tarka's first win

Won our captains evening yesterday, absolutely delighted.

Scored 41 points (my previous highest stableford score was 28, last medal 18) and won, but I actually scored 43 points and signed for a 41! I am not very experienced in card marking and I was playing with a boy of 13 who plays off 17, really good as he has only been playing for a year.

Well as in my previous posts I have been battling a slice and on saturday I was hitting the most awful hook you have ever seen, I was lucky the medal was cancelled on sunday for the rain to spare my embarrassment.

Things I did to play out of my skin....

1. tee the ball lower
2. try and not chip with wrists, if you understand
3. downward strike on chips
4. bump and runs, half swing 9 irons and pw, leaving specialist wedges alone in the bag
5. No TV shots with a 10% chance of comming off, take your medicine and keep it simple 9course management I think you call it.

6. If you are hitting everything with a fade, roll with it, likewise draw, hook (accept that is your shot for the round)

7. on longer putts treat the cup as a paint tin, not a cup - two putts are Ok for the time being and every few holes a long un might go in.

The pro says I will be cut a bit on general play from 25 to 23, which to be honest I am embarrassed for being such a golf nut and playing off a high handicap so the lower the better

Well done Tarka and seems like you now know how to get your handicap down. Yes course management is the key and playing within yourself. Play the averages and a must is short game practice

well done, it's a great feeling to win your first one! now, remember what you've learnt, and go and do it again... but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen, just stick with your course mgmt plan, play each shot as it comes and you'll be ok.

loved it on the 18th.

Par four, elevated tee witha dogleg right, 454 yards, quite a large landing area that will leave you about 200 yards to the flag. If you hit the ball right it is gone! I said to myself if I hit the fairway I can win and I pulled it off was thrilled. Then I had a rescue club to the left of the green and I went at it with a slow tempo new I'd win then. It is brilliant to be in the hunt and have a bit of pressure. When you constantly play rudey poo I feel like jacking it in, but after yesterday I never thought I could enjoy the game so much!

tarka

Always good to break that duck, stick to your course management and minimize your mistakes. You WILL make mistakes, we all do. The secret is to come out of them with the least amount of damage.

Have a good season and enjoy your handicap tumbling down!

Well done mate always good to bag the first win and even better that despite signing for a wrong score you still took the spoils instead of it working against you.

As others say stick with Course management i'm a firm believer in good course management can help knock shots off that a range cannot

Maverick wrote:Well done mate always good to bag the first win and even better that despite signing for a wrong score you still took the spoils instead of it working against you.

As others say stick with Course management i'm a firm believer in good course management can help knock shots off that a range cannot

Absolutely Mav, however most players just don't get it. You just need to look at any course to see 90% plus hit driver off every tee in the forlorn hope of getting as far as possible, despite the dangers. Laughable.
No wonder the average handicap hasn't changed in decades.

Exactly SR, not enough think about where the best place to play the next shot from is, instead taking out the driver and assuming being closer is better! Theres no coindence that most course place trouble at driver distance! Try telling that to half the guys or more I see at our place

Congrats Tarka, it's nice to win any comp at your club. Keep the old thinking matter going and play your own game.