Arboretum Club 5-7-2010

[Dave H]

I played the Arboretum Club last Friday with my brother as part of his wedding weekend. It was definitely one of the most challenging courses I've played. It's somewhat short - only 6000 yards from the blue (they have blue and "champ" tees) and a slope of 133 from there. There was water on almost every hole. I managed to shoot 99 which isn't great, but I felt like I managed the course really well and putted well. I mostly hit my 4h off the tee which worked well, I hit 6 fairways which matches the most I've hit this season in a round. I did use my driver twice on par 5s that had no water and I didn't get into any real trouble, but the first shot went right and I had to take an abbreviated swing through some trees. I put myself in a good position to get on the green so it was okay. The second time I aimed left and it went straight as an arrow into some trees. Fortunately I was able to punch out with forward progress so again I was able to put myself in an ok spot. Overall though, I think I would have been just as wise to hit the 4h off the tee and be in the middle of the fairway. My best attribute was putting though, only 30 putts for me which is a new low for me. There were a number of putts that had the right line but came up a few inches short too. I was okay with that though because I feel like I'm gaining in my consistency and confidence with the putting stroke. Something I really struggled with last year.

So, why not a better score? Basically it comes down to miss hits and mistakes. I'm still making fairly poor contact with my irons, and when I do make good contact I'm struggling with accuracy. I had 2 shanks - 1 from an ok lie in the rough, hit it straight right into the pond next to me and 1 from a 170 yard par 3. That one I hit off the tee. Both were with my 6i but I don't think the club selection had anything to do with it. I also lost another ball in the water on the back 9 off the tee. The tee was elevated and the hole is a dog leg right with a pond next to it on the right and through it short of the green. I pushed my tee shot right and it carried about a foot into the water. After a while, the mistakes just start adding up.

The good news is that I went to the range last night and for the first time this year had a solid practice. I would say better than 95% of the balls I hit were with good contact and I was able to focus more on rhythm and tempo, tweaks, etc instead of wondering why I can't hit the little white ball

Next up is 9 holes tomorrow at Marovitz on the lake if the weather isn't total crap. I'm not too into this course because rounds can take a really long time there but the layout is cool and my buddies wanted to play it so I'm going to give it a go.