What'd You Shoot Today?

[Rafcin]

So what do you shoot 3 days after scoring personal best 69? A beautiful 87.
I hate this game. I think I'll retire. ok... at least until 4pm today when I tee off again

[Ben]

So what do you shoot 3 days after scoring personal best 69? A beautiful 87.

That's just to balance your handicap so you can take your buddy's money down the road...

In anycase, I backed up my one under back with an odd, even par front. Holes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 I had birdie putts from no more than 6 feet. Hole 3 I liped out, it was a tricky downhill slider so I suppose I was okay with it. Hole 4 I liped out, hole 5 I liped out. Hole 6, knocked it in the center of the cup, and hole 9 was a super breaker that I didn't play right. Bogeyed number 8 after not making a 3 footer to get up and down, just put a bad stroke on it. I'm trending to a +.5 for next month's handicap though, so that's exciting!

[Jeepthrills]

I'm trending to a +.5 for next month's handicap though, so that's exciting!

+.5 is great. Is that a first for you, to officially be on the + side? If so, congrats. It's a huge accomplishment that I hope to get to myself some day. I'm only 16 shots away.

[Ben]

+.5 is great. Is that a first for you, to officially be on the + side? If so, congrats. It's a huge accomplishment that I hope to get to myself some day. I'm only 16 shots away.

Thanks! Yeah its my first time getting this low. Well, sorta, at least. I just recently started with getting a handicap, but when I first did start, one of my first scores was a round of -4, so I was at a +3 for a little while. Then more scoring settled down and I went as high as a .8.

All it takes is a few extra up and downs and a few extra putts to drop and your score will drop as well.

[Donald MacKenzie]

Got out for a quick 9 Sunday AM. Shot a frustrating 41. Can't seem to put together a good drive, decent approach and good putt. I was either scrambling to make par/bogey after a wild drive, or I was wasting a good drive with a loose approach or lipped-out putt.

I am settling in with my new irons, which is nice. I hit nice shots on both par-3s, and hit a nice 3/4 PW to two feet to save par on another hole. Can't wait to hit some nice shots and have a score to show for it. Gotta keep working ... the secret is in the dirt!

Weird conditions yesterday, too. It hadn't rained in several days, so the greens were really firm. But there was a heavy dew, so the fairways and rough were very wet. Kind of tough to generate enough spin to get shots to stop where I wanted on the greens. On one par-4 I had a nice full PW approach hit and bounce about 10 feet in the air, then release 20 feet past the pitch mark. Usually that shot hits and stops within a couple feet of the pitch mark. Funky.

[Thrash13]

Well, I went out for a very quick 18 yesterday after church! I haven't had time to do anything as of late, so I was glad to sneak out.

I shot my best round of the year so far with an 81. I had two very similar nines, as I went 40-41. I am really settling in with my driver and new irons. My tee to green game was not why I was in the 80's. I had birdies on holes 8 and 10, both par 3's. I have never had 2 birds in 3 holes before. I was actually +4 after 10 holes, but I stumbled coming in by going bogey-bogey to finish.

I was very pleased with my round though, and my last two have been 83 and 81 respectively. So I'm rounding into form finally. My chipping hurt me yesterday, as I left myself with a lot of 8-10 footers for par. That won't do me any good. My putter was ok, but it wasn't anything special (except for the 2 birdie putts I made).

Overall, great feeling to be down near 80 again like I'm supposed to be. I really have the confidence I can break 80 now sometime this summer.

[Jeepthrills]

Well, I'm getting closer to playing to my handicap. The problem is, I'm only playing nine holes and my handicap is for 18. Actually this last round really wasn't too bad. Still having an adventure on the short putts but my lag putting was much improved. If I can shave off an extra 6-12 inches on the lags, I will be in good shape.

I had one hole that went from bad to funny to ugly. I hit my approach shot long and left. I ended up behind a big pine tree and had three options: A. Backwards down the fairway and then try to chip close and save bogey. B. Under the tree towards the green and try for a long par putt. C. Through the middle of the tree where it was pretty clear and straight at the pin. Smart people don't choose C. I did. I caught it clean but tried to go right at the flag. Instead I caught the trunk and it came right back at my face. I ducked just in time to save myself and the ball shot back about 30 yards. My next shot I tried to lob it over the tree and on to the green. It caught the very top of the tree and fell down into the middle. At that point I should have just called it unplayable and taken the drop. I went into the tree and tried to punch out. It hit the tree and it barely made it out. Now I'm chipping from the edge of the tree. At least I'm actually on the green side of it. I could barely make contact and got it to the fringe. In case you are not counting that's 7 so far. Good lag put from the fringe and a tap in for a quadruple bogey 9. I think I should have punched it backwards up the fairway and tried to save bogey. What do you think?

I ended up shooting a 48, but a large part of it was on that one hole. Because of my handicap I can only post a max of 7 and I don't even get the benefit of my dumb descision and I can only call it 46.

[Rafcin]

...I had one hole that went from bad to funny to ugly...

that reminds me of my 12th hole in my best ever round (memorial day). At -1 at the time I smoked the tee shot long and straight (GOOD!) over the fairway into a small drainage area (rough - BAD!). I was pissed, cuz the grass there is pretty high. Lie was bad indeed, but I was very happy seeing that I was standing on the drain, so I elected to take a relief (GOOD!). Found nice place to drop the ball to, a tire track of a cart which must've went by while before. I dropped the ball and watched it bounce into about 7" deep grass! (BAD!).

All I could do was to hack it out about 50 yds short of the green. From there - holed out with my trusty 60deg (GOOD!). That was the worst rollercoaster I remember on any given hole : GOOD-BAD-GOOD-BAD-GOOD...

[Jeepthrills]

That was the worst rollercoaster I remember on any given hole : GOOD-BAD-GOOD-BAD-GOOD...

The difference is I went: OK-BAD-DUMB-BAD-DUMB-BAD-GOOD-GOOD. Hey, wait a minute, that's only 8. Either I'm forgetting a shot or I was wrong about my score. Thank God I didn't have to sign it or I'd be disqualified. Either way, eeeesh.

[Rafcin]

...OK-BAD-DUMB-BAD-DUMB-BAD-GOOD-GOOD...

I belive honestly my stroke avg. would go down at least by 3 a round, if I only avoided the "BAD-DUMB" sequence...

[Jeepthrills]

I belive honestly my stroke avg. would go down at least by 3 a round, if I only avoided the "BAD-DUMB" sequence...

Just think how many I could save.

[Ben]

Well, I had my PGA Playing Ability Test yesterday, and boy did I stink it up BIG TIME!

The day before I took one of the members from the course down to play my practice round. Did GREAT for the first time there. Shot a 2 over 74 after bogeying 3 of for par 5s and a three-putt. Naturally I, along with my buddy, thought I was golden for the following day.

Round 1, 7:00am shotgun. Everything is going good as I go par, par, trying to get some good feelings going. On the third hole, a par 3, I leave myself with one of those impossible up and downs, that I actually leave myself on uphill 4 footer for par, that I miss, SHI! "Eh, big deal" I think to myself knowing that the cut line is around 12 over for the two rounds. Then I go and double bogey the next hole, a bogey two holes later, then a quadrouple bogey on the hole after that. Now I'm 7 freakin' over after 7 freakin' holes. So naturally, I start to press, trying to make things happen instead of letting them happen. And when the first round is done, I find myself 13 over.

After my 18th (actually the 14th hole) Its straight to the second round, no breaks, no time to recover mentally, no nothing. So I just grind down and try to start fresh knowing that I need to shoot even to make it. First hole, GIR, missed a tricky 15 footer for birdie. 2nd hole, missed another tricky 10 footer for birdie. 3rd hole, missed a 3 footer for birdie. hahaha. On the forth a MADE a 2-footer for birdie, YIPPEE!! Then I double the next hole, great. Bye the 11th I'm back to even. A couple little mistakes later and I'm 2 over with 5 to play. I reach a par 5 in two and three-putt for par. Then go par, par and I've got two holes to erase two strokes when I par the next hole, I'm done...

That really sucked. Better luck next time I suppose. If I could pull a positive out of this all it would be that I got to play three rounds on a great course for a fraction of what it should have cost, and some experience on how not to conduct myself the next time around.

http://scpgagolf.com/index.cfm?menu=1890&openitem;=1890

I played the Legends Course.

[sevenfourate]

Ben - better luck next time in you playing ability test I remember mine well......

From you earlier post about handicaps,do i take it that alot of your handicap cuts/adjustments have come from cards done in "friendly",or something other than medal competitions ????

[Rafcin]

that hurts. I've a friend, who beats me regularly (not only on "our" home course - he works at the course I'm a member)... and failed to get PAT passed 5 times !
I guess you know how the poor bastards in the Q-School feel. You'll do it, and you'll do it the day you feel like sh..t and don't really expect to make it

[Ben]

Yeah, my head pro didn't pass until his eight time. And a dude in my group yesterday was on his 6th, and didn't pass...

748, I think my failure yesterday has something to do with the fact that I haven't played any real tournament style golf for about 10 years. The handicap that I keep is all through legit rounds. I just straight up blew it yesterday is all...

[Thrash13]

Well, I followed up my season-best 81 with a less-than-stellar 92 yesterday. Honestly, I had some free time after to work to play, so my friend and I took advantage of it. The wind was blowing 25-30, with gusts of probably 40 throughout the round.

It was miserable at times and wasn't a lot of fun. I was honestly struggling to make it through the 18 holes. My chipping and putting was horendous, but hey, it's tough when the ball seems to be shaking before you hit it.

My first hole, I had a putt from about 15 feet and I put it past the hole about 10 feet. It was slowing down when it got to the hole and the wind picked up and carried it the rest of the way. I've never seen anything like that to be honest. I have more respect for pro golfers now, especially when they play the British Open and the wind is out of hand.

I had total lack of concentration. I would have 2 pars in a row followed by a triple bogey.

Blah, blah, blah...

[Rafcin]

Well, I followed up my season-best 81 with a less-than-stellar 92 yesterday...

Wasn't it Forest Gump who said "Golf is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get?" I managed to follow my life-best 69 with an 87. I guess the "blah blah blah" applies as well

[sevenfourate]

Ben - im not familiar with the American system but i fail to see how your handicap is legitimate yet you say you havnt played any real tournament style golf for 10 years ? Im confused

Over here any catagory one player (5.4 handicap and below) can ONLY get there handicap adjusted by the local County organisation (not their local club) and this can only be done by legitimate rounds of medal play - ie: NOT friendly's,matchplay comps,doubles etc etc etc

I take it your system is very different to ours in that respect ??????

Anyway.Best of luck in your next PAT - i take it youve booked the next one already ?

Over here our PAT for the PGA WAS done over the 3 or 4 years during training and basically you had to do a certain number of rounds each year to within either 3 of par,3 of standard scratch or 3 of the leader in any comp (this was to allow for a high score that was posted in bad weather but was effectively a good score if you see what i mean).