Joey's Golf Bag

This weekend, Johnnie and I played the GGA away tournament at Squaw Valley Golf Club in Glen Rose, TX. Last Thursday, we held the Calcutta auction for the tournament, and Johnnie and I paid $200 for our team. On Saturday, we were up at the crack of dawn and on the range before our 8AM start. I warmed up poorly, but had a good putting warmup. We went off #14 on the Comanche Lakes course in a shotgun start. My first tee shot was well-struck, clearing the water on this long par-5 hole nicely in the middle of the fairway. Two shots later I was on the green in regulation and 2-putted for par to open the tournament. Seventeen holes later, I had shot my personal best score, 87. Johnnie had a pretty good round of 96, and by the magic of handicap, our best ball total was 80 gross and 55 net. We were 4 shots up on our Calcutta flight and tied for the overall lead (net), after the first day.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit a total of 6 fairways, and had two penalties off the tee (balls in the water on #11 and #13). I didn’t hit any of the par-3 holes in regulation.
• Approach shots. I hit 4 holes in regulation and had one penalty on an approach shot (ball in the water going for the green in two on #2). My approach shots were better than indicated, as I was often putting from just off the green, which makes my putting stats better and my approach stats worse.
• Wedges. My wedges were pretty good on this day.
• Chipping. I didn’t have any chips, instead, putting when close to the green.
• Sand shots. I didn’t hit into any bunkers.
• Putting. My putting was good, as I had only 28 total putts and had eight 1-putt greens. I missed all of my birdie putts and had but a single 3-putt.

On the second day, we pretty much followed the script from the first day, except going off on #17. Despite hitting my first fairway (and the next five fairways), I played the first hole poorly, making double bogey. I did bounce back with a nice 15 ft putt holed for birdie on #18, but the rest of my game on Sunday wasn’t very good. Fortunately, Johnnie had a good day, shooting 90, so with my 95 and the magic of handicapping, we shot 84 gross and net 59. Our two day total of 114 gave us a victory by 5 shots (net). We didn’t win gross, naturally (coming in at 164, well off the winning score of 123). We also won our flight in the Calcutta draw — the big money!

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit my first 6 fairways, but hit the 7th drive out of bounds left. I hit only two more after that for a total of 8 fairways hit.
• Approach shots. Not good. I hit only four greens in regulation. I sprayed balls everywhere but on the green. And two of the shots weren’t close, as I three-putted two of them (but did nail a putt for birdie).
• Wedges. How bad can it get? Here’s how bad: Three shanks, and three balls hit thin over the green. Terrible.
• Chipping. No chips today, that’s how far I was from the green most of the day.
• Sand shots. I hit into two greenside bunkers and two fairway bunkers. I got out nicely from one fairway bunker with an 8-iron, but hit a pitching wedge from another fairway bunker a little fat and not more than 50 yds. One of the two greenside bunker shots was good, but the other barely got out.
• Putting. I had two 3-putts, but other than that, had a pretty good putting day with 32 putts, including one for birdie. I had six 1-putt greens, but none of them was for par.

Not a very good day for me, but we still managed to shoot 59 (net), so I’m not complaining. These two scores were my two best tournament scores, so I was pretty happy with how I played over two days. My main improvement was putting (28 on Saturday and 32 on Sunday). The rest of my game continues to improve slowly, but much, much work remains to be done. But, finally, progress!