I played in the club 'roll up' this morning - the first time I'd made it to one of the Sunday sessions, and I was pretty much universally rubbish. Off the tee I was all over the place (took driver on 12 holes and only found the fairway on the last!), long irons rubbish, chipping not as good as it has been, and only my putting was of any note - 32 putts for a total distance of 50 feet.
I just squeaked a 99, and was thoroughly disgusted. The course was pretty soggy, but that was no excuse - I just played, as my Grandma would say, "Like a man made of band." Come to think of it, I'm not exactly sure what the literal meaning of that is, but the spirit of it was exactly correct.
I had to drive my girlfriend in to work, and had three hours to kill this evening - so guess what?
I'd tried to think about what I was doing wrong. Definately I needed to slow my swing down a little, but I also thought I'd lost the feeling of extension in my left arm, and the feeling of my right wrist (cocked in the RHD stylee) pulling it away as wide as I can. I've also been working on keeping my right knee flexed.
Right off the first tee, the difference of trying to keep the wide extension was clear. Driver straight up the middle. Smile.
I end up with a bogey 5, and follow it with a nice up and down on the par 3 2nd for par. Bogey, bogey (including a slightly galling three putt), bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey - man, this is so cool! The arm extension is great and the short game is keeping up with it. I'm getting up and down on several holes, and I've hit hardly any duffers. I'm on the nineth tee - starting to realise that what looked really odd to me in my video about my left knee is actually a way of getting my club inside, and if I don't, it kind of gets trapped outside behind my hip. The 8 iron from the tee isn't great contact but it clears the bunker. Chip to four feet, and the par putt dies in the heart of the hole. That's a shame, but it's still +8 - two more than my best ever nine hole score.
Ok. That familiar tempting echo rings around my head. Is there a PB on?
I try to shake it clear again. There's a lot of golf to come first.
10th hole: driver off the tee, leaks right into the rough on the bank but not probalematically. I play a gentle 4H, which zigzags the other way, up into the rough on the bank above the green - probably 10 feet above the green but I have a fair bit to play with. The SW rolls to 3 feet, and I drop it for par.
11th: 7I straight as a die, but maybe a little short. I chuck it up in the air with the SW from 30 feet, and it rolls to 5 feet. Amazingly I drop that for par, and whoop a little - it's only me out here anyway at this time of night. That puts me at +8 over par having played 11 - great stuff - there's a little cushion for the harder holes coming up to make my bogey golf target - how much would I love to shoot +17 though?!
12th: Driver off tee leaks into the left rough, sweep a SW 60, a little short, but a chip-and-putt up and down puts me in the ridiculous position of having played the last three hole for par.
13th: 8I is straight but strong, and ends up nestled against the bank. I toy with a Texas wedge, but take the 8I which is what I like to use for chipping if I can, and from 25 feet away, leave myself with a one foot tap in for par. I look at the 8I dumb-founded. This is ridiculous.
14th: driver, straight down the middle, but make a mess of the 2nd shot - trying to hit a hybrid too hard, and top it. I think of Scragger, and tell myself to swing easy. Play to the front of the green, chip and two putt. The 6 is slightly disappointing but I tell myself not to be so stupid and get on with it.
15th: my hated drive, but the 4H is great, straight down the middle. Unfortunately, again, I try to do too much with the 2nd, get the third to the front of the green, chip and two putt. Grr but still ok.
16th: 5I on to the fairway, but right and slightly short. Approach into the heavy right rough, 90 short, but the PW out is pretty good. It doesn't quite stay on the green but is only about 15 feet away. I choke on the chip, though, and two putt for another 6! Gah!
So I walk up the path to the 17th, not at all thinking what might have been, because I know the PB is on, but I run it round in my head, and look at my phone. At this stage I'm 73 with a par 4 and a par 3 to play. I guess a 5 and a 4 would be good - that would give me 82, beating my previous best by 2 shots.
Ok then, I tell myself. Make it happen then.
So I take the driver off the twee, try to get the swing thoughts in my head, but I'm determined not to hit millions of practice swings. I just need to swing easy.
It's good contact, but leftish. I peer into the gloom. It's getting kind of dark now. Surely that's sliding back right a little? If it isn't, I'm in trouble. I see it drop on the fairway, 10 feet from the left rough. That's the one! An easy 4H follows, though I drive down a little too hard into the sodden ground, and catch it a little fat. It drifts right a tiny bit, and I have a horrible feeling it's heading towards the right greenside bunker. There's more grass up there than I always think, though, and plenty of times I've thought I've been in trouble when actually there's a lot of room.
When I get there, I'm 10 feet short, probably 40 short of the pin. Again, I chuck a SW in the air, and straight away, I say, "Hello..?" to myself - it's always left, drifting on to the thickish fringe.
15 feet away, nasty bendy downhiller. Is this a chip or a putt? I want to chip, but I look at it again. Hmm. Ok. Putt. I watch it, great speed, turning, SURELY THAT'S IN??? Dies in the heart 2 inches away. Gah! But still good.
So I trundle up to the par 3 18th, 8I again, easy swing - OOPS! I've caught that. It bounces on the green, and teeters perilously on the edge, threatening to roll down the huge steep bank, but it's safe, just deeper than pin high, 12 feet away?
I try not to think about this too much, just get the 8I out, and chip - to a one foot tap in. My shoulders sag slightly. This almost seems anti-climatic? Tap in for par, and a PB of 81, +15 over par, beating my previous best by 3 shots
I'm so chuffed. Really delighted. 29 putts though for 27 feet isn't amazing. 1 3 putt. Up and down on 8 greens. 9 out of 12 fairways hit (5 out of 8 with driver).
At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, the cleanest, neat and tidy golf I've ever played. It's heading nicely towards my long term target of playing to +11, and I just had a blast out there. Happy days and this morning is a distant memory...
