Joey's Golf Bag

After my pathetic performance on Saturday, I scheduled another lesson this week. I also spent an hour late this afternoon hitting mostly drivers. It took a few dozen balls but I did eventually manage to make the driver go straight and long (occasionally).

One of these days I’ll become a good golfer, even if it kills me.

This afternoon, the clouds over Texas finally parted and I was able to go over to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville and hit a few balls. The range was almost completely full, an unusual event even on nice Sunday afternoons. The day was cool at first, but the sun warmed everything up. There was about a one club wind from the west.

I bought a large bucket and went to the short game area, planning to run the sand drill. However, the sand was still very wet from four days of rain, so that was out. Instead, I hit about 40 balls at the floating green. My first three balls with a sand wedge were perfectly struck and landed easily on the floating green, with a nice backspin bounce. I moved back a bit and missed a few, mostly long. I hit the floating green on about 25% of the shots, even from pretty long range with the approach wedge. I tried a variety of shots with all my wedges, including a few cut lobs. I was pretty happy with the wedge practice.

Next, I practiced medium and long chips with both the sand wedge and lob wedge. My sand wedge chips from pretty long range were really nicely struck; of about 10 balls, the farthest from the hole was about 6 feet, and half were inside 3 feet. My lob wedge chips weren’t quite as good, but I rarely use that club for chipping.

Next, I went to the range and warmed by hitting a few 7-irons, then working my way through the longer clubs. My long clubs were very poor, so I went back and ran the L- and Y-drills from Tour Tempo (though without the iPod). I started striking the ball pretty well, but I never did get the long clubs to co-operate. I hit a lot of 1/2 and 3/4 swings with the short irons, trying to get consistent ball flight and to get my pull straightened out. By the end of the bucket, I was pretty pleased with my full wedge shots and irons through the 6-iron. The 5-iron and hybrid never behaved.

I’d planned to do some putting practice, but the green was very wet from the rain, so I decided to skip that today. Aside from lousy long clubs, I was pretty happy with my practice. I’ve been unable to practice due to a full schedule and bad weather, but I’m off this week and plan a full schedule of golf, golf, and maybe more golf.

My shoulder hurts…

I hit balls for the first time today since I injured my shoulder about 3 weeks ago. I spent most of the practice putting (which went very well), ran the sand drill with the lob wedge, chipped with the lob wedge and approach wedge, and then hit half of a bucket of balls (badly).

My first tournament is tomorrow, and I’m just going to bunt the ball around the course with 3/4 swings, which is the most I can do right now. I’m not even taking the driver with me, I’ll stick to the 5-wood off the tee, although I’ll have the Thriver in the bag as well.

My goal is to break 100, but given the state of my game, that may be a long shot.

… due to a shoulder injury, caused by, you guessed it, hitting golf balls.

I am going to play in my first tournament on Saturday at Grapevine Golf Course sponsored by the Grapevine Golf Association. I’ve not been able to practice, aside from putting and chipping, for about 3 weeks, so breaking 100 is my goal for the tournament. It’s a stroke play event, 18 holes.

This morning, I got up bright and early and went to Grapevine Golf Course to join the Grapevine Golf Association. I joined up to play a monthly tournament, the first of which is December 6th.

After I signed up, I went to North Texas Golf to practice my short game and play nine. I had a frustrating practice with the lob wedge, hit a few balls on the range, putted a few on the shaggy, dewy greens, and played. I finally figured out something on the range and now I’m striking the ball solidly, direction is a bit iffy, though.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. Hit a slightly fat 8-iron right of the green in the grass bunker. Hit a chip too hard over the green, then hit a stellar chip to 9″ and tapped in for bogey.
• Second hole. Pushed a well-struck 8-iron pin-high but well right onto the 3rd tee. Played a perfect lob wedge to 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Third hole. Hit a well-struck 9-iron pin-high but left, where it hit one of the railroad ties on the bunker and went dead left. I hit a nice lob wedge over the bunker to 7 ft and nailed the putt for par.
• Fourth hole. Pulled a well-struck 9-iron long and left of the green behind some small trees. Played a poor lob wedge shot to the fringe, chipped very nicely to about 9″ and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit a fat sand wedge short into the grass bunker in front of the green. Hit a chip well short of the hole and three-putted for double. Yeech! Yeech! Yeech!!!
• Sixth hole. Hit a pitching wedge just short of the green, chipped very nicely to 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit a nice approach wedge to 11 ft and two-putted for par. The birdie putt didn’t even scare the hole.
• Eighth hole. I was between clubs, so I chose a 9-iron and planned to hit a 3/4 shot. Unfortunately, I pured the shot well over the hole into the hazard, as I didn’t allow for the wind. I took a drop, chipped to 2 ft and tapped in for bogey.
• Ninth hole. Hit a nice 8-iron pin-high left of the flag on the fringe. Hit a pretty good chip that went right over the hole but ran 6 ft by the hole. Missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.

Pretty stinky day off the tee, as I hit only one green in regulation, though two shots were just off the green. I hit a couple of nice chips and a couple of stinky ones, as well as two really nice lob wedges to tap-in distance. Though I had only 13 putts, I didn’t hit any beyond 7 ft.

At least I got my distance back.

This morning, I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf. The day was warm and sunny, with almost no breeze. I hit a few balls, working on the same Tour Tempo L- and Y-drills that I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. I putted a few and then played.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. I hit a 9-iron to a center pin position a little long and right of the pin, chipped to about 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Second hole. I hit an 8-iron 33 ft over the pin onto the green, and two-putt for par.
• Third hole. I hit a fat 9-iron well short of the green, hit a poor chip the right distance but well right of the pin. My putt was on the right line but a foot short. I tapped in for bogey.
• Fourth hole. I hit an AW 30 feet past the hole on the left fringe. I putted from the fringe and tapped in for par.
• Fifth hole. I hit a SW over the green up onto the bank behind the green. I chipped to 6 ft and missed the breaking putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Sixth hole. I hit a 9-iron over the green, narrowly missing one of those ball-eating grass monstrosities that terrorize the course. I’d planned to hit a pitching wedge, but grabbed the wrong club. I chipped short and two-putt a very difficult downhill putt.
• Seventh hole.Hit an AW over the green (again!), hit a chip to 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Eighth hole. Hit an AW onto the green 27 ft short of the pin, and two-putt for par.
• Ninth hole. Hit a 9-iron long and right, chipped to two ft and tapped in for par.

My practice on improving impact by running the L- and Y-drills is working, as my distances are improving, as evidenced by flying four greens today. I’m going to need to recalibrate my distances. I also need to get in more short game practices to improve my chipping. My putting was good today, the shortest putt I missed was 6 ft and I had no 3-putts.

Camilo Villegas won the BMW Championship in fine fashion yesterday, going wire-to-wire to win $1.26M by 2 shots over Dudley Hart. My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, finished T55 and will not make the Tour Championship, ending up in 50th place in the FedEx Cup standings. While Vijay didn’t clinch the FedEx Cup, he merely has to post a score to win it, as no one can catch him unless he declines to play, withdraws or is DQ-ed.

The PGA Tour posted a list of those who played themselves in, and out, of the Tour Championship. It is interesting that no one outside of the top 70 at the start of the playoffs made the Tour Championship.

This morning, I played 9 at North Texas Golf. The weather was very hot and sunny, with only a slight breeze from the west. Before playing, I hit short and medium pitches, hit a small bucket of balls, chipped and putted.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. Hit a 9-iron just right of the green, chipped to 9 ft and made the putt.
• Second hole. Hit a 7-iron 48 ft short of the hole and two-putted for par.
• Third hole. Hit a fat AW short of the green into a drain. Took relief, chipped to 9 ft and two-putted for bogey.
• Fourth hole. Hit a slightly fat PW right of the pin, chipped to 5 ft, missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit a fat SW short of the hole, chipped to 3 feet and hit the putt for par.
• Sixth hole. Hit an approach shot right of the green, chipped to 6 ft and made the putt for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit a pitching wedge to 18 ft, but hit the birdie putt much too hard and it lipped out 5 ft past the hole. Missed the return putt and tapped in for bogey (much cursing ensued).
• Eighth hole. Hit a pitching wedge to 24 ft. Again, ran the birdie putt well past the hole, missed the return putt and tapped in for bogey (more cursing).
• Ninth hole. Hit an 8-iron off the toe right of the green. Chipped 9 ft past the hole and missed the par putt, and tapped in for bogey.

My putting really let me down today. I could have had a good round, but threw it away with terrible 3-putts.

This week, I’ve finally gotten some time to practice. On Wednesday, I practiced after work at the Golden Bear Golf Center, and had one of my worst ever practices. It started out good in the short game area, where I ran the sand drill and hit short and medium pitches. I then went to the range to work on my swing. However, after a pretty good warmup, my swing got progressively worse. It got so bad that I went back to the Y-drill from Tour Tempo (no iPod, though, had to make do without it). I finally got a few good strikes on the ball, but by that time the range was closing.

Yesterday morning, I went to Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice. My warmup on the range was even worse than the previous day. I went back to the Y-drill and started hitting balls, many balls with the shorter irons, then working my way to the longer irons. I even did the drill with the 5-wood and Thriver. I’d finally found my swing again. By the time I ran out of balls, my swing was back and I was striking the ball much better. I finished out that practice session on the putting green, running the speed drill and then hitting some lag putts from 30 and 36 feet. By that time, the Texas heat was on full blast and I headed home.

This morning, I put my 550C irons back in the bag, got out my iPod and went again to Hank Haney Golf Ranch. I warmed up on the range, striking the ball decently but not as well as I’d like. Next, I ran a few Y-drills using the 7-iron, but wasn’t happy with the way I was hitting the ball. I got out the iPod, put on 27/9 (voice) and found, much to my amazement, that 27/9 was too slow!

I put on 24/8 and began to run the Y-drill, using a variety of irons. I was doing the drill pretty well, so I progressed to the L-drill. Again, I was striking the ball pretty well, so I proceeded to hit full swings, and was pleased to see my swing improving again. I even struck the 5-iron well, nice and high trajectory. I then got out the long clubs and hit some pretty good shots with all of them. I finished up practice with sand and approach wedge shots, and then went to the practice green to putt. I had a nice putting practice (speed drill and lag putting) and went home before the heat got unbearable.

My practice time has been minimal of late because of work and very hot weather. I’ve only been able to practice on weekends in the morning, after 11AM it is just too hot. However, a thunderstorm came through the area today, so I took advantage of the cool weather to hit some balls after dinner.

I warmed up with my usual routine, then put down my alignment shaft and worked on my irons. At first, I hit the ball poorly, making just about any fault you can name. Finally, in desperation, I teed up a ball a half-inch off the ground and ran a drill from George Hibbard’s book Golf’s Critical Details. I hit a couple of balls with my 9-iron using the two-handed drill and suddenly, my lag is back. I started hitting great shots, consistent, perfect trajectory, good distance. I ran through my irons trying to achieve good lag with each club, even getting some very good shots with the 5-iron. For about 20 shots, I hit the ball about as good as I’ve ever hit the ball.

The perfect swings didn’t last, as some of my faults crept back in (pushing short irons, hooking long clubs), but I was extremely pleased that I was striking the ball so well. I hit every club well, with the exception of the driver and 4-wood. Those clubs always seem to take more practice to get going than my other clubs, and I ran out of time and balls before I really had the chance to work on them.

I didn’t have time to putt or practice the short game, but I always emphasize those aspects of my game during the weekend practices.