Question:
writes <snip Middlesbrough Muni is definitely one of the better public courses I have played on. It is a reasonable length at around 6000 yards off the day tees, with 3 par 5’s and 4 par 3’s. None of the par 5’s are overly long and offer a chance of getting near in two, provided the drive is accurate and long. Two of the holes have very scary tee-shots, requiring straight shots of 200 yards carry to avoid the trouble. The second of these is the 18th ! One particular challenge is judging the approach shot to the 4th green which sports a flagstick some 2 foot high. (Courtesy of the local kids, apparently 
) The clubhouse bar provided a mean burger lunch and judging by the noticeboard of events, the club has a thriving membership. At 280 quid for an annual season ticket, I’d rate it a serious bargain.
It did win a ‘Best English Muni Course’ award a few years ago. Can’t remember all the details, but they’re in the freebie leaflet at the reception. Some general points on the day, with a little relevance to subjects discussed here recently: <snip 3. Wind. It was breezy all day, and with the course layout being fairly up and down, this resulted in a nasty crosswind on nearly every hole. To the extent that putts were visibly affected, and wispy folks like me get pushed off balance on full shots. (Either that, or it was the shandy I had at lunch-time.) Coupled with hard fairways and greens that putted true but weren’t holding much, and it becomes hard work to hold your game together. It wasn’t unusual to see a short iron approach shot blown almost 20 yards sideways. Interestingly, really well hit woods can bore a virtually straight trajectory – it must be the relatively low backspin.
The thing that killed me was that 9i off the tee on the 17th. Morning round, gale from directly behind the tee, normally take an 8i on this hole, so went down to a 9i, which climbed high and landed softly, holding the green for a tricky but not unrealistic birdie chance. Afternoon round, wind had dropped virtually to nothing, decided to stick with the 9i, nice easy swing, climbed even higher than before, landed softly and bounced right through the green, over a steep bank at the back and 6 yards into the rough at the back. Must have hit a hard spot or something – but that 9i went almost 160 yds! 
Very, very frustrating. The forecast is for patchy but heavy-ish rain here for the next few days, so hopefully the greens will soften a lot – with the wind behind it was *very* difficult to hold even a well-struck shot. And to finish the day off in style, Man Utd won their third major trophy in a little over a week. Even a hardened non-soccer fan like me has to tip my hat to them.
Even a hardened Boro fan like me has to – grudgingly. Actually, I surprised myself by being pleased when they equalised – kind of goes against the grain to want Man Utd to do well! 
— Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.
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writes You’re welcome, Steve. And don’t be so hard on yourself – you’ve come a long way in a short time. Definitely, definitely, *don’t* go home and complain about a bad round. You need your missus on your side or you’ll be banned from playing !!
I never mention it, good or bad. I tried once (after a good round) – it took all of 15 seconds for her eyes to glaze over (she’s probably the least interested person in any sport that I’ve ever met, though I owe her a big debt of gratitude for pushing me to start playing golf after I had to retire from football and cricket last year!), so I haven’t bothered since. She will generally ask if I’ve had a nice time, but the answer has to be a short one! Cheers, — Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.
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so is steve pretty good then (cant see the report, my news server must have lost it, repost??) after 1 year playing golf? please say yes and bring hope to us all!
Burt, Tried to email you a copy of the article, but the email address quoted above just bounced as undeliverable. Pls email me your correct address. Cheers, — Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.
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At last I have managed to get 30 mins peace & quiet. The long awaited golf day dawned, for me, at 06h00 with a beautiful blue cloudless sky. Having prepared most of my gear the previous night I showered had breakfast and was on the road for 06h30. Traffic was light and I made good time. Only point that I was held up was in Birmingham having missed the turning for the M69 to the M1 at Leicester. In fact I was making so much good time I decided to ring Chris to say I would be at the course in time to meet them for the morn9ing back 9. As it happened Chris didn’t hear or answer the phone and looking at the course layout the 9th tee is in the middle of the course anyway. Arrived at Middlesborough Golfr Centre at 12h00. 310 miles in 5 1/2 hours with a break. Realised that in the whole journey from front door to the Course I hadn’t passed through one traffic light or pedestrian crossing. I sat watching a bit of the ladies golf on sky and got into a conversation with a local chap. The time passed and suddenly the group were at the bar buying lunch. After the introductions we had lunch and went to start the round. Now I’m not sure what triggered my appalling round but appalling it was. I had lost the fluidity of my drive, I was skying it one minute slicing it the next. Still I’d driven 310 miles and was going to enjoy the day. I’ve had these days before and it always gets better, that’s what keeps me playing this game. Still we all had some good shots and not some good ones. I think I had John’s share of bads shots because he hardly faltered at all. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day with the lads, Steve was not as consistant as I thought he was going to be but when he did connect well it travelled. In your case Steve when someone asks you what your handicap is tel ‘em "My Handicap!". The day ended in the bar and I travelled down the road to my brother’s to stay the night. Thank god United won. I was feeling a bit depressed over my game but my brother’s face at half time was could have sunk a thousand ships. During the weekend I discovered that my distance from the ball at address (not after the shot!) was too close. I used to habitually measure with my fist and index finger the distance between the butt of the club/iron to the front of my left groin. Just lately I had omitted that part of my setup thinking that it was now memorised. Recently also I have been playing badly during competitions. Put a card in my hand etc. etc. However on Sunday in the Captains day I put this yardstick back into my setup. Unfortuneately it rained during the first 9 holes and at the halfway mark the Captain’s wife was selling hotdogs. Feeling hungry and soaked I bought two. The rain stopped and my drive off the 10th was good. I took off my waterproofs and starteds hitting some real sweet golf. Ended up with 9 Stableford points on the first 9 and 20 on the back 9. Confidence was returning with every stroke. My theory now is when I get nervous and tense, my setup distance to the ball reduces because my muscles tense and contract. Being aware of this tendency for me to creep closer to the ball at setup should help me give a better account of my self next time we play. Now that there are a few more contributors to this NG can we not arrange the next match in the Midlands somewhere more central? I didn’t mind the travelling as a one off but it did take 2 days in effect. I was actually calling in at Head Office in Birmingham on the way home on Thursday so it only meant one day’s holiday but I wouldn’t like to travel up & down to Middlesborough in a day and expect to be fit for work the next. Well that’s it. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to Chris & John for another game and thanks to Steve for arranging the day and for his Company. Lets do it again sometime. Regards, Peter A-B
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freeserve.co.uk writes <snip Arrived at Middlesborough Golfr Centre at 12h00. 310 miles in 5 1/2 hours with a break. Realised that in the whole journey from front door to the Course I hadn’t passed through one traffic light or pedestrian crossing. I sat watching a bit of the ladies golf on sky and got into a conversation with a local chap.
The way you two parted, I thought you must have been long-lost friends or something! I don’t find it hard to imagine that you ‘click’ that quickly with everyone, though. The time passed and suddenly the group were at the bar buying lunch. After the introductions we had lunch and went to start the round. Now I’m not sure what triggered my appalling round but appalling it was. I had lost the fluidity of my drive, I was skying it one minute slicing it the next. Still I’d driven 310 miles and was going to enjoy the day. I’ve had these days before and it always gets better, that’s what keeps me playing this game. Still we all had some good shots and not some good ones. I think I had John’s share of bads shots because he hardly faltered at all. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day with the lads, Steve was not as consistant as I thought he was going to be but when he did connect well it travelled. In your case Steve when someone asks you what your handicap is tel ‘em "My Handicap!".
I can only say that I wish you’d been there on the morning – that was sunshine and balmy breezes compared to the misery of the afternoon round. I plead tiredness – cos I can’t think what else it was. On the morning, apart from 3 holes immediately after the turn, I damn near played to that 6 handicap! <snip Well that’s it. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to Chris & John for another game and thanks to Steve for arranging the day and for his Company. Lets do it again sometime.
You’re very welcome – it was certainly my pleasure. I’d love to take part in a u.s.g. day at another location – though it might have to wait a little while. My wife is not as understanding as yours when it comes to gallivanting off all over the country to play golf! Cheers, — Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – writes (Steve has) …if anything, a slight overswing. From personal experience, I know this can get out of hand easily. I’ve actually been working on shortening my swing, with some success (you should have seen me before!). I try not to think about it on the course, though – I find if I make a conscious effort to shorten the swing when already under the additional tension of it mattering where the ball goes (as opposed to a relaxed practice session), I tend to tighten my grip and lose some rhythm, with the result that I take too deep a divot and don’t make the best contact. So I’m trying to groove it in practice to the point it comes naturally on the course.
I keep schtum on the course, unless specifically asked about problems. I know it’s sometimes tough enough hanging in there without your playing partners helpfully chipping with observations on your swing pattern ! To echo your earlier observations, Chris has improved impressively too. A slight sway to the right going back is probably responsible for the occasional faded tee shots. On more than one occasion he was longest off the tee, showing that rhythm and timing is there. Peter – I have seen him play better. The rest of us had the luxury of a round before lunch and a somewhat shorter journey up. But he’s too cheerful to complain out loud about much ! John, thanks for the positive comments – I was still depressed after that second round!
You’re welcome, Steve. And don’t be so hard on yourself – you’ve come a long way in a short time. Definitely, definitely, *don’t* go home and complain about a bad round. You need your missus on your side or you’ll be banned from playing !! — Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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As before, many thanks to Steve for setting up the day and being our (mostly!) genial host. And also to Chris and Peter for their company. Although we were nominally playing a "War of the Roses" team match in the afternoon, scores were recorded but the state of the match was not known until the bar-room post-mortem, where it was decided that we were too tired to work out Stableford points, and a quick count revealed that Lancashire had prevailed by 4 strokes. (It definitely takes the pressure off when you’ve no clue as to whether you’re 10 ahead or behind !) Middlesbrough Muni is definitely one of the better public courses I have played on. It is a reasonable length at around 6000 yards off the day tees, with 3 par 5’s and 4 par 3’s. None of the par 5’s are overly long and offer a chance of getting near in two, provided the drive is accurate and long. Two of the holes have very scary tee-shots, requiring straight shots of 200 yards carry to avoid the trouble. The second of these is the 18th ! One particular challenge is judging the approach shot to the 4th green which sports a flagstick some 2 foot high. (Courtesy of the local kids, apparently ) The clubhouse bar provided a mean burger lunch and judging by the noticeboard of events, the club has a thriving membership. At 280 quid for an annual season ticket, I’d rate it a serious bargain. Some general points on the day, with a little relevance to subjects discussed here recently: 1. Pace of play. It took the four of us over 4 hours to complete our afternoon round(*). It didn’t feel particularly slow, but we did lose ground on the group in front. However, the two-ball behind didn’t seem in much of a hurry either – one was forever on his mobile phone by the tees. When we did let them through, the snarl-up got worse while they lost balls on the same hole. It was no surprise to find the two-ball behind *them* hitting off the tee while we waited further up the fairway, with much of the hole being rather blind. I sometimes wonder in these circumstances whether it isn’t better for both groups to play the hole out together, and then move on to the next tee where the slower group can hang back ? (*) For the hares amongst you, how fast can 4 players get round, taking 386 shots, and only one playing on his home course ? 2. Water hazards. I seem to have gone 25 years in blissful ignorance of the fact that if a ball is deemed lost in a lateral water hazard, then it is not necessary to play another under stroke-and-distance, but that the 2 club-lengths sideways drop may be used. We invoked this on a couple of occasions on Wednesday, and I’ve spent some while reading the Rules and Decision on this one. The decisions make it clear that the wording of the rule is deliberately "broad" ("vague", I’d call it) to cater for circumstances. Basically, the evidence must be predominantly in favour of the ball being lost *within* the hazard. It goes on to say that even the sight of the ball splashing into the water may not provide enough evidence, as balls have been known to skip out. I think we were okay, as the red stakes included most (but not all) of the knee-high stuff that bordered the water itself – the balls were clearly lost in this as the water was only an inch deep and any ball in it would have been immediately visible. But I don’t like these vague rules. I’d prefer it was incumbent on the course committee to avoid vagueness by perhaps ensuring that any surrounding rough be included in the staked area, or at least that the grass be cut as near as possible to the water margins. Or going the whole hog and declaring the area OOB. 3. Wind. It was breezy all day, and with the course layout being fairly up and down, this resulted in a nasty crosswind on nearly every hole. To the extent that putts were visibly affected, and wispy folks like me get pushed off balance on full shots. (Either that, or it was the shandy I had at lunch-time.) Coupled with hard fairways and greens that putted true but weren’t holding much, and it becomes hard work to hold your game together. It wasn’t unusual to see a short iron approach shot blown almost 20 yards sideways. Interestingly, really well hit woods can bore a virtually straight trajectory – it must be the relatively low backspin. And to finish the day off in style, Man Utd won their third major trophy in a little over a week. Even a hardened non-soccer fan like me has to tip my hat to them. — Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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writes so is steve pretty good then (cant see the report, my news server must have lost it, repost??) after 1 year playing golf? please say yes and bring hope to us all! Yes he is. He has a good set-up, and doesn’t rush the backswing, during which he achieves a tremendous turn(*) with very little leg movement. This puts him in a solid position to give the ball an impressive smack off the tee (I can well believe 260+ yards before he decided to throttle back a touch).
Aw, <blush!. [I'll give you that ten pounds next time I see you! ] What’s most striking is Steve’s concentration. Every shot gets his full attention, especially on and around the green.
Funny, I never thought that of myself – I’m pleasantly surprised. He really does try to hole every putt, and he’s hard on himself when a shot doesn’t come off.
Guilty as charged, your honour. If I could change one thing about myself, it would be to be less critical of my mistakes – it does push me to improve, but I’d rather lighten up a little. I think it’s partly because I get so much ‘in the shot’ that when I’ve done it right 100s of times, and fail to get it right when it matters, I could take a 5-iron to myself for a ‘damn good thrashing’. It is improving, though. It’s funny, cos I don’t find it hard to give other people a break, but am too perfectionist with myself. We should be grateful he didn’t start 2 years ago ! (*) If anything, a slight overswing. From personal experience, I know this can get out of hand easily.
I’ve actually been working on shortening my swing, with some success (you should have seen me before!). I try not to think about it on the course, though – I find if I make a conscious effort to shorten the swing when already under the additional tension of it mattering where the ball goes (as opposed to a relaxed practice session), I tend to tighten my grip and lose some rhythm, with the result that I take too deep a divot and don’t make the best contact. So I’m trying to groove it in practice to the point it comes naturally on the course. John, thanks for the positive comments – I was still depressed after that second round! Cheers, — Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.
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so is steve pretty good then (cant see the report, my news server must have lost it, repost??) after 1 year playing golf? please say yes and bring hope to us all!
Yes he is. He has a good set-up, and doesn’t rush the backswing, during which he achieves a tremendous turn(*) with very little leg movement. This puts him in a solid position to give the ball an impressive smack off the tee (I can well believe 260+ yards before he decided to throttle back a touch). What’s most striking is Steve’s concentration. Every shot gets his full attention, especially on and around the green. He really does try to hole every putt, and he’s hard on himself when a shot doesn’t come off. We should be grateful he didn’t start 2 years ago ! (*) If anything, a slight overswing. From personal experience, I know this can get out of hand easily. — Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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PS John Laird (un-officially 12 for the day- sandbagger!) won easily has his golf simply got better & better.
Ahem. I was only four shots better than you, Chris ! (Let’s keep quiet about the two lost balls on the last 3 holes…) Tis rare things work that way round – normally I go off the boil the longer I play. Luckily, the wind seemed to tire as I did, and disappeared for the last 7 ot 8 holes. Excellent day out. — Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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so is steve pretty good then (cant see the report, my news server must have lost it, repost??) after 1 year playing golf? please say yes and bring hope to us all!
I had the pleasure of a round with Steve last summer, and boy has he improved! given that you’ve read the above report, he definitely can play well, also he was under pressure especially on the first round yesterday, and managed 40 on the first 9, with no score above 5. The windy conditions certainly made the course a tough proposition yesterday, the course does have a little tree cover, but is mostly open. The gusts made the tee’s very difficult to judge well, and the putting was a lottery at times, when your putter wavering about. Can highly recommend any get together with members of the group, I thoroughly enjoyed the golf and their company. If I can pluck up the courage, I will post a report later. Chris PS John Laird (un-officially 12 for the day- sandbagger!) won easily has his golf simply got better & better.
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Many thanks to Steve for setting up our day out, and taking innumerable hours in providing a write-up to save everyone else’s weary fingers ! I would have had more to say, expect my good lady has just phoned and asked me to collect the kids from school. More tomorrow, hopefully. — Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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so is steve pretty good then (cant see the report, my news server must have lost it, repost??) after 1 year playing golf? please say yes and bring hope to us all! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Many thanks to Steve for setting up our day out, and taking innumerable hours in providing a write-up to save everyone else’s weary fingers ! I would have had more to say, expect my good lady has just phoned and asked me to collect the kids from school. More tomorrow, hopefully. — sig, Yezerski Roper Ltd sadly there is no room here to show it." http://www.yrl.co.uk
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Well, am finally waking up enough to give a report on how it went: Woke early, full of anticipation, looked out of the window to see if the weather forecast (broken cloud and light breeze) was correct – misery – threatening, unbroken clouds and still windy as hell. Fortunately, within half an hour or so the worst cloud passed, but when I met up with Chris Booth and John Laird in the club car park it was still blowing hard and very dull. Pete A-B wasn’t due to arrive until the afternoon round – he was driving a mind-boggling 350 miles to get here for a round of golf – kudos to him, and to his wife for letting him! Made our way to the first tee, I teed off first and cracked one down the middle, which was to set a pattern for me for the round – could barely miss a fairway, and when I did, it was only just. Chris teed off, and having played with him about 8 months ago, when we were both complete novices, I was impressed with how he has slowed down his swing and making much better contact. John teed off with his persimmon driver (graphite shaft though!), and he has a really nice-looking swing, very compact and correct-looking, with an envious economy that gives the impression that all the energy is transferred to the ball. I got a regulation par on the first, and continued to play pretty well for the rest of the front 9, making 40 in spite of turning good drives and approaches into bogeys on a couple of occasions (and narrowly missing a couple of birdie putts). I’ll let the other lads decide for themselves whether they want to put their scores up for the first round (I wasn’t keeping score, so I’m not 100% sure what they got anyway). I had been a little afraid of playing crap and having them think I was making everything up on the newsgroup, so it was very nice to get a steady, accurate start, just to show I can really do it. Unfortunately, at the turn I had my sadly not unknown lapse of concentration, double-bogeying the 10th in spite of driving to perfect position (slightly pulled PW approach left me in the worst position for trying to get up and down), got annoyed with myself and went double, bogey, triple for the next 3 holes. Ugh. Shook myself and determined to get my head back together and was pleased to par 4 of the last 5 holes (with another couple of narrowly missed birdies, and a double-bogey on the SI3 hole that resulted from trying to play conservatively rather than rescue an unlikely par, grrrrr!), to come home in a disappointing 46, for an 86 total. Considering that 10 of those were dropped over 5 holes, not helped by some very unkind bounces, the rest of the round was OK and I had high hopes for the afternoon round. Again, can’t remember the final scores of the other lads, but the 86 was the lowest by quite a few. Chris and John are excellent lads and great to play golf with, and we went to find Pete who had called Chris’s mobile [Chris, you *really* need to change that hornpipe ringing tone - several members of the golf newsgroups would probably have shot you for that! ] to say he was arriving early. Enjoyed a pleasant lunch getting to know each other (and giving me a chance to tell bad jokes that everyone was glad I don’t tell on the course!). Lunch was slow arriving, so we only just made it out in time for our 3pm tee, conditions even windier than they had been for the morning round. Drove another one down the middle, parred the first and bogeyed the 2nd again, just like on the morning, OK tee shot on the 3rd and approach dead on line with the flag, bouncing at right angles off into very heavy rough and only made bogey. John (who hadn’t played for a week or so) must have got warmed up now, and settled into a steady groove of accurate approach shots and very impressive judgment on chips and putts, which he was to maintain pretty well through the rest of the round. Chris was playing pretty steadily, but struggling with his chipping and putting, and Pete – a big bloke with a fairly short but economical swing was playing a bit erratically – but definitely not slowly!! Unfortunately, my round went downhill fast from that point on. The 4th hole is a 450yd, dogleg par 4, and the wind was screaming across the fairway L-R. I tried to slow my swing down to make sure I didn’t try to kill it through the wind, overdid the slowing down and screwed my rhythm and balance completely, whacking the ball off the heel of the driver almost at a right-angle to where I was aiming. I haven’t done that for months, and was absolutely fuming with myself about it. Tried to take it out on the ball with my 3W and topped it miserably, and ended up with a 7. Tried desperately to regain my equilibrium for the next hole, and actually had a longish birdie putt, but tried to stroke it too smoothly (downhill) and left it well short, and ended up making bogey. John’s approach was that bit better, and left him with an uphill birdie putt, which wiped its feet a bit but dropped in. Have to say that, purely from the POV of the golf, I didn’t enjoy the rest of the round much, pretty much limping home with the exception of a couple of highlights like a birdie chance on the 10th, one of the killer holes (downhill putt of about 8ft with just a bit , and I swear that more than half the ball was hanging over the lip of the hole as it trickled past, without it even considering dropping. Another birdie chance on the 16th (SI 3, but really the 2nd hardest hole I reckon, with OB all the way down the RH side), the only one I’ve never birdied, but finished 6" right. I did actually play the back 9 a stroke better than I had on the morning, but it didn’t feel like it. All I can offer in defence of my final score of 91 is that I’ve never had so many putts circle the hole and stay out, which was very depressing, and a few shots that were dead accurate took awful bounces and screwed up holes where I thought I’d done well). However, by the last 6 holes or so, the wind had dropped almost completely and the sun came out, and conditions became very pleasant – and as they say, ‘a bad day on the golf course…..’. All this time, John continued to play very steadily, barely putting a foot wrong with the exception of an OB drive leading to a 7 on the 16th, and came through with a score of 82, which was an excellent achievement considering the conditions for 2/3 of the round. It was easy to see how he was a single-figure handicapper when he was playing regularly. His sand play was especially impressive – as was Pete’s (who I think has built a bunker and green in his garden!). I wasn’t in a bunker during either round, which I suppose was a plus – but my sand play is a bit erratic – I rarely fail to get out, but getting close is another issue. The one thing missing from practice facilities at our club is a practice bunker, and it shows. Chris and John came through a few shots higher than me, but I’ll let them tell you their scores if they want to. Although from a golfing perspective I was miserable for most of the afternoon round, the other lads were excellent company, and I hope we get to repeat the experience again in the not too distant future. I’m sure my disgust with my own play was showing on my face (I’m not exactly the Ernie Els ‘bland expression no matter what’s happened’ kind of player), but this was no reflection on the quality of the company, and I hope it didn’t detract from the day for anyone. For me to still enjoy the round in spite of playing badly shows what good company you blokes were. Anyway, that’s it from my perspective – I hope the others will chip in with theirs to round out the picture of the day. If anyone else gets chance to meet up with other people they meet in the newsgroup, I’d strongly recommend it! Cheers, — Steve Walker Clear a table, kill a snake.