5/1/2010 Cloran's new Personal Record

[cloran]

Got up at 5:30am and played 18 this morning. My first full round in 2 years. I did not have my driver as it's being reshafted so I used my 3 wood and Ping Eye 2 1 iron off the tee... certainly cost me some distance. Shot a new 9 and 18 hole personal record. 41 front, 41 back.

Sunken Meadow Golf Club, East Northport, NY (Red/Green)

1. Par 4. Short hole with a valley in front that requires you to lay up from the tee. 4i pushed into right rough. 9i onto the green, 3 putts. bogey. (+1)

2. Par 4. Straight away. 1 iron fanned wide open into the adjoining hole. Ball in rough. 8 iron skulled. 9 iron skulled. PW onto the back of the green. 2 Putts... D-D-D Double Bogey. (+3)

3. Par 3 downhill. 9i pin high right. 2 putts for par. (+3)

4. Par 4. 3 wood topped into right rough 100 yards away. 5 iron to 100 yards. GW to 20 ft passed the pin. 2 putts for bogey. (+4)

5. Dogleg Left Par 4. Good 1 iron down the middle. 150 yards left into the green. 7 iron to pin high left. Two putts for par (+4)

6. Par 4. 1 iron pushed into right rough. 9 iron to 25 feet left of pin. Two putts for par. (+4)

7. Par 5 dogleg downhill. 3 wood stripped . 270 to the green... decided to lay up. Skulled a 5 iron and left myself 150 to the pin. 7 iron to 15 ft right of the pin. Two putts for par. (+4)

8. Severe uphill par 3. 175 yards. 5 iron landed on the front of the green and spun right off the green. Used the "rule of 12" but was inbetween clubs... 8i or 7i. Decided on the 8i because I wanted to be short if anything and leave myself an uphill putt. Short with the chip by 12 feet.... should have used the 7i. Made the 12' putt for par. (+4)

9. Dogleg right par 5. Bombed the 1 iron down the middle... great shot. Green is uphill from here and I was too far to reach so I decided to lay up... Fanned a 5i wide right into the woods... LOST BALL... drop one, penalty stroke... Hit a 9iron just short of the green. Chip to 4', make the putt for bogey. (+5)

TONS OF STROKES LEFT ON THE FRONT 9... STILL HIT A PERSONAL BEST 41, BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST BALL STRIKING DISPLAYS EVER... not enough M2 going on.

10. Par 4 dogleg left. 1 iron pushed right into rough. Top a 9i to 50 yards. Push my 58* wedge to right of green. Chip to 10 feet. 1 putt for bogey. (+6)

11. Par 4 dogleg left. Good 1 iron pulled into left rough. 7i to short of the green. Great chip to 12"... par. (+6)

12. Par 4 dogleg right. Good 1 iron left me 180 to the flag. I could have used my driver for sure on this hole. Last weekend I had 9i into this hole, today a 4i. Tried to play the fade to the pin that was on the right. Over cooked it into the right rough. The pin was cut on the edge of a severe slope. I had 10 yards of rough to carry and about 3 yards of green to work with before the slope started. Layed the sod over it. Second chip was very good and left me with a 10 foot uphill putt. Made it for bogey (+7)

13. 205 yard par 3. 3 iron was fanned way right into the rough of the adjoining hole... almost into the fairway. I was pin high and had 20 yards to navigate. Either a VERY high flop over 30 foot trees or bump an iron under. I bumbed an 8i to 20 feet. 1 putt for par! Nice. (+7)

14. Dogleg left par 4. 1 iron hit nicely onto the left side of the fairway. 9i to 15ft left of the pin. 2 putts for par. (+7)

15. Dogleg left par 4. I tried to sling my 3 wood around the trees and ended up topping it 30 yards. I then tried the same shot... this time with the 1 iron from the rough. Hit a branch and the ball ended up only traveling 20 yards. Hit a good 5i from there to 55 yards short of the green. Pitch with the 58* flew too far and bounced into the rough off the back. A good chip left me 5'. 1 putt for double. (+9)

16. Dogleg left par 5. Good 1 iron pulled a bit into the left rough. 7i layup to 100 yards. Chocked down 53* wedge to pin high right. Choked on the 15 foot birdie putt (left it 12" short dead center.) Par. (+9)

17. Par 3. 4i to pin high left from 180, not too bad. 35 ft. 2 putts for par. (+9)

18. Par 5. Good 3 wood still left me with 280 to the green... again, missing the driver today. Tried to lay up with a PW... and laid the sod over it. Hit a 3i WAY, WAY, WAY right onto the tee box of the adjoining hole. Bumped an 8i to 20 feet. Missed the par putt short and dead center again. Bogey. (+10)

I'm optimistic that I will be able to break 80 by the end of the summer. I thought it was a pipe dream when I started with ABS in Mid January, but the scores don't lie. Last weekend I shot a 42 for 9, and today two 41's...

I felt uncomfortable over the ball more than a few times today and still decided to just hit the ball instead of regrouping... certainly cost me a bunch of shots. I wasn't squatting into impact at all and THAT cost me a bunch. I have never hit so many topped shots in my life. Leaving the face WIDE open on many shots also hurt me big time. I missed 3 layups... that's absolutely uncalled for and I paid big time for that as well.

Putting was good for me. 29 putts total. Good chipping day, too. The practice seems to be paying off. I picked up a SeeMore putter and I'm waiting to get a new grip put on before I bag it... but after today it's going to have to fight hard to beat out the Rife Bimini. I've never had under 30 putts in a round before.

STATS:
10 pars!! Awesome for me.
5/14 Fairways (a few very close but missed)
7/18 Greens (getting better)
29 putts

82 (+10)... a new personal record by 2 strokes.



6.

[TeddyIrons]

Well done Cloran. Just one point about the rules. If you lose a ball you have to go back and play from the same place, with one shot penalty. I think on hole 9 you may not have followed the correct ruling, from your description.

[gmbtempe]

May 1, 2010 14:44:06 GMT -5 TeddyIrons said:

Well done Cloran. Just one point about the rules. If you lose a ball you have to go back and play from the same place, with one shot penalty. I think on hole 9 you may not have followed the correct ruling, from your description.

might depend on the local rules...but yea if it was a true lost ball your supposed to go back and play it from the same spot.

[cloran]

I agree, but this is one of those rules that is VERY difficult to go by while on a Public Course on Long Island on a Saturday morning. It took 6 hours to play the round as it is. If guys were walking back to the tee, or to where they played their last shot from it would be absolutely ridiculous.

I took a penalty stroke and dropped a ball where I saw it enter the woods. That's honestly the best I can do with such a packed course.

[gmbtempe]

Yea, in AZ most of the desert courses play it as a very large lateral hazzard, if they did not it would take 7 hours to play greyhawk at 200 bucks a round.

[Richie3Jack]

NICE! Good to see all that hard work is paying off





3JACK

[TeddyIrons]

May 1, 2010 15:54:09 GMT -5 cloran said:

I agree, but this is one of those rules that is VERY difficult to go by while on a Public Course on Long Island on a Saturday morning. It took 6 hours to play the round as it is. If guys were walking back to the tee, or to where they played their last shot from it would be absolutely ridiculous.

I took a penalty stroke and dropped a ball where I saw it enter the woods. That's honestly the best I can do with such a packed course.

Yeah, I know. I always play a provisional if I'm in any doubt whatsoever of finding the ball, as I've been burned too many times even for shots just bouncing off the fairway into light rough. Playing a provisional also gives you an extra bit of practice...

[gmbtempe]

Great round Cloran....you may be surprised but honestly looking at your swing on video there is no reason you can be a pretty decent player from a ball striking standpoint.

I played with a guy yesterday, despite the fact at 8am he started with a beer every three holes, he just played this little cut shot every time with a home made swing, had a great short game and could putt and I doubt he shot any more that 76 or so.