Latest Update

Played final comp of the year. Got another .1 back so finished the year of 12.6. Not the best of years after last year.

Work continues for next year.

Screenshots below are my swing in June and my swing last week..

As you can see I'm getting my hands much higher, above my shoulders, and the club is much steeper on the back swing.

Glen want's me taking the club up on a much steeper angle so it almost points inside the ball on the way back and then outside on the way down. Apparently that will stop me coming over the top. But all it's doing right now is making me come in steep and chopping the ball.

So at the moment everything is starting right and going right most of the time. So more work to do there.

However my short game is shit hot right now. Put a wedge in my hands from anywhere within 100 yards and I'm sticking it into 1 putt range. It's the only thing that is keeping my scores reasonable.

Last two Sundays shot 83 and 82 respectively. That's with driving the ball all over the place and my way wood irons. I think both Sundays I only hit about 16% GIR !!! But still put a score together.

Drove the ball better this Sunday when I reverted to my older, flatter driver swing. Hit every fairway on the back 9!!

So I'm going to get this swing working with my irons first, then try and transition my driver.

My last lesson was about 3 weeks ago now and I think I probably need another week on the range with this change before I go for another. My backswing is now looking much better, but I can't seem to get the club on the right plane on the downswing. So I think the next lesson will need to look at the transition.

Finally Happened

After fighting it for the past 3 months it finally happened.

Got that .1 back to take me to 12.5, playing off 13 now. Back where I started at the beginning of the year.

Scored a pitiful 27 points in the October Trophy a week back.

To be honest I'd decided not to play any more comps and start working on my swing for next year. I'd had a couple of lessons with Glen and made some changes, things felt OK, put in a good amount of practice in the week so I decided to play in the comp.

It was just shockingly bad.

Everything started right and carried on going right with a push slice. Good chipping and putting kept me in it for a bit but the inevitable happened and I just put too much pressure on my short game and started to miss a few putts.

So I'm now playing off 13.

There's another comp this weekend. Last one of the year and I'm going to play. Worst that can happen is I get another .1 back and am still playing off 13, best, I might put a round together and get myself cut back down to playing off 12.

Started the year playing off 13 (13.4) might finish the year off 13 as well. Bit depressing even though my exact is 0.9 lower.

I'll cover the recent changes in my next post so you can see what's going on.

100th Post

Couple of practice sessions this week just concentrating on keeping my legs quiet.

Help the Hero's Charity comp today at the club.

Team event. Shotgun start off the yellows. 4 players a team, best 2 stableford scores a hole score. But we only had 3 players which makes it a bit tough :-(

We put together a pretty good score of 80 considering we only had 3 players. I think the winning score was something like 91.

I played pretty good. I was the lowest hcp in the team off 12. The other two were off 24 and 28 and we dovetailed our score pretty well. I kept my score rolling along and when one of the other guys didn't score, the other did.

Individually I shot and 81 which is 2 under net, with two birdies on the drivable par 4 Th and the long par 3 Th. 17 was pleasing as it's a tough hole, even off the yellows. Still 175 yards !!!

Drove the ball OK. Had a few thinned iron shots, but in general they were ok. And again neat and tidy on and around the greens with no 3 putts.

So pretty pleased. Plenty of work still to do. But feel it's going in the right direction.

Bit of practice this week and I might play the comp next Saturday if I can get a pass from the girlfriend. If not then it's be a round with Dave on Sunday.

Bit of Practice and a Round

Hadn't had much time to practice the new change to keep my feet planted on the floor this week. Managed to get up the range Friday afternoon for 45 mins and hit 50 balls, just focussing on keeping my feet firmly planted to the floor in my back swing and maintaining my knee angle.

It still feels a bit odd as it restricts my backswing and feels like I get no turn, but I know there is more turn there than I can feel.

Started just hitting a few wedges then started to jump around the clubs to see how the change feels.

My shot shape seems to have changed, my bad ones are all going left now. I'm either drawing it, or the bad on is a pull.

Played Sunday and hit 25 on the range beforehand to warm up. All of a sudden my old shot shape is back, fade, or slice. But I'm still keeping my feet down. Odd.

During the round the only swing though I had was keeping my legs in control. tbh, I didn't strike the ball that well. Sliced a lot of drives and irons.

Thank got my scrambling and short game was spot on.

Had a pretty good front 9 up until the 8th. Was only 1 over gross. Hit straight drive right up the middle. 8i into the green and pulled it slightly, hit the side of the bank next to the green and shot sideways like a bullet into some knee high rough. Searched but couldn't find it. Took stroke and distance and ended up with a 7 (triple Bogey). Bogeyed the last and ended up 5 over gross 40, 1 under nett.

Back 9 was a horror show. With a 10 and an 8 on my card I came back in 50 for a 90. Just a combination of 2-3 bad shots that I got heavily punished for and my short game wasn't quite as sharp.

tbh, after the score started to leak away I don't think I concentrated as much around the greens and that probably cost me 3-4 shots.

I managed to just focus on the change during the round and not let other swing thoughts come in. I suppose it's not a bad round with a new change after probably hitting less that 100 balls with it.

I'll probably try and get a couple more range sessions in this week to try and bed it in, then go back and see Glen maybe next week to work out what to work on next.

New Coach

Made the change covered in a previous post.

Bumped into Glen up the range on Monday and had a good chat with him about what was going on and what we could do and got a good feeling that we could work together.

It's a shame as I liked working with Bryan, but it's just to much of a problem getting to see him given the distance and diaries.

I had my first lesson with Glen today with him and went really well.

Went though a bit of my golfing background and what I was looking to do. Then done the usual video swing anaylsis. Usual stuff for a first lesson.

He confirmed my setup was pretty good. Good grip, posture, ball postion  etc.

He then started to look at the swing and spotted something he had never seen before in 20 years of coaching.

What I'm doing is as soon as I take the club away both my heals come off the floor and I'm on my toes, this continues and my right leg straightens, which allows my hips to turn to far back and also allows me to rotate my upper body too far. In my backswing I develop a huge turn, but no real resistance between my upper and lower body.

We worked on keeping my feet planted and keeping flex in my right leg. Now when I take the club away I can really feel the resistance beetween my upper and lower body. It feels like I get no turn at all, but I am getting a full 90 degrees.

After a few swings, although it felt odd, Glen got me just shiifting my weight right in my backswing slightly, so I was turned behind the ball as well.

From a shot point of view everything was pretty much down the middle with a touch of draw. Ball flight was a bit lower than usuall as well. Very Nice.

I'm going to just practice this and nothing else until I've got this embedded before I change anything else. hopefully a couple of weeks will do it.

Next Year - Planning Already Started

As mentioned in the last post my attention has already turned to next year.

This year hasn't really panned out the way I envisaged.

I need to learn from this year. Over the winter I'm going to have more lessons but not change so much in as short a space of time. Wait for the changes to bed in before I change something else.

I've also been thinking about the coaching situation. I should have probably had more lessons through the summer with Bryan rather than wait for things to start going wrong. But the problem is as he's 30 mins away, getting to see him can be tough and he has quite a full diary, as do I. So it's hard to get a lesson in when I really want one.

I don't really want to go back to Keith as I had similar problems, Keith doesn't teach everyday, so it's hard to get a lesson when I want. But my club's facilites are close by and some of the best in the area.

I don't really want to swap from Bryan as I really like him as a coach (and he's Tom Lewis's Dad :-) ),  but he's just that little bit too far away.

I'm thinking about giving Glen at go at Chesfield, he's one of the other pro's up there. I chat to him quite a bit and we get on pretty well so I might book a lesson and see how it goes. If it's ok I'll book up a course of lessons and see what we can acheive over the winter.

5 Days Running

Got back from a week in Turkey sitting by the pool and managed to play 5 days running when I got back.

Mixture of mainly bad, but put together an 80 on Saturday morning over at Whitehills.

Started Birdy, Bogey, Birdy, Par. Then OB'd the 5th and double bogeyed. Still finished the front on 38 shots, 2 over gross. Solid back 9 as well, double bogey on the par 3 11th, and 3 putt the last 2 greens for an 80. Best I've played in ages. Just seemed so easy.

Played yesteday at Chesfield and I was truly shocking again. Shot 94. Drove ok. But everything else was off. No real big scores apart from 16 when I took and 8 on a par 5. Just bogey after bogey and only a couple of pars.

I'm probably only going to play 1 more comp this year, last comp of the season at the end of Oct. We have 2 comps this and next Saturday and I'm probably going to skip them and call this year a bust.

I guess planning starts for next year now.

News just in

Comp results just posted. Somehow I managed to avoid a .1 to take me to 12.5.

CSS was 72 (Par is 71), and as 18 gets cut to a net double bogey I just about hit the buffer zone.

So I guess that's lucky.

How to Destroy a Round in 3 Easy Holes

I think the title says it all. Medal Comp today in dry but windy conditions.

Got off to a steady start. and was net level after 3. Dropped a shot on 4. Still 1 down after 5 then run off 4 par's to finish the front 9 2 under with a total of 40.

Solid back 9. Got myself to 3 under standing on 16th. Wind howling left to right and OOB all down the right and I have a habit of sticking it OOB here.

Not this time though. Started the teeshot way left and let the wind bring it back to the middle of the fairway.

Then my round went downhill rapidly.

16 is a long uphill par 5. So took out my favourite 3w to knock it up to about the 140-150 yard mark. Struck it well enough but it started to drift right, the wind hit it as well, but it looked to be safe. Got up top of the hill and couldn't see it. After a bit of a search i found it about sitting about 2 inches OOB. So a march back down the fairway to play another.

Hit this one ok. Thought I hit a good 5i at the green from 160 but the wind hit it hard and pushed it to the right of the green. Chip and 2 putts and I've got an 8.

Still 1 under at this point.

17th. long Par 3. 215 yards, Wind behind. Struck a good 5i but it just stayed right of the green. Easy 15 yard chip shot, well it should have been, but shanked it. i just don;t know how. Duffed second chip then 2 putts and I card a 5 and chucked another shot away.

Now Net Level Par.

18th. Par 4 SI 18. Right into the wind. Hit an ok drive but finds the bunker on the right leaving about 180.

The ball was far enough back in the bunker so decide to give it a go with the 5w. Probably a mistake given what happened on the last 2 holes, but I fancied it as the ball was sitting clean.

Caught the ball cleanly enough but push sliced it right, OOB. Argh. Reloaded. Tried again and just got enough of it to advance it 100 yards. 9i to the middle of the green. Then somehow managed to 4 putt. First putt was about 30 ft and hit the ground before the putt and left it 15ft short. Ran the next 3ft past then didn't really think about the next and just putted it in disgust and missed. Took a 9.

40 out, 49 back for a 89 net 77.

Just picked my ball out the hole and launched it onto the driving range.

Walked off in complete shock at what had happened. I didn't feel under any pressure. 1 Bad shot on 16. 1 Bad shot on 17 and 1 bad shot selection on 18. Amazing how quickly a round can go south.

Drove the ball pretty well all round. Didn't hit that many fairways, but was only just off most of the time.

Hit my irons really well. Chipped and putted well also.

Just 3 insane holes.

oh well. Got 2 weeks off now. Going to play tomorrow, maybe twice. Going to play Whitehills in the morning and maybe go play Chesfield in the afternoon if I feel like it.

Hit a few and 9 Holes

Gave the golf a rest for a few days after the club champs. Didn't pick up a club until Thursday when i went up the range and just hit a few balls to see what was going on.

In the main struck the ball ok.

Played 9 on Friday after work just to get some course time in. Played pretty steady. Shot 41 with a 7 on the par 5 5th after a good drive and good layup.

Highlight. Hit the pin on the par 3 9th with my tee shot and finished the 4 foot putt it left me for a nice Birdy finish. 140 Yards, Wind a bit from behind, hit an easy 9i to a front pin location. Started right and started to draw. Was still about 4 yards right and caught the bank which kicked it left a bit into the pin :-)

Comp on Sunday. Medal 7:44 start.

Might be able to get in 18 later today.

Club Champs Roundup

So Gary Wing won the Scratch and Nigel Jones won the Handicap.

We had an interesting discussion in the bar afterwards why we have a scratch and a handicap champ. The scratch champ being considered the 'Club Champ'. Surely the best net score should be the champ ?

Or why don't we have a champ for each Catagory of Golfer ?

Anyway. I'm neither so doesn't matter.

Well refecting back on the weekend I can't be too unhappy.

My driving on Saturday killed me. Yes I hit just about every bunker on the course over the two days, but on 3-4 occasions it took me more than one shot to get out. I recon I must have lost at least 6 shots due to not getting out first time.

Putted pretty well overall. I think 31 and 33 putts. I think only 1 or 2 3-putts. Missed a few short ones as well. One on the 18th on the last round which would have got me a little handicap cut to award my efforts.

Hot some great irons shots and some really good 3w,5w and hydrids.. Couple of bad wedge shots. But nothing major and in general my wedges from inside 100 were ok.

Around the greens I was pretty solid which pitches and chip and runs. All giving me good 1 putt changes and many leaving tap ins.

Not sure where I came overall. I know I finished 9th on Sundays score. But was 70th on Saturdays. Might find out later if I get time to go up the club..

Next Comp is a Medal on Sunday. Out early, 7:44, again.

I'm going to have to re-think my goals for this year as the qualifying comps are running out. I think 10 is going to be a stretch.

Club Champs Day 2

Much better.

Still hit a ton of sand and took a couple of shots to get out a few times but put a half decent score together.

Went out in 44, with a double on the 9th, AGAIN, from the same bunker. But came back in 39, should have been 38 but missed a3ft putt on the last for Par which would have got me a .2 cut.

83, So shot to my handicap, so can't be too unhappy about that after yesterday.

in reality I could (should) have shot a level par back 9. Bogeyed 10, 13 and 18.

10 I was just off the back of the green after 2 and about 10ft from the pin and missed a 4ft putt for par.

13 I was middle of the green for 2 and 3 putted, again missed a shortish putt for par. And the 3ft putt on 18.

So all in all pretty happy with the last round. Just a shame I couldn't have got a little cut out of this weekends exploits.

That round should shift me up the quite a way. Doubt it will get me any OOM points though. Top 20 would be nice, but a stretch.

Club Champs Day 1

Well that didn't go as planned.

Driving was absolutely dreadful. Loads of huge slices right.

Started badly. Took a triple bogey 7 on the 1st, and missed an 18 inch putt. Double bogeyed the 2nd after another teeshot right.

Then got a good par on the par 3 3rd.

lost a ball with a way right tee-shot on the 4th. But managed to get away with a double bogey 6.

Then strung a few holes together to get me back into it. Par, Birdy, Par, Par. Then Double bogeyed the par 3 9th. To go out in 42. So could have been better. Could also have been a lot worse !!!!

Back 9 started ok. Great drive down the 10th then shanked an easy 8i. Chip and a couple of putts and get away with a bogey.

Another double bogey on the 12 after hitting sand off the tee, then again on my approach shot to the green.

Then came the par 3 12th. This hole is going to stick in my memory for a long time. Hit an ok teeshot into the left hand bunker. Then flew the green into the bunker on the other side. No sand under the ball and the club just bounced into the ball. Then take 3 to get out. And carded a 7.

That's it my round was over. No coming back from that.

Bogeyed 13, double bogey 14 after having to hit balls from the tee after slicing my first two into the deep rough. But found them. So could have been even worse.

Par, Par then double,double. For a 48 back 9. 90 net 78. 7 shots over par and 13 shots off the lead when I left the club.

I think the thing that really pissed me off is that I really fought hard to get myself back into it and then just threw it away on the 12th.

My driving was probably the worse it's been in a long long time. Again after driving really well for the past couple of weeks.

Oh well. I'll be out early-ish tomorrow I guess with the other high scores. At least that will give me an afternoon to do other stuff.

This is why God Hates Golfers !!! He giveth and he taketh away.

Club Champs Prep is Complete

Just got back from playing 9.

Pretty happy with how I played.

Drove the ball really well. Hit my irons well, except the 7i into the par 3 3rd which I thinned a little and dumped into the water.

Chipping was ok, although didn't need to much as I hit the greens in reg quite a bit.

And putted ok. 1 stupid 3 putt.

So I'm about as ready as I can be for tomorrow.

Mentally I feel good and confident in my game. Which is half the battle won.

Club Champ Prep

Well didn't get to practice Tuesday. But got up the range yesterday and spent some time hitting irons and drivers.

Irons good as usual and quite pleased with how I was hitting my driver. Mainly starting straight but with a touch of draw.

Went to spend a bit of time on the putting green but it was packed, so I gave it a miss.

Went up again this afternoon. Spent some time just doing a few putting drills and some chipping. Putting seemed pretty good. Chipping was awful. I had to stop as I was loosing my temper with myself. So went and hit a few on the range.

Few Irons and some more drivers. Hit the ball ok but was really stiff. I think my muscles in my back from Tuesdays weights session have started to tighten up. So I'll stretch out a bit tomorrow.

9-12 holes practice tomorrow afternoon and maybe some range or pitching\putting depending on how the 9 holes go.

Then champs on Sat.

Club Champs Prep

So, this weekend, 3rd and 4th September is our club championships.

2 day, 2 round event. Go out in handicap order on day 1 and then score order on day 2 with the best scores going out last. just like a real tournament !!

Last year I was in 2nd after day 1 so went out late on day 2:-)

So prep for this year.

It's fair to say that this year hasn't really gone how I would have liked. I've struggled all year long with the driver and lateley the putter and consistency has been a big problem.

I've played some of my best golf and some of my worst.

So I've got a week to work on a few things to try and find a little something.

So the plan for the week.

Monday (yesterday) - 9-12 Holes practice - Complete
Tuesday (Today) - Chipping and Putting (If I have time and it doesn't rain)
Wednesday - Driver
Thursday - Irons and full Wedges. (plus maybe some putting and driving if I feel i need some extra)
Friday - 9-12 Holes and then some practice depending on the results of the 9 holes.

Yesterday, was good. Not a bad front 9, 1 undert my handicap and made a couple of silly mistakes that could have easily taken 2-3 extra shots off. Swing felt great, smooth and flowing. Even with the driver. Putting was ok, just ok. But better than it has been.

I need to do some stuff at home after work so might not have much time to practice. So I'll try and get 30 mins on the putting green. Just concentrating on technique more than anything.

For the weekend I want to get myself to the point where I'm not thinking about anything swing related when i'm playing. Maybe one swing thought at most.

I play my best golf when I don't think. odd to say, but it's true. I just see the shot I want to hit and then just hit the ball. The problem this year is I've changed so much I've had some many swing thoughts to deal with I've not been able to do that.

It feels like most of the stuff I've been working on is now bedding in. So time to let the reines off.

Played 12 Today

Had a bit of spare time this afternoon so went out for a few holes. Was going to try to fit in 18 but it was a bit slow, so just 12.

Steady I think describes it. New putting stroke is fine, driving ok to. Hit some lovely drives with a touch of draw.

Went out in 41 with a birdy on 7. Had a makable eagle putt but started the putt to far right and it never came back.

Gave myself a lot of good chances too. 4 Pars and a Birdy in 12 holes. But chucked in a couple of doubles as well.

Plus the bogeys should really have been pars.

So signs of improvement.

Completely Re-Vamped my Putting

Took a close hard look at my putting over the past few days and come to the conclusion that my technique needed sharpening up.

Watched some good todays golfer putting videos and incorporated those changes.

Grip - Have the back of my left hand pointing at the target. And the back of my right pointing in the opposite direction so my palms are facing each other. This helps keep the putter blade at right angles to the target line.

Arms - Moved them into my sides rather than hanging down. This locks them in so prevents the arms getting involved in the swing. So as you rock you're shoulders back and forth it's just that turn that swings the putter.


Also, by getting my arms into my sides it's got my eyes over the target line, so a much better aim.

Ball position - Moved it more forward towards my left foot. This gets the putter just hitting the ball as it rises so gets a better role.

And finally, changed the length of my stroke, at least on the shorter putts. Shorter takeaway which promotes a better follow through after the strike. This gets around any deceleration in the down-swing and gives a much better roll.

So not much changed then !!!

Tried all this on the putting green before yesterdays round for about 15 mins. Felt weird but much more consistent strike and much more confident on shorter putts.

Brocket Hall

Managed to get a half day yesterday and went and played Brocket Palmerstone course with 3 m8's.

Putted like an absolute prat. 4 3-putts !!! And wait for it, 2 4-putts. Ended up with 40 putts !!!!!!!!!

Greens weren't that fast at all, I just couldn't seem to hit the ball out the middle of the putter. Long putts were a mile short. Missed a ton of 3 footers. just when I thought I had turned the corner with my putter.

Rest of my game ?

Drove the ball well on the back 9, which we played first. Then my driving just deserted me for no reason, weas getting stuck on my back foot again and slicing everything off right and couldn't stop doing it. Ended up dropping to my 3w or a few holes.

irons were pretty good. Couple of stupid shots, but in general pretty good.

Wedges, really good still. Greens were receptive and was spinning them nicely.

So more work needed on the usual suspects still. Driver and Putter.

Will this ever end ?

Average

Praciced a bit last week. Mainly Irons and Driver. Bit of my new 5w and bit of chipping and putting.

didn't manage to get any rounds in until today's comp.

Stableford off full handicap.

Played ok. That's about it really.

Drove the ball ok. Didn't hit that many fairways, but didn't miss them by much.

Hit my irons ok.Hit a good amount of GIR.

Chipped ok. Probably didn't chip it close enough often enough really if anything.

Again, putted ok. Got the ball rolling at the hole and was striking the putts well. Just nothing dropped from beyond 6ft.

Couple of silly mistakes here and there which cost me a few shots.

Ended up shooting 32 points. So that's another .1 onto the handicap. Now 12.3.

Next comp in 2 weeks. Club championships on the 3rd & 4th Sept.

Interesting Round Today

Was a bit of a funny old round today. Mix of really good and really bad. Started really bad. 2 double bogeys.

Then pulled out some good holes to get out in 42. Started the back 9 well with a tap in par. Then stuck in a double bogey after a failed bunker escape. Then rolled off 5 straight pars. Then finished bogey, bogey. 18 should have been par but I duffed a 3 footer. So came back in 40 for an 82. 1 under handicap.

Pretty tidy back 9.

Changed my putting slightly after watching a today's golder putting tip. I rotated my left hand towards the left slightly so the back of my left hand was pointing towards the hole. This has the effect of straitening out the left arm and got me swinging much straighter.

The result. Only 28 putts !!

Pretty much most of my game is coming together now. Drove the ball ok, irons still good, pitching and chipping spot on and putted as well as I have for ages. Just a few silly mistakes cost me a sub-80 round today.

Bit of practice this week and a comp on Sunday. Might try to get out for a couple of 9's during the week as well.

Hertfordshire Again

Ducked out from work a bit early yesterday and went and played the Hertfordshire again. This time in half decent weather.

The course was in still great condition, although that couldn't be said for my game. A real mixed bag. I played some holes sublimely well. Had some a great eagle opportunity, numerous good birdy opportunities as well.

But also played some holes horrendously and lost quite a few balls as a result. Knocked up a 7 on the first after snap hooking my drive off the tee. Took a 10 on the 16th after loosing my drive and then my second ball.

But even after 9 I had only shot 41. And that's with the 7 at the par 4 1st and a ton of missed makable putts. I honestly believe on another day that could have been level par.

Then came back in 52 for a 93. Not 1 par or better. Lots of bogeys and worse.

Ah well. Signs of the good, but also some of the bad.

Not playing today. Might see if I can find some time to go to the range. Out again tomorrow morning for a knockabout.

Oh, One other thing

Just been watching a few of my swing vids and noticed that I'm actually on tip toes when I hot some shots. on both feet.

I know I have a habit of rotating my left foot post swing so my toes are pointing at the target. That probably explains why. I need to stay more grounded through the swing.

Something to work on next time I think.

What a difference a day makes.

Went up the range at lunchtime to see what was up after last night.

Didn't really change anything. Just checked the basics. Grip, Alignment, Posture etc and hit the ball pretty well.

Just trying to keep my takeaway long and wide, starting the turn with my body. then just turn through and try to keep my arms long on the swing through. And keep a steady tempo.

This is probably one of my best swings ever. or at least I've videoed.

Also hit a few drivers as well. At first I couldn't see where they hell they were going as I was just loosing the ball in the sky. But after a bit started to pick the line. Again much better than yesterday.

And finally my new 5w arrived. A TaylorMade R9 TP with a stiff shaft. tbh, I didn't hit it that well, I seemed to keep hitting behind the ball. So I need to spend a bit of time with that before I put it into play.

Lost it on the range last night

Mentally and actually.

Hit the ball absolutely awfully. Started warming up with a 7i planning to work on my driver and was hitting the 7i all over the place. Fat's, Thins, Shanks, Pull's, Slices everything but straight.

Everything felt out of sync.

I decided to hit a few drivers but either sliced or pull hooked them. Some I didn't even see where they went they were that bad.

I could feel the red mist descending. Had to step back a few times to calm myself down, but in the end it got the better of me. I just completely lost it. The last 15 balls I just tee'd up and smacked em. Not caring where they went. Grabbed my clubs shoved them in the bag and stormed off. Shoved them in the locker and headed to the car.

Bumped into the guy in the next bay on the way who kindly informed me I'd left my mobile sitting on the bay partition and he'd handed it in.

So almost lost that too !!

Going back at lunchtime today and see what's going on. If it's still bad then I think a trip to Bryan will be on the cards in the next few days.

Recent Changes - Putting and Driving

As we know my putting has been causing me a lot of issues recently and my driving has always been a bit iffy to say the least.

I've incorporated a couple of changes that seem to be helping.

Putting
I've speeded up my routine and stopped spending so much time over the the putt.

I basically spend my time reading the putt, getting the line and thinking about pace etc. The I just get over the ball and hit the putt. No practice swings etc. Just get in there and hit it.

This has stopped me thinking about my stroke so much which was getting me too mechanical. I'm know rolling the putts much cleaner now.

Driving
I've mainly changed my set-up.

This is my old set-up from a few months back.

Notice my hands and shaft angle. Hands forward, shaft upright, Shoulders level. Right foot out at a slight angle.

I'll get a new picture, but that right foot is now square. The shaft is tilted slightly back brining my hands more into the middle of my stance and I have a slight lean to the right.

This seems to be working well. Ball does seem to fly quite high, but is much straighter. It also seems to help me get through the ball much better.

Past Weekend

Comp on Saturday and a Knock around on Monday as I had a day off.

The comp went ok. We'll I say ok, I shot to my handicap, again. Which is good I guess.

Comp was the monthly medal and I was playing with a couple of 9 handicappers that were m8's and had a good laugh with them. All three of us played pretty solid which is unusual. Someone usually has a mare.

I shot 83 in the end. But was out in 39 which is 2 under my hcp, then let it go again on the back 9.

Bogeyed 10 after fatting a 90 yard wedge shot managed to save bogey with a good pitch and putt.

Doubled 11 after hitting monster drive, then dropping an easy 8i into the front left bunker. Didn't get the first one out. Second dropped to 4ft but missed the bogey putt.

Bogeyed 13 and 14 where I don't get shots. Again missing makable par putts.

Good Par on the tough SI 2 Par 3 15th. Middle of the fair, middle of the green, good try at birdy but had a tap in par. That got me back to 1 under my hcp.

Then the Par 5 16th. FFS. What is it with this hole. The fairway is a mile wide, but with OOB down the right. I guess you know what happened. OOB. 3 off the tee. Stuck the second in the fairway bunker, caught the lip on the way out and advanced it 15 yards. Few more shots later and I card a triple bogey 8.

Now 1 over.

Finished well which was pleasing. Pared the tough 215 par 3 17th. Hit a fantastic 4i to 15ft from the pin. But missed the birdy putt by a fraction. Easy Par. The parred the SI 18 Par 4 18th. Ok drive up the right. Cracking 5 iron from 179 into the wind onto the green. But a long way from the pin. Left the first putt about 8ft short then sunk the par put.

I should have easily finished 3 or 4 under for a nice little cut. Same as last week as well.

I feel I'm so close to hooking up a decent sub 80 round in a comp I can almost taste it.

I putted a lot better. Didn't really hole as many of the <10ft putts I should have, but cut out the 3 putts.

Also played 18 yesterday evening in really windy conditions. Posted an 89. 41 out which was really tidy, then just couldn't get anything going on the back 9 with only 1 par on the 18th. Just too many bogeys and doubles to score well.

The Hertfordshire

The HertfordShire

Played there yesterday afternoon in the pouring rain. It's part of the Crown Golf group which my home club is as well so i get to play for free.

I've been meaning to play there for a couple of years but never got round to it. What a mistake that was.

What a place !!!

The course puts Chesfield downs to shame. Some truly stunning holes.

It's only 6,300 off the Whites, but plays a lot longer. Lots of doglegs, ponds, lakes, ditches, OOB etc. So it's not a blast go find type of course like Chesfield.

It has a great stretch of finishing holes from 13 in. All either off elevated tee's looking down on a beutiful hole or over water.

It's hard to pick my favorite. 13 is up there. Of an elevated tee driving down into a slight dogleg left. Then a second shot uphill to a green on the right. It just looked stunning standing on the tee.

15th a short (135 Yard) par 3 off an elevated tee over a big pond. Was another fantastic looking hole. It's a bit of an optical illusion. Card said 135, sky caddie said 135. But it looked more like 160. I took an 8i as I didn't want to be short and flew the green !!!

18th, Scary hole. Par 3, 174 yards. Over Water, ALL THE WAY. Bunkers guard the front. OOB at the back. Trees up each side. Scary, Scary Hole. I hit a peach of a 4 Iron to the front of the green then went and 3 putted from about 20ft . ARGH.

Even though the rain was heavy at times the course played fantastically. I'd love to play this again when the sun is out. So i'm going to look at another oppotunity in a week or so. Can't wait.

How'd I play ?

Not too bad I guess. Shot 93. Drove the ball probably the best I have in a long time, probably mainly due to a modified setup. But again putting let me down. 36 putts with GASP, 4 3-putts. But I actually struck the putts much better, just never holed anything.

Irons and Wedges were OK.

Lost a few shots through not knowing the course and not knowing there was a ditch in play across the fairway a couple of times.

But hey. Don't Care. Really enjoyed the day.

It actually surprised me how I can enjoy myself and not play too good, when the course is as good as this.

Good Round, Could Do better

Out for the normal Sunday social round with Dave.

Bit of a mixed bag. Shot to my handicap which was pretty good. But it was one of those rounds that could have been sooooo much better.

I putted awfully. It included 4 3-putts. I couldn't sink any putt further away than 3 feet. Ended up with 35 putts. My putting stroke just felt all wrong for some reason, jerky and no smoothness.

Drove the ball ok, although didn't hit a lot of fairways in reg. I actually hit more greens in reg than fairways, which is an indication how well I'm hitting my irons.

Pitching and chipping, again all pretty sound.

Also, finished double bogey, bogey. And I don't get a shot on 18, so that's thrown two shots away there on my handicap.

But I can start to taste it again, my gain is starting to come round, I honestly think if I could hook it up there maybe a level par round in there somewhere in the not too distant future.

Swing Video

It's been a while since I posted a swing video.

Here's one from in the week. 7i.

I'm liking this one quite a bit, still not getting off my back foot enough, but I like the length and the plane of this swing.

Also, not loosing it too much at the top as well.

I'm trying to get quite a wide and straight back takeaway and a lift of the club upwards.

This is stopping the rounded flat swing which leads to me loosing the club at the top.

Weekend Over

Ok round on Sunday. Just a social game with my m8 Dave.

After the putting problems of the last few weeks I decided to focus a bit more on that during the round.

After a few holes I started to get a stroke that seemed to work better.

I had been taking the putter quite a way back to have a more flowing stroke. I think what that had done was cause me to decelerate into the ball, quit on the putt, and ultimately leave it short.

So I shortened the backstroke a bit, not too much, but tried to keep a flowing stroke through the ball.

That seems to have made a big difference. Distance control was pretty good. I was getting the ball upto, and past the hole, and as a result I started to hole a lot, lot, more putts.

I all honesty the greens at our place aren't that tough, not many major breaking putts, so not to hard to read. So distance becomes vital if you want to score.

I ended up taking 29 putts in the end. No 3 putts either. Which is around where I really should be for my handicap. I have been shooting a good 4-5 putts more on average a round.

The rest of my game ? Just about ok. Nothing special. Just threw a few too many double bogeys and a triple in there. Really need to be bogey at worse now.

Will probably play 18 tomorrow night in the mid-week medal. My m8 Dave has got 5 weeks off now so can play mid-week, so I'm going to try and fit a few more mid-week comps in.

You never know, with the extra qualifying rounds, I might be able to squeeze down to a 10 hcp.

Phil West Trophy - Major

Major comp today.

Played with Sam who I just pipped to the order of Merit last year and Colin who is a great laugh.

Didn't play too bad, all of us played pretty good really. I just let things slip on a couple of holes and never really sunk any putts, AGAIN !!!

20pts on the front 9 with 1 blob on the easy par 4 4th hole.

16 pts coming in. 1 Blobbed hole again on another way hole. Par 5 14th. And it was down wind for once, which makes it reachable in 2. Argh.

Also double bogeyed the par 3 17th after a fatted teeshot then an under hit pitch shot into the bunker.

And finally bogeyed the easy par 4 18th. Good drive, middle of the fairway. Pulled what should have been an easy 7i left. Great chip up to 4ft out the rough. Missed the put. AGAIN.

No kidding if I had sunk have the 4-6 footers I had I would have had 40+ points.

So I guess I know what to work on this week then !!!

But still a pretty solid round off my new handicap. So can't be unhappy with that. And I know where I need to improve.

Howdidido has me at 14th overall in the comp with 36 pts. Sam played a blinder and shot 41, for the win. Colin had a tidy round as well and score 37 pts for 9th spot. Thats great shooting from Sam who played off 2. Off 1 now !!

Out again tomorrow morning for a social round. So I'll work on my putting a bit.

The round that almost was

The other half was out last night so I didn't have to pick her up after work, so I got out a bit early and went out for 18.

Pretty darn tidy if I do say so myself. Couple of silly mistakes cost me a few shots here and there, but in the main pretty good.

Started off with 3 bogeys. But had makable par putts on all of them. Then strung 6 pars together, and had a couple of makable birdy putts as well. So out in 38.

Back 9 was just a bit scrappy. Picked up 3 pars, but also threw in 2 double bogeys. Mainly due to some poor drives that weren't present on the front 9.

And again, didn't really sink that many putts of any great length. 33 putts in the end, with the only 3 putt on the 18th. I'm still not being aggressive enough and not getting the ball to the hole. 

So, back in 44 for an 82. 1 under my new handicap. So I'm pleased about that and feel confident that I can actually play to my new handicap, and probably a bit better than it as well.

Not going to practice today but will probably either play 9 or practice tomorrow before Saturdays comp.

Weekend Comp

Only played once this weekend. Weather was awful here. Not as bad as at the open. But still, not great.

Played a stableford comp on Sunday morning. Virgin Atlantic Trophy.

Winner got to play in a second round comp with Neil who runs the Pro shop. Winner of that gets a trip to Vegas.

I played ok. Shot 87 and Scored 32 Points. 16\16 Front\Back 9 in really windy conditions and some rain showers.

Everything was just 'ok' there wasn't any part of my game that really stood out. Hit 50% of fairways. 17% or greens. 33 putts. 5 pars.  1 double and  1triple bogey.

tbh, putting could have been better. Didn't really sink enough 5-10ft putts.

Also made a mess of a couple of easy approach shots after a good drive. That probably cost me birdy or at worse easy par chances.

But hey. 87, I'd have been happy with that a few weeks back. 

But, 87 is outside my now 2 shot buffer zone playing of 12.1. So up to 12.2 now.

I have a feeling being in cat 2 now my handicap is going to be a lot of +0.1 with the occasion, I hope, cut.

Tom Lewis @ The Open

What a day for Tom. Leading the open on the first day as an amateur.

In case you didn't know Bryan, my coach, is his Dad. I'm absolutely delighted for them both and can't wait to see how this unfolds.

And, as an added bonus I stuck a couple of quid on him yesterday at 350/1.

Cmon Tom.

Gave it a rest

Decided to give it a rest yesterday.

No play, no practice. Just some watching.

Taped the Scottish Open and watched that. Another great win from Donald. He just makes it look soooo easy. Just seems to pour the puts in from any range.

Of to the gym in a bit for some cardio work. I'm introducing some stretch to my cardio sessions to help with flexibility, mainly in my lower and upper back.

Will probably go up the range later and work on my full swing and see if I can straighten our my drives a bit.

Probably wont have time for any short game practice today. So probably do some chipping and putting tomorrow.

Last Sundays comp results are back up on howdidido. So have now checked the overall count back which confirms I won overall.

Yay. 1st Trophy of the year.

This Sunday is the 'Virgin Atlantic Trophy'. Winner gets a trip to Vegas baby.

Turned the Corner ? Maybe

Played with my m8's Dave and Mark today. Mark used to be a member at our place but had to give it up due to work commitments. So it's the first time he's hit a ball since Feb.

He played ok, cracking first drive. But you can tell he was rusty. Few topped shots here and there. But putted ok.

Another solid round from today. Didn't drive that well and missed a few putts but apart from that a pretty solid 84, 1 over my new handicap of 12.

Out in 40 and back in 44. but started the back 9 with 2 double bogeys that should have been bogeys at worse.

My swing doesn't feel completely in control, but it's definitely not out of control any more. My drives are still leaking right a bit on me, but my irons are getting back to what they were. Short game seems ok. 3 putted a couple of times, and after I hit the green in reg as well. That's annoying.

Ah well. Might get out late tomorrow if the weather isn't too bad.

The Results are in - Finally

Just got the howdidido e-mail for Sundays montly medal comp.

1st in Div 2 - YAY, by 3 shots :-)

Tied for overall top spot with two others, as it's just done on net score with no count back. So should get a good hall of Order of Merit points as well.

Well chuffed given my recent form.

Results not in yet. But .....

They have published my revised Handicap.

12.1 :-)

But for some reason the comp results are not showing yet and the handicap graph still shows my old 13.5 handicap.

Odd. But hay 12.1, first cut of the year. I'm happy with that.

Now the real hard work starts.

The suspense is killing me

Results for yesterdays comp is still not posted to howdidido yet.

Not so much interested if I won or not, more interested to see what kind of cut in handicap I'm in for.

Could be as low as 11.7 if CSS was 72 !! that's a big step towards single figures.

Who'd have thought that after the way this year has gone so far.

But still a way to go as that will make me a cat 2 golfer and only entitled to 0.2 cuts per stroke under my handicap.

By my reckoning I'll have to shoot a couple of 5-6 under rounds to get to a 9.4 handicap. So that's a couple of 76-77 type rounds during a comp, or a 3-4 sub 80 rounds. That's going to be tough, doable, but a stretch.

I think I'd be happy to get under 10, even if I don't get to a single figure playing handicap.

A good Day

So after the 102 on Friday, the lesson with Bryan and a bit of practice on Saturday morning I headed out for this mornings comp. Feeling absolutely shattered after a BBQ at my place yesterday night.

Hit some balls on the range beforehand, badly. Had a few practice putts and chips. Again not great.

Then off we go.

First drive, right down the middle. Arrow straight 7i to 15ft. Left the putt 4ft short, but got the next down.

2nd, 3w, up the left hand side of the fairway. Dodgy 5i squirted right off a hanging lie. 56 degree just cleared the front bunker then sink a 15ft putt for par.

3rd, aimed at left side of the par 3 green as it's wet front and right. Arrow straight 6i to the left side of the green. 2 putts and another par.

par, par, par start. Never done that before.

Played ok rest of the front 9. Birdy on 7. But a mare on 9. Par 3, took 7. Walked off with 42 feeling a bit dejected. All that good work and still ended up shooting to my handicap.

Steady start to the back. Bogeyed 10, 11 and 12. Sprayed my drive at 13 right but hit a nice 6i into the green. Sunk another 15ft for birdy.

Should have birdied the par 5 14 but missed a short 5ft putt. But had a tap in par. Nailed a lovely drive with a bit of draw up the right hand side and it came back nicely but just rolled off the fairway slightly on the left. Had 210 to go and nailed my 3h a bit too good and put it just through the back of the green. nice little pitch and run with the PW to leave the 5 footer.

Parred 15 and 16. No mean feat I can tell you.

Then 17. OMG. Hit the worst shot of the day, possibly the year. Long par 3 (215 yards), took a 4i. Hit a fat snap hook into the back of the bench next to the yellow tees in front of us ( White tees are elevated by about 10-15 feet from the yellows) and it comes back 10ft finishing probably no more than 30ft in front of me in deep rough. Oops. I had to laugh.

Hit a good 5i out the rough but found the front left bunker. Got it out ok, but took 2 putts to get down for a 5.

Regulation 18. Nice drive up the right. Thought I hit the perfect 7i into the green but it just landed and stopped dead 30ft from the hole. I was expecting it to release right up to the hole. Couple of putts and another par for a 40 shot back 9.

82, nett 68, 3 shots under my handicap. Best I've shot in a long time.

So I'm expecting a bit of a cut. 1.5 shots down to 12 I think. (5x.3 if CSS is 71 and as the 9th get's rounded down to a nett double bogey).

Still waiting for the results to get posted on howdidido but should be in with a shout of the win even though i know my m8 John shot a nett 68, but he's ineligible for the win as it's only his second comp.

So not a bad end to the week after all.

2nd July Iron DL

ok first of a couple of vids after the lesson yesterday.

Hit the ball ok at the range but I can see some big issues.

1. Look where my belt buckle is pointing in the back swing ! I've turned my whole body back 90, not my shoulders.

2. Loosing the club at the top a bit. That's an old problem I need to work on. I've always had that and can't get rid.

Had to go see Bryan

I've tried to seem him for the past couple of weeks as I felt my game was in real trouble but just couldn't find a slot where we were both free. Finally got to see him today.

Explained what had been going on and he said if it happens again, just speak to him and not one of the range guys and he'll make room in his diary to see me. Which is really good of him.

v

So what did he say ?

My setup is all still good. Just need my right foot a bit squarer to the target line.

The main problem is I'm trying to take the club back too far and cocking my wrists too much, which then means I've got too much going on in my down swing to get the club-head back to where it needs to be.

So he's just got me swinging back until I feel resistance and stopping everything there. No forced rotation, stop my arms. Then simply drive my right shoulder through.

So Turn and Turn. Simple.

The way Bryan has described it is that as I have a muscular upper body (To much Weight Training) I'm not flexible enough to get the club into a traditional position. I need to use my upper body power to generate club head speed and not my arms and hands.

So it's about a 3/4 backswing, trying to keep a solid left wrist and then drive my right shoulder through.

Hit some really nice 7i's. The swing feels so simple and basic there is little that can go wrong. I just need to try to keep my arms and hands out of the swing.

He's advised me to watch some Ross McGowan swing videos as that's what he wants me to swing like.

He got me hitting some drivers, but had a real hard time getting my left wrist to stop bowing. He got out a wrist support to help me get the feeling, then got me ripping my drives as hard as I could just with body rotation. Man did they scream off the face.

But as soon as he took the wrist support off I really had trouble with the wrist again. Not bad enough to cause really terrible shots, they were all pretty good by recent standards, just could be prone to problems if I don't get a stronger left wrist.

Something to work on.

Not sure I'll play tomorrow. Might just go practice for a bit, then see how I get on in the comp on Sunday.

I'll take the camera and see if I can get some goo swing vids.

It's been a While

Since my last post.

So what's been going on.

Went to the US for a couple of weeks. Vegas then Scottsdale and got to play some golf in Scottsdale. First time I've played abroad.

Perfect weather, perfect conditions and a courses were in fantastic conditions. I played 3 times. All at Talking Stick. Played the south course once and the north course twice.

Actually shot a 79. Which was pleasing with hire clubs.

Also when I got back I went to watch the BMW Championship at Wentworth. What a fantastic day. Again another first. First time I'd been to a professional event.

Just had the best time. Got to see all the top players. Donald, Westwood, Mcalroy, Kaymer etc.

Plus I had fantastic 18th grandstand seats, so got to see the finish.

What a day.

So, hows my golf been going ?

Still struggling I'm afraid to say. Apart from the 79 while I was in the US it's been pretty poor. Never really looking like shooting under my handicap. Had a few good 9 holes rounds, shot a 38 (3 over par) a few weeks back.

But apart from that it's been really inconsistent.

I've had all this week off as well so played a bit. And lets just say I wish I hadn't.

Played twice Monday, We didn't really play twice. Played 9 holes at Letchworth and walked off as I was playing so badly. Then went to play at Chesfield later in the day. Walked off after 9 again.

Played Whitehills on Wednesday with a couple of m8's. Started ok'ish, middle of the round was just dire, then played some good stuff for the final 3rd, including a tap in birdy on the par 5 12th.

Decided to play again this morning and had an absolute mare. Started steady enough but a couple of silly greenside mistakes cost me pars. Then it just went downhill from there. Sprayed the ball all over the place.

I played the full 18 to try to find something in my game but ended up shooting a horrific 102. argh. That just hurts typing it.

But tbh, the way I've been playing recently a 100+ score has been coming for a while.

Comp this weekend. Medal on Sunday. My goal. To avoid another +.1. Tall order me thinks.

It Happened

My driving finnally cost me the .1 so I'm now 13.5. Playing off 14.

It is just getting worse and worse. I've managed to book a lesson with my coach tomorrow to try to sort this out.

I spent quite a bit of time last week working on this and thought I'd got a drive that was at least usable. But no. Played Sat and shot 94, then a 93 in the comp on Sun. All basically down to the fact I sliced pretty much everything.

The trouble is it's now starting to leak into my irons as well. It just feels like the swing I have on the course isn't the same as on the range.

I couldn't even make a good practice swing with my driver. It just felt I was going to slice it, and so i did.

Going up the range again tonight to work on it again.

Need to get something working before the end of the week as I'm heading off to Vegas and Scottsdale and want to get a few rounds in whilst I'm out there. Not sure I want to based on my current form.

I guess I should post an updated handicap graph. But I don't reall want to.

Driving - Bad to Worse

Just got back from another horrendous round. I won't go into too many details but shot 99, at least I kept it under 100 I suppose.

Driving still awful, but better than yesterday, hit a couple more fairways. Trouble is now it's starting to leak into the rest of my game. My usually solid irons and wedges deserted me at times, but my putter is still ok. I had quadruple, quintuple and sextuple boogies.

And to make things even more ridiculous I birdied one of the hardest holes on the course. The Par 3 17th. 180y into a 2 club wind. Nailed a 3h to 3ft of the pin.

I sorted out my driving a little. I think I'be been standing too close to the ball which has got me swinging out to in. So stood a little further back and that seemed to help a bit. Even hit a couple of draws. But that doesn't explain why I hit em straight in the range and not on the course.

I'm going to try to seem my coach in the week and see what he says because this is insane. Shoot 77 only 2 weeks ago and now back shooting in the 90's.

Just Been Googling

Looking for some mental exercise to help with my driving problems and found this singlemindedgolf.

Tried it out for a few mins just sitting here and the feeling part works ok. It look like it's based on NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which I've studied a bit.

You can use it to change they way you feel about situations. I don't know why I hadn't though of trying NLP before. I used this in the past to get over a continues problem I had on our 3rd hole where I constantly sliced it into the water.

I used a similar visualisation trigger technique to get rid of my 'fear' of slicing it into the water.

I might see if I can get 18 in tomorrow, if the other half will let me, and try it out.

Here's hoping.

More Driving Woes

I played 18 last night by myself and another 18 this morning with my usual 3-ball and too be quite frank my driving is shocking.

Putting - OK
Chipping and pitching - OK
Irons - Good
Hybrid and 3 Wood - Good
Driver - Shockingly Bad

Basically everything turn right at the tee. Either a push slice or a straight slice.

Yesterday was quite bad, today was absolutely unreal. Slice after slice, after slice. I think I managed to hit 1, maybe 2 fairways.

I'm just not squaring up the club face and holding it open. I know I'm doing it I can feel it in my swing. I'm just not getting the club head through the ball. And I just couldn't get myself to commit to the shot.

So, after today's round, grabbed 25 balls on the range. Wind right in the face. Guess what, 22 went right down the middle with just a hint of fade. Sliced 1 and pulled 2.

This is driving me freaking nuts (no pun intended). It's obviously not my swing, it's in my head. For some reason when I'm on the course I just can't get myself to commit to the swing.

And that's a major issue. if it was my swing, I can work on it on the range. Because it's in my head, I'm going to have to find some mental drill to use on the course.

Or I'm just going to have to play through it until I get my confidence back.

Busy Week

Not been able to practice much this week at all. I managed a 45 min range session on Wednesday. Just really hit some balls to see what my swing was doing.

I wasn't really getting my body through the ball so concentrated on driving the right shoulder through which helped a lot.

I also played Brocket Hall yesterday with 3 mates. We played the Palmerstone course.

Played ok in spells but really struggled with my driving, yet again. I just can't seem to slow my swing down to get control and it's really costing me. My irons seem really good, solid crisp contact, good flight and distance. Chipping was good, putting was ok on really tough greens. But I was getting in sooooo much trouble off the tee I wasn't giving myself any chances to make a score.

Ended up shooting  a shocking 98, could have easily been over 100. And that's after shooting a 77 a couple of weeks back !!!

Putting was tough. Big greens, fast but true, but lots of humps and elevation changes.

The thing is about driving is at my course you can get away with bad drives because it is quite open. You don't really get overly punished. Ok you might not be able to hit the green in 2, but you can usually get it close to give yourself a chance at a chip and putt.

So it's when I play courses like Brocket, Woburn etc where accuracy off the tee is critical it really shows up my driving for what it is. Inconsistent and dodgy under pressure.

This driving is really getting to me now. It really seems to be my Achilles heel. When I drive well, I score well. When I don't, well, I have to hope I'm scrambling well.

Something to work on this week before next weeks comp. I just need to find something that is consistent, even at the loss of some distance.

However, it was an enjoyable afternoon out with fiends. For that I can be grateful.

Frustrating Game

Is it me or is golf one of the most frustrating games going ?

I mean round to round, hole to hole and even shot to shot can have such a huge variation. One minute you're playing like a pro, the next it's like it's the first time you held a golf club.

Take today for example, and probably last Sundays round as well, front 9, both times, some of my best golf ever. Last Sunday went out in 38 (3 over par). Pretty damn good for a 13 handicapper. Today, how about this one, 36, one over (again the same 13 handicapper). And I missed a couple of really good birdy chances !!

Now you can probably guess where this story goes next. Last Sunday, back in 49, that's 11 shots more for 9 holes. More than 1 shot more per hole worse. Insane yes ?

Ok, now today. So out in 36, back in, wait for it, 52. Yep 52. 16 shots worse for 9 holes. An average of almost  2 shots worse a hole. Obviously I don't expect to come back in a gross 1 over par like the front, but you'd expect some kind of continuation of form front to back would have seen me coming in at 41, maybe 42 at worse. You;d at least expect a sub-80 round, wouldn't you ?

And the really annoying thing. I have no idea why. Missed a few putts I probably shouldn't have, few chips that probably should have got closer and probably 1 bad drive OOB on the 16 (again !!!!!).

It almost feels like a lack of concentration on the back 9, just silly mistakes costing me. But the flip side is I don't want to over think things and put pressure on myself. I usually play best when, well, I just play. Don't think about it. Just pick my shot and hit it as well as I can.

But the plus side is I know I've got it in me to shoot low, and I mean really low. I don't actually feel that a level par round is completely out of the question if I hook everything up for 18 holes.

Now I wouldn't have been saying that a few months ago.

Stooopid Work

Getting in the way of my practice.

Meetings over ran yesterday, which meant I didn't manage to get up the range before I had to pick up the other half.

Same again today.

Sitting here twiddling my thumbs as I've got 15 mins before I need to go pick here up, So I thought I'd post a rant :-(

Sunday's Results Are In

Got the usual howdidido email.

Placed 23rd, mid table and no OOM points this time.

33pts, so kept it in the buffer zone. Just.

Winning score was 40pts, so I only had to shoot a level par round on the back 9 and I'd have tied.

Oh well. Next comp is 8th May.

And Another Post Today

This time on something I need to work on with my full swing.

It's something Brian was trying to get me to do in my last lesson but I still feel I haven't quite got it yet.

It's releasing the club by rolling my right forearm over my left in the follow through.

I still feel I hold the club square through impact, almost trying to guide the ball straight. This is resulting mostly in a slight fade, but a bad drive will be a big slice, and a bit of a cut off follow through as the club face remains pointing straight up in the air after impact.

The importance of this was reaffirmed during yesterdays comp when I was playing with a senior for the round.

His practice swing was just standing there and swinging back and forth rotating his right forearm over his left in the follow through. Just back and forth, nice and easy until he got the feel

He'd then step up and hit a lovely powerful draw, he pulled a few, put he had the right intention and feel he was trying to get.

When I was working on this with Brian, I was getting to 'flicky'. i.e. Almost trying to flick the ball at impact rather than a more gradual rotation through the ball.

I've just been doing it with a 6i here in the office to just try to get the feel I need, but need to get up the range to put it into practice.

I have a feeling that I'm going to need to make sure my swing path is good otherwise I can see a lot of shots going weak and left.

But I think I've got my head around how to make this work now.

Putting Changes

I've never really spent much time practising putting, the occasion session during the week with some chipping practice.

I've had 1 putting lesson last year and my coach said everything looked good, gave me a couple of tips, but in general I had a sound putting stroke.

Recently as my handicap has dropped I've felt my putting hasn't kept pace with the rest of my game. The odd silly missed 3 footer, a few too many 3 putts from distance. Not holing enough 10 foot putts etc.

So I decided to spend a bit of time studying and working on my technique.

First thing I done was get one of these. Yes Putter Pathfinder

It has an alignment mirror to make sure you're eye line is right over the line of the putt. I found I was a couple of inches inside the line.

Plus a club head guide. You can set the little magnetic pins at the edges of the putter so you have to stroke it between them along the aim line. if you're off-line then the little post waggles.

This really gets you taking it straight back and through.

Took a bit of practice and really makes you concentrate on you're alignment and stroke.

The other change I've made is a slower, longer backstroke, then a just a flowing stroke through the ball.

The first two changes have really helped with the short to medium length putts, the last change seems to give me much better distance control.

Before the change I was averaging 1.8 Putts per hole, after the change I'm averaging 1.7. Ok, 0.1 doesn't sound much. But over 18 holes, that's almost 2 shots !!!!

I'm probably averaging about 30 putts per round, whereas before 30 putts would be a great round. Most of the time I'd be around 33-34 area.

(Oh the low blips on the graph are 9-hole rounds !!)

Round 2 of 2011 OOM

Yesterday was round 2 of the summer league. Stabelford off full handicap. I've been playing some good stuff lately so was aiming for a little cut maybe.

Good solid start Bogey, Bogey & Par for 7pts after the first 3 holes. Our own little amen corner. If you haven't done too much damage to you card after the 3rd you're doing ok. So I was happy with 7 pts.

Par, Par & Bogey for the next 3 for another 8pts.

Finally finishing the front 9 with a little par run for another 7pts giving me a front 9 of 22pts. (out in 38 blows).

Could have been a bit better, Missed makable birdy putts on 8 and 9 of no more than 8ft. But hay 22pts, I'll take that.

So, 3 bogeys, 6 pars, 85% FIR, 44% GIR and 15 putts. Not too shabby.

Bogeyed the 10th for 2 pts, Happy with that. 11th, sliced drive onto the side of a bank, hit a good 6i to just short of the green. Then horror of horrors, simple chip over the bunker and completly shanked it into a bunker 30ft right of me. Duffed bunker shot, few shots later I've carded my first blob.

Terrible teeshot on the long par 3 12, pulled it left. Ok chip over the bunker and a couple of good putts gets me another 2pts. Another blob on 13 due to a duffed chip into the sand.

Find the sand with my teeshot on 14, hit an ok 6i but it just drifted into the rough. 7i into a bunker 30ft to the left of the green, really good bunker shot, missed put and card a 6 on the par 5 for 1pt.

15th was good un. Drive right down the middle, sweet 6i to the front fringe of the green 2 putts for an easy par and another 3pts. Ok round starting to get back on track.

16. Long uphill par 5. OOB down the right. Yep you got it, huge slice OOB and I'm 3 off the tee. 2nd driver ended up in the fairway bunker. Was far enough back and managed to hit a good 3 wood. 6i to the side of the green then chip and 2 putts for an 8 and another blob.

17, was the hardest 2 pointer in history. 210 par 3 to a raised green. Hit a good ish 4i but tugged it slightly into the front left bunker. Thinned the bunker shot 70 yards over the back of the green, past the 18th tee and into the thick rough. So no I'm left with 7 yards up a 30ft bank from deep rough. Got my 56 out and gave it a good swing. up it popped few high, almost hit the pin and rolled 10ft past. Sunk the putt for a 4 and another 2pts.

18, easy par 4. Teeshot went right again onto a bank. Hit a really sweet 8i to a back pin and it just rolled off the back by a few feet. Little chip 2 3tf and missed the putt for a 5. and 1pt.

The round just fell apart, I didn't feel under pressure, I never usually do, It was inexplicable. I wasn't trying to force it.

Ended up with 11 pts and 49 shots. Argh. 14% FIR, 0% GIR, but pleasingly enough only 15 putts again.

So finished with 33 points and 87 strokes. 50% FIR, 22% GIR and 30 putts. Stayed in the buffer zone, I hope. 

So more than a little disappointed. When I looked back it was probably only 3 shots that cost me so much.

Shanked chip on 11, when I should have given my self a par putt. 

Duffed chip on 13. Again, had plenty of room, so again should have had a par putt.

Then the OOB on 16.

Ah well. 33pts ain't bad. probably not going to get me any OOM points. But I've got to be happy with that front 9.

Putted really well, I have done for the past few weeks since I change my stroke. Irons were for the most part pretty good. Apart from 2 silly chips I was pretty good inside 100.

I feel some practice with the big stick coming this week. It just feels that I'm not releasing the club head and holding it open for some reason. 

Always something needs work.

So here's the card. Apparently God does still hate golfers :-) (or maybe just me)

Broke 80

Should have posted sooner but been a bit busy.

Broke 80 for the first time last Sunday. Oh Yeah.

Out in 39, back in 38 for a 77.

Drove the ball ok, hit enough greens. It was mainly inside 100 yards I was deadly. Got up and down from all over the place. Chipped well and didn't miss anything inside 6ft.

tbh, I didn't make that many putts outside 6ft either.

Just a real steady round.

Guess god doesn't hate me so much after all :-)

Lesson 3 with Brian

It's been about 3 weeks since my last lesson. Mainly because I haven't found the time to get down to gosling when Brian has been available.

I felt things were starting to slip a little so wanted to get down to see him to check things out.

Grip and setup all check out ok. He's really pleased there.

Takeaway was ok but I'm breaking my wrists a bit so he got me taking it back with a really firm left hand keeping a sold grip on the club. After a few swings the takeway was good. Much more control over the club going back.

Now the swing. This is where I felt I was having trouble. My age old problem, getting stuck on my back foot.

The way Brian explained it is I need to get the club to drag me forward, rather than trying to transfer my weight, my swing should just bring my body with it.

Few more balls and I'm starting to let the club bring me forward but I'm still holding the club open and scooping it rather than releasing it. He got me into some positions where my right hand drives the club through and turns the club over.

Few more swings and much better, good tight backswing, club and body driving through, right hand releasing and turning over the club head which gave a much better follow through.

He then handed the driver over, hit some with that, few where I didn't get through it, but then it all clicked and started pounding them out there.

Chatting with Brian he says he's really pleased with the progress, said it might take me a while to make it natural but is very happy with the swing. Looks much more orthadox and in control.

So. Just need to keep a tighter controlled backswing, let the club pull me through and drive the right hand over into a good release.

Easy :-)

I feel a mini range session tomorrow after work. Short game then some irons and drivers.

1st Com Results Are In

Shot a 1 over par net 72 on Saturday as previously posted. CSS was 72. So level for the comp.

Shame about 16 and 17, but hey, it happens.

I came 5th in Div 2,Net 68 won that div, and the comp. So I recond I could have tied that if I hadn't made a mess of 16 & 17.

There were 2 better scores in Div 1 and 1 better in Div 3. So tied for 8th overall with 3 others. Which should get me some decent points to start the season off.

Next comp  is 17th April, few things to work on, but in good shape.

More Thoughts on the 910D2

Now I've played a few rounds with it my opinion still stands.

The D2 is easier to hit than my R9 and it is longer. Dave, who i play with on Sunday, said he noticed I was geting at least 20-30 yards extra out of it.

The distance improvement is much more noticable into the wind as well. Whilst the ball seems to fly quite high it doesn't seem to 'hang' up there and just drop, it stays high and carries forward. And that measn more run out on landing.

My R9 used to land quite soft, fly high-ish but hold up into the wind. then just drop and stop,

I actually feel because of how forgiving this driver is I could probably hit it harder than I am. Over the past month I have deliberatly slowed down my driver swing to gain some control. But I feel that I could speed it up again at the loss of only a little accuracy, but get some extra yardage out of it.

Something to try.

After Fridays 9 holes, I was fading slightly with it. So I adjusted it to a slightly closed face. And tbh I didn't really notice a difference in ball flight. The other thing I might try as well is reduce the loft to get a lower flight. I can adjust it down by .75 degrees to a 9.75.

Again, something to try this week.

Next comp isn't until the 17th April, so have a bit of time to experiment.

45 holes in 3 days

So, 9 on Friday to give the new driver a run out. 18 Yesterday in the first summer comp. 18 today in my normal Sunday game with Dave.

Well. New driver is still running well. I'm consistently getting an extra 20-30 yards out of it over my R9 and easily more accurate.

Scoring wise. 88 today. Started bad with a triple bogey and a double bogey. The strung 5 pars together, should have pared 8, then pared 9. So 6 pars on 7 holes. Not bad. Finished the front 9 with a 41. Not too shaby after that start.

Back 9, just couldn't get going. Only 1 par on the 17th. Everything was close, just not quite there. I have a feeling tiredness came in a bit. Just didn't seem as focussed, making silly mistakes. Easy chips either thinned or too short costing me nailed on pars. OB'd my second shot on the 16th for another 8 on the par 5.

Bogeyed 18 from 110 yards out. Hit a monster driver into the wind, leaving 110, wind was that strong I took an 8 and pulled it left. Good pitch with a 60 degree up the bank leaving a 6 footer, but shaved the hole. Tap in for bogey.

So some real positives, the game is definitely there. New driver is working well. I just need to focus that bit more on the back 9 and get rid of those silly mistakes.

First Comp of 2011

Just back from the first comp this year and the start of the defence of my Order of Merit title.

Played some pretty good stuff today in really difficult conditions. Wind was really up and the greens were pretty bobley after being spiked during the week. Shot a 85, net 72. 1 over par.Out in 39 but back 46.

All was going well until the 16th. OB'd my teeshot, resulting in an 8 on a par 5, then followed it up with 5 on the par 3 17th. Steadied the ship with a par on the 18th, leaving my birdy putt in the jaws.

Highlight of the round, chip in from the back of the green on the 8th for a birdy. Also hit my 3h from 170, into a stiff wind to 10ft of the pin. That was nice.

Putted pretty well today, 29 putts totol. Hit 60% of FIR and 27% GIR. 8 pars, 1 birdy, 5 bogeys and 4 double bogey or worse.

Should be in with a shout for some order of merit points hopefully. Might even get a slight cut. (The 8 should get rounded down to a 7, so a level par score, and with the tough conditions I thing the CSS might be 72, giving me a .3 cut)

New Big Dog

I've been thinking about a driver change since late last year. I've been running a R9 460. I swapped from a stiff shaft down to a reg as I slowed my swing down to get a bit more control and consistency off the tee.

I tried the R11 the first week it launched and tbh hit it about the same as my R9. But then again I was having real swing issues back then. So I decided to wait until my swing settled down before looking again.

So after a few weeks of some solid golf I decided to start looking again. Obviously the R11 was on the list, but I'd been reading a lot of good things about the Titliest 910D range (D2 & D3).

Fully adjustable, like the R11, which I like.

I had a quiet day yesterday so finished a bit early and popped up to AG in Biggleswade to try out the R11, 910D2, and took my R9 along to compare.

Took the 910D2 with Stiif and Reg, R11 with a Reg and my R9 with reg shafts out to try on the range. All 10.5 loft.The wind was pretty strong and right in my face, so this will be a real good test. Anything not well hit is going to show up.

Warned up with my R9, hit it pretty well, couple of minor pulls, couple of big high slices. but in general ok.

Put the R11 up next. Pretty much the same results as my R9 which kind of confirmed my earlier thoughts that it wasn't a big step forward over what I currently was using.

So hit a few with the 910D2 with a stiff shaft. Distance wise it was about the same as the taylormade drivers, but the accuracy was a marked improvement. Bad ones were well, not actually bad. Maybe a slight loss in distance, but would still be on, or near, the fairway.

The sales guy suggested I should try the reg shaft in the D2 as well. Which I did. Similar results as the stiff really.

I carried on hitting for a while swapping drivers every 4-5 balls until I went though about 60 balls.

The more I hit the more it became apparent that the D2 was the club to go for. The bad ones with the R9 and R11 would be high slices, with the D2 it was more a gentle fade.

So reg or stiff ? I decided to go reg, I've been using reg shaft in mine for the past month as i've slowed down my swing and that's been working well, so I saw no need to go for a stiff shaft.

So, got them to match Online Golfs price of £239, less my £100 AG vouchers from Chrsitmass, so I'm now the proud owner of a Titliest 910D2 10.5 Reg Shaft for a small som of £139. Bargin.

Took it back to my club and went on the range, normal practice session, not really focussing on the driver. But got the same results when I did hit it. Just so darn forgivving.

I read the adjustment guide last night and the standard setting gives a slight fade, which is what I was hitting, so I might swap it to a slight draw and try it out.

I'm going to try and get 9 holes in tomorrow after work to use it in anger before the first comp of the year on Saturday.

Swing Vid from Monday

Haven't posted any swing vids for a bit.

Here's one from Monday. Probably one of the few since the Brian has taken over coaching.

The swing feels more in control now. Still coming over the top a bit and a little flat, hands below the shoulders.

But, some good things. Good shoulder turn, club isn't waggling at the top of the swing (Better Grip !!). It's much more of a body swing than an arms swing.

Seem to be getting my weight forward better, still not perfect, but better.

And my scores over the past few weeks have been proof this is working.

Once I've made sure my grip and setup it right, then only thing I'm thinking about is swinging round my spine. That's all. Turn back, turn through.

Managed to get 18 in Last Night

Well clocks have changed so roll on evening golf. Yipee.

Tee'd of at 5:20 and done by 7:45. Played back 9 then fron as the greenkeepers were doing some work.

Played some pretty good stuff. Drove the ball well and hit my irons fantastic. Putting still not really there, never made any putts, So something to work on.

Made a mess of a few sand shots as well. So again something to work on.

Nice birdy on the si2 Par 4 12th. Dogleg right, hit my drive too well and just ran out of fairway on the left. Then nailed a 6i from 179 to 10ft and holed it. Yeah baby.

Shot to my handicap with an 84 which was pleasing. And that's with a 7 on our par 3 3rd (without going in the water). Plus a terrible bogey on the par 5 16. 10ft off the front of the green after 2, thinned easy chip and 3 putts later. Argh. Very ugly.

Been a While

I've been a bit busy lately so not had much time for golf. Practice, lessons or playing.

Played last Sunday all by myself shot an ok 88. Good front 9, 41, back 9 just got away from me. Couple of silly double bogeys on 12 and 13 from nowhere and then couldn't really get going.

I've been trying to fit in a lesson, haven't had one for a few weeks, but I've been soo busy I couldn't find time to get down to Gosling Park to see Brian. Going to try to make time this week.

Practice, again, not much. One 45 min range session this week. Definitely need some time with Brian as I feel some of the changes, especially getting myself through the shot, seem to be falling away.

Out tomorrow with Dave and my place. Looking forward to it, even though the weather this weekend has been crap compared to the glorious weather over the past week.

Woburn Trip

Only just getting round to this.

What a great day and two fantastic courses. We played Marquess in the morning and the Dukes' in the afternoon. I shot 104 in the morning and 92 in the afternoon. We played off the back tees.

Drove the ball well in the morning and hit 57% of the fairways. But only hit one GIR. Finished on with two good pars. Putted ok on very fast and tricky greens. Took 34 putts.

Had a lovely carvery lunch. Bit of everything. Lovely.

Started bad on the dukes, pulled my first teeshot and it ricochet back into the fairway, bet well short. Ended up Double bogey.

2nd Huge High Slice, over some really big trees, ended up on the first fairway. Got a bit lucky and there was a slight gap at the top of the trees and managed to launch a high 8i over the top back onto the fairway. Hit another nice 8i onto the green then 3 putted from 10ft. ARGH.

After that things went pretty well. Par on the next 2. Picked up another par on 6 as well. Then finished what was looking like an OK front 9 with a quad bogey 7 for a score of 48.

Steady back 9. 1 par but the rest were bogeys for a 44. The par was at the par 3 12th. Nailed a beautiful 6i to 10ft for a good birdy opportunity. But narrowly missed it.

So a 92. Which I was pretty pleased with in the end.

Great day, good weather and two fantastic courses.

Best Score

What a day today. Every thing felt good with the swing. Smooth, easy, flowing.

Ended up shooting 81, beating my previous best by 1 stroke.

Should have really broke 80 for the first time. Bogeyed the last 3, with 3 putts on 16 and 17 !! Argh

But had 3 birdies in a round for the first time.

Drove the ball ok, not long, just smooth, controlled and more importantly in play on the fairway. And was nailing my irons. So in the fairway and hitting my irons well, is always going to give you a chance of a good score.

But the promising thing is there I can still see opportunities where I dropped silly shots.

Three 3 putts, 1st, 16th and 17th.

3rd (Par3), thinned chip resulting in a 5. Even though the ball was a little buried, probably should have done better. 4 at worst.

10th, fatted an easy 90 yard wedge shot 50 yards. Resulting in a double bogey.

So definite room for further improvement. Perhaps single figure Handicap isn't as far away as I thought a few weeks ago when I started this blog.

Chesfield Downs Golf Club
HOLE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
CSS: 71  White	419	419	167	388	581	338	278	409	146	3,145	422	439	188	402	509	417	552	215	357	3,501	6,646
Handicap	9	1	13	7	3	11	17	5	15		12	2	8	14	16	4	6	10	18
Par	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	35	4	4	3	4	5	4	5	3	4	36	71
Score	5	5	5	5	6	4	3	3	3	39	6	4	4	5	5	3	6	4	5	42	81
+/-
Net Score	4	4	4	4	5	3	3	2	3	32	5	3	3	4	5	2	5	3	5	35	67
Fairway										42.9%										71.4%	57.1%
Distance off Tee	266	188			202					218.7	204			245		231	208			222	220.6
Putts	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1.7	2	1	2	2	2	1	3	3	2	2	1.8
Total Putts	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	15	2	1	2	2	2	1	3	3	2	18	33
GIR										44.4%										44.4%	44.4%

Albatross

Eagle

Birdie

Par

Bogey

Double Bogey

Other