captpackrat | Entries tagged with golf

Gaggle of geese on the driving range at Bay Hills.

There were several people using the driving range while I was there. Miraculously none of the geese got hit directly, although a few had balls bounce or roll into them, eliciting a storm of complaints from the goosed goose.

Current Mood: amused

I just got 36 under par playing at Wolf Creek in Tiger Woods 10. If someone did that in Real Life, they'd be peeing into a cup for the next century for drug tests.

(The best score ever recorded in RL golf was 17 under.)

Current Mood: amused

The weather was nice today, with temps in the 50's, so I wanted to golf, but I needed to do some shopping. I decided I'd try the Plattsmouth Country Club, since it's not far from the grocery store. Unfortunately I found when I got there that they are closed for the season. So I went to my second option, Bay Hills Golf Club.

I was just going to buy a bucket of balls and hit the driving range, but the guy in the clubhouse said they had discounted rates during the winter. 18 holes usually runs $30 including a cart, but now it's just $20. I figured what the heck, I'll try that instead.

Bay Hills is a real golf course, 18 holes, par 72, 6028 yards off the white tees. And I just stunk today. I've still got a wicked slice, and I am still have trouble hitting with the woods. I also have almost no range whatsoever; my best drive is only about 150 yards. That's short even for the ladies!

My best hole was #5, which is the second hardest on the course. I actually managed to keep the ball in the fairway. I finished that hole with triple bogey. My worst hole was #6, a par 5 monster that's the second longest hole on the course, 389 yards off the red tees. I couldn't seem to hit the damn ball more than 50 yards at a time on that hole. It took sixteen strokes to hole out. Argh!

I started playing at about 2:00, but it was starting to get dark by the time I reached the 9th hole. Most people would have finished the entire course by then. I gave up and returned to the clubhouse. The guy gave me back the difference in price between a 9 hole game and 18. That was nice of them.

I ended up scoring an 84 on 9 holes, par 36. That's 48 over par, or more than 5 over per hole average. I made 3 triple bogeys.

I can't give up though. This was only my 4th ever round, and my first on a regulation course. Things can only improve!

Hole	Yards	Handicap	Par	12/02/08
1	285	8	4	12
2	285	14	4	9
3	357	10	5	8
4	269	6	4	10
5	295	4	4	7
6	389	2	5	16
7	96	18	3	8
8	228	12	4	8
9	139	16	3	6
	2343		35	84

I'm not sure of the actual distances, since the usual tees had been removed and they were using temporary teeing areas. I'm listing the red tee distances and handicaps here.

Current Mood: tired

The temperature got into the low 50's today, so I hit Grampa's Woods Golf Course. I guess I have a greater tolerance for cold than most; the course was completely empty.

I managed to score a 57 this time, 7 strokes better than last time. That's still 27 over par, an average of triple bogey on each hole. My driving was much better today, and my putting was much worse. The greens on this course are insanely fast, the slightest tap sends the ball sailing across.

I got my first par today, on the 1st hole too, a hole which I hadn't been able to do better than 5-over until today. I started out with my driver and I connected perfectly; the ball went sailing almost straight down the fairway. From there I pulled out my 5 wood and connected perfectly again. Too well, I thought, as I lost sight of the ball as it sailed past the green. I was afraid I'd hit it out of bounds, but I was pleased to find the ball lying just a yard off the green. I used my chipper to get the ball onto the green and about 3 feet from the cup. A single putt was all it took. I felt like dancing around the green.

I also did fairly well on the 7th hole. I teed up with a driver, and hit the ball to within 5 feet of the green. I reached for my chipper, but couldn't find it. I'd lost it somewhere along the way. I had to use my 64° lob wedge and I got bit by the fast green again; the ball sailed right across and off the far side. I tried putting from the fringe, and managed to send the ball sailing all the way across again. 2 more putts and I finally holed the ball for a bogey.

There were two people playing behind me, so I took a break on the 8th hole so they could play through and so I could ask them if they'd seen my missing chipper. It turned out they were the greenskeepers, and they hadn't seen anything. They invited me to join them for the last two holes, and they gave me some advice on how I was holding the club wrong. After we finished the last hole, one of them went and got a cart and we went searching for my missing club (I'd set it down on the 4th hole). We also found the glove that I'd dropped at the 7th hole.

1 par, 1 bogey, 1 double bogey, 2 triple bogeys.

Hole	Yards	Handicap	Par	10/31/08	11/19/08	11/24/08
1	275	1	4	9	10	4
2	280	2	4	12	9	8
3	145	4	3	7	9	6
4	148	5	3	6	4	7
5	160	3	3	5	6	5
6	80	9	3	4	6	5
7	175	6	4	9	6	5
8	149	8	3	6	6	7
9	146	7	3	9	8	9
Totals	1558		30	67	64	57

Current Mood: accomplished

The weather was nice today, with temps in the 60's. The past week has been really cold, and it's supposed to be back into the 30's tomorrow.

So I went out to Grandpa's Woods Golf Course again. It was rather windy, but not cold. I was rather surprised that there was almost nobody there again. All the better, given how wild some of my shots can be.

As I teed up on the first hole, someone waved to me and walked into the middle of the fairway. It turned out he was playing the adjacent 2nd hole and had hooked the ball all the way into the fairway of the 1st. He took a swing at the ball and totally flubbed it, knocking the ball about a foot. He took a second swing and managed to get his ball back onto the proper fairway. Nice to see I'm not the only lousy golfer out there.

I did slightly better than last time, with a 64 (34 over par, yikes!). This was only my second ever round of golf. I still have a real problem with driving; I just can't seem to hit worth beans off the tee. I am pretty decent with a wedge, though.

My putting was better and I had my first one-putt today on the 4th hole. But then I totally blew it on the 9th, taking five putts to hole out. The ball just kept skirting around the damn cup. Now I know why people break their clubs in frustration.

I also had my first "pinseeker" today; on the 7th hole, I hit a chip shot towards the green and the ball bounced off the pin. Unfortunately, it kept going, right off the green again.

Last time I played, I managed to lose 8 balls, one completely off the property and across the road, the others into a creek. This time I lost only one ball when I overshot the green with a provisional ball on the 5th hole (but I found my first ball and it was playable, so that shot didn't count). I did hit one shot out of bounds, my second shot on the 1st hole, same as last time, but I managed to find the ball and take the drop.

1 bogey, 1 double bogey, 3 triple bogeys.

Hole	Yards	Handicap	Par	10/31/08	11/19/08
1	275	1	4	9	10
2	280	2	4	12	9
3	145	4	3	7	9
4	148	5	3	6	4
5	160	3	3	5	6
6	80	9	3	4	6
7	175	6	4	9	6
8	149	8	3	6	6
9	146	7	3	9	8
Totals	1558		30	67	64

Current Mood: accomplished

I played my first round of golf today, at a course with the awe-inspiring name of "Grandpa's Woods Golf Course". Yeah, that's one you'll see on the PGA Tour. It's a really small 9 hole course, 1608 yards off the white tees and par 30.

I shot a 67. Which would be great on an 18 hole course, but is terrible on a 9 hole. That's 37 over par, or an average of 4 over par per hole.

I got off to a pretty bad start, I flubbed the first tee shot and it only went about 50 yards. I sliced my second shot completely off the course. That's a one stroke penalty. I finally managed to finish the hole with a total of 9 strokes, 5 over par.

The second hole is the longest on the course, and I just could not hit the ball at all. It actually took me 12 strokes to hole out, 8 over par. Ouch.

I started having better luck, shooting 4 over par on the 3rd hole, a triple bogey on the 4th, and a double bogey on the fifth.

Then came the 6th hole, a par 3 that requires shooting over a creek. I was really nervous, but I actually managed to land the ball on the green with my tee shot! My first GIR! I was near the edge of the green, still a good distance from the hole, however. My first putt was perfectly straight, but too hard, it hopped over the hole. My second putt came up short, so I had to take a third to hole out. Still, it was a mere bogey!

Unfortunately things went rapidly downhill from there. The 7th hole is a par 4 with a long tee shot over the water. I managed to send all 7 of my remaining golf balls into the drink or onto the unreachable island. I headed back to the clubhouse to buy some replacement balls. I asked for some advice on that hole, and they recommended I try the ladies tee, which I hadn't seen before. It didn't cross as much water. I started over from the ladies tee and still managed to only get 5 over par.

I did a bit better on the 8th hole, with a triple bogey. I was getting really tired by then, and managed to totally botch the 9th hole, mostly through bad chipping and putting; I ended up with 6 over par.

Current Mood: tired

I stopped by the Plattsmouth Golf Course today. I was surprised that nobody was there, except the caretaker, He explained that the course is usually pretty empty and they don't even bother with tee times. It's only a 9 hole course and the grass didn't look that great, but the course looks fairly easy, the greens fees are very cheap and I like the idea that I don't need a tee time. I especially like the idea that the course was empty, so I don't have to worry about killing anyone with an errant shot except the caretaker.

But I was looking for a driving range, something that particular course doesn't have. The caretaker directed me to the Bay Hills Golf Course a short distance away. This is a full 18-hole course and the grass looked a lot better, but the greens fees are still pretty decent. It was fairly deserted, but there were a few people playing.

I spent $6 for a huge bucket of balls and went to work swinging. I really need to work on my woods and hybrid irons; I've got a wicked slice and more than once managed to drive a ball off the range onto an adjacent cart path. Fortunately traffic was light, and I made sure to check the area before taking a swing. My best drive was about 200 yards, but most were in the 100-150 yard range. I did much better with the irons, including one fantastic shot with my $5 6 iron that went about 170-180 yards, better than most of my shots with the driver.

After I ran out of balls, I went over to the practice putting green and did some putting. My aim is pretty good, but I need to work on power; I made one putt from about 50 feet away that was dead on target but was too hard and hopped over the hole. I wanted to use their practice bunker, but it was full of water.

As I went back to my car, I saw a range ball in the middle of the parking lot and wondered if that was my fault. I was the only person using the driving range the whole time I was there. The ball was a good 50 yards behind where I was teeing up.

Overall I spent about an hour and a half practicing. I'm all kinds of sore and stiff now.