A Fairways Fade

The Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2255/2248 - 4503
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 43/57 = 100
Date: September 25, 2015

Hoping to put my wretched play at the The Rookery South two weeks prior behind me, I teed it up at The Fairways Golf Club, looking to get my game back to track. But a giant fade off the first tee was the opening sign that things weren't about to get much better. If that wasn't enough of an ominous sign, my 7-iron approach to the green hit something--I suspect a rake in the right side bunker--and bounced back into the water fronting the green. That meant an opening 7. I did manage to regroup and make a par at the Second Hole, but a triple-bogey 6 at the short par 3 Third Hole confirmed this round wasn't going to be a good one.

The Fairways Scorecard

Although I managed to shoot a 43 on the opening nine holes, the same I shot my last round at The Fairways when I shot an 81, this score had a weird feel to it. I triple-bogeyed two of the four par 3s on the outward nine, as well as the opening hole. I did manage a birdie at the 327-yard Par 4 Fifth Hole when I hit 4-wood off the tee, then hung my approach shot out to right and into the greenside bunker. From the sand I splashed my ball onto the green, where dead into the cup! It is the first birdie I ever made on a hole-out from the sand!

A triple-bogey at the Third Hole

I took the 43 to the back nine, still wondering if I was going to be able to post a good score despite my erratic play. That was answered with a topped tee shot at the Tenth, where it took three shots to get out of a bunker. An opening 8 on the outward nine. In all, my shots found bunkers on 8 of the 18 holes during my round. Another 8 at the Thirteenth. Another triple-bogey at the Fifteenth where it took three shots to escape a bunker. And a 10 at the Eighteenth brought me home in 57, for a total of 100.

A holed shot from the right bunker for birdie!

My short game was very poor and cost me many, many shots. And getting off the tee was a problem. Several weeks ago, because I was hooking a lot of my tee shots, I put ome lead tape on the toe of my driver. That seemed to help for awhile, but the last two rounds it has caused me to hit a bad fade of slice. That fade off the tee led to my fade on the back nine. I can remove the tape and hopefully, I can remove the errors that have plagued me for the last two rounds.

Beginning of a Streak?

The Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2255/2248 - 4503
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 40/44 = 84
Date: August 8, 2015

After finally snapping my run of awful golf the previous Saturday at The Fairways Golf Club, I decided I should return there this past Saturday to see if I juts had a lucky round or if my golf game was beginning to show signs of life. I only made one slight change to the clubs I had carried the previous round, swapping out my Adams Tight Lies fairway wood for a Callaway X2 Hot 4-wood. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--upper 80s with a slight breeze--as I prepared to tee off late in the afternoon.

The Fairways Scorecard

Hitting my Wilson Staff Smooth Driver off the first tee, I found the right side of the fairway and had only an 8-iron into the hole. Although I just missed the green to the left, I was able to two-putt for an opening par, just like I had the previous round! Because I had been hooking a lot of my shots with the driver, I had decided to put some lead tape on the toe of the club to see if that might help the problem and seemed to be effective at the First Hole. At the Second Hole, I over-hit my driver and hit a low fade that missed the fairway badly to the right. However I managed to recover, but a miss-hit chip led to a double-bogey. Another par at the short Par 3 Third Hole was followed by a bogey at the Par 3 Fourth Hole. Standing on the tee at the long, 372-yard Par 4 Fifth Hole, I was tempted to hit the 4-wood after the driver produced the slice at the Second. But I told myself to have confidence, so I pulled the driver and striped a beautiful shot right down the fairway. Even though I made a 6 on teh hole, I was proud at how I had performed off the tee. A three-putt bogey followed a poor tee shot at the Sixth Hole, and another three-putt led to a double-bogey at the Seventh. But I redeemed myself at the 355-yard Eighth Hole. Seeing the tees had been moved up 10 yards, I hit 4-wood off the tee and found the center of the fairway. I had an 8-iron into the green, which you cannot see from the fairway. I hit it to eight feet and sunk the putt for a birdie! Another three-putt bogey at the Ninth Hole gave me a 40 for the opening nine holes, one stroke lower than the previous week.

Some lead tape on the toe has helped my driving

Although I was playing well from tee-to-green, my putting was not as consistent as it had been recently. I was missing too many short putts. I could easily have shot a 38 or 39 on the front nine if I could had made a couple of short putts. This would continue on the back nine. In addition, I took two shots to escape bunkers on three different holes. But I was hitting it much better off the tee, especially with my driver. For the round, I hit 9 of 11 fairways off the tee; probably my best effort of the year. I basically played bogey golf on the back nine, except for two holes--Fifteen and Seventeen--where my bunker play did me in. I shot 44 on the back--four strokes better than the previous week--and 84 for the round. That was five shots lower than the 89 I had shot previously.

A Wilson Staff Fybrid will soon audition in my golf bag

Based on my last two rounds at The Fairways, it feels like my game is rebounding from the horrible six-weeks stretch I had earlier in June and July. I hit the driver much better and my iron shots much crisper. It is easier to play this game from the short grass of the fairway than the long rough off it. Although I will not get a chance to practice this week, my confidence level is up and I am looking forward to teeing it up this coming weekend.