Uber-Oobers

mjaber says:
I'm with bjohn on the bogey/double pressure. If you can make some of your bogey putts, and all of you double bogey putts, you've got a really good shot at breaking 90.

bjohn13 says:
Oddly enough, I feel more pressure on bogey putts and (gasp) double bogey putts than I do on birdie putts or eagle putts (or the one eagle putt I had this year...which I should have chipped). If I miss my birdie putt, I end up with a par. No biggie. If I miss my par putt, I end up with a bogey. Not great, but still no biggie. Bogeys are still my friend. If I miss a bogey putt or, heavens forbid, a double bogey putt...I'm looking at a blowup hole.

activesense says:
Yeah, welcome Werepuppie.

@ Bjohn.. you nailed it about putts after GIR, I generally find myself further from the hole when I hit the green in regulation, plus in the back of my mind is the BIRDIE PUTT thought which adds pressure to my putting. Definately an aspect of my game to work on for next season.

bjohn13 says:
Yeah...that's one of the many things I need to improve. Consistent contact is priority number one, though. I probably lose 15-20 strokes a round from simply not hitting the ball well. I sure would like to get my putts after GIR down, but I also know why it's so high. Obviously, I tend to be farther from the pin when I make a GIR since I'm hitting the ball from farther out. But as the old saying goes, I'd rather three putt from 50 feet than two putt from 5 feet.

mjaber says:
I need to stop 3-putting after hitting GIR. Come to think of it, I need to stop 3-putting altogether.

Werepuppie says:
Thanks.

greendevil says:
Welcome to the group Werepuppie.

bjohn13 says:
Good luck with that, mjaber:)

I just might even get in a couple more rounds this weekend if the forecast holds out. I'm really starting to like Edgewood. It's a very tight course. There aren't any ridiculously long holes, so if I do flub a tee shot, it's not a million miles just to get to the green. Just gotta stay out of the woods.

mjaber says:
If the weather holds tomorrow, I'll hopefully have a score for November.

mjaber says:
What's up with the monthly leaderboard?

mjaber says:
Heading to Houston a week from Monday. I have to find out if the co-worker I'm meeting there plays, since we will have only 1 car between us.

bjohn13 says:
I just might get another couple of rounds in this year! The temps are going to be in the 50's this weekend.

bjohn13 says:
I totally agree, mjaber. I think the most important part of the game of golf is how close you get the ball to the pin on your approach shots. Wedge and iron play are where it's at.

mjaber says:
Thanks everyone. I struggled and fought for the 89. I was having some issues keeping the driver straight. I've become convinced that, as many others have said, the short game (chipping and pitching) is crucial in scoring. However, I think if you want to get down into the 70s, I think iron play is much more crucial, because that's how you hit greens in reg, with your iron play.

greendevil says:
Congrats mjaber on your two recent sub-90 rounds. Those are two really good scores.

activesense says:
I want to move to a place with 365 days of golf and the courses are free. Where every drive goes straight and long and the greens are concave so the ball rolls towards the hole every time.
I hate the winter lay-off.

bjohn13 says:
good job, mjaber.

Today is perfect golf weather...sun shining....55 degrees....no wind....

But the 49ers play at noon, and we set our clocks back last night. That doesn't exactly leave much time for any golf at the one local course that is still open....

mjaber says:
Ended up playing the same course as yesterday. Played better overall, but had a couple bad holes, resulting in an 89. I've been striking the ball better lately, and my short game has really improved. I really wish my season wasn't ending.

mjaber says:
I was going to end my season with yesterday's 88, but I've decided I'm going to head back out today, and see what the other 18 @ Green Meadow is like.

mjaber says:
Bogey Front. Bogey Back. 88!!!

bjohn13 says:
Looks like all of the area courses are officially closed. It's been a tough October. The average highs for October tend to be in the 60's and high 50's for most of the month. We didn't hit 60 all month, and it's rained just about every day.

mjaber says:
I think I may be coming down with something. I might need to leave work in a couple hours to get some sun. :)

mjaber says:
Wish I could get out and play... damn rain :P

greendevil says:
Congrats to ipv6freely on his lowest round ever of +3 on 10/27.

Looks like he is the golfer to beat; he's playing extremely well as of late.

I wish I could say the same about my game.

bjohn13 says:
lol...no...but I have done it before:)

I hit trees on three straight shots on number two, but they were three different trees.

mjaber says:
bjohn... did you hit any of the tress twice on consecutive shots? I've done it, and though it was frustrating, it actually made me laugh, which made the rest of my round better :)

bjohn13 says:
Yeah...two trees in particular on hole 2 and 15 added 7 strokes. We were counting trees hit...and I had about 15 through 12 holes. That said, I do like that course.

greendevil says:
Sounded like you just had one of those days. Look at all of the trees you hit; that easily added at least a handful of strokes to your score.

bjohn13 says:
Well...I shot 18 today. I couldn't do anything right. I couldn't even keep score right. My GPS wouldn't work. It was raining.

I played seven holes before I realized I had selected the wrong course. Doh! After shooting a 10 on hole 8 and a 9 on hole 9, I decided to chuck the scorecard completely.

You know...the funny thing is...I had a STELLAR day off the tee. I'm serious. I had my best day driving of my life. My longest drive, I estimate, went about 250 yards....and it hit a tree dead center as it was still rising. That drive might have gone 300. I really crushed it. The hours I've been spending on the range are finally starting to pay off.

Everything else sucked. Bad. However, it started to get better on the back 9. I had five par putts on the day, and four were on the back 9. Still... I think I easily bested my worst round of the year.

You just can't practice pitching, chipping, and putting at an indoor driving range.

mjaber says:
I'm wondering if I can get out again before the end of the season. Most of the courses around here seem to be trying to stay open until the end of November, plus it looks like I might be in Houston near the end of Nov.

bjohn13 says:
Bah....I got talked into a round tomorrow....got a 10:48 tee time up at Edgewood. Looks like 2 of the 7 local public courses are now closed for the season. Ironically, they were the two that opened first because they weren't affected by the spring flood.

activesense says:
Well, season is done for me. My local course locked it's gates yesterday even though today was a great (cold but at least dry) day for golf.

mjaber says:
Thanks, but only 2 of the 3 birdies came this year. The par5 birdie was last year. :)

greendevil says:
Congrats mjaber on lowering your hcp once again; also on making 3 birdies this year.

Hopefully everyone here will continue to improve after a long winter break.

mjaber says:
Grabbed my 3rd birdie yesterday. I have now successfully birdie a par 3, a par 4, and a par 5. :)

mjaber says:
Last round of the year... I think. Dropped my handicap another 1.1. I'm down to a 28.7. I didn't feel like I played really well, but I like the 93 :)

Started in a sweatshirt, but was able to get down to shortsleeves by the 9th.

bjohn13 says:
54 degrees in July: I'm wearing a pair of shorts, a wife beater tee, a short sleeve golf polo, and a pullover. After 2-3 holes, the pullover comes off because I'm sweating.

54 degrees in October: I'm wearing long underwear, a pair of heavy cargo pants, an underarmor tee, a regular tee, a long sleeve golf polo, a pullover, a pair of all weather golf gloves, and a stocking cap. I'm sweating and freezing at the same time.

activesense says:
A 48 wouldn't be a bad thing, one of my targets for the season was to average sub 50 for my home course, and currently I am 49.73 from 22 rounds of 9. Anything less than a 56 and I achieve my goal. However, I haven't hit over 50 since August and I would like to keep that trend. Ideally, I will shoot bogey golf sometime soon, it's not that tough on paper. I have shot par on the first 7 holes through the season and bogey for the last 2. That's a dream round of 31. I just need all the good shots on the same day.

greendevil says:
@bjohn; you're right, you were +3 on the last 7 holes. What a great way to end the season.

@activesense; make sure you break the 47 jinx in a positive direction. I'd hate to see you break it with a 48 and end the season on a down note.

activesense says:
Deja Vu??? Another 47 today, that's 4 47's on a roll. I think I have peaked.
It was 57* here today and like bjohn says 57* in October feels different to 57* in July. I just want 1 more chance to play this year and break the 47 jinx.

bjohn13 says:
Well...I got my last round in on Sunday....got my handicap below 26. It was a "balmy" 54 degrees, but that north wind is COLD. There is definitely a difference between 54 degrees in July and 54 degrees in October. At any rate, I didn't even realize until I got home that I was on fire for the last seven holes after being extremely rusty on the first two. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that the last 7 holes I golfed on Sunday were probably the best seven consecutive holes I've shot in my life....and I easily left four strokes on the course: two terrible chip shots, a makeable birdie putt, and a toed hybrid shot. I'm ready for an extended break, though. All I wanted to do was go home yesterday.

activesense says:
Well another 47 today, I am off work tomorrow and the forecast is for fine weather, hopefully I can squeeze in 18. I think this could be the end of the season for MN golf.

greendevil says:
My worst rounds are: a 101 for 18 holes(my first round after a 9-year hiatus); and 55 for 9 holes (which just happened last Sunday). So my first and last rounds have been the worst. How crazy is that?

I used to play some golf as a kid but I cannot remember what my scores were back then. I'm sure I had worse rounds than the ones above but I'm gonna use my worst rounds since I picked the game up again a couple years ago.

mjaber says:
I just decided to do a comparison between my '08 and '09 scoring average using the Oob formula. I dropped 10 strokes between '08 (120.17) and '09 (109.82). If I keep this pace, I'll be on tour in time for the 2016 Olympics :)

mjaber says:
I agree with activesense... cold balls are bad :)

activesense says:
@ bjohn - Keep your balls indoors overnight and keep them as warm as possible on the course when you play. Cold balls = Less distance.
I don't mind the cold, but white ball + white snow = tough round. Please let it stay dry tomorrow. I'm not ready to put my clubs away yet.

activesense says:
Worst score, 126 (on the card) which was +4 ESC. However....I did not count all my strokes and penalties as I was at a very tough links style course for the first time and didn't want to hold up groups behind as the course was packed. (We were warned once by the ranger about pace of play) If I had to guess what the actual score would have been I would say in the 150/160 area, definately double par.
Overall it was not an enjoyable round, not due to bad golf but the pressure from fellow golfers and course staff to hurry our game. Well if the club hadn't booked 3 foursomes for the same teetime maybe the course wouldn't back up so quickly and we could make space for people to play through. Still 5 hrs for a 4:17 course isn't bad for a first season pair of golfers in a cart.

mjaber says:
OK... I gotta know. What's everyone's worst score? I once shot a 154. My 3rd round ever, and the course was WAY beyond my abilities. I had also just returned home from San Antonio, and had to drive in from DC the night before. Got home about 4am, and had a 9am tee time. I almost gave up golf that day.

bjohn13 says:
Oh...and by "warm enough to golf", I mean that there is no frost on the ground. To me, 33 is warm enough to golf if the sun is shining.

bjohn13 says:
North Dakota here. It has been warm enough to golf, but that cold north wind makes for a long round. I thought I had retired for the winter, but now the forecast is for 50's and 60's this weekend. Looks like I just might get 18-27 holes in yet before the season is done.