Joey's Golf Bag

On Sunday afternoon, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Club on a sunny, warm afternoon. The course was in good condition, with fast fairways and greens. The greens were a bit bumpy from the last aeration, but not too bad.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I had a mixed day off the tee. I hit nine fairways, using a variety of clubs including the driver, thriver, 4-hybrid and 5-iron. I hit only one of the par-3 holes in regulation, though I was just a foot off the green on the 7th. I had one penalty off the tee on the 2nd hole, where I hit a huge booming hook with the driver onto someone’s roof. Oops!
• Approach shots. I didn’t do particularly well with approach shots, tending to hit longer clubs with a hook and shorter clubs with a push. I hit three of the four par-5 holes in regulation, with wedges or short irons. The remaining GIR was on a par-3 hole. I had one penalty on an approach shot, when I hooked a 4-hybrid into the swamp next to the 8th fairway (I’d hit a sky ball on the drive, which is why I had to hit a hybrid into the green). My goofiest approach shot was a hybrid from a tall mound on the 4th hole. I had a severe uphill lie, and I launched the ball high into the air, where it landed on the green about 40 ft from the hole. On the 17th hole, I hit a six iron off the tee and was just in the left rough. Because of trees, I didn’t have a straight shot at the green, so I hit a high hook with the 8-iron that curved a good 30 yds to the left and landed just off the right edge of the green. That was a cool shot.
• Wedges. I had a mixed day with the wedges, tending to be a bit short.
• Sand shots. I didn’t hit into any bunkers.
• Chipping. Mixed day chipping. The good: I chipped in for birdie from the rough on the 7th hole. The bad: I chunked one about 2 ft on the 9th hole, and then hit a second chip two feet from the pin. Most of my chips were a bit long, as the greens were faster than I usually encounter. I got up and down six times, though not usually for par.
• Putting. Mixed on putting as well. Although I had 31 putts, I missed a couple of short putts, though I did hit a couple of long putts. I had two three putts: again, the bane of my golf is three-putting holes I reach in regulation, and yes, both were GIR. AAAIIIEEEYYYY!!!!

I wasn’t too happy with my play on the front nine, but I did pretty well on the back, so I left the course happy.