dagolfer18

I’m gonna do something a bit different and go hole by hole. Won’t go super in depth on each hole, but will note things that I think are worth noting. We played Greensboro National from the whites (6261 yards, 69.7/128) and started on the back. Hole 10: Double (+2). Put myself in jail off the tee after no range balls and it just went downhill from there. Hole 11: Par (+2) Hole 12: Bogey (+3). This was a multi-tiered green and I found myself on the wrong tier after my approach, leading to a three-putt. Hole 13: Par (+3). I nearly chipped in here, definitely one of my better holes of the day. Hole 14: Bogey (+4) Hole 15: Bogey (+5). Another lousy three-putt. Hole 16: Bogey (+6) Hole 17: Par (+6). A good par after only chunking my tee shot about 120. Luckily this par 4 was playing short so I still had only a 7I in. Hole 18: Par (+6). Another good par to close our front side after never being out of trouble on this one. FRONT NINE SCORE: 42 Hole 1: Par (+6). Best shot of the day here. Another lousy tee shot left me about 165 out of the rough to a green where being short at all means your ball is gone. Nailed it 25 feet above the hole, a nice two putt. Hole 2: Bogey (+7) Hole 3: Double (+9). This was only after I snap-hooked my second shot OB. My only really awful shot of the day. Hole 4: Par (+9). Threw a dart here (par 3) but unfortunately missed the putt. Hole 5: Par (+9) Hole 6: Par (+9) Hole 7: Par (+9). Ripped a drive off the tee here and left myself only about a 75-yard pitch. Not a great wedge shot but made the up and down. Hole 8: Par (+9) Hole 9: Bogey (+10) BACK NINE SCORE: 40 TOTAL SCORE: 82 Definitely one of my best rounds in a while. Although I noted several less-than-ideal tee shots, I hit 9/14 FIR today and 7/18 GIR. 33 putts total. I’m continuing to hit the ball well and putt well, and I’ve got another round to look forward to tomorrow!

A ho-hum 45 on Monday. Hit the ball well for the most part but made a few small mistakes (misclubbing on my approach on the first hole being one of them) that made at least a two stroke difference. Putting was also much better, lipped one out and burned the edge on two or three others, no three putts. Feeling good about my round tomorrow at Greensboro National!

I’ve got two rounds to catch up on. 12/29: Last round of 2021 at Duke. Played with my coach, his son and one of their friends. I shot 46 on the front after a poor start and finishing par-birdie, then scrambled my butt off on the last six holes to shoot 43 on the back (made a couple of crazy up and downs for par on 13 and 16) for an 89 from the blues there. Not bad I’d say! The greens were lightning fast, at least an 11 on the stimp. It was nice to play there again! 1/6: Played nine holes after I got out from school and shot a 47 from the whites. Not great. The only thing worth talking about is a par on the sixth after a beautiful wedge left me a very makeable birdie putt. I three-putted four times in those nine holes, only one of which I could maybe call acceptable. I hit the ball well for the most part, but one of my well-struck tee shots leaked right just a bit, caught a bad bounce and left me in jail. Had to take an unplayable and made triple. Oh well.

I got in 18 yesterday at Umstead. The front nine was with a few buddies and I shot a 43 from the blues with three pars and a double. Then they left and I decided to continue on to the back despite having a little over an hour of daylight left, which turned out to be a mistake. I essentially rushed the last four holes, and playing them at +9 turned what was a decent nine up until then into a horrible one: I finished with a 52 for the back and a 95 total. Definitely not my finest round. The good news: I’m playing again tomorrow, and hopefully we have an earlier tee time so getting in 18 isn’t a problem.

Finally got out to the course again yesterday after a busy last couple of weeks. A coworker and I played the front nine at Croasdaile from the green tees, which are around 2700 yards. I shot 42 (an 8.4 differential) with a birdie, two pars, five bogeys and a double. My coworker shot 49 and I beat him 3&2. Not great, but my new putter is red hot. My birdie on the third was from about eight feet, I made a ten footer to save par on four, then almost made a downhill 25-footer for birdie on the fifth. I was honestly just happy to be back on the course after a busy last few weeks, so looking forward to getting back into the grind!

Goal #1: Done and done. I shot an even par 36 on the front at my home course and actually had an 8-footer on the last hole to shoot 35! I also broke 80 in September, holing out for eagle on the first hole and going on to shoot 38-39 for 77. I’ve also just played some really solid golf this year. Goal #2: Looking back at this one, I don’t know why I even made this goal. That would’ve put me at the level of about a 10-handicapper, contradicting my next goal, and although I have made some outstanding progress handicap-wise, I’m not there yet. So I get a loss there. Goal #3: I’m probably most proud of this one. Starting the year at a 17.5 handicap, and after it went up about half a stroke early in the year, I’ve lowered my handicap all the way to 11.1, which crushed both my goal of 14 or lower that I set for myself here, and a goal to get to 12.5 that my coach set for me in May. A hard-earned win here. Goal #4: Not quite. Said I wanted to get up to 40% GIR, but instead I’m up to 34%. Not bad, but I failed at this one. It might have been a bit of a reach. Goal #5: I’m going to give myself a win for this one, because at the beginning of the year I had practically zero confidence in the bunker. Now I have a little bit of confidence because my bunker play has gotten better. Goal #6: Double loss for this one, because not only did I not meet this goal, my FIR percentage has dropped. Was at 61% at the beginning of the year, it is now at 58%. Probably the most disappointing out of all these. Goal #7: Not quite with this one either. According to my advanced stats on GHIN, I’ve averaged 16% three putts or worse, which equals 2.88 three putts per round. My putting has also improved, from around 36 to 34.5. Although I didn’t meet this goal, I’m happy with how much my putting improved. Goal #8: Another one I’m super proud of. I went into the Conference Championship last season in 12th place, and I had a feeling 85 would do it. Turns out, I chipped in on the eleventh hole, shot 84, and made it in by one stroke. Top ten make all conference, I finished T-10. I’m gonna try to do it again next season! Although I only met four out of my eight 2021 goals, I am very happy with how my game improved for the most part. I’m planning to post my goals for 2022 later today, so stay tuned!

We played the home course, Umstead Pines, on Friday, and conditions were not ideal. 45 degrees and windy, so it felt much colder. We played the whites, which turned out to be a good decision. I was +4 through 3, but I threw a 90-yard wedge to six feet on the par-5 fourth and made the putt for birdie. Bogeyed in on the front to shoot 44, which I chalked up to be pretty decent as bad as the conditions were, and I even threw away a couple of strokes. We were able to get through 16 before we had to turn carts in (5:00 deadline and we teed off at 1:30). My last two holes (15 and 16) were two pars, and I gave myself a par on 17 and a bogey on 18 which gave me a 48 on the back and a 92 total. A nine on the fourteenth hole turned what would’ve been a good round into just an okay one. But I’m not that disappointed given how windy it was. It’s starting to get cold in Durham, but I’m hoping to get a few more rounds in before the end of the year!

I got in an afternoon nine at Croasdaile today. Started +3 through 3, which isn’t too bad there but I started leaking oil on the approach on the fourth. After a perfect tee shot I thinned the crap out of an 85-yard wedge with a back pin. Double. Then I overcooked a draw on the par-3 fifth into an awkward lie in a bunker. Double. On in regulation on the tough sixth, 12 feet below the hole. Three putt for bogey. Bogeyed seven (meh), leaving me at +9 with two to play. Two pars or even two bogeys still bring me home with a half decent score. The eighth is a 387-yard par 4. I bombed one off the tee and only had 120 in. Nailed a PW on the green and left myself a 20-footer for birdie. Left the first putt four feet short, then missed that. My second three-putt bogey in the last three holes. The ninth is a difficult midrange (405) par 4. I chose a 3 wood off the tee and just cold topped it. Didn’t even reach the fairway, and it nestled down deep in the rough. I’ll spare the details of this one, but I three putted again from about 15 feet to finish with a quad and a 50 total. Putting was awful. 21 putts total today, no excuses there. My usual putting game brings that 50 down to somewhere in the mid 40s. I missed in all the wrong places too. Guess it was just one of those days: no part of my game showed up. Hope to hit the range in the next few days!

Not much of a story to be honest. I shot a very solid 40, and he shot 48. No part of his game showed up at all.

Today I played a 9-hole match with a coworker. I’d like to say it was close and it came down to the last hole, but that’s not what happened. The only real drama in the match was on the sixth hole, more on that in my blog. I played a very solid front nine in today’s round: four bogeys and five pars for a 40. Four GIR, five FIR. The back was as inconsistent as the front was consistent: two triples, two doubles, a bogey and four pars. 47 on the back, 87 total. An 86 would’ve lowered my handicap, but I three-putted from a slippery 2-footer on 17 to miss that number by one. Oh well. I’ve probably got half a dozen rounds, if that, left this year. Hoping to get a little bit of positive handicap movement before January 1!

A bit of good news: the match that I was supposed to have with a coworker a few weeks ago is happening tomorrow. However, he only has time for nine holes (unless he tells me differently), so instead of the $60 wager we made (lunch and balls) we are just playing for lunch at the turn (meal, a side and a drink comes out to be around $10). Oh, and I have a bit of home field advantage: we are going to be playing Umstead Pines, my home course. He’s never played there before. My plan, just like during our high school season, is to briefly post in What’d You Shoot Today, and then go more in depth about the match here. So stay tuned!!

An interesting round today. Played Hillandale from the blues. I shot 41 on the front, including a pathetic triple on the third hole. I hit every fairway but one, and even then I was in good position. Then I blocked my tee shot right on 10 (my first really poor drive of the day) and made triple, then went par-bogey (from 60 yards)-bogey-double-bogey-triple-bogey-par to finish with 48 on the back for 89. It felt like a huge letdown after a 41 but it is what it is. But there is some silver lining: I hit 10/14 fairways on the day and am continuing to hit the driver very well. I’m giving myself opportunity after opportunity to score but I need to start really taking advantage!

I’ve got a bit of golf to catch up on here. A combination of good, bad and ugly. 10/23: First is The Cardinal. Not much to say about this round, so I’ll go ahead and say I shot 99 there from the blacks (72.3/137). Not a great round but it’s a tough course. And I twisted my ankle on the 7th hole so I was happy to have finished at all. My dad and I played an excellent match and it came down to the last hole. He ended with an even 100. 10/25: Back to the ol’ faithful Umstead Pines. Ugly start: +12 through six holes but I regrouped on the seventh hole and bounced back to shoot 93. 10/27: Yesterday was interesting. I decided to move up to the whites for nine holes to see what happened. Parred the first hole, but followed that with three bogeys (at least one of which should’ve been a par) and a double. Five over through five, and then I parred in for a 41. Then my coach invited me to play nine holes with him. I was a bit pressed on time, so I only played seven holes, but we had a great match. We both parred the first hole, then he parred the next three and went up three with three to play. I won the fifth with a bogey when he duffed a chip, then won the sixth after throwing my 60-yard approach to within a foot. He won the last hole, but I gave him a run for his money! Saw a little dip in the handicap. Was 11.3, down to 11.1 after the paired nine. I’m hoping to get back out to the course tomorrow!

I have only once walked off the course because I was playing badly, and I’m ashamed of it. I’ve shared the story before, but it suits this topic well so I’ll share it again: Two summers ago, I was playing a round about a week before a tournament I played in at Pinehurst No. 7. I got to the short par-5 ninth needing only a par to make the turn under 50. Well, I bogeyed for a 50, and I walked to the tenth tee hot, tired and frustrated at my game because nothing was going well, and I was on the brink of completely losing it. I remember the moment like it was yesterday: two practice swings with the driver, then a hard slice OB. I walked to the bench adjacent to the tenth tee and tried hard to regain my composure, but it was too much. I put my clubs in my trunk and left. Had it not been for the tournament just around the corner I probably would’ve fought on, but that one shot just sent me over the edge. However, I have since learned my lesson and have gotten better at staying with it after a poor start.

Played Croasdaile the other day and put up a solid 87 (47-40). A quad on the fourth hole was my only truly bad hole of the day, and I hit the ball pretty well, especially on holes 10-16, where I hit every green but one and two putted every hole (six pars, one bogey). Coming out of the Member-Guest weekend, the greens were faster than usual (probably an 11 on the stimpmeter). Several times I left myself four to six feet after a downhill putt, and I converted probably 70% of those. We’re playing The Cardinal in Greensboro tomorrow, so looking forward to that!

It never happened unfortunately. Something came up last minute and we weren’t able to play.

Hey y’all! Been a long time since I’ve posted in this blog in my quest to get into single digits, but I have made some good progress: my handicap is currently 11.3 and everything feels good right now. However, something has cropped up: a coworker and I are going to play an 18-hole match Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what we were thinking: •We play Croasdaile, the course where we both work. After a fair bit of discussion, we decided to play the blue/white hybrid tees (6241 yds, 70.8/133). •Because our handicaps are about even (mine 11.3, his 12.6), we’ve decided to play straight up. We’ve had some short game contests and it’s pretty much a coin toss as to who wins. •We want to put something on the line for this match, and here’s what we came up with: the winner would get a dozen golf balls of their choice and lunch of their choice, which amounts to about a $60 match. I’m feeling pretty good about this match, will definitely keep y’all posted!

I just played a crap ton of golf this summer. I worked four to five days a week this summer, and I got in 31 rounds of golf, only four of which were nine-hole outings. Possibly another thing that helped my handicap drop was the fact that I exposed myself to at least half a dozen new courses, all of which proved to be more difficult than my home course.

I was able to get out for nine holes at Croasdaile yesterday after school. I was sent off the back nine, and I decided to try the back tees (par 36, 3434 yds). The highlight of the day was when I parred the par-3 14th, which played about 200 yards. Here’s my final score: PAR: 5-3-4-5-3-4-4-4-4—36 SCORE: 6-4-6-5-3-5-5-5-4—43 I’m pretty darn happy with a 43 (5.2 differential) off the back tees. Part of what helped was the fact that I was leaving myself in attackable positions off the tee even if they didn’t find the fairway. Now I’ve just gotta find another nine to pair this with!

Forgot to post about this, but last Thursday I played after school at Umstead from the blues. I put together seven bogeys and two pars on the front for a 43, then paired that with a 44 on the back for 87. Not a bad number at all, but it honestly felt five to seven strokes worse. Looking back at the scorecard, I got up and down four times for bogey. Short game was definitely a bit shaky. I also hit six greens this round, but played those holes at two over: one birdie bomb from 40 feet, two pars that came from super solid two putts, and three bogeys after poor first putts. Just a really weird round overall.

A few rounds to catch up on in the past week and a half or so: 9/8: I made a kind of rash decision to play Lake Winds after school. Not the best round: 46-45 for 91. I didn’t hit the ball poorly at all, but the greens there completely screwed me over. I should’ve been closer to 85. 9/11: Teed off around 7:15 in the morning at The Challenge. Another less than stellar performance: this one was a 50-50 from the blues that made for my first triple digit score since early June. 9/14: Back to Umstead for this round, and I played well this time. I shot 44 on the front, which is nothing special. But then I birdied the tenth and rode that momentum to a 42 on the back for 86. Because I played the blues, this round dropped my handicap to 11.6. 9/16: I wanted to play River Ridge again, so off we went to Raleigh. My prediction? An even 42-42. I missed the front nine by two strokes after I doubled the attackable par-3 ninth. I started the back with four straight pars, then went on to shoot 40 on the back for an 84. Honestly the only thing that didn’t click was off the tee because I wasn’t hitting fairways, but even then I was hitting it well. My index now sits at 11.3. I’ve come a long way from starting the year at an 18 handicap!

Last Thursday I finally broke 80 by shooting 38-39. It felt really good to get that achievement off my back, and I’m looking forward to more 70s scores coming my way!

Last Thursday I played 18 with my bro and grandpa and I finally broke 80! I holed my approach from about 140 on the first hole for an eagle and that got me going. I also birdied the ninth to turn in 38, and I birdied the tenth to get back to +1. After pars on 11 and 12 I unraveled just a little bit on 13-15, going bogey-double-bogey. Then I parred the last three holes to come in with a 39 for a final score of 77. The best part about this whole round was on the last hole: a 160-yard par 3 over water. Only needing double to break 80, I knew all I really needed was one more solid shot. The second it was in the air, I had no doubt it was good, and it landed on the green and finished 25 feet from the hole. I rode up to the green knowing I’d finally done it, and I two putted with ease. I would’ve liked to make the birdie putt to shoot 76, but I was no doubt thrilled regardless. This also dropped my handicap from a 12.8 to 11.8. I can now check breaking 80 off my list of golf achievements!! 😁

I played a solid round yesterday from the blues at Umstead. I was even through 4, which included a chip in for birdie, but then I finished the front triple-par-bogey-par-double and turned in 43. I nearly holed out for eagle on the par-5 tenth and had a tap in birdie, then I coasted until 16 and finished par-triple-bogey for a 45 on the back and an 88 total. Another good day off the tee: 11/14 fairways, and two of my misses were by less than a yard. Just a really solid round overall!

My bro and I played The Crossings yesterday and I tried the black tees (6590 yds, par 71, 71.1/131). We started on the back, and I shot a very poor 99 (51-48). I was actually pretty good off the tee (10/14 FIR), and I hit some long drives too, but once I got to where I had an iron in my hand I went to pieces. Probably shouldn’t have played the tips. Oh well.