86 (!) at Mill Quarter Plantation Golf Course
A new low score on the year! Just two weeks after shooting 87, we beat it by a stroke with an 86!
Disclaimer: Today’s round was played from a closer tee box (yellow) for 6114 total yards compared to 6548 total yards from the whites two weeks ago.
The good news is this round was a lot less gimicky. Instead of 100+ feet of putts, I probably hit closer to 50-60 feet of putts today. The good news is that suggests a much more solid all-around round today.
Short Course
Typically I like to play around 6400 yards in a round. With an average drive from 250-260 yards, 6400 yards seems the appropriate distance to test my length off the tee (I have used this guide from 18 birdies to align driving distance with course length). One of the members of our party suggested we play a closer tee and we figured it would be fun. Having just played from the whites, shortening the course seemed like a fun change of pace.
I ended up hitting my 3 wood a lot. By a lot, I mean the first driver I hit was on hole 9 (and it was a 278 yard bomb on a par 5; I ended up bogeying the hole).
Does it count?
Back when we set our plan to break 80, we targeted shooting 87 by January 2021 and 85 by July 2021. My 87 from two weeks ago met our January 2021 goal, and I see this round as being another confirmation of my skill meeting that January 2021 goal.
With the shortened course, it kind of felt like a minor cheat. When I had two recorded drives over 270 yards (only recorded three of the six), playing the course at 6100 yards was just too short. I handicapped myself somewhat by limiting myself to only six drivers, but I felt that came from course management than out of fairness to my skill assessment.
Regardless, I met the 87 goal two weeks ago, and didn’t shoot an 85 so that is irrelevant. This was a solid confirmation of where my game is currently at and I’m loving it!
What worked?
Driver
I didn’t need it for most of the front 9, but it set me up pretty on the back. I recorded three drives and two came out at 278 (9) and 271 (18) yards. The third was a bomb of a cut that I snuck through some trees to hit just short of the green.
Of my six drives with a driver, I lost zero balls and only had one miss (pushed to the right on 12 and had to attempt a low cut under some trees on my approach; that failed).
Tempo
Slowing down has transformed almost all aspects of my game:
- Ball striking greatly improved
- Pulls/Slices drastically reduced
- Confidence has skyrocketed
That back injury was the best thing that could have happened to my golf game.
Wedges
My new wedges worked out nicely! I was able to get out of bunkers whereas two weeks ago that caused a few high scoring holes. I had options out of the rough - I could flop or push/run.
On 9, a rescue shot out of the woods left me 50 feet to go uphill, over a bunker, to the short side of the green. I was able to flop a shot with my 60 to 1/3-1/2 deep into the green to leave myself a 15 foot par putt. I don’t think I had that shot with my 58 degree.
What didn’t?
Wedges
I hit some good shots, but I also hit a lot of mediocre shots. This is mostly due to poor confidence and partially due to thick bermuda grass. That type of grass is tough to hit out of regardless of confidence, but my confidence definitely added to the difficulty.
I tried a few approaches and went either long or short. I would leave a 70 yard approach short and then a 90 yard approach long with the same wedge. I really need to identify approaches from 20-100 yards in increments of 10 and know exactly what type of shot I will hit to make that distance (i.e. 1/2 swing with 56 for 40 yards, 1/4 swing with 52 for 50 yards, 3/4 swing with 56 for 60 yards, etc.).
I need to take my wedges to the range or putting green and really understand what I can do.
Lag Putting
My putting is still bad. My outing from two weeks ago was misleading. I had a hard time sticking my putts to gimmee range, and left plenty of 5-8 footers (four three putts led to bogeys).
What’s next?
This was likely my last 18 hole round of 2020. I bet I’ll go to Top Golf/Drive Shack a few times, and maybe play 9, but the weather will get too cold and that’ll be it for 2020.
I think my focus will be range work, conditioning (strength and flexibility are necessary focuses, for my back and my game), and education! I have a lot to learn about my swing mechanics and how I can become a more consistent ball striker and scorer.
I am really excited to have finished the year off so strongly! Hopefully I can take everything I’ve learned and add onto it before 2021 season opens up.