Post by Richie3Jack on Dec 28, 2013 21:01:04 GMT -5
Course: Panther Lake (Orange County National)
Weather: High 70’s cloudy with a 2-club breeze
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Orange County National was having a great deal again where Florida residents could play golf with lunch for only $39. My dad loves OCN (I’m a big fan as well) and we wanted to invite one of his neighbors at The Villages to come and play with us since he has never played OCN before.
The course was in great shape, but a bit down from last year. I’m really nit picking here. But, I think the heavy rains the west side of town had in the June and the cold November probably played a part in that.
If I have a problem with OCN is that usually the pace of play is painfully slow. They had an international junior event there. I think the girls were playing Panther Lake and the boys at Crooked Cat. In the end, the front nine was slow (2 hours and 23 minutes for a 3-some). But the juniors were not playing the back nine and we ended up finishing that in 1 hour and 47 minutes, finishing up at 4 hours and 10 minutes overall.
I played the ‘orange tees’ instead of the tips. With the wind and the soft ground, some of the par-4’s would not be reachable. In fact, I played #3 from the tips and striped a driver and could not reach it on my second shot (470 yard par-4 into the wind).
#1: Hit a driver hard, but push-faded it. Ended up with a good break as the ball ended up in between the bunkers. Played a 5-iron safely , but it wasn’t a good swing. Pitched a LW nicely, but didn’t play for the break. 2-putted for bogey (+1)
#2: Hit a big driver with a tail-wind and only had a 3-iron to the green. Caught the 3-iron a little thin, but ended up okay. Good chip with a LW to 3-feet and made the birdie ( E )
#3: Okay, hit a driver as well as I could from the tips and found the fairway. I didn’t dare go for the green…on a par-4. So I laid-up. Then I pushed my SW badly to 35-feet. First putt wasn’t as fast as I expected, but I made the bogey save (+1)
#4: Ugly, ‘got stuck’ swing and pushed it right and short of the bunker. Nice pitch with a LW to 5-feet and saved the par (+1)
#5: Another ugly ‘got stuck’ and spun out driver that went well right. However, I had a good lie and shot at the green. Unfortunately, I over-corrected and hit a pull-draw left of the green. I should have been in trouble, but I had a good shot at the green. I hit a pitch to 3-feet and saved par (+1)
#6: Good 6-iron into the wind, but the wind knocked it short. Weak first putt, but made the par save (+1)
#7: Good driver right down the middle. I could have gone for the green. Had 243 to the flag and 220 to carry the water. The ball wasn’t flying very far and even though that was the yardage, it sure looked a lot further than that. And I could hit a good shot and carry the green and still end up in trouble. Thus, I decided to lay up with an 8-iron. I left myself with 140 into the flag which made it a poor lay-up shot. Hit PW to the front of the green and 2-putted for par (+1)
#8: Pretty good driver with a draw down the middle. I had 185 with the wind in my face. I debated a 5-iron or a 4-iron. My main worry was I didn’t want to go short because of the front bunker (see Death Trap essay in Pro Golf Synopsis). I was afraid if I hit it flush the ball with the uphill lie may balloon on me. So I hit a 4-iron and caught it thin. Thankfully it was the smart play as the ball ended up about 10-feet from the cup and I sunk the birdie putt. ( E )
#9: Hit a low, slight pull and slight draw into the left rough. Ball was well below my feet, but I was albe to draw it to 5-feet and make that putt for my 2nd birdie in a row (-1)
#10: Pretty good driver that was slightly off the toe that found the middle of the fairway. I hit a driver off the deck to about 50 yards to the pin. Hit a pitch shot with my 52* SW to 8-feet and made that birdie for my 3rd birdie in a row (-2)
#11: Flushed a 5-iron from 202 yards that almost went into the hole, just about a foot short. I thought it was in for an ace. Made my 4th birdie in a row (-3)
#12: Good driver down the middle. Reverted back to some of my old, bad habits and pulled an ugly 5-iron into the bunker. Hit a great long, bunker shot with my 52* SW to a foot and kicked in for par (-3)
#13: Decent driver into the wind and uphill. Flushed a 3-iron that went to the front part of the green into the wind. First putt almost went in from about 50-feet and made par (-3)
#14: Ripped a driver down the middle. I hit a Gonzo Wood down the right side. Then a SW to 15-feet. Had the read, but a little too hard and made par (-3)
#15: Flushed a 6-iron pin-high to about 18 feet. 2-putted for par (-3)
#16: Crushed a driver down the middle. Again, my strategy saved me by taking enough club. I hit a poor 5-iron here but I was left in a good position to get up-and-down. Pitched to about 5-feet and saved the par (-3)
#17: Hit a 6-iron into the wind to about 20-feet. Didn’t play enough break and made par (-3)
#18: Ripped another driver down the middle. Hit a Gonzo Wood with a draw just like I wanted. Then a pitch to 5-feet and made the birdie (-4)
THOUGHTS: The stuff I had been working on with my swing was really starting to take and I started to develop some real confidence as I got into the back nine. I also went back to the Edel putter which worked nice. I really started to get things to click on holes #13 thru #18, but only made 1 birdie. Best round of the year.
35-33=68 (-4)
10/14 Fwy
12/18 GIR
27 putts
-10 GIRO Score
+10 ‘15/5 Score’
3JACK
Weather: High 70’s cloudy with a 2-club breeze
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Orange County National was having a great deal again where Florida residents could play golf with lunch for only $39. My dad loves OCN (I’m a big fan as well) and we wanted to invite one of his neighbors at The Villages to come and play with us since he has never played OCN before.
The course was in great shape, but a bit down from last year. I’m really nit picking here. But, I think the heavy rains the west side of town had in the June and the cold November probably played a part in that.
If I have a problem with OCN is that usually the pace of play is painfully slow. They had an international junior event there. I think the girls were playing Panther Lake and the boys at Crooked Cat. In the end, the front nine was slow (2 hours and 23 minutes for a 3-some). But the juniors were not playing the back nine and we ended up finishing that in 1 hour and 47 minutes, finishing up at 4 hours and 10 minutes overall.
I played the ‘orange tees’ instead of the tips. With the wind and the soft ground, some of the par-4’s would not be reachable. In fact, I played #3 from the tips and striped a driver and could not reach it on my second shot (470 yard par-4 into the wind).
#1: Hit a driver hard, but push-faded it. Ended up with a good break as the ball ended up in between the bunkers. Played a 5-iron safely , but it wasn’t a good swing. Pitched a LW nicely, but didn’t play for the break. 2-putted for bogey (+1)
#2: Hit a big driver with a tail-wind and only had a 3-iron to the green. Caught the 3-iron a little thin, but ended up okay. Good chip with a LW to 3-feet and made the birdie ( E )
#3: Okay, hit a driver as well as I could from the tips and found the fairway. I didn’t dare go for the green…on a par-4. So I laid-up. Then I pushed my SW badly to 35-feet. First putt wasn’t as fast as I expected, but I made the bogey save (+1)
#4: Ugly, ‘got stuck’ swing and pushed it right and short of the bunker. Nice pitch with a LW to 5-feet and saved the par (+1)
#5: Another ugly ‘got stuck’ and spun out driver that went well right. However, I had a good lie and shot at the green. Unfortunately, I over-corrected and hit a pull-draw left of the green. I should have been in trouble, but I had a good shot at the green. I hit a pitch to 3-feet and saved par (+1)
#6: Good 6-iron into the wind, but the wind knocked it short. Weak first putt, but made the par save (+1)
#7: Good driver right down the middle. I could have gone for the green. Had 243 to the flag and 220 to carry the water. The ball wasn’t flying very far and even though that was the yardage, it sure looked a lot further than that. And I could hit a good shot and carry the green and still end up in trouble. Thus, I decided to lay up with an 8-iron. I left myself with 140 into the flag which made it a poor lay-up shot. Hit PW to the front of the green and 2-putted for par (+1)
#8: Pretty good driver with a draw down the middle. I had 185 with the wind in my face. I debated a 5-iron or a 4-iron. My main worry was I didn’t want to go short because of the front bunker (see Death Trap essay in Pro Golf Synopsis). I was afraid if I hit it flush the ball with the uphill lie may balloon on me. So I hit a 4-iron and caught it thin. Thankfully it was the smart play as the ball ended up about 10-feet from the cup and I sunk the birdie putt. ( E )
#9: Hit a low, slight pull and slight draw into the left rough. Ball was well below my feet, but I was albe to draw it to 5-feet and make that putt for my 2nd birdie in a row (-1)
#10: Pretty good driver that was slightly off the toe that found the middle of the fairway. I hit a driver off the deck to about 50 yards to the pin. Hit a pitch shot with my 52* SW to 8-feet and made that birdie for my 3rd birdie in a row (-2)
#11: Flushed a 5-iron from 202 yards that almost went into the hole, just about a foot short. I thought it was in for an ace. Made my 4th birdie in a row (-3)
#12: Good driver down the middle. Reverted back to some of my old, bad habits and pulled an ugly 5-iron into the bunker. Hit a great long, bunker shot with my 52* SW to a foot and kicked in for par (-3)
#13: Decent driver into the wind and uphill. Flushed a 3-iron that went to the front part of the green into the wind. First putt almost went in from about 50-feet and made par (-3)
#14: Ripped a driver down the middle. I hit a Gonzo Wood down the right side. Then a SW to 15-feet. Had the read, but a little too hard and made par (-3)
#15: Flushed a 6-iron pin-high to about 18 feet. 2-putted for par (-3)
#16: Crushed a driver down the middle. Again, my strategy saved me by taking enough club. I hit a poor 5-iron here but I was left in a good position to get up-and-down. Pitched to about 5-feet and saved the par (-3)
#17: Hit a 6-iron into the wind to about 20-feet. Didn’t play enough break and made par (-3)
#18: Ripped another driver down the middle. Hit a Gonzo Wood with a draw just like I wanted. Then a pitch to 5-feet and made the birdie (-4)
THOUGHTS: The stuff I had been working on with my swing was really starting to take and I started to develop some real confidence as I got into the back nine. I also went back to the Edel putter which worked nice. I really started to get things to click on holes #13 thru #18, but only made 1 birdie. Best round of the year.
35-33=68 (-4)
10/14 Fwy
12/18 GIR
27 putts
-10 GIRO Score
+10 ‘15/5 Score’
3JACK