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

Thanks DD. I'm pretty determined right now to get it done. We'll see how it goes, but I will not lose due to lack of focus and effort. I'm playing good golf, my confidence is high, and I'm not letting bad shots or bad holes bring down my score.

Also, Bubba looks like a giant next to Tom in your avatar.
 
Well, another league down, and I can probably scratch off the rest of my short term goals this year. I did not shoot sub-40, and it's not likely I'll make the playoffs. Were sitting right on the bubble, #10. Even if no one ahead of us gained any points, we still couldn't pick up any spots, but there are plenty of teams behind us that are only a few points behind. They may have overtaken us this week. It didn't help that I was playing by myself yesterday, no teammate. That's kind of rough in a handicapped 2 man best ball format. I also had nerves, which makes me think I put too much pressure on myself. I've never been nervous at league, but I think I hyped myself up on a great performance so much, that my nerves just got to me, particularly on the putter.

But my actions are going to speak louder than any of my ramblings could. So let's recap the round, hole for hole. We started on Hole 7.

Hole 7 - Played about 155 yards to the pin. Hit an 8 iron. It was a little low and a little left. Must have caught the fringe because it did not check up at all. Rolled about 2 feet off the back of the green in the rough. Had an ok chip, but then missed the 4 foot putt. Walked away with a bogey.

Hole 8 - 375 yard dog leg left par 4. We had a 15mph wind at our back, so I took out the 3 wood. There was no point in trying to hit long, just needed to make it to the turn. 210 yards would get me to the turn, but normally i hit the 3 wood 225-230, which is plenty safe. Ended up tugging it hard left into the trees. Took my lateral hazard drop, pulled a 6 iron for 170 yards (remember, i had a lot of wind behind me). Hit a sweet shot, figured it'd be center of the green. But no, it landed about 8 feet short, in the bunker. Got it out, two putted for a double bogey.

Hole 9 - 147 yard downhill par 3. This hole has been giving me the most fits as far as what club to hit. Pin was right in the middle of the green. 9 iron is about 124-128 yards on flat ground no tee. I added 10 yards for the big down hill hit, and I added 10 yards for hitting off a tee. Nope, flew it by about 10 yards. Still on the green though. Two putted for a par.

Hole 1 - 505 yard par 5. Straight into the 15 mph wind. Drive went 225, faded a bit into the rough. The rough is very safe on that hole, all trampled down. So, i was able to get good contact on my second shot, a 4 iron, that went about 160 yards. At this point I have 140 yards left. And I duffed it, had 70 yards left. Hit a nice pitch shot, that went nowhere. Not sure how that one happened, but I was still 5 feet short of the green. Finally chipped it on, and one putted for a bogey.

Hole 2 - 485 yard par 5. Hit an nice drive to the middle of the fairway. Laid up with a 7 iron to about the 110 yard mark. Perfect layup shot. Hit my PW which went just a hair long, but dead center of the green, with an uphill putt. Then I 2 putted for a par.

Hole 3 - 181 yard par 3. The wind is dying down at this point, but the flag is tucked behind some trees. So I figure middle of the green. In fact, at this point, knowing my competitors handicap, I just figure par wins every hole. I play a big old banana slice (unintentionally) and end up in a bunker 20 yards from the pin. Hit my shot which just barely makes it out. Then 3 putt for a double bogey.

Hole 4 - 382 yard par 4. Hit just a bit of a fade, and end up 240 yards out in a fairway bunker. Lip was close, but I figured I could get a 6 iron over it. I was about 170 yards out, so I figured the 6 iron wouldn't get there, but I didn't think a 5 iron would clear the lip. Well, I hit a perfect shot, but about 15 yards to long. So I had a very very long putt at the pin. Ended up 3 putting, for a bogey.

Hole 5 - 485 yard uphill par 5. Hit a great tee shot, about 245 yards. It's one of the few I've ever hit on this hole. I'm 200 yards out at that point. I pull my 3 iron, hit it flush, and here comes the fade. So I ended up just short and right of the green about 8 feet. Chip to within 9 feet. So now, I have a great look at birdie, straight up the hill. Pulled the putt, had maybe 2.5 feet left, pulled it again. Great, another 3 putt, for bogey.

Hole 6 - 385 yard par 4. Hit another great drive right down the middle, about 250 yards. 135 is in between for me, so I try to lay off an 8 iron just a hair. Ended up going a bit long, just on the back fringe, maybe 20 feet from the cup. Had a great putt, and tapped in for par.

Assuming I recalled that all correctly, here's the full round recap.

44 (+8)
FIR - 3/6
GIR - 5/9
Putts - 20 (three 3 putts and one 1 putt)
Penalty Strokes - 1

My goal was to shoot sub 40, and there are 4 strokes up there that shouldn't have happened. In fact, I have shot better than even putting for probably the past 5-6 weeks. So all of those 3 putts were kind of a surprise to me.

Next week is the last week of regular season league. Were number 10 before last night, and only the top 10 make it. I'm somewhere between working hard, particularly on putting apparently, and making a big push to make the playoffs, or just relaxing, enjoying myself, going into next week with the 'this is my last week lets have fun' attitude. I'm guessing I'll work hard at it, but then go into the round with a lets have fun attitude.

Until next week

~Rock
 
My vote is for the 'have some fun' attitude, Rock. I bet that will get you better results too. Good luck dude!

I know exactly what you mean my playing well and scoring bad vs playing bad and scoring well. I don't mind a little higher score if I hit the ball well. Sometimes things just don't go your way and a few extra strokes get piled up even though you play well.
 
Good write up MR, relaxing while it is happening is key, if you can do that you can play well.
 
I think you are right on the relaxing part. It was really weird. I almost never get nervous during golf. I've made countless 5-6 foot putts this year, precisely because I am fearless with the putter and have no nerves. But yesterday, for whatever reason, I just got nervous over those 5 footers. I think I put too much pressure on myself to win a lot of points. Plus it was all on my, since my teammate was gone.

I'll have to find the right quantity of courage juice for next week, but not too much courage juice to where I can't hit the ball. I'll just go in with the attitude of lets have fun, and the score will take care of itself.
 
Well, I missed last weeks update, because our baby decided to be born a couple of weeks early. Everyone is healthy, but that naturally took me out of the world of golf for a bit. In fact, by the time I swing a golf club this wednesday, it will have been 2 weeks since golfing.

As for other updates, our team did make the playoffs. The first round is happening today, which I can't make, and the second round tomorrow. My teammate, who has not played well in league for 6 weeks, all of a sudden shot lights out last week to make the playoffs. So of course I thanked him. Now he has to play the first round by himself tonight. If he wins, then we play again tomorrow afternoon. Here's to hoping.

Also, since I didn't get to play any golf for awhile, I just want to point out that it was nice to see Phil play good golf again this weekend. I'm not sure he has the touch on long putts with the belly putter, but he's back to making 10 foot and closer regularly.

I had to cancel my last lesson for last week, so I need to reschedule it. It will probably be a combined 'things to do on the off season to keep the swing going' kind of lesson.'

Finally, its college football season. And that means GO HAWKEYES!!!

Until next time

~Rock
 
Wooot. Go Hawks!

I'd say your season is going to be limited this year, but you will get back into it soon. Enjoy being a daddy!
 
It's been so long since I posted in here. Not sure why I'm doing it now. Maybe it's because I don't want to do any work since its so close to 5pm. Nonetheless, I thought I'd offer some general reflections on my golfing season this past year.

It started out with all the vigor and enthusiasm it does every year, but this year, I was much more committed to improving. In fact, I hadn't worked on my game this hard since high school (about 11 years). It had its ups and downs. I even took lessons, which were cut short by the birth of my first child. The driver gave me fits most of the year, but when it was on, my scoring was just great for me. Even when it was off, my short game was probably in the best shape it had ever been in.

Still, I learned my strengths in golf, and I had some of the best mental focus I've ever had, particularly when it came to forgetting poor shots. I even learned what triggered me to lose focus, and therefore, how to avoid those triggers.

I also realized that I spent way too much time away from home. Living in rural Iowa doesn't give me a great selection of good golf courses nearby. I drove 38 minutes, one way, to get to my preferred golf course, and I did it often this summer. It lead to a lot of late nights, and I didn't spend much time with my wife in those last few months of her pregnancy. She didn't mind, and actually encouraged me to go out and golf. Still, looking back, I think maybe I went just a little bit overboard on the golf in terms of time spent. Next year, I expect I will only play my local municipal course. That should give me about 400 more minutes per week to spend with my family.

Its funny, every spring, my wife calls me nuts, and says she wishes I would not jump into everything full steam 110%, and I always tell her I'm not. But looking back, I definitely think I did that this year. My golf game improved, but by the end of the summer, I actually felt pressure to keep my golf game in shape just to continue playing well. It was as though playing at the peak of my game was a requirement to having fun. I can assure you it didn't start out that way, at the beginning, I was just playing golf, and having fun while improving. But soon, when I hit my plateau, I felt obligated to stay on that plateau to continue having fun. That is not something I want to repeat next year.

I don't know if I ever made my single digit handicap, since I don't really keep track, but I did have some great 18 hole rounds this year. I'm going to call it a successful year of golf. Hopefully, in the the near future, I might just move to an area that is actually populated, and has more golf courses, making my commitment to golf easier to fulfill. But until then, I think next year I'll spend more time having fun and less time on constant improvement and practice.

Until next time

~Rock
 
McRock said:
I think next year I'll spend more time having fun and less time on constant improvement and practice.

~Rock
Click to expand...

Three years ago I set out to get better after playing only rarely the previous 15 years do to family/work etc. After three years I had improved but never reached the level I was at in my thirties (it seemed so effortless back then), but this year with the help of two regular older playing partners who helped me get my priorities straight while on the course, I have had some of my best rounds and have enjoyed my time playing much more this summer. I am looking forward to next season more than ever as I believe I will be back into the 80s on a regular basis if I can just relax and enjoy the round more. Sometimes you just need to be happy your outside walking and playing golf on a nice sunny day.
 
I'M BACK!!!! Ok, time to revive this thread. Phil Mickelson gets my juices flowing when he's on, and he was definitely on yesterday. Just an aside, my uncle, who hates Tiger because he doesn't like the TV attention he gets in tournaments, said he hopes Tiger never comes back. I always told him I want Tiger to come back 1) for the fascination of the biggest fall in golf to come back to the top, and more importantly 2) Phil played better when Tiger was a factor. I know Tiger flopped yesterday, but I have to believe that Phil stepped up his focus some just because he was playing with Tiger. Sweet justice.

Anywho, naturally, the day after Phil wins, it snows here in Iowa. We haven't had a lot of snow, particularly in southern Iowa, so its nice to look at out my office window. I went back through this thread and read some of my posts, my achievements and challenges yet to be completed. I think I'm ready to lay out the year's plans and goals.

First, I said I wasn't going to drive 38 minutes one way to my preferred course, and I expect that is still the case. If my local course actually has a league this year, then I will NOT be driving to my preferred course for league. That should save me money and time. Both of which are at a premium this year as I make my final push at my current job to get that something something life changing promotion. I'm a lawyer, I don't want to jinx it by saying it, but this should be the year come August, or at least that's what I've been lead to believe pending strong efforts. So, this year, I'm going to put golf on the back burner. I'm playing for fun, but I need to make sure I put my full effort into obtaining that job advancement, because if I get that, then my resources for golf improve drastically.

Which brings up the next point, every year for the past 3 golfing seasons, I've bought new equipment. Last year a putter, the year before a wedge, and the year before that, a 3-wood. Golf shoes were in there somewhere, which was a big deal to me because my last pair I had for 10 years before they sole separated from the shoe. This year, I'm not planning on any new equipment. Things like a driver are a big purchase for me, but if I get that nice promotion, it won't be nearly as difficult, and I can focus on what works best for me, rather than just what works well and is affordable.

My local course is a crap course. I'm sure some of you know I've said that before, and it remains true today. Still, it has its training benefits. I did two things poorly all year last year. One, the driver. Two, my long irons, particularly off the tee. My little local course is a par 31, with 1 par 3 at 190, and 3 par 3's at 200+. Add to that sloped tiny greens (its a very old course, with very tiny greens), and accuracy is at a premium. I've never parred this local course, but I think this might be the year to try. I made such great advances in my short game last year that I should be able to get up and down often this year. If I add in some long iron consistency, I think I should be able to reach that goal. From there, I hope to win the City Tournament. The big dog abandoned the course (and I don't blame him) so par should be strong enough to win.

Still, in the end, this year golf is not the focus, it is not the end goal. This year, golf is the retreat from work and life. I will still practice and work at it, but only so long as I am having fun with it.

As always, I have written a long winded post in this thread, but it feels good to talk golf once again.

~Rock
 
I like that way of thinking, Rock. Just get out there and enjoy yourself buddy. We need to get together again this year.
 
I guess I'm one of those THPers. You know, the ones who don't post much in the winter months. And then the instant they start going out golfing, they never log out throughout the entire day, and always wonder if their boss monitors their web usage (mine doesn't, and he wouldn't care anyways, its all about the billable hour here).

Anywho, last year, I was out playing golf at least 3 times per week by March 1. It was 40 degrees, windy, wet, but I was out. This year, we had the warmest March on record, and I didn't play my first rounds of golf until yesterday, April 1.....and i have the golfer's sunburns to prove it. I was fearful. My last good round of golf had been late August. Then my son was born. Then after a month and a half off, I played in the Midwestern/mostly Iowans get together. I played horrible, which was expected, but I also had a ton of fun, which was great.

So how did my first 27 holes of the year go? A lot better than expected. Prior to going out, I reviewed my notes from two lessons I had last year. It seemed to do pretty well with 6 iron - Wedges. I even had some good long iron shots. What did not go well? Driver. Driver. Driver. I only get to use a driver on 4 of the 9 holes, So out of 12 total driver holes, I think I had maybe 4 good shots. I was topping a lot of them. Not sure why, it just never felt comfortable, except for the last two drives of the day. They were long, but pulled. Still, at least I ended making good contact.

Priorities changed when my son (and first child) was born last August. Although I still hope to make the cut at the Iowa amateur open someday, I think doing so in two years might be pushing it. I've been making a big push in my career to advance, and that big push includes a lot of extra time doing extra curriculars, like participating in association meetings and what not. Anyways, I just won't be having the time to make a huge push on that this year. So this year, I have set some little goals. One, I have an outing at the end of April somewhere in Cedar Rapids. There is one particular person who will be there, and for reasons I won't disclose, I'd like to beat him. Second, since I won't be playing league at the nice course 40 minutes away this year, I guess I'd like to actually play in our city tournament, if there is one. (Last year, only one person showed up, and he still didn't get the prize money). Third, really work to rebuild my swing this year. It will be a very long, and crappy road. But I figure if I'm not as concerned about competing this year, I should feel completely at ease to just completely redo my swing. I have one lesson remaining paid for, and may take a few more throughout the summer just to always have someone there giving me feedback.

Speaking of that new swing....over christmas, I bought my wife a nice Sony camcorder since we have our first child.....capturing memories and all that. And wouldn't you know it, it also has the 'golf shot' feature, and a pretty sweet slow motion capture feature. I plan to use it this year to really monitor my swing rebuilding.

Until next time, and glad to be back.

~Rock
 
Not much to update here. That awesome camcorder I got to catch all of life's great memories, mostly child related, also has a great golfshot feature and slowmotion capture feature.

And boy did it work. I'm coming over the top, which if last year's lessons taught me anything, has everything to do with my initial takeaway on the back swing. Going to try and correct that today. If I can get that takeaway on a better plane, I think the downswing should get more to an outside in plane.

Here's to hoping. And for your viewing please.



Until next time

~Rock
 
Well I just had my first 'outing' of sorts. I'm on a statewide board that has quarterly meetings, and golf usually gets played sometime before the meeting for the spring and summer meetings. So this time, we were in Cedar Rapids (Iowa, in case you didn't know) on Friday, April 20. When I drove up Thursday, there were some sprinkles, and it was 70. When I showed up for the 8am tee time the next morning, it was windy, a little misty, and about 40 degrees. I can only guess what the wind chill was.

I had made some swing fixes in the week or so leading up to this. Those fixes allowed me to hit the ball straight off the tee with a driver, but did nothing for my longer irons. In fact, it probably made my long irons worse, which sucked since they were the strong part of my game. Still, there was a particular person who was going to be there, and I wanted to beat him. So sometimes, you have to take what you have and play a game out of it. And that's what I did.

We were playing the Ellis course, which is a Cedar Rapids municipal course. It was a fairly easy and forgiving course. Most of the fairways were wide enough, and even missing the fairways, you were in some pretty light rough. We played the tees at just shy of 6400 yards. The real challenge on the course were the greens. I'm glad it rained the night before, because some of those greens had some ridges and mounds that were just pretty tough to get a good read on. I shot a 89 (+17), which given the weather conditions, I thought was a pretty admirable score. It was 46 on the front, and 43 on the back. It was funny, because on the back nine, we decided to play a best ball format, 2 person teams, loser buys a 6 pack. All of sudden, it seemed like my concentration went up really high, and I just started nailing shots. I can remember playing a par 5. It was by far the most narrow fairway, maybe only 35-45 yards across spots. So I did find the fairway, and laid up with a 6 iron to about 105 yards. Meanwhile, my competitors sliced their drives, which put them on a very large bank on the right side. A clear shot to the green, sure, but a very awkward stance. They just went ahead and went for it. One sliced it and landed right short, still on this large bank. The other yanked it left. I proceed to pull out my pitching wedge and knocked it 12 feet past the hole, which is a pretty good shot for me. I unfortunately had one of those difficult mounds and went 8 feet past the cup. Still, when it counted, to win the hole, I played about 2 inches of break and landed the ball center cup to win it. And that is a pretty decent summary of how my day went.

My drives were going maybe 220 yards. I've lost some distance since the 'quick fix' swing change, and I'm guessing I was losing another 20 in the wind and cold. It took me 9 holes just to figure out I needed to club up 2 clubs. I started with 6 consecutive bogeys, all because my approach shot (or tee shot on par 3s) would come up 10 yards short. But the positive was that I only missed 2 fairways on pull-hooks. Every other tee shot was pretty much center fairway. Also, my short game, particularly from 90 yards and in, has just been on fire recently. And finally, I think I've settled on a ball for the year. I'm loving the TM Penta (last years model). The control I have coming into greens is just phenomenal, and the distance loss off the driver is minimal compared to some other balls with equal greenside control.

Oh, and I'm in love with the Titleist D2 driver. But I'm pretty sure that absent something crazy happening, like, someone just giving me $400, I probably won't be picking that up.

Anyways, that's long enough for today. For a cold day early in the year, I'm pretty impressed with a round that was just under bogey golf.

Until next time

~Rock
 
I find it funny that I'm the only one who posts in my own thread. Thank you THP for allowing me my personal golf diary!

Anyways, as most of you know, I got a new driver, and I've sufficiently discussed that in other threads. Although there is some adjustment period to be had, it is quickly coming together, and the results can only get better in the future with it. Even the mishits go 15 yards further than my last driver, and I find the fairway much more often.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had two other rather significant issues come up. First, this past weekend, putting went horribly south. I've been struggling to hit the sweet spot on the putter, which was a sign of bad things, for a couple of weeks. It's an insert faced putter, so I wouldn't think finding the sweet spot would be that hard. But this past Saturday, I started pushing everything right. I missed four putts in 9 holes, all lip outs to the right, and all within 3 feet. I was mad, for the first time ever this year. I started bending over the ball a bit more and chicken winging my arms. It helped some, but my mind was already rattled. Hopefully, tomorrow when I head out again, my mind will be in a better spot and the 'chicken wing' will lead to straighter putting. If not, I'll just have to spend an hour on the practice green going through various drills to get it back.

Then second, I haven't found a sweet spot on my irons for about 3 weeks. That's applies to every single iron for full swings. Since I play TM 300 forged irons (which is the near equivalent to the TM TP MC irons), missing the sweet spot is a bad deal. All of my misses are on the toe. I've been struggling to figure out the cause for this. I recently remembered the 'towel under the armpit drill' and how successful it was last year for me in correcting some iron swing issues. So tomorrow, I'll be working on that, and I feel like it will likely cure the mishits, but may lead to more fades with the irons.

My short game remains at its peak. My local course is a par 31. You can't stick a ball on our tiny greens with a 4 iron, and the course has 3 par 3s over 200 yards. So short game is always key at the course.

Other than that, my course still hasn't started league. I'm beginning to worry, but I won't be doing league at the extremely nice resort course this year. It takes about 500 dollars in green fees and gas money for that league, and I think I'll just save that money this year.

Until next time

~Rock
 
Despite becoming quite worried, my local course finally started a league this year! This is the first league in 3 years. Our last league had about 15 active players and maybe 25 total people signed up. This year, we have 42 signed up, and were hoping for a 2/3 active turnout every week. Plus, in order to keep people interested, more fun nights, pin prizes for the first time in 10 years, and food!

So yesterday was the first day, just a day to set our handicaps. Handicaps get adjusted every 3 weeks. From what I heard, most scores were not great. Probably b/c it's bone dry here......oh, and the wind was probably sustained at 22mph with 35 mph wind gusts. Yea, maybe it was the wind and not the hard ground. When I first arrive, my uncle, who is also my team captain, tells me he shot par. He averages about +3 to +4 in 9 holes. I asked him what he was thinking since it was handicap day and how he managed to do that in the wind, he wasn't real sure. Obviously, no one is going to be sandbagging, b/c we change handicaps every 3 weeks, you wouldn't get a benefit from sandbagging. Still, it was funny.

I just as well go through this hole by hole.

1st hole - 97 yards, into the wind. Somehow quasi-hoseled it 45* and 100 yards to the right. Pitch shot landed short, but on the fringe. Proceeded to 3 putt. We have small greens, like....really small. So 3 putting just isn't acceptable. So great, I'm +2 after the world's silliest first hole.

2nd hole - 292 yard hole, straight. hooked the driver into the wind. No help from the wind there. Probably 250 yard drive, but 100 yards from the hole since I went so far left. Aimed 5 yards left of the green and pulled out the 56* wedge. Figured as high as I was hitting it, the wind would blow it to the green. But it didn't. I hit the line I wanted, but I guess that 22mph left to right wind wasn't going to move the ball. Landed pin high, but 5 yards left of the green. Chipped to about 3 feet and saved my par.

3d hole - 190 yards, dead straight into that wind again. I had switched to my proV1 today b/c it just launches lower for me, so I figured it'd be the good ball for the day with all the wind. Pulled my 3 wood, which is about a 220-230 yard club on flat ground with no wind. Hit the green and went 10 yards over. Not bad. Pitched it to within 6 feet, missed the putt, so I took a bogey. Given how poorly I've played this hole, I felt good about the bogey.

4th hole - 255 yards, very drivable, wind at my back. I was in between clubs, the 3 iron likely would have landed short, but the 3 wood could have gone 20 yards over the green with the wind and hard ground. I chose the 3 wood, just trusting that I wouldn't get too hard of a kick forward. I hit a slight draw, figured it would be pin high or a little past and 10 yards left of the green. NOPE! Kicked hard left (on flat ground) ended up pin high, 40 yards left of the green, with a tree that hasn't been cut in years. Had to punch my shot and keep it below the limbs, AND carry a patch of rough 4 yards in front of the green. I hit too hard, because I figured I'd clip the branches right in front of me, went 5 yards past the green. Chipped to within 5 feet. Pushed my putt, and took a bogey. At this point, I'm +4, with a double on the easiest hole on the course, and a bogey on the easiest hole to birdie. I'm incredibly frustrated with the bad breaks I'm getting. After this stretch of four, in my mind, I need to be +2 maximum if I want to shoot a sub-bogey round (which par is 31 btw).

Next hole, 210 par 3. Straight into the wind. Pulled my 3 wood pin high, 15 yards left of the green. It's a severely sloped downhill chip shot from there, and its protected by about a 12 inch terrace looking bump in the ground, so you have to carry that and the 5 feet of never mowed fringe after it. I hit the perfect shot, right into the upslope of that little bank to bounce it high, it lands 3 feet onto the green, and proceeds to roll 35 feet, which was 10 feet past the hole. Rimmed the putt, tapped in for bogey. I'm typically fine with bogeys on the longer par 3s, b/c they are just hard. So I felt ok about it.

Next hole, hole 6. 220 yard par 3, slightly uphill, wind at my back. Hit the 3 iron, landed right in the bottom of the valley 10 feet below the green and 15 yards in front of the green. Perfect shot really, figured it would roll up to the high side of the green. NOPE! went 5 yards over the back of the green. Duffed my chip shot to the edge of the green, putted through the dirt and weed patch that was never reseeded, and then putted again to take bogey. Again, not horrible, but I was a bit aggravated with the break I had in having to putt thru the dirt.

Hole 7 - 365 yard par 4 straight. Also into the wind. It's nice that my sissy bail out shot is a big pull and hook, which works out great on this hole. You can actually get 2 fairways over and have a downhill, flat lie shot into the green. You can also see the green when you pull it left like that. I I hit probably 265, 2 fairways over. Hit my 7 iron about 145 to the green and into the wind. Stuck it, lagged my putt 2 inches short (darn, could have had a birdie), tapped in for par. My round is starting to feel ok now, since I've gone through a typically tough stretch of holes for me with no bad marks on the score card.

Hole 8, 225 yard par 3, straight of course. Right to left wind. Right is OB. Hit the 3 wood, and hooked it. I was 50 yards left of the green. There's a ridge/terrace that's part of the green, if you hit short and roll up, you'll be fine. If you hit the top or land anywhere over that ridge, your going off the other side of the green. I hit a perfect pitch shot, somehow, it still just barely goes over the back ridge, and but it did stay on the green. I have no idea how i made the putt. Probably 15 feet, the first four are up a steep slope, then its down hill and a hard left break. But I made it for par.

Hole 9, 374 yards dog leg right. Wind is mostly at our back, but a little bit left to right. Can't cut it, b/c the trees are too tall to attempt it. Hit a great straight drive. The dog leg is at 274 yards. From 250 to 274, it's a downhill slope, then it's all uphill to the green. I carried it 265, and hit the down slope. Must have rolled 40 yards through the dog leg and into the rough. Did that twice yesterday actually, guess I need to learn to play a fade with my driver. I was about 90 yards from the green. The back swing felt horrible, skulled the shot 5 yards over the green. I should have just stopped my swing and backed off, instead, I just tried to adjust everything with my arms. Hit my 58* about 5 feet off the ground and it rolled a lot. Chipped to 6 feet, missed my putt on the high side, took my bogey.

My average for the past 6 weeks has been right at 39 (+8). And yesterday, I shot 38(+7) in that wind. Despite the unbelievably horrible start, I really kicked in my focus and it paid off.

Just a couple thoughts about the state of my game. After a month of new sweet spot action in the mid and long irons, I think I've gotten that worked out. The one thing I'm doing with all of my clubs except the 58* is I'm pulling everything. Need to work on my takeway, I could tell yesterday that I was going shallow again on the back swing, and so I come over the top. I may start weaking my grip too on the driver and 3 wood. I'm pulling them, but my back swing isn't nearly as bad, and the pull is just very slight, maybe 5 yards left of my target line. My short game continues to be pretty stellar. A few hiccups, but nothing to be concerned about.

Until next time

~Rock
 
Well another week of league down. Turns out my team won top spot last week, 4 points. Pretty sure this week we will not. My uncle, who shot par last week to set his handicap for 3 weeks, shot +9 this week. I shot +7 last week, and +11 this week. Still, this is my new favorite phrase "golf is a marathon, not a sprint."

So a recap of the round. Started on hole two. I raced my golf cart up there to catch up with the guys I usually play with, sprinted to the tee box, and teed off.

Hole 2 - Straight par 4, 292 yards. I was a little winded. Got the driver out, pushed it hard right into a tree that protects the right half of the fairway 20 yards in front of the tee box. That tree really needs trimmed. Hit it, bounced 50 yards straight left of me to the middle of the road. Out of bounds, re-tee, hit a real low line drive and made sure I pulled it left. 100 yards out. I hate that distance, because I have a gap in my wedges. My 56* I can crank to 95 yards, my pw is 110 yards. So I crank the 56*, I'm 3 feet short, blow the chip shot, two putt for a triple bogey 7. The guys thought I should take a mulligan for that first drive, but I decided I should learn to play through adversity, so I took the 7.

Hole 3 - 190 yard par 3, giant tree about 55-60 yards short of the green. You have to carry the tree, then hope to run up to the green. Hit the 6 iron beautifully, 2 feet off the right edge of the green, nearly pin high. Chipped to 6 inches, chipped in for par.

Hole 4 - 255 yard par 4, very drivable. I can't hit driver, because it'll go 40 yards over the green. So I hit the 3 wood and land 3 feet short. Chip to within 3 feet, make the putt for birdie. After one bad hole, I've quickly negated the effect of that triple bogey.

Hole 5 - 210 yard par 3. Push my 4 iron into a tree line and it spits the ball back out into the fairway about 75 yards from the green. Next shot rolls to the back right corner of the green, about 40 feet for par. Miss bad, but make my 5 foot putt to save bogey. I still feel good about a bogey on that long par 3.

Hole 6 - 224 yard par 3. Hit a nice 4 iron, but its short and left 10 yards. Hit a great pitch shot to 4 feet left of the pin. The pin is stupidly placed right in the middle of a steep slope, so I have a sidewinding putt. Two other golfers gave me the line, and I aimed 1 foot left of the cup and drained it for par. I aim to shoot 36 on this course (its a par 31), so even fours as I call it is where I like to be. After that 7 on the first hole, I'm back to even fours.

Hole 7 - 365 yard par 4. Yank the driver hard left two fairways over, but its plenty safe up there. 150 left but miss the green right. Blew the chip shot bad, two putted for bogey.

Hole 8 - 220 yard par 3, pond about 50 yards off the tee box. Someone on hole 7 behind me starts saying something about beer and I lose my concentration. Top the 3 wood and watched it trickle down into the pond. It was rolling so slowly, I felt like I could have just run after it and caught it. Decided to re-tee, giant push out of bounds. So I drop where I went out, bladed the wedge 20 yards over the green into tree trouble. Have to punch a 7 iron into 5 foot deep valley and try and run it back up onto the green. Didn't quite make the hump in the green. Two putted for my snowman 8.

Hole 9 - 365 yard par 4. Yanked the driver left again into neighboring number 1 fairway, but that's ok again. Its a clear shot to the green, about 145-150 yards. Somehow didn't draw the 7 iron, so I ended up on the right side of the green about 5 feet off. Blew the chip shot, two putted for bogey.

Hole 1 - 95 yard par 3. Pulled the wedge but I was on the green. Was still demoralized by the snowman, three putted for bogey.

Ended up with a 42 (+11). If you take out the two bad holes, I was +3 across 7 of the holes.
So the score card looks like this
triple bogey - par - birdie - bogey - par - bogey - quad bogey - bogey - bogey. A very different kind of scorecard.

But overall, my confidence level still went sky high after the round. My short game had moments of brilliance. Putting was mostly good, and my irons, although still not where they were last year, are back to a point where I'm only barely missing the sweet spot. Unfortunately, if I miss the sweet spot on my clubs by a mere 1/2 ball width, I'm going to lose 10-20 yards of distance.

I've scheduled a tune up lesson for Saturday morning. Hopefully he can pinpoint where I'm going wrong, because I know I'm close, but I'm just missing something. He's also going to check the loft and lie of the clubs and get those tuned to where they should be. Maybe if I'm lucky enough to be chosen to test those KBS shafts, I can have him put those in as well. I suspect they'd give me the slight increase in launch trajectory and increased spin I need in my irons.

I look forward to putting a full round together next week.

~Rock
 
Great work, I followed along last year and will be doing the same this year. Slow mo camera work is priceless to helping me improve and know exactly what i'm doing wrong. Keep on keeping on! I'm from Iowa (Neola, small town near Missouri Valley) and then Council Bluffs.
 
Yea, that slow-mo capture on the sony camcorder is just awesome. Need to probably get out and do it again. I've made quite a few changes since that video. Hopefully I'm much closer to being on a single plane swing.

I lived in Council Bluffs for about 6 months. Had a really awesome loft there. It's probably not so awesome now, I know they re-opened the bar underneath it, not sure how anyone could sleep with that underneath them.
 
McRock said:
Yea, that slow-mo capture on the sony camcorder is just awesome. Need to probably get out and do it again. I've made quite a few changes since that video. Hopefully I'm much closer to being on a single plane swing.

I lived in Council Bluffs for about 6 months. Had a really awesome loft there. It's probably not so awesome now, I know they re-opened the bar underneath it, not sure how anyone could sleep with that underneath them.
Click to expand...
Which bar? I frequent them quite often....
 
runpuddrun said:
Which bar? I frequent them quite often....
Click to expand...

Don't really remember. I believe I lived on 1st or 2d ave, with Broadway on the back. Old downtown, they were called 1892 lofts. The block was nothing but bars frequented by college students.

~Rock
 
McRock said:
Don't really remember. I believe I lived on 1st or 2d ave, with Broadway on the back. Old downtown, they were called 1892 lofts. The block was nothing but bars frequented by college students.

~Rock
Click to expand...
Yep, 1892, great little bar, My best friend from HS owns the bar right next to it.
 
So I had my third and final lesson, at least that was paid for. I should probably call it my first lesson this year, since my ability to take the third lesson last year got cutoff by the birth of my son. I had originally told the pro it would be a 'tune-up' lesson for my irons. But by the end of this post, hopefully you'll see why I believe it was just the final lesson of a series of 3 to finish rebuilding my swing.

This is the 2d complete swing change in 10 years, but it's the first complete swing change with the assistance of a pro. As posted before, when I first started lessons last year, the Pro asked me if I wanted him to use my current swing and make it work, or to tear down and completely rebuild my swing. I knew my current swing had limitations, so I told him to tear it down and rebuild. The first two lessons last summer focused almost exclusively on takeaway and back swing to get on the right swing plane on the way down. It had immediate results last year, but never totally felt right. It was hit and miss despite all of the range time I put in. I just didn't understand what piece was wrong or missing that cause off days.

Well the third lesson completed it. This lesson had a couple of tune-ups to it. Narrow the stance a hair, grip tends to get neutral, so he reaffirmed the strong grip again. But the kicker was the top of the back swing. He commented that my upper body was still rolling over because I have no wrist cock at the top. As a result, I roll my upper body over to get the club parallel. Unfortunately, this causes me to unwind at the top, and the club is pointing well right of the target line at the top. It took the pro 3 swings to get me to feel the correct wrist cock at the top, and I was on my way. Shot after shot, straight, a little higher trajectory, sweet and pure, reminded me how much I love my irons. After leaving that lesson, I realized that it has been one year now since the start of the swing tear down and rebuild, and it is now complete. Sure, I need reps to get it into muscle memory, but the Pro came through and gave me a swing I have 100% confidence in. He focused on the takeaway and lower body so much last year, but we never got to what happens at the top of the swing. Three lessons, a complete swing rebuild. It was all a work in progress.

And seeing how it took a full year to do, I now have new appreciation for Tiger when he says "he likes his swing, he just needs more reps with it." It was not an easy process, and it lead to some pretty severe frustration last year. At one point, I even questioned why I took the lessons, since I seemed to not be improving. I should have just trusted that I asked the Pro to rebuild my swing, and he anticipated 3 lessons to do it. It's just that the final lesson got delayed 9 months.

While there, I also had all the lie angles in my irons checked and adjusted, and the lofts bent to today's standards, which I posted about elsewhere. Needless to say, the lie angle is making a huge difference in the starting direction of the ball.

I feel extremely confident. I know that occasionally I will hit a bad one until I get enough reps in with the completed swing, but I'm ready to compete again. I have some little golfing trips coming up across the next two months, and I intend to walk onto unfamiliar courses with a new confidence that I won't lose strokes because of my swing (but I probably will due to my head).

I'm going to try and get a couple new slow-mo videos up of the completed swing soon.

~Rock
 
Nice update man, makes me want to get a set of lesson's myself. Can't wait to see the vids of your new swing.
 
Great write up McRock. I like what you say about the third and final lesson getting your swing right at the top.
Good luck down the road and keep your head tight between the ears.
 
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