I Think I'm Onto Something

"It's all about the transition," Bob Torrance said. So I started thinking about it and couldn't say I necessarily disagreed. I went outside to my hitting net and started trying to take it back slow and starting the downswing gradually, thinking that you can't accelerate into the ball if you're swinging as hard as you can as soon as you start the downswing. The only thing you can do is slow down, and we all know that's a killer. One after another the ball jumped off my clubface and smacked into my homemade net. My left wrist felt flat (and long) and powerful going through the ball. Even 4-irons were rocketing off the tee and into orbit. Wow, I think I'm onto something. I can't wait to go hit balls again.

Career Low Round

I shot my career low round today, a 1-over par 73 from the back tees at my home club. In hindsight I didn't do anything extraordinarily well (11 fairways, 10 greens, 29 putts) I just didn't do anything terribly bad either. I had one ugly 3-putt from about 40 feet and a shanked 4-iron approach to the difficult 15th green, otherwise it was just a steady stay-out-of-trouble kind of round. It was that simple, I guess. I hope I can do it again sometime very soon.

Sandbaggin' At The Member/Guest

I recently played in a member/guest at a relative's club and had the exact same experience there that I had the last time I played in it some five years ago. The same people win the tournament every year, according to my relatives, because these people are sandbaggers. My relatives won't even entertain the possibility that these people are good pressure players, or better yet, that they themselves choke under the pressure of playing for "big money". Maybe their $5 saturday morning games haven't prepared them properly for the high stakes of the member/guest. And they certainly won't even think for a minute that maybe the majority of the players in their club who don't win the tournaments are actually reverse-sandbaggers (or vanity handicappers, as we call them) and can't possibly play to their index because, well, they aren't as good as they pretend to be. Now granted, a 5-handicapper who shoots 68 under tournament conditions (tough pins, greens running 11 on the stimpmeter, tees back, etc.) should be thoroughly investigated. But hey, I'm willing to entertain the possibility that this guy has ice-water in his veins and just shot the round of his summer under the greatest of circumstances. Immediately crying "sandbagger" when someone plays well cheapens the experience of competing and thriving in that setting, and I'd hate to think how they (the vanity ones) would feel if they caught lightning in a bottle and played over their heads one day and no one felt the need to congratulate them. Its sad, actually.

Wrong Ball

I hit the wrong ball today for the first time in my young golfing life. We were playing as a six-some and it was cold and rainy. I'm easily the shortest hitter in the group so after we all teed off on the long par-5 7th hole at my club I started walking towards the nearest ball in the fairway. Seeing it wasn't mine I naturally proceeded to the next ball and, trying to keep things moving, quickly went ahead and hit it. Turns out it wasn't my ball that I hit--I had actually out-driven two people in my group and was the 3rd shortest ball in the fairway. Two stroke penalty, I would go on to make a 7 on the hole. Didn't cost my partner any money as he thankfully went ahead and made par (net birdie) to halve the hole for us. But I didn't give us a chance to win the hole either and it was embarrassing to boot. From that point forward I have amended my pre-shot routine to include the question "is this your ball?"

Play Golf

I know it shouldn't bother me so, but I can't help but be annoyed by people who use the word "golf" like its a verb and not the name of a game you play. Do you golf? No, I play golf. Are you golfing today? No, but I plan on playing golf at some point before the sun goes down. I've decided to make it my life's work (among other things) to change the way people talk about the game and get everyone on the same page. You play golf, you don't golf. Everyone got it? You aren't golfing, you're playing golf. Okay, let's move on...

Release The Club

You must release the club to hit good golf shots. Its harder to do then it probably should be but I think I've made a breakthrough in regards to my own game. Instead of trying to release it with the right hand (flipping at the ball) I've started visualizing the back of my left hand "covering the ball" as my hands pass through the hitting area. Try it sometime--think "cover the ball with the back of my left hand" as you take the club back and then accelerate through the hitting area. Its working for me.

My First Hole-Out From The Fairway

I holed out from the fairway for an eagle-two on a par 4 for the first time in my life tonight. I was playing by myself in a light rain (did it really happen?) as I drove wildly to the left of the fairway on the short par 4 13th hole at my home course. Thinking I could do better, I drove again and watched as my ball sailed well to the right this time. I walked to my first ball and saw that I'd gotten a nice carom off the trees, leaving myself with a side-hill lie in light rough approximately 150 yards from the center of the green. Unsure of where the pin actually was, I decided to hit a 6-iron and hope for the best. The shot came off pretty well and I watched as it bounced on the front of the green and started rolling towards the flag. Unfortunately, I decided to go and locate my second ball before the first one stopped rolling and when I got to my second tee shot I looked at the green and could no longer see my ball. It was at this moment that I realized I must have holed my approach and couldn't wait to get my second ball to the green. Sure enough, some three shots later, I found myself on the surface and went and looked in the cup and there she was, my first ball! What fun--I sure am glad I didn't quit after making my first birdie of the young season on the 9th hole some hour or so earlier.