Thread: Your latest golf game

wow..

big score today.

Keep fighting the good fight No One, you'll get there.

Shot another 80 last week at Marshall, then an 84 later in the week. The latter was a front half 39 and then a blow-up 45 on the back. I was actually shanking my driver...one hole I knocked it into the grass 30 yards in front of the tee...proceeded to barely miss a 20 footer to par it though.

Really impressed with my recovery skills right now, but my consistency with my long irons and my driver has been disappointing. Think I was trying to tweak one too many things on my driver during the round and threw my whole game off.

I'm back up to a 9.7 right now, but expect to be able to keep below a 10. Wife says if I can drop to a 2, she'll let me get serious about it...lol.

After next week, I will have the following 10 weeks off, so hope to get a lot of golf in and get out to some good courses around the area. On the top of my list: Empire Lakes, Oak Quarry, East Valley (in Beaumont), Olivas Links and The Links at Summerly.

Would love to get a round in with some of you, though it looks like only a few of us hitting the course right now.

Side note-any body hear about this Golf Channel Amateur Tour thing going on right now? They have regional "tours" you can play on to earn a chance to get to an amateur championship tournament. Costs about $199 to join, and I'm guessing $100+ to register for a tournament. Interestingly, there are several brackets for different handicaps. I'm looking at some of the scores for where I'd fall right now, thinking "Damn, I could easily pull in an 85 at some of these places for a top-10 finish." Heh...

Hey Duke,

I've heard about that Amateur Tour thing, but with the amount of golf I'm NOT playing these days I haven't even thought about it. It would be very interesting, as I am almost totally unfamiliar with tournament golf... You know what they say. There's golf, and there's tournament golf... and the two are not very much alike.

On another note, I'm playing on Saturday for the first time in 6 months. Oak Quarry. Never played there before. I'm going to suck to high heaven. Should be fun!

Originally Posted by Iron Duke

On the top of my list: Empire Lakes, Oak Quarry, East Valley (in Beaumont), Olivas Links and The Links at Summerly.

Originally Posted by Mr. Teeny

On another note, I'm playing on Saturday for the first time in 6 months. Oak Quarry. Never played there before. I'm going to suck to high heaven. Should be fun!

I like Oak Quarry. If it wasn't 60 miles away, I'd play there more often.

Let me know if you bail out to the right on #14.

Maybe I will head out there on the 12th or 13th, since I have those days off. Of course, I won't be able to practice before then, so maybe just maybe it'll be the 13th.

I have also player Empire Lakes, but only once so it is out of memory. I will need to replay it.

Originally Posted by No One

I like Oak Quarry. If it wasn't 60 miles away, I'd play there more often.

Let me know if you bail out to the right on #14.

Maybe I will head out there on the 12th or 13th, since I have those days off. Of course, I won't be able to practice before then, so maybe just maybe it'll be the 13th.

I have also player Empire Lakes, but only once so it is out of memory. I will need to replay it.

I have heard nothing but great things about Oak Quarry, from the course itself right down to the friendliness of the staff. I'm very jealous of your playing there...only four more days of work for me, then I can afford to hit these courses on the weekdays. I've heard Empire Lakes is alright, but not worth the $75 to play. <shrug>

I blew it yesterday at my home Marshall.

-1 through 4, I shot a +1 front 9 36 (including two birdies, both on putts over 15ft, and two bogeys that rung the cup on my par putt).

-Par on 10.
-Missed the green, bogey on 11.
-Pushed my drive right on 12, then hit the ball over the green, but recovered for a bogey.
-Missed a 5 footer for par on 13.
-14 was well played for a par.
-Missed the green and left myself 10 feet for par on 15...bogey.

Still looking at a 76 at this point.

-Hit the green on the par 3 16. 3 putted from 20 ft for bogey.
-Par 5 17. Left drive 205 from the green. Knocked my hybrid to 15 feet left of the pin for eagle. Tough left-right downhill eagle putt...didn't play it enough, didn't give it enough gas. 5 footer below the hole for par...missed 1/2" left. Par.

All I have to do is par 18, 77, best round ever.

-Drove it 305 yards down the left side. Left rough, 100 yards away, good lie, not a difficult shot. Chunked my wedge, leaving 20 yards to the green, over a sandtrap. Knocked a high sand wedge to the back part of the green...maybe 30 foot putt for par. Left the par putt about 8 feet short, still downhill. Missed the bogey putt long...knocked a 2 footer for double bogey.

It was agonizing. I was playing beautifully, but as it started to get in my head what I was achieving, I got really timid with the putter. I 3-putted 5 times, including the final 3 holes. I think I'm finally starting to play to where my mind thinks I should be playing, but clearly I need to relax and just not get too conservative. Index sits at a 9.1 right now.

The hardest thing in the world is to not think about your score once you start hitting it well. Everyone's done that before. To take a line from the pros, it's all about continuing to put yourself in that position. You'll learn how to back off the nerves the more you're in that spot.

As far as the courses, Empire Lakes is a good one. It's always fun to play a course you can watch the pros play on TV. I have yet to figure out an acceptable way to play the 18th, though. Also, I like Goose Creek at least as much, and it's usually cheaper.

East Valley... When the hell did they change their name? Those are good courses. Don't know if they'll be doing their $5 replay again, but when they do it's the best 36 holes you can find for the price. Just watch out for the wind. Again, a few par 5s there where I seriously need to figure out my strategy.

Originally Posted by Mr. Teeny

The hardest thing in the world is to not think about your score once you start hitting it well.

Yep. I made the fatal mistake of looking at the card after 17 holes, realizing I had taken 75 shots at Skylinks. A par would get me 79. Well, I can believe how tightly I gripped the club on the drive.

Final Result was a Bogey.

Also, the quickest way I can go on a 3 putt barrage is telling myself I haven't had a 3 putt yet..

It has been a while since I played at Oak Quarry but here is what I remember.

#1 - Short, uphill Par 4. Best play is to be left of bunkers. Easy play into the green. Driver may be too much club. I try to get it out there about 200 - 220 yd.

#2 - Easy par 5, unless the winds are against you.

#3 - Par 3 - Try to get it on the correct tier. #3 is the green you see below the practice green.

#4 - Par 4 - Try to place your tee shot on the lower level. If you go too far on the upper level, you won't be able to see the green. Driver is too much.

#5 - Par 3 - Again, the correct side of the green is vital here. There is a large slope between the right and left sides.

#7 - Long uphill par 4.

#8 - Reachable par 5, but don't be long. Seriously. Don't be long.

#10 - Par 3 - If the pin is in the front, you can try to play it a little left of the stick. The terrain will feed it right.

#13 - Par 4 - Uphill 2nd shot. Mostly into the wind, as well.

#14 - Par 3 - Enjoy the looks of the hole. I have played it 3 or 4 times, and have yet to put one in the water (until next time). If the pin is back left, play for center of the green and draw it in, as the left hand side of the green is protected by the quarry and bunkers. There is a substantial bailout area to the right.

#15 - Par 4 - Fairway metal off the tee to the front of the bunkers.

#16 - Par 5 - Not reachable for me, but the green is not visible from the fairway for your 2nd shot. Aim the right of the balcony on the clubhouse. I seem to recall there was a 4 square pattern on the right of the clubhouse, which is where I usually aim on my 2nd shot. It is a wide fairway. The fairway doglegs to the left as you approach the green. There is water along the left side. IIRC, this is the first hole where water comes into play. If this is your time out there, and you can't see the green, I would play it as a 3 shot hole.

#17 - Par 4 - Again, uphill. There is a collection area front-left of the green, and a large mound center-right of the green. I put my second shot on that mound. Lightly tapped a putt off the mound, and ran it into the collection area.

#18 - Water comes into play if you push your drive. Easy hole overall.

The other holes are relatively easy to figure out, I think. At least I don't recall any huge unknowns.