Best Shot of the Week - Page 164

A clean 40 yard or so approach that landed 8 feet from the pin.

Not particularly outstanding, it just felt really good. Contact was solid, I hit down well, took a divot after the ball, and the ball stopped not 12 inches from where it hit. Just a really solid, satisfying shot.

at the local muni, there is a short par 4 that's just a shade over 300 yards long, and it is almost impossible to keep your tee ball in the fairway because the entire hole is canted steeply to the right (it's built on a hillside).  today i hit the best drive i ever have on that particular hole (meaning that was my best drive ever for THAT hole, not my best drive ever).  the drive was 279 yards per my skycaddie, but it was straight up the center and actually held in the fairway instead of kicking/rolling down to the right.  i had 24 yards to the pin and was sitting directly in front of the green.  i honestly can't recall ever seeing anyone in that position on that hole in the 8 years i've been playing golf there.

I had a great one on a par 5 today, from about 130 yards or so. Needed to get up and down to save par after driving it into the trees. I hit a perfect 7 iron, which I actually thought went over the green, as the green was in the shade. When I walked up there, it was sitting just 3 feet from the cup, which I tapped in for the par :D.

 

But that was nothing compared to the next two. I'd been driving the ball fairly well all morning, so I thought I'd have a shot at hitting the ball over the trees on a dogleg, short par 4, playing about 300 yards. I thought it didn't have the carry, and I spent a few minutes looking around in the rough, in case it came up short. But then I looked over, and it was about 10 yards from the green, perfect position. That was beautiful.

 

I got out my wedge, and then did a chip and run, which was about 40-50 yards. It felt absolutely perfect, and it just rolled and rolled, until it dropped into the cup.

 

My first eagle ever :D (I've only had one birdie before too :p)

Had two really good shots today.  Hit the flagstick with an 8-iron on a 170-yard downwind par 3.  Of course, the ball ended up off the green after spinning back 30 feet.

 

Had a really tough bunker shot on the 17th.  It's a downwind, uphill 310-yard par-4 with a huge bunker short and another left of the green.  I ended up in the left greenside bunker after a good drive that didn't quite cut enough.  The ball was near the back lip with a decent lie, but I had to crouch severely and had my left foot outside the bunker.  I was about 50 feet from the hole, but had to go over a small mound on the left side of the green and the pin was on a spot that slopes pretty hard from back to front.  Hit a perfect blast that tumbled over the mound and broke down towards the hole, nearly going in, and finishing about 3 feet past and slightly below the hole. 

Yesterday at my little exec course, I sunk a pretty sweet putt for birdie. I was on the far left edge of the green and the flag was about 15 feet off the right edge. I estimated 35 feet, Google Earth says 45, so split the difference. This green has a tier running the width-wise just about exactly at the equator and it's riddled with anthills. I figured it was about a 10 inch break from left to right and I aimed at a gap between anthills that was about 3 feet away. It broke just a hair too much, but it caught the bottom edge and dropped. Since it was only my 2nd birdie ever and I was completely alone, I went into full Tiger mode. It'll be a looooong time before I sink another one like that.

My best shot of the day came from a deep greenside bunker.  It was one of those rare bunker shots when the ball comes out perfectly......splashed it out with perfect trajectory with some spin and the ball burns the edge of the cup.  Easy tap-in par.....

 

If's funny how when I pull a shot like off perfectly, I always question myself as to why I can't do it all the time...or at least more often!!  LOL...it seems so easy when the club enters the sand perfectly. 

 

 

After yesterday's disaster I headed out to play the front 9 of our muni. I hit a 147 yard 7 iron to get within 6 feet (in regulation) on the par-5 8th, then hit a 280 yard drive right down the pipe on 9. That's my longest drive ever!

My best shot of the day was my 2nd shot into a par5..............

It landed just short of the pin, took a big bounce and came to to rest a few inches into the rough off the back of the green.  My eagle chip was straight down a slope.....and I got a little TOO aggressive and goosed the chip 5 feet past and I proceeded to 2 putt for par.......

 

Oh well.....it was a sweet looking 2nd shot though!!

I had 3 different 9-iron shots from the rough go over trees for GIR this week. Yesterday I had 4 personal-best drives (292 being the best of the lot). Not a bad way to end the year.

My shot had to be a drive today.  Usually I don't really try to swing hard for fear of where the ball will end up.  The guys today all way bigger than me decided they wanted to do a long drive hole.  First guy really kills it but, hits it into the woods. I hit second and hit it really really well right down the middle little draw.  Last guy another one who is known to murder the ball rips one and looks at me and says sorry.  I said lets just wait.  Sure enough I was 10 yards in front of him.  Hole is pretty flat a little up hill and I hit it 329.  It was nice to hear him say he couldn't hit one any better and has no idea how I hit it past him.  Guess lessons are paying off.

I hooked my second shot on a par 5 into the left trees.  I had a little over 100 yards to the pin, bombed my gap wedge over the trees and into the upslope to the middle tier of the green and watched the ball bounce once, check and then trickle down just below the hole on the frst tier.   Of course I missed the 7 foot birdie putt. 

I was out with my bad luck charm of a friend yesterday on our mangy "resort" course. As is usually the case when I play with him, I was demonstrating my proficiency in slicing 150 yard drives, chunking wedge shots over the green and 4 putting and was generally having a crap day.

 

I focused what little positive juju I had left on the 200 yard par 3 hole. For some reason it just felt like I was due for a great shot as I stepped up to the tee with my 4-hybrid. I striped a beauty right down the middle, it hit about 3 feet in front of the hole, hopped twice and stopped about 10 feet above the hole. I was faced with a downhill right-to-left break on a green that was patchy, lumpy and half-covered in pine straw. Whatever... I just went into BEEST MODE and drained it for birdie.

My best shot so far this year was a 150yd shot from a fairway bunker to about 10 ft from the pin on a par 4. Of course I missed the birdie putt,but just a tap in for par.

24 foot putt with 5 ft of fringe & about 3 ft of break (was notable due to the amount of break).    Drained it.    First birdie of 2012.

 

Tie was a 30 ft chip with ball laying up practically against a big oak tree trunk - chipped it to 18".      That day, everything was working pretty well except for the wedges.     Hitting proper (non-fat) divots at the practice range is not translating to the course - becomming frustrating.

Played on Saturday with my Dad and his neighbor.  Par 5 12th, dogleg left.  Drive ran through the fairway into the rough.  There are some redwood trees scattered through the rough.  Try to hit a low 5 iron, which unfortunately clips a branch and only advances the ball about 40 yards.  There is a creek running left to right just short of the green, so my third shot was a layup since I botched my second.  Hit my 4th shot a little fat and come up short and right of the green, about 60 feet from the pin.  By this point I'm a bit frustrated by my lousy play on this hole.  I remind myself that I can still walk away with a bogey and regain my focus.  I play a 9 iron bump and run hoping to get close.  I hit the shot well, and it tracks all the way to the hole and falls in the cup! 

 

It was a very ugly par, but that chip in just felt awesome.

I hit a drive the way I wanted to.  That was easily the best shot.

Hit a few nice ones yesterday.

 

First one was a ~40 ft putt, with about 10 feet of break to the right. I hit the putt, very nice pace, but I thought it would fall below the hole. I started walking towards the ball, and as soon as I did, it dropped right into the cup for birdie.

 

The next was a perfect 6 iron shot on the 10th (~160yd uphill par 3). It stopped about 6 feet past the hole, and I made that one for birdie too.

 

A few blowup holes, and losing concentration on the back nine messed up my round though. I only hit one fairway with my driver >_>  

played yesterday couldnt move a drive to save my life but the putter shined. Had six putts that scored over 15 feet. three dropped beautifully from the side of the cup. Three hit the back of the jar. Two were sand par saves. fun golf