Course: Battlefield Golf Club
Date: October 28, 2021
Time: 8:00 AM
Conditions: 60* & overcast - Coolin off!
WITB:
Ping G425 LST 9* (turned to 8*) with Diamana D+ 60X
Ping G400 Stretch 3W 13* (turned to 12.5*) with Diamana D+ 70X
Taylormade SIM2 Max 4W 16.5* with Mitsubishi MMT 70TX
Srixon ZX5/ZX7 Combo irons 4-PW; +3/4” 2* Up; KBS Ctaper Lite X-Stiff
Mizuno MP T20 50, 54, 58 Wedges with DG Tour Issue S400
Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7 36”
All data and screenshots below are done using the V1 Game app. Grab the app today and start shooting lower scores today!
Snuck back out for one more round this week before the rain comes in tomorrow and I get buried in MBA Accounting Homework and College Football. Hooked up with a new golfing buddy who has a similar game and even though we didn’t have any money on the line, there’s an unspoken friendly competition that pushes me to want to play well.
The range was closed, so no warm-up. Head to the first and go.
Hole #1
Good first drive left me in the fairway, but a bit of a tough lie. Ball was above my feet on a tight, almost hardpan area of the fairway sloping away from the fairway bunker. I grabbed 4i to try and get home in 2, but the lie was in my head and the contact was poor. The ball came out off the toe and hit the hill to the right, dying in the thick rough. Horrible result, but par 5 and I could still get on for my third easily, so not a total disaster. I grabbed a 9i, and threw it straight up in the air. It hit on the back portion of the green and settled just on the fringe about 35 feet away. I took putter from the fringe and it never left the cup. Unexpected birdies are the best kind of birdies! Zero putt start! Here we go!
Score: -1 (-1)
Hole #2
Forced a little bit of a cut off the tee here, but it was to a safe number and left me a good angle into this green. The hole plays uphill and is always a little extra than you think, but out of the rough I was worried about a jumper, so I hit 8i and left it just off the edge of the green. I hit a bump and run PW that I thought would bend down toward the hole, but it stayed high and left. The putt wouldn’t allow me to be aggressive because an aggressive miss would run away forever, so I trickled it to an inch and tapped in for bogey to get back to even.
Score: +1(E)
Hole #3
Busted this drive, but pulled it a little left of my target line and it didn’t come back at all. I thought it might be dead off the tee, but it carried the junk into the open area and I had a short wedge in from the rough. I hit my 58* a little wide right, and short, but long on this hole is dead, so 2 putts to get in from 22 feet was just fine by me. Par and we go.
Score: E (E)
Hole #4
Maybe the worst swing of the day right here, to be honest. Not sure what I was doing, but the swing was rough, the follow-through was ugly, the contact was poor. Low, skanky PW that went right and kicked right after it landed. I hit a stabby 58* that flew long and past the hole and my first lag putt wasn’t great. It missed the hole and ran down the slope toward the water, settling about 8 feet away. Just missed the comebacker and tapped in for a horrendous double bogey. Rough par 3 play today.
Score: +1 (+1)
Hole #5
Not sure I could have hit this drive any harder or straighter. It came off hot over the corner and disappeared over the slope, but it looked perfect, and as we drove up to it, it certainly was. 316 yards in the dead center of the fairway. The only problem was I had 54 yards off a tight lie, which isn’t exactly a comfy number for me. I flew the ball hole high hoping it would spin and stop, but it released a bit and I had 15 feet. Just missed the birdie putt on the amateur side and tapped in for par. Solid.
Score: E (+1)
Hole #6
I decided under no circumstances was I going to aim left of the green today. I’ve been in the crap on the left so many times, I might as well start paying rent over there, so today I talked myself into a more aggressive target line. I hit a good PW, but it hit the right edge of the green and released off the edge into the short stuff just right of the green. Another PW bump and run was solid, but settled a little shorter than I’d hoped, leaving me 10 feet for par. Left the par putt outside the cup about a foot and tapped in for bogey. No bueno.
Score: +1 (+2)
Hole #7
No other way to say this….I cold topped a 4w off this tee into an absolutely horrific lie about a hundred yards in front of the tee box. Not a bad swing, but I think I teed it too low, and just hit it incredibly low on the face. The ball was settled way down in the rough, but I hit a great recovery 4i that cut just off the edge of the bunker and settled behind it, leaving me a short wedge into the green. Unfortunately I hit the wedge a couple grooves low too and it came out HOT and long left of the green. An average wedge and 2 putts left me with double. Par would have been tough after that awful tee shot, but should have been no worse than bogey. Can’t compound a bad tee shot with a really crappy wedge. Just doesn’t ever work out very well.
Score: +2 (+5)
Hole #8
No you’re not seeing things, folks. This was a 228 yard driver! It was about as poorly as I can hit it. Low out of the heel, it came out low and just peeled hard right dying in the rough. I still had an ok look with 7i, but blocked it a bit into a crosswind, and it came up short right. A pitch and 2 putts meant bogey, but #s 8 & 9 at Battlefield should be birdie looks, so bogey here feels like double. Tough scene.
Score: +1 (+6)
Hole #9
Good drive here that just cut a little right of my target, but left me in a good spot with a short wedge in. I hit the wedge ok, but it didn’t take the slope toward the hole I hoped it would, and it stayed 20 feet from the cup. No sweat, I saw a great line, felt like I had a good feel for the pace, and boom, 20-foot bomb to close out the front with a bird! Needed that!!
Score: -1 (+5)
Hole #10
Not a terrible drive here, but not great. Just hitting some spinny heel-cuts today with the driver, which is not typical. That said, I hit a great PW for my 2nd to the back tier of the green, and had 30 feet for birdie. The first lag putt was just too long and I had 6 feet coming back to the stick and missed on the edge. Nothin like a 3-putt bogey!
Score: +1 (+6)
Hole #11
Good strike here, but started it a little too far right of my intended target and it settled just in the first cut next to the green. Hit a great pitch to 2 feet and tapped in for a nice, solid par. On a day with poor par 3 play, it was nice to hit it flush, even if wasn’t the result I wanted, and the bump and run has potential, but its tough when I’m not playing as often as I was, to keep the feel.
Score: E (+6)
Hole #12
I hit this drive well, but the wind was across and I hit a pretty healthy cut, so it didn’t fly as long as normal, but it left me in the middle of the fairway, so great result. I can’t explain why I did what I did next, other than that I’ve missed this green high on the hill left the last handful of times I’ve played. So I aimed center-right on the green, and hit a block cut, that splashes into the water hazard. Just a poor shot, poor strategy, not committed to it…..just bad. I took my drop, and my wedge came out hot and to the back of a green that slopes hard down to the cup. 2 putts and another double. Freakin A! Just horrific play and should have made birdie after that drive.
Score: +2 (+8)
Hole #13
I was a little bit between clubs here. I had 143 to the stick, but wind into me. Probably should have hit 9i, but I was worried about flying it too long, and PW got caught up in the wind, and came up about 10 yards short. I pitched a gap wedge up onto the green, but it came out a little bit hot. The 2nd hop almost dunked in the hole, but it rolled past and stopped about 15 feet behind the hole. I am terrible at keeping the ball below the hole, and this downhill putt was scary, so I trickled it down to a couple inches and tapped in for bogey. Things are not going great on this back side….
Score: +1 (+9)
Hole #14
I hit another bomb here, but the group ahead of us waived us through so we were rushing just a little bit. I flushed my 2nd shot with a 7i from 186, but it jumped out of the rough and the wind carried it forever. It flew the green long right, which is the miss there, but it carried much longer than I expected. I had to punch out of some long grass and it settled on the edge of the green. No big deal, I still had a putt for birdie from the fringe and thought I’d make par at worst. Well there was a huge slope between me and the hole, and the ball didn’t quite take the slope, so I had a downhill 24 footer for par and I just missed it. Bogey. Blah. So many self-inflicted wounds during this round, but wait! …..there’s more!
Score: +1 (+10)
Hole #15
Hit an awesome tee shot here into the wind that never left its line and settled pin high left of the green in the rough. I hit a nice little 58* but carried too far and it settled about 25 feet from the cup. I nestled the first one close and tapped in for par, but if I’d just hit the first, it’s a birdie. Had the perfect line, but just not enough pace.
Score: E (+10)
Hole #16
Another par 3, another high spinny, wipey fade. It just wasn’t a great shot, and it settled in the rough with a pretty good look to pitch it straight forward up the slope to the green. Unfortunately I hit yet another wedge that came out hot and just flew too long. I had like 50 feet coming back to the cup for par, and I STUBBED my first putt. Hit the ground on the way to hit the ball. Amateur hour stuff….so I had another 25 feet for bogey and it missed on the left. Knocked the last one in for another double on a par 3. WASTING shots today.
Score: +2 (+12)
Hole #17
I was already pretty frustrated with how the round was going, and I got to the 17th tee ready to unload and give myself a look at birdie or eagle. Instead, I took a huge swing, but kept the face open and blocked it right and we never found it. This is the only OB on the entire course, so I had to re-tee and I pulled the next one about 310 yards up the left. I hit a solid 7i from 180 that rode the wind and carried to the back half of the green, before settling in the fringe. I nestled the PW bump and run to 4 feet and tapped in for bogey. A decent recovery after a terrible result with the tee shot, but I just made so many stupid mistakes that were unnecessary.
Score: +1 (+13)
Hole #18
Was hoping this ball up the left would cut, but I wasn’t mad about it, because I was nearly pin-high left and had a short pitch onto the 18th green. The ball released a bit past the cup and my birdie look just missed on the edge. Tapped in for a closing par, and an 83. Not my best. Not my worst.
Score: E (+13)
Total Score: 83 (+13)
I wasn’t thrilled with the 40 on the front, but it wasn’t bad, so the 43 on the back was absolutely disgusting. It’s not the score. 83 isn’t great, but it’s not awful. I recognize that. It’s much more that I just absolutely wet the bed a couple times and shot myself in the foot. That V1 screengrab above shows potential at 77 and that feels about right. The putter was cold today and I didn’t feel like I made anything other than the long bomb from the fringe on 1 and the birdie on 9.
THREE KEYS BREAKDOWN:
Penalties: Two penalties today, which is about average, but these penalties today were just stupid. Any penalties with a club other than driver in my hand really tick me off, and the wedge from the middle of the fairway was just a round killer. The OB drive on 17 is bad and ticks me off, but I at least recovered and made bogey. Compounding a bad wedge with another bad wedge makes that penalty worth almost 2 strokes.
2-Chips: Only 1 today. Gotta continue to get these out of my game. On the whole I got the ball on the green, but I didn’t chip and pitch it very close all day. So fewer two-chips, but poor short game all day.
Three-Putts: Three of em today. Brutal! Last time out I made 120+ feet of putts, and today I made 52 feet. That’s incredible. Massive difference, and the scorecard shows it. I didn’t turn any bogeys into pars or doubles into bogeys. Putter has been great all summer/season though, so no reason to panic. Just an off day.
Current Handicap: 8.1 (Going to 8.4)
Grint is showing 8.1, but says I’m going to 8.4 which is the wrong direction. Just not playing as often/consistently as I was, but no excuse. Need to get this turned around and heading back down below an 8. That’s the goal. Good news is that brutal 99 from 12 Oaks in Raleigh is almost off the card. If nothing else, I’ll just feel better about that, regardless of my handicap.
Scorecard/Heat Map:
Not pretty today. Lotts missed greens and a lot of dark red on the back. I need to really work on the mental aspect of being fully committed to each shot. I hit it well for a lot of the day, but often followed up the good shots with poor shots and the result was a mediocre 83. I know that’s golf, but once you’ve shot a few low ones, you just want to shoot more. Gotta keep grinding!