Golf Battle Report (Personal Best)

So today I played the best round of my life and wanted to share it and recap it. This was for an SCGA qualifier at Torrey Pines North for a Better Ball of Partners. My partner is a good friend I made a few months ago and we've been playing better balls for a while now. Let's get right into the action.

Hole 10 (we started on the back 9): 500y Par 5. Baby draw driver into the left rough, not a great lie so I took 6i and laid up to about 80 yards. Some headwind, so I played my 90 yard pitch with my 58. 2 putt par. (E)

Hole 11: 320y Par 4. There's a fairway bunker on the left that's about 270, so I lay up with a bullet 3w right at it, leaving 65y in. Another 58 pitch that hops over the pin. Drain the 18 footer for BIRDIE! (-1)

Hole 12: 152y Par 3. A little downwind and downhill, I took 8i but didn't fully commit to the swing and leaked it out right. A 30y pitch from the rough way up the hill, took my medicine and 2 putt for bogey. (E)

Hole 13: 400y Par 4. Piped another driver up the left hand side, just into the first cut but the ball was sitting up. About 140y left with a slight uphill lie. I took 9i just to carry it onto the green and let it release to the hole, leaving me with about 20 feet. 2 putts for par. (E)

Hole 14: 360y Par 4. Another piped driver up the left side on a dogleg left. Only 70y left with a downhill, headwind shot. I have a stock 70y 58 that I used just right of the pin and let the wind take it, one hop left and it rolled right back to the cup. Literally one rotation away from an eagle, but I tapped in for BIRDIE. (-1)

Hole 15: 162y Par 3. Super downhill, if anyone has seen pictures of Torrey North, this is the famous one. Strong crosswind from right-to-left that was ever so slightly into our faces, so I played a cut 7i to hold it against the wind. Thinned it a touch, but was left with a downhill 12 feet slider for birdie. Easy 2 putt for par. (-1)

Hole 16: 345y Par 4. Super uphill par 4 that definitely plays longer. I hard sliced my driver up onto the right hill, leaving me with a very awkward stance about 120y left. Ball was very much above my feet and slightly uphill shot, blind. I knew I could pull this shot off from experience of slicing it over here many times, so I choked down on a 9i and did my best Tiger lash out of the rough. Absolute beauty over the pin to 8 feet... that I left the putt short because I suck. 2 putt par. (-1)

Hole 17: 490y Par 5. Pushed a drive out into the right rough, but the grass was growing with the ball and I had about 220 left to a tucked front pin. Tried to muscle my 3i out but caught it a tad heavy. Left myself with 60y that I hit a touch firm. Long putt from 30 feet away that I ended up 3 putting for bogey. (E)

Hole 18: 330y Par 4 (shortened hole because of US Open preparations). Bullet 3w off the tee to set me up with 80y left. Actually was in a divot so I went after it a bit more, got it on the green, automatic 2 putt par. (E)

Hole 1: 260y Par 4 (shortened hole because of US Open preparations). Same thing, another bullet 3w to about 10y short of the green (I hate driver off this hole because I always spray it). Low 54 chip to about 7 feet, but pull the damn putt. Sad par. (E)

Hole 2: 410y Par 4 (welcome to the Undertow). Sliced driver to the right under a tree. Lie was actually pretty good in the rough, my feet were on the cart path but I didn't take relief because I felt like my lie would've gotten worse. 177y left to a front pin, I went with a nice 5i that got caught up in the left-to-right crosswind a little. Chunked the chip a little, left myself with what should've been a clean uphill 10 footer but pulled the putt again. Bogey. (+1)

Hole 3: 169y Par 3. Always a headwind on this hole, but the wind wasn't gusting too much so I went with my 5i. Hit a beauty, drew in right over the bunker to a tucked pin. Left myself another great look for birdie, another 8 footer. Pulled again. Sad par. (+1)

Hole 4: 416y Par 4. They could not have set up the tees any worse, its a huge dogleg left with bunkers guarding the corner. I aimed over them expecting another fade/slice, but nuked it right over the bunkers (almost hit the group in front). Let myself with about 165y with a crosswind. Choked down on a 6i but pulled it left. Another testy chip that I hit too hard to about 12 feet. Some bad putts, blew the first one by 4 feet, then pulled it coming back. Ugly 3 putt for a double. Ouch. (+3)

Hole 5: 483y Par 5. Steaming, tried too hard to kill it and another big slice over into the hardpan. Had like 250 or something left to a back pin location, didn't want to risk a 3w off such a tight lie so I just went with a 6i to get inside 100y. Caught it flushed, left myself with about 65y. Another 58 chip to about 10 feet for birdie. Didn't play enough break but good speed and I was happy walking away with par. (+3)

Hole 6: 389y Par 4. Bullet 3w after not being able to trust driver. Definitely don't want to get in trouble on this one with a front pin. Had about 152 left, didn't want this to go over the green so I choked up on a 7i. I thought it was a crosswind but it switched into a headwind right as I swung. Ballooned into the air and left it a good 5 yards short. 3-putted from there for bogey. (+4)

Hole 7: 290y Par 4. Driveable if you get a really good low draw. Pulled the drive unfortunately, no roll out from the rough so I had another 55y pitch. Played a great pitch over the bunker and used a big slope to get my ball to 4 feet from the pin for birdie. Finally hit a good putt and BIRDIED. (+3)

Hole 8: 162y Par 3. Pin tucked front right here. Downhill with crosswind right-to-left. Not great for my natural draw, but I aimed right at the flag stick with a 7i. Hit it nice, just drew it too much and hit the center of the green. Good miss. Left myself with a long 25 foot putt, that I hit an excellent lag to inches for a tap-in par. (+3)

Hole 9: 480y Par 5. Tried to go all out with this drive, knowing if I can just get it in play, a front pin means going after it with a 5/6i from the fairway. Sadly, sliced this one too (boy I gotta stop trying to kill it) and left myself with a really ugly 2nd shot. Deep rough, like a good 5 inches where I was, and had a big tree about 15y in front of me. I had to either punch out to about 170 left, or try for a hero hook around it. I went with the hero hook 5i around the tree (at this point I knew we needed a par/net birdie to win our flight). Chopped it out of the rough and left myself with 100y to a front pin from the right middle cut. This was a perfect 54 but I guess the pressure got to me and I thinned it over the green to an ugly downhill lie to a raised green. Did my best attempt to get the ball up, chunked it a little but it had enough energy to get through the rough and rolled onto the green. I had about 10 feet uphill to save par, just grazed the edge and walked away with bogey. (+4)

Overall, I played fantastic on the first 9, and very mediocre on the back 9. But the main goal was after that 3-putt double to never give up and just keep fighting. I told my partner we needed 5 straight net birdies to win it all, and we did it, with 4 net birdies and a real birdie. He was actually struggling very hard on the front, not even finishing 2 holes, but I knew he would turn it around on the back and carried us in, scoring net birdies on 4 of the last 5 holes.

Iron play was fantastic, scrambling/putting still needs a lot of work so I'll be back on the practice greens tomorrow. Also need to sometimes just keep driver back in the bag on some of these longer par 4s where I know my long iron play can still keep me in the hole. First time ever scoring even par on a 9, and 3 birdies to boot.

+ Show Spoiler [Grint scorecard + stats] +

+ Show Spoiler [Winning our flight] +

Golf Battle Report (Personal Best)

Completed

Ongoing

Upcoming