Bogey Golfers Only (Index 16-22) / Breaking 90 Topic

[CR McDivot]

I am playing a short course that is unforgiving if you miss FW or green...

Learn to play YOUR home course, and YOUR swing. Once these fundamentals are down you will have a good basis to expand upon when you are ready to be confronted with new challenges.

Above all, relax and enjoy the greatest game on earth!

[jetsknicks1]

New challenge. Back to strategy off of blown or duffed drives. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/85999/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/86001/] [/URL] Skyed the driver! 170 yards into right rough, can't even see the green because of two groups of trees. :-O Still got 220 yards to the pin. Now what?

For me, it's a 5i to within a wedge and try to get on in three. If I have a good lie, I'm thinking 3w but that can only end bad.:~(

[Dave2512]

New challenge. Back to strategy off of blown or duffed drives.

Skyed the driver! 170 yards into right rough, can't even see the green because of two groups of trees.

Still got 220 yards to the pin. Now what?

What course is that?

[CR McDivot]

What course is that?

Riverdale Knolls #18, just down the road from you.

BTW - the Knolls is on the tail end of a complete irrigation rebuild. Lots of ground under repair for a while.

[CR McDivot]

Dave2512,

If you have played the Knolls, for the information of us bogey boys...

How do you as a single digit guy play #13?

[rkim291968]

Learn to play YOUR home course, and YOUR swing. Once these fundamentals are down you will have a good basis to expand upon when you are ready to be confronted with new challenges.

Above all, relax and enjoy the greatest game on earth!

It was only this April that I dipped into 12 handicap index.   But something happened since then.   I've got stressed & burned out physically and mentally which caused my neck & upper back to go out of whack.   I've lost what golf fundamentals I've had.  Unfortunately, getting my golf game back is taking some time  (and chiropractic sessions).   I guess that's typical of aging bogey golfer - hard to get good at it, easy to lose it in a hurry, and then harder to get it back.

Come on CR McDivot.   It's time for you to give us a long par 3 assignment that a bogey golfer may have to consider laying up.

[CR McDivot]

Super easy.  3-wood.  Aim at the tree on the right edge of the water on the left (you should have a clear shot at it -- just to the left of the clump of trees in front of you) and let your amazingly natural slice bring the ball right up to the green.  Easy birdie opportunity!

Well almost...

I don't bag a 3W, I did hit a 5W fade to 25 yrds. Easy pitch to uphill pin.

Shanked the wedge. Lobbed my 60 ⁰ from 15 yrds to 4ft and 1 putt for bogey.

Hey, I'm a "bogey" player.

[CR McDivot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

It was only this April that I dipped into 12 handicap index...

Ahhh... so it's you who are the "sandbagger" into this thread!

Quote:

...It's time for you to give us a long par 3 assignment...

Let me think about a good one. But I still got a couple par 4s waiting.

[GreenIn2]

I wanted to offer a thought on strategy.  I don't largely get involved in actual swing mechanics and such - I more enjoy the strategy discussions. I feel strongly about this applying to we hackers, but it might apply to single digits as well.  Anyway - a buddy and I played this weekend and I realized I had been employing a strategy and had not really ever vocalized it.  He is about a 110 type golfer.   On a shortish par 4, I duffed my drive about 90 yards or something.  We get to my ball and I pull a 5i.  He asks me why I'm going iron when I have so much distance to now cover.  It occurred to me how many times I had seen him go with hybrid/fairway wood after a similar duff.  And many other folks over time.  I think the natural choice after a bad shot is to try to get back all you can in the next shot.  You have to right?  You're at a deficit now. But I'd guess a lot of blow-up holes get started this way.  Duffed drive --> long club off the deck --> now lying 3 in woods, pond, bunker or maybe even a lost ball.  Unless you hit a pretty good shot, I feel a snowman could be coming. Unless it is really open, I think the smarter play is to lay back here.  Protecting bogey or maybe even double is a safer bet here than trying to get 200+ yards out of a shot and risking more trouble.  A bogey golfer getting that kind of distance off the deck, down the middle, around any trouble sounds risky to me.  And what is the payoff?  Just being closer really.  You still aren't going to green it. Our normal routine is probably to get on in 3 and 2-putt for bogey.  So: - At this point, you still have a good chance to do just that with 5i   - Even if you miss the green from 30-70 with your third shot, you are close and still have a chance to get up and down for bogey - Even if it takes you 4 to get on and you 2-putt, it isn't as bad as it sounds.  You get bogey on most holes anyway, so getting double after a duffed tee shot is pretty much expected.  Make up for it with a par on a hole where you hit a better tee shot Any thoughts from the bogey gallery?

hey bud you just blew my mind. if I knew how to quote properly I would. that part where you mentioned trying to pick up 200+ yards after a bad tee off. that's me all the way. I've got a horrible temper and golfing usually takes care of that with one exception... the driver. I can not seem to hit with that, I have such a hard time teeing up with it that I just dropped it from my club list. now I just use a fairway wood and take that about 200 to 250 depending on the roll, slope, slice, tree , etc. what I'm saying is that next time I "duff" the tee box I'm going to try a more conservative approach and not over compensate for lost yardage.

[CR McDivot]

Here's a nice short par 4. Thorncreek #10, 299 yards from the middle tee. Dogleg left, creek all along left side with trees and a 4 foot splitrail marking OB. Fairway trap right side 190 yards out. Dogleg LZ at 210, leaves 89 to center green (guarded by trap front right).

I aim at the fairway trap and try to draw around the trees on the left to the dogleg LZ. Pull hook and try to talk that recalcitrant ball to a stop before she runs OB under the fence.

She stops, and like the bad dog she is, looks back at me ten feet from the split rail with the trees on the corner dead square between her and the green. Still got 145 to the pin.

(Bad ball in first cut just left of farthest left post)

Now what?

[Roblar]

Well almost...

I don't bag a 3W, I did hit a 5W fade to 25 yrds. Easy pitch to uphill pin.

Shanked the wedge. Lobbed my 600 from 15 yrds to 4ft and 1 putt for bogey.

Hey, I'm a "bogey" player.

I find that kind of funny because I took my 3-wood out of the bad a while back, and now I just play a 5-wood.  I think the next time I buy a club, I'll buy a 4-wood.

She stops, and like the bad dog she is, looks back at me ten feet from the split rail with the trees on the corner dead square between her and the green. Still got 145 to the pin.

(Bad ball in first cut just left of farthest left post)

Now what?

I mean.... take your medicine.  Knock it back on the fairway and hit a short iron/wedge.  My guess is you've got the angle to hit it somewhere near 100 yards out, right?  That's where I'd aim since I can take a full swing with my 52 if I'm in the 95-105 range.  Further out, a pitching wedge (or a 9i if you don't get the ball to go too far).

Then again, if you already ruined the round on the front 9, maybe you go 'hero' and try to thread the needle between the trees?  In for a penny, in for a pound?    /emoticons/d4_w00t.gif"/>

[rkim291968]

Here's a nice short par 4. Thorncreek #10, 299 yards from the middle tee. Dogleg left, creek all along left side with trees and a 4 foot splitrail marking OB. Fairway trap right side 190 yards out. Dogleg LZ at 210, leaves 89 to center green (guarded by trap front right).

I aim at the fairway trap and try to draw around the trees on the left to the dogleg LZ. Pull hook and try to talk that recalcitrant ball to a stop before she runs OB under the fence.

She stops, and like the bad dog she is, looks back at me ten feet from the split rail with the trees on the corner dead square between her and the green. Still got 145 to the pin.

(Bad ball in first cut just left of farthest left post)

Now what?

This is not too bad.  I'd take my 155 yard club, and hit a strong draw aiming to the green side bunker.  If I execute it well, it will end up on green.

[teamroper60]

Here's a nice short par 4. Thorncreek #10, 299 yards from the middle tee. Dogleg left, creek all along left side with trees and a 4 foot splitrail marking OB. Fairway trap right side 190 yards out. Dogleg LZ at 210, leaves 89 to center green (guarded by trap front right).

I aim at the fairway trap and try to draw around the trees on the left to the dogleg LZ. Pull hook and try to talk that recalcitrant ball to a stop before she runs OB under the fence.

She stops, and like the bad dog she is, looks back at me ten feet from the split rail with the trees on the corner dead square between her and the green. Still got 145 to the pin.

(Bad ball in first cut just left of farthest left post)

Now what?

Chip it forward to the center of the fairway, hopefully somewhere around 100-110, then a sand wedge which should put me close enough to one-putt for par..   At worst, I'm close enough for an easy two-putt bogey.

[boogielicious]

1.  Accuracy off the tee with the driver and 3W.  This is my biggest weakness.

2.  Long iron approach shots.  I get fairly consistent distance, but directional control is off.

I will work on the first 3 keys initially this winter.  Then the last two keys as we approach the spring thaw.

I will also continue to work on my flexibility.  I have regained a lot since my shoulder surgery 3 years ago, but I still have issues at the finish of my swing being too tight.

[Meltdwhiskey]

hey bud you just blew my mind. if I knew how to quote properly I would. that part where you mentioned trying to pick up 200+ yards after a bad tee off. that's me all the way. I've got a horrible temper and golfing usually takes care of that with one exception... the driver. I can not seem to hit with that, I have such a hard time teeing up with it that I just dropped it from my club list. now I just use a fairway wood and take that about 200 to 250 depending on the roll, slope, slice, tree , etc. what I'm saying is that next time I "duff" the tee box I'm going to try a more conservative approach and not over compensate for lost yardage.

You touched on another problem I think is big for bogey golfers - and specifically me.  I also don't carry driver.  When I picked the game back up a couple of years ago - I naturally pulled that driver on nearly every tee box like everyone else seemed to.  But it led to too much frustration and high scores.  I actually went irons only and my scores improved immediately. It was about then that I noticed it was not that hard to get on in 3 with irons.  And at that time, I probably wasn't getting any GIR's anyway.  I still only get a few.  So I wasn't really sacrificing as much as I thought.  Once my game became much more under control, I introduced a hybrid - which became my de facto driver - but still only used it when it was pretty open.  As I got better with the hybrid, I bought a 3-wood - which I now use on holes that are pretty open.  If not so open, hybrid.  And I still tee off with irons at times.

I hope to work driver back in soon.  But I'm not taking it back to the course until I can convince myself it actually saves more shots than it costs.  A good drive will save you between 0 and 1 shots on the given hole.  But a bad drive can cost you 1-3 strokes in a heartbeat.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by rkim291968

This is not too bad.  I'd take my 155 yard club, and hit a strong draw aiming to the green side bunker.  If I execute it well, it will end up on green.

Maybe we read that differently - but I don't see this as a good option.  Unless you were just kidding - if so, please disregard everything else in this post.

If he is 10' from the split-rail and as close to the trees as the overhead seems to have him, the angle pushes you too far to the right.  A straight 155yd shot would put you out over the end of that fairway bunker and out in the desert.  It appears it would require a 50+ yard hook on it.

1. That's a Bubba shot.  I don't think that is a bogey golfer shot.  I don't think I'd green that shot with a large bucket of balls.

2. If you almost pull it off, you're in the bunker

3. If it goes straight, you aren't even on the course anymore

4. If you double cross, you aren't even on the course anymore

5. If you kinda fat it, you are in the fairway bunker

I got the feeling CR was trying to tempt us into trying to split the trees with a field goal shot.

[CR McDivot]

...If he is 10' from the split-rail and as close to the trees as the overhead seems to have him, the angle pushes you too far to the right.  A straight 155yd shot would put you out over the end of that fairway bunker and out in the desert...

I got the feeling CR was trying to tempt us into trying to split the trees with a field goal shot.

Correct on the futility of trying to draw an approach. Chipping out short of the bunker to middle of fairway leaving 120-125 is feasible.

Angle is also bad for splitting the trees (picture is decieving). Even if you did get through you will be heading straight to the heavy rough and OB on the right just past the fairway bunker. Big risk to gain only 20 yards or so.

[CR McDivot]

I find that kind of funny because I took my 3-wood out of the bad a while back, and now I just play a 5-wood.  I think the next time I buy a club, I'll buy a 4-wood...

Yeah, my 5W is 21 ⁰ and my 3 iron is 22 ⁰ . I am saving up for a 18 ⁰ fairway wood or maybe Wilson's 19.5 ⁰ bridge. For some reason I am more comfortable with fairway woods or long irons than the more contemporary hybrids.

I need to update my WITB, still playing the 30 year old musclebacks but upgraded from the laminated woods to metalwoods.