3 Weeks... 6 Victories

[Fairway_CY]

So, I had posted this in the forum... because it seems that very few read these blogs, and even fewer respond... but, I had one helluva Sunday at the golf course. It was the 3rd week of our club season, and going in... I was 2-0 as a single, and my partner and I were 2-0 as a team. Through the first 2 weeks, I hadn't really been challenged in our matches. Week 3, it was supposed to change. I was facing the player who, quite possibly, is the best in the club as far as match and tournament play goes. He's been in the club for only 2 years... this being his 3rd year... and he's won 3 of the possible 4 'major titles' the club plays for (Singles, Doubles, Club Champion and Players Champion). As a team, we were basically given a 1 in 10 chance to beat them (even though they were coming off a loss) and as a single, I was given even worse odds.

The weather forecast was not a real favorable one. As of Saturday night, they were calling for some pretty nasty rain throughout the day Sunday. By Sunday morning, however... the forecast had improved and the rain was supposed to move out by mid-morning. When I got to the course, I was the 2nd of our group to arrive. The other guys showed shortly afterwards... and as our tee time approached, the rain DID slow. My partner and I decided to hit the range, but shortly after we purchased our range balls from the pro shop... we were told by the starter that our tee time had been bumped up by nearly 40 minutes. With no time to warm up... I was feeling a little off, but... I took the balls back to the pro shop and got my money back, and then made my way to the first tee.

In my match, I was receiving 23 strokes and my opponent was receiving 9 strokes. This gave me a stroke against him on each of the first 14 handicap holes. Early on... the singles match was tight. We traded holes and halves and just really played a SOLID match during the early stages. On the 4th hole, my favorite of all the holes I've played here in Jersey, my 9 iron tee shot soared towards the pin and landed 8 inches to the left, hole high, leaving a ball mark just to the left of the hole... it then rolled out to 8 feet. I missed the birdie putt, but made my par. It was as close as I had ever come to an ace and I couldn't help but think how cool it would have been to make my first ace on that hole. As the round wore on... little things began to happen that gave me the confidence I needed to beat my opponent.

The first thing that signaled it may be my day was on the 8th hole. It's listed as a 191 yard par 3, but it plays WELL down hill and the tees were up a bit. My opponent had asked my partner what the distance to the hole was... and my partner mistakenly told him it was 210 yards. That was what the GPS on the cart was saying... about 20-30 yards BEHIND the tee. As my opponent teed it up, I noticed he had what appeared to be a hybrid or a high-loft fairway wood. He cranked the ball and it flew the green and into the woods by a good 35-40 yards. My 6 iron landed on the left side of the green about 40 feet from the pin. I ended up with a par and my opponent, after a shot from the drop zone, carded a triple bogey. That put me 1 up on him and with halves on the 9th and 10th holes... that's where it stood as we reached the 11th.

For the first time all day, I completely lost a drive. I had only missed 2 fairways on the front... 1 was because I THOUGHT there was fairway in a spot I aimed the ball, but it turned out to be rough (blind tee shot) and the other MAY have been in the fairway, but where the ball ended up, it was very difficult to tell... so I marked it as being in the rough (there was an area of ugly looking grass that appeared to be IN the fairway, but since it was just off the rough and it was a similar length to the 1st cut and was NOT marked as ground under repair, I assumed it was rough). Anyway... on the 11th, my drive went WAY right and crossed all the way to the other side of the adjacent fairway. My hybrid from there was well right of my target and ended up in some fescue next to the 12th tee. When we found my ball... it was in a bad spot. I SHOULD have taken an unplayable drop, but decided to try and hack it out... and I just made things worse. So THEN I took the unplayable penalty, flubbed the shot and then chipped on and 2-putted for an ugly quadruple bogey that put my match back to all square.

As we reached the 12th tee... I was steaming because of how poorly I had played the previous hole. I was last out of the cart because I stayed behind to cool off. I had initially pulled a 9 iron, but then I thought it may be too much. As I watched the others in my group tee off... they kept coming up short. I still felt like my pitching wedge would be enough... so I stuck to my selection. My tee shot took off in the exact direction I wanted it to... and I thought maybe it may come up a bit short. As it fell, it looked better and better and then, it hopped once, rolled a little to the left and then tracked for the hole. One of the guys in my group said it was going in, but I didn't believe it. Then... it disappeared! My first career ace! I won (obviously) the closest to the pin on that hole AND put myself back up 1 hole in my match.

The following hole, I bombed my drive and put an 8 iron just 18 feet from the hole and 2-putted for a par, giving myself a 2 up lead AND closing out our doubles match (6 & 5) in the process to improve us to 3-0 on the year. I parred the 14th after a poor tee shot and a well played chip put me 3 up and then, on the 15th tee... my drive was absolutely killed, and even though it was uphill... the wind behind my back helped and put my drive at 258 yards, leaving me a little over 210 to the hole. My hybrid was chunked... and my wedge, which I played to kick off a hill, got caught up in some repair work short of the green. I chipped up to about 3 feet... but my par putt caught the right edge and spun out, leaving me to take a bogey and fall back to 2 up with 3 holes left.

On the 16th, my opponent lost his footing on the tee box and flat out hooked his ball... but it caught the fairway and left him a LONG way to go. My drive left me just over 125 to the hole. He topped his approach, then put his 3rd shot in the greenside trap. Meanwhile, my 9 iron came up short and right and my pitch rolled off the green. It took him 3 shots to close out the hole from the trap and I got down in 2, winning the hole AND closing out the match. We still had 2 holes to play for the low net title. My tee shot on 17 was my best of the day. A slight draw off the fairway bunkers that finished up at 268 yards and gave me a little over 230 to the green. I got my 3 wood a little heavy and had about 40 yards or so to the hole. I hit a VERY poor wedge from there and 3-putted from 32 feet (missed a 5 footer for par when I got distracted after my opponents were talking about the ace) and made a bogey. 18th hole tee shot was decent too, finishing at 259 yards and in the right side of the fairway. It left me a tough angle to the pin, but that didn't matter as my 6 iron was F-A-T and came up short of the trap fronting the green. This left me with a tough little shot over the bunker which I left about 11 feet short of the pin. I missed that putt and then tapped in to close out the round with another bogey.

In the end, I broke 90 for the first time in my career... shooting a gross score of 89 and a net score of 66. The 66 net put me in a tie for first, which I won on a match of cards. Unfortunately... I won't go down on record as the winner as this was my final 'ineligible' round (club mandated 3 round handicap verification period) but I DO pick up the 'Ryder Cup' points for the win (100 for first) and that moves me in to the lead through 3 of 14 weeks with a total of 180 points. I'm also sitting in the lead for low net scoring with a 70.00 average right now and am 1 of only 2 guys in the club to be 3-0 as a single and part of a 3-0 team.

Next week is going to be a bit tougher as my partner is gone and I will be forced to play our opponents paired with a blind score of net 83 (which actually isn't far off from what my partner has been shooting so far this season). There is only 1 week between rounds this time, instead of the 2 week period between the first few rounds... so it gives me less time to prepare... but I'll be ready.

I'll be back on Friday with a Week 4 preview.

'Til then...

CY

[sean_miller]

Is an average net score 70.00 even possible?

[Fairway_CY]

Why would it not be possible? I've shot:

99 - 26 = 73 Net
97 - 26 = 71 Net
89 - 23 = 66 Net

73 + 71 + 66 = 210

210 divided by 3 = 70.00

[sean_miller]

I forgot your handicap had dropped once in there. Based on your scoring, your handicap is likely to take another plunge.

[Fairway_CY]

Yeah... as of yesterday, I've calculated it to drop to a 19.5 on Tuesday when the revision is released. I think it'll end up settling in the 18 range by mid-year. Feels good to be dropping. Haven't played this well in my life... I just hope I maintain it.