When I got my first ever handicap (18.7), I knew it was too good to be true; or rather, I wasn’t that good at all. I was right. I got my updated number today:
USGA HCP Index: 23.3
Shooting 104’s isn’t going to get me where I want to be. I need to get to the range today and get some practice.
I played in the annual Father’s Club tournament to benefit my kids school at Whitney Farms in Monroe. It’s not an easy course!
I managed to remember to snap a pic on one of the nicer holes. I played OK - not great, shooting a 104 (adjusted for handicap).
I played a terrific round of golf at Tidewater today - playing as a single I matched up with 3 brits and played my first ever round with money on the line. It was only a buck… no big stakes. That said, it added some very nice flavor to the round. I quite enjoyed it, though I did miss a par putt on the last hole to secure a win.
In any case, even though I shot a 107, I feel like I played quite well - I struck the ball fairly well all day, only chunking one badly. The biggest surprise of the round was how far I’m hitting the ball.
Last year, my PW was a 100 yard club - but today, I was able to hit it 110-115 on a regular basis. That pulled my GW distance another 15 yards as well - giving me fits all day long. Even worse (better?) was the 6i I hit close to 170 yards - over the pin, the green and deep into the marsh. I hit it perfectly - new grip and all and paid the price. I’ll need to continue to adjust my distance control as I strike the ball better.
Oddly, I chipped amazingly well today - knocking one to 2 feet from the fringe. What a great feeling.
I had one really terrible hole - a par 3 that started well with a beautiful PW that landed 10 yards short and in a bunker. Tidewater has tons and tons of bunkers btw - if you play, watch out! From there, I hit a SW right back into the bunker. The ball was sitting half buried about 3 inches from the edge - perhaps 8-10 inches straight down. Ack! With no other good play, I just hacked at it and it popped straight up and found the lip, rolling down to the green. What a crazy shot. I ended up triple bogey.
I hit lots of great shots, but none better than on the 17th, a par 3 180 yard hole with no where to go but on the green. The hole is pretty much marsh from tee box to the front of the green. I hit a great shot with my 3 hybrid on to the green and managed to 2 putt for the par - my first all season.
Just push the “golf button” on your phone.
Seriously. The condo I’m at in Myrtle Beach has phones with golf buttons on them. Really. How cool is that?
Doesn’t everyone just love and underdog and hate whomever is #1? Why is that? At the gym today, I overheard a woman talking about how she hoped that Tiger would lose today (he did), saying to her friend on the treadmill that all he cared about was the money.
I hate that line of thinking. I hate it about golfers as much as I hate it about baseball players and pretty much any other professional athlete. There is no way a performer can get to the top without loving his or her sport deeply and being fully committed to it for their entire lives. When I was a kid, all I wanted in life was to be a pro baseball player. Money wasn’t even a thought. What I couldn’t reconcile was that the amount of work I needed to put in didn’t match my true desire. I didn’t have what it took.
Guys like Tiger and A-Rod don’t do what they do for the money - that’s a by product of a person pursuing their true calling in life and dedicating their entire lives to that pursuit. Because of how markets work, they get the loot. But I doubt that any of these guys ever starts out thinking about money. Performing at the top of any profession is hard enough, but put a microscope on an individual performance and it’s an entirely different ballgame.
It’s human nature, but it’s not fair. I wanted to tell the woman to shut the heck up, but I left it alone. Turns out she is a Red Sox fan too, and as we watched the highlights of the Red Sox beating the Yanks 4-3, I had to eat it and admit that Paplebon was…. “OK, I guess."
In other news, I’m playing Tidewater tomorrow (can’t wait) and very much enjoyed the Masters. I’m still waiting for Tiger to make his move.
I recently finished reading Rotella’s Golf is a Game of Confidence and have to say… I think the guy is right! I took a few keys from this book that I put into practice yesterday on the course that I felt like helped me immensely.
First, I’m developing a pre-shot routine that involves a look down the course from behind the ball, picking out a specific target, lining up my shot, one practice swing and let it fly. Trusting the shot helped me a lot. On the course yesterday, I actually hit my targets more than ever before, even if the ball flight wasn’t perfect, somehow the ball went to the target.
Secondly, I am really learning to accept each shot and move on. When I played last week, I actually cursed out loud and embarrassed myself with how I behaved. This week, I hit the shot, watched it and started immediately thinking about the next shot. Only when I got home did I think back about mechanics during the round. I’m trying to NOT adjust things on the course but to play with what I have that day.
Third, and perhaps most important, the book taught me to get creative. I started chipping with my 8 iron and played a couple of terrific bump and run shots up the fairway to the green. I still need to work on distance control, but it feels good to know I can hit a simple shot when I need it.
I broke down badly on the back 9, it started to get cold and my endurance isn’t up to par yet. However, I shot a 49 on the front 9 and struck the ball extremely well. In fact, on the first hole of the day, a long par 5, I was about 155 yards out and hit a 6 iron. As I stood over the ball, I told myself that the worst thing that could happen was that I hit it pure and would be 10 yard long. I guess I visualized the pure shot, cause that’s what I hit. The 54 on the back was pretty horrible, my short game left me wondering what the heck… I chunked about 5 wedges which explains the scoring in the simplest of terms.
If only I played on the course as well as I practice on the range. Why is that?
It’s frustrating to say the least. I need to practice more for sure (that muscle memory is coming along nicely), but why doesn’t it transfer better?
That said, I simply can’t chip consistently. I need a chipping primer - anyone out there have the basics for me? Ball position, hand position etc? Every 3rd of 4th chip squirts off 90 degrees to my right. Nice eh? I felt like a real duffer today at the range - sticking 3 chips to 5 feet, then squirting the 4th or 5th ball 15 yards directly right. Yikes.
Let’s be upfront about things here, OK?
I stink. I love golf, but I’m just not very good. I played my first round of 2008 today in less than ideal conditions - it was darn cold out! So cold we had a freeze delay and my tee time was pushed back 45 minutes. Luckily for me, I’m a glutton so I hit a bucket of balls and froze my butt off. I should note, that I have never hit a better bucket of balls in my entire life. Absolutely crushed the ball and with accuracy.
We tee’d off with these two guys who I could tell were trouble from the get go… one guy was such a talker that at the turn we actually separated from them and replayed the front 9. Yea, that bad.
In any case, armed with my new 3 hybrid and Odyssey White Hot putter, I stunk up the joint with a +21. Yea, you read that right. Oddly, I drove well - but played my wedges horribly. I actually hit a shot that when at a 90 degree angle from me. Sideways! That hurts.
The 2nd time around, I played much, much better and finally found my swing again. I even hit 2 drivers in the fairway! The +17 wasn’t great, but I took a few things away.
Tashua Knolls 16th strategy
Originally uploaded by msirkin
Ok, here’s an example of how I’m going to score better this season…
Shot 1: Lay off the driver. On this example hole, the 16th at Tashua Knolls (495 yards from the whites, par 5) I can regularly hit the ball about 200 yards with my 3 hybrid. The tee is high up above the fairway, so I get a good extra 10-20 yards.
Shot 2: Use my 5 or 6 iron to punch the ball up about 150 more yards in the middle of the fairway. From here, I’d normally try to use my 3 iron or hybrid and try to get it up close the green. If I was lucky, I’d have a 30-40 yard chip to the green (a shot I’m not so great with). If I was unlucky, I’d be way right and OB.
An alternative if I was really playing well would be to use my hybrid 5 here and try to skip shot 3.
Shot 3: Use my pitching wedge to get the ball as close to 100 yards out as possible. I’d actually prefer to under hit this shot to make sure I was 100-120 yards out.
Shot 4: Pitching wedge from 100 yards is about my best shot. Worst case here, I chunk it and try again from 80 yards. Best case, I’m putting for par and happy with a bogey.
I can’t wait to get back out there!
I’m planning to spend all day with the wife and when she asked me what we should do, I suggested hitting the range to hit a few balls.
I forgot that she doesn’t play golf.
Oops.