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The best shot of the round

The round this morning my driver was on fire but the best shot was a wedge to 6 feet that set up birdie for me
 
355 yard par 4. I had 190 in after a tree jumped in front of my tee ball. Slight uphill lie, slightly above my feet, and bunkers guarding both sides short of the green. I pulled my 5i and pured it to about 12 ft. The lie didn’t affect my direction or move the ball at all. Got to the green and I saw how clean I caught that ball. 3 ft. forward and 18 ft. left of my pitch mark. I kinda have a thing for stopping my clubs quickly and this result just hit all the right feels.
 
1st hole of the day at pga west dunes course. Great drive {for me} left me with a 121 yard shot to the flag to an elevated green, nailed my PW to 7 feet ... then 2 putted
 
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Topped a 5 hybrid after a good drive and was left 95 out into a breeze to a peninsula green. Put my trust Apex Pro pitching wedge to about 5 ft and made the put for an up and down par, just like you draw it up. 😂
 
If I par the closing par-5, I shoot 79. Nothing outstanding but as a friend once said, "a 79 is 2-3 shots better than an 80." Good drive and a decent, slightly pulled 3-wood got me near the green. Apparently too close, as I was in a green side bunker. My sand game is competent but I am also able to leave the first bunker shot in the the sand or thin it over the green. Maybe 15 yards to the hole and a decent lie in a sea of foot prints. Splashed it high and it settled 4 feet from the hole. Made the putt for birdie. That sand shot was clutch for me.
 
Paradym Super Hybrid 2 into the wind from the fairway on a long par 5. It's a shot I've struggled with yet pulled it off and the ball flight was perfectly flighted and fought through the wind well.
 
At 67 years of age, I'd lost some distance last year and I was determined to get it back. Today was not a good set of circumstances for testing how I did. We got 3-4 inches of rain in the last few days, so the conditions were soft with lots of standing water. Even so, the distance was back across the entire bag. Can't wait to get out there when the courses provide a little roll after the carry. Today I hit every fairway but one and they were almost all right down the middle. So, far and accurate. I know some of you are longer than me, but I'll take an average of 250 yards off the tee on a day like today. We'll pick the drive on the first par 5 as BSOTR. Half the fairway was corded off due to the rain. Split the narrow fairway they left us leaving a second shot of less than 250 yards to the flag, which set the table for a birdie.

Truth be told, I could have picked almost any drive today.
 
There are a couple contenders today. 5W from 208 out and into the wind to leave a 10 footer for my first eagle of the year was a strong honorable mention.

I knew I was losing a low round off of GHIN before I went out today. I had a shot at replacing my low round with a lower round and I knew it when was playing the 17th hole. I wanted it. When I didn’t adjust enough for the lie and my ball shot left leaving 78 feet I kind of felt like I blew my chance. Rolling that 78 footer to a foot and a half right and just beyond the cup was huge and I turned into a teenager with a little “Let’s goooo!” Knowing I was losing a low round and wanting to keep my handicap trending lower added a little weight to the moment which made my putt that much more impressive.
 
I forgot to post to this thread from last Wednesday's opening of league play.

On a par 4 with a late dogleg right then up a large hill to an elevated green, I had one of my worst drives in several months pushing the ball left of the tree line (I'm left-handed). This left me in a difficult situation. Besides the tree line, the line to the flag had two large trees between my ball and the green and close enough that there was no way to get over them. They were wide enough that it would have required a big slice or hook to go around them with little chance of holding the green. I decided to go under them. While I was 155 yards to the flag as the crow flies, going under the trees meant the ball had to land on the hill short of the green. So, I used my 190-yard club, ball back, choked up an inch, hit it with conviction under the tree limbs on a line to the flag, hammered it into the fairway short of the green, bounced up, rolled, and settled 20 feet behind the flag. I nearly holed the putt, but ended up 2-putting for a still unlikely par.
 
Played a 25 yard sand shot from a green side bunker to 4 feet. Looked as good as it turned out with a nice high trajectory. Made the putt, too! Woo hoo.
 
Overall I shot a 1-under 70, so there are many possibilities for BSOTR. I'm choosing a hole-out chip from 90 feet on the side of a burn leading up to the green. One of those pop-and-stop shots that danced all around the hole before being sucked into the hole.
 
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Shot #1 of the year for me yesterday......295yd drive striped right down the middle, straight, no fade, no draw.........validating my shaft upgrade to X-stiff.......

That was a keeper......
 
Last time out it had to be my first shot of the day. Downhill par-4 with a hazard right at driver distance, so I usually hit 4-wood from the tee. Aim just right of the barber pole/150 yd marker, and in wet conditions a good shot stays right there. Well the course is finally drying out, and I hit my spot just right, one good forward bounce and it caught the next slope and rolled down to the drop area just short of the hazard. Ended up being a 240 yd drive from a downhill assisted 210 yd carry. That's really big for me, even with the downhill assist and generous roll-out, as my normal total distance with driver is usually only 220 - 225 (without downhill help). Loving the Tour Edge Exotics C723 5-wood, adjusted down to 16.5* (4-wood loft), I use it from the tee on this one and two other holes here at my home course.
 
"Power faded" my drive on 18 back over on to the first fairway. Took my 8 iron back over the trees for a 2 putt par. Not a bad way to end the round. Shot an 86 for a net 69 that day.
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Dogleg right par 5. Cooked the drive through the fairway to the top of a knob behind a pond. Found the ball in the rough, about 1/4 of the ball sitting above the grass. 225 to the near side of the 20 yard wide river guarding the green. on the other side. OK, I can hit any club I can get on the ball, without fear of getting wet in the river, but first I had to negotiate 100 yards of pond if I was going advance the ball, not go sideways back to the fairway 4H? Nah. lie too nestled. 6H? Why not. Play it back a bit, give it a whack, ball came out cleanly, and flew, and flew and flew. The classic flier. All told the 6H went 215. That a good 30 yards longer than I usually play the 27* Hybrid to carry off the fairway, but I'll take it since it didnt get wet.
 
Today was a partial wedge shot to 6 feet which set up my only birdie of the round
 
A blast from the past. I have been carrying an ancient Taylor Made "Tour Cleek"." Steel shaft of unknown flex, tiny head with railers on the bottom, loft of 26 or 27 degrees. I stole it out of my late father's bag maybe 25 years ago. Currently I might be able to carry the ball around 155-160 yards with a very high trajectory.

Yesterday we came to the 14th (#23 West) hole at Pheasant Run. 165 yards, 15 mph cross wind. Good time to pull the old-timer. Carried it to the front of the green and is checked up 8 feet past the hole. Best shot of the round and it ultimately helped our 2-man team tie the last 6-hole match of the day against a much more skilled team.

p.s. Grumble, grumble. I missed the birdie. :(
 
Best from my last round was a 6i from 170 out. The most solid iron shot I've hit this year. Crisp, loud, and flew high. Landed a foot away from the hole.

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In league play tonight we started on the 18th hole, which is a monster under normal conditions. Tonight it was a monster on steroids. The 18th is a 458-yard par 4 with the last 180 yards over a deep ravine with a pond at the bottom to an elevated two-tier green. Tonight we played into a 20 MPH wind making it even longer.

The format was a 2-man best ball.

After we all teed off I was the only one that had a shot at the green, but it would require a well-struck fairway metal from light rough. I nailed it resulting in a penetrating shot that landed just short of the green, popped up, and ended up just off the front collar. I won the hole, which set the tone for the match. We won 3-2.
 
Just a mediocre round but at least I ended it with a nice sandie to save par. I will be back, Pierce Lake G.C. and it will be a different story next time. 😉
 
bkuehn1952 said:
Just a mediocre round but at least I ended it with a nice sandie to save par. I will be back, Pierce Lake G.C. and it will be a different story next time. 😉
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You reminded me.

Last night I had a long iron to the green that took a weird bounce into the green-side bunker and stopped just short of the back lip. As a left-hand player, I had to stand and crouch way down to hit this bunker shot. I kept telling myself, “Maintain your levels as you swing” and I did! It had that perfect “thump” sound and popped the ball onto the green settling less than 10 feet from the hole.
 
Toughest hole for me on my home course. I hit a 3h off the tee so well that it made it to the end of the fairway leaving a tree between my ball the green 160 yards away. The smart decision would have been to lay up but since there is so much room right of this green, I decided to try and draw the ball in there. It worked like a charm as the ball actually drew left of the pin leaving me 10' where I 2-putted.

I rarely hit my 6i 160 yards and I almost never try to work the ball. But the round was already in the toilet so I thought why not.
 
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