VLog: iacas and mvmac Play Alternate Shot at Moon Valley Country Club

[mvmac]

A couple days after watching the guys play alternate shot at the Newport Cup @iacas and I thought it would be fun for us to see how we would do. We shot -3, 69 (with a ladies Top-Flite ball ).

Few things to take away from watching. Ben Hogan said it best, "This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win." Erik likes to say we played "boring" golf, meaning we didn't do anything spectacular, hit some good shots, hit some bad ones with plenty of average shots. Yes, part of it is getting your swing to a place where low point control is repeatable but also understand that you don't have to hit it perfect every time to shoot good scores. Here are some playing "tips" to keep in mind next time you play.

1. Advance the ball.

2. Keep it "between the ropes".

3. GIR's are King.

4. Occasionally you hit it close and make birdie.

[mcat12]

:-) That was really cool to watch guys. Thanks for sharing. I know it's not easy to film and play a round simultaneously. Maybe more folks will post snippets of their rounds? Great work! Hope you guys are well. Matt

[boogielicious]

I am not at all enamored by the "purple nurple" ball!

Thanks for posting!

[RandallT]

Cool video, and good to see the Moon Valley course in more detail.

For those interested in a summary of what you'll see in the video, here's a spreadsheet I'm prototyping with several members here on TST.  No offense to those guys, but this is probably the best round I've put into my little spreadsheet thus far (except Jason Day's performance that I got from PGA shot tracker!). The one missed GIR was a putt from the fringe (I guessed 12yds/36ft).

Too bad re: back 9 video setting. I was hoping to get the full 18 for analysis.

---

Here are the specific shots gained for each type of shot. As you see, most shots are small fractions different from the PGA averages, but they add up.

Interestingly, the "worst" shots by the numbers were the pitch from 35ft on the 4th hole, and the 9ft putt on the 6th.  Erik clearly knew he didn't pull of his best shot with that chip, but who would think that missing a 9footer is as much of a "missed opportunity"? I wouldn't.

Let me know if any numbers here look bogus, and I'll double-check them, but I believe this is what any "stroke gained" analysis would say about the round.

[saevel25]

I am not at all enamored by the "purple nurple" ball!

Thanks for posting!

Erik played with that ball on Saturday at the outing in N.Central Ohio. I was watching him hit a pitch shot and I thought he chunked it because I thought the ball was a leaf at first and didn't see the white ball rolling towards the pin.

---

Erik or Mike

I saw that you were using your Iphone for the video? At least the shadow from Erik putting looked like a cellphone. How did the battery hold up for the full round of videoing the round?

[David in FL]

Very cool. The format makes it easy to VLog too, great idea guys. :beer: Anyone who doubts the importance of GIR, need only pay attention. Nothing real heroic.

[14ledo81]

Thanks for sharing.

Nice to watch good players play the whole course.

I wish my game was a bit more "boring".....

[RFKFREAK]

Very cool!  I'm a big fan of VLogs!

[MrFlipper]

Very neat that you guys picked a ball to play with that many folks wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. And scored very well with it to boot.

There's a lesson there somewhere---

[Golfingdad]

Awesome work guys, thanks for posting.

I am curious about @iacas 's approach shot on the first hole.  You say "I got like 120 here and I could hit a sand wedge ... just gonna hit the center of the green with a shorter 9 iron."  Which, of course, you succeed in doing. :)

Now, I've really enjoyed learning about partial and "flighted" shots from each of you, which are consolidated nicely here , for those unfamiliar.  (Mostly) Eliminating full shots on my short irons has definitely helped my game.  Contact is more consistent with a controlled swing, I'm more accurate side-to-side, and distance control is also dialed in better as well.  But all I've practiced doing to this point is basically go up a club and swing 3/4 or so.  So, in that exact situation, I would just bump up from SW to GW.

Can you talk a little about what goes into your decision to go up 2 or 3 clubs for something like that, instead of just one?

Thanks!!

[iacas]

I saw that you were using your Iphone for the video? At least the shadow from Erik putting looked like a cellphone. How did the battery hold up for the full round of videoing the round?

Casio FH-100.

Very neat that you guys picked a ball to play with that many folks wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. And scored very well with it to boot.

There's a lesson there somewhere---

Not really. We just chose purple because it's red and blue combined.

I was worried about the roll-out (and had the wrong club) on the third shot on the fourth hole that I hit poorly. With a urethane ball I throw it in lower with more spin and it lands closer to the hole and still checks. Some of our approaches landed right at the hole but rolled out 20 feet long. Etc. It negatively affected our score. Maybe a shot or two, or three, but those matter a LOT at that level.

I am curious about @iacas 's approach shot on the first hole.  You say "I got like 120 here and I could hit a sand wedge ... just gonna hit the center of the green with a shorter 9 iron."  Which, of course, you succeed in doing. :)

Now, I've really enjoyed learning about partial and "flighted" shots from each of you, which are consolidated nicely here, for those unfamiliar.  (Mostly) Eliminating full shots on my short irons has definitely helped my game.  Contact is more consistent with a controlled swing, I'm more accurate side-to-side, and distance control is also dialed in better as well.  But all I've practiced doing to this point is basically go up a club and swing 3/4 or so.  So, in that exact situation, I would just bump up from SW to GW.

Can you talk a little about what goes into your decision to go up 2 or 3 clubs for something like that, instead of just one?

Sure.

There, does that cover it? :)

It's probably closer to 1.5 clubs than 2 clubs, first of all. Full PW in Arizona goes about 128 or so. Full SW about 115. So it's not quite two clubs.

I've hit 8I before from 120. It just depends on the type of ball flight I'm after. As many people learned in the one-club challenge, it's easier to hit the green from 150 yards - even if you're forced to hit it with a 5I - than it is from your "normal" 5I yardage. So I don't worry about trying to figure out how hard to hit the ball. I hit enough balls to have an idea, and I hit it "that hard."

It's more about the trajectory I want to see. With that ball, and its firmer cover, it launched quite a bit higher. It wasn't SUPER windy, but it was windy enough that I wanted to keep the ball down a little bit. It ended up launching as high as my SW would have launched if the ball said "Pro V1x" on it. But yeah… the 9I was mostly about trajectory. Like the Ben Hogan story, I probably could have hit any iron and hit it on the green (not the LW necessarily). It would just be a bit ridiculous to chip a 3I from 120… :-D

[Golfingdad]

I've hit 8I before from 120. It just depends on the type of ball flight I'm after. As many people learned in the one-club challenge, it's easier to hit the green from 150 yards - even if you're forced to hit it with a 5I - than it is from your "normal" 5I yardage. So I don't worry about trying to figure out how hard to hit the ball. I hit enough balls to have an idea, and I hit it "that hard."

It's more about the trajectory I want to see. With that ball, and its firmer cover, it launched quite a bit higher. It wasn't SUPER windy, but it was windy enough that I wanted to keep the ball down a little bit. It ended up launching as high as my SW would have launched if the ball said "Pro V1x" on it. But yeah… the 9I was mostly about trajectory. Like the Ben Hogan story, I probably could have hit any iron and hit it on the green (not the LW necessarily). It would just be a bit ridiculous to chip a 3I from 120… :-D

Thanks, that makes perfect sense.  So, basically, practice all of your clubs (within reason) at a lot of different distances and then you just have a larger "arsenal" from which to choose, depending on conditions.  Cool.

[saevel25]

Thanks, that makes perfect sense.  So, basically, practice all of your clubs (within reason) at a lot of different distances and then you just have a larger "arsenal" from which to choose, depending on conditions.  Cool.

Like being forced to hit 100 yard cut shots with your 6 iron

[mvmac]

I was worried about the roll-out (and had the wrong club) on the third shot on the fourth hole that I hit poorly. With a urethane ball I throw it in lower with more spin and it lands closer to the hole and still checks. Some of our approaches landed right at the hole but rolled out 20 feet long. Etc. It negatively affected our score. Maybe a shot or two, or three, but those matter a LOT at that level.

And except for the first hole the Top-Flite ended up being a little shorter off the tee than our normal "tour" balls.

[Big C]

Thanks for posting. That's good steady golf right there. The big difference I noticed between your game and the average Newport cupper (myself in particular), is the consistency off the tee. A couple times while watching I found myself thinking how nice it would be to play almost every approach shot with an unobstructed shot to the green. To say nothing of eliminating silly OB shots. The other thing I noticed was superb distance control on putts of every length. Even the putt that led Erik to call himself a wuss (not in those words, but...) was still within a 2 feet of the hole. You literally left yourself no meaningful chances to 3 putt. I'm very jealous of that because I throw away a couple needless strokes every round with poor pace.

[Lihu]

Just watched the video. Great playing. . .

You guys need to develop a strong British accent and make British jokes with each other or add a sound track or something. . .

[Hardspoon]

Like being forced to hit 100 yard cut shots with your 6 iron

Don't forget the always-useful 6-iron flop from a greenside bunker...for when you need to make sure a bunker shot rolls out another 40 feet.

[iacas]

Thanks, that makes perfect sense.  So, basically, practice all of your clubs (within reason) at a lot of different distances and then you just have a larger "arsenal" from which to choose, depending on conditions.  Cool.

Uhhhh… can I say "no" to that?

Cuz… I don't practice different distances. Like, ever. I just… hit the 9-iron 120 yards when I need to. I am not saying this is some awesome skill unique to me… I think you could do this a lot better right now than you're crediting yourself.

Seriously, go try to hit your 8-iron 110 yards at lunch today. You'll probably do fine the first time you try it.