Hole 17 today at Ocotillo Golf Club. I pulled my drive left and it managed to creep out of the fairway bunker, leaving me with a very awkward narly rough lie. Had 112 yards to the front pin location with a big ass bunker just to the right of the front of the green. I max out my 54° wedge, looks like it will be short but ends up a little under 5 feet from the cup. I really enjoy the feeling of a great recovery shot. I proceeded to miss the short birdie putt. I did however make up for it by dropping a 30ft bomb on 18 for birdie! The last 2 holes were very fun today.
Best Shot of the Round
Had 1 birdie yesterday on #5. Hit a perfect drive up the hill, was in between PW & GW to a front pin and I clubbed up, but didn't commit. Thinned the PW to the very back of the green. I did this a few weeks ago and it leaves you a good 60 ft putt downhill breaking a good 15 feet right to left. I 3-putted last time, but it just took 1 putt yesterday lol. No skin though.
The final hole is a tough 380-yard par 4 with water all along the left, and the green is tucked behind the water. I'm not a long hitter so instead of going for the green on my second shot I'll usually play a shot that'll end up to the right of the green and hope for an up-and-down. Today I smoked hybrid that had a tight little draw (unintentional) that curved around the water and ended up on the right side of the green. Two putts later, I had a par on a hole where I usually take a bogey. It was a satisfying finish after a rather disappointing round.
4 days later
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My best shot of the round was a 35 foot birdie putt on a par-three. It's a two-tiered green and the pin was on the upper level. I hit a pretty good tee shot, but the wind pushed the ball left onto the lower tier. I was faced with a 35-footer, up a sharp rise, but then there was a drop-off after the hole. I had to hit it hard enough to get up the rise, but not too hard and have it roll way past the hole. And I nailed it!! The ball died right at the hole and dropped for the birdie!!
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Yesterday it had to be my up and down on the 427 yard , par 4 17th.
Hit a good drive and had 155 in to a back right pin, but off a slight downhill lie so hit the turf behind which closed my face and pulled the shot into the front left bunker. Very deep bunker with the green elevated about 12 feet above the base where my ball sat. Pin was on opposite side of green and it was uphill shot 17yards. Spalshed the ball to 8 feet past and made the slippery downhill putt for par
6 days later
I birdied the par 5 18th hole yesterday. Into a stiff wind I hit a good drive, and a good 3-wood. I was still about 150 out so I decided to hit a 5-hybrid. I hit it perfectly, and ended up about 4' from the hole . . . and . . . birdie!!
I had 2 fantastic shot in one round. Hole 3, drive was a bit short, in a little depression, I managed to skull it over the green on my 2nd shot. Found it in the rough, flopped it up onto the green and it just ran right down the sloped green and into the hole for par. 2nd par of the round. Hole 6, my drive managed to get a lucky bounce off the trees to the left and the ball ended up in the fairway. 80 yards to the pin, I didn't catch the ball clean and ended up short. 3rd shot I skull it over the green and it stops against the fence. 4th shot ends up short and the ball stops on the green. Downhill, left to right slider and I hit the center on the cup to save bogey from 25 feet. Still ended up 10 over....
Oh well, had fun!!
On the 18th hole I ended up in a green side bunker. It just so happened that there were about 6 or 8 of the grounds crew doing maintenance work on the bunkers at the time. I told them that I needed to get up and down for a par and a season best score. No pressure, right? So, with all of these guys watching, I hit my bunker shot to within 4' of the hole and made par. 
Came pretty close to acing the 16th hole yesterday. 133 yards, which is usually a 9 iron for me but I hit PW because it was downhill. I was wondering if PW would be enough club but I flushed it. Ball hit a few inches short of the hole and hopped a few inches left for a tap in. Gotta love it when the result matches how nice the shot felt! I posted a pic in the "what did you shoot today" thread.
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Hit a shit drive on #1 this morning that left me in some sloppy rough (it's been rainy and wet since Saturday). I had a clear, but blind shot towards the green and was just hoping to advance it straight and get close enough to try and get up & down. Hit my 6 hybrid straight over the hill and on a good line. When we crested the hill, I could see my ball resting 6" from the cup. Tap-in birdie to start the round, which ended with me at a 2 over par, 74. Some days, it just comes together.
11 days later
On a short par-3 I chunked my tee shot and barely made it over the water hazard. I couldn’t see where the ball ended up, but I knew I had cleared the water because I could hear the ball land on turf. I found my ball inside the red stakes, nestled in some long grass in the mud, but not in the water, and decided to try to get in on the green from there. I hit my wedge perfectly and the ball landed on the fringe and rolled up to the cup and stopped one revolution away from a birdie . . . a tap-in par.
a month later
Hole 18 yesterday. I hook my drive because I was trying to murder the ball so I could have a chance at birdie on the par 5. Ball ends up stymied 8 inches behind a gnarly tree trunk way left. I almost took an unplayable but at the last second, I decided to try a shot. Pulled out my desrt club, a Ping G10 7 iron and hit a left handed back of the club beautiful sclice that got me back to the fairway and 20 yards closer to the green. I sucked after that and made a double bogey. But that shot was great.
Mattyv Reminds me if a shot I hit years ago . Driveable par 4. Crappy drive trying to drive the green and put it in a grassy uphill bank of a bunker 40 yards short left of the green. I addressed the ball as a lefty, took the wedge and flipped it over so the toe was acting as the sole. Took a good swipe at it amd hit a nice high shot on the green
My most recent round, downhill par 3 sixth hole, I hit a weak push 8-iron that splashes into the lake in front of the green.
Take a one-stroke penalty, but opt to play my third shot from the tee box. Used the same club, but hit this one pure and right at the flag. It landed about 18 feet short of the flag and right on line, hopped and rolled up to about 3 feet. For a minute I thought it was going to go in for the most improbable par ever. But I was happy with a very short putt for bogey.
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Tradition to play all three days leading up to Turkey Day.....if I can. Looks like it will be doable, barely
Yesterday I played Washington County Golf Course, which is a fabulous prairie style (cough cough links style) course with nice elevation change sculpted fairways that are like carpet. It was windy and cold which provided for a true test. #12 is one of my favorite holes a leaner left to right with some big bunker complexes guarding the left side, semi blind tee shot, as you can see the fairway to a point until it rolls out, and potentially a semi blind approach if not up far enough up the fairway. Dead into it, 414y, I smashed driver to ~ 185y to the center of green,~ 170 to the front, pin is center/right on a bit of a shelf with the green running to the back just past the pin. This hole plays firm and everything tends to bound forward and run out, so a high approach with some spin is needed or landing short and running it on -although not an easy shot it's what the hole offers to most average golfers given it's length, and it's fairly narrow area to run it on. I hit a beautiful low stinger type 5di, that ran up to the hole and funneled to the back of the green off the slope. Had about ~ 25 feet right back up the hill. I read it breaking left but it stayed straight, 2 putt par.
It was one of those days where into it I was hitting driver ~ 225 ..... Down I hit one 314 and one 300. This course gives you that firm fairway bonus roll out like you see on the TV
