SEASON 2 - WEEK 33 MYGOLFSPY FORUM MEMBER WEEKLY VIRTUAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR (VCT)

[GolfSpy_BEN]

 

     

SEASON 2 - WEEK 33

VIRTUAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR

IS NOW OPEN FOR SCORING!!!

Photo courtesy of @MC3157 - From Week 32

[Siamese Moose]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Indian Ridge
Gross Score	79
Course Handicap	6
Gross Strokes over/under par	7
Net Score to Par	1
Net Score	73
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	262

First score posted this week! It pays to get out of bed.

Started poorly (I was cold, waited out a frost delay), with five straights 5s (5 over), but then birdied three out of the next four, and almost went four for four, just underread a 7 footer. Considering the start I made, finishing +7 for a net +1 for my first round in almost two weeks, I'm happy!

[Randall Robbins]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Bent Creek GC
Gross Score	71
Course Handicap	5
Gross Strokes over/under par	0
Net Score to Par	-5
Net Score	66
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	235

Gray, misty day, mid 60s here.  Short game was the saver with putting, chipping, and sand wedge play all working great.

[Cfhandyman]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Dragon’s Fire
Gross Score	75
Course Handicap	5
Gross Strokes over/under par	3
Net Score to Par	-2
Net Score	70
Net Birdies or better	2
Longest Drive	223

Beautiful, sunny but cool day. Loving that I can still play outdoors, but probably not much longer. Played well with 2 birdies. 

[Billy Bob]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Olympic View, Victoria, BC
Gross Score	72
Course Handicap	0
Gross Strokes over/under par	0
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	0
Longest Drive	245

Coolish, sunny day, high around 50. Course wet from recent rains. Greens were also slow at about 8.5 vs 10.4 standard.  Lots of boring pars and some birdie chances left short.

https://www.olympicviewgolf.com/

[Paco Chan]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Forest City Golf Resort - Legacy Course
Gross Score	86
Course Handicap	14
Gross Strokes over/under par	14
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	254

Drove up to Malaysia to get a round in at Forest City Golf Resort today. Was really looking forward to the round, because I just received my new custom-fitted wedges (PW, GW, SW, LW) and wanted to start getting familiar with them.

The big stick was very well-behaved, which was quite surprising, and I hit 11 of 14 fairways. Wedges were generally on fire (I felt comfortable enough to fire at every single pin position today), and I had legit birdie looks on 4 holes today (only managed to convert 1 though). There are 3 strokes that I genuinely wasted on the green today, so today could have been even lower.

But I'm very happy overall - driver was putting me in play on every hole (except one) and I just couldn't convert, so I'll blame the process of getting used to new clubs.

Looking forward to the next round!

[GolfSpy SAM]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Spanish Hills Club
Gross Score	83
Course Handicap	7
Gross Strokes over/under par	12
Net Score to Par	5
Net Score	76
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	295

Oh man - talk about an unbelievably good day for golf.  Mid-70s, on a private country club in the hills of Camarillo, CA - absolutely stunning day.  

Played in a shotgun-start 'open' event, sponsored by a local Facebook golfing group I'm a part of, so got the chance to play a bit of a bucket-list course I've heard great things about.  Rumor has it that Travis Mathew (either the company or the man himself) is one of the owners - who knows? 

What I can say is that playing from the white tees was a GREAT choice for a course we'd never played before - I got to pair up with the forum's own @Syks7 (man can that guy roll the rock) - and we played with two other awesome guys (one of whom rolled in four birdies - super impressive).  The white tees made the course MUCH more accessible and straight-up fun.  It's situated up in the hills, so a ton of the holes have these INSANE views of the surrounding valley.  Truly beautiful. Add in the natural birdie (net eagle) on our final hole of the day (Hole #2 in reality), and it was a perfect ending to an awesome day.

I played OK - better than anticipated, and after having had a few weeks off, a pleasant surprise all things considered.  Putted ok - certainly better than my last (NINE three-putts, lol) - misread a bunch of putts, but that's not a huge shock considering it's a first-time play of the course.  Greens were lightning, but true, which made for a really great experience. 

Attached are some shots from the day!

(View from the practice range.  Absurdly pretty.)

 

Getting the work in (or checking your phone - however you get ready for a round - I don't judge (too harshly) )

 

Getting ready to tee off on 1

(The green is just right of the two bunkers you see - about 50 yards below you.  Tempting to take driver and give it a whack, but everything runs away to the left, so best to hit 3-iron (driving iron for me) and give yourself 100 yards in. Crazy cool first hole.)

(3rd fairway (that's my drive about 90 yards out) - our first hole, uphill tee shot - managed to hit a good drive (not great, but ended up well positioned) and set myself up for an easy par.)

(One of our playing partners teeing off on the 4th - downhill par 3 with a hell of a view)

(View of the clubhouse from the 10th tee)

Another crazy elevated tee (our tee box was actually behind and above where I stopped to take this).  Managed to mash a drive (into a nasty headwind) between the two sets of bunkers - settled for another par)

(Syks7 in a tough spot - lots of carry with a steep lip - got out, which was all that mattered )

(Legit one of the most beautiful par 5's I've ever played.  Undulating, not terribly long, incredible views - really a pleasure to play.  Birdied this one.)

(17 green - blind uphill tee shot from behind the hill, then downhill to a green with a NASTY front pin placement)

View from the top of the 18 Fairway - tee box is all the way down the hill (where those three small trees are in a row).  Hit a gem of a tee shot to the top of the hill and couldn't believe the view when I got up here.  This is backwards, towards the tee box...

(And this was in front of us, the tee surrounded by rocks and a pond.  Just a stunning finishing hole. (Par here, too!))

Alright, that's all I've got for you  If you're ever given the chance, highly recommend checking this course out - a gem, and despite fast greens and some (in all honesty) cruel pin positions, a pretty getable course.  Especially from the whites

-GolfSpy SAM

 

 

[Golf2Much]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Key West Golf Club
Gross Score	83
Course Handicap	13
Gross Strokes over/under par	13
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	70
Net Birdies or better	3
Longest Drive	185

After six months or so, today I had my best iron striking day.  I had four greens in regulation, which is 2-3 times more than usual.  When I missed, it was long-left which got me in trouble twice with penalties (but they both were solid strikes).  My fairways in regulation was slightly misleading as when I missed, it was by only 2-3 feet off the fairway and on two holes, I preferred to be to the right in the rough versus in the fairway and blocked by a tree on my approach.  If I could have putted a bit better, it would have been a sub-80 round.  I hit the edges so many times, the group behind me had a larger cup to putt to!  For the most part, my speed was perfect as most first putts a foot or so beyond the cup.  Of my two putt greens, 10 were within 1 foot of the cup and 5 were within two foot.  

Overall, I can hope that I figured something out on my iron play and though the total number of putts didn't really reflect how well I putted, I was happy with today's round. 

It looks like the Florida Keys will be getting 2 plus inches of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, so Thursday may be a wash out.  Keeping my fingers crossed for a dryer end of the week so I can get another round in on Saturday!

[Syks7]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Spanish Hills Country Club
Gross Score	84
Course Handicap	9
Gross Strokes over/under par	13
Net Score to Par	4
Net Score	75
Net Birdies or better	5
Longest Drive	277

Decent day for a five week layoff.  Particularly at a course that was new to both @GolfSpy SAM and I.  The white tees definitely made it more fun as did the company.  We got paired with two great people. The only funny thing about the day is that I find the rating and slope from the white tees to be a bit suspect (68/123, with not a lot of flat lies, narrow fairways, tons of sand, lots of OB, water, super slick greens, etc.)  I'm curious if the other CC's in the area think the members are all sandbaggers.    84 from the white tees was a 14.7 differential!  It was a lot of fun though.  There's not enough target and placement golf courses in SoCal and it's nice to play something where you have to think your way around rather than just blasting away.  It was a great day.

[Play18]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Orchard Valley
Gross Score	73
Course Handicap	5
Gross Strokes over/under par	1
Net Score to Par	-4
Net Score	68
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	303

What a crazy round.  I played poorly in an event a month ago due to lack of practice, preparation, and indecisiveness, and missed the cut by 1.

I've played about 5x since the event and changed my approach. A 100% committed mindset to every shot.  What a huge difference!

I wasn't overthinking shots but played and managed the course without worrying about the score.  

[Josh Parker]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Lago Vista
Gross Score	77
Course Handicap	5
Gross Strokes over/under par	5
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	3
Longest Drive	285

I got 2 of the shafts in for the driver and put one in play today.  Had an ok day with the driver but the irons were slightly off and I was hitting fringe way to much today.  

Had 1 great hole that I striped my drive straight down the middle and left me 45 yards out and stuck it to a few feet.  

I need some range time with these different shafts to iron out which one will stay in the bag.

[RoverRick]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Sulphur Springs Country Club
Gross Score	74
Course Handicap	9
Gross Strokes over/under par	2
Net Score to Par	-7
Net Score	65
Net Birdies or better	10
Longest Drive	240

It was a beautiful day and I went out to do some Titleist White Box testing  I had already compared it to ProV1, ProV1X, AVX, and -ProV1X but that’s in another thread. I wanted to play 18 holes with it for a durability test. That was my goal. 
 

My distance was down about 15% because cooler temperatures and gimpy legs. But once I decided to add more club, I began to hit lots of greens. I also aimed away from trouble because I didn’t want to lose one of my 3 Test balls.

I chipped in on 2 for a net eagle, hit my approach on 15 to 6’ amd made another net eagle and punched out of the woods and ended up with a 4’ birdie putt.  Sank a couple of 20+’ers to save par. I only hope to play like this tomorrow. Also, the ball looks brand new still. 

[CudaKota66]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	The Legends (Middle/Road)
Gross Score	80
Course Handicap	10
Gross Strokes over/under par	8
Net Score to Par	-2
Net Score	70
Net Birdies or better	9
Longest Drive	272

Snuck out of work early to get one last round in before Indiana's handicap season (and my personal season) closes for the winter   Time to load-up on turkey & the new bride's Christmas baking before starting off-season conditioning in January.

This seasonal VCT has motivated me to not 'check out' mentally with the first awry shot - a previous habit of mine. It's also made my think my way around a course instead of taking a bomb & gouge approach. So, thank you to MGS & all of the participants!!

It was a good season. Began with a handicap of 16.9 and wrapped it up with an index of 11.9   Driving was fairly consistent & my miss (fade) was predictable. Approaches & short game improved through the season. Sadly, I thought my strength was putting but that failed me most (not all) rounds this year.

I'm not a sim golfer, so this is "adios" until April 2024. For those that get to play, hit it long & roll it in. I told the new Mrs this was the first year I was going to just keep playing what I have, so if you see me at PGATSS trying putters, mum is the word! 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

8 hours ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Spanish Hills Club
Gross Score	83
Course Handicap	7
Gross Strokes over/under par	12
Net Score to Par	5
Net Score	76
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	295

Oh man - talk about an unbelievably good day for golf.  Mid-70s, on a private country club in the hills of Camarillo, CA - absolutely stunning day.  

Played in a shotgun-start 'open' event, sponsored by a local Facebook golfing group I'm a part of, so got the chance to play a bit of a bucket-list course I've heard great things about.  Rumor has it that Travis Mathew (either the company or the man himself) is one of the owners - who knows? 

What I can say is that playing from the white tees was a GREAT choice for a course we'd never played before - I got to pair up with the forum's own @Syks7 (man can that guy roll the rock) - and we played with two other awesome guys (one of whom rolled in four birdies - super impressive).  The white tees made the course MUCH more accessible and straight-up fun.  It's situated up in the hills, so a ton of the holes have these INSANE views of the surrounding valley.  Truly beautiful. Add in the natural birdie (net eagle) on our final hole of the day (Hole #2 in reality), and it was a perfect ending to an awesome day.

I played OK - better than anticipated, and after having had a few weeks off, a pleasant surprise all things considered.  Putted ok - certainly better than my last (NINE three-putts, lol) - misread a bunch of putts, but that's not a huge shock considering it's a first-time play of the course.  Greens were lightning, but true, which made for a really great experience. 

Attached are some shots from the day!

(View from the practice range.  Absurdly pretty.)

 

Getting the work in (or checking your phone - however you get ready for a round - I don't judge (too harshly) )

 

Getting ready to tee off on 1

(The green is just right of the two bunkers you see - about 50 yards below you.  Tempting to take driver and give it a whack, but everything runs away to the left, so best to hit 3-iron (driving iron for me) and give yourself 100 yards in. Crazy cool first hole.)

(3rd fairway (that's my drive about 90 yards out) - our first hole, uphill tee shot - managed to hit a good drive (not great, but ended up well positioned) and set myself up for an easy par.)

(One of our playing partners teeing off on the 4th - downhill par 3 with a hell of a view)

(View of the clubhouse from the 10th tee)

Another crazy elevated tee (our tee box was actually behind and above where I stopped to take this).  Managed to mash a drive (into a nasty headwind) between the two sets of bunkers - settled for another par)

(Syks7 in a tough spot - lots of carry with a steep lip - got out, which was all that mattered )

(Legit one of the most beautiful par 5's I've ever played.  Undulating, not terribly long, incredible views - really a pleasure to play.  Birdied this one.)

(17 green - blind uphill tee shot from behind the hill, then downhill to a green with a NASTY front pin placement)

View from the top of the 18 Fairway - tee box is all the way down the hill (where those three small trees are in a row).  Hit a gem of a tee shot to the top of the hill and couldn't believe the view when I got up here.  This is backwards, towards the tee box...

(And this was in front of us, the tee surrounded by rocks and a pond.  Just a stunning finishing hole. (Par here, too!))

Alright, that's all I've got for you  If you're ever given the chance, highly recommend checking this course out - a gem, and despite fast greens and some (in all honesty) cruel pin positions, a pretty getable course.  Especially from the whites

-GolfSpy SAM

 

 

Matt, 

The photos from this round are and like all gorgeous things, only capture a fraction of the magic. Next time I find myself in Southern California…

[J7Hawkins]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Stillwater Country Club
Gross Score	81
Course Handicap	5
Gross Strokes over/under par	11
Net Score to Par	6
Net Score	76
Net Birdies or better	2
Longest Drive	312

[GolfSpy SAM]

13 hours ago, Ben Joest said:

Matt, 

The photos from this round are and like all gorgeous things, only capture a fraction of the magic. Next time I find myself in Southern California…

Thanks, man Yeah, I was laughing because even as I was TAKING the pictures, I had a feeling it would only convey a small amount of the beauty of the place.  I definitely need a drone.

[Javs]

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Sun City Golf Club White Wing
Gross Score	74
Course Handicap	0
Gross Strokes over/under par	2
Net Score to Par	2
Net Score	74
Net Birdies or better	3
Longest Drive	335

Good ball striking day in bad conditions. Putted poorly today!

[Javs]

Date	11/14/2023
Course Name	Forrest Creek Golf Club
Gross Score	78
Course Handicap	3
Gross Strokes over/under par	6
Net Score to Par	3
Net Score	75
Net Birdies or better	3
Longest Drive	312

Haven’t played this course much. Had some bad results off blind shots. The shots were hit great, but unknown trouble caused a bad result. Takeaway is to learn the course prior!

[buckpillar]

Date	11/15/2023
Course Name	Uniontown Country Club
Gross Score	77
Course Handicap	6
Gross Strokes over/under par	6
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	71
Net Birdies or better	2
Longest Drive	244

Final days of good weather up here in the northeast, greens were aeriated and still bumpy. Leaves piling up and fairways soft, had a great day anyway. played with a test ball and still think it out performed the prov1. 

[buckpillar]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:38 PM, GolfSpy SAM said:

Date	11/13/2023
Course Name	Spanish Hills Club
Gross Score	83
Course Handicap	7
Gross Strokes over/under par	12
Net Score to Par	5
Net Score	76
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	295

Oh man - talk about an unbelievably good day for golf.  Mid-70s, on a private country club in the hills of Camarillo, CA - absolutely stunning day.  

Played in a shotgun-start 'open' event, sponsored by a local Facebook golfing group I'm a part of, so got the chance to play a bit of a bucket-list course I've heard great things about.  Rumor has it that Travis Mathew (either the company or the man himself) is one of the owners - who knows? 

What I can say is that playing from the white tees was a GREAT choice for a course we'd never played before - I got to pair up with the forum's own @Syks7 (man can that guy roll the rock) - and we played with two other awesome guys (one of whom rolled in four birdies - super impressive).  The white tees made the course MUCH more accessible and straight-up fun.  It's situated up in the hills, so a ton of the holes have these INSANE views of the surrounding valley.  Truly beautiful. Add in the natural birdie (net eagle) on our final hole of the day (Hole #2 in reality), and it was a perfect ending to an awesome day.

I played OK - better than anticipated, and after having had a few weeks off, a pleasant surprise all things considered.  Putted ok - certainly better than my last (NINE three-putts, lol) - misread a bunch of putts, but that's not a huge shock considering it's a first-time play of the course.  Greens were lightning, but true, which made for a really great experience. 

Attached are some shots from the day!

(View from the practice range.  Absurdly pretty.)

 

Getting the work in (or checking your phone - however you get ready for a round - I don't judge (too harshly) )

 

Getting ready to tee off on 1

(The green is just right of the two bunkers you see - about 50 yards below you.  Tempting to take driver and give it a whack, but everything runs away to the left, so best to hit 3-iron (driving iron for me) and give yourself 100 yards in. Crazy cool first hole.)

(3rd fairway (that's my drive about 90 yards out) - our first hole, uphill tee shot - managed to hit a good drive (not great, but ended up well positioned) and set myself up for an easy par.)

(One of our playing partners teeing off on the 4th - downhill par 3 with a hell of a view)

(View of the clubhouse from the 10th tee)

Another crazy elevated tee (our tee box was actually behind and above where I stopped to take this).  Managed to mash a drive (into a nasty headwind) between the two sets of bunkers - settled for another par)

(Syks7 in a tough spot - lots of carry with a steep lip - got out, which was all that mattered )

(Legit one of the most beautiful par 5's I've ever played.  Undulating, not terribly long, incredible views - really a pleasure to play.  Birdied this one.)

(17 green - blind uphill tee shot from behind the hill, then downhill to a green with a NASTY front pin placement)

View from the top of the 18 Fairway - tee box is all the way down the hill (where those three small trees are in a row).  Hit a gem of a tee shot to the top of the hill and couldn't believe the view when I got up here.  This is backwards, towards the tee box...

(And this was in front of us, the tee surrounded by rocks and a pond.  Just a stunning finishing hole. (Par here, too!))

Alright, that's all I've got for you  If you're ever given the chance, highly recommend checking this course out - a gem, and despite fast greens and some (in all honesty) cruel pin positions, a pretty getable course.  Especially from the whites

-GolfSpy SAM

 

 

Looks like a Great Day of golf, keep rolling the rock!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Date	11/15/2023
Course Name	Majestic Springs
Gross Score	75
Course Handicap	2
Gross Strokes over/under par	4
Net Score to Par	2
Net Score	73
Net Birdies or better	2
Longest Drive	303

37/38 +4  75

It feels like I have seen that score line a lot lately. Perhaps, I have hit a scoring plateau . In what may be the last round of the season (with Ohio weather, who really knows) there were positives:

• Driver has been figured out, the Paradym TD is fast becoming my favorite driver ever.
• Putting is on the upswing, 30 putts today with the new LAB is a marked improvement over recent rounds
• Ball-striking continues to be a strength 

And a negative:

• Wedge play was real hit or miss today

Best of a number of good drives today:

 

[LBC]

Date	11/15/2023
Course Name	Providence Golf Club
Gross Score	90
Course Handicap	16
Gross Strokes over/under par	19
Net Score to Par	3
Net Score	74
Net Birdies or better	1
Longest Drive	170

Cold and windy.  3 penalty strokes

[Siamese Moose]

Date	11/16/2023
Course Name	Twin Run
Gross Score	78
Course Handicap	6
Gross Strokes over/under par	6
Net Score to Par	0
Net Score	72
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	265

Two rounds in one week in mid-November? Livin' large, Baby!

I'm posting the second round as it was a stroke better, though in reality I played much better than Monday. Unfortunately, today's greens were freshly punched, and that cost me some strokes, arguably as many as five, which would have made this an exceptional round. The greens were so slow, that it made me live up to my old user name from a forum past, My Greens Stimp At Two.

[ArizonaLogan]

Date	11/16/2023
Course Name	San Pedro GC
Gross Score	86
Course Handicap	12
Gross Strokes over/under par	14
Net Score to Par	2
Net Score	74
Net Birdies or better	0
Longest Drive	248

[Javs]

Date	11/16/2023
Course Name	Sun City Golf Club Cowan Creek
Gross Score	69
Course Handicap	1
Gross Strokes over/under par	-3
Net Score to Par	-4
Net Score	68
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	335

So, all the Titleist ball testing made me break out some Prov1’s today. I must say I was extremely pleased. I hit 16 greens in regulation and had 30 putts lipped out 3 more and left 4 in the heart short). Only 2 bogies 1 was a three putt and the other hit my drive dead behind a tree. However, I also hit 6 drives over 300 yards in wet and soft conditions. Overall very good day!

[Josh Parker]

6 minutes ago, Javs said:

Date	11/16/2023
Course Name	Sun City Golf Club Cowan Creek
Gross Score	69
Course Handicap	1
Gross Strokes over/under par	-3
Net Score to Par	-4
Net Score	68
Net Birdies or better	6
Longest Drive	335

So, all the Titleist ball testing made me break out some Prov1’s today. I must say I was extremely pleased. I hit 16 greens in regulation and had 30 putts lipped out 3 more and left 4 in the heart short). Only 2 bogies 1 was a three putt and the other hit my drive dead behind a tree. However, I also hit 6 drives over 300 yards in wet and soft conditions. Overall very good day!

Great round!  

[Javs]

13 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Great round!  

Thank you very much!

[ryan.mzzz]

Date	11/17/2023
Course Name	Miccosukee Barracuda/Barracuda
Gross Score	104
Course Handicap	18
Gross Strokes over/under par	32
Net Score to Par	14
Net Score	86
Net Birdies or better	2
Longest Drive	250
SIM Round

umbrella works great. i will say, i was playing pretty great on the second nine, until the light caught up with me and played the last two holes in the dark. on the last hole, it was all the way dark. i was shocked i was able to finish. 

[Jacob10]

Date	11/18/2023
Course Name	Smyrna Municipal
Gross Score	80
Course Handicap	2
Gross Strokes over/under par	8
Net Score to Par	6
Net Score	78
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive

Pieced together 9 yesterday and 9 today. Couldn’t make a putt either day and one bad hole today. 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Jacob10

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Date	11/18/2023
Course Name	Spyglass Hill
Gross Score	75
Course Handicap	0
Gross Strokes over/under par	3
Net Score to Par	3
Net Score	75
Net Birdies or better	4
Longest Drive	292
SIM Round	SIM

Sim Round at the top tracer range. 

Started off hot, but a tragedy befell the driver shaft mid way through the front nine and it was all I could do to keep the round from going off the rails.