The run of positive, good scores continued on the 4th of July. Dave and I played Ravenwood. I took him out for a round as a retirement gift and as a small payback for the many years of his/Jeremiah's paying for tournament golf for me.
After doubling the first hole and bogeying that damn water-lined 3rd hole (dropped yet another tee-shot in the drink there) I reeled it in and shot a respectable 41 on the front which included a kick-in birdie on the par five 6th hole and a really stupid bogey on #9.
We grabbed a dog and a beer at the turn and off we went on the back. I once again bogeyed the par five 12th hole after blowing a 7-iron over the green, the rough and the cart path behind the green. That approach shot kills me. It is such a deceiving distance. You just cannot see the putting surface from the fairway.
The wind grabbed my approach shot on the 13th and I managed to chip close and par that one. I stiffed a 9 iron on the par three 14th over the water and rolled in the 2 footer for another birdie. The 15th is a tough driving hole for me since my natural ball flight is left to right and there is a line of Titliest-swallowing trees to the left, just off the tee box. I kept it in play but down the left side of the hole. My wedge home just missed the putting surface and I chipped close for a nice par.
The uphill 16th was right into the wind but after popping my second shot to about 30 ft, I curled one in for a birdie! The cute beer chick gave me a round of applause as she waited just behind the green and saw me sink the putt.
My tee-shot on the par three 17 th dribbled into the water and after taking a drop, I canned my bogie putt from the fringe.
I pretty much butchered the 18th after hitting my drive into the fairway bunker on the right. One day I will realize that I have to hit 3 wood off that tee to take the bunkers out of play. I narrowly missed dumping my bunker shot into a creek and then missed the green from about 135 yards. I chipped to about 6 feet and proceded to wimp out on my par putt and made bogey. I had not missed anything inside 6 feet all day so that miss was troublesome.
In the end, I shot one over 37 on the back for a pretty fine 78. I made a lot of good chip shots, putted well and carded 3 birdies. The greens were slower than usual and I did not find the fairways to be in very good shape, but Ravenwood is a pretty good test for any golfer. The greens are well guarded and fairly small.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Psycho golf
The saga continues...
The other day my wife and I hit the links on the North course at Victor Hills. It was pretty windy and made the poor decision to play the back tees. I should have stayed home.
After hitting no fewer than 4 trees (two on one shot) on the first hole, I cruised to a four double-bogey 49 on the front nine. I was clueless. I was pissy and I was not a happy man. Joanie was playing well so there was no way that I could bail out on the back nine. After hitting the bar at the turn I moved up to the white tees and off we went.
Somehow I managed to calm down enough to par a couple of holes and my mind got back into the game. Those couple of pars became several in a row and after a near hole-in-one on #16 (kick-in birdie) I had managed to get around the back in fine, one-over par, fashion. Nice 86 goof-ball.
The very next day, we played just nine holes and I stayed on course (get it?) and shot a one over 35 on the east course. That made it 2 over for my last 18 holes after being 13 over on my previous nine.
Then, just yesterday, we played the South course and the hot streak continued. I bogied 2 of the last three holes to shoot a very solid, 3 over, 75. That was one of the best rounds that I have played this summer. That round finished off a 36 hole total of 5 over par.
I have found that the key is my balance at address. I seemed to have gotten into the bad habit of leaning out over the ball on my toes rather than staying balanced on my feet. This seems to cause either a dead pull/hook or a big ugly slice. Maybe, just maybe, I can carry that thought process into today's round at Ravenwood. That is if it does not rain as predicted.
The other day my wife and I hit the links on the North course at Victor Hills. It was pretty windy and made the poor decision to play the back tees. I should have stayed home.
After hitting no fewer than 4 trees (two on one shot) on the first hole, I cruised to a four double-bogey 49 on the front nine. I was clueless. I was pissy and I was not a happy man. Joanie was playing well so there was no way that I could bail out on the back nine. After hitting the bar at the turn I moved up to the white tees and off we went.
Somehow I managed to calm down enough to par a couple of holes and my mind got back into the game. Those couple of pars became several in a row and after a near hole-in-one on #16 (kick-in birdie) I had managed to get around the back in fine, one-over par, fashion. Nice 86 goof-ball.
The very next day, we played just nine holes and I stayed on course (get it?) and shot a one over 35 on the east course. That made it 2 over for my last 18 holes after being 13 over on my previous nine.
Then, just yesterday, we played the South course and the hot streak continued. I bogied 2 of the last three holes to shoot a very solid, 3 over, 75. That was one of the best rounds that I have played this summer. That round finished off a 36 hole total of 5 over par.
I have found that the key is my balance at address. I seemed to have gotten into the bad habit of leaning out over the ball on my toes rather than staying balanced on my feet. This seems to cause either a dead pull/hook or a big ugly slice. Maybe, just maybe, I can carry that thought process into today's round at Ravenwood. That is if it does not rain as predicted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)