Joey's Golf Bag

Last night, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. Heavy thunderstorms had rolled through the area, so there was standing water on some areas of the range and the humidity and mosquitos were stifling.

I warmed up with a little Tour Tempo while swinging the pitching wedge. My tempo was pretty good, so I turned off the iPod and moved on to hitting a mix of 8- and 5-irons. I was hitting the 8-rion pretty good, but the 5-iron was a little spotty, so I added the 6-iron into the mix. Pretty satisfied, so I moved on to the longer clubs. I hit all the longer clubs pretty well, except the driver, which refused to cooperate at all, except for a booming push well right of target or two. To finish up on the range, I went through the bag, trying to hit a good shot with each club. With the exception of the driver, I succeeded.

Next, I went to the putting green to practice my putting. First, I attempted to hit 10 in a row from 3 ft, but never got past 9 putts in a row, so I moved on to my usual speed drill. The speed drill went pretty well, but my putting was hampered by sand on the putting green, pulled up, no doubt, by the heavy rain earlier in the day. I finished up with a few lag putts from 30 ft and called it a day.

Last Wednesday, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center, and it was perhaps the worst practice I’ve had since I was able to hit balls again after my back injury. Part of the problem was my lack of concentration, but the major issue was my tempo was off, and I just couldn’t get it dialed in again without Tour Tempo. So, yesterday, I packed up the iPod and traveled again to Golden Bear Golf Center to get my golf game back in some semblance of order.

I started out in the short game area, planning to spend most of the time hitting short pitches. My distance control has been poor of late, and is leading to big numbers on the course. I’d brought along the 64° wedge, just for fun, as I’ve been hitting a lot of chips with all my wedges off the carpet at home. My 770CFE pitching wedge is my usual weapon for chipping, and I continue to improve my chipping, but my pitching (with any of my wedges) has been far below what it needs to be. Someone had thoughtfully placed about 50 balls under a shady tree, so I started there hitting pitches with my lob wedge. From the first shot, I was hitting everything right of the target, and although I improved my distance control over the practice, I never really got the direction correct, tending to hit right of the target on nearly every shot. I didn’t get that resolved even after an hour hitting pitches with all three wedges. After that practice, I hit chips with the pitching wedge and was pleased to see my chipping practice on the carpet is helping my chipping performance on the grass. I then hit a few balls out of the sand (got them all out, but, yeech…).

I got a full bucket and hit the range. I warmed up with six very nice sand wedges that hit close to purple-flagged pin, but of the next four, only one was close. Still, I was pretty happy with that result, considering there was a two club wind in my face and I was hitting the ball high. Next, I got out the pitching wedge and attacked the white-flagged green, with Tour Tempo on the iPod. I was striking the ball well, but my direction control was a bit off, and with the wind, a bit short. I changed to the 9-iron and started attacking the flag. Again, I was striking the ball pretty well, but the shots were all over the place, though mostly on the green. At this point, I turned off Tour Tempo, as my tempo was pretty solid, and I’ve found that if you keep going once your tempo is dialed in, I’ll tend to rush my swing and hit the balls fat. So, the iPod was turned off.

I mixed 9-iron, 7-iron and 5-iron shots, using the blue-flagged green as a target. With the wind, the 7-iron wasn’t quite getting there. Again, I was striking the ball pretty well, but my direction control was a bit lacking. After a few dozen balls, I changed my target to the yellow-flagged green and got out the long clubs and rotated through them. I had my best long club ball striking day ever with the exception of the driver (hit low fades with poor distance). With the other clubs, I hit some really fine shots with each club (a few stinkers here and there) and my direction control was exceptionally good, with almost none of my patented high hooks. I even had a “Wow!” experience with all three of the fairway clubs. If only I could say the same about the driver…

I’d run of out of balls and time, so I wasn’t able to putt, but I was very pleased with my long club practice on Saturday.

Today, while we were playing the Creeks course at Indian Creek Golf Club, Chinh gave us a little comic relief. We were playing off the blue tees, and the hole was playing very short, about 105 yds into the wind. There’s a tributary of the Trinity River flowing at nearly flood stage to the right of the hole (see diagram). I’d just hit a pitching wedge fat just short of the green, so Chinh steps up to the tee, sand wedge in hand, and says, “Watch this shot I’ve been practicing on the range.”

Chinh proceeds to hit a hosel rocket right into the creek, where the ball skips beautifully with the curve of the creek. I’m guessing the ball skipped 10 or more times before finding its watery grave.

I guessing he wasn’t practicing that shot on the range… 😉

We all broke up laughing!

This morning, I played 18 at the Indian Creek Golf Club on the Creeks course. The day was heavily overcast, breezy, warm and humid. We went off at 7:45AM and finished at 12:15PM, for a 4-1/2 hour round, not bad for a muni course on Sunday.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit the ball poorly off the tee, making three penalties with the driver. I blocked to the right most of the day. I did hit two par-3 holes in regulation, one a beautiful 5-iron to 12 ft for birdie, another one to 25 ft, but I messed that up with my only three-putt of the day.
• Approach shots. Not particularly good, hitting only one par-4 in regulation. I was often short, as I was hitting out of the rough or from under trees all day.
• Wedges. I was pretty good with the wedges today, as I got up and down four times.
• Chipping. Despite all my chipping practice, I didn’t really chip well today, tending to hit them thin.
• Bunker shots. I hit into four bunkers today, including two fairway bunkers. Both green-side bunker shots were hit a bit thin and long. I hit one very nice pitching wedge out of a fairway bunker, my other was a 9-iron hit a little fat.
• Putting. Today was my best putting round ever, needing only 31 putts, and only a single three-putt. I nailed putts from as long as 25 ft today and really only missed one short putt (on the hole I three-putted). I was very pleased, as the greens were as fast as I’ve ever played on.

I didn’t play well today, aside from my putting, but I had a lot of fun and never got frustrated or angry even though I hit a lot of really poor shots.

This morning, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to practice and to attend the swing clinic. I arrived around 10AM, a warm, blustery day, heavily clouded. The wind was from the south and blew steadily at about 2 clubs, which was nearly directly into my face.

I spent the first 30 minutes on the putting green. The main putting green west of the main building is being reworked, so I used the green to the east. First, I hit 3 foot putts until I hit 10 in a row. It took three attempts to get past 7 before I hit 10 in a row. Next, I ran speed drills out to 24 ft, and then practiced lag putts from 30 ft. I was very pleased with my putting practice today; all the hours spent putting on the carpet are beginning to pay off.

Next, I went to the short game area to practice. First I hit about 20 balls out of the Pete Dye style bunker. I left only one ball in the bunker, but my distance control was really poor. I then spent another 45 minutes on long chips. My distance control still needs work, but this was one of my best chipping practices in a long time. I then practiced short pitches with the sand and lob wedges. Again, distance control wasn’t great, but I didn’t have any difficulty with fat or thin shots, so I was pretty happy.

I took a short break and went back to pay for the swing clinic. Alan and I spent the entire time working on long irons, as that is the greatest weakness in my game at the moment. My setup and grip were good today, so no adjustments were necessary, other than he had me stand slightly closer to the ball. The other adjustment was to get me to squat more on the downswing. My long irons are still a work in progress, but I did have a couple of really nice shots, and a few stinkers. In general, though, I was pretty happy with my progress today.

P.S. I practiced last Saturday, and developed heat exhaustion. I was about 2/3rds of the way through a full bucket, hitting driver, when I noticed I was panting heavily and sweat was pouring off me. I packed up my clubs and sat in the shade for a while recovering, and then went home. I haven’t practiced on the range since, except for a lot of putting and chipping practice on the carpet at home.

I thought I would document how the contents of my golf bag have changed since I bought my first set of clubs in 2004.

My original set of clubs was the Signature Series Set from Golden Bear Golf that I bought from Costco. This is a 12 club setup, which has a driver, 3- and 5-wood, 3- and 4-hybrid, 5-iron through pitching wedge and a putter. I soon added a set of Tom Watson wedges (not the current model but a set no longer on their website) from Adams Golf. I learned to play with this set of clubs.

After the completion of the Masters class at the Golden Bear Golf Center, I set out to get a new set of clubs. My first irons were Callaway Big Bertha 2004 irons (4-PW; I later added a 3-iron), to which I added a Nike SasQuatch 3-wood, a Callaway Big Bertha Titanium 454 driver, three Cleveland 588 wedges (56°, 60°, 64°) and a Odyssey White Steel Mallet #5 putter, along with a Great Divider Journey stand bag to hold all my new purchases. I never did hit the Big Bertha driver very well, so I traded that club in on a Cleveland 3i HALO hybrid and a Nike SasQuatch Lucky 13 driver. I took the 3-iron out of my bag and replaced it with the 3i hybrid. This was the set of clubs that I used to break 100 for the first time at Sherrill Park.

I’d been experimenting with building my own clubs, but none of the clubs spent a great deal of time in my bag until I built my first set of irons, Toski T-58 irons. The T-58 irons played better than the Big Bertha irons, so I sold those irons to a friend and played with the T-58 irons for about six months. I also sold him my Cleveland 56° wedge and bought 49°, 54° and 64° wedges that fit better with the T-58 irons.

About this time I read the Tom Wishon’s book, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club, and changed my whole philosophy of what clubs to use. I built a set of Tom Wishon 770CFE irons, a 321Li 3-hybrid, a 915HL 5-wood and a set of CX Micro wedges (52°, 56°, 60°). These clubs joined my Nike SasQuatch driver and Odyssey putter, but I never really hit the 321Li hybrid well, so the Cleveland 3i HALO went back in the bag. This set of clubs was stable until I hurt my back and re-injured it after getting fitted for a Wishon 525GRT driver.

While my back was healing, I built a Wishon S2R Model 3 putter, which kicked out the Odyssey putter from my bag. I also built a new set of CX Micro Satin wedges (52°, 56°, 60°) so that the clubs were all the same length and used the heavier Dynamic Gold shaft (trying to slow down my quick tempo with a little more weight). After I got back to practicing, my only non-Wishon clubs were the Nike SasQuatch driver and the Cleveland 3i hybrid. I played that set for the last time at my swing clinic last week.

While I was resting from my back injury, I built a Wishon Golf 949MC 7-wood and a Wishon Golf 915FH 9-wood (4-hybrid). That completed my all-Wishon Golf bag!

So, how long do you suppose this bag will be stable? Don’t hold your breath… 😉

This afternoon, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to attend the Swing Master clinic that is held every Saturday and Tuesday at noon. Today, Alan Niederlitz was my instructor.

I paid for the clinic and went to the putting green to practice. The putting green to the west of the pro shop is being renovated to a new strain of dwarf bermuda, so will be closed for a while, so I went to the other putting green to practice. That particular green isn’t in very good shape at the moment, a victim of the soggy weather here in Dallas. I first spent some time hitting short putts, did some speed drills and then practiced putting around the green at different holes. My putting was not particularly good today.

Next, I went to the instruction area to warm up before the clinic. I warmed up pretty poorly, even got out the iPod with Tour Tempo to no avail. I told him about my mishap with breaking shafts and then he asked how I was hitting the ball. I told him I was hitting the pitching wedge through 8-iron well, but the rest of the clubs weren’t being hit well. First, he had me get out the driver and I told him I was tending to hook the ball. I hit a few drives and they were hit pretty well. He then had me get out the 5-wood and I described how I tended to hit the ball thin and with a hook. He had me hit a few shots while he watched, which were surprisingly well-hit, considering how poorly I’d warmed up. He then adjusted my setup a bit to give me more shoulder tilt and that helped. He then had me get out the driver again and adjusted my stance, hand position and ball position. I then started hitting the driver very well with good distance even though I was hitting into a pretty strong wind.

Next, we got out the sand wedge and watched me hit a few balls with it. He moved my ball position back a bit in my stance and moved my hands more toward the middle with less forward tilt, and also moved my feet a bit closer together. It took me a few swings to get used to the new stance, but it is clear that that was the main issue with the wedges. He then checked me hitting short and mid-length pitches; with some more practice, I think I can get back to being a good wedge player.

This was a very, very good swing clinic today. Alan can always fix my swing and get me back on track. I really need to go see him more often.

Last night after dinner, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The evening was very warm and humid, with no wind.

I started out hitting pitching wedges at the center green, which was too far for me to reach with that club. After I got warmed up, I got out the 8-, 6- and 4-irons and alternated striking each club. I was hitting the ball pretty well with all the clubs except the 4-iron; that club is still pretty pathetic.

Next, I moved on to hitting the longer clubs. I’m still not hitting the longer clubs as well as I did before my back injury, but I’m seeing some improvement. On this day, something weird happened. I was using a tee to hit some hybrid and 5-wood shots, working on getting a good release, but I kept hitting the ball thin. I decided to use the 6-iron off a tee and practice hitting down on the ball. My first ball was struck pretty well, a low stinger; I dug up a pretty good sized divot. On my next shot, disaster: I guess I hit down too much, because when I struck the ball, a loud crack and the bottom half of my 6-iron flew 30 ft down the range after the ball. I stood there dumbfounded for a second and then realized what had happened. I retrieved the broken club and went back to practicing, this time with the 5-iron. It never occurred to me that I might have the same swing fault again, but… crack!

I’ve never broken a shaft before, so this was a complete and total surprise. I’m assuming it was the way I was swinging and not a shaft failure. After taking a short break, I went back to practicing, starting with the pitching wedge. I didn’t have any problems after that, so I alternated the pitching wedge and driver, trying to get the driver to go straight again. I was mostly successful.

I then went to the putting green and spent 30 minutes on putting, first putting 10 in a row at 3 feet, then running speed drills. I followed that with some lag putting from 30 feet. I was pretty happy with the practice.

A photo of the broken shafts (True Temper GS75 steel shafts) below:

Y’all may be watching the men play the Bridgestone, but I’ve also got the Women’s Open on the Tivo. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen on the PGA Tour…

The Old Course at St. Andrews has never seen anything like it: Paula Creamer doing a cartwheel in front of the famous Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole.

The fabled course is offering plenty of surprises to the players preparing for the Women’s British Open, the first women’s professional tournament to be held at the home of golf.

“When you’re watching it on TV, everything seems like it’s straight in front of you,” said 17-year-old Michelle Wie, still trying to get her game back on course after a wrist injury. “It’s just so different when you play it. I never realized that almost every tee shot on the front nine is a blind tee shot.”

Full story: Flipping out at the Women’s British