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

Hey Bulldog...

Given how dry it has been here of over our summer, there were some cracks in some of the fairways you could break an ankle in if you weren't watching your step, and now that we've had some rain and the grass has started to grow back, I presume the grass has grown over some of these cracks to give an impression they're no longer there....

That's my best guess anyways.

And no, we didn't locate the missing ball. It could well be half way to China...

A pretty good round considering all the distractions and aggro!

Definitely a good read; how on earth do you and Bulldog remember all that detail?

Of all the frustrations in golf the well hit shot that just disappears from the fairway must the worst.

It normally happens to me after 3 consecutive holes of my finding other peoples errant shots; then "did you see where mine bounced to?" "No sorry we'd looked away"

Scragger,

Who was the lowest marker in your group on the day?

Yup, not me... Our group for the day was a 13, a 20, a 26 and me @ 15.

The 26 is an elderly guy who is a bit slow but he knows it and he "tries" to go as quick as he can.

The 20 is the fellow I had the altercation with and he also happens to be the fellow I mentioned in another thread about practicing and NOT improving. He is almost painful to play with and I have told both the Captain and the Tee Marshall they are not to group me with him again. I refuse to play with him for the time being.

This guy arrives at the course minimum 2 hrs before his tee time and hits at best guess 200-300 balls on the range & practice putting green before heading to the 1st tee. He also takes minimum 2 or 3 paractice swings before every shot. For me, it is no wonder he isn't improving, he must be 3 parts knackered by the time his round is over...

Knows the low marker is considered "group captain" and responsible for conduct of the group, but he didn't seem to care until after I said something...

As an indication of how time consuming playing with this 20 marker is, on the 10th, a 170m par 3, he blocked his tee shot pin high right onto the path leading to the 11th tee. I pulled my shot a little left and was pin high on the opposite side of the green some 50m or so away from him. He gets to his ball and then spends the best part of 5-10 minutes surveying it whilst the other 2 guys play their seconds to the green, then when he is away, looks at it still for another 2 minutes then calls me over for a relief ruling.

So then we waste another 3 minutes in me getting over to him, looking at his position (and yes, his ball was lying on embedded stones, free drop, nearest point, no nearer, sheesh, everyone knows that, right???) then getting back to my ball. Once I was back at my ball, he was still away and then starts mucking about over club selection.

I very nearly yelled all sorts of vulgarities at him to get him to hurry up.

From there the day just deteriorated.....

__________________
Look at the Target, Look at the Ball, Swing... Dr Bob Rotella...

After a "Big" night on Friday night I arrived at the course on Saturday morning with mental images of shooting 60 something for the front 9 and then walking off to get back to bed for some more sleep...

What followed was one of my better rounds of the year...

My 40 points for the day was good enough for runners up in my grade and saw another 0.9 come off the handicap to see me in to 14.4 exact. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! Playing handicap next time out - 14...!!!

The stats for the round go something like this:
82 off the bat, 40 s/ford points including a scratch and 2 1 pointers, 30 putts including 2 3 putts, 9/14 fairways is probably my best result in that category but only 5/18 GIR means my approach shots aren't finding the mark.

Now I'm having 3 weeks off to spend some time with my kids over the school holidays.

Suffice to say I am one happy chappy...

Cheers

__________________
Look at the Target, Look at the Ball, Swing... Dr Bob Rotella...

I can't think of anything more satisfying than setting yourself a longterm target and hitting it - way better than even "short term birdie blast" (quick, copyright that one!).

Great stuff, Scrags - really am delighted for you.

Seems kinda early for summer hols? Maybe that's just over here. You mentioned before about having played a little golf with the offspring - no chance for that in the next three weeks?

Hey Bulldog...

Middle of winter over here...

When I said 3 weeks off, I just meant no Club golf for me over the next 3 weekends. That said, yes, I do hope to get out and have 9 holes with my son, if time and circumstances allow. My daughter isn't all that keen on golf and we tend to do things that they both enjoy.

Thanks for the positive thoughts and that infectious attitude towards our game that you possess in spades.

Cheers

nice rounds scraggs
well done on getting down to14
im having a 3 week break as well as its been raining for a week solid and longterm forecast is no better

D'OH!! By God, I can be dumb sometimes!

So it's a three week winter break and your summer break over the Xmas period is much longer?

Slats - agreed - played this morning and after thirteen holes had had enough of taking relief from casual water after every shot, and using a tee to unplug my ball Left the course having played ok, but soaking wet, and generally cheesed off!