Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 2, 2014 10:04:19 GMT -5
Course: Metrowest Golf Club
Weather: 88 degrees, cloudy, occasional wind and rain
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Went out to play Metrowest which I have not played since December. The course did some major renovations for about 4 months in 2013, complete shutting down during that time. They went from 72 bunkers to 43 bunkers. And the bunkers they had they reduced in size and took out the lips in many of them. They also went to my preferred Bermuda grass surface on the greens; TifEagle.
However, there have been issues with the greens not being receptive. They are rolling great, but they are still pretty hard to land on. That said, I see noticeable improvement from December in about half of the greens as they are holding better.
Overall, the course was in decent condition. The rough was probably in the worst shape. And some of the fairways had some issues as well. But, I think that is mainly due to the rough winter we had. Furthermore, I think the fairway grass is the next thing they need to start looking to overhaul. It’s very frayed in many of the areas. It can still be green in color, but the grass blades look very tattered. That and nobody puts sands in their divots there.
I will say that the bigger pay-off to the change in the course is that it only took us 4 hours 15 minutes to play. That is one of the fastest rounds I’ve had on the course. One time, I played with my buddy and I shot 34 on the front and we played in 65 minutes…only to get caught up to the mess on the back 9 and it took 2 hours 45 minutes for just the 2 of us to play. The course is still not a can of corn by any stretch, so taking so many bunkers out was badly needed.
#10: They started us on the back 9 which is fine by me. I hit a decent driver that found the middle of the fairway. The lie was okay, but since it was my first hole, I didn’t feel like hitting driver off the deck on my 2nd shot. So I hit a good 2-hybrid to about 90 yards into the hole. Hit my LW to 15-feet. Left my first putt well short and made par ( E )
#11: Hit a little low and slight pull that went thru the area where a bunker used to be. But now I was in excellent shape. Hit a good LW but this is a green that is rock hard and it rolled to the back fringe. 2-putted from 15-feet and made par ( E )
#12: Crushed a drive here. I almost never hit a good drive on this hole and this one was a beauty. Had a lie in the fairway that was weird because it was grassy, but spongy and tight at the same time. Hit my SW that I pushed and it hit the right fringed and spun on to 15-feet. Just missed the birdie putt and made par ( E )
#13: Good driver down the middle. I was in-between clubs, so I hit extra club and used my 9-iron so I wouldn’t go into the front bunkers. I flushed it, but pushed it as well. Still found the green, but I had a 50-footer. Good read on the first putt, but left it 5-feet short. Made the par putt and moved on ( E )
#14: This hole is difficult for me because there is no real spot to aim off the tee. You can’t see the green as it is down the hill. And the only thing in the background is the skyline, so there is no particular tree or building you can aim at. I took an ugly swing and pushed this right. Then I took another ugly swing and hooked my 2-hybrid left. I was in good shape. 132 yards into the flag to a steep downhill green, but a 2-3 club wind in my face. I chose a PW (I hit my PW about 136 yards). Thinking:
Distance to Green = 132 yards
Downhill Slope = -20 yards
2-3 club wind = +25 yards
Total estimated distance = 137 yards
And I flew the green.
Argh.
Nice chip to 4-feet and made the par save ( E )
#15: Wind was blowing hard in our face and we had 193 yards into the green. I chose my ‘new’ Mizuno 3-hybrid (20* loft) with the KBS Tour hybrid shaft. The club has a balance of 56% as it is ‘head heavy.’ I don’t have an extra 8-gram counterweight, but I am also thinking for this club it is okay to hit this higher to get it to hold. I hit this right on the screws, but just missed the green right (Metrowest has a few greens that are very narrow, but require long distance approach shots).
Anyway, hit my chip to 3-feet and saved the par ( E )
#16: Hit a slight pull-draw that found the left fairway bunker near the lip. I hit the lip just trying to pitch it out, but the ball came out of the bunker. I had 144 yards into the green with a downhill lie and I hit a 9-iron and caught a flier that flew the green. Then I had a horrendous lie and pitched it to 30-feet. 2-putted and made double (+2)
#17: I’m not a fan of this hole. It plays 230 yards to the back tees and what most don’t know is that the green is actually elevated. You can’t see it until you get on the green and look backwards. That’s why so many people end up short here. We had the wind into us and I hit my Gonzo Wood. Of course, this starts the entire conversation of
‘you’re hitting driver?’
No. It’s my 3-wood.
‘That’s your 3-wood?!?!?!?!’
Anyway, I nutted this thing right at the flag and had about 20 feet for birdie. Not enough gas and made par (+2)
#18: Hit the driver hard, but just dead right. Hit it so far right that I actually had a clear shot to the green. I had some friends in junior golf that could crush the ball, but had no idea where it was going that would miss so badly that they would actually have a good clear shot into the green. One of the few times I felt like them. I hit my 3-hybrid from a bad lie just left of the green. Chipped to about a foot and made par (+2)
#1: They had a jazz festival there and they moved the tees up to the ladies tees to make room for it. I hit my drive hard, but pushed it. I still ended up with a 40 yard pitch into the hole. Hit it a little hard and ended up about 18 feet away for birdie. 2-putted and made par (+2)
#2: Another hole I struggle to drive it well on. I hit the driver hard, but it cut on me and I almost went in the water. Hit a soft 7-iron all the way to the back of the green. 2-putted and made par (+2)
#3: Another hole that gives me issues because the tee is aimed dead left of where the green is. I hit this hard, but flared it a tad. Well, it was a ‘pro-style miss.’ Chipped up to a few inches and kicked in for par (+2)
#4: Hit this drive hard, but the wind started to blow really hard and faded it left. Had to just hit it with a 7-iron as I was on a mogul. I then had 162 yards into the green with a hard tail wind. I figured I would be better off in the front bunker (for once) *IF* the ball didn’t plug rather than being long of the green. I hit the shot a tad fat and went just short of the bunker. Then I hit a great flop shot to 3-feet and made my par (+2)
#5: This was a well struck drive. This would have cleared the old fairway bunker on the right. But, with the new fairway bunker that has replaced it, I went right into it. I then flew the green with a PW. Chipped up nicely to 5-feet, but missed the par save (+3)
#6: Struck the drive very well right down the middle. Took some extra club since I wanted to hit this high. Hit my 7-iron and hit it high and hard, but it flew the green. Another great pitch to about 2-feet and made my par save (+3)
#7: Reverted back to some old swing mechanics and hit a poor tee shot into the bunker. Hit the 7-iron out of the bunker. The rain started to come down and I hit a good 8-iron, but it went short of the green. Almost knocked in my pitch shot and made par (+3)
#8: The rain came down pretty good. I hit a decent 7-iron, but it went well short of the green. Pitched to 4-feet. I played for the break, but it broke even more than I thought and made bogey (+4)
#9: Struck the driver well here, but it went right behind the oak tree in the middle of the fairway. So, I had the following scenario.
1. Have to hit a low punch shot left of the tree.
2. Have to hit it with slice spin because there is water left
3. The fairway slopes towards the water on the left
I hit a slicing punch shot that was going right at the green and had the perfect speed…and it hits the damn ‘CARTS’ sign on the ground. Unbelievable.
Anyway, I once again chipped to about 3-feet and saved par. (+4)
THOUGHTS: I think my round was basically one where I hit the driver well, but wasn’t very effective off the tee due to some bad shots or shots that ended up in bad position. I think I was decent with my irons although I missed some critical shots on the last 6 holes. My Short Game play was excellent, but my putter was way off as I had a hard time getting a feel for the speed of the greens. My general thinking of Metrowest’s greens is that they have less break than you think on the back 9 and more break than you think on the front 9.
38-38=76 (+4)
6/14 Fairways
7/18 GIR
28 putts
-7 G.I.R.O. Score
+16 ‘15/5 Score’
