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The 60 and over Thread

Ever have one of those days when you’re just off, feeling disconnected, etc. I drank a whole 22 oz bottle of water in 6 holes. Normally, it lasts longer, especially since it was colder than it’s been. Bogey, bogey, bogey bogey, crap. Par, birdie, bogey, par, par for 40 at the turn. Bogey, bogey start on the back. Five straight pars, bogey par finish. 3 fairways, 7 GIR, 30 putts 40-39 79
 
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Man, am I ever terrible at this game! Lol. I mean, everyone says that after a bad round, but considering the effort put it, I've gotta be one of the worst golfers in the world.

Anyway, though it is not yet open to the public, I played 12 holes at my home course this afternoon. They are due to open Monday, but they let me get out. The fairways and greens (no flags) were really shaggy.

Full swing was pretty bad. Not sure where on the face I was making contact, but I know it wasn't the center. Driver was interesting. I had a little too much confidence and immediately paid for it. Wasn't until the 4th tee shot with it that I figured out I cannot just address the ball and make a swing without a thought. Once I started thinking about what I was doing and made a simple adjustment, I started hitting the nice straight shots I'd been seeing on the range.

And the suspicions about losing distance this season are holding true. I made good contact on a few today - really felt like I crushed the ball - but distance was only average on those shots.

Well, I really needed to get out and get some walking and that might be what my golf will become... just a long walk. Wore a bucket hat to protect my skin from the sun. I finally finished taking the medicine prescribed to destroy the precancerous skin cells. The nastiness it caused is starting to heal. Should be an interesting season.
 
Played a decent enough front after a quad/ dbl bogey start. Started the back side on fire, then completely collapsed the last 3 holes. This is becoming a bit of a rather disconcerting pattern.
Playing at Greystone today. I'll be there an hour early to hit some balls and putt. But it doesn't seem to matter if I head straight to the tee from the range, I always seem get off to a slow start any more.
 
Started yesterday with back to back birdies. Got to #6 a par 3 playing 115 yards downhill. Hit my wedge a little heavy and ended up in the pond. Ended up with double and shot 39 on the front. Wheels fell off on the back. Ended up shooting 44 on the back. Just a frustrating day. My Paradym X was money most of the day.
 
1860VS said:
Played a decent enough front after a quad/ dbl bogey start. Started the back side on fire, then completely collapsed the last 3 holes. This is becoming a bit of a rather disconcerting pattern.
Playing at Greystone today. I'll be there an hour early to hit some balls and putt. But it doesn't seem to matter if I head straight to the tee from the range, I always seem get off to a slow start any more.
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I Wish I could hit Balls for an hour before a Round.
 
4hourrule said:
I Wish I could hit Balls for an hour before a Round.
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I’m not sure I’d make it 18 holes after doing that. Ideally, I’d like about 15-20 minutes on the range to get loose. I tend to be a slow starter otherwise.
 
skigolfmike said:
I’m not sure I’d make it 18 holes after doing that. Ideally, I’d like about 15-20 minutes on the range to get loose. I tend to be a slow starter otherwise.
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Totally agree with you!! I can’t keep focused for an hour hitting balls either!! I start to try stupid things.
 
I'm watching the Drive, Chip, and Putt. In the 12-13 year old girls bracket, five girls hit drives over 230, and the winning drive was 251 yards. I wanna be like them, lol.
 
Grand Stranded said:
Is it a 3/4 swing or have you just eliminated “runoff” at the top?
A few years ago, I saw video of my swing for the first time. Before my fitter could say a word, I told him “OMG It doesn’t feel like I’m going back that far, and I can’t believe where the club ends up when I do.”
”Shortening“ my backswing was probably the single biggest thing I’ve ever done to improve my golf game. I’m drifting up now to 13ish but back then I went from a 17 to an 11 from the Whites in about 18 months.
I’m playing the same courses and scoring the same (or slightly lower) now, but I’m playing a tee up, and my handicap is rising because of that.
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I just shortened it a little at the top. Helps prevent me from bending the elbow on the backswing. Took a few tries at the range. At first shots were pushing to the right. But I zoned in on what works best for me with the stance and grip. I don't know if its causing less distance. Maybe. But when I tried the full backswing like I used to at the range it still was not going very far. I've been fighting a stubborn bug the past few weeks. Sinus and chest congestion. Won't go away. I'm thinking maybe that has made me temporarily weaker. At least I hope thats the case.
 
I am loving that G425 4 hybrid I added to the bag recently. 25' downhill tee shot over a left to right dogleg. wind 7mph left to right off the tee. Hit a big high fade over the corner, it ended up dead center of the fairway. GPS on the cart agreed with my watch. I hit it exactly 240, all carry but for one bounce. Seriously. I know it was downhill and wind aided, but I still find it unbelievable. Another shot was dead into the wind to try to get to a short par 5 in 2. I hit a snake raper 224 to the back of the green.
Another par 5 I found myself 118 out, with a pine tree exactly between me and the pin. Little 4 yd wide opening in front of the green, the rest of the green surrounded by thick rough. I hit a low slap cut punch, it cut a good 10 yards, hit the opening and bounded up onto the green about 20' from the pin. One of the hardest 3 finishing holes anywhere I play, #17 at Greystone, Quartering into and r to l wind. Hit a cut 4H to the edge of the pond. Then at 141, into the wind and uphill I added 2 clubs, hit a 7I safely up to the left side of the green, ( miss right and it rolls down into the pond) took my 2 putts and happily got the heck out of there.......
This 4H isnt going anywhere anytime soon. 9 wood might put out a contract on it. LOL
 
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One of those days. OB on the third and made a triple on an “easy” par 3. (Water left, OB right). Ended up shooting 80 with a double on 13. Ugh! I did have a chip in on 12 for a bird though. 7 fairways, 9 GIR, 31 putts. 41-39 80
 
I took a step forward towards accepting the decrease in distance during today's round. I have to admit, it was less stressful golf.

6,000 yards had been my cutoff for quite some time. Not that I haven't played longer and been ok with it, but for most of the last 13 years, that was the magic number. I've made the decision this year to play that distance only when I feel my game is in better shape and on courses that aren't busy.

The course I played today is 7134 yds from the tips. There are 5 sets of tees and I played the second to the shortest at 5402. The next set plays at around 6100 and in the past, I've shot decent scores from those tees. But my distances have diminished slightly the last couple of years, so I have to get out in front of this.

What made this harder (at first) was that I was behind a younger couple both playing from the 6,000 yard tees. Neither the husband nor the wife were long hitters. Neither of them were terrible golfers but they both hit a lot of low shots and I watched several not clear the water hazards. With how poorly I'm hitting clubs this early in the season, watching that carnage reaffirmed my decision.

The other part to this equation is club selection which I feel went well despite some 25mph wind gusts and the aforementioned water. I missed long on a couple approach shots but only came up short on a couple others due to mishits.

The irony is that I was hitting long off the tee today - much longer than yesterday. I suppose it had a little to do with firmer fairways.
 
CTRosarian said:
Being able to relax and just hit your shot may also help with distance.
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I forget about the ball and try to male a nice photogenic pose at the end. Makes for good timing and weight transfer. Nice high follow through as opposed to my Arnold hold when I am hurting a bit.
 
CTRosarian said:
Being able to relax and just hit your shot may also help with distance.
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1860VS said:
I forget about the ball and try to male a nice photogenic pose at the end. Makes for good timing and weight transfer. Nice high follow through as opposed to my Arnold hold when I am hurting a bit.
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Agree with both of these points.

While I was waiting for 2 groups on the 10 hole, I watched a couple of high school kids and an older gentleman on the range. The older guy who might have been around my age was putting everything he had into the swing. Meanwhile, the kids were swinging easy and smoothly.

I occurred to me that when I'm struggling, I hit shorter than normal (no #$@% Sherlock). When I'm not getting the distance I'm accustomed to, what do you think happens? That's right, I try to swing harder. What happens when I swing harder? I keep getting less distance.

I struggled a bit with my irons today - mostly getting thin, off-center contact. But watching those younger guys swing with so much control in stark contrast to the older guy trying to kill the ball kind of left an impression. I don't need more distance from my irons. I just need similar more control. Some people can play this game well by swinging hard. But I don't think that's me. When I got home I went out to the field to practice the clubs I struggle with the most. I focused on slowing down and letting my body sync better. Not trying to kill the ball doesn't come naturally and it'll take a lot of work. But yeah, I started hitting better shots, more often.
 
JonMA1 said:
.The irony is that I was hitting long off the tee today - much longer than yesterday. I suppose it had a little to do with firmer fairways.
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When you don’t need a long drive it sure is easier to relax and hit one!
 
A week from Monday, I get to play again. Stiches are out and it's healing nicely. Not that I'm counting the days.
 
JonMA1 said:
Agree with both of these points.

While I was waiting for 2 groups on the 10 hole, I watched a couple of high school kids and an older gentleman on the range. The older guy who might have been around my age was putting everything he had into the swing. Meanwhile, the kids were swinging easy and smoothly.

I occurred to me that when I'm struggling, I hit shorter than normal (no #$@% Sherlock). When I'm not getting the distance I'm accustomed to, what do you think happens? That's right, I try to swing harder. What happens when I swing harder? I keep getting less distance.

I struggled a bit with my irons today -
mostly getting thin, off-center contact. But watching those younger guys swing with so much control in stark contrast to the older guy trying to kill the ball kind of left an impression. I don't need more distance from my irons. I just need similar more control. Some people can play this game well by swinging hard. But I don't think that's me. When I got home I went out to the field to practice the clubs I struggle with the most. I focused on slowing down and letting my body sync better. Not trying to kill the ball doesn't come naturally and it'll take a lot of work. But yeah, I started hitting better shots, more often.
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The easiest way to gain distance is hit it somewhere around the sweet spot. And remember, swing fast not hard. Thinking loose and fast really does hit it harder.
 
1860VS said:
I forget about the ball and try to male a nice photogenic pose at the end. Makes for good timing and weight transfer. Nice high follow through as opposed to my Arnold hold when I am hurting a bit.
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My Son knows what Hole my Back starts hurting he says when he sees my "Walk Thru" finish like Gary Player. 😀
 
Oh, the muni, …. I think I have a love hate relationship with that place. I nearly holed out on the 7th, than missed a 3’ putt. Probably deserved that since I scalded a 5H, that never got above ankle high, and it rolled out the last 90 yards. Bogeys on 9, 10, 11, and 12. Then 3 putt bogey on 15. Birdie on 18. 9 fairways, 10 GIR, 31 putts, 37-39 76. (And my handicap index went up!)
 
One league starts tomorrow. I feel unprepared. Oh Well, its not a lack of effort, I'm just F'N old........
 
:ROFLMAO:
 
1860VS said:
One league starts tomorrow. I feel unprepared. Oh Well, its not a lack of effort, I'm just F'N old........
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I think we can all relate to that, some days more than others.
 
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