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Playing just after dawn has its disadvantages. It was cold and the greens were covered in dew. Today I was concentrating on keeping my tee shots in play, playing by feel ( think line/ play line idea) and trying a different putting style.
Hole 0ne; I hit 3W off the tee and got to the corner O.K. It left a distance to the green that was too far for an iron shot, so I faded a 4 Hybrid and it just finished short of the green. Perhaps a draw shape might have rolled on, but possibly through the green! Anyway i chipped on nicely with my 50 degree, leaving a 1.3 m putt. I missed! (bogey)
Hole 2; I got the feel of the swing I wanted, then let one go with the 3W. the flight was good, but start line was a tad too central and the ball rolled off the fairway into the trees, left side. I punched out with the 3H and then hit a 7 iron at the green. I have been drawing my iron shots, but this one went straight…. into the bunker. I slapped the sand and got it onto the green. The first putt rolled up to the hole and stopped ; short! (double bogey)
Hole 3 : I pushed the Driver shot slightly right rough. Having been there before, I felt confident to punch a 3H shot down the fairway. My8 iron approach shot was from a downhill/ above feet lie and was short of the green. The 50 degree chip ran past the pin leaving a downhill slider. I only just missed. ( bogey)
Hole 4&5: I kept the 3W tee shots in play and chipped/ putted fine ( bogey)
Hole 6-9 : tee shots in play ( check), hit 3/4 GIR and putted in for par.
Hole 10: I hit a good draw shape Driver shot, a good 7 iron to be pin high and chipped in with the 50 degree ( birdie). That brought a smile to my face!
Hole 11: I hit a 4 H off the tee to the green and two putted form 5.5 m (par)
Hole 12: The Driver shot was fine, but the 7W at the pin was great. It ended up rolling through the green, so I had to bump it over the raised back of the green an then putted uphill from 9.6 m . The second putt was a tap in. ( bogey)
Hole 13: went well getting to the dogleg corner, then I missed the green left with a 8iron shot into the sun glare. ( like hole 7/ no vision just hit and hope). I did a nice SW chip to 1.5 m and holed it ( par)
Hole 14 : over the water tee shot. I tend to either push it out right or hook with river on this hole. Today I got just enough curve to stay on the right side of the fairway almost. The ball was in a divot, so I thought of trying a 7 iron fade and it worked. A high floater hit the green. ( par)
Hole 15 : I hit a nice tight draw off the tee. Then a 4 Hybrid to the left side of the green. 2 putts from 4.4m ( par)
Hole 16: I hit a fade off the tee( short but in play) then two 3 woods to reach the green, well almost. I chipped in with a 3H for birdie. Who need long Drives!
Hole 17 Drive of the day that rolled into a grass trap. I hit a 6H shot near the green, 50 degree chip and one putt ( par)
Hole 18: decent 3 W fade but didn’t come back enough. (wrong start line) . My chip with PW was good/ 1.5 m from pin and I dropped the putt for par.What did I learn?
1) The putter works better using the gravity golf method. 28 putts is way better than usual.
2) I didn’t try any hero shots when the ball was in a poor lie, accepting that I had to keep the ball in play above all else
3) when I am having a bad driver day, use the 3W off the tee. I can use the 7W to make up for the distance loss on the second shot.
4) I used a small target for each shot and generally played better ( except when I forgot, of course) direction wise.
5) using practice swings until I got the feel I wanted for the shot seemed to help.1 user liked this post.
We had a big night last night at Rotary. It was our club’s 80th birthday. I got to bed around 12 and woke a little hungover, with just enough time to make it to the tee.
How did I play? 4 double bogeys in the front 9 and 2 in the back. All caused by different things. On 2 and 3 I hit poor tee shots and poor second shots. Poor chipping on 7 and 9 cost me extra putts. I rallied towards the end of the back 9. I hit 5pars, 7 bogeys for a 91 OTS(48/43)
Socially it was a fun game. I did use my “midpower” fade to get on the fairways with Driver and I even hit a nice draw on 17 only to roll up onto the grass trap mound again. Putting wasn’t all that bad and I hit the occasional good fairway shot.
Panadol and a good lie down this arvo I think will be in order.
Moral of the story: never drink cheap red wine children!1 user liked this post.
Some cheap red wine is quite good.
It’s not how much in dollars, it’s how much in volume.People say that nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
No championships worth mentioning in recent years.
Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity.I played at 8 :00 a.m. with 3 other brave players. It was overcast and slightly drizzly.
I tried to play conservatively with the intent of keeping my tee shots in play. I pushed the tee shot with Driver on hole 3 just a bit wide. Then on hole 6 and 9 I managed to mistime my 3 Wood tee shots. I suspect I was trying to hit them too hard and lost my rhythm. I over faded my Driver tee shots on holes 12 and 14, leaving less than ideal second shots. 5/18 tee shots not in play.
On the front 9 I hit one birdie ( par 3 8th) and par on the 4th ( happy with that) and the rest all bogeys, except on hole 6 when I struggled off the tee and scored a 6.
On the back 9 I scored 2 pars ( 10 and 13 ) with the 13th latter being a scramble after a poor second shot with 7W. I had a few brain farts when I tried shots that I probably should not have due to my skill level. I managed to have two chip shots on #16 & #14, as well as mishit another 7W shot and 4 Hybrid all costing extra shots.
Score OTS 88 ( 1 birdie, 3 pars, 11 bogeys, 3 doubles) 33 points
2 GIR, one up and down, 32 puttsLooking at my stats from the last game it was obvious that I didn’t keep the ball in play enough off the tee, notably even with the 3 Wood. I think I was trying to hit the ball too hard. I also mishit a few fairway wood and hybrid approach shots.
The other thing I threw away shots on was pitch shots, that I had to repeat twice on two holes. They were inside 65m ( my 100% power SW distance) so I judged the distance/ partial shot needed and got it wrong. My chipping close in and putting was O.K.I had a brief practice session today. Brief because it started to rain. I worked on 3 Wood shots off the tee, 7 Wood fade shots off the deck ( starting line) and partial pitch shots. Tuesday is my next game.
Hey xrman where is your home course where you play all your rounds? I assumed Portland or Heywood?
Portland is my home course, but I do have a hit at Heywood when I can.
I started my game this morning like a champ, making par on the first 4 holes.
I followed with two double bogeys! The chip shot onto the 5th green (par 3) was too short, leaving a long slider to the hole and slide it did down the slope, taking two shots to get it down the hole (5 score) . I must have been a bit weak hitting the tee shot on the dog leg 6th hole. I had to chip around the corner, then hit my approach shot a bit far to the back of the green. I hit the long bump and run with 3H a bit firmly and took two putts to finish with a 6. I got back on track on holes 7,8,9 and finished with 43 score for the front 9 holes.I finished the game like a chump. I managed to screw up the 11th tee shot putting the ball into the trees. I chopped a PW shot out and then a GW shot onto the green, but it was short. I lipped the lag putt out and repeated that with the second putt. Triple bogey on a par 3 again! After that it was bogey golf until the 17th hole, where I 3 putted again. I was off target with the longer putts, and then missed the come back putts. I managed a par on 18 , when I sunk a 3.3m putt.
Score 89 OTS (42/47) 6 pars, 8 bogeys, 4 double +
FW hit 10/14 ( better)
GIR 3/18 not so good
up and downs 3/10
putts 36 ( poor)Two Steps
1) Tee shots worked today/ in play.
2)
One step back
1) fairways shots were a bit wayward again
2) chipping wasn’t accurate enough/ short= longer putts more often and I didn’t get them close/ poor start lines2 users liked this post.
Hey xrman where is your home course where you play all your rounds? I assumed Portland or Heywood?
Portland is my home course, but I do have a hit at Heywood when I can.
Both nice tracks, played them both back in 2020
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I have not had much spare time for golf lately, but next week we are heading for Adelaide again for a 70th birthday party. I recall when I didn’t know anyone that old!
While in the city I hope to get in a few games with my mate Geoff. I have an old $90 Cleveland HiBore Driver to try out and a Wilson Launchpad Fywood that I picked up for $100. Both were FaceBook Market Place purchases in Adelaide. It will possibly take me a while to get used to the Draw biased Tour Edge Bazooka clubs again. I have to aim about 10 m right of target.I had a 18 hole practice round this afternoon. 84 OTS. I hit 6/14 fairways according to Arccos, but in reality there was only one where I had to bump out into play. The App does not think hitting to the preferred side rough on a dog leg hole is good play.
Anyway I was happy to play near my handicap. I hit 9/18 GIR, but failed to get any up and downs. Putting was not brilliant ( 39) but most of the three putts ( 3 in total) were really when I had a very long first putt, cause by a poor approach shot.There was a strong wind from the south east today. My 3W tee shot on hole one went 175 m and so did my 6H second shot. I put a high fade into the downhill green and it kept rolling through the green. Wind assist ( 20 m) estimated. Oops! I managed a par on hole 2, after a tidy 3W off the tee and a 4H to the green ad 2 putt. I followed that up with a par on hole 3 , but I missed the green on hole 4 ( wind?) for a bogey. I hit the green on #5 with a 3W shot for a par, but then the rot set in. The wind assist on the tee shot ( 3W 196m) , caused me to re club for the approach and went through the green with a 9 i shot. The first 3 putt followed for a bogey.
Hole #7 was a repeat, with the 9 i going though the green again. So much for amateurs always being short! Another 3 putt followed for a double bogey this time. Then standing on the windy tee box on #8 I clubbed up, but didn’t hit it hard enough and ended up short in a bunker. Bogey again! I tried to swing easy on tee #9 , but overdid it. Too easy= 134m with a 3 Wood! Oh dear. I put the 4Hybrid shot onto the green and then two putted from uphill 9 metres out. The par impressed my playing partners no end, as they took 4 shots to reach the green.
The back 9 started well with par after a prodigious 9i ( 141m) onto the green. Yes the wind was blowing still. I was happy to get my tee shot on 11 onto the green for another par. I hit a decent tee shot on 12, but the fade on the second shot was a tad too much. I was short sided, but used the LW to get onto the green OK ( a bit long) , but I putted back for a bogey.
Hole 13 ( par 5 dogleg right) was fine until I was on the green. I missed a sitter second putt! I took it too casually. I made par on 14 over the dam, but on 15 my second shot wasn’t great. I escaped with a bogey. same on #16, two good shots and the approach was a bit erratic. I missed left side and had to chip on. The tee shot on #17 was into the setting sun and I heard it hit a tree, but where? I had aimed left at the tree and hoped to fade it away. Obviously it didn’t fade and I had to bump it back out with 3H ( 110 m) , leaving about 50 m to go. I finished with two bogeys.1 user liked this post.
Fun was had this morning at the Marion Golf park at the top of Brighton road in Adelaide. The fairways have a lot of uphill and downhill sections, as well as side slopes. Being the end of summer, the ground is hard and the greens have recently been cored. The greens were bumpy and slow, so getting the ball somewhere near the hole was a feat on some holes, only to see it deflect at weird angles. The green fees are cheap and the view of the Adelaide coastline superb as compensation.
After a few hits with my new to me Cleveland Hibore Driver I was impressed with its performance . I was hitting fairways at reasonable distance. It was a good buy at $90. My tee shot on the downhill par 3 was a towering draw, using another new to me club ( Wilson Launchpad FW= 19 hybrid). It hit the green and super balled off into the distance. Oh well!
It took me a while to get used to the Hybrid-irons’ ( Tour Edge Bazookas) heavy feel and draw bias. Despite the unpredictable greens, the PowerBilt long shafted putter was working for me. I had a few tee shots with my 30 year old X stiff shafted mini driver 11.5 degree. It worked for low flat fade shots.Tomorrow we will play the Executive course at West Beach, next to the airport. 15 holes , no par 5 holes.
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Today we played at the Vines course near Reynella ( south of Adelaide).
It is a very pretty course with undulating fairways, good sand traps and excellent greens. We got a cancellation tee time at 7:56 and only just made it in time. Needless to say that the first hole was a disaster hole ( triple bogey) after I pushed my tee shot into the pine tree needles and failed to escape. I followed that with a short pitch onto the green, leaving a long first putt that went whistling by the hole ( fast++) and two to get back down the hole. We did improve as the game progressed. I even scored a birdie on a par 5. Best aspect was the distance control I got using only a 3,5,7,9,SW. it was Cross training at its best. I had to choke down and fade a few shots to get the distance I needed. The Tour Edge exotics Bazooka hybrid irons are a bit of a one trick pony. You want draw? How much draw do you want? Fade? What? Why would you want to do that? I did manage a few good fades off the tee with the the old 11.5 mini-driver I have in the bag. I got out of the sand traps reliably. It is so much easier with deeper loose sand in the trap.
I have decided to sell the Tour Edge Bazookas. They have been fun, but surplus to current requirements.
9 Holes at Mundubbera. Golf Club nice little country course.
course has is 4 par 3’s which includes 3 in a row, 4,th 160m over water 5th 118m ,& 6th 195m and 9th 165m.
3 x par 4’s 1st = 386m 3 rd 400m 8th 283m
2x par 5’s 2nd 540 m up hill and 7th 490m uphill.greens slow, as are all Qld greens, fairways not closely cut, and pot holes in many, no bunkers. lots of sloping lies. but a well maintained course run by volunteers, and $10 green fees.
I was a good fun hit on a nice sunny morning. not sure of score as played 2 balls.
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I hit an 86 on Thursday’s comp. Weather cold, and slightly wet. Carry distance was down about 10 m. Hello winter conditions!
I started out slowly with two bogeys, then a par on the par 5 third hole. Then for a multitude of reasons I hit three doubles in a row. I hit the tee shot on hole 4 to a position behind a tree, then fatted a iron shot approach shot. On hole 5 I hit a ripper tee shot onto the green, then 4 putted! On 6 I hit a good tee shot, then leaked the approach shot right into some thick buffalo type grass. My chip was a fail. The grass grabbed the club and the ball trickled half way to the green. I got back into control and scored 6 more pars and the rest bogeys.
Two Steps forward
1) I hit 8/14 fairways, all but one tee shot in play.
2) 9/18 GIROne step back
1) three doubles ( poor tee shot, poor chipping, chunked two approach shots, poor putting) and some poor putting from 8-12 m.
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