Tags: course, range, golf, practice, resort

Hello everyone! Me again.

So, it's been a while huh? Well, I've played a few rounds since my last post. Nothing new really. Hit some very solid iron shots. I'm not yet completely satisfied with my iron play, but it has seen some significant improvements in the last two or three months. I shot a 92 in my last round. I could have easily broken into the 80's (for the first time) had it not been for a quadruple, a triple and a couple of double bogeys. Man those high scores are killing me. On the brighter side, I managed five pars, a birdie, and what seems like a plethora of bogeys.

The problem, to be honest, is my putting game. It is lacking, to say the least. It needs a lot of work. Seems like I spent too much time at the range, working on iron play, and not enough time on the putting green. I've been meaning to do it, just haven't gotten around to it. I will though, soon enough.

So the real reason for this post is tomorrow (1/17/2008). See I haven't really played any "nice" courses, resort courses. I've spent my entire golf life on inexpensive courses. Now don't get me wrong, we do have some nice courses here in the Rio Grande Valley, and plenty of them. Let's just say that noone comes down here solely to golf. So anyway, tomorrow that all changes. I'll be playing at the Resort Course at La Cantera in San Antonio, home of the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open. And man am I excited. I know it's not Pebble Beach or Augusta, but to me it will be the best I've ever played. I just hope it all goes like I envision it. And who knows, maybe I'll break 80 while I'm there. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted.

Tags: golf, course, range, practice, round

What's up fellow golfers? I think this post is long overdue.

Well, I finally played a round. After what seems like a lifetime of range sessions, I finally did it. And let me tell you, the range works. Although my scorecard doesn't indicate it, my iron game was right on the money. I still hit a few errant shots. I think that was mostly due to a lack of focus and concentration. I mean I was hitting greens from beyond 150. The longest green I hit was about 175 with a 6 iron.

Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means a great golfer. I realized I was spending too much time at the range and not enough time at the putting green. I left four par putts and two birdie putts out at the course. That really kills me. I shot a 99 on a par 71 course. Those putts would have really lowered my score. I could've broken the 90 mark. Never done that. But I think I'm on my way.  I'll hit the putting green for a while and see what happens the next time out.

I'll keep you posted. 

Tags: course, practice, golf, range, driver

So here's my dilemna. I'm at the range and have been for the past few days. Been working on my short iron game. Things are going great for the most part. I think I got my wedges figured out. So I thought I 'd try and work on another part of my game. That's when I got to thinking.

See, I can hit my driver a mile. Problem is, my drive usually ends up further from the hole than when I teed off. So obviously my drive needs some working on. So I reach for the big dog and I pause for just a moment. And I thought to myself about all of the articles I've read about Driving at the range. And how it's frowned upon. And how the real practice is with your short irons. I didn't want to be "that guy" at the range.

My question is don't I have to be? Isn't that the point of the range? To work on what needs working on? Well my driving needs working on. And I don't necessarily think it's such a bad thing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you see "that guy" at the range, you know, "that guy" that looks like he's out there just to have fun, "that guy" that looks like he's not really practicing, "that guy" that could've just stayed home and accomplished just as much on his Wii, well, if you see that guy, give him a break. "That guy" just might be me. And gosh darnit, that guy just might "really" have to work on his drive. And he might "really" be trying to work on his game. Just try to remember that there's more to the game of golf than just short iron play.

Tags: golf, course, range, practice

So here I go again. Another day at the range. What can I say, I've nothing better to do. Besides, I'm starting to really enjoy this. The thing is, I have a really bad feeling about all of this. I'm sure my next outing will be no better than my last. As a result, I'm going to curse the driving range and having spent so much time on it.

So about the range. I'm still trying to perfect my wedge shots. I read somewhere that wedge play is one of the most important facets of the game. I figure that if I can be a consistent wedge player, then I'm a better golfer for it. Who knows, maybe I'm on to something. When I feel confident about my wedges, I'll then move on to longer irons. For now it's all wedges, all the time. I'll keep you posted.

Tags: Range, Golf, Links, Practice

So I was back at the range today. Nice day. Really nice day. We get a lot of those in South Texas this time of year. Must of been a high of about 75. Nice and sunny though. Absolutely no wind, which is why I decided to hit the range.

So, about the range. It was a very productive session, for the most part. I hit all of my wedges today. My goal was to know exactly what their yardages were. Mission accomplished. I think.

Today, I was hitting my 60 degree wedge about 65-70 yards. My 56 degree wedge is going about 80. I hit a 3/4 PW about 90 and a full PW about 100. Thats about as far as I got today. Quick question to anyone reading this. Are these yardages about right for the respective clubs? Are they short, long? What do you hit with these wedges or something similar? Just trying to see where I stand.

Overall I was very satisfied with my outing. I'm sure this will go a long way in my next round. We'll just have to see. I'll keep you posted.

Tags: Golf, Range, Course, Practice

Today was a beautiful day! Temperatures in the low to mid 70's. Nice and sunny. A little windy, but nonetheless, a beauty of a day. So I took myself to the range. Big mistake! See, I've been playing for a little over a year now. Played my first round on Thanksgiving Day, 2006. That had to have been the most fun I've every had at the golf course. Never having recorded a round, I had no score to beat, no shot to perfect; I had nothing. My goal was just to have fun. I guess I must have had fun; I bought my first set of clubs about a week later. It was a used set of Dunlops.

Meanwhile, back at the range. Man, was it enlightening. I realized for the first time just how bad my game is. I mean, I knew how bad it was, but bad was magnified today at the course. I usually shoot somewhere between 90 and 105. You know how it is, some good days and some bad days. After today, it's a mystery why I'm not consistently shooting in the 130's. My iron play sucks! I can't nail a fairway to save my life! My putting is worse than my five year old daughters! And I'm doing nothing but tearing up the golf course everytime I go out!

Ok, so it's pretty bad. That's just it. This is just what the range is supposed to do. It's supposed to #@!$ you off. And somehow, through the madness, you're supposed to get better. I don't know, maybe i'm better now than I was before my little adventure. I guess I'll find out this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

 

Tags: putting, practice, tournament, scramble

It's Monday, and I decided to pull out the putter and putt into a cup from varying distances at the office. This is something that I have always liked to do. In fact, if it wasn't for those little putt-into-a-mug games that they have at little fairs, I may not have picked up golf at this point in my life. I used to try every single putting game that I could, and I would usually walk away with a prize. But those were straight, usually flat, putts from about 10 feet. No one told me that I'd have putts that would have to do a loop around the back of the green before finding the hole.

The putt-into-a-mug games caught my interest, but were a poor preparation for real-life putting. On my first round, I didn't have anything less than a 3-putt. I have improved gradually, and though I'm nowhere near the putter that I'd like to be, I'm confident in my ability to sink short putts, and get long putts close. Wanting to hone my long-range putting skills, I set a cup against the wall of my row, and hit balls ranging from 20 feet up to 40 feet. At first, I noticed that I was missing right nearly every time. I found that the reason I was doing this was that I did not have my dominant eye positioned over the ball correctly. After that, most of my putts were on line, but finding the right speed for that distance is tricky. If any of my putts hit the wall with power to produce more than a small tap sound, I would start my count to ten over. Eventually, I was able to get 10 in a row to the cup, or the wall with no more than a tap sound. Tomorrow during lunch, I'm going down to the putting green at Sleepy Ridge, which has a great little 9 hole putting green on which to test every type of putt. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I'm getting excited, and my confidence is building. Back-to-back, here I come!

Tags: practice, champion, tournament, NBS, no backswing swing
I decided that today was the perfect day to hit a few buckets of balls, or as they call it at my club, "The Vijay." The Vijay is nearly large enough for me to sit in when empty, and on several occasions, I have simply found a quarter Vijay left over from a golfer that decided that it was too many balls for him (it's approximately 300 balls). I wanted to hit that many balls because I was testing out a new swing that I read about in GOLF Magazine, called the No Backswing Swing (NBS). The NBS is supposed to eliminate 70% of swing errors by eliminating all of the errors caused by an improper takeaway.

Calling it a no backswing swing is sort of a falacy, as there is a backswing, it is simply divided into two parts. Step 1 is to address the ball as normal, and then in step 2, bring the club back until your left arm is parallel to the ground, and your club shaft is aiming down the target line (which is how your backswing would normally look at that point in your takeaway).  Now, I don't have my magazine with me right now, so correct me if I'm mistaken in the name. Step 3 is called the Pump, and it is like a mini-backswing from the step 2 position. In step 3, make sure that you bring your shoulder a full 90 degrees, and then start your downswing. The NBS is supposed to help eliminate pulls and help you hit it straighter. And I'm pleasantly surprised with the results that I had.

It took a lot of balls for me to get it, but after probably 3/4 of a regular size bucket of balls, I was hitting straighter, longer and more consistently. I'm not perfect, but I've always had a terrible slice off the tee, and have resorted to using a 3 Wood instead of a driver for quite some time. But after hitting lots and lots of balls with my driver using the NBS, I feel a lot more confident. The biggest thing for me was that I discovered that I had been cocking my wrists too early all this time, and the NBS is going to help me correct that problem.

One thing that I failed to mention about the NBS set-up is to make sure that your weight shifts and stays over your spine. This adds a lot of power. If you haven't been keeping your spine centered with your weight shift, this is going to take some getting used to, and you may have a sore lower back for a while (but who wouldn't after hitting 300 balls with a driver). But I am hitting further and straighter; but most importantly, with more confidence. Next Saturday, the whole company is going to see that I have come to keep my title, not pass it on!

Tags: tournaments, practice, scramble, champion

Each year, my company has a 4-man scramble tournament. Last year was my first time to participate, and it was also my first tournament to enter and win! So this year, I'm coming back as the defending champion, trying for a repeat. My team is a little bit different this year, so I hope that we have the skill sets to pull it off.

I've been practicing very regularly to try and prepare. I've nearly eliminated three-putts, and my chips are coming in a lot tighter than before. I'm still working on my driving distance/accuracy, and I will update my blog with my progress.