38

7 pars, 2 bogeys

Only one of the bogeys was bad the other was earned and I had two ring a round the rosie lip outs for birdies. Distance control on my approach shots was on point. Worked on my short game a little over an hour before teeing off. Certainly paid dividends around the greens a few times.

Went to the back side and skipped around to a handful of holes. Definitely would have been in the game to shoot in the 70s for the second time this year, and possibly best round of year. Oh well.

38-38-76. 2 birdies, 2 double bogeys.

Not as sharp as yesterday. 3 over after the third hole, then played one under until making a double at the last. Shanked another chip, this time a longer one. This **** is getting old.

43-38-81, new personal best. 2 birds, 2 doubles. Could've easily been in the 70's, had some sad three putts. Made a lot of 10-15 footers too though.

Nice round!

46-48, just terrible. Shanked 2 consecutive drivers OB on the 8th hole, really shook my confidence. Had been hitting the driver well all year, suddenly felt like I could barely make contact. Not a pleasant feeling. And embarrassing.

Managed to pull it together enough to hit a few decent drives on the back 9, but I was rattled and could not shake the fear of another shank. Swing was just so tense from the 8th hole onward, like 2 different people were playing.

Family camping trip on the Olympic peninsula in Washington, and decided to bookend the trip with two courses I've really wanted to play: Salish Cliffs in Shelton, and Gold Mountain (Olympic) in Bremerton.

Started with Salish Cliffs on Friday morning, and I can't wait to play it again. Beautiful course, very interesting layout that can lead to many "different" rounds of golf depending on pin position and how your shots end up. I played it at 6,300 yards, and that was plenty long for me (I don't hit it very far), especially because some of the course's long holes are designed with hazards and challenges in addition to length, e.g., this hole, which in addition to a well-placed tee shot (if you want a decent angle into the green) requires a carry over water and ****:



Course was in amazing shape, and the greens rolled very true. I shot an 83, which I'm not unhappy with (I'm a 10.6), but felt I could have shot better. I had the first tee time at 8:00, and the course was way wetter than courses I've been playing (reading reviews, it sounds like this might be a common occurrence). Lot of chunky shots. And as true as the greens rolled, I just couldn't figure out the speed for the life of me. You know, sometimes you just have those days where you stand over a putt and feel like you have no idea what you're doing.

Lot more majestic than this, but I forgot to take pictures until 18:



After camping, and two days without showering (I apologized to the rest of my foursome), I hit Gold Mountain Olympic Course yesterday. It's been around longer than Salish Cliffs, and gained a bit of fame when Jordan Spieth won his second amateur there in 2011 (trust me, Gold Mountain will remind you of the fact). It's a muni, and wasn't in as good a shape as Salish, but was a really fun track that I'm also looking forward to playing again. Gorgeous setting.



I might have enjoyed the Gold Mountain round better because one, it was warmer, and two, I played better. I was actually on track for my best round in probably 15 years, with two bogeys, a birdie, and the rest pars on the front nine for a 37. Went par-bogey-bogey-bogey to start the back, but got it on track and stayed there until 17. I hit what I thought was a perfect drive on the par 4 17th, that somehow ended up in a lateral hazard. I recovered for a bogey.

A par on 18 would have given me a 77 on the round, my best round since I started playing golf again in my mid-20s (I played on the high school golf team and was decent, but didn't play at all for several years other than a random round here and there with my dad). 18 at Gold Mountain is a REALLY fun hole, a driveable par 4:



From our tees it was playing 260, which is definitely at the end of my range, but what you can't tell from the satellite image but everything past the bunkers feeds down towards the green. Long story short, I popped it up way too much and hit the back face of that small bunker, and despite being 20 yards off the green with my tee shot, hacked around for a bogey and a 78. Still a score I'll definitely take.

TLDR: Salish Cliffs and Gold Mountain Olympic are fun courses in great settings, and I look forward to playing both of them again.

Nice trip report HP!

***

38-43-81

Better than yesterday, but really should've scored better on an easy track. One birdie, one double.

42-45-87 - Logger's Trail in Stillwater, MN - 7,235y

1 birdie, 4 pars, 10 bogeys, 3 doubles - 9/14 FIR, 8/18 GIR 38 putts

Hard, fast greens and the ground before the greens were soft so no run-up shots. 3 3-putts and 1 4-putt. The 4-putt was a lovely double on a par 3. 1st putt went by the hole about 4 feet and caught the false front and rolled off the green 20 feet from the hole (so technically a 3-putt then since it was on the fringe).

Distance wasn't the issue for me on the long course, it was all on the green.

Playing Innisbrook Copperhead in a fourball event Thursday.

75 with 5 holes in a row with a score of 3

I hadn't played much this year, but my season is ramping up.

On my home course, two Fridays ago, I shot a 75 (+3). I bogeyed 2 of the last 3 to shoot even on the back.

Last Friday, I finished Triple-Birdie-Triple for 83 (same course).

Yesterday, I tried a course I have never played. It was more expensive than I'm used to paying, $98, but it was great. Fox Hopyard in East Haddam, CT. It was the most volatile round I've had in years.

Notable Happenings
-I topped two tee shots when a carry was needed.
-I hit two other balls OB.
-I 3-putted 3 times on the front 9.
-I repeatedly left putts short due to the greens being a hair slower than my home course.
-I birdied 3 of the last 5 holes, including the last 2.
-I had 5 Double bogeys.
-I had 5 bogeys.
-I had 4 pars.
-I left a 12 foot eagle putt a touch short on #5 for my first non-bogey.
-4 birdies.
-I grinded the **** out of the back 9 to shoot 82 (+11).
-The 3 local guys invited me in for a couple of beers after the round.

All in all, it was a good day.

41-41- 82. Three birdies, and two lipped out. A couple of lucky shots though, there def were some bad strikes.

Played two rounds in Copenhagen on a course that had lot of deers running around, no cars allowed, no signs and no trash bins. Oldest in Scandinavia and an EU habitat. Was a pretty cool experience. Lost balls on both rounds, played alone but don´t think buddies would have helped, the rough was a nightmare in many spots. No birdies, did have decent looks but some old Scotty Detour had my number, strange putter for sure. Try to post some pics later.

Nice pics HP, looks like a fun course

Hit the ball well but couldn't score. All time round of awful putting with no 3 putt

39 - 39 = 78
34 putts zero 3 putts
7/14 FIR
10/18 GIR
1 birdie no doubles

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/ntan.../round/1752119

Rock hard greens and soft run ups are the worst. Just such poor maintenance practice. The 10 yards around the green should really be the same firmness.

39 (par 35). 1 birdie, 2 double bogeys.

Not bad for a Tuesday night and nice to finish with the birdie.

39-38 - 77. Easier par 71 course. Soft greens after rain, scoring conditions. Did get three birdies, but collapsed in the end on a short par-4 (bogie) and short par-5 (double) arrggh.

Headed to Florida for a week...will be posting scores from there

Innisbrook Copperhead - 41-42-83

1 birdie, 7 pars, 7 bogeys, 3 doubles - 7/18 GIR, 5/13 FIR, 31 putts (1 3-putt)

FSGA fourball event. We shot 72 net, good for 3rd place, 1 place short of the money (7 shots back though). Partner who gets 8 shots carded an 87. Seems like I was out on my own a lot today although I am sure he helped more than I think.

Greens were really quick, especially above the hole, so I was happy with the way I putted. I honestly didn't think the course was that difficult. I had plenty of room to hit my cut off the tee. I did leave it in the rough but not by much and the landing areas are actually pretty small.

Highlight(s) of the day were:

- Holed out bunker shot on 4 for birdie.
- Nailed a drive on 14 (550y par 5 with a 5-8 mph helping wind) and had 252y left. Mashed a 3-wood but pulled it a touch and was green high.

Forgot to mention a couple of funny things from one of the players yesterday.

On the 16th hole he hit it into the water off the tee. After his drop the ball was above his feet in thick rough. Not sure how you could possibly shank a wood or hybrid (didn't see what he pulled) but it went 45* left (he was a lefty) and he hit his cart. Didn't have the heart to tell him that's a penalty as they were not using his score on the hole anyways.

Next one was on the 18th tee when he worm burned a tee shot that hit the white tee marker and shot straight up into the air. It landed about 10 seconds later about 20 yards downrange.

Also the 6 HC we were playing with worm burned 3 shots off the tee. How often do you see a player that good do that?

I had a lol moment off of the 10th tee. Playing for a cut I pulled it and hit it straight over the following:

trees between 10 and 18
18th fairway
trees between 18 and 16
16th cart path, stopping about 5 yards from the 16th fairway.

I would guess that I was about 80 yards right of the 10th fairway, possibly more. Ended up having to pitch to the ladies tees on the 18th, then trying to clear the trees after that. Wound up with a double.

Haha Scott, that post brought to mind some of the funnier shots I´ve seen and played this year. I did once hit the ladies tees teemarker with a wormkiller, hopped nicely into the air too

One round a dude joined us, he was stancing almost 45* right but hitting mostly just a bit to the right. On 10th his drive hit smack middle of the sign-map of the hole, it was where he was stancing, 5y forward and 5y right. Always when pass that teebox wonder how he could hit it. Made a nice sound too, then bounced left to a water hazard. He wondered if he was standing too far from the ball. One leftie in a group managed to shank an iron on the 1st par 3, hit a tree we righties never figured could be hit. Shot back 30 yards and hit the club house.

41-41-82.

My first round in Florida...kinda tired, but had to play

Two doubles, two birdies, too many bogeys.

Room for 1 more Sunday 8:30a in Tampa. Just a short 4 hour drive.

Lol you could come up here!

What's your home course?

43-44-87 at Long Point, Amelia Island, FL

Weird round...very good off the tee, decent irons...couldn't chip or putt to save my life. Two doubles, lots of bogeys.

39-41-80. No birdies, 1 double bogey.

Meh. Driving was okay. Irons were mediocre. Really didn't have any close looks at birdie, just a lot of 20-30 footers. Lag putting was pretty good. No shanked chips for once, that's a bonus.