June 26th 2018 Golf Round Review
You can play not your best golf and as long as you avoid penalty strokes, still record an OK score.
Hard for me to believe, but this 47 is my best score on the front nine this season. Only one par and too many poor shots, but still a lot of positives to take out of this round. I hit 43% of fairways and didn’t miss any left, which has been an issue for me early this year. When I missed the fairway to the right on four holes, all were still very much in play. Right is the correct miss on those holes, as going left is in the woods.
I’m driving the ball well as of late. You might have heard the saying “drive for show, putt for dough”, which has a lot of truth in it, but if you can’t put the ball in play off of the tee, you will continually struggle to score well.
I made decent contact on my drive on the 1st hole and hit it up the right side in the rough. I wasn’t fully committed to my second shot. I wanted to lay up with a 4 iron that would leave me a wedge into the par 5. I was worried about clipping trees to my right and I thought if I went left enough to avoid them I’d have tree trouble on the left. Never feeling comfortable with the shot, I ended up topping it twenty to thirty yards up the fairway. I hit a much better 4 iron for my third shot about 30 yards in front of the green. I hit a decent pitch leaving my par putt below the hole from about 18-20 feet. It had rained a little before our round and I left my first putt woefully short, missed my second, and three putted for a double bogey.
I felt like I wasn’t committed to some shots today. Thinking through your shots is a good idea, but once you have determined the shot to play, fully commit to that shot.
I hit a great drive on two up the right side of the fairway leaving me 110 yards left uphill for my approach. I hit a 9 iron a little fat and was a few yards short of the green. I chipped on and two putted for a bogey.
Par should be the score on the 3rd hole most of the time. I’ve already fatted a wedge and took a double bogey on this hole this year already. Today I thinned my gap wedge well over the green. I then thinned another wedge back over the green. Chipped on and two putted for another double bogey. My short game is presently not good enough to save me from bad approach shots. I am rarely getting up and down from off the green.
I hit a 4 iron off the 4th tee to the right. I avoided the few trees over there and if you can do that bailing right isn’t all that bad. At least you are dry. I made good contact with my 8 iron for my approach shot but pulled it slightly left. We had a lot of rain about a week and a half ago and there was ground under repair that I got relief from. I fatted my pitch shot but was able to chip my fourth shot close to the cup and was able to make the putt for bogey.
Six over after four holes. Not exactly where I want to be put still time to get on a run and salvage the round.
I’ve been playing the 5th hole well this year and hit another good driver to find the fariway. I was between a pitching wedge and 9 iron but chose pitching wedge to leave it below the hole. I hit a nice one and did just that, leaving it about 15 feet below the hole. I two putted for a par. I need to par more holes.
I hit my usual 4 iron off the 6th tee and found the right side of the fairway. I hit my 8 iron approach a little short and left but was in a good spot in front of the green. I bladed my wedge over the green. Way too many of those this round. I chipped on and two putted for a double bogey. Instead of stringing a couple pars together, another double bogey had me 8 over par after six holes and just trying to avoid a huge score for the round at this point.
I thinned my 5 iron off the tee and barely made it over the pond. I pitched on and two putted for a bogey.
The 8th hole is another hole I’ve been playing well this year. I hit a decent drive that found the right rough. With 125 yards left but an uphill lie I hit an 8 iron within 20 feet of the hole. It was uphill to the hole with slow greens. I wanted to get it to the hole. I judged the pace very well and hit a nice lag putt to within two feet of the hole. This weekend I practiced starting my putts, especially short ones, online. None of that helped this putt and I pulled it left, three putting for a bogey. I’ve said it before but one of the worst feelings I have in golf is hitting a green in regulation and three putting for bogey.
I hit my driver right off the 9th tee. While missing right is the safest miss on this hole, it does make the hole play much longer. I had 185 yards out of the rough left for my approach. I had a decent lie here but made a mistake. I should have taken my medicine and laid up with a 4 iron. I instead tried to get a 5 wood on the ball but ended up topping it. I then topped a 7 iron and then pitched on. Two putts and a double bogey ended my round. So far this league season my scores on the 9th hole have been double bogey, triple bogey, and double bogey. I need to finish rounds much, much better than I am.
As this season has progressed, I have improved my accuracy off the tee. I still need some work on putting, but what I really need to improve now is my low point on my irons. I’m either fat or thin on what feels like over half of these shots.