Quick Two

It was a race against the afternoon thunderstorms today to try to get some kind of practice in before the lightning hit. After hitting about 15 balls at the range for a quick warm-up, I headed back to the the Legends course to redeem myself from yesterday for as many holes as I could get in. Granted, that ended up being only two.

On the first hole, the 374 yard par 4, I teed off with my 3-wood and split the fairway. Good start. I had 132 to the pin, which was located on the left middle part of the green. This distance is sort of in-between clubs. I didn't want to go too short for a long putt, and I didn't want to miss long because I would have gone into the rough behind the green for a tough chip back, so I choked up an inch on my pitching wedge and took an easy swing to put it about 8' below the hole. I missed the uphill, right breaking putt by an inch, but I'm always okay with a par on the first hole of Legends. It's a visually tricky hole off he tee with a skinny green that runs diagonal to the fairway. I see more people mess up that hole than most others on the course.

I teed off with my driver on the second hole, the 548 yard par 5. Prior to hitting the shot, I tried to visualize the ball going to the right side of the fairway, which would give me the ideal angle to the green if I wanted to try to go for it in 2. Also, to help eliminate the left side in the shot I opened up my clubface a little - if I hit it well then I'd get a slight fade, and if I pulled or had a strong draw swing as I've had lately then the open face might help reduce the right-to-left spin.

I got setup, cleared my head, and swung hard. The ball took off straight, reached its apex, and fell to the right with a slight fade to the right side of the fairway. It was pretty cool to visualize the shot prior to actually hitting it. Good feeling.

I got up to the ball and saw that I had 269 yards to the pin. According to the cart GPS the pin was on the right middle of the green and I had about 255 to clear the bunker in front. My lie was an uphill lie with the ball slightly above my feet. I decided to go for it with the 3-wood. I took my time with my alignment - see Notables from yesterday - and aimed for a tall tree on the right side or edge of the green, the goal again being to give myself room on the left so if the ball had draw spin it would likely work out or worst case be in a bunker (as opposed to in the trees). If I pushed it I'd have a chip up to the green for a possible birdie.

Again, got my alignment, setup, cleared my head, and swung hard. The ball took off straight at the target and started to draw left a little just left of the pin. I wasn't sure I caught enough of it, but the ball ended up landing in the middle of the green and rolled right up to about 20' from the pin. The putt for eagle ended up looking like a straight downhill putt.

As I setup to the putt I reminded myself that the greens are slower than I'm used to with the recent aerification and that I should putt for a little more distance than I might normally do. I picked a spot on the green, pictured it in my head, and started the putt. As the ball rolled down I thought for sure I missed because it looked like it wanted to go left. But, for the first time in over a year my eagle putt dropped in the center of the hole! That's only my 4th eagle ever. I was pretty excited about it. Unfortunately lightning and thunder started getting too close for comfort, so I had to take my 2-under score through 2 holes back to the clubhouse and head home when the thunderstorm hit.

I have an 8:15 tee time tomorrow morning on the same course. Even though I only played two holes, I did a good job executing the items I mentioned in yesterday's Notables section. I'll be focusing on the same things during tomorrow's round.

As a side note, I did get a workout in during lunch today. With the amount of golf I play I try to get at least 2-3 workouts in a week to help with injury prevention and core development. The only time I get sore from golf these days is when my mechanics are hosed - usually what's called an early extension where my right side gets too active in the downswing and I lose my spin angle. I usually early extend when I'm not well-balanced,  usually with too much weight toward my toes at address and in the backswing.

Wednesday Golf Group

Played 9 holes on LPGA Legends today with the work group. Didn't play very well or anywhere near my expectations (+6), especially considering the work I've been putting in. Putting was the main problem, although the greens were recently aerated and the bunkers were rock solid from all the rain lately so those were factors too. I'm trying not to put too much stock in the putting or bunker display I put on today since the ball was literally jumping off the green and diverting 90 degrees to the left or right at times before it reached the hole. My ball striking was so-so. Definitely not my best but it was all recoverable if I had a better short game.

The shot-by-shot recap:

1. Par 4, 374 yards dogleg left - 3 wood off the tee, slight draw settling into the left rough. Strong wind from the right seemed to push it more left as it came down. 127 yards to the pin, located toward the back left of the green on a hump. Hit 52* gap wedge to about 15'. Faced a double breaking uphill putt, left it short - greens were slower with the aerification. Made the 3' putt uphill for a par 4. (E)
2. Par 5, 548 yards double dogleg - Driver off the tee, again strong wind from the right pushing it more left into the left rough beyond the cart path that cuts across the fairway. About 270 to the pin with trees in the green line of sight. Laid up with a 4-iron to 98 yards. Pin on the right back of the green. With the wind blowing hard from behind and right-to-left, tried to hit a cut low wedge but caught it thin to go over the pin and behind the green. Tough lie and not much room to work with - pitched up to 15', leaving an uphill and left breaking putt. Putted it short, leaving 2' to the hole. Cleaned up for a bogey 6. (+1)
3. Par 3, 140 yards - Pitching wedge (PW) off the tee, pin measured at 145 yards. Pin on the right front side of the green. Lightning was nearby and thunder rolled at the top of my backswing - didn't block out the distraction and pulled the shot left into the rough but pin high. Chipped up to 1', saving par with a 3. (+1)
4. Par 4, 340 yards dogleg right - 4-iron off the tee with 235 yards to the end of the fairway. Caught it a little fat, leaving 140 yards to the pin from the fairway. Pin tucked in the front left of the green. Hit PW to about 20', leaving a straight putt. Misread it as a slight right-to-left and downhill putt. Left it short at about 6'. Burned the right edge of the hole after the ball hit a bump and jumped right, missing the putt for a bogey 5 with 3 putts. (+2)
5. Par 4, 366 yards - Driver off the tee, slight pull draw. In left rough with a downhill lie and 90 yards to the pin, which is tucked in the middle front of the green over a greenside bunker protecting the left and front of the green. Ball is sitting up in the rough. Opened up the clubface to about 2:00, aimed to the left side of the green and gave a full swing with the Lob Wedge to land near the pin and roll to the back of the green, leaving about 25' to the hole. Uphill left-to-right putt, misread as a straight putt and left short with 6' remaining. Missed the uphill right-to-left putt with the ball hitting another bump inches before the hole and darting off to the right of the hole. Tap-in for bogey 5 with 3 putts. (+3)
6. Par 4, 393 yards hard dogleg left over water - Driver off the tee, mishit on the lower half of the clubface - knew it immediately - ball landed in the water about 3 yards from the other side. Went to drop zone with 255 yards to the pin, tucked in the front right of the green next to a greenside bunker. Hit 3-wood to pin high but in the bunker, which had packed sand from the rain. With pin about 15 yards away, tried to chip out of the sand/mud and ball made it to the edge of the green. Uphill, right-to-left breaking putt from about 15' missed right and went long to about 2'. Tap-in for double bogey 6. (+5)
7. Par 3, 195 yards - 5-iron off tee, pin measured at 203 yards, went right of the green pin-high leaving a short-side chip up to the green. Chipped to 6' with an uphill left-to-right breaking putt. Missed to the right after hitting a bump, tap-in for bogey 4. (+6)
8. Par 5, 518 yards - Driver off the tee, fade to the right rough. 267 yards to the pin located on the left middle of the green near the water. Hit 3-wood out of the right rough to finish about 3 yards off the front edge of the green. Chipped to 4' for an uphill, right-to-left breaking putt. Missed putt to the right after the ball bounced off a bump (very frustrating). Tap in for a par 5. (+6)
9. Par 4, 374 yards - Driver off the tee, hit it too well and it fell into the right rough where the rough cut in. 80 yards to the green, hit Lob Wedge pin high on the fringe. Chipped to 2', tap in for a par 4. (+6)

Notables:

• Need to stop giving away the hole with putts within 6'. Even if there is an obvious break.
• Hit 1 of 7 fairways. Check alignment.
• Didn't hit many approach shots close to the pin - again check alignment.
• Chipping was good but could be better - remember to use shoulders.

Signed up for a GCAT tournament on Saturday to get a competitive round in before the two day event next weekend at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. This Saturday will be at Hammock Beach - The Conservatory course.