A Practice Round with my 10 Year Old Son

[Fairway_CY]

It was a nice day and I decided that with my wife having plans that night, I'd take my son to the local county course and try to get a few holes in before dark. I hadn't touched a club in 10 days and was beginning to miss the game, so any time spent on the course would be a bonus for me.

My 10 year old son has been out with me for some 9 hole rounds a few times in the past and after some recent visits to the range, I'd seen some improvement, so I was hoping it'd translate into better scores for him. For myself, I was just hoping to continue the recent trend of playing fairly well and not have to go back to the drawing board after a fairly long layoff. Below is how my day went.

Hole 1 = Pull-hooked my driver over the fairway trap but didn't have any idea where it had ended up. I knew it was in the trees, and it was pretty open, so I didn't bother hitting a provisional. When I got up there, my ball was much further up than I had anticipated and I had about 125 yards to the hole, but the green was blocked. I punched a 9 iron up by the green that ran JUST through the fairway. My chip shot was skulled over the green. I then chipped up to 35 feet and took 3 putts from there for an opening triple bogey.

Hole 2 = This hole has always been a nemesis of mine... it's not long, but the drive is tight. I hit my 3 wood and popped it up but it still got out there pretty far. I had about 170 to the green and I hit a 5 iron into the wind that came up just short. I putted on from the fringe and then tapped in for a par.

Hole 3 = A par 3 playing at 170 with traps on either side of the green. My 6 iron landed right in the middle of the green but left me over 40 feet. I needed 3 putts from 42 feet and posted an ugly bogey after a good tee shot.

Hole 4 = I hate this hole. It's a double dogleg (left then right) with the initial dogleg only being about 200 yards out. I hit a 21 degree hybrid that found the fairway, but then I topped my 5 iron and left myself about 200 yards to the green. I needed to play around a tree on the corner of the dogleg and hit the shot perfectly, but it clipped the tree and kicked into the woods. I chopped it out, then hit a gap wedge just off the right side... chipped up and needed 2 putts from 9 feet when my initial putt burned the edge. Another triple bogey.

Hole 5 = I hit a good drive into the middle of the fairway which left me a perfect 9 iron to the green. I completely messed up that shot, hitting the top of the ball with the bottom of the club and driving it directly into the ground... it popped out and rolled about 7 yards. I couldn't believe I did that... then hit a pitching wedge right at the pin, but a little long... 2 putts from 16 feet gave me another bogey.

Hole 6 = I thought I hit my 3 wood well, but it died off at the end and landed in the fairway bunker on the right. I needed 2 shots to get out of there and I STILL had about 145 to the hole. My 7 iron from the rough landed on the back left side of the green. Severe downhill putt did NOT run as I planned and I left it 17 feet short. I dropped that for another double bogey.

Hole 7 = This hole was playing about 140 yards downhill, at least according to my GPS. I hit a perfect 8 iron that ended up about 10 yards short. I hit a flop shot with my sand wedge that left me 33 feet... and I needed 3 putts from there for another double bogey.

Hole 8 = Hit a great drive on the dogleg right but it caught a tree branch and I never found it. Provisional was in the right rough... hit a 21 degree hybrid that I pulled into a hazard. I dropped and then thinned a 7 iron just short of the green. My chip settled 2 feet away and I tapped in for my 3rd triple bogey of the day.

Hole 9 = This par 4 is listed as 332, but I'd say it was playing closer to 315. It's a dogleg left with a creek that splits the fairway at about 215 yards out. The normal (smart) play is the hit a long iron to the end of the fairway before the creek, and then you're left with a wedge or 9 iron to the green. If you carry the creek straight ahead, you're in thick rough. The only way to carry the creek and find the fairway is the either hit a big draw or to hit it at or just over the trees at the dogleg. I chose to try and hit it just to the right of the trees, but I pulled it a bit. Luckily it was high enough to carry the trees and I ended up in the middle of the fairway with only about 45 yards left. My wedge was tugged long and left... and I putted from the fringe to about 6 feet, but I ran that by and settled for a closing hole bogey.

All in all, I didn't play horribly... I just had some shots that I wrote off to the heat, having my son with me and having not touched a club in 10 days. The final score was a 52, which put me at +6 for a net score. Not exactly what I had in mind for a leisure round... but I know what I need to work on for my next club round in 2-1/2 weeks.

My son played surprisingly well. I had him tee off from the fairways at predetermined distances:

Par 3's were 75 - 125 yards
Par 4's were 150 - 200 yards
Par 5's were 225 - 275 yards

He ended up playing from about 1700 yards yesterday and shot a 73. That's a pretty good score for him... and it could have been much better, but there were several holes he needed 4 or 5 putts to finish up after reaching the green in 3 or 4 strokes. He's got to work on putting, first and foremost if he wants to improve (which he says he does)... but as long as he's having fun, it's all I care about.

'Til next time...

CY

[James_Black]

I started playing on the course when I was 11, I was a bit too young to play off the womens tees though.

Your idea for the different holes is a good one.

The long game is the most fun to practice, keep him at that until he wants to practice his short game.