9 Holes - July 8, 2010

I've played a few rounds and 9 once since my last post. Yesterday was a weird 9 holes. Ball striking was good, but I left a lot of strokes out there. Also, it's been 90+ for a week with no rain. These greens are razor fast when it rains everyday. So, needless to say, they were touchy. Here's how it went down:

HOLE 1, Par 5: Hit my driver and put a pull slice of sorts on it. It was a good shot that landed me in the middle of the fairway and had good distance to it. I had 185-190 left at a slightly uphill green. I hit my 4h on the screws and landed the green about 15 or 16 feet from the hole. This green slopes from front to back severely and has a lot of undulation. It's one of the bigger greens here, but tough. My eagle putt is hard left with 2 mounds to deal with. I lined up well right and hit the ball perfect. It crested the second mound and barely rolled towards the hole. It missed the cup by 2 inches AND ROLLED 7 FEET PAST THE HOLE! I couldn't believe it. I missed my birdie by an inch and tapped in for a par. That is so frustrating to me.

HOLE 2, Par 3: Flew the green with my 7 iron off the tee. I tee'd up another to see how my 8 iron would fly. It landed the fringe in the front and bounced on (6 feet from the pin). I think I'm gonna hit my 8 here from now on. Anyways, I had a short chip on to this green that slopes forward at what seems like 90 degrees. It hit a chip that checked a bit but, as all shots from above the green here, rolled off. I putted from the fringe and missed it short. I tapped in for a bogey.

HOLE 3, Par 5: Hit a good 7 iron that put me in the middle of the fairway. Next shot was my 4h and landed me 15-20 yds right of the green in medium length rough. AGAIN, I'm hitting into a green that's rollling away from me. I landed it softly in the middle of the green, but it still rolled off. I don't think I've ever stuck the green from this side. A chip on that rolled a little further than I would like and I some how managed to 3 putt. WTF? a double bogey.

HOLE 4, Par 4: I aimed towards the center with my driver, but pushed it with a little cut on it and ended up right in low rough. No trees in my way and had around 140-145 left. I hit a good 9 iron that went a little right and had me on the fringe for a birdie putt. The pin was on the other end of the green so I had quite a lag left. Well, my ball hit a divot or bump or something coming off the fringe and managed to hit the only 3 leaves on the green on it's way to the hole. This left me about 12-15 feet short. I barely missed the par putt and tapped for a bogey.

HOLE 5, Par 4: Made a nice swing with my driver and hit one down the middle. It flew a little higher than I would like, but I still hit it about 270. I had about 80 yds left. This is my 56 degree full (which is 3/4), but the lie was very tight and I didn't want to blade it. I instead hit about a 65% gap wedge. I landed it just short of the green on the fringe. I hand the same thing happen again coming out of the fringe. It hit a little mound or something that totally killed the speed about 6 inches after the ball started rolling. Great. 2 more putts for another bogey. The putts on the green rolled nicely though.

HOLE 6, Par 4: This hole is weird because it looks wide open for a mishit right. But, if you go past 240 or so, you're in trouble because the hill on the right curves out and blocks your view to the green. Left off the tee is trees and water and OB. So, it's a tricky hole. I hit the ball straight but I was aimed more right than I should have been. Luckily I had a shot to the green. I seemed to be around 155-160 so I pulled my 8 iron. I hit a good shot but it drifted a bit left. Since this green is elevated it hit the side and bounced down. I chipped on and burned the edge of the cup with my par putt. Another bogey.

HOLE 7, Par 3: Moderately downhill 170-175 par 3. The tee's were back so, I figured my 7 iron should work. I struck my tee shot and it fell ok, but the sun was blinding at this point, so I hit a provisional ball in case I didn't find it. Well, they both landed the green, but at opposite ends. The provisional I saw roll and it was around 6 feet. The other was around 50 feet and the other end of the green. The pin is rarely in the back, so it was somewhat new to me. The hole looked like it was breaking well left. Well, it wasn't. There was a double break that you could easily see looking from the hole, but I missed it. So my ball went way way in the wrong direction and I still had 20 feet or so. I 4 putted this hole. 4!! A double bogey when I was starting with a birdie putt. Awesome.

HOLE 8, Par 4: Hit a good drive that left me in the right rough. I had probably 220-225 left to the green. I was going to hit my 4 hybrid, but the lie was good so I thought I'd try and hit my 3 wood. I hit it straight and with a nice penetrating flight. It clipped a couple leave going thru a tree, but I was confident it didn't alter the path too much. I got up to the green and it was sitting nicely in the sad trap. I never know what to do out of these things. I opened up the blade and made a 3/4 swing with my 56. It came out landed 5 feet from the hole and rolled on to the first little bit of fringe. I barely missed my birdie and tapped in for par.

HOLE 9, Par 3: Tee'd up my ball and hit a good shot with a nice easy 4h swing. It drifted right and left me pin high with a 5 or 6 yd chip to a pin that was probably 20 feet in from the edge. I pushed the chip a little and had about 8 feet for par. Came up about an inch or 2 short. Bogey.

Shot a 45, should have had under 40. Those doubles on 3 and 7 killed my score. In fact it was almost all shots from the green or just off the green that killed my score today. The bumps in the fringe were just bad luck, but I made a real mess out of 3 and 7. I should have par'd both and ended up with a double. On the positive side of things, my ball striking and driver are getting better every round. Once my ball was on the green, the putts were better. Outside of 20 feet I need to figure something out though. It's like I don't know what to do with those 40 footers.