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Bethpage - Hurrah

• PeterHopper 1,315 Posts

  Mon, Dec 20 2010 2:03 PM

  I have listened to the advice of Legends and been practising the harder courses.

  Just scored a 69 at Bethpage. I may have got that once before but I don't think so.

  Using the chipping guide and really working at it.

  My 69 is not great by WGT standards, but it included two double bogies, 1 on the infamous 15th and another due to a shocking bit of meter jerking. In fact there was a fair bit of meter nonsense throughout the round.

   

  Anyway, onwards and downwards.

   

• borntobesting 9,700 Posts

  Mon, Dec 20 2010 5:53 PM

  69 @ BPB is really good. 

• CharlemagneRH 1,054 Posts

  Mon, Dec 20 2010 9:16 PM

  You should be pitching, not chipping.

  My $0.02.

• Bigfoot49uk 59 Posts

  Mon, Dec 20 2010 10:30 PM

  You should be flopping..................

  Well done on the 69. Stick at it, you will steadily improve. Yesterday I broke 30 on St Andrews Front 9 for the first time, shooting 28 (birdied every hole except #4), only to find someone had shot 27 (Weekly 9 hole Unlimited). Just goes to show, no matter how good you think you get there's always room for improvement!!

   

• PeterHopper 1,315 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 7:44 PM

  I was taliking about rough very close to the green - as per the chipping/pitching guide. From those positions I chipped in accordance with the guide with a lot of success. From a bit further back I tried the pitches with limited success.

   

  More practice, more studying the guide, more rounds on Bethpage, and then some time on Oakmont.

• PeterHopper 1,315 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 7:46 PM

  Bigfoot49uk:

  You should be flopping..................

  Well done on the 69. Stick at it, you will steadily improve. Yesterday I broke 30 on St Andrews Front 9 for the first time, shooting 28 (birdied every hole except #4), only to find someone had shot 27 (Weekly 9 hole Unlimited). Just goes to show, no matter how good you think you get there's always room for improvement!!

   

   

  Got a -10 and a few -9 on STA 18 - a couple on Ready Gos. I think I have 31 on the front 9 in a 9 hole.

   

• PeterHopper 1,315 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 7:52 PM

  For reference I was following this with great success:

   

  The chip shot:

  The same principle applies here. Know the lie percentage, the elevation change, and the right/left break of the green. The key here is the greens are faster, therefore the run will be further.
  Lets look at that 13yd chip shot mentioned above. In the 40/50 rough a 40% power increase is needed. With a standard green speed this means 19yds is needed to go 13yds, on a flat surface. Now with a fast green speed, a power reduction is needed. I'd say reduce the power by 1yd on a fast green, and more on a very fast green.

   

  But I will practice the pitches as well.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Wed, Dec 22 2010 3:47 PM

  For BPB, you need all these shots in your repertoire. The pitches can go a bit wild in my view, but sometimes the game more or less forces them on you. Flops are also very reliable on BPB (less so on St A., where they tend to release and run out too far).

  These two courses are both great, but about as different as two golf courses could be. St. A. is wide open, with infinite ways to attack every hole and recover from wherever you end up. BPB forces you to follow basically one single line of play on each hole, and deviations are severely punished.

  P.S. Best advice from the top players was to swap out the hybrid club (or 3W) in favor of a third wedge. This is crucial on BPB because you are bound to be coming at the hole from various bad lies just off the green, and from the rough you have to hit nearly a full shot each time or the ball will get stuck.