Successful Futility

Cannot win, or even place, during this interval I have identified as the strong part of my season . . . it may be a self-fulfilling prophecy that degrades my play during the rest of the summer, due to low expectations, but I have rationalized that in the heat of late summer, when I can dress in “Arizona mode” (wide-brim hat, shorts, shirttail out, and golf-sandals) the greens and fairways dry out and harden to more like what I ‘m used to . . . . faster, if you see how I mean . . . at any rate, I shot my ass off, birdied #1 for the first time, even, with 6 or 7 missed birdie putts, and still came in 6^th with 38 stableford points – had 3 “other” holes that cost me dearly. Oh, well, what can you do? Handicap down to 14 flat, now, god help me, there’s no way I can play to 14 . . . 8^D

Przasky Pohar 2012 GCP . . .

 

Dammit, dammit, dammit . . . my play on the par 5s cost me a win here . . .

It’s always sumthin’, I know that . . . .

Had 3 straight missed, makeable birdies on the front nine, holes 6-7-8 . . .

Missed enough birdies on these holes that that doesn’t bother me  . .

Aha! Missed birdies are a GOOD thing!

 

Parred #10, and birdied #11 from 24 ft, first time to birdie #2/11 . . .

The longest birdie putt I had for sure that day . . .

 

Wasn’t over-confident, but feelin’ good for sure . . .

Then had 5 lip-out / burned edges from less than 6ft over the next 7 holes . . .

If they go in, I have the great round . . .

If they lip out on the front nine, I don’t even break 30 stableford points . . . 8^D

I always say that lip-outs are good thing, but these were breaking my heart . .  .8^D

 

If only for not the par 5s . . . I still had 19-19=38 stableford points, but for the lip-outs, I couldn’t move up the leader board.

PGA-Kiawah

"You can't get aggressive with this weather," McIlroy said. "You don't even care where the pin is. You just try and hit it on the green somewhere. I'll just keep playing how I am and see how this thing unfolds."

To a man, the players said the challenge was that Kiawah is a links course, with links wind and links beach grass framing the holes to swallow up stray shots, but it doesn't allow for links-style shotmaking. With its cereal bowl greens, the Pete Dye course calls for approach shots to be played through the air, not along the ground as on a true links.

"You know, after a while you don't really think about your score," said Singh, who will be eligible for the Champions tour in less than a year. "You just think about each hole, each shot, and just try not to mess up."

Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/tiger-woods-shares-lead-pga-championship-through-two-rounds#ixzz23DGgdnkc  

Z-Boaz

Council votes 6-1 to close Z Boaz Golf Course

Posted Wednesday, Apr. 04, 2012

BY BILL HANNA

billhanna@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- The City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to close the Z Boaz Golf Course and convert the 138-acre property into a community park, but golf course supporters were left with a glimmer of hope that it can be saved.

With Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks casting the lone no vote, the council agreed to close the park by Sept. 30.

But before the vote, Mayor Pro Tem W.B. "Zim" Zimmerman amended the motion to allow the closure to be revisited if Z Boaz backers can demonstrate that the course can support itself before the closure date.

Zimmerman also instructed the city manager to create a master plan for the park so amenities can be accounted for during the city budget process.

Z Boaz is supposed to generate enough revenue to pay for itself, but usage has decreased from 46,873 golfers in 2000 to 21,844 in 2010. Parks and Community Services Director Richard Zavala said Z Boaz lost $234,000 last year. As a park, it would cost about $150,000 annually to maintain.

But many longtime golfers questioned those figures and stressed what could be lost if the course is closed.

Invoking the names of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Dan Jenkins, several golfers said the course, which opened in 1930, had brought recognition to the city and deserves another chance to prove that it can be self-sufficient.

One resident read a letter from golfing legend Kathy Whitworth, who voiced support for keeping the course open.

Another speaker, Blair Kline, who manages the Harbor Lakes Golf Club in Granbury, said the course is worth saving and volunteered his services to study Z Boaz and recommend improvements.

Other speakers advocated for a dog park at Z Boaz and the possible addition of mountain bike trails.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/03/3858747/but-golf-course-may-be-saved-if.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

Z. Boaz is located in the west sector of the City, surrounded by a network of major traffic arteries. This 18 hole regulation length facility was designed by Golf Course Architect John Bredemus. The original design of the course featured small greens, minimum trapping and few hazards. The par 70 course plays to a length of 6,033 yards from the Championship (Blue) tees, 5,655 yards from the Regular (White) tees and 4,782 from the Forward (Red) tees. 

The golf shop is a brick/wood structure that is located immediately adjacent to a R.D. Evans Recreation Center. A two-level parking area adjacent to the clubhouse has space for 115 cars. Overflow parking is available on the south side of the recreation center building.

 

http://www.fortworthgolf.org/layout9.asp?id=413&page=11647

 

 

 

PGA - Kiawah

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.—My first reaction, after stepping onto the Ocean Course this week for the first time, was to laugh out loud. Pete Dye, that rascally dog!

Dye, golf's most mischievous architect (TPC Sawgrass in Florida, Whistling Straits in Wisconsin), has been fiddling with his monstrous masterpiece here, which sits on a barrier island near Charleston, since 1991. It was hard enough for the Ryder Cup that year, now known as the "War by the Shore." Since then Dye has made it longer, tougher and even more exposed to the unpredictable seaside winds. For Thursday's first round at the PGA Championship, gusts of 20 mph are expected, with stronger winds over the weekend.

Enlarge Image

 

Reuters

Adam Scott of Australia hits out of a sand trap.

The course is 100% artificial, which is what makes you laugh. It looks natural. It looks at first blush like a classic links of the British Isles. But in fact the Ocean Course is a clever American links replica. Every dune, every swale, every sandy waste area, every raised fairway and every complex green sprang entirely from Dye's fevered imagination.

"I describe it as a links course through the air," Graeme McDowell said Wednesday. "When it blows here, the wind is a massive factor, you know, strength and direction, but it certainly does not play linksy along the ground."

 

Goat Greenkeepers

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/slideshow/Goats-in-Park-Presidio-47214.php#photo-3299955

 

or the first time ever, a hungry herd of 300 goats is being invited to Presidio Golf Course to tame the overgrown ivy, blackberry, and hemlock that have popped up around the links. San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Aug 07, 2012. Photo: Sonja Och, The Chronicle / SF

Missed Birdie

I really don't like to put my personal picture, or any one's personal picture on the blog, but Mrs was walking around with us, taking snaps . . . I told her to photo any birdie attempts, for historical reasons, but then this is what you wind up with then, the agony of defeat . . . 8^D . . .

 

I hit an 8iron very thin on #3, perfectly straight, with just enough parabola to get it to the front of the green, between the tree & the trap that guard the front, so that the ball bounced up and rolled 4 ft away from the pin . . . walking up, I could see that my ball was below the slope up to the back tier, so I KNEW it would break very little, but my feet were higher than the ball, on that slope, so it felt as if it would break down right . . . so even tho' I knew it wouldn't I gave it room for the break because of the feel, and burned the top edge of the hole . . . it didn't even have the decency to roll behind the hole . . . 8^D . . . GAWd, I am the worlds worst putter.

First Tee

Played the other afternoon with a Father-Son, VelkoMike & MalyMike . . . 8^) . . . (Big Mike & Little Mike).

This was MalyMike's first real round since getting his green card, a truly momentous occasion . . .

How one envies a young man with a whole life of golf ahead of him . . . 8^) . . .

 

on the first tee, on the second tee, and a par putt on #8 . . .

I wish I could say it was his first par but the putt lipped out . . .#8 is such a tough green, the toughest on GCP Motol . . .

still, one's first Lip Out is almost as valuable as ones first Par, is it not so? . . . 8^D . . .

 

Fairways & Greens, Mikes!