Joey's Golf Bag

Seven penalties. Nine holes. This must be a record for futility.

I played this morning in the brutally hot Texas sun at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. I’ve been struggling with my swing of late, and thought I had it mostly worked out yesterday. I hit the ball pretty well warming up, especially at the end where I hit the ball perfectly straight. On the course, well, it was ugly.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the first hole, hit a sand wedge just short of the green (this is the first time I’ve hit a sand wedge on this hole). On the second, chunked a six iron down in the cart path, and then took a bad bounce into the hazard on the right; took a drop (1st penalty). On the third, hooked a sand wedge long and left, almost to the hazard. On the fourth, hooked a driver just into the left rough. On the fifth, hit the green 36 ft from the hole (just about the longest putt possible on that green). On the sixth, pushed a booming drive right into the hazard (penalty #4). On the seventh, toe-hit a six iron just short of the hole. On the eighth, I attempted (again) to drive the green, but pushed it just right into a tree and the ball luckily landed in the fairway. On the ninth, shanked a 9-iron and lost the ball (penalty #6); hooked the next into the driving range net and had to take a drop (penalty #7). Quite possibly the worst driving day in history.
• Approach shots. On the second, from a drop, hit a pitching wedge into the fairway, leaving 80 yds to the pin; next shot, hit a thin, hooking sand wedge into the hazard (penalty #2). On the fourth, hit a thin 9-iron into the hazard (penalty #3). On the sixth, from a drop, hit a pitching wedge into the fairway; hit a sand wedge high over a tree but it clipped a branch and dropped into the right bunker. On the eighth, from the fairway, chunked a 9-iron into the hazard (penalty #5); hit the second long and left of the hole. Quite possibly the worst approach shots in history.
• Short wedges. Pretty good around the green. On the second, after the drop, hit a lob wedge to about 12 ft. On the third, hit a lob wedge to about 9 ft while standing on a log. On the fourth, hit a lob wedge to about 15 ft. On the seventh, hit a lob wedge to 12 ft. On the eighth, hit a lob wedge to 8 ft. On the ninth, left a lob wedge on the fringe 12 ft from the hole. I would have liked the ball closer, but at least the lob wedge around the green was respectable, only missing the green once.
• Sand shots. I had only one sand shot, on the sixth, which I hit about 8 ft past the hole. Two putted from there.
• Chipping. No chipping today; hit putts from the fringe to a foot on the first hole (tapped in for par). Putted in from the fringe on the ninth.
• Putting. With the exception of the 3rd and 5th holes (bad three putts), had a good day putting, hitting a 12 footer for par on the seventh and holeing one from the fringe on the ninth. Total of 16 putts.

Today was an enormously frustrating day. I thought I had my swing back in sync after my July fall, but obviously not.

This morning, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice and play nine. The day was heavily overcast, hot and humid. I started off warming up by hitting 7- and 9-irons, and then proceeded to hit most of the clubs in the bag. I tended to hit the short irons and wedges fat, and fought that flaw all day. I hit the driver pretty well during practice, but the 3-metal and hybrid were not good. I chipped and putted for about 20 minutes and then hit the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the first, hit a pitching wedge over the green. On the second, hit a near perfect 7-iron into the fairway, but it bad-bounced into a bare lie near the left hazard line. On the third, hit a pulled sand wedge into the bunker on the left of the hole. On the fourth, hit a perfect, 233 yd drive into the fairway, leaving a mere 78 yds to the pin. On the fifth, hit a sand wedge fat just short of the green. On the sixth, hit a 223 yd draw just in the left rough. On the seventh, hooked a 6-iron and lost the ball. My provisional drew left of the green, but was pin-high. On the eigth, skyed a tee shot into the center of the fairway (I was attempting to drive the hole). On the ninth, pushed a 9-iron into the right bunker.
• Approach shots. On the second hole, attempted to hit a slice around a tree, but hit it fat well short of the green and chunked a pitch shot into the right bunker. On the fourth, pushed a sand wedge that hit the overhanging tree and bounced just short of the green. On the sixth, hit a pitching wedge thin that bounced 25 ft past the hole, but held the green for my only green in regulation. On the eighth, hit a seemingly perfect 5-iron directly at the flag, but it flew the green (I overclubbed).
• Wedges. Wedges hurt my game today, hitting some fat and some long.
• Chipping. Chipping was mediocre at best today; closest to the hole was about 6 ft.
• Sand shots. Every bunker had wet sand, and I’ve only practiced in wets sand once before, so I didn’t expect to do well out of the sand today. On the second hole, after a poor wedge shot, I hit the sand shot well over the green into deep rough. I then flew the green back into the same bunker, but that shot was better and ended up on the green. On the third, the ball buried deep in the wet sand and my shot didn’t leave the bunker. The second shot was on the green. On the seventh, I hit a sand wedge long into the sand. My sand shot was left only 12 ft from the pin, but I three-putted from there. On the ninth, my sand shot was left 6 ft from the hole.
• Putting. Good reads, poor speed. I left several putts inches short that would have gone in the hole if my speed had been good. I three-putted the 7th hole from 12 ft, very, very poor putting on that hole.

I was really frustrated with my poor short game today, and especially leaving putts short. My long game came together today, though, so at least I have that. And considering I’ve rarely practiced in wet sand, didn’t do too badly there. I’m guessing I missed 4 or 5 putts short that should have been made because the read was perfect and the speed off. I could have had a pretty good score today and I messed it up on the greens.

Still, I had fun.

… and me, out playing golf. In the brutal Texas heat. Or rather, attempting to play golf.

I went to the North Texas Golf Center to practice and play nine this morning. The weather was well in the 80s when I arrived just after 8 AM this morning, with only enough breeze from the southeast to make the flags wiggle. I started off hitting short irons poorly, but soon had my swing grooved and had one of my best practices in weeks going. I spent most of the practice session hitting alternating PW, 9-, 8-, 7- and 6-irons, hitting mostly straight balls, with occasional slight draws or fades. No hooks or slices reared their ugly heads with the irons today.

Next up, I hit the driver. At first, I hit an ugly hook or two, but soon discovered that my tempo was way, way too fast with the club. I then started alternating 9-iron and driver, and got my driver going again, hitting mostly draws, with one high slice thrown in. Distance was pretty short, but at least the balls would have been in the fairway. A week or two back, I took of the 1-1/2 swingweights of lead tape I had been using for a few months; I’m going to put 1 swingweight back on the toe to get the club going a little straighter.

I attempted to hit a few 3-metal and hybrid shots, but gave up and went on to hit full wedges to finish up 2/3 of the basket of balls. I was pretty pleased with that practice as well, though I tended to pull the wedges slightly.

Last up, I went to the short game area and hit a lot of short wedge shots, mostly with the lob wedge. My distances were a bit long today, but direction was generally good, erring occasionally to the right. My last drill was chipping with the pitching wedge, which started poorly, but ended very well, holing three shots and hitting the pin with another. After I ran out of balls, I putted for a few minutes, and realized that I was about to pass out from the heat. I’d already downed a 20 oz PowerAde, but I went in and got another and walked to the course.

On the first hole, some maintenance was being performed on the green (which badly needs some, as it has some large bare spots), so I hoofed over to the 2nd hole and waited while 3 girls and their father played the hole, verrrrrrrrry slowly. I didn’t feel like waiting, so I went over to the 4th and prepared to play. I was a bit woozy from the heat (I soon found out the temperature had hit 98F by this time), hooked a sand wedge way left of the flag, and walked after it. After I chunked a lob wedge, I picked up the ball and went home. If I played any more, I was likely to drop dead. It must have been humid as well, because I was soaked with sweat. Damn, it was HOT!

I was happy with my practice today, but I shouldn’t have even attempted to play golf today, as the temperature was just too hot. And no breeze either, unusual for Texas.

I went to the North Texas Golf Center to practice and play nine this morning. The temperature was in the low 80’s when I arrived with a strong breeze from the north. The course was dry and brown except for the greens, which were in pretty good condition (with the exception of the 1st hole that has a large dead spot), though slow.

I hit a small bucket of balls to warm up and also to check my distances. Since my injury, I’m about 5 yards shorter than before, but I hit a few shots that were longer. My ball striking was pretty poor today, never really getting in the groove. I also spent a few minutes hitting the driver, which were pretty well struck, though shorter than yesterday. My final stop was the putting green, where I worked on ball speed, and then hit the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee Shots. I had a very poor day off the tee. On the 1st, hooked a nine iron out of bounds, leading to double. Chunked a sand wedge on the 5th hole and a pitching wedge on the 7th. My only good shot was a nine-iron into the wind on the 8th hole that ended up 15 feet left of the hole, pin high. I played army golf on the rest, either hooking left or pushing right.
• Wedges. Mixed results with the wedges. Got up and down for par on the 3rd even though I sliced the tee shot nearly out of bounds, by hitting a lob wedge to about 8 ft and nailing the putt. None of the other wedge shots were close.
• Chipping. I had two chips, one on the 1st hole and one on the 5th. Neither was particularly good.
• Putting. My putts were short on the early holes, but starting rolling them good by the end, by nailing a 15 footer for birdie on the 8th and an 18 footer for par on the last.

The round was far from my best on this course, but I was happy to see my putting improve, having only 14 putts for nine holes.

Today, I practiced and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was warm and sunny, with just a trace of a breeze.

I started off warming up with the 7-iron, and began tempo training using Tour Tempo at 27/9 with the 5-, 7- and 9-irons. My tempo was pretty poor today, and I never really got my swing working well. I guess nearly a week without the time to hit the range was too long to go and not expect my swing to degrade.

I had a rough time practicing with the longer clubs, failing to hit the driver or 3-metal decently. I did hit a number of good shots with the HALO 3i club, and the 5-iron was mixed.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the par 3 holes, I hit a pitching wedge to 12 ft on the first hole, and a 7-iron to 8 ft on the 7th hole. Those were the good ones. My sand wedge tee shot on the 3rd hole was just short of the green, my pitching wedge on the 5th was pulled and hit the tree to the left of the green, and my 4-iron on the last hole was chunked but ran pin-high left of the green. On the par 4 holes, I hit only one fairway, on the 4th hole, hitting into the hazard left on holes 2 and 8. On the sixth hole, pushed the 3i HALO into the trees to the right of the fairway.
• Approach shots. My approach shots on the par 4 holes were disastrous all day. On the 2nd, hit a pitching wedge thin over the hole. On the 4th, although I had a clear view of the green, the pin was protected by an overhanging tree, forcing me to attempt a punch 8-iron, which I pulled left onto a hump in the rough. On the 6th, disaster struck, starting with a pulled pitching wedge layup hit thin into a ball-eating grass bush. On the eight, pushed a 5-iron off a drop right of the hole. Very poor approach shots all day.
• Wedges. Short wedges were very good today, getting up and down on the 5th and 9th holes with beautiful lob wedges. My only poor short wedge was on the 2nd hole, but the ball still ended up a foot from the hole. Longer pitching wedge shots were either hit thin or chunked.
• Chipping. No chippping today; putted from the fringe on the 3rd hole.
• Putting. Putting was very good today, didn’t miss any from inside 6 feet and no three-putts.
• Sand shots. Terrible. Hit two very poor sand shots on the 6th hole, leading to triple bogey.

I played the final hole with Kevin, one of the instructors at HHGR. He hit an 8-iron to 2 ft and tapped in. I chunked a 4-iron, but got up and down from the rough.

Even though I played poorly with the long clubs, my short game enabled a pretty good score, in fact, the best score I’ve had on this course.

Today, I played in a 4-man scramble at Fire Wheel Golf in Garland, TX, on the Lakes Course. Our team shot a one under par 71 (33 on the front and 38 on the back) from the white tees. We had a great time and want to thank the Fire Wheel Golf staff and AMX for hosting the event. Great fun was had by all.

The weather was heavily overcast all day and we got some rain while on the trailing holes of the back nine. We went off the 3rd hole with a shotgun start. Fortunately for our team, we had players who can drive the ball, some that could putt well, and me. My main contribution to the team’s efforts were some good drives on the 9th (3-metal just in front of the creek), 10th and 11th holes, and a perfect 10-iron to 2 ft on one of the par-4 holes. I also had some good approach shots with my new 3i HALO club. None of my putts went in for birdie, although my teammates hit 30 and 25 ft putts for birdie and several long putts for par. The only negative was the slow pace of play, but that was largely due to the large field (most holes had two groups of 4 on them at the start, a definite problem if the hole is a par-3).

Most of the day, I was first off the tee, so I felt free to let it rip. I had two long, high fades trickle into the water, and one duck hook into a creek, but otherwise had a good day off the tee. My tee shots on the par-3 holes were mixed, hit two in regulation, but other players were closer. My approach shots were mixed; hit a few nice shots with my new 3i HALO hybrid, though tended to push them a bit right. Also hit some good layups on par-5s. My best shot of the day was a 10-iron from 105 yds two feet from the pin on a par-4 hole (can’t remember which). I also flew the green on a few holes; my distances are now longer than they used to be due to private lessons at Golden Bear Golf Center. Putting wasn’t very good; as usual, tended to leave them short; my putting counted on only 1 hole, which was for par. Wedge play was mixed, didn’t hit any close enough to the holes for any to count. No shots out of the sand today.

Today, Dad and I went off first at Castle Hills, bright and early into beautiful sunny weather with a breeze from the south. And, even though we let our two playing partners (much better golfers) go on ahead, we still finished up the round in a quick 3 hours and 20 minutes.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. My tee shots were good on the front nine (6 of 7 fairways) and poor on the back nine (2 of 7), and I didn’t hit a single par 3 in regulation today. I had one penalty shot off the tee on the 18th hole, pushed way right and had to take an unplayable, and another on the 10th, hooked into the weeds and lost.
• Approach shots. Surprisingly, my long irons were pretty good today. The real surprise was my 7-iron, which cost me two penalties on the 9th hole, and had three chunked 7-irons that went nowhere. Yeech. Otherwise, I was pretty good, having an excellent 3-iron from 200 yds that stopped just over the green on the fringe on the 15th hole, and a perfect 5-iron from 165 yds on the 14th hole, my only green in regulation all day. I also had a good 5-iron that just trickled over the green on the 2nd hole.
• Wedges. Mixed results with the wedges. Left a couple of sand wedge shots short due to the wind, but short wedges were pretty good, but none close enough to single putt.
• Chipping. Chipping wasn’t good today, tended to blade the ball long.
• Putting. Not a good day putting, had only single hole where I holed the first putt (on the fifth hole), but only one 3-putt.
• Bunker. I had an up-and-down for par on the 5th hole out of the bunker on the right side of the green, but had a terrible time getting out of the bunker on the 16th. I did have an excellent 5-iron shot out of the left fairway bunker on the 17th hole.

A fun three days of golf, even though I didn’t break 100 on any of those days.

This morning Dad and I played 18 holes at Coyote Ridge on a beautiful sunny day. I would like to extend my thanks to Melvin and Denny who were paired with us and showed us around the course. Things could have been much worse…

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Another mixed day off the tees. With the driver, I hit 11 times off the tee, and hit 5 fairways. With the 3-metal, I hit 3 times off the tee and hit two fairways. One of the 3-metal shots just trickled into the water on the ninth hole, strangely drawing instead of fading. On the par three holes, I hit two of four in regulation. No too bad a day, really.
• Approach shots. Here’s where disaster struck. Mid- and long-irons continue to fail. Today, I hit hooks, slices, chunks, you name it, it wasn’t pretty. Most of my penalties were from approach shots with long- or mid-irons. Short irons, on the other hand, were pretty good, except for a thin shot on the 18th hole, that ended up in the bunker from hell (more later on that…). I had a total of 7 penalties today, and most were due to poor long-iron shots.
• Wedges. I had a pretty good day with the wedges, getting the ball on the green, for the most part, including a perfect pitching wedge up-hill from 75 yds to 2 ft on the 13th hole.
• Chipping. Not many chipping chances today, but none close.
• Putting. Again, I had a rotten day putting. Four 3-putts. ‘Nuff said. My longest putt made was a 10 footer on the 12th for par.
• Bunker play. I had a good day from the bunker, getting the ball on the green four times straight, until the hole from hell, the 18th, where it took me 3 shots to get out of 2 bunkers. Good day, except for the 18th.

My problem areas were identical to those I had yesterday, poor mid- and long-iron approach shots and poor putting. The things I need to work on are abundantly clear.

Fun day of golf, although I must complain about the excessive length of time it took to play 18 today. Our tee time was pushed back 20 minutes due to slow play ahead of us, and we waited on nearly every hole for the fairway or green to clear. That was unpleasant.

This morning, Dad and I played the Lakes course at Indian Creek. The weather was cool, with shifty breezes and cloudy skies, but with the exception of one hole, no rain. By the end of the round, the sun was out, but the breeze had picked up.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I was respectible off the tee today, hitting all 4 par-three holes in regulation, and five of fourteen fairways. My main difficulty today was high hooks, only one slice all day.
• Approach shots. Here’s where my game went completely apart. Other than the first hole, where I hit a 7-iron to 15 ft, my approach shots were terrible all day. I hit them fat, I sliced them, I hooked them. My only other green in regulation was the 12th hole, where I promptly three-putted for bogey. Ugly, ugly, UGLY!!!
• Wedges. Very mixed. I hit some good wedge shots, but also chunked one or two and hit a couple thin. My major disaster area was on trouble shots, where, instead of making the simplest shot to get clear, I tried to get aggressive, and it cost me terribly. Much work needs to be done on recovery shots, and I need to be conservative on trouble shots. I hit into the sand only once today, and got out cleanly to about 10 ft on the 18th hole.
• Chipping. My chipping was poor all day, none close.
• Putting. What can I say? Other than the beautiful 15 ft putt for birdie on the first, my putting was simply awful. Yeech!
• Other. Despite my stinky round, I had a couple of firsts today. I played a complete round of golf without losing a ball or having a penalty. Amazing, considering how bad I played today.

Good fun today, in spite of my poor performance. Tomorrow: Coyote Ridge.

I went to Hank Haney Golf Ranch this morning to practice and play nine. The weather was cool, with a slight breeze that didn’t affect golf at all.

I hit a small bucket of balls to warm up. Immediately, it was obvious that my tempo was not really good today. I tended to push the short irons, fade or slice the middle irons, and hook the longer clubs. I never got the driver to do anything but hook today, and I should have left that club in the bag. I did hit some pretty good 3-metals, but inexplicably used the driver instead of that club. What a mess!

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I did a very fine job off the tee on the par three holes, hitting four of five in regulation; the one I missed on the 7th hole was a mere foot off the green. Contrast that with the par four holes, where I missed every fairway (except the fourth hole, which rebounded off the net into the fairway) and even managed to hook a 4-iron into the left hazard on the 8th hole. The rest of misses were nasty duck hooks with the driver, including hooks into the nets on two and four (had to take an unplayable on the 2nd hole). The driver shouldn’t have come out of my bag today.
• Approach shots. Miserable performance on the approach shots today. On the second, pushed a pitching wedge right of the green. On the fourth, I pushed a 7-iron layup into the trees, and had a terrible time to reach the green in 4. On the sixth, where I had hooked the driver into the rough left behind those evil ball-eating grass bushes, I had a choice of trying to punch out through a mass of the grass bushes or go over a tall tree. I elected to go over the tall tree (given the number of balls I’ve fed those grass bushes), but just hit the top branches, and the ball fell into the rough on the right side of the green. On the eighth hole, after hitting a 4-iron into the hazard, dropped from the hazard, but had the ball well above my feet. My 5-iron chunked the ball into the hazard again.
• Wedges. I had a very good day from the tee with the wedges, hitting all three onto the greens. Other than the chunked layup sand wedge on the sixth, I had a good day with the wedges, though tending to be a bit long.
• Chipping. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a chip all day; I putted from the fringe on several holes.
• Putting. No three putts today, but still tended to leave putts short. I also holed two long par putts, but didn’t make any birdie putts, even the 9 footer on the fifth.

I was extremely disappointed with my play on the par-4 holes, but did have a very good day on the par-3 holes. If only I could play both well on the same day…