I played 18 with my buddy Ronnie this morning. My goal was to break 95 today and I got close – shot 98 (47/51). Other than the last hole (which I will get to), I played decent – better on the front 9 than on the back 9. I had 5 pars along with a couple of putts which just lipped out but I also had 4 triple bogeys and 2 or 3 double bogeys.
As has been my problem the last couple of weeks, my wedge play just sucks. I have a couple of Taylor-Made wedges (a 54 degree and a 58 degree) and I think I am going to go back to my stock Sand and Lob wedges and see if they help. I think the heavier stock clubs would benefit me as it will be tougher to decelerate which is my real my nemsis. Today on #17, a 500 yard par 5, I am 70 yards from the green in 2 and proceed to just miss my wedge shot leaving me 50 yards from the hole. So I did it again, leaving it off the green by about 20 yards. I decide to bump and run a 7 only to leave it on the fringe. 2 putt for a 7 – I effective took 5 shots from 70 yards out which is just abysmal. I seem to do this on 2-3 holes each round and it just kills my score. I did something similar on #7 where I was 130 out in the middle of the faiway and blocked it to the right of the green. Then I bladed the chip shot across the green into the woods. A punched 7 iron got me back across the green again where I 2 putted. Triple bogey. Bleh.
I didn’t l lose any balls today until #18 where I dumped it into the water. #18 is a hole which just gets in my head. It is long carry over water and if you tend to hit a fade (like me), it makes it even harder. On the left is a picture of #18 but you can’t see the tee which is off to the left – you hit over the lake to a landing area to the right of bridge or the landing area in the middle of the picture. From the blue tees, it is a 220+ carry to the landing area in the middle of the picture. I have made that shot but not very many times. Today I tried to take the conservative approach and go for the landing area near the bridge and just hooked it bad and it went in the water by the bridge. So what do I do? I hit my next shot from the drop area in the water too! A nice Hybrid 3 got me to just off the green where I hit one of my better wedges of the day and two putter for another triple bogey.
Not sure when I will play next week, maybe Friday afternoon.