Joey's Golf Bag

Today, after work, I had another private lesson with Alan at the Golden Bear Golf Center. Mainly, we worked on the longer clubs, and followed up with a putting session. I started out hitting 3-, 5- and 7-irons. He adjusted my stance slightly, having me put the ball a bit more forward in my stance, and also balanced my weight between my feet as I tended to put more weight on my left foot. I hit the irons pretty well today.

I hit a few balls with the hybrid, not as well as I’m capable, but pretty good. We then moved on to hitting the 3-metal off the grass, a club I struggle with. Again, he moved the ball well forward of where I was playing it, and that seemed to help. We did the same with the driver, which completely refused to do anything but hook. He tried out my club and came to the conclusion that the flex was too soft for my swing. I’m having the club re-shafted with a stiff Diamana shaft; we’ll see how that turns out in a few days.

Lastly, we worked on putting. Only changes were to stand slightly closer to the ball and with my feet closer together on short putts. No change on the longer ones. He recommended a few putting drills and that ended the session.

Yesterday, after work, I practiced at Golden Bear Golf Center. The day was cool (for this time of year), sunny, with a breeze from the west. I had forgotten to bring my iPod, so my plan to continue tempo work was dashed.

I started off as usual warming up with the 7-iron and then advanced to hitting the 3-, 5- and 7-irons in random order. At first, my shots were straight and my tempo good; as I progressed, the shots because less reliable. I moved on to the driver, 3-metal and 3i HALO. I hit the 3i HALO pretty well, the 3-metal not so good, and the driver mostly refused to go straight, tending to hook.

My last practice was pin-hunting, and I had one of my best sessions, scoring 4 or 5 (on a 1-5 scale) on half the shots. Usually, I hit about one-third of the shots with a 4 or 5 score, so I was happy with the way practice ended.

Next up was putting practice, which went pretty well. My putting is improving, again.

A pretty good practice on this day.

Today, I practiced and played nine at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. The weather was warm and sunny, with just a trace of a breeze.

I started off warming up with the 7-iron, and began tempo training using Tour Tempo at 27/9 with the 5-, 7- and 9-irons. My tempo was pretty poor today, and I never really got my swing working well. I guess nearly a week without the time to hit the range was too long to go and not expect my swing to degrade.

I had a rough time practicing with the longer clubs, failing to hit the driver or 3-metal decently. I did hit a number of good shots with the HALO 3i club, and the 5-iron was mixed.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. On the par 3 holes, I hit a pitching wedge to 12 ft on the first hole, and a 7-iron to 8 ft on the 7th hole. Those were the good ones. My sand wedge tee shot on the 3rd hole was just short of the green, my pitching wedge on the 5th was pulled and hit the tree to the left of the green, and my 4-iron on the last hole was chunked but ran pin-high left of the green. On the par 4 holes, I hit only one fairway, on the 4th hole, hitting into the hazard left on holes 2 and 8. On the sixth hole, pushed the 3i HALO into the trees to the right of the fairway.
• Approach shots. My approach shots on the par 4 holes were disastrous all day. On the 2nd, hit a pitching wedge thin over the hole. On the 4th, although I had a clear view of the green, the pin was protected by an overhanging tree, forcing me to attempt a punch 8-iron, which I pulled left onto a hump in the rough. On the 6th, disaster struck, starting with a pulled pitching wedge layup hit thin into a ball-eating grass bush. On the eight, pushed a 5-iron off a drop right of the hole. Very poor approach shots all day.
• Wedges. Short wedges were very good today, getting up and down on the 5th and 9th holes with beautiful lob wedges. My only poor short wedge was on the 2nd hole, but the ball still ended up a foot from the hole. Longer pitching wedge shots were either hit thin or chunked.
• Chipping. No chippping today; putted from the fringe on the 3rd hole.
• Putting. Putting was very good today, didn’t miss any from inside 6 feet and no three-putts.
• Sand shots. Terrible. Hit two very poor sand shots on the 6th hole, leading to triple bogey.

I played the final hole with Kevin, one of the instructors at HHGR. He hit an 8-iron to 2 ft and tapped in. I chunked a 4-iron, but got up and down from the rough.

Even though I played poorly with the long clubs, my short game enabled a pretty good score, in fact, the best score I’ve had on this course.

Yesterday, I went to the Byron Nelson Tournament for a few hours to enjoy the golf and the stellar weather. I arrived at the course at about 9:30, watched some groups tee off on the first hole of the TPC. Byron Nelson himself pulled up while Jerry Kelly’s group was teeing off and he chatted with the players while they waited to tee off. After that, I went to our pavillion, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed over to Cottonwood to watch Adam Scott (one of the leaders) tee off on the first hole. I arrived a bit early and watched a group or two tee off before Adam Scott, Sean O’Hair and another player who’s name I’ve forgotten, arrived at the hole. All three players hit good tee shots into the fairway. Adam hit a nearly perfect iron shot from about 190 yds to about 8 ft (and made birdie from there); Sean O’Hair and the other player hit good shots, but more toward the center of the green. The way Adam was hitting the ball, I’m thinking he’s going to be hard to beat at this tournament.

Next group had Chris DiMarco in it; he hit his tee shot into the fairway but his iron approach was just short of the green and rolled back down into the rough.

I watched a few more groups on the first hole, (at least two players putting shots into the water) and went back to TPC to catch up with Camilo Villegas’ group. I caught up with him on the 2nd hole and followed his group to the 4th hole. Villegas hit a long fade off the tee into the water on the right of the fairway, proceeded to chunk his approach shot into the rough short of the hole and make double. He recovered nicely on the 4th hole, hitting a very long tee shot within easy sand wedge distance, but his sand wedge was long and ended up in the rough just over the green. I was a bit concerned that Camilo wasn’t playing particularly well this day, and indeed, he didn’t make the cut.

I headed back to the 18th hole pavillion to get some lunch, watching a few groups along the way. I saw Charles Howell III make a fine approach shot to about 25 ft on the 3rd hole and then knock it in for birdie. There were some other very nice putts on that hole as well, but don’t remember the players.

I grabbed some lunch and watched players coming home on the 18th at TPC, before I had to head out to run some errands with my wife.

The day was fine, the golf was good, and fun was had by all.

Today, I played in a 4-man scramble at Fire Wheel Golf in Garland, TX, on the Lakes Course. Our team shot a one under par 71 (33 on the front and 38 on the back) from the white tees. We had a great time and want to thank the Fire Wheel Golf staff and AMX for hosting the event. Great fun was had by all.

The weather was heavily overcast all day and we got some rain while on the trailing holes of the back nine. We went off the 3rd hole with a shotgun start. Fortunately for our team, we had players who can drive the ball, some that could putt well, and me. My main contribution to the team’s efforts were some good drives on the 9th (3-metal just in front of the creek), 10th and 11th holes, and a perfect 10-iron to 2 ft on one of the par-4 holes. I also had some good approach shots with my new 3i HALO club. None of my putts went in for birdie, although my teammates hit 30 and 25 ft putts for birdie and several long putts for par. The only negative was the slow pace of play, but that was largely due to the large field (most holes had two groups of 4 on them at the start, a definite problem if the hole is a par-3).

Most of the day, I was first off the tee, so I felt free to let it rip. I had two long, high fades trickle into the water, and one duck hook into a creek, but otherwise had a good day off the tee. My tee shots on the par-3 holes were mixed, hit two in regulation, but other players were closer. My approach shots were mixed; hit a few nice shots with my new 3i HALO hybrid, though tended to push them a bit right. Also hit some good layups on par-5s. My best shot of the day was a 10-iron from 105 yds two feet from the pin on a par-4 hole (can’t remember which). I also flew the green on a few holes; my distances are now longer than they used to be due to private lessons at Golden Bear Golf Center. Putting wasn’t very good; as usual, tended to leave them short; my putting counted on only 1 hole, which was for par. Wedge play was mixed, didn’t hit any close enough to the holes for any to count. No shots out of the sand today.

On Wednesday after work, and today after work, I spent the majority of my time on tempo training, and also on putting. I’m using the book and CD called Tour Tempo, converted to MP3 and placed on my iPod mini. Wednesday’s work with Tour Tempo at 27/9 was a bit shaky, but improved today. Much work remains to be done, but I can see improvement in tempo and a bit longer in distance as well.

On Wednesday, most of the tempo training was with the shorter irons, and I made some progress with better tempo on my full swing. Today, I hit the 8-, 6- and 4-irons; I saw good improvement with consistency with the 8-iron, somewhat better with the 6-iron, and not much improvement with the 4-iron.

Today, I also did my pin-hunting drill. Started out poorly, then got some good shots in. I never got the driver to cooperate today, though.

My mid and short iron are still going well, but the longer clubs still lack consistency. Today, most of my misses were hooks. I guess that’s an improvement over a slice… I’ve spent some time practicing putting, and still tend to leave the ball short of the hole, but my distance control is getting better. My putts are starting to miss on the “pro” side of the hole, so I think my reads are getting better.

Tomorrow, I’m playing a 4-man scramble at Fire Wheel Golf in Garland, TX, on the Lakes Course. Should be fun!

Today, Dad and I went off first at Castle Hills, bright and early into beautiful sunny weather with a breeze from the south. And, even though we let our two playing partners (much better golfers) go on ahead, we still finished up the round in a quick 3 hours and 20 minutes.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. My tee shots were good on the front nine (6 of 7 fairways) and poor on the back nine (2 of 7), and I didn’t hit a single par 3 in regulation today. I had one penalty shot off the tee on the 18th hole, pushed way right and had to take an unplayable, and another on the 10th, hooked into the weeds and lost.
• Approach shots. Surprisingly, my long irons were pretty good today. The real surprise was my 7-iron, which cost me two penalties on the 9th hole, and had three chunked 7-irons that went nowhere. Yeech. Otherwise, I was pretty good, having an excellent 3-iron from 200 yds that stopped just over the green on the fringe on the 15th hole, and a perfect 5-iron from 165 yds on the 14th hole, my only green in regulation all day. I also had a good 5-iron that just trickled over the green on the 2nd hole.
• Wedges. Mixed results with the wedges. Left a couple of sand wedge shots short due to the wind, but short wedges were pretty good, but none close enough to single putt.
• Chipping. Chipping wasn’t good today, tended to blade the ball long.
• Putting. Not a good day putting, had only single hole where I holed the first putt (on the fifth hole), but only one 3-putt.
• Bunker. I had an up-and-down for par on the 5th hole out of the bunker on the right side of the green, but had a terrible time getting out of the bunker on the 16th. I did have an excellent 5-iron shot out of the left fairway bunker on the 17th hole.

A fun three days of golf, even though I didn’t break 100 on any of those days.

This morning Dad and I played 18 holes at Coyote Ridge on a beautiful sunny day. I would like to extend my thanks to Melvin and Denny who were paired with us and showed us around the course. Things could have been much worse…

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. Another mixed day off the tees. With the driver, I hit 11 times off the tee, and hit 5 fairways. With the 3-metal, I hit 3 times off the tee and hit two fairways. One of the 3-metal shots just trickled into the water on the ninth hole, strangely drawing instead of fading. On the par three holes, I hit two of four in regulation. No too bad a day, really.
• Approach shots. Here’s where disaster struck. Mid- and long-irons continue to fail. Today, I hit hooks, slices, chunks, you name it, it wasn’t pretty. Most of my penalties were from approach shots with long- or mid-irons. Short irons, on the other hand, were pretty good, except for a thin shot on the 18th hole, that ended up in the bunker from hell (more later on that…). I had a total of 7 penalties today, and most were due to poor long-iron shots.
• Wedges. I had a pretty good day with the wedges, getting the ball on the green, for the most part, including a perfect pitching wedge up-hill from 75 yds to 2 ft on the 13th hole.
• Chipping. Not many chipping chances today, but none close.
• Putting. Again, I had a rotten day putting. Four 3-putts. ‘Nuff said. My longest putt made was a 10 footer on the 12th for par.
• Bunker play. I had a good day from the bunker, getting the ball on the green four times straight, until the hole from hell, the 18th, where it took me 3 shots to get out of 2 bunkers. Good day, except for the 18th.

My problem areas were identical to those I had yesterday, poor mid- and long-iron approach shots and poor putting. The things I need to work on are abundantly clear.

Fun day of golf, although I must complain about the excessive length of time it took to play 18 today. Our tee time was pushed back 20 minutes due to slow play ahead of us, and we waited on nearly every hole for the fairway or green to clear. That was unpleasant.

This morning, Dad and I played the Lakes course at Indian Creek. The weather was cool, with shifty breezes and cloudy skies, but with the exception of one hole, no rain. By the end of the round, the sun was out, but the breeze had picked up.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I was respectible off the tee today, hitting all 4 par-three holes in regulation, and five of fourteen fairways. My main difficulty today was high hooks, only one slice all day.
• Approach shots. Here’s where my game went completely apart. Other than the first hole, where I hit a 7-iron to 15 ft, my approach shots were terrible all day. I hit them fat, I sliced them, I hooked them. My only other green in regulation was the 12th hole, where I promptly three-putted for bogey. Ugly, ugly, UGLY!!!
• Wedges. Very mixed. I hit some good wedge shots, but also chunked one or two and hit a couple thin. My major disaster area was on trouble shots, where, instead of making the simplest shot to get clear, I tried to get aggressive, and it cost me terribly. Much work needs to be done on recovery shots, and I need to be conservative on trouble shots. I hit into the sand only once today, and got out cleanly to about 10 ft on the 18th hole.
• Chipping. My chipping was poor all day, none close.
• Putting. What can I say? Other than the beautiful 15 ft putt for birdie on the first, my putting was simply awful. Yeech!
• Other. Despite my stinky round, I had a couple of firsts today. I played a complete round of golf without losing a ball or having a penalty. Amazing, considering how bad I played today.

Good fun today, in spite of my poor performance. Tomorrow: Coyote Ridge.

Today after work, I went to hit some balls at Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. I planned to work on the issues that gave me problems yesterday, namely, tempo and tension. For the most part, I had success. The weather was cool and sunny, with a soft breeze from the southwest.

I started off hitting soft 7-iron half-swings, working on tempo and (lack of) tension. I then switched to the 8-, 6-, and 4-irons, hitting half and 3/4 swings until I felt my tension and tempo were good. With the exception of the 3-iron, I hit the ball pretty well during this drill.

Next up were the driver and 3-metal. I hit the driver pretty well today, and the 3-metal not so good, but still a bit better than yesterday.

Finally, I finished up practice with the pin-hunting drill. Very mixed results, generally good with the short irons, middlin’ with the long irons, and mixed with the driver and 3-metal. The last two drives were huge slices, don’t know where those came from, as my usual problem is low hooks. Very few of those today.