New 2 Golf

First Ace...

2008-09-21T08:16:00.002-05:00

WooHoo...

Scored my first Ace last night at Green Caye Golf Course

..- 150yds, 9-Iron -..

Taken from http://golf.about.com/od/faqs/f/holeinoneodds.htm...

In 1999, Golf Digest reported, "One insurance company puts a PGA Tour pro's chances at 1 in 3,756 and an amateur's at 1 in 12,750."

Fun with the numbers...

Since I have kept pretty good records of most of the golf I've played, I get 1 in 6723. Those numbers are a bit skewed because I play most of my golf (little less than 2/3) at a par three course. If all my golf had been played on regulation courses and I got the ace after playing the same number of par 3 holes, it would have been 1 in 21,438.

The Joy...

The Eagle three was more joyful.

The Ace was more like, "Oh my God I got my first hole-in-one... I got my first hone-in-one... I GOT MY FIRST HOLE-IN-ONE!!!" And from there it was more a sense of relief that I have one under my belt.

Oh Happy Day... Oh Happy Day,
-Greg

Kids Logic...

2008-09-17T13:40:00.004-05:00

The Boy...

So we're doing a lot of clean up after the storm and for the first time in our kids lives, my wife is giving them TV dinners. After hearing this the kids get real excited. My six-year-old starts talking about what to watch while they eat, and I attempt to end the conversation by reminding them of our rules.

We have a "no eating in the living room policy".

So my six-year-old asks, "Dad, why do they call them TV dinners if we can't watch TV while we eat them?".

I have no answer for that.

Insurance Sucks...

Looks like we have about 3000.00 - 3500.00 worth of damage. Our insurance policy, like everyone else's around here, has a hurricane clause that sets your deductible to two percent in the event of a hurricane. That makes our deductible is 3600.00.

Golf is not a Priority...

Sorry for the off-topic posts, I'll be back on track in a few weeks I'm sure. Not many courses open at the moment anyway. I understand Green Caye will be open tomorrow. I hope to get down for a loop, but we'll see how much work I can get done by then.

-Greg

Let there be Light...

2008-09-15T13:24:00.002-05:00

...and air conditioning.

We're okay. Power was out for about 62 hours. We sustained minor damage. There are many in much worse shape.

Businesses are slowly opening. There are lines for everything. We learned some good lessons for next time. More later.

We're okay.
-Greg

Can't find a Tee Time...

2008-09-12T19:45:00.003-05:00

Or a Hotel...

We decided to hunker down and ride this one out. It's heading right for us. I called a few courses to see if there were any tee times available for tomorrow and no one even answered the phone.

Waiting for the power to go out.

See ya on the other side,
-Greg

Expanding My Horizons...

2008-09-05T09:49:00.002-05:00

Update…

It’s now been three years and three months since I started playing golf. My current handicap is moving down through 11.29 at the moment. I feel I’m kind of hanging on to that because I generally shoot in the upper 80s but manage mid to low 80s once in a while. A couple of those points are due to my playing the same regular courses.

I played in two recent tournaments at Green Caye. Both were glo-ball tournaments. One was during the full moon, and the other was during the new moon. Playing in the dark is pretty fun and very different, especially during the new moon. The format was 2-man scramble and I played with Martin both times. We won the full moon tournament with a crazy up and down round of +1 where we shot four bogeys and three birdies. We placed third in the new moon tournament with a steady even par round that featured one birdie and one bogey. Two other teams shot -1 and a five-hole playoff lasted well into the night. I’ve been winning enough cash to pay for my membership lately, which is nice.

Ball Striking…

I can work the ball well, either fading or drawing with my Bridgestone J33 Combo irons or my Bridgestone Airmuscle Utility Iron, but I can not for the life of me hit a consistent draw with my woods. As a result, I took the 5w out of my bag and replaced it with the Utility Iron. I needed something I could hit a long draw with off the tee and my 4i, even at 205 to 220, isn’t enough. My 3 iron offered a little more distance, but not reliably. The Utility Iron has a longer shaft than the J33 Combo 3 iron in my set (I have the 2 iron too but again, not reliable) and after a couple of range sessions I’m absolutely bombing this thing. I have not been real consistent on the course yet, but when I hit it good, it's real good.

I continue to have difficulty controlling the driver. In addition, I’ve been suffering a case of the pulls lately. I generally hit little cuts to mild fades with my woods (3w very consistently) so I aim down the left side and work the ball to the right slightly. Somehow I started pulling shots 10 to 15 degrees left about every third or fourth shot. That’s not good, especially on the tree-lined courses I like to play. It’s not fun stepping up to the tee wondering if I’m about to yank one left. I hit a few balls on the range trying to become aware of the conditions that the pull emerges from. I think it may have come from a slight strengthening of the grip of my right hand. It’s hard to tell though because on the range, after the first shot, the data is skewed.

Preparing to Join a Traveling Golf League…

While I’ve resisted playing in handicapped events (all of the tournaments I have played in have been gross scoring – no handicap adjustments) due to all of the sandbagging horror stories, I’ve decided to join a competitive league. There seems to be safeguards to prevent sandbagging and the member’s stats and records are posted. An example of these safegaurds: Players who turn in non-tournament scores for the purpose of handicapping will have these scores kept separate from the tournament scores and the player will compete to the lowest of the tournament or non-tournament handicap. The league plays different courses all around Houston and the season is year-long, playing every two weeks. It starts in October. Since my handicap is not GHIN, I will be playing my first three events as a guest this season to establish my handicap for next season. It will be interesting to see how I do on unfamiliar courses and the resultant handicap.

The first event will be on the 14th at Hermann Park Golf Course, a course I have never played. I reviewed the course and it looks like I could play well there. Even from the tips it’s very short (6014 yds; 67.9/117; Par 70), but has narrow, tree-lined fairways (built in 1922) and many greens are fronted by water. Finding the fairway will be a must. For this course, I’ll be leaving the driver at home as I can’t find a single hole where I could use it. Joining this league will give me plenty on material to blog about. I felt was getting too repetitive with my posts and so I slowed way down.

The Mrs…

My wife has been very supportive of my golfing in general. Of course bringing home cold hard cash ($30 to $120) when I return from tournaments helps. Joining this league will require a little more of my time because league tournaments will be played twice a month on Sunday mornings. Travel to and from the courses could be up to three hours and possibly more. There is more prize money to be won, but the competition could be tougher and these will be unfamiliar courses. My goal will be to place in the money (League pays T3) within the first five events. I’m sure she will continue to be supportive weather I win or not, but it sure is easier when I’m winning.

The Blogosphere…

Lot’s of my favorite blogs are no longer posting and lots of new blogs have been started. I’ll try to update my sidebar with links to the current blogs I’m reading.

Looking forward to more frequent posting,
-Greg

First Eagle...

2008-08-01T15:42:00.001-05:00

Catching Up...

Wow, a seven month hiatus from blog posting. What have I been doing? For starters, I stopped keeping track of my stats at Green Caye for three months of membership.

I played in a couple of tournaments at Green Caye. One was a 2-man scramble where Martin and I won first place. The other was an individual event where I won second place. I missed one tournament where they play in the dark with glow balls from the front tees and hang glow sticks on the pins. They might do that again during the next new moon (end of this month). I hope I can make it because those seem like a lot of fun.

This last month (my 21st month of membership), I did manage to keep my stats and they show continued improving trends. These stats would have been a bunch better had I not shot 38 (+11) twice this month. But as I say, you have to take the bad with the good.

Without throwing up the charts…

My GIRs went down, UNDs went up, birdies went up, putts went down, pars went up, and scoring went down. All good stuff.

Now for some numbers…

I’m getting up and down 37.6% of the time at Green Caye and that improvement shows on regulation courses as well. I think the worst tour players get up and down about 50% of the time.

My par three scoring average is 3.56 and that’s down from 3.59. I’d like to get this number down below 3.5. I think that’s achievable.

My First Eagle...

The big news here is that I scored MY FIRST EAGLE Wednesday July 30. It was at Beacon Lakes on the eighth hole, a par 5 of 490 yards. A tailwind and hard fairway combined to give me a 300 yard drive that settled a few yards right of center in the fairway. The approach was to a front pin on an elevated green that first rises, then slopes away. My shot needed to hit within the first yard or so if I expected to be near the pin. If it landed more than fours yards deep it would likely roll off the back of the green. From 190 yards to the center, I selected an 8 iron expecting to carry the shot about 175 yards. The shot came off perfectly, landed on the front of the green and rolled a yard or two to settle at 2 feet. I have never been so nervous over a two foot putt before. For added pressure, the greens had just been punched and sanded that day. After seeming to have to concentrate just to breathe, I managed to roll the putt in and score my first eagle.

The sense of joy is similar to when I broke 100. Breaking 90 and breaking 80 seemed come and go as a matter of course. I almost expect this to be more joyful than making a hole in one, or an eagle two because it’s something I tried to do. A hole in one and an eagle two are just not expected, they surprise you. Also, I have had several looks at eagle, perhaps the closest was from about 12 feet off the fringe. Hole in ones and eagle twos kind of surprise you. Eagle three lets you look at it real close before you take a shot at it.

Dad’s coming down for a few days next week. He’s not really my Dad, he’s my Father-in-Law. My Dad passed in 96, so my Father-in-Law is now my honorary Dad. I’m going to enjoy every moment while he’s here because you never know at the time that you’re playing your last round.

Even Par…

2008-01-04T15:49:00.000-06:00

I played four loops last night at Green Caye, and the second loop I shot even par, tying my course record there. I made a nice string of pars through the fourth hole, and birdied both five and six. I didn’t think too much about my score till after I parred the seventh. I tried not to think about it, but as I walked to the eighth tee I started to think about the results. I quickly gathered myself mentally and focused on the upcoming shot.

I had been having some trouble with this hole for some time. There is water immediately right of the green and the green gets smaller as it gets farther away from the water. I’ve hit plenty of shots into the water here, I’ve pulled plenty left. I tried taking a club that would take the water out of play but it’s a difficult hole to get up-and-down.

I decided to club up and hit a smooth shot at the pin. I pulled it slightly but landed on the green some 15 to 20 feet left of the pin. Releaved, and wanting to stay in the moment, I started thinking about the putt. By the time I got to the green I was thinking about another birdie!!!

Now this month I’m trying to focus on getting my putts past the hole. Sadly, I’m not having too much success. I leave many putts short or just a few inches past the cup. I just can’t seem to find the speed to go one or two feet past the cup and to be honest, I miss plenty of birdies as a result.

So there I was on the eighth hole at two under with a 15 to 20 footer for birdie and I slam the ball six feet by and miss the comebacker.

The ninth is the toughest hole on th course due to it’s length and OB on both sides. Over the past three months I’ve managed to par it just 25.8% of the time. I didn’t know the exact number when I got to the ninth tee, but I knew I usually bogy this hole. I tried to focus on the shot and the target but I couldn’t get the thought of hitting OB out of my mind. In my preoccupied state I hit a weak push off the toe that was short but in play. The pin was on the right side of the green and after giving up a shot on eight, I hit my short pitch left of the pin to the fat of the green. I had a chance, but I was easily twenty feet or more from the cup. A conservative two putts and I had earned my second even par round at Green Caye.

I’m very happy about the even par round, yet dissappointed that I gave a shot up with the three-putt.

I played two more loops and finished with about forty minutes remaining on the lights. Since the temperature was in the mid 30s I had the course all to myself; so, I hung out on the ninth green and had a great practice session.

Great Practice Routine…

My intent was to practice putting but I ended up working on up-and-downs (half of which is putting). I took five balls and tossed them in all directions around the green. The goal is to get all five balls in the cup in two. Each ball must be played out before the next ball is hit. Once a ball is in the hole, it stays in the hole unless it takes more than three shots to get the next ball in the hole. With this rule, you must avoid three-putting. Oh, and you can’t go home until all the balls are in the cup. While I did put myself in come challenging locations around the green, I was surprised that it took me over twenty tries to get all five balls in – and I never had to pull a ball out of the hole.

The number of balls you use should challenge you to complete the session in a given number of shots (or amount of time). For added fun, do it with a friend and make it a competition.

Tempo…

I’m starting to think about tempo. I’ve heard a lot about tempo. I think my game could benefit if I could find “my” tempo.

A common error I make is to get too quick at the top; I start the downswing too early. I’m fairly certain that working on tempo would reduce the occurrence of this problem.

I looked around and I found an electronic metronome that has a headphone output with adjustable output. It’s pocket-sized and looks to be exactly the type of thing that could be used to work on tempo. I know they make similar tempo devices specifically for golfers. Are there any other methods of working on tempo? Do I need to get a gadget to find “my” tempo?

Happyland...

I’m on pace to maitain another month with a 32 average. My wife has been very encouraging and sometimes even suggests that I go golfing. The past couple of months I’ve played golf nearly three times per week on average and at less than $100 per month – and that includes gasoline!!!

Not too shabby,
-Greg

Last Update for the Year...

2007-12-30T14:15:00.000-06:00

I didn’t expect to play much till after the holidays, but at my wife’s urging (and because Green Caye is easy on the budget), I went down and signed up on the 21st. The first evening I played I had some reservations about maintaining my past months level of play and it showed in every aspect during the first loop where I shot a 34 (+7) featuring a pair of three putts and ball lost OB that resulted in a double. I played better the second loop where a birdie on five made up for the bogey on one and left me even at seven… where I pulled my shot left into the water. I came in with double, bogey, bogey for a 31. At the end of the night, I spent 20 minutes or so practicing putting on the ninth green.

The next evening was very windy (out of the NW at 20-25 gusting to 40) and during the two and one-half hours of play the temperature dropped from 63 to 39. I played three loops fairly well considering the winds. I made solid ball contact and I felt like I shot better than my scorecard showed. My scores were 33/33/34 and maintaining or besting a 32 average was beginning to look bleak.

The next evening I got an early start with the intention of playing for four hours or so (I can play as much as 45 holes in four hours). The weather was clear and cool with temperatures in the low 40s. I started playing fairly solid but a couple of three-putts spoiled a good loop and I finished with a 32. The next loop I struggled. I was hitting fat shots and my putting was terrible. I finished with just two pars, a triple, and 19 putts that resulted in a 36 on the card. With plenty of time left and a determined attitude, I played a third loop that was better until the fifth hole where I pulled a shot OB and made a triple. On six, I thinned a short chip and made double. I finished with 35 and went home, defeated.

I did not play again until the 29th. The temps were in the mid 40s with a light breeze out of the east. I wanted to find some confidence so I hit about ten shots on the range before setting out onto the course. Of those ten shots I hit maybe one solidly. I set out without expectations. I hoped to play well but had I bit of a feeling like I had little chance in reviving this month’s stats. Here’s what came out of five loops:

I played some very solid golf. It was one of those days where everything was working pretty good. My chipping was very good with many up and downs being tapped in from three feet or less. I was definitely tired on the final loop and left about 30 minutes early instead of practicing putting. I brought the average score down to 32.07 from 34 and change.

I’m reading FEARLESS GOLF, Conquering the Mental Game by Dr. Gio Valiante and Mike Stachura and it’s been a great read so far and has the potential of replacing The Inner Game of Golf by W. Timothy Gallwey as my favorite golf book. I’m not too good at doing reviews and such, but I think that we all tend to like the golf books that validate our particular approach to the game. This is certainly the case with me and this book (and Tim’s book) is helping me expand and refine my golf journey.

Happy New Year,
-Greg

16th Month at Green Caye Completed...

2007-12-15T19:32:00.000-06:00

Where the Rubber Meets the Road…

Another progress report - that’s what I do here.

If some of the stuff here has been said somewhere else in this blog it’s only because it’s heavily on my mind. I think about this stuff ten times before I make a blog entry and I’m not likely to look back to see if I had addressed those thoughts in the past. I generally review what I had been doing one year ago, not necessarily a month or two ago.

I competed in the tournament on the 30th at Green Caye. There were fourteen competitors and everyone had a bad day. I shot 35 (+8) for T4. Two players shot 33 (+6) for T1 and a playoff decided the winner. It was won with a bogey on the first playoff hole. I was expecting 29 or 30 to be the number to win. Leading up to the event I was carrying a 32 (+5) average and I shot a 30 (+3) in a practice round a couple hours prior to the tournament.

As I said in a recent entry, golf is mental. It is the mental victories that are the most rewarding for me in golf. It is the mental discipline learned in golf that can be put to use in other aspects of our lives. As my tournament performance suggests, I have a lot to learn.

Green Caye tournaments have non-standard formats and this one was no exception. It was individual stroke play with moving tees. Everyone started on the center tees (the whites). Anyone making par or better moves to the back tees (the yellows) for the next hole, and anyone making double bogey or worse moves to the front tees (the greens) for the next hole. Bogeys move (or remain) at the center tees. I almost always play the back tees (the yellows) because I play at night and these tees offer the best lighting conditions. My lack of play from the more forward tees may or may not have contributed to my poor performance; however, I have started a new routine where the first loop I play is from the whites.

Sometimes I get in a hurry. Often I’m hurrying so that I can complete my 18 holes before they shut the lights off. Other times I’m hurrying to distance myself from a group that has let me play through. Martin pointed out to me that I always play poorly when I’m in a hurry. Upon hearing this, I realized how true it is. Much of the enjoyment I get from golf comes in tracking and reviewing my progress (can ya tell??). Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, it’s because I want to complete nine holes so that I can record it. The result is that my mind is not on the shot, it’s on the pace of play. Most of the enjoyment I get from golf is experiencing a good shot. I need to refocus my mind when making a shot. I need to slow down enough to enjoy each and every shot. Then, quickly move on to the next one. Again, the hard part will mental.

This time of year is my favorite time to play. The conditions are generally a bit soggy, but I love playing in cold and wind. Also this time of year, some nights can get extremely foggy. I mean so foggy that you can’t see a pin 100 yards away. My best memories of last year are of playing in the fog. I love hitting a shot and watching it disappear into the fog, turning my head and listening for the distinctive sound of the ball hitting the green, and finally walking up expectantly searching the green for the result. Another great benefit of winter golf at night in Texas is that most folks feel it’s too cold to play.

The Stats...

I have nearly completed another month at Green Caye. My last day to play will be the 19th, but I don’t expect I be playing any more until after the Holidays. I took a couple weeks off to play some regulation courses but the rain and schedule constraints kept that to a minimum. Looking back on the previous month, I wanted to work on lag putting. I expected that if I could minimize three-putts I could lower my scoring average. So, how did I do…

Logging 29 loops in 12 visits, I got a good bang for the buck (since I figure fuel in cost per loop). One visit I played 45 holes and another time I played 36. The day I played 45 holes it was cold and windy following a cold front and heavy rains. I was the only one on the course.

My scoring average did indeed go down, down to an all time low of 32 (+5). I have managed to briefly hold a 32 average, but often one or two bad rounds spoil it. This month I’ve managed to keep my worst rounds semi-respectable with a lone 36 followed by three rounds of 35 (one of those was the tournament). As amateurs, we tend to think we are as good as our best game. Even our handicaps represent our potential, and not what our average truly is. As an example, consider a scratch golfer and a pro. A scratch golfer does not have a scoring average of par; a pro does. So, I’m very pleased with my scoring average for the month.

Average Pars is also a new record this month at 4.8 pars per nine-hole loop. The previous few months show a plateau that I was a bit worried about. This month my ball striking has been very solid. I have moved the ball back just a bit in my stance and it made a world of difference. I’m hitting the shots I intend and my misses are acceptable (for the moment). Solid ball striking promotes confidence and each amplifies the other. While I normally try to work the ball one way or the other, this month I played quite a few straight shots. I’m starting to be more expectant with my iron shots.

Average birdies fell off a bit this month. This is a stat that I expected to start taking off and I was off to a great start with three birdies in the first three loops of the month. Then things slowed and finally dried up completely. As I said before, I’m really, really realizing the huge importance that putting plays in becoming a good golfer.

Both my greens and up-and-down stats have been somewhat misleading. Both are the number per nine-hole loop and not a percentage as they should be. A couple of months ago, I added the actual percentage calculation. I’ll probably update the chart to reflect these percentages one of these days as well.

Having hit 95 greens (of 348 holes played or 36%) I’d think I could come up with more than 7 birdies. I had a slightly better GIR percentage last month (37%) and both are a good jump from previous months. The prior two months were 28% and 29% so a nearly 10% improvement. I just have to keep it up - keep playing smart (center of the green on sucker pin locations), and keep giving myself birdie opportunities.

The real improvement this month has been up and downs. This month I made par on 33.7% of the shots that failed to find the green. Previous months were 23.0%, 27.2%, and 17.2% so again, a solid 10% improvement. The big difference here has been that I used my 60-degree wedge for nearly all of my chipping. Some months I try to use a variety of clubs and sometimes that can yield good results. This month I decided I would stick to one club and it seems to have paid off and surprisingly so as well because the green complexes have been kept very soggy to ensure that the winter rye germinated.

Average putts went back down to 16 and I had to work hard at that again due to the soggy conditions and the winter rye coming in on these bermuda greens. My worst putting loop had 20 putts and my best had only 13.

Three putting was a focus for improvement this month and I did okay. Could have been better, but I’ll cite the conditions again. In 29 loops I crapped out 22 three putts, mostly in the middle off the month when the greens were super slow and furry. After a great stretch where I didn’t make a single three putt, I let my guard down some and I didn’t give some putts the respect that I should have (mid-line look). I did notice a trend that I am most likely to three putt when lagging down hill. My putting from within six feet was a little off this month as well.

So overall I had a good month. I don’t expect to sign up again till after Christmas, and when I do, I’m going to focus on putting. When I finish my 18 I’m going to putt till the lights go out.

UPDATE - I played two loops yesterday. I was a little apprehensive, thinking that I could go down there and shoot a couple of 38s to kill my average, but I managed a pair of 33s.

Here's a shot of the updated spreadsheet:

Whew, what a long post…
-Greg

Great Putting Streak...

2007-11-25T23:11:00.000-06:00

I've updated my sidebar to show my best putting streak - recently went sixty holes without a three putt. Then I three-putted three times in eighteen holes (33 total putts, so not too bad). The funny part is I really felt I only hit one bad putt on the day.

Sometimes even a well stroked putt fails to fall,
-Greg

Golf is Mental…

2007-11-21T16:20:00.000-06:00

It's All in My Mind...

I was reviewing my statistics and I have determined that Golf is Mental. Previously I had concluded that my recent rash of three-putting was due to two primary causes. One of those causes was the addition of snakes to my golf betting. This cause is most certainly mental. The other cause I pointed to was my improved GIR statistic. It seems reasonable to conclude that more GIRs provide more opportunities to three-putt, but looking at the data, I can see that this is NOT the cause.

This month I three-putted 25 times (over 225 holes) and 13 of those were after a GIR (13/25). The previous month showed 4/8 and the months before that get worse with 2/3 and 7/10. Looking at these ratios it is clear that more GIRs have nothing to do with my dramatic increase in three-putt frequency. That leaves snakes as the primary reason. Like many before me, I conclude: Golf is Mental.

Controlling the mind…

In looking at the data, there is a nice drop off in the three-putts just prior to the conclusion of the month. It is after loop number 18 in the chart below.

After loop eighteen, there is a stretch of at least 36 holes without a three-putt. That is the point where I finally got control of my mind. The final two three-putts during the month were still mental, but I feel I did not give those particular putts the proper respect and I was a bit over confident.

So how did I manage to control my mind? I wrote about it here where I discussed taking a practice stroke at a midpoint on the line and that worked for me. But it wasn’t the act of making those practice strokes alone. Those practice strokes gave me confidence and that confidence led to trust. With this trust, I can stroke the ball more freely and with considerably less tension.

So, What Now…

I certainly have not conquered the mental aspect of golf, but identifying that a recent struggle was completely a mental one, and looking at how I overcame it is a great start. The answer is confidence and trust. In the most general terms this can be applied to any golf shot. Simply consider how much confidence you have in the shot you are about to make. Consider weather there is another shot that you have more confidence in. I think the best place to realize this is chipping. Shots around the green generally have the most options; choose the option you trust most.

Playing Head Games,
-Greg

15th Month at Green Caye Completed...

2007-11-20T09:21:00.000-06:00

I finished out the month at Green Caye playing 27 holes. I shot 35/30/32, made 12 pars and 1 birdie, hit 10 GIRs, and managed only 3 up and downs. In the crap department I suffered one triple bogey, one double bogey, and 2 three-putts (one was the double bogey). The triple was on the first hole (the second hardest hole on the course, 185 yds to an elevated, turtleback green protected by mounding right and water on the left) where I drew my shot left into the water. I’m trying to figure out how I managed that since while warming up on the range, trying to hit a baby draw, I couldn’t hit it no matter how hard I tried (I did manage a couple hooks though). So I aimed at the pin and went for a baby draw. The ball started just slightly left and a baby draw moved the ball further left just enough to ensure that it had no chance of holding. The shot bounced off the fringe and plunked into the water.

This is that familiar place where I often visit called “no-confidence land”. I set up for a shot and expected a different result. I had no confidence in my ability to hit a baby draw. I wandered into a contradiction. I set up for a baby draw yet my alignment to the pin was more for a straight shot. I like to say I hit the shot but I didn’t play the shot.

Let me explain it more in tune with my thinking at the time:

I aimed at the pin and went for a baby draw. I was confident, based on my range work just a few moments ago, that the ball would likely fly straight or possibly fade slightly.

Using the words of Lee Trevino, I felt I was “dancing with the one I brung”.

So, I’m wondering why I was able to hit the baby draw on the course when I could not hit the shot on the range. I think the answer is “focused concentration”. Harvey Penick would often tell his students to “take dead aim”, and that is the precise difference between what I was doing on the range and what I did on the course.

On the range I often pick a landing area and try to work the ball into that area (like I did on this particular day). On the range I think more about swing mechanics, club path, and release timing than I do about the landing area. I’m focusing more on myself and less on the target.

On the course I focus on the target (I take dead aim) and trust that my body can hit the shot I intend to hit. I think in this case, focusing on the target kept my mind off of swing mechanics and allowed me to execute the shot.

There are a few things going on here and I’m just going to see if my hands can keep up with the typing as I think about them…

I committed to a shot that I had no confidence that I could make. That just seems so wrong when I read it, yet it felt like the right thing to do when I did it.

Somewhere in this is the difference between what I do on the range and what I do on the course. It seems that shooting at an area may be suitable when your target is a fairway, or even a green complex. Does the concentration required to focus on a specific target somehow produce more accurate shots?

How does focusing on a specific target compare with a general target in terms of concentration level. How does this apply to chips and putts? How can this be investigated?

Clearly though, you do not want to be thinking about swing mechanics on the course. So should warm up range time be free of swing mechanics too?

Perhaps the lesson here leads me right back to Harvey Penick and “take dead aim”.

Perhaps it boils down to trust. Would the result have been different if I set up for the baby draw with the correct alignment (center, or just right of the center of the green)?

In any case, there is some level of concentration that allows the body to produce the shot the mind envisions. This is the key to exceptional performance.

I need to reread Tim’s Gallwey’s book, The Inner Game of Golf.

Charts added!

Charts
Click to enlarge

Twenty-five is a good amount of loops played especailly considering the average is about sixteen. The big factor this month was the addition of "snakes" to the betting. You can see what happened with the black on chart one being excessive three-putting. This was compounded by a jump in GIRs. By the end of the month birdies were hard to come by.

Next month I'm going to work hard on lag putting to reduce the number of three-putts. If I can mange that and play similarly, I should see improvement in score, pars, and putts.

I'm adding a "Putting Streak" stat to my sidebar to show how may holes I've played without a three putt.

-Greg

Snake Bit...

2007-11-09T14:38:00.000-06:00

A Short Story...

Last time I mentioned that I played a course in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I also mentioned my friend, Bill, who has recently taken up golfing. The back-story here is somewhat entertaining so here’s how it went down…

Bill and his wife, Cindy, invited my wife, Kerri, and myself to go to Lake Charles for the weekend. When Kerri told me about it, I said it sounded great. I said (kidding of course), “Great, I’ll go golfing while you guys hit the casino”. My wife knows I don’t care much for the casino, but her response was a big, “Ahhh… I don’t think so”.

Some time later, Kerri is talking to Cindy and tells her (also kidding) that I wanted to go golfing while they did the casino thing. Cindy’s response was, “Oh great, now Mark will have someone to golf with”.

It turns out that a third couple was in on the trip and the guy, Mark, is a golfer. This guy has been friends with Bill for 20 + years and has been trying to get him to take up golf for nearly all of that time.

Upon learning that the two guys he invited to go to the casino were going golfing, Bill opted to buy a set of clubs so that he wouldn’t be stuck with the girls in the casino while Mark and I were out golfing.

Yes, I got to go golfing on that trip!!

The point of that story is that it was Mark who introduced me to “snakes” in the golf betting world.

Snakes on the Loose...

When adding “snakes” to your skins game you must pay close attention to three-putts. Whenever anyone in the game three-putts, he/she is considered to have been bitten by the snake. The last person to three-putt has to pay each opponent one skin for each of the total number of three-putts that occurred by all players during the game. So, you can see that it’s most important not to be the last person to three-putt.

The Problem – I’m a Three-Putting Fool…

I have been hitting GIRs better than ever this month and I even had two loops where I managed 78% GIRs. Like I said in my last post, more GIRs gives more birdie opportunities and you should (and I did) see an increase in birdies with more GIRs. The bad news is that more GIRs also provides more three-putt opportunities and worse still is that my three-putt stats have gone through the roof. I had a couple rounds where I three-putted five times over eighteen holes… ouch!! The "snake factor" adds considerable pressure and shines a spotlight on whoever three-putts. Now in our skins game, you win a skin if you win a hole. If you get a GIR you get a skin but only if you make par. Now think about the momentum and emotional swing that happens when you go from being closest to the pin to three-putting. You not only lose the greenie skin (and possibly the hole), but you now have the snake and the snake grows each time it bites. Confidence is the first thing to run from the snake. Time to work the mental game.

The Solution – So Far So Good…

Now I don’t like to serve wine without cheese (Was I whining back there? Cheese is good though so hang in there – remember I’m from Wisconsin), so I’m going to share how I’m currently overcoming my three-putting woes.

I have really tightened up my lag putting by making some practice strokes from a point (or points) between my ball and the cup. Here’s what I do:

I walk along the line from the ball to the cup to survey the shot. I look at the line from the cup back to my ball. These two steps are just to gather information about the line, the green condition, the slopes and undulations. Then as I walk back to the ball from the cup, I stop and take some practice strokes from some intermediate points on the line. These points could be an apex of the break or just a halfway point. On really long putts, I may do this at as many as three points. I don’t take a lot of time, I’m just feeling out how much pace I need to hit with at each point as I work back to the ball.

This putting routine obviously gives me a good feel for the line and the speed of the putt, but more importantly, it gives me confidence. After several weeks of three-putting as many as five times in 18 holes (average three-putts for the month is twice 18 holes), what I really need is some confidence. I need to stand over the ball and be confident that I can get down in two on long putts.

The results have been outstanding. I have not three-putted once since I started using this technique. My current streak is 38 holes without a three-putt.

More trouble…

Now to be fair, my ball striking has been a little loose lately (fewer GIRs means fewer opportunities to three-putt). My GIRs have fallen to 33% because I’ve been hitting these weak push fades. My distance has shortened up by nearly a club. Fortunately I figured that out too. I had been getting lazy in my swing and not keeping my left arm straight. With a slight bend in the left arm I have been hitting the ball very weakly and often a little thin. It’s more difficult to get a proper release as well so I had to work very hard to produce a draw. Now that I have that figured out I’m hoping to bring the GIRs back up while keeping the three-putts to a minimum.

I'm hoping to play in an individual stroke play tournament on the 30th (If Kerri is not working). I'll have at least one more opportunity to golf before this month's membership runs out. After that I'll post the stats.

Learning to love putting,
-Greg

Better GIRs = More Birdies...

2007-10-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

I recently completed my fourteenth one-month membership at Green Caye. Here are the results (click to enlarge):

Here are the long-term per-loop statistics (click to enlarge):

While fourteen loops per month is just under the running average of sixteen, I made some slight improvement in GIRs and Birdies which I suppose is expected at this stage in my golf development. I’m starting to get a little more of a birdie-hunting attitude when I play on the par-three course.

The big disappointment is a somewhat dramatic increase in three-putts. We just added “snakes” to our skins game in an effort to reduce the number of three-putts. Unfortunately, at least for the moment, it seems to be having the opposite affect. Our last skins game had three players and we three-putted ten times over eighteen holes. I managed two of those three-putts and they were both in the second loop where I began to worry about it since the “snake bite” was getting to the point where it would sting a bit. It got to the point where if my tee shot was a bit off line or short, I would actually hope to miss the green so I wouldn’t have to worry about a long lag putt.

My biggest problem continues to be looking up. I seem to fall into these slumps where not matter how hard I try, I yank my head up before I hit the ball. This problem has been killing me in regulation play. It’s compounded by my wanting to hit driver (recently reshafted) and leaving myself 90 – 110 yard shots into the green. I can’t decide if I should hit a light gap wedge or a hard sand wedge. This has been a departure from my game plan of trying to leave a specific distance for the approach shot and it makes two things quickly apparent:

1. I need to work more with my wedges
2. Game plans work

I played two new courses, Longwood GC north of Houston, and Mallard Cove in Lake Charles, La. Both very nice courses, shot over 100 on both. I need to nail some low scores or my handicap will jump up accordingly.

I’m working on the low trajectory high-spin shot that should hop and stop. This is a neat shot and you feel great when you can execute it. I’m having difficulty controlling distance though and this shot needs to find the green.

I just signed up for my fifteenth month at Green Caye because there is construction going on near Beacon Lakes and they are only playing the front nine (I prefer the more difficult back nine). Also, one of my non-golfing friends has taken up golfing. He seems to be a natural putter so once he finds his swing I expect him to improve rapidly.

The weather is getting more tolerable and I’m looking forward to returning to standard time because there are fewer golfers out there playing under the lights.

Enjoying the cooler temps,
-Greg

Crazy Idea...

2007-09-12T13:59:00.001-05:00

Who among my readers have played golf in in a Tropical Depression?

It's headed right for my house... Looks like it'll be on top of us by 8AM tomorrow morning. If the rains not too bad I may just give it a go after the center passes, say 9 or 10AM tomorrow.

So far, I've been unsuccessful in finding a playing partner.

Any takers?
-Greg

September Update...

2007-09-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

Recap of Wilderness…
Robert, Martin, Dad, and I played The Wilderness at Lake Jackson on August ninth. Luckily, this was in the middle of a 10-day dry spell and it was HOT! The Wilderness is a very nice course – maybe the nicest course I have played. Dad and Martin played the Green Tees (6151 yds 68.4/115) and Robert and I played the Maroon tees (6720 yds 71.0/122). The tips were a little much for me (7106 yds 72.9/126), at least for my first time playing the course. The greens were big (some 4 clubs deep) and very undulating. They move the pins every day and have a pin placement chart in all the carts, which was great. The plaques on the course at 100, 150, 200, and 250 gave front, center, and back distances, which was also great. I played pretty solid and carded a 92 after losing three balls and suffering four three-putts. I hit my 3W until the fifteenth hole where I decided to try the driver. When I started my transition from back to downswing the shaft came apart. Earlier in the day, my bag fell off the cart onto the cart path and the driver was obviously damaged as a result. Dad had a few bad holes and ended up with a 99. Robert was on his game and posted an 87. Martin sat out the last four holes because his knees were giving him a hard time climbing up the mostly elevated green complexes.

Last Ten Rounds…

Here are some snapshots right out of my spreadsheet:

(click for larger image)

The rounds that have the score highlighted in gold are rounds played from the tips. As you can see, my scoring is about the same (or worse) as it was before I started playing from the tips, but my handicap has gone down due to the higher slope and rating. While my scoring doesn’t show it, I feel my game is as good as it’s ever been right now. I had a short spell of crappy play there for a few weeks, but I ‘m over it and all cylinders are firing. A month or more away from Green Caye has allowed my short game to deteriorate a bit so I’ve signed up for my fourteenth month to work it out. I will summarize my golfing experience at this point by saying that I hit the ball better, my hot streaks last longer and my cold streaks are overcome faster. When I started playing from the tips I threw out a goal of getting down to a 12 handicap and I feel that should be easily attainable if I can keep playing once a week or so (plus whatever I play at Green Caye).

Re-Shafted Driver…

I mentioned my driver shaft broke and while I was hitting it semi-ok, I had resolved to make the 3W more consistent and so, the driver was not getting used much. I began researching shafts and settled on the Graphite Design Purple Ice in 65 gram stiff. I chose this shaft hoping that it would provide a lower trajectory than the previous shaft. This shaft is a little stiffer than the ProForce V2 57gram and a little heavier as well. The shaft retails for $114.00 and I got a new one on ebay for $32.00. With the money saved, I took it to the shop to have it pured and installed which cost $48.00. So far it seems to have been worth it because I’m hitting it great and it feels extremely solid at contact.

Last night at Beacon Lakes I hit Driver on eight holes and got the fairway six times. I missed the first two where the first one I got under the ball and popped it up and the second one I ended up about two yards out on the left. The last six were right down the middle and I felt so confident that I wanted to use it on more risky holes where I normally hit 3W or 3 iron (of course I made the safe play).

Updates...

While I'm not posting as much (I just seem to be repeating myself), I update my stats sidebar with some regularity. It currently shows my new all-time low handicap of 14.62!!

Lookin’ for Twelve,
-Greg

It's Raining, Again...

2007-07-26T09:54:00.000-05:00

It's raining today but I'm all smiles. I managed to play Beacon Lakes in between storms last night. I played from the tips again (72.8/126) and carded another 86 (44/42). I lost three balls on the front nine and played the same ball on the more trecherous back nine. Here's some stats:

Fairways hit... 6
GIRs........... 4
Birdies........ 2
Pars........... 5
Putts......... 28 (one 3-putt)
Bogeys......... 6
Doubles........ 5
Triples........ 0
Balls lost .... 3 (3 water)

Both birdies were 20 feet or so and while I chunked a few chips, the majority of the chips left makable putts. The end result is that my handicap is at a new all time low of 15.39!!

So here's some advice to any golfers out there who's handicap has flatlined:

Play the next set of tees. If you don't have the length to play the next set back, play the next set foreward. Do something to provide a new challenge.

Sa-weet!!
-Greg

Enough with the Rain Already...

2007-07-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

We have had 39 rainy days since June 1st. The last four of five rounds I've played ended with a rain check. Today is nice and sunny with a 20% chance of rain... And I'm in the office. I might sneak out tomorrow (20% rain chance forecast) to use a rain check.

Plan Panning Out...

I went down to Beacon Lakes to put my "Play from the Tips" plan into action. The course was crowded and I got paired up with three seniors who were playing from the white tees. I like to walk and they were in carts and I decided to play from the whites (68.6/119 and 5756 yards) as well. After a snowman on the first hole, I managed a 42 on the front nine. I hit the 445 yard par 5 in two, then drove the green on the next hole, the 299 yard 6th. Missed both eagle putts, but that was two eagle putts in a row!! Then I fall apart losing 5 balls (two on one hole) and finish with an 89.

Yesterday I finally get to play the tips (again at Beacon Lakes) 72.8/126 and 6777 yards. I was really all over the place but two bad shots can be overcome with a single good shot and I come out with an 86 (43/43) after losing three balls. The highlight of this round was a 4 iron to 10 feet on the 220 yard par three 7th where I got the birdie. I didn't feel like I was playing that well, but it was my second best round by differential of 11.84 (best is 11.32). My handicap went from 16.9 to 16.09 for my new record low.

Blogging from the tips,
-Greg

Yeah, I'm still here...

2007-07-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'd like to post my second year review, but there's not that much to write about. I suppose it could be summed up by saying I've become an average golfer in just two years. I generally shoot in the low 90s upper 80s and occaisionally have good days (low 80s), and bad days (100+). I feel like I'm a 12 handicap, but my stats tell me I'm a 17.

I'm going to start playing from the tips on several courses. I feel 6800+ yards is where I belong and the couple times I've played them I've scored 88 and 91 and had the same number of penalty strokes as I normally do.

Does a 17 handicapper have any business playing from the tips? I've heard both answers and for me, I feel it's the best way to drive my handicap down.

The main reason I'm posting today is because I played today and had a bit of an epiphany...

Most of us consider the long par four a difficult hole, a tough par, a take bogey and be happy hole right? Then we turn right around and call the short par five an easy hole, an easy par, a good chance at birdie. Can you see what I'm geting at here? The short par five is always longer than the long par four and we have a mindset that we have a good chance at birdie. Doesn't that mean that we should look at the long par four as perhaps a tough birdie hole, a good chance at par, or at worst, a bogey?

Dad will be down the second week of August, I think the 7th. I'm working STS-118 which launches August 7th. Houston, we have a problem...

-Greg

I'm Excited...

2007-06-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

The New Guy...

Once a month my department has a little bowling tournament. My group was holding the top spot somewhat handily. Then, out of nowhere, another group wins three in a row. Now we're tied in wins and the next tournament will claim bragging rights.

We got a new hire in my group last week. While he and I were walking down the hall with a particular trash-talking member on the other team, I said to the new guy, "So I hear you have a hell of a bowling game". I really had no idea. I got what I expected though, a neck-snapping head turn from the trash-talker. What I didn't expect though was his reply, "No, but I have a pretty good golf game".

I've been trying to spark some golf interest within the group for some time. We had a total of four golfers including me. The other three are casual golfers who's games... well, let's just say they don't get out too often.

So I talked a bit with the new guy and he seemed pretty into the game, said he plays from the tips and scores in the 70s. I told him I was playing at Green Caye that evening and he would be welcome to join me. I gave him my number and left it at that.

Later at Green Caye as I finished the third my phone rings and it's him and he's at the clubhouse. I meet him back at number one and we played two loops. We didn't keep score, but I'd say he play at least as good as I did, and I played pretty good. He hits about a half a club farther than I do, has a great swing, and prefers to walk.

We're playing Glenbrook next Thursday. I'm looking forward to playing with someone who's likely 10 strokes better. I always seem to play better when I'm playing with better golfers. I'm also looking forward to playing from the tips. I definitely have the length to play from the tips, I've always played one tee box up because that's where my usual playing partners play from.

General Update...

I'm over my 'bout with the shanks. It was a difficult experience. Last month Martin left for the summer. I'm storing his golf cart in my garage for him while he's away. Before he left, he paid a month's dues for me at Green Caye. Can you have a better golf buddy than that? I don't think so. Martin is my regular opponent when playing for money so I'm mainly practicing now. Lately I've been playing the green tees (most holes 80 - 115 yds) to work on my wedges. I've been having trouble with hitting fat shots. Sometimes I hack out a divot you could bury a small animal in. I started out trying to slow down my swing a bit, but had only slightly better results. Acceptable results came after I started using a very narrow stance.

The wedge work paid off - I finally shot a good score (82 (38/44)) after several rounds in the mid to upper 90s. I made eight pars, two birdies, five bogeys, and three doubles. I was hitting greens like a pro. My putting was marginal though and I 3-putted two holes on the front after hitting the greens in regulation. I got a little loose on the back where I made the three doubles. Another highlight, I lost only one ball.

I might get out to Green Caye Sunday and/or Monday night. Then it's off to Glenbrook with the New Guy.

Two-Year Update...

2007-06-05T09:53:00.000-05:00

I’ve been golfing for two years now…

I didn’t play as much this year as I did last year, logging just 36 regulation rounds. My hcp was 23.86 at the start of my second year, is currently 17.06, and dipped down to 16.59 along the way. I played more at Green Caye though this year, logging seven months of membership during which time I logged 132 nine-hole loops.

My last months per-round stats were very solid at Green Caye fueled mostly by good putting and chipping. Making just three triples in 126 holes was huge too.

Ave score: 33
Ave pars: 3.9
Ave putts: 16
Ave GIRs: 2.4
Ave UNDs: 2.2
Avd Birds: 0.29
Ave 3-putts: 0.70

Also noteworthy, I got to play Magnolia Creek (72.2/127) with Dad during his visit and I beat him 94 to 104. I played a solid game and would have scored much better had I not blew up on the fourteenth, a par four, with a nine. Not losing three balls would have helped too (no, I didn’t lose a ball on the fourteenth). I really wanted to show Dad how far I’ve come in two years and I did that. I drove the ball well and managed to hit one 300+ yards. On the eighth, a 152 yard par three, I called a fade and hit a beautiful shot with a soft eight iron that came down just a yard or two short. On the 16th, a 189 yard par three, playing about 185, I called a draw and slammed a high towering shot the landed in the back bunker (easily 195 all carry). Oddly, that was probably the longest six iron I have ever hit (I usually get 175-185 with a high draw). The course is loaded with bunkers and I found my fair share of them. I got into five bunkers, made two saves (one was a greenie from a fairway bunker) and took two shots to get out of one of them (yes, that would the the fourteenth and it was a deep, dark dungeon).

With a free evening, the boys (Dad, Me, and my boy) went to Green Caye for a couple loops. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I shot 38(+11)/38(+11) with hardly a single solid shot. Dad tore me up with 32(+5)/34(+7). No matter, I was happy to show Dad where I learn the game.

I’ve been taking the kids to Green Caye with some regularity. They are both playing from tee to green and they really seem to enjoy it. They have both come along quite well with their game and I just let them have at it. I only offer minimal coaching (unless they ask) but I do teach them ediquette. At the moment, I only take one at a time.

Things have been very busy at work with the STS-117 launch on Friday 7:38 EDT.

I’ll post more when I can,
-Greg

April Update...

2007-04-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

Ramblings…

I’ve been struggling for the past few weeks. What initially seemed like a simple swing change from very flat to somewhat steep has proved more difficult than it initially appeared. It has turned into a bad case of the shanks where my wrists lock up when I come down. The result is shanked shots way right.

Scramble at Green Caye...

What complicated things were that I played in a scramble on Friday and the days leading up to it were spent battling these shanks. It seemed I had it licked, but we decided to play a few holes before the tournament and on number two I shanked it. To make matters worse, our starting hole ended up being number two – a return to the scene of the crime with fairly predictable results. I shanked several tee shot during the tournament, but my chipping and putting were solid. The conditions were extremely windy and we came in at +4 where E won the event. We were +1 till nine where we both hit our tee shots OB on the right and we carded a triple for the hole.

The tournament was four-man scramble with each team split into pairs. Each pair would play scramble format and then you would use best ball score between the two two-man teams.

My trouble with the shanks was just the beginning of my mental breakdown at the tournament. We were paired with a couple of younger guys (early twenties) and I sort of got off on the wrong foot with them. I’m normally pretty fun to play with, even in a tournament format, but these guys would think of me as a jerk by the end of our first hole.

I hit short, my teammate hit the green, one of the guys hit right, and the other hit long. They decided to go with the shot that went right yet the guy who hit long was taking practice swings at his ball. I asked to clarify which ball they were playing and they said the one to the right. When the one guy addressed the ball that was long, I again asked. He said they were taking the ball that was right but he was just going to play his out anyway. I told him he couldn’t do that because this was a tournament and you can’t hit extra practice or fun shots.

So, now I’m a bit of a jerk. We get to putting and the same guy makes his team’s first attempt at a bogey putt and comes up a foot short. Then he taps it in. I tell him that they were done with a double because he tapped in. They felt the other guy should have a shot at the bogey putt, but I countered that because he tapped in, it counts as a shot. And now I’m a big jerk as far as their concerned. To make matters worse, my playing partner felt I was being a little harsh as well, so it really weighed on my mind throughout the round.

Working out the Kinks…

In the last few days I’ve hit fewer shanks (with tremendous recovery shots) and my confidence is returning. My swing is pretty solid and about as steep as I want it to be. I’m taking nice divots, ball contact is solid, and distance is as good as it’s ever been even with the old set. My putting is better after a bad bout of three putts. It has been 39 holes since my last three putt. I hope I can extend that considerably to bring that stat back down.

I Likey My New Stuff...

In other news, I’ve made a few purchases since the beginning of the year:

Bridgestone J33 2 iron ($42 shipped)
Bridgestone J33 52* wedge ($44 shipped)
Bridgestone J33R 10.5* driver w/UST Proforce V2 ultralight 57g stiff shaft 45.5 in ($153 shipped)
Adidas golf shoes ($31 shipped)
The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Gallwey ($8 shipped)

All of these items were purchased on eBay.

I’ve really been enjoying the www.masters.org online coverage. The Interesting to see some of the training aids these guys use on the range.

These ramblings have now reached their conclusion…

For now anyways.
-Greg

Look Back, Review, and Learn...

2007-03-13T19:59:00.000-05:00

Tenth Month at Green Caye…

I recently completed my tenth one-month membership at Green Caye. I did good in some areas and worse in others. I’m learning that like the ball, you chase your problems. By the time you have one problem worked out, another flares up.

In terms of loops played I did pretty good especially considering February is a short month. I managed 28 loops in 14 trips. Several trips where I played only one loop were offset by a couple of times where I played three or more loops.

In terms of score I averaged one stroke more than the last month (which was my best) due mainly to several loops with really big numbers. I had eight loops greater than 36 with two 40s at the end of the month that really put an end to keeping my 34 average. I have to look back to Nov 2006 to see a score over 39.

Average Pars/month, GIRs/month, Up and Downs/month, and Birdies/month all went down slightly which is not too bad considering I was using a flatter swing.

Average putts went up to 17 from 16 and average 3 putts went up to 1.0 from 0.60.

So, what happened to my putting? The past month was very wet and soggy. I adapted a very flat swing to help pick the ball without taking a divot. My thought was that ”picking the ball” was the best way to deal with soggy conditions, and a flat swing was the best way to “pick” the ball. Somewhere along the line, I started to putt with the toe of the putter way up in the air. I made some good putts, and I liked the change. However, there is truth in the numbers – this method has got to go (and now that the courses are drying up, I need to steepen the swing and start taking divots, and fix the putting style).

Changing It Up…

I had a semi-golfless weekend. I mean I didn’t expect that I would be playing any golf at all. So, I did a little swinging in the living room and in the backyard with a SW and a 3 iron to try and get a good feel for the steeper swing.

By Sunday afternoon my wife had decided that she was canceling her girls night out which provided me with an opportunity to golf. I went down to Green Caye and got a bucket of balls. The wind was blowing at 10-20 left to right across the range. After about 30 balls I was comfortable with the steeper swing and I had made a few observations.

DISCLAIMER – These are my observations. I have never taken a lesson and I am not claiming that I do anything “correctly”. My purpose here is to document my experiences in learning the game.

With a steeper swing:

Working the ball requires less club face manipulation at address
I tend to pull my shorter irons
Distance may be greater than with a flatter swing

I was hitting the last few balls when Martin called; time to put the new swing to the test! Like the last couple weeks, my first two loops for this month’s membership period were hot and cold. I started out pretty good with a 34 on the first nine. On the third hole, with the wind blowing right to left I hit a fade 7 iron over the green on the left. That was about 175 yard carry on a fade and I normally would use a 6 iron for a fade on this hole. On the fourth, and considering better distance with the steeper swing, I tried to draw an 8 iron from a back tee position to a back left pin (about 165 yards) and landed on the back right fringe. After practicing some techniques suggested by The Wedge Guy, I holed my first short chip for birdie using his “gravity” method – Thanks for the tip Wedge Guy!! I picked the right club for the next two holes and made pars. I flew the green again on the seventh but made a nice flop shot and bogied. Then I started to fall apart…

Learn From My Mistakes…

I looked up on my next couple shots. It took three shots to get on the green on the 139 yard eighth and luckily I drained the putt for bogey. So, now I’m concentrating on keeping my head down and I try to rip a 3 iron straight into the wind and I fade the ball badly off to the right. Then I chunk a chip, skull a flop and three putts later (with triple bogey on number nine) I’m out with a 34. My putting for the loop was pretty good with a more standard upright putting stance. I pulled one putt and hit one off center, but I felt pretty good overall.

My problems continued on the second loop (where I carded a 40 – arrgh!!!). These problems are like the chorus of my golf game, they keep coming back over and over. I recognized that I was looking up and in focusing on keeping my head down, I neglected open the club face back and close the club face through which leads me to a fourth observation about a steeper swing:

A solid release needs to be more deliberate

This observation brings me way back to when I started to use A. J. Bonar’s Power Move. I sort of stumbled onto this move when I was learning to draw the ball. I observed that a flatter swing helped to promote a draw. I realized that this is because a full release is more natural feeling with a flatter swing, which is mostly because opening the face on the backswing is a more natural motion.

While it’s not obvious by what I’ve written here, I think a big lesson here is that I need to make a more focused practice swing. I think I may have made some practice swings where I was not keeping my head down. In fact, many of my living room and back yard swings probably have little focus on the impact spot because I’m often trying to feel the release, or slow the transition, or work on shoulder turn, or whatever. My home practice swings rarely focus on keeping my head down.

Have I been developing muscle memory of a look up?

I think making a practice swing without focusing on a specific spot may be a big contributor as to why I struggle with looking up. I’m thinking this may be a huge breakthrough. I need to commit to keeping my head down on every swing I make.

I need to focus on a spot when making every practice swing to help guard against looking up.

The final thought of the day is that it’s good to look back and consider what you did after you play or practice. Consider what you did well and what you didn’t do well and ask yourself why.

One of my all time favorite verses:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

-Rudyard Kipling

Another big congrats if you made it this far, my wife tells me I’m long winded!

-Greg

NOTE - Charts added

Easy Come, Easy Go...

2007-02-27T13:21:00.000-06:00

-Flashback- The Hot Streak Continues...

I played in a three-man nine-hole skins game last night and my five bogeys and four pars were good enough to win eight holes for 16 skins. My confidence was high going into tomorrows round...

-Currently- I Suck...

I played Pasadena this morning and shot 103 (51/52). What's sad is that I only lost one ball. What's sadder is my course handicap there is 89. I don't think I hit more than a half dozen solid shots. Everything was complete garbage. Somehow I managed to win 4 holes so I only lost 10 skins. Good thing it was just Martin and I. If it were a four man game, it would have had more impact on my golf gambling stats.

I tried to remain positive. Every crap shot I hit, I said to myself, "I have an opportunity to recover, now execute". Too bad I had to say that about 75 times. As I've said before, you have to take the good with the bad. Time to put this one behind me and move on.

-Greg

Current Hot Streak…

2007-02-21T19:19:00.000-06:00

What better is there to blog (brag) about than a current hot streak!

I played last night in a four man skins game at my home course, the Par-3 nine-hole Green Caye. I was playing bogey golf and the money pushed to the fifth hole, where I chip in for birdie. Then I go back to bogey golf and the money pushes again to the tenth. Martin had a tap in for par and was ready to get the skunk out of his bag until I sank a thirty footer to push the hole. Then I birdie the eleventh after my tee shot settles four feet from the pin. I then play par, par, bogey, bogey (the three-putt kind), par and again the money is pushed to the seventeenth. I roll in a twenty footer for birdie and I’m at even par on the back nine (with a pocket full of change). I get caught up in the moment, top my tee shot, and it settles on the down slope of the forward tee box. I hit a beautiful recovery shot off of that awful lie and I’m looking at a fifteen foot putt for even par on the back. I three putt for a double and card a 29 (+2) on the back (Martin got the final skin with an up and down par).

I have now shot 27 (E), 28 (+1), and 29 (+2) for my three top scores at Green Caye. Last night was also the first time I made three birdies in 18 holes. This is my best score since I got the Bridgestone J33s.

This morning I played Bay Forest (70.4/125) and the hot streak continues through the front nine where I card a 36 (+1) with one birdie, and two bogies (one was a 3-putt too). Then I fall apart on the back, 3-putting five times and hitting three balls in the water. In spite of the 48 (+11) on the back, I come away with my second best (by differential - 12.29) round of my short golfing career.

Here’s the quick recap:

NOTE: For those paying attention, I know I said I was going to sell my driver. I will, I just haven’t got around to listing it.

Par 4, 389 yds. Driver finds fwy. 8i from 145 finds green pin high on the left. 2-putt par.
Par 4, 368 yds. 3W finds fwy (water at 250). 8i from 150 finds trap pin high on the right. Chip out of the bunker and into the hole – BIRDIE!!
Par 3, 158 yds. 8i to fringe pin high. Nice chip, tap in par.
Par 5, 459 yds. Solid drive misses fwy by two feet. Topped a 3W from a bad lie. 3W approach short and right. 8i chip to 7 feet. Missed the putt, bogey.
Par 4, 390 yds. Push fade into the trees 20 yds off the fairway on the right. I’m left with 180 into the wind but I have a small gap in the trees. Solid 5W pushed slightly right clips a branch and it’s flight path is righted, landing just over that trap on the right fringe pin high. Delicate 60* flop flies six feet in the air but travels only two feet and lands on the slope and rolls right toward the cup, missing by a hair. Tap in par.
Par 3, 151 yds. Downwind to a back pin. I hammer a 9i and manage only the front of the green. I miss a short putt and 3-putt bogey.
Par 5, 480 yds. Tricky hole, I stray from my game plan (4i, 5i, 6i) and hit driver right down the middle. 3W from 230 trying to carry the water is short, but a lucky skip keeps my dry. 7i punch under trees fails miserably. 60* chip to five feet. Putt drops for par.
Par 3, 161 yds. 7i finds the green, 2-putt par.
Par 4, 353 yds. Driver pushed slightly (narrow landing area) lands just in front of a grove of trees. I feel an 8i will not clear trees but 9i won’t reach back pin. 9i finds the front of the green. 2-putt par.
Par 5, 461 yds. Solid drive slightly pulled lands in grove of trees 10 feet off the fairway on the left. 5i punch snags branches but has enough energy to get me about 40 yds out. 7i chip pushed right rolls up onto green. Missed a 2-footer to take a 3-putt bogey.
Par 5, 482 yds. Push fade lands on bare dirt in trees 30 yds off fwy on the right. No shot toward the pin. Nice strong fading 3i looks like it’s going across the fwy at 45* makes a sweeping right turn and settles 30 yds in front of the green. 8i bump and run to 12 feet… and I 3-putt again for bogey.
Par 4, 396 yds. Push fade 10 yds off the fairway. Mishit 5i from 185 stays in the trees. GW from a mud hole with my feet sunk four inches in the mire clears trees and finds the green. 2-putt bogey.
Par 3, 148 yds. Into the wind to a back pin, I choose to fade a 7i because the green is long and narrow and runs back and to the right with a bunker guarding the front. Perfect shot finds green leaving about 15 feet - 2-putt par.
Par 5, 503 yds. This hole is the killer. The wind is blowing from behind and to the right (not good should I push-fade again). I choose 3i and top it into the water. I drop and hit 5i and it fades right, looks like it’ll be safe but it rolls and rolls and rolls and plops into the water. 3W to pin high on the left. I’m sitting on a soft, wet, bare dirt lie and I need flop over a bunker to a pin tucked close. I dig in and land just short of the bunker. From a better lie the next flop settles a few feet from the pin and I sink the putt for TRIPLE!!
Par 4, 420 yds. Dogleg left with a tricky water hazard carry to cut the corner. Perfect execution with a laser straight drive lands in the center of a very narrow fairway just 90 yards out. SW slightly topped hits the back fringe and hops off, rolling down the slope of the elevated green. Poor flop lands just short of the fringe. A putt off the fringe rolls 3 feet by. I make the comebacker for bogey.
Par 4, 360 yds. Pull draw lands in exposed roots of a big oak. I take an unplayable lie and drop with a risky line to the pin. A perfect PW almost goes in the cup – inches!!! Tap in for par.
Par 3, 155 yds. Downwind, I try to hammer a 9i to a back pin and dig a hole you could bury a dog in. The ball finds a small channel of water in front of the green. I walk up to 130, drop, PW finds the green. 3 putts later (missed another short putt) the ball finds the cup.
Par 4, 415 yds. No. 1 hcp hole with water in front of the green. Into the wind, solid drive is pushed left by the wind (water on the right). Risky approach requires a fade into the wind to get around trees. From 155 I hit 6i and pull the shot off but face a 40 foot putt. Putt to 6 feet, and miss the par for another 3-putt bogey.

I’m a just little upset that I’m three-putting all over the place now. That’s really unlike me, but in my defense, the greens were smokin' fast. I balanced it out pretty good though with the chip in and several one-putts for a total of 33 putts (13 on the front!!). While I hit only four fairways many of my misses were not too bad and I made good use of my ball mark repair tool with 8 GIRs.

Three balls in the water and five 3-putts but you know what, I’m still smiling!!!

I feel like I can play golf,

-Greg

Draw it Long and Straight in a Crosswind...

2007-02-19T14:53:00.000-06:00

Cold and Windy...

Things have begun to dry out here in Houston. We are currently on the backside of a cold snap that included a series of fronts that kept the lows near freezing and the winds howling. Perfect conditions for playing your home course.

I spent a few evenings playing Green Caye in close to freezing temps with 15 – 25 mph winds. I was cold initially, but once I started playing I was fairly comfortable. One evening on the 8th I stepped into a puddle and by the 18th my foot was pretty cold. I played all over the place. The first night the cold hit I shot 35/34. The next time we went out was the coldest night we played. It was 35 degrees when we came in and the winds were 15-25 out of the NNW. That night I shot 33/32. I only hit three greens that night, but I managed nine pars and only one double. Then, like golf likes to do, I went out a couple nights later and shot 38/38 with six doubles and one triple.

The weekend rolls around and I find myself with an opportunity to play in daylight so I head back down intending to play 27 holes. The wind was fiercely blowing out of the NNW at 20-30 with huge gusts. This would be the same weather that Watson would play in the next day in Florida. I ended up playing 36 holes shooting 38/32, and 37/33.

I consider 32-33 a good round just like when I shoot in the 80s on a regulation course. Similarly, 34-36 would be an average round (90s on a reg course) and 37 and above is just a bad day (100s on a reg course). I was hoping this would be the month that I would have a scoring average below 35, but 37s and 38s will make that very, very difficult.

One particular hole has me thinking...

First, to give you a feel for the wind, number 5 is 175 yards and I normally play a 6 iron to the middle of the green. A NNW to NW wind blows straight from the pin to the tee box. I hit the green twice on Saturday with a 3 iron right in the middle. I tried with a 4 iron and came up a few feet short.

Now on number 9 (216 yards), you have a pretty pure crosswind blowing left to right. On this hole I normally hit a 5W. With a big crosswind like we’re having lately, I can’t hit the 5W because I can’t hit a reliable draw (lateral movement of ball flight into the wind) with that club and a fade would be disastrous. So, out comes the 3 iron. I close the club face for a pretty good amount of draw and fire at the left side of the green. The shot flies straight toward the left side of the green and the wind only starts to overcome the draw spin at the very end of the ball flight and it drops off slightly to the right, a foot or so short and rolls up ten yards or so onto the green. The next time, I do the same thing and I hit the green and roll up near the back of the green.

Now here’s my observation...

I normally can’t hit the green (even on a clam, warm summer day) with my 3 iron. Some readers may recall I used to hit a 4 iron and 3 iron onto this green using my Dads clubs, but I can’t hit my J33s as far as those clubs. So, I’m thinking that the draw spin on the ball, together with the wind straightening the flight path adds a very significant amount of yardage. For comparison, last night I was down there and of four shots the closest to the green was still 15 yards short (in relatively calm conditions).

I think it’s accepted by most golfers that a draw will travel farther than a straight shot or a fade, mainly because the spin on the ball adds roll. By my observations, I think maximum distance is attained with the conditions stated above. So, I’m left with these questions:

1. Is maximum carry distance achieved when the amount of draw is such that the ball flies straight to the target?
2. Does the same apply for a fade?

Has anyone observed similar results?

-Greg

Four Round Recap...

2007-01-29T07:14:00.000-06:00

Galveston Recap...

My round at Galveston Island on Jan 26th went pretty good. Martin brought an R580 XD 9.5 stiff that Charles wanted to sell so I left my R 540 XD 10.5 regular in the truck. I struggled with bid fades on most of my drives, but I played the shots well enough for the most part. I ended up shooting a 94 losing 6 balls. I had a blow up on the seventh where I pulled my first drive OB left. The second was a long bomb that faded slightly but had enough distance to find a retention pond that I thought was unreachable. I dropped and went for the green over the retention pond and topped the ball to put another into the pond. Then a 7i into the fairway followed by a LW pushed right of a trap. Another LW hits the far lip of the trap and rolls back into the trap. One out and two putts later and I’m penciling in a 12 – OUCH!!! Even with the 12 on the seventh, I came off the front nine with a 48. But the back nine is a lot tougher and I hit two into the water on the par 3 13th and another on the 18th where the approach is over the bayou.

Here’s a look at how I played the 10th:

My drive threatened to fade hard into the water, but the wet fairway slowed it down. I had no shot at the green so I tried to fade it around the palm grove and landed short and left. Chip on and 2 putt for bogey.

Galveston Island is a real nice layout with plenty of water. I guess they decided not to plant winter rye grass because of the upcoming renovation. That meant the course was brown with the dormant bermuda grass and the greens were a little rough because of this too. I was told that the course would remain open through the second weekend in February. If it were a little closer, I would surely like to play there again. The staff was very friendly and they let us play for the resident rate.

Bad Day at Bayou GC...

Next, I played Bayou GC on a cold, windy, rainy day and shot 100 (50/50) and lost 4 balls. We all shot at least 10 strokes over our handicaps on this day, it was tough!!

Super Soggy at Pasadena...

Then I played Pasadena where I shot 92 (45/47). This was a pretty good round with a high bogey count. I had one triple on the front and a quad on the back. The course was very soggy. Drives always landed with a splash, we had to move our balls out of standing water many times. Very tough to score in soggy conditions so I’m happy with a 92.

And finally,

Busting 90 at The Battleground…

This is my fourth round hitting with Charles’ R580XD 9.5 stiff driver. I hit about 20 balls with it on the range and managed to cure my fade/slice. The biggest problem I have with it is not having a good feel for a good hit. It seems like all my hits are mishits, but I’m still getting about 250 on good hits – great hits are 280. The feel just seems so muted, I don’t like it.

1. Par 4 372 yds. Driver – straight drive down the right misses fairway by two feet. GW from 110 finds green; 2-putt par.
2. Par 4 349 yds. Driver – straight drive, slightly right lands on top of hill on right at the turn. Pushed GW from 90 misses green right, runs down the hill. LW is short. Another LW and 2-putt for boubly bogey.
3. Par 3 164 yds. 6 iron pushed right and fails to draw. Decent chip to 10 feet. 2-putt bogey.
4. Par 4 409 yds. Driver – pull draw into the ditch. 5W from 210 into trap on the left. Pick out of the trap over the green. Chip and 2-putt for triple.
5. Par 5 477 yds. 3W slight pull draws left behind trees. Pitch out for line to green. 5W to 50 yards. Flubbed LW short. On in five, 2-putt double.
6. Par 3 171 yds. 5 iron slightly long and right. Had it drawing in, but not quite enough. Chip and 2-putt bogey.
7. Par 4 394 yds. Driver – nice draw to 145. 8 iron finds green. 2-putt par.
8. Par 5 454 yds. Driver – very nice drive to 190. 5W to back-right pin location finds back-right fringe about 10 feet from the pin. Missed the eagle by inches. Tap in birdie.
9. Driver – straight but pushed way right. Tried to draw 8 iron around treesfrom about 150. Draws nice but lands well short barely clearing the water (guess it was more like 160). Nice chip set up for a nice up-and-down par. 44 on the front with one penalty sets up good start.
10. Par 5 461 yds. 3W pull draw into the ditch. Topped 3W stays in the fairway runs a ways. Big SW pushed right and long to back fringe sets up long downhill putt to front pin. Putt rolls past to fringe. Another putt from the fringe and a tap in for double. Technically a 1-putt hole, sad but true.
11. Par 4 387 yds. Driver – skyed it big. 7 iron layup. SW to back fringe. Nice putt just misses. Tap in bogey.
12. Par 4 386 yds. Driver – pull draw left. 7 iron to back right fringe. Putt across a lot of fringe to back left pin to 3 feet. 1-putt for par.
13. Par 3 156 yds. 7 iron – looked up, topped it into the water. SW finds green. Three-putt triple.
14. Par 4 378 yds. Driver – first weak slice of the day into the woods on the right. I actaully had a shot out and tried a strong fading 6 iron. The shot went off pretty good just didn’t turn enough landing pin high on the right up against a tree trunk. Chopped down with a GW and hopped the ball out on to the far fringe. Lagged up to 2 feet and dropped the bogey putt. Not bad considering the shots made!
15. Par 4 375 yds. 3W down the right side of a very narrow fairway leaks right and with the help of the cart path, comes to rest pin high on the right (375 yards!!!). Chip under a branch into bunker. LW out of bunker, 2-putt bogey.
16. Par 5 445 yds. Driver – second weak slice finds adjacent fairway. 7 iron fails to draw enough to clear woods and get back on the proper fairway. 8 iron punch to just short of the green. Chip on and 2-putt for bogey.
17. Par 3 149 yds. 7 iron off the toe going for back pin. Solid grip kept the shot in play, barely clearing the water. Big Chip across the green to fringe near back pin. 2-putt bogey.
18. Par 4 398 yds. Poor drive into the wind finds left rough behind hill 190 out. Low 3W rips just over hill hits face of elevated green just above a sand trap and pops up onto the green. Long uphill putt to six feet. Par putt falls for a low round of 90.

The greens were faster than I’ve even seen them. I would have had several GIRs had I not rolled onto the fringe on many approach shots. Normally I have trouble with fast greens, but on this day I only made one truly bad putt.

These rounds were all played in very wet and soggy conditions. Only 2 of the last 7 rounds were within one stroke of my course handicap. That means that if I can’t string together some good rounds, my handicap is going to go up a bit. But I can’t complain too much. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job handling the wet conditions.

Goodbye Driver…

I got to hit a Bridgestone J33R 9.5 stiff at Golfsmith. I’ve been considering this driver for awhlie and I’ve decided to sell my Taylormade R540 XD and save for the Bridgestone. This means I’ll be hitting 3W off the tee since I won’t have a driver in the bag. I consider this to be a good thing. I’ll get a chance to see how well I can do without a driver.

Golfing Future...

My monthly membership at Green Caye is in need of renewal. I'm not sure when I'm going to do that. To be honest, I'm growing a little tired of these wet conditions. I may wait until the courses dry up a bit before I renew for a month.

You may have noticed I put the DTDGH countdown timer up. It's true, Dad (Father-in-Law) will be down in May again. I'm looking forward to teeing it up with him.

Congratulations if you've made it all the way through this long post!!!
-Greg

Galveston Island Municipal...

2007-01-25T10:24:00.000-06:00

The sky is blue and the sun will start to dry things out today. Tomorrow we’re making the short trip down to Galveston to play Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course just a few days before they close the doors and begin a work on a year long renovation of the course.

This golf course has been on my list of courses to play for quite some time. I’ve never went because other courses offer better value. I’ve read that Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course has ranked in the top five Texas public courses many times. I’ve also read that the course conditions are often hit and miss. I'm playing the course because the course has history. I never played Clear Lake Golf Course for the same reasons I've never played Galveston and I regret it. Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course as it was played by Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demerit, Harvey Pennik, and Lee Trevino will be closed starting February first. I don't know how extensive the changes will be, but it will become a resort-class course (to be named "Moody Gardens Golf Course on Galveston Island, a Premier Public Golf Course.") with $50 to $100 greens fees for weekend play.

Now, courses around Houston have a lot of water, and Galveston is the undisputed water winner with many holes nearly islands in themselves.

The layout is very challenging, here are the course numbers:

Tips 73.0/131 6969 yards (Par 72)
Blues 72.5/125 6739 yards (Par 72)
Whites 70.0/119 6244 yards (Par 72)
Reds 71.4/121 5336 yards (Par 73)

I looked the course over with google maps and google earth and even though there is water everywhere, the front nine looks very tame compared to the back nine. The first hole that raised my brow was the tenth. I thought I’d share how I review a layout prior to the first time I play a course. The first thing I do when trying to come up with a game plan is see what the landing area looks like. I measure 250 yards off the tee box and look at the landing area. In the image below, I drew a triangle for both 250 (green) and 200 yards (yellow). I looded at the 200 yard option because the driver option has a very narrow landing area (about 35 yards in the fairway). The driver option requires more accuracy off the tee, but offers a better line to the green and a shorter, more managable second shot. The 200 yard option has a much bigger landing zone, but the second shot will be considerably more difficult.

Now my drives are often a push or a push-fade, so I tend to aim for the left side of the landing area. In this case, should I hit the ball straight, which I do maybe 40% of the time, That said, I’ll have a possibility of hitting the cart path and bouncing into the water with either choice. To further complicate the shot, there are no windless days on Galveston Island. The wind is forcast to be out of the NNE which will push a straight shot down into the target zone.

Finally, the red lines show how I intend to execute the shot. I’m going to try the driver and hold off on my release just a tad, maybe put the ball just a bit forward in my stance. The top red line shows a well executed shot and the bottom line shows a push fade.

Now you can all remain in suspense while you wait for me to post the actual shot sometime in the days following the round. Obviously, I don’t go into this detail on every hole and I certainly don’t draw little diagrams. I do use google earth and I usually start at the green an work my way back to the tee to determine which club I need to hit to get to a desired approach shot distance.

I’ll be playing from the blue tees and Martin will be playing from the whites. Robert will be joining us with a friend who is just a beginner. There’s not much room on this course for indecision. I’ll have to pick my shot and execute – no second guessing!!

Check back for a recap of the round and a diagram of how I actually played the tenth. If you need something to keep you busy while you wait, take a guess at how many balls I’ll hit into the water and post your guess in the comments. My record is 11 at The Battleground. I’ll be happy if I can keep it below 4.

Hoping to soak up some sun on a soggy golf course,
-Greg

Soggy Conditions, Be a Picker…

2007-01-22T20:36:00.000-06:00

Range Time...

Disclaimer: These are my thoughts about hitting off of matts at the driving range and playing in wet, soggy conditions. I may be completely wrong, I may not. Please comment based on your experiences.

It has been raining and raining (and raining) here in Houston. I actually went to the range in light rain. The range at Green Caye has a covered section where you can hit off matts, so I stayed pretty dry, but I don’t really care for hitting off the matts.

The danger (for me) in hitting off matts is that you generally can’t hit a shot fat. Then next time hitting off turf, it seems like all you do is hit fat shots. So, I really focused on picking the ball. As I was hitting, I was very aware of when I hit the matt before the ball. As I thought more about it, picking the ball is probably the best contact you can employ in wet, soggy conditions. So, my range time became all about careful ball contact. It paid off too, because I managed to squeeze a round in Sunday.

Working the Ball…

After a couple buckets of picking, I decided to work on working the ball. I’ve learned that the most efficient way to fine tune draws/fades is to start with a lot of spin. I start with the 7 iron and I close the face way down. It’s amazing how far you can hit a 7 iron when you close the face. Sure, you’re hitting a huge hook, but if you aim it correctly, you can really get some distance with a 7 iron. I hit a few balls adjusting my stance so that I’m landing the ball near my target zone. Then I start to open the face. I hit shots and note how far the ball goes (compared to a normal shot), and how open my stance needs to be. I hit like this, continuing to open the face until I’m hitting big slices. Then I do the same with the PW and the 4 iron.

Golf at Beacon Lakes…

I was running some errands Sunday and much to my surprise, I saw some breaks in the clouds to the north. Later in the morning, while checking my email, I saw that Beacon Lakes was running a 2 for 1 special to try to coax folks out onto the course. After a little bargaining with my Wife, I was set to play golf!

Beacon Lakes is a pretty tight course. The fairways are narrow and there is plenty of water and out-of-bounds. You have a choice to either play target golf or you can simply try to over power the course (or both). In the case of the latter, you simply drive for distance and, if you can keep it in bounds and out of the water, you will find your ball (possibly in another fairway, in trees, or bushes). This is my fourth time playing here. Charles and I played from the blues (6368 yds, 71.1/122) while Martin played from the Whites (5756 yds, 68.6/119).

I shot 94 (47/47) with one 9 on a par 5 that will be recorded as an 8 (ESC) making the round officially a 93 (46/47), Charles shot 95 (47/48) losing only one ball, and Martin had a bad day (101). Here are the stats on the round:

Fairways hit... 4
GIRs........... 6
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 7
Putts......... 35
Bogeys......... 4
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 3
Balls lost .... 6 (4 water, 2 OB)

I was late getting there and the guys were on the putting green. I rushed to get checked in and I was on the tee box within 5 minutes on arriving. Here’s the round recap:

1. Par 4 345 yds. Pushed 3i right. 8i barely fails to clear pine tree, ball veers right into the water. Chipped on in four, two-putt double.
2. Par 3 125 yds. Green, two-putt par.
3. Par 4 387 yds. Pulled driver left, onto adjacent fairway. Pushed 7i right. Flubbed chip. On in four, two-putt double.
4. Par 4 407 yds. Fairway, Green, two-putt par.
5. Par 5 533 yds. Push drive OB on right, Fade drive OB on right (barely), hammer drive down the middle. Layup to 125. On in 7, two-putt for a 9. –OUCH!!
6. Par 4 355 yds. 3i to right side of fwy. No line to the green. Strong fading 4i around the trees finds the green 15 feet from the pin, two-putt par.
7. Par 3 205 yds. 5W finds water in front of the green, skips onto the bank, rolls back in. Topped a pitch over the green. On in four, two-putt triple.
8. Par 5 476 yds. Going for the hammer - missed the nail, topped tee shot goes just past the senior tees. 7i, 7i, 9i finds the green. 25-foot putt drops for par!!
9. Par 4 337 yds. Fairway, Green, two-putt par.
10. Par 4 397 yds. Tee shot pushed right. No line to the green. Shot requires huge slice or draw over water. Slice route was open, but too much slice required. Tried to draw through and around trees. Ball flies around trees with too much draw and rolls in front of the green and back toward the water. Chip on, two-putt bogey.
11. Par 4 382 yds. Driver fades right. Lands on the face of a hill with a horrible lie about 125 out. 7i slammed into hill under ball pops the ball extremely high. Ball comes down short, threatens to roll back into bunker, but stops 1 inch short. Funky stance chip nearly hits the pin and rolls well past. two-putt bogey.
12. Slice drive onto adjacent fairway. 7i punch through trees back on to fairway. 8i fat into the water. PW on in 5, two-putt double.
13. Par 3 170 yds. 7i to the front of the green, three-putt bogey.
14. Par 4 395 yds. 3W fails to clear the corner. Ball drops amidst trees. No line to green. Strong fading 4i goes around trees and light pole, finds green 10 feet to the pin. Missed birdie, tap in par.
15. Par 3 135 yds. Easy 9i pushed into the water. Chip dies just short of the cup, tap in bogey.
16. Par 4 352 yds. Pulled drive into trees. Punch out onto fairway. 5W hits tree top and goes hard left into the water. On in 5, two-putt double.
17. Par 4 383 yds. Topped drive finds ditch. I play out of the ditch (lateral hazard). Layup to 125. On in 4, two-putt double.
18. Par 5 514 yds. Hammer a drive 285 down the middle, all carry. Layup to 125 is hit fat, I’m 155 out. 8i lands just short. Chip to 18 inches, putt for par.

By the time we were done, we were all pretty soaked from playing on a waterlogged course. Most of my fat shots came from the short irons. The way I was hitting the mid and long irons, I would have been better off playing to approach from 160-170. The driving range work paid off in both picking and working the ball. I would have had a stellar round had I been able to keep the ball in play. In any event, I won 13 skins for a total of $8.00 (50 cent skins when we play with Charles), $5.00 of which came from Charles.

Looks like the rains will return till the end of the week. I’m hoping to play Galveston Island Municipal (72.5/125) before it closes for a year to emerge as a resort course. I better bring a lot of balls because this course has more water than any other course I’ve played.

Enough with the rain already,
-Greg

Playing Like a Pro at Tour18...

2007-01-16T13:04:00.000-06:00

The weather and my schedule finally came together and provided me with an opportunity to play Tour18. Tour18 is a course that has replicas of famous holes from PGA Tour courses. Being new to golf, I only recognized a handful of the holes:

Harbour Town 18
Bay Hill 6
Amen Corner (Augusta 11, 12, 13)
Sawgrass 17
Doral 18

The weather was great and the course was in super condition. We played the course for $31.10 through the discount rates posted at Palmergolf.com.

A friend told me I would not break 100 out there, so my goal was to break 100.

Here’s an abbreviated recap of the round:

1. fwy 155 out, 7i hits green, 2-putt, routine par – on the number 1 handicap hole on the course!!!
2. Solid drive, missed fwy on right. Second finds fwy, third finds trap. Fourth is out of one trap, into the next. On in 5, 2-putt for double.
3. Topped a 3i. Layup w/PW, LW into trap. On in four, 2-putt for double.
4. Tried an easy 5W, drew it left into hill, it rolled onto fwy. 8i hits green, 2-putt for par.
5. This is the first hole of “Amen Corner”. Nice low drawing drive into the wind, over the hill. Chunk an 8i. Chunk a LW. On in 4, 2-putt for double.
6. 145 yards into the wind, slightly downhill, water in front of the green. I clubbed up to a 7i since I would have to hit a strong 8i to deal with the wind. Solid shot draws left and slightly long (hit green, rolled off the back left). Putted from the fringe to 6 feet. Missed the par putt, bogey.
7. Blew a drive straight off the back of fwy. Chose to layup instead of risk going into the creek. 8i lands just short, rolls down in creek… almost. Chipped on in four, three-putted for double. Completed Amen Corner in 17 strokes (12 is par).
8. Solid drive leaves me 110 out. GW pushed right misses green. Chip and putt for par.
9. Island green. Looks a lot longer than 121. I hit an easy PW that was just enough to find the lower tier of the green. Three-putt bogey.
10. Solid 3W fades hard right but misses the sand. Good lie, so 3W again to about 60 in the fairway. Chunk a chip, chunk a chip. On in 5, three putt for triple!!!
11. 175yd par three Micky Mouse hole at Disney. Club up to 5i, looked like I was on the green but I rolled off the back. Horrible putt from the fringe to 12 feet, good putt for par.
12. 450 yard par four. Hammer a drive to 180. Try an easy 5W but draw it left into the woods. Punch out to six feet. Miss the putt and take bogey.
13. Drive slices. Fortunately, there was construction where I landed and signs that indicated ground under repair. Dropped, 3W to 100. SW short and left. LW over bunker finds green. 2-putt bogey.
14. FWY/GRN, 3-putt for bogey.
15. 3W fades right. PW finds green, 3-putt for bogey.
16. Solid 3W down the left side to blind landing area. Chunked an easy PW into the creek. LW to 6 feet. Drop the putt for bogey.
17. 5i into the wind fails to draw. LW over sand finds green. 2-putt bogey.
18. Solid drive finds fwy. Second finds water. Drop, LW to green, 2 putt for double.

So I finished with a 93 (46/47) and won 13 skins.

My game plan worked out pretty well. It seems that I can save a lot of strokes by knowing when to leave the driver in the bag. There’s a lot of trouble out there and I was fortunate to stay out of it most the time.

Here’s the stats for the round:

Fairways hit... 7
GIRs........... 4
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 4
Putts......... 37
Bogeys......... 8
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 1
Balls lost .... 1 (water on 18)

Upon reviewing the round, I found where I lost some strokes out there:

Short Iron..... 6
Short Pitch.... 4
Putts.......... 5

Most of the short shots were fat shots. The course was pretty soggy and my thin-soled clubs offer little forgiveness in these conditions (compared to other clubs with wide spoon-like soles). The other lost strokes would be a combination of chips and putts. I definitely left a couple short (less than six feet) putts out there, and a successful chip should be followed by a single putt.

Tour18 is a great place to play on occasion. I certainly won’t play it with any regularity, however; it does have the potential to provide a memorable round for my Father-in-Law should we decide to play there on his next visit.

Sorry I didn't take the camera,
-Greg

Figured it Out...

2006-12-31T18:54:00.000-06:00

My ball striking has been garbage lately. I don't know how I've managed to crap together some respectable scores the last several times out (I played The Battleground last Wednesday and shot a 49/42 = 91).

This afternoon I figured it out.

The kids and I were playing a couple loops with Martin at Green Caye and on the fourth hole of the second loop I shanked one hard right. This has happened before, and today I realized that I was making contact too close to the hosel. The shanks were due to hitting the hosel!

After realizing this I took my stance a bit further out and addressed the ball a bit out toward the toe. I pushed the shot right, but made nice contact on the sweet spot (and managed the up and down). Same thing one the next hole. The next two holes I hit the greens and made the pars. On number nine, I hit the green with a 2 iron (216 yards into a stiff breeze) and made the 15 foot putt for birdie!!

That was the first time to birdie number nine and I have now birdied all nine holes at Green Caye!!!

I'm jumping for joy now that I have figured out the difficulties with my iron play. I can't wait to head out onto a regulation course and tear it up!! What a great way to end the year :)

Happy New Year,
-Greg

Sticking to the Plan...

2006-12-20T13:47:00.000-06:00

I played Bay Forest again today. This course is very similar to The Battleground in layout, length, slope and rating, but it is five to ten dollars more to play. So, in the past I've always chosen to play The Battleground. This is my third time to play Bay Forest and the third consecutive Wednesday I've been able to take advantage to the $18 discount rate. In my opinion, The Battleground is more difficult because the fairways slope down to the water and a missed fairway is usually lost in the woods. At Bay Forest, the layout is flatter, and while there are plenty of trees, you generally won't lose your ball because the course is more park-like if that makes sense.

I went out with the play-for-bogey strategy and finished with a 90 (45/45) even after an opening snowman. I hit maybe two solid drives all day. Here are some stats:

Fairways hit... 3
GIRs........... 5
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 6 (1 sweet sand save)
Putts......... 35
Bogeys......... 8
Doubles........ 3
Triples........ 0 (
Quad........... 1 (drove water)
Balls lost .... 2 (2 water)

I shot 10 over on the front. I was scrambling my butt off trying to make up for the snowman on number one. I hit very few solid shots, but playing conservatively let me sneak off the front nine with one quad, one double, four bogeys, and three pars.

I started off rough on the tougher back nine with bogey, double, bogey, double, then I started to hit the ball well in spite of my continued poor driving.

Number 14 is a short 503 yard par 5 with the water on both side of the fairway. I hit 4 iron off the tee down the middle. I pushed my second shot into the trees on the right. I tried a gentle punch with a 6 iron and rolled into the bunker guarding the left side of the green. The sand was hard and wet and I had an shot that went from the back left of the bunker to a front pin position. I had little green to work with and I had to carry 40 feet to get out of the sand. I laid the sixty-degree wide open, opened my stance way up and hit a perfect shot that stopped two feet short. Tap in for a par.

I then went bogey, bogey, par. I'm sitting on 18, a 415 yard par four with water guarding the front of the green. I pop my drive up into the air and it comes down left of the fairway with trees blocking my line to the pin. I could try to hit my 3W (which I hit off the deck fairly well today), or try to draw a 43 iron around the trees. I decided to try the draw but went with a 4 iron because the ball was sitting down in the rough. I made great contact and the ball curved left around the trees, bounced once in front of a bunker, and rolled up to within fifteen feet. I dropped the par putt.

This was one of those rounds where I seemed to play like crap till the last few holes. One of those rounds where you hate to quit cause you're finally hitting the ball well.

So, 10 over on the front and 8 over on the back and I squeak through with a 90. I should have shot way worse given the way I was hitting the ball. The bogey strategy seems to have worked pretty well and I'll try to stick with it. I feel I should slide solidly into the 80s (provided I can hit the ball solidly for more than the last few holes).

Not sure when I'll be playing again. I see someone already grabbed the 8:30 slot for next week. I knew those $18 Wednesday rates would get around. Now the course is pretty busy on Wednesdays.

Once again, have a Very Merry Christmas,
-Greg

18 Months of Golf and More...

2006-12-19T06:36:00.000-06:00

18 Month Review…

December third marked eighteen months of golf.

From my one year anniversary to present,

20 Regulation rounds played (68 regulation rounds played in total)

Starting Hcp = 23.86
Current Hcp = 16.93

Scores (101, 81, 83, 95, 87, 107, 94, 86, 77, 84, 93, 94, 95, 83, 102, 98, 89, 79, 96, 92)

The last 10 rounds have been with the new clubs.

Three new courses played - Newport (89), Hillcrest (84, 79) and Bay Forest(96, 92)

Many, many loops on the local par three where my average has stuck around 35 for several months. I think I could reduce that number if I stopped experimenting with shots, but I think maintaining a 35 average while experimenting is acceptable.

Strategy for Bogey Golfers…

I’ve decided to play for bogeys. The main idea of this strategy is to minimize double bogeys and eliminate anything worse. I’m most likely to make a double (or worse) when I try to hard to make something happen, either on long holes or holes where I find myself in trouble. Mix in a few pars and get ready to keep the scores in the 80s.

New Club…

I purchased a new 3W on eBay late last month. It’s the Bridgestone J33 and it has 15* of loft and the stock Aldila NV75 shaft in stiff flex. I’ve been happy with the J33 Combo Irons I purchased a couple months ago and the J33 woods have had good reviews. The bad news is that Bridgestone golf clubs are hard to find in the local retail shops, so I bought it without hitting it. The good news is that Bridgestone clubs are not too popular in the US, so I got it for a steal ($58 shipped, brand new). I had been using my Dad’s (Father-in-Law) original Adams Tight Lie with a good bit of success. The only thing I don’t like about it was that I can’t hit it very far. I managed to get to a point where I can get 200 – 210 yards with it, but if I try to get more, it is at the great risk of a fade or slice. The main problem is that I can get 200 – 210 off the tee with my 3 iron so the Adams 3W was only used from the fairway (where I can’t get 200+ from my 3 iron). I can hit the new 3W 230 or more off the tee, but I can’t hit it reliably off the turf… yet.

Hitting the Simulator…

I found myself sucked into the local golf galaxy (which happens whenever I get within about 250 yards of it) where I hit some fairway woods in the simulator. I have to say I really like the Taylormade V-Steel woods. I was hitting them off of the matt very nicely. I still need a 5W and I’m considering the Taylormade V-Steel.

Google Earth…

I’ve talked about using Google Maps to analyze a course. I often make an index card with notes and ranges for any course I play – especially when I play a course for the first time. I recently discovered that Google Earth is a far superior tool for mapping courses. Google earth has two outstanding features. The first is a measurement tool (found in the Tools drop down). Using this tool, you can measure anywhere at any zoom level point to point. The second is the rotate feature that allows you to rotate the map such that you can best fit the hole to your display. I look at the hole, pick where I want to land my shot, measure the distance, pick the club and jot it down. I also note distances to hazards, depth of greens, and other notes I think may be useful.

Golfing for money…

I’ve mentioned I’ve been playing for quarters with Martin. Lately, Robert and Travis have been playing and now we have four players playing for quarters. I know twenty-five cents per hole is not too much, especially for two people, but when you get four players, it’s a very different game. With four players, nearly all holes are pushed. Bogeys rarely win and pars often push. As the number of pushed holes goes up, the tension rises. You have to keep your focus. Each shot that hits the green puts more pressure on the remaining players. Each chip that rolls up close to the pin puts more pressure on the remaining players. When the first two players miss their putt, the third player must make the putt to push the hole (assuming the closest to the pin putt drops). This four-player scenario forces you to focus and make the shot. It makes getting the greenie important because that’s what saves you if you’re not the one winning the series of pushed holes (greenies get 0.25 only if you make par and only the closest to the pin gets the greenie). So, casual gambling forces you to keep you focus and play your best. Oh, and if all that doesn’t add enough pressure, I’ve had my kids along whenever it does not interfere with their school. I tell the guys they should pay me for lessons. Nothing can teach you mental fortitude like a four and six year old doing what kids do while your making your six-footer to win a five-hole push. I’m teaching them etiquette and all, but come on, they can only be quiet and still for very, very short periods of time.

Now here’s the down side for me. All I’ve been doing is playing loops for money. I’ve played nineteen loops for money since November 24th (I’m currently down $6.25) and I’ve done little else. My iron game has spiraled down to rubbish. My average is 35 on nine holes (par is 27 on this par three course). Here’s what happened… I had a couple of bad rounds so I started to hit my tee shots from off of a tee in an attempt to gain an advantage. That worked for a little while, but then it got worse. I was over-drawing, over-fading, hitting fat, etc. I had lost all confidence. I worked myself into a position where my main mode of practice became a hindrance to my improvement.

Range Time…

Yesterday went looking for answers in the bottomless bucket. I figured out a couple of things. My main problem was that I had been addressing the ball too close. This had been causing pulls and fat shots. The other thing I learned is that my swing thought of, “open club face back, close club face through” is somewhat sensitive to how far I go with the backswing. For my three-quarter straight shots I have to rotate the face much less. For draw/fade shot I need the full swing.

Robert showed up while I was hitting on the range and we talked a lot about these things and more. Then we went out for a quick loop (no money) and we both shot pretty good. I shot 33 even though I pulled my tee shot OB left on number nine. Both of us made a birdie (me on No. 5 and Robert on No. 7). After the range work, I was hitting off the turf and I’m looking forward to getting some of my money back.

Playing with the kids…

While I’m not mentioning it specifically in the individual parts of this post, I have had my kids with me for the majority of play this month. The only exception would be the occasional weeknight loop. I even bought my kids new clubs since the current set was too big for them. Everyone who sees them hit has been impressed. While they’re not playing tee to green yet, they hit one off the tee and then put a couple of times. They’re hitting the ball pretty good. Once while waiting for the group in front (and no one behind us) Robert challenged my daughter to a little putting. She tied him. There is a nine-hole putting course with some challenging putts. My son managed a two-putt on one that was no less than fifty feet. His second was from about fifteen feet. Big time high fives followed.

Green Caye Birdies This Month…

I finally made birdie on number one at Green Caye this month. I managed to roll up onto the green in the extreme front right. The pin was back left. It was nearly the longest possible putt on this green. I don’t know the exact distance, but I would estimate the putt was 60 to 70 feet. The best part was the putt won a push of several holes between four players. I made two other birdies this month and each of those were long putts as well. With the birdie on number one, I have birdied all the holes on the course except number nine.

Hole in One…

Martin made a hole in one on number eight on a misty, foggy night. The fog was so thick that we couldn’t see the greens. I had to take my glasses off because the constant mist made using them worse than my 20/30 vision. As I walked on to the green, Martin was thinking his ball rolled off the back. A moment later I saw the trail in the dew leading right to the hole. That was my second time to witness a hole in one. We play greenies are worth 25 cents, and birdies 50 cents. We decided to give 1.00 for the hole in one.

Have a Very Merry Christmas Everyone,

-Greg

Mini Report...

2006-11-18T10:06:00.000-06:00

Golf game is hot and cold. Here's some of the hot:

I played a new course (Newport Golf Course) for free as a regular customer of PGA18.com (and I was able to bring three friends for free too but I only found two who could ply that day). It featured very narrow fairways lined with very tall trees and dense woods, many doglegs, and very fast, small greens. It snaked through the woods and a neighborhood so errant shots would be goners. I shot 89 which was the first time I broke 90 on a course with slope over 120. Should have done a bit better than that because the 18th has an island green that I decided to layup on (from the rough about 165 out) and I choked on a 50 yard pitch - right into the water! I came away with

7 pars
6 bogeys
4 doubles
1 triple (18th)

My plan was course management and I played safe where I needed to (3i drawing/fading nicely); sometimes at a cost of an additional stroke, but the alternative would have been much worse.

I took both kids to Green Caye last night and we played two loops. They behaved very well, taking turns hitting and putting. I shot 33 and 34 with a triple on the second loop. The best shot was on #1. It's 185 yards but we were off the back of the box and the pin was back right making the hole play about 190 - 200. I pushed my first shot OB (long and right with a cart path bounce), but my second (third w/penalty) found the green and rolled to within a few feet - I made the bogey putt to win the hole. I hit the 5i on that one. We were playing with my friend Martin and we play 0.25 per hole with greenies and birdies. We pushed the last five holes on the first loop so the hole was worth $1.25. Not the $1.25 will have any financial effect, but mentally, winning a five hole push (or losing one) is huge. That hole is the toughest on the course with water left and OB right and long. It sure would have been awesome to have birdied it. Oh well, I know I have it in me.

I played Wednesday in howling winds 25+ gusting to 40+. I clubbed up four clubs on shorter shots and three clubs on longer shots. Two loops for 36/36 - bogey golf. The thing that works well for me in the wind is working the ball. I'm more aggressive when trying to draw/fade a shot. In calm conditions, I try little draws/fades that are harder to hit and the results are less likely to be what I had in mind. I need to learn the knockdown, lower trajectory shot for windy conditions. My ball flight is very high and that puts me at a disadvantage. Martin took me for $3.75 with his natural low ball flight that gave him a pair of birdies on the second loop.

I continue to struggle on occasion with the irons. It's the same stuff all the time - looking up, swinging too hard, hitting it fat, controlling tempo. My best shots come when I slow down the takeaway and smoothly accelerate through the ball and continue to a full finish. I have to force myself to step back when I don't feel right at address. I know that will help.

My putting has been very good lately. I rerely miss inside six feet and I've been rolling in a few long ones. My distance control is generally pretty good, but once in a while I'm way off speed.

I played absolute rubbish on Thursday. Four balls in the water, several triples, I was just disgusted and thought I was burning out. The feeling went away after playing with the kids last night.

Why is it that like sex, too much golf seems to be just enough!!!

-Greg

Hitting the New Sticks...

2006-11-06T08:11:00.000-06:00

It's been a bumpy ride...

The first thing I did was take them to the range. My shots were all to the right and well short of where I expected to hit them. I had similar results the next range session. Both of these sessions were hitting off the mats due to major rain in the area.

I continued to play the Top Flite clubs out on the course because I had no confidence in the Bridgestones. Then one afternoon I was swinging the 7 iron in the living room and I realized my problem. It was that I was adressing the ball with the club face even with my hands. When I moved my hands forward to impact position, the face rotated to slightly open. If I closed the club face and moved my hands forward a bit (impact position) the club face was square. I took this to the range and I was hitting the ball straight. I could close up the face a bit and produce a draw, and I could open it a bit and get the fade.

I began making loops at Green Caye and while I seemed to have lost a club or more in distance, I has hitting the ball very well. Playing in very windy conditions over several outings I posted scores of 33, 35, 32, 35, and 33. I was calling my shots (draw, fade, straight) and hitting greens 50% or better.

Then I took the new sticks out to a regulation course and everything fell apart. It seemed that I made very few solid iron shots over a couple of rounds. Luckily my driving and short game were pretty good and I managed some okay scores (93 at Pasadena and 95 at Eagle Pointe).

My problem was that I was teeing the ball up at Green Caye for all my tee shots. The result was poor performance off the turf. So, I'm now hitting off the turf at Green Caye and struggling. Last two loops produced a 41 and a 36 (remember Green Caye is a par-three course; par = 27 for a loop). Yeah, ouch!!

Well, if I've learned anything it's that I can always find the answers somewhere in a bottomless bucket.

After hitting the range a couple of times I played Bayou yesterday and had much better results with the irons on a very windy day. Too bad my driving decided to let me down though - I posted a 98 with four snowmen. Two were triples where I hit water or OB and the other two featured a shank off the toe that flies 45 degrees right of my target line. My main problem with the irons was drawing them too much. I hit several long as well so I think the distance is coming back. Rotating the club face through impact produces more draw and distance so I think I'm settling into these clubs nicely.

The J33 Combos are definately a tougher to hit when compared to the Top Flite Tour Oversize irons I started with. They have a smaller sweet spot and off center hits can get pretty ugly. The good news is that I'm hitting them pretty well. I know I'll continue to improve with them and hopefully gain some more of the distance back.

I'm hoping to play in a scramble Thursday - I'll post a report if I do.

-Greg

Secrets Revealed...

2006-10-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

My regular readers know that over the past several months I've added at least 2-3 clubs of distance to my irons. Where I used to hit a 7 iron 150 yards, I now hit it 170 yards or more. I have a very short back swing and I never fully hinge my wrists. My swing takes the club back to maybe a tad past vertical. Most folks I play with can't understand how I can hit it so far with such a compact swing.

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about why I thought I had gained so much distance, I attributed this gain in distance to rotating the club face through impact.

Now, some time ago I signed up for Golf Magazine. A couple weeks ago, the first issue arrived. The feature article was entitled, "Instant Power Move" and where I thought I may have found a key to even more yards, I merely confirmed the cause of the yards I've already gained. I've been trying to get some of my friends to try it, but I've not seen it take on any of them.

Check out the article.

Try it on the range for a few days.

You'll like the results once you get used to it.

The article makes it seem like a forced turn, but it's very natural. I just think, "Open face back, close face through impact". If I want a little more distance, I press the shoulder turn a bit more and open the face a bit more on the way back.

The other thing that has helped with distance is impact position. My hands are out in front of the ball at impact and I'm hitting down and through on the ball. I get this impact position set up at address. My hands are forward towards my left pocket and block my view of my left ankle. In addition to promoting a good impact position, this set up de-lofts the club and adds even more distance.

Chances are, you've heard these tips before. I just wanted to point out that they work for me.

Questions?

Comments?

Future topic - Hitting the range with my new clubs:

Yep, I wanted a set I could call my own and went with the Bridgestone J33 Combos.

Till next time,
-Greg

Tips for Beginners and More...

2006-10-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

With my game being pretty hot lately, I thought I’d jot down a few key things that I feel have contributed to my continued improvement. These are in no particular order.

Don’t Look Up

The number one thing that has helped me drive my handicap down is the all too often heard, “keep your eye on the ball”. I’ve said it before in this blog and I’ll say it again. Looking up too soon causes most of my poor shots. The important thing to remember about this rule is that you must do it on every shot, from driver to putter. Not only have I shanked drives from looking up, but more commonly, I chunk chips and pull/push putts.

Course Management

The last time I went out, I had a plan to hit as many approach shots as I could from about 90 yards. At the least that meant laying up on par 5s. On short Par 4s, it meant not hitting driver off the tee. How much easier would golf be if every approach were from your favorite wedge distance? If you think ahead, you can maximize the number of shots from that distance. This was the key to my breaking 80 last Saturday.

Options Around the Green

Playing a par 3 course is a great way to learn how to get it up and down. The best way to get it up and down is to have the most reliable shot for the circumstance. Know when you must fly the ball to the hole, when to flop it, and when to run it up. When I started playing I attempted to fly the ball to the hole every time (either with a SW56 or LW60). That is a difficult shot. I read that the bump and run is the easiest and highest percentage shot. I watched a guy bump and run with a PW from all sorts of situations over the course of several rounds and I was amazed at how consistently he got very close to the pin (turns out that guy had a nine-hole chipping course in his back yard) and the variety of shots he produced with that single club. I decided I needed to learn how to do that and I put the SW/LW away for a while. I experimented with everything I could think of while using only the PW for chipping: Open face, closed face, ball toward front of stance, center, back of stance. I experimented with flight-to-roll ratio. I observed the difference in roll if the ball landed on the green as opposed to hitting the fringe. I tried a putting stroke, a chopping swing, breaking the wrists, not breaking the wrists, everything I could think of. The PW became the centerpiece of my game and I was quickly making more up and downs. Then I extended that experience to my other clubs. Today, one of my most reliable shots is sweeping the ball with a 7i and I use it when I can roll the ball to the green. I use the shot when there is not a lot of change in elevation to the pin. If I have a mound to go over, I’ll consider flight-to-roll ratio and hit a club based on that. The key here is to experiment and learn from it. You don’t always have to practice your chipping near a green either. I practice flop shots all the time around the tee box while waiting for a group ahead of me. I flop those golf whiffle balls in the living room and my kids take turns catching them. Practice is practice no matter where you do it.

Practice out of the Rough

I take my kids to our neighborhood park where there are swings and slides adjacent to a soccer/baseball field. I usually throw my SW or GW and a couple balls in the truck on these trips in case the field is not in use. The grass on the field is St. Augustine and it’s tough stuff, certainly worse than typical rough. I enjoy the challenge of trying to heave it out of that stuff on line and to determined distances. I do it upwind and down wind. From that I get pretty good numbers on how far I can hit out of the rough. I also practice out of the rough on the range. I usually stay late and when there are only a couple people hitting, I hit a several shots out of the area in front of the hitting area where the grass is good and thick and tall. I have found that my shots out of the rough are often to the right and well short of my usual distances and it gets worse as I move to taller clubs. I won't even consider hitting a 3i or 4i out of the rough and the lie has to be pretty good before I'll hit a 5i or 6i. That is valuable information on the course.

Find Your Ball

I was once told that the most important thing about a tee shot is finding the ball after the shot. Funny, but true! Be sure you watch your ball especially on your errant shots. Mark the landing spot and pick a landmark that is in line with the where you saw it land. Now you should have a line of reference to walk on and with a bit of luck, you’ll walk up to your ball. I play with a lot of beginners at Green Caye and the game would progress so much faster if people paid attention to where their ball goes. Sure we play at night but still, taking a good mark on where your ball lands will save strokes.

Another Learning Experience

I played again last night and I had a huge learning experience. If you follow my game at all, you may recall my writing about hitting everything to the right. Either I faded the ball or I pushed it, or I failed to fully release. Then I had the experience that if I forced the release I would draw the shot too much. Well, I figured out that my problem was in my alignment.

Last night on the first tee I decided to place an additional ball on the tee box four feet in front of the ball I intended to hit in line with the pin (or where I was aiming). I then took my stance such that my swing path at impact would be along that line. It’s very similar to what I do when putting; pick an aim point a few feet away. When I looked at the pin (or where I was aiming) I was amazed to see what looked like an alignment too far to the left. My instinct was to waggle my alignment more right and I had to fight it, but once I got the shot off it was dead at the pin. So, for the remainder of the round I would place my ball on the tee box in line with a feature (Divit, sand-filled divot, tuft of grass, whatever) that lined up with my aim point. I have never hit so many shots right on line in my life. Too bad I couldn’t buy a putt!! I still shot 33 (+6) and 31 (+4) with three 3-putts and missed several birdie attempts.

I will now make it a habit to use a close aim point to establish the correct alignment on every shot. In the past, I had always picked an aim point in the distance, which apparently didn’t work too well for me.

This has been the all time greatest month for me at Green Caye. So much has come together. I feel so ready to go out and destroy all of my previous records on the various courses I play.

I’ll post the results,

-Greg

The Smashing of Records...

2006-10-01T08:47:00.000-05:00

Best round at Green Caye

So, my cycle continues: Play Green Caye for a month, play regulation courses the next month. My month at Green Caye is still good for another week, but yesterday they were having their monthly tournament so I decided to play San Jacinto and see if I could beat my previous best score of 81. Why didn't I play in the tournament? Well, this month it's two-person teams playing alternate shot. After asking nearly everyone I knew, I could not find a partner.

That really hurts because my game is hot! I just shot an EVEN PAR ROUND down there after taking a bogey on number one. I followed an opening bogey with three greenies that became routine pars. I hit a sweet 7i 175 on #5 to two feet for a tap in birdie. I missed the green right on #8 but swept a 7i up to the cup for a tap in par. I needed another birdie because #9 is 216 yards and I don't par it too often. On the other hand, I have been scoring great on #7 lately, making several birdies there. That would not be the case today though. I stuck the shot and left a 10-foot uphill putt. I winced as I left the putt 2 feet short, but I made the par. Then disaster struck - I shanked a PW on #8. I'm in the rough and 75 yards out; I hack it out with a sand wedge and make the green... then drop a 15 footer. I'm even par looking a pin 216 yards away.

This entire cycle here at Green Caye, I have been concentrating on my long irons. I have been hitting my 4i on #9 and generally making it to the front on the green. Of course my goal this month has been to get the greenie on #9 with the 4i. I have also been working with the 3i (took the 5W out of the bag) on the range. These are the clubs that I have been hitting nice consistent little draws with using the method I described in my last post.

So, it's decision time: 3i or 4i? I've never hit the 3i on the course before and while I know a good shot will get me there, I decided to stick with the 4i. I made several practice swings, and let it rip. The ball flew perfectly toward the right side of the green and then as if it spotted the pin, started drawing left. Hitting the fringe one foot short of the green, the ball rolled fifteen feet right toward the pin. The putt was 20-25 feet and a timid strike left it 5 feet short. The second putt dropped and new records were set.

1. Got a greenie on #9 at Green Caye with a 4i (213 yards)
2. Smashed previous record of 29 with an EVEN PAR ROUND

New Records at San Jac

Without a partner for the tournament at Green Caye, I decided I would give it my best effort to break 80 at San Jac. I don't know how I will ever get comfortable playing in tournaments. I tossed and turned all night because I was anxious. I knew I had enough game to break 80 at San Jac, but trying to meet a specific goal seems to be a good recipe for humble pie.

Anywhoo...

Things began poorly when I tried a gentle draw down the right side. I pulled the shot into the rough on the left but my second found the green. I then went bogey, par, bogey, bogey, TRIPLE, par, par, par for a 42 on the front.

The back nine really came together:

10. Fairway, green, par
11. Missed the fairway hit the green, par
12. Par 3, got the green, par
13. Missed the fairway hit the green, par
14. Fairway, missed the green, 2-putt bogey
15. Fairway, missed the green, up and down par

This is where it gets good. Short par four dogleg right. My drive is off the fairway long at the turn. I'm directly behind a tree, but I punch a 3i onto the green. Sink a 25-foot putt for birdie.

Next is a short par 5. I layup on the second to 80 yards. Easy SW to two feet, easy birdie.

18. 175 yard par 3. 7i finds the green, par

So I come in on the back nine at -1 which gives me my new record of 77.

3. Best round: 77 at San Jac
4. Best nine: -35 at San Jac

If that isn't cool enough, I also saw my first hole-in-one. One of the guys I was playing with hit a PW on #3 and it hit the green, and hopped in the hole!! He went on to shoot his course record of 96. We had some good MOJO along for the ride for that round.

Since I was playing so well, I played another round an shot 84 which consisted of similar great play minus the two birdies and plus two triples. I lost one ball over the course of two rounds. I feel like I can play golf.

From on top of the world - thanks for reading,

-Greg

The Rain and Working the Ball...

2006-09-25T09:57:00.000-05:00

The Weather Mocks Me...

A cold front and the accompanying thunderstorms pushed through Saturday night. The rain had stopped before daylight, but I had no idea how much rain fell.

I have been trying to play Tour18 for three weeks. I have been trying to play on Monday because it’s the cheapest and least busy day of the week to play. The rain has put and end to my “Amen Corner” dreams each time. My next chance to play Tour18 will be in three weeks.

I knew it would be wet, but I went down to Green Caye on Sunday to get a loop or two in before the Monday’s round at Tour18. I figured I’d be okay as long as I could reasonably hit he greens or close to the greens. While driving along Hwy 646, I saw the roadside ditches were rivers filled with water.

What I saw when I pulled up to the course answered the question of “How much rain?” real quick. The driving range was pretty much under water. The ponds were overflowing. The only thing above water on the seventh, eighth, and ninth holes were the green and tee boxes. The course was closed.

However, the driving range was open (mats only), so I decided to stay and hit a few buckets. I have been hitting the ball very well lately. My last money game we played 16 holes and I won 13. We just play for quarters, but we play greenies and birdies and I have been a greenie machine lately. The last few money games have really been making my bag heavy because I have a ziplock sandwich bag almost half full of quarters in there.

Working the Ball...

Over the last month or so, I have been practicing “working the ball”. I have been hitting draws and fades with my irons on the range with a good bit of success. I have taken those shots out on the course the last few times and it has been working out very well – especially in the wind.

I decided to concentrate on “working the ball” after reading several reviews of my irons where the writers state that my clubs are good as a first set, but forget about “working the ball”. There are plenty of good reviews there too but I got to thinking: Can a beginner slice or hook the ball with “beginner” or “game improvement” irons? Sure. So why, with a little experimentation, would I not be able to hit a draw or fade? I know those shots have come off of these clubs; I just have to figure out how to control it. Well I did, and here’s how:

First a little disclaimer. These are merely my observations. I am not stating that this is the "proper" way to work the ball, I am just sharing my experience.

The ball will initially fly along the line that the club head travels at impact. Hopefully this line points at your target, and neither and out-to-in nor in-to-out path.

If the club face is square and the swing path true (neither and out-to-in nor in-to-out path), the ball will fly pretty straight.

If the club face is not square and the swing path is true, the ball will curve along a hook, draw, fade, or slice trajectory. This trajectory is dependent on a closed (hook, draw) or open (fade, slice) club face.

A square club face can produce a curving trajectory if the swing path is out-to-in (fade, slice) or in-to-out (draw, hook) path.

My preferred method to draw the ball is to slightly close the club face and use my normal swing. Similarly, I slightly open the club face to fade the ball.

I spent several days on the range to get the hang of this. Getting the ball to fly left-to-right or right-to-left is rather easy using this method. The hard part is learning how much to open or close your stance so the ball lands in the right place. Care must also be taken to ensure a swing that is true because you can undo or exaggerate the spin with the swing path.

Questions?

Comments?

I recommend that all beginners experiment on the range and see what different stuff does. Try changing the club face orientation at address and watch how the ball flies. Try to produce an out-to-in or in-to-out swing path and observe the results. Try moving the ball forward or back in your stance and see what happens. Try a stronger or weaker grip just to see what happens.

The important thing about experimentation is defining the boundries of an acceptable shot. Here's a great example:

Next time you practice putting, try a few four-footers (short putts). Try to determine the minimum force needed to get the ball to the cup. Then try to determine the maximum force that drops (see how hard you have to hit it to hop it off of the back). You might be surprised that there is a pretty wide range in how hard you can hit a four foot putt. Now you can hit the minimum force on a short downhill putt and you know how aggressively you can hit an uphill putt or a breaking putt (to take the break out).

So, to folks that think you cannot "work the ball" with “game improvement” irons, I beg to differ.

Then again what do I know?

I’m New2golf,

-Greg

What's Your Golf Handicap?

2006-09-23T16:33:00.000-05:00

A businessman was attending a conference in Africa. He had a free day and wanted to play a round of golf. He was directed to a golf course in the nearby jungle.

After a short journey, he arrived at the course and asked the pro if he could get on.

"Sure," said the Pro, "What's your handicap?"

Not wanting to admit that he had an 18 handicap, he decided to cut it a bit.

"Well, its 16," said the businessman, "But what's the relevance since I'll be playing alone?"

"It's very important for us to know," said the pro, who then called a caddy. "Go out with this gentleman," said the pro, "his handicap is 16."

The businessman was very surprised at this constant reference to his handicap.

The caddy picked up the businessman's bag and a large rifle; again the businessman was surprised but decided to ask no questions. They arrived on the 1st hole, a par 4. "Please avoid those trees on the left,"said the caddy. Needless to say, the businessman duck-hooked his ball into the trees. He found his ball and was about to punch it out when he heard the loud crack of the rifle and a large snake fell dead from a tree above his head. The caddy stood next to him with the rifle smoking in his hand. "That's the mamba, the most poisonous snake in all Africa; you're lucky I was here with you." After taking a bogey, they moved to the 2nd hole, a par 5. "Avoid those bushes on the right," says the caddy. Of course, the businessman's ball went straight into the bushes. As he went to pick up his ball, he heard the loud crack of the caddy's rifle once more and a huge lion fell dead at his feet. "I've saved your life again," said the caddy. The 3rd hole was a par 3 with a lake in front of the green. The businessman's ball came the edge of the water. To take a shot, he had to stand with one foot in the lake. As he was about to swing, a large crocodile emerged from the water and bit off much of his right leg. As he fell to the ground bleeding and in great pain, he saw the caddy with the rifle propped at his side, looking on unconcernedly. "Why didn't you kill it?" asked the man incredulously. "I'm sorry, sir," said the caddy, "this is the 17th handicap hole, you don't get a shot here.

Trust your swing and leave the "umph" at home...

2006-09-14T14:47:00.000-05:00

I've identified a cycle that I seem to have been going through the last several months. Looking back, my trend has been to sign up at Green Caye about every other month. I would spend a month on the par three course, then venture out on to the regulation courses. I would always be driven back to Green Caye because my iron game would fall apart.

I can play Green Caye pretty well. I have likely made over 1000 strokes on that course. I know how to play in the prevailing wind, in no wind, in wet conditions, in dry conditions. I know the safe shot, I know the disastrous shot, and I know how the greens break. I am comfortable playing at Green Caye. I trust my swing at Green Caye.

After a month of play at Green Caye, I'm confident with my irons, my short game, and my putter, yet soon after I venture away and on to regulation courses, my game tends to fall apart. I think I have a good idea why this happens.

When I step away from Green Caye, I step out of my comfort zone. It's not that I'm uncomfortable playing other courses. I feel plenty familiar with Pasadena, The Battleground, San Jacinto, and the other courses I usually play, yet somehow I don't feel as comfortable as I do at Green Caye. Then doubt creeps into my mind and into my swing and I loose trust in my swing. I somehow come to the conclusion that I need to hit the ball harder, which leads to more fat shots, more thin shots, less accuracy, and less confidence. Sometimes this breakdown occurs over a series of rounds and sometimes within the span of a single round.

The solution is simple:

I must trust my swing.

This breakdown happened within a single round when I played Senic View in Wisconsin with my Father-in-Law. I started out on fire and then completely fell apart after the 8th hole.

Was I comfortable playing with my Father-in-Law and six of his buddies on an unfamiliar course with a loaner set of clubs? Not really.

Why did I do so well on the first eight holes?

I trusted my swing.

If you think about it, I really had no choice (initailly anyways). I was on an unfamiliar course with unfamiliar clubs. I had to pick a club and trust my swing. Even though I missed all but one green (and you may recall that the one I hit was because I got a good bounce out of a tree), I still managed to shoot 3 pars and 5 bogeys on the first eight holes. I trusted my swing. Then I tried to make things happen. I started to feel comfortable, so I tried to squeeze a few more yards out of a shot, tried to fade a shot around a tree, tried to hit a 3i 225 yards out of the rough... etc. You know where the round went from there - more fat shots, more thin shots, less accuracy, and less confidence.

So this was a case where I was definitely a little nervous, yet trusting my swing produced great results.

Another example came on the 45th hole (yes, I played 45 holes that day - 63 holes is my record) at San Jac a couple of weeks ago. I had posted some pretty good scores, but I was really strugling with my irons. The 9th at San Jac is a 175 yd par three that has you hitting down a narrow tree-lined chute. I was tired, so I decided to hit the 6i instead of the 7i that I would normally hit. Since I had clubbed up, I figured I'd just hit it and let fatigue take some distance off. Well, I hit it four feet left of the pin just off the back fringe where to rolled 30 feet down the hill aff the back of the green. I trusted my swing and the ball went where it should have. Had I chosen the 7i, I would have felt the need to put a little extra "umph" on it. That extra "umph" is a killer.

I'll have a good opportunity to test this theory out at Tour18 next Monday. This weeks' round was rained out and next week is my last chance to play out there during the week because I'll be training hard for STS-116 which is expected to launch in December.

I must trust my swing and save the extra "umph" for mowing the lawn,

-G

Cool Stuff...

2006-09-01T07:46:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's sure hard scheduling some golf with the launch delays, but it goes with the territory. Looking to play Sunday, then I'll be heading to the MCC Sunday evening. Hope we make it this time, I have a tee time at Tour 18 for Tuesday!

For those interested:

***UPDATED***

Here are the STS-115 event times for a Saturday 9/9/06 launch:
9/09 SAT 1015 Launch
9/11 MON 0008 Begin RNDZ Checklist
9/11 MON 0136 NC4 Burn
9/11 MON 0308 Ti Burn
9/11 MON 0425 MC4 Burn
9/11 MON 0443 RPM
9/11 MON 0546 Dock
9/17 SUN 0750 Undock

You can watch all the fun on NASA TV or on the net here.

Enjoy,
-Greg

PS - My golf has been rubbish. 102 and 105 at The Battleground, 95 at Pasadena... I managed an 87 at San Jac. I've identified a cycle that I seem to go through and I'll share that when I get some time to sit down and blog in earnest-o.

Back from Wisconsin...

2006-08-18T07:42:00.000-05:00

Well I've been back for a week now. I've been trying to get some photos out of my W-10, but it apparently did not survive the ruturn trip. A report without photos will have to do.

We arrived on Friday and played golf on Saturday. I got a look at the clubs on Friday. I think they were a set made by a club maker. The set included 3-SW, but was missing the PW. There were a couple of drivers to choose from and a single 3W. All of the "woods" were "metals" but all were offset with a anti-slice bias. I could not find them anywhere on the net, but the irons looked similar to these -->

Not exactly the cavity backs I was hoping for, but I had been hitting the ball well and I just wanted to get out and play. The putter was old school and Dad had a Never Comprimise center-shafted blade that I used instead. We would arrive early enough for me to hit a few range balls and I hoped I could get an idea how far I could hit them.

We arrived the next morning and I was excited because as I expected, the terrain was wooded rolling hills. There was no one on the range but there was a couple half full sacks of balls. I grabbed the clubs and went out to hit.

I hit the clubs well and as best as I could tell, I hit them a little shorter than my clubs. My 150 club was the 8i, the SW was good for about 110. I don't know much about anti-slice biased clubs, but all I could do with the drivers was slice. I moved on to the 3i and hit it nice and straight somewhere in the 200+ neighborhood (the range has you hitting uphill). I left no time for the putting green...

Our group was two foursomes and I was in the first group. We were following a large group outing that was playing a scramble, so pace of play looked to be quite slow.

The first tee is on a hill 100+ feet above the fairway. The hill drops away fast and the fairway is lined with a mix of conifers and dicidous trees. I picked the left side expecting a fade/slice and hit a slight draw into the trees just off the fairway. The rest of the guys (Dad, his brother Rodger, and their friend Jerry) hit good shots either on or close to the fairway. My second shot found the green in spite of having a blind shot from 150 through a small gap in the trees. I 2-putt for par and all the others make an up and down.

I don't remember all of the details of the rest of the round, but I was +5 on the 9th tee. I was ahead of Dad and things were looking pretty good. Then I proceeded to hit poor shots, I lost a ball in a pine tree, and I took a triple on the 526 yard par 5 ninth. I think Dad made par and we made the turn tied at 44.

I kind of fell apart on the back carding a 53 after losing one it the water, and hitting 2 OB and losing one on the 18th where I tried to flop but topped. So I finished with a 97 on an unfamiliar course with loaner clubs. Dad really played well and finished with 90.

I hit five greens in regulation, and finished with 36 putts. Most of my shots were lost because I hit only two fairways and one was a "member bounce" off of a tree.

I scanned in the layout and scorecard:

Well, I now have about eight months to comtinue to improve and see if I can give him a little better competition.

-Greg

BRB :)

2006-08-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

Leaving for Wisconsin today...

Not sure if four weeks is enough recovery time to be able to walk eighteen, but I'm gonna give it a try. I'll be back with the round report in about a week.

-Greg

New Putter - Daddy Likey...

2006-07-31T08:36:00.000-05:00

Three loops at Green Caye last night:

Loop 1 (34):
4 pars (2 up&down)
0 birdies
2 doubles (1 OB)
3 GIRS (1 3-putt)
16 putts

Loop 2 (30):
4 pars (1 up&down)
1 birdie
0 doubles
5 GIRs (1 3-putt)
16 putts

Loop 3 (34):
3 pars (3 up&down)
0 birdies
1 double (1 water)
0 GIRS
12 putts

The big news on this day is the new putter. This putter is quite a bit heavier that my old blade style putter. It's also a little longer. I had a hard time with it at first using my regular putting stroke but quickly found out how to hit it. I learned that with a heavier putter, you let the putter do the work. My old stroke was more of a "push" the ball. With the new putter, I use more of a pendulus stroke. Distance is controlled by how far I bring it back.

I'll reserve final judgement till I get more data. The preliminary results look good though. The last loop I did not hit a single green, my short game was utter crap, but I was rolling in putts.

This week we'll be getting ready for the trip north. I'm hoping I'll be able to get a few more loops in.

Hmmmm... would it be a good idea to slip the putter into a suitcase?

-Greg

Fast Play With My Son...

2006-07-30T10:20:00.000-05:00

I got to the course early Friday after work. This time I had my son with me. He's eighteen months younger than my daughter so he's mostly interested in riding in the cart and running up and down the mounds around the greens.

For me, the key to golfing with a four year old is the same as shopping with a four year old. You have to keep moving so the little guy has to focus more on keeping up and less on getting into trouble. So, I played three fast loops in about two hours. Then we hit the range to "clean up" a bit. What I mean is, since there was no one on the range and there were golf balls and baskets all over the place, I decided to "clean up" some of the balls while my son gathered the empty baskets. Then we both hit a few shots.

The fast pace was enlightening - less time to think can be a good thing. I did pretty good off the tee, but my putting was not as hot as it was last time. I made one birdie and missed three that were within 10 feet (one went past five feet and I missed the comebacker for a three putt bogey - ouch).

Here's the stats on 27 holes at the par three course:

Game 1 (32):
5 pars (1 up&down)
0 birdies
1 double
4 GIRS
18 putts

Game 2 (36):
0 pars
1 birdie
1 double
2 GIRs (had a three putt bogey here)
16 putts

Game 3 (34):
3 pars (1 up&down)
0 birdies (missed 2)
1 double
4 GIRS
16 putts

I'll be going out without kids this afternoon. I'll be trying out my new putter. Yeah, and just when I started getting the feel of my old one. My old one is a $10.00 special from Academy Sports. I decided to get a center-shafted mallet style putter. I bought the Catbite Z-two for $30.00 on eBay. It looked like I'd have an easier time with allignment. A few putts in the house are telling me that I may need some time to get used to it.

I'll post the results...
-Greg

My New Good Luck Charm...

2006-07-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

My hernia surgery has caused me to fall way behind on chores around the house. The past few days being rain-soaked doesn't help much either. If that isn't enough, my sliding patio door is threatening to fall apart and I need to replace it before I leave on the Wisconsin trip. So, yesterday at lunch, I had a couple friends help me get a new door from the local home improvement center. I now have it leaning against the house ready to be installed.

Yesterday after work I needed to put the new door in, but my daughter reminded me that I promised to take her golfing and she's been patiently waiting for the rain to stop. A promise is a promise so the door will have to wait. I threw our clubs into the truck and with my mind far away from golf, I drove us down to the local par three course.

We started behind a foursome and we were by ourselves. My daughter hit several tee shots while we would wait. Her shots would really only travel about twenty yards. She would pick them up and we would then go chip and putt at the green. I was really stinking up the place hitting fat shots, thin shots, and everything was going right. If I would force the release (to coax a draw), I would hook the shot. I was not trusting my swing at all. My only joy was coming from watching my daughter (and that's all I need).

Then on the fifth hole, I decided to steepen my swing and open the club face a bit to allow me to more freely release. I made back-to-back birdies. We played two more holes before she had to use the restroom. I made a par and a bogey on those holes but more importantly, my ball was coming off the club nice, straight, and solid.

We returned to the first hole and with renewed confidence, I decide to keep track of my score. We were again behind a foursome so I decided to play two balls since we would have to wait anyway. I hit a Precept and a Nike so I know which shot is which for scoring. I simply put "P" and "N" on the scorecard. After the first hole where I made two bogeys, I was playing out a match for my daughter between "P"almer and "N"icklaus. She was enjoying my commentary, and I was focusing more on using the match to keep her interested than keeping up with the score.

I dropped two more consecutive birdies on two and three with the "N"ike. My daughter would watch the pin and scream with delight when the ball would land nearby. After solid play, I found myself at even par with the "N"ike ball on the ninth tee. I hit a great tee shot with a 5W down the middle. I was about ten yards short of the green. Then I got caught up in the moment and chili-dipped my chip and left a twenty-foot putt. My putter was hot, having converted six up and downs so for, but it was not to be. I tapped in for bogey.

A record-shattering 28!!!

On the eighteen holes I made:

9 pars (6 up&downs)
2 birdies
6 bogeys
1 double
30 putts
5 GIRs

"P"almer shot a 32 which is one shot off of my previous record of 31.

How can this happen? I think much of it has to do with the silliness I was engaged in with my daughter. While I focused on the shots, the time in between was focused on good father-daughter time. I knew I was playing well, but didn't really think about the score till the ninth. I only noticed it then because I had made four consecutive pars and recognized I may have a new record.

I've got a new good luck charm, my little girl!!

-Greg

Catch Up Post...

2006-07-26T10:27:00.000-05:00

Things have been busy and interesting for me. I have had little time to blog and now I'm so far behind I need to catchup quick or forget what I've left out...

One year review...

I started playing golf on June 3rd last year. On that day I played Timber Creek Golf Course with my Father-in-Law. I shot 140 that day.

Since that day I have played many rounds at the local Per Three course, spent many hours at the Driving Range, and managed to play 47 rounds of regulation golf.

Here are charts of my scores and handicap over my play to date. It shows my initial handicap of 33.03 dropping down to 23.2 over 27 rounds:

I managed to take the kids out a few times. They both enjoy it and love to ride in the cart. They still have to grow into their clubs, but time will take care of that.

I wanted to participate in tournament play to help sharpen my game, but the wife's work schedule won't allow it.

Followup to Round with Dad...

You may recall I had a bout with bronchitis and only partially recovered enough to play a round with Dad the day before he left. That was almost a couple of months ago. In addition to that bronchitis, I managed to give myself a hernia just before they arrived.

Countdown to Launch...

I hope everyone is aware of our very successful STS-121 mission. The mission is a big part of my lack of golf and blogging lately. Preflight, I was busting my but to certify. Then I scheduled my hernia surgery for July 5th - two days after the Orbiter rendezvous with the Space Station. I knew there was a pretty good chance the flight would be delayed by weather, but my team decided I should schedule my surgery anyway. Well, I did and I was recovering at home when we docked. Oh well, STS-115 is just around the corner and I'll be in the MCC for that one (and the rest as well).

Before surgery...

Prior to going under the knife, I played a fast round at San Jac and shot a dismal 101. Following that, I took a day off on my birthday and went back to San Jac to redeem myself. And redeem myself I did! I played two rounds and shot 81 and 83. The 81 is a new course record for me, and after shooting 43 on the front, an awesome round!!!

Post surgery...

The Doc was a golfer and he said I should wait at least two weeks before I hit the links. He said I should feel it out and if it hurts, give it some more time. Well, two weeks and a day or two, I went down to Green Caye and signed up for a month with a cart. I was still feeling some pain, but I figured I could do allright riding at the par-three course. And I did, I shot eighteen holes and shot 31 and 36. I clubbed up on all shots and swung easy.

Then I decided to hit The Battleground exactly three weeks post surgery. That was a mistake. Swinging the driver took it's toll and walking up and down the very elevated greens only agrevated the situation.

That about brings me up to date. I took my son to Green Caye Monday, and I'll be taking my daughter tomorrow. I'm still hurting some and I'm not ready to walk a course. I'd probably be in better shape if I could wear sweats to work because wearing dress pants and a tucked in shirt applies enough pressure to have me in pain by the end of the day. Of course, this can only be delaying a full recovery. So why am I at work you say? That's easy, I love my job!

DTIGT (Days Till I Go There)...

I'll be heading to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks. I'll be playing with Dad at his home course with a random set of clubs. Dad usually walks, so I'll have to make a smart choice.

Well, that catches me up with my blogging. I made a good choice to have the surgery during the hottest part of the year. I'm looking forward to late September. With our return to flight, my mind is on my job, even when I'm golfing.

Back to work,
-Greg

Follow Up - I found a previously unpublished post from late May while I was cleaning out my drafts. It landed in the correct place (thought it would float to the top).

The rain in Houston...

2006-06-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to spend Father's Day on the course, but stalled low pressure system foiled those plans. As I write this (Monday afternoon), the rain continues to fall. We've had so much rain CNN is covering it.

What's worse is that I have not been golfing in over two weeks. I managed to hit the range one evening, but that's about it. Unless you want to count some family room putting and watching some of the US Open. I enjoyed watching the Open. It was sad to see some of the bad shots like Phil hitting a fairway metal out of that heavy rough and only getting a couple of feet out of it (heck, I can do that off of the fairway). On the other hand, it's nice to see those guys are human from time to time.

I'm working on a summary of my first year, but I'm in a bit of a golf enthusiasm slump at the moment and writing a summary with that tone would be just sad. So, I'll put that on the back burner till my attitude perks up a bit.

Sadly, I removed Jamboy's link. I also removed the DTDGH counter. I suppose I should add a DTIGT (Days Till I Go There) counter, but that can wait too.

I'm hoping to get out tomorrow or Thrusday depending on when the weather decides to clear up. I'll be heading to San Jac for at least 18 holes, maybe 27.

The Last Two Weeks (Part Two)...

2006-06-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I've slowed down on my posting. Shame on me especially since I know some readers are expecting an update about my round with my Father-in-Law.

So, continuing on from last post that saw my world crumbling under my feet. With a second day of super-high fever we decided to head to the hospital. While I was in the waiting room my fever broke and by the time I was seen my fever had dropped to 103. I was released after a chest xray and some blood work. That was Tuesday night.

I started to feel better Wednesday, but the "better" was interspersed with generally feeling like crap. I was not well enough to pick up the inlaws that evening, so we had a friend take my wife up to Houston International.

Husbands know what their wives go through when you have someone staying with you for several days. It was her folks, but she still wanted everything to be in order. It was no fun for her (or me) to have to do all the cleaning on her own. Being sick, I was of little help. I did try though... I did my best to clean up after the kids, do the dishes, and generally try to keep from losing ground (which is easy to do with kids aged 4 and 5). My efforts to help out (coupled with my mentally willing myself back to health) earned me the idiot of the day award when I tried to move our bedroom TV into the guest room... During one of my feeling better waves I decided to move the TV. We have it on top a highboy dresser. I grabbed it while standing on a stool, stepped off the stool, and tried to put it on the floor... That's when my back brutally objected and I found myself on the floor unable to move for about fifteen minutes.

Now, even if I didn't have acute bronchitis, and even if I hadn't wrenched my back, there still wouldn't be any golfing on Thursday at Tour18 as scheduled because the two solid days of rain had the courses closed.

Over the next few days, I began to recover and by Saturday night I thought I was well enough to play golf. We booked a 9:24 tee time at Southwyck. Southwyck is a Palmergolf managed links style course (Tour18 is also a Plamergolf managed course). The rating and slope are 70.6 and 118 based on the card.

I thought I shot pretty good considering the circumstances posting a 104. My Father-in-Law shot a 101. I had initially posted a 107, but made an error adding up the score (I thought I had 55 on the front, but when I entered the score into my spreadsheet I realized the three-stroke error). Hey, even rocket scientists have math problems from time to time!

The top row is par, the bottom row is my score:

4 5 4 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 3 5 4 5 4 4 3 4
4 7 8 7 4 5 4 7 6 6 4 9 5 5 5 6 5 7

The course was not as impressive as I expected it to be. For the money, I'll take The Battleground any day. The layout was very nice, the fairways were outstanding, and the greens were average. The main problem was finding a yardage marker. This has to be one of the worst marked courses I have played. I had to estimate my yardage often and you can guess how that helped my game.

I managed to lose several balls (at least 6, maybe 8) which was my main problem. Dad lost several too. I had a tough time hitting the fairways and Dad hit most of them. I didn't keep good stats for the round, but through 15 I had hit only 3 fairways where Dad hit 6 of the first 10.

All in all, I had a good time. It was great to play with my Father-in-Law and I'm looking forward to playing a round (or two) when we head up to Wisconsin in August.

Posts have been slow due to my not playing golf much due to skating injuries and the bronchitis episode. Also, work has been very busy as I had my final certification qualification simulation to work in direct support for the Space Shuttle in Mission Control. That was the Monday after the inlaws went home.

Next time I'll post a review of my first year playing the game.

-Greg

The Last Two Weeks (Part One)...

2006-06-03T12:45:00.000-05:00

First...

Happy Anniversary to Me :) I played my first round (after only hitting at the range once) a year ago today. A future post will review my progress as a beginner. Now on to the program...

The Perfect Plan...

I patiently waited till I could reserve a Tee time at Tour18 in Houston. I called as soon as they opened and had my choice of times. I took 7:48. That was May 25th. Dad would arrive on the 31st and there was a lot to be done in the week ahead.

My Son's Birthday...

The big 4. A great party for the kids and adults. The miraculous thing was that my wife and kids had finally seemed to overcome a brutal virus that had taken hold of them. As usual, I made it through this sickness unscathed (yes, I do like foreshadowing...).

I rarely get sick. When I do get sick, I get good and sick. The past week was no exception...

I wanted to get a final round in before Dad got here, so I had set up a tee time for Sunday, the ay after my Boy's Birthday party. During the party, I noticed I seemed to have a little scratchy thoat, but I thought it was mostly from all the talking during the party. In the back of my mind, I had a sinking feeling.

I awoke Sunday morning with a little bit of a sore throat, but not to bad. No fever like the rest of my family, so I thought I might have just gotten a little to much conversation in at the party (4-year-olds really seem to enjoy my stories :) ).

By mid-round at The Battleground, I knew I was developing a fever. I had some Tylenol, so I took a couple and finished the round. I shot a 103 by the way.

That night my symptoms got worse. My throat clamped up, my fever fired up, and more flu-like symptoms hammered me into a useless pile. I felt bad because I did not have the strength to help my wife get ready for the inlaws' visit. She worked her butt while I laid in bed. To make things worse, she knew the main reason I wanted to get better was to golf on Thursday.

Well, I got worse, the rains descended on Houston to the tune of 10+ inches over several days. Monday night my temperature hit 105.8 so I was in the Doctor's office the next morning. The Doc told me I should have went in to the hospital with a fever that high. She suspected I had Acute Bronchitis, warned it was likely caused by a virus that would just have to run it's course, but gave me a five-day antibiotic just in case it wasn't.

I took the day 1 dose and tried to rest. My daughter had a rehearsal for her part in Peter Pan that day, so by try to rest, I mean watch my son (and try to rest). We spent the ay inside not because I was sick, but because Houston was entrenched in a rainstorm. During all of this, I continued to take Tylenol and monitor my temperature. I felt very weak, it was hard to breathe, and I had to fight to stay awake. At some point, my temp snuck back up to 101-ish so I took more Tylenol and tried to drink Gatoraid. My Mom called and I told her what was going on. My temp was now creeping up toward 103. I decided to call my Mom every 30 minutes and told her to call me if I didn't. I did not want to fall asleep with my temp going up. And go up it did... 103... 104... At 45 minutes after I took the Tylenol, my Wife stopped in to check on me. She took my temp and it was 105.8 again!!! We were at the hospital fifteen minutes later.

The inlaws are coming in Wednesday in the early evening at IAH across town...

I'm scheduled to play the round I had been preparing for for months...

It's raining cats and dogs and courses are closed all across the city...

Can it get any worse...

To be Continued ---->

-Greg

Overdo Update...

2006-05-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer...

This post might be out of order - note the date 5/22 (I noticed I forgot to publish it while I was cleaning out old drafts). I wrote this before the bronchitis/hernia thing, but this was really the primer of my minor health problems. Seems I have not played golf with an injury free body in a few months.

Roller Skating is NOT like riding a Bike...

So, we took the kids to the skating rink... yada yada yada and I took a spill. I came down mostly on my left arm. I jammed my left wrist and pulled something in my left chest. I felt a little pain, but not too bad. That evening I went down to Green Caye for a little golf. I met up with Martin and we decided to do our usual routine (25 cent holes and greenies). A few practice swings confirmed that I had some pain but I figured it was a temporary thing and I would power through the night. Well, 27 holes later I was down $3.25.

I decided to lay off golf to give the injury some to heal. I would make a few swings in the back yard to measure the progress. About the time I was considering playing golf again, my new roller blades arrived. I was planning on golfing in the next day or two so I had to carefully weigh the risk of taking the new blades for a spin. The blades won out and as you could have guessed, I was a little off on the risk assessment. Yep, I wiped out and jammed up my left wrist again. I also reagrevated the left chest pull.

Plan B...

Another week of rest and I decided to play some golf. I went down to Bayou on May 4th because I needed to get out on a regulation course. I was turned away as soon as I entered the clubhouse because a tournament was about to start. Time for plan B... I recalled seeing another course in this area and hit the road to find it. After about 40 minutes of searching, I finally found Lakeview Country Club in La Marque, TX.

I was told that La Marque was basically a cheap goat pasture course that was windy and wide open with lots of water. The description was fairly accurate. The wind was howling 20-30 which made for some awesome downwind drives (I'd list the distances, but I'm afraid no one would believe me). One of my goals was to continue to work on hitting a draw with the driver and this course would be a great place to do it. All in all, I had a great day and shot 92 on this 5940 yard course. The course is rated 69.4/113 and I feel it's a little easier than that based on Pasadena's rating of 69.7/113. I feel Pasadena is under rated but what do I know, remember I'm New2Golf :)

Here are the stats from the round:

Fairways hit... 9
GIRs........... 5 (1 just missed, 2 sand)
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 5 (1 up and down on 12)
Putts......... 34
Bogeys......... 7
Doubles........ 2
Triples........ 2
Balls lost .... 4 (3 water)

Next, I played The Battleground on the 9th. My goal was to shoot 89. I stunk the place up pretty bad. I was hooking my drives and didn't figure it out till the 18th where I hammered one almost to the water (about 280 yards) into a 10-15 mph quartering headwind. Then I hit an easy gap wedge across the water (but short of the green) and made the up-and-down. I carded an ugly 112 (111 with ESC) on this round.

Here are the stats from the round:

Fairways hit... 4
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 2 (both up and downs)
Putts......... 38
Bogeys......... 5
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 1
Bad holes...... 6 (all snowmen)
Balls lost .... 6 (6 water)

I managed to get out to Pasadena for a round and I joined a pair of senoirs who were also walkers. They warned me that they were slow, would not follow the course as it's laid out, and would likely have to let others play through. I usually don't let this stuff bother me and I was able to make the most out af a slow and painful round. I just decided to play a practice round. These guys turned out to be quite fun to play with. They hunted balls, cracked jokes about each other, and sat down to rest a few times while I putted and chipped to my hearts content. My driving was long and straight. My irons were on fire, and my putting turned on by the time I walked off the course.

As I have been doing since I got my new wedges, I used my 60* around the greens with very limited success. I had been toying with the idea that I should learn the 'bump and run" for some time and after a few frustrating chips with the 60*, I decided to give it a go. At the beginning of the round, I started hitting two chips with the 60* and one with the PW. I was so impressed with the results, that by the end of the round, I was chipping two with the PW and one with the 60*. I walked off the course with a new shot in my bag. I tried all sorts of different shots. I hit a punch shot under a tree and into the face of an elevated green that popped up and came to rest three feet from the pin.

I came away from that round having learned the value of a "practice round". Obvoiusly, I wouldn't mess around like that on a course if it were busy, but this was a weekday round and I had a great time out on the course. Really... my writing skills cannot convey how great I felt after that round.

I would not golf again until the 22nd (last Sunday). I spent most of my day catching up on yard work and by about 2:30 I decided I needed to get out and golf. I made it up to San Jac and played two loops of the whites (65.2/98) and everything just seemed to come together.

I shot a new personal record of 83!!!

Here are the stats from the round:

Fairways hit... 9
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 8 (New record!!!)
Putts......... 34
Bogeys......... 6
Doubles........ 3
Triples........ 0
Bad holes...... 0
Balls lost .... 1 (tree)

I started with a par and then took a double. Then I managed to string three pars together. A chip with the PW on a par 3, a monster drive that hit the fairway (cutting the corner big time!!) on a severe dogleg left, and solid play on the 518 yard 5th were the keys to that string of pars. Just as I was feeling great, I blew it on the 6th with a three-putt double. Then I birdied the 7th after nearly driving the 284 yard green into the wind. A par and a bogey later and I'm 4 over at the turn. I'm freaking out at how well I'm playing. Then I mention that I just started a year ago and my game falls apart... well somewhat. I lost seven strokes on the back with three pars and a double after I could not find my ball after hitting into a tree on the 8th. 40 and 43 and I felt so good playing that I was just a little dissappointed that I did not break 80 or get a little closer.

I have to give a lot of credit to the bump and run shot with the PW. I rolled the ball onto the green with great directional control. My putting seemed hot, but the stats don't reflect it.

Looking over those three rounds I have a good idea of what I can put together when Dad gets here. I've pretty much decided on Tour18 for our round.

Down the Final Stretch...

2006-04-28T10:49:00.000-05:00

I signed up again for another month at Green Caye. This month will represent my final month as a beginner because June 3rd will complete my first year playing the game.

Good Round at The Battleground...

I played a round at The Battleground on Wednesday with a friend from work. I did pretty well shooting a 99 (my course handicap). My record there is 98, and my goal was to shoot under 100. Here are the stats:

Fairways hit... 6
GIRs........... 3
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 2 (1 up and down)
Putts......... 34
Bogeys......... 7
Doubles........ 5
Triples........ 1
Bad holes...... 2 (2 7s on par 3s)
Balls lost .... 4 (4 water)

The four water balls account for four of the five doubles. I had two 3-putts and five 1-putts. Too bad most of those 1-putts were for bogey. I really have nothing to complain about for this round. Sure I shanked a couple shots, but all in all I hit the ball pretty well. Given all my practice at Green Caye (a par 3 course), I should have done better on the par threes. I did not make par on any of them and the two 7s I carded were downright ugly.

Kickoff at The Caye...

I shot two loops at Green Caye to kick off my last month as a beginner. I did pretty well hitting very solid shots on all but a couple of holes. I shot 37 and 34 with pretty good stats. The first loop I made 3 pars, hitting 2 greens, crapped out a 7 on one of the easiest holes on the course, and finished with a double. The second loop went very well until I pulled a shot into the water on #7. I had bogey par bogey par bogey par TRIPLE bogey par. I hit four greens (three putted one) and had one up and down.

Looking Ahead...

I'm going to keep on keepin' on as I have been for the last couple of months. I'm getting more comfortable with my irons and I'm drawing the ball consistently. I'm still flying the ball with the 60* LW around the greens with some success. My main problem is that most of the time the ball checks but sometimes it releases. I can't put my finger on how to control that so if anyone has a clue, please chime in. It might be time to learn to use 9i or PW around the greens with a "bump and run" type shot. I've seen many players use this shot with good results. I've also been focusing on not leaving putts short. I played a couple match play style rounds and I've found that if I take an attitude of "I need this putt to win the hole", I putt much better. I still have trouble fading/slicing my drives and my ball flight is very high with my 10.5* R540 XD. I need to learn to hit a lower flying soft draw consistently with the driver.

Dad (my Father-in-law) will be down for Chance's 4th birthday and we'll be taking an afternoon to play golf. I'm not sure where we'll play, but I'm thinking about Tour18, Southwyck, or Magnolia Creek. All are very nice (but a little spendy) courses that I have only dreamed about playing.

-Greg

All's Well that Ends Well...

2006-04-18T13:18:00.000-05:00

Defeat at The Battleground...

My hopes of a record round at The Battleground could be summed up by my first tee shot (that, with a little help from the wind, went swimming). I hit a total of six balls into the water and not all of them were tee shots. I made only two pars, one on the par 3 8th (150 yds all carry over water with an 8i), and the par 4 12th (409 yard #2 hcp hole). In the end, I shot a 107. Here are the stats:

Fairways hit... 6
GIRs........... 1 (1 just missed, 2 sand)
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 2 (1 up and down on 12)
Putts......... 38
Bogeys......... 2
Doubles........ 8
Triples........ 4
Balls lost .... 6 (6 water)

Then I tried again:

Fairways hit... 7
GIRs........... 3
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 6 (3 up and downs)
Putts......... 35
Bogeys......... 3
Doubles........ 2
Triples........ 5
Balls lost .... 6 (5 water, 1 OB)

I felt a lot better the second time around (shooting 102), though I still managed to find plenty of water.

The final two holes were sweet though. The 17th is a short par 5 of 454 yards and the wind was straight left to right. Water lines the entire right side of the fairway. I hit a great tee shot well left and the wind brought it back in on the left side of the fairway. An easy 3W got me to the fringe on the left and I was putting for eagle. I ended with par, but was very happy that I came the closest I've ever been to "on in 2" on a par 5. The 18th is a short par 4 of 378 yards with a carry over water on the approach shot to a highly elevated green. I teed the ball a bit too high and got under it which left me about 230 yards out. I went for it with the 3W and cleared the water to land 5 yards in front of the green. I made a pretty good chip to 10 feet below the pin and made the putt for par.

I just had no confidence in anything out there. I felt like I was afraid to hit the ball with a full swing. My putting was miserable and I left almost everything well short the first 18. I did better the second 18 because I made an effort not to leave putts short. Of course that left me with 6ft comebackers in many cases.

I need to learn to trust my swing.

Closing round at Green Caye...

Last night was the last night of my month-long membership at Green Caye. After playing so many rounds at a course, there's not a lot of thinking involved. I went with my mind made up that I would trust my swing and make the shot... And it worked well for the most part. I hit a 6i to start on the 180 yd hole into a gentle wind and drew it into what looked like a solid greenie. I found the ball on the fringe in the back but managed to par the hole (second time to par #1 in the last 32 attempts). I parred the next two, then took a double on #4 due to a topped tee shot and poor chipping. I came in with bogey-par-bogey-par-bogey for a solid 32. I was swinging almost lazily and flying the ball very well. My putting and chipping were outstanding as well. Of the five pars I made, four were up and downs. A very nice way to close out the month.

My earliest return to Green Caye will be next Monday. I will have no time for gold this weekend.

-Greg

Range Work and Welcome Back Wind...

2006-04-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

I hit a few buckets last night and I'm fairly sure I found my problem. Mostly, I was not releasing the club. The distance of a shot where I hold the club face square at contact is much less than the distance I get when I rotate the club face through square at impact. I think this rotating the club head is more responsible for my recent gains in distance than the previously thought source, a flatter swing. I think the flatter swing just facilitated a more natural, unforced release. Realizing this, I did pretty well at the range. Even with the long irons. I'm a little nervous because #4 and #8 at the battleground are tricky par threes that require a carry over water.

Looks like the wind will return for my round at The Battleground tomorrow:

Tomorrow's round will be my first round at The Battleground since February 17th.

Sure wish I had that 8.5* driver :P

-Greg

Quickie Update...

2006-04-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

No tournament for me...

I contacted one of the BGA officers and sadly, I was told I could not play because it's a Member/Guest tournament and each member must bring a guest. So, I fired off an email to all the guys that I've played with and none were able to play. So, I found a slot at The Battleground Saturday afternoon.

Lost my swing...

...and my money!!!

I played with Martin again last night. We played 0.25 for holes won and 0.25 for greens hit. I could not hit a tee shot. I was utter crap last night and quickly became frustrated. My chipping and putting made up for it though and I lost by just one stroke and only lost a 0.25 on the evening. I'm down 0.50 total.

With a few minutes left before the lights went out, I decided to hit a few balls with the driver to tune up for Saturday. I couldn't hit a straight shot. Very discouraging. The last night I was out there, Martin let me hit his Titelist 975D 8.5* driver with a ProLaunch 75g "S" shaft (I liked it too) a few times and I was hitting it straight 275+ over and over again. I know part of the problem was that I was not finishing on the follow through, and looking back, that may have been because I was not transferring my weight properly.

I hope I get a chance to regain some confidence before Saturday. My tee time is 11:48 so as a last resort I'll hit some balls before I tee off.

Regrouping...
-Greg

Post Masters Update...

2006-04-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

Obligatory Masters Comment...

I enjoyed watching the Masters tournament on television and webcast. That Amen Corner Live was great stuff. Like most folks, I was hoping to see someone challenge Phil, but it didn't happen. Particularly enjoyable was watching Mediate try to get out of the sand, and Couples 3-putt from 5ft. I didn't find it enjoyable because it ruined their chances, but because it gives us hackers something we can to relate to. I mean these guys are good, but once in a while they suck like the rest of us. These guys flubbed their shots with real stuff on the line, and I think most of them handle it very well.

Green Caye Update...

I have now played twenty-nine 9-hole rounds at Green Caye. Most of those rounds have been at night. In fact, I've been playing so many rounds at night, daytime golf was a shocker this past weekend. I managed three rounds in daylight on Sunday and I set yet another record.

{RANT_MODE = ON}

Before I get to the record I thought I'd talk about a couple of guys that we got paired with. These guys were average golfers (they sucked like me), yet they would throw a fit when they missed a shot. I played with one of them before, and he threw his club on that day (and I had my 3 year old son with me). He apoligized for acting that way in front of my son.

I can't understand how some folks can get so upset when playing on a par 3 course. It's not like they were playing for money either. I'm thankful that most of us accept that we will make many mistakes out there on the course and simply move on when we do. Let's all just accept that we will not be able to hit like the pros. We can however, learn to behave like the pros (most pros... I know there are poor examples out there) when we make a mistake.

{RANT_MODE = OFF}

I played with Martin on Sunday. This was the fourth time I played with Martin, and this time we decided to play for money. Martin is 60 and retired and our skill on this course is similar possibly favoring Martin a bit due to consistancy and putting. We decided each hole won would be 25 cents for the winner. I had been wanting to play for money for quite some time. I think it's just another way to help me focus more on each shot. I wanted to play one loop from each tee, but Martin did not want to play from "the ladies tees" even after I insisted that those tees were simply there to offer another yardage choice. So we played tips-whites-tips. I'll skip the details and just move to the dramatic finish. With Martin up 2, I birdied the 8th with a green followed by a 15ft putt. Martin was 3ft from bogey on the 9th and I was just on the fringe after 3 seriously pathetic shots. My 60* wedge shot flew straight and high then bounced softly on the green and rolled slowly over the final 10 feet and dropped into the cup. Martin made his putt and I paid up ($0.25). It was very fun. Next time we'll be adding 0.25 for greens and 0.25 for closest to the pin.

Looking back, I'm going to say that I was pretty lucky because Martin was having a bad putting day. Being older and wiser, he played almost every hole short which is the best conservative way to play this course.

I hit eight greens over the 27 holes. Here are the stats on those holes:

First loop (tips)
#5 175 yards with a 7i
#6 167 yards with a 7i

Second loop (whites)
#2 106 yards with 52* GW
#3 143 yards with a 9i

Third loop (tips)
#2 125 yards with a PW
#4 150 yards with a 9i
#5 175 yards with a 7i
#2 139 yards with a 91

All of these hole have something in common. They are all on the edge of how far I thought I could hit that club. As a result, I took a full swing knowing that I would likely be short. I hit the greens because I'm hitting the center of the club face much more often, and the conditions were warm, light and dry (remember I usually play at night).

I came to this conclusion last Friday night when I pushed two 6i shots OB on the right on #5 and in disgust, pulled the 7i figuring I'd at least hit it straight. And I hit that 7i right on the green 4 feet from the pin.

It seems that when I try to take a little off of a shot, I stop accelerating before I hit the ball, essentially coasting through the ball, and subconsiously I'm trying to guide the clubface through impact. In addition, I don't complete the follow through. While I get a consistant result, it is not a disirable one (push - fade).

So how can this help my game? Well, I'm hoping it will help in one very specific place, the number 1 hole. You can review this hole in my first tournament report. I usually hit a 5i here (and usually push-fade it right), and I've only hit the green once in the last 29 tries. I think this hole has my number mentally. It's the elevated turtle back green, the water on the left, and the OB on the right. My plan is to go for it with the 7i and hope to hit the front of the green. If I can't get there with the 7i, I'm going to try the 6i even though I can't hit the 6i as straight as I can hit the 7i. I might get to put that plan into action tonight.

That leads me to my current weakness, my long irons. I have a hard time hitting the 4 and 5 irons off of the turf. I can hit them with marginal success off of a tee. I managed to hit my 4i about 200 yards off of a tee on my third try on the 9th hole from the white tees. The first two faded/sliced and I noticed I was fininsing with my weight on my back foot. I fixed that on the third shot, but still had a bit of fade and I missed the green slightly long and right on this 196 yard hole. I think my problem is that I instinctively feel like I have to swing harder. They offer lessons at Green Caye for an exceptional price of $25.00 per hour. I'm considering a lesson with the long irons.

Oh yeah, the new record? I shot 46 on the second loop (from the whites), besting my previous worst-round record by one stroke. I know I can do better, c'mon 47 :P Seriously though, it was pretty brutal -> 7 4 3 3 5 5 5 4 10.

Next Tournament...

BGA is hosting their biggest tournament of the year this Saturday. While I haven't played Bayou since February 18th, I'm going to head down there and see if I can get in on the action.

Days Till Dad Gets Here (DTDGH) = 52
-Greg

Whole Lotta Post...

2006-04-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

Holy moley I have so much to blog about...

A couple of posts ago I said "Next time I'll post some thoughts on the event in general and the difference between how we play in a tournament vs. how we play day-to-day."

Note to self - Never include in a post what you'll post about next time!!

Catch Up:

The tournament in general... The tournament started about forty minutes after the scheduled start time. The first group and starting hole were assigned, then the first group took off for the first hole. Even though we yelled, "WAIT!!!, STOP!!!" the yells failed to overpower the wind (it was WINDY!!!) and they started while the rest of us waited for the remaining group/hole assignments. Did this screw up the shotgun start? You bet it did!!

After the group/hole assignments, there were a few rules questions brought up. To summarize, it was made known that you play the ball as it lies (no winter rules) and you putt out (no gimmies).

During the course of the tournament we noticed that many folks were taking a drop on the fairway after hitting the ball out of bounds. While it did not sit well with me, I let it go in the beginning because those who were doing it were likely not going to be in contention for any prize money. Then on the last hole, we saw two of the four guys hit it OB and jump in their cart (we did not see the first two hit their tee shot). These guys were in a group that reportedly was shooting well, so we called them on it and made them hit it again (and again, and again in one of their cases). We did not see the first two guys because they drove off as soon as the final ball was struck, but they were looking in the OB area for something.

Two points on this:

First, it's better to reivew the rules with the participants especially for a tournament like this where there are obviously many beginners.

Second, and this deals with the "how we we play in a tournament vs. how we play day-to-day" part of my promise, is that I generally took a drop for an OB hit when playing day to day. It just seems to be accepted as a way to keep up with the pace of play. Often I could argue that the results probably would not have changed. However, if you're playing in 20-30 mph winds, you face a much higher chance of messing up the second shot (or worse). I have in the past hit a provisional ball after an OB shot (which is the right thing to do) but it takes that much more time to look for the OB ball and hit the following shot of the provisional ball. Of course it gets more complicated if you hit the provisional OB.

So what do you do, hit or drop?

Since this enlightenment, I decided to start playing every round like it were a tournament and hit another ball.

Which brings me right up to the next topic, my Green Caye stats update. I can now say that after taking stroke and distance, the difference is NOT negligable as my current stats show my average score up almost two strokes in about 15 loops.

Stats ....... Current .. Last Month
--------------------------------
Greens ...... 1.5 ...... 1.89 . (per 9 holes)
Up and Down . 11 ....... 24 ... (percent parred of greens missed)
Ave Pars .... 2.2 ...... 3.0 .. (per 9 holes)
Ave Score ... 37 ....... 35.33
3 Putts ..... 0.9 ...... 0.89 . (per 9 holes)
4 Putts ..... 0.0 ...... 0.22 . (per 9 holes)
Ave Putts ... 17 ....... 17 ... (per 9 holes)

This is data from the 22 loops I've played at Green Caye since I signed up for another month on March 17th. No, there are no typos here. I have played 22 9-hole loops of the par three course in nine visits. Yes, this looks more like last September's stats.

What happened to my game? Well, part of the story is that I'm a man. You may recall how happy I have been that my "slower, flatter swing" has given me one to two clubs gain in distance. As you can guess, I couldn't leave well enough alone and (being a man...) I started swinging faster about the third trip down there and my consistency went out the window. Add to that that now I will hit another shot when I zing one OB and the results are in. Yeah, I need to ease up a bit. I'll go ahead and throw a couple more excuses in there and mention that it has been very windy and rainy. I feel I can play pretty well in the wind, but I had a heck of a time chipping off of wet soggy greenside turf for a few days.

The Big Ugly...

Since I encourage posting the bad news with the good, I set a new record during this period, 45. Yep, I shot a 45 on a par three course. We call that a flyer in the statistics world (and it shows). I was really having a bad day (is that not obvious) and I hit three balls OB. Two on the 9th where I carded a 7 to go along with the quartets of 4s and 5s and a 6 on the 8th (where I hit two into the water). I think bad day is an understatement. Now let's forget about that and move on to some good news...

New Personal Record: 86 at San Jac (Blues)

I played San Jac last Thursday in very windy conditions (SSE 20-30 mph). Here are the stats:

Fairways hit... 6
GIRs........... 4
Birdies........ 2
Pars........... 4
Putts......... 28
Bogeys......... 9
Doubles........ 2
Triples........ 1
Balls lost .... 0 (Can I get an Amen!!!)

This was my 39th regulation round and it brings my handicap down to 24.9

While I'm very happy about this, I really need to break 90 at some of the more difficult courses like The Battleground.

The more I reflect on these stats, the more I realize the importance of the short game. Since I don't hit a lot of greens, my greenside chips will make or break a round for me. Right now, I'm better off missing the green if hitting the green means a long putt.

No golf for me...

My wife worked this past weekend which meant I would not be playing any golf. That's all good because I sure have been playing a ton of golf. However, once I got the kids to bed I went out and grabber my putter. I putted around a bit before hitting the computer room.

It was during some reading on one of the golf forums (golfwrx or golfreview) that I stumbled into this link:

www.shot-online.com

I have Tiger Woods 2005 and I've played it quite a bit, so I didn't expect too much from this free online game. But after I downloaded and installed it, I was instantly hooked. It's a mix of golf and RPG gaming. The best part is that you get to play with other real people. If you like golf games, you'll like this! If you like RPG games like The Sims, you'll like this!! Really, you'll like this!!!

Go ahead and check it out!!! Once you figure it out, give me a hollar for a round. I'll bet you can guess my name - New2Golf

Cya on the virtual links,
-Greg

Green Tees at Green Caye...

2006-03-29T09:10:00.000-06:00

As mentioned in a previous post, and in light of GolfChick's latest blog entry, I'm going to post a previously unpublished entry. I had intended to publish this entry, but with golfing nearly every night, I've had little time to blog and this entry was left unpublished because I had signed up for my first tournament.

This entry was written on Saturday, March 18th...

Disappointed and with no solid plans for golf this weekend, I decided to head down to Green Caye and sign up for another month. I didn't get down there until about 8:00. The range was empty but there were a few people out on the course.

Since it felt like I was running a little late (they close at 10:00), I decided to warm up on the first tee. I did a few stretches and made a few swings with two irons together. There was no one in sight, so I decided to hit a couple shag bag balls to loosen up. Fat, thin, pushed... Stupid 5i. I don't know what it is with this club. I walked out to retrieve those balls with my 60* wedge and as I passed the green tees, I decided I would play this loop from the greens and left my bag there. I found two of my shag bag balls and chipped them back at my bag.

As fate would have it, a group was pulling up just as I was putting the shag bag balls away and taking out a couple Nike Long and Softs. Great, here I am on the green tees and I've been spotted... Actually, I didn't feel funny at all. I knew I'd be working my full swing wedges and that's an area I need to work on from a place where I can get good yardage estimates.

The problem with the green tees at Green Caye is that they are not adequately lighted. The lights are more focused on the yellow tees. I guess that's good and bad. Bad because well, it's dark; good because you need to "focus" on your ball and "feel" your swing more.

I have a yardage book I've made for Green Caye, but it was too dark to read it. However, I recalled it being about 125 yards when I hit an 8i into the wind with my daughter. The wind was light, blowing mostly left to right, and slightly into my face. I hit a PW and I was surprised to see the ball drop short.

I wasn't sure how much better I should expect to score. This is a par 3 course, so it's nothing like hitting from shorter tees at a regulation course. I guess I could expect to hit more greens so perhaps a few strokes better? I don't know.

The results of the loop were pretty good. I hit 5 greens (I've hit 5 from the yellows), made 4 pars, one up and down, and had 2 three-putts. The final score was 32 and that's not bad considering the greens are recovering from aeration and are still quite sandy. From that you can tell that I had 2 three-putts after hitting the green from the tee. I'm hoping I'll see fewer and fewer three-putts as the greens recover.

So, where does this leave me as far as hitting from the greens goes...

Would I hit from the green tees again at Green Caye? Sure, but probably not at night.

Would I hit from tees shorter than "men's tees" when playing a regulation round? I'd like to think I would be open to that but the circumstances would have to be such that the course was either particularly difficult, or too long. Even then, I would have to try from the men's tees once or twice before considering it.

I good friend of mine was having a bad day and he decided to play the back nine from the senior tees. We were paired with two other guys and I had no problem with him stepping up. I thought it took some guts on his part as well. Then he hammered a solid drive right into the water that he felt he had no chance of reaching.

In any case, I think playing from the senior tees or ladies tees offers another way to play a course and allows for different strategies using different clubs. It also adds a twist to the mental side of the game.

For example, say you have resolved to play from the senior tees for the above reasons. Now, after your group has teed off, you are nearly always the closest to the hole. Even though you're playing your own game, there are going to be some thoughts going on in the heads of everyone in the group.

You also have to consider the results of the round. You expect to score better and build confidence if you're shortening the course. You do however run the risk of having a bad day. What could be worse that having a bad round from the senior tees? How is that going to affect your next round, when you play from the men's tees?

I have only touched on some of the things that this topic has caused me to think about. There is plenty of room for discussion if anyone is willing to take a second and actually consider playing from a shorter tee set. I just don't think there are many average golfers who would even consider it.

Am I right?
-Greg

My 1st Tourney Report...

2006-03-27T11:52:00.000-06:00

I'll just cut to the chase for the skimmers (and we know who you are ;^)... I finished my first tournament in 5th place along with two other guys who were in my foursome.

The tournament was at Green Caye (the par 3 course) and it was an individual stroke play event with no handicapping. The weather was sunny and windy as the weather forecast in the previous post suggested. There was a twist where after nine holes, the groups drew the 10th hole from a hat and reshot that hole. The score on the 10th hole would replace the previous score shot there.

I think there were 18 players. The entry fee was $10.00 for members, and $25.00 for non-members. I know there were some non-members there and I know that the prize money was $180.00. So from that, I figure the club only made money on the non-members entry fees.

To my surprise, shock and horror, they trimmed the greens down extra tight for the event. I tend to get a little gun shy on fast greens, but I tried not to let it bother me. They don’t have a practice green per se; they have a 9-hole putting course. This was no help though since these greens did not receive the fresh cut.

The start was shotgun and my group started on the 2nd hole. I started out on fire hitting the green and making a par. I followed that with a bogey after missing the green. Then I hit the next three greens but managed to three-putt one of them. So, here I am two over with four holes to go.

3 4 3 4 3

The toughest holes on the course are 1, 7, and 9. We’re on the 7th and I’m up first on the box. Here’s a look at number seven.

This is a short hole of 113 yards. The water on the left wraps slightly around the front of the green and the surface of the water is about 6 feet below the fairway. The area adjacent to the water is a severe slope down into the drink. To say this green is tough is really an understatement. The narrowest part of the green is only about 10 feet. It’s an elevated green that slopes down along the black line. There are large mounds on the back and right (pink circles). Out of bounds is shown in dark blue. Pin placement for the tourney was the yellow “X. The tee box is elevated and the contrast between the elevated green and the sunken water hazard makes the hole somewhat scary looking. Some people think this is the toughest hole on the course (I think #1 is the toughest). We were playing from the gold tees, which were in a pretty good spot. Pretty good since it's usually extreme left of the box making the water more of a factor. I also showed the white and green tees for no apparent reason.

The best miss here is short and right. This miss would leave an uphill chip keeping the water out of play. Until today, the pin placement had been on the front and I was playing the safe shot with my GW. Today, with the pin up on the back area, I decided to try an easy PW. I made good contact but I was a bit too far right (the shot started well left heading toward the water) and the wind brought it back about 4 feet too much. I landed on the backside of the biggest mound and got a big kick out into the rough (second shot was from red “X”). I missed (missed short, long would be wet) the chip over the mound, but my second one was very nice and the ball came to rest leaving a 5-foot downhill putt. I failed to make the bogey putt and took a double.

3 4 3 4 3 5

I did a similar thing on number eight. 139 yards, wind right to left, water on right, mounds and out of bounds on the left. My 8i landed on the backside of a mound on the left and kicked out of bounds. I took a triple there.

3 4 3 4 3 5 6

The ninth hole is the longest hole at 216 yards. Wind right to left with a slight downwind component. I hit a 3W past pin high on the left. I was between the cart path and the OOB fence and I got free relief from the fence and the cart path, but now I was well past pin high. I totally flubbed with the wedge and took a 1-putt double.

3 4 3 4 3 5 6 5

Our final hole was #1 since we started on #2. This hole has water all along the left and OOB along most of the right. Larger mounds on the back of the green and smaller mounds on the right. The green is elevated with a shallow, playable ditch that runs in front. The best miss here is short (even with the ditch), but right is not bad if you stay in bounds and the pin is not too far right. The length is 180 yards. Here's a look at #1 with the same marking scheme.

I hit a 5i and made good contact but did not aim enough left. I landed long on the right just missing the OOB (red shows landing spot and second shot position). Again, I completely choked with my chipping and took a 2-putt triple.

3 4 3 4 3 5 6 5 6

So, I’m sitting on a 39. We return to draw our 10th hole and lucky for me, we draw #8. This time I hit a 9i well out over the water on the left and the wind just pushes the shot enough to land on the right fringe. I had a long putt that I left six feet short. I ended with a two-putt bogey and 37 for the tournament.

3 4 3 4 3 5 4 5 6

I didn’t think I had any chance, but I hung around to hear the results. Third place was announced as a three-way tie between me and two others (both in my group) and we were each awarded a Hamilton (“It’s all about the Hamiltons baby!” right GC?). Second was a 35, and first was a 33.

Then two bozos decided to turn in their cards and they both had 33s. So we gave our money back and they decided to have a playoff.

Since the tournament started late, I took a pass on watching the playoff.

Next time I’ll post some thoughts on the event in general and the difference between how we play in a tournament vs. how we play day-to-day.

For those who made it this far, thanks for hangin’ in there,

-Greg

Midnight weather update...

2006-03-25T23:08:00.000-06:00

Yahoo Waether:

Local Forecast - (How to Read This)

Today: Plenty of sunshine. High around 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Generally clear. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow: Windy with a few clouds from time to time. High 74F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph.

********************************************************

Should be a fun tournament tomorrow ;^)

-Greg

Pre-Tournament Update...

2006-03-25T11:52:00.000-06:00

With June quickly approaching (My one-year anniversary with golf and my Father'in-law's next visit), I'm golfing as much as I possibly can.

I signed up at Green Caye for the third time on March 17th. I have looped the short par three course thirteen times in five trips. On most of those visits the wind has been really howling, yet I've managed to maintain my averages to some extent. I even shot a 31 with the winds blowing 13-22 and gusting to 28. I only hit two greens that day (got one birdie), so my chipping is coming along nicely. My putting seems to run hot and cold. Overall, it seems like I'm 3-putting more. I think it's because I've been hitting more greens though.

Prior to signing up I received a great chipping tip. It's a simple tip and easy to apply and master. I'm sure most of you know it.

The tip is to use a putting stroke (no wrist action) when chipping near the green.

I have put this into practice and have been using it with my 60* wedge with great success. There is a limit to the range I can use this shot with the 60*, but when I reach it, I just club up to a SW, GW, PW, 9i or whatever. The putting stroke when chipping ensures solid ball contact and consistently repeatable results. I'm learning to love my 60* around the green.

That brings me to a new personal record: I finished 9 holes at Green Caye with just twelve putts. Too bad I only managed to hit one green on that windy day and finished with a 33.

I'll be playing in a 10-hole tournament this Sunday at Green Caye. No handicaps, just gross score. It's only $10.00 for members, so I figured what the hey.

I played Pasadena yesterday. It was my 38 regulation round. I felt I did horrible, though when I filled out the scorecard (from the recorded notes on my Olympus W-10), I was surprised to have shot a 98 (73 net) - it felt more like a 108.

Here's the stats:

Fairways hit... 7
GIRs........... 2
Birdies........ 1 (on #1)
Pars........... 3 (2 up and downs)
Putts......... 30 <---- Solid!!!
Bogeys......... 6
Doubles........ 5
Triples........ 1
Snowmen........ 3 Arrgh!!
Balls lost .... 4 (3 water, 1 OOB)

This was a morning round and the conditions were pretty good, not wet, cool, but sunny. The wind was blowing a bit out of the north at 10 mph or so and picked up as I finished the back nine. The pin placement on every hole was about 5 feet from the front of the green on every hole. I'm guessing they did this because they had just airiated the greens (not yet sanded). That had me aiming short since most of these greens are elevated and slope toward the fairway and some of the slopes are pretty severe especially right at the front of the green. I'm getting pretty good at putting on those airiated greens ;^)

I really felt like I struggled the whole round as my shots refused to go where I wanted them to. It was a game of recovery shots.

My driving was terrible. Most of the shots flew pretty straight, but to the right of my target line. Today, I managed a few hooks (of course when aiming to the left as well). I rarely hook a drive.

I did manage one real beaut though on the 14th. The greenskeeper was mowing the tee box as I walked up and when he finished, he pulled up to the womens tee box, then off the fairway to the left and shut the mower off to wait for me to hit. I had the wind at my back, and with my audience, I just wanted to hit it straight (no hook, please - dude, you're in a danger zone). I made a smooth swing that had a nice smooth accelleration through the ball. The shot flew high down the right side of the fairway and very subtly drew back in. I lost sight of the ball as it started back in, so I was hoping it would hold the right side of the fairway. As I walked by the greenskeeper, he tipped his hat and said, "Now that's how ya do it.", before starting the mower back up. I nodded and walked toward my ball. I found it about 10 yards out from the 150 marker in the middle of the fairway on this 465 yard par 5 hole.

A solid 315 yard drive.

I took my son down to Green Caye one evening. They let me take a cart for free. This is one family friendly facility, and I'll continue to support them with my patronage. I played two loops. One behind a family foursome. He had to wait quite a bit, but we kept ourselves busy. I tossed him the ball often as he broought his new baseball glove and ball, and he smashed several golf shots off the tee box. I'm telling you, this kid has potential with a golf club. The junior set is waaaayyy to big for him yet he can hit to two to three times as far as his older sister.

Today I pulled a muscle in my right arm/chest. I hope I'll be okay for tomorrow's tourney. My wife and I are going to a friends for a BBQ party tonight and I'll be trying to pace myself there as well.

Next post - tournament results!

-Greg

I Can Play Golf...

2006-03-12T18:57:00.000-06:00

The plan today was to play Glenbrook because my playing partner had never played that course before and wanted to try something new. I scared him off by making some comments about the course conditions. It's not that I didn't want to play there, I love that course. I just think the that for the price, the conditions suck and I'd prefer to take him there when the turf awakens.

So we decided to play Evergreen Point. I played there once back when I first started, it was June 28th, and I had a coupon for a free birthday round. Evergreen Point was the third regulation course I played and I scored well with a 116. Not bad for my third round especially considering it's rating and slope of 70.0/124 are similar to The Battleground (70.8/125).

For me, I think Evergreen Point is a bit hoidy-toidy. I mean, you don't get a bucket of balls, you get a little sack. And the guy that took my money spent several silent minutes looking at my Golf18Houston discount rate printout (I paid $35.00 where the regular rate is $44.00) and accepted it with his nose so high in the air I thought we were experiencing an eclipse. What... Ever... I guess I'm just a muni-boy at heart and the whole atmosphere of the place had me a little nervous through the first few holes. I started pretty good though, with a bogey and a par. Then I dropped a triple on number three (well, it was the #1 handicap hole on the course).

Then, I just played solid golf making 11 straight bogies.

E L E V E N straight bogies.

Eleven straight bogies!

Then I made a PAR!!

That was one nice stretch of solid play - for me anyway :^)

Then I hit 4 balls into the water on #16. One off the tee that I bombed 270 into the wind where I needed about 290 to carry the water. I wasn't trying to carry the water, I just hit my shot a little bit to much to the left. Crap! I was lying three where I took the drop and I still had to carry about 110 yards of water and beyond that was a maze of fancy bunkers that lined the left side of the fairway leading up to the green. So I had about 185 into the wind and uphill to reach the green. Up until that tee shot, I was playing the same ball I started with. I was hitting very solid shots and I was confident I could reach the green, or at least find the sand (which I have no problems hitting out of). I decided to hit a 5i instead of the 4i because I felt more confident about hitting it straight (I still tend to fade the 4i) and I felt I could at least get to the front of the green (or thereabouts). Yes, I hit the next three into the water. At this point, I was on ESC cruise control (not going to score less than 9) but I needed to make this shot. It had become personal. I landed my 9th shot with an easy swing onto the back of the green where it rolled off by about 5 feet. I had made 12 strokes (including penalties) before I finally pulled the ball out of the hole.

So, what happened? Well, the shot was 185 yards, uphill, and fraught with danger. I really didn't feel (consciously anyway) intimidated with the look of the shot, I was more concerned with putting a little extra swing speed since with the wind, and it being uphill, 185 was pushing it a bit for me with the 5i. Now the problem with swinging harder is that it just plain gets exponentially harder to keep your eye on the ball unless you can keep the swing smooth. So, I figure I was a little jerky and just shanked three consecutive shots into the drink. I slowed down on the fourth one and nearly flew the green. Yeah, I need to read my own blog once in awhile and realize (again) that a 100% swing produces crap pretty much 100% of the time.

OK, where were we... Blow up hole, scoring a 9 with ESC.

Wait, the story doesn't end there. The next hole was also slightly into the wind, but more left to right; a par three. I tried a little too hard to draw the ball into the wind, and I made a sort of low hook shot into the water! What the... I never hook with my irons!!! Well, I took a triple on that one.

I pulled it together in the end finishing with a bogey on the long par 4 that is the number 2 handicap hole on the course. Final score - 96!!! Very disappointing since I was well on my way to breaking 90 on a tough course, but still a NET -6!!!

Here's the stats:

Fairways hit... 5 (3 just missed)
GIRs........... 5 (3 just missed)
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 3 (1 up and down)
Putts......... 37
Bogeys........ 13 <---- Wohoo!!!
Doubles........ 0
Triples........ 2
Balls lost .... 5 (5 water)

While I can kick myself for blowing what could easily have been my best round ever, I'm very happy with that score. It was only me second time out there, and the one time I was out there, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. My playing at Green Caye has really brought my game up a notch. My driving was very straight and long (measured one to 290). I made solid contact with my approach shots. I could have done better with my short game though, I left many chips short (only one 1-putt). My putting could have been better, I 3-putted three holes and they were all GIRs - yeah, I admit that's pretty bad (and those were my only 3-putts).

Well, there you have it. I feel really good about my game. I don't feel like I had a lucky round, I feel like I can play golf. I'm just gonna keep doin' what I'm doin' including signing up for another month at Green Caye (in a week or so? - maybe earlier?). I'm going to work extra hard with my wedges and putter.

Look out Battleground,
-Greg

Pasadena Report...

2006-03-08T12:22:00.000-06:00

I finally posted a good score at Pasadena today. Previously, Pasadena had this way of beating me up when I knew I was capable of scoring better.

My past scores were:

110 on 10/12/2005
111 on 10/20/2005
113 on 11/23/2005

Not too good, and I'm sure I wrote about some of those rounds just to share the pain. Well today, I gave Pasadena the beating with a solid 95 (68 net, 44 on the front, 51 on the back)! The course was in pretty good shape for this time of year. The greens looked pretty good, but putted pretty slow compared to other courses I've played. I arrived at the course at 7:00 and finished by 9:40. I even let a few single guys riding in carts play through. Normally, I can keep ahead of a cart, but there are several long treks from one green to the next tee at Pasadena and most folks won't walk it.

Here's the stats on the round:

Fairways hit... 8
GIRs........... 3
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 5
Putts......... 32
Bogeys......... 6
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 3
Balls lost .... 4 (4 water)

My driving was solid and I barely missed 2 fairways and one I landed in a fairway bunker. That fairway bunker was a first for me. I was near the front of it and I had an uneven stance. I hit a 7i out but missed the green pin high to the right. I measured 11 drives (217,239,202,272,278,214,217,205,224,274,272) and came out with an average of 237.6. The wind was howling as expected but I managed it well, trying to hit lower drives into the wind.

Nearly all of my drives looked like cut shots. My draw was not working at San Jac so I went back to aiming to land on the left of the fairway. Many shots went straight, and some had a little turn right at the end. Very nice looking shots, often landing smack in the middle.

My putting was average today. I missed three birdie attempts and suffered one three-putt. My chipping was hot, giving me 5 one-putts. My irons were off and on. I'd pull shots, push shots, and hit some great shots. This is weird since I just spent a month working my irons at Green Caye. I learned that I do best with a full swing. If I try to take a little off of it I make a poor shot. A few of greens I only missed the GIR because I rolled onto the fringe. I just missed the greens and the par putts on 16, 17, and 18. Each of these three holes I tried to fly the ball from the fringe to the hole with the 60* wedge and came up short by ten or twelve feet each time. I may have done better with the flat stick, but I was feelin' the love comin' from my wedges. I made a nice out of the sand on #7. Now that I've been practicing the flop shot, I no longer fear the sand. I can hit a pretty good line out of the sand, I just need to work on my distance control. I did shank a couple of shots, but overall, I made pretty solid contact today.

Smiling on the happy side of 100,
-Greg

New Personal Record (and more)...

2006-03-07T07:25:00.000-06:00

New record at Green Caye...

>>>Thirty-One<<<

I played Green Caye last night for my final rounds of this one-month membership period. I played two rounds and shot 31 and 38. 31 on the par 27 course is my new course record beating the 32 I had shot on a couple of occaisions. I managed to shoot 38 on three of the nine rounds where I recorded stats this period. The 31 featured two GIRs that I parred, three up and down pars and four two-putt bogeys. As promised, I updated the stats in my previous post and added some putting stats as a bonus. The real kicker is that the first four holes were peferated for airiation that afternoon and putting was brutal. I parred only one of those three (the third) and only because I hit the green about 10 feet from the pin. They are supposed to airiate the rest of the greens today.

I think I'll give Green Caye a break for a week or so (at least untill the greens recover) before I sign up for another month.

Playing from the Greens...

Green Caye has three tee boxes, Gold, White, and Green. I have played many nine-hole rounds from both the golds and the whites. I've never hit from the green tees though... except when I took my daughter. That day the wind was howling pretty good, probably 20+. I hit an 8i where I would have normally hit a PW. I felt pretty good when it landed in the center of the green. After I got home I thought about it some and decided that hitting from the green tees offers it's own set of challenges. Sure, it's the shortest the course plays. Sure, it'll play a lot easier. Sure, I'll look like a wuss hitting from them. My point here is that these par-three courses offer more that we are sometimes willing to see. All I have to do is have the balls to say, "No, I'm playing from the green tees". On the bright side, I won't have to worry about not hitting past them.

Here's the yardage comparison (I know, funky order - deal with it).

Hole ... Whites ... Golds .... Greens
1 ...... 160 ...... 180 ...... 125
2 ...... 106 ...... 125 ...... 85
3 ...... 143 ...... 161 ...... 113
4 ...... 112 ...... 150 ...... 98
5 ...... 148 ...... 175 ...... 108
6 ...... 146 ...... 167 ...... 109
7 ...... 100 ...... 113 ...... 93
8 ...... 107 ...... 139 ...... 98
9 ...... 197 ...... 216 ...... 165

While I'm on the subject of these par three courses, how's this for an idea:

How about playing your shot from a random side of the tee box such that you have a strange stance (feet above the ball, feet below the ball, on the up-slope, on the down-slope).

Whatcha think?

I think a guy could play the greens in this way and not feel like a wuss. I don't think a guy should feel like a wuss hitting normally from the greens at a course like this, but I know I'll feel a little strange... Maybe this is a good way to prepare for a tournament. Play a round with your beer-drinking-tobacco-chewing buddies razing you the whole time about what a wuss you are. Sure would test your focus :^)

Lessons from San Jac...

The first hole at San Jac is a 229/259 yard (whites/blues) hole that has a nice pond right in front of the green. Most folks don't drive the hole because it's the first hole, there is no room left, little room right, and while there is room long, your chipping back towards the water to an elevated green. I hit an 8i/SW on this hole and often get a fairway, a green, and a 2-putt par. I honestly don't think I could do any better if this were a wide open hole. If it were wide open, I'd likely hit a 3W short, chip on and 2-putt out. Or worse, I'd try to drive it and have to work harder to save par than the previous two options.

So the lesson is when a hole can be reached by 2 mid-iron shots or less, leave the big dog in the bag. What are the odds of making two solid iron shots and how do those odds compare to hitting one solid drive? I guess I'd need to try it a few times. Or not. Driver please... Will I ever learn that lesson?

Putting Technique...

I've fooled around with lining up the text on the ball with your putt line and I've never felt it does that much for me. I saw Tiger's ball had that line and I thought maybe I should give it a go. I see quite a few folks using this technique, there must be something to it.

Another putting technique I'd like to try for a period of time is the "look at the hole" technique. I've done this quite a bit in the house and I've been pretty impressed with the results.

My putting technique is anything but consistent at this stage of my game development, so now's a good time to see if I can find what works well for me.

I suppose I could extend this topic to putters. I use a cheap ($9.99) Dunlop blade type putter. I tried a center-shafted Voodoo mallet type putter that had a nice line on it that seemed to help my aim. There are just too many choices when it comes to putters, I just don't want to open that can of worms.

We're in trouble now...

I recently came across this live audio coverage of PGA events on the web. Please try not to listen while at work.

Golf Outlook...

I may try to sneak in a round at Pasadena tomorrow morning. Pasadena is not a hard course, but I have yet to break 100 there. The weather should assist me in maintaining that statistic (forecast winds: 20-30 mph).

-Greg

Playing Catch-up...

2006-03-06T09:57:00.000-06:00

I've been playing so much golf, I have had little time to blog. That's a good thing. I have a few minutes, so I'm going to post an update.

It's in the Statistics...

Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that.
- - - Homer Simpson

Ah Homer... Ya got to love him.

STATS UPDATED - 03/07

Here is a comparison of the stats from my current rounds at Green Caye and those from Last September. I think the improvement shown is a little better than the numbers suggest because this time I played from the tips (hey, it's a par 3 course) and for completeness, I've shown the yardage difference. I recorded 12 9-hole rounds in September and 7 rounds recently. I may play tonight and if I do, I'll update the data in this post. <- Yep, note the big red "UPDATED" above.

Hole ... Whites ... Golds
1 ...... 160 ...... 180
2 ...... 106 ...... 125
3 ...... 143 ...... 161
4 ...... 112 ...... 150
5 ...... 148 ...... 175
6 ...... 146 ...... 167
7 ...... 100 ...... 113
8 ...... 107 ...... 139
9 ...... 197 ...... 216

Stats ....... Current .. Sept '05
--------------------------------
Greens ...... 1.89 ..... 1.75 . (per 9 holes)
Up and Down . 24 ....... 21 ... (percent parred of greens missed)
Ave Pars .... 3.00 ..... 2.5 .. (per 9 holes)
Ave Score ... 35.33 .... 38.25
3 Putts ..... 0.89 ..... 1.33 . (per 9 holes)
4 Putts ..... 0.22 ..... 0.00 . (per 9 holes)
Ave Putts ... 17 ....... 17 ... (per 9 holes)

Not the improvement I was looking for, but improvement nonetheless.

Daddy's Little Girl...

I took my Daughter to Green Caye last Wednesday. I left work early, picked her up from school, and we zipped down to Green Caye. The range and course were surprisingly busy, but we managed to have a great time on both the course and the range.

We started off with a bucket of balls on the driving range. I figured one bucket would be plenty, and you only have two choices large ($3.50) and bottomless ($7.00). I set us up on the far end and there was one gentlemen a couple of slots in front of us. I showed her how to use a tee thinking that she would have an easier time getting the ball into the air, but she became frustrated knocking the ball off of the tee while addressing the ball. Other than helping her line up her shot, I just let her swing away. She kept running out to get the balls she hit since that's what she does in the backyard. She hit many balls at a considerable pace and emptied the bucket in record time. Since the tee thing didn't work out, she did not hit her driver much, but her 9/P saw a good bit of action.

Next, we tapped a few putts in the putting room. She was having fun putting so we went out to the 9-hole par 18 putting course. She felt that starting at the marked "tees" was too far away. Her technique was to take a drop near the hole and tap in from there. On the few holes where she played from the tees, she had a polo-like technique where she kind of held the putter out and made contact with the ball as she walked past it toward the hole. Most importantly though, she had a great time.

We still had plenty of time left, so I decided to take her on the course. Rather than make her carry her bag, I just put her 9/P and putter in my bag and off we went. As we approached the first tee, there were four girls teeing off. I would estimate their age at about 12 or 13. They all seemed quite focused and it was a great experience for my daughter to see these girls playing. A father/son pulled up to the whites (mid tees, we were playing the green, forward tees)while we were waiting and we let them play ahead of us. Once they were off the tee box, my daughter hit a couple and finally I took a swing. She required several more shots to get on to the green and she used a combination of the polo and drop techniques to hole out. While I was lining up my 40 foot putt she said, "Daddy, I have to pee".

As most parent know, you get your kids to pee prior to anything. Movies, playing outside, dinner, shopping, anything... Have the kids pee first. And I did. The first thing we did when we arrived was pee. I should have had her pee again before we went out on the course.

So we went back to pee and then back to the course. First hole, good. Second hole, good... On the third tee box, "Daddy, I have to pee again". While this time I was a little irritated, it was a good time to head in if we were to stop for something to eat on the way home.

So, Daddy's little girl's first day golfing was a real treat for the both of us. Green Caye has plenty of different stuff to do (range, indoor putting, outdoor putting, chipping area, and golf course), so we get more out of the day. Next time, I'll be taking my son. While my little girl has a smoother swing (and more consistent results), my son is all about swing speed. He hits the ball so hard, we can no longer let him hit those wiffle balls in the house.

Two rounds at San Jac...

I played two rounds at San Jac Yesterday. I shot 97 and 95. I was hoping to break 90 again, but a couple of bad holes, a couple lost in the water, and poor driving kept me from meeting that goal. On a good note, my flatter, slower swing is amazing. I just can't get used to the distance I've gained with my irons. My draw trajectory didn't work out too well, but the result was just a straight shot (often just right of the fairway/green). It seemed that when I tried to draw the ball, to avoid sand or water on the right, I pulled and drew the shot too far left. The right thing would be to aim for the target instead of to the right.

I'm pretty happy with my irons. I need to work more with my driver and I should be in good shape to bust 90 again.

Golf Outlook...

I'm thinking about signing up at Green Caye again.

The next BGA tournament will be March 18th. My wife has to work that afternoon so it's very unlikely that I'll be able to play. I'm not too happy about that because she has to be in around 4:30 and my tee time is 9:30, yet she's insisting I cancel. Why can't women be more logic oriented and less what-if oriented?

I have a few specific lessons learned to post, but this is getting long enough. I'll post them in the coming days.

-Greg

Some Data...

2006-02-28T08:13:00.000-06:00

Two loops of the 9-hole par three course last night. I shot 33 on the first loop, hit ZERO greens, but managed three Up and Downs. The rest were bogeys. On the second loop I shot 37, hit two greens and made only one Up and Down. The pin placements were about as tough as I've seen them since there was a tournament there recently.

I was hitting the ball pretty solid. I made only one crap shot on number seven where I tried to fly the ball over a mound onto the elevated green. I was in a darkish spot with a questionable lie (did not want to try the flop due to the lie). I didn't get under it enough and zipped it up and over into the water.

The 33 was solid since my best score there is 32. While the stats show I did not hit a single green on that loop, several were missed by 5 to 10 feet. My chipping and putting were pretty good as well.

I made a couple nice shots on number five, a 175 yard hole. Both tee shots were pin high to the right more or less. The green is slightly elevated and guarded by mounds on the back and sides. The pin was near the back of the green on the right. My first shot was right on the fringe of the thick rough with little room to swing. At a minimum, I needed to carry the ball to the top of a mound. I hit a good shot chopping down on the ball through the tall grass and it stayed on the green rolling somewhat toward the back left side.

The other shot was from a similar location, but I had more room to swing the club. I also had a good lie and choose to try the flop shot to get over the mounds. I tweaked the club face to hopefully give me enough to carry the mounds and swung about eighty percent. I landed on the green, below the hole and slightly toward the center of the green.

Both of those shots gave me 20-plus foot putts (that I missed), but I was very happy to be able to execute them as well as I did.

Hopefully I'll be able to get down there again this evening and shoot a little better - more greens, more Up and Downs (and more data!).

Wednesday I'll be leaving work early to pick up my daughter. I'll be taking her to the golf course for the first time. The focus will be on fun, so no data collection Wednesday.

My wife's working Thursday, so Friday will be my next (possibly last chance before my membership needs renewal) chance to post some solid stats.

-Greg

Two Billion Mile Drive...

2006-02-27T14:52:00.000-06:00

Some of you know I work within the Manned Spaceflight Program here in Houston. I get a daily summary of space news for review. Here's a 'beaut:

Bad Tee Shot in Space Could Pose Safety Problem

-Greg

Show me the Data...

2006-02-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

My one-month membership at Green Caye GC expires in a week. I have definitely played a quantity of golf that even the Cheap Bastard would agree justifies the $35.00 plus tax invested. The quality however remains in question. Not so much the quality of golf played, but the data that should accompany a month dedicated to irons and short game improvement.

As my loyal readers (should that be plural?) know, I like collecting data. Yet, here I am after playing a ton for three weeks and I have virtually no data to show for it. I actually only kept score for three nine-hole rounds. What was I thinking???

My swing got a pretty good overhaul and that alone is worth something, but I can't quantify it. Where is the data? How can I prove I'm making progress without data? The last two times I signed up for the month membership (July and September) at Green Caye I did keep score and I have those numbers ready for comparison. Those rounds are a little outdated, but a starting point.

I need to spend my remaining week taking data. My wife has some errands to run tonight, so I hope I have enough time to squeeze a round in after she gets back.

I need to change my focus to the task at hand: Hitting greens, making up-and-downs and recording the data.

Looking at the September data, I hit 1.75 greens per nine holes and made 21% of my up and downs. My best round was 34,my worst round was 45, and I averaged 2.5 pars per round. I should have reviewed this data the day after I signed up for a month, but I didn't. I may not have attempted a swing change had I been taking and comparing data so I'll just say all's well that ends well. Now I just need to take some data and see if all ends well.

-Greg

Overdue Update...

2006-02-22T16:05:00.000-06:00

First off, my first tournament was cancelled because of rain. I called before I left and I was told the tourney was on. I encountered fairly heavy rain on the way there and by the time I arrived (25 min trip), they had pulled the plug. The temps were in the upper 30s and the wind was howling at 20+, so it really wasn't the best day for a tourney.

That didn't stop me though. I came to play and play I did. I shot 104, hit 10 fairways and lost 4 balls in the water. I nailed my nemesis hole again almost making the green in two.

I played The Battleground on the Friday before the tournament and shot 107 after starting with a pair of nines (OUCH!!). I had completely lost touch with my driver. That was really only part of the story though...

Since I have been playing Green Caye nearly every night for over two weeks, I have learned to draw the ball with my irons. I literally learned to draw consistently the Wednesday before playing The Battleground. Prior to that I would try a little here and there with varying results. As of about halfway through my 9-hole round Wednesday night, I began hitting nothing but draws (or consciously trying to hit nothing but draws). The next night I played the entire round hitting nice draws, and the same goes for the round at Battleground last Friday. I'm also hitting the ball farther yet softer. Of course all of this hitting with just my irons wreaked havoc with my driver which I normally fade. I hit only 4 fairways that Friday and some of the misses were in the next county.

You can imagine how I felt about this the night before my first tournament. I felt pretty good about the irons. It seems that it's harder to turn a draw into a hook than it is to turn a fade into a slice. Often times, a poor draw is just a straight shot. I was completely lost on the driver though. I decided to look for the cure in a bottomless bucket at Green Caye.

I arrived at Green Caye with about two hours till closing time. After attempting several fades that sliced, I decided to try the draw. Now the draw that I've developed with my irons is a very natural draw that's more a result of a flatter swing and better weight transfer. There is no intentional "steering" like I've mentioned in past posts. I applied that same swing to the driver and WAMMO, I hit a nice straight ball. I worked on this for awhile and in just a dozen or so I was hitting I high soft draw. I then went back to the fade and worked the kinks out of that shot. Then I started alternating... draw, fade, draw, fade. While I hit a slice once in awhile, I was (and still am!!!) amazed at how well I was able to work the ball. I played an imaginary round and chose the appropriate shot type for each hole at Bayou before calling it a night.

Another shot I've learned is the flop shot. I learned this shot by trying to hit the ball into a small waste basket in our living room. I tried it outside a few times with a full swing and felt pretty comfortable with trying it on the course. I tried it several times at Green Caye with pretty good results. I have since made two great saves on the course with this shot.

So, looking at the numbers, my progress has slowed. I expect that to change drastically when I start playing regulation courses again.

I need to work on fading my irons again. I tried some last time I played and I just seem to push it. I now wish I would have done the same thing I did with the driver and keep hitting both shot types. I need to keep the fade in my bag because a draw when the wind is blowing right to left (for right-handers) is hard to manage.

I should get out to Green Caye tomorrow and I'm hoping to get a round in at a regulation course on Sunday. Next week I have a sim, so I should be have plenty of hours to sneak in a weekday round.

The next BGA tournament will be March 18th and the format will be all par threes. My understanding is that they will mark off tee areas on all holes (except the natural par threes which will remain the same) to make the entire course par threes. Guess I picked the right month to sign up at a par three course :^)

Sorry for the delayed post.
Happy that golfing was the reason for the drought.
Don't worry, if I'm not golfin' I'll be bloggin'!

-Greg

Snowing in Houston...

2006-02-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

I've been golfing... and golfing... The pics you see in this post are of Glenbrook Golf Course. Glenbrook is a Houston Municipal course affectionately known as "The Ditch Course". You can see slightly larger images if you click on them. The person in the photos is a friend and neighbor, Hi (pronounced "Hee").

I first met Hi at San Jac. We exchanged numbers and planned to play again at Bayou. Some construction in the area prevented Hi from making the tee time and left me a little irritated. Hi calls a few weeks later wanting to play and I had a tee time for four, but two had dropped out. Again we were playing at Bayou so I sent him specific driving directions. He decided it would be best if we just meet up and he would follow me down there. I gave him my cell phone number and advised him that I would be leaving at 9:00.

Well, as I had feared, I had not heard from him by 8:55. I loaded up and just as I was reaching for the door to my truck, the cell phone rings. The time is 8:59. Normally, and initially, I was not too happy with the late call, but when I told him where I was, he said he could be there in one minute. Well, it turns out that he lives about six houses down from me on the other side of the block. Small world? I guess so!!

I played Saturday last weekend at Bayou (with Hi) with high hopes of breaking 90. I started great with par-par and then went triple-triple. I finished the front with bogey-bogey-par-bogey-bogey for a 46. I managed to bogey #6 without losing a ball. Maybe I've conquered my nemesis hole for good. Time will tell. I fell apart on the back on a couple of holes. The first was the par 3 13th. It was 4 clubs into the wind. I hooked a high flying 4i that missed wwwaaayyy left. Poor pitching put me in the bunker, and I record seven strokes on this hole. The final nail in the coffin was a triple on the par 5 15th after nearly reaching the green in two. I ended with 52 on the back for a 98 round.

I played Glenbrook Tuesday. I started out on fire there as well. The first is a 266 yard par 4 that is about a 190 yard carry over the bayou. I drove to within 15 yards, chipped to 6 inches and tapped in my career 4th birdie. I had made 42 strokes before the par 5 9th and hit to an unplayable lie off of the fairway. I laid up for the shot back across the bayou and failed to reach the other side. I carded a 10 on that hole. I played horribly on the back with two 9s. The game was not without record-breaking play though as I managed another birdie on the par 4 17th (366 yds) where my second shot landed four feet from the pin. The record is two birdies in one round!!! Too bad they were overpowered by three snowmen. I applied ESC and shook my head at the three snowmen on my scorecard - Snowing in Houston. In the end and with ESC, I scored 101 at Glenbrook (105 raw score).

I'm still having a hard time snapping my head up to see the ball. I decided that range time is a little worthless because after four large buckets, I can usually work out any problems, but it does not seem to carry over to the course. So, I've signed up for a month walking at the nine-hole par 3 Green Caye Golf Course.

I will work on hitting softer and straighter.
I will work on my short game.
I will work on my putting.
I'll do it mostly at night during the week after I put my kids to bed.

Oh yeah, I will KEEP MY HEAD DOWN!!!!

No golf for me this weekend. I'll try to sneak in a weekday round next week. Ten days left before my first tournament.

I will KEEP MY HEAD DOWN!
I will KEEP MY HEAD DOWN!!
I will KEEP MY HEAD DOWN!!!

-Greg

Sneaking in a Round...

2006-02-03T18:48:00.000-06:00

Thrilled with my latest range experience, I got up well before the crack of dawn and went down to Bayou for a round. I know, I know, I'll be playing there tomorrow, but I had the hours in and hey, I hooked on this game!! Here's a shot from the second tee box:

Even though I don't care for the wet morning conditions (greens especially), there certainly is something about the golf course at the crack of dawn. I'll spare you too many details of the round, but the bottom line is that I just can't keep my eye on the ball for a second past contact. No matter what I did - arrrgh. I think part of it was that I was playing alone (behind a fivesome) and I didn't have that extra set of eyes to help see where I hit. That's just a mental thing though, because even if you stare at the ground for a second past contact, you still have plenty of time to watch the ball flight and you know by feel about where it went.

Anyway, here are the stats:

Fairways hit... 8
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 3
Putts......... 35
Bogeys......... 5
Doubles........ 7
Triples........ 3
Bad holes...... 2 (two par 5 triples)
Balls lost .... 2 (1 water, 1 OOB)

I couldn't really get anything going today. I always play better when I'm not alone, so hopefully the pressure of competition will agree with me.

I measured six drives 219, 240, 268, 269, 202, and 233. The air was pretty still in the morning, so those a good representation of my driving distance. My score for the day was 100 (2 over my course handicap). My handicap has gone up a point because my record round at Bayou is now 21 rounds ago. I saw this coming and had every confidence that I would shoot a 94 or better before it drifted into the past. I knew that today was do or die for handicap purposes. I am learning more about my wedge ranges. I can hit the 52* about 95 yards with a full swing. I managed to make two nice putts from 14 and 18 feet. Of course I've made a few lucky ones from well further out, but these were just solid putting.

I think trying to focus on bogeys will help. I don't know... I'm hoping to get to the course tomorrow in time to hit a small bucket. Hopefully that will help me lock in my three swing thoughts. I'll post the results.

Goal for tomorrow... 90!!!

-Greg

Range Time...

2006-02-01T10:10:00.000-06:00

Excited about playing in my first tournament, I couldn't help but to hit the range at the first opportunity. I got that opportunity last night, so I went down to Green Caye Golf Course for the $7.00 bottomless bucket.

Primarily, I wanted to work with my wedges. I also wanted to see if I could work the slice out of my hardest hit drives. In the end I hit almost every club, going through four large buckets.

Lately, I have noticed that I have been taking my eye off the ball. Even if I think about keeping my eye on the ball before the shot, I'd often catch myself looking up. So another strong focus of the range session was to stay locked down on the ground, well after contact.

I started with the 60* wedge and quickly learned that it is difficult to hit this club with a full swing and get consistent results (definitely don't want to blade the ball with a full swing from 60 yards out). I did pretty well with a 3/4 swing or less, so I'll keep that limit for now.

I hit many shots with the 52* gap wedge. I needed this since I was a little thrown off by the smaller club head compared to my old 53* wedge. I should not have a problem with this as I was hitting the club well (as long as I kept my head down). It's hard to say how far I'm hitting this club, but I'm guessing about 90 yards. The thing about driving ranges where you hit off of the turf is that they keep moving the line so you still have to estimate the actual distance to the marked targets. To get a more accurate feel for the GW, I'll have to drop a couple of balls at the 100 yard marker when I'm out on a course during the week and see how I do.

Next I took out the 3 fairway wood to see if I could straighten my shots a bit. On the course, I generally aim as far left as I can figuring that , should the shot actually go straight, I'll still be in play. Usually though, the shot has some fade/slice to it and I end up towards the right (or worse). The last time I played Bayou, I made a beautiful shot with a bit of a draw with the 3 wood. I realized that at setup, I had my weight more toward my toes and more off of my heels. It was a real epiphany because the swing felt so good and effortless, my balance was rock solid, and contact was pure (I kept my head down). I decided to try this weight forward (toward the toes, not the target) with my 5 wood and driver and the results were absolutely spectacular!! I hit shot after shot dead straight right at my target. Sure there were some slices, and some were topped, but I always knew why (looked up, fast transition, dropped shoulder...).

After that success, I continued the same weight forward approach on all my shots. I've got to say, I felt like a pro out there. I was having the best ball striking day of my life. For those who may benefit, I'll summarize my key swing thoughts that seemed to bring it all together.

1. Address the ball with your weight somewhat off your heels and more toward your toes.

2. Keep your eye glued to the impact point from takeaway to one second past impact.

3. Make a smooth transition from the backswing to the downswing and accelerate smoothly through the ball.

I think I talked enough about the first point. The second and third can be combined in a discussion about tempo.

After a tee shot, my playing partner commented that I seemed to be jerky going from takeaway to downstroke. He was right. I applied maximum power forward while still going back. The resultant shot was not pretty.

What I needed to establish was good tempo. Last night at the range, I decided that I would do a three-count routine to help me transition and accelerate smoothly. Here's what I did (and will do from now on). Instead of one mississippi.. two mississippi... three mississippi... I say one perfect shot... two prefect shot... three perfect shot. The first count is to control my speed on the takeaway and I have a little very short hesitation at the top before I start down. The second count reminds me to accelerate smoothly through the ball and the final count is to insure that I maintain my focus on the impact point for one second past impact. I tell you, the results were amazing.

I went on to hit many outstanding shots with nearly all of my clubs. Of course by the end of four large buckets you would expect to find some consistency. What I hope to take to the course with me next time is the same mental and physical routine that I applied at the range.

Golf Outlook...

I'll be playing Bayou on Saturday and gunning hard for the 80s. I'm planning for a return to Glenbrook the following weekend. I wrote a short review of Glenbrook and mentioned it in my very first post.

Aching to get out,
-Greg

Post Weekend Ramblings...

2006-01-30T10:05:00.000-06:00

Practice Round at Bayou GC...

I made it down for a round at Bayou on Sunday. My focus was my new wedges. Again, with little exception, I tried to fly the ball on to the green to take advantage of the high trajectory of the 60* wedge and to get a feel for how much roll to expect.

I made two outstanding shots to within one foot. One was on the 5th where I flew the ball over the bunker, and the other was on the 15th where I hit my 5th shot from about 5 feet off the green (with about 60 feet to the cup) to within inches with the tight lie pitch shot.

I made several shots from 40-60 yards and many of them fell short. This is an area where I really need to work on to get the feel for how much swing is needed with these clubs.

One thing I've noticed is that the 52* gap wedge seems to have a smaller head than the 53* Wilson sand wedge I had been using prior to purchasing the Ray Cook set. I'll need to get out to the range and hit a bit before I'll be able to have confidence hitting this club with a full swing. Unfortunately, I have not been able to hit this club as well as I can hit the Wilson.

Joining Bayou Golf Association...

I don't have the details of the round (I shot 102) because I turned in the scorecard along with 19 other scorecards and my application to join Bayou Golf Association. I also signed up for the February tournament as a "Stand By" player. The signup sheet was full and the only slots to write my name in were the "stand by" slots. I sent an email asking if there was a limited number of participants, but have not received a response. I'm a little concerned about giving up my scorecards. I emailed the handicap guy and requested that the cards be returned, but I just don't know. What's the SOP with this? Should I expect to get them back? Am I asking too much? How should I handle this? I'm thinking I should fill out another scorecard with just the strokes and turn that in, keeping my original that has fairways hit, yardages, GIRs, putts, distances and other notes. Opinions anyone?

The next day...

Ok, I'm a BGA member and I'll be playing in the February tournament. It turns out that I'll get worked in based on no-shows or I can show up at 11:00 and be placed in a group at that time. There was no mention of getting my cards back so I think I can guess what that means. In the future I'll fill out a second card to turn in, keeping the original with more detailed notes.

Practice outlook...

Now that I know I'll be playing in the tournament, I'll want to play mainly at Bayou. My first official practice round will be Saturday. My work schedule will allow a weekday round each week so I should have a minimum of three practice rounds over two weeks. I am psyched!!!!

The Buick Invitational...

I watched my first golf tournament this weekend. Usually, I don't watch more than a few shots of golf on television. I managed to see most of the Saturday and Sunday coverage and I have to admit, I was pretty excited as it came down to the last few holes. I felt much better about my three-putting at least five times earlier in the day once I saw Tiger do it. I was rooting for the rookie and felt bad for him after the first playoff hole. I'll give Tiger some props for making the birdie put to get into the playoff and the par put to pressure Jose Maria Olazabal into missing his four-footer.

So, I thought to myself, "Hey, I can 3-putt (Tiger), flub chips from the fringe (Green), and miss 4-footers (Tiger, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mickelson, and others I'm sure), I can play like the pros!" The amazing thing is that these guys (and gals :^)) can score so low even when they make mistakes!!!

Looking forward to competition,
-Greg

Not Bad on the Bayou...

2006-01-25T18:03:00.000-06:00

I took my new wedges down for a round at Bayou. I shot 43 on the front and 55 on the back for a 98.

New Record: 43 is my best nine holes (not counting San Jac where I also shot a 43). The previous record was 44 at Bayou on the back which I shot after a 45 on the front. I think I'm gonna do a back flip when I break 40!!!

On the front I only hit two fairways and one green. While that looks pretty bad, the missed fairways were generally not missed by much, sometimes feet but hey, a miss is a miss. The green I hit was the par 5 eighth hole where a nice drive and sweet 3W got me to about 40 yards and I hit the 52* GW to about 8 feet and birdied the hole. I also made a par on the par 3 seventh with an up and down. I managed to do a good job on my nemesis hole, the 6th. I tried to hit an easy 5W and did not follow through which left me with a 3W from about 220 much of which is over water. I made good contact and had I not grazed some foliage on a tree, I would have made a nice approach shot. That graze took just enough energy out of the shot to fail to clear the water but a yard or two. I advanced toward the water and dropped at about 190 and hit a sweet 4i that rolled right up to within six feet. Best bogey ever!!! Take that you nemesis hole!

I started off on the back with a par that followed both a fairway and a GIR. Then I hit one OOB and finished the hole with a three-putt snowman. It was pretty downhill from there with double, triple, triple, triple, bogey, double, bogey. Here's the real irony - I hit five fairways on the back but couldn't hit a green. The two fairways I missed were OOB and I lost one in the water. Also, while I hit the new wedges pretty well on the front, on the back I hit nearly all greenside shots well short with the 60* LW. The putts confirm the tale with 13 putts on the front and 19 on the back.

So after one round I can say I like the wedges. I did not try the "tight lie pitch" I've talked about in recent posts. I tried to fly the ball to the pin on every shot, almost always with the 60* LW. I think once I get used to their full-swing distances, I'll be able to take better advantage of them.

Here's the summary:

Fairways hit... 7
GIRs........... 2
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 2
Putts......... 32
Bogeys......... 8
Doubles........ 3
Triples........ 3
Bad holes...... 1 (Snowman on 11th after OOB)
Balls lost .... 1 (water)

Just for grins, here's a shot from the 18th tee box. I described this hole in my "Breaking 100" post.

Bayou Golf Association...

I will be turning in my scorecards and joining the BGA in time for the February tournament. If I get my scorecards turned in in the next couple of days, I should have an official handicap to compete with. It will be an individual stroke event on February 18th.

This weekend is up in the air, but where there's a will there's a way. I guess what I mean is, if I get my way you know where I will be.

Thanks for reading,
-Greg

Test Drive...

2006-01-25T11:08:00.000-06:00

I got my new Ray Cook Wedges last night.

I'll be giving the Hybrid the old "Heave Ho" since I've learned to love my original Adams Tight Lie Fairway Metals. Also, the 3i is pretty useless since I have a hard time hitting it straight and when I do, I rarely get more than I would have had I hit the 4i (which I hit 185-190). So, here's what's in my bag:

P,4,5,6,7,8,9,PW,GW,SW,LW,5M,3M,D

I can't resist the urge to head out and give them a try. I'm going to run down to Bayou for a quick round today and give them a test drive.
For anyone that's interested, I got them from "hillcountrygolf" on eBay and I've noticed a set listed weekly for a couple of months now. I lucked out and got my set for the listing price of $34.99.

Gone golfin'
-Greg

Breaking 90...

2006-01-23T15:13:00.000-06:00

Progress, Progress, Progress…

After three weeks of windy golfing, it looked like my break would come in the form of rain. I knew all week that it would likely rain on Sunday and day-to-day checks only confirmed it. I managed to get out on Wednesday since it looked like the rain would have me spending Sunday doing something other than golf. My focus was to practice my tight lie pitches.

I made two loops of the 9-hole course at San Jac both from the front (white) tees. I struggled on the first nine and carded a 47. The chipping came through beautifully and my new shot gave me a chip-in par on the 518-yard par 5 fifth. Not too bad considering I started out with a triple on the first. I really pulled it together on the second loop with 4 pars, 3 bogeys, and one double for a 43. So there we have it, my lowest score to date, a 90 on the whites at San Jac.

I got out of bed Sunday morning hoping for the best but the forecast called for a constant light rain throughout the day building to thunderstorms in the evening. It was not yet raining but the visibility was so low in the early morning fog that it looked like the rain could start at any moment.

After letting the weather mock me for an hour and a half I made the decision to go for it. I chose San Jac since it’s cheap, it’s close, and the nine-hole layout means I won’t find myself too far from shelter.

I was surprised to find more than a few cars in the lot as I pulled in. I made my way to the first tee as a couple of guys were on the blues. They had just finished the whites (so finishing the round from the blues) and allowed me to join in. I shot par, bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, double, par, par, double for a 44. The weather held for the most part with only a few minutes of short rain.

When I came to the 10th there was a single that was just starting but playing the blues. One of the guys decided to play one more nine, and the other went home. So, I shot my second nine from the blues which is kinda fitting since I shot my last 18 from the whites. I started out on fire hitting fairways and greens and made par on the first three holes.

With thoughts of smashing through 90, I stepped up on the number four tee box. This is the hardest hole on the course with a ninety-degree dogleg left at about 210 yards and a ditch on the right after the turn. Almost everyone tries to cut the corner and most folks play on even if they did not clear the out-of-bounds stakes. There is some room on the tee box side of the fairway, but hit it long and you’re in the ditch. Hit it too short and you’re out of bounds.

The pressure was just too much and I topped the ball with the heel of the club and it dribbled 20 yards to the left of the white tee box. The guys wanted me to hit another ball, but I pulled my tee and stepped off. I took a double on that hole.

I followed that with bogey, triple, par, bogey, double and penciled in a 45 on the scorecard, breaking 90 by one stroke.

As I passed the clubhouse I just had to stop in to ask if the course was rated. I asked and the attendant pointed to a large chart on the wall that was the USGA rating results from 2002. I marched over with pencil in hand and jotted down the slope and rating for each tee box:

Whites – 65.2/98 (2666 yds)
Blues – 67.2/111 (2954 yds)

There you have it, after 32 rounds (eight at San Jac) and in about 7 months, I broke 90 and set three new records:

Best score = 89
Fewest Putts = 30
Most Pars = 7

After spending way too much time revising my records (adding 4 San Jac rounds and adjusting for ESC) I have recalculated my handicap to be 27.0 (I only gained a tenth by adjusting for ESC).

Other stuff…

I have a couple other things to blog about. After walking a few rounds in my new golf shoes, I can give them an official thumbs up.

I purchased a brand new set of Ray Cook Wedges on eBay for 46.99 shipped. I’ll post more about these beauties at a later date.

Grinnin’ Big,
-Greg

No ESC Required...

2006-01-13T14:34:00.000-06:00

I made it out to The Battleground yesterday and had a good round in windy conditions. After a tough start ((7,7,7) double, triple, triple), I managed to pull it together to shoot 50 on the front. At the tee box on the 18th I was sitting on 94 strokes and a par would tie my course record. I swung for the fences and sliced the ball into a right to left wind. I found my ball and decided to play it safe (since the approach is over water) and get back to the fairway. I had about 160 to the green which is just on the other side of a water hazard. I hit a 5i fat and though I cleared the water, my ball was drilled into the bank and I had to declare it unplayable. I took a drop on back across the water and rolled on to the fringe, then one-putted for a triple. So, my 24th round will go down as a 101 at The Battleground.

Here's why I think it was a good round:

Fairways hit... 6
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 1
Putts......... 32
Bogeys......... 9
Doubles........ 4
Triples........ 4
Bad holes...... 0
Balls lost .... 4 (3 water)

My highest stroke holes were all 7s. OK, I managed four of them, but NO ESC Required on this round!!! Check out that Bogey count... and 32 putts!!! Those are pretty good stats for me. My driving was good, chipping was pretty good, my putting was good... I could not hit a green to save my life! My full-swing iron shots were terrible. This has been a problem for the last few rounds. So, I got to thinking about it and realized that I hadn't been going to the range between rounds.

Figured it out...

Babble mode ON. I went to the range that night to figure out why I could not hit my irons. I also wanted to hit my fairway metals off of a tee, and work on drawing the ball with my driver.

I learned that I was not straightening my wrists fast enough. I'm not sure if I'm explaining that right, but I'm aware of the cause. This was a huge problem for me on the course. It caused me to slow down my swing (which made the problem worse) and lose confidence with my irons. Hopefully I've worked it out and I'll hit a few more greens with my approach shots.

Hitting the fairway metals off the tee turned out to be pretty easy. I was able to hit them with about the same success rate that I hit the driver. I'll have no trouble using them on the course.

I can not hit the type of draw that I'm looking for. I tried and tried and no can do. I'm able to move the ball from right to left, but that movement is more than I want, and I cannot get the ball in the air like I do with a fade. On a good fade shot, I'd say that I get 15-20 yards or right to left with a nice high trajectory. That's what I'd like to do with the draw.

Frustrated with the driver, I tried drawing with the irons. I had some good success with the 4i - 7i. I can hit some good looking shots, but I have trouble with direction. Not a surprise, but these shots usually fly left of my target line and then draw further left. To land a ball on my target line, I have to aim about 20* to the right.

I worked with my sand wedge and chipping before calling it a night. All in all, I hit about 4 large buckets (bottomless bucket at Green Caye for $7.00).

Another big problem I have is chipping off of a short, tight fairway. I have basically two shots (well, three if I add the "Texas Wedge") for getting on to the green. In some cases, I "sweep" a 7i for a bump-and-run type of shot, but for the majority of cases I like to fly the ball with my sand wedge. I try to fly the ball about 65% of the way and count on roll for the rest. I can do this pretty well especially if I have a nice lie. It's a completely different story when I'm short of the green on a short, tight fairway. I dig, I top the ball, I hit too hard, too soft... I fear that shot.

Yesterday, I was browsing and came upon this article: The Tight-Lie Pitch
Of course, the title of the article (set of three articles) really grabbed my attention. I read it and it made sense. I went out in the back yard, and Ba BAM, I was hitting great short shots. I loaded up the kids and we headed off to the park where we all played for an hour or so. I can confidently say that this shot will take strokes off of my game.

I had tried this type of shot before, but I never had any success. The reason is because I was doing it with arms only and without turning my body. Now, as the article reveals, I use my body turn to move the club head and I get crisp contact - even off of hard dirt!!!

Not sure when I'll be playing my next round. Looks like sometime next week. If I'm lucky, I'll have a day with a little less wind.

Hoping to get out soon,
-Greg

Bigger Wind at Eagle Pointe...

2006-01-11T12:56:00.000-06:00

I saw another great discount at Eagle Pointe and snagged it up. I tried to get a couple of buddies to do the same, but by the time they were able browse over the PGA18.com, all the slots were gone. I would be driving 35 miles to play golf with three strangers. I don't mind golfing with strangers, I often do. Only once has the experience been less than pleasant. But this is a nice course (they're trying to get a PGA event there), and a good little drive from home, and only the second time I've played there... Anyway, I was a little apprehensive.

I got there early in case they could fit me in and as it turns out, there were four others signed up for my time slot (I later learned that they allow fivesomes in the winter). Luckily, there was a twosome who welcomed me to join them for an earlier slot.

The wind was howling at 20-30, but this course is nestled in tall trees on rolling terrain, so sometimes there was a good wind, and sometimes there wasn't much at all. That made it tough at times because it could be calm while your partner tees off, then blow like the dickens when you step up.

You may recall from last time that I shot 108 up there and today I thought I was going to choke after recording 59 strokes on the front. I pulled it together on the back and shot a 51 for a total of 110. Not bad considering the weather and I'm trying to hit a draw with the driver.

I talked about drawing the driver in my last post and I have to say that what I'm doing is more like a hook than a draw. Several of the holes here are dogleg left holes and turn at about 210 to 240. Since I've just started hitting the fairway metals on the fairway, I'm just not comfortable hitting them off of the tee. So a slight hook worked out well on some of the holes.

I started out ok, hitting the fairway, laying up to within 20 feet of the creek, and hitting a 5i on to the green on the 496-yard par 5 first. Then I three putted for a bogey. That was disappointing because I spent 15 minutes on the practice green before the round.

The real trouble started on the second where I tried to draw the ball and made contact on the toe of the club. The ball went sailing into a tree and came to rest about 25 yards behind the tee box in the trees on the right. Then an easy, safe 7i failed to get through the trees and moved me another ten yards back. The third shot found a tree and the ball came to rest in a pile of leaves with no shot at the fairway. I swept it out toward the black tee box where I finally had a clean shot at the fairway, albeit from 40 yards behind where I started. I carded a 2-putt 10 on that hole.

I did fair from there, hitting four fairways, but still managed a couple of three putts.

I made up for the poor putting on the back where I had three one-putts and one chip in on the 18th from about 30 feet. My drives were okay averaging 222 with 303/195 being the long/short of the five that hit the fairway. The 303 was a hookish drive on a dogleg left that rolled quite a bit. Here are the stats for the round:

Fairways hit... 5
GIRs........... 1
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 2
Putts......... 36
Bogeys......... 4
Doubles........ 6
Triples........ 3
Bad holes...... 2 (2nd and an 8 on the 13th)
Balls lost .... 4 (3 water)

I took a couple pictures with the W-10 and I'll try to update this post this evening.

Other Stuff to Blog About...

I have tired of entering my scores, slopes, and ratings into on-line handicap calculators, so I wrote a short program to calculate my handicap that uses a file I update each time I play a round. In doing so, I determined that 8 of my last 10 games rank in my top 10 (based on differential) and count toward my handicap. The 108 at Eagle Pointe last week ranks 4th!! That's good news since I felt pretty bad about shooting above 100. The 98 at Battleground ranks 2nd!!!

While doing this little project, I did some research and came upon this little thing called ESC (Equitable Stroke Control). ESC uses your course handicap to determine the maximum number of strokes you can take on any hole for that course. My max happens to be 9. Now the problem here is that my golfing history is peppered with 10s, 11s, 12s, and 13s. I carded a 10 twice in the last three rounds (once during each round at Eagle Pointe). Does anyone use ESC? Do you turn in your cards with actual strokes and let your club (or whatever handicapping service you use) figure it out, or do you record your maximum based on ESC?

Grips...

I noticed that Scott (one of the folks I played with) had thick grips on his clubs. I asked and he let me swing one a little bit. I have pretty big hands and I'm wondering what this could do for my game. They felt very comfortable and if I had to choose, I would probably want the thicker grips. It's not that I have a problem holding the club, I don't even wear a glove (yet). It's just a comfort thing. They really felt comfortable.

My wife is working this weekend so I'm hoping to get out this week.

Some time later...

Okay, I grabbed a discount tee time for The Battleground tomorrow. Looks like it will be another windy day with the winds forecast to be out of the south at 10-20.

I'll keep you posted,
-Greg

Big wind at Bayou...

2006-01-09T11:17:00.000-06:00

I played Bayou on Thursday last week. The winds were forcast to be 10-20 and out of the north. The weatherman did not disappoint. This is a shot of the flag pole by the clubhouse just after I arrived:
I can tell you that it takes a 15+ knot wind to straighten a flag like that. Bayou is a course built on a wetland with little protection from the wind, so I was in for an interesting day. I wasn't too worried since I played my best game ever at Bayou and finished in strong winds.

Though there were several groups on the course, I only saw them as I drove in. During play, I only saw a couple of groups but my pace of play was not affected. On this day, since I was walking and playing alone, I was equiped with my Olympus W-10 digital voice recorder. I have decided to bring this great tool regardless. It's so easy to take detailed notes during a round that writing down the score on the card is no longer adequate. Being an engineer, I'm just too hungry for data and the digital voice recorder is simply the most efficient way to record it.

Speaking of data...

Fairways hit... 7
GIRs........... 0
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 3
Putts......... 39
Bogeys......... 3
Doubles........ 8
Triples........ 3
Bad holes...... 1
Balls lost .... 3 (3 water)

I missed a five foot putt for birdie on the 10th where my 315 yard drive left me 121 yards from the pin on this short 436 yard par 5. Granted, there was a downwind component to that drive :^) That missed putt was trivial compared to missing the green from 121 and having a shot at putting for eagle. My approach shot was long and to the right. I was just too psyched by the huge drive and the prospect of eagle.

The GIRs tell the same story for the entire round and show that driving remains the centerpiece of my game. My putting was very poor with five 3-putts and only two 1-putts. I missed several from less than six feet. I think part of that was the blazing fast greens of Eagle Pointe from the prior Sunday still rolling around in my head (and rolling, and rolling...).

My drives were spectacular on this day. I had been struggling to keep a fade/slice in check like so many other beginners. Then I read an article about how to fix it. I'm sorry I don't have a link, I searched and searched, but could not find it :( The artlcle said the way to fix a slice is to hit a draw (wow, who'da thunk it?). The article discussed how (for right-handed golfers) your right forearm must roll on top of your left forearm to some degree at the point of impact. It went on to describe this to feel similar to "steering" or "veering" your car to the left. I immediately related to this. I had been trying to develop a draw by hitting the wiffle balls in my back yard and I have been able to do it with a 3i, 4i and 5i with the exact motion thay the article described. Further, the article stated that dropping the right shoulder and swinging with the arms was a cause of a slice (which I had identified as one of my problems).

I had only made a few swings with the driver in the back yard and felt confident that I would be able to draw the ball.
The result.?.? Well, since it was soooo windy it's hard to say but, I'm pretty sure that I hit a draw on nearly every shot. Normally I would not try a swing change on the course without some range work, but this day demanded that I give it a shot.

The first hole (a slight dogleg left) was into a quatering headwind that blew left to right. The shot needed to straight or drawn left. Even a straight shot would need to be aimed left and blown onto the fairway after the turn. I lined up along the left, slightly over the water. The shot went left of my aim point, with a lower than normal trajectory, and didn't come back. There was a shot that if it were long enough, I would make the fairway... and it looked long. The shot was obviously a draw with just enough to counter the wind. I found that ball (along with sixteen others) just in the marshy thicket tens yards past the 250 marker. The drive went 250 yards into a quatering headwind.

The rest of my drives were similar and effective in this wind, but the very low trajectory is a concern.

Time to bring this long-winded post to its conclusion,
-Greg

Post Christmas Update...

2006-01-05T21:10:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying a Happy New Year. 2006 is here and we're all stating our goals and resolutions. Before I get into that, I need to sum up last year.

I completed 20 rounds of golf in 2005 after taking up the game in June. Here's a graph of my raw scores (including my 21st round):

I had a few good rounds in there and ended the year with a dissapointing 120 at Bayou (where my best was 94). I played that 20th round the day after Christmas and guess what? I "stumbled" on to another one of the busiest golfing days of the year:

We had to wait almost 2 hours!!! Hey that's a new record, and one I don't want to break.

So, you already know how I did... My worst score ever at Bayou. I don't know what happened. I hit some balls at the range with the driver that went nice and straight, but I could not hit a straight shot on the course to save my life, I was slicing nearly every drive. Then on about the 14th or so, I developed a pinched nerve or something in my back that certainly didn't help my game. Even though the course was packed, I did not feel rushed, so that was good. There was alot of waiting, especially at the par 3 holes.

Now that I have the 20 rounds required to get a USGA handicap... I just need to do it (Resolution/Goal???). Unofficially my index is 32.2 Now I'm not too happy with that number, but looking at Golfchick's handicap history, I think I'm in a good position to follow in her footsteps. I will use her progress as a template for the coming year.

I received some gift cards for Golf Galaxy and picked up a pair of golf shoes. I must have tried on 10 pairs before I pulled the trigger and went with these:

I tried them out when I played at Eagle Pointe. I can say that they felt comfortable. I thought I would have to be careful walking on the greens, but those worries were unfounded.

Eagle Pointe... Wow!! If this course were closer (and I could play there for $20-25), I would sure play there more. Eagle Pointe is a very nice course with nice elevation change (for the flat Houston area). If it weren't for the 45 minute drive, I would make Eagle Pointe my home course. I thought I did pretty well for the first time on a new and difficult course. Eagle Pointe is the most difficult course I have played (72.2/128) and I managed to shoot a 108. I drove well, hit some good shots with the irons, but suffered with my putting. The greens were the fastest I've every played and first I was hitting too hard, then too soft.

Since I now have calculated my handicap, I came up with a course handicap of 36 which gives me a net of 72. Gotta love that handicap system.

My daughter has been swinging her new clubs in the back yard and putting in the living room. I have to say that while she meets the minimum height requirement for these clubs, they are way too big for her. She only likes to hit the 9I and putter. I may have been better off getting her the smallest set where she is at the top of the height requirement. After all, my son is 22 months behind her and they would still go to good use.

My family played a round of putt putt golf and she did well with her putter. We didn't keep score, but she made several nice shots off the "tee".

OK, on to the goals for 2006...

Join Bayou golf Association and play in competitions (win?)
Reduce my handicap by 50% by the end of the year
Take my daughter to the range often and then to the course

That's it for now. I'll have a report on a windy day at bayou in a day or two. Also, I'll be heading back to Eagle Pointe this Sunday and perhaps I'll take some pics.

Trying to get back below 100,
-Greg

Backslide at The Battleground...

2005-12-16T08:21:00.000-06:00

Out With It...

Forget the foreshadowing, I need to get this out... I shot 106 yesterday. I was all set to best my record (98) after firing a 48 on the front in wet, windy, cart path only conditions. And then I fell apart.

I had a chat with a friend the night before. I was trying to convince him to join me for the round. He didn't want anything to do with it (it was pouring rain while we talked). He said it would be a miserable round and described to me what his experiences were in these conditions. However, I knew it would be sunny, I figured "so what" on the cart path only thing, and what's a little wind?

And I held that attitude up until the 11th where I hit the ball straight into the 15-20 mph wind (gusting to your ball flies backwards). What would normally have been a 220 - 230 yard drive to carry a creek ended up being a lay-up shot. It had landed on the left side about 10 feet off of the fairway in an area where there are some trees and mounds. Now the problem here is that the cart path is on the right side of the fairway and I could not see my ball. I considered how far I was from the hole and selected the STRONG 5W (hoping for a nice lie) and my hybrid (for a not-so-nice lie). I found my ball on the front slope of one of these mounds and there were trees blocking my approach. What I needed was a PW or 9i to get across the creek and in position to hit an approach shot.

The Wrong Choice...

I was playing well and brimming with confidence and figured I could hit an easy swing with the hybrid that would get me where I needed to be.

I don't know what I was thinking. How could I have thought that a ball hit with a 21* hybrid lying on a 30* slope pointing at the water would go anywhere other than the water?

I simply fell apart after that. I shagged my tee shot on the following hole (a par three) and then 3-putted. I hit two into the water on 14 for a 9 (par 5). Another shagged tee shot on a par 3... I'll spare you the rest... In the end, 58 on the back for a 106 round at The Battleground.

The Cause...

After the round I decided to hit a few balls on the range. After a few shot (shags) I realized that I was not keeping my head down and not keeping my eye on the ball. I struggled with this for some time and it required focus to overcome. Why is it that old habits come back in golf? Once I figured this out, I was hitting the ball beautifully.

Daddy Needs a New Pair of Shoes...

Another thing I did at the range was to waggle my stance until I felt I had a good grip on the ground with my feet. I don't wear golf shoes and I have been aware that I slip and come off balance especially with the driver. When I concentrated on "digging in" with my feet, I could really swing better and harder with more control and feel. This has convinced me that golf shoes will make a difference in my game. I have a sneaking suspicion that Santa has a Golf Galaxy gift card with my name on it so I'll wait until after the holidays to make the purchase.

One Last Thing...

I've mentioned the 1st at The Battleground several times and this time I took a photo with the W-10. The quality is pretty poor, but it's better than nothing.

There's always next time,
-Greg

Weekend Report...

2005-12-13T10:33:00.000-06:00

I tried to get a round in last Friday, but only managed nine holes. I had planned on playing at Bayou but at the last minute I noticed a discount tee time at my favorite course, The Battleground. The tee time was for 1:00 and available for 1 to 4 players. I grabbed it with the intention of getting there early and trying to start at 12:00 (I had to be home by 4:30). When I arrived I saw no less than seven school busses - there was a high school tournament in progress. On this day, I would not tee off before 1:15.

This was an interesting round for me for several reasons...

It was cool enough to wear long pants - 40 degrees. Up to this point I've always played in shorts. In the end it didn't matter, it was plenty comfortable golfing in jeans.

I purchased over 100 balls on eBay last week, mostly Nike, Maxfli, and Precept, for about twenty bucks. I rummaged through them and found a half dozen Nike Super Soft balls. This would be the first time I've played with the same ball - well, with the same type of ball. I usually go through an assortment of whatever balls I've gathered while "hunting".

The balls performed well. I seemed to be a tad longer with the irons (average drive = 233, long drive = 295); I hit two approach shots longer than I expected. I putted very well too. I made 18 putts (two three-putts, two one-putts) but I felt consistent with my first putt on each hole leaving a short second putt. I think using the same ball is key to consistent putting during a round.

Here are the stats:
Fairways hit... 3
GIRs........... 0
Birdies........ 0
Pars........... 1
Putts......... 18
Bogeys......... 5
Doubles........ 1
Triples........ 2
Bad holes...... 0
Balls lost .... 3 (3 water)

I have to be happy with a score like that at The Battleground. I'm disappointed that I was unable to play eighteen, but I played well.

Joining a Golf Association...

I gathered some information on two Golf Associations: Battleground and Bayou.

Bayou is way cheaper and I will join there. Since I book Battleground through a discount golf site, I would be throwing money away to play with their Golf Association. I would definitely join if I could play in their events for the same rates that I pay there now, but it would cost me nearly twice as much - no thanks. Bayou has exactly what I need and I'll be joining up soon.

Looking ahead for the week, I might be able to play on Thursday and hopefully make it out to the range Wednesday night if it's not raining. I see a discount tee time at The Battleground that is for 1 to 4 players, but it's at 11:08. I'd prefer to play later, so I might try booking a tee time for two and try to find a partner.

Gunnin' for 95 on round #19,
-Greg

Mid-Week Rambling...

2005-12-07T06:56:00.000-06:00

Bayou Golf Association...

Last time I played (link) I became aware of Bayou Golf Association. It seems that BGA is just what I'm looking for: Competitive play in the form of low cost tournaments with a varity of formats, and an official handicap service. I need to find out about joining up! Just in time too as I can almost see the light at the end of the 20 round tunnel.

Range Time...

I made it to the range last night and started off with the 6 iron. I had trouble hitting a straight shot - everything was fading or mildly slicing. This is odd because I've been hitting pretty straight with the irons lately. I tried the 3 iron with similar results. Then I decided to push the club head out more on impact and bingo, straight shots and even a few draws. A few hits with the fairway woods showed great results. I was getting a nice high trajectory with the STRONG 5W, and distance on the 3W looks to be well over 200 yards. As seems to be the trend (once you figure something out), all of a sudden I was having trouble geting consistant direction with the driver. I had to fool with ball placement and stance before I was able to hit the ball down the target line. I think I might have been swinging too hard or accelerating too quickly after the top of the back swing, I'm not sure.

Like last time, I worked on chipping and putting before heading home and I finished the putting drills in significantly less time. If I continue to get through these drills quickly, I'll have to work up something a little more difficult.

Golf Outlook...

Looks like I'll be gearing up for my 19th round this Friday. The Battleground is out because there are no suitable tee times. No worries though, I'll be happy to head down to Bayou to have a shot at my record as well as gather some information about Bayou Golf Association. Two more rounds and I'll have my twenty-round requirement for an official handicap.

Golf Shoes...

After five months, I finally made it to the local Golf Galaxy. I looked at some Footjoy golf shoes that seemed like regular sneakers with those soft cleats. They were forty bucks and that seems reasonable for golf shoes. I had been to Goldsmith where I tried on some more traditional golf shoes (also Footjoys), but they seemed pretty stiff and uncomfortable. I felt there was no way I would be comfortable walking courses with those shoes. In the end, I walked out empty handed, but I'm thinking about getting those sneaker-style Footjoys - even if for nothing else than to keep my regular sneakers clean. Thinking about golf shoes brings me back to the question of their worth where my game is concerned. Will they improve my game or not? I don't know, but if I get them I'll be sure to post my thoughts.

Golf gloves...

I don't use a golf glove. I have no problem holding on to the club and I don't like the idea of donning/doffing a glove 30+ times per round. However, nearly everyone uses one. I've heard that Fred Couples does not wear a glove. What's the deal here? I suppose one of these days I'll give it a try.

The Shaft...

I'm considering going to a stiff shaft on my driver. I think I'll try Golf Galaxy's launch monitor to compare my driver with the same model with a stiff shaft. I'll need to be sure to take notes so I'll have some baseline statistics for future visits.

Golf Balls...

I generally don't buy golf balls. I know I lose lots of them, but I usually come out of the woods with a few extras. I have recently begun to feel the difference between a hard ball and a soft ball. Like most other folks, I prefer the soft ball for chipping and putting. Now I'm trying to determine which balls are hard and which are soft.

Well, that's enough babbling for now,
-Greg

Steady as She Goes...

2005-12-02T16:36:00.000-06:00

Maintaining goals...

I Made it down to Bayou today. I had a rough start on the front nine shooting a 51. I scored an 8 on two par 4s, but otherwise managed 1 par and 5 bogeys. I played the back with a 12 handicapper and that was all it took to turn my game on. I shot a 44 on the back with one birdie. So, 95 - one off my best score and right on target for my "maintain sub-100 scores" goal and the 44 is a good confidence builder for breaking 90.

Here are the stats on the day:

Fairways hit.. 10
GIRs........... 2
Birdies........ 1
Pars........... 2
Putts......... 35
Bogeys........ 10
Doubles........ 3
Triples........ 0
Bad holes...... 2
Balls lost .... 3 (2 water, 1 deep rough)

That 44 is my lowest score to date on nine regulation holes. My penalties are becoming fewer and fewer. I had an outstanding day with the driver hitting 10 fairways. My average drive was 233, the long drive was 281, and the short was a scant 150 (good thing too cause 155 would have been wet). I just couldn't capitalize and get the GIRs. I did hit one green pretty good though:

That was on the 12th hole where I hit a 236-yard drive which left a 116-yard approach. My pitching wedge is usually good for about 112. That was my second birdie on a regulation course. My ball is the one about four feet from the pin. I was pretty nervous - hate to miss one like that for birdie.

I'm adding another goal to the list from last post:

Make 6 or more pars in a round.

I'm pretty tired so I'm going to cut this one short.

Starting to smell those 80s,
-Greg

98 at The Battleground...

2005-12-01T10:07:00.000-06:00

What a day - Busted 100 at The Battleground!!!

I met up with Bob, who I met through MyGlofBuddy.com. Bob is getting back into the game after a 13-year break. I thought Bob played pretty well but struggled with pushing and slicing his drives. He became frustrated near the end of the round and given that he was a 12-13 handicapper, I can certainly understand his frustration. Bob is looking to get his game back, and I'm looking forward to playing a few rounds with him along the way.

I started the round in a big way. I declared my target and let it rip. My ball flew perfectly at my target and landed on the fairway some 281 yards from the tee. I followed that with a hybrid that landed just short of the green and off to the right on this 461-yard par 5. A chip and two putts later and I recorded a par on number one.

Another notable hole was the 13th. This is a tough hole (the No. 2 HCP for the course), a par 4 of 409 yards that plays into the wind. I got under the ball on my drive and was left with about 250 yards to the green. I was on the fairway and I knew I would not be able to reach the green with my hybrid. Given my success at the range with the fairway woods, I decided to try the 3 wood. I hit a nice shot that landed left of the fairway about one foot from the ditch. The shot was straight, just pulled a little and flew about 220 yards into the wind. Not bad for the first use of a fairway wood on the course in quite some time. Just another confirmation that my "tucked elbow" swing technique is working.

I won't go into any more narrative details, but here are the stats for the round:

Fairways hit... 4
GIRs........... 5
Pars........... 5
Putts......... 35
Bogeys......... 5
Doubles........ 5
Triples........ 2
Bad holes...... 1
Balls lost .... 3 (water)

The bad hole was the 12th. It's a par 3 165-yard hole and I shanked the tee shot off to the left and behind some trees. Since I had no shot at the green, I punched out. From there I chipped into the bunker, close to the lip. I got out in two shots, and down in two putts. Now I don't know about any of you, but if my "blow-up" hole is an "8", I'm just going to count my blessings. Lord knows it could have easily been a 9, 10, or 11 (hopefully I won't see anymore 13s!!!).

My driving was pretty good even though the "Fairways Hit" stat does not show it. I hit many long drives that were just off of the fairway. My average driving distance for the round was 246 yards (based on fairways hit). I still managed to slice a couple though.

Lessons learned:
I need to keep my focus on the back nine at The Battleground. Much of the front nine plays crosswind and so I focus more on drives. The back nine has some more open fairways that play downwind and offer an opportunity for the 300-yard monster drive. Going for the monster drive is a low percentage shot. I need to keep focused and be happy with 250+ and on the fairway.

New Goals:
Now that I've broken 100 at The Battleground, I need to set some new goals. I think breaking 90 there is a pretty lofty goal, so I'll go for 95. In addition, I would like to continue playing at sub-100 level for all of my rounds and so that will remain a daily goal on all courses. Sub-100 golf is still a pretty good goal because I have played 17 rounds and only broken 100 twice. However, I feel that I have learned what I need to do to play at the sub-100 level and I feel I should be able to maintain this level of play.

Stay below 100
Break 95 at The Battleground
Break 90 at Bayou, Pasadena, and San Jac
Make more than 6 pars in a round

Bayou and Pasadena have similar slope and rating, yet I have yet to break 100 at Pasadena. I fully expect to play much better there now that I am driving the ball straight.

Loose Ends...
One of the loose ends from previous posts that I wanted to tie up is the Olympus W-10 digital voice recorder. I received this awhile back and used it once when I played Pasadena. It worked like a charm for scorekeeping and note taking. I took a couple of photos and I got what I expected - about cell phone camera quality (see a shot in this post). If you like to walk I recommend this little device as an alternative to writing your score on the scorecard.

Next up...

I'm thinking about playing tomorrow in the early afternoon. If I do I'll play Bayou since that is the better course for walking.

Dreaming about the 80s,
-Greg

Continued Confidence...

2005-11-29T14:03:00.001-06:00

Went to the range last night to see if the things I have been doing are indeed the key to straight shots. I hit several with the driver and confirmed that I have found what works for me. At this point, I can send the ball in the direction I want it to go with a very playable amount of error. I also tried dropping my shoulder and letting my elbow pull away to confirm what not to do.

Next I hit a few with my hybrid which continues to be long, but lacking in directional control. I hit some straight, but many fade, slice, hook, or draw. I think the key with that club is to ease off the power a bit.

I next hit a few with the 3 and 5 woods - the Adams Tight Lies (the original ones). By applying the same techniques as I do with the driver, I get nice straight shots. I'm not too sure what distance I get with these clubs, but I'm fast approaching the point where I will use them on the course.

Finally, I hit several shots with the three iron. Results were highly variable at first, but I did manage to hit a few with good results. I'm not sure what the key is to consistent good shots with the tall irons is, but I seem to be making progress.

As I neared the bottom of the bucket, I packed up and moved over to the chipping area. I paced off three stations at 30, 40, and 50 yards. I placed my towel on the edge of the green where I wanted the ball to land and hit several shots from each station. I did poorly at first, but got much better by the time I finished.

Finally, I went to the practice green. There are three cups on a long (80 ft) and narrow three-tiered green, with one cup on each tier. I started by hitting four-footers until I made ten in a row. Then I started a circle exercise where I would try to two-putt from one hole to the next, and then to the next, and then all the way back (60+ ft). I did this until I had made three 2-putts in a row.

I will be sure to add the chipping and putting exercises each time I go to the range.

I have some follow-up stuff to add from previous posts, but I'm going to publish this post because I accidentally pressed the "Publish" button after only typing in the title.

Tomorrow I'll be playing The Battleground and looking to hit lots of fairways!!!

Post Thanksgiving Update...

2005-11-28T10:02:00.000-06:00

The Best of Times... The Worst of Times...

Why is it that in golf you can follow your best hole with your worst hole? You can post your best nine and then finish with your worst?

My 16th Regulation Round...

I played some of my best golf Friday after thanksgiving along with a good measure of my worst. I was right on target to match or break my best score after completing the front nine at Bayou GC. My driving was straight and consistant like never before. I hit five of seven fairways, got two GIRs (one was the par 3 5th, 171 yards into the wind - which I three putted), made three pars, and hit my fourth ~300 yard drive (297). That's right, I said 300 yard drive. The big deal here is that this time, I had three witnesses and there was no bouncing on the cart path involved. Just a long, 297-yard drive that landed on the fairway a scant 112 yards from the center of the green... Then I hit it into a sand trap, then two shots later I was on the fringe, but putted in from there (for a double). But still, that was one long drive!!! I headed for the 10th with 47 strokes on the scorecard and some serious confidance in my driver.

On the 10th I hit three consecutive shots out of bounds and finally completed the hole with a 13 - my worst score ever (again!). I regrouped and managed three bogies (though two three-putts) and a triple on 14. The 15th was a replay of the 10th with three consecutive shots out of bounds on the right. I managed an 11 on this par 5, but these two brutal holes brought my game from stellar to average. My straight driving came back on 17 (double) and 18 (three-putt bogey) and I finished with 109. On the day I hit 8 fairways, got 5 GIRs, and made 41 putts (8 three-putts, 3 one-putts).

Even though the course was busy we never had to wait for more than a minute or two and we rarely had the foursome behind us breathing down our necks. In the past this has bothered me quite a bit. It might be more because it used to take me more shots to reach the green... okay, to get near the green.

I left with some disappointment because I had a shot at breaking 90 because I usually do better on the back, but still very happy with what I learned about my driving.

The "What-if" game...

OK, if I managed a double on those two holes and made half as many three putts I would have walked away with a 95. Had I bogied those holes and elimitaned the three-putts I would have carded an 89. Maybe I should have had more than "some" dissapointment? Nah, I had a great round even if I did demonstrate "how to consistantly slice" six times.

The Lesson...

What did I learn? I confirmed that keeping my right elbow attached to my right side through the backswing and contact will result in a straight drive. I can see why I slice the ball when my elbow comes away - it's because I need to pull the head of the driver towards me prior to contact which induces the spin that causes the slice. Knowing that, I wonder if I can develop a more classic swing that does not require the attaced elbow? Only range time will tell. Then again, why mess with what works? If I can hit long and straight with a short backswing, why change?

Next Stop: The Battleground...

With my wife working every weekend this month I'll be leaving the office early to get my fix. This week I'll be playing with a local who contacted me through mygolfbuddy which is a pretty cool site. Will this be the time I break 100 at The Battleground? I sure hope so. Every time I finish a round I feel I've learned something that will help my next round. This last round that feeling is very strong and I've never felt more confident with the driver. My irons have been getting better too. If I can just play well around the greens I should be able to record a new personal best. Stay tuned ;^)

-Greg

Pre-Thanksgiving Update...

2005-11-21T14:31:00.000-06:00

Range time...

I managed to hit the range the evening before my Wife left town. This would be the first weekend in quite some time with no golfing so I opted for the bottomless bucket. My main goal was to focus on the 3, 4, and 5 irons. I don't recall making any real progress on those irons, but I do recall imagining a round at The Battleground.

I've played The Battleground three and a half times and I can now picture most of the course in my mind. About halfway through my third bucket (after my intercostals and right ring finger callous started shouting "Hey Pal, call it a day all ready!!", I decided to imagine a round at The Battleground. I would imagine the fairway, hit a drive, make an approach shot, and perhaps a chip. It was quite an enjoyable exercise. The lesson on the day was smooth and easy for a straight shot. Of course I know that - I just have trouble applying it on the course.

After I finished my "round", I hit a few with the fairway woods (the original Adams Tight Lies) which I had never been able to hit. Much to my surprise I was hitting them pretty long and straight using the same swing that I use with the driver. Certainly I was not hitting every shot long and straight, but I was quite happy with what I was seeing.

Anxious to play...

During my four days with the kids, while checking my email, the weather, and slickdeals, I would browse over to PGA18.com (and Golf18Houston.com) to see what kind of deals I could find for the coming holiday. I've come to find out that the biggest shopping day of the year is also the biggest golfing day of the year. I'm hoping to get a round in that day, but I usually can't book a tee time as a single through PGA18.com.

At some point my mind began teasing me about a round Monday morning. Yeah, I could hit Pasadena at the crack of dawn, or maybe even Eagle Pointe (where I could book a tee time as a single). By Sunday night I was commited.

I arrived at Pasadena Municipal just as the sun was inching up over the horizon. I was surprised to see quite a bit of activity on this cold (for Houston - 45* F) morning. I hustled up to the Club House and paid my $9.00 to walk the course and this is what I saw when I got to the first tee:

It turns out that Monday is Seniors Day at Pasadena - Lesson Learned!!!

I made a quick decision to start at the 10th. I don't want to go into too much detail here, but in the end I had an average day shooting 113, making 2 pars, 2 bogeys, 5 doubles, 7 triples, 4 penalties (1 water, 3 OOB), and crapping out 49 putts. I finished the round in about 3hrs 20mins. It was my 15th time playing a regulation course. Five more rounds and I can have a real handicap!

Lesson No. 1: Playing golf at the crack of dawn starting on the 10th hole makes putting very difficult. What I learned was that early ing the morning there is quite a bit of dew on the greens. This makes them super slow. In addition, starting on the 10th means that most of them haven't been cut. I learned later in the day that the greenskeeper cuts the greens in the morning. This morning cut breaks the dew as well as cuts the grass. Also, as the sun rose, some greens would dry off a bit. So what I had was greens that were very inconsistant from hole to hole. I suppose the next time I play early in the morning I'll be a little more prepared, but I was not too happy with the putting.

Weekend Report...

2005-11-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

Playing the Best Percentage Shot...

In my last post I talked about how I had done some range work with my driving. So, I hit a few straight shots (no fade/draw), and I learned that placing the ball further back in my stance seemed to produce a straighter shot that flew somewhat left of the target line. How did this data translate to my round on Sunday you might ask?

Before I answer that, let's review No. 1 at The Battleground:

Par 5, 461 yard dogleg right (at the end) with a lateral water hazard on the right, a ditch on the left, and the fairway slopes towards the water so anything that lands on the right half of the fairway plays a game of chance with the "good bounce" gods and those odds are stacked in favor of the water. Now for those who fade the ball we're talking about a hole that requires landing on about the left third of the fairway. So, if you manage a good drive, you have a good chance at a par. I often visualize No. 1 of The Battleground when I'm hitting the driver at the range.

So, how did I do?

Well, I lined up for slightly left of the center of the fairway with the ball slightly back in my stance... then I adjusted a bit more "for good measure" and hit a nice straight shot that bounced over the cart path and into the ditch on the left. Hind sight being what it is, I should have trusted the data and left the "for good measure" out.

The second hole I did a little better. It's a par 4 dogleg right with similar hazards (water on the right, ditch on the left). I learned from the first tee shot and left the "for good measure" out and hit a straight shot up the left side where it just rolled into the first cut of at the turn.

The third is a straight par 4 over with a narrow tree-lined fairway that widens a bit to the right. Somehow at this point I completely forgot what I needed to do to hit the ball straight. Bring in the baseball swing, drop the right shoulder and swing for the fences with the arms.... Not pretty. It's not like I forgot what I needed to do, I just stopped applying that knowledge.

The rest of the round was average. I managed a few decent drives that fell on or near the fairway, but the strong fade-to-slice trajectory would show up every time I stepped up to bat. Now there's nothing wrong with a fade, you just have to aim enough to the left - which I failed to do most of the time. So in the end I hit my highest percentage shot, I just didn't play it.

Note to self: Take a moment before each swing to focus on what I need to do because my instincts say swing for the fences.

The Rest of the Story...

I shot 110 with 7 penalty strokes (4 or 5 swimmers). I shot two pars on 8 and 9. I ended up with 53 on the front and 57 on the back. Not too bad since my scores there are now 131, 119, 110. I'll take it!!

The greens were like shag carpet so we instituted a no more than 3-putt rule. I think that saved me a couple of strokes, but the conditions also robbed me a couple of strokes, so I'll call it even I guess.

I had a great time playing the game. I played the game more for fun than game improvement and came out with a better score in the end. A couple of things contributed to the fun. First was my friend Todd from my old job. We simply played golf - nary a word about the office. Not that I would have minded office chat, it's just a realization about the game and where it takes you - away from everything else. I look forward to our next round. Another big contributor was the absence of other golfers. We started out with a pair in front and a pair behind, but never had to wait and never felt rushed (we rarely even saw the pair behind us). Of course a beer or two may have contributed as well ;^)

Deals on eBay...

Well, I did it. I got my 5-year-old daughter a set of junior clubs on eBay. I did my homework and got the right lengths. I'm really looking forward to taking her down to Green Caye. I figure I'll let her hit some balls at the range and play around on the putting green. Then after she has some ability, I'll take her out on the par 3 course. Hopefully she'll be able to play from tee to green, but if we get some folks behind us we'll just move right up to the green after her tee shot for a pitch and a putt or two.

I also managed a nice deal on the Olympus W-10 digital voice recorder. I should get it in a few days and I'm excited about using it for scoring, notes and photos of future rounds. Unfortunately, I'm not real sure when I'll be able to play again. My wife's going out of town this weekend, so that means Daddy duty with my little ones. Then it's the Thanksgiving holiday... Maybe I can get a round in while everyone else is kicking off their holiday shopping.

Working the Range...

2005-11-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

I've been having problems with a strong fade creeping into my swing. I prefer to hit the ball straight (am I a genius or what?), but a little fade is fine if I can do it consistently.

Last night I went down to the range at Green Caye Golf Course to work on ball control.

I warmed up with some iron shots, then hit some with my hybrid (which seems to be waaaaaayyy more inconsistent than it's on-course performance would suggest), and then proceeded to pound bucket after bucket with the big stick.

This is what I learned.

Reference: My normal ball placement is just inside my left heel for the driver.

1. Placing the ball farther forward (toward the target) seems to be a possible cause of the fade/slice.

2. Placing the ball farther back produces straighter ball flight, but left of the target line.

3. Placing the ball even farther back (say near the center of my stance) is ideal when trying to draw the ball.

One thing that seemed to produce the fade/slice was dropping my right shoulder. I call this my "baseball" swing because I feel like I'm trying to knock it out of the park.

One thing that seemed to promote straight ball flight was to keep my right elbow tucked tight to my torso which is the opposite of what I recently read on one of the golf sites.

Here are some things to try for next time.

1. Keep the aimpoint (clubface) the same and vary the ball placement. Note where in relation to the target line the balls flies. Adjust the aimpoint and hit the shots again to see if I can get the ball to land where I want it to. I suspect that a slight adjustment (an inch or so) toward the center of my stance may sync everything up. I'm looking for the ball position that produces ball flight where I expect based on the club face. Wow these are really jumbled notes :-/

Other practice notes...

I used to practice my short game at Clear Lake Golf Club (mainly because it was free) which recently closed. They had a nice chipping green which was separate from their large putting green. I need to find a new place to keep chipping onto a green part of my practice routine.

Note taking while playing...

I always seem to have a hard time taking good notes during a round. I would like to have enough information after a round so I can review what I did right and what I did wrong. There is only so much space on the scorecard and I'd like to record more than fairways hit, GIRs, and putts. I'm considering getting a digital voice recorder so I can record additional information as I walk. I recently saw this one at Amazon for what seems like a reasonable price. It even has a built in digital camera that could come in real handy when reviewing a round. So I browsed over to eBay and found them for about half of what they were going for on Amazon. I bid on one, we'll see if I get lucky.

That's all for now. I'm not sure if I'll get out to the range before I play The Battleground or not. I'd like to see if I can answer the questions I have with ball placement with more data, but at least I have a general idea. One of these times I'll try a draw with the driver... Will this be it???

-Greg