The Hole Broke My Spirit

[darthweasel]

We all have good rounds and bad rounds. A personal best followed by 36 shots worse (yeah, I did that...79 to 105 in the same week). I can roll with the flow. Good rounds, bad rounds, doesn't matter...I have enough fun that numerous people have told me I was one of their favorite playing partners and numerous people have actually gotten my number, texted and requested to meet up for more rounds. It is golf. Stuff going to happen. I can roll with it, I am just out to have some fun.I am generally a lot of fun to golf with for most people.

 

So yesterday I was having a...weird round lets say. (by the end of it there would be a whopping 6 strokes not applied to the handicap reporting so there were some much worse than bogey holes...). With 7 pars. It was just...weird. But one hole actually broke me.

Coming off a bogey on the hole that is the toughest on the course for me, I felt like I was getting it all straightened out. #11 is...okay, reset. THIS is the toughest hole on the course. 428 yard par 4 with water that runs diagonally across the course ranging from about 150 yards out at a 45 degree angle to 265 yards or so at the left edge of the fairway. You need about 288 to reliably carry it off the tee. It requires a layup for most mortal golfers. 225 yards left center of fairway gives you a flat lie, no trees overhanging your next shot and is about as good a start as you can get but that leaves over 200 in to a green protected with sand on the left. I have parred it a few times but really a bogey is a really good score for me. My plan is typically to put it left center, take my 4h and be on or near the green, chip, 2-putt, take my bogey and move on. If I hit the 4h really well or have an above average chip then I make par.

I step up with my trusty 3h, it averages 214 yards overall and on this day went 257, 164 (hit a tree), 156, 249, 209, 224. When I get the tempo right, that is the long ones and on this swing I got the tempo right and I just blistered it, the perfect shot that was going to be a bit lengthier than average, down the left center, I was going to be perfectly set up, having visions of a 165 yard 8i into the green...until it hit the power lines.

Doesn't matter where it ends up, by rule I have to re-tee. I promptly hit the ugliest top I have hit all day, 45 degree angle right and so bad it does not reach the water. (this was the 156 chunk) But it leaves me a clean shot from right of the tree line. I grab a 3w...top it into the water. Move forward the 10 yards, drop, pull 5i...and dump it into the water just left of the last one. Move forward 10 yards, drop, pull 6i...and dropped it into the water 20 yards ahead of me. I have just dropped 3 balls in water that is not a consideration at all within 30 yards of each other.

 

I have hit a lot of bad shots in my time. In this round alone I managed to take a 285 yard drive down the center leaving a 120 3/4 PW in and turn it into a quad 8. Usually I just laugh (like, literally, laugh and make some comment on the quality of my game) and move on to the next shot. For whatever reason, this one completely broke me. Oh, not from a skill standpoint...I followed with an up and down par, a missed birdie putt tap in par, and another up and a fairway/green/long 2 putt par. In fact, it was in the middle of some decent play. Take away #11 and I was 2 over for the other 7 holes from #7 through 14, 5 pars and 2 bogeys, one of which had a 22' putt lip out and leave a 1" tap in for the bogey. Even including #11s train wreck, I was 7 over for an 8 hole stretch. Not great but not embarrassing.

 

But for whatever reason...that one just got me. First stretch of golf I have not enjoyed in quite some time, good, bad or indifferent. Today is first day in two weeks I will be passing on golf. Playing tomorrow...we will see how that goes. No real point to this other than the catharsis of reliving it, get it out of my system and get back to enjoying the game. Stupid power lines.

 

 

[Aguirre]

Three pars afterward? I guess we have different definitions of being broke. I can grant that it broke your "spirit," whatever the f*** that means. Bury your golf clubs in the back yard, don't hit hit your wife.

[CarlSpackler]

It happens. 

[knott]

Your spirit wasn´t broken for long. Every hole is a new hole I have a lot of holes I was completly broken on 🙂

[Patch]

If a hole kicks my butt, I can't blame it on the hole. It's all all on me..

One of the good things about having a good mental game is not letting a series of bad swings ruin the rest of the round. 

[darthweasel]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 11:59 PM, Aguirre said:

Three pars afterward? I guess we have different definitions of being broke. I can grant that it broke your "spirit," whatever the f*** that means. Bury your golf clubs in the back yard, don't hit hit your wife.

I think for me it was more...I did not enjoy the rest of the round. Did not want to go back out. Usually my enjoyment of a round is not so much related to how I play as to just being able to play. Usually I would be laughing about that display. It is not even my worst.

Fortunately, Saturday I got it back. Played...sub par but enjoyed it again. Laughed at the mis-hits instead of dwelling on them.

[DrvFrShow]

The 12th hole at my home course "broke my spirit." It did it consistently It's a par 4. If I play it as a par 4, I usually end up with a snowman. It's a 90 degree dogleg left and you can't cut the dogleg because of 100' pine trees, so you usually end up with a 180 yd shot into the green. Miss left and you're way below the green. Miss short and you're in the bunkers. Miss right and you're in a mess. Miss long and you're way below the green. 

I started playing the hole as a "par 5" with a 6 iron to reach the dog leg (normal), then a PW and followed by a 60 yd pitch shot. Two putts and walk off with a bogey. Strokes gained = 3. 

[knott]

Put a ball in the same water hazard three times did little for my spirit. First shot was just overoptimistic. Really bad lie with lots of bad angles but I was tired and just wanted to end the hole quickly. Still almost made it. Then dropping and going for my 56 degree blade which I hardly ever pitch with anymore. 

Manage a weak shot then another to not carry enough. So much for saving energy. But I was to tired to really care more three days of golf killing me.