Conference 7.286::golf

    
    	Congrats on the great round Gary...!

    Well done, Gary !!!
    
    
    
    
                 Ken

    
    What a thrill, that under par side!  Congratsss!!!!

I was lucky enough to be playing with Gary and Rick last night.  Gary had 
a great round.  Rick also played well, shooting a 37.  It was unfortunate 
we couldn't get 18 in!!

Jeff

    
    
    	Thank you everyone. This being my first ever round under par
    will remain with me for awhile. I was in a 'zone' that I hope everyone
    has experienced before where 'I could do no wrong'. Unfortunately
    this 'zone' doesn't seem to last long, which brings up a question.
    
    	The group I was playing with all scored well last evening (Rick
    Blaisdell 37, Jeff Burke 41 with a triple bogey on 7 spoiling his
    '30 something' round). Do you generally find that you play better
    when other people are playing well too? Does it make a difference?
    
    	Usually I try to 'play the course' which if done somewhat properly
    would negate the head-to-head play. Therefore, I always felt I could
    play good, bad or whatever with any playing partners. However, last
    nights round was such an 'easy' round, my opinion might change?
    How does anyone else feel?
    
    Gary

	I find that I generally play better with better players &
	worse with bad players.  I think part of it is that with better 
	players you establish a better mental mind set.  Generally they
	have better tempo, your round develops a certain rhythm, and
	they generally are playing smart golf which rubs off on you.

	Larry

    
    	I have had bad rounds when everyone else in the group is
    	playing well and vise versa. I think if your game is really
    	on and you are concentrating, it does NOT matter what the
    	people in your group are doing...
    
    	Gene (just_my_thoughts_and_observations)
    
    	BTW, nice round with a 37 Rick. Must have had the putter working
    	pretty well...!

    
    Re.6
    
      Works the same for me.  The others in the foursome have better
    pace, both in their swing tempo and putting.  Last weekend I played
    well, shooting 41 - 41, and leaving TEN putts less than two inches,
    dead-on-line, short of the hole.  Frustrating when you start putting
    to the front of the hole instead of the back!  

    
    Congratulation Gary...
    
     Great round...
    
    I also agree with Larry, the group that I play with tends to affect
    the way I play. When I play with people who are striking the ball well
    and playing smart, I find my concentration level is considerably higher
    and thus tempo, rhythm and smart golf follow. When playing with players
    that are out hacking at the ball I tend to have less concentration on
    my own game, thus never develop the afore mentioned attributes. The
    only solution that I have found when in this situation is to mentally
    go off into my own world. Thus, enabling me to set my own pace in the
    round, but it also alianates the other members of the foursome. 
    
    Dave

          Gary,
    
                I have often thought that I play better when the other
    members of the group are good golfers. Yet, if I remember some of my
    scores, I really cannot say that it is true. The best way to describe
    it would be, as the others mentioned, you are more into the flow of
    the game. On a personal note, I have found that my pace and mental
    concentration is thrown off when I am looking for my ball in the 
    woods( an event that happens much more than I want) or looking for
    my partners shots. Often when playing in non-league rounds, I simply
    drop and hit again, not even bothering to look for it.
    
     The ZONE !!! Finally, after 3 years, I know what everybody is talking
    about. In a league match, I shot a 45. But had a birdie and 5 pars with
    3 unmentionable holes. It is interesting as I look back on it to figure
    out how I got there. During the round, I was in the woods on 3 holes,
    yet it did not bother me. I found that the line for the putts was easy
    to find, almost glowing at me. Each time I picked out a club it was the
    right one and generally hit well. 
     I didn't try to get into the zone, it just seemed to happen. I wish
    there was some simple way to get back into it because for one of the
    few times since I have started playing, golf was really fun. It just
    goes to show you how important the mental aspect of this game is.
    
    
                  Ken
    

       It usually doesn't make a difference to me if I'm playing with
    high handicappers or low handicappers.  What disrupts the flow, and
    which has already been mentioned, is looking for lost balls.  I am
    always too concerned with the group behind my group, and get uptight
    if I feel we are spending too much time looking. What happens is after
    looking for the ball, I'll rush to my ball, rush to get the shot off
    and usually make a bad swing.  I suppose this will happen more when
    I'm playing with the high handicappers, since they find the woods and
    rough more often.

       The 37 I shot with Gary felt like a 50, he was playing that well.
    And Gene, my putting was not that good. Two <insert cussword> 3 putts.....

-rick

    Great round. Now you know you can do it. 
    
    Pete

    Not wanting to knock Gary Wilson's tremendous effort in any way,
    can I please use this topic to bring up a question which has been
    intriguing me for some time since I started reading this notes file.
    
    Naturally I add my own congratulations to any amateur golfer who
    beats par .... but ....
    
    .... in England we just don't recognise 9-hole golf rounds. Sure
    we have 9-hole courses but you have to go round them twice to complete
    a full round.
    
    Is this just something local to Digital or is it a fundamental
    diffrence between US and UK golf ?
    
    M.
    

    	It's just that the DEC league plays 9 holes in their league
    matches and both the front and back nines are in use so it's difficult
    to get in that extra nine. Besides, the leagues start after work
    and it's too dark to play 18.

    
    re .13
    
    Even though you only play nine holes alot of the time, I believe that
    you must play 18 to have the score count towards a USGA handicap.
    
    9 holes is more of a matter of saving time than an accepted standard.
    
    --Bob
    

    even 9 hole rounds should count toward usga handicaps. there are
    some rules that you should follow though to make them count, like
    putting 2 rounds together or doubling the score. i am note up on
    the rules themselves but any golf scores shot should be entered.

    
    Just a note. The scores you turn in for USGA handicaps do have to
    be 18 hole rounds, but the 18 holes do not have to be played in the
    same day, but they do have to be consecutive 9 holes (they do not
    have to be on the same course)... You can also turn in an 18 hole
    round if you only complete 13 or more holes, you get par plus any
    strokes you would be given against par for each of the unplayed
    holes...

    Gene

    re: .17
    
    Thanks for the info Gene. Someone told me about the 13-hole
    posting rule but didn't tell me how to figure out what to
    put down for the remaining 5.
    
    (I also didn't know about posting two consecutive 9-hole
    scores played on different courses. Good to know!)
    
    PA

    re .17
    
    I didn't mean to start this hare when I posted my original reply
    but I would certainly be interested to know if these same h'cap
    rules apply here on this side of te water.
    
    Any UK buffs out there know the answer ?
    
    M.
    

    A question about .17:
    
    >>same day, but they do have to be consecutive 9 holes (they do not
    >>have to be on the same course)...
    
    If the two 9-hole rounds are not played on the same course, how
    do you decide what to post as the course rating and slope?
    
    PA

    
    RE: .20
    
    PA,
    
    I have the very same question (don't have the answer)...!!!
    
    Gene

    Since the original title of this topic is Notable Rounds I just
    had to get my two cents in.  
    
    I am a 12 handicap playing an average 1-2 times a week.  Have all
    the flaws and few of the attributes of a good golfer.  Must be senility
    because I am always forgetting something-keep the head down,etc.
    Last week I tied my all time personal world's best record with a
    76-37 out and 39 in.  Even bogied 8 and 9.  What made this a notable
    round is that my buddy made a hole in one on a 150 yard hole.  That
    is the first hole in one in any group I have been playing with,
    ever, and I have been swinging them for 45 years.
    
    The previous week I completed 14 holes at six over when we decided
    it would be prudent to pick up and walk in as the lightning was
    getting a little too close.  The notable part was that I had five
    (5) three putt greens and a penalty stroke.  Maybe the handicap
    will start heading the other way.

    
    RE: .20,.21
    
    I just found the answer...
    
    When consecutive nine-hole scores are combined and posted, the USGA
    course rating is the sum of the two nine-hole course ratings, and
    the slope rating is the average of the two slope ratings. If nine-hole
    slope ratings are not available, the 18-hole slope rating shall
    be used...
    
    Gene

    
    
     Well it wasn't one of my most noteable rounds but it was the best
    back nine Ive ever played I shot a 39 for the back at Oxford C.C.
    I was all started with a 290yd par 4 with water in front of the
    green I always try to drive it and sometimes I do, But Sunday when
    we went down there it was 14 inches past the cup EAGLE!! almost
    a hole in one. That got me pumped and I parred and bogeyed the rest
    of the way
    
    
    
    BS
    

    BS,
    
       I play at Oxford often and know the hole well. Great shot !!!!
    For the noters who have never played Oxford, because of the hole's
    set-up it nearly always plays into the wind.
    
    
                    Ken

    
    
    Congrats Gary, it is funny, that I shot a 34 myself yesterday at
    Gardner Golf courses front nine, I was also even after 16, but darkness
    prevailed.  It is the first time I ever shot a nine hole score under
    par.   It has been real weird latley, because I have felt as if
    I was on the brink of scoring real well, I have recently been going
    6 or 7 straight pars and then getting a couple of bogeys.  It felt
    real good.  Also, I was playing with three guys who all shot around
    45, so it really didn't matter who I played with.  I putted poorly,
    or so I felt, I left birdie putts of 15 feet or less short 5 times.
    Oh well, I will never complain with that though.
    
    Par    4   4   3   4   5   3   5   3   4     35
    Me     4   4   3   3   5   3   5   3   4     34
    
                                                    
    Jim

    
    
      With all the Canadian Geese that plague us on the golf course,
    this was an amusing hole I played last weekend.  We have a pond
    on the eight hole and a smaller one on the sixth.  I was playing
    six, and had just hit my second shot, a nice high eight iron to
    the green, dead on the stick.  We start hearing the honking of
    in-coming geese (from the pond on eight).  Just as the lead goose
    flies over the green, the ball strikes it on the back of the neck.
    The ball drops next to the pin, right on the edge of the cup.  The
    goose does a "gooney-bird" crash landing on the apron and skids
    into the sand trap, dazed.  The comments from the rest of the foursome
    were funny, but I liked "double-birdie" the best.
    
    BTW,  as we walked of the green, the goose walked out of the trap
    and over to the pond, appearing to be none the worse for wear.
    

    
    .26		Nice going Jim and everyone else with great rounds and
    holes. Don't you wish that feeling you have walking off the last
    hole would come back for the next round?
    
    .27		Do we need 'birdie' insurance to go along with
    'hole-in-one' insurance? Golfers can be very innovative at times.
    
    Gary

    Not the whole round, but just a notable hole.

    Last night was the last regular season round, and even if we lost it,
    the last hole made me  fill  like a winner!!.  We played the North at
    Stow Acres, and after 7 holes we were loosing 5� to 1�.  I managed to
    par the 8th and win the hole,  but  then I was faced with the dreaded
    9th, and for those of you not from  Massachusetts  who  haven't  play
    Stow Acrs, the 9th is a 462 yards fog leg left par four, with lateral
    water almost all along the fairway on the left side  and  with  water
    right in front of the green. It  demands  BIG  distance  and accuracy
    both off the tee and to the green.
    
    Since the white tees were way back,  I knew I would make in two since
    I am not a long hitter, so I decide to play it like a 5.  Off the tee
    with my 3 wood and lay up about 100 yards with an iron.  I didn't hit
    it solid and  my  third  shot  went left and behind the green in  the
    short  grass about 25-30 yards from the pin.  I chipped it in!!!    I
    don't remember  ever  paring  that  hole!  The season finished with a
    high note!
    

    RE: .23
    
    Thanks Gene. I knew you'd pull through for me!
    
    PA

Had a fantastic evening session last night!! THought I was finally going
    to break 40 for 9 holes but choked on number 9. It is a very short
    par 4 (325 yds) that I usually par or birdy. Decided to hit a 3-wood
    off the tee to keep things simple and sliced it into some mounds
    on the right side of the fairway. Oh well, only 120 yards to the
    green from the backside of one of those mounds so a 9-iron looked
    preety good, caught it thin and hit it fifty yards past the green
    into the parking lot!!! Chipped it off the asphalt (ala Seve) back
    to the green and three putted for a double bogey and 41 !!!! It
    was still the best consecutive 9 holes I have ever played and if
    I could have just got my nerves under control.....
    
    THE MAD HACKER

    Last Saturday was the second round of our (minor) club championship so I
    was looking forward to putting in a good round after a fairly
    average performance in the first round. Anyway, the first nine
    was a disarster, a 48, my worst score for many, many years. I
    did however come back with a 39 on the back nine with a double
    bogy on 17 and have qualified for the quarter final. How's that 
    for consistant golf!!!!  (minor championship is for handicaps 13-22)
    
    
    
    terry...

    
    RE. .28
    
    Gary,
    
    
       Well as you said, it would be nice to bring that feeling out
    the next time.  Well I did, I was one under heading into the 9th,
    unfortunatly, I doubled nine and ended up shooting a four over 75.
    I still felt like I could do no wrong, knocking in two 20 foot par
    putts, and making a Birdie from an almost impossible place.  I hope
    this keeps up for the rest of the year...But we all know golf,
    tommorrow I could go out and shoot 90.
    
    
    
    Jim

    I had an interesting round at Stow North last Saturday. Terrible
    start -- 5 over after 3 holes. Then I got it in gear. Hit the 4th
    hole in regulation (rare for me) and parred it, hit the 5th, 6th,
    7th, and 8th in reg. Three-putted one of them, but made the other
    pars. I hit the perfect drive on 9, and went for it with my 3-wood.
    I made this shot last Thursday in league and got the par, but this
    time, stupidly, I held back and waterized it -- so, double bogey
    for a 45. Not a promising start.
    
    I bogeyed 10 and 11 by skillfully missing a pair of four-foot par
    putts.
    
    Then -- off to the races! I birdied the 12th, parred the 13th, 14th,
    15th, and 16th. Hit each one in regulation. I hit the 17th in
    regulation!!! This hole has hurt me so many times! At this point
    I added it up in my head and realized that I was one over for the
    back. I got nervous and tentative and three-putted. I reached the
    18th needing a bogey to break 40. I've shot a 40 there, but never
    in the 30s. I made a strategic bonehead error. For the entire back
    9 I played boldly, went for the green on every second shot, and
    banged the par putts off the back edge of the cup.
    
    So what did I do now? I played defensively, laying up, thinking
    only of making that "easy" bogey. And what happened? I wimped a
    pitching wedge short in the deep rough, left the chip 6 feet from
    the hole, and lipped the putt, for a double-bogey and a 40!!!!
    
    Arrggghhh!
    
    Moral of the story: GO FOR IT AT ALL TIMES WHEN THINGS ARE CRUISING.
    Don't get wimpy.
    
    Anyway, hitting five greens in a row, and then hitting six in a
    row on the back is a PR for me. And going one under through five
    holes at Stow North is my best, too. Now I know what the ZONE feels
    like.

    re:.32
    
    Sounds like one for the Jeckle and Hyde Round note.  :^)
    
    -Alan-

    Good one! My partner had 74 on Stow South(Walter Lenehan) in the
    Maynard DEC league.
    

    
    	In 1986 I was playing in the PSG DEC league at Green Meadows,
    Hudson, NH.
    
    	At the time I was playing to a 8 handicap (9 holes). We were
    playing the front nine of course 1.
    
    	My card was: P - Bi - Bi - Bo - Bi - Bo - Bi - P - P = 33 (-2) 
    
    	Needless to say, I won my match. The date was August 15 - MY
    BIRTHDAY!!!
    

    Dear 

     This Sunday Gary Wilson shot an even par 72 at Trull Brook.  The 
   story is that he shot a two under 34 on the back nine with 3 birdies 
   and an eagle! Lucky me, I get to play him tonight in our league
   playoffs.  Ouch!

-rick

    
    Gary, when do you go on tour...? congrats
    
    Rick, how did the match go last night? Is Gary still on fire...?

    
      Gene,  he used up all his good shots on Sunday.  I sniggled by
    with a win, but needed the strokes he was spotting me.  Believe
    me, this was an unexpected win, but I'll take it!
    
    -rick

	I took my camcorder (Rick Blaisdell's idea) and recorded the round
so we'll have something to look at this winter.  I haven't made a copy for
Gary yet, but it is coming soon... 

Jeff