Sometimes you just have one of those days...

[Lemonhead]

So I've been walking 9 at the Muni and my game has been improving to the point that +4 means an off day. Played with a buddy and his father-in-law today and it was just one of those off days.

The father-in-law (he goes by "Coach") likes to bet and I usually just prefer to play the round but I decide to play along. I've got the lowest handicap so everybody wants strokes. I really don't care because we aren't talking but at most $3.

#1: Par, but they both get a stroke and bogey so it's even.
#2: Hit a great drive right at 270yds. 2nd shot should be on the green but I pull it into a bunker that I NEVER get in. Bad out, bad chip, and end up bogey.
#3: Another great drive at 260yds and 2nd shot almost hits the bunker. Really bad chip and 2putt for bogey.

By now you are getting the idea. What should have been a decent 9 ended up at +7. I even wound up in a bunker and not in a footprint, but in a cavern created when some jackass didn't rake where he was standing. The ball was sitting right on top of the sand, but in a pit about 3 inches deep.

Did I lose? You bet. However, I had wanted to go out and purposely hit every possible bunker just so I knew what to expect. I guess this counts.

The worst part is that I really didn't mishit anything, just a bit off put me in bunker after bunker after bunker. As for the chipping and pitching...well I guess I was playing not to screw up instead of playing to win.

Good practice. Lots of trash talking which is always fun.

Lemonhead

[Sandpiper3]

Sounds like one of those days where you just cant help but look at whats going on in front of you and laugh. I had one of these days last week where my friend beat me (with strokes) on 8 straight holes, i was down 12 prov's to him on double or nothings (i won them back on 18).

Those days are always interesting, just keep pluggin along and see how she goes. Howd you react to the shots/day while it was going on? (be honest now)

[emc]

Those are 'pinhole leak' days. You don't where it's coming from, but it's fatal to the score. Especaially annoying if you get off the tee well

[Lemonhead]

'piper. It was frustrating on #2, but then it just got stupid and I resigned myself to the situation and just made the best out of it. What are you going to do when you hit a great second shot that bounces sideways into a bunker? It happens. I just decided to try and use it to work on my recovery game. I've decided to play in the city tournament this summer (my first tournament). I want to go ahead and put myself in these situations now so that if I end up there during the tournament, it will not be something I've never seen before.

It wasn't like I just blew up on every hole, I managed to double the worst offenders. So I had the opportunity to get up and down, but didn't make it happen. Oh well, a couple of weeks ago, I could not miss an up-and-down. Yesterday, I was just off a bit.

I am happy that my driving was outstanding. I was longer than usual due to my range work with some pressure tape. I found I was hitting just out of the sweet spot and so I adjusted and now I'm hitting longer and straighter. 2nd shots are also much better. Still have a little alignment issue, but I got on from 170-180 out twice and just missed it from 200 out on a par 5 (bounced into a greenside bunker). Alignment is easy to correct.

To be honest, I hate playing match play like that. I prefer to just play the course and then adjust for handicaps at the end. To me, it's just not fun worrying about where everyone else is, I prefer to try and beat the course. It was good practice anyway.

Lemonhead