Anatomy of a Poor Round

Partnering with my friend Dan, I shot a disappointing 88 in our member/member tournament yesterday. I'd really prefer to forget about this round but I said I'm keeping it real here, so here goes.

Conditions: Windy, with strong gusts at times. During the round I let the wind psych me out a bit. It was indeed affecting my shots, but at times I overcompensated - selecting too little club downwind and too much club into the wind. The wind was affecting putts and I overcompensated there too - one of the reasons that I had six 3 putts.

Driving: My drives were generally straight and long. My bad shot recently has been a pull hook, and it did surface during the round - on the first tee, and again on eight, nine and sixteen. Three of the four mistakes cost me a shot.

Fairway woods/Long irons: I hit solid long irons on one, three, six and nine - only the four iron on three which went a little long led to a lost shot. I hit poor seven woods on four, five, sixteen and eighteen. Three of the four shots were hit on the heel - resulting in low pulls and leading to lost shots on each hole. My only solid seven wood came on seven - so solid that I flew the green leading to a double bogey. I had three, three wood shots. On nine I flared the shot to the right from a tough lie. Hit a good shot on fourteen, and hit a thinned low liner on seventeen. None of the three wood shots led to lost shots though.

Mid/Short irons: Nice shots on two, four, thirteen and fifeteen. Three consistent mistakes - slight pulls on eleven, twelve and fourteen. Only one flub - a chunk on ten. This shot and the pulls on twelve and fourteen led to dropped shots.

Short game: The length of the course and the conditions led to some challenging up and down opportunities, almost all of which I failed to convert. Up and down on one, missed on three, seven, eight, ten, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen.

Putting: Six three putts says it all. (Chalk it up to the conditions and forget about it?)

Homework this week: short game, short game, short game. And find out why I'm heeling the seven wood and pulling the short irons.