Fairway_CY

Where in Jersey are you at? If you're 10 minutes from P'burg... you can't be too far from me in Morris County. And... if you are out there in Warren county... where do you typically play? CY

I played in a traveling tournament group (handicap/net) a few years back and we played a resort course in South Jersey. Leading up to that tournament, I had been playing okay (for me) and shooting between 100 and 104 gross (about 73-77 net). I was on the range that morning and felt pretty good about my swing. Having been fairly new to the group, the guy who ran the club asked me how I thought I'd do and then if I'd like to wager on it. I told him that I felt I'd break 100 that day, and that, yes... I'd put $50 up that said I could. It was the worst round of my career. I couldn't get the ball more than 24 inches off the turf for the first 5 holes and didn't hit a tee shot further than 150 yards all day long. Ended up turning in a 127 (net 101) and finished in dead last place. Humbly turned in my score card with $50 attached to it. By far the most embarrassing round I've played. CY

LOL - No... I didn't take it that way. All in good fun. I know what you meant in your post. I was just having fun with ya. Oh, and... I didn't just start playing. I've been playing for nearly 15 years. Just that the game got away from me for awhile and now I don't get to play as frequently as I should. But... thanks for the apology anyway. It's appreciated, even if unneccessary. CY

Yeah... I know what you're saying, but... I'm not asking to back up a 7 iron. My post said that I can STOP my 7 - SW... I want to be able to spin my wedges... but not back 10 feet or anything. Just enough so I am able to control the distances better. Right now, anything inside of 100 yards I can get to stop... but there are still instances that I'd like to be able to put it beyond the hole and bring it back a yard or so. And, to be honest... my 26 handicap is because of how infrequently I've played in recent years. When I play well... I'm closer to an 18-20... still not good enough to worry about spin, I'm sure... but - that's me. In any event... the reason I said what I did is because in high school, I used a set of clubs my coach let me borrow for the season and the lower clubs (8, 9, PW) were blades. I was able to spin them back a few feet... but when I started with these Slingshots with the huge cavity backs... I don't get the same feeling when I hit them that I used to with the Pings I borrowed in high school. The sole is so wide and the flange (I think that's what it's called) is so rounded and thick that I feel like it's tougher to get under the ball to produce the check and spin shots. Anyway... thanks for reminding me I suck. CY

I had a similar situation when I bought my 'new clubs' about 5 years ago. I had been playing with a cheap set (Wal*Mart something or other) for a few years and told my wife I'd like to buy a set that I could have fitted. Went to a local golf place and tried out a few different sets... Callaway X-18's (I think)... Mizuno something... and then the Nike Slingshot. Of all the clubs, I liked the look and feel of the X-18's the most. They kept talking me out of it though. They were REALLY pushing the Mizuno's... which I just didn't like. Then, they said the same thing about buying a forgiving club... and they pushed the Slingshots. I ended up going with those. A few trips to the range, and I 'learned' the clubs... but nearly 5 years later, I STILL can't spin them. I can get the 7-SW up in the air and stop it dead... but I can't back them up at all. Looking back (and every time I play with someone who has the X-18's or X-20's)... I wish my choice was different. But, in the end... I'm happy with my clubs, so... But, good for you taking them back and picking up something that feels right. If I've learned ANYTHING about this game... it's that feel is the most important thing. For me... feeling right over and through a ball breeds confidence. All it takes is one bad swing and I can forget the rest of a round. CY

So, today was the qualifier for the Club Championships. It's divided into 4 flights: Championship = 0 - 5.9 A Flight = 6.0 - 9.9 B Flight = 10.0 - 15.9 C Flight = 16.0 and Above My handicap, as seen to the left, is 26.2 so that would place me in the C Flight. I'm over 10 handicap strokes above the 16.0 lower limit for the flight... so I was worried that I may not do very well, but... that's besides the point. Upon arriving at the course, I find out there are only 12 entries in our flight. That means that they'll have 4 bye's and then it'll be 8, 8, 4, 2 for the next few rounds. So, I get lucky and get paired with one of the guys I played with a few weeks ago in the first round of our county tournament, so I'm a little more comfortable. Things start out okay, a nice drive down the middle, leaving me maybe 260 to the green (par 5 - uphill all the way). I lay up with a 5 iron and leave myself maybe 100 yards. My pitching wedge goes off the INSIDE of the hosel and I advance it only about 40 yards and dead left. My sand wedge comes up just to the right of the green... I putt on and then 2 putt for an early double. I then settled down and got into a decent groove. Heading to the 9th tee, I'm at 40 for the front... and I figure if I can bogey, I'll have myself a good front side. (The hole typically plays 340 but it was set up to play about 300) Instead, I tee off with my 3 hybrid and top it 30 yards and to the left. I recovered nicely with a 5 iron to about 40 yards from the green... but I flew my sand wedge a bit too far and ended up in the back bunker. I blasted out and 3 putted for an ugly 7 to go out in 47. Not bad for me... but could have been better. The back started out pretty ugly. My drive on 10 went right... then my 7 iron also went right... about 15 yards to the right, but pin high. I flubbed my pitch... then hit a GOOD pitch, but it got caught by the top of the rough just before it hit the fringe... I then putted on and 1 putted for a double. Tee shot on 11 went dead right into a fairway bunker... then I blasted out with a 5 iron, but it caught a tree. From there, I SORTA settled down. 4 iron and a pitch followed by 2 putts for a bogey... and then the only luck I had all round... my tee shot went left, but I heard it clip trees and then click off the cart path, but nobody saw it. I hit a provisional (dead center - of course... provisional) but when we got up to my provisional, up about 30 yards was my initial tee shot. Got lucky there... and went on to make par. Closed out the round going bogey - par - bogey - bogey - bogey - bogey for a 44 coming in. 47 - 44 = 91 My new career best. Previous career low was 92... also on this course, but nearly 10 years ago. So - in the '2009 Goals' thread, I said I wanted to play an entire round without making anything about a 7... and I did that today. Only two 7's on my card (1 and 9) otherwise nothing above a 6. Although I didn't list this as a goal, I finally accomplished playing an entire round with a single ball (Callaway Warbird Plus). So... yeah, I'm pretty happy. I have to wait until Tuesday when the tournament chairman posts the scores to see if I've earned a bye or who I'll have to play next week... but - I really hope I have the bye. We're supposed to go to Albany for Giants training camp and I don't want to have to forfeit. Thanks for listening to me (reading my) ramble. CY

I hate how one week I can feel so good holding a club... and the next week, it feels like an alien object. Perfect example is my 3 wood. I NEVER know if I'm going to hit it 240 or 180 off the tee from week to week. Gotta find a happy-medium. CY

My last round (Sunday), I had a few different shots that were my 'makes me wanna come back' shots: 1. Playing my absolute favorite hole (a short par 3 overlooking a distant reservoir with colorful sailboats dotting the water) I hit a smooth 8 iron but pulled it just a bit. It ended up about 50 feet left of the hole... but I lined it up perfectly and had the speed necessary... and I dropped it for birdie. 2. Later in the round, another par 3... this one with a 175+ carry over a mess... I put my 6 iron approach JUST left of the green, but pin-high. The end result was a par... but the tee shot felt really good. 3. Early in my round, I had made a mess of a fairly easy par 4. It requires only about a 75 yard carry over a 'ditch'... but I managed to put 2 balls in there off the tee. For my 5th shot... I slowed my swing down TOO much and the ball faded instead of drawing, leaving me in some nasty fescue. A playing partner of mine found my ball there, and I had no shot so I punched a 5 iron out of there into the fairway. I then managed to have a mid-swing argument with myself in my head and pushed my next shot well short of the green. Finally, I got over my 8th shot... pulled a sand wedge... and hit a gorgeous, high shot that hit... bounced once... and stopped. Left me about 4 feet to the hole. Yep - I missed the putt and ended up with a 10. That was one of two holes which I carded a 10 that day en route to a 106. Fun stuff when you think about the GOOD shots... not so fun when you end up remembering all the shots that surrounded them. CY

I haven't played much since 2005... maybe 5 or 6 rounds a season. This year, I'm hoping to double that... and so far I've got a good start on that. But my goals for the season are: 1. Have at least ONE round where no score is higher than a 7. WAY too many 8's and 9's on my cards... and even the odd 10. 2. Have at least ONE round where I break 30 total putts. So far, my CAREER best has been 31 putts... I'd like to get a 29 in there. 3. My handicap has been 26+ for the last 4 years. I'd like to get to a 22 by the end of the season... but I've only got maybe 6 rounds left in me (money wise) before the end of the season, so I don't know if that's even realistic... but I'd like to achieve it. 4. For YEARS I've wanted to play in a few of the county/club tournaments so this season, I have a goal of playing in the County Tournaments and the Club Championships. If I achieve 2 of the 4 listed above, I'll call it a successful season. CY

Cool... thanks for the information. I didn't know 13 was a legal round, thanks for pointing that out to me. Hmmm... score I most likely would have made. I've been 50 yards from a green for my approach on a par 4 and made 9... guess I'll have to give myself the 'benefit of the doubt'. Thanks again... very helpful. CY

So... I've never played in a match play tournament before. This coming Saturday is the qualifying (stroke play) round... and assuming I make it through there into the top 16 (or 8 depending on flight entries) I will play my first ever match play round the following Saturday. My question is... how do I post it to GHIN? Suppose the match is over by hole 12... I know a 'legal' round is at least 14 holes. Do I just report it as a 9 hole round then? And... if it goes 15... I just take par plus handicap strokes... right? But... how do I handle conceded putts? I've ALWAYS putted everything out so there was no question when I posted. But, if my opponent is hitting 6 on a par 4 short of the green and I'm waiting to putt for birdie from 20 feet and he gives me that putt to concede the hole... how do I score it? Thanks for the help. CY

I did the same thing last Wednesday. It started out as an overcast day in Northern Jersey, so I figured I'd walk... by the 7th hole, I was exhausted. I grabbed a drink at the turn and that cooled me off a bit... then I played okay until the 13th hole when I started to fry again. In the end, I was basically swinging my arms and not using my body... despite a birdie on the 17th... the last 4 holes were a mess. Heat isn't something to mess around with. I've been to the point of almost passing out while doing landscape work and it takes a few days to recover. Be careful out there when it's that hot. CY

I don't think there is a worse phrase for me to hear when I'm playing as a single and I get paired up with a group of 'people who golf'. I'm very strict with myself... I count everything. I was playing at a course 3 weeks ago and I got paired up with 3 really nice (but much older) guys. They were just swinging and going after it... and in between, giving each other crap. It was fun to be around, but on the 14th hole, I nearly whiffed on a tee shot... topping it to the end of the tee box just into the rough. One of the old guys walked over, picked it up and tossed it back at me, telling me to tee it up again. I declined, placed the ball back where it was, and then dealt with my 'penalty' by punching a 3 wood back into the fairway. I heard them talking about 'guys like him' (me) and I had to laugh. I've got a 26+ handicap... but it's legit. I'm always told I don't play like a high handicap because, when I don't miss tee shots that poorly... I'll usually play par/bogey... but this is coming from guys who claim to be 15 handicaps who tee everything up twice and pull balls out of divots, or imrpove their lie in the rough. It's maddening to know that my scores are legit and these other guys in my flight are posting sub-90 rounds that were actually closer to 98-100. CY

I get to play once every two weeks or so (if I'm lucky) during the season (April - October) here in Jersey. The days I know I'm going to play, I try to hit the range the night before... just to get my swing back, etc. I HATE... HATE when I kill the ball on the range that night... and I dream of a great round, and then I end up going off with 8, 6, 8 to open my round. I don't like to go to the course not having an idea of what my ball will do... but sometimes I feel like it may be best just to putt that morning and then let my ball go where it will off the tee. Frustrating... CY