Joey's Golf Bag

This afternoon, after work, Jarvis and I played nine at the North Texas Golf Center. The weather was cool but sunny, with a variable breeze from the north. We both hit some balls, hit some chips and pitches, but ran out of time to putt. That would cost me…

I hit only 3 greens in regulation all day. My only great shot of the day was my tee shot on the 8th hole, where I hit a pitching wedge to 6 ft and hit the putt for my only birdie of the day. The birdie brought me back to even with Jarvis, and we both played the ninth hole poorly. I hit an 8-iron over the green and left myself with a difficult chip; Jarvis pushed his shot pin-high, but right of the green. His pitch went long and left. We both missed our par putts, and went to the first hole to play sudden death. I chunked a 9-iron well short, left a chip just on the fringe, and missed my par putt. Jarvis hit his shot long into a puddle behind the green, got relief from casual water, hit a chip onto the green and made his putt. Mine missed and Jarvis won 1 up.

This afternoon, I played a scramble tournament at Ridgeview Ranch in Plano. The weather was heavily clouded, threatening rain, with a strong, shifty wind. We managed to get through 16 holes before the rain came.

Our score was 35, 1 under, on the front nine, and either 1 under or 2 under on the back; as it was raining hard, I didn’t stick around for the final score. It was a strange tournament, as two of our playing partners had conference calls intervene after the second hole, and they didn’t rejoin us until the 14th hole. My other partner and I played two balls each while the other two were absent.

My contribution to the score:

• First hole: My drive was the best, center of the fairway.
• Second hole: Hit the green with a 9-iron approach shot.
• Fifth hole: Hit both of my 9-iron tee shots to 15 ft.
• Sixth hole: On the par-5 hole, hit a 6-iron second shot just over the green into the fringe; we got up and down for birdie from there.
• Seventh hole: From off the green, hit a birdie chip to 2 ft; tapped in for par.
• Ninth hole: Hit a 45 ft birdie putt to 8 inches, and tapped in for par.
• Tenth hole: The entire hole was played with my ball, for birdie. Hit a good drive, then hit a lob wedge from 85 yds to 7 ft, and nailed the birdie putt. This was my best played hole this year.
• Eleventh hole: Good drive into the center of the fairway.
• Fourteenth hole: Hit 4 ft breaking putt to save par.
• Fifteenth hole: Two putted for par from 20 ft.
• Seventeen hole: Hit a chip to 4 ft to save par.
• Eighteenth hole: Hit 4 ft putt for birdie, after a spectacular drive and approach shot from one of my partners. What was most remarkable about this birdie is that it was made in a torrential downpour.

Themes:

• Driving. Hit about half the fairways today. My misses were, as usual, hooks. That damn reverse pivot…
• Fairway woods. I hit a couple of good fairway woods today, but my playing partners’ shots were better, so none counted.
• Approach shots. Pretty good today. Flew some greens, so my distance is a bit longer than I estimated.
• Wedges. Other than the lob wedge to 7 ft on the 10th hole, didn’t hit any really good wedge shots. Fault was mainly fat, but also hit some thin over the greens.
• Bunkers. I didn’t hit out of any bunkers, as my playing partners hit better shots on the two or three holes where I hit into bunkers.
• Putting. I was pretty pleased with my putting today, really only had two bad putts all day, and both of those were very difficult down-hill putts that I hit long. I only left one putt short.

A fun day of golf today; really enjoyed myself, hit some good shots (and a few stinkers), and putted well.

Update: My team won with a score of two under par. 🙂

This morning, I practiced and played nine at the North Texas Golf Center. The day was warm and heavily clouded with a breeze from the south.

I bought a medium bucket and proceeded to hit short wedge shots at the sand flags at the end of the range. My distance control was poor, due mostly to lack of practice, but direction was good without any tendencies. Next, I went to the range and practiced my Jim Flick reverse pivot correction drill using the 8-iron. Again, I had a lot of difficulty with reverse pivot; whenever I let my guard down, it reappears. I then hit short iron shots at the left white flag, tending to hit pushes. Distances were normal today.

Next, I got out the driver and worked on hitting drives at the right yellow flag, about 230 yds away. I hit a lot of pushes with the driver, but had little sidespin on most shots. I also hit a few shots with the 5-wood and hybrid, but didn’t hit these clubs well today.

I then spent some time figuring out distances with my wedges, and have found I hit the 52° gap wedge about 95 yd carry, and the 56° sand wedge about 85 yds. That’s pretty consistent with my Callaway wedges that have different lofts of 49° and 54°. I then worked on hitting low punch shots with the pitching wedge and 8-iron. With the final balls, I went through the bag trying to hit a good shot with each club, and succeeded, with the exception of the hybrid and the 4-iron.

I visited the putting green for a few minutes, working on speed. The putting green was very slow and I had some difficulty getting the speed up on my putts. I don’t really like putting on slow greens and the green was very slow today.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Hole by hole:

• First hole. Hit a worm burner 9-iron well short of the green. Attempted a gap wedge chip, but hit it thin and 45 ft short of the hole, below the ridge that runs across the green. Hit my putt 12 ft long, missed the return putt and tapped in for double.
• Second hole. Pushed a 9-iron well right of the hole pin-high. Chipped with pitching wedge to 15 ft, missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Third hole. Hooked a 9-iron (that reverse pivot came back) pin-high left of the bunker. Had a difficult down-hill lie, hit a lob wedge pitch 20 ft from the hole, missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fourth hole. Pulled a pitching wedge into a grass bunker pin-high, hit a lob wedge chip from an up-hill lie to 12 ft, just missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit a sand wedge 15 ft over the hole, just missed birdie putt and tapped in for par.
• Sixth hole. Hit a pitching wedge right of the green, chipped with the gap wedge to 20 ft, just missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Seventh hole. Hit a gap wedge long over the green, chipped with an 8-iron to 20 ft, missed par putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Eighth hole. Hit a sand wedge just right of the green, hit a beautiful chip with the pitching wedge to 6 inches and tapped in for par and my only up-and-down of the day.
• Ninth hole. Attempted to hit an 8-iron punch shot, but pushed it well right onto the 7th hole tee. Hit a lob wedge to 21 ft but left with a putt breaking 4 feet left. Hit the putt too long, leaving a 4 ft breaking putt, which I missed and tapped in for double.

Today wasn’t my best playing, obviously, but I needed to work on my short game, and I got in that work. I plan to spend the rest of the week doing exactly this same sort of practice, with more chipping practice. My putting speed was good except for the first and ninth holes and I was just unlucky that none of my par or birdie putts fell into the hole. Still, I felt a little better about my short game given my pathetic short-game performance in Cancun.

Last Wednesday, on a warm, sunny morning, I played 18 holes on the Jack Nicklaus course at The Golf Club at Moon Palace in Cancun, Mexico. The course has three 9-hole courses, named Dunes, Jungle and Lakes. I played Dunes and Jungle. The courses I played were meticulously maintained, the greens nearly perfect and fast. The course runs through the thick jungle south of Cancun. The course is quite pricey but is all-inclusive (green fees, cart, drinks, lunch and transportation to/from Cancun hotels). Surprisingly, range balls are $3 for about 25 balls.

I had a 7:45AM tee time, but got reassigned to an earlier group and went off about 7:30AM, without any opportunity to hit some balls. Because of my last minute swing changes to correct my reverse pivot, I struck the ball poorly all day. The only bright spots were my putting (only one 3-putt) and my bunker play on the Dunes course (conversely, my bunker play on the Jungle course was quite poor). I hit less than half the fairways and managed not a single up and down anywhere on the courses. I’ll not post the score, as it was pretty pathetic. We waited to tee off on only one or two holes and finished the round in about 4 hours, which is pretty respectable for a resort course.

A fun day of golf (despite my poor play) on a very challenging golf course. This is the second hardest golf course I’ve played, only the Pete Dye Course at Stonebridge Ranch was harder.

Yesterday, I played 18 on course 1 at Sherrill Park in Richardson. It might have been my all-time worst golfing performance. I’m blaming the cold, though sunny, weather with a brisk 20-30 mph wind. We went off at 1:12PM and finished about 4 hours later, which is pretty fast for golf in Dallas on a Sunday afternoon.

In reality, I can’t blame the wind for all my troubles, as I had every swing fault known to man. I hit fat wedges, I hit thin wedges, I hit hooks, I hit pushes, I hit slices, I hit chunks. A veritable cornucopia of swing faults. Things were so bad at one point, that on one particular par-5, I hit 4 trees (not counting ricochets after the first tree was impacted). I’ll not even get into my putting, where I set a new personal record for futility.

I hit only one club well all day, that being my Tom Wishon Golf 915HL 5-wood, which I hit only three times, two of which were the best shots I’ve ever hit with the club. The best of the bunch was the tee shot on the short par-4 10th hole, where I launched the perfect shot right over the large oak tree which guards the fairway into the center of the fairway, leaving me exactly 100 yds to the center of the green (I know this because my ball was about a foot from the red platter in the fairway).

My signature hole, the 18th: I hit a perfect 3-hybrid shot down the right side of the fairway just in front of the creek, leaving an 8-iron to the hole. I then proceeded to hit the ball thin right at the pin, which I nailed solidly. The ball bounced onto the back fringe, where I promptly mangled the hole by 3-putting for bogey. 😥

I’ll not post the score, as it was well north of 100.

Crappy golf, but for some unfathomable reason, I still want to play more golf.

A sign of madness, that’s for sure.

This afternoon, on a fine, sunny day, I finally managed to get out on the course and play golf. We went off at about 3PM, and managed to get in 14 complete holes before darkness fell at the Indian Creek Golf Club on the easier Lakes course. We played 3-way match play today, so total score wasn’t important. I won 8 of the 14 holes we finished. All this despite a lack of practice and particularly poor putting.

The good:

• Short irons, except for one hole, were pretty good. I hit a 9-iron to 20 ft on the par-3 fourth hole and hit another 9-iron to 15 ft on the 13th hole.
• Sand shots. I was in the bunker only once today, and I got out cleanly, leaving about 15 ft.

The mixed:

• Drove the ball long today, though not particularly straight. I’m probably 30 yds longer this year than last. My problem shot today was hooking the ball.
• Wedges. Aside from one wedge shot hit badly fat and other hit badly thin, I hit the wedges pretty well today.

The ugly:

• Mid-irons. I hit only one good mid-iron today, a recovery shot from underneath a tree. The rest were either hit thin or pushed wide right.
• Fairway / hybrids. I only hit these clubs once each, and both were hit thin, but straight.
• Putting. Pathetic. I had 5 three-putts in 14 holes. What’s worse is that two the 3-putts were on greens I hit in regulation. I hit only one putt outside of 5 ft, and that was a 15 footer for birdie on the 13th hole.
• Penalties. I hit two balls in the water, one a hooked driver off the tee, the other a hooked mid-iron. I also lost a ball off the tee when I hooked it deep into the woods on the par-5 11th hole.

Pretty poor day playing, but I really had fun and never got frustrated despite my poor play.

Today, I practiced and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The day was cool and sunny, with a blustery wind blowing at times to 25 mph.

I warmed up with a small bucket of balls, starting out hitting pitching wedges into the teeth of the wind. I then moved on to hitting the longer irons, moved on to the hybrid, 5-wood and driver. I hit the ball pretty respectably today, my main miss being a pull. The hook monster stayed away for the most part, although I did hit a towering hook into the left net with a 5-iron. My ball flight was very high today, even with the 4-iron. I know when I’m hitting the 4-iron well, my swing is working. So, as I chipped and putted prior to my round, I felt pretty good about my swing, for a change.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

• First hole. Pushed a pitching wedge right of the green. Chipped to 10 ft and two-putt for bogey.
• Second hole. Chunked a 5-iron into the right hazard. Took a penalty drop and hit a 7-iron short of the green. Hit a lob wedge about 8 ft past the hole and two-putt for double.
• Third hole. Hit a lob wedge just onto the green and it rolled back just onto the fringe. Putt from the fringe to 3 ft and tapped in for par.
• Fourth hole. Hit a driver just into the left rough and hit an 8-iron into the wind short of the green. Hit a lob wedge thin over the green. Chipped with the 8-iron, hit the pin and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Flew the green with a sand wedge. Chipped with a lob wedge to 8 ft and two-putt for bogey.
• Sixth hole. Hit a perfect drive into the center of the fairway, leaving 84 yds to the pin. Chunked the sand wedge just into the hazard, but fortunately, playable. Hit a lob wedge thin, bounced up on the green, nailed the pin and dropped in for birdie. Sometimes, you just get lucky!
• Seventh hole. Hit a perfect 5-iron 12 feet right of the hole, missed the putt and tapped in for par.
• Eighth hole. Pushed a 4-iron just into the right rough, leaving an easy 8-iron to the green. Hit the 8-iron pin-high but pushed just into the right bunker. Hit the bunker shot off wet sand 20 ft past the hole and two-putt for bogey.
• Ninth hole. Pushed a 5-iron right of the hole, hanging just above the cart path, leaving me a very tough lie. Hit a lob wedge too softly, leaving it short of the green, then chunked the chip. Putted from the fringe and tapped in for double.

Ironically, even though my ball-striking was mixed, I still had my best score ever on this course. My putting was pretty good today, no three putts, but no long putts made either. I feel like I’ve finally turned the corner and am starting to play up to my potential.

I still claim the title of Salieri of Golf, though.

Today, I played nine at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The day was cool but sunny, with a slight breeze. I hit a small bucket of balls to warm up, with mixed results. I hit the longer clubs pretty poorly today, so I left them in the bag for the most part. In contrast to the last two practices, I hit the wedges and short irons pretty well, barely any fat. The mid and long irons I tended to draw or hook. I’d decided today to chip using the 8-iron, so when I went to the putting green to practice, I chipped in my first ball directly into the cup, and the next one went over the hole about 3 ft by the cup. My distance control was spotty on the green; I’m still getting used to the new grip and stance.

On the first hole, I pushed a well-struck pitching wedge well right barely into the pond. I took a drop from the 2nd tee, hit a lob wedge to 12 ft and two-putt from there for double.

On the second, I hit a worm burner 5-iron just in front of the fairway bunker, then pushed a 9-iron into the right bunker. I hit a pretty decent sand shot 10 ft past the hole and left the par putt inches short and tapped in for bogey.

On the third, I hit a good lob wedge directly over the flag long by about 20 ft and nailed the double breaking putt for my first birdie in months. I was one happy camper. 😎

On the fourth, feeling good about my swing, I got out the hybrid and pushed a well-struck ball directly into the hazard. I took a drop, hit a good pitching wedge so my next shot would have a clear go at the flag. I got a bad bounce and the ball ended up in the left rough. I pushed a sand wedge into the right bunker, hit it a bit thin over the green, chipped over the green, then chipped and two putted from about 6 ft for a baseball team. AAAAIIIEEEYYYY!!! 😳

On the fifth, pushed a lob wedge short and right, chunked a lob wedge pitch, chipped to 3 ft and two-putt for a double.

On the sixth, decided to try the hybrid again, hit a fade under the trees to the right. I was just behind a tree, so I had to hit a layup. Chunked it. Decided to layup with the sand wedge in front of the green from there, hit a branch and ended up in the left rough. I hit a good pitching wedge to 12 ft and two-putt for double.

On the seventh, hit another worm-burner 5-iron well short, chunked a lob wedge short, chunked another just onto the green and then hit a perfect putt from 20 ft for bogey.

On the eight, pulled a well-struck 5-iron into the creek, took a drop, pushed a sand wedge right into the bunker, hit it thin over the green, hit a short lob wedge onto the green from a downhill lie with a tree blocking my swing path, and then two-putt from 30 ft for triple.

On the ninth, hooked a 5-iron into the driving range net, chunked a lob wedge onto the fringe, putted from the fringe to about 3 feet and hit the putt for bogey.

My short game really let me down today, leaving everything short, unless I managed to hit the ball thin over the greens. I had good speed control on my longer putts, hitting two from about 20 ft, but blew too many short ones. I got up and down only twice today, and both were for bogey.

I remain the Salieri of Golf.

This afternoon, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice and play nine. The weather was quite chilly but sunny, with only a slight breeze.

I warmed up hitting sand wedge shots, then worked my way through the bag, hitting a couple of balls with each club. When I got to the 6-iron, my swing started getting out of whack, so I got out the iPod and hit a few shots with Tour Tempo with the 8-iron. That got my swing back, mostly, but still couldn’t hit the longer clubs well. I finished up hitting pitching wedges, in anticipation of the first hole.

On the first hole, I hit the pitching wedge a bit thin and right; the ball ended up in the back fringe. I chipped short and two putt for bogey. On the second, I hit a 5-iron monster hook into (and nearly over) the range pond. I took a drop, pushed a 9-iron into the woods to the right of the hole. I punched out short of the hole, chipped over the green, chipped long, and nailed a 21 foot putt for triple.

On the third, hit a lob wedge to 21 ft and two putt for par. On the fourth, took another triple after hooking the ball into one of those ball-eating grass bushes, took an unplayable, hit a 6-iron nearly into the right hazard, then hit the ball thin over the green, chipped poorly and 2-putted. On the fifth, hit a sand wedge to 18 ft and two-putt for par.

On the sixth, hit a 7-iron to the right edge of the fairway, then hit a perfect layup sand wedge, but chunked a lob wedge just short of the green, chipped into the bunker, played out away from the hole and 3-putt for a lovely snowman. On the seventh, over-clubbed and hit a 6-iron well over the green. After numerous poor shots, carded triple. On the eighth, got out the driver and attempted to drive the green. Hit a very long drive, but pushed right and ran into the hazard beyond the bridge. Took a drop, went over the green with a sand wedge, hit a nice lob wedge to 10 ft and mis-read the putt and tapped in for bogey. On the ninth, over-clubbed again and hit an 8-iron over the green and down a steep bank. Hit a pretty good lob wedge to 12 ft and left the par putt just short and tapped in for bogey.

It’s madness that I play this game at all.

It’s been a painful two weeks since my last post. I’ve practiced a number of times, and my swing was getting progressively worse, not better, over three practices. Then, in desperation, yesterday, I got out my iPod with Tour Tempo on it, set it to 27/9 and hit balls. Slowly, my swing came back and I started hitting the ball decently again. So, this morning, I went to Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville and set out to continue training with Tour Tempo. Happily, my swing continued to improve. In fact, I felt good enough to go play nine. So, after having a good putting practice session, I paid for nine and played.

Disaster struck on the very first hole, hitting the ball thin directly into the water, skipping several times and nearly getting onto the grass. But, alas, no luck, ball stayed wet. Took a drop and hit a wedge just over the green, chipped close and tapped in for a cool double.

Next hole, par 4, I hit a 6-iron draw, just clearing the fairway bunker on the edge of the fairway. I hit a sand wedge a bit fat just short of the green, chipped poorly and two-putted for bogey.

Next hole, par 3, I pushed a high lob wedge shot well right. The ball hit a log just outside the hazard, bounced high into the rough over the green. I hit a poor chip (again) short and two-putt for bogey.

Fourth hole, par 4, was just plain ugly. I pushed my tee shot with the 3i hybrid into the hazard. I took a drop and then hit a lay-up 8-iron, hoping to get a clear shot at the green that is well-protected by an overhanging tree. I was left with a sand wedge to the flag, but that required clearing an overhanging tree. I am the acknowledged master of hitting the only branch that can be hit; and I didn’t disappoint: clipped that branch and landed in the rough just to the right of the green, narrowly missing the bunker. Naturally, I hit the ball thin right over the green, then hit a lob wedge pitch short and two putt for a nasty triple.

Fifth hole, par 3. I hit a pitching wedge hook right of the green, chipped short to 12 feet, and then proceeded to three-putt for double.

Sixth hole, par 4. I hit a 4-iron off the tee, hooking it into the left rough ton to a hump with a difficult uphill lie. I hit a good 8-iron short just short of the green, chipped short (again!!!) and just missed the par putt by an inch, and tapped in for bogey.

Seventh hole, par 3. I hit a 5-iron draw left of the green, chipped short (see a pattern yet?), hit a putt to 6 inches and tapped in for bogey.

Eighth hole, par 4. Normally, I get out the driver and try to drive the green, but that club has not been playing nice, so I decide to play safe and hit a 5-iron off the tee. There’s an overhanging branch over the fairway that I’ve hit numerous times with a 6-iron, so I figure a 5-iron won’t go high enough to hit it. Riiiiiiiiiight! Bonk!!! OK, mulligan time. Move the ball back in my stance a little. You know what’s gonna happen… Bonk!!! The only freakin’ branch that can be hit, and I’ve nailed it twice… Only this time, who knows where the ball went… Why is it I’m perfectly consistent when I don’t want to be????

I’ll save you the disasters that followed on the green at the eighth and ninth holes, as the point has been made.

I’m the Salieri of Golf.