The latest update in my attempts to get better at golf…
A quick reminder of my goal for the end of 2024: get from a 10.5 to a 6.5 index (which means regularly shooting around 80 at Saffron Walden Golf Club).
I am currently at…10.6
Thursday 23rd May
Another nice 7.20am start for the weekly Stableford comp at Saffron Walden.
It rained almost constantly for the last two days and the course was closed yesterday, so we weren’t even sure if we’d be playing at all. Luckily, the rain stopped and the course has incredible drainage, so we were game on!
This was a definite game of two halves…
Front 9
Made one my best ever starts – level par after four holes. The first four are usually tricky, especially first thing in the morning, but I was hitting fairways, hitting greens and holing putts, including a nice birdie on the 3rd.
Kept playing really nicely for the rest of the front nine – aside from a double on the par 7th – to make the turn at +3 (21 points!).
Back 9
The back 9 started promisingly: a bogey at 10 should have really been a par, but I was still only +5 after 12 holes.
Then a bit of an implosion. The 13th is tough: I pushed my tee shot right and it settled just behind a tree, with no option apart from a sideways chip out, still leaving 185 to the green. That resulted in a double, and then on the easy 14th I managed to pull-hook a 4 iron out of bounds for another double.
Scrambled a bogey on the really difficult 15th after being in the trees, followed by a textbook par on 16.
17 was a shambles – hit a really good 3-wood into a great spot, then pulled an 8 iron 20 yards left of target into some extremely long grass. Lost ball and a treble-bogey.
A bogey on the 18th left me on 86 and with 35 points. Not bad, but could have been so much better after that front nine. That’s the challenge of golf though, right? Playing well for 18 holes ain’t easy.
By the way, the club is currently letting the rough really rip in preparation for the English Senior Men’s Championships which is happening here in early June. It’s making it especially punishing for anything off line, and I think we often forget just how tricky this course can be.
What have I learned?
I hit some really nice golf shots today, and I was pleased with my wedge game, which feels much improved. My putting was also decent on the front half. I just couldn’t keep it together and two or three loose shots really cost me.
It does feel like a step in the right direction, though.
Dave McLean