Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I played 18 at the Indian Creek Golf Course on the Lakes course. We went off just before 10AM and finished about 3 hours and 40 minutes later. I like fast golf. The weather was very cold when we got to the course (mid-40s), but had warmed into the 60s by the finish. I shed two layers of clothes along the way. The course was playing firm, though there were puddles in some areas due to recent rains, and the greens had recently been sanded.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. After several weeks of pretty good driving, my driver took the day off. I hit only 6 fairways today. I had problems hooking my tee shots today. I also hit one of the par-3 holes in regulation. I was in the woods far more than I usually am.
• Approach shots. I hit four greens in regulation (good), but also had two penalties on approach shots. One ball was lost left of the green on #5 (a hook) and one trickled into the water on #14 (a topped, pushed 5-iron). My fairway woods were worm burners today for some reason, but since the fairways were firm and fast, still managed to have short irons or wedges into the par-5 holes. My misses today were mostly hooks.
• Wedges. My full wedges were pretty good. My pitches were mediocre, as I only got up and down twice.
• Chipping. I didn’t do any chipping today, instead, used the putter near the green.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one bunker, the right hand greenside bunker on #17. I didn’t get out the first time (took too much sand) and went over the flag on the second (not enough sand).
• Putting. My putting was marginally better today, as I had only two 3-putts. However, I still had a problem leaving my putts short. 36 total putts.

Well, my scores are trickling downward, my iron play is improving, but driving balls into the tree meant I was unable to really give my irons a chance. This was my first bad driving day in quite a while. I had too many recovery shots to execute today because of that. Still, beats working.

Welcome back, we’ve missed you.

I played 18 with the Shriners at Grapevine Golf Course on a cool, cloudy day with a little rain on the first 3 holes. We went off about 9:30AM on Mockingbird and finished on Bluebonnet. We were cart-path only, but the course was still pretty firm and fast. We finished about 4-1/2 hours later, not bad for cart-path only, which greatly slows down play.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit 7 of 14 fairways, and two of the four par-3 holes in regulation. However, I had three penalties off the tee, a hook into the woods on #2, a pull into the trees on #9 on Bluebonnet, and a push into the woods on #3 on Mockingbird. On all but the hook, had I played a 4-wood (the proper club) instead of a driver, I wouldn’t have had two of those penalties.
• Approach shots. I hit four greens-in-regulation, in addition to two of the par-3 holes in regulation. I had one penalty, a sliced 4-wood that trickled into the water on #1 on Bluebonnet. Otherwise, a pretty good improvement over my last round.
• Wedges. Pretty good on the front, pretty bad on the back. Because of my complete inability to make a putt, I didn’t get up-and-down a single time, despite pitches as close as 4 ft to the pin.
• Chips. I only chipped once, and it was a stinker.
• Sand shots. I didn’t hit into any bunkers today. Hooray!
• Putting. Simply awful. I thought my putting was bad on Sunday, this was worse. I had no one-putt greens, and had four 3-putts. Pathetic.

Well, my game (except putting) is showing some signs of improvement. 6 GIR is the best I’ve done since last year at Cowboys Golf Club. My wedges were good on the front, though lacking on the back. My course management was bad; two of the penalties would have been avoided if I’d used a 4-wood off the tee instead of the driver. My increased distance with the driver brought trouble that I’d not been able to reach before. I turned a potential 80’s score into a 96 today with poor course management and even worse putting.

This afternoon, Jarvis and I walked 18 at Tenison Highlands golf course in Dallas. We went off at 2:30PM and finished just before dark, on a gorgeous, sunny day. The course was pretty backed up all day; we waited to tee off on most of the holes. The course was playing firm and fast, but the greens were bumpy and most lies were hardpan with barely any base of dormant bermuda.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit 7 of 14 fairways in regulation. Most of my misses were pushes to the right. I hit only one of 4 par-3 holes in regulation. I continue to drive the ball pretty well.
• Approach shots. Pretty poor, although I did hit two greens in regulation. I was in the middle of the fairway several times with a pitching wedge or 9-iron in my hand, and failed to hit the green. My biggest difficulty all day was hitting fairway woods very thin, especially on 2nd shots on par-5 holes.
• Wedges. My wedges were terrible on the front nine, but they got a little better on the back. I got up and down only twice. My main miss was thin over the green.
• Chipping. I had very few chips, the best one was to about 4 ft.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one bunker, a fairway bunker. I tried to hit a 9-iron out, but hit the lip and the ball went about 40 yds.
• Putting. My putting sucked all day, the vast majority of putts I left short. I had five 3-putts and 39 putts total. This was my worst putting day in years.

Well, my play stunk today. Only my driver was hit decently today, the rest of the clubs basically sucked. Still, it was fun getting out in the great weather.