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This is a continuation of the diary I started last year but gave up when I was having some software problems. The 2004 Entries link below includes an introduction. Click the date to jump to the entry (or entries) for that day: April 18 June 4 |
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January 1 - The Death of a Foursome (with apologies to Willy Lomax) |
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With the advent of the new year, I've entered a new phase in my golf game. For the last five years I have played almost every every weekend as part of a regular foursome. There have been a couple of personnel changes over the years but there has been one constant. I played my first round of golf on Naval Air Station Corpus Christi with Gilbert Leos and we've teed it up together almost every Sunday morning since. Alas, that "old gang of mine" is no more. Gilbert has transferred to another position with the Army (he's a civilian engineer) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. I'm glad he'll have a chance to play some courses on the RTJ trail, but I'm sure going to miss playing with him. We were pretty hard core about getting out there every Sunday no matter how cold or windy it was. There were a few times when we were all bundled up with the temperature at or just below 40ºF and a 20-25 mph wind coming out of the north. It was more survival than it was golf but we had a blast doing it. I'm gonna miss having him as a partner. We also lost another member of the foursome, Mike Reed, because he decided to join a club in Portland, Texas (Northshore Country Club). It's a great course and the price is right so I don't blame him for making the move. Hell, if I wasn't in a bit of a struggle financially at the moment, I'd join him. So now we are down to two. Hopefully we will pick up some new players to fill out the foursome before too long. Normally I only play on weekends because my time during the week is taken helping my grandkids do homework and then helping out the coach during their swimming practice. But with the kids out of school, I managed to get out twice after work this past week. On Tuesday I started out as a single but joined a twosome on #4. I started out well by making par on three of the first five holes. My ball striking wasn't particularly good but I was consistent about one thing--every time I hit a really bad shot, I followed it up with a very good shot! This held true for the first 16 holes where I managed to do no worse than a bogey. I finally ran into a little trouble on the final two holes getting doubles on both. My final score was an 81 matching my previous best (the third time I've posted that score). I really thought this was going to be the day I finally broke 80 but it wasn't to be. Next time. Well the next time was two days later and I didn't even get a good whiff of 80! I started out with a great drive down the middle which is highly unusual--I normally hit my second shot on #1 from the right rough. But nothing much went right after that to include five doubles on the front. Only a par-birdie finish on the front got me to a respectable 45. Same story on the back without the birdie and only one par. So in two days I went from an 81 to a 93.
What a game!! |
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I just started playing racquetball again after a layoff of twenty years or so. I was a pretty decent player in the mid-eighties while living in Fort Worth, Texas--good enough to hold my own in tournament play in the DFW area. A couple weeks ago, two coworkers invited me to play during lunch. I went into it figuring I was going to be rusty, but I was in for a shock. I couldn't make any of the shots I made with ease in my competitive days. Hell, I even whiffed a couple times trying to take balls off the back wall. So what was my reaction to this terrible level of play? I laughed. A lot. I found it amusing that with the entire right side of the court open, and my opponent on my left, that I hit the ball right back at him. I guess I realized that after that long of a layoff, I shouldn't expect to just step on the court and play like I used to. So I play, have fun, miss a shot. laugh, and enjoy the game. Shouldn't I be able to do that in golf? I play once a week (usually) and hardly ever practice. Yet I manage to get pretty upset at myself when I don't play well. [Steve Martin Mode: ON] Perhaps I should accept that I am not a very good golfer and that I'm going to miss shots. What if I just accepted both the good and the bad and just enjoyed the game for what it is? ... ... NAAAAAAAAA! [Steve Martin Mode: OFF] |
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January 3 - More Play Leads to Better Scores?? |
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Let's see.. Tuesday - 81 Thursday - 93 Sunday - 97 I think I'll stick to Sunday only for awhile. I can't take this much improvement! |
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Last Sunday I was pretty discouraged after walking off the 18th green knowing I had carded a 97 just five days after matching my personal best of 81. What was particularly aggravating was how many fat shots I hit--I was doing some serious earth moving. So I didn't know what to expect today. But something happened on the first tee that I think led to a good round. On my first tee shot, my back foot slipped and I hit a 50 yard pop up off the toe. As I walked to my ball I thought about what had happened,and decided that I needed to make an effort to stay more in control. So what I did from that point on was take one more club than I normally would for a given distance, and tried to make a smooth, controlled, swing without coming out of my shoes. The results were great! After all those fat shots the week before, I bounced back with some good ball striking. I only hit one what that I would call fat where I got maybe 75% of the distance I was looking for. I only hit one green in regulation, but I had a bunch of "near the green in reg" shots. That meant that I was able to get up and down a half dozen times on my way to a 82. I had one double when my tee shot went in a fairway bunker on 17, and my next shot ended behind both a tree AND a sand bunker. But other than that, I was in position to have at least a shot at par on every hole. So I think I'll stick with this plan and see if it continues to work. Just a quick comment on our crazy south Texas weather. Two weeks ago we had 4-6 inches of snow depending on what part of the city you measured, The day after it was warm enough to golf but they didn't open the course because there was still some accumulation of snow. But two days later I was playing in temperatures near 80ºF. A couple days ago the wind chill was in the 30's, but today I was working up a sweat walking the course. Such is life in south Texas!! |
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I seem to be on a "feast or famine" run when it comes to scoring. I shot a 95 today which means my last five scores are now 81, 93, 97, 82, and 95. I would love to just go out and put together a couple of 86s or 87s instead of these giant fluctuations. My problem today was the return of the fat shots from the fairway, and some ugly short game shots. I was still trying to use my "easier swing with more club" method, but I still found myself turning sod way to often. Oh well...my index is back to 18.1 which matches my lowest ever. Guess I'll just enjoy the hell out of those few flashes of brilliance and live with the bad days. I had one real long drive today--something like 300 yards! I hit a low pull on #10 which went out into the street, rolled down the road while slowly moving towards the median, then bounced off the median and ended up in bounds leaving me about a 70 yard pitch to the green. So I then hit a 30 yard pitch shot. And so it went. :-( |
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January 16 - The Top Ten Courses You Shouldn't Even THINK About Playing! |
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If you've ever read either of the big two golf monthly magazines, you've seen the various articles on courses with titles like "The Top Ten Courses That You Can Play." They then proceed to describe these fantastic golf courses that I will never play. Sorry, but a paycheck-to-paycheck guy like me isn't going to be forking out the cash for Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straights, etc. So it brought a smile to my face to see the latest issue of Golf Digest (Feb) and their article on Louisiana golf. One of the courses they featured was The Bluffs at Thompson Creek which just happens to be a course I played last month while on a trip home to New Orleans for a wedding. It's an Arnold Palmer course with some really interesting holes. Here's one excerpt from the article: "If any Louisiana course comes close to the ambiance and appeal of a laid-back resort like North Carolina's Pinehurst, it's The Bluffs at Thompson Creek. Architecturally, there's nothing like it anywhere else in America, which makes it worth the journey." Also.. "...a collection of gorgeous, challenging golf holes, perhaps the best of any Palmer design. The standout is the 543-yard ninth, with high and low dual fairways offering two ways to play the hole." There's a picture of the ninth in the magazine (page 87 if you happen to pick it up while waiting for a prescription at the drug store). The low portion of the fairway is to the left and offers a more direct path to the green; however, going that way brings water into play. I played it safe and took the high road. The only downside was that we played it the day after some heavy rains so some of the fairways were a bit soggy. But, hey! I actually got to play a course featured in one of the glossy golf mags. It was a nice change from my $9 green fee on the ole Navy course! |
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In the Wintertime (apologies to Ray Davies and The Kinks) I normally tee off at daybreak every Sunday morning but after watching the weather forecast Friday night, I decided to get my round in on Saturday instead. The choice was between playing in low winds with a temperature near 80ºF, or bundling up and playing in 40 degree weather with a wind chill in the low 30s. No brainer, eh? I got off to a heck of a start--even par after four holes. I bogeyed the first and then sank a pitch from 10 yards off the green for a par on #2. On #3 I tried a bump and run with a 7 iron from 40 yards out and bounced it off the flag stick and made the par putt. On #4 I had another pitch over a bunker and damn if I didn't sink that one as well. Unfortunately I cooled off a little by getting doubles on 6 and 8, both the results of hitting some really bad second shots after a decent drive. I had some nice up and downs on the back, made a couple of long putts including a 14-15 footer for birdie. This was the first time I had two birdies in one round. That's fairly significant considering I can go months without getting ONE. So once again I sniffed a sub-80 round but it wasn't to be. Coming off the green on the second hole, I commented to my son about how beautiful a day it turned out to be. That when I thought of the Kinks song "Sunny Afternoon. The lyrics include the line "Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon" but I turned it into a comment on the day's weather and was singing "Blazing on a Sunny Afternoon" the rest of the round. |
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It's very rare that a weekend goes by without me getting in a round; however; I was sick Thursday and Friday with flu-like symptoms. I'm feeling better today but I still find myself in a TD state (TD = tissue dependent). I could probably find room in my bag to stash a couple boxes of Kleenex but I just assume fully recover and try again next week. Besides my wife is suffering from the same thing only she's two days behind me in symptom development--my turn to play nurse. With the up and down nature of my game lately maybe this will work out for the better. After last week's 81 I'm due for a score in the mid 90s this week. So I'll just skip it and try to threaten 80 again next week! :-) |
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Well, in my January 16th entry, I bemoaned my"feast or famine" results and longed for an 86 or 87. I got my wish yesterday when I shot an 86. I got off to a fast start--beautiful first drive, wedge to 10 feet, made the birdie putt. I followed it up with three pars before going bogey, double, double, double, bogey. The doubles came from a variety of mistakes--a drive yanked OB, a skulled pitch, a three putt, etc. It was really annoying after to do that after getting off to such a great start. The back nine was a little more steady--only one double. What I actually wrote a couple weeks ago was that I would like to put up a couple of mid 80's socres in consecutive weeks. We'll see what happens next week! |
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Two Sundays ago I got off to a great start. I birdied the first hole and made par on the next two. I found myself standing on the #4 tee having taken only 12 strokes. Fast forward to this past Sunday. This time I found myself standing on the #4 tee preparing to take my 23rd stroke of the round. I tripled the first three holes and did it by screwing up almost every way imaginable: worm burners off the tee on #1 and #2 and a low slice OB on #3; chunked approach shots on all three holes; back to back chunked shots on two holes; chili-dipped and bladed chip shots. You name it--I did it. I just could not seem to hit a solid golf shot! The only thing I didn't do was three-putt. I finally played a decent hole by hitting a green in regulation on #4 and two putting for par; however, that was my last par of the day. My play on #7 was typical of my day's effort. This is a short hole but it has a 100º dogleg right. Some people try to drive the green but it's a high-risk move. Pull it and you're in the pond that guards the front of the hole. Push it or hit it short and you're OB. So I try to hit the fairway running perpendicular to the tee box and leave myself an 8-iron or so into the green. But I yanked my tee shot left leaving me in the rough about 210 to the green and needing 175 to carry the water hazard. I decided to play it smart. I knew I was having a real bad day trying to make solid contact so I hit an easy pitching wedge figuring I'd end up at the 100-yard marker and have another PW into the green. Well I hit a perfect little wedge and was set all set to come away with no worse than bogey. So much for my strategic planning. I tried to hit the same exact wedge shot again but this time I hit it fat and sent another Noodle to a watery grave. I dropped and hit from the same place. This time I hit a low liner that hit just before the green and ended up 15 yards off the back. A chip and a two-putt later and I had my snowman. It was just that kind of day. The back nine wasn't nearly as bad but I was still mixing in bogeys and doubles. When I got to 18, I knew I needed a par to avoid the ignominy of posting a three-digit score. But 18 is the longest par 4 on the course and one I rarely par. I got off to a good start by hitting my best drive of the day. I had a 7 iron from just inside the 150-yard pole. For my third shot I had a nine iron from 120 yards right next to the cart path on the right side of the fairway (you can fill in the missing data). Yanked the 9 iron into a greenside bunker. I didn't hole out from the sand. Final tally - OUT 54, IN 47 for a total of...of...of...AAAARRGHHHHHH!! I can't do it!!! :-) An apology. I know there are folks out there who are still struggling to break 100 and are feeling NOOOO sympathy for poor old Dave. I can appreciate that--I was there once as is just about everyone who takes up this crazy game. So I'm sorry for whining. I just have to get it out of my system and move on. I guess this is just part of the life of the once-a-week golfer who rarely practices. Feces occurs! Hopefully I'll get out on the course next Sunday and get another chance to moan about scoring another 81 and wondering if I'll ever break 80! I love this game. I hate this game. |
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A nice recovery today from last week's disasterous round. I shot an 87 (45/42) but it should have been a lot better. Unlike last week, my full swing was working pretty well. My tee shots were solid even if they did leak right. I was hitting some decent fairway shots with everything from a 5-wood to a wedge, and getting in the vicinity of the green in regulation. But on a few holes my short game just went bonkers. It took me three shots to get out of a bunker on #2 (I actually flew it out on the second attempt but it landed on a bank and rolled back in). On #6 I was within 25 yards in two but I chili-dipped a little pitch and then followed that up by blading my wedge over the green. Another poor chip and a three-putt and I had a snowman. I had at least two instances where I had easy opportunities for an up&down par but blew it. All in all, I easily left enough short game shots out there to break 80. The irony is that I actually went out and practiced my short game yesterday for the first time in ages, and I thought I was doing quite well. But part of my problem is that our practice facility just does not allow you to duplicate what you find on our course. The greens are all elevated with mounds all around, and our chipping green is a flat, little circle. But that doesn't preclude me from practicing enough to eliminate the chili-dips and bladed shots. Oh well, at least I enjoyed the good ball striking and I'll take an 87--thank you very much! I showed up to the course as a single today. The last remaining member of my regular foursome had foot surgery Friday and will be out for six to seven weeks. Fortunately my timing was right and I was able to join a threesome consisting of a gentleman my age with his son and son-in-law. We had a good time despite the fact that after leaving the clubhouse following a short break at the turn, we found ourselves playing behind a fivesome. I was glad I was walking--it made my waits a little shorter. My latest USGA index of 16.9 was posted today making my course handicap 17. It's the lowest it's been in the five years I've been playing. I'm still quite capable of shooting a score much higher than that index woudl indicate, but at least I'm headed in the right direction. Finally, today was a perfect example of the benefits of living in south Texas. We had a beautiful day--breezy but lots of sunshine. This would have been a good Ernie Banks day!!! |
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Guess it's time for an entry despite the fact that I haven't played since my last one. Last weekend was a washout. It started raining around 4am Saturday morning and didn't stop until late in the evening. Our course doesn't drain very well (despite being built on sandy soil) so it was shut down Sunday as well. We had more rain this weekend but I probably wouldn't have played anyway. I woke up Friday morning with a very stiff left knee. I don't know if I strained it playing racquetball or perhaps on the elliptical trainer at the fitness center. At any rate, I think I'll need to rest the knee awhile to make sure it doesn't get worse. One thing I don't like about the inactivity is that I have been doing well on my weight loss program as of late. This is going to make it tough. I'll have to cut back on the intake side to make up for it and that ain't easy for me. |
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(NOTE: This is a cut and paste from a rec.sport.golf post so I ended up with the double spacing and I'm too damn lazy right now to fix it. Maybe later).
We had a beautiful day so I just had to get in some golf. I headed to the course with my socks and shins still showing the evidence of a half hour spent with a grass trimmer. The one remaining member of my old foursome is still on the disabled list after foot surgery. My son is spending his weekend on dispatching duty. So I headed out as a single hoping to catch on with a group that was short a fourth. I really didn't want to play alone as those tend to end up as practice rounds where I drop extra balls and practice around the greens. I wanted to get in a "stipulated round" and shoot for a true score.
Things didn't look good when I rolled my cart up to the clubhouse. There was a foursome on the tee and no others in site. The back looked wide open so I started to head that way. After I crossed the street I noticed a threesome headed to the first tee. So I did an about face and asked if they minded if I joined them. No problem. Well, actually there was a problem. Their golf bags all looked identical. Then I noticed they all had the same clubs including a genuine imitation Bullseye putter. Uh-oh. Rental clubs. Then the oldest of the trio announced that he hasn't played in ages and this is the first time out for his teenage sons. My first instinct was to head back over to #10 but I thought what the hell--I'll just play my game and if it takes too long I'll just punch out after nine.
Well dear old dad wasn't kidding. The pattern was quickly established. I'd hit a pretty good drive then slowly work my was towards my ball as they use one, two, or three strokes to catch up. But after leaving #2 I didn't see anyone behind us and the four in front of us were starting to get away, so I figured I won't worry about it and just enjoy the nice day. And it was enjoyable because I was hitting the ball well. I opened par, bogey, par, par with two GIR and some real nice approach shots. But while my playing partners were busy blading the ball back and forth across the green at #4, there was a twosome waiting in the fairway to hit. So after we all hit our tee shots on the par 3 fifth. I suggested letting the twosome play through. The twosome was grateful and the first guy hit his tee shot doing a great impersonation of Charles Barkley. The other guy hit his worm burner but at least they were both past the ladies tees--two of my partners hadn't gone that far yet.
I was standing off to the left contemplating how long this was going to take when I noticed the twosome wasn't hitting. They were waiting for what looked like a 10 year old kid to hit from the red tees. The little lefty had a beautiful swing and put one within five feet of the cup. But then I noticed he was pulling his little cart up to the green by himself. He was a single!! A single, playing through a twosome, playing through a foursome. I walked up to the my ball (left of the green) and put that sucker in my pocket. I wished my partners good luck and told them I was going to see if I could play the back nine.
I had to pass #9 on the way to the back so I played it--short par 3. My tee shot landed on the front of the green leaving me a 45 foot putt for birdie. I hit it, watched it make a couple of small breaks before disappearing in the cup. I made a little fist pump (more of a Phil pump than a Tiger pump) and quickly surveyed my surroundings to see if anyone saw my great putt. Of course not. I walked over to #10 and saw four in the fairway and two waiting on the tee with young kids behind the wheel in their carts. I decided it was time to head home. Damn shame--I was hitting the ball well and I sure would have liked to have played a full round. One over for the five holes I completed. Don't know what I'll do tomorrow. |
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Things went a lot better today. This time when I got to the course there was a threesome just getting ready to go out. They were all pretty decent golfers and good guys--I had a great time. The weather was beautiful! The official high for Corpus Christi today was 94ºF! My course is on the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi which sits right on Corpus Christi Bay so it didn't get quite that hot. We did, however, have to contend with some rather blustery winds which is normal this time of year (and most of the year for that matter). I had a so-so day. Two pars and two doubles on the front--four doubles and one par on the back. My bad shots came in lots of forms. I chunked a couple from the fairway or light rough, and hit a few bad chips. The one thing that doesn't show up on the scorecard was that I was probably less than a foot away from shooting 86 instead of a 92. I had six putts that stopped within two inches of the cup. At least two were a half-revolution away from falling in. I think I was a little gun shy after running a putt by the hole by four feet on the first hole. On a couple of those I was thinking "no way this is going to be short, dammit" but sure 'nuff---I left 'em laying on the lip. Oh well. I'm OK. I saw some footage on TV today of some folks up north shoveling snow, and here I am playing golf in 80 degree weather.
God Bless Texas! |
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I went in to work early today so I could get out in time to make a 1:30 tee time with my son. It was a nice, sunny day although there was a fairly stiff wind blowing. I got off to a fairly decent start--a nice drive and then an iron that hit the green then rolled off the back. The front nine was all downhill from there. It took two chips to get on the green and I still had a long putt for bogey--walked off with a double. The second and third holes were more of the same. I got near the green in regulation but then hit some terrible chips/short pitches. The par 3 fifth was the killer. I hit my tee shot low and it hit the bank in front of the green, and then rolled Valderama style back into the water. I moved up to the drop zone and then chunked a pitching wedge sending yet another ball to a watery grave. Finally got on the green with my next shot and two-putted for the seven. I hit a great drive on #6--cut off a chunk of the dogleg and ended up right in the middle about 70 yards out. The wind was howling across the green so I decided to hit a bump and run with my 7-iron. But I hit the thing to damn well and ended up running over the green. I had to get up over a mound from a bare lie. I bladed that sucker back across the green. More of the same on #7 and #8--near the green in regulation but I just couldn't do a damn thing after that. Part of the problem is that although our greens are in pretty good shape, the rest of the grassy areas are in bad shape. Lots of tight lies on fairly hard ground around the greens. That makes for some tough shots. I did manage to bogey #9 to come in at an even 60. The back went much better. I was hitting the ball better and I actually got to chip from some areas with grass! When I did have a bare lie and nothing in the way, I resorted back to an old friend--the Slippery Frog. I made some good shots with it, and I managed to sink a couple of six-foot putts for par. I only had one double on the back and that came when my drive ended up in a waste area and slid a wedge right under the ball in that crap. But I ended up with a 42 for the back which made the drive home much better than it would have been if I had left after the front nine! I desperately need to find some time to work on my short game. Hopefully with the advent of Daylight Savings Time I'll have more opportunity to get to the chipping green.
When I walked into the clubhouse today, the latest index printout
was posted. I went from a 16.9 to a 16.7. Yet I've shot in triple
figures twice in the last month. I'm not sure when the next club
championship is but I sure wouldn't want to play with a 17 handicap
the way I'm playing now!! |
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Yea it will. I'm about ready for the golfing straight jacket right about now. As I've written before, I have a hard time getting any practice in. But last Saturday I made it out to the course for a good session that included some chipping practice as well as working on the full swing. That full swing stuff was some of the best I've ever done on the range! I started with a pitching wedge and then worked my way up to longer clubs. Then I started playing simulated holes so it wasn't a matter of grooving my swing with a particular club. Everything was going straight or a slight fade/draw. The main swing thought I had was trying to be fluid in the transition--no jerky hitting from the top. I also thought in terms of 80% effort instead of coming out of my shoes on every swing. The results were spectacular! I couldn't wait to play the next day but we had a huge storm that night, and that meant the back nine was out of commission. I didn't feel like playing on just the sloppy front so I had to wait. Yesterday evening I headed back to the range and had a repeat of last week's session. I walked off the range feeling I had really found my swing, and I couldn't wait to play today.
I should have waited. It wasn't as bad as last week but I still had a lousy front nine. I couldn't come close to duplicating the shots I was making on the range during those two outings. I hit some really poor tee shots including putting yet another in the water on #5. I didn't make a single par to offset the three doubles. Again, not terrible scoring like the 60 of two weeks ago, but I was so disappointed by my ball striking. It looked like I was turning things around on the back. I bogied #10 but then scored four straight pars. My tee shot on the par 3 11th left me with a 10 foot birdie putt that I just missed. On #12, I hit a 7 wood from the right rough about 185 that set me up for an 8 foot birdie putt which I lipped out. I managed up&downs for par on 13 and 14 and was feeling pretty good. I was finally stiking the ball well and hitting some decent chips. It's too bad I didn't check the lug nuts at that point because the wheels came off. After four straight pars I had four straight doubles to finish with a bogey back nine. Again it was a combination of several things that in each instance left me with a difficult short game shot. I've decided I'm not going to play tomorrow. Instead I'm going to head over to one of the city munis that has a good short game area where I can practice some off the shots that have been hurting me lately. It's not a perfect match for our course (no huge mounds around the greens) but I can at least work on longer chips that require longer carries than I can duplicate on my home course chipping green. With the way my scores are going lately, I think it's safe to assume that my USGA index will be heading back up after hitting an all time low as of Mar 1, 2005. I'll document this for posterity:
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Time for a little catch up. It's been three weeks since my last entry (sounds like I'm going to confession). It started because I had a total weekend off from golf. My wife and I took our grandkids to San Antonio to attend a birthday party for their cousin. So I ended up going two weeks without playing. But I did do something quite out of the ordinary. I actaully made it to the range three times during that period to work on my full swing, as well as getting in a couple of putting and chipping sessions. Things went really well on the range as I felt I found something that really helped. Now this isn't something new--I remember posting it to rec.sport.golf several years ago. What I did was throttle back my swing somewhat and really concentrate on tempo. I was trying to feel like I was just making a seemless, flowing motion in the transition from back swing to down swing. And as long as I did that, I was hitting great shots. The moment I got out of rythm and fell back into "hitting from the top" then the quality of impact decreased. So that was my only swing thought during the last couple of sessions. Between shots I would hum part of "An der schönen blauen Donau” Op.314" (aka The Blue Danube Waltz) to help me feel the rythm I was trying to achieve. But then it was time to put it to the test. Would this be just another driving range epiphany that fizzled once taken to the course? Last Sunday (April 10) the Naval Air Station where I normally play was hosting an airshow. I didn't feel like messing with the crowds trying to get in the gate so we played at a nearby semi-private course. The condition of this course is known to run from bad to mediocre with the greens always a question mark. We definitely caught it on the downside of the cycle. It made our little Navy track look great in comparison. HOWEVER, my driving range sessions definitely paid off. I had one of my best ball striking rounds in some time. A normal round for me might include one or two greens in regulation. That day I had six!! And when I did miss the green, I was usually pretty close. That's the good news. The bad news was that my short game that day, especially my putting, was atrocious. The greens have a lot more slope than ours and they were what I would desribe as "bumpy fast." Usually I think of fast greens as being true, but not in this case. At any rate, I had a bunch of three putts, partially because my chipping was off and left me with long first putts that should have been much closer to start with. I ended up with a 91 but I was real happy with my ball striking and left feeling pretty good. We all swore, however, that it would be a cold day in hell before we came back to play this course. Yesterday we returned home to the Gulf Winds Golf Course for a late morning round. I had another round of good ball striking as I again concentrated on keeping that smooth transition going. It wasn't quite as good as the week before but I still played well. I kept visiting the Blue Danube trying to keep it going. Unfortunately, my short game again sabatoged the round. I took a snowman on one hole after taking three shots to get out of a bunker, and had some doubles mainly resulting from poor chipping. The turf around our greens is really drying up, and I am just not very proficient at chipping of off real tight lies. I again went back to running the ball up with a utility club with mixed results. Unlike last week, however, my putting was pretty good. I'm now using a belly putter and I made a few in the four to eight foot range, and only had one three putt despite having some long first putts! I ended up with a 90 which surprised me considering how may strokes I threw away. But I feel pretty good about how things are going. I just need to get out there and practicing chipping of crappy lies! |
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The way things had been going lately, I was wondering if I was ever going to break 90 again. It seems I was screwing up in every way possible. But today I finally managed to put some shots together, and despite a terrible stretch where I was plus seven over four holes, I still managed an 88. I got off to a great start--nice drive down the middle with a little draw, nine iron to the fringe, a so-so chip followed by a 10-foot par putt. I continued to strike the ball well for most of the front but I lost a few strokes on the short game. I had two three-putt bogies, and missed a 4 foot birdie putt; however, I had some nice up & downs for par. My driving was going well until I hit driver on #8. I hit my first monster slice of the day, and it wouldn't be my last. I finished the front with a 42 which could have been at least three strokes lower with some halfway decent lag putts. I started the back with a bogey, followed by three doubles. Two were par fours where I hit big slices off the tee, and the others were par threes where I just screwed up the short game. As I walked up to the tee on #14, I announced the following: "I don't give a shit if this next shot only goes 100 yards, I'm not going to slice this f%$^king drive!" I took a relavtively easy swing with a short back swing. To use a baseball analogy, instead of trying to hit a home run or drive the ball into the gap, I simply tried to hit a line drive over second base. This resulted in a solid, square impact, and with our dry fairways, I ended up with a 210 yard drive up the middle. I had similar results on every remining hole, and I played the remaining five holes three over. All of those bogies were tap-ins. It will be interesting to see what happens if I employ this strategy over 18 holes. I'm going to try it next week and see how it goes. I would love to just crank back and wallop the ball with my driver, but as long as I'm playing 99% of my golf on my home course with it's firm fairways, it makes sense to just get it in play. Besides, square contact alone can produce some reasonable distance compared to the glancing blows I sometimes produce. Meanwhle I need to get my butt out to the practice green! By the way, we had a really beautiful day to play. We've gone back to our sunrise tee time and this time of year is perfect for that!!
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I had my best outing in several weeks today--OUT in 42 and IN in 43. I had one birdie and one triple--everything else was either par or bogey. But the recount of today's round requires a prequel. Last week I tried a greatly reduced driver swing to keep the ball in the fairway. I was discussing this in rec.sport.golf, and I got a suggestion from Mark "Tex" Koenig to try choking down 2-3 inches and take a 3/4 swing. I stopped at the range on the way home from work to try it out with a small bucket worth of range rocks. I ended up walking off the range 30 minutes later with a huge smile on my face. I was amazed at how far I was able to hit the ball with this very compact swing. I was probably only flying the ball 180-200 yards, but on our firm fairways, a ball hit on the screws is going to run. On the REALLY dry driving range, I had balls getting out past the 250 yard sign, and I was hitting into a 15mph wind! Everything was either straight or a little draw--no sign of anything going right. So I was really anticipating a good tee game this morning. I didn't get off to a very good start. My drives on both of the first two holes were low shots that started off right and then started turning. The good news was that neither was off the monster slice variety and I was still in pretty decent shape as far as having a shot at the green. But then after hitting a pretty decent tee shot on #3, I hit the tee shot I was looking for on #4. I flew it about 200 yards or so with a little draw, and then that sucker ran like the Energizer Bunny! I ended up about 10 yards off the green, and got up and down for a birdie. I was whooping it up and accepting some high fives from my playing partners. The Golf Godz apparently thought I was over the top with my celebration and immediately assessed a penalty--a triple bogey six on the next hole. My tee shot hit the bank of the elevated green and rolled back into the water. I yanked my wedge from the drop zone and ended up on the back side of a grass bunker on a rather steep down slope. I butchered that one out and two putted for my triple. The good news is that was my last "other" of the day. Every hole from that point resulted in either a par or a bogey. The three-quarter driver worked fairly well on the back. Technically I hit six fairways but one was a bit of a worm burner, and a couple turned right on me and stayed just in the short grass but rather short. I only hit three that resembled the shots I was hitting on the range Friday. But I think the idea shows promise and I'm going to keep working on it. One bit improvement area today was the short game. I spent two practice sessions prior to today where I concentrated on using the "putting with loft" method for chip shots. Saturday I went to the nearby muni to take advantage of their practice area to see how far I could expand my range using this method. I've always abandoned it once I got more that five yards off the green, but I found out by practicing that this can be a good method much further out. So that's what I did today with some decent results. I had a couple of kick-in up & downs, and two others where I had to make putts inside of four feet. I even had a sand save for par! That was great considering that twice in the last two weeks I took three swings to get out of a bunker. Finally, I made a switch in putting technique. When I built the putter I'm currently using, I did so thinking I would use it as my version of the hAMMY putter--the one where you somewhat simulate a hockey stick shot. When I finished building it, I discovered that it was just the right length for a belly putter. I tried using it that way but I was making too many three putts to my liking. So today I switched back to what I had originally intended and I was happy with the result. I made two putts over ten feet, and had NO three putts. I did miss a couple short ones but I think I'll do better with that with more practice. But I was very satisfied with my distance control on longer putts. I'm going to stay with this method awhile. So all-in-all, a nice Sunday morning! |
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Well, once again I find myself in catch-up mode. I've played three rounds since my last entry but they didn't occur on three weekends. Back on Friday the 13th, there was a huge "employee appreciation" day at the Corpus Christi Army Depot which included food and activities out by the bay front. My boss gave me a little wink of the eye and told me to enjoy myself at the festivities. I teed off at 1:30! My memory is a little fuzzy but as I recall, I wasn't hitting the ball particularly well and ended up with a 94. So much for my theory that I would play better if I could play more in the afternoon instead of the first thing in the morning. I played much better Sunday morning and scored an 85. I missed some fairly short putts--our greens were deteriorating fast. I didn't play at all the following weekend because I spent a total of 16 hours standing on the deck of a swimming pool officiating an age-group meet. I hated giving up my Sunday round of golf but I feel pretty good about helping out some kids that are doing something constructive. It was just Herman and I teeing off at 6:45 this morning. I was pretty happy with my round considering I hadn't touched a club in two weeks. I had two pars and seven bogies on the front. A lot of those bogies came when I had fairly good opportunities for saving par but the short game just wasn't up to it. The greens are still recovering from aeration so I had to chip it close to score and in most cases I didn't. It also didn't help that we were playing "chase the sprinklers." On several holes, the sprinklers were going on the green as we got to the tee. I didn't do as well on the back-two pars and three doubles (including both par 3s). But again, most of the lost stokes were from poor short game shots. But with school out and the grandkids off visiting relatives for two weeks, I hope to get in some quality practice this week and get those wedges working!! |
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Today was the round that almost wasn't. It started raining late Saturday evening and continued on and off all night. It never really rained very hard but there are a few holes on the home course (especially on the back nine) that don't seem to handle much water. When my alarm went off at 6am, it was still drizzling and there were some flashes of lightning and low rumbles of thunder. I just assumed that there was no way we were going to go off at our 6:45 tee time so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Later in the morning I called the clubhouse and asked if the back nine survived the storm. The course manager basically replied, "What are you talking about?" It turns out that they barely got a sprinkle! So a couple of phone calls later I had an 11:00am tee time. I know that in my case, I'm much better off if I head to the course with no expectations; however, after posting the 88 Sunday I was really hoping that I could manage back-to-back sub-90 rounds. But, alas, it wasn't to be. On the front nine Sunday, I had two pars and seven bogies--nothing close to a "blow up" hole. Today was a different story. I made par on #1, a double on #2, a sand-save for par on #3, and then bogies on #4 and #5. I then hit my tee shot on #6 two feet on the wrong side of the OB stakes. Five strokes later I had a triple. Next hole is a short par 4 with a 100-degree dogleg right. I hit my 31º Snake Eyes hoping to just get it in the middle and have an unobstructed second shot to the green. But damn if I didn't hit a quacker that left me sitting in the rough with trees and water between the green and me. At this point, the prudent play would have been to wedge it out to the fairway near the turn of the dogleg and leave myself with a 8 or 9 iron to the green for my third. But noooooo--I pulled out the 5 wood and decided to cut the dogleg. It just got more ugly from there but I eventually did have a nice up and down to save that snowman! I salvaged the side somewhat by making par on the last two holes. The back nine was a bogie fest--six straight to start including a 3-putt on the first par 3 after my first GIR of the day. I was also about 25 yards off the green in two on the first par 5, but managed to botch my short game and turn a reasonable chance for a birdie into a bogey. I finally got a par on the par 5 16th with three good shots and a birdie putt that burned the edge. My shot of the day came on the next hole. I hit a really poor tee shot and was still at least 200 yards out (more like 250 following the dogleg). I had a good lie so I took out my 5 wood and attempted to get it somewhere in front of the green. This is a hole where as long as you are in front there is no problem chipping or pitching at the flag. It's a narrow green but fairly deep front to back. But if you end up on the right side there are all kinds of potential problems-trees, sand, and large mounds. So sure enough I pushed that 5-wood and ended up in a waste area that serves as a retention pond for rain run off. The turf is comprised of crusty sand with a smattering of weeds and I invariably chunk any shot I hit from there. So for my third shot I was sitting about 30 yards off the green with a couple of trees in front of me. Beyond that was a large mound with a sand bunker carved into the side. I had about twenty-five feet of green to work with, and all I could see was the top half of the flagstick. So I hit my pitching wedge using my putting-stroke technique and popped it up over all the trouble and on to the green. I didn't get to see the result but one of my playing partners said it hit and almost went in before coming to a stop six feet past the cup. I sank the putt for the par! That felt great considering I saw the potential for a double as I walked through the crusty crap to get to my ball for that third shot. I finished up with a bogey on #18 for a round of 92. If I had bogied the two blow-up holes on the front, I would have matched Sunday's 88, but then if a frog had wings&ldots;. I have no grandkid watching duties next weekend since they are out of town with their mother. So I may have yet another chance to get in two rounds on the weekend instead of my normal Sunday-only round. Hopefully I'll make it and I will&ldots; Play it one shot at a time. No expectations! |
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Five minutes before teeing off this morning, I was told that my long time golfing partner, Mike Reed, had died at work Friday after suffering a heart attack. To say that I was shocked would be an enormous understatement. I had a long conversation with him a week prior, and we talked about getting together again for a round of golf. Mike had been one of my playing partners for several years until he recently joined another club; however, he still liked to show up once in a while and play the Navy base course. It was tough playing after hearing that news. There wasn't at least one time on every hole where I didn't start thinking about him. Mike was a great guy. He had served in the U.S. Air Force initially as enlisted but eventually was commisioned. We had some great converstaions walking down the fairway telling "war stories." He was my age so we had a lot in common with regards to our military service, and for the most part we shared views on politics. Mike had some strong opinions on a lot of subjects, and he found an outlet by writing a blog (http://www.bunkermulligan.net) that covered host of topics including golf. After our round today, my partner Herman asked me if I flet lucky. I knew immediately what he meant--did I feel lucky to be alive? Herman is over 70 and has reached an age where old friends are starting to go. So he feels fortunate to still be alive and playing golf. But my answer to Herman was no. Mike's death is one of a series of recent events that have me thinking of something other than being lucky. Two weeks ago my father suffered a "mild" stroke. After some testing he's been given the go ahead to resume golfing and going to the "Y" for his workouts. The only effect at this point is that he sometimes finds himself at a loss for words to express ideas. But the doctors are saying his prognosis for a full recovery is good. Last week I found out that an officer that I served under in Korea (another guy my age), and have kept in touch with via the 'net, suffered a serious stroke. He's in a hospital unable to speak and with one side paralyzed. And then on top of this, I get the news about Mike. So I'm not feeling lucky--instead I'm feeling very mortal. And I realize that I've been making a big mistake by thinking in terms of how great things are going to be in the future when I should be relishing the here and now. A couple years ago I showed up to the course without a hat. Mike told me to go grab one out of his truck so I took his 2003 U.S. Open hat, and I've been wearing it ever since. Normally I switch to a wide brim hat this time of year, but tomorrow morning I'll slap on some sunscreen and wear that hat to honor a good friend and a good man. Rest in peace, Mike.
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