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

[betarhoalphadelta]

Only question with the 4w that I'd have is intent. Are you aware that you need to be hitting down on the ball just as you do with an iron, just at a shallower angle? That the 4w swing is EXACTLY the same as an iron swing, it's just a longer club? (Note--as Monte points you you're not actively "hitting down", getting a negative AoA should be the result of the geometry of the club and hitting the ball before low point.)

 

A lot of people get in trouble trying to swing a fairway wood different from their irons, thinking there's actually a different swing that needs to be put on it. Some of those same people get in trouble with driver trying to swing it different from their irons too, not realizing that a positive AoA is just a result of different ball position and that you're striking after the low point--which you can do b/c it is on a tee. 

 

I'd worry that you're mentally trying to help the ball in the air, and that's creating other compensations that are getting in the way of face control (which is obv the problem, but the root cause may be mental).

 

I'd consider taking the same foot spray line experiment that you're doing with short irons and do it with the 4w. Make sure you're hitting ball first then turf. The shallow downward AoA of a 4w may not actually be enough for you to take a divot, but you should still be contacting the ground with enough impact to see it via the foot spray. 

[bortass]

I captured video this morning and trying to get it cut down and uploaded. I have prepared myself for the feedback 😉

 

I moved the four wood video that was here into the post with the other 4w videos.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by bortass
Moved video to another post

[bortass]

Seven iron swings

 

DTL slow motion

 

DTL Full speed

 

 

Face on slow motion, looks OTT...

 

Face one normal speed

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Obviously I'm no pro, but it looks like your standing up at the top of the backswing pretty significantly with the 4w. You do it a much smaller amount with the 7i, possibly because of the shorter 7i swing. 

 

But look at the two side by side. 

 

 

These are just screenshots, so tough to measure, but the image at the top of the backswing is taller than at address. You added length somewhere. If you really watch the swing you can see yourself "stand up". 

 

Compare with Rory on a 3w:

 

 

Rory's head has dropped a bit from address to the top. Now I don't think he actually has more "forward" bend here, a portion of that I think is coming from the squat of the left knee and so his hips, torso, etc are all lower. But he's definitely NOT standing up out of his forward tilt at the top. 

 

For yourself, you can see it a little bit with the DTL on the 7i, and I suspect if you have a DTL of the 4w, you'll see it and be more pronounced. It seems to mostly happen to you at the very end of the backswing, which IMHO is why it's more pronounced with the 4w. 

 

I don't know if it's the root cause of the 4w problems. But I suspect that standing up means you have to come back down, and that seems to me to be a consistency issue. 

 

The other thing I noticed is that your first move from the top is throwing your right shoulder out at the ball. I didn't say anything based on the face on view with the 4w because I wasn't sure if it was a visual illusion. But I see in the DTL with the 7i. If that's even more pronounced with the 4w because you're trying to get back down to the ball--that's a weak wipey fade move IMHO. 

[bortass]

Four wood time. I'm having an issue with the DTL slow motion one. Will try to upload later.

 

Down the line, this shot had good ball flight

 

 

 

 

 

Face on slow motion push fade 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by bortass
Added the missing video

[bortass]

Driver time

 

 

 

Slow motion

 

 

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

I can see the work you’ve done, and it’s much better, however…

 

Open your toes out a bit to help you turn and then transition. Toes straight ahead is for super flexible guys - it just makes it harder work for you. 

 

Interestingly, your arm swing is a bit flatter with the seven iron than the four wood. You still need some more up with your arm swing, but the biggest issue is transition. 
 

You need more cast A and JR drill to get those arms off your chest and create some room. 
 

Also your pivot is a bit off. I think you’re overdoing Monte’s instruction to turn more. This is straightening your right leg too much and having you 
lose your tush line. 

If you pivoted against a wall your right butt cheek would come away from it. Can you see how much space there is between your legs DTL? Go back and review some of the ground force and pivot stuff from Monte. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by TheDeanAbides

[TheDeanAbides]

I hope that’s helpful. I’m not well enough to do deep dives like @Valtiel anymore. 

[bortass]

3 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I hope that’s helpful. I’m not well enough to do deep dives like @Valtiel anymore. 

It is and I appreciate it. Cast A is something I have been slowly working on since Monte released NTC. I find it is not an easy move to get used to but will keep plugging away at it. I'll go watch some Power Shift and Broomforce.  There are drills in both of those I would like to do but was trying to not go down too many rabbit holes...

 

I did add all the videos to the old thread I have in the swing video forum. Valtiel has commented on those in the past, so perhaps he'll chime in as well at some point.

[bortass]

1 hour ago, TheDeanAbides said:

 

You need more cast A and JR drill to get those arms off your chest and create some room. 
 

JR drill is the Two Justins drill that's in Broom force, right? I know what I will be doing on the range, probably tomorrow morning. There will be no video from it though🙃.

[TheDeanAbides]

8 minutes ago, bortass said:

It is and I appreciate it. Cast A is something I have been slowly working on since Monte released NTC. I find it is not an easy move to get used to but will keep plugging away at it. I'll go watch some Power Shift and Broomforce.  There are drills in both of those I would like to do but was trying to not go down too many rabbit holes...

 

I did add all the videos to the old thread I have in the swing video forum. Valtiel has commented on those in the past, so perhaps he'll chime in as well at some point.

You might find cast an easier to perform alongside the JR drill. There’s something about getting the arms out and down as well that marries very easily with it. 

[TheDeanAbides]

18 minutes ago, bortass said:

JR drill is the Two Justins drill that's in Broom force, right? I know what I will be doing on the range, probably tomorrow morning. There will be no video from it though🙃.

I’ve only watched a bit of BF. I need to sign in and have a look. 

[wagolfer7]

Take it or leave it.  But here's a different perspective on it.  I wouldn't worry about transition at all right now.  Your position on the top is nearly impossible to recover from.  

 

From what I can tell, you have a big misunderstanding on how the shoulders operate in the golf swing.  It doesn't seem like you want to use them at all.  Lot of arms at takeaway followed by a lot of chest turning. 

 

Takeaway - all arms lifting, no shoulder movement thus no chest opening at all at P2.  Look at the comparison to Rory.  Shoulders rotating creating the chest to turn a little.  

  

 

 

Now at the top - your just maxing out your chest turn and leaving your arms along for the ride.  You should be wanting to max out your shoulder turn, which gets your chest to move and arms will go to.  No reason you should be more open here than one of the elite in the world.  And bad shoulder movement creates a very flat shoulder position at top.    

 

 

And here is why I say it's nearly impossible to recover from.  You won't see a single good ball striker with their head tilted like this.  Again not moving the shoulders correctly, is pulling your chin and your head away from the target.  Get a better shoulder turn and the chin won't get in the way.  

 

 

We all know about sequencing.  I'd start with understanding how the shoulders operate.  Good shoulder movement, helps create good hip movement, which gets you to a better position at the top to unload in the right order.  

 

Good video from Padraig explaining how the shoulders move in the golf swing.  He jumps into it pretty early around the 1:00 mark.  

 

[bortass]

@wagolfer7 Thanks for the feedback! I had previously watched about half of that video, probably a few months ago, and forgot about it. This time I finished it. I also looked around for some other videos that talk about the same thing and watched a couple last night.

 

I happen to have been looking at some notes from the lessons I took back in 2008 and it is kinda sad in a way. What the pro told me about back then is still present. He had mentioned my shoulder turn was too flat and I saw he had commented that I was not making a full backswing... Sigh. 

 

I made it to the range four days this week.

 

Tuesday was the PW and 7i with line of foot spray that i already posted about.

 

Wednesday block 1 - Twenty minutes with PW and foot spray to work on not hitting it fat.

Wednesday block 2 - A bunch of time trying to film my swing...

 

Thursday block 1 - Twenty minutes doing the putting drill where I have four balls set like a compass. Start at a foot and if I make them all, set them at two feet. Once I hit three feet it stays there until I miss. A miss means start over at one foot. I almost make it around the three foot loop twice. I missed the last putt that would have gotten me a third attempt at that loop. I only made it to three feet two or three times.

 

Thursday block 2 - I did the little ten foot putting game with four balls. Random length and distances. One point if it is a one putt. Zero points for a two putt. Lose points for three putts+.  I did not do so well today. I finished with three points after doing nine holes. I started out poorly and was at -2 in the first hole. I lost another point along the way as well. So I think I had six one putts and three three putts out of the thirty-six balls.

 

Friday Block 1 - Twenty minutes with seven iron working on my shoulder turn. It was up and down, no pun intended. This will need more work.

Friday block 2 - Twenty minutes cast A with seven iron. I did the Cast A drill from NTC, three sets that were broken down by three balls doing the drill and ten balls trying to swing, slower than normal, with the Cast A thought. I hit thirty-nine balls working on this with okay results. Monte had commented that changing how the wrists work can take years, so I know this will be a slog. I had a few minutes left after the three sets but not enough time for a fourth set. I spent that time hitting my seven iron with the cast A thought at my normal speed. Also had okay results. 

 

I also was trying to make sure I rotated my shoulders better during the Cast A work even if it was not the goal of that block. 

 

I should be playing eighteen tomorrow. I am not sure if I will be playing Sunday or not.

 

Have a good weekend!

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Good luck on the course!

 

Remember to play golf, and not golf swing! 😉

 

[SNIPERBBB]

If you try to get your hands a bit higher at the top of your back swing that that ought to help some of your other issues

[ericg33]

I think you still need to work on the full turn that Monte prescribed at your clinic.  It should help a lot of the things people are commenting on.  If that trail shoulder comes back it should make your hands deeper and easier to avoid being steep in the transition.

[Nels55]

Okay, here's my two cents worth LOL!

 

Maybe you could look at this swing for some inspiration?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM1czy2vSIw?si=CdpZOpuW-rFZw9a1

 

Also, if you do this test you might find the correct length of backswing / shoulder turn for you:

 

Enjoy!

[bortass]

18 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

 

Maybe you could look at this swing for some inspiration?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM1czy2vSIw?si=CdpZOpuW-rFZw9a1

 

The Walrus!

[bortass]

On 9/22/2023 at 11:24 AM, betarhoalphadelta said:

Good luck on the course!

 

Remember to play golf, and not golf swing! 😉

 

I tried but failed, lol. I could not block the shoulder out of my mind. Shot a 93/92*, went over NDB on one hole. It will have no impact on my index. My swing was off but still had fun. It was very nice out and felt good to be playing. I had five penalties off the tee. All pull draws into hazard on the left. I also hit my four wood off the deck a couple times and it was a draw or pull draw. I thought that was interesting. None of the push fades that I tend be my driver and four wood mishit were present.

 

I did have an issue thin shots with irons from the fairway and also noticed par three tee shots tended to be off the toe and come up short.

 

I did have some good shots and holes but not enough to overcome the mistakes. Going to try and play again in the morning. We are going off after the Ladies Club Championship, so the pins will be in tough spots.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Sorry lol. 

 

I posted in my own thread but I took my son to Monte today. Was thinking that tomorrow I'd send him to the range and then to play 9 at the exec course, but in retrospect, should probably JUST have him spend his time at the range. He's gonna need some time with the swing before he should jump onto a course. 

 

With the shoulder I think it gets back to what we talked about a while ago--gotta get that lead shoulder down and under the chin. If you can't get a full turn without turning the chin (as @wagolfer7 points out), it's too flat. And then I think for you, you've gotta get back down to the ball and instead of pulling the lead shoulder back down and around on the same plane you've swung, you throw the right shoulder out and around, getting OTT. 

 

Again I think this is one you should look at:

 

 

Get that left shoulder down and around on the backswing. But even more important, is to get that left shoulder down and cleared for the right shoulder to follow it down and around on plane instead of out towards the ball and OTT. 

[bortass]

@betarhoalphadelta thanks for the video link. I will take a look at it!

 

Sunday was ugly too. Just score wise. The weather was great and the guys I played with are awesome, so it was a good time regardless of score. I shot a 97/95*. I went over NDB on two holes. The only real bad news is one of the scores being used for my index rolled off, so it drifted up to 14.6. The horror!

 

Again I had five penalties off the tee.

 

Four wood - Very solid strike and a pull draw into the left trees(hazard).  The ball flight was great, too bad it started too far left on me.

Four wood - A terrible hook into the left trees. A disaster of a strike. The ball snapped over pretty quickly. I rarely see these.

 

Driver - push fade OOB. The provisional was a great draw down the middle, 258.

Driver - Very solid strike and a pull draw into the left trees(hazard).

 

I also had one other tee ball mishap with my four wood. I hit it fat with a very open face and hit a very weak push draw that hit some trees 128 yards from the tee box and dropped. It put me out of position and I had to chip/punch through the trees to get a shot at the green.

 

Irons had a few issues as well. I hit my six iron a bit fat and into a stream. I chunked a nine iron on a par three sixty-four yards. Bladed a partial wedge through a green too.

 

Putting was a mixed bag. The course was set-up for the Ladies Club Championship and the pins were in  tricky spots. I had a four putt when I hit my shot to the back of the green and had a forty-eight foot first putt down a tier. the cup was right at the bottom of the tier. First putt stops at the crest of the tier. Tap the ball and it goes twelve feet long.... I did sink a twnty-one foot birdie putt though to help ease some of the pain.

 

Now for some positives.

 

My driver was solid except for the two mishaps noted above. Draw 256 into right side of fairway. High fade, 238 yards, into the middle of the fairway. Sight push fade, 234 yards, into right rough. Draw, 229 yards, into middle of the fairway. High fade, 242 yards, into middle of fairway. The 258 yard draw mentioned above. Slight push 253 yards into right rough.

 

The four wood was solid on the other two holes I used it. Both were high draws into the fairway, 198 and 215 yards.

 

I hope to keep working on the shoulders during my practice sessions this week.

[acekun]

On 9/21/2023 at 12:17 PM, wagolfer7 said:

 

  

 

 

Agree with this post, particularly the takeaway. If you fix that, many of the other issues will be solved. Your arms are disconnected with your body when you start your backswing. I had the same problem. Rory's hands are in line with his toes while yours are still outside of your feet. This is why it's difficult to get more vertical in the backswing. Look at David Leadbetter's Straightaway training aid. I'm not a fan of his and it's not necessary to buy the aid, but just understanding the problem he is trying to solve will help you make adjustments.

 

Btw, it will feel like you are sucking your hands way, way too far inside. But stand in front of a mirror and just practice the takeaway. Body turns while arms are connected and the hands will come more inside. And then just stand up the shaft vertically and you have a backswing. Will be much easier to cast A from that position. 

[acekun]

Btw, it has been a while since I had checked on your progress. Really impressive improvement!

[bortass]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:13 AM, acekun said:

Btw, it has been a while since I had checked on your progress. Really impressive improvement!

Thanks! Monte is the hacker whisperer in my book.

 

Work/life made a bit of a mess for golf last week. I only made it to the range one day and did not get to play over the weekend. The horror!!!!!!!

 

Last week I worked on Cast A and my shoulders. A twenty minute block for each respectively. I managed three sets of three drill and ten swings, as is my normal pattern for both blocks. It went decent but a long way to go.

 

This week, I've made it to the range twice.

 

Tuesday, the range hadn't opened for the week and there were no balls when I got there. I was expecting this. So I worked on chipping and putting.

 

Block 1 - Twenty minutes chipping with SW and the balls I play with( that sounds so bad...) I took three balls and scattered them in the apron at different spots, so I was not chipping all three from the same place, and chipped them all to the same hole. Our practice green is pretty small and since it's build on a hill, there is not much flat room to work on longer chips. It went fairly well but I have some much room to improve.

 

Block 2 - Twenty minutes up and down. Same as above, SW and three balls, but putt each ball out. I think it went well. I had a couple brain farts where it took three to four putts to hole a ball  though. Luckily that only happened two or three times. I managed a few actual up and downs, most were from chips getting inside a couple of feet but a few were from sinking a longer putt in the five to seven foot range(like I said my chipping needs work).

 

Today was Shoulders and then takeaway.

 

Block 1 - twenty minutes working on my shoulders with seven iron. I did three sets of three/ten. I think it went okay. I noticed that I had to focus on my right hip going back to help with getting the shoulders to turn more on plane.

 

Block 2 - twenty minutes takeaway with pitching wedge, again three sets with my normal ratio of drill/swings. I did a drill I saw where you hinge the wrists up, pause, then hinge them back, pause, and try to flick a ball down range. I know this drill is related to wrist movement and not takeaway per se but here is my reasoning.  I used to suck the club too far inside by rotating my forearms during the start of my back swing. My guess is I now take it too far outside because of trying to break the habit of sucking it inside. That drill gets the club in the correct place at shaft parallel with the toe up.

 

My swings in this second block were slower partial pitching wedge shots. I was topping the ball at first but started to make some adjustments. A big one was to stay down and not EE. I also noticed that I was keeping the feeling of my right hip going back and left shoulder coming under my chin, so I think I was doing a bit better with the pivot. I also found that helped with a wrist issue Monte pointed out to me where I cup my left wrist as the club goes back. I think he got a chuckle with the Hackmotion numbers he got from me at the clinic because my left wrist was bending in the wrong direction. Anyhow, it went pretty good IMO.

 

Tomorrow is the first round of the year end tourney put on by the seniors group I sometimes play with. It is at one of the sister courses and round two will be next Thursday at my home course. I am not expecting much but it will be good to get out there to play after missing the weekend. 

 

I  am not sure if I will make it to the range Friday or not but plan to play Saturday.

 

[bortass]

Whelp, it was a rough day. Great weather and I had a good time though. Shot a 95/94* with five penalty strokes. I normally do not play well at the sister course even if it is easier than my home course. Only four pars on the day and I had three triple+ to offset them by quite a bit. My index is going to bump up to 14.8 thanks to a score rolling off.

 

What went wrong? Well a few things.

 

Tee shots where four of the five penalties. Hit one into a hazard( par 3) and one OOB. The push fade was back with my driver. I also hade a few holes where I used an iron off the tee and hit the ball quite fat. 

 

Putting, the greens were fast and I knew that from trying to get the speed down on the practice green prior to the round. There were also a couple pins cut into slopes that made it challenging. I just never adjusted to the greens. A good example was #2, a par three. I chunked my nine iron short and chipped the ball seven feet past the hole. I have a down slope putt and didn't think I hit it that hard but I missed and it stopped twelve feet below the hole. I did sink that one to save my bogey though.

 

I had some partial wedge issues as well. Left the face of my sand wedge wide open and blocked my ball right of the green. Had a chunk or two and one where I pulled it into a lake.

 

I did manage a few good shots here and there but nothing to get excited about. I will say how I play affects what I think about with my shots. A bad day with the swing like today and I do not look at the lie as much and try to work out what the ball will do when it lands, etc. A day when I'm playing well is when I seem to put more thought into those type of things.

 

birdies: 1

pars: 4

bogeys: 6

double bogeys: 7

triple+: 3

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 203 yards, a seven wood and five iron are in the mix.

Longest drive: 243 yards

Fairways: 4/14

GIR: 4/18

Avg Approach: 93yards

Up & down: 3/12

Putts: 35

 

Strokes gained compared to a 0 HCP. 

Overall: -25.0 strokes, wooooo I suck

driving: -7.5, 2 penalty strokes and struggles off the tee. Accuracy cost me -3.0 strokes compared to a 0 HCP.

Approach: -9.2, 3 penalties and 100-150 yards killed me. All the penalties were in that range and add in the messed up partial pitching wedge shots....

Short game: -1.3, not great but not bad.

Putting: -7.0,-5.7 of this is putts inside 10 feet....

 

 

[bortass]

Well, it was another rough weekend, lol. I need to remember that if I follow the process, things will improve over time. A handful of rounds are a blip on the radar. The weather is also changing, for instance, it was in the mid 40s when I teed off Sunday. My scores tend to go up in the fall through winter but at least I'm not in the snow belt any longer and can golf all year. I'll write about what the macro issues were before getting into the actual rounds.

 

Driver: I have been hitting a push fade with driver again. The second driving hole of my Saturday round I decided to close the face a little bit when I gripped the club. This cleared up most of the push fades and I started to hit some nice draws. I made it to hole #14 and thought to myself, I haven't lost a ball today! I then hit a push fade OOB and a pull draw OOB. #15 hit a terrible pull into a hazard such that S&D was the best option. Sunday had a couple tops and another push fade OOB on #14.

 

Four wood: had a pull draw into a hazard off the tee on one hole. Also had another pull draw that I got lucky with and it stayed in bounds. The other tee shots were all solid draws. Off the deck, I only used it once I think and it was a push but I hit it well enough, with a tailwind, to end up in a great spot. It still started well right of what I wanted my target line to be though.

 

Approaches, including par three tee shots: I hit the ball fat on a few par threes. I also managed to hit one OOB off the tee with a seven iron in my hand, a high push fade into the right trees and then hit a pull into the left hazard with the reload. Also had some thin shots in the mix. Oh, I noticed I was hitting it close to the toe on some of the bad shots, based on the grass mark on the clubface. My approach numbers will also be bad on Sunday because of decision making but I'll get to that when I write about that round.

 

Short game: Disaster or great. Saturday was a mess. I had six double chips in the round. Tried to use an iron bump and run and leave it short of the green. Try to chip with sand wedge and blade it through the green, etc. Sunday, I wasn't perfect, had one double chip, but based on strokes gained, I did extremely well in this area. Go figure.

 

Putting: More of the same. Missed a couple short ones and I cannot seem to convert many putts in the three to ten foot range. A rough count of the notes I wrote on the cards showed I was 6/21  for all putts in the three to nine foot range over both days. The six I made were as follows: 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, and 7.  I feel like my putting is a bit better but I feel like it is still kind of meh overall. 

 

I will write about each round separately to avoid a wall of text.

[bortass]

Saturday, was sunny and breezy. Great weather but wind made a difference out there. I shot a 45/53, 98*/95. I went over NDB by three shots when it came to posting my round. It bumped out one of the ones that counted towards my index, so I went up to 15.0 even.

 

Short game murdered me the most. I had six double chips. I had bump and run iron chips come up short and when I used my SW for similar chips, I bladed it. The second chip in most cases was bad too. My first putt length after double chips were: 3, 5, 6, 11, 15, and 18 feet. I only one putt the three and five footers. I turned possible pars and likely bogeys into doubles with my short game.

 

Driver was pretty good until #14, as mentioned in my previous post. I closed the face when I gripped the club and that fixed most of the push fades. On #14, I hit a push fade OOB right and my provisional was a pull OOB left. I was out of the hole off the tee and dropped a ball in the left rough to just finish out the hole for Arccos and came away with a ten , including four penalty strokes off the tee. On #15 I hit a terrible pull into the left trees just off the tee box. I took a S&D penalty because where I would be dropping would have made it a difficult shot that likely wouldn't reach where a re-teed ball would and came away with a double bogey.. I would hit another push fade on #18 that forced a lay-up but it was not the reason for why that hole blew up.

 

I did hit some great drives but couldn't always capitalize. A good example was #7, elevated tee shot with a tail wind. I hit it 271 yards and through the fairway. I have a partial 52* in and chunk it seventy yards. I blade a chip with my SW about thirty-seven yards and through the green. Hit a twenty yard chip with my putter and blow it eighteen feet past the hole. Two putts later I have a double off my best drive of the day.

 

Approach shots were better than average but I had some issues here as well. I hit a high push fade with five iron into a two club wind into the right hazard off the tee on a par three. A few holes later I would have my six iron trying to get across a stream from the rough, after a layup, and I topped it into the stream about sixty yards in front of me. I would hit a few fat shots as well. An example would be on #2, a par three. I hit my eight iron heavy and off the toe, and it's a high push fade that misses right( turns into a double when it takes two chips and two putts to finally hole out).

 

There was some good though. I hit my nine iron on a par three to nine feet, and made a par. I had a seven iron approach with elevation and wind assist, go 167 yards and end up eighteen feet right of a back flag.

 

Putting, was a bit better than normal but I was -3.0 SG compared to a 0 HCP in the 6 - 9 foot range. I did reasonable at all other range bands and only was -0.8 SG combined across them.

 

A bad score but I felt good about closing the driver face because that seemed to help overall. I did come away shell shocked by my short game though. It was pure garbage and really cost me a lot of shots. I had fun out there even if I did get frustrated at times.

 

birdies: 0

pars: 6

bogeys: 3

double bogeys: 7

triple+: 2

 

 

Stats:

Avg drive: 224 yards, with two four woods and a five iron in the mix.

Longest drive: 271 yards, gotta love a tail wind and elevated tee!

Fairways: 8/14

GIR: 6/18

Avg Approach: 115 yards

Up & down: 1/11

Putts: 35

 

Strokes gained compared to a 0 HCP. 

Overall: -25.6 strokes, sigh

driving: -9.1, six penalty strokes off the tee on two holes

Approach: -8.4, two penalties but I actually did better than the average approach SG from my prior ten rounds.

Short game: -4.3, I had six double chips and this number is 3.2 SG worse than the average of my last ten rounds

Putting: -3.8, I struggled in the six to nine foot range but overall this is a bit better than normal.

[bortass]

Sunday was cooler, about 45* when we teed off around 8:30. Sunny and not much wind. Quite a nice fall day really. I warmed up a bit hitting little chips with my SW and lo and behold, I was doing it correctly, unlike the prior day. This round was a 52/46, 96/91*, yup I went over NDB by five shots when it came to posting my round to GHIN. That 52 on the front includes me going +9 on #8 and #9. You know it's going good when you have a seven on a par three and a nine on a par four....  I also picked up on #18 and just carded NDB. The round that aged out was not being used, so my index was unchanged.
 

So what happened this time?

 

Driver: No penalties but I topped a couple that went 115 and 76 yards. I put myself in good positions most of the rest of the time. Primary shot shape was a draw.

 

Four wood: used it three times off the tee. The first was a solid pull draw into the left hazard and led to a drop( managed a bogey). The second was also pulled left and left me dead behind a tree, so I punched out at an angle and it lead to ma seven wood shot I'll talk about later(Quintuple bogey was the result of this hole)

 

Approach game was killer. I'm on a par three with seven iron and I hit the first OOB, high push fade, and the second was a pull into the hazard on the left. Ended up with a seven on a par three thanks to that. I had some more fat shots as well. I will talk about the seven wood debacles in a separate section. Let's just say I had six penalty strokes with my approach shots.

 

I did hit a few great shots though. Nine iron on a par three that stopped within two feet of the hole and I converted the birdie. A great looking six iron approach that landed on the back of the green and rolled a couple yards off, came away with a bogey when I two putt from three feet..

 

Putting was a disaster. Thirty-five putts over seventeen holes. Five three putts... I sank a thirty-six footer but that is not enough to offset the issues. I sucked in the three to nine foot band again.

 

Short game was odd. I had a two chip on #1 but outside of that did real well. it was the best aspect of my game and much better than normal. I was +4.0 SG compared to the average of my last ten rounds....

 

Seven wood time. I had three penalties with seven wood from the deck. Once on #9 and twice on #18. These were hero shots that I took because of the game we were playing. I needed to make something happen. There were three of us and we played nine dot. Nine dots per hole that get split between all three players based on the net scores for the hole, you will always get at least one dot on a hole. On both #9 and #18, I put myself in a position where that single dot was probably all I would get. The other guys made some mistakes and I might have a chance to tie one of them and earn at least a second dot, so I tried to hit low percentage shots with my seven wood on long approaches that had water in the mix. I would have been more conservative if I wasn't trying to manufacture something for the side game. Definitely not shots I would have tried during my Saturday rounds, which never have a side game like this.  It ballooned my score but I am willing to write it off because I was forcing the issue on purpose.

 

birdies: 1

pars: 3

bogeys: 9

double bogeys: 2

triple+: 3

 

 

Stats:

Avg drive: 192 yards, with two four woods and a five iron in the mix. Had a couple tops with driver as well.

Longest drive: 248 yards

Fairways: 8/14

GIR: 5/18

Avg Approach: 107 yards

Up & down: 2/10

Putts: 35 (for seventeen holes)

 

Strokes gained compared to a 0 HCP. 

Overall: -25.6 strokes, sigh

driving: -5.4, only one penalty and it was the pulled four wood.

Approach: -14.5, six penalties with these shots.

Short game: +2.1! Not sure how I ended up as better than scratch with my short game but I did.

Putting: -7.8, I was -7.1 from three to nine feet......

[bortass]

Afternoon,

 

I do not expect to make it to the range tomorrow morning, so here is what practice looked like this week.

 

Tuesday block 1: twenty minutes chipping with my SW. Took three balls and chipped to a hole. Move to a different spot and pick a new hole, rinse and repeat. It went fairly well. I was doing better with my contact and the flight was what I expected which is a nice change.

Tuesday block 2: twenty minutes up and down practice. Three balls scattered to different spots, try to get up and down to the same hole. This went okay. I had some nice up and downs but also some brain fart three putts.

 

Wednesday block 1: twenty minutes short putts. I placed a tee about 3 feet from the hole in four cardinal directions. Start at one foot and make the four putts and then move to two feet, etc. Miss a putt and start over at one foot.  I made it to three feet a couple of times but never made it past the second three foot putt.

Wednesday block 2: twenty minutes of three to nine foot putts. I just used one ball, randomly toss it near a hole, and putt out. Pick a new hole and spot each time. Went pretty good.

 

 

Thursday no range because I golfed. It was round two of the year end tournament. I was tied for last place in my flight. Me and the other guy were joking how we would be battling it out for last. Well we both shot net 81s and tied for last, lol. The tournament capped scores at triple bogey, so two of the quads I have in Arccos were reduced by one each. I should have been net 83, lol.

 

It was a bit rough out there for me but it did not need to be. It rained overnight, so cart path only and everything was soft and some casual water. I started to get sick yesterday and sure enough, I have a cold... Course conditions were not conducive to scoring and I'm under the weather, but I do not think that led to my struggles. It was all on me.

 

My group started off #18 and I was two over through the first five holes. I made par putts of four, eight, and ten feet which is a pleasant change for me. I fell apart on the sixth hole we played though.

 

#5 par five, push fade my four wood into the bushes on the right. I punch out sideways and get into the fairway. Hit four wood from the deck and hit a thin worm burner dead right into a hazard... Get on the green in six and I'm forty-three feet from the hole. Three putt for a quad, nine.

 

#6, par four, nice drive into the right rough. Seven iron approach is thin and low and comes up a bit short of the green. Chip with SW and do no reach the green and my ball rolls down the fronting slope almost back to where I started. Chip again to two feet and miss the putt, double bogey.

 

#7, par four, terrible pull with driver into left trees. I find my ball and hack it out. I'm 200 yards out and go with four wood and I mishit it low and right about eighty-four yards... One hundred yards in and my PW comes up very short.. Chip with my SW and leave it twenty-four feet short of the hole. two putts for triple bogey.

 

#8, par three, eight iron off the tee comes up well short because I hit it fat. I chip with my nine iron and hole it for birdie, about twenty-four yards.

 

#9 par four, four wood off the tee and it's a nice shot into the fairway on the right. I'm close to 150 from center and the hole is front right. I take my 150 club, six iron, and miss long right. I now have a downslope chip that is also going down a tier on the green. I use nine iron and hit it too firm and almost into the pond. Chip to two feet with my SW and two putt for a double bogey....

 

#10, par four, okay the tee location is dumb. They punched this tee box last Sunday. The white tee markers are at the very front left corner and about four feet apart. This is a dogleg left and the tees are never set this far left, so it really messed up the angles. I send my four wood shot into the right trees... Find my ball and instead of taking a drop about thirty+ yards back, I try to play it out. I laying four when I am finally barely out of the trees and i still can't go for the green. Turns into a quad, eight.

 

#11, par four, the tee markers are four feet apart again and all the way to the back right of the tee box on a downslope. The markers were set up in the rough on the slope that is between the blue and the white tees. I top my five iron and have issues and come away with a triple bogey, seven. The other guy in my group that is playing the white tees, also mishits his tee shot because of the downslope. I was very frustrated by the tee location and it stuck with me through this hole. There is no reason they should have been there, I knew I was going to have issues with my tee shot, blah.

 

#12, par four, hit a solid four wood into the fairway. My pitching wedge lands on the front of the green and spins a few feet off. I chip with putter to about two feet and miss the par putt, bogey, five.

 

#13, par three, I hit the green  and two putt from thrity-six feet up a tier for par.

 

#14, par five, I'm short of the green in three and need to chip over a bunker. i use my 52* GW and get on the green but fifteen feet short and come away with a bogey, six.

 

#15, short par four. A nice 222 yard drive into the fairway. the hole is back left and about 45 yards away. I pitch with my SW and barely get on the green. I have fifty-three feet for birdie and leave it eleven feet short. I send the par putt four feet long. Bogey putt is two feet long.. Miss the double bogey putt, lol. A five putt triple bogey, seven... I had checked out mentally.

 

I bogey #16 and get a nice par on #17 to finish the round.

 

It was actually a 97 but for GHIN it turned into a 94. My index will go up by 0.3, to 15.3. Poor decision making led to a few of the high numbers but I did have some swing issues. It was not a good round but I hit some shots I'm proud of. My putting was real bad but I did manage to sink a few putts I normally would have missed. Those missed two footers are an issue though. I miss low and it rolls out a couple of feet. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, as in what I am doing that causes me to miss in this manner fairly consistently.

 

Hopefully, I feel better Saturday and those tee boxes with the terrible tee location gets fixed.