The TST Member Tournament Play Thread

[saevel25]

Shot a 99 in my first tournament in years. Short game was a mess. I had three drives, two with stroke and distance and one with a lateral hazard. For the most part, I had iron shots with good look at a GIR. I just didn’t hit many greens and took way too many extra short game shots and three putted to many greens. I think I had zero scrambling with over half of them requiring a 2nd short game shot. 

[David in FL]

49 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Shot a 99 in my first tournament in years. Short game was a mess. I had three drives, two with stroke and distance and one with a lateral hazard. For the most part, I had iron shots with good look at a GIR. I just didn’t hit many greens and took way too many extra short game shots and three putted to many greens. I think I had zero scrambling with over half of them requiring a 2nd short game shot. 

A 99?!
 

Ok, two thumbs up for posting it here!  👍👍

 

[Yukari]

99???  Wow!  That's shocking given your HI.

Just goes to show how difficult and fickle this game is.

[bkuehn1952]

I have been playing in the City of Livonia golf championship the past couple years. As a "super senior" we get to play the forward tees at 5.300 yards.  Driver-wedge and reachable par 5's are the general rule, I have had some success finishing 2nd low Gross two years ago and then 1st low Net last year. The winner of the low Gross each year has been Bill H.  Well, I got the better of Bill H this year and won the low Gross competition for "super seniors." Two day total of 154.  Won in a playoff with a birdie on the first hole.

I am presently evaluating offers from the LIV Golf Tour.😉

[The Flush]

My 19 year old son is not a TST member, but he won our local course's club championship this summer.  It was net stroke play to set up a 4 man net match tournament. He was in a 3 way tie for 3rd in stroke play and won the tie breaker round. He won the 1st match play round 3 and 2 (forget what he shot and had to give a couple stokes) and then won the finals 1 up with his best round ever on this course, a -4 67 where he had to give 5 strokes to a guy who also shot his career best, a 74 IIRC. He probably wouldn't have made it through stroke play if it was gross, but he was playing as a 4 and it made the difference. 

His prize is a course membership for next year.  I am trying to make sure it is a family membership so I can play as well.  Or if he works at the course again next year maybe he can just give it to me.

[NM Golf]

A couple weeks ago I played in The Greater Albuquerque Men's City Championship. I turned 50, so I was able to play in the Senior Championship flight. Three days at the three different city municipal courses. I hit it very well, but I putted terribly (13 three putts in 3 days).  I still tied for first, but unfortunately I lost the playoff when the other guy hit it to 6 inches on the first hole. 

[Big C]

Hi all. I haven't posted here in awhile. Partly due to work and partly due to kids activities eating into my weeks, I just haven't thought about golf as much as I used to. 

While I haven't been grinding on my game very much, I still get out a few times a month and play (mostly mediocre) golf. But I played the round of my life in our member/member tournament last weekend so I wanted to jump back on to TST and brag about it for a bit😉

Set up: I came into the weekend sporting a 7.4 index, but this tournament was played at my 6 month low index, which was a 6.1. Day 1, I shot an uninspiring 86 so needless to say my expectations were not too high. Day 2 was played from the white tees and my index converted to a whopping 4 handicap strokes. I would have been thrilled just to shoot net par that day. But sometimes the stars align and Day 2 was one of those days. Somehow I managed to shoot a 2-under par 70, even with a triple on the 18th hole. Here was the breakdown

Hole 1: GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 2: GIR -2 putt par

Hole 3: GIR - Sink a 20 foot birdie putt (1 - under)

Hole 4: Par 5, I reach the greenside in 2. Chip to 4 feet and make the birdie (2 - under)

Hole 5: Hooked my drive but get lucky to have an opening between the trees. Hit my approach just short of the green. Sink a 60 foot putt from the fringe (3 - under)

Hole 6: GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 7: Drive left. Poor recovery shot. Can't get up and down. Bogey (2-under)

Hole 8: GIR to 5 feet. Sink the birdie (3 - under)

Hole 9: GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 10: N-GIR. Fairly easy up and down for par

Hole 11: GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 12: GIR - sink a 35 foot curling putt for birdie (4-under)

Hole 13: N-GIR - Easy up and down from just off the fringe

Hole 14: GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 15: Hook a drive way left. VERY lucky to have an opening in the tree lined fairway. Capitalize with a good iron. GIR - 2 putt par

Hole 16: Slice a drive way left. Lucky again, I'm so far off line I can play over the trees. GIR - 2 putt par. 

Hole 17: GIR - Sink a 40 foot birdie putt (5-under)

Hole 18: Par 5 and I hit a solid drive, albeit pulled slightly left. I have about 210 to the green center. The lie is tricky - out of rough and sitting on a slight downslope. The green is guarded by a pond short and right. The sensible play is to punch a 7 iron to 60-70 yards and wedge it up to the flag. But I have visions of a 65 or 66 so I pull my 4 iron. Guess what happens next? I get a bit quick on the downswing, shut the face and pull my shot about 20 yards left of my intended line. I find it near a boundary fence with maybe 6 inches of clearance between the two. Crap. Again, the sensible play is to take an unplayable drop, try to get up and down for par and take bogey at worst. Instead, I try the shot and whiff (WTF?). I try again and barely graze the top of the ball, squirting it about 5 yards sideways and on to the cart path. After taking my drop, I realize my head is spinning and I am losing my mind-body connection. I proceed to hosel shank my 5th shot about 15 yards sideways, narrowly avoiding the water that protects the front right of the green. Now it's just damage control mode. I'm still 10 yards off the green, but I take my putter anyway and whack the ball with hands that now feel like stone. It ends up 15 feet from the cup, which feel like a success. I do my best to focus over the double bogey putt, but the magic is gone - I miss and tap in for my 8. 

Random observations: 

- I matched the best ever round of my life (in one of club's biggest tournaments, no less), and I walked off the 18th green feeling like someone had shot my dog. Golf is capable of some truly amazing highs and lows.

- I will probably never putt this well again in my life. Aside from the 150+ feet of made putts on holes 3, 5, 12 and 17, I had a couple of lag putts from outside 25 feet that brushed inches by the hole. I had 27 putts and had no serious danger of 3 putting all day long.

- If a few bounces go a different way on a couple of my wayward drives, I'm probably looking at a score 2 shots higher. I credit myself for making the most of those opportunities when I did have unexpected looks at the green, however. 

- I learned something new about the USGA handicapping system. Apparently my differential met the criteria for an "exceptional" score, which is defined as one that is more than 7 strokes under your current index. As a result, I get the privilege of having every one of my last 20 rounds adjusted down by one stroke. Instead of that round taking me down from a 7.4 to a 6.5, I find that I am now a 5.5 index thanks to the additional stroke reduction. Great news if i am trying to get to scratch. Not so great for my next handicapped event, lol. 

- I had 13 GIR and 3 N-GIR where I was able to use a putter from the fringe. Whoever it was that said GIR is king is right - the game feels a whole lot easier when you are putting for birdies all day long. 

- I have never shot a round in the 60's and part of me is still kicking myself for letting the best opportunity I will probably every have to go low slip away from me. But at least it makes for a hell of a story. 

And as for the tournament itself, my 70/net 66 combined with my partner's net 78 took low team honors for Sunday and vaulted us up from 14th in our flight into a tie for 1st place. All in all, it was a very memorable day.

 

Edited Thursday at 06:01 AM by Big C
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