Jump to content
Subscribe to the Spin Axis Podcast! ×

dagolfer18

Established Member
  • Posts

    806
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Blog Entries posted by dagolfer18

  1. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    FINALLY! I’m finally posting this entry to catch up on what has happened since my last post (November 7 I believe it was). And honestly, not a lot has happened. The rest of the semester was a blur as far as golf goes, and I haven’t played or practiced a ton this winter either. Here are a few highlights:
    11/12: My second lowest round on Downback. Wasn’t the greatest start: +6 through five holes. I parred six through eight then bogeyed the ninth to make the turn in 43. My only bad hole on the back nine was a double on the 16th after blocking my drive right, and I shot 40 on the back for 83 total.
    11/23: My brother and I finally got to Bryan Park (the Players course). I made the turn in 40, helped tremendously by a birdie on the 420-yard 18th. Then we made the turn to the front. I birdied the second hole after my brother and I hit our drives so far we both had 8 irons to the par 5.
    Unfortunately, two very unnecessary doubles in the next three holes derailed me a bit, and I finished with a 42 on the front for 82 total. A solid number but no doubt a bit disappointing.
    12/23: This isn’t a round of golf, but it IS something I can add to my resume. The few days prior to the 23rd, we prepped the old carts for departure because on this day, we would have a new fleet arriving.
    I got to work at 7AM and we began immediately. The new fleet was parked in a nearby lot and for about three hours that morning, we moved the old fleet out and the new fleet in, and we began to get those carts ready for play. They were first taken onto the golf course on December 28.

    I do have a few more rounds than the ones I’ve listed, but none of them are really worth talking about. Here is my plan for the next semester:
    MONDAY/FRIDAY: I have a huge gap between classes these two days (4hrs on Mon and 5hrs Fri), so that gap is when I will be practicing.
    TUESDAY/THURSDAY: I have three classes Tues and Thurs but they are back to back to back and I’m done at 12:15. So, depending on how much schoolwork I have, I will plan to practice for about an hour and a half.
    WEDNESDAY: Since I didn’t play in many Monarch Tour events last semester (only played in three), I will make it a goal to play in at least five or six this semester. On the days I’m not playing Monarch Tour, I’ll dedicate that time gap (3-5) to any schoolwork that needs to be done.
    Obviously I’ll be working throughout the week as well, but that is one specific time gap that I’ll be devoting strictly to schoolwork.
    WEEKENDS: Giving myself two options with weekends as well:
    a. Play 18 holes one day, hour and a half to two hour practice session the other day, OR
    b. Play nine holes both Saturday and Sunday, with a one hour practice session.
    So for the most part, my play days will be limited to weekends and practice days will be during the week. This schedule means playing just once a week and practicing five of the other six days.
    This is also a tentative schedule. I’m taking a private voice lessons class (don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this but I’m a music minor) that only meets once a week for half an hour, and I’m also going to try and work in the golf shop there one or two days a week, just for an hour or two at a time to get myself a little bit of extra cash.
    So once I figure out when both those things happen and how they will impact my tentative schedule, I will create a final schedule that I’ll put in that week’s post. Starting next week I’m going to begin again with posting once a week on Sundays. It feels good to be posting again!
  2. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Four weeks left. It’s hard to believe that my first semester of college is only a month away from being over. Anyway, here’s what happened this week:
    Tuesday and Sunday: Stayed at the range for about an hour both days and focused primarily on strengthening my grip as recommended by @iacas.
    Thursday: After seeing me play last weekend and talking a bit, my dad suggested I hit more 4- and 5-irons on the range so I could become more comfortable with them. And on this day, that’s exactly what I did.
    I dedicated about two-thirds of the balls I hit on Thursday to getting more comfortable with the longer irons. And I can say that coming away from that range session I was definitely more confident.
    Friday: Walked a total of 13 holes: The Loop (1, 16-18), then the back nine. The Loop didn’t go too well (bombed the 1st then bogey-bogey-par) but then here’s what happened with my nine hole outing:
         PAR: 4-4-4-4-3-4-4-5-3—35
    SCORE: 5-4-6-7-3-6-4-5-4—44
    So a little bit of everything here. I had two completely unnecessary misses with chip shots (12 and 15 in particular) and a wayward drive on 13. I played three holes at +7 and the other six at +2. Blowup holes are a common theme with me and it often leads to a messy scorecard that isn’t pretty to look at.
    I also read over the GEARS post several times in the past few days, and I feel like I understand it to some extent.

    The Monarch Cup was also this weekend, but I was unable to play. Spots filled up super fast and I just wasn’t quick enough to sign up. That still ticks me off. 
    As for this week, I have a plan.
    Mon: Walk 18 holes. I haven’t done much of this at all apart from the PAT, and that could come back to bite me at the next PAT in the spring.
    And going forward, I would like to be able to walk 18 at least once a week, ideally early in the morning on weekends before the course gets too crowded.
    Tues.-Thurs.: Spend at least an hour on the range each of these days and work on grip and the info in the GEARS post.
    Fri.: Not looking good weather-wise, so not sure whether I will be able to get to the course. Might also be going home for Veterans Day weekend.
    Weekend: It’s supposed to be considerably cooler this weekend, but I would like to get out at least one day on the weekend and do some range work.
     
    First step: 18 holes tomorrow!
  3. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    I’m proud of how much work I was able to put in this week. I went for at least an hour every day Tuesday through Saturday. I won’t go day-by-day this week because all of my range days I worked on solidifying the grip @iacas talked about in the video, but I will go through some highlights.
    Wednesday: I went to the course after my 1:00 class and warmed up for my 3:20 Monarch Tour tee time. The format was a Tombstone, where we all got 33 shots and we put a flag where our 33rd shot ended up. 
    For me, that was on the 7th hole. I was +5 going in and needed a birdie to finish the seventh hole at 33 shots even. Unfortunately I made double instead, and finished the nine bogey-double for 46. I was holding my ground until the seventh but three-putted for the double then made a mess of the last two holes.
    The highlight of the nine was almost driving the second hole, which was playing 260 uphill. I put it on the fringe and turned that into an easy two-putt for the birdie.
    Thursday: Thursday afternoon was my lesson. Alex looked at my swing and noticed two things:
    1. I was starting to lose my posture in the backswing.
    2. I was standing too close to the ball with the longer irons. 
    He told me to move my chin up slightly right before I hit each shot, which took some adjustment but it definitely helped.
    Both problems noted above will take a good number of reps to clean up but neither should present much of a challenge for me.
    I won’t be able to get a lesson this week because it’s super busy for everyone but in my next lesson I’d love to start touching on my swing.
    Saturday: Yesterday my dad and brother came down and we played King’s Grant. I was stiff as a board on the first tee because we didn’t hit any balls and it was 55 and misting so that meant it took a couple of holes to warm up.
    I won’t get into detail with this round, but I’ll sum it up by saying this: The front nine wasn’t great but I was optimistic and thought I could at least keep it in the 80s with a good back nine. But then I started spraying it off the tee, which resulted in a lot of reteeing.
    Needless to say, the final number was horrible. It would be embarrassing to put it here but if y’all want me to I can.

    I wasn’t able to get out there today because I had a bunch of laundry I needed to do and some schoolwork to finish up but I will be back out there tomorrow.
    Some upcoming things to note:
    •On Wednesday I’m planning on posting a video my swing again in my Member Swing topic, with the new grip change.
    •This weekend is the second Major of the year, the Monarch Cup. It’s a Ryder Cup format with 10 players per team. I’m still trying to find a team to play with, hopefully I get that sorted out tomorrow or Tuesday.
    As always, if you have any questions let me know!
  4. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Hey guys! I unfortunately forgot to post here for week 8 but I’m back to report on my last two weeks to catch up!
     
    WEEK 8 (Oct 3-9)
    Tues. (10/4): I turned Tuesday of this week into a practice session. I decided to hone my short game, and I essentially did everything I did in the previous week’s short game session, except I hit shots from multiple spots around the green.
    I came away from the practice session very confident about the Monarch Tour event that I was playing in the next day.
    Wed. (10/5): Wednesday evening I played only my second Monarch Tour of the semester. The format was a two-player best ball.
    I went to the range before we played, and it was a stripe show. Right before we headed for the 10th tee I told my partner that we’re about to take it low. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
    Early on, the putter was hot. I made a five-footer for bogey on 10 and about a seven-footer for par on 11. Then after a wayward drive on 12 I clawed out a bogey. Despite being +2 through 3 I was confident. But it went severely downhill from here.
    I’ll spare the details of the last six holes but I will end by saying I shot a 53. My worst nine in probably a year and a half. The only good thing I could take away from the round was that the three people I paired with were awesome and definitely helped to make the nine holes more fun.
    Thurs. (10/6): On October 6, as I briefly mentioned at the beginning of the blog, I had my Q Level test. 65 questions, 40 minutes, and a 70% is needed to pass.
    After I had quite a bit of trouble logging into the test, I flew through it in just over 20 minutes and my final score was an 88% (57/65 right). I walked out of the room feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
    That afternoon I had an appointment to pay for my irons. Unfortunately Titleist didn’t pick up when we called, so he just said he’d let me know when he had an answer. I will say they have since been ordered, so it’s only a matter of time before they are in my bag.
    Sat. (10/8): My brother and I played Umstead. Not good.
    I shot a 46 after somehow walking off the ninth with a triple, and I wasn’t feeling great about the back. Then we got to the 10th tee at around 5:00, and there was a group in the fairway and another group waiting. We decided that our best chance to finish 18 holes was to play the front again, so off we went.
    This nine was slightly better. It was a 43, nothing awful but just a lot of bogeys. I was happy to play a better second nine but it did little to help my confidence.
     
    WEEK 9 (Oct 10-16)
    Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get out and practice much last week but I did play twice. 
    Tues. (10/11): My brother and I got out for a quick nine to wrap up my fall break, and my goal was to to break 40.
    It did not start well. We played through a group on the first hole and it rattled both of us: I started with a triple and my brother started with a quad. I then three-putted the second hole for bogey to go +4 and thought my chances were zero. Key word: Thought.
    I made a great up and down for par on the third, then went birdie-par-birdie on holes 4-6. Two over going into 7. Then I hit a beautiful fade to seven feet and left a dead straight putt to go back to one over after being four over just four holes prior. Left it half a roll short, in the heart. Still, two pars would’ve given me a 38, plenty good enough after the rough start.
    But then I bogeyed eight and, after having a 15-footer for birdie on the ninth, three-jacked. Bogey-bogey finish and a 40. Despite a rough finish, I can’t really be disappointed after how I started.
    Sat. (10/15): You may remember last year we played The Cardinal on my birthday weekend, and after twisting my ankle on 7 I was lucky to finish. This year I decided to go back for another try at the course. 
    Yet again, I hit it really well on the range and was feeling good heading to the first tee.
    I was +3 through 5 which included a chip in for birdie, but then it unraveled. I doubled three of the last four holes on the side and made the turn in 46. 
    I will explain the back nine like this: I parred 12 and 15, two difficult holes, but nothing else came through. The final number on the back was a 50 for a 96 total. Here are a couple of takeaways:
    •I was hitting the ball really well, particularly with irons. My misses were small for the most part, but  small misses at that course hurt the scorecard.
    •Short game sucked. I three-putted five times on this day, and my chipping wasn’t on point at all. Most of my chips finished in the 15-to-20-foot range, which is something I need to work on.
     
    So there you have it, my last two weeks. Unfortunately after some poor golf, my index has ballooned to an 11.1. My goal? Get back under a 10.5 by the end of the semester, and that essentially gives me 7 weeks, which I know will fly by. 
  5. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Another week down, and we’re nearing the end of the semester. Here’s what happened this week:
    Wed. (10/19): Wednesday afternoon I had a putting lesson, specifically lag putts, in response to poor putting at The Cardinal. Here are two key points that I took away:
    •Match the follow through with the backswing. I never realized that my backswing and follow through on my putts didn’t match, so this one was big.
    •Look at the hole during the practice strokes. This, he said, was to train my brain on how long the putt was, and soon I was lagging it really well. 
    After the lesson I worked another 15-20 minutes on lag putting, then went to the clock drill. That took about 30 minutes, and to finish I decided I would not leave until I two-putted six times in a row from at least 20 feet.
    Honestly that was a productive day for my golf game.
    Thurs. (10/20): I went out and played a practice round, bouncing back and forth between playing out the hole and holes where I was often hitting the same shot multiple times and trying different shots.
    For example, the sixth hole is a par 3 with a heavily sloping green. I spent probably 20 minutes on and around that green hitting multiple putts and chips. It was another productive practice session.
    Fri. (10/21): This was the whole reason why I named this week “Titleist”. Friday afternoon my new irons arrived! So out with the irons and hybrids and in with the T200s. I immediately went to the range with them.
    I think I hit every iron in the bag, and I spent a solid hour on the range hitting my new irons. It was great.
    Sun. (10/23): Today I went and played Gates Four, about a 30-minute drive from the university. 
    The front nine was nothing special, a 43 with a double-bogey finish. The bogey on 9 threatened to turn into a big number but I managed to chip one close and save the bogey.
    Then, after a bogey-double start to the back, I went on a run, going +1 in the next five holes, including a two-putt from 70 feet. Then I got to the par-5 17th where two pars would give me an 83 on the day.
    But then I pulled my drive into the creek on the left, and it all went downhill from there. I limped off the green with a quad, then made a bogey on 18. A 45 on the back added up to an 88. And, while the 88 doesn’t look great on the card, I look at it this way:
    Change the quad on 17 to just a bogey, and I shoot 85. In hindsight, that was a short and narrow par 5 and not really a driver hole. As well as I was hitting the long irons today, I think I would’ve done just fine hitting a 4 iron off the tee and playing it as a three-shot hole.
     
    So there’s that week! I’ve got a few things lined up for this week.
    Thurs. (10/27): I have a lesson at 3:00. Unless something changes between now and Thursday afternoon I will likely work on the driver. I had a couple of sketchy swings with the driver today that threatened to turn into hooks, so I’d like to get that straightened out.
    Fri. (10/28): Part two of my equipment upgrade: the driver and woods. While I’m not exactly hitting my dad’s woods poorly, I want to be able to stand over a shot with a wood in my hand and know it’s fit for my game.
    After trying out some woods at Golf Galaxy last week, I’ve decided I’m going to be fit for the Titleist Tsi3 driver and woods. The plan is to either have driver/3w/5w or driver/3w then probably an 18 degree hybrid.
    Sat. (10/29): My brother wants to come down to Fayetteville and play, so Saturday morning we’re playing King’s Grant. 

    Stay tuned!
  6. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Hey guys! Week six is in the books, and this week was action-packed in terms of golf. Tuesday and Friday I didn’t do anything but here’s what happened the other days:
    Mon. 9/19: Finally, I was fit for new irons! I was fit for Titleist T200s with stiff S300 shafts. The iron set will include 4-PW, with the PW at 43 degrees. I still have the 46/50/54/60 setup, so I have two options as to how I want to handle that:
    1. Take out a slot in the top end of the bag. This would be the most complicated of the two options because I would have to figure out what the club below driver would be. It could be a stronger 18 degree hybrid or a weaker 3 wood but I would make sure the gap between whatever that is and the 4 iron isn’t excessive.
    In this scenario I would probably bend the 46 degree to 47 so that I’d have 43/47/50/54/60. Not sure how I feel about that.
    2. Take out a wedge. What I’d probably do is take out the 50 degree and bend the 46 to 48 so that I would have a 43/48/54/60 setup. This would free up space for a hybrid between my 3 wood and 4 iron.
    I most likely won’t decide this until I find out how far I hit my irons. I’ll probably go ahead and get the driver and 3 wood now and then decide on one of the two options after I see how far I hit the 4 iron.
    If y’all have any suggestions feel free to let me know!
    Wed. 9/21: This week in Player Development we worked on bunker game, both greenside and fairway bunkers. Still a little rusty, but I’m hoping to improve that soon!
    Thurs. 9/22: Two things happened Thursday.
    1. The first round of the club championship. My opponent was a 0.9 handicap and since no strokes were given I knew it was gonna be a tough day.
    I lost the first hole but halved the next two with pars, the latter being after a botched tee shot. That one upped my confidence significantly. So one down through three.
    I lost four and five but six was gift-wrapped for me after my opponent blocked his tee shot right (he wouldn’t find it and would make double. Two down, three to play.
    On seven we both struggled but at the end of it I faced a five-footer for bogey to tie the hole and extend the match. Knowing what was at stake, I knocked it home for the save. Now I had to win the last two holes, but I was still alive.
    Not for long though. I blocked my tee shot on eight and he threw a dart to ten feet, and I knew it was over. I hit a decent chip and almost made the par putt, and he two putted easily to win 3&1. I was a little disappointed about the loss for sure, but I’m happy that I kept fighting. We finished up the nine and I parred to shoot 46. 
    2. Seminar week three. We had one of the representatives of Augusta National come and talk to us about the retail opportunities there. We would apparently be working during 
    Masters week in either sales or operations, and it would be a 12- to 14-hour workday (with breaks of course) nine straight days.
    I’m sure I would be exhausted after all this, but I’m definitely giving it serious thought. He told us about how awesome it is to see the golf shops full of people and how all the cash registers (64 of em) have super long lines. To sum up everything he talked about, it sounds like an awesome opportunity that I’m for sure considering!
    Sat. 9/24: Yesterday was supposed to be 18 at Baywood in the morning, but as I neared the end of the round I was playing well, and it was such a nice day so I decided to play 36.
    In the first round I played super consistent golf, and shot 42-44 from the tips (73.1/131). I wasn’t making many putts so it definitely could’ve been lower.
    The second round could’ve been better. I caught all sorts of breaks on the front nine, which led to a lot of doubles and few pars. A 48 on the front there hurt a lot, as I had already figured out the front nine is where a lot of the scoring is done.
    On the back I got some of my game back. The trend of nothing dropping continued though, and it led to me making eight bogeys and a lone par for a 44 on the back and 92 for the round.
    So 86-92 from the tips on an unfamiliar course. At just over 6700 yards it was a bit longer than I’m used to as well, so I’m happy to have played well for the most part. I really enjoyed the course as well. As I would put it, there are no ‘boring’ holes on that course. I’ll definitely be playing there again!
    Sun. 9/25: Today I played King’s Grant. Struggle City. I started +2 through four but after a quad on the 5th it went downhill. I finished with a 46 on the front and had a really rough four hole stretch on the back that turned what should’ve been mid-40s into a 49. So 46-49 for a 95. That will balloon my index up to a 10.6 apparently, which sucks. But I’ll definitely be getting to the range this week!
  7. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Hey guys! Here’s what happened in week 5 of the semester:
    Tuesday: I decided to head to the course after lunch so I’d be done in time for my 3:30 class. I pretty much just worked on what I’ve been working on the past few weeks, and I’m looking to get another lesson in the next couple of weeks as well.
    Wednesday: Two things happened Wednesday:
    •We worked on chipping in player development, and it went really well. We were given a couple of tips on chipping and pitching, and those alone made my short game more consistent. 
    •My first Monarch Tour of the semester. The format was a two-man modified alternate shot. Pick the best drive then play alternate shot from there.
    Neither me nor my partner played particularly well, but we made a couple of clutch up and downs for par that limited the damage to a 41.
    Thursday: The second week of seminar was Thursday. The topic of the day was Dress For Success, and we went in depth on how we should dress in an interview setting. 
    This Thursday we have a few representatives from Augusta coming to talk to us about retail and the possibility of a couple of us getting to work in the Masters our junior or senior year, which would be a great experience!
    Saturday: Yesterday my brother and I played Hillandale.
    I battled an uncooperative driver all day. I got away with it on the front and managed to escape the front with a 41, and then I parred the long par 4 tenth. But after that it got messy.
    I made a completely preventable quad on 11 after blading three consecutive chip shots. I was lucky to hole one from the fringe. Went +1 the next four holes, hitting wayward tee shots on three of them.
    On 16 I hooked a hybrid OB and did well to save double. On 17 I hit a great tee shot to about 15 feet and then followed that with my only three-putt of the day. Then on 18 I made triple after blocking my tee ball right. I shot 47 on the back for 88, but it was adjusted to an 86.
    The driver was the only part of my game that was sketchy. Irons were fine, short game was better than usual. So that 88 could’ve easily been much worse.
     
    A few things coming up for next week:
    •Tomorrow afternoon I have a club fitting. I signed up to just do irons for now, will figure out woods later.
    •As I said, Thursday we have reps from Augusta coming to speak to us. Super excited about that!
    •Next weekend I’m playing in my second PAT. I feel a lot more confident than I did in the first one, partly because I’ll have a lot more energy and shouldn’t have a problem making it through. My goal is to shoot 175 for the two rounds.
     
    So there’s my next week. Stay tuned!
  8. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    A lot happened this week, as y’all will see!
    Monday (9/5): My brother and I actually had an afternoon tee time and were planning on playing a quick 9 before I had to leave again, but we unfortunately were rained out.
    Tuesday (9/6): Didn’t get to the course Tuesday, but I did have my first interview! 
    We had a few pros from the Country Club of Virginia come down and talk to us during class about their facilities and internship opportunities, and everything about them and the opportunities I could have at CCV intrigued me.
    So I made an interview appointment for that afternoon, and it went well. I came away from the interview feeling good, and I’ll know in a week or two if I got the internship there!
    Wednesday (9/7): Our first player development class was supposed to be on this day (we were gonna work on putting), but like Monday, we had lightning keep us from doing anything. I was planning on hitting balls after class too, but obviously that didn’t happen either.
    Thursday (9/8): First PGM seminar was Thursday, and we just talked about cover letters and resumes and how to write them effectively. 
    Apparently for the third week of seminar (9/22), we are having pros from the one and only Augusta National coming to give us a presentation. I’m definitely pumped for that!
    Friday (9/9): After my last class Friday I decided to go the course and play nine holes. Not getting out much since the PAT definitely showed. I got away with my Mishima on the first few holes and started par-bogey-bogey, but then made a 10 on the fourth hole after losing two balls and it went downhill from there.
    I used the rest of the round as a practice round and actually stayed on one green for a solid 15 minutes and worked on short game. What was a failing round turned into a productive practice session.
    Saturday (9/10): Yesterday I played my first real scoring round since the PAT. My dad and brother came to join me at King’s Grant, which is a fun par 71 just down the road, and I played the back tees (6302 yds, 71.0/137).
    The only part of my game that showed up was my driver. I repeatedly put myself in position to score, but the irons failed me miserably. The overwhelming majority of my misses were off the toe, and I had probably three good iron and hybrid strikes all day. I only hit two greens and couldn’t make a putt. Here’s the scorecard.

     
    The quad on 5 was mainly due to a double cross off the tee and a three putt, but everything else was consistent.
    Honestly, to shoot 87 and hit the ball as poorly as I did was encouraging. I clawed out a decent number after one of my worst ballstriking days in a while, nothing close to my best. Did I get lucky with my misses? Maybe. But it’s still promising.
    Today (9/11): For the third time this week, I was planning on going to the course, this time to work on just getting back to solid contact with the irons after what happened yesterday.
    But this time, the course was closed because we had 2 inches of rain yesterday afternoon and in the early portion of the morning today, so day two of golf team tryouts were canceled and the course and practice facilities were closed.

    So definitely not the most ideal week, but a lot of good things happened that I liked. A few things that are coming up:
    •This week: The first round of the first major on our tournament circuit, the club championship! All who sign up (myself included) will be put into a matchplay bracket and we will be seeded as follows:
    •Exempt golf team members
    •Those who’ve passed the PAT
    •Those who haven’t passed the PAT.
    Not sure if there’s a qualifying portion involved, but I’m excited for it to start!
    •Two weekends from now: The club championship at Hillandale, which I have also signed up for. I was planning on going home that weekend to see my grandparents, and that also happened to be on that weekend, so I figured why not?
    Might go home next weekend and play a practice round at Hillandale from the back tees (including the back tee boxes on some holes that are almost never used in case the tees are back), but I’ll make that decision as we get closer to the weekend!
  9. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Week three is in the books. And I’ll say this: it wasn’t a great week for my golf game. To be honest, I haven’t gotten to the course much. Only went two days, and here’s what happened:
    Wednesday: I decided to hit some balls after the first Player Development class of the semester. I worked on the stuff I was given in my lesson, but I only stayed on the range for about half an hour, and here’s the main reason why:
    Despite just coming out of the PAT and what I dubbed a really bad cold, I was still super inconsistent. I was still thinning, topping, and chunking shots more than I was hitting them solid. Wedges were actually fine but everything else was mediocre at best. I honestly should’ve stayed up there longer and worked more.
    Today: I’m home for Labor Day weekend, and today we had a trip to DriveShack as a late birthday present for my brother. I took it as another opportunity to work on my setup.
    Surprisingly, I did a lot better than I did on Wednesday. Contact was a lot more solid than Wednesday, which was encouraging. I was picking targets and, for the most part, was sticking to them. My brother and I also had a competitive match on St Andrews, and I shot a 77. Not that that number means a whole lot but I hit the ball really well today. It was a good day.
    I’d love to get to the course more than I did last week, and hoping to get a club fitting as well in the next two weeks. My brother and I are going out for a quick nine tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned for that. 
     
  10. dagolfer18

    Journey to PGA Membership
    Time for my second post! This one will be solely focusing on my PAT from this weekend, because I was sick all week (wasn’t completely cleared until Friday) and wasn’t able to get to the course. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna have the energy to walk 18 on back to back days, but I couldn’t get a doctors note because they said “we’ve already cleared you”, so I didn’t have much of a choice. And I knew going in it wasn’t going to be easy.
    Sat.: Not much to say about this round. Front nine was consistent but not great: four doubles and five bogeys for a 49. On the back I had a chip in for birdie on 14 that was in the middle of disaster: I made a quad on 13 and a triple on 16, shot a 46 on the back for a 95.
    I almost ran out of gas on the course, having to sit down multiple times to keep it up. I was happy that I battled, but a tougher challenge was to come.
    Sun.: Front nine today was a duplicate of yesterday’s. A very consistent but poor 49. Then I doubled 10 and 11 but parred 12 and 13, and I thought despite my very low energy level I could actually put together a decent round.
    I bogeyed 14 and then played the last four holes at +9. I could go into detail on the last four holes but there’s no need. I shot a 50 on the back for 99. Honestly, given how I was feeling both days I’m happy to just have finished. There was a lot of battling, a bit of pain but I made it. And despite the seemingly poor performance I’m proud I made it through.
    TOTAL: 95-99—194
    This was a shorter post mainly because there wasn’t much to say about this week or the PAT itself. However, one of the guys I played with (we played with the same people both days) shot 80-75 and passed. It was fun to watch!
    I’m planning to take tomorrow off and get back into the grind Tuesday!
  11. dagolfer18

    Journey To PGA Membership
    Hey guys! As promised, here is my first post documenting my journey to becoming a member of the PGA of America! In this blog I will focus primarily on my golf game, but I will also go a little bit of what we went over in class when I feel it’s appropriate. For example, the Qualifying Level test is scheduled for October 6, and when I get my results I will post here.
    For this first week and a half or so (Aug 12-21) I will only go through highlights on the golf course. In class it was mainly just introductions.
    Aug. 13: I played an eight-hole 3v3 scramble with a few guys. Unfortunately we lost but it was great to be back on the course.
    Aug. 14: I decided to walk 18 holes this day, and I think I already posted it in What’d You Shoot Today. I shot a 91. Won’t get into a lot of detail, but it was just a rough start and I just couldn’t get anything going.
    At the end of the day, I wasn’t thrilled but being only my second time walking the course I wasn’t exactly upset either.
    Aug. 16-17: Both these days I walked 9 holes but didn’t keep score. I just hit some practice shots trying to get to know the course before my PAT (more on that below). I probably would’ve shot around bogey golf playing my first ball though.
    Aug. 18: I finally decided to do some much-needed range work, and I spent about 30 minutes just trying to find some consistency in my swing. After finding nothing I went to one of the pros and scheduled a lesson for 11:00 the next day.
    Aug. 19: Friday was a big day. In the morning I had the aforementioned lesson, and I found out something.
    I learned that I am hunched too much over the ball, and that my most common miss (hitting it thin) comes from that swing fault. Over the course of the lesson I put down a few key things about my setup (he didn’t even touch my swing):
    •Feet slightly more than shoulder width apart. I also lose balance on a decent handful of swings, and this definitely helps with that.
    •Drop my back foot back slightly. Apparently I’ve always had an open stance, which has led to a lot of slicing the ball.
    •Ball positioned in the center of my stance. I’ve always had my irons about 1/3 of the way back, and it’s always seemed to work for me. This is a lot better and also leads to more distance.
    •Push my butt out slightly. He said this would give me more room to swing as opposed to standing straight up.
    Then that afternoon, we had our Welcome Back Scramble, which was essentially 17 fivesomes (2F, 1So, 1J, 1Se) in a scramble except for the rule that whoever’s shot was used did not hit the next shot. 
    There isn’t much to say about this outing. I predicted the winning score would be -11 (it was actually -9) and that we would shoot -8 (we actually shot -4). I could probably count the number of good shots I hit on one hand. It was a fun day though.
    Unfortunately I haven’t gotten any golf in yesterday or today, because yesterday I figured I needed a day off after playing/practicing six days in a seven-day stretch. Today I was planning to walk 18 holes first thing, but the course and practice facilities were closed around 8:00 due to weather.
    Now I’m going to talk about the upcoming PAT. The policy is that unless you’re sick, you’re taking the PAT. The good news is that this one is spread out over two days, so we’re only walking 18 holes each day.
    My goal in this PAT isn’t super optimistic because it’s my first one, but I honestly want to post something around 170 for the two rounds. I know I’ll be feeling pressure on the first tee but I know the course well enough by now so im feeling pretty good.
    As for future plans for this blog, I’m planning on posting every Sunday, and for now I’ll set it so it doesn’t actually post until 9PM in case I had something going on and couldn’t write until later in the day.
    Stay tuned for Week 2! I’m considering making two posts to the blog next Sunday: one for Monday-Friday and one solely dedicated to the PAT.
  12. dagolfer18
    Hey guys! Sorry to leave y’all in the dark about the last portion of the golf season, but here I am to catch y’all up! 
    April 19: This was the last non conference match of the season. Honestly I don’t remember much about this one, but I shot a 44 and went +6 in my last four holes.
    April 25: The conference tournament at Hillandale was on April 25. It was hot on this day, so I went easy on my warm up session and sat in the coach’s cart the last 10 minutes or so until my tee time.
    I started with a rough bogey, but then birdied the second hole and parred the next three. I was on the bogey train for a while and made the turn with a 40, but I righted the ship again with back to back pars on 12 and 13. I was six over with only five holes to play. 
    I had to scramble for bogey on the easy par-5 14th and then bogeyed 15. Now pars on the last three holes would give me 79. I was fully aware of the match as well, and as a result I pulled my tee shot on 16 into the road and made triple. I scrambled for bogey again on the par-3 17th before once again righting the ship with a par on 18 to finish. 40-43 for 83 at the conference tournament.
    I easily made regionals and also made All Conference with a couple of shots to spare. All in all it was a good day, and we went out to dinner that night to celebrate a good season!
    May 2: Regionals!! There’s a lot to say about regionals. This was after a long day on the 30th (tournament in the morning and then prom that night).
    The day before was our practice round at No. 6 and I took this round to really get to know the course. It’s was a relaxing way to spend the day, not too hot, and by the end of it I was feeling good about the next day. My goal? To just go out there and enjoy it whether I shot 79 or 99. I’d made it this far so I was just happy to be in Pinehurst.
    We just relaxed at the Mid Pines hotel the rest of the day and had dinner at The Deuce while watching groups come in on No. 2.
    Then the next day came, and I was ready. Didn’t do too much talking at breakfast because I was thinking about my strategy for the day. I went to the course and had a good warm up session, then went to the tee of the par-5 tenth which is where I would begin. No nerves whatsoever.
    We got there quite a bit early, and of the eight people that went ahead of me (two threesomes and the other two in my group), six of them hit it OB off the tee. Needless to say, I was now very nervous and took a few deep breaths before I hit. And…pulled OB. I hit the next one in play and walked on. I thought I was fine but after a few more lousy shots I had to settle for a quad to start the day.
    But after that I settled in. I doubled 11 and bogeyed 12, then on 13 faced a tucked pin against the water hazard on the left. I had already decided in the practice round that I would play right no matter where the pin was. I stuck to that, missed right and then got up and down for par.
    Then I hit a great shot from a wayward drive on 14 and parred easily and parred 15 and 16 as well. Then I bogeyed 17 and made a great save for double on 18 after another flared drive went OB off the tee. I made the turn in 46 and, despite the first hole, was playing very solid golf under the pressure of regionals. I knew at this point making states was out the window (I would’ve had to shoot 34 on the back), so I walked back to the first tee ready to enjoy my last nine holes of high school golf.
    Like the previous day, I bogeyed the first hole and doubled the par-5 second. I went bogey-par-bogey on holes 3-5, and I knew, walking to the par-5 sixth, that if I bogeyed in I would shoot 91. But I struggled on that one, hit into a water hazard and was lucky to find it, and made triple. 
    Or so I thought.
    As I went to tee my ball up on the seventh hole, I realized that something was very wrong. Before, I was playing a Titleist ProV1 with our school’s logo on it. The ball I had teed up was a TopFlite with no such markings. And since I had no other balls in either pocket, I knew what I had done.
    I was about two seconds from taking the club back, but once I realized that I had played the wrong ball on the last hole I stopped what I was doing, called my coach over and walked him through what had happened.
    It’s difficult to explain exactly what we did next, but by the time I was able to tee off on the next hole I was in a daze. I couldn’t think straight, and the fact that I had just played the wrong ball rattled me. I went triple-double on 7 and 8, then finally regained my composure on the last hole and made a solid bogey to finish. 
    The next step was to find the rules official, and after we talked with him I was given the wrong ball penalty. After it was all said and done, I had shot 97 at regionals.
    Not the way I wanted my high school golf career to finish for sure, but I knew I had done the right thing on 7. My parents, my coaches and the rules official all said the same thing after: that they were proud that I had done what they thought few others in the field that day would’ve done. I did it not only because I knew it’s what I should’ve done, but also because if I had done nothing, it would’ve bothered me for who knows how long.
    In the car ride on the way home, I tried to recover from a long couple of days and slept well that night. When the guys at work asked me about regionals and I told them what happened, all but one of them said I was stupid and something like “I would’ve just played on and not said anything”. That bothered me, but not near as much as I knew it would have if I had done the opposite.
    So there you have it, the end of my high school golf career! If you have any questions about what happened, don’t hesitate to ask. 🙂
    So what’s next? I’m leaving for Methodist on Friday, and I’m planning to wait a week or two, see how much I can play or practice, and start another blog. Not sure what exactly it will cover or how often I’ll post, but I will cover all that in the first post of my new blog.
    Stay tuned!
  13. dagolfer18
    Time to update! Today I’ll be updating y’all on the match that took place last Thursday at Chapel Ridge.
    Surprisingly (and we didn’t even know this until halfway to the course), we were going to be doing tee times, opposed to the shotgun start we normally do. I ended up playing with one of my teammates, and after a good range session, we were off. I’ll go hole by hole here.
    No. 1: Par (E). Not a bad tee shot but it ran through the fairway and I had tree trouble. A great punch left me about 15 feet for birdie. I easily two putted to get off to a solid start.
    No. 2: Par (E). I hit another wayward tee shot that left me with an unstable lie. I hit another great recovery shot that left me just short of the green, and I got it up and down.
    No. 3: Bogey (+1). Nothing too dramatic here apart from a poor second. Recovered with a good chip but missed the putt.
    No. 4: Bogey (+2). There was some backup here. This is a drivable par 4 for a number of people (277 on the card but it doglegs so plays closer to 250), and a lot of people took that opportunity. As a result, we got to the tee and there was one group walking off and another group still waiting. We waited for about 15 minutes.
    Back to the match. I was the only one in my foursome to NOT go for the green, and I split the fairway and left myself 40 yards out. Unfortunately I caught a bad break and my ball had settled in a small depression. I thinned it over the green and had an interesting chip coming back. I did well to hit it to about twelve feet but didn’t make the putt. 
    No. 5: Par (+2). Never been a big fan of this hole, a short but tough par 5. I was thrilled to hit three solid shots and walk off with par. I did leave myself a bit of work for the save but I cleaned it up nicely.
    No. 6: Bogey (+3). I made my worst swing of the day here and it was a near-shank that left me way right and short of the green. I misjudged the chip and was lucky to walk off with a bogey.
    No. 7: Bogey (+4). I was able to regroup after the last hole, and my tee ball left me in perfect position to attack this par 5. However, a lousy third missed the green and I failed at the up and down.
    No. 8: Double (+6). I think the ego got me here. I decided to go at a pin that was tucked behind a bunker. My line was perfect, but my club choice was not, and I found said bunker. Two shots to get out, two putts.
    No. 9: Bogey (+7). A perfect tee shot and a solid iron to the front of the green were ruined by a three-putt to end the round.
    FINAL SCORE: 43
    TEAM SCORE: 197 (43-46-50-58)
    Another good match! Chapel Ridge is definitely not an easy course to walk, and we were all tired afterward. The medalist shot a one-under 35, which is the lowest score we’ve seen so far this season.
    I’ve gotten a confirmation that we are having a conference tournament at Hillandale, which is a week from today. It will also have tee times, and will be 18 holes. We also have a non conference match at Croasdaile tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!
  14. dagolfer18
    Hey guys!! Here’s the blog post I promised 🙂
    In this post I’m gonna highlight each match, and because we had a great match yesterday (hint: our best of the year so far), I will go hole by hole there. On to the matches! Starred dates mean the match was non conference.
    3/2*: The first match of the year was a non conference match at Umstead Pines. I shot a solid five-over 40 with a double and three bogeys, and we shot 208 as a team. This was a solid start to the season.
    3/7: Won’t go into this one much. We played Indian Valley (par 35, about 3100 yards) in the first conference match, and it was windy. I shot a pitiful 49 and we shot 211 as a team.
    3/10: The next conference match was at Croasdaile, so a good chance to gain some ground. I actually birdied my first hole (the short par-4 4th), but then struggled a little bit on the last eight holes and posted a 47. In the conditions we were in, that’s not horrible, but I definitely blew a chance to move past some people. I don’t remember our team score
    3/21: Our most recent conference match was at Chapel Hill Country Club, a course I don’t have a great history with. I started triple-double-triple, but then went on a run, making two birdies, two pairs and two bogeys in the last eight holes to shoot 44, my best performance up to that point. I gained a little bit of ground, but not a ton. And I believe we shot 210 as a team. Not bad considering we all had stretches of solid golf.
    The weekend following the Chapel Hill match, I learned some pleasantly surprising news: that the top three teams and the next four individuals would be heading to regionals, which I now know is on May 2 at Pinehurst No. 6. My current standing: I’m tied for 5th.
    So I haven’t even done anything great so far, and I’m one spot away from regionals. That gave me motivation to play and practice a lot over spring break, and then we had our match yesterday at Umstead Pines. It was non conference, so not a lot of pressure, but I still wanted to play well. Here’s what happened, we all went off the first tee:
    No. 1: Nothing horrible happened on this hole until we got to the green. I had a downhill 10-footer for par, then I three-jacked to start with a double. +2
    No. 2: A lousy drive and a poor club selection on my approach left me behind a greenside bunker, having to pitch over it with not much green to work with. I caught my pitch a touch thin, but it had some bite and it left me about four feet for par. Dead center. +2
    No. 3: With a front pin on this par 3 I decided to go with a 9I. I threw a dart to about the same distance as on the second hole, and this putt was dead center as well. +1
    No. 4: Usually a par 5, but we play it as a par 4 from the front tees (making it 345). Although it leaked a tad bit left, my tee shot with a hybrid was smoked and left 110 in. Another dart, this time with a PW. Made the putt for back to back birdies. E
    No. 5: I was playing well up to this point, and I did well to stay in the present. After a tee ball that was caught heavy, I had 190 in, all carry. I visualized the shot in my head, and hit it exactly as I saw it. It left me on the front of the green, about 35 feet out. I left my first putt six feet short, so I had some work left to clean up my par. But my solid putting from short range continued, and I knocked it in. E
    No. 6: Like the first hole, I won’t go into much detail here, but I cleaned up a lousy hole with a seven-footer to save bogey. That was easily the most critical putt of the day. +1
    No. 7: I picked the right club here but left it out right, and from a relatively easy spot I managed to chip it close for an easy par save. +1
    It didn’t occur to me until this point, but two fours (par-birdie) on the last two holes would bring me home with even par. And here’s what unfolded:
    No. 8: I think some nerves got me here, and I hit another heavy shot that left me a nearly identical yardage as my approach on the fifth hole. I thought back to that shot and hit another good one: 20 feet for birdie. This may have been my best putt of the day: right on line, great speed, but it caught the lip and somehow stayed out. Still, I was thrilled to walk off with a par after the messy tee shot. +1
    No. 9: This was a good finishing hole: I was completely aware that a birdie would tie my personal best for nine holes, and I had a great chance here: a short par 5 with minimal danger. I striped my tee shot down the middle and was even with the 200-yard marker. Normally I would hit a 3 hybrid in this scenario: 200 yards uphill, but the adrenaline was pumping so I pulled the 4 hybrid. Thought back again to the fifth and eighth holes and hit yet another good hybrid shot: pured just to the left of the pin, and it trickled on and started turning right. 
    When I got to the green I saw that I left myself 15 feet for an eagle finish and a one-under 34. I took plenty of time on this one, more than usual, but I didn’t execute, and had about four feet for birdie. With the coaches watching, and knowing they’d say something if I missed, I knocked it in. An even-par 35. Looking back, here’s some stats from the round:
    FIR: 4/7
    GIR: 5/9
    PUTTS: 14
    Honestly, going two under in the last eight holes, I even surprised myself. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a zone like that. It was awesome to shoot my second even par nine after a rough start like that, so I’d say that’s the best golf I’ve played in a while. I give a lot of credit to my putter, because I don’t think I missed a putt inside 10 feet all day.
    I’m also happy that I managed to stay in the present, and focus on the shot at hand rather than the score. That’s definitely something that I’ve improved on in the past year or so.
    As a team, our final number was 186. A team best by more than twenty shots. I think we picked up some shots on the other teams, but we’ve still got a long way to go.
    As far as my standing goes, we have one non conference match, three nine-hole conference matches and possibly a conference tournament left. It looks like we might get rained out in our match on Thursday, so I’ve got anywhere from 18 to 45 holes to improve my position.
    If we’re rained out I’ll comment on this post, and if we’re not I’ll post again on Thursday. Stay tuned!
  15. dagolfer18
    Hey guys! Finally found a good time to write my first blog post of the 2022 golf season! I don’t really have anything specific to write about, so for the opening post I’ll stick to the state of my game currently and what I know (not much) about the golf season itself.
    MY GOLF GAME
    My last two 18-hole rounds were about two weeks ago (the 12th and 13th) and I shot an 82 at Greensboro National and an 86 at Umstead, both rounds from the whites.
    In Greensboro and on the front nine at Umstead, my ballstriking was the best it’s been in a long long time, but putting was very poor, to put it bluntly. Then my ballstriking went to crap on the back. Putting improved, but the damage was already done.

    In terms of practice, I’ve unfortunately only been able to get to the course to practice once since those two rounds, but my brother and I made the most out of it with a productive practice session.
    We went out to play a few holes, but leaned more towards practice. Given the fact that the green we normally practice on is a bit flat and not super representative of the greens on the course, we played the hole, hit an extra ball or two if we felt like we needed it, and then did some short game work around the green. 
    The weather is actually looking halfway  decent for the first half of the upcoming week, so I’m looking to get out there at least once, ideally twice, and start fine-tuning my game.
    THE SEASON
    As of right now, we only have three players on our team (me, my brother and the coach’s daughter), and we’re supposed to get a fourth soon, but we won’t have near as good a team as we’ve had the last three years.
    What will most likely happen is that I will play #1, my brother will play #2 and the coach’s daughter will play #3. Hopefully we get a fourth so we can actually post a real score in matches (otherwise you take the triple bogey maximum for every hole for each player missing from the roster).
    Unfortunately I haven’t gotten a whole lot of information about the match schedule itself, in terms of how many matches we’re playing and who is in our conference this year, but I did note a few dates:
    Valentine’s Day (not exact): The first day of practice. Again, this date was purely mentioned, so it’s more of an approximation, but I will start counting down to that date as if that was the first day of practice.
    April 21: The last match of the season before regionals and maybe a conference championship. The only reason I say maybe is that the coaches have had trouble finding a host course for the conference championship, so it’s not guaranteed that it will be held at all.
    Another little bit of info I’ve heard is a few of the courses we will be playing: Umstead Pines (home matches), Hillandale, Croasdaile, Hope Valley and The Preserve at Jordan Lake. 

    To be honest, that’s pretty much all I know about the season so far, so hopefully I’ll get more info before long so I know what to expect. As for the future of this blog, I will probably post two more times before the season officially starts, once per week. It will include everything I did for practice that week, and any new info I’ve found.
    During the season, I’m thinking of probably doing one post for every match and one post per week highlighting what happened during the week (will probably overlap with my in-depth match posts, but will work that out as it gets closer to match day).
    So there you have it. Hoping to get some more info soon!
  16. dagolfer18
    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!! 
  17. dagolfer18
    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!
     
  18. dagolfer18
    Over the past two weeks or so, I’ve been listening to a podcast on iTunes called Chasing Scratch. Two guys started in August 2017 with 11 handicaps, and they gave themselves about fifteen months (end of November 2018) to get to scratch. Short story: they didn’t (I think the lowest either of them got was a 5.6), but it inspired me.
    In the past week or so, I’ve decided to start my OWN quest, but it’s not to get to scratch. My goal: to get a single-digit handicap by next golf season (which will start probably around mid-February). My handicap is currently 14.5 and trending down, so I’m already going in the right direction. 
    I sat down with my dad the other day and I talked with him about my quest. His thoughts were the same as mine: that this is a realistic goal, but as he’s said multiple times, I need to practice. And he’s right. If I don’t practice, the chances of achieving a single-digit handicap are low. So my brother and I have devised a plan. Here it is:
    On the days I’m off work (usually three days a week), I’m going to play, if I can. The days I work are going to be my practice days. I usually work from about noon to close, so starting with two days a week, I’m going to head to the range early in the morning (I was thinking around 8:00) and hit a bucket of balls, working on some things that I’ve listed below. Then I’m going to go to the practice green and do the same thing. 
    Now, here are some things I feel that I need to work on:
    1. I need/want to get rid of my slice. It’s not at the point where I’m slicing it OB, and it’s gotten better, but I’d like to get to the point where I can trust my driver off the tee. I’m going to start playing some longer yardages (more about that in a bit), and driver needs to come out of the bag more than it is right now.
    2. I want to dial in distance control with wedges. This applies to pretty much any shot where I’m taking a partial swing, including chips and pitches. In fact, I did a little bit of chipping/wedge practice at work with a coworker (don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I work at a golf course), and I was not thrilled with the results.
    The last two are big ones:
    3. Lag putting from 30+ feet. I’m pretty solid from about 20 feet and in, but my long lag putts are kinda sucking right now and I’d like to change that. Remember all the way back at the beginning of the year when I said I wanna limit three putts to one or two a round, if that? Yeah, this is pretty much that except way more specific.
    4. The mental game, particularly premature thoughts. When I’m having a good round, my teenage mind loves to fast forward to the possibility of a super low round. And then, boom! What could’ve been a low 80s or even a 70s round turns into something in the mid 80s, and what could’ve been mid 80s turns into high 80s or even low 90s. When I shot my personal best last summer (80), I was able to keep those thoughts from forming. I want that again, except every time.
    Tomorrow morning, my brother and I have a 10:20 tee time at Stoney Creek. Tuesday, I’m planning to go to the range and work on what I mentioned. Of course, I’ll go more into detail in future posts, but this is all I have for now. I’m planning on posting once a week for now, but we’ll see how it goes! 
  19. dagolfer18
    Sorry for posting so late as regionals was over a week ago, but I’ve finally got a good time block to write this! Regionals was last Monday, and it was a fun day of golf! Talking in the hotel room the night before, we came to the conclusion that to have a chance to advance to states, I’d have to shoot around 80. Given the way I was hitting the ball in our two rounds the previous two days, that wasn’t out of the picture. It would be difficult, yes, but not out of reach.
    However, on the front nine I shot myself out of that possibility. I went +7 through five holes, meaning I had to par out. Not good, but I went +3 on the last four holes on the side to shoot 46 on what we considered to be the easier nine holes. My goal now: to break 90. I needed 43, definitely reasonable. I started with a bogey on possibly the toughest hole on the side, but then as we prepared to tee off on the eleventh, the weather horn went off.
    As we waited, I caught up with my teammates and learned that they shot 39, 40 and 45. Knowing we needed around a 320 total to advance, we were just about out of it. All the more reason to go for it on the last eight holes.
    When we resumed play again, I laced my tee shot down the middle, then hit a 9I to about 20 feet and two putted with ease. Then I hit my tee shot OB on the 12th, but still walked off with a double. Nothing interesting happened on the next four holes, but I went +2 in that stretch, meaning I stood on the tee of the par-3 17th needing just two bogeys for 89. The good news: the last hole was a par 5. It wasn’t long, either, at only 517 yards. But I had to get through 17 first.
    With a 6I in hand, I hit my tee shot into the right bunker. I was still feeling good, because I’d been in four other bunkers and had little to no trouble in any of em. But on this one, I caught almost all ball and nailed it twenty yards over the green. Now I had to get up and down for bogey. I didn’t, but I nearly chipped in for par. Double bogey, and now I needed par on the short but difficult par 5 18th for 89. In the distance, I saw a gallery of about 30 people by the green, consisting of my teammates and the other people who’d finished before me (not that many, because I was only the fourth group). 
    For the first time all day, nerves got the better of me and I pulled my tee shot into the trees. But I had caught it so purely that I was still even with the other two guys in my group, who had also hit solid tee shots. I only had about 250 in, with two options: attempt to carry the water on the left (probably a 200-yard carry), with a great birdie opportunity and par almost a certainty if I made it but double almost certain if I missed, or a layup to the right to around 120 out where birdie is much less a possibility, but double is almost off the table.
    After taking a while to think about it, weighing the odds, I chose to lay up with a 6I to the right. Caught it a little heavy, but still had around 135 to the green. I chose a 9I and hit it just about as solid as I could have. I didn’t see exactly where I ended up, but I heard clapping, so I knew it was good. Walking up to the green, I was right: just off the green with about 20 feet left for birdie. My last test was to just two putt for par. I lagged up to within a foot, and my last shot of the 2021 golf season was a tap in par putt for 89.
    We then moved to the scoreboard to enter in our scores, and I saw that my teammates had shot 78, 89 and 91. A 347 total, far from what we needed to make it. But Brycen, who had shot the 78, was still in contention to make it as an individual. We went to get some lunch, awaiting the final scores. By the time the last group made it to the final tee, he was in third place (top four individuals advance), so unless two of the last three beat him, he was in. Ten minutes later, it was official: our number one player on the team made it to the state competition. We all wanted him to make it badly, so we were all happy for him!
    In fact, since I wrote this so late, the state competition was actually yesterday. He played at Longleaf in Pinehurst, and I was able to keep track of him through the app we used for regionals. He started well: only one over through six holes. But he started to struggle a bit on the last twelve holes, and finished with 83. Not great for him, but he’s still thrilled to have made it that far. A good ending to our golf season!
    I will probably make one more entry to this blog later this week, which will outline what I imagine will happen next season, but unless something else crops up, this is the last entry where I’ll go into detail about competition rounds. But of course, if you have any questions for me feel free to ask. Hope y’all enjoyed this blog!
  20. dagolfer18
    The conference championship was yesterday, and it was a fun time, especially considering we were playing for a spot in regionals (we were second before the championship, and two teams advance to regionals), and I was playing for a spot in All Conference (top ten qualify for All Conference, I was somewhere between 8th and 12th, so I was close going in). We were so far ahead of third place that advancing to regionals seemed like a formality, so I was mainly focused on All Conference, which I said was one of my golf goals for this year. I wanted it badly. I had a feeling that if I shot 85, it would be enough.
    Nine teams showed up, so we had a shotgun start all around the front nine. We would play the front twice from the white tees, and the fourth hole, usually a 478-yard par 5, would be moved to the red tees and we’d play it as a 345-yard par 4, meaning par would be 70. Lucky me, I was the second group off the first tee. 
    On my first nine holes, not a lot happened. The highlight was on the tough fifth hole, where I bombed my driving iron all the way down to the bottom of the hill (about 270 to that point), and only had a mere sand wedge in. I hit it to about six feet and barely missed the birdie putt for a tap-in par.
    Other than that, I had a double (hole 4) and the rest bogeys for a 44. Not terrible, but I knew another 44 wouldn’t be good enough for All Conference. I had just missed a one-foot par putt on the ninth hole, and I was just hoping that if I did miss, it wouldn’t be by one shot.
    Nonetheless, I knew I needed to shoot 41 at worst my second nine to have a chance. It started well, with a nice five-footer for par on the first and a driving iron down the middle of the second fairway. I had about 140 to a front pin, so I chose to hit a smooth 8I. Chunked it and left myself 100 in. I was thinking, “Okay, just hit this on the green, two putt for a five and move on. This isn’t a big deal.”
    Except then I thinned that over the green and into a near impossible spot in the trees. Now I was gonna be lucky to make five. My coach came over and told me to punch a 6I under the trees and run it up. I took the advice, and landed it exactly where he told me to. I put the club back in the back and grabbed my putter, knowing I had a chance to save a bogey.  Except I wouldn’t get that chance. Five seconds later, it went in. For par. Everyone around the second green went ballistic, including me! Staring a double bogey straight in the face, I made one of the craziest par saves I’ve ever had, sidestepping what could’ve been a complete meltdown.
    Still a little giddy standing on the third tee, I composed myself long enough to hit the third green and two putt for my third par in a row. Now I just needed to bogey in for 41. But then I tripled four and bogeyed five. Now I needed two pars in the last four holes. Taking out my driving iron again, I split the sixth fairway and hit a wedge to four feet, but on a weird slope. Not wanting to do anything crazy, I hit it kinda softly. It dove sharply right, but I had a tap in par. Standing on the seventh tee, I realized that because three teams were represented in my threesome and only two would be going to regionals, at least one of us was about to play our last three holes of the season.
    I made an easy par on the seventh hole, lipping out a birdie putt, and then I three-putted for bogey on eight. The last hole is a short par 5, and I needed just a bogey for 85, but a little voice in the back of my head told me I needed par. I was safely on in three and about seven feet out, a legit birdie chance. Again I barely missed, and another tap in for par. I had shot 84 and beat my number by a shot, but now all I could do was wait and see whether I made All Conference. We finished with a team score of 323, with a low score of three-over 73, meaning the team chasing us had to go sub-300. One of the guys had just turned in a 94, but then someone else came in with a head-turning round. He apparently shot 34 on his front nine, but then went on a birdie binge. His back nine score: 30. A total of 64, six under par, and I believe the lowest score anyone in our conference has ever turned in for a high school match.
    They didn’t finish sub-300, meaning we had sealed a spot in regionals, but they did finish at 318, good enough to claim the championship. Then it was time to announce the All Conference standings. Top ten qualify, and it was announced that there was a three-way tie for tenth. My name was among the three. Since there was no playoff, I had qualified for All Conference! 
    Later, I realized that my chip-in on the second hole was absolutely critical. If I had not chipped in, I would not have made All Conference. It didn’t matter to me that I finished tied for the last spot, because I made it, and that was my goal for the season. Now it’s off to regionals in a week and a half!!
  21. dagolfer18
    Never did my anylasis of our last match, so I guess I’ll do it now. 😃
    The first 18-hole match was Thursday, and I’ll just say this: it wasn’t near the level of success we had on Tuesday. Not terrible by any means, but definitely not great. The course we played, Kerr Lake Country Club, wasn’t in fantastic shape, but it was a fun layout that kinda made up for the condition. We played the white tees (just under 6200 yards), so all yardages I note are from there. I’ll do another hole by hole anylasis, and because the second hole was my starting hole, I’ll start there!
    No. 2; Par 4, 291 yds. A solid 5H to the center of the fairway, slightly heavy pitch shot short, barely missed my par putt. +1
    No. 3; Par 3, 157 yds. A par 3 over water. Not ideal. I hit a slightly thin 7I that came up about ten feet short, then hit a solid chip and again, barely missed the par putt. +2
    No. 4; Par 4, 392 yds. Solid drive to about 170 out, misclubbed and came up short again, but I hit a nice pitch shot and made the five-footer for par. +2
    No. 5; Par 4, 380 yds. My first shot was a well-struck driver, but I pulled it a bit and hit it OB. My next shot was another solid driver that this time found the center of the fairway. I chunked a 6I then chunked a wedge, so I had to chip in to avoid maxing out at triple bogey. A good chip to four feet, but not good enough. +5
    No. 6; Par 5, 442 yds. I popped up a 3W slightly but still down the middle. Two solid 7I shots later I was just short of the green. Another solid chip shot, but missed the par putt. +6
    No. 7; Par 4, 376 yds. I missed my 3W tee shot right, but I had a shot if I could fade an 8I around the tree in front of me. I pulled the shot off and found myself on the front of the green, but 40 feet out. Still a pretty darn good shot from where I was. I hit a good lag putt to about three feet, but my par putt did almost a full 360 round the lip and popped out. +7
    No. 8; Par 3, 149 yds. It didn’t play this long because of a slight downhill slope and a front pin. I thinned a 9I, took two to get out and two putted. +9
    No. 9; Par 4, 368 yds. I hit a solid drive but a bit left, and again I had a tree in my way. Couldn’t get it over, but it still finished just short, in good position. I took a while to determine what I was gonna hit for my pitch shot but decided on my 54 degree. I had the right club, hitting it to three feet. A good stroke, but it slid past the right edge. +10
    No. 10; Par 5, 493 yds. Ugh. A messy hole. I lost my ball in the water off the tee, then dropped and hit my third to within 100 yards. I chunked another wedge and hit another chip within ten feet. Knowing it was almost a must-make, I missed the putt and settled for double. +12
    No. 11; Par 3, 189 yds. This is where my round got interesting. Playing over water, into the wind, I hit a solid 4H just short of the green and managed a solid up-and-down, sinking about a four-footer. +12
    No. 12; Par 4, 325 yds. A short hole and a good opportunity to get another par. I put myself in position A by hitting it down the left side, but chunked another 8I short. My bump-and-run chip came up short as well, and I needed to make a five-footer to save bogey. Barely missed it on the low side. +14
    No. 13; Par 4, 383 yds. A fairly straightforward but narrow hole. I decided on the 3W and hit a bit of push-fade, nearly into the trees. I did have a shot, and I hit it just short, in good position. I hit another good chip (chipping was pretty on-point today), but missed another makeable putt. +15
    No. 14; Par 4, 367 yds. Given that there was water pinching the fairway about 220 from the tee, I chose the driver. Bombed it and only had about 120 in. Tried to take a little off a PW because it was downwind, but I somehow airmailed it over the green. Yet another solid chip to about three feet, and I made the putt. +15
    No. 15; Par 3, 167 yds. Normally a 6I for me, but it was again downwind, so I felt confidently pulled 7I. I pured it, and it finished just on the back fringe, about fifteen feet out. Not wanting to do anything crazy with the downhill putt, I lagged it within two feet and happily took par. +15
    No. 16; Par 5, 501 yds. A weird hole, so I was just playing for position here. Pushed my tee ball slightly and had to punch out. Still, I was able to get within 130 laying two. Then the most disappointing shot of the round came. I flubbed it into the creek, not ten yards in front of me. I had to drop, and I was honestly lucky to save double bogey, having to make a ten-footer to save it. +17
    No. 17; Par 4, 364 yds. Another pushed drive that also faded, and I had to punch out again. My pitch shot caught a horrendous bounce, and I was still short of the green laying three. I failed at this up and down, again grazing the edge. Back to back doubles. +19
    No. 18; Par 4, 334 yds. Two holes to play, both reasonable scoring opportunities (finished on the par-5 first hole). I regrouped after the last two holes and nailed my tee shot, barely trickling into the rough. On the approach, I fixed my gaze on the flagstick and nothing else, and my shot was all over it, finishing just six feet out. I hit another solid putt, but it didn’t drop. Tapped in for par on probably my best hole of the day. +19
    No. 1; Par 5, 507 yards. My goal at the start of the day was to shoot 90 or better. That was by no means out of reach, needing birdie here for 90. My 5W tee shot finished just in the left rough, so I decided to lay up with a 7I. Middle of the fairway, 110 out, only grass between my ball and the pin. I hit a smooth PW slightly left, but I got a good kick off a mound and rolled onto the green, about 20 feet out. Wanting birdie now, I rolled my putt about four feet past, and then I missed that one and tapped in for bogey. +20
    So, the final score is a 92. Definitely could’ve been better, because I lost some strokes off the tee, but because my short game was solid, it could’ve also been worse. I parred a few tough holes (holes 4, 11 and 15 in particular) where I could’ve easily made a bogey or worse, so overall I wasn’t too disappointed. 
    My short game was solid in this match, with several chips within ten feet and a handful within five. As far as putting goes, I feel that it was just one of those days where my stroke felt good and I hit a lot of good putts, but nothing was dropping. A lot of them touched the lip of the cup too.
    My brother and one other teammate split this round in two, and my brother played the back nine. My first teammate was off the first tee, and she posted 58, which is a pretty solid number by her standards. Then my brother took over, and he shot 53 on the tougher back nine, making their total 111.
    As a team, we did okay, but nobody broke 80. We had an 80, an 83, a 92 (me) and a 93. But what’s weird is that it’s going to count as two separate nine-hole scores. This match will be scored one of two ways: either our eight nine-hole scores will be added together, or the four from the front and the four from the back will be added. Regardless, our four 18-hole totals make 348, equivalent to a 174 for nine holes. For us, that’s borderline. Definitely not good, but not exactly horrible.
    One team we were playing against on Thursday is in our conference, and to be honest, they shouldn’t have showed up to play. One of their four players had to drop out, meaning they came to the match with only three players. You need four to post a score. What that means for them is that for two of their eight nine hole scores, they need to take the maximum of triple bogey on every hole. Twenty-seven over par. They need to take two 63s as nine hole scores, meaning they are now 30 strokes behind us after coming into the match ten strokes up. Because we only have 18 holes to play before regionals, their chances of catching up to us are slim and none.
    As of right now, I believe we are still in second place, but the team ahead of us (not the same team that we played against last Thursday) won’t play their third match until tomorrow, so that could change. We only have 18 holes to play before regionals, and the good news is that we’re going back to our home course, and we’re playing the easier front nine twice. But there’s a kicker.
    If five or less teams show up to play next Tuesday, only one team will advance to regionals. If six teams or more play, two will advance. There is one team that is unsure of whether or not they will play in the last match. If they show up, six teams will play and two will advance. If they don’t, five will play and only one will advance. We are pretty much assured of second place now, but we need to play well if we’re going to finish first.
    Because it’s our home course, we will take this week in practice to figure out exactly how we want the course to be playing, setting it up to our advantage. I will report back here at the end of this week (not near as long a post as this one was!) and give some more details!
  22. dagolfer18
    There is honestly a lot to say about our match today. As you’ll see later, we made a really good run today! Now to the round.
    I hit range balls beforehand, and from my very first shot (a striped 8I), I could tell today was going to be a good day. Good shot after good shot on the range, and I was building confidence with each one. After putting for about 20 minutes, and hitting some really good putts, I was ready. I’ll do a hole by hole analysis. Yardages from the tees we played, but the fourth hole, a 478-yard par 5, was played from the red tees, and we made it a 345-yard par 4. Here we go!
    No. 1; Par 4, 365 yards. After hitting some draws with hybrids on the range, I pulled the 5H and played the draw. Played it perfectly, and I got some great roll, finishing a few paces from the 100-yard marker. I hit a nice gap wedge that landed on the green and stopped about 20 feet out. Two putted for par. E
    No. 2; Par 4, 337 yards. Despite being a driver hole, I decided on a 3 wood for my tee shot. Heeled it a bit, and I was only able to get about 190 out of it. I hit an 8I for my approach, and it finished just short of the green. After I gave my chip a bit too much gas, 15 feet long, I two putted for bogey. +1
    No. 3; Par 3, 140 yards. Wind in our face, so I tried about an 85% 8I. As soon as I hit the ball, the wind died. But I hit it well, and it landed on the back of the green and rolled off. I hit a bump-and-run 6I back up the slope and about ten feet past. Another two putt. +2
    No. 4; Par 4, 345 yards. This was the narrowest tee shot on the course, and I chose a 5 wood for my tee shot. Down the middle, leaving me with about 170 in for my second shot. I hit a really nice 6I that finished pin-high, 12 feet right of the hole. Then I made a solid two-putt par. +2
    No. 5; Par 4, 377 yards. Never a driver hole for me, I decided on a 3 wood. Well struck, but a bit left and I didn’t really have a shot to the green. So I hit a chippy 6I that stopped about 85 yards out. Green light distance for me. With the coach watching, I hit my best shot of the day, a 54 degree with a ton of spin, and it landed on the front of the green and bit hard two feet from the hole. Easy cleanup for what is easily one of my top-five par saves. +2
    No. 6; Par 4, 303 yards. Fueled by momentum, I pounded my drive down the left center of the fairway, the perfect angle from which to approach. With wind in my face, I took a little off a PW and hit another very solid shot, about 15 feet long. A tough downhill putt, but I two-putted for my third straight par with minimal trouble. +2
    No. 7; Par 3, 150 yards. With a back pin, I decided on another 8I for this one. Another well struck shot, but a slight miss to the left, and it didn’t come back. It hit the slope left of the green and kicked hard until it finished near some roots a good seven feet below the level of the green. I did well to keep my shot on the putting surface, and another two putt later I had my bogey. +3
    No. 8; Par 4, 318 yards. With about 170 yards to the stake in the middle of the fairway, I chose a 6I. It drew again, and I got another very friendly bounce. I was less than 100 yards out. I hit another slightly heavy shot that finished in the bunker, but thank my luck that we were playing them as ground under repair. After the drop, I had a shortsided chip, which now had to go over the bunker. I hit a nippy little 54 degree that landed on the front and trickled to about four feet. Barely missed that one, tapped in for a five. +4
    No. 9; Par 5, 444 yards. It was at this point I realized I was only four over. I was in such a zone that I was able to block out all distractions, and unlike many other times, this did little to change that. I pounded my tee shot, nearly taking the tree on the left completely out of play. I was thinking about going for it, but eventually chose to lay up with an 8I. Still sort of unsure about whether that was the best play, I chunked it.
    I still only had about 110 in, but with nerves slowly taking over, I thinned my PW third shot over the green and into some pine straw. My ball was also resting against some pine cones, but I didn’t move them for fear that my ball would move as well. I managed to hit another really solid chip shot that finished about five feet out. Now very aware that I had that par putt for a 39, I rolled it in. +4
    Final score was a four-over 39, and despite having a few lower nines (a two over 38 and a few 39s that were three over), I considered this one the finest nine hole round I’ve ever played, having made nothing over a bogey and with crucial saves on the fifth and ninth holes.
    Our team effort was also outstanding, one of the best, if not the best, we’ve ever had. In addition to my 39, we had a 38 from our no. 1 player, another 39 from the no. 2 player, and a 41 from our no. 3 player, making for a total of 157. Good news for us was that the team we needed to gain ground on shot a total 190, with two 46s as their low scores. A 33-stroke swing that we desperately needed.
    The day before, the coach predicted that we needed 156 to catch the leaders. He was very close. As far as we know, we’ve shot from fourth place and absolutely nowhere to second place, only four strokes behind. 153 would've done the job. With two 18-hole matches to play, we’re right back in the game.
    We also got word that as of today, only one team is going to regionals, but we’re not worried about that now. Momentum is with us, and we’re looking to ride it all 18 holes on Thursday!
  23. dagolfer18
    We’ve got a big week ahead of us. I believe there are only three matchesT left this season (two 18-hole matches), and two of them are this week. We’ve got a home match on Tuesday, and an 18-hole away match at Kerr Lake on Thursday. 
    As I said in my last entry, the top two teams go to regionals. We are now 4th in the standings (by how much, no idea), so we’ve got some work to do. Our plan for this week until Thursday:
    Weekend: Hit some balls into my net at home. Haven’t been able to get to the course at all this past week because unfortunately, my youngest brother tested positive and we’re in our last day of quarantine (I’ve been tested twice, and thankfully both came back negative).
    Monday: Team practice. May do some extra range work after official practice is over to prep for Tuesday.
    Tuesday: Match day! Home course at Umstead Pines, so I’ve gotta put up a good score. I would definitely like to shoot around 40, but I’m gonna need at least a 42 or 43 to help the team.
    Wednesday: Since official team practices are only Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, what we do is up to us. Depending on what happens in the match Tuesday, I may try to get some range work in. If I play well, I’ll take Wednesday off or maybe do some stuff at home.
    Thursday: First 18-hole match of the season. This one’s at a completely unfamiliar track, so I’ll probably look it over on Google Maps or something to get a feel for it. But I need another good round to gain ground on all conference, but more importantly, our team standings.
    If we don’t gain any ground this week and at least move up to third place, our chances are basically done unless we go lights out at the Conference Championship on the 20th, also at our home course. I’ll report back on Tuesday night with results!
  24. dagolfer18
    The first match was yesterday, and we all felt good about our games. So we pulled up to The Preserve at Jordan Lake with high hopes. After a good range session and a solid 15 minutes of putting, we began. It was shotgun start, and the seed you played determined the hole you started on. Because I played No. 4 on our team, I’d start on the fourth hole. We played the white tees, scorecard below:

    Actually a pretty solid start, although I did three-putt the fourth green. After a par on the next, I missed a short par putt on the sixth after a good chip. The seventh was a fun hole. An ultra short par 4, you could try and drive the green if you wanted to (probably a 250 carry from the whites) but you had to hit it perfect and carry it all the way. If you chose to lay up, as most people should, a solid mid-long iron to the center of the fairway leaves a wedge over a creek.
    Nobody in my foursome tried that, and we all hit solid irons (I chose a 7) to varying points in the fairway. I had just over 100 yards in, so I chose a wedge. But, as I’ve been doing lately, I chunked it . So badly, in fact, that it stayed in play. Knocked a wedge over the green from there, duffed a chip and had to make a long putt to save six.
    The eighth was another interesting hole. You can see it’s a long par 4 for pretty much everyone. I didn’t quite get all of my driver and had almost exactly 200 in. Chunked that, and then hit another poor wedge that led to the six you see on the card. Two ho-hum bogeys later, I stepped up to another longish par 4, the second hole. Trying to muscle up on it a bit, I pulled it left and lost the ball. I made a five with my second ball.
    On our last hole, the third, the tees were up, and it played around 130 instead of the 168 it says on the card. I hit 9I and jit it right at the pin. But I caught it slightly a on the heel, and it came up about two feet short and rolled down a little slope. Still no problem getting up and down I thought. Trying to putt it, the ball hit something that was apparently right in front of my ball and it bounced a bit but still finished on the green, about 15 feet out. As you can see, I two putted from there.
    I didn’t note the total, but that adds up to 48. I thought my chances of All Conference were shot. But when we got back to the clubhouse and I saw the other scores, I realized that this course played pretty difficult for everyone. In fact, only two people broke 40, the medalist coming in at 36. Both players who broke 40 were on the same team, and they had a 168 total. Second place ended up with 175. We were third, coming in at 180. We had a 40, a 44 and two 48s. Definitely not our best work.
    That night, we got an announcement that two teams would go to regionals. Given that we’re only five strokes behind second place, we still have a pretty solid chance (five strokes isn’t that difficult to make up, with four out of the team’s five scores being posted). 
    I believe that I still have a shot at All Conference, needing to place in the top 12, but I can’t have any more 48s. Everyone gets to throw out one of their nine hole scores, and the rest are totaled to determine the top twelve. 
    I also received some more good news from the coach: that the course we played yesterday would be the toughest we’ll play this season, with the exception of regionals, which is always played on a difficult course, and from a longer yardage (normal matches are usually between 2800 and 3100 for nine holes, between 5700 and 6100 for eighteen, and regionals are around 6400-6500). 
    Overall, I believe wedged killed me the most, costing two strokes at least. I was pretty good with irons and off the tee, having only missed one fairway out of seven. I putted pretty well with the exception of one hole, so it could’ve been worse. Looking forward to the next match! 
  25. dagolfer18
    Alright y’all! The 2021 golf season has already begun, but the first match is on Tuesday. Here’s how it works this year:
    •There are six teams in our conference, and either one or two teams will advance to regionals. That much is still unclear.
    •Last year, six players from each team played in matches. This year, only five are playing. I’m playing the 4th seed in our team. My brother unfortunately did not make the starting lineup. It was close, but he missed.
    •I still don’t know how many conference matches there are, but I’m seeing only four on the schedule as of today. Three nine hole matches, two eighteen hole matches, plus the 18-hole Conference Championship. Our coach says he’s gonna try to work in one or two more matches.
    •At the end of the season, the top twelve players in scoring average will make All Conference. This is what I want so badly, and based off the current schedule, I’ve only got 63 holes to decide that. I just need a good start come Tuesday.
    I’m looking forward to what could be my last shot at going to regionals (all our good players this year are seniors). I’m planning on a brief post in What’d You Shoot Today, and then going more in-depth here. I’ll also do a post here at the end of each week. Looking forward to the season! 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...