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