Tell us about your game today...

First topic message reminder :

McLaren wrote:Ben

I am not doubting jas and believe him that the guy handed in a score for 51 points. I am just astonished by 51 points, as I said this is a score that I have never seen before. This is more about acknowledging the rarity of this event.

We are talking rarer than a hole in one, this guy has shot a nett score that only a handful people will ever have shot.

It just seems like others on here are not as blown away by a 20 handicapper shooting +5 as I am.

As a junior in the early 80s, I shot a nett 56 (a +4 or 5 round I think) and a 58 in the same Summer. I didn't cheat, but I did get cut a lot that year.

I'm never wrong wrote:36 points for the competition, 37 for handicap. Might drop 0.1 on my index, which won't affect my playing handicap.

Well, it seems I WAS wrong. There was a Playing Conditions Calculation of two strokes. Cut 0.4 which moves me into the next lower band, so I lose a stroke. HI is now 16.2 which means 17 off yellows, 18 off whites.

Who decides how and when a Playing Conditions Calculation comes into effect? And what criteria is used to decide the make up of that calculation?

Do you know INW, or does anyone else?

BlueCoverman wrote:Who decides how and when a Playing Conditions Calculation comes into effect? And what criteria is used to decide the make up of that calculation?

Do you know INW, or does anyone else?  

...and in what way does it differ from the old CSS? My understanding is that the old CSS looked at the scores of the whole field relative to SSS but there was some weird calculation ascribing a heavier weighting %age to the Cat 1 scores followed by Cat 2 then 3 (something like 60%, 30%, 10%). For the new PCC calculation I just know it's a weird & secret calculation possibly after a conversion with Carole Kirkwood from the Met Office :-p

It's automatic. It comes into play if the scores are not as "expected". It ranges from -1 when everyone has a good round, to +3 when they have a bad round. In yesterdays case I came fourth with 36 points, so the vast majority of players were worse than that and so PCC kicked in.

Found the official bit from the R and A https://www.randa.org/en/roh/interpretations/rule-5#5_6

So just to clarify, a scorecard created by a player on the MyEG app will never have a PCC adjustment?

BlueCoverman wrote:So just to clarify, a scorecard created by a player on the MyEG app will never have a PCC adjustment?

If you mean an individual who submits a general play card, I think there needs to be a minimum number of players who do this, so that the calculation can be made. Obviously a competition covers this.

JAS wrote:

McLaren wrote:

JAS wrote:It’s been pretty hideous Blue, my old course has barely been open and mostly carry only when it has been, my new one (on fast draining hill overlooking Bath)

Please tell me you joined Painswick?

Eh? Painswick is nowhere near overlooking Bath, it’s somewhere between Stroud & Gloucester

My English geography isn't great. Just remember playing Painswick once when staying in bath. Didn't seem like that far away. A very nice little course.

87 for me today. My member course is par 69. I have two targets currently, both around aiming to minimise big blow ups. No balls OOB. Nothing above double. I achieved the first but had one treble from an incredibly annoying 4 putt. In my defence it was on a notoriously sloped winter green that's taken a bit of a battering with recent weather. I had about 10 feet up hill for par that I put 4 feet past. Slippery downhill 2nd lipped out and just kept running. 3rd lipped out to a few inches. Tapped in and walked off with my tail between my legs. That aside it felt like a solid round.

For context, I'm just getting started playing properly. I hit a decent number of balls at the range as a kid and played par 3s a bit with the family but never had a handicap, not sure if I'd played a full 18 hole course even. If we ever did as younger kids then I can't remember. I could strike a long ball fairly naturally though to my advantage. I then averaged maybe a round of pitch and putt every few years until November when I picked up the game again and caught the bug. Shooting mostly high 80s at the minute and fully addicted. My best was an 82, with a lot of putts dropping and a chip in being pretty much the differential there. That's a 4 shot outlier from the next best at the moment though.

Due to personal circumstances, I've had plenty of time spare recently and the course my dad helps run is only a few minutes walk away. It's also quiet over the winter which has been ideal for hitting lots of balls. Dropping three or four balls near the green to get reps in chipping for instance. It's been a welcome distraction that started as a reason to just get outside and is turning into a new passion.

I shouldn't really post only when I get a good score - so todays stableford qualifier was a poor one. 24 points with one hole out of paly for maintenance. So I should get and extra two points for the hole out of play, and might get some more for the PCC as scores were again low, due to the conditions. Rough was a quagmire in some places - course shouldn't have been open really, but greenkeeper (read management) wants people to play because it brings money in through the clubhouse. But my 20th score is also a poor one, so I don't think my handicap will change. Next qualifier in April. Oh for dry weather.

A practice round for me alongside my parents today, entirely on winter greens after some horrendous rain yesterday, so we didn't bother scoring. It was fairly wild off the tee from myself though. Frustratingly, it started with my 3 wood which is usually my fairway finder. After a good start with my driver, I took the 3 wood on a par 4 with tight OOB and immediately sliced one wildly towards a different county. Preceded to throw in another slice, a hook and top off the tee over the back 9. My worst striking for a good while.

Approach and chipping were largely pretty good on the upside. Plus it didn't rain. Take what we can get with this sort of weather!

So, early season Links swing has been "testing" to say the least. Just over a week ago I had the Atlantic pairs at Trevose & St Enodoc. Great event, better ball stableford and a good fairly unpressured competitive start to the season. Four of us (2 pairs) have done it for the last 3 years, as well as the comp itself the added spice is that the lower scoring pair clean the clubs and shoes of the better pair...nice to come home with well cleaned clubs :-p. Conditions this year were "challenging " to say the least. Good 4+ club wind on the 2nd day. On both courses the rough was well ahead of schedule in terms of growth for the time of year. Yesterday was the 3 ball team event (2 to count) at Saunton. Unfortunately there had been an overnight deluge and so most (not all) of the bunkers were out of play. Again rough was pretty dense and the fairways had standing water in many places (at least at the start of the round).
Initial assessment of where my game is at with the season about to start in earnest? There or there abouts would be my assessment. All aspects are there, just not at the same time. In Cornwall 5 reloads off the tee required over the 36 holes...in Devon 13/15 fairways hit. In Cornwall 2 three putts over 36 holes despite the mental conditions...in Devon 3 three putts on the front 9 (4 overall). IF the stars align (and I'm sure they will at some point) I'm going low. I dare say I will also have days where driving and putting are both off but.

First Medal of the season is this coming weekend at my old course with another one next weekend followed by the Easter 36 hole open at Saunton. Those are going to be the first 4 counters and I have 4 free hits to alter my handicap downwards without any chance of it going up. Starting at 7.2 this season, feel like I should lower it this season but we'll see.

As it is maintenance week at my course when we play on temporary greens, I thought I would try an experiment today. I played with a set of Ping Zing 2 irons that I bought in the mid 90's. They have graphite shafts. (Tried to sell them to Golfbidder some time ago, but they wouldn't have them). It was interesting. The first thing was that the grips were very shiny and occasionally my hands slipped whilst playing a shot. Secondly, they felt very heavy in comparison to my current set of Callaway Mavrik irons. But when I connected properly - which wasn't often - they were fine. They are still legal for amateurs unless a local rule is imposed, but it is expected that it might change sometime this year.

86 for me today. I felt like I hit it really well overall.

Same two aims at the moment. No balls OOB and nothing over a double bogey. I achieved the second, although it required a hole out chip from about 20 yards on the 18th to scramble a double. Two balls OOB though. Annoyingly, both were approach rather tee shots. It's usually off the tee that I'm fairly wild. I skulled a pitch straight through the green after my best tee shot of the day - very frustrating. Then on the 18th, I hit a horrible snap hook OOB and into the practice putting green. Fortunately no one was there!

Got my 4th and final lesson of a winter bundle tomorrow.

The weather where we are has been absolutely brutal for course conditions though. I really have to feel for the groundsmen with club opening day next Sunday. There's just been so much rain that they haven't been able to get much equipment out on the course. It dried up a bit today and the amount of mowing alone they must have got done was pretty nuts. Basically out from first light to last by the looks of things. The greens were looking close to ready, then a fair few had standing water on them for days straight. It's been a rank winter at times.

Haven't picked up a club since mid January owing to a side strain picked up at cricket winter nets, but feeling ok enough to get back out on the course tomorrow.

Going down to Felixstowe to play Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club for the first time (me and my brother purchased a round plus lunch for my grandfather for his 80th birthday for the three of us, it's his favourite course in the area!). Only real true links around Norfolk/Suffolk, very excited to get out and play it...albeit the forecast is certainly indicating we'll be getting the full challenging wind/rain experience!

https://www.felixstowegolf.co.uk/

My home club, have a good day. Enjoy the view on the 13th tee.

BlueCoverman wrote:My home club, have a good day. Enjoy the view on the 13th tee.

That's quite a home course to have! Wow - what a great round and course, had an absolute blast despite the links definitely getting the better of this golfer. Would highly recommend a trip to anybody, the golf and views are magnificent.

Thanks for your generous comments and I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed your day. It is a great course and club, I live in Essex so its a bit of a drive up the A12 and along the A14 but its always worth the journey and a fantastic place to play. A new £4 million project to build a new clubhouse commences later this year which will further enhance the facilities and the attraction.

84 for me today, which I was over the moon with given my putting was utter toilet. Two missed tap ins from within 2 feet. One of them being the 3rd of a 4 putt. The other resulting in a three putt. No balls OOB or lost? Tick. Nothing over a double? Nope. Both triples coming from the failed tap in holes. Which is frustrating but my own fault. At least I know which club I need to practice with more!

I picked up Dan Grieve's short game book and it's been a terrific help with pitching in particular. Chipping was already the best part of my game, what I enjoy most, therefore practice most. Anything under a full PW but longer than a chip felt like guess work though. Grieve's system of using the setup of your feet to dictate how long your swing is has been great for distance control. I am so much more comfortable on the fuller wedge swings since putting in some dedicated practice with that system. On top of that, I can easily use the exact same setup with my short irons to flight it lower on windier days now. Whereas before there was a lot of, "hopefully this is the right number and doesn't just stop in the wind".

Monday and Wednesday's qualifying rounds were forgettable. 21 and 23 points. Total change in weather conditions today, all the ropes delineating where you can take trollies now removed and the fairways mowed to a decent height. Greens much faster. Result: 34 points with a nett 3 over handicap. Very enjoyable.

A fortnight of contrasts for me.

I shot a PB 80 last week. We got a few days of dry but windy weather, it dried out the course beautifully and the groundsmen got through a ton of work. Nice fluffy lies, greens rolling well, everything just fell together nicely. Lots of fairways and greens in reg. I was actually on course to break 80 with 2 left. I had two par threes to finish, 8 shots in hand to make 71. Bogey, bogey would've done it. I missed both greens though and hit a dismal lag putt on the 17th, ended up with a double there and bogey on 18. It was a cracking day out.

Then I shot a 94 yesterday. The wet weather had been back, I dealt awfully with the wind, put a fair few tee shots OOB, chunked a pathetic number of approach and chips with the soft ground, then topped it off by putting like a moron.

king_carlos wrote:A fortnight of contrasts for me.

I shot a PB 80 last week. We got a few days of dry but windy weather, it dried out the course beautifully and the groundsmen got through a ton of work. Nice fluffy lies, greens rolling well, everything just fell together nicely. Lots of fairways and greens in reg. I was actually on course to break 80 with 2 left. I had two par threes to finish, 8 shots in hand to make 71. Bogey, bogey would've done it. I missed both greens though and hit a dismal lag putt on the 17th, ended up with a double there and bogey on 18. It was a cracking day out.

Then I shot a 94 yesterday. The wet weather had been back, I dealt awfully with the wind, put a fair few tee shots OOB, chunked a pathetic number of approach and chips with the soft ground, then topped it off by putting like a moron.

Slings and arrows...

Good golf in the wind is an art form as well.
Doesn't matter how you are, or how well you're playing at one point, you never master it. Makes you want to try again, though....most of the time!

First comp for me this year is a Medal on the 20th, so have got some practice in over the last couple of weeks. Last week was pretty abysmal (and I felt it the day after), but today was a lot better - ball striking a lot more solid, and mostly going in about the right direction. Have to see whether that holds for next weekend...

First round of golf for me since September! I don’t do winter golf any more due to arthritis and my advancing years and it’s been so wet and windy in my corner of Fife it hasn’t been conducive to playing - course has been fully or partially shut for months, too. Anyway, without any practice at all, I managed to score a respectable 14 points over 9 holes and ended up 4th. I only played because we now have to submit 3 cards in order to be able to play in the following year’s competitions and I wanted to get a banker in. Handicap Index has gone up by 0.2 but I’m not that bothered as it doesn’t affect my course handicap on my course. It was my short game that let me down otherwise I might have scored even better. Let’s see how I do next time out!

First outing of the year for me last Saturday in the opening Medal at our place. Mixed bag in the end and too many shots frittered away due to lack of practice. Not too bad all things considered, though - ended up in the middle of the pack w/ 79, nett 76. Handicap up a bit more, but mine hasn't been realistic since the WHS came in!

Plus points: driving (shockingly!) was generally pretty good. Bunker shots very good, too. Weather was great, if a little chilly.
Negatives: radar with irons was way off at times, as was their ball striking. Putter never felt comfortable all day.

LadyPutt wrote:First round of golf for me since September! I don’t do winter golf any more due to arthritis and my advancing years and it’s been so wet and windy in my corner of Fife it hasn’t been conducive to playing - course has been fully or partially shut for months, too. Anyway, without any practice at all, I managed to score a respectable 14 points over 9 holes and ended up 4th. I only played because we now have to submit 3 cards in order to be able to play in the following year’s competitions and I wanted to get a banker in. Handicap Index has gone up by 0.2 but I’m not that bothered as it doesn’t affect my course handicap on my course. It was my short game that let me down otherwise I might have scored even better. Let’s see how I do next time out!

Think it’s fair to say your wee corner of Fife has much in common with most of the rest of the country LP. Good to hear your game seems to have emerged reasonably out of hibernation.

What’s conditions been like the past couple of weeks in the east/north east? Warm enough for the rough to spring up? and are fairways (even linksy ones) softer than normal?

JAS wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:First round of golf for me since September! I don’t do winter golf any more due to arthritis and my advancing years and it’s been so wet and windy in my corner of Fife it hasn’t been conducive to playing - course has been fully or partially shut for months, too. Anyway, without any practice at all, I managed to score a respectable 14 points over 9 holes and ended up 4th. I only played because we now have to submit 3 cards in order to be able to play in the following year’s competitions and I wanted to get a banker in. Handicap Index has gone up by 0.2 but I’m not that bothered as it doesn’t affect my course handicap on my course. It was my short game that let me down otherwise I might have scored even better. Let’s see how I do next time out!

Think it’s fair to say your wee corner of Fife has much in common with most of the rest of the country LP.  Good to hear your game seems to have emerged reasonably out of hibernation.

What’s conditions been like the past couple of weeks in the east/north east? Warm enough for the rough to spring up? and are fairways (even linksy ones) softer than normal?

Just starting to warm up in the last couple of days, although still with a stiff NE wind coming off the North Sea. At least there’s been hardly any rain in the last couple of weeks and none forecast. Don’t know about other courses but ours is finally drying out and there’s even a bit of run on the fairways.
Played again on Wednesday (9-hole competition again) and this time had 20 points and the short game was back  HI back down by 0.2 to where it was 2 weeks ago! Booked for next Wednesday’s comp so goodness knows what will happen this time.
I’m playing with LordPutt on Monday which will be his first game since he had to have surgery for kidney cancer just before Christmas. It was detected (totally unrelated) when he had a scan because his PSA was creeping up after his successful prostate cancer surgery - it never seems to end. Anyway, the kidney surgery was a success and the PSA is relatively stable so we’re just going to keep living life as best we can as we’re getting old!
EDIT: We didn’t play yesterday as it rained really hard and LordPutt had a touch of the lurgy which wasn’t just hayfever as we thought. I’m booked into the 9-hole competition tomorrow.

Been getting into golf a lot more here. Have a driving range about 1km from work, and two half decent courses as part of my membership.
The golf bug is back.

Played in a qualifier yesterday. Not very well. But the point of this post is that 4 players got disqualified for various reasons (card not signed, card not submitted etc) even though they completed their scores electronically. The point that I am interested in is that, although they were disqualified, their scores are counted for handicap purposes. Seems strange to me.

I'm never wrong wrote:Played in a qualifier yesterday. Not very well. But the point of this post is that 4 players got disqualified for various reasons (card not signed, card not submitted etc) even though they completed their scores electronically. The point that I am interested in is that, although they were disqualified, their scores are counted for handicap purposes. Seems strange to me.  

Yeah; does seem odd. I presume that they don't check reasons for disqualification for each person and only then allow the card, or not? If not, seems very odd as someone could have been DQ'd for some egregiously cheated score one way or the other.

navyblueshorts wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:Played in a qualifier yesterday. Not very well. But the point of this post is that 4 players got disqualified for various reasons (card not signed, card not submitted etc) even though they completed their scores electronically. The point that I am interested in is that, although they were disqualified, their scores are counted for handicap purposes. Seems strange to me.  

Yeah; does seem odd. I presume that they don't check reasons for disqualification for each person and only then allow the card, or not? If not, seems very odd as someone could have been DQ'd for some egregiously cheated score one way or the other.

Delved into this a bit deeper and found that there is a decision re handicapping and disqualification. If you are disqualified for the reasons I listed above (and there are a few more), your score for handicapping counts. If you are disqualified for a breach of certain rules, then your score does not count. So it depends on the reason. There is a document "Guidance on the WHS Rules of Handicapping as applied within GB&I" which explains it. Look at Appendix J of this DOCUMENT

I'm never wrong wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:Played in a qualifier yesterday. Not very well. But the point of this post is that 4 players got disqualified for various reasons (card not signed, card not submitted etc) even though they completed their scores electronically. The point that I am interested in is that, although they were disqualified, their scores are counted for handicap purposes. Seems strange to me.  

Yeah; does seem odd. I presume that they don't check reasons for disqualification for each person and only then allow the card, or not? If not, seems very odd as someone could have been DQ'd for some egregiously cheated score one way or the other.

Delved into this a bit deeper and found that there is a decision re handicapping and disqualification. If you are disqualified for the reasons I listed above (and there are a few more), your score for handicapping counts. If you are disqualified for a breach of certain rules, then your score does not count. So it depends on the reason. There is a document  "Guidance on the WHS Rules of Handicapping as applied within GB&I" which explains it. Look at Appendix J of this DOCUMENT

This may have always been the case. Happened to me about 25 years ago. Forgot to sign for my score having shot a net 63 and my handicap dropped a couple of strokes. Particularly galling as I would have won the Medal and the cut meant that in the following week's County match against Edzell I had to play in the lower handicap category and got whupped.

I'm at a stage where I've got a huge variance in scoring due to being erratic off the tee. I shot a PB 79 on a par 71 I hadn't played before, then two days later shot 95 on my home par 69. It's not like there was a wild difference in conditions like a howling gale or pissing rain either. I just stuck about half a dozen tee shots either OOB or into trouble during the blow up. Whereas my only issue off the tee in the PB was needing to bunt out from some trees on a short par 4, I ended up scrambling a par with a long putt dropping.

I'm playing irons off tees much more, trying to make smarter course management decisions to mitigate it. The pro I've had lessons with says it's the nature of a faster swing speed when you're starting out though. If I connect well it can be very good. If I connect bad it's hilariously bad at times. Then those ones definitely get into your head. I've played multiple provisionals on occasion. Which unavoidably becomes a horrid feeling from a speed of play perspective more than your score.

It's a silly game. Definitely glad I started playing properly though. The good is far outweighing the bad on the whole.

Knocked out in the Club. Champ Semi Final last night for second year running.

super_realist wrote:Knocked out in the Club. Champ Semi Final last night for second year running.

That's frustrating. One of the top few players at the club, though, so some positives on reflection?

I, on the other hand, was knocked out in the 3rd round of our Gents Singles KO this week. Handed my arse as an 8&7 defeat. Can't remember the last time I lost by that amount in matchplay. Played poorly, particularly off the tee where had no idea where the ball was heading, but had to give the other guy 21 shots(!!) and was losing holes to nett birdies way too often. Always next year...

navyblueshorts wrote:

super_realist wrote:Knocked out in the Club. Champ Semi Final last night for second year running.

That's frustrating. One of the top few players at the club, though, so some positives on reflection?

I, on the other hand, was knocked out in the 3rd round of our Gents Singles KO this week. Handed my arse as an 8&7 defeat. Can't remember the last time I lost by that amount in matchplay. Played poorly, particularly off the tee where had no idea where the ball was heading, but had to give the other guy 21 shots(!!) and was losing holes to nett birdies way too often. Always next year...

Yes, quite gratifying as I've not played much more than range sessions in Norway and half a dozen rounds.
Still got another Club Champ (stroke play) in Norway, so always a chance there.
Giving away 21 shots is a hiding to nothing Navy. They really don't have to do much whilst you have to be on the ball on all holes.

I had the most epic of blow ups on Wednesday. Shot well over 100 (11 handicap currently...) and lost 9 balls. I say well over 100 as the 18th was a blob. I put my first tee shot into some long grass, was so done that I didn't hit a provisional, had a brief look and took my net double for handicap.

I tend to be a fairly jolly golfer I think. I came to the game during a poor period of mental health, just viewed it as a way to get me outside. I try to carry that through poorer rounds. Wednesday tested that though. S***e day out. It was tough conditions as it was windy and there were a couple of brief spells with heavy rain, so the rough was brutal to hit out of, greens felt like they changed pace, etc. It wasn't shooting 20+ shots over handicap tough though.

I started well too. Bogey, par, par, par. Then an 8 on a par 4 (first lost ball). 6 on a par 3 (second lost ball). A par on the 7th - woo hoo. Then 11 on a par 5 (third, fourth and fifth lost balls). Safe to say it unravelled rather quickly when it went.

I'm in the men's open tomorrow with the same 4 ball. Just hoping I don't slow them down as much!

I managed a post work round on Thursday last week, beautiful evening for golf.

Very mixed bag, hadn't swung a club for a month and a half and really had no rhythm in my swing off the tee with driver until late in the round. Managed to par 16 and 18 which is a first for me on both holes at the course (Wensum Valley, valley course) and found some good ball striking late on. Chipped the ball well all day, seem to have got some feel for it now after some tips from the pro.

Hoping to get back out this week but the forecast is awful this way...what happened to summer?!

Playing more regularly is hardly aiding me at the moment, Olly. I've had another two absolute s**t storms since that previous post. Probably half a dozen lost balls in both. Almost all my 20 most recent cards for handicap on Scottish Golf were under 85. I've now got two over 100 and a couple in the 90s. Completely gone to pot off the tee, hence lost balls. Once it gets to a certain point of abysmal, other parts of my game go as I just lose some concentration to be honest. I 3 putted from about 3 feet on Saturday.

king_carlos wrote:Playing more regularly is hardly aiding me at the moment, Olly. I've had another two absolute s**t storms since that previous post. Probably half a dozen lost balls in both. Almost all my 20 most recent cards for handicap on Scottish Golf were under 85. I've now got two over 100 and a couple in the 90s. Completely gone to pot off the tee, hence lost balls. Once it gets to a certain point of abysmal, other parts of my game go as I just lose some concentration to be honest. I 3 putted from about 3 feet on Saturday.

Ouch! re. the 3-putt. This game gets in your head. It'll come good again, though.

I had a bit of an improvement in the Medal on Saturday. Weather was very breezy and we had one huge downpour, but finished w/ 75 (+4; 72 nett), and that was with a full-blown hosel rocket wedge second shot OB on our 12th resulting in a double bogey and a bit of outrageous bad luck on our 4th for another double.

Biggest difference? After a period of atrocious driving where the ball was all over the place from the tee (I sympathise re. poor driving on a course with Biblical rough, Carlos!), the driving came really good on Saturday. The radar has obviously been re-calibrated for at least 24 hours. Not sure on the reason as just switched up to a heavier shaft and also trying to make sure I have decent rotation to start backswing as I tend to get a bit outside the line at times. Will have to see if I can carry into the next few rounds. Everything else felt really solid.

Favourite moment: the one poor drive of the day on 16, followed by then airmailing the green with my second to a back flag, leaving myself short-sided with a hump to clear on the way back, only to then hit a worldie flop shot that died perfectly into the hole for an outrageous birdie. Rest of the day felt quite good after that...

king_carlos wrote:Playing more regularly is hardly aiding me at the moment, Olly. I've had another two absolute s**t storms since that previous post. Probably half a dozen lost balls in both. Almost all my 20 most recent cards for handicap on Scottish Golf were under 85. I've now got two over 100 and a couple in the 90s. Completely gone to pot off the tee, hence lost balls. Once it gets to a certain point of abysmal, other parts of my game go as I just lose some concentration to be honest. I 3 putted from about 3 feet on Saturday.

Sounds like you could use a little break KC - get yourself off the golf course and onto the 22 yards of batting wicket, frustrate yourself there instead and get back to enjoying golf after

navyblueshorts wrote:I had a bit of an improvement in the Medal on Saturday. Weather was very breezy and we had one huge downpour, but finished w/ 75 (+4; 72 nett), and that was with a full-blown hosel rocket wedge second shot OB on our 12th resulting in a double bogey and a bit of outrageous bad luck on our 4th for another double.

Biggest difference? After a period of atrocious driving where the ball was all over the place from the tee (I sympathise re. poor driving on a course with Biblical rough, Carlos!), the driving came really good on Saturday. The radar has obviously been re-calibrated for at least 24 hours. Not sure on the reason as just switched up to a heavier shaft and also trying to make sure I have decent rotation to start backswing as I tend to get a bit outside the line at times. Will have to see if I can carry into the next few rounds. Everything else felt really solid.

Favourite moment: the one poor drive of the day on 16, followed by then airmailing the green with my second to a back flag, leaving myself short-sided with a hump to clear on the way back, only to then hit a worldie flop shot that died perfectly into the hole for an outrageous birdie. Rest of the day felt quite good after that...

I played yesterday after a couple of pretty poor rounds, one in competition which thankfully didn’t affect my HI, and played really well for a change and the most improved aspect was my putting and irons to the green. The best bit? I beat LordPutt by 1 shot playing level gross off the same tees It was a pretty nice day as well which helped and the course looked in great condition - although, dare I say it, we need some rain after the drying winds!

76 for me playing in the twilight this evening, which was a sizeable PB. Hitting it really well too. I've shifted my hands forward in my iron setup, it's definitely helping with compression and getting more consistent strikes. Very pleasing after some rank rounds for a few weeks.

It was looking even better at one point too. I was 2 over through the front nine and still 2 over after 12. Then came bogey, bogey, double on 13, 14, 15. Which was annoying! Ended par, bogey, par though for a uplifting finish. The double on the 15th was especially frustrating as it would've been my first round with no holes worse than a bogey.

I've had a banger of a second hand club find too. Adams Idea 2014 Hybrid. It's a #2 iron replacement, so 16.5-degree. Only £15 in great condition. That thing is not only forgiving on poor strikes, it f***ing goes when you catch it. It is proving very handy off the tee given I'm playing most my rounds on a relatively short but very tight coastal course that is prone to windy days.

king_carlos wrote:76 for me playing in the twilight this evening, which was a sizeable PB. Hitting it really well too. I've shifted my hands forward in my iron setup, it's definitely helping with compression and getting more consistent strikes. Very pleasing after some rank rounds for a few weeks.

It was looking even better at one point too. I was 2 over through the front nine and still 2 over after 12. Then came bogey, bogey, double on 13, 14, 15. Which was annoying! Ended par, bogey, par though for a uplifting finish. The double on the 15th was especially frustrating as it would've been my first round with no holes worse than a bogey.

I've had a banger of a second hand club find too. Adams Idea 2014 Hybrid. It's a #2 iron replacement, so 16.5-degree. Only £15 in great condition. That thing is not only forgiving on poor strikes, it f***ing goes when you catch it. It is proving very handy off the tee given I'm playing most my rounds on a relatively short but very tight coastal course that is prone to windy days.

Great shooting. It's amazing how just a small change can make a difference.
I had a lesson last week using pressure plates and had my posture adjusted due to what was found.
Went out a few days later and hit 15 greens with only one miss short of green where my season stats have me missing around 25% short of green.
Hitting it longer and more consistent as a result and wasn't far away from a hole in one either

king_carlos wrote:...I've had a banger of a second hand club find too. Adams Idea 2014 Hybrid. It's a #2 iron replacement, so 16.5-degree. Only £15 in great condition. That thing is not only forgiving on poor strikes, it f***ing goes when you catch it. It is proving very handy off the tee given I'm playing most my rounds on a relatively short but very tight coastal course that is prone to windy days.

Adams had some great gear. I think TM bought them more or less purely around their 'speed slot' IP. I've had an Adams Pro DHY 2-iron replacement in my bag for several years - brilliant club.

So it’s club champs at my old club this weekend. Biggest thing I’ve been working on is keeping everything low key and working hard on the nugget of useful feedback that I got at Carnoustie last month re berating myself after bad shots. I have stopped doing that now, positive affirmations only!! Has it shone through in good scores yet? mostly no but there are signs it’s coming. What has it done then? It has ABSOLUTELY changed my enjoyment of just playing and managing myself during a round. I’m actually enjoying the game more than I have been for a very long time. I’m almost too laid back about the weekend so it’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.

navyblueshorts wrote:

king_carlos wrote:...I've had a banger of a second hand club find too. Adams Idea 2014 Hybrid. It's a #2 iron replacement, so 16.5-degree. Only £15 in great condition. That thing is not only forgiving on poor strikes, it f***ing goes when you catch it. It is proving very handy off the tee given I'm playing most my rounds on a relatively short but very tight coastal course that is prone to windy days.

Adams had some great gear. I think TM bought them more or less purely around their 'speed slot' IP. I've had an Adams Pro DHY 2-iron replacement in my bag for several years - brilliant club.

Yeah, the similarities to some TM stuff from the same period are obvious. I borrowed a pals TM RBZ hybrid for a few rounds. It was grand off the tee and an absolute cannon when you strike it. Similar to the RBZ 3 wood I've got there. The Adams definitely feels easier to strike consistently from the deck and more forgiving though.

Annoyingly, my driver head cracked yesterday though. Fortunately I got it from the pro shop I get lessons from, they offer a decent warranty. So they'll replace it with the same or store credit towards another. It's a Callaway B21. Which was decent enough as a second hand driver for just over £100 but the huge offset and draw bias (about as extreme as they get) was starting to frustrate now my swing is a bit steadier and not as a slice prone. I'm considering spending a few extra quid on top of the store credit to get something like a Ping G400.

king_carlos wrote:...I'm considering spending a few extra quid on top of the store credit to get something like a Ping G400.

I can recommend one of these. Great club - I have the LST and a backup regular one - and the more recent G iterations in the driver haven't (IMO) made any great strides since the original G400. If you're thinking between two loft options, I'd go for the higher one, unless you have some real speed. The stock Alta shaft is pretty good, as is the Tour 65.

Played on Sunday at my now becoming regular course at Wensum Valley - started off magnificently with a birdie on the first hole.
Unfortunately, I then followed this up with a 10 (ten) on two as I managed to play basically every shot appallingly.

Rest of the round generally went well - played the par threes very nicely. Drove it more consistently, just really still need to work on putting. Lose so many stupid shots with three and four putts.

Think I need more 'reps'. Played a stableford comp on Saturday - 29 points. Pretty rubbish, even though there was some good golf in there. The mistakes were too frequent, too dumb and too costly. Alway next time though, I guess!

navyblueshorts wrote:Think I need more 'reps'. Played a stableford comp on Saturday - 29 points. Pretty rubbish, even though there was some good golf in there. The mistakes were too frequent, too dumb and too costly. Alway next time though, I guess!

I heard Woods say he "needed more reps" after his hackeresque exit. I groaned and cringed. Can't this guy say anything a bit more original than that hackneyed term? It's worse than Starmer with his dad being a "tool maker"