Obee

In my 30's I was always "long enough." I used to play everything back in my stance and would hit low spinners like Azinger or guys like that (not saying I was that good, I obviously wasn't). My driver clubhead speed was 108 to 112 if I swung HARD. I hit it, all in, 265 back in the 90s. But I always had a shortish, compact backswing and over the years it's just gotten shorter and shorter and shorter and slower and slower and S L O WWWW E RRRRRRRR...

Well, I played in my U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier yesterday at Soule Park in Ojai, California. Round report below. I do these for me. It's a nice way for me to recap and think on what I can do better. These are not everyone's cup of tea, but many people over the years have told me the very much enjoy reading them. So here goes... Soule Park GC: 6,610, 71.6/125 Greens are SLOW (9.5), but firm, dry and very "bouncy." Odd combination for sure. https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/5094163 Simultaneously pleased and ... gutted. I was RIGHT. THERE. PHOCK! First, for those of you who know my struggles, the back: I played only 3 rounds of golf from June 1 to July 20. That is a record low for me, by far. Normally, this time of year, I'm playing 3 or 4 times week, since the days are so long. When I was younger, it would be 5 or 6. My sciatica is getting worse and worse and the pain that turns into tingling and numbness had gone all the way to my right foot, so there was no way for me to play "real golf" for six weeks. I would go out and play from 6,000 yards and bunt it around, but I couldn't make any real swings. So I just rested for the last six weeks and figured: "I'll see if I can tee it at the U.S. Senior Am qualifier as one last hurrah before my MRI" (which was yesterday) and (likely) surgery upcoming. I got up at 3:30am and drove 2.5 hours to Ojai. Had no idea what would happen when I arrived and hit a few balls. I could have literally turned around after stretching and a dozen balls on the range. Stretching felt decent and I hit balls without any real pain but virtually no range of motion. So I figured ... what the heck and went into a full prep session (which is only at 35 to 40 minutes for me) with putting, short game, etc. Let's do this thing. Oh, I also loaded up with more pain meds than I ever have in my life: 1400 mg of Advil and 2 Extra Strength Tylenol. I try not to do that for obvious reasons. If you don’t like shot-by-shot review of rounds by Senior Amateurs who hit driver 225, STOP NOW. You have been warned!! Heading to the first tee, I feel … at peace. No expectations. No real pain to speak of. Right foot is semi-numb, but that's it. As I approach the tee, I see one of the guys I’m paired with already teeing off and I immediately think: “What the hell, did I miss my tee time?!” Turns out they bumped him up, as there were two guys who no-showed in the group in front of us, so that meant they were a twosome and so were we. Normally we play threesomes with 11-minute tee times, which is GREAT for pace of play. Thank you, SCGA/USGA! I started on the back nine. They are taking 4 spots and 2 alternates out of a field out of 68 who teed it up. There were another 10 or more who WD'd prior to the deadline. I tell the guy I'm paired with: Scores will be low. Will likely take 2-under and maybe even 3-under to be in clean. 10) 145 par 3 (downhill): with water hard right: 7h to 15 feet. 2-putt for PAR. EVEN 11) 555 par 5: Driver just into right rough. Layup to 134. 8i to back left pin to 18 feet. 2 putts for PAR. EVEN 12) 420 par 4: Drive down middle left me 183. Pulled 7w to front left. Nice pitch to 8 feet from a weird lie. Made the putt to save PAR. EVEN 13) 357 par 4: Drive down the middle. 9i from 127 to 20 feet. 2 putts for PAR. EVEN 14) 420 par 4 (second shot uphill a full club) Drive just into right rough. 193 pin. 173 cover. Playing 205, which is a 4-wood for me. Hit a nice one to 25 feet. 2 putts for PAR. EVEN I hurt myself trying to hoist that 4-wood up the hill. No bueno. Stabbing pain in my back. I stretch for 2 minutes at the next tee because I’m going to need to swing hard at another driver. At this point you should see how short I am. It's ... comical. I'm carrying driver 210 to 215. My playing partner, who is 64 (I’m 57) is hitting it by me 30 to 50 yards on every hole. 15) 418 par 4: Try to swing hard at a driver, but come out of it and hit it just into the right rough again. 198 pin. 178 to cover a big valley. I hit my 4w a bit high on the face and go into the ditch. Drop at 103 on a downhill lie (otherwise I would have to go back to 12Greens are firm, so I can trap a nice GW in there as it will release when it lands. I hit it to 4 feet and save BOGEY. 1-OVER 16) 155 par 3 - uphill: I hit a 9-wood (yes, a 9-wood) barely right of a tucked-right pin and it ends up in gnarly kikuyu rough just off the green. I'm only 15 feet form the pin, but in a "perched, springy" lie. I can't even ground my wedge, because I know the ball will move. I chip it right at the hole and it power lips down the hill to 5 feet. I read the putt as inside the hole, but at the last second I decide to give it a bit more and I miss. BOGEY. 2-OVER At this point I know it's all or nothing I need to play a minimum of 4-under from there on in to have a chance. Not nervous. Not worried. I have no expectations, so I'm just "in the moment" the best I can be. 17) 392 par 4: Drive down the middle. Nice 7-wood from 178 to 18 feet, but just off the green. Easy chip to tap-in distance for Par. 2-OVER 18) 501 par 5: Drive slightly into right rough. 6h lay-up to 92 yards. Trap SW to back-left pin to 5 feet. BIRDIE. 1-OVER 1) 382 par 4 (downhill): Drive down middle. 8i from 132 to 4 feet. BIRDIE. EVEN 2) 362 par 4: Drive down middle. 7h from 135 to 35 feet. 2 putts for PAR. EVEN 3) 132 par 3 (uphill): 7h to back pin to 10 feet. Big breaker that lips out. PAR. EVEN 4) 512 par 5 (downhill on tee shot): Drive down the middle. 232 to a back right pin. It's go time. I have a downhill lie, so I know the shot will chase. I figure if I can fly the shot 190ish with a bit of "go" on it and if I can skirt the bunker that's 30 yards short on the right side, then I get get home, or close. I know I need to birdie this hole and the next to have a chance. I hit a perfect "chaser" 4-wood that I pull off exactly as I had envisioned. It lands just left of the bunker and scoots up and up and up and then over a ridge and onto the green, leaving me 25 feet. I grind and grind and play about two feet of break and drain it for EAGLE (my first par 5 eagle of the year. LOL). 2-UNDER 5) 490 par 5: The second of the "must birdie" par 5's for me (and everyone in the field, really). Drive down the middle. 4-wood that I try to rip to the left front so I have a good look at the back right pin, that sits in a big bowl. I have a good lie and the shot fees like one I can make even though I'm a good 120 feet away. I can putt it through 20 yards of fringe-height apron area, or I can chip it. I elect a "bumpy," back-in-the-stance SW and hit it perfect. It lands, skips, checks, and then trundles down, down, down and heads right for the hole. I thought I made if for a sec, but it just misses on the right and then keeps going a bit, leaving me about 7 or 8 feet. I grind, but in the end put a really bad stroke on it and miss and settle for PAR. 2-UNDER 6) 196 par 3: 4-wood is the club. I stripe it right at the flag and it lands one pace left and one pace short (I'm a bit pumped to carry it that far!). My ball ends up just off the back of the green in the fringe about 25 to 30 feet. Putt breaks about 6 feet and it's slightly down. I leave it one turn short of going in. PAR. 2-UNDER This is it. If I can finish par, par, par (or better), I will make it. 7 and 8 are both very tough holes for me, so I know I'm going to have to hit some golf shots. Still feeling good mentally, and even physically. 7) 420 par 4 (uphill on tee shot): Tough tee shot for me. Uphill and right to left. I have to really hit a good one here to have less than 200. I hit a great drive, for me, right on my line and I have 188 to a back left pin guarded by a big ravine just a few paces off the green to the left. The green is open in the front and I like to play low trap-draw runners on this whole. I debate between 7-wood and 9-wood and elect the 7. Wrong choice, as I hit it perfect and it's tracking right to the hole, but it's just a bit too much club and I role just over the green and into the kikuyu rough. I have a tough, downhill chip that is tough to stope and I run it 6 feet by. I know this is my tournament and I gag it. I decel and pull it left. BOGEY. 1-UNDER 8 ) 410 par 4 (downhill on tee shot, severely uphill on second): Drive down the middle. 158 to a back-left, super-tucked pin with a gaping bunker in guarding short and left. I know this is it. I also know that uphill shots KILL My back -- especially when I have to swing hard. I go with 5h, but in the back of my mind I know that's too much club for the shot I have to hit to access that pin (another trap draw). If I catch it flush it will land the the middle and skip over the back, and long is death. I decel and yank it short left. Only truly bad swing of the day, darn it. I hit a really nice flop shot to 7 feet, but miss that and make BOGEY. EVEN 9) 347 par 4. Big cross bunker that makes many players lay up. I hit 4-wood down the middle off the tee, leaving me 132. I hit a nice 8i to 20 feet but miss the putt and make PAR. EVEN PAR 72. So that was it. Thought this might have been my year since I had no expectations. Had a blast -- especially since I didn't even think I would be able to play. Thanks for reading. MRI was yesterday. We shall see what the results say. It's been 6(?) years since my last one...

Thanks. I had no idea this happened. Usually on top of stuff like that. I'm getting old...

You simply must learn how to his a straight ball when required. Many pros struggle with this as well, and most of them will take out a 3-wood and then it down to hit almost a hook on those types of holes. Are you able to turn over a 3-wood when needed?

Definitely NOT cash. Any cash awards violate the rules of amateur status.

Nice playing. 🙂 You guys give out proshop credit in your State level events???

Sure it can be. Are all wins the same? Is every win exciting? Every player exciting in the same way? Of course not. Does Scottie bring the same racous cheers when he wins as Tiger did? As Jack did when he won the Masters at 46 (who could previously be pretty boring to watch)? Hell, even as Bryson is when he wins? Scottie. Is. Boring. He even wants to be. That's his thing. More power to him, as it's clearly working. He's finding balance it seems. Good for him. But it's not exciting to watch. There's obviously no "right or wrong" here. It's just opinions. It's like which ice cream flavor is boring and which isn't. but to me, the only reason I respond to these is because he's so very boring to watch to me.

Yup. Still boring...

Yeah, that's about as big a swing as you will every see for just about any golfer. Nick Dunlap had that crazy one at The Masters that was even bigger, but 13 shots is massive. Most of us have been there before. I once went 30, 42 when I first started getting decent at the game, just in 9 flippin' holes!! I went from "I'm going to shoot 59," to: "Can I just go home now" so fast it made my head spin...

The dude can straight up golf his ball.

Is this a thing??? If so, that is soooo funny.

I'm self taught and learned from watching pros play and and reading magazine articles and reading books. I DID ingrain some "less than ideal" patterns and set-up/swing idiosyncrasies because of that, for sure. The good news? I was able to get to a reasonably high level doing it myself I had a BLAST "doing it my way" I learned how to hit the ball every which way and could hit Tiger's "9 windows" when healthy (although not with Tiger's ball speed!) The bad news? The swing I developed, while quite repeatable for me, was murder on my back I de-lofted significantly on all shots, so hitting the ball high and soft required considerable manipulation, which lead to a decrease in repeatability -- especially under pressure. The de-lofting I did meant that I never learned to launch driver and maximize my distance. I could always hit fairways, but I struggled to not "pinch" the ball with my driver, which really hurt my distance. Working with a coach who wanted to work with ME and MY swing would have been the best way for me to go to have taken my game from "regionally competitive" to "nationally competitive."

US Senior Am Qualifier on Monday. I have no hope. I will be lucky if I finish all 18 holes. Dr. said surgery is almost certainly in my future now that numbness goes all the way down to my right heel. Oh well...

@Forged4ever Thank you, Richard. Love you, bud!!

You know what I hate? People who pop off about threads they have not read. This is/was not a hypothetical. But thanks for playing! 🙄

Unless you are playing in very tough conditions (firm greens, pins that are tucked 2 paces from fall offs and big slopes, etc.), you should be quite aggressive from 70 to 130(?) then less so and less so as you move out away from the hole. Part of becoming one's very best at this game is understanding that golf is a game of huge variability: On the same hole, from day to day, the strategy on an approach shot may vary wildly based on a number of factors, but mostly: lie, green firmness, pin position, and pin position relative to hazards and trouble areas. Some pins are "Go pins" from 125 and others, in certain conditions, are NOT.

@Pnwpingi210 Dude. The sad face? Are you lacking a sarcasm/irony/joke filter? Were the three exclamation points not enough for you to get that I'm ... joking?

What's the course rating and slope? And what do you mean by "nowadays"? Did you formerly compete in college or as a professional?

At altitude. BFD... I can hit 7h two times and hit it that far!!!

Do you play tournament golf? If so, let's see the results of your last 5 or 6 tournaments.

Yet you can't help but being a jerk to me for posting it. Nice.

I didn't revive this damn thread. And if this site isn't (at least in part) for threads exactly like this, then what the hell is it for? Let me guess: For you to spread your opinions about what is and isn't worthy? Maybe read the comments from the many people who enjoy my posts and whom I consider friends. Maybe see how many people loved reading this thread and enjoyed living vicariously through those of us lucky enough to have had the time of our lives playing with these guys?

"Trying to win." I love this. You realize this is golf we're talking about, right? Golfers just play the damn game. They hit the shots that are in front of them. They don't do all kinds of different things because they're "trying to win." They just ... play the damn game. All this is is a nice rebuttal to people who say ridonkulous things like "Phil will win by 20 shots," or "A scratch will NEVER come even close." And there were plenty of those in this thread. And they are just ... wrong. It's just an interesting story about "scratch golfers" playing against pros on a tour-level course. It gives others a bit of insight into the kind of "handicapping" necessary to make matches close to even. We all needed to play the combo tees in order to make it a relatively even match versus Phil and Ricky and Korn Ferry/Mini-Tour pros. That's an 1,100 yard difference -- or about 6 shots in course rating. to make it truly even, we'd probably have to play a set of tees at about 5400 to 5700 yards. From those tees, all of us would shoot 62 to 72 just about every round ... like the pros do.

I'll tell you what it is ... "Boring."

Maybe read what happened?