Joey's Golf Bag

Today, while we were playing the Creeks course at Indian Creek Golf Club, Chinh gave us a little comic relief. We were playing off the blue tees, and the hole was playing very short, about 105 yds into the wind. There’s a tributary of the Trinity River flowing at nearly flood stage to the right of the hole (see diagram). I’d just hit a pitching wedge fat just short of the green, so Chinh steps up to the tee, sand wedge in hand, and says, “Watch this shot I’ve been practicing on the range.”

Chinh proceeds to hit a hosel rocket right into the creek, where the ball skips beautifully with the curve of the creek. I’m guessing the ball skipped 10 or more times before finding its watery grave.

I guessing he wasn’t practicing that shot on the range… 😉

We all broke up laughing!

This morning, I played 18 at the Indian Creek Golf Club on the Creeks course. The day was heavily overcast, breezy, warm and humid. We went off at 7:45AM and finished at 12:15PM, for a 4-1/2 hour round, not bad for a muni course on Sunday.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I hit the ball poorly off the tee, making three penalties with the driver. I blocked to the right most of the day. I did hit two par-3 holes in regulation, one a beautiful 5-iron to 12 ft for birdie, another one to 25 ft, but I messed that up with my only three-putt of the day.
• Approach shots. Not particularly good, hitting only one par-4 in regulation. I was often short, as I was hitting out of the rough or from under trees all day.
• Wedges. I was pretty good with the wedges today, as I got up and down four times.
• Chipping. Despite all my chipping practice, I didn’t really chip well today, tending to hit them thin.
• Bunker shots. I hit into four bunkers today, including two fairway bunkers. Both green-side bunker shots were hit a bit thin and long. I hit one very nice pitching wedge out of a fairway bunker, my other was a 9-iron hit a little fat.
• Putting. Today was my best putting round ever, needing only 31 putts, and only a single three-putt. I nailed putts from as long as 25 ft today and really only missed one short putt (on the hole I three-putted). I was very pleased, as the greens were as fast as I’ve ever played on.

I didn’t play well today, aside from my putting, but I had a lot of fun and never got frustrated or angry even though I hit a lot of really poor shots.

This morning, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to practice and to attend the swing clinic. I arrived around 10AM, a warm, blustery day, heavily clouded. The wind was from the south and blew steadily at about 2 clubs, which was nearly directly into my face.

I spent the first 30 minutes on the putting green. The main putting green west of the main building is being reworked, so I used the green to the east. First, I hit 3 foot putts until I hit 10 in a row. It took three attempts to get past 7 before I hit 10 in a row. Next, I ran speed drills out to 24 ft, and then practiced lag putts from 30 ft. I was very pleased with my putting practice today; all the hours spent putting on the carpet are beginning to pay off.

Next, I went to the short game area to practice. First I hit about 20 balls out of the Pete Dye style bunker. I left only one ball in the bunker, but my distance control was really poor. I then spent another 45 minutes on long chips. My distance control still needs work, but this was one of my best chipping practices in a long time. I then practiced short pitches with the sand and lob wedges. Again, distance control wasn’t great, but I didn’t have any difficulty with fat or thin shots, so I was pretty happy.

I took a short break and went back to pay for the swing clinic. Alan and I spent the entire time working on long irons, as that is the greatest weakness in my game at the moment. My setup and grip were good today, so no adjustments were necessary, other than he had me stand slightly closer to the ball. The other adjustment was to get me to squat more on the downswing. My long irons are still a work in progress, but I did have a couple of really nice shots, and a few stinkers. In general, though, I was pretty happy with my progress today.

P.S. I practiced last Saturday, and developed heat exhaustion. I was about 2/3rds of the way through a full bucket, hitting driver, when I noticed I was panting heavily and sweat was pouring off me. I packed up my clubs and sat in the shade for a while recovering, and then went home. I haven’t practiced on the range since, except for a lot of putting and chipping practice on the carpet at home.

I thought I would document how the contents of my golf bag have changed since I bought my first set of clubs in 2004.

My original set of clubs was the Signature Series Set from Golden Bear Golf that I bought from Costco. This is a 12 club setup, which has a driver, 3- and 5-wood, 3- and 4-hybrid, 5-iron through pitching wedge and a putter. I soon added a set of Tom Watson wedges (not the current model but a set no longer on their website) from Adams Golf. I learned to play with this set of clubs.

After the completion of the Masters class at the Golden Bear Golf Center, I set out to get a new set of clubs. My first irons were Callaway Big Bertha 2004 irons (4-PW; I later added a 3-iron), to which I added a Nike SasQuatch 3-wood, a Callaway Big Bertha Titanium 454 driver, three Cleveland 588 wedges (56°, 60°, 64°) and a Odyssey White Steel Mallet #5 putter, along with a Great Divider Journey stand bag to hold all my new purchases. I never did hit the Big Bertha driver very well, so I traded that club in on a Cleveland 3i HALO hybrid and a Nike SasQuatch Lucky 13 driver. I took the 3-iron out of my bag and replaced it with the 3i hybrid. This was the set of clubs that I used to break 100 for the first time at Sherrill Park.

I’d been experimenting with building my own clubs, but none of the clubs spent a great deal of time in my bag until I built my first set of irons, Toski T-58 irons. The T-58 irons played better than the Big Bertha irons, so I sold those irons to a friend and played with the T-58 irons for about six months. I also sold him my Cleveland 56° wedge and bought 49°, 54° and 64° wedges that fit better with the T-58 irons.

About this time I read the Tom Wishon’s book, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club, and changed my whole philosophy of what clubs to use. I built a set of Tom Wishon 770CFE irons, a 321Li 3-hybrid, a 915HL 5-wood and a set of CX Micro wedges (52°, 56°, 60°). These clubs joined my Nike SasQuatch driver and Odyssey putter, but I never really hit the 321Li hybrid well, so the Cleveland 3i HALO went back in the bag. This set of clubs was stable until I hurt my back and re-injured it after getting fitted for a Wishon 525GRT driver.

While my back was healing, I built a Wishon S2R Model 3 putter, which kicked out the Odyssey putter from my bag. I also built a new set of CX Micro Satin wedges (52°, 56°, 60°) so that the clubs were all the same length and used the heavier Dynamic Gold shaft (trying to slow down my quick tempo with a little more weight). After I got back to practicing, my only non-Wishon clubs were the Nike SasQuatch driver and the Cleveland 3i hybrid. I played that set for the last time at my swing clinic last week.

While I was resting from my back injury, I built a Wishon Golf 949MC 7-wood and a Wishon Golf 915FH 9-wood (4-hybrid). That completed my all-Wishon Golf bag!

So, how long do you suppose this bag will be stable? Don’t hold your breath… 😉

This afternoon, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to attend the Swing Master clinic that is held every Saturday and Tuesday at noon. Today, Alan Niederlitz was my instructor.

I paid for the clinic and went to the putting green to practice. The putting green to the west of the pro shop is being renovated to a new strain of dwarf bermuda, so will be closed for a while, so I went to the other putting green to practice. That particular green isn’t in very good shape at the moment, a victim of the soggy weather here in Dallas. I first spent some time hitting short putts, did some speed drills and then practiced putting around the green at different holes. My putting was not particularly good today.

Next, I went to the instruction area to warm up before the clinic. I warmed up pretty poorly, even got out the iPod with Tour Tempo to no avail. I told him about my mishap with breaking shafts and then he asked how I was hitting the ball. I told him I was hitting the pitching wedge through 8-iron well, but the rest of the clubs weren’t being hit well. First, he had me get out the driver and I told him I was tending to hook the ball. I hit a few drives and they were hit pretty well. He then had me get out the 5-wood and I described how I tended to hit the ball thin and with a hook. He had me hit a few shots while he watched, which were surprisingly well-hit, considering how poorly I’d warmed up. He then adjusted my setup a bit to give me more shoulder tilt and that helped. He then had me get out the driver again and adjusted my stance, hand position and ball position. I then started hitting the driver very well with good distance even though I was hitting into a pretty strong wind.

Next, we got out the sand wedge and watched me hit a few balls with it. He moved my ball position back a bit in my stance and moved my hands more toward the middle with less forward tilt, and also moved my feet a bit closer together. It took me a few swings to get used to the new stance, but it is clear that that was the main issue with the wedges. He then checked me hitting short and mid-length pitches; with some more practice, I think I can get back to being a good wedge player.

This was a very, very good swing clinic today. Alan can always fix my swing and get me back on track. I really need to go see him more often.

Last night after dinner, I practiced at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The evening was very warm and humid, with no wind.

I started out hitting pitching wedges at the center green, which was too far for me to reach with that club. After I got warmed up, I got out the 8-, 6- and 4-irons and alternated striking each club. I was hitting the ball pretty well with all the clubs except the 4-iron; that club is still pretty pathetic.

Next, I moved on to hitting the longer clubs. I’m still not hitting the longer clubs as well as I did before my back injury, but I’m seeing some improvement. On this day, something weird happened. I was using a tee to hit some hybrid and 5-wood shots, working on getting a good release, but I kept hitting the ball thin. I decided to use the 6-iron off a tee and practice hitting down on the ball. My first ball was struck pretty well, a low stinger; I dug up a pretty good sized divot. On my next shot, disaster: I guess I hit down too much, because when I struck the ball, a loud crack and the bottom half of my 6-iron flew 30 ft down the range after the ball. I stood there dumbfounded for a second and then realized what had happened. I retrieved the broken club and went back to practicing, this time with the 5-iron. It never occurred to me that I might have the same swing fault again, but… crack!

I’ve never broken a shaft before, so this was a complete and total surprise. I’m assuming it was the way I was swinging and not a shaft failure. After taking a short break, I went back to practicing, starting with the pitching wedge. I didn’t have any problems after that, so I alternated the pitching wedge and driver, trying to get the driver to go straight again. I was mostly successful.

I then went to the putting green and spent 30 minutes on putting, first putting 10 in a row at 3 feet, then running speed drills. I followed that with some lag putting from 30 feet. I was pretty happy with the practice.

A photo of the broken shafts (True Temper GS75 steel shafts) below:

Y’all may be watching the men play the Bridgestone, but I’ve also got the Women’s Open on the Tivo. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen on the PGA Tour…

The Old Course at St. Andrews has never seen anything like it: Paula Creamer doing a cartwheel in front of the famous Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole.

The fabled course is offering plenty of surprises to the players preparing for the Women’s British Open, the first women’s professional tournament to be held at the home of golf.

“When you’re watching it on TV, everything seems like it’s straight in front of you,” said 17-year-old Michelle Wie, still trying to get her game back on course after a wrist injury. “It’s just so different when you play it. I never realized that almost every tee shot on the front nine is a blind tee shot.”

Full story: Flipping out at the Women’s British

This evening, after dinner, I practiced at the Golden Bear Golf Center. We’d had some very heavy rain in the afternoon, so the range was mats only. Did I mention I hate mats? The weather was warm and humid, no wind.

The ball machine was acting a bit weird, so I went first to the short game area to practice. I started off terribly, chunking them, hitting them thin, sh*nking one or two, then finally, started hitting a few decent wedge shots. I gave up on the lob wedge after the sh*nk and did all my work with the sand wedge. I chipped a few balls off the mounds with a pitching wedge, holing one. Next, I hit a few out of the sand, getting them all out, but really only hitting one really good shot to about a foot. I then hit a few out of the grass bunker from a severe uphill lie. I liked using a sand wedge for this shot instead of the lob wedge I’d been using.

Next, I went to the range to hit a small bucket off the mats. Did I mention I hate mats? Oh, yeah… Anyway, I started off hitting pitching wedges and then mixed in the 8- and 6-irons. I was striking the ball pretty respectably, so I got out the 4-iron. The first shot was hit a bit thin, but relatively straight. The next one was a snap hook (fortunately, my only snap hook of the day), but my next couple of shots were not good. Remarkably, I got my swing back and proceeded to hit a few more good shots. I then got out the hybrid and 5-wood, and hit a few with each club. I tended to hit these a bit thin, but at least they were straight and I did have one really good 5-wood just right of my target flag. I then got out the driver and pushed the first shot well right. Another push, so I got out the pitching wedge and alternated between the driver and the pitching wedge, and that straightened out the driver, though I wasn’t particularly pleased with any drive. Still, a very good practice with the full swing.

Finally, I went to the putting green and had a pretty mediocre practice. I just couldn’t seem to find my putting stroke. If you see it, send it home, please.

This morning, I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf. The day was very warm and humid, partly cloudy, with little breeze. There was dew on the first three or four greens that made the slow greens even slower. That would play havoc with my game all day.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Pretty mixed, as I hit only three greens in regulation, and none of those were close to the hole. I had a couple of tee shots just off the green (by an inch and by 6 inches). I was hitting the ball a little fat on nearly every shot, so left the ball short on a number of holes. On those that I had a clean strike on the ball, I tended to be a bit long. On the final hole, I hit a 9-iron just right of the pin; it hit the down slope of the mound to the right of the green and rolled under a bush, so I had to take an unplayable. I hit only the sand wedge through 9-iron off the tee as the course was set up short today.
• Wedges. Aside from the tee shots, I didn’t use any wedges from around the green, other than using the pitching wedge to chip.
• Chipping. I had two up-and-downs for par today; on both of these holes I was just off the green and putting. My other chips weren’t particularly good.
• Putting. Putting was just a disaster today. I had three 3-putts, and on each of the second putts, I lipped out. I also lipped out the first putt on the final hole to save bogey. My worst putting in months, and some of it was due to the dew on the greens.

My warm up practice was pretty poor, so considering how the practiced, I probably did better on the course. If only I could putt…

Natalie Gulbis breaks through with her first win at the Evian Masters in France.

Natalie Gulbis won the Evian Masters with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Jang Jeong of South Korea on Sunday.

It was the first LPGA Tour victory for the 24-year-old American.

Gulbis and Jang had finished the fourth round tied at 4-under 284. Gulbis had a final round 70, and Jang birdied the last hole to finish with a 72.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Golf Channel, so I didn’t see the tournament.