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

[TheDeanAbides]

6 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

People have been telling me that in this thread for 2 1/2 years. I think the lowest I've gotten was down to about 18 lol...

 

That said, I'm trying to actually COMMIT to practice in a way that I really wasn't. And when I get some of this stuff more ingrained I'm not going to wait 2+ years before going back to Monte again like I did last time. 

 

My son is down under a 20 now and is going back to see Monte next weekend, so I'm gonna have to work hard to keep up with him 😉

 

You responded to the least important part of my post though. 😉

[betarhoalphadelta]

9 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

You responded to the least important part of my post though. 😉

 

That is true. I know about the forearm roll and Monte called out my late wrist hinge in the lesson, giving me a drill to work on that. I think it's a combination of the forearm roll and the wrist hinge that gets the club so far behind my hands here:

 

 

When I get more comfortable, I'll head back to Monte and see if he tries to fix my takeaway or something else is higher priority at that time. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Made it to the range this morning. Only hit about 2/3 of the bucket. 

 

Mostly full 8i with some partial and pitch 56* shots in there. A few drivers (not very straight) and a few 5w (one bomb, one hard left, one average) in there, but didn't dwell on those. 

 

Still just getting acclimated and trying to get used to the earlier wrist set, and getting it all sequenced well. Definitely getting more comfortable. The 56* contact is much improved. I'm hoping that's going to pay dividends on the course. 8i definitely getting better and I can tell that I've unlocked some power by getting out of my way athletically with the poor setup. 

 

Didn't bother with video. 

 

Headed to Vegas to see Adele this weekend, so no golf. But hoping to get back to the range again Monday. 

[aenemated]

15 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Headed to Vegas

 

Is that right? 🙂

[betarhoalphadelta]

45 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

Is that right? 🙂

 

Sure is. Getting in early afternoon today, dinner and a show, and then getting the hell out first thing tomorrow AM.

 

Because that's about as much Vegas as I can handle 😉

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@bortass Figured I'd respond to the question in your thread in this one... The concert was outstanding. One of the better shows I've ever seen. And that's as someone who isn't the Adele superfan of the family; that's my wife lol. But damn she was excellent. 

 

Made it to the range this morning. I did something I've been forgetting and forgetting to do: Bring my alignment sticks. 

 

One of the things I've wondered is how big of an effect inconsistency in setup, particularly since my setup position is new, is affecting my consistency of strike. So I wanted to take that out of the equation. I also felt like I was drifting too far away from the ball and wanted to find a consistent location. 

 

And it's strange... When you are setting up in the EXACT same place every swing, it's suddenly a LOT easier to find the middle consistently!

 

Some of my directional control was still spotty, and I had a few balls turn too far left as with my usual miss, but my strike was much more consistent. 

 

Not going to post videos, but here's the stills. At times I felt I was drifting too far from the ball with some of my other swings. These felt almost a little close at times, but I was hitting it so much more flush from these positions. 

 

 

 

Looks like the camera was a little to close to me on the driver lol...

[betarhoalphadelta]

Got to the range today. Did the same thing with the alignment sticks to ensure consistent setup. And I was striping it. Some of the most consistently crisp contact I've ever put together in a session. With both partial 56* shots and with 8i.

 

Shots were mostly straight too, not so much of the hard left turn I've been having. I was working on a little more lift/hinge of the wrists on takeaway, and mentally was just trying to keep a firm grip but loose, relaxed wrists and arms (as Monte often talks about). It was going WONDERFULLY. 

 

Before leaving, I then did both the 56* and 8i without the alignment sticks. And, well, it went to hell. Contact suddenly ceased to be crisp and consistent. But that gives me important information... I need to come up with cues or other things to help ensure consistent setup and distance from the ball. 

 

So even the negative, I can walk away with new learnings... So that's good. 

 

 

 

[bortass]

10 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Got to the range today. Did the same thing with the alignment sticks to ensure consistent setup. And I was striping it. Some of the most consistently crisp contact I've ever put together in a session. With both partial 56* shots and with 8i.

 

Shots were mostly straight too, not so much of the hard left turn I've been having. I was working on a little more lift/hinge of the wrists on takeaway, and mentally was just trying to keep a firm grip but loose, relaxed wrists and arms (as Monte often talks about). It was going WONDERFULLY. 

 

Before leaving, I then did both the 56* and 8i without the alignment sticks. And, well, it went to hell. Contact suddenly ceased to be crisp and consistent. But that gives me important information... I need to come up with cues or other things to help ensure consistent setup and distance from the ball. 

 

So even the negative, I can walk away with new learnings... So that's good. 

 

 

 

Nice! It looks pretty good to me but I am no pro, lol.

 

What you discovered about the alignment sticks is real good. How do you know how far apart to place them? That gives you a frame of reference for when they are not there and you can try to visualize it.

 

Do you go through your PSR before each ball? I may very well be wrong, but my initial thought is that doing your PSR with the sticks would make you more likely to replicate the setup on the course or when they are missing. It may take a bunch of reps to get to the point where it is natural but would probably be worth it. I would also experiment with hitting some  shots with the sticks and then a few without, rinse and repeat, instead of just a big block with the sticks and a few shots without them at the end of the session.

 

When is your next round? 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Honestly "how far apart" was partly feel. It was also based on perhaps that first ball not being perfectly crisp and adjusting. But once in the right place, it was very repeatable. So I need to know how to get to that in real life. 

 

I agree with you on blocking with the sticks. Several swings with, interspersed with several swings without. Just trying to get my brain to ingrain some physical, or visual, or other cues that will help me do it the same time EVERY time w/o the sticks.

 

Re: PSR, the one thing I generally do on course is take a practice swing, and don't do so on the range. The reason for that is my practice swing is mostly a "find the ground" swing, i.e. trying to prepare myself for whether there's any level of uphill/downhill/sidehill to my lie, to mentally get me into a setup position that is consistent with the uniqueness of the shot, etc... I've never felt the need to do that on the range because it's always consistent. But upon typing that out loud... Clearly it hasn't worked well on the course lol. But I wonder if a practice swing as part of a preshot routine on the range without the sticks will help? Dunno. 

 

Next round is Oct 1, most likely at San Juan Hills. So I've got time to hit the range a few more times between now and then and put the work in. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Took my son to see Monte today. He fixed a mechanical swing problem, of course, but more importantly, he fixed a major swing misconception for my son. My son's complaint about his ballflight was that he was pushing irons and getting no loft on driver.

 

Monte told him "There's good news and bad news. The good news is that there's one problem causing both. The bad news is that fixing it is going to feel completely weird." 

 

The root cause mechanically was that he was presenting too much shaft lean (low driver) and holding off the release thus not closing the face (push). But more importantly, the root cause mentally was that he was trying to control impact too much. So instead of just letting the physics of the club act, he was trying too much to steer it. His problem was that everything in his swing was good EXCEPT the part where he got in the way of the natural physics of release. Which is ironic as my son is considering being a physics major when he goes to college 😉 

 

Monte had him do several things and in the span of an hour, he had a much more free release and was starting to get better height on his shots (when making good contact at least). The push turned into a pull, but as Monte said that's ok as it's evidence that the fix was working and that the pulls are ingrained compensations to avoid the push, which with practice should improve as they're no longer needed. 

 

But just the idea of letting go of control to get more control is going to give him the freedom to just swing... I think sometimes he can get in his own head (apple, tree, right?) and that in itself was getting in his way. 

[bortass]

Sounds like a great lesson and classic Monte!

 

I also think a lot of us get in our own way. I know I do, lol. Someday, I will release the club better instead of holding off aka reverse roll.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Took my son to the range Sunday. It was mostly to let him work through the bucket based on Monte's lesson, but I hit a few each with 8i, 5w, and driver. Definitely still good. 

 

Towards the end of the bucket I challenged him to a pitching game where we'd trade off and try to hit the 55gal drum out there on the range. He lasered it at 68 yards. I wasn't going to be the kind of father that pushed him to bet on it, so I didn't. But after the first one he asks "how about 5 bucks?" and I'm not gonna lie, I know he's mine lol. About 6 or 7 swings in I put one dead on line and it dropped just a yard or two short. About 10 swings in he nailed it. So had made a cool fiver out of the deal. 

 

Went to the range myself yesterday, and worked through most of a bucket. A lot of 7i work, with some pitching mixed in and a few 5w. I'd say I'm definitely getting a little better about consistent setup distance from the ball, and contact is good. Wrist hinge is still something I'm working on getting a little better, but when I do it right, I feel like I can just let it fly through the ball from the top and the ball is dead straight to a slight push draw, with a little more distance than I'm used to. 

 

Going to try to get out to the range at least one more time, and maybe play 9 at the pitch & putt, before playing San Juan Hills on Sunday. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range on Thursday and Friday. Typical days working on 7i/8i (depending on day), some 4h, driver, and of course 56* both partial wedges and short pitches. I had planned to bring the tripod and get some swing video yesterday, but forgot it... 

 

Overall getting better and better with contact. Still a lot of face control issues and some left turn shots. 

 

Played 9 at the pitch & putt this morning so that I would have REAL golf situation practice. Shot 34 (+5), which is definitely better than my typical. 5 pars, 1 double, 3 bogeys. Only 1 GIR, but I added four NIR (near in regulation) on top of that, which was helpful as it gave me opportunities to work on those very short pitches/chips. So with 1 GIR but 5 pars, I scrambled well and gave myself some very short putts and tap-ins from off the green. 

 

The bad: chunked tee shot on 1 (scramble for par) and 6 (bogey), and a slightly bladed pull on 2 into sand (leading to the double), and a straight block on 4 pin-high but missed green from ~70y (scramble for par). 

 

The good: the rest of my shots were all straight, including all of the full swings, and there were no hard left turns. I think to some extent the inherent target focus helped me with face control relative to the range, because suddenly I had to REALLY be aiming and there were consequences. 

 

Hopefully this carries over to San Juan Hills tomorrow. My two best scores there are both mid-90s (97 and 96), given the penal nature of the course. Getting anywhere near there (i.e. finishing in double digits) would make me happy. Beating the 96 would make me ecstatic. 

[bortass]

Sounds like you are making progress, especially with the hooks.

Edited October 2, 2023 by bortass
Temporal issues from lack of reading comprehension

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played San Juan Hills yesterday. Perfect weather for golf. Started off chilly and overcast, sun started peeking through mid-round, but it never got hot. 

 

We play the white tees. 5970 yards, par 71, 69.2/122. 

Hole 1 - 316 yards, par 4, HDCP 11: The hole has a pond off the first tee with a straight fairway lined on both sides by trees, but no fairway hazards or features. It then heads uphill to a blind approach to an elevated green, with bunkers fronting left and right. I've been thinking about the fact that I never get through this hole well with driver... And it sure isn't long enough to need it. So I tee off with 5i... And top it into the pond. Great start. Reload, and hit a beautiful high shot to the left side of the fairway. Front pin and I am GW distance, which I hit fairly well but I've misjudged something and it stops on the front fringe. Chip with the putter but leave it well short (about 7'), and two-putt. Triple, +3. 

 

Well, not the start I was looking for. 

 

Hole 2 - 351 yards, par 4, HDCP 1: Elevated tee down to a wide fairway with a tree and OB left, and some fairway bunkers to the right. Then the hole goes STEEPLY uphill to a blind green, fairway bunkers front left. Hit driver, and I strike it really well but it's a slight push fade. It easily clears the fairway bunkers, and I find it on a downslope on a small mound past them in light rough. I laser the pin and it's 120 true, 133 with slope, and I feel like I need PW here. I do NOT feel good over this ball with my stance, and everything about the swing seems weird, but the ball is true and heading straight for the flag. I see it bounce onto the green and from there all I can do is hope since it's completely blind. I get up there and... It's 4 feet from the pin. It's a tricky left-to-right breaking putt, but I put it dead center into the hole. Birdie, +2. 
 
Okay, I have redeemed myself 😉

 

Hole 3 - 357 yards, par 4, HDCP 7: OB down the right, and a decent sized pond down the right as well. The back edge of the pond is basically just at/beyond my driver carry distance, so definitely in play. Lots of room left, but going too far left gets you into slope and tree trouble. Green is fully visible and slopes back to front, with bunkers fronting left and right. On this hole even with my left miss my goal is to take water out of play, so I set up on the right side of the tee box and play well left. I hit driver and it's definitely to the left... A good strike and ends up in the left rough, right behind a tree. Oof. I'm about 140 out but the tree has a LOT of low branches and all I can do is punch it. Close the face of the 5i and put the ball back in my stance, and hit a low punch under the tree that rolls out to about 40 yards short of the green in light rough to the left. I pitch onto the green, but it's short, leaving me about 30'. I unceremoniously 2-putt. Bogey, +3.
 

Hole 4 - 328 yards, par 4, HDCP 9: Straight uphill par 4, with OB right and trees plus the slope down to #3 left. Fairway bunker left. Another blind green with big bunkers fronting left and right. Hit driver and it's straight down the middle, a bit low trajectory, but ok overall, and it definitely gets some good roll. Get out to the ball and I'm 98 true, 104 slope-adjust, to a center pin. I hit my 56* full, and push it slightly right but onto the green. I'm about 15 feet, putt it past the hole about 5' as it catches a downhill I wasn't expecting, leaving me sweating through a par putt, but that I drill dead center. Par, +3.  

 
Hole 5 - 327 yards, par 4, HDCP 5: Another straight uphill par 4. Wide fairway but hazards left and right, and fairway bunkers right. Big green well protected by bunkers front, left, and right. One of the trickiest greens on the course. Hit a decent drive right into the middle, leaving about 100 yards. Take a full 56* and it feels like I must have caught it high on the face, because it's very high and definitely short--catches the lip of the front bunker and rolls down into the center. Now I've got a bunker (which I hate) with a high face (which I hate) and somewhat damp sand (which I hate). I take my 60* and blast it... ALMOST out, and it rolls right back down into my sand-divot. I hit it again and it's thin, and hits the lip of the bunker, but THANKFULLY kicks backwards and left far enough to hop out into the rough next to the bunker. So at least I'm out. I go to chip, and blade one to the far side of the green. I'm disgusted with wedges right now, so I putt from off the fringe and roll it 10' past the cup. But thankfully I drain that putt to stop the bleeding. Triple, +6. 

 

Someday I'm going to have to learn bunker play.   

 

Hole 6 - 546 yards, par 5, HDCP 3: Significantly elevated tee down the hill to a sharp dogleg left fairway. 200 yards or so to the turn--the first time I played here I screwed up and took driver and hit it perfectly--and straight through the dogleg OB. Good players can take a lot of distance out of this hole cutting the corner, but it's basically penalty area if you don't make it. From there it's narrow with trees left and right, and a bunker right about 130 short of the green. Slopes down into a valley and then back up to the green, fronted left by a bunker and a steep slope off the green to the right. I take 5i here which is the perfect distance to roll down to the dogleg, and hit good contact--with a hard left turn. OB. Reload. Hit again, and push-fade one right. OB. In disgust, go down to take MLR E-5 penalty and drop at the fairway where it crossed OB and add two penalty strokes. So now I'm still 370 or so out and hitting 6... And I'm still a little short of the dogleg so I can't really try to put anything in good range. So I just hit 7i. It's a gorgeous high draw that lands in the middle of the fairway. But now I'm still about 195 to the center, and 210 to a back pin. I hit 5i and it's a nice shot, slightly left, but lands left center of the green. 40' to the pin, uphill and left-to-right, and I stroke one that misses the cup about 1" on the high side, and rolls about 5' past. I drain that one. Quad, +10.

 

Well, I'm not gonna lie. That hurt. It's kinda like a par... If you remove 4 penalty strokes. FFS.  

 

Hole 7 - 164 yards, par 3, HDCP 15: Straightforward par 3. Decent size green, with a large right bunker. Only think you can't do is miss left. Trees and a slope will make it basically impossible to get up and down from over there. I think I had this playing a little forward, 155 or so with a little helping wind. Hit 9i and it's a slight push, and I can tell by the sound it's not off the center, which is good as it's just short of the right side bunker. I feel like I'd rather trust my putter from here and I'm 40+ feet out, but the ball gets caught up too much in the rough and stops on the green 20' short. Putt to tap-in range. Bogey, +11. 

Hole 8 - 498 yards, par 5, HDCP 17: Straight par 5, with fairway bunkers left and some mounds and sparse small trees right. Green is well-protected by bunkers, but generally straightforward hole. I hit driver and strike it well, but it's pushed and fading towards the #2 fairway. I end up finding it under a tree. I've got a clear backswing but my follow-through will hit branches, so I try to chop a 7i out. It's so-so contact but it at least advances it out into the fairway. I don't recall the distance but I think I take 6i to the green, and just straight push it WAY right, almost to the #2 tee. But at least from here I have a 50 yard partial wedge and a clear path. I pitch and make great contact... Right over the damn green. And it rolls out in the rough down almost to the cart path. I pitch it back and again it's long, out to the far fringe. I chip with the putter to 10 feet, and two-putt. Triple, +14. 

 

Been a rough stretch of holes here... 

 
Hole 9 - 177 yards, par 3, HDCP 13: Par 3 with a bunker front center, and bunkers left and right. I think it's about 180 to a middle pin IIRC, and I hit 6i. Not sure exactly what happens with contact--I think I must have hit a little low on the face, as it doesn't have quite the trajectory I expect with a 6i--but it hits the left side of the green and stops dead. So it worked out. I pace out my putt at about 36 feet. The green slopes back to front and I know it's going to turn left to right, but not SUPER hard. I line it up, stroke the putt, and hits the flagstick and drops dead center into the hole! Birdie, +13.

 

Well, that was at least a great way to finish my front 9! Played the front at a 49 (+13), so with that birdie I can at least say I'm on track to try to break 100.  

 

Hole 10 - 369 yards, par 4, HDCP 6: Lateral hazard and trees all down the left side, but the right side is wide open. Green slopes back to front with a large bunker in the front right. I take driver. I take driver and it's my best strike of the day. High push fade that lands soft on the right side of the fairway. Leaves 115 to the pin and I hit 52* if I remember correctly. Either way doesn't matter, because I mishit it and it is short of the right greenside bunker. I pitch and it's decent, but rolls just out to the far fringe. Chip with the putter to 4 feet. And miss the damn putt. Two putt from 4 feet. Ugh. Double, +15.  
 

Hole 11 - 419 yards, par 4, HDCP 4: This is a rough hole. Long par 4, with water all down the right side. Left has more room, but far left is the same lateral as #10, and there's a giant tree on the left side that will block any approaches that stray too far left. So I tee up on the right side and aim over the corner of the water straight at that tree, the safest line I've got. I take driver and it's a straight pull. Luckily it hits a big tree which knocks it down so it can't go into the hazard, but it knocks it down a LONG way (300+) from the green. I hit 6i to advance it, and it's a hard draw that's heading left, but stays short of the lateral. So now I'm over 100 out, have that enormous tree I mentioned right in my path so I can't attempt to play a typically-lofted shot. I'm on bare dirt. Too close to get over, so I have to punch it. I use that same 6i and catch it a little fat on the bare dirt, and it flies barely past the big tree. Pitch from there to 10 feet. Two-putt. Double, +17.

 

Feeling like I'm making little, avoidable, mistakes here to start the back 9. And it leads to two doubles in a row.  

 

Hole 12 - 474 yards, par 5, HDCP 14: Straight and flat par 5. Trees and OB left, and sparse trees and OB right, but with MUCH more generous room to the right. Green is fronted on the right by a bunker, with another bunker to the left. I hit a very good drive to the right side of the fairway. I'm still 240 out and don't have a 240 club unless I want to hit driver off the deck--I don't--so it'll be the first time I take the 5w out of the bag to try to get it up there close. I've been practicing with the 5w so I'm no longer terrified of it. I hit pretty decent contact, but it's turning left and ends up in the left rough... Behind a small tree. I'm 100 out and I think I have a good chance of getting through the tree with a full 56*. I hit it... And don't get through the tree. It knocks it down and now I've got about 80 left. I mis-hit that, chunk IIRC, and it's short and into the fairway. Pitch again from there and make good contact but leave it 30' short. And proceed to have my first--and although I'm not trying to throw out spoilers here, ONLY--three-putt of the day. Triple, +20. 

 

Like #10, another good drive turns into a bad score. 

 

Hole 13 - 338 yards, par 4, HDCP 12: A very unique hole... Dogleg left with a landing area 200y off the tee that asks for a layup. OB right, and a HUGE fairway bunker going all the way up the left side. Trees and a bunch of junk down there left of the bunker, and farther left is OB and houses. Valley down from the fairway before the green. Green is large and multi-tiered, with a bunker left, and the area approaching the green narrowing significantly with trees. I take 5i off the tee, and it's left where I can't see but I think I might be okay... Maybe fairway bunker, but I don't expect it's much worse than that. I find the ball, and it's not good. It must have caught something, and it's down at the bottom of the hill short of the giant waste bunker, with a tree trunk directly in my intended path. So all I can do is punch it back up into the fairway. Which I do. Now I've got a short iron in (don't recall exact distance), and I hit a decent shot but it's pushed off the right side of the green. I pitch it, to 15 feet, and two-putt. Double, +22. 

 

So I've played 4 holes on the back and I'm +9 through those four. This is absolutely NOT the path to meeting my score goal. 
 
Hole 14 - 117 yards, par 3, HDCP 18: The picturesque hole of the course. Downhill par 3 over a lake, with numerous greenside bunkers. I laser it at 115 true, 110 adjusted downhill. Hit my 52* wedge and it's left, landing JUST over a greenside bunker on the fringe. I've got about 40 feet or so, chip with the putter, and roll it about 15 feet long. Two-putt from there. Bogey, +23.

 

Hole 15 - 413 yards, par 4, HDCP 2: I posted about this hole a while back. Dogleg left with water down the left side, some bailout area to the right, that almost invites you to lay up off the tee but then you realize that doing so leaves a too-long approach shot, and that you may have SLIGHTLY wider landing area with driver. Another valley below the green, and a bunker fronting right and slope down to low rough off to the left. I take driver and absolutely smoke one. Best contact of the day with driver. However, I see it turning left. And I can't see the landing area, so I don't know if it might have found pond or if it's safely to the right with the dogleg. We get up there, and I see my bright Optic Yellow Snell MTB-X dead center in the fairway past the pond! I don't recall the yardage I had left or what club I hit out of elation just finding the ball. But I hit another great shot, and stick it 15 feet from the pin. I nearly drain that, and leave myself a tap-in. Par, +23. 

 

Hole 16: 144 yards, par 3, HDCP 10: Straightforward par 3 with bunkers fronting left and right. OB left, and a nasty slope down off the right once you're past the cart path, so you really can't miss badly here. Don't recall distance here, but The Grint shows I hit 9i. I hit decent contact, and it's straight, but short of the green. I chip with the putter to 5 feet, but miss it and two-putt. Bogey, +24. 
 

Hole 17 - 497 yards, par 5, HDCP 8: Straight par 5 from an elevated tee. OB left, and the right side is rough with sparse trees and OB farther right. Bunkers fronting the green center, left and right IIRC. I hit a really well-struck drive but it's heading a bit left... But it goes past the distance I'm usually worried about from the standpoint of bushes, and ends safely in the left rough. I'm still too far out to have any play at the green, so I hit 6i I think and advance it into the center. Again don't remember exact distance, but I hit a great shot to 15 feet. Miss the birdie, but tap in. Par, +24. 

 

Hole 18 - 135 yards, par 3, HDCP 16: Simple par 3, with bunkers fronting left and right. Hit PW, and hit a beautiful one about 12 feet left of the pin. Here I know where I am. I'm at 93 strokes. My personal best here is 95, so I've got a 12 foot birdie putt to beat my previous best round. No pressure, right? Well....

 

...I don't make birdie. I miss the putt and leave it about 3" from the hole. And tap in. Par, +24. 

 

So it's a 49/46 for a total of 95 (94 for hdcp purposes due to the quad on #6). Matching my personal best score on the course. A lot of good things happened. Two birdies definitely makes a day a little nicer. Some really bad ones happened that blew up the total score out of proportion to the way I think I played. Which is encouraging. That level of play on a less penal course might have been a much better score. I really feel like having all that practice time on the range paid off. 34 putts which was ok, but not great, especially with a couple of short misses and that it doesn't count "putts" from off the green that I could have gotten closer and maybe given myself a few more 1-putt opportunities.  

 

A differential of 23.0 replaces a 25.0 that rolled off, and prevents a 27.2 from getting into the calculation, dropping my index slightly, from 21.6 to 21.3. So that's a positive as well. 
 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Going to keep up with the practice this week. I'm playing Oso Creek with my son on Sunday. Seeing if two of my usual group will join us, which is a father and son (although the son is ~35), and maybe do a best ball match either between the families, or maybe do fathers vs sons. Hoping for the latter because my son will be the lowest cap of the group at 18.9, with me a little behind him, the other father a few strokes higher than me, and his son about 5 strokes behind him. So I think it might end up more fun with the highest and lowest cap paired against the two middle caps, rather than the two lowest against the two highest... Would love advice on that though, if anyone has done best ball matches with a wide range of indexes like this. 

 

Then next week heading to Texas where I'm planning on a round with my wife's stepdad. As I think I've mentioned before, we drove up to visit them when they lived in Oregon in 2020 as a little COVID "staycation" since we'd all basically spent the last 4 months effectively in quarantine. I hadn't played golf in about 5 years at that point but knew he loved the game, so brought my clubs and we played a round. That was the event that reawakened my love of the game, so I'm excited to play with him. And hopefully play a little better than the last time I played with him here in CA at Tijeras Creek, and shot a 109... Which was a bit embarrassing. 
 

[aenemated]

12 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Would love advice on that though

 

Lowest score wins. 🙂

 

 

[bortass]

Congrats on the solid score! The practice looks to be paying off and it's good to see you plan to keep it up. Blow ups are gonna happen but you had a number of very solid holes. The solid holes, they don't have to be great, are what us higher index guys need to shift that score trend down over time. The blowups become a bit less common in the process. Triples and quads suck,  but aren't the end of the world(yet).

 

Have fun with the match if you're able to make it happen!

[betarhoalphadelta]

Well turns out the younger one is unable to join Sunday, so we'll have a different fourth. And he doesn't gamble. So maybe we'll get that match on a future round. 

 

Hit the range today. Same typical thing--some 7i, 56* partial/pitching and a little full, driver. Also took the 5w but never actually pulled it out. Tried to get some video but the camera angle didn't work out upon looking at it now that I'm home, so nothing worth posting. 

 

Overall a decent session. Not too much worth talking about, just getting reps in. Going to try to get back there Friday and make sure I take the alignment sticks (forgot them today), just to keep honing down the consistency. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Made the range this morning. It was a mess. Just not great contact in general. Even with the alignment sticks, I was trying to get video of my 8i and 4h and kept topping the 4h. Think it was hit impulse getting into my head. Possibly overexertion from the Peloton yesterday as well--I took a ride that was much harder than I'd bargained for and maybe toasted my legs. 

 

Goal is to just put it out of my head, and focus on trying to play a good round on Sunday. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played Oso Creek with my son today. Had a 2-stroke lead heading to 18, the #1 handicap hole on the course. I managed bogey to finish at exactly even bogey golf, 78 (+18). He made a great par to get within a stroke, 79 (+19). A good battle!

 

Overall I played pretty competent, steady, golf. Had some problems with the left hook miss most of the day, which hurt my GIR stats (only 4 all day). But other than that my only really poor issues were spraying my tee ball OOB right on #4, and taking 3 strokes to get out of a bunker on #8. In general contact was good, and I absolutely nuked a drive on #9 to give me a short chip onto the green and sunk a short birdie putt. 

 

Differential of 22.6 will age out a 23.9, so I'm guessing when my index updates it will take about 0.3 strokes off to be about a 21.0. 

 

So overall good.

 

My son was utter garbage on the front 9 at +15, but played the back 9 at +4, so overall recovered very nicely.

 

Learned the course I'll be playing on Friday with my wife's stepdad is Alsatian in Castroville, TX. Anyone heard of it? 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Made the range today for the last time before hopping on the plane tomorrow. Just some basic 56* practice (chip/pitches, partials, full), some 8i, 5w, and driver. Overall good, a few mental mistakes where I got too much into the hit impulse and topped it with 8i/5w, but as long as I kept tempo in check and didn't rush transition, was hitting it well. Smashing driver too, which is always nice. 

 

I've never flown with clubs. My wife got me a soft travel cover last Christmas thinking we might have a trip that needed clubs, and I bought a 1" diameter 4' long dowel to go into the bag to help protect everything. I was thinking of putting the dowel near the center, taking the head off my driver and putting that and my other graphite club (5w) as near to the dowel as possible, and then having my irons/wedges all around the outside of the bag. 

 

Any other tips?

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Any other tips?

 

First time I flew with clubs - to Scotland, so not a short trip! - I picked up the SKB hard case. Everything fit fine and I just wrapped towels around the heads to get them secure and not knocking around.

 

Why SKB? Been using their cases for 20+ years for my drums (and when I joined F&D, they already had the aforementioned golf club case for drum hardware). I dunno what you have to do to tear those cases up, but it's gotta involve a sledge hammer and maybe a blowtorch.

 

It ain't the cheapest, lightest or easiest to move around (at least it has wheels!) - but I sure don't sweat anything happening to my clubs. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Back from TX. Played Alsatian Golf Club in Castroville, TX. 5963 yards, par 71, 68.1/119.

 

I ended up shooting 48/45 for a 93, with no ESC holes so the 93 counts and it's a 23.6 differential. Cap is down to 21.1. 

 

Overall I played well except for two problems: kept losing my driver to the right, and couldn't get used to the greens. It was only 34 putts total, but it didn't need to be. 

Quick rundown: 

 

#1: 397 yard par 4 - Blasted my first drive--push fade OB right. Well that sucks on the first tee. Re-tee and smoke one right down the left side of the fairway. Drop a wedge to 8 feet. Sink a putt for birdie... Oh wait, there was that whole S&D thing. Make that a bogey 5. Good save to only make it a bogey, but that's two strokes lost with S&D. Bogey, +1. 

 

#2: 312 yard par 4 - Dogleg left with an enforced lay-up. Hit 5i off the tee, and left it right but it was in a safe place. Got a shot into the green with PW, and just tug it a little left... Into water. Drop, hitting 4, flub a chip. Hitting 5, hit another chip, which just gets to the front of the green with a back pin. Three-putt from 50+ feet. Quad, +5. 

 

#3: 155 par 3 - Hit the green, pin high, but 30 feet right. Left my first putt WAY short. Three putt in total. Bogey, +6.

 

#4: 480 par 5 - Great drive down the left side of the fairway. 6i to put me in partial wedge distance. 70y out, and hit a partial 56*. Make great contact, and just misjudge the distance and it goes long... About 3' past OB stakes behind the green. Drop MLR E-5 and take two penalty strokes, and hitting 6. Pitch it onto the green and two-putt. Triple, +9. 

 

Yeah. Not a great start. 

 

#5: 303 par 4 - Big wide landing area at 5i distance, narrowing to green, so no point in driver. Hit 5i and it goes up the right side of the fairway. Full 56* wedge, stick it about 20 feet. Sink it! Birdie, +8. 

 

Okay, that helped after making three penalties in four holes.

 

#6: 152 par 3 - Playing 160 to a back pin. I feel a little headwind but I don't think I want to club up to 7i and potentially go long again. So I hit 8i, straight at it, and end up getting held up in the wind and dropping it on the front fringe two inches from the green. I've got a long (40') putt from the fringe, and again misjudge it and leave it 12 feet short. Two-putt. Bogey, +9.

 

On the card as a two-putt, but it's really another three putt. 

 

#7: 352 par 4 - Pull my drive hard left and get a lucky bounce keeping it out of OB. Stymied by a tree and can't go at the green, so I just wedge it over the tree to leave myself a partial wedge. Stick that on the green a little long left, and two-putt. Bogey, +10. 

 

#8: 175 par 3 - Think it was playing a little shorter than that so I hit 7i, and it's a beaut, Clark. Stick it 7 feet short-left of the pin. But can't convert. Two-putt. Par, +10. 

 

#9: 514 par 5 - Straight flat hole. I lose my drive right, heading for OB. Get another lucky bounce off a tree keeping me safe. 100y behind a tree and too far to go for the green, planning to just hit 6i over the tree into the fairway. And I just hit it straight right off the toe into the OB. Yeah. S&D, and try again, now hitting 4. From there I hit it damn perfect over the tree, right into the center. Have to move the 150 stake because I'm right in the middle. Hit 9i I think and get it onto the green, 30 feet right of the pin. Tricky green and I give myself too long of a leave. Three-putt. Triple, +13. 

 

Yeah, so 48 (+13) on the front. 4 penalties, and darn close to 6. 3x three-putts. 

 

#10: 368 par 4 - Blast a drive--push fade hard right. But that puts me into the 18th fairway. Got a clear shot at my green, and hit a PW tugged a little left of the green. I use the Texas wedge (I've never actually gotten to use that in TX lol) and lag it up to 5 feet. One-putt. Par, +13. 

 

#11: 393 par 4 - Blast a drive--push fade hard right. No OB or penalty areas, but I must have caught something because it stopped short and not as far right as I thought. Have a long downhill wind-aided shot to the green. Hit 6i and end up pin-high left. Putt from WELL off the green and lag it beautifully to 3 feet. And I miss. Two-putt. Bogey, +14. 

 

#12: 180 par 3 - Downhill and I think I take 6i, but hit a pull off the toe and it ends up short left of the green. Again putt from well off the green, overcompensating for leaving so many short, and blast it 20 feet past. It was an Energizer Bunny putt... Keeps going and going... Two-putt. Bogey, +15. 

 

#13: 396 par 4 - Dogleg left where how you hit the drive will have a lot to do with how long the second shot is. I hit driver trying to control that push fade, and it's a much LESS severe push fade. Hit it through the dogleg and get to my ball and I don't have a clear angle through the air to the green, which is about 160 away. I close the face of my 6i to punch under the tree and catch it well, but it's also well left. I end up in some rough left of the green. Pitch it up, but get it just barely onto the green, leaving 20 feet. Two-putt. Bogey, +16. 

 

#14: 380 par 4 - Straight hole but anything right will be blocked by a big tree. I absolutely smoke a drive, a little baby draw, into the left side of the fairway. Happy with that. Left with a 48* GW into the green--which I top and pull about 100 yards. Go to pitch onto the green, and catch it thick and leave it short. Pitch again and get it on, but still leave 20 feet. Two putt. Double, +18. 

 

That one pissed me off. I've been trying to recover from bad crap all round, and I smoke a drive right where I want it and end up with double. 

 

#15: 124 par 3 - Playing only 120, over a decent size bunker, to a front pin. Trying to decide between a hard 52* and an easier-swing 48*, and pick the 48* because I'd rather be long than short. End up hitting on a good line, and I think I'm on the green, but again I'm about two inches short. Looks like a tough breaker from about 30 feet, and I putt it but absolutely don't give it enough break, and it takes a hard right leaving me a short (about 4') putt for par. Which I miss. Bogey, +19. 

 

Yep. Another one that goes on the card as a two-putt, but was really a 3-putt. And it was a two-putt from a range that I SHOULD have been saving par. Shows up as a two-putt on the card which doesn't in ANY way reflect what a terrible putting hole I made. 

 

#16: 293 par 4 - 18th HDCP hole on the course. Other than bunkers fronting the green, it looks easy. So I take 5i and try to put one in the center... And mishit it short right. I'm still 200 out and I don't trust that I can get a ball with good enough contact to get it elevated, clear the bunkers, and still stop it. So I hit an 8i into the center. Left with a 50y partial wedge and s-word it right of the green. Pitch again, to 5 feet. And for once I pay it off with a 1-putt, but of course for bogey. Bogey, +20. 

 

#17: 481 par 5 - Tough hole. Creek that needs to be cleared at 230, and a tight landing area where the fairway pinches. But if you can make it over and through, it can reward with a good chance at a score. So I take driver. And I blast one--push fade hard right. Thankfully, right into the 18th fairway. From here I think I can just take my medicine and take an 8i over the trees back into the proper fairway. And catch it a little thick, stuck in the rough and lightly-spaced trees between the fairways. Get to the ball and I'm 100 out, but again my only shot at the green is a low punch under the trees. I take it, and it's not well-struck, but it gets me advanced and into the fairway. Now I've got a 50y partial wedge, and end up taking it straight at the pin about 12 feet short. It's on the fringe, so I use the putter but it's a chip, and almost drain it to save a par, but leave tap-in range. Bogey, +21. 

 

18: 508 par 5 - Hit a pull with driver down the left side. Ball's in a very playable spot in the left rough, with a direct shot to the green, but it's too far away. So I hit 6i and hit it back into the fairway. Sitting there with about a 70y partial wedge, with a green fronted by bunkers and I don't want to leave it short. So... I hit it long. Not that long actually, but it's on a downslope past the pin to a green sloping away from me. I chip with the putter and it's got a chance--and rolls out 7 feet past. Two putt. Bogey, +22. 

 

In with a 45, so bogey golf. Which was a great recovery from that front 9. 

 

But total of 48/45 for 93. 

 

You can see what I'm talking about. Wild with the driver. Only one penalty with the driver (#1), but could have been penalties on #7, #9, #10, #11, and #17 if the course was more penal as those were terrible. Putting looked mediocre on the scorecard, but when you look at all the ones I made poor putts from the fringe or two-putted from relatively short distances, and it was a bad day with the flat stick. 

 

Still... I have to walk away happy. This wasn't a super easy course. And it's one that I've never seen before, although of course my wife's stepdad plays it frequently so I had local knowledge. To get out of that with 22 over, given my skill level, and given all those penalties, means that all this practice is actually paying off. 

 

Now I just need to keep it up. I think I'll have to see Monte again soon--I think the setup changes are ingrained by this point, so we'll have to see where the next thing is. 

[bortass]

Well done! You had a respectable score on a new course with the pressure of playing with your wife's stepdad.

 

What jumped out at me was your driver wasn't going left on you all the time. At least, I have hook in my brain when it comes to most of your driver misses in the past. Assuming I'm semi-correct, a miss right with driver is not the end of the world and could be a good sign.

 

I wouldn't worry a lot about the putting. My putting tends to be worse when I play a different course because speeds are different and not knowing the greens. I assume that happens to a fair number of people.

 

I agree with the practice comment you made. It does look like it paid off. Keep it up!

[betarhoalphadelta]

18 minutes ago, bortass said:

Well done! You had a respectable score on a new course with the pressure of playing with your wife's stepdad.

 

 

The first time I played with him, it was my first time swinging a club in 5 years. I think it went on the card as a 97, but I don't think that was strict RoG... I know I took a mulligan on one tee at least. The second time I was just a mess and carded a 109. 

 

What's funny was that although I was tracking my score on The Grint, he was marking the card for both of us. Front 9 he had a 47 to my 48. I played steady on the back, while he had a couple bad holes. He never actually told me what he scored on the back...........

 

Quote

What jumped out at me was your driver wasn't going left on you all the time. At least, I have hook in my brain when it comes to most of your driver misses in the past. Assuming I'm semi-correct, a miss right with driver is not the end of the world and could be a good sign.

 

In general I wasn't having a huge problem with the left hook miss with any club. I had a couple lefts that were pulls, but none that were my big sweeping draw. And a lot of my right misses were not closing the clubface. I think in general I was playing with a pretty neutral club path all day, which is nice. 

 

When I do go back to Monte I'll obviously take his lead on what he sees and what I need to work on, but face control and the two way miss is what I'm going to tell him is the biggest issue I see with my current ballflight. 

 

Quote

I wouldn't worry a lot about the putting. My putting tends to be worse when I play a different course because speeds are different and not knowing the greens. I assume that happens to a fair number of people.

 

Agreed. I'm not worried about it. New course, in a different state and climate, with different grass and agronomy practices, than what I'm used to. And given that speed control was the biggest issue, that's probably due to inexperience with these greens. Heck, I even felt that they were slow on the practice green but had trouble trusting that on the course and was just leaving them short. 

 

Quote

I agree with the practice comment you made. It does look like it paid off. Keep it up!

 

Yeah, gotta put in the work if I want my game to work lol...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Finally made it back to the range today. Been a busy week so haven't been able to fit it in. Hit mostly 8i and partial 56* and sprinkled in some 5w and driver. 

 

Was making really good contact on the partial 56* and 8i shots. The 56* were all in reasonably close proximity laterally to the 55 gal drum I was aiming at, and distance control was good for my standards, so that was good. The 8i I was making good contact but leaving them right of my aim point. Most were straight blocks, so I suspect I've still got a bit of in->out path, but wasn't closing the face. Not sure what is causing that.

 

5w I went through a number of shots and things were turning left on me. Not sure why I'm successfully closing the face on a 5w but having trouble doing it on an 8i, but so be it. Driver also had a bit of the lefts, none of the push fade I had last week. I am thinking that my rubber range tee is too tall though, as I have a tendency to be WAY high on the face of late at the range. I might have to swap that out for a shorter one. 

 

I did spend some time today trying to work on the drill Monte gave me for wrist hinge, as well as trying to work that into the swing. Was hitting the ball well, but didn't have any visual feedback. Due to heat, I was down on the lower level of the range where there's a little shade, and didn't have room to set up my tripod for FO video (the stall next to me was in use). But this little mini heat wave should break tomorrow, so next week I'm going to try to keep working on the wrist hinge and try to get some video to see if it's taking. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Lot of crap going on this week and couldn't make it to the range until this morning. Wanted to get at least one session in before I play San Juan Hills tomorrow AM. 

 

Great range session though. A lot of REALLY good contact with the 56*, 7i, even 5w, and driver. Everything really felt like it was working. Good feeling...

 

Didn't have access to the stall next to me, so could only manage DTL for video. 

 

 

 

[bortass]

Good luck tomorrow!

[betarhoalphadelta]

15 hours ago, bortass said:

Good luck tomorrow!

 

Thanks. Should be battling 25-30 mph winds all round, so if nothing else it'll be interesting!