Joey's Golf Bag

This afternoon, Jarvis, Anton and I played nine-hole Skins Game at the Lake Park Executive Course in Lewisville. The rain clouds finally parted this afternoon and the sun beat down on the soaking wet course. The mosquitos swarmed. You would think we were playing golf in the swamp. The 18-hole course was closed because of the wet conditions.

We went off about 4:45 PM. My day:

• Hole 1, 160 yd par 3 playing to 168 yds. I hit a perfect 5-iron shot to 10 ft pin high, but missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par to win the hole.
• Hole 2, 118 yd par 3 playing to 97 yds, I hit a gap wedge just short of the green, chipped with the pitching wedge to 6 ft and made the putt to win the hole.
• Hole 3, 152 yd par 3 playing to 143 yds. I sliced a 7-iron into the water and lost the hole to Jarvis, who made bogey.
• Hole 4, 350 yd par 4. I hit a hooking drive left of the cart path, with a clear shot at the hole from 115 yds. I hit an 8-iron well over the hole (normally, I would hit a soft 9-iron at this distance, but my clubs were well short last time I practiced… live and learn), chipped past the hole, leaving about 15 ft for par. Left the putt two ft short and tapped in for bogey, but still won the hole.
• Hole 5, 370 yd par 4. I hit a low drive off the heel into the center of the fairway, leaving 168 yds to the hole. I hit a 5-iron a bit thin, left and just short of the hole. I chipped to about 8 ft below the hole and two-putt for bogey, winning the hole. That would be the last hole I would win today.
• Hole 6, 154 yd par 3 playing 155 yds. I hit a 6-iron pin high but right of the green. I chipped short and two-putted for bogey, tying the hole with Anton.
• Hole 7, 146 yd par 3 playing 144 yds. I hit a 7-iron onto the green about 30 ft short of the hole. I then managed to 3-putt for bogey, but still tied the hole with Anton.
• Hole 8, 130 yd par 3 playing 123 yds. I hit a 9-iron really fat and lost the hole to Jarvis, who parred the hole and won 3 skins.
• Hole 9, 144 yd par 3 playing 142 yds. I hit an 8-iron really fat (again!) and lost the hole to Anton, who picked up double money on the last.

Assessment:

• Tee shots. I hit two greens in regulation and one of two fairways. Basically, I had 6 good tee shots and 3 stinkers.
• Approach shots. I over-clubbed on the 4th hole but hit a good shot. My other approach, a 5-iron was hit a bit thin but still a good shot just left of the green.
• Wedges. Just pitiful. I need lots of practice with my wedges to hit them well, and I haven’t practiced.
• Chipping. Pretty good today. I got up and down with a nice chip on the 2nd hole.
• Putting. Not very good. The longest putt I hit was about 6 ft and I three-putted three times. Yeech!!!!!

Not my best day on the course, but I had a really good time, never got frustrated or upset, even though I hit some bad shots and putted poorly, and got eaten alive by mosquitos. And my back felt fine all day, even though we walked the course. I’m back!

Yesterday, I practiced for the first time since June 17. I had managed to re-injure my back (not while golfing) the day after my last practice, so apart from some putting practice on the carpet, I’d not hit a ball since then. A few trips to the physical therapist and much stretching and exercising, I’m feeling good enough to go golfing again. Alas, the weather is simply terrible here in Dallas; it has been raining nearly every day for more than a month. It has rained so hard on occasion that the golf courses look more like swamps than fairways and greens.

I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch on a cloudy, humid day, dodging rain showers and mosquitos. I stretched, paying particular attention to my lower back, and then warmed up by hitting a few pitching wedges at the center green just over the pond. My first few shots were pitiful, but I soon warmed up and hit some decent shots, shorter than usual, and also high ball flight. I then went through the bag, hitting a couple of shots with a selection of clubs. The only clubs I hit well were the longer ones, but my distance was quite short. I didn’t really want to swing hard at the ball and my tempo was off all day. I also had the fats with the sand wedge and never really got over them. I limited myself to a small bucket as I didn’t want to overdo my first practice back from injury.

Next, I went to the green to practice putting. I wasn’t very pleased with my putting, being inconsistent with both direction and distance. Unlike my last practice, where my putting was very good, I never got the ball rolling consistently. I’d made the mistake of getting out my old putter and stroking a few balls; that seemed to throw off the beautiful stroke I’d developed since I built my Wishon S2R Model 3 putter. The old putter went back into the closet. I also practiced chipping, but it took a lot of chips before my touch and feel started returning.

Yesterday was a pretty poor practice, but I was happy to be mostly healthy again so that I can get back to regular practice and playing schedule. The only good thing about the injury is that I’ve been working out each day with stretches and exercises that should improve my golf as much as keep the back injuries away.

Yesterday afternoon, I finally felt good enough to go practice again at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The day was heavily overcast, no wind, and very humid from earlier heavy rain. I planned to hit some wedges and see if my back would hold out, and if it did, run through the bag and hit a few balls with my new clubs.

I started off hitting 3/4 swings with my new CX Micro gap wedge. I struck the ball pretty solidly, but the distance was a bit low at first, as I was swinging very softly to while I warmed up my back. The fat shot was missing except for a single shot, where I clearly got too quick with my tempo. Next, I hit a couple of pitching wedges, and distance was more normal with this club. Moving up, I used an 8-iron next, hitting fades mostly. I was pretty pleased that I was striking the ball pretty well; the only thing missing was a bit of distance from my month off recovering from my lower back injury. I moved on to the 6-iron, but didn’t strike the ball particularly well.

Next, I got out my Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid. Except for the first shot, a worm-burner, I struck this club well. I was pretty pleased, so I got out my new 949MC 4-wood and my new 525GRT driver. I hit only a couple of shots with each club, alternating between the hybrid, the 4-wood and the driver. I was striking the hybrid very well, although, again, my distance was a bit short. I didn’t hit the 4-wood particularly well, hitting low, but this was due to my long layoff and not the club. I can already see the potential. And the sound it makes is really nice. The driver I also didn’t hit well. Two of the shots were straight worm burners hit off the heel. The third one showed off the potential — I hit a powerful push-fade that cleared the right hand net and ended up just in front of the 2nd green. Oops! Got a bit quick on that one and left the clubface open, but the ball was struck perfectly in the center of the very hot clubface. When my swing gets tuned up, I’m really looking forward to using this club. I’d run out of balls, but not before hitting a couple of perfect shots with the hybrid.

Next, I went to the putting green to see if my new S2R putter and my extensive carpet putting practice would pay off on grass. In short, it did! In fact, I didn’t miss a single putt inside of 12 ft for the first dozen or so balls. I was very pleased with my putting speed, leaving only one or two balls short all day. One or two balls did get well past the hole when I was practicing long putts, but at least that nagging problem of leaving the ball short seems to have subsided. My practice beyond 30 ft still needs much work, but I’m very pleased with my new putter and my putting. Next, I worked on chipping with the 8-iron and pitching wedge and I was pleased that I got up and down 2/3rds of the time.

A really good practice today, considering how long I wasn’t able to practice. Following practice, I came home and went through all of my stretches and exercises that my physical therapist gave me. I felt fine afterward, no ill effects from the practice. I’ll continue to limit the number of balls I hit in the short term (I hit only a small bucket today) until my back is fully healed.

This afternoon, I picked up my Tom Wishon Golf Technology 525GRT Driver that I was fitted for last month. After consulting with TWGT on my clubhead speed, swing characteristics, launch angle and spin, TWGT selected a 9.5° driver head with an actual 10.5° loft and a 0.5° closed face. TWGT also recommended to use the TWGT InterFlexx high-launch graphite shaft in stiff flex. Dave built the club to 45″ in length (since I hit the test club in the center of the clubface with this length) and swingweighted it to D-0, which is the swingweight I prefer in drivers. He gripped it with a Golf Pride Dual Duometer midsize grip, which is my preferred grip for drivers.

Some photos:

My lower back pain is nearly gone, so I’m off to the range tomorrow (weather permitting).

This afternoon, I bent my new Tom Wishon Golf CX Micro Satin Wedges for loft and lie. I also bent my TWGT 770CFE pitching wedge loft to 48° from 49°, to make it a few yards closer in distance to my 9-iron.

Here are the specs for my TWGT 770CFE irons (3-PW) and TWGT CX Micro wedges (GW, SW, LW):

With luck, my lower back will be better and I’ll be able to hit balls this weekend and maybe even play nine.

I completed my new Tom Wishon Golf Technology 949MC Fairway 4-wood that I began constructing on Sunday. I built the club to 42 inches with a swingweight of D-1. Instead of the Dual Duometer midsize grip I’d planned, I used the new Golf Pride DD2 midsize grip.

TWGT 949MC 4-wood with cover.

TWGT 949MC 4-wood.

TWGT 949MC 4-wood back.

I completed the Tom Wishon Golf Technology CX Micro wedges I started building on Sunday. The only thing left to complete is to bend them to 66° lie angle and then test them on a lie board to ensure that the lie angle is correct. I’ll bend them tonight, but testing on a lie board will have to wait until my back is better.

Specs:

TWGT CX Micro Satin Wedges, 52°, 56° and 60°.

TWGT CX Micro Satin Wedge, face.

TWGT CX Micro Satin Wedge, back.

I’ve been unable to play or practice (except for chipping and putting) due to lower back pain, so I decided to build some new clubs in the meantime. I’ve been hitting my 5-wood (Wishon Golf 915HL fairway wood with a Wishon Golf Series 7-SUL-55 shaft) pretty well, but I want that club to be a bit longer. I decided to build a 4-wood to replace it. I chose the Wishon Golf 949MC fairway wood, 16.5° loft, with a Wishon Golf Series 7-B2P fairway shaft, built to 42 inches in length. The 949MC fairway wood is the first shallow-faced fairway wood with a coefficient of restitution of 0.830. I epoxied the club together this morning and will swingweight it to D-2 and put on a Golf Pride Dual Duometer midsize grip tomorrow after the epoxy sets up.

I’ve been loving my Wishon Golf CX Micro Platinum wedges, but I’ve been having a problem hitting the wedges fat. My theory is that the clubs are too light compared to the Cleveland 588 wedges I’d used previously; more weight should serve to slow down my tempo. When my tempo gets fast, I tend to hit fat. So, I decided to build a new set of CX Micro wedges, using True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts, which are about 15g heavier than the Wishon Golf Series 5 steel shafts I used before. I also decided to go back to the Golf Pride New Decade Multi-compound midsize grips I used before. I am also simplifying the wedges by making them all the same length (36 inches), total weight and swingweight, so all three wedges feel and play the same. I epoxied the clubs together this morning and will finish them up tomorrow and bend them to my preferred 66° lie.

I’ll post some photos of the new clubs tomorrow after I finish them.

Ever since I went to the swing clinic, I’ve been unable to hit any golf balls due to my aching lower back. I’ve been to my physical therapist twice and my back is improving, so I hope to get back out on the course soon.

The only good thing about my back injury is my putting. I can still practice putting, as long as I practice only 10 minutes at a time. So, ever since I built my new S2R putter, I’ve been practicing my putting 3 or 4 times a day (on the carpet) and my putting stroke is really getting grooved.

I really, really can’t wait to get back out on the course.

Earlier this week, I built a new putter using a Tom Wishon Golf S2R Model 3 putter head. I used the Tom Wishon Golf straight putter shaft (no link I can find) and a Tom Wishon Golf V-Series putter grip. The club was built to 34.5 inches in length and has a swingweight of E-4.

I have not hit my new putter on a putting green yet, but I’ve been hitting some very nice putts on the carpet and am very pleased with the sound, touch and performance.