Putting for Birdie,, took an 8.

Popeye

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I played with a pro today at the IREM country club in Dallas PA. Its owned by the shriners and is an very old but nice tract. Build by Tillinghast. Might not be spelled right. Course is almost 100 years old. Devilish greens that are lightning quick with breaks and ridges you really can't see.
Anyways played from the championship tees and the back nine. Started off well enough. Made par, bogeyed the next with a lip out after I put myself in jail on the wrong side of the green.
Next hole is a par 5 fairly long dog leg right. I hit a great drive but I'm 265 out. So I lay up to 110. Hit a perfect GW that hits right of the pin and spins left... right past the hole and we thought it was going in. Winds up 5' away on the same level as the hole
He chips in from off the green for birdie so I have to make this putt. I'm just a bit aggressive and the putt lips out and just about stops about a foot past the hole. It takes a slow but hard right turn and painstaking rolls all the way down and off the green. Took about 30 seconds to get there.
I now have a 25 footer up the hill to make par. Just miss the putt but it goes 4' past. Now I know how delicate this putt will be and I just nudge the ball. It turns hard again and takes the ride all the way off the green again but not quite as far away this time, almost took as long. I'm about to lose my mind. He is trying not to laugh, but it gets the best of him.
I hit another putt that luckily stops below the hole and tap in for an 8.... i was toast for the rest of the round.
The rest of the holes were just as ridiculous. I was on in regulation for almost the rest of the holes but not a single par did I make. Wildly frustrated..... but can't wait to play it again.

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Ya that is crazy to have greens set that hard.
 
Ya that is crazy to have greens set that hard.
The only greens I have seen that were that difficult was at Pinehurst. I was so rattled after the 8 that I'm sure I made the greens a lot more difficult than they were.

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That's pretty nuts, cant imagine how frustrating that is
 
My heart goes out to you!:eek:
 
Several years ago I had an 8 ft uphill putt for birdie on 18th hole. My putt finished 4 inches short. I walked up and tapped it one-handed. The ball hit the top of the metal insert and rebounded out of the hole and off the sole of this he putter finishing 6 feet away leaving me with a curly left to right putt. I sank the putt for a tripple bogie 7. It was a bit of a shock at the time.
 
Good job staying with it.
 
Good job staying with it.
I was playing in Saturday comp with my regular playing partner Cam Smith who was Australian Amateur Champion at the time. I could feel him laughing so I wasn't going to miss that putt.
 
The pin placements at our course are often ridiculous. The guy who sets the pins is not a golfer, but despite many complaints, he still continues to put the pins in almost impossible positions. But we play on.
 
Yea, that sounds like terrible pin placement. The pins have to be fair, so a well struck putt isn’t going to roll 25 feet and off the green if you lip the cup.
 
Sounds pretty brutal. I would be toast as well after have a short putt for a birdie 4 and winding up with a snowman.
 
The pin placements at our course are often ridiculous. The guy who sets the pins is not a golfer, but despite many complaints, he still continues to put the pins in almost impossible positions. But we play on.

Same at our course. I once had an 8 foot straight uphill putt for birdie that stopped about an inch from the hole and then proceeded to roll right back down to me. Just dumb.
 
I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been, but I probably would have laughed at myself after about the 4th putt.
 
i had an instructor who had a similar story. his first hole in his first mini tour event. fir. gir. walks off with a 12. a 12!!!
 
I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been, but I probably would have laughed at myself after about the 4th putt.
Well I gave it a nervous kind of laugh. Told him it wasn't funny... He assured me that it was!!

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He chips in from off the green for birdie so I have to make this putt. I'm just a bit aggressive and the putt lips out and just about stops about a foot past the hole. It takes a slow but hard right turn and painstaking rolls all the way down and off the green. Took about 30 seconds to get there.
I now have a 25 footer up the hill to make par. Just miss the putt but it goes 4' past. Now I know how delicate this putt will be and I just nudge the ball. It turns hard again and takes the ride all the way off the green again but not quite as far away this time, almost took as long. I'm about to lose my mind. He is trying not to laugh, but it gets the best of
Time seems to stop once that ball gets the influence of gravity and starts it way away from the hole doesn't it? That has to be one of the worst feelings of helplessness in golf. I know it's the last thing in your mind, but I really believe all you can do is to finish, have a good chuckle and/or head shake about it and then move on. Sadly, as you pointed out you are now hesitant on the greens for the remainder of the day.
 
I’m playing a course tomorrow where there are a couple greens that have brutal slopes. Hoping they haven’t put any pins in those areas. The two options in those situations are just to chuckle or to have a Bo Jackson moment.
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When the "Slow Roll to Oblivion" starts amongst our friends the common response is the protracted "Noooooo!!" or "Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep those dogies rollin'"

I've felt the pain many a-time. Usually didn't bother to finish the hole, lol.
 
We call that Mickey Mouse golf around here, not really sure why but I think it describes the point well enough - beyond challenging and just silly.
 
That is brutal. There is a green on one of my local courses that has a 3 tiered green that is horribly brutal when the pins are put on the ridges. I've seen really good players putt from above the hole on the top tier and barely miss the hole. The ball then rolls down both of the other tiers(50 feet) and right off the green by 15 ft. Now you are left with a difficult choice of how to get the ball back up the 3 tiers. I played with a 3 hdcp 5 years ago that was putting for birdie and ended up with a 7.
 
at some point I probably would have pulled a Mickelson and chased the ball and stopped it. :p
 
I grew up playing Irem. The 13th green which demolished you is sly...It's not in the top 5 of diabolical greens there though. 2/3/9/16 and 17 are more challenging. I played Stonehedge Thursday. What a decent place that has turned out to be. A good bud is member at Scranton but no guests allowed so we played Stonehedge.
 
at some point I probably would have pulled a Mickelson and chased the ball and stopped it. :p
Oh that certainly crossed my mind.

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