sp0rtsfan86

Played 3rd 9 of 2021 and mirrored a lot of my rounds so far. Couldn't hit the driver on a few holes and had to scramble. Had a 3 putt while mulling over a swing change and not devoting attention to the 4 foot comeback. Parred the next hole. Then took an ugly ugly ESC 8 by nearly hitting an iron lay up in the water, chipping it out, thinning a short iron into a bunker and taking 2 to get out of the sand. Of course that was the 9th hole and was on pace to end with a 45 with a par... instead ended with a 48. Bah.

Walked into work and checked the forecast. Welp. Looks like a wet week and with temps in the 50s during the day, it will be so sopping wet I don't know how playable things will be after Thursday. May take until next week until it's fully dry again.

Weekend looks to be dry and warmer with highs in the 60s into next week. Problem is just got a half inch to inch of rain today so it's going to take 2-3 days to dry everything out and make it playable again.

Had a nice day yesterday before we got socked with rain today. Carded a 46 from the blues which is within a few strokes of being average but still subpar Problem was I lost track of the wind on #9 and hit an iron directly into it with a draw... that took it straight into water left. On par 3 I blew two chips and made a 7 footer to save triple. Also missed a 5 footer for the first birdie of the year. On the other hand, those rounds last year would have been a disaster without any hope. Seems I at least kept myself in the game up until 9.

The weather broke the other day with highs in the 60s and it was pretty breezy although not windy. Ended up carding a 43 which was somewhat surprising. My short game left off where it was all last year: a hot mess, but made up for it by driving the ball and placing irons. Putting was also rough but that wasn't a highlight last year and the greens are still coming in.

How are the courses in Yuma doing? Desert Hills greens still shag carpeting?

Two guys at the course did this last year. May do the par challenge and upgrade to birdie if I find it easy. already played 9 but not worried about the 3 pars mostly because I forget which holes I made the putts on.

Forgot what course it was but there was one that gave out free apples which was awesome as a mid round snack. It always struck me as a nice touch. I also loved courses that had free water bottles in a cooler when you're away from the clubhouse. I'll take that over anything in a hot climate. TPC sawgrass gave out tags with the logo on them when you played there. I can't recall anything that has stood out other than the apples.

I 7 putted from 30ish feet during my first tournament a dozen years ago. Think I had a 5 putt last year because my putting was so far off. I've seen that or the guy who goes to tap it in and smashes it through the hole from 6 inches. Had a guy do that and then miss the comebacker for a Quad. Last tournament a guy scraped his putt out of habit. Fun having to tell him he needs to putt out and take a few stroke penalty.

Just broke 60 last few days. After having a foot of snow on the ground two weeks ago, we had a near perfect melt (slow but steady). The course I belong to opens today and I plan on going today. Probably won't play for another week/week and a half, but it's good to be able to again.

As someone who lived in Arizona for the better part of 3 years. Hydration hydration hydration. Especially if the water is cold, it can be a life saver. My record was 5 water bottles on the course and a 6th in the car. Played twice after my 35. Had to find out if it was the barefeet that made the difference from that under par round. I played another 9 barefoot at our sister course Thursday and started bogey bogey. After that, I was even coming in. Other than a ball in the water on an island green and a follow up birdie after driving the green on a par 4, they were almost all tap in pars. Played up a tee box from the usual blues at my home course and started with 45 on the front . Rallied on the back for a 40 to break 90 for the first time this year. The 85 is more than a good score, it's more a reflection of how far I've come over last 2-3 months I'd say up until last year I was flipping my wrists and relying on great timing which lead to a lot of great rounds and a lot of really poor rounds. After a lesson plus an informal lesson this summer, my game is now more consistent then ever and think I have a legit chance of breaking 80 in the near future.

After the tournament took an entire week off after feeling burnt out on golf. Somehow it's made my game even better despite.. well ...find out below. Monday showed up to league night against the nemesis team. They've beaten us twice and it's been death-match when it comes to gimmies. My partner had a rough round but I pulled together my best 9 ever. Shot 35, although probably would have shot 38 or so with the amount of putts given. I hit a 15 foot birdie putt and then next hole went driver 5 iron chip for an eagle 3. Shot of the day was probably the last hole, 192 yards with water left. Hit a choked down 8 iron to 30 foot and gave myself a look at birdie, but settled for par. That shot was fun because I told my teammate watch me hit this 8 iron nearly 200 yards. Oh about that weird part: I did this all barefoot. I have a pair of footbeds I move from shoe to shoe, I put those in the car but forgot any shoes. Decided to go barefoot and had a great round. Brings me to yesterday: Why not try it again. Played 9 holes barefoot and shot a 38 after a bogey bogey start. Highlight was driving the green 290 ish yards and nearly holing the eagle putt. Tapped in for a par. Don't think I'll always go barefoot, but can't say it's hurt my game.

It's been about a month but the trend line for this year continues. This week it was 46 in league after dumping 2 into the water on the 3rd hole. I ended up taking a 9 which effectively took me out of the match as my opponent decided it was his day to shoot 5 under his handicap Sunday wrapped up the club championship tournament. Day one was a disaster with a 9 on the same hole, a 50 total on the front followed by a 49 on the back. . Day two I was striking the ball a lot more consistent, but my putting decided not to show up. Ended up with a 91 including a rash of 3 putts and even a 4 putt. Two days before the tournament I shot a 39 back nine Basically, my season has been two weeks of progress followed by failure then a fluke round followed by more failure. Repeat. Speaking of fluke: Did I mention I double hit a chip perfectly into a hole for a skin? Most random shot I can recall in a long time.

I think I've finally turned the corner and playing to my full ability. Played league last night and shot 40 on the back which up until last week 45 was my best score. I missed 2 putts of 8-12 feet but made a bomb of one from 35 feet that broke 6 foot right. My irons are crisp, the drives are straight enough that I have confidence and my wedges are finally coming together. The last two rounds before that were all in the low 40s on the front which is normal. Now I'm even playing better on the back 9 which is the big challenge. Last year around this time I started to play better and better but I haven't played as much. Here's to seeing how low I can go.

Well interesting set of 9 hole rounds the past few days. Played the back and the front 9s over the past week. The back 9 was in league night and went to the range. Fired off a couple of shots and found a swing that worked tentatively. I ended up being able to fire irons but drives were all over which was great for about half of the holes. I carded a 45 but should have been better had I not taken a triple on the last hole. I also double the second to last hole after nearly dumping a tee shot in the water. Got a quick lesson based off the video from a guy at work who used to be an assistant pro. Ironically I had been trying to force my weight forward early in the swing which wsa why I was struggling. Needless to say I starting bombing drives, but then the short game decided to go. Carded a terrible 45 on the front as I finished double triple double. Playing at least once if not twice this weekend so curious to see if I continue driving the ball well and if I can get my chipping and putting game going.

Tonight is league play so hoping for different results on the back 9 then the last few times I've played this side. But last round I played was interesting: opened with double, bogey, triple, double. Then went bogey par bogey par par finish on the front. Good enough for a 46 and a heck of a rally. The back 9 was cartoonish levels of bad. Ended up with a 53 for a 99. My drives went all over the place including one in a bunker and two in the water. Hit an iron OOB and one into a creek. Just a complete disaster. My guess is my energy levels lagged and I ran out of steam. Not sure, but more range time for sure today.

Well this June/July has been interesting. Going back 2 weeks I've had a 39 on the front. Since then it's been 54 on the back, 50 on the back, 99 total including a 48 on the front. Needless to say going into league play last night I was not exactly optimistic. Got some time on the range and after duff after duff videod myself and saw the problem. I had been so worried about pulling to the inside that I was basically killing lunch coming over the top. Didn't get enough time/balls to iron out everything but I was at least not snap hooking. As for the round. +4 40 with one 3 putt and a double after driving my ball within 60 yards of the green. Had a few up and downs early and a few pars via GIR's. I guess videoing myself really helped get my swing in order.

I think I've shot 1-2 over on 9 before. That's about the best I can do. I've had 2-3 rounds where I've had 3 birdies and 3-4 others. Those rounds are frustrating where you play really well on some holes and play like a turd on others.

I've had the most erratic week of golf I think ever. Last Monday went out and shot 39 and played lights out. Played Thursday and shot over 50 on the back. Figured it was hot and I was physically shot from working out. Then yesterday went out and shot 49 with probably 25 feet of putts given to me. I'm not sure how you go from hitting 280 yard drives to not being able to do anything but hit low hooks everywhere but I've done it. I can't figure out why I'm pulling across my body on the follow through but it's messing with my game.

Playing into a club and a half wind slightly up hill on a very wide but little depth par 3. Hit a pitching wedge just about dead on the line to the pin, but had a ton of side spin. Ended up 12-15 feet away and drained the putt for a birdie. It was a perfect shot especially since everyone else missed the green or in my partners case was a mile away and barely on.

I made a Piwo Grodziskie (Gro-Jee Ski Uh for those wondering how to say it.) It's like a blue moon or wheat beer with a slight smoky flavor at the end. It's going to become a favorite over the summer months.

Worked on shifting my weight onto the balls of my feet as I get into the longer clubs. I realized that I was so far on my heels that I was pulling around and hooking everything. After 30-40 mins on the range I started to slam my driver maybe not laser straight, but enough that it's playable and close enough to the fairway.

Played a few rounds the last week. Compeltely opposite rounds. Shot 49 Sunday morning and had to walk off the course. Every drive was being hookedleft and I could barely hit the ball 225 yards. Even my irons were going hard left but more of a pull rather than hook. I went to the range before men's league to try to figure out why. Took me about 45 minutes but realized I had all the weight on my heels. Great for my wedges (which had been a problem early in the year), but awful for anything bigger than a half wedge. The next round I shot 38 including two birdies and 4 pars. Only real blemish was a double bogey on hole 1 (we started on 4). That hole I toed a 5 iron into the bunker and tried to carry the creek but hit dead into it. It was one of those rounds where everything was on fire: the driver was long and generally straight, my irons were close enough to get up and down or were on the green and the putter put in a shift. I can't wait to play again just to see which side of me comes out. Hopefully this is the beginning of some really good golf.

Manage to play twice over last week. Played early Sunday morning and shot 45-50. Started double triple double followed by 4 holes of even par followed by a double bogey. Back 9 was rough with a few really bad holes including dunking the ball on the par 5. Played the back 9 in mens league and shot 3 strokes better although I could have easily been 4-5. Blew up on the par 5 again this time near the green. I had 5 shots within 30 yards of the green including blading a pitch, hitting the resulting chip way short and getting stuck on the fringe, hitting the lag 6 foot long and then burning an edge. On the last hole I needed two to hit my average for an extra point, so went for a high risk chip and blew it past the hole. Ended up with a 5 although any other time I would have played it a lot more safe and tapped in for a 4 or had a few foot for the 3. I didn't have much of a swing that day, which is encouraging that I could play better while still not feeling like my game is up to par.

Cristobal will hopefully bring us some rain. course is playing very dry right now which means tacking on another 10-20 yards every hole. After that should be relatively dry but also cooler with highs in the 70 through the weekend.