So our club championship is in mid-October. Championship flight is seeded by qualifying. For that flight, the course plays 7400+ yards (mix of black and gold tees). Match play 16 seeds down to a winner. Then first flight is based on hc, and played net, same match play 8 seeds down to a winner. In case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard me bitch about my neck pain, that's really messed me up this year. I've been getting some treatments and not hitting as many balls, and the pain is much less severe. My goal at the beginning of the year was to qualify for championship flight. This year golf wise has been pretty shit. If I'm 100% honest with myself, even if I qualify, I know my game isn't sharp enough to go very far. Our championship flight is replete with ex-tour guys and a few well-accomplished life long amateurs. I don't fear them, but I do respect their games. If I try to qualify, going to play the 790s, I need every yard I can get. Even though I play them weak and same loft as the 770s, I know how to really trap and squeeze out 5-8 more yards out of them when I need to. If I play in the first flight, I'll be playing at 6700, that even with some pain, I'm much more comfortable playing at. At this yardage, it will be 770s all day. But I've also spent the whole year gaining consistency with 5i - 3wd for long approach shots. Putting wise, it's my home course, I've been a member there for 19 years, I know what I can do on the greens. What would you do? Say fuck it, try to qualify for champ flight? or go for a JV trophy in first flight. EDIT: When I say JV, I'm not belittling the different flights, it's just not the big one that gets your name put on the wall. I'm leaning towards fuck it go for broke, but I don't know, that might be a really short weekend that is pinned as the pinnacle of my golfing year lol. Thoughts?

Eddie Man, I wish I could give good advice, but I'm terrible at this as I just had the same conundrum (in a way). We have our Club Championship qualifier this week. It's just straight up, best 2 day/36 hole score for the top 8 qualify and then the following weekend it is an elite 8 match play tournament to the championship over two days. I've been busting my a** the last 2-3 months to potentially give it a go as we have a HI of 6.5 to even be able to qualify. However, after shooting a smooth 78 this Saturday, I was just honest with myself that I likely couldn't put together two solid enough rounds to likely qualify for my club championship and didn't want to waste my time or energy. I think if given the scenario you laid out, I would probably shoot for the "JV" championship myself versus not playing at all. But, if you think you're playing solid enough right now, even with the neck pain, I say go for it. Your neck will hurt no matter which one you play in (varsity or JV), so may as well go big or go home!

Go big and gain as much experience as you can is what I would do.

Winning a title is still winning a title. Is winning a natty title in d3 college not as worthy as winning a natty title in d1? Or a state title in high school in a lower class not as worthy as state title in a higher class? Put yourself in the best place to win, without hurting yourself. Get back at it next year without pain for championship At least you got a club championship. We had 4 guys sign up so I didn’t even play...

E$, you know what I’ll say and it’ll sound like I’m being an asshole but, I’m really not. I’ll give it a shot. First off, qualifying sucks doesn’t it? You have to play before you can actually play the tournament. I’ve got first hand experience (last 5 years, maybe 10 events a year). I’ve never qualified, until The Houston AM this year. Even that was through an alternate spot. I’ve had the heartbreak, the pain, wanted to walk away from the sport, anything and everything you can think of because of qualifiers. I think I’ve played 4 total rounds of golf this year just “bullshitting with friends”. It’s not fun, It’s an addiction. Most wont understand but, thank God I don’t give a shit. Second, with all of that being said, it looks like you have two routs... The hard way. Because there’s doubt. The easy way. Because you said you’ll be comfortable. When I tee it up at USO Locals (on the same course) with assholes like Cole Hammer, Duffy Waldorf, etc... do I expect to qualify? Or am I out there with a Dream hoping to catch it? Am I scared? Absolutely, terrified. If you don’t return a score within 10 strokes of par, they essentially ban you for a year. It’s nerve wracking. I feel uneasy. Will I play again next year? Without a doubt. The dream will always live and I’ll try to invest the time into it and give it my best shot. On the other hand, I’m “quitting” my club October 1st (because I go on an adventure that nobody knows about, starting Oct 1st). Their Club Championship is next weekend. And my hand is shot, if 100% I probably still wouldn’t play. It’s not my thing. Nothing negative. 7400 yards, littered with ex pros, ex AM’s, blah blah blah... Sounds pretty fucking exciting man. Sounds like a difficult challenge. Sounds like if you won, you’d get your fucking name on the wall. Sounds like something I’d try and qualify for, me personally. And I have absolutely nothing against flighted golf events but........ it’s not “The Show”. Do what you want bro but you’re comparing the MLB to AAA. I know which one everybody would rather be in. Go for it. Life’s too short not to. I hope you feel like me Friday when I tee it up with Houston’s best Amateurs (even tho I fired a cool +7 to get an alternate spot). It’s like a club championship but, for the 4th largest city in America. Will probably be a little wet 🤷♂️ Whatever you pick, good luck and kick some fucking ass!

I say go with the flighted groups. Do well, build confidence and come back next year with the experience and hopefully better health to go up against the best players.

I say play in the 2nd tier. If for no other reason...SHOP CREDIT (CPG voice.) I hate to sound like Tiger but I don’t like to tee it unless I can win. And even if you gain experience, you’re about to hit silly season anyway. You can’t really build momentum when it gets cold out and we are back to mats/indoors sooner than later anyway.

part of me says go big or go home but the other part of me says play smart. I don't play competitive golf, hell, I haven't played in a member guest in 5 years (I need friends lol) but if it were me I'd probably shoot for the "JV" championship unless I was play some balls to the wall, lights out golf leading up to it.

What would you do? Re: Club Championship

ForeLeft

gfranktw7 Live under NET par

OffTheDole

I took half a year off in 2018 for neck surgery after playing literally the best golf of my life and my advice would be to take it easy this year.

Focus on getting healthy and playing a setup that doesn't have you swinging that extra bit that may be the catalyst for a herniated disc.

Trust me when I say that the fear and dread that comes from not knowing if you'll ever play golf again — or end up paralyzed — is nothing you want to experience.

PureStickGolf

I’m gonna chime in here. I didn’t take the time to read the other comments cause I’m eating bbq and complaining about my broken wrist. What I am going to say is. Go big or go home. U may surprise yourself and make it further. If that was the goal all year then do it and see what happens.

here’s why

if you drop down to the lower flight and still play badly. You have the mentality of I could have done this in the championship flight. Conversely if you play well and Finish near the top or even win. You will always ask yourself (until next years tourney at least) I wonder what would have happened if I played the championship flight.

If you can make it through the 7400yrd slog. Then do it.

ckay

Get your short game sharp. You’ll have a couple of strokes advantage before you even tee it up. That’s where I see my biggest demise this season. It isn’t very difficult for a seasoned golfer to strike the ball pretty well. It’s when you can’t get up and down that balloons that score up.

titleistforged

Winning is winning, that much is for sure. Doesn't matter what group it is.

I don't know how the neck pain affects your swing/ability to hit the long ball, but 7400 yards is no joke and a slog indeed. I'd be potentially slightly worried that trying to juice it more often than not can lead to some other repercussions.

ckay

titleistforged that could easily be offset by working on the 100 and in game. When I was in my prime golf shape, if you put me at the 75 or 50y range I’m sticking it within 10 feet. On the days I was wayward off of the tee I had no issues laying up to that yardage.

Also depends where they are stretching out that extra yardage. Is it well balanced throughout all of the holes or is it on the par 3s etc? Nothing pisses me off more when the par 4a are sub 450 but the par 3s are 220+.

Eddie

ckay Also depends where they are stretching out that extra yardage. Is it well balanced throughout all of the holes or is it on the par 3s etc? Nothing pisses me off more when the par 4a are sub 450 but the par 3s are 220+.

At 7400, everything is long, but because there are some short par 4s on this course, the feel is exactly what you are talking about. All the par 3s go from 200-240 with hurting wind the majority of those holes. So most of the par 5s become three shot holes, and on half the par 4s the approach shot remains the same because instead of taking hybrid or 3 wood off the tee you can play driver, but yes the par 3s all get longer.

Putterho

Eddie Golf has been shit for me as well. The majority of my friends including weekend warriors have played more golf in the last 6 months than they have in the last 6 years. Instead of letting it piss me off I decided to make the best of it and just said I was going to fix my shoulder and then my knee to have the best chance at playing the best golf I could when things got back to normal. Injuries have taken a toll with old age but my wife working 6 day mandatory work weeks and the kids only starting school a week ago were the main reasons for the lack of rounds. I think I have 6 rounds since 2020 started. At this point I don't even care what happens for the rest of 2020 and I never realized how weak my hips and core were. Look out 2021 because when I go hard ..... I'm pushing all in.

OffTheDole

Putterho Look out 2021 because when I go hard ..... I'm pushing all in.

Tee hee.

Eddie

Guys thanks so much for all the feedback.

I'm as torn as the breakdown of the responses are.

I'm going to play a practice round tomorrow from championship flight yardage and see what I shoot. I'll let the score dictate whether I should try to qualify or play in flighted division.

I'll report back.

ForeLeft

Eddie see I hate that. I’m a strong believer in variability of par 3s and you should never hit the same club on any par 3. Regardless of wind.

should be like 1- 130-140
1- 170
1- 200-210
1- 230+

in my opinion...

Eddie

ForeLeft

i agree with you and many a people have given me the same sentiment.

This kid Ken Wavey, some of his stuff is a bit cliche, but this one was so on point for me I had to post.

DaHOF

@Eddie if you want me to really throw a wrench into your thought process...today we started our qualifier. I have 3-4 really good friends playing and as I mentioned above, decided I just wasn't quite where I wanted with my game to go for it. My usual money game group (minus qualifiers) played before the main groups went out. Well, day one scores just came out. Had I played today, I would have been in the top 10 going into day two with the score I shot. Go figure. Then again, nerves/pressure would likely come into play more in a qualifier than that of just a simple money game.

Eddie

J, your last post pushed me over the edge.

I really hate the state of my game, to be honest, I'm just pissed as fuck.

Over the course of the year, the neck pain has caused me to flinch and lift through impact, wreaking havoc on my swing.

I'm at the range and I'm literally committing to try to hit the ground as hard as possible. After about 60 balls, my left side is numb, but I now know the maximum extent of the pain, and I'll be fucking damned if I don't at least give the qualifier a shot this year.

So 12:42 Sunday qualifying round, wish me luck. My mindset is going to be one swing thought: embrace the pain and compress the shit out of everything.

Even if I qualify and get waxed in the first round, all things considered this year, I will chalk that up as mission accomplished.

DaHOF

Eddie Good luck man, I think you're making the right choice (if your body can handle it). I played a round this week with two buddies (both +4) and after the turn they made this comment "why didn't you try to qualify for the club championship?" Talk about a gut punch.

On the flip side, tomorrow I will be caddying for my good friend during the match play elite 8. I haven't been on a bag in years, but it should be fun. Then again, if I was playing in it, I would be having way more fun.

Good luck brother!

OffTheDole

Eddie Godspeed.

Rub on that CBD cream, hop in a hot tub and then a cold pool, and take those anti-inflammatories.

ckay

I think your mission and adrenaline will mask that pain 👍

Eddie

I'm just adding this to this thread in case anyone reads this in the future.

If you are ever debating what I was debating, go big 100% of the time.

I'm playing in the flighted match play today and I couldn't give two shits about it. I'm going to go out there and try to birdie every hole and hope that I either win in 11 holes or lose by 10 🤣

Winning the flighted match play is no cake walk but I just don't care.

Moni_SLO

Eddie Fucking love it homie. Go low!

Giphy - Tiger Woods Sport GIF