We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Time to get good

slimjim32

slimjim32

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
804
Reaction score
279
Location
San Diego
Handicap
3.0
It is time. I am going to be making a concerted effort to get as good as I can at this game. It will be hard and it will be humbling, but I know I have the necessary skills to be able to do this. I had one big goal for this year which was to become a single digit handicap, and I achieved it within the first two months of the year. Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to say that once you get to single digit or mid single digit it becomes even harder to go lower. So I thought single digit this year, working towards a 3 for next year and be able to try out for the Marine golf team.

Well I’m at a 3 now, so I have created a new goal to try and obtain. My reasoning for becoming a great player now, is I want to play in a local qualifier for the Farmer’s tournament. I also want to play and win the City of Portland Amateur Championship that my grandfather won many years ago. It would be awesome to have my name etched on the same trophy as him. So here's to putting forth the effort necessary to make this game easy...

As it sits now, I feel that I really need to focus on the dispersion on my full swing and my putting. @Alez367 may beg to differ on where to start, but even he can’t deny my putting is horrible. It is going to take some getting used to, going iron-iron from tee to green, or fairway wood-iron, but if that nets me better results than what I am seeing now....so be it. I'll try to check in here regularly to keep those updated that even care, and to keep myself accountable to actually working at this game.
 
Last edited:
Good luck in your quest and thanks for your service.

I’ve always been an all in guy and for me “all in” with golf would have been being a tour pro. At my best I played with a guy that was 49 and trying to get on the Senior Tour. He was better in every aspect of the game then me other than I could hit it slightly further. He wasn’t good enough to give that a real go so I knew I wasn’t good enough to be a tour pro.

You have more realistic goals than I had and it’ll be a pleasure to cheer on someone that has sacrificed for our country! Good luck to you sir!
 
Looking forward to following the journey @slimjim32
 
A good goal. Best of luck.
 
what is it about your putting is bad? have you ever had a putter fitting? or a putting lesson? what is your plan to improve your putting?
 
Smiter said:
Good luck in your quest and thanks for your service.
I’ve always been an all in guy and for me “all in” with golf would have been being a tour pro. At my best I played with a guy that was 49 and trying to get on the Senior Tour. He was better in every aspect of the game then me other than I could hit it slightly further. He wasn’t good enough to give that a real go so I knew I wasn’t good enough to be a tour pro.
You have more realistic goals than I had and it’ll be a pleasure to cheer on someone that has sacrificed for our country! Good luck to you sir!
Click to expand...

Thanks and it's my privilege.
I know it is going to be a tough quest to conquer and that the guys who do make it are on a completely different level than most. I am looking forward to the challenge it will present. Luckily there are a LOT of players in my area that are very near that level, so I am hopeful to link up with some of them. I have played with a guy who plays occasionally on the Latin America Tour. I've picked his brain a few times, and his thought process alone is on a whole different level.


Canadan said:
you don't get to be a sub 5 handicap as a bad putter haha!

I can't wait to see how it goes for you, buddy. Make sure it stays fun.
Click to expand...

You've never seen me putt....hahahahha. I just get lucky. A LOT.
 
That is a great goal to have @slimjim32. Good luck to you and I am looking forward to watching you achieve your goals!
 
McLovin said:
what is it about your putting is bad? have you ever had a putter fitting? or a putting lesson? what is your plan to improve your putting?
Click to expand...

Personally, I feel like I have no sense of speed. The putts that I deem makable, less than 15 feet, I leave short probably 95+% of the time. And while I usually make that second putt, every once in a while the push or pull comes in and then the awesome 3-putt occurs (while rare, still happens). The long putts are the same, just a higher percentage of 3-putt. Luckily I have done better of not putting myself in the predicament of longer putts. I know 15 feet is still a decent distance and I have seen the graphs associated with putt make percentage at different distances. However, I should be able to make more putts from that distance than I do. From that distance, leaving myself 3-4 feet is just unacceptable.

I had a putter fitting at Callaway earlier this year, which honestly left a little to be desired. It was just an adjustable putter they had and then putt a few balls with different putters. I'd like to take/make the time to go to a SAM site and see numbers associated with my stroke, I can only do/see so much with my BLAST Motion sensor. I have had a putting lesson, and the main thing we worked on were the long putts and trying to set myself up appropriately for my second putt. We started at about 4 feet and I made damn near every putt he put me at, but my problem is I rarely get myself in that circle of trust on the longer putts.

This is the kicker. I can spend countless time on the range and working on my wedges. But I can't STAND putting time in on a putting green working on that aspect of the game. After 10 minutes I'm bored out of my wits. I lose my focus and then start making bad strokes, realize I'm not helping myself whatsoever, and stop practicing. Even trying to put the time in at home with the Putt Out and a metal ruler is hard to keep my focus. Home is harder to practice mainly because I don't have a dedicated mat to use. So when I putt on the rug or carpet all I can think is this is doing nothing to help me with my speed. This is nowhere near the green speeds I play. So for starters my biggest plan to improve is to find a way to enjoy/want to work at putting (easier said than done).
 
Last edited:
The journey to good can be both invigorating and debilating at the same time. As you progress through this journey remember to focus on the positives and forget the negatives. Good luck on your journey.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
slimjim32 said:
This is the kicker. I can spend countless time on the range and working on my wedges. But I can't STAND putting time in on a putting green working on that aspect of the game. After 10 minutes I'm bored out of my wits. I lose my focus and then start making bad strokes, realize I'm not helping myself whatsoever, and stop practicing. Even trying to put the time in at home with the Putt Out and a metal ruler is hard to keep my focus. Home is harder to practice mainly because I don't have a dedicated mat to use. So when I putt on the rug or carpet all I can think is this is doing nothing to help me with my speed. This is nowhere near the green speeds I play. So for starters my biggest plan to improve is to find a way to enjoy/want to work at putting (easier said than done).
Click to expand...

Maybe you could talk to some of the guys you're competing against (or their coaches) & see how much time they spend practicing putting, just to get a sense of what you're up against. It might not be fun for you, but you might have to imagine that you're outworking the other guys.

Good luck - I hope you can win that tourney & get your name on the trophy alongside you Grandfather!
 
Dude I really do believe you have an awesome ability and attitude.you are a guy I can honestly say you can do anything if you put your mind to it.Looking forward to your future success!
 
That’s awesome buddy, it was great watching you smack that little ball far in Idaho. Good luck sir!
 
Hope you make your goals. I played with a guy years ago that had Monday qualified into the Nelson 3 times. He played from the tips at 7200 yards when I was playing at 6600. So shot a 67 and it looked like he hardly was trying and was never in trouble. It was pretty incredible. When I asked him why he didn’t try to be a tour pro he said he wasn’t even in the same ball park. It was pretty humbling.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Spent a good amount of time working the putter today. It’s actually all I did. As you can tell from the screen shots I’m very inconsistent with my putting stroke. While my average is right at what Blast considers “ideal”, the range I have leaves a lot to be desired. I would be a lot happier with my high and low being closer to my average than they are.

50 of these putts were about 6ft and then 30 were about 30ft. The remaining 20 were varying distances to different holes as well as follow up putts to my garbage attempts at the 30 footers.

F0FAEF9E-2201-49A6-BF74-6E18100BA914.pngCF023781-BFC4-4B57-8B8C-3503519DD416.pngBAFB227D-A225-4DD7-AEB8-C42F90ED2BFC.png1CE99F30-7EC3-4F20-9614-222EDC352251.png
 
Looking forward to following along as you meet your goals.

Hopefully, you can find something that will help make putting practice "fun". What do you do during your hours of chipping practice and can you translate it to the putting green?
 
All the best. Can't wait to see the progress.
 
If what you have doing so far was not serious I can’t wait to see what you are going to do now that you are actually going to try.

Can’t wait to follow along as you knock those goals off your list.
 
Some work last night under the lights. I’ve always thought I was hitting the ball hard left, or hard right, but turns out I just have a REALLY bad idea of where I am aimed. So when I think I have not hit it straight I actually have, or when I think I hit a hard pull it is just a slight draw.

I have to figure out what shot shape I want, or just comes natural to me. From last night I would have to say that a cut is my natural shot shape. I’ll be working on that this afternoon for a while.

As for putting, a big negative that was throwing my stroke off was I was standing too far away from the ball. I moved closer and felt SSSSOOOO much better with my stroke and contact. It will be nice to see that continue when I roll the rock later today.498AD951-7CBE-4FB9-8A7F-C5AEFF91E41D.jpeg
View attachment trim.087AD5E9-5115-4A80-9885-77A27011E0D6.MOV
View attachment trim.E4D6558F-D4B2-44D8-BA7D-FAA84029931A.MOV
 
Good luck reaching your goals and my best advice is keep it fun! I played to a +3 at my best 30+ years ago and my immaturity and attitude made it not fun for me when I was playing my best.
 
Great swing - no doubt you'll keep dropping your handicap.
 
So sounds like we need a bet for golf on Saturday? Torrey South is going to be fun
 
Did some work today trying to figure out what feels natural to me, shot shape wise. If I can figure that out and dial it in, LOOK. OUT.

Just couldn’t find my swing on the range it seemed like, so stopped before I did any damage. Jumped on the course to try cuts and draws to find out what felt better. Well this time around, the draw felt better. Better contact, more flush...now granted this was only 4 holes and a total of about 8 shots, but the draw just worked better for me out there. Will continue to work it and find out.

52FE7458-B818-4FC2-83F3-73BB9DE54D96.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top