9 holes - May 3, 2010

[anthony]

Played 9 holes at Pleasant Valley today. First 9 with my new grip and work on alignment. Before I talk about the golf, I'd like to address my range session last Friday. It was my second session with my new grip (neutral grip as opposed to my super weak grip that I wasn't aware of). The goal of the session was to work on my driver. I was hitting it all over the place, but on the last 20 balls something clicked. First, I got a good feeling of proper alignment. I can't explain it, but it felt like I was looking behind the ball. Second, I got a proper shoulder turn. I'm pretty flexible and always felt like I had enough shoulder turn, but I think I was getting disconnected with my right arm before. So, I made a turn that felt like I was facing the target with my back and then starting the downswing. That really helped me. It really felt like too much of a turn, but it worked because I drilled the last 20 straight.

Anyways, back to today. Here's how it went.

Hole 1, Par 5 : With last Friday's range session in mind, I lined up to the ball with my driver and made what felt like too much of a turn to me and proceeded to knock it down the middle of the fairway. I had about 200 yds left and hit my 4 hybrid. I caught it weird and hit a real low rocket. It just missed the sand trap and settled about 5 yds off the green. I had a chip that rolled down hill and it a nice chip with my 56. It rolled to about 6 feet and I burned the edge and 2 putted for par. Pretty good hole.

Hole 2, Par3 : This par 3 is around 160 yds and is a 7 iron for me. A regular 7 iron lands me in the middle of the green. I mishit this tee shot and landed about 15-20 yds short and a bit right. This landed me with about 12 yds of grass, a sand trap and then the green which rolls away and to the left. I hit what I thought was a perfect shot, but it just tagged the lip of the trap and took my ball. 1 more foot and it would have been ideal. I rarely hit sand shots and this one wasn't great, but it kinda line drived out and hit the rough and trickled down nicely by the hole. Lucky shot. I ended up with a double bogey.

Hole 3, Par5 : This is almost always a 3 shot par 5. Unless of course, you can hit a perfect draw off the tee. Generally, I hit 6 iron, 8 iron or 9 iron and then 9 iron. That can vary, but that's the case usually. Today my 6 iron was mishit a little and ended up short. It was still in the fairway, which is the most important thing on this hole since it's a very narrow fairway and OB left or a major downhill shot right. I hit my 7 iron next and had between a 9 and a PW left. I hit the 9, but swung a bit too hard and flew it. The rough on this course is no joke. Most of the courses I play, it's a little longer than the fairway, but they don't mess around here. Anyways, I was in the jungle of rough 15 yds past the hole. I hit my 56, but it was 2 yds short and I had another chip and 2 putted for a double. Ugh.

Hole 4, Par4 Pretty straight forward semi wide fariway with trees on both sides like every hole on this course. I pulled out the driver and hit a beautiful drive right down the middle. That's 2 perfect drives on the day. I still need a lot of practice, but this is encouraging. I had a PW left to the hole. The shot was pushed right pretty good and I had 25 yds left. I pitched my 56 up to around 6-8 feet. This was out of the mega rough that seems to be around every green here. I sunk the put for a par.

Hole 5, Par4 A slight dog leg right with water left. I hit a slice off the tee here. Not sure what happened exactly. I was playing out of 4's fairway at this point. I hit my 9 iron to the middle of the green. I almost sunk the birdie putt and tapped in for par. Not sure, but I think that was my first back to back pars ever.

Hole 6, Par4 This hole is a slight dog leg left, but isn't an issue really since the curve isn't an issue from the tee. The fairway opens up right for any slices and there is OB left. Luckily, I cranked a hook from hell left. My next tee shot was nice though. I had an 8 iron for my 4th which I some how put a beautiful draw on and landed the fringe on a green that gives me problems every time I play it. I two putted for a double bogey which wasn't too bad to be honest.

Hole 7, Par3 After a hike up the mountain to number 7 (yes, I walk) I had a 170 yd downhill par 3. This is a 7 iron for me. I could hit a 6 probably, but you DO NOT want to go long here. It will roll and roll and roll and you'll end up in 2 foot weeds. I've hit it over once or twice but I'm usually on or short, which is safe. I hit my 7 a little shitty and ended up 15 yds short. Well, the rough is thick here too and my pitch ended up a yard or two short. It was too long to putt from, so I chipped and went too long and ended up with a triple bogey.

Hole 8, Par5 This hole has probably the widest fairway along with hole #1. The problem is, every time I play this hole it's about 6:30 pm and the sun is square in front of me and I have no idea where my ball goes. No idea at all. If it's in the fairway, I can find it obviously. Also, if it hits any trees left or right I can usually here it. That's why I love playing here on cloudy days. Anyways, I step up to the ball and hit what feels like the drive of the day. The sound off the club was real nice and it felt perfect. You just know how a good shot feels. Anyways, I thought it was straight or possibly a little left. Seeing how the sun was in my eyes, I had no idea. I looked around for it, but with the length of this rough and the size of the fairway, I have no idea where to look. None, zero, zilcho. Which, is frustrating because I was certain I hit a good shot. So, I dropped a ball around 220 and played it as my 2nd. I know that's against the rules, but my ball was around there somewhere or quite possibly just past it in the rough. But, when you have absolutely no idea where to begin to start looking, I don't know what else to do. Anyways, I hit my 4h and clobbered it. I had a short pitch on to the green and 2 putted. I wrote par, but maybe it should have been a bogey. I don't know how to handle not knowing where the ball went.

Hole 9, Par3 : This is a 205 yd par 3. This hole was made for my 4h. I hit the green here more than any other par 3 on the course. Today was no different. I hit a perfect 4h on the front of the green. I had a 50 footer left as the pin was in the back. I thought I read it going left but I over read the put and ended up 6 or 7 feet right. I barely missed the putt and bogeyed.

All in all a pretty good 9 holes. Especially for this course. Even though I hit some good drives, I still don't have a lot of confidence stepping up the the tee with my driver and need to work on it. However, I am making progress, which is encouraging.