You may be wondering why it's been over 24 hours since Trish and I went golfing and we haven't posted about our trip. That's because I was franitcally searching for the politically correct way to say WE SUCK AT THIS GAME!!
Seriously, we didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we do know that this was our first outing and that we have a lot of work to do. All in all we enjoyed the round and can't wait to get back on the horse and try again.....after a few more trips to the driving range, of course.
OK, here's the story:
We got to the course a little early so we could practice a little on the range. This course doesn't allow woods on the range due to it running parallel to a major road. (That's the only reason I can see they wouldn't allow them, since the range is about 500 yards long, and I haven't heard too many people being able to whack the ball THAT far!) So we get about 20 balls a piece and get started. Trish did really well on the range. Most of her balls were getting good loft and distance, and going fairly straight. This was very good considering she had never hit off of the bare ground before (she always used the tees at the other driving range we go too). I on the other hand had a few good hits with my 9 iron, but when I moved to my 7, I couldn't get the ball up in the air at all. It skimmed along the ground on the first try, and I thought maybe I just pulled my head up or something. So I hit another ball and the same thing happened. Ok, now I was a little upset. My 7 iron is usually my favorite club. I've never had trouble with it before. I even checked to make sure the clubhead was firmly secured to the shaft. It was fine. I tried again. Same thing. Now I was getting upset and Trish could tell. I knew getting frustrated this early would not be good, so I stepped away for a minute and took a deep breath. Came back and tried again. I tried the "just walk up and hit it without concentrating too much" approach. It didn't help. I tried the "make sure everything is right, don't hit until you're sure" approach. Didn't help. I was getting more frustrated with every shot, and the day was not looking good at all.
Anyway, I've talked way too much about that experience already...moving on...
Tee time arrived and we had 2 people join us. One I knew already and the other guy was by himself and was added. First hole, Trish had a great drive off the tee. I sliced a little right, but it wasn't too bad. The other guys hit straight down the middle about 100 yards further than both of us. From that point on, things got worse.
The course was pretty busy, so we were often reminded of mtibt's advice of moving quickly so as not to hold anyone up. This is not easy for beginnner's, as we found out. Thank you mtibt for giving us a head's up on that.
I will say that my iron shots on the course were much better than those on the range. I realize now that my short game really isn't all that bad. I can hit the green, or pretty close, from about 125-130 yards out or closer about 75% of the time. My chipping isn't bad. My putting needs a little work, but that'll come with practice. My major problem is driving, both from the tee and from the fairway (when I'm even in the fairway). If the hole is 350+ yards, I'm lucky to get on the green in 5. That is mainly because the first shot goes into the trees on the right. I have been trying to fix this slice, but it still needs work. I'll get it eventually. Just need more practice. Need to work on long shots from the fairway as well. Next time we go to the range I am going to work on hitting shots from the grass instead of the tee. And maybe a few drives to work on my slice.
Overall, I finished with a 110 and Trish finished with a 122. But those scores are kind of an estimate because if we hit it more than 6 times and still weren't on the green we marked it an 8 and moved on. This happened a few times.
Trish wanted me to mention that her 3 favorite things about the trip were:
1. The drive off the 1st tee.
2. Hitting out of bunkers (Thanks for the tip, golfbald!)
3. Driving the golf cart. (she's easily amused.)
My favorites:
1. Missing the water on hole 2.
2. A decent short game, including a 20 foot putt for par.
3. Figuring out what I need to work on for next time.
Well, I think I've rambled on long enough. If I can remember anything else of importance I'll let you all know. Until then I'll be learning and practiceing for the next round.
Take care,
Travis