Blowup holes

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

These are the holes you look back upon, and wonder, "What happened? Why?" I played a round Saturday, shot 102, and it featured all sorts of erratic play.

First blowup was at hole 8, a par-4 that doglegs left. I took my 5-wood off the tee, hoping to play a solid shot out to the dogleg and play from there. Instead, I came up a bit, and topped it out, short and left. I then played a smart shot, hitting a 9I and getting the ball back in play in the fairway. I then get fat on a 7I, plopping it in a bunker short of the green. The bunker I get it out, but not nearly enough, leaving it in the thick veggies between the bunker and the green. Frustrated, I rake the trap, then get out and chip with the SW, well past and above the hole. 3-putt to finish off an 8, the cold heartless snowman.

The second blowup was on a tougher hole, but still is making me cringe this morning. Hole 13, a longish par-4, with a creek that cuts across the fairway at around 225. I hit 5W, as I tend to play this hole in my mind as a par-5, lay it up short of the creek, play across to middle of the fairway, and use a wedge to get on in 3. But I pulled the 5W fairly hard left, hitting it back almost into the fairway on 12. From there, with some trees to get under, I played a reasonably smart shot, choking down on a 4I, playing it back in the stance to trap down, and laying a low runner up short of the creek.

Then it got ugly again. The 7I I hit next is straight, but fat. Still, it does the job of getting me in play for the PW to the green. But I chunk the PW, leaving it short of the green. I skull the next one, scooting it to the rough just behind the green. Then I played a fair chip back down the hill, but take 2 putts and another snowman, another 8.

Oy.

These are the holes that are really driving me nuts, as I work towards my goal of becoming a bogey golfer. I can live with the double bogies, but the blowup holes where I find myself adding on an extra 4 or 5 strokes in a round frustrate me.

Still, maybe I should be pleased that I'm making progress in my thoughts in the game and how I go about the course? I'm getting much better at stopping myself and saying, "I don't need a great shot here, 2 good shots will be much safer and more likely."

Plus, yesterday, when I was thinking things over, and taking some practice swings, I think I realized what was causing me to chunk shots with the half-swings on pitching wedges. If I'm correct with that, and get those half-wedges on the green consistently, I'll probably shave off 4 or 5 strokes a round.

Oh, and I did hit a beautiful 8I to the green on 14, then a 5I on the par-3 16th hole that was pin high.

 

[SiberianDVM]

My round yesterday was my first (only have 5) that I haven't had a snowman, but I did have way too many 7s.

My worst hole was a par 4 where it took me 3 to get out of a routine greenside bunker. Sigh. Made a 7.

Then there was the par 5 where I topped my drive for 75 yards, with cart path roll, topped my 3 wood, then topped my 5 wood. Switched to irons, and topped my 3 hybrid. OK then. Blasted a 6 iron to the green and made a 7. Go figure.

Still, it was a 104 for the day, which is my best round yet.

I'm gonna break 100 before the year is out, if I have to spend every last dime I have on greens fees and range balls.

P.S. How do you guys remember so much detail about your rounds? It would be nice to remember this stuff, in order to put it in a program like ShotMaker, but it takes to long to write it down as I play. I'm thinking about taking a tape recorder along and dictating as I hack.

 

[Bravo]

Siberian:

You will Definitely get there. I see so many high handicappers who simply cannot control themselves mentally.

Every shot is Go For Broke.

I know this sounds strange but I might recommend that you plan a day at the range soon and pack only three clubs. Leave the rest at home so you Cannot use them. I would bring your three highest lofted clubs. I don't know how many wedges you own, but bring them all and your 9 iron.

Hit a large bucket of balls with these three clubs. With your highest lofted club, hit about 20 balls in the range of 60-70 yards.

Before you hit the first ball on the range, take the entire bucket and use it around the green for chipping and bunker shots. Hit shot after shot.

You are doing a good job of analyzing where you are losing shots. As I said before, many golfers are so dense they cannot do this.

Try this practice technique twice in the next two weeks and I'll bet that a round of 95 or lower will come very soon.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Did I remember a lot? I dunno. Umm, I guess I just try to keep a narrative in my head while I play, as it seems to help me really think about the course and what I want to try to do with each shot. Although not always perfectly.

I hadn't played for 5 years up til a month ago. Before that, I was a guy who would shoot around 110-120 in a round. Maybe the low 100's if I got hot. Now last year even if I had wanted to play, I couldn't have because I was going through the worst phase of a frozen shoulder in my right shoulder. Now I can use the shoulder again, although it still hasn't come fully back.

So I'm glad to be able to play and swing a club again, try to keep my emotions in check, and enjoy my time walking around the course.

It could all depend on how you tend to store information. For who I am, the narrative is useful, along with a notation on the scorecard of how many strokes and how many putts. With that, I can remember how many strokes it took me to get on the green, and I can begin visualizing what happened.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Thanks, Bravo

Last month I remarked to my pro that I couldn't putt or get on the green from close in. He told me the reason why was because I never practiced; I only hit range balls.

So I started a routine of 30 min chipping, 30 min putting, then a bucket of balls. My putting and chipping has improved, but my ball striking has not.

I think I could get better if I could afford the Hogan method of a bucket of balls for every club, every day, but alas, some other person won the Mega Millions this week. So for me it's hitting into my net in the evenings, and the once or twice trip to the range & putting/chipping green.

I'll try your suggestion about the wedges. My set contains an E, F, & S.

 

[Bravo]

Here is a tip on those half wedge shots that has worked really well for me.

It's called the "shake hands with your shot". This is one of the very few things I have ever learned out of a golf magazine and Phil Mickelson was featured on the cover of GD about a year ago with instruction on his short game. You can use this technique with any of your short irons.

Take your normal address but make sure the ball is at least in the middle of your stance - no farther forward than the middle and if you feel comfortable moving it a bit back of middle this is good also.

Take the club back to the 3 o'clock position and swing downward - finishing with your club parallel to the ground. Essentially - at finish - your right hand would be extended outward in a manner such that if you dropped the club right there - you could 'shake hands' with someone. The key here is a swing that goes back to 3 o'clock and finishes at 9:00.

Try this on the range with as many balls as you can afford. It will teach you that you can control the distance of a half to three quarter shot without stubbing a fat shot into the ground. And once you feel this confidence in this technique, the fat shots you are experiencing on these approaches will reduce...Not only that - but you will find the ball on the green and sometimes close to the hole. You may go from a double bogey to a par or birdie...

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

I'll definitely have to try that. I think I may have already been figuring out the ideas in that while reviewing how I had been swinging on those half-wedges, and taking out huge chunks of turf so often. If I could get good on those, I would definitely save a few strokes every round.

 

[LottaBalata]

I think so many of us, average high handicappers, tend to rush shots after we flub, skull, top, duff, whatever the case may be. I've noticed if I screw one up, I NEED to step back and gather myself. OR a bogey turns into an easy 7 or 8. Find your smooth practice swing before you take your next shot, gather yourself accordingly and forget about the bad shot you just made. The worst thing about a bad shot is following it up with another one. I know that on the holes I dbl or trpl bogey on, I've turned on myself and got angry due to a poor shot. If I can shake it off quick, take a good shot to follow, I fare much better. Just my opinion, good luck.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Not directly related to the idea of the opening post, but tonight I used my digital camera to take video of me swinging a 5I, and that's when I discovered that I have a flying right elbow. So that's definitely something I have to work on the next time I go to the range. I never realized that I'd been doing that.

Of course, if I had ever taken lessons, it probably would have been pointed out to me straight away.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

I didn't have any super blowup holes on Saturday, but did have some mini flubs that interfered with me possibly posting by best 9 holes ever.

I got off, for me the hacker, a really hot start on the back 9. On hole 10, I smoked my driver fairly deep and straight on a par-4 that goes up over a hill. I was left with a little under 150 yards, down the hill, and with the course playing hard, I played 9I to see if I could bounce and roll it into the center of the green. Came up a little short, but I chipped to tap in distance to make par, my first par ever on that hole.

Hole 11 is a par-3, and one I have still yet to hit the green. It's about 140 yards, over a small creek, and downhill. Over the past month, I have been short with an 8I twice, then last weekend, I tried 7I, but that was way long. So I went back to the 8I, hit it solid, with a slight fade. Too much fade though, as it struck the slope just off the green to the right, and ended up coming to rest in a tall tuft of grass next to a tree stump. I didn't have much of a play, but I hacked it up to just off the fringe, then chipped and 2-putted for a 5.

Off to hole 12, hit 5W off the tee, pulled a bit but left me 150 yards out from the rough. I chunked a 7I about half the way to the green, then played a good PW, running it up onto the green. 2 putts, another bogey.

Now onto hole 13, which in my mind, is the tough par 4 on the course. It's over 400 yards, dogleg left, with a creek that goes across the fairway about 240 yards from the tee boxes. If I were good, I would playing a draw with the driver, clear the creek, and get it inside 150 yards. Heh. I'm not that good. I play it, in my mind, as a par-5.

So I took 3I off the tee, hit it down the left side some, but in the fairway. I then played 8I to lay up about 50 yards from the green, and used my PW to roll it on, about 25 feet past the hole. There, I almost sunk the putt, as it came to a stop 2 inches from going in, me yelling "Get in there! Get in there!" Another bogey, but man, it was nice to have played the hole exactly as I had scripted it in my head before teeing off for it.

Hole 14, par 4, pulled the driver a bit to the left, and it caught a fairway bunker about 135 yards from the green. Hit the bunker shot fat, but now more confident about getting those wedges onto the green when inside 100 yards, I played another one, rolling it on and into the center of the green. 2 putts and another bogey. After 5 holes on the back, I was 5 over par, probably my best stretch of 5 consecutive holes ever.

I then faded some, going triple-triple-single-double bogey finish, to go 49 on the back, the second sub-50 9-holes of my life. Not too bad, considering the changes I'm making in my swing, and how I'm having trouble gauging distances as my right shoulder improves and gets stronger

 

[P_102]

On those "half wedge" shots, many golfers tend to take too much swing and then decelerate. Try working on a much shorter backswing and accelerating through. It requires a lot of TRUST in the outcome but will help a great deal.

P_102

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Yeah, I've learned that deceleration is killer in a golf swing, woods, irons, or putter. All kinds of wrong happen when you decelerate.