Yesterday promised 55 degree temps and lots of sunshine. When I got to work I made the decision to take the afternoon off to hit the links for some bonus Fall golf. The weather here has been terrible and this past weekend we had 50 mph winds and lots of rain. I figured that with the wind the leaves would have been taken care of and some of the surface water would be gone as well. The course was quite playable dispite the recent weather.
I met up with a guy named Chris who had the same idea as I did and off we went on the South Course at Victor Hills. I thought that I had hooked up with a solid stick when after the first three holes we were both even. I was putting up a storm, in fact I one putted the first four holes, all for pars, but one putts none the less. I bogied the par 5 sixth hole and then finished birdie, par, birdie to make the turn at 1-under.
I had heard a tip on the TV about keeping good rhythm during all shots to ensure a smooth swing and I was trying to incorporate that in this late season round and it seemed to be working.
I killed my drive on #10 and was just short with my 3 wood and narrowly missed another birdie. Again I nearly birdied the par 3 11th and then made a stupid bogie on both 12 and 13. Solid pars on 14, 15 and 16 left at one over par for the day.
My driver had been very kind to me all day. I had only missed 2 fairways so far. So naturally, I tried to kill my drive on the 17th only to pull it behind a big tree. This left me with a punch out to about 215 from the green on the par 5. I hit five wood and should have hit 3 as I left it short of the green. After a two putt bogie I trudged on to the 203 yard par three 18th.
Lately, I have hit 4 iron, 3 iron, 5 and 3 woods into this down hill finishing hole. I failed to recognize how much wind there was and how mild it was and airmailed the green into the pond behind the green. The shot was a slight draw and was heading right at the pin. When I did not see it land on the green I knew that I had flown the green. Sure enough I could not find the ball and dropped a fresh one and then canned a 6 footer for bogie.
35 / 40 = 75 in my book. That was about the best round I had played all year and certainly the best one as of late. I missed 3 fairways and only had 29 putts.
My playing partner played well on the front, but could not make a putt to save his life. I think he had about 10 three putts. He blew up on the back and probably shot close to 90. He had a great swing but began hitting it way right just about the time that he told me he had been hitting it way right a lot as of late. I think that once he mentioned it and did it the first time he simple forgot how well he hit it for the first several holes.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
What a comeback!!
My buddy Ron and I played last weekend at Victor Hills South course. I have had Ron's number for some time now and while we don't play for any money our matches are always for some sort of bragging rights or something like that.
We both doubled the first hole (nice) and he took a two shot lead after parring the 2nd and 3rd holes. Again we both doubled the 4th hole (things were not going my way) and after a very ugly snowman/8 on the short par five 6th hole, I was in a deep hole at 5 down. We tied the 8 and 9 and headed to the 10th tee.
Ron was pretty high on his current 5 shot lead as we made the turn and rightfully so. I had really done nothing to challenge him so far. I could see it in his body english and hear it in his voice that he was really enjoying the butt kicking he had just laid on me on the front.
It wasn't until #12 that I finally cut into the lead. A nice par from the back of the green cut the lead to 4. Hey I had to start somewhere and after 15 holes I had cut it to down to 3 shots.
I hammered my tee shot down the middle on the par 5 17th and Ron missed the fairway to the left. His second shot hit a tree and his third was hampered by a tree branch. I split the fairway with my second shot and he missed the green short with his 4th. After two putting for par to his double I had gotten the deficit to one stroke with one to go.
I was really just trying to catch and tie him on the last hole and that would have been a moral victory at least.
NOTE: Earlier, as we met up in the parking lot prior to the match, I had decided to walk and took my 3 and 4 irons out of the bag to make it lighter for the long day. However, he said that was going to ride, so I caved and paid for my half of the cart. I also put the 3 and 4 irons back in the bag. And it was a good thing too.
The 18th was playing 203 and without the 3 iron I would have had to bunt a 3 or 5 wood to get to the green. Because of the decision to ride I was able to tee up my 3 iron and proceded to lace it right at the pin. It landed about 3 feet dead short of the pin and ended up about 15 feet or so directly behind the pin. I knew at that point that I had a chance to catch Ron for the tie. Then, to my surprise, Ron totally chunked his tee shot and then left his second shot short of the green. My rally was looking really good at this point. We each two putted and at that point I had completed one hell of a comeback. I finished par/par and he finished double/double.
I had turned five down at the turn into a one shot victory. How? Slow and steady wins the race I guess. I shot 46-39. Somehow I was able to maintain my composure (something I am not very good at) and reel it in on the back to overcome some very ugly golf on the front nine. Ron did give away the last two holes with his collapse, but I was able to par them both myself.
We both doubled the first hole (nice) and he took a two shot lead after parring the 2nd and 3rd holes. Again we both doubled the 4th hole (things were not going my way) and after a very ugly snowman/8 on the short par five 6th hole, I was in a deep hole at 5 down. We tied the 8 and 9 and headed to the 10th tee.
Ron was pretty high on his current 5 shot lead as we made the turn and rightfully so. I had really done nothing to challenge him so far. I could see it in his body english and hear it in his voice that he was really enjoying the butt kicking he had just laid on me on the front.
It wasn't until #12 that I finally cut into the lead. A nice par from the back of the green cut the lead to 4. Hey I had to start somewhere and after 15 holes I had cut it to down to 3 shots.
I hammered my tee shot down the middle on the par 5 17th and Ron missed the fairway to the left. His second shot hit a tree and his third was hampered by a tree branch. I split the fairway with my second shot and he missed the green short with his 4th. After two putting for par to his double I had gotten the deficit to one stroke with one to go.
I was really just trying to catch and tie him on the last hole and that would have been a moral victory at least.
NOTE: Earlier, as we met up in the parking lot prior to the match, I had decided to walk and took my 3 and 4 irons out of the bag to make it lighter for the long day. However, he said that was going to ride, so I caved and paid for my half of the cart. I also put the 3 and 4 irons back in the bag. And it was a good thing too.
The 18th was playing 203 and without the 3 iron I would have had to bunt a 3 or 5 wood to get to the green. Because of the decision to ride I was able to tee up my 3 iron and proceded to lace it right at the pin. It landed about 3 feet dead short of the pin and ended up about 15 feet or so directly behind the pin. I knew at that point that I had a chance to catch Ron for the tie. Then, to my surprise, Ron totally chunked his tee shot and then left his second shot short of the green. My rally was looking really good at this point. We each two putted and at that point I had completed one hell of a comeback. I finished par/par and he finished double/double.
I had turned five down at the turn into a one shot victory. How? Slow and steady wins the race I guess. I shot 46-39. Somehow I was able to maintain my composure (something I am not very good at) and reel it in on the back to overcome some very ugly golf on the front nine. Ron did give away the last two holes with his collapse, but I was able to par them both myself.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
gotta love fall golf
As I have said in the past, October is one of my favorite times of the year to play golf. The crowds are down, the courses are soft again and the foliage makes the scenery spectacular. With that in mind, the weather has been fabulous since last Thursday. I took both Thursday and Friday afternoons off and hit the links.
On Thursday I played with some guy, I never even got his name, and shot a very fine 77 on the South at Victor Hills. I stuck the ball very well and only missed 2 fairways. If made a few more putts (I missed about 3 inside five feet) I could easily been even par. Oh, well, that is the way that it goes.
Friday's round was only nine holes and was much less attractive. I hit the ball great off the tee once again, but hit my irons rather poorly and made a mess of that nine. Oh, well, it was bonus golf.
Sunday was another disaterous round on the East course. Two triples and a double put me at 83 for the day on the shortest, but tightest of the three courses at Victor Hills.
I had Also taken Monday off (Columbus Day) and played the North course. Again, I hit the tee ball great and made a couple of dumb bogies on the front to shoot 40. I tore up the back and shot one over with two birdies and an unfortunate bogie on the last hole. My approach ended up above the hole, in the fringe about 20 feet away. The pin was set on the edge of a cliff and if my putt roled a foot past the hole it would have tumbled down the hill and maybe off the green again. I lagged my birdie putt from the fringe to about 8 feet (nice) and narrowly missed my par, then kicked it in for a bogie. A very solid 77 in the end.
The weather for those days was brilliantly sunny and between 55 and 75 degrees. Stunning. Unfortunately, the weather this week and towards the weekend is not going to be that good. Maybe even some wet snow (gasp). At this point in the season my handicap according to Yahoo Sports is at 4.5; just up a bit from a career best, 4.0, just a few weeks ago. All in all, it is still lower than it has ever been. Yee Ha!!
On Thursday I played with some guy, I never even got his name, and shot a very fine 77 on the South at Victor Hills. I stuck the ball very well and only missed 2 fairways. If made a few more putts (I missed about 3 inside five feet) I could easily been even par. Oh, well, that is the way that it goes.
Friday's round was only nine holes and was much less attractive. I hit the ball great off the tee once again, but hit my irons rather poorly and made a mess of that nine. Oh, well, it was bonus golf.
Sunday was another disaterous round on the East course. Two triples and a double put me at 83 for the day on the shortest, but tightest of the three courses at Victor Hills.
I had Also taken Monday off (Columbus Day) and played the North course. Again, I hit the tee ball great and made a couple of dumb bogies on the front to shoot 40. I tore up the back and shot one over with two birdies and an unfortunate bogie on the last hole. My approach ended up above the hole, in the fringe about 20 feet away. The pin was set on the edge of a cliff and if my putt roled a foot past the hole it would have tumbled down the hill and maybe off the green again. I lagged my birdie putt from the fringe to about 8 feet (nice) and narrowly missed my par, then kicked it in for a bogie. A very solid 77 in the end.
The weather for those days was brilliantly sunny and between 55 and 75 degrees. Stunning. Unfortunately, the weather this week and towards the weekend is not going to be that good. Maybe even some wet snow (gasp). At this point in the season my handicap according to Yahoo Sports is at 4.5; just up a bit from a career best, 4.0, just a few weeks ago. All in all, it is still lower than it has ever been. Yee Ha!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)