Golf Thread

That'll be that then - no Old Course tomorrow for me :o

Phoned them and the ballot times can't be transferred to another date. He did say that getting a ballot time doesn't affect your chances of getting a time in the future so just need to keep trying. Admittedly, that's only the 3rd time I've entered the ballot so should get one eventually. Perks of staying half an hour away, I suppose!
 
Superpatsy said:
That'll be that then - no Old Course tomorrow for me :o

Phoned them and the ballot times can't be transferred to another date. He did say that getting a ballot time doesn't affect your chances of getting a time in the future so just need to keep trying. Admittedly, that's only the 3rd time I've entered the ballot so should get one eventually. Perks of staying half an hour away, I suppose!
Click to expand...

nightmare - How much was it out of interest?

I've applied via their recent DRIVE initiative here - https://standrews.com/page/drive

£42.50 a round
 
Out tonight for 12 holes.... Hitting the ball great most of the time apart from the odd straight pull left which is just me over shutting the face at times....

Hit 3w and 7 iron through the back of the 2nd green tonight - par 5 489 yards...

Still loving the Driver and 3w GT2 - honestly so easy to hit, best /easier driver / 3w I've ever hit.

Solid enough 12 holes practise - Lesson on Friday to work on some 30-50 yard chip/wedges etc.

Really need to dial them in this year.
 
booyaka said:
nightmare - How much was it out of interest?

I've applied via their recent DRIVE initiative here - https://standrews.com/page/drive

£42.50 a round
Click to expand...
£335 then £75 plus tip for a caddie that I would have went for as well just for the full experience! Our plumber is from St Andrews and has the Links ticket so might see if he can somehow squeeze us on at some point...

Think we're going to get Dumbarnie booked over the next few weeks to try and make up for it. :cry:

I've applied for the Drive thing for the Old Course and Eden.
 
booyaka said:
nightmare - How much was it out of interest?

I've applied via their recent DRIVE initiative here - https://standrews.com/page/drive

£42.50 a round
Click to expand...
Applied too, wonder what the odds of success will be given there's only like 11x4 slots available.

Wed medal yesterday evening, first time out for about a week in a half, shot 80 again. Nice and steady, no major drama.

Greens have come on leaps and bounds since I last played
 
Superpatsy said:
£335 then £75 plus tip for a caddie that I would have went for as well just for the full experience! Our plumber is from St Andrews and has the Links ticket so might see if he can somehow squeeze us on at some point...

Think we're going to get Dumbarnie booked over the next few weeks to try and make up for it. :cry:

I've applied for the Drive thing for the Old Course and Eden.
Click to expand...

Just not sure I can do that to myself.... £400+ for a round of golf - yes - bucket list course but still... I'd struggle at that rate...

Dumbarnie / St Andrews / Trump Aberdeen etc
 
booyaka said:
Just not sure I can do that to myself.... £400+ for a round of golf - yes - bucket list course but still... I'd struggle at that rate...

Dumbarnie / St Andrews / Trump Aberdeen etc
Click to expand...
It would just be to tick it off - I know people who have played it and said it's nothing spectacular, it's just with the history and being the home of golf.

Dumbarnie is fine for us because we get it for £115 which is palatable, for you it'd be £150.
 
Superpatsy said:
It would just be to tick it off - I know people who have played it and said it's nothing spectacular, it's just with the history and being the home of golf.

Dumbarnie is fine for us because we get it for £115 which is palatable, for you it'd be £150.
Click to expand...

to be fair £150 is way better than I thought for Dumbarnie - Might look into that this year... On my list to play.
 
booyaka said:
to be fair £150 is way better than I thought for Dumbarnie - Might look into that this year... On my list to play.
Click to expand...
There's been talks about them scrapping the Fife/Scotland rate or ringfencing us all into April and October so they can cash in more with the Yanks coming over. Can't see them doing it but my mate used to caddie there every weekend so heard it quite a few times.

They have a caddies day at the end of the season so he got to play it for free a couple of years ago - fed, watered, professional photographer on course, the lot...
 
stuie said:
As everyone else is doing a 2025 Golf goals ill weigh in

Jan 2025 handicap 7.1

1. Hold my handicap around 7. Last year I dropped a little from 7.8 but I struggled. I had a lot on at work and I was made captain of the interclub A team, this meant too much time organising not enough time playing, tbh im suprised I didnt go up in handicap.
2. Have more fun rounds. Again last year I spent all my time with competition golf being it playing or oganising, Ive passed the mantle over for 2025 so I dont have to worry about it as much, ill still play if I get called up but gives me time to focus on my game
3. Spend more on course time with my daughter, towards the end of last year she came out with me on a couple fun days in the buggy and "helped daddy putt out" Shes asking more and more to spend saturday with daddy at golf, so none comp days I want to encourage that

Simple goals that Im hoping shouldnt be too hard to achieve, but honestly I dont have the time or motivation to be chasing cat1 golf at the moment, so im just aiming to tred water for a bit till things settle down

Not specifically Golf related, but Id like to get my fitness levels back up, 10 years ago i could squat 1.5x bw and jog 4 miles in about 30 min. Ive just turned 40 and 5/6 years of doing sod all I get out of breath squatting my fat ass off the toilet :cry: Not saying ill get back to where I was in my late 20s/early 30's but just being able to keep up with my daughter at soft play without cardiac assistance would be nice
Click to expand...

So quick update

Daughter is now a member of the club, begging to go up everyday and not even turned 5 yet, she played (and walked) 6 holes last sunday then spent some time on the putting green and in the nets, ripping her little 5 wood 40/50 yards. Very proud daddy.

As for me, well ive had a couple of evenings after work with the headphones in grinding on the putting and chipping area, ive been fighting a nasty high hook through the bag over the last few weeks but I think ive got that worked out the system now as usual setup related.

Our monthly medal was cancelled due to weather last week so got a few more weeks till ive got to grind a score out, I have however got the bug back a little especially seeing the passion of my little one, so im revising the game, im aiming over the next couple years to get to cat 1 funtionally how tough will that be? well on our back tees a 75 gross is 4.3 on the slope so half a dozen 38/9 point rounds. Sounds easy when you write it down but I suspect it wont be.

WITB
Ping G430 Max Driver and 3 Wood - Ping Tour Chrome 2.0 Stiff Shaft
3-PW Ping Iblades - KBS Tour X 130 Shaft
50/54/58 Ping Glide - Modus Tour S 110
Ping Piper Jas WTI (very proud of this one pings Titanium / Tungston putter very few of these around)
 
Last edited:
stuie said:
....
Daughter is now a member of the club, begging to go up everyday and not even turned 5 yet, she played (and walked) 6 holes last sunday then spent some time on the putting green and in the nets, ripping her little 5 wood 40/50 yards. Very proud daddy.
Click to expand...
Looks like you may have a future pro on your hands :) Could get expensive :p
 
booyaka said:
Should do me for the year ahead.... Titleist 4 for 3 offer.
Click to expand...

Snap - I don't often buy balls but was a good price for the amount so should last me a long time.. May give a few to my son to play (lose).

6g5YGGD.jpg
 
Solid ball striking today but greens were poor - sand, long grass , slow as a week in the jail.... Couldn't get the ball to the hole at all.

Disappointing greens for this time of year for sure to be so poor...

Dodged the rain well. Gross 81 for 73net. 2 More birdies takes me to halfway point - 25 for the year so far...
 
Lovely weather today, best of the year making it a real pleasure to be out. Reflected by the scores with several tied for second on 37pts behind the leader on 39pts. Although strangely no twos bar one made by one of my playing partners on the short par 4 16th! We were all wondering where his ball was until I whipped the flag out before going to take my putt and out it popped :p He'd duffed his second and none of us had seen where his ball had ended. As for my round 32pts (+19 gross) which I was pleased with after racking up two horror scores of 99 & 102 last weekend. Could have been much better had it not been for a few sloppy holes and a touch of misfortune but the main thing was my ball striking, a million times better than last weekend thanks to some changes to my pre shot routine.

Hopefully not a one off but something I can continue with going forwards is to stop being paralysed at address. With my current lessons I had so much going on in my head that I would be seconds over the ball before starting my swing. Today my swing thoughts were contained to my practice swings. I'd take up my stance with the toe of my club behind the ball, this is where I'd check ball position/setup and target. A tiny shuffle in keeping the feet moving, a quick check to target to make sure I was still aiming correctly then as soon as my focus was back on the ball, SWING! Allowed my body to stay so much loser and I was generally hitting it great as a result. Highlight was a 5w from 205y into a touch of wind on the par 5 12th, rolled out to pin high leaving me 8-10ft for birdie which I duly sunk, up to 11 for the year :)

Just a few holes that cost me a good score. 1st tee I elected to play it safe, took a 5i and with my new pre shot routing in play for the first time duly topped it 20 yards and failed to make the fairway. Then laid up in two more shots only to strike a wedge so well, too much adrenaline, that I went over the back. Chipped back on and two putted for a seven and nil points. Then went on a run of six straight bogeys before making par on the 8th & 9th. 45 out, 17pts which is good for me as back nine is where I usually make my score.

Ropey tee shot on the 10th meant I started out with a bogey before a clumsy wedge on the 11th cost me a double. Par 3 13th I pulled my tee shot into the water left of the green. That was a shame. The a bit of misfortune on the par 3 15th. Green has a wrap around bunker back and left side which is backed by a rockery. Another bunker lurks right of the green. I'd pulled my tee shot left onto the rocks, we all heard it hit them but none of us saw where it had bounced. I played a provision which I put into the bunker left. We get up to the green and I'm crawling around on the rocks looking for my ball - nothing. Play my provisional out of the bunker, only then for one of my playing partners to notice a ball in the right hand bunker. You guessed it, my original ball. Bounced of the rocks left, clean over the green into the bunker and not one of us had seen it! Shame as I made the up and down with my provisional but zero points. 17th I exercised some demons by flushing a 6i right into the centre of the fairway (167y) to leave my a PW in. Then on eighteen I hit my joint worst tee shot of the day, a low drag left with driver straight into the trees. To my surprise, given I'd seen a branch get knocked off and what looked like my ball coming down, I couldn't find it when I got up there and had to continue with my provisional. Another hole without scoring. Three blobs in total without which I almost certainly would have made 36pts.
 
Last edited:
Was out today, really been struggling to play well recently, still loving golf but definitely feels like I've slammed into a plateau :p

I actually feel like I'm striking it pretty decently, probably even improved my better shots, but the scores just aren't happening. Today I played 18 and decided to just play for fun on the front 9, no card, then do a card for the back 9 only. Did actually score better on the back 9, 42 gross which isn't terrible for that course but a score differential of 20.6 so nothing spectacular.

That card also knocked off the 76 I shot out of nowhere at the beginning of March so my handicap is gonna go up to around 22 I think. I was 18.1 briefly towards the end of last year, it's accurate to how I'm playing but kinda depressing.

Tale of the day time though. 4th hole at my local is a short par 4 but some idiot left trees in the middle of the fairway, so the sensible option is to lay up, you want about 100-110 on the front 9 (I usually chip an 8 iron and run it down there, powerlines overhead and I cba with hitting another) and about 110-120 off the back 9 tees, then take an 8 iron or so to 'near' the green and hope to get away with a bogey at worst! There's also OB left and right btw. Anyway so front 9 today, no card, no worries, 5w and try to go over the trees. First attempt was a bad pull and going into the OB left then hits the powerline, sweet, second try is perfect 230 yard total with a draw off the right OB, beautiful. Second time around I've got the card on the go so a perfect 9 iron off the tee, couldn't have placed it better for that second iron up over the trees, of course I then push it OB, next one hits the tree in the middle of the fairway, walk off with an 8 reduced to a 7.

Why bother laying up.
 
Got out this afternoon not a bad round, driver was shocking after the 3rd drive I knew it wasn’t worth using it. Woods and hybrid for the long tee shot today. The first 9 wasn’t great same as last week and a great back. 3 pars today and a total of 101, so hopefully will have my score under 100 again soon.

Was hoping to get some more lesson in this year, but with redundancies going on at work saving the cash is much wiser at the moment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom