Eracer
No more triple bogies!!
- Oct 31, 2005
- 12,405
- 8
Seems odd, right? I had my worst score in a long time yesterday, but came out of the round feeling very positive. Why?
My predominate ball-flight for the day was a draw - something I've seen more and more the last few rounds. You must understand that until recently, being able to draw the ball was completely foreign to me. So I missed a lot of greens to the left. It was a very tight course, and that spelt trouble.
I felt like I was swinging in perfect tempo, staying connected, in sequence, and maintaining wrist cock down and through impact (it's what I've been working on in my last few lessons) and the result was airmailed greens. I'm talking 20-30 yards long. Good contact, crisp, penetrating shot - that goes way over the green. So needless to say, I was in trouble a lot over the green as well. Never a good thing.
Short game (my achilles heel). This is the third week in a row that I've felt very positive about my short game (10 yards from the green and in). I read a lesson tip in Golf Magazine about keeping the upper arms pinched in and making a slow shoulder stroke back (a la Zach Johnson) then focusing on facing the target after impact. It just clicked with me, and the results have been there. This is hopefully the breakthrough I've been working so hard to find.
Course management. Not so good. I took driver out several times on very tight driving holes with hazards all around. Why? Take the 3-hybrid and put it 200 yards down the middle. Then lay up if you have to. I don't miss fairways with that club - ever. Heck, on a 365 yard par-4, that's 3H, 6i (or 8i, the way I was hitting the ball yesterday). I usually play right around 6100 yards, so there are very few par 4's over 380 yards.
LEAVE THE DRIVER IN THE BAG UNLESS IT'S WIDE OPEN AND OVER 400 YARDS!!
And please look at par 5's as three shotters...please? I score par more often than not when I play a par 5 as a 3-shotter. I score triple bogey more often than not when I don't.
Anyway, the lessons are paying off. I'm really seeing some positive results, and my instructor is very pleased with my progress. I really feel like it's going to come together, and I'll be shooting in the 80's before too long. That's my goal this year: to get my index down from 20 to 15.
My predominate ball-flight for the day was a draw - something I've seen more and more the last few rounds. You must understand that until recently, being able to draw the ball was completely foreign to me. So I missed a lot of greens to the left. It was a very tight course, and that spelt trouble.
I felt like I was swinging in perfect tempo, staying connected, in sequence, and maintaining wrist cock down and through impact (it's what I've been working on in my last few lessons) and the result was airmailed greens. I'm talking 20-30 yards long. Good contact, crisp, penetrating shot - that goes way over the green. So needless to say, I was in trouble a lot over the green as well. Never a good thing.
Short game (my achilles heel). This is the third week in a row that I've felt very positive about my short game (10 yards from the green and in). I read a lesson tip in Golf Magazine about keeping the upper arms pinched in and making a slow shoulder stroke back (a la Zach Johnson) then focusing on facing the target after impact. It just clicked with me, and the results have been there. This is hopefully the breakthrough I've been working so hard to find.
Course management. Not so good. I took driver out several times on very tight driving holes with hazards all around. Why? Take the 3-hybrid and put it 200 yards down the middle. Then lay up if you have to. I don't miss fairways with that club - ever. Heck, on a 365 yard par-4, that's 3H, 6i (or 8i, the way I was hitting the ball yesterday). I usually play right around 6100 yards, so there are very few par 4's over 380 yards.
LEAVE THE DRIVER IN THE BAG UNLESS IT'S WIDE OPEN AND OVER 400 YARDS!!
And please look at par 5's as three shotters...please? I score par more often than not when I play a par 5 as a 3-shotter. I score triple bogey more often than not when I don't.
Anyway, the lessons are paying off. I'm really seeing some positive results, and my instructor is very pleased with my progress. I really feel like it's going to come together, and I'll be shooting in the 80's before too long. That's my goal this year: to get my index down from 20 to 15.