EDIT: Decided instead of creating new threads for every round, I'm going to keep adding to this. I'll post all my rounds and include some practice and things I'm working on along the way so this thread can lead us all the was to the Victory Cup in September.
Thanks for following along!
Thanks for following along!
I wanted to start a fun forum series on here (mostly for myself, but for entertainment for all of you as well) breaking down my tournament rounds throughout the season, as I lead up to the 2024 Victory Cup. My GHIN is currently sitting at a 3.0, and I have a decently full schedule of tournament play. I hope you guys have fun along the way with me, and although I may choose to ignore it, offer some advice and banter.
Sometimes I’ll have some good scores and sometimes I won’t, but I’ll enjoy posting them all the same. I’ve always been one to go through shot by shot and recall my day, and this is a great avenue for me to do so. I really hope you all enjoy it and provide feedback on how I can make it better along the way.
I went down the rabbit hole this off season with DECADE golf by Scott Fawcett. I like a lot of the concepts that he explains and I’m excited to see where it can take my game as we go through the season. If anyone’s interested in my stats from when I input my round, let me know!
My first tournament round has historically been…well…not so pleasant. I’ve seen it as high as mid 90’s, but this round is usually the one to shake the rust off and kick start the year. Our first round of 2024 brings us to Country Club of New Bedford with my PGA friend Brendon for a NEPGA Pro-AM. Being a former PGA pro, it’s always nice to be playing back in events with the NEPGA. Format is 2 best balls, 1 net 1 gross and can’t be the same ball. I’ll be posting my scores along the way but will include a screenshot of where we ended up at the end.
CCNB is a classic Donald Ross design in New England and hosts a pretty epic fourball tournament every summer. Full history can be read here: https://www.ccnb.golf/about/history
This off season I’ve given myself a lot of range time. I have an outdoor range and an indoor trackman studio that I use on my breaks from work. I started going more consistently about 4 weeks ago. The short game and putting were the areas of my game I hadn’t worked on a ton heading into this round.
Now onto the round!
New Bedford Country Club | Country Club Near New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fall River, Tauton, MA | Country Club of New Bedford
Join the New Bedford Country Club, one of the best courses in New Bedford, and a favorite course for golfers in Southeastern MA. Visit us today!
Hole #1 – Par 4 – 341 yards
I have good history with this hole, birding it the only other time I’ve played here. It’s a pretty straight forward short par 4, with a gentle turn to the left. No matter how big or small of an event I’m playing in I’ll always have the flutters getting ready to tee off #1. I’ve always said the day that goes away will be the day I stop trying to play competitive golf. I hit a solid driver down the middle (269 yards) leaving myself 71 yards to the pin. It was a middle pin and a really comfortable number for me. The theme of the day starts right now because I pushed my second shot right and left myself 24 feet pin high for birdie. I hit what I thought was a solid putt to 3 feet and cleaned up my par. No harm no foul and we’re off and running.
E thru 1
Hole #2 – Par 4 – 382 Yards
Number 2 starts a trend for CCNB of blind tee shots. You look straight over a rock and some cart path. Number 2 takes a sharp right turn about 250 yards from the tee into a slight uphill approach. I recently started gaming the new MINI Driver instead of 3 wood, and I hit a decent one here to the fat part of the fairway to leave 132 in. The pin was on the left side of the green and I felt like this set up well for my natural shot shape of a draw (well typically at least!). I hit a solid PW to pin high, just off the green 42 feet away. Like I said, the right trend will continue. I hit a good chip that ran out to 8 feet and just missed for a tap in bogey.
+1 thru 2
Hole #3 – Par 4 – 371 Yards
A bit of a funky hole, number 3 plays downhill and dog legs right. The bend in the fairway is about 230 yards from the tee and leaves a short-ish approach downhill. There really is no room for me to take driver over the trees, so I decided to hit my 17* UW. I hit it solid and just squeaked into the right rough, 122 yards out. Unfortunately, I had a choice of whether to thread the needle about the trees or try and punch one down in front of the green. I went with the later option. I caught some pine branches and fell 65 yards out from the green. I hit an okay wedge to 25 feet, gave it a decent run and made a bogey.
+2 thru 3
Hole #4 – Par 5 – 518 Yards
The only par 5 on the golf course, this is another blind tee shot, straight up hill, and a dog leg right. If you go aggressively up the right side you can go for this one in 2, but plenty of room left to “bail out” on the tee shot. I hit a driver 253 yards into the left rough that left me 274 out. I laid up to 95 yards with a long iron. It was another really comfortable number for me but had a repeat of earlier and it just leaked right on me. I wasn’t upset with having 15 ft, but it drifted more than I expected. Gave it a solid run to 2 feet and cleaned up for par.
+2 thru 4
Hole #5 – Par 4 – 459 Yards
The longest and most challenging par 4 on the course. There is OB right, but it takes a pretty bad shot to find it. I hit a hooky driver that got super lucky and found the middle of the FW off of a tree and left me 185 in. The wind was dead into and I hit one of if not my best strike of the day with a 5 iron to 38 feet. Not the closest shot, but the strike and flight I was super pleased with. The pin was back right and I was top of a pretty severe slope. Although it snuck right by the lip I left myself 6 feet coming back and missed for a good ole 3PB.
+3 thru 5
Hole #6 – Par 4 – 370 Yards
I really enjoy this hole. It’s relatively short and plays downhill, but it gives you so many options with OB left and right off the tee. You can go as aggressive as you want to leave a wedge, but I love the risk reward style of a hole. I hit a really necky driver that went 269 yards to leave 96 yards from the right side of the fairway. Like we mentioned on #5 96 yards is a green light special kind of number, and I hit one of the worst shots of the day. I ended up just short right of the green 39 ft from the hole in the rough…pitiful. I chipped it to 15ft, and although I hit a good putt, missed it and carded a bogey. A real bad error on an easier hole from a great position.
+4 thru 6
Hole #7 – Par 3 – 184 Yards
#7 is the first par 3 we see of a day that’s filled with a whole lot of Par 4’s. A 2 tiered green this pin was at the basin of the lower level front left. My pro Brendon lipped the cup (pause?) on his tee shot that landed about 20 feet right and trundled down. I hit my shot with a 7 iron about 5 yards right of his spot, and left myself with a brutal putt down the slope 36 feet. A solid shot I was happy with, but not the easiest result. I was left with either running it by and having an uphill chance for par, or possibly getting too cute and still having a ski slope to navigate. I ended up having 12 feet back uphill, and missed for my second 3PB.
+5 thru 7
Hole #8 – Par 4 – 384 Yards
8 brings us yet another uphill and blind tee shot. A straightaway par 4 with a bunker looming about 280 off the tee. Now was the time to start stringing pars together and keep the wheels on. Though, I was very pleased with my mental scorecard so far. I hit driver and wiped it right into the trees, but had a pretty decent window 152 yards out. I hit a low punchy 8 iron perfectly and left myself a 14 foot putt that didn’t have much movement on it. We all deliberated over how much break there was, and it moved just a little more right than we thought. But we will happily take a ho-hum par at this point.
+5 thru 8
Hole #9 – Par 4 – 421 yards
Finally not a blind tee shot!!! 9 has a gentle dog left left and I hit one of if not my best drive of the day. I had 141 in with a solid 9 iron, but had my trend of the rights come into play and dumped it into a greenside bunker. My bunker shot definitely got the best of me. I was not committed and super nervous about blading it, and well, chunked it about 20 feet into the rough. Unforced error for sure and I paid for it with a chip to 13 ft and a double to close out the front.
+7 thru 9
FRONT 9: I didn’t feel like I struck it all that bad at this point. I didn’t give myself any breaks with making putts (20 putts thru 9), but overall I wasn’t super upset with where I was at. It felt like small adjustments rather than big issues that were killing me. Onto the back 9 (or second nine if you’re Augusta National).
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