Golf Thread

[SKILL]

Went out for 9 holes at the local this afternoon, it did not go as well as yesterday

I think I need to be more aware/conscious of the differences between the courses, let myself down in that respect today. Whitley GC is my local and compared to Woodlands in Bristol it's quite tight/requires accuracy in a few more areas, and also the rough is kinda crazy right now, like knee-high grass.

So an example would be the first hole, I was left side of the fairway, hole was left of the green, aimed maybe slightly right of the flag but not much (and I wasn't making the green anyway), hit my 5W beautifully but maybe a 1-2 degree 'pull' to the left, into the rough. At Woodlands this would be fine, at Whitley it was gone. And there's a mile of open fairway to the right, even onto the second fairway running alongside. Poor decision making.

On that note though, loving my 5W, probably said this before but the looks, feel, sound and of course ball flight is just so good.

Oh my days, I have just played the round of my life! "GET IN LEWIS" as Bono would say.

Needs more detail

 

[Maccy]

God I hate golf

 

[stephenb]

Scorecard

I guess sometimes its just your day and the golf gods are smiling down upon you I got this feeling on the 18th when I leaked a drive right into the trees that separate it from the adjoining 15th fairway. When I arrived on the scene I found my original ball just holding the right edge of the fairway 10 yards past the provisional I'd hit. The tee shot is uphill over a rise so while it saw which direction it headed it must have taken a kindly deflection onto the fairway That was the end of my round, the beginning was even better.

No warm up on the range today, a few little chips and putts on the practice green and then onto the 1st tee. I knew things might go well when I made great contact with my 9i into the short par 3 that opens up the Tower course. They'd pushed a number of the yellow tees right back today, it landed flag high just to the left of the green. Came away with a bogey. A theme that continued for the next four holes where I avoided making any silly mistakes and kept my discipline with club and shot selection. This was very pleasing given it was really breezy out there today, wind here has picked up over the last couple of days.

First error came at the par 5 6th where I four putted from long range. The first putt wasn't that bad but then I raced at the second one, went past the hold and didn't make the return. On the 7th, a dog leg right par 4 I hit a good drive down to the bend but just slightly short and impeded by some over hanging branches which were playing on my mind as I lined up my 9i approach. Hit the 9i OK but left of the green. Had a tricky wedge from some fluffy rough which I left a bit short and then ended up three putting for a double. Followed this up with a bogey at the long par 3 8th and then a double at the 9th. Out in 46 - not that I was counting, I knew I was playing well but always tot up the score at the end of the round.

Opened up the back nine with a bogey and par and 10 and 11. Had got on top of my driver, considerably straighter than on Saturday and had several that surprised me with how far they went, must have found that elusive middle of the face! At the 12th, the longest of the par 5's and only one over 500 yards after a good tee shot and second I hit poor 3rd and 4th shots to leave myself left of the green in the rough. Thinned my wedge to leave myself just off the back right with a long way back to the pin which was front. Nearly made a very good two put, burned the edge with my second but ended coming away with an eight.

One of my three longest drives came at the short par 4 13th. Photo looking back at the tee box and showing what a lovely day it was despite the breeze. Came away with par. The other long par 3 14th was my nemesis again. 3w off the tee was well struck but rather sliced and ended up pin high but in the rough with a bunker between me and the green. Not for the first time I was too tentative with my wedge and put my second into the bunker. Unusually for me I thinned my shot out to off the green on the other side Can't win them all, came away with a six. At the 15th I made a great one putt to save par, pick of the round that one. 16th was a solid bogey once I found my ball, I was looking for it 25-30 yards short of where it came to rest. Then time for some nerves as the 17th fairway is lined with water on both sides most of the way down. Tee shot with the driver was necky but thankfully on dry land. Two very tentative irons put me 5-10 yards shot of the green just on the edge of a bunker. I horlixed the resulting wedge right through the green from where I made a respectable three putt. My good break on the short 18th had me come away with a bogey where I three putted from a way back on the collar after not the greatest of approaches with my wedge. This area is still a week point for me. Nearly made a great two put it just didn't quite find the cup. Back in 48, two higher than my PB.

Needless to say when I totted up my score after the round to find out I'd broken 50 on both nines and come away with a 94 there was much fist pumping I knew I was capable of breaking 100 and my coach certainly was, he thinks I should be able to get down to 22 handicap by the end of the season. I certainly feel this is somewhat of a mental block that has now been overcome. Next target break 90.

 

[SKILL]

God I hate golf

Also needs more detail, I want to read the good and the bad

 

[-westy-]

Also needs more detail, I want to read the good and the bad

Don't ask him, he'll swear at you

See you next time @Maccy

 

[Maccy]

Also needs more detail, I want to read the good and the bad

Just could not hit a ball straight yesterday, greens were unpredictable....yeh that's all the excuses I can come up with for now!

 

[MarkA]

I've had about a week or so of playing utter trash, can barely hit a ball.
On a course where I normally score mid 80s (par68), I've been shooting in the mid 90s and even 102 in the sat comp last week, utter atrocious.
Thought if I just kept on going, the game would fix itself, so I pushed through, kept on playing and it did indeed return, thank **** for that!
I put down my crap play for jetlag after come back from hols and being awake for almost 30 hours, surely does a number on you.

Played a 1v1 comp, out in the first round. Up against a 14hcap - I had 3 shots on him, All square on the 16th, 17th he went 1up as he putted from around 8ft to take him ahead.
Went down the 18th, he hit an amazing pitch to a tucked pin on the back left to about 5ft (on the fringe). I hit a lovely 2nd shot to about 4 ft. We both made our putts, so couldn't bring it back to force a playoff. Really enjoyed the match, as the guy was just a joy to be around, good chat, chilled and talked golf the majority of the way around.

I did ALMOST make my first hole in on, closest I've been on a difficult hole.
Par3 195 yards, hit my 5i, landed off the green, rolled up to the pin and my heart started to wobble. I couldn't quite see how close it was until we both walked up to it.

Super happy with a tap in birdie on a difficult par3, couldn't really care if I lost after that.

Edit: Oh yeah, are anyone else's greens totally rock solid? We can't land ours on the green, even a 60' wedge, from either 30 or 70 yards literally has no chance. The fairways and greens are so hard here. I hit a PW from 170 yards away, pitched it 20 yards shorts of the green slightly downhill and it ran and ran until it waved at the flag as it passed the hole and proceeded to carry on into the rough 10 yards passed the green. Irritating having to play this type of golf at my club, where you gotta just roll it up.

 

[Deanje]

Was in an almost identical position last weekend. It's the danger of hitting off mats I think. They're so forgiving and it cons your brain into thinking you're ready to shed 8 shots.

I hit off grass at home on my sim, what's my excuse?

Had a bit of an epiphany when practicing over the weekend, though; with all the work going on elsewhere in my swing, my release had fallen by the wayside. Started using some thoughts I'd seen recently from one of the youtube coaches (Crossfield, probably?) to have an intent in mind to reach a target follow through, and I was back to hitting it pretty well.

Edit: Oh yeah, are anyone else's greens totally rock solid? We can't land ours on the green, even a 60' wedge, from either 30 or 70 yards literally has no chance. The fairways and greens are so hard here. I hit a PW from 170 yards away, pitched it 20 yards shorts of the green slightly downhill and it ran and ran until it waved at the flag as it passed the hole and proceeded to carry on into the rough 10 yards passed the green. Irritating having to play this type of golf at my club, where you gotta just roll it up.

Yeah - I tend to hit my irons quite high, so never usually have a problem stopping them. Full wedge shots still bouncing forwards 5-10 yards at the moment. Coastal course on a hill; strong breezes and lots of sunshine makes the place feel like concrete.

 

[SKILL]

Edit: Oh yeah, are anyone else's greens totally rock solid? We can't land ours on the green, even a 60' wedge, from either 30 or 70 yards literally has no chance. The fairways and greens are so hard here. I hit a PW from 170 yards away, pitched it 20 yards shorts of the green slightly downhill and it ran and ran until it waved at the flag as it passed the hole and proceeded to carry on into the rough 10 yards passed the green. Irritating having to play this type of golf at my club, where you gotta just roll it up.

The greens don't seem that bad here, maybe a bit faster but not rock solid. But because everywhere else is much firmer the speed it's getting to the green seems that bit higher so yeah definitely some flybys

Overall really it seems like in a couple of weeks it's gone from bit soft still and not rolling out too much to rolling out for miles, I'm kinda struggling to 'reset' my expectations of how far things go...

 

[MarkA]

Must be the greens here, there's never a pitch mark, even from a very high flighted shot in.
I do wonder if they water them often, because they're so dry, although there's plenty of nice grass on them, so must be getting enough.

I also wonder if they're ever aerated, as I've never seen the usual holes that you see from time to time on other courses.

 

[stephenb]

Edit: Oh yeah, are anyone else's greens totally rock solid? We can't land ours on the green, even a 60' wedge, from either 30 or 70 yards literally has no chance. The fairways and greens are so hard here. I hit a PW from 170 yards away, pitched it 20 yards shorts of the green slightly downhill and it ran and ran until it waved at the flag as it passed the hole and proceeded to carry on into the rough 10 yards passed the green. Irritating having to play this type of golf at my club, where you gotta just roll it up.

I wouldn't say rock solid but on both courses they were rolling very nicely for putting, we've had a couple weeks now of dry sunny weather. The Tower which I played yesterday gets much more general public play and greens are normally littered with pitch marks as a result but yesterday not sure I saw any. With my power bats (TaylorMade Sim Max), yes it is hard to stop anything on the greens now they've firmed up. Just have to play accordingly and expect plenty of roll out.

 

[SKILL]

Had a lesson earlier, nothing particularly interesting but starting to really work on moving the weight forward/hips rotating/compressing the ball type stuff that's good but it's kinda thrown my timing out of whack again, struggled to get the club face close at impact, practice needed. He suggested a drill of going from like a 25-30% swing making sure the face is closed then a ~50% swing, 75% swing, etc at each point getting the club face closed and doing a few consistent ones before moving up. When demonstrating this he hit a shot, not even half a swing, slow club head speed, and basically equalled my best so for that lesson

Anyway, I've been thinking and decided to book a club fitting for Irons. Happy-ish, for now, with my Driver, loving my 5 Wood, hybrid is awkward but feels like it depends a bit on Irons and how they're doing to see where it 'fits', so Irons it is

Gonna be trying a few different brands, and want to try a Graphite shaft for the lols, but any particular Irons to look out for/ask to try that otherwise I might not?

 

[Zeebedy]

Had a lesson earlier, nothing particularly interesting but starting to really work on moving the weight forward/hips rotating/compressing the ball type stuff that's good but it's kinda thrown my timing out of whack again, struggled to get the club face close at impact, practice needed. He suggested a drill of going from like a 25-30% swing making sure the face is closed then a ~50% swing, 75% swing, etc at each point getting the club face closed and doing a few consistent ones before moving up. When demonstrating this he hit a shot, not even half a swing, slow club head speed, and basically equalled my best so for that lesson

Anyway, I've been thinking and decided to book a club fitting for Irons. Happy-ish, for now, with my Driver, loving my 5 Wood, hybrid is awkward but feels like it depends a bit on Irons and how they're doing to see where it 'fits', so Irons it is

Gonna be trying a few different brands, and want to try a Graphite shaft for the lols, but any particular Irons to look out for/ask to try that otherwise I might not?

good stuff, always best to "warm up" too mate, I usually chip some PW then go 8,6 etc..once I get loose..

and im being a hipocrite here, but its all timing, hence his distance with a hand swing, but for my swing "to work" and time the ball well, I do have a longer backswing but that works for me..

I mainly need to make sure im going straight back in the swing, completing at the top and getting that 'pull down" to come inside to out for me to hit a straight ball..

but hey! if it was an easy game, it would be no fun!

 

[ArcticHeron]

We ordered tickets for the British Masters final day last week. Anyone been before? How congested does it tend to get if so?

Any tips in general for someone who's not been to an event like this before?

 

[booyaka]

We ordered tickets for the British Masters final day last week. Anyone been before? How congested does it tend to get if so?

Any tips in general for someone who's not been to an event like this before?

take food and drink with you - these things are usually VERY expensive.

Either sit by one green and watch loads of groups or follow a group for a few holes.

Usually plenty of space - not that crowded.

 

[booyaka]

Played for our handicap team last night away at Ardeer (course I played once as a junior about 30 years ago - no recollection of the course at all)

Interesting night for sure.

I'm off 8, drawn against "Wee Tam" - 24 handicapper... So I'm giving 16 shots away on a course I've no clue over.

Par 3 first - downhill 195 yards - I'm first off, 20/30 people milling around - Stick 6 iron to 8ft - Great shot are the cries..... Tam hits 3w to about 30 yards short of the green. He chips up to about 15ft. Then proceeds to hole it for a 3.

I lip out birdie putt, and thus loose the first to a 3 net 2.....

This sets the tone for the evening. Loose 2nd to 5net4, I loose a ball on 3 OB - (3 down after 3) - I then chip in for birdie on par4 4th - he holes another 10 ft putt for a 4 net 3 for a half!!! Even a chip in birdie doesn't win the hole....

Ultimately I'm 4 down at the turn having played ok.... Knew it was lights out when par 3 10th, he finally duffs a shot, into the deep rough short of green, hacks out sideways, chips to about 12 ft, then holes it for a 4 net 3. All whilst I've hit the green to about 10ft and 2 putted for par so again halfing the hole.

Ended up getting beat 7&5 - Never in my life beaten that badly...

Ridiculous giving 16 shots away to a guy on his home course!

Team ended up drawing 3-3 in the end so a small positive I guess!

I'm a bit "golfed out" at the moment having played so much recently - Decided to take the next 10/12 days off (busy with work and home DIY etc) and I'll hit the range after that at some point - literally done no practice this year since about February and it's starting to show in my ball striking for sure.

 

[Josh]

I did LIV last year and been to a few LPGA and DP World Tours.

Usually we pitch up at a Par 3 and watch the groups come round, then pick a group to follow on the way in.

Take lots of spending money!

 

[SKILL]

I'm a bit "golfed out" at the moment having played so much recently - Decided to take the next 10/12 days off (busy with work and home DIY etc) and I'll hit the range after that at some point - literally done no practice this year since about February and it's starting to show in my ball striking for sure.

I get that, a bit ago before the back injuries I was kinda getting there, and that was 'just' 2 full rounds a week... But now that's fixed after having to dial it back a bit I just wanna play all the golf, and even practice

 

[booyaka]

I get that, a bit ago before the back injuries I was kinda getting there, and that was 'just' 2 full rounds a week... But now that's fixed after having to dial it back a bit I just wanna play all the golf, and even practice

yeah - just so much "competitive" golf - team matches/medals/opens/ties etc - I've not just played a round with mates in ages or practiced at all...

 

[ArcticHeron]

take food and drink with you - these things are usually VERY expensive.

Either sit by one green and watch loads of groups or follow a group for a few holes.

Usually plenty of space - not that crowded.

Cheers. I take it booze can only be brought on site and not taken in with you?

I did LIV last year and been to a few LPGA and DP World Tours.

Usually we pitch up at a Par 3 and watch the groups come round, then pick a group to follow on the way in.

Take lots of spending money!

I take it there's loads of stalls with exclusive merch?