KellyBo & Gray -- Diary of taking Lessons

gray, do you have yourself a supertri? you sly devil! glad to hear you had a wonderful day out there buddy.

You'll love that super-tri. Mine is going to stay in my bag for a long time... Did you get fitted for a shaft too?

I do the same thing with trying to impress the people I am playing with. If I just have fun, relax, and let my 'feel' overtake my mechanics I play much better golf!
 
gray, do you have yourself a supertri? you sly devil! glad to hear you had a wonderful day out there buddy.

Yes I do and I love this new dawg! I traded in my old smaller headed R9, a putter, a set of Nickent Irons I had won in a golf tournament and ended of paying $135.00 for a new $400.00 driver!
Hmmmmmmm Lord Have Mercy this thing is sweet and I have not modified it for my big old sweeping hook yet. Just a little 265 -270 (JB loves it) down the middle drive...... Seriously this driver is the real deal and one of my friends who happens to be last year's club champion followed me aroung for five holes today and he coaches his high school golf team and he say " Gray I can tell you have seriously changed your swing".... I would rather hear that than any thing about distance, etc. etc. He said I would like to have a couple of tune up lessons from Bobby Hix...... He knows he got his training from Davis Love Jr...... Nuff said....
 
Yes I do and I love this new dawg! I traded in my old smaller headed R9, a putter, a set of Nickent Irons I had won in a golf tournament and ended of paying $135.00 for a new $400.00 driver!
Hmmmmmmm Lord Have Mercy this thing is sweet and I have not modified it for my big old sweeping hook yet. Just a little 265 -270 (JB loves it) down the middle drive...... Seriously this driver is the real deal and one of my friends who happens to be last year's club champion followed me aroung for five holes today and he coaches his high school golf team and he say " Gray I can tell you have seriously changed your swing".... I would rather hear that than any thing about distance, etc. etc. He said I would like to have a couple of tune up lessons from Bobby Hix...... He knows he got his training from Davis Love Jr...... Nuff said....

man, i am glad to hear that all your hard work is paying off! i know how hard you've been working and it was only a matter of time for it to finally start showing on the golf course. we'll plug my miyazaki into your driver and i'll let you give it a whirl. i'm proud of ya gray for sticking in there, keeping us posted, and gladly taking all of our abuse.
 
man, i am glad to hear that all your hard work is paying off! i know how hard you've been working and it was only a matter of time for it to finally start showing on the golf course. we'll plug my miyazaki into your driver and i'll let you give it a whirl. i'm proud of ya gray for sticking in there, keeping us posted, and gladly taking all of our abuse.

Abuse to me actually means you like someone. If you paid me no attention then I would start to worry. so all you sorry Gray imitators keep up the good work :D
 
You'll love that super-tri. Mine is going to stay in my bag for a long time... Did you get fitted for a shaft too?

I do the same thing with trying to impress the people I am playing with. If I just have fun, relax, and let my 'feel' overtake my mechanics I play much better golf!

No I actually hit the stock stiff shaft pretty darn good to say the least. Now Calloway has hinted that JB has a possible extra custom shaft down there at WPB that may make my dawg bark a bit louder :eek:)....
I won't try to pronounce the name as you know us country boys will screw it up big time, but it sounds like a hot momma to me :eek:)!!!!
 
Abuse to me actually means you like someone. If you paid me no attention then I would start to worry. so all you sorry Gray imitators keep up the good work :D

imitation is the finest form of flattery!

can't wait to see your pics buddy.
 
You'll love that super-tri. Mine is going to stay in my bag for a long time... Did you get fitted for a shaft too?

I do the same thing with trying to impress the people I am playing with. If I just have fun, relax, and let my 'feel' overtake my mechanics I play much better golf!

Actually my coach wanted to fit me for a shaft but I am saving this job for JB and whoever expert he may have on site. I would love to try something like he has in his big stick. Maybe he will let me try it out Saturday morning and get me interested in one of those sweet baby shafts :eek:)!!!!!
 
Well KellyBo and myself head to our last lesson for the six pack lessons session today at Idle Hour..... It's a playing session with the coach to see what we have learned to date. KellyBo shot a 79 today. I played nine holes and hit the range to get my new driver tuned in. It 's on like donkey kong tonight and we will report the outcome..... I just hope I can keep up with her great progress! it's been a rough ride but somehow I believe the results will be very interesting!!! Wish us well and I hope I shoot less than my age on nine holes :eek:)!!!!!! I will be 60 in November :eek:)...
 
Lesson 6 (Playing Lesson):

We got to play 9 holes with our teacher tonight. We had a great time and hit enough bad shots that our coach was able to give us some good feedback on what we were doing wrong.

Driver/irons: My main problem tonight was with my shoulder turn. I wasn't too good off the tee box a couple times and he told me it was because I wasn't turning the shoulders correctly. Gray's problem with his irons tonight was that he was raising out of his shots. The coach told him he wants him to find a hill and practice hitting downhill shots to get in the habit of staying down.

Putting: I had a couple three putts and he teased me a lot about them. In the end, he told me I had a good putting stroke but I should expect to 3 putt LONG putts like I was leaving about 50% of the time. I need to try to get closer to the hole on my approach shots or chips. I didn't use enough club on many of my approach shots leaving myself open for 3 putts. Another thing he preached was looking at the entire lay of the land and really thinking about that and not just the slope of the green. It can be quite deceiving if I don't look past it. He told Gray that he has a good putting stroke on long putts but has a tendency to break his wrists on his short putts which causes him to push his putts.

Course management: I initially played the red tees but moved back to the tees with the guys after a few holes. One of the par 5's was really short for me off the red tees. Coach asked me (after I flubbed my driver) what club I could hit about 125-135 yards. I told him probably a 7 iron. He said, "Ok what's wrong with hitting a 7 iron 3 times to the green?" He said to really think about that if I get in that situation again. Makes good sense!

Sand traps: I stink at this! I got in 2 traps today and I did terrible. Coach told me I was breaking my wrists on my shots. I will have to work on this! One of the traps had really fine sand and he told me not to take an upright swing in this particular trap - he wanted more of a flat swing in this one. I scooped it right out and way over the green. LOL

I asked him how long he coached Russell Henley who is now ranked 3rd amateur in the world. He said about 11 years. I looked at Gray and said we should be really good in about 11 years. :act-up:
 
Oh good. I hope I am not drooling into a bib in 11 years. I have begun to think seriously about the number of times it makes sense to take driver off of the tee. Frankly my home course does not include that many holes where driver makes much sense. I take it gratuitously and should probably stop doing that. In fact I am going to stop doing that. I would say that on my home 18, driver really makes sense on about eight holes and that is on a day when you are grooving the driver. On a day when you would be better served using the driver to remodel your house those eight holes get cut down to about six, maybe five.
 
Played a quick nine with Gray today from the men's white tees. I've never played a full nine from the white before. I just wanted to see if it would help me to play longer distances and use different clubs. It was a challenge but I really enjoyed it. I shot a 46 with all bogeys and one double. I think I am going to play the white tees occasionally as I think it will really improve my game. I know I can do better with practice.
 
Reading the book "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect" by Bob Rotella. I think my mental game needs as much work as anything. It's really a good book. I've also been reading "Extraordinary Golf, The Art of the Possible" by Fred Shoemaker whenever I can steal it away from Gray.

I played 9 holes today and shot the best score ever (37). I started out with a double on the first hole and was aggravated with myself. I really wanted to just go back and start over but that wasn't an option. Thought about some of the things I have read and just got right back into the game. Ended up having a fun and relaxed round. I know these books are helping my mental game.

A true test will be Friday when I travel out of town and play with a few ladies on a course that is a bit more challenging than my home course. I really want to play well there more than anything!

The lessons have made such a difference in my game! I sure wish I hadn't struggled for 20+ years of playing with no lessons.
 
It's been about 6 weeks since my last lesson and I have turned in some pretty good scores lately. I'm ready to set a new handicap goal. It is 15 now and I'm thinking of 13 by end of fall.

I am starting back taking lessons on Wednesday because I REALLY want to keep improving. My coach asked me what I wanted to work on this time. I told him sand and short game. I have a statewide tournament coming up in October at St. Simon Island and I don't want the sand to whup me like it did last time. Not to mention 110+ sand traps at the PGA National in September. This time my lessons will be individual instead of paired with Gray.

I had some down time at the course today as it was really slow so I went out to the 9th green and got behind a tree and hit lob wedge shots. The tree is only about 15' high. I got about 15' behind it and hit about 50 balls to the green. After that, I went to the trap and hit about 20 shots out of it. It's an easy trap so it didn't give me as much grief as I usually experience out of sand.

I am playing at a super nice course tomorrow in a scramble with the Heart of GA ladies. I love this association because I get to play very nice courses for about $20 all over middle GA.
 
It's been about 6 weeks since my last lesson and I have turned in some pretty good scores lately. I'm ready to set a new handicap goal. It is 15 now and I'm thinking of 13 by end of fall.

I am starting back taking lessons on Wednesday because I REALLY want to keep improving. My coach asked me what I wanted to work on this time. I told him sand and short game. I have a statewide tournament coming up in October at St. Simon Island and I don't want the sand to whup me like it did last time. Not to mention 110+ sand traps at the PGA National in September. This time my lessons will be individual instead of paired with Gray.

I had some down time at the course today as it was really slow so I went out to the 9th green and got behind a tree and hit lob wedge shots. The tree is only about 15' high. I got about 15' behind it and hit about 50 balls to the green. After that, I went to the trap and hit about 20 shots out of it. It's an easy trap so it didn't give me as much grief as I usually experience out of sand.

I am playing at a super nice course tomorrow in a scramble with the Heart of GA ladies. I love this association because I get to play very nice courses for about $20 all over middle GA.

Best of luck to you Kellybo! I have a feeling you are going to easily surpass your goal of 13. Maybe at the outing you can teach me how to get out of the sand? :smile:
 
Wow, that sounds like a great deal. I know there is a thread about the cost at one's local course. But, what would it normally cost to play some of these courses that you are referring to here?
 
Wow, that sounds like a great deal. I know there is a thread about the cost at one's local course. But, what would it normally cost to play some of these courses that you are referring to here?

The course I played today was a private course. The initiation fee is about $20,000. It's the only chance I ever have to play it. I had to pay $23 to participate in the scramble today. The member who played in our group treated us to lunch afterwards. Usually most of the other courses normal rates are from $30 - $70 to play.
 
I love this thread!!!!!!!! Awesome deal KB! Really happy for both you and Gray. A lot of hardwork and it's really gonna pay off.
 
I went out around 10:00 a.m. today and practiced my gap wedge for an hour & half. Really looking good now with the wedge game. The practice area is around an old hole which is no longer in play due to a new course design. It backs up to #14 tee. When I finised with my wedge work, I jumped on 14 to play out those holes and head home. I shot 1 under par for those four holes! I was hitting my wedges like in a dream. hmmmmmmmmm I hope I don't wake up anytime soon :eek:) Now that was fun... I have a plan to practice three days each week for one hour mininum with a different wedge each day (LW,GW, & PW). That way none of them will be jealous. I am not going to play the course except for those holes coming in (four) to limit my play those days strictly to wedge play. It's fun!!
 
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Besides the scramble this week, I haven't played. Today I managed to get 30 minutes of putting practice in when it was slow at the course and there was some shade on our #9 green. My lesson was rescheduled for next Thursday so nothing much to report this week so far. I'm going to try to play golf with Ol' Gray in the AM. I think he might just kick my butt! Haha. His game is really coming around and I am happy about that. When Gray is happy, I am happy!
 
Way to go guys. Interested to meet ol gray,his lady as well, he seems like a talker. Me i can carry on a conversation but am horrible at starting them so i like to be around the talkers!
 
I know you have been putting a good deal of effort into your game of late. Had you been rotating the wedges in before this or have you just started to work on them in earnest now? I struggle with maintaining the club work I have done in one area and rotating in additional clubs and really struggled when it came time to work on the woods at least for a time. It really screwed me up but I learned a good deal from the experience and did finally get it worked out. In my case I had worked at least a pitching wedge into the program right from the start but had not spent much time with the other wedges.
 
Played with Gray today - he shot 82 and I shot 85. It took me a while to figure out some things. Strengthening my grip helped me straighten out my iron shots and hit them much better. I was not hitting my driver as well as usual but was still getting it in the middle for the most part. I think I was trying to hit down on my driver like I do my irons because once I thought about that, I started swinging through properly and the drives became very solid. We are playing again in the AM with another couple. Better get to bed.
 
Good luck tomorrow you two. You guys crack me up. And you both are very determined. Keep it up!


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Thanks Yuccos! I shot an 89 today and let Ol' Gray whup up on me again.

Driver was 100% today!!! I positioned the Srixon label of my ball so that it was sitting on the inside of the ball where I always want to hit it. It kept me focused on that spot and helped me to keep my head down. This is the first time I've played it like that and I was crushing my drives straight down the middle...no tailing off at the end. Of course I can only hit them 325 unlike Gray's 400 yards. Ha! I probably hit most of them about 205 - 210 yards STRAIGHT!

Other than my driver, nothing was working well for me. I told my friend that I felt like I played terrible but in reality an 89 on a bad day is not so bad compared to years gone by. I will take it.
 
I know you have been putting a good deal of effort into your game of late. Had you been rotating the wedges in before this or have you just started to work on them in earnest now? I struggle with maintaining the club work I have done in one area and rotating in additional clubs and really struggled when it came time to work on the woods at least for a time. It really screwed me up but I learned a good deal from the experience and did finally get it worked out. In my case I had worked at least a pitching wedge into the program right from the start but had not spent much time with the other wedges.

jnug -- I am not sure if you are talking to KellyBo are myself. For myself , My practice schedule for the wedges consists of three days for the wedges ( 1 day per wedge) and I rotate them. One day Lob wedge, next day sand wedge, next day gap wedge, & a occasional Pitching wedge practice thrown in with the other three for additonal 30 mintues. Practicing these wedges really help your score more than most people realize. Especially when your driver is off one day and you have to pitch out to the fairway and layup. Then you wedge game can save you.. I now depend alot on my wedges and they are my favorite clubs in the bag.... Practice, practice,practice. One thing is you have to have a swing coach so you know how to practice the correct technique. Don't just go out there and hit a ton of balls without proper training because you may be just hitting balls without proper technique... Good luck and have a great golf season!
 
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