Be Better, Brad! (Update 4-11-2024 with new swing videos)

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range today. Only brought 4h, 8i, 52 and 56, and not my bag or cart, so no video.

 

Primary thing to work on was attempting to recenter back to my left side sooner, feel myself falling onto the left side, and then to use the ground to push the left hip back more aggressively than I was doing--hopefully getting the weight onto my left heel rather the outside of my left foot. 

 

I think the issue has been that I've always had a slide, and while I've been able to get my weight to the left side in the swing, it was too late and too much of a lateral move--and my hands lag behind, come from the inside, and boom->hook city. 

 

I definitely saw improvement, but I think my consistency of execution was lacking. When I get it right, the ball flight is SO much straighter, occasionally even fading slightly but tendency is straight to very slight draw. And it's amazing how a low-effort 1/2 to 3/4 swing produces so much distance... 

 

But I was VERY inconsistent... Sometimes I'd be focusing too much on getting to my left side that I would start by getting to my right, and sometimes I'd just completely whiff on getting to my left side because it's so ingrained the way I did it before. Lots more work to do.

 

The other thing I was working on was a little of Monte's pitching method from UTB 2.0. Overall I've never thought that pitching was a terrible part of my game, probably better than my general handicap, but could use improvement. Essentially my motion wasn't *that* different from what he suggests, but what I really took from it was letting the weight of the club do the work (I could get a little handsy trying to pull it through) and making sure that I got the right arm through in the finish. I definitely saw improvement in consistency of contact and general striking--but my distance control is completely off with the change... But distance control is a practice thing. I can work on that. Overall that change to use the weight of the club just takes SO much pressure off the pitching swing.

[TheDeanAbides]

15 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Hit the range today. Only brought 4h, 8i, 52 and 56, and not my bag or cart, so no video.

 

Primary thing to work on was attempting to recenter back to my left side sooner, feel myself falling onto the left side, and then to use the ground to push the left hip back more aggressively than I was doing--hopefully getting the weight onto my left heel rather the outside of my left foot. 

 

I think the issue has been that I've always had a slide, and while I've been able to get my weight to the left side in the swing, it was too late and too much of a lateral move--and my hands lag behind, come from the inside, and boom->hook city. 

 

I definitely saw improvement, but I think my consistency of execution was lacking. When I get it right, the ball flight is SO much straighter, occasionally even fading slightly but tendency is straight to very slight draw. And it's amazing how a low-effort 1/2 to 3/4 swing produces so much distance... 

 

But I was VERY inconsistent... Sometimes I'd be focusing too much on getting to my left side that I would start by getting to my right, and sometimes I'd just completely whiff on getting to my left side because it's so ingrained the way I did it before. Lots more work to do.

 

The other thing I was working on was a little of Monte's pitching method from UTB 2.0. Overall I've never thought that pitching was a terrible part of my game, probably better than my general handicap, but could use improvement. Essentially my motion wasn't *that* different from what he suggests, but what I really took from it was letting the weight of the club do the work (I could get a little handsy trying to pull it through) and making sure that I got the right arm through in the finish. I definitely saw improvement in consistency of contact and general striking--but my distance control is completely off with the change... But distance control is a practice thing. I can work on that. Overall that change to use the weight of the club just takes SO much pressure off the pitching swing.

The 'It's about this far' method is so effective up to about 80 yards. 

[BigTerp1524]

19 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Hit the range today. Only brought 4h, 8i, 52 and 56, and not my bag or cart, so no video.

 

Primary thing to work on was attempting to recenter back to my left side sooner, feel myself falling onto the left side, and then to use the ground to push the left hip back more aggressively than I was doing--hopefully getting the weight onto my left heel rather the outside of my left foot. 

 

I think the issue has been that I've always had a slide, and while I've been able to get my weight to the left side in the swing, it was too late and too much of a lateral move--and my hands lag behind, come from the inside, and boom->hook city. 

 

I definitely saw improvement, but I think my consistency of execution was lacking. When I get it right, the ball flight is SO much straighter, occasionally even fading slightly but tendency is straight to very slight draw. And it's amazing how a low-effort 1/2 to 3/4 swing produces so much distance... 

 

But I was VERY inconsistent... Sometimes I'd be focusing too much on getting to my left side that I would start by getting to my right, and sometimes I'd just completely whiff on getting to my left side because it's so ingrained the way I did it before. Lots more work to do.

 

The other thing I was working on was a little of Monte's pitching method from UTB 2.0. Overall I've never thought that pitching was a terrible part of my game, probably better than my general handicap, but could use improvement. Essentially my motion wasn't *that* different from what he suggests, but what I really took from it was letting the weight of the club do the work (I could get a little handsy trying to pull it through) and making sure that I got the right arm through in the finish. I definitely saw improvement in consistency of contact and general striking--but my distance control is completely off with the change... But distance control is a practice thing. I can work on that. Overall that change to use the weight of the club just takes SO much pressure off the pitching swing.

 

The weight shift/re-centering has been a tough thing for me as well. If I practice my swing just getting to the top and stopping before transition, it's a beautiful and smooth flowing transfer of weight from my back side to the front. At the top I've re-centered nicely and loaded the front side nicely ready for transition. Try and do it with a full swing and it all goes out the window. Need to find some drills to work on this part of my swing. If Monte suggests something for me here, I'll be sure to share.

 

Agreed 100% about how using the weight of the club and letting it do the work takes a ton of pressure off the chip/pitch. As long as your setup is solid and you come in shallow (which you should with a good setup and letting the club head weight work) the bounce of the club will do it's thing and all you've gotta do is adjust for distance and make sure you don't try to finesse it by not getting the right arm all the way through. Like @TheDeanAbides said, "it's about this far" works well when getting used to this method of pitching/chipping. After getting setup properly with a narrow stance, ensuring my weight is mostly on my front leg and a little tilt back with the upper body my only thought is under handing a ball to my target. This helps with distance control as well as getting the right humerus through on the shot. Since starting this method the only bad shots I hit are ones where I chunk the ball by digging the leading edge of the club into the turf. Every time this happens it's 100% me "finessing" it and not getting my right humerus through as Monte describes. Basically, if I screw up the shot it's all on me and my execution, not the method. Another thing I've noticed is it takes more than I think to "get it there". I've left my share of pitches short, but that's just part of getting the feel for it. But overall I've had just a fraction of the mishits I used to have. Such a superior method to how I previously hit these type of shots and super simple. I no longer concern myself with the bounce of the wedge I'm using. I worry more about the loft and what I want it to do. I can hit my 58/6 or my 54/10 depending on how much height and roll out I'm shooting for from even the tightest of lies. Before, I would never hit my higher bounce wedges unless the ball was in the sand or setting up a bit on the grass. That's the beauty of using the bounce!!!

Edited July 30, 2021 by BigTerp1524

[bortass]

With UTB, do you notice any divots? I seem to have them quite a bit, even on the real good shots. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong in some manner since I still blade the ball too often.

[TheDeanAbides]

7 minutes ago, bortass said:

With UTB, do you notice any divots? I seem to have them quite a bit, even on the real good shots. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong in some manner since I still blade the ball too often.

You probably have the ball too far back in your stance. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

5 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

The 'It's about this far' method is so effective up to about 80 yards. 

 

Yeah, I think part of my issue is that I was suddenly making such pure contact that everything was flying farther lol! 

 

And the other thing was that this was on the range, so I wasn't even really looking at, say, 20 yard pitch shots. There are targets that are probably 50-60 yards out that I'm aiming at, so they're more partial swings or long pitches than anything else. 

 

1 hour ago, BigTerp1524 said:

 

The weight shift/re-centering has been a tough thing for me as well. If I practice my swing just getting to the top and stopping before transition, it's a beautiful and smooth flowing transfer of weight from my back side to the front. At the top I've re-centered nicely and loaded the front side nicely ready for transition. Try and do it with a full swing and it all goes out the window. Need to find some drills to work on this part of my swing. If Monte suggests something for me here, I'll be sure to share.

 

 

For me, the only way I was able to start getting the move that Monte wanted me to do was doing 3/4 swings with tiny effort. I.e. try to hit a 70-80 yard 7 iron. It literally took MONTHS to start seeing it in a full swing. That got me to where I am today, where I'm actually getting hip rotation and getting more open at impact, but still early extending.

 

So that's what I'm doing with this too. Do a little 3/4 swing. Feel the weight get on the right foot and keep the back closed to the target while you feel yourself "fall" onto the left foot and the weight come back left, then swing through with the intent of pushing your left hip backwards. 

 

I take a full swing about every 4th or 5th ball, just trying to feel it in a normal swing. But I'm using the partial swings to train my body. I found with the first move that when I would look at it on video, the partial swings would have the new move and the full swings wouldn't, but after a few months of work it started blending into the full swings. I think training the move at full swing speed causes your brain to just take over and do what you normally do.

 

Granted, I fail badly at the "70-80 yard 7 iron" idea. I'm still getting almost back beyond left arm parallel and hitting the ball farther than that. But at least without trying to swing "full" I make some progress. I'd probably progress faster if I could lay off on those partial swings the way I'm supposed to. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Got out to the range today... Really think it's starting to come together...

 

Big dog:

 

 

 

7 iron, full speed:

 

 

 

7 iron, slow motion:

 

 

 

 

[rondo01]

Looking good! Some envious positions there.

 

@glk can correct me on this, but it seems like the lead hip is working more forward than the trail hip is going back on the BS, which is causing the slight EE, as the trail hip is being pulled forward to match the lead in the DS; versus the trail hip getting deep, then the lead hip moving to meet its depth, allowing the trail to come around without EE.

 

just happened to see this now…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSPfA5mjqe2/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by rondo01

[nitram]

Sounds as if Jake Hutt is your Huckleberry. Check him out on IG and discover Purina.

[betarhoalphadelta]

18 hours ago, rondo01 said:

Looking good! Some envious positions there.

 

@glk can correct me on this, but it seems like the lead hip is working more forward than the trail hip is going back on the BS, which is causing the slight EE, as the trail hip is being pulled forward to match the lead in the DS; versus the trail hip getting deep, then the lead hip moving to meet its depth, allowing the trail to come around without EE.

 

just happened to see this now…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSPfA5mjqe2/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

 

Yeah, that's entirely possible. I know I do gain some right hip depth in the backswing... I usually set up my mouse pointer right on my backside and then start the video, and I do move the right backwards, but then my left side never breaks that plane on the downswing. Could be that I'm not getting deep enough on the right and then the rotation (which should let the left completely reach that same level of depth) doesn't have enough room. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I also noticed something about tempo here. To be honest, I felt like I was taking the club away a little more slowly here in order to "give myself time" to load the left side. 

 

Previous tempo measurements had me at something like 25/10 before trying to focus on getting back onto the left side. 

 

I assumed that this would actually slow down my tempo... But I found that it's gotten me more to a 24/8 tempo or so. 

 

Getting onto my left side earlier caused me to hit that transition point and stop/reverse my backswing quicker at the top. 

 

So by trying to take the club away a little more slowly, I ended up increasing my tempo on both the backswing and downswing. 

 

I was not expecting that.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played yesterday. The course is "River View" in Santa Ana, CA... So you'd think there's a fair bit of water, right? Not in SoCal in the summer--the "river" is a dry bed consisting of gritty sand, that comes into play on quite a lot of holes. It's playable out of that sand, but really difficult to get any shot to go anywhere unless you get a good lie and pick it clean. Interestingly, the layout is such that the nasty riverbed seems to come into play mostly on the right sides of holes... So I was safe lol...

 

We're playing from the blue tees, so total distance is 6190 yards, par 70, rating 68.4 and slope of 120.

 

I got there early to hit some balls and roll a few putts. In general I was pretty pleased with the range work--just wish it made it to the course.

 

This course only allows you to ride in a cart, so sadly it's the first time in over a year that I won't get to walk the course. 

 

Hole 1 - 325 yard par 4, HDCP 15: Nice and easy start, right? Relatively tight with the range on the right side and trees down the left, so I decided to leave the driver in the bag and play smart with the 5i. Which I proceed to top about 60 yards. Ugh. Advance to the ball, pull the 4h, and top that as well, but at least I'm out there a good ways now and in the fairway. Left with about 140, pull the PW and hit it about pin high about 8 feet off the left edge of the green. I putt as it looked fairly clear, but the ball gets held up and I'm left about 8 feet short of the hole. I two-putt from there. Ugh. Double, +2.

 

Hole 2 - 178 yard par 3, HDCP 11: Relatively benign hole. There's a small pot bunker short left of the green, but otherwise no trouble. Pin is center and tees are up, so it's playing about 165. I take an easy swing with the 7i, playing for my draw (aiming right edge), and I hit it pretty well and it draws over towards the left edge of the green, landing pin high just on the green. I'm left with about a 20-footer. I make a decent read and stroke, and lag it to within 18", and make the putt. Par, +2. Also win 2 skins as the first hole pushed.

 

Hole 3 - 199 yard par 3, HDCP 5: Long narrow tree-lined par 3 with a bunker protecting the front/right of the green. Tee up but pin back, so it's playing a good 190. I try to hit an easy 5i, and hook it pretty badly. There's a big berm between 3 and 4 which I go over, and my ball ends up running down below the (elevated) 4th tee. So this is already horrible. I've got to hit up the hill, over the berm, but below trees, to have any shot at the green. I strike it well (don't recall whether I went 52 or 60 here), but it gets held up in the trees short of the green--at least I made it over the berm. I then blade a pitch over the green, blade a pitch back, putt from off the green leaving myself 5 feet for triple, which I miss. Quad, +6.

 

Ouch, ouch, ouch. 

 

Hole 4 - 392 yard par 4, HDCP 1: Here's the first encounter with the river bed. The hole is a dogleg right from an elevated tee down to the fairway, with the river bed all the way along the fairway. The [intended] 2nd shot then goes from the fairway to a shallow elevated green. Tricky. I take 4h because it seems too tight of a fairway for driver, but I make a poor strike and it is low and right--it goes through a tree which slows it down, and ends up being about a 140-150 yard shot--leaving me well over 200 to the elevated green. So instead I play safe and hit my 52 to advance down the fairway rather than trying to go for it, and I do that successfully. From there (don't remember exact yardage/club, but think 8i) I hit a draw that is towards the left edge of the green but doesn't make it, and caroms down the hill ending in the rough. I now have about a 30-40 yard pitch up the hill to a blind green, but I strike that really well and get up there to see that I'm about 20 feet from the hole. I get a good view of the line from a playing partner and lag my putt to a few inches for tap-in. Double, +8.

 

Hole 5 - 545 yard par 5, HDCP 7: Long par 5 from an elevated tee hitting down to the fairway in the valley with the river bed all the way down the right side of the hole. Doglegs to the left at the very end to an elevated green. I'm hitting all my clubs badly at this point, so why not hit driver? It's a low (barely not topped) pull that doesn't go particularly far as it runs through the various rough and other stuff, but with the slope of the hole it actually rolls out into the fairway. Maybe hit 150 or so? So from here I'm just in advance-the-ball territory, still 400 out. I think I hit 4h or 5i, and just got it out there farther into the fairway. I think now left with 190 or so, I hit 5i and hook it up the hill into the trees, 60 yards short of the green. I find it on some gravelly soil, with a tree directly in my path to the green. I decide a smart idea would be to hit a 60* wedge and hope I go over the tree... I blade it, it hits the net along the left side of the hole and the telephone pole supporting the net, rockets high up backwards at me, and lands and stops 8" from where I just hit. Well, that was unfortunate. Let's try again! This time I don't blade it, but it doesn't elevate over the tree and... Comes right back to me. So now I'm laying 5. I pull out the 5i and punch it out below the tree just right of the green, and think "maybe I should have tried that first." So now I'm laying 6 just off the green. I putt it to 5 feet, TWO putt from there, for a smooth 9. Quad, +12. 

 

This is starting to get less than fun. And of course the nasty lie I had to hit out of has dinged up the nice black coating on the sole of my new 60...

 

Hole 6 - 195 yard par 3, HDCP 3: Another long par 3, flat. Anything right will go down a huge slope into the river bed, and there's the same big net to the left protecting a walking trail and houses beyond. Bunker and trees left of the green. I think it was playing to about 180 or so, and for some reason I didn't remember to log my tee club in The Grint. I think I hit 6i. Not that it matters--I hooked it into the net well short of the green and left myself 40-50 yards to pitch. From the rough I duff one pitch with the 52 that only goes halfway to the green. I then hit a much better pitch (also the 52) that got up in the vicinity of the hole. I also forgot to record first putt distance, so the only important thing I guess is that I managed to two-putt. Double, +14. 

 

Hole 7 - 375 yard par 4, HDCP 9: Elevated tee and elevated green again. The is a dogleg right crossing back over the river bed. I look at the hole and it looks benign for a driver. So I tee it up and let it fly, hitting a MASSIVE drive with just a very slight draw that ends up along the left edge of the fairway just at the point where the slope up to the green starts. I didn't measure the drive (probably should have) but I was left with about 50 yards to the center. No, it wasn't a 325 drive lol--this course seems to measure their distances along doglegs such that some of these holes are not as long as they appear depending on the line you take. But it was probably 290. Now I'm hitting blind to a front pin on an elevated green probably 30-40 feet above my head. I take the 60 and hit a pretty nice pitch, that stops just shy of the putting surface on the fringe, IIRC about 25 feet from the pin. I hit a mediocre lag that leaves me a 5-footer for par, but I actually manage to make it. Par, +14. Also snagged my third skin (hole was only worth 1).

 

Hole 8 - 525 yard par 5, HDCP 13: We've now crossed the large berm that was between 3 and 4 again, so we're out of the river bed unless you slice the ball off the planet. This is a long and straight par 5, with the berm and trees all down the right side, and trees all down the left side. Small green protected on the right by a bunker. I pull driver again, and make a decent whack at it, but I think I was a bit off the toe so it doesn't have great distance and curves into the left rough. I'm left way too short of the green to consider any strategy to hit to it, and have some trees in my way as well. So I try to pull a 7i to advance the ball over the trees and back into the middle, but I don't get quite as much height as I thought and it hits the first tree and drops down. Now I'm left with only a punch out, so I take my 5i and hit out below the trees, and it's curving left and hits a telephone pole and kicks right towards the fairway. At least I'm finally within long iron distance of the green. I hit my fourth shot, and it curves left of the green, ending up in a little curve of the cart path against the curb just past pin high. I take relief and pitch onto the green, leaving well short. I now have a 20-foot left-to-right downhill slider for bogey. But I make it! Bogey, +15.

 

Hole 9 - 110 yard par 3, HDCP 17: Very short par 3 over a small pond--the only water on "River View Golf Course" today and it's not even natural lol. Narrow window between trees, to the green if you don't hit the ball with height, but anyone hitting a nice high wedge shot it won't be in play as you'll be over them. It's playing 103 to a center pin, so I take a nice 3/4 swing 52 and pop it pin high, but off in the left fringe. I've got about 30 feet and the ball is resting just in front of rough, so I've got to strike down on it. I putt from the fringe and don't get a great strike, leaving myself 10 feet short of the hole. And I three-putt from 10 feet. Ugh. Double, +17.

 

So I'm at the turn with a 51 against par 34. And nothing is going well in my game except lag putting. 

 

Hole 10 - 198 yard par 3, HDCP 8: Flat par 3, with bunkers protecting the front left and front right of the green. Playing to a front pin, I think playing about 185. My buddies who played the course the previous week said "the only thing you can't do is go long", so I took 6i. I made a semi-decent strike, but too much curve and missed left of the left bunker about pin high. I'm now somewhat short-sided, so I use my 60 to go over the bunker, and chunk it right into the bunker. Ugh. Because the one thing I'm good at is bunker play. Well, I take Monte's advice from the UTB 2.0 series on bunker play rather than the way I've been taught all my life, and with my 60 I pop the ball right out of the bunker, effortlessly, coming to rest 2 feet from the pin, and make the putt. Bogey, +18. 

 

Okay, sure it was a chunked chip to get me into the bunker, and sure it was just a bogey, but I feel REALLY good about that bunker shot!

 

Hole 11 - 340 yard par 4, HDCP 10: Flat par 4 (we're still away from the river bed), but with a narrow fairway. Trees and OB line the right side, and there are trees down the left as well, but I know that with my miss (left) I'm safe as the 8th hole runs parallel (in reverse) to the 11th on the left, so I pull out the driver. I take a whack and just crush it, making perfect contact but it's turning a bit left. I find the ball to the left in the rough short of the 8th tee, and beyond the big trees with a clear path to the green, about 45 yards from the center pin. Unfortunately, I screw up that massive drive by not hitting it hard enough out of the rough, and only make it 2/3 of the way to the green. I pitch again, and leave myself about 15 feet from the hole. I lag it to a few inches and have a tap-in. Bogey, +19.

 

Hole 12 - 470 yard par 4, HDCP 2: This hole is another example of dogleg math. My garmin says it's 400 to the green, but it's a 470 yard hole. This hole is a perfect risk-reward hole, as you're on an elevated tee and have to carry over the river bed which hugs the right side of the fairway on a dogleg right. So it's a matter of what line you take based on your carry distance to see just how much of that dogleg you can take the yardage out. I'm looking at this hole and feel like it sets up perfectly for my driver. If I aim for the carry I'm capable of, I can take a lot of distance out of this hole. If I have my normal misses (toe strike draw at lower distance, or any sort of hook) I make things easier on myself because I don't need as much carry on that line. So I pull driver... And shank it right into a hazard. DAMMIT! So I re-tee and now I'm hitting three. And I hit the best drive I've hit on a course in my life... PERFECT contact, launched like a missile, DEAD straight on my intended line. Almost carried it too far because it goes all the way through to the left side of the fairway. Again forgot to use The Grint to measure it (I was last to hit and it was my second ball so I wanted to get out there), but I think it was 290-300. Get down to my ball and I'm left with 122 but up a big hill to the elevated green and a back pin, so I play it with my 140 club (PW). I'm a little worried about some tree branches that are in my line just shy of the green, but hope I miss them. I strike it about how I wanted, but the leaves take some off and it stops just shy of the green. But at least from here I can see my line and what I need to do. The pin is back on top of a tier in the green, so I need to pitch it back to that shelf. I pitch with the 52, and catch it low on the face, thinking I'm screwed and I'll go over--but it hits the slope up to the shelf which knocks it down and it rolls out to 5 feet past the hole. And... I freakin' two putt. Ugh. Triple, +22.

I'd have been much happier with that hole if the second drive had been my first lol...

Hole 13 - 548 yard par 5, HDCP 16: After crossing under the 22 freeway and enduring the smell of vagrant urine in the tunnel under the freeway, we get to the tee. Long dogleg left par 5 with the river bed all the way down the right side, mostly flat from the tee to the fairway and then turning left at the end to--another elevated green. Trees all the way down the left. I take driver again, and it's a low pull that has decent speed. It blasts through a small tree taking some distance off, but could be worse... Probably still went 180-200. I get up to the ball and I'm in the trees, but I've got plenty of opening. I need to get the ball up in the air a bit, so I take 7i just to advance and get myself in approach range, and I hit a nice draw that puts me on the left edge of the fairway. I'm about 7i distance (given the slope) again to the green, but I hit a weak push from there which ends up running down to almost the bottom of the slope under the green to the right, in the rough. I try to pitch with my 52 up the hill and under branches, but I don't give it enough up the hill and it stops in light rough short of the green. I pitch again, leaving myself 15 feet, and two putt. Double, +24.

 

Hole 14 - 160 yard par 3, HDCP 12: Hitting over a huge valley in the riverbed here, but tee-to-green is flat. Shallow green and my playing partners tell me everyone the previous week was short. We shoot it at 145 yards or so, so I club up to the 9i to make sure I get there, especially as there's some wind--I see it as mostly right-to-left but it could gust in our faces a little. I aim well right of the pin to account for both my draw/hook tendency and the wind, and hit a shot that really doesn't curve at all. It feels like a little toe strike so I am worried about distance, and it ends up landing just on the front edge of the green. I'm left with a 30-footer which I lag to tap-in distance, and notch the par. Par, +24.

 

I don't recognize it at the time, but we had pushed the previous 6 holes in the skins game so this was worth 7, and I was the only par. So even though I'm playing like complete trash, I've got 10 skins in 14 holes. Better to be lucky than good sometimes, right?

 

Hole 15 - 480 yard par 5, HDCP 12: Now a shorter par 5, with the river bed all the way down the right side and trees on the left. Surprise surprise, it's an elevated tee to a low fairway and dogleg left to an elevated green! I take driver, and hit a low pull left. Truthfully, I don't recall much of this hole. I think I hit 4h from there into the fairway, maybe hit an approach that didn't make it, followed by a couple pitches, and The Grint says I three-putted from 40 feet for double. Not sure why none of it was memorable--maybe it was garden-variety crap instead of anything interesting lol... Double, +26

 

Hole 16 - 418 yard par 4, HDCP 4: Long par 4, dogleg left to an elevated green. River bed down the right, trees down the left. Again I duff a tee shot with a low pull with the driver. I hit 8i just to advance the ball at the fairway because I don't have a distance I can hit nor a line I can take anywhere near the green. It's a good shot though and gets me safely into the center. From there I don't recall exact yardage, but I was within 100 and hitting a partial wedge. Which I flub the first one, walk 5 yard to my ball, and then stick the second one to 7 feet. As usual, I two putt from 7 feet. Double, +28.

 

Hole 17 - 538 yard par 5, HDCP 6: Guess what, it's an elevated tee and an elevated green, with river bed down the right and trees and the berm down the left... But--it's a dogleg RIGHT over the river bed this time! I take driver and hit a good shot. I was probably aiming too far right, but I made good enough contact and it drew into the center of the fairway. Not sure of yardage, probably 250-260ish. From there I had about 220 to the elevated green, and the angle would take me over trees that I might not clear, so instead I thought I'd take 8i and try to aim over the river bed into the fairway. And I shanked it right into the river bed into some scrub and bushes. Dropped another ball where I stood, hitting four. I hit a low draw with the 8i that ends up coming down from the slope across the river bed into the very edge of it. So on the 17th hole, I face my first shot out of this junk. It's a mediocre lie with a little bit of sand an inch behind the ball so I don't think I can pick it clean, but I give it a try with the 60 anyway. I shoot it halfway up the slope, not reaching the green. From there I go and pitch again, leaving myself 30 feet. I hit a halfway decent lag and make the putt. Triple, +31.

 

Hole 18 - 194 yard par 3, HDCP 14: Hitting back over the river bed again, from tee to green, but flat elevation-wise to the green. Pin in the center and tees up a bit, so playing about 185. I take 6i, and make good contact but hook it well left of the green. I get up to the ball and again I'm forced to try to shoot uphill a bit and below trees. The goal is to pitch with a 7i and hit a slope just short of the green, and try to have that slow it down and run up... But I hit just over that slope, and it went skittering across the green. From there I had a pretty straightforward 20-25 yard pitch, but the green sloped away from me so I still left 30 feet. I two-putted to close it out. Double, +33.

 

So we're looking at 51 out, 52 in. Generally trash all around...

 

Stats:
Strokes from <100 yards: 66, for an average of 3.67 per hole
Putts: 35
GIR: 2/18
 
Birdies: 0
Pars: 3
Bogeys: 3
Doubles: 8
Triples+: 4

 

Yeah, tons to not be happy with. 3.67 per hole from <100 is absolutely terrible for short game. How many putts I'm missing from the 3-8 feet range is terrible. My ballstriking is horrific, with WAY too many shots just turning left. 

Positives are lag putting, managing to actually hit a sand shot, and that I'm at least not terrified of my driver--and when I hit it well I'm hitting with enough distance to make a difference. 

 

Course was not particularly nice, but it was sneaky difficult with those long par 3s, elevated greens, and being pretty penal for getting out of position. Certainly more difficult of a course than I typically play. 

 

Playing Thursday at a very nice course with my wife's stepdad. We'll probably play from the whites but that will still be a course with a rating of 69.70 and slope of 126 from those tees, so it may be even more challenging. That said, I wonder if it will actually play easier because the course will be in so much better condition than the sorts of goat tracks I'm used to...

[bortass]

Sorry to read it was a rough round but at least it was semi profitable. I would blame the riding and lack of your stylish umbrella for the difficulties out there 🙂 Seriously though, that course read harder than it appears. par 3s that are almost 200 yards on a 6100 yard course sounds nuts to me. The 6300 yard course I played in Maine was slope 116 and the longest par 3 was 160ish with a pond carry. Most of the distance was on a few real long par 4s which is what I would prefer but that's me.

 

The sand shot sounded like a great shot and your driver seemed okayish. The best thing about the driver is that you noticed that the well struck ones made it easier for you. I know it was hard for me to justify driver when I only averaged about 10 - 15 yards more than my 3/4w. Once I got driver working reasonably well though, it changed the game for me a bit. It did take a fair amount of use on the course though and the growing pains weren't fun but eventually paid off.

 

The semi funny tidbit is we both did the same thing yesterday. Hit a ball into a hazard with driver and had our next shots be the best we've ever hit.

 

Good luck Thursday!

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm really surprised by the driver... My previous driver was 20 years old, probably around 300cc, and had a steel TT Dynalite S100 shaft on it. I couldn't hit it at all. 

 

When my buddy offered to let me try this one, I thought "yeah, how much could it really help?" Turns out, quite a bit.

 

I've always liked a little heavier feel, but I think the steel shaft was just TOO heavy. Moving down to a 70g shaft was probably right. But the head itself is just so much better. I can actually trust I'll hit the ball with the face, which I didn't trust with the old driver. I'd sky it, top it, whatever, but wasn't sure I'd hit the ball with the face. And this driver is actually about half an inch longer than the old one, and I'm still hitting it much better. Amazing how much technological advancement came with that 460cc head...

 

With this driver, I don't always hit good shots. But my misses are better, and my good shots are wonderful. When I play my normal par-60 course and only pull driver on 2 holes, it's hard to tell, but I hit 3 really great drives yesterday. And in all three cases, it gave me a MUCH easier look at the second shot than I'd have gotten with a perfect 4h or 5i, and as my round descriptions will attest, I'm not guaranteed a perfect 4h or 5i either lol.

 

At some point I'm going to schedule a driver / FW fitting. Especially if the golf course COVID congestion starts to wane as we get into the fall/winter, and I can play more regulation courses, I'll need it. But for now, having a driver that doesn't terrify me is such a wonderful feeling.

 

The round on Thursday is with my wife's stepdad, who is visiting from Oregon. Last summer, she and I went up there in July as our one getaway because we figured social distancing in their house would be a lot more fun that social distancing in ours, and I ended up going out with him to play golf. It was my first round in 5 years, and it was the round that rekindled my passion for this game. 

 

So I'm excited to play with him again. And that round, where I never pulled a club longer than a 5i, I mostly kept up with him off the tee. I'm definitely looking forward to tee box where we're both pulling driver and I launch it 70 past him lol 😉

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The goal at a ritzy course is to take as many strokes as dollars you paid in greens fees, right? 

 

Because I came pretty close today lol...

 

I'll work on typing up the round. Pretty ugly golf, but really nice course.

[95124hacker]

42 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

The goal at a ritzy course is to take as many strokes as dollars you paid in greens fees, right? 

 

Because I came pretty close today lol...

 

I'll work on typing up the round. Pretty ugly golf, but really nice course.

Glad I didn’t shoot 575 at Pebble…

[berndgeurts]

7 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

The goal at a ritzy course is to take as many strokes as dollars you paid in greens fees, right? 

 

Because I came pretty close today lol...

 

I'll work on typing up the round. Pretty ugly golf, but really nice course.

Mean greenfee in the Netherlands is 50 euro's, that's a hard task

[golfarb1]

Issues with your swing- based upon full speed 7i videos

Stance 

“C” posture- shoulders are too rounded at setup( dtl) 

You have a little too much knee bend . 

 

Takeaway 

You start the club head straight back and then  quickly roll it to the inside( dtl). This results in your hands moving  considerably away from your body by first parallel . 

To correct this ,think of moving your HANDS straight back or directly away from the target during your takeaway

 

Backswing

FAR, FAR too much lateral movement by your head  away from the target ( front). Your lateral movement is over by 9:00 . Many  top golfers do have some lateral head movement with a driver but it is both less than you have with your 7iron and starts much later .   Most have very little discernible lateral head movement with a 7i. 
To correct this buy the “steadyhead “iPhone app. 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by golfarb1

[betarhoalphadelta]

Okay, played yesterday. Course is Tijeras Creek in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. We played from the whites which is 6200 yards, par 72, rating 69.7 and slope 126. A little harder than I typically play. 

 

Interestingly, it was my wife's stepdad and I, and two people who were local. They play the whites, but they basically play it from the actual white yardages regardless of where the tee markers are placed. We went along. So we played it to true white yardages despite the fact that most holes we were actually teeing off where the blues were marked. 

 

I skipped the range this morning. I did roll a few putts as I knew this course would likely have MUCH faster greens than the shag carpet that I normally play on. Definitely helped me get accustomed.

 

The course was really nice. The front 9 is a bit less scenic, as it winds through housing developments. The back 9 is out in the canyon, and is really gorgeous. 

 

Hole 1 - 491 yard par 5, HDCP 15: The hole is mostly straight with a slight bend left. Despite not warming up, I hit driver. Result was a low hook but overall not bad--got me out downrange. I ended up well into the left rough, and was between some trees but had a clear angle to hit a punch towards the green. Hit a 7i punch and struck it pure, putting it out into the fairway in range of a partial 52. I slightly pushed the partial 52 almost pin-high, and was sitting on the right fringe about 20 feet from the hole.  My first putt was a bit weak, leaving me 5 feet for par, but I made that putt. Par, E.

 

Hole 2 - 326 yard par 4, HDCP 17: Shorter par 4, dogleg left. Fairway bunker down the left side, bunker protecting the front left of the green. I take 5i and hit another low hook, which stops in the left rough short of the fairway bunker. I'm left with 145 to the pin, and take PW. I strike it beautifully, and make GIR slightly right of the hole leaving myself about 21 feet. I again strike the putt weak and don't get to the hole, but make the second one. Par, E.

 

Wow, I'm playing like a real golfer today!

 

Hole 3 - 418 yard par 4, HDCP 1: Straight hole, with two fairway bunkers left and right around the tee shot landing zone, and then a narrow two-tier green flanked by bunkers left and right. I pull driver, and launch one--way right OB. Damn, because I made great contact. Re-tee and hit another driver, and it's a low pull that barely goes ~100 yards. Recovery shot (5 or 6i) advances the ball, but is hooked left into left rough. I'm left with PW distance again, and hit a shot that I think is perfect, just left of the pin, but when I get up to the ball I'm 30 feet short of the hole on the green. I have to putt up to the second tier, and I putt about the right distance this time but I'm 5 feet right. I make that putt. Gotta account for stroke and distance, so... Triple, +3.

 

Hole 4 - 369 yard par 4, HDCP 7: Dogleg right with a couple of fairway bunkers down the left, and a pond along the right side of the fairway all the way to the green. Green flanked by a bunker protecting short right and to the left. I want to stay short of the bunkers and it's not a long hole, so I take 4h. And I shank it into the bushes. I'm able to find the ball, but I have to take an unplayable. I take my drop and hit GW into the fairway because I have no other angle from the drop. I'm left with 180 or so to a back pin, so I take 6i, and skull it with a push draw. I figure the curve is taking it well away from the water, but the left-to-right slope of the fairway rolls it down into the right rough. Now I'm hitting 5, and have a relatively straightforward pitch over water with the 52 to the green. And I chunk it into the water. Take my drop, hit another pitch (hitting 7), and hit about pin high onto the left fringe. I putt from the fringe, leave myself about 3-4 feet, and make the putt for a 9. Quintuple, +8.

 

Oof.

 

Hole 5 - 151 yard par 3, HDCP 13: Straightforward par 3 across the pond from the previous hole. If nothing else, the only difficulty on this hole, really, is psychological due to the water. Today of course it's playing to a dangerously front hole location, and it's only 138 to the pin. I plan to take PW (my 140-145 club) to be safe. The first player to hit ends up striking it well and coming up just short, and says he flushed his 160 club and still didn't make it. So I'm a little worried, and grab my 9i instead. I hit my 9i flush but it's a pull, and the ball goes WAY beyond the green. Faced with a terrible long pitch to a downhill green, I end up pitching it short. Pitch again, and I go 15 feet past the hole. Coming back, I've got an uphill right to left breaking putt, and I putt it dead center into the pin. Bogey, +9.

 

Hole 6 - 366 yard par 4, HDCP 11: Simple and straight par 4. One fairway bunker down the right, a couple bunkers around the green. I take driver and top it to the left. Ugh. Take 4h and screw it up again. Take 7i and finally hit a damn good shot, into the right rough about 60 yards short. Hit a wedge and chunk it, getting me to about 30y short. Hit the 60 and finally get a decent shot, leaving myself a 15-footer for double bogey... Which I make! Double, +11.

 

Hole 7 - 174 yard par 3, HDCP 5: Par 3 over a pond to the left, with a bunker fronting the green on the left and two pot bunkers long right. I take 6i... And top it just left of a forward tee box onto the slope above the pond. I'm faced with about 135 with the ball well above my feet. I take GW and aim right expecting the lie and the ball being above my feet turning everything left. Which it does, but my aim was too far right. I end up pin high to a back pin, but on the right fringe maybe 25-30 feet from the hole. I putt from the fringe to 5 feet, which I consider a success. And then, of course, I two-putt from there. Double, +13.

 

Hole 8 - 524 yard par 5, HDCP 9: Pretty straight hole, with a reachable fairway bunker down the left and a valley under the green to an elevated green. I take driver, and finally hit a solid shot, but it's turning left and I see it hit a mound to the left of the fairway bunker. Never having been to this course, I'm just hoping I can find it. Turns out there's a clearing past there, and it's actually a really safe place that gives me a great angle. I hit 4h from there, and top it. Ugh. I hit 4h again from about 235 yards, and leave myself 20-30 yards short (expected as I can't reach 235 with that club, but I don't hit my 4w). I pitch with the 60 and put it to 15 feet, pretty good for me. I'm stuck looking at a severely downhill breaking putt, and I tap it to gimme range. Make that. Bogey, +14. 

 

Hole 9 - 388 yard par 4, HDCP 3: Relatively straight hole. Off the tee I take driver, and top it into brush. Re-tee and hitting 3, I take driver again and hit a semi-not-horrible shot starting right and hooking back towards the left side of the fairway. I find the ball safely. I'm now over 200 out and don't feel like I should go for it, so I hit 7i to try to position myself near the green in the fairway. Well, I push it right, and due to some cart path assist I end up almost pin high laying 4, right of the green. I try to hit a pitch that I'm trying to land short right into a slope so it will check up and roll down to the pin, but I go long over the slope and over the green. One mis-hit pitch and another pitch later, and I'm on the fringe... I putt off the fringe and hit the pin but it sneaks out around the hole, leaving me inches. So I get to count it as a one-putt, almost a zero-putt, for a 9... Quintuple, +19.

Yeah, I've almost reached my index... At the turn. 

 

Hole 10 - 327 yard par 4, HDCP 14: Tons of trouble on this hole if you try to take driver off the tee. Fairway bunkers left and right, pond left, just a lot to worry about. I hit a 5i because it's a short hole, and hit a low hook that stops short of the pond, leaving me 160y to a back pin. I take my 8i, and actually fly it long, ending up in a pot bunker behind the hole. I've got a nasty downhill lie in the bunker, and my first attempt at getting out only gets me to a better lie. But from there I hit a much better shot but it runs out past the hole and leave myself 12 feet coming back. I two putt. Double, +21.

 

Hole 11 - 493 yard par 5, HDCP 8: Par 5 with a forced carry to the fairway, and the fairway landing area flanked by bunkers right and left. I pull driver, and for once hit a good one. Great strike, nice trajectory. It's starting too far right and I'm worried I'm going to lose it in the brush, but it's curving back left. I find it just past the right fairway bunker in the right rough. Overall just about the most successful tee shot I've hit all day. From there I'm only 230 or so out, so I figure I might as well try the 4h--bad idea. Skull it and still leave myself about 115 to the green. I take the 52 from there, and hit a shot a little low off the face and I'm worried I'm over, but it hits and immediately stops, 21 feet short of the hole. I have an uphill slightly breaking putt, and I hit it exactly hole high about 8 inches left of the cup. I make that. Par, +21.

 

Hole 12 - 328 yard par 4, HDCP 4: Another forced carry to the fairway, but the layout of the hole looks safe for driver--and it's not like I'm hitting any other tee club better. So I take driver, and sky one way right OB. At least there's no idiot mark on the crown from it, so I'll take it. There's a drop area on this hole so I (and two of the other playing partners) all go there. The drop area gives you a 200 yard blind shot to the green. Hitting 5, I take 5i, and top it about 55 yards. Get up to the ball, pull PW, and hit it really nicely to 20 feet. Sink the putt dead center of the hole. Bogey, +22.

 

I'll take a bogey after a drop any  day.

 

Hole 13 - 505 yard par 5, HDCP 16: Long dogleg left par 5. I take driver off the tee and it's a low pull, maybe 100-150 yards after getting caught up in rough. Top a 4h from there, and I'm still a long way out. Not liking the way I'm hitting that hybrid, I take 5i and make much better contact, and hook it into a hazard. I take my drop and punch out to the fairway with my 52. I'm now about 115 out, and hit the 52, but pull it and leave it short, leaving myself 15 yards off the green to the left. I chunk one pitch attempt, and then the second one rolls out onto the fringe past the hole. I putt back, long and downhill, and leave myself 5 feet, which I make to card a double-digit 10. Quintuple, +27.

 

Hole 14 - 142 yard par 3, HDCP 12: VERY downhill tee shot to a green with bunker short left and to the right, and long. The pin is back, but with the elevation it's playing to about 138. I'd rather be short on the green than long off it, so I take GW (my typical ~135 club). I make a good strike, but it curves left, stopping in the rough about 10 yards left of the green. I pitch with good distance control but directionally too far right, leaving myself about 12 feet for par. I get it close, but not in, and take my 4. Bogey, +28.

 

Hole 15 - 321 yard par 4, HDCP 18: Easiest hole on the course. Short and with a wide landing area in the fairway, and a generously sized green. I figure I should take the safe route, so I tee off with a 5i. And I hit it 40* offline into OB. My playing partner tells me it's actually considered a lateral hazard, not OB, but it would be silly to drop, behind a bush, 300 yards from the hole. So I retee. I improve, and only hit it 30* offline into OB right into that bush. Glad I played it safe lol. Now I'm frustrated and I already know that this round isn't ever going to be one of the 8 that goes into calculating my index, so I drop in the fairway next to a couple of the other balls (as does another playing partner who like me has already lost two off the tee). I have a GW from there, but I tug it a little and it lands on the left fringe. I've got about 40 feet from there, and my lag is only to about 9-10 feet. I two put from there. Quad, +32.

 

Hole 16 - 149 yard par 3, HDCP 10:  Another downhill par 3, with a bunker fronting the green. Playing about 145 given the slope, so I take PW. I get a good strike, but it turns too far left, and runs down a slope left of the green leaving me ~30 yards without a lot of green to work with. I try the 60, but leave it short. I pitch again, and it's much better, running about 7 feet past. Of course I miss the putt, and make a 5. Double, +34.

 

Hole 17 - 354 yard par 4, HDCP 2: Hard left dogleg, with a big fairway bunker on the left threatening you if you try to cut the corner. If you do cut the corner, you'll be down in a bit of a valley hitting to an elevated green. Left plays into my strength, so I pull out the driver and actually make pretty solid contact, and it's turning left. It goes past the bunker, and rolls down into that valley--which unfortunately is rough instead of fairway. I'm left with 90 yards to a front pin, so I take a 90% swing with my 56. I leave it 5 yards short of the green. I pitch it up and it rolls about 12-13 feet past the hole. I have a good look at the line from another player, and it's much more severe break than I thought. So with that info, I play more break, but I don't make the putt and it stops within a foot of the hole. Bogey, +35.

 

Hole 18 - 380 yard par 4, HDCP 6: Straight hole. Far left is the pond from 10, and down the fairway there are bunkers at 220 on the right and 240 on the left. I'm not hitting any club great today, so I just take driver again. I make contact low on the face, and it's a low hook. It's not left enough to worry about the pond, and I'm pretty sure I don't have anywhere near enough on it to make that bunker at 240. I get up there and I'm proven right--I'm about 20 yards short of the bunker in the rough, left with just under 160 to the pin. I hit 8i and catch all of it, and it goes 10 yards over the green--maybe a flier with no spin due to the rough? Now I'm on a pretty steep slope behind the green built in to protect the clubhouse from people hitting it like I did lol, and have to pitch downward. I use the 60 and actually hit the pitch about as well as I can from there, but it rolls out 20 feet past the hole. My putt misses, leaving me 5 feet. I miss that, so I now card my first three-putt of the day. Double, +37.

 

55 out, 54 in, for a 109. Rough day.

 

Stats:
Strokes from <100 yards to hole: 57, average of 3.17 per hole
Putts: Officially 31, but doesn't count a LOT of putts from the fringe
Fairways: 0/14 (I want to count #17, but it rolled into rough between fairway and green)
GIR: 2/18
Balls lost: 7, I think...

 

Birdies: 0

Pars: 3

Bogeys: 5

Doubles: 5

Triple+: 5

 

Overall it was a rough one. Putting looks good, and I made a couple tough putts, but the stats are inflated due to the number not counted as I was putting from the fringe. The average of 3.17 strokes per hole points out that short game in general was pretty terrible...

 

But it wasn't as terrible as my ballstriking. I was literally all over the place with contact. This is a harder course than I typically play, but it wasn't the course that beat me today--it was that I couldn't hit the damn ball. Granted, on a more forgiving course many of those bad shots might not have resulted in penalty strokes, and I probably wouldn't have lost all 7 of those balls. But the course wasn't THAT hard, especially playing from the whites, that I should have done so poorly. 

 

I think it's a matter of what I'm doing on the range trying to take over on the course but I'm just not good enough at it yet. I felt like my sequencing was just all over the place all day, and it made it tough to make decent contact at any time. 

 

Oh well... More to work on. 

 

Not sure when the next full round will be. I might try to get 9 with my son at the exec course this weekend, but I'll be out of town next weekend so my next 18 might be three weeks out... Hopefully that'll give me time to work on this stuff at the range so I can actually do it. 

[bortass]

Sorry to read about the struggles. I hope you were able to enjoy being out there since struggling on the course can lead to having a bad time for some. A new course is always a challenge. You don't know the layout and all the little gotchas about what to avoid that isn't obvious. Also different greens mean a change in speed and slopes/breaks you are not familiar with.

 

A couple minor course management thoughts and as always I'm no expert so apply a big ole grain of salt.

 

#5 "The first player to hit ends up striking it well and coming up just short, and says he flushed his 160 club and still didn't make it. So I'm a little worried, and grab my 9i instead." Was there any wind in your face? On the surface, personally I'd ignore that comment unless it came from someone I golfed with a fair bit and knew they were a solid player, even then I would have to think about whether to listen or not. There's no way to tell is the 160 yard club he "flushed" was really a 160 yard club. Some guys based their yardages off of a perfect strike and most of us do not make a perfect strike regularly.  So I'd hit the club that based on what I think the playing yardage is makes the most sense along with where my target is. Front pin and water means I'm likely to go for middle, so if that's PW, hit that. Doubt doesn't help us on the course. The reason I asked about wind is if it looked like his ball got knocked down by it then I'd probably be right with you changing clubs since I hit my irons pretty high.

 

Driver - #15 seemed like a prime place to hit it. I understand playing it safe if you are hitting a club well but it sounded like that wasn't the case. This is easy for me to say as a Monday morning QB though. I tend to try shots I need to figure out how to hit versus the smart/safe shot if I think my round is already toast. What's another penalty, if you already have a bad score? YMMV of course.

 

I think shoring up your short game will help. I think I counted roughly 20 pitches/chips including putter from the fringe. If my count is right, you lost 8-9 shots from pitches/chips that were short, long, or into a hazard. I did count the shots that wound up in the fringe as 'misses' since putters off the fringe are a chip in my book. They say this is an 'easy' area to improve in but I have always struggled with it for years even when I worked on it. So I won't say this is an 'easy' fix unless you find a technique that clicks for you. Long game is still the biggest issue, just like for me, so short game not being a focus also makes sense to me.

 

Your putting seemed okay. The lag putting was good and only 1 three putt.  Make percentages start to drop outside 3 feet, so a 2 putt from 5 feet isn't the end of the world. I know we want to always make those but it doesn't always happen. I believe if you keep putting like this it'll be good enough to shoot in the 90s and even the 80s if you can keep lag putting well from the longer distances that will happen as you start to hit more greens from further out.

 

Enjoy the round with your son if you play! 

[golfarb1]

There are some obvious errors in your swing that I pointed out. In the interim here is what you need to do to improve your scores 

1. Ditch the driver-Your occasional good shot is far outweighed by the large number of poor and penalty producing shots. Your ego may suffer by leaving the driver at home , but your scores will thank you. 

2. Ditch your 5i and lower , maybe even the 6i or lower - Your swing and particularly your moving low point due to your  excessive lateral motion make these irons impossible to hit consistently

3. Your wedge play is beyond horrible . Part of this is due to your inconsistent low point and part of this is because you are trying to hit these wedges too far , given your ability. 
According to 2019 Trackman #s, the average Touring Pro hit his PW 120-140 yards. Remember wedges are designed for precision , for hitting the ball closer to the hole. You always have an option of hitting a longer club if you can not hit your wedges long enough. Instead of trying to hit a full PW , try hitting a punch 7i.
4. Until you improve your swing , try hitting shots at 3/4 speed and 3/4 length compared to your current speed and length . This will make it easier to make centered contact. 
 

It may sound like I am  overly criticizing  your swing and play, but I am certainly NOT doing so. You have a good deal of athletic ability in your transition, but your backswing errors make it impossible for you to consistently compress the ball.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by golfarb1

[betarhoalphadelta]

@bortass Yeah, I still had a good time. The golf wasn't great, but it was better than being at work!

 

Per #5, I see the point and agree... Certainly looked like he hit it flush so I got worried though lol. 

 

For #15, I somewhat agree, but even though the round was toast I wanted to play the high-percentage shot... I probably should have understood that my percentages were all messed up yesterday though lol 😉

 

@golfarb1 Thanks. I've worked with Monte, and probably am about due for a refresh lesson with him soon. At the previous one he noted the sway, but there were bigger fish to fry.

 

Regarding your points:

1. I sorta disagree with this one, because if you look at my rounds, I'm actually hitting driver decently. If you look at me trying to hit iron off the tee, it's not necessarily all that much more successful, it's just shorter. I do that quite a bit when I play my par 60 course because there's no real advantage to driver except two holes, but I don't think shanking a 5i is any better than hitting a pull hook with a driver lol. With my old driver, I had a ton of trouble finding the face. With this one, I'm usually much more reliable.
2. I need a mental reset on the 5i and the 4h. Primarily they should not be harder clubs to hit than any others--I went to single-length so they're all at what used to be my 9i length. I think I try to swing them too much for distance rather than swinging, frankly, like I'm hitting a 9i. One of the reasons I went single-length is that hitting extended clubs was just difficult once I got to 5i and longer, as my 5i was 39.5", longer than most players 3i. Now every club is 37.5", which should NOT be too hard to hit--I just try to hit them too hard.
3. Note that my club stamped PW is 44* and GW is 48*. I'm actually not trying to hit them very hard at all. The GW is closer to what a tour player would be playing loft-wise as their PW, and I pretty much target it as my 130 club. 
4. Yeah, I should absolutely have done that. I find I do that on the range and it helps quite a bit. I was just all sorts of off yesterday. 

 

[dvq9654]

I'm a little surprised by your scores vs. your swing (at least the swings you shared). Yes, your swing isn't perfect and a lot of things can be tightened up, but I wouldn't guess that swing would produce so many triples, quads, etc. To my untrained eye, I've seen worse swings play somewhat consistent golf, which is all that's required to drop at least 10 strokes from some of your rounds.  

 

This may be an entirely too simple observation, but based on your writes-ups (which are great by the way) - are you way overthinking everything? It seems like you question what club to use a lot (often resulting in the wrong club), have a lot of thoughts about the way the hole turns / looks / etc. and are generally very aware of many things. That can work for some (e.g., Bryson), but maybe try simplifying things for a round or two and see what happens? Personally, if I think less I play better. This isn't to say ignore the trouble or play stupid. More so, it's telling yourself one or maybe two simple things like: "Aim right side and hit it solid." This is as much about good thoughts as it is eliminating the bad. Once you have your club in hand (right or wrong), these thoughts are the only thoughts and you try to execute those thoughts alone. 

 

This may not work and perhaps you've tried it before, but I think a cluttered mind in golf is a very challenging thing. Having conviction in your shot / approach is half the battle. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@dvq9654 I'm an engineer. I don't overthink anything. 

 

I have a detailed 17-step algorithm to determine the optimal amount of thinking needed for every decision. After I complete that algorithm, I then think about the decision to the exact amount determined by the process. No more, no less. 

 

I'm not a glass half-empty or glass-half full kind of guy; I'm the guy who says the glass has 100% volume margin for the amount of liquid it contains. 

 

😉 

 

Seriously, though, I do think that maybe it comes across that I'm overthinking club selection, etc, but I actually don't. Although I'm still getting used to the new clubs, I have a decent handle on my iron distances, so I pretty much pick the club for the distance. My misses are often close to pin high (assuming it's not a complete mis-hit ball), so I'm not too worried there.

 

Clearly I am highlighting driver or not driver selection a lot in my write-ups. But for the most part it takes more time to write up the decision than it did to make it. 

[bortass]

4 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

@dvq9654 I'm an engineer. I don't overthink anything. 

 

That’s what’s great about being a software architect. It’s all high level and the details are for other people to work out 🤣

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 9 with my son again today.

 

1115 yard course, par 29. 

 

Hole 1 - 85 yards, par 3, HDCP 9: Green is protected in the front right by a bunker. There's a creek running down the left side of the hole, so anything left or long/left is dangerous. Tees in the middle, red flag, playing about 80. I take a partial 52. I don't know if I didn't put enough on it or maybe caught it just a big thick, but it stopped 5 yards short of the green. I pitch, get it a little long, and it rolls right past the pin to the left side of the green on the fringe. I've got about a 20-footer for par, which I drop, but it's on the fringe, so it counts as a zero-putt par. Par, E. 

 

Hole 2 - 100 yards, par 3, HDCP 3: Long but narrow green. There's a pond between the tee and the green that's not in play unless you chunk it, or hit short and right, as the pond extends a little up to the right. The green is protected on the left by a bunker, and if you go long/left here, you can very easily lose a ball as the creek winds around back there. Tee/pin are both middle, playing right around 100. I hit the partial 52 again but with a little more, and it hits the green pin-high about 18 feet right of the flag. Tricky breaking putt, but I get perfect speed and leave it two inches high of the hole. Par, E.

 

Hole 3 - 95 yards, par 3, HDCP 6: Back to front sloped green with bunkers on both sides. Tee is in the center to a back pin, so it's playing about 110-113. I take an almost-full 52, and this time I know I catch it thin because it only makes it about 90 yards. My pitch doesn't go nearly far enough, and I leave myself 27 feet short. I putt it about 4 feet past, but make it coming back. Bogey, +1.

 

My son duffed his tee shot short left, but hit a great pitch up to about 4 feet and sunk his par putt. Good for him!

 

Hole 4 - 88 yards, par 3, HDCP 7: Despite the lack of length, and this being considered the 3rd-easiest hole on the course, I disagree. The green is very narrow and long. Anything left of the green rolls off into the creek. Anything long will likely be in the creek. The green is flat to sloped away from the tee, so it's not going to hold shots without spin. Tees are middle, but the pin is in the very front, playing about 50 yards. I try to take a 2/3 swing 60, but again I chunk it halfway there. I pitch again with the 60, and it catches just in front of the green and rolls out about 12 feet past. I miss the putt but leave a 6-inch tap-in. Bogey, +2.

 

Hole 5 - 210 yards, par 4, HDCP 2: Water all the way down the left, and the hole plays dogleg left if played as a par 4. Again the tees are back and left, so there's not even an angle to the green. Which is fine, I like to play this hole conservatively. I take 8i off the tee, aiming well right knowing my tendencies, and hit a solid contact push draw that rolls out to the very right edge of the fairway. I get up to my ball, have about 50 yards to the hole with plenty of green to work with, and hit a pitch with the 52. It's not fat--I just leave it short. Get up to the ball, pitch again, and I roll about 8 feet past the hole. I make the putt. Par, +2. 

 

Hole 6 - 66 yards, par 3, HDCP 9: Very short hole, with a decent side bunker protecting the front right of the green, and safety everywhere else. Tees are front and pin is back right behind the bunker, playing maybe 55-60 yards. I hit a partial 52 and... Chunk it again. Get halfway there. Hit another 52 and it's a bit thin, low, and rolls out just over the green into the fringe. I've got a crap lie and I'm short-sided, so I try to take a bit of what I've seen in the UTB 2.0 series, which of course I haven't practiced. I take the 52 and take an upright, steep angle with the hands high and the toe low. Using more of a putting stroke, I come through hoping to just get it over and out of the rough and trickle down to the hole. Instead I run out to the fringe on the opposite side. Now I putt off the fringe and leave myself a tap-in. Double, +4.

 

Easiest hole on the course and I manage to double it. Well done, Brad!

 

Hole 7 - 116 yards, par 3, HDCP 4: Narrow and long green, VERY narrow in the front as it's protected on both sides by bunkers. Tees are middle and the pin is WAY up front, so this is playing only 100. I go for the partial 52, and I'm not happy with my contact--a bit low on the face and it comes out definitely low. The advantage of that is those is that they tend to be spinners, though, and this is. It hits front left of the green about 3 yards under pin-high and stops dead. I'm left with about an 18-footer for birdie, and I putt it again to about 3 inches from the hole. Par, +4.

 

Hole 8 - 85 yards, par 3, HDCP 8: Pretty generous round green for this course, with bunkers left and right. Pin is in the center and the tees are slightly back, so it's playing about 90. Partial 52, and I catch it just a shade thick, and it lands about 8 yards short of the green. I have plenty of uphill green to work with, but I don't give my chip enough oomph, and I still leave myself 33 feet short. I make a weak putt not anywhere near hard enough or high enough, and it dies out 5 feet below the hole. I miss that putt by inches. Double, +6.

 

Now I've doubled the second-easiest hole on the course. 

 

Hole 9 - 275 yard, par 4, HDCP 1: This is a strategy hole where you lay up short of fairway bunkers, and then have to carry over a creek on the left to the green. It's creek all the way down the left side off the tee. Tees are WAY up, more than I've ever seen them. So the fairway bunkers, which I take 9i and can't reach when the tees are middle, or 7i and can't reach when the tees are back, are 115 off the tee. So I take the 52 and instead of aiming at the bunkers I usually do, I aim a bit left because I'm not nearly as worried about hooking a 52 into the creek as a longer iron. But I hit a thin push that's low trajectory and goes right into the first fairway bunker. I'm left with about 115 to a back pin. I've got a good lie and take extra club (48* GW) and plan to hit it like a fairway shot, catching ball first. I catch it clean, and it lands just over the green. I'm on a steep downhill lie, buried in rough, to a VERY short-sided pin. I refuse to try a lofted club here and just putt. I strike the putt and I think it's barely going to reach the green, but it drops off the fringe and continues rolling to about 6 feet. That's a dead straight putt and I put it right into the center of the flagstick. Par, +6. 

 

So I make it around in 35 (+6). 

 

Not going to do strokes from <100, because that's almost all of them.

Putts: 14 (3 putts from off the fringe that don't count certainly help lol)

GIR: 2/9

 

Pars: 5

Bogeys: 2

Doubles: 2

 

For a completely crap ballstriking day, I actually scored well. But I need to clean up the ballstriking. I was hoping this little tune up would be a "get right" round after my last two, but no luck. I managed 5 pars on only 2 GIR, so I got some lucky scrambling done today.

 

My son made a 48. He's making progress. The big thing he still needs to work on more than anything is speed control on putts. He keeps hammering the ball way past the hole. Maybe next time he's with me, instead of playing 9 or hitting the range, we'll just spend our time on the putting green working solely on speed control drills. Anyone have any good competitions that he and I can do for that? I think he'd like it if we made it into a game... 

 

[bortass]

Nice putting! That really helped you out.

 

I think this round highlights the comment I made about short game. I love being inside 100 yards because I know my stock partial wedges are up for the task and I don't mishit them too often. I really think playing this course is going to help you out in the long run. Once you get your wedge game firing on more cylinders it'll start to help you when you play 18 on longer courses. You have plenty of length so I think you'll have a lot of wedges into greens as your mid/long game start to settle down.

 

Awesome that you get to play with your son too!

 

Regarding putting games, I just made this up but you could do something like make a 2 foot diameter target area with a tee in the center. Score points for being inside the target. Maybe lose a point for being say 4+ feet away from the tee. Both putt from the same spot and either the winner or loser of that putt picks a different spot to putt from. My reasoning for this is: If you get the ball 2 feet past the hole it likely would have gone in if you hit the hole. Also being within 2 feet makes the next putt a virtual gimme. 2 -4 feet from the target is still makeable but your odd are going down. Miss by 4 feet and now the odds are getting much worse for the next putt.   Play X number of rounds per 'game' and see who wins. Rinse and repeat.

 

Another thing you could try is a variation of a chipping game I played with someone when I was in Maine. It was simply pick a spot to chip from and a target. Closest person gets a point. We'd play for a chocolate chip muffin from the grill and since he was scratch, I bought the muffins when we played, lol.  So do the same putting. Pick a spot and a hole/target. Whomever gets the closest to the target gets a point. each putt once and then winner picks a new spot and/or target to putt from/to. Play to X number of points per game.

 

Maybe have a small prize/treat if he beats you but that's easy enough for you to figure out what would work best if anything at all. Maybe just the bragging rights of beating dad 🙂 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yeah, that course is usually good for tune-up to work on my partial wedge game. I need to get a run over there when it's not busy on a weekday morning and play multiple balls / multiple clubs to do even better. 

 

My ballstriking just sucked yesterday though, so it's not like I learned anything useful 😉

 

Good idea on the putting game. I also read of one where you basically lay down a club about 18" to 2' past the hole. You putt to the hole, with the following outcomes:

• Ball ends short of hole: 0 points
• Ball hits club: 0 points
• MY ADDITION: Ball ends up beyond end of club left or right: 0 points
• Ball ends up between hole and club: 1 point
• Make the putt: 2 points

I added the middle one. If I lay down something long like a driver or fairway wood, then it is a good lag drill for both speed and direction control. 

 

A bunch of rounds of that and he might start getting more touch. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Didn't play last weekend as I was in Denver for some family stuff...

 

Made it to the range today. If I hit the ball two weeks ago at Tijeras Creek the way I was hitting it at the range today, I'd have broken 90.

 

I ordered some Snell MTB-X in Optic Yellow. I decided that in order to mentally hit the ball as well on the course as I do on the range, I need to be looking down at a yellow ball 😉

 

Seriously though, when the MGS ball test came out, I looked at my usual Kirkland and realized it's probably not doing me any favors. I decided to test out the Snell to see if I can get to a little bit better balance between distance and spin. The Kirkland is an extreme outlier on the spin side of that ledger.

 

As for the range today, I just continued working on the recentering, getting my left hip back and trying to swing down and through with right side bend. Contact was good overall, my "hook it off the planet" was mostly under control, although I had some issues with pushes. Driver was long and good contact, and almost all of them would be in play on a course. 

 

Now I need to figure out how to keep it up. 

[bortass]

Sounds like a good range session.