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Post by catcherman22 on Aug 28, 2021 21:42:35 GMT -5
Welcome to the end of season 7. This week we finish in Japan at b101 fabulous Akashi Shore. Nothing to crazy this week other than the shifting wind directions. Hope you guys enjoyed the schedule this season... it's always tough trying to find a good mix for the various levels from A - L.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Aug 28, 2021 21:44:50 GMT -5
You have had the most challenging scheduling task in all of TGCT, tip of the cap to you Dan.
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Post by bubbsboy100. on Aug 29, 2021 2:54:58 GMT -5
Well done. Great work.
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Post by deacondrake on Aug 29, 2021 9:36:45 GMT -5
Nothing truly daunting here. Some fair distance and wind, and 3 holes with water contending. Sand everywhere and I am hitting about 6 bunkers per 18. The thing that will be forgotten is driving to the best location for good stance… I had a number of awkward fairway lies at 170-240 yards that messed with direction, distance, and spin. Fairways, fairways, fairways… a little tighter and more punishing than last week.
1. This is an easy hole to bogey if you are not careful placing your tee shot. The bunkers in perfect position to catch your drive short and leave you well over 200 yards. The whole itself is not overly difficult if you don’t try to mess around with the short bunker. There is a nice ridge at the middle of the green that will eat up any shots that go short or long of the designated target.
2. Looks like an interesting shorter par five. The drive is pretty wide-open in the fairway slopes left to right so you might want to take that into account along with the wind off the tee. The slope will also influence your approach shot. Green side bunker can be taken out of play with a good distance or placement.
3. I would need a pretty stiff tailwind to believe that playing the right side angle and splitting all the bunkers would be worth the reward. The left side is very wide and set up for a nice 70 to 90 yard lob wedge, and pushes those other bunkers off to the right of your approach line… this should be a 2nd St. birdie here. The ridge across the middle of the green similar to the first hole could put you in a bad 20 to 30 foot position though.
4. Not too difficult of a hole. Some of the pin placements behind the bunkers may look a little challenging but you can use the slope and contour the green to slow the ball there and just and slightly off center.. even a slight miss tempo had me an easy chip and putt and range. The front pin will be the tightest to find.
5. If you miss the fairway here you really bring the water in the play. Goal is to play long and a little right to give yourself a good angle. Fairway slopes hard down to the water.
6. Not a lot of strategy on this one. You might as well hit driver and put yourself in the short pitch range if not making the edge of the green…. Only play three wood if you’re not comfortable with your pitch shot and try to leave yourself about 80 to 90 yards. The green is pretty tricky so you’ll want to try to put it pretty close.
7. Missed ace by inches. Take one club off for the downhill by for back pin positions… not quite sure how to play into that little valley in the middle if necessary but that could definitely concede some hole in ones…
8. This hole is going to be a bogey if you can’t keep your tempo in check. You do want to keep your drive wine just inside the bunkers, then play a long draw up the right side for your second shot. That should get you around the tree and a decent angle past the green side bunker for your approach. Those who hit two perfect shots could be in line for an easy birdie. What you don’t want to do is start chasing shots out of the rough thinking you need to be there in three because that’s how you really start to build up a score.
9. Don’t fool around with the bunker on the right. It will take 290 yards to clear and 287 will screw you. Right however does give you the best approach angle into the green and the fairway kind of slopes a little bit the left.
10. It took a special kind of sucking here to somehow not be able to reach the green in two. Drive left and it will put an extra 20 to 50 yards on your approach. Smoking the ball downhill will give you an extra few yards but any issues with your tempo could put you anywhere short. The green has some bumps and grinds to it, so it may actually help to lay up and ship it or pitch it close.
11. Not a complex par three… just put a little bit of air under it.
12. Tee shot will favor a nice high draw over that bunker on the right, followed by another nice high draw into the green. Once again, if you hit the bunker don’t go chasing your shots, as you quickly find yourself making bogey or worse.
13. Front pin placement will play nicely with a bounce up long iron as opposed to trying to hold a loft in hybrid… save the hybrid for the back pin placement or stronger winds.
14. This is another hole that will favor a nice draw off the tee, checking up in front of the bunkers, followed by another nice high draw into the green. If you were going to air with your tempo make sure it’s a little slow… The green is still reachable even if you were only 250 off the tee, as long as you were in the fairway as the slope will bring you back towards the water a little bit.
15. So there might be one opportunity to try to go for this green. For the most part, lay up and lob on… Or you can do what I did and water your first shot and then hole out for birdie. More than likely that’s going to end up with a bogey or worse.
16. The approach will be long and downhill if you don’t catch your drive just right. Not difficult but just plan it out. A headwind could just force you to aim for the front edge of the green though, and keep away from those bunkers as they’re pretty deep and below the green.
17. Back right pin placement is not particularly difficult, but putting across the shadows will make it a little bit more challenging. The green is downright rolling and will induce a few three putts.
18. You have to keep it between the sand traps to have a chance. Your second shot will have to deal with a number of other Sandtrap‘s that are sitting out about 50 yards short of the green… everybody wants to close with an eagle and you can pretty easily if you keep your tempo crisp.
The biggest note that I had the second round two the conditions are going to force you to really consider going after the pin. Most locations are going to be far off center with the wind pushing them away so you’ll have to aim short side of the green or even well off the green if you want to be close… The better recommendation is to try to control some spin or play a slightly longer club at 90% and bounce it in through the the Green. Also getting much more comfortable using the pitch shot out of the sand traps. Splashes great if you can hit at 90% or better, but particularly on the short side shots that are between 10 and 15 yards it’s better to have it with the pitching function.
I’ve been able to fight for par or better despite my tempo being all over the place. One of the things that has frustrated me is my quality of result when I hit Gray has been a lot worse this week… not sure if it’s just coincidence or I carried it with a poorly judged wind or lie but I feel like I should’ve kept in a little bit better quality and a half dozen shots…. The greens or just challenging enough to take away the mid range birdie attempts. A couple of the longer part fours will go driver - three wood if your tempo isn’t good to where you’re pushing it out 300 yards. I don’t advocate for playing a par four with a three shot approach strategy, But that is completely acceptable because you can pitch or chip it a lot closer than lag putting across 2 ridges at 70 feet.
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Post by SkyBlueBen on Aug 29, 2021 10:05:02 GMT -5
Tried a new technique this week after really struggling lately. I tend to snatch at things at Master level resulting in red fast/mist. Tried to slow things down a little. Front 9 dodgy and even, back 9 in at -6. Scared to go out in Round 2 in case things go back to rat sh1t again 🤣
Really enjoyed the course.
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Post by SkyBlueBen on Aug 29, 2021 10:18:38 GMT -5
catcherman22 Impossible job Dan made even harder by mid season swing changes. The spread of abilities in CC and trying to test the best without sacrificing the weaker players is never going to be easy. Job well done 👏
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Post by zacheroni on Aug 29, 2021 15:17:21 GMT -5
The play from me was so bad after round 1, I decided not to play any more...
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Post by liebs44 on Aug 29, 2021 16:42:23 GMT -5
Fitting end to this otherwise crappy season. Shoot -3 in practice and then a glitchy first round and shoot +7.
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Post by Bob334OH on Aug 29, 2021 19:41:11 GMT -5
Trunk slamming time. 1st round - Started with 2 birdies (and leading the tourney haha) and then the wheels came off. +13 with 34% FIR and 27% GIR. 2nd round had 10 on #5 with a perfect tee shot - thought I played 2nd shot far enough right with the slope and wind - nope - rolled in the water, next one from rough also in the water. Anybody else have screen jumping on hole 17 and 18? Great course design and setup. (Am a big fan of B101 and his courses but I question a tree in the middle of the fairway of a 620yd par 5 with a difficult drive, O.B. left, and a tough carry for 2nd shot.) Worst I ever played and/or they made the swing even more difficult = not fun at all. Bob
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Post by nolongerhuman on Aug 30, 2021 1:44:34 GMT -5
I had a visit from the red slow fairy and compounded that with 36 putts and finished +5 after my first round, another missed cut comin' up!!!
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Post by b101 on Aug 30, 2021 2:19:53 GMT -5
Great course design and setup. (Am a big fan of B101 courses but not sure how you can justify a tree in the middle of the fairway of a 620yd par 5 with a difficult drive, O.B. left, and a tough carry for 2nd shot.) Glad you liked the course. Knew 8 would generate mixed feelings haha. With that one, it’s a traditional feature on Japanese courses and for that hole, I’d argue the drive is easy if you take ego out. It’s a 35 yard wide fairway at its most pinched (longer hitters can even carry the right hand bunkers for a 50 yard wide fairway) and you can hit 3w-3w-full wedge easily. The OB left shouldn’t be an issue for all but the very worst drives. The tree itself is barely ever in play - it is far more visual intimidation than anything else but will push you to consider which side of the fairway you play for the best angle into the pin. If the second shot on a three shot par five doesn’t make you think and is purely about whacking it as far as you can, it’s a bad hole. Regarding the 620 yard par five, I’d suggest a change in perspective - that’s a wedge/pitch approach (I.e. the same in terms of distance/par relation as the 370 yard 3rd hole). Clubsets and wind might change it a bit but that’s the rough premise. To balance, you then have the shortest par five on the 10th which is often as little as a 7i in.
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Post by SkyBlueBen on Aug 30, 2021 4:40:00 GMT -5
As expected went to rat sh1t and struggled home even for the tournament. Challenging course which I think I'd really enjoy at Pro level
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Post by cd06 on Aug 30, 2021 7:14:25 GMT -5
Great course design and setup. (Am a big fan of B101 courses but not sure how you can justify a tree in the middle of the fairway of a 620yd par 5 with a difficult drive, O.B. left, and a tough carry for 2nd shot.) Glad you liked the course. Knew 8 would generate mixed feelings haha. With that one, it’s a traditional feature on Japanese courses and for that hole, I’d argue the drive is easy if you take ego out. It’s a 35 yard wide fairway at its most pinched (longer hitters can even carry the right hand bunkers for a 50 yard wide fairway) and you can hit 3w-3w-full wedge easily. The OB left shouldn’t be an issue for all but the very worst drives. The tree itself is barely ever in play - it is far more visual intimidation than anything else but will push you to consider which side of the fairway you play for the best angle into the pin. If the second shot on a three shot par five doesn’t make you think and is purely about whacking it as far as you can, it’s a bad hole. Regarding the 620 yard par five, I’d suggest a change in perspective - that’s a wedge/pitch approach (I.e. the same in terms of distance/par relation as the 370 yard 3rd hole). Clubsets and wind might change it a bit but that’s the rough premise. To balance, you then have the shortest par five on the 10th which is often as little as a 7i in. To be fair, knowing Hirono, a tree in the middle of a three shot par five has a bit of IRL Japanese similarity (see hole 15 at Hirono), although I would completely understand peoples frustration at such a hazard.
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damay6977
Weekend Golfer
Posts: 107
TGCT Name: Damian Knott
Tour: Kinetic
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Post by damay6977 on Aug 30, 2021 8:37:32 GMT -5
Eventually got around to submitting qualifier rounds last week. Ended up in CC-B for my 1st tourney this week. Struggled with tempo and poor putting, normally Im a decent putter, but not this week. +4 after 2nd round, frustrating. Loved the course environment, subtle strategy, contoured fairways, and green complexes. Looking forward to next season.
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Post by terpshoops on Aug 30, 2021 15:51:42 GMT -5
Had a pretty good round 1 going until I dunked one in the water going for the green on 18. Probably shouldn't have done that.
Round 2 was kind of a disaster. At least we can blame it on the high winds.
71-77 (+6) probably gonna be right on the cut line for CC-I.
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