Turkey Shoot Tournament, or How to Play Golf in Shorts in 40 Degree Weather

I was having lunch at the course on Friday and saw that they were having a tournament on Saturday morning. I hadn't planned on playing too much in November, but I've talked myself into it every weekend. I stopped by the pro shop and signed up. Neither Sean nor Joe could join me (and I didn't think about asking Jean-Marc until too late on Friday night). The weather was supposed to be between 40 and 45 degrees with wind up to 12mph; that sounds like shorts weather to me!

I brought pants with me Saturday morning, but left them in my locker when I changed my shoes and went upstairs to breakfast. David, the membership director, saw me as I walked into the dining room and said, “You're the second one that I've seen in shorts this morning.”

That was one more than I expected. I found a plate and got some eggs, bacon, tater tots, and a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant sandwich along with some OJ and coffee. This is way more than I usually eat before playing; usually, it's just coffee.

I skipped the range and just stretched out by swinging a few irons by the practice green. I would have had plenty of time since we didn't start on time, but I just hit a few putts to remind myself how fast these greens are. I have only been a member at Shackamaxon since September and the greens have been fast and in phenomenal shape. I ran into about 10 other guys who echoed David's sentiments about my shorts.

I met two of the other guys on my tournament team, Jerry and John. We got hooked up with Jay, who is the newest pro at the club, for the first two holes and then Michael drove out and joined us for the rest of the round. The format was to take the one best net score on hole 1, the two best nets on hole 2, and the three best nets on hole 3. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the holes. Jerry, John, and I were all 14-15s and I think Michael was a 5. I think it would have been good to have somebody in the 20s to make a par/net eagle or bogey/net birdie from time to time.

We managed a 68-68 for 136 and I had an 88 (net par 71) and contributed a lot. This was a new format for me since the only team events that I've played have been scrambles or shambles. Scrambles are fun since you can just bomb drives and go flag hunting once you have a ball that's safe, but I still really like to play my own ball.

I was driving the ball really well until they wanted to change up the order on the tee and I ended up going first. That just sparked a disaster as I'm much more comfortable going last, competitive round or not. Thankfully, that was only for three of the last five holes; big slice, OB into somebody's back yard, bombed my hybrid over the green as the wind stopped blowing.

My short game was on, especially from inside 100-110 yards. Unfortunately, I couldn't make a putt to save my life. I must have missed a half dozen 4-5 footers, including scuffing my first putt from about ten feet on #9 (our 17^th hole in the shotgun start) and that led to a three-putt. Yes, ouch is right.

One interesting point was when I hopped out of the cart after we got back to the clubhouse. Jay had left us and Michael had decided to walk and use one of the caddies by that point. I tried to carry my bag as we walked down the first fairway, but somebody from the club stopped me and said that I wasn't allowed to carry it myself. I guess that's just for outings/events since I've carried every other time that I've played there.

I'm certainly not a country club guy so I'm still learning how this works. Malcolm was very nice, but it took me a few holes to get used to it and being called sir. Personal service makes me a little uneasy since I'm used to being pretty self-sufficient. I've already told a couple of the guys to please call me Brian, I'm not a Mr. anything (although it did make me feel good after I thought about it yesterday).

There was wine and cheese in the lobby afterwards, although we grabbed a sandwich in the grill room while we waited for the winners to be announced. Our 136 was good enough for 7^th out of 16 teams and Jerry won the prize for closest to the pin on #8 with 7'6”. I'm taking credit for part of that since we decided it was playing about 200 yards and that was the hole where I flew the green with my hybrid. The other three guys all ran for their bags to go down a club after we saw my ball land.

I'll detail the course over the winter or when I get back out in the spring, but my best hole was #12 (our second of the day). It's a 470 yard par 5 with a stream about 40 yards out. My drive got hung up in the wind and I hit my hybrid from 240 to lay up short of the stream. I'm still subscribing to the theory of get the ball as close as you can until I know I'm more consistent from 100 yards (or some other layup distance). My second shot just cleared a bunker and rolled in the fairway to about 60 yards. I hit a ¾ sand wedge 20 feet left, but pin high. I rolled my putt with the break and it finished just below the hole. Tap in for par/net birdie and I was feeling like it was going to be a good day.

Round recap: 44-44=88 (net par 71); six pars (three in a row to start!), eight bogeys, three doubles, and one (dreaded) other; no one-putts. I think starting off with a drive right down the middle and a par on the first hole got rid of my nerves for the day. My putting turned out to be horrendous and I think it cost me a minimun of three strokes.

Next: I think we have a half-day on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so I may stop by the range if nobody wants to do anything and it's not raining. I'm playing in a par 3 scramble at Iron Valley in PA on Black Friday (forecast: 37F and partly cloudy). Yes, I'm bringing pants.

Your Scorecard Shouldn't Look Like a Toll-free Phone Number, or How Not to Start a Round of Golf

I booked a tee time last Thursday after I saw that the weather on Sunday was supposed to be around 60 degrees. I knew I wouldn't mind missing the first half of the Jets game (and I should have played an extra nine so that I would miss the entire game). I made the short drive up the Parkway to Kenilworth and rolled into Galloping Hill.

Galloping Hill is one of the two courses in Union County and I went there instead of Ash Brook which is about 5 minutes from my apartment. In case you haven't been to Galloping Hill recently, they have renovated both the course and the two-room clubhouse. It's now a giant clubhouse and conference center. They added a nice restaurant and are clearly looking to host wedding receptions, based on the decorations inside. The NJ State Golf Association is supposedly moving their headquarters to Galloping Hill at the end of the year. The 2016 NJ State Open will also be held onsite and they have started construction to lengthen the course. I'm interested to see if they make any changes to the 3rd and 5th holes. They are keeping 18 holes open throughout the construction and we played the Learning Center 9 and the back nine of the main course. Tees were moved forward a bit on most of the holes, although I played the more normal blue tees on the three holes where the blue and whites were separated.

The starter hooked me up with Hank, Claude, and Ben (I felt like I had played with Ben before, but wasn't positive) and we went off at 9:51. I had been able to stretch, but I didn't hit any balls or even make any putts since the practice green is nowhere near the clubhouse or first tee box. I pulled out driver on #1 (288 yds). The fairway goes down and back up to the green, which is relatively even with the tee box. I sliced my tee shot off to the right and landed just in front of a pile of leaves. My second shot is looking up the hill, but staying below the tree branches. Or I could pitch sideways back to the fairway and then have a simple shot to the green.

I took the Double Dare physical challenge and failed..twice. My third shot rebounded off a branch and rolled to a stop just off the fairway. I hit my fourth fat and dumped it into the front greenside bunker. It's only the first hole and my heart is already pounding with embarrassment. This is a fine recipe for hitting a horrible shot and leaving it in the sand. Up and down from there for an 8 (+4, +4 overall). Awesome start.

I focused too much on turning my hands over on the second tee shot and smothered it into the piles of leaves, never to be seen again. Hitting three and then up the hill to just off the green. Up and almost down as my putt hangs over the edge of the cup. I waited 10 seconds and gravity doesn't feel like helping me out. (+3, +7).

#3 continues the mirroring of the main course with a pond to the right of the landing area. Fast-forward to taking a drop, chunking it from the wet area, and carding another 7 (+3, +10).

I started to wish for some regression to the mean around this point and was deciding on how long I should wait until I take the flask out of my bag. #4 is normally 242 yards with a dogleg left near the green. I don't own a draw and there are too many trees to hit a fade. Luckily, this was one of the temporary greens and the hole was straight and about 200 yards. I hit a pull with my 19º hybrid and angled it off a tree to within about 10 yards...just as I had planned. I was putting from the fairway and almost sink it for eagle. Tap in for birdie (-1, +9).

The fifth is a short, non-descript, slightly uphill par 3 with a green that is wider than it is deep. #6 is 305 yards with a stream around 200 yards out and then the hole bends to the right towards the green. Perfect for today's shot shape. I have 70 yards to go and hit a sand wedge to about 12 feet. The birdie putt ran right by the edge of the hole, but I made the next for par. The greens were very sandy, but rolling well and fast and I was very happy with my putting; this is as much in comparison to the rest of my play as my recent month or two of putting.

#7 is a par 3 (around 135 yds) with a pretty large elevated green. I was about a foot off the front with the flag towards the middle and made a nice par save. #8 was about 50 yards shorter than normal (240 today). I lose my 3wood off to the right near the tee box on #9. I was walking so I made the efficient choice to drop my bag and just carry my wedge and putter from there. I broke my par streak and finished the front 9 with a double, courtesy of a fat 7 iron off the tee and pitching over the water and green to the bunker.

Front 9 (par 33): 45 (+12), 14 putts

I hopped in the cart with Hank to get up the hill and past the clubhouse to #10. Ben and Claude ran inside for a minute and Hank and I talked about not putting our drives onto the Parkway that runs south past the trees to the right of the fairway. I managed to curve a drive down the middle of the dogleg right and hit my 50º gap wedge to 10 feet. My putt slid about 4 feet past the hole and I made the mistake of not marking and cleaning the ball after it's picked up sand on the green. Three-putt bogey and I'm annoyed with myself for playing too fast. Sometimes I feel people waiting behind me, even when they're not there. It's a flashback to when I was really bad and I have to stop doing that in 2014.

#11 has one of the more difficult greens on the back side. I struck my 7 iron very well and it rolled through the green to the collar. A difficult second shot with the hole cut in the back and the green running back towards the front. I couldn't quite keep it close enough to one-putt so that's a second bogey on the back. Still better than the start to the front side!

#12 is the first of the holes where the blue and white tee boxes are split. I headed to the blues where there is a carry over a marsh to the fairway.  My ball rolled off to the right and just avoided the long fairway bunker. About 130 to the front and another 5 on. I had a fluffy lie and would much rather be short than long so I take my pitching wedge and left it short. A good chip and my putt goes around the hole about 450 degrees before dropping to the bottom.

#13 is a big dogleg left with more marsh on the far side of the dogleg. The smart choice is to hit something safe and straight near the 150 post, but I aimed way left and totally cut the dogleg. I hear Claude say "Oh, he's aiming wayyy left" and I made the best contact of the day with my driver. The ball flew high over the trees and faded into the middle of the fairway about 110 yards out. I pulled my gap wedge a little left of the green (which is my standard miss on this hole). I grabbed my lob wedge and hit it high out of the soft grass. Claude says, "Haven't I seen you on TV?" I enjoyed playing with these guys and I needed this hole to make me feel good.

#14 has a strange design.  There is OB and houses on the right with the fairway running uphill and then slightly downhill from 150 to 110 and then you're hitting your second (hopefully) blindly over and down another hill to the green. This is the one hole where I like having somebody in a cart so they can quickly see if the green is clear. I hit a second solid drive in a row and got the roll to the bottom of the first small valley. This green runs severely from back to front and from right to left. I had a 9i, but went down to PW and didn't swing hard enough. Short again with a chip up and one putt for 3 pars in a row.

#15 is a straightforward par 3 and I straightforwardly pulled my iron to the left and had to come back up the hill. I didn't follow through and left my ball on the side of the hill. Decent chip, but just missed the putt and wrote down a 5. There were a bunch of large trees with Xs spray painted on them so you can see that they'll be clearing room to the right and rear of the green.

#16 is a straight par 4 with another temporary (and muddy) green. Reasonably standard par.

#17 is a par 4 with a bunker in the middle of the fairway about 30 yards from the green. The white tee was 228 and the blue was 260. I didn't make a spectacular strike and just got the ball to the right of the bunker. This is another impossible green if you're not below the hole. My pitch stopped hole high and 8 feet to the right. I couldn't quite curl it in for birdie and we headed off to #18.

Our third hole with separate tees left me 505 yards with another carry over more marsh grass. I got it out there about 260 and catch up with the guys on the whites that are 130 yards ahead and on the other side of the grass. I tried to fade my 3 wood up the hill and it caught the bunker to the left of the green. I had about 25 yards, slightly uphill to the hole, and made a good bunker shot. I skimmed the birdie putt by the hole and made the return to finish with three straight pars.

Back 9 (par 35): 39 (+4), 15 putts

Total (par 68): 84 (+16), 29 putts

I was happy with my putting and am getting compliments on my stroke again. My ball striking with the irons was also good, even though I left some of them a few yards short. My driving was much better on the back. I felt myself being a little freer. Like I mentioned on #10, I need to get my head to turn off and relax a little more.   

Allow Me to Introduce Myself, or Hello Moose

Who I am:

My name is..it's not Hov, it's Brian. I'm a soon-to-be 34 year old (thank you to Mom and Dad for the wonderful Christmas Eve birthday) golf enthusiast living in north-central New Jersey. I work full-time as a chemist in the personal care industry and have started loving to play golf even more in 2013. I went out with my grandmother during the summers in junior high and high school and played a par 3 course. I may have hit the range with my wooden woods a few times in college, but I didn't play a full round and picked the game up again after graduating and getting a job. The cosmetics industry is a great field to get to know a lot of people through golf.

Where I've been:

I began again in 2001 with a RAM starter set-in-a-box and eventually graduated to a used set of Callaway X-14 irons. After my driver cracked, I got a TaylorMade R580xD and have used TaylorMade woods ever since (2008 Burner). I also stayed with Callaway irons when I traded in the X-14s for the Diablo Forged line. I liked them until I broke the 7-iron while trying to hit under a fence at Rutgers. I found a replacement club and then traded that set in for the Razr X Black series. I really like their look, except that they seem to only be painted black and a few of the faces are starting to scuff after a season of use. It's not a big deal, but I generally like to keep my belongings looking new. It certainly won't be affecting my game anytime soon though.

What's In My Bag:

TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 driver 9.5º (Rocketfuel 50g - stiff)

TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Tour TS 3 wood 13º (Rocketfuel 70g - stiff)

TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 3H 19º (Rocketfuel 65g - stiff)

Callaway Razr X Black irons 4-PW (True Temper M-10 XP - uniflex)

Callaway Forged 50º/10º bounce gap wedge (TrueTemper Dynamic Gold)

Callaway Forged 56º /11º bounce sand wedge (TrueTemper Dynamic Gold)

Maxfli Black Max 60º /10º bounce lob wedge

Odyssey Divine Line 2-ball 33” (Winn Jumbo Lite Excel grip)

Balls – TaylorMade TP Red LDP, Bridgestone e6

 

I'm going to test some TaylorMade Penta TP5, Bridgestone B330 S, and Srixon Z Star XV balls next season. I've made a lot of changes and improvement to my game, my swing, and my bag in the past year so I'm still looking for the best ball for me.

I'm excited about the adjustability of the woods and also with the gap wedge that I added towards the end of the season. My Burner driver was a regular flex with 10.5º and I had gotten tired of hitting sky balls so I stopped by Golf Galaxy on the way home from playing Colts Neck one afternoon. I hit balls for almost an hour and a half with about ten different drivers and finally decided to get the Stage 2 and go down a degree of loft. The sole plate on the R1 was just a little more than I wanted to think about on the course since it's generally hard to turn my brain off anyway. My swing speed was about 105, even after walking and carrying 18 holes and a 30 minute drive, so I got the stiff shaft. I am loving the new setup when I'm making good face contact!

Where I am:

I've played just over fifty times in 2013. I carded my three best scores this summer (82 at Ash Brook, 83 at Meadows, and 86 at Colts Neck) and I finished the 2013 NJ season with an index of 14.5; a hefty improvement from 20.3, the high water mark of 2013, and 16.6 at the end of 2012. I played 27 different courses this year, but that number should decrease in 2014 since I joined a club (Shackamaxon CC) in September. I'm sure you'll be able to find me on a regular basis there once the weather gets warmer and there is more daylight after work. Until then, it's going to be a lot of putting and chipping and hitting half-swing wiffle balls in the living room during the winter.

What's next:

I'm looking forward to consistent warm weather again. I will get out and play on seasonable days during the winter (I'll be the idiot wearing shorts) because I don't think I'll be able to go three months without a round. I'm stubborn and have never taken a lesson, but I really need to next year (I mean it this time!) because I really want to be more consistent. I know improvement is generally a matter of diminishing returns as you get better, but my goals are to break 80 in 2014 and have a single digit index by the end of 2015.

I also need to get myself back to a regular routine in the gym this winter in order to get better on the course. I'm still 33, 6'3 (but only weigh 165..yeah, I'm a skinny guy), and have played some sport for basically my entire life (Little League, Ultimate Frisbee, softball – slo and fastpitch, volleyball, lacrosse). I know I'll regret wasting the amount of athletic ability that I have if I don't make my body better and stronger.

I'll be messing around with the design and content over the winter so if anybody is actually reading this, please feel free to say hi and comment on whatever you like, on-topic or off.

Mr. Moose and I would like to say thanks to oobgolf and legitimategolf.com for giving me the idea for my new golf blog.