Joey's Golf Bag

This afternoon, Jarvis and I played nine at the Lake Park Executive Course in Lewisville. The day was warm, with a soft breeze from the southeast. We chipped and putted and then hit the course.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Pretty good off the tee today, hitting two greens in regulation and one of two fairways. My irons were typically just left of the green; I’m drawing them a bit too much, but every tee shot but one was about pin-high (the exception was a pitching wedge on the 2nd hole, which I hit thin over the green). The one fairway hit was a perfect 3i hybrid down the middle; the second fairway was missed when I pushed the drive well right.
• Approach shots. On the fourth hole, I hit a 6-iron a bit thin but pin-high just left of the green. On the fifth hole, I had a shot at the green, but since I was well right, I would be hitting over the sixth green, and players were on that green, so I used a 9-iron to lay up. Unfortunately, someone yelled from the road at the moment I hit it and it went long into the rough.
• Wedges. Just atrocious. On the fifth hole, hit a sand wedge fat from the rough, then hit a lob wedge over the green. A second lob wedge sailed 45 ft from the hole, and I three-putt from there for a snowman.
• Chipping. Chipping was pretty poor today, none closer than about 6 ft. This in spite of 2 days of chipping practice in my back yard. My feel for chipping and putting is just awful lately.
• Putting. Awful, just awful. Only a single 1-putt green, the second, where I hit a 6 ft putt for par. On both three-putts, I hit the first putt well short and the second well past the hole. A total of 19 putts. 😡

I was very frustrated with my short game today, but pretty pleased off the tee. I was drawing the ball very consistently today, but not compensating for it in my stance, thus, the ball was just left of the green on just about every hole.

Beats working, I guess.

This morning, as the sun was rising, I practiced at The Practice Tee with some friends before work. The weather was cool and clear, with a 1-club breeze from the north. It was quite a change to practice in cool weather instead of the usual brutal Texas summer heat.

I warmed up with the 7-iron and then moved on to hitting the 8-iron, 6-iron and 4-iron. I had a bit of trouble getting a smooth swing going this morning. I just couldn’t seem to get moving very quickly. It took a while, but I finally started hitting respectible shots. Next up was the driver and hybrid (I left the 3-metal in the car, planning to try out my new Cleveland 2i HALO, but I ran out of balls). The hybrid I didn’t hit very well today, but the driver I hit pretty well, though an rare hook or slice slipped in.

I also put impact tape on the hybrid, 6-iron and driver to see if I’ve improved the number of strikes on the sweet spots of the clubs. I’m happy to report that my impact zones on all clubs has improved, moving closer to the sweet spots on all clubs. With the driver, I’m just to the inside of the center of the club (I had much difficulty in the past with toe strikes, that problem is gone), on the hybrid, I hit most shots on the center, but low on the clubface; with the 6-iron, the impact zone was at the right location but a bit low on the clubface. I’m pleased that I’ve improved from the toe strikes that plagued me a few weeks ago.

Next up, I ran a pin-hunting drill. My performance was subpar today, hitting only 7 out of 19 as very good (4) or excellent (5). The driver performed the best, 3/4 shots very good or better.

My final drill was more speed drills on the putting green; again, I had a very good putting practice. Maybe some day I’ll get that same performance on the course.

Let’s keep a count…

1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. Bridgestone World Championship
5. Deutsche Bank Championship

Next up for Tiger is the HSBC World Match Play Championship. Can he make it six?

This afternoon, I played nine at the Executive Course at Lake Park in Lewisville. The weather was heavily overcast, barely any wind, and a light rain fell throughout the round. I walked up to the first tee, stretched a little and started playing.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

• First hole, par 3, 160 yds. Hit a towering draw with a 5-iron pin high about 10 ft left of the green. Hit a very poor chip with the lob wedge and two putt from there for bogey.
• Second hole, par 3, 108 yds. Hit a pitching wedge to 21 ft and just missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par.
• Third hole, par 3, 150 yds. Hit a 6-iron fat and short of the green. Hit a lob wedge pitch clear over the green. Second lob wedge from there was 25 ft past the hole. Two putt from there for double.
• Fourth hole, par 4, 326 yds. Hooked the drive into the rough left of the cart path on a mound, leaving about 140 yds to the hole. Pushed a 7-iron well right and then missed long (again) with the lob wedge. Next lob wedge went long again. Two putt for double.
• Fifth hole, par 4, 343 yds. Snap hooked with the driver into the out-of-bounds bank, but got a lucky bounce back into the rough just clear of the out-of-bounds stakes. I had 210 yds to the hole (that’s a really crappy drive), so I layed up with a 9-iron over a tree to 85 yds and hit a sand wedge from there to 12 ft just below the hole. Left the par putt short and tapped in for bogey.
• Sixth hole, par 3, 148 yds. Hit a 6-iron off the toe and the ball landed about 30 ft short of the green. Hit a lob wedge well over the hole (again!) and lagged a beautiful putt from 25 ft to 4″ and tapped in for bogey.
• Seventh hole, par 3, 150 yds. Hit a 6-iron directly at the flag to about 30 ft short. Hit the birdie putt short, the par putt long and tapped in for bogey. 😥
• Eighth hole, par 3, 118. Hit a 9-iron 18 ft over the flag. Lagged a putt close and tapped in for par.
• Ninth hole, par 3, 142 yds. Hit a 7-iron about 30 ft short of the hole, ran the birdie putt 8 ft past the hole, then ran the par putt 6 ft long and then hit that putt for bogey. 😳

Themes:

• Driving. Poor, both snap hooks. I should have left the big stick in the bag and played the hybrid off the par 4 holes.
• Irons. Good iron play today, hitting four greens in regulation. My distance control was pretty good, as I played very conservatively on distance today, taking an extra club on any hole even slightly longer than my usual distance. Also had a nice layup 9-iron from the rough and a very good full sand wedge, with the ball well above my feet, to give me an opportunity to make par on the fifth hole.
• Short game. Pathetic is the only word to describe my short game today. The lob wedge has been my go-to club, and every shot with it today was long, very long. I don’t know what happened; I can’t remember playing that poorly with the lob wedge before. Much practice is prescribed for this week.
• Putting. When I finally got on the green, my putting was good on all but two holes, both of which were bad three-putts. After my stellar practice session working on speed control yesterday, I was very disappointed with my putting today.

Despite the rain and my poor short game, I had a lot of fun today.

This morning, I went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to practice, under heavy clouds threating rain. There was a soft breeze from the north.

I warmed up with the 7-iron, and then switched to rotation of pitching wedge, 8- and 6-irons. After hitting a few rotations through those clubs, and hitting the ball pretty well (main defect today was hitting pushes or fades), I moved on to the longer clubs. I got out the driver, 3-metal and hybrid and worked on tempo with those clubs. I started off a bit rough, but soon had those clubs performing well. Again, the main fault I had today was pushing the ball well right, though I struck the ball well.

I then got out the wedges and rotated through them working on correcting the pulls and fat strikes that I had yesterday. I had pretty good success getting the pulled shots back to straight, but still had some difficulty hitting the ball fat. That happens when my tempo gets quick, and I’ve had to work hard on slowing down my tempo.

My last drill was pin-hunting, and despite some bad shots, had one of my better days where 10 of 20 shots were rated 4 or 5 on a 5 point scale. I was pretty pleased when I finished up that drill. By now, I’d run out of balls, so I went to the putting green to practice.

The pin-hunting drill scale:

I spent the entire time on the green running the speed drill, this time with 3 balls. I started off with 3 balls spaced 3, 6 and 9 ft from the hole, then moving out 3 ft, etc. I had an extraordinary day with this drill, making more than 60% of the putts out to 30 ft. I was very pleased with my putting practice today. Now, if I can just get that skill to work on the course…

This morning, I practiced and played nine at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The day was warm, soft breeze from the west, and mostly sunny.

I started out hitting a small bucket of balls, warming up with the 7-iron and adding the 9-iron and 5-iron as I warmed up. I hit the ball a bit short to start, but soon had my swing grooved in. Next up, I got out the driver, 3-metal and hybrid. My driver was first hooking slightly, then fading slightly, and then right down the middle. I hit mostly draws or hooks with the 3-metal, and mostly straight or draws with the hybrid. My last drill was hitting full wedge shots with all the wedges; tendency was to pull the wedges, and also tended to hit them a bit fat. But, no more balls, so I went to the putting green to chip and putt.

Chipping was not very good today, but near the end hit some pretty good chips. Putting, on the other hand, was very good. I worked first on speed drills, putting four balls one step apart and then moving out one step and repeating the drill. My final drill, I nailed all four putts from 6, 9, 12 and 15 ft, probably my best performance in quite some time.

Time to play: there was quite a wait today, as two groups (one with two kids) were in front of me.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

How I played:

• First hole. I hit a 3/4 pitching wedge slightly fat and the ball ended up about 25 ft below the hole, but just on the green. I putted to about a foot and tapped in for par.
• Second hole. I hit a 6-iron a bit thin straight down the middle. I had about 60 yds to the hole, pulled my X wedge shot which hit on the down-slope and ended up in deep rough. I used a lob wedge to the green (around a tree) to 12 ft and hit the par putt.
• Third hole. I pulled a sand wedge shot well left of the hole, leaving a 45 ft putt, a double breaker. I left the first putt well short and three putted the hole.
• Fourth hole. I snapped hooked a driver into driving range net and had a very long second shot in deep rough. I hit a 7-iron into the middle of the fairway. I had a sand wedge left, which I pushed right, hitting the overhangin tree and the ball dropped into the right bunker. I punched out of the sand, leaving about a 12 ft putt, which narrowly missed and I tapped in for a double.
• Fifth hole. I pulled a sand wedge well left and the ball trickled off the green into the fringe. I chipped to 4 ft and hit the par putt.
• Sixth hole. I hit a high, arching draw into the ball eating bushes on the left side of the fairway. I took an unplayable, dropped in the rough, and pulled yet another sand wedge into the left bunker. I tried to play a soft lob wedge out of the sand, but it went long and rolled into the bunker on the other side of the hole. I played out of the sand to 4 ft and hit the putt for double.
• Seventh hole. I pushed a 7-iron well right of the green, where the ball hit an overhanging tree and dropped onto a down-slope in the rough. Chunked the lob wedge shot short of the green, chipped onto the green long and two putted for double.
• Eighth hole. I pushed a 6-iron well right, hitting yet another tree and the ball bounced well short into the fairway, leaving me 190 yds to the hole. I pulled the hybrid well left, hitting the top of a tree and dropping into the rough on the left side of the creek. I hit a 9-iron punch shot under the trees to the green, where it just trickled off. I had a difficult stance for chipping, but did chip to 4 ft, but screamed in agony when the putt ended up 1″ below the hole, which I tapped in for double.
• Ninth hole. Pushed a 9-iron right of the pin, which hit the green and spun back just into the fringe. Three putt from there, due to the first putt left short.

Hoping to redeem myself, I got another small bucket of balls and proceeded to hit all the shots that I’d messed up on the course. I started with the driver, hooking the first, fading the second, and then hitting some pretty good ones straight down the middle. I also hit some 3-metal and hybrid shots, hitting about half straight or slight draws, the rest hooks. I also hit some irons, hitting them pretty well, not pushing the way I did on the course. I finished up by hitting all my wedges, trying to get them to go straight. I mostly got the pull out, but also hit a few fat.

Not my best day on the course, but I can see a bit of improvement.

Tonight, I went to Golden Bear Golf Center to practice. The weather was surprisingly cool tonight, with a soft breeze from the north. As usual, I warmed up with 7-irons, adding 9- and 5-irons as I warmed up. I started off hitting the ball cleanly, but short, but once I warmed up my distances were longer than usual, aided by the wind behind me. I spent the first third of the balls hitting pitching wedge, 9-, 7- and 5-irons, and hitting them all pretty well. Few hooks; the main issue tonight was pulling the ball a little.

Next up were the longer clubs. I alternated the driver, 3-metal and hybrid. I struck the hybrid very well tonight, hitting it as long, and higher, than the 3-metal. I’m finally starting to hit the 3-metal pretty well; my main issue is getting the ball in the air enough with the 3-metal. The driver I hit pretty well tonight, very few hooks, mostly straight with an occasional high slice thrown in. If anything, the longer clubs main fault was pushes. Mostly the ball ended up in the fairway. This was the best long club practice I’ve had since I was injured in early July.

I spent a few balls on wedge practice, practicing hitting all four wedges to the red flag. With the pitching wedge, that’s about a 25-35% swing, a 50-60% swing with the sand wedge, a 75-85% swing with the lob wedge, and not really getting to the flag with the 64 degree wedge; not really an issue as the flag was about 80 yds away tonight, and my carry distance with that club is about 60 yds.

My next drill was the pin-hunting drill, which started out poorly, chunking a few short and mid-irons. I cleaned it up, though, striking the ball pretty well to finish up the drill.

I had a few balls left, so I hit the driver, 3-metal and hybrid until I ran out of balls and time. I hit the driver and hybrid well, the 3-metal was straight but low ball flight.

This was one of my best practices in quite a while; I was very pleased as I’m seeing definite progress again. I’ll soon feel good enough to get out my new driver, 3- and 5-metal Toski clubs I built a few weeks ago that I think will improve my distance and accuracy.

This morning i went to the Golden Bear Golf Center to practice. The weather was warm with a breeze from the west.

As usual, I started off alternating 9-, 7- and 5-iron shots to warm up and get my swing in tempo. I started off very well today, hitting the ball straight but a little shorter than usual. Next up, I added in the longer clubs, and spent a lot of balls hitting the hybrid, 3-metal and driver. I hit these clubs pretty good today, few hooks, but did manage a few slices with the driver.

The last drill was pin hunting, where I hit the proper club for the distance at a pin on the range. The practice didn’t go very well today; I guess I had worn myself out. I did hit the longer clubs better than the short ones; I tended to hook the shorter clubs, which I hadn’t done all day.

Next up, I hit a few balls, poorly, out of the sand and then went to the putting green and did a full drill for ball speed. I worked very hard on getting the right speed for the entire practice, but had some difficulty once the distance got beyond about 18 ft. My last drill was chipping with the pitching wedge, which I did mostly pretty well today, except for the occasional bladed shot.

Not one of my better practices, but at least the long clubs continue to improve. I need to figure out how to correct for hooks more quickly and spend less time hitting bad hooks.

This afternoon, in stifling Texas heat and humidity, I played a 4-man scramble charity tournament at the Pete Dye course at Stonebridge Ranch. We shot +2 from the blue tees. (The winners shot -14). 😮 The course is long, 6829 yds, rating 73.5 and slope 137, from the blues. This is the toughest course I’ve ever played. The course was set up with extremely challenging pin positions. The greens were the fastest I’d ever played, though very soft from frequent watering needed to keep bentgrass alive during this heat wave. The condition of the course was immaculate, although a few greens had been punched, probably last week.

We started off with a shotgun start on the 4th hole, which we promptly bogeyed. We had 3 bogeys and 1 birdie; the rest were pars. My contribution to the team was 3 or 4 excellent tee shots using the Sasquatch driver, a 191 yd tee shot using the Halo hybrid pin-high, but just off the green on a par 3, a couple of very good mid-iron approach shots, a couple of nice lob wedges from around the green and a few long par putts. I also had quite a few stinkers thrown in as well, including three balls dumped in the water and another lost in the deep grass.

Very fun day, although we did get run off the course by a thunderstorm just as we reached the last hole of the day. At that point, the rain felt very refreshing.

A friend wanted to try out my Big Bertha 2004 irons, so I went to Golden Bear Golf Center and hit a few balls while he tried them out. The weather was very warm, without a trace of a breeze, until a storm passed nearby, giving us a cooling blast of 30 mph wind for a few minutes.

I started out hitting 8-iron shots to warm up, concentrating on smooth, effortless swings. I hit the ball pretty well tonight, much better than on the weekend. I then moved to alternating 4-, 5-, 6- and 8-irons, hitting them all pretty well except for the 4-iron. I hit some beautiful shots with all but the 4-iron. Next up was the driver. I found that if I concentrated on smooth, even tempo, I hit the ball pretty well. Trying to crush the ball didn’t work at all, usually a snap hook. So, smooth, even tempo, worked well, with good distance as well.

I also hit some hybrid and 3-metal shots, but didn’t hit those clubs very good at all. Finally, a few swings with the pitching wedge and it was time to go home.

I was very pleased with my practice tonight, as I’m playing in a charity tournament tomorrow (4-man scramble), so wanted to be able to contribute some good ball striking tomorrow. We’re playing at Stonebridge Ranch on the Dye course.