GOLF

[Kegory]

2 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I haven't played that stupid game for many years, what a waste of a day, belting the hell out of a little ball, going to get it & do it again.

When it is finally in the hole, it is picked up & done again.

I would rather go for a walk & then go have a beer, less stress. 

Fair enough.

I like to grumble about it but hitting a nice shot really brings a grin to my face. If I can hit more than one nice shot on the same day I'm almost ready to shout the bar. I dined out on getting par on one hole a couple of months ago, I was telling anybody who'd listen for a couple of weeks.

[ozdevil]

Arrgh life as hacker golfer.  Saturday  played 3rd round of the club champs and monthly mug.  Was a very mixed round finishing with a 79 net and my best result in the champs was 74net followed by 76 and 79net for this round.

Saturday a young lady of 36 handicap had a blinder  finishing with a 59net for the monthly mug.   Apparently only lost 4 shots .

Sunday was different ball game with the social group.  We played at my hometrack so I got there early to help the lady in the pro shop out get carts etc out.  The 1st social group 1 bloke hit a duck killing it.  So had to be the brave man  remove the duck  as there was to be some women playing as well as some junior's  so the deed was done  

Well my game had some luck on Sunday. Had 44 on the from and 43 on the back  for an 87 off the stick..   but on the 14th about 110 in wind behind so thought I would just hit my 54° wedge out. . Played the shot and sprain my wrist thinking I broke it at first it hurt.   15,16 and 17 all resulted in pars  so made the pain feel better and not unhappy finishing on a par 3 with a 4 

Oh well will be out there playing again tomorrow to hack around 

Golf can be good at times

[Tricky Micky]

54 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

Arrgh life as hacker golfer.  Saturday  played 3rd round of the club champs and monthly mug.  Was a very mixed round finishing with a 79 net and my best result in the champs was 74net followed by 76 and 79net for this round.

Saturday a young lady of 36 handicap had a blinder  finishing with a 59net for the monthly mug.   Apparently only lost 4 shots .

Sunday was different ball game with the social group.  We played at my hometrack so I got there early to help the lady in the pro shop out get carts etc out.  The 1st social group 1 bloke hit a duck killing it.  So had to be the brave man  remove the duck  as there was to be some women playing as well as some junior's  so the deed was done  

Well my game had some luck on Sunday. Had 44 on the from and 43 on the back  for an 87 off the stick..   but on the 14th about 110 in wind behind so thought I would just hit my 54° wedge out. . Played the shot and sprain my wrist thinking I broke it at first it hurt.   15,16 and 17 all resulted in pars  so made the pain feel better and not unhappy finishing on a par 3 with a 4 

Oh well will be out there playing again tomorrow to hack around 

Golf can be good at times

Good onya Oz, if there is such a thing as karma mate you're due for a cracking round of golf. Good on you for whisking the duck away from the youngin's eyes....

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, Tricky Micky said:

Good on you for whisking the duck away from the youngin's eyes....

So how did it taste? Slow cooked? 

[Otto Von Blotto]

On 11/14/2023 at 7:48 AM, Classic Brewing Co said:

I haven't played that stupid game for many years, what a waste of a day, belting the hell out of a little ball, going to get it & do it again.

When it is finally in the hole, it is picked up & done again.

I would rather go for a walk & then go have a beer, less stress. 

It's only stressful if you care where the ball goes  

[Classic Brewing Co]

Just now, Otto Von Blotto said:

It's only stressful if you care where the ball goes  

Yeah, I played for years when I was younger, I did care then, but the old knees ain't what they used to be, so it's a walk on the beach these days.

[Otto Von Blotto]

10 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yeah, I played for years when I was younger, I did care then, but the old knees ain't what they used to be, so it's a walk on the beach these days.

Yes, overall I do care where it goes, but i try to shut that out when I'm taking a shot. When I'm playing well I'm not thinking "don't pull it over there" or whatever, I'm picking a target or line and thinking "I'm gonna hit it there". 

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Yes, overall I do care where it goes, but i try to shut that out when I'm taking a shot. When I'm playing well I'm not thinking "don't pull it over there" or whatever, I'm picking a target or line and thinking "I'm gonna hit it there". 

Yeah, you have to be positive, I guess it's the same with everything really. I played high level competition Darts for years including tournaments etc. & having the right attitude got me over the line many times.

[Otto Von Blotto]

4 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yeah, you have to be positive, I guess it's the same with everything really. I played high level competition Darts for years including tournaments etc. & having the right attitude got me over the line many times.

Yep that was one of the early things my coach told me when I started having lessons - think positive about what you're doing rather than thinking of everything you shouldn't be doing. 

I always have a look at the shot ahead of course, but once I'm over the ball I try to forget about the trouble otherwise the subconscious takes over in the downswing and I flay it way off in the other direction. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Yep that was one of the early things my coach told me when I started having lessons - think positive about what you're doing rather than thinking of everything you shouldn't be doing. 

I always have a look at the shot ahead of course, but once I'm over the ball I try to forget about the trouble otherwise the subconscious takes over in the downswing and I flay it way off in the other direction. 

So true, once you master the concentration you are able to block out everything else, focus then execute.

You find it hard to be distracted when you are in full control, it feels like you are the only one in the room/course/field etc.

Of course, there always will be the odd faux pas but a true champion will be able to minimise these.

[DavidM]

Busy week of golf for me, played 6 games in 8 days, and I'm feeling a bit stuffed now!

Club Champs second round on Saturday, Played well, and qualified for the quarter-final on Sunday. My good play from Saturday did not show up on Sunday! Could not drive the ball and was playing catch up all day, went down on the 16th. The next day was Vet's at my home club and played Well again taking out third in my division, drives were back on track.

Another good game on Wednesday and my handicap has dropped a bit, down to GA 18.5 

 

[Kegory]

Played 9 at Bundoora today. It was only my third game in the last 5 or 6 weeks and I haven't practised at all so I was a little rusty. We teed off early to get in front of our course nemesis group so I didn't even get in any putting practice. Oh well, better than getting stuck behind those, err, blokes (that's not the word we usually use to refer to them; they are slow and they don't let anyone play through).

On the 2nd after a poor hit I decided it would be better to leave the fairway woods in the bag today and just stick to the irons. I had a put for par on the 4th (which I missed) but the chip onto the green was pretty good.

As we went around I started to get my touch back and played a few nice strokes. I tempted fate walking up to the 9th tee, telling my buddy, who was having a cracker of a day, that I'd managed to (at least) hit the ball every time I'd swung the club. Then I hit my best drive ever. It went straight down the fairway in a beautiful arc. It only went about 140m but it looked great.

I miss hit the next stroke but followed it up with a beautiful 70m chip onto the green. It landed a few metres in front of the flag and bounced a couple of times and rolled right up to the back of the green but it was a pretty good shot for me and I was all smiles. We both putted down hill and for some reason the ball held up and neither of us got close to the pin. The greens at Bundoora never do what you think they are going to do.

Overall I was pretty happy. I've got a lot more time on my hands for the remainder of the year so I'll be able to get in a few more games and a bit more practice. I've been playing somewhat regularly for about 2 years now and I reckon I'm about ready to actually start keeping track of my strokes.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Went to the course today to find the greens in a much better condition than last week, although still got a bit to go to get to full grass coverage. Started my usual warm up with some chipping and a few flop shots, then all of a sudden I couldn't find the middle of the club. Hit a few in the nets to loosen up and didn't really strike them that well either. Some putting to get the speed of the greens, that was alright.

I thought well this will be a fun day when I can't even chip straight, and then I proceeded to go and shoot my best round to date and win the competition. Golf eh?

[Kegory]

42 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Went to the course today to find the greens in a much better condition than last week, although still got a bit to go to get to full grass coverage. Started my usual warm up with some chipping and a few flop shots, then all of a sudden I couldn't find the middle of the club. Hit a few in the nets to loosen up and didn't really strike them that well either. Some putting to get the speed of the greens, that was alright.

I thought well this will be a fun day when I can't even chip straight, and then I proceeded to go and shoot my best round to date and win the competition. Golf eh?

 Congratulations, well done Kelsey. Mark today down in your diary.

(That's a clapping hands emoji, btw, jic you can't tell.)

[Otto Von Blotto]

20 minutes ago, Kegory said:

 Congratulations, well done Kelsey. Mark today down in your diary.

(That's a clapping hands emoji, btw, jic you can't tell.)

Thanks mate. First time shooting even for 9 holes too, and the bogey on 2 was stupid and avoidable. 

My handicap dropped 1.1 shots as well so it's going back in the right direction, back under 10 by a smidge at 9.8. 

[DavidM]

14 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I proceeded to go and shoot my best round to date and win the competition. Golf eh?

Well Played

I read that the reason for the warm up, "is to warm up"

And should not be used as an indicator of the day ahead.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Thanks mate, yeah I usually don't take much notice of how I hit shots in warm up but I'm not usually shanking chips either  

Today I went to Maleny with the social club, didn't play well on the front 9 but +5 on the back kept it respectable. I had back to back birdies on 16 (kick in range) and 17, could have had another on 15 with a short putt but it lipped out. This is one of my favourite courses up here, it's different to any others. Bit of a Scottish feel to it. That's my ball in the bunker on the last too lol

[Kegory]

36 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Thanks mate, yeah I usually don't take much notice of how I hit shots in warm up but I'm not usually shanking chips either  

Today I went to Maleny with the social club, didn't play well on the front 9 but +5 on the back kept it respectable. I had back to back birdies on 16 (kick in range) and 17, could have had another on 15 with a short putt but it lipped out. This is one of my favourite courses up here, it's different to any others. Bit of a Scottish feel to it. That's my ball in the bunker on the last too lol

Interesting looking course. I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody wandering around in a kilt.

[Otto Von Blotto]

No kilts but yeah, most of the courses up here are fairly similar to each other, parkland style tree lined fairways etc. it's nice to play something different every now and then. 

[Kegory]

Played the back 9 at Bundoora yesterday. The course was busy and we wanted to get going asap to beat the incoming rain.

I felt ready to actually start recording my strokes. I used the new, course specific app which I've used just with the GPS function the last couple of times I've played there.

Well, although my strokes are generally improving I had a shocker. If there was a tree I hit the trunk or a branch or the leaves took the the flight out of the ball. I even managed to hit the fallen branches on the ground. And I haven't practiced my putting for a while and it really showed.

There were plenty of roos with their joeys lounging around the 16th. This one and its mother were our gallery at the 15th green and 16th & 18th tees.

At least I've got a fair chance of beating that score next time I play there, I thought as we left. But when I went to check my score when I got home I couldn't find it anywhere on the app. That's probably a blessing in disguise.

I'll have to get someone from the pro shop to guide me through the app before I play next time. They don't have any instructional material online.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yesterday was a best ball so individually didn't really matter much. We ended up with 44 points as a pair, 5 behind the winners. 

Last night I stayed up way too late, probably had too many drinks and didn't get enough sleep. Rocked up about 20 minutes before tee time and had a mini warmup. Zero expectations of anything really. Perhaps it relaxed me because I shot 77 and finished second. Couldn't miss with the putter, I had 24 putts for the round which is my lowest ever I think. Handicap has dropped to 9.0, so 1.9 shots in 2 rounds. It's been great to come out of my expected form slump. I knew I would at some point, but with a month off work coming up I'm keen to see how low I can get it. Definitely aiming to get below my previous best of 8.1.

[Kegory]

I don't normally watch golf on telly but I watched some of the PGA event in Brisbane over the weekend. It was very reassuring watching the pros sometimes miss the same putts I miss, hit the ball into the trees, run the ball across the green and into the bunker, etc.

[Otto Von Blotto]

They just do it a lot less often than us, and their recovery is usually decent. I've had enough practice at recovery shots from bad drives that I'm better at choosing the smart play to avoid the big numbers and actually starting to make more pars and even the occasional birdie from out of position. It helps having a reasonable wedge game from <100m and an ever improving short game I suppose. 

I saw a stat recently that the make percentage of 10 footers on the PGA tour was 50%, so while I'm doing what they are and trying to hole them all, I don't get too worried if they miss. Longer ones I'm just trying to get it inside the "dustbin lid", if it drops it's a bonus. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Hot and humid conditions here today, which I'm used to living here, but having not played in it for half a year it did take it out of me a bit. As a result I didn't play as well as I'd like, but I can't expect to shoot -4 or -6 or whatever to handicap every round either. The putter was hot early but I missed a few I should have made later in the round. Hit a few crap iron shots as well, but the wedges kept the big numbers off the card for the most part. Still, not disappointed with 32 points given how I played. Good enough to drop the handicap a little bit more to 8.8 too.

[GregT5]

Monthly medal stroke round today.  Shot 90/74 which is 1 over my handicap. 

I have been using a cart for about the last 12 months due to trouble with my ankles and hurting my knee at work but have started walking the course to get some exercise and movement back. Fitness is sadly lacking at the moment but improving.  My last 6 rounds I have played I haven't been worse than 3 over my handicap so I am happy to be playing consistent golf. 

Next week is a 4 person ambrose so a pretty social round playing with a mate of mine, his son (also a mate!) and his son.  A mix of handicaps- a 3, a 14, a 15 (me) and a 22. Always good to play with a low handicapper to try and emulate their shots. I know that I can't outhit him but my short game improves when we play together.