for about $0.40 ea two years ago. I had picked that ball since I didn't want to tee off with a ProV1 or Penta and lose it on my first swing (which happens more than I would like). First hole, short par 4. Short drive, but in the fairway. 7-iron to just off the green. Up and down with a 6 footer for par. I love it when I start off with a par, makes me feel good about my chances that day.

So I end up playing pretty well on the front 9, I think...when I add it up - holy smokes - I shot a 39! I never saw anyone until the 9th hole where I had to wait 10 minutes for a couple of guys who shot 10+ each on the hole. The waiting got to me and I shot my only double bogey of the front 9 on that hole. Bummer, too, I had just birdied 8 with a 94 yard approach shot to 6 inches.

I think...hmm...If I can somehow shoot 40 on the back 9 I will finally break 80! I shot 81 once a couple of years ago and have only been as good as 85 since then. I figure 40 means 4 over, so I need to get 5 pars and 4 bogeys and I'm good to go.

First five holes on the back 9 - bogey par par bogey par. OK, now I just have to get 2 bogeys and 2 pars and I am golden!!! I tell myself to relax and not worry about the total and just keep having fun shooting well. I go in shooting birdie par par par to finish for a 37 on the back and a 76 total.

So, what happened?!? I am looking back at the round and make the following observations:

- I hit a lot of fairways, and when I missed them, the course didn't penalize me so badly. I would be in an adjacent fairway and could get decent distance with my second shot and in some cases had a clear shot to the green.

- My iron play was crisp. I think I hit one or two fat shots total. I slowed down my backswing and my swing in general and it helped a LOT by keeping my body still.

- My putting was on like Donkey Kong. From 5 feet in I was dropping putts, period. If I misread a lag putt I didn't get down on myself, I just figured I was in the putting zone today and thought about sinking the follow-up.

- When I missed the green on approaches, I didn't miss too badly. I was not in the sand at all today and all my lies were pretty good.

- I picked the right club on all the par 3s. This was very helpful, obviously!

- My hybrids were long and straight, again, helped my a slowed backswing and slowed swing in general. The sweet spot is your friend!

This course wasn't very hard. From the blues where I played it's 70.1/117 (par 71). Still, I am really happy to have played so well and look forward to playing this relaxed kind of golf for our last club tournament next month.

Oh, here's the strangest part....I mentioned the course was near-empty (rain had been forecast, nobody went out - as it turned out, no rain). Except for the 10 minute delay at #9, I had nobody at all in front of me and I put in 18 holes in 2:15. What a strange day.

Sounds more good than strange.

First congats, Hogan in his five fundamentals mentions that if an amateur (mid hcp) has a round in the 70s,it's quite an accomplishment. You probably put no pressure on yourself trying to perform in front of other players, something to keep in mind. cheers

First off, congrats. Great milestone (breaking 80). And, don't diminish your accomplishment. I have yet to play a course that was "too easy", so you deserve much credit for a job well done.

Nice round. Just don't expect to shoot that low every time you go out or else golf can get very frustrating. Don't worry about the course, I play often at a 5,500 yard par 67 course. Now that's an easy course.

great round man