Best Shot of the Week

[bkuehn1952]

@sjduffers recently made a hole-in-one. Here is how he described it:

I won't top this one this week: hole in one from 176 yards, uphill, into the wind with a 5 wood. High tight draw, one bounce and released right to left towards the hole, as planned. I thought it was pretty close, but alas I didn't see it go in from the tee. Walking up there, nothing but my partners' balls... so I looked in the hole, and sure enough, there was my Vice ball! 

Now all I need to do is have him personally brag about it.  You know the French, they can be insufferable. 😉

Edited September 20, 2022 by bkuehn1952

[sjduffers]

1 hour ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Now all I need to do is have him personally brag about it. 

I already did, @bkuehn1952, in the birdie challenge thread. But thanks for the mention. 

[Club Rat]

My wife and I played yesterday in the STL Womens District Mixed Event, - a couples event at Bellerive Country Club.
Let me first say, it's been a couple of years since my last visit to BCC. I was surprize at how much the surroundings have been detailed at the course. Many areas which used to grown over with tall plant growth which prevented seeing areas of the course had been cleared and manicured and landscaped beautifully. The entire grounds of the course is remarkable with gentle hills and tree lined fairways.
And the greens which have always been incredible, fast, severely sloped and huge provided a great entertainment of putts.

For starters, my wife hits a great shot on the longest par three which hits dead on and one hop hits the flagstick at ground level. But she was denied an Ace which would have been her first. 🙂
The other couple on or team, this woman was ROCK Solid with the putter all day long making evry putt inside 6 feet. I told her I've seen Men who buckle at the knees on several of the putts she made LOL

I had a remarkable day on the Par 3's.  I absoluty flagged ever shot but only could make One Bird while being inside 15 feet on all of them. 
But my best shot was from the back greenside bunker on the 9th hole.
Being shortsided and the green sloping away from the bunker, I play the shot 12 feet to the right of the hole on the high side of the green.
It lands on the green and had enough spin to begin it's slow roll and possibly entering the side door only to come to rest a half inch above the hole dead centered 😞
The best part of the day was golfing with the other couple who were great fun and possibly become future golf friends. 🙂

 

[Darkfrog]

My tee shot on the 6th hole was just about perfect. It was a good shot regardless, but it happened to land on a downslope of some fairway contouring for drainage which added another 20-30 yards. I was in a nice spot to pitch onto the green and have a birdie chance, but overcooked the short game shot.

[JetFan1983]

My best shot of the week was during my range session yesterday. I was using my 5-iron for the first time in over six years. Struggled a bit with it over the first couple balls, but on my last ball with that club I hit it about as pure as I can possibly hit a shot given my current swing. Definitely a 99.9 percentile outcome for me. No curve, dead straight where I was aiming and likely max distance as well (for me). Felt amazing and effortless.

I think my swing thought before hitting it was just to swing soft and smooth and swing my arms through the ball. Currently I'm juggling several priorities while developing my swing on the range, but for this ball in particular I just tried to imagine I was on the course.

[Esox]

Level ground. Mild cross wind. Carried a hazard off the tee today that was a 276 yard carry. Ball was another 18 yards up the fairway.  Not much to talk about for some of you, but I'll be 63 next month.... That was one of my best drives all year. And I  put the TSI 2 in the bag because it hadn't been getting much love lately, sitting at home feeling neglected. Lol

 

[Vinsk]

Shanked my lay up on my Par 5 #4 hole into a biking group heading down the street. They scattered like ants. I absolutely love this game.

[Double Mocha Man]

29 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Shanked my lay up on my Par 5 #4 hole into a biking group heading down the street. They scattered like ants. I absolutely love this game.

The rule is... never pedal left of Vinsk.  Didn't those bikers get the memo?

[DrvFrShow]

You pick it: 

9th hole: 45 yd LW to 4' that set up the birdie putt.

OR

18th hole: after one of my worst drives of the day, 180 yds out. My good sense was telling me to hit a 7i to lay up and pitch on for an up and down or at worst a bogey. My bad sense was telling me "no layups." I'd bought that 7W just for this type of shot. It was a sidehill lie above my feet though, so I had to aim it at the Chevy Pickup in the parking lot and hope it hooked back over the bunker and landed on the green. I played the ball a little more centered to make sure I hit it on the in to out. I hit it. It went out and then it started hooking. I thought, "it's gonna land in the bunker," but it cleared, landed on the green and checked ending up short of the hole but in the center of the long green. Waddashot. Now I had a 45 foot putt for birdie. I checked the slope and break. It was straight and uphill. Just get it close. It finished about 2 feet long and 3 feet from the hole. From that distance, not bad. Putt in for par. Sometimes you have to go for it. 

[Darkfrog]

Pasatiempo hole #15, short par-3. My gap wedge came up short in a greenside bunker. Splashed out and and took a few hops up to glimpse the ball tracking right toward the hole but it rattled off the flagstick and stopped about 6 inches away for a tap-in par. I was down in the bunker so didn't have the best view, but the guys in my group said they thought it was going in for sure.

[roejye]

I have several really good shots. I played 2 days ago. I hadn't played in almost a month and my first drive after the long break - dead straight, a little short because I didn't do much warm up and swung easily. Actually I hit every fairway that round. However I have two chips that come to mind, both on the same hole and from similar positions.

First chip I piped a drive straight down the middle, but was in between clubs, I clubbed down and tried to hit more of a stinger, but just ended up hooking it and leaving myself short sided, over a bunker, and branch trouble to an elevated green. I have to try a shot I haven't tried often, the low spinner. I set up, narrow stance, weight well over the front foot, ball at the back of my stance and swing. I pull it left slightly, which actually helps avoid the branches and it ends up on the fringe, but close enough to give me a decent enough birdie chance and I get the 2 putt par.

Now for my truly best shot of the week. Same hole as the last chip I described, but this time I made a meal of the whole. Top slice a drive into the 5th fairway, duff a 3 wood, hit a great 8 iron, but it's a blind shot over some shrubbery and it's a little left. I ended up pin high, but in the left greenside bunker this time, and it's a couple inches from the lip. Luckily the hole is on the other side of the green today so I wasn't short sided. I'm seriously considering asking one of the people I'm playing with if I could borrow a wedge because they're left-handed. Instead I grab my 60, and I'm bent over almost like I'm trying to reach my toes. I swing and hope, but I watch it get out and land and I see that it will actually check up a little. I ended up about 5 feet from the pin. Unfortunately I blast the putt about 5 feet past burning the lip, but I sink the knee knocker comebacker for the bogey.

[tomvk77]

Not my best round i played, but scrambled really well, at the 186 yard par 3 6th i duffed my teeshot ball ended up 72 yards in thick grass, pin was on the left front of the green guarded by a deep bunker. Took my lobwedge and opened up the face slightly and than made a 3/4 swing on it, ball came out great landed 3 feet in front of the flag hit it after that and ended just inches away from the cup. 

[Wade Patton]

Oh, I should be posting here, because I'm still not keeping full scores yet.  I just count the birdies and pars. But that'll change soon.

So this Friday's best shot was like this:
First time at old course that was pretty good back when.  It's not so good anymore.  The putting green has been abandoned and the range is shag-only, but I didn't have time for that. SO we went off the first tee with no warm-up shots, just a bunch of stretching and swinging.  I need a few holes to warm up when this is the case. 

So I hit most of my shots right down the middle but caught them all low on the clubface, losing lots of yardage.  Duffed my way thought 3 full holes that way.  Then on #4, the first par 3, it happened. I was warmed up and hit a gorgeous 7-iron high and to the center of the green, stopping about 14' short of the hole.  Then I made the putt. That's the shot that keeps me going back. Thereafter nearly all my shots were worth the money.

I also hit some fine drives, and a super 4w that nearly put me on the last green in two for an eagle putt. Happy to be playing again, even though my time is so limited. I think my newest playing partner has caught the bug again too. He actually hit one into the bag of another player. That was a first for all of us!  The other guy saw it screaming toward him and jumped clear of the cart--ball lodged in his bag on the back of the cart. 

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Wade Patton
clarification and punctuation and spelling

[bkuehn1952]

It was a 3 1/2 foot birdie putt with not a lot of break BUT it was the last non- birdie hole of the 2022 Birdie Challenge.on my “Away” card.  Lucky #13.

[billchao]

Played Sunday - not well - but still good enough to break 90 if I don’t royally screw up the last hole. It’s a par 5 that’s reachable in two for me. Plus, I was coming off back to back pars and three straight GIR so I’m feeling in the zone with my swing.

I pushed the drive slightly, but hit it well enough that it ended up lost in the fescue/natural growth area. Bummer. So I take my E-5, and like the genius I am, decided to drop it where I was instead of out in the fairway. I smoke my 3w, except I pushed it slightly - right into a tree. Watched the ball carom to the right into the same shit about 60 yards up. So I go to the new spot and drop again, only to smoke an iron into another tree. The ball ricocheted back and to the right, once again in the junk (if it kicked straight right it would have been playable from the 10th hole).

At this point I can only laugh. Decided to actually drop the ball in the fairway like I was entitled to the whole time, hit an iron to an elevated green 200 yards away inside 10’. Two-putted for a 12.

I love this game.

[bkuehn1952]

I had played erratically for the round. In the last match, I allowed the other team to forge ahead by letting my teammate down with several ill-timed bogies and doubles. We pulled together and tied up the match going into the final hole. None of us hit great approach shots on the final hole. I was in a greenside bunker. Blasted out to 10 feet or so. Then rolled in the par putt. None of the other guys made par so our team took a point for "low" and won the final match.   Woo hoo!!!  $2.  😁

Edited November 2, 2022 by bkuehn1952

[roejye]

went out for quite possibly my last round of the season, played my favorite course, but didn't play particularly well 47 on a par 34. The best shot I can remember was on a hole that I generally have trouble on the tee. It's a hole that really shouldn't give me problems, a big green that is slightly downhill with a singular bunker. The green itself is elevated, and it makes me think of an island green that the lake dried up. I was playing from the tips and the hole was playing 165~ to the center with a front pin. The green slopes down from back to front. I'd been hitting it a little short all day so I pull my 4 hybrid, figuring this could easily reach the middle with how short I've been hitting it, but wouldn't go too long. I do my preshot routine and step up to the ball. I swing away and make great contact. I see the ball soar high and straight towards the green. I watch it land at the back of the green, that's kind of how the entire round went, even my good shots had meh results. I did end up like a foot from a previous hole and thought about taking a joke picture "this close to my first hole in one". I can't complain though, it was almost November and we had 60° f highs in Minnesota.

[iacas]

On Sewanee's 7th hole, I drove the ball to the right a bit and it just rolled into the fairway bunker (as you can see, left is no good here). I had 140 or so to the flag, with a lip in front of me, my ball sitting on some decent sand, but… trees on the direct line from the ball to the hole as well as still on a line about at the left edge of the greenside bunker. The green is fronted by a big valley as you can see in the Google Earth, so my idea was to take a 6I back in my stance a bit… as I thought it would get over the bunker lip, stay under the tree limbs, and maybe climb up to the green.

Turns out… I flew it to about hole high and the ball stopped about 15 feet behind the green. Never left the flag, perfectly clipped, cleared the bunker lip, stayed under the tree limbs… tremendous shot if I do say so myself.

Fortunately I don't have to as @cedrictheo was there to see it. 😉