Winter part 2

Following my previous entry, here is the latest update on my battles against the weather.

The snow really got to me and I was desperate to get out on the course, or any course for that matter, there is only so much time you can spend hitting balls at the range. Despite my course still being covered in the white stuff, I found a local course that was open, so I booked a tee slot. When I got there I found that the fairways were still covered in quite a bit of snow, but it was open! As it happened it was ladies day, but the local members were playing in a competition, so armed with some orange balls, I set out on my own.
 Now one problem with playing on your own is that you have to play your shot and then pick up the flight of the ball. normally this is OK, unless you are hitting into the sun.As it was a lovely sunny day this proved to be my downfall and by the 5th hole I had lost the 2 orange balls  I had in my bag, as after hitting I couldnt see the flight and had no idea where they had gone. I did continue playing with white balls, but despite following the flight of most shots to where they landed it was pot luck whether I found the balls. When the snow finally melted they would have been quite a few of my balls scattered around the fairways of Didsbury! Still it was good to be out on a nice sunny day and after I finished I had a coffee in the clubhouse and had a nice chat to some of the lady members there.

Happily the following week our course was open again and I managed to get out most days albeit in often cold and windy conditions. I played in our 12 hole competition last week and won it with 25 points, which is encouraging as I scored slightly better than my handicap.

The club match I mentioned in the last blog entry was indeed cancelled but was rearranged for last Sunday, happily our club won 3-2 and personally I won my match 7 & 5, in fairness my opponent was giving me 6 shots and she didnt play well, but I was on 27 points by the 13th when the match finished, so again slightly better than handicap.

The new season is now only a few weeks away and I am hoping to reduce my handicap by 4-6 shots over the season. I think this is doable but I need to get more consistant. I played this afternoon and the way I scored is a good indication of what the problem is. I started double bogey, double bogey, triple bogey, on all these holes I was within 50 yds of the green in regulation, but then took 4 and in one case 5 further shots to get the ball in the hole. On the next 7 holes, I went par, birdie, par, bogie, par, bogie, par. so only 2 over for these 7 holes. but then I went off again. For the most part it is my chipping and pitching that lets me down. We are still playing off fairway mats and I dont feel confident playing short shots off them, so hopefully when we are back on grass this will improve. I have bought a new specialist wedge which I hope will help me but time will tell.