Still golfing, even after 5 penalty strokes in one round!

It's been a little while since I last blogged and you'll be pleased to know that I am still whacking the little white 2oXI-X around Coed-y-Mwstwr golf course. My swing changes are sticking and I am hitting the ball more consistently. My recent competitions have all been on or around par for my handicap with one drop of 0.6 points to 19.7 being given to me two weeks ago. Last week I played to my handicap whilst incurring 5 penalty strokes throughout the round. The first one was the result of my ball finding an eroded hole at the base of a tree on the 3rd, the second was water in front of the green on the par 3 4th, the third was lateral water on the 7th, the 4th was water on the 9th and the fifth was O/B left on the 16th. Other than those 5 shots, I played pretty well, especially on the inward 9, scoring 22 points to finish with 37.

I was feeling pretty good about my golf, especially as the last few rounds have been in some substantial wind ............. until I played at Pyle and Kenfig yesterday with Unlce Tony. I parred the 10th (our first) and was thinking that my form was going to continue. I followed that with many shanks and fat shots to put me in quite a grump. Oh so frustrating! I couldn't putt to save my life with at least 3 FOUR PUTTS! My driver shaft snapped at the sure-fit adaptor (I bought a Titleist 910 D3 off ebay a month or so ago) after a fantastic drive on the 18th, and I could not get my 3 wood going for love nor money over the next nine holes. While my mood was plummeting, my slices were increasing. I stopped scoring after 13 holes and just tried to hit a few shots to pop in the 'positive golf' memory-bank. A couple of shots that are stored there are a 3 wood straight into the wind on the 15th from an elevated tee to the green which just rolled through, resulting in a par 3 and a 4 Iron onto the 6th green with the wind into and across, also resulting in a par.

After our round Tony and I stopped in the pro shop where Dylan helped me to get a replacement (Ex-demo) shaft. I chose to upgrade to a slightly stiffer and heavier shaft after hitting a bucket of balls on their new driving range. The driving range also gave me the opportunity to figure out the cause of my poor play and get the 3 wood dialled back in.
In a much better mood, I joined Tony in the clubhouse for a Coke.

I have registered for the League to Dubai (Stableford comp) and also the Trilby Tour Matchplay comp. I don't expect to win ..... much..... but I am looking forward to possibly playing on a couple of different courses around Wales and the UK.

Looking forward to playing golf in more than 5 degrees soon and also was reminded yesterday how nice it will be to not be playing off mats in a couple of weeks.