Great way to round off the year...

First off a big hand to our green keeper who has somehow managed to get the course open with only two temporary greens (8 and 17). Well what can I say. It's been a frustrating year, especially with people complimenting me on my swing despite my lack of control over it. The amount of times this year I have heard the frustrating phrase "It will come"... anyway, today was a good day.

I decided to carry today so only took a half set 3 Wood, 2I Hybrid, 4, 6, 8, PW, SW, Putter. Got off to a good start on the first five holes, probably because I had made a conscious decision to swing easy. Bogey, Bogey, Par, Bogey, Double Bogey is actually worth 14 stableford points for me as it translates to Birdie, Birdie, Birdie, Birdie, Par. As per usual I then got a little ahead of myself on the sixth and hit a woeful tee shot, long second shot, chipped through the green, two out of the bunker and a three putt for a big fat 8 on a par 3!!!!

Another 8 followed on the 7th when I tried to reach the par five green  in two and hit an ugly hook into the gorse. I was spewing at the time but that turned out to be my only penalty of the day, a real rarity for me. I gave myself a strict talking to and scored par and birdie on the next two holes. I started the back nine fairly solidly but was most happy with how I played our 'Amen Corner' picking up 8 points on holes 13-15, something which is completely unheard of for me. Two gross pars on 16 and 17 had the gloss taken off them by a poor six on the last. That said I walked off the course with a personal best of 96 and 41 Stableford points.

Only one blob today and my ball striking and short game much improved. What let me down is my putting. I had a total of 37 putts today but that included six, yes that's right six three putts. A lack of practice is my excuse as none of them warranted three stabs with the short stick. Plenty of practice with the No Three Putt Training Aid I got for Christmas definitely on the New Year menu.

Overall though my stats make for very happy reading:

54% FIR
22% GIR
37 Putts
25% Birdie Conversion
14% Par Scrambles
1 Penalties

I hope you all have a brilliant New Year's Eve and wish you all the best for 2011. I'm hoping that I'll be kicking it off in even better style than I finished 2010.

96 (71)
4(3), 6(5), 3(3), 5(4), 7(5), 8(3), 8(5), 5(4), 3(4), 5(4), 4(3), 8(5), 5(4), 6(4), 5(4), 4(4), 4(4), 6(3)