Joey's Golf Bag

I hit a medium bucket of balls and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville today. The weather was mid-60s, almost no breeze, partly cloudy.

I warmed up with my 6-iron, and then began to compare hitting the Big Bertha 6-iron to the Viper Ti-4 6-iron I built this week. It’s clear from hitting the club that it needs to be bent upright 3 degrees to match the Big Bertha club, as I hit the Viper with a fade nearly every shot, whereas I hit mostly straight or slight draws with the Big Bertha 6-iron. I decided to delay any further testing until I get the club bent upright.

I spent almost the whole practice session hitting the longer irons, even getting the 3-iron out for a few shots. I hit mostly straight shots today, some draws and some fades when I wasn’t concentrating. I hit the ball well when I made sure not to start my downswing too quickly. I also hit about a dozen balls with the SasQuatch 3-metal, generally fades; never got the draw working at all. I hit a few balls with the short irons, mostly straight or slight pulls. I hit a couple of full swings with the pitching wedge as well, and pulled it as well.

I then hit a few putts to get the speed of the greens (fast) and played nine holes with Dan, who I met on the range. He played very well today, scoring maybe 2 or 3 over par. Very impressive on this course, as the fairways are very narrow and the greens very small.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Driving. Not very good driving today, as I didn’t hit any fairways in regulation. On the 2nd, hit the 3-metal just into the hazard and had to take an unplayable as the ball was under a bush. On the fourth, hit a 4-iron just into the hazard and took a penalty drop. On the sixth, hit a 4-iron off the tee, fading it into the rough next to a tree. I had to pitch out from there into the fairway. On the eighth hole, hit a 4-iron just into the left rough.
• Short irons. Hit a fade on the first hole into the fringe of the green, leaving a 60 ft chip. On the 3rd, hit a pitching wedge just short of the green. On the fifth, hit a perfect 10-iron into the center of the green for my only green in regulation. I also hit a very nice 7-iron onto the green on the 6th hole to leave a 10-ft putt for par, which lipped out. My 9-iron from the rough on the 8th hole was hit a bit fat and was short of the green although perfectly in line with the flag. Hit a poor 5-iron off the tee on the 7th hole and a poor 7-iron off the tee on the 9th hole.
• Wedges. Hit poor sand wedge shots on the 2nd and 4th hole, which led to the triple bogeys on both. Hit a decent shot out of the sand on the 4th hole, though.
• Chipping. Hit a very good chip on the 3rd hole to 2 ft, the rest were not very close.
• Putting. No three-putts today. Lipped out putts for par on the 1st, 6th, and 9th holes. My only bad putt was on the 4th hole, on which I hit a downhill putt right off the green.

A very pleasant day of golf.

I practiced and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville today. The weather was warm and sunny, although clouds moved in while I played. The wind was soft and from the west.

I started out hitting a small bucket with my practice 6-iron, hitting mostly draws into the green on the left. I also hit a bunch of 8- and 9-irons into the center green just beyond the pond. I spent much of the time shaping shots, putting the ball back in my stance to hit draws, a little more forward for straight shots, and a little more forward than that for fades. From my practice today, it looks like the primary reason I tend to fade is the ball is too far forward. I hit many shots with the SasQuatch 3-metal, mostly straight or draws, only one or two fades, and even those were soft fades.

I was also able to finally hit the practice 3-iron I made. I hit mostly draws with it, but the distance wasn’t very long. In fact, I hit it good enough to try it on the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Trends:

• Driving. The 3-metal, which worked well in practice, was poor on the course. I hit a fade into the hazard on the second hole and a draw on the fourth that hit a tree on the left and ended up in the rough on the right side of the fairway. Only the shot on the sixth hole was down the middle. I used the 3-iron on the eighth hole, setting up for a fade, but hit a hard draw into the hazard on the left.
• Long irons. I hit a fine 5-iron on the seventh hole into the fringe of the green, exactly where I was aiming. My 3-iron off the tee drew instead of faded, however.
• Short irons. Short irons were mixed. I hit a good 9-iron to 30 ft on the first hole, hit a perfect layup 10-iron on the sixth hole, and a good 7-iron off the tee on the ninth hole to 18 ft. My 9-iron in the rough from the drop from the hazard on the eighth hole was very poor, hit fat and right into the right rough. My 10-iron on the fifth tee was way right as well.
• Wedges. I had a very poor day with the wedges, mostly well short. I had difficulty with the hard packed ground mainly, mostly hitting the ground before the ball which left the shots short. On the third tee, hit the pitching wedge thin and into the hazard.
• Chipping. I used the pitching wedge to chip, only twice. The first chip, from the fringe on the seventh hole, was nearly perfect, just 2 ft from the hole. The second chip, from the fringe on the eighth hole, was well short.
• Putting. Mixed results, mostly hit every putt about 4 ft past the hole. Fortunately, I hit all the recovery putts, except the one on the first hole, where I had my only three-putt.

A very nice day for golf. I need to work on hitting wedges off hardpacked ground, as that gave me trouble all day and led to the poor scoring.

Today was a beautiful, warm day, with a strong breeze from the south. Chinh and I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf Center this afternoon.

It’s been more than two weeks since I last had a golf club in my hand, due to a trip north for Christmas, followed by the flu. I was unable to eat anything for 3 days during that period and it was the better part of a week before I felt strong enough to get out on a golf course.

I started out hitting balls with my newly constructed 6-iron. Hitting balls with the blade was little different than hitting balls with my Big Bertha 6-iron. On the other hand, I was completely unable to hit the blade 3-iron, and I was able to hit the Big Bertha 3-iron, at least respectably.

I went through my bag and hit most of my clubs, except for the driver, which I’d left at home. I’m not planning to hit the driver any more until I replace it with a SasQuatch driver, probably with the 13-degree loft. I did hit the SasQuatch 3-metal, with varying results. Most of my clubs were a little short today and I didn’t hit any irons longer than a 5-iron with any consistency.

I spent quite a bit of time hitting short wedge shots. My feel was a little off today, but I did have good success with the sand wedge, and limited success with the lob wedge. The pitching wedge, on the other hand, didn’t want to work today, so it spent the day in the bag.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Short irons. I had a pretty good day off the tee with the short irons. My only real difficulty was all my distances were a bit short, especially when hitting into the wind. I had a perfect 9-iron on the fourth hole to 5 feet, which I promptly knocked in for a birdie. On the other hand, I hit a 10-iron long into a ball eating bush, and had to take an unplayable on the fifth hole.
• Wedges. I hit pretty good wedge shots all day, when I missed the greens. I didn’t do any chipping today, since I didn’t spend any practice time on chipping. My only really poor wedge shot was on the ninth hole, left it well short, but the recovery wedge was perfect, to 3 inches.
• Putting. Mixed results today. I three-putted the third hole, hitting all the putts long. I also missed a short putt for par on 7, caused by a wind gust.

Chinh had a fine day today, shooting a 31.

Today I practiced and played at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was sunny, temperatures in the mid 50s. Only a soft wind was blowing and had no effect on any hole.

I decided to hit a small bucket before heading out on the course. I started out hitting 7-irons a little shorter than my usual distance. I then went to the 9-iron and started hitting the ball solidly. I then went to the 6-iron, where I hit slight fades or draws. I also hit mostly slight draws with the 5-iron. I followed that club with the SasQuatch 3-metal, hitting mostly slight pulls, until the last two balls, which were badly sliced. I then worked my way up in the clubs, hitting the 27-hybrid (slight fade), 6-iron (straight), 8-iron (straight), 10-iron (straight) and finally, pitching wedge (straight). Overall, with the exception of two shots with the 3-metal, was one of the best warmups I’ve had. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit the ball well on the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Summary of my day:

• Did not hit a single fairway today. On the second hole, I hooked the 3-metal into the net and had to take an unplayable. On the fourth hole, I hit the drive into the hazard. On the sixth hole, I sliced the drive toward the hazard, but fortunately hit a tree. On the eighth hole, I hit a 5-iron fat into the hazard on the left.
• Short irons were mixed today. Hit a 9-iron to 20 ft on the first hole and a pitching wedge to 20 ft on the third hole. On the fifth hole, hit a 10-iron fat and left the ball short in the rough.
• Long irons were poor. I sliced a 5-iron well right of the seventh hole and plugged another 5-iron into the hazard on the eighth. My 6-iron on the ninth was also sliced badly, leaving an unplayable lie under a bush. I was very surprised by my poor iron play today, as the practice before hand had been so good.
• Wedge play was mixed. Nice pitching wedge off the tee on the third hole to 20 ft. Hit a pitching wedge, from a drop in the rough, right over the pin a little long on the second hole. Hit a nice recovery pitching wedge from the rough on the sixth hole, but hit the remaining sand wedge short. My only trip into the sand on the fourth hole was terrible, hit the ball over the green.
• Chipping was poor except for a chip to 3 ft on the second.
• I had three 3-putts today, my worst putting performance in months.
• About the only thing I did well today was recover from penalties on the 2nd hole (unplayable lie) and the eighth (hazard).

A very poor performance today, yet I still had some fun.

I hit a small bucket of balls and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville today. The weather was warm, soft breeze from the west.

During practice, I hit the clubs I normally hit while playing the course, namely, the 5-10 irons and 3-metal, along with a few full pitching wedges. Unlike yesterday, where I hit mainly draws and hooks, today I hit mainly straight balls and slight fades. My 3-metal practice was unusually good today, hitting straight balls almost exclusively, just to the right or left of the target green. After hitting balls, I practiced putting for a few minutes and started into the round.

For the first time, I played this course no worse than bogey golf. My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Summary of my day:

1. Hit a 9-iron right and long leaving a difficult 25 ft putt down hill. Hit a nice putt to 3 ft and tapped in for par.
2. Hit a 3-metal into the left side of the fairway, leaving a full pitching wedge to the hole. Pushed PW right into rough, chunked the chip into the fringe, and 3 putt from there, an ugly double.
3. Hit a 3/4 pitching wedge long into rough behind hole. Chipped long and 2 putted for bogey.
4. Drew a 3-metal into the center of the fairway. My 8-iron into the hole clipped a branch of an overhanging tree and dropped into the rough on the right side of the hole. SW came up short. Chipped to 5 ft and hit the putt for bogey.
5. Hit a 10-iron to 25 ft. 2 putted for par.
6. Pulled a 3-metal left, but it big bounced into the center of the fairway. However, trees on the right prevented a clear shot to the flag, so I planned a lay-up 10-iron to the front of the hole. Plans changed when I sliced it into the hazard on the right. Took a penalty from the lateral hazard, dropped from where the ball crossed the hazard, chipped to 6 ft, and hit the bogey putt.
7. Hit a 5-iron fat into the short grass in front of the green. SW short into the fringe. Chip hit the pin and I tapped in for bogey.
8. Hit a 5-iron a bit thin off the tee into the center of the fairway. Pushed the 9-iron approach shot to the right of the hole. SW hit a little long into the back fringe. Hit a poor chip and 2-putted for double.
9. Hit a slight fade 7-iron just right of the green. Hit a chip to 6 ft, but misjudged the break and tapped in for bogey.

I was pretty happy with the way I played today, considering I didn’t practice my short game this week at all. I hit all four fairways today, the first time I’ve ever hit all the fairways on this course. Chipping practice is demanded tomorrow; if it wasn’t for chipping, I would have had a very good day.

I went to practice and play today at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was nice when I arrived, but rain had been falling all morning. A light breeze from the west was almost unnoticed.

I started out hitting short iron shots at the green in the center of the range. My distances started out short and lengthened to their usual (short) distances after I warmed up. Today, I was completely inconsistent, hitting a perfect shot to the center of the green, followed by a shot so poor that I wondered if that was me hitting the shot. I hit some fades and some draws with the short irons, and then hit a few balls with the longer irons, mostly soft fades or soft draws.

Next, I got out the SasQuatch 3-metal and hit a few, starting out with towering slices. I managed to get that under control and hit a few nice straight shots. I finished up with short wedge shots into the water just short of the center green. No sign of fat or thin wedges, but that would be the bane of my game today.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Hit into 3 bunkers today. On the first hole, managed to get out onto the green, but 2 putted from there. On the fifth hole, hit into the right bunker, had an easy bunker shot but hit it poorly about 2 ft. into the lip. From that very difficult lie, hit a good shot to 10 ft. from the hole. On the ninth hole, hit a 7-iron pin high into the left bunker, SW went over the green into the rough. Needs much work.
• Hit two of four fairways. On the sixth hole (my nemesis hole), hit a perfect fade into the center of the fairway, but it monster-bounced just to the right edge behind a tree. I hit a SW thin (again!) into the hazard. On the eighth hole, since I actually hit a 3-metal through the fairway and into the rough the last time I played, hit a perfect 23-hybrid into the center of the fairway. Unfortunately, it landed in a divot and a tree blocked the shot to the hole, so I had to play a 10-iron to the right of the hole. I hit a nice chip from there, but missed the par putt. On the second hole, hit a fade into the right rough; on the fourth, hit a draw into the left rough.
• Short wedge shots haunted me all day. The only great wedge shot I had today was on the 3rd, where I hit a pitching wedge to 8 ft, but missed the par putt.
• Putting was merely adequate. Although I had no 3 putts, I didn’t hit any putts beyond 5 ft.

Yes, I sucked again today, but had fun.

This morning I hit a small bucket of balls and played nine holes at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was warm and sunny, with a 1-club breeze from the southeast.

Practice was very mixed from the start. As I was hitting from a slight downhill lie, I hit a number of balls fat. The short irons were working well in practice, but never did get the 6-iron to straighten out. Practice with the 3-metal found me hitting mostly fades or straight shots (unlike what would happen on the course). I also took extra time to practice chipping and putting before playing.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• I had two excellent shots today. The first great shot was on the first hole with a 9-iron. The wind was very soft, so I aimed directly at the hole and hit the ball perfectly to eight feet just below the hole. I nailed the putt in the center of the cup for my first birdie in weeks. The second great shot was a 3-metal off the tee of the eighth hole. I actually hit it long enough that it rolled into the rough at the end of the fairway, leaving me a sand wedge to the hole.
• My putting was excellent today. I had only 13 putts all day and no 3 putts. I nailed the 8-footer on the 1st hole for birdie and a 20-footer to save bogey on the 4th hole. I had only 1 putt on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th hole. Great putting was the only thing that kept me from having one of the worst golfing days I’ve ever had.
• My sand and lob wedge play was atrocious all day. I hit a sand wedge clear over the green on 2, causing double bogey. I chunked so many sand wedges today that I lost count. I also hit a pitching wedge thin over the green and into the back hazard on the 3rd hole and ended up with double and hit a recovery pitching wedge too long into the hazard on the 6th hole. Wedge play and chipping, usually one of the better parts of my game, was the key reason for my poor score today.
• I used the Sasquatch 3-metal on all four par-4 holes today, hooking two of them and hitting one fat on the disastrous 6th hole. I redeemed myself on the 8th, where I hit the ball long enough to roll off the end of the fairway. Unfortunately, I chunked the sand wedge and made bogey.
• I really need to develop a low stinger to get out of the trees. I also managed to clip a branch on a beautiful 8-iron into the 9th hole that caused me to make bogey.

Despite all that (and losing my putter cover on the 6th hole — tracked it down after the round), I had a very enjoyable day of golf. The course is quite difficult, but you can score if you hit good shots. I only hit two great shots all day, and the result is the score you see stinking up this blog.

Today, I played the nine-hole course at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville, for the first time. Here is a brief review of each hole.

1. First hole is a 104 yd par 3 over water from an elevated tee. Today, the wind was blowing hard from left to right, so I got out the 9-iron, aimed 30 ft to the left of the hole and faded the ball about 8 ft above the hole. I hit the putt just a bit on the high side of the hole and tapped in for par.
2. Second hole is a 263 yd par 4 dogleg right. You can’t see the hole from the tee due to the forest on the right hand side. The landing area is very narrow and there is a bunker on the left side of the fairway that is not in play unless you are a junior golfer. Today, I planned to fade a 3-metal into the center of the fairway; instead, I hit a slight draw and rolled a foot into the rough on the left. My pitching wedge to the green was hit fat and landed short. I chipped with the sand wedge short and three putted (my only three putt all day).
3. Third hole is a 87 yd par three with a deep creek along the right hand side. Today the hole was playing about 83 yds to a pin hugging the right side of the green near the creek. That distance is between a PW and 10-iron for me, so I attemped to hit an easy 10-iron into the center of the green. Instead, I pushed it right and it went out of sight. Just in case the ball landed in the creek, I played a provisional with my pitching wedge, just short of the green. However, my first ball was in play in the rough behind the green, so I chipped with the pitching wedge. I hit the chip way too hard and it rolled over the green. I again chipped with the pitching wedge to 8 ft and two putted from there. Yeech!
4. Fourth hole is a 324 yd par 4 dogleg to the right. Again, you can’t see the flag from the tee, which is right next to the 3rd hole tee. There is thick forest on the right and the driving range net on the left. I planned to hit a 3-metal fade to the center of the fairway; instead, like the 2nd hole, I drew the ball slightly and the ball again rolled just into the left rough. I hit a 9-iron right at the flag, but it hit the top of a tall oak tree growing over the fairway and dropped down into the rough. I hit a sand wedge short of the green, chipped to 8 ft and two putted. Arrrggggg!!!
5. Fifth hole is a 100 yd par 3 playing to 86 yds today. There are bunkers on each side of the hole. I hit a 10-iron short, chipped short of the hole and 2 putted.
6. Sixth hole is a 303 yd par 4 dogleg right. The hole is not visible from the tee, as there is heavy forest on the right. I hit a 3-metal fat into the center of the fairway. Since the drive was well short, I couldn’t see the flag, so I planned to lay up to just in front of the green with a 7-iron. Instead, I chunked it into the right rough, where I had no play except to pitch out into the fairway, which I did with the sand wedge. I hit a sand wedge onto the green and 2 putted from 20 ft.
7. Seventh hole is a 159 yd par 3. Today it was playing a little shorter than that (didn’t write down the actual yardage). I hooked my 5-iron well left into some tall grassy plants that architects love to torture golfers with here in TX. I hit a provisional just in case I couldn’t find the ball, fading the 5-iron just to the right of the green, pin high. I did find the ball, but had to take an unplayable. My pitch to the green hit a branch of an overhanging tree and bounced into the fringe of the green. I pitched onto the green and 2 putted.
8. Eighth hole is a 271 yd par 4, dogleg left. The fairway is narrow with a creek along the left side that you must go over on your second shot. My 3-metal from the tee was straight down the fairway, but I popped it up high and had a 7-iron left to the green. I hit a good fade to the green, but it hit the branch of an overhanging tree, so I had to hit a short sand wedge off the fairway. Two putted from about 12 ft.
9. Ninth hole is a 169 yd par 3, but it was playing about 30 yds shorter today. I hit a fade pin high into the bunker on the left side of the hole, pitched out to 8 ft and lipped out the par putt. CRAP!

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Very enjoyable day today, despite my mediocre score. I’m going to play the course again tomorrow!

On Saturday, I met Jarvis for practice and play. The weather was warm with a strong breeze from the north.

I spent half the practice session hitting short and medium irons, working on drawing the ball, as usual. I was drawing the ball pretty good today, but the wind made my draws straight and my straight balls fade. Next up, I practiced short wedge shots into the practice flags. I had good direction control today, but most shots were long. After that, I practiced chipping. Jarvis and I had a chipping content (he owes me lunch). A few practice putts and time to hit the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Shots from the tee, other than the first two holes, were mostly long today; I guess I overcompensated for the wind. Misses were to the left, so the draw is starting to become more natural.
• Chipping, despite the practice, was bad all day.
• Today was my worst day putting in recent memory; three 3-putts.

Nevertheless, the weather was beautiful and had a fun day.

Jarvis and I played nine at North Texas Golf this morning. I put the 3-, 4-, and 5-irons back in my bag this morning and took out the hybrids while I get my swing back into shape. I started out with the 3-iron, hitting soft shots, mostly fades. Next, I hit some 5-irons, also fades. I then went back to the 7-iron and got the ball going straight and even a draw or two. I then went to the driver, which sliced, great big banana slices. Yeech!

I went back and hit many short irons, mostly straight, with pushes more prevalent than pulls. Distance was short; I wasn’t able to get the swing really fluid today.

Next up, I went and hit short and medium sand wedge shots at the target flags. I had some trouble getting my swing grooved in, but finally achieved some decent shots. I also hit a few lob wedges, mostly a bit short. I’ve been having trouble hitting the ball a bit fat with the wedges lately, and this continued during practice.

I then gathered some balls and hit short chips with the pitching wedge and got the distance and direction grooved in again. My chipping has been suspect of late and it was good to get it going again. I also hit some putts, but the putting green was in poor shape (needed mowing). There is maintenance in progress on the greens; many of them had sand spread today, which made putting difficult.

My score today:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• My main difficulty today was hitting the ball short. My distance was short all day, only went over the pin once. With the exception of one shot on the second hole, the slice didn’t reappear today.
• Putting was very mixed. I hit a 21 foot putt for par on the 4th hole but four putted the 7th hole. I don’t ever remember 4 putting a hole before.
• Chipping practice worked. I hit a 40 foot chip to 2 ft to par the 5th hole.

If the golf was lacking, the weather was flawless, 75 degrees with a slight westerly breeze.