Lakeside Lodge - Lodge Course - 29/08/17
29/Aug/2017 Filed in: Reports
I rarely play two days on the trot but Helen asked me to join her today and the weather was still fine, so off we went. It was a lot quieter than yesterday and some people we know let us go off before them, as they were a three-ball. This meant we had a fairly brisk round, only occasionally having to wait for the two-ball in front.
I put my drive into the trees to the left on the 1st and we couldn't find the ball. Conscious that we had been allowed to play off in front of the three-ball, I didn't want to hold them up, so took a drop rather than continuing the search. This meant a 2 shot penalty for the lost ball. I decided at this point that I would try a few experiments rather than aim for a low-scoring round, as the 1st clearly wasn't going to work out too well. After taking a hybrid from the drop, I thought I would try the 4-iron rather than another hybrid shot. I've been playing the irons better lately and was thinking that if the longer irons were working, I could use these instead of the equivalent hybrids, which have been a bit hit and miss lately. As it was, the 4-iron shot matched the sort of distance I would expect from my 23 degree hybrid. Two pitching wedge shots followed by two putts left me with a 9 on this hole, including the two-shot penalty.
My drive was long to the middle of the fairway on the 2nd. A pitching wedge shot was then on the green, but long. Two putts for a par and nett birdie. I went into the bunker on the 3rd and took too little sand with my wedge, the ball crossing the green to the far side rough. After an 8-iron chip back I needed three putts to finish with a nett bogey 6.
I put my drive into the trees to the left on the 1st and we couldn't find the ball. Conscious that we had been allowed to play off in front of the three-ball, I didn't want to hold them up, so took a drop rather than continuing the search. This meant a 2 shot penalty for the lost ball. I decided at this point that I would try a few experiments rather than aim for a low-scoring round, as the 1st clearly wasn't going to work out too well. After taking a hybrid from the drop, I thought I would try the 4-iron rather than another hybrid shot. I've been playing the irons better lately and was thinking that if the longer irons were working, I could use these instead of the equivalent hybrids, which have been a bit hit and miss lately. As it was, the 4-iron shot matched the sort of distance I would expect from my 23 degree hybrid. Two pitching wedge shots followed by two putts left me with a 9 on this hole, including the two-shot penalty.
My drive was long to the middle of the fairway on the 2nd. A pitching wedge shot was then on the green, but long. Two putts for a par and nett birdie. I went into the bunker on the 3rd and took too little sand with my wedge, the ball crossing the green to the far side rough. After an 8-iron chip back I needed three putts to finish with a nett bogey 6.
Following another long drive on the 4th I laid up using my pitching wedge, to take the lake out of play. I then took the 6-iron, which strayed a bit right but rolled down the bank about five yards short of the green. My attempt at a gentle gap wedge onto the green failed when I hit ground before the ball, needing another to get on. I then two-putted for a nett bogey 7.
I was in the bunker again on the short 5th. The sand wedge cleared the bunker but I needed another gap wedge shot to get on. Two putts for a nett bogey 5. On the 6th my drive was long enough to take the pitching wedge for my next shot to the green. Unfortunately it went left into the bunker. I tried to pick the ball out with the gap wedge but it clipped the top ridge of the bunker and fell back in. With the same club I then thinned the ball across the green, needing a 7-iron chip-and-run back on. Two putts then gave me a blobbed 7.
The 9th was a bit of a zig-zag hole. I sliced the drive. I think this was because I set up slightly left to avoid the lake to the right, but setting up like this can cause you to come across the ball, promoting a slice. This also happened on this hole yesterday, which makes me think that it's the set up position that's causing it. Fortunately the ball didn't reach the lake, but I had to play over a small tree with my 8-iron. This went a bit too far to the left, leaving me again with the need to play over a tree with another 8-iron shot. This then went too far right and, yes you've guessed it, I had another tree in front of me. Yet another 8-iron but this one was short and again too far right, this time leaving me with the need to play under the hanging branches of a willow. I used the 6-iron to keep the ball low but, worried about overplaying the shot, I didn't actually get to the green. So another 8-iron chip-and-run plus two putts for a blobbed 8.
Score-wise today wasn't great, but knowing that the round wasn't going to be good encouraged me to try a few things, such as the 4-iron, and the gap wedge for longer approach shots. As a result I'm going to take the two shorter hybrids (23/27 degree) out of the bag and see how I get on with the equivalent irons. I can always put them back if things don't work out.
Game Golf scorecard:
I was in the bunker again on the short 5th. The sand wedge cleared the bunker but I needed another gap wedge shot to get on. Two putts for a nett bogey 5. On the 6th my drive was long enough to take the pitching wedge for my next shot to the green. Unfortunately it went left into the bunker. I tried to pick the ball out with the gap wedge but it clipped the top ridge of the bunker and fell back in. With the same club I then thinned the ball across the green, needing a 7-iron chip-and-run back on. Two putts then gave me a blobbed 7.
I drove well again on the 7th. I then decided to try my 4-iron again on this longer hole that has a wide fairway. The first attempt was a failure, as I felt myself lift my body during the swing and top the ball. Not to be beaten, I tried again and made a better shot. But it still wasn't that long for a 4-iron. Now on 3, I pitched long to off the back of the green. An 8-iron back and two putts for a nett bogey 7.
The 8th was the most interesting one for me. My drive of 197 yards is probably the longest I've had on this hole. I then hit the 4-iron 144 yards, which while not that long for a 4-iron, is about what I get from the 23 degree hybrid. Next I took the gap wedge for a 95 yard shot to the green, having over pitched with the pitching wedge on previous holes. This worked well and left me a gettable par putt on this long par 4. Unfortunately I was just short and ended up with a nett birdie 5.
The 9th was a bit of a zig-zag hole. I sliced the drive. I think this was because I set up slightly left to avoid the lake to the right, but setting up like this can cause you to come across the ball, promoting a slice. This also happened on this hole yesterday, which makes me think that it's the set up position that's causing it. Fortunately the ball didn't reach the lake, but I had to play over a small tree with my 8-iron. This went a bit too far to the left, leaving me again with the need to play over a tree with another 8-iron shot. This then went too far right and, yes you've guessed it, I had another tree in front of me. Yet another 8-iron but this one was short and again too far right, this time leaving me with the need to play under the hanging branches of a willow. I used the 6-iron to keep the ball low but, worried about overplaying the shot, I didn't actually get to the green. So another 8-iron chip-and-run plus two putts for a blobbed 8.
Score-wise today wasn't great, but knowing that the round wasn't going to be good encouraged me to try a few things, such as the 4-iron, and the gap wedge for longer approach shots. As a result I'm going to take the two shorter hybrids (23/27 degree) out of the bag and see how I get on with the equivalent irons. I can always put them back if things don't work out.
Game Golf scorecard:
