Joey's Golf Bag

This morning, I played in a GGA ABCD 2 Best Balls tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. We were scheduled to go off at 8:28AM, but there was a 45 minute frost delay. It was quite chilly, but sunny, when we went off, and despite shedding two layers of clothes, was sweating on the last few holes. We played Pecan followed by Bluebonnet.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit 8 of 14 fairways, and none of the par-3 holes in regulation. I had three penalties off the tee, one hooked into the water on Pecan #3 and another hook into the water on #7, and one pushed well right into the crap on Bluebonnet #2.
• Approach shots. Not very good, as I hit only one green-in-regulation, a 6-iron to about 15 ft on Bluebonnet #6. I missed the birdie putt.
• Wedges. I had two really nice wedges for tap-ins, but also chunked two or three.
• Chipping. No chips today, I putted whenever close to the green.
• Sand shots. I was in three greenside bunkers today, got out cleanly but never got up-and-down.
• Putting. I had two 3-putts, had four 1-putt greens and a total of 34 putts. My 3-putts were due to bad distance control, one was well by the hole and the other well short.

Well, my lessons aren’t really working yet. I had a couple of good drives, especially on Pecan #9 over the water (made par). My only really good iron shots were a 6-iron into #6 on Bluebonnet and an 8-iron from a severe up-hill lie on #7 Bluebonnet that was pin-high but a foot off the green. I was happy to have had two tap-in up-and-downs with nice sand wedge pitches, but disappointed that I chunked a couple. My putting was typically mediocre and so were my sand shots. Not my best day, but I still might end up in the money on the individual leader board.

On Sunday, John and I managed to get in 9 holes before yet more crappy weather moved into Texas. We met on the range at Coyote Ridge around 2PM and hit a few balls to warm up. The weather was pretty nice at this point, low-60s and partly cloudy. I didn’t play particularly well, but I did manage to win a couple of skins off John. My drives tended to go right and my pitches tended to be long. The good weather didn’t last, though, on the 4th hole we had some cold rain come down for a few minutes. Fortunately, it didn’t last, and though the weather continued to get colder, at least it didn’t rain and we were able to finish up our 9.

On Monday and Wednesday after work, I managed to hit a few balls at Hank Haney (I had to put on my long underwear as the weather was quite cold, though sunny). My irons are gradually improving, but my driving wasn’t. This afternoon, after work, I considered hitting balls, but the clouds were rolling in and a few rain drops threatened. Instead, I decided to see if Mike Murray could fit me in. He could, so I went over to Golf Galaxy to get in a lesson.

I warmed up in the simulator, as no customers were using it. I stretched and then hit a few balls, poorly, with my 6-iron. I then switched to the driver and hit a few balls. Mike walked up just as I popped one off the heel. Oops. He had me hit a few more and all of them went left, which is unusual for me (I usually miss right). We went back to the instruction area to see what problem I’m struggling with this time.

Well, the problem was immediately obvious: poor hip turn. I thought I was turning my hips well, but the video clearly showed I wasn’t turning. Instead, I was moving my hips toward the ball instead of turning my hips properly. He had me hit short shots with my 6-iron. He showed me where the clubhead should be just after impact; I had the clubhead much too far around. We worked on those short shots for a while, concentrating on getting the clubhead into the right place just after impact, with my hands clearly in front of the ball at impact, and also making sure my head remained behind the ball at impact. We then worked on getting a proper hip turn. He wanted me to force my belt buckle toward the target after impact and to let the club release properly toward the target and not so much around my body. We worked on this for several more shots and the video showed great improvement. I then got out the driver and hit a few balls with the same swing thoughts and I hit the ball much more solidly.

We went back to the simulator, and hit some drives. My distance was considerably improved and the majority of my drives were nice draws. I was extremely pleased and happy with my progress in this lesson. The key will be can I get this swing to work once Mike is not watching me. I’ll find out soon enough, as I have a tournament this weekend in the GGA.

I’m looking forward to it.

This morning, I had another lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I hit a few balls in the fitting area to warm up and started the lesson. I told him about my difficulties with the driver (push fades) and inconsistent ball-striking with the irons (fat or thin). He had me hit a few balls and then looked at the video. My hands weren’t in front of the ball again (a re-occurring theme). He taped a rod onto the shaft of my 7-iron and had me set up normally with the rod clear of my left side. He had me hit short shots with that rod in place. At first, I hit the ball well right of the target line, but as I hit a few more balls, managed to get the ball going straight. A look on the video showed my hands well in front of the ball at impact. I took my sand wedge and hit a few short shots with it, and the video showed good impact with my hands well in front of the ball.

Next, we worked on the driver. I did a few practice swings the previous drill in mind, and then hit some shots. The first shot was a drop kick, but I started hitting some good shots. In the video, we noticed that my wrist position at the top has improved; my wrist is flatter, with the result that the clubface is no longer open at the top. My other, less important issue, was a slight reverse tilt at the top. He had me swing with a 3/4 swing, and on the video, I still had a full swing, but the slight reverse tilt was gone. He’s not concerned with that issue at the present as it is minor.

Today’s lesson was quite good, so I decided to run over to Hank Haney Golf Ranch and hit a few balls. I started off pretending that the rod was attached to my 7-iron and hit short shots. I had a difficult time of it, but I kept at it and started hitting some well-struck, but low flying shots. I changed to hitting full swings off a tee, and my ball-striking gradually got better. With the remaining balls, I played a mock round at Coyote Ridge on the range. I was pleased to say that, with the exception of one shot, well struck (not always straight, but neither fat nor thin).

I was quite pleased with my progress today. A vast amount of work remains, but my ball-striking is finally improving.

When I was updating my equipment list, I realized that I had not added two putter that I acquired in the last few months. The first, an Odyssey White Steel Tri-Ball SRT putter, I bought on clearance. I’ve been using it for the last few months, but I can’t say my putting has improved any since I’ve been using it.

The second putter was given as an inducement to play the Cowboys Golf Club. I play at this fine (but overpriced) golf course two or three times a year when they send me a coupon that makes the course affordable. The last time I played, I picked up an Odyssey White Steel #1 putter. I’ve not played it on the course, but I’ve been putting with it in my bedroom on an Izzo Kickback Putting Mat. I seem to do very well with this putter, so I may put it into play, as soon as the weather improves.

Usually, I’d provide a link to the products on the manufacturer’s website, but I couldn’t find them on Odyssey’s website, as both have been discontinued (though still available on various golf equipment websites).

This afternoon, I picked up my Tom Wishon 919THI driver from Golf Galaxy, where I had it reshafted with a UST Proforce V2 MOI shaft (73g, 3.3° torque) in stiff flex. I also had the club lengthened to 45″, as I’m hitting the driver much better and thus can justify the longer shaft. This shaft doesn’t show up on UST’s website, so I guess it has been discontinued.

I hit a couple of balls on the launch monitor with it and had very good distance (one with a nice draw). None of the balls went right, as I had been doing with the TWGT 7-B2P driver shaft in regular flex. Proof will come on the golf course, but I’m very pleased so far.

This afternoon, after work, I had another lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. The snow was coming down heavily (the kids were granted a day off) as I drove to the lesson. I took my sand wedge, 7-iron and driver with me this time. I usually take the pitching wedge, but decided to take the sand wedge, because it misbehaved so badly on Saturday. The store was pretty much deserted when I got there, as Big D shuts down on the rare occasion when snow falls.

I told him about my difficulty with the wedges, so we worked on that first. He had me hit some pitches, and though I hit them pretty well, he wanted to show me a different technique. He wanted me to set up with a very open stance and the ball back from where I usually play it. I thought I had it in the center of my stance, but he proved to me that it was forward of center. He wanted me to keep my hands very close to my body at impact, and wanted me to use much less arm motion and more wrist motion. From a very open stance, this method keeps my backswing from being too long and thus prevents deceleration. I hit some balls with this method and on the video it showed I was indeed hitting the ball very solidly with my hands well ahead of the ball at impact. When we did this same swing with a 7-iron, it was still impressively solid.

Next, we worked on the driver. I told him that I’d been having to aim left, as my drives were tending to go right. I hit several balls and indeed the video showed I was hitting a little too much from the inside, thus causing the ball to go right. I guess I have made progress in getting rid of the over-the-top swing. He was wondering what was causing the ball to go right, as the swing appeared pretty solid on the video. He thought my driver shaft might have a little too much flex for my now improved swing. We went to the launch monitor to hit a few drives, and I hit them right as well. The clubfitter came over to help with some clubs with stiffer shafts. After a few swings, we’d pretty much agreed with the conclusion that my driver shaft needed to be stiffer, and possibly less loft. We decided to reshaft my driver with a UST V2 stiff. I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

By now, we’d run way over on time, but he had me hit a few irons to see how I was progressing there. I still needed to get my hips turned a little more at impact, and after a few swings, showed some improvement on the video with my hands clearly in front of the ball at impact. Things are looking up!

A really good lesson. I’m looking forward to see how the stiffer shaft works with my improved swing.

This has been a strange week for golf. On Sunday, John and I went to Top Golf to hit balls in the relative comfort of a heated driving range, with interesting targets. I hit the ball poorly; too many swing thoughts from my lessons. On Wednesday, we managed to get in nine holes before the sun went down. Again, too many swing thoughts. I won only one skin. On Thursday, I had my fifth lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I told him about my golfing woes from the past week. We worked mainly on a slightly different setup (more shoulder tilt away from the ball) and then concentrated on getting my hands in front of the ball at impact. We also worked on getting a little more hip turn before impact. We spent the entire lesson on these two items, especially making sure that my right arm was bent at impact, and not straight. By the end of the lesson, I was beginning to my hands in front of the ball at impact on a full swing. I don’t think I’ve done that since I hurt my shoulder in late 2008.

Yesterday, after work, I made a quick run to Hank Haney to hit some balls before the sun went down. I hit a lot of balls, but not particularly well. Too many swing thoughts.

This morning, I played in the GGA tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. There was a frost delay, so I didn’t get on the first tee until about 12:30PM (my original tee time was 11:03AM). I had warmed up very nicely on the range, but didn’t know that there was a delay, so after I finished warming up, I discovered that it would be at least an hour before I teed off. Since it was cart path only, I decided to walk, so I loaded up my push cart. I prefer to walk anyway, but this is the first time I’ve walked in a tournament. We played Pecan followed by Bluebonnet.

While I was pleased that I warmed up well, I was very apprehensive on the first tee. Fortunately I striped my tee shot right down the middle, leaving me with a relatively short approach. I hit my approach pin-high, but right of the pin and two-putted for par. On the second hole, my tee shot was hit a tiny bit fat and I was short and left of the flag. I hit a nice chip and made a short putt for par. On the third hole, I hit yet another nice tee shot, but my approach shot was hit dead right into the crap above the green. I didn’t find the ball, took a drop and proceeded to make a mess of the hole, making triple. Still, I had a good nine, shooting 45 despite way too many swing thoughts.

On the back, things came a little undone. My short game gave up the ghost, and I either hit my wedges fat and short, or thin over greens. Ugly. Still, managed to get around in 53 despite two triples and a quad. I finished up by hitting the pin on the 9th hole on Bluebonnet and tapping in for bogey.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit 8 of 14 fairways and one par-3 hole in regulation. I had one penalty off the tee, a topped hybrid on Bluebonnet #4.
• Approach shots. I hit four greens in regulation. I had one penalty off an approach shot, a 7-wood hit dead right into the crap on #3 on Pecan. I was just off the green on several shots, so not so bad.
• Wedges. Wedges just ate my lunch on the back, either hitting them fat and short, or thin and over the green. Seriously stinky. My only memorable shot (after hitting an approach wedge so fat that the greens crew sent out a backhoe to fill in the divot) was a 1/2 swing approach wedge that hit the pin on #9 on Bluebonnet and dropped 3 ft away. By some miracle, I made the putt (for bogey).
• Chipping. I got up-and-down only four times, so I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my chipping. I tended to hit my chips long.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one bunker, a fairway bunker on #7 on Pecan. I attempted to hit a pitching wedge to the green, but the ball caught the lip and went back in. My second bunker shot was nicely hit onto the green.
• Putting. On the front, I had only 15 putts, but had four (!) 3-putts on the back. I had a total of 36 putts, pretty darn stinky.

Well, I played decently on the front, but my putting and wedges really stank on the back. Still, 98 was my best tournament score, and considering the very cold and cloudy weather, not too bad. I’ll probably be in the money.

Update: I came in 2nd gross for the tournament, and I’m now second on the leaderboard. 🙂