Rich S: shot my low round and won

[rich_s2]

Took 2nd to last in my flight in the tournament today. Shot a 87 and it was the worst golf of the year. Windy, missed a few short putts early and just did nothing well. Normally I can say what went wrong, I just don’t know. My back is starting to give me problems again so I’m taking some time off but that was not the issue today. Frustrating but it’s more motivating that anything. I know if I keep putting in the work that overall I will just keep getting better

[DLev45]

Bummer, Rich. Had a disappointing round myself this weekend with a 79.

Over 6 rounds in July, I had been putting really well with SG:Putting of -1.24/round, averaging 29.5 putts and 82 feet of makes/round.

My approach (-4.86/round) and short game (-1.28/round) was needing work, so I put in a lot of time at the range and chipping green the past two weeks and didn't touch my putter.

Came out Saturday for the first round of August with a lot of confidence. SG:Approach was -3.55 and Short Game was +0.18, so the work was showing up. But my putting performance was atrocious. SG:Putting: -5.95, 34 putts, 53 feet of makes, 3 three-putts en route to 79. I only made 1 putt outside of 4 feet all day, and that was an 8-footer on #14.

Hit 6/9 GIR on the front and shot 40. Probably my worst putting performance of the year.

I always try to come away with a good takeaway, and from this one it’s the experience of knowing not to take good putting form for granted when putting in work, and that I can keep it in the 70s on a terrible putting day.

[rich_s2]

Been in a funk lately. Time to get focused again and get back to basics. I am going to chronicle my next 20 rounds so I can see the stats and try to keep improving. Would be nice to break thru a -1 handicap by the end of it. Should be a fun journey! The big thing I am working on in my full swing is to not get flippy. I do this by being more patient in the transition and not fire my lower body so quick. I am also in the middle of changing my wedge play as talked about earlier in this thread.

Round #1 WINDY

6572yds

71.8/133

 

Hole 1-par 4 Dog leg that I can cover but wind pushed it down and caught the last bunker. Awkward stance, over drew into greenside bunker, bunker shot to 15', 2 putt bogey

hole 2-par 5 perfect drive, drew 4i around trees but rolled over green, difficult chip to 8' 2 putt par

hole 3-par 3 tee shot into right bunker, up and down par

hole 4- par 4 fairway hit, wedge to 12', 2 putt par

hole 5-par 4 fairway hit, missed approach short right, up and down par

hole 6-par 4 just missed fairway, approach to 25', 2 putt par

hole 7-par 5 missed fairway, punch out, hook 7i to 50', 2 putt par

hole 8-par 3 missed green into tall grass, up and down par

hole 9-missed fairway, punch out, wedge to 20', 2 putt bogey

2 over

hole 10- par4  hit trees right in front of tee box, 3w to left of green, chip to 12', 2 putt bogey

hole 11- par 5 hit fairway, cut 2i to 40' 2 putt birdie

hole 12-par 4 missed fairway, punch out, 9i to 3', 1 putt par

hole 13-par 3 green hit to 40', 2 putt par

hole 14-par 4 just missed fairway, wedge to 12', 2 putt par

hole 15-par 5 drove through dogleg deep in trees, punch out, 8i to 15', 2 putt par

hole 16-par 4 missed fairway right, punch out, miss green right, 2 putt double bogey

hole 17-par 3 over drew deep left into trees, chip to 30', 2 putt bogey

hole 18-par 4 just missed fairway, wedge to 20', 2 putt par

 

5 over 77

Handicap for this round-4.4

Current handicap 2.1

 

putts-32

Fairways-4/14

GIR-9/18

up/down-4/9

3 putts-zero

Eagles-0

birdies-1

pars-12

bogeys-4

double bogey-1

 

 

Mental notes: it was getting dark and we had to rush to get the round done in time. Lost focus towards the end. Left 4 putts dead in the jaws short, Get the ball to the hole. Most of the misses were right other than on 1 and 17. Did not hit one fairway with the 2i, every miss was right with it. 

Practice: Buy a plastic tee and hit 2i on the range, 10 good shots in a row. 15' putts, 20 in a row within 2' PAST the hole. 

This was a match and I did win! 

Edited August 24, 2020 by rich_s2

[rich_s2]

Round #2

6906 yds

73.3/136

 

hole 1-par 4 fairway hit, 179 7i to 26’ par

hole 2- par 5 missed fairway right, 3W into left trees, 2i punch over green, chip 2 putt bogey

hole 3-208yd par 3 5i to 8’ birdie

hole 4-par 4 fairway hit, 82 yd wedge to 14’ 2 putt par

hole 5- Par 4 fairway hit, 146 9i to 17’ 2 putt par

hole 6- par 4 2i fairway hit, 210 4i to just in front of green, up and down par

hole 7- par 5 missed fairway left, 2i that was delofted too low and caught rough, 2i draw thru trees just just in front of green, up and down par

hole 8- 198yd par 3 to 24’ 2 putt par
hole 9- 2i left hit tree and bounce back into fairway, 202 yds tried to draw 5i around green side tree and hit into water, 80 yd drop, wedge to 12’ two putt double bogey

2 over

hole 10- par 4 2i fairway hit, 147 9i left of green, up and down par

hole 11- par 5 fairway hit, 3W just short of green, chip to 6’ birdie

hole 12- par 4 fairway hit, 3W left of green, chip to 16’ two putt bogey

hole 13- 150 ya par 3 8i to 45’ par

hole 14- par 4 fairway hit, 78 yd wedge to 4’ birdie

hole 15- par 5 fairway hit, tried to fade 5i around trees but went thru fairway, 79yd wedge over green, chip and 2 putt bogey

hole 16- par 4 missed fairway left, 2i to just off green, up and down par

hole 17- 165yd par 3 8i to 35’, two putt par

hole 18- par 4 missed fairway left, 120yd gap wedge into green side bunker, up and down par

 

2 over 74

handicap for this round .8

current handicap 1.8

 

28 putts

10/14 fairways

9/18 GIR

 

putts-28

Fairways-10/14

GIR-9/18

up/down-5/9

3 putts-zero

Eagles-0

birdies-3

pars-11

bogeys-3

double bogey-1

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by rich_s2

[rich_s2]

Round #3

6906 yds

73.3/136

 

hole 1- par 4 2i fairway hit, 164 81 right of green, up and down par

hole 2- par 5 fairway hit, driver off deck thinned to 124yds, GW to 12' 2 putt par

hole 3- par 4 fairway hit, thinned 3W right to 56yds, chip to 8' two putt bogey

hole 4- 148 yd par 3 8i to 22', 2 putt par

hole 5- par 4 fairway hit, 71 yd PW to 18', 2 putt par

hole 6- par 5 fairway hit, thinned 3W to 136yds, GW to 32', 2 putt par

hole 7- par 4 missed fairway right into bunker, 182yd 5i left of green, chip to 15', 2 putt bogey

hole 8- 165yd par 3 8i to 6', birdie

hole 9- par 4 missed fairway left, 138yd gap wedge to 16', 2 putt par

1 over

hole 10-par 4 fairway hit, 156yd choke down 8i left of green, chip to 12', 2 putt bogey

hole11- par 5 hit fairway, 3W to 68yds, PW to fringe, up and down par

hole12-196 yd par 3 5i thinned/shanked right into trees, duff chip, up and down bogey

hole13-par 4 fairway hit, 71yd PW to 14’ 2 putt par

hole14- Par 4 fairway hit, 132 choke down PW to 17’ 2 putt par

hole15- par 4 2i missed fairway right, 195 punch slice 2i to 68yds, choke down 60 to 12', 2 putt bogey

hole16- par 5 missed fairway left, 5i hook punch into right rough, 124yd PW into bunker, 2 putt bogey

hole17- 198yd par 3 5i right into greenside bunker, up and down par
hole18- par 4 2i fade fairway hit, 136yd PW to 23', 2 putt par

 

5 over 77

handicap for this round 3.2

current handicap 2.1

 

putts-31

Fairways-10/14

GIR-9/18

up/down-4/9

3 putts-zero

Eagles-0

birdies-1

pars-11

bogeys-6

double bogey-0

 

Did a long drive competition with a 15 year old on the range a few days ago and that was a horrible idea as my back is shot. Ball striking was horrible, did not flush anything this round. 3W was horrible. Made some good par save putts but for the most part, putting was off because proximity was horrible. Chipping was not good either. 

 

Going to let the back rest two days. Roll the peanut on my back before bed and take some alieve. I will work on short game in the mean time and putting. I will play 1-2 rounds later in the week. Next tournament is Sunday on a course I have played once but I like the track! Can't wait

Edited August 24, 2020 by rich_s2

[rich_s2]

Smooth PW from tonight. Trying to stay over the ball better. I have a tendency to fire the hips and dump the club. Still sucks but I think it’s getting better

 

 

[sprcoop]

I can't find it but AMG did a vid on covering the ball saying the pros at impact have the center of hips just past and head just behind.  Looks like you "covered" it.

 

[rich_s2]

23 minutes ago, sprcoop said:

I can't find it but AMG did a vid on covering the ball saying the pros at impact have the center of hips just past and head just behind.  Looks like you "covered" it.

 

I think my hips are still too far forward but man that is a hard one to reprogram! Like Dan says, 1% better each session. 

[sprcoop]

I figured since you had not gotten your hip beyond your foot you were  still in the "go zone".  I wish I could keep my positions in an acceptable range but not happening.

[airjammer]

45 minutes ago, rich_s2 said:

I think my hips are still too far forward but man that is a hard one to reprogram! Like Dan says, 1% better each session. 

Imo your hips aren’t too far forward you just have too much secondary axis tilt for a pitching wedge. I’m not a instructor but I think a bunch would say you need more spine extension at the end of your backswing. 

[sprcoop]

Found it lines drawn showing covered at 5:50.

 

 

[rich_s2]

35 minutes ago, airjammer said:

Imo your hips aren’t too far forward you just have too much secondary axis tilt for a pitching wedge. I’m not a instructor but I think a bunch would say you need more spine extension at the end of your backswing. 

extension is a scary thing for me. Every time in the past I tried to extend more I had back issues if I rushed the downswing. Its been a while since I have tried it but for some reason that extra spine tilt is easier on my back. 

[Obee]

So do you have 20 rounds of data yet, bud?

[rich_s2]

6 minutes ago, Obee said:

So do you have 20 rounds of data yet, bud?

up to round 3 a few posts up. It is already eye opening. I try to guess my stats before going through them. My GIR is lower than I think. Going to focus on hitting more greens. My irons have been off a little lately and I need to make my lines more conservative I think when I am swinging like crap. I also need to get those putts to the hole. Zero three putts in three rounds but not enough birdies and too many left short in the jaws. Round 4 is coming later this week. Letting my back rest a bit

[DavePelz4]

18 hours ago, rich_s2 said:

Smooth PW from tonight. Trying to stay over the ball better. I have a tendency to fire the hips and dump the club. Still sucks but I think it’s getting better

 

 

 

Great sound Rich!

[rich_s2]

19 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Great sound Rich!

Thanks Gary! Hows your game this year?

[DavePelz4]

Truthfully Rich, disappointing. Range sessions are promising, at times the same is displayed on the course but the consistency from hole to hole is just frustrating. It appears to be a mental issue as opposed to physical. The good of the season has been the amazing schedule of courses we've played and in our comp, I sit in 3rd with 3 rounds remaining.  So there's still time if I can get it together.

 

Thanks for asking!

[rich_s2]

37 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

Truthfully Rich, disappointing. Range sessions are promising, at times the same is displayed on the course but the consistency from hole to hole is just frustrating. It appears to be a mental issue as opposed to physical. The good of the season has been the amazing schedule of courses we've played and in our comp, I sit in 3rd with 3 rounds remaining.  So there's still time if I can get it together.

 

Thanks for asking!

all of our club players are in the same boat including myself. One guy has done ok but the rest of us have just not lit it up like we hoped. Still time yet this year to finish strong!

[BogeyBrian]

check out Monte's 68 ballerina video. your right elbow is way behind your hip and not in front at p6. i had the same problem not synching my arms and pivot . helped 

 

 

[rich_s2]

ugh, no words. Shot an 84 in the tournament yesterday. Missed 2 fairways. It was colder and the ball did not fly as far so my yardages were off. Missed a few greens early and it rattled my confidence in my yardages. Short game was total crap and caught a few bad breaks that were momentum killers. Back is shot, tried to extend more in my backswing this last week and once again I got back issues. Thats what I get for taking a video of my swing lol. 

 

Rating 72.7/131 Round Handicap 9.7

current handicap 2.1

 

Season is winding down. With my back as it is, I might just call it quits for the year and let it heal up again. Really hate this game sometimes. 

[rich_s2]

Took some time off to heal up and played in 2 tournaments since my last post. First one I shot a 79 with 7 three putts and finished middle of the pack.

 

Tournament yesterday was at a short par 69 course and I won with a 66! Three under is my lowest round ever so that’s cool. I’m learning that my level of play has a direct correlation to how my back feels. 
 

only issue now is my left ankle is killing me. Got one more event this year. Season is winding down so I’m not going to play much more and let my body completely heal up. I will do the 20 round stats starting next spring. I think I need to do that to get to scratch. 
 

Currently a 1.7