Joey's Golf Bag

Tonight, I went to Golden Bear Golf Center to practice. The weather was surprisingly cool tonight, with a soft breeze from the north. As usual, I warmed up with 7-irons, adding 9- and 5-irons as I warmed up. I started off hitting the ball cleanly, but short, but once I warmed up my distances were longer than usual, aided by the wind behind me. I spent the first third of the balls hitting pitching wedge, 9-, 7- and 5-irons, and hitting them all pretty well. Few hooks; the main issue tonight was pulling the ball a little.

Next up were the longer clubs. I alternated the driver, 3-metal and hybrid. I struck the hybrid very well tonight, hitting it as long, and higher, than the 3-metal. I’m finally starting to hit the 3-metal pretty well; my main issue is getting the ball in the air enough with the 3-metal. The driver I hit pretty well tonight, very few hooks, mostly straight with an occasional high slice thrown in. If anything, the longer clubs main fault was pushes. Mostly the ball ended up in the fairway. This was the best long club practice I’ve had since I was injured in early July.

I spent a few balls on wedge practice, practicing hitting all four wedges to the red flag. With the pitching wedge, that’s about a 25-35% swing, a 50-60% swing with the sand wedge, a 75-85% swing with the lob wedge, and not really getting to the flag with the 64 degree wedge; not really an issue as the flag was about 80 yds away tonight, and my carry distance with that club is about 60 yds.

My next drill was the pin-hunting drill, which started out poorly, chunking a few short and mid-irons. I cleaned it up, though, striking the ball pretty well to finish up the drill.

I had a few balls left, so I hit the driver, 3-metal and hybrid until I ran out of balls and time. I hit the driver and hybrid well, the 3-metal was straight but low ball flight.

This was one of my best practices in quite a while; I was very pleased as I’m seeing definite progress again. I’ll soon feel good enough to get out my new driver, 3- and 5-metal Toski clubs I built a few weeks ago that I think will improve my distance and accuracy.

This morning i went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to practice. The weather was warm with a breeze from the west.

As usual, I started off alternating 9-, 7- and 5-iron shots to warm up and get my swing in tempo. I started off very well today, hitting the ball straight but a little shorter than usual. Next up, I added in the longer clubs, and spent a lot of balls hitting the hybrid, 3-metal and driver. I hit these clubs pretty good today, few hooks, but did manage a few slices with the driver.

The last drill was pin hunting, where I hit the proper club for the distance at a pin on the range. The practice didn’t go very well today; I guess I had worn myself out. I did hit the longer clubs better than the short ones; I tended to hook the shorter clubs, which I hadn’t done all day.

Next up, I hit a few balls, poorly, out of the sand and then went to the putting green and did a full drill for ball speed. I worked very hard on getting the right speed for the entire practice, but had some difficulty once the distance got beyond about 18 ft. My last drill was chipping with the pitching wedge, which I did mostly pretty well today, except for the occasional bladed shot.

Not one of my better practices, but at least the long clubs continue to improve. I need to figure out how to correct for hooks more quickly and spend less time hitting bad hooks.

This afternoon, in stifling Texas heat and humidity, I played a 4-man scramble charity tournament at the Pete Dye course at Stonebridge Ranch. We shot +2 from the blue tees. (The winners shot -14). 😮 The course is long, 6829 yds, rating 73.5 and slope 137, from the blues. This is the toughest course I’ve ever played. The course was set up with extremely challenging pin positions. The greens were the fastest I’d ever played, though very soft from frequent watering needed to keep bentgrass alive during this heat wave. The condition of the course was immaculate, although a few greens had been punched, probably last week.

We started off with a shotgun start on the 4th hole, which we promptly bogeyed. We had 3 bogeys and 1 birdie; the rest were pars. My contribution to the team was 3 or 4 excellent tee shots using the Sasquatch driver, a 191 yd tee shot using the Halo hybrid pin-high, but just off the green on a par 3, a couple of very good mid-iron approach shots, a couple of nice lob wedges from around the green and a few long par putts. I also had quite a few stinkers thrown in as well, including three balls dumped in the water and another lost in the deep grass.

Very fun day, although we did get run off the course by a thunderstorm just as we reached the last hole of the day. At that point, the rain felt very refreshing.

A friend wanted to try out my Big Bertha 2004 irons, so I went to Golden Bear Golf Center and hit a few balls while he tried them out. The weather was very warm, without a trace of a breeze, until a storm passed nearby, giving us a cooling blast of 30 mph wind for a few minutes.

I started out hitting 8-iron shots to warm up, concentrating on smooth, effortless swings. I hit the ball pretty well tonight, much better than on the weekend. I then moved to alternating 4-, 5-, 6- and 8-irons, hitting them all pretty well except for the 4-iron. I hit some beautiful shots with all but the 4-iron. Next up was the driver. I found that if I concentrated on smooth, even tempo, I hit the ball pretty well. Trying to crush the ball didn’t work at all, usually a snap hook. So, smooth, even tempo, worked well, with good distance as well.

I also hit some hybrid and 3-metal shots, but didn’t hit those clubs very good at all. Finally, a few swings with the pitching wedge and it was time to go home.

I was very pleased with my practice tonight, as I’m playing in a charity tournament tomorrow (4-man scramble), so wanted to be able to contribute some good ball striking tomorrow. We’re playing at Stonebridge Ranch on the Dye course.

Seven penalties. Nine holes. This must be a record for futility.

I played this morning in the brutally hot Texas sun at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. I’ve been struggling with my swing of late, and thought I had it mostly worked out yesterday. I hit the ball pretty well warming up, especially at the end where I hit the ball perfectly straight. On the course, well, it was ugly.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the first hole, hit a sand wedge just short of the green (this is the first time I’ve hit a sand wedge on this hole). On the second, chunked a six iron down in the cart path, and then took a bad bounce into the hazard on the right; took a drop (1st penalty). On the third, hooked a sand wedge long and left, almost to the hazard. On the fourth, hooked a driver just into the left rough. On the fifth, hit the green 36 ft from the hole (just about the longest putt possible on that green). On the sixth, pushed a booming drive right into the hazard (penalty #4). On the seventh, toe-hit a six iron just short of the hole. On the eighth, I attempted (again) to drive the green, but pushed it just right into a tree and the ball luckily landed in the fairway. On the ninth, shanked a 9-iron and lost the ball (penalty #6); hooked the next into the driving range net and had to take a drop (penalty #7). Quite possibly the worst driving day in history.
• Approach shots. On the second, from a drop, hit a pitching wedge into the fairway, leaving 80 yds to the pin; next shot, hit a thin, hooking sand wedge into the hazard (penalty #2). On the fourth, hit a thin 9-iron into the hazard (penalty #3). On the sixth, from a drop, hit a pitching wedge into the fairway; hit a sand wedge high over a tree but it clipped a branch and dropped into the right bunker. On the eighth, from the fairway, chunked a 9-iron into the hazard (penalty #5); hit the second long and left of the hole. Quite possibly the worst approach shots in history.
• Short wedges. Pretty good around the green. On the second, after the drop, hit a lob wedge to about 12 ft. On the third, hit a lob wedge to about 9 ft while standing on a log. On the fourth, hit a lob wedge to about 15 ft. On the seventh, hit a lob wedge to 12 ft. On the eighth, hit a lob wedge to 8 ft. On the ninth, left a lob wedge on the fringe 12 ft from the hole. I would have liked the ball closer, but at least the lob wedge around the green was respectable, only missing the green once.
• Sand shots. I had only one sand shot, on the sixth, which I hit about 8 ft past the hole. Two putted from there.
• Chipping. No chipping today; hit putts from the fringe to a foot on the first hole (tapped in for par). Putted in from the fringe on the ninth.
• Putting. With the exception of the 3rd and 5th holes (bad three putts), had a good day putting, hitting a 12 footer for par on the seventh and holeing one from the fringe on the ninth. Total of 16 putts.

Today was an enormously frustrating day. I thought I had my swing back in sync after my July fall, but obviously not.

My last practice was Wednesday at the Golden Bear Golf Center, and it was probably my worst practice in months. Ball striking was poor, my misses were hooks or pulls and the long clubs didn’t work at all. Eventually, I gave up and went home.

This morning, I was determined to figure out my difficulties and get back into rhythm. I started off hitting 9-iron shots pretty well, though slightly pulled. I worked my way down to the 5-iron, hitting the ball pretty well. However, things went south from there. All my shots were pulls or hooks again. I tried everything to get my swing back, to no avail. Finally, I concentrated on swinging inside-to-out, and suddenly, I’m striking the ball perfectly again.

Golf must be the most frustrating game ever invented… 😡

Happy that I worked out my swing problem, my next problem that needed fixing was my tendency to leave putts short. I saw a drill during the PGA Championship yesterday and decided to give it a shot this morning. The drill is simple: drop balls in a line away from the hole one step apart and hit the balls from the closest out. I did the drill several times and it definitely helped me get my distance control back. I also modified the drill by taking several steps from the hole and then dropping a ball at each step. I did this until the last ball (of four) was 36 ft from the hole. If anything, I had a bit of a tendency to hit the balls a little bit longer than optimal past the hole (Pelz says 17″; I tended to have the balls end about 24″ past the hole). The drill worked very well. I’ve always been pretty good at direction, if I can get my speed right, I’ll be a lot better on the green.

Although the first part of my practice today was frustrating, I was very happy with the results: better ball striking and better speed control on the green. All in all, a pretty good practice.

I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to hit balls this morning. The weather was warm and sunny, with a 1-club breeze in my face. I had only a limited time to practice this morning, so I focussed only on the long clubs.

I warmed up with the 8- and 6-irons, alternating them and also an occasional pitching wedge just to keep my tempo in good shape. I started out hitting the ball well, had a stage where I hit a lot of balls fat, and then got back in the groove.

Next up, I got out the driver, and alternated hitting the driver and 8-irons, then changing the irons to longer clubs as I went. At first, the drives were straight but short, then they were long, but push fades, then they were long, but high hooks.

I also got out the hybrid and 3-metal. I hit mostly draws or hooks with the clubs, but at least the balls were well-struck.

My last drive was a thing of beauty. I used a neutral grip and let it rip; the ball was high and straight and was still going up when it cleared the blue flag at 175 yds; I would estimate about a 220-230 yd carry, which is very good for me.

My long clubs are starting to get back in the groove, so it’s now time to start taking lessons again. I’m starting to feel like I’m close to getting into good form, and I will probably now spend more time on the short game and less on the long.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve built a new driver and fairway metals to match my improved swing speed.

For the driver, I used a 10.5° Toski Target T6 Titanium/Composite Forged Driver Head with a Grafalloy Prolaunch 65 stiff graphite shaft, and a Golf Pride New Decade Multicompound midsize grip. The fairway metals are 15° and 18° Toski Target T6 Fairway Wood Heads, UST Proforce V2 stiff graphite shafts, and Golf Pride New Decade Multicompound midsize grips. To make hitting these clubs easier, I sized them 1″ shorter than standard, 44″ for the driver, 42.5″ for the 15°, and 41.5″ for the 18°. I swingweighted the clubs to D-0, D-1 and D-2, respectively.

Some photos:

In a few weeks, after I get my swing back in shape with the long clubs, I’ll take them out and hits some balls.

This morning, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice and play nine. The day was heavily overcast, hot and humid. I started off warming up by hitting 7- and 9-irons, and then proceeded to hit most of the clubs in the bag. I tended to hit the short irons and wedges fat, and fought that flaw all day. I hit the driver pretty well during practice, but the 3-metal and hybrid were not good. I chipped and putted for about 20 minutes and then hit the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the first, hit a pitching wedge over the green. On the second, hit a near perfect 7-iron into the fairway, but it bad-bounced into a bare lie near the left hazard line. On the third, hit a pulled sand wedge into the bunker on the left of the hole. On the fourth, hit a perfect, 233 yd drive into the fairway, leaving a mere 78 yds to the pin. On the fifth, hit a sand wedge fat just short of the green. On the sixth, hit a 223 yd draw just in the left rough. On the seventh, hooked a 6-iron and lost the ball. My provisional drew left of the green, but was pin-high. On the eigth, skyed a tee shot into the center of the fairway (I was attempting to drive the hole). On the ninth, pushed a 9-iron into the right bunker.
• Approach shots. On the second hole, attempted to hit a slice around a tree, but hit it fat well short of the green and chunked a pitch shot into the right bunker. On the fourth, pushed a sand wedge that hit the overhanging tree and bounced just short of the green. On the sixth, hit a pitching wedge thin that bounced 25 ft past the hole, but held the green for my only green in regulation. On the eighth, hit a seemingly perfect 5-iron directly at the flag, but it flew the green (I overclubbed).
• Wedges. Wedges hurt my game today, hitting some fat and some long.
• Chipping. Chipping was mediocre at best today; closest to the hole was about 6 ft.
• Sand shots. Every bunker had wet sand, and I’ve only practiced in wets sand once before, so I didn’t expect to do well out of the sand today. On the second hole, after a poor wedge shot, I hit the sand shot well over the green into deep rough. I then flew the green back into the same bunker, but that shot was better and ended up on the green. On the third, the ball buried deep in the wet sand and my shot didn’t leave the bunker. The second shot was on the green. On the seventh, I hit a sand wedge long into the sand. My sand shot was left only 12 ft from the pin, but I three-putted from there. On the ninth, my sand shot was left 6 ft from the hole.
• Putting. Good reads, poor speed. I left several putts inches short that would have gone in the hole if my speed had been good. I three-putted the 7th hole from 12 ft, very, very poor putting on that hole.

I was really frustrated with my poor short game today, and especially leaving putts short. My long game came together today, though, so at least I have that. And considering I’ve rarely practiced in wet sand, didn’t do too badly there. I’m guessing I missed 4 or 5 putts short that should have been made because the read was perfect and the speed off. I could have had a pretty good score today and I messed it up on the greens.

Still, I had fun.

Last night, I hit some balls at the Golden Bear Golf Center after dinner. The weather was very hot, with a 1-2 club breeze from the south, directly in my face. As usual, I started out warming up with the 7-iron, then added the pitching wedge, 9-iron and 5-iron to the mix. I didn’t hit the ball as well tonight as last Sunday, tending hit the ball fat. I didn’t have much issue with direction, though.

Next up, I got out the driver, 3-metal and hybrid. Finally, these clubs are starting to emerge from their slumber since my shoulder injury. I did the ball pretty well with the driver, though inconsistent in direction. Even hit a few monster slices, which I haven’t done in a long time. Mostly though, the ball didn’t have much side spin, and didn’t get up as high as it usually flies, so distance was well short. Still, at least I can see improvement back to where I was.

I spent a few minutes in the bunker, hitting short sand shots on the up-slope, and doing pretty well. Out of 10 shots, only one failed to get out of the bunker, and several were close to the pin I aimed at. I used the Pelz-style shot, open to the target, ball forward, club face open 45 degrees.

Finally, I spent some time on the putting green. I was rolling the ball very well from inside 30 ft, making several long ones. Outside 30 ft, I didn’t really get the ball as close to the hole as I would prefer. Some work still to be done there.

All in all, a decent practice, though not one of my best. At least the long clubs are starting to get back into shape.