Things are looking up

Whitefield Golf Club

This week has been another busy week and I have played 2 new courses, also happily I have managed to get another handicap cut.

Monday saw a handicap shield match away at Whitefield, a course I have not played before, we are doing quite well in our league so we were looking for another win. We found out that Whitefield had just beaten the previously unbeaten Oldham so a win would see us go top of the group. I was giving my opponent a shot and we exchanged holes early on, I got my best game going though and with the help of two birdies managed to win my match by 3&2, the team also won 5-2 so we are now top and we entertain Oldham this coming Monday.

I am also in the team that play in the Bell Cup, a knockout competition and our next match is against Greenmount near Bury, so on Tuesday, myself and another of the girls in the team went over to play the course. To say Greenmount is quirky is an understatement, I have played it in the past but probably about 15 years ago, when it was a nine hole course. Since then they have extended the course but despite adding 2 new holes the course is still really a nine hole course. However 2 of the holes are now played to different greens on each circuit, so that the 2nd is played to one green but the 11th is played to a different one, similarly the 6th/15th have different greens. With changes to the tees on some of the other holes they have tried to make the 2 nines as different as they can. One sad aspect was that the greens were in very poor condition due to the fact that they have had a disease and so there are bare patches on most greens, hopefully there are local rules that allow the ball to be repositioned if the bare patches affect the putt. The course was certainly a challenge and I do think that local knowledge could be important when we play our match there next Friday.

So onto Thursday and our weekly competition, this week a Stableford. I played indifferently over the  first few holes, with a par but also 2 double bogeys, but a run of birdie, par, par, birdie from the 6th gave me a good outward score. I had a triple bogey on the 12th but then parred 14, 15, 16 and 17 so was looking at a very good score until for the 2nd week running I had a triple bogey 6 on the last. I did however still score 41 points, which gave me a handicap cut of 1.2 and earned me an additional exceptional scoring reduction of 0.5, so my handicap is now 16.8. I also came 2nd in the completion, only beaten by a great score of 43.

Friday saw me visit the 2nd new course of the week, when my partner and I went to Crompton and Royton to play in the regional final of the Lancashire Ladies Scott Leggatt foursomes competition, sadly we didn't play our best and our score of 28 points left us well down the field. I was pleased with my driving but my short game wasn't as good as it should be. We found a lot of bunkers and didn't hole a putt longer than 3 feet all day, with several just lipping out.

I have to say that both Whitefield and C&R were a pleasure to play and I look forward to playing both again in the future.

So onto the competition round.

Hole 1,  I pulled my 6 iron left of the tee, but a chip and 2 putts gave me a bogey 4 and 2 points.

Hole 2, I hit a decent drive a little right, then hit a nice 3 wood to front fringe of the green, chipped to about 10 feet but 2 putted for a bogey 5 and 2 points

Hole 3, I good drive, then a 9 iron to short of the ditch, left about 140 to the green, I didn't hit it great so was about 20 yards shot on the green but I chipped to 3 feet and holed the putt for a par 5 and 3 points.

Hole 4, Another tee shot pulled way left onto rough, hacked it out then my 3rd ran over the green, chipped back on and 2 putted for a double bogey 5 and 1 point.

Hole 5, A poor drive short and left, then a decent 3 wood which left about 100yds to the green, mishit my pitch, but then put my next on the green, 2 putts for a double bogey 6 and 1 point.

Hole 6, A reasonable drive but a bit right, then a 3 wood to just short of the green, I chipped to 4 feet and holes the putt for a birdie 4 and 4 points

Hole 7, A decent drive and a 5 wood to the green, 2 putts for a par 4 and 3 points.

Hole 8, A Good drive and a nice 3 wood to just short again, chip was a bit short but 2 putts for a par 5 and 3 points.

Hole 9, For the first time in a few weeks I hit a decent 9 iron which found the green and I holed 20 foot putt for a birdie 2 and 4 points.

So, thanks to a good finish I  only took 40 shots on the front nine for 23 points.

Hole 10, I hit a good drive but then topped a 3 wood, I hit a good 9 iron to the green and 2 putted for a bogey 5 and 2 points.

Hole 11,  A good drive but I had to play a 9 iron short of the ditch in front of the green, I then hit a lovely 2nd 9 iron which just ran off the back, a poor lie on a bank meant  I didn't  get the ball near enough and 2 putted for a bogey 6 and 2 points.

Hole 12, An awful drive way left and onto the fringe of the 11th green, I over hit my chip, then after finding the green with my 3rd managed to 3 putt for a triple bogey 6 and 0 points.

Hole 13, A good drive which didn't get a great bounce and finished up just in front of a bunker, my 5 wood to the green, caught the top of the bank of the bunker and went to the right behind trees, I tried to chip over the trees but failed, on the green in 4 and 2 putts for a double bogey 6 but has this was my 2 shot hole I scored 2 points.

Hole 14, In an attempted to find an alternative to my longer irons I had  borrowed 7 wood and I used this on the tee and found the green, 2 putts gave me a par 3 and 3 points.

Hole 15, A lovely drive and a decent 3 wood left about 70 yards to the green, my pitch finished about 20 feet from the hole and 2 putts gave me a par 5 and 3 points.

Hole 16, I hit my drive right and though some trees into rough, I chipped out onto another fairway about 60 yards from the green and hit a lovely 52 degree wedge over a bunker to 3 feet and holes the putt for a par 4 and 3 points.

Hole 17, I hit my best ever drive on this hole and decided to try and find the fairway over the ditch, that I would normally lay up in front of, I hit it very well and it found the fairway about 60 yards from the green. I chipped on and 2 putted for a par 5 and another 3 points.

Hole 18, I decided to try a 3/4 hit 7 wood and although I hit it ok it caught a tree guarding the green and fell back down the bank into the ditch so took a penalty drop then hit my next over the back of the green, I chipped on and 2 putted for a triple bogey 6 and no points.

So I took 46 shots on the back nine for 18 points, and a grand total of 41 points, my score of 86 was also my best ever round in a competition. Despite the 2 triples on par 3s, I was very happy with my round, especially the 7 pars and 2 birdies, After an indifferent start to the season I am now starting to ply like I know I can and there is plenty of room still for improvement. I do still need to sort out my longer irons as I am still only really comfortable with my woods and wedges, and although getting a 7 wood would help a lot, I think it would be a bit of a cop out, so a visit to the pro for a lesson is in the offing.