First golf course painting

I started my painting with an underpainting of french ultramarine to lay out the lights and the shadows:

However, when I added the other colors I found that I did not like the result. The clear areas of the sky had too much texture, and the clouds had the same texture so they did not pop out. I tried using strokes of different colors for the grass, but it resulted in a patchy texture. Doing it like that also left patches of blue everywhere. I felt like the underpainting did not match the style I wanted for the painting.

So I started another canvas, this time with a homogeneous thin layer of titanium buff.
Then I added a thin wet layer of subdued blue for the sky, and while still wet, I added the clouds, adding thicker paint to build them up.
I kept going and painted the ocean in thin wet strokes, and built the waves up just like I had done with the clouds.
The result this time was satisfactory. The sky and ocean were completely finished and looked great. Here is what it looked like:

The titanium buff layer really unites all the areas nicely. This is a trick from the old masters that impressionists used as well.
I then painted the grass and vegetation, and the bunkers last. I avoided the use of black and mixed anthraquinone blue to the greens for the shadows of the trees, and a mix of anthraquinone and alizarin crimson to the titanium buff for the shadows of the bunkers.
I like the final result. On the next one I would like to add some variety to the greens and have different species of trees in there.

Golf course by the ocean - Acrylic painting on canvas

Why do I call some of my paintings sketches?
The following are the differences between what I consider a sketch vs a painting.
Support
For sketching I might use a canvas pad or a cheap canvas, since I am not expecting to frame or hang it.
Size
I use smaller sizes for sketching so I can use less materials and be done faster
Time spent
I spend less time per sketch, so I can do more sketches and experiment with various compositions and color schemes.
Preparation
When sketching, I don't prepare the canvas. I also don't draw first. I usually paint from memory instead of looking at a picture.
Layering
On a painting I like to use multiple layers. I might do an underpainting, or prepare the canvas with a flat color or an organic background. In this painting of a golf course I did an underpainting using the blue I had chosen for the sky (a french ultramarine green shade). The french ultramarine is pretty dark out of the tube, so it allowed me to block the shadows of the trees and the bunkers in that first layer.
Color. composition, and texture
I use sketches to experiment with color combinations, compositions, and textures. In the second golf course sketch I added a big tree on the left just so I could play with the colors of the leaves.
Finish
I don't care about finishing a sketch. I paint on it until I consider I have experimented enough with it. With a painting, I paint until I like it and want to frame it, or throw gesso on it and start over if I don't like where it's going.