Tell us about your game today...

First topic message reminder :

Fresh thread - you know the score: share some of your tales of woe, indifference and banditry with us all.

terrible terrible terrible Saturday.

Wind and heavy showers.

24 points. Five 6's on the card (only 2 were par 5)

No long game.

No medium game.

No short game.

No fun.

Bah humbug.

So obviously I got the call to play in our scratch team tonight. A repeat performance and I'll probably even miss my mouth with the sausage and chips!

Interesting follow up.

Scratch game I was drafted into was a foursomes. Not a brilliant pairing on paper, me (left to right, often wildly and off 6) and partner (right to left, occasionally wildly and off 7) against 2 guys off 1 and or 2. Lost the first to a birde before winning the second (par 3) with a double (!!!). Some odd holes later (odd in that I was playing from the half of the course I rarely see, as was my partner on the other holes) and we were 4 up through 9 (mostly due to their poor play). Most unexpected.

Cue a 3 putt 10th and visit to gorse on 11 and back to 2. Here's the expected capitulation, especially when I skied my drive on 12 what seemed a million miles high and 60 yards forward (no idea how). But somehow we contrived to par it with an 80 yard up and down and halved before winning 13 and 14 to get back to 4. They missed a birdie on 15 from 3 foot and that was that. Highly unlikely win. No real return to form personally but a nice change to come off the course positively.

Oh and sausage and chips successfully in mouth too. Win win.

Modified slightly to "Tell us about your game this week"

I'd been becoming aware that my form was drifting off a bit so had a lesson Tuesday morning, Tuesday evenings we have a wee 13 hole stable ford which runs over the summer...I was utter gash...16 points, my worst ever score. As well as not knowing where the ball was going, the greens had been hollowtined and top dressed...well most had, some had been tined but not dressed...so not exactly the best recipe for holing scrambling putts either.

As I've got County Champs on Sunday I played the venue (Bowood) on the Weds. Some of the carnage from the previous night was thrown in (random big lefts) but managed my way round in 85. Beautiful day for it though & to top it off Captains Courtesy.

Thurs I played the Kendleshire (also on Captains Courtesy and again, gorgeous day). Similar to Bowood in terms of feeling I'm beginning to get the swing back under control with a few less miscues than previous round but the putting wasn't great.

Thursday evening I was back at my home course for another 18...click. 10 straight greens in regulation...faded away a bit toward the end but 13 out of 18 greens in reg was a big confidence booster. Shame about the putting which was just completely shot to Poopie. Shot 80 with 40 (aye FORTY!!) putts.

Going back to Bowood today and will have a long session on their practice putting green beforehand. If I can get the putting to click the way the swing did last night then I have a weekend to look forward to. If not I'll be back at Cat 2 Sunday evening.

All I'm going to say is I had one of the worst rounds of my life on wednesday. Not going into any more detail than that, as I wish to excorcise it from my memory banks.

JAS is that an average week for you? Golf on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (twice), Friday. Are you going to chill on Sunday Craig?   

raycastleunited wrote:JAS is that an average week for you? Golf on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (twice), Friday. Are you going to chill on Sunday Craig?   

I wish...lol

Better round at home today (74) despite visiting 2 ponds..so 3 over gross with 2 doubles on the card. Had a feeling I could play myself back to a bit of form with the nature of the tweaks made Tuesday. To be fair conditions were ideal and there's now a good top dressing on the hollowtining, so with both my putting and the green surfaces improving I had a 30 putt round. Home greens are very different from the County Champs greens though which I expect to be like lightning tomorrow. Just need to make sure I get to Bowood early and take plenty of time getting the pace of the putting green.

"Tell us about your game today..." Um, I'd rather not but here goes...
Wiltshire County Championships at Bowood. 36 hole scratch event.

Got off to a great start, 1st is a longish par 5, 3 wood - middle, 18deg utility - middle, 52deg wedge to 15 feet from 112 yards, sank the putt, happy days. Nice regulation par on 2 with the 18 deg utility going about 260 off the tee, again leaving the 52 deg in from 115. First bit of trouble came at 3rd, uphill par 3. 145 to the pin, breeze now across rather than behind. Flushed a 6 iron on to the top tier of a very contoured green to leave myself a 40 foot downhill putt from hell. Actually had to putt it onto fringe to slow it down, got it to 8 feet put missed the par putt. Driver then 5 iron from the semi got me just off the green on 4th and lo and behold chipped in for another bird. Regulation par again at 5. 2 bogeys followed on the difficult 6th & 7th, simple par at 8, good drive at 9 to put myself in good position then hoik! flipped the 8 iron approach shot left into really awkward position in green side bunker, did well to get it out but another bogey so out in 38 which was up there (4 9s of that caliber would have taken 5th place).
Opened the back 9 by tugging teeshot into fairway bunker. had to chop out..another bogey, on to the 11th, big tug left with a 4 iron to the longish par 3...que meltdown, a Hitler followed by a 3 putt. Couldn't have played the 12th (another long par 5) any better, tap in par. 13th (also a par 5), 2 well placed shots to leave a 7 iron in...again a hoik left into green side bunker and another bogey. At that point I'm going through in my head that all the trouble is coming from the lefts and fighting hard to stay relaxed, go back to basics, trust the swing and keep it smooth. Almost inevitably I started blocking it right. Putts by now just weren't dropping either. Limped in for lunch with an 85, yep a calamitous 47 back 9
As for the afternoon. started on the 10th in afternoon - 3 wood 8iron to middle of green then an instantly demoralising 3 putt. At the 2nd (11th), having whipped the 4 iron left in the morning I went up a club and hit a smooth rescue into the increasing breeze...flushed it over the back, another bogey. Now I'm thinking FFS I'm hitting good shots and still can't score. That was probably the point the game face just went completely. Just an awful awful day after such a promising start.

So...back to Cat 2, mental reset button hit and ready to go again.

JAS wow, 8 rounds of golf in 6 days. You must be ready for Wentworth this week....... or a break!

I'm very jealous, my game is all about confidence and feeling in the groove, if I get the chance to play 2 or 3 rounds in a short space of time my game improves dramatically. Sadly at the moment I get to play once a fortnight and I feel like a beginner every round.

Just back from a great weeks golf in Spain. Played one round at Torrequebrada, two at Mijas, (one each on the Lagos and Olivos courses) but the highlight of the trip was three rounds at San Roque, two of which were on the Old course and one on the New. The Old course was right up there amongst the best courses I have ever played.
 
Anyone else played much golf on the Costa del Sol? Where have you played and what did you think?

Blue,

I've only been down to the Costa del Sol once, in 2012, have tended to either go further west into Jerez / Costa de la Luz territory, or east in Murcia.

We played San Roque New as well. It's got some good holes and was in good nick, but I thought it was a bit formulaic and very artificial, it's really squeezed into a small area.

The highlight was Finca Cortesin. What a course! Spectacular risk/reward holes with epic carries and changes in elevation. Immaculate conditioning and they treat you like royalty, it's a great experience.

Also played the 27 holes at our hotel Almenara which was actually a real challenge and much better than we expected.

Blue, I've stayed & played at San Roque, 2 nice courses, from what I remember the Old had the charm and the New was the better test. The only others I've played down that was the 9 holed attached to the Sheraton in Marbella and one away further to he West on the Costa de la Luz called El Rompido. That was quite quirky but very enjoyable and a real bargain price as well. All 3 of those trips were 7-8 years ago though so a lot may have changed since then.

Just back from a stag weekend (with golf) in Ireland....wow, just wow!!
Started on Friday with a very long drive from Dublin out to Enniscrone, after a quick bite to eat and a Guinness or 2 we ventured out. Jeez what a course, brutal and unforgiving yet absolutely stunningly beautiful, dramatic use of the dunes. The Pro did say to us, be conservative for the first 4 holes to keep the ball in play, you can then open the shoulders a bit on the flatter section which was pretty sound advice. After the flatter section of the course it then turns toward the dunes again and I have to say the 3 hole stretch of 12 through 14 is just jaw droppingly awesome. I felt I played quite well (yes there was a bit of residual stiffness from the drive and one or 2 moments of Guinness induced lack of concentration but 25 points was harsh (30 points was the best in our group). Pretty remote place to be honest but in a way thats good because it means less crowded and it also means the locals go out of their way to make you feel welcome.
After a messy Friday night in Sligo we then had the pleasure of County Sligo (Rosses Point) on Saturday, we started out in what was probably the most benign links conditions I've ever seen, Sligo Bay was like a millpond (and yes the views of it from the course are awesome, especially from the 3rd tee. CS didn't quite have the quirky drama of Enniscrone although it has it's moments and some stunning holes too. Overall it's probably a fairer test. 30 points on this one (35 won it) and probably as good a ball striking day as I've had in the past 2 months, one of those days when I didn't do much wrong but when I did I was absolutely crucified for it.
We then made our way over the border into Fermanagh and checked into Lough Erne, too tired and hungover to appreciate the hotel really but had a good nights sleep before taking on the Faldo Course Sunday morning. Completely different golf obviously, quite a well laid out course amongst some stunning scenery. Pretty much a repeat of the day before for me in terms of ball striking and getting absolutely caned for the slightest error. Ended up with 31 points, blobbing the last only to find out that 33 points won. Some cracking holes with a couple of peninsula greens stretching out into the Lough. It'll be interesting to see how the Pro's tear it up when the Irish Open rolls up here.
The weather, despite some grumblings about the Sunday held out well for us and it was a memorable trip.

Was in Cardiff for the weekend, and had the opportunity for a round of golf. Two of us were keen on getting some links golf in, but sadly the other two have a pathological fear of links, so we opted for the Wales National at the Vale. Now this is a very long and actually quite interesting course, some good holes, a lot of risk/reward choices, and some challenging drives involving water.

It's also a complete bog. I know Wales gets its fair share of rain, but I didn't expect to see muddy tracks, often just off the green, at this time of year. We saw lots of buggies out there too, which were doing a great job of churning up the soft ground. I think the photo - which shows THE MIDDLE OF THE FAIRWAY on 16 - illustrates this perfectly.

As for my round, it was pretty shocking. The pins were all tucked away in the corners of the greens which made scoring hard. Lack of course knowledge caught me out big time. On several ocasions where the green was elevated I fired at the flag (having scanned it with my rangefinder), and then got up to the green to discover the pin was back left, I had missed my target by a couple of yards left, and was now short sided with almost no chance of getting up and down. Could have done with gps for front/middle/back distances.

Looks a bit grim Ray...if it's any consolation I'm off to Tenerife tomorrow for another weeks golf in the sun!

A 3.30am start tonight for an early flight and then 2 rounds at Playas de Americas, 2 at Costa Adeje and 1 at Golf De Sur. Rest day to be spent at the Siam Water Park. Can't wait

Did just enough to scrape through in our 4bbb 2nd round last night. Paired up with last year's club champ, we had to play his brother and partner, the opponents had 5 & 6 shots whilst I got 5 (the champ is off +1). Pretty much nip and tuck for the first 5 holes where I contributed nothing (other than getting a couple of safe pars to give my partner free birdie putts which he took). All of a sudden I clicked into gear and rattled off 3 birdies on the spin. Then managed a good par save on the stroke 2 9th and we were 2 up at the turn. 2 up turned to 4 up as we were gifted a couple of holes. They then went birdie par at the next 2 (both stroke holes) so back to 2 up. I then gifted them a half by 3 putting 14, 15 was halved before I repeated what I did on 14 (solid tee to green then 3 putted). This time we paid for it so down to 1 after looking unassailable through 11. 17 was halved in birdie/net birdie. On 18 I got the safe par but the champs brother had a birdie putt to take the match (no playoff holes in early rounds, it's decided by count back). No matter though as the champ rolled in his own 20 foot birdie putt to deny his brother the opportunity. Great match

First round of Club Champs this weekend. Game is in good order, but putting poorly.

ours is weekend after next - game in terrible shape but putting well   

You 2 need to get together and find a 4somes or greensomes open!! :-p

JAS wrote:You 2 need to get together and find a 4somes  or greensomes open!! :-p

Strangley enough Jas, we used to live within a couple of streets of one another in Edinburgh

Christ's sake. I played like Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the Club Champs yesterday. Going to need a first class round next week to qualify, or I'm out on my arse.

First semblance of a score for weeks and weeks yesterday despite a putrid start including a first of duck hook, shank, flubbed wedge to the fringe and 2 putts from there. 3 bogeys in first 4 holes only tempered by a birdie on the 3rd. Bogeyed 7 and 9 (poor chips to about 10 foot after just missing greens, didn't hold) good up and down on 8. +4 at the turn.

Parred 10 then the putter started to behave very strangely. Held a 30 footer up and across a slope for par on 11 (after a second shaft based strike of the day for my second) held a 20 footer for birdie up 12. Dropped one 13 just missed birdies 14 and 15, just missed a sand save par on 16, drove 17 and held a 20 footer for eagle and just missed birdie on 18. Back in -1 for a +3 gross -3 net and a first cut (0.2) in months.

Driver was (except the first) hot, irons mediocre, wedges either good or poor, putter good.

Mate we were out with shot -4 gross off 3, good golf going on. 2 drops and 6 birdies.

Had a fun day at a charity scramble today. We played with a couple of dear friends who are both 70+ years old, don't play very often, but love to support the outing. So we spent a fair bit of time retrieving their wayward golf balls and generally trying to keep them moving along. Weather was perfect, we all contributed and had a great time, and most importantly we won the award for best dressed team ! I won ladies most accurate drive too, so I have a trophy and a plaque to take into the office tomorrow.

Well done Plunky,
Nothing wrong with 70+ years old from what I can see creeping up on the horizon . . . . . . . !
Perhaps Ganton will be suitably impressed with your best-dressed trinket and allow Mr.P on in his favourite socks?

You didn't see the socks we wore yesterday ! Our dear friend had us in "stars and stripes" socks to go with her red white and blue theme -- definitely a no-no for Ganton. She'll probably take a brief rest and then start planning next year's theme !

first time out in a couple of weeks. club champs qualifier tomorrow, so thought it would be helpful to play a few holes.

good drive and a 3 wood to the front of the 1st. left long putt 10 feet short, but nailed the 2nd for a birdie.

tugged 7iron short on the 2nd. chipped in for a nice birdie.

nice drive down the 3rd. 8iron pitched 2 feet right of the flag and ended up 10 feet past - left the putt on the lip short...

good drive down the 4th - topped hybrid into the burn, drop, overshot the green with a wedge, chip on, 3 putt - snowman triple...

nice hybrid off the 5th tee, wedge pin high but 20ft right - left it short up the slope - par.

tugged 6iron left of the green, flop over bunker (good for distance but 15 feet right of target) 2 putt bogey.

nice drive up the 7th, pitched through the green, chipped on to 6 feet and lipped out - bogey.

scrap-fest +3 for 7. out early tomorrow - low expectations! pleased with the chip in - about 3-4 yards off the green, chipping up to raised level - landed the 52 a few yards on and ran across the slope with a couple of feet of turn and went in at a nice pace that would have probably left me a 18incher back if it had missed. timely confidence booster for the short game.

Crumbs, Why can all parts of the game not come together at the same time. 16 greens hit yesterday. 12 realistic birdie putts of less than 10 feet, only made 2. Should really have been -6.
Still, Kingsbarns is a great course to play.

If you're gonna have a round like that Super then Kingsbarns is the kind of course is where it's likely to happen. wideish fairways and big greens. From what I remember not only are the greens big but they are also quite contoured so lots of tricky putts, even shorter ones.

The annoying this Jas is that had I even sunk 50% of those putts I would have almost been down to Scratch. Grrrr.

Hysterical handicap matchplay game last night. I say hysterical...

I (off 6) beat oppo (off 11) 5&4 or 6&4 depending on how you call the 14th, so well done you say to which I'd counter...

First halved in bogey (hook, pipe, flub, 2 putts versus slice, approach and 3 putts)

Lost 2 to a chip in 3 (versus my 2nd ball where I had a 15 footer for a 5. Call it a 6. +4.

Won 3 (gave me 2 putts from 10ft as he had a 5 footer for bogey). Likely par.

Halved 4 in lost balls with no appetite to go back to the tee (I couldn't find my drive after he'd shanked 2 second shots into real cabbage. Not too complicated hole (notwithstanding the fact I'd lost a ball) so say double for second ball, not unrealistic) +6.

Won 5 (against a shot) after oppo had pulled his drive 2 holes left into cabbage. Par.

Won 6 with a bogey after he'd short sided himself and chipped to 20 yards and 3 putted. +7

Lost 7 (against a shot) my double was beaten by his gross double. +9.

Won 8 with a bogey after he shanked his iron from the tee 80 yards right of green and missed his approach. +10.

Lost 9 (against a shot) likely bogey versus very good gross par. +11 at the turn and 2 up.

Won par 5 10th in 2 (he'd OOB, hack, hack, sky and was short of the green in 7) I'd hooked my second into trees but found it. Back to 3 (give myself a bogey as I was in trees but would have got out and on in 1 or 2). +12

Won 11. Out of nowhere, good drive and approach to 9 foot. Birdie. 4 up and +11

Halved 12 (against a shot). Good drive, approach to 30 ft, canned for birdie he had a great up and down from 75yards to par and half. +10.

Won 13 with a bogey as his chip ran through and off the green and he couldn't up and down. 5 up +11

14. Drive to GUR, drop and hit it to front edge. He drove to fairway but slapped his second into a GUR bunker. Unfortunately the nearest point of relief from GUR would be to drop it into a gorse bush. Had had enough so shook hands.

Utter, utter war of attrition and diabolical play all round. My prize, a game against one of those juniors on his vast improvement year. Handicap of 15 (from about 22) and still a good 4 shots better. Still if I repeat the above performance it'll only go on for 10 holes max!

9 hole sweep after work - one birdie, six pars.....and two dings.  Stupid bloody game.

Nett 71 at the weekend (par 72 course)...with three 8s on the card. So, about this consistency and course management thing...SBG

Wish I could tell you about my game yesterday, but only practice. Our club is closed on Mondays, but there was an outing. After dropping my son off for Swim practice I decide to hit the practice area. As I'm blasting away, who rolls up but Lee Westwood, Annika Sorenstam, Ian Baker Finch and Brad Faxon. Did not stick around for the festivities, but was told they were lots of fun to be around. Doing the corporate thing. I'm guessing some of these golfers make more on Mondays than any other day.

Cool!
The best we've had is Martin St.Louis and Willie Nelson!

Apparently Taylor Made and Sergio Garcia turned up unannounced (unannounced to the public at least) at Bethpage the other day, giving away drivers to the luck few, charming the locals etc !

Kwin - Was told they each took a par 3 (there are 4 at our course) and stayed the entire day. I'm guessing St. Louis can play! And how could you have a bad time with Willie?

Martin is a semi-local, and apparently Willie Nelson always demands tee-times at local courses when he's being booked at a show. B-in-law is in the business - you'd be amazed (no, maybe you wouldn't!) at the demands artists make. Perhaps golfing galacticos are the same - but let's not talk about Tiger . . . . . !

I can understand Annika, IBF and Faxon making some cash now that their playing days are over but wtf is Westy doing on a corporate jolly like that?

Had some free time on the Saturday and Sunday and had got a bit bored by Monday morning?

Plunky wrote:Apparently Taylor Made and Sergio Garcia turned up unannounced (unannounced to the public at least) at Bethpage the other day, giving away drivers to the luck few, charming the locals etc !  

Link to the clip of it was on Sergio's twitter or you can find it on You Tube.

Clip was very good actually, giving the guys who were playing Bethpage the change to feel like a Professional for a day. Worth a watch.

Thanks -- enjoyed the clip ! When I saw him arriving at the driving range 7.40 i felt bad for the guys who slept in their cars overnight to get the first tee times that day, only to miss out on all the fun. The first tee is intimidating at the best of times as you're pretty much hitting from the pro tees towards a fairway that seems a mile away. I once bogeyed the hole -- it felt like a birdie.

Roller_Coaster wrote:Utter, utter war of attrition and diabolical play all round. My prize, a game against one of those juniors on his vast improvement year. Handicap of 15 (from about 22) and still a good 4 shots better. Still if I repeat the above performance it'll only go on for 10 holes max!

Well...

Following on from hackfest 2014 (see earlier post) and the above thoughts, I played my game against the improving junior last night. Off the back of months of utter drivel I'd gone up to 7 (from 4.8) and the lad came down last week to 13, so only giving 6 shots rather than the 9 it would have been last Friday.

Out of nowhere I was unbelievably (literally given this season) solid. Only held 2 putts, but first putts were shaving and finishing less than 6" away so never under pressure. Started with 6 straight regulation pars, the 7th won in 1 as he lost his second shot and didn't go back while I was well positioned on the fairway about 100 out. More regulation 8 & 9. Say level out (5 up). Dropped one on 10 (only needed a bogey to win so not bothered), birdied 11 and birdied second ball up 12. +1 and thanks to a slightly off long game from my oppo (lost 2 or 3 balls and missed a few greens) an 8&6.

Crazy game.

Well done Roller.

Why would your opponent concede on the 7th after his 2nd shot? He didn't even give you the opportunity to mess up your approach! I often think people give up too quickly in match play.... I bet he could have still made bogey and put pressure on you.

Ray - lack of experience I presume. He had a shot too. I'd have gone back and tried to get my 5 or 6 (OK it was a big ask about 200 back and uphill, but we all know odd things happen in golf).

My golfing woes continue.
For the first time in my life I went under the ball with a 5 wood. Wouldn't have minded if I was in the rough, but I was on the fairway.  
A playing partner commented that I was swinging too quick. He said I needed to slow it down to a blurr.

Final of the matchplay thing last Thursday (see above for previous rounds). Fortunately (ahem) I'd got tonsilitis 2 days before and was pretty wiped out. Only had one chance, see if I could forge ahead and hang on for dear life as I waned.

Nope.

Won the 1st with a par then stuck 2 out on the par 3 2nd. Oppo hadn't settled though and won 3 5 & 6 to go 3 up. Shattered going down 6 though and with tired came tired swings, balls came and went. Holes came and went. Lead came and went. Couple of terrible drives cost me holes and he gained momentum and solidity. Had a hybrid bound OOB on 15 due to baked course and newly cut rough to go 3 down with 3 left. Scraped a win up 16 and had a putt on 17 to win that which was in until 2" away before it dived out. Lost 2&1. Good match though, thoroughly enjoyed it and lost to the better man on the night. Could have been different if I wasn't ill, but I was so it wasn't!

Onwards and upwards...

Upwards indeed.

Club "major" on Saturday, 18 hole medal, very little hope or expectation with the season I've had. Had lesson and been trying for a couple of weeks to bed in the slight changes, little sign of a turnaround. Until Saturday morning.

Out of nowhere a 3,3,3 (-2) 4,4,3 (-4) 4,4,4 (-3 out). 5,4,4 (still -3) 4,4,3 (still -3) 3,4,5 (ARRGH) (-2 finish). Drives worked, irons worked, wedges worked, putter worked (until last 2 which were both 3 jacks, one for par and one on 18 for bogey) 68 less 7 61 and a -9 total.

A win. An unexpected win. Best lap and a good chop from 6.5 to 5.2 (think that's where I started the year).

I'll take that!

I'll tell you about my game ... finally tamed #5 at Pine Valley (a par is taming that hole for me!); and shot a cool 42 on the back nine. Play this course once a year, which is just fine - an amazing treat. The most penal but fair course I've ever played.

I'll tell you about my game:
Have reached the mark/age of futility that it is no longer worth playing the great courses - enjoy it while you can Shotrock!

Had a lovely couple of days at Woburn Sunday and Monday. Arrived to see Poulter warming up for a game with Tim Henman, Charlie Hull and one of 1D. His brand new Ferrari looked rather nice, and indeed sounded it as he roared off home.

Played the Duchess on Sunday, and was playing fairly average until I hit driver, 8 iron to the par 5 15th and two putted for birdie, missed an 8 footer for birdie on 16, made a 12 footer on 17 for another birdie and made a nice up and down on 18 to pick up 11 points in the last 4 and nick the money by one point.

I somewhat over-celebrated on Sunday night, which meant that after 16 points on the front 9 of the Marquess yesterday morning, I rather hit the wall. My back 9 contained 1 one point hole, a 2 pointer, a three pointer, a four pointer and 5, yes 5 blobs!

Thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend though, and Woburn lived up to my high expectations. Can't wait to get back and play the Dukes so that I can say I've played the lot, albeit some of it a little indifferently!

kwini

There may be an argument that says no course is great unless it can be enjoyed by all standards of golfer.