What'd You Shoot Today?

[SoMoneyMuchWin]

Yesterday I shot a new best 85.  Previous best was 89.  Front 9 - 42.  I blew hole 3 after a good drive by choosing one club too strong and pulling left and hitting a chip short of the green resulting in a double.  Back 9 - 43.  For a brief moment I was thinking about the possibility of a 79, but then I sliced a drive, tried a hero shot twice after an initial duff instead of hitting back onto the fairway and doubled hole 16.  I still had a shot at breaking 40 on 9 holes for the first time, but on the last hole, a long par 3, I hit my tee shot left behind a tree.  I then hit into the bunker and lost my short lived improved bunker game and took 3 shots to get out of the bunker.  I ended up with a +4.   Thankfully, I had a good cushion.

 

 

[Golfbit2X]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:27 PM, Golfbit2X said:

Went down in flames/epic collapse on the 18th hole with a 9 on a Par 5 (540 yds.) for a 95 (17 handicaper) at Eisenhower Park - White course.

I was on cruise control for a little bit on the back nine, playing bogey golf on the last 5 holes until I got to the 18th.

 

Drive was hooked left with the ball settling halfway decent on a slight uphill grassy berm in front of the sand trap about 278 yards away.

 

I thought I got a really good break on my drive after the ball was able to roll out of the sand trap.

 

Made a bad choice of pulling my 3 Wood for a hero shot on my second strooke to get it close to hopefully make an 80 yard 3rd shot.

 

Didn't go as planned as I hit the worst shot of my round with my 3 Wood shot that flared way left over the tree line on the left towards the rough on hole # 1 of the Blue course.

 

Against the odds, I was able to find my ball so I thought the golf gods were smiling at me but obviously not learning from my last shot selection, I got a bit greedy again and made another consecutive wrong choice on my 3rd shot to play another hero shot 150 yards away - a fade using a 7-iron through a small window on the tree line to my right instead of a less difficult low 4-iron shot underneath the tree line.

 

The ball headed straight for the treeline and never came down, probably stuck somewhere up in the tree top for another lost ball.

 

My fourth shot 85 yards away was short finding the front bunker close to the front edge that was just enough to make a downswing. 

 

Miraculously, I was able to get a half-decent shot out of the bunker with the ball finding the front edge of the green.

 

Two-putted for nine to close-out the round with a whimper....

 

The silver linning for me is that I get to go for shots that I would never attempt at any of my golf league tournaments and more importantly, to take this as a learning experience to get better.

 

Another silver linning for me is I was able to hit 8 out of 14 (57%) fairways which is one less than my personal best of 9 out of 13 (69%) that I accomplished close to 2 years ago (09/25/2021) during a league tournament that helped me win by 3 shots for my second win of the year.

 

The difference between the two is with the latter, I used my driver sparingly and opted to use my 5-iron instead as part of my game plan as water was in play for a majority of the holes. On the former, I never used anything else except my driver so in a way, I can consider it as a personal best.

 

Went back to Eisenhower Park - White (East Meadow, NY) course unnexpectedly last 08/26/2023 for some payback after getting walloped last 08/21/2023.

 

I had originally made a Bethpage State Park - Red course reservation at 4:06 PM but Mother Nature had other ideas. 

 

It rained earlier in the morning that was heavy enough for Bethpage State Park to close down all 5 courses including the Red.

 

Scrambled to find an alternative course to play and fortunately Eisenhower Park made a better call and decided to do a delayed opening at 11am with restrictions prohibiting golf carts but allowed walking.

 

Missed my 4:20 PM reservation as a single after taking care of some household chores and walking my dog. I was able to get on the course by 4:50 PM (last flight of the day) after requesting a twilight rate of $25 instead of the full rate of $47.

 

Due to the walking only restriction, the White course wasn't busy at all, probably because the majority of golfers prefer to ride rather than walk so that worked in my favor.

 

With sunset at around 7:30 PM, I had around 2 hours and 40 minutes of daylight to complete 18 holes.

 

On top of that, I also had two flights ahead of me with each flight having 4 golfers each.

 

Nevetheless, I had a couple of advantages that I was able to leverage. 

 

Advantage one, Eisenhower Park White as well as the Blue course are unique courses that has "twin Par 3s" on the front nine with the White course having two sets of twin Par 3s on holes 5 and 8.

 

By design, these twin Par 3s allow faster groups to "overtake" slower groups so I was able to overtake the first group on hole # 5 (1st shot was a pull left but made a good pitch to less than 15 feet to be able to two-putt for bogey) and then the second group on hole # 8 (GIR on 1st shot, two-putt for Par).

 

Advantage two, I've been playing "Night Golf" for more than a year so the lack of sunlight was not an issue with me as I've outfitted my Clicgear 3.5+ powered by Alphard Club Booster V2 with high intensity LED lights.

I played holes # 15 to 18 after sunset, shooting 2 over - Bogey (par 4), Bogey (par 4), Par (par 3) and Par (par 5).

 

I had made a 9 the last time I played the 18th so I had great satisfaction in making a Par. I actually missed a Birdie putt of less than 15 feet so there was a small tinge of disappointment as well. 

 

I played decently, scoring 89 (+17) to match my handicap. 

 

More importantly, I was able to match my FIR (fairways in regulation) last 8/21, hitting 8/14 fairways for 57%. Putting was also much better, matching my best putting performance in a tournament at 31 putts.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Golfbit2X

[me05501]

Played on Saturday at Old Toccoa Farm in the North Georgia mountains. It was my second visit to OTF so I had a little better idea of where to miss (and especially where not to do so). 

 

I ended up with a 41/42=83 which was pretty much right on my index.

 

It's a course where you're going to have a triple bogey here and there if you get out of position. I had one triple on each side and one double overall to go against two birdies. 

[Port and Starboard]

Yesterday, a 91 from the senior tees.........................😆 on the second round of the  City Amateur Tournament.  Normal round is around 74-77 

 

I  jammed left hand middle finger really bad towards the end of Saturday's round so I was basically hitting the ball with my thumb and index finger on my right and using a interlock grip to relax the middle finger on my left hand.   It didn't go well at all on Sunday but I had fun playing and hooking up with old friends.  Hit 4 shanks with a sand wedge, and 1 more with a 7 iron.

 

Had a xray done this morning at the Naval Hospital and the doctor said that there is no break. (bone contusion)  Should be fine in 2-3 weeks as long as I don't injure it any further.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Port and Starboard

[Mrgreen36]

Another league sub, another 39. Had a few holes when a storm was moving north of us and had 30mph winds. One hole location had to be on a 6% slope, lots of 4 putts on that green today. 

[iutodd]

36 (+1). 
 

3 bogies. 2 birdies. 
 

Really happy with where my game is. Goal is to shoot par this year. 

[rooski]

New record for me yesterday after work, pretty stoked!

 

I missed a 3 footer on #1 and a 4 footer on #14 for birdie as well, dangit!

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by rooski

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

I shot a 97 on Monday.

I was a little peeved because I broke my rhythm and fell apart as it warmed up in the back 9.

Started off the day at 42/+6 on the front, and felt like I was set up well for the back. We stopped to eat lunch and it proved to be a critical error. It broke my rhythm and focus and shot a 55 on the back 9. The easiest of shots were suddenly the toughest and I couldn't make even decent contact.

Meh.... LOL.

[st1800e]

86, after 81 the day before, and 77 the day before that.  
I'm trending, but in a bad way……

[STank724]

Personal best today. +6 78 at Chambers Bay. Have been grinding to break 80 and happy to check it off the list at a special place.

[smashdn]

Sort of had driver behaving and shot 88.  

 

Two bad drives cost me most of the strokes.  On our fourth hole the hole turns right to left down a hill but there is a pair of really tall pine trees that prevent you from just hitting it straight along the proper line.  If you do aim right and hit it straight you are blocked out for your second or end up in gunch and trees to the right of the fairway.  I cannot for the life of me figure out what I need to do on this hole.  I have tried an iron but I can push fade those and end up not only blocked out on the righthand side but also a long way back.  Driver I tend to fade as well.  So yesterday I hit three-wood just to see.  It came out low and under the branches on the first pine but caught one on the second and shot my ball hard right across the fairway.  Ended up with 6 on that par four.

 

Next blow up was on 14.  OB left and a parallel hole right with pines between the holes.  I duck hooked it left ob.  Whacking three off the tee now.  Got it in the fairway but short.  Scuffled next shot down and right on a slope on the other side of the trees.  6i didn't get through but dropped on a bare spot under the trees.  Did hit a nice low ground cut that rolled through the green.  Up and down from there.  Snowman.

 

Had three birdie putts.  Two in the makeable range.  One opportunity I three jacked for a bogey.  

 

Lots to clean up still.  Driver for me is the wildcard.  When I get my drive in play I am decent enough with my wedges and irons to be on or near the green always.  If driver is lost so am I.

[Golfbit2X]

Played in my golf league tourney at Bethpage Red yesterday.

 

Beautiful day, temperature was in the low 70s with a slight breeze.

 

Shot 45 + 45 for a 90, finishing in the 16th spot in my division. 

 

I was expecting a higher finish as the last two practice rounds I've played showed that I'm finally in a groove with my driver, hitting 8/14 (57%) on both rounds.

 

Wasted another opportunity by regressing again, hooking two successive drives on the last two holes of the front nine, losing balls that led to double bogeys on both holes.

 

Putting was good but I missed at least 3 four footers. 

 

It also didn't help shanking the ball twice, once during a 130 yard approach on hole #2 and the other from less than 40 yards in one of the back nine holes. 

 

Two of the most frustrating holes for me was making double bogey from the greenside fringe/1st cut playing birdie. I should have at least made Par or Bogey. 

 

One of these two frustrating holes was hole # 11.

 

I used my trusty Utility Wood to hit my 2nd shot on Hole # 11 from the first cut of rough. It wasn't a great shot as I hit it thin.

 

Predictably, it came out low and hot but direction was on point as it still tracked for the middle of the green, finishing up nestled against the first cut and the half inch greenside rough. 

 

Putting was out of the question so I decided to use what I've seen Pros do in this situation which was to intentionally blade it with my 56 degree wedge. 

 

This was my first time attempting it so I was thankful that I didn't mishit it, rolling true without bouncing.

 

Unfortunately, speed was too much from a spot that was downhill 45+ feet away. 

 

The ball finished about 10 feet away on the front first cut of the green. 

 

Three putted from there for a disappointing double bogey.

 

My other frustrating hole was hole # 13 that had a double fairway. Picked the right side fairway and promptly hooked my drive again into the fairway bunker. 

 

Thankfully, the ball was in a really good spot, 148 yards away, good enough for an unobstructed flight path but the stance was dicey as I had to dig in slightly from the bunker's raised edge area. 

 

Made a good choice with a 6 iron to maximize distance in case I hit it fat. The strike was good enough to reach the front apron about less than 15 yards away from the pin. 

 

Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice by using a putter instead of using my 56 degree wedge as the ball finished on the left side fringe about 7 feet away.

 

NOTE TO SELF: Use wedge even if the lie is decent if multiple breaks are in the way. 

 

The Bethpage Red greens are on the average, relatively tame in terms of undulations except for this particular hole which I underestimated as I had to negotiate a multiple break path to the hole, from uphill then left to right. 

 

Putt # 2 was not good, finishing 5 feet past the hole. Two putted from there for a deflating 6.

 

Btw, my putting metrics is based on how the PGA Tour does it, as I only count my putts when on the green. 

 

All in all, I left 5 shots on the course that would have tied me for the lead with 4 other guys at +15...

 

One silver linning/consolation prize was that I managed to avoid making any triple bogeys in this round.

 

In fact, I don't even remember having achieved this metric which shows that I managed to grind it out and stay in the fight, not giving up or lose concentration at all and made good on the last hole where I finished strong with a Par.

 

With the Par, I was able to improve my standing by 2 spots, from 18th to 16th place. 

 

This is really important for me not to lose composure as it will obviously affect your game and traumatize your experience. 

 

I was one of 3 guys in our flight and I felt sorry for the other guy who lost his cool multiple times, throwing clubs, etc. 

 

Another guy from a flight in front of us went a step further, quitting his round on hole # 12.

 

Having seen these events unfold multiple times not only in this tournament but other tournaments in my golf league makes me appreciate my patience and mindset to persevere.

 

For me, golf is not only a game of physical skills but also, more importantly, a game that tests our mental fortitude. 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Golfbit2X

[the bishop]

One of these things is not like the other.  Lol.

[8602081]

Best score for the year for me..

 

75..

 

5 birdies and 8 bogies..

 

The difference was my putting.. I think I made 5 putts that are longer than 12 ft...

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by 8602081

[elwhippy]

74 gross. Putter was hot. 

[golfheaven69]

80, can’t stay away from doubles. One over going to 8 and doubled 8 and 9. So so on the back nine. Golf can be frustrating. 

[bpdhlbrg]

72 (+1) today. A personal best for me from the II tees, but I feel like it could have been so much better. I was just flushing everything all day and kept giving myself looks. I rolled in a 20 footer for birdie on #1 and a 50 footer for birdie on #3. While I made a few lengthy par saves, I had two three putts and missed seven more birdie putts that were inside 20 feet, including three straight inside 10 feet to finish the round. #17 was a nasty 270* lip out. Any one of those would have put me at even par.

 

Given the two long birdies early and the long par saves, it was probably a statistically above average putting day for a 3 handicap. It just felt like garbage in comparison to my ball striking. Really weird how your brain works that way. I love this game.

[me05501]

Scraped out an 80 today. Missed a few short putts 😕

[Ghostwedge]

On 9/1/2023 at 12:41 AM, STank724 said:

Personal best today. +6 78 at Chambers Bay. Have been grinding to break 80 and happy to check it off the list at a special place.

Chambers Bay is a special place. I've flown half way across the country to play there 6 times now. Also love Gold Mountain courses and New Castle, etc.

[Roejye]

45 today with 2 penalties on pitches that I either just completely lost touch on or peeked and bladed over the green ob. Overall pretty proud of my score especially considering it had been 9 days or so since I last played. I just had absolutely no touch in the short game. The lack of consistent playing or practice time really showed up today. 

 

Looking back at the scorecard though I had 15 putts. It's funny because I didn't feel like it was on today, but I putted pretty well. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Roejye

[me05501]

Hey-yoooo first time under 10 in my life. Hope I can push it lower. 
 

[Ghostwedge]

5 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Hey-yoooo first time under 10 in my life. Hope I can push it lower. 
 

Now the fun begins....

One more fairway, one more green in regulation, one less chunked wedge shot, NO 3 putts and that occasional ball OB. That's all it takes, add or eliminate one of those things per rd and the cap drifts down. You got this.

[me05501]

1 hour ago, Ghostwedge said:

Now the fun begins....

One more fairway, one more green in regulation, one less chunked wedge shot, NO 3 putts and that occasional ball OB. That's all it takes, add or eliminate one of those things per rd and the cap drifts down. You got this.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I know you're right. 

In each of my last two rounds I've missed putts inside 2' because I was "just going to clean this up" and didn't focus on making the putt. Now I'm committed to marking those and taking my time. If I internalize a few more lessons like that I think I can keep moving my number down. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by me05501

[8602081]

Played 9 holes last night after work at Blue Ash Golf course..

 

Shot 37, 2 birdies and 3 bogies...

 

2 birdies from 20ft putts on both..  Not sure how long it's going to last, but my putting has gotten lot better..  Now, I just need to avoid bogies and I might be able to get sub par round..

 

[Phabs]

Got in a quick nine at lunch - shot 33 with a lost ball bogey and two lipped birdie putts from inside 10ft. 

[NoTalentLefty]

41/38 79 got 7 strokes on the whites. So it went well. One birdie and one 3 putt on a GIR. Parred a hole I never parred before. It’s a mental thing. 

[st1800e]

On 9/2/2023 at 9:52 AM, Golfbit2X said:

Played in my golf league tourney at Bethpage Red yesterday.

 

Beautiful day, temperature was in the low 70s with a slight breeze.

 

Shot 45 + 45 for a 90, finishing in the 16th spot in my division. 

 

I was expecting a higher finish as the last two practice rounds I've played showed that I'm finally in a groove with my driver, hitting 8/14 (57%) on both rounds.

 

Wasted another opportunity by regressing again, hooking two successive drives on the last two holes of the front nine, losing balls that led to double bogeys on both holes.

 

Putting was good but I missed at least 3 four footers. 

 

It also didn't help shanking the ball twice, once during a 130 yard approach on hole #2 and the other from less than 40 yards in one of the back nine holes. 

 

Two of the most frustrating holes for me was making double bogey from the greenside fringe/1st cut playing birdie. I should have at least made Par or Bogey. 

 

One of these two frustrating holes was hole # 11.

 

I used my trusty Utility Wood to hit my 2nd shot on Hole # 11 from the first cut of rough. It wasn't a great shot as I hit it thin.

 

Predictably, it came out low and hot but direction was on point as it still tracked for the middle of the green, finishing up nestled against the first cut and the half inch greenside rough. 

 

Putting was out of the question so I decided to use what I've seen Pros do in this situation which was to intentionally blade it with my 56 degree wedge. 

 

This was my first time attempting it so I was thankful that I didn't mishit it, rolling true without bouncing.

 

Unfortunately, speed was too much from a spot that was downhill 45+ feet away. 

 

The ball finished about 10 feet away on the front first cut of the green. 

 

Three putted from there for a disappointing double bogey.

 

My other frustrating hole was hole # 13 that had a double fairway. Picked the right side fairway and promptly hooked my drive again into the fairway bunker. 

 

Thankfully, the ball was in a really good spot, 148 yards away, good enough for an unobstructed flight path but the stance was dicey as I had to dig in slightly from the bunker's raised edge area. 

 

Made a good choice with a 6 iron to maximize distance in case I hit it fat. The strike was good enough to reach the front apron about less than 15 yards away from the pin. 

 

Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice by using a putter instead of using my 56 degree wedge as the ball finished on the left side fringe about 7 feet away.

 

NOTE TO SELF: Use wedge even if the lie is decent if multiple breaks are in the way. 

 

The Bethpage Red greens are on the average, relatively tame in terms of undulations except for this particular hole which I underestimated as I had to negotiate a multiple break path to the hole, from uphill then left to right. 

 

Putt # 2 was not good, finishing 5 feet past the hole. Two putted from there for a deflating 6.

 

Btw, my putting metrics is based on how the PGA Tour does it, as I only count my putts when on the green. 

 

All in all, I left 5 shots on the course that would have tied me for the lead with 4 other guys at +15...

 

One silver linning/consolation prize was that I managed to avoid making any triple bogeys in this round.

 

In fact, I don't even remember having achieved this metric which shows that I managed to grind it out and stay in the fight, not giving up or lose concentration at all and made good on the last hole where I finished strong with a Par.

 

With the Par, I was able to improve my standing by 2 spots, from 18th to 16th place. 

 

This is really important for me not to lose composure as it will obviously affect your game and traumatize your experience. 

 

I was one of 3 guys in our flight and I felt sorry for the other guy who lost his cool multiple times, throwing clubs, etc. 

 

Another guy from a flight in front of us went a step further, quitting his round on hole # 12.

 

Having seen these events unfold multiple times not only in this tournament but other tournaments in my golf league makes me appreciate my patience and mindset to persevere.

 

For me, golf is not only a game of physical skills but also, more importantly, a game that tests our mental fortitude. 

 

A young pro makes it into a tournament.  Plays a couple practice rounds with an older pro thats been on the tour for years. Old pro gives him some advice and tips on how to play well, now that he's on the tour.  

After the first round, they cross paths, the old pro asks "how'd you do?"  young says "well, on the first hole.." Old pro  " I have to stop you there, 90% of the guys out here don't care what you shot, and the other 10% wish you shot higher". 

[TheBiles]

The range was closed when I showed up to the course today, and I think my scorecard shows it (11.6 cap for reference).  I really need to come up with a better warm-up when I can’t hit any balls. 

 

[smashdn]

Fooled around and shot an 80 this afternoon. No birdies and had one double where I had a lost ball (went back to the tee since the course was empty and reloaded, after I hit my approach shot, fourth, I went back for one more look see and found my original ball but still counted the lost ball).

 

Knock on wood I drove the ball pretty darn decent.

 

Since I got back to playing regularly my handicap has dropped from 13.4 down to (projected) 11.6.  I don't want to jinx it but never in my dreams would I have thought I would have had a chance at single digits.

[dashanks]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:33 PM, st1800e said:

A young pro makes it into a tournament.  Plays a couple practice rounds with an older pro thats been on the tour for years. Old pro gives him some advice and tips on how to play well, now that he's on the tour.  

After the first round, they cross paths, the old pro asks "how'd you do?"  young says "well, on the first hole.." Old pro  " I have to stop you there, 90% of the guys out here don't care what you shot, and the other 10% wish you shot higher". 

That's what I was thinking.  I guess I'm just a cynical old geezer.  I had a buddy who used to play about 4 times a week (I play once), and he would always rattle off the scores he hit when we weren't playing together.   No matter how many times I told him I don't care, he always reported them to me.  I think that people basically care about their own scores.  That's it.  It's not a bad thing.  Nothing personal.  But I can promise anybody who posts a score here that I don't care.  I am reading them, though.  So that says something.  But I think it's more out of curiosity than anything.   And truthfully, when somebody says that he hit a 66 or the like, my initial reaction is that I hate his guts.