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Only put a strike against a shot if it costs you a shot, or is at least the major cause
Just because you miss a fairway left as long as you can hit a shot at the green or close enough to it to have a good chance at up and down it hasn’t cost you anything’s
Similarly an approach that misses the green but leaves a standard chip shot that a scratch golfer would get close most times isn’t a shot lost
OK those definitions helps me. What I was dooing was thinking on the holes I didn’t par, which shot/s lead to the poor performance
In that case the 7W fade off the tee isn’t counted. The other fairway shots were just ugly strikes that didn’t leave me in a great spot for the next shot.
The iron approach shot misses were all just left of the green, leaving an easy chip onto the green. I need to aim a tad more right.
The tee shots that went way too far left, all resulted in me having to use my short hybrid to punch out with to get it back on the fairway. I am getting pretty good at doing that with a lot of practice lately.I spent an hour or so cutting out an area of Sweet Pittosporum at the golf club this morning. I found a few lost balls in there, mainly crappy one. Obviously golfer who slice don’t buy good balls. Anyway on the way back to the cart shed , I stopped off and banged those balls around on 16,17,18 th holes. I aimed up the right of centre of the fairway and swung at it. I found that if I choked down about 1/2 inch I felt more in balance and could swing a bit faster. I think my problem is that I don’t trust my draw shape will come back 100%. I found that if I aimed where a push shot would be fine ( right semi rough) then it didn’t matter if they didn’t draw back to centre.
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After my continuing battle with the weed SP trees this morning, I was suppose to help Tony with some measurements of his carry distances with his new irons and work on his Driver selection. He is in his mid 70’s with a slower swing speed and still using the same drive from 10 + years ago. From observation he hits his 5W further than his Driver.
Anyway he had to cancel, so I went out for a quick 18 holes while the sun was still shining.
I hit three balls off the tee to compare them. I was using an Inesis 900 Tour ans ball one ( the one I score with) then a Srixon Soft Feel and TM RBZ soft ( less spinny). Hole one reinforced the need to warm up before playing. I crept up on the hole and sunk the putt for a bogey. I think the front 9 showed that it only takes one good shot to salvage the hole. I was doing pretty well until the par 3 8th got me. My LW shot over the bunker left me with a long uphill putt that I wimped out on and scored a 5 ( 3 putts).
The back 9 is drying up now and I got a few 196 m Driver shots. My approach shots were close to the greens , if not on. This is where I found the difference with the high spin Inesis ball and the others. I had to chip the ball closer to the hole and rely on the spin to stop it rolling through the hole. It is definitely something I will do in summer. While the greens are still soft, the cheaper Surlyn covered balls worked OK.Trying different shape tee shots on various holes helped me decide what shot to play and where to aim for some holes. For example, I ended up behind that darned Cypress tree again on the 16th. A fade shape/ straight tee shot to end up right side of fairway makes more sense.
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The weather is turning to SHit again. The wind has turned from strong Northerly to blustery West winds.
Tony cancelled the measuring session for obvious reasons. So it was either stay at home and feel sad ( our dog was euthanized yesterday) or wack some balls. I chose the latter.
I had been watching a Swedish golfer ( Marcus Egblad ex long drive champ) on YT and thought I would give his ideas a go. His idea for speed is a slow lead hand and a fast trail hand, giving that towel whip feeling I guess. I think it worked, but with the wind effect it was hard to judge. The first few holes were erratic, as is usual when trying a new feeling, but I think it has merit. Time will tell, no doubt.
Arccos judged my tee shots at 16 handicap, approach at 3 handicap, short game at 23 and putting 28. I did miss a few today. I 3 putted three times. On hole 4 ( my nemesis) I three putted from 2 m! I was trying the lag putt method of looking at the hole today. It doesn’t seem to work for me. I got some decent shots with the approach fairway woods and hybrids. I chunked one iron shot while trying to take divots. I am a sweeper, possibly due to my initial golfing when I was recovering from a fracture clavicle. It hurts when you hit the ground.
10 holes /score 49/ one birdie, 2 pars, 5 bogeys , 2 doubles.
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Time for some cross training. I am going to Hamilton tomorrow (do I need my thermals?) for a game at the Parklands course, with sand scrapes. We have a Vets Association executive meeting at 2 p.m. and being treasurer I thought it best to get the books in order. It has been such an erratic season; on again, off again. I must be a good at the job because I have $130 in credit that I cannot account for. It happened while I was away for 2 months, so I can’t take the credit for it!
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How did I go you ask? It was cold and wet and windy. I was playing with the secretary and she was keeping the sore. Just for fun we both hit off the forward tees. I managed a few good approach shots to the scrapes. I chipped on mainly using the PW. My putting on the scrapes was OK , but some were much softer than others. I finally worked out the de-lofting the putter made the ball roll on the soft scrapes. We got lost on the course playing a few holes out of order. We also witnessed a car roll over adjacent to the golf course. Ambos and Police cars everywhere. It was 3 degrees on the way home and It almost looked like snow hitting my windshield
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I played a non- comp game with cards being handicapped (a Claytons game) this morning. It has been a long time since I played a competitive round. Conditions were cool and wet under foot and a moderate breeze from the west.
I scored a 27 pointer/ 89 OTS. I hit 7/14 fairways, 6/18 gir, 3/12 up and downs, 34 putts. Flashes of brilliance, interspersed with long periods of mediocrity.My first drive was the best of the day 208m past the dog leg left and put me within 7 i distance of the green. I missed! I was doing OK until hole 3 when my tee shot pushed out right and I attempted a punch shot out, but clipped a tree. Then my chip onto the green ran off= 8 strokes result ( 3 over) . Then on hole 5 I aimed a fade at the pin thinking the wind would straighten the fade. it didn’t and I took two shots to get out of the long grass. 2 over par ( 5) . On #8 I mishit my 7i tee shot and ended up under a tree and the bunker between my ball and the pin. I used two PW shots to go around the bunker and back on the green. ( 2 over) On hole 10 I mishit a 4W and had to chop out of the long grass with no shot at the green. I mishit a 4W approach shot on 15 & 17, possibly trying to hit them too hard into the wind. On the par 5 16th I did the same mistake that I have been doing for a while, leaving the ball too far left. I had to pitch out around the Cypress tree and thought I would use a PW. It went 2 m too far into the rough right side ( army golf) for a three over result
Two Steps forward
1) Hybrid approach shots into the greens worked well ( 130-150 range)
2) Putting worked well , after a slow startOne step
1) 4 tee shots ended up in poor positions and I over used the 4W . I was trying for 170m approaches and about 1/5 actually landed on the green. I would have bee smarter to use the 7W and lay up.1 user liked this post.
Been cold and wet here and between travelling around Bass Coast area, we have been baby sitting grandkids so haven’t played since our hit in August.
Had 2 vets games cancelled, due to lock downs and catering number restrictions, because we regard the social interaction after game to be a key part of the enjoyment of vets games.Next vets game is the state championships scheduled for Wangaratta on 4th and 5h of October.
Its so cold and wet today they cancelled our whale cruise and moved to next Monday.
Thursday is 21 and sunny so will play a practice round, with focus on playing a 40 m game and getting down in 3 from 40m.
this should tune my game up. low scoring expectations, but at least I can play and move around freely.1 user liked this post.
Thursday was sunny once we headed past Dunkeld , heading to St Arnaud to visit my sister-in-law. Friday morning is cool and over cast with a medium westerly wind. It supposed to be blowing hard today on the coast. To keep chairman Dan happy I towed the van up there.
Anyway I brought my wife’s clubs with us , thinking that we might have a hit at the St. Arnaud Country Club course. With the cool conditions ” She” decided to go shopping in Donald, just a bit further North. I thought, ” Shopping or Golf’? I don’t like shopping much.
I drove out to the Country Club ( sounds rather grand/ they have a sense of humour) and paid my $5 fee for 9 holes. I had the to myself, except for a bloke with a tractor and slasher mowing the course. I had a few things I wanted to try out today. I recently purchased some Inesis gear from Decathlon; gloves and balls. I wanted to try the wet weather gloves ( L&R) to keep my hands warm ( yes they worked) and their Distance balls. The balls are an opaque covered Surlyn ( compression 77) so similar to Srixon Soft Feel, I think, and cost $17 dozen. I would love to say that they are long, but it was impossible for me to gauge accurately because the firm fairways were giving me a lot of run. I would say they felt a bit better than the Top Flite ball I found and maybe a bit longer. Another thing I was trying was two strips of painters blue tape 1 inch apart on top of the driver head/ defining the centre of the Driver face., as an alignment aid. I saw the idea on a Shawn Clement’s video,so I thought , why not. I think it helps! I kept the tee shots on the fairway.
The clubs I was using were; Driver Nike Vapor Speed 11.5 degree 45 inch/ R flex, Adams 5W ( square head design) L flex, TM 7 wood Burner L flex( didn’t hit it today) , then Cleveland HB Launcher irons 5-GW A flex, then a WIlson Harmonized chipper, a C3i 65 LW ( didn’t use it) and my Arc Master putter. I took out my wife’s 14 degree GX7 mini Driver and her mallet putter..
Off the tee I hit 7/7 Driver tee shots onto the fairway (TSIP 100 %) so maybe there is something with the blue tape? I hit the 5W quite well both ways. I recall last time I used it I was not impressed. I used the 8,9, PW, GW of the Cleveland HB Launchers and continue to be impressed by their performance. They launch high early, spin well and I get a tight draw shape reliably each time. I think these ought to be used by more beginner golfers. The chipper and I have a love hate relationship. I find it difficult to judge how hard to hit it. Most of my shots either were short or ran through the scrapes. I eventually started to use the putter if I was close to keep the ball on the scrape. I had to chose one club less than I thought for the par 3 holes , because the fairways were so hard the ball bounced through on the first par 3 hole and kept going about 20 m past the hole.
I hit 5 pars and 4 bogeys; Golf is a lot easier with wide fairways, smaller trees and hard ground that adds 30 m to my driving distance!
Two Steps
1) Tee shots in play. I take some of the credit for that.
2) Putting on the scraps was better than on Monday. I de-lofted the putter more to make the ball run on line.One step back
That chipper is frustrating. I guess I would have to use it more often to get the feel for swing strength. Possibly make a distance chart ( 25% swing= X metres)2 users liked this post.
I went out for the back 9 holes with my brother in law acting a my caddy. I scored a 39 ( par 71) , so combining the two 9 hole games I scored 8 over. I was surprised how wider harder fairways, and lack of tall trees made golf so much easier. I almost got on one par 5 in two shots! I birdied that hole. The scrapes had a bitumen base with an adequate thickness of fine gravel over the top. I made a mistake on one dog leg right hole, leaving my tee shot on the right side short of the corner. I used the chipper to run the ball under the overhanging tree branches on the corner and then again to get it on the green. I like the chipper now!
I worked out that approach shots needed to land one club short of the scrape and allow for run. The only bunker on the course ( it was a beauty) behind the 12th? My ball rolled up to the back of the scrape and stopped before it went over the lip. I am sure I could hear the crowd cheering!
Yes it was fun for $10 green fee.
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There was a break in the weather this afternoon at 3, so I braved the light wind and drizzle for a 9 hole hit out.
It is no secret that my long game is my weak link of my game. My results and Arccos tell me this often. Accuracy is O.K. but distance isn’t as good as it can be. Today that changed. I have been watching Golf with Marcus Egblad, an ex long driver champ of Sweden , on YouTube lately. Using his advice today I was getting a nice draw shape off the tee and I was confident it would work, so I aimed right of centre and let it go. Darn it was pretty! even in today’s heavy air and wet ground I hit a 209 m drive on hole 7. I let it go out towards my usual right side pine tree and waited as it turned back into the fairway. Wow, it worked every time I tried it.I hit a 42 OTS; 3 pars and 4 bogeys. Now can I do this in a game?
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6 Bogeys not 4.
5/7 tsip. I missed the fades ( too fad left; didn’t come back)
5 GIR
one /four up and downs.
in comparison to an 8 handicapper: I was half a stroke worse off the tee, approach shots 0.8 better, short game 0.2 better, putting 2.2 strokes worse.
The greens were wet and slow, so I crept up to the hole a few times.Two steps forward.
1) Reliable draw off the tee. Distance wasn’t all that bad on average ( 182m)
2) approach shots were pin high a few times, but a bit wide.One step back
I didn’t goldilocks the putt strength well enough on the first few holes for the wet conditions.There was a break in the weather this afternoon at 3, so I braved the light wind and drizzle for a 9 hole hit out.
It is no secret that my long game is my weak link of my game. My results and Arccos tell me this often. Accuracy is O.K. but distance isn’t as good as it can be. Today that changed. I have been watching Golf with Marcus Egblad, an ex long driver champ of Sweden , on YouTube lately. Using his advice today I was getting a nice draw shape off the tee and I was confident it would work, so I aimed right of centre and let it go. Darn it was pretty! even in today’s heavy air and wet ground I hit a 209 m drive on hole 7. I let it go out towards my usual right side pine tree and waited as it turned back into the fairway. Wow, it worked every time I tried it.I hit a 42 OTS; 3 pars and 4 bogeys. Now can I do this in a game?
I couldn’t find Marcus Egblad on youtube. Any other reference?
People say that nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
No championships worth mentioning in recent years.
Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity.
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