Today’s practice round. 83 OTS. Only one double bogey and even that was not too bad. I hit more fairways, 8 pars, got up and down 5 times, and 5 one putts. I was happy with that.

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Can break 80

The Vets game didn’t start off too well. My tee shot over faded and hit a tree on the right side of the fairway, but at least I got back into play this time, only to 3 putt for a triple bogey ( wipe) . Back on track the rest of the front nine, I hit 3 pars and 4 bogeys for a 44 OTS. I started the back nine well enough with a couple of bogeys, then a 3 putt on a par three for a double bogey. It was one of those convex greens that we all struggled to find the hole. Then on hole #15 I tried a 4W shot form the fairway hoping to hit the green 170 m away. I mishit it and the ball ran into the bush. I bashed it out into t he open and then tried a 50 % 6 Hybrid shot that almost made it up the steep green verge , but then rolled back down. I chipped it up and one putted= double bogey. All risk and no reward. Next hole ( par 5) I played conservatively and hit a birdie. There is a lesson there! Next hole I tried a 7 W approach intot eh green and left it out right too much ad hit a tree. The ball landed in the one section of the fairway with no grass. I was playing off dirt, and it took me 3 shots to go 70 m. Triple bogey again. I would have been better off using a partial hybrid shot and rolled the ball up to the green!! Instead I tried the ” perfect ” wedge shot. Dumb! The last hole I mishit a 7W approach shot, then took two shots to get onto the green . Another double bogey! 47 OTS , making for a 91 total.

I hit 10/14 fairways, but many of them I hit heel side of the Driver face. I hit 4/18 GIR and up and down 2/12. One birdie, 4 pars, 8 bogeys, 5 doubles >.

I hit 4 dud shots outside 100 m ( two 4 W , two 7 W) from less than ideal lies/ should have used the hybrids.
Poor placement with Driver = 3 , costing extra shots
3 putting twice ( one was a stupid short putt that I jabbed at and it ran sideways)
Shots inside 100m that didn’t work= 6, mainly short of the green.

I think I will have to start warming up in the nets at courses that do not offer practice areas. I muck up the first tee shot too often.

Nope! Another poor start in the first 4 holes ( scored 6,6,6,6) 3 doubles and one bogey. Oh dear!
I regrouped in the latter part of the game, scoring 4 pars and the rest bogeys. Scored 89 OTS (46/43) / 33 points.
My mental state was not great today and it reflected in making a few poor decisions on shots/ club choice.

What went wrong?
Poor position from tee shot causing extra shots =7
Poor shots inside 100 m = 5
Poor shots outside 100 m =4
Putts / hole >2 = 3

Peppas wrote:

Have you seen any koalas at Heywood? That’s all I remember from the round I had there…

Koalas are plentiful around our district. Years ago I was part of a Land Care group that duplicated farm fence lines and planted habitat trees. We connected the Cobboboonee forest to the town. Now the Koalas live in Portland city in fairly high numbers, sometimes even walking into the shopping area. we have one male that likes to use our tree outside the bedroom for his personal bordello in mating season.

With the Blue gum plantations and plentiful water we have seen a migration south of the wallaby from central Victoria and an explosion in the numbers of roos. The panel beaters are happy, but the roos have cleaned up about 8 cyclists and motorcyclists in the past years (me included)

So, yes there are Koalas at the Heywood golf course. Every ball that I hit into the trees that rebound back onto the fairway I attribute to friendly Koalas throwing it back.

I have not had the opportunity to play golf for the last few days. There has been a 4 day carnival on at Portland and we had visitors. My brother-in-law and I did manage a ” try croquette” session while the ladies were looking at the wonderful dahlia display adjacent.

Today I go out prior to the 11 a.m. competition start and did 18 holes by myself. I have been struggling keeping my tee shots in play lately. To get a centred strike on the Driver I had added a 1 inch width of blue painting tape to the end of the handle. This stuff feels slippery and you can feel if you creep back up to the end of the grip after a few practice swings. (i.e. my bad habit= heel strikes) . I also worked out that if I set up so that the centre of the Driver was level with the ball at address with outstretched arms, I got a reliable centre strike. I was watching a Mike Melaska video where he suggested doing several swings above the ball to get the feel of the shot you want to do. Then the idea was to do one down at ball level and then execute the shot with commitment. I tried this method today and it worked very well. I hit some of the best tee shots I have done for ages.

Putting; I have improved. My side saddle stance with a arm lock method, using the unusual looking Arc Master putter, has been cause for a few comments. Now that I am draining the occasional long putt and not missing others by much, a few players have asked to use my putter. It is totally useless for a conventional putter though.

Chipping; I had some success leaving the ball closer to the hole. What I had been doing previously was to concentrate on hitting my landing spot on the green and not much else. Often the ball would either be short or be misdirected. Today I was identifying the landing spot, how high it had to fly and where it was to finish. Visualization! The human brain is a powerful tool it seems.

Iron shot approaches; I tend to pull these by swinging around my body too much. So I used the swing above the ball thing and tried to finish with high hands and it was better.

4 Wood over drawing issue; I used the blue tape to make the shaft 43 inches and swung out to the right side of the target less, using a intermediate point. Better.!

I am on Pa duty this week, so no comps to try out these things to see if I can score better.

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Can break 80