Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I went to Golden Bear Golf Center to practice. The weather was warm and sunny, with a soft breeze from the southwest.

Because of my poor wedge play yesterday, I started out in the short game area, working on short sand and lob wedges. I had pretty good touch today, but tended to be a bit left and long.

Next, I went to the range and started off hitting full 7-iron shots to get warmed up. I then got out the 5-iron and alternated those two clubs. Next up, I got out the 4-, 6- and 8-irons and worked on both full swing and low punch shots. I’m starting to develop a pretty good punch shot, but if I’m not swinging well, will tend to hit down too far and leave a big divot. In general, my iron shots were pretty good today.

Next up, I hit a number of full pitching and sand wedges, with a few lob wedges thrown in for good measure. I had some difficulty with pulling the shots, and had a few fat ones, until I got my tempo right.

Finally, I got out my 3-metal and driver, and that was a complete disaster. Either I was hitting low duck hooks, or I pushed the shots well right. Not a good shot to be found. I eventually realized the main problem was I was tired from all the balls I’d hit today. I’ll save the short game practice after full swing practice and avoid this difficulty in the future. As I was tired and the noon day sun was beating down hard, I skipped putting practice and got a milkshake at Diary Queen. 🙂

This morning, I practiced and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was warm and cloudy, threatening rain. I got a medium bucket and started working on my irons.

I warmed up with the 7-iron today, hitting 3/4 swings and a punch shot or two. I had pretty good rhythm early, but after I switched to alternating 9-, 7- and 5-irons, had a rough period where I hit the ball poorly. I then went back to practicing punch shots, and started to get a little tempo going.

All that vanished when I got the SasQuatch driver out. I hit the driver extremely poor today, low duck hooks, worm burners, high slices; anything but straight. Yeech!!! 🙁 By this time, I had only a few balls left, and it started to rain a little. I waited it out and then hit the remaining balls with my sand wedge toward a flag on the far left of the range. About half I hit fat, the rest I hit well. Pretty much the theme: half good, half bad.

I then putted some, trying to get good speed, and then hit the course. Since my swing changes haven’t fully kicked in, I don’t really have a good idea what my distances are anymore, other than I’m about 20 yds longer than I used to be. So I guessed… 😐

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots: Very poor off the tee today. On the first hole, hit a 10-iron into the bunker on the right (probably should have used the PW). On the second, hit a duck hook with the driver into the water. On the third, hit a PW clear over the green into the back hazard (probably should have hit SW). On the fourth, hit a draw with the driver well left of the fairway, hit a tree but ended at a spot that left a clean lie and clear shot at the hole. On the fifth, in a heavy down-pour, hit a PW thin over the hole into the water behind it. Hit the next PW perfectly to about 15 ft. On the sixth, hit a low draw with the driver that ended up two feet left of the fairway with a good lie in the rough. On the seventh, hit a high slicing 5-iron that hit a tree and kept the ball out of the hazard. On the eighth, hit a 4-iron hook that flew the hazard on the left and ended with a clear shot at the green. On the ninth hole, playing at 160 yds, hit a 4-iron that sliced high into the hazard; hooked the second tee shot onto the cart path. There it is: nine tee shots, 4 penalties. OUCH!
• Approach shots. I had a very good day with approach shots on the par 4 holes, probably my best day ever. On the second, after a drop from the hazard, hit a 5-iron that dropped just short of the green when it hit the only branch that could be hit (I’m really, really good at that….). On the fourth, hit a high, perfect 5-iron fade, perhaps my best 5-iron shot ever, from 160 yds out of the rough to 15 ft from the flag. On the sixth, hit a perfect 8-iron fade from about 110 yds high over a tree to 7 ft. On the eighth, hit an 8-iron punch shot beneath the trees to 20 ft (ball rolled up against the fringe of the green. I was still grinning when I got home after playing the par 4 holes so well.
• Wedge shots. Yeech! Hit two PWs off the tees into hazards. On the first, didn’t get out of the bunker with the first SW, hit the second one thin over the green. Hit a decent SW pitch from there. Hit a decent SW pitch onto the green on the second, but the ball rolled just off the green. Hit a decent SW off a bare lie on the 7th that rolled onto the fringe. Hit a decent SW after relief from the cart path on the ninth.
• Chipping. Had only one chip today, on the third hole after a drop from the hazard, rolled over the green and I putted from there.
• Putting. I had birdie putts on three of the four par-4 holes, but missed them all from inside 20 ft, but made all the par putts. Had a three-putt from 15 ft in the heavy rain on the fifth hole.

Well, despite a mediocre score, I was still proud of the way I played the par-4 holes, even if I did stink up the par-3s.

Augusta, GA — In an stunning, exclusive report from Augusta National, home to The Masters, Joey’s Golf Bag reports that Tiger Woods today shot a 54 during a practice session, achieving golf nirvana, and will retire permanently from golf. Said the whiskered one, “Having shot 54 at Augusta, I have nothing left to achieve in golf, so I am putting away my clubs forever.” He is later reported to have said he’ll be running for president in 2008 on the Libertarian Party ticket, saying “I’ll be the youngest president in history”.

His amazing score card: