How'd you play?

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

58 minutes ago, Rickp said:

Friends from Providence

Charlestown

[Shapotomous]

The golf gods were smiling on me last night... I was hitting driver, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter on line and the correct distances.  Had a 38 for league play including a lost ball that had us cornfused since we thought we saw it land.  Then we started playing the back 9 as i usually do just to get some extra holes in before dark.  Started off with 2 pars and then went birdie birdie eagle!  The next four holes the longest birdie putt was 12' and i was jogging from cart to green as it was getting dark fast.  Lipped out two of those putts and had a 32 on the back for a 9 hole pb.  The fairways were hard and running fast so the course played very short.  i did drop a couple 20'ers on par 3's to save par after chip shots ran out.  17 & 18 were real dark.  The clubhouse guy we are friends with came out to chase us in until he heard the score then he stayed to watch.  

[fixyurdivot]

6 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

The golf gods were smiling on me last night... I was hitting driver, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter on line and the correct distances.  Had a 38 for league play including a lost ball that had us cornfused since we thought we saw it land.  Then we started playing the back 9 as i usually do just to get some extra holes in before dark.  Started off with 2 pars and then went birdie birdie eagle!  The next four holes the longest birdie putt was 12' and i was jogging from cart to green as it was getting dark fast.  Lipped out two of those putts and had a 32 on the back for a 9 hole pb.  The fairways were hard and running fast so the course played very short.  i did drop a couple 20'ers on par 3's to save par after chip shots ran out.  17 & 18 were real dark.  The clubhouse guy we are friends with came out to chase us in until he heard the score then he stayed to watch.  

Wow, congrats on the PB !!   Looks like you east coast spies are going to be giving up a boat load of strokes when east meets west ... hopefully Rob is already working on that .

[ejgaudette]

20 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

The golf gods were smiling on me last night... I was hitting driver, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter on line and the correct distances.  Had a 38 for league play including a lost ball that had us cornfused since we thought we saw it land.  Then we started playing the back 9 as i usually do just to get some extra holes in before dark.  Started off with 2 pars and then went birdie birdie eagle!  The next four holes the longest birdie putt was 12' and i was jogging from cart to green as it was getting dark fast.  Lipped out two of those putts and had a 32 on the back for a 9 hole pb.  The fairways were hard and running fast so the course played very short.  i did drop a couple 20'ers on par 3's to save par after chip shots ran out.  17 & 18 were real dark.  The clubhouse guy we are friends with came out to chase us in until he heard the score then he stayed to watch.  

Great round and would need to pull out the spot light to keep a round like that going

[chisag]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

It is about what you get used too.   I played a round where the course had just put new sand in the bunkers and it was really fluffy.  Had no idea what to do, kept going right under the ball and the ball would go 2 feet; tried to use the bounce and no luck.   Sand that is firmer and I can elevate the ball and get it over the high lips.  

 

... I played in a Pro Am at South Winds in Memphis and the bunkers were absolutely perfect. A nice heavy, firm sand that was so easy to play out of and easy to rake back to pristine. Pro's are just so spoiled. I am not a big fan of fluffy sand either but prefer it to no sand at all. Speaking of spoiled, I played Olympia Fields in Chicago a good 10 years ago and they had the sand area of the practice green boarded off into 3 sections labeled A, B and C. 3 different types of sand and the members got to vote on which one they preferred. I thought one was clearly better than the other 2 so maybe just placating the members but it sure beats the typical muni. 

[MattWillGolf]

Today was all over the map scoring wise. I played 9 holes. I parred the 1st and the 9th. Only had 2 drives that cost me strokes because I was forced to chip out. And according to Shot Scope I had a several drives over 220 yards and one of 253 yards. Chipping was my absolute downfall today. I was around the green in 2 for the most part on par 4s but kept on hitting my chips thin and sending low lasers over the green.

[Shapotomous]

8 hours ago, ejgaudette said:

Great round and would need to pull out the spot light to keep a round like that going

After getting a par on 17 I was ready to have SWMBO pull the car down to the 18th and light it up if necessary!!  

[Sluggo42]

Well after yesterdays stinker round where I basically klanked every iron shot, I made a decent come back today with a few good iron shots. Driver is still a moonshot cannon blast that I’m digging, and starting to get a few iron shots with the new swing. Actually backed up a PW about 10’ on a flat green. Haven’t been getting a backup ball for a while, so that was interesting.

love this game

[sandpounder]

Played Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles today.  I live walking distance from this course.  Absolutely perfect conditions with the greens stimping at 11.  A Pete Dye design with many undulations in the fairway and also in the greens.  Shot an 81 and felt good about it.  Only one 3-putt (greens are enormous).  Hit 3 excellent shots.  An 8 iron to 5 feet on the 135 yard par 3 which is #11.  Hit a greenside bunker shot to 18" on #17.  Hit a solid drive that has a 235 yard carry over a gorge on #18.  Beautiful day, beautiful conditions & a great 4-some.  Played the round in 4 hours flat.

Talk about perfect conditions!  The bunker sand was the best I have ever seen.  The fairways were perfect, taking a divot was like slicing through meatloaf.  The rough was thick.  The greens were immaculate with every subtle break running very true.  It felt like a course set up for the Tour.  This course is special & sits right on the coastal bluffs of Palos Verdes, CA.  I'd have to say, this is the best conditioned course that I have ever played.

Edited August 18, 2022 by sandpounder

[JerryB]

I'm back, baby!

Owen and I played the back nine at River Heights before work today.  Started hole ten with a hooky hybrid off the tee followed by a love wedge onto the green and a two putt for bogey.

On eleven I hit an incredibly poor tee shot that barely cleared the water and was a good 50 yards short of the green.  I thought "I can do better" and dropped a second ball, which I promptly chunked into the water.  Dropped another and did the same thing .  Lesson learned, I went to the first ball, chipped on and three putted.

On twelve I hit an okay drive, a solid wedge and a two putt for a par on the short par four.  Afterwards I noticed that the ball was really scuffed so I shelved the last of my Bridgestone TreoSofts and pulled out a sleeve of Wilson Triads.

Started thirteen with a 270 yard bomb. Followed up with a decent wedge that wound up on the front fringe.  Tried to putt and just blasted it past the hole.  Two putted.

Drive on fourteen went 260.  Pulled a nine iron just left of the green. Chip and a two putt.

Pulled my drive on fifteen to the left into the trees and it dropped after 240 yards.  Pinched out, then dropped a wedge just short of the green again.  Another chip and two putt.

Sixteen was wild.  Drove 240, flubbed my hybrid, then hit my 7 iron 190 (!), flying the green.  Wedge back on and another two putt 

On seventeen it was even better.  260 off the tee, then hit my 6 iron 212 (!!) to the fringe behind the green.  Chip and just missed the birdie putt for a tap in par.

The wheels came off on eighteen with a triple bogey to finish with a +11 47.  Found out afterwards that Owen and I were tied heading into the last hole.  Moral of the story is that even in an extremely small sample size, the ball does make all the difference!

[juspoole]

It's been a slow year for the golf game.  Have just been tied up with other activities and do not have the same "want" this year for whatever reason. 

However, I did play in an outing recently.  Expectations were low as I hadn't played a full round in about 5 weeks or really picked up a club.  Surprisingly I did not have any mishits - scratch that I did have a thin one with my hybrid.  

Driver was really good.  Pretty good distance and accuracy all day.  Approach shots caught the green for the most part, but I was certainly not pin seeking.  I think I had two shots under 100 yards within 10 feet and one from 125 where I was about 12 feet.  Everything else 35/40 feet on average or missed a couple greens.  Keep in mind we were playing from white tees so I did not have that far on approaches.

Only had to chip twice on a couple par 5's.  Both were great and gave us tap in birdies.

Putter - different story - did not help my team all day.  Could not start my ball on line to save my life.  A couple decent putts, but probably only 3 that had a chance to go in. 

Fun day out with great weather.  Happy with my play, just wish putter could have been a bit better.  Team was -9. Winners were -12.

[MaxEntropy]

On 8/17/2022 at 8:44 AM, Lacassem said:

Sand has been an absolute struggle for me this entire year. Maybe 2 decent shots all year. Simliar sand too. Have tried opening up, leaving the face normal, all different stuff. Cannot stop skulling the thing I dont know why

Sometimes I am borderline good from the sand, other times it is a struggle, but the beauty is I have zero expectations since there are almost no practice areas with bunkers around me. If the sand is fairly fluffy, I'm pretty confident I'll get it out first try. Wet, dense, or packed sand, I'm more likely to try to pick it clean and hope I gauge the distance/spin correctly, but it is so variable from course to course around here (sometimes even hole to hole) that I am just happy to get out on the first try.

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

1 minute ago, MaxEntropy said:

Sometimes I am borderline good from the sand, other times it is a struggle, but the beauty is I have zero expectations since there are almost no practice areas with bunkers around me. If the sand is fairly fluffy, I'm pretty confident I'll get it out first try. Wet, dense, or packed sand, I'm more likely to try to pick it clean and hope I gauge the distance/spin correctly, but it is so variable from course to course around here (sometimes even hole to hole) that I am just happy to get out on the first try.

I had always been pretty good out of fluffy sand, but this year not so much. We have had alot of compacted sand of late and I think that has thrown me off a bit. I cannot get it right.

[edingc]

Better!

40/38 -> 78 (+6)

Finally got some better swings on the ball after finding a backswing key at the range yesterday. Still had some bad swings in there today, mostly with the driver, but I did hit some really, really solid ones for the first time in a few weeks. Two flukey double bogies, both of which were mental mistakes.

I came oh so close to birdieing No. 11 for the first time ever. It's the only hole I've not birdied this year, or in the four-plus years of playing here. I hit a perfect utility from the tee, put my 7 iron just off the back edge of the green from like 185 out and my chip shot just slid off the left side of the hole. Easy tap in par but I wanted that birdie soooo bad.

[MattF]

2 hours ago, MaxEntropy said:

but the beauty is I have zero expectations since there are almost no practice areas with bunkers around me.

Mud Run has practice bunkers. They're the only one that I know of.

[MaxEntropy]

2 hours ago, MattF said:

Mud Run has practice bunkers. They're the only one that I know of.

I always forget that. It doesn't help that it is way on the other side of the range. The range that used to be out on Rt 18 had one that was ok, but it no longer exists.

[Berg Ryman]

League night tonight, 1 under 34. Excellent evening if I do say so myself. Misses were luckily not death, lag putting on point and made some putts when I need to. Only one I missed was a sliding downhill 8 footer on 9 to make the lone bogey

[Kenny B]

On 8/16/2022 at 10:09 PM, chisag said:

 

... I wish it were that easy here. Too many bunkers with high lips in the 6-8 feet range and hard pan, as in not even any dust on top. They "claim" the high winds blow all the sand out of bunkers but Chicago was windier. And several courses have sand in some and not others. I'd love to play the ball in the middle of my stance and use the leading edge of a 58/08 MG3 to clip the ball off the hard pan but with the high lips there just isn't enough loft. So putting it forward in my stance and clipping it perfectly is the only play. Sometimes I pull it off and sometimes I don't. I just don't understand why the bunkers are so deep when they aren't gonna put any sand in them.  2 or maybe 3 foot lip and it would be manageable because as you said, I could use less speed but with high lips it just hits into the slope and you have the same shot again, so best to just be long or even over the green and of course not go in them, which basically cuts many greens in half. It is really the only thing I dislike about Phoenix golf. 

It's been a couple of years since I've been there, but we are headed for Phoenix in January for a couple of weeks.

[Kenny B]

13 hours ago, edingc said:

Better!

40/38 -> 78 (+6)

Finally got some better swings on the ball after finding a backswing key at the range yesterday. Still had some bad swings in there today, mostly with the driver, but I did hit some really, really solid ones for the first time in a few weeks. Two flukey double bogies, both of which were mental mistakes.

I came oh so close to birdieing No. 11 for the first time ever. It's the only hole I've not birdied this year, or in the four-plus years of playing here. I hit a perfect utility from the tee, put my 7 iron just off the back edge of the green from like 185 out and my chip shot just slid off the left side of the hole. Easy tap in par but I wanted that birdie soooo bad.

He's back!!  

[JerryB]

Owen and I decided to change it up a bit and played Buena Vista today.  It's a nine hole par 32 course that's also part of the park district.  Played with Wilson Duo Softs today.  Didn't play quite as well as yesterday but still fairly decent(ish). 

I'll spare the details and stick to the highlights.  Iron play was good but hooky again.  On a long par three I hooked hard into the trees where it ricocheted back into the middle of the fairway.

I hit the most absolutely pure wedge shot I've ever hit.  Unfortunately it was out of a green side bunker where I accidentally picked it clean.  Fairly certain it went over the house and into the front yard across the street .

No three putts today.  Putting and chipping continue to be a relative strength lately.  Shot a +13 45.  Owen and I played match play and he won four holes to my two.  I did manage two pars.

[Sluggo42]

Ok here are some interesting numbers…

75 (+4) with a double in the mix too

26 putts (1- 3 putt)

6/18 GIR

9 fairways hit

3 birdies

[Rickp]

Friday Bacon Boyz early this morning. Only 12guys, we have injuries, Covid and some out of town.  I’m of course still being careful not hitting anything over an 8 iron.  Definitely starting to feel the swing coming back and realizing I haven’t had a full swing in years!  So after knee heals up need to work on that.   
Anyway hitting the ball well staying within myself and working on the follow thru.  Played the Par4’s (2) from 150yard marker so I don’t count them, par 3’s were 1birdie, 4pars and 2bogies.  Putting was decent, currently using a LH Tad Moore anser style but with more toe hang than normal.  
Taking 2 days off and playing Monday. 

[TR1PTIK]

Another solid (42/41) 83 today! Started off pretty hot with birdies on #2 & #3 at Mansfield National in Mansfield, TX. Unfortunately, I'd have one triple per side to keep me firmly out of the 70's. Putting was really solid for the most part despite greens that were constantly building in speed as temps went up and the humidity lifted. I had a total of 8 one-putts with 6 of those coming on the front 9. Of course, I countered that with 3 three-putts which stinks. I did grab one more birdie on the back after reaching the Par 5 13th in two. This is the third time in as many rounds that I've managed to actually reach the green in two on a par 5! I'm usually within range on most par 5's, but always struggle to get there. One last highlight was my bunker shots on #8 & #9. The bunkers at Mansfield National are terrible and today was no exception as they were wet and compacted to boot. One of our playing partners offered to let pull my ball out of the first bunker, but other than the conditions stated above, I didn't think the lie was bad and decided to take a swing. The ball came out perfect and with enough spin to keep it just a few feet past the hole despite going down a slope. #9 was the same deal except I had a much higher lip and less green to work with. I opened my 58 and choked down a bit so I could make a full swing. The ball landed next to the hole and stopped maybe 3 or 4 feet on the other side of it!

Playing Waterchase with a good buddy next week. I'd like to get some revenge for my previous outing there when I simply could not get off the tee well. Absolutely loving some return to form. If I can just push it over the edge so I'm scoring in the 70's I'll be ecstatic!

[Berg Ryman]

I have my first weekend game round in like 5 weeks tomorrow, and my first 18 hole round since the MGS trip... but man is 730 and 740 going to come early tomorrow

[CarlH]

2 birdies and two double bogeys to card an 80.  Other than a lateral hosel rocket 7 iron, ball striking wasn't too bad.  Not a lot of GIR on the front side (42) which improved on the back (38).  The correlation of GIR to scoring was once again proven to me.

[mynerds]

9-holes at the nicest public course I've ever been to where I played with my H4 and the new armlock putter for the first time. It's definitely going to take some time to ingrain tagging clubs into my preshot routine but the H4 was an surprisingly pleasant experience. I had several three putts with the armlock but I felt confident over the ball and expect the stats to improve once I have owned it for more than 24 hours .

Hit 51 overall, with a par on the 4 handicap 392 yard 9th. On the 9th, I hit my driver well, pitched extremely well from behind a tree with my 9 iron, and two putted with the new armlock putter. Unfortunately, the 9 iron pitch was the result of leaving my pitching wedge on the 8th. By the time I returned to look for it, it was gone. I'll check in with the clubhouse later today or tomorrow to see if anyone turned it in. I think I'd be more upset over losing the ShotScope tag than the club itself if it's gone for good.

[GaryF]

On 8/16/2022 at 11:37 PM, Kenny B said:

Congrats on the PB low rounds!!  

IMO a low bounce wedge would certainly work.  If I played a course all the time that had hard compacted sand, I might use one.  However, my course has bunkers with sand that varies; some have lots of sand, others very little (wind blows it out).  The face of the bunkers also vary from 2 feet to 6 feet.  I have two wedges; a 54º with 14º of bounce and a 60º with 12º of bounce... both with C-grind sole.  I am not carrying a low bounce wedge for a shot I may or may not need.  With that said... I have no issue hitting off hard pan bunkers or very tight lies on firm turf.  I had two of those today; got up and down on one of them; missed the putt on the other.  There is technique involved and it does take practice.  

Square stance; don't open the club face; shallow angle of attack; less speed... basically a pitch shot like @cnosil suggested.

Had been wanting to practice before my next round which is tomorrow.  Been drizzly all day today which was perfect to experiment using some of the suggestions.  Understand not wanting to carry a club you might infrequently use. 

As someone else mentioned, we also have some high lip green side bunkers.  I went to the practice bunker and sure enough, very thin layer of loose sand and very firm underneath.  I experimented with my 58/8 by varying ball position and closed club face.  Also varied amount of de-bounce (an electrical engineering term) and learned a lot about the club and technique.  Hit about 30-40 and in the end was reading the lie and adjusting the club correctly on maybe 6 out of 7 shots, feeling the club slip nicely under the ball and thru the sand.  Will keep working for on it but convinced me I’m on the right path. 

[Syks7]

Not a real round today but I did play the little 18 hole par 3 near me.  Instead of practice of practicing and hitting multiple balls I played straight up.  Not bad. +10 on the day but my striking was just a tiny bit off today.  A touch heavy on full swings so I shorted a lot or left myself with longish putts.  My putting continues to be somewhat suspect which I guess should be expected since I'm installing/adjusting my stroke.  Distance control was good, but I'm just a bit offline.  I was Mr. 2 putt all day. 

All in all I think it was okay given how I was little off but I really need to do better at the 110-150 range (what this course offers) to improve my game.   Will keep grinding.  Planning for multiple rounds next week so we'll see.

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

53 on front nine round. Putting was a disaster. More in depth on my breaking 90 thread. 

[Berg Ryman]

77 today, 3 birdies on the back nune. A but of a horror show chipping and a stupid 3 putt put me with doubles. Lag putting continues to be solid and driving it into good spots, including driving the 14th hole today to 15 feet, eagle putt never moved an inch from the outside the hole I was trying.