Tell us about your game today...

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As one of the more popular threads on the dark side, a place to tell us about your latest game

Just the 9 of course...

Played The Glen @ North Berwick on Saturday. Played really nicely only to 3-putt 5 holes on the front 9. Decided at the turn to ditch the Pro V1 I was playing and go with TM Penta.

Amazing defference, from not hearing the ball come off the putter to a nice clear click as I stroked the ball home.

Pro V1 - 15 points
TM Penta - 19 points

Glorious weekend with two days of 30 degree weather and perfect conditions (unless 30 degrees is too hot for you)

Saturday was Captain's day and a 31 point haul wasn't too bad considering I don't think I had a putt drop all day. Putting was generally quite good with everything going close but just nothing dropping

Sunday was just a casual game playing straight matchplay against my regular playing partner - played 2 under my handicap and still lost on the last after having been 3 up at one point!

I guess if you can't score in those conditions though you never can - ball flying, fairways rolling, greens holding (somewhat) and running very true. Golfing paradise

My 16th wedding anniversary on Friday and we spent the evening at a George Benson tribute concert. Rather overdid the celebrations, so I suppose with too much alcohol and not much sleep, 31 points in the swindle on Saturday morning wasn't too bad considering. Somewhat adrift of the winning score of 40 points though.
 
Yesterday was the Steeple Trophy, a greensomes strokeplay competition. Partner and I played steady with nothing spectacular, 12 pars and 6 bogeys accounted for a 78 gross nett 71, for 4th place and 4 shots behind the winners.

Given a real lesson yesterday (not not a coaching lesson!)

Men's match at home v Sandford Springs. These matches are usually more relaxed that scratch leagues and A team matches, though still very competitive, they are usually played between teams of more mid and higher handicappers with just the occasional lower h/c thrown in.

Yesterday however it seems like the reputation of our course and great condition caused a good uptake from the opponents team with lots of better players wanting to play and they even requested 8 pairs instead of the usual 6 pairs.

Our team was a little depleted as there was a scratch match away on the same day and a C medal out early. Myself and regular playing partner were even scheduled to play in the medal but got a request from the vice captain to pull out of that and play for the team as they were struggling to get 16 names. We gladly agreed.

However when they matches were drawn we found ourselves up against a scratch player and an extremely good 9 h/c.

I was getting 17 shots! but the other opponent was himself getting 7 and I'm sure he won't stay at 9 for long! In fact if you didn't know, you'd say he was the scratch golfer - the actual scratch was a rather unconventional player but the other guy really looked the part.

From the very first tee where they both hit outrageously good shots (one drawing it around the dogleg, the other just blasting right over it where we could only knock down to the dogleg) I just looked at my partner and smiled. We knew we had our hands full.

As it happened we halved the first thanks to a shot for us, and my partner got an outrageous par (nett birdie) of his own on the 2nd from a tee shot into a pond - we actually went one up! However it wasn't to last and we turned 4 down. 2nd nine was a little closer as we mostly halved but eventually lost 5&4. Terrific to watch though and both guys were very friendly and encouraging towards us and there was a lot of good banter

Quarters of the summer knockout and another win. Been struggling with the driver so had it cut down an inch... worked a treat after that. Smashed it all day.

Quarter final of the summer singles knockout coming up for me as well this Thursday evening. Looking forward to it, playing against the club president who is a skilful and wily 11 handicapper, so giving 5 shots away I will need to be at my best if I want to proceed further in the competition.

Played in a 36 hole Pairs Open on Sunday, greensomes in the morning and betterball in the afternoon. Partner off 7 and I off 6 played well for 39 points in the morning, not quite so solid in the afternoon but with no disasters scored 36 points for a 75 points total.
 
That was good enough for second, although well behind the winners (playing off 7 and 9) who managed a very creditable 80 points. Picked up a £70 pair of Footjoy Aqualite shoes for 2nd place, £15 in the sweep and a sleeve of Pro v1's, so all in all not a bad day's work. (Not quite in the Rory McIlroy school of earnings though! )

BlueCoverman wrote:(Not quite in the Rory McIlroy school of earnings though! )

Probably not. But you did manage to beat his lowest score for the year with relative ease.

Played last night with small bag
3wood, 5 rescue, 6 iron, wedege, SW & putter.

After 11 holes I was level par. 2 birdies, 2 bogeys, 7 pars.

My question, Club Championship Qualifier on Saturday, do I put my driver back in play ?

SetupDeterminestheMotion wrote:Played last night with small bag

 
That's no way to talk about your Mrs!

It depends, does it work? Were you comfortable with 3 wood off the tee? Did it mean you had to play holes differently or make reaching some greens more difficult?

Good luck in your quarter final tonight Blue

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:It depends, does it work?  Were you comfortable with 3 wood off the tee?  Did it mean you had to play holes differently or make reaching some greens more difficult?

Hitting 3 wood off the tee doesn't bother me. Moving back to the white tees may cause me to play the hole slightly different, maybe.
Maybe on hole 2, hole 5, hole 9, hole 13 & hole 17, maybe.

My mates keep saying "I wish I could hit a 3 wood like that ?".
I'm not one of these guy who says I hit a wedge 150 yds. In fact I love playing against people who think they can.
I'll continue to hit my 8 iron 150 yds, said Setup bashfully.  

Maybe; what I'll do, is just use driver on the holes above & stick with my 3 wood on the other par 4s. I think !!!

hmm... semi for me in the knockout in about 2 hours.

giving away about 11 shots I think so it should be interestint. Bloke already tried on the mind games with comments like 'I beat a 3 handicapper in the 1st round and he was 3 under at the time...'

"OK. But I don't have a mind so save it"

Once you make the decision on each hole stick to it Setup, don't second guess yourself.

You should be alright LJ, sounds like he's more worried about trying to upset you.

I like it when people do that sort of thing GG. It amuses me no end.

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Good luck in your quarter final tonight Blue

Thanks Grumps just about to disappear and head to the golf club. Really hot here today 32 degrees...plenty of water will be required in the golf bag!

I won. 2 up. It was a tough game giving away a shedload of shots, particularly on my course where there are 3 runs of giving away 3 shots on the spin. My aim was to be no more than 1 down on the 16th tee.... That was how it stood and with no more shots to give I won the next 3 holes with ease.

Next... the final.

Well played LJ, much better than me I got stuffed. The 11 handicapper played very steadily and although I played to my handicap on the front 9 my opponent had only dropped 2 shots and at the turn I was 2 down. Won the 10th to get back to only 1 down but then lost the 11th, 12th and 13th to par, birdie, net birdie and the writing was on the wall. Shook hands on the 15th green feeling very disappointed.
 
Good luck in your final LJ...is it over 36 holes?

Well done LJ. It's looking like all that practice you put in during the cold winter months has paid off. Good luck for the final  

Good result LJ  maybe there is something in this shorter shaft thingy!

Best of luck in the final - is the Ringer on your bag?

 18 holes guys. Don't know the opponent yet... either an 18 or a 21. Either way it's a shitload of shots!

Shanker there is clearly something in my shaft theory. I hit driver 6 times today. I misaligned myself on one that missed by miles (but was dead straight)... other than that my worst drive with the long stick was an inch off the fairway on a 480 yard par 5 into a big wind leaving 190 to the middle. And the hole following I mishit it out of the toe on a 410 yard par 4... I left it left side of the fairway with 25 yards to the back left pin. Downhill, downwind but still!

I like it a lot! And am highly recommending a shorter length driver to anyone who asks how I changed my teebox game around so much so quickly.

Well done, LJ - glad you are enjoying your shorter shaft

Haven't updated this thread as to be honest there hasn't been a lot to shout about but played this morning in the Proshop Day (morning and afternoon shotgun starts) and played my best round in the 4.5 years I've been a member there .. 44pts and leading after the morning - could be a nervous afternoon!

20-24 split (I did start off the 1st though it was a shotgun start). Don't think I sank anything longer than about 5 feet - but no 3-putts despite some of the 1st putts leaving a little work to do.

If only it had been a qualifier! Don't know if general play cuts can be given in NQ comps but I wouldn't be upset if I get a cut!

That would come under general play.

Or exceptional play... although usually that allows for a couple of great rounds before cutting you off at the knees.

if its an individual stableford/strokeplay off normal measured course (like any other medal) then it ought to be a qualifier. against congu guidance otherwise. if, like our pro day, there's a bunch of novelty stuff going on - playing from shorter tees, hitting junior clubs/left handed clubs off a couple of tees etc. etc, then it can't count!

well done on the score - did you win in the end?! whether its counting or not it should be a good confidence boost for you going into future medals. also probably brings you round to my way of thinking that max handicaps need'nt be higher than 18  i know you've disagreed with that in the past, but seeing as you've now shot +13 in a medal, can you allow me an 'i told you so' just this once? (after all, off 18 you'd still have had a tidy 41 pts)

LJ - I've heard (unofficially) that my club doesn't generally do "general play" reductions. This has only been told me second or third hand so I don't know if it's true or what the reason might be. They do however do exceptional play cuts - so if someone shoots lights out in a qualifier they can get docked extra shots for exceptional play

Scarpa - yes it was individual stableford and though it was supposedly a "fun" day put on by the pro shop, there was no real gimmicky stuff like there usually is. We often have a "buy a tee shot off a junior" or something like that, but not this time. Only thing they did was a "beat the pro" on one par 3 and they had a trackman monitor set up on one par 5. The only thing was it was a shotgun start - does that stop it being a qualifier?

I (and the club) are aware of the CONGU stipulation you mention as we apparently fell foul of it a couple of years ago and even earlier this year on the club 20th anniversary weekend, they had to make an individual stableford a qualifier even though it was only meant to be a fun/celebratory day - so I can only assume the shotgun start was the reason this weekend wasn't a qualifier?

Yes it won in the end - I haven't seen the full scores yet but I know 3rd place was 41pts. Don't know what second place was though

And yes, I guess I have to concede your "told you so" this once .. though until Saturday I would have stood by my previous opinion

Not to nit pick but just to get the numbers tallying up, the course is par/SSS 70 and my handicap has crept up to 22 (21. - I just hadn't updated my profile recently

So that was a nett 62, gross 84 so it was actually +14 not +13 and off 18 it would have been 40 points not 41 .. but your point still stands

Thing is I've not been there 4.5 years and never got even close to that score in that time. Think my previous best was an 87 in a bounce game and an estimated 85 in a matchplay round but obviously that included a few gimmes

Before I joined the club I played at a very short muni course and we only went on self estimated handicaps, but I played to around 18 there - however my first "official" handicap was 22 and I found it very disheartening that for quite some time I was struggling to play even to that on a "proper" course

Over 4 years I've played a lot of qualifiers and handicap has only wavered between 21 and 23 - so fairly consistent over a 4 year period

As you say though I now have confidence that I can play to 18 and that will be my target

Incidentally I said I didn't think they did general play cuts but there is a handicap review in December and I know I'm on the "watch list" - I fully expect a cut in December even if I don't reproduce that form in a qualifier before then

I just don't know why I can't do it in qualifiers - it's not nerves anymore as I've played plenty over four years. It just hasn't happened (yet). I've won one medal this year (nett 67) so that got me cut from 23 to 21. I won one other NQ trophy comp but that was a bogey/par comp and I was only something like 2 or 3 up - previous years had been won by 5 or 6 up so I didn't consider that a particularly spectacular round

It does bother me just a little that this year some of my performances look like those of a sandbagger, but I'm sure those that know me well or play regularly with me know that's not the case. I've been wanting a big cut all year and it just hasn't happened. Maybe it will soon

Glad I've finally swung you :-)
Thing is, if you submitted that card for your handicap originally you'd be given 14, which I'd say is far closer to your true hcp of 22. As you say it's just a card in hand thing which applies to so many golfers. Knock 3 strokes off the handicap of an average golfer from the start and I'd guess most would shoot lower scores than they do now on average - handicapping does just that, it keeps you in a stranglehold and increases the pressure to break free.
Shotgun start has no bearing - should still count.

Thanks Scarpa - if as you say shotgun has no bearing then I cannot explain why it wasn't a Q ... there was no other gimmicky things apart from long drive, straight drive, nearest the pin, beat the pro etc - and I can't see they'd matter

Because not everyone is playing the same course.

Although the yardage and the holes are identical the order does have an impact. Imagine your first hole is a 360 par 4... fairly easy and you can nob a longish club down there with an early morning swing and then thin one somewhere nearby without too much hassle. But someone will be starting on that nasty par 3 over water to a tight pin from 230 yards.

It doesn't allow everyone the same conditions. A two tee start is different as long as the two halves of the draw switch for the second round.

They can't drop you under those conditions as if it were a qualifier as you can't consider the course played as being the same so can't calculate the CSS.

However a GP cut is relevant using the SSS. And if they say they don't do general play cuts I would question that. It's usually an annual thing except in the case of very strong candidates and should take into account things like non-qualifiers, matchplay, stupid high scores on one or two holes etc.

If they don't cut you it would be odd... but at least you know it's pretty straightforward now so just stand up and do it again.

Junior captains day today and for the first time I took my little lad out for a full 18 holes. They allowed me a buggy to get him round which was good... He played with two young kids one of them the son of the pro. He was incredibly well behaved and didn't cause any disruption (well... maybe a little but it was very minor) as well as hit a lot of balls around the place. Generally between the greens and the next tee as there was plenty of space. He impressed more thanjust a few people.

As for me... a reasonable round in a stableford. 37 in the end with a nice fat blob on a par 5 which was pleasant. And now I'm moving back in the right direction with no chance of losing that cat 1 status. Only 0.1 off the handicap. But it was a decent round with a good par, par, par, birdie finish. Which is always nice as it has a couple of nasty par 3's in there.

LondonJonnyO wrote:Because not everyone is playing the same course.

Although the yardage and the holes are identical the order does have an impact. Imagine your first hole is a 360 par 4... fairly easy and you can nob a longish club down there with an early morning swing and then thin one somewhere nearby without too much hassle. But someone will be starting on that nasty par 3 over water to a tight pin from 230 yards.

It doesn't allow everyone the same conditions. A two tee start is different as long as the two halves of the draw switch for the second round.

They can't drop you under those conditions as if it were a qualifier as you can't consider the course played as being the same so can't calculate the CSS.

However a GP cut is relevant using the SSS. And if they say they don't do general play cuts I would question that. It's usually an annual thing except in the case of very strong candidates and should take into account things like non-qualifiers, matchplay, stupid high scores on one or two holes etc.

If they don't cut you it would be odd... but at least you know it's pretty straightforward now so just stand up and do it again.

we have a couple of shotgun qualifiers each year - very popular

We seem to have a dispute here! Nice on a board so quiet as this ;-)

Who is right? I'm tempted to think LJ is and scarpa's club has got something wrong (not scarpa himself) .. so who can find something definitive about this?

http://www.congu.com/online_version.htm

See Decision 1(g) Congu UHS - p89 on SGU version - annoyingly can't seem to download Englandshire equivalent.

That'll be another 'I told you so' then

Good call scarpa ... I await LJ's comeback  

interesting... I wonder how they account for the fact that it limits the field plus also means the course plays differently for each tee location.

Never played in a qualifying shotgun before personally and have seen that stated as the reason more than once.

Does it really limit the field? I've seen shotguns with 4-balls off every tee and sometimes two groups on par 5s .. conversely our C medals frequently have only 30-odd players

At my away club, smallish field of around 40-50. Seen them put two groups off the par 3s to allow around 60, but these are generally Friday night comps rather than a busier Saturday/Sunday. Would need morning/afternoon start at my home club as field tend to be around 140 strong. Don't have any shotguns there though.

Lowest bounce round on my home course (77) today. Been working on a few fundamentals (swing and grip) and it seems to be paying dividends. Have come pretty damn close to acing the par-3 7th (160 yds), hit the flag a couple of weeks ago and skipped all round the hole this evening having landed about 10 inches from it. If I can reproduce that when the 36-hole Invitational arrives in a couple of weekends time, I will be really chuffed  

Played at a club called Seckford Golf Club near Ipswich yesterday, a courtesy round in preparation for a Curry Cup semi-final match next weekend. I had never played there before and knew nothing about the place, other than it was the club that Steve Wright, the guy that murdered 5 Ipswich prostitutes in 2006, was a member!
 
What a strange little course with 7 par 3's, 10 par 4's and only 1 par 5, at only 4981 yards off the white tees it is quite comfortably the shortest course I have ever played and had very little grass on a lot of the fairways. Obviously driver barely required and after working hard in the previous four matches to get to this position the choice of venue for the semi-final is a little disappointing to say the least. Our opponents for the match are Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club, I'm sure that they won't be that enamoured with it either, but I guess the team with the best short iron and course management players will prove to be the one that is victorious on the day!

Played Spey Vallet at the weekend. It contains a par 5 that is 608 yds long off the yellows, longer off the whites.

Imagine my surpsie that I managed to eagle it.!!

Good drive down the middle (a rarity), leaving 274 yds to the green. Having watched the pair in front overshoot the green decided to hit 5 wood second. Came up about 10yds short. Out came the 5-rescue, a little bump & run, right into the hole.  

Did I mention the wind ? It was blowing a bit. Luckily right behind us.

Golf is a funny old game .. I wish I could trademark that saying!

Two weeks ago I played the game of my life - or at least in 4.5 years at my club - beating my best score by two shots. (44 pts)

Today was a big stableford comp and to be honest I didn't think I played a lot worse than that day. Nothing dropped, good(ish) shots were punished with bad bounces, bad shots (and there weren't TOO many) were also punished more than one might expect. Felt like I played to around handicap but when all was added up it was only 29 points. A decent enough front nine but nothing really happened (shaving the hole and lip-outs) - the bad spell started from 10 where half decent shots were cruelly punished. No I didn't play as well as two weeks ago but it sure felt better than only 29 points. One day I may understand this game but I'm not holding by breath

Quite agree with you Davie.... a fortnight ago couldn't put a foot wrong, this week can't hit a bull's arse with a base fiddle. Nothing seems consistent; one day everything goes straight and the next day I'm losing 4 golf balls within 3 holes  Feeling pressure because we've got the 36 hole main event this weekend (£10.00 entry fee, 18 hole cut into second day, with free year's club membership for the eventual winner). I was hacking it along the ground like a complete novice on Friday night........ ohh for a simple repeatable golf swing and some decent course management.....

Our club championship played over 36 holes held over the last 2 weekends. Shot 80 last week to be 6 off the lead. Played better this morning in much more difficult conditions and shot 78 (12 pars and 6 bogeys) which was the best gross today. My 158 total gave me a third place finish, two guys had 157 and the winner triumphed with a birdie at the first extra hole.
 
I'm left thinking if only!...it's the nearest I have ever been to winning it although in all honesty there are far less low handicappers at our club these days. Two bad swings last week resulted in two double-bogeys and that is what cost me but on the plus side standard scratch was 73 today and so a 0.2 cut gets me down to 5.8

Congrats Blue - that is a result to be proud of

Well done to you Blue. Take my hat off to you. Failed to play to my 19 handicap and therefore missed the cut at our 36 hole Invitational. Excellent result for you

Great play Blue, well done on today's round and your good finish.

on saturday I stood on the 13th tee 1 over and then proceeded to play the next 5 in 5 over. That gave me 35 points in a boarded comp which 38 points won.

I am pissed at myself.

LondonJonnyO wrote:on saturday I stood on the 13th tee 1 over and then proceeded to play the next 5 in 5 over. That gave me 35 points in a boarded comp which 38 points won.

I am pissed at myself.

Know how you feel LJ. I hit two poor drives which cost me dearly. I was trying to play percentage golf on both of them and still made a complete c**K of myself  Shot 93 on a course which you should easily shoot 85 or better every time off 19 handicap  To not make the cut at +2 with 19 strokes on a course of less than 5300 just beggars belief it really does I had to then spend the rest of my birthday trying to be happy and positive when all I wanted to do was head butt the wall 12 times until my forehead bled  

Twice last week I broke my own golden rule and teed off without hitting a few balls on the range. Twice I had 3 blobs in the first half dozen holes, and twice I ended up on 32 points. 33 is normally buffer, and in both rounds I had an outside chance of making a putt to hit that mark. As it turned out on Saturday, 32 points was CSS but all that means is I missed out on what should have been an easy cut if I'd scored so much as one point in those 3 holes.