Nine in the bag

After landing in Florida, I played nine today for the first time in weeks (on three hours of sleep). There were some definite high points and some definite low points:

1. A decent drive, a little right (but in the fairway). Approach wood just over the green. OK chip and two putts for bogey. I may have been able to get up and down here had I putted on the practice greens – dumb move on my part. I overestimated the speed of the greens and came up short on both my chip and my putt (despite good contact).
2. Well-struck 7-iron off the tee is the right distance, but way right of the pin (middle-left), leaving an 80+ foot putt. Three putts for a four. Once again, I overestimated the speed.
3. My drive is once again well struck, but not terribly long, a little high, and a little right. It semi-plugs in the right rough, leaving a challenging approach from 165 or so. I manage to advance it around 100 yards with a hybrid. My 55-yard pitch with my 60-degree wedge is the right distance, but right of the green. I hole a 30-foot putt from off the green for par. I guess I’m finally used to the greens.
4. I hit a short pop-up drive, then pretty much topped a wood 20 yards, then hit a low hooking three wood 150 yards into the left rough, on a side-hill lie. I hit that into a fairway bunker. I hit a nice 9-iron from the fairway bunker to just short of the green, hit a decent chip with my 60, and two-putted for eight. Oy vey.
5. You guessed it. My drive was decently hit, a little high and right, and left me 65 yards or so. I opened up the face on my 56 a bit and took a full swing. The distance was right, but I finished 5 yards left of the green, pin high. My putt from the fringe barely climbed the hill onto the edge of the green, leaving a long two-putt for five.
6. I hit a really nice 7-iron to the right side of the green, 15-20 feet short of the back-right pin. Two putts for a par.
7. My drive was a little right, as you might have guessed, leaving me towards the end of the waste bunker on the right, blocked by trees. My attempt at a hero shot with a wedge failed, but I hit a nice punch with an 8-iron from the pine straw that just ran off the back of the green. I’m not upset with the result because I have 0 feel right now, but it was technically well hit. A chip and two putts landed me with a double.
8. My drive was decent and left of the bunker in the center of the fairway. My approach shot, a 7-iron, was well struck, but ended up in the bunker to the left of the green because I was on a side-hill lie I thought would push the ball right, and it stayed straight. It took me three shots to get out of the bunker, although my third shot was decent after I fixed my ball position, which was overly forward. Two putts for a seven, a triple, ugh.
9. My drive was straight as an arrow. My 2nd shot on the par 5 was a well struck 3-wood. I saw it hit something and kick toward the middle of the fairway short of the green, but I couldn’t locate it. For the sake of pace of play, I dropped a ball, which I chipped into the bunker. I got out in one shot this time (barely) and walked away with a 7.

That all sums to a 49, which is not awful considering I had an 8 and two 7’s. I didn’t even notice the pattern of the right-sided miss until I wrote this out, so this writing process proved helpful. My wedges need work (aim and feel), as do my woods (consistency off turf) and my driver (aim and speed/ball-flight), but I hit a few really nice shots (those 7-irons 😍) and very few god-awful shots. I think more routine and focusing on hitting quality shots, every shot, mixed with some practice on the range could easily get me scoring in the low 40’s.

Onward.