Is This Golf?

[DaveLeeNC]

I used to play and practice the game seriously and (at least in the summer) could hold a legit 5'ish index. My interests have moved in other directions to the point that I am now just a 'weekend golfer' where zero practice and MAYBE one round a week is the norm. I turned age 70 last year and it doesn't take a ton of insight to figure that the days of a 5 index are long gone. I struggle to keep my index out of the low teens. And my best drives don't carry much (if any) over 200 yards anymore either.

It is common for me to play and by the back 9 find that I am simply unable to find the center of the clubface. Driver is typically OK (GREAT BIG face and ball on a tee), but the other clubs are a real problem. So I just start taking half swings with everything except driver. For example a full LW gets hit with a PW and a partial swing. A full swing 7i becomes a partial swing 3i or 4i hybrid, etc. If the green is more than maybe 160-170 or so it is simply out of reach (barring some excellent rolling conditions).

The other day I hit a so-so drive on a par 4 leaving me a stock 6i, that I hit with a 5i hybrid to accommodate the likely poor contact. I squirted the ball off the toe of the club OB. Took a drop and repeated that shot. So I bunted a 5w to the edge of the green and walked off with a smooth opening 8 (not a stroke hole so I posted a 6). I decided right there that there would be no more of that. So other than driver I took no more full swings. I played the last 17 holes in 2 over par (didn't make a putt over 6', BTW). Keep in mind that I was playing the senior tees at 5700 yards at par 72 on a course where you could usually run the ball onto the green (and the soft conditions helped a bunch). I posted a 76 which was a differential of 8.2.

But it didn't feel exactly like golf. Playing like that means that nothing off the fairway carries more than maybe 150-160 yards or so (5w becomes my longest fairway club). My trajectory is really low so front pins are a problem. Trouble in front is a problem. Approaches longer than 150 or so become tough to impossible. Elevated greens are a problem. So this is not a strategy that works well in all cases, but on the course that I played yesterday (senior tees, no severely elevated greens, etc) it was effective. But as a way to play the game of golf - not sure how I feel about that. As a desperate measure on the back side after playing the front and being unable to resolve whatever the problem is - I am used to that. But as a way to play the game of golf, not so sure.

Anyone else out there been forced to resort to this approach to golf?

Thanks.

dave

 

[davep043]

If you look at this style of playing as a snapshot, it makes perfect sense. After all, the objective is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. Its only problematic when you look at this as a scene in a long movie, and you compare this scene to some of the others preceding it.

I'm not at that point in my life yet, I'm 64 and not yet retired. I hope that I'll still enjoy playing golf, in whatever form I can do it, for a long long time, but I can't really say for sure that I will. I suppose the best thing to try to do is to keep looking out the windshield, dealing with that's in front of us, rather than looking in the rear-view mirror.

[Ripper212]

Your sob story is heartwarming to me. We should play sometime - send me a PM if you're ever in SE Mass!

[Zitlow]

You need very little practice if you're swinging the club athletically. Unfortunately the golf instruction industry is full of snake oil salesmen who are mostly teaching repackaged versions of the same thing.

[DaveLeeNC]

Only if we stay under around 5800 yards :-)

dave

[Exactice808]

Hey OP, just some random thoughts.

1) Expectation, I play with a group with personalities and individuals with different expectations, this sometimes affects the course we play and even the attitudes on the course. example;

1a) Golfer A doesnt hit the ball long, and based on what he sees on TV he wants to hit second shots with his mid to low irons 7iron and down. This means he should play the forward tees, or shorter tracks. Our group though doesnt want to and or wants to play the further back tees. Golfer A gets futless and frustrated

1b) Golfer B doesnt hit the ball long, BUT is head strong and refuses to play forward tees (Like the above player wants, and they argue about it) With that Golfer B is good with his hybrids and woods and prefers his second shots with his woods and hybrids and does NOT want to hit irons.......

1c) Golfer C is longer than both, but hits LOW shots just like you, has a lot of roll and barely any carry. HE does NOT want to play course that have elevated greens, lots of sand and anything that requires longer carriers.

 

I deal with these guys on a round by round basis, I dont care personally but its a challenging getting them to play courses together as no 1 course suits them all.

 

2) The biggest difference with the 3 golfers above, Golfer C much like you, is the best player out of those 3 and seemingly has a similar play like you. Hits it low and anything that requires carry gives him issues. BUT he is a very methodical player and calculates ways to get around it. He also stays within his means and never overly aggressive. He knows not ALL holes are short sided, have lots of sand in the front or elevated, so he plays to the BIGGEST parts of the green, takes his medicines and moves along. His expectations have changed the most and does not get pulled into what we see on TV. While the other 2 Golfers A & B still are jaded and wants to replicate what they do even though Physically they cant unless they play shorter course and move up a tee box, which is a struggle for both.

 

My point is. We are just limited individual to individual, Some have it some dont, some hit it naturally high and some hit it naturally low. If you do you do if you dont you have a choice try to fix it or learn to play with it.

 

GL OP! Tough decision I am afraid to say.

[596]

All I have to offer is...

It's not how..... It's how many!!

75, that's a great score, BTW.

[scooterhd2]

one of the greatest rounds of golf i ever took part in, my buddy and I were paired with 70+ year old man with parkinsons and his son. they let us know his condition before teeing off, as it was obvious he needed some help getting from the cart to the box and his son tee'd the ball up. he happily moved to the whites to accommodate them. but once he got set, he had a short, but stinging swing that absolutely flushed the ball. a nice fade that never seemed to get more than 40 feet off the ground. you could tell he was a player in his prime. he shot a 81 that day. this is in light rain and cold on the oregon coast in florence.
the swing wasnt perfect. not what it once was. maneuvering around the course required a great deal of assistance. but it was absolutely golf. some of the greatest golf i've ever seen, watching this man out there with his boy. so @DaveLeeNC , enjoy your game. have fun out there. half swing, quarter swing, whatever it is that you have, bring it and enjoy the blessing.

[yycpaul]

What's to say the whole group needs to play the same tees? It's the enjoyment of the game that's paramount imo. I often play as a single and will play the shorter tees as a high handicapper. Play your game and don't let your pride get in the way if playing a shorter tee makes your game more enjoyable.

I just insure that I'm ready to go as soon as the last person goes off the longer tees to not slow down the pace of play

[Sean2]

Well said. I have been playing 15 years and am 64 now. I play the senior tees as that is what is suitable for my game. I paid my greens fees and I am not going to play back for ego reasons or because everyone else is. Some folks may enjoy hitting fairway woods into par 4's, but I don't. :-)

On a side note, last year I played golf with a 95 year old gentleman...he walks 9 holes every day...and he would tee the ball up well ahead of the forward tees. Sure he didn't hit it far, but he hit it dead straight and was having a lot of fun, and that is all that matters. It was a very enjoyable 9 holes. :-)

Dave, I understand what you mean. I had a period where I couldn't find the center of the club face except with half/three-quarter swings. Obviously I had to club up, and wondered if I was playing real golf as well and it was frustrating, very frustrating (but, I did notice I kept the ball in play a lot more, lol). Ultimately though the game is about how many, not how far, or what club was used, etc. Shooting a 76 is a great score, no matter how you did it.

ps: The longest iron in my bag is a 7 since with the stronger lofts these days I find it difficult to get a nice trajectory with anything longer. I can hit an 11-wood (25º) much higher and longer than the commensurate iron.

[Tanner25]

Dave, You shot a good score. I wished I used a bunt swing for my of my golfing life. It would have spared me many slices and lost balls. But, I get it, something changed. It happens in golf, mind, work, fitness - it something we all need to face. As it was said, look forward. Fine tune, your new low shot and maximize what you have. Also, at Longleaf in Pinehurst - they have 7 sets of tees for reason. Tee up a challenging and doable yardage and enjoy.

[DaveLeeNC]

It is interesting to see that there is at least one other person (@Sean2) in the world who has resorted to a 'bunt swing' at least on a temporary basis.
Right now my norm is to assume these problems will not overwhelm my play, try to work it out on the course when the issues do show up, and reassess at around the turn or whenever it becomes more than I can stand. If I were to decide that I was going to permanently avoid these issues, I would "need" to make some major changes to the clubs that I carry.
1) Drop the LW. I used to be really effective around the greens with this club in cases where I did not have a bunch of green to work with where I could pretty reliably carry the ball onto the green and avoid the vagaries of the fringe areas. It is a tough shot/club to hit off tight lies and at this point probably something to be replaced with bump/run. Outside of that I can make my SW work on almost any shot that would normally be a LW for me.
2) Not sure that a 3w is a useful club with this swing. There is one case, however. And that is when I am in the trees and need to hit the ball as long and low as possible. Note that I am not changing my driver swing here. But I have never been wild off the tee so I could drop the 3w. BTW, off the tee I am really confident of my 'virtual 3w'. For cases (getting more and more rare) where driver is too much club, I can take 20-30 yards off with the same swing that I am talking about using with the other clubs. I have been doing that for a VERY long time.
3) The rest of my set is 5w, 7w (or a 3i hybrid), 4i/5i hybrids, 6i thru 9i (my 9i has a relatively old style 45* loft), and my wedges are 50*, 55* and the maybe to be discarded 60* LW. This is at least one (maybe 2) more clubs than are needed to fill that 19* to 55* loft range with half to three quarter swings.
So if I were to rebuild my set (I used to build my own clubs back when I was taking golf seriously and I used all Wishon components), I have up to 4 slots to fill. So what to do here? First I would add at least one more driver. Right now my favorite driver is 10.5* actual loft which is fine for me. I would probably go with a a 9* and a 12* (9* into the wind and 12* otherwise). Or even 3 drivers, keeping the 10.5.
A number of holes that I play are better played with some shape off the tee. Another option would be to go with a 9* fade bias, a 12 degree draw bias, and my 10.5. And I still have another club to pick here. When I played well I had a consistent baby draw which is now gone for whatever reason.
Not sure any of that makes sense unless I am going to do some work on my game. And if I do some work on my game then (MAYBE) this extreme strategy would not be required. My game fell apart in October of 2014 and (even though I was still playing seriously) it never recovered from that point. In late 2015 I de-prioritized the game in my life (adding cycling and classical guitar).
Interesting stuff to think about regardless. @Tanner25, Longleaf is a nice course and MUCH different than it appears when viewed from Midland Rd.
dave
ps. Just to be clear regarding the 76, I did not shoot a 76 (I shot a 78). I posted a 76, FWIW.