Well please practice, the saying practice makes perfect has never been truer than in the game of golf. Sorry for jumping your case. I just like to see everyone improve their game.

Hit more greens and you don't need to practice your short game

Can't wait for your Golf DVD there, DanteA. Chapter 1: "Try to make holes in one on all par 3s, that way, you don't have to worry about putting."

Happy Gilmore aces par 4s so he doesnt have to worry about putting. At least Dantes would be being reasonable.

39 (par 37). Went trunk to tee and opened with a double. Otherwise, solid. Had a lot of reasonable birdie putts but only made one.

9 hole men's club on Tuesdays: par 35. Even through 7 holes and finished with a triple on 8 and then a bogey for a smooth 39. Might ship a skin for a birdie on the #2 hcp tho :-/

Its cool, last mens club I made Bird on the #1 hcp. Got beat out by higher cap making par.

8 over on a 9 hole par 3.

40-49= 89
Took a 9 lol on the number 2 hdcp hole, par 4.
4 GIR
5/14 FIR
33 putts
had a birdie on the front

Since June, I've played 8 rounds. 6 of them have been in the 70s including 6 in a row at my home course until I failed the other day and shot 83.

Pretty pumped about this. Handicap went from over 5 to a 3.3. Weird thing is doesn't really feel like I'm playing all that well, it's just nothing is awful.

This is a great feeling when you think about it. Just means you're improving. I went into this season thinking 85 was a good score for me, now I'm pissed if I shoot 82+.

Shot my lowest ever 9 today, 1 eagle 2 birds 2 boges for 2 under 34. Previous best 9 was +1 37. Eagle was a 130yd hole out haha.

45-43-88 Par 71.

Was 5 over coming down the last (back 9) and tripled. Still my best score +17.

40 points...

42 putts... I'd be dangerous if i could putt lol. So many 3 putts.

Excited for the weekend.

Playing 5 rounds in 3 days including several of the top-rated public tracks here in Chicago.

Cantigny, Cog Hill Dubsdread, Highlands of Elgin, Bowe's Creek, and Aberdeen Country Club.

Playing the back tees on all of them. Friends are wrapping up their rounds at Purdue Golf Course and my buddy who is a + handicap is about to card a score in the high 80s. Should be a doozie and I'll be thrilled to break 80 3/5 rounds.

Tied my best round in a very very long time today, and had my best 9 ever, with a 37-43 = 80. Included a ridiculous 5 hole stretch of par-birdie-par-birdie-birdie on the front. Fatigue set in a bit and led to a double bogey-bogey finish (boo), but still had a hell of a day.

For some reason the ball was REALLY carrying today -- hit a couple legitimately 300+ drives today, which is absurdly above average.

That is some crazy hard golf. I remember playing Cantigny from the regular tees and taking a beating, mostly due to short game. Hope you're packing a lob wedge!

tl;dr incoming, skip if you don't link reading recaps by bad golfers achieving milestones. Cliffs at bottom.

First time breaking 90!

45-43-88 (68.9/116, 6002 yards) at The Tribute. FYI, all the holes here are modeled on famous ones from Scotland.

1 birdie, 5 pars, 8 bogies, 3 doubles, 1 triple
8/14 fairways, 16 GIR+1, 5 GIR, 3 sand shots, 3 penalty strokes

Went to Golfsmith today and looked through the used clubs. Picked up an RBZ 10.5° driver (adjustable, but was on the standard loft setting) for $110 and an RBZ 3-wood for $70.

Hole-by-hole recap (when I broke 100 the first time I think I promised not to do that again until I broke 90):

Hole 1
Copy of the first hole at St Andrews Old Course. Big double fairway with 18. First time hitting my new driver. Aim way left expecting my usual fade. Pulled a little bit, but came of the club nicely and probably 30 yards further than I'd been hitting my old driver. Hit 9-iron to about 35 feet right of the pin. Leave it six feet short, but make the par putt.

Hole 2
Stream crossing the hole probably somewhere close to the landing area, but since I wasn't sure how far out it was I just went ahead and hit driver. Bombed the drive, but when I got up to look for it couldn't find it. Didn't bother going back to the tee (I was trying to get out of the way of the guy cutting grass on the hole), just dropped one short of the water. Hit a 9-iron that was a little bit left and long, but kicked right and rolled down a slope to leave me with about 20 feet. Two-putt for bogey.

Hole 3
Par 5, sliced the drive into the wind and it didn't go very far. Hit my new 3-wood for the first time, didn't make very good contact. 5-wood short of the green. Pitch on with a LW, two-putt bogey.

Hole 4
Bombed a drive down the left, probably about 265-270 (wind was helping). Elevated green, hit a 9-iron onto the green. 3-putt bogey.

Hole 5
Modeled on the postage stamp hole. Pulled a GW into the bunker. When I got to the green I saw that the whole bunker was ground under repair. Sweet. Rules nittery: I might have dropped a bit too far from the GUR. But I ended up chipping away from the hole because I didn't want to carry the bunker. So I don't think it would've mattered. Chipped on, two-putted from about 35-40 feet.

Hole 6
Crappy drive right of the fairway. Think I hit a FW wood short of the green, then pitched on and 3-putted. There goes the double-bogey-free streak.

Hole 7
Weak slice of a drive, but at least it was in the fairway. On in three, then a 3-putt for another double.

Hole 8
Par 3. 5-wood just short of the green. Putted it to 9-feet from the fringe, then two-putted for bogey.

Hole 9
Short par 5 (437 yards). Another weak slice, but it stayed in the fairway. 3-wood into a bunker about 30 yards short of the green. LW carries past the hole, but catches a slope and rolls back to 6 feet. Miss the birdie putt.

Hole 10
Dogleg right, drive misses right. Fairway wood short of the green, which has a huge slope in the middle with the pin tucked in the back right portion, which is several feet lower than the rest of the green. Bump-and-run 5-iron misses well to the low side of the hole, two-putt bogey from 12 feet.

Hole 11
Par 3. 5-iron had good distance but fades too much and stops about 18 inches from a bunker. Pin is on a small elevated portion of the green, so I can't miss left. LW pitch rolls about 6 inches short of the hole. Tap-in par.

Hole 12
At this point I join two singles who had started playing together because of the traffic ahead. 455 yard par-5. Driver veers right, rolls down the cart path a little and ends up on a bare patch of dirt a few inches behind a clump of weeds. Hit a 5-wood, catch it pretty nicely with a low fade that ends up in the fairway about 100-ish out. Nice GW to 14 feet. One of the guys had a long uphill 1st putt which stopped just to the left of and inside my ball marker. I let him putt first since I'd have been stepping on his line and/or ball marker. The putt looks pretty straight, but his ball dies just to the left, so I aim a smidge right and drain the birdie putt. (I play most rounds by myself, so I don't usually get the advantage of seeing other people's putts.)

Hole 13
Driveable par-4 at just 243 from the whites. Ball fades too much, ends up in the right side of the fairway leaving maybe a 30-yard pitch. Hit that to about three feet and the dudes I'm playing with (erratic bombers playing from the tips--plenty of distance, but the accuracy left a little something to be desires) are thinking I'm the second coming of Tiger Woods. Then I go and hit a weak putt that misses low. F****** two-putt par from three feet.

Hole 14
130-yard par 3, pin fairly close to the front. Play an 8-iron left of the hole looking for a bit of fade, ends up on an almost perfect line but just spun off the front of the green. Lag to 3 feet, make the par putt. Look at my scorecard, realize I'm even on the back nine.

Hole 15
495-yard par 5. Aim down the left, but pull it a smidge and it doesn't fade as much as I want. One of the other guys also hit it left and it takes us a little while to find our drives. Meanwhile, a guy from an adjacent hole comes over and asks if we've seen his ball. Hit a 3-wood into a bunker about 50 yards short of the green. Airmail the green LW from the sand. Goes into a big section of native grasses (scorecard says treat these as lateral hazards). Look around for my ball, find it in a playable spot just short of the nasty stuff, but leaving me without much of a backswing. Decide to bum-and-run a 5-iron instead of trying to pitch on. Ball ends up on the fringe just barely off the green, about 40 feet from the hole. Putt lips out, make the 3-footer. Pick up the ball, look at the number...hmm, I didn't start the hole with a ball that said 4. Same exact kind of ProV1x, but a 2 instead of a 4. I'm pretty sure I saw a 4 on the ball in the fairway--I even remember double-checking to make sure it was a ProV1x--so I think I just found the wrong ball when I looked for it in the tall grasses. I marked it down as a bogey, but decided a few minutes later to just card an 8 (my ESC max score anyway). Might've been able to drop, pitch on, and two-putt for 7, but whatever.

Hole 16
Drive down the right side of the fairway. Hit a fairway wood in, but it faded too much and looked like it was in a water hazard right of the green. We get to the green and the hole area was a hazard, but dry. Partner finds my ball, so I've got a pitch shot to a green that's about 20 feet over my head. I've never had a shot like that, ever. I obviously needed to hit it hard to get it high enough, but I didn't want it to sail over the green. Open the face of my LW up, hit it and get it up, but it's just short of the green on a sprinkler head in the fringe. Drop from that (rules nittery: not sure if the ball rolled far enough (two club lengths) for me to redrop and then place, but that's what I did). Chip to 10 feet, two-putt double.

Hole 17
Road hole replica, except 398 yards from the whites instead of 436 from the yellows like at St Andrews. And way less rough. Fade the drive just right of the fairway. Aim a 3-wood at the bunker looking for a bit of a cut, but instead it's straight at the bunker. I think it bounced just short and then went in, but in any case it rolled down in the bunker and was about a foot shy of staying out (although I guess it may have hit long and then rolled back). I'm pretty sure that the bunker is quite a bit bigger than the actual road hole bunker, making it a much easier shot. Pin was front right, so it should've been a fairly easy bunker shot. Bang it into the bank, ball pops out and rolls onto the green. Two-putt bogey.

Hole 18
Add up my scores, realize I'm at 81 (83 if I give myself an 8 instead of a 6 on #15). So all I need is a 6 to break 90. And 6 is exactly the same score that I got on the 18th at the Old Course. Aim left down the double fairway, low slice stays in the fairway. 8-iron in and I'm feeling the nerves. There are a few white fences (not too different from the ones around 1/18 at the Old). I wasn't sure if they were OB fences like they are on the real thing. Pin was front right, so if they were OB I didn't have to miss the green by much. And as you've probably noticed, every ball I hit moves left to right. Chunk it forward about 50 yards, leaving me about 85 yards. Don't feel like hitting a full LW, hate my SW and hardly ever use it, so I hit a 3-quarters GW to 18 feet. Run the putt past the hole, make the 3-foot comebacker.

Felt really, really good. I know my swing still needs some tweaks (I'm not getting as much distance as I used to), but getting an extra 30 yards (sometimes a lot more) on my drives was huge. That gave me shorter shots into greens, and the confidence carried over--my iron play was way, way better. Really, the only three shots that were complete mis-hits were a wormburner LW (that I think got onto the green anyway), the chunk on 18, and a bad chip shot that squirted out way to the right. Everything else was solid contact.

Cliffs: bad golfer buys RBZ driver, breaks 90 for first time.

Congrats, Pelican!

TL/DR report for a ****ty golfer who didn't break 100 today:

Played a course today that I played once about 15 years ago so for all intents and purposes... it was brand new. Very old course... Al Espinosa won the Houston Open here in 1929! WTG Al! lol. Anyway the course is a muni and was pretty unkempt. Verrrry outdated for the modern golfer. Several doglegs that were just absurdly short. I had no idea what lines to take (lots of tall, old trees everywhere) on several drives and was riding alone so I had to guess a lot. Strange course. It claims 6,410 yards from the whites (67.2/116) but most of the yardages seemed shorter than stated on the card. One hole says it's 390 and I hit a drive that couldn't have been more than 270 and was left with about 50 yards. I mean... I think these holes are WAY off. One hole claims 365 yards but the pots said 262 and I hit a 6 iron (160 club) short of the swamp to leave me 100 out. There's no way ... I mean that hole is overstated by 100 yards. And all the length on this course was made up on one ridiculous par 3 and the four par 5s all claim 520-555, which... I don't think so.

Maybe this course hasn't been measured or rated in a long time? I don't get it. I also spent 5 minutes searching for a tee box because it wasn't labeled and the boxes looked no different from the fairways. Course crosses a gigantic city "bayou" EIGHT times. Pretty nerve-wracking carries. They weren't short, either. But it was nice to get some elevation change around these parts. ANYWAY, on to my round.

54-47-101 (I did take a mulligan today....) 97 with ESC. 8 max.
36 putts
4/14 FIR
4/18 GIR
4 penalties
0 sand
4 3-putts (greens were rock hard and baked)
4 1-putts (3', 7', 9', 10')

2 birdies! (first multi-bird round evah)
4 pars
2 bogeys
7 doubles (one was from about 60 yards out in the fairway...lol)
3 quints!

Birdies: Hole 7, 315 yards. Drive pretty good but down left side of fairway a bit and it runs a bit through the slight dogleg. I thought I was in trouble. I get up to the ball and it's OK. I saw it go over a mound so I thought it was on the other side of the cart path and under trees but no it settled between 2 mounds on this side of cart path. I'm like a 3/4 sand wedge shot out. Good fluffy lie. Bunkers short-left and short-right of green. Green slopes fairly noticeably left to right. Pin is tucked close.

I'm not explicitly aiming at the pin... aiming a bit left of it and more toward the center of the green. Mostly just want to make sure I clear that front left bunker. Hit the shot and I think I didn't give it enough but knew it would clear the bunker anyway. It bounces behind the bunker maybe on a line 15-20' left of the flag. It takes a decent hop for landing in the grass and bounces onto the green a bit forward and starts to roll toward the right and funnel closer to the flag. Ends up 9 feet away. Didn't hit it perfect but got a nice kick and I couldn't be happier to have what looks from here like a very makable putt.

I hadn't been making anything the first 6 holes (13 putts) and decide "I'm draining this". Get up there and it's slight downhill about 10" of break L-R. 9 feet only and these greens were super fast so I definitely don't want to crush it. So I play for 10 inches of break and to hopefully die it in the cup. And that's exactly what happened. Good read, good putt... birdie.

Later on hole 12 it's a 365 yard par 4 with a big carry across the bayou. But you can't go more than "190" as the guy in the clubhouse told me. Because there is a lake on the other side you can't see from the tee box. Wonderful. I decide to hit a shot that I basically never hit... I hit the hybrid off the tee and tee it down and try to hit it like an iron and skull**** that ball and it 2-hops down into the bayou faster than I can mutter "****". So I grab another ball and go to hit the same shot "I know what I did wrong - I didn't hit down on it." Boom. Same exact thing. Just started laughing and grabbed my 3iron and hit a good shot across just short of the lake. So I'm laying 5 after 1 shot. Wunderbar. Hit a 9 iron on to 49' left with downhiller that I crush probably 12' past and miss the comebacker for a 9. Anyway remember this hybrid later. It helps explain my mulligan.

I get to hole 14 which is a 540 yard par 5 but I think that's bull**** I don't think it was that far. Anyway I hit a pretty good drive down the right side of the tight fairway. Maybe like 250? I don't know. I thought there was a bayou short of the green so I decide to lay up to 100 yards or so and hit a 5iron up the fairway. I catch it plenty thin but that's fine it's straight and there's plenty of room and it doesn't go through the dogleg. I hit it maybe 160 I guess.

I get up to the ball and I'm 110 out and I see that what I thought was water down in the valley short of the green is totally dry. Dammit. Laid up for nothing. Oh well. Only 110 out but I'm working on hitting more club than I think on approaches to ensure I take the short greenside bunkers out of play. So I grab the P-wedge. Slight uphill lie on a little lump. Good fluffy lie though. I again aim about 20 feet left of flag because of the lie and I hit it but I think I got under it too much as it's sky high - but I know it's long enough to carry the bunkers so it's cool. Line also starts a bit right of where I thought I was aiming but I think because I added loft since it was uphill. Anyway the ball plops down basically what looks like 2' right of the flag but I can't tell the depth (may be 10 feet past). I get up there and it's 3' - dead straight slight uphill. Come on man make this! I do and it's 2 birds in an 8-hole stretch. Feels good.

Only 2 more holes to discuss.

Hole 16 is a ridiculous par 3 across the bayou. 215 yards with left and right short greenside bunkers. Not sure the carry. I mean you can carry the bayou but it's probably 40 feet below the green so you'd be left with a tough shot. You basically want to hit this shot and land it 200 yards into the grade. I'd have to hit a really, really good 3i here so I nix that. I decide to try the hybrid again but this time tee it up like 1/2" inch and just sweep it. Yeah so again I top the **** out of it and it 2-hops down into the bayou. H:LJDF:LSJF:LKFDJ.

I get mad and pull out the big dog and just say "**** this I'm swinging easy with this thing" and so I tee it up and take a nice easy swing and hit a shot that lands about 200 out, short of the right bunker and rolls right of that and toward the back edge of the bunker by the path. Take my mulligan here because I really shouldn't have tried that tee'd hybrid after hitting 2 water shots earlier with it. Need to practice that thing. So I say I'm laying 1. Get up to the ball and it's 6 inches from the cart path curb so definitely interfering with my stance and backswing. I take nearest relief no closer to the hole and drop it. I think this is right. Anyway I've got a little better angle now over the bunker but still I take it entirely out of play and aim 15 feet right of the flag. Hit a nice little choked down 1/2 lob wedge onto the green and it funnels down to 7 feet north of pin high. This is a super fast putt downhill. Read from behind the ball is break right then left at the end. Now I read from below the hole and see it's L-R all the way, for sure. It's about 2-3" outside left edge. I only want to hit this about 3 feet as it's superslick. I tap it and it crawls down at a beautiful pace just slowly tumbling down the green and curving in the entire way and it dies in the cup center for a faux-par. lol. Super pumped about that read and putt.

Hole 18 was my last 1-putt and it was for par. 555 yards (again I think this is wrong). Drive right fairway not long. Maybe 220. Haven't hit a hybrid off the deck all day so I decide to even though I cannot reach and it doglegs left far up ahead. Hit it OK but it's high and fading over into the trees. Get up there and there's a tree I can go over but would need a lob wedge and would be left a pretty long shot into the green. Low canopies but I've got a punch shot between 2 trees that is easy if I execute and it can run up the fairway. I grab a 7i and put it in the back of my stance and bring my arms back to parallel and then pop down on it and it runs beautifully up the fairway exactly as I wanted.

Left with a little more than a 3/4 lob wedge shot from center of fairway. I hit it great and it settles 10 feet past. I read right edge or just an inch outside-right but decide to play for right edge in case I push it I still may make it. Hit a great putt but looks like it's maybe not enough but it trickles down and dies in the center of cup for par. Great way to end the round and proud of myself for making the smart punch out play and executing it to give myself a chance to save par. I'm reading a book by Pelz about Damage Control and he talks about getting out of the frying pan and trying to lose less than 1 stroke each time you get yourself into trouble. Well, it worked!

3 blow-up holes killed me but ESC saves me a bit. As does the mulligan which I rarely take. Playing 9 holes tomorrow at 9am with my neighbor who is of equal skill level. Don't think I've played golf in back-to-back days in my life.

congrats, wish I could hit 16 gir, would probably shoot 68 lol

never mind I really can't read. congrats again though

39-45 - 84

Really happy with my front 9 play (outside the first hole, which I double bogeyed).

Never been so frustrated by getting a par, but it's going to happen when you drive a green, with an opportunity for an eagle, but end up with a Par. (it was a 310 yard, dog leg left - I cut through and over a patch of trees - landed about 15 feet from hole - followed by a disgusting 3 putt )

Back 9 was a little frustrating - I'm going to blame it on fatigue, although I did eagle the 18th hole.

Hit my driver maybe 3-4 times. 3 wood off the tee was money. Really improved my game shot management this game imo. Taking smarter shots instead of always "going for it" really pays off.

Played 9 this morning with my neighbor (guy in his 50s... probably a 22-25 cap)

Shot 43 on an easy, short course. He shot 45. First time out I shot 45 and he shot 47. He's played with me twice and now seen my 2 best 9s on this course. After probably 3 dozen sets of 9s at this place. I told him I like playing with him. The ****ty thing is I could have shot 38-40 pretty easily. Was early this morning and grass was super moist.

3 pars
5 bogeys
1 double
18 putts
1 penalty
0 sand
3/7 FIR
3/9 GIR

Birdie putt distances: 38', 18', 16'
Lagged well. Drove well. Pitched well. No bombs off the tee but everything was good enough distance and pretty accurate.

Hole 1: Iron in the fairway. Full sand wedge into the wind and somehow I fly the green. Couldn't believe it. Little pitch through the soaken wet grass to 16'. 2-putt bogey +1

Hole 2: Drive in the fairway. Lob wedge to 18'. 2 putt par. +1

Hole 3: Gap wedge pulled a bit. Little sand wedge pitch through the wet grass. Sunk putt from 4' to save par. +1

Hole 4: Good drive settles right of fairway. Little 3/4 sand wedge out...perfect line. Pin it tucked in front but really I'm just trying to hit the green. Wedge shot comes up about 10 yards shorter than I thought and plops down a yard short of the green. Maybe 20' from the pin but sitting in the wet gross grass. 1 more yard and I'm looking at a birdie opp or an easy 2-putt par. I decide I don't want to chunk a chip so I try to putt through the grass and it goes nowhere. Just barely pops out onto the green. I 2-putt from 10 feet. Gross. Bogey. +2

Hole 5: Good drive right of fairway but playable. Par 5. Wind is carrying L-R and the dogleg up ahead is R-L. Normally I'd hit a hybrid here but I want to keep it low under the wind so I opt for a 3iron and hit it about 2 feet off the ground and it trudges through the wet grass and only goes maybe 120 yards or something. Now I'm over 200 out so now I figure I need to get to the green. Smash a good hybrid that settles right of the green. Little pitch up to the elevated green to 11' and 2-putt for bogey. +3

Hole 6: (My nemesis). Rip drive down the fairway. 141 yards out playing into the wind. I figure it's playing about 160 which is a pure 7 or probably a normal 6 for me (I've slowly been mentally adjusting my distances downward about 3/4 a club). So I decide for the 6 iron and hit it wonderfully and it plops on the green 16'. 2-putt par. +3

Hole 7: Drive right of the fairway, decent distance. Big tree up ahead between me and green. I can mayyybe get over it with LW but I don't think I can reach the green. Going under it will be tough because the branches come down to about 8' off the ground. I grab a 5iron and put it in the back of my stance and take a 3/4 backswing and pop down on the ball and it shoots out wonderfully but catches a twig and deflects right just 5-10 degrees and the ball rolls up to the elevated green and settles on. Awesome. 38 feet out I hit a nice lag but didn't play enough break and end up 4 feet south of the hole. Donut-effect hole shoves my wimpy uphill putt to the right. Tap in bogey. +4

Hole 8: Good drive downwind but off to the right a bit. I mash a 6 iron back into the fairway leaving me 83 yards on this par 5. Here's where I **** up. 83 yards with wind helping me. Easy 3/4 sand wedge shot. Big bunker short and left. I get lazy on the backswing and fast on the downswing and pull up a bit and catch it thin. Good line but it skips off the green and settles down the slope. Gross. I get down to my ball and it's in a dried 9" wide drainage ditch. I can't hit out of this thing - can't even get a club down there. Groan. Drop 2 club lengths away and take a stroke. SW pitch to 30' and 2-putt for double. +6 Should have been an easy par or even a decent look at bird but with one bad stroke it cost me 2.

Hole 9: 8 iron just off the right edge of green. LW pitch to 9'. Hit a really pathetic putt leaving me about 4' and I make it for bogey. +7.

Career best 1 under 71 yesterday (rated 70.2)
-5 birdies
-4 bogeys
-2 three putts
- missed 5 footer for birdie
-one lost ball which should of been found

Been practicing my short game more and it seems to be paying off. Ill see how I hold up in the face of my expectation next time I go out. Should be fun

Had one of the more interesting rounds I've had in awhile. Shot +6 (42), which is a pretty decent score for me, but I had several more mi****s than I usually do. I also had two birdies today, which is pretty rare for me in a 9 hole round. Going to give a hole by hole rundown because I never have before and I thought it was an interesting 9:

I started on the back, so...

10: Medium-shortish par 3 at ~155. I hate starting on the back because of this hole, though, because I find it very difficult to hit an iron well cold and there is no practice area to warm up at. Anyway, hit a really fat 7 iron that ended up about 25 yards or so short of the green. Hit a poor pitch that barely crept onto the green and couldn't make the ~20 footer. 2 putt bogey.

11: One of the hardest holes on this course for mid to high cappers, imo. ~500-530 yard par 5 depending on where the tees are at, but the tee shot is very tight with trees on both sides and has a creek about 200-230 or so out depending on where they put the tees, so if you can't confidently carry it with a club that you're confidently accurate enough to keep it out of the trees then you have to lay up off the tee. I've been hitting my driver well lately, but I never feel confident enough pulling it out for the first time in a round on this hole, so I lay up with a 5 iron in the fairway in front of the creek. Second shot was a super fat 2 hybrid that only ended up going about 100 yards. So now I'm left with a ~225 yard uphill approach shot into a green that has a bunker running across about 50% of the front of the green. I hit a decent hybrid but it ends up short of the green by about 20 yards. My pitch onto the green is the right distance, but I pulled it about 5 yards and it bounces off the green. Chip to 5 feet and 1 putt for a bogey.

12: Another forced layup- this hole is a ~360 yard par 4 that runs parallel to number 10 so the creek from number 10 is about 240-250 from the tee (further away the further to the left you hit it). It's also downhill, so a driver is really pretty much out of the question entirely. With trees on the right it's better to play to the left side of the fairway, and I absolutely crush my 3 wood on the perfect line down the left side. I actually almost hit it too far- it was about 10 feet from the creek, but it stayed dry nonetheless. I'm left with a slightly uphill ~110 or so yard approach shot into the green. Hit a good 9 iron to the center of the green and 2 putt for a par.

13: Next hole is a real pain for me- it's just too long for me no matter what tees I play it from. One of the few holes on the course that I'm relatively certain that I've never birdied. Anyway, it's a ~430 yard par 4 with the tee shot landing area at the crest of a hill, so unless you can carry it ~250 or so you're not going to get very much roll out. I pull out my driver and make good contact but hit a significant pull slice that ends up next to number 18. This actually isn't the worst miss on this hole, since you'd rather be to the right at the top of the hill than to the left at the bottom of the hill, but I'm still left with about 230 into the green from the rough. This is where it gets ugly. I pull my 2 hybrid and chunk one about 50 yards in front of me. Then I pull my 5 hybrid and chunk one another 50 yards or so. At this point I'm hitting 4 from the rough about 125 or so out. I pull an 8 iron and hit it well- right over the flag stick, but actually a little long. It bounces on the very back of the green and one hops off, settling a few feet off the green. I head up there, chip to a few feet and get up and down for the double.

14: This one is a medium length (~350 yards) par 4 with a dogleg left around a lake. I hit another big push slice (though not as pronounced as on the last hole) with my driver, which leaves me with about 170 or so from the rough across the cart path. Additionally, there is a tree that isn't in my line, but it has branches overhanging my line. The branches are fairly high up, though, so I think that I might be able to take a normal swing and get it under rather than try and play a low shot. I pull my 5 iron and go for it, but I was wrong. I hit the shot well, but it hits a branch and gets knocked down into the fairway. This leaves me with about 130 or so from the fairway. From there I hit a fat 8 iron that leaves about 20 yards into the green. Unfortunately the ball came to rest behind a little clump of grass and there isn't much green to work with between the ball and the hole. However, I hit a great pitch that lands perfectly on the small patch of green in front of the pin and checks up about 6 feet from the pin. Then I miss the 6 footer for bogey, doh. 2 putt double. At this point I am +6 through 5 and just took 2 doubles in a row, and the round is looking like it might get out of hand.

15: This hole is a very short par 4 (playing at about ~315 from where the tees were at today) that is a dogleg left. It is possible to cut off the dog leg and go over the trees to drive the green, but I've never really had much success at it, so I elect to hit a hybrid like I usually do. I put a little slice on it, but it started left enough that it was still well within the fairway. This leaves me with about a ~110 or so yard shot to a back pin location. I hit a PW that starts a hair left but comes back right in line with the pin and lands dead center of the green. Would have liked to get it all the way to the back pin location, but I got it on the down side of the slope relative to the pin, so I can't complain about it too much. I then drain the ~30 foot birdie putt to get back to 5 over. I fist pumped.

16: Scoring hole- ~515 yard par 5 that makes a ~25 degree left turn at about 180 yards out. There are a couple of tallish trees on the left side of the fairway, but with a good tee shot you can make it over them. I smoke my driver- literally one of the best tee shots I've hit all summer, and about as good of a tee shot as I am capable of hitting on this hole. It clears the trees on the left and stops in the fairway about 225 yards from the green. At this point I was put to a pretty tough decision. This is an easy hole because the first two shots are very easy (wide fairway, few real risks), but there are some concerns with approach shots. There is a bunker guarding the front right of the green, and the hole gets fairly tight around 100 yards out, with trees on both sides. The right side especially is bad news, because if you end up anywhere from 70-140 yards out from the far right quarter of the fairway you will have to get creative because of trees hanging over your shot and the bunker in front of the green to catch low trajectory shots. Considering that my main miss with my 3 wood and 2 hybrid off the deck is a slice, going for it is going to be risky. Oh yea, there is also a ditch about 60 yards in front of the green to collect mi**** shots as well, fwiw. I decide to go for it and elect to use my 3 wood. Unfortunately, I mi**** it and hit a worm burner that (fortunately) doesn't go far enough to get to the ditch. It stayed in the fairway the whole time, so it really wasn't the worst outcome possible. It left me with about a 100 yard approach from the center of the fairway to a left pin location. I grab my PW and hit it the right distance, but pull it a couple yards and end up in the left rough about pin high. Chip to 9 feet or so, but miss the sidewinder putt. 2 putt bogey.

17: The other par 3, almost the same hole entirely. ~145-155 depending on where they put the tees. The tees are up today so it's probably playing at about 147 or so, and the pin is tucked to the right side of the green behind a little ridge. I hit a decent 7 iron that starts center of the green and is tracking to the pin on the right. It was a little short and lands on the ridge a couple feet off the green and gets a little of an unlucky bounce back towards the left up and onto the green. I then drain (again) the ~25 footer for birdie. Another fist pump.

18: Somewhat difficult par 4 simply because of how much uphill it plays. It's not super long at ~350-370, but it's very significantly uphill and the tees were back today as well so it was probably playing at around 365. I pull my driver and hit a comically bad mi**** that squirts about 50 yards or so ahead and a little to the left. Despite the almost overwhelming temptation to tee it up again I walk on up and play it where it lies. I pull a hybrid and hit a respectable shot up the right side of the fairway that leaves me about 130 in. The green is guarded in front by a bunker and there is a bunker on the right as well, with the pin center right today. I pull 8 iron and hit it fat (again) and luckily it doesn't go far enough to get into the bunker. I'm left with a ~25 yard pitch, which I stick to about 5 feet to successfully get the up and down for bogey. Not bad after that tee shot.

So +6 42 with 13 putts (!). I took 6 non-putts from 30 yards and in on the day, and only 2 of them could be described as anything less than phenomenal, and the other two were still good... so that's always nice. The game seems a lot easier when you're confident that you can get up and down from ~30 and in at a pretty good rate. I hit my driver 4 times on the round- 2 big push slices, 1 comically bad mi****, and 1 that was perhaps one of my top 5 shots with my driver ever (I almost never hit a true 290 yard drive without some downhill roll like that). I hit a lot of really good shots with all of my clubs, but I also had mi****s with almost all of my clubs (wedges + my 9 iron being the only clubs I didn't mi**** today). Very boom or bust day, but pretty fun. Also, the putting was very good today obviously (a couple holes excepted), which is nice. Always a good feeling to make the really long birdie putts that you're just trying to lag close. One of these days I'm going to put it all together and card a really nice 9 hole round.

Was one of those weird 18 holes today.

Front 9 I hit a 54 on the front. Only 12 points. 18 over. Made triple to start. Just started lashing and then thundering so we were maybe not properly concentrating. Then proceeded to go par, double bogey, bogey. Double.

Then I hit iron to play it safe on the 6th. Chunked my next shot OB. Dropped one which I just opened the club face on impact and eventually made 8.

Kind of gave myself a bit of a talk after 9.

Then made a 42 on the back 9. 7 over.
I doubled the last as well, which is quite a hard hole imo. But was back to hitting irons solid.

41 putts in total.
12 points on the front.
21 points on the back.

Two full rounds without a 1 putt.

In the end I made 96. As a 22 that's not too bad, especially considering my front.

Shot 86 (par 71) at my home course when I was in high school. I knew I didn't get off the tee well all day but I truly didn't realize how bad it was until I broke it down.

THE BAD
- The greens were all but dead which was very disappointing
- Didn't hit my first fairway until the 13th hole
- 2/15 fairways
- topped 2 tee shots (1 with driver, 1 with long iron)
- 5/18 GIR (0/5 par 3's)
- 1 triple bogey to start the back side (only lost ball)
- 4 separate shots where I had severe downhill, sidehill, against lip of bunker lies and was dead
- 50 foot par putt on 14th lipped out, I said "go in" with 15 ft to go and started walking
- 25 yd pitch lips out on 11th for par, no on knows how it didn't drop
- not having a 5 iron, I really need to replace it
- my long iron game

THE GOOD
- 28 putts (no 3 putts when I did hit green or ever)
- my overall short game, 150 in game
- 2 birdies including the last hole to win the betting match

Just brutal getting off the tee today as I said. Had a bit of the hooks and was fighting the snap all day. Eventually started figuring it out but not consistently enough and it was a little too late. Couldn't get anything to the hole for the early part but started giving everything a run when I got it on or around the green. Unfortunately most of theirs greens are burnt out and they have completely lost them. Putting down your putter and have it slide out from under you is never a good sign. Funny thing is the particular time that happened I drained a 40 ft double breaker for birdie. Didn't miss much if only one from 7 feet in, one slider that I thought I snuck in the backdoor for a big halve.

Heading into the last hole for individual scores the +2 handicap was obviously well ahead but the other 3 of us were neck and neck for 2nd place with them being a stroke ahead of me. 18th is a pretty long par 5, 3 shot hole, dog leg right. I was making good swings with the driver from the 13th on and this was another good one just slightly pushed into the rough and behind a bunker. Other 2 guys were fine but had awful sidehill lies. First guy duck hooks his into a lake running along the left side, second guy learns from this and blasts one about 135 from the hole very good shot. My ball is nestled down a touch in the rough but I blast out a low bullet 3 iron to 120 yards from the pin. First guy ends up tripling the hole so its between me and the other guy. He hits a beautiful wedge that we think is very tight but won't be able to tell until we ride up, pressure on me with our team betting match squared up (+2 h-cap was my partner, donked the entire hole up playing for eagle). Anywho, I catch my wedge slightly thin, but it's right on line and looking pretty good depending on the bounce. It lands on front of green and trickles to what would be 10 feet. When we drive up the other guy is even closer with 6 feet left. The 10 footer looked right edge and even from behind looked straighter than that but as I stood over the ball it felt different as if it was going to break a little more. The dreaded mind change when you stand over the ball but I end up hitting what I see and feel over the ball, gave it a solid stroke and it turns right into the right side as I let out a big "boom!". Other guy clearly shook blows his by, never a chance so that was a nice way to end a somewhat awful day. Tied for 2nd low score and ended up beating my buddy #1 rival on the course with clutch gene on the last. Always have fun though regardless and rather glad I avoided having to pay to play on those LOLGREENS.