The Burn Bin

Readiness: 6 out of 10

Course Conditions: Warm and dry course conditions for early morning golf.

Fairways: 9/14

GIR: 9/18

Putts: 33

First Putt Distance: 17′

Average Driver Distance: 204′

Long Drive: 248′

Daily Takeaway: Strange round, started out well with 3 straight pars. Followed by a couple of sloppy bogeys. Hit a horrible tee shot on #6, headed left toward the houses, kicked back in the fairway but still 257 out. Hit a 226 yard 5 wood. Chipped 2 handed to 3 feet and made the par, on the #1 handicap hole on the course. On #8 hit the broccoli tree and just cleared the ditch. Hit a decent 5 wood to get 100 out, hit the green and 2 putted for another par save. #9 short par 4, had 5 horrible shots in a row, and earned a triple. I had two good shots on par 5 #10 leaving myself 30 yards and duffed my chip, then 2nd chip to 6″ to save par. Ultimately headed to #16 at +6, and almost drove the green, chipped on, missed the birdie made the par. #17 great tee shot but approach shot ended up in the bunker for a double. #18 missed the fairway left, bad 5 wood going for the green, missed the green left on the next shot, chipped on for another 2 putt and ended up +10. Made an unbelievable 12 pars in the round, but also 2 doubles and a triple.

Readiness: 5 out of 10

Course Conditions: Warm but almost dry course conditions for early morning golf.

Fairways: 10/14

GIR: 14/18

Putts: 37

First Putt Distance: 21′

Average Driver Distance: 211′

Long Drive: 253′

Daily Takeaway: First round back with the boys on the weekend rotation. Arrived late, chipped a few, hit a couple wedges, and a couple drivers and then the 1st tee. Started out on fire with birdie putts on the first 8 holes but only made 1 of them. Drove the ball decently today, hit some fantastic iron shots. Ended up with 3 birdies and 9 pars. Could have really gone low today if the putter was working a little better. Had (3) 3 putts and 37 total putts for the round.

Readiness: 5 out of 10

Course Conditions: Typical early morning round at Indian Hills, course morning damp.

Fairways: 6/14

GIR: 8/18

Putts: 34

First Putt Distance: 22′

Average Driver Distance: 206′

Long Drive: 235′

Daily Takeaway: Still under the weather, first round in 4 days. Arrived at the course about 10 minutes before teeing off, did not chip, did not putt, did not hit iron, just hit the course. It was good to be back at the home course. Played decent. Nice to have my clubs back in hand after using old set in CA. Played decent, let some shots get away, on the back, and I was tired at the end. Almost chipped in birdie off the green on #18. Ended up with 9 pars and a birdie.

Readiness: 5 out of 10

Course Conditions: First group out, dry conditions and still cool at sun up.

Fairways: 13/15

GIR: 7/18

Putts: 33

First Putt Distance: 22′

Average Driver Distance: 213′

Long Drive: 239′

Daily Takeaway: I had never played the course before, was under the weather, and later determined to have COVID. Drove the ball very well and putted decently on the course. Tired at the end, a sloppy double on 17 was the hardest to take. Issue with approach irons all day, still getting used to using my old set of clubs, which I keep in CA. A respectable round, in good company and good weather.

Readiness – 8 out of 10
Course Conditions – Surprisingly cool for a pre-dawn tee off.
Fairways: 11/14
GIR: 5/18
Putts: 33
First Putt Distance: 17.6′
Average Driver Distance: 206.6
Long Drive: 233
Daily Takeaway: Second day playing the course. Signed up 6:20 third group out, but when 6:00 had 2 no shows I was able to move up. Played much better today, still a long course, and it was damp from overnight watering. But getting used to my old set of clubs and how to hit them properly. Still could not believe how fast the greens were even being wet. For instance had a putt that was uphill 27′ and I hit it with a 12′ pace and it went past the hole. But an enjoyable round, drove the ball well, hit some good iron and made a few putts. We were able to play in 3:15, and the heat was on by the time we finished. I had 9 doubles yesterday and only 1 today. Also managed 6 pars.

Readiness – 7 out of 10

Course Conditions – Typical early morning round at Indian Hills, but extremely hot and humid this morning.

Fairways 5/14

GIR: 4/18

Putts: 34

Long Drive: 233

Daily Takeaway: Worst round in a long time, with few bright spots. Only 3 pars on the card, but also a birdie and an eagle mixed in. Five double bogeys, two of them from lost balls, added up to 4 penalty strokes on the day. The low point was a meltdown on #2 — a bad drive followed by multiple bad chips out of the long wet rough led to an 8, putting me +6 after the first two holes. But I answered right back on the par 5 third: a nice drive, a 5-wood approach to 27 feet, and sank the eagle putt. Also stuffed one to 3 feet on #7, playing 122 yards over the

Readiness – 7 out of 10

Course Conditions – Same as yesterday, first group out, morning dew, wet fairways with little run.

Fairways 8/14

GIR: 5/18

Putts: 34

Long Drive: 228

Handicap: 8.6 heading in — probably ticking up after this one.

Daily Takeaway: Never could get going today. Five pars and a lone birdie were about it for bright spots, with three doubles and a three-putt mixed in. Five penalty strokes did plenty of damage on their own — a re-tee right, a water ball on a 4-iron punch attempting a hero shot, and a driver that found the river left. Fairways held about the same as yesterday, but GIR dropped from 10 to 5 and the putter cooled off too. Quite a swing from the 76.