The TST Member Tournament Play Thread

[saevel25]

On 7/13/2023 at 2:33 PM, saevel25 said:

I am playing in a tournament Saturday at Sleepy Hallow near Cleveland, Ohio. Going in with zero expectations. Should be fun. 😉

I had a good time. I was disappointed with how I hit the ball off the tee, but I hit some good shots. Just couldn't string much together, and too many blow up holes. 

Day 1

Day 2

 

[bkuehn1952]

75 in another one day tournament (6.5 differential). Best result so far this season. Netted me only a tie for 5th, with a net 70. Those other old guys are good. Grumble, grumble. 😉

[DeadMan]

On 7/3/2023 at 9:30 AM, DeadMan said:

I've advanced to the semi finals in my club's championship match play bracket, which we do as scratch.

I took down our reigning club champion, who is a scratch golfer, in my last match. We went to 21 holes, and I won with a birdie on the 21st hole. It was so much fun. He played bad on the front, so I had a lead after 9, which I extended on 11. I was E from hole 5 through 16, with one birdie and one bogey. But he played the back 9 in even par, including playing the last 7 holes in -1 with no bogeys, to catch me on 18. I basically had one full swing shot that was a bad in that closing stretch, which led to a bogey, and a few mediocre approaches combined with bad lag putts that let him back in. We both ended up shooting 78 (+6).

We go to extra holes, tying the first 2 with pars. We both made medium-length putts to extend the match: he made about a 12 foot par putt on the 19th hole, and I made a 6 foot par putt on the 20th hole. On the 21st hole, I outdrove him by 50ish yards. He hit an incredible shot to about 20-25 feet. I hit a decent approach to about 20 feet. We had basically the same line on the birdie putts - he missed his but I conceded the par putt. I had good read on the line after playing this hole earlier and seeing his putt - basically, it didn't break as much as it looked. I maybe hit the putt slightly too hard, but I hit my line, and drained the birdie putt to win the match. While he was disappointed in the result, I don't think he was angry because he had a good comeback without his best stuff and played the last 12 holes in -1. And it was good to have the final hole won with a birdie instead of a par or worse.

This is the furthest I've gone in our match play, and I'm the lowest handicap left. Not getting too ahead of myself, because I can lose to anyone, but I can also beat anyone. Next match will be in July sometime.

Made to the final of the championship match play bracket. I won 3&1. This match was not an exciting as the last match. I got a lead on the 3rd hole, and maintained that lead until I won. The closest it came was me 1 up, which happened a couple of times. I did not play well, but my opponent played worse. This was the first competitive round I've played at my club where I didn't break 80.

Final will happen sometime in August. I think I'm the favorite against either player, but not by much. This is the further I've gotten in any match play bracket (although I've only won 3 matches - we don't have a huge scratch group). 

In the meantime, I also shot a +4 75 (net 68) in our second major of the year. Tied for 4th place, 3 strokes behind the gross leaders, but won the net portion of the event. Made a triple on the 17th hole, which was a bummer, but it was a really good day still. 

[DeadMan]

Won our club's scratch match play competition! The final was yesterday, and I won it 2 up. It was a great match. Neither of us were more than 1 hole up the entire time. We also had some tough conditions. The wind started to blow on hole 6, and I think we were looking at about 20 mph gusts. The back 9 is really exposed to the wind, and the wind was affecting every shot. The guy I was playing hits a high, spinny ball, so with the wind, he had an advantage. Into the wind, I had an advantage.

I played the front in +2 (which was all due to a lost ball off the tee that both of us were baffled by), with 2 birdies. I was only 1 up after 9, but was playing well. He won the first two holes of the back 9 to go 1 up, and then I pumped a drive way right on 13. Fortunately, I found it right away and got away with a good lie. We both made par, and then my comeback was on. The next hole, he hit into the weeds off the tee, chipped out to about 30 yards, and then proceeded to chunk his short game shot and thin his next one. Meanwhile, I hit a 7 iron over the green, chipped to 4 feet, and got a conceded par. Back to tied.

Next hole is a par 5. We both have about 80 yards in with our third shot, and we both come up about 50 feet short a back pin because of the wind. We both 3 putt, so still tied. Next hole is a quartering wind. I hit a great drive and have 140 in. His spinny drive goes about 150 feet in the air, but he has 180 in. He hits his ball way right, and I get my ball on the front of the green. He either shanked or chunked his chip, couldn't get the next one close, and concedes the hole after I lag mine to about 5 feet. Now I'm 1 up with 2 to play. The next hole is a downhill par 3 with a similar quartering wind. I hit an 8 iron in, instead of the pitching wedge it would be normally. I smoked it, and ended up pin high, about 30 feet left. My opponent comes up short, but putts to about 5 feet. My putt wins the match if it goes in. I hit my line, and just missed on the high side. I have about a foot left. He makes his putt, and I make mine. 1 up with 1 to play.

18 on this course can eat me alive. It's not a long hole, but it has water on the right and weeds on the left. The tee shot gives me fits, because I can never find the right club. I've hit anything from a 4 iron to 3 wood. With this wind (now mostly a right to left cross wind), I hit a hybrid into the right rough. He smacks a driver down the middle of the fairway. I have 200 in, which is a long ways back. Normally, I'm in the 150 range. I also have to go over the water on the right, with a weird, downhill lie. I aim at the left side of the green to avoid the longest carry over the water. I smoke the 6 iron and end up pin high, but 50 feet left - which was honestly a great shot considering everything. He goes at the pin and misses short right. His chip goes past the pin about 20 feet, and he tells me he moved the ball when he addressed it. (Side note - kudos to him. It didn't matter, given the chip went 20 feet by, but I was 60 feet away and it was pretty dark at this point. I would have had no way of knowing or seeing it.) I lag my putt to about 6 feet, and it's over. I win 2 up.

I shot 80, and I think it would have been 3-4 strokes lower without the wind. The entire back 9 was a slog - it was slow, hot, and windy. You had to make good contact on every shot, and I centered basically every shot after my bad drive on 13. 

It's the first scratch event of any type I've won, so this is awesome. I believe I'll get my name on a trophy in the club. The ball I used for the round is going on my shelf. I'm really pleased with all this. And I probably had the toughest path possible - I played our reigning club champion, who is a legit scratch golfer. The final wasn't spectacular golf be either of us, but it was pretty good considering the conditions.

The club's stroke play championship is this coming weekend. Looking forward to that. Need to clean up some things, but the game is in a really good spot. 

[boogielicious]

3 hours ago, DeadMan said:

Won our club's scratch match play competition! The final was yesterday, and I won it 2 up. It was a great match. Neither of us were more than 1 hole up the entire time. We also had some tough conditions. The wind started to blow on hole 6, and I think we were looking at about 20 mph gusts. The back 9 is really exposed to the wind, and the wind was affecting every shot. The guy I was playing hits a high, spinny ball, so with the wind, he had an advantage. Into the wind, I had an advantage.

I played the front in +2 (which was all due to a lost ball off the tee that both of us were baffled by), with 2 birdies. I was only 1 up after 9, but was playing well. He won the first two holes of the back 9 to go 1 up, and then I pumped a drive way right on 13. Fortunately, I found it right away and got away with a good lie. We both made par, and then my comeback was on. The next hole, he hit into the weeds off the tee, chipped out to about 30 yards, and then proceeded to chunk his short game shot and thin his next one. Meanwhile, I hit a 7 iron over the green, chipped to 4 feet, and got a conceded par. Back to tied.

Next hole is a par 5. We both have about 80 yards in with our third shot, and we both come up about 50 feet short a back pin because of the wind. We both 3 putt, so still tied. Next hole is a quartering wind. I hit a great drive and have 140 in. His spinny drive goes about 150 feet in the air, but he has 180 in. He hits his ball way right, and I get my ball on the front of the green. He either shanked or chunked his chip, couldn't get the next one close, and concedes the hole after I lag mine to about 5 feet. Now I'm 1 up with 2 to play. The next hole is a downhill par 3 with a similar quartering wind. I hit an 8 iron in, instead of the pitching wedge it would be normally. I smoked it, and ended up pin high, about 30 feet left. My opponent comes up short, but putts to about 5 feet. My putt wins the match if it goes in. I hit my line, and just missed on the high side. I have about a foot left. He makes his putt, and I make mine. 1 up with 1 to play.

18 on this course can eat me alive. It's not a long hole, but it has water on the right and weeds on the left. The tee shot gives me fits, because I can never find the right club. I've hit anything from a 4 iron to 3 wood. With this wind (now mostly a right to left cross wind), I hit a hybrid into the right rough. He smacks a driver down the middle of the fairway. I have 200 in, which is a long ways back. Normally, I'm in the 150 range. I also have to go over the water on the right, with a weird, downhill lie. I aim at the left side of the green to avoid the longest carry over the water. I smoke the 6 iron and end up pin high, but 50 feet left - which was honestly a great shot considering everything. He goes at the pin and misses short right. His chip goes past the pin about 20 feet, and he tells me he moved the ball when he addressed it. (Side note - kudos to him. It didn't matter, given the chip went 20 feet by, but I was 60 feet away and it was pretty dark at this point. I would have had no way of knowing or seeing it.) I lag my putt to about 6 feet, and it's over. I win 2 up.

I shot 80, and I think it would have been 3-4 strokes lower without the wind. The entire back 9 was a slog - it was slow, hot, and windy. You had to make good contact on every shot, and I centered basically every shot after my bad drive on 13. 

It's the first scratch event of any type I've won, so this is awesome. I believe I'll get my name on a trophy in the club. The ball I used for the round is going on my shelf. I'm really pleased with all this. And I probably had the toughest path possible - I played our reigning club champion, who is a legit scratch golfer. The final wasn't spectacular golf be either of us, but it was pretty good considering the conditions.

The club's stroke play championship is this coming weekend. Looking forward to that. Need to clean up some things, but the game is in a really good spot. 

Excellent!

[TN94z]

On 8/21/2023 at 7:34 AM, DeadMan said:

Won our club's scratch match play competition! The final was yesterday, and I won it 2 up. It was a great match. Neither of us were more than 1 hole up the entire time. We also had some tough conditions. The wind started to blow on hole 6, and I think we were looking at about 20 mph gusts. The back 9 is really exposed to the wind, and the wind was affecting every shot. The guy I was playing hits a high, spinny ball, so with the wind, he had an advantage. Into the wind, I had an advantage.

I played the front in +2 (which was all due to a lost ball off the tee that both of us were baffled by), with 2 birdies. I was only 1 up after 9, but was playing well. He won the first two holes of the back 9 to go 1 up, and then I pumped a drive way right on 13. Fortunately, I found it right away and got away with a good lie. We both made par, and then my comeback was on. The next hole, he hit into the weeds off the tee, chipped out to about 30 yards, and then proceeded to chunk his short game shot and thin his next one. Meanwhile, I hit a 7 iron over the green, chipped to 4 feet, and got a conceded par. Back to tied.

Next hole is a par 5. We both have about 80 yards in with our third shot, and we both come up about 50 feet short a back pin because of the wind. We both 3 putt, so still tied. Next hole is a quartering wind. I hit a great drive and have 140 in. His spinny drive goes about 150 feet in the air, but he has 180 in. He hits his ball way right, and I get my ball on the front of the green. He either shanked or chunked his chip, couldn't get the next one close, and concedes the hole after I lag mine to about 5 feet. Now I'm 1 up with 2 to play. The next hole is a downhill par 3 with a similar quartering wind. I hit an 8 iron in, instead of the pitching wedge it would be normally. I smoked it, and ended up pin high, about 30 feet left. My opponent comes up short, but putts to about 5 feet. My putt wins the match if it goes in. I hit my line, and just missed on the high side. I have about a foot left. He makes his putt, and I make mine. 1 up with 1 to play.

18 on this course can eat me alive. It's not a long hole, but it has water on the right and weeds on the left. The tee shot gives me fits, because I can never find the right club. I've hit anything from a 4 iron to 3 wood. With this wind (now mostly a right to left cross wind), I hit a hybrid into the right rough. He smacks a driver down the middle of the fairway. I have 200 in, which is a long ways back. Normally, I'm in the 150 range. I also have to go over the water on the right, with a weird, downhill lie. I aim at the left side of the green to avoid the longest carry over the water. I smoke the 6 iron and end up pin high, but 50 feet left - which was honestly a great shot considering everything. He goes at the pin and misses short right. His chip goes past the pin about 20 feet, and he tells me he moved the ball when he addressed it. (Side note - kudos to him. It didn't matter, given the chip went 20 feet by, but I was 60 feet away and it was pretty dark at this point. I would have had no way of knowing or seeing it.) I lag my putt to about 6 feet, and it's over. I win 2 up.

I shot 80, and I think it would have been 3-4 strokes lower without the wind. The entire back 9 was a slog - it was slow, hot, and windy. You had to make good contact on every shot, and I centered basically every shot after my bad drive on 13. 

It's the first scratch event of any type I've won, so this is awesome. I believe I'll get my name on a trophy in the club. The ball I used for the round is going on my shelf. I'm really pleased with all this. And I probably had the toughest path possible - I played our reigning club champion, who is a legit scratch golfer. The final wasn't spectacular golf be either of us, but it was pretty good considering the conditions.

The club's stroke play championship is this coming weekend. Looking forward to that. Need to clean up some things, but the game is in a really good spot. 

I like the back and forth matches. Very exciting. My plans are to play some tournaments next year. There are several state tournaments I want to play and go from there. Congrats on the win and good luck on the club championship!

[p1n9183]

Mid-am 36 holes tournament this weekend at Pilar Golf Club (Bs As Argentina). We played the course from a mix between black (tips) and blue tees. 7000 yards, 74 rating, par 72. My current index is 0,7.   
The course is very open, almost no trees but plenty of fairway bunkers, slopes, water hazards and fast greens with huge slopes. It was really fun to play in them, lot of imagination needed. One of the best courses in the country. Price is expensive for us but really cheap for you guys in the US, like 30 dollars both days, range balls included. 
The weather was perfect both days, 13°C, 1 club wind on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

1st Day: Arrived 2 hours before my tee-time. Made my regular pre-round routine and straight for the first tee I went. Really solid first 9, with lots GIRs. Made 1 birdie and an unfortunate 3 putt on 9th for bogey to end up even par. Putter was off all day long. 
On the back (the harder one) I missed a couple more green and made a few more bogeys. I made it to the 17th tee at +2, par 3 160 yards island green. Hit my regular fade with a 7 iron to the middle of the green but a touch heavy. Ball landed in the front slope of the green, and with a lot of agonizing suspense rolled back to the water, almost in slow motion. 3rd to the green from the drop zone and 3 putted for a hart breaking triple bogey. Fortunately bounced back with a birdie on the 18th hole (the hardest of the course) to finish 76 (+4). My playing partners all shoot over 80 after 5 hours and 40 minutes. We waited all day long, on each shot. It was too long. Leader was at 67(-5) and I ended tied for 25th.  

2nd Day: Same pre-round routine and again walked to the 1st tee. Again front 9 was solid, not as solid as the day before but putt was definitively in shape that day. Made a good bogey on 9th, after a missed punch out attempt, to shoot -1. 
On the back I kept the round going thru the difficult holes but after a couple bad bounces I reached again to the 17th island hole this time at +1. My nerves were high but I was confident that I could do less strokes than the previous day. Fortunately this time I hit the green with my hybrid (was playing against the wing), made my par and proceeded to par the 18th hole too to finish +1(73). Because of the wind scores went up dramatically. I finished the tournament tied for 6th at +5(149), winner shoot -6, runner up was -3. Everyone else was over par. The winner is an ex European tour player whom turned am again 2 years ago so when he is on he is almost impossible to beat for us mere mortals.       

[bkuehn1952]

Just finished playing in the Livonia City Championship. I get to play in the Super Senior flight due to my advanced age and decrepitude. The perennial winner, Bill H, won again. Yours truly beat him last year but he seemed to not remember when I congratulated him this year.

His 1st round 71 (even) left the rest of us 7-8 shots back. We were all playing for 2nd. I played decently on day 2 and matched the leader’s 76, which got me the 2nd place gross score prize. A nice consolation for getting trounced this year.

Wait for next year, Bill. 😉

 

[klineka]

Set a new tournament low for myself last week with a 75 from 6,800yds and with very firm/slick greens too.

2 birdies, 3 bogies and a double. That included 2 penalty strokes and a missed 4 footer for eagle.

Handled my nerves significantly better than I expected, I hit numerous high quality shots when I was feeling the most nervous/under the most pressure.

One penalty stroke could have been avoided, I took on more risk than I needed to and paid the price. However I did hit my approach after the drop to 2 feet from 125yds and tapped in to save par on a par 5. The other penalty stroke I completely chunked a 6 iron and didn't cover the hazard on a par 3. 6 iron was the right club, felt good with my mindset going into the shot, just a complete outlier of a shot, it happens. That was the only double of the day. 

Hit one of my best shots of my life as a second into a par 5, had 251 to the middle/right pin pretty much all over water. Short right was a fine miss, so I aimed directly at the flag anticipating a little fade would leave me with an uphill chip. Absolutely flushed it dead straight, took one hop in the rough just short of the green and bounced up onto the green stopping about 4 feet short of the hole. Missed the putt, made a terrible rushed stroke after seeing a bug flying around near my leg and not backing off. Lesson learned for next time. 

I drove it well all day with in my first round with the correct driver shaft that I was fitted for, putting was solid overall too.

Was proud of myself for my decision making in taking the extra club on multiple occasions and just hitting the green even if it meant 30-40 feet left, it was better than trying to squeeze an extra 5yds out of the shorter club and having to hit it perfect. 

High a number of high quality shots but never really even had my "A" game, so was quite proud I was able to grind out a 75 with my "B" game.

This round gives me a ton of confidence in my ability to perform while nervous/under pressure and is something I can build on as I want to try some local/state am/mid-am qualifiers next season.

[billchao]

I have my first tournament of the year at Neshanic on Saturday. The format is a stroke play qualifier round and top eight make it to match play. I’m feeling pretty good about my chances to qualify since I have a handicap this year I’m actually playing to. Last year my handicap was lowered by the stretch of good summer golf that seems to happen to me every year, but this year I’ve played enough that those rounds have dropped off.

I did play a round at the course yesterday just to acclimate myself to it a little bit. I only play the course a few times a year so it was good to relearn it a little. Conditions were great and the greens were fast. It does have three sets of nine holes so it’s entirely possible I play the nine on Saturday I didn’t play yesterday but I think I’ll be fine for course management.

My strategy is going to be pretty conservative. Limit the big numbers and play for bogey. I’m still going to make pars, I need to not make triple bogeys. My CH is 16 so if shoot +18 that’s a net +2 which should be good enough to qualify (I shot +3 yesterday). So far this year I’m only 4% better in green success rate from 50-100 than I am from 100-150 (and this is skewed slightly because the last four or five rounds have been really windy) so I don’t really see the advantage to try to hit driver on holes where trouble is in play if I could hit an iron out to like 120. My driver has been falling off these past two weeks (again, wind).

I probably have more thoughts but lunch is over 😃

[billchao]

I shot 91, good enough for net +2 and more importantly, the 6th seed in the match play. I’m feeling pretty good about being in match play even though I’ve never played the format before, but I just feel it’s more suited to my game. Had a quadruple bogey 9 on the card today that fortunately I recovered from.

[DaveP043]

34 minutes ago, billchao said:

I’m feeling pretty good about being in match play even though I’ve never played the format before

Play matches against my wife, she'll toughen you up.  You've seen what its done to me!

[billchao]

38 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Play matches against my wife, she'll toughen you up.  You've seen what it’s done to me!

Nerves of steel, I know. What happened that one time? Down 4 with 4 to play and you halved? I’m not sure I have it in me to do that. Eh actually I probably do, I did that once playing against a friend of mine. He was counting his winnings on the 14th hole, I shot -1 over the last four.

There’s nothing really different in terms of strategy I should pay attention to in match play, is there? I know I have to pay attention to the correct turn of play but otherwise I think I’ll just stick with the strategy I’ve been using. And serious breaches are typically loss of hole, right?

[Ty_Webb]

I would suggest sticking to your strategy. There’s not much worse than thinking your opponent has stuffed one, going aggressively at the flag, messing up and then finding out they were actually still 15 feet away. Only thing I would suggest is if you’re umming and ahhing about whether to be conservative or aggressive and your opponent hits one OB then lean more towards conservative. That’s only marginal though. You still want to make good decisions for your score. 
 

Congrats on qualifying!

[iacas]

Yes.

Only change from "playing the course" when your opponent is REALLY out of it. Don't assume that "oh, he's going to make double from there" or whatever.

For the most part… just play golf.

[DaveP043]

40 minutes ago, billchao said:

There’s nothing really different in terms of strategy I should pay attention to in match play, is there? I know I have to pay attention to the correct turn of play but otherwise I think I’ll just stick with the strategy I’ve been using. And serious breaches are typically loss of hole, right?

I just play my game almost all the time.  I think one of the difficult things to do is to maintain the normal game plan when you get behind, or when you get ahead even.  Its your game plan because it is expected to produce the best scores for you, why change it?  Yeah, there are times when you kind of HAVE to do something weird, but not as often as some players think.  And yeah, what are generally 2-stroke penalties become loss of hole in match play.  

[StuM]

5 hours ago, billchao said:

I shot 91, good enough for net +2 and more importantly, the 6th seed in the match play. I’m feeling pretty good about being in match play even though I’ve never played the format before, but I just feel it’s more suited to my game. Had a quadruple bogey 9 on the card today that fortunately I recovered from.

Good job & I hope you play well tomorrow.  Enjoy.

[billchao]

Played Meadow/Lake today and I won my match 3&2. It was pretty tight for most of the match with both of us playing well. We traded blows back and forth and ended up AS through 9, then halved 10-13. My opponent put one in the water off the tee on the par 5 14th which set him back and I almost gave away the advantage on my approach shot from the fairway bunker because either I misread the GPS number or it had jumped to a different hole, but either way I wasn't paying enough attention to it and ended up hitting a good shot and flying the green by 30 yards. Fortunately we found my ball and I was able to recover with a bogey to win the hole. I followed that up with a conservative 6i off the tee on the short dogleg par 4 that put me about 140 out and pulled the approach shot slightly but still on the green 50' away. Lagged that one up to tap-in distance for par. We both found the fairway bunker on the following short par 4 off the tee, about 70-80 yards out. I hit that one to 8' and two-putted to win the match.

Mistakes were made, but for the most part I stuck with my strategy and it worked out. I did try to push the envelope on the par 5 9th because I was giving up a stroke and he had already hit two good shots. Ended up hooking my 4w into the water instead of just laying up like I should have. I knew better. He likely would have won the hole anyway because he made par.