Breaking 100... 9 Holes on 5/19/2010

Today was definitely a demoralizing day on the course. Every Wednesday I play in a 9 hole men's league, so I practiced some short game stuff and putting and hit some irons at the range and hit the course. It was definitely one of those days where you want to throw in the towel. By the way, as an aside, I haven't received my fitted i10s in my sig 3 1/2 weeks after I ordered them, but are hoping they come in tomorrow. Anyways, here's how things went down.

Rating: 69.5 Slope: 124 3134 yds Par 36
Hole 1 Par 4 330 yds
Drive right of fairway. Hit an 8 iron close to the green. Chip on and 2 putt for bogey. At this point I'm feeling pretty good. +1

Hole 2 Par 4 314 yds
6 iron off tee lands in fairway. 8 iron hit fat about 50 yds. Gap wedge to just off the left of the green. Chip runs off the green. Chip back on and two putt for a triple bogey. Yuck. +4

Hole 3 Par 4 355 yds
Hit drive underneath trees just to the right of the fairway. Punched out with my 3 hybrid. Shot a PW and hit green, 2 putt for a 5. +5

Hole 4 Par 4 358 yds
Hit 4W to 150. Top 7 iron into trees on the left. Hit recovery punch. 60 degree short of green. Chip on and 2 putt for triple again. +8

Hole 5 Par 4 406 yds
The most difficult hole on the course (dogleg and very tough, tiny green). Hit drive a little shorter than normal, and wanted to hit the 4W to get on in two. Topped 4W left. Hit 6 iron short of green (was in thick rough and hit a little too much under the ball). This is when it all just fell apart. Full lob web shot short. Chip ran off the back of the green. Then back on to green on other side. 3 putt. 5 over leaves me with an incredible 9! +13

Hole 6 Par 3 188 yds
Hit 4 iron about 20 yards short. Hit bump and run too long. Chipped to other side of green, and off. Putt on to green, then two more putts once I'm on the green for a triple. +16

Hole 7 Par 4 351 yds
Decent drive. Chunk my 8i approach shot. Hit the left apron with the gap wedge. Putted to right next to the hole, but since the pin placement is on a steep sloping green, ball trickles off the green. Next putt from off the green, left it short. Two more putts for a triple. +19

Hole 8 Par 5 500 yds
My favorite hole on the course, but not today. Great drive, hit 7i, 9i to about 20 feet short of green (9i from thick rough). Horribly bladed the chip shot 20 yds past the green, under a tree. Punched short of the green, chipped on the green, 2 putts for a triple. +22

Hole 9 Par 4 332 yds
Easy, downhill hole. Hit pop-up with driver (hit ground before, probably due to aggression left over from last hole). Chunked 7 iron, hit LW just short of green. Chip on and 2 putt for a double. +24 for a horrible 60. Yuck.

Please leave any comments that may be helpful, encouraging, or at least pity ;)




Hole 3 Par 4

Don't sweat it. We ALL have bad days. Onward and upward as my grandfather always says.

I like your recap. I do that after each of my rounds as well and email to a golfing buddy. It's a great way to remember your good rounds and what you screwed up on the bad ones.

keep it going. I am right there with you. I haven't broken 100 yet either.

You have my sympathy - your blog describes me last year...

One thing sticks out to me... On holes 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9, you lost a stroke with a wedge that missed the green. That's five wasted strokes because your either misjudging your distance, or you're afraid to hit the ball hard enough and let the loft of the wedge do its thing.

If you are 50-90 yards out, you MUST get on the green in 1 shot. No fancy flops, no open faced-wedge shots. You need to be able to get on in one from this distance.

Continuing...

On 2, 5, 6, and 8, your chip shots rolled off the green.
Have you been using the "putting stroke" chip technique?

By the way, I'm very impressed at one aspect of your game - no lost balls, no out-of-bounds shots. No penalty strokes. Keep it up!

On hole #5, I hope you learned your lesson about trying that 4W in the fairway. Unless you have been practicing your long irons/woods off the deck and are supremely comfortable with them, do not use your fairway woods from the fairway. I drive with my 3/5 woods, but almost never from the fairway because the margin for error is just too great.