Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 22, 2015 9:49:47 GMT -5
Course: Eagle Creek
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Conditions: 93 degrees w/102 degree Heat Index, wind <7 mph ESE
Stimp: 9
A friend and I went out to play Eagle Creek as he’s got a tournament there and had never played there before and wanted me to strategize the course for him. That being said, not a lot of strategy needed there. I had been playing quite well lately and just came off a round at Harmony where I shot 38-34, but was 4-under on the back nine and missed a 4-footer for birdie, and then bogeyed 17 and 18 where being tired from the heat played a factor. As hot as it was at Eagle Creek, it felt hotter the previous day at Harmony.
Since my driver wasn’t ready, I was using a R11 that I picked up on Friday at the PGA Tour Superstore
#1: Decent drive down the middle. One of those drives where you can see that the R11 shaft (Aldila NV65 stiff) is a little too soft for me. I hit a SW to 12 feet and made the birdie. (-1)
#2: Layed up with a 2-hybrid. Got a little slidey and under-flippy (aka going normal) and lost about 10 yards of distance, but found the middle of the fairway. I got slidey and underflippy with a pitching wedge and found the green, but had a 30-foot putt. That was a common theme with my irons throughout the day. 2-putted and made par (-1)
#3: My back foot slipped a bit on the tee shot and I hit the ball a bit off the toe, but it still ended up being a nice drive down the middle. I was in between clubs and tried to punch a PW and I smothered it and missed well left. Hit a beautiful pitch as the ball was fluffed up quite a bit, but I didn’t get under the ball and the ball stopped on a dime. Good to see the Edel wedge still has plenty of bite to it. Kicked in for par (-1)
#4: Killed this drive. Unfortunately, there is an uphill slope where I hit it so it didn’t go more than 280 yards. I hit a decent 3-wood. I thought I hit a perfect LW from 62 yards, but instead I was too short with too much spin and had a 20-footer. Just missed the birdie putt and made par (-1)
#5. A bit slidey and underflippy with a 5-iron. This produced a high draw, but found the green. 2-putted and made par (-1).
#6: When I get the underflip (aka going normal) going, it creates a higher ball flight and more spin. We saw this on Trackman on Monday at Club Champion. The dynamic loft will increase and I’m catching shots below the CoG. So even with 3 or 4 degree upward AoA’s, the ball can spin way too much. So, how can I tell when I ‘go normal?’ Easy…I lose 20 yards off the tee. Which is what happened here. I then hit a chunky 4-iron left of the green.
My friend was right next to my ball for the 3rd shot. He tried to hit a long SW. I chipped with a 9-iron. He had a 25-foot par save, I had a 4-foot par save. Lesson, it’s hard hitting those long SW pitch shots because you have to carry it further and control the spin. I made the par save. (-1)
#7: This hole is a dogleg right with no real trouble left, but you’re trying to get to the right side to leave yourself with a shorter approach shot. I hit it towards the middle of the fairway. But I hit it so long that it went thru the fairway. It’s tough to judge how far I hit that one, but I think I hit it probably 310 yards. Easy to tell I wasn’t ‘going normal’ on that one. I then hit a PW to 20-feet and 2-putted for par (-1)
#8: A small ‘going normal’ here with a 5-iron, but I found the green. I had 205 yards to the hole and was in between a 4-iron and a 5-iron, but I didn’t want to go long. Even if I was on the green, a downhill putt would be a tough 2-putt. So I took out the 5-iron and found the green and 2-putted for par (-1)
#9: A pretty good drive followed up by a good 3-wood. Since I started to pull the left heel off the ground in the backswing, my 3-wood trajectory has improved greatly. I was on the left side of the green on this par-5 in 2 shots. But, somebody must have pissed off the greenskeeper with this pin position. I could only hit the putt to 10-feet. However, I refocused my attention on the putt to regain ‘mental momentum.’
Often times after a bad putt like this I would lose ‘mental momentum’ because I would feel like I should be closer to the hole than this. That would cause me to miss the birdie putt. Instead, I just viewed this as if I had hit a 100-yard shot to 10-feet and I would be positive about the shot and the upcoming birdie putt. With that, I drained the putt for birdie (-2)
#10: This drive was bombed. I thought I hit it pretty good, but I’ve never been that close to the hole. In fact, I thought the ball had gone into the left fairway bunker and was looking for it in there. It wasn’t until I saw the ball wayyyy down in the fairway that I was surprised how far I hit it. I hit too much club with a SW, but then drained a silly 30-footer for birdie (-3)
#11: Hit a 4-iron chunky and was well short of the green. Pitched with a pitching wedge (imagine that!) to 7-feet and drained the par save (-3)
#12: Decent drive down the middle, but they had the pin all the way back and I had 190 yards to the flag. I hit a 5-iron and never saw it go, but it went left and in the tall St. Augustine grass (which is thicker that Buffalo poop). My pitch shot went long and I 2-putted for bogey (-2)
#13: Tried to hammer this drive and I got some Internal Rotation of the right shoulder and turned it over too much and into the fairway bunker. I wanted to get my approach inside 130 yards and I was hitting the 2nd shot out of a pot bunker. So I hit an 8-iron and got it to 133 yards. Hit a P-Wedge to 15-feet and just missed the birdie putt (-2)
#14: Decent driver down the middle followed by a 9-iron onto the green and a 2-putt for par (-2)
#15: This was an ugly drive that found the fairway, somehow. This is usually more slide and less underflip causing this. I then pulled a 7-iron, but it went into the rough on the end of the bunker which has a steep wall. I managed to get it on the green and thought the putt was going to double break so I aimed at the hole, but it only single broke and I missed and made bogey (-1)
#16: A toe drive. I could see I was getting tired. The round took 4-1/2 hours and my friend and I were in separate carts and we both play fast. We just waited for F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I got luck on this one as my ball managed to go in between both fairway bunkers on the left with a good lie. I hit a decent 3-wood and followed it with a LW to 12-feet and made the birdie putt (-2)
#17: Hit a 5-iron that found the green, a little left of the flag. Still wasn’t a good swing. When I get tired I start sliding more and start ‘flinging’ my arms and hands (right shoulder going into internal rotation) instead of keeping the right shoulder in ER and using the pivot to help deliver the club head to the ball. I just burned the edge of the hole and made par (-2)
#18: Hit the drive well, but the launch was a little low and I couldn’t get over the water in 2, so I laid up with a lousy 5-iron, but was in good position. I then hit a SW mediocre, but it went to 6-feet and I made the birdie putt (-3)
SYNOPSIS: Very happy with my play and I hit a lot of good-to-great shots. Overall I was pretty good out there although I struggled with the 4-iron a bit which is odd since I usually stripe that club. Started to roll some really good putts out there, but the greens were still recovering a little bit from previous aeration.
34-36=70 (-3)
10/14 fwy
13/18 GIR
29 putts
+10 15/5 Score
2 Impedes