The TST Member Tournament Play Thread

[David in FL]

Another County Senior tourney on Sunday. 81. 4 over on 3 of the par5's and a triple on the relatively benign par-3 17th. 2 over for the remaining 14 holes. "A" Flight (3-7 hcp) winner shot 78. :doh:

[Big C]

Our 2 day member/member tournament takes place in a couple weeks - May 16 & 17th. It's a partner event with a net best ball format on day one and count em all on day 2. I haven't played much tourney golf this year, so my tournament chops are a little rusty, but I'll be spending some dedicated practice with the hopes of getting my game into form for this event.

The cool thing about this tournament is that once the teams are posted, the mens club directors set up a huge betting pool and you can bet on any of the teams in the field. Final payout odds are set based on the action, so if you are the only person to bet on the winning team, the payout is huge. Likewise, the more popular choices have lower payouts. It's kind of interesting (sometimes humbling) because you can see how your fellow club competitors view your game based on how much action you are getting.

[Pretzel]

Finished up my tournament that was played yesterday and today. I'm very pleased with how I did.

First day was okay, but I was still satisfied with it since I've only played three or four rounds in the last month combined. I shot 76, or a +5. After this, though, is when it gets interesting.

Saturday night for me was also prom night, which was scheduled to go until 11 with afterprom going until past 2 in the morning. Not going to afterprom wasn't an option since they gave out $500 scholarships there (unfortunately they did this at the end, so I had to stay the whole time), so I ended up getting home and to sleep at around 3 AM with a 9:19 tee time the next day. I got about four hours of sleep since my alarm was set for 6:45 since the course is a little ways away and I wanted plenty of time to prepare as per usual.

Sunday comes along and I'm tired, as expected, and not really expecting much in terms of my golf performance but hoping to at least play okay. I instead shoot the best tournament round I've ever posted with a 69, or two under par, which was a nice way to end the weekend. I shot two under on the front and even on the back, and nearly had a bogey-free 68 except for a lipped out putt on 17. I guess the moral of the story is to stay up late before playing in golf tournaments?

[David in FL]

Finished up my tournament that was played yesterday and today. I'm very pleased with how I did. First day was okay, but I was still satisfied with it since I've only played three or four rounds in the last month combined. I shot 76, or a +5. After this, though, is when it gets interesting. Saturday night for me was also prom night, which was scheduled to go until 11 with afterprom going until past 2 in the morning. Not going to afterprom wasn't an option since they gave out $500 scholarships there (unfortunately they did this at the end, so I had to stay the whole time), so I ended up getting home and to sleep at around 3 AM with a 9:19 tee time the next day. I got about four hours of sleep since my alarm was set for 6:45 since the course is a little ways away and I wanted plenty of time to prepare as per usual. Sunday comes along and I'm tired, as expected, and not really expecting much in terms of my golf performance but hoping to at least play okay. I instead shoot the best tournament round I've ever posted with a 69, or two under par, which was a nice way to end the weekend. I shot two under on the front and even on the back, and nearly had a bogey-free 68 except for a lipped out putt on 17. I guess the moral of the story is to stay up late before playing in golf tournaments?

Outstanding! Congrats on the 69! Where did you finish in the tournament?

[Big C]

Finished up my tournament that was played yesterday and today. I'm very pleased with how I did. First day was okay, but I was still satisfied with it since I've only played three or four rounds in the last month combined. I shot 76, or a +5. After this, though, is when it gets interesting. Saturday night for me was also prom night, which was scheduled to go until 11 with afterprom going until past 2 in the morning. Not going to afterprom wasn't an option since they gave out $500 scholarships there (unfortunately they did this at the end, so I had to stay the whole time), so I ended up getting home and to sleep at around 3 AM with a 9:19 tee time the next day. I got about four hours of sleep since my alarm was set for 6:45 since the course is a little ways away and I wanted plenty of time to prepare as per usual. Sunday comes along and I'm tired, as expected, and not really expecting much in terms of my golf performance but hoping to at least play okay. I instead shoot the best tournament round I've ever posted with a 69, or two under par, which was a nice way to end the weekend. I shot two under on the front and even on the back, and nearly had a bogey-free 68 except for a lipped out putt on 17. I guess the moral of the story is to stay up late before playing in golf tournaments?

Nice work!

[Pretzel]

Outstanding! Congrats on the 69!

Where did you finish in the tournament?

Thanks to my mediocre play on Saturday (the winner shot five under followed by even par) I finished in 12th out of 70. I was hovering around 25th at the start of the day though, and ended up shooting the lowest round of the day in windy conditions which is a plus.

[DeadMan]

First tournament of the year for me is on Saturday. It's a two man better ball. I've only played once in the past 3 weeks, so it could be interesting. Better ball format is always fun, and it hides my blow up holes that happens.

Should be able to get to the range tonight to work on my priority piece a bit. I will have time on Friday to practice, but that will be almost all short game, beyond maybe a small bucket to see what my ball flight is doing.

[UberDave223]

Played in a tournament on Monday at Irondquoit Country Club (nice private club in the Rochester, NY area, sister club to Oak Hill).  Was feeling like crap, and a load of nerves before the round.  Nice weather although the wind started gusting into the 20s and it's a very hilly course with a lot of elevated greens.  Started with two bogeys, then settled down to shoot an 81 (my course handicap was 12) for a net 69!  Got first place net in the flight (was divided based on back and forward tees, I was in the back tees flight) by 3 shots,  and tied for 3rd gross.  Winner of gross score was my playing partner who shot a 76 (right on his HC of 4).  Had 3 birdies in the round which was a big win for me.

Side note, played in my 14 hole league the next day, and shot 2 over par!

Really happy to be finding my groove. Two things I've done that have really helped are a consistent pre-shot routine throughout the bag, and frequently taking one extra club then I think.  I noticed I would pick a club (in the past) based on my "best" distance with that club, instead of the average, plus I make far fewer mistakes when I'm not trying to swing for max distance.  I've almost completely eliminated penalty strokes from my game, and spend a good amount of my practice time at home just chipping and pitching around my yard.  So I'm almost always putting myself in position to have a decent putt for par if I miss a green.

[DeadMan]

First tournament of the year for me is on Saturday. It's a two man better ball. I've only played once in the past 3 weeks, so it could be interesting. Better ball format is always fun, and it hides my blow up holes that happens.

Should be able to get to the range tonight to work on my priority piece a bit. I will have time on Friday to practice, but that will be almost all short game, beyond maybe a small bucket to see what my ball flight is doing.

Boy, that was a tournament. The weather was awful - first hole we played was in a downpour, and then we had some big wind (for Colorado) to deal with as well. We managed to finish 4th and in the money, but that was because my playing player shot even par on the back 9. I played like crap - I had every bad shot in the book besides a hook (shot a smooth 95 that really could have easily been over 100). We used my score on 3 holes I believe. My partner went 48-36, amazingly. Made up for a lot of my bad shots.

I'm going to chalk my score up as a fluke because of the weather. Rough was thick and wet. If the ball was sitting down, you could not get the ball in the air. At least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

[WatchOutLeft]

My local course does 9 hole scramles every Tuesday and I'm trying to get my nerve up to play in them. I'm going to talk to the guy in the clubhouse to try to get an idea of the atmosphere for these things. I have this (perhaps misguided) fear that whoever I get paired up with will be super uptight and competitive and I will just have the most stressful round of my life. I'm all about practicing proper course etiquette but I'm the type of person who doesn't care if people accidentally make a noise during my backswing, or make a comment about a good shot I make, or tease me for a bad shot, or bring up the fact that I am having a really good round. I have never played a competitive round and have never been part of a team in golf, so I don't really know how to act.

Of course every time I've been at this course and it has been busy and I've ended up playing with a stranger it has been fine. They've all been friendly enough people and we had relaxed conversations while playing. I just don't want to end up with someone who either doesn't want to talk the whole time or someone who wants to have a specific gameplan for me. Like "try and hit this one down the right side of the fairway" when I'm lucky if I hit  the fairway period. Or "if you miss this green, make sure you miss it left" which will result in me pulling the ball 30 yards left.

I don't know, I'm just worried. What have you guys' experience been playing scrambles where you get paired with random players?

[GHIN0011458]

I have the Normandie Amateur this upcoming weekend. Excited to play in it, it is my 3rd one. It is a bigger tournament for me, I wouldn't say it is necessarily a Major, but it is more meaningful than most 2 day. It is my first shot at POY points for the St. Louis Golf Association. It has all of the better players in the area signed up. The course isn't that great, but it is the oldest public course on this side of the Mississippi or something like that- Babe Ruth played there. I also feel like I am ready to start performing. My game is where I want it to be from tee to green (knock on wood). Last year I ended up in one of the last groups but then I did what is below. Just going to try and play my best and want to pick up some Metro Cup Points to play in the match play event with the top 16 players in St. Louis next year.

Here is last year- I am going to try and not freak out on the 2nd round. Greens roll about 12 and last year the greens keepers were laughing when standing behind the 9th green watching people putt. If you are behind the hole, you will be chipping on you next shot on about 9 holes out there.

http://ghintpp.com/maga/TPPOnlineScoring/StrokeCard.aspx?id=171&pid;=11761

[Big C]

Day 1 of our two day event was today. Fortunately it was a best ball because I played like crap. My partner played well and bailed me out today. As a team we shot a net 65, which will put is squarely in contention. Despite my poor play, I was able to put together a good score on a handful of holes where he didn't. Tomorrow is a count 'em all, so I will need to play better. I will be sure to post the outcome tomorrow.

[oregongolfguy]

Playing in my first ever mens club event this weekend. Its a 4 person scramble with a few twists... They call it a a-b-c-d scramble. Teams are built by handicap. So the lowest handicap player.. the 1a player has the highest cap from the b,c and d flights on his team etc. Kinda evens out the field a bit. You also have to use each players drive 4 times. Two day event. I am the a player on our team. We shot 63 today which was good for tied 3rd today.

[Big C]

Today was day 2. Again, my partner played well. I played much better myself, but not well enough to put us in serious contention. The pin positions were absolutely brutal today. I heard a few comments about it when I was warming up, but still wasn't prepared for the severity of some of the placements. On any hole where there was a high lipped bunker, you could bet your last dollar that the pin would be situated close to that collar. It led to several instances today where guys in our group were left with impossible bunker shots or pitches. With the greens running as fast as I've ever seen them, it was a recipe for some blowups. My round hit a speed bump on the 6th hole when I four putted from 10 feet. After a few holes where I attempted (poorly) to shake it off, I started to recover on the back 9. Staring down an eagle putt for a back nine 37 on the 18th green, I four putted again, and took the most frustrating bogey I can remember. All told, I shot an 85 and our team finished in a tie for 4th in our flight. We were one spot out if third, which we could have secured alone, if I had two putted 18. Grrrr

[oregongolfguy]

We ended up in 3rd place alone. We actually went backwards 4 strokes, but almost every team went at least 6 worse today. Heavy wind and they jammed pretty much every pin in a corner behind a bunker, on a tiny shelf etc.

[meenman]

Day one of our spring member / member was yesterday. Both me and my partner played well, but point totals will never show it. I had a career low 9 during our last match and still only managed to split the points. We went 3-7 and two 5-5s. Two more matches today where if we do not come out strong in the first, we are only playing spoilers for our final match.

Of course the leaders have a 35 course HC on their team and all the low HCs are crying - i've known this guy for years and he is far from a sand bagger, but it is funny how it took a tourney like this for him to finally leave his driver in the bag instead of in his hands.

I am playing today with an extreme hangover - so I expect little from myself. Then again, I kept my partner out way too late so I shouldnt expect much from him either,

[Pretzel]

First day of a two-day tournament today was today, shot 73 and am tied for 7th currently. I didn't necessarily do poorly, but I had a couple stupid mistakes, with multiple occurring on a single hole that led to a triple bogey, and have a lot to improve upon. I played surprisingly well for only hitting eight greens since my short game and putting were both excellent today. Hopefully tomorrow I can stop pushing my irons right to play just as well or better.

[Big C]

Round one of our club championship starts this Saturday. Rounds 2-3 are the following June 20th & 21st.

Last year, I was the club house leader (net flight) after day 1, before falling apart the final weekend.

I'm excited for the event and I feel that my game is in pretty good shape right now, but anything can happen in tournament golf.