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Post by catcherman22 on Apr 24, 2021 22:01:37 GMT -5
Welcome to week 32 @ Kachina Canyon Trail (T) by mattf27If you didn't get enough Matt earlier, I present another mattf week! This is his WCOD entry and is set up to play a little bit of everything across the four rounds. Good Luck!
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Post by twofor22 on Apr 25, 2021 7:47:05 GMT -5
Opened this week with a -8 round in CCA. Was nice to actually make some putts for once
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Post by williamwes626 on Apr 25, 2021 18:40:58 GMT -5
It's been an interesting week on the forum but I think people underestimate their own natural abilities and strategy and though there may be a change, I think we'll perform better than we think right now. You guys have kicked my butt all the time before, there's no reason why I won't have my butt kicked around again this week or in future weeks. Took notes this week after a couple of practice rounds.
KACHINA CANYON TRAIL
Par 72, 7360 yards
Architect: Matt Fritsch
A desert rock mountain steppe theme with lots of trees, Kachina has some wider fairways that can catch errant shots, but the bunkers are penalizing. If we're adjusting our swing, it may be best to take some chances with driver on the wider fairways but to play safe with certain holes that narrow and on the approaches- which are more challenging generally. Some of the greens are lightly 2-tiered but they’re milder than the ones at the other Matt F. courses we played.
I think it's a tough enough course to play safe on a lot of the holes if we're making swing and/or club changes. I think we're in a transition period where it's more about getting our own game and golf bag in order as a priority over where we finish on the leaderboard. We're rediscovering what we're comfortable with. Shot shaping is normally a big help, but it will hurt accuracy some. Without being able to manipulate the shots, some flags will be tough to get close to and perhaps it's worth just getting onto the green so we can be back in our comfort zone with putting since that hasn't changed as much. Playing defensively, avoiding the worst miss for each hole is important - for this course off the tee, it's usually that first fairway bunker on many holes that will eat pars and spit out bogeys. For approaches, the worst miss will differ on each hole so we have to figure where we'll be most comfy recovering from.
1- 4-433. A par 4 that heads right asking for faded driver before leaning left and asking for a draw. Both shots have half a dozen bunkers to handle so it might be best to play this hole safe.
2- 3-154. Bunkers deluxe as this green is another that has plenty of sand protecting a narrow boomerang shaped green. I hope we’re ready with short games shot cause it will be tough to nail the green even with a highly lofted tee ball.
3- 4-471. #1 handicap. A long par-4 that dips downhill before heading right and back uphill. A straight drive has enough room to roll out before the dogleg turn but avoid the front bunker to the right since we’ll have to face a 200-yard shot 25 feet uphill. A lightly 2-tiered green also defends against birdie so even if we hit the fairway and green, they’ll be a nasty putt waiting.
4- 5-552. Another fairway wide enough to handle wayward drives, just don’t go too far left into the deep bunkers or only a par may result. Otherwise, there could be an eagle in our future.
5- 4-401. With many of us having adjustments with tee shots, this may be a hole where a wood would be the better option – that way we’d avoid the internal fairway bunker. Maybe club up on the uphill approach.
6- 5-532. More bunkers in the center of the fairway it’s worth clubbing it to the right side to since a nice fade can easily give an eagle chance though the green is narrow with a false front.
7- 4-440. A tight fairway and approach between some unnerving bunkers, this may be another hole where a wood off the tee is best. With a shallow green like this a fade would be best when using an iron.
8- 4-456. #3 handicap. I could use a drink of water at this point but I don’t need all the water that’s right of this par-4 dogleg right. It’s not too tough as drives left will be helped by the slope of the wide fairway. The approach keeps birdies at bay since the ball must land on one of the 3 small platforms.
9- 3-226. An intimidating par-3 with more water than I need right now-I just had some a drink on the last hole – it’s lengthy and it’s an opportune time to shape the tee ball but then takes away some of the accuracy so figure where to miss.
10- 5-545. This reminds me of some of the Hazeltine extended par-5s-a wavy fairway with lots of bunker to avoid along the way. Again avoid that first fairway bunker or we could get an ulcer trying to make par.
11- 4-502. The design could be deceiving but the fairway should be large enough to support some errant driver shots. The approach can be drawn in around the 3 bunkers short of the green. Don’t miss left of the fairway or it’s doomsday.
12- 3-190. A basic par 4 but if the hole is cut left on the green then a higher lofted shot will hold the green best.
13- 5-594. Again this could be an easy bogey with a tee ball that lands in the first bunker but this time with water all along the left side, it may be best to take this hole in 3.
14- 3-180. A par-3 with water behind the green – distance won’t be a problem since the green is narrow and long. Just gotta get a perfect here since bunkers are left and water is right.
15- 4-391. A par-4 that dares you to use driver to try to conquer the dogleg that can be cut across knocking off 50 yards, but it’s almost impossible anyway so laying up with a 3-wood is best. A draw can be snuck between the fairway bunkers but it’s not worth landing in one.
16-3-241. #2 handicap. Just disaster written all over the place. Try to find where the best miss might be and where we’re most comfortable recovering from.
17-4-484. Another that has a fairway just sneaky enough to make driver tee shots uncomfy, a wood wouldn’t leave too much of a nasty approach.
18-5-567. A final par-5 – birdie is possible if we land in a fairway bunker but with so much water in play cutting across at the 400 yard mark, the recovery will have to be short before going over the water with a 3rd shot. We have to work for this birdie and chances are they’ll only be a handful of eagles available.
So here we go, we'll all help each other and we're gonna pull through - I like to pretend that we're all going to a real tourney somewhere in the world each week and write the notes in that way, but really, we're just trying to have some fun with a golf video game so if we have a bad round or week, it happens just like in real golf and we'll be alright.
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Post by timh on Apr 25, 2021 18:58:33 GMT -5
Nice write up, William. Now if our swing will take your advice all will be well:) Looks like an easy track, but as you say very deceptive. I've noticed that in my practice rounds, the greens are tough to hold. I spent more times hitting out of green sided bunkers on this one. Good luck to all.
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Post by deacondrake on Apr 25, 2021 19:21:29 GMT -5
First time in a while I had a chance to play more than 1 practice round and it paid off. Scores will be low in round 2, so don't sleep on it. Being a natural 95-99% Driver, I had less issue with the recalibration, and I got some great length and roll, so there were only a couple holes where the wind and uphill pressed a par opportunity. Do yourself a favor and stay out of the rough and fairway bunkers. The recalibration seemed to impact those shots severely. I had multiple hybrids only rollout about 135 from poor tempo.
My opus to add to William's notes above
Hole 1... fair grip and rip. Green has big center ridge, but makeable going up
Hole 2... unique “double green” will play many different ways. Better to be long on the back and short on the front... bunker is no joke
Hole 3... avoid off tempo. Hit 95% and play conservative... tried to clear bunkers and fell victim to new tempo algorithm... 250+ on approach... never stood a chance
Hole 4... hit the fairway, and this is an eagle... I hit trap, tried to lob on, an the backspin on the green pulled me back 40’
Hole 5... short, but If you miss the fairway you will be busting along iron out of the rough and ending up in the short bunkers and fighting your way across the multi tier green to whatever your target is
Hole 6.... distance will not be your friend here. Stay dead center and even Short of the Pot bunker in the middle you can get home in two in tap in for eagle... big false front, so don’t try to run it up
Hole 7.... bunkers will eat you up so keep your tempo
Hole 8... scary drive, and a protected green with a multi tiered playing surface will make you rethink your shot... holed out for bird twice from behind the green on pin 1
Hole 9... slightly downhill with a tail wind, I poked a three iron Stiff. Huge sweeping green, so choose wisely... I missed a freebie bird from 8’... with the headwind? Hybrid was short 20 yards in the water and bunker
Hole 10... more low scores here, especially with a tail wind. Get some pop on your approach... easier to come back than didn’t out of the front bunker
Hole 11... my drive went 236. No valuable info here... I had well over 100 for birdie. 1 putt for bogey
Hole 12... good back board for back pin locations, but gotta work the short stuff. Rough is like Velcro
Hole 13... not too complicated. Play to a wedge and tap it home. Very long, so if you don’t have the tailwind, don’t bother... par isn’t terrible here
Hole 14... take a club down for the down hill launch... easy par to play safe, don’t play risky if you have a hot putter. Just be on the correct half depth wise
Hole 15... if there is a head wind, it will help keep you in wedge range. Don’t run yourself out of a birdie here.
Hole 16... wild tee shot. Can probably get away with iron on a tail wind. My hybrid has trickled out to 250/260 both times
Hole 17... long, again, fairway to have a chance
Hole 18... Fairway, can carry water, and possibly be home with eagle... green is not deep. Long leaves tricky down hill... short is water or bunker hell
Overall, 36 holes around par... I was way drunk for the second 18, and tempo was spotty, missed 2 putts under 7 feet.
Next 3 rounds all under par and, honestly, feel like I only sank 25 feet worth of putts on my last rounds, lagging every thing to 6”.
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Post by williamwes626 on Apr 25, 2021 20:00:22 GMT -5
Nice write up, William. Now if our swing will take your advice all will be well:) Looks like an easy track, but as you say very deceptive. I've noticed that in my practice rounds, the greens are tough to hold. I spent more times hitting out of green sided bunkers on this one. Good luck to all. Thanks Tim, it was weird doing the writeup cause it feels like overall self confidence is down - well just from posts on the other thread it seems that way, and we've all been here 30 weeks - some people for years- we're used to playing different courses and conditions each week and we adjust so maybe we can do that with this as well cause I believe we can adapt. They'll be an adjustment period and we all have different clubsets, mindsets, shapes of our game currently but each person will find what's most comfy for them - some may not want to do a partial pitch, some may like to learn a fade with driver, some may find hitting perfect was easier than they thought once they got used to it. Greens are nuanced yes and approach shots will land in some awkward locations if they don't hold the green. This week though the drives really can't be yanked with a fast tempo because some of the holes they'll be a fat deep bunker waiting right around that 250-275 yard mark from the tee - I got in one or two and it got messy trying to recover. Good luck to you too and everyone.
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Post by twofor22 on Apr 25, 2021 22:50:54 GMT -5
-12 second round. Tempo behaved itself for the most part, only one red fast and a couple of red slows, one that was so bad I'm surprised the ball stayed in the fairway. Set myself up with a lot of short and medium length straight putts with decent approach shots this round which certainly helped with the lower score. Hopefully I can keep it up for the next two
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Post by PollingPoints on Apr 26, 2021 0:19:48 GMT -5
This is technically my second week since moving from OG Xbox to PS5.
I played last week but was still ironing out the controller tempo as it's a bit different than xbox but still managed to finish 29th.
Round one this week I could not get anything going other than a nice stretch of eagle, bird, bird on 4, 5 and 6. Ended up with a little momentum after birds on two of the last three holes which left me at -7 for the round.
Round two my putter caught absolute fire and my tempo issues were eradicated other than a couple slow approaches that were canceled out with 30+ ft putts.
I birdied the first eight holes which put me at -8 after 9.
The putter stayed hot after a 35 foot eagle on 14 after a nice partial 3 wood onto the green.
A couple birdies later and I'm on the 18th tee ready for the par 5 and I red fast my drive at 96 percent. S@##!
Luckily the ball behaved and stayed on the fairway. 275 to the pin and a 86% lie. Driver off the deck. The ball hits the grass between the two bunkers as I only hit 97% but the ball pops up into the light rough 11 yards to the hole. I went right at the hole with the chip but slowed it and it breaks left into the hole for an eagle to finish at -15 for the round and -22 at the cut.
Back nine could have been better but I missed two very makeable 12 foot putts.
Best TGC tour round of the season.
Really can't wait for everyone to play the game on the new consoles because it's so damn buttery smooth. No lag, nothing.
Good luck this week everyone!
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Post by JosiaDB on Apr 26, 2021 7:29:10 GMT -5
A bit better start to this week it seems than last week. I'm glad I went ahead and played out my rounds last week even after being cut, because I did much better on 3 and 4 and it gave me the confidence I needed that I could in fact play decent.
Started at +4 but 3 of those were makeable easy short putts that I should've hit. So not to worried about that, just got in a hurry and wasn't concentrating.
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Post by scootmcgoot on Apr 26, 2021 9:13:49 GMT -5
Played a few practice rounds, felt decent abt the swing and the new tempo. 6 practice swings on hole 1, all grey fast or slow. Ok good to go...promptly red fast it off the tee, good recovery, chunk a wedge and make 6. Fabulous +2 to open the round. Wonderful. Get it to E by #10, feeling good abt how it’s going...finish +6 over the last 8 holes. FML
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jayc4life
Caddy
Posts: 14
TGCT Name: James Henderson
Tour: Challenge Circuit
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Post by jayc4life on Apr 26, 2021 10:22:00 GMT -5
Done a few practice rounds, even finished one of them below par.
Played my competitive rounds today, and thoroughly binned them. +3 and +9. I can see the cut line being a bit deeper this week because of the lower scoring average, but I still can't see myself being above it.
Just have to take a *lot* more practice rounds, even another recalibrate session or 2.
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Post by crunchshark on Apr 26, 2021 15:34:22 GMT -5
First week back in CC-A after demotion from kinetic.Hit an even par first round and i'm already struggling.Used the red fast before in the many ways you could use it before but i have to find a new way now.Putting is my problem.
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Post by JosiaDB on Apr 27, 2021 18:40:51 GMT -5
Wow that red fast nerf is frustrating.
I didn't play it, but I DID commonly have tempo issues. The drives aren't bad at all, but the approach shots are killers it seems, even if you just barely get it into the red. Case in point, on hole 5, I drove it ok, but in the rough. Then it took me FIVE shots to get to the green, because I hit all five of those shots slightly red fast, but enough to make it go only half the distance it seemed. Every shot.
After that I settled down, and said to myself, you know, if I just stop and concentrate, surely I can get this. Hit six birdies. Maybe there is hope!
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Post by twofor22 on Apr 27, 2021 21:47:53 GMT -5
What a frustrating third round. Ended at -4. Way too many holes where I was leaving myself ridiculous long putts for birdie, usually caused by grey tempo misses. I did miss a few more gettable putts because of a dodgy swing plane as well. Glad it's over, and hopefully won't continue in the final round. I need to get rid of this one ordinary round every tournament nonsense 🥴
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Post by twofor22 on Apr 28, 2021 22:40:39 GMT -5
Another frustrating -4 to finish up at -28 for the week. Didn't have much luck today other than a chip in for eagle on one hole.
One thing that I don't understand is why when you're on a pretty severe slope with the ball above or below your feet, sometimes the shot pretty much starts on line with where you're aiming instead of to one side like it normally would. You compensate for the slope and it doesn't work. Wound up way right of a pin because I aimed a little left of it in a left to right crosswind with the ball well above the feet, thinking it would start further left from the slope, but nope, just started on line with the marker. How can you set up properly when that sh%$ happens?
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