Round 3 League to Dubai 2014 (Max Harvey)

My first home game of this season’s singles fixture was against my pairs partner from last year, Max Harvey. The threat of rain and a decent breeze didn’t stop us from heading to the first tee after a customary pint as our warm up (we did actually go to the range first though!) and we both hit nice drives and found the fairway! I got them on video as proof too.

Our second shots were just short of the green and Max got up and down for par and I took three to get in for a bogey.

We both found sand on the second hole which led to neither of us scoring points on that hole after I hit shots 2, 3 and 4 from the bunker and Max hit 2 and 4 with his third being a penalty for Out of Bounds. Back to reality with a thud after a decent start!

I finally managed to hit a draw on the third hole, unfortunately I was aiming up the left expecting either a straight shot or a fade but my ball was safe on the 4^th ‘fairway’ and Max piped his drive down the middle which just ran into the rough on the right. We both misjudged the effect of the wind on our approaches and went long and left getting bogeys each and 2 more points.

The par3 4^th hole was a daunting prospect with a stiff breeze into and off the left into the very well protected hole. Max went long and I found a gorse bush requiring a drop for unplayable.




Max’s short game is getting really good but his attempt to get onto the green from over the back wasn’t his best effort and led to not scoring after losing his ball in the gorse. I hit a safe chip onto the green and holed a 25 – 30 foot putt for a solitary point for yet another bogey. One is better than none though!

I found sand on the fairway again with a wind affected fade and Max pushed straight through the wind and onto the fringe of the second green (a touch left!). I wasn’t getting greedy from the sand this time and punched out to the edge of the fairway and Max found the wispy rough on the right with his second to this par5. My third shot wasn’t very convincing and left me 100 yards from the pin and Max was next to the green in 3. I hit a pretty nice shot with my 52 degree wedge to about 20 feet and dropped the putt for a very scratchy par and 3 more points. Max took 3 more to card a bogey for his 2 points. Here’s video of my gap wedge shot.

Guess what …… I found sand again off the tee! This time on the par3 6^th hole and Max was in a similar position but in the rough. My bunker shot was a little shorter than I wanted but left me with a pretty straight, uphill putt and Max’s pitch left him a tricky downhill one. We both took two putts to get down for a bogey each. Here’s a video of the bunker shot and you can see where Max’s ball finished.

I was aiming for sand on my next shot, the greenside bunker around the dogleg with my driver. I failed dismally and had to go three from the tee. Max chose the safe route and found the rough around the 150 marker which grabbed the hosel and turned the clubface sending his next two shots into neverland on the left (where my drive finished up). My provisional ball found the rough on the right and my next shot found the bunker I was aiming for with my first tee shot. We both ended up not scoring on that hole.

Two quite nice drives on the par4 8th hole with Max just outdriving me but finding the rough. His approach to the green was awesome and led to an easy par after just missing his birdie putt. My approach was short and nearly went in yet another bunker leaving me a pretty long chip leading to two more putts and a bogey.

Two more decent drives on the 9^th hole led to a par for me and no score for Max after the very attractive gorse on the left lured his second shot requiring his 4^th shot to be played from the same spot and a little bit scrappy for his next few shots. I missed the green short with my third but was stoked to get up and down for par.

After 9 holes the scores were 11 to Max and 13 for me. Blistering!

Standing on the 10^th tee I was actually feeling pretty good about my driving and it showed with my drive down the middle followed by Max doing the same. Max pulled his approach to the little swale short and left of the green and I hit a 4 iron up into the wind and off it went to the looong, deep grass on the right of the green. Provisional ball with the same club and a more penetrating flight sent it through the green and into the different deep do-do. A thorough search for my first ball revealed nothing and my provisional was unplayable requiring a drop and a pitch-in for a point. I gave it a go and missed by about 6 feet. Oh well, rack up another blob then. While Max was playing his next three shots for his bogey and two points to sneak in front by one, I had another look for my first ball and found it within 20 seconds….. typical!

Straight into the fresh wind the par5 11^th is a bit of a monster! Max didn’t get his customary fade and found himself playing his 3rd from the tee as we didn’t find his first in the long stuff on the left and I found the fairway! (That was 4 fairways in a row!!) Max was just short of the 60yard bunkers with his second and I laid up into the rough on the right about 120 yards out to find the bunker in front of the green with my third. Yes …… more sand. I had a great sand save though for three points and Max managed to get a point with 7 after his penalty shot.

The par3 12^th hole. Always a toughy at 200 yards into the wind and I slapped my 3 iron into the ‘valley’ on the right and Max tapped his 3wood to the right side of the green, just on top of the hill in the fringe. A tricky two putt from Max would have been a great par and 2 points but he ended up with a bogey and just 1. My pitch was pretty short leaving a difficult right to left putt which also missed. Then I missed the return putt for a single point with a lip-out (I had quite a few of them).

This little clip of video shows the view of the 13^th from the tee and Max’s tee shot which found the fairway in the ideal position on the corner of the dogleg. Sorry about the wind noise, turn the volume down!

My Drive was a little bit straight and went through the fairway into the rough requiring a hack-out to about 50 yards from the pin which I unconvincingly played into the hill short of the green leading to needing a 40 foot putt to drop for a point, which I missed. Max found the same hill with his second shot and played a much better pitch but still took two further putts for a 5 and 2 more points to take the lead by 1 point. (Blob count: 5).

Course strategy for the 14^th hole is definitely needed as the only real option is a lay-up to the corner of the dogleg (easier said than done!) Max hit a beauty and just ran through the corner and I duffed a 3iron into the ferns and gorse then smashed a 3iron to the corner as my third from the tee. I then hoiked my iron approach shot about 10 yards left of where I was aiming to find yet more ferns and lose my second ball for this treacherous hole and record yet another blob (6 so far!). Max hit a great pitching wedge to the back of the green leaving himself a proper slider of a putt which trundled passed the pin by about 6 feet and his par putt peeked in as it went over the lip for a 2 point bogey.

The 15^th plays a lot easier with the wind behind than it does into the breeze but at 200 yards, it still isn't an easy hole. Max hit a great shot that somehow managed to perch on the highest point of the green leaving an almost impossible putt for a birdie. I took some anger out on a 5iron and flew pin high just off the left of the green leaving myself a pretty simple uphill chip and putt for par which I royally messed up leaving the green with yet another blob! (number 7). Max three putted for a bogey and pulled 1 point further away to be 4 points ahead with 3 holes to play. The way I had scored on the back 9, I deserved to be further behind, but I still had a chance to win. I needed to pull my finger out!

The whole back 9 at Pyle and Kenfig is very tough, but the last three holes specifically have the measure of most golfers with the shortest of the par4’s measuring at 426 from the whites and the 458 yard 16^th being the longest par4 on the course. Downwind and downhill for the 16^th though and I was left with 150 to the middle after a decent drive. Max skied his drive leaving a lay up to the fairway and a pitch to the green, nullifying his shot on the hole and giving me a chance to claw some points back. My approach shot with my 8iron found the back tier of the green as did Max’s pitch. I gave my difficult birdie putt a good chance to go in and tapped in the 4 foot return putt for my par and 2 points while Max took three putts for his 6 and 1 point. Gap to only 3! Coming to get you Max!

Both of us hit the fairway with our drives, it was just unfortunate that it was Max’s provisional and not his first which went left and further left into the ferns, brambles and gorse that even dogs are reluctant to enter.

Max’s head had dropped a little now and he struggled up to the edge of the green to blob the 17^th for his 5^th of the round and left the door wide open for me. My approach shot just cleared the massive bunker on the left of the green leaving me with a pretty realistic opportunity to get up and down for par (my first one on 17 since joining in April!). I hit the chip pretty well and allowed too much break leaving an 8 foot putt for par. My putting had been half decent today and I hit a pretty unconvincing putt that just managed to fall in the front of the hole! Back to even points with the 18^th to play! Who’dathunkit?

I had saved some battery power in the video camera for the last hole and a bit of a wrap-up, but forgot to use it, so you’ll just have to imagine it. In Saturday’s comp I hit a belter of a drive which must have kicked left into the rough (never to be seen again) because I hit the exact same drive which was on the fairway with 140 to go. We didn’t see it land though and after Max found the rough on the right in a natural ‘Mortar Hole’ I sliced a provisional ball into the tree on the right of the fairway.
 I thought I had thrown it away and was pretty relieved to have found my ball waiting for me in the fairway!

Max wasn’t overly impressed with his lie in the rough and was almost begging for it to have been caused by a burrowing animal but it wasn’t, and he hit to the rough on the right of the green. I pulled yet another short iron to the left and needed my short game to stand up if I was going to have my best finish around P&K ever. A chip and a putt just scraped the edge of the hole and I tapped in for a bogey, 2 points and the WIN after the pressure got to Max and a couple of poor chips resulted in his 6^th and final blob. The final score was 23 points for me and 21 for Max who probably feels a bit ‘meh’ at having let that one go. 
Par, Par, Bogey for 7 points over the last three holes was a great feeling and my best finish at Pyle and Kenfig ever and makes up for the fact that I scored (or didn’t score) 7 blobs from 18 holes. 23 points after 11 holes would look pretty good normally!

The golf wasn’t inspiring with the back 9 halved in 10 points each, but I don’t think either of us played particularly poorly. When you get punished at P&K, you get properly smashed.

I really enjoyed playing with Max again and we are going to team up for the doubles in the League to Dubai next year as we did last year so look out!

Hope you enjoyed having the little video clips thrown in, I’d love to have a better camera, but that one will have to do! (A new video isn't going to help me improve my golf!) Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the read and if you liked the clips.
Cheers.