excuses and new places

The above photo could have been taken at any of the greens around town and is a fair representation of the overall condition right now.  It seems there are multiple types of grass growing in most of the greens and one of the types, Poa (as far as I’ve heard or can tell) does not like the dryer summer months as much as the Bent grass variety.  It definitely makes for an interesting roll on putts and I think, or at least I’m blaming the grass, that the current condition has made it tougher to get my percentages up on short putts..  But, there are a number of excuses and if it’s not patchy grass, it’s sanded greens, or dead winter spots, or divots, or footprints, or slow greens, or fast greens, or ridges, or “lumpy donuts,” or……  Long story short, you got to accept what’s in front of you and play the best you can!  Everyone else out there has to overcome the same obstacles.

I also went to East Moreland for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised with what they have to offer as far as practice space goes.  They had a large putting green which was fairly flat, but there is enough slight variation to allow for some interesting putting.  They also had two chipping areas, one for short chips and another area that was about 100 yards by 30 yards and completely surrounded by trees.  At first, I thought it was an actual hole, but then I realized there was no tee box and saw people practicing in it.  This area will definitely come in handy in the next year, once I start working on some distance with my wedges!