dagolfer18

I am!

Hi @Golfer20! I live in Durham currently but I’m moving to Fayetteville for school in about a month. I’d love to talk to you about playing one day.

I’m claiming the No Sixes Challenge! Shot 78 yesterday, and here’s my hole by hole! PAR: 4-5-4-3-4-4-3-4-4—35 SCORE: 4-5-5-3-4-5-3-5-5—39 PAR: 4-4-4-4-5-3-4-3-5—36 SCORE: 5-5-5-4-4-4-4-3-5—39 A couple of highlights from the round: •Saved par on the seventh hole after I hit a miraculous flop shot to within two feet. •Made an 8-footer for bogey on 12 after hooking a drive OB. That proved to be critical. •After a perfect drive on 14 (short par 5), I had only a 6 iron in. Was on the fringe in two and birdied easily. Almost made the eagle putt! Nothing super crazy happened during the round, and it was just one of those days you just feel like everything was clicking.

Today I played Hillandale with one of the guys from work, and we had an early tee time (8:51). On the front I shot 39, solid golf but nothing super interesting apart from the par-3 seventh hole, where after a horrible tee shot that left me shortsided I hit one of the greatest flop shots of my life to within two feet for the par save. I also had the no-sixes streak going. The back was slightly more interesting. I saved bogey on 12 after I hooked a drive OB, and took advantage of having a 6 iron into the short par-5 14th and made birdie. The other seven holes were four pars and three bogeys, which added up to another 39. So 39-39 for 78! Granted, we were playing the whites, but it still feels good to put up a number in the 70s. Honestly, today’s golf was of the “boring” variety apart from the few holes I mentioned. Thanks to the save on 12 and a rock solid short game I was able to keep everything to a bogey or better, and because I didn’t bogey a par 5 that also means I knocked out the no sixes challenge! I’ll put my hole by hole scores in the achievements thread. My index has also dropped significantly in the last two rounds, from an 11.5 before yesterday’s round to a (pending) 10.6 after today. Hopefully I can carry that momentum into when we play down at the beach next week!

Played Umstead with my brother again today. I shot 40-42 for a solid 82. The front was consistent, four bogeys and five pars. A par on the par-5 ninth was a bit disappointing since I was on the fringe in two with about a 15-footer for eagle, but it is what it is. On the back I made two doubles on 15 (jail on approach shot) and 16 (drive hooked OB) but otherwise solid: five pars and two bogeys. So I was able to keep huge numbers off the card for the most part. It was a fun day. My brother also reached a milestone today: he went 46-43 for 89 and broke 90 for the first time! He only had one really bad hole (tripled 5), and a birdie on 10 jumpstarted him. It was fun to watch! I’m playing Hillandale with a buddy tomorrow morning, so stay tuned!

Time to play catch up! I’ve got four rounds in the past week and my Wilmington golf trip last week. THE TRIP: Not a lot to say for either round in Wilmington. I shot an 88 (44-44) at Wilmington Municipal and a 92 (50-42) at Beau Rivage. Key moments from each round: •Wilmington Municipal: Didn’t hit a fairway until the sixth, but made a few clutch par saves that kept me in the 80s. •Beau Rivage: Finished the front quad-quad, then after I doubled 10 I went +4 on the last eight holes including a birdie on 18. A solid finish! Tuesday: Played 36. I shot an 88 (48-40) at South Granville after stinking up the front and then an 88 at Umstead (42-46). Putts weren’t dropping all day, so that didn’t help in the slightest. I parred the last three holes though, so another good finish after a really rough start to the back nine. Thursday: The only truly good round of all these. I played Croasdaile with a buddy after work, and I went 39-45 for 84. Two birdies on the day, both on par 5s (6 and 13). Beat my buddy 3&2. Friday: Yesterday I drove an hour to River Ridge, but I don’t have much to show for it. I duct taped together a 44 on the front which included a chip in for par on 9, but it unraveled on the back. I ended up four putting the last hole for a quad (in addition to five three putts) and a 52 on the back for 96 total. After all these rounds, my handicap is 11.5. Playing well on Thursday was crucial because a low differential (a 6.0) was falling off and the index had the potential to skyrocket. Limited the damage though. My swing feels weird right now, so I’m going to the range after work today to see if I can get some stuff figured out.

Meh. 44-49 for 93 at The Neuse yesterday. My third straight round where I’ve had to fight to put up a decent number. I was able to stay around bogey golf until 18 when, for the third time that day, I put a ball OB off the tee and made triple. Not much else to say apart from that except for the fact that I got up and down for par on the par-3 7th after an awful tee shot. My plan is to hit the range tomorrow and prepare for Tuesday, when I’m playing with my boss and another coworker.

Yesterday we played Hillandale. My brother shot 110 and was super inconsistent all day. For me, the fun started on the thirteenth hole. I had just shot 44 on the front and started the back par-bogey-bogey (+11 thru 12), was hitting the ball great but couldn’t buy a putt apart from a birdie bomb on the fifth hole. Then I birdied 13 after almost holing out and made easy pars on 14-16. Then we got to 17, where I blocked it right into a bunker. Then I got lucky. I practically shanked the bunker shot, but it hit the lip and kicked dead left, rolling to within two feet where I was able to secure my par. On 18, a reachable par 5, I smoked another driver down the middle and hit my second into a greenside bunker. Like the last hole, I got up and down from the trap, this time for a closing birdie. That adds up to 44-36 (even on the back!) for an 80. Lowest round since September, hoping to take the momentum from my last six holes into my mini golf trip Monday/Tuesday!

My parents are taking my brother and I on a short golf trip early next week to Wilmington as my graduation present. We’re playing Wilmington Municipal on Monday afternoon, then staying the night at Beau Rivage and we have an early tee time there on Tuesday morning. I’ve heard good things about both courses so I’m excited!

For me, this is going to be more like best hole this week. The hole in question is the par-5 third at Croasdaile, which is 550 yards from the blues. I pulled my drive way left of the fairway, almost OB. I told my partner that I was going to hit a punch draw with a 7 iron, and I pulled it off. I was still 180 out and in the rough though, and with one of our opponents in good position to make birdie, and the fact that we were already down one, I needed par (I would get a stroke here). I pulled a hybrid and nuked it. It finished 15 feet past the hole, and I two putted for par and we ended up tying the hole.

Player 36 yesterday, and it was a grind! ROUND 1: Compared to what happened in the afternoon round, not a lot happened in the morning. My first round was at The Challenge, and I shot 47-44 for 91. Not horrible, but I struggled to keep my tee shots in play which led to a lot of punching out and reteeing. I did par three of the last four holes though, so I finished strong. ROUND 2: This round was a lot more interesting, and I’ll go more in depth. We played Croasdaile for the second round. The front was a cart v cart match: best ball strokeplay was the format we decided on, and it was me and William (a 6 hcp) against Ryan and Dylan (a +2 hcp). William and I would get three shots on the side. We all played the blues except for Dylan, who played the tips. I contributed more than I expected to, which included a birdie from the fringe on the fifth hole and a much-needed up and down for par on the eighth. I tripled the ninth to make the turn with a personal best (for that side) 42, and William holed a testy six-footer to shoot 40 and tie the match. Dylan made three birdies and a bogey to shoot a two-under 34. Then William and Dylan left and Ryan and I continued and had a nine hole match. I could not buy a par until 15, but despite making five straight bogeys until then I was one up with three to play. I won 16 with a double after Ryan choked on the green, then he made a clutch up and down for par on 17 to send the match to the last hole. Two perfect tee shots left Ryan 140 and myself 105. We both hit it to about 15 feet and practically on the same line, but Ryan was slightly away. He left his a few inches short but dead center, so he cleaned up his par. I then stepped up and drained my birdie putt to win the match and shoot 43 on the back for an 85 total. Despite the solid score, I still couldn’t seem to keep my tee shots in play. I only hit ten fairways total over 36 holes. The difference is that my shots that were OB at The Challenge were in play at Croasdaile mainly because the latter is, for the most part, more forgiving off the tee. Every other part of my game was solid yesterday though, so I’m pretty happy with how I played for the most part.

I put up an awful 49 today on Umstead’s back nine. I actually hit the ball half decently, but lost all my touch around and on the green. On both par 5s I had just a short pitch for my third shot, and I was a combined +5. Parred the last two holes though, so that’s a plus. Planning on playing 36 tomorrow. I have an early tee time and a buddy and I are gonna try and play Croasdaile in the afternoon.

Catan is probably my favorite. I used to play it every night with my godsister and her boyfriend. I wasn’t great at it but I loved to play it.

I put up a pretty nice 42-44 for 86 (adj. 85) today at Umstead. I tripled the first hole after I duffed my chip into a greenside bunker and made a very messy quad on 13, but apart from that it was just pars and bogeys. Short game was solid apart from the first and 13th holes. I made five up and downs for par and gave myself a ton of good looks when I missed greens. I two putted a lot as well due to lagging longer putts within a foot. Ballstriking was the best part of my game today, and had it not been for the two blowups I could’ve flirted with the 70s. Still a good number though!

Just came up with a stableford point system that we might could use: Eagle: 10 pts. Birdie: 6 pts. Par: 3 pts. Bogey: 1 pt. Double: 0 pts. Triples or worse: -2 pts. I think this would be a lot more fun than match play because while match play awards a great shot with just one hole, stableford can completely turn the tables with one hole. If I eagle a short par 5 and he doubles, that’s a ten point swing with my system. Maybe we identify a few of the toughest holes on the course (in our opinions of course) and award a bonus point or two for making par or better. Also, we’re most likely going to be playing a different course for each round, so not sure whether the points should be adjusted based on the difficulty of the course. My gut says no because we’re both going to be playing the same course under the same conditions, so it wouldn’t matter. The only thing I would do is alter them for the final round to make the final round a bit more interesting.

Today my bro and I got in a twilight nine at Croasdaile, going off the back. I played the blues (3194 yds). I had an interesting start, going birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie, then I parred the long 14th. However, I four putted the 15th for double and then bogeyed in for a 41. Still a strong number but after being even par going into 15 I was just a little bit disappointed. My brother started with a double on 10, and he also tripled 14, but he played his last four holes at just one over to shoot 44, which is a great score for him at Croasdaile. So two solid rounds today, hopefully we pair them with another good nine!

I likely won’t be playing any golf this weekend, so I’ll go ahead and post. This was from last Saturday. One of my coworkers and I played two holes after work. We went up to the reds on the par-3 second hole (playing about 95 yards that day) and hit our shots from there. I tried to take a little off a 50 degree and thinned it over the top of the flag and over the green. Then I plopped down another ball and decided to try a full swing 54 degree. Flushed it, and I saw it take one bounce right by the pin, then disappear. We practically sprinted up to the green and sure enough, there my ball was in the cup. Not sure if this counts as a true hole in one, but it was cool to make that shot!

Yesterday I shot 89 at Mill Creek from the blues (71.1/132). Was +8 through 7 then went par-par to end the nine with a 44. I started par-bogey-bogey on the back, but then four putted the par-3 13th for double after sticking my tee shot to about 10 feet, and that triggered one of my craziest finishes: No. 14: Took all my frustration from the last hole out on a driver and it was a beauty, a 260-yard power fade that left me even with the 100-yard marker. I hit an awful wedge that came up way short, but I almost chipped in and had a tap in for par. No. 15: I hit a decent tee shot, but played it a little too safe and had a hybrid into the long par 4. I missed the green by a mile to the right and was wet, but I recovered by throwing a dart to eight feet. Unfortunately I missed the putt and had to take a double, but it could’ve been a lot worse. No. 16: I was out of position off the tee and had to punch out. Luckily it was a short par 5 and was able to get within wedge range for my third. I hit a good one to about 15 feet and comfortably two-putted for par. No. 17: This was a good swing but my 6I, which usually fades off the tee, refused to here and I was left with a tough chip. Took bogey from there. No. 18: After a so-so drive that left me in the right rough, I nuked my 190-yard approach over the green into a bunker. Three bunker shots and a 15-footer later, I walked off the 18th green with a double. At the end of the day, I was happy to post a half decent number on a course I haven’t played well in the past and on a hit/miss kind of day with my swing. We’re nearing the end of the school year (less than a month till I graduate), so I’m excited to get out on the course more!

Yesterday was my first time back on the course playing in almost two weeks. A coworker and I decided to play two holes after work, and we played two balls, one from the golds (blues on the second hole) and one from the very front tees. Here’s what unfolded: HOLE 1 (Par 4, 376/206 yds) Gold: With low expectations, I striped a drive 260 down the left side and left just a short wedge in. I thinned it a bit but it still had some bite on it and I had about ten feet for birdie. Drained it. Red: Going for the green, I hooked a hybrid into a hazard that doesn’t come into play from the longer tees. I dropped and then hit a beautiful chip that led to an up and down par. HOLE 2 (Par 3, 151/102 yds) Blue: Best swing of the day: a flushed 8 iron to about eight feet. I missed it just right but had a tap in par. Red: Was playing about 110, so I decided to muscle a gap wedge, and another good shot to almost the same spot as my ball from the blues. I left it six inches short but right on line. All this made me want to play another hole, but unfortunately darkness caught us. This was encouraging though. My brother and I are playing Tuesday!

Hey guys! Over the past week or so, one of my coworkers and I have been thinking about setting up a competition between the two of us. In terms of handicaps we’re almost even (mine is 11.1, he’s a 12.1), so unless one of us gets dramatically better or worse before the match we’re gonna play straight up. Here’s a rough idea of what’s we’re thinking about: •54 holes of match play that will most likely be over two days. It is also assumed that we’ll be playing the same tees in every round (probably blues) •Day 1: 18 holes. We will aim towards a mid morning tee time for round one and probably travel a bit. •Day 2: 36 holes. Will likely stick closer to home, probably Umstead in the morning (round 2) and Croasdaile in the afternoon (final round) with a lunch break in between. •Wager: Either golf balls of the winner’s choice (most likely a dozen) or a shirt from the pro shop at Croasdaile. Enough pressure to where it’s treated as more than a friendly match but not to where we’re overwhelmed by it. We also want a name for this competition so we know what we’re referring to other than just “the match”. So, there’s what we have right now, but I wanted to see if y’all had any ideas. We’re open to new ones!

Putting green without a doubt. Even if I only have five minutes, that’s usually enough time for me to get a feel for how the greens are rolling that day. And based on my history of no range balls, the odds that I hit at least a half decent tee ball of the first are in my favor.

I voted early, but more like early-ish. While I do enjoy a twilight round every now and then (most of the time the afternoon round in a 36-hole day), there’s sometimes pressure to get all 18 in before sunset. When I have a choice as to when I play which is usually during the summer, I’d prefer if I can get off around 9:00, but any time before lunch is fine with me.

I can’t carry my driver 260, so I have no choice but to lay up short of the wash. I’ll likely hit a 3 hybrid, which I typically hit 220 on a solid shot (I can hit a 3 wood 250 if I get ahold of it) and will be left with another hybrid in. Another solid hybrid will leave about 60 yards for my third, which still gives a decent chance for birdie or easy par.

Yesterday was our practice round for the conference tournament, which is tomorrow. We only had time for nine holes (the tournament’s 18 holes), and we both played the whites, because that’s likely what we will play tomorrow. I shot a 45, which I’m not that disappointed with because I started SO bad: +8 through 4. Mainly just putting myself out of position around the greens. Then I went bogey-bogey-par-par-bogey to finish. I hit the ball well overall, so I’ve got no reason to not feel good. My brother, on the other hand, played SPECTACULAR golf. He made solid two-putt pars on the first two holes, then bogeyed the third and made another two putt par on the fourth. He was seven shots ahead of me. Then he made back to back doubles, matched my par on seven and closed with two solid bogeys. A seven-over 42. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time he’s ever broken bogey golf, and it was fun to watch. With that, we’re both feeling great about tomorrow, will probably make a blog post on Tuesday. I’ll also likely go into detail, especially since I’m close to All Conference. The good news: I’m so far inside the cut line for regionals that my coach has already booked our hotel room for Sunday night. Barring a triple digit score tomorrow (on a super easy course), we will be making the trip to Pinehurst next weekend!

My brother and I played the back at Umstead yesterday in practice. He played every hole except 17, and a bogey there would’ve given him 49. Another solid round from him! I started +1 through three, then on our own version of Amen Corner (three difficult par 4s), I went par-par-par. Then I bogeyed the last three to shoot 40. Thrilled with that number on the tougher back nine at Umstead. I hit four FIR and four GIR, and had 17 putts. Overall pretty solid, and that nine combined with the nine from Wednesday brought my index down to 10.9, a new personal low! We have a nine hole practice round at Hillandale tomorrow morning before the conference tournament Monday, but it’s the beginning of the end of the season. I’m looking to finish strong!