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Palm Garden Scoring

I’ve played Palm Garden 4 times this year and had a 95-92-88-96 scoring on it. For some reason, a course which should be easy (hardly any water), which I should be eating breakfast out of, turns into a high scoring affair everytime I set foot on it. A few things come to mind – the greens and fairways are undulating and not easy. The par 3s have two easy ones, but two incredibly difficult ones. The par 5s are almost not possible to be reached in two. But basically I just need to freaking play better.

Hole 1: I’ve been driving like an automaton lately and today started off with a bang. Cut the dogleg too much though, and ended up on the rough. No matter, an easy 9-iron took me to the green, if not a bit too far. A downhill putt which I completely misread, and left me with a par putt of around 10 feet, which I missed. 3-putt to start the day? OK. (+1)

Hole 2: Easy par 3 that I shorted with a gap wedge. Time to see how this chip is doing. I hit an ok one actually, which is surprising but still had to navigate around 6 feet for a par which i did. Wow! Didn’t expect my short game to save me! (+1)

Hole 3: Good broad fairway which I just pummeled my drive into. From there, I had an easy 9 iron again to the back portion of the green, which I put on around 20 feet away. But again, my putter was crap shit, and my birdie putt came up way short. Palm garden was playing very SLOW today, unlike the previous time. My par putt pulled and again, a 3 putt despite regulation-on. I hope this isn’t going to become a trend. (+2)

Hole 4: Really one of my favourite holes in the course. This is a par 5 which drops down to a semi island green which requires some precise shot into it. I’ve birdied this par 5 a few times and today went flag hunting again. Long drive straight down the barrel, another pitching wedge to take me to around 100m and from there, a lob wedge to a front sucker pin, to around 2 feet for a kick in birdie. Easiest one ever! (+1)

Hole 5: Back to back par 5s here. I hit another straight drive (my driver was seriously in automated mode), and then a little pulled five wood took me to around 100m away to a green which I put on with a sandwedge. From there 2 putted for a par. (+1) At this point, I was thinking if I putted well during my hole 1 and 3, I would have been one under over 5 holes! Could be staring at a sub 80 round here!

Hole 6: This is just a tough par 4 but not impossible. A good drive found the rough on the right, and I just dead pulled my hybrid (I hate this hybrid) into the bunker on the left. My out wasn’t superb and that just left me with too long a putt for par. Bogey and momentum lost. (+2)

Woods/Hybrid = -1

Hole 7: If anyone asks which is the toughest hole in the course? I would say this stupid par 3. It is LONG. It needed my 5 wood, so we are staring at an uphill 190-200 metres with a difficult green protected by bunkers and undulation. On cue, I pulled left and from there, buried under a tree, I just have to chop out, and put it into bunker. Out, missed my bogey and settled for my first double bogey of the day. Stupid 5 wood and stupid hybrid! (+4)

Woods/Hybrid: -2

Hole 8: The final two holes are really scoring holes for me, especially if the driver is behaving. And it was certainly behaving today. Drove a straight one cutting the dogleg to around 80m from the green but in a not so great lie in the rough, and mud. I managed to carve in a lob wedge to the top of the green but had a very tricky downhill. My putt was ok, wasn’t good, but managed to coax in a par. (+4)

Hole 9: This was the probably the first time I had a perfect driving 9 holes in my life. This drive was crushed right down the fairway and left me again with a lob wedge into a dangerous green. Behind the green (where my playing partner ended up) was no-man’s land, a practice green and a hill back up. Lob wedge safely on the green, two putted for a par. (+4) At +4, I was probably on track to break 80 but I would need to play a heck of a back 9.

Hole 10: Another good drive straight down the fairway. Here’s where I probably made my mistake. Instead of gunning it with a wood or at least a long iron to this massive par 5, I layed up with a 9 iron thinking it might give me a lob wedge in. I short-changed it and had a 130m uphill approach. Again, mistake with a pitching instead of a 9 and fell woefully short. Chip wasn’t great and left with too much to do. Bogey. (+5) Can’t fault my chipping though, it was really a mental breakdown here more than anything.

Hole 11: Great hole with danger on the left which I avoided with a perfect 5 wood. I was left with only a pitching wedge into the green and looked to get back on track from the previous hole’s brain fart. And then it happened.

It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it is disastrous.

The SHANK.

I shanked the shit out of my pitching. It came out of nowhere, literally. My irons the whole of the 10 holes previous were dialed in, target hunting precision and just crisp and clear pounding off the turf. Suddenly, the shank just changed everything. It landed in the trees at the right, I punched out and still could do a 4-on to escape disaster. With a lob wedge, it happened again.

The SHANK.

This time into the water. At this point, it wasn’t just bye-bye sub 80 round. It could be bye bye game, because I had no idea what was causing it. I stood there for a full half minute wondering what the f- just happened. I mean if I was playing like a monkey I would feel this is just a product of that monkey business. Instead I was playing probably the best golf I had played this whole year. So where in cold hell did this shanking nonsense come from???!

Since we were playing team against team, I declared myself out of the hole and stopped playing and went back to the buggy to try to sort out this swing. So I don’t have a number here but as a rule, all blow holes will be marked as quadruple, so I marked it. (+9)

Irons = -1

Hole 12: I was obviously in a shocked state by now and this easy par 3 should be there for the taking. Instead on the tee with a pitching wedge, I shanked it again. This time it wasn’t so bad and I could still recover, but my confidence throughout the game had taken a huge beating and I knew I was in deep shit to complete this game with a reasonable score. You can’t fix a shank. You can only compensate for it. Managed to chip on, and two putted for a bogey. (+10). If I could just bogey all the way, I would be pretty satisfied now.

Hole 13: Tough Par 5 with trouble everywhere. At least my driver was still working despite my shanking problems. Bombed it down the fairway and now I had a dreaded iron coming up. With a 9-iron, I adjusted my stance drastically, putting my right foot a full one feet back compared to my left. This funny stance will force me to swing inside out at a drastic plane, hopefully eliminating my shank (which came from me swinging over the top and coming in steep outside in), but will be problematic due to it making my draw and hooks even worse. For now, it sort of worked, because I managed to hit it (although it still had the dreaded shank sound – “thak!” of ball hitting the hosel. With a 52 degree into the green, I did the same swing, and landed just before the green. It was not a great chip for 4-on as it overshot the hole by around 15 feet. But finally, one putt did drop as this one snaked in for an extremely unlikely par. (+10)

Hole 14: Again, with the same method, I eliminated my shank, but my draw was pretty extreme into this par 3. I’ve already compensated for it and this time it worked out well. It ended up on the green and managed to two putt for another par. With the way I’m playing, pars are like birdies for me. (+10)

Hole 15: Great drive smack in the middle. With water on the right, I had to play safe a bit with the layup and hit a conservative 9-iron and had maybe 120 or so left to the green. My shank seems to be resolved now, but the problem was I wasn’t hitting my irons so crisply and this new stance had me fighting a hook everytime. My pitching wedge worked well here but didn’t hook back so left me on the green with some real estate to maneuver. I thankfully did and ended up with another par. That’s 3 in a row and momentum regained! (+10)

Hole 16: This relatively short part 4 hole always turns difficult when you cranked your drive thinking you can reach the green. I hit a reasonable drive that ended up a few feet from the bunker on the right and leaving me around 70m downhill to front pin. My pitch came up short and I was maybe a few metres from the green. Usually I would opt to putt but given that I am supposed to practice my chipping, I opted to chip. And clunked it. It barely made the green and a stupid 2 putt later for a bogey. (+11)

Chip: -1

Hole 17: The par 3 downhill with trouble on the left. I knew I was hooking/over-drawing my irons due to my stance set up to fight the shank. So I aimed right for this but apparently not enough. I overhooked it and thought it was wet. Later, found the ball literally perched on the edge of the water and managed to pitch it on the green and two putted for bogey. Lucky!! (+12)

Irons=-2

Hole 18: This final hole is just a great hole to end. I blasted my drive straight down the fairway and for once did something I don’t think I’ve ever done before: Have a perfect driving day. As in literally I did not have one single bad drive for the whole 18. I now found myself around 110m from the green and used my gap wedge. This is my bread and butter. But like the previous hole, due to my extremely closed stance, I hooked it into the greenside bunker! Frustrated, I hit another ball exactly the same spot, but with my normal stance. Stuffed it to one feet from the hole, for a kickin mulligan birdie (if that was my actual ball in play)…I realise it’s bad etiquette to play two balls but we didn’t have anyone behind and maybe the ball in the bunker rolled into water? Who’s to say?

From the bunker, I was dead. The ball was in the bunker yes, but against the grass ledge so I couldn’t take any sand from under the ball. I topped it, and only then 4 out of bunker, missed my bogey and ended up with an extremely disappointing double bogey. (+14)

Irons=-3

Conclusion: What could have been? If I wasn’t compensating for my shank I would probably play the last hole or even 17th a lot better. A swing on the 18th between a double to a birdie is 3 strokes so I could have shaved that off. If I putted better, I could shaved 2 strokes on front 9 if I hit those regulation par putts. If I’ve not shanked the crap out of 11th hole, instead of a quadruple, I could end with a bogey , that’s another 3 strokes. If I chipped better on the 16th, there is another stroke there to be saved. So overall, I could have easily done 9 strokes less. From 86, I could have turned it into a 77. Why oh why the shanks?!?!

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Palm Garden Pain

Palm Garden in Putrajaya is one of those golf courses where you take a look at it and go, “OK, I can score on this one. Why not, it looks so accessible.” The old Palm Garden way back before they built this one was a popular one with easy holes, rolling hills and great greens. It hasn’t changed much since, but for some reason, scoring well is never the agenda here.

Hole 1: This is a great hole to begin, an uphill tee shot to a dogleg right green. I hit a so-so tee shot that pulled left into the rough. I was in too deep and didn’t catch my second shot and still had the dreaded 50 metre pitch. Which I pulled again into the bunker. Fourth ball out, two putt for a bad double bogey start on a relatively easy hole. (+2)

Hole 2: This is an EASY hole with no excuse to fail. And I failed. I pulled again my gap wedge into the bunker, but it wasn’t an easy one. It had to clear a high lip and I just took too much ball and it sailed to the other bunker. Third ball out, two putt for a double bogey again. (+4). I am thinking there’s a lot of dates with Sandy today.

Hole 3: Apparently a difficult hole, but I managed to slam a great drive that left me about 140 or so. Using a 9 iron, I hit it pin high (for the last two holes, I was hitting pin high as well, except I pulled), slightly pulled to the left, on the fringe. I didn’t hit my putt hard enough (Palm was playing its slowest greens I ever played today). Settled for a par to steady the ship. (+4)

Hole 4:Into everyone’s favourite par 5, with a semi island green. Once more, I pulled my drive into the flower bed. Took a free drop and landed by wedge to around 120 or so again. I had an option to either take my pitching wedge which I would fly the green or take the risk with a gap. I hit a very good shot, but as expected, it was short, bounced near the green and landed around 10 inches from the water. Sometimes, Luck shines down. From there, I navigated a two putt to go par-par after a double-double start (+4)

Hole 5: Another par 5. Didn’t hit a particularly good drive though, but it still ran a bit. Took out my hybrid, landed it left a bit. I was in a very clear area with a pitching wedge to the green, but somehow I didn’t manage to draw it back and it landed just outside the green – instead of pitching, I opted to putt and had a 4 footer for my third par. I missed it. Missed the escalation par and got really pissed. (+5)

Hole 6: Long par 4 which I drove furious. The drive left me with a reasonably simple 8 iron to the green. For some heck of a reason, I pulled it again. AGAIN. It should be the perfect time to hit a good chip but instead I skulled the damn ball almost over the green. Putt for par missed, settled for bogey. (+6) Such a waste of a good drive, honestly.

Hole 7: This is a very long par 3 which I almost never do well. This time I hit my hybrid (I’ve replaced my old 7 wood with a newer burner hybrid with varying success and failure). I pulled it to the left, but had a lucky bounce. I hit a reasonable 60 degree chip which just hit a small knoll on the green and skittered past the hole. I had to charge for my par as my partner was completely hacking the hole, taking 3 shots from the bunker. So I charged my par putt way past the hole, missed the comeback and settled for double. (+8)

Hole 8: I don’t like this hole because they set the tee boxes far right, and with my draw/hook shot, I had to aim to start right, which in this case, is straight at a damn tree. I can’t fade/slice to save my life, so I had to tee right at the left edge of the box, with my standing outside the tee ground. True enough, I hit the same shot but this time escaped the tree, and landed around 50m from the green for my pitching. I didn’t hit a good one, left slightly short of an amazingly inclined green. I didn’t reach the hole for my birdie try, and had around 4 feet to navigate for par, which I promptly missed as well. Furious bogey. (+9) What a far cry from my putting at Mines 2 weeks ago.

Hole 9: Whatever I escaped in Hole 8, karma came back and bit my ass. Again I started to draw this right to left, but my tee shot slammed into the tree on the right, dropped. My caddy (who sucked) said he saw it drop. After 5 minutes of searching, I had to angrily return to my tee box, reload and promptly whacked one to the right again that never drew back. I punched out my 5-iron 4th shot over the green. Flopped back near the green for my fifth and two putted for my TRIPLE BOGEY. (+12). I was pretty mad, because I couldn’t believe we couldn’t find my first ball.

+12 over 9 holes isn’t cool. But as bad as you think I play – it was that triple bogey that sucked the life out of the 9 hole and those short par putts that really annoyed me. It wasn’t as if I was playing bad, but like all golfers, you tend to blame the breaks.

Hole 1: I hooked my tee shot abit here on this long par 5. I still had a reasonable lie on the left rough and looking to punch it out again. Unbelievably, my five iron hit the only tree in front of me – which wasn’t even close – and bounded out of bounds on the left. It’s exactly the same occurence a few rounds back on the par 5 4th, Hit the only damn tree in the vicinity and goes left. Dropped, played it out, my 5th shot still had a long way and I had to hit my 5 wood which ended up near the green. I duffed my stupid chip for six on but so far from the hole. Two putted for Triple. Back to back. (+15)

Hole 2: The downhill hole. Hit my driver controlled and left with a pitching wedge into the green, which was strangely short. I was left with a reasonably easy chip, sitting uphill sort of chip, which I hit it too hard. I really cannot chip for nuts. The par putt almost went in and unfortunately settled for bogey. At least I stem the leak a bit. (+16)

Hole 3: Hit what I thought was a perfect gap, but since it drew, it trickled down the left side and left me with a horrendous lag putt to climb a hill and go straight down another. My other partners putted and couldn’t stop the downhill rolling 15 – 20 feet past. I hit probably my best lag putt ever and had a 4 footer (which I have been missing all the time) for a par, which I finally – FINALLY – hit. I even did a fist bump here. (+16)

Hole 4: The Hateful Par 5. I hit a safe driver – not long, but at least dry. Then took a 9 to hit to around 120m. Finally hit a great approach, pin high, uphill putt around 8 feet. Birdie time? Hell yeah. First birdie ever on this hole, I think! (+15)

Hole 5: I hit a solid 9 iron into this green that was teeing off at the white tees with red pin at the front. It was perfect, and dropped to around 6 feet of the cup. It was very close, closer than my previous birdie. 2 birdies in a row again? I think it got to me, because I just rammed through the break and lipped out. It was horrible par. (+15)

Hole 6: Despondent over the horrid miss, I hooked my drive far left to the next green. From there, I hit a 5 wood that almost sailed past the trees but caught the last branch. It still dropped to around 150m for a shot on the green. With my 8 iron, I hit a shot that never drew. It landed on the bunker. I hit a great bunker shot that left me around 6 feet of the hole. This to get my escalation and sandy par fringe! Did I hit it? NO. I hit it SHORT amazingly. Another par missed within 8 feet! It was so damn frus! (+16)

Hole 7: I think I never recovered from there. This is honestly an EASY hole, if you tee off with a wood or iron and land it to the 100m marker. The problem was, our ego always dictated that we try to drive the green, because it was downhill and around 290m away. ALWAYS. I hit mine pretty ok, but too left and into the bunker. My out was not great, but depending on my chip after that – which obviously is undependable. I duffed it AGAIN, and while it was on, it was too far away for a chance for par. I slammed my par putt way past and couldn’t get my return bogey and settled for a messy double on the easiest hole ever. (+18)

Hole 8: This par 3 downhill, I used a 9 iron to try to coax it in there. It was hit cleanly but it didn’t reach, landing to the chipping zone. My chip this time went too far and my par putt brush the hole, settled for another bogey due to my inability to execute the simple CHIP. (+19)

Hole 9: Finally on the last hole. This is the signature ending hole, which I promptly hit a good drive finally. I was now center of the fairway with a pitching wedge in hand. What did I do? Whacked it too far right into, yes, the chipping zone. Did I end up hitting a great chip? The answer is no. It skittered too far and my comeback par putt ended up nudging the hole. My chipping was good a while back but now back to this stupid ineptitude. (+20)

Conclusion: +20 on palm? That’s BAD. Look, its mainly a few things: Last 3 holes could have save me 3 shots. The missed short putts, probably another 3 shots. Palm is all about “What if”s. Also, Palm garden’s contours on the greens are horrible difficult to judge. Additionally, contours on the fairways make this golf course sometimes unrewarding even if you are on the fairway, as you could be on a slope. If we can navigate this, we can navigate through Palm’s defences. As of now, the chipping continues to hurt.

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Palm Garden – First game in Malaysia Baru!

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past week, you would know that we have now entered into a new era in our nation:- “Malaysia Baru”, or New Malaysia (which is ironically now run by the oldest prime minister in the world, and has surrounded himself with a Jedi Council with a collective age of 1000 years old). This has never and will never be a political blog in any way, so let’s just say this simply: To Pakatan Harapan – now that you are no longer the opposition, we hope you can run the country well and not mess up. To the outgoing Barisan Nasional – trust was lost over many years – but we believe there are many good people within the party, unfortunately for you, this time around, people voted for the party (not yours), and not the candidates. Pick yourself up and be the strong opposition and check and balance that this country needs. To the rakyat – let’s move on, and if possible, stop/minimise the vitrolic messages/gloating/blaming on social media to any individual or party and let time runs its course – this fledgling government and opposition need time to settle into their new roles, so let’s stop the bickering and play some bloody golf.

So we are back in Palm Garden, the difficult hunting ground for me, and some hopeless golf played here over the last few rounds. Hopefully my golf will change now, just like our country.

Hole 10. We started on the back nine and we had A LOT OF FLIGHTS today. Behind us were three flights, so six buggies, twelve people, twenty four pair of eyes looking at our tee shot. I striped the second best tee shot of the day on my first swing. It sailed so far, I could reach the green with my 5 wood second shot. Unfortunately, my 5 wood flared right, and ended up the dreaded shot behind the greenside bunker, about 20 meters from the flag. Flop, and right into the bunker. Fourth shot out to the fringe, and buried in a bad lie, poor poor putt (I should have chipped but chickened out) which hardly moved onto the green, and a two putt double bogey to start the day after an amazing drive. Oh boy. (+2)

Hole 11: Hit a good drive but drew a bit and landed on a downslope, sideways lie, 100m from the uphill green. I skulled my second shot sandwedge into the water – just straight duff due to the lie. Fourth shot on, and missed the 12 footer for bogey. Settle for double. (+4)

Hole 12: So early and I need to steady the ship a bit, which did not occur. I hit a poor 48 degree (its the club between my gap and my pitching, and hardly used), landed in the front bunker, came out nicely but on an extremely undulating green, two putted to escape with a bogey. (+5)

Hole 13: The Hateful Par 5. I hate this because I can never survive it. This time a reasonable drive to the left and a hooked eight iron left me with a difficult shot behind a tree. This time, I managed to get my club to it and it flopped near the green. Time to CHIP! And I did make a good contact chip for my fourth but it fizzed by the hole to around 8 feet over. Testy putt for par. Missed, settle bogey. Hey at least it was a reasonable chip and at least a bogey on this hole finally! (+6)

Hole 14: Tough par 3. But they moved forward the tee box to the whites so I was going in with a 9-iron for around 150+ meters. I over drew it and it landed on the left, near the fence but still have room for my chip. I chipped very well, to within 5 feet or so but just couldn’t covert the par. Bogey (+7)

Hole 15: Another par 5. This one has water on the right, so after a good drive in the middle of the fairway, I conjured a hopeless 5 wood which hooked horribly. I am now under a tree with nowhere. 3rd shot punch out, 4th shot from 100m zeroed in to the green and I had about 15 feet to save par. AND……I didn’t. Bogey (+8)

Hole 16: This is a short par 4 made slightly longer with the tees moved to the back. I usually hook this one because we think we can reach the green in one (and we never do) – but this time, without forcing, managed to land a nice 90 meters away, a simple sand wedge to around 20 feet, and two putt for my first par. (+8)

Hole 17: Another par 3, this time the one over water. Landed 8-iron on the fringe but with a terrible long putt over an undulating green. 3 putt time, which I duly obliged, for bogey. (+9)

Hole 18: Probably my first bad drive which i flared right, but caught a lucky bounce and was in the rough, around 110m from the green. It’s not an easy green (It’s an index 4 hole after all), and between a 9 iron and a pitching, I opted for the latter, and launched my second best pitching wedge of the day to around 15 feet on the fringe, back pin. I putted badly (should have chipped), but managed to sink in the 10 footer for par. (+9)

+9 at the turn is not bad for this course. The greens are terribly difficult, but so far, one 3 putt is pretty good and my drives were switched on, and my iron play and chipping was ok. Might be the time to break the 90.

Hole 1: Now, this was the best drive of the day. Cut the dogleg right, straight perfect drive, boring trajectory (not the over-spun, high draw I always hit), that just shot off the face of the club. The result? 30m from the green after cutting the dogleg completely. The consequence? A retarded flop/chip that was in between and no clue how to execute and finally landed short of the green. ARG! Chip wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great, it rolled around 10 feet past the cup and I missed the putt back. Crazy how two great drives (Hole 1, Hole 10) resulted in +3 over 2 holes. (+10)

Hole 2: This is technically a very easy par 3 to a green that is probably the flattest in the entire course. However, I skulled my sand wedge to the back, chipped on and two putted for a stupid bogey. (+11)

Hole 3: The long par 4 with trouble left. This time, popped my drive a bit and had around 130m to an uphill green. I should have opted for a 9-iron but instead my pitching was short and had a horribly long putt on an undulating green. Three putt? Yes, of course, for bogey. (+12)

Hole 4: Everyone’s favourite par 5 because it forces almost everyone to lay up. My drive was slightly pulled and unfortunately landed in the bunker on the left. My out was bad, 9-iron barely rolling past the 150m marker. At around 140m to a downhill green, it was either a controlled 9-iron or a muscled pitching wedge. The pin was a sucker pin right at the front, guarded by water all around. I hit the best pitching wedge of the day – starting right straight at the water and drawing it slightly in and landed just at the side of the green around a meter away from the water. From there, the undulation took it to 5 feet past the side of the hole, pin high. Doesn’t matter if the birdie can’t be caught, and thankfully (and finally, on this course) – I did sink it in. (+11)

Hole 5: The euphoria of the previous hole continued with a good drive, a layup of eight iron to 100m, and a perfect gap wedge to around 15 feet of the hole. I thought two birdies in a row would be cool so I blasted my putt way past and just stupidly missed my comeback for par. Three PUTT for bogey! (+12)

Hole 6: The long par 4. Good drive, and left with a 6-iron, which I promptly duffed to around 100m. Then a gap wedge to around 15 feet again, missed the par and settled for bogey. (+13)

Hole 7: Completely screwed up my 7-wood off the tee (second time in a row from last round), hooking it way left. This time, though, I managed to flop my wedge around 10 feet from the green, and chipped a great chip to inches from the hole. Chipping rocks! (+14)

Hole 8: This hole usually is my favourite but today they set up the tee box to the right – meaning, with my draw/hook, I had to stand outside the teebox with my ball teed up right at the edge of the left boundary. With this kind of retarded setup, I boomeranged my ball right to left and into bunker. From there, a poor out, left with a wedge which I chunked to around 10 feet. As in the last hole, hit a great chip to about 5 feet, and saved bogey again. Chipping really rocks! (+15)

Hole 9: Final hole tee box was similar to Hole 8, but this time my hook wasn’t so bad. And I got lucky. Bounced on the cart path and like Hole 18, landed at the side of the cart path about 80m from the green. My 60 degree however was poor and it landed only at the front of the green with a difficuly uphill putt. I hate to end the day with a three putt bogey, but unfortunately, I did. My first putt wasn’t great but my second putt from around 8 feet made a horseshoe around the hole. Another 3 putt on these dastardly difficult greens! (+16)

4 three putts in a round isn’t great but no complaints. The greens are really very difficult to putt. Otherwise, it was a good a round as I can hope for, with my chipping seemingly back in order and my drives were excellent. Iron play was off and on but the putter needs a bit of work. Malaysia Baru = Golf Baru!

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Palm Garden and Chipping

So, for the first time this year we played at Palm Garden Golf at Putrajaya. It’s actually a reasonably easy course but for some strange reason, scores are never good over here.

But today, I had another mission: solve my chipping problems. It needs to be resolved. I’ve developed a really stupid, but maybe effective method. I address the ball in a narrow stance, with the ball in the centre. Then I shift my feet to 45 degrees of the ball, as in, in a really open position as if I am hitting the ball 45 degrees to the left of its intended target. Then I move my hands back to address the ball.

What this does is that I am chipping with an extremely exaggerated open stance. I’ve tried many times in my garden back home and I am hitting them perfectly. So it’s time to take Ranger Rick to the course.

Hole 10: We started at the Bismark course and immediately at the tough par 5. I haven’t resolved my drives yet, but again, my priority was to figure out my chipping so I didn’t really care much. I was still pulling my drive. My second shot was a good 5 wood, leaving me around 90 meters to the green. I hit my 3rd shot sandwedge fat and immediately now was left with a tricky chip over the rough onto the green. I took my sandwedge out, did all my standard setup and…..skull. I don’t get it. I can hit it perfectly from anywhere at home and when it comes to the course, it’s…completely fishes up. The skull left me with a long putt for par which I missed, settled for bogey (+1). DANG!

Hole 11: Tough par 4, but I didn’t hit it badly. I just pushed my drive straight right but for some weird reason, couldn’t find my ball. I am unlucky in many ways and usually if there is a ball missing, then it’s mine. I took a drop near the trees and stuffed a gap wedge to around 8 feet, and sank the bogey putt (+2).

Hole 12: Easy par 3. Aimed right with my gap wedge to around 110 meters and stuffed it to around 6 feet! I missed the easy birdie badly but hit the comeback for par. (+2)

Hole 13: This is the massive par 5 which as long as you don’t go right you are fine. I went left. WAAAY left. Surrounded by trees I actually hit a very lucky shot that skim every branches along the way and landed around 100 meters in the rough on the left. Now, it was an easy sandwedge to the green, with only one skinny palm tree in front of me. And amazingly, I hit the the palm tree smack in the middle of its trunk, rebounded into oblivion behind me to OB. Amazing luck. I could try to hit that tree a 1,000 times and never get it. Dropped for 5th, duffed the shot near the green. Chipping time! I used a gap wedge and I chipped it too hard over the green.  Seven on and one putted for a very unfortunate triple. (+5) However, the plus is that I actually contacted my chip.

Hole 14: It goes downhill fast. Tough par 3,with OB on the left, which I promptly hooked into. My second hung onto the green, but I three-putted stupidly for another triple. Two in a row and it looks like this game is shot to hell. (+8)

Hole 15: A very broad par 5. This is a welcome sight because the fairway is so accomodating. Yet another hook, another missed fairway but no harm. I hit my 5 wood left, which left me dead inside the trees and which I had to punch out to around 100 meters. Should be my bread and butter, but I hit it fat. Chipping time! This time with a sandwedge, but it was poorly hit and my next shot crept into the green, then two putted for double (+10). The chipping at least wasn’t bad.

Hole 16: This is one of our favourite holes because you can power this one onto the green if you hit a great shot. I hit a poor drive and hooked it left, but it still left me around 70 meters to the green. I didn’t hit a good shot which left me on the rough near the green. Ah, chipping! I used my gap to chip and duff it slightly, so it went too short. Two putted for a bogey. (+11)

Hole 17: Nice par 3, but I played too short with my pitching wedge and landed into the bunker. One out, missed par for bogey. (+12)

Hole 18: Very bad drive. It was just straight top, veer left and somehow survive. Left me around 150 to the green, my 8-iron was topped and into the water. Dropped and hit on the green for my 4th, two putted for six. (+14)

So, made the turn at a very poor number. But strangely, I was enjoying my golf more because at least my chipping was improving. Honest!

Hole 1: This is relatively easy hole, but I again skull-topped-hooked my drive and had around 140 to the green. My 9 iron found the bunker, hit my third out, missed par, and went in for bogey (+15)

Hole 2: 9-iron went into the bunker, out in my second, missed par and settled for bogey (+16)

Hole 3: Long, long par 4. I hit a reasonably hooked shot, which left me around 160 away, but my 7 iron was hooked terribly, leaving me with a very very long putt. 3 putted easily, and expectedly for bogey. (+17)

Hole 4: This is a funny par 5 with island green approach. I hit the same skull hooked shot but somehow found my ball. A punch out, and another sandwedge left me around 100 meters to a downhill green. Another committed SW took me to around 10 feet from the hole, but couldn’t save par and settled for bogey. (+18)

Hole 5: Another par 5. This time. This time, I hit the best drive ever. Ever. It flew for miles and the release was perfect. My second shot, I stubbed my 5 wood and hooked it to the left but no harm done. I was only around 60 meters. My 60 degree was very poor and I only managed to get onto the front. But finally, a two putt – par to take home. (+18)

Hole 6: Tough hole. Hit a hook to the left but still in a good spot. Hooked my 6 iron and it hit literally the only small tree in the vicinity of around 30 meters from the green. CHIP/PITCH! I took my sandwedge, implemented my extreme open stance and yes, hit a brilliant pitch to around 6 feet of the hole. I felt like doing a rain dance then and there. I celebrated too much I think as I powered my par putt like 4 feet past, and couldn’t hit the return! Double bogey – but very happy with my pitch (+20)

Hole 7: VERY tough par 3. Long and again, hooked my 7 wood into the adjacent fairway. Wow. I was faced with a very tough shot over trees onto an extremely sloping green. 60 degree wedge, implemented my open stance again and executed a very good flop over trees and softly to the edge of the green. Extremely quick putt was done nicely to around 2 feet and putted in for a very unlikely bogey. (+21)

Hole 8: This is a fine hole and I hit a very good drive. I was on the right rough and I must have misjudged my sandwedge so poorly that I duffed it. Now, I am about 40 meters with a daunting pitch. I hit a ‘meh’ pitch to the front of the green, but considering here I was weeks ago, this was a success. It actually flew over the bunker and got caught onto the fringe. I putted for par to around 2 feet and unfortunately, missed the bogey putt when my ball rattled around the hole. Bad double, but hey, chipping/pitching is fun again. (+23)

Hole 9: Hit a good drive that completely flew the bunkers on the left. Left with around 70 meters and hit my 60 degree pitch shot again with my open stance. Getting really used to it now. It crept to the front of the green, and two putted for a routine par to end the round (+23)

Conclusion: You would think when someone scores 95 it would be an unmitigated disaster, but I really enjoyed the game. This is because I am beginning to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel to my chipping woes. Sure, my irons and drivers still suck, but generally I am fine with those because I can compensate by aiming right to accommodate my hooks. I am not concerned. The chips however…you can’t escape this. There is no bail out, there are no compensating factor here.

Open stance, good tempo, and my chips will be fine. I just need to clock in a few more rounds to get this down to habit and I am ready for fine golfing again.

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Gilagolf Analysis 2017

I’ve decided to simplify my analysis of my golf game heading into 2017. Previously I’ve kept track of everything I do – from fairway hits to putts taken to sand saves and all that. At the end, what is the point? The point is to improve right? I’ve been tracking stats for years and still I play like a monkey humping a chicken. So, maybe the point is to clear your head from these numbers and just hit the damn ball. It worked for me for the second half of 2016 when I began to see more birdies on my cards than normal – generally when I started to stop tracking my data and just play golf.

So for 2017, I’ll do it simple: track the good, track the bad. Anything in between, doesn’t matter. The good = Birdie or better. The bad = Triple or worse. I will assume par, bogey and even double will be the normal course of my game.

For the first game in 2017 at Kota Permai, I played 47-46 for a 93. Both good and bad occurred in the first nine (back nine for us). Firstly, the birdie on the par 3 14th. It’s a beautiful hole actually – it plays downhill all the way, the smallish green around 125 – 130 meters but protected by bunkers. On that day, we were playing slightly nearer, around 120 meters, and with downhill and no wind, I hit a gap wedge to around 12 feet from the hole to the left. To be honest, two other guys on my flight hit it nearer. The putt however wasn’t an easy one. Kota Permai was playing very fast that day due to a Taylormade tournament. It was a double break and I hit it just right and it dropped into the cup on the right side – I didn’t even read it correctly so it was dumb luck that I got it in.

Unfortunately, in the next par 3 17th which was a reasonably long one, I hit my seven iron short to the right. It was in rough but it wasn’t bad rough, but slightly buried. I skulled my pitch across the green, the chunked my returning chip. Wasn’t even on the green and hitting my fourth. I rammed my fourth past the hole, and missed the fifth and tapped in for six – my first triple.

Game 1: 1 Birdie, 1 Triple.

For Game 2, I played at Palm Garden, and unlike Kota Permai, their greens were undergoing maintenance so it was absolute horror to putt. I played a lot better and actually had 4 – 5 opportunities to birdie – i.e putts less than 10 feet but always missed. It didn’t help that I was trying out a RM50 putter I bought – an old B61 Ping which looked older than me. It didn’t have good weight (I have since added Lead Tape to it) and I struggled a fair bit on the greens. I played 41-44 for 85, with 8 pars and 1 birdie.

My triple came first on the index 2 Par 5 13th. I know how to play this hole but because I just got a par on the previous hole, I felt pretty grand about my chances. I usually would hit a 5 or 3 wood but decided to go for the driver. Instead of my usual draw, I blasted it straight into the water on the right. I dropped, hit a wood 5 to a greenside bunker. Chunked my fourth out of the bunker to the apron, chunked my fifth chip 20 inches. Hit my six on the green finally but was horrible. Missed my seventh and tapped in my triple. Stupid hole.

I came back at least with 2 pars in my next two holes including a par 5 par on the 15th after hitting into another water. I managed to drop and recovered by hitting a sandwedge into the green on my fourth and tapped in.

The 16th was where I got my birdie. This is a very short par 4 and we usually drive it to around 30 – 40 meters away from the downhill green. I hit a not so great drive – hooked it and it kind of rolled to around 80 meters from the green but at least on fairway. I used my 60 degree lob wedge and hit it to around 2 feet from the hole, similar to the one I hit in the previous hole. From there, a simple tap for birdie #2 for 2017.

Game 2: 1 birdie, 1 Triple.

Overall: 2 games, 2 birdies, 2 Triples.

Time to knock off those stupid mistakes!

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85 at Palm Garden

The up and down year continues. After posting a 93 in my first game in Kota Permai with 1 par, 1 birdie showing, I switched drivers and putters and promptly shot an 85 at Palm Garden. It had nothing to do with the drivers and putters though because I was still awful with my drives and my new (or rather very old) putter wasn’t do me any favours either with a 3 putt on the 1st, 3 putt on the 10th and 3 putt on the 18th.

However, my irons were just dialed in as I went on a birdie hunt on a few holes – and ended up with 8 pars and 1 Birdie for a somewhat respectable score. if I two putted those, I would have saved 3 strokes. If I played the somewhat easy par 5 smartly instead of smashing my driver into the water for a triple, I could have parred it maybe and shot a 79. I never broke 80 before in my life. A 79 for me would be like the pros shooting 59.

Speaking of pros, how is Tiger doing? I did manage to catch a bit of his highlights at the Farmer’s at Torrey Pines. He was -1 after 11! And he had to go screw it all up by shooting +5 over the last 7 holes. I wish I can say that he is back. I don’t think he is.

However, here is some mind boggling stats for you.

Tiger Woods is ranked 663.

Our great Malaysian Players – Danny Chia, Nicholas Fung and Gavin Green are ranked 276, 321 and 346 respectively.

Yet, when he teed up, Tiger Woods, ranked 662 ranks lower than Jason Day, brought in crowds more than 4 deep. It’s like a football game between Germany vs Bhutan and everyone is watching Bhutan. It’s like watching Andy Murray play against Alberto Brizzi and everyone is going like: Alberto! I Love you!

WTF is Alberto Brizzi? I don’t know. He is the 663rd ranked player in the ATP tour.

So yeah – say what you like about Tiger – he is the main reason why I played golf, play golf and will continue to play golf. If he’s back, great. If he’s not, it’s still going to be Tiger being watched more than any golfer on this planet.