Forest Greens: The UN-Fairway
Back to the links for another 18. Course of Choice, Forest Greens. Not a tournament, not a practice round for a tournament, just a round to unwind and work out some kinks in the golf game.
Date: Sunday 4/06/2014
Location: Forest Greens Golf Club, Triangle, VA
Score: 83
Excuses: Distance control off, hit some thin irons, did not take the time to get used to greens
Course Conditions: Not Ideal. The greens, the tee boxes, and the rough were in suprizingly good shape. Especially the greens which rolled very true considering the time of year. The fairways however were brown and sparce. Some areas of the fairway felt like hardpan.
The Good: Stretch of 6 holes I played at 1 under par (8 that I played at par)
The Bad: 5 Three jacks. Considering my last round I had 8 one putts on aerated greens.
The Ugly: The fairways... Really tough to hit a good wedge off of hardpan
Golf really is an interesting game. I am a hardcore engineer in most everything that I do. I perfrorm some form of statistical analysis on just about everything in order for me to optimize or make things better. Golf is a haven for statistics and I just sit and enjoy breaking down my stats on The Grint. But statistics don't show the entire story. For example, according to my last 20 rounds played, I am almost three times more likely to get a green in regulation when I hit a fairway (71% when I hit a fairway vs. 29% when I don't). And when I get a green in regulation, I have a 16% chance of making birdie. If you do the math, If I don't hit the fairway, I have a less than 5% chance of making birdie.
But lets take #11 (338 yard Par 4, plays all Downhill). I crush a drive way left and I assume it's gone. But one of my playing partners (who happened to be the foreman at the course) assures me I could find it, if I could stand the exhaust fumes from I-95. Sure enough, I find the ball sitting on some hardpan right beside a tree at around 130 yards from the pin, but I have a clear shot at the green. I crush a great 9-Iron over the hill and down to the recessed green and end up 15 feet from the cup. I then proceed to drain the birdie putt (yay!). On the previous hole (#10, 527 yard Par 5) I hit a monster drive, a 3-Wood off the deck to 40 yards, and a lob wedge to 5 feet, and proceed to lip out the putt.
The lesson, unlikely doesn't mean impossible. The real lesson, hate bogeys more than you love birdies.
Even though the fairways were way less than optimal, I still had a good time. The two people I was "paired up" with were cool and we finished the round in just over 4 hours. Not bad considering there was no starter, no marshals, and no beverage cart. It was brisk by the time I finished but a good day of golf nonetheless. Could I have shot better? Definitely! But I enjoyed myself and that's always the goal.
BACK TO THE RANGE (and the Putting Green)!
Next Stop: Whiskey Creek
Date: Sunday 4/06/2014
Location: Forest Greens Golf Club, Triangle, VA
Score: 83
Excuses: Distance control off, hit some thin irons, did not take the time to get used to greens
Course Conditions: Not Ideal. The greens, the tee boxes, and the rough were in suprizingly good shape. Especially the greens which rolled very true considering the time of year. The fairways however were brown and sparce. Some areas of the fairway felt like hardpan.
The Good: Stretch of 6 holes I played at 1 under par (8 that I played at par)
The Bad: 5 Three jacks. Considering my last round I had 8 one putts on aerated greens.
The Ugly: The fairways... Really tough to hit a good wedge off of hardpan
Golf really is an interesting game. I am a hardcore engineer in most everything that I do. I perfrorm some form of statistical analysis on just about everything in order for me to optimize or make things better. Golf is a haven for statistics and I just sit and enjoy breaking down my stats on The Grint. But statistics don't show the entire story. For example, according to my last 20 rounds played, I am almost three times more likely to get a green in regulation when I hit a fairway (71% when I hit a fairway vs. 29% when I don't). And when I get a green in regulation, I have a 16% chance of making birdie. If you do the math, If I don't hit the fairway, I have a less than 5% chance of making birdie.
But lets take #11 (338 yard Par 4, plays all Downhill). I crush a drive way left and I assume it's gone. But one of my playing partners (who happened to be the foreman at the course) assures me I could find it, if I could stand the exhaust fumes from I-95. Sure enough, I find the ball sitting on some hardpan right beside a tree at around 130 yards from the pin, but I have a clear shot at the green. I crush a great 9-Iron over the hill and down to the recessed green and end up 15 feet from the cup. I then proceed to drain the birdie putt (yay!). On the previous hole (#10, 527 yard Par 5) I hit a monster drive, a 3-Wood off the deck to 40 yards, and a lob wedge to 5 feet, and proceed to lip out the putt.
The lesson, unlikely doesn't mean impossible. The real lesson, hate bogeys more than you love birdies.
Even though the fairways were way less than optimal, I still had a good time. The two people I was "paired up" with were cool and we finished the round in just over 4 hours. Not bad considering there was no starter, no marshals, and no beverage cart. It was brisk by the time I finished but a good day of golf nonetheless. Could I have shot better? Definitely! But I enjoyed myself and that's always the goal.
BACK TO THE RANGE (and the Putting Green)!
Next Stop: Whiskey Creek
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