Scragger63's - Musings from a troubled golfing mind...

Ok, so no golf for me last weekend as I got to spend the whole weekend with my kids. Good fun...

Last game I had was on Anzac Day and as is now seemingly becoming more and more apparent, tee to green(ish), I am striking the ball as well as I ever have and my short game is biting big time...

AND, I have been given a new (read second hand) driver to try out...

A guy I often tee it up with at my club recently bought himself a new driver and he loves it so much he has said he now sleeps with it!!! So, this means his old one was gathering dust seeing as he didn't trade it. So he asked if I would like to try it out..

I got to do so on Anzac Day and I loved it. It is a Shark Tiburon 380cc, with a stiff shaft. First swing with it I caught it beautifully, slight draw and long, even for me. Longer than the Taylor Bubble I have been using anyways. Pulled it out of the bag another 8 or so times and each time contact was sweet and each time ball flew pretty much on intended line with only one poor shot, a massive block right which came whilst I should have been dosing on "angry pills" following a shocking 3 putt the hole previous...

Anyways, seems I need to try to spend some time on my short game. Have 2 rounds coming weekend. My club's Medal Day on Saturday and a Pennant round on Sunday...

More later...
Cheers

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

Got out for 2 rounds across the weekend:

Saturday was Monthly Medal day at my Club and not having hit a ball for almost 2 weeks, I was keen to get started.

On the first tee I decided that I would do something I had never done in any of my previous rounds at my new home course, take driver from the tee. The resulting opening tee shot of some 280m straight down the centre left me with only half a wedge to the green. Hit the wedge a little strong, finding the green, nowhere close though and happily walked off with a 2 putt par from about 20m away.

From there the day was a mix of both good and bad and I arrived at the 17th tee 2 under my handicap. Our two closing holes are a 170m par 3 and a short 435m par 5. Both holes have been "kind" to me historically and I admit to feeling that I was going to finish under handicap for the first time for several weeks.

The fact that I walked off 18 having played the 2 holes 5 over par collectively, including 7 putts, simply comfirmed my need to find some time to spend on my short game.

So, eventually I signed for a 90 (44/46), 17, 73 with 37 putts to finish runner up in my grade on the day. Over the few quiet frothy's in the rooms after the round, my playing partners made much of my 37 putts and what "could have been" given a nett 69 had taken the Medal.

No matter, there is always "next week", or so they say...

Sunday saw me back at my home track for a Pennant match. Our team was leading our grade and our opponents for the day were placed 3rd. We had beaten them at their track and we knew they were keen to make amends. My match was against a 14 marker and having played some of the worst golf of which I think I am capable, I lost the first 3 holes quite easily. Standing on 4th tee 3 down and my opponent not having had to reach for his putter at that stage was fairly embarrasing.

When he unexpectedly blocked his tee shot badly right towards the OOB my spirits lifted. My tee shot finished pin high left, only some 5m from the cut stuff. He hit a provisional and again blocked it right, but this time safe, so we went looking for his first ball. Unluckily for him, we found it in bounds and nestled safely up against a tree. He had a shot, but couldn't realistically get on. He duffed that shot badly and then poked his 3rd towards the green to finish on the fringe grass. I chipped a 7 iron onto the green about 15 feet away and his 4th finished just outide a foot and I conceded him that. Still yet to touch his putter now through 4 holes. I rolled my par attempt to about 6 inches and the hole was mine. Now 2 down through 4 didn't look so bad...

Taking my Driver again on the next and finding the fairway I was feeling much better. That feeling lifted even further when again my opponent blocked his tee shot right into trees. He was forced to come out sideways and then his 3rd finished well short of the green. My second, a wedge from 90m or so also finished short of the green but inside his ball. His chip rolled out to a stop some 20m from the pin and all I had to do then was get close enough inside him to add some pressure on what would be his first putt of the day. My little 7 iron bump and run 3rd shot rolled out to about 10 feet away pin high. His bogey putt missed and I conceded him his 6th at which point he conceded the hole. One down through 5. Things were looking up.

From there I would go on to win 6 of the next 8 holes to be 4 up through 13 and eventually take the match, halving our 15th in Par 4's, 4 and 3

We didn't play out the closing 3 holes as it had been a long day to there and I am unsure what score I actually shot for the day, other than to say over a stretch of 10 holes from 4th to 13th, I was 5 over the card and won 8 of them to go from 3 down to 4 up. Forgetting the opening 3 holes where I hacked it badly, I was happy to say I found a way to turn things around and was happy with my ball stiking over the closing holes.

No Golf next weekend, I have a weekend with my kids and Mothers day is also in there somewheres...

Weekend after that is another club round on Saturday and the final home and away round of our Pennant season with us playing the second placed side who look like being our opponents in the season's final two weeks later on neutral grounds. It will be good fun.

Thanks for reading.
Cheers

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

Following a recent "wardrobe malfunction" with my new Maxfli Stand Bag where two of the four straps decided to let go mid round, I was pleasantly surprised with the level of service afforded to me by the guy at the golf shop I bought the bag from.

Bought the bag the week before christmas and the lower ends of both carry straps broke loose whilst I was walking down a fairway mid round a couple of Sunday's ago.

On taking the bag back to the retailer, the first guy I spoke to took my contact details and said he'd get someone to call me after "they" had had a chance to "look at it for me". I also was getting a new grip on my new driver done and he said that would only take a couple of minutes. So, I went over to the practice putting green and rolled a few putts about the place whilst I waited.

When told my driver was ready, the store manager came over to me and said that the bag I had bought was no longer a current stock item and that I could choose one new bag from a selection of 4 bags similar to mine.

So I now have a brand new bag Wilson Stand Bag and I am very pleased with the service from this particular store.

I will certainly be going back there again when it comes time to get any new equipment.

Just wanted to share...

It will be good to get out for my rounds across the coming weekend with new equipment. I am really looking forward to the weekend now...

Cheers

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

I'm very jealous. Part of the deal with the hand-me-downs from the rest of my family inevitably means it's not all especially presentable, and my bag sucks. It looks like it washed up with the last tide, and I so desperately want to buy myself a massive Nike Staff bag that I could use as an emergency sleeping bag if necessary. Ah well...

Great to hear there are shops out there still who put the customer #1.

Saturday May 19, 2007 - Today's round was Stableford. The weather forecast was predicting rain, but, when my tee time arrived, the showers were yet to arrive. Though, the ground was indeed wet and sofft underfoot following a couple of days rain. As I mentioned earlier in another thread. This is much needed rain down here......

1st hole: Given the new grip on the new driver I decided to put the big toe back in the water again and take driver from the first tee. Swinging easy, opening tee shot bisects the fairway and leaves me about 125m away. My 8I 2nd pulls a little left on the prevailing wind and finishes pin high about 20m from the green. Not a good shot. my PW 3rd from the second cut of rough cabbage starts on line but takes a nasty deflection and misses the green by inches. 3 putts from there for a double bogey 6 and 1 point for the card. Not a good start.

2nd: Driver again, and again find a fairway, this time about 140m away. 7I 2nd starts on line but carries long over the back of the green. Knock a SW to about 10 feet and make the putt for an up and down par 4 and 3 points for the card.

3rd: Driver again, lose it a little right and luckily catch a branch of a tree and deflects back into the right hand edge of the fairway, but I am blocked by trees . So I try to punch my 1I low under the trees and manage to hook it badly out onto the adjacent 5th f/way about 180m away. 5I 3rd is sweet, looks right on line from where I am but given the downhill to the green, I don't see it finish. get to my ball and find it centre left of the fairway about 70m away. PW 4th just misses the green and sits quietly on the fringe grass and I get up and down with the putter for a messy but acceptable bogey 6 and 2 more points.

4th: 8I tee shot starts left and stays there, again just missing the green, leaving myself a nasty little down hill chip of about 15m. Somehow I manage to leave it a little short of the hole and 2 putt for another bogey 4 and 2 more points.

5th: Driver again and block it a little right into the trees, but on getting to my ball, I find I have a clear PW to the green only some 80m away. catch it a little to well and it flies long. SW back onto the green, nowhere particularly close and another 2 putt bogey 5 is the result, 2 more points.

6th: Driver again, centre of the fairway only some 20m from the green. SW to the green and only about 15ft away. Birdie attempt slides by the left edge and a 2 putt par results and 2 more points. (Easiest rated hole on the course)

7th: Driver again rifle straight and long down the centre of this Par 5 hole. 5I second appears all over the flag but finishes about 30m short of the front edge of the green. 9I pitch lands well but runs on nowhere close to the pin, leaving myself a long 30ft birdie attempt, which I miss and tap in for a second 2 putt par 5 and 3 more points.

8th: 5I starts and stays right of the pin and finishes a little short of the green, SW to about 10ft and a 1 putt par and 3 more points.

9th: Driver again, centre right of fairway about 170m to the pin. 4I into the breeze hangs out to the right and finishes well short. Some 35m or so from the front edge. PW pitch finishes on the green but about 30ft away. Another 2 Putt bogey and 2 more points.

At this point I am very happy and know I am hitting the ball well. If my marker hadn't asked to check the cards at half way I would have had no idea what I had scored to there. 42 off the stick for the front 9 and 20 s/ford points. 6 of 7 fairways is good, considering i've hit driver on every hole but the 2 par 3's. Though, only 2 of 9 greens could have been better. 15 putts. Have to say I was very happy at that point.

10th: 5I finishes short of the ggreen in to the breeze and my SW 2nd finds the green, about 20ft away. 2 putts for another Bogey 4 and 2 more points.

11th: Driver again, centre right of fairway, about 170m away. Pull the 5I 2nd shot left into the tree line about 35m from the green and am happy to find when I get to thte ball, that I have a clear path to the green. PW to the green about 15ft away, Par attempt dies short in the heart of the hole, tap in bogey 5 and 2 more points.

12th: Driver again, centre left of the fairway only about 80m away. PW starts on line then dies off right on the breeze just missing the green. 6I bump and run was never on line and finishes 20ft from the pin. Par attempt slides by the hole high and tap in Bogey 5 results. 2 more points.

13th: Driver again. Centre right of fairway, about 170m away into the breeze. Sweetly struck 4I 2nd flies straight down the centre of the firway and finishes about 60m from the front edge of the green. PW 3rd I grossly hack and miss the green well right. About 25m from the green and down an embankment. Flop the SW up and on to the green but from where I had to play the shot, I couldn't see the result, and only when I heard one of my playing partners clapping did i think i might have hit a good one. On getting to the green, my ball was only 6 feet away. I make the par putt for 5 the hard way and 3 more points.

14th: Driver again.Starts stright down the centre of the fairway and dies off right on the breeze, finishing in the treeline but only about 50m from the front edge. Poke a 1I bump and run of sorts up onto the green but a little strong and it rolls through the green, finishing on the fringe, some 30ft from the hole. I leave the down hill putt well short, and then 2 putt for my bogey 5 and 2 more points.

15th: Driver again, right edge of the fairway. 5I 2nd finishes well short of the green. PW 3rd from about 60m finds the green, nowhere close. another 2 putt bogey 5 results, with another 2 more points for the card.

16th: 1I tee shot this time finds the fairway at the point of the dog leg, about 90m from the green. PW 2nd is all over then pin in the air and if I've got the length right will be close. And IS!!! 6feet away. I make the birdie putt for a 3 and 4 points for the card.

17th: 4I tee shot finds the green, but about 50 feet away. My Birdie attempt finishes about 6 feet short and I make the Par attempt. 3 more points for the card.

18th: Driver again. Block it a little right into the tree line, takes a lucky bounce left back towards the fairway, but doesn't quite get there. I have a shot but decide to play safe and hit PW back to the fairway about 120m away. SW 3rd downwind flies the green and finishes about 20ft from the fringe. SW pitch 4th finishes about 8 feet away and i make the putt for a Par 5 and 3 more points.

OK: Now I walk off the green after shaking the hands of my playing partners of the day and one of them remarks the I have had a great round and do I know what I've scored. "Hell No!" I say, and I was keen as to get over to the scorebench to add them up.

So, my result for the day, if you haven't been keeping count with me as I've gone through each hole was indeed a good one:

82 off the stick and 43 stableford points. It was also enough for me to win the day comp at the Club.

11 of 14 fairways was very good indeed for me, especially seeing as i took driver on all but one of the 14 holes. having found so many firways today, i guess i'm a little disappointed that I could only manage 3 GIR. And 29 putts was a pretty good result for me. today, my short game came to the course with me I think...

Only the one double, 9 Bogies, 7 Pars and a Birdie for a 10 over the card 82. I have now dropped 1.8 off my h/cap and am now down to 15.5 and will play my Pennant match tomorrow off 16.

All in all a pretty good day and what's more, tomorrow will see my name in the paper!!!

Bewdy...!!!

Cheers
Thanks for reading...

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

nice going scraggs
got my comp starting in a couple hours
hope to emulate your performance
well done buddy

Cracking job Scraggs - delighted for you. Sounds like a day to play over and over in your head! Good for you, and I aspire to follow your discipline in terms of not worrying about your score til the end.

1I, huh? I thought even God couldn't..?!

Sunday 20th May, 2007: Match Play Round - VGL Pennant Match.

Will try and keep this short, yesterday I played a Match against a fellow 16 marker. The round was a real "roller coaster" for me, both in terms of my emotions through the round and in terms of the state of the match.

As is now seemingly always the case, I lost the first hole with a double bogey 6. I have lost the opening hole in all 5 of my matches this season. Given I own a 4-1 win loss record on the season, I am unsure if I am unhappy about this fact alone.

From there, I would win the next with a par. Halved the next 3 in either bogey or par. I would win the 6th with a birdie 3. Halve 7 in pars, win 8 with a par, lose 9 to a par to make the turn just the 1 up.

Still don't know why, but, I decided to check my score at this point and was surprised to find I had taken 41 strokes to this point. 5 over the card with 2 doubles. Better to this point than Saturdays round.

I would then lose 10 to a par. Lost 11 to a double!!! Hit a poor drive and then in attempting to get back to the fairway, hit a tree and ended up further back. My opponent was having troubles of his own with this hole. So when I was on the green for 5 and he had only gotten there himself for 4, I was hoping we may still half, but, I missed my putt for 6 leaving it 3inches short in the heart. Not happy at this point. Now find mysaelf 1 down after having been 2 up only 3 holes ago. WHY did I look at the card???

I gave myself a talking to and resolved to let the match play out as it would...

12 I would win with bogey 5's. Back to Square.
13 we would halve in par 5's. Still Square.
14 I would win with a tap in par 4. 1 up again, 4 to play.
15 we halved in bogey 5's. Still 1 up, 3 to play.
16 I lost to a bogey 5 after hitting my second ball OOB , back to Square, 2 to play.

17th: a testing par 3 into the breeze, my opponent's tee shot with a 5W (interesting club selection into the breeze I thought) lands well short of the green. My 4I is dead on line and looks good in the air, pitches just short of the green and plugs in the fringe grass, 6 inches from the putting surface, 10 feet from the pin. Advantage me I think to myself... His Pitch shot checks dramatically on pitching near my ball and stops dead. I'm away and my birdie attempt with the putter starts online, but breaks away left at the hole to finish about a foot from the cup. His chip shot is never on line and actually hits my ball on the green. Unsure about a ruling here as he didn't ask me to mark and I didn't offer. The result was that we were both left with much the same putt. He was happy for me to putt first, as was I it should be said, and I knocked it in for par 3 and a win.

1 up again with just the Par 5 18th to play. AND, it was playing down breeze. A distinct advantage for me, given I had been consistently longer than my opponent all day.

18th: Taking Driver and with the honour, I strike it sweetly, it starts down the right edge and takes a massive kick left on landing, finishing centre right of the fairway, only some 170m away. My opponent's tee shot is not a good one and he finishes some 100m behind me. He then hacks the second one poorly and finishes level with me. I play 6I and hit it beautifully, flies straight on my intended line, but it dies off right on the breeze a little and finds the greenside pot. His 3rd from a similar spot to me fades right on the breeze finishing in the second cut about 10m from my ball and a little farther away from the hole. So he is now away playing 4 and I'm in the pot for 2. He blades his pitch attempt across the green and is now lying 4. I have never been a good sand player and was feeling very anxious about this next shot. Thankfully, the fact that he was still not on the putting surface having played 4 calmed me down a lot and I walked into the pot to play my shot. My ball had popped forward out of its pitch mark, meaning I had a pretty good lie and the sand was a little damp, so I figured I could just try to pick my ball clean and I should be OK. My bunker shot flew softly out of the pot and landed on the green and rolled out to about 20 feet from the pin. Now I was happy. His 5th found the green but only 15 feet from the pin. So now I had 2 putts to win the hole and the match. My first putt was on line and rolled out to about 2 feet short, I would tap that in for the win...

Did I say I was going to keep that short...???

Bottom line, I won, my team won the day and we now go on to a Pennant Final in 2 weeks time.

Afterwards, sitting down in the clubrooms over a drink, I checked my card. 41 the front, 43 the back for 84 off the stick with a couple of doubles and a triple. Honestly though, the score didn't matter given we were now off to a final...

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

You must have a photographic memory....

Chessbum...

Have always had the ability to vividly recall all events in my life that have been "memorable" for whatever reason, happy or sad...

This is a golfing forum and we seek advice to improve our games and talk about our golfing experiences...

Thanks for taking the time to read my recollections...
Cheers

You really are the Don of MatchPlay, aren't you, Scraggs? Awesome job, great to read. Won 5, lost 1? Are they going to put a 20 foot bronze statue of you outside your clubhouse? I was thinking you could be staring into the distance, driver in hand, tracking the last monster tee shot bissecting the fairway. Or maybe of you magesterially playing from a pot bunker. Possibly of you recling in the clubhouse with a frothy - I don't know...

Where is your club? It's always nice to do a bit of goole sniffing to get a background feeling for these places.

Keep letting the good times roll, Scraggs. Good stuff

__________________
~_~_~_~_~
Personal bests 2007;
Best 18: 78 (+12)
Best 9: 37 (+4)
Best Stableford: 45 pts
Best total putts: 28
Best total length sunk putts (ft): 54

Club tourney history this year: Captain's Day - 1st; Club foursomes - 2nd; Dimex Stableford - 2nd; Club Championship - 13/28 gross, joint 5/28 nett; Ferebee Shield - 2nd; Sept Medal 2nd; Autumn Stableford - 1st

Thinks it pretty obvious of me to say, Bulldog, I was very happy with my 2 rounds over the weekend...

Adding King of Understatements to my resume now!!!!

I am a member of the Yarraview Golf Club and we are a "social" club of sorts. We play out of the Bundoora Park Public Golf Course here in Victoria. The park is run by the City of Darebin from memory and I'm none too sure what you might find in "googling" my club or course, but, feel free...

The 82 on Saturday had only the one Double Bogey in it and yesterdays 84 contained 2 doubles and a triple!! So, I am thinking my first sub 80 is none too far away...

As is my h/cap to getting back to my pre 3 year lay off low of 14.2...

Thanks for the kind words Bulldog...

Cheers

__________________
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

congrats on getting to the final scraggs
making me wonder what i must do to score in the 80's gross and not nett
keep up the good work

Hmm, you're right, can't find a lot about it. There is a Bundoora Park website, but it doesn't give much away, and the only thing I could find was; "Grass greens, fully watered course, excellent in wet weather," though by all accounts, wet weather isn't too much of a problem out there at the moment? Well, only in that there isn't enough of it?

scragger, if you were both on the green and he hit your ball then its a penalty (2 shots/loss of hole) to him, if he was off and hit your ball you *must* replace it.