Wednesday Night Round at South Suburban: A Round of Highs, Lows, and Plenty to Work On
I played onWednesday night at South Suburban Golf Course, and it turned into one of those rounds that perfectly sums up where my game is right now—flashes of good, mixed with some pretty frustrating mistakes.
The Good
Let’s start on a positive note.
The highlight of the round was a birdie on hole #8. It came together exactly how you draw it up—solid drive, a good second shot, and then a confident downhill putt that dropped right in the center. Always nice to see one go in like that.
Driver continues to be a bright spot. For the most part, I’m hitting it well and with some consistency. Distance feels solid, and I’m keeping more balls in play than I used to, which is encouraging.
The Struggles
Now… everything else.
Chipping continues to be my biggest issue, and it’s costing me strokes every round. Looking back, I think I’m getting a little “flippy” with my wrists instead of keeping them firm and stable. I’m also not committing to the shot—no real follow-through, and I’m catching myself lifting up through impact. Add in a lack of a full turn on the backswing and overthinking the takeaway, and it’s a recipe for inconsistent contact.
It’s something I clearly need to fix—and soon.
Hole-by-Hole Highlights (and Lowlights)
Hole #2 (Par 5)
This one got ugly in a hurry. Started with a decent drive, but then it went: chunk, shank, chunk, struggle out of the sand. Eventually made it to the green and walked away with a 9. Not ideal.
Hole #3
Hit a pretty good drive, a little left but caught a lucky bounce. Mishit the approach—slightly topped—but it turned into a “good miss” and still found the green. Unfortunately followed it up with a three-putt. In my defense, the greens had just been sanded, so putting wasn’t exactly smooth.
Hole #4
Nice hybrid onto the green… and another three-putt. Pattern starting to form.
Hole #5 (Par 5)
Actually played this one fairly well. Good drive, solid second and third shots. Ended up just off the green, chipped on, and two-putted for bogey. One of the more controlled holes of the day.
Hole #6
This one went sideways fast. Heeled the drive, hit a poor second into the rough, couldn’t find the ball, took a penalty, then struggled to recover. Walked away with a double.
Hole #7 (Long Par 3)
One of the better swings of the day—hit the green on a tough par 3. Always a win.
Hole #8
The high point. Even though I tend to push everything right on this hole, it worked out this time. Everything clicked and resulted in that birdie.
Final Hole
Good drive, but again pushed it right (seems to be a theme here). Second shot hit a tree, third shot was thin, fourth was topped—but it rolled onto the green. Scrambled to a double bogey.
Final Thoughts
This round wasn’t exactly encouraging, but it wasn’t all bad either. The driver is trending in the right direction, and there are glimpses of solid ball striking.
That said, the short game—especially chipping—and putting need serious attention. Too many wasted strokes around the green and too many three-putts to score well consistently.
I’ve got lessons coming up next week, and that’s honestly the biggest thing I’m looking forward to right now. If I can start compressing the ball better and clean up the short game, there’s definitely a lower score in there.