My Road to Improvement - swing video 3/15/24

[betarhoalphadelta]

Good round overall! Always hate to see the number go up on the back 9, but honestly if you'd shot 47/47 you'd still be at a respectable final number, so it's not like you simply fell apart. No triple+ really helps the scorecard!

 

I know you mentioned that the cart is in the shop... Did you rent a cart for the round, or walk it? Do you think the back 9, especially with the heat and humidity, was a fatigue issue? Did you eat anything during the round to keep energy up? 

 

I'm curious why you're kicking yourself over the 7i on #9? Was it a particularly bad lie where you couldn't get a club on the ball? Or was it just an execution error? Obviously with the ball above the feet you need to play for the ball going left, but absent a bad lie or thick rough I don't see any reason not to have a go at it from 7i distance--with the caveat to take a little extra club just in case. But not knowing the hole or what your other options were, I can't quite say. 

[bortass]

45 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Good round overall! Always hate to see the number go up on the back 9, but honestly if you'd shot 47/47 you'd still be at a respectable final number, so it's not like you simply fell apart. No triple+ really helps the scorecard!

 

I know you mentioned that the cart is in the shop... Did you rent a cart for the round, or walk it? Do you think the back 9, especially with the heat and humidity, was a fatigue issue? Did you eat anything during the round to keep energy up? 

 

I'm curious why you're kicking yourself over the 7i on #9? Was it a particularly bad lie where you couldn't get a club on the ball? Or was it just an execution error? Obviously with the ball above the feet you need to play for the ball going left, but absent a bad lie or thick rough I don't see any reason not to have a go at it from 7i distance--with the caveat to take a little extra club just in case. But not knowing the hole or what your other options were, I can't quite say. 

Thanks! The lack of triples was a nice surprise. I didn't blow up even though my ball striking wasn't super solid. The round was a confidence builder.

 

I was riding, need an annual cart pass for the trail fee and it covers cart rentals if needed. I really should try to walk 9 just for the exercise but haven't done it since 2020. Guess I'm just lazy still.

 

Fatigue wasn't an issue but I did have a headache towards the end of the round. I didn't bring any salt/electrolytes with me. I drank plenty of water but it wasn't enough. Outside of that I felt fine. A major diet shift and IF seem to be really helping me with energy and fatigue.

 

The 7i on #9 was frustrating because of the circumstances. I barely dodged a bullet with my drive being wet. The ball is in the rough, but it's not too bad, also it was level. However the ball is above my feet because I'm standing on the bank of the pond.  There's just more that can go wrong i.e. I'm more likely to mishit the ball with it above my feet and I need to carry 100+ yards of water potentially.  I bladed the shot and it had plenty of gas but no height, so it started to skip across and almost made it but not quite. It actually plugged in the bank short of the green but it never was on land, so I didn't have the benefit of dropping in front of the green.

 

I just bit off more than I can reliably chew with how I feel about my game. The 7i was plenty of club and my other option which I did consider at first was to bunt something down the right side to hit the green in 3. I just decided to go for it instead of taking some medicine.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Got it. Probably one of those situations where if you're confident you can/will pull it off, you should try it, and if you're scared you can't/won't, you shouldn't...

[bortass]

54 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Got it. Probably one of those situations where if you're confident you can/will pull it off, you should try it, and if you're scared you can't/won't, you shouldn't...

I think so. It would have been fine if there was no water in the mix. I know being too conservative is not a good thing since to skip chances to possible score better. My approach shot into 18 was an example of that. I could go for it with a 6i across a stream and pond and have GIR or be safe and layup down the left side and hit the green in 4. I went 6i and it was great until I putted 😉

 

 

[bortass]

Most recent club stats: Smart distance is what Arccos says a well struck ball will go, so my average will be a bit lower. All wedges, except SW, are partial shots only. SW will also include pitches that happen at 50+ yards.

 

Some overlaps that aren't that great and it looks like that 85-95 yard approach is the best one for me.

 

Club	smart distance (last 100 shots)	Strokes gained (last 100 shots)	FW hit %	GIR%	Avg distance to pin in feet (GIR)	Avg distance to pin in feet (all approaches)
Driver	237	-0.37	53%
4w	196	-0.47	55%	6%	15	204
7w	193	-0.55	80%	18%	15	119
5i	169	-0.52	53%	5%	28	196
6i	151	-0.52	100%	18%	22	99
7i	151	-0.47	62%	14%	18	134
8i	139	-0.4	100%	28%	24	68
9i	129	-0.44		26%	27	75
PW	106	-0.43		31%	26	55
AW	95	-0.26		68%	24	43
SW	79	-0.44		54%	19	38

Edited July 22, 2022 by bortass

[Chip Duffer]

It sure looks like you are very solid with the A wedge. Your GIRs are higher even with a longer approach. Well done.

 

the 6 & 7 iron shaving identical distances is interesting. Makes me wonder if the loft is off on one. But, your numbers with the 6 are better on fw’s and GIR. 
 

good info Bortass!

[SNIPERBBB]

39 minutes ago, Chip Duffer said:

It sure looks like you are very solid with the A wedge. Your GIRs are higher even with a longer approach. Well done.

 

the 6 & 7 iron shaving identical distances is interesting. Makes me wonder if the loft is off on one. But, your numbers with the 6 are better on fw’s and GIR. 
 

good info Bortass!

 

Thats the thing about arccos, you really gotta take the distances in context and a grain of salt. The smart range is a bit better.  Of course you also have to know whether you hit one better than the other. 

[bortass]

8 hours ago, SNIPERBBB said:

 

Thats the thing about arccos, you really gotta take the distances in context and a grain of salt. The smart range is a bit better.  Of course you also have to know whether you hit one better than the other. 

Good point, I’ll grab those numbers because there’s overlap.

 

9 hours ago, Chip Duffer said:

It sure looks like you are very solid with the A wedge. Your GIRs are higher even with a longer approach. Well done.

 

the 6 & 7 iron shaving identical distances is interesting. Makes me wonder if the loft is off on one. But, your numbers with the 6 are better on fw’s and GIR. 
 

good info Bortass!

The AW is likely because I just use one shot with it. The pitch with SW leads to me hitting a pitch and having it roll into the fringe at times. Hole 4 is a good example of it. I’m almost always pitching in at an angle from the left and it’s a narrow green. So the ball can roll off but still leave me pretty close.

[bortass]

Here's it updated after today's round using the range instead.

Club	smart range (last 100 shots)	Strokes gained (last 100 shots)	FW hit %	GIR%	Avg distance to pin in feet (GIR)	Avg distance to pin in feet (all approaches)
Driver	225-239	-0.38	53%
4w	186-200	-0.47	55%	6%	15	199
7w	179-198	-0.53	82%	18%	15	119
5i	152-174	-0.53	53%	5%	28	199
6i	141-154	-0.52	100%	18%	22	99
7i	137-155	-0.48	57%	17%	18	125
8i	132-140	-0.41	100%	27%	24	68
9i	120-130	-0.44		27%	27	75
PW	97-108	-0.41		31%	25	54
AW	86-96	-0.22		68%	24	43
SW	71-81	-0.43		55%	20	38

[bortass]

Saturday's round:

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. My drive is a pull into the left rough, 230 yards. The hole is on the right and behind the bunker. It's just over 170 to clear the bunker and about 185ish to center. I aim for the center of the green, so my approach doesn't involve the bunker, and hit my 4w. It's a push, pretty sure I caught it thin, and the ball ends up rolling into the bunker, 168 yards. I setup for the sand shot and pick the ball clean... It sails over the green, lands on the cart path and bounces into the stream that's back there. I drop and hit a weak chip with my SW, about 16 yards, but 30 feet feet right of the hole. I'm putting across a spine in the green and get it to about 18 inches and come away with an opening triple bogey, 7.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The hole is front left behind a bunker. I decide my 9i is the best option to hit near the center of the green. I hit a fairly decent shot but it's a bit of a push that goes 130 yards and ends up on the green. I'm within a couple feet of the right side and 55 feet from the cup. I'm putting down slope and fubar the first putt. I don't recall the miss but I now have a 7 foot putt for par which I miss. Bogey, 4.

 

Not a great start to the round.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. I hit a smother pull hook with my driver, 168 yards into the left rough. The ball never got more than 10 feet off the ground. A really bad looking shot. My lie is okay and I hit my 5i which advances the ball 153 yards into the fairway on the right. The hole is back left so I can see the flag and I have an angle. It's 140ish to center and I hit a great looking 7i. High draw that goes 147 yards and lands on the green, 15 feet below the hole. I have another GIR and this time my birdie putt gets to a foot. Par, 5.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I hit a thin, low, fade down the right side that hits the slope that's to the right of the fairway and my ball stays on it and in the rough, 209 yards. The hole is forward and around 70 yards. I decide to hit a partial SW. The ball is above my feet a little and I make good contact. It comes out a bit lower than normal but lands on the green, 76 yard shot, and I'm 25 feet past the hole. I hit the birdie putt and it looks pretty good and it drops in the center of the cup. Birdie, 3.

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. My drive is another low pull into the left rough, 200 yards... I have a decent lie and hit my 4w. It's a decent shot, 181 yards, and past the corner. I'm in the fairway and the hole is near the center of the green. I hit a partial PW and it's a great shot. Nice and high and it goes 117 yards and ends up on the green about 13 feet left of the hole. Another birdie putt but I miss and have an easy par from inside a foot, 5.

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. Another smothered drive that's low and left and it only goes 96 yards and stops in thick rough that's barely past the red tees.... I hack the ball out with my 7i and it's decent. Goes 120 yards and I'm in the fairway on the left. The hole is front right and my 7i should get close. I hit a high push and miss the green to the right. I'm past the hole and chip with my SW. I blade in into the front left bunker... Two shots later I'm still in the bunker and pick up. I card an 8 assuming I get out with my 6^th shot and two putt.

 

Well there goes this round as far as my goal is concerned. I just can't get off the tee it seems.

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I hit a great high draw with my driver. Where's that been? 256 yards and into the fairway on the left side. The hole is back left and I have to carry a bunker. It's 80ish to center and I hit a partial SW. It's a nice high shot that carries the bunker and lands on the green. You can't see the putting surface from where I am, so I have no idea what happens to the ball. I get to the green and I'm 9 feet directly below the hole. My birdie putt misses but I have an easy par from inside 6 inches, 4.

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is forward and with the elevated tee box I go with 9i. I'd rather be short. I hit a slightly heavy shot, 137 yards, that ends up in the right rough, short of the green. I decide to chip with my putter and don't give it enough gas. It goes 6 yards and I'm 12 feet short of the hole. My par putt gets inside 6 inches and I end uo with bogey, 4.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. I hit a solid draw down the right side, almost a perfect line, 230 yards and into the fairway. The hole is back left and 135ish yards. I decide to hit my 8i and I hit a very solid high draw, 141 yards, over the flag and into the back left rough. I hit a 5 yard chip with my putter to inside 6 inches. Par, 4.

 

Well, a couple real ugly holes but I've played well on the rest of them.

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. I decide to hit my 7w and it's a decent draw that lands in the fairway and rolls down to the left, 203 yards. The flag is back and it's 120ish to center. I decide to hit my 9i and chunk it 70 yards. It was a downhill lie and I didn't adjust correctly. I blade my pitch, 66 yards, over the green. I chip with my putter, about 7 yards, and leave it 7 feet short. 2 putts and I have a double bogey after a pretty solid drive...

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. I use 7w again and it's a nice draw, 193 yards, into the fairway near the outside edge of the corner. The hole is front right and about 130ish yards. I decide to use my 9i since the green is below me. It's a high push, across the stream, and I end up on the cart path that's to the right of the green. I take relief and chip with my 9i. I leave it short of the green... Chip with my putter to about 6 inches and end up with a bogey, 5.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. I hit a decent draw with driver, 215 yards, into the fairway and past the corner. The flag is near the middle of the green and around 100 yards, so I go with a partial PW. Contact is good but it's a pull, 101 yards, and on the cart path to the left of the green. I take relief and use my putter to chip it 15 yards to about 18 inches. I make the par putt, 4.

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is back left and the tees are back some, so I go with my 8i. It's a high, weakish pull that goes 124 yards and misses the green well left. I now have to chip to a green that slopes away from me. I use my SW and hit it pretty good. A 19 yard chip to 12 feet. It's a two putt bogey, 4.

 

14 – par 5, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated teeshot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. My drive is a solid draw down the right side, 248 yards, into the fairway. I have a great lie and can hit my 4w. I aim left, as always on this hole, and hit a great looking shot. A high draw, 208 yards, into the fairway on the left. Going downhill also helped. The hole is on the right side, close to the pond. I have a good angle and it's around 80 yards or so. I decide on a partial SW and maybe it's because of the pond I hit mjy shot more left than I wanted. It's a nice high shot that goes 93 yards and it ends up on the left side of the green and past the hole as well. I'm 41 feet from the cup and going down a tier. I miss but get my ball to 4 feet. Not a great lag putt but I sink the par putt, 5.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I hit a great drive, mid height draw that carries all the fairway bunkers and lands in the throat of the fairway where it goes between the fairway bunkers and the right green side bunkers, 235 yards. The hole is near the middle of the green and I'm inside 40 yards. I pitch with my SW and chunk it 15 yards... I chip with my SW and hit it too soft and while it's on the green, I'm 21 feet short... I get the par putt to 2 feet and come away with a bogey, 5.

 

Great drive wasted...

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope. The hole is front right and around 140 yards toi center. I aim for center with my 7i and blade a line drive push more than 45* right of my line and into right trees.

 

Where did that come from?

 

I drop 86 yards off the tee in the right rough and pitch the ball, 58 yards, onto the green and 15 feet past the hole. I'm putting down slope and get it to 2 feet. Double bogey, 5.

 

Well that sucked.

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. My drive is a great draw down the right side, 236 yards. I'm in the fairway and the hole is middle back. I don't want to go long and settle on my 9i. I hit a very solid shot that lands on the green and I can't see exactly what the ball does due to topography. My ball is in the back bunker, 137 yard shot... Oops. It takes two shots to get the ball onto the fringe... I chip with putter to a foot and have a double bogey, 6, after a great drive...

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... My drive a a bit of a pull, 225 yards into the left slope. I'm in the rough with the ball below my feet. I don't feel good about trying to clear the stream, so I layup with my AW. I hit a low punchy shot, 97 yards, into the fairway. The hole is front left and it's 160 to center. I decide to go for it with my 5i. I catch it thin and it's a push slice into the pond...

 

I haven't seen that ball flight in a very long time...

 

I dropped on the other side of the stream where it crossed the pond margin. From there I hit a partial AW 94 yards onto the green and 25 feet past the hole. I get the first putt within 2 feet and have a double bogey, 7.

 

A 44*/47 for a 91. It's a 90 in GHIN and my index drops below 20 for the first time since 2012. 19.6 is the lowest index I have ever held and I'm sitting at 19.9 right now.

 

I can't believe how I did on the front. I had two blow ups but shot +1 over the other 7 holes! The back 9 was a let down but again I thought I did okay. I had missed opportunities and wasted some good drives when I messed up either a pitch or I hit an iron too good.

 

Bunkers were murder though.

 

The highlight was putting though. The new routine I have adopted really seems to help. I felt confident out there for a change and did well IMO.

 

birdies: 1

pars: 6

bogeys: 5

double bogeys: 4

triple+: 2

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 211 yards

Longest drive: 256 yards

Fairways: 8/14

GIR: 6/18

Avg Approach: 112 yards

Up & down: 3/13

Putts: 30 (for 17 holes)

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -7.2 strokes

driving: +1.0

Approach: -3.9

Short game: -5.1

Putting: +0.8

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by bortass

[bortass]

Got to play Sunday as well. I did worse than Saturday but still had some solid holes. Had a 98* with an X on #10 after hitting a solid tee shot and putting my 5i approach into the right trees and the hole turned into a mess. 

 

Driver killed me at times but other times it was great. For example my first drive of the day was a great draw, 261 yards, down the right side into a dew covered fairway. Too bad I had a number of tops with it along with the weak smother hooks. Overall I had 3 penalty strokes with my driver. 

 

I also had a S+D penalty off the tee of a par 3 when I topped my 8i into the junk fronting the tee box. 

 

Add in some other tops with woods and irons and my approach game suffered.

 

Bunkers killed me and did some pitches and chips. Pretty much the same issues as Saturday in that regard. I also had some very well struck irons get me in trouble when I went long.

 

I did have a chip in to save a double bogey though, lol.

 

Putting wasn't perfect but is still much improved.

 

It was just a mixed bag kinda day with some great shots/holes but too many blowups. I'm not too concerned at the moment because the mishits aren't a pattern yet. 

 

birdies: 1

pars: 5

bogeys: 4

double bogeys: 4

triple+: 5

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 187 yards

Longest drive: 261 yards

Fairways: 8/14

GIR: 6/18

Avg Approach: 105 yards

Up & down: 3/9

Putts: 32 (for 17 holes)

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -13.5 strokes

driving: -5.1

Approach: -6.7

Short game: -0.4

Putting: -1.3

[bortass]

I managed to get out for 18 this morning on the sister course with all of the water. It was a shotgun start off 18 and my first drive of the day was great, 229 yards and into the fairway. This setup a 120 yard shot into the green with my 9i and I hit a low push slice right into the lake....

 

That's pretty much how the round went. Some good shots but some real dogs. I got in a trouble a few times when I hit it to well but I'm good with that. The bright spot of my day was putting, not great but it was decent. 29 putts on 17 holes. Everything else was a mixed bag. 

 

Shot a 96 for GHIN purposes with 3 triples and 4 doubles. It did not affect my index but my next round will age out a good score, so hopefully I play good Saturday.

 

One thing of interest is my tee shots with driver and 7w never went right. Everything curved left and included some hooks for a change. I'm hoping this keeps up since that's the shot shape I used to have.

 

Low point issues still exists with irons and wedges though. Hit some chunks on shots I shouldn't including a couple pitches.

 

I don't know if I'll get to the range tomorrow but if I do I'll try to just work on swinging the club. Things felt a bit off and not as fluid. I know that won't fix my main swing issues but it's not helping any.

[bortass]

I love this game even though it just seems to tempt me into a sense of semi-competence and then says 'Haha, just kidding go directly to jail do not pass Go". It was a rough weekend and I didn't break 100 in either round. I aged out one of my better scores so my index went up by 0.5, lol. The good news is it'll take  5 rounds to age out my next score that's currently being used which happens to be a very low one. So I have some time to try to post some decent rounds, lol.

 

What's bad? Mishits in all phases it seems namely chunks and tops. I think I figured out the issues with my pitch shots while warming up Saturday though. Bunkers still kill me though I got out in one every time Sunday including a rare fried egg lie. Too bad that hasn't been the case in my prior rounds, lol.

 

What's going well? Putting actually. The simple changes I have made to my routine are paying off. I have a set process that I follow with a few exceptions. I have taken the hips out of my putting as best I can which is the only mechanical change. The putting stats in Arccos are showing positive changes. As always, there's much room to improve but that's a given with every facet of my game.

 

What's interesting? My Thursday and Saturday rounds featured something new with my driver. Every shot was a draw or hook, whether a true hook or a pull hook. I started to set up more on the left side of the tee box and aim more right. That broke down on Sunday though when I hit some pushes on 3 holes and which led to 5 penalty strokes. They were not weak push fades either, all were extremely solid strikes that started too far right. I also had some great iron shots. 5 of them were high draws that went 7 - 18 yards longer than normal.

 

But the most interesting thing was what happened starting on the 15th tee Sunday. Short par 4 that's about 250 yards, as a crow flies, to the center of the green with an elevated tee box. I can't explain why I did what I did. I have always been armsy and still am. For some reason I didn't swing that way on the 15th tee. Instead I felt like my chest turned which got the left shoulder under my chin. It felt awkward and the ball flight was close to amazing. My gut feel is I made a more correct swing.

 

It was an extremely solid high draw that carried the fairway bunkers that protect the green from people taking direct shots at it and rolling on. So I carried the drive 230 yards and my ball was in the left front greenside bunker, 239 off the tee but I could see the track of my ball. It rolled in from the back edge of the bunker and away from the green. The ball would have been on the green if it had landed a couple feet more to the right. For the record, I got out in 1 and to 12 feet and two putted for my par, lol.

 

I decided to keep that feel on my full shots the rest of the round and it seemed to lead to one consistent thing, height.

 

#16 - par 3, 7i off the toe. Extremely high push draw, 136 yards from my 140 yard club. I didn't expect a toe strike to go that far but it's still not very impressive.

 

#17 - driver, extremely high draw 229 yards through the fairway, the ball just dropped out of the sky at the end. 8i, my 130 club. I hit it and I hear one of the guys ask where'd it go and I replied  "up". Extremely high draw over the green and into a bunker, 148 yards total. The ball carried 144 yards based on the impact crater in the firm sand.

 

#18 - driver, extremely high draw down the left side onto a slope with deep rough, 226 yards. 4w topped, lol. 7w extremely high push draw that carried 175 yards and dropped onto the 9th green.

 

 I'll see what happens with this feel going forward. Maybe it's nothing but man most of the shots felt very solid.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

48 minutes ago, bortass said:

 

But the most interesting thing was what happened starting on the 15th tee Sunday. Short par 4 that's about 250 yards, as a crow flies, to the center of the green with an elevated tee box. I can't explain why I did what I did. I have always been armsy and still am. For some reason I didn't swing that way on the 15th tee. Instead I felt like my chest turned which got the left shoulder under my chin. It felt awkward and the ball flight was close to amazing. My gut feel is I made a more correct swing.

 

 

Yeah, this is one of those things I had to teach my son. He's now a week from his 15th birthday (was 13 1/2 then), so he doesn't have any of the flexibility/mobility issues us old dudes have. But he was swinging horizontally, losing spine angle relative to the ground, letting their left shoulder push their chin out of the way, rather than getting it under. He had no physical reason not to get the shoulder under his chin, he just didn't understand the concept. 

 

Others (potentially more what you describe) don't complete a shoulder turn at all, then overrun their arms to get their club where they think it "should" be, getting completely stuck, or allow their arms to collapse to complete their backswing, destroying width. 

 

IMHO your shoulder turn should (on video) show up as being perpendicular to the spine plane at address, working under the chin. You should continue the shoulder turn to the maximum of your comfortable range of motion. Your shoulder turn determines how far your arms go. If you're an athletic guy like a Dustin Johnson who can get massive shoulder turn, it will look like a "long" swing. If not, it'll look like my swing lol. Any compensation to push the arms beyond where they should be based on your shoulder turn just robs you of consistency and power. 

 

Two telltales as far as I understand it:

 

• Right elbow at the top shouldn't be bent more than 90 degrees. This is hard to pick up on video due to angle, but easy if you take your backswing up to the top and stop. If it's bent more than 90 degrees (and left arm is close to straight), you're getting stuck due to arm overrun of your shoulder turn. 
• Left elbow should show little or no visible bend at the top. AMG has shown that pro golfers don't "keep their left arm straight", and anything you do to try to LOCK your left arm straight is just terrible. But if you're getting more than maybe 10-12* of bend in that left arm, which will be invisible or barely visible externally, you're collapsing and destroying width. 

 

More shoulder and less arms will be a big thing for you. Could help to unlock your distance potential, which seems counterintuitive because it doesn't "feel" like you're swinging harder--but the ball don't lie 😉

 

[bortass]

@betarhoalphadelta I've seen the AMG talk about the right elbow and I started to make sure that I keep the right elbow soft at address. It was that video that I saw them talk about how AMs collapse the right elbow too much. I don't think I've seen the video(s) where they talk about the left arm. I like their stuff but don't watch it often.

 

The awkward things with swinging that way was the feeling of  'am I gonna fall?" since the balance is different and then the "Oh crap, my shoulder is about to hit my chin, better move my head some." This will all sort out as I get used to it. It's gonna be an adventure seeing what happens if I can keep this going though.

 

I agree with the ball don't lie. The height I got was impressive IMO and if a mishit out on the toe carries almost the distance I expect a normal shot to go? Well, that's just doesn't seem right. The reason I know I carried the toed 7i 136 is because it landed in a bunker and plugged.

 

The other thing I noticed on all the shots, even the toed 7i, was there isn't much curve to the ball and it was always a draw. of course 6 shots doesn't mean much but it's all I got right now.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I think you're going to like it. It's going to take some getting used to, but this isn't some swing "trick". This is just how it's supposed to work. I think I'd be hard pressed to find a video of someone on the PGA tour who doesn't rotate their left shoulder under their chin on the backswing. Where else would it go lol?

 

I found some random instructor on YouTube than has a good video on this 😉

 

 

---------------------

Re left arm:

 

Two below from AMG. Again, they don't really talk as much about the issues with too much bend, but the pros vs ams shows that pros have some bend, and the second one talks about the dangers of trying to "lock" it out because we've all been told from the time we started playing golf to keep the left arm straight. 

 

I think my issue is that when you rely on bending that left elbow because you think your backswing isn't long enough, only bad things happen. You collapse all the structure that generates power and completely lose width. BTW if you bend your left arm that much--you can also be sure the right is too bent as well. 

 

The right answer is in the middle. Don't be the guy that is so focused on keeping the left arm as straight as an iron bar that you lose the ability to swing athletically. Also, don't be the guy who gets to the top and has his left arm 45* or more bent, and somehow has to sort that out as you return to an impact position in that 0.2s of time in the downswing. 

 

 

 

[bortass]

@betarhoalphadeltaThanks for the videos! I'll take a look at them shortly. I don't recognize the thin dude in the first one though...😉

 

I took the morning off and played 18. I warmed up on the range a bit beforehand and that went well. I did my best to try to get the left shoulder under on all of my full shots during the round, so my ball striking was erratic.

 

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. The drive is a decent draw down the middle, 229 yards. It's 175ish to center and long is bad. The hole is on the right side behind a bunker. I don't want to hit my 7w which is my normal club when in the 175 yard range because of the risk of being long. I decide on 5i and aim left of the bunker towards the middle of the green. It's a thin push into the bunker, 156 yards. I get out in one and onto the green about 8 feet left of the hole. My par putt stops a foot short, bogey, 5.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The hole is front left and behind a bunker. It's 135ish to center, so I go with my 8i. I make very good contact and it's a high draw that lands a foot or so behind the flag and releases towards the back of the green. A 142 yard shot with my 130 club and I'm 15 feet past the hole. I'm putting downhill and the birdie putt almost goes in and I end up 2 feet past the hole. I strike the par putt firm and it lips out on the high side.... Bogey, 4.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. My drive is a pretty solid draw a touch left of my line. The ball goes 236 yards and ends up in the left rough, through the fairway at the corner. I have a decent lie and decide to hit my 4w. It's a solid shot but it's a push into the right trees. The ball comes out though and stops just across the cart path, so a 136 yard shot. The hole is back left and the ball is in the rough and above my feet a touch. I expect the ball to go left and it's about 100 yards to center. I go with a partial PW and make real good contact. It's a high draw that I think sails over the green and into the back left bunker. Luckily I was wrong. I'm on the green, 21 feet to the right of the hole. A 109 yard shot...The birdie putt misses and I have a tap in from a foot for par, 5.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I aim more to the right with my driver and hit a low pull, 204 yards, into the left rough. The hole is forward and about 85 yards. I decide to hit a partial AW. Contact is good and it's a high shot but a slight push that goes 88 yards and over the green into a bunker on the right side. This shot was a bad decision by me. I should have aimed more at the center of the green instead of trying to get close to the hole. It takes me two to get out and I'm 30 feet past the hole after my second sand shot hit the flag stick in the air about 5 feet off the ground... My bogey putt goes 4 feet long and I make the one for double bogey, 6.

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. My drive is a pull hook into the left hazard and we hear it hit trees. Somehow my ball is in the left rough about 3 feet from all of the brush in the hazard. I'm standing under overhanging branches and need to keep my shot low to go under overhanging branches in front of me. I can't take a normal swing and try a punch with my 7i using a partial swing. It's hit pretty fat and only goes about 25 yards but I'm in the fairway.

 

A 4w will get me past the corner of the dogleg. I make solid contact and it's a high push into the hazard to the right of the fairway once you get past the corner... No sign of the ball and I drop. It's 150ish to the green and I can reach with my 6i. It's solid contact but another high push, into the hazard... I take an X. In Arccos I gave the 6i a 2 stroke penalty and assumed a 2 putt for a 9....

 

Well that sucked and there goes any hopes of somehow playing great and getting near my goal.

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. I tee my ball more to the left side and aim right since I seem to be consistently left with my driver. It's a low pull , 203 yards, into the left rough just past the left bunker. It's 160ish in and I go with my 5i. It's a push into the slope to the right of the green and my ball hits and just stops. No roll or anything... Now I have to chip from a steep downslope to a green below me. It's one of those hack on the back of the ball kinda chips. It's lack luster and I end up on the green 50 feet past the hole.

 

The hole is cut in a slope today near the front right. I hit the par putt a bit too low and come up 5 feet short but almost hole high. I barely miss and my ball slowly rolls 4 feet past the hole... It turns into a 4 putt triple bogey, 7.

 

Wow, what is wrong with me?

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I love driving on this hole and I hit a very solid push down the right side, 244 yards. If it wasn't a push into the thick rough which killed my ball, it would have been an awesome shot. The ball is well above my feet, almost waist height. I use my PW and hit it 68 yards and down into the rough just to the right of the front bunker that guards the left side of the green. I have to pitch over the bunker and I hit a nice one, 28 yards, 13 feet past the hole. My par putt barely misses and I'm less than 3 inches from the cup. Bogey, 5.

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is front and I'd rather miss short, so I go with my 9i. Contact is good and it's a high draw to the right of the green, 147 yards. I'm past the hole and have some fringe to go through but it's a good lie. I use my putter to chip and misread the break. The ball stops 5 feet from the hole on the low side. My par putt does a loop around the edge of the hole and pops out. A tap in from inside 3 inches for bogey, 4.

 

To be honest I'm okay with the last two holes. Bogeys are okay especially after the debacle on holes 4-6.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. I aim a bit to the right and hit a pull draw, 216 yards, into the left rough. The hole is back left and it's 150ish to center with a pond carry. I decide to go for it with my 6i. Contact is good and it's a real high push, over the green, into the back right bunker... 157 yard shot. I look at things and there's no lip, so I putt out of the bunker. I'm a bit timid with the speed and I leave it in the fringe. I chip with my putter and it almost goes in but I'm left with a foot for bogey, 5.

 

One thing I wish Arccos would change is you can't use your putter in a bunker and have it count as a sand shot.

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. I hit a very nice, high draw with my 7w, 200 yards and into the middle of the fairway past the corner. I'm just inside the 150 marker and the hole is on the left side. I decide to hit my 7i and it's a high, slight push, onto the green. It was a 149 yard shot to the back of the green and 18 feet to the right of the hole. My birdie putt misses low and stops inside 3 inches of the hole. Par, 4.

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. I top my 7w quite badly down the cart path on the right side. I'm in the trees, 69 yards off the tee and try to hit a partial punch 7i. Contact is pretty good and it hits a tree and bounces backwards. So I do it again and hit it 119 yards and into the fairway at last. The hole is front right and I decide to hit a partial PW. Contact is good and it goes 122 yards and onto the green 26 feet to the left of the hole. The elevation helped give the shot the extra distance. My bogey putt is terrible. I miss low and send it 10 feet long and almost off the green. I manage to sink the 10 footer for double bogey though... 6.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. So this is a hole where a solid driver shot can be bad. I hit a very solid drive down the right side, over the bunker that guards the outside right corner... No sign of my ball and I look down into the hazard behind the bunker and there's my ball. I recover it and drop just past the bunker on the line my ball took, 227 yards off the tee. This is the first time I'm driven through the hole and into the hazard and not had my tee shot bounce off the cart path. May be time to retire the driver on this hole. My ball is on bare sand from bunker washouts. The hole is on the left and it's 120ish, so I hit my 9i. Contact is good and it's a high draw, 119 yards and just off the left side near the back of the green. I chip with my putter ad it's too firm and the ball rolls 6 feet long. This hole is also cut in a slope. I hit my bogey putt and it's another miss with the ball stopping inside 3 inches. Double bogey, 6.

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is back left and over 130 yards. Long is bad so I forego any shot at a closeup and just hit my 9i at the center of the green. It's a great looking high draw that lands on the slope of the tier and rolls back a yard or two. A 120 yard shot and I'm 31 feet below the hole and putting up a tier. I hit a pretty solid putt that misses low but it stops hole high and two feet out. I sink the par putt, 3.

 

14 – par 5, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated teeshot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. There's a tailwind on this hole I think.. I hit a high draw down the middle 252 yards. I'm I n a great spot and hit my 4w. I nuke it and it's a very strong draw that ends up going 223 yards and stopping in the fairway on the right side. The hole is middle right near the pond and it's about 60 yards from my ball. I don't feel great about trying to pitch it close since 60 yards is about the limit of my pitch shot and I'm going over water. I try to take some off a partial SW and it's an okay shot that goes 68 yards and ends up 24 feet left of the hole near the left fringe. I'm putting down a tier and I hit a pretty good putt to 2 feet and come away with a par, 5.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I'm dreaming about my shot that almost drove this green a few days ago. No way in heck today though. It's a high push into the right trees and my ball comes out into the right rough, 194 yards off the tee. I have a partial SW into the green and it's a back left hole. I blade it 93 yards into the back right bunker... I hit a 12 yard sand shot out of the bunker but stay in the fringe. I chip with my putter to 4 feet and make the bogey putt, 5.

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope.

 

Something seems off with the GPS on this hole. A guy in the group playing the one set of tees back lasers it around 158 and tells us it's 147 to the flag from the whites. I'm by the white tees and my GPS says about the same thing, so I hit my 6i. It's a very solid high draw past the hole and towards the back of the green, 147 yards.... I'm 22 feet past the hole putting down a tier and the hole is cut in the slope again. No way I can stop this close. I hit the putt and it reaches the tier and rolls 8 feet past the hole. It's a three putt bogey, 4.

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. I hit a low pull draw into the left trees with my driver. The ball hits one and I find it in the left rough underneath one of them, 171 yards off the tee. I hit a little 5i punch under the branches in front of me, 86 yards, into the fairway. The hole is near the middle back and this green has a heavy slope left to right. I decide to hit a partial AW and it's a great high draw that lands to the left of the hole and rolls down towards it. A 94 yard shot to 8 feet. This isn't an easy putt with the speed of the green and the slope. I tap the ball and it misses low and rolls 3 feet long... I sink the bogey putt though, 5.

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... I smother hook top this ball with my driver, lol. The ball leaves a furrow in the ground in front of my tee that'sat least 4 inches long. The ball comes out very low and to the left and ends up in the rough on the backside of the ladies tees...An 80 yard drive.

 

Talent!!!!

 

My lie is good and it's slightly uphill, so I feel good with my 4w to try and get close to the stream. I hit a very solid and high push draw, 198 yards, into the right rough down by the stream. The hole is forward left and my 4w can reach the back of the green, so I go for it. It's a high, but solid, push fade, 186 yards, that clears the water and ends up in a section of rough that's between the 9^th and 18^th greens. I decide to chip with my 9i and hit a 20 yard shot that rolls out to about 18 inches short of the cup. I make the par putt, 5.

 

Lol, a par on a par 5 after topping my driver 80 yards. Save by two solid 4w shots in a row.

 

A 50*/43, 93*. This assumes a 9 on the hole I took the X. It's a 92 for GHIN, so my index should drop down to 20.0 overnight.

 

It's an odd round in that I didn't strike the ball great but managed to do okay in the end. I struggled off the tee on a number of holes but also hit a few very solid drives. I did great with my approach shots in the 100-150 yard range which is normally where I struggle the most. My short game was okay and the putting was meh but a quad putt will do that.

 

I can't really complain with the results though. A 43 on the back 9 is very solid for me. I made some mental mistakes but hopefully I'll learn from it. Namely the approach into #4 where I should have gone for center more and not at the pin when a long shot is in a bunker and I suck out of the bunkers for the most part.

 

One good thing is I think I only saw two shots curve right the entire round and both didn't curve that much. Still hitting too many pushes with non-driver and pulls with the driver though.

 

birdies: 0

pars: 5

bogeys: 8

double bogeys: 3

triple+: 2

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 191 yards, lol

Longest drive: 252 yards

Fairways: 4/14

GIR: 6/18

Avg Approach: 127 yards

Up & down: 3/11

Putts: 37

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -8.3 strokes

driving: -3.3

Approach: -1.8

Short game: +0.1

Putting: -3.2

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Sorry the ballstriking was off, but then when you're trying something new I'm sure it might be. 

 

I noticed on Sunday that my son was taking an *extremely* wide stance. I mentioned it to him after the round, and he had a lesson yesterday and then hit a bucket of balls, taking care to have a more appropriate stance width. I also had him watch some of the Monte videos I've purchased, including the free series on stance and grip, so he knows that it's not just his stupid father saying it 😉

 

I just dropped him off for 18 at Oso, and he asked me "so should I try to keep my stance more narrow while I play?" I asked if he'd worked it on the range and been happy with it, and he said yes. I told him "normally you don't want to be trying something new on the course that you haven't practiced, but if you were practicing it yesterday and it was ok, then go for it."

 

Rotating properly around your bend angle at address and getting the left shoulder under will be an adjustment, and you're going to have to find your balance point, low point, etc as you work through it on the range. Ballstriking consistency will come, but it'll take time. On the bright side, you're already seeing ball flight improvement on the ones you do strike well, so I think you can see that there is benefit to be had. 

[bortass]

54 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Sorry the ballstriking was off, but then when you're trying something new I'm sure it might be. 

 

 

Rotating properly around your bend angle at address and getting the left shoulder under will be an adjustment, and you're going to have to find your balance point, low point, etc as you work through it on the range. Ballstriking consistency will come, but it'll take time. On the bright side, you're already seeing ball flight improvement on the ones you do strike well, so I think you can see that there is benefit to be had. 

I expected it. You're not supposed to work/change the swing on course but it was either that or swing the old way. I'd rather bite the bullet and at least try to use a better pattern on course. The ball flight on the good ones is much better too!

[betarhoalphadelta]

I was going to throw down a Rory swing, but then thought better. Hell, none of us look like Rory, or have his physicality. Using him as an example is a good idea of what to do, but it's a little unfair 'cuz we're not gonna do it like him lol.

 

So I figured I'd post someone who is "proportioned" like a typical American (even if he's not). Shane Lowry.

 

Watch his spine angle stay consistent through the shot. Watch as his shoulder rotate perpendicular to and around that plane. Watch the left shoulder under the chin. 

 

Heck, I could have posted videos of John Daly doing it. Not prime John Daly but current Long John. But I couldn't find a great one with a DTL angle. 

 

 

Keep it up. It will pay off. 

[bortass]

@betarhoalphadelta I checked out those videos and then saw this one in the sidebar. Not sure if you've seen it but I thought it was quite interesting.

 

 

[bortass]

Got out for 18 this morning with a couple neighbors and it led to something different. I moved back a tee box and played the blues with them! White tees are 5963 yards, rating 68.9, slope 126. Blues are 6233 yards, 70.1 rating, 128 slope. I get 19 strokes from the whites and 21 from the blues, so two strokes more difficult. I have never played these tees before and it wasn't bad.

 

The biggest thing I noticed is the par 3s are harder since it's a longer club in. #1 is next to impossible for me to reach in 2, no surprise there since I rarely can hit it in 2 from the whites. I did not feel like the longer course put me in spots I couldn't handle. I had some amazing holes and some real terrible ones but that was all swing related. The added distance and difficulty were not a problem IMO but it put more pressure on the longer side of my game. When I play the forward tees the pressure is on my partial wedges and shorter stuff.

 

I shot a 51/46 97. It's a 98 for GHIN because of NDB. It will drop my index just under 20 again. I had a 9 on a par 5 and a triple on a par 3 on the front. The back had a triple on a par 4 and a 9 on a par 5. To think I was +10 on the back with 7 of those on two holes... Nothing was great. I had a few drives that cost me. Same with approach shots. My short game spit the bit a few times even though overall it was decent.

 

Same with putting. I had some of my typical issues with short ones. One hole I was just frustrated. On some others I just had a tough, yet short putt, and missed. I did have some good ones like a 45 foot lag to inside 2 feet and the 9 footer I sank for birdie.

 

I'm in an odd place with my game right now, and it's exactly where I should be IMO. I do not expect to be doing better than I am. I just have not felt like going to the range to work on my swing since April. I'm trying to play more instead. There's a balance between the two but right now I do not have it. On the course I learn how I need to play via execution but swing improvements are going to be faster on the range. So I still think I'm getting better, it's just not swing related. So my scores are not moving a huge amount. I am seeing more "great" shots though, so there's that.

 

birdies: 1

pars: 3

bogeys: 8

double bogeys: 4

triple+: 4

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 207 yards, lol

Longest drive: 251 yards

Fairways: 9/14

GIR: 3/18

Avg Approach: 120 yards

Up & down: 2/14

Putts: 33

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -11.0 strokes

driving: -4.4

Approach: -6.1

Short game: +2.2

Putting: -2.6

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 8/3/2022 at 10:28 AM, bortass said:

@betarhoalphadelta I checked out those videos and then saw this one in the sidebar. Not sure if you've seen it but I thought it was quite interesting.

 

 

 

Yeah, I've seen that one. Great stuff. Add that to being on plane and getting the shoulders working under the chin perpendicular to the spine axis at address, and between the two of them you'll unlock distance you never knew you had. 

 

This is one of those things I love about AMG. They can show you things that you don't really see well in pictures. For example, if you look at DJ at the top:

 

 

Both face-on and DTL it looks like he's got that left arm pinned on his chest (high degree of left should adduction), doesn't it? When you look at DTL, it *looks* like he's got more than 90% of right elbow bend, right? 

 

I'm sure if you look at him in GEARS, neither are true. He's got a freakish level of shoulder mobility and a tremendous range of motion in general, so he's got much more turn than most players. Then you add the fact that a 2D still from either DTL or FO doesn't give you the true angles. We try to emulate what we "see" in a golf swing, but without realizing that what we see is an illusion.

 

[bortass]

Good weather Saturday. Probably high 80s and not too humid. No significant wind that I can think of.  I warmed up a bit on the range and hit some putts to try to get the speed down. I played my normal white tees, 5963 yards, 68.9/126.

 

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. My drive is a decent draw, 229, into the fairway on the left side. The hole is front right, behind the bunker. I have 185ish to center and long is bad. I decide to aim for middle with my 7w and top it 71 yards down the fairway, lol. I'm inside 100 and can hit a partial PW. I don't give it enough gas and I end up in the bunker, 96 yards. Now I'm short sided and our bunkers suck. I manage to get out in 1 and am now 22 feet past the hole. I get the bogey putt to a foot and come away with a double, 6.

 

Not the start I wanted. A topped 7w and then there's a mistake with the PW shot.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The hole is middle left and I have 140ish to center. I'm a bit torn since that's a 7i but long is bad and i've been hitting my irons longer more often lately. I go with my 8i and mishit it. It's a high fade at the right side of the green. The ball lands in the bunker and takes a huge hop, like you see when a ball lands on a cart path, up and out. My ball landed on a rock based on the sound and hopped into the fringe by the green. I chip with my putter and roll it 20 yards to get to 5 feet. The par putt gets to 3 inches... Bogey, 4.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. I aim across the spine in the slpope on the right to cut the corner some and hit a very solid draw, 230, into the middle left side of the fairway. Great lie and angle, so it's 4w time and I skull it, a low pull draw a few feet off the ground into the left rough, 146 yards. The hole is back left and about 100 yards. Long is bad, so I go with a partial AW. Contact is real good out of the wet rough and it's a high draw to the middle back of the green, 100 yards. That's longer than expected but I'm on the green and 18 feet to the right of the hole. I get the birdie putt inside 2 feet and have a par, 5.

 

Not bad, things are settling down.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I hit a low pull hook towards the left hazard. I think I'm screwed but I fint it under a tree in the left rough, 194 off the tee. It's a forward flag and about 100 yards which is a partial PW but I'm under the tree and have to punch the ball to keep it out of the limbs. My normal wedge shot is not an option. I take my PW and punch the ball into the fairway, 71 yards, and short of the front left bunker. I can't see the putting surface because of the back lip of the bunker. The hole is around 40ish yards and I hit a nice high pitch with my SW at the flag. My ball carries the bunker, so I should be putting. I get up to where I can see my ball and I'm 2 feet from the hole... I make the par putt, 4.

 

Feeling real good!

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. I hit a high push that draws a tough towards the right trees. I find my ball on the upper slope in whispy rough that's 8 inches or so deep. My ball is sitting down in it and I don't have the skill for this shot. So I take my SW and hack the ball semi sideways down to the fairway, just a 32 yard shot. My angle isn't awesome but I can clear the corner and decide to hit my 4w. I hit it fairly solid put it's a slight pull draw into the face of the slope that's on the left side of this hole once you get past the corner, 162 yards. Well this makes things easy. The ball is below my feet on a left to right slope. I have experience shanking these way right. It's 140ish to center but i'm laying up. I take my AW and hit a low punchy shot, 87 yards, into the fairway. The hole is front middle and inside 60 yards. I pitch with the SW, 48 yards, to get on the front right of the green. I'm 20 feet to the right of the hole and the bogey putt stops a foot out. Double bogey, 7.

 

Blah. The good news is the last couple of rounds have been quads/Xs on this hole after hitting my tee shot off to the right. So I played it a little smarter but the 4w was likely the wrong club to hit past the corner.

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. I hit a high push draw towards the right houses. I see it land short of ooB and that's it.I expect to find it inbounds and somehow my ball came backof that area and across the cart path into the right rough. The hole is on the close to the right side and about halfway back. It's 150ish yards and I always seem to miss right, which is bad, on this approach shot. I take my 6i and aim for the center of the green and mishit it. Not sure if I was a touch heavy or thin, but the ball goes 138 yards and stops in the rough short of the bunker that's front left. The green is raised from the surrounding fairway, so I chip with my SW and hit a decent one 7 feet to the left of the hole. My par putt misses and I have 6 inches for bogey, 5.

 

Good, I didn't compound things after my double on 5.

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I hit a pretty solid draw, 241 yards, down the right side. The hole is back left and the green is more narrow on the left side. There's a bunker back left that's terrible but you can sometimes putt out of it. It's around 100 yards to the hole and I don't want to be long. The ball is slightly above my feet and it's a slight down slope. I expect the ball to go a bit left on me. I aim a bit right with my AW and hit a high draw down that line, 105 yards, to the back right of the green. I'm 22 feet from the hole and hit my birdie putt. It's looking pretty good but stops a foot short. Par, 4.

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is forward and about 140 yards. I'd rather be short of this green since that reduces the chances of hitting a ball into a bad spot to the right. I go with my 9i and hit a great looking high draw towards the hole. The ball lands about a yard short of the cup and releases to the left a few feet. I'm almost pin high and 4 feet left of the cup. The birdie putt doesn't drop... Par, 3.

 

Darn, I'm a bit bummed but happy with the par.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. Well I'm missing left and right with my driver today, so I aim for the middle and hit a high push draw, 234 yards, just across the cart path and into the rough on #1 by a stand of trees. It's a back left pin. I could try to hit a punch either at the left front side of the green, under a tree that's in front of me and over water, or try to hit a punch towards the right side but under and through trees... I take my 9i and chip it back into the correct fairway, 46 yards.

 

You didn't think I was gonna attempt a dumb shot did you? Not that I'd blame you if you did since I've done it before.

 

It's 100ish yards to the hole and long is bad. I go with a partial AW and hit a great looking high draw to the back of the green a bit to the right of the hole. 99 yard shot and I'm 6 feet from the cup! I have to be careful because it's a right to left break and the tier is just past the cup on the left. The par putt misses but I have a foot for bogey, 5.

 

This is a hole where bogey is solid, so I'm happy.

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. I use my normal 7w and toe it a bit. It's a high draw that ends up in the fairway, just 175 yards. I say just only because the elevation will have a solid strike going closer to 200. I'm about 150 from center and it's a back left hole location. You can't see the putting surface for most of this green. Long is bad, so I take my 6i and aim to the right of the hole. I hit a great looking mid height draw that lands on the green. That's all I know.

 

I get to the green and my ball is 4 feet behind the hole, 160 yard shot. I make the birdie putt, 3!

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. This is another hole I tee off with my 7w and I hit a very solid draw down the right side, 213 yards, and carry it into a bunker... Oops. I crushed that ball. The hole is front left and I could try an 8i from the bunker, across the stream, to the green or just try to get out of the bunker and short of the stream and try to get on with my third shot. I opt for the layup and hit a SW 49 yards into the fairway. I have a problem though, I'm on a pretty steep down slope and it's 80ish yards to the hole. That's a partial SW but it's gonna come out real low and I'm worried about the stream. So I don't take anything off the shot and it's a low bullet, 105 yards, into the back rough.

 

I decide to chip with my putter but it's a mistake. The rough slows down the putter and I leave the ball 24 feet short... I'm putting down slope and hit it 4 feet long... Great, going from birdie to possible blowup. I manage to sink the double bogey putt, 6.

 

I can't complain about the tee shot. It was very well struck and went further than expected. Maybe I should have just gone for the green out of the bunker but I'm not sure. A wet ball means I'm hitting the green in 4 at best.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. I leave driver in the bag since I hit through the fairway last week. I hit a solid low dar with my 4w, 211 yards, and past the corner. The ball is in the fairway and the hole is supposed to be middle of the green. I hit my partial PW and it's a high draw at the left side, 101 yards. I find my ball in the back rough. I chip with my putter, 17 yards, to 3 feet. I miss the par putt, bogey, 5.

 

Crap.

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is back left and long is bad. I decide to hit my 9i and just try to get on. It's a high draw that lands on the slope of the tier near the middle of the green and it rolls back a bit, 129 yard shot. I'm 48 feet from the cup and putting up the tier. I get it to 2 feet! A great putt and I come away with my par, 3.

 

14 – par 5, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated teeshot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. This drive is a high push fade,m 229 yards, into the right rough. The ball is above my feet a little but it's a decent lie. I take my 5i and hit a great looking shot, 165 yards, into the fairway on the elft side. It's about 140ish to the hole which is on the right by the pond. I aim for center and hit a high pull with my 7i, 137 yards, and into the first bunker on the left.

 

Crap.

 

It's firm sand and no lip, so I bring my putter and 9i. I have a lot of room to work with and use a putting stroke with my 9i. The ball gets in the air and lands outside the bunker and rolls down towards the hole and 9 feet left of it. My par putt misses but it's inside 6 inches for a tap-in bogey, 6.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I aim down the middle and hit a very solid looking midheight draw at the right side of the green. I'm either in a fairway bunker or just outside it to the side of the green. My ball is in the bunker and it's about 40 yards to the hole which is back left.

 

I take my SW and swing a bit too slowly. The ball pops out of the sand and I feel my club face strikes it again in mid air and redirects it almost over my left shoulder into the front left bunker.

 

A double strike... So I'm now in the front left bunker in 3... It takes me two to get out of it and within 3 feet of the hole.

 

I miss the putt and have a triple bogey 7.

 

Okay, let break this down a bit. Negatives, I just blew up from 40 yards from the hole. Reality, I'm on #15 and it's the first blow up. The double hit is a fluke shot.

 

I wasn't mad after the double strike but it was a blow to my confidence which played out the rest of the hole. Walking off and waiting to tee off on 16, I was disappointed. I was in a position to get a par or bogey but it was a fluke and a blow not happening til #15 is still pretty good.

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope. Tghe hole is front right just past the bunker. It's 140ish to center and I hit my 7i. It's a very high draw to the back of the green, 151 yards... I'm 44 feet from the hole and putting down a tier. I misread the break and leave it 7 feet to the right of the cup. It's a 3 putt bogey, 4.

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. I hit a high push draw, 231 yards, into the first fairway bunker on the outside of the corner. It's 120ish to the hole and I decide to go for it. I choke down a bit on my 8i and catch some sand. The ball only goes 75 yards but I'm in the fairway. It's 60ish yards to the hole and I take a bit off my partial SW shot. It's a great looking shot that gets 4 fete past the hole. The hole is cut in a slope and I miss high and end up 3 inches behind the cup... Bogey, 5.

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... I hit a great high draw down the left side, 244 yards. It's 212 to the front of the green, over water. I decide to hit my 7w across the stream aiming for a fairway bunker that's 220 yards away. I chunk it 71 yards.... I'm short of the stream and it's a front left hole. It's 150 to center, normally a 6i. I decide to hit my 5i. It's a low, solid draw, that lands on the back of the green and rolls into the back fringe, 165 yards. I chip with my putter and make the same mistake as I did on #16. I'm going down two tiers this time and I think it'll break more than it does. I leave it 18 feet out and I have to putt down a tier still... I hit one pretty good but it's 6 feet long... Three putts for a double bogey, 7.

 

A 43/46 89. Only 1 penalty and I didn't lose any balls. +7 on the front with two doubles is pretty good. The back wasn't the end of the world either though it could have been better.

 

Putting wasn't great and I had chances that I didn't capitalize on. Also the terrible reads where I thought the slope/tiers in a couple greens would feed the ball to the hole more than they did hurt. The 4 footer on 17 that I missed was no surprise. Putting across the slope on a green where it's real easy to barely miss at a slow pace and have the ball roll 4+ feet past the cup.

 

Driving was okay. No penalties but it was not solid with the pulls and pushes. They cost me shots since I had to recover. The 7w on #12 was a great shot but ending up in the bunker hurt.

 

Short game was good. I had some good pitches that got close. Also some chips that did, though I didn't take advantage of them. Bunkers killed me on #15 though.

 

Approaches are where I did the best. I hit some shots close to the hole and while I can't count on it, it's good to see happen. I am seeing better distance on more shots as well. I'm still leery of counting on it though. I'm feeling pretty good about going for the green from 150ish even if I have to carry water. That wasn't the case a year ago.

 

Overall, it was a pretty good round. I scored well even though things were not perfect. This round dropped my index by 0.6 to 19.3. This is the lowest my index has ever been. I'm golfing the best I ever have, if index is the only metric.

 

I kind of wish I could play my old home course, lol. It's longer but easier since multiple holes run parallel. I have a feeling that I could score real good on it. No bunkers to worry about and offline shots aren't punished as much. I also hit my driver better now than I did back then. Oh well, not gonna happen.

 

birdies: 1

pars: 5

bogeys: 7

double bogeys: 4

triple+: 1

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 218 yards

Longest drive: 244 yards

Fairways: 7/14

GIR: 6/18

Avg Approach: 115 yards

Up & down: 1/10

Putts: 36

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -4.2 strokes

driving: -1.1

Approach: +1.0

Short game: +0.2

Putting: -4.3, sigh

 

[bortass]

On 8/6/2022 at 9:20 AM, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Yeah, I've seen that one. Great stuff. Add that to being on plane and getting the shoulders working under the chin perpendicular to the spine axis at address, and between the two of them you'll unlock distance you never knew you had. 

 

This is one of those things I love about AMG. They can show you things that you don't really see well in pictures. For example, if you look at DJ at the top:

 

 

Both face-on and DTL it looks like he's got that left arm pinned on his chest (high degree of left should adduction), doesn't it? When you look at DTL, it *looks* like he's got more than 90% of right elbow bend, right? 

 

I'm sure if you look at him in GEARS, neither are true. He's got a freakish level of shoulder mobility and a tremendous range of motion in general, so he's got much more turn than most players. Then you add the fact that a 2D still from either DTL or FO doesn't give you the true angles. We try to emulate what we "see" in a golf swing, but without realizing that what we see is an illusion.

 

AMG fills an interesting spot for me. I'm not a fan of precise angles that you need to think about but they show what's going on and how those angles come about. It's not just you need right arm to be a bit less than 90 degrees but how the body moves for it to happen. I don't want to think right arm 90 degrees during a swing. It won't be good for me. Now seeing the shoulders move in the avatar helps me understand what people are talking about regarding shoulder abduction etc. It also helps turn on the idiot light of "oh, my right shoulder should move like I'm doing a one armed row!". Can I do it when I swing? Nope, gotta work on it but now I know what should happen which I'm pretty sure does not in my current swing. 

 

So AMG shines a light on the biomechanics that helps me understand better. It's great stuff, IMO, as long as I stay out of the weeds.

[betarhoalphadelta]

16 minutes ago, bortass said:

AMG fills an interesting spot for me. I'm not a fan of precise angles that you need to think about but they show what's going on and how those angles come about. It's not just you need right arm to be a bit less than 90 degrees but how the body moves for it to happen. I don't want to think right arm 90 degrees during a swing. It won't be good for me. Now seeing the shoulders move in the avatar helps me understand what people are talking about regarding shoulder abduction etc. It also helps turn on the idiot light of "oh, my right shoulder should move like I'm doing a one armed row!". Can I do it when I swing? Nope, gotta work on it but now I know what should happen which I'm pretty sure does not in my current swing. 

 

So AMG shines a light on the biomechanics that helps me understand better. It's great stuff, IMO, as long as I stay out of the weeds.

 

Yeah, I'm an engineer, so the AMG stuff really speaks to me. It helps me incredibly to know what is actually happening in the swings of elite golfers. But going from theoretical knowledge to putting something into a golf swing is a whole different ballgame!

 

BTW looks like a pretty good round yesterday!

[bortass]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Yeah, I'm an engineer, so the AMG stuff really speaks to me. It helps me incredibly to know what is actually happening in the swings of elite golfers. But going from theoretical knowledge to putting something into a golf swing is a whole different ballgame!

 

BTW looks like a pretty good round yesterday!

So TGM is bedside reading for you? 😜 

 

Thanks, it was.  I'm still surprised by the improvement just from playing but it seems to be happening. I expect range time to pick up at some point though. Weather is improving ie. temps are dropping and I know that having weather and course conditions that are conducive to scoring will be winding down.

[bortass]

I've only managed two rounds since my last post. The first was a disaster, so I'll pretend it didn't happen. The second was what I'd call decent. It was a 50/44, 94, with an 11 on #5. the round was a 91 for GHIN and dropped my index to a new low, lol. The greens were punched earlier in the week, so things were bumpy. 

 

I call the round decent because of the following: 4 pars, 11 bogeys, 1 double, and two triple+. The 50 on the front had both triple+, an 8 and an 11. Bogey golf is decent for a 19 index IMO.

 

It was a round with a couple of lessons for me to take note of.

 

Swing - Don't think about it! 

 

Rough - I cannot hit the ball from Bermuda rough if it's sitting down any. I had a solid drive of #3 that went through the fairway. My ball was sitting down with half the ball below the top of the grass and I was thinking hit 5i. Instead I used my 4w and topped it about 30 yards... The smart play would have been to hit 7i most likely.

 

Rough played a factor in my 11 on #5. I hit a terrible drive and had to take a drop near the forward tees. I then hit a solid 5i  a bit right and into deep rough. Ball above my feet and ball sitting down in the rough. Instead of going sideways back at the fairway I tried to clear the corner. Let's just say I eventually gave up and dropped a ball in the fair to hit past the corner in 7....  I wasn't going to score well after the terrible tee shot but I went from maybe having a chance to get a bogey/double bogey to a massive number.

 

Sand - If there's no lip use a wedge/iron and a putting stroke. This worked great for me. If there's a lip, play better to avoid that bunker. I only had 1 double and it was on a par 3 when I put my tee shot in a front bunker with a lip. My club skipped into the ball and launched it into a back bunker...

 

Chipping - I chipped a few times with an iron or wedge using a putting stroke and nearly holed two of them. This seems to be working fairly well and I need to stick with it. It's a simple shot which is great for me, less to mess up.

 

Ball flight - Can you saw draw? That was the vast majority of my full shots. I'm not there yet but I may need to change the miss I play for. I tend to setup on the right side of the tee box and aim left. #3 is a dogleg right and I've hit through it a few times with solid draws for example. 

 

I'm not sure if I'm going to get out before my next 18 on Saturday. I'd like to hit the range or get in 9 but the weather may not cooperate.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yeah, rough is hard. If it's deep thick rough you have to seriously muscle it out, and most of us don't have a chance. I remember growing up, I caddied at a links course when I was 13 and if you put a ball into the thick stuff, you just took PW, angled directly back at the fairway (perpendicular to the green), hit it as hard as you humanly could, and just hoped to reach short grass. 

 

I had one out of the rough in my round at RSJ where I was about 120 out (GW), took PW because I knew I needed more club, and still ended up a club and a half short. 

 

The tour guys make it look easy to play long shots out of deep rough, but they make a lot of things I can't do look easy, so I don't try to copy 😉 

 

[bortass]

A rough day again. I struggled off the tee and the rough murdered me again. I had some pitches from wet rough that went almost 90* right of my line.

 

I was surprised by the struggles since my range warmup was very good. Solid contact and nice high draws.

 

I did manage a few great shots but that’s about it. My index is going up after this round.

 

Game plan is to start going to the range again. The weather is improving and I need to swing the club more to get into a groove.

 

Have a good weekend!