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Crafting stories from the ideas that tumble from my mind.
I played my second post-surgery round at Avery Ranch Golf Course from the green (forward) tees and scored a very nice 92 which ties my personal best on Avery Ranch. It would have been easy to break 90 with better putting. Temperatures were in the upper 80’s with tee time of 09:37 on Tuesday. Light winds from east-south-east. Forecast was for rain but we only got one light sprinkle.
Several Scoring Method Facebook members recommended sticking to my 7-iron for a round so I took their advice by leaving all woods and hybrids in my truck. Although I had my share of pulls and pushes, for the most part I struck the ball well. I averaged 132 yards off the tee and 130 yards off the deck with the 7-iron and kept the ball in play except for one hole where I pushed it into a gully hazard. ONLY ONE BLOW UP HOLE! Yes, it’s worth a shout as I average 3 and want to get that to one or fewer. This was also my first round with the new Odyssey putter. I kept missing putts on the high side until I adjusted. Also, another highlight of the round was that at 17 of 18 this was my best ESZ performance!
Interestingly, I played with a couple of older guys who, when informed of my playing the green tees due to recovery, decided to join me up front. They didn’t keep score as they said all they track is how many balls they loose in a round. Had a lot of fun with them and they lost a fair share of balls and in the end congratulated me on “winning” because I only lost one ball. One thing I noticed, both of the rounds where I scored 92 occurred on mid-week rounds with strangers. I don’t play as well when playing with my friends on Sundays as I when I play with strangers. I am more focused and relaxed in the mid-week rounds.
Aggravatingly, putting was the cause of the only blow-up hole which occurred on the very short Par-4 16th hole. I hit my 6-iron 164 yards to fairway and my SW ESZ shot landed on the fringe. From the fringe I putt-chipped to 8 ft then took 4 putts to sink it from there – every time curling around the lip on the high side of the hole. In retrospect, after I missed the 8 ft first putt, I was emotionally compromised and should have marked the ball, walked around a couple of times then approached the 4 ft putt fresh.
Since there’s only one triple bogey or worse, I’ll briefly touch on the double bogeys – two were due to 3-putts, one was 1-pitch-1-chip-two putts, one was 3-chips-1-putt, and the last was the penalty on ESZ but good SM bogey golf afterwards.
We started play on the back nine and I hit many memorable clean 7-irons on several holes. On the first hole, #10, I hit a gorgeous GW 74 yards to 20 ft from the pin. I am really confident hitting the three-quarter swing GW to 75 yards and to do so on the first hole was a real confidence booster! The par-5 10th has always given me troubles and starting with a SM bogey set the tone for the round.
The par on hole 12 was memorable the whole way – well struck 7-iron, 7-iron to middle of fairway leaving a 50 yard SW to pin – which I struck crisply to 2 ft from pin and sank for the lovely up & down. Did I mention I feel really confident with a 50 yard half-swing sand wedge?
On hole 15, after slightly pushing a 6-iron off the tee into trees, I saw I had a clear hole back to the fairway. I visualized a clean 7-iron strike through the gap and hit it flawlessly 157 yards to the middle of the fairway. That’s especially nice given my 130 yard 7-iron average!
The following tee shot on hole 16 with the 6-iron travelled 22 yards longer than average (164 yards), also to middle of fairway. Just sucks to 4 putt after such a great tee shot.
The 2nd U&D par occurred on the par-3 17th with a 16 yard Cleveland Chipping wedge to 2 ft from the pin. Parred the 18th with 148 and 140 yard 7-iron GIR and a 45 foot lag putt to 3 feet.
Swinging back around to first hole I knocked down another U&D par with a putter chip from 8 yards to 2 ft. The second hole’s most memorable shot was after I pulled my 7-iron into trees, I could only hit a low shot through trees to the green. I intended to use my hybrid for these low shots but I left them in the truck. So I had to use my brand new putter to thread the gap 44 yards to the green. Worked perfectly and I didn’t ding my new putter.
After a push into trees on the par-5 5th hole I had a low opening back to the fairway. I was really glad I practiced my low punch 5-iron on the range a few days earlier because I crisped that dude right through the gap for 167 yards leaving 118 yards to the green.
I saved the double bogey on the 7th hole with a sweet 16 yard CCW to one inch from the cup after I aimed several feet to the left of the cup to account for a huge break I read on the green. Finally on the last, 9th hole, I had an 85 yard shot to a back pin. Normally that’s a full Gap Wedge, but because I was tired I decided to swing an easy Pitching Wedge which I dropped to 9 ft from the pin and an easy two putt SM bogey.
What was good about this round?
Sticking to the 7-iron as a go-to club worked really well with most balls well struck and in play. Also, my 3/4 and 1/2 swing wedges worked really well in this round. The CCW also worked to produce a good number of close-in up & down putts.
What could have been BETTER in this round?
Missed too many 5 to 8 foot putts from over reading break. Also, chipping with the Sand Wedge didn’t produce desired results.
What will I do to IMPROVE?
I will exercise several 4 to 10 foot putting drills and tests emphasizing reading breaks. I will continue work to develop the 3-hybrid as a go-to club. I will also use the Sand Wedge more in up & down scored games.
In the end I was very pleased with this round and the results from sticking to the 7-iron go-to club (with a few course induced 6-iron deviations). However, my shortness off the tee with this choice eventually handicaps me, especially for playing in tournament rounds where I will be back on the longer white tees. That is why this week I will be working a lot on getting the 3-hybrid up to speed. I will discuss this further in the upcoming tournament round planning blog.
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