New piece of golf-nerd kit on its way!!

In my quest to improve my golf I have tried to collect stats using a few different 'systems'. I made my own spreadsheet (last time I entered anything into that was at least 9 months ago!), I've tried to input shots on HowDidIDo after P&K finally upload the rounds and overall, I've failed dismally. I still don't have a good idea of how far I hit each club, what areas of my game are costing me the most shots (I suspect it is my driving and approach shots as I'm the most grumpy with them!) or which parts of my game are the best.

The GAME GOLF system should arrive in the next couple of days and I'm looking forward to using it and getting a proper idea of the stats of my game.

Here is a link to the GAME GOLF website. You can create a user and follow people on there (myself included [Clayton Landells]) and see how they are playing.

Peter Finch and Rick Shiels did a video review at Worsley Park showing how to use it (Playlist below) and you can follow them on GAME GOLF too.



It's a little bit expensive, but nothing compared to a new driver!

I can't wait to give it a go and will let you know how I get on.

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.

Foresight Sports Visit

As I mentioned in my last post, I had organised a visit to Foresight Sports EU (@ForesightEurope) in Guildford for a demonstration of the GC2 and their simulators for a project I am looking at trying to get off the ground in Bridgend.
Wow! What a fantastic bit of kit! I think I need one in my life and my golf game definitely would benefit from the measurements you can get.
As an example, we popped the dots on the face of a couple of my clubs (8iron and driver) so the Head Measurement camera (HMT) could do it's thaang. I was previously under the impression that my swing with the driver was severely over the top creating an out-to-in swing path resulting in a slicey fade or a low straight pull. There was definitely a slight out-to-in path but the revelation for me, and the main reason I don't make the most of my 107mph swing, was my strike. Another contributing factor was a 4 degree descending blow, but I couldn't get over how much effect my strike was having on the flight shape, trajectory and result! Nearly every single shot was from high on the face (right up near the crown!) and towards the heel. I tried teeing it up higher which only resulting in skying the shots into the roof and could not bring myself to lower the tee hight enough to get the centre of the face. I did manage to change my angle of attack to plus 1 degree but was still hitting the same place on the face with 17 degree launch and 45 yard peak hight! I use a 9.5 degree loft driver (Titleist 910 D3).
To get the ball out of the middle of the face I can see two options while using the same not too shabby swing. A: Tee it lower. I wasn't hitting the ground and could still hit up on the ball but not sure if the strike would then still be out of the heel. B: Grip down an inch on the club or cut the shaft down an inch. This should move the strike area into the middle of the face providing I keep the same swing.
I didn't think about option B while I was at Foresight Sports and had already broken 2 unbreakable tees so wasn't feeling inclined to try to tee it really low so I'll try it next time I'm at golf (Saturday's comp and Pyle and Kenfig). 
The data from the 8 iron with the dots was interesting. Not sure what to do with this nugget of info or exactly what it means, but at impact my lie angle was 4 to 6 degrees toe-down. At the moment, I'm going to ignore that one. The shots weren't good shots and I forgot to re-check it later when I was hitting it really well, but it could mean a couple of things. The most obvious being that the lie angle of the club was wrong for me. The less obvious option that I could think of was that it was showing a swing fault such as early extension and the compensations I was making to hit the ball. As I said, they weren't good shots at all.
Anyway, all this info has the potential to blow my mind.......but I loved it.
The simulated holes were also fantastic! We played 3 holes of the Brabazon at the Belfry and the results seemed incredibly realistic and put me in the exact types of trouble I normally end up in! Chipping, pitching and putting was amazing. Other simulators I had tried failed dismally with these shots but the GC2 was awesome! You just had to visualize a shot of the distance and type that you needed to play rather than totally relying on what you could see on the screen. The only putts that were difficult and slightly unrealistic were under 2-3 feet but you can switch gimme's on at any length to deal with that or just hit the short ones harder.
Neal (@nealstock) did a great job of showing me around the GC2 HMT and I am definitely going to organise a few sessions with a PGA Pro to get my distances sorted and also suss out my strike.
If you get a chance, go and find someone with the GC2 HMT, it's amazing!
Now to get back to work on sorting out my other project.

Wedge Dilemma and a day trip to Simulator and measurement heaven!

I have been playing 3 MD forged wedges since starting at Coed-y-Mwswr golf club (60, 56 and 52) and when I moved to Pyle and Kenfig I found that I needed to keep both my 2-hybrid and the 3-iron so one of the wedges had to go. The wedge that I got along with the least was the 52 degree gap wedge so it went into the garage (rapidly becoming the retired club storage unit!). Just before my birthday this year I had been finding myself around 100 yards from the pin way too often to not have a club suited to that distance and I wasn't confident standing over an easy pitching wedge because it often induced a shank! So after some deliberation I chose to purchase 2 Titleist Voket SM5 wedges. I wanted the 58.04 with T grind and the 52.08 with the F grind. Titleist didn't offer the T grind with the 58 (only available on the 62) so I went for the L grind which is similar although doesn't lay as flat.
They are really nice wedges and I hit them really well, I just miss being able to play a flop shot from the tight lies around the edges of our greens over the nasty bunkers. I couldn't really do that shot with the MD wedges as the bounce was a bit chunky but I have a cheapo 60degree wedge that I use  for practice in the yard that I can flop all over the place.
So today I decided to take to my MD wedges with a sanding belt using the cheapo 60 as a bit of a guide. After testing for feel and playability in the backyard I think I might have cracked it and will give it a go next time I play.
I also attacked the 56 sandwedge as I don't have any trouble playing the 58 from the bunkers and modelled the bounce and grind on the Vokey. It plays really nicely from the grass and dirt in my backyard and hopefully performs in the sand well too.
I have been loathed to hit my Mizuno MP650 3-wood lately so I might just drop that from the bag and play 4 wedges (including the PW). 3 wood for sale, hardly used!
I'm not stressing about the wedges, but hopefully I can figure out a solution soon. At least I've got choices now.
Tomorrow I am heading to Foresight sports, the home of GC2 launch monitors in the UK. I am looking at their simulators for another project I am trying to get going. Really looking forward to seeing them first hand and testing them out. I wonder if knowing my carry distances will have a big effect on my game? DUH!

Round 2; League to Dubai 2014

Back to the old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr for the second instalment of the 2014 League to Dubai group games. I wasn’t feeling too bad about my game and was pretty happy to be back at the Coed on a beautiful Summer day. The course looked fantastic even though the greens had been scarified that morning. The rough was very healthy!

Dayne Bossano was my opponent for this game and he had won his first two games by pretty healthy margins and we were both playing off ¾’s of twelve receiving 9 shots which meant that the first hole was a ‘no-shot’ hole. Dayne was away first and split the fairway with a nice drive. I hit quite a nice drive slightly left that bounded into the deep rough just left of the fairway never to be seen again resulting in no score (Blob count #1). Dayne hit the greenside bunker and managed to get out and 2-putt for an opening point. 1 behind, not too bad.

The 212 yard par3 was next and Dayne’s trusty 7-wood came up just short of the green and I chose to hit my hybrid with short being the preferred miss to being long. I scuffed it straight and just about made it half way. Bum. Easy pitching wedge was the order for the next shot aimed directly at the flag. Hit it slightly less easy than I wanted and went through the green and got hung up on the bank leaving a difficult chip with up and down required for a point. Dayne fluffed his first chip and then stiffed his second leaving a tap-in for a point. My chip was short and the tricky downhill putt missed. (Blob count #2)

The 3^rd hole can almost be driven with a really good whack over the deep rough across the dogleg and over 2 bunkers. I decided to leave my driver in my bag and walked to the tee with my 3iron. Dayne and I both decided to aim for the plateau on the corner of the dogleg and Dayne’s shot just leaked right into the rough behind a tree and I finally hit a solid tee shot and found position A 150 yards from the centre of the green. Dayne’s ball had buried itself in the grass and left a glimmer of hope for Dayne to advance it to the fairway which Mr Magician duly obliged and popped it out just running through the fairway into the semi. I aimed at the centre of the green with my 9iron and hit a nice shot that just got pushed by the breeze to the back right corner of the green. A GREEN IN REGULATION! Dayne just went through the green on the left but at least he was on the right side of the tiered green. My first putt had to climb it’s way up and across a steep tier while also needing to stay up on top. The pin was right on the edge of the cliff and I made it to the top tier but was 5 feet away from the hole. I took 2 more putts to find the bottom of the hole but still I HAD MY FIRST POINTS! With 2 points for the bogey on our first ‘shot hole’. Dayne hit a nice chip from the back and his putting let him down giving him a single point for his 6^th shot.

150 yards over a small lake for the downhill par3 4^th hole and it was my honour. 9 iron again as I would rather be long than short and I left the face slightly open through impact fading off to the right of the green which increased the carry distance to clear the water. Just made it over and the little bugger scurried back into the hazard. Dayne hit the green on a similar line to my shot and left himself a long putt for his second shot which was a lot better than my penalty drop for my second shot leaving me a difficult flop to a small target carrying almost the entire water hazard. I played it pretty well although a little right (must have been scared of the water) and was left with a 15 foot putt for a point. Good putt. Just missed. (Blob count #3). Dayne managed to 3 putt for another point and our scores where an almighty 4 vs 2! Inspired golf!

Dayne hit a great shot just right of the fairway on the par4 5^th which turns left around the ancient walled garden and my first drive was a snap-hook left into the tree/wall/rough never to be seen again. My second tee shot was a stonker that just ran through the fairway at the dogleg and hid behind a tree. Dayne’s approach was on the dance floor leaving himself 2 putts for 3 more points which he gathered up and popped in his piggy-bank. I chipped a 5iron from 110 yards hoping to run the ball onto the green and just fell off the left edge towards the back of the green and still had a chance to get up and down for a point. I hit a nice chip the right distance but ended up 6 feet from the pin to the side and just missed the putt. Sigh (Blob count #4).

The 6^th hole is driveable but requires a draw. I wasn’t feeling a draw today so chose to poke a 3 iron to the corner. Dayne went with the big stick and pushed it a little to be on the corner as well. I chose my sand wedge for the 100 yard flick to the centre of the green and left myself pin high with about 30 feet for birdie and Dayne had about 31 feet. 6 feet left for Dayne and my birdie attempt just missed leaving me a simple tap in for par and doubled my points tally to a mahoosive 4! Dayne rolled his par putt in and we were 1/3 of the way through with 4 points to me and Dayne had 9.

7wood down the left of the fairway for Dayne and a 3iron in the left semi for me on the difficult par4 7^th hole. I had never seen anyone hit their approach shot short into the steep bank and bound up the hill and onto the green before........ until today as that is what Dayne did. Golf is a funny game. I hit a really nice 9 iron to the left of the pin which bounded through the green and perched on the steep bank at the back leaving a difficult chip to a tight pin. Dayne putted all the way across the green and a couple of nervy putts later had a point for his double bogey 6. My third shot was a duffed chip which fell down the bank. 4^th was a reasonable putt leaving about 2 feet for a tap in bogey. I missed that one and the next one for yet another blob. Grrrr. (Blob count #5).

150 yards again on the tricky par3 8^th hole and Dayne used the members route to the putting surface up the left and down the bank. I slid under a 9iron and missed the green short and right (don’t do that yourself when you play there!) and had to chip onto the small green perched on the second storey roof. I managed to get up and just rolled off the back of the green leaving a simple 2-putt for a point. I missed the 2 footer back towards the hole after just missing the par put and Dayne made simple work of his 2-putt for par. (Blob count #6)

Another tricky dogleg par4 with danger every where is the 9^th hole. You don’t want to out of bounds left down the entire length of the hole. You don’t want to hit it in the pond on the corner. You don’t want to go through the fairway passed the pond, more out of bounds and thick rough under the trees. It is almost easier to have a go at driving the green except the green staff are very good at growing extremely looong rough and it isn’t far from the fairway or green. Discretion rather than valour for both of us and we flirted with the corner a little bit but found the fairway (me with a drawing 6iron) and semi (Dayne with his trusty 7 wood). Dayne was hoping to run his ball down the slope in front of the green and just came up short and my easy pitching wedge came off the hosel and shot into the tiger rough on the right of the green. We were being called through so the boys watching were able to point out my ball in the 4 foot high grass. I’d have rathered not be able to find it. I wasn’t within 2 club lengths for an unplayable drop and I’d have had to have gone 250 yards to the 14^th fairway for a line of sight drop so I had two swings at the ball and picked it up. Unplayable drop twice might have been an option, but I didn’t think of that at the time (Blob count #7 from 9 holes!!!!! O.M.F.G.Y.H.T.B.K.M!) Dayne collected 2 more points to get his total for the front nine to 14 points compared to my 4. Surprisingly, I wasn’t actually that angry and just nonchalantly carried on.

RESET.

A new 9 starts on the long 10^th hole into the breeze. Dayne hit a great drive to the fairway and I unleashed a pearler of a drive 300 yards down the middle leaving myself 135 yards to the green. Dayne’s approach with his 7 wood was a little right and my pitching wedge was pin high and just rolled off the green leaving a makeable birdie putt. That putt just missed but an easy 3 point par and I had nearly doubled my points tally! I also got 2 points from my 10 point deficit as Dayne could only manage a 6 from the tricky spot his 7 wood left him.

I finally had the honour again on the long par3 11^th hole and squiffed a 5iron into the greenside bunker. Dayne’s 7 wood must be wearing out because he hits it everywhere! He followed me right and just missed the bunker leaving one of those pitches we all need Phil or Seve for. I left myself a bit too much on the putt from my bunker shot to get up and down but 2 points for the bogey was gratefully received. Dayne made it over the bunker and had a difficult 2-putt for the same points and made it.

Still into the little breeze for the par4 12^th hole and I hit a slightly toey drive straight up the middle leaving 135 yards uphill and into the breeze for my second. Dayne’s 7 wood went just through the green and I was short and in the greenside bunker. No sand save for me on this hole either as I left myself 15 feet for par and just missed. Dayne gifted me a points gap reduction by missing a short bogey putt and only collecting 1 point to take his total to 18 and mine had shot to 11. 3 down, 7 to go.

Back down breeze for the 525 yard par5 13^th hole and parched in the middle of the fairway 246 yards from the pin was my drive while Dayne found the right semi. 7wood to the left of the massive tree for Dayne and an ‘almost topped’ hybrid to the base of the same tree for me. I should have hit the 3iron. Dayne squeezed his shot under the tree to the front of the green and I was ready to chip out with my 7 iron. I walked up to the ball and my inner Seve convinced me that I could punch and slice the ball around the tree to the green. I saw the shot vividly in my head and had a crack. It cracked just off the edge of the tree and into the Tiger rough to my left never to be seen again. No shot received on the 13^th so replacing the ball and chipping out with my 5^th shot would have been a waste of time. (Blob count #8). Dayne must have been feeling some tension now as it took him 3 shots to get down from the edge of the green and he only clawed one point back. Disappointing hole and back to an 8 point gap.

The par4 14^th hole has often been a card wrecker for me but I didn’t have a card to wreck to I followed Dayne’s fairway finder with a nice drive into the left semi-rough 110 yards from the raised green. Dayne hit the green with his approach and bounded through into the rough leaving a tricky chip. I just missed the green to the right and had a simple chip for an up and down par and 2 more points compared to Dayne’s single point after a not-so-special chip and two putts.

I must have hit my drive on the par5 15^th hole right out of the bottom of the face as the ball just sort of tumbled onto and up the centre of the fairway while Dayne hit his worst drive of the round with a slice near the 16^th green. A bit of rough hopping for Dayne resulted in a hard-fought 7 for a single point. I hit the green in regulation after a really nice 3 iron followed by a pretty good sand wedge which then rolled back off the green to un-hit it still leaving me with a birdie chance for 4 points. I had a good go at it and just missed. Par (Nett birdie) for 3 points was not to be sneezed at though, I just needed more if I was to have any chance of getting back to Dubai this year. Still there were 3 holes to go and I was now only 5 points behind.

The 16^th is driveable on a really good day with a decent tailwind and I chose to hit a 3iron to the fairway and leave myself a full shot to the green. Dayne missed the fairway but still had a decent shot at the green and rolled through with his approach but stayed in the fringe grass. My approach was beautiful. PW straight at the pin, pitched on the green and ran through, up the green and through the fringe into the light rough. A tentative chip left me a very tricky downhill/sidehill putt for par which just burned the edge leaving me a tap in for bogey and 1 point. Same result for Dayne after his second putt also burned the edge of the hole. I now needed 2 birdies and for Dayne to not score for me to win the game. Not likely, but you have to keep trying!

My 7iron from 152 yards uphill and into the slight breeze came up just short (surprise!) and Dayne leaked his shot right and into the rough followed by a lovely chip to 5 feet. I had to chip in. It was close but not to be and a tap in par for 2 points was all I could do. Dayne’s bogey for 1 point left me needing an eagle to win and a birdie to tie providing the man who had not blobbed a single hole all day, blobbed the last.

I walked to the 18^th tee with my driver and only 1 ball. There was no need to take a second ball as this drive needed to be my best and it was! Over the tree on the corner and sitting proudly on the fairway 135 yards from the centre of the green. I loved that drive! Dayne also found the fairway and left himself 7wood distance from the green. He hit a lovely shot which just went left and short while my attempt at an eagle was on the green, but not in the hole, about 20 feet away. Dayne almost got up and down for a par and tapped in for a 2point bogey. My birdie attempt was close again but in the end I had to settle for a 3 point par and my second loss. 4 on the front and 18 on the back left my 22 points floundering (8 BLOBS!!!) against Dayne’s 14 out and 11 back 25 point tally and the win. 

You can’t really expect to win after a front nine like I played today and a massive congrats to Dayne who is now well on his way to the regional finals in Newbury at the MacDonald Donnington Grove. Although both Paul and Wayne can still get there with wins in their final games providing Dayne loses his last. That is one of the best things about this competition, you just don’t know until the league is complete!

I’ve got two home games at Pyle and Kenfig coming up next. Hopefully I can restore some pride after only playing half of each of my two first games.

Welsh Mid Amateur Golf at Machynys Golf Club

What a beautiful course!

I had a practice round on Wednesday and although I lost 7 balls, I really enjoyed the course. I had been told it was a 'bombers course' but found out that anything crooked was very costly. It was a beautiful day and I had great company playing with Nathan Hill-Haimes who was booked as Nathan Hines so I was half expecting a former Scottish International from Wagga Wagga to trundle onto the first tee! It was also very nice to be able to jump in the car after the round and be home in my own bed 45 minutes later!

The competition format was 36 holes to play on Thursday with a cut enabling 30-odd players to play a further 18 holes on Friday. I wasn't really expecting to qualify for Friday, but I was going to try my darndest! My group for Thursday consisted of Me, Colin Hogg from Machynys and Willem Van der Waal from Holland. Two top blokes who played in great spirit and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic conditions and top notch course.

Round 1 and I found the fairway on the first tee!! I made a few mistakes around the course but ended up carding a pretty respectable (in my eyes) score of 88 for a nett score of 76 against a CSS of 75. I was actually in the running for getting one of the Nett score places in the final round!

Round 2 was a very different story. 7 more lost balls and a score of 101 with 50 out and 51 back in. I actually started the second round with a par and was thinking it was going to be a great afternoon, then I started getting fast. I didn't notice it, but Willem pointed it out to me towards the end of the first round and I just kept getting faster and faster. I think my swing/arms were getting so fast that I was almost in the finish position as the club was getting to the ball (or the ground, or the rough, or nearly missing the ball!). In a nutshell, my timing was waaaay off and the pink mist well and truly set in.
In all this my bunker play and my putting helped me to keep things relatively 'together' as a humungous score was possibly on the cards (yes, worse than 101!).

I really did have a fantastic day and want to say a massive thanks to Jason Morris for setting up the Mid Amateur Golf Tour. Also huge thanks to Machynys for the outstanding facilities and for the effort they put into the course, it really was outstanding. I wish I had taken some pictures. I carried the video camera around with me for 36 holes and didn't touch it.



I got beaten to a pulp on Saturday by P & K and it's ridiculous rough. I know it was my fault for going in it, but the tension crept back in (only took two holes!) and the speedy Gonzales swing was back with mis-hits galore, more lost balls and 99 shots for 21 stableford points. 

I have GOT to figure out a way to keep my relaxed range swing all the way through a round. Something to concentrate on next time I'm out.

I've got my first Nike Matchplay (Formerly Volvo Matchplay) game on Sunday at home followed by my second League to Dubai game on Monday at my old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr. Hope I can figure it out by then because my good swing is pretty bloody good!

Ganton Mid Amateur Golf. With a couple of vids!

I’ve been struggling with how to go about writing about my experience of the Mid Amateur tour at Ganton. I started writing about 36 individual holes and thought you might struggle to read it all so here is a truncated version!

It was an epic day. I had planned on doing a bit of a video log of the day but only managed to get a tiny bit of footage and then I ran out of steam, it was a long day.

I left the house at 8pm Thursday and got back home at midnight on Friday. Scarborough is quite a long way away from Bridgend in Wales.

The course was awesome! It can bite you pretty hard though and the rough was very long and luscious. If you don’t like bunkers, you might be a bit intimidated. They had been breeding them on the course. Even if you do like bunkers, these ones would test your sand-play ability to its limit! They were seriously deep and very well placed around the course. The killer for me was the rough and the gorse. I drove the ball very well by my standards on the whole for the 36 hole competition, but when I was off line, I was severely punished! I ruined what would have been a belter of a round in round 2 with 8 on the 7^th and 9 on the 9^th! I followed them up with 41 on the tougher back 9 to finish the round.

I was pretty pleased with how I played overall. Round 1 I shot 44 out and 46 back for 90 gross and 78 nett and after a pretty yummy lunch in the quite spectacular clubhouse, I shot 51 out and 41 back for 92 gross and 80 nett with a grand total 182 gross, 158 nett.

I had the pleasure of Stuart Basford and Brendan Sparks company for the two rounds and had a fantastic day. Stuarts ability to get up and down from short of the green was something to behold.

Things that stand out from the fantastic day for me were the amazing bunkers, the linksyness of the course and the general condition. It was a fantastic course and well worth the 11 hours drive and the entry fee.

Here are the very short videos I took from the day. I’ll try to do a better video log in the future.

Next up is the Welsh Mid Amateur at Machynys golf club near Llanelli. Can’t wait for that one!!