July 10th 2018 Round Review
In my last golf round review, No Penalty Strokes, I mentioned the importance of keeping the ball in play off the tee. I’ve had 18 straight penalty stroke free holes in a row, and putting the ball in play off the tee is the biggest contributor to that. It’s obvious, but no penalty strokes makes it so much easier to put together lower rounds, and I was able to post a 45 this round.
Last round I hit several nice drives, some in the fairway, some just off, but most in good shape. I built a lot on that this round and had the best round I can remember with my driver, hitting 67% of fairways. Every shot with my driver except one was a high, booming, baby draw, with every one of those except one finding the middle of the fairway.
I continued to strike my irons well for the most part, but my short game continues to be of area of needed improvement for me. I still do not have the ability to get up and down from green side. I’m not getting my chips and putts close enough to one putt, and when I do I’m missing short putts.
It was great to start the round off with a great drive right down the middle on the 10th hole. I had 279 yards left. I hit a 4 iron to layup to around 100 yards, which I did almost down to the yard. I hit my gap yard pin high but pulled it left a few yards off the green. I chipped on and two putted for a bogey.
I hit another nice driver off the 11th tee, missed the fairway left but still very playable out of the left rough. I had 80 yards left and hit a nice partial gap wedge on the green. I am not doing a great job with the speed of the greens and left my first putt way short. I missed the second putt and you guessed it, three putted another green in regulation for a bogey.
I hit my usual 3 wood off the par 3 12th tee. I hit a thin bullet, but it was straight and managed to get some air, and was only 10 or so yards short of the green. I pitched on and two putted for another bogey. Felt like I should be scoring better with my ball striking but satisfied with bogey golf.
Absolutely crushed a driver off the 13th tee which ended up right in the middle of the fairway. I made good contact with an 8 iron but pulled another shot, pin high but left of the green. It left a difficult pitch down the hill onto the green. I two putted for another bogey. 4 bogies in a row. Nice to be consistent if nothing else.
I hit a nice 6 iron off the tee on the 4th hole which found the fairway, but I didn’t cut the angle close enough, and left a shot with which I had to skirt the tree line. I hit a nice 8 iron which would have been near perfect, but it just clipped a tree. Luckily I found it, but it was in some tall stuff, and I just got it out. I then had a mental lapse and duffed my pitch. It took me 5 strokes to get on. I was happy to sink the 6 footer to save double bogey.
The 15th hole is the hole where I hit my driver off the toe, sending it left. I got lucky and the ball missed going in the corner woods. I had 190 yards left uphill, which is a little much for my 4 iron. Still, 4 iron was the correct play out of the rough, and I hit a great one that ended up just two yards short of the green. I hit a nice 7 iron chip to two feet from the hole but missed the par putt and had to settle for bogey! With the rest of my game in pretty good shape it really is highlighting how poor my putting is and how it is costing me strokes.
I crushed another driver off the 16th tee leaving me 88 yards from the middle of the fairway. I hit a great gap wedge that toyed with going in ending up 6 feet past the hole. I was tentative with my birdie putt and left it short, settling for a par.
I hit another beautiful driver on 17 which left me a 155 yard approach shot from the fairway. I hit one of my few only poor irons of the night, fatting a 6 iron. It is so important to remain focused after a bad shot. I thinned my next shot, a gap wedge over the green. I did make a great recovery shot, pitching it to 6 inches from the hole to save bogey.
I broke my 18th hole curse and hit a great drive down the middle of the fairway, leaving 228 yards left to the hole. I proceeded to hit a great three wood to within 10 yards of the green. I decided to chip with a 9 iron instead of a wedge, which was a great idea, I got more roll out than a wedge, just not enough, leaving about 12 feet for birdie. I hit one of my better putts of the night as my birdie putt broke just in front of the hole and tapped in for par.
It was great to have a strong finish. Almost unbelievable to me, in my previous seven league rounds this year, I failed to score better than a double bogey on the finishing hole. I need to focus my practice on short game and putting. If I do that I feel my game is trending in a great direction.