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I had a hit at Marion Golf course on the south coast of Adelaide today.
How did I play? Crap is the answer!
I jammed my half set into my daughter’s car and the Driver was too long, so I stuck in the GX-7 for tee shots. It has a 3 wood length shaft. For the first few holes I faded the shots way out right. So much for a draw biased fairway finder. Then I realized that I was hitting the ball on the heel side of the face, rather than swinging across the ball out to in. I adjusted my stance a little further away from the ball and tight draw shots returned. The fairways are up and down hill and have a lot of side slope, so the course demands choking down and stance adjustment for ball below feet shots often. The greens were fast and a bit bumpy. A bit of water and a good roll would help.
I did manage a couple of pars with some deft chipping. Other wise it was a forgettable 9 holes . Best part of the course is the scenery down the coastline of Adelaide. Still I got 1.5 hours reprieve from babysitting a 2 year old.
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Fun but terrible golf day today at Glades
Great to have a hit with Mads who played some very nice golf
Unlike me
4 pars 8 bogies 4 doubles 2 wipe doubles
20 over off 9 for 25 points6 Fairways 4 shots dropped including a wipe from the two on 16
4 GIR 3 dropped but plenty of misses into bunkers which cost me plenty
3/17 up and down 10 dropped
36 putts 3 dropped
Nothing good golf wise
Still love the course
Some days you are the pigeon, sometimes you are the statue!
Thanks for the info BB. I have yet to play any courses in that area, with the exception of Beaufort, which I liked.
What a difference a day makes! The rain started during hole#2 and steadily built until we finished 9 holes. I didn’t have packed my wet weather pants in my bag as yet and my lower half was wet by 9 holes. I was happy to retire, as was another of the foursome.I was unpacking in the cart shed when it really started to pour.
I started poorly on hole one. My drive was in play, but I selected my 4W for the second shot and struck it poorly. For the lie I should have used a hybrid. Then I didn’t hit my PW chip hard enough, so ti took me 4 shots to get it on the green.A double bogey to start again.
My tee shot fade on #2 was good ( 198m) with a strong- ish side wind, but I mishit the 6H approach shot into the bunker. Our bunkers are usually a bit fickle ( insufficient sand depth) and worse when wet. I chipped out a bit far and 2 putted for a bogey.
Another decent tee shot on hole #3 followed ( 204m) , but I didn’t strike the 4W shot or the 8 i well at all. My 8 i chip-putt stroke saved the hole for a bogey.
Tee shot on 4 was O.K. but my approach shot with a 5 Hybrid caught the wind and ended up in the bunker.
Hole 5 I made par, but my tee shot on 6 was crap. A complete mishit. I don’t think I was even looking at the ball when I swung. I salvage a bogey. I scramble for a par on 7 and narrowly missed a putt for bogey on 8. By hole 9 my approach shot was terrible, but it missed the dam and I managed a bogey.OTS 44 , 16 points for 9 holes.
Two Steps
1) only 17 putts and two up and down pars
2) a few good tee shots ( 4/9)One step back
I didn’t handle the cold wet windy conditions today. I had better get used to it over the next 6 months.The weather today was too good not to play golf this afternoon.
I spent this morning from 7-30 to 10 a.m. cutting out sweet pittosporum trees from the right rough of the 12th fairway. 4 trees hit the ground this morning. They are an invasive weed in this district.
Today’s practice round was confidence inspiring. I guess it showed what I can do when I don’t muck up.
I hit 3 birdies, 10 pars, 4 bogeys and one double bogey. 75 OTS is my best ever. No doubt I won’t reproduce this score tomorrow when the weather turns to shit again.Arcoss told me I was on fire with the putter today ( I knew that already) , good with chip shots ( obvious again), approach shots with my irons ( good/ hit greens more today) , but my Driving is letting me down. Arcoss says that I am short for a 13 handicapper off the tee, but accurate. I guess they don’t account for age. They think I should be hitting my drives 207m, but my best is 202 m carry and average in the mid 190’s metres.
Two steps
1) lag putting
2) chipping it close with PW or 8 ironOne step
1) tee shots a bit erratic stillGailes today off 9
Started with a string of 1 point bogies before finally making a 2 point par on 4
Made the turn 5 over and 17 points
Back 9 was poor and had 9 over and 14 points for 31 points totalOut to 10.0
4 FIR – dropped 2 shots off the tee, was a bit all over with pulls and then back to the push fades with driver
6 GIR – dropped 4 shots plus another couple of bad shots that I’ll mark as half shots dropped
7 over long game isn’t close to good enough
4/14 short game – dropped 5 plus 2 other half shots
32 putts – dropped 3 shots, made 1 long putt for birdie
Not great preparation for Glades next week
Yes it is, You have left those poor shots at the last game; no longer in your arsenal. Have faith my son!
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Winter has arrived with a vengeance in SW Victoria. It blew a gale and rained a lot yesterday. I had to check on my cart repairs late in the afternoon and was shocked to see a couple just finishing their game. Stoic or stupid?
I forgot to do my two steeps/one step assessment of my last game.
Two Steps forward
1) My tee shots hit fairways ( not the right one on one occasion) and had reasonable distance. I aimed down the right and got a draw shape back to the left/ centre.
2) bump and run chips with my 8 i worked well, as did my longer putts and I didn’t miss any second putts.One step back
I am still not confident with direction of my fade shots off the tee. They tend to be going a bit further right than I intend. I think maybe I need to move the ball forward a tad?1 user liked this post.
Do you have GPS? I find that helps a lot with playing new courses for the first time.
Arccos didn’t work well for many 9 hole only country courses. Some just are not on the database. I had a range finder, which helps.
I forgot to mention that Pt MAcDonnell has fresh water darins form inland swamps that kills off the seaweed. The seaweed then rots on the beach making a putrid smell. Can this be classed as a hazard. it made my eyes water.
I played a round of the Mumbannar Masters comp yesterday arvo. 9 holes at Portland GC. It was my first hit at home for a while. Not a great start as my golf cart rolled to a stop and refused to go any further. At first I thought my son in law had forgotten the battery maintenance while I was away. Nope , it was a corroded battery terminal lead. As a warm up I tried out the 7W I had been using on my vacation against my SL 19 Hybrid. Result: 7 W is about 10 m longer, but I wasn’t more accurate with it. Conditions: sunny with a light west wind and lush very green grass ( unlike Eyre Peninsula) Think Desert.
My playing partners arrived, so we commenced. The first to drive sliced right , the second sliced left, the third to play hit short. My drive? Long with a slight draw using my Cleveland HB Launcher Turbo; a thing of beauty I thought , as I hoped it stayed on the fairway. It did, just finishing short of the outside of the dogleg. I hit the approach shot with my 6 hybrid, hoping for a 130m shot just short of the green so it would roll on. I got the just short bit right, but I overdid the choke down grip and I had a 8i chip onto the green and 2 putts for a bogey. I am always happy for a bogey to start with.
I was thinking, “stay left” on the second hole drive and it did, left into the rough of the adjacent 9th hole. Oops! Recovery shot with the 22 SL Hybrid got me back onto the second hole left rough and through the trees. I pulled the 9i approach shot just a bit, and used a SW chip to, “get it on the green” , like Golf Sidekick says ( just GIOTG) Putting with my Ping mallet was a bit tentative, but a tap in for a double bogey wasn’t a bad result, considering the tee shot was ” unfortunate”.
The Par 5 third hole tee shot was another thing of beauty ( 216 m ) slight draw shape. I followed that up with another draw with the 4W ( well 5W set to 17 degrees) that rolled a bit far left. My 9i approach shot hit the green and stayed on. Using the SL irons again felt good. Putt number one was about 14 m uphill and I was left with a tap in for Par. (Warm inner fuzzies occurring by now)
The tee shot on hole 4 ( my nemesis hole) was effective, if not beautiful. The ball ended up centre fairway, just short of the crest of the hill. It was more a great hockey shot though, low and flat. This time I had 140 m over the hill to the back of the green. I decided to hit the 6H again, but give it a wallop. It landed in the centre of the green, leaving me a long uphill putt. I sort of got the length right, but not the line. I had about a 4 footer and I missed it. Still a bogey is better than an 8 score that I have hit on this hole.
The par 3 fifth was 190 m from the back tees. I let it rip and the ball ended up on the verge of the green left side. I hit another 8i chip and then holed the putt for a Par.
The warm fuzzies were short lived on the dog leg right 6th tee when my attempted fade over did the fading bit. I was just short of the corner, 130 m to the back of the green. The sensible shot would have been to chip around the corner, then approach with a clear shot. Did I try the hero high fade over the corner? Yes. Did it work? Yes . I had a tap in birdie putt.
The par 5 7th hole with a little breeze following was next. My tee shot was not a thing of beauty, but effective getting me into the left side light rough. I thought I would try the 7W bending the ball around an extending branch and onto the fairway. Fail. It hit the branch and ended up in the left side trees. I had a punch out shot with the SL 19 Hybrid. It went very well. It was almost as if the club was saying to me that the 7W couldn’t do that! I used my LW to chip over the bunker and GIOTG and two putted back downhill for a bogey.
The par 3 8th hole tee position was back at the 124m mark. Perfect for my 7i , well that i it would have been had I hit it in the centre of the face, not the toe. I chipped on with the 8i pretty well, but missed the putt. Bogey.
Last hole for the day and my Driver shot went a bit left. If I had a lot of confidence I would have aimed at the dam and attempted a draw into the wind with my 7i. I have tried it before and lost the ball to a watery grave. So I aimed at the middle of the green only to see the wind and draw take it left of the green. My PW GIOTG shot worked, but left me with a long putt up a step and a knee tremble putt that stopped 2 cm from the edge of the hole. Bogey.
OTS 42 / 17 putts. A win for the day and 1/2 a stoke inside my handicap of 13. Perhaps I should play away from home more often & use different /variable length clubs more often? I fixed the cart after the game after cleaning the terminal and replacing a corroded battery lead.I made it home just in time for our 45th wedding anniversary dinner.
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Moama ( Rich River ) East course was in good condition. I had a good outcome with a mid 80’s result. Well worth the green fees.
After about 10 days at home over Easter we headed west into S.A. with the intention of touring the Eyre peninsula rather than initial plan of touring W.A. We just didn’t trust the Premier of W.A. not to close off the State border.
Courses played
1) Clare Valley; A good challenging course well worth trying after you tire of tasting quality wines.
2) Whyalla; Another well irrigated course in the midst of a desert that was fun to play.
3) Tumby Bay & Cowell ; scrapes courses with very dry fairways. it hasn’t rained three for months.
4) Pt. Lincoln; A challenging irrigated course that we enjoyed playing.
5) Coffin Bay; A surprise course with some irrigation and good greens. Fun.
6) Elliston.; A sand belt course with no grass. great practise for hard lies. Beach sand in traps and scrapes.
7) Streaky Bay; We played this course twice. It had greens , but they were a bit long ( bumpy)
8) Pt Mac Donnell; near Mt Gambier had greens that were not too bad at all. The fairways must be clay based judging by the summer ” dry” induced ball swallowing crevices. A two club southerly wind made for interesting club selections. I hit 4 pars though.Scores were not all that great, but when you don’t know the course??
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I am back home after a 4 week trip into S.A. more remote west coast areas.
I had the opportunity to pay at some really nice courses, such as Clare, Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Coffin Bay,Streaky Bay and Pt. Augusta. I had played the Clare course once before. The others were all new to me. The one thing these courses had in common was irrigation.
Other courses I played like Tumby Bay and Elliston were very dry with scrapes instead of greens. The best part of Elliston was tat we could camp at the golf course with a magnificent view of the coast. The rest of the course could be described as a sand belt course without grass, beach sand in the traps and more beach sand on the scrapes. The only difference I could tell between the traps and scrapes was that the surface of the scrape was a bit flatter. It was more successful to chip a long scrape shot than attempt a putt stroke!I guess the challenge of playing so many courses for the first time is that it makes you think about course management. My best score for 9 holes was at Clare ( 40 OTS)
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Erratic is a term I would use to describe my game today.
I hit 5 GIR, 5 up and downs to make 7 pars, 7 bogeys , but threw it all away with 4 doubles ( including 3 penalty strokes for one lost ball and OOB)
score 88 / 32 points.
Back home again at Portland GC for the Thursday comp. I warmed up a bit prior to the game getting used to my clubs.
Hole one wasn’t great with a 3 putt for a double bogey. I followed that up with 4 pars in a row. I was indecisive on the tee box on 6 and pushed the shot into the Bermuda triangle on the right side, then I followed that up with a series of poor hits on 7 for double bogey again. I rallied on the par 3 8th hole with a par and a bogey on the 9th. 44 shots.
The wind had sprung up as usual for the back 9 holes. I managed two pars on the par 5 holes. I hit my tee shot on the par 3 11th hole OOB ( score 6) Score 44.
32 points ; second in my group.
Two steps forward
1) My driver and 4 W shots were good.
2) chipping and putting were not bad. My putts missed were only just misses.One step back
1) I had trouble hitting my 19 hybrid SL today. It wasn’t pretty. Too flat and too hooky! It could have been that I tend to use it for fairway shots from poor lies.The consensus seems to be that golfers should never give unsolicited advice to others, either on the range or during a game.
I need to consult the rule book about coaching another player during a game. I am not sure it is covered. Over the last few weeks I have been playing with my mate who is new to golf. Generally I have been teaching him golf etiquette and course management while getting 3 match cards filled for his handicap assessment. While we have been playing alone it wasn’t a problem. Yesterday we played a social 9 holes with two strangers. At the outset when we did the introductions, we explained the situation that my mate was a learner and would be receptive to any tips. The other players were cool with the coaching I gave my mate and even added information to assist him.
My point is that there are some situations when giving advice is acceptable. What do you do if a player asks in frustration for help? Do you ignore his plea, or maybe tell him that the matter can be discussed after the game if he would like? Other options? ( tell him to get lessons)
If you are hitting 76 with your swing method, why would you need to change/ follow advice of a random ( rude ) golfer?
I occasionally get told my alignment of my tee shots is wrong when I push a drive right. I follow Steve Johnson’s Eureka method for my drives ( feet open to target line, shoulders down the target line/ club face on this line, swing out right with a strong grip. Usually it means I didn’t flap my wrists and held the club face open. when I push it out right. Mostly once I correct it I hit the tee shots on the fairway and the advice stops.
