How did you score in your last round? - 2023

Great shooting Space!

First cut of the year for me on Sunday! Started very poorly with 2 scratches clocked up after 4 holes. Started playing a bit better from then on. Nearly drove our short par 4, 7th and really should have taken the putter out but made a balls of the chip. Was a very frustrated golfer walking off with a bogey. Somehow turned with 16 points, it felt like 8.

The back 9 was much better though and I was playing like I have been all winter, just solid golf. Disappointing finish to bogey the last two but finished with 22 points for the back 9, 38 in total.

I don't think I broke 36 points last year at all with the injury, so a recent 43 (non counting) and 38 have been welcome boosters.

I've also gotten a Pierce Purcell win under the belt, my first interclub match, in a competition that I'm no big fan of... But I have to say, it was a great feeling having that added pressure playing for the club.

I played for our club in the 3rd round of the Pierce Purcell yesterday evening and it was the most devastated I've ever been after a round of golf. We were playing a local club so already some additional pressure and playing after a days work with little no to chance of a warm up not great either. The other team had home advantage so we had 3 matches away but I was at home for us and a must win really.

Starting the round and there is a social golf evening just started which our team managers had not coordinated with so we had to set off in the middle of them, again not ideal. Thankfully they were very respectful and let us play through at all times but this really put both my partner and I off on the first few holes. A mix of us playing quite poorly and our opponents playing very well and we were 4 down after 9 but we both reset and started to play actual golf. The 10th my partner was teeing off and put me in a small bit of trouble but thankfully I had a clear shot and managed a great iron into the heart of the green and two putts for the win. The 11th is a par 3 and I put it just to the right of the green but not a bad position at all, our opponents put themselves in a bit of bother and another hole won, back to 2 down. The 12th and my partner hit a perfect drive and you could see the pressure getting to the other team, they put themselves in a bunch of trees with no shot at the green. I hit another nice iron to about 15 foot pin high and another par secured the win, back to 1 down.

The 13th is our index 1, a long par 4 and they had a shot here. We both hit safe drives to left with anything right out of bounds but left ourselves a long way in. My partner didn't have a great lie for his second so could only really go with a long iron but hit a good shot about 30 yards short of the green, no complaints. Unfortunately the others hit an fantastic wood to the centre of the green with about 10 foot for their birdie which they ultimately sank. Can't do much against loosing to a birdie and giving a shot away. Back to 2 down. The 14th we got a good drive away while they went just into the rough. I hit another great iron in to a tricky green, about 12 foot a bit high and right while they missed about 20 yards right of the green. Another par was enough to get the win and back to 1 down. On 15 I hit my best drive of the day but they did likewise, certainly not going down without a fight. My partners iron was a bit left of the green but a bogey here ended up being enough to win us the hole after they missed a short put for a half. Back to level for the first time since the match started and we had them under serious pressure.

The 16th is a long par 5 with the only trouble coming into play off the tee box but unfortunately my partner hooked his drive out of bounds essentially giving them the hole. Back to 1 down coming down the 17th. This is a tricky long par 3 playing longer into the wind. They hit a great iron shot straight at the but a bit short landing just on the front of the green leaving them with a nice uphill putt. I was unsure what club to hit but my partner advised me to just hit the longer one, it was 9pm at this stage, into a wind and the ball wasn't travelling as far. A wise decision and I hit the green below the hole but to the left leaving a slider across a ridge. They hit the perfect line with their put but it finished just short for a tap in par. We got a nice putt given the angle leaving a little slider 1 foot putt for par which they had us finish out. I'd have done the same in their position. We had heard that we had lost 2 of the matches away but still alive in the 2 other matches so a loss meant the tie was over. Fortunately my partner hit a great drive leaving me with an ideal position in. They went into the rough and were playing their second before us. They couldn't get enough to get it on the green and left themselves in an awkward position in a hollow below the green leaving a bit of a blind shot in. Anything on the green and a two putt would have a great chance of us winning the hole. I hit an perfect 8 iron in straight at the flag and knew it was good for distance and an applause from the crowd watching. Because of a false front you can't see the green until you are right up at it so I didn't realise how good it was but I had put it to 6 foot, maybe less. They chipped in leaving themselves with a 20 foot putt for par which they missed and we had our win, back to all square and down the 19th.

I was teeing off and certainly feeling the pressure not realising how many people were watching until now. Of course I hit the worst drive of the day leaving the ball heading towards an area of rough, not that long but dense. I still thought I had a good line on it but daylight was fading so it was difficult to know for sure. I still had my partner hit a provisional but if were using that it was game over. Unfortunately even with the crowd looking for it I couldn't find my ball and of course their manager had the timer on us. Completely fair but the manner in which he did it wasn't exactly in the best spirits essentially counting down the clock and a cheer when the time was up and we couldn't find it. The others apologised about him when the match was over. We saw the hole out but they obviously got the win and after the fight back it was such a disappointing way to loose, really feeling like you let the team down. But that's part of golf and competitive sport. It is only a game at the end of the day.

Thanks @coillcam I appreciate it.

Yeah bad form alright but speaking to a few people afterwards and apparently he is well known for that sort of behavior and has had a number of fallings out with people in his own club. Unfortunately you get these people in all sports. To be fair to the lads we were actually playing they were gentlemen throughout so there were no hard feelings.

Played our 2nd major/medal yesterday and turned in a net 71 off 12 which was good for 6th. The rough was trimmed a bit thankfully and the firm conditions made it a different prospect. Huge chase on fairways and greens were near their max speed.

My 3i on 1 ran out to over 250yds and just about left a line at the green to wedge on. Made a long 2 putt to open with a par. Poor tee shot on par 3 2nd meant I went through the green on my recovery from a bad lie . Went through again from another bad lie and in the bunker. Couldn't get up/down so I carded a 6 for triple.

After that I went on a bit of streak. Parring 3,4,8,9 and bogeys for 6,7. I was a whisker from a HIO on 5, a gust could have nudged it in. Got a little clap from the group ahead 😂.

Back 9 was mostly good golf too. Unfortunately a few loose strokes and tired bogey, double finished left a slightly sour taste. Still that is my best score at home off and off the back tees. My garmin app said I had 10 GIRs but I think one of those is misread from a putt on the fringe. Either way I've never had more than 7 iirc so it's huge progress. Had 3 birdie putts inside 7ft so I easily could have dropped one more.

Index drops to 10.5 and hopefully that puts me in good shape to slip below 10. A couple of sub 85 rounds should do the trick before the year is out. Nice week of sun and our scratch cups on Sunday to look forward to.

Played Kileen castle open singles on Friday, had the last tee time so was about to start warming up 20 mins before the slot, guy from the shop comes running out and tells me the lads I was to play with cancelled, could I join the group on the first. They were already a fourball, as were most groups on the course, but one lad said he'd play with me if we could go ahead as a twoball. Didnt have the best start, bogey from middle of fairway, got to second tee, called to play through, lost 2 balls from tee under the pressuire :P . Then we're backed up for next 3 holes, asked the lads ahead of us and they told us there was a club match ahead of them and they weren't letting anyone through. We thought because we were a two ball, we'd have a chance, so played through the group in front, caught up to the club match.

Queue waiting for up to 5 minutes over some shots for around 3 holes, we caught them teeing off the 10th whilst we were on the 9th, someone watching the game said "no chance, you can't play through club matches". At this point they had lost 2 holes on the group in front, and had backed up the course quite significantly, we could see 2 groups waiting on tee boxes behind us. My playing partner asked where in the rules of golf it said we couldn't go through a club match, and he then was asked was he a member. He said that doesn't matter, and the club guy told him " to never speak to me like that again". Took 2.5 hours to play the next 9 as a two, my head was absolutely rattled from rushing at the start to having to completely slow down then. My playing partner was crusing though, so I was moreso trying to keep him ticking over despite the pace we were going. He finished strong, even with 2 scratches in the middle of the round from just basically having to stop playing and watch the match in front. I had a decent back 9 once I got settled, but I'm not sure the groups at the back had enough light to finish their rounds given we couldnt see them on last 3 holes once we had finished

Every time this thread pops onto the first page of Boards, I think, "some things are better forgotten"!

Played our Scratch Cup last weekend. Glorious conditions for golf.

A good tee shot on one and ended up taking a steady par. After that, my day was generally battling with poor approach shots and then struggling with the short game to get up/down. Chipping deserted me and while I putted well, there was often too long of a par putt left to tidy up. I had 2 pars until 14 which isn't really going to cut it and I was struggling to keep a lid on the frustration. Hit a reasonable iron off the par 3 15th that took a big but lucky kick towards the hole. Drained the downhill 10 footer to claw back to +15. Hit a huge drive on 16 leaving about 195 downwind from the rough (flyer) into the par 5. My 6i caught a bit of the overhanging leaves that I was aiming to draw around but still ran to the green and dribbled off to the steep bank into the water. Flicked a LW off the slope and it sat nicely for a 3 ft birdie I was glad to take. 17 I hit another big drive followed with a solid 9i just to back edge. Tidied up for par and my card was at least looking like breaking 90. Tugged my drive but it landed safely and popped up on rough. Nothing to lose and wind gusting to help I elected to take it on with a 7w at the par 5. Came out low and had no spin so it careered into the wooden facade of the little water moat. Dropped close to the water and hit a great little wristy pitch that checked up before the short sided pin. Finally a good short game shot :D and a tap in par to head off with an 86 gross. While I was 5 back from the winner I think I still made the top 10. The differential means it entered my top 8 so I dropped 0.1 and now down to 10.4 index.

I'd say I left 3-4 shots behind purely on duffed/thin chips. I could have had better days for my approaches but I wasn't miles off of where I'm at tbf. Still consider this progress and the short game work continues. The hc is consistent with where I'm at and I'm happy to be dropping it every other round. Hard to fight that delusion of "I should be 5 shots better than this!" Have a club singles match coming up and it's looking like I may have to concede as I have a bunch of clashes (my fault for not pushing the opponent earlier).

3 Doubles in the first four holes... things weren't looking good, but turned it around to shoot 80 in our monthly stroke play.

33 points off 13 today. Was tipping along nicely and then made a balls of 13,14 & 15. 13 has a big net along the left of the tee box and if you want to go for the green you have to play close to it. Hit a cracker of a drive and just nicked the final post and spun OB. 14 is a tough hole and was in the trees off the tee so had to chip out then hit a poor approach. 15 I'm still annoyed about, dog leg right and what should have been a perfect drive around the corner, got up and no sign of the ball. Had to go back to the tee to hit again. Second drive was more right than the first and found that in the heavy fescue on the right hand side of the fairway so first 100% should have been in the middle of the fairway, no idea where it went.

Typical golf at the weekend, when one things starts to fire, something else goes wrong. I have been hitting my driver really well the last few months but my iron play has been terrible, with a thin shot ruining rounds. On Saturday in the Presidents qualifier it was the exact opposite. I suddenly developed a slice off the tee when my usual miss is a hook. I couldn't figure it out but I decided to play with it, aiming out left and just assuming it would show up. Iron play suddenly kicked in however and second shots were saving me all round.

Got to the 13th hole only 5 over off 14 and couldn't decide on my club on a par 3. It was either a hard 8 or relaxed 7 which I almost always pull on this particular hole. The 8, going directly at the flag, came up about a inch short of making it past the bunker at the front of the green, two to get out, and a dreaded three putt to potentially wreck a great round. The third putt was a horseshoe from a tap in of about 5 inches. Head gone, double on the next, and ugly golf for the rest of the round. Shot par for handicap on the day but I was not a happy man.

I have a really low round in me if I can keep composed, but keeping the head up after a bad hole is just beyond me at this minute. I have literally no idea what I am going to produce with the driver in my next round so will be fun to see. I qualified for the Presidents second weekend but really just making up the numbers, so its a nothing round to figure stuff out.

Last 3x rounds have gone in the wrong direction, unfortunately. All stroke comps from back tees playing off 11. Turned in 90, 93 and 91.

Two weeks ago I had 6x lipouts and 2x chips that hit the flag so I could only walk away scratching my head. Last week I putted really well tbh despite one avoidable 3-stab. However, my chipping completely deserted me. I duffed the ball 4 or 5 times and moved it 3ft forward each time. It was infuriating as I'd put in serious short-game practice over the last month and was super happy with the progress I'd made. I was quite relaxed and confident until I duffed the first chip and wanted to snap my wedges 😂.

Positives have been putting, driving and mid-irons. Short irons and wedges haven't been great but chipping is the biggest disappointment. They are the bad rounds from my index range and I should be expecting them so it's not the end of the world. The craziest thing of all was a near albatross 3 weeks back. Probably one of my best drives ever on the par 5 16th in Mullingar in the really hot dry spell. The ball ran out 300yds well over the drain and left a 7i in from 179yds (165 is probably a normal 7i carry). Hit it up the left side over the bunker and it chased along the slope turning back towards the rear pin. Didn't realise until I got up there and the group on the 9th tee told me it was a whisker from holing out. Missed the uphill 6ft eagle putt of course 😭.

Suprised to hear this, I was considering playing their "black tee's challenge" this weekend, but might give it a miss if the course isn't up to scratch.

I'd only played there once before as a gust in the hotel, and the fairways had just been hollowtined, I was raging as it was a package deal and had no mention of it before going out. Would have opted for the spa had I know 😓

Played in our Vice Captains Prize at the weekend just gone. Have been playing pretty decent this year so far in general and was hopeful of another solid round. Straight out of the car and to the tee after a few nights away with the Mrs, no surprise to hit a poor drive on the first but managed a scrappy par and was off and running. Turned with 20 points after 9, 8 pars and a birdie which I was very happy with. The back 9 usually plays much harder scoring wise however I continued to play pretty well. A bogey on 13 was the result of probably my only poor drive on the day but this was followed by a birdie on 14 to get myself back in to red figures. 3 further pars followed and found myself on the 18th tee -1. A trend of mine would be to mess up at some point from a really promising position generally on the back 9 and I have shot an under par round once before. I was extremely nervous on the 18th tee and was praying the drive would go somewhere decent. I managed to hit an absolute corker, comfortably my best of the day which left a little flick in to the green. Unless the dreaded duff appeared I was confident of having my 2nd under par round. Hit a perfectly decent pitch in to about 10 feet and holed the putt for birdie. Chuffed was an understatement. In the end I finished with 70 strokes -2 gross for 41 pts off 3, 3 birdies and 1 bogey which was good enough for 2nd overall in the competition. Delighted with the personal best. No matter how well you play you still look back and see room for improvement, for me it was not taking advantage of any par 5 on the day which has been a constant them this year for some reason. My driving and iron play have been really good this year and it was nice to see a couple more putts drop on the day, makes a big difference to any score. Nice to have a round where you feel comfortable and in control and for once the score reflected it. Back to reality I'm sure this weekend.

Very poor for most of this season but the last few weeks have been much better. All year I have been thinning and chunking irons and inconsistent with the driver. But slowed everything right down and I'm playing much better because of it. They aren't completely gone but I'm making good progress. 4 of last 5 rounds in the 30 points plus. 34 best, so still plenty of work to do.

I have got into a bad habit of starting well and hitting wobble around holes 6 to 12 on various courses and then finishing ok. Not sure what is causing it.

This morning I started with 4 straight pars. Equalled my best ever start to a round. It was superb. All four pars were from GIR, two really good looks at birdie, all tap in pars. Then the 5th... just blocked my approach a little. Putt from off the green. Left it maybe 12 to 15ft from flag. Got a bit aggressive with the par putt and missed a 3 footer on the way back. Double. Did a decent job of holding it together for rest of the front nine. Turned in 39 shots, first sub-40 in a long time.

Back nine was more of a battle. Some good stuff, some not so good. Bizarre situation for me on 15. Long difficult par 4. Ok drive left 225yards to flag. Wind assisted. Normally just outside my range, but hitting it well so went for it. Flushed it, straight over the back of the green into long grass. Hit a rescue as a provo into middle of green. Found the first but hacked it over the green and ended up with a double.

Great par on 17 left me on 31 points. Last hole is a par 5. Striped a driver. Then had about 230yds to hole. Decided to go for green and flushed it again. But was maybe 30 yards short. Massively elevated green. Hit what I thought was a perfect 52 degree but it just failed to reach the green and rolled down the hill, absolutely sickening. Overcooked the the chip up on to green. Aggressive putt for par and missed a short putt back for another double.

My putting from 2 to 8 feet is appalling and has been for a very long time. Probably at 36 handicap standard. Nervous over them, lifting head, pushing, pulling putts, stabbing at them. Just awful. Have to sort it out.

Long post. First in a long time on this page. Needed to get that off my chest!

Finally broke 80 on my home course this year (only joined this year). Had a solid front 9, then bam, 2 doubles from no where on 10 & 11 (10 is a scoring hole too, had to take an unplayable). Standing on the 12th I said I'd try go 1 under for last 7 to give me a chance, ended playing them 1 over but from 2 mental errors on 16&17. Wasn't within an arses roar of the prizes but was happy I was able to keep it together and get some positives from the round. One thing I kinda of thought about after the round is how lax I am over mid range birdie putts, rather than trying to make them I'm more so trying to not knock them 6 feet past, If I maybe made more of an effort on those one or 2 might drop and I'd really get going.