Things kind of fell apart in the middle of the month and I took a few non-scoring, practice rounds to try to work things out.  The 98 at Washington National was an odd one.  I had a very consistent 43 on the front nine but then everything broke down and I had a string of double and triple bogeys on the back nine.   I expect my handicap will stay at around 11.0.

Washington National, 9th green – I got a par on this one.

Hoping to post a score in the low 80s to eventually get my handicap under ten I teed off on a busy Labor Day morning from the blue tees at Mt. Si.  I’m still struggling to hit fairways but I managed to shoot 41+39 for an 80.  It was a struggle all the way and I think I ended up with more improbable par saves than on any round I’ve ever played.

1) On #1 I pulled my drive left into the trees.  A low five iron settled just right of the green and I chipped to five feet and one-putted to save par.  2) On #5 again my drive went left along the  tree line and dropped some 190 yards from the hole.  A 4-iron landed short of the green but settled twenty feet past the hole and a two-putt saved another par.  3) On #9 a big yank left off the tee left me well into the trees and 160 yards from the hole.  I hit a low 4-iron hook into the hillside short of the green and the ball stopped on the green some sixty feet away.  Another two-putt par save left me with six pars and a 41 on the front nine.  4) On hole 14 my drive leaked right where my approach to the green was blocked by an evergreen tree.  I hit a 9-iron fade around the tree that stopped on the right edge.  A chip and ten-foot putt saved another par. 5) My drive on #17 came to rest some 20 feet right of the green from where I chipped in for a birdie.  6) Finally, on #18 after a dead-center drive my wedge shot landed in the ugly grass bunker in front of the green.  My chip out just missed going in the hole and I tapped in for a final par.

I managed to get through another two weeks with my handicap staying at 10.7.  It’s going to be diffucult to keep it there; scores of 77, 80 and 81 are going to fall off the list with the next update.  I would really like, just once, to get into single digits and this is a great chance to get there.

August was a good month of golf with glorious weather and 14 rounds of golf.  There were a couple of not very satisfying outings but I had three scores in the 70s and averaged 84.2.  And there was a five-round stretch from the 12th to the 22nd where my average score was 80.2

I didn’t think it was possible to improve on 2010’s low mark of 12.0 but today my handicap index is down to 10.7.  I’m delighted with the improvement but it is due in part, I think, to having played Mt. St golf course so often (over 500 times) and having mastered most every problem it can present.  My average score there since April is 84.4; at all other courses it’s 87.5.  Of course, the average slope rating for those “other” courses is 121 significantly more difficult than Mt. SI’s 117.

Since I’ve been playing well this summer I decided to try my hand at the Mt. Si Club Championship, a two-day, 36-hole event.  On day one, Saturday, I struggled mightily eventually salvaging an 87.  I figured that I would need at least an 80 to even have a chance of finishing in the money for the tournament.  Things didn’t look too promising when I three-putted the second hole for a bogey. But I managed par on six straight holes finishing the front nine with another bogey to make the turn at 38.

The tenth hole has been a particular nemesis for me lately including a triple-bogey 7 on Saturday.  A solid four iron left me in perfect position but I yanked a nine iron into a dreaded grass bunker left of the green.  My chip out left a 16-foot side-hill putt that I sank for par.  Following bogey on #12 and birdie on #13 and par on #14 I saved par on #15 with a 18 foot putt from off the green.

I stood on the par-five sixteenth tee just two over par thinking all I needed to do was keep the ball in play for really low score.  Of course, I pulled my tee shot well left but miraculously the ball caromed off the trees and landed back in the fairway.  A second three-wood left me still 177 yards from the green. I stuck a five iron fifteen feet from the hole and two-putted to save another par. A bogey on #17 and par on #18 brought me to the clubhouse with a personal best three over par 75.

My two-day total of 162 left me tied with another competitor and I lost in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to finish second.  What a fun weekend!

I played OK golf for July with two 80’s and a 77 at Mt. Si.  I was especially happy with the 91, 84 day at Gold Mountain on the 24th.  The combined 175 was seven strokes better than my previous best double back in 2009.

I have never felt that I benefited much from golf lessons; heaven knows I’ve taken scores of them from half a dozen different instructors.  But my game seems kind of stuck especially off the tee where I just don’t hit enough fairways.  So I decided to try Matt Campbell, the head golf pro at Mt. Si GC.  I felt like I got more out of this session than any other I’ve ever had.  The key points were very basic: more athletic stance at setup, swing from the feet up, relax arms and upper body, and stand closer to the ball at address.  I certainly zinged a bunch of solid shots during the lesson. We’ll see if it carries over to the course over the next few weeks.

Another golf mystery.  Greeted by the first rain-free morning since Tuesday I decided to try a quick round at Mt. Si.  There was a spot open just as I arrived at the pro shop so I teed off right out of the car; no warm up, no practice putts.  After bogeys on the first two holes I pared six of the next seven to finish the front nine in 39.  Things continued to go well with bogey-par-par-bogey on holes ten through thirteen.  As I approached the 14th tee I was thinking I had a good chance to break 80.  Amazingly I went par, par, par, birdie, bogey to card 38 on the back nine.

The 77 is my second lowest score ever and the first time I’ve been in the 30s on both nines in the same round.

June 3, 2102 scorecard