Good to know the lessons are paying off! Keep up the good work!
Trying to Break 100
Ghost21
Active member
Played my first round in 5 months last week and managed a 94. Probably the best I've played tee to green in years, but the chipping and putting was very rusty which is to be expected.
Sounds like a great first round of the year!!! Having fun is the most important, good luck to a great year of golf for you.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Jeff, this is great to hear!! We'll need to get together for a round or three this year.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Five pars is nothing to sneeze at!! Sounds like you've found a good groove for the ball contact. Never worry, the shots will go where you want them to soon enough.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Well done!! Channeling Justin Rose!! Sorta. Lol.
Edit: Rose from yesterday, not today as it stands.
Last edited:
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
So, brother dropped off his Cobra Fly-Z 5-7 wood, and 3-4 wood last night. Have rounds scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday. I'm definitely bagging the 5-7, set to 17 degrees, to go with the 21.5 degree 7-wood, and pulling my current FW. We shall see how it goes. Tomorrow is a pretty flat course, not terribly difficult, and Sunday is a much hillier one, a good bit more difficult.
Tomorrow I'm playing with a good friend whose game had gone to pot. He was a pretty consistent mid-80's guy, but took a year off because his game started to go south fast. I'm going to try to help him if I can, but, like most of my friends, he won't listen to me, lol.
Sunday is a good friend who has always been, well, ungood. However this year, he's shown marked improvement. He bought a copy of Hogan's 5 rules, and is following it. I really hope he continues to get better. He's one of those guys who loves the game, but just stunk at it.
Tomorrow I'm playing with a good friend whose game had gone to pot. He was a pretty consistent mid-80's guy, but took a year off because his game started to go south fast. I'm going to try to help him if I can, but, like most of my friends, he won't listen to me, lol.
Sunday is a good friend who has always been, well, ungood. However this year, he's shown marked improvement. He bought a copy of Hogan's 5 rules, and is following it. I really hope he continues to get better. He's one of those guys who loves the game, but just stunk at it.
bobellis75
Well-known member
Just stopping by to see some progress by you duffers.....Hamfist - two rounds scheduled? Jealous.
The last time I was here I think I was having a mental meltdown. I'm still not sure I'm out of that yet. I have take a long step back and assessing a few things.
1. How good do I really need to be to enjoy golf? Not that good, really. I would like to shoot mid 90's. That's happiness for me.
2. How good can I expect to be when I take a long layoff from golf - I guess not very good at all, given my message board meltdown.
3. How much do I need to mess with what's in my bag?
The takeaways - I'm not far removed from consistently shooting mid to upper 90's. I'm not sure what's gone wrong with my swing, but I got there once, it's achievable again. If I can get back to that...and not just being a total embarassment...then I'm back where I want to be and can ideally enjoy this game for a long time to come.
I took a long layoff - and I need to get back out to the range and just keep swinging. I am not sure what happened, but the last session was brutal on every front. Even chipping. (well...putts were good). Practice in my case doesn't make perfect....but it helps a whole damn lot.
I think to the question on what's in the bag....I got caught up in the "this will probably make me better". It won't. Not really. It's the swing. Now...some equipment certainly FITS you better. The cobra one-lengths I got from Hamfist for example. Never hit irons better. But here's the thing with me...my biggest thing...I'm a creature of habit and analysis and overthinking.
So I'm going all the way back with driver to my old TM R9. I was smashing that club (well...I dunno about smashing...but I could hit it fairly straight and for solid distance). It works for me.
I have a great 7W.
I have irons I like
I have a decent set and a cheap-o set of wedges, both of which I can hit fairly well.
I can putt (usually).
I'm getting back to basics on equipment, on mindset, on what it means to enjoy the game and what level of "being good" Im' happy with. I'm never gonna shoot 80. But if I can shoot 90-100....I can have some fun.
The last time I was here I think I was having a mental meltdown. I'm still not sure I'm out of that yet. I have take a long step back and assessing a few things.
1. How good do I really need to be to enjoy golf? Not that good, really. I would like to shoot mid 90's. That's happiness for me.
2. How good can I expect to be when I take a long layoff from golf - I guess not very good at all, given my message board meltdown.
3. How much do I need to mess with what's in my bag?
The takeaways - I'm not far removed from consistently shooting mid to upper 90's. I'm not sure what's gone wrong with my swing, but I got there once, it's achievable again. If I can get back to that...and not just being a total embarassment...then I'm back where I want to be and can ideally enjoy this game for a long time to come.
I took a long layoff - and I need to get back out to the range and just keep swinging. I am not sure what happened, but the last session was brutal on every front. Even chipping. (well...putts were good). Practice in my case doesn't make perfect....but it helps a whole damn lot.
I think to the question on what's in the bag....I got caught up in the "this will probably make me better". It won't. Not really. It's the swing. Now...some equipment certainly FITS you better. The cobra one-lengths I got from Hamfist for example. Never hit irons better. But here's the thing with me...my biggest thing...I'm a creature of habit and analysis and overthinking.
So I'm going all the way back with driver to my old TM R9. I was smashing that club (well...I dunno about smashing...but I could hit it fairly straight and for solid distance). It works for me.
I have a great 7W.
I have irons I like
I have a decent set and a cheap-o set of wedges, both of which I can hit fairly well.
I can putt (usually).
I'm getting back to basics on equipment, on mindset, on what it means to enjoy the game and what level of "being good" Im' happy with. I'm never gonna shoot 80. But if I can shoot 90-100....I can have some fun.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
First things first. Dump that scorecard!! You will be shocked, shocked I tell you!! at how much more fun you have just hitting a ball without consequence. It frees you up to try fun new things, to revel in a decent shot, and to simply shrug off bad ones.
Let's be honest with each other. I know pretty much how good I am, and have a decent idea of how good I'm probably going to get. I think you are probably as self-aware as I, and know where you are going to be, practice or not. Accept it, and play for the joy of a well struck shot, however infrequent they may be. Enjoy the sun, enjoy the company, and drink an ass-load of booze.
Your Rx for happiness, right there.
Maybe Doctor Uncle Hammy can make a trek to Mo-ssouri for an in-person consultation.
bobellis75
Well-known member
Bring it on...I'll feed you some good KC BBQ, get you some good local beer, and we can play some mediocre to terrible golf.
Yeah some of the most fun I've had in the last couple years was honestly going out in a foursome and playing 2v2 best ball. You get to hit a shot, and if it sucks, your partner probably hit a better one and you can enjoy that.
Part of me wants to just become Ty Webb and not keep score....so when someone asks me how I measure myself against other golfers, I can say, "by height."
ntanygd760
Well-known member
Confirmed Hamfist sighting today. Going to go out on a limb and say he broke 100
First full 18 hole round since we can submit handicap scores. Overall it was a rough round; multiple OB/lost balls, way too many 3-putts, and a mini case of the shanks mid round. However through all of that I hit a 52/52 for 104.
I am stoked for this summer. If I can have an absolutely crap round and still come close to 100, a good to great round will carry personal best scores.
I am stoked for this summer. If I can have an absolutely crap round and still come close to 100, a good to great round will carry personal best scores.
Spent 2h on the range yesterday, and got out today as well. Whacked a bucket off the range, struck the ball well.
Felt brave since i was almost alone at the club in questionable weather, and decided to take the chance to play a couple of holes while I'm not getting in anybodys way
Played a conservative first ball with 5w max off the tees, and some more to explore my options.
What can i say. Big mixed bag. Got a lot of mileage out of the 9 holes i played, that's certain.
* Was actually UP 3 balls through 4 holes. Proceeded to wash them down at a Par 3 with water short. 1 fat, dunked. 1 flush, through the green. 1 Club down for practice, waste 3 more balls unable to hit it properly
* Trees may be mostly air, but there's still tree in there. 5 out of 5 for going sideways or backwards for picking a fight with the trees i found myself close to. Punched out on two more occasions.
* Bunkers, yikes. No rakes allowed yet (multiple people touching stuff is a nono), so no bunker practice so far. Found 3 bunkers, took 5 shots in them
* Aerated, sanded greens are SLOW. Left things short, break almost nonexistant
Mission achieved. Had a blast and learned of a lot of nasty places to avoid in the future. Didn't take all that many shots on the first ball, either.
Feeling confident i can get my game in decent shape with 20 more days until May
Felt brave since i was almost alone at the club in questionable weather, and decided to take the chance to play a couple of holes while I'm not getting in anybodys way
Played a conservative first ball with 5w max off the tees, and some more to explore my options.
What can i say. Big mixed bag. Got a lot of mileage out of the 9 holes i played, that's certain.
* Was actually UP 3 balls through 4 holes. Proceeded to wash them down at a Par 3 with water short. 1 fat, dunked. 1 flush, through the green. 1 Club down for practice, waste 3 more balls unable to hit it properly
* Trees may be mostly air, but there's still tree in there. 5 out of 5 for going sideways or backwards for picking a fight with the trees i found myself close to. Punched out on two more occasions.
* Bunkers, yikes. No rakes allowed yet (multiple people touching stuff is a nono), so no bunker practice so far. Found 3 bunkers, took 5 shots in them
* Aerated, sanded greens are SLOW. Left things short, break almost nonexistant
Mission achieved. Had a blast and learned of a lot of nasty places to avoid in the future. Didn't take all that many shots on the first ball, either.
Feeling confident i can get my game in decent shape with 20 more days until May
I walked my home course this morning and shot a 55/45 solo practice round from mixed tees and no flags up (course isn't officially open yet).
The first time through the course was more of the struggle I've had in hitting irons and hybrids cleanly and/or online. Putting and the short game were fine. I did hit a couple drives OOB but this course is pretty tight with my lack of control with that club. Overall, it was still a day of above average driver control.
The second time through the course, all parts of the game started to click. Nothing spectacular - just solid golf. I had one blow up par 5 where I carded a 9, but was able to shoot bogeys and pars on the other 8. Knowing where the hole locations were the second time through helped, but it was really the ability to just hit straight-ish shots..
Unfortunately, my distances are starting to come down across the bag. That's something I tried to consider today and with hole locations mostly in the back of the greens, pulling more club seemed to work out. I'm trying to build a game around the days when <200 yard drives are the rule not the exception. Those days might be closer than I'd hoped.
The first time through the course was more of the struggle I've had in hitting irons and hybrids cleanly and/or online. Putting and the short game were fine. I did hit a couple drives OOB but this course is pretty tight with my lack of control with that club. Overall, it was still a day of above average driver control.
The second time through the course, all parts of the game started to click. Nothing spectacular - just solid golf. I had one blow up par 5 where I carded a 9, but was able to shoot bogeys and pars on the other 8. Knowing where the hole locations were the second time through helped, but it was really the ability to just hit straight-ish shots..
Unfortunately, my distances are starting to come down across the bag. That's something I tried to consider today and with hole locations mostly in the back of the greens, pulling more club seemed to work out. I'm trying to build a game around the days when <200 yard drives are the rule not the exception. Those days might be closer than I'd hoped.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
If it’s by height, you win already. Also, I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t know if I’ll be allowed in the state. Now the local beer, I’m down like a clown. The darker the better.Bring it on...I'll feed you some good KC BBQ, get you some good local beer, and we can play some mediocre to terrible golf.
Yeah some of the most fun I've had in the last couple years was honestly going out in a foursome and playing 2v2 best ball. You get to hit a shot, and if it sucks, your partner probably hit a better one and you can enjoy that.
Part of me wants to just become Ty Webb and not keep score....so when someone asks me how I measure myself against other golfers, I can say, "by height."
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Since I only played nine, you are correct, sir!
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
That’s great to hear! Having fun is the only goal.Spent 2h on the range yesterday, and got out today as well. Whacked a bucket off the range, struck the ball well.
Felt brave since i was almost alone at the club in questionable weather, and decided to take the chance to play a couple of holes while I'm not getting in anybodys way
Played a conservative first ball with 5w max off the tees, and some more to explore my options.
What can i say. Big mixed bag. Got a lot of mileage out of the 9 holes i played, that's certain.
* Was actually UP 3 balls through 4 holes. Proceeded to wash them down at a Par 3 with water short. 1 fat, dunked. 1 flush, through the green. 1 Club down for practice, waste 3 more balls unable to hit it properly
* Trees may be mostly air, but there's still tree in there. 5 out of 5 for going sideways or backwards for picking a fight with the trees i found myself close to. Punched out on two more occasions.
* Bunkers, yikes. No rakes allowed yet (multiple people touching stuff is a nono), so no bunker practice so far. Found 3 bunkers, took 5 shots in them
* Aerated, sanded greens are SLOW. Left things short, break almost nonexistant
Mission achieved. Had a blast and learned of a lot of nasty places to avoid in the future. Didn't take all that many shots on the first ball, either.
Feeling confident i can get my game in decent shape with 20 more days until May
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Nice! Keep plugging away, it’ll come.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
Right on! Great job! Buy yourself a beer for me.
Hamfist
I promise not to murder Canadan.
So, the round today was really good. Well, the irons were really good, the putter was deadly, and the driver was “Ok”. Shot a “52” on the front. (I use quotations, for those who don’t know me, because my scoring system is pretty elastic.)
On the back it was better, but we forgot to keep score on 2 or 3 holes, so I’ll say it was a “46”. I was dropping darts with my set GW as my chipper/pitcher.
On the back it was better, but we forgot to keep score on 2 or 3 holes, so I’ll say it was a “46”. I was dropping darts with my set GW as my chipper/pitcher.
Congrats on a great round!!! Time to set a new goal of breaking 90.
Congrats! That first time feels so good, I’ll never forget mine.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Messages
- 90
- Reaction score
- 132
I have mixed feelings if I’m honest! I hit so many bad shots but I guess the score is the score! No pictures on the score card as they say!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Messages
- 90
- Reaction score
- 132
Thanks Snickerdog
For how I played to get that 98 I can see 90 going this year. I didn’t play well (a fair few 30 yard duffed 5irons for example) but no blow up holes. If i sort the consistency of ball striking I think I’ll see decent improvement in scores!
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