Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 39pts (1st by 2pts)
Handicap mark: 3.5
Themes in reply: None.
Hi Colin,
Yes it went well after a poor start. Here are some details of the round:-
Good weather conditions with a slight South Easterly breeze. The rain on Sunday had made the course a lot more forgiving also making the greens softer. I played with KL.
1st – Tee shot into right hand rough, poor 8 iron short of the green, chipped up but missed the putt so 5 scored (or 1 point)
2nd – Good drive but a poor 8 iron to the right of the green. Chipped up and then put the first put 3’ past and missed the next one for a 6. (I get a shot here so 1 point)
3rd – Good drive and 8 iron into the middle of the green – sank the 12’ putt for a birdie
4th – Good tee shot but just caught the bunker. Good bunker shot and just missed the putt so a bogey 4.
5th – We are back on the proper green now and into the wind this was a 3 shot hole. Got away with a low drive which ran well down the fairway. Good 5-wood below the green and an ok wedge but ended up a level below where the pin was. This green (and the 9th) is much slower than the rest but I holed the long putt for a birdie 4.
6th – Ok drive but in the LH semi. Could not stop the 7 iron on the green and it rolled into the back bunker. Virtually up against the back lip so impossible to get it anywhere near the pin. I managed to hit a very very good shot onto the green and 2 putted for a 5.
7th – Almost holed the tee shot and tapped in for a birdie.
8th – Ok 3 wood off the tee but into the 1st cut and laid up for the 2nd shot (remembering what I did on the Sat!). 9 iron onto the green, knocked the birdie putt about 4’ passed but holed out for a par.
9th– Good 3 wood and the 9 iron just fell into the rhs bunker. Got it out ok but just missed the putt so a bogey 5. (on the new green here also)
It’s a stableford comp so I have 17 points going out o 3 over par.
10th – A 3 wood a bit right. This is not the way to come into this hole and as the pin is at the back I don’t want to be short. Overdo the 8 iron through the green. Really tricky chip shot so I putt up to the edge of the green Hole a great curly 10’ downhill putt for a par.
11th – Hit a lovely iron to about 10’ – have a go for the putt and its 3’ passed but hole for a par
12th– Good drive, good 3 wood 2nd and good wedge approach to the green. Birdie putt goes 3’passed but hole out for a par.
13th – Good drive and 5 iron to the front of the green, Pin is right back so it’s a very good long approach put to 4’ and hole for a par.
14th – Good safe 8 iron to the heart of the green. Roll the 15 to 20’ putt in for a birdie.
15th – Hit 3 wood of the tee as the drive may catch the fairway bunkers. Its in the light rough and my rescue club come up just short of the green. The pin is on top of a little ledge so I putt it up stone dead for a par 4
16th – Slightly into the wind so an ok drive down the rhs. The pin is cut only 4 yards from the rhs of the green. I hit a perfect (I think) 5 wood that fades into the pin – birdie putt coming up. However, when I get there its just trickled into the greenside bunker. Anyway, I compose myself and get out to 4’ and hole the putt for a par.
17th – Really good long drive followed by a 3 wood to the side of the green. I really needed it to be a bit shorter as that would have left a straightforward chip up the green but now I have to come over a bunker. Using my newly learned chipping technique I get it up and over to about 10’ – just miss the putt so a par 5
18th – Good drive and a 7 iron to the heart of the green. The pin it cut way back right so it’s a tricky downhill putt. Hit a beauty and in it goes for a birdie!
22 points coming back with the 19 going out giving me 39 in total (or 73 gross) and enough to win the tournament by 2 points. Handicap is down to 3.5 exact.
Overall I have played better and scored worse. I didn’t hit many fairways and my irons were just ok but the main difference was my putting. I was never short of the hole and even though I missed a short one on the 2nd I felt I could hole everything. The putt on the 3rd got me going and I didn’t look back after that. I was much more relaxed that on Saturday. I suppose it wasn’t such an important comp and the pace of play was certainly better.
It’s great to put a score together particularly after Saturday’s experience. No team game this week only a social match on Saturday. Then on Monday it’s up to Aberdovey for the Welsh Seniors. Practice round on Monday pm and then 3 rounds on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Looking forward to it with a bit more confidence now! I’ll keep you posted
Thanks for your interest,
A much happier
John
Dear John,
Thanks for the report. I’m getting a bit worried about how excited I can get reading shot-by-shot details about someone else’s victory!
1st – You don’t mention how far away the chip landed, but you do mention missing the putt. At the risk of nagging, I would prefer if you got into the habit of regarding two putts from anything outside 4’ as normal.
2nd – This was a missed opportunity given you were hitting an 8-iron into the green on a “shot” hole. Also, missing the three-footer must have been a blow.
3rd– Fantastic. I might be looking through rose-tinted spectacles but for me your performance on this hole represents a triumph for the method. You have somehow overcome the disappointment of the first two holes with a drive, an 8-iron and a putt. It is particularly pleasing that the 8-iron was good given that you had just hit two that were less good.
4th – More evidence. This ended up being a bogey 4 but you describe each shot as “good”. This indicates to me that you were feeling “timing” on each shot even though the outcomes were less than perfect.
5th – Just brilliant; three completely contrasting shots and then a holed long putt. That is the perfect explanation of what “golf” actually is: perfectly played, sensible shots from tee to hole.
6th – A “very, very good bunker shot” must have been very, very “timed”. Excellent
7th – Brill.
8th – Perfect course management because you used Saturday’s experience to help you make your decision. Those 9-irons are easy to get wrong too!
9th – They do all that work so that you don’t always roll back into the bunker and you put it in there anyway!
10th– Good. I have written before that if you are timing your putts then a few longer ones are bound to drop. The trick is to expect two putts at all times – even when they stop on the lip – and to accept gleefully the occasional ones that drop.
11th to 13th – Excellent.
14th – See 10th
15th – Superb.
16th – Absolutely fantastic. Great, great golf.
17th – I can’t wait to see this new technique!
18th – What a finish.
Overall, that was a round played at scratch level. It was a perfect example of the need to play each shot independently of every other shot and to just let the score come to you, as it were. There were lots of good shots, some brilliant shots and some not so good shots. Some putts dropped, there was one three-putt and the rest were “normal”.
In my opinion, you are a scratch golfer waiting to happen. You lack a little belief only because you are so hard on yourself. My theory about playing golf is simple: do everything in your power to locate “timing” on every shot; and then when you find it you will hit brilliant shots, when you don’t quite find it you will hit good shots; when you are some way off it you will hit poor shots. The proportion of these three types will determine your score. That’s it.
Well done.
Regards,
Colin
