Learn from the Irish Master!

[IrishGolfer]

Dave 31 or should I say Tiger.

Your the man in form. Share with us some of your swing thoughts these days.

Here's some of mine. Please NOTE that most of these are ingrained in my swing, iow I don't have to consciously think about them. But if things go wrong and I need to go back to basics, then mosty of it can be found here.

Stance and alignment
I always try and get "in routine" - stand behind the ball, visualise flight and direction, take dead aim, set up around my right foot as an anchor
(When practising, I lay down a 2 clubs in a "train track" parallel to toes and target line. Toes, knees, hips and shoulders, forehead all aligned).

Take away
Ass-clench (tighten sphincter and inside mucles on legs but relax arms and everything else)
Stand up tall, head high
Slow, low and smooth - parallel to outside line
Drop left shoulder down instead of round

Downswing and follow through
Wait for the backswing to finish
Keep forarms barrelled around the chect
Pour on the power
Straighten left leg at impact
Shake hands with the target
Finish high and balanced.


Putting
Choose line and comit
3 practice swings
Align putter
Focus on ground directly behind ball (blade of grass)
Straight back and through, remembering to keep putterhead moving through to target
Head like a statue, focusing on blade of grass
Listen for the sound of the putt dropping, or the terrifying silence

I'm looking for ward to my 36 hole score on Sunday. Any takers on me breaking 150?

 

[Silver]

No offense IG, but I'll bet against it. Not because I don't think you can do it, but because then you'll have someone to prove wrong

Good luck man, sounds like you're in top form.

 

[IrishGolfer]

Teh Master of Disaster!

btw Cheers Silver. You were right dude!

Bad Day at Blackrock

So the 36 hole tourney was on Sunday. I was the first guy to strike a ball at 7.45am. I was at the course at 6.45am, spent time warming up, got myself focused etc. The forecast was good, a bit breezy and the ground very firm, links golf at it's best. We were playing from the tips, all 6,900 yards, but the ball was running so much the driver stayed in the bag most of the day.

So anyway my morning round was a mixture of the sublime and painful. I had 2 doubles in the front 9, including a lost ball and a 3 putt. But I managed to par every hole on the back with only 13 putts, including single putting the last 4 greens! (AWESOME 2 BALL ACTION!) So I scrambled a 77 to lie 2nd at lunch-time (which probably could have been an 83 quite easily).

So here I am with a real chance to win this thing, if only I can start swinging well and get some rhythm. So I start with 3 pars and a bogey on round 2. Looking Good Billy Ray!

Then Blackrock kicked in. I "moved to six over" after 10 with a couple of doubles. And then it happened, the biggest brain fart ever. I was left of the green on 12 with my second. I had a 10 ft. high chip onto a plateau green. The flag was close to the edge and I say to myself "Don't get too cute, pitch up and take your bogey". So I managed to ignore my own advice. The second attempt left me with a 30ft,. putt which I then naturally managed to 3 putt for a triple!! So I'm now 9 over and in free fall. I finished with an embarrassing 86, with 4 wonderful bogies to finish, nothing left in the tank.

This game is a real balancer; although I struggled in the morning I kept myself in with a shout. However that sneaky bastard called golf will eventually find you out and he paid me back in kind.

So over 36 holes I had 1 treble and 4 doubles, all of them brain farts. The rest was all good stuff (8 over for 31 holes!) I reckon golf is a game of minimising mistakes. 152 won it and my total of 163 was only 11 shots behind. I still reckon I got a top 10 finish, but alas no silverware for this Irish golfer.

I was happy to see that the guy that won it was 64 years old, has recovered TWICE from cancer battles and came back in the afternoon with a 74, (the old dog) in a stiff Northerly breeze. That made me feel better, as I still have a few more years yet to win this bastard tourney!!

I'll be back!

 

[Kilted Arab]

Great post, IG!

Now share out the lottery cash.

Cheers!

 

[DaveE]

Nice report IG. I hope someday to have good days that are as good as your bad days.

We have a number of those old guys at our club and I see them as what's possible as I get older. One of my favorite members is 85 this year and still plays 2 or 3 times a week, though usually just 9 holes.

If I'm not worm food by then I hope I'm still swingin em.

 

[Dave Ireland]

Damnit IG !! .... thought you would've picked up a dust collector last weekend ..... how infuriating is it to be a low single digit handicapper and still come up with those calamities ?

I had a somewhat similar conversation with my buddy - who asked me to explain how after rasping 3 or 4 drives down the centre stripe, that I can then carve one away into the next county. He puts it down to a lapse in concentration - I'd told him previously that my recent good run was down to not thinking so much about the shot. 1 practice swing, pick target, align clubhead and swing, the only thing I consciously remember is to get my junk (as Rockford calls it) thru the ball. I think he's confusing concentration and thinking, coz I still switch "on" 15-20 seconds b4 each shot.

I shot 40 last night in the 9 holer - which included 2 OB's and a watery grave ...limited the damage with the OB's as I birdied both with 2nd ball and parred the watery grave hole. Played in a Rumble on Sunday (2 to score on Par 4&5's, 3 on par 3) - we scored 103 points which was exceptional, but still got lost behind the stampede as 111 points won it.

Anyways, keep plugging away - there's a blitz of a round waiting to happen for ya - just make sure it's not in Sept