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2011 Golf Lessons - My Journey

McRock said:
I love reading about these lessons OG. They just inspire me to go out there and practice smarter and harder. That bunker lesson is something that most golfers will probably never learn. I hope my course puts in the practice bunker next to the range so I can practice FW and greenside bunker shots.

Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to here about your on-course lesson.
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Thanks Rock. It took me several years before my first set of lessons and I regret not doing it back then. I suppose you could call me hard headed as I picked up most sports and played them with decent skills. I found that golf is something that for most folks is not a natural sport. The ones that are born with serious golfing skills are in the minority. I am still amazed at Bubba Watson who has never had a formal lesson. Good luck with your progress and it sounds like you got the desire to make it happen!

Sean said:
Great stuff Gray! It sounds like it's going really well. By the way, did you get to keep the dollar?
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haha now that would have been funny. He actually drew a little square around the ball the size of a dollar and I had to take that portion of sand out with my shot. It was a very good lesson today with three fundamental golf swings covered. I enjoyed it.
 
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Ole Gray said:
I had my lesson today and the fairway bunker session went like this. He had me get in the bunker, settle/dig my feet in for a good foundation ( which also lowers your body closer to the ball), place the ball just a bit back past center, choke down on the grip a bit and swing hitting the ball first. He put emphasis on keeping the lower half of the body quite while keeping more weight on the front side (left side) for righties and making ball contact first and complete my swing. I hit a few beauties out and a coupe of wantabes. He also said the tour courses are much different from the bunker we practiced out of. He said they would be mad if the fairways bunkers were fluffy like the one I was hitting out of. It served as a green side practice bunker and also fairway bunker trap where you could hit balls back into the range. The pros prefer more of a packed texture where the ball rolls in and the lie is good/tight. Most of the time on the tour courses the ball in the fw bunkers will be sitting up unless they plow one into the side of the fw bunker.

The sand trap lesson around the practice green was pretty much what I had heard in the past but having him walk me through it was good. On the greenside bunker shots he had me line my body up left of the target with the clubface pointing towards my target. He drew a dollar bill around my ball and said swing through the dollar bill and the sand will throw the ball on the green. Ok so take the club more upright and then swing through the sand with some force. A couple of times I would hit it fat and he said that was from simply decelerating and chopping throught or at the ball. You got to complete the swing and trust the sand is going to do it's job. I also found it looks and feels funny to lay the blade open so the bounce or sole of the club will explode the sand up carring the ball out. If you square the club face up, more of the leading edge will dig into the sand and not allow the bounce to assist you with lifting the sand then ball out. It's a work in progress and I will have a refesher lesson on this shot prior to the outing next month.

We also worked on those pesky little 50 - 60 yard little approach shots that are my in between distances. He simply had me hit my sandwedge using a 3/4 swing and stay in my rhythm. I tend to chunk the ball from those distances trying to help them up with quick acceleration at the ball. He told me it's a smooth 3/4 back and smooth swing through that gets the job done. He had me practice with my sand wedge, gap wedge, and pitching wedges from my quirky distances to see how a longer follow through could creat more distance. MY THOUGHT ON THIS LESSON IS TO KEEP IT SMOOTH WITH THE SAME TEMPO THE ENTIRE SHOT.

My last lesson in this set is an on course lesson where myself and my coach play nine holes. He evaluates my progress and notes the weak spots to put on my next set of lessons. I am going to stay with it until my goal is reached. Consistent ball striking in all phases of my game.
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OG I like that you are so into your lessons. Sharing with us just engrains the lessons into your sub-conscience! Plus is gives us all a
Little lesson without being there. Those 50-100 shots will save you tons of shots over the years. Keep
It up and keep having fun with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tadashi70 said:
OG I like that you are so into your lessons. Sharing with us just engrains the lessons into your sub-conscience! Plus is gives us all a Little lesson without being there. Those 50-100 shots will save you tons of shots over the years. Keep It up and keep having fun with it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Tadashi -- You are so correct about the short game and those yardages (50 - 100) are where many strokes are thrown away.
 
Great writeup! Nice hearing about your progess. I'm sure you will reach all of your goals with the work you are putting into it. Good luck as you continue on!
 
I am really excited about my progress. I am making more birdies( 5 in last two rounds) now and shooting some good numbers. There will be one more tune up lesson prior to our THP outing week after next in West Palm Beach. Not bragging mind ya but my current handicap (14) is the best darn 14 capper I have ever been :thumb:.
 
Ole Gray said:
I am really excited about my progress. I am making more birdies( 5 in last two rounds) now and shooting some good numbers. There will be one more tune up lesson prior to our THP outing week after next in West Palm Beach. Not bragging mind ya but my current handicap (14) is the best darn 14 capper I have ever been :thumb:.
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I love it! OG is tuned up and ready to lay a beat down on the Bear Trap!
 
That's fantastic OG! 5 birdies is a lot of birdies in two rounds, at least for me. Keep up the great work! Don't forget to let us know about your final tune-up lesson.
 
Ole Gray said:
I am really excited about my progress. I am making more birdies( 5 in last two rounds) now and shooting some good numbers. There will be one more tune up lesson prior to our THP outing week after next in West Palm Beach. Not bragging mind ya but my current handicap (14) is the best darn 14 capper I have ever been :thumb:.
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That is awesome OG! Glad you are on my team Saturday. Between you and Rbelbin, I should be able to just ride around, and enjoy the scenery!!!
 
Yep, Ole Gray is kicking my butt these days for sure. He shot a 37 on 9 holes yesterday. He is hitting the ball GREAT!
 
KellyBo said:
Yep, Ole Gray is kicking my butt these days for sure. He shot a 37 on 9 holes yesterday. He is hitting the ball GREAT!
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37! That is AWESOME!
 
I just called for a lesson with my golf coach prior to our club championship this weekend. This is the last of a four lesson pack and I just need some tweaks on what to focus my practice time on prior to the Club Championship. I know for sure I will be putting an hour or so time in just chipping from 20 yds in. I want to focus with working on the hinge and hold, keeping my hands from flipping on the short stuff around the greens.
 
Yesterday I played in the par 3 tournament we have each year prior to the club championship! I finished tied for third place and had to go into a sudden death playoff. I hit the ball solid with no fear and was so proud of myself. My opponent was solid and not going to fold however my determination and no fear attitude kept me in in for four holes. On the fourth hole my opponent pushed his shot right of the hole. I hit a beautiful shot on the green but on the bottom tier He chipped up to within 8 ft. My putt up the tier was not easy and the green was rolling slow which could have caused me to come up a good bit short. Instead I focused on the hole and firmed it up to a couple of feet. He missed his putt and I tapped mine in for the win. I was so proud of myself for not folding under pressure and staying focused during the playoff! I hope this experience will help me during the club championship this week.
 
Great going OG! That's an amazing result which should give you confidence this weekend. Best of luck!

Enjoying this thread immensely. I've been struggling a bit this year with consistency and this thread, amongst others, has convinced me I need to just bite the bullet and go through a series of lessons and just dedicate myself to learning. After my club championship this week, of course.
 
Well done OleGray !!
Show up as BOO and they will all fold and the Club Campion is YOURS ! :D
 
the_paulo said:
Great going OG! That's an amazing result which should give you confidence this weekend. Best of luck!

Enjoying this thread immensely. I've been struggling a bit this year with consistency and this thread, amongst others, has convinced me I need to just bite the bullet and go through a series of lessons and just dedicate myself to learning. After my club championship this week, of course.
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I have one more lesson in my series of four and I was hoping my pro would call me in yesterday or today. Right now I am not sure if I need to mess with any swing thoughts and the one key lesson he helped me most with is pulling me through this week and working. Tonight we have a shootout where all players in your flight tee off and you keep going until the last man is standing. The low player automatically moves on and any ties have a chip or putt off to determine who moves to the the next hole. It's a ton of fun. So far this week my luck has been awesome. Won two man scramble Wednesday evening, won third place in par 3 tournament, and now tonight the shootout. Big weekend ahead!

Good luck with your Club Championship and I will be sending good vibes your way!!!
 
Great stuff OG! I have really enjoyed keeping up with your progress
 
If the last lesson is supposed to be like he told me on the front end, it will be a playing lesson of 3 or 4 holes, I say go for it as course management will probably be a big part of it. It sounds like the swing is clicking and just stragedy and small tweeks are all this lessons would be, just the thing to put you in a parking place for the next year. Congrats on the playoff victory, YOU DA MAN!!!!!
 
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Ole Gray said:
I have one more lesson in my series of four and I was hoping my pro would call me in yesterday or today. Right now I am not sure if I need to mess with any swing thoughts and the one key lesson he helped me most with is pulling me through this week and working. Tonight we have a shootout where all players in your flight tee off and you keep going until the last man is standing. The low player automatically moves on and any ties have a chip or putt off to determine who moves to the the next hole. It's a ton of fun. So far this week my luck has been awesome. Won two man scramble Wednesday evening, won third place in par 3 tournament, and now tonight the shootout. Big weekend ahead!

Good luck with your Club Championship and I will be sending good vibes your way!!!
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That sounds like a lot of fun. You've got some momentum on your side too, just keep swinging and I'd be backing you to take 'em out!

Thanks for the vibes, I'll be using them!
 
I have no doubt the par 3 tournament playoff will be beneficial to you in the championship. Surviving four par3s in a sudden death playoff takes some real mental strength. Congratulations on winning the playoff!
 
Congrats on the Par 3 OG.

Practice the hell out of that hinge and hold around the greens and keep that bunker game sharp. Hit em good!
 
SprayTech said:
Well done OleGray !!
Show up as BOO and they will all fold and the Club Campion is YOURS ! :D
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This is funny because I played today with my "Boo Weekly" shirt on and shot a good round of 78. My playing partners said I should wear it on Sunday :D
 
Ole Gray said:
This is funny because I played today with my "Boo Weekly" shirt on and shot a good round of 78. My playing partners said I should wear it on Sunday :D
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Awesome round OG! If I could control my score by what I wear, that would be awesome!! LOL
 
MarcH said:
Congrats on the Par 3 OG.

Practice the hell out of that hinge and hold around the greens and keep that bunker game sharp. Hit em good!
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Thanks Marc and I went out yesterday and worked for an hour on that part of my game. It kept me in the par 3 tournament as my GIR's were by no means perfect however I was scoring ok with no big numbers.

p.s. I hit one in the green side bunker on #17 today. Popped that sucker out like new money :D. That lesson you gave me helped me shoot a very respectable 78 today.
 
78...nice!!
 
Ole Gray said:
Thanks Marc and I went out yesterday and worked for an hour on that part of my game. It kept me in the par 3 tournament as my GIR's were by no means perfect however I was scoring ok with no big numbers.

p.s. I hit one in the green side bunker on #17 today. Popped that sucker out like new money :D. That lesson you gave me helped me shoot a very respectable 78 today.
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Nice round my friend, and nice bunker shot on 17, that can be one tough hombre when you are out of position. Go get that parking space. :golf:
 
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