A Hungover Haze

UK Handicap; 3.0 USGA Handicap; 1.9

The reason for the lack of updates over the past ten days is quite simple – there hasn’t been anything to update.

Having finished at Carnoustie I spent another eight hours on the train back to London with mixed feelings. It’s always good to get home after a break, but having spent 30 of the last 66 days in Scotland, I’m aware that I’m set for ten months of relatively mundane practice and playing, until the same competitions arrive in July next year.

The week after returning was very quiet, with a practice on Friday being my first time hitting a golf ball since my 74 round Carnoustie eight days earlier (the card of which, incidentally, I have framed and hung up in my house. Sad, I know, but it’s a nice reminder.).

Having broken the 3.0 barrier with my handicap again, there was only one competition this week, on Sunday, to try and reduce it further.

I didn’t help my case by turning up with a stinking hangover, but I managed to play through a haze and get to level par after 12 holes. I really started suffering towards the end, and took two double bogeys on 13 and 16, to effectively end my chances of getting my handicap cut. A par on the last would have seen me in the buffer zone, meaning my handicap goes neither up nor down, but not for the first time this season, I managed to conjure a bogey from a relatively straightforward hole to make sure that I returned to 3.0. So ultimately it was a frustrating round, having promised so much and ended up with disappointment, but I only have myself to blame for having drunk vast quantities of alcohol the previous evening.

Although the week long competitions and trips to Scotland have finished, there are still some good opportunities left over the next month. With the way the competitions have been scheduled, I have eight opportunities over the next four weekends to play for my handicap at my home club. This weekend sees two, on Friday and Sunday, so although the competitive season is winding down, I need to remain focussed for a little while longer and still try and put in a bit of practice. I am pleased with how I am playing at the moment, my ball striking has been really good for the last few weeks, I now have a bit of a cash-or-bust over the next few weeks. It goes without saying that I want to reduce my handicap, how much I can reduce it by will depend on maximising my performance over the next month. There is no point in shooting 74 week after week, as that won’t reduce my handicap at all, I need to be shooting sub-par rounds to get 0.4 – 0.5 reduced at a time, as that’s where the real inroads can be made. Getting down to 2, even if it’s 2.4, would be great, and if I’m realistic about ever getting down to scratch then that is the worst place I need to start next season from. The worst case scenario for finishing this season is 3.8, but I’m not even considering that thought.

There will probably be one update a week for the next few weeks, and then I’ll think about what I’m going to write about over the winter, seeing as it will be dark at 5pm with very few competitions on from then onwards.