36 Holes in 2 Days = Personal Golf Marathon

[Fairway_CY]

Yes... I've played 36 holes or more in 2 days before. It's not anything NEW to me... but, it's definitely not expected so... when it happens, it's kind of like Christmas for me. In this instance, it was a complete surprise. I had my club round scheduled for Sunday, and despite some iffy weather... we got the round in just fine. As I sat down in my recliner upon arriving home from the round on Sunday, my phone lit up with a text message from a friend I haven't played a round of golf with in about 10 months. He wanted to know if I'd be interested in playing on Monday. Seeing as how I'd just played and I'd promised my wife I'd get some stuff done around the house on Monday... I told him I'd speak to my wife and get back to him. In the end, she had no issue with me going out for another round on Monday... so - I called him up and we set an early tee time for Monday at a course that I've been waiting to play for the last 2 years or so.

Sunday's round was with the club I belong to. We played a course that has 3 courses (9 holes each) that they can rotate. Luckily, our club had booked the 2 that were better maintained (or so I heard). I'd never played there prior to Sunday, so I was a little skeptical. Having only 2 sets of tees to really choose from (6,729 yards or 6,060 yards)... the club chose the shorter option, giving more guys in the club (handicaps ranging from 3.0 up to 36.0) an opportunity to score well. My day had it's ups and downs, but in the end... I was happy. The breakdown is below (match status in parenthesis):

No. 1 - Short opening hole. 18 degree hybrid was thinned but split the middle. Pitching wedge was pushed a bit right and left a tough chip. I left that 11 feet short with a big right-to-left break. That missed the edge and rolled by to 3 feet. Made that for bogey. (Even)

No. 2 - Toughest hole on the front side, IMO. Topped a 3 wood. Hit another 3 wood fat from the rough. Layed up with a 9 iron. Skulled a sand wedge. Left a chip 20 feet short. 3 putted from there for a quadruple bogey. Ouch. (1 Down)

No. 3 - Medium length par 3. I hit my 7 iron and it leaked right on me. Landed between two traps. Sand wedge over the greenside trap left me 12 feet. Putt burned the edge again. Made the bogey putt. (Even)

No. 4 - First of back-to-back par 5 holes. Driver was ugly, but efficient. Left me a long way away so I laid up with a 5 iron. Pitching wedge settled 12 feet away. 3 putts from there for bogey. I hate missing tiny putts. (1 Up)

No. 5 - Shorter of the par 5 holes on the front side. Another hook with my driver put me in the rough. 21 degree hybrid set me up nicely but my sand wedge was short. Putted from off the green to 9 feet and needed 2 more putts from there for bogey. (1 Up)

No. 6 - Long par 3 listed at 219. Played a LITTLE shorter, but still long. 18 degree hybrid leaked right and landed in the trap. Blasted out of there to 7 feet and made the par putt. Freakin' finally! (2 Up)

No. 7 - Played my driver to draw... but it stayed straight. Luckily it was short too. Fairway from about 143 and my 7 iron that I tried to lay off was thin. Pitched over a trap and 2 putted from 11 feet for bogey. (3 Up)

No. 8 - Short par 4 but it was open so I went with driver. Hooked it AGAIN but it was safe. Left me about 85 yards. Pitching wedge to 25-30 feet. Drained the putt from the lower tier for birdie. Putter was coming alive and I was feeling GOOD at this point. (4 Up)

No. 9 - Tiny little par 3 that was listed at 124 but was playing 115 with a helping wind. Nearly an island green (no water directly in front though). Pitching wedge hit 2 feet left of the hole, bounced right and finished 10 feet away. 2 putts for par after the birdie putt hung on the lip. (5 Up)

NOTES - My partner (as evidenced by the 5 Up lead) pretty much caved after the 5th hole. I was 2 under net par heading to the back nine. I knew I'd need a great round (in the 5 or 6 under range) to contend. My goal on the back was to try and pick up another 3 strokes or so.

No. 10 - Par 4 with trouble left the whole way. 3 wood off the tee was perfect and left me about 125 to the pin. I didn't account for the wind and came up short with a 9 iron. Chipped on to about 20 feet and needed 3 putts for double bogey after a HORRIBLE first putt. (5 Up)

No. 11 - Straightaway par 4 with no real trouble to contend with. Driver found the middle of the fairway, but short. 7 iron was a bit heavy. Pitching wedge to 8 feet with ANOTHER putt that peeked in but rolled only a few inches by. Tap in for bogey. (5 Up)

No. 12 - A par 3 listed at 188 that played more like 165. My 6 iron looked great off the club but drifted right again. Splashed into a greenside trap. Ugly shot out of there to 24 feet. Left that 8 inches short. Tap in for bogey. (6 Up)

No. 13 - I crushed my driver off the tee (first GOOD drive all day) to 256 yards. I was left with about 235 to the middle... 220 to the front. My 3 wood was hit very well, but pushed. Chipped up to a foot and tapped in for birdie. Game over. (7 Up - Match Done)

No. 14 - I got too confident in my driver and overswung resulting in another hook. Hacked a 5 iron away from a hazard. 8 iron lay up. Pitching wedge short. Chip to 5 feet. Left the putt short by an inch. Tap in for double bogey - net par. Damnit... that was my shot at winning.

No. 15 - Hit my 3 wood off the toe and it went WAY right. Found it in the rough before the 16th fairway. 8 iron to the left side of the green just outside a trap. Only play I had. Chip to 17 feet. Missed badly. Made 3 footer for bogey. Sitting at 3 under net par.

No. 16 - Good 3 wood down the middle of the fairway left me about 125 or so. Pin was tucked behind a trap but I went for it. Worked out well when it drifted to the right of the trap and hit the green. 24 footer for birdie hung on the lip. Tap in for par - net birdie. 4 under net par.

No. 17 - Teed the ball up too high and skied it AND hooked it. Only shot was a punch out. 8 iron was the perfect distance but rolled off the left of the green and left me an awkward lie. Chip to 8 feet and I missed ANOTHER one my a hair. Tap in for double bogey - net bogey. 3 under net par.

No. 18 - Closing hole par 3 listed at 172 and playing about 165. Hit a 6 iron a little heavy and it ended up just off the edge of the green. Putted from off the green to 7 feet and flat out missed the par putt. Tap in for bogey - net par.

Notes - I finished my day at 3 under net par. Gross 88. Net 68. Not bad, but not good enough. Winner posted net 64 (best winning score of the year so far). I haven't seen final standings for the tournament, but... I believe I ended up 4th or 5th.

So... after that round, I now stand tied for 2nd place in singles with a 5-1-0 record. The leader is sitting at 5-0-1 after a halve on Sunday. In doubles (although I'm without a partner right now)... I'm tied for 5th with a 4-1-1 record. The leaders (in a 2 way tie) have 5-0-1 records and are followed by another pair of teams with 4-0-2 records.

See comments for Monday's Round... (blog entry tool trucated my message).

[Fairway_CY]

Monday's round was more of a practice round than anything. We play a tournament at this course later in the season and, as I mentioned earlier, I've REALLY been wanting to get to this course for awhile. It was just my friend and I in the group... but we were stuck behind a pretty slow moving foursome who didn't bother to let us play through until it was too late to matter. Even still... we finished in about 5 hours. Decent weather... but nothing spectacular. We played from tees listed at 6,407 yards. On to the details:

No. 1 - Opening hole par 5. Blind tee shot. I hit a good fade with my driver but it kicked off the sloping fairway into the rough. 5 iron lay up left me an 8 iron in. That funneled to the front of the green leaving me 62 feet for birdie. Piece of cake 2 putt for par.

No. 2 - The hook reared its ugly head here. I ended up in the rough of the 3rd hole. Hacked a 5 iron to about 80 yards away then put my sand wedge on the green from there. 15 footer was pulled and short. I missed a 5 footer for bogey and settled for double bogey.

No. 3 - Disgusting 226 yard par 3. I hit a 3 wood off the tee. On a par 3. Hit it well, but didn't swing hard. Left it short. Skulled a wedge into a hazard. Played it from there to behind the green. Chipped to 10 feet and 2 putted for a triple bogey.

No. 4 - Tought I hit a perfect drive. When we got up to where the ball should have been... it wasn't. Instead, it was in the left rough. Whatever. Pulled a 5 iron to the left. Pitched to 10 feet and made the par putt. Stopped the bleeding. Back to even par net.

No. 5 - Another hook. This one seemingly went OB. Never found it. Provisional split the fairway. 21 degree hybrid lay up left me 145. 7 iron was on target but got a bad kick to the back of the green. 2 putts from 14 feet for a double bogey... net par though.

No. 6 - Drop kicked a driver just shy of 200 yards. 5 iron was hit well but left it short. Pitch was ugly and left short. Putted from off the green to 3 feet and tapped in for a bogey.

No. 7 - Downhill par 3 listed at 186 and playing about that because the pin was all the way back. I hit an easy 5 iron... too easy. Left myself and 87 foot putt. Took 3 from there. I was actually okay with that.

No. 8 - Shortest par 4 on the course listed at 331 yards. 18 degree hybrid to the middle of the fairway. Misjudged the uphill shot and left a 9 iron short. Chipped to 14 feet and 2 putted for a bogey.

No. 9 - Nice little par 3 to close out the front side. 8 iron was directly on target but not long enough. Hit the green but left 29 feet. Another 3 putt from there for a bogey. I was getting frustrated with my putter.

Notes - I finished the front side at even par net. Without the 3rd hole hiccup, I'd have been sitting pretty well. My putting was off... 19 putts on the front side... but, otherwise, I felt okay.

No. 10 - The 3rd and final hook of the day for me resulted in ANOTHER tee shot OB. Provisional found the left rough... and my 7 iron went a little long. Chip was flubbed. 2 putts from 34 feet for a triple bogey. Son of a...

No. 11 - Dogleg right par 4 with the 2nd shot being downhill. Driver was smoked 257 yards to the middle. I laid off an 8 iron that came up 30+ yards short. Pitch ran off the back of the green. Chipped to 3 inches and tapped in for bogey.

No. 12 - Another downhill par 3. This one listed at 182 but with a drop off of about 140 feet (per the course description). I hit a 7 iron very well, but a little wind held it up. It landed JUST off the front of the green. Chipped to 7 feet. Par putt stopped on the lip. Tap in for bogey.

No. 13 - Hung my drive out to the right and it bounced off a cart path into a lateral hazard. Drop left me a crappy lie. 21 degree hybrid put me back in the fairway. 8 iron approach rolled off the front of the green. Putted from there to 8 feet. 2 more putts for a double bogey.

No. 14 - Final par 3 on the course. 196 according to the marker at the tee. Uphill a good way. Smoked the 18 degree hybrid and it hit the front of the green and stopped. 3 putts from 83 feet. Ugly, ugly first putt is what resulted in the bogey. I was 2 over net par at this point.

No. 15 - I chickened out DURING my swing and severely pulled my driver to the LEFT part of the split fairway. Crushed a 3 wood and then hit a great 9 iron that kicked off a slope on the green. 48 feet for birdie was 13 feet short. Made that for par - net birdie.

No. 16 - A drive that I THOUGHT I killed only went 211 yards but split the fairway. Long way home. 21 degree hybrid was fat. Skulled a sand wedge from the fairway that got lucky and ended up just off the green. Putted from there to 2 feet and tapped in for bogey. Back to level par net.

No. 17 - Bombed my drive 258 yards but it caught the rough. 8 iron floated to the right a bit on me and left me with a severe downhill stance. Pitch was NEARLY perfect but it got caught up at the last instance. Putted from off the green to 5 feet and made the bogey putt.

No. 18 - Another great drive... on a rope, uphill... 241 yards. I hit an UGLY 6 iron that worked out really well as it caught the green and funneled towards the pin. I was left with 48 feet. That putt was 15+ feet short. Missed that one too. Then another. 4 putts for double bogey.

Notes - I finished at 1 over net par. Gross 94. Net 72. Overall, not a bad round. I had a couple shots I wish I could have a do-over on... but, otherwise, I was pleased.

My handicap will now drop from 18.9 to 17.9 as of the next revision (released Wednesday). This drops me 5.1 strokes from April 1st when I began the season as a 23.0 handicap. I'm happy that my game seems to be back to the level it was at almost a month ago. Since then, I've had some severe up and down moments (88, 89, 90, 91 coupled with 100, 101). This score today, although not my best, makes me believe that I'm near the end of my 'immediate improvement' period and I'll now level off and possibly drop my handicap at a normal rate. If I can continue to shoot scores in the 88-93 range, I'll be happy. I DON'T want to see the 95 and above scores... but I'd be very happy to see an 85 in the near future.

I'll be off the course until probably June 6th. In the mean time... I'm going to take some time to focus on some other things... and then, next week... I'll work on my putting and hit the range. Hopefully I can get myself into contention at the next outing. More than that, however... I'm going to continue to focus on my singles matches and hope the leader falters along the way.

'Til next time...

CY