At least my driver went straight (mostly)
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.