KeefG
Journeyman Pro
Well, we had a crack at the PGA National on Wednesday & The Brabazon today at The Belfry and i've got to say what an utterly fantastic place to play golf!! Admittedly its the first "proper" course i've played at but all the staff are extremely helpful, really pleasant and not at all up themselves like you may imagine staff at a place like The Belfry would be.
We arrived on Wed morn a couple of hours before we were due to tee off and hung around for a bit and took the atmosphere in before getting our gear together and heading off to the range, sliced a few balls on there, headed off to the putting green where we were all convinced the grass was actually green painted glass and then went round to the starters desk and got away.
I finished with an 8 over par for my handicap 99 which i am very pleased with, i had some shocking drives off tee but also some belters and the greens were brutal!!! Most memorable shots of the day were:
4th - 2nd shot from 155yds, i put an 8 iron to 5ft away.
14th - driving the bunkers and leaving a 110yd approach, then putting my 2nd to 10ft. A regulation par
18th - my 2nd with a 4 iron from the middle of the fairway, 210yds to approx 8ft away, regulation par again
Overall i was very pleased with my performance on what is a very very very difficult course, every bunker is placed and shaped for a reason, not just put somewhere for a laugh like on most courses. I was very pleased with my putting which stopped me carding a 110+ score, only the 2nd time i've used my new putter and it was fantastic!!
Off to the clubhouse to drink some expensive beer, showered & changed, out for some tea and a few more beers then off to bed.
Up at 8am to be told that the course had an hours frost delay, on looking at it it didnt look promising, totally covered in a layer of frost!!!!
Anyway, the course was opened at 10am and we were one of the first groups off, got a shock on the 1st green when we discovered the greens on The Brabazon were even quicker than those we tackled yesterday. Memorable shots of the day on here:
3rd - put my drive in the trees, chipped out too far and was on the mound in front of the bunkers, then put a nice high shot with a rescue wood from 185yds over the lake into the middle of the green
7th - put a 7 iron off the tee to approx 10ft away
10th - had to have a go at the green off the tee, they're remaking the forward tee's so we were playing off the white tees for this. Anyway, i got the line right but my tee shot dropped about 30yds short in the water, that was my mulligan gone lol. With my 2nd ball i had a regulation par on what is a truly stunning hole.
12th - par
14th - par, 5 iron off the tee to 8ft and lipped out my birdie putt
15th - regulation par with 3 excellent shots from tee to green and again lipped my birdie putt!
18th - cleared the trees, laid up and then put a 5 iron onto the fringe at the very back of the green which really pleased me!!
I finished with a 10 over par for my handicap 103, again my putting saved me from a much higher score. I loved the greens on both courses, yes they're fast but they're very very true.
All in all i enjoyed every single minute of the experience, from tee'ing off on the PGA to my approach at the 18th when i just had to stop and remember what it looked like in 2002!!!
I'll definately be back later this year to tackle it when its in full bloom.
We arrived on Wed morn a couple of hours before we were due to tee off and hung around for a bit and took the atmosphere in before getting our gear together and heading off to the range, sliced a few balls on there, headed off to the putting green where we were all convinced the grass was actually green painted glass and then went round to the starters desk and got away.
I finished with an 8 over par for my handicap 99 which i am very pleased with, i had some shocking drives off tee but also some belters and the greens were brutal!!! Most memorable shots of the day were:
4th - 2nd shot from 155yds, i put an 8 iron to 5ft away.
14th - driving the bunkers and leaving a 110yd approach, then putting my 2nd to 10ft. A regulation par
18th - my 2nd with a 4 iron from the middle of the fairway, 210yds to approx 8ft away, regulation par again
Overall i was very pleased with my performance on what is a very very very difficult course, every bunker is placed and shaped for a reason, not just put somewhere for a laugh like on most courses. I was very pleased with my putting which stopped me carding a 110+ score, only the 2nd time i've used my new putter and it was fantastic!!
Off to the clubhouse to drink some expensive beer, showered & changed, out for some tea and a few more beers then off to bed.
Up at 8am to be told that the course had an hours frost delay, on looking at it it didnt look promising, totally covered in a layer of frost!!!!
Anyway, the course was opened at 10am and we were one of the first groups off, got a shock on the 1st green when we discovered the greens on The Brabazon were even quicker than those we tackled yesterday. Memorable shots of the day on here:
3rd - put my drive in the trees, chipped out too far and was on the mound in front of the bunkers, then put a nice high shot with a rescue wood from 185yds over the lake into the middle of the green
7th - put a 7 iron off the tee to approx 10ft away
10th - had to have a go at the green off the tee, they're remaking the forward tee's so we were playing off the white tees for this. Anyway, i got the line right but my tee shot dropped about 30yds short in the water, that was my mulligan gone lol. With my 2nd ball i had a regulation par on what is a truly stunning hole.
12th - par
14th - par, 5 iron off the tee to 8ft and lipped out my birdie putt
15th - regulation par with 3 excellent shots from tee to green and again lipped my birdie putt!
18th - cleared the trees, laid up and then put a 5 iron onto the fringe at the very back of the green which really pleased me!!
I finished with a 10 over par for my handicap 103, again my putting saved me from a much higher score. I loved the greens on both courses, yes they're fast but they're very very true.
All in all i enjoyed every single minute of the experience, from tee'ing off on the PGA to my approach at the 18th when i just had to stop and remember what it looked like in 2002!!!
I'll definately be back later this year to tackle it when its in full bloom.
