Curls
Journeyman Pro
I started lessons in April, fairly big changes made but in a sympathetic way. Practice. Some awful rounds. Some good ones. Then following 7 straight 36/37 pointers without a cut, I was starting to lose patience waiting for it all to come together, when it did I nearly blew it as I entered uncharted waters.
A regulation par on the easy first is to be expected, but when I chipped in for par on the difficult 2nd spirits were raised. Followed with a superb 200 yard approach to 8 feet duly dispatched I was under on a tee box I'm usually a couple over at. The 4th is another difficult one and found a nasty fairway bunker, but took medicine well leaving a 120 yard approach hit sweetly to 6 feet but missed the putt. Not to worry. Found the green on the par 3 5th but was 40 feet away and way over hit it, missing the par putt of 8 feet back. Annoyed at a silly 3 putt I rallied with a bird on the next, holing from 7 feet after another well struck approach. My drive on the next took an inexplicable bounce 90 degree left and into the fairway bunker, again medicine taken but could only find bogey. Was right of the par 5 8th in 3 and pitched over a bunker to 5 feet, par. Regulation par on the next left me 1 over at the turn and in unknown territory, I was definitely starting to feel the anxiety creep in.
Good par on the next and I hit the 11th in reg, only to 3 putt again this time from 20 feet. Poor. Good up and down on the tricky par 3 12th and I pulled my drive way left on the 13th. Only 100 left but had a huge tree to clear right in my line, no medicine this time and bravery was rewarded, launched probably the highest shot I ever hit which pitched and stopped quickly leaving an easy 2 putts for par. Pushed my next tee shot on the par 5 14th into the clag, under a tree I could only hack out of. Still in the rough advanced it with 210 left to go. Nailed my approach high over the bunkers leaving myself about 25 feet downhill. I stroked a firm putt which shaved the hole. Too firm. Went about 10 foot past. Another miss, another silly 3 putt, and my first double of the day. The 200 yard par 3 was playing into the wind, so I was happy to strike straight at it but finish 10 yards short and out of trouble. Nearly pitched in, but missed the 6 footer back. I now felt I was losing silly shots and started to worry as the next two par 4s are long and tough. Rallied with a huge straight drive setting me up for a reg par, same on the next still left me 200 in which I nailed straight at it. 15 feet short, tap in par. I'm a 13 handicap who is 5 over gross on the 18th tee. And then....
I bottled it. In no uncertain terms. Its a short (290) par 4 with OOB left, thick clag and shrubs right, bunkers all round the VERY sloping green and OOB easily reached over the back if you get too much on it.
I've had birdies on there, I've had 10s. Many more have had many more. I first took a 4 iron out of the bag but remembered its a long way into a small target if you dont hit a good one. Thought about driver, wimped out to a 4 hybrid. Must have been very tense cos I pushed it high and awful into the clag right. Reload. Driver. Hooked high and launched towards OOB. My guts dropped, horrible feeling of embarrasment, anger, disappointment, eurggrghrhrrh. I was letting it get away from me. I didnt really care about the gross score even if it was a medal, I knew I had already accumulated enough points to get cut, I was just disappointed I wasnt bringing it home. 2nd provisional, Driver again, nailed about 30 yards short of the green.
Prayed I found the first one, which one of my playing partners did (could have kissed him, but didn't, so we were probably both relieved). Medicine gulped, pitched out, on, and tentatively left the par a foot short. As it turned out my first provisional was in play too, but I didn't know that on the tee. That feeling.... Never again!
Gross 78, a PB, net 65 so won the Medal by 3, cut to 11 and single figures more of reality for the season than it was in March. But much more than that I think I've figured something out, and more than that again Ive now stood with a card in my hand and (sort of) brought it home. I nearly blew it on the last, I leaked some silly shots in the middle. Lessons learned and the experience of having broken through, I don't know see why I shouldn't be level par after 9, or after 18 for that matter (though theres another barrier to break). I feel next time I get it going Ill go lower and not make the same silly mistakes. Maybe Ill make different ones, but not those.
What did I figure out? That lessons matter. That I wasn't swinging correctly (still not), with my old swing I couldn't have done that round, that once you have the feeling you need to have over a drive, approach, pitch, putt, that feeling that you can execute it properly and knowing how much to put into these shots, the game becomes a lot easier. Those 7 rounds before I was always off on one aspect (one week driving, another putting etc). Only when they all came together it was cos I had that feeling for each of the different shots. Only my lag putting let me down, I didn't have a good memory stored recently enough, every other aspect was there and I felt really comfortable all the way around. Fairway and greens. A day I won't forget for a while but would love to beat soon.
Plus that's my massive and massively self-indulgent post of the season out of the way too. Great.
A regulation par on the easy first is to be expected, but when I chipped in for par on the difficult 2nd spirits were raised. Followed with a superb 200 yard approach to 8 feet duly dispatched I was under on a tee box I'm usually a couple over at. The 4th is another difficult one and found a nasty fairway bunker, but took medicine well leaving a 120 yard approach hit sweetly to 6 feet but missed the putt. Not to worry. Found the green on the par 3 5th but was 40 feet away and way over hit it, missing the par putt of 8 feet back. Annoyed at a silly 3 putt I rallied with a bird on the next, holing from 7 feet after another well struck approach. My drive on the next took an inexplicable bounce 90 degree left and into the fairway bunker, again medicine taken but could only find bogey. Was right of the par 5 8th in 3 and pitched over a bunker to 5 feet, par. Regulation par on the next left me 1 over at the turn and in unknown territory, I was definitely starting to feel the anxiety creep in.
Good par on the next and I hit the 11th in reg, only to 3 putt again this time from 20 feet. Poor. Good up and down on the tricky par 3 12th and I pulled my drive way left on the 13th. Only 100 left but had a huge tree to clear right in my line, no medicine this time and bravery was rewarded, launched probably the highest shot I ever hit which pitched and stopped quickly leaving an easy 2 putts for par. Pushed my next tee shot on the par 5 14th into the clag, under a tree I could only hack out of. Still in the rough advanced it with 210 left to go. Nailed my approach high over the bunkers leaving myself about 25 feet downhill. I stroked a firm putt which shaved the hole. Too firm. Went about 10 foot past. Another miss, another silly 3 putt, and my first double of the day. The 200 yard par 3 was playing into the wind, so I was happy to strike straight at it but finish 10 yards short and out of trouble. Nearly pitched in, but missed the 6 footer back. I now felt I was losing silly shots and started to worry as the next two par 4s are long and tough. Rallied with a huge straight drive setting me up for a reg par, same on the next still left me 200 in which I nailed straight at it. 15 feet short, tap in par. I'm a 13 handicap who is 5 over gross on the 18th tee. And then....
I bottled it. In no uncertain terms. Its a short (290) par 4 with OOB left, thick clag and shrubs right, bunkers all round the VERY sloping green and OOB easily reached over the back if you get too much on it.
I've had birdies on there, I've had 10s. Many more have had many more. I first took a 4 iron out of the bag but remembered its a long way into a small target if you dont hit a good one. Thought about driver, wimped out to a 4 hybrid. Must have been very tense cos I pushed it high and awful into the clag right. Reload. Driver. Hooked high and launched towards OOB. My guts dropped, horrible feeling of embarrasment, anger, disappointment, eurggrghrhrrh. I was letting it get away from me. I didnt really care about the gross score even if it was a medal, I knew I had already accumulated enough points to get cut, I was just disappointed I wasnt bringing it home. 2nd provisional, Driver again, nailed about 30 yards short of the green.
Prayed I found the first one, which one of my playing partners did (could have kissed him, but didn't, so we were probably both relieved). Medicine gulped, pitched out, on, and tentatively left the par a foot short. As it turned out my first provisional was in play too, but I didn't know that on the tee. That feeling.... Never again!
Gross 78, a PB, net 65 so won the Medal by 3, cut to 11 and single figures more of reality for the season than it was in March. But much more than that I think I've figured something out, and more than that again Ive now stood with a card in my hand and (sort of) brought it home. I nearly blew it on the last, I leaked some silly shots in the middle. Lessons learned and the experience of having broken through, I don't know see why I shouldn't be level par after 9, or after 18 for that matter (though theres another barrier to break). I feel next time I get it going Ill go lower and not make the same silly mistakes. Maybe Ill make different ones, but not those.
What did I figure out? That lessons matter. That I wasn't swinging correctly (still not), with my old swing I couldn't have done that round, that once you have the feeling you need to have over a drive, approach, pitch, putt, that feeling that you can execute it properly and knowing how much to put into these shots, the game becomes a lot easier. Those 7 rounds before I was always off on one aspect (one week driving, another putting etc). Only when they all came together it was cos I had that feeling for each of the different shots. Only my lag putting let me down, I didn't have a good memory stored recently enough, every other aspect was there and I felt really comfortable all the way around. Fairway and greens. A day I won't forget for a while but would love to beat soon.
Plus that's my massive and massively self-indulgent post of the season out of the way too. Great.
