Cheers Cod boy.

Man I really feel like at the bottom of the barrel with this lot. Lost 3&2 to a good player from my team in practice round yesterday. Had a tap in eagle on 15 to really rub it in, he ended up square for the match leaving at least 4 putts out there.

In some of the other matches from team-mates one was 2 under off the stick, and another 5 under off the stick. Some birdies lost holes I heard..

Anyway I can’t really compete at that level, just playing catch up and hoping to make it to the 12th tee still in the match!!

Cheers Cod boy.

Man I really feel like at the bottom of the barrel with this lot. Lost 3&2 to a good player from my team in practice round yesterday. Had a tap in eagle on 15 to really rub it in, he ended up square for the match leaving at least 4 putts out there.

In some of the other matches from team-mates one was 2 under off the stick, and another 5 under off the stick. Some birdies lost holes I heard..

Anyway I can’t really compete at that level, just playing catch up and hoping to make it to the 12th tee still in the match!!

http://www.golflink.com.au/...

I’ve been playing 1’s for longer than i care to admit, i honestly have no idea what i shoot in a pennant match, don’t need to know nor care, just needs to be a bit lower than ol mate you’re playing (obviously) ;-)

it’s more of a putting contest rather than a shot making contest at your level.

my only suggestion is…..........always expect him to hole any shot at any time and expect them to. ie: never be suprised and if he holes a bomb putt, just say well done and go to the next tee.

All of the mind games don’t work, just play and see what happens. You CAN play…..........that’s why you’re there !!!

have fun and enjoy, at least you’ll get a cool free shirt !!

So first round of major pennants yesterday. 7 am start, im there at 630 and already feel the pressure mounting.. at 6:55 a teammate asks me how I’m feeling, good good, I lie. He then says: you know you’re up first right?

So I’d missed the mail with the order… I’m reserve and up first. Great. So two practice swings and I tee it up in front of 20 blokes, mostly scratch players. I take driver out on the short par 4 first and just try to swing smooth, end up in green side bunker.. off we go!

I’m not playing stellar golf but my opponent misses a couple of putts and after par birdie par par bogey bogey par par bogey I find myself 4 up at the turn.

that’s when I start getting a bit sloppy and spraying them, just keeping the pace with my opponent. I put him dormie 5 and feel the pressure of just wanting to end the game. duff, charged putts ensue. I finally close it out 4 and 3.

Really happy, even though I have to admit that my opponent let me get away with way too much and never really took any opportunities presented. My team got smashed only winning one match. Our opponents were just too good with half the field under par after 12.. some as low as 4 under. Those are numbers I could simply not compete with..

So I’ve continued my foray I to major pennants. My second match was two weeks ago on my home course. Trailing two down after 5 I hung in there and battled. The conditions were rough with very strong winds. I managed to get back to square after the 14th. Went up one on 17th and ended one up after 18.

Last week I played at Cumberland a course I did not know. I was reserve and paired against a 15 year old off 2 hcp. He played well. Damp conditions.

he was giving me a lesson in golf: I was 4 down after 8 holes. Then something happenned and I shot two under bogey free for the last 10 holes. Squared him at 15 and he failed to hole his par on 18 for the split. I end up one up after 18. I just hung in there and kept at it remaining calm. I did feel a bit bad for him though, he played solid golf and maybe got a bit nervous towards the end. Our team got spanked…

Okay so pennants season is over. I did ok winning four of my six matches. Some I won playing crap, others I lost playing well. Its the way it goes. All in all I loved it. I really enjoyed match play, playing to beat someone, not just playing the percentage shots.

our team did get relegated though. Too bad. Or is it?

So now its back to lessons and becoming a better player. First lesson with my pro today. I told him i’d like more distance off tee and to learn to hit driver into the wind.

he had me hit with a launch monitor behind me.

clubhead speed at 107 mph, carry at 201 yards, smash at 1.35 launch angle in the 20s.

some minor adjustments saw me setting up for low draws as opposed to my stock high fade. Clubhead speed stayed constant, carry jumped to 228 and smash closer to 1.41.

And that was just with setup changes. Oh and this was range balls, not pro vs or any type of premium ball.

Also learnt how to punch a driver into the wind.

Loved the lesson. Can’t wait to try it out on the course. Next thing I want to work on is tightening up wedge play.

Lessons are slowly sinking in. Although I’m still not hitting the high draw off the tee with regularity, I hit many low stingers with the driver to the fairway with little or no distance loss.

I’ve also decided to focus more on greens hit and played well on Saturday hitting 12 greens. Still walked off with 7 over with some shocking putting. I’d like to blame the cored greens but truthfully I putted poorly. Maybe a good focus for my next lesson.

in unrelated news I notice that I’ve shit under 10 over for my 16 last comp rounds. High single digits, sure but still fairly consistent.

in unrelated news I notice that I’ve shit under 10 over for my 16 last comp rounds. High single digits, sure but still fairly consistent.

http://www.golflink.com.au/...

That should read hit and not shit….

anyway, make that 17 rounds.

Shot 5 over recently at stonecutters ridge. Great course, fairly easy to score on when not hitting from the tips.

I was battling with my driver, on the first tee hit two drives oob, thank god it was a stableford round..

I did manage to sink 4 birdies, three of those on low index holes giving me 4 pointers.. I don’t really get a lot of those anymore. Have been focusing on hitting greens recently and walked away with 12 yesterday. Need to grab another lesson with the big stick, its all over the place.

This Saturday was Canadian foursomes. I was paired up with an elderly gentleman off 18. He could hit the ball quite far and we got off to a good start. He was super nervous though… As is always the case in foursomes, esp. If you’re playing with someone you do t know well. I think he duffed or skulled all his greenside chips. No biggie though, I had insisted before the round that neither of us were allowed to say the word “sorry” for the entire round. Finished at +6 and was good fun. I do prefer foursomes when you’re paired up with someone you know well though.