Lately I have just been using the Grint for scorekeeping so I don't have score cards, but:
Shot 50 for 9
96 for 18 Saturday, April 4th without benefit of a single par
46 on Sunday, April 5th with a single par
So Monday Dave wanted to get in a practice round. I decided to use the Nike Power Feel balls.
First hole I decided to unleash my driver. If I hit it well I would start strong, if I sliced...well, I can play for my slice. And unleash I did, hitting a towering shot almost 40 yards down the left side of the fairway.
Now, you might be saying, "he forgot a 2" or even a "1". Nope, 40 yards. Maybe 150 yards in the air, but only 40 yards horizontally.
So then I pulled out my 7 wood and landed it pin high just off the green about 5 yards. Then the old I am a horrible chipper bugaboo struck, and I was barely on in three. Still, a 2-putt gave me a bogey. Not a horrible hole after that brutal drive.
I then pulled my 7 wood left of the green off the tee, but pin high. A nice chip for a change to abou 4' from the cup, 1-putt for par. Doing well.
Now, when I play with Dave, Jim and/or John, I play their rules, and so we were playing with one mulligan each. Confidently I stepped up with the driver, aimed properly, had the face closed, swung pretty hard, watched it sail over the houses. Mulligan. He was almost ob himself. I then hit it long, straight...but pulled left OB over the houses. I gave up, grabbed the 7w and put it center of fairway. Unfortunately, that was 3 (the way we play, 5 technically). Shot four was a towering gap wedge that was pin high, left side of green. A 2-putt gave me "just" a double bogey.
I then rip my 7 wood well left of the hole, like 30 yards, on the par 3. But I stick my chip on the green. It is a long sidehill putt. I just try to get close but hit it dreadfully short. Then I miss long and below the hole. And am short coming back up...I just 4-putted for the first time this year, taking a 6 on what should have been a 4.
The next hole was playing 167. Dave sliced badly, but got a charitable bounce into the fairway, albeit short. I hit my 5 iron stiff, and...right, bouncing backwards. Grr-animal. Nothing a nice chip will not fix. I am just above the pin with a long putt, but I think I have the read. I just miss the putt and have a 2-foot tap in. I do not take it seriously and pay the price, yanking it. I make the next one but now have 7 putts in 2 holes.
I also have a triple and a double bogey back to back. Not good.
Especially with my demon hole coming up, the one I have no shot for.
I decide to go with the conservative 7 wood but pull it further left than I ever have and go well left of the trees, leaving myself a 95 yard weird angle shot. My gap wedge has gorgeous shape but flies the green but 20 yards. My first chip is 3 yards short of the green. I putt on to about 8' from the cup, miss that but finish with a double.
I have now gone double-triple-double-double. I am building toward a big number. Worse, I have lost all confidence in every club in my bag. My 7 wood is pull-a-potamus, my driver has gone 40 yards, ob right, and ob left. My chipping is somewhere between laughably pathetic and abominably bad.
Dave and I joke back and forth about club selection. I hit a 3/4 swing driver and it ends up 190ish yards down, right side of the fairway. I tell Dave I am going to lay up with my 150 yard 8 iron, and I hit a towering shot that gently moves a hair right. He thinks I am in the sand, I think I am long on the hill on the backside.
Turns out I am on the extreme right edge of the green and experienced backspin. The ball was seriously about 4" back towards me from the monstrous ballmark.
I leave my putt about 3' short but manage to just lip the next one in for birdie. Yes, I know it is only a 352 yard par 5, which really should be a 4...but I am a crap golfer, so I am going to count it.
Next hole is the widest fairway available, it is a plain, boring 284 yard par 4 with no real hazards. I swing hard with my driver but mostly get air, driving it about 200 yards and landing an inch from the cart path 15ish yards inside the 100 yard marker. I pull my gap wedge thinking it is the right club. It is not as I hit the tree on the backside of the green about 20' in the air, but I get a fortuitous bounce back toward the green. I chip to about 4' from the hole and hit the putt for a par.
I have had some titanic drives (for me) on the 9th. It is possible to aim well left, overswing, and let the fade hit the left side of the fairway or a slice the right side. And that is what I do. Except my slice goes into the first hole fairway. I am about 80 yards out. My sand wedge is 45-65 yards. I don't want to go long so I pull out the sand wedge and as it turns out I land pin high, about 6' from the cup.
Before my putt I look at Dave and announce, "I want this birdie so bad". And the ball rolls toward the hole...not enough on it...need one more rotation...it pauses on the very edge of the cup...and rolls in. BIRDIE.
For the second time in my life I have 2 sub-par holes.
With the mulligan it cards as a 42, without it a 44. 2 birdies, 2 pars. So much fun. Loved it.
Showing posts with label King City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King City. Show all posts
Monday
Tuesday
King City Multiple Rounds
Been a while since I have updated. Back on Friday the 27th I was put in a fourseom with 3 Koreans. One of them, Jimmy, he and I hit it off really well and have golfed together a couple times since. Nice guy, similar abilities at that point. More on that later.
THey like to play from the blues. Now, on the one hand, King City is a short course. There are houses on both sides. They have three sets of tees; the short reds, the moderate whites and the long blues. There is not a huge difference: 131 yards on the whites. But it is a difference, and I usually play the whites with John, Jim and Dave so I try to stick with those. These guys wanted to play the blues.
It started well. Long, left center fairway, 9-iron from 125, 2-putt, par. This would be my last par for the front. I then went bogey, double (with a penalty/retee for OB), bogey the rest of the way for a 43. I am happy with that. I hit 2 fairways (1 after going ob), one GIR, 3 1-putts and 6 2-putts. I am happy with playing that level.
Just Jimmy and I played the back, which is really replaying the same nine. Fairway, GIR, 3-putt...what? Oops. Oh well, bogey is acceptable.
Then another 3-putt for a double. Then a drive OB and a triple. Then 3 to get on a par3, taking a 5. Then on the next par 3 I go GIR, 2-putt for par. Just my second par of the day.Also my last.
Double with another drive OB, double (with a 1-putt...meaning 6 to get on for a short par 5), FIR followed by bogey, bogey.
A 48 on the back. 5 shots worse. Still, for the round 43-49-91. I am good there. 23 over par for 18 holes playing the blues for the first time.
I hit 4 fairways and 3 greens in regulation. I had 4 1-putts, 2 3-putts, and 34 putts total.
I had 4 penalties.
Saturday Jimmy and I had 8 am tee time. The front took forever, then we got space and played again in less than half the time.
I used my 7 wood. And I cranked out a 220 yard shot left -side, fairway. Then from 60 yards out it took me 2 more shots to get on and 3 putts to get in. After that beautiful shot, a double?
Followed by yanking it left, taking 2 more to get on...my par shot barely reached the green on a par 3. Poor chipping again. Another double.
Talk about a rugged start. After 5 holes you have played 2 par 4 and 3 par 3s. I had taken 26 shotsinstead of 17. Almost double bogey golf. Even worse? That was without the "benefit" of a penalty. I then went bogey-par (WITH a penalty, helped by 1-putt), Par, double for a 46.
1 penalty. 3 fairways, 1 GIR. That right there is a problem. 17 putts. The 2 3-putts are a problem, the 3 1-putts much better.
The back was...interesting. Par. Penalty, Quadruple. Double with a 1-putt and penalty. Bogey, bogey, then FIR, chip-in for par. Yes, after hitting the fairway it went pitch over green, chip over green, chip in for par. I would finish with 4 consecutive fairways, a GIR in the middle, and went bogey-bogey-double bogey for another 46.
2 penalty strokes, 4 FIR, 1 GIR, 15 putts, 1 chip-in, 46-46/92.
A real problem has developed where I am actually driving it a little better, routinely landing between 110 and 60 yards from the green...and then taking 2, 3, even 4 shots to get on the green. I also am having more 3-putts. I seriously should have broken 90 on this round. Easily.
FIR. Chunk chip. Chunk chip. 3-putt. Should have been playing for par but my short game just disappeared. Then I yanked my tee shot ob left on the par 3. I was laying 4 when I reached the green and 3-putted. My first over double par score in forever. I came back with a nice drive, FIR. Then took 3 chips from less than 60 yards out to get on the green. A double.
bogey, bogey, double, bogey, double, tee shot OB and a triple. I shot a 52. Or exactly double bogey golf. With zero par or better. In fact, I only had 3 bogeys. This was a simply horrific round.
Shot a 52. With 3 FIR, 3 penalties, 1 GIR, 21 putts. Ugly. But I had still been golfing.
I had free time, the Goose had okayed the purchase of a golf bag now, fitted clubs next month. I headed off to Redtail to price the package. Over the next 3 hours Stuart basically gave me a lesson.
I have taught myself an incorrect takeaway that promotes a slice. I have also been aligning myself inproperly based on my understanding the feet were supposed to aim left of the target. I have also been opening my clubface, promoting a slice. Oh, and my grips were too small, clubs too short, with wrong loft and lie. And graphite is wrong shaft for a swing as fast as mine. In otherwords, the only thing I have been doing right is having fun.
Here is the problem. I have been golfing on a course that has houses left and right. The consequences for a bad swing are a lost ball and potential damage to property. So I have been swinging free and easy and controlled.
On a driving range, the consequence for a bad shot is having to bend over and put another ball on the mat. Possibly being mocked, though less likely since most people are just whacking away with no thought for what is happening next to them.
So he puts me on the swing monitor and I am happily unleashing, putting 89-95 mph swings together with 7-irons. But on the course my swing is much shorter.
I loved the feel of the graphite shaft hitting the ball but I liked the result of the steel shaft. Admittedly off a mat, but the ball was carrying 190 yards. Uhm...there are times I do not hit my DRIVER 190 right now. Sure, there is the occasional 280 or 250 yarder, but realistically it is a 190 yard club.
Anyway, I upgraded to Winn Grips, went with 5-9 irons, 3 wedges, a 4 hybrid. The 4 Hybrid was consistently hitting 220. I loved the feel of it. I also got a nice ba to carry, hoping to burn more calories by walking instead of pulling. Yeah, it is a weight loss gimmick. I don't care. I am happy.
THey like to play from the blues. Now, on the one hand, King City is a short course. There are houses on both sides. They have three sets of tees; the short reds, the moderate whites and the long blues. There is not a huge difference: 131 yards on the whites. But it is a difference, and I usually play the whites with John, Jim and Dave so I try to stick with those. These guys wanted to play the blues.
It started well. Long, left center fairway, 9-iron from 125, 2-putt, par. This would be my last par for the front. I then went bogey, double (with a penalty/retee for OB), bogey the rest of the way for a 43. I am happy with that. I hit 2 fairways (1 after going ob), one GIR, 3 1-putts and 6 2-putts. I am happy with playing that level.
Just Jimmy and I played the back, which is really replaying the same nine. Fairway, GIR, 3-putt...what? Oops. Oh well, bogey is acceptable.
Then another 3-putt for a double. Then a drive OB and a triple. Then 3 to get on a par3, taking a 5. Then on the next par 3 I go GIR, 2-putt for par. Just my second par of the day.Also my last.
Double with another drive OB, double (with a 1-putt...meaning 6 to get on for a short par 5), FIR followed by bogey, bogey.
A 48 on the back. 5 shots worse. Still, for the round 43-49-91. I am good there. 23 over par for 18 holes playing the blues for the first time.
I hit 4 fairways and 3 greens in regulation. I had 4 1-putts, 2 3-putts, and 34 putts total.
I had 4 penalties.
Saturday Jimmy and I had 8 am tee time. The front took forever, then we got space and played again in less than half the time.
I used my 7 wood. And I cranked out a 220 yard shot left -side, fairway. Then from 60 yards out it took me 2 more shots to get on and 3 putts to get in. After that beautiful shot, a double?
Followed by yanking it left, taking 2 more to get on...my par shot barely reached the green on a par 3. Poor chipping again. Another double.
Talk about a rugged start. After 5 holes you have played 2 par 4 and 3 par 3s. I had taken 26 shotsinstead of 17. Almost double bogey golf. Even worse? That was without the "benefit" of a penalty. I then went bogey-par (WITH a penalty, helped by 1-putt), Par, double for a 46.
1 penalty. 3 fairways, 1 GIR. That right there is a problem. 17 putts. The 2 3-putts are a problem, the 3 1-putts much better.
The back was...interesting. Par. Penalty, Quadruple. Double with a 1-putt and penalty. Bogey, bogey, then FIR, chip-in for par. Yes, after hitting the fairway it went pitch over green, chip over green, chip in for par. I would finish with 4 consecutive fairways, a GIR in the middle, and went bogey-bogey-double bogey for another 46.
2 penalty strokes, 4 FIR, 1 GIR, 15 putts, 1 chip-in, 46-46/92.
A real problem has developed where I am actually driving it a little better, routinely landing between 110 and 60 yards from the green...and then taking 2, 3, even 4 shots to get on the green. I also am having more 3-putts. I seriously should have broken 90 on this round. Easily.
FIR. Chunk chip. Chunk chip. 3-putt. Should have been playing for par but my short game just disappeared. Then I yanked my tee shot ob left on the par 3. I was laying 4 when I reached the green and 3-putted. My first over double par score in forever. I came back with a nice drive, FIR. Then took 3 chips from less than 60 yards out to get on the green. A double.
bogey, bogey, double, bogey, double, tee shot OB and a triple. I shot a 52. Or exactly double bogey golf. With zero par or better. In fact, I only had 3 bogeys. This was a simply horrific round.
Shot a 52. With 3 FIR, 3 penalties, 1 GIR, 21 putts. Ugly. But I had still been golfing.
I had free time, the Goose had okayed the purchase of a golf bag now, fitted clubs next month. I headed off to Redtail to price the package. Over the next 3 hours Stuart basically gave me a lesson.
I have taught myself an incorrect takeaway that promotes a slice. I have also been aligning myself inproperly based on my understanding the feet were supposed to aim left of the target. I have also been opening my clubface, promoting a slice. Oh, and my grips were too small, clubs too short, with wrong loft and lie. And graphite is wrong shaft for a swing as fast as mine. In otherwords, the only thing I have been doing right is having fun.
Here is the problem. I have been golfing on a course that has houses left and right. The consequences for a bad swing are a lost ball and potential damage to property. So I have been swinging free and easy and controlled.
On a driving range, the consequence for a bad shot is having to bend over and put another ball on the mat. Possibly being mocked, though less likely since most people are just whacking away with no thought for what is happening next to them.
So he puts me on the swing monitor and I am happily unleashing, putting 89-95 mph swings together with 7-irons. But on the course my swing is much shorter.
I loved the feel of the graphite shaft hitting the ball but I liked the result of the steel shaft. Admittedly off a mat, but the ball was carrying 190 yards. Uhm...there are times I do not hit my DRIVER 190 right now. Sure, there is the occasional 280 or 250 yarder, but realistically it is a 190 yard club.
Anyway, I upgraded to Winn Grips, went with 5-9 irons, 3 wedges, a 4 hybrid. The 4 Hybrid was consistently hitting 220. I loved the feel of it. I also got a nice ba to carry, hoping to burn more calories by walking instead of pulling. Yeah, it is a weight loss gimmick. I don't care. I am happy.
Friday
King City 3/21/15
After breakfast with the wife I snuck over to King City for a quick round. By which I meant another slow round. You probably know how I played already...
I did hit the fairway with my first tee shot, and was maybe 140 from the green. Unfortunately, after 2 I was still 20 from the green and my chip stunk. A 3-putt meant a 50.
The long Par 3 was a pleasant surprise as I hit green in regulation. Also surprising was the second consecutive 3-putt. This round is not starting well, a bogey after a GIR.
Then I lose a ball left out of bounds. Too bad because my follow up is dead center fairway, pitch onto green, 2 putt. So a double. Okay, we have +1, +2, +3 covered...lets try a par?
Or I could take 4 shots to get on the green and 1-putt for another double.
Then the par 3 playing 143 yards. Just short of the green off the tee, longish putt after a weak chip, 2-putt for bogey. I am laying 25 after 5. I am NOT playing well.
Worse, I have my bugaboo hole. I blast my driver, it just hits the top of the tree and gets knocked down for a 110 yard drive. I then get close to the green, but blast the chip long, barely hanging to the back edge leaving a sidehill downhill putt. 3 putts later I have another double.
Out comes the driver on the par 5. I hit it well and am maybe 140 from the green after my drive. I land on the left front of the green. I reached a par 5 in 2. Yes, a short, 352 yard par five...but I reached in two. I left the eagle putt about a foot short but tap in for birdie.
Forget the doubles and triple, I have had a good round.
I then blast the drive inside of 60 yards but blow the first chip, leave a makeable putt I miss and take a bogey.
My final drive is a bit right but long, leaving a nice 40 yard shot at the green. I get on the center, 2-putt to finish with a par and a 44.
20 putts for the round, 2 fairways in regulation, 1 green in regulation, one green in less than regulation.
I will take it. I am not a good golfer, so 1 shot worse than bogey with a birdie to my credit? Sounds good to me.
I did hit the fairway with my first tee shot, and was maybe 140 from the green. Unfortunately, after 2 I was still 20 from the green and my chip stunk. A 3-putt meant a 50.
The long Par 3 was a pleasant surprise as I hit green in regulation. Also surprising was the second consecutive 3-putt. This round is not starting well, a bogey after a GIR.
Then I lose a ball left out of bounds. Too bad because my follow up is dead center fairway, pitch onto green, 2 putt. So a double. Okay, we have +1, +2, +3 covered...lets try a par?
Or I could take 4 shots to get on the green and 1-putt for another double.
Then the par 3 playing 143 yards. Just short of the green off the tee, longish putt after a weak chip, 2-putt for bogey. I am laying 25 after 5. I am NOT playing well.
Worse, I have my bugaboo hole. I blast my driver, it just hits the top of the tree and gets knocked down for a 110 yard drive. I then get close to the green, but blast the chip long, barely hanging to the back edge leaving a sidehill downhill putt. 3 putts later I have another double.
Out comes the driver on the par 5. I hit it well and am maybe 140 from the green after my drive. I land on the left front of the green. I reached a par 5 in 2. Yes, a short, 352 yard par five...but I reached in two. I left the eagle putt about a foot short but tap in for birdie.
Forget the doubles and triple, I have had a good round.
I then blast the drive inside of 60 yards but blow the first chip, leave a makeable putt I miss and take a bogey.
My final drive is a bit right but long, leaving a nice 40 yard shot at the green. I get on the center, 2-putt to finish with a par and a 44.
20 putts for the round, 2 fairways in regulation, 1 green in regulation, one green in less than regulation.
I will take it. I am not a good golfer, so 1 shot worse than bogey with a birdie to my credit? Sounds good to me.
King City 3/19/15
John and I are coming off a win against Dave and Jim which is nice. For a 2 or 3 year period we only won once or twice, including I am pretty sure we were shut out 2 years ago and only one once last year in about 5 or 6 attempts. Dave and Jim mesh really well...if Dave hits a good shot, Jim hits a bad one or if Jim hits a good shot, Dave hits a bad one...they never seem to both hit a poor shot at the same time.
Or, if they do...how many times have John and I been laying 2, 20 yards off the green, while they are laying 2 160 yards off...only to land 6' from the cup and 1-putt. They are just really solid in the 2-man best ball format whereas John and I...well, we either both hit decent shots or both hit bad ones. There is no "pick up the partner".
We did, however, win at Skamania. Time to see if we can keep it rolling.
Jim leads off with a drive out of bounds. John follows his example. Dave then uncorks a nice drive down the right, no surprise there, it was inevitable. I put a 7 wood 190 yards left-center of fairway. Okay, little surprise...Dave actually shaded more right than we thought and they are under a tree. Jim hits said tree, landing about 8 feet in front of them. Dave goes wide left. With the door wide open, I land my gap wedge on the short side of the green. Naturally Dave then hits a nice chip and they 1-putt while I 2-putt...Dave and I end up with natural pars as our partners struggle on the hole. Dave did a great job of scrambling.
The 178 yard par 3 is not good for my psyche as I cannot hit the 3-iron and my 4 is too short. What to do? How about watching Jim land pin high left of the green, John and Dave both fail to get to the ladies tees. I then blast the 4 iron, landing on the back fringe of the green.
Yes, after never getting closer than 10 yards to the FRONT of the green, it is behind the green...wow! Go me!
Of course they chip on and close and 1-putt as we 2-putt. Both pars. This time I yip my putt and John saves the hole by rolling his in. I missed back to back natural pars by 1 rotation of the ball.
The 249 yard hole has been a cupcake for me most rounds. Jim goes OB. John hits short left under a tree. Dave blasts it long and straight, inside 150 center of fairway. I pull out my trusty 7 wood...and proceed to yank it left over the houses. Do we play Johns? I suggest we play a provisional mulligan...if John's is playable, we play his. If not, we will play mine. He HATES using mulligans this early but because it is provisional he concurs. I land about 200 yards down, off fairway right...bad hop takes it across cart path but playable.
His ball is in bad shape...we would have to go under one tree and over the next, impossible, or around it. We would have to punch into the fairway and would be laying 2 190 yards from the green. We take my mulligan. I then land on the green about 6' from the cup, very makeable putt. Meanwhile, Dave and Jim are struggling. They are on in 3, but very makeable for the par, maybe a 4' putt which they never miss.
I do miss my birdie putt by a couple inches but again John saves the day with a clutch putt for the birdie. Then both Jim and Dave miss, taking a 5. We picked up 2 shots. Great use of mulligan, as we would have lost the hole by 1-2 shots, instead we win the hole by 2.But will I regret going through holes 4-6 without my mulligan?
Now for demon hole 1 of 3, these next 3 holes being the part of the course I struggle with.
Jim is OB right. John chunks his shot horribly. Dave is short and right. The door is open. Being a 196 yard hole and knowing my 7 wood earlier was 190ish, I pull it out...and promptly hit a tree on the left. A short tree. A tree that should have no bearing on the hole. I will not have a full swing but John will so we play mine.
He puts it on the fringe, and it is a good thing, as I hit mine about 5 yards in a brutal display of incompetence. We 2-putt for a bogey...but Jim and Dave fly the green, Jim struggles with his chip...and Dave picks him up with a fantastic uphill over a mound chip that rolls to a stop in makeable distance. OUr wide open door to pick up a stroke just closed. Though they are laying 3 and we are 2. From there is took us 3 more to get in while they had a 1-putt lip out and 2 putted to match our 5.
The next hole is another tough one for me. It is short but the right side is guarded. It is pretty much only psychological as those trees should never come into play. John had stopped off in the convenient facilities so I went first. Playing at 143, I hit a towering 8-iron. Short and left. John stepped up and landed fringe right. Dave and Jim were both short.
Jim found my ball, unlike the other day when I never did. It had plugged top deep. Thanks Jim! We hit a nice lag and tapped in for par. They chipped on but also 2-putted. We were now up 3.
The next hole has tall trees on the left to protect my left-to-right flight pattern and no room on the right. John topped his ball, going nowhere. I seriously, seriously considered putting my 8 iron 150 yards out to put us at the 150 mark, believing it would be my most accurate club. However, I had just yanked it left and if you are going to hit a bad shot, what advantage is there to a short bad shot over a long bad shot? 277 yard hole...might as well try for some distance. Out came the 7 wood.
Well, I did hit it with my standard left to right pattern. And I did start it towards those pesky trees. However, I went over them. Over the tallest tree. It was maybe a 180 yard drive...but we had a clear shot at the green from the left side of the fairway. About as good a "drive" as I have had on this hole.
Meanwhile Jim went OB with his first drive and Dave went into that bunch of trees I went over. Jim hit another for his mulligan and it was wide right but playable.
They then both hit about 20 yards. Their next shot flew the green. John chunked his shot into the tree in the fairway. I hit my gap wedge and it was beautiful, landing on the green, albeit on the far left. They finally got on with their 4th shot, we were laying 2. We can really slam the door here.
OR we can brutally 3-putt while they 2 putt. We still picked up a shot but we kind of should have had a par. Still, we are 6 holes in and have 3 pars, a birdie, a bogey and a double. We are a comfortable 4 shots up with 3 to play and John still has his Mulligan.
Ah, the par 5. What to do? My decision gets easier when John uncorks his best drive of the day, laying about 200 yards from green in center of the fairway. I decide to aggressively pull out my driver.
Lately I have been hitting it straight but playing for the slice. I decide to play for it being straight.
I slice. We hear it hit the house. Jim also goes O.B. but Dave crushes his drive to the 150 marker, center of the fairway. We debate John using his mulligan but I am against it. He is in good shape. And I turn out to have bounced back inbounds 260 yards down the right side. We are kind of under one tree with another in front of us and water between but John prefers the distance to using his clean center of fairway shot.
This is one area I struggle with best ball. Yes, I am 90 to 100 yards further forward...but there is lots of potential trouble with my shot. Even should we go under the first, over the second tree and over the water, there is a sand trap guarding our side of the green. However, my teammate STRONGLY prefers the distance. Quality of shot is less important to him. So we take mine.
And Dave then crushes his second shot, hopping into the greenside bunker. John gets over the water but wide right, barely over the pond. We are maybe 145 yards out, perfect for my pitching wedge, which conveniently also means I should clear the tree in front of me. I hammer it, it feels good, it soars high...almost too high...the line is right...I am excited...and it crashes to earth 10 yards short of the green. I am stunned.
Still, we are laying two in the short rough, they are laying 2 in the sand. Advantage us. Until John and I both fail to reach the green with our chips and Dave puts his bunker shot within about a foot of the cup. We manage to 1-putt for the par, but Dave had a natural birdie and the get a shot back with a really nice sequence. Well played.
Ah, the 284 wide open fairway no danger hole. Love this one. Jim continues to struggle, but Dave continues to hammer his drives. He is well inside the 150 yard marker. John hits to the 150 marker in the rough well right of the fairway. Confidently I blast my driver, playing for the slice, believing I am going to be center of fairway somewhere between 250 and 280 yards down. It felt so good I thought for a second I had driven the green. In fact I overdrove it, hitting it about 350 yards.
Oh, not where it should have been...straight as an arrow, bouncing down the road. Well left and out of bounds. Horrid shot. But it WAS 350 yards of concrete added beauty...ah, who am I kidding, without the concrete it was a 200 yard drive maybe.
Anyway, John hits it pin high but off to the left. I have my 8 iron and tell him with his shot I can be a bit more aggressive. I ramp up my swing and go straight at the flag. I achieve a dead stop and 6' from the pin, pin high and slightly right. They all agree it is the best mid-iron or chip they have ever seen me hit.
Naturally, Jim and Dave both land on the green, we all 2-putt (which is sad in the case of John and I...we should have birdied the hole) and head to the 9th with a 3 shot lead.
Jim finally gets a hold of one but Dave has by far the lengthiest drive I have ever seen him hit. John shanks his drive but it is playable, probably, on the right side of the rough with potential tree issues and still 160ish yards out. I decide to hit my driver and this time it is true, about 230 yards and right center of fairway.
They land on the green. We do not. In fact, we do not get onto the green until our 4th shot. Yes, from 65 yards out it took us 3 shots to get on the green. This, in case you are wondering, is NOT good.
Jim and Dave 2 putt to finish with a par while John and I appear to be melting down. But we 1-putt for the bogey and have our second consecutive win. Red marks are made.
For the day, Jim and Dave had 4 pars and a birdie. John and I had 5 pars and a birdie, shooting a 37 to their 39.
We won by precisely 2 shots. Remember that mulligan I took way back on hole 3 where we ended up with a birdie while they took bogey? There was your match.
Lot of fun, good time.
Or, if they do...how many times have John and I been laying 2, 20 yards off the green, while they are laying 2 160 yards off...only to land 6' from the cup and 1-putt. They are just really solid in the 2-man best ball format whereas John and I...well, we either both hit decent shots or both hit bad ones. There is no "pick up the partner".
We did, however, win at Skamania. Time to see if we can keep it rolling.
Jim leads off with a drive out of bounds. John follows his example. Dave then uncorks a nice drive down the right, no surprise there, it was inevitable. I put a 7 wood 190 yards left-center of fairway. Okay, little surprise...Dave actually shaded more right than we thought and they are under a tree. Jim hits said tree, landing about 8 feet in front of them. Dave goes wide left. With the door wide open, I land my gap wedge on the short side of the green. Naturally Dave then hits a nice chip and they 1-putt while I 2-putt...Dave and I end up with natural pars as our partners struggle on the hole. Dave did a great job of scrambling.
The 178 yard par 3 is not good for my psyche as I cannot hit the 3-iron and my 4 is too short. What to do? How about watching Jim land pin high left of the green, John and Dave both fail to get to the ladies tees. I then blast the 4 iron, landing on the back fringe of the green.
Yes, after never getting closer than 10 yards to the FRONT of the green, it is behind the green...wow! Go me!
Of course they chip on and close and 1-putt as we 2-putt. Both pars. This time I yip my putt and John saves the hole by rolling his in. I missed back to back natural pars by 1 rotation of the ball.
The 249 yard hole has been a cupcake for me most rounds. Jim goes OB. John hits short left under a tree. Dave blasts it long and straight, inside 150 center of fairway. I pull out my trusty 7 wood...and proceed to yank it left over the houses. Do we play Johns? I suggest we play a provisional mulligan...if John's is playable, we play his. If not, we will play mine. He HATES using mulligans this early but because it is provisional he concurs. I land about 200 yards down, off fairway right...bad hop takes it across cart path but playable.
His ball is in bad shape...we would have to go under one tree and over the next, impossible, or around it. We would have to punch into the fairway and would be laying 2 190 yards from the green. We take my mulligan. I then land on the green about 6' from the cup, very makeable putt. Meanwhile, Dave and Jim are struggling. They are on in 3, but very makeable for the par, maybe a 4' putt which they never miss.
I do miss my birdie putt by a couple inches but again John saves the day with a clutch putt for the birdie. Then both Jim and Dave miss, taking a 5. We picked up 2 shots. Great use of mulligan, as we would have lost the hole by 1-2 shots, instead we win the hole by 2.But will I regret going through holes 4-6 without my mulligan?
Now for demon hole 1 of 3, these next 3 holes being the part of the course I struggle with.
Jim is OB right. John chunks his shot horribly. Dave is short and right. The door is open. Being a 196 yard hole and knowing my 7 wood earlier was 190ish, I pull it out...and promptly hit a tree on the left. A short tree. A tree that should have no bearing on the hole. I will not have a full swing but John will so we play mine.
He puts it on the fringe, and it is a good thing, as I hit mine about 5 yards in a brutal display of incompetence. We 2-putt for a bogey...but Jim and Dave fly the green, Jim struggles with his chip...and Dave picks him up with a fantastic uphill over a mound chip that rolls to a stop in makeable distance. OUr wide open door to pick up a stroke just closed. Though they are laying 3 and we are 2. From there is took us 3 more to get in while they had a 1-putt lip out and 2 putted to match our 5.
The next hole is another tough one for me. It is short but the right side is guarded. It is pretty much only psychological as those trees should never come into play. John had stopped off in the convenient facilities so I went first. Playing at 143, I hit a towering 8-iron. Short and left. John stepped up and landed fringe right. Dave and Jim were both short.
Jim found my ball, unlike the other day when I never did. It had plugged top deep. Thanks Jim! We hit a nice lag and tapped in for par. They chipped on but also 2-putted. We were now up 3.
The next hole has tall trees on the left to protect my left-to-right flight pattern and no room on the right. John topped his ball, going nowhere. I seriously, seriously considered putting my 8 iron 150 yards out to put us at the 150 mark, believing it would be my most accurate club. However, I had just yanked it left and if you are going to hit a bad shot, what advantage is there to a short bad shot over a long bad shot? 277 yard hole...might as well try for some distance. Out came the 7 wood.
Well, I did hit it with my standard left to right pattern. And I did start it towards those pesky trees. However, I went over them. Over the tallest tree. It was maybe a 180 yard drive...but we had a clear shot at the green from the left side of the fairway. About as good a "drive" as I have had on this hole.
Meanwhile Jim went OB with his first drive and Dave went into that bunch of trees I went over. Jim hit another for his mulligan and it was wide right but playable.
They then both hit about 20 yards. Their next shot flew the green. John chunked his shot into the tree in the fairway. I hit my gap wedge and it was beautiful, landing on the green, albeit on the far left. They finally got on with their 4th shot, we were laying 2. We can really slam the door here.
OR we can brutally 3-putt while they 2 putt. We still picked up a shot but we kind of should have had a par. Still, we are 6 holes in and have 3 pars, a birdie, a bogey and a double. We are a comfortable 4 shots up with 3 to play and John still has his Mulligan.
Ah, the par 5. What to do? My decision gets easier when John uncorks his best drive of the day, laying about 200 yards from green in center of the fairway. I decide to aggressively pull out my driver.
Lately I have been hitting it straight but playing for the slice. I decide to play for it being straight.
I slice. We hear it hit the house. Jim also goes O.B. but Dave crushes his drive to the 150 marker, center of the fairway. We debate John using his mulligan but I am against it. He is in good shape. And I turn out to have bounced back inbounds 260 yards down the right side. We are kind of under one tree with another in front of us and water between but John prefers the distance to using his clean center of fairway shot.
This is one area I struggle with best ball. Yes, I am 90 to 100 yards further forward...but there is lots of potential trouble with my shot. Even should we go under the first, over the second tree and over the water, there is a sand trap guarding our side of the green. However, my teammate STRONGLY prefers the distance. Quality of shot is less important to him. So we take mine.
And Dave then crushes his second shot, hopping into the greenside bunker. John gets over the water but wide right, barely over the pond. We are maybe 145 yards out, perfect for my pitching wedge, which conveniently also means I should clear the tree in front of me. I hammer it, it feels good, it soars high...almost too high...the line is right...I am excited...and it crashes to earth 10 yards short of the green. I am stunned.
Still, we are laying two in the short rough, they are laying 2 in the sand. Advantage us. Until John and I both fail to reach the green with our chips and Dave puts his bunker shot within about a foot of the cup. We manage to 1-putt for the par, but Dave had a natural birdie and the get a shot back with a really nice sequence. Well played.
Ah, the 284 wide open fairway no danger hole. Love this one. Jim continues to struggle, but Dave continues to hammer his drives. He is well inside the 150 yard marker. John hits to the 150 marker in the rough well right of the fairway. Confidently I blast my driver, playing for the slice, believing I am going to be center of fairway somewhere between 250 and 280 yards down. It felt so good I thought for a second I had driven the green. In fact I overdrove it, hitting it about 350 yards.
Oh, not where it should have been...straight as an arrow, bouncing down the road. Well left and out of bounds. Horrid shot. But it WAS 350 yards of concrete added beauty...ah, who am I kidding, without the concrete it was a 200 yard drive maybe.
Anyway, John hits it pin high but off to the left. I have my 8 iron and tell him with his shot I can be a bit more aggressive. I ramp up my swing and go straight at the flag. I achieve a dead stop and 6' from the pin, pin high and slightly right. They all agree it is the best mid-iron or chip they have ever seen me hit.
Naturally, Jim and Dave both land on the green, we all 2-putt (which is sad in the case of John and I...we should have birdied the hole) and head to the 9th with a 3 shot lead.
Jim finally gets a hold of one but Dave has by far the lengthiest drive I have ever seen him hit. John shanks his drive but it is playable, probably, on the right side of the rough with potential tree issues and still 160ish yards out. I decide to hit my driver and this time it is true, about 230 yards and right center of fairway.
They land on the green. We do not. In fact, we do not get onto the green until our 4th shot. Yes, from 65 yards out it took us 3 shots to get on the green. This, in case you are wondering, is NOT good.
Jim and Dave 2 putt to finish with a par while John and I appear to be melting down. But we 1-putt for the bogey and have our second consecutive win. Red marks are made.
For the day, Jim and Dave had 4 pars and a birdie. John and I had 5 pars and a birdie, shooting a 37 to their 39.
We won by precisely 2 shots. Remember that mulligan I took way back on hole 3 where we ended up with a birdie while they took bogey? There was your match.
Lot of fun, good time.
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