Why review rounds?

Since September, 2017, I have kept a “round review log” on my google drive documents. Over time the nature of the log has evolved as I read various books on the mental side of golf and enrolled in the Scoring Method. The biggest reason to review my golf performance in a round is to find areas that I need to work on. Rather than log the review in my google drive I will review this latest round and possibly subsequent rounds in this blog. The format I’ve developed for the review is:

It may seem I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about golf, but it really is my passion and I enjoy thinking about golf almost as much as I enjoy playing golf!

Course information and General thoughts

I played my first post surgery round at Avery Ranch Golf Course, my home course. Due to doctor’s instructions to take it easy, I played from the green – forward tees (aka ladies tees). In addition, I moved balls from bunkers to grass as I’m not allowed to hit bunker shots yet. At tee time the temps were in the low 90’s quickly climbing to near 100 by the end of the 5 hour round. Winds were 1 to 2 clubs in strength and varied from south to south-east. I scored 102.

My general feeling was I played a rough front nine and a very nice back nine. I scored two bogeys and three pars on the five par 3’s which I was really pleased with. I had three blow up holes (triple bogey or worse) which is about average quantity for me but the three totaled 15 over which is much worse than usual. I really want to get that down to one or fewer blow-ups over the next few months. I set out with a strategy of hitting mostly 7-iron off the tee and though my Game Golf stats shows 38% of fairways hit, only 3 of 18 tee shots were in trouble. About 85% of my approach and layup shots were acceptable. For all that I’ve practiced the short game lately, it was that part of the game where I lost the most strokes. For all that the score didn’t meet my expectations, I had a lot of fun.

Blow up hole and memorable hole/shots reviews

I turned the number 1 handicap par 5 fifth hole into a disaster with the short game. I hit a slightly pulled 7-iron off the tee leaving a tree handicapped second shot. However, I’ve been there a lot and I envisioned a punchy 7-iron hook/draw around the tree and executed the shot to perfection leaving my ball 92 yards from the middle of the green. (The title picture is of this hole and my ball was in the forward shadowed area in the image.) My 3/4 Gap Wedge swing is normally a 90 yard club and there was a breeze coming from behind me so I felt safe taking the GW. I hit it crisply but high and it came up a yard short of the green – splash! In retrospect, I should have taken the PW or even the 9-iron given my injury and the fact the safe miss is the back of the green on this hole. I moved forward 20 yards and dropped but hit two subsequent splashes with the same GW due to weak arm swings. Finally, still with the GW I hit a crisp shot that ended up on the fringe behind the green. A putter-chip and two putts later I carded a 12.

I pulled a snowman on the tough 7th hole shown above. Because the tee shot is a longish carry over a steep gully, I hit the 6-iron off the tee. Unfortunately I pulled 6-iron into hazard left and played 7-iron from the drop zone. I pushed that shot into the bunker in the foreground of the above image. Took my injury bunker relief and laid up with a wedge. Next wedge I hit low and hot over the green. I was short-sided there and tried to bump a SW onto the green but the fringe stopped the ball. Putter-chip and one putt finished the blow up.

The par 4 12th hole is normally an easy SM bogey for me but I topped the 7-iron tee shot into the gully in front of me. Teed up again and hit a beauty into the middle of the fairway, then hit a lovely layup leaving 50 yards to the pin. However, I hit my SW just a bit too crisp which went over the green. Chip and two putts later I carded the second snowman.

For the fun part – memorable holes and shots. The first hole was the biggest surprise. I frequently score double or worse on this short hole. But I walked away with a lovely and unexpected par! Hit my 7-iron 130 yards to middle of the fairway. I planned to lay up with my normally 110 yard 9-iron to the front right of the green, but hit a 122 yard long pull that ended up on the green at 14 feet from pin. Two putts later and I walked off thinking, “What a great start!” On the long par 4 fourth I hit a great 6-iron tee shot with a slight pull but well struck 155 yards. The 5th hole 2nd shot 7-iron hook/draw around the tree was really memorable. It’s so much fun to envision a shot shape then pull it off! I hit the green with lovely 8-iron off the tee on the par 3 8th, but then spoiled the joy with a three putt from 27 feet.

The 9th hole plays long for me but the fairway off the tee presents a broad 55 yard wide target. I played my first 3-hybrid shot here 160 yards to the middle of the fairway. A pushed 8-iron layup left me handicapped by a tree from 90 yards. The picture above is just a couple feet to the left of where I hit from. With the pin at the back and lots of green to work with, I decided to hit a low 8-iron bump & run over the bunker and under the tree and once again, had the joy of seeing the envisioned shot pulled off perfectly. I lipped out the 14 foot par putt and made the Scoring Method bogey comeback two-footer.

I hit the 3-hybrid so well on 9 that I decided to hit it again to the 40 yard wide fairway on the 10th hole (par 5). Hit a beautiful fade 179 yards to middle of fairway, followed by 138 yard fairway bound 7-iron layup. Ended up with SM bogey with 3 wedges and one putt from there. (rats!)

I hit a 5-hybrid 145 yards to green and two putted on the par 3 11th hole for par. I hit a great CCW chip after weak SW short tee shot and 1-putted for par on par 3 13th hole. Lipped out an 8 foot birdie putt after a crisp 9-iron 105 yards to the par 4 16th hole. Sank an 8 foot par putt on the 17th after a nice 21 yard CCW chip.

When I get tired I start hitting pushes. I pushed the tee shot and layup shot on 18 leaving another tree blocked shot to the green. I had brought my SW but the tree branches were just low enough not to strike the normal SW shot. So I pictured a low punchy SW, put the ball back in my stance and punched it to 14 ft and an easy two putt bogey.

The good, the bad, and the get better questions.

What was GOOD in the round?

My go-to 7-iron worked quite well both on tee and approach shots. In addition, I also hit my 3, 4, and 5 hybrids very well with only one bad shot (a top) out of 8 hybrid shots.

What could be BETTER in the round?

My wedges still need a lot of work. I hit fat shots, weak short shots, crisp too-long shots and a couple of pushes, all resulting in lost strokes. This is a mental/stress issue because in practice the last few weeks I consistently hit 9/10 wedge tests with almost no fat or weak wedge shots. Also, there were at least three opportunities to hit low punch shots from under trees where I didn’t execute well.

How am I going to GET BETTER?

I will emphasize more tests and variety in my wedge shots in purposeful practice sessions. The three 3-putts indicated a need to work on 30-foot-plus lag putting. And I will continue to hit tests with 7-iron and 3-hybrid to improve go-to club development. Finally, I will incorporate low punch shots to narrow windows into practice sessions with goal of 9 of 10 acceptable escapes.

Conclusion

The reviews written here are longer than my personal reviews because the audience is larger here. Normally I write 3 short paragraphs for myself. It is common knowledge that one remembers bad shots more than good shots and reviewing the round with Game Golf allows me to recall that I played a lot more really good and certainly acceptable shots than bad shots which encourages me to work on the weaknesses in practice and during play know I have what it takes to hit more of the good stuff. It’s this review and the thinking that drives my optimism that I’m on the way to improving my golf!