SoSH Golf, 2022
- Thread starter Over Guapo Grande
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That bag is amazing. I didn't even care about golfing. Just enjoyed gliding it through the airport. My wife bought the cheapest one she could find on Amazon for her clubs. I was of course stuck hauling that while she coasted my bag along.
I played again yesterday, trying to find some form...and for nine holes I was again totally nowhere. Chunking fairway woods, knifing short irons, hitting approach shots 20-30 yards short of my normal distances; I even toe-shanked an attempted 50-yard pitch. But early into the back nine, I started tilting my shoulders at address - right shoulder lower than the left - and suddenly I was making good contact and hitting with a bit of power. I still pulled a number of shots, but I was at last again making solid, repeatable contact! I played the final seven holes in +1, including my first birdie of the year...so maybe I'm a golfer again?
(Our greens are actually very difficult to putt on at the moment - they're firm and starting to speed up, but we haven't gotten a lot of rain or gotten a lot of grass to grow in the season so far, so they're quite bumpy. I had at least three putts yesterday which veered noticeably off line as they approached the hole, and that's not counting the one which hit a small pebble I hadn't spotted and jumped to the right and up in the air.)
(Our greens are actually very difficult to putt on at the moment - they're firm and starting to speed up, but we haven't gotten a lot of rain or gotten a lot of grass to grow in the season so far, so they're quite bumpy. I had at least three putts yesterday which veered noticeably off line as they approached the hole, and that's not counting the one which hit a small pebble I hadn't spotted and jumped to the right and up in the air.)
I had a first for me - hit pin on tee shot on par three. 165 yds, over pond, pin just off center. 15 mph L—>R cross wind. It hit my 4hybrid a bit lower than desired, but my aim at left side of green was true. Ball curves with wind and my typical fade, hits green pretty hard, rolls toward pin, and makes an audible sound of ball hitting pin. Ball ended up 18” from cup.
Yes, I sank the putt. Lol.
Closest I’ve ever been to an ace. But would have been lucky, as ball likely is 20+ feet past and above the hole if it doesn’t hit the pin.
Yes, I sank the putt. Lol.
Closest I’ve ever been to an ace. But would have been lucky, as ball likely is 20+ feet past and above the hole if it doesn’t hit the pin.
Season has started slowly here in Rhode Island. The good news is the club i joined that was rumored to close in a year or two has now announced they are staying open permanently as the solar power company who wanted to buy the land was squashed by a new town ordinance. The course has recovered nicely and the greens are firmer than I can remember at any time last year. We played a few times last week and I can count the amount of ball marks made on the green on one hand (and it wasn't poor ball striking 
)
So far the rounds I've played have been in 50-55 degree weather which looks to continue into next week. Sunday was chilly. 50 as the high and windy. I had to wear under armour pants under the golf pants, a hoodie and a winter hat. Golf clothes have come a long way though. Even in the hoodie I was able to swing freely. I didn't hit it terrible but my short game was off. 1 or two lost balls off the tee as well and it leads to 85. Playing Saturday and Sunday this week though so things are looking up.
I think I posted about it last year but I bought Srixon ZX7's towards the end of last year and I can't say enough good things about them. If you're looking for a cavity back iron with a thin top line, give them a try.
)So far the rounds I've played have been in 50-55 degree weather which looks to continue into next week. Sunday was chilly. 50 as the high and windy. I had to wear under armour pants under the golf pants, a hoodie and a winter hat. Golf clothes have come a long way though. Even in the hoodie I was able to swing freely. I didn't hit it terrible but my short game was off. 1 or two lost balls off the tee as well and it leads to 85. Playing Saturday and Sunday this week though so things are looking up.
I think I posted about it last year but I bought Srixon ZX7's towards the end of last year and I can't say enough good things about them. If you're looking for a cavity back iron with a thin top line, give them a try.
I do - just started this year. I like them so far, it takes some adjustment and you usually have to adjust your putts and the flag after the round, but the data is great.
The last time I hit the pin on a par 3 it was from ~220 with a 3-wood. The ball hit the pin squarely on its first bounce and was basically rejected straight back down a false front before it then continued down a 10 foot drop in the fairway to a collection area about 30 yards from the green. I don't remember if I got up and down but let's assume I didn't. Golf!
Have a buddy that uses it and he swears by it, gives excellent data and can learn where you're giving up strokes. I believe it computes strokes gained stats for you.
Isn't that the truth.
My first one was a worm burner, 3 wood from 201 yards that rolled the last 50+ yards into the cup, it was also like the 10th time I was on a course.
The 2nd one many years later was a flushed 5 iron from 180 that took one bounce and then gently rolled into the hole.
Last Friday, I was playing the par 3 11th at our course, which IMO, is the hardest hole to make par on. It plays about 190 on the card, moderately uphill, and almost always into the wind, so it usually plays between 205-220 depending on the wind. On Friday last week, I flushed a 3 wood and the ball rolled and stopped 4 inches below the cup. On Monday, I flushed a 5 wood, and it rolled by the cup and stopped 6 inches above it. Yes, I made both putts. Those two swings were as good as the one that went in with my 5 iron and world's better than the 3 wood I knocked in.
What is cool is you can set the data to compare to different level handicap indexes. So you can see your strokes gained compare to scratch, 5, 10, 15, etc handicaps. So not only where you are now, but where you want to get to.
Once you get enough data in there, it's really cool.
I'm just back from a late-afternoon round at Dunbar - teed off around 5:20. The course was very quiet, so I could practice as much as I wanted along the way, but I kept score on my first ball and was +5 through 13 on a cold (high 40s) and moderately windy day. On the last five holes I played just the one ball, and the length of my average birdie putt over those five holes was 12 feet: 5-iron to 20 feet at #14 (par); 50-yard bunker shot to 18 inches at #15 (birdie); 6-iron to 8 feet at #16 (birdie); 55-yard LW to 10 feet at #17 (par, left the putt just short - grrrr); 3-iron to 20 feet at #18 (par). So that was encouraging - I can't remember ever having a stretch like that! Can't say I was hitting the ball great all day by any means, but I still finished with a 74 (+3), albeit with the asterisk of having hit a bunch of practice shots and putts along the way. And even with all of those extra shots, I was out there for less than three hours.
I am going to have to live vicariously through my brother. In two weeks he will be playing Whistling Straights and TPC Sawgrass in a span of 4 days (gotta love "executive conferences" where you can blow off the breakout sessions). Meanwhile, I am still waiting for my first round at the local cow pasture.
I’ll be in Bandon in two weeks if you want to live vicariously through me as well.
Pretty sure I invited you to a whole lot more than that . That being said, you know you're welcome any time.Hm, I never got this invite
FWIW, is that TPC Sawgrass or Sawgrass Country Club? (I used to be a member of the latter...fun 27 holes to choose from.)
TPC Sawgrass. I'm not fancy enough for Sawgrass CC (though I have played it and it's a really nice place).
I put up a tidy 88 today.
Of course, that was bowling... So we'll see if I can hit the under on that tomorrow on the links.
Of course, that was bowling... So we'll see if I can hit the under on that tomorrow on the links.
My first competitive stroke play round of the year was this morning, in our club's equivalent of the Tournament of Champions - all of the medal winners from last year were invited, although in the end only four of the nine of us showed up. (Last year's competitive season got off to a delayed start because of COVID, of course, so there were fewer invitees than normal.) I had a horror on the par-3 3rd hole, pulling my tee shot 30 yards left of the green and out-of-bounds, and although I managed to par the next seven holes, I was hitting the ball terribly and only just scraping by. I duly doubled the 11th and had to scramble for bogey on the 12th to fall to +6, but at that point I dropped my hands just a little at address, and almost like magic I started swinging incredibly well. From there back to the clubhouse I hit every single shot beautifully except my drive at the 18th, where from fluffy rough 225 yards from the hole I promptly hit a peach of a 3-wood to 10 feet; I couldn't get any birdie putts to fall, including a 25-footer on the 17th which did a full 360 and came back at me, so I finished with six pars to shoot 77 net 73. Only good enough for second place on a pretty calm day, but those last six holes were VERY encouraging.
A Jekyll and Hyde first round of the year for me on Sunday. 6 pars (all back-to-back), and a birdie, and still ended up with an 85. So some nice stretches mixed in with "what end of the club do I hold?" feelings. My putting was surprisingly good-ish, considering (a) first time out, and (b) it was like Plinko out there.
Treehouse is purchasing Tewskbury CC - what a spot this will be.
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdOLsuWLFEY/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdOLsuWLFEY/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
I am doing a 4 day golf trip to Scottsdale this fall. Looking to play 5 total rounds. Anyone have first hand experience on recommending some tracks?
I have a list of:
Troon North
TPC
Grey Hawk
We-ko-pa
Quintero
Sun Ridge Canyon
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes
But that is just from a simple google search. I would love some guidance on what is worth playing and not. Cost of the round isn't a huge factor, but looking to balance out some $250 rounds with some $100 rounds.
Thanks in advance!
I have a list of:
Troon North
TPC
Grey Hawk
We-ko-pa
Quintero
Sun Ridge Canyon
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes
But that is just from a simple google search. I would love some guidance on what is worth playing and not. Cost of the round isn't a huge factor, but looking to balance out some $250 rounds with some $100 rounds.
Thanks in advance!
Papago was a great option on the lower end of the pricing scale. Fun, open but not easy, and in great shape. I really enjoyed it. It's also ASU's home course.
Playing 36 at We-Ko-Pa is preferred, but if you only play one, play Saguaro.
We went to Silverado, McCormick Ranch (Palms?) and Papago. Cost was the main driver, as we didn't want to pay $600 for both of us to golf 18 holes. Papago was probably my favorite of those 3, and we were bummed we hit it on the day we were flying out. It is a great spot to hang out and grab a beer or dinner after a round. McCormick and Silverado were both fine for the price, too, although I think I liked McCormick more.
My Europe trip is confirmed. I'll have 1 day to golf on Scotland (7/10) and could play after work in Sweden and/or Norway. @Conigliaro's Potential, still up for a round at Dunbar (assuming I can get an Uber)? I'll also be looking to play second round that day, so if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. I have some good connections so I can probably get out just about anywhere, if that helps.
Finally got my first round in for 2022 this past Wednesday morning, in an informal league where we play a different course in western ma/northern ct every week. My first year doing it. It’s a play if you can make it thing, no obligation beyond letting the organizer know if you’re in by Monday night every week. But the funnest thing for me was we play teams, using the Stableford system. It was nice to just concentrate on hitting some good shots, and knocking off the rust( I haven’t touched a club since last fall due to a back issue I’ve been dealing with over the winter), rather than getting caught up chasing a stroke score. Some PT has helped the back, so between this league and the golf privileges I enjoy from my side hustle working a few hours a week at one of the region’s premier semi-private courses, I’m hoping to ramp up my play for the rest of the summer, and make some improvement to my high handicap game.
Gotta love my consistency from my last time out:
edit- the image didn't attach...6 pars , 6 bogies, 6 doubles. One of the doubles I was greenside in 2, and then had to play dodge the sprinkler... totally rushed things.
I am finding myself about 35-50 yards longer off the tee this year, which is... interesting. My only changes have been to get rid of my slouch on my setup, and to go from a wiry body type to more of a dad-bod.
edit- the image didn't attach...6 pars , 6 bogies, 6 doubles. One of the doubles I was greenside in 2, and then had to play dodge the sprinkler... totally rushed things.
I am finding myself about 35-50 yards longer off the tee this year, which is... interesting. My only changes have been to get rid of my slouch on my setup, and to go from a wiry body type to more of a dad-bod.
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Today was the third and final round of Club Championship qualifying at Dunbar. As I hadn't entered the first two qualifiers, that was purely academic for me - you can just enter the competition and play it as a normal medal round - and in any event the conditions today were such that I can't imagine many scores will count in our best-two-rounds-out-of-three qualifying format: 15-25 mph winds out of the southwest, course playing firm and fast, and the greens as quick (and smooth) as I've seen them in a while. After hitting a good tee shot on the par-5 opening hole, I had about 210 to the pin, 195 to carry the burn in front of the green. But for the burn, it would have been a 3-iron; instead, I tried to take just a little something off a 3-wood...and I push-chunked it about 30 yards into a bunker, and then hit the lip trying to escape with a medium iron. That kinda set the tone for me for a while: I did well to bogey the 1st, three-putted the 2nd for bogey, had a bad double on the 3rd, and after two pars I hit a nice 5-iron to 15 feet at the 6th and promptly three-putted again. So I was +5 after 6, with the easiest part of the course behind me, and thinking about excuses I might use to walk off the course...
...and then I played the last 12 holes in even par to shoot 76 (net 72). That was incredibly satisfying: I holed a 50-footer for birdie at the 7th to get back to +4, and then I just played really steady golf, hitting no fewer than four drivers off the deck on the back nine into the wind and keeping them all pretty much on line. I made a lot of putts between 4 and 10 feet, as well as a lovely right-to-left 20-footer for what is so far the only birdie today on the par-3 16th (money in the twos sweep!). I had decent touch around the green, notwithstanding the easy bunker shot I left in the bunker on the 17th - but even then I got up and down to save bogey. I also drove the ball pretty well by my standards - and on the one occasion that I screwed up, when on the 13th I blocked my ball well right into fairly thick and fluffy rough, from about 200 yards into a totally blind pin I nailed a 3-wood to 20 feet. Of the 70 or so scores turned in so far, I'm tied for 7th (gross) - only three shots back of second place - and have outperformed 16 golfers with better handicaps than mine. (Nobody with a worse handicap than mine has posted a better score than me so far.) That wound up being exactly the tune-up I needed ahead of my first-round match coming up on Thursday in the Ladies Cup, the big match play competition played on the No. 1 course at Gullane.
...and then I played the last 12 holes in even par to shoot 76 (net 72). That was incredibly satisfying: I holed a 50-footer for birdie at the 7th to get back to +4, and then I just played really steady golf, hitting no fewer than four drivers off the deck on the back nine into the wind and keeping them all pretty much on line. I made a lot of putts between 4 and 10 feet, as well as a lovely right-to-left 20-footer for what is so far the only birdie today on the par-3 16th (money in the twos sweep!). I had decent touch around the green, notwithstanding the easy bunker shot I left in the bunker on the 17th - but even then I got up and down to save bogey. I also drove the ball pretty well by my standards - and on the one occasion that I screwed up, when on the 13th I blocked my ball well right into fairly thick and fluffy rough, from about 200 yards into a totally blind pin I nailed a 3-wood to 20 feet. Of the 70 or so scores turned in so far, I'm tied for 7th (gross) - only three shots back of second place - and have outperformed 16 golfers with better handicaps than mine. (Nobody with a worse handicap than mine has posted a better score than me so far.) That wound up being exactly the tune-up I needed ahead of my first-round match coming up on Thursday in the Ladies Cup, the big match play competition played on the No. 1 course at Gullane.
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I’m hitting the ball better than I ever have at this point in the season, and possibly the best ever at any point in any season. Saturday I played 36, and both rounds I was -3 thru 5. Both times I finished -1 thru 9, and eventually finished with 75(+3) and 72(E).
Both rounds were let down by mental mistakes; being -3 thru 5 in both rounds got to me. My biggest takeaway from the rounds were I need to not be as laser focused on score. I play my best golf when I’m swinging free and not worrying about the possibility of carding an under par round. Sounds counterintuitive, I know, but I’m a head case (or so I’ve been told by @Zomp).
Both rounds were let down by mental mistakes; being -3 thru 5 in both rounds got to me. My biggest takeaway from the rounds were I need to not be as laser focused on score. I play my best golf when I’m swinging free and not worrying about the possibility of carding an under par round. Sounds counterintuitive, I know, but I’m a head case (or so I’ve been told by @Zomp).
He is playing some good golf though. Hopefully I can get my game in form for the member member.
I would have gone with "a little nice"...
Not Golf playing related, but Golf related. I was slogging through some Pedal Happyness product/ inventory management... and came across this item description:
"Junior pink low-cut ....(the rest were just random lettes/numbers)" I was starting to fume-- thinking that this company is offering low-cut apparel to junior girls?
Then I looked back at the spreadsheet that I was working off of. "Socks and accessories". Yes, pink low-cut socks are ok.
What a stupid I am.
Darn tootin. If Babe Zaharias could do it, so can they.
If the socks were salmon coloured, all bets would be off
I had my match in the Ladies Cup at Gullane #1 today, against a fellow 4-handicapper named Graeme; the wind started at 10-20 mph, and by the end it was more like 20-40 mph. Really, really howling. I could write pages about the match, but I'll try to be brief: the score of the match was always either level or I was 1 down until the 14th, where I missed a two-and-a-half-footer for par (which I thought might have been conceded to me) to go 2 down. That was the second hole in a row I'd lost, and I kinda figured I was toast...but on the par-5 15th Graeme left a ball in a bunker and I had two putts from eight feet for the hole (and duly took them), and then on the difficult par-3 16th, I found the green and Graeme pulled his tee shot into a truly horrible lie and somehow managed to hit his first attempted escape backwards. So back to all square with two to play.
The 17th was straight downwind and straight downhill, with a trio of cross bunkers about 60 yards short of the green. I basically chipped a driver to try and stay short of them but pushed it slightly into the rough, and then from 130 yards I thought I'd hit a good wedge but just failed to clear a ridge and carromed back into one of those darn bunkers. I splashed out to 20 feet and lipped out my par putt - a great effort - and Graeme failed to get up and down from over the green, leaving his six-footer for par short, so we remained all square. On the 18th, I pushed my tee shot toward a bunker 100 yards short of the green; Graeme then took out a 3-wood and tried to guide it up the fairway, and did basically what Mito Pereira did on the 72nd hole at Southern Hills, blocking it right into a bunker 140 yards short of the green. He pitched out and played up to the front of the green, then I pitched out and hit a solid sand wedge about 18 feet left of the hole, pin high. Graeme lagged up to gimme range, and having never led the entire match, I had a chance to win it...and I hit a good putt, but I misread it slightly and left it about two inches right of the hole. And then on the 19th - a 300-yard par-4 into the wind which I'd doubled to start the round - I fanned a driver and hit a 3-iron from 144 yards (!) into the front right bunker, while Graeme hit his two best shots of the day and left himself only five feet for birdie. I got up to the bunker...and my ball was half-buried, right under lip, and I had no stance at all. So that was that: I failed to clear the lip on my desperate first attempt, tried to hole the second attempt but missed, and conceded. I didn't deserve to win, really; I shot something like a 12-over 83, which wasn't embarrassingly bad in the conditions (and I did have a few good moments along the way), but I also have a lot of regrets, especially because that's almost certainly my last crack at Gullane until next year. Sigh.
The 17th was straight downwind and straight downhill, with a trio of cross bunkers about 60 yards short of the green. I basically chipped a driver to try and stay short of them but pushed it slightly into the rough, and then from 130 yards I thought I'd hit a good wedge but just failed to clear a ridge and carromed back into one of those darn bunkers. I splashed out to 20 feet and lipped out my par putt - a great effort - and Graeme failed to get up and down from over the green, leaving his six-footer for par short, so we remained all square. On the 18th, I pushed my tee shot toward a bunker 100 yards short of the green; Graeme then took out a 3-wood and tried to guide it up the fairway, and did basically what Mito Pereira did on the 72nd hole at Southern Hills, blocking it right into a bunker 140 yards short of the green. He pitched out and played up to the front of the green, then I pitched out and hit a solid sand wedge about 18 feet left of the hole, pin high. Graeme lagged up to gimme range, and having never led the entire match, I had a chance to win it...and I hit a good putt, but I misread it slightly and left it about two inches right of the hole. And then on the 19th - a 300-yard par-4 into the wind which I'd doubled to start the round - I fanned a driver and hit a 3-iron from 144 yards (!) into the front right bunker, while Graeme hit his two best shots of the day and left himself only five feet for birdie. I got up to the bunker...and my ball was half-buried, right under lip, and I had no stance at all. So that was that: I failed to clear the lip on my desperate first attempt, tried to hole the second attempt but missed, and conceded. I didn't deserve to win, really; I shot something like a 12-over 83, which wasn't embarrassingly bad in the conditions (and I did have a few good moments along the way), but I also have a lot of regrets, especially because that's almost certainly my last crack at Gullane until next year. Sigh.
I played at Farm Neck on MV earlier this week and had something similar happen. I was (for me) lights out on the front. I don't typically add up my score until the turn so while I knew I was doing well I didn't have an idea on my score. But at the turn added it up and was at 41 through 9. Now my best round ever is an 89 so I was absolutely floored, and wouldn't you know that my tee shot on 10 sliced way right and it was all downhill from there. Ended up shooting a 53 on the back.