Match Report
I almost never get the opportunity to play match-play rounds, but the last few months I've really been craving it. The man-on-man format, value of every shot, strategy involved... All of it, I just think it's a great way to play competitive golf. I've hit a couple of mates up for matches but thus far none have eventuated. My home club I think might only play a matchplay tournament once per year, but I can't play weekends so it rules me out. Mid-week is strictly stableford events only, since our member base is aaaancient and get pissy when they can't pick up 9 shots into a hole, but I digress...
I live with a good mate of mine, and we both took the game up seriously at the same time a few years ago, but in the last couple of years haven't actually played a ton of golf together. He's like me - very sporty and very competitive, and he's always been the better golfer. It's only recently that my HC has come down near his and I've beaten him off the stick a couple of times.
So today, we were supposed to have two other mates join us to try Wolf & Sheep, but the other two pulled out last minute. Instead of just playing for skins, we decided to play a legitimate match. He had to give me two shots as a 10hc, while I'm a 12. The match was shortened due to fading light, so we only played 16 holes, skipping two of the long par 4's on the back nine, 14 & 15. The two shots he gave up to me were on the 8th and 18th.
Hole 1: 437m par 5
This is a bit of a gimme first hole, short, fairly straight, generous fairway and a little downhill towards the green. Often get a wind-assist here, too - I've had as little as 7ir in here a few times. We flip a ball-marker and I win the honours. Hit an OK drive, little high off the face but fairway nonetheless. He hits a draw but pulls it a little left. We're both 205m in or so, though he's hitting out of the rough.
His second comes up on the edge of the front bunker, mine pin high, left rough. We both pitch to about 8 feet - he misses wide and I miss short. Tracking, but not enough juice. Two pars, all square to start.
Hole 2: 333m par 4
Narrow, slight dogleg r2l with a fairway bunker down the left side. I hit a perfect 2ir to the narrow part of the fairway between bunker and right rough, he pulls his 3w a little left but finds an OK spot in the rough just shy and left of the bunker, but mis-hits his approach to the right of the green. Pin is front left, which is a horrible spot as the green falls away to the left, so a scary chip looms. I cream a 6ir straight at the flag, but it turns over just a little and pitches about 8 feet short left of the flag. I think it's in a great spot, but the slope catches it and it runs about 6 feet off the left side of the green.
He errs on the side of caution and leaves his pitch well short, whereas I almost hole my chip and have my par putt given to me. His attempt to square hits the flag-stick flush but stays out of the hole. What do you make of that, Bryson?
1 up.
Hole 3: 342m par 4
Wide fairway, straight down the hill par four. Only defence here is the green, protected by a front and back bunker and often tough to get it close. I sky my tee shot high and left, but score a fortunate kick out to the fairway. Long way home, but no real drama. Unfortunately, Anton doesn't make me pay as he sprays his into the trees on the right, kicking right back into the middle of them all, deep in the rough. His next doesn't make it through the timber and suddenly he's playing driver off the deck, from the rough, 220m or so out, which he runs down to wedge distance.
I run a 4ir down short left of the green, while Anton sticks the green, about 30 feet from the hole. My pitch checks up too fast, and I've got about 40 feet for par, but my putt never looks like missing, cruising to safety dead centre.
2 up.
Hole 4: 486m par 5
The dam hole - a great hole. Dogleg r2l off the tee, but trees are far too high down the left and OB lurks, so this is always iron for position, which leaves a long second down to the dam, which begins about 80m from the green. I ease off on the 2ir, and as happens every time I try to hit that club easy I miss it right, into the rough, with a long long way down to the dam. Anton isn't much better, but scores a wicked kick off the left trees straight out into pole position.
I pipe a 3w down the left side (right trees on this second shot is absolute jail), leaving about 160m to the middle flag. Anton creams a hybrid down to about 110m, then stiffs it 8 feet past the hole, while I hit my 5ir a little thin, short right.
I pitch to just inside Anton, and when he taps in for par I can halve the hole, but slide it just by the right edge.
1 up.
Hole 5: 138m par 3
Fairly straightforward, front-bunkered par 3 with a pretty easy front pin. Anton leaves a 9ir about 3m short of the front edge, and I rest an 8ir about 1m off the front edge. I pitch to gimme distance, but Anton leaves 4 feet with his which he subsequently misses, to much frustration.
2up.
Hole 6: 464m par 5
Long fairway with thick trees right (same trees down the left of 4, which is jailtime. I stripe it up the middle, Anton bombs one down the left side, then wisely lays up to wedge distance. I go for the big high fade 3w but start it a little too far left. There's a l2r dogleg at about 130m out, and the trees there catch far too many greedy golfers. Many a big score has been racked up from in there.
Anyhoo, I'm pretty dead with my 3rd shot, but pitch a low hook through the trees but run through the green, while Anton fats the wedge a little and leaves every inch of the green to putt from, with the pin hard up the back. I play a crafty flop shot up over the back mounds and have about 7 feet for par. Antons lag putt dies to the right, and he's got about 5 feet left, which again he slides by. I miss my par putt and we halve the hole, which only one of us is pleased about.
2 up.
Hole 7: 354m par 4
The 7th usually plays a crazy sharp l2r dogleg straight off the tee - basically asking for a wild slice to get around the trees and run up the fairway. We played from the white tees, so the angle wasn't so bad today. I hit one down the left side of the fairway, with about 140ish to the flag, up the hill but wind assisted. Anton over-cuts his and finds the right rough, but he's bombed it so still has a shot over the trees at the flag.
I haven't even got halfway through my downswing before my heads up looking at the flag, so of course I thin the fk out of it, up short right of the green in some rough. Anton hits a good one, but catches the tree and drops down. He follows it up with a great recovery shot up onto the green, maybe 20 feet for par, while I pitch to about 10 feet. I miss, but Anton blows his by the hole and doesn't make it coming back.
3 up.
Hole 8: 315m par 4
Here's the best hole of the match. Anton HATES this hole with a passion. It's a slight dogleg r2l, downhill and only short, but accuracy off the tee is a must. No point bombing it, because too far right (even on the fairway if you're far enough down) you're blocked out by a big tree, and left is prison-rpe territory - so iron off the tee is the play.
Now, not only does Anton hate this hole, but he has to give me a shot here as well. I almost wanted to tank and lose the 7th just so he had to hit first, but alas, I lead off and pipe a 2ir down the middle.
Fortunately for Anton, he creams his 5ir down the middle, then rips a 9ir straight over the flag to 12 feet, while I debate whether to rip a 9 or hit a soft 8. I opt for the 9, which in fact gives me a perfect distance carry, but I turn it over a little and catch the mound between the front-left bunker and the green, and it rolls back into the bunker.
With all the confidence in the world, I hit my bunker shot to a foot and tap in for par, with Anton now needing to hole the birdie putt for a half. This green is a headfk - we basically take the approach now that if our first instinct says one thing, do the other. So many putts on this seemingly flat green fall away the complete opposite way they look like they should. Fortunately for Anton, he read the putt the same way I did (and not the way he first thought), and rolled it in for a 3 and a really good half.
3 up.
Hole 9: 152m par 3
Straight up the hill, bunker front right and greenside left. I tee up a 6ir and hit it pin high, 12 feet or so from the cup, while Anton smokes a 7 to the back edge. His putt comes up an absolute galaxy short, but makes a really solid second putt for his three, while I also two-putt for the half.
3 up.
Hole 10: 355m par 4
Running parallel to the first, this one also has a wide fairway and plays downhill to the green. I hit my first garbage drive of the day straight into the left trees, and am forced to pinch a low 2ir down the fairway to lay up about 100m out. Anton rips a monster drive down the right side, inside 100m to well and truly take advantage of my mis-step, but leaves his wedge short and skims his pitch miles past the hole.
Instead of just knocking a gap wedge onto the green and two-putting for bogey, I replicate my swing on the 7th and spray it right, pitching onto the green and two-putting for double, while Anton makes difficult work of his 5, but a welcome win nonetheless.
2 up.
Hole 11: 294m par 4
This is a brilliant golf hole, my favourite one on the course by far. Short, but well guarded by fairway bunkers. There's a narrow alley between the left rough and the fairway bunkers - which are reachable from the whites even with a 2ir - and for the long hitters, there's a generous gulley past the fairway bunkers that kicks the ball forward toward the green. Granted, it's about a 240m carry from the forward tees to get it, but hardly out of the question. For me, it's a 2ir all day, which I hit down the right side, the rough catching me short of the bunkers, while Anton hits his 4ir up the middle.
His approach comes up short and finds one of the many bunkers, while I leave my gap wedge slightly left on the front fringe. Pin up front of the two-tiered green so I'm in no serious danger, and leave my putt half a roll from the middle of the cup and a birdie, but alas, my ball runs out of steam and I lock up a four.
Despite a really good effort, Anton could only scare the hole, not able to match my par.
Back to 3 up.
Hole 12: 128m par 3
Straight up the hill, easy to leave it short and cop a scary chip into the grain. I didn't have to worry about that until my third shot, though, as I shanked the fk out of my 8ir and was dead behind the trees separating 12 from 17. Anton knocked his to about 10 feet but never even had to putt it as I gave up when my third came up way too short.
2 up.
Hole 13: 441m par 5
Long and straight, with a l2r dogleg about 110m out. Finding those trees is a death sentence, and many times I've turned a great drive into a 7 trying to hit over/around them.
Anton hits a nice one down the right side, while I pull mine - getting really lucky and clearing the left trees, down the middle of the adjacent 18th. That line is actually quite popular among the long hitting low markers, as the 18th fairway gives a much straighter shot at the green for two, provided you can get a long club up over the trees.
I'm neither a low marker or a particularly long hitter, so I did neither of those things, instead catching a branch and falling short, with the better part of 190m to the back flag, while Anton laid up to wedge distance, like the intelligent, low-risk golfer he is.
I ripped a 4ir, but pushed it a little, leaving a tricky 25m pitch out of the rough to the short side of the green, which I actually executed really well, leaving 4 feet for par, while Anton knocked his third to about 10 feet.
A close putt leaving gimme for par later, and I had mine left for the square. I hit my first bad putt for the round and missed right edge, taking all the shine off the brilliance of the pitch that got me there.
1 up.
Hole 16: 385m par 4
We skipped 14+15 due to fading light and a slow single who'd just hit maybe 7 tee shots on 14, and seemed intent on playing every one of them. 14-16 is our home courses Amen Corner - three long, narrow par 4's with magnets in the trees, so I was kinda happy to take the high variance of those out of play. 16 however is still no walk in the park, with the fairway narrowing and feeding right to left at about where Anton and I both reach.
His tee shot drew a little too narrow, finding the rough hollow down the left side, while I hit a big high fade to the right rough (happy side of the trees, though) and punched a low 5ir at the green, which finished just short and left. Anton hit a great shot out of the rough, but turned it over a little far and found the left fringe, just past pin-high, then almost holed the chip. I'd chipped to about 5 feet, but gave Anton his par knowing the extra pressure would help me hole the putt, which never looked like missing. Clutch.
1 up.
Hole 17: 110m par 3
Short, but all the way uphill to a narrow, mound shaped green bunkered short and all the way along the right. Pin was hard up the back left, and Anton hit a real nice one to about 12 feet. Pressure on.
I ripped my tee shot, but pulled a little left. Fortunately, it hung onto its line and stayed up, just in the left rough with a little ridge to pitch over at the hole - not an easy one by any stretch. Managed to execute and chip it onto my intended landing spot and roll up to inside a foot for the gimme, while Anton two-putted for the half.
1 up.
Hole 18: 319m par 4
All comes down to this, and Anton has to give me a shot! Really happy at this point for the up-and-downs on the previous two holes to stay in front.
This one is another good hole - a good risk-reward par 4. It's straight, but the fairway really narrows about 110m in from the green, so position is key. Down by 1 and needing to win this hole by 2 shots to square the match, Anton took the aggressive option and absolutely murdered his drive. It was a mile right on the 13th fairway, but fk me it was long, and it was far enough right that he had a wedge back over the trees to the green.
I took my usually trusty 3w but pulled it left, short of the trees that come out into the fairway, but with enough of a window to hit a low, hooky 4ir and run it up to the front of the green, which I managed to do.
Anton didn't quite get all of his, and left it short, and since the green is elevated on that side, his ball rolled back down leaving a tricky pitch to get up and down. Knowing I had essentially three shots to win the match, I was a little lazy on my chip and left it 8 feet from the hole, and when Anton couldn't get up and down, it didn't matter that my ball trickled past the right edge for the tap-in bogey.
I win 1-up.
