Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 22, 2013 9:24:55 GMT -5
Course: Walkabout GC
Weather: 77°, partly cloudy, 12-20 mph winds
Stimp: 9
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
On Saturday I played golf with my dad in 60° weather in late April in Florida. This weather has sucked since mid-February. We ended up only playing 15 holes at a course up by where he lives in The Villages. Sunday, we went to Walkabout in much warmer weather. Only in Florida can it get unseasonably cool one day…pour the entire night, get a good shower that morning, and be nearly 20° warmer the next day.
Walkabout wasn’t overly wet as the course drains pretty well. But, the wind would make things difficult. By now I had assembled my Wishon 575MMC 3-iron, 7-iron and Pitching Wedge and was using them in place of my 555 models.
#1: Hit a nice driver down the middle. While I advocate going for pins on approach shots; this isn’t one of them. I tried to hit a high 9-iron since the wind was with us and I didn’t want the ball to get knocked down by the wind. Instead, I hit a high pull into the greenside bunker. Too much sand in the bunker and it made for a difficult shot. The pin location was…insane. I just missed a 12-footer that eventually rolled 6-feet bye. But, I made the putt and made bogey (+1)
#2: Didn’t kill this drive, but since the wind was in our face and this is a difficult hole I will take it. Smashed a driver off the deck. Then I hit LW and the wind changed directions and started to go with us and I hit it on the green, but long. Another difficult putt that I ran 5-feet bye, but I made the par save (+1)
#3: Hit a so-so 7-iron to the right edge of the green. Another crazy pin position and this one went about 7-feet right of the cup, but I made the par save again (+1)
#4: Hit this drive well, but pulled it a tad and it just rolled into the hazard. I punched out and hit a SW onto the green and 2-putted for bogey (+2)
#5: Not a very good drive, but it ended up okay. Hit a LW to 8-feet, but missed the putt and took par (+2)
#6: This is such a tough hole because the water is left and it’s pretty tight, but you cannot miss to the right either. To make things more difficult, the wind is always blowing left-to-right…forcing you to aim towards the water. I did and the wind took it well to the right, but it was still in play. Now my approach shot is into the teeth of the wind. I hit a punch 6-iron, but pushed it. It stayed up instead of going to the water (thank you, Mr. Rain). I hit a really nice chip shot to 3-feet and saved par (+2)
#7: Hit a so-so 4-iron that found the green. Another crazy pin location, but I 2-putted and made par (+2)
#8: Good drive down the left side. Hit a 6-iron that just found the green and 2-putted for par (+2)
#9: We are now into the teeth of the wind. I hit a nice driver down the middle. I didn’t like the lie or the fairway bunker on the right with the water on the left…so I hit 3-wood instead of driver off the deck. Hit the 3-wood well. I then had to punch a 7-iron from 140 yards into the wind. I flushed it, but pulled it. I think the 7-iron needs to have the lie bent about 0.5° to 1.0° flat as I tend to hit some pulls with this club and a little towards the heel. 2-putted for par here (+2)
#10: A decent driver down the middle. Wind was blowing hard into our face, so I hit 5-iron and missed the green left. Nice chip to a foot and kicked in for par (+2)
#11: I can’t wait to MOI balance my hybrid. I hit it well, but not very straight. With that said, the wind was blowing hard left-to-right. I missed the green well to the right. A pretty good pitch to 8-feet and drained the par (+2)
#12: Nice driver down the middle. I had 187 yards…downhill lie…into the wind…pin cut over a bunker. Thanks, Pete Dye. I hit 4-iron and played for the middle of the green. I flushed the 4-iron and it went long. To make matters worse, I had one of those lies were it’s a sandy lie because you are just outside the bunker, but not actually in the bunker. I hit a nice chip with the LW to 6-feet and saved that par (+2)
#13: Busted a driver down the right side. Then I followed that with a nice driver off the deck. Hit LW to 8-feet and sank the birdie putt (+1)
#14: Big driver here down the middle. I flushed a 9-iron, but pulled it and left myself with a 45 foot putt. Hit the putt to 2-feet and made par (+1)
#15: Didn’t quite catch my 7-iron, but put it on the green. Then I drilled a 40 footer with a double break for birdie ( E )
#16: Good driver down the middle. Flushed my PW to 7-feet. Just ran the edge and made par ( E )
#17: Good driver down the middle. Crushed a driver off the deck and followed that with a LW to 10-feet and uphill. Canned the birdie (-1)
#18: Good driver down the middle. The pin was up front. Normally it’s a shot I want to hit high so I can get it close. But, this front pin location is tough because there’s a hazard short. I was feeling it and hit a moon rocket 9-iron to 6-feet. I then lipped out the birdie putt and made par (-1)
THOUGHTS: Shooting under par at Walkabout from the back tees is an accomplishment, particularly in windy conditions. I really struck it well the last 7-holes. I also went 3-under on the back nine with 2 narrowly missed putts on #16 and #18 to go 5 under and shoot 69. Putted quite well today from 5-10 feet. The driver play is much improved from last year. It’s starting to become a better part of my game. The move to a shorter club length with a heavier shaft has been paying dividends. However, I’ll probably get another lesson pretty soon and that will take some time to work the kinks out.
38-33=71 (-1)
12/14 fwy
12/18 GIR
29 putts
1 impeded shot
-7 G.I.R.O score
3JACK
Weather: 77°, partly cloudy, 12-20 mph winds
Stimp: 9
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
On Saturday I played golf with my dad in 60° weather in late April in Florida. This weather has sucked since mid-February. We ended up only playing 15 holes at a course up by where he lives in The Villages. Sunday, we went to Walkabout in much warmer weather. Only in Florida can it get unseasonably cool one day…pour the entire night, get a good shower that morning, and be nearly 20° warmer the next day.
Walkabout wasn’t overly wet as the course drains pretty well. But, the wind would make things difficult. By now I had assembled my Wishon 575MMC 3-iron, 7-iron and Pitching Wedge and was using them in place of my 555 models.
#1: Hit a nice driver down the middle. While I advocate going for pins on approach shots; this isn’t one of them. I tried to hit a high 9-iron since the wind was with us and I didn’t want the ball to get knocked down by the wind. Instead, I hit a high pull into the greenside bunker. Too much sand in the bunker and it made for a difficult shot. The pin location was…insane. I just missed a 12-footer that eventually rolled 6-feet bye. But, I made the putt and made bogey (+1)
#2: Didn’t kill this drive, but since the wind was in our face and this is a difficult hole I will take it. Smashed a driver off the deck. Then I hit LW and the wind changed directions and started to go with us and I hit it on the green, but long. Another difficult putt that I ran 5-feet bye, but I made the par save (+1)
#3: Hit a so-so 7-iron to the right edge of the green. Another crazy pin position and this one went about 7-feet right of the cup, but I made the par save again (+1)
#4: Hit this drive well, but pulled it a tad and it just rolled into the hazard. I punched out and hit a SW onto the green and 2-putted for bogey (+2)
#5: Not a very good drive, but it ended up okay. Hit a LW to 8-feet, but missed the putt and took par (+2)
#6: This is such a tough hole because the water is left and it’s pretty tight, but you cannot miss to the right either. To make things more difficult, the wind is always blowing left-to-right…forcing you to aim towards the water. I did and the wind took it well to the right, but it was still in play. Now my approach shot is into the teeth of the wind. I hit a punch 6-iron, but pushed it. It stayed up instead of going to the water (thank you, Mr. Rain). I hit a really nice chip shot to 3-feet and saved par (+2)
#7: Hit a so-so 4-iron that found the green. Another crazy pin location, but I 2-putted and made par (+2)
#8: Good drive down the left side. Hit a 6-iron that just found the green and 2-putted for par (+2)
#9: We are now into the teeth of the wind. I hit a nice driver down the middle. I didn’t like the lie or the fairway bunker on the right with the water on the left…so I hit 3-wood instead of driver off the deck. Hit the 3-wood well. I then had to punch a 7-iron from 140 yards into the wind. I flushed it, but pulled it. I think the 7-iron needs to have the lie bent about 0.5° to 1.0° flat as I tend to hit some pulls with this club and a little towards the heel. 2-putted for par here (+2)
#10: A decent driver down the middle. Wind was blowing hard into our face, so I hit 5-iron and missed the green left. Nice chip to a foot and kicked in for par (+2)
#11: I can’t wait to MOI balance my hybrid. I hit it well, but not very straight. With that said, the wind was blowing hard left-to-right. I missed the green well to the right. A pretty good pitch to 8-feet and drained the par (+2)
#12: Nice driver down the middle. I had 187 yards…downhill lie…into the wind…pin cut over a bunker. Thanks, Pete Dye. I hit 4-iron and played for the middle of the green. I flushed the 4-iron and it went long. To make matters worse, I had one of those lies were it’s a sandy lie because you are just outside the bunker, but not actually in the bunker. I hit a nice chip with the LW to 6-feet and saved that par (+2)
#13: Busted a driver down the right side. Then I followed that with a nice driver off the deck. Hit LW to 8-feet and sank the birdie putt (+1)
#14: Big driver here down the middle. I flushed a 9-iron, but pulled it and left myself with a 45 foot putt. Hit the putt to 2-feet and made par (+1)
#15: Didn’t quite catch my 7-iron, but put it on the green. Then I drilled a 40 footer with a double break for birdie ( E )
#16: Good driver down the middle. Flushed my PW to 7-feet. Just ran the edge and made par ( E )
#17: Good driver down the middle. Crushed a driver off the deck and followed that with a LW to 10-feet and uphill. Canned the birdie (-1)
#18: Good driver down the middle. The pin was up front. Normally it’s a shot I want to hit high so I can get it close. But, this front pin location is tough because there’s a hazard short. I was feeling it and hit a moon rocket 9-iron to 6-feet. I then lipped out the birdie putt and made par (-1)
THOUGHTS: Shooting under par at Walkabout from the back tees is an accomplishment, particularly in windy conditions. I really struck it well the last 7-holes. I also went 3-under on the back nine with 2 narrowly missed putts on #16 and #18 to go 5 under and shoot 69. Putted quite well today from 5-10 feet. The driver play is much improved from last year. It’s starting to become a better part of my game. The move to a shorter club length with a heavier shaft has been paying dividends. However, I’ll probably get another lesson pretty soon and that will take some time to work the kinks out.
38-33=71 (-1)
12/14 fwy
12/18 GIR
29 putts
1 impeded shot
-7 G.I.R.O score
3JACK
