The Golf Thread

I played golf this morning with my Dad at Butter Valley which is in Bally..about 20 miles south of where I live. They also have a landing strip so lots of planes fly in and out of there. We were paired up with a mother and son and the son is getting married to a girl I went to high school with. I recognized him from my 10 year reunion last year.

Conditions were very dry which made carrying the greens a challenge. I played O.K. and ended up playing mostly bogey golf on the front nine except for an 8 on a par 5. I also found the sand quite a bit as well. On the 10th hole I sprained my finger when I came down too steeply at the ball..the finder next to my pinkie. It's really sore right now. Otherwise my back nine was pretty solid an I played the three par 5's on the back nine one under par with a birdie and two pars. One of the par 5's measures 550 yards from the white tee's and I hit a great 280 yard drive and then my Dad stepped up and hit a 295 yard drive..not bad for a 60 year old. That drive was followed up with a 200 yard 5-iron to 70 yards and then a perfect wedge to about 7 feet which I missed but had an easy tap in par.

The weather was nice with temperatures in the low 60s to begin climbing into the low 80s. I ended up shooting a 48 front nine and a 46 back nine for a 94..My Dad shot a 95 and the people we were paired up with most likely shot over 105. My Dad is playing tomorrow up at Olde Homestead and I'm sleeping late.

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I. One of the par 5's measures 550 yards from the white tee's and I hit a great 280 yard drive and then my Dad stepped up and hit a 295 yard drive..not bad for a 60 year old. That drive was followed up with a 200 yard 5-iron to 70 yards and then a perfect wedge to about 7 feet which I missed but had an easy tap in par.
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Nice !! Time with your dad IS WELL SPENT.

U both really POUNDED those drives and a 200 yd 5i --awesome .!!

It's been awhile for me this year the courses have been so damned wet -- just now starting to dry out . Hopefully I'll NAIL a couple o drives this week .

Last yr at this time on one of the courses( i'll be playing again this week in the Adirondacks) under bone dry condition i hit a drive across a dogleg right swamp. I hit it pretty well i thought at the time . I went up to where i imagined it had landed ( past the dogleg ,over the swamp and perhaps about 50 yds from the 311 yard green ) . I searched for a while couldn't find it -- I WAS PISSED --- it was a good shot

I decided well check out closer to the green .TO my amazement it was just off the back lip of the damn green ! -- LMAO --- BOY DO I LOVE HARD DRY FAIRWAYS NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hell yeah..dry fairways are awesome...one of the only advantages of being over 200 pounds is that I can hit the ball pretty far..and also pushing around tombstones all the time is making my arms really solid. Todays round was 4.5 hours long...playing with a woman golf seems to slow things down considerably..The pace for the course is supposed to be 3 hours and 40 minutes..oh well

Yeah i agree ----- i hate playing slow pace too

Luckily when i play golf with The Queen she is a good athlete so we can play 18 in bout 3-3:15 hrs

So a stronger grip really helped me off the Tee. I was able to hit my 3W and Driver much straighter today with little slicing except when I wasn't thinking about my grip. Instead of a slice, I started having a really pronounced fade. The ball was going straight... but at 20-25 degrees to the right. My alignment felt and looked correct. Even with a slight mis-alignment, the fade was far to pronounced for that to be the issue. I was so pumped I fixed a major swing flaw but then bummed that a different issue reared its ugly head.

The other thing I accomplished on the driving range was figuring out how to hit a hybrid. Finally got past the mental block of hitting a hybrid like an iron instead of like a wood. I forced myself to overcompensate and took some deep divots trying to force myself to swing down into the ball. Finally nailed a few straight and longer than my 6I.

Think I may play the front 9+ at my local course sometime next week. With an acceptable drive in my bag and a crappy but workable short game, I think I should be able to manage well. Unlimited for $18 after 3pm kicks butt.

riverc0il said:

So a stronger grip really helped me off the Tee. I was able to hit my 3W and Driver much straighter today with little slicing except when I wasn't thinking about my grip.

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Steven - you want to be able to see 3 knuckles on your left hand when addressing the ball for a nice, strong grip. It will help you square up the clubface when you get to impact. Doesn't solve every problem (too strong for me = hook everything), so mess with it and see what works for you.

My team won the Kodak tournament in Rochester, NY on Friday with a group 68. So -4 isn't normally that great in a best-ball tournament, but it was good enough to win this. Sank a 40-foot putt on the second hole (won a pack of balls). One of the guys on my team is a former AAA baseball player who can just crush the ball, so that helped. On the last hole (385 yds, par 4), he smashed a drive to within 40 yards of the green. He is the longest hitter I have ever seen and I have been playing golf for 35 years. Last year on the 10th hole on the same course (par 4, 445 yds downhill with a trailing wind), he hit a drive that stopped 75 yards in front of the green. He's amazing to watch and I'm glad he's on my team........

ChileMass said:

My team won the Kodak tournament in Rochester, NY on Friday with a group 68. So -4 isn't normally that great in a best-ball tournament, but it was good enough to win this. Sank a 40-foot putt on the second hole (won a pack of balls). One of the guys on my team is a former AAA baseball player who can just crush the ball, so that helped. On the last hole (385 yds, par 4), he smashed a drive to within 40 yards of the green. He is the longest hitter I have ever seen and I have been playing golf for 35 years. Last year on the 10th hole on the same course (par 4, 445 yds downhill with a trailing wind), he hit a drive that stopped 75 yards in front of the green. He's amazing to watch and I'm glad he's on my team........

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Dang...I don't think I've ever seen a 370 yard drive aside from the pros on TV..I don't think my vision is good enough to even see where the ball would end up. Congrats on the win!!!

No golf for me this weekend...but maybe I'll hit the range one day afterwork..:idea: Because pretty soon golf season will be over. Some die-hard golfers play right up until the first snow..once it gets into the 40s I stop..plus all the fallen leaves can be a pain. Once the leaves are off the trees though..Some shots that seemed unimaginable with full foliage are realistic..until you hit a branch that knocks the ball in the stream..:argue:

Played my first full length round of nine holes today. Sweet! Played Den Brae in Sanbornton, NH which may be the best value around in the I-93 corridor. Paid just under $19 for unlimited after 3 PM play and a medium bucket of balls to warm up on. Would have played more than 9 holes with the unlimited play but I promised the non-golfing significant other that I would be home for dinner :roll:

Scored a 62 on the par 36 course playing from the white tees for a total yardage of 3081. Quite frankly, better than I had expected though I wasn't actually "playing golf" since I did not quite follow the rules to a "tee", if you would. Took a few mulligans off the tee (would take a "practice swing" with the driver and send a ball into the woods and then do my real swing with my 3W). Also, kicked a few balls out from behind some impossible to hit around trees due to sliced tee shots (though I played out from behind quite a few trees too). My realistic score would likely have been 66-70 if I had played strict rules.

Best score was a 5 on the par 4 hole seven (after loosing about half a dozen balls into the woods off the tee, but that is another story). Worst hole was a 9 on the par 4 sixth (during which I duffed my way down the right edge of the rough... including a sand trap shot... and then four putted the hole). Most stoked hole was a double boogie on the long par 5 hole (500 yards) which included hitting out from behind trees on two different swings and a sand trap followed by a respectable two putt after barely missing a 40 foot putt from the fringe). 2 GIRs and 2 Fairways off the tee.

My iron play was decent except on hole 6. I really need to work on my drives off the tee. I finally have my 3W under control but I keep blasting my driver to the right even with a strong grip. The driver is such an awkward club to hit, especially compared to the 3W. I gotta wonder if this whole 460cc with a graphite shaft is the bees knees. I might settle up for a driver with slight less head size and mass with a shorter shaft that offers better control and reliability. Will keep practicing for now. I have neglected my driver and 3W at the range due to playing a par 3 course but I can really see the benefits of a straight and long drive on a par 4 or 5 that goes 275-300 yards.

It was a lot easier to recover with higher pars compared to the par 3 course I have been playing lately. You duff the tee shot on a par 3 and you can't possibly birdie without the hit of your life and will be very lucky to par on the longer par 3s. A bad tee shot on a 250-300 yard par 4 is hardly the end of the world and a birdie is still doable and a par completely reasonable even with a bad tee shot.

The longer holes were intimidating but my better drives happened when I just relaxed, pulled out the 3W, and gave an moderate swing. Really cool seeing a ball go straight and long down the fairway and being able to reach a 390 yard green in two shots (well, almost. pulled up just short on the second shot 6I but only because I faded the shot... still counted in my mind! ).

Nice golf TR..River...when I was getting started with golf I had alot of trouble with the driver and often times would tee off with a five iron simply to be in the fairway. Not to be nitpicky but how would your actual score be 66-68 if you lost a half dozen balls off the tee?? If you hit your tee-shot in the woods..your second shot from the tee is actually your third shot..it's a good habit to keep a legit score for when you start playing with others..and if you have an unplayable lie..add a stroke..

Reaching a 390 yard hole in two is great..from the white tees..you'll only encounter a few par 4's longer than 390...

riverc0il said:

Played my first full length round of nine holes today. Sweet! Played Den Brae in Sanbornton, NH which may be the best value around in the I-93 corridor. Paid just under $19 for unlimited after 3 PM play and a medium bucket of balls to warm up on. Would have played more than 9 holes with the unlimited play but I promised the non-golfing significant other that I would be home for dinner :roll:

Scored a 62 on the par 36 course playing from the white tees for a total yardage of 3081. Quite frankly, better than I had expected though I wasn't actually "playing golf" since I did not quite follow the rules to a "tee", if you would. Took a few mulligans off the tee (would take a "practice swing" with the driver and send a ball into the woods and then do my real swing with my 3W). Also, kicked a few balls out from behind some impossible to hit around trees due to sliced tee shots (though I played out from behind quite a few trees too). My realistic score would likely have been 66-70 if I had played strict rules.

Best score was a 5 on the par 4 hole seven (after loosing about half a dozen balls into the woods off the tee, but that is another story). Worst hole was a 9 on the par 4 sixth (during which I duffed my way down the right edge of the rough... including a sand trap shot... and then four putted the hole). Most stoked hole was a double boogie on the long par 5 hole (500 yards) which included hitting out from behind trees on two different swings and a sand trap followed by a respectable two putt after barely missing a 40 foot putt from the fringe). 2 GIRs and 2 Fairways off the tee.

My iron play was decent except on hole 6. I really need to work on my drives off the tee. I finally have my 3W under control but I keep blasting my driver to the right even with a strong grip. The driver is such an awkward club to hit, especially compared to the 3W. I gotta wonder if this whole 460cc with a graphite shaft is the bees knees. I might settle up for a driver with slight less head size and mass with a shorter shaft that offers better control and reliability. Will keep practicing for now. I have neglected my driver and 3W at the range due to playing a par 3 course but I can really see the benefits of a straight and long drive on a par 4 or 5 that goes 275-300 yards.

It was a lot easier to recover with higher pars compared to the par 3 course I have been playing lately. You duff the tee shot on a par 3 and you can't possibly birdie without the hit of your life and will be very lucky to par on the longer par 3s. A bad tee shot on a 250-300 yard par 4 is hardly the end of the world and a birdie is still doable and a par completely reasonable even with a bad tee shot.

The longer holes were intimidating but my better drives happened when I just relaxed, pulled out the 3W, and gave an moderate swing. Really cool seeing a ball go straight and long down the fairway and being able to reach a 390 yard green in two shots (well, almost. pulled up just short on the second shot 6I but only because I faded the shot... still counted in my mind! ).

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Nice TR Riv, and congrats on your first "real" round of golf. Watch out though it can get awfully addicting And while I won;t say it's the same pure and total bliss as a sweet run through a glade in 18" of blower, there's DEFINATELY a bit of that same joy when you strike the ball just right and see it soaring off the tee/at the flag!

Today, I shot a decent 78(+7) as I'm trying to figure out what the heck the owner of the course and architect that's overseeing the redesign of one of my local courses was thinking! The architect or course owner, or both maybe, seems to think that a classical New England through the trees over rolling terrain course would benefit from LOTS of 5 to 15 foot high mounds lining just about every fairway and a slew of British Open-esque style pot bunk all over the place. Just looks more like you're playing completely man-made course that you typically see in Florida/Myrtle Beach/The Southwest as opposed to what USED to be a very natural looking New England course. I'll hold final judgement until I've played it a few more times AND all the grass on those ridiculous looking mounds has grown in.

As for the round today, 11 real solid drives with the driver, a solid 3 wood, and then a 3 wood that I'd care to forget The 5 pars threes on the course I played decently (+1). The Par 5's really annoyed me though, I was +3 on them and considering I was in position to hit 3 of the 4 in 2 with comfortable long irons, I wasn't exactly a happy camper with my par 5 play today. Overall though, good with the game off the tee, A bit off with the distances of my approach shots(I hit alot of fringes short today) and with only 27 putts, the putter was working pretty well. And once again the golf gods weren't mean enough to me to convince me not to come back another day and play again

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Not to be nitpicky but how would your actual score be 66-68 if you lost a half dozen balls off the tee?? If you hit your tee-shot in the woods..your second shot from the tee is actually your third shot..it's a good habit to keep a legit score for when you start playing with others..and if you have an unplayable lie..add a stroke..

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I should have clarified that issue. Basically, once I sent one into the woods, I figured I would just keep hitting them until I got something decent (no one was behind me, I was out pacing a pair on a cart but I like to play quick). If I was keeping score, I would have just taken my stroke from where ever the ball landed in the woods (if I found it ). But I figured it was good practice for me to just keep hitting until I straightened out my drive off the tee. Had I been playing with someone else or playing for a handicap, I would have "played golf". But at this point, I am more interested in having fun and maximizing my learning time while on the course.

For what its worth, upon reflection, I think the reason for the slicing was that I was teeing the ball up to far forward in my stance. Thus, my arms were turning over and starting to pull upwards into my follow through which would curve the ball into a slice pattern. Gotta remember both to grip strong AND not be teeing up so close to my front foot.

drjeff said:

there's DEFINATELY a bit of that same joy when you strike the ball just right and see it soaring off the tee/at the flag!

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Yup! Tasted a bit of that yesterday on hole 8 nailing a 3W off the tee long and straight. At first I was :-o and then I was all

riverc0il said:

Yup! Tasted a bit of that yesterday on hole 8 nailing a 3W off the tee long and straight. At first I was :-o and then I was all

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Riv, after you've had that feeling a few times, you won't even care where the shot goes, you'll get that instaneous feedback from the ball to the club and up into your hands and know that you've just hit a real good, solid shot(even it it happens to come up 20 yards short )

I can sum up yesterday's round with the following word "splash" That's the sound I heard 4 times in 9 holes yesterday

Since the office was closed yesterday as we were having some major computer installation work done, and there was a continuing education lecture that proved to be very boring and well it was about 75 degrees an sunny, my business partner and I decided to skip out of the lecture early and play 9 holes before and evening meeting we had. Sounds good so far.

Well, the driver wasn't exactly hitting the ball straight yesterday, and a few times I was able to get away with it as I was hitting the ball so far right off the tee that my second shorts were from the next fairway. But, on 4 of the 7 times I hit it, the last sound I heard was "splash!" Not good.

In spite of that, the iron play was very good, and the putter saved my a$$, and even with 4 water balls I still managed a 5 over 41.

I know that I've needed a little range time as of late as I've seen a few signs that my swing was getting a little loose, but yesterday proved it, either today or tommorrow I'm hitting a bucket or 2 of balls to see if I can relocate my swing plane with the driving that is currently MIA

Course: Oak Hill Golf Course

Location: Meredith, NH

Date: 09/14/08

Conditions: Wet (Rained last night and this morning)

Executive Summary: This was my first time playing Oak Hill Golf Course which features a rather challenging 9 holes (par 34, 2210 yards from the whites, and a 108 slope). Unlimited play after 3:00 P.M. is an easy on the wallet $14.00 any day of the week. That meant less than a dollar a hole. Started at quarter past three and ended around six thirty due to a slow start. I played respectably except for 3W tee shots and pitching withing 30 yards. My score was a 105 though you can add in 8 more for mulligans from the tees.

Full Details: Arrived at the course shortly after 3:00 P.M. to find two groups also getting ready for the post 3:00 P.M. unlimited play. Otherwise, the course was pretty much empty due to the damp over cast and slight fog following this morning's rain. A group of three with carts was just about to tee off when I paid greens fees and I made the mistake of going to practice my putting instead of asking if I could tee off first.

Despite the trio having a pair of carts, they played twice as slow as I play and played twice as bad as I play (coming from a player of only three months). I kept creeping up behind them but they were not stopping to offer a play through. Worse yet, they did not ring the gong after hitting the green on the third hole. I decided to just whack away and sure enough they were already teeing off on the fourth when I came over the ridge :angry:

After finishing the third hole, I side stepped holes 4-6 and played off the seventh to get ahead of the trio (who were also smoking and I was getting a tail wind). Things went great from then on so I played through to the end of the course, then played 1-9 again, and then finished up 4-6 a second time to finish my game. Would have finished within three hours if not for waiting for slow play and not being offered a play through. Slow play sucks.

Oak Hill is a somewhat difficult course for only being a nine hole par 34 at only 2210 yards. There are three blind tee shots including two up and over a ridge line and one hole up and over trees. What I would consider the course's signature hole is a horrendously nasty par 5 hole 9 which features a 340 yard straight drive followed by a 100* dog leg to the left. Then you have a 100 yard shot into a slot between the club house and some trees no wider than 30-40 yards. I got a nine on both the front and back even though I two putted both times.

My putting was generally good with 3 one putts, twelve 2 putts, and two three putts (one four putt after making a GIR due to a tremendous tee shot and good pitching :roll: ). Pitching inside of forty hards was horrendous with many wasted strokes on pitches that should have landed on the green. Chipping was acceptable though I smoked a few greens too quickly and then over compensated later in the day.

Worst play of today was my 3W off the tee. I seriously just keep getting worse and worse off the tee (and that is without even using my driver). Best decision of the day? Pulling out my four hybrid halfway through the back nine for tee shots. One month ago, I couldn't hit a hybrid to save my life. I "knew" they were supposed to be hit like irons. But knowing and doing didn't synch up until recently. Now my hybrids are some of the best clubs in my bag. I only mis-hit my hybrids once today and even then I got a line drive followed by a lot of roll and came up with a distance as good as my 7I on a good hit. Gotta think about lower number hybrids now instead of higher number woods :-D

Great day of golf today and psyched that I finally played my first full 18 (and did so on the cheap, no less!). Very happy with my putting since pars are based on two putts and I was two putting or better 4/5 greens (two near misses that were almost one putts). My hybrid play was stellar. With exception of hole nine and a few really stinky holes (including an 8 on a par 3 and a 7 off the first hole, a par 4), I felt I played rather respectable golf for a course that was rather challenging. I played boogie golf on 9 out of 18 holes and boogie golf is what I am currently hoping to achieve.

Nice TR...two putts per hole on average is great..most pros are around 1.6 to 1.7 but they're also playing on huge greens. Most people will not ask a faster golfer if they want to play through..you usually have to ask them or just skip a hole.

I hit the range yesterday and that's it in terms of golf for my weekend. I remember the good old days when it was like $3 for a bucket of balls..where I was a medium bucket is 7 bucks..oh well..

Benefit scrimmage in New London, NH today at Lake Sunapee Country Club (which is not exactly near Lake Sunapee, but I digress). Played absolutely horribly. Probably because I already played 18 and hit 100 balls at the range earlier this week, so my muscles were not quite rested up. Hit some amazing chips, many of which came within a foot or two of the hole. Greens were freaking fast with lots of angles and slopes. Fairways were wide open but the greens made up for it. I might have had a dozen quality shots all day. Worst part was that I was the strongest swing on the team playing with one first timer, one newb with less experience than myself, and one solid lady golfer that had me beat with consistency if not occasionally yardage due to my horrendous shots. Maybe I cracked under pressure. We would only be halfway to the hole and another group would be teeing up behind us. We ended up picking up a lot of balls and just moving on when neither myself or the other experienced golfer made our shots. Pretty bad day when a team of four in scrimmage play scores a 105! But I won a free shirt during the raffle at the reception, so that was cool.

What the game giveth one day, it takes away the next. It was all for fun and I had a good time, but it was frustrating having swing after swing go wrong most of the day.

riverc0il said:

What the game giveth one day, it takes away the next. It was all for fun and I had a good time, but it was frustrating having swing after swing go wrong most of the day.

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You know, Steve. I've really enjoyed reading this thread, and specifically your posts this summer. You've obviously found something in golf that you are really passionate about. The early steep learning curve of things like this can be the most enjoyable. I've found something similar in mountain biking and it really has kept the ski jones at bay and made the off (ski) season much more enjoyable for me

Good on ya! :beer: