Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: 35pts (6th out of 33)
Handicap mark: 3.4
Themes in reply: Lack of competitive golf; choosing between alternatives; handling emotions
Hi Colin,
Hope all is well with you. As discussed here is a summary of Saturdays round.
The weather was sunny with a slight SW wind which got progressively stronger as the round progressed. The greens are still poor with a lot of hollow tyne holes.
We were supposed to be playing a ‘nasty’ fourball but one extra turned up so we played a 2 ball and a 3 ball in the Stableford. We threw the balls up on the first tee and I came out in a twoball with CD who plays off 5. WE played of the white tees. I was feeling good and confident, didn’t hit any balls before hand as we thought we were only playing a friendly!
All in all I was very happy with the way I played. I hit the ball really well and I putted well especially holing out from 3 to 5 foot.
Dear John,
Fantastic report, nearly as good as the round!
Competitive golf
I shall start at the beginning. I want to raise the issue of the amount of competitive golf you play, especially as we are aiming to get you into the Welsh Seniors team next year. It is an issue I have raised with Richard because I have been surprised since getting involved with serious golfers just how little competitive golf is actually played. To give you an idea about what I mean, I will give you the example of Crown Green Bowls in North Wales.
My father played for Llanrwst in good quality leagues on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. He also played for Abergele at a slightly lower level on a Thursday. On Sundays he would travel far and wide in search of tournaments – mostly doubles tournaments but often a singles. After the leagues had finished in early September, until the clocks went back in late October, he would play through the week in tournaments that often had decent prize money. All the leagues ran cup competitions, and in the height of summer the coastal resorts run prestigious day-time tournaments to attract visitors.
The standard of bowling would vary, obviously, but because bowls is a singles competition in a team setting (like the Ryder Cup), then all the matches would be hard fought as all the players try to win a league point for their team. That is a lot of competitive bowling.
Obviously, golf’s format makes it more difficult to play as much competitive golf as my Dad could play competitive bowls. But it is still a surprise to me that serious amateur golfers play quite so much “fun” golf; and, as you know, I am one of those people who cannot see the connection between “fun” and playing games.
Given the context of aiming for the Welsh Seniors, what would be useful to me would be some thoughts from you on how regularly you think you get to play seriously competitive golf. And if you are not playing enough, what are your options for playing more? For instance, on Saturday you had planned to play in a fourball instead of being in the competition proper. What is the reasoning behind this choice? Are you being polite, is it something that is expected of you, or do you just prefer it?
1st – I hit my 5/6 wood to the fairway and a 7 iron to the front of the green. I should have hit it a bit harder but the wind was stronger than I thought. First putt was a bit short, maybe 4 foot but holed out for a 4 and 2 points
2nd – Hit an ok drive but into the first cut of rough on the rhs of the fairway. The 2nd was playing long and the ball wasn’t flying that far. The lie wasn’t great but I hit an ok 6 wood short and right of the green. Hit an ok chip to about 5 foot and a good put but it jumped about and missed. 5 scored for 1 point. The second is stroke index 4 so now that I am off 3 I don’t get a shot on it.
3rd – Hit a lovely long drive over the hill and into the middle of the fairway, 9 iron to the green and 2 putts for a 4 and 2 points.
4th – Par 3. Hit a lovely 5 iron just past the flag. Left with a downhill putt of about 15 foot, putted up to about 3 foot and holed out across the slope for a 3 and 2 points.
5th – Par 5 but considerably shortened as the have dug up the main slopey green to level it off so the temp green is at the bottom of the hill about 90yds before the main green. I hit a great drive and the an 8 iron to about 12 foot. The green is basically cut fairway and the putt was just short but tapped in for a birdie 4 and 3 points.
6th – Par 4 (Stroke Index 2) so I get a shot here. Wind was behind so I hit a 3 wood to the right hand rough (not a great shot). Not a great lie but managed to get a 6 iron short, right of the green. Hit a lovely chip but it hit one of the hollow tyned holes and kicked right instead of running up dead. Never mind, I holed the putt for a 4 nett 3 and 3 points.
7th – Short par 3. Wedge to about 10 foot and just missed the birdie putt, how it didn’t go in I don’t know! – 2 points
8th – Par 5 – into the wind now. Hit an ok drive but it was in the right rough again. I had an ok lie so I could either go for the carry over the 2 fairway bunkers with my 6 wood or play safe with a 9 iron. Decided to go for it and hit a good shot. Unfortunately, the ball just caught the top of the bunker about a foot from the lip – it plugged in the face! I had to take a penalty drop back. Chipped up just short of the green and then hit my approach putt too hard, missed the 5 footer back so took a 7 and zero points.
The round
Fantastic start. So much for being a slow starter! I am really chuffed at how consistently you have played this season, right from the first tee shot, round after round. You have only really had one round when your swing was iffy and even then you putted well.
To have played the 2nd so well is particularly pleasing. You have often got caught out on this hole and can take you a little time to get over the disappointment. To have got a point when it is Stroke Index 4 is excellent and just shows how easily you are playing to your handicap.
The next few holes simply showcase the pleasures of “timing” once it is in your swing. Drive to long iron to short iron to pitch to wedge to long putt to short putt, all hit with rhythm. Even when it doesn’t quite work – drive on the 6th – concentrating solely on the rhythm ensures that the next shot is unlikely to suffer from the slight disappointment of the drive. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of not chasing solutions to bad shots. I am in the process of writing quite a long piece for the blog about the importance of committing to the shot, accepting the outcome, and then simply looking once more for the magical and elusive rhythm that is “timing”.
8th – The giveaway phrase here is: “Decided to go for it …”; and you also describe the alternative as: “… play safe with a 9-iron”. What is likely to have happened is that you have started to get a bit quick at the top of the backswing, which is why your drives are going a little right. (My opinion is that this happens to you when you start to get a bit excited by how well you are playing, and you start to try to hit the ball even further. I might be wrong!). Then you are faced with an option that is going to require you to hit a particular club to its maximum length.
Trying to hit it as far as you can makes it almost inevitable that you will be a bit quick at the top, be slightly out of rhythm and fall a bit short. (On the plus side, it is encouraging that you hit a good shot given that you had had to put so much conscious thought into the choice of shot. This indicates that you are getting good at switching off your conscious after you have engaged it for decision making purposes.)
The “course-management” answer for next time is to never choose to hit a club when the only safe landing area is at the maximum length for that club. The risk/reward ratio of that type of shot is not in your favour.
There is also a danger in identifying one of the options as “safe”. This is a subtle point but identifying an option as being the “safe” option will have the effect of giving the alternative option an “unsafe” feel to it, because: if it’s not “safe” it must be “unsafe”. This, in turn, will have the effect of giving your conscious brain a reason to take over the process because you have identified the shot as being risky. You now have the pressure of having to hit your longest shot with that club and the increased danger of your conscious brain interfering.
All in all, as a rule of thumb, if you cannot help but see one option as being “safe” relative to the alternative then always take the “safe” option. Of course, you then have the problem of waking up your subconscious because you have chosen to play a “safe” shot, but this is probably easier than taking on the “unsafe” option.
Getting back to your choice of shot on the 8th, the only way you could have cleared those bunkers would have been if you could have “seen” a “safe” shot that would have got you there, say with a three-wood or a 3-iron. Having chosen the shot and played it, then it is your responsibility to accept the outcome with a f*****g big grin on your face. IT IS NOT UNLUCKY!!!!!!! It just is.
The penalty drop is obviously disappointing but you cannot afford to let it affect the next shot. After the penalty, the ball is in position A and needs to get to desired position B; how it got to position A does not have any effect on it getting to position B, unless you let it have an effect!
Your frustration at having plugged into the face of the bunker is understandable but probably means that you were unsure about your choice of second shot all along and you have ended up also feeling cross with yourself for having chosen the unsafe option. All these emotions are filling your head when you are attempting to hit an accurate chip. It is no wonder that your “timing” isn’t quite there and you leave the chip short.
The challenge of golf is to see it for what it actually is – a sequence of accurately applied forces – and leave others to do all the emotional stuff. Emotions such as anger and frustration just take up the space you have available for vivid imagery.
9th – This is again a temp green as the have dug the main one up. Hit an ok drive, wedged in in just short and hit a good approach putt so a par 4 and 2 points.
First 9 – 17 points
10th – Par
11th – Par
12th – Hit a great drive on the par 5 and if my 3 wood 2nd shot had been straight I would have been on the green which is no mean feat as it’s a good long hole. Anyway just by the side for 2, pretty good chip to 5 foot and holed for a birdie 4 with a shot (SI 3) for 4 points.
13th – Was straight into the wind which was getting much stronger. Hit a really good drive and nailed a 3 iron to about 15 foot. 2 putts for a 4.
14th – Par 3. Right into the wind. It was only about 130yds but I hit 6 iron. Probably my worse shot of the day which went into the rough by the rhs side of the green. The ball was sitting down so I was trying to pitch it just short of the green to the right of a bunker so it would kick left and roll down to the flag. It didn’t come out hard enough, kicked left, thought about going onto the green but then decided to roll back into the bunker. Splashed out to about 10 foot but just missed the putt so a 5 and 0 points.
15th – Long par 4 , index 1 and right into the wind. Hit a great drive through the wind onto the fairway. I was faced with a long second and a couple of choices. I could hit 3 wood which would probably be too long. My 6 wood would probably go too high and my 3 iron may not be enough. Decide to give the 3 iron a go as it may be short but it would be straighter and I would have a chance of getting up and down. Hit a lovely 3 iron just short but I hit a poor approach putt to about 5 foot and missed so took a 5 but nett 4 for 2 points.
I then set myself a target of finishing 444 for 36 points.
16th – Down wind so I hit a 3 wood. Just tried to hit it softly but as you know I timed it perfectly and it went like a rocket! Very lucky to finish by the side of the big bunkers by the slope and not in them (if you remember the hole). Good 7 iron to the heart of the green and 2 putts for a 4 and 2 points.
17th – Par 5 downwind. Hit a lovely drive long and down the rhs to give the best way into the green. Hit a lovely 6 wood with a bit of fade right over the flag to about 20 foot. Just missed the eagle putt but tapped in for a birdie 4 and 3 points.
18th – Par 4 wind into and off the right. I was aiming down the rhs of the fairway to draw the ball back in but the drive stayed right and found the fairway bunker – bo***cks!. Splashed out and then hit a good 7 iron to about 10 foot. – Just missed the downhill putt so finished with a 5 and 1 point.
Back 9 – 18 points, so 35 points overall. I came 6th out of 33. CE who played in the 3 ball behind won it with 38 points (off 9 handicap but he’s really about a 6/7)
So, I played really well but just a couple of misjudgements caught me out. Looking back, if I had played a 9 iron on the 8th it would have left me another 8 or 9 iron into the green and 2 putts for 2 points would have made a difference. However, it was unlucky that the ball plugged into the face of the bunker, another foot higher and I would have been 10 yds short of the green looking for a birdie. Or, it should have rolled back into the bunker to give me the chance of a par. On the 14th, I should have just made sure I got the ball on the green. I may have holed the put or at worse taken 2 putts for a 4 and another point. Then I would have had 38 points!!! If only, if, if if …
So there you go, pick the bones out of that lot!
Regards,
John
9th – Once again you recover from disappointment quickly and get a good par.
And then …
Then you hit a hot streak again which is a real advertisement for the method. If you keep looking for “timing” it is actually never very far away; in fact, it is at your fingertips!
14th – It sounds to me like you had a bit of hard luck here. I think you failed to commit to the 6-iron because it felt too big for 130yds, especially as you were coming off a hot streak culminating in a “nailed” 3-iron to 15ft. Then you tried to rescue the hole with a “perfect” shot, which didn’t quite come off. In contrast to the 8th, the “safe” option didn’t occur to you until after the hole had been finished and you had failed to score. Taking on the “perfect” rescue shot is fine in my book if you are willing to accept responsibility for the outcome. Certainly you were able to get out of the bunker in one and hit a decent putt to get down in two. You highlight the chip as being the issue but I think it is the tee shot in this case. Playing in wind is tricky and sometimes you are bound to be a little unsure about your club selection. The answer is to be always open and honest with yourself and do not have hard and fast rules. “See” the shot and if you are uncomfortable in any way then walk away from that vision and try to “re-see” it. If that means changing club then do so and see if it feels more “right”. Trust your instincts at all times. Do not try to calculate the shot. “See” the shot, stay open and relaxed, and all will be revealed.
15th – Another brilliant recovery.
16th – Yes, you were brave telling me that you tried to hit a “soft” three-wood. I will let you get away with that one out of gratitude for your stunning report!
17th – is a hole I remember the and I would have loved to have seen that second shot.
18th – A brilliant recovery again after the disappointment of hitting the fairway bunker. (You might want to consider the effect of the wind on well hit shots.)
A fantastic effort. 35 points with two blobs playing off 3. I think you are really playing off 2 at the moment.
Thanks again for the report; it really is very kind and completely inspiring.
Colin.
