What'd You Shoot Today?

[iacas]

Played at Riverside today with the high school team. They have Regionals there on Monday.

The course was in pretty bad shape. Kinda wet, no roll, and you could get fliers in the fairway if you get my drift. Really pretty bad, and some of the greens there I swear are tilted 20°.

I shot par golf pretty much the whole way around. Never got into any big trouble, and when I did, managed to get out reasonably well. Played the par fives easily and made a few birdies here and there, but made a few little bogeys here and there. Had we been keeping score, and giving myself two putts everywhere outside of three feet (except for those I actually putted out), I'd have shot 74.

The course lists at 6300 yards (with five par 3s and a total par of 71), but someone must have added incorrectly. No par 3 is under 180 yards, one is 235, and the par 4s are all right around 400 yards or more. The par 5s are 560, 480, 525, and 540. That's 2100 yards right there. 3100 after you add in the par 3s. And nine par 4s averaging probably 400 get you 6700 yards. And, again, it was moist and the fairways were stimping at about two. As in two inches.

[OTCameron]

Wow, I just shot my new record score (90), 8 shots under my handicap. I've never played so well, everything just worked. 5 pars and tons of bogeys, and the odd (damn them) double/triple bogey.

[iacas]

Wow, I just shot my new record score (90), 8 shots under my handicap. I've never played so well, everything just worked. 5 pars and tons of bogeys, and the odd (damn them) double/triple bogey.

The secret to playing better than bogey golf is to get rid of the doubles and triples, not to get more pars and birdies (though those, naturally, will come as you give yourself putts for par on most holes).

[OTCameron]

The secret to playing better than bogey golf is to get rid of the doubles and triples, not to get more pars and birdies (though those, naturally, will come as you give yourself putts for par on most holes).

I actually had a run of pars going, but I put one in a set of tree's and tried to play it onto the fairway, but ofcourse I hit the smallest tree possible (must have been the width of the ball) and it came right back to where it was before. Thats where I got my one triple bogey. But still, I'm so happy with how I played

.

[nurseduffer]

ok....so last month I just started to shoot in the mid 90's. I am a member to a little po dunk course down the road...it's cheap and I get to bring my dog. The course itself is pretty unfair and you can hit a great shot but due to rocks, hard red dirt, or whatever, the ball can take a nasty bounce and really change the face of the hole for you. A lot of crab grass and tight lies. But until I am done with school...I will do most of my golfing there. Besides If I am used to constant tight lies and can gut it out on every hole, I figure it might make me a better player. Any hoo........
A few days ago I was playing like crap...it was wanted to bury my head in the hard red dirt! I shot a big fat ugly 55 on the first 9. I was devastated. I told myself "you spend to much time and money on this game...you suck"
Then on the back I shot a 41 ...I know this is nothing to you guys...but a real big deal for me. I slowed down my swing...more compact and controlled. I then took one more club with my irons. Good times!

[Rickins]

Then on the back I shot a 41...I know this is nothing to you guys...but a real big deal for me. I slowed down my swing...more compact and controlled. I then took one more club with my irons. Good times!

Au contraire! A 14-shot swing! My bro-in-law did the same thing about three weeks ago and, even though I beat his pants off, I was happier for him than I was for me.

P.S. A 41 is nothing to "sniggle" at. Well done! Rick

[iacas]

Shot 81 today on a really nice, decent-length par-71 known as Oak Tree . It used to be a private course, but now it's semi-private. It was 6300 yards from the tees we played today, and it was raining and 60° F. The rain wasn't too bad, but it was a pretty big hassle. Kind of annoying to put up with it, hold the umbrella, drive the cart, clean and dry the ball, etc.

Drove the ball well, but two things let me down several times: shots from 100 (or 65) yards and putting. Both are normally strong suits. I lipped out three or four putts, and one sat on the edge from 35 feet away. The only putt I really made all day was a 3-footer for birdie at the 8th hole... after I thinned the crap out of an 8-iron, watched it carry the water, skitter through a bunker, bounce out of the rough, and roll to the three feet.

I hit the ball pretty solidly all day. One drive got away from me and went OB - but then I birdied with my second ball for a bogey. I have a mental block off the tee on par 3s right now (this course had 5 of them) - I've been hitting them off the toe instead of "trapping" them.

Oak Tree is a pretty damn nice course, though. I wouldn't mind playing it a few times next year.

P.S. Lost three sides of a $5 better-ball Nassau. My partner helped me out on all of one hole.

[Rickins]

...after I thinned the crap out of an 8-iron, watched it carry the water, skitter through a bunker, bounce out of the rough, and roll to the three feet.

Last eagle I ever carded - not in

this millenium - did, nearly, the identical thing...without the water. Bladed a 7-iron from the get, down into and out of a bunker, across 25 to 30 feet of green straight into the flagstick...just like I played it. Rick Pulled up your link. There are some "boogers" out there!

[iacas]

Pulled up your link. There are some "boogers" out there!

Huh?

[Rickins]

The Oak Tree "link". On the card, there looks like there's a couple of pretty tough holes, i.e. "boogers".

Rick

[NCGolfer]

Played Saturday at Salem Glen. Shot a 73 (Par 71) from the tips which is around 6900 but played longer because of all the rain we had.

7/14 Fairways
6/18 Greens
27 Putts
1 Birdie
14 Pars
3 Bogeys

I actually hit the ball OK. I was pulling the ball a bit all day until I figured out I wasn't keeping my head behind the ball through impact. Even thought I only hit 6 greens, but a bunch of the ones I missed where just off the putting surface...I think I putted from the fringe on 5 of my missed greens. I got up and down 9 out of 12 times including 2/2 sand saves. The 58 degree Vokey spin milled is firmly entrenched in my bag now...

[Jeepthrills]

I played the back 9 at White Lake Oaks yesterday. 7:30 tee time and 41 degrees. Started out well with a tee shot in the center of the fairway and a 9 iron to 20 feet. Between the dew and the top dressing on the greens, I didn't hit it hard enough and left myself a 5 footer that I missed. Thinned my tee shot over the green on the par 3 11th. Chunked my pitch shot and made a poor chip that left me with a double. Trippled the 12th (easy par 4) and doubled the 13th (toughest hole on the course). 8 Over through 4 with only one easy hole to play. Finished par, par, bogey, bogey and par for a 45 (+10). Not bad all things considered. I was building a shed in my back yard on Saturday and I was so stiff I could hardly hold on to my clubs and bend over to tee my ball.

[Rafcin]

77 on the Shadow and 74 on the Sky courses at http://www.lostcanyons.com
Driver and putter working great allowed me to score so well, even though I had a "blow-up" hole in each round... a triple in the morning (after trying to hit the ball left-handed out of the desert) and double on 17th in the afternoon, pulling the tee-shot into a canyon. Love california weather. The Lost Canyons courses are highly recommended if you ever looking for golf in L.A. area ( 45 min drive ).

[iacas]

Shot a fairly boring 76 at Greenville Country Club. Birdied the first hole and then sprinkled five bogeys throughout the other 17 holes. Unfortunately, I didn't have much for breakfast (and we finished at 12:45), so I was kinda dizzy on the back, and four of the bogeys were on holes 10, 12, 17, and 18.

Driving: 5/7 Front, 4/7 Back - 9/14 Total (only two were big misses)
Greens: 6/9 Front, 5/9 Back - 11/18 Total (not too bad - two Up-and-Downs, and now you can figure out where the bogeys came in)
Putting: 14 Front, 16 Back - 30 Total (eh, so so - I missed a four-footer for birdie that slid eight inches, and the only putt over 15 feet that dropped for me was my birdie on the first hole).

I struck the ball well, my driver got me into trouble only three times (and two times I managed a par after punching out [both were par fives]). The last hole I drove left and played a risky shot and it led to bogey. I blew two shots I normally stick close - a 100-yard shot and a 50-yard shot (uhh, in a row, yes - the 100-yard shot went 50 yards, fat, so naturally the next was thinned). But then I nearly holed the pitch back onto the green for a "nice" bogey.

I tried one of the new TM wedges today. Look for a review to follow, later... short one now: they stop the ball really well. Good look at address without the "spoon" appearance of some (unnamed) wedges.

The two guys I took down to the course were the two longest hitters on our high school golf team. I was never outdriven.

[iacas]

I won't mention the Newport Cup rounds, because I played pretty terribly, but it wasn't about the score: it was about beating the opponent. With my partner in safe, I'd often attempt miracle shots I wouldn't normally attempt when shooting for a number. Still, I didn't play very well, but my putting and short game were pretty good. I got up and down several times, particularly at Pine Needles and the inverted bowl greens. I almost typed "bowel" greens. Oops.

Yesterday I continued my "so so" play to card an 82 in a Modified Southern Point (Senior Traveling League) tournament. We started on 6, and I made a few pars. My putting was still solid, but I missed so many greens it was ridiculous. One bad shot a hole, either off the tee or the fairway. I couldn't string good shots together frequently. Somehow, I won the first hole with a 5 net 4 - both the gross and net skins to pocket $44. Since the tournament cost $30 ($10 of which was for food and $20 of which went to skins, etc.), and since I had to pay $10 to the "right side" as they beat the "left side," I profit $4. Woo! The pin was in a tricky spot, I guess, because somehow nobody managed to par the darn hole. WTF? I dunno... Whatever.

I didn't post any details of my Newport Cup warmup round, so I'll do that now. It was a tale of two nines...

I hit eight greens in regulation and had only one putt over 15 feet. I made one of those putts. ONE putt out of SEVEN from 15 feet or less, including a four-footer I missed for par at a par 5 after whiffing a 5-iron approach way right of the green and playing a great flop shot. On the ninth (it was the 18th when Tanglewood had the PGA Championship in 1974), I hit the approach I wanted to hit but the wind didn't touch it and I had a 50-footer. I left myself 7 feet (not enough speed on the putt - then again, I hadn't had a putt over 15 feet for two hours) and my par putt - for an even-par 35 - lipped out.

It was, without doubt, the single greatest nine holes I have ever played. It included a hybrid uphill and into a little breeze from 195 to 15 feet. It included spinning back a sand wedge from the back of the green to ten feet. It included a 4-iron to a 195-yard par 3 to about 12 feet. Except for making putts (I was burning the edges), I couldn't have seen myself playing much better at this point in my "career."

I pulled my drive on 10 a little but left myself only 15 feet for birdie. Missed it, yeah, barely. Then I had a string of five straight bogeys - I hit the ball in bunkers, I topped one ball 10 yards (approach shot on an uphill 470-yard par 4), I hit a ball in the water. I made a 25-footer to save bogey on that 11th hole with the topped 3W... One time, from 100 yards, I nearly shanked the ball. It was just a very, very bad stretch of holes.

I straightened myself out, then, and closed with three pars, two of which were from bunkers on 16 and 18. The 17th was a par 5 and I should have had birdie there, but lipped out. So, a 76 with... well, about 32 putts and only one birdie.

Ho hum.

[Jeepthrills]

Played my usual Sunday morning round, but instead of playing the back, we went off on the front. I have never made less out of more. I hit the ball very well, but went over the green 3 times on approach shots. I put my Hybrid three through the green from 220+ twice and a five Iron from 190 over the green on a par three. It was as much due to conditions as it was solid contact. The ball landed short of the green on the two hybrids and pin high on the 5 iron. I lipped out two birdie putts and two par putts. I ended up with a non-discript 44.

We decided to make the turn. I doubled the 10th with a lost ball then chipped in for birdie on the 200 yard par three 11th after a pin high 5 iron. Missed a 9 footer for par on 12. 13 is the toughest hole on the course. Its a 420 yard, 90 degree dog leg right. The usual play is a lay up in front of water that is inside the dog leg. To carry the water requires a fade of about 295. I hit a perfect hybrid that left me with 215. I chunked my second into the drink. My 4th ended up pin high 10 feet right of the hole. Lipped out the bogey putt. I rolled in a 15 foot birdie on the par 3 14th. This is the first time this year I had 2 birdies in one round, much less in 4 holes. I went par, par, bogey on 15, 16 & 17. Standing on 18, I knew that I needed 5 for a 39. I have been in that position 3 times and choked each time. 18 is a double dog leg par five. The perfect shot is a draw off the tee. I generally fade my driver and 3 wood, so I went with the hybrid. I can get home in two with it if I draw it. I hit a solid tee shot, but it was a little too straight and forced me to lay up infront of the water. I punched the hybrid and came to rest 90 yards from the hole. This is the perfect distance for my gap wedge. I have already holed one out from the same distance this year. I pushed it a little and had two putts from 15 feet for 39. No choke here. I missed the birdie by 3 inches and tapped in for a 44-39-83. Personal best for the back nine and second best 18 there ever.

[iacas]

I bogeyed the first hole today, then parred the next... eleven holes, then went bogey, par, bogey, par, bogey, bogey for a 77. Blah.

[Maverick]

Shot an 88 at my local course. I'm still happy when I break 90..I broke 80 (76) on the same course 6 months ago..but haven't even got close to doing that again. To me it comes down to driving and if I'm consistently out there 25-260 I'm going to have a good day.