Joey's Golf Bag

Last Sunday, John and I played 18 at North Texas Golf, going around twice on a gorgeous, sunny day. Due to rain from Hurricane Ike on the previous day, the range was not open, and we weren’t able to warm up before we played.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I wasn’t able to warm up, and it showed with my poor performance off the tee. I hit only 5 of 18 greens (I’d hit 5 of 9 the last time I’d played this course). My worst two shots: a pull out of bounds on the 2nd hole (first time around), and a dead shank on the 6th hole (second time around). I had all sorts of faults, but the main one was poor trajectory control, as I was hitting the ball way too high, which left me short on many holes.
• Chips. I had some good chips, as I got up and down six times (not always for par). My finest shot was on the sixth hole. I’d shanked the tee shot onto the middle of the 7th “fairway” in some deep rough, but I hit a nearly perfect 40 yd sand wedge to two feet and tapped in for birdie.
• Sand shot. None, as I didn’t hit into any bunkers.
• Putting. On the first nine, I had 15 putts, including a three-putt on the eighth hole. On the second nine, I had 18 putts, which included 2 three-putts, both on greens I hit in regulation. I was not happy with the way I putted, although I was pretty respectable on the first nine, but the second nine was really poor. And there is simply NOTHING I hate worse than 3-putting a green I hit in regulation.

Not getting a chance to warm up was really disappointing, as I almost have never played a round of golf without hitting some balls to get loose. Afterward, the range was open and we did get to hit a few balls. I worked out whatever faults I had and hit some nice balls on the range. I’ll need to figure out how to get my swing going when I’m not able to hit some balls before a round.