About
Joey’s Golf Bag Blog documents my attempt to become a better golfer.
I started playing golf (some might not describe what I do on a golf course as golf) in the fall of 2004. I bought a cheap set of clubs at Costco, went to a range and started hitting balls. I quickly determined that I had no inate skill at this game at all. Even worse, I managed to pull a muscle in my back. Resting didn’t help, as soon as I went back to the range, the muscle flared up again. A doctor’s visit and muscle relaxants were no help, so my doctor sent me to Physical Therapy, where they used a machine to relax the muscle. Nearly instant cure!
Golf lessons were prescribed.
In late fall, I took the beginners class at Golden Bear Golf Center and found immediate improvement (the improvement being from shockingly poor to mediocre). Naturally, I felt it time to actually go to a golf course. The one chosen for my first foray was the North Texas Golf Center, which has a short nine-hole, par 3 course. My first score (par 27) was 40. Yeech! Even worse, the next time I played I shot 44. Ugly golf.
Other ventures followed. I played once at The Practice Tee, but I haven’t been back as it was much too crowded and the bozos behind me were laughing at my play. Sure, I stink, but golf is supposed to be a polite game. I also played at the Lake Park Executive Course, par 29 nine-hole course with treacherous bentgrass greens (uncommon in Texas due to the summer heat). This course has two short par 4 holes, and so I can break out the driver once in a while.
Like most beginning golfers, I was slicing anything longer than a 7 iron. On New Year’s Day 2005, I went to a swing clinic at the Golden Bear Golf Center. By a stroke of luck, I was the only student that day, and the pro gave me a 30 minute lesson. He discovered my clubs were too short for me, that my swing was very over-the-top, which caused the slices off the longer clubs.
The search for the perfect set of clubs was on. After much research and planning, I ordered a set of custom clubs (complete list) and immediately saw some improvement in both direction and distance. However, I still couldn’t hit anything over a seven iron with any consistency and was completely incapable of getting the ball out of a bunker. I decided to take another class.
The Masters class at Golden Bear Golf Center consists of four 1-1/2 hour weekly lessons interspersed with three private 30 minute lessons, and all the balls you can hit during that month. The lessons were quite good. I learned to hit from inside-to-square, learned that I had too much lower body motion, and finally learned to get balls out of the sand. My slice is now nearly gone (it rears its ugly head only if I try to hit with too much force), most of my balls are now straight or with a fade. My biggest remaining issues (besides consistency, which I will likely never achieve) are tension (too much) and distance (not enough, but at least I’m fairly consistent distance-wise).
So, on with the blog…