Joey's Golf Bag

Today, Dad and I played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The day was warm and sunny, with a slight breeze from the west. My day started off inauspiciously by dunking a ball in the water at the first, but I played pretty well otherwise.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

How I played:

• First hole. Hit a pitching wedge right of the hole, which cleared the water but bounced back into the water. Took a drop from there, chipped poorly from the rough and two putted for double.
• Second hole. Hooked my 7-wood left in front of the net, then hit a big push right of the hole into the hazard, but fortunately playable from where it lay. Hit a pitch over the green, chipped to about 12 feet and two putt for double.
• Third hole. Hit a lob wedge so fat that it went about 20 yards. I then hit a stellar lob wedge to a foot and tapped in for par.
• Fourth hole. Hooked my Thriver into the left rough, leaving a 9-iron to the hole. I hit a worm burner to about 75 yds in front of the hole. From there, I hit a lob wedge shot well right of the hole, but on the green. Three putted from about 45 feet for double.
• Fifth hole. Hit a sand wedge to about 15 feet, just missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par.
• Sixth hole. Hit a chunky 7-wood a foot off the right of the fairway. Hit a perfect layup pitching wedge, then a lob wedge to 12 feet. Just missed the putt for par and tapped in for bogey.
• Seventh hole. Hit a 7-iron just left of the green, chipped to 3 feet and tapped in for par.
• Eighth hole. Hit a 5-iron off the tee, leaving an approach wedge to the hole. I hit the AW to 12 feet and hit the firmly struck birdie putt. 🙂
• Ninth hole. Hit a 9-iron to 7 feet, but just missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par.

37 is my best score on this course, so I was pretty happy with the way I played.

This morning, Jarvis and I played 18 on the Creek course at Indian Creek Golf Club. We went off at 9AM on a cloudy but very warm morning. The course was in excellent condition, firm and fast. The greens were very smooth and pretty fast.

Today was the first day I’ve walked 18 (just bought a Bag Boy Express 120 push cart) and it pretty much zonked me out. The weather was cloudy until the back nine, and the temperature went up dramatically when the sun came out. Fortunately, the wind came up as well. I’ll continue to walk, but during the summer, only when I go off in the early morning.

My practice time has been very limited this month, as I’ve been busy at work and also had my back spasms flare up again. My back was fine today and I expect to get to practice more regularly.

My score:

Themes:

• Tee shots. I had a pretty bad day off the tee, hitting only six fairways and two par-3 holes in regulation. I had problems with hooking the ball with the driver today. I had two penalties off the tees, including hooking (yet again) into the water with my 7-wood on the 18th. That hole continues to vex me.
• Approach shots. Stinky. Just stinky. I hit two greens in regulation on approach shots, and two greens off the tee. I did have a couple of approach shots that were just off the green, though.
• Wedges. Not pretty. Either I hit them fat and short, or thin and long. 😮
• Chipping. Not good either. I got up and down exactly twice all day. Mostly left them short.
• Sand shots. I hit into two fairway bunkers and two greenside bunkers. I wasn’t pleased with my sand play today, but at least I didn’t leave any in the bunker. The shots just weren’t very good.
• Putting. I had 36 putts today and two three putts. I missed all my birdie putts and managed to three-putt a hole that I hit in regulation. I had only two one-putt holes. Despite that, my putting seems to be improving, if only slightly.

A fun day of golf, even though walking 18 completely wore me out.

Yesterday, I played 18 at Pecan Hollow in Plano. The day was warm and sunny, with a light breeze that had little effect on golf shots. We went off at 12:30PM and finished just after 5PM. The golf course was playing firm and fast. Conditions were not great, some of the greens were a little bumpy and there were some bare spots on the fairways. Very playable, though.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I was really pleased with my new Wishon Golf 919THI driver. I hit 8 of 12 fairways with it (hitting 1 of 2 fairways with my Wishon Golf 949MC 7-wood). I also hit one of the par-3 holes in regulation off the tee, so I’m happy to see my long game is getting better (finally).
• Approach shots. I hit six greens in regulation. My main issue today was hitting the ball a bit thin (the fairways were very hard) and short.
• Wedges. My lob wedge really let me down today. I either hit the ball thin or fat. I can really only remember one really good approach wedge and one really good half swing with the lob wedge, otherwise I didn’t do well.
• Chipping. Lately, I’ve been mostly chipping with the lob wedge, and today I left a lot of chips well short. I then switched back to using the approach wedge, and tended to hit them a bit long. I did manage to get up and down three times, though.
• Sand shots. Hit into two bunkers today, both on the third hole. I hit out of the first bunker thin over the green into the second bunker, then hit that one thin as well, making a triple on that hole. Yeech!
• Putting. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my putting, left a lot of putts well short on the slow greens. I didn’t miss any putts inside 4 feet, so I was pretty happy with that. I missed all five birdie putts, unfortunately, and had a total of 37 putts.

My short game and putting let me down, but I was happy with the way I played today, and particularly happy with my new driver. I still need to figure out the best swingweight, but it’s definitely kicked the 525GRT out of my bag.

On Thursday, I teed it up at Stonebridge Ranch on the Hills course for a Shamble tournament with customers. For this event, we played a shamble (everyone tees off, the best drive is picked — everyone’s drive must be used at least once every nine holes) and you play your own ball into the hole. However, on the par-3 holes, we played a scramble. We played holes 1-9 and holes 19-27 on this 27-hole course. The weather was heavily clouded with brief moments of sunshine, with blustery winds in the 20-30 mph range.

I played quite well, although I had an inauspicious start (popped up my first drive), but otherwise played very well. We were scoring two balls per hole, and my score was used (or tied with a score used) on about half the holes. We ended up at +3 on this pretty difficult and long course (blue tees, rating and slope 71.7 / 124, 6571 yards). My drives were used a couple of times because of positioning (not length, two of my playing partners out-drove me by 20-40 yds). I wasn’t able to attend the awards ceremony, so I don’t know where our team finished overall.

Highlights: The tournament started with a golf exhibition put on by the Long Drivers of America. On two of the par-5 holes on the front, Brian Pavlet (3rd hole) and Art Sellinger (7th hole), teed off for us, leaving us with either a wedge or a 9-iron into the green on those two par-5 holes. Unfortunately, we did no better than birdie on the holes, not hitting our eagle putts. On the par-3 8th hole, there was a team filming the hole like it was a PGA tournament, complete with commentators and 3 cameras, one on the tee, one behind the green and one to the side of the green. Of our group, I was the only one to hit the green in regulation. I hit a 6-iron about 40 feet past the hole, leaving a downhill putt. My putting attempt was pathetically short, but we were still able to get two par putts to fall. We each received a DVD of the entire tournament’s play on that hole, though I’ve yet to view it.

Last Friday, I played 18 at Tierra Verde Golf Course in Arlington. I shot a 96 (47 on the front, 49 on the back). I hit five fairways and five greens in regulation, had 38 putts total (three 3-putts). My driving was pretty bad, having three penalties off the tee. I only got up and down once. Putting and poor driving off the tee were my major difficulties.

I practiced at Golden Bear Golf Center on Saturday, mainly working on putting, as well as the longer clubs. On Sunday, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. I spent most of practice on the longer clubs and felt I was making progress on them Before I ran out of balls, I was hitting long pitches at one of the nets, and felt a severe twinge in my back. I wasn’t able to finish practicing as the right side of my lower back was throbbing in pain. My muscle spasms were back, the same ones that kept me from playing for two months last year. This time, I went home, put on the TENS machine, took some Aleve and did some stretches. The next day I felt better, but I decided not to hit balls, even though the weather was beautiful.

Last Tuesday, I felt fine, so I went to Golden Bear to hit some balls. I carefully warmed up and stretched. However, I’d hit a few balls with the sand wedge and had moved on to the pitching wedge, and again, had a nasty twinge in my back. Muscle spasm was back. This time, after the TENS machine, Aleve and stretching, I didn’t feel better. In fact, today, I worked from home in an effort to give my back time to heal, as sitting in a chair is painful after a while.

I’ve been diligently stretching my lower back and doing stengthening exercises and I’m beginning to feel better. As I’m scheduled to play golf at Stonebridge on the Hills course next Thursday with customers (in conjunction with the Byron Nelson tournament), I’m not practicing until then. I’ll keep up my stretching and exercises, and if the golf gods permit, I’ll be ready to go by then.

In the meantime, I’m building another driver…

On Sunday, I played 18 on the Championship and Masters courses at Firewheel. We were scheduled to go off at 1:30PM, but there was heavy fog that morning and we ended up going off at 2PM. We finished up in near darkness just after 6PM. The weather was quite sunny and pleasant, even though the temperature was in the mid-50’s, as there almost no breeze.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit 6 fairways, not good, but in reality, it was even worse, as two of the shots were in the fairway by virtue of hitting trees and getting lucky bounces back into the fairway. With the driver, I was either hitting low hooks or high pushes. I did hit two of the par-3 holes in regulation, though, which is pretty good for me. My first two tee shots resulted in two penalties into hazards. Yeech!
• Approach shots. In general, my short iron or wedge approach shots were pretty good, as I hit five greens in regulation (two being off the tee on par-3 holes). My long irons tended to hook and my fairway shots on the par-5 holes were, to put it bluntly, pathetic. I had one penalty when I pushed a 4-hybrid shot into a creek.
• Chipping. My chipping was mixed, as I only got up and down twice all day.
• Sand shots. I hit only one greenside bunker, and I caught too much ball and hit just over the green. I hit one fairway bunker, which I promptly chunked into the next fairway bunker. The shot out of the second bunker was respectable, though.
• Putting. On, boy, did I suck! 43 putts, nine 3-putts. It was if I hadn’t practiced putting for a year. I hit exactly one putt that was over three feet. Mostly, I left putts well short. Truly my worst putting day ever.

OK, my practice time was very limited during January due to travel and bad weather, but I didn’t think my putting would be the part of my game that would let me down. I knew my driving would be bad as I’ve really only been working on irons and wedges lately. Thankfully, January tends to be the worst weather month in Texas, so I expect I will soon be back on the range.

Yes, it was bad, but I did have fun. Yes, I am crazy, thanks for asking. 😉

On Tuesday evening, I went to a corporate outing at Top Golf in Dallas. Margaritas and golf! 🙂

This afternoon, Jarvis and I played 18 at the Indian Creek Golf Club on the Creek Course. We went off at 12:30PM on a sunny, but blustery, day.

My score:

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit 6 fairways today. My driving was pretty good, being just off the fairway on most of the others. I had only two poor tee shots, both hooks: a 7-iron on the 8th hole into the water, and a 4-wood into the water on the 18th hole. I hit only one of the par-3 holes in regulation, the short par-3 14th hole, where I hit a pitching wedge. The 9th hole was playing as a par-3 today due to water damage on the fairway; I hit that hole in regulation as well.
• Approach shots. My approach shots were pretty good today, although I didn’t hit many greens in regulation. I had one penalty on an approach shot on the 13th hole, where I had hit a 4-hybrid into the right rough. My only shot was a punch shot between two trees; unfortunately, the shot didn’t “punch”, instead it hit a branch and went straight right into the water.
• Wedges. My wedges let me down today; I shanked two lob wedge shots, and left others short.
• Chipping. My chipping was decent, getting up and down four times.
• Bunker shots. I was in two bunkers today. One was a fairway bunker, and I was so close to the lip that the only shot I had was with a pitching wedge. The other one took two tries, but I did get up and down on the second one.
• Putting. I had 31 putts today (no 3-putts), so I was pretty happy with my putting. I didn’t miss any putts inside of about 6 feet. My best putt was from 15 ft for birdie on the first hole.

My front nine score of 40 was by far my best ever. Unfortunately, I followed up that excellent front nine with a poor back nine. Still, 90 is my best score ever, so I’m pretty happy.

This afternoon, we played a scramble tournament on the Creek Course at Indian Creek Golf Club. The afternoon was warm and sunny with a soft breeze. We went off at just after 1PM and finished just after 5PM. We went off the 5th hole with a shotgun start. Our score (the winning score was 58!):

My contributions to our score:

• Sixth hole. My drive was the best.
• Eight hole. Hit a 7-iron closest to the pin.
• Ninth hole. My drive was the best.
• Tenth hole. Hit a perfect drive down the middle, then hit a gap wedge to 18 feet from the pin.
• Twelfth hole. Hit a 7-iron to 30 feet from the pin.
• Thirteenth hole. Hit a perfect drive over the tree on the right edge of hazard into the middle of the fairway.
• Fifteenth hole. Hit a sand wedge approach shot to 25 feet from the pin.
• Seventeenth hole. Hit an 8-iron approach to 21 feet from the pin.
• Eighteenth hole. Hit a cut lob from deep rough to 20 feet and nailed the par putt.
• First hole. Hit a 20 foot birdie putt.
• Second hole. Hit an 8 foot birdie putt.

This tournament was perhaps the most fun day of golf I’ve had. The driver went straight most of the day, though my drives were only occasionally used as my playing partners were longer than me on most holes. My approach shots weren’t great, but I did manage to hit nearly half the holes in regulation, though my playing partners were closer on some of those holes. My putting was atrocious until the 18th hole, where I hit a 20 footer to save par. On the next hole, the first, I hit another 20 footer for birdie, and followed that up with an 8 footer for birdie on the second.

Yesterday, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center on a hot, muggy morning. I started off, as usual, in the short game area, working on chipping, especially long chips, using the pitching wedge. My chipping was pretty respectable, so I moved on to short and medium pitches using the lob wedge. My pitching was quite good, although not my best effort. I then spent some time in the bunker working on sand shots, both with the sand and lob wedges. I never really got it going, taking an inconsistent amount of sand.

I got a large bucket of balls and went to the range. I warmed up as usual, and it was clear from the start that my ball-striking on this day was not going to be good. I ran through the bag and maybe hit one or two good shots out of 20 or so balls. I then got out the iPod, put on Tour Tempo, but that seemed to make things worse. This was probably my worst practice in months, so I’ll spare you the details.

This morning, I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf. The day was warm, humid and heavily overcast. There was a breeze from the east. I warmed up by hitting medium and long pitches with the lob wedge at the target rings, even nailing one on the third pitch. My distance control was a little spotty, though my direction control was pretty good. I then went to the range, where I ran through the bag hitting every other club (I’d left the driver in the club). I hit a least one good shot with every club, so I was quite happy with my ball-striking. I finished up the small bucket by hitting a couple of shots with the sand wedge through 8-iron off a tee, simulating the holes I’d be playing. I then went to the putting green, where I found the greens very slow and bumpy. That would be the same on the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. Hit a 9-iron from 113 yds pin-high left of the green into some heavy rough. Chipped poorly to about 10 ft and missed the putt for par and tapped in for bogey.
• Second hole. Pulled a 7-iron left into the hazard, took a drop in the rough, chipped poorly again to about 15 ft, and three-putted for triple, lipping out a 2 foot putt.
• Third hole. Hit a pitching wedge from 108 yards high and short, hit a perfect chip to a foot and tapped in for par.
• Fourth hole. Hit a gap wedge from 94 yards left of the green into a grass bunker. Hit a chip thin and over the green, putted from the fringe to a foot and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit a gap wedge from 84 yards very high and short into a bowl around a drain. Hit a poor chip to 12 ft and two-putted for bogey.
• Sixth hole. Hit a pitching wedge from 101 yards 6 feet above the hole. Missed a tricky birdie putt and tapped in for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit a gap wedge from 94 yards to 21 feet. Blew the birdie putt 6 feet past the hole, but drained the par putt.
• Eighth hole. Hit a pitching wedge from 105 yards left of the green, where it hit a down-slope and bounced 2″ over the green. Putted from the fringe 8 feet past the hole, but nailed the par putt.
• Ninth hole. Hit a 9-iron very high and 36 feet below the hole, leaving a nasty double-breaking putt up hill. Missed the putt 2 ft wide, and missed the 2 footer again, tapping in for bogey. Yeech!!!!!!!

I was pretty disappointed with my game today, as the two of the three things I’ve been working hardest at (putting, chipping, pitching) were done poorly today. Aside from a near perfect chip on the third hole, my chipping was pathetic, and I also three-putted twice, missing from 2 feet. How the heck can I miss from two feet when I usually start my putting practice by hitting 10 in a row from 4 feet? WTF??? To top that off, I was hitting the ball short all day, de-lofting the clubs and hitting the ball very high. None of that was evident during warmup.

Sometimes, this game drives me crazy.