Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I played day 2 of the GGA Championship. I went off at 8:30AM and finished at 12:45PM. The weather again was warm and sunny, with only a slight variable wind. The greens had a thick layer of dew when we went off but had burned off by the third hole.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Again, very mixed off the tee. I had two penalties off the tee, both lost in the woods. I hit a total of six fairways and also two of the par-3 holes in regulation.
• Approach shots. Again, very mixed bag. I hit two greens in regulation (in addition to the two par-3 holes), but also had a penalty (ball lost in the woods).
• Wedges. I didn’t have a good wedge shot all day, hitting several left short of the hole (and one in a greenside bunker).
• Chipping. My chipping wasn’t great today, but I did manage to get up-and-down four times, though not always for par.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one greenside bunker today, and I hit that ball well over the green on the first hole of Bluebonnet. I did manage to get the ball back out of the woods that time with a pretty nifty recovery shot.
• Putting. I hit two long putts, but also had a 4-putt (!) and two 3-putts. I had a total of 37 putts today, simply terrible. I lipped out at least 3 putts and left a couple an inch or two short.

Wow, what a weird day. I putted terribly, yet shot one shot better than yesterday. I turned a potential 92 into a 100 with poor putting.

Update: I came in 5th (gross) for the 2-day tournament.

This morning, I played the first day of the Grapevine Golf Association Tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. I went off at 11:30 and finished at 4:05. We played from the blue tees and went off on Mockingbird followed by Pecan. The day was very warm and sunny, not much wind, and the temperature was above 90F by the time we finished.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Oh, boy, how bad can it get? I had 5 penalties, and three of them were off the tee. I hit only 4 fairways, although I did hit two of the par-3 holes in regulation (in fact, I played the par-3 holes at +1).
• Approach shots. If tee shots were bad, approach shots were worse. I didn’t hit any greens in regulation. I had two penalties off approach shots.
• Wedges. My full wedges were poor, but my pitching with the wedges was pretty darn good. I managed to get up-and-down six times (some of these were chipping), though not usually for par.
• Chipping. My chipping was pretty good today. I hit the pin on one chip and had two others within 3 ft.
• Sand shots. From one fairway bunker, it took me three shots to get out. I played the wrong type of shot trying to get out. I won’t make that mistake again. I got out cleanly on all greenside bunkers, but none were close enough to get up-and-down.
• Putting. Other than two three-putts, my putting was good today. I had a total of 32 putts. The Odyssey 3-ball putter is proving its worth (at Coyote Ridge last week had 31 putts).

Not my best day, but if I had been able to not three-putt twice and not hit so many poor drives, I would have had a good day.

Update: My score was good enough for 4th place (gross); I tied the 3rd place player, but he got me on tiebreakers.

Yesterday afternoon, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Course on a warm, sunny day. We went off at about 12:15PM and finished four hours later. I arrived early to warm up, and I was pretty pleased with it. I’ve been working, almost exclusively, on getting good impact on the ball, specifically, keeping my hands ahead of the ball at impact. I had varying degrees of success.

My round:

• First hole. I hit a 7-wood off the tee into the left side of the fairway, and hit a good 7-iron to about 35 ft left of the hole. Unfortunately, I three-putted for bogey.
• Second hole. I pushed a driver well right of the fairway. The ball ended up nearly on the 8th fairway. From there, I hit a pretty good 4-hybrid just short of the greenside bunkers. From there, I hit a good pitching wedge about 35 ft left of the hole. Again, I three-putted for bogey. Yeech!
• Third hole. I hit a 5-iron pin-high, but 35 ft right of the green. I used a sand wedge to chip onto the green, and the ball curled in for birdie. Woop!
• Fourth hole. I pushed my driver a bit right and ended up as usual in the big ditch to the right of the fairway. I chunked my first hybrid about 30 ft, then hit a good shot into the center of the fairway. From there, I had a 7-iron into the green, and I hit it to about 25 ft. I missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. I hit a seemingly perfect drive right over the left fairway bunkers, only to find my ball about a foot to the right of the fairway bunker another 40 yds beyond the first two. I had no choice but to punch a ball as far as I could, as my feet were a good 2 ft below the ball. I chipped short and two-putted for bogey.
• Sixth hole. I hit another long drive, but it hit the second fairway bunker. I pulled my 8-iron over the green, chunked my first chip, then hit a second one to about 6 ft, but missed that putt and tapped in for double.
• Seventh hole. As I hit the shot, the wind strengthened in my face, and I hit the ball short left into the bunker. My bunker shot wasn’t close to the hole and I two-putted for bogey.
• Eighth hole. My drive was pushed well right to the right of the third bunker. I hit a 5-iron very thin short of the greenside bunker. I shanked my wedge into the bunker. I hit my bunker shot about a foot short of perfect, and it hung in the fringe (another foot, and it would have run down to the hole). I putted from the fringe long and hit my return putt for double.
• Ninth hole. I hit a very nice 7-wood off the tee into the right side of the fairway. My second 7-wood was about 40 yds short of the green. My pitch was well short, and then my putt was well short. I finished the front by three-putting for double.
• Tenth hole. I hit a very nice 7-wood perfectly into the preferred spot on the fairway. My next 7-wood was very poor, going through a small tree and ending up right of the cart path. I had no shot to the green due to another tree, so I hit a lay-up with the pitching wedge to just in front of the creek in front of the green. Here, I hit my worst shot all day, a topped pitching wedge into the creek. My next pitching wedge was hit into the deep greenside bunker. I hit another (nearly) perfect bunker shot that, had it gone one more foot, would have rolled right down to the hole. Instead, again, it hung on the fringe and I two-putted from there for a baseball team.
• Eleventh hole. My 5-iron was hooked well left of the green on a steep down slope to the green protected by a bunker. I used a lob wedge to pitch over the bunker, but the ball didn’t stop on the green but rolled down the slope on the other side of the green. I was left with a very steep shot up to the green. I hit a pretty good chip using a sand wedge to about 7 ft and made the putt for bogey.
• Twelth hole. My driver was hit well but right into the first fairway bunker on the right, up against the lip. I tried to get a pitching wedge on it, but the ball hit the lip and ended up between the second and third fairway bunkers. I hit a pretty good iron from there just short of the green. I chipped to about 4 inches and tapped in for bogey.
• Thirteenth hole. I hit a decent 7-wood just left of the fairway in the rough. I hit a poor 7-iron just short of the right greenside bunker. I hit a pretty good pitch with the sand wedge to about 15 ft and made the putt for par. Woop!
• Fourteenth hole. My 7-iron was hit weakly right into the deep greenside bunker. I shanked my sand shot and had to hit another one, this time going past the hole about 8 ft. I missed the putt and tapped in for double.
• Fifteenth hole. I popped up my drive but into the fairway. My second shot with the 4-wood cleared the two center bunkers, leaving me an approach wedge to the green. That shot was short and left. I chipped from there to about 10 ft and missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Sixteenth hole. My 4-wood hit a tree right of the fairway and dropped into the rough. My iron was poorly struck and ended up under a pine tree, so I had to take an unplayable. My fourth shot was not well-struck and ended up well short. I hit an approach wedge 30 ft short of the hole. My putt was nicely judged but missed and I tapped in for triple.
• Seventeenth hole. My 7-wood ended up just right of the fairway but with a clear shot to the green. I hit a 9-iron pin-high but just right of the green. My chip was left a little short, and I missed that putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Eighteenth hole. I badly chunked my tee shot with the 7-wood. My next 7-wood ended up at the top of the hill. My pitching wedge from there went just over the green. My chip was good, but my putt wasn’t, and I tapped in for double.

Fun day of golf, really only got irritated on the 10th, when I chunked the ball into the creek, and my series of bad shots on 16. I can see a bit of improvement, despite very limited practice time.

9-under 62 and seven shot lead.

Art and fashion, and no mention of golf.

Black Flamingo

Michelle is going to win, and soon.

$175,000 down to $175. That’s a pretty good cost reduction for testing grooves.

Of course, this groove testing is all for naught. The players will get softer balls and learn new techniques, and bomb and gouge golf will continue unabated on the PGA Tour.

Golfweek | USGA takes on-site groove testing for a spin.

Interestingly, the USGA developed its field test in-house. As the story goes, over a year ago the USGA purchased a state-of-the-art, 3-D optical-measurement device to analyze grooves. The price tag: $175,000.

“It was absurd to think of taking the machine on Tour,” Rugge said.

What to do? Well, after much experimenting the USGA settled on a solution featuring the V500 Epson flatbed scanner. Retail price: $175.

“We got the first one from Staples,” Rugge said.

On-site, here’s how it works. The USGA takes a mold of the grooves using two putty-like materials. Then a section of the mold (which takes 10 minutes to be cured) is sliced off with a device Rugge calls “the bagel cutter.” The mold is placed on the scanner and analyzed by a software program developed in conjunction with the R&A.