2010 Golf

[Philpug]

looking forward to hitting the range soon. I won a "playing lesson" in an auction last year. Should I use it early before I go back to my old habits?

 

[campgottagopee]

looking forward to hitting the range soon. I won a "playing lesson" in an auction last year. Should I use it early before I go back to my old habits?

I would say no, or at least not until you get a few rounds in. This early in the season everything is going to feel "new", strange", "different"...etc. After playing you'll get back to normal (whatever that is) so when you go for your lesson you'll be able to feel the difference in whatever you'll be working on.

 

[riverc0il]

Hit the range today following up a horrid 9 last weekend. Thinking about how one of my favorite shots is a 3/4 lob wedge, my range objective was to work up through my irons just taking 3/4 swings. WOW!!! It takes serious restraint and even though I was trying not to do a full swing. By taking 10% off my shot, I might have lost 10% distance but gained 50% accuracy. A worth while trade off for sure!

I have also been fighting a persistent push to the right. I tried moving the ball more forward in my stance, uncomfortably so. And I dinged a perfect straight long line drive with my 6I... great shot and a great feeling. Redemption from what might have been my worst round since I first started playing last weekend. Ahhhh... there is that feeling again, finally!

 

[campgottagopee]

Hit the range today following up a horrid 9 last weekend. Thinking about how one of my favorite shots is a 3/4 lob wedge, my range objective was to work up through my irons just taking 3/4 swings. WOW!!! It takes serious restraint and even though I was trying not to do a full swing. By taking 10% off my shot, I might have lost 10% distance but gained 50% accuracy. A worth while trade off for sure!

I have also been fighting a persistent push to the right. I tried moving the ball more forward in my stance, uncomfortably so. And I dinged a perfect straight long line drive with my 6I... great shot and a great feeling. Redemption from what might have been my worst round since I first started playing last weekend. Ahhhh... there is that feeling again, finally!

I love the 3/4 or 75% swing thought.....a great drill for that is to go to the range and hit balls at 50%, 60%, 70%, etc, etc, until you find what swing fits you the best....for me I go at 80% pretty much all the time, or should I say when I'm playing good. Most golfers go at the ball waaaaaaay too hard and lose yardage because of it. Smotth and easy wins the race all the time.

 

[riverc0il]

I love the 3/4 or 75% swing thought.....a great drill for that is to go to the range and hit balls at 50%, 60%, 70%, etc, etc, until you find what swing fits you the best....for me I go at 80% pretty much all the time, or should I say when I'm playing good. Most golfers go at the ball waaaaaaay too hard and lose yardage because of it. Smotth and easy wins the race all the time.

Yea, totally. I have been told by others to "relax" but the funny thing I don't feel like I am laying on the sauce or anything with a full swing. My full swing "feels" 3/4ish even though I have video taped it and I almost get the shaft parallel even though I don't feel like I am coming close. But when I do a 3/4 swing, I can totally and completely feel a MAJOR difference between a "swing" versus trying to hit the ball and putting some force into the swing. It is amazing the difference in feel of the swing when I don't load it up all the way... So I bet if I am thinking "3/4" I am probably actually doing a little more than that. Felt right regardless.

 

[campgottagopee]

Yea, totally. I have been told by others to "relax" but the funny thing I don't feel like I am laying on the sauce or anything with a full swing. My full swing "feels" 3/4ish even though I have video taped it and I almost get the shaft parallel even though I don't feel like I am coming close. But when I do a 3/4 swing, I can totally and completely feel a MAJOR difference between a "swing" versus trying to hit the ball and putting some force into the swing. It is amazing the difference in feel of the swing when I don't load it up all the way... So I bet if I am thinking "3/4" I am probably actually doing a little more than that. Felt right regardless.

You bring up a good point, swing vs. hitting. I know for myself if I go at it hard I tend to try and "hit" the ball from the top of my "swing" wich results in that ugly over the top move I'm so good at. ;-)

Harvey Penick said it best---"Just clip it off the tee"

 

[Trekchick]

After my gym workout today went out and hit balls for an hr

I hit the Big Boy (Ping G5) really well as far as accuracy but gave up about 10 yds in distance .. This may be due to a combo of factors: i 've lost 45 lbs , soon will be 67 y/o and my breast bone was split open like a damn chicken for the open heart gig

The hybrids 1.3.5. were right where they were last yr about 200-205 for the #1, 180-190 for the #3 and 150-165 for the #5. Also played with the wedges they seemed ok for early season BUT u gotta work those MONEY clubs all the time

All in all pretty happy with results . I was uncertain what the surgery would do to both distance and accurawqcy and whether or not i 'd have to ALTER my swing because of the chest incision ---

So, Warp Daddy, how's the ticker? Sounds like you've got it going on!!

looking forward to hitting the range soon. I won a "playing lesson" in an auction last year. Should I use it early before I go back to my old habits?

You should see what you can do to instill the old habits so you can challenge yourself, eh?

 

[drjeff]

Good start to the 2010 season today for me! I literally hadn't even picked up a club(let alone hit a ball) since my last round about Thanksgiving time, so I when I stepped onto the 1st tee this AM, my only goal was not to pull any muscles Mid 40's and a 10-15mph wind didn't exactly make the conditions ideal, so I figured that I'd just play off the white tees (makes my course just under 6300 yards) so I woulnd't be tempted to overswing.

I hit the ball solid all round, and that was all I could ask for. Sure there was some rust around the edges, but good solid tee balls, good solid iron shots and a 1/2 way decent putting effort had the score at the end reading 78, with 10 greens hit, 33 putts and 5 fairways hit. All in all I can't complain!

The real fun thing is that over the winter, my course brought in the golf course architect, Roger Rulewich, who did the front 9 at my course that opened up 5 years ago, to give some tree advice to our back 9 nine which was designed by Geoffrey Cornish about 40 years ago and hadn't had much work done on it since. The trees that were taken down (some just because they had gotten too large and really affected how some holes played, and others because they had gotten so tall/thick that keeping grass growing on some tees and greens became a real challenge for our superintendent) really changed the look and playability of some holes, and it was almost like having 3 or 4 new holes to play Can't wait to see what his "master" plan for our back 9 is, especially since my course has about 20 acres that it owns adjacent to the back 9 that could be used for expansion/re-routing!

Let the season begin!

 

[ChileMass]

You bring up a good point, swing vs. hitting. I know for myself if I go at it hard I tend to try and "hit" the ball from the top of my "swing" wich results in that ugly over the top move I'm so good at. ;-)

Harvey Penick said it best---"Just clip it off the tee"

Most of the "famous" swing coaches will tell you that when you get going badly, go back to a 75% swing and it should straighten you out. Then work back up to 90-100%. At least that what I read in the magazines and on line.....:smile:

When I find myself pushing the ball, for me it's not a setup issue, it usually means I am coming into the ball from too far outside and slicing across. It's a constant struggle for me to realize that my swing squares up only if I actively keep my hands inside my swing path. Oh, yeah - and when I remember to slow down as well.......good luck guys!

 

[jaywbigred]

First round of the year on Sunday at our toughest local county course, the very hilly and narrow Warrenbrook. It's also one of those courses where the trees have overgrown its design; holes that were designed to be risk reward holes, e.g. doglegs that dared you to try to cut off the corner...now have trees so tall that no one can cut the corner.

In any event, I expected disaster but was happily surprised when I played the entire round without losing a ball (ha!) and shot 86 with 38-40 putts. Obviously the putting needs to be better, but for not having touched a club since October, I was VERY happy with the way I hit it. I had my fair share of loose shots, but I seemed to miss in the right place; none of them were OB, none in hazards, and I always had some sort of shot. I could easily have broken 80 if I could have made a handful of putts inside 7 feet (I think I went about 1 for 14).

Maybe this will be the season where golf gets less frustrating for me and I don't dread the end of the ski season as much?

 

[drjeff]

Played decent this afternoon - a bit breezy (blowing a steady 10 with gusts to about 20) Shot an 82 with 4 3 putts after hitting 11 greens and 10 fairways and as much as I'd like to blame my putting woes on the micro-aeration they did to 14 of the 18 greens at my course this week, it has way more to do with the rust in my putting mechanics than the surface the ball was rolling on!

So far, so good this golf season!

 

[jaywbigred]

Wow. Played horrible this weekend. So much for that...hopefully got it out of my system.

 

[drjeff]

Good news today - hit the ball really well, putted pretty well and shot a 75

Bad news, that 75 kicked out an 80 from my handicap scores and my handicap index dropped down to a 4.6 and that's likely going to get my butt handed to me when the Men's twi-light league starts at my course next week since that drop kicked me up from 1st flight to champions flight

 

[campgottagopee]

Played Fox Fire up in B-ville yesterday----VERY happy with how I hit the ball up there---Fox Fire is 6900 yards, very tight with O/B on EVERY hole, water, and traps---it's the real deal and to top it off built through a housing/condo complex. Bouncing off all those houses can be kinda cool -----shot an 85, not great score, but hit it the best I have all year---chipping is still the issue uke:

Big tourneys coming up----Have the Pro Scratch Team (pro-am), Willowbrook Ryder Cup and the Fox Fire 2 ball all coming up in the next few weeks!!!! Yee hah---I love golf tourneys!!!:beer:

 

[drjeff]

Shot an 81 today at the home course - hit the ball REAL solid today - just could never figure out the wind (I was playing in between the weather fronts that passed through today) which lead to 3 or 4 airmails of the green on approaches and about a similar number of leaving them 10 yards short - just gusty and swirling wind out of a direction that it usually doesn't come from DEFINITELY had me second guessing my club selection all round on the plus, Taylormade's new Penta TP ball is one really nice ball that just might be my new ball!

 

[Warp Daddy]

glad to see you guys hitting the links !! I'msidelined now with tendonitis in my left shoulder ( Too much lifting and arm machines at too fast a pace according to my pt ) classic overuse crap-- so no golf , no pushups , no arm machines i'm farkin ANTSY to play dammit

 

[midd]

tiger's sticks for sale:

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tour...e-the-irons-woods-used-in-the-tiger-slam.html

 

[drjeff]

Pretty solid round this AM Shot a 77 with a ball into the water hazard off both the 16th and 17th tees Managed to save bogey on both holes - hit solid shots in both cases, but this morning was the 1st real time this year where the combo of some warmish temps and a touch of humidity really had my new favorite ball, the Taylor Made Penta, just jumping off the clubface.

All in all, hit 11 greens, 10 fairways and needed 33 putts (felt like I had 2 or 3 reasonable putts that I could have made that didn't fall, but that's just golf )

I've got my 1st scramble of the year coming up Friday - I figure that should probably royally screw up the real solid swing tempo I've had this season so far :lol:

 

[jaywbigred]

Well, I've had a tough spring, managing 2 rounds and April and 3 so far in May, which is less than 1 per week. I've also only had 2 practice sessions. After a promising first round of the year, I had a string of uber frustrating rounds where I failed to break 90. A lesson with my pro has my tee game on the upswing, but still very inconsistent.

Saturday I had to sink a 12 foot on #9 for bogey to shoot 48 on the front. Then something clicked. I got to the 18th tee at 1 over on the back, and 37 would have either been my best 9 ever or tied it. I had been driving the ball great since the 7th hole, and the 18th at this course is one I love, it sets up well for my draw and to my eye. I was thinking birdie to try to shoot 36, just for the sheer novelty of a 48-36. What do I do? Out of nowhere, I hit a super low screamer (almost a worm burner) into the bank of the water hazard that is right in front of the tee box. It ends 50 yds from the tee box, so its not really even in play as a hazard for that hole, unless you completely screw up, like I did. My ball looks for a second like its going to stick in the high grass, but then it slowly trickles down the bank and into the pond. I wind up with a triple on the hole. UGH. So frustrating.

It has been going like that recently. I did drive the green on a 322 yard par 4 that I've never reached before, but the occasional tape measure drive has been the rare highlight in a mostly frustrating spring. Hopefully I can build off that back 9, the 18th notwithstanding.

 

[riverc0il]

I haven't played since courses started opening up around here. I had played a few rounds, had some terrible rounds (lost 18 balls on a 9 hole course! ), and decided to take some time off. Still happy with my time off. Biking instead of golfing is cheaper and gives me more exercise. Works for me. Not sure if I will pick it up again at this point. It is hard justifying the time and expense on something that is often very frustrating. Not sure if I want to commit the money (lessons, range fees, green fees) and time to getting to a point that I consider it worth while continuing to play.