Interesting match yesterday

[IrishGolfer]

Cup match - 4th round, playing last night against an 18 h/c policeman! This guy has an awkward swing but can hit it a long way (sometimes into big trouble). I was giving him a lot of shots so I decided on a gameplan.

Unbelievably I canned a 30ft putt for bird on 1 and followed it up with a 20ft rollercoaster for bird on 2. And I found myself all square!! This guy birdied 2 as well with a shot, so I lost the hole!!!

Anyway I putted like God and hit him with 4 birdies and was still only one up after 14!! I managed to put him away on 16th green but it was close.

I managed 2 no scores (one was a buried lie in the face of a bunker) and the other was the result of unsuccessfully going for an "impossible shot" - that's the beauty of matchplay. He was lying 12 ft from the hole in 2 (after an outstanding long iron) with a shot, ie I needed to birdie for a half. I had a down hill side hill lie from 180 against the wind...I had no choice but to go for it...hmmmm. But outside that I was -1 for 14 of the 16 holes in tricky conditions.

Anyway the secret my success right now is keeping the ball in play off the tee. The ground is so hard the ball is running forever, so my 2 iron is "doing the business". I hit it 7 times in 12 tee shots yesterday, including my opening tee shot off #1, downwind hitting it 290 yards, leaving me with a bump and run pitch to the green. THAT'S A 290 YARD 2 IRON FFS!! If we don't get some rain soon, the course will start to crumble.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my putting right now! I holed 8 putts outside 7 feet (3 from outside 20ft.) and hit the hole with 4 others.

[Eracer]

Ahh, the joy of handicap differential. Giving hackers hope.

[warbirdlover]

That format sounds like fun. Wished we had something like that here.

(Good job IG!!!)

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

That format sounds like fun. Wished we had something like that here.

(Good job IG!!!)

No matchplay at your club???

We have at least 2 tourneys a year, plus our weekly men's league is match play.

[SiberianDVM]

Matchplay is deader than Hilary's hopes here in the USA. Probably because the strategy required is too difficult for us simpletons.

I made a 64 ft putt yesterday........on the practice green.

[SilverUberXeno]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

I made a 64 ft putt yesterday........on the practice green.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION! We were all impressed with that first bit

[SiberianDVM]

It really was quite amazing. Up and over a hill and get this: the green had just been aerated and sanded! If the green had been "normal" I probably would have made it on the first try!!! Instead of the fifth.

yeah, right.

[MIKE1218]

F-ing handicaps... I played last weekend with my dad and one of his old buddies. We played "baseball", which is really a great game. There are 9 points per hole, distributed out among the three players. If I birdie and they both get par, I get 5 points, they each get 2. Anyway, we played for a buck a point. However, I was forced to give them each 15 shots. I was thinking I would really have to go low today to still take their money. My dad's buddy ended up having a great round of 80 to to beat me by 10 with his 15 shots. Usually he is right around 90 to 95. I only lost a couple bucks though. Just the way it works out.

[JEFF4i]

Way to go man!

We have a decent amount of match play here in NM. I do pretty well usually, but the nice thing is that I can just use the 2 iron off the tee at most courses.

[Stanters]

I had a 2nd round match this week and was up against a club newbie who has been coming down quite rapidly and has won a couple of our smaller competitions this month. He's a nice guy and no bandit, hits irons very well and putts pretty well too. I knew it would be tough giving him several shots.

Was nip and tuck on the front nine - I was 1up or level which given all his shots came up to the 13th put me in a good position. However he played some good stuff and got himself 1 up after the 13th. He then won the 14th too after I shoved my 2nd shot right and made a bogey to his par (it's a pretty easy par 5).

The next 3 holes are our "amen corner". A 140 yard par 3 with an island green surrounded by a horseshoe shaped bunker and two short par 4s that are narrow and have OB and water to left and right. They are good matchplay holes, you can take the big stick and go for the greens or play a mid iron giving you a short iron in. The 18th is a tight dog leg par 4, where a good tee shot is a must.

Well, he found the bunker at 15 and I stepped up and punched a low 7 iron onto the green from the elevated green. He made a 4 and I got back to 1 down with a soid 2 putt. Now on the 16th tee I decided to take the mid iron option and hit it dead centre, he followed suit....I hit the green, about 18 feet from the hole and he did much the same. I managed to leave the putt stone dead and he raced 8 feet by and missed. All square again.

The tee shot at the 17th is harder and I played a 4 iron right down the middle. But back he came with a good tee shot himself and we halved the hole in 4. Needing a good drive at the 18th I kept a good tempo and smoked one cleanly down the centre. This time my opponent sliced into trees and had to play out onto another fairway. His 3rd shot hit a branch but he played a good recovery to the side of the green. I know faced a choice with the dog leg....I needed a 7 iron to go over the corner or could just pull a wedge and play for the green in three. I decided that as I had been striking the ball well to go over...I fatted it into the trees.

I managed to keep my head and not dwell on it and took my medicine, chipping out and leaving a wedge to the green. I played a half swing with a 9 iron and left it 20 feet away. My opponent then thinned his chip and had a long putt which he missed leaving me with 3 putts to win. I lagged it up to 6 inches to win the match 1up.

I played my best golf since last autumn despite my blunder at the last. I have worked really hard on my swing over the winter, reading Hogan, watching Hogan, taking lessons and getting my swing analysed. It really is starting to pay off, I can repeat it under pressure now I have simplified it into a tighter and more compact unit. A year ago I would almost certainly have found teh water at either 16 or 17. It takes practice and lots of it but I am so glad I bothered in the cold, windy wet winter.

Sorry for hijack potential but I wanted to post the saga and this thread seemed tailor made for it.

If anyone is still awake when they get this far.....cheers for reading

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by Stanters

Sorry for hijack potential but I wanted to post the saga and this thread seemed tailor made for it.

If anyone is still awake when they get this far.....cheers for reading

Very suspenseful description. I felt like like I was walking the fairway watching the match. Good win, my friend.