Tell us about your game today...

First topic message reminder :

.. or yesterday or whenever your last game happened.

I played this morning - just a bounce game with one of my regular partners.

There had been a big competition yesterday at the club so the course was a bit quieter today than one might expect for a Sunday. 11:20 tee off as a two-ball and lots of other two balls out there with a couple of quick 4-balls so pace of play was brisk.

Those who have read my posts recently will know that I've been suffering with a nasty foot/ankle injury for a few months and it's just great to be out there at all at the moment. Thankfully the foot came through with flying colours though I think I've been favouring it for the last couple of weeks still and after the game today my knee was playing up but with luck that will just be a temporary setback.

A glorious day though in the Thames Valley with above average temperatures and the course was in remarkable nick for mid March.

The match itself was close for a long way. I felt I was playing reasonably well after not playing much of the winter and after losing the 2nd I levelled it on the 3rd and was one up after nine. Though I felt I was playing better than my opponent I couldn't shake him and he hung in there until I went 2 up on 15. Closed it out on 16 but was made to work for it.

Although it was matchplay I kept an estimated Stableford score and came in with 32 (estimated) points which I wasn't too disappointed with given lack of recent regular play. One NR and a couple of holes where a 3 pointer was well withing my grasp and ended with 1 point (short game was actually pretty good apart from those two nightmares)

Now looking forward to next weekend and a Stableford competition where I've been drawn with last year's captain and next year's!

JPX wrote:Sounds like a perfect example of when you should always play a provisional ball!!

That wouldn't have helped would it? The original ball was found and no out of bounds by the sound of it so any provisional ball would have been discarded anyway

Maybe I misunderstood but if you hit a ball into the woods, surely you play a provisional?

if only 30yds short of green, i might not bother playing a provisional if it looked 'hopeful'. 130 or 230yards short of the green ... of course i'd hit one, to save a potential walk back. i did the same thing twice myself at the weekend. fortunately both held up on the edge and i was able to drop the first out, and hack out the other.

Sorry but I don't understand that, rather than spend 60 secs hitting a provisional you would rather take the chance and face the possibility of holding everyone up with a walk back to hit again? That's a cause of slow play.

JPX wrote:Well played drive4show.

Cheers JPX, achieved my target of getting back down to 5. Gave me a nett 68 and CSS was 72. Went up 0.1 in the afternoon but finished the day at 5.2 so I'm a happy bunny.

JPX wrote:

LondonJonnyO wrote:I was about 30 yards for 2 on the 3rd and thinned the ball off a completely bare lie into the trees right of the green. It was on the path in the woods with no real shot. Looking back I should have gone back to the place I hit from previously but I thought I had a chance and off the mud only managed to hit it into some nettles.

Sounds like a perfect example of when you should always play a provisional ball!!

How so?

I found the ball with no problems at all.

the only time i would be saving would be the time to walk back which if only 30yards would be insignificant. if it was a 'lost' ball i'd be having my 5 mins search allowance and waving the group behind through anyway, so why waste extra time if you may find it in the first place. obviously if you've got to walk 200 yards back to your ball you are causing a back up - ergo, play a provisional in the first place. but is it necessary to play a provisional for a chip thinned across a green into potential danger? i'd say thats a judgement call, and in this instance, clearly the judgement was correct as it was a 'found' ball.

Incidentally... It took me around 20 seconds to locate the ball. Which involved walking up the small incline to the area it went into the trees and then looking left and right... lo and behold. There it was.

The reason it was so easy to find is that I was 30 yards from where it went in. And since my eyes work it wasn't that hard to be able to say... It's just dropped on that path I can see there.


so an example of when to hit a provisional ball? Clearly not.

I'm only going on what you said, I wasn't there, so obviously if you have seen it drop that's different, but you said you thinned it into trees.

tell us when you hit n.z.

JPX wrote:I'm only going on what you said, I wasn't there, so obviously if you have seen it drop that's different, but you said you thinned it into trees.

Yes. I did. And it was in the trees. That doesn't mean I didn't see it however. If you struggle to see something from 30 yards away then I would suggest an eye test to be honest. And perhaps my definition of a thin is different to yours. It was no more than 6 or so yards past the stick from my angle into the flag.

You've never seen anyone thin a ball into trees 30 yards away and lose their ball? I don't know why you're upset, I was questioning why you didn't hit a provisional (as it's related to the other conversation we had), as you now say you saw the ball drop, so fine no problem.

Sorry ban_bam don't follow?

I was there, I saw it. No need to hit a provisional as we both saw it run into some ferns just a few yards off the edge of the green and the ball was found pretty much straight away.

Unfortunately, it did unfold into a bit of a Kevin Na moment.

I was very proud of myself for not laughing when LJ holed out then starting pointing to all the places he'd been on the hole as he counted up the strokes.

drive4show wrote:I was there, I saw it. No need to hit a provisional as we both saw it run into some ferns just a few yards off the edge of the green and the ball was found pretty much straight away.

Unfortunately, it did unfold into a bit of a Kevin Na moment.

I was very proud of myself for not laughing when LJ holed out then starting pointing to all the places he'd been on the hole as he counted up the strokes.

I have to say it's probably the only time I could have used one of those little clicky counter things to help me out.... that said they only go up to 9 right?

OK I get it! Quite clearly no need to hit another ball, I just asked the question as what LJ originally said gave the image of his ball flying into trees, which clearly would require a provisional (even if ban_bam disagrees!)

Why get so defensive? Don't take things so personally.

as I say. It appears that my definition of thin varies from your own.

LondonJonnyO wrote:
I have to say it's probably the only time I could have used one of those little clicky counter things to help me out.... that said they only go up to 9 right?

Talk to a doorman, I think they can get hold of ones that go up to 3 figures?

drive4show wrote:

LondonJonnyO wrote:
I have to say it's probably the only time I could have used one of those little clicky counter things to help me out.... that said they only go up to 9 right?

Talk to a doorman, I think they can get hold of ones that go up to 3 figures?

gotta be a supply store for them instead of trying to nick one from the guy controlling entry at FYEO.... I'm gonna google bouncers r us.

LondonJonnyO wrote:as I say. It appears that my definition of thin varies from your own.

Yes you're quite clearly a better thinner of the ball than me, mine are absolutely terrible. How do you control them so not to go so far?

JPX wrote:

LondonJonnyO wrote:as I say. It appears that my definition of thin varies from your own.

Yes you're quite clearly a better thinner of the ball than me, mine are absolutely terrible. How do you control them so not to go so far?

Use a soft ball and flip your wrists a bit more to gain some backspin.

Sounds a bit of a 'mare LJ! I was going the through 3rd hole in my mind and could just visualise what you were doing - ouch!

As for the lack of grass on the fairways, that is typical of both Queens (probably more so because it is on very sandy soil) and Meyrick and you will be amazed how both courses recover with a few days of rain. That's one of the reasons why they very rarely get closed due to the weather (apart from snow). The sandy soil just doesn't hold any moisture and so they rarely flood. Sadly, in periods of drought like we have just had, they do become very difficult to play with bare lies all round. Even pick and place, which they often have all year round, doesn't help as finding some grass to put the ball on is high on impossible. That probably explains why most of the leading players were locals.

Well done at Broadstone - both of you.

Cheers LP, a good weekend was had by all 3 of us. Hopefully, the Scottish gig will be as good, think they are playing tomorrow?

Broadstone was the high point (apart from taking the slug round the oceanarium and him getting face to face with a huge green turtle, a moray eel and a few reef sharks as he pushed his face up to the glass on the barrier reef exhibit).

I would also like to point out that I played the Broadstone par 3's in -1. Which I was pretty proud off considering I only managed to one of them in regulation as I recall! (although only one was a pitch on. The rest were putts from the fringe)

Captains day at the weekend(off 12).made 7 bogeys and 2 pars on front 9 despite ball striking the best I can remember.Should have been maybe 2 or 3 over but left a few 6-8 footers and didnt make any.then made solid pars on 10 and 11 and really nothing to fear with 7 holes to go.Then a long long wait on the 12th tee started to get a bit cross cos I had to pick up my daughter later.Skyed the tee shot which meant a lay up in front of water pitched on and 3 putts for double.Bogey on 13 ,3 putted 14,par 15/16/17 and bogey on the last after finding my first bunker of the day.Straight off the course after 4 hrs 40 mins missed my daughter and nowhere near the prizes. Not unhappy with my golf but so slow.

Dyna in those circumstances I would have just left the course. 4 hours 40 minutes and preventing you picking your daughter isn't on in my opinion.

Kids come first.

I normally play around 8 am and its a lot quicker but got a 10 am draw with guys I didnt know.We were playing steady all 3 balls but waited everywhere.Body language from the two 3 balls in front was close to the living dead.I had set myself to be patient but there is a limit

Happened to me a while ago. 5 hours to reach the 14th hole. It was a sunday and I had to get home for something with the little slug. It really isn't on taking so long. And to be honest I can't cope with something like that. It's a joke.

Fortunately the club have taken action on it recently. Last medal was 3 hours 50.

Our Captains Day will usually take the best part of 5 hours 30 minutes.

That's 4 hours for the golf and the rest spent enjoying the complimentary 'refreshments' available at the 4th, 9th and 15th holes!

Nice social game today and very encouraging after a couple of bad rounds.

Playing 4BBB but I kept an approximate stableford score for my own amusement and information and as my partner didn't contribute a lot, my own score was fairly indicative of the day.

We only played off the yellows as we teamed up with a couple of older guys who never played comps and weren't used to practising off the whites. 38 points with 3 "blobs" (!!!) made me a pretty happy chappy even though we were all square going up 18th (my mate on the opposing team didn't get much help from his partner either so it was almost like a 2 ball competition.

We were both left with approx 8ft putts on the last - he sank his, I missed mine so we lost by one hole but considered we were 3 down with 6 to play I was pretty happy to have taken it so close and it was a great match. Nice birdie on 14 and a couple of pars on tough par4s so I can't say I was too disappointed though my mate did rub it in for the next couple of hours (in the best possible way of course)

Regular Tuesday night bounce game again - this time I was in the groove. Hit an 86 with 3 hiccup holes, 2 doubles and a quadruple (2 lost balls 5 off the tee ), without those (sigh).

Course was in pretty good condition considering the drought over here, but I struggled to get the length of the putts, mind you I only 3 putted once, which for me is pretty damn good.

All in all, a good round that would have been better if the course was not infested with pairs and fourballs playing the club knockout - cue lots of discussions in the fairway and examining every putt from every angle. It did get a bit much when 4 groups were on the same hole, the 2 women in front of us were waiting for the green to clear, which we would have to do as well, and one of them took 4 shots to get on to the green! I wouldn't complain except this was hole 8 and we had waited for every single hot and I hadn't seen her hit one more than 40 yards and she was 160 yards from the green! Does no-one play ready golf now?

Still I wont let it spoil my enjoyment at hitting the ball well, hitting my highest % of GIR for this year and putting sensibly. Shame about the (hic )

Aargh - told you I was playing quite well. My handicap had gone inactive and so I put in a couple of signed supplementary cards.

I've been pulled two shots

oldshanker wrote:Aargh - told you I was playing quite well. My handicap had gone inactive and so I put in a couple of signed supplementary cards.

I've been pulled two shots

Unlucky mate

Nice little social game today - just two of us playing straight matchplay.

The game was split into 3 sets of 6 holes formwise

I started well, he started badly. 4 up after 7

Next section we both seemed to lose concentration (maybe to do with the weather - wets on and off 2 or 3 times) ... 2 up after 12

Last 6 holes we both got our heads in order and both started playing well .. I went 1 down for the first time after 16

Parred the difficult 17th to make it all square up the last. Short(ish) par5 with wind behind .. I had a 10 footer for birdie, he was short in 3 and chipped/putted for par. I missed the 10 footer to halve the hole and the match. Good fun

oldshanker wrote:Aargh - told you I was playing quite well. My handicap had gone inactive and so I put in a couple of signed supplementary cards.

I've been pulled two shots

Shanker - you going to enter North Weald Open now you have your new revised active h'cap

Noshankingtonite wrote:

oldshanker wrote:Aargh - told you I was playing quite well. My handicap had gone inactive and so I put in a couple of signed supplementary cards.

I've been pulled two shots

Shanker - you going to enter North Weald Open now you have your new revised active h'cap

I am seriously thinking about it NST. It's not a great date for me, but with luck and a following wind I might be able to swing it. Good part is I wouldn't have to stay overnight as you do, meaning not getting too involved with LJ, El Ringo and the curry! :run2:

Not to make you all jealous... but on 2nd July I am on a freebie at the Grove with food included... And then shortly after that I have another freebie at the Shire.

Ah... what a harsh life it is.

LondonJonnyO wrote:Not to make you all jealous... but on 2nd July I am on a freebie at the Grove with food included... And then shortly after that I have another freebie at the Shire.

Ah... what a harsh life it is.

Play the Shire off the back tees, it's too fiddly of the yellows. Lots of silly lay ups because of water, sand etc

Too late LJ.....I am already jealous.

I thought Sunningdale was the favourite haunt of your lot, dodging flying bowler hats and playing for bullion.

oldshanker wrote:Too late LJ.....I am already jealous.

I thought Sunningdale was the favourite haunt of your lot, dodging flying bowler hats and playing for bullion.

If it helps this is courtesy of my uncle (who is playing at North Weald I hasten to add) and not El Ringer. He's just on a freebie invite as well.

oldshanker wrote:Too late LJ.....I am already jealous.

I thought Sunningdale was the favourite haunt of your lot, dodging flying bowler hats and playing for bullion.

That was Stoke Park, not Sunningdale!!!

Why oh why does this great game taunt us so?

Yesterday was a BIG stableford comp at my club and the last event before the club championship next weekend. I have entered for the club championship and managed to get in though priority was given to lower handicaps; Although still unsure whether my dodgy ankle is up to it (18 holes Saturday then if make the cut, 36 holes Sunday) I decided to leave me decision until after yesterday and see how the ankle felt today.

Yesterday began like a bad dream. Finding water hazards on first two holes and a horrendous par3 4th where I hit a 5 wood completely off the toe into deep doo-doo - the provisional ball wasn't much better. All in all, after 9 holes, I had a grand total of 9 points and felt fortunate to have got that many! Although the back 9 is very open and susceptible to the breezy conditions, the front 9 is usually more sheltered, but it was blowing as hard on the front as I've known for a long time and my normal gentle fade was turning into a massive slice on almost every shot.

Getting to the 10th which although even windier is also more wide open, I was determined to get my head together but a mishit drive and another couple of less than convincing shots had me starting the back 9 with a 6

The 11th saw another massive slice into some bushes and the provisional (which turned out to be necessary) sliced even further to miss the bushes on the bad side! Another blobbed hole and I find myself on another par3 of similar length to the 4th where the obvious club (for me) was the 5 wood again but after the 4th I'd totally lost confidence in it and was thinking of either laying up or giving up! However I took the bull by the horns and risked the 5W again .. to hit it sweet and straight and a good chance of a 2 (which I just missed). Suddenly things turned around! A sweet (and straight!) drive on 13, a decent shot on par3 14 and good drives on 15, 16 and 18 with another kick-in par on the card-wrecking par3 17th.

From being almost on the point of giving up, and withdrawing from the club chaps next weekend I finished really well, and woke up this morning almost ache-free from the ankle!

I still have until Wednesday to withdraw from next weekend but I'm currently thinking of giving it a go again after being so despondent for 11 holes

Davie

Don't pull out, as we all know in this game things can change so quickly from one day to the next. You might go out and shoot 3 (or even 1) blistering rounds in the CC and suddenly everything is good in the world again.

Stick with it

Cheers D4S - biggest worry is if my ankle is up to 54 holes (assuming I get past the cut) - but after the last 6 or 7 holes my faith is at least partly restored again

Played on Saturday at my club. Medal round for a qualifier for next Saturday.

Off to a good start solid par at the first, with a lovely 3 iron into the 2nd green. This could be my day. 4 putts later walked off 2nd green with a 6.
Continued on out in 39 just 5 over par, so still going strong.
back 9 all going smoothly to 13, fluffed approach to green, chipped on & 2 putted for 6. Par on 14, solid wedge a bit too aggressive on 15 & left myself a 20 yd downhill putt. 4 putts later another 6.

Stood on the next tee & smashed down the left, talking to myself, must finish at worse 4,5,4 to play to handicap. Hit 2nd at 16 to just off the green, chip to 2 feet, 1 putt, 4.
One down 2 to go. Solid drive off 17, good 6 iron to 2 yds off the front of the green. Good chip, just missed, rolled to 3 ft past. Rolled in the putt, another par. 18 straightest drive I hit all day, just short of the green, chipped to a foot, tap in 3.
2 under par & cut to 11.

Medal for me yesterday, up 0.1

Had a shocking front 9, went out in 43 which is 7 over, just couldn't get anything going. Knuckled down on the back 9 to come home in 35 and finish with a 78, probably missing the buffer by 1 shot.

Still, if that's as bad as it gets then there is hope for the rest of the season.

I've got a 36 hole scratch open on Saturday then following weekend is CC. Bit of short game practice this week and fingers crossed!

Saturday we did a texas scramble off the whites.Paired with 2 young fellas off 8 and me and regular partner off 11/12.
Birdied first 2 and left ourselves with a longish putt on 3 which gave us par.7 birdies on first 9 all real close,made a sloppy par on one of the par 5s after all pitching from about 50 yards and leaving all 4 on the wrong level of green.the youngsters drove 2 of the par 4s on the back 9.I hit the flag from about 100 yards on another and we came to the last (par 3)with only me left to tee off as the others had used up their drives.deep breath and put 6 iron to about 2 feet.13 under,cracking day

Played yesterday, really struggling to get the club away on a decent plain, I am either coming away too much on the inside and hooking it, or coming over the top and licking it straight out to the left or an occasional slice. This shot to the left is quite destructive, it is costing me a lot of shots and balls. I had almost eradicated it earlier in the year but it has resurfaced. The cure is practice... I just don't do enough of it.

First evening game for about 2 years, ah the joy of being retired.

Midsummer night in Scotland, a right smirr wi a wee bit of mizzle. Strangely no midgees. I really like those sort of days, had a lovely walk on Turnberry beach this morning and quite a nice night for golf.
Played much better than last game [with Jas]

I bought [stole] an almost brand new two ball Oddessy putter fo a fiver at the local school fete. The ladies at the stall seemed amazed that someone would pay £5 for it.

Took it out untried and missed a two footer at the first for a par. Did not put too well but loved the feel of it and think it will be good.

36 points [82] was good enough to just beat DeadlyD.

Tuesday bounce again and it was a lovely night. The course is looking and playing really well considering the weather we have had over the past 2 months.

I just feel at the moment a rare sort of confidence over the ball with all clubs - even the flat stick. So played solidly, not spectacular, but having just been pulled by 2 shots, I was pleased to play to my new handicap and I even put a few up in the air, rather than chip and run....are you listening LJ?

Well done Shanker - you've got some way to go to match the LJesque pitching and chipping; the guy is a monster from 80 yards in. Learned a lot watching D4S and him play at Queens. You in for 36 at North Weald with your new found confidence?