How'd you play?

[chisag]

23 hours ago, cnosil said:

Interesting perspective;  watched a video from the ShortGameChef and he indicated that this shot isn't being used as much as it used to.  The new vogue shot is the check, check, release pitch shot.  

 

... I learned long ago to ignore advice about something that already works for me. For virtually any shot an "expert" is available to tell you how to execute it differently. I played with an Outlaw Tour winner last year that was in town to qualify for the Phoenix open that shot an easy 7 under on the front 9    and he averaged around 350yds off the tee. Yea "averaged" as he hit a few even longer than that. But what was so impressive was with that length he obviously had lots of wedges into greens. For someone with so much power I was in awe of his ability to hit a soft wedge that hit, took a nice hop and then spun back about 6-12 inches. It never spun back more and never rolled out. It was amazing to witness. 

... On 18 he hit a tee shot into the water that none of us ever thought reachable up and over a hill and about 390 from the very back tees but that is exactly what he did. Again as mind boggling as that was, dropping from 90 yds and hitting a wedge to a front pin just tucked over a bunker that hit a few inches short of the pin and hopped 3 feet and spun back 12" for a virtual tap in was equally as impressive. Why anyone would want that shot to "check, check and release" is a head scratcher. But again, there are so many ways to play this game and if that technique works, it works but not a shot I will be adding to my game. 

[CFreddie]

18 hours ago, fozcycle said:

First day of 2 day points tournament is in the books. I had not played at Plantation Palms since December when I retired from running the Saturday Game. Ball striking was exceptional but putting under 6’ needs a lot of work. That said, I shot a 42/43:85 with +3 points finishing tied for 2nd out of 41 players. 

Great job and good luck today!

[chisag]

4 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Here's a picture of holes 10, 11, and 18 that we played (we skipped 15, 16, and 17), and you'll see water is in play on all 3. 

 

... Reminds me of a hole back I Chicago at The Links of Carillon that was selfishly one of my favorite holes. Called The Gauntlet there was a huge lake on the left and another smaller but equally wet lake on the right. The fairway was not generous and ran at about a 40* angle right to left. As someone that naturally plays a draw it looked perfect to my eye as well as suiting my shot shape and I had quite a few eagles on that hole but some others was well. (The 2nd shot has the lake on the left coming around to the entire front of the green so all carry and I dunked more than a few from 200ish yards)

...  But what a nightmare for those that play a fade or worse tend to slice off the tee. My draw was always headed toward the land but a fade or slice was always headed toward the water on the right. Just a brutally difficult hole and when the wind blew the lake was filed with golf balls on both sides.  

[funkyjudge]

Those of you who read my latest comments in the Paradym Irons Review thread already know that I shot a 78 (gross) in a two-man better-ball tournament that we played yesterday (tees were set somewhat forward, and I am only a 13 handicap from that set of tees, so the Head Pro gave me a 12, and we got only 25% of our gross handicaps in this net event, giving me just 3 strokes.  How did I manage that 78, which is my 2nd best score this year (the best was a 77, but on a par-68 layout of only 5,680 yards -- yesterday's event was on a 6,000-yard par-72 layout)?   I drove the ball quite well on all but the first hole (three wind-aided drives of between 281-302 yards, leaving me no more than a 5-iron into two of the par-5s (both of which I birdied by reaching the greens in two or being just on the fringe, and only 71 yards to the tight and somewhat uphill par-4 2nd hole).  Only one "really bad" tee shot after hole #1, and even that one should have been playable, but any type of left-to-right tee shot on this 515-yard (from our tees) par-5 has a chance to roll down the shaved bank and into the lake that runs almost all the way up the right side, and this is what happened to my tee shot.

The Paradym irons were working very well for me and I hit all four par-3 holes off the tee (122 to 215 yards), and all four of these tee shots left me reasonable birdie chances of 8 to 15 feet.  I only parred three of these holes, and actually bogeyed the 215-yard downhill, down wind par-3 14th hole because I ran my slick downhill 15' birdie putt 7' past the hole and lipped-out the par come-backer.  By the way, I reached this green with a 6-iron. As I did following the double-double start to this nine, I then proceeded to birdie the #1 handicap 15th hole even though I hit a nasty push-fade tee ball with my 4-wood (a gorgeous draw with the 5-iron over the water hazard that guards the front of this green, followed by a 35' one-putt from the fringe will make you forget the crappy tee shot!)

A few boneheaded second shots and the ball in the lake on the par-5 7th hole kept me from shooting much closer to par, which I should have done with the three overall birdies that I had.  Unfortunately, I went double-double on holes 10 and 11 due to bad greenside bunker play and one bad chip shot after blasting a bunker shot over the green.  However, I followed-up that 4-over stretch with two birdies (one par-5 that I reached in two following a 290-yard drive and a 195-yard 5-iron, and a short downhill par-4 of only 285 yards where I reached the right fringe with my 4-wood and putted to within 2 feet).

Storm clouds rolled in, and I finished bogey-bogey, costing my team a top-3 finish (my partner could not do any better on either of these holes, and we weren't getting any strokes on either of those holes) so we limped-in with a 40 on the back nine.  Still, I am more than a little pleased with that score and I hope to capitalize on the euphoria both tomorrow in my 9-hole league and in the Tour Championship for my winter golf tour that takes place on Thursday!

Edited May 6, 2023 by funkyjudge

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

..Why anyone would want that shot to "check, check and release" is a head scratcher. 

 I see this shot all the time when watching the PGA tour;  I am guessing more consistent ball control.  

[fozcycle]

Well, Day 2 of the Spring Blitz at my old club wasn’t as bountiful as Day 1…..coul$not get off 5h3 te3 like Saturday, but on another note I was able to dial in the putting.  I lost 3 balls in 5he first 9 holes rather than play 36 with a single ball as I hav3 been.  Th3 good news is I tied for 7th place out of 41 players. Not bad for not having played the course in 4 months. 
shot 47/44:91 today.

[TylorJudd]

Was my first round with my new

 Paradym ∆∆∆ and that went so well. I increased my drive, on average over the first 18 holes played with it, by 35 yards over my X2 Hot. My average drive was 332, with my long being 372 with a 27 yard roll down a hill as a bonus. Went 2 over on the front, then on the back the course had no yardage markers, every pin was 3 yards or less from the fringe ..., Wind at 65km/h, temp tee boxes on mats (with no yardage markers), and shot a +11 on the back.... . At least the driver was a success!

[Rickp]

5 hours ago, richk9holes said:

@pozzit Whenever I call him "shot 83 today" this is the guy who used to get 100 at the executive course if I kept his score close.

I think him and his regular crew of retirees are generous with the scoring, but bless their hearts it's amazing they're all still out there at 73, 77, 80, etc years old

That’s a perfect age group

[cksurfdude]

Another crazy 9 holes of golf this afternoon ...

#1. PATTS
#2. "other"
#3. Par >> first one on this hole .. FIR and first *GIR* here!
#4. BATTS
#5. "other" (two poor bunker shots back to back)
#6. "other" (sliced the tee shot into oblivion)
#7. Par (short Par 3)
#8. BATTS
#9. 3-putt double (after yet another terrible tee shot) 

C'mon who doesn't love this game??!!??

[Kenny B]

My wife and I played this morning with another couple from the course.  He helps out at the course with mowing and maintenance and about a 5 index.  He can also drive the ball in the 280-320y range; plays from the Blue tees where I used to play, but I moved up to the senior tees last year because it's more fun.  We play with them nearly every weekend.  He and I score pretty close but he's usually a little better than me. He make more birdies; I make fewer doubles... I putt better!    

Today was nearly a mirror image of yesterday's round when I shot 80; today 41/38 for 79.  No birdies today but I did have a sandy par on the par 3 #15 which is our 4th hardest hole    It was nice to finally break 80 again; first time since they punched the greens nearly a month ago.  A couple more weeks and I should be back in the mid-to upper-70's.  My wife shot 85.

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, Rickp said:

That’s a perfect age group

Yep!  We fit right in!  

[Rickp]

10 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Yep!  We fit right in!  

[richk9holes]

Went a little over 1 hour NW today to Somerset County. Found a nice setup called Neshanic Valley GC. When I searched golf now for under $30 walking it popped up. They have an Academy Course that is par 32. Exactly the short walk I wanted. 

Course is in great shape aside from just aerated greens. I played great hitting 4/5 FW 4/9 gir. Lagged and picked up all the putts because the course was booked solid. Carded a 38, +6 gross +1 net on the 9 holes.

[Grand Stranded]

So I played yesterday, shot 87 with 21 points in a net Stableford game, and came in 3rd out of 10 in my flight and won a few bucks, but that’s not the story.

I dodged(?) a bullet yesterday. We were playing the par 5 15th hole and my cart mate and I were left off the fairway by his ball. The other cart was in the fairway, a bit behind us. When one of them hit, I told my buddy to get his club, I’d go to my ball with the cart, and come back for him after we both hit.

I really wasn’t paying attention to what was going on behind me, as I hadn’t noticed a second ball alongside their cart. I stopped, got out and as I was taking a club out of my bag, I heard a whack. I was then struck by a golf ball on my left side, about 5 inches below my nipple area. I’ve never been shot, but I can’t imagine it feeling any different. The pain was incredible. The guy smoked the ball, and I was no more than 15 yards ahead of him. 
It took me a few minutes to recover, and a welt formed right away, but I was able to swing without pain and finish my round. 
Normally I’d be shaking after something like that, but instead I felt extremely grateful. If the ball had struck me by my heart, I might be dead according to a doctor in our group. If it had struck me in the head, or my pretty face? I don’t even want to think about that.

I don’t know if there are rules here regarding religion, so if you’re not be a believer, please forgive me for mentioning Him here, but I have to say I thanked God a bunch of times yesterday, and again today.

[chisag]

8 hours ago, chisag said:

... Reminds me of a hole back I Chicago at The Links of Carillon that was selfishly one of my favorite holes. Called The Gauntlet there was a huge lake on the left and another smaller but equally wet lake on the right. The fairway was not generous and ran at about a 40* angle right to left and you tee off over the water. As someone that naturally plays a draw it looked perfect to my eye as well as suiting my shot shape and I had quite a few eagles on that hole but some others was well. (The 2nd shot has the lake on the left coming around to the entire front of the green so all carry and I dunked more than a few from 200ish yards)

...  But what a nightmare for those that play a fade or worse tend to slice off the tee. My draw was always headed toward the land but a fade or slice was always headed toward the water on the right. Just a brutally difficult hole and when the wind blew the lake was filed with golf balls on both sides.  

 

 

... Found the hole on Google maps. Tees are bottom.middle right between the trees and green far left just over the water:

[richk9holes]

Those people live on scenic "Lake of a Million Balls"

[ZackS]

11 hours ago, pozzit said:

Yea my dad started about 10 years before me he had a good 5 years of beating me as I learned in my teens. We obviously hit a point of my flexibility and strength greatly over powered him not 15 years later him being retired and me with kids has slowed me down and he has dropped a few stokes in the mean time.

My poor dad only got to be better than me for maybe 6 months and has never been all that close since. I still remember one time in hight school since he played so much with me he got to playing his best golf. One round I was not playing all that well and he was playing good. We got done with the front 9 and he realized he beat me by one stroke. I just looked at him and ended up going 1 under on the back and beat him by 6 strokes. 

[MattF]

Played out at Windmill yesterday with @DiscipleofPenick. Great day, mediocre golf.

44/43 87. 

Driver was good, not a lot of fairways but I was just missing them so it wasn't that punishing. Iron were pretty good but I hit a few fliers which were unexpected.

[DiscipleofPenick]

41 minutes ago, MattF said:

Played out at Windmill yesterday with @DiscipleofPenick. Great day, mediocre golf.

44/43 87. 

Driver was good, not a lot of fairways but I was just missing them so it wasn't that punishing. Iron were pretty good but I hit a few fliers which were unexpected.

I have the same pass as @MattF so you'll be hearing from both of us quite a bit. I shot 43/39 for an 82. Hit driver all over the place as well, and very bad chipping day too. Irons were ok, but I missed a lot of greens. Swing really showed up around #14, and I played well down the stretch, and birdied 18 to finish. Weather was fantastic for April, mid 70s and the rain held off till the drive home.

[cksurfdude]

Well I must be starting to swing a little better as the old back is not nearly as sore and stiff and hurting as is typical after golfing .. so, progress..?

But what I wanted to add here, that I forgot to mention in my earlier post about my own crazy up and down 9 holes of whacking the little dimpled spheroid around a golf course...

...my wife / golf partner is getting deadly with her gap wedge around the greens .. scared the hole aka almost chipped in at least 3 or 4 times over 9 holes!!

(..now if I can get her to take lesson so she can start to get a little further off the tee .. there are two tee shots on the front 9 where you need to carry the crest of a hill.....)

[The Mad Bomber]

Played the first 18 of the year yesterday. I don’t put a lot of stock in the score as the conditions were pretty bad and the greens were laughable. 3 bogeys, 1 birdie and a 74. But all the simulator time over the winter paid off and I hit it really well. We’ll be another 3 weeks at least before we can play in conditions where the grass has actually been cut, but at least it was outside, hitting balls off grass!

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I didn't get to post yesterday. I think I have peaked too soon. Saturday was a nice 72 and I followed that up on Sunday with a 71. Three birdies and two bogies. Distance is picking up and GIR's are getting better. 

My son started working full time at the course today.  

[invee123]

Today's round gave me an idea of how it feels to play most par-4 shots out of the fairway vs in the trees or dropping from a slice OB. I played my best round yet (+13) and had the stats to back it up. Really really need to work on 60 yards and in shots as I'm definitely losing strokes not being able to get up and down. 

Played at Colorado National in Erie, CO and it was my first time playing. This course is LONG. Played from the gold tees coming in at ~6800 yards (I usually play in the ~6100 range with my buddies) but something with the driver was clicking as I was carrying most of my drives 280 yards into the fairway. Also only lost 1 ball in the whole round which is also a personal best on 18. I really feel like if I can dial the up and down shots and leave myself 15 feet or closer for birdie putts, I could see that score dropping even more!

8 Fairways, 7 Greens, 33 putts, +13

*Also, I need to start taking pictures at the rounds I play, some of these courses are crazy pretty.

[CFreddie]

7 minutes ago, invee123 said:

Today's round gave me an idea of how it feels to play most par-4 shots out of the fairway vs in the trees or dropping from a slice OB. I played my best round yet (+13) and had the stats to back it up. Really really need to work on 60 yards and in shots as I'm definitely losing strokes not being able to get up and down. 

Played at Colorado National in Erie, CO and it was my first time playing. This course is LONG. Played from the gold tees coming in at ~6800 yards (I usually play in the ~6100 range with my buddies) but something with the driver was clicking as I was carrying most of my drives 280 yards into the fairway. Also only lost 1 ball in the whole round which is also a personal best on 18. I really feel like if I can dial the up and down shots and leave myself 15 feet or closer for birdie putts, I could see that score dropping even more!

8 Fairways, 7 Greens, 33 putts, +13

*Also, I need to start taking pictures at the rounds I play, some of these courses are crazy pretty.

Just looked up this course - it truly is beautiful!  It sounds like you need to get out there again soon for the sake of providing pictures to this community! 

[JerryB]

3 hours ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

I have the same pass as @MattF so you'll be hearing from both of us quite a bit.

Looking forward to it!  Just wanted to take a moment and mention to everyone that this is far and away my favorite thread in this forum.  I really really like reading about people's rounds; how they played, where they played, who they played with, how they felt...all of it!  I always look forward to swapping stories when it's nice out and living vicariously through others when it's not nice out.

[invee123]

17 minutes ago, CFreddie said:

It sounds like you need to get out there again soon for the sake of providing pictures to this community! 

You read my mind, twilight rates w/ cart only ended up being $55 a person and I was still able to get the whole 18 in!

[chisag]

45 minutes ago, JerryB said:

Looking forward to it!  Just wanted to take a moment and mention to everyone that this is far and away my favorite thread in this forum.  I really really like reading about people's rounds; how they played, where they played, who they played with, how they felt...all of it!  I always look forward to swapping stories when it's nice out and living vicariously through others when it's not nice out.

 

... I will be sure and post details of some of my summer rounds when the temperature is 111* or higher. But the pictures will mostly be water bottles and the few shady areas on the course. 

[richk9holes]

@chisag Vicarious living for the self-abusive

[JerryB]

15 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... I will be sure and post details of some of my summer rounds when the temperature is 111* or higher. But the pictures will mostly be water bottles and the few shady areas on the course. 

But it's a dry heat, right?  So it's really not that bad??

[Kenny B]

13 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

So I played yesterday, shot 87 with 21 points in a net Stableford game, and came in 3rd out of 10 in my flight and won a few bucks, but that’s not the story.

I dodged(?) a bullet yesterday. We were playing the par 5 15th hole and my cart mate and I were left off the fairway by his ball. The other cart was in the fairway, a bit behind us. When one of them hit, I told my buddy to get his club, I’d go to my ball with the cart, and come back for him after we both hit.

I really wasn’t paying attention to what was going on behind me, as I hadn’t noticed a second ball alongside their cart. I stopped, got out and as I was taking a club out of my bag, I heard a whack. I was then struck by a golf ball on my left side, about 5 inches below my nipple area. I’ve never been shot, but I can’t imagine it feeling any different. The pain was incredible. The guy smoked the ball, and I was no more than 15 yards ahead of him. 
It took me a few minutes to recover, and a welt formed right away, but I was able to swing without pain and finish my round. 
Normally I’d be shaking after something like that, but instead I felt extremely grateful. If the ball had struck me by my heart, I might be dead according to a doctor in our group. If it had struck me in the head, or my pretty face? I don’t even want to think about that.

I don’t know if there are rules here regarding religion, so if you’re not be a believer, please forgive me for mentioning Him here, but I have to say I thanked God a bunch of times yesterday, and again today.

You were certainly lucky!  Glad to hear you are OK.  I know what it feels like.  Several years ago I was hit on the muscle just below my left arm while driving a cart.  Never saw it coming.  Given where my elbow was with hand of the steering wheel, it wasn't that far from my head.  You could see the Nike swoosh imprinted in my skin.  Happened between the 3rd green and 4th tee.  Fortunately, we had a bag of ice for the beverages, and I immediately put that on... but took it off to make my next swing.    I finished 18 holes and surprisingly the swelling was not too bad.  I was worried because I was leaving the next day for a week golf trip.  I actually think keeping my arm moving in combo with the ice pack helped.

BTW, yesterday our foursome was almost hit 3 times in the first 3 holes.  Nicer weather brings out the muni's finest!!