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

[betarhoalphadelta]

Honestly I'm pretty comfortable from 8i-GW. Those are all "full swing" clubs for me, and I feel pretty good about them over the ball. I get more tense as I drop from 7i down to 4h, partly because I'm starting to let "distance" creep into my head. 

 

I have started moving to my 56* as my scoring club from anything inside 100y as long as I'm not in a situation where I *must* play 60*. My full swing with the 56* is 110y, so I'm trying to learn the distance control there. 

 

 

[Myherobobhope]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:04 PM, betarhoalphadelta said:

Honestly I'm pretty comfortable from 8i-GW. Those are all "full swing" clubs for me, and I feel pretty good about them over the ball. I get more tense as I drop from 7i down to 4h, partly because I'm starting to let "distance" creep into my head. 

 

I have started moving to my 56* as my scoring club from anything inside 100y as long as I'm not in a situation where I *must* play 60*. My full swing with the 56* is 110y, so I'm trying to learn the distance control there. 

 

 

Just remember from 90 yards, it takes a scratch golfer an average of 3 strokes to get the ball in the hole... so they make as many birdies as they do pars (this probably isn't 100% correct because they can make doubles and worse, but let's not pick nits!).

 

One of the things that has helped me drop strokes as a 5 handicap is accepting that the ball on the green is pretty much ALWAYS a good outcome for me if I"m more than 50 yards out. I still aim at the pin and expect to hit good shots, but if I'm on the green and have a look at par, I'm happy with the result (this also isn't 100% true, but I'm working on it!).

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

7 minutes ago, Myherobobhope said:

Just remember from 90 yards, it takes a scratch golfer an average of 3 strokes to get the ball in the hole... so they make as many birdies as they do pars (this probably isn't 100% correct because they can make doubles and worse, but let's not pick nits!).

 

One of the things that has helped me drop strokes as a 5 handicap is accepting that the ball on the green is pretty much ALWAYS a good outcome for me if I"m more than 50 yards out. I still aim at the pin and expect to hit good shots, but if I'm on the green and have a look at par, I'm happy with the result (this also isn't 100% true, but I'm working on it!).

 

 

Totally agree. It's somewhat similar for me, but just on a much higher level. I'm a bogey+ golfer trying to get myself down to bogey golfer or better. Given the way handicaps are calculated, to average bogey golf I'd have to have a cap probably somewhere in the 13-14 range.

 

A GIR is great for me. That's a chance at a par, and a chance to erase a double from my card. But the truth is that I don't hit many GIR. And my average strokes to hole from, say 25 yards needs to be better than 3, but it's probably close to three. I don't three-putt THAT often when I'm pitching from that close, but my general expectation from 25 yards is to get on the green and two-putt, and have a chance at a 1-putt if I'm lucky. 

 

That's why one of the things I've been tracking in the rounds lately is "wasted strokes". If I'm 25 yards out and I flub a pitch and it only goes 4 yards, I'm now 21 yards out and I have roughly the same likelihood to take 3 strokes to get in the hole as I am from 25. I added one to my score but I didn't improve my position relative to the next shot. If I'm 25 yards out and I hit that pitch to 18 feet, yeah I'm not likely going to save par, but I'm reasonably confident I can 2-putt from 18 most of the time. 

 

For me, I think the fastest way to reducing my scores, based on my math and study of my wasted strokes, is to minimize those. And the bulk of those today are short game. That's not going to get me to scratch or anywhere near it, but my interim goal is to be a bogey golfer, and if I'm averaging 10 wasted strokes per round at [currently] a 20.7 index, cutting those in half will make a huge drop. 

[Myherobobhope]

4 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Totally agree. It's somewhat similar for me, but just on a much higher level. I'm a bogey+ golfer trying to get myself down to bogey golfer or better. Given the way handicaps are calculated, to average bogey golf I'd have to have a cap probably somewhere in the 13-14 range.

 

A GIR is great for me. That's a chance at a par, and a chance to erase a double from my card. But the truth is that I don't hit many GIR. And my average strokes to hole from, say 25 yards needs to be better than 3, but it's probably close to three. I don't three-putt THAT often when I'm pitching from that close, but my general expectation from 25 yards is to get on the green and two-putt, and have a chance at a 1-putt if I'm lucky. 

 

That's why one of the things I've been tracking in the rounds lately is "wasted strokes". If I'm 25 yards out and I flub a pitch and it only goes 4 yards, I'm now 21 yards out and I have roughly the same likelihood to take 3 strokes to get in the hole as I am from 25. I added one to my score but I didn't improve my position relative to the next shot. If I'm 25 yards out and I hit that pitch to 18 feet, yeah I'm not likely going to save par, but I'm reasonably confident I can 2-putt from 18 most of the time. 

 

For me, I think the fastest way to reducing my scores, based on my math and study of my wasted strokes, is to minimize those. And the bulk of those today are short game. That's not going to get me to scratch or anywhere near it, but my interim goal is to be a bogey golfer, and if I'm averaging 10 wasted strokes per round at [currently] a 20.7 index, cutting those in half will make a huge drop. 

A suggested improvement on this would be to track your "mental scorecard" (this is stolen from DECADE)... basically keep track of it you are focused and committed to EVERY shot, and see how you do... I'd bet there is a ton of overlap with flubbed shots and you not being confident standing over the ball... 

 

Make sure you have the right club in your hand, are confident you are going to make a good swing and then hit the ball!

 

I'm REALLY bad at this, but it's a big push for me next season... I'm revamping my pre shot routine and working on being fully committed to every shot. It should help minimize the bad shots (and maybe help improve the good ones!).

 

but I'm also convinced that a good mental game is going to significantly help me next season.

[TheDeanAbides]

3 hours ago, Myherobobhope said:

A suggested improvement on this would be to track your "mental scorecard" (this is stolen from DECADE)... basically keep track of it you are focused and committed to EVERY shot, and see how you do... I'd bet there is a ton of overlap with flubbed shots and you not being confident standing over the ball... 

 

Make sure you have the right club in your hand, are confident you are going to make a good swing and then hit the ball!

 

I'm REALLY bad at this, but it's a big push for me next season... I'm revamping my pre shot routine and working on being fully committed to every shot. It should help minimize the bad shots (and maybe help improve the good ones!).

 

but I'm also convinced that a good mental game is going to significantly help me next season.

This is such an important step to making a significant improvement.

[betarhoalphadelta]

That's an excellent point from both of you... 

 

As with so many things in golf, the ability to execute and actually executing are two completely different things. I have the ability. I can hit the ball well, I can execute the short game shots that are failing me, it's just that I don't do it consistently. 

 

When I pull the driver out of the bag, and look at that giant club head, I get confident. When I try the 4w or 4h, suddenly I become scared I'm gonna screw up... Which leads to screwing up. 

 

When I get over a 35 yard pitch shot, I *know* I can execute. I've done it tons of times. But sometimes I get into my own head and I'm thinking about my chance at scoring, or get scared about skulling or chunking it, and I do something stupid like decelerate into the ball and screw up. 

 

Maybe I'll try to focus on this during my round Saturday... Mentally walk into each shot thinking "I got this". 

 

We'll see how it goes!

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played Saturday at Oso Creek.  

 

Hole 1, 285 yard par 4, HDCP 11: Straight hole with little trouble. Creek crossing the fairway short and shouldn't be in play. Left-side fairway bunker and green protected in front right by a bunker. I've been doing well with driver on this hole, and tees are up, so I swing it--and duff it to a yard short of the creek. Now I've got a downhill lie in the rough >200y remaining, so I just hit 8i to try to advance it, which I do well enough (it takes off lower than an 8i should but it's straight and got some speed), and end up in the middle of the fairway about 45 yards short of the pin. Center pin, and I hit a partial 56*. I strike it really well but it's a little long--ending up on the back edge of the green. I've got 30 feet, and I three-putt. Double, +2. 
 
Not a great start. Wasted shot: 1 because my drive didn't even get me in range to approach the green. I won't call a three-putt from 30 feet wasted as this can be a tricky green and I was putting downhill from the back to the pin. 

 

Hole 2, 171 yard par 3, HDCP 9: Straight downhill par 3 with no trouble short, but a bunker right and a bunker behind the green, which slopes back to front. Back pin and it's playing about 175. I take 6 iron, strike it fairly well (maybe not enough height) but pull it a little left of the green. I end up pin-high about 5-10 yards left of the green. I pitch with the 56* and strike it well, but it rolls out about 20 feet past the pin. I've got a right->left breaker and strike it well and it hits the pin and drops! Par, +2. 
 

Hole 3, 146 yard par 3, HDCP 15: Slightly uphill, with a bunker short left and long right. Playing about 135 to a front pin. I hit PW and it feels like I've got it well, at the green just a shade right of the pin. However, it drops right on the fairway about 3 yards short of the green. Given the front pin I don't feel like I can get it very close with a wedge, so I decide to putt. I strike it about exactly how I want, but just before it makes the green it hits some sort of a bump that I didn't spot, kicks right, and rolls onto the green still 10 feet short of the pin. I two-putt. Bogey, +3. 
 

Hole 4, 266 yard par 4, HDCP 13: This hole has trees all down the right side, and the fairway slopes pretty strongly right-to-left. The trees can catch errant balls to the right, dropping them on the slope where they often roll right to the middle. There's a fairway bunker to the left and the only protection for the green is a bunker behind and a pond to the FAR left. I take driver, and make beautiful contact, but block it a little to the right. It lands on the slope and kicks left, hopping over the cart path and finishes pin-high in the rough right of the green. I go to pitch the ball and... Flub it about a yard. Damn. Pitch it again and it rolls 15 feet past the hole. Two-putt. Bogey, +4. 

 

Wasted shot: 1 for the flubbed pitch/chip. 
  

Hole 5, 168 yard par 3, HDCP 5: This is an uphill hole, plays long to a blind green. Bunker to the left and anything farther left is a steep slope down to the creek. This hole can be my nemesis if I turn it left and send it down that slope. It should be playing about 175 up the hill and I take 6i. I get a bit of a low bullet, starting right of the hole and turning back left a bit. I see it hit a few times before the green and disappear. I'm thinking at this point it should have scrubbed enough speed to stop. It does. I get up there and I'm 10 feet right and above the pin. I strike that putt and don't read enough break, and it finishes 5 feet below the hole. But I sink the par putt. Par, +4. 

 
Hole 6, 296 yard par 4, HDCP 7: Elevated tee, creek across the hole that shouldn't be in play, which continues up the left side and becomes a greenside pond. Fairway bunker down the right side about 200 yds and the green is protected on the right by a bunker and the left by the pond. Pull driver, and I duff one low and left that I see drop into the creek. I get down there, find the ball in the creek, and pull it out and take my drop. Hitting 3, I've got GW distance over a palm tree that I should be able to clear, but it comes off the face low, clips the tree, and drops into the rough just left and short of the pin.  I pitch nicely, leaving myself 5 feet from the hole, but it's a tricky breaker and I miss to two-putt. Double, +6. 

 

Wasted shot: 1 for the drive. Not so much for the result (being in the water), but the combination of a duff AND a penalty hurt. 

 

Hole 7, 148 yard par 3, HDCP 17: Straight hole, protected right and behind by bunkers. Middle pin and it's playing about 145 and into wind. I take 9i and strike it perfectly, starting just right of the pin and curving just barely left of it. It lands pin-high about a yard left of the flagstick, and backspin and the slope pulls it back down about 10 feet below the hole. Good birdie opportunity here, but I two-putt. Par, +6. 
 
Hole 8, 174 yard par 3, HDCP 3: Tough hole, always seems to play longer than its distance. Narrow, long green, protected right and left by bunkers, and a creek across the "fairway" that shouldn't be in play. Tees are at the blue marker and pin is in the back, so it's playing a full 180.  I hit 6i and strike it a little low again, but it's moving and straight. It lands short of the green and rolls up to around the middle-left portion of the green. I've left myself an uphill breaking 30-footer. I get the speed just right but it curves more than I think, so I've got a straight 5-footer remaining for par, which I sink. Par, +6. 
 

Hole 9, 317 yard par 4, HDCP 1: There's a creek running along the left side and then crossing the fairway right at the 220-230 mark, particularly when the tees are back like they are today. The hole has a big valley leading to that creek in the middle, so laying up forces a VERY short layup to keep from running all the way down into the water. The green is then elevated from the fairway and protected front right by a bunker. I take driver and it's a low bullet that we see go down towards the creek and then kick vertical. I get up to the ball and it's on a little peninsula between where two creeks merge, about 120 from the hole. It's a weird stance and the ball is deep in the rough, but I hit the 52* and make great contact, just pulling it slightly left of the green. I go to pitch, and flub it. Damn. Pitch again and it rolls out 15 feet past the hole. I two-putt. Double, +8. 

 

Wasted shot: 1, the flubbed chip. 

 

Overall not a bad front. I'm +8 through the front 9, and although I've made some mistakes, I've also had three good pars and no blow ups.

 

Hole 10, 242 yard par 4, HDCP 16: Short hole with a bunker front-left of the green, but overall no real trouble. The trouble is getting overconfident and going for the green that seems so reachable and then screwing it up--which I've done plenty of times. It's playing too short for driver and I don't hit my 4w enough to trust it, so I say screw it and pull 6i (which I'm hitting well) and decide to just try to lay it out there in the fairway. I take a nice easy controlled swing and pure it, right into the middle-right of the fairway giving me a perfect angle at the green. I've got about a 35 yard pitch, so I pitch it with my 56* and strike it exactly how I want. This green is blind from the fairway, and I walk up and see I've stuck it 5 feet from the pin. I drain the putt. Birdie(!), +7. 

 

Okay, I know this is basically legit a par for a hole playing ~220 yards today. But the card says par 4 and I got it into the hole in 3, so I'm claiming birdie lol. 

Hole 11, 172-yard par 4, HDCP 6: It's slightly uphill, to a blind green. Protected in the back by a bunker but otherwise pretty straightforward. Playing 170 today, so I take 7i. I hit it well and it's trending towards the left edge of the green. Being blind I don't see it until I get up there, but I've managed to stay on the edge of the green. Unfortunately I'm 50 feet from the hole. My lag leaves me about 8 feet away, and it turns into a three-putt bogey. Can't be THAT mad given that I was 50 feet away though. Bogey, +8. 

Hole 12, 118 yard par 3, HDCP 18: This is a downhill hole, protected short left by a bunker with a pretty severe back to front sloping green. Pin is front today and rangefinder says 107 with the slope. This is hard as 107 is between my 52* (120) and my 56* (100), so I decide to hit a full 56* and hope I get there. It feels and looks like great contact, but drops short of the green. I pitch it nicely to 5 feet, but then two-putt because of the slope and trickiness of this green. Bogey, +9. 

Hole 13, 288 yard par 4, HDCP 8: Straight hole, with a bunker protecting the left side of the green and some boulders out on the right rough in the fairway, but overall pretty tame. I've started taking driver here lately, even though the hole narrows toward the green. I hit one and stripe it, starting right and curving back into the right-center of the fairway. I get up there and I'm pitching from about 25 yards. I pitch with the 56* and it's a hop & stop that sticks 3 feet from the hole. I sink it. Birdie(!), +8. 

Hole 14, 163 yard par 3, HDCP 10: Another uphill par 3 to a blind green. Protected on the right by a bunker, and on the left by a severe slope down to the creek. It's playing the full 160 today. I hit 8i and block it right, well right of the bunker and well right of the cart path. There's a big slope there, so it feeds the ball back down and it comes to rest on the cart path. I take relief, and I'm stuck on hard dirt (no grass in the area where I could take relief unfortunately) and I'm pitching over a bunker. I skull it right into the bunker. At least at this point, even though I'm not a great bunker player, I've got a nice uphill lie and the sand seems good. So I take my swing, and rifle it right into the lip--it shoots up into the air, lands on the opposite side of the green, and rolls well off the green, over the cart path behind the green, into the rough. Okay then... Let's pitch again. This time I strike it nicely. It lands on the green, but the green is sloping away from me here, so it rolls, and rolls, and rolls, almost all the way to the front edge. So now I've got a 50-footer to "save double". It's big uphill, and I don't hit it hard enough, leaving me about 8-9 feet short. I miss that putt about 3 feet long, and miss that, to four-putt. Quintuple bogey, +13. 

 

Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch. Wasted shots: a metric ton. Pitch is #1, sand shot is #2, and the missed three-footer for #3. 

 

Hole 15, 162 yard par 3, HDCP 12: Round back-to-front sloped green, with a bunker left and pond more left. Playing about 155 today into wind, so I hit 8i. I hit it well but block this one right as well, and it lands right of the cart path and rolls down to finish against the cart path curb on the left. So again I take my relief, pitch, and manage to pitch decently leaving myself 15 feet from the hole. I two-putt. Bogey, +14. 

 

Ok. I'll take bogey after the previous hole. 

Hole 16, 136 yard par 3, HDCP 14: Bunkers left and right, but a pretty easy back-to-front sloped round green to hit to. Playing longer today from tees I've never seen in use, about 145 to a front pin, into the wind. I take 9i and strike it beautifully and it's headed almost straight at the pin, dropping onto the green 15 feet short of the pin. It's a straight uphill putt and I barely miss, leaving a tap-in. Par, +14.

Hole 17, 193 yard par 3, HDCP 4: Pretty straightforward hole but long for a par 3, with a bunker behind the green but not much other trouble. It's playing about 175 into the wind today. I take 6i, and hit it very well, but it's at the left edge of the green. I don't see a bounce so I'm not sure what happened to the ball, until I get to the green... It's embedded in its own ball mark just on the left edge. I guess it stuck, hence no bounce lol. I've got a 30-foot breaker, and my lag isn't great. I leave about 5 feet, miss that as it curls around the lip about 90 degrees, and tap in. Bogey, +15.  
 

Hole 18, 225 yard par 3, HDCP 2: Tough hole, due to length as a par 3, and that it's a long narrow green protected left and right by bunkers, and a pond more left. There's also a creek across the fairway that shouldn't be in play. The tees are slightly up today and it's to a front pin, playing 207. I take the 4h and plan to just attempt to lay up. That's a club that MIGHT reach 207 if I strike it pure, but I know it's a bit long for my 4h and short for my 4w. So I take a nice pure relaxed practice swing, and step up to the ball and top it 85 yards. Well, crap. That said, I'm now 120 out which is my exact 52* distance. I hit the 52* and strike it pure and it's on line... And it sticks a foot from the pin! I tap in to save par. Par, +15. 
 

Stats:
Putts: 37
GIR: 8/18
Wasted shots: 7 -- two driver, four short game/sand, and one putt.
Counts to HDCP: Yes, and it actually counts as a 73 rather than 75 due to ESC--that bad outcome on the 14th drops two strokes to be net double bogey. This round dropped me back down from 20.7 to 19.7. So I'm a "teens" cap again!
 

Birdies: 2
Pars: 6
Bogeys: 6
Doubles: 3
Triples+: 1

So I finished 39 (+8) / 36 (+7) for a 75 (+15).  

 

Had some positives. I think 8 GIR is probably one of my higher rounds. Ballstriking continues to be better overall than it has been, and I've continued to avoid the big sweeping hooks. Only one blow-up, and only 4 holes of double or worse. So I had fewer big screwups than usual. 

 

Based on the advice in this thread, I really tried to approach my pitches and chips with confidence. Obviously it wasn't all there lol, but I think it was better. A lot of my chips/pitches that rolled out long were because I struck them confidently. I'll take that rather than flubbing them. And I stuck a couple right near the pin which is always fun. 

 

Obviously there were a few negatives. Driver wasn't on today. Particularly quality of contact--only 2 of 5 drives were struck well based on face contact. I think part of it was that I was overconfident and swinging it too hard, which is a problem with all clubs for me sometimes, but gets worse with "distance" clubs. I remember exactly on hole #9 I took a perfectly relaxed and on tempo practice swing and then addressed the ball and felt myself swing too hard. Whereas on 13 I *felt* on tempo and the drive was beautiful. 

 

Putting is still a negative. Too many three putts. A couple of poor lags that I managed to clean up, but a few that I couldn't. Two really good birdie opportunities (#7, #16) that I didn't make a very good run at. Given the really good make on #2, and leaving myself really short putts on #10, #13, and #18, to finish with 37 putts is not anywhere near good enough.

 

But I walked away from this round feeling really good overall. As long as I forget about #14!

[bortass]

Very nice round! I agree the putting needs some work but you are making good progress. Your short game seems a bit better. You had some great shots and the bad ones seemed like what is normal with your short game mishaps.

[betarhoalphadelta]

BTW here's the 6i on the 17th green 😂

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 hour ago, bortass said:

Very nice round! I agree the putting needs some work but you are making good progress. Your short game seems a bit better. You had some great shots and the bad ones seemed like what is normal with your short game mishaps.

 

Yeah, a lot of work left to do, but I tried to be confident and aggressive with the pitch/chip shots. I got lucky with a few of them and stuck it close enough to make birdie, but I'll take luck any day of the week!

 

The flubs on #4 and #9 really hurt. #4 it was without a doubt the difference between par and bogey. #9 it was the difference between bogey and double. 

 

On #14 I probably got into my own head picking it off hard dirt and screwed it up mentally before I even started my backswing. I feel like if I had actual turf there I might have not tried to change things to pick it. 

[dvq9654]

Enjoyed your write up about Oso Creek. I've played there a few times so could really picture your commentary. 

 

One thing I'm surprised by in reading your post - you hit your wedges very far relative to your longer clubs (at least based on the above round report). For instance, you mention hitting your 52 120 yards. That's a big 52. I hit my driver about ~285 on a day where I'm swinging ok, and my 50 degree is my 110 yard club. I can definitely crank one 120 or 125, but it's not going to help me score. 

 

Perhaps you would benefit from taking a club more when distance is ever in question and making a controlled but aggressive swing. Doing so has massively benefited my game. I may be off base and you may hit the ball farther than I realize / than me, but just a thought. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 12/16/2021 at 11:19 AM, dvq9654 said:

Enjoyed your write up about Oso Creek. I've played there a few times so could really picture your commentary. 

 

One thing I'm surprised by in reading your post - you hit your wedges very far relative to your longer clubs (at least based on the above round report). For instance, you mention hitting your 52 120 yards. That's a big 52. I hit my driver about ~285 on a day where I'm swinging ok, and my 50 degree is my 110 yard club. I can definitely crank one 120 or 125, but it's not going to help me score. 

 

Perhaps you would benefit from taking a club more when distance is ever in question and making a controlled but aggressive swing. Doing so has massively benefited my game. I may be off base and you may hit the ball farther than I realize / than me, but just a thought. 

 

I don't feel like I'm swinging out of my shoes on the wedges...

 

My guess, honestly, is that it's primarily club length. I don't know if you turn off signatures (or on mobile where they may not be displayed) but my set build is not very typical. I'm tall (6'5") with a large (39.5-40") WTF, and I had my wedges built to 36.75", i.e. between a typical 7i and 8i for a "standard" set. I did this because I often felt WAY too hunched over with standard wedge lengths. Then to avoid the "longer" clubs getting too long at the top end of the bag, my 4h-GW are all single-length Wishon clubs built to 37.5", or 6i length. 

 

At 36.75", the wedges will have a significant clubhead speed increase over the "standard" 52* length of 35.5". From reading the tour Trackman data, I estimate every half inch length change correlates to between 2-3 mph clubhead speed change.

 

So without swinging harder, without trying to muscle the wedges, etc, my 52* should be running probably 6 mph faster than if it were standard length. 

 

I'm not sure my clubs have appropriate gapping in general. I basically have 10y gaps all the way to the 4h, which is only my 200 club when my previous set (much longer 3i but probably weaker loft than the 4h) was a 220-225 club. And then my driver is standard length for a driver, and I'm driving it ~265-270y. 

 

But I think the wedges appear longer than they should because they're 1.25" (or more) longer than a standard build and there's going to naturally be a little more clubhead speed from that. 

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

On 12/16/2021 at 7:19 PM, dvq9654 said:

Enjoyed your write up about Oso Creek. I've played there a few times so could really picture your commentary. 

 

One thing I'm surprised by in reading your post - you hit your wedges very far relative to your longer clubs (at least based on the above round report). For instance, you mention hitting your 52 120 yards. That's a big 52. I hit my driver about ~285 on a day where I'm swinging ok, and my 50 degree is my 110 yard club. I can definitely crank one 120 or 125, but it's not going to help me score. 

 

Perhaps you would benefit from taking a club more when distance is ever in question and making a controlled but aggressive swing. Doing so has massively benefited my game. I may be off base and you may hit the ball farther than I realize / than me, but just a thought. 

I was going to say this. Monte hits his PW 130. Not because he can't hit it 160, but because everything after 130 comes with diminishing returns. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Went to go play the exec course for a quick 9 today for a tune-up. I'll be playing it with my son on Sunday and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of him 😂

 

On the bright side, I think I got the embarrassment out of my system.

 

On the not so bright side, I shot a 41 (+12 on par 29) and carded an 8 on #4, a 9 HDCP hole, a short par 3 with the tees up to a front pin that was playing <40y today. I could have done better on that hole with only my putter!

 

I made three pars, but too many doubles, and then obviously the quintuple bogey was just an epic failure. 

[TheDeanAbides]

15 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Went to go play the exec course for a quick 9 today for a tune-up. I'll be playing it with my son on Sunday and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of him 😂

 

On the bright side, I think I got the embarrassment out of my system.

 

On the not so bright side, I shot a 41 (+12 on par 29) and carded an 8 on #4, a 9 HDCP hole, a short par 3 with the tees up to a front pin that was playing <40y today. I could have done better on that hole with only my putter!

 

I made three pars, but too many doubles, and then obviously the quintuple bogey was just an epic failure. 

How did you manage that ⛄️??

[uitar9]

Sucking less-I like the concept. I will save more shots by sucking less, than by getting a birdie once in a while. For me, sucking less has included:

-Not following a bad shot with a stupid hero shot-We are all gonna make a bad shot but I sometimes forget and try to get that ball to a place I think it should be, regardless that it isn't going to go through a thicket of trees. That has saved me a few shots.

-Knowing my total distance for a club, is not going to get me over an obstacle that needs that total as a "carry". Laying up is my friend. It is the difference between a lay up bogey (using the same ball) and a non layup triple (using a new ball as the old one sank out of sight)

-Short game Bump and run-I have chosen my 9 iron as my bump and run club-for me, keeping it on the ground causes fewer mistakes than bad shots in the air. 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

How did you manage that ⛄️??

It's a sneaky difficult hole, actually. It's a very narrow green that slopes to the left off the tee, and if the ball goes anywhere left, it rolls down a hill into a creek, as the slope down is steep enough that it almost never gets caught up and stops in the rough. The green consequently has a lot more break than it looks like it has, so it's not an easy putting surface. 

 

So I went for a little pitch with the 56*, aiming right of the pin, but I pulled it and hit it a groove or three low. It came out low and I was hoping it would have enough spin to check, but on a shot that short it's hard to spin it enough, so it didn't check and rolled off the green and down into the creek. So I dropped and was hitting three. Two flubbed pitches in a row got me to the fringe. Putting (5) from the fringe I putted it to 8 feet above the hole. . I then three-putted from there because my first putt ran about 4 feet past. 

 

So... Yeah. That happened. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, uitar9 said:

Sucking less-I like the concept. I will save more shots by sucking less, than by getting a birdie once in a while. For me, sucking less has included:

-Not following a bad shot with a stupid hero shot-We are all gonna make a bad shot but I sometimes forget and try to get that ball to a place I think it should be, regardless that it isn't going to go through a thicket of trees. That has saved me a few shots.

-Knowing my total distance for a club, is not going to get me over an obstacle that needs that total as a "carry". Laying up is my friend. It is the difference between a lay up bogey (using the same ball) and a non layup triple (using a new ball as the old one sank out of sight)

-Short game Bump and run-I have chosen my 9 iron as my bump and run club-for me, keeping it on the ground causes fewer mistakes than bad shots in the air. 

 

 

Good stuff.

 

I try to avoid the "hero shot" stuff unless my round is already far enough off the rails where I know it's not going to count for cap. Like my local course with the 18th hole, a 225 yard par 3 that I don't usually try to reach. If my score is already out, I might try to go for it there with my 4w instead of laying it up with a 4h or 5i. 

 

What gets me is when I try to take the "safe" shot--and then screw that up lol. 

 

I need to work on a lower-lofted chipping shot. There are times when I'm far enough off the green that I really don't want to putt, and have plenty of green to work with, but don't always feel comfortable with the 56* either for contact or distance control. But every damn practice green around here has "no chipping" signs around it, so it's something I don't get to practice except when on the course, so I rarely attempt it. 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

It's a sneaky difficult hole, actually. It's a very narrow green that slopes to the left off the tee, and if the ball goes anywhere left, it rolls down a hill into a creek, as the slope down is steep enough that it almost never gets caught up and stops in the rough. The green consequently has a lot more break than it looks like it has, so it's not an easy putting surface. 

 

So I went for a little pitch with the 56*, aiming right of the pin, but I pulled it and hit it a groove or three low. It came out low and I was hoping it would have enough spin to check, but on a shot that short it's hard to spin it enough, so it didn't check and rolled off the green and down into the creek. So I dropped and was hitting three. Two flubbed pitches in a row got me to the fringe. Putting (5) from the fringe I putted it to 8 feet above the hole. . I then three-putted from there because my first putt ran about 4 feet past. 

 

So... Yeah. That happened. 

Damn. This game will kill you!

[uitar9]

9 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Good stuff.

 

I try to avoid the "hero shot" stuff unless my round is already far enough off the rails where I know it's not going to count for cap. Like my local course with the 18th hole, a 225 yard par 3 that I don't usually try to reach. If my score is already out, I might try to go for it there with my 4w instead of laying it up with a 4h or 5i. 

 

What gets me is when I try to take the "safe" shot--and then screw that up lol. 

 

I need to work on a lower-lofted chipping shot. There are times when I'm far enough off the green that I really don't want to putt, and have plenty of green to work with, but don't always feel comfortable with the 56* either for contact or distance control. But every damn practice green around here has "no chipping" signs around it, so it's something I don't get to practice except when on the course, so I rarely attempt it. 

 

I hear you. It is difficult to find a chipping allowed area. I decided to just pick a club and start bumping and running. I'm reading a Raymond Floyd book currently. One of his suggestions is to play a few holes with a 5 iron. Regardless of distance. I sort of did something like that during the winter at the indoor range. Picked a target, about 75 years, and hit hybrid, 7 iron, pitching wedge, whatever clubs I brought, all winter. No thought about swing mechanics. Just tried to hit that target, sort of like throwing a baseball to a friend. No idea how I do it, just do it. It translated to grass. 

 

Its a tough game. and I have to remember "it's a game"

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 9 with my son yesterday. Wife bought me a sunday bag, so I carried with a limited bag instead of taking everything. 

 

Shot a 41 (+12) again. Luckily no snowmen were spotted lol. 

 

Biggest issue was that I was very inconsistent with contact. Screwed up my "drive" on 1 (chunked short of the green), 3 (skulled over the green), 4 (flubbed), and 9 (chunked). Not sure what entirely the issue was, although I will say that every one of those tee shots except 9 was a partial wedge, so it could just be me sucking. 

 

Going to play a full 18 at Oso with my son this coming Sunday though. His first time playing 18. Even with it being a shorter course, I hope he doesn't find it discouraging... 

 

I'll be rocking my new FootJoy Hyperflex BOA shoes from my wife too--didn't want to wear them in the slop yesterday, but my golf shoes are starting to fall apart so I needed some new kicks. 

[TheDeanAbides]

Haven't seen a swing video for a while, buddy.

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Haven't seen a swing video for a while, buddy.

 

Haven't been to the range in a while... Need to change that. 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

5 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Haven't been to the range in a while... Need to change that. 

 

I know it might seem obvious, but if you're hitting so many really bad shots then range time will give better value than course time. 

[TheDeanAbides]

I'll also add that if you're struggling with low point control like you are then you need to revisit Monte's short game stuff. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I know it might seem obvious, but if you're hitting so many really bad shots then range time will give better value than course time. 

 

Yeah, you're right. I got very lazy in the run-up to the holidays. That said, my long game on the course actually hasn't been my problem. On this little exec course pretty much everything is <100 yards, which is where I get in trouble. Obviously that means I should focus on those shots more on the range. Full swings have been going a lot better for me, and mostly have cured the "giant sweeping hook" problem.

 

But yeah, I've been lazy. The range is barely a mile away and I get a free bucket of balls per day as part of my monthly membership deal at that facility, and I work from home so I could easily jump over there for a lunch hour session. I don't want to burn a bunch of time at the range on a weekend when I could be playing, but it's pure laziness that I haven't been doing it on weekdays. 

 

1 minute ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I'll also add that if you're struggling with low point control like you are then you need to revisit Monte's short game stuff. 

 

Absolutely. I bought UTB 2.0 and went through watching it, and did some of the practice work with partial wedges at the range. But that facility has a short game / chipping / sand area for practice and I literally have never even used it. I need to probably devote even more time to that than the range, just setting myself up with 10, 20, 30 yard pitches, and more time in the bunkers (which they've refilled with higher quality sand for once). 

 

The short game area doesn't have a green to hit to, just flagsticks stuck into the ground. But with short game I need to be trying to focus on landing point anyway. 

 

Some time in the short game area and on the putting green would be really helpful. 

[bortass]

Have a great time with your son Sunday!

 

Working on UTB will pay off pretty well in my opinion. I am finding my longer pitches are starting to get close to the hole. It’s something I have been working on as far as just the swing portion. The distance control is just something that is happening on the course without much thought.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Goals to Suck Less in 2022...

 

1. Get back to the gym, lose some weight, gain some strength. Not particularly a golf goal, but it will benefit my golf. I had started going again a few months ago, but it dropped off because I was getting horrible shin splints on the treadmill. I need to get in there. 
2. Start stretching again. Again, not a golf goal, but it will benefit golf. Back in my teen days when I was doing martial arts I was very flexible--I feel a lot tighter in almost all areas of my body now that I'm 43... I need to get better there because it's only going to get worse if I don't start now. 
3. Get back to the range a little more often... I've really fallen off. I was trying to get to the range once a week, and that hasn't been happening. Heck, I get a free bucket every day with my "membership" at the practice facility / exec course, I could make use of it.
4. Actually use the short game practice area there. This is more important IMHO than even the range time, given my failures in short game. 
5. More time putting on my mat at home and on the practice green at the exec course. 
6. See Monte again. I feel like I've done a really good job incorporating the change from my lesson with him last March. It's been a long road, but I think I'm actually doing better on my pivot, and I don't think I dump my hands inside and it's shown in ball flight. I've tamed my draw->hook to a straight->draw ball flight. But I know I've got other areas I could improve and by spring it'll probably be time to see him again. 
7. Club-wise, I feel like I could use a driver fitting, and figure out my other long clubs. I've got a gap between driver (265ish) and 4h (200ish) that is only filled by my 20-year old 4w that I don't hit often or well. I might have my PW bent back to 45* and my GW bent back to 50* and drop my 52 wedge in case I need to make room for 2 clubs between driver and 4h. I also think a putter fitting might be in order. 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 18 with my son yesterday at Oso. Not going to do a full write-up.

 

His round went pretty well. Yeah, he scored a 118 on a par-60 track, but he mostly acquitted himself well and only had to make use of the "no more than 10 strokes per hole" rule once, on the first hole. He even got his first par on a par-4 hole, #13, after hitting his best drive of the day, hitting a halfway decent approach, pitching on and one-putting. What I was expecting ended up happening--I'd noticed that he would start getting better and better contact later in the round at the exec course, and figured that it wasn't enough strokes or holes to get him into a rhythm. He started making better and better contact the longer we played. His score was a 61 out and a 57 in, so he was improving on the back nine. 

 

I, on the other hand, went the opposite direction. I played pretty decently on the front, with 3 pars, 5 bogeys, and one double for a +7. Had decent birdie looks on #1, #6, and #7, but couldn't drop them. 

 

Then on #10 (VERY short par 4) I hit my 4h to just off the green with a little cart path assist, and proceeded to score an 8. Bladed the chip over the green into a trap, hit that 40 yards over the green coming back, flubbed one pitch, pitched again and it rolled over/off the green, pitched again to get on, and two-putted. Ouch!

 

The rest of the back was all bogeys and doubles. Only one GIR (actually, 4" on the fringe but I counted it as GIR) on the back and I three-putted it. 

 

Positives: driver and long clubs. Only one truly bad drive with the big stick (out of 5 opportunities), and two of the 5 were legitimately straight and exactly where I aimed. My contact with the irons and even my hybrid shot off the tee was good. My ball flight was tame--straight to draw (except driver off #1 which I somehow faded). 

 

Middling: Short game. With the exception of #10, I don't think I had a lot of complete wasted shots in my short game. I was mostly making good contact and getting onto the green (or at least the fringe). 

 

Negatives: Putting. My scorecard counts 37 putts, but that includes three one-putt holes on the front nine where I used the putter from a bit off the fringe that I counted as chips. I had three pretty good looks at birdie on the front and couldn't convert any of them, including about a 5-footer on #1. I had a lot of lip-outs on shorter putts and it was overall just not a good day with the flat stick. And then there was #10. I had the ball no more than ~15 yards from the pin and it took 7 strokes to get down. Oof.

 

Still, overall not a terrible round if you take #10 out of it. That was the only triple or worse hole I had, and my ballstriking in general was on the better end for me. And I can always blame my son for being a distraction because I had to be both a golfer and a dad lol 😉 

 

Next Sunday it'll just be me and the guys, also at Oso. Hopefully I can get myself back on the right side of 80. 

 

Planning to spend some time at the very least on my putting mat between now and then, and going to try to make a little run over to the short game area at the exec course to work on that. 

[uitar9]

On 12/27/2021 at 12:19 PM, betarhoalphadelta said:

Biggest issue was that I was very inconsistent with contact. Screwed up my "drive" on 1 (chunked short of the green), 3 (skulled over the green), 4 (flubbed), and 9 (chunked).

I like these descriptive words: "chunked", "skulled" and "flubbed". They are part of my golf vocabulary.

 

I discovered, through slo motion swings, I was not coming back to the ball, from where I set up. I didn't know where I was bottoming out.

 

For my body type, swing mechanics, I was playing the ball to far forward in my stance and wasn't keeping my lead arm straight. The club was striking the ball to high (arm bent) or before the ball (ball to far forward).

 

I spend most of my practice time not hitting balls. I spend it with slo motion swings . Its really helped reduce chunks, skulls and flubs. Concentrate on where I bottom out, face at impact position and lead arm.

 

I have to remember: reducing doubles and triples gets me a lower score than an occasional birdie which is a fluke for me.