A Small White Ball and Several Big Sticks: October 2013

Tue 29 Oct 2013 9 Holes at Meon Valley - Take 2

Just arrived in time it was getting cooler by the minute.

There was some sun when we started. No one in front or behind. For me this had to be better than my last pathetic attempt.

I ended up with a score not to be proud of BUT I felt a lot happier!

On the first I hit a reasnoble first shot, a good second and my 3rd would have hit the green, except it hit the tree and bounced in the ditch. Grr. No problem it would have been fine.

The 2nd I managed to get a tee shot int the right area (after a mulligan). That was a first.

On the 3rd I managed a pw to a nice spot for a pitch to the green (messed up with a 3 put though). Still no lost balls!

On the 4th I had a bit of bad luck after a good tee shot it hit a tree and went in a ditch (not lost this time!).

The 5th and 6th were OK.

The long 7th went very well ... decent tee shot just short of fairway on other side. Nice 2nd shot then managed to avoid the bunkers.

8th was a bit messy trying too hard off tee. 9th was ok considering it was going quite dark and I resorted to 7i to the green. (One duff due to incorrect choice of club).

R won easily playing very well, but I can see plenty ways I can improve on my score here.

The Bl&&dy ditch at the 1st

Nice sunshine through terrs

Tree at the 3rd

Approach to 5th

The scary valley (7th)

Sat 26 Oct 2013 - 18 Holes at Dummer

As I drove towards Dummer I passed through a downpour. However when I parked up the rain had stopped.

After the disaster the day before I had decided to revert to my odd sideways stance and today it seemed to work.

M arrived shortly after me and we paid and hit 14 warm up balls each. M as usual was whacking them miles with a PW. We wandered over ready to start but we had a 3 ball and a 4 ball in front. A 4 ball arrived in buggies to follow but we left them behind. The weather started off quite bad very windy and rain. My glasses were soon in need of windscreen wipers. I played ok on the 1st but M played better despite losing a ball left of the green. The rain stopped by the time we started the 2nd and it never rained again. M won the 2nd despite taking a penalty out of the ditch. We drew the 3rd then I won the next 2 with a couple of pars. By the end of the first 9 we were level with 4 each so the handicap of 26 v 30 is working well. The speed of play was perfect as the 4 ball in front kept a good pace and we had no one behind.

The back 9 went almost alternate holes and on the last hole we were drawing. So on the last hole M hit a high tee right and I followed with one even further right. Ms 2nd shot stopped just short of the lake and I went onto the fairway and then left of the lake. M then went right into a bush on the right of the lake and I got past the lake 40 yds short of the green, M escaped from the bush in a similar position to me so it was all square. I hit a great pitch to within 4 yds of the flag and M went over the back. That was it, my game and the trophy. M had held the trophy for many weeks (since 18th August I think). My score is here.

It was a round of few lost balls. It has given me some confidence back. One one hole M hit the best PW I have ever seen. M got a birdy on the 14th as he has before. I won due to my putting (no 3 puts and 9 1 puts!). I hit one very close to the driving line from the tee on the 8th.

Great fun and we were lucky with the weather.

4th Green

At the 8th tee

Ball can on the 8th fairway

M on the 9th tee

Great weather on 9th

Dark clouds on 9th

Sunshine on 15th

15th Green

Nice tree from 15th Green

Getting dark on 17th green

Ms pic towards 5th

M getting artistic

Hey trophy hello!

Fri 25 Oct 2013 - Meon Valley Course - Oh dear!

Well I started playing golf over 2 years ago and my first ever game on a proper course was at the Meon Valley Hotel. We stayed there for M's birthday and he wanted to play (I didn't but felt I should make the effort). To be honest I have never looked back, it turned out to be one of the best things I have every done, however I have no memory of our first game its a blur. I know we had no clubs so we borrowed the pro's set (between us). We had no golfing gear so I expect we looked like a couple of tramps. (No disrespect to tramps intended).

So today I went with R after work to repeat the challenge. To be honest I was expecting it to be easy. Its only a 9 hole and the yardage's look ok. The weather was fine but it had been raining a lot and the course was very damp.

Hole 1 down a hill dogleg right and over a large ditch. I hit my tee ok with my new stance. Then I hit a nice approach to the green and lost one in the deep wide ditch.

Hole 2 a narrow start with a slight dogleg left. I hit a duff off the tee. This unnerved me and I immediately tried to switch back to my odd sideways stance, that didn't work either. Hey ho thats golf.

Hole 3 is a par 3 with a pond in front of the green. I did a duff off the tee and the ball landed in a bog. I duffed it into the pond, took a penalty and hit another into the pond as well. I gave up and walked past the pond to continue.

Hole 4 A long straight par 4. I duffed the tee shot (see the pattern) and struggled to the pin.

Hole 5 is along par 3. I did ok on this getting to the green in 2.

Hole 6 turned out to be a long uphill dogleg right. (We thought it went left) I struggled on this with a duff from the tee. We were being followed by 2 golfers so I suggested that (as we had limited time) we should start again at hole 1 and see if we could correct the errors.

As soon as we started from hole 1 again 2 new golfers appeared.. grr.. As it happened I only improved on the first hole (not losing one in the ditch this time but going over the back instead). On the 3rd I again lost 2 balls one from the tee and one following a duff. So that was 5 balls lost and 4 in 1 pond. When we completed the 6th for the second time I was in 2 minds wether I had time to do the last 3 holes. Anyway the 7th is a long par 5 with a valley off the tee. R did a nice drive and I hit one from the tee into the hedge. That was enough.. I gave up and left R to finish. No scores as I did not finish...

So my new stance did not work and my old one didn't ether. I got home pretty despondent. hey ho. On reflection I was not ready to change stance (it brings with it unreliability which I have just about removed from my game). Also I think this course has a few challenges and this is worse in the wet. I have no idea how me and M ever got round this on our first outing.

I have a feeling that I may never be able to play some courses that require a big hit off the tee. What next?

Looking from tee number 1

The 2nd fairway with leaves (very wet!)

Wed 23 Oct 2013 - Practice 100+ balls and some

Not much chance of proper golf this week so better try to keep hitting balls.

The range was quiet about 3 others. I went to my favourite bay with the car at about 100 yds. I found that I had been left about 20 balls by the previous occupant. No one around to claim them so I hit them to warm up. I did the usual warmup and played a few imaginary holes at Dummer, however I got sidetracked after hitting a few poor shots.

I did a mixture of side and full on swing and both mostly worked, I even hit a few fades (shock horror). I was completely alone for the last 20 minutes or so which was a bit odd. Not as much fun as last week but I expect it will do me some good.

Fri 18 Oct 2013 Practice 100+ balls (2nd time this week)

Well I hoped to capitalise on my good practice earlier this week. Well in true golf tradition it was not quite a good as last time. In fact at first I hit a few so far right it reminded me of the old days.

As usual I warmed up from 9i to 1W, changing to tee at 5i. I could not hit my 1W at all (no change there). The range was quiet so that was good. I went in a bay a bit further from the car perhaps a bad idea.

After the warm up I played an average imaginary Paultons Park. At the end I hit several 3Ws not too bad. In general I used a traditional stance, lets see how I get on in a game next week...?

Fun (ish)...

Wed 15 Oct 2013 Practice 100+ balls first for a long time!

After giving it some thought through the day I had decided to try a variant on my latest setup and try to stand in a more traditional stance before hitting the ball. I need some more distance off the tee.

I started off with a 9i off the mat and worked up to 5i off the tee and then up to my 3W off the tee. At first I kept the sideways stance and all was going well, then gradually I adopted a more traditional square stance with a short swing and an out to in action. (Still not perfect I know) the result was very pleasing.

I then played an imaginary game at Paultons park using my modified stance from the tee and only going sidewards as I got towards the imaginary green.

I was left with about a dozen balls which I took as a challenge to hit all with my 3W. All went at least as fat as the car and only a couple went right and one went left. None skimmed along the ground as they had done the day before.

It was great fun. The driving range was quiet even though there were several players practicing. The floodlights were full on and only a handful of balls went very right, mainly when I forgot to do out to in swing. I still have my right slice so aiming left will always be good.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the practice. I am convinced that I had improved since I was last there several months ago. I think I will try to do this more often.

So I think that I will use this new approach in my next game.

Rubbish pic but you get the idea!

Tue 15 Oct 2013 18 Holes at Paultons - Too Serious!

For October the weather was amazing. Warm enough to start with tee shirt and polo shirt only.

With R after work. We had to start at about 2:30 in order to finish before it got dark. We must have been about the last to start as there were a few in front but a few holes and no one behind until we were caught by a lone golfer around the 12/13th. As usual the sun was a bit of a problem for seeing the ball but its a nice problem to have.

I had printed score cards from the new website with planned scores for each of us. R on 14 and me on 26.

I set off well on the first 2 holes, despite a poor tee shot on the 2nd. (No change there!). Sadly I went into the trees on the 3rd and took a couple to get back onto the fairway. The next 3 were fine (although I wasted my Mulligan on the 5th). I tried too hard on the long 7th and started off with a lost ball left and 3 off the tee. My tee shot then got slightly tangled up in the trees to the right and I struggled to get out of the rough. So this was a 9... bad. The 8th was fine but I again lost a ball off the tee on the 9th so another 3 off the tee. By the time I went left and right and went over the green from short I got my first 11 in a long time.

Mentally I was struggling and things took a little while to get back to normal as I started off with a duff from the tee on the 10th (At least it was not lost). Over the next few holes things improved a bit and I realised that I was taking myself too seriously. There is no point getting wound up it only makes things worse. I slightly messed up the 13th with a duff off the tee but after that I was back to my usual sort of game. Lately I have not been able to get over the lake on the 15th so I took a different strategy of a 9i right and then its easy over the lake and saves one stroke and a lost ball.

We let the lone golfer through on the 16th as we were waiting for the sun to drop a bit to make the final holes easier.

It was a great evening and the grass was absolutely full of cobweb but no spider was in sight. Where are they? I attempted to get a picture but not very successful. Anyway I played so badly that R easily won. My score is here.

In the end it was great fun as usual!

Anyway it made me ask a few questions.... I need to be able to hit better (further) off the tee. I need to get on the green instead of being short so often. I decided I need to go for a practice and see if I could make some small change to my position to allow bigger shots from the tee.... Tomorrow I will go for a practice, the first in several months. Can't do any harm, can it?

Oh and don't take myself so seriously!

Look at the weather.. 1st tee

10th tee waiting for 2 in front.

From 10th tee back to 9th hole

10th tee to 18th fairway

Me and my shadow

With R in the distance 11 fairway.

Waiting at the16th

Trying to capture cobwebs on film

More cobwebs.

Ok they cant be seen but they were there honest.

Sun 13 Oct 2013 9+18 Holes at Chichester

Meet with M at 7:44.

Just time for a quick zip round the 9 hole before breakfast. Its great to have a privilege card as the 9 hole is free. We almost had the 9 holes to ourselves, just a lone golfer practicing his short game. I think that I won fairly easily although M will no doubt let me know if this is wrong.

Breakfast at the Chichester clubhouse is second to none. The breakfast baguette with unlimited coffee, yum! There were 4 other golfers and one had a monster breakfast, not sure if I could play golf after one of those.

We got off early as the people before and after failed to turn up. This was probably due to the weather which was cool and slightly damp. So no one in front or behind, just as I like it.

Started off in the bunker and took 2 to get out. The bunkers had water in and we decided to play a free drop for later ones. Its getting close to winter rules for us. On the 3rd I hit my first tee into the lake (not done that for a while) so took my Mulligan, my next shot went just right of the green so I can do it!

I had a bit of trouble on the dreaded 5th where I ended up with my second shot well above my feet and the 4th shot went behind a tree forcing me to play out at right angles. I should have been at least 1 better here. I never played terrible on the front 9 but I finished up short of lots of greens and my chipping was not as reliable as usual.

The hole I have forgotten how to play is the 16th where I am nervous about clearing the lake and don't seem to be able to hit an iron straight. I lost the first in the lake. I did however play the 17h well getting just short of the green in 3 (which is good for me!).

It was M's day again, thats 4 in a row and his handicap comes down to 30 against my 26. M had some troubles off the tee (until I suggested he try a yellow tee.. that was a mistake as he it some good ones then). M won the front 9 outright but lost a few points on the back 9. Not enough to lose the match, I think he won by 2 holes. My score is here.

As the round progressed we both found it a bit tough as the rain got heavier and it was quite cold. Still great fun.

Swans on the lake at the 5th

Slightly closer to the swans at the 5th

M has a long putt.

M on the 5th Fairway on the 9th Hole

Spot the ball here (It was behind me!)

Fri 11 Oct 2013 18 Holes just me at Quindell (Skylark)

A nice early finish at work on Friday gave me the chance to go play some golf. Sadly it was just me but just me is better than no one!

When I arrived there was a big Q on the first tee. Inside Quindells it was all change, they are ripping the insides out, can't tell what it will be like. The new owners are Skylark and its now Skylark Country club and 20 quid for a friday morning.

They suggested I start on the back 9 as the front 9 was busy. I was following 2, who were following a buggy. I made a good start with a par on the 10th. The 2 in front played steady and I did not wait very much. By the end of 9 holes I had a score of 45 and was feeling quite pleased. The 2 in front had finished.

As I started the 2nd nine from the 1st tee there was another big queue forming (a golf society). They let me go ahead and I hit a great 4i well down the fairway. The 2 new people in front gave me the opportunity to show off by hitting the green in 2. As usual under pressure I duffed my pw and it went over the back. The 2 in front were doing a handicap round so they let me go through. I hit another nice 4i. The expert behind made some comment about playing safe... Thats me!

Anyway until I got out away from them I felt the pressure. My playing was definitely worse on the 2nd half. I reached my peak of baddness on the 6th where the wind was against, I did a duff from the tee and struggled to get onto the fairway ending with a 10.

At the start of the round the weather was cold but fine, as the round progressed it turned more miserable and I just finished before the rain started.

In the end I had scored well enough on half the round to save a reasonable score. My score is here.

A nice day! up the 14th Fairway

Looking back from the 16th tee

The 18th Fairway

From 18th tee to 7th Green

Sun 6 Oct 2013 18 Holes at glorious Sleaford Golf Course

On trip up North.

Sorry for long blog but its first time at Sleaford!

Early breakfast for Me and M then got lift from A for 9 o'clock tee time. Car park was full with people already playing.. popular. I am not surprised the weather was great. We started with jumpers but by end of 6th hole we were down to tee shirts.

It was quite pricey at 36 quid each but it was probably the best kept course we have played to date. For the record I paid for both. The greens were amazing but very large (par 3 greens I would call them). The fairways were immaculate. The bunkers were a bit disappointing being more mud than sand.

You were supposed to put your ball in a contraption and wait till you were next. There was a ball already there but no one around so we started anyway. M had handicap cut by 1 as he had won the last 2 games. M's first ball was lost right in the trees, as was his second. I started left and then messed up a bit leaving M to beat me with a mulligan and a lost ball. Not the best start but the course was great.

We were following a 2 ball and had a 3 ball behind. The 2 ball were just a bit faster than us but they were held back by a 4 ball in front of them so all was fine.

On the 2nd I realised that I needed to hit a decent shot off the tee, (which M was managing quite well), so I attempted a 3W and was forced to use my mulligan. I did not feel confident hitting off the tee until later in the round. (My excuse is not much golf in the last month).

On the 3rd I settled down a bit and got my first half decent score 6 for a par 4. (Ok not great I know) but I did win the hole.

It all went wrong on the 4th where M almost got a birdy on the most difficult hole on the course. It was a left dog-leg my worst kind of hole.

The next (5th) was a par 3 and should have been a piece of cake but I duffed it into the fence and then had trouble getting to the green.

On the 6th I hit my first decent tee shot to get a good approach to the green and managed to win another hole. At the start of the 7th one guy from the following group had complained that it was slow.

I played the 7th ok, reverting to my 4i from the tee. Not good enough to win the hole.

We waited for the 3 ball to finish the 7th and then called them through... they declined... not in a rush after all?

So we played onto the 8th. M hit one sky high but made the fairway, I went left but was ok despite the audience. This par 5 would have been ok except I hit a fairway bunker. We had the wind behind so M went over the hole onto the road and I went over the back of the green.

The 9th was across the road and across a bridge. I set off ok but landed in the ditch, at least it was dry so I could hit out (just). At the end of the first 9 I was down by 4 holes.

The 10th was towards a hut where coffee and bacon butties were for sale. next time we should take advantage of this. This was a draw won by M due to handicap. Here the 2 ball jumped in front of the 4 ball and we were left following a much slower group. Before we started the 11th we had to wait for the 15th green to clear so more waiting. This did neither of us any good as we both ended up in a hillock. For me this was my second 9 as I also got in a bunker that I had to play out sideways.

The 12th is a par 3 over the trees. I failed with a 7i must try a 6i next time. M failed but managed a 4 anyway. I was now 7 down with 6 to play. Just pride now.

The 13th was an easyish par 4 and I managed 5 so thats ok. I pulled one hole back.

The 14th is the longest par 5 and I was pleased with 7 and pulled another hole back.

The 15th is a par 3. I did not get very far on my first shot so only managed the edge of the green on my 2nd. Pity this could have been another hole back.

The 16th was a disaster with 3 off he tee for me, otherwise it would have been ok.

The 17th was a good tee shot for me. We didn't know that you had to wait for the guys in front to ring the bell and M's tee shot almost hit one of the players in front.

On the 18th M lost his ball in the rough on the right. I hi the fairway with a confident 4i. We called the 2 experts through while we had a quick look for Ms ball. In the end this was my best hole getting onto the green in 3 and 1 putting for par.

My score is here.

Great fun as usual. Amazing weather, amazing course. We even managed a pint after!