Balls Magazine Volume 19

The last time I played golf, it was the 4 club tournament in July. To refresh your memories, here are the four clubs I chose:

• 5 Wood
• 7 Iron
• Pitching Wedge
• Putter

I ended up shooting an even 100, which I was very happy with.

Unfortunately, due to work commitments and some work around the house I needed to do, I haven’t played or practiced since then. I showed up at 8:20 AM for an 8:30 tee time on Saturday morning.

Not the best preparation, I will readily admit.

I was paired up with the guy I had played with and lost to in the Match Play Tournament. He’s a good dude and a great partner to play with. The rest of the foursome was a guy I had not met before and an older lady that, when I won my first tournament, joked I was a sandbagger.

I decided to hit a 5 iron off the first tee because I was concerned any other club would go off in God Knows what direction. I promptly hit the first ball to the right into the next fairway.

However, it was playable and the next stroke got me back in the fairway within a fairway wood of the green.

In what would become a preview of things to come, I mis-hit it and it took two pitching wedges to get me on the green. A two-putt got me out of there with a 7.

Not great, but it was only the first hole and it wasn’t a complete disaster. Considering the lack of practice and playing, it wasn’t that bad.

I got a 6 on the second (one over my target) and followed that up with a 5 on a Par 3 and an Abominable Snowman on the fourth. Things were not looking good.

The reason I was struggling was that I had bad mis-hits. One stroke on the fourth went two feet in front of me. That is not a joke. That is literally what happened.

My putting was saving me. Once I got the ball on the green, I got in the hole with two putts. For the entire round, my putting average was 1.83. I’m pretty proud of that.

I got another 5 on the Par 3 fifth but things started turning around on the Par 5 sixth. I got a Bogey there. In the meantime, the older lady (who is in my flight) was getting pars and bogeys. My cart partner tried to give me some encouragement as I tied her on the sixth. He thought I could still catch her but I told him I knew I wasn’t going to beat her, even with my handicap advantage. She was on fire.

She ended up shooting a net 59 and taking low net for the entire tournament.

Once I got my bogey, I settled down and the mis-hits stopped. I got a par on the seventh, which is usually my worst hole and a Bogey on 8. I was feeling pretty good about my turnaround when I got a 9 on the Par 5 ninth.

A 54 on the Front Nine was not what I wanted, but it was what I got.

As you all know by now, HOWEVAH, I do better on the Back.

Over the next five holes, I averaged 5 per hole. If I kept that up, I’d finish with a 45 and I’d break 100.

Alas, I got double bogeys on the Par 5 holes and my par on a Par 4 and bogey on a Par 3 could not offset the damage done.

I shot 48 on the Back for a total of 102 for the round. Not too shabby considering how horribly I started.

Some highlights:

• I hit the flagstick TWICE on shots that would have ended up miles away from the hole.
• I also got the flagstick TWICE on putts that went out after hitting it. The lesson: The stick both giveth and taketh away.
• A funky bird was following us on one of the holes. We tried to shoo it away so it wouldn’t get hit.

PROS

I greatly improved over the course of the round. My playing partner even remarked that my game on the Back was completely different than the Front.

My “not great, Bob!” rounds are getting lower. That’s a good sign of overall improvement.

I managed to get a skin for one of my pars which put $7.17 in my pocket!

CONS

I had a bad start and was not hitting correctly. That means I need to practice more.

I missed out on the free burger giveaway in the clubhouse after the round. They were all gone by the time we finished.

OVERALL RATING:

I am improving, feeling more comfortable shooting lower scores, and I’m recognizing and minimizing my mistakes as they occur. Meaning, if I hit a bad shot, I regroup and focus not making the problem worse. No hero shots and no stupid decisions.

This is the second round in a row that I didn’t use Driver. I’m finding that I don’t really need it to score well.

There will come a time and place for Driver, but right now is not it.

I am also understanding the importance of the lie in the game. As the word implies, the “lie” is basically the condition in which the ball lies on the ground. Is it on good grass? Is it on flat grass? Are you on a hillside? How thick and wet is the grass? Are you on dirt?

I’m learning that adjusting to the lie is extremely important to hitting the ball where I want it to go.

More to come, but now Rikki will present the next exciting chapter in the golf cart girl story!

See you next time.