We've launched the new forums! Read more here

McRock's Cosmic Ride to the IA Amateur Championship and beyond...

McRock

McRock

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
8,636
Reaction score
183
Location
Iowa
Handicap
11.6
Hello everyone. As some others have done, it's time for me to set a goal, and publish my challenges and successes right here on THP.

Brief background. I'm from rural southern Iowa. I've played golf since I was a little kid with mickey mouse plastic clubs in my hand. I remember every set of clubs I have ever played. Mickey Mouse Plastic, Ram Junior, Wilson Junior, Lynx (predator I think), King Cobra II, Taylormade Burner, to my current Taylormade 300 irons. There have also been an assortment of drivers.

To me, golf is the one sport where I can go out and play by myself, and completely shut out the rest of the world. I can goto a driving range for 2 hours and not think about anything except hitting the next ball. It's also just a blast to play with friends, or simply trade golf stories, as so many of us do on this forum.

So my goal. Well, the title of the thread says most of it. I'd like to make it to the Iowa Amateur Championship. I don't necessarily set the goal of winning it, but I am setting the goal of making the cut. The cut seems to be about +10 after 36 holes. Currently, I shoot bogey golf, so I have a ways to go. My plan is to achieve this in 2-3 years.

As for the beyond part...well, I told my wife that my retirement plan was the senior pga tour in 21 years. She said that would be fine. I guess if I don't achieve that goal, I always have my career to fall back on.

So, that's the introductory stuff, now onto the current status of my game. I've had two trips to the driving range so far this year, with one round of golf in between. The first driving range visit and round of golf were pretty much as horrible as it gets. Bladed a lot of shots, sliced every driver, wasn't hitting the sweet spot, lost of lot of balls, just all around typical post-winter first time golfing syndrome.

By my second trip to the driving range, I had a little more going for me. My swing was better, I was hitting my irons a lot better, but I still need to get some consistency in distance. Then, I'm either pushing the ball, or I'm not aiming correctly.

I changed my swing a little during my range session. I stood up a little taller and didn't choke down on the irons so much. My driver is just gone. I went from hitting 280 yard draws last year on dry ground (people in Iowa will understand how little dry ground we had last year), to hitting 200 yards with 50 yard slices. Nonetheless, I'm hitting my clubs.

This is the stage where I can start making plans on what I need to work on. So, my current work program is:

1) get my driver swing back
2) correct aiming deficiency or push
3) hit irons consistently

The short term training will be updated regularly, as well as any challenges I face and successes. But it should be an exciting ride, and I'm excited to share it with all of you. It's sort of like the Haney project, except without Hank, or a camera crew, or celebrity status, commercials.....ok, it's nothing like the Haney project.

Still, there should be some exciting things happen in just this first year. Could there be exciting lessons from a pro? Maybe. How about a new set of irons? If you've seen my posts in the TM TP CB thread, you know that's a possiblity. There may even be a tournament or two.

On to some fun stuff. Here are a couple of videos from my most recent trip to the driving range. I haven't figured out how to edit yet, so sorry for the long pauses in between actual shots (there's two shots per video).

Spoiler


Spoiler


This was before the swing change I noted above. Hopefully the swing change will make it so I'm not so hunched over with a 6-iron. From these videos, i learned 3 things:

1) I'm a little hunched over with my upper back
2) I still lift my left heel on the backswing (I'm curious to hear who all was taught to swing a golf club that way)
3) when taking video with my cell phone, tell the person to hold it horizontally.

I'll keep everyone posted.

~Rock
 
Last edited:
That's great of you to set a goal for yourself, good luck. Keep us posted.
 
Awesome target McRock. Sounds like you've thought it through, and with the right dedication, you can get there!

I'd definitely recommend some lessons first, and a lot of hard work. It sounds like you're up for it though. Look forward to reading your progress.
 
Pretty cool McRock, we will be pulling for you, keep us posted. I think by sharing you goal here it will help keep you focused on the prize. WTG!
 
That is awesome man! Good luck on your journey and I will be checking back often to see updates.
 
Way to go Rock! I like your dedication. I work incessantly on my short game and it's starting to pay off. My long game still has a long way to go. I've also stepped it up this year by signing up for an amateur tour.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading about your progress! Best of luck!
 
The only thing better than dreaming is to live the dream. I wish you success and good luck!
 
Rock - Today is the first day of the rest of your life. If you can dream it and believe it, then do it. Go get em Rock :thumb:
 
So since I started the thread, it's just been horribly cold. However, I managed to sneak out for four holes today at the local course. It was 38* out. I never play when it's that cold. In fact, I really don't like playing unless it's at least 50 and not too windy out. My wife, who is not even a golfer, decided she wanted to hit some balls today. I wasn't going to discourage her interest in golf, so we bundled up and went. She hits the ball, which I keep telling her is better than a lot of people can do.

As for me. I still don't have a driver swing. I think that's going to take some good work at the range. I'll probably have my wife take some video of me so I can see where I'm losing it. I can't tell if I'm throwing my hips out, coming too far over the top, or anything else that could go wrong.

As for my irons, I remember the couple of changes I made last week at the range, and with those small changes I was still just smokin' my irons. Straight, sometimes a very slight draw, and with a penetrating lowish ball flight. The funny thing is, with just these two small changes, I've added 10-15 yards to each of my irons compared to last year.

We ended the 4 holes when it started snowing. Stupid Iowa weather. It's supposed to be in the 50s and 60s this weekend. Should be able to make it to the range again. I expect I'll continue to hit my irons a decent amount to make sure I have this newer swing ingrained into my brain and body. Assuming this swing continues to perform like it has been, I'll have two of my short term goals achieved, that being hitting my irons consistently, and it fixes my aiming/pushing problem. Then I'll definitely be working to at least get some sort of a driver swing back.
 
Good luck! Keep your mind focused and don't give up. I would also recommend getting lessons and working hard.
 
Cool thread and I wish you luck. The swing is looking pretty good already considering you just started getting out there.
 
I look forward to hearing more about this! Sounds like an intriguing thread/project/goal/story etc...
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words and support. I also appreciate the kind words on my swing. That swing itself has an interesting history (to me at least). Throughout high school clear until my second year of college, I had a pretty flat swing with a massive amount of spine torque. At the time, I was playing King Cobra II and then TM firesoles. That swing gave me a beautiful 10 yard right to left draw. Then, since I was playing so much golf and hitting the ball so well, I purchased my current irons, the TM 300 forged, in the summer of 2001. Going to a 'players' cavity or muscle cavity club, less offset, all that, had a drastic impact on my ball. That nice draw turned into a massive hook. So, I spent the summer of 2002 and 2003 at the driving range (I was in college, too poor to afford green fees) recreating my swing. What I wanted to achieve was a simple single plane swing. Believe me, it was hard work to go from my old flat swing to the new swing, and I lost distance as a result. But once I achieved it, the biggest benefit to me was that when something goes wrong, it's usually much easier to diagnose and self-correct.

I do plan on taking lessons this year. My closest club pro is 37 minutes away, but I've never had a lesson with him before. A friend of mine is 90 minutes away, and I have taken lessons with him before. I'll probably do one lesson with the closer pro and see if I like him or not. If I do, I'll buy a series, otherwise, it's going to be a long commute. I'm hoping to self-correct my driver swing before taking any lessons. What I really want my lessons to focus on first is pitching the ball and accuracy from 100 yards and in. My pitching game has been awful the last couple years, and I don't seem to have one consistent swing for it. So once my driver swing is hopefully self-corrected, I plan on fixing that pitching part of my game. My guess is that pitching will become one of my next short term goals.
 
McRock, we should try to meet up some time this year. I have family in Ottumwa, which isn't too far from you.
 
Good luck McRock! I look forward to following you in your journey! You can do it!!
 
Hawk said:
McRock, we should try to meet up some time this year. I have family in Ottumwa, which isn't too far from you.
Click to expand...

Hawk - Ottumwa would be perfect. It's only about 90 minutes from me. Plus, oddly enough, I grew up in Ottumwa until the 4th grade. I also have tons of friends in the Cedar Rapids area, so meeting in the general Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area would work too.
 
IC is even better. Brown Deere is a great course outside of Coralville. Really fund track with lots of elevation changes and really nice fairways.
 
I'm on a similar journey so I'll be interested in your methods and progress.

I started my effort by taking some lessons, revising my putting stroke, and signing up for a local amateur tour.

Good luck!
 
I played Brown Deere once. It ate me alive. That was also during those two years when I was recreating my swing. I sliced a lot of balls into the trees. I'd love a second chance to 'beat' that course.

Horton said:
I'm on a similar journey so I'll be interested in your methods and progress.

I started my effort by taking some lessons, revising my putting stroke, and signing up for a local amateur tour.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Horton, I'm interested in what your current putting stroke is and what you are trying to change it to. My current putting storke is the product of how I learned how to put as a child. I throw my elbows out like chicken wings, hunch way over the ball, and putt. It's how, as a little kid at least, I was taught. The idea was that it would keep my wrists out of it, and make it purely a shoulder turn. I've tried going upright a few times, if for no other reason than to save my back. However, everytime I stand up more upright, I seem to lose distance control on my putting.

Have you already switched putting strokes? What are you doing to practice it and become consistent with the new stroke?
 
ezrider said:
McRock, like you we have http://www.stracka.com/golf-photos/default.asp?st=perma&ID=11099531

Just wondering. Do you have/maintain a handicap ?

Also since im new to the sport. When you play in events like this. Do you use a cart or caddy?
Click to expand...

We don't have a golfweek amateur tour in Iowa. In fact, the only tour we have is the GC Amateur Tour. I couldn't justify 6 tournaments (5-18 hole tournaments and 1-36 hole tournament) for $1,000. We do have a fantastic Iowa PGA section, which puts on lots of amateur tournaments in the State throughout the year.

I do not have a handicap, and I do not maintain one. That has a lot to do with the course I belong to. I expect I'll be getting one with the Men's League I'm joining this year.

Most tournmanets do not require you to walk. Most of them allow carts, even on amateur tours. They usually have their own rules on that issue, or another indicator is when it says entry fee into a tournament says it includes carts. I do know that the Iowa Amateur Open does not allow carts, but they do allow caddies.

Hopefully that answers your questions. And finally, welcome to the sport of GOLF!
 
McRock said:
Horton, I'm interested in what your current putting stroke is and what you are trying to change it to. My current putting storke is the product of how I learned how to put as a child. I throw my elbows out like chicken wings, hunch way over the ball, and putt. It's how, as a little kid at least, I was taught. The idea was that it would keep my wrists out of it, and make it purely a shoulder turn. I've tried going upright a few times, if for no other reason than to save my back. However, everytime I stand up more upright, I seem to lose distance control on my putting.

Have you already switched putting strokes? What are you doing to practice it and become consistent with the new stroke?
Click to expand...

It's difficult to fully describe what my stroke was and what it has become so maybe I'll post a video later highlighting my changes. But until then, I can briefly touch on the subject...

I was never taught how to putt, I just started playing golf and kinda tried to mirror what Tiger was doing. After realizing I was a terrible putter and needed to improve to eventually reach my goals, I started doing some research. I learned some basic fundamentals and tried to incorporate those into a putting stroke that felt comfortable to me, since I believe comfort is a huge factor in how well I putt.

Here are some things I changed:
1) I used to stand very upright, as if I were hitting a driver or something similar. I now bend more at the waist and get closer to the ball, it helps vision, alignment, and comfort for me.
2) My grip was all over the place, I tried everything. I've now got something that is very similar to a traditional grip but with both index fingers extending down the shaft, the index fingers seem to help me maintain face angle.
3) I try to keep my forearms at the same angle as the shaft, this is supposedly a putting fundamental.
4) I keep my eyes directly over the ball, moving away from this orientation causes me to push/pull my putts more often.
5) Lastly, I used to have a very long and slow putting stroke. Now I try to take the putter back shorter and accelerate through the ball, maintaining face angle, and finishing the stroke towards my target.

I have a small practice mat inside my house where I'm constantly practicing short putts. My main focus with that practice is just developing consistency in my stroke, something I can carry with me to the course.

Unfortunately, I haven't had many chances to play golf this year yet (Indiana weather, argh) but what little golfing I have done has reinforced that practice does in-fact make perfect and that some of my hard work and diligence is paying off. I still struggle with confidence on short putts but I see that improving once I become more accustomed to this new stroke.
 
That sounds like a lot of change to a putter swing. I wish you the best of luck with it.

I have a golf outing tomorrow morning, so we will see if I still hit my irons well in front of people.
 
good luck tomorrow

Cant believe outings are already starting, it snowed here last night lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top