What'd You Shoot Today?

[muskegman]

Last week I had a real treat. I golfed five days of my vacation. Schedule was as follows:

Monday: Discovery Bay Golf Club , 96
Tuesday: Gold Mountain , 98
Wednesday: Cameloch Golf Course , 101
Thursday and Friday: Suksan Golf Club , 103 and 99

All in all, I feel I did pretty well for my present level of play. I had some great pars and a precious few birdies on the week to go with many doubles, triples and meltdown holes. It was a blast. On most days anything within 8 feet felt like a gimme putt. Putting went great, I chipped in from the fringe on two different days, driving was off and on. The Titleist 904F 15 degree is awesome off the tee or off the deck... love that club. The 19 degree is the same.

If you're ever in the Pacific Northwest I highly recommend both Shuksan and Gold Mountain as they are beautifully maintained courses with tons of elevation changes and challenging holes. Both were fairly reasonably priced for their beautiful location and condition. Neither had houses on them. Golf cut out of the forest.

Not a bad week!

[Rafcin]

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

indeed is different. USGA hcp takes in ANY round you played, however tournament (sanctioned) scores have more priority. I think your system is tougher...

On the other hand I think your PAT is easier to pass. I've 3 or 4 rounds on or under par in a year, but I doubt I'd be able to shoot similar on a SPECIFIC day in back-to-back rounds. It's like if I add up all the best scores on each hole I ever scored on my home course - I'd have 46. On a specific day the best I ever done was 69... quite a difference

[mediaguru]

Started out the front nine at -5! Then shot +5 on the back. Talk about a "disappointing" 72.

[sevenfourate]

Regarding PAT - with all due respect we are talking club pro's here - not tour pro's.I believe the trainee's today have a 36 hole PAT AND a record to keep over a number of years during their training period.

But,bearing in mind the handicap limit is 2 (?) if you cant either beat 14 over odd - over here - for 2 rounds or keep to within 3 of par a number of times during the year - regardless the number of comps you play in then something is wrong in my opinion.Its only to show that you have some grasp of the game at a reasonably high level,its not designed to be a definative point at which you are considered "good enough".From speaking to PGA headquarters about the training schedule of my two assistants,when they were going through their training,the reason the PAT scores are either 1./ Fairly high regarding "on the day scores" or 2./ Reasonably easy to achieve over an extended period of years,is to allow for nerves,bad weather,a little inconsistancy etc etc etc

But of course this is just the start - i would think the PGA over here,and the US im sure,would hope a trainess/assistant pro's golf would greatly improve in time from this starting point.

[Ben]

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

Our system here is simply rated with any score anytime you play, whether a tournament round or not. We can certainly play some time and you can find out that way about my game... HAHAHAA...

But no, I'm not booked for my next PAT. I figured I'd pass the first time around and didn't bother scheduling a back-up. I'll get to it eventually.

[iacas]

On Tuesday, I shot 38 and LOST 3 of 4 points to a 27 handicapper.

He shot 43. And the only point I won I would have halved if he hadn't duffed a chip on one of the holes.

Peh.

[Jeepthrills]

I actually started to pull it together on Wednesday. I started out by missing makeable par putts on 2 and 3. The dark cloud started to creep into my brain, but I would not let it. It sounds crazy, but I picked somthing up from last weeks Golf Makeover show. The hypnotist had the guy pinching his thumb and forefinger and repeating a positive thought. I did this prior to my preshot routine and just told myself "confidence". It did a great job of blocking everything else out. It was one of those nights that I could have lost it. I was giving my opponent 15 shots for 9 holes. I made up two on the first and then he apparently lost count on the next two when he told me he had a 3 and a 4 when they were actually 4 and 5. So instead of being 3 shots up through 3 it was only 1. It started to piss me off, but it's only a fun league among friends. This guy is new to the league and has only been playing for a few years so I didn't call him on it. We had a long wait on the next tee and I was starting to boil a little, it was 94 degrees, but that wasn't the problem. I stepped up to my drive and pinched the hell out of my thumb and index finger and said "confidence" a few times. It worked. I unloaded on one with two other groups on the tee box. It flew 316 and landed only a 10 yards off the green. I made a weak chip that checked up and missed the 12 foot birdie by 6". He lost a ball in the long grass and made 8. I ended up beating him by 16 even with the questionable counting. I also won the longest drive on #9 when I came up just short of the green on a 330 yard hole. All in all I hit driver 4 times and had 3 in the fairway and one 6 inches into the right rough. I probably averaged 290 off the tee. I shot my lowest round of the year (+6) and it should have been much lower. Now I just need to figure out how to handle the whole counting thing without ruffling feathers. As the secretary, I think I will wait a week then e-mail everyone a brief synopsis of some common rules and ettiquite items.

[NCGolfer]

Spent the weekend in Myrtle. Here are my rounds:

Caledonia:
36-36-72
32-39-71

True Blue:
37-40-77

The Tradition
38-39-77

TPC @ Myrtle Beach
34-39-73

Caledonia is a great course. It is only a par 70, but has some tricky greens. Most Strantz courses do. True Blue (another Strantz course) has wide fairways, but again, some wicked greens...more so than Caledonia. They had just punched the greens, so the putting was interesting to say the least. The Tradition was also punched and the greens were mostly sand. We got on it for only cart fees, so we didn't complain. The TPC was a great track with some tight fairways and great looking holes.

Overall, I hit the ball really well. The 32 on my 2nd round at Caledonia included three missed birdie putts inside 15 feet...one from 4! I got tired when we made the turn for the 2nd 18 because we didn't have time to stop and rest. I definitely left some shots out there.

I have been working on some things that are just starting to pay off and feel more confident that I can repeat my swing. We'll see how it goes over the next couple weeks and if it continues. The new putter worked well too...I only had one round over 30 putts. It is slowly coming together.

[rs4duke]

well i shot a career best 84 saturday at Brookwoods, after all my practice it feels like my swing is coming around and i'm becoming more confident. the game just keeps getting more fun, i'm playing the same course this coming saturday and my goal will be to match or beat my 84.

[Jeepthrills]

I hit the ball reasonably well yesterday, but my score didn't reflect it. I picked up two new, well near new, clubs Saturday and put them into play. I got the Hogan 21* CFT Hybrid and a 15* Titleist 980 3-wood. I hit the hybrid a handfull of times and loved it. Only one bad one in the bunch. I only hit the 3 wood once, but it was laser guided and stopped 8 feet from the hole from 240 out. I had a few balls that were good swings with rough breaks. I hit a draw arround the corner of a dog leg left on 18 that caught a branch that I normally don't reach (230 out and 30' up). The ball shot dead left and I had to punch out sideways. This lead to the 3 wood shot. I had a ball come to rest on a tree root and one roll into a divot that had started to grow over. All things said, I was happy with my 44.

[NCGolfer]

Got a quick round in today. I continued playing well and had a 70 from the tips at a local course here. Hit 10 fairways, 13 greens and had only 27 putts. I had 4 birdies and two bogeys in the round. There were plenty of missed opportunites that I could have shaved a few strokes off of the score. Even with that, the 70 was a personal best at the course by 2 strokes.

The funny thing is that my swing is falling into place and I've only really been practicing my putting lately. I've only hit balls sparingly and worked mostly on tempo.

[Donald MacKenzie]

Got out for 18 on Sunday, but had to get a raincheck for the back 9 after a drenching 20-minute downpour while I was playing #8-9.

Had a 44 that included a complete blowup hole. Took a snowman on #8. Two balls in the water off the tee on a short par-4. Tried to get cute with the first one, then overcooked a cut on the second. Grrr.

Otherwise, I was happy with my ball-striking. Averaged 280 off the tee with the driver and hit 3/4 fairways with it. Still dialing in the distances with my new irons, and flew a couple greens (right over the flag, too). But, as Tiger always says, I can feel it coming around...

Best shot was a knockdown 6-iron from 159 into the wind and rain on #9. Beautiful low shot that checked up 10 feet left of the pin, birdie putt died one revolution short on the high side. Can't wait to play again.

[iacas]

79 today from the black tees at my course. Short game is in serious need of work. I played with the Pro V1 today instead of my normal V1x, and I'll write more about that in another post in Equipment somewhere.

Good to finally get out again! The moving (into the new house) is winding down.

[Ben]

Well, after having my golf ego busted and taking about a week off from the game after my PGA PAT, my game has come back around.

On Tuesday, went out with my normal evening partner, the athletics director here at the club, and we played our normal $1 point game. $1 skin, $1 birdie, $1 sandie, and $1KP. I won every whole, had 4 birdies and 1 KP. For a 3-under 32 and $14! !

Yesterday he came back for more. I didn't skunk him on the holes, 4 holes to 3, we pushed the last two. I didn't have any birdies, but I did have all 3 KPs. Turned out to be 2-over for nine though...

So, I suppose I'm back?!

[Jeepthrills]

I played in our anual Father's Day scramble. I hit the ball reasonably well and putted the best i have all year. I rolled in birdies from 6 and 12 feet and lagged a 40 footer to 8" to save par. I also rolled in par putts from 15 and 18 feet. We came in 2nd out of 17 teams, so it was not too bad. We each took home $35 for second place and I won a Top Flite Gap wedge in the door prize raffle. All things considered it was a success. Especially when you consider that first place only pays an extra $15 per guy and the winning team is responsible for organizing the whole thing next year.

[Rafcin]

Disaster stroke... First of my "Major" tournaments this season - Regional Golf Association Public Links qualifier. After my plane was delayed sunday night I managed to get 4 hours of sleep only before my 7am tee time.. I hope that was the reason. Went out with triple, triple, double on the first 3 holes, before coffee kicked in... but it was over already. Finished 82 (10 over with 8 over on first 3 holes!!!), which was right in the middle of the pack, 74 was the cut line. One down, 3 more to go. Next time - I'll make sure I'll be in bed by 8PM

[iacas]

Front: 43, 2/7 FW, 17 putts, 3/9 GIR, 2/5 UD, 0/1 SS
Back: 36, 2/7 FW, 15 putts, 6/9 GIR, 0/1 UD, 1/2 SS

Needless to say, I figured some things out on about the eighth or ninth hole. The back nine I played in a league against someone (had to give him four shots). Took all four points. Detailing the back here for my own sake...

10: Pop up 3W. Cut 4I off down-hill lie too much. Fan the bunker shot, but roll in a 25-footer for par.
11: Block 3W just a little. Get lucky with a good lie. Put 9I to a foot. Birdie.
12: Block 7I into bunker. Fan the bunker shot again. Don't roll in 25-footer, but two-putt. Bogey.
13: Block 3W drive. Hit solid 7I out of trees. Hit solid PW to 20 feet. Two putt.
14: Block 4I just a little bit. Two putt from 40 feet for par.
15: Block Hybrid a little. Hit solid 8I to 25 feet. Two putts.
16: Solid 3W (figured out the blocking, finally). Solid PW. Two putts for par.
17: Over-cut driver. Punch out, hit tree. Hit solid 3W cut. Hit super-spinning LW to 5 feet. Tricky par attempt lips out. Bogey.
18: 3W just misses fairway to right (slight cut). Put 8I to a foot. Birdie.

The only hole I lost was 17, a hole he stroked on. He also stroked on 10 (tied), 13 (won), and 15 (won).

[absolut_todd]

I had a shocker this morning. Temperature was the coldest day of the year (single digits :( ). 6.45 AM tee off with a friend of mine.

Played at Cammeray ( http://www.cammeraygolf.com.au/holes.htm ) which is a nice little course in the middle of Sydney. To give you some idea where it is, its at the top of a hill, at the bottom is the Sydney Harbour Bridge ;) ...

Lost 2 balls quite early... Stupid Trees
5 putted a few holes... Stupid Putting
Stopped counting after the 4th hole... Stupid game, trying to get a LOW score
Cant fix my slice... Stupid Driver
Almost decapitated myself with a ricochet off a fence... Stupid aiming

Yep, it was one of those days when i even got a good shot, and the ball ended up 50 meters behind me...

Tho on the other hand i hit a few nice shots off the tee (3I) which made it worth it :D...

And im going out on Saturday so that should be fun too...

I love this game... :D