Joey's Golf Bag

Yesterday after work, I practiced putting at the Golden Bear Golf Center. As I had only 45 spare minutes, I spent the entire available time practicing putting. I spent the first 30 minutes running speed drills, and the remainder of the time working on long distance putts at 30 and 45 ft. Aside from one or two putts either inexplicably short or long, my putting practice was quite good.

Now, if I could just take that putting onto the course…

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.

Yesterday, Sal Johnson, who smartly reset his picks after the third round, squeaked by Ron Sirak and Alan Shipnuck on picking the winners of the third round of the Accenture Match Play. Let’s take a look at their quarterfinal round results. Note: Of the three, only Sal Johnson didn’t pick the later rounds in advance, so he’s got a clear advantage because his picks get reset every day. Whatever.

None of Ron’s or Alan’s picks made the quarterfinals, so there is no sense in continuing to check. Sal managed to get only 1 of 4 right in the quarters.

My pick for the victory is Geoff Ogilvy to repeat as winner.

This morning, on a very, very windy day, I hit a few balls at the Golden Bear Golf Center. The day started out heavily clouded, but the wind soon blew the clouds away and left the day sunny, but with a very strong wind from the west.

I started off warming up with the pitching wedge, and the wind was hard right-to-left with a bit into me. My old nemesis, the fat shot, was evident from the first. So, I did what I’ve done when I can’t hit the wedge, I get out the driver. Got out the big stick and proceeded to pound balls at the green with the yellow flag. The wind wasn’t affecting the flight of the ball too much at this time, so my gentle fades were drawn back to the flag by the wind. I then took out the 3- and 5-woods and hit some balls, pretty well. I hit a few 5-woods off the deck, surprisingly straight though not long due to the wind.

Now, the wind was really starting to howl, so I thought it would be fun to see how far right I could hit the ball and have it draw back in the wind. I got out the 7-iron and tried to hit a fade at the right edge of the green with the blue flag. Hooked it instead and sent the ball high, the wind grabbed it and took it a good 40 yds left of the green. Wow!

Set up again for a fade, but aimed at the yellow flag. Hit the ball very high with only a trace of a fade, then the wind grabbed it and the ball landed just on the left edge of the green. That’s some wind!

Now the wind was howling so hard that I decided to hit the ball really high with the sand wedge. I swung very hard aimed at the right edge of the green with the red flag, the wind grabbed it and the ball landed right on the left fringe. Heh!

The wind was howling so hard it was pointless to continue, so I gathered my gear and headed home. Too bad the wind wasn’t behind me, it would have been fun to tee it up high and hit 300 yd drives. 😉

Yesterday, Sal Johnson, who smartly reset his picks after the second round, wiped out Ron Sirak and Alan Shipnuck on picking the winners of the second round of the Accenture Match Play. Let’s take a look at their third round results. Note: Of the three, only Sal Johnson didn’t pick the later rounds in advance, so he’s got a clear advantage because his picks get reset every day. Whatever.

I’m shocked that Tiger Woods lost to Nick O’Hern, but that’s match play.

Aussie ends Woods’ winning streak

Tiger Woods’ winning streak is over no matter what tour he is playing.

In a shocking end to a PGA TOUR streak that began in July, Woods failed to notice a ball mark in the line of his 4-foot birdie putt that would have won his third-round match against Nick O’Hern. He missed the putt, then lost in 20 holes when the Australian saved par with a 12-foot putt Friday at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Yesterday, Ron Sirak edged out Sal Johnson and Alan Shipnuck on picking the winners of the first round of the Accenture Match Play. Let’s take a look at their second round results. Note: Of the three, only Sal Johnson didn’t pick the later rounds in advance, so he’s got a clear advantage because his picks get reset every day. But, what the heck.

Sal kicked ass, but then, he had the advantage of resetting after the first round. Ron edged out Alan again.

Tiger Woods is back in action at the Accenture Match Play. Let’s take a look at picks from Ron Sirak of Golf World, Sal Johnson of Golf Observer and Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated and see how they performed.

Ron Sirak edges out Sal Johnson and Alan Shipnuck, despite not picking the Ogilvy v Stricker match (website said Stenson! — if Golf World corrects the pick, I’ll fix it here). The big surprises were Els getting knocked out by Bradley Dredge, Davis Love III losing to Ben Crane and Tim Clark defeating Robert Allenby.

This afternoon after work, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center, on a wonderfully warm and breezy afternoon. I’d planned to have a full practice session, and I did manage to practice my full swing and short game, but no time for putting or chipping. The bunker is closed for renovation, so no sand shots possible.

I warmed up by hitting a few balls with the 7-iron. I was a bit rusty at first but soon started to hit the ball straight, but very high and short. Since I’ve been hitting the driver and the fairway woods pretty well, I decided to trot out the Toski driver, 3- and 5-woods that I built a while back with stiff shafts. I alternated the Nike SasQuatch driver with the Toski T-6 driver, and then alternated the Nike SasQuatch 3-wood and the Toski T-6 3-wood. Verdict: I still can’t hit a stiff shaft, so these clubs go back in the closet.

Next, I went through the irons, and I was pleased that I hit all the irons well except for the 4-iron (kept hitting low hooks) and the 5-iron was a bit mixed; otherwise, struck the ball quite well, though distance was shorter than usual. I then got out the wedges and worked on a variety of short wedge shots, including low bump and run shots with the pitching wedge. I definitely will need a lot more work before I use that shot on the course. I also had a pretty rough day with the wedges, hitting a lot of balls fat. I still have to get that worked out. I’m pleased with the new wedges when I do manage to put a good swing on the ball, but my wedge swing is really crappy at the moment and the concrete-hard ground on the range didn’t help.

I had a few balls left, so I got out the SasQuatch driver and really whaled on the ball. I hit the ball high and far (for me 😎 ), but had some difficulty getting properly aligned, which led to my main fault being a push.

I was pleased to see my iron swing pretty much back to normal today, I just wish I could get my wedge swing back in order. A good day of practice on a fine afternoon!

Yesterday afternoon, on a blustery sunny day, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center. I’d planned to make a full practice, but I ran out of time and worked mainly on wedges and the long clubs.

I started off hitting wedges (my new Tom Wishon CX Micro wedges), but despite spending significant time with the clubs, never really got the wedges working. Nothing to do with the clubs, my swing just stank from lack of practice. About half the shots were fine, the rest were hit fat. Some only slightly, but there were some digging-to-China fat shots that were really frustrating.

One thing I’ve been doing lately, if my wedges or short irons aren’t being well-struck, I’ll get my driver out and really pound the ball. That seems to get my rhythm back more quickly. This time, it worked again. After a stinky shot to start, I started pounding the driver pretty well, about half right down the middle and the rest a mix of fades or draws. I had only one high monster slice, but otherwise, the really bad shots were not present. I also got out the 3-wood and 5-wood and pounded some balls off tees. My first shots were topped, but I concentrated on taking the same swing as with my driver, and then I hit some beauties, even with the 3-wood. I also got out the 3-hybrid and managed some pretty respectable shots.

Despite really poor practice with the wedges (no reflection on the clubs themselves) and short irons, I was pleased that my long game continues to improve. Now, I’ll need to figure out my short clubs, again.

Range note: Golden Bear is renovating their large practice bunker. One new section is going to be especially deep, with Pete Dye-style railroad ties. Can’t wait to give it a try…