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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.

May 8th 2018 Golf Round Review

I’m happy to tell everyone that I’m back golfing in a weekly league. A long time ago, I wrote about the reasons to join a golf league, and they all still hold true today.

The league is the Tuesday Night Men’s Late League at Pinewood Country Club in Harsaw, WI. The course plays 6,179 yards from the back tees which we play in league. While the course is unique in that it has no bunkers, the rolling, wooded terrain provides a challenge for amateur golfers of every level. I golfed in this league for a few years about 10 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the course, members, and owners.

I will be reviewing every round here on the website, and I my hope is that you can learn some things along with me throughout the season. The league is a nine hole league and we alternate between the front and back nine each week. My goal is to break 40 on each nine before the end of the season.

We had a late spring this year so courses have just open within the last week. We had our first night of league this past Tuesday.

My final score of 49 wasn’t the score I shoot for, but there were enough positives in the round, especially considering it was the first time on a course this year.

As a high handicap or beginner golfer, it is extremely important to focus on the positives from your round and not dwell on negatives. Absolutely take stats during your round to formulate a practice plan to improve in needed areas of your game, but don’t relive your bad shots over and over in your head.

I had a lot of positives in this round, including hitting 71% of fairways in regulation, incurring no penalty strokes, and scoring no worse than a double bogey on any hole. Avoiding triple bogeys and worse is so important to keeping your round in check and not allowing it to get out of hand score wise.

Of course I have many areas of improvement. 22 putts for nine holes is not good. Add in that I only hit one green in regulation, the 22 putts shows how poor my short game and putting really was.

The first few rounds I will be reviewing every hole so you can get an overview of the course. While I’m not sure if I’ll review each individual hole every week, I’ll be reviewing at least some every week.

On the 1st hole, I striped my driver 260 yards right down the middle of the fairway. I truly could not have been happier. With 250 yards left, I decided to take 3 wood. I hit a pretty good shot up the left side, leaving me about 25 yards to go to the green. My short game issues surfaced immediately in the round, as I preceded to blade my wedge across the green. My chip coming back wasn’t much better, barely staying on the green. I then 3 putted for a double bogey 7. If I’m going to focus on positives, which I am, I’d take my first two shots any day of the week on this hole.

The 2nd hole is uphill from about 175 yards out to the green. I hit another nice drive down the middle. I had just inside of 150 yards left. The green was nearly 40 feet above me so I choose my 6 iron. I judged the distance well but pulled the shot left of the green. I made an excellent chip to inside 3 feet. I missed the short putt and had to settle for a bogey 5.

While the 3rd hole measures only 99 yards, it has a 47 foot drop in elevation from tee to green. Hit the perfect distance three-quarter swing gap wedge but again pulled it left of the green. I chipped on to about 4.5 feet, missed the par putt and recorded a bogey 4.

Long hitters could try to drive the green on the short par 4 4th hole, but it’s a small target, and the smarter play is to layup. I choose a 4 iron off the tee and hit a great layup, leaving about 95 yards to the green. I pulled another gap wedge left off the green and a little long. This was the 3rd short iron I pulled left. My following chip was well short, not getting over the mound between me and the hole. I barely got my putt over the mound and still had several feet to the hole. I took another 2 putts to get in. It ended up being my 2nd 3 putt of the night and another double bogey.

Looking back I probably got too frustrated over the poor chipping and putting on the last green, because a proceeded to top my driver off the 5th tee. I had 250 yards left to the green. I’m not capable of reaching the green from 250 yards in the rough, so I laid up to the yardage I wanted for my 3rd shot. I hit a 7 iron for my second shot which left me my preferred remaining yardage of 100 yards. I hit my gap wedge just a little fat so while I made the green, I had a good 50-60 feet to the hole. I hit a pretty good lag putt to 5 feet, sank that putt and recorded a bogey 5.

The 6th hole is an uphill par 4. Hitting driver off the tee requires you hitting into a small landing area. The safer play is to hit your tee shot about 200 yards and leave 100 yards to the green. I had hit my 4 iron cleanly but pushed it a bit too far right, not leaving me an angle to the green. I hit my second shot about 15 yards in front of the green and didn’t hit a great chip for my 3rd shot to the back of the green. I 3 putted for the 3rd time that night and recorded a double bogey 6.

A pretty nice wind had kicked up and was at our back on the 7th tee. I decided to go with a 6 iron. I had another lack of focus and topped the 6 iron. Hit a wedge for my second shot and again pulled it left. I couldn’t get up and down and had to record a double bogey 5. I just hate to take a double on a par 3.

I hit another good driver on the 8th hole, leaving me with 125 yards for my second shot. I pulled a 9 iron but thankfully not as bad as my other pulls, and hit my only green in regulation of the night. My 4th 3 putt of the night led to a bogey 5.

The 9th hole is a dog leg left par 4. I attempted to cut the corner with my driver, which is possible, but I caught the last tree. I was in the rough and did not have a line to the green. I hit a 7 iron to about 20 yards in front of the green. My next chip might have been the worst of the night. It came up short of the green and it took me a 4th short to get on. Missed the 5 foot putt bogey putt and recorded another double bogey.

Final Thoughts

Except for two times losing focus, I hit the ball extremely well off the tee, whether it was my driver or 4 iron. The two times I lost focus and topped my shots is a good reminder to clear my head before each shot and after every hole.

I did do a lot of work on my putting this weekend so I’m hoping to see improvement in that area tomorrow in my next league round. I worked on lag putting and short putts. Eliminating 3 putts is a two part process. You need to improve your lag putting, which is getting the ball close to the hole on your first long putt, and improve making the short 3, 4 and 5 foot putts.

I also worked on determining why and correcting pulling my short irons to the left. These are straight pulls, so both my club path and club face are left of target. I worked on getting my path more to the right, which seems to help. If I am still pulling my short irons tomorrow in league, a quick fix will be to aim more to the right. I need to hit more than one green in regulation.

I’m excited to see improvement in my game as we go through league season.

By Shooting 90

By Shooting 90