New Personal Record (and more)...

New record at Green Caye...

>>>Thirty-One<<<

I played Green Caye last night for my final rounds of this one-month membership period. I played two rounds and shot 31 and 38. 31 on the par 27 course is my new course record beating the 32 I had shot on a couple of occaisions. I managed to shoot 38 on three of the nine rounds where I recorded stats this period. The 31 featured two GIRs that I parred, three up and down pars and four two-putt bogeys. As promised, I updated the stats in my previous post and added some putting stats as a bonus. The real kicker is that the first four holes were peferated for airiation that afternoon and putting was brutal. I parred only one of those three (the third) and only because I hit the green about 10 feet from the pin. They are supposed to airiate the rest of the greens today.

I think I'll give Green Caye a break for a week or so (at least untill the greens recover) before I sign up for another month.

Playing from the Greens...

Green Caye has three tee boxes, Gold, White, and Green. I have played many nine-hole rounds from both the golds and the whites. I've never hit from the green tees though... except when I took my daughter. That day the wind was howling pretty good, probably 20+. I hit an 8i where I would have normally hit a PW. I felt pretty good when it landed in the center of the green. After I got home I thought about it some and decided that hitting from the green tees offers it's own set of challenges. Sure, it's the shortest the course plays. Sure, it'll play a lot easier. Sure, I'll look like a wuss hitting from them. My point here is that these par-three courses offer more that we are sometimes willing to see. All I have to do is have the balls to say, "No, I'm playing from the green tees". On the bright side, I won't have to worry about not hitting past them.

Here's the yardage comparison (I know, funky order - deal with it).

Hole ... Whites ... Golds .... Greens
1 ...... 160 ...... 180 ...... 125
2 ...... 106 ...... 125 ...... 85
3 ...... 143 ...... 161 ...... 113
4 ...... 112 ...... 150 ...... 98
5 ...... 148 ...... 175 ...... 108
6 ...... 146 ...... 167 ...... 109
7 ...... 100 ...... 113 ...... 93
8 ...... 107 ...... 139 ...... 98
9 ...... 197 ...... 216 ...... 165

While I'm on the subject of these par three courses, how's this for an idea:

How about playing your shot from a random side of the tee box such that you have a strange stance (feet above the ball, feet below the ball, on the up-slope, on the down-slope).

Whatcha think?

I think a guy could play the greens in this way and not feel like a wuss. I don't think a guy should feel like a wuss hitting normally from the greens at a course like this, but I know I'll feel a little strange... Maybe this is a good way to prepare for a tournament. Play a round with your beer-drinking-tobacco-chewing buddies razing you the whole time about what a wuss you are. Sure would test your focus :^)

Lessons from San Jac...

The first hole at San Jac is a 229/259 yard (whites/blues) hole that has a nice pond right in front of the green. Most folks don't drive the hole because it's the first hole, there is no room left, little room right, and while there is room long, your chipping back towards the water to an elevated green. I hit an 8i/SW on this hole and often get a fairway, a green, and a 2-putt par. I honestly don't think I could do any better if this were a wide open hole. If it were wide open, I'd likely hit a 3W short, chip on and 2-putt out. Or worse, I'd try to drive it and have to work harder to save par than the previous two options.

So the lesson is when a hole can be reached by 2 mid-iron shots or less, leave the big dog in the bag. What are the odds of making two solid iron shots and how do those odds compare to hitting one solid drive? I guess I'd need to try it a few times. Or not. Driver please... Will I ever learn that lesson?

Putting Technique...

I've fooled around with lining up the text on the ball with your putt line and I've never felt it does that much for me. I saw Tiger's ball had that line and I thought maybe I should give it a go. I see quite a few folks using this technique, there must be something to it.

Another putting technique I'd like to try for a period of time is the "look at the hole" technique. I've done this quite a bit in the house and I've been pretty impressed with the results.

My putting technique is anything but consistent at this stage of my game development, so now's a good time to see if I can find what works well for me.

I suppose I could extend this topic to putters. I use a cheap ($9.99) Dunlop blade type putter. I tried a center-shafted Voodoo mallet type putter that had a nice line on it that seemed to help my aim. There are just too many choices when it comes to putters, I just don't want to open that can of worms.

We're in trouble now...

I recently came across this live audio coverage of PGA events on the web. Please try not to listen while at work.

Golf Outlook...

I may try to sneak in a round at Pasadena tomorrow morning. Pasadena is not a hard course, but I have yet to break 100 there. The weather should assist me in maintaining that statistic (forecast winds: 20-30 mph).

-Greg