Joey's Golf Bag

…by one shot. But, hey, it’s a milestone! 🙂

I walked 18 holes this morning at Sherrill Park on course 1. We teed off at 7AM on a really nice morning, not too hot, though it would get hot by the time we finished just after 11AM. There wasn’t much wind.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I did poorly off the tee, as you can see from my first three holes. I hit only three fairways all day, though a couple of drives were just off the fairway in the light rough. I also hit one ball in the water on the 10th hole, a solidly struck 4-hybrid pushed well right into the drink. I pretty much abandoned hitting driver, as it just got me into trouble; I hit the Thriver most of the day, not really giving up any distance, but leaving myself in less trouble than the driver was giving me.
• Approach shots. I hit only four greens in regulation (one of which was a par-3 hole). However, it’s not as bad as it seems, as I was just in the fringe on several holes. I tended to hook my long irons, but my distance control wasn’t bad, as I was pin-high on most of those.
• Wedges. I had a mixed day with the wedges, hitting some thin and one or two fatties. I did hit a nice AW to 7 feet on the short par-4 4th hole.
• Chipping. A mixed day as well. I got up and down three times, not always for par, though.
• Sand shots. I was in one deep greenside bunker, and had a good 30 yards to the hole. I hit a nice sand shot with the sand wedge on wet sand to 15 feet.
• Putting. My putting started out pretty poor until I got a feel for the greens, which were pretty fast and smooth. I had four 3-putts, but also made two birdie putts (one 30 footer from the fringe on the sixth hole and a 7 footer on the 4th hole). I had a total of 34 putts.

I was happy to finally break 90, but the round could have been better if my short game had been a little more functional.

This week, I’ve finally gotten some time to practice. On Wednesday, I practiced after work at the Golden Bear Golf Center, and had one of my worst ever practices. It started out good in the short game area, where I ran the sand drill and hit short and medium pitches. I then went to the range to work on my swing. However, after a pretty good warmup, my swing got progressively worse. It got so bad that I went back to the Y-drill from Tour Tempo (no iPod, though, had to make do without it). I finally got a few good strikes on the ball, but by that time the range was closing.

Yesterday morning, I went to Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville to practice. My warmup on the range was even worse than the previous day. I went back to the Y-drill and started hitting balls, many balls with the shorter irons, then working my way to the longer irons. I even did the drill with the 5-wood and Thriver. I’d finally found my swing again. By the time I ran out of balls, my swing was back and I was striking the ball much better. I finished out that practice session on the putting green, running the speed drill and then hitting some lag putts from 30 and 36 feet. By that time, the Texas heat was on full blast and I headed home.

This morning, I put my 550C irons back in the bag, got out my iPod and went again to Hank Haney Golf Ranch. I warmed up on the range, striking the ball decently but not as well as I’d like. Next, I ran a few Y-drills using the 7-iron, but wasn’t happy with the way I was hitting the ball. I got out the iPod, put on 27/9 (voice) and found, much to my amazement, that 27/9 was too slow!

I put on 24/8 and began to run the Y-drill, using a variety of irons. I was doing the drill pretty well, so I progressed to the L-drill. Again, I was striking the ball pretty well, so I proceeded to hit full swings, and was pleased to see my swing improving again. I even struck the 5-iron well, nice and high trajectory. I then got out the long clubs and hit some pretty good shots with all of them. I finished up practice with sand and approach wedge shots, and then went to the practice green to putt. I had a nice putting practice (speed drill and lag putting) and went home before the heat got unbearable.

Michelle Wie just can’t get a break. She was DQ’ed after failing to sign her card.

I respect that a rule is a rule, and Michelle had to be disqualified. My question is why the LPGA can’t make sure the player signs the card before they let the player out of the scoring tent? The LPGA Tour got hurt the most by Michelle’s DQ. I didn’t even watch the rest of the tournament after I learned Michelle was out.

Michelle sells tickets. People want to watch her. The LPGA should do a better job making sure we can watch her.

This morning, I played nine at the North Texas Golf Center on a hot, hot morning. I arrived at the range, putted a while, did the sand drill in the bunker, hit a small bucket of balls and hit the course. There was very little wind when I started. The round was slow due to a junior golf camp.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. My round started inauspiciously when I hooked my 8-iron left and long next to a tree, causing me to take an unplayable. From there, I pitched over a mound long, lipping out a 9 foot putt, then tapping in for double.
• Second hole. The tees were all the way back today, and the flag was in the back right corner of the green. I hit a nearly perfect 7-iron 10 feet short of the hole, right in line with it. My putt went three feet by the hole, and I missed the short putt when the ball hit a clump of grass and bounced left. Tapped in for bogey. I was not happy.
• Third hole. Hit a pitching wedge a little thin and short. My chip was thin and short as well, leaving me 10 feet for par. Lipped out again and tapped in for bogey.
• Fourth hole. Hit a nice pitching wedge 10 feet from the hole and rolled in the birdie putt.
• Fifth hole. Hit a sand wedge too high and short, chipped poorly to 10 feet and lipped out (again!!!) the putt. Tapped in for another bogey.
• Sixth hole. Hit an approach wedge thin and right of the hole. Chipped to 7 feet but just missed the putt, and tapped in for bogey.
• Seventh hole. The pin was just behind the bunker. I debated whether to hit an AW or a PW, decided on the AW. Just as I hit, the non-existent wind was blowing hard in my face and my ball plugged deep in the bunker. I used the sand wedge to blast out, just barely clearing the railroad ties. I had a 15 footer from the fringe, which I barely missed and tapped in for another bogey. Seven holes played and not one par.
• Eighth hole. Hit another AW, this time the wind took it 36 feet past the hole. I hit the lag putt to six inches and tapped in for my first par of the day.
• Ninth hole. The tees were nearly all the way back, but the flag was on the front. I hit a nine iron just short of the green, chipped poorly to 9 feet, but nailed the putt for par.

I wasn’t happy with my game today. I hit a couple of good iron shots, but many were hit a little thin (my divot was a good 2 inches in front of the ball — very unusual for me). My chipping really let me down, as I didn’t hit one closer than 9 feet all day. My putting would have been stellar if I hadn’t lipped out three putts. I blame the 3-putt on the bumpy green. Still, a pretty good day of golf.

I played nine at North Texas Golf in Dallas on a very hot morning. There was a variable breeze from the west. The golf course was in typical summer condition, very firm, with bumpy, slow greens.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. Hit a 9-iron fat, leaving me 40 feet short of the pin. Chipped long with the AW, lipped out the 15 foot putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Second hole. Pured a 7-iron 35 feet over the pin (should have hit an 8-iron). Left my first putt six feet short but popped in the next for par.
• Third hole. Hit an AW so fat, the ball went maybe 30 feet. Hit a sand wedge pin-high but just off the green. Chipped within 2 feet and tapped in for bogey.
• Fourth hole. Hit an AW fat and right into a puddle. Took relief from the puddle, chipped from a downhill lie with the lob wedge to about 6 feet and hit the putt for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit an AW 40 feet pin-high right of the hole. Struck a very poor putt 15 feet short. Pured the putt, but it hit a bump and bounced over the hole. Tapped in for bogey.
• Sixth hole. Hit another fat AW short of the green. Chipped with the AW to 2 feet and tapped in for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit another fat AW perfectly in line with my target, but just on the green 30 feet short of the hole, leaving me with a difficult putt up to the hole on a ridge that goes across the green. Hit a putt perfectly on line but 2 feet short. Tapped that in for par.
• Eighth hole. Hit a 9-iron pin-high but left of the green in a grass bunker. Chipped about 7 feet short of the hole, but pured the breaking putt into the hole.
• Ninth hole. Hit an 8-iron left of the greenside bunker, chipped with the sand wedge 6 feet past the hole, and hit the breaking putt for par.

Today, I had no golf swing at all (one really fine tee shot, even that one with the wrong club), yet I tied my best score on this course with a combination of good chipping and good putting (14 putts including one unlucky 3-putt). In short, I put the ball in the hole even though my golf swing abandoned me. I was really proud of how I played today.

Update: Forgot to mention that I played three balls today (a Bridgestone e6+ on the first three holes, a Titleist ProV1 on the second three, and last year’s Nike One Platinum on the last three holes). There was no discernible difference in the three balls, which were chosen because they were listed as soft, high spin balls in Golf Digest’s last ball test.

Paula Creamer posted a very nice 11 under par 60 at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic today, which gives her a 5 shot lead in the first round and a new course record.

This morning, Jarvis and I walked 18 holes on the Lakes Course at Indian Creek Golf Club. The weather was cool at first, though warming rapidly to around 90F by the time we finished. There was little wind on most holes. We went off around 7:15AM and finished the round in about 4 hours.

My score:

Themes:

• Tee shots. I didn’t hit the ball well of the tee, hitting only four fairways. I either pushed the ball right, or hooked it left and never felt confident over the ball. I also hit one of the par-3 holes in regulation. I had two penalties off the tee, one of which leaked left into the water on the 18th hole.
• Approach shots. I hit five greens in regulation, and in general, my approach shots were pretty good, as I was just off the green in many cases.
• Wedges. I didn’t hit a lot of wedge shots today, tending instead to hit chips using the pitching wedge.
• Chipping. I did pretty well chipping, mostly with the pitching wedge. I hit a couple of close chips to get up-and-down, and also chipped in from off the green on the par-5 14th hole to save par.
• Bunker shots. I hit only one bunker today, a deep greenside bunker. I got out, but not close to the hole.
• Putting. I continue to struggle with my putting. I missed a couple of short putts and had four 3-putts for a total of 35 putts. That’s not nearly good enough.

With the exception of driving the ball and putting, I had a pretty good day on the course. This is the best I’ve done on this course, so I was pretty happy.

I’ve been having some difficulty hitting my 4-wood reliably, as I can generally hit my 7-wood just as far, and straighter, unless I really swing well. As a result, I’ve built a new 5-wood (18° loft vs 4-wood 16.5° loft) using the new Tom Wishon Golf Technology 919THI fairway clubhead. I’ve decided in the short term to put the 525FD “Thriver” in my bag to hit off the tee only on holes where the driver is too long, and to take out the 4-wood and 7-wood, and replace those clubs with the new 5-wood.

That’s my plan and I’m sticking with it, at least through the weekend. 🙂

Specs: I built the 5-wood (hand selected 18° loft with square clubface) to a length of 41.5 inches long using a TWGT 7-B2P fairway shaft, tipped 1.5 inches, with a TWGT V-series oversize grip. I built it to a swingweight of D-1, like the rest of my fairway metals.

Some photos: