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I spent the morning underneath our caravan repairing and re- installing water and waste water tanks. Fun? No!
The replacement tank I ordered from Melbourne as still not arrived 5 days later!At one p.m. I went out to hit some balls and play 9 holes using the Tour Edge half set of iron-woods I have for travelling. We leave on our caravan trip tomorrow doing a loop in Victoria, then another over in the Eyre Peninsula of S.A.
I am carrying a Nike Driver, a 5 W ( 19.5) and the then the 3,5,7,9,PW and SW Tour Edge iron -hybrids and the gravity Golf Arc Master putter. My wife ( learner golfer) will have a 7W, 6i, 8i, PW, LW ,& putter.
Today I hit the Nike Driver really well using the Eureka swing method, giving me a nice tight draw. I measured two shots at 204 and 205m ( best ever with that Driver). Hitting with variable length irons take a bit of getting used to. It isn’t onerous, but takes some thought with ball position. I only screwed up one 3 iron shot ( hit it fat) when I forgot. Otherwise even the less than ideal strikes still gave reasonable outcomes. These irons ( SGI hybrid-iron style) ought to be on the list for all learners! It makes the game easier, so why not.
I hit 3 balls as I didn’t have anyone behind me and I didn’t want to catch the group 3 holes in front. I was putting better with the Arc Master today, enough to think that maybe I should use it in competition. I don’t think my 3 putts have a lot to do with the tool I am using though. I tried chipping with the SW and PW. It takes more commitment to use the higher lofted club. Not having a full set of clubs makes you think more about what shot you need to create and how to do it. Cross training is supposed to be beneficial.
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What caused the DB’s CB80?
I hit 4 DB today too. ( just to make you feel better) Mine were caused by 3 putts and one muck up tee shot and poor second shot trying to make up for the tee shot. The greens at Heywood have more slope and I didn’t do well at short putts ( speed control) , So near, yet so far. How can a ball bend at 90 degrees over less than a metre?
No I didn’t break 80 today. Conditions started off fine and mild, but deteriorated as the game progressed with a 30 kph southerly breeze building and misty rain. 87 wasn’t bad , but my 4 three putts didn’t help. The greens were very good at Heywood and the fairways pretty good too. All in all the course is looking good for late summer.
I scored 6 pars 8 bogeys and 4 doubles.
I managed to hit most of my tee shots into play, my approach shots inside 120 m were accurate enough ( 8 GIR) and 4 up and downs. Heywood has some pretty sloping greens and it caught me out a few times when I was too soft with my second putt , only to see the ball bend like an Indian leg spinner bowl. Frustrating. I hit trees twice with my hybrid sots when I tried to fade the shot, but didn’t aim left enough. My only blow out hole was a 7 on a par 5, where I mishit my drive short left, then hit a 6 Hybrid shot into the right side of the dog leg, followed by a LW shot that went under the ball ( landed short) . I should have tried a B&R shot, not an aerial shot from that lie!
Two Stops forward
1) tee shots in play 100%
2) good approach shots inside 120 m = 8 GIR . I attribute this to my one length irons form 80 -125m the swing is all the same.One step back (OK 2)
1) need to correct my aim on hybrid fade shots
2) short putts on sloping greens I need to hit harder to take some of the slope out of the equation.BTW we saw some very big Kangaroos today. Heywood course is well worth a game if you are visiting Western Victoria. $30 green fees is cheap for what you get.
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Well done! The hard part in my experience is to break 90 consistently. It doesn’t take much to bump up your score over ninety.
With your fitting, don’t be seduced by extra distance with a particular club until you check the club’s loft. 7 irons can vary in loft from 33-34 to 26-27 degrees. Buy the one that you can get consistent distance with and the smallest dispersion circle.
Sadly that form in practice did not follow into the day two of the club championships. I was making up a four at the request of my son in law, as I didn’t compete in day one last Saturday. Originally we were to be away by last week on our caravan trip.
Conditions were mild and no wind. I played with three single figure handicappers, but we all took turns in some poor shots. I suspect I did best on the crap-o- meter shot wise. It wasn’t that I played terribly, I was inconsistent. My tee shots on the first 9 went a bit too far left and I left two out right on the back 9. I got plenty of practice in punching out of trouble, if nothing else. My chipping was not on song, in that I was leaving some very long 1st putts, which in turn gave me several 3 putts. I was getting it on the green alright, but nowhere near the pin.
two pars, 3 doubles ( all 3 putts) and 13 bogeys. OTS 91, nett 79. 29 points. Mediocre!
Two Steps
1) I hit several >200 m drives ( best 220)
2) approach shots inside 120 m were goodOne Step
1) Lag putting was not the best, until maybe hole 18 were I almost sank a beauty from a long way out.I need to be mentally more aware of my PSR. I think I am selecting a small specific target , then forgetting it as I swing to hit the ball, reverting to hitting at the ball as my focus.
Veterans at Heywood on Monday is my next game. Can I repeat my 79 score there last game? Hmmm possible and tomorrow is another day.
It is official. I play better in the wind. I snuck out for a quick 9 holes to try out some Bridgestone Extra Soft orange balls that GCO delivered today. I tried a few new tactics, just to see if they would work out.
My tee shots all gave me ( Tee shot in play) TSIP with reasonable distance . 224 m on hole 7 was the best. 8 pars and one Bogey ( on hole 1) = best ever result. I guess I hit better when there is no consequence.
Two Steps forward
1) I hit some decent tee shots with the Orange balls and didn’t lose a ball playing solo.
2) Putting much improved todayOne Step back
1) Why can’t I play like this ( stress free) in comps????The rain arrived as I finished 9 holes so I went home.
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Over the weekend I played at the Harrow golf course in SW Victoria. Harrow has a tiny population , yet has had a 18 hole scrapes course since 1909. I have played it in winter once and thought it was pretty good. Now in summer, the club is obviously in recess as it looked a bit unkept. The scrapes needed more sand and the holes were full of leaves. Still for $5 it was a great hit out. The fairways are lined with towering gum trees, with various shapes that made the course interesting. I found out that white golf balls are not ideal on the browned off fairways. I will try orange coloured ball next time. Maybe I will lose less than the 5 balls I left there!
Harrow has tried to re-invent itself with its sound and light show, plus an excellent cricket museum display which focuses on the 1886 tour of England by an all Aboriginal team.1 user liked this post.
Played Pacific in their stroke comp today off the whites
Had 10 shots available but needed 15
33 points1 birdie 7 pars 7 bogies 1 double 1 triple 1 quad
8/14 fairways – drove fairly well today, although Pacific requires hybrid or iron a lot so 6 of my tee shots weren’t driver
Dropped 2 shots from a topped wet hybrid, but did put some pressure on myself with 2 sliced drives6 GIR – some really good shots today into greens and another 4 holes were just off. But still managed to drop a lot of shots from needing low shots and hitting them poorly
Dropped 6, 4 from hybrids, 1 iron and 1 punch3/9 up and downs
1/2 LW pitch – no dropped shots
0/2 LW chips – 2 dropped
0/2 LW sand – 2 dropped
0/1 PW chip – 1 dropped
2/3 Texas – 1 dropped34 putts – 2 3 putts. Greens were very fast today and the 2 3 putts were from over 40 ft so overall happy with the putter
33 points is a chance of being a flag
McLeod next week for my matchplay quarter final
darn those double, triple and quads ruined an otherwise great performance.
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We had a good 2 day trip to a Harrow over the weekend. It is a sleepy little hollow on the Glenelg River in the western districts of Victoria. Sheep everywhere. Highlight of the trip was the Johhny Mullagh cricket museum which documents the 1886 cricket tour of the U.K. by an Aboriginal team. Cricket fans should make the effort to visit this great display, which includes a good Don Bradman collection section.
Golf: The club is a 18 hole course with sand scrapes ( established 1909). I think it is a winter only course as it was very dry and the fairways were like dry pasture. In essence I don’t think anyone has played there for a while. Being over hill from the river , there isn’t much irrigation. There must be a bore though, as they are watering the grass on the tee boxes a bit to keep it alive.
Last time I played this course is was soggy and very cold. Green fees ( oxymoron) $5What I found out was that white balls on browned off pasture are practically invisible. I lost 5 balls in 18 holes. I was almost standing on the ball a few times and almost missed it. Overall I was pretty happy with the Nike Driver giving me nice draw shape tee shots. I only clipped one tree, which was pretty good because I was aiming right side and letting them rip. Since I got home I have adjusted the loft to 11.5 to see if I can get a bit more hang time. Some of the shots were a bit low, even though I was trying to hit up on the ball. I will try a higher tee next time too to see if that is a help. I hit all the Bazooka irons quite well once I worked out to aim 10 m right of my target to allow for the draw shape. The 3 iron was a bit hooky, so I really had to concentrate on not letting the face shut too much. I used the Tour Edge HP4 (later design than the Bazookas/ looks more like a Cleveland Launcher) PW to good effect getting the chip shots onto the scrape. The SW got one use when I hit the tree branch with the Tee shot and advanced the ball to the corner pf the 90 degree bend in the fairway. On the scrapes the Arc Master putter is a weapon. I just took aim at the hole and let it go. More often than not it worked O.K. I think I will use this set for all my Vets Scrapes games this season.
I have ordered a box of orange balls for my up coming tour of inland Victoria and Eyre Peninsula. I think they will be easier to find
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After playing in the hottest town in Victoria yesterday ( Portland: how unusual !) we are heading to Harrow today. It is about 150 Km inland North of Portland. It is going to be even hotter . This must be our 2 days of summer.
Anyway Harrow has a nice scrapes course that I will play on Saturday when it cools down. I will take my travel set of Tour Edge draw biased clubs. The Iron- Hybrid style club has a lot of off set for anti slice and it will train me to be confident to aim right and blast, knowing that the ball wont go right at all. The lack of confidence to do this is what shot down my tee shots on the front nine yesterday.I tested my hypothesis on the range immediately after the game yesterday. I aimed right side of fairway, set up for the draw shape and most of the shots went back to centre. Confidence and Commitment! AT least I learned that my fade set up will give me a reliable straight shot if I loose the draw shot on any day. I loose about 10 m with the fade, but find the fairway.
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Crap! 94 OTS/26 points.
I missed almost all the fairways on the front 9. I wasn’t committing to aiming right of centre for draw shape shots and the ball ended up left rough, or worse, a lot.
I was short with all my putts on the front 9 when the greens were wet and sand was sticking to the ball. I I hit 6 three putts..
Back 9 I decided to try to hit fades off the tee and proceeded to hit the next 7 fairways. I tried to hit my putts past the hole. As the greens dried the ball went past the hole a few times, but only one three putt.
My approach shots were not all that bad, but my aim was off a bit right side. I hit 8 GIR, but the putting issue!!!Played Kooralbyn off the blue tees today – off 13 for the day because the slope and scratch ratings are so high
Started wipe finished wipe6 pars 8 bogies 2 doubles 1 triple 1 wipe
6/14 fairways – 3 dropped shots including 2 lost off the tee hooks (1 reload 1 hazard), a couple others that tested the approach, but overall drove reasonably well
4 GIR – this was the disappointing part of the day – dropped 10 shots with poor approaches mostly fat – work to do
3/8 up and downs – not too bad overall – didn’t get any good bounces but plenty of poor ones.
33 putts – no 3 putts but also didn’t drop anything good either
Some good signs but those fat approach shots are not good
I don’t know what is more disappointing, missing the greens, or hitting lots of GIR and then missing lots of putts like I did today!
Such is golf/ life.5 days cowering at home from non- existent virus didn’t help my golf game. My front porch area and decking look look better for it though.
I played at 8:15 this morning trying to beat the heat. The greens were wet and look as if they had been sanded again. I will blame that for my multiple 3 putts ( 6) . That and my inability to keep the ball on the fairway on the front 9 holes explain my score of 94.
Two Steps
1) Once I accepted that any attempt to draw the ball would possibly hook, I started to hit fairways ( 7/14) it cost me 5 shots chipping back onto the fairway
2) I hit a lot of straight tee shots with decent distance on the back 9.One Step back
Aim issues crept in today. I should have trusted my draw would work and hit down the right side of the fairway. Aim with my hybrids was almost the opposite. I over did the aim right thing and they went right ( one OOB) . 3 penalty strokes today in total. + 6 extra putts + 5 chip outs! Oh well. next game.I am answering my own question. Rule 9.4 says that other than on the teeing area or green, If I move the ball with a practice stroke, I need to replace the ball and play it from there for one penalty. If I hit it from where it moved to, it is a two stroke penalty.
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I played nine holes with my son-in-law and my 2 year old grandson in the cart yesterday. New age baby sitting! We took in turns to make sure the little fella didn’t run into a swinging club. He is fast! He took great delight in hammering a red castle tee into the ground then hitting the ball with a plastic club. We might have another leftie in the family!
My son -in-law made par for the 9. He was happy!
I was trying to keep the ball in play off the tee. I did O.K. except on an attempted fade that went left on hole 6 and clipped the trees. Same on hole 9. I have realized that my fade shot is essentially going straight, so I need to aim where I want it to go, not left of and expecting a fade at the end. I practised my hybrid shots and hit a few good ones. I played 10 & 11 alone until I caught up with a 4-some on 12, so I quit. I was hungry!
My score was 2 pars, 8 bogeys and one double. I hit several 200 m > drives. Only one three putt on a par 5 ( on for 4 after my 207 m drive rolled under a pine tree and my punch out shot clipped the tree).2 users liked this post.
