July 13-14: Great weekend at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun with my parents; we packed in gambling at both casinos, golf, and lots of food in 24 hours; my numbers 11, 26, and 30 were hitting at roulette and the pizza at Frank Pepe's was awesome; also recommend the nachos at Scorpion Bar; I played the Mohegan Sun CC - its a difficult course in that the landing areas are surrounded by fescue lined bunkers and the greens are anything but flat - having not played there before, it was not easy selecting clubs off the tee; course conditions were nice but I bet Lake of Isles is a level or two up from this course - I played okay; I feel I lost a shot on many holes due to lack of knowledge, i made 11 bogeys and 2 birdies to shoot 81 - had a fantastic weekend and I'm not a big gambler!
Aces,
Kurt
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Dew Sweepers at LGC
July 7-8: The Annual Mid Summer Classic at LGC; my second favorite tournament at the club. I teamed up with my stalwart, jovial, awesome partner M. Keegan. We paired up with S. Keegan and D. Brennan, the team I consider to be our biggest challenge. However, my idea of one of our teams winning this thing failed again as Team Caruso continued its dominance (three years in row??), shooting a two day total of 125. Nice going to Paul and Jim!
Steve and Dan finished solo second at 128 and Mike and I claimed a tie for 4th place at 131. We had perfect weather both days, sunny and 80s. My morning loving playing partners chose to subject me to 716am tee times both days. We literally we sweeping the dew of the greens. Despite that, the greens were rolling great, almost at club championship speeds requiring delicate touch from all angles.
Mike and I shot 63-68. On Day 1 we had a very strong start to the back nine going (on a best ball net basis) eagle, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, and birdie (last three was bogey, par, birdie). We shot a back nine 30. Carrying that momentum into Round 2 (modified Alternate Shot), we made a long birdie putt on 1, bogeyed 4, birdied 5, birdied 7, bogeyed 8, and parred 9...to make a long story short, Mike and I played great for the first 7 holes, then went into a +5 on 6 hole stretch that knocked us out of the running. While we stumbled, Steve and Dan surged, reversing a poor start and making a solid run on the back nine with well played shots around the greens.
Regardless of the results, this group always has a boatload of laughs. They even got to me have a Corona! My shot of the weekend came on the 17th hole in Round 2. Playing as a 100-yard par-3 into a slight breeze, I opted (after some internal resistance) to play a 3/4 gap wedge to lower trajectory instead of a full SW. Might sound easy, but it can hard to pull out the longer club!! I struck it perfect, landing inches from the hole and stopping on a dime to inches, tap in bird for my partner. If often pays off to take out the extra club, leading to a shorter backswing and better tempo!
Mid Summer lived up to all its greatness. Awesome weekend! Two weeks until the LGC Club Championship. I expect another great tournament.
Cheers to the Dew Sweepers,
Kurt
Steve and Dan finished solo second at 128 and Mike and I claimed a tie for 4th place at 131. We had perfect weather both days, sunny and 80s. My morning loving playing partners chose to subject me to 716am tee times both days. We literally we sweeping the dew of the greens. Despite that, the greens were rolling great, almost at club championship speeds requiring delicate touch from all angles.
Mike and I shot 63-68. On Day 1 we had a very strong start to the back nine going (on a best ball net basis) eagle, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, and birdie (last three was bogey, par, birdie). We shot a back nine 30. Carrying that momentum into Round 2 (modified Alternate Shot), we made a long birdie putt on 1, bogeyed 4, birdied 5, birdied 7, bogeyed 8, and parred 9...to make a long story short, Mike and I played great for the first 7 holes, then went into a +5 on 6 hole stretch that knocked us out of the running. While we stumbled, Steve and Dan surged, reversing a poor start and making a solid run on the back nine with well played shots around the greens.
Regardless of the results, this group always has a boatload of laughs. They even got to me have a Corona! My shot of the weekend came on the 17th hole in Round 2. Playing as a 100-yard par-3 into a slight breeze, I opted (after some internal resistance) to play a 3/4 gap wedge to lower trajectory instead of a full SW. Might sound easy, but it can hard to pull out the longer club!! I struck it perfect, landing inches from the hole and stopping on a dime to inches, tap in bird for my partner. If often pays off to take out the extra club, leading to a shorter backswing and better tempo!
Mid Summer lived up to all its greatness. Awesome weekend! Two weeks until the LGC Club Championship. I expect another great tournament.
Cheers to the Dew Sweepers,
Kurt
Sunday, July 1, 2012
WCA 2012 - Kettle Brook and Wachusett CC
June 30-July 1: Worcester County Amateur
Day 1: Mid-high 80s, sunny, and breezy at Kettle Brook GC. At 6,912 yards from the tips, with a strong breeze, and large elevation changes, this course can play havoc. Most of the holes seemed to be playing into the wind, even the 490 yard par-4 ninth. Scores were much higher than last year, with 70 as the Round 1 low, compared to 65 last year. I played with a Mr. 69 years old (W. Cosgrove), who brought his reliable caddie from Worcester CC, Randy. He and I chatted briefly about the Celtics and didn't know KG would return (for 3 yrs!) until after the round. We later joined up with J. Frew and H. Hough on the 12th tee because play was sooo slow. We finished in 5 hours and 30+ minutes. My golf swing was not comfortable at all, however, my short game was excellent. I had 7 one putts and 30 putts overall. I bogeyed 17 and 18 to shoot 77. My adventure was extra fun today with Zully supporting me and driving the golf cart loaded with PBJs, bananas, cashews, and Lara Bars. Her first time on the golf course! If I had to pick a few things to characterize my great putting today, it would be a slow stroke and very good feel for the speed. Birdies on 7 and 14, both par 5s. Total putts: 30 (1 three putt); 2 birdies, 1 double, 5 bogeys, 10 pars
Day 2: Tee'd off with K. McCarthy (Harvard) and S. Neidermire (Thorny Lea); good group. My ball striking was night and day compared to yesterday. I hit my first 8 greens in regulation, 12 out of the first 14, 10 out of 14 fairways; made 9 straight pars (holes 2-10). I was very confident off the tee; something about Wachusett fits my eye well. These greens are some the trickiest I play during the summer; you can easily have an 8 footer and then have a return putt of 20 feet if not careful, one of my playing partners putted off the 13th green and had to chip back up to the pin. I was +1 thru 14 and finished double, double, bogey, bogey to shoot 79. 37 putts (3 three putts); 2 birdies (#12, #14), 2 doubles, 5 bogeys, 9 pars. I feel a took a lot of positives out of this weekend. Today, I really saw that my swing can be great under pressure. I was in the zone off the tee, picking a line and not even concerned about trouble, as I knew the tee ball wouldn't get far off line. Great tempo. Great vision on shots. Relaxed grips, turn, release.
Both courses were in great shape. Tricky pin placements on both days. Wachusett CC greens were faster than Kettle Brook.
Happy 4th of July week,
Kurt
Final Results:
JAKE GREER 72 69 141
DEVIN BIBEAU 70 72 142
RICHARD POWERS 77 69 146
RICKY STIMETS 76 71 147
SAM RUSSELL 74 74 148
MATTHEW LEGER 72 76 148
J.C. GUTHRIE 72 76 148
TAYLOR FONTAINE 76 73 149
JOSHUA FARMER 76 73 149
BRIAN HIGGINS 73 77 150
MICHAEL MERTES 80 71 151
DANIEL FALCUCCI 75 76 151
RJ FOLEY 75 76 151
DYLAN EVANS 75 76 151
ALEX DALEY 75 76 151
RYAN RILEY 72 79 151
FRANK VANA 78 74 152
CHRIS COREY 79 74 153
MICHAEL HAGLOF 76 77 153
JEFFERY SANTORA 75 78 153
STEPHEN QUARTARONE 78 76 154
DAVID FALCUCCI 76 78 154
ALEX BURY 79 76 155
BRIAN KELLY 76 79 155
HARRY HOUGH 76 79 155
THOMAS HENDERSON 75 80 155
DAVID HOLMES 73 82 155
JIM RUSHIONI 81 75 156
TERRY DUNN 81 75 156
KURT FLIONIS 77 79 156
Day 1: Mid-high 80s, sunny, and breezy at Kettle Brook GC. At 6,912 yards from the tips, with a strong breeze, and large elevation changes, this course can play havoc. Most of the holes seemed to be playing into the wind, even the 490 yard par-4 ninth. Scores were much higher than last year, with 70 as the Round 1 low, compared to 65 last year. I played with a Mr. 69 years old (W. Cosgrove), who brought his reliable caddie from Worcester CC, Randy. He and I chatted briefly about the Celtics and didn't know KG would return (for 3 yrs!) until after the round. We later joined up with J. Frew and H. Hough on the 12th tee because play was sooo slow. We finished in 5 hours and 30+ minutes. My golf swing was not comfortable at all, however, my short game was excellent. I had 7 one putts and 30 putts overall. I bogeyed 17 and 18 to shoot 77. My adventure was extra fun today with Zully supporting me and driving the golf cart loaded with PBJs, bananas, cashews, and Lara Bars. Her first time on the golf course! If I had to pick a few things to characterize my great putting today, it would be a slow stroke and very good feel for the speed. Birdies on 7 and 14, both par 5s. Total putts: 30 (1 three putt); 2 birdies, 1 double, 5 bogeys, 10 pars
Day 2: Tee'd off with K. McCarthy (Harvard) and S. Neidermire (Thorny Lea); good group. My ball striking was night and day compared to yesterday. I hit my first 8 greens in regulation, 12 out of the first 14, 10 out of 14 fairways; made 9 straight pars (holes 2-10). I was very confident off the tee; something about Wachusett fits my eye well. These greens are some the trickiest I play during the summer; you can easily have an 8 footer and then have a return putt of 20 feet if not careful, one of my playing partners putted off the 13th green and had to chip back up to the pin. I was +1 thru 14 and finished double, double, bogey, bogey to shoot 79. 37 putts (3 three putts); 2 birdies (#12, #14), 2 doubles, 5 bogeys, 9 pars. I feel a took a lot of positives out of this weekend. Today, I really saw that my swing can be great under pressure. I was in the zone off the tee, picking a line and not even concerned about trouble, as I knew the tee ball wouldn't get far off line. Great tempo. Great vision on shots. Relaxed grips, turn, release.
Both courses were in great shape. Tricky pin placements on both days. Wachusett CC greens were faster than Kettle Brook.
Happy 4th of July week,
Kurt
Final Results:
JAKE GREER 72 69 141
DEVIN BIBEAU 70 72 142
RICHARD POWERS 77 69 146
RICKY STIMETS 76 71 147
SAM RUSSELL 74 74 148
MATTHEW LEGER 72 76 148
J.C. GUTHRIE 72 76 148
TAYLOR FONTAINE 76 73 149
JOSHUA FARMER 76 73 149
BRIAN HIGGINS 73 77 150
MICHAEL MERTES 80 71 151
DANIEL FALCUCCI 75 76 151
RJ FOLEY 75 76 151
DYLAN EVANS 75 76 151
ALEX DALEY 75 76 151
RYAN RILEY 72 79 151
FRANK VANA 78 74 152
CHRIS COREY 79 74 153
MICHAEL HAGLOF 76 77 153
JEFFERY SANTORA 75 78 153
STEPHEN QUARTARONE 78 76 154
DAVID FALCUCCI 76 78 154
ALEX BURY 79 76 155
BRIAN KELLY 76 79 155
HARRY HOUGH 76 79 155
THOMAS HENDERSON 75 80 155
DAVID HOLMES 73 82 155
JIM RUSHIONI 81 75 156
TERRY DUNN 81 75 156
KURT FLIONIS 77 79 156
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