Shot 81 in golf again, dammit!

I shot 81 at Shoreline Golf Links.

And I'm not happy about it.

Talk about a back nine melt down. I still remember when I watched the way Phil Mickelson choke at the 18th hole at the US open as well as Jean van de Valle at the 18th hole at the British open I said to myself, "Oh boy. How can you possibly lose your tournament away in the final hole!? What are you smoking? You could have laid up, taken a bogey, and still won the tournament!"

Mine was way worse than theirs.

Going on the golf course with the mindset that I wanted to shoot lower than 80, I developed a game plan to achieve it by eliminating the number of putts I would have during the round. Things went on track as I shot 4 over in the front nine (40) with a birdie putted from 10 feet away. I said to myself after nine holes, "Wow, If I shot 3 over in the back nine, I will shoot 79!"

The back nine started with a par and a birdie. Now I'm thinking, Ok, even if I shoot 4 over in the next 8 holes I can still shoot 79!

Then came the 12th hole. 338 yards par 4. Slight dogleg left with water to my left side. Knowing that it's a short par 4, I decided to take out my 5 wood to just get it somewhere in the middle of the fairway. Standing over the ball my mind just started drifting around going "79! 79! 79!" I went ahead and started my backswing anyway, and at that point there's an inner voice going "don't mess up! you dumbass!" I hit the ball, it was low, left, and THUMP it went right into the water on my left side. "UH OH! HOT DOG!" I said. I managed to take a 1 stroke penalty, re-teed up with a driver and drove it 280 yards to give myself a small lob wedge onto the green. Pitched it 1 foot by the pin and 1 putted for bogey.

Great. Now I'm back to 4 over.

Parred the 13th, bogey'd 14th due to a dumb skyed drive shot because I teed up the ball too high. Went up and down on 15th and parred that as well.

3 holes to go, 5 over. If I shoot 2 over par in the last 3 holes I can still shoot 79.

This is where the meltdown began.

16th hole - 496 yards, par 5. I hit a high draw with my drive and I had 210 yards left on my second shot. At that moment I had two choices. I could either use my 5 wood and try to knock it on the green in two, or, I can take out my pitching wedge, hit it about 130 and give myself an 80 yard shot with my sand wedge. My inner demon struck again. I went to my golf bag, reached out for the 5 wood. My friend Dennis saw that and started going "Dude don't do it Pat. F*ck that shit. Just lay up dude." I responded like a crazy serial killer, "Shut up dude. Just let me play my game!" I proceeded to take out my 5 wood, duck hooked it to the left into no man's land. Yes. It went OB, and that meant a 1 stroke penalty. FACK!!! I ended up getting a 7 on that hole. MY GOD!

Two more holes to go, 7 over. I needed to birdie one of the last two holes to shoot 79.

17th hole - 137 yards par 3. There's water all the way til you hit the green. I noticed that the teebox was moved up a litte, so it was almost like a 130 yard shot to the green. I took out my 9 iron, thinking that I could get there for sure. I hit the ball REALLY HIGH, and all of a sudden the wind starting blowing really hard and knocked the ball into the water. WAAAH. Took a drop, up and down for bogey. BLAH.

So that's basically it. I made three major mistakes that dearly cost me 4 strokes in the back nine. Why am I so stupid? What can I do to get over this pleatau so that I can one day finally shoot in the 70's range?

No need to look further! Bushnell Yardage Pro Golf Pinseeker 1500 Laser Rangefinder is here! This is basically a device which allows you to point at the flag to get the exact distance between you and your target. It instills confidence in your swing since you take the guessing game out of the way. You can now just go up to the ball, check our the distance with the rangefinder, and swing away!

Of course, getting this extra advantage comes with a great cost. The device sells for $395 on amazon. Luckily, I found some dude that's selling it brand new on ebay for $358 with $19.95 shipping and no tax. It should arrive next week at my parents' house so that Anita won't know that I bought this. (I'm hoping that she's not reading this blog! And for the other readers, PLEASE DON'T TELL HER!! Keep it on the DL okay?)



Here's some of its features and specs:

Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Your Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 is an advanced premium laser rangefinder comprised of digital technology that allows range readings from 5 to 1,500 yards. Measuring 1.7 by 5.1 by 3.7 inches, the 10-ounce Pinseeker 1500 delivers superb and accurate range performance to +/- one yard. The Pinseeker 1500 features Selective Targeting Modes, superb optical quality, 100% waterproof construction, and Bushnell's RainGuard coating.

The Pinseeker 1500 emits invisible, eye-safe, infrared energy pulses. Its Advanced Digital microprocessor and ASIC chip (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) results in instantaneous and accurate readings every time. Sophisticated digital technology instantaneously calculates distances by measuring the time it takes for each pulse to travel from the rangefinder to the target and back.

The ranging accuracy of the Pinseeker 1500 is plus or minus one yard under most circumstances. The maximum range of the instrument depends on the reflectivity of the target. The maximum distance for most objects is 1,000 yards, while for highly reflective objects the maximum is 1,500 yards.

The Pinseeker 1500 features a powerful 7x magnification monocular for viewing your target. Optics are fully multi-coated, allowing maximum light transmission for optimum brightness, superb resolution, and contrast for a clear vivid image even in low-light conditions such as dusk or dawn. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is mounted within the optical system and, when activated, displays a reticle for targeting, yards and meters, and Mode indicators.

Laser Rangefinder Features

Standard with Automatic Scan (A)
Scan across the course while viewing a continuously updated LCD display of the distance between you and your target.

Meters/Yards (B)
You can quickly choose between these standard measuring units with a simple press of a button.

Reticle (C)
The distance to objects targeted in these crosshairs will be displayed on the Distance Readout with the press of a button.

Battery Indicator (D)
Flashes when battery power is low.

Target Quality Gauge (E)
Gauge indicating amount of energy pulses being received back from the target.

Pinseeker 1500 Targeting Modes

BullsEye
Geared for close-range use, this mode acquires the distances of small targets and game without inadvertently measuring background target distances. When more than one object is acquired, the closer of the two objects is shown on the LCD display.

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Brush
Ignores the foreground, such as brush, boulders and tree branches, and provides distances on the LCD display to background objects only.

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PinSeeker
Designed exclusively with the bottom of the cup in mind, this mode allows easy acquisition of the flag without inadvertently capturing background target distances. When more than one object is acquired, the closer of the two objects is shown on the LCD display.

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Slope+/-
Measures slope, +/- one degree of angle, and compensated range, based upon ball trajectory and type of club used. All shown on LCD display.

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Laser Rangefinder Tech Talk

A laser rangefinder is a distance-measuring instrument that uses laser technology to calculate the distance to targeted objects. Accuracy is +/- 1 yard, and the distance is displayed instantaneously on a built-in, through-the-lens Liquid Crystal Display.

How a Laser Rangefinder Works
Bushnell's Yardage Pro rangefinders use an invisible, eye-safe Class 1 Laser beam (as classified by the FDA) which is "bounced" off distant objects with the press of a button. Then, the rangefinder's high-speed digital clock measures the time it took for a laser beam to reach a target and return to the unit. Next, using advanced digital electronics, the rangefinder instantly calculates the distance within +/- 1 yard and shows the range in either yards or meters on a through-the-lens LCD Display. The entire process is so fast that less than a second elapses between the time you press the button to generate a laser beam to the time the exact range to your target is displayed.

Reflectivity of Target Types
Because rangefinders "bounce" a laser beam off the target in order to take a measurement, their range is partially determined by the reflectivity of the target. In other words, hard or "reflective" targets -- like a rock cliff or semi-truck -- can be measured at greater distances than soft surface targets, like a deer. Ranges for moderately reflective targets, like trees, fall somewhere in the middle. Most experienced hunters will use their rangefinder to frequently estimate ranges to near and distant landmarks before they actually encounter a game animal. By "pre-measuring" ranges to spots where a trophy is likely to appear, they can concentrate on making an accurate shot when the moment of truth arrives.

Product Description
Bushnell PINSEEKER 1500 Slope Edition is a premium digital golf laser rangefinder designed especially for golf, featuring a built-in slope compensator, superb optical quality and selective targeting modes.