Joey's Golf Bag

On Friday, I played 18 holes at Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson, TX. The morning was cool and cloudy, but eventually the clouds cleared and the day became sunny and warm.

I must say that, because of the my previous disasters on 18-hole courses, I had a tough time sleeping, dreaming of all the bad things that had happened before. Not helping was the previous week’s disaster at Hank Haney Golf Ranch, where I had posted my worst score (that I’ll admit to, anyway, 😉 ). When I arrived at the course, I was very nervous and jittery. I warmed up by hitting a few balls, starting out with the 7-iron and hitting a few half and full swing shots. I then hit some longer irons and started to get pretty good tempo going. Finally, I pulled out the driver and hit one of the best drives I’d ever hit, a perfect draw right down the middle of the range. Elated, I went to the putting green, where the speed of the greens took some major adjusting before I putted well. Despite the speed, I still had a tendency to leave the putts short, and that problem would plague me all day.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I had a pretty respectable day with the driver today. On the first hole, I hit a high fade clear over the trees on the right into the 2nd fairway into a group of balls that had been hit off the tee by a group playing that hole. After they all hit, I went to the remaining ball, to find… not my ball! One of that group had played on with my ball! Oh well, I dropped another ball where mine had landed, hit a good shot over the trees back into the 1st fairway and played on, making a par on the 1st, my first ever par on a par-5 hole. On the second, hit a perfect drive down the middle. I ended up hitting six fairways, not very good, but pretty good for me. I also hit the green off the tee on the par-3 sixth and thirteen holes. On the 17th hole, hit a perfect 4-iron off the tee into a great position on the right hand side of the fairway.
• Fairway woods / irons. I only took the 3-metal out of the bag once, on the par-5 fifth. I had hit my drive into the left rough behind some trees. I had a good lie, so I attempted to hit a draw with the 3-metal. Complete disaster: I pulled the shot, hit a tree and ended up in the rough on the right side of fairway, where I had to punch out with an 8-iron. I had some very good approach shots with the 4-iron, hitting the center of the green on the 16th hole from 172 yds, and hitting another 4-iron from 175 yds pin high, but right of the green on the 17th. I chunked a 5-iron, but don’t remember which hole. I hit a perfect 8-iron from the fairway 15 ft right of the pin on the 18th, probably my best driving and approach hole all day.
• Short wedge shots. Not very good today. On the 10th hole, I hit a great drive just right into the rough to the left of the green, leaving an 80 yd shot to the flag. I promptly hit it thin over the green. My only great wedge shot of the day was on the third hole, where I knocked the ball to 2 ft to save bogey, following a second 7-iron tee shot right of the hole, after dumping the first one into the water. I hit into the sand on two holes and got out of the sand on both, but not close to the holes.
• Chipping. Not a good day at all, generally left the chips short due to the speed of the greens. This was one of the places where, had I done better, my score would have been a lot better.
• Putting. Not bad, my main difficulty all day was leaving putts short. I managed to 4-jack the ninth hole, though, after hitting the green in regulation. I missed all my birdie putts.
• Other items of interest. I had three penalties today, one on the par-3 third hole, where I sliced a 7-iron into the water. I had two penalties on the 12th: the first a booming hook off the tee over the trees on the left into the water. I also popped the drop into water on the other side of the fairway when my punch shot under the trees faded instead of going straight as I had planned. Made triple on that hole.

I had a tremendous day of golf today, breaking 100 for the first time by eight shots! The day could have been much better, but I’m extremely happy to have broken into double digits. This day validated all the hard work I’ve done this spring. I hope there are many more good days to come.