Well it was good to be outside today but it was just one of those days. Went pinseeking on #1 today with a wedge, ball hit a sprinkler head bounced str8 up in the air into the bunker. I went in every thing great. The bunker was frozen bladed over the green 50 yds…lol. We have a testy par3…plays 218 today. Stuck a 20* hybrid to 3 ft… missed the putt when a bug landed in the line and the ball went 2 inches offline from 3 ft. Shall I go on? But I just love being outside. We play 3 nines, the 3rd 9 came in 37…first 18… 84… No mojo anywhere… U know the scoring just isn’t gonna be great when 2x today I putted to less than a foot and the guys go pick it up and you still want to tap it in just because and you miss by over an inch…lol. I did hit 2 drivers today down the shoot 251 and 254. Only got up to 96mph but SF was 1.56 on both. So that’s optimistic.
Mostly just not practicing enough. The bermuda greens are starting to grow a bit from dormancy and the speed has changed some over the last few weeks. Not reading the grain well enough and trusting it, left several lag putts woefully short. Felt like I hit some good short to mid-range putts. Hitting greens is great, but having 50-60 footers that I’m leaving 10 ft away instead of 3-5’ away killed me.
golfingbrock - that’s a great round and struck me as very familiar after my round yesterday.
+3 - 74
13 out of 14 FW’s
14 - GIR
3- Three putts
1- Birdie
My chipping was not bad but those 3 putts!!! I, like you, left two very short and then hit one 6’ past.
That said, I could not be happier about my driving and especially my irons which have been the weakest part of my game since I started playing 4 years ago. I have never hit that many greens. I will say this,. I think Ben Hogan was right - the Driver is the most important shot because it sets everything else up and it if I don’t hit my driver well everything else suffers.
Golf is a grand game!!
very nice
little better speed control on the greens and you will be posting some red numbers!
Tee times tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon at Wednesday at 9:30. First time on a course since October. Excited as hell to get out for a nice stroll, be with a couple friends, and try my new S20 ‘toy’. May even hit a good shot now and then.
In the same vein, just booked my first tee time of the year! getting out with my dad for an after work 9. Super excited!
Inaugural round of 2021 in the books. The weather was low 60’s, partly sunny, calm; normal March Buffalo weather. 
Aside that the round was a scoring disaster, it was a four hour teaching “moment”.
- I cannot hit a draw off the tee to save my life. I was consistently good with power fade off tee. I can live with that.
- I (eventually) set into a good pre-shot iron routine; weight slightly to front foot and eye “focusing” on front point of ball. This seemed to help with establishing low point and rotation.
- I hit a lot of nGIR 60* shots today. When I kept wrists firm, no wrist cock, I came in shallow and had much better results.
- I think I made good use of Jon’s “hit to back edge of green” philosophy and getting familiarized with first use of Garmin S20. Incidentally, Jon is on to something…
- Despite “furry” greens, I putted well today. I had only one three-putt and it was truly a user-error in alignment and speed.
- I made a half dozen or so mental errors, but I think a lot of them were attributable to wrestling with game and unfamiliarity with course.
Tomorrow, I’m at it again, but at a much more familiar course. Today it was riding cart for reasons. Tomorrow will be push cart. It’ll be interesting to see how fatigue will play into back nine shot making.
Yesterday I had to start on the 4th due to a kids clinic using the first few holes. Equalled my best ever score of 8 over. Set a new low putting round of 23 putts. At the first I chipped in for a birdie and on the 3rd, my last hole, and index 1 I hit a 7i from 150m to 2ft. After sunset and I saw it drawing towards the left bunkers but couldn’t see it land. So lucky. 9 pars and 2 birdies with no 3 putts. Wasn’t my best tee to green round (6 off my best) but another amazing round.
Wednesday’s round was almost as entertaining. Starting conditions were cool and light drizzle. Still, for March, damned fine Buffalo weather.
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Greens were recently aerated and top dressed, so pfft. It was good practice to keep putter face on line and the “firming” short putts into back of hole.
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Drove very well on front nine. Fade after fade, fairway after fairway. On back nine I was screwing around with draw ‘swing’ and results were quite poor. Fortunately, the next week or so look like golf dome days, so I’ll have time to quit screwing around with my driver shape and settle on something.
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Maintaining the weight distribution and focal point is leading to higher quality of iron strikes. Using S20 to lock in on yardage to back of green is really helpful.
I pushed my 30lb bag, plus whatever a three-wheel cart weighs around for 5.5 miles. A bit gassed at the end, but good practice to fend off fatigue by focusing on one shot at a time to finish the last few holes. Pretty sure Jon and Adam wouldn’t call it grit, but it was good practice for staying in the moment.
First round at my home course for 2021 is in the books. I shot 75 (+7). It was cold, windy and muddy but it was fun. Made a couple birdies and 1 really bad double and just a lot of bogeys.
Looking forward to warmer weather and drier conditions.
Slew a dragon this morning by finally eagling the 17th at my club. I’ve played this hole roughly 120 times over the past 6 months so it was about time. It’s a very short Par 5, but the tee shot is uphill and usually into the wind. Today the wind was out, so I was able to really bomb the drive (250 is effectively 275-280 because of the elevation). Knocked a 7 iron to 4’ and made the putt. Rest of the round really didn’t matter given that.
First round of the year in the books yesterday afternoon! One of my favorite local courses, pretty wet after some overnight rain. Tees were moved waaaaay up, only hit driver 3 times.
Finished at +2 for par 37, which is huge for me especially coming off winter. Started with pretty standard bogey golf with a par mixed in thru 5 holes. Then I played the last 4 in -2 with back to back birdies on 7/8!
7 is a short par 5, but the green is protected by water and a bunker in the front. Mediocre drive, followed by a decent 5 iron from the rough to get green side. Hit my 58 degree dead and tapped in.
Then 8 is a big uphill par 3, typically playing 160ish, but today with all the tees up it was about 130 before factoring in hill/wind. Hit a smooth 9 to about 15 feet, and hit a beaut putt that was never in doubt.
Some takeaways:
- very excited to see my putting practice and grip change pay off after a winter of drilling
- short game is still solid, and kept me in it early while my approach play was iffy
- playing only with my dad, I talked through every shot out loud before hitting, as was once brought up on this forum. And I loved it! It helped clear my head, and when I got over the ball I was decisive. Need to incorporate more
Apologies for the long post, still buzzing this morning!
Well, yesterday was a great one for me. I won the B Flight in a senior tour event near my home town. Shot a +5 - 77 and was tied for 1st with 2 others and won it on the first playoff hole. Never been in that situation before and for the most part kept my thinking on the process and not “what if” results. I was ecstatic!
I have learned a lot from this website and it is no stretch to say that it is in a large way responsible for some of the success I am enjoying in lowering my scores and learning “how to play this game.” Jon, thanks for sorting through the “stuff” that doesn’t help, the stuff that actually hurts and giving us info that causes us to pursue a path that yields good results.
A wise man once said, “The first responsibility of leadership is to define reality.” Jon, you have done a stellar job in that department.
Two-man best ball tournament yesterday to more or less kick off “the season.”
I still stink in competitive play, but getting better. Also managed to ham & egg almost perfectly with my partner, so we shot a net 8 under 62. Last I saw, that’ll have us in second behind a 61. The one hole we both doubled will probably be what keeps us from winning.
Taking a double in best ball is the worst. I’m in D3 in my league (highest handicappers in league, starting around 10 and up from there) and if you can avoid it for 9 holes you’ve got good odds of posting a solid score
+5 76
13 greens
3 near greens
1/4 up and down
35 putts
3 punch outs after errant drives
Went out to play a quick 9 over lunch in 20+ mph steady winds. Doubled the opening hole…one putted it. Then chipped in for birdie at 2, birdied 3, parred 4-7, almost holed out for eagle on 8 (tap-in birdie) and then parred 9. Easy 33 (-1). I only hit 3/9 GIR, but I one-putted two of them. I also had a chip-in, so an easy 9 putts for 9 holes. What a silly game!
Driver still in one piece?
Hah! That is actually an improvement for me. I hit 3-5 errant drives per round and usually incur penalty strokes
No penalty strokes is a win. Goal is to dial it back to 1-2 punch outs per round
-1 hitting 3 greens is pretty darn good!