The Golf Thread

[falafel]

40+39=79

Yesterday's round was bittersweet. I'm very happy to break 80, but that is tempered by the fact that this course was pretty dang easy by Vegas standards. Only 6300 yards, so I was hitting lots of 8, 9, and PW into greens, and even the occasional sand wedge.

My irons, wedges, and putter were all solid--only a single 3-putt on the day, and that came from 60 feet away on a severely undulating green. I chipped in twice on the day, which was amazing. On the first chip in, I came up short on a par three. I played the chip perfectly, reading the right-to-left slope of the green and pinching the chip with a downward strike. It landed short and right, but with backspin. When it bit, it pulled left down the slope and trickled into the right edge of the cup. It was beautiful.

The second was on the 18th. I missed the fairway and found a fairway bunker (a common theme on the day) forcing me to lay up short of the water in front of the green. My third came up short, leaving me with a fairly nasty lie in the rough. I opened up the face on my 60 and struck down pretty firmly, popping the ball up. It rammed into the pin and dropped into the cup to save par and break 80. Not nearly as pretty as the first chip in, but just as effective.

Putting was also great, as I dropped in several 10-12 footers, and just missed on 3-4 others.

My frustration with the round comes from my driving. Lots of looping banana slices in the 220-230 range, and a handful of fairway bunkers and chip outs to show for it. 3-4 years ago I was consistently hitting the ball 260-270 with sort of a power fade flight. That has disappeared, and been replaced with mega slices over the last year. It's driving me nuts. If I could have hit the ball 250 and in the fairway yesterday, I would have had a legitimate shot at even par. As it was, I didn't reach a single par 5 in two, despite the fact that none of them were longer than 500.

I have a top of the line driver, and 10-year old knockoff irons. Yet I can't hit my driver and I stripe my irons. I keep wanting to buy new irons, but I'm not sure I can justify that until I have a driver I can keep in play. The silver lining is that twice yesterday I found my old drive. One of them went nearly 300, even though it missed the fairway by 10 yards. I hadn't hit that shot in my last 10 rounds. So it's in there. I just need to figure out how to get it out more frequently.

Where did you play?

[Art Vandelay]

Sounds like a great round, DH. Congrats.

[Donuthole]

Where did you play?

Rhodes Ranch. The course was in pretty nice shape, excepting about 4 holes which were cart path only.

[Art Vandelay]

Rhodes Ranch. The course was in pretty nice shape, excepting about 4 holes which were cart path only.

Don't most nice courses usually have 4 holes that are cart path only (almost always two on the front and two on the back)?

[Donuthole]

Don't most nice courses usually have 4 holes that are cart path only (almost always two on the front and two on the back)?

Hey, smart ass, these were 4 cart path only holes in a row on the back nine. I'm guessing the restriction was out of necessity, as there was a whole lot of mud in the fairway on those holes. Fortunately, hitting the fairway wasn't something I had to worry about too much.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I played my first of three rounds this week (more than I've played in the past three months), this one at the Mountain Dell Canyon course. Strangely, I drove as well today as I have in years, missing only one fairway. And the altitude helped a lot, as I was routinely at 250 or more--I hit maybe 230 at sea level (hey, I'm 60!). Unfortunately, my ordinarily reliable sand wedge, which I use from 100 yards in, even when one might opt to pitch and run), went AWOL and I had the short game confidence of a BYU placekicker. Shot a 46-43 and I was satisfied.

BTW, I played with my excellent friend who's currently in the West Africa Area Presidency. During the round we ran into two other GA's (Bednar was a no show). They all get Monday off so apparently they use the time to sharpen their skills.

[clackamascoug]

As an internet missionary, I was required to watch conference this past Saturday, so I missed my normal Saturday game. So with great anticipation I called up this am to claim my spot in Monday's Men's Club. (The big club day's are Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun) I was told the course was closed for plugging and sanding. Drats... What to do tomorrow?

[falafel]

Rhodes Ranch. The course was in pretty nice shape, excepting about 4 holes which were cart path only.

Is the overseeding complete there? Last time I was there the course was in horrible shape.

[Donuthole]

It was in good shape but for those 4 holes. The greens were all in excellent condition.

[clackamascoug]

Golf Report Wednesday, October 10, 2012

40+38=78

1 Birdie, 10 pars, 7 bogies. (4 three putts on sanded greens.)

Can you see it... No doubles or triples. I've been trying to cut down on the hero shots and just be happy with a bogey if at all possible. It really paid off today. The greens and fairways were plugged and sanded, so putting was awful, but we did get to lift and clean so that is probably one of the reasons for the better score.

Round three on the new G20's - I haven't been this excited since my senior prom. It's crazy how good the shots are. I had several putts for birdie, but only made the one, but the shots were coming down all over the pin. The 7 and 8 are like money. On one hole I was in jail with my drive, punched out to 130, and smacked a 9 iron to 2 feet. Tap in par. The vertical spin off the face is exactly what I need.

I played so well.... I'm gonna have to go tomorrow as well.

[Donuthole]

40+39=79

40+38=78

One upper. Nice round!

[clackamascoug]

One upper. Nice round!

The pressure's on now... can we back up our 70's rounds with another. Coming off the 10th hole I said to my playing partner that I felt as though I could shoot a 35 on the back. I was on fire, and felt I could go really low.... but those plugged and sanded greens made putting difficult.

I tell ya... I'm really stoked to play tomorrow.

[clackamascoug]

Golf Report Thursday Oct 11, 2012

41+36=77

3 Birdies, 11 pars, 1 bogey, 2 doubles, 1 triple

This was the best / strangest round of the year. I picked up where I left off yesterday, until I tripled the 4th hole. I was devastated. I held it together on the front and finished with a 41. The three birdies were on the back, and to top it off, I missed a 3 foot birdie, and lipped a 10 foot birdie on 18. The irons were spot on, and I'm really happy that I bought them so late in the season. This was my best round tee to green all season, as I was driving well, stuffing the irons, and two putting, or 1 putting in the case of the birdies. Sure there were the bad moments, but overall, I was really feeling it.

Shot of the Day: Playing partner Ron had a hole-in-one on the 152 yard par 3 17th. He didn't have hole in one insurance, and he had to buy drinks for 24 people.

The weather report calls for rain tomorrow, all the way to next July. I may be done golfing for the season. What a way to end! It was fun.

[clackamascoug]

Here's a list of mental reminders, of things I've been doing right now, that have helped me play better as of late. This is for review later.

Driving - I'm choking down on the grip, and not swinging very hard. I've noticed that by choking down, that the club stays in a better position, and by not swinging too hard, I'm very consistent with a draw. On 5 and 18 I've learned a little trick that has been paying off very nicely. (5 and 18 are big doglegs left) Aim way right, and hit it as hard as you can. Your "missed" shot is the snap hook, but on those two holes the snap is to your benefit and the ball goes huge right to left, and you've been set up nicely. On 5 don't try to cut the corner, the snap hook is the better play. Feel free to just swing through the ball.

Irons. - You've been taking the club too much inside on the takeaway. You've started to take the club back on the same line as the pin. Pin-Ball-Take away all lined up. This swing thought has payed off big time. With your new irons and the vertical spin, you're aim for and hitting the flags. The U wedge is money from 80-70-60 in. Just a little flip and your always on line and around the pin. It's even backed up for you a few times. Again, if your hitting it right, you're taking the ball back too much inside.

The 5 iron as a rescue club has been really great for you when you need to go low and punch it out. I think letting go and punching it out has been the best thing you've done this year. With the mind set of getting up and down from 120 out, as a 50/50 possibility, has saved you from getting doubles and triples. On your best rounds, you had good success with keeping the bleeding to a minimum. In a round there are 3 or 4 shots that you regret. This year you've done less because you punched it out and saved strokes in the long run.

3-5-7 woods. - This summer you've gotten away from the 3 wood off the turf. Too many toppers. 5 wood is OK.. but it has a tendency to draw, and won't draw when your counting on it. 7 wood with driver shaft is still money. This off season, ditch your 3 and 5, and build a new five with the same head as the 7.

Putting - I'd say that putting is your biggest problem, but was better this year than last. The claw grip worked early in the year, but in the end you just stuck in your belly and putted well by putting the line. If you miss a putt you have a tendency to miss on the right, so maybe next year don't play as much break. Lately you've been aiming at the hole and making sure it gets there. The rash of recent birdies is because you're making those 15 footers and less.

Balls - You played all season with PRO V1x and were happy. Then you found a Callaway Diablo Tour and shot a 78 and 77 consecutively. You had more distance and the ball didn't check up as much, and as you are usually below the hole on an approach shot the run up was nice. Also, the tougher ball lasts a couple of rounds, so you know... looks good longer.

[Drunk Tank]

Here's a list of mental reminders, of things I've been doing right now, that have helped me play better as of late. This is for review later.

Driving - I'm choking down on the grip, and not swinging very hard. I've noticed that by choking down, that the club stays in a better position, and by not swinging too hard, I'm very consistent with a draw. On 5 and 18 I've learned a little trick that has been paying off very nicely. (5 and 18 are big doglegs left) Aim way right, and hit it as hard as you can. Your "missed" shot is the snap hook, but on those two holes the snap is to your benefit and the ball goes huge right to left, and you've been set up nicely. On 5 don't try to cut the corner, the snap hook is the better play. Feel free to just swing through the ball.

Irons. - You've been taking the club too much inside on the takeaway. You've started to take the club back on the same line as the pin. Pin-Ball-Take away all lined up. This swing thought has payed off big time. With your new irons and the vertical spin, you're aim for and hitting the flags. The U wedge is money from 80-70-60 in. Just a little flip and your always on line and around the pin. It's even backed up for you a few times. Again, if your hitting it right, you're taking the ball back too much inside.

The 5 iron as a rescue club has been really great for you when you need to go low and punch it out. I think letting go and punching it out has been the best thing you've done this year. With the mind set of getting up and down from 120 out, as a 50/50 possibility, has saved you from getting doubles and triples. On your best rounds, you had good success with keeping the bleeding to a minimum. In a round there are 3 or 4 shots that you regret. This year you've done less because you punched it out and saved strokes in the long run.

3-5-7 woods. - This summer you've gotten away from the 3 wood off the turf. Too many toppers. 5 wood is OK.. but it has a tendency to draw, and won't draw when your counting on it. 7 wood with driver shaft is still money. This off season, ditch your 3 and 5, and build a new five with the same head as the 7.

Putting - I'd say that putting is your biggest problem, but was better this year than last. The claw grip worked early in the year, but in the end you just stuck in your belly and putted well by putting the line. If you miss a putt you have a tendency to miss on the right, so maybe next year don't play as much break. Lately you've been aiming at the hole and making sure it gets there. The rash of recent birdies is because you're making those 15 footers and less.

Balls - You played all season with PRO V1x and where happy. Then you found a Callaway Diablo Tour and shot a 78 and 77 consecutively. You had more distance and the ball didn't check up as much, and as you are usually below the hole on an approach shot the run up was nice. Also, the tougher ball lasts a couple of rounds, so you know... looks good longer.

Is this a 50 First Dates kinda thing? Wouldnt a video in your vcr be easier? Every morning you could wake up to a note saying "push play."