Hello All....
I've thoroughly enjoyed this site and I thought I would share some thoughts and observations.
A number of people here - I notice AvatarLee does this amongst others - often sign forum postings with "Enjoy!" or "Have Fun!"
NOTE: I am intentionally leaving ANY discussion of technical issues and frustrations out of this posting and focusing on Game Play. There are plenty of other Forum Posts about Technical stuff.
This is the reason I am here. For entertainment and inherent to that is a certain level of challenge. But having fun overrides any concerns about scoring etc. I think to a certain degree the element of fun, enjoyment or entertainment gets lost on WGT sometimes.
This "enjoyment" even includes the times that I hit myself into some sort of trouble - and learning how to recover from it and get myself out of it. I can save a Par or sometimes a Bogey from some pretty tough spots...and I can do it consistently. THE ONLY WAY I HAVE LEARNED TO DO THIS IS BY STAYING THE COURSE AND LEARNING HOW TO DO IT.
If I had disconnected every time there was a sign of trouble would my play be improving? Would my skill be improving? Or would I simply be questing for some artificially low average that is really not representative of my abilities on WGT?
Two examples of TROUBLE that I found from a round just this morning that I will share:
Bethpage Black - Hole 4
I stepped onto the tee at Even Par - so this was so far so good. My Drive got a little too close to that left side fairway bunker and I am in it. We all know what this means.
TRADEOFF: Play it safe: Pop it out to the lower fairway (50-70 yards) OR Play it risky: try to be a foolish hero OUT of the sand to get over the mid fairway bunkers up to the upper tier of fairway? This is a common tradeoff many of us have learned to deal with. I decided to be the foolish hero. What did it earn me? My second shot flubs and lands on the steep bank between the sand "In the Long Weeds". Bad Choice. BUT having recently acquired new clubs I thought I WOULD JUST SEE what would happen....so I tried it and paid the usual price. I was sitting at 2 strokes in the middle of that mess. I continued the hole and long story short I saved a par.
Bethpage Black - Hole 9
Remember I said I had new clubs? I am standing on the 9th tee (Even Par on the round so far) and i have a 9 mph BACKWIND cutting SLIGHTLY Right to Left. That looks like FAIRWAY just behind (towards the hole) that jutting left-side fairway bunker. With a tailwind LET'S JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF I TRY TO FLY THAT BUNKER, CUT THE CORNER and shave some yards off the hole. Oh boy was this a mistake. It catches a tree and drops straight down to the ground. "In the DEEP Rough" (80-90% Lie. Oh geez. I don't think I have EVER until this morning even seen an 80-90% lie. 2nd shot to the green was completely out of the question anyway due to trees...so this would be a "pop" out into the fairway to get out of the trouble. OR SO I THOUGHT. Guess what happens with a Full Swing of a 7 iron out of 80-90% rough? ANSWER: Shot distance 4 YARDS. So now I am sitting at 2 strokes 4 yards in front of where my drive landed. NOW, however I am sitting in Rough that is 40-50% rough. THIS TIME I popped it out onto the fairway. 4th shot landed within 5 feet of the Hole and I escaped with a BOGEY. I was happy to have it.
For the record: I ENDED UP FINISHING THE ENTIRE 18 HOLES WITH A 69 (-1). This is NOTHING to sneeze at.
So what did I learn here? I LEARNED ALOT. I "enjoyed" myself doing it as well - in spite of the difficulties. WHAT VALUE WOULD I HAVE EARNED IF I HAD QUIT THE ROUND BACK ON HOLE 4 due to the bad drive or the second shot into the mess? If I were obsessing about MY AVERAGE, this sort of difficulty could have ruined my day. Trust me it won't but we have all seen this ALL TOO MANY TIMES during Multi-player games. Someone hits a "bad shot" and instead of staying the course and learning how to recover...instead: DISCONNECTED (and I was trying to have a nice round with them). But again - that is another Forum thread.
If I were worried about my average (I think I was 66.31 at the start of that round) then the experience on the 4th hole would have sent me fleeing. I'm NOT obsessed about the average. I AM INTERESTED IN HAVING FUN AND ENJOYING THIS.
Curiously enough, the average seems to take care of itself IN THE LONGER RUN ANYWAY. I realize this may be an imponderable idea to those who must "have it now" (lower average / higher tier) and who have been conditioned by our instantaneous information age to have the attention span of a gnat. Maybe just RELAX and ENJOY? AND HAVE FUN? Your Game will improve, your average will follow AND you will be able to securely stand on Solid Ground knowing that instead of RUNNING from bad shots and situations that YOU CAN HANDLE THEM AND RECOVER FROM THEM. It is empowering when the fear of sand (amongst other fears) goes away.
The ability to do this is clearly a critical accomplishment in rising from Tier to Tier, as far as I am concerned.
I will probably wake up one morning soon and find that I am at the MASTER Tier. I do not care if this happens tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. I am having fun in the process. And when it happens? New challenges that come with the new set of tees. Trees that were never an issue before will suddenly pop out of nowhere to knock down my ball. Fairway bunkers that always seemed oddly placed BEFORE (i.e. who would hit into THAT one?) suddenly become major factors in aiming shots. IT IS ALL IN THE GAME AND IT ALWAYS REMAINS CHALLENGING.
THIS IS WHY I AM HERE. See you all on the links! Oh....
And HAVE FUN!
Regards, AtlantaCoaster