Dismal Round

I've been playing pretty well lately, so it was bound to happen. Its a known fact that you have to pay the golf gods back on a regular basis. You know, you sink a 30 foot snake of a putt for birdie and then double bogey the short par 4 2 holes later....

Well, it happened to me yesterday. I got paid back for all the good shots I've made lately in a single round. I have to say, it was humbling. I started off with a 3 putt double bogey and it basically went downhill from there. The front nine was a joke. I really got distracted at one point. So much so that I grabbed a pitching wedge to get out of a steep green side bunker. After noticing my mistake, I figured I could still get it on the green....not to be. So I went back and grabbed my 60 degree right? Nope...I spent 3 more shots trying to prove that I could do it....stupid, stupid, stupid.

I did manage to regroup and shoot a respectable back nine and finished up with a 92, but man what a frustrating day. Just goes to show, this game really is hard :)

Hit 'em straight,
Dale

We Won! We Won!

The US handily won the Pesident's Cup this past weekend. It drives me crazy that Tiger almost NEVER has a good showing in this type of event. I mean Tiger has the third WORST record in the Ryder Cup...Jim Furyk has the worst.

Mickelson pounded Vijay 5 and 4 on Sunday, which is no shocker considering the way Vijay ended his year.

Now if we can just get the Ryder Cup back......

On another note, I got invited to play in what is called "The Big Game" at the country club last Thursday. The Big Game is 2 5 man teams in a super 2 format. It means more to get invited than how well you play, but luckily I was hitting the ball well. I contributed several scores during the round. We did lose by 1 stroke, but it was fun. There was a big Calcutta event this past weekend at said country club where the winning 4 man team wins about $20k. I didn't play in it this year but maybe next time. I'll find out what the winning score / money was and post it later.

Sexy Patricia Hannigan launched her GolfGirlTv vlog last week. The first episode was basically just an intro. She's super cute and has a good personality. I'm sure she'll do fine. Maybe she and her hubby will come down to NC for a round this fall. Check her out at http://golfgirltv.blogspot.com/


Hit 'em straight,
Dale

A Somewhat Dissapointing 9

I have a session with Robert tonight, so I left work a little early yesterday to get in a quick 9. 1st hole is a par 5. My tee shot was down the right middle second shot just to the right of the green. Chipped on and 4 putted for a 7...what a crappy start. Next hole was a par 3. Tee shot just off the green to the left. Made par. Next hole...par 4...made par. So I was okay at this point.

I REALLY hit the ball well. I hit 5 greens and just missed a few of the others. There were a couple that just came up short due to less than pure contact. The thing that got me was my putting, which is unusual. I 4 putted 1 green and 3 putted another 2. I ended up with a 42 (par 35) which over all isn't too bad, considering. I didn't feel good standing over any of the putts. If I can keep hitting the ball as well as I did, I'll be doing fine.

Like I said, I have another session with Robert tonight, so that will probably kill my game for the next couple of rounds...hah. Maybe not. I'll keep you posted.


Dale

Arrr Matey

Went to the course and worked on my game. I was by myself and nobody was behind me so I could play a variety of shots. In 9 holes I shot around 40 again. I say around because I didn't really keep score since I had the advantage of multiple shots. I found out that I can shoot par there, I just need 4 or 5 shots from each spot :)

Arrr,
Dale

It be official International talk like a pirate day.

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Rackham

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

The FedEx Cup - Wrapup

Tiger won the FedEx Cup. No surprise there. He posted the lowest 4 round score in his career this past weekend. I really thought he might post the all time low but it wasn't to be. The scoring wasn't nearly as low on Sunday as it was the previous 3 days.

Phil didn't completely collapse the way I predicted, but he came close and was not a factor, so I wasn't too far off the mark.

Stricker disappointed me but he still pulled out second in the FedEx Cup and pulled down a cool $3 million bonus. Not too shabby for a guy who 2 yrs ago had lost his playing privileges.

All in all, there was some really great golf played down the stretch this year. The FedEx Cup seems to be here to stay. Of course, there will be some tweaking here and there. I think that there will be a bit more of a "penalty" for skipping a playoff event next year, but you never know.

I'm going over to the course this afternoon to see if I can hit 'em straight. Wish me luck.

Dale

I Played 9 on Sunday

My neighbor and I played 9 holes Sunday morning at his country club. The club only has 9 holes with 2 sets of tee boxes for playing 18. The greens are in great shape most of the time, even with the drought we've had this Summer. I don't have my score card handy so I don't have the distances but here's how it went.

First Hole - Par 5: Decent tee shot with a slight fade, middle of the fairway. Second shot was a little weak with my 3 wood but left only about 50 yards. Pitching wedge on the green and made a silly 3 putt for bogey.

Second Hole - Par 4: Topped my tee shot trying to kill it and only went about 100 yards. I hate when I do that. Hit a pretty good 3 wood to put it within 10 or 15 yards of the green. Chipped onto the green and 2 putted for bogey.

Third Hole - Par 3: I like this hole. Mainly because I usually hit it close. Not this time. Shanked a 6 iron to the right into a fat part of the "fairway" leaving about 50 yards to the green. Pitched it to 20 feet and made a nice downhill putt to save par.

Fourth Hole - Par 4: Tee shot was a bit low and the fairway is uphill...but it landed at the top of the hill to an almost ideal spot leaving about 180 to the green. Pulled my fairway wood a little leaving 40 yards to the green. Pitching wedge came up short, so I tried a little chip hoping to run it up close and save bogey. It checked up and I 2 putted for a double bogey.

Fifth Hole - Par 4: Good tee shot to about 120 yards. Water guards the front of the green, so I clubbed up to a 9 iron and put it on the left fringe leaving about a 40 foot putt for birdie. Got my first putt close and tapped in for par number 2.

Sixth Hole - Par 4: This is an uphill dogleg left where I always try and cut the corner. Pretty good tee shot that faded a bit but landed on the top of the hill in a good spot. Came up slightly short with my 9 iron. Putted it from the fringe but it was a lot faster than the other greens...and downhill, so it rolled of into the fringe. I did manage to 2 putt from there to save bogey.

Seventh Hole - Par 5: Tee shot faded off to what looked like it would be O.B. but it stayed in. 3 wood to 100 yards. Came up short with my wedge but putted off the fringe. Missed my second short putt for par by an inch. Tapped in for bogey.

Eighth Hole - Par 3: Smoked a 7 iron but the wind caught it and it just died. Landed just off the fringe. Chipped it really close leaving a tap in for par number 3.

Ninth Hole - Par 3: Nice 6 iron off the tee landed on the green leaving my best shot at birdie all day...12 feet or so uphill with little break. Thinking to myself.."don't leave it short". I left it short. Tapped in for par number 4.

Par was 35, I shot a 41. My neighbor shot a 40, so it was fun. My biggest problem on this round was coming up short with my approach. It was a bit more windy that it has been in quite sometime due to the recent oppressive heat, maybe that had something to do with it. Overall I was pleased. If I could string together 2 of those for an 82 I'd be pretty happy.

Dale

Tour Championship - Day 2

My predictions are working themselves out, just some are taking a bit longer than others. I went to lunch with my office mates yesterday and came back to see that Tiger made 5 birdies and an eagle and didn't get to see the round until last night....all I can say is "WOW". He just dominated the front nine yesterday, shooting an astounding 28. Even he couldn't believe some of the shots he was making. He leads by 3 going into today's round. I'm watching coverage now and he has started today's round with a par at the first 2 holes...the same as he did yesterday.

Phil impressed me yesterday and held it together to at least give himself an outside shot at catching up over the weekend. I still say that the wheels are going to fall off at some point and he is not going to be a factor. Bad decision taking last week off, though I don't think he would have made a difference then either.

Woody Austin is making a charge and could manage a win this weekend. He's 2 back at -11 after 2 holes today.

I do hope that Stricker ends up getting 2nd in the cup. That's still a $3 million bonus . $2 million will be the bonus for 3rd place..which should be Phil's if he doesn't COMPLETELY fall apart..which is always possible with him. Sabbatini may have a chance at third in that case.

As I'm getting ready to finish up this post, Tiger just about holed out his second shot on 3 and has a 3 inch tap in for birdie to get him to -14


Dale