Joey's Golf Bag

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 morning, on a surprisingly warm day here in Big D, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center. I started out with putting, spending more than 1/2 hour working on putting with the new putting grip and stance from my lesson on Saturday. While my direction wasn’t great today, my speed showed improvement. I’m still having a bit of difficulty with the grip, though, I tend to push putts. I can see improvement, though.

I went to the short game area to work on chipping, wedges and sand shots. Both ends of the area was occupied, so I started out in the bunker, working on Pelz style bunker shots. I was pretty pleased with this practice, only leaving two balls in the bunker and not hitting any thin or over the green.

Next up, I practiced short pitches using the lob wedge. My distance control was pretty good today, but I tended to push most shots. My last drill in the area was chipping, and I went back to using the 8-iron, which I used when I first started to learn golf. My chipping of late has been poor, so I went back to what used to work, and my chipping was good today.

I got a bucket of balls and went to the range to hit full shots. As yesterday, my first set of shots with the pitching wedge were all fat. I got out the iPod, put on Tour Tempo at 27/9 and proceeded to hit full shots with the 9-, 8-, 7- and 6-irons. Still, my dominate miss was to hit the ball fat, and I never really got that fixed all day. I then got out the driver, 5-wood and hybrid and hit some shots. I was pretty erratic all day with the longer clubs, hitting some fine shots and some stinkers.

My final drill of the day was the pin-hunting drill, for which I had low expectations due to my poor ball-striking of this day. Surprisingly, I still managed to hit 9 of 20 shots with a score of 4 or 5, so I redeemed myself a little.

My short game practice was very good, but I was disappointed with my full swing today. After that full practice, I went home and took a nap. 😉

And make sure Tour Tempo is on it…

This afternoon, I had a spare hour to hit balls, so I ran over to the Golden Bear Golf Center to try out my new 5-wood and 3-hybrid. Unfortunately, I forgot my iPod, and boy, did I need it today. I never did get in sync with any club, except for the driver (and only barely).

I warmed up hitting pitching wedges, and it took me about 5 or 6 balls before I hit one that wasn’t fat. Really fat. Digging a trench fat. And when I’m hitting the ball fat, you can bet it’s because I’m rushing my downswing.

After I finally hit a good shot with the pitching wedge, I got out the new clubs along with the 6-iron and driver. The driver I struck decently today, though I did have some high fades to start out. I never had my swing going well enough today to give an enthusiastic thumbs up on the new clubs, but I also didn’t hit any terrible shots as I tend to with my 3-wood or HALO hybrids. So, at least from a forgiveness standpoint, the new clubs are a rousing success.

I just wish I’d swung the clubs better today to give them a real tryout.

Remind me not to forget the iPod tomorrow…

I’ve always had difficulty hitting a 3-wood consistently. I’d been thinking shortening my Nike SasQuatch 3-wood, since shortening my Nike SasQuatch driver by 0.5" to 44" was such a success. Cutting 0.5" off the 3-wood would leave it at a playing length of 42.5", and so my 5-wood would need to be 1" shorter. So, I decided to construct a 5-wood with that specification and then run a competition between the two clubs for the place in my bag as the club following the driver. I also went ahead and shortened the SasQuatch 3-wood to 42.5" and swingweighted it to D-1.

Today, I completed the construction of my new 5-wood using the Tom Wishon 915HL clubhead, hand-selected for square clubface and 18° loft. I used a Tom Wishon Series 7-SUL-55 Super-UltraLight Graphite Shaft, R flex, tipped 2″ and trimmed for a final playing length of 41.5". I also used an oversize Tom Wishon V-Series Composition Rubber Grip with 3 wraps of tape so the final diameter is oversize by 1/16". I swingweighted the club to D-1.

I’ll give the club a workout this afternoon.

I have two Cleveland hybrids, a 2i HALO with a stock stiff shaft, and a 3i HALO with a regular shaft. When I’m swinging well, I can hit these clubs pretty well, but I’m still looking for just the right club to replace my 3-iron, which I can rarely hit well. I also have a bunch of other hybrids that I built that never found a permanent place in my bag. (Those clubs were never swingweighted, so I need to go back and fix them and see how they swing).

Today, I build a new hybrid club using a Tom Wishon 321Li Hybrid 3-iron, bent to 61° (2° upright). I used the Tom Wishon Gi-335 Graphite High Launch shaft, R flex, tipped 1″, and trimmed to a final playing length of 39.5". I also used an oversize Tom Wishon V-Series Composition Rubber Grip with 3 wraps of tape so the final diameter is oversize by 1/16". I swingweighted the club to D-2, same as my irons.

I’ll give this club a workout this afternoon.

This afternoon, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to attend the weekly swing clinic. A representative from Yes Golf was there doing putter fitting and short lessons (I regret I forgot his name). As I warmed up before the swing clinic, Alan, my instructor, took me over to the putting green and put my putting stroke on the camera. The Yes guy had me hit a few balls and then showed me that I needed a bit more forward press and needed to hit down on the ball a little more. He put a Marilyn putter in my hand and had me hit a couple of balls and he said I had a pretty good roll with little skid.

Alan and I went back to the range and spent about 30 minutes hitting balls with a 6-iron, working on fundamentals. I was striking the ball pretty good today. Alan didn’t make any major changes, just had me make sure to avoid reverse pivot and make sure to rotate my forearms through the ball.

Next, we went back to the putting green and the Yes rep gave me a putting lesson. I hit a few balls and he noticed that I tended to “pop” the ball, so he adjusted my grip by centering the putter grip along the lifelines of both hands. He also moved me closer to the ball so my eyes were directly over the target line. I had some difficulty getting used to the changes, but was rolling the ball pretty well toward the end. I’ll need some time to get used to the new setup and grip.

Alan and I went back to the range and I hit the driver. Aside from one hook and one slice, I hit the ball very well with the driver. On both poor shots, Alan noticed reverse pivot and a bit too much lateral movement, which I corrected for the most part. He also noticed that I tended to let the club get loose at the top, and fixed that as well.

Today was a great lesson, and I thank Alan and the Yes guy (sorry I forgot his name).

Yesterday, I decided to cut 1/2" off the length of my SasQuatch Lucky 13 driver, re-do the swingweight to D-0 and see how well I can swing it. This afternoon, after work, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch to practice and give the driver a try. The weather was unseasonably warm, with little breeze. The only downside is the day is shorter and the sun was setting as I practiced.

First, I warmed up by hitting a variety of sand wedge shots, from 1/4 swing to full swing. I struck the sand wedge pretty well, though hit a fat shot or two, which for me, means I’m rushing the downswing. Next, I did the same set of shots with the lob wedge, still having pretty good ball-striking, and then followed that up with full pitching wedge shots. I then moved on to hitting the irons in succession, hitting them pretty well until I got to the 6-iron. By now, I’d hit half the balls, so I got out the driver. After a poor shot off the heel to start, I worked on my alignment and started hitting shots, most of which had no side spin at all, maybe a bit pushed or pulled. I then got out the other long clubs, the 7-wood, the hybrid and the 4-iron. The 4-iron I never hit well tonight. I made good contact with the other clubs, but the shots were high and short.

I then ran the pin-hunting drill, and had a pretty good day, hitting 10 of 20 shots with a score of 4 or 5. My main faults today were hitting the long irons fat or hooking them badly. I also had one fat wedge shot, but I was otherwise pleased with my ball-striking.

My swing is still a work in progress, but having cut both my irons and driver 1/2" shorter than I was playing before has seemed to help my ball-striking and has not had any particular effect on distance. Time will tell, but I’m optimistic that my game is improving again.

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.

This morning, at the crack of dawn, I hit a few balls at The Practice Tee in Plano. The weather was cold, but sunny, with a slight breeze from the south. I started off hitting short pitching wedges to warm up. At first, I hit the balls fat, but soon got that worked out and moved on to hitting alternating pitching wedges, 8- and 6-irons. Again, I had a bad case of the fats, so I got out the iPod and switched on Tour Tempo at 27/9. This time it didn’t help; I was badly rushing my downswing, causing me to hit fat.

I put away the iPod and got out the 7-wood. My first shot was a fade, not particularly well-struck, but it caused me to realize my old nemesis fault, too much lateral movement on the backswing, returning to traumatize me again. When I managed to eliminate these two faults, rushing the downswing, and keeping lateral movement to a minimum, I struck the ball well. Encouraged, I got out the driver. My first shot was a snap hook; rushing the downswing AGAIN. I then hit a couple of good, straight drives, then a monster slice. My next swing was rushed, hitting a crappy drop-kick. I then switched back to the 7-wood and hit a good shot. I also hit one or two with the 3i hybrid, but it wasn’t well struck, same faults.

Finally, running out of time, I hit a few 8-iron shots, about half of which were well-struck, the rest with the same ol’ faults. Last few balls I used to hit some sand wedge shots, which were mostly well-struck but with an annoying fat shot thrown in.

Not my best day of practice, but at least I figured out my faults and didn’t get frustrated.