Joey's Golf Bag

Yesterday morning, Jarvis and I walked 18 at Prairie Lakes Golf Course in Grand Prairie. We went off at 8:22AM and finished about 4 hours later. The weather was hot and sunny without much of a breeze. We played the White and Blue courses.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit only 5 fairways, though I had a couple of good drives that were just off the fairway. I had to play off a push all day, and bad things happened when that push turned into a hook. I hit the driver only twice, both were hooks, one into the water on the 6th hole on the white course. The rest of the day I primarily used the Thriver.
• Approach shots. I hit 6 greens in regulation, one of which was a par-3 hole. My main issue today was hitting the ball over the greens. For whatever reason, my distances were longer that usual. I had one penalty off an approach shot, a 4-hybrid pushed right into the water on the sixth hole of the white course (I still managed to get up and down for double despite two penalties on that hole).
• Wedges. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my wedge play today, tending to hit them high and short.
• Chipping. My chipping was pretty good, I got up and down 6 times, though not always for par.
• Sand shots. No bunkers on this course, so no sand shots.
• Putting. My putting wasn’t good today. On the white course, I putted terribly, having three 3-putts (two on greens I hit in regulation). On the blue course, my putting was much better, as I had five one-putt greens and only a single 3-putt. I had a total of 34 putts.

I was pretty happy with my play today, as I tied my personal best (last time on a par 72 course). If my putting had been better, I could have had a really good round.

My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, missed the cut at the Barclays today. He shot a 2 over 73 to finish at 3 over, missing the cut by two strokes. My FedEx Cup dark horse picks, Anthony Kim (tied for 6th at -5) and Phil Mickelson (tied for 21st at -2), both made the cut. Of the top 12 in the FedEx Cup standings, Geoff Ogilvy and Ryuji Imada, missed the cut as well.

Eliminated from the playoffs by virtue of missing the cut and being outside of the top 120 are Tom Lehman, Jason Gore, Jon Mills, David Toms, James Driscoll, Chris DiMarco, and Joe Durant.

Normally, I’d pick Tiger Woods. Unfortunately, we won’t see Tiger again until next year, so the choice is much more difficult. My pick is Padraig Harrington. Reason: His game has no major weaknesses and he performs on Sunday when it matters.

My dark horses are Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson. Anthony Kim is a great ball striker and a good putter. He’s putted well this year, except for a relatively poor performance at the Open Championship. If he gets hot, he could win it, but he’s a bit of a long shot, since he hasn’t won a major. He’s the only player who hasn’t won a major that I think could win the FedEx Cup.

Philly Mick has been erratic this year, but he’s still managed to win twice on very good courses (Riviera and Colonial) and was beaten in a playoff at TPC Scottsdale.

There are some other great players out there, but I don’t think they can string together 4 good weeks and win it. The rest of the top 12 on the points list have flaws.

• Kenny Perry had a great year, but I think his hot streak is over, now that he’s on the Ryder Cup team. He hasn’t won a major, and that’s the main reason I can’t pick him.
• Stewart Cink. No majors either, and he uses a long putter. Can’t go with any long putter guy to win the FedEx Cup.
• Vijay Singh. Can’t putt.
• Justin Leonard. Good player, no major weaknesses, but I don’t see a killer instinct.
• Ryuji Imada. Good player, but no majors.
• Geoff Ogilvy. Fine player, has the game and guts to win it, just hasn’t been playing well lately.
• Robert Allenby. Fine player, but no majors.
• Sergio Garcia. No way. He needs an attitude adjustment to go along with his improved (except when it counts) putting stroke.

Golf is golf, so this post may be laughably stupid by the time the winner hoists the trophy.

Michelle Wie finished tied for 12th at the Canadian Open today. She finished her six sponsor exemptions with about $62k in earnings, which won’t get her a LPGA tour card.

Michelle, go to Q-School, win it, and get ready to play full time on the LPGA Tour.

Do it, girl.

This morning, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Club, going off at 9:30AM and finishing up in 4 hours and 30 minutes. The wind was strong from the south for most of the day. The weather was partly to mostly cloudy throughout the round.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I started out very nicely on the first two holes, hitting both the fairway and green on both holes (making birdie on the first). Things got a little shaky on the next few holes, as I hit two balls out of bounds left, and had to take an unplayable on the seventh hole (underneath a little pine tree). On the back, I did very well, hitting the par-3 11th green with a 5-iron and hitting six fairways (total of 8).
• Approach shots. Simply terrible. I hit only three greens in regulation, of which two were on par-4 or par-5 holes. I had perfect fairway lies on eight holes and hit two greens. My faults were mostly pushes right. I had two penalties on approach shots, an unplayable lie under little pine tree and a 9-iron into the water on the 4th hole.
• Wedge shots. I didn’t do particularly good with my wedges today; can’t even remember a good one.
• Chipping. I had a few good chips, as I got up and down four times, though usually not for par.
• Sand shots. I hit into one fairway bunker, and hit it out but fat. I hit into three greenside bunkers, one a spectacular shot to 3 feet on the 3rd hole (but missed the putt, ARRRGGGG!!!!). The other two, I got out but not close to the hole.
• Putting. My first putt was a perfectly struck 15 footer for birdie, but I missed a 3 footer for par on the 3rd hole. I had two three-putts and a total of 34 putts.

I got off to a really good start, but played poorly on the front, making five penalties, which I think is the most I’ve ever made in a round. I recovered somewhat on the back (no penalties) but my short game really let me down on the final holes.

This morning, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Club. We went off at 8AM with threatening skies and thunder in the distance, but that soon cleared off and became hot, hot, hot.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I’ve never been so good, and so bad, on any day. First, the good. I hit 8 fairways, using a variety of clubs, from driver, thriver, 5-wood and 5-iron. Next, the bad. I had four penalties off the tee, a 4-hybrid sliced into the water on the 3rd hole, a 7-iron into the water on the 7th hole, a driver out of bounds onto the range on the 9th, and a 4-hybrid out of bounds on the 12th. I had nearly all the faults today, hooks, slices, pushes, tops.
• Approach shots. Perhaps my worst day ever. I hit two, count ’em, two, greens in regulation, both par-4 holes. I had all the faults above, plus a fattie or two left short.
• Wedges. Hit a lot of wedges, and left a lot of them short. Not good.
• Chipping. Pretty poor chipping today, as I only got up and down three times, and only once for par.
• Sand shots. I hit into two greenside bunkers. On the first, made a nice out. On the second, barely got it out of a deep greenside bunker. I didn’t get up and down either time.
• Putting. My putting wasn’t very good, but at least I cut my three-putts to only two. I didn’t hit a single putt longer than 4 feet today, and missed both birdie putts, though just barely. I had a total of 35 putts today.

I was pretty disappointed with my play today, as I hit 8 fairways and only made par twice from the fairway. That’s really pathetic. On the other hand, we were playing from the blue tees, and I really don’t belong on the blue tees.

…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.