OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
05-03-2019
, 11:34 AM
05-03-2019
, 01:35 PM
05-03-2019
, 04:48 PM
So....anything fits my game right now!
I have been hitting balls some in my indoor simulator and feel somewhat decent with my game though. A week of putting speed drills and I will have about all I can have at 45!
05-03-2019
, 05:25 PM
05-03-2019
, 06:41 PM
45? You're just a young pup! 
As far as setup for me, it's a golf course that I'm pretty familiar with. Played U.S. Open sectionals here in 2005 and a couple of NTPGA events since. And that's really all that matters to me. At 50 years old a 7100 yard golf course isn't going to be short, but to me that's part of the fun. In the end, if you go out and play a good round of golf you'll probably advance to sectionals.
Just nice to have a good group to play with, that's not always the case. Makes things flow better. Except now I'm going to be self-conscious with my targets into the greens.
Ship, get ready for the 47-inch driver as well as a 47-inch putter!
As far as setup for me, it's a golf course that I'm pretty familiar with. Played U.S. Open sectionals here in 2005 and a couple of NTPGA events since. And that's really all that matters to me. At 50 years old a 7100 yard golf course isn't going to be short, but to me that's part of the fun. In the end, if you go out and play a good round of golf you'll probably advance to sectionals.
Just nice to have a good group to play with, that's not always the case. Makes things flow better. Except now I'm going to be self-conscious with my targets into the greens.
Ship, get ready for the 47-inch driver as well as a 47-inch putter!
05-03-2019
, 07:41 PM
05-04-2019
, 06:23 AM
05-05-2019
, 05:13 AM
05-13-2019
, 06:06 PM
05-15-2019
, 01:25 AM
8:30am tee time at TPC Craig Ranch, a course with lush, zoysia fairways after 4 inches of rain in the preceeding days. This means no roll, not what a 50-year old wants when competing against guys half his age.
I've put in a lot of work on my game over the last month to get ready for this and the U.S. Senior Open qualifier the day after Memorial Day. But no matter how much work you put in, you don't really know how it's going to feel in competition until you actually do it. So I was looking forward to the first test of the year, and my first competition since Champions Tour School finals.
The most work was on putting, my Q school nemesis. Have been experimenting with face on putting and got a putter designed specifically for such. But have been using this putter as a non-anchored long putter, but perfectly vertical, with a Tommy Fleetwood pencil grip. For whatever reason, this grip feels as though it allows me to release the putter properly. Something I've never been good at regardless of method. Regardless, this method just feels right and I was comfortable with it from the start.
See Scott(ship—this) near the putting green before tee time and we share some laughs about getting paired together. Catch up a bit and then off to the first tee. Meet T.K., the 26-year old hipster who hits it 9 miles. Mind you Scott is not short either, I was definitely hitting first all day. Onto the round.
#1, par 4, 420 yards. Hit driver down the left side safely away from the hazard right confident I cannot reach the bunker 270 from the tee. T.K. Takes 2-iron and hits it past me into the bunker. Kids. 174 uphill into a slight wind, solid 6-iron to 14 feet. Good stroke but didn't quite hit it as the greens are much slower than normal. Par.
#2, par 4, 430 yards. OK drive, not overly solid down the right side of the fairway leaving 173 into the slight wind. Another 6-iron, trying to hit this one a little higher as the pin is somewhat tucked. Expecting a slight draw that never materialized and it catches a small bunker. In the practice round I noticed this bunker had sand significantly heavier than the rest. Even with this knowledge, I don't go after it hard enough and leave 13 feet for par. Probably 2 cups outside right, I put a perfect, fluid stroke on it and it drops dead center. Par.
#3, par 4, 408 yards, dogleg left over a creek. Somewhere in the 290 range through the fairway a bit downwind. With the wet fairways this is driver all day for me. Not for the others though because I am an old pussy. Finds the right half leaving 174 a little downhill with a left to right wind. Wanted to drill a 7-iron but didn't want to come up short as it's well below green level there. Took a 6 and tried to hold it off. Left the blade open and just didn't go after it and it came up short anyway! Hit a solid pitch to about 3 feet which is another good test after my recent past. No issues, felt very comfortable over it. Par.
#4, par 3, 195 yards on the card, but with a back left pin playing 209. With the wind from the right I feel I can draw a solid 5-iron into the middle of the green and have it feed back to the hole. And that's exactly what happened leaving 8 feet for birdie. Play it left half, hit it left half, and watched it spin out of the left side of the hole. A good putt though. Par.
#5, par 5, 569 yards. Good drive, good 3-wood leaving 82 yards to a pin behind a bunker and the green sloping away. Good shot, maybe a little firm, leaving 13 feet back up the hill. Play it just outside right and it ghosts over the right edge. Par.
#6, par 4, 330 yards. One of two short par 4's with tons of bunkers a cute green. Good drive leaving 60 yards to a pin cut just on top of a ridge. Can't land a 60 on top and have it stop, so take a 55* wedge intending to land it at the bottom of the ridge and skip it to the top. Hit it a tad firm and it flies into the ridge which happens to kill it pin high about 7 feet left. Hit a terrible putt, just shut the face way down and missed it a good hole to the left. Par.
#7, par 3, 230 yards on the card, 242 I think to the pin. Open in front, left to right wind. Oh, a little uphill as well. Hit 3-wood to maybe 25 feet, pin high. A good shot. Hit anoher bad putt, actually drop kicked it a bit and left it 3 feet short. Made that one dead center though. Par.
#8, par 4, 482 yards although a few yards downwind. Probably only playing 476 with no roll. LOL. Good drive leaving 228. Pretty iffy 5-wood left of the green leaving a touchy chip with a lot of break. Clip it nicely and rolls about 3 feet past the hole. No issues. Par.
#9, par 5, 520 yards. They actually moved the tee up a box. Good drive leaving 239 uphill, into the wind, to a front right hole location with hazard in front and right of the green. Didn't even entertain going for it. T.K. probably hit it 70 past me here. Laid up to 120, then hit a wedge to just under 3 feet. Putt has to move a bit right but over the ball looks like it will break left. Decide to drill it dead center. As soon as I hit it and starts going right, catches the right half and horseshoes back at me. Ack. Par.
#10, par 4, 471 yards. Best drive of the day leaving only 210 to a backish hole location. Catch my first real mud ball of the day and it knuckled left into a bunker. Actually used my 55* here, hit it like I wanted leaving 6 feet downhill for par. Hit a crappy putt, was right all the way. Bogey.
Walking to the next tee I asked my caddy who has played hundreds of rounds with me what my stroke looked like there. He said I really jabbed at it, didn't stroke it at all. I instantly knew he was correct. And for the rest of the round over every putt all I thought about was putting a fluid stroke on it.
#11, par 4, 430 yards uphill. Good drive leaving 184 to a back hole location. My ball has a ton of mud on it. Take 5-iron and the ball immediately starts right, and then the mud throws it way, way right. I did not hit this shot poorly. Ball disappears into the trees at least 40 yards right of the green in a native type area. Inform my playing partners I was playing a provisional for a lost ball. Drop and hit another 5-iron only this time with a clean ball. Shot never left the flag but can't see where it is because of the uphill. Walking towards the green my caddy heads right to look for my ball. I say no, let's go see where my provisional is first. It's 6 inches from the hole. I declare my first ball lost and tap in for 5. Think I did three things I'd never done before on this hole. 1, declaring a ball lost without looking for it. 2, dropping from knee height in competition. 3, hitting the pin with a putt. Bogey.
#12 par 4, 492 yards downhill. Pin is ~11 back making the actual yardage 503. Fun. Good drive leaving 227 hole. Ball is sitting poorly, not quite enough water to claim casual. There's also a tree halfway between me and the hole where I actually cannot see the flag. Normally I'd try to draw it around the tree, or perhaps over the tree. But the lie had me concerned. So I just slopped a stock shot on the front right part of the green and two putted. Par.
#13, par 4, 479 yards uphill. Goofy tee shot for me, had to play out to the left on this slight dogleg right to avoid various trouble that I could not carry. Leaves me 238 to a pin tucked front right behind a bunker. Fan a 3-wood just short and right of the bunker. Hit a thin pitch from there probably 16 feet past the hole, just a crappy shot. But then put a fluid stroke on the putt and it went dead center. Par.
#14, par 4, 330 yards with a lake all the way down on the left. Tugged the drive a smidge but avoided a fairway bunker leaving 70 yards to a good pin tucked on a shelf on the back right of the green. Hit it perfect, took one hop and screwed to a stop 2 feet from the hole. Birdie.
#15, par 3, 179 yards. Stupid, stupid pin tucked back left on top of a ledge, but only 18 inches or so from this goofy ledge. It's a good enough hole with the pin on the ledge without this BS. Choke a 6-iron a bit on my desired line leaving about 27 feet. Kind of a funky putt coming out of a small swale and having to make sure I don't risk falling off the ledge. Another fluid stroke and the putt tracked the entire way until it fell. Birdie.
#16, par 4, 460 yards into the wind. Good drive leaving 210 to a front left hole location. Don't drive my hybrid very well and it comes up 15 yards short. Now I see just how stupid this hole location is. About 2 feet from a false front sending balls of the front left of the green. IMO, worse than the previous hole. Just stupid. Regardless, I was trying to leave my ball about 2 feet right and past the hole for safety. Unfortunately I laid the shot over the shot barely making it to the fringe. Hit a good lag putt up the slope for a tap in. Bogey.
#17, par 3, 123 yards on the card, 137 I think to the hole which is way back. One shot I have been working on is an iron shot that launches with a lower, more penetrating ball flight that is controllable. Before, the only way I could hit this shot was with a big sweeping hook that isn't overly controlable. Another good test in competition. And I hit it exactly like I wanted, it bore through the wind and moved perhaps 5 feet right to left. 17 feet for birdie. Good stroke but came up and out of it just a bit leaving it about half a cup right of the hole. Par.
#18, par 5, 552 yards into the wind. Good drive, lay up with hybrid short of a creek but catch it a bit heavy leaving 115 yards to a severely tucked pin front right beind a bunker. I want this birdie, I want to finish even par. Hit a pure wedge right on line leaving maybe 8 feet for birdie. The putt isn't difficult, perhaps half a cup out on the right. All I want to do is put a really good stroke on it, that was my only focus. And I did just that, as soon as I hit the putt I knew it was in. Birdie.
Even par 71, 3 birdies, 3 bogeys. Technically 12 of 14 FIR's but the two missed were maybe by 2 yards in no long grass. 11 of 18 GIR's. 27 putts. 0 3-putts. 5 of 7 up and downs. 1 of 2 sand saves. Good flow within the group, 3 guys who could play and who knew what they were doing. Friendly talk between shots. No worries about pace of play and penalties from the USGA. That's always nice because it's not a given in these qualifiers.
132 players in the field for 8 spots and 2 alternates. 66 in the morning, 66 in the afternoon. I didn't think even was good enough but you never know. After the morning wave finishes I am T4 with 3 others. Only 3 guys in the morning wave beat me. Leader is 2-under. But the wind does not increase in the afternoon as it typically does, and the greens are soft and slow enough that they won't get beat up by afternoon. And not unexpectedly, the course dries up some and scores come way down in the afternoon. 12 guys beat me in the afternoon! I end up T16 of 132 guys that signed up. 10 guys for the day finish 2-under or better, the 4 at 2-under played off for the last two spots and the two alternates. I ran the numbers, course played 1.89 strokes easier in the afternoon. If you subtract one stroke from all the morning scores and add one stroke to all the afternoon scores I end up T10. 7 of the 8 qualifiers play in the afternoon. Last year all 8 of the qualfiers played in the opposite wave from me! Not a big deal, it happens and I've been on the good side of it as well.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with what happened. The score was nice, but was more concerned with the feeling on the course and how I went about my business. Most importantly, how I felt over putts. And I never felt uncomfortable over a putt. I certainly hit some bad putts, but was comfortable and confident over all of them. And once I focused on simply stroke the putt, I putted very well. I hit the ball OK, nothing great by any means. But plenty of good shots. Drove the ball well, never in trouble of the tee. Only thing I wasn't pleased with was chipping although I did hit 2 good chips of 4. But the two crappy ones I hit on the back just didn't feel like they should. Hit irons well, especially after the weak shot into #3.
Very positive experience. Now just need to keep grinding in preparation for Senior Open Qualifying in two weeks. And hopefully can have the same attitude on the course as I did today.
Cliffs – Shot 71 with no gallery. You guys suck.
I've put in a lot of work on my game over the last month to get ready for this and the U.S. Senior Open qualifier the day after Memorial Day. But no matter how much work you put in, you don't really know how it's going to feel in competition until you actually do it. So I was looking forward to the first test of the year, and my first competition since Champions Tour School finals.
The most work was on putting, my Q school nemesis. Have been experimenting with face on putting and got a putter designed specifically for such. But have been using this putter as a non-anchored long putter, but perfectly vertical, with a Tommy Fleetwood pencil grip. For whatever reason, this grip feels as though it allows me to release the putter properly. Something I've never been good at regardless of method. Regardless, this method just feels right and I was comfortable with it from the start.
See Scott(ship—this) near the putting green before tee time and we share some laughs about getting paired together. Catch up a bit and then off to the first tee. Meet T.K., the 26-year old hipster who hits it 9 miles. Mind you Scott is not short either, I was definitely hitting first all day. Onto the round.
#1, par 4, 420 yards. Hit driver down the left side safely away from the hazard right confident I cannot reach the bunker 270 from the tee. T.K. Takes 2-iron and hits it past me into the bunker. Kids. 174 uphill into a slight wind, solid 6-iron to 14 feet. Good stroke but didn't quite hit it as the greens are much slower than normal. Par.
#2, par 4, 430 yards. OK drive, not overly solid down the right side of the fairway leaving 173 into the slight wind. Another 6-iron, trying to hit this one a little higher as the pin is somewhat tucked. Expecting a slight draw that never materialized and it catches a small bunker. In the practice round I noticed this bunker had sand significantly heavier than the rest. Even with this knowledge, I don't go after it hard enough and leave 13 feet for par. Probably 2 cups outside right, I put a perfect, fluid stroke on it and it drops dead center. Par.
#3, par 4, 408 yards, dogleg left over a creek. Somewhere in the 290 range through the fairway a bit downwind. With the wet fairways this is driver all day for me. Not for the others though because I am an old pussy. Finds the right half leaving 174 a little downhill with a left to right wind. Wanted to drill a 7-iron but didn't want to come up short as it's well below green level there. Took a 6 and tried to hold it off. Left the blade open and just didn't go after it and it came up short anyway! Hit a solid pitch to about 3 feet which is another good test after my recent past. No issues, felt very comfortable over it. Par.
#4, par 3, 195 yards on the card, but with a back left pin playing 209. With the wind from the right I feel I can draw a solid 5-iron into the middle of the green and have it feed back to the hole. And that's exactly what happened leaving 8 feet for birdie. Play it left half, hit it left half, and watched it spin out of the left side of the hole. A good putt though. Par.
#5, par 5, 569 yards. Good drive, good 3-wood leaving 82 yards to a pin behind a bunker and the green sloping away. Good shot, maybe a little firm, leaving 13 feet back up the hill. Play it just outside right and it ghosts over the right edge. Par.
#6, par 4, 330 yards. One of two short par 4's with tons of bunkers a cute green. Good drive leaving 60 yards to a pin cut just on top of a ridge. Can't land a 60 on top and have it stop, so take a 55* wedge intending to land it at the bottom of the ridge and skip it to the top. Hit it a tad firm and it flies into the ridge which happens to kill it pin high about 7 feet left. Hit a terrible putt, just shut the face way down and missed it a good hole to the left. Par.
#7, par 3, 230 yards on the card, 242 I think to the pin. Open in front, left to right wind. Oh, a little uphill as well. Hit 3-wood to maybe 25 feet, pin high. A good shot. Hit anoher bad putt, actually drop kicked it a bit and left it 3 feet short. Made that one dead center though. Par.
#8, par 4, 482 yards although a few yards downwind. Probably only playing 476 with no roll. LOL. Good drive leaving 228. Pretty iffy 5-wood left of the green leaving a touchy chip with a lot of break. Clip it nicely and rolls about 3 feet past the hole. No issues. Par.
#9, par 5, 520 yards. They actually moved the tee up a box. Good drive leaving 239 uphill, into the wind, to a front right hole location with hazard in front and right of the green. Didn't even entertain going for it. T.K. probably hit it 70 past me here. Laid up to 120, then hit a wedge to just under 3 feet. Putt has to move a bit right but over the ball looks like it will break left. Decide to drill it dead center. As soon as I hit it and starts going right, catches the right half and horseshoes back at me. Ack. Par.
#10, par 4, 471 yards. Best drive of the day leaving only 210 to a backish hole location. Catch my first real mud ball of the day and it knuckled left into a bunker. Actually used my 55* here, hit it like I wanted leaving 6 feet downhill for par. Hit a crappy putt, was right all the way. Bogey.
Walking to the next tee I asked my caddy who has played hundreds of rounds with me what my stroke looked like there. He said I really jabbed at it, didn't stroke it at all. I instantly knew he was correct. And for the rest of the round over every putt all I thought about was putting a fluid stroke on it.
#11, par 4, 430 yards uphill. Good drive leaving 184 to a back hole location. My ball has a ton of mud on it. Take 5-iron and the ball immediately starts right, and then the mud throws it way, way right. I did not hit this shot poorly. Ball disappears into the trees at least 40 yards right of the green in a native type area. Inform my playing partners I was playing a provisional for a lost ball. Drop and hit another 5-iron only this time with a clean ball. Shot never left the flag but can't see where it is because of the uphill. Walking towards the green my caddy heads right to look for my ball. I say no, let's go see where my provisional is first. It's 6 inches from the hole. I declare my first ball lost and tap in for 5. Think I did three things I'd never done before on this hole. 1, declaring a ball lost without looking for it. 2, dropping from knee height in competition. 3, hitting the pin with a putt. Bogey.
#12 par 4, 492 yards downhill. Pin is ~11 back making the actual yardage 503. Fun. Good drive leaving 227 hole. Ball is sitting poorly, not quite enough water to claim casual. There's also a tree halfway between me and the hole where I actually cannot see the flag. Normally I'd try to draw it around the tree, or perhaps over the tree. But the lie had me concerned. So I just slopped a stock shot on the front right part of the green and two putted. Par.
#13, par 4, 479 yards uphill. Goofy tee shot for me, had to play out to the left on this slight dogleg right to avoid various trouble that I could not carry. Leaves me 238 to a pin tucked front right behind a bunker. Fan a 3-wood just short and right of the bunker. Hit a thin pitch from there probably 16 feet past the hole, just a crappy shot. But then put a fluid stroke on the putt and it went dead center. Par.
#14, par 4, 330 yards with a lake all the way down on the left. Tugged the drive a smidge but avoided a fairway bunker leaving 70 yards to a good pin tucked on a shelf on the back right of the green. Hit it perfect, took one hop and screwed to a stop 2 feet from the hole. Birdie.
#15, par 3, 179 yards. Stupid, stupid pin tucked back left on top of a ledge, but only 18 inches or so from this goofy ledge. It's a good enough hole with the pin on the ledge without this BS. Choke a 6-iron a bit on my desired line leaving about 27 feet. Kind of a funky putt coming out of a small swale and having to make sure I don't risk falling off the ledge. Another fluid stroke and the putt tracked the entire way until it fell. Birdie.
#16, par 4, 460 yards into the wind. Good drive leaving 210 to a front left hole location. Don't drive my hybrid very well and it comes up 15 yards short. Now I see just how stupid this hole location is. About 2 feet from a false front sending balls of the front left of the green. IMO, worse than the previous hole. Just stupid. Regardless, I was trying to leave my ball about 2 feet right and past the hole for safety. Unfortunately I laid the shot over the shot barely making it to the fringe. Hit a good lag putt up the slope for a tap in. Bogey.
#17, par 3, 123 yards on the card, 137 I think to the hole which is way back. One shot I have been working on is an iron shot that launches with a lower, more penetrating ball flight that is controllable. Before, the only way I could hit this shot was with a big sweeping hook that isn't overly controlable. Another good test in competition. And I hit it exactly like I wanted, it bore through the wind and moved perhaps 5 feet right to left. 17 feet for birdie. Good stroke but came up and out of it just a bit leaving it about half a cup right of the hole. Par.
#18, par 5, 552 yards into the wind. Good drive, lay up with hybrid short of a creek but catch it a bit heavy leaving 115 yards to a severely tucked pin front right beind a bunker. I want this birdie, I want to finish even par. Hit a pure wedge right on line leaving maybe 8 feet for birdie. The putt isn't difficult, perhaps half a cup out on the right. All I want to do is put a really good stroke on it, that was my only focus. And I did just that, as soon as I hit the putt I knew it was in. Birdie.
Even par 71, 3 birdies, 3 bogeys. Technically 12 of 14 FIR's but the two missed were maybe by 2 yards in no long grass. 11 of 18 GIR's. 27 putts. 0 3-putts. 5 of 7 up and downs. 1 of 2 sand saves. Good flow within the group, 3 guys who could play and who knew what they were doing. Friendly talk between shots. No worries about pace of play and penalties from the USGA. That's always nice because it's not a given in these qualifiers.
132 players in the field for 8 spots and 2 alternates. 66 in the morning, 66 in the afternoon. I didn't think even was good enough but you never know. After the morning wave finishes I am T4 with 3 others. Only 3 guys in the morning wave beat me. Leader is 2-under. But the wind does not increase in the afternoon as it typically does, and the greens are soft and slow enough that they won't get beat up by afternoon. And not unexpectedly, the course dries up some and scores come way down in the afternoon. 12 guys beat me in the afternoon! I end up T16 of 132 guys that signed up. 10 guys for the day finish 2-under or better, the 4 at 2-under played off for the last two spots and the two alternates. I ran the numbers, course played 1.89 strokes easier in the afternoon. If you subtract one stroke from all the morning scores and add one stroke to all the afternoon scores I end up T10. 7 of the 8 qualifiers play in the afternoon. Last year all 8 of the qualfiers played in the opposite wave from me! Not a big deal, it happens and I've been on the good side of it as well.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with what happened. The score was nice, but was more concerned with the feeling on the course and how I went about my business. Most importantly, how I felt over putts. And I never felt uncomfortable over a putt. I certainly hit some bad putts, but was comfortable and confident over all of them. And once I focused on simply stroke the putt, I putted very well. I hit the ball OK, nothing great by any means. But plenty of good shots. Drove the ball well, never in trouble of the tee. Only thing I wasn't pleased with was chipping although I did hit 2 good chips of 4. But the two crappy ones I hit on the back just didn't feel like they should. Hit irons well, especially after the weak shot into #3.
Very positive experience. Now just need to keep grinding in preparation for Senior Open Qualifying in two weeks. And hopefully can have the same attitude on the course as I did today.
Cliffs – Shot 71 with no gallery. You guys suck.
05-15-2019
, 08:32 AM
