Four Man Scramble - Hermitage Country Club
Played in a four man scramble today! Played with my dad, one of his clients, and one of his friends at Hermitage Country Club on the Manakin course.
We played well! We started off putting phenomenally (although I putted poorly throughout the day) and ended up shooting a 60 (albeit from the White tees).
Here are my takeaways from the round.
Hole by hole
3: Driver (okay), 9 (blocked right), 15 foot putt made (solid putt) 4: 9 (slight pull), lag putt (bad speed) 5: Driver (good), 6 (pull), 58 (good, a little short), putt (poor) 6: Driver (bad pull), 58 (good, a little short left), putt (bad) 7: 7? (good, pull), lag (bad pull) 8: Driver (excellent, best drive of day), PW (good, slightly short) 9: Driver (bad push fade), 52 (good), putt (bad) 10: Driver (okay out the toe), 52 (bad fat), putt (bad) 11: Driver (horrible OB), 3 wood (bad fat), 52 (great), putt (horrible) 12: 9 (good, slightly short), putt (bad) 13: Driver (bad low slice), PW (great), putt (good) 14: Driver (good), 52 (good, long), putt (bad) 15: Driver (okay, slight pull with fade), 52 (fat in bermuda), putt (bad) 16: PW (horrible, fat), putt (bad pull) 17: PW (bad pull), lag (good), 5 foot putt (bad) 18: Driver (bad, low pull slice), 52 (okay, push) 1: Driver (excellent), 9 (good), lag (good) 2: Driver (horrible pull slice), 3 wood (excellent, albeit a little short), lag (excellent)
The good
What was working for me.
Tempo
I have really been working on tempo, and it is paying off. I can feel my rhythm improving, which is helping me maintain distance even though I am swinging significantly softer than I used to.
I had a few strong drives that I swung at about 75% effort. I’m starting to trust my mechanics more, and letting the motion take the ball where it needs to go instead of my strength.
Not slicing
Usually I have an issue with a fade that turns into a slice. Luckily today I worked a solid fade, but didn’t really slice the ball except for a few errant drives.
The bad
What didn’t go well, nor horribly.
Driving consistency
I hit some fantastic drives, as well as some horrible drives. Luckily, playing a scramble meant I didn’t need to rely on my drive all day.
Ball striking
Didn’t hit much thin, but I sure hit some fat. We were playing out of bermuda rough which was so fluffy that you really needed to hit down on the ball in the rough. I wasn’t steep enough, and paid for it.
Also, my striking with wedges is pretty rough.
Pulls
I pulled everything - drives, irons, wedges, putts. I know I am coming over the top on my downswing, and this is likely something I’m going to need professional help to eliminate as my efforts have not been sufficient to this point.
The ugly
What was struggling all day, start to finish.
Putting
Pulls. Pushes. Too much speed. Leaving a few short. I made one putt where I picked a line and speed and hit it just right.
This is an area of my game that could use some serious attention.
What’s next?
Going to be playing a round on October 31st for score, and hopefully getting a few more practice sessions in between now and then. What will I be working on?
Tempo
Really need to nail this in, as I believe solid tempo will improve my driving and ball striking significantly.
Pulls
Focus on keeping my hands back in the downswing so I’m not pulling the ball as much.
Striking
Hopefully hit off some grass so I can improve my striking.
Putting
Find some time to go to a practice green and work on straightening out my putts.