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RyanG’s Road to a 5

Had a fun one this morning in our weekly winter sim league. Made a couple of errors, but felt like things were clicking pretty well with both the full swing and partial wedges. The club that’s been a ponder for me to replace (7W) showed up for me big on a couple of par 5’s, and might not be going anywhere. New PB this morning (+1) dropped the Trackman HCP to 4.1, which makes me think that a 5 outdoors isn’t as crazy a goal as I might think. Unfortunately, we got a ton of snow this week, which has kind of pushed the start date back potentially a while, but I’m having a ton of fun right now, and going to keep grinding.
 
My back is angry with me after a laser session but working on some of that width feel. I like this a lot - the work with the Stack seems to have helped with this quite a bit.

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The weather has taken a turn for the better the last little while, and it was HOT today (18° C). I was able to finish up the to-do list for the weekend and sneak out for a range session, and man did it ever feel good to be outside. The swing is feeling really solid right now, and I love the ball flights I’m seeing. I’ve definitely never been this confident with driver/fairway woods, and I got a nice compliment on my tempo. Seeing a bit more left than I’d like out of the shorter clubs in the bag, so I’m gonna try to sort that out before we get the season started, but it’s also repeatable enough that I think I could play it successfully. Fingers crossed I get to play a round here before I head south to meet up with @Jank and the fellas, but I'm excited about that upcoming journey nonetheless. I have a good feeling about this year.
 
Got to get the garage put back together this morning after getting the new garage door installed this week. This set-up feels much less cramped, and I’m not worried about having that overhead door mount in the way. Working on that straight left arm feel here, and hoping we get some sunshine this week.

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Started on the 3rd Stack program last night, and I’m pleased with the results that I’ve been seeing out of this. I was hoping to pick up 5-10 MPH on my SS with the driver, and it appears we are on track here.
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Been cold and snowy all week again, which is disappointing, but I was able to get the garage set up completed and we’re back on some path work, trying to exaggerate that swinging out to right field feel. Tempo feels good here, and I’ve been playing around with grip tension a little bit.
 
Post Stack training swing from tonight. I’ve been scoring really well in our work sim league, and we have 1 round left - I’m pretty confident some of this is going to transfer over outside this season. I spoke with the Assistant Pro at the new course today and they might be open for business on Friday 👀

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ryang13 said:
Post Stack training swing from tonight. I’ve been scoring really well in our work sim league, and we have 1 round left - I’m pretty confident some of this is going to transfer over outside this season. I spoke with the Assistant Pro at the new course today and they might be open for business on Friday 👀

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Looking strong and fast. 💣
 
ryang13 said:
Post Stack training swing from tonight. I’ve been scoring really well in our work sim league, and we have 1 round left - I’m pretty confident some of this is going to transfer over outside this season. I spoke with the Assistant Pro at the new course today and they might be open for business on Friday 👀
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I wonder how many people they'd get on Friday given the snow in the forecast. I'd say nobody, but driving by Victoria driving range I saw a lone golfer battling the snow the day it opened.
 
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ryang13 said:
My back is angry with me after a laser session but working on some of that width feel. I like this a lot - the work with the Stack seems to have helped with this quite a bit.

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Swing is looking good my friend! Haven't checked in in awhile. Looks like stack is helping you achieve more load though! Keep up the great work.
 
Finally got out to play golf on Sunday, it snowed Friday/Saturday, but there were blue skies and sunshine in the afternoon. The course was walking-only, which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm definitely out of shape to carry for 18, plus after Saturday's laser tattoo removal session on my back it was somewhat miserable to carry my bag 😂 . It took me a little while to find my tempo and swing, but I'm not unhappy with the results - I have definitely improved over the winter, and felt much more relaxed over the ball. I like the new home track, I think it will be a good fit for where I'm at, and looking forward to getting out again this weekend! The greens were pretty shaggy, leading to some interesting putts, and they are a lot larger than the old home course, which will be a good test of my putting this season.

Green Lights: 9
GIR: 8
Putts: 35
Score: 85
HCP: 9.0
 
ryang13 said:
Finally got out to play golf on Sunday, it snowed Friday/Saturday, but there were blue skies and sunshine in the afternoon. The course was walking-only, which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm definitely out of shape to carry for 18, plus after Saturday's laser tattoo removal session on my back it was somewhat miserable to carry my bag 😂 . It took me a little while to find my tempo and swing, but I'm not unhappy with the results - I have definitely improved over the winter, and felt much more relaxed over the ball. I like the new home track, I think it will be a good fit for where I'm at, and looking forward to getting out again this weekend! The greens were pretty shaggy, leading to some interesting putts, and they are a lot larger than the old home course, which will be a good test of my putting this season.

Green Lights: 9
GIR: 8
Putts: 35
Score: 85
HCP: 9.0
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8 GIR is pretty good. No way I could have walked with a bag on my back after that lol.
 
ryang13 said:
Finally got out to play golf on Sunday, it snowed Friday/Saturday, but there were blue skies and sunshine in the afternoon. The course was walking-only, which isn't a big deal to me, but I'm definitely out of shape to carry for 18, plus after Saturday's laser tattoo removal session on my back it was somewhat miserable to carry my bag 😂 . It took me a little while to find my tempo and swing, but I'm not unhappy with the results - I have definitely improved over the winter, and felt much more relaxed over the ball. I like the new home track, I think it will be a good fit for where I'm at, and looking forward to getting out again this weekend! The greens were pretty shaggy, leading to some interesting putts, and they are a lot larger than the old home course, which will be a good test of my putting this season.

Green Lights: 9
GIR: 8
Putts: 35
Score: 85
HCP: 9.0
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Awesome! Glad you got out. We’ve got to get those putts down a couple on average!

Are you seeing similar on course results in regards to distance from the speed training as I am? I’ve been consistently 10-20y further up and down the bag. Better dispersion too because speed training has forced me to learn better release mechanics or I risk breaking my wrist.
 
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Awesome! Glad you got out. We’ve got to get those putts down a couple on average!

Are you seeing similar on course results in regards to distance from the speed training as I am? I’ve been consistently 10-20y further up and down the bag. Better dispersion too because speed training has forced me to learn better release mechanics or I risk breaking my wrist.
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Early signs point to yes, I don’t really feel like I’m reaching for speed, and I think some of the tempo work is paying off. I think the longest drive of the day was like 290 or so, but once I play a few more rounds with the X5 I’m hoping the data will tell a better story. The dispersion is going to be a big one to tell the story of improvement, especially with a bit different layout (more fairway bunkers, more water).
 
ryang13 said:
Early signs point to yes, I don’t really feel like I’m reaching for speed, and I think some of the tempo work is paying off.
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It’s interesting you say that because I feel the exact same. In a lot of ways it feels like I’m swinging slower but I’m definitely not. The floor has been raised.
 
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It’s interesting you say that because I feel the exact same. In a lot of ways it feels like I’m swinging slower but I’m definitely not. The floor has been raised
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I've been trying to get a driver swing in before I do Stack workouts just to sort of gauge what my cold first tee swing is looking like, and it's been ranging from 105-108 for the past few weeks. I would like to have a bit more confidence off the tee this season with the driver, I don't think there's a reason why I shouldn't be pulling it out more often and trying to use that distance to my advantage.
 
Second time out today, and I had a really good time this afternoon. Little windy, little cool, little rainy, but linked up with some great people and had a pretty enjoyable couple hours out on the new home track. I’m maybe not shooting the lights out just yet, but it’s not hard for me to feel like I’ve improved. Everything is just feeling a little bit better, and I’m giving myself a lot more grace out there when things aren’t going to plan, which is sort of leading to me just having a lot more fun playing golf.

Green lights: 4
GIR: 4
Putts: 18

I love this quote from Max Homa from his interview today, and I’m going to try to keep this perspective this year as I go through the season.
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ryang13 said:
Second time out today, and I had a really good time this afternoon. Little windy, little cool, little rainy, but linked up with some great people and had a pretty enjoyable couple hours out on the new home track. I’m maybe not shooting the lights out just yet, but it’s not hard for me to feel like I’ve improved. Everything is just feeling a little bit better, and I’m giving myself a lot more grace out there when things aren’t going to plan, which is sort of leading to me just having a lot more fun playing golf.

Green lights: 4
GIR: 4
Putts: 18

I love this quote from Max Homa from his interview today, and I’m going to try to keep this perspective this year as I go through the season.
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I love that quote. I definitely could stand to remember and recite that out on course to myself
 
Jtubb17 said:
I love that quote. I definitely could stand to remember and recite that out on course to myself
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Really interesting food for thought. I could beat myself up over a few shots I left out there today on the greens and think about how many 12’ putts I’ve sank all winter on the mat at home, and all sorts of negativity about what I’m not doing well, or I could focus on the positives of like “hey, I just went out and played pretty decent golf with no full swing warmup, and put down a very respectable score”. Lots of time left on the year 👊
 
ryang13 said:
Really interesting food for thought. I could beat myself up over a few shots I left out there today on the greens and think about how many 12’ putts I’ve sank all winter on the mat at home, and all sorts of negativity about what I’m not doing well, or I could focus on the positives of like “hey, I just went out and played pretty decent golf with no full swing warmup, and put down a very respectable score”. Lots of time left on the year 👊
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One of those thought paths will definitely bring more positive results. Good stuff! Keep it going!
 
Some thoughts on AZ trip and my play down there. The views were incredible, the crew was awesome, and I'm glad I went down to join the AZTHP crew for a couple of days in the desert. I didn't have high hopes about scoring really well down there, but selfishly I wanted to at least come out of the trip seeing some improvements in my game after all the work I've put in this winter. I'm not really used to hitting the range before playing, but it was nice to be able to hit some balls before teeing off each day and trying to get a little looser. I did have some pretty positive results at times, even though that's a MUCH different style of golf than I'm accustomed to. We don't see lies/conditions like that up here on the prairies, and I was giving some thought on the plane home to adding a quick assessment of the lie that I'm in to my pre-shot routine. I sacrificed a few balls to the desert, those courses were much more punishing off the tee than I usually play, and has re-inspired some path/face work this week. Short game was so-so, I really struggled at times to know how to play shots around the green, and my partial wedges were a little loose. Approach play was decent, I was hitting the ball pretty solidly for the most part, I hit a few greens and was able to make a few good numbers. I also putted reasonably well down there - getting back outside up here on shaggy, bumpy greens wasn't a great warmup for the conditions, but I'm happy to see some progress in that area. Overall, I like what I see. There's some stuff to work on for sure (I'll be getting out for some short game work soon!), but there always will be, and I'm feeling pretty inspired to get back at it this week and play this weekend! My play so far this year at home has showed some promise - I don't know if I'll get to my goal this year, but I'm having fun with the process, and have played with some awesome people so far.
 
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