Joey's Golf Bag

I practiced and played nine on Saturday at North Texas Golf. The weather was cool and sunny when I arrived, but became heavily clouded later. The wind was from the south, fairly light, one club at most.

I started off hitting 7-irons to get into rhythm and then switched to hitting alternating 3-, 6- and 9-irons. At first, I had very good tempo and was hitting the ball well. Later, I had a problem with pulling the 9-iron badly left of the target, or hooking the longer irons. I did hit a few fades with the 3-iron, but most were draws with the 3- and 6-irons. After that practice, I got out the 3-metal and wasn’t able to hit it well at all, hitting a mix of worm burners, fades, slices or hooks. Next, I got out the short irons and went pin hunting, trying to land the ball at the pin of the target greens. Again, mostly hitting the ball left of the target with all of the clubs.

Next up, I went to the wedge target area and started hitting short wedge shots. Mostly, I had distance control issues, mostly long, and a few fat shots thrown in, which happens when I rush the downswing. I never did get the distance dialed in. I finished up practice chipping with the pitching wedge as the clouds threatened rain. I skipped putting practice and proceeded directly to the course, afraid I would be unable to get in nine holes if I waited any longer. Skipping putting practice would be painful…

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Although I hit only two greens in regulation, my tee shots were good, except for the second hole, where I hooked the tee shot out of bounds. I played it as if the out of bounds were a lateral hazard, though, because there was another group closely behind, and I didn’t want to delay them. My distances seem to be getting a bit longer, as I hit the ball past the pin on 5 of the greens and was pin-high on the rest. I was within inches or feet of being on the green on three other holes, having a bad tee shot only on the 2nd hole and hit a pitching wedge off the tee on the 7th into the hazard (pin-high, as the pin was at the front of the green).
• Wedges. Only one wedge shot today (other than pitching wedges off the tee) was one I left short on the first hole.
• Chipping. I hit a great chip to 2 ft on the 5th hole, otherwise, chipping wasn’t great.
• Putting. One three putt today, on the 2nd. Otherwise, lipped out two birdie putts and hit a 10 footer for par on the 8th.

Except for the 2nd hole, I had a good day of golf. I shouldn’t have skipped putt practice, because it didn’t rain.