Real Neglect

It's been 6 weeks since my last post- a long time in golfing terms. Since then I have consolidated my position in the GOY in 3rd but not any closer to the runaway leaders due to a poor performance in the last major.

I have won twice, but only been cut .3, keeping my handicap for the winter at the 20 mark. Winning the BUFS final was a highlight, and this past weekend winning the first Christmas hamper of the season.

Most recently I enjoyed my best run of eclectic scoring, with 3 birdies in my last round.

I have a lesson bbooked in two weeks time to have a look at my putting, hopefully to shave some more shots and get closer to that 85 mark.

I will post my season so far stats shortly.

Major Tom

Having only played Majors since Ed's win on the 5th, my rise up the Golfer of the Year standings continued - with an 8th place finish in the Vice Presidents and a 3rd in yesterdays August Medal.

Elements of my game are starting to click a bit better - in yesterdays round I only had 1 score higher than a 6 and in strokeplay that is imperative. I had 8 pars and even still know I missed a number of makeable putts - something that I want to get to work on immediately - I am going to try a new putter and see how I fair. I also had the usual rush of blood to the head, sticking 2 out of bounds(or so I though) on the 6th, only to find some intervention by the woodlands had kept my first in play. Capitalise I did not, reaching the green for a 6 foot par putt which turned into a 6.

But it was also the first time that I broke 90 - an 89 meant I have improved my game by 10 strokes sinces my first competitive round back in early June. I can see the areas that need to improve(my drive and my putting are my main points) but can also see what has improved(my ball striking and short game)

Only one major left in next weekends September Medal but with 5 more qualifying competitions I can stabilise my position in the top 3 or 4 golfers at the club this year.

Ever Ready Eddie

Ed broke his weekend competition duck this past weekend, and when I say he broke it, I really mean he picked it up, turned it on its head, and smashed the living fuck out of it. And I dont say that lightly.

He drove well, approached brilliantly and made so many putts on the way to his 43 point haul. Numerous birdies littered his card and for his efforts he has been cut 2.2 shots to his new playing handicap of 18. He would tell you himself that he hasnt played well of late and it all came together for him but realistically it could have been more, which is frightening.

I myself didnt fare too badly, although at the time you may have thought otherwise. Doing stupid things that I thought I had expelled from my game - duffing shots, missing gimmes, wild swings at the ball and a shit attitude about it too. You could be forgiven for me trying to be a bit of a perfectionist, after all its been nearly 2 months since the last time I scratched 2 holes in stableford - let alone 2 consecutive holes.

Anyway I ended up with 35 and was dissapointed(cant believe I am saying that) as I 3 putted on no less than 10 occassions, including an Eagle attempt on 3 and birdie attempts on 4 and on 5. Thinking I was way down the order was wrong though, as I finished 3rd overall to stay in the prizes for a 3rd week running.

The practice element of my game is coming together - hitting the green and driving bay prior to round is really helping get the head straight and the arms loose prior to tee-time. I am scheduled to play 3 times this week so hopefully I can take some positives from it and maybe get down to a 19 handicap in time for next weeks Vice Presidents Prize. I may need to invest in a new putter between now and then, at least as a back-up for when I throw my current one into the trees.......

To Do List

I am a fucker for making lists. I probably spend more time making lists and organising things than actually executing them. So I have a to do list for my upcoming golf calendar. I hope to stick to it...

Remaining Qualifying Competitions(Barring Good Winter/Bad Autumn Weather) : 11 (3 Majors, 8 Standard Stableford) -

Current Handicap: 20.4

Potential Cuts = .4 * 11 = 4.4

Potential Handicap: 15.6

End of Season Handicap Ambition: 18

How to achieve this:

1) Practice, Play,Practice Play.

Continue to play Sunday competition and Friday 9 hole BUFS to blow out the cobwebs. Add in at least 1, possibly 2 range sessions at lunchtime. Use this time not only to work on hitting my irons but on my short game. Weeks where Friday is inconvenient play at least  6 holes on Monday/Wednessay

2) Preparation

Spend at least 30 minutes pre-round on the putting green at the course. Not only for putting but close to the green chipping. Also complete 5 minutes in the practice bay. Be prepared and not arrive 10 minutes to teetime unlike my buddy Ed :)

3) New Putter and Wedge for the Bag

2nd one is key here, I have a sand wedge but would like something for more control from closer in. I have nothing in my bag with higher loft/bounce.My putter has worked well for me but maybe it is time to invest in something that will help me be more consistent. Some weeks I can putt like a trojan, others like a horse.

4) Lesson...

Not wanting to work into much else until I get down through the 18 barrier EXCEPT bunker play. It has cost me a number of times in recent weeks.

Hopefully If I can put and keep this plan in action it will maximise my chances of being successful... 

El Presidente

With Ed away and our new golfing buddy Tom Cullen in the group behind, I had the pleasure of playing with Jim and Phil in the weekends presidents prize. Although in the strokes format I didnt have many pars, my lack of treble bogeys kept me in the hunt. I should have left the putter at home and used a shovel instead - 3 putting the first 4 greens(lucky I was on in or under regulation)

Hada a lovely days weather, considering the showers the came on Saturday and finished with a Nett par - 72. Having being told leaving the clubhouse that their was already a 68 carded, I went home thinking I had done respectably and thats that. The ensuing text from Gerry, our competition secretary, was to the contrary - I had come in the prizes and to present myself at the prizegiving in the club. My score had pushed me to a tie for 8th - 6th overall on countback and a nice Catergory 2 runner-up prize.

No cut for me as the SSS was 69, but also no .1 back as I was in the buffer zone. This weekend sees the standard stableford competition and 2 weeks to Vice-President Dermots prize, something I would love to have a good crack at.

"Medal"lion man

Last Sundays Medal was a nice golfing experience for me - I got to play with my regular playing partner in a major - luck of the draw.

I played well to card a nett 71 and finish 3rd overall, with my handicap getting cut again to 20.4 only a small step away from being a teen handicapper!!

BUFfy the Friday Slayer

Not letting my golfing buddy Ed be alone in this one, I joined him in the ranks of 9 hole Friday competition winners at the weekend. A haul of 20 points won it for me after an enjoyable round with Ed, Dr.Pat and Aidan. Nice bottle of wine as the prize to boot- and a nice tune up before the July Medal.

Winner Alright

Its been exactly two weeks since my last update and I have played a blinder - winning this weekends stableford competition and dropping down a shot in the handicap.

Last weekends competitive golf was a washout, myself and Ed walking off the course after 6, drenched to the skin. We hadnt played too badly but the conditions were unbearable.

And so to this weekend, where myself and Ed set out for an 8:20 tee-time. I woke up firing on all cylinders, parring the 1st hole for the 1st time in competition play. I didnt capitalise until the back 9, where a par on the 18th clinched the win for me via countback, with a respectable score of 38 points. That afforded me a .8 cut which brings me to 20.8, my first handicap cut.

I was, as usual, in good company - Ed chipping in on the 12th from off the green for a birdie, after a risky shot to cut the corner paid off. He made some good putts on the back 9 and his 31 points enabled him to have a top 10 finish in his first qualifying competition as a member of Ballinascorney.

Next week is my 3rd major(Ed's 1st), the July Medal, where I hope to break 90 for the first time in 2 years and be in with a chance of getting my handicap under 20 quite soon.

Neglect, in a kind of good way.

I haven't been keeping up to date as I have been basking in some glory but I was brought down to earth this weekend.

Whence last we spoke I was in about 8th place after day one of the Captains Prize, 5 or 6 shots off the blistering pace set by Dermot Murray.

Day 2 however was a different proposition altogether, putting together a string of pars to come in with the best score of the day, a net 71.

This left me lying in 2nd overall and although ineligible to win, I could still post a decent score to stay in the top three positions. As it turns out, I didn't handle the playoff well, as my 9 on the last sealed my fifth position overall. Dermot had a fairytale ending, pitching in for a birdie in front of the swelling crowd.

Presentation time and my net 177 for 42 holes was enough to secure a category win in my first club qualifier.

I was taken down a peg this weekend though- scoring 99 gross after having 2 balls in the creek on the first hole. No medal for me but on the improve, 93 now my best course score...

Oh Captain My Captain

After a week or twos worth of preparation, day one of Captains Prize came along and bit me hard. Playing in nice company with Fintan,Liam and Brian I managed to make a horrible start with a double bogey on the 1st and a quadruple bogey on the normally straightforward 2nd. I recovered somewhat with a few pars on the back and finished with a nett 75, 6 behind the leader. Tommorow will be a tough test and I hope I start better than today.

36

The magic number. Play to this and your handicap is right. And that's what I did yesterday, playing in what I thought was my first qualifying competition- unfortunately due to a number of soggy bunkers it was not. I was paired with Jim Davidson(not the comedian) and had a productive enough day. I putted very well and had a scrambling sand save on the only hole to have bunkers in play. 3 consecutive pars on the back 9 got me going and puts me in decent form heading into next weeks captains prize. I finished with a 94, my best singles score yet at the club..

Bitten by the bug...

Ok a week on from our Holmpatrick Cup qualifier runners-up spot and we had a washout three day weekend with the course seeing an awful lot of rain. Ed was away for a few days so we only got back on the course on Tuesday night late for nine holes. The only thing I got out of it was an armful of insect bites. Didn't drive it well and the rough was even heavier than usual because it was drenched. Possibly out tonight for a mixed scramble if the weather stays away but other than that I hope to be out on Sunday for 8:30 for the last stableford competition before next weeks captains prize. Still waiting on my GUI so hope that gets sorted in the next few days.

Have A Break

After an extensive week of golf I am taking a few days to recuperate. Ed is off to the US for a few days so today was our last chance to play together until the end of the month so we took in the nine hole V Par midweek event. It was a weird golf day, both of us hitting some excellent shots, notably Ed's putt on the par 5 8th and my five wood approach to the 1st green from under a tree. But we left too many shots out there - Ed finishing level and myself one down to the course.

The course itself wasnt in great nick after yesterdays barrage of rain and the bunkers were completely unplayable. I will stay away until the BUFS on Friday and I am down to play in the weekend quialifying competition so hope to make inroads into my handicap starting then.

On another note we finished 2nd in the Holmpatrick Cup qualifier, only 2 points behind the winners. Happy to be involved in the shake-up!!!

Go Team Go!!

Saturday saw another first in golf for me and in a fortnight of firsts it was the one I was looking forward to the most - a team event.The event itself was a qualifier for the NCBI Holmpatrick Cup(A charity event in aid of the National Council for the Blind) Myself and Ed are close to being on the same page in what we want to get from the game of golf so playing as a team is something we both agreed would work well for us.

It was a day to remember for me as I played probably the best golf I have ever played for 14 of the 18 holes and on the other 4 Ed played some wonderful shots(although he would admit the other holes didnt go his way today.) We were joined on track by Andrew, an 8 year club veteran and self-proclaimed lucky charm. The team of myself and Ed were only +4 through twelve holes in a round that included 9 pars!!! Considering the competition was based on 3/4 handicaps our final score of 42 points was not only respectable, it was only 2 points off the overnight lead. With weather conditions today much worse, the score could be in the top 3 or 4 and a great start to our team playing career in the club. We finished off the day with a pot of tea you could have bathed in and a breakfast that could have fed the five thousand.

We will be back on course on Monday morning for the midweek V Par 9 hole competition.

Steady Eddie

Friday saw my second attempt at the BUFS but I was blown out of the water by rookie club member(a week newer than me!!!) Eddie who won his first club competition at the first try. Ed played the nine holes expertly, finishing with a stableford score of 22 points. I finished with a respectable 18 but everything Ed hit went right and he played with the confidence and freedom to allow him to score really well. Very happy for him but I think we may have to buy this bandit a Sombrero!!!

what a Golfshot!!!!

The wonders of technology eh? I am now using an app for my iPhone that I mentioned earlier that has become a fascination of my golfing experience - Golfshot scoring.

The app itself has so many options, so I'll stick to how it works on the basics. Every hole you play you get to enter what club you hit, your score, amount of putts, if you hit the fairway and if you incurred any penalty or sand strokes. Now these kind of stats are normally rummaged up on Sky Sports to enhance the viewers understanding of just how good the pro's are. But at my level of golf ( about 30 shots a round worse than an average pro) it is a great tool to see any real improvement over a period of time.

The historical aspect allows me to see how my FIR and GIR rate has improved and how my scoring on each hole has been going along round after round. I can see stats for individual holes or the round as a whole. Its a great little app, and means I can come into the office and tell the lads I was 55% FIR and hit 5 GIR's yesterday - even if I was lying.

http://www.golfshot.com/

May 30th - New Golf Buddy!!!

Handicap - Done. Membership - Sorted. Golf Buddy - ARRANGED!! Ed from work bit the bullet and joined me as a member of Ballinascorney yesterday and we both set about improving our game by having a friendly 18 hole stableford challenge.

It was a lovely evening at the club, it was almost as if the clouds werent allowed over the boundary walls of the course. Ed and myself played well enough, scoring 33 points each and we both said we had left a few shots out on the course. I myself played the 4 par 3's better than I had ever before and even had a par on the index 2 14th and followed it up with a birdie on the par 5 17th. Ed had 3 pars on his way around and finished with a respectable 95, considering it was his first time around it is a sign of things to come. I bettered my best Ballinascorney score by a stroke, finishing on 97.

Roll on Friday night for the BUFS and then Saturday morning, when myself and Eddie team up in the Holmpatrick Cup Fourball qualifier.

GUI has arrived....

I got a phone call from Gerry, the competition secretary at the club last night to inform me of my official handicap based on my 3 rounds- 22.0. It was more than I expected as I assumed most clubs gave new players 18. Playing tommorow night with some work colleagues and in my first 9 hole that I can compete for on Friday.

May 26th - Lady Captains Prize to men

Already feeling settled into club life, I undertook to play with 2 gents and Dermot on a lovely Saturday morning. As with my previous rounds I was purely here for handicapping purposes. The round itself was frought with high scoring - a couple of pars keeping me under 100 by just one stroke. My driving was better with fairways being hit more often however my irons were atrocious and kept me from enjoying the day too much.

I did however learn some more course management and how to approach certain holes, which has given me a new insight into trying to get the score down. On the competitive side 67 nett from a 12 handicapper won the day.

I am also using Golfshot - a scorecard app for my Iphone which is keeping me interested in my stats - especially GIR and FIR. Not hitting many greens but hoping that improves very soon!!!

May 25th - In the BUF's

To be honest, I have no idea what BUF's stands for - all I know is that Dermot suggested I be at the club for 5pm to play in my first club competition - albeit to add more cards for my official handicap.

When I left the car the friendliness of the member base was apparent again as Paul and Fintan invited me to join them for the round. It was a lovely evening for Golf and one I enjoyed thoroughly - although once again the driver was erratic. My irons however were getting better and my mindframe of trying to play through the ball was helping.

On a side note, I am teaching a complete Golf newbie so he can join me in the club in the future. Paul, a partner of my other halfs best friend, has never played before so I am going through the Driving range routine with him before his course debut. He is already doing things better than me so I hope he doesnt surpass me soon!!!!

Back to the round and I had the perfect hole on the 6th, which is a 372 yard par 4. I hit a lovely drive down the middle to right side of the fairway and a clean 8 iron to about a foot for my first Birdie in Ballinascorney!!! Only 17 more holes to do that on and I will be a happy man!!!!

My score was still out there at 98 but a 7 shot improvement in 2 days has made me happy!! A quick drink in the sun afterwards ensured I went home even happier.

I also learned a lot about the clubs involvement in inter-club competitions and their success this season, and met a good few members on the course, including the club captain, Tim.

May 23rd 2012 - Start your engines.....

May 23rd 2012. My first visit to my new second home, Ballinascorney Golf Club.

After a quick chat with Dermot the Treasurer and an introduction to the most important person in the club, Finbar, the bar manager - it was off to start my playing days as a full member of a golf club. I had spent a few hundred quid a few years ago on a distance membership and never went, so now that I am a local golfer I should have no excuses.

I set off to play the first of my 3 cards with a course regular, Ollie - who showed me first hand some of the nuances of the course and just how tricky the place could be. As it turns out, and I dont know whether it was nerves or just bad play, I shot the highest score I have shot this year - 105. Only 3 fairways hit and 2 greens - with no pars or birdies to be seen. My driving was going right all day and my irons might as well have been made of wicker.

As to my driving, it has been improving of late with the change to a Taylormade Burner 10.5. I had previously been using a Calloway Big Bertha but have found for the most part that the Burner is longer and more forgiving.

The round, apart from the golf, was a pleasant experience and the post golf shandy in the clubhouse topped off a nice evening.

Chapter 20 - A New beginning

As nobody knows me, I will start at the beginning - which in my golfing terms is quite a while ago.....

I tried to start a blog of my golfing a couple of years back, but due to lack of regularity of play and an inconsistent approach to the concept, I deleted it.

I am a 28/ nearly 29 year old who has been playing the game of golf for about 6 years. My introduction to the game was down the pitch and putt/par 3 route but I began to play properly during a stint where I won a set of clubs. For a couple of years I would play once or twice a month, scoring well irregularly and then not playing for months at a time. Following breaking my arm in 2009, I resumed my golfing vision in 2011 and played maybe 10 rounds at the back of the year. Due to footballing commitments it was all I could manage. So now I have decided to push on and focus a lot more on my golf. I normally play off a handicap of 22 with friends in casual yet competitive rounds but I want more from the game.

Through a stroke of luck I stumbled upon a local club,Ballinascorney, offering a trial membership, which I have taken up in the past week. This blog will chronicle my playing at the club, with my personal goal being breaking 85 strokes in a round(course par is 72). I would like a handicap to match that kind of scoring but my first goal is to play to that score and then work on the consistency to keep it that low.

I hope my experiences will keep you interested, especially if you have an interest in the game and the human side of guys you play with.

Tom