Colorado WRX 2017

[pseudoswede]

All depends on what club you want to swing :P

 

He needs to choose carefully, or else he may end up with these...

 

[av1084]

Give her a full spa day week. Done.

 

To be extra romantic, pay for her Lyft to/from the spa book her a B&B in the mountains.

 

Fixed. Unlimited golf, here we come.

[berrykicker34]

Hello, I've PM'ed some of you but my buddy cancelled on me and I have a tee time early in the am, tomorrow the 8th at Ballyneal. I'm driving up from Denver tomorrow. Anyone interested please PM me. I know it's short notice but thought I'd try to pass on the love for the game.

[pseudoswede]

Hello, I've PM'ed some of you but my buddy cancelled on me and I have a tee time early in the am, tomorrow the 8th at Ballyneal. I'm driving up from Denver tomorrow. Anyone interested please PM me. I know it's short notice but thought I'd try to pass on the love for the game.

 

Wow. If I wasn't swamped with work, I probably would've taken a sick day to go. Thank you for the offer, and hopefully someone on here can join you.

 

Just curious: how much does it cost to play there as a guest?

[Gmcourtney]

Hello, I've PM'ed some of you but my buddy cancelled on me and I have a tee time early in the am, tomorrow the 8th at Ballyneal. I'm driving up from Denver tomorrow. Anyone interested please PM me. I know it's short notice but thought I'd try to pass on the love for the game.

 

Oh man. I just had a minor outpatient operation today, and i'm out of commission for at least a week or two. i would totally have taken a last minute vacation day to go play there. Ballyneal the course at the absolute top of my wishlist.

 

Have a great day up there!

[thaar]

Wow, very generous offer! I wish I could swing it, but unfortunately it's a bad week for me at work. Please let us know how you like it!

[brianhorne8]

Hello, I've PM'ed some of you but my buddy cancelled on me and I have a tee time early in the am, tomorrow the 8th at Ballyneal. I'm driving up from Denver tomorrow. Anyone interested please PM me. I know it's short notice but thought I'd try to pass on the love for the game.

 

Whoa. So generous. Just sent you a PM.

[av1084]

What a gesture. Maybe that should be our WRX outing...

[Carl Spackler2]

Imagine driving out to Ballyneal, and there was no tee time...

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Imagine driving out to Ballyneal, and there was no tee time...

 

It's only about 50 miles from here. I can't imagine walking the treeless course in the heat.

[TheKrushh]

Dang, the one day I don't check this thing...

 

Played men's club on Saturday and finished second to last in my flight to cap off a pretty rough tournament year. Piped two OB on par 5 2nd for a 10. Par 5 9th, hit drive 380, pw to 8 feet and make eagle. Nice 7 stroke difference. Won two skins to make money on an 83 which is the epitome of golf.

[Andrew M]

Fair warning: Golf Super Rant Below.

 

 

... I am so tired of just completely sucking at this game. I went out and played 9 holes today, and I shot 50. FIFTY. Five. Zero.

 

1. Twenty one putts through nine holes.

 

I have a 1/3 chance of 3 putting when I walk onto any given hole. That just boggles my mind at how bad that is. And it's not even like I'm doing anything stupidly wrong either I feel. I will make a smooth stroke at a flat or even uphill putt, and it's like the ball just pops and ends up 10 feet past the hole. Absolutely infuriating.

 

2. I am so sick of being the shortest hitter I have ever known and somehow I have lost distance the past month. Everybody I play with or get paired up with is 10, 20, 30, 50+ by me, and it infuriates me that I used to do other sports that have speed heavily involved (baseball, martial arts) and could be excellent at those, and somehow produce a measly 95-something MPH of clubhead speed. 240-250 is regular for a driver and that's not even enough to get to decent spots on the course. I was maybe 5 yards short off the tee of getting by a tree I needed to today and it was a solid hit, but I hit the tree and get ricocheted 40 yards backwards. This is the same tree my 15 year old brother can carry on the fly with a hybrid. I get 200 yard par 3s which isn't a distance that I actually have a club for. Everyone I seem to play with hits 150 yard wedges and around-300 yard drives.

 

And to top this all off, remembering that we are at altitude with my distances makes this situation extra depressing.

 

And on a distance related note, the advice I get from others is "well, swing harder!" -- great, thanks. Or, "distance doesn't matter! only the number on the card!" the only people I have ever been told that from are the people who can fly it 275 and don't have any distance issues. This game would be a lot easier for me if I could have 7i and not 4/5i into holes. If I could actually dream of going for a par 5 in two occasionally I might be able to make some better numbers. As it stands, my 145 yard 7is at altitude are super impressive.

 

3. I can't hit a wedge/short iron straight if my life depended on it. The rare shanks are back -- always encouraging -- and hopefully they don't get worse. And when I don't, it's either a draw wedge that ends up long, or a straight pull that ends up long. It's so nice to know that even if I do somehow manage to give myself a short iron into a hole that I'll miss the green from 120 anyway.

 

4. MOST annoyingly at all, the "wow, you have an amazing swing!" comments are the most infuriating thing anyone has ever told me. I get told almost every round that I have a swing that looks like it could break 70, but I must just be having a bad day! News flash, I've never even broken 80 and struggle to break 90 anymore, and if the trend of today continues won't even be able to break 100. So there is clearly a 30 stroke deficit between what my swing looks like and what it actually is. If I had a swing that could do absolutely anything decent at a golf ball, I would be doing that swing at the golf ball. Early in the season I shot 38 through 9 twice and this is theoretically more difficult than breaking 80 through 18. As the season has progressed, I've gotten way worse.

 

 

The short game sucks. My long game sucks. Off the tee sucks.

 

I am more and more convinced every single day that both distance and being generally any decent at this game at all is ONLY God-given talent and it could matter less how many balls you hit or how much you care or how often you try to practice -- you either can, or you can't. End of.

 

The average golfer is supposedly a 15 handicap and drives it some 225 yards. I know, I should be thankful that I get to go out and play at all. However, If it's going to be a trend that I continue to embarrass myself on a golf course as I practice every day to drive it 230 at altitude and not break 100, maybe it's just time to hang up the clubs for good.

 

If anyone has any questions on other areas in the game I'm completely useless at, please do ask and hopefully it'll make your own game seem much better.

 

Rant over. :( -- sorry all. Hope you enjoyed a good weekend, and your golf was better than mine.

[007iron]

Golf is hard.

 

Chin up and remember that it's hard and expectation management is an important part of the game.

 

I'd recommend a lesson on lag putting and green reading. And then some sort of lesson or check-up regarding fundamentals and setup etc could help with the pulls.

 

Good luck - I hope you find something soon. If not... winter is coming and one of my favorite things about Colorado is we get a break which fuels the fire to get after it in the spring

[pseudoswede]

2. I am so sick of being the shortest hitter I have ever known and somehow I have lost distance the past month. Everybody I play with or get paired up with is 10, 20, 30, 50+ by me, and it infuriates me that I used to do other sports that have speed heavily involved (baseball, martial arts) and could be excellent at those, and somehow produce a measly 95-something MPH of clubhead speed.

 

I think I started a thread on WRX many years ago about how I hit the golf ball very far, but I can't hit a softball for the life of me. Just over the infield is about the best I can do.

 

Sorry to hear about your struggles. We all go through them. But it is true that distance isn't the be-all-end-all; it really is about knowing your game and how you manage the course. One thing to consider is really really really working on your short game. When I was playing my absolute best (about 14 years ago), I missed the green a lot (typically 2-10 yards from the putting surface); but I could get up-and-down about 95% of the time.

 

My round at Murphy Creek was an exercise in frustration. I can count on one hand the number of times I executed a decent shot. I only won CTP on one hole because I bladed an 8-iron between two bunkers and somehow it stopped 2" in front of someone else's ball in our group.

[thaar]

Andrew, I think your mental state is really impacting your game right now. You've got the tools to play well, but I think you're hindering your potential right now with the negative thoughts. I'd check out the following two books: Mastering Golf's Mental Game and Zen Golf. They may help you recover from this slump. Good luck!

[Andrew M]

Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts, all. That's probably part of the thing - I know what it's like to shoot a good score. But to me nothing was ever different between the great score days and the not breaking 100 days.

 

I'm just as likely to go out to play 9 holes and shoot 38 or 48, and that's extremely frustrating to me.

[masamitsu]

Hello, I've PM'ed some of you but my buddy cancelled on me and I have a tee time early in the am, tomorrow the 8th at Ballyneal. I'm driving up from Denver tomorrow. Anyone interested please PM me. I know it's short notice but thought I'd try to pass on the love for the game.

 

Damn - that's what I get for not checking this all the time. I would've cancelled on my MGA event for this.

[masamitsu]

Andrew - That's the life of a golfer. Everyone and I mean everyone goes thru a bad stretch of golf. You just have to push thru it. And believe me, length is not the answer. For instance, we know I'm not long but my buddy is way shorter than me but hardly ever misses a fairway or green and putts very well. He's a 4. I know it's cliche' but the object is get that damn ball in the hole is the least amount of strokes.

 

I will say that when I struggle with ball striking, I almost resort to hitting little knockdown shots or 3/4 and that seems to get me somewhat back on track. You just need to find yours.

 

If I were to recommend any books they would be 1) Golf is not a game of perfect and 2) putting out of my mind both by Bob Rotella.

[brianhorne8]

3. I can't hit a wedge/short iron straight if my life depended on it. The rare shanks are back -- always encouraging -- and hopefully they don't get worse. And when I don't, it's either a draw wedge that ends up long, or a straight pull that ends up long. It's so nice to know that even if I do somehow manage to give myself a short iron into a hole that I'll miss the green from 120 anyway.

 

You can ask a lot of people on here about my wedge game. You're not alone. First step to curing the shanks is something Joel gave me a friendly reminder of: You're probably too close to the ball at address. Back off a half-step and I'd be shocked if the shanks don't all but disappear. After that, you'll get some belief in your ability to make good contact and that belief will allow you towant to take pins on at times. I'm not saying you'll start sticking wedges within 2-3 feet, but I will honestly say that in my practice time the last few days, being mindful of my positioning at address has really, truly made a difference in my shots from 100 and in.

 

And if you're shanking wedges on a full swing (which I do from time to time with my 50), pull the PW and dial the swing back.

 

Like I said, you're not alone. My cage has been rattled more times than I can remember, but it honestly does get better.

 

I'd also really recommend Zen Golf and watching Mark Crossfield do his thing on Youtube. He just looks like he's having fun when he plays, and the most recent vlog (Oddur) is a good one where he plays well and still loses. You can see him getting frustrated but still enjoying the game to an extent. It's also proof that even good players have bad days. \

 

Your game will, eventually, come around. Keep at it.

[pseudoswede]

But to me nothing was ever different between the great score days and the not breaking 100 days.

 

I'm just as likely to go out to play 9 holes and shoot 38 or 48, and that's extremely frustrating to me.

 

The differences between shooting a 38 and 48 can be minute details. When I'm shooting a 38, my lag putts are a little closer; when I miss the green, my chips are a little closer to the hole; I make the 5-footers instead of burning the edges. Sometimes, I'm dialed in when taking a 50yd LW; other days, it might be 60yds (and I miss wildly when at 50yds).

 

I'm sure I could get some more consistency with my game if I had time to hit the range. Sadly, I don't. I literally walk onto the golf course, hit about 10-15 range balls, putt for 10 minutes, then I'm off to the first tee. As soon as I get home, I have tons of family duties to take care of.

[Joelness]

Andrew, golf is hard man. I feel the frustration. Personally, I just missed the cut (+14 in two days) in the CGA Am and I'm only two weeks removed from shooting -2 over three days at the Rocky Mountain Open. I wish I could tell you the frustrations with the game end, but they don't. They only evolve into different ones and managing them is key. Knowing we bang our heads against a wall for months just to have a small stretch of great golf is how it works. The crazy part is the fact that's the reason we love it so much and pay $1,000's to do it.

 

I'm going to preface everything I'm about to say with this is what has worked for me. My experiences aren't everyone's but I can at least speak to mine. It might or might not work for you, take as much or as little to heart as you choose.

 

Fair warning: Golf Super Rant Below.

 

 

... I am so tired of just completely sucking at this game. I went out and played 9 holes today, and I shot 50. FIFTY. Five. Zero.

 

1. Twenty one putts through nine holes.

 

I have a 1/3 chance of 3 putting when I walk onto any given hole. That just boggles my mind at how bad that is. And it's not even like I'm doing anything stupidly wrong either I feel. I will make a smooth stroke at a flat or even uphill putt, and it's like the ball just pops and ends up 10 feet past the hole. Absolutely infuriating.

 

Speed, speed, speed. Personally, I work on my putting mechanics at home in front of a TV so I don't have to care later. When I'm warming up for a round or a tournament I spend 2 minutes making sure I'm square with some dead straight 3 footers and then I spend the whole rest of my putting time on speed control. There are various games/drills you can do. One of my favorites is to drop balls at 5-12 feet in random spots and pick what speed you want to enter the hole for each putt. This REALLY dials in your speed control because you're not just getting the ball to the hole, you're picking speed in the hole (die in, normal, firm.) This works by using the age-old addage of "aim small, miss small." The rest of the time I do a bunch of lag putting from 25-50 ft.

 

2. I am so sick of being the shortest hitter I have ever known and somehow I have lost distance the past month. Everybody I play with or get paired up with is 10, 20, 30, 50+ by me, and it infuriates me that I used to do other sports that have speed heavily involved (baseball, martial arts) and could be excellent at those, and somehow produce a measly 95-something MPH of clubhead speed. 240-250 is regular for a driver and that's not even enough to get to decent spots on the course. I was maybe 5 yards short off the tee of getting by a tree I needed to today and it was a solid hit, but I hit the tree and get ricocheted 40 yards backwards. This is the same tree my 15 year old brother can carry on the fly with a hybrid. I get 200 yard par 3s which isn't a distance that I actually have a club for. Everyone I seem to play with hits 150 yard wedges and around-300 yard drives.

 

And to top this all off, remembering that we are at altitude with my distances makes this situation extra depressing.

 

And on a distance related note, the advice I get from others is "well, swing harder!" -- great, thanks. Or, "distance doesn't matter! only the number on the card!" the only people I have ever been told that from are the people who can fly it 275 and don't have any distance issues. This game would be a lot easier for me if I could have 7i and not 4/5i into holes. If I could actually dream of going for a par 5 in two occasionally I might be able to make some better numbers. As it stands, my 145 yard 7is at altitude are super impressive.

 

My personal story on distance: I used to hit the ball 250-275 with the driver. I played baseball growing up and I wasn't a home-run hitter at all. However, for a freak two week stretch in the middle of summer ball I randomly dropped 5 dingers and then it went away as quickly as it came.

 

It wasn't until I really starting working hard at golf that I figured out what I had mechanically done that created that power. I wasn't using my hips and legs to drive that speed properly. I had done some research and had been watching a lot of instructional videos (mostly Mark Crossfield) and everything and found some videos talking about the mechanically correct transition move and what all the best had in common in that regard. Through my research the sequence of the swing would start with shoulders, hips, knees, then feet (top down) in the backswing to "wind up" and then would be the opposite sequence to unload that power properly, starting from the ground up in the transition to the downswing.

 

I decided to try it and started working on firing my hips and knees first during my transition move. It felt super wild and out of control (still can). However, after some time it started to stick. Not only would my hips moving out of the way clear my body and let my hands drop naturally (stopping my lifelong slice) but all of a sudden the ball made a different sound off the club! When I started making solid contact I immediately noticed that my long drive went from 275 to 325 just like that...... Seriously

 

Again, that's my story. I don't know if that will help you or not. This was a MAJOR swing change and I worked on it for at least a year of almost every day before i could stop focusing on it. However, if this is a problem for you and your sequencing isn't correct you will see an incredible improvement in your ball striking. At the time I went from a 12 to a 5 in a few months. I can honestly say this was the #1 biggest, most positive swing change I have ever made by far.

 

Again, we all feel your pain brother. Keep the chin up, it's all we can do.

[Joelness]

Sooooo yeah, as I said, I missed the cut this weekend. I started out ok but making a 9 on the 13th hole was pretty painful especially considering I really only hit one terrible shot. BUT, that's golf.

 

Thankfully I've met some super-badass dudes on here and those of us that missed the cut went and played the Norman course at Red Sky Ranch instead on Sunday. I LOVED that course. We got the play the Fazio on Thursday but it didn't live up to the hype in my opinion. However, that Norman course is awesome.

 

Ironically, the tournament yesterday got to experience two rain delays and an overall 7 hour day when all said and done. Weather was gorgeous for us..... Suckers!! Lol

 

If I'm lucky I'll be able to make a couple trips next year to visit Chris and have a great time. It wasn't just the great golf, the dude is a blast to play with.

 

THANKS AGAIN CHRIS!!!!

[DaVinciGolf]

I’m a newbie to the site. Posted an intro here.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...-centennial-co/

 

Glad to find golfers in Colorado. I really don’t know many who play.

 

I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for the scramble at RHR if there's room. Seems like it would be a good way to meet and greet.

 

Paul

[deadsolid...shank]

Did an outing date ever get finalized?

[pseudoswede]

Red Hawk Ridge still hasn't announced a date yet. I also no longer can do the weekend of 10/14 since my wife will be out of town. (And the kids are too young to leave at home alone for 5 hours.)

[pseudoswede]

I’m a newbie to the site. Posted an intro here.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...-centennial-co/

 

Glad to find golfers in Colorado. I really don’t know many who play.

 

I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for the scramble at RHR if there's room. Seems like it would be a good way to meet and greet.

 

Paul

 

Welcome to the forum, Paul!

[thaar]

I’m a newbie to the site. Posted an intro here.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...-centennial-co/

 

Glad to find golfers in Colorado. I really don’t know many who play.

 

I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for the scramble at RHR if there's room. Seems like it would be a good way to meet and greet.

 

Paul

 

Welcome! I'm in Centennial as well (County Line and Holly). I tend to play many of my rounds at GVR since I belong in the men's club up there, but do get out to South Suburban every so often with friends from the neighborhood to play. Whereabouts do you live and play?

[thaar]

Red Hawk Ridge still hasn't announced a date yet. I also no longer can do the weekend of 10/14 since my wife will be out of town. (And the kids are too young to leave at home alone for 5 hours.)

 

I think he may have been referring to the outing Brian was trying to put together based on the poll results.

 

Brian???

 

[DaVinciGolf]

I’m a newbie to the site. Posted an intro here.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...-centennial-co/

 

Glad to find golfers in Colorado. I really don’t know many who play.

 

I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for the scramble at RHR if there's room. Seems like it would be a good way to meet and greet.

 

Paul

 

Welcome! I'm in Centennial as well (County Line and Holly). I tend to play many of my rounds at GVR since I belong in the men's club up there, but do get out to South Suburban every so often with friends from the neighborhood to play. Whereabouts do you live and play?

 

Arapahoe and Holly (we’re practically neighbors). You probably won’t talk to me again though… I’m an IU grad.

 

GVR is a hike from our part of town! I think I’ve played 30 rounds since starting up again and probably 20 - 25 of those were at Lone Tree. South Suburban a few times and Racoon a couple rounds.

[thaar]

Nah, my buddy is an IU grad as well. If you were a OSU grad, we may have issues :)

 

I've got a few friends in the GVR men's club, so it's worth the drive for me. Hopefully we can get a round in at some point.