Joey's Golf Bag

While I’ve been hitting my Wishon Golf 550c irons pretty good of late, I’ve decided that I’m not quite good enough a golfer yet to use these fine irons. However, these irons give me much more feedback on how I’m hitting the ball than the Wishon Golf 770CFE irons do, so I’ve decided to reshaft my 770CFE irons with True Temper Black Gold shafts (stiff flex, soft-stepped one club). I’m making all specs between the two sets of irons the same (swingweight, length, loft, lie, total weight) so that the clubs will feel about the same (they will sound different, though). In this way, I’ll practice with the 550c irons, to get the superb feedback that helps me improve in practice, and play with the 770CFE irons, to get all the forgiveness and better MOI for more consistent results on the course.

To this end, this morning, I reshafted my 770CFE irons with True Temper Black Gold stiff shafts, instead of the True Temper GS-75 shafts I’d been using. I’ve soft-stepped the shafts one club to match how I built the 550c irons and I’ll swingweight them, once the epoxy sets, to the same D-6 swingweight. I’ve also ordered the AW clubhead that I didn’t have in the 770CFE set, and I’ll put that club together when the head arrives.

This afternoon, I practiced at Golden Bear Golf Center, on a warm, sunny, breezy afternoon. I warmed up with the 7-iron, hitting the ball pretty well, then moving on to the 5-iron, 7-wood and driver. I hit all these clubs pretty well, so I got out the pitching wedge, 8-iron and 6-iron to work on my irons. Unfortunately, I wasn’t hitting the irons well at all. I decided that I needed to focus on getting my hands in front on the ball at impact. I placed a ball up on a tee and worked at getting a late release with good impact on the ball. It took quite a number of shots, but I did get my swing working well again, even down to the 4-iron. I finished up the bucket with a few wedge shots, but I’d lost the good impact and late release I’d had with the longer clubs. My right arm (especially my right elbow) felt sore, so I cut my practice short. I was pleased that I’d gotten back my lag, at least on the irons, but disappointed that I wasn’t hitting the wedges consistently. Much more to work on, obviously.

This afternoon, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville, on a breezy, sunny day. In direct contrast to my last practice, the wind was blowing strongly on my back.

I started off hitting a couple of 7-iron shots to warm up, followed by every other club, hitting about 5 balls each. I was hitting the irons pretty well, but not as good as on Monday. I then got out the pitching wedge, 8-iron and 6-iron, and then my shots weren’t good. I never really put my finger on the exact cause, but eventually, I figured out that I was practicing on a down-slope, and that had put something in my swing that caused me to hit poorly. I moved to another, flatter location on the range, and things got better. I had a really good practice session with the longer clubs, especially the driver. If I’d been on a course, more than 80% of the drives would have been in the fairway, so I was very pleased. I also hit a few good 4-woods (with a stinker or two thrown in).

Next, I went back to the irons to see if I could fix whatever was wrong earlier. I did manage to hit the ball better, even with a good, late release, but still wasn’t pleased, as I tended to hit the ball inconsistently. I hit a few short wedge shots with the sand wedge, trying to get my touch back. I hit a few good shots, but there were a disturbing number of fatties in the mix. I never did get that fixed, so I wasn’t particularly pleased with my practice.

Since the wind was howling, and the putting green still dormant (though looking a lot better after the heavy rain yesterday), I skipped putting and chipping. I’ll be really happy when the dormant bermunda grows back and I can really get my short game back into shape. The practice areas are really beaten up now, both at Hank Haney and Golden Bear, so it’ll be nice when the grass grows in again. Late February and March are not good short game practice times, because the dormant bermuda hasn’t been growng since late October. The grass is starting to green up again, and I expect to be back on the putting green and short game area in two or three weeks.

This afternoon, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville, on a very windy, cloudy day. The temperature was quite comfortable, but the wind was howling at 2-4 clubs into my face during the entire practice.

I warmed up with the 7-iron, striking the ball pretty solidly to warm up. I then hit about 5 balls each, starting with the pitching wedge and working my way down through the clubs until I got to the 7-wood. I then spent some time with the longer clubs, alternating the 5-iron, hybrid and 7-wood. I hit the 5-iron and hybrid very solidly; the 7-wood I tended to hit high fades that were magnified by the wind into slices.

I got out the driver and hit it pretty well once I got it grooved. My distance wasn’t very good, but considering the howling wind I was hitting into, wasn’t bad. Next, I spent some time hitting irons, running through the bag from the sand wedge all the way down to the 4-iron. My ball striking was the best I’ve done since my long Christmas vacation, so I was pretty pleased today.

Because of the howling wind and poor condition of the putting green, I didn’t putt. The putting green is beginning to come out of dormancy, so I expect it will be in good condition again in a few weeks.

One of my better practices. I hit good shots with every club in my bag, so I was pretty happy.

I listened to Tiger winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on XM this afternoon while cruising up I35. I fully expected that Tiger would have to beat Bart Bryant in a tie breaker, but he rolled in the 24 footer on the 72nd hole to win.

Tiger has now won five PGA Tour events in a row (seven in a row worldwide, counting his silly season win at his Target World Challenge). Let’s keep a count to see how far he gets towards Byron Nelson’s eleven in a row.

1. Arnold Palmer Invitational
2. Accenture Match Play Championship
3. Dubai Desert Classic (European Tour)
4. Buick Invitational
5. Target World Challenge (Unofficial event)
6. Tour Championship
7. BMW Championship

Feherty suffers broken ribs after being hit by truck while cycling

Golf analyst David Feherty broke three ribs and punctured his lung when he was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle near his home in Dallas. He expects to be fully recovered in time for the Masters.

Feherty said Friday he was returning from his morning bicycle ride a day earlier when a truck hauling irrigation equipment pinched him into the curb and he was struck by the side mirror.

“He didn’t want to hit the car on the left, so he ran over the cyclist on the right,” Feherty said. “I don’t remember a whole lot about it. There was a lady on the scene quickly, keeping me conscious. The next thing I know, I’m at Baylor Medical Center, the only hospital in the United States that doesn’t have The Golf Channel.”

Dude! Get well soon!

Here in Big D, we’ve had a pretty mild winter until today. Around noon, rain started and has since turned into snow. Out the back door, a flock of seagulls has landed on the sixth fairway of Coyote Ridge!

Texas, not just a state, but a state of mind!

Yesterday, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville, on a fine, sunny, breezy afternoon. I found a spot on the range with a slight uphill lie and warmed up with the 7-iron. I spent the first third of the large bucket of balls alternating the 9-, 7-, 5- and 4-irons, working on getting a good impact position with good lag. I was striking the ball pretty well on this day, hitting even the 4-iron well. Next, I got out the long clubs and alternated the 4-hybrid, 7-wood and 4-wood, along with the 4-iron. I was very pleased; all of the clubs were generally well-struck, though the 4-wood remained a bit twitchy. The driver was an entirely different story; I either hit monster slices or duck hooks. Yeech! I used up the last third of the balls hitting pitches at a basket set in front of the pond, alternating approach wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge. My direction control was pretty respectable, but my distance control was definitely lacking.

This morning, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center. The weather was heavily overcast, with a very strong wind directly in my face. I started out in the bunker, running the sand drill with the sand wedge with half swings. I then got out the approach wedge and practiced the sand drill while chipping. My final drill was 3/4 swings with the 7-iron. In general, I was pretty happy with the drill. I then hit a couple of balls out of the bunker. All got out, though distances were a bit long.

Next, I practiced chipping with the approach wedge and with the lob wedge. It took a few swings to get good impact, then I had a good chipping practice. I then went to the range to hit balls.

By now, the wind was really howling, somewhere around 30 mph, so strong I had to put my cap in the bag, because it kept getting blown off. I warmed up with the 7-iron. My first swing was very fat, and that threw up a bunch of sand, covering me from head to toe with sand. I got it together on the next few swings, and then alternated through the irons, even getting good lag with the 4-iron. For the first third of the bucket of balls, this was one of my better ball-striking days. I then moved on to the longer clubs, hitting balls with the 4-hybrid and 7-wood. I’d also brought along the 525FD 3-wood to give it a try. I started out hitting the ball very well with the long clubs, but soon my lag vanished and I started hitting low hooks. I got the irons back out to re-establish my lag, but it was hard going for a while before I got my lag back. I finished up the bucket with some pretty good 4-hybrid and 8-irons shots. Due to the howling wind, I didn’t make my usual visit to the putting green; it would have a been a pretty futile exercise.

My swing continues to improve, slowly. I’m now at the point where I get pretty good lag even down to the 7-wood, and I’m even able to hit the 4-iron pretty respectably. I’d say about 20-30% of my swings now have good lag, up from just a couple of swings per practice session only two months ago. I’m also able to get back to a good swing after some bad ones, which I’d previously had trouble doing. Now, if I can just get my swing reliable on the driver and 4-wood, I’d be a pretty good golfer.