Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I played day 2 of the GGA Championship. I went off at 8:30AM and finished at 12:45PM. The weather again was warm and sunny, with only a slight variable wind. The greens had a thick layer of dew when we went off but had burned off by the third hole.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Again, very mixed off the tee. I had two penalties off the tee, both lost in the woods. I hit a total of six fairways and also two of the par-3 holes in regulation.
• Approach shots. Again, very mixed bag. I hit two greens in regulation (in addition to the two par-3 holes), but also had a penalty (ball lost in the woods).
• Wedges. I didn’t have a good wedge shot all day, hitting several left short of the hole (and one in a greenside bunker).
• Chipping. My chipping wasn’t great today, but I did manage to get up-and-down four times, though not always for par.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one greenside bunker today, and I hit that ball well over the green on the first hole of Bluebonnet. I did manage to get the ball back out of the woods that time with a pretty nifty recovery shot.
• Putting. I hit two long putts, but also had a 4-putt (!) and two 3-putts. I had a total of 37 putts today, simply terrible. I lipped out at least 3 putts and left a couple an inch or two short.

Wow, what a weird day. I putted terribly, yet shot one shot better than yesterday. I turned a potential 92 into a 100 with poor putting.

Update: I came in 5th (gross) for the 2-day tournament.

This morning, I played the first day of the Grapevine Golf Association Tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. I went off at 11:30 and finished at 4:05. We played from the blue tees and went off on Mockingbird followed by Pecan. The day was very warm and sunny, not much wind, and the temperature was above 90F by the time we finished.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Oh, boy, how bad can it get? I had 5 penalties, and three of them were off the tee. I hit only 4 fairways, although I did hit two of the par-3 holes in regulation (in fact, I played the par-3 holes at +1).
• Approach shots. If tee shots were bad, approach shots were worse. I didn’t hit any greens in regulation. I had two penalties off approach shots.
• Wedges. My full wedges were poor, but my pitching with the wedges was pretty darn good. I managed to get up-and-down six times (some of these were chipping), though not usually for par.
• Chipping. My chipping was pretty good today. I hit the pin on one chip and had two others within 3 ft.
• Sand shots. From one fairway bunker, it took me three shots to get out. I played the wrong type of shot trying to get out. I won’t make that mistake again. I got out cleanly on all greenside bunkers, but none were close enough to get up-and-down.
• Putting. Other than two three-putts, my putting was good today. I had a total of 32 putts. The Odyssey 3-ball putter is proving its worth (at Coyote Ridge last week had 31 putts).

Not my best day, but if I had been able to not three-putt twice and not hit so many poor drives, I would have had a good day.

Update: My score was good enough for 4th place (gross); I tied the 3rd place player, but he got me on tiebreakers.

Yesterday afternoon, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Course on a warm, sunny day. We went off at about 12:15PM and finished four hours later. I arrived early to warm up, and I was pretty pleased with it. I’ve been working, almost exclusively, on getting good impact on the ball, specifically, keeping my hands ahead of the ball at impact. I had varying degrees of success.

My round:

• First hole. I hit a 7-wood off the tee into the left side of the fairway, and hit a good 7-iron to about 35 ft left of the hole. Unfortunately, I three-putted for bogey.
• Second hole. I pushed a driver well right of the fairway. The ball ended up nearly on the 8th fairway. From there, I hit a pretty good 4-hybrid just short of the greenside bunkers. From there, I hit a good pitching wedge about 35 ft left of the hole. Again, I three-putted for bogey. Yeech!
• Third hole. I hit a 5-iron pin-high, but 35 ft right of the green. I used a sand wedge to chip onto the green, and the ball curled in for birdie. Woop!
• Fourth hole. I pushed my driver a bit right and ended up as usual in the big ditch to the right of the fairway. I chunked my first hybrid about 30 ft, then hit a good shot into the center of the fairway. From there, I had a 7-iron into the green, and I hit it to about 25 ft. I missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. I hit a seemingly perfect drive right over the left fairway bunkers, only to find my ball about a foot to the right of the fairway bunker another 40 yds beyond the first two. I had no choice but to punch a ball as far as I could, as my feet were a good 2 ft below the ball. I chipped short and two-putted for bogey.
• Sixth hole. I hit another long drive, but it hit the second fairway bunker. I pulled my 8-iron over the green, chunked my first chip, then hit a second one to about 6 ft, but missed that putt and tapped in for double.
• Seventh hole. As I hit the shot, the wind strengthened in my face, and I hit the ball short left into the bunker. My bunker shot wasn’t close to the hole and I two-putted for bogey.
• Eighth hole. My drive was pushed well right to the right of the third bunker. I hit a 5-iron very thin short of the greenside bunker. I shanked my wedge into the bunker. I hit my bunker shot about a foot short of perfect, and it hung in the fringe (another foot, and it would have run down to the hole). I putted from the fringe long and hit my return putt for double.
• Ninth hole. I hit a very nice 7-wood off the tee into the right side of the fairway. My second 7-wood was about 40 yds short of the green. My pitch was well short, and then my putt was well short. I finished the front by three-putting for double.
• Tenth hole. I hit a very nice 7-wood perfectly into the preferred spot on the fairway. My next 7-wood was very poor, going through a small tree and ending up right of the cart path. I had no shot to the green due to another tree, so I hit a lay-up with the pitching wedge to just in front of the creek in front of the green. Here, I hit my worst shot all day, a topped pitching wedge into the creek. My next pitching wedge was hit into the deep greenside bunker. I hit another (nearly) perfect bunker shot that, had it gone one more foot, would have rolled right down to the hole. Instead, again, it hung on the fringe and I two-putted from there for a baseball team.
• Eleventh hole. My 5-iron was hooked well left of the green on a steep down slope to the green protected by a bunker. I used a lob wedge to pitch over the bunker, but the ball didn’t stop on the green but rolled down the slope on the other side of the green. I was left with a very steep shot up to the green. I hit a pretty good chip using a sand wedge to about 7 ft and made the putt for bogey.
• Twelth hole. My driver was hit well but right into the first fairway bunker on the right, up against the lip. I tried to get a pitching wedge on it, but the ball hit the lip and ended up between the second and third fairway bunkers. I hit a pretty good iron from there just short of the green. I chipped to about 4 inches and tapped in for bogey.
• Thirteenth hole. I hit a decent 7-wood just left of the fairway in the rough. I hit a poor 7-iron just short of the right greenside bunker. I hit a pretty good pitch with the sand wedge to about 15 ft and made the putt for par. Woop!
• Fourteenth hole. My 7-iron was hit weakly right into the deep greenside bunker. I shanked my sand shot and had to hit another one, this time going past the hole about 8 ft. I missed the putt and tapped in for double.
• Fifteenth hole. I popped up my drive but into the fairway. My second shot with the 4-wood cleared the two center bunkers, leaving me an approach wedge to the green. That shot was short and left. I chipped from there to about 10 ft and missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Sixteenth hole. My 4-wood hit a tree right of the fairway and dropped into the rough. My iron was poorly struck and ended up under a pine tree, so I had to take an unplayable. My fourth shot was not well-struck and ended up well short. I hit an approach wedge 30 ft short of the hole. My putt was nicely judged but missed and I tapped in for triple.
• Seventeenth hole. My 7-wood ended up just right of the fairway but with a clear shot to the green. I hit a 9-iron pin-high but just right of the green. My chip was left a little short, and I missed that putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Eighteenth hole. I badly chunked my tee shot with the 7-wood. My next 7-wood ended up at the top of the hill. My pitching wedge from there went just over the green. My chip was good, but my putt wasn’t, and I tapped in for double.

Fun day of golf, really only got irritated on the 10th, when I chunked the ball into the creek, and my series of bad shots on 16. I can see a bit of improvement, despite very limited practice time.

Ah, summer 2009! Good riddance to you!

I’ve been golf injury free for the bulk of the summer, yet my handicap index went from 15 last summer to 22 this summer. Most of this is due to rarely being able to practice (I went from an average of 3 practices a week last year to once a week this summer), but some of it is lack of an instructor since Jeff Kennedy retired. For those paying attention, I’ve had two very fine instructors retire on me, no doubt due to their inability to actually have me demonstrate any golf skill at all. I also had made swing compensations for my various back, shoulder and elbow injuries.

Last year, I failed to break 100 only twice, and I twice broke 90. This year, I’ve managed to break 100 maybe three or four times, and really played only one respectable round of golf, a 90 at Trails of Frisco.

My latest tale of woe came on Saturday, when I played in the Grapevine Golf Association tournament. We were playing an ABCD Waltz (the exact scoring method I fail to understand). Our A player failed to show (he has a very nice index of 1), so our team only had three. For whatever reason, whenever I’m scheduled to play a team event with a really good player, that player never shows up.

The golf gods hate me. I know this because they never let me play with their chosen ones.

I started out quite respectably, hitting a nice drive right down the middle of Mockingbird #1, longer than my two teammates. I had a 4-hybrid into the green, but hit it a bit fat and left it a bit short. I hit a pretty good chip past the hole but failed to get up and down and so made bogey. But this was a two-pop hole, so net birdie. I’m good with that.

The group in front of us is slow, very slow. The second hole is a very long par-3, playing about 190. We wait on the tee a good 10 minutes for those slowpokes. I’m using my 7-wood and I hit one of the worst golf shots I’ve ever hit, a pull-hook-worm-burner that ends up well short and left of the green under a little pine tree. You need to understand that these trees would never even enter your mind when you are on the tee, since they are so far left that they are out of play for nearly anyone. Anyone but me, apparently. I’ve got no shot at all to the green, so I chip out as hard as I can into the rough in front of the green, hit a passable pitch onto the green and two-putt for double.

On #3, the fault that would bedevil me all day would first appear. I hit another very nice drive right down the middle, just past the bunker on the left, leaving me an easy 7-iron into the green, perfect angle to attack the flag. I hit the ball straight at the pin, but it dropped short of the green. All my irons on this day would be short, some dramatically short. I never really figured it out until the 18th (9 on Bluebonnet), but what was happening was the club was past my hands at impact, leaving me with weak contact on the ball. In fact, on this day, the only club that performed at all respectably was the driver. Irons, hybrids, fairways, wedges; I was plagued with balls left short. Except my chips. Those I ran by the hole, no problemo.

But, back to #3. I hit a good chip about 10 ft from the hole, but left the par putt short and tapped in for bogey. Not happy, but at least respectable.

That’s when things went bad, really bad. #4 on Mockingbird is a dogleg left, narrow par-4 with woods down the left side. My nemesis, the duck-hook, came roaring back with a terrible shot with the 4-wood into the woods. I took a drop and had to lay up into the fairway, as I was blocked by trees. I hit a pretty sorry layup, but I had a pretty easy wedge into the green. That’s when the shorts hit me again, I hit the wedge short into the deep bunker to the left of the green. My bunker shot got out, but still on the fringe. My chip was long and I two-putted for a glorious snowman.

I’ll not bore you with my tribulations on the next three holes, other than to say I had four penalties, including two unplayable lies and two balls lost in hazards.

The golf gods hate me.

On the eighth hole, I played my only good hole of the day, and even that one started badly (or so I thought on the tee). I pulled out the driver and hit a big push over the woods to the right. Much to my relief, I found my ball just short of the pond in some not too thick bermuda rough. I had to fly over the pond to get to the green. I hit my best shot of the day, a 5-iron into the wind about 20 ft short of the hole. I hit a very nice putt that refused to go in and tapped in for my only par of the day.

How do you know the golf gods hate you? They let you hit a downhill, wind-aided, cart path aided, 350 yard drive, and then completely block you from playing your second shot into the green. So, here’s what happened. I’m on Bluebonnet #6, a really nice par-4 with a tee well above the fairway. I took my driver and hit a big block just to the right of the right-hand fairway bunker. There’s rough over there, but you can always find your ball. I thought. Anyway, after an extensive search, we can’t find my ball. The five minutes haven’t elapsed, but to save time, I hit a provisional from the spot where I think my ball would have ended up (this is a tournament rule to speed play when a ball is lost but not in a hazard). Finally, my playing partner finds my ball, way, way down near the green right of the cart path. I pick up the provisional and go to my ball, and I’m stymied by trees. All I can do is punch out sideways, leaving me a wedge to the green. Again, I get a case of the shorts, and leave it short. I chip onto the green long and two-putt for double.

Anyway, I manage to bogey each of the remaining three holes in other creative fashions. I’ll only note the last hole, #9 on Bluebonnet. I hit a stinky duck-hook drive into the rough. My 6-iron gets yet another case of the shorts, and I fail to clear the large pine tree on the left of the fairway. Indeed, I’m right underneath it, completely unable to make a full swing. The best I can do is a half swing. I’m 118 yds from the pin and I have an 8-iron. By some miracle, the golf gods allow me to make the best impact I’ve had on the ball all day and I hit the ball onto the green about 20 ft from the hole. I hit a nice putt that refuses to go in and I tap in for bogey.

So, there you have it, 108 stokes to finish that round. I’ve had 7 penalties, hit 5 fairways, made one, count ’em, one par and one green in regulation. I didn’t hit any putts that mattered, but only had one three-putt, and I only managed to get up-and-down twice. I had buried lies in bunkers, balls dunked in water, unplayable lies, balls in rough so thick you can’t see the ball except from directly above it.

Yes, I sucked, and I sucked really bad on Saturday. But, you know, on that last shot into the green, from underneath the pine tree, I felt something in my swing and that made me go back and play again today. Despite diagnosing and correcting the fault that caused my case of the shorts on the range, I play nine holes after practicing and the shorts reappeared on the second hole. And still, I hit one good shot on the ninth, and I leave the course smiling.

Golf is a sickness. And I love it so.

The golf gods can bite me.

… instead of hate me. I played 18 today at the Cowboys Golf Club. The weather was very hot and sunny, with just a trace of a breeze. We went off at 12:30 and finished less than 4 hours later. We never had to wait on a single hole, and that playing time included two stops at the on-course grill (the jalapeno sausage is killer).

I didn’t keep the score card, but I shot 97, hit 6 fairways, 4 GIR, 3 penalties, 3 or 4 up-and-downs and won 4 holes outright. Putting was pretty mediocre, probably about 34 total, but I did hit a couple of long ones and didn’t miss any shorter than 4 ft. My best club was the 4-hybrid; I hit one of my GIR and also hit two approaches pin-high but off the green with it. Unfortunately, I also hooked one in the water with it, but I had trouble on the back nine popping up the long clubs or hooking them. My best shot of the day was a 6-iron from the rough to about 15 ft (missed the birdie putt). I didn’t hit into any fairway bunkers, but did find myself in two very deep greenside bunkers; got out cleanly from one and over the green from the other. I didn’t hit many long wedge shots, but those I did hit came up short. Chipping was pretty good, got up-and-down 3 or 4 times.

I’m finally having fun on the golf course again after a rough couple of months. Nothing in my body hurts, so I can practice whenever I please without worrying about aggravating some injury. Life is good.

After a nice vacation, I’ve finally achieved a state where nothing in my body hurts when I swing a golf club. No muscle spasms in my back, no sore shoulder, no tendonitis in my right elbow. Life is good!

Of course, after my long layoff of not playing or practicing, my golf game has gone south. I played last Thursday at Trails of Frisco and the only thing I can say positive about that day was I didn’t die of heat stroke. And should you need a ProV1, be sure to search carefully in the woods and long grass, as I left a bunch there. You’ll know they’re mine by the blue arrow on them.

In the meantime, I’ve created a practice bag and a playing bag. The idea here is that my playing bag uses clubs that are more forgiving than the clubs in my practice bag. My playing bag you can find on the In the Bag page. My practice bag consists of:

• TWGT 525GRT driver
• TWGT 949MC 4-wood and 7-wood
• TWGT 550C irons, 4-AW
• TWGT PCF Micro SW and LW
• Adams Golf Dixx Putter

I also have a new TWGT stand bag for my playing bag, which is about a pound or two lighter than the Great Divider stand bag I’ve been using for the past couple of years. That bag served me well, but is showing signs of wear and I had to repair the stand with some cable ties.

I also picked up a discontinued Adams Dixx putter just before my vacation. This putter has a little computer on it that determines path, clubface position, speed and tempo of the putt so I can work on fixing my putting. I’ll post a review in a couple of weeks after I’ve used it for a few weeks. I’d planned to use it when I played on Thursday, but forgot to put it in my bag. It is very promising so far, but a little quirky in the way it works.

I’m also getting ready to build a few new clubs. I’ve new 4-, 5- and 7-wood clubheads from TWGT and also new CX Micro wedges to replace the PCF Micro wedges I’ve worn out. I’ll get those done this week if all goes to plan.

Finally, I did manage to hit a few balls at Hank Haney Golf Ranch after lunch. There was intermittent rain and a light breeze from the east. I managed to run through two tokens before the rain started coming down a bit harder and I started to get soaked. I spent most of the session getting the driver to go straight, and also spent some time with tour tempo and short irons. I’ve got a long path ahead of me to get my game back in order, but at least nothing hurts and I can practice without pain.

This morning, I played a two-man best ball tournament in the Grapevine Golf Association at the Grapevine Golf Club. We had a scheduled tee time of 9:33AM, but the first tee was backed up and we didn’t get off until about 10AM and finished up about 4-1/2 hours later. The weather was warm and breezy, with about a 2-club wind throughout the day. My 2-ball partner didn’t show up, so I’ll be assigned a random partner out of the mix. We played Mockingbird, followed by Pecan from the blue tees. The course was in very good condition, firm and fast, greens were not as fast as they were during the winter.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit seven fairways and one-par 3 hole in regulation. That sounds pretty good, but that’s deceiving, as I had a stretch of four holes on Mockingbird where I had a penalty off the tee on each of the holes. Once I gave up on hitting the driver, I did much better, hitting the 5-wood on most holes.
• Approach shots. I hit only two greens in regulation, so pretty darn poor. I left a lot of shots short due to the wind, and fought a hook on many holes.
• Wedges. I did pretty well with short wedge and pitch shots. I can only remember one or two bad shots, the rest were pretty solid. I got up and down 4 times on the day, though not always for par.
• Chipping. My chipping was pretty good, my best chip being on the 5th hole of Mockingbird, where I hit a chip from about 10 yds off the green to tap-in distance.
• Sand shots. I hit into four greenside bunkers (no fairway bunkers) and got out cleanly three times. I got up and down once out of the sand.
• Putting. My putting was not good today, as I had four 3-putts and failed to take advantage of good chips and pitches. I only hit one putt longer than 3 ft all day. I had a total of 36 putts.

My best hole of the day was the par-5 5th hole on Mockingbird. I hit a draw with the 5-wood just around the corner of the dogleg left, then hit a worm-burner 3-wood about 10 yds short of the green. I hit a really nice chip to 3 ft and made the putt for birdie.

While I didn’t play particularly well today, I was happy that I was able to overcome muscle spasms in my back and play pretty well. Today was my best tournament score, and with luck I will get a net-skin on the 5th hole (a two-pop hole for me, net double-eagle). I also had my first tournament sand save on the 9th hole of Mockingbird, though it was for bogey.

Update: I won a skin on the 5th hole on Mockingbird! My team didn’t place, and I was 5 shots out of the money (top 3) on gross and 6 shots out of the money net.

This morning, on a sunny, breezy, cool day, I had my second lesson with Jeff Kennedy at Coyote Ridge Golf Club. I warmed up on the range, this time on the grass instead of the mats. While I warmed up, Jeff came over and had me work on my mid-length pitches. He noticed that I was still tending to decelerate when I took the club back too far on the pitch. We worked on that for several minutes and also on my trajectory. I got better the more shots I hit.

Next, I got out my 7-iron and we worked on fundamentals such as moving the ball a little forward from center and making sure I didn’t straighten my right leg on the backswing. We also worked a lot on keeping from sliding during the downswing. I was striking the ball pretty respectably, so we moved on to the 5-iron. We continued to work on the same fundamentals, and also worked on getting my trajectory down some. After some good shots with the 5-iron, we got out the 3-wood (Thriver) and hit some balls off the deck. I was tending to fade the ball but getting good trajectory and occasionally, good distance. He then had me work on my posture, getting some of the roundness out of my back. We then finished up with the driver, and I was pleased to see the ball go straight where I was aiming. Unfortunately, I was misaligned, but we soon had that straightened out as well.

I was very pleased with my lesson.

After a short break for lunch, John and I hit the course, playing from the blue tees with some older gentlemen who were playing from the whites. For whatever reason, the blue tees were, for the most part, on the same tee as the black tees, and the course was playing much longer than I’d ever played it before. Between the longer length, the wind, and too, too many swing thoughts from the lesson, my round was a mess, shooting 105.

I still beat John, though.

Yesterday, in very cold, cloudy and windy conditions, I played the Grapevine Golf Association tournament. Even though we went off at noon, the temperature was below 50F and the wind blew as hard as 40 mph during the day. This was the first time I had to account for the wind while putting, and things did not go well. The tournament was scored using modified Stableford scoring, so nothing worse than bogey mattered. I had one par and three bogeys on the day, and that was my pathetic attempt to play golf when any normal person would have decided to stay indoors.

Yesterday, John and I played a quick nine holes at Coyote Ridge, going off just before 11AM and finishing in about 2 hours, after we caught up with a foursome and had to wait for the green to clear on a couple of holes. The weather was sunny and cool, with a 1-2 club breeze from the south.

My score:

*Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. I hit a hybrid left into the rough, on an upslope. I should have used less loft to account for the upslope, but I didn’t and came up short of the green. My chip was long, and I two-putted for bogey.
• Second hole. I hit a really nice drive onto the right side of the fairway, but my 5-iron layup was hit fat and left in front of the bunker. I hit a hooking approach wedge pin-high but nearly 60 feet left of the pin. My first putt was well-short and I lipped out my second and tapped in for bogey.
• Third hole. The pin was well up near the front edge and I had only 150 yds. With a two-club breeze behind me, I decided on a 7-iron, but came up short just below the green when the wind decided to die down just as I hit it. I hit a really nice SW chip to about 6″ and tapped in for par.
• Fourth hole. I popped up a 3-wood left into the rough on an upslope. I absolutely pounded a hybrid, unfortunately, into the pond. I managed to retrieve my ball (scaring a couple of snakes in the process), took a drop and hit an iron into the bunker just left of the green. Lying four in the bunker, I hit thin all the way to the other side of the green and two-putted from there for double.
• Fifth hole. My streak of going left off the tee ended as I pounded a driver right of the fairway but with a clear shot at the green. My approach with a 7-iron was left and short, just below the grass bunker on an upslope. I tried to hit a high pitch, but instead hit it thin and over the green. My chip from deep rough was just short of the green, my second chip was long and I two-putted for triple. 🙁
• Sixth hole. I hit a very nice drive into the wind, but unfortunately didn’t clear the last fairway bunker. My 7-iron from the bunker was fat. My approach from there was short and I managed to three-putt for double. YEECH!
• Seventh hole. The wind was really blowing by this time, and I underclubbed. The ball hit about a foot below the green and rolled, slowly, agonizingly into the pond. I took a drop from where I crossed the hazard, pitched to about 15 ft and two-putted for bogey.
• Eighth hole. I popped up a drive into the middle of the fairway. I hit a hybrid thin to just in front of the hole. My chip was pin-high but about 12 ft below the hole, the flag on the far right hand side of the green. My putt was perfect speed but I over-read the break and tapped in for bogey.
• Ninth hole. I always play this hole very difficult hole very conservatively. I hit a hybrid into the left side of the fairway, then a second hybrid into the right rough well short of the hole. My third to the green was about 20 ft below the pin. I two-putted from there.

A very mediocre nine holes, but then I’m working on swing changes and that definitely affected my game. The potential of the improved swing is certainly there, but much work remains.