Joey's Golf Bag

This evening, after dinner, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center. We’d had some very heavy rain in the afternoon, so the range was mats only. Did I mention I hate mats? The weather was warm and humid, no wind.

The ball machine was acting a bit weird, so I went first to the short game area to practice. I started off terribly, chunking them, hitting them thin, sh*nking one or two, then finally, started hitting a few decent wedge shots. I gave up on the lob wedge after the sh*nk and did all my work with the sand wedge. I chipped a few balls off the mounds with a pitching wedge, holing one. Next, I hit a few out of the sand, getting them all out, but really only hitting one really good shot to about a foot. I then hit a few out of the grass bunker from a severe uphill lie. I liked using a sand wedge for this shot instead of the lob wedge I’d been using.

Next, I went to the range to hit a small bucket off the mats. Did I mention I hate mats? Oh, yeah… Anyway, I started off hitting pitching wedges and then mixed in the 8- and 6-irons. I was striking the ball pretty respectably, so I got out the 4-iron. The first shot was hit a bit thin, but relatively straight. The next one was a snap hook (fortunately, my only snap hook of the day), but my next couple of shots were not good. Remarkably, I got my swing back and proceeded to hit a few more good shots. I then got out the hybrid and 5-wood, and hit a few with each club. I tended to hit these a bit thin, but at least they were straight and I did have one really good 5-wood just right of my target flag. I then got out the driver and pushed the first shot well right. Another push, so I got out the pitching wedge and alternated between the driver and the pitching wedge, and that straightened out the driver, though I wasn’t particularly pleased with any drive. Still, a very good practice with the full swing.

Finally, I went to the putting green and had a pretty mediocre practice. I just couldn’t seem to find my putting stroke. If you see it, send it home, please.

This morning, I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf. The day was very warm and humid, partly cloudy, with little breeze. There was dew on the first three or four greens that made the slow greens even slower. That would play havoc with my game all day.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Pretty mixed, as I hit only three greens in regulation, and none of those were close to the hole. I had a couple of tee shots just off the green (by an inch and by 6 inches). I was hitting the ball a little fat on nearly every shot, so left the ball short on a number of holes. On those that I had a clean strike on the ball, I tended to be a bit long. On the final hole, I hit a 9-iron just right of the pin; it hit the down slope of the mound to the right of the green and rolled under a bush, so I had to take an unplayable. I hit only the sand wedge through 9-iron off the tee as the course was set up short today.
• Wedges. Aside from the tee shots, I didn’t use any wedges from around the green, other than using the pitching wedge to chip.
• Chipping. I had two up-and-downs for par today; on both of these holes I was just off the green and putting. My other chips weren’t particularly good.
• Putting. Putting was just a disaster today. I had three 3-putts, and on each of the second putts, I lipped out. I also lipped out the first putt on the final hole to save bogey. My worst putting in months, and some of it was due to the dew on the greens.

My warm up practice was pretty poor, so considering how the practiced, I probably did better on the course. If only I could putt…

Natalie Gulbis breaks through with her first win at the Evian Masters in France.

Natalie Gulbis won the Evian Masters with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Jang Jeong of South Korea on Sunday.

It was the first LPGA Tour victory for the 24-year-old American.

Gulbis and Jang had finished the fourth round tied at 4-under 284. Gulbis had a final round 70, and Jang birdied the last hole to finish with a 72.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Golf Channel, so I didn’t see the tournament.

I’ve built two new clubs, a Tom Wishon 949MC 7-wood and a 915F/H 9-wood. I’ve been trying to find a club to replace my mostly reliable Cleveland 3i HALO hybrid, but so far, any club I’ve made to replace it has not been able to displace the HALO. This time, it’ll go up against the 949MC 7-wood. I’ve also been unable to hit my 4-iron with any consistency, so I’m looking to replace it with the 915F/H set up as a 9-wood.

I built the clubs using the Tom Wishon Series 7-B2P Fairway shaft in regular flex and used the Golf Pride DD2 midsize grips on each. I swingweighted both clubs to D-1.

I also reduced the length of my Tom Wishon 525GRT driver from 45" to 44.25" and replaced the grip with the DD2 midsize as well.

Specs:

Photos (949MC 7-wood on left) and back of 915F/H 9-wood:

This morning, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was sunny and hot, a slight breeze from the north.

I put the iPod on 27/9 and started warming up with the pitching wedge. Immediately, it was clear things were not quite right. Unlike the last time I practiced, I wasn’t striking the ball particularly well; in fact, I hit a couple of sh*nks while I was warming up. Yeech! Things didn’t improve much after I’d warmed up, though I noticed that I was now hitting the ball closer to the hosel, so I adjusted by moving the club so that the ball was centered; I’d been setting up so that the ball was closer to the hosel.

I was a little frustrated at this point, so I took aim at a bucket someone had left on the range about 25 yds in front of me and started hitting short pitches at the bucket using the lob wedge. It soon became apparent that Tour Tempo wasn’t really good for me to pitch with. Once I turned off the iPod, my pitches improved dramatically and I hit the bucket once and just one-hopped one over it.

I turned the iPod back on and went back to hitting a mix of clubs, the pitching wedge, the 8- and 6-irons. I wasn’t particularly happy; although I was now striking the ball strongly, I had a hard pull left (very little sidespin for the most part). I then got out the hybrid and driver. With the driver, I first sprayed the ball around with a mix of draws and fades, and never really got it perfect. Distance was a bit short until I teed the ball a bit higher. I wasn’t happy with the hybrid either, so I went back and ran the Jim Flick reverse pivot drill. After a few of those, I teed up some balls and hit 8-, 6- and 5-irons, concentrating on hitting down on the ball. Finally, I hit a couple of good shots. A few more drivers and I was out of balls and very tired from the heat.

I sat down under the porch for a few minutes to rest, then went back to the putting green and hit chips with the 8-iron, pitching wedge and lob wedge. I did better with the pitching wedge (not a surprise since I usually use that club for chipping), but did pretty poorly with the lob wedge. I’ll need a lot more practice with the lob wedge before I start using that club for chipping.

Next, I hit three-foot putts until I hit 10 in a row. This took a while; my feel was not very good today. Finally, I ran speed drills, using a different line each time to work on reading the green as well. I picked a hole on the lower shelf above the first tee, and hit putts on a variety of lines, trying to improve my reads. After about 20 minutes of that drill, I went to the top of the green and practiced 30 ft down-hill putts with a 5 foot break. It took a few putts, but my last putt nailed the center of the cup and I called it a day.

Not a very good practice session today, but at least I worked on all my clubs. I’ll need a lot more practice this week as I’m playing the Cowboys Golf Club on Friday.

Tonight, after dinner, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice. The evening was warm, with only a slight breeze from the west.

I put the iPod on 27/9 and warmed up with the pitching wedge. It took only 2 or 3 balls before I was striking the ball pretty well. I then hit a few more just to make sure, and then got out the 9-, 7-, and 5-irons and rotated through those clubs. I was hitting the ball pretty well, no major defects other than occasional big pull-hook. Next, I got out the driver, 3-hybrid and 5-wood. I hit a couple of decent 3-hybrid shots, but never really got the 5-wood to work. After a few shots, that dreaded snap hook came back, so I decided to run some drills (Y-drill and L-drill from Tour Tempo) and a couple of the Jim Flick drill to get into the proper backswing position. Those drills helped; I then started striking the driver pretty well. I hit a quite a few balls with the driver, then went to the wedges and hit some balls with each of them. The fat shot was rare tonight, I’m happy to say. With the last remaining balls, I went through the odd numbered clubs and hit one or two shots with each, ending with a few drives.

My ball striking was more consistent tonight; I never really had a stretch where I missed a lot of shots. Indeed, the poor shots were scattered here and there, and I was always able to get my tempo back and swing well.

After I ran out of balls, I went to the putting green to practice. It was clear from my starting chips that I wasn’t really able to concentrate any more, and after a lack-luster practice with the putter, went home. I had no energy left to putt.

On Saturday morning, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center. The day was warm and sunny with a slight breeze from the south.

I went to the range and warmed up using the pitching wedge, and mainly hitting chunky shots. Once I got dialed in, though, magic happened: I hit 10 near perfect pitching wedge shots at the white-flagged green, every one on the green and close to the flag. I’d have to say it was my best ball-striking with a pitching wedge that I’d ever had. That was the magic.

Unfortunately, it went down hill from there. I hit a good 7-iron or two at the blue-flagged green, but as I went lower in my bag, the worse the shots became. It got so bad that I went back to the pitching wedge to reload, but alas, the magic was gone. I hit every type of shot possible: low hooks, high hooks, worm burners, high slices, you name it. Yeech. I then spent some time with the driver; not much better. While I was launching the ball pretty well, I had a huge push and it took me many balls to get the push to straighten out. I ran out of balls before I really got my swing back.

Next, I went to the short game area to practice my wedges. There was a class of beginners clogging up the area, so the only open practice area was the bunker, so I hit a few shots out of it. My distance control was poor, but I didn’t leave any in the bunker. In the meantime, I’m dodging the occasional shank from the beginners and did eventually get hit in the leg; no damage done. My last drill was to go to the grass bunker and it a few chips from a severe uphill lie.

I then went to the putting green. I spent the first part of practice hitting 3-4 foot putts until I hit 10 in a row. Then I did speed drills with two balls, where I would move back 3 ft each time I hit two in a row. I made it out to 24 ft before I wasn’t able to hit two in a row. My last drill was lag putting from 30 ft, which I did pretty well.

By this time, I was worn out and sweating like a pig, so I called it a success and went home. Not a good day at the range (apart from a little magic with the pitching wedge) but I did have a good putting practice.

This evening, after dinner, I visited the Hank Haney Golf Ranch to practice. The weather was warm and humid, and except for a brief period around sundown, completely windless. I turned on the iPod, put on 27/9, and proceeded to warm up using the pitching wedge. After about 5 balls, I got my swing dialed in again, and I got out the 8-iron to hit a couple of balls. I was striking the ball pretty well, very few bad mis-hits, at worst, slightly thin or with a little fade. I then got out the 7-iron, hit a few more, then started alternating pitching wedges with the longer irons. I even hit some very nice 4-iron shots tonight (off of tees), and when I can hit a 4-iron, I know I’m swinging pretty well. Next, I got out the long clubs and alternated hitting balls with the long clubs mixed with 8-irons. The 3i hybrid I hit very well, the 5-wood and driver were mixed good and poor shots.

Next, I got out the wedges and hit full shots with each. I was very pleased with my wedge shots, as there was only one fat shot in the bunch, and many fine shots.

With the final set of balls, I went through the bag imitating a round of golf, such as hitting a driver, then a wedge (short par-4), driver, 5-wood, 9-iron (par-5) and a couple of irons off tees to simulate par-3 holes. About 70% of the shots were well struck, so I was very pleased with practice tonight.

Next, I went to the putting green and practiced reading the green and hitting longer putts, trying to lag the ball close. The putting green was upgraded during the spring and is now in fine shape, with lots of humps and hollows to allow virtually any type of putt to be tried. There were some treacherous hole positions, and I delighted in trying to read them. Much work to be done here. I’ll be doing most of my putting practice on this green in the future.

Tour tempo was really, really helpful in restoring my swing to something resembling a good golf swing. Tempo is the primary (but not the only) reason I’ve been hitting the ball poorly. I still need to fix my reverse pivot once and for all; it still sneaks in on occasion.

Overall, I was very pleased with my practice tonight.

Yesterday, on a hot, muggy Texas afternoon, I played 18 on the Lakes course at Firewheel. As I’d been hitting the long clubs poorly, I put my new Wishon Golf 525GRT driver and 949MC 4-wood back in the closet (not wanting to mark up the clubs with my crappy skyballs or drop-kicks) and got out my old Nike SasQuatch driver and Wishon Golf 915HL 5-wood. These clubs have suffered under my (lack of) golfing skills, so were already thoroughly marked up. I just couldn’t bear to mark up my new driver and 4-wood with my crappy swing.

I arrived at the course around noon, got some balls, and put on Tour Tempo at 27/9 on the iPod and proceeded to warm up. As usual, my wedges were fat until I warmed up and then well-struck. I then got out the 6-iron and hit some balls. Most were well-struck, and I was pretty happy with my swing. Next, I got out the Nike driver and worked on driving the ball. Not so good. I hit about every type of shot possible, a nice high hook, and booming slice and a low burner or two. Nothing to encourage me on the course…

Our foursome filled out and we went to the first tee to start our round. I volunteered to hit first. I hit a low hook that ended up in the under a tree, but in the fairway with a clear shot to the green. OK, not so bad, at least it’s playable. I don’t remember what transpired on the hole, but my scorecard says double. The second hole is a short par-3. I hit one close to the green, chipped poorly, leaving a 25 ft putt with a 12 inch break. I nailed it for par. The other three par-3 holes I bogeyed, two of which I hit the green, only to three-putt. The rest of the holes were just disasters. Anytime I hit a club longer than an 8-iron, I hooked it; any club shorter than a pitching wedge was either hit short or fat. There were a couple of exceptions, but that’s the trend: hit a pitching wedge, 9-iron or 8-iron, good shot; hit anything else, disaster.

The golf gods hate me.

By the eighth hole, I was making big numbers, like snowmen or baseball teams. This continued (except for par-3 holes) until I tripled the par-5 13th hole, and all my long clubs were banned from use. I read once that you should use the longest club gives you 80% probability of being in the fairway, and on this day, that club was the 8-iron. I tried the 6- and 7-irons, but they both betrayed me. So, 8-iron it was. Once I started using an 8-iron off the tee, I didn’t have worse than bogey on any remaining hole.

In summary, I can hit a pitching wedge, a 9-iron and an 8-iron reliably, and the rest of the clubs, well, suck.

I know exactly why I was hitting the ball poorly (my tempo gets quick), but I’ve been nearly incapable of getting back my tempo once lost. Even on the range, it can take 10 or 20 balls to get my tempo back once I lose it. This is most disconcerting.

The golf gods hate me.

This morning, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center on a warm, cloudy morning. There was a slight breeze from my back.

I started out hitting sand wedges at the red-flagged green. At first, I struck the ball poorly, but eventually got it together. I then hit some really fine pitching wedges, followed by a few 8-irons, then some 6-irons, and finally, two of the better 4-iron shots I’ve hit in a long time. That’s when things started to unravel. My swing deteriorated so much, that, in desperation, I got out the iPod, turned on 27/9 tour tempo, and started hitting 8-irons. Finally, I started striking the ball well again. Not perfectly, tending to pull the shots just a little, but mostly well-struck. I then got out the 6-iron and hit a few. Encouraged, I got out the driver… not pretty. I struggled to keep up with 27/9 and kept hitting moon balls. I put the driver away before I skymarked it. By that time, I’d run out of balls, so I went to putt.

My putting practice was good. I spent most of the time running speed drills and followed up with lag putts from 30 ft. I was pretty pleased with my putting.

Time ran out, but I was pretty happy with my practice today. Tomorrow: Firewheel.