Tag: June 2026

  • When do you need to buy a new putter?

    Well, if you’ve seen the YouTube video on my putting woes, you’ve probably concluded that my problem is in my head and not in my putter and I’d probably have to agree with you. I bought that putter in 2007 and my putting has gone downhill every since. But, in my defense, I think the putter is good if I hit it exactly on the sweet spot every time. Quitting golf for almost ten years then playing once a week, now about twice a week, and I’m not going to be hitting the sweet spot every time.

    By now you probably know where I’m going with this. After reading an article by MyGolfSpy (a website you should at least visit) about their testing and rating of 75 different putters, they concluded that zero torque putters were for real and that the Odyssey AI-Dual Square 2 Square #7 putter was rated by the testers as the best at virtually every distance. So my thought was that if I get this new fancy putter that is just about as perfect as a putter can be then whatever problems I still have must be all mine.

    So I went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods and found the putter on sale for $50 off. Of course I bought it and hit practice putts in my basement in preparation for the putter’s introduction to real putting greens on a real golf course.

    And today was the day. Overall, the weather was beautiful and relatively cool, and Phil and John witnessed her maiden round. (She doesn’t have a name yet but that’s coming.) I shot a 79 which was pretty darn good for me. The putting was somewhat of a mixed bag, primarily because I didn’t know how hard to hit the putts. I had five three-putts, which isn’t a record for me. Again, primarily because I would hit the putt too soft or too hard – not because of the direction. Three-putts on the first two holes had me a little nervous about my new love.

    By the end of 18 holes, I was back feeling confident that it was going to be a long-term relationship, finishing with seven one-putts and two birdies, and 34 total putts when I average 37 a round. I only hit two fairways and seven greens but did well otherwise.

    Videos, you might ask? I started to video the round but after three-putting the first hole I thought better of the idea and turned it off. I didn’t need anything other than my putting to think about. But the video showing off the putter will come soon enough.

    What else am I doing about my horrible putting? Well, I’ve downloaded a copy of Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible and started to read it. I’ve made it to the fourth chapter so far and the short version of what I’ve read so far is that a pure pendulum straight-back straight-through putting motion is best and there are a lot of bad ways to putt and they still might go in and alot of ways a really good putt might not go in. I’m working on the pendulum motion. Will keep you informed of my progress.

    In the meantime, here’s my scorecard from today. Clayt

    Clayt's scorecard from a round of golf at the Bowie Golf Course on 24 June 2026, reflecting a score of 79.
    Clayt’s Scorecard, Bowie Golf Club, 24 June 2026

    The red notations were added after the round.

    One more thing. Bowie has printed their new scorecards pending the reopening of the shortened golf holes. Hole #18, around the new driving range, is now playing as a relatively short par 5. Holes #1 and #9 are still shortened. The “soon to be” yardages have been added and the course rating and slope numbers have been revised.

  • Maryland Course #14, Carroll Park Golf Course, Baltimore, June 2026

    This is our 14th course on our way to playing every golf course (that will let us on) in Maryland – over 100. Baltimore’s Carroll Park is a nine hole par 34/68 “executive” course that opened in 1923. It has seven par 4s and two par 3s, and measures 2787/5574 from the blue tees, 2593/5186 from the whites and 2536/5072 from the reds. The course is wedged between I-95 and US Route 1 in an industrial area so truck and train noise is pretty much a constant.

    Barry, Rich and I teed off around 9:30 on a Friday and the course was pretty open. Just in front of us was a foursome of kickball golfers who let us play through on the second hole. Their holes are marked with blue flags so you’ll see those and soccer balls throughout the video.

    The day turned out to be much hotter than expected, reaching 99 degrees by the time we got off the course. A constant breeze, relatively low humidity and riding in carts certainly made the round much more bearable. I also commend the staff for keeping coolers of cold water throughout the course.

    There are no water hazards on the course and relatively few sand traps – though I found two of them and Barry enjoyed the same one twice. All of the traps that I had a chance to see were in good condition. Beside the wooded areas adjacent to some holes, the biggest hazard was the ankle-high to calf-high grass in some of the tree lined holes. Hitting into those areas made it difficult to find your ball easily. I lost two balls in there was I gave up after a quick look and didn’t want to slow the round down.

    The greens were a little on the small side but seemed well maintained and rolled slow but well.

    We played from the blue tees as the white tees were a little short for us. Rich only played the front nine and finished with a 46. Barry and I played 18. Barry finished with an 87 while I shot a 90. Now that I’ve seen the course twice, I believe I could play it much smarter than I did this time. The course looks pretty wide open but there’s a definite premium in keeping it in the fairway on your tee shot even if it means clubbing down and losing some distance.

    Recommend you get out there and play.

    Carroll Park scorecard – front, June 2026
    Carroll Park scorecard – back, June 2026

  • Bowie Golf Club on June 10, 2026

    Made it back out to the Bowie Golf Club on June 10th with Phil, Bill, Coop, Barry and John. It rained the entire way to the course but stopped shortly before our tee time. As is customary every other week during the summer at Bowie, we teed off at the 10th hole. The 10th and 11th holes at Bowie generally give me the hardest time. Ten is a short par 4 with water in front of the tee box, water down the left side and out of bounds down the right. The 11th is a fairly long and tight par 5 with with woods running down the right side and scattered trees down the left.

    Clayt's scorecard from his 10 June 2026 round at the Bowie Golf Course, Bowie, Maryland, with a score of 84.
    Clayt’s scorecard, Bowie Golf Course, 10 June 2026

    Today, I hit a 5-iron on the 10th followed by a pitching wedge onto the green. Two putts for a par and I was off to a good start. The 11th had other ideas for me. I pulled my driver into the trees on the left. After two poor punch out shots, I was able to hit an 8-iron over another tree then an 8-iron onto the green and two-putt for a double bogey. It went downhill from there with a three-putt on the next green for a double, and splashed a ball on the next tee shot for another double.

    The rollercoaster back continued with a two-putt par on the 14th, driving the green and three-putting for a par on the 15th, a two-putt bogey on the 16th, a three-putt double bogey on the par 3 17th and a two-putt double bogey on the 18th. Finished the back nine with an 11-over par 46. It didn’t look like this one was going to be used in my handicap calculations.

    On to the front nine where I finally settled down and salvaged a somewhat respectable score, considering the carnage on the back nine. Two-putt par, two-putt bogey, three-putt bogey, one-putt par, one-putt par, two-putt bogey, two-putt par and two-putt par. The wheels came off just a little at the temporary green par 3/4 9th hole playing somewhere around 180 yards. Hit a 5-iron fat and into the right rough. Bad chip, bad chip and bad chip and I was on the green and one-putted for a bogey. Front nine totaled 38 on the temporary par 33. Total for 18 was 16 over par 84.

    It was still a good day out on the golf course and a struggling round builds character. By now, I should have a lot of character.

    By the numbers: Eights pars, four bogeys, and six double bogeys. Three one-putts, 11 two-putts and four three-putts. Six fairways and seven greens in regulation. No birdies but no four-putts or triple bogeys.

    See you out on the course. Clayt

  • Queenstown Harbor – River Course, Maryland Course #12, June 4, 2026

    The River Course at Queenstown Harbor has the reputation of being one of the best courses in Maryland and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Bill, Wendell, Gus and I played from the gold tees which measured a paltry 5,861 yards, far short of the 6,568 for the blue tees and 7,096 for the green. Being an old guy, an 18+ handicap and not being familiar of the course (particularly where definitely not to hit)the course tired me out, finishing with a 96. Having no birdies, just four pars and three lost balls will get you to 96 pretty quickly.

    The course is definitely beautiful and in good shape. The tee boxes, fairways, bunkers and greens were all pretty meticulous. Why does the course also have the reputation of being tough? Well, there’s water, marsh, knee-high grass and large deep bunkers throughout the course and fairly often you can find all of them on one hole. If you’re hitting the ball straight and can put on large, fast greens then this will give you an edge on that $1 nassau. Not to say this isn’t a fun course. It certainly is and we had a great time – primarily because the score didn’t mean anything to any of us. I’d certainly have liked to score better and next time I believe I will, but the beauty of the course, the good company and an occasional good or great shot was all that I needed.

    For those interested in seeing the round at our 12th course, from my point of view, here it is. And the scorecard follows, with my edits in red after I’d had a chance to review the tape. I would never make it on the PGA tour as I’d be disqualified more often than not – I make a mistake on the scorecard fairly often. Sometimes in my favor and sometimes against. On this one I thought I had a triple bogey when I really had a double and I forgot to count the lost ball on the 18th hole. Gained one, lost two. Thought I had a 95, then a 97, then a 96.

    Clayt’s 96, River Course, Queenstown Harbor, June 4, 2026

  • Bowie Golf Club on June 3, 2026

    Sam, Barry and I played from the gold tees at the Bowie Golf Course today. The weather was beautiful, sunny with a slight breeze and temps in the low 80s. Got around the course fast, finishing a leisurely pace at 3.5 hours. The greens are in great shape and were rolling faster than we’ve seen in some time. Hole #5 was particularly tricky with the hole cut near the bottom of the slope down to the front tier. Fairways and rough are coming in nicely. Most of the tee boxes still need more time. And the course is still playing as a temporary par 68 so the scores aren’t as good as they seem.

    Sam scored two birdies and finished with a 78. Just one double bogey on the par 5 11th hole, pushing the tee shot into the woods, chipping out, then pulling his second shot left.

    Barry took a triple bogey on the par 3 5th hole, primarily due to the hole location mentioned previously. He also had a double on the par 4 first hole. We found out how fast the greens were when he chipped onto the green and it rolled off the back.

    I took an unusual route to an 81. I had double bogeys on the two front par 3s and a triple bogey on the par 4 17th. I got a birdie on the par 4 15th hole after a 203 yard tee shot with my 3-wood and a PW chip to a back pin for about a 4-foot putt. Beside the one birdie, I had 8 pars, 5 bogeys, 3 double bogeys and one triple. Only hit two fairways but was on the green in regulation 11 times. The driver was not as well behaved as last week. Hit a couple of trees and sliced one pretty good. I had two one-putts and only one three-putt, but sadly had a four-putt on the par 4 3rd hole. My estimated handicap hangs at about 18.1.

    No video from this one. We’ve seen the video(s) from Bowie and I probably won’t do another one until the first, ninth and 18th holes open up in their new configurations. Not sure when that will be. Until then, here’s the scorecard from the round.

    Golf scorecard for Sam, Barry and Clayt's round at the Bowie Golf Course on 3 June 2026. Sam shot 78, Barry 86 and Clayt 81.
    Bowie Golf Course, June 3, 2026 (Gold tees)

    Planning to play the River course at Queenstown Harbor tomorrow for my 12th course since starting on this journey. And thinking about Clifton Park on Monday for the 13th and Carroll Park on Friday for the 14th course, both of which are in Baltimore.

    See you out there on the course. Clayt