Cheeky 10 holes

Played 10 holes around Forrest Hills (http://www.forresthills.co.uk/?page_id=8) today as its fairly close to home and is always a test as the rough is grown up very close to the fairway and some of the pins are always tight.

The greens are not the best, but you can still give your ball striking some good practice, especially today for me with no driver in the bag.

I decided to try the Callaway Tour i(s) ball as a change and made a good start with a birdie on the first, making an easy 3 foot putt after I put a 6 iron close with my second shot. I hit a 3 wood right down the middle of the fairway on the 2nd and it left me with 143 to a flag at the back of the green into a slight breeze so I hit eight iron and found the front edge of the putting surface, only to 3 putt and bogey the hole.

I hit a 5 wood off the next tee, a par 5 with a stream and trees running across at around 240 yards, and put myself in position. A 5 iron layup shot went further right than I wanted and it left me a touch pitch to a tight flag, so I went the safe route and knocked it to the left of the green. Unfortunately my ball slipped off the putting surface onto the fringe and found a very bare lie (not rare around this course!) and I made the best I could of the chip and two putted for a bogey.

I hit a little draw with 3 wood off the next and then found the green with a 7 iron, 2 putts saw me make a par on a tough grassy green that was very slow. I hit a little 9 iron into the par 3 next up and went through the green, but a chip and putt saw me record a par.

After walking up the hill you come to a short par 4, a 3 wood and pitch saw me on the putting surface but the wedge was pulled so I had to take my 2 putts and walk away with a par. An unfortunate bogey at the next saw me go 2 over. A great up and down on 8 and a great second shot on 9 for pars kept me at that score with the 10th being a real birdie chance as I knew I could reach the green with a 3 wood, which I did. Pin high left side, but unfortunately I found another very slow grassy green and it took 3 putts to get the ball underground.

2 over though with some nice ballstriking was just what I was after, and on good greens it could have been a lot less.

I’m full of confidence and feel I’m swinging it well after the Scratch team match yesterday and this knock today so hope I can practice some more this week to continue in this vein.

R9 driver has now been sold and I will hopefully be investing in a Ping G15 before the end of the week so I can have it in play for next weekends comp, if not though, I will go without a driver and hit 3 wood.

Scratch Foursomes – Fleetwood – 25th April

My first appearance for our Scratch team, and possibly in the most difficult of formats, foursomes.

I was paired with Greg our Scratch team captain who plays off 6 and was hopeful we could both shake off poor rounds in yesterdays medal and put in a good score at Fleetwood.

It didn’t start too well with a bogey on the 1st, but a good chip from myself left us with a tap in for par on the second. Unfortunately though we three putted the third to be 2 down in the bogey format after 3. We got our act together after that though and both played some solid stuff in a format that you don’t play very often, and we posted a 5 down total at the end of the day which placed us as our clubs best pairing and only 3 behind the leaders.

Really happy with my game today. Driving was still not where I want it to be but I am in the process of dealing with that. Iron play was the highlight of my game today and my wedge play was pretty good too.

My putting has deteriorated recently and I went back to the cd Phil Kenyon did for me when I went to see him for a lesson early last year. I worked on it last night on carpet and then spent 45 minutes on the practice green before we played. It paid off too as I made some good putts.

To be honest we could have scored better too, but you always say that!

The driver situation – For the last year or so I have had a Taylormade TP driver of some nature in play and I feel it’s lowering my ball flight too much, so they have both gone on ebay and I will hopefully purchasing a Ping G15 at some point in the next week. The G15 looks to be the better option for me as I’m looking for something that will bomb the ball out there but is also pretty forgiving and high launch/low spin too.

This weeks practice will be a case of hit some balls when I can as I’m busy at work darting around between customer sites. Hopefully though I will get some practice in on a couple of evenings at least.

Competition next Saturday and I want to be well prepared for it as I definitely feel I’ve got a good score coming if I keep hitting the ball like I am doing.

Spring Medal – 24th April

83 gross, not the best, but so many things I can take away from today.

I started off very steady with two pars, and then hit a bad tee shot on the 3rd and a bad second shot, but my third shot found the green and I two putted for bogey. Pars on the 4th and 5th saw me stood on the 6th tee 1 over par, which was also the case after the 6th when I got up and down from the back of the green for par.

The 7th was a problem though. It was playing into the wind, so I hit my drive up the left leaving me with a decent layup area, but I made a mess of my second shot and had a carry of 175 yards into wind to reach the dyke that crosses the fairway around 75 yards in front of the green, so I hit 6 iron as that would leave me with a Pwedge or 9 iron in, but it bounced once and went straight into the hazard!. So I took my penalty and hit a wedge followed by two putts and walked off with a double bogey 7.

I hit 9 iron into the 8th as it was 155 yards downwind and I carried the green!, but I had a putt so I putted onto the green but was left with a nasty little five footer and missed it on the low side, tapping in for bogey.

I hit a good drive up the 9th and wedge into the green and walked off with par.

So many times I hit the green on the front 9 but the putts where just not dropping. I hit 5 out of 9 greens and didn’t have one birdie on the front 9.

I hit a great drive down the 10th into the wind and only had 115 yards left to the pin, firing a baby 8 iron at it and landing around 8 foot away, but again 2 putts!. The 11th was a fail, tee shot dropped into the out-of-bounds to the right and I parred my second ball with a great shot over the flag (shame I didn’t do that the first time!) for a double bogey 5.

A good up and down out of the sand saw me make par on 12, and that’s where the trouble started.

I hit a good tee shot down the 13th which left me pitching to the green with my second shot, but I thinned it and ended up in the cabbage at the back of the green, taking two to get to the green and two putts for a double bogey 6. The par 3 14th was playing 166 yards to the flag, but uphill into a 2 club wind, so I hit 4 iron, but it ballooned in the wind and came up 20 yards shot, I chipped on to past the flag and then hit my putt to the flag at the front of the green. The green was at the bottom of a fast slope and I knocked it off the green, chipping on and 2 putting for another 6, this time a triple bogey.

I made a bogey down the 15th and then launched a massive drive down 16 that left me with 130 yards to the flag, I hit a baby 8 iron (usually 115 yards) but the wind took it and I ended up through the green, I chipped on and again 2 putted.

I hit 3 wood down the 17th and then a sand wedge onto the green, making my par with 2 putts.

A good drive down 18 left me with a 7 iron in my hands, but again the wind carried it and I was through the green, with a chip on and two putts leaving me with another bogey and an 83.

So the story of the day, well, not enough birdie putts dropped, Course management was poor in places(layup on 7th), and poor pitching which cost me on 13th.

Overall though I can take a lot from today and move on to Scratch Foursomes tomorrow striking the ball well and hoping to get the putter working!

Then after that, it’s another comp next Saturday!

Windermere and practice

Played Windermere on Thursday with my mate and coach Chris Holt (twitter.com/golfpro999) and couldn’t believe how good the course was, and how tricky the greens where.

The idea behind playing at Windermere was that I needed to see the course a number of times before I play an Open there in June and hopefully get some idea about clubs to take off each tee and where pin positions may be for a big comp. Plus I wanted to get a feel for the greens and the slopes and potential pace of them, and I’m glad I did!

The course itself is not a long one, but is tricky and the greens are unbelievable, they are quick and sloped and if you get in the wrong spot you are definitely in 3 putt territory, and I found those spots a number of times in my first practice round. For instance the green on the 5th hole slopes from back to front, and if you find the back of the green and the pin is on the front you are struggling to get the first putt close.

The first 6 holes can be played without a driver and it is probably best to tackle it that way to get position to attack the greens. The 7th needs a driver to get round the corner to take on the green, but that’s a rarity for the course to be honest as you could play most of it without getting driver out of the bag. I would say it’s probably one of my favourite courses already and can’t believe I’ve not played it before given that it took around 40 minutes to get there from home.

I played well from tee to green and apart from a couple of dodgy shots late on, I seemed to have got on the way to sorting out issues I had off the tee at Lancaster. But the greens, they had me completely. I couldnt get the pace and reading them proved very tricky. Overall I hit 13 greens in regulation but had too many putts.

I firmly believe I can put a good score in there in June, but I need to visit a couple more times just to see if I can get a feel for the greens. Maybe next time I need to spend a lot of time on the putting surface checking out the contours of the green and thinking about the best place to aim for ‘safe’ two putts if needed.

On the equipment side of things the 4 hybrid has stayed in the bag and will be in for the foreseeable future now as it fills a yardage gap I had around 180 yards. With regards to the driver situation, the r9 is in the bag, but I would like to get on a flightscope to put it up against the Tour Burner to check on launch angle, spin rates, and yardage totals before I make a decision. That said, I really like the r9 and would be happy with it in play all season. Penta TP ball is in play, and will stay in play, although I do have some Callaway Tour i(s) balls to try at some point.

Been practicing hard all week and hope it will show at the first Scratch Team practice on Sunday night, and in next weekends medal.

Booked myself into 2 more opens today, at Morecambe in May and Preston in August, so my golf schedule is starting to fill up now.

Been enjoying the European Tour golf on Sky this week too. As the coverage is starting at 6am it is perfect for me to watch when my little girl gets up. Also trying to watch a bit of the PGA Tour coverage from Hilton Head but not seen much so far, hopefully will do though over the weekend as there is a decent field.

Plan for the weekend is maybe sneak a bit of practice in either late Saturday or early Sunday and then Scratch team get together on Sunday for first practice and discussions pre season.

An afternoons practice before Windermere tomorrow

After yesterday play I needed to work on making sure i wasnt taking my hands away from my body during the takeaway as my bad shots where pulls.

Put the alignment sticks down and worked on it for a couple of buckets of balls through all the clubs in the bag including the r9 driver. Feel much more comfortable with driver in my hands now and am hitting it fairly straight with a little five yard draw popping up every now and again.

I’m still waiting to hear if I’ve got into an Open at Appleby on Saturday. I was second reserve on Monday so was hopeful I may get a place. If not, it will be a golf free day while I spend the time with my little girl.

Hopefully I will have a lengthy post tomorrow with a few pics too, On to Windermere…

Open Comp at Herons Reach – 10th April, and this weeks plans

An email came through a couple of weeks ago promoting the Devere Club and announcing they would be holding Open comps at Devere courses around the country with a £10 entry fee, the deal ont his though was that you got a £10 voucher to spend in the pro shop when you entered. So effectively the comp cost nothing to enter.

The Devere course we played at has a little driving range and short game area and nice big putting green to practice on, so I spent a good hour using the facilities before we made our way to the first tee. I felt confident that my ball striking was ok on the range, short game was ok and putting felt good. Not knowing the course was a slight worry but my playing partner could remember parts of it from when he played it a number of years ago.

On the first tee the pro have the flightscope launch monitor setup and was looking at each competitors launch details with driver. I hit mine and had 6.5 degrees launch (too low) and 3100 rpm spin (which is not bad, but I would prefer it around 2500rpm). The drive ended up in the fairway bunker and I got it out only to go in another bunker. A good wedge shot from there left me with a nice putt for par, which I missed, to log a bogey on the 1st hole.

The 2nd hole was a short par 4 that I could reach with a hybrid and I did, but ended up 3 putting for par!!

The 3rd is one of the toughest holes on the course and I made a scrappy par, holing a 12 footer after I had hit a wedge onto the green from the right hand rough. The 4th is a gentle par 3 and again I registered a par, which could have been a birdie but I left my initial putt around 3 inches short. The 5th hole is a par 5 and I ended up in the right rough, which is the best side to miss from the tee. I mishit my next shot and it left me with 170 yards to the flag, 5 iron for me. A well struck 5 iron left me with a six footer for birdie, but again I missed by inches and tapped in for par.

A steady par down 6 and another par down 7, left me 1 over par gross and my swing felt good and confidence was high walking onto the 8th tee, a mid length par 3.

I was between clubs and ended up going with a 5 iron as the danger was long in my opinion, but I blocked it out right and left myself shortsided in a bunker. Now, my bunker play is usually good but I lost concentration and never focused on the shot, and thinned it over the back of the green, leaving me with a pitch and 2 putts for a stupid double bogey.

I hit my tee shot on the next to the left side of the fairway and again I had a 5 iron in my hand and was looking to hit a little draw into the flag, another block followed and left me with a very difficult pitch over the bunker to the green. I almost pulled the shot off but caught the lip of the bunker and it rolled back in. I hit a poor bunker shot and 3 putted for a triple bogey 7. 5 shots dropped in 2 holes.

A poor drive off the 10th could have left me in trouble but I got a 3 wood to my second shot which left me with a pitch to the green and two putts for a par. A scrappy bogey down 11 due to a bad tee shot annoyed me but I steadied the ship with a shot down the flag on the next hole and made a par, tapping in from a couple of inches after my birdie putt rolled past the hole.

The next holes required a little draw off the tee to give me a pitch into the green and I hit it to perfection and then controlled my pitch shot to land just short of the flag leaving me with an uphill putt which again rolled past the hole leaving me with a tap in par.

The next hole was a tough par 4. I hit driver to the right of the fairway but it left me with no view of the flag with a 9 iron in my hand. I picked a target on the horizon and executed the shot to perfection, knocking it 4 yards past the flag and ending up with another tap in par.

This left me still in with a chance of a decent score, even with the bad end to the back 9, but I ended par,par,bogey,bogey (3 putting both 17 and 18!) to leave me 9 over gross and one under net.

It was a story of what could have been, but it was a great experience and left me with no doubt over the areas I need to improve to progress this season.

On to Lancaster tomorrow and then Windermere on Thursday to play a course I’ve never played before in preparation for an Open in July.