The Tides

Good News Everyone!

First I want to apologize for not being too active lately. School has started and I haven't had time or money to get out. BUT, fortunately St. Petersburg College is having an Intramural Golf Outing at The Tides Golf Course later this month, and myself and several friends from school will be participating in the event. It should be a lot of fun and I'll take pictures and some video if I can and make a blog entry about it. The event is on Friday the 27th, so I hope to get things posted up around that time.

Now if you excuse me, I need to go to Accounting Class....

--Tom K.

The Mainlands Golf Course - The Three Stooges Partake

Good Day Everyone!

So yesterday Alonso, Nick, and I finally made it out to The Mainlands Golf Course and played 18 holes. This is an 18 hole Par 67 "In Between" golf course as it is not an executive course, but yet not quite a regular sized course (Par 72). The Mainlands features two par 5s, nine par 4s, and seven par 3s. It's a fun little course with both easy forgiving holes and challenging holes. So let's get to the action!

The Front Nine

For the front nine the three of us were matched up with a one-some to make a foursome so we would "play quicker"... okay. Sure. Unfortunately for our new friend, we were moving slowly. I was confident in my own ability to move quickly around the course, it was giraffe swing boy and Alonso I was worried about.

On the first hole, we decided I tee of first. Being confident from the driver practice I got at the driving range last week, I figured I'd take out my driver, and whack it down the middle of this par 4. Alas, first hole jitter got the best of me, and sliced it right. So far right in fact, it wasn't in the fairway of the adjacent 18th hole, but was in the ditch adjacent to the adjacent hole: I managed to hit the ball 280 yards, but it was 100 yard to the right. Upon finding my ball in the water, I fished it out, took a drop and managed to save, er, ten for the first hole. It was not a good start.

The first green at Mainlands. Photo courtesy of their website: www.mainlandsgolf.com

Alonso made an interesting first shot that went short and right. All things considered it wasn't that bad considering this is his not even tenth time playing golf, and first time swinging a driver. Nick managed the nicest tee shot as although it only went a hundred yards or so, it was right down the middle. It doesn't matter if you hit it 300 yards if you're never on target, so it was a good start for him.

Our 4th wheel managed a five for bogey on this par four after his tee shot went left, pitch shot fell short, and two putting. I managed a ten after taking my wet tee shot, punch shot to the fairway, short pitch shot, and poor green work. Alonso managed eleven after chipping over the green several (three) times. Nick managed eight.

The second hole is a doozy. Par 4, only 300 yards,  but your tee shot had to clear about a hundred yards of water. Needless to say, every one of us but our new buddy ended up in the water one way or another. Thankfully for me, I only ended up there once after my tee shot with my driver again went right and into the water. My second tee shot went straight with a nice draw and landed me in the fairway. Nick and Alonso both ended up in the water twice before we gave up and headed to the other side of the lake for a drop in the drop area. At the end of the hole, Alonso was tied with Nick after making up three shots (a ten instead of a thirteen) and I tied with our new pal for a bogie after making an extraordinary fifty foot putt for bogey.

The 6th hole as viewed from the tee. Photo courtesy of their website: mainlandsgolf.com

From that point on I made bogey on several holes, made two pars, and even managed a birdie on the ninth after making a 10 foot putt. I finished ten over par at a 44. Alonso couldn't get his head together to save anything better than double bogey. Nick managed two bogies but nothing better, and the guy who by now is a bit irritated with taking three hours to play nine holes managed four bogies, two pars, and several double bogies. After the ninth we decided to take a break, grab a few subs from the clubhouse, and let some people play through so we wouldn't need to let so many play through when we set off for the back nine. Our buddy even went on without us knowing he would be there all day if he stuck around. At this point Nick was in last place in our round at a 73 for the front nine, and Alonso behind my 44 with a 66.

The Back Nine

Since we were paired up with somebody on the front nine, I didn't take any pictures or videos because I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. But since it was just the three of us for the back nine, I let the vlogging commence!

I don't know if it was the heat, something in the cheese, or just excitement over not irritating too many other players, but as you can tell we were pretty happy about getting back out on the course.

My tenth tee shot as mentioned in the above video. It landed on the green and rolled pin high but just off and onto the fringe. This set me up for a two putt for par.

After the tenth we moved onto the eleventh hole, as per usual counting methods. Now, Mainlands is famous for their eleventh hole, or at least they say they are. Their eleventh hole is a par 5 with a dogleg in it unlike any other in the area. In fact, they don't even call it a "dogleg" they call it a "horseshoe"... and for good reason!

Alonso is quite a character... always up to something. He actually managed to tie me on this hole thanks to a decent second shot out of the ruff, a third shot to the side of the green, a fourth shot onto the green, and a three putt. So despite my 300 yard tee shot if the rest of your game is no good you will NOT score well. I chunked my second shot, and overshot my third. Then having a downhill putt overshot my first putt leaving myself an uphill eight footer which I misjudged the read on and three putted for double bogey.

Moving on the twelfth hole is a short par three at 145 yards. My tee shot landed just feet from the hole and the ball rolled ten feet past. I two putted for par. Nick hit an excellent tee shot landing him feet away from the hole and managed to birdie the hole! Alonso managed five.

My twelfth tee shot landed close but rolled about ten feet past. I two putted for par.

Over the next few holes I managed a bogie a couple doubles and a triple. However, on the seventeenth I was ecstatic over my tee shot!

On the Seventeenth hole my tee shot put me just inches away from the cup. If I didn't make that shot I was going to cry. Luckily, no tears were shed as I circled my score on my card.

Woohoo! So I managed to birdie that hole. Then we moved onto the eighteenth hole. Now, as we finished seventeen we noticed some clouds starting to roll in from the north. They were dark and scary, but we didn't hear anything too menacing or close, and we only had one hole to play. After we teed off and got in the cart, that storm rolled in FAST! Like it wasn't there and then a minute later it was on us. We ran to pick up our balls and then fled to the cover of the clubhouse. We figured we'll play that hole over once the storm passed.

Our view from the clubhouse as the rain came down. Only in Florida will there be pouring rain and lightning and clear skies...

After the storm passed we went out and played eighteen. I tallied up the scores beforehand and realized I needed par to stay at ten over like I did on the front nine. Since the back nine has a par 3 instead of a par 4, the par is 33 instead of 34. I hit a wonderful tee shot three hundred yards down the middle and it landed in the fairway and stopped due to the wet ground. I then hit my pitch shot fat, luckily hit it over the tiny pond to the left of the fairway just short of the green, and got on the green in three. I then botched my putting and three putted for double bogey. Oh well. I got a 45 on the back nine, and a 44 on the front nine, resulting in 22 over par and an 89 total. Alonso shot a 69 on the back and Nick beat Alonso on the back nine by thee strokes with his 66. However overall Alonso beat Nick by four strokes as the totals added up to 135 for Alonso and 139 for Nick.

So now that we have Mainlands under our belt, we hope to play a Par 72 course before season comes and jacks up the prices. I personally really like The Mainlands Golf Course and would definitely play there again. I kind of want to avenge my double bogie on the "Horseshoe Par 5" eleventh. But all in all I'm satisfied with my round. If I pay a little closer attention next time I should be able to shave a few strokes off at least and get back down to bogey golf and hopefully less than that. I also want to have somebody film my tee shots...

Well that's a wrap! Check back for more soon!

--Tom K.

GolfNerd17 - Driver Work

Good Day Everyone!

As I mentioned towards the end of my last article I finally managed to make it out to the driving range and work out which of the two drivers I have I would rather play with. Up until this point, I have not hit a driver in over four years, and have not hit the drivers I was trying out. Since I was a bit shorter (a foot actually) the last time I hit a driver, I was finally going to whack appropriate adult clubs. The two I am using in this article are my dads. He doesn't play much anymore, and luckily after the day was over the one I liked better was the one my dad preferred NOT to use, so he got his driver back for whenever he does play.

The two drivers were decent clubs. The first one was a Mizuno Forged Titanium T-Zoid Blue Rage 350 driver with 9 degrees of loft. This is my dad's preferred driver, and in fact he admits that it's the only driver he was ever able to hit well consistently. The other club was the Callaway C4 Big Bertha Composite Head driver with 10 degrees of loft and a larger club face.

The differences I've noticed between the two clubs, aside form the obvious loft differences and the fact one is titanium and the other is composite are rather subtle. The Mizuno has a stiffer shaft than the Callaway, however you can pick and choose what stiffness you want for the Callaway. The C4 I am using is the "Regular" shaft stiffness which is the middle of the 5 tension choices, so you could get it with a stiffer shaft. Also, something I liked about the Mizuno was that the titanium head made that nice "PiiiNG!" sound when you hit the ball. The composite C4 made more of a knock-whallop noise, but that's just because of the differences in materials used.

In the end, the Callaway Composite head was easier for me to hit consistently. By the time I was done with my bucket of balls (I got the biggest one they have which holds about 110 balls) I was hitting them straight down the middle and they were either hitting the back fence or going over it. I was pleased with the result.

--Tom K.

GolfNerd17 - Bogey Golf at Twin Brooks

Good Day Everyone!

So today (probably yesterday by the time I finish this) Alonso and I went to Twin Brooks to play 18. Twin Brooks is a fun 18 hole par 54 (18 par 3s) executive course with more trees and sticks than you can shake a stick at (sorry-not sorry). Regardless of the terrain we managed to have a pretty good game and a good time today. For the first time since the re-ignition of the spark of my interest (okay Tom, calm down, less poetry please) in golf, we've finally played a course that has 18 different holes! Also, after the round I took a step back and went to the range on site and worked out my driver play (finally).

So anyway at around 10:30 this morning we went ahead and teed off. The first hole is 84 yards from the back of the tee, probably 75 from where the tee markers were (and sequentially, where we teed off) and like an idiot I used a pitching wedge and overshot the green. After messing up a chip shot, I got on the green in three and two putted for five. Alonso made the fairway... but of the adjacent 10th hole, and managed a six on the first hole.

The second hole was better for both of us. We both were on the green after our tee shots, and I even made a ten foot putt for birdie! Woohoo! Alonso two putted for par, and we were very pleased going into the third hole.

Yes, I did goof and say "third hole" but it was the second, indeed.

The third hole I'd rather not talk about for two reasons. One: I don't really remember what happened. Two: The score card says I got a five and Alonso got an eight so we're gonna skip that one. The fourth hole I did worse on, and Alonso actually did better than me scoring a five to my six. This hole is interesting as you cross a river/creek thing on a rickety bridge to the tee. Then you hit over the river/creek thing to the green 80 yards away. I overshot the green and ended up having to take a drop because I ended up in a hibiscus bush or something. Alonso, however, hit a nice shot onto the right fringe and four putted banging it past the hole three times.

I got a bogey on he fifth hole and Alonso got a five. The sixth hole had a bit more of a skew between our scores as I managed par and Alonso managed... eight. I remember Alonso chipping completely over the green a few times, once hitting it 30 yards in the wrong direction!

Speaking of wrong directions, the band One Direction sucks. But you know what else sucks? When you combine two holes on a golf course. Yeah. The Seventh tee is placed in an area where when you finish the sixth hole, if you keep walking in that direction you're on the seventh tee and in the same direction is a green. However that green is to the eighth hole! Alonso and I didn't realize this until after we hit our tee shots, turned around and realized the arrow on the yardage board pointing in the opposite direction to another green. So we walked over, picked up our balls, went back to the teeing area and hit our balls in the correct direction. This pissed me off. Not because we goofed up, but because my tee shot to the incorrect green was better than my tee shot to the correct green! It was all I could do to save FIVE for that hole... oye.

Now onto the eighth hole. I managed to bogey that hole after overshooting the green. Alonso didn't have much luck as his tee shot went caty-whompus and shot way right, over the fence, bouncing on the Pinellas Bike Trail bridge, and over that railing into the river/creek thing. His second tee shot also went right, but this time stayed low, only went 30 or 40 yards, and stopped after hitting the chain link fence bordering the river/creek thing. His next shot, was... well, see for yourself:

But back to the ninth hole. By now we're pretty exhausted. It's been over an hour since we started, the wet dew and residual rain left over from whenever it rained last (it's Florida so probably like 10 minutes before we started) is now evaporating straight up into our faces and our water bottles are empty and we're about 3 strokes away from a stroke (heh heh). The ninth is pretty straight forward, and after teeing off with a nine iron on the 134 yard hole and plunking it just short and right of the green, Alonso teed off and went no where far or quickly. His second shot I believe sent him past the green and down a hill that turned out to be not as steep as we anticipated (which was good) and my second shot put me on the green setting me up for the bogey I would later receive. Let me stress, we're about to die:

After that hole we retreated to the club house and bought drinks and candy bars out of the fridge. I turn into Rodney Dangerfield from Caddy Shack when I'm hungry so I had a Snickers. We then tallied up the scores while watching the Junior PGA Tour on the tiny television in the corner of the clubhouse and realized I shot a 38 (which was no where near as terrible as I though) and Alonso shot a 53 which wasn't that bad all things considered. I was surprised at my score but then realized the reason why it wasn't in the forties was a birdie and a par and more bogies than anything else. Alas, I was pleased. But being my own worst critic was still mad at the six I received on the fourth hole and the fives I received on one, three, and seven.

The Back Nine

So we moved on to the tenth. I got a bogey and Alonso got a five. With that we moved on to the eleventh hole. The eleventh hole shares a huge teeing ground with the third hole. The third hole hitting west, and the eleventh heading east. There is a water hazard running for most of the right side of the fairway widening as it turns out to the right to head smack through the twelve fairway. To the left of the hazard is a nice fairway where you can plop your ball before chipping up onto the elevated green if you were too worried you would overshoot and end up rolling down into the road. Of course, I went for it and to my surprise, didn't suck!

Yeah yeah, I couldn't see the flag in the screen and looked like a doofus as I played Cinematographer LIVE trying to point at the damn thing (only to realize upon later review I had it right in the first place). As you can see Alonso ended up in the weeds after ending up in the weeds (yupp, losing two balls). He received a nine on that hole as I parred it. I was pleased.

We then crossed the road. Why? To get to the other side, much as I assume the Chicken did. And on the other side was the twelfth hole. This is a short hole, 89 yards, over a river/creek/drainage thing and onto a nicely sized green. I parred this hole as well. Unfortunately.. Alonso didn't. Let's just say some marsh, and bridge, and a hedge got in his way.

I don't know quite what happened on thirteen, but we must have been suffering heat stroke or something because I finished with a six, and Alonso finished ten more than that. Needless to say it was NOT our best hole. We then sought shelter in the shade and luckily a water cooler was there too for us to fill our bottles with. After chilling out and letting ourselves recoup themselves we set off on the fourteenth. I managed to par that hole as well. Alonso did much better than a sixteen and only received a five.

Alonso then got a bogey on the next THREE holes in a row. I received a bogey on the next two holes, and a five on the seventeenth. The eighteenth was a dog as my tee shot went slightly long and left, and then I botched my chip sending it two feet in front of me. After getting on in three I two putted for a five. Alonso found the rough and managed a six after three putting.

After tallying up the scores I learned, contrary to how I felt, I did better on the back nine than I did on the front thanks to my numerous pars and bogeys. I scored a 38 on the front nine and a 37 on the back resulting in a 75 total for the day on a par 54. This adds up to 21 over par, or just over bogey golf (which is my short term goal). Alonso, due to his three high scoring holes as a result of heat exhaustion, did ten strokes worse on the back nine than the front, receiving a 63 on the back. Totaled with his 53 on the front, he still managed to improve four strokes from when we played at Cypress Links a few weeks ago.

All in all, I was happy with the round, and I think Alonso was too. After the round I went and bought the biggest bucket of range balls they had and worked on my driver play on the range. The main thing I wanted to do was decide which driver I wanted to keep in my bag. Currently I'm playing with hammy down clubs from my dad, and I was trying to decide between his Mizuno driver (which he prefers) or the Carbon Fiber Composite head Callaway Big Bertha driver. After hitting some, I realized I preferred the Callaway. The Mizuno I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot with, but the Big Bertha I was able to send it straight as an arrow and over the back fence 200 yards away. I also managed to draw the ball on command, and fade it accidentally. Either way, I was quite happy. I also learned my 3 wood I can hit roughly 175 yards. So now I know, which is all I really wanted to figure out.

So whatever. I hope to get out again soon. Depending on how my money situation is, I still want to buy a new box of balls and go play Mainlands in Pinellas Park. We'll see! Check back soon!

--Tom K.

Treasure Bay - It's a BIRDIE!

Good Day Everyone!

Welcome back to Golf Nerd 17, and today I will be writing about my afternoon outing with Alonso yesterday at the local course "Treasure Bay" golf course. I know, I know. I said next time we play it'll be at Mainlands. BUT, I'm still saving up money to buy new balls and money for the round so I can do it correctly. I also still need to go to the range and figure out my driver and woods because yesterday I took out my driver on one of the bay side tees and whacked two balls into the water pulling one over a hundred yards to the right and putting so much spin on the next one it flew 30 yards then abruptly pulled twenty yards left and shot straight down into the water. Saying I drew the ball is a major understatement.

But anyway, Alonso was getting antsy and wanted to play yesterday and I had $10 to spare so I figured "Why not?" and we had a good time. On the first nine I scored a 41 while Alonso scored a 63. On the back nine we both improved. I managed a 38 that should have been a 34 but I lost a ball out of bounds on my tee shot on the ninth as I pulled it left praying it didn't hit the apartment buildings (it didn't.. but close!) and had to tee off again for my fourth shot finishing with an 8 for that hole.. I wasn't happy with that finish. Alonso improved his 63 all the way down to a 49. After examining his scores on the first nine I let him know if he turned all his scores that were over a 6 into 6's, he could shave 15 strokes off his score, and he just about did that.

Also, I remembered to take out my iPhone and do some filming and managed to make some short videos so I could have a YouTube channel dedicated to this blog as well. Since iMove was being a b!tch last night I just uploaded the short clips right from my phone to youtube, but I plan on making a feature film lasting a couple minutes in length every time we go out instead of uploading many smaller clips. UNLESS, that is I get feedback from my readers saying they'd prefer to watch many smaller (less than one minute) clips rather than a video around 5 minutes or less in length. If you have an opinion, send you opinion to my primary blog email toms3dhuckfest@yahoo.com and let me know what you prefer. I cater to you, my readers, so it would make no sense for me to choose a format you don't like.

So, onto the game. On the second hole Alonso had a great hole. His tee shot left him pin high and on the right fringe of the green. A lucky chip shot left him with the ball IN THE HOLE for his first ever birdie! Congratulations Alonso. As we went on, it showed that unfortunately Alonso's birdie was a fluke. But he did eventually improve and I'll get to that later. The front nine was decent for me. I received a bogey for the first five holes, parred the sixth, bogey on the seventh, and then whacked a ball in the water on the 8th and finished with a seven. Then after making the green on the ninth I received a six. Now I know what you're saying, "How the hell did he manage to make the green and still receive a 6?" Well, the video below explains how:

As you can see, I did make a green... just not the green. My first shot pulled right and landed on the green for the seventh hole, and since you can't chip from the putting surface and I didn't feel like taking a drop, I figured I'd be creative and putt off the green and chip through the gap in the bushes onto the green. I managed to chip onto the fringe, chip on, and two putt for my six.

The Back Nine

The back nine was better for both Alonso and myself. After getting a bogey on the first two holes and Alonso receiving a 6 on the first two holes, we moved onto the third hole (aka, the 12th). My tee shot was a bit long and rolled off the back of the green, and Alonso's tee shot was rubbish as he sculled it to the right into the mud again. I figured now, after this being the third or fourth time Alonso had played, that Alonso has played enough that he could take some swing advice and put it to good use. I explained to him some things my dad taught me about the golf swing including making sure you have a good grip. I also went into detail about the different elements of the swing including what makes a good take away and back swing, and accentuating to be smooth and to realize that all of your power comes from the last part of your swing right before impact, and how to keep your wrists and the club in "the slot" as you come down to the ball. I then had him drop another ball and give it a shot, and he landed right next to the green, caught some hang time with the ball instead of sculling it, and made good impact with the ball. Also, he commented that the swing didn't hurt his arms anymore.

Since we still played our original balls, he received a six and I scored a four. However using that same technique I showed him on the third tee, his scores improved as he no longer sent tee shorts thirty feet into the mud, but rather a hundred yards down range, and pretty straight. His scored dipped down to fives instead of sixes and sevens, and even parred the sixth hole, as did I.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the fourth (aka, the 13th) hole. This was a good hole for me. My tee shot landed me a few feet from the pin, on the green, and pin high, and I one putted for birdie. I was very pleased!

As you can tell, Alonso miscounted when he announced in that video he scored a ten on that hole. In reality, after recounting his strokes, only scored a six.

Moving on to the sixth hole. Now this hole is interesting. Downhill, about 110 yards, slight dogleg left with water left and some weird trees right with a green side bunker to the right. We both hit decent tee shots. I ended up on the fringe and Alonso in the fairway just short of the green. We both chipped on and one putted for par. We were both excited going into the seventh.

On the seventh, I hit a tee shot similar to the last time I played that hole and was short of the green due to underestimating the distance of the hole and not giving a full swing. I don't know why but that hole looks shorter than it is. Alonso, overwhelmed with the hype of scoring well on the sixth hole hit his tee shot thirty yards and into the mud. It wasn't good. I told him to calm down and hit another shot and to concentrate. We were still to play our original balls as always, but this was just to show what calming down and taking a step back to think about your shot could do. It was a poor example as he just hit it farther but still pulled it right and onto the tee for the first hole... but whatever.

He went to his ball and I went to refill my water bottle at the fountain placed on the seventh. I saw where his second shot ended up... it was behind the tees for the first hole about twenty yards beyond where his provisional shot landed. I walked over and, after hitting my ball onto the green, hit his provisional ball for fun since we weren't playing it. It landed on the green (woot!) and Alonso went to set up for his third shot. This, by the way, is the third time we were on this green today. The first time on the seventh hole, the second time on the ninth hole, and now:

I managed to score a bogey on that hole after two putting, and Alonso managed a five after two putting. All in all it wasn't a bad hole. On the eighth I redeemed myself and scored a bogey there after hitting a ball into the water last time. Alonso also improved this time shooting a five instead of a seven.

I don't know why, but the ninth hole just has some bad juju. I don't know if it's nerves, weird wind coming off the buildings, or if we always just rush because it's the ninth and we're exciting with that "if I score well here I'll score a 34!" or whatever. But we always end up botching something on this hole. One time we played Alonso sent three into the lake. I remember Nick sent two into the lake one time. I've lost balls in the lake, in the bushes, in the maintenance shack, and in the apartments. Last time I ended up on the seventh green as I stated above, and this time I lost a ball in the apartments again. Luckily it didn't hit the buildings. After taking the OOB penalty I teed off again (my fourth shot) and landed in the center of the fairway. I made a crap chip shot leaving me short of the green, and I finished with an eight. Alonso pulled right on his first or second shot and had a similar shot that I did the last time after I putted of the seventh green. I finished with an eight after my stroke and distance penalty, and Alonso finished with a seven.

All in all it was a fun day of golf. After tallying up the scores I finished with a 79 and Alonso finished with a 112. Hopefully we'll get out there again soon. It's a fun little pitch and putt course and should not be overlooked.

--Tom K.

Cypress Links at Mangrove Bay - A Monday Game

Good Day Everyone!

Earlier today my friends Alonso, Nick and I played 18 at Cypress Links once again. For the first time since we've started playing again just a few weeks ago we were all able to go together, so today was interesting. We planned to arrive at the course an hour and a half before our 9:30 tee time and hit the range. Alonso wants to warm up because he's new to the game and wants to work out all his bad shots on the range before getting anywhere near weeds, lakes, or trees. I personally want to work on my long irons, woods, and driver. I seem to have a problem pulling my long irons (4 and 5 iron) to the right, and I have no clue how far I can hit my woods and/or driver because I haven't played in so long, nor have used those particular clubs before.

Unfortunately, due to Florida's weather being a scutch, the driving range was too wet for the ball retriever to retrieve the balls without tearing up the grass and therefore was closed. After twenty minutes on the chipping and putting greens, however, we figured we'd head up to the road to Cypress and see about getting onto the course an hour before our tee time. Since it was not busy this morning there was no problem teeing off earlier than scheduled.

This is the first hole as viewed from the black tees. A bit muddy as you can see.

The first hole made me feel good. I hit the ball straight, unlike last time when I pulled it right and ended up in the lake. However, I did plunk it in the greenside sand trap. Not to worry, because I managed to whack it out of the sand and one putt for par. I was happy. Nick, with his new born giraffe swing, managed a 7 as he whacked his way up the fairway. Alonso managed to find all kids of trouble, such as the weeds making for a lost ball penalty, and received an 8 for the first hole. I was feeling good, but I couldn't say the same for my fellow golfers.

The second hole promised improvement. I also pared this hole after whacking it past the green, back on, and one putting. Alonso improved his score by 3 resulting in a 5 for the second hole, and managed to gain a lead ahead of Nick who scored a 5 on the second. Nick did what I did the last time we played, and pulled his tee shot way right onto the fifth tee or the fourth fairway... I'm not sure. However, unlike me, he managed to find his ball. I miss that ball I lost last week so if anybody finds a Callaway Warbird stuck in the grass over there let me know! It is missed dearly! At this point, I was happy. I was at par, which had me feeling good, and I was also happy Alonso, who I've taken under my wing since we started playing, was doing relatively well.

This is the second hole at Cypress Links. Short hole, water left, bunker right, and hills past the green.

The third hole at Cypress.. I'm not a fan of. It's a long-ish hole with a rectangular green with water on both sides. The green is also crowned rolling downhill on both the front and back of the green which is only about 5 or 10 yards deep. I managed to steer clear of the water, but my tee shot with my 5 iron left me slightly short and right of the green. Alonso, after unsuccessfully attempting to hit my 3 wood managed to drive the ball all the way six feet in front of him and down the hill to the water's edge right near the teeing area. He then hit a shot, again only several yards forward and ended up on the right side of the teeing ground. Nick, between Alonso's ill-fated shots, drove his ball all the way to the front tees and was even with Alonso's second shot. After a while and a humbling three putt by myself, we did not score as well. I scored a 5 resulting from my abysmal three putt. Alonso shot a 10, and Nick managed his third 7 in a row.

The fourth hole with water right, bunker right and back of the green, tress left, and Nick setting up for a practice swing.

The fourth hole was a love-hate hole for me. I hit an excellent tee shot with my pitching wedge and drove the green. I was very happy. Alonso and Nick managed to cover both flanks by hitting it right and short and left and far of the green. I fixed my ball mark and prepared for a long birdie putt, or a decent two putt for par. After analyzing the putt while my friends whacked their way onto the green, I went for it, and missed. The second putt for par was an easy one... and I missed that one too. I was not happy with my bogey with a three putt at all. I was so proud of my tee shot that I guess I rushed my putting stroke. Alas, I scored a 4 on that hole, Nick scored 6 and Alonso scored 5.

This is my ball and the mark it made when I drove the fourth green. Right after taking this picture I fixed the mark, and then proceeded to three putt my way to bogie -.-

Hole 5 at Cypress Links. Nice hole, straight. water to the back right of the green. No bunkers. It's harder than it looks with hills to the left and unfavorable lies to the right.

The fifth hole was interesting. I managed a bogey while Alonso somehow managed to whack his ball 10 times (I think he five putted), and Nick surprised us all by managing par after a decent tee shot just short of the green, a close chip shot, and a one putt. The sixth hole I was okay with. I hit a tee shot straight down the middle and landed just feet short of the green. I was contemplating my club selection. Based on the yardage I was planning on hitting an 8 iron, but after I figured the headwind I decided to go with a seven. However that still was not enough to get me up onto the green. Alonso hit his initial shot to the right, ended up in the bunker on his second shot before punching out to the green and putting twice for a 5 on the sixth. Nick also managed a 5 whacking his ball little by little up the fairway. I managed bogey after a decent chip and a two putt. I was annoyed because I missed an easy putt. I probably should have spent more time on the putting green before we started.

This is the seventh hole at Cypress Links. You can see Alonso the orange shirt and apparent case of "swamp ass" diagnosed by his awkward stance.

 The seventh was not too fun for me. I was disappointed in my tee shot that went right and only about half way up the fairway. After getting it on the green and three putting I managed a 6. Alonso and Nick both managed 8s on the seventh after whacking their tee shots and subsequent shots not too far. The eight hole I was okay with. I bogied the eighth after hitting it right of the green. Alonso scored a 7 and Nick hit 5. I hate the ninth hole. It seems that the ninth hole on the courses I've played is just difficult for no apparent reason, or it could be just that I'm either beat or just letting my mind get ahead of me wanting to end on a good note. Whatever the reason, I pulled my 4 iron way right and ended up in the water. I managed to save 6 on the hole, but I was not happy. Nick managed an 8 after making several back and forth putts around the hole, and Alonso racked up the strokes to 11.

Now I'm not going to bore you with the back nine for a few reasons. One, it was pretty uneventful unless you count me cursing inanimate objects like my ball or the ground for my poor shots as I got fatigued in the sun (I wore a black shirt.... dumbass move). Also, I did worse on the back nine than on the front and I really don't want to write about it because it makes me sad. Also, I'm fried and I don't recall many of the holes. I do remember that because there was a junior program we started on the third hole and then played one and two on the way back. And since Alonso did 16 strokes better, I think he'd want me to mention something about him. Instead of hitting 10s and 11s he kept this average score down around a 6. His highest score was one score of 8, and he had a couple nice bogies. Kudos Alonso. Nick also improved by four shots on the back nine keeping his average score also around a 6 (Alonso and Nick tied on the back nine with 52).

Here is the eighth hole. Really short, bunkers short and long of the green. Both the front and back nine I ended up right of the green, but the back nine I ended up in the weeds beyond the back bunker. There's also water back there...

To tally up everything, on the front nine Alonso scored 68, and on the back nine he scored a 52. Nick scored a 56 on the front nine and a 52 on the back, and yours truly scored a 39 on the front and a 47 on the back. It seemed I just got tired while my friends got practice.

In all it was a fun day out. We're thinking of playing at Mainlands Golf Course next time we play, which is a par 67 instead of a 54 and includes a couple par fives, and many par fours and par threes. However, before we play there I need to do some more work so I can afford $30 for a new case of Callaway Hot Hex golf balls, as well as another $24 four the round of golf. However since I'm a college student, I'm pretty sure I get a discount and can ride for the walking price of only $18 at Mainlands. Also before I go play at a bigger course, I want to go to the range and figure out my woods and driver so I'm not hitting them for the first time on the first tee.

 Until next time, I'm Tom from Golf Nerd 17. Keep Swingin'!

 --Tom K.

A Future Outing

Good Day Everyone!

It seems today is the first day in a few where I can see the sun through clear skies. Hopefully this is a sign for things to come as Nick (Giraffe Swing Dude), Alonso (my friend from Indiana, and yes that's his name.. my parents still don't believe me) and I are planning on playing Cypress Links together as a threesome on Monday morning. Fingers crossed for good weather! I'll have a run down on that outing afterwards just like Wednesday's outing. Stay tuned!

--Tom K.