Category: Golf

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Riverview Score: 78 Greens In Reg: 8 Putts: 32

The Good: Doing a new swing thing that I even incorporate in the short game and putting. It worked pretty well. Did nothing outstanding but nothing was horrible either. Hit my irons better than the norm but that’s not saying much.

The Bad: With the new swing thing my driving suffered the most especially in the beginning, but I was able to overcome it with some good putting and chipping. The front nine I bogied 1 and 9 but parred all the rest. The back nine was up and down but mostly down for a 41.

The Luck Of The Round: Did not have very much good luck that was for sure. The 10th hole started the back nine and the round decline. I hit a 51 degree wedge form 110 yards to a downhill pin location. I pulled it just a touch and the ball bounced to the left and into the trap. I skulled the sand shot over the green and made double bogey. I had another ball take a big bounce left and get close enough to a tree that it affected my swing, and this led to another bogey.

Next Round: Stoughton Acres, in Butler Pa. on Sunday. It will be cold.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Black Hawk Score 83 Green In Reg: 11 Putts: 36

The Good: Iron play came around some as I hit 11 greens, the highest number in a long time. Drove the ball ok and over all the driver did not get me in any big trouble.

The Bad: Putting as I was yipping some putts and it was costly. I had only one 1 putt green and that was on the last hole. One 3 putt, with rest being 2 putts. I did putt much better on the back did not have anything to show for it. The ground was very hard and I did not have that many good looks at birdie. It was very difficult to stop the ball on the green. The short game was bad, with some yipping creeping in. I did chip a little better on the back nine.

Luck OF The Round. I really did not have any bad luck but I could not gage the bounce into the green and most of my bounces were not toward the hole. Overall it was just another blah round with no birdies.

Next Round: The weather is going to take a nasty turn but should have 18 holes in by Wednesday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Untimely Loss

Final Score: Pirates 0 Cardinals 3

Why The Pirates Loss: The Pirates defined the meaning of lack of timely hitting. Everyone got a hit but Conner Joe, but nobody got more than one. There were 7 singles and a double by Austin (I did get a hit in April), Hedges. All of this wasted a very good performance by Johan Oviedo who pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, while striking out 10, on only 93 pitches. Just think, if Brubaker doesn’t get injured, he is pitching in Indiana. DUJ came in the 8th inning to seal the deal, but to be fair, the Cardinals just hit the ball where the Pirates weren’t. DUJ has never had an ERA under 4 in his career and it’s nice to see he is right back on track. I still don’t see what anybody sees in this guy. The injuries just keep piling up. Chase De Jong has a back issue and Ji Man Choi has left posterior ankle discomfort. Choi does not believe that it will be serious. He probably won’t play until July 4.

Key Moment Of The Game: There was not one key moment of the game, but the overall lack of timely hitting by the Pirates. They had 7 of their 8 hits in the first 5 innings and had nothing to show for it. Even when they got a hit, it did not turn out well. In the top of the 4th, Mark (I don’t understand why I am in the Major Leagues), Mathias hit a sharp line drive single to right, but Canaan Smith-Njigba, who was on 2nd base, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. In the top of the 5th, with 2 out, and Austin Hedges on 3rd base, Andrew McCutchen hit a hard line drive to left field that was corralled by Tyler O’ Neill. The Pirates have not had much luck lately as they fell to 8-6 on the season.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in St. Louis. Roansy Contreras will start today and will be looking for a bounce back start. The Pirates will be looking for that 2nd win on the road trip. It is time to be timely again. It’s too early to tell how Derek Shelton will do this year, but it sure would have been nice to see Carlos Santana or Ke’Bryan Hayes bat when the Cardinals brought in the left hander.

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played Mt Lebanon Score: 81 Greens In Reg: 6 Putts: 32

The Good: Pretty much nothing. Did hit a few good drives but that was about it.

The Bad: The iron game did regress as I hit almost all of my irons fat. The putting was mediocre and another 4 putt for the second round in a row. The short game had its ups and downs instead of getting up and down. All in all, it was a back to the drawing board round but we will see what the weekend brings.

The Luck Of The Round: No bad luck here I just stunk.

Next Round: Black Hawk on Sunday.

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Golf Diary:

Round: Played South Park Score: 80 Greens in Reg: 7 Putts: 32

The Good: Putting made a spectacularly long putt from the fringe on the 1st hole for birdie. Drove the ball pretty well. Iron play improving but did not show up in stats. The course was hard and fast because of an unusual lack of spring rain. Some shots went over the green as they did not hold but the shots were solid and crisp. Short game was ok but did mess up a few chips.

The Bad: Did have a four putt on the 4th green for a double bogey. Overall, even though the score was not all that great I really can’t find a lot of bad in this round.

The Luck Of The Round: Now this is a different story. No breaks today. Because of the dry conditions I had a few drives that looked pretty good, roll into sand traps or under trees. The drive on the second hole which I thought it was well left of the trap, bounced to the right and into the trap. From 140 I hit an 8 iron left and it rolled under a tree. I had a drive on 16 that was cutting back from the left side of the rough, ticked a tree, which caused it to bounce crazily to the left and under another tree. Both of these led to double bogies for a total of 3 for the round. This was a round where I played well enough to break 80 but it was not in the cards. After the long putt on the first hole I thought this was going to be my day. Not so, ball wash breath.

Next Round: Tomorrow, Mt. Lebanon. Things seem to be coming along. This was the best ball striking day of the year. Between the conditions and not being so lucky, the score did not materialize. I played 15 holes 2 over par. Unfortunately, a round is 18 holes.

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played Rolling Green Score 77 Greens In Reg: 8 Putts: 27

The Good: The putter was smoking today and kept the score barely respectable. Had 9 one putt greens and not too many gimmes. Many par saves and a couple of nice 5 to 8 foot birdie putts that I canned. No 3 putt greens today. The iron game continued to improve and the short game was passable, but it probably seemed better, because I almost made every putt.

The Bad: Had the worst driving day of the year and it was a good thing this course was pretty wide open. I still managed to find trouble and it cost me a double bogey on one hole. Working on something new, and I improved during the round. The weather was gorgeous, so all in all a pretty good day.

The Luck Of The Round: Really not much of a factor today. Can’t say that I had any good or bad breaks. Certainly, no bad luck on the greens today.

Next Round: Somewhat unknown at the moment but should have 2 rounds in by the end of the week.

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Pirates Morning Report: Velasquez, I Was Just Kidding

Final Score: Pirates 5 White Sox 11

Why The Pirates Lost: Another horrendous performance by a free agent Pirate pitcher. Vince Velasquez was only able to go 2 and 2/3rds innings and got racked up for 5 runs, 6 hits, and 4 walks. Near the end it appeared that he might have some kind of physical problem. We can only hope. I was only kidding when I said he hoped the Pirates would score 13 runs again because he was going to need them. The bullpen got touched up pretty good too, as all was right in the world again, with DUJ giving up for 2 runs on 3 hits in just 2/3rds of an inning. All in all, not a good day for the Pirate pitching staff, giving up 11 runs on 14 hits and 6 walks, while only striking out 6. The Pirate bats did not have all that bad of a day getting 5 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks. Rodolfo Castro came out of his funk somewhat getting 2 hits in 3 at bats. In 2 games the Pirates have given up 20 runs but are 1-1.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the third and the score was 2-1 in favor of the White Sox, but 2 were out, with a runner on second. Then Velasquez went viral. Walk, Walk, Wild Pitch to let a run in. A single to center field scored 2 more runs and before you knew it was 5-1 White Sox. Velasquez gave up another walk and he was off to the showers. Bryce Wilson where are you? The Pirates got as close as 6-4 but then the bullpen got lit up in the 7th for 5 more runs and it was over baby, with the Pirates falling to 5-3

Next Game: This Afternoon, White Sox, in Pittsburgh. It will be a rubber match with Johan Oviedo making his second start of the year. The Pirate bats seem to be coming alive and now the pitching has gone south a little bit, but most of that has been from the free agent pitchers Rich Hill and Velasquez. It is early in the season, but I have a lot more confidence that Hill will right the ship. Velasquez is a whole different story, as I do not know if there is any ship there to begin with. With the Astros coming to town, it sure would be nice to get the win today.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Mt Lebanon Score: 85 Greens In Reg: 3 Putts 32

The Good: Absolutely nothing. Did not drive the ball bad but that was about it.

The Bad: Hitting 3 greens in regulation shows the iron game was very poor and then compound that with mediocre to poor chipping. The putting had too much stress put on it to call it poor, but it did not bail me out at all. Just chalk it up to one of those rounds. I thought I was swinging quite well but little or nothing to show for it.

Luck Of The Round: Anytime you shoot a round like this you are not going to get a lot of breaks. I had many awkward and bad lies and the putts would not drop at all. It was pretty cold out but a least it was not that windy, and the sun was out much of the time. I guess you could say that was lucky.

Next Round: Tomorrow at South Park. Hopefully this was just an anomaly, but we will soon find out. Will be glad to get the taste of this one out of my mouth.

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played at Mt. Lebanon Score 77 Greens In Reg. 7 Putt 30

The Good: Really not much. The weirdest part of the round was that I hit some good shots off of some really odd lies. Made some nice short game moves on the last 2 holes to save pars. Think I am a little golfed out. Played 3 consecutive days and was really tired for the early 7:20 tee time. Did make some really tough 3 to 4 foot putts.

The Bad: My longer putts were horrible. The greens were a little slow but that is no excuse. I never hit a good putt over 10 feet. My iron game was a little better but not enough to call it good.

Luck Of The Round: Did have some bad breaks. Hit a real good drive on 3 but wound up with the ball way of above my feet because it did not roll all the way down into a grass bunker. But I hit a really good shot about 15 feet right of the pin but the putt was lousy. Looking forward to a non golf day tomorrow

Next Round: Most likely finish up on Saturday. I’m taking a nap.

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played Highland Spring Score 78 Greens In Reg: 6 Putts: 28

The Good: My driving and putting saved the day. The highlight of the round was an eagle on the par 5 13th hole. After a beautiful drive that cut the dogleg I hit a low bullet of a 3 wood off a downhill lie to the middle of the green about 40 feet short of the pin. Of course, I made the eagle putt but more on that later. The eagle gave me the shot in the arm, to post a 1 under 36 on the back nine. What is interesting, is up until I started this blog, I had yet to break 80 in about 10 previous rounds. I had strung some 9-hole rounds together, that were under 80, but never on an 18 hole course, until the last 3 rounds.

The Bad: This round did not look like a round that was going to be under 80. I started bogey, bogey double bogey then got it up and down twice to save pars. Did not hit a green until the 6th hole and that was the only one I hit on my way to 7 over 42. The culprit was some horrendous iron play. Double yuk! Once again, really good putting saved the round. The last iron shot of the day a gap wedge up hill from 95 yards away was a quality shot and hopefully I can continue that feel on the next round. Let’s face it 6 greens in regulation is not going to cut in the long run.

Luck Of The Round: Naturally the eagle putt was the fortunate shot of the day. It was about 40 feet in length and was uphill for about 25 feet and then slightly downhill the last 15 feet. These kinds of putts, up and down, are very hard to judge the speed. Since an eagle putt is a rare occurrence, I was not going to be short. I thought it wasn’t that hard as I saw it start up the hill but when I heard it bang into the flag, I knew it would have gone 8-10 feet past if it had not hit the pin. Not any bad luck during the round, as my putting was even bad at the start of the round. The putts were so bad, that lip outs were not a factor. On the last 8 holes, The putter found new life, as I had only 12 putts.

Next Round: Finishing up a 9 hole round at Mt. Lebanon from March 30, tomorrow.