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How has your season been?


Jeepthrills
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I know theres still golf to play, but here in Michigan, we are in the time of year when you never know if it could be your last round for the year. With my league done, I only get to play regularly on Sundays now. The weather can get dicey and It's very easy to go a few weeks without playing. Last year, I played into early December and the weather would have allowed for me to play in January and March. Unfortunately the schedule would not allow it.

So, here's my year in review: I am ranking them on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (very good) based on my game not a PGA pro.

Driving: Replaced my 8* Nike with a 9.5* Titleist. Picked up distance and accuracy. I was able to get back out to the 300 yard range again. Also eliminated many of the big bananas. Score: 4

Irons: Replaced my 3 Iron with a Hybrid. I absolutely love it. I use it off the tee, in the rough and from the fairway. I will be getting the 2 and 4 irons soon. I was very inconsistent with my 5-9 irons this year. Distance control was a big issue. Score: 3

Fairway Woods: I only carry a 3 wood and I replaced my graphite 970 with a steel 980 this year. I didn't lose any distance and my shot dispersion was tighter. However, many of the courses I play don't call for it too often and I hit the Hybrid pretty well, so it sat in the bag a lot. Score: 3

Wedges: I added a 58* at the begining of the year and it worked well in the limited oppertunities I had to use it. In July I added a 52* Gap wedge and it paid off right away. I was able to stop the ball without it releasing and runnig too far. That was always a big problem for me. I holed out with it from 90 yards this year. I struggled badly with the distace control in August but it has come arround the last two weeks. Score: 3.5

Chipping: The 52* was huge here as well. I had always chipped with my PW, but it would release and too often I was past the hole. The opposite is true now. I occasionally stop well short now. Inconsistency due to lack of playing. Score: 3

Putting: I replaced my 12 year old Ping with a Scotty Cameron. It took a lot of getting used to on the lag putts. In fact, I considered carrying two putters at one point until I got used to it. It came arround and I have had one of my better years with the putter. The biggest problem I have had is with the short ones. I occasionally hit them too hard. Score: 4

Overall: It was an up and down year for me. I played way less than any year in the last ten. I started by trying to practice at least once a week and that helped early. The schedule got crazy and my mid day trip to the range was out the window. As a result, I lacked consistency. My scoring reflected that. I nver had any really bad rounds, but I never had any really good ones. The best could muster for 9 was a +6 (5 times on 3 courses). I did play some of my best golf in scrambles this year. I added/replaced several clubs this year. Score: 3
Driver: 9.5° 905R Stiff Aldila NV 65
3 Wood: 15.° Pro Trajectory 906F4 Stiff Aldila VS Proto Blue
Hybrid: 19.0° 503 H Stiff Dynamic Gold S400
Hybrid: 21.0° Edge C.F.T. Ti Stiff Aldila NVS
Irons: 775cb 4-GW w/S300 Sand Wedge: Vokey 58° Puttter: Laguna Mid-Slant Pro PlatinumBall: ProV1Bag: Li...
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So, here's my year in review: I am ranking them on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (very good) based on my game not a PGA pro.

This is a good idea, so I'll chip in too. I have about a month left in my season, I figure, ending with the Newport Cup in a month.

Driving: Replaced my 983K with a 905S. Same degree loft, same shaft. Much better ball flight and so much more forgiving it's ridiculous. The taller face virtually eliminated my biggest miss, the pop-up. I struggled mid-season with my driving, but that was largely a result of having a "lazy" swing (see separate thread on that). Score: 4 Irons: Replaced 2I with a hybrid. It does a great job. My iron play has improved dramatically. I've really learned to hit a lot more shots, including some previously funny ones (off a downhill lie, etc.). I almost never hit a full shot inside of 150 yards anymore, and my distance control has really been good this year. My game from 100 yards (that distance) is great - I get up and down about 1/2 of the time from that distance. I still had that bad section during the "lazy" days but I've really come on strong lately, and I think that combined with what I've learned, I've improved a good bit in this area. Score: 4 Fairway Woods: I replaced my 980F with a 904F and later, in testing, an r7 FW wood. Both have helped a lot, and as the only wood I carry (a 3-wood), I've used it off the tee and from the fairway. My misses have been very, very playable this year so I've gotta give myself a decent score. Score: 4 Wedges: I was great with my wedges early in the year because when it's April, the course is deserted. I'd drop balls all around a green inside of 100 yards and just play with my wedges. Now, and until they build the short game area at my course, I have no idea how far some of my wedges go on half or 3/4 swings. It's really gotten bad because I maybe hit one or two shots like that per round and always from very different conditions, so I can't build up a library of numbers for myself. I really hope they get the short-game area done for next year. I still get up and down fairly often, but that's largely due to solid putting. Score: 2 Chipping: It's been okay. My course isn't much of a chipping course - more of a pitching course, with lots of slopes, small greens, and tucked pins. When I've had to pitch I've done so pretty well. Score: 3 Putting: I finally replaced my 10-year-old Ray Cook M1-X with a Scotty Cameron Red X at the end of last year. I've rolled in crucial putts when I've had to and always been around the hole. Nearly every putt I've hit this year has had a chance to go in, so that's all I can ask. It's been one of my strengths and the reason why I could maintain a decent handicap even when striking the ball poorly. Score: 5 I'm going to add a few categories, too: Sand Play: My country club's bunkers are all very different in texture, and it annoys me to no end. It makes it tough to play consistently from them. However, I can't attribute all of my inconsistency to the bunkers, so I'm giving myself only a 2 here. I need to learn to hit different kinds of bunker shots on command. Score: 2 Mental Game: Ever since Dave recommended Bob Rotella's books to me a few months ago, my mental game has been great. I've overlooked bad shots and just moved on to the next one. I've changed my putting routine and it's made a lot of balls drop. My pre-shot routine is simpler and I'm focused on the target. I get in the zone pretty easily, shot to shot, and it's been impressive. My handicap dove nearly 2 index points (from about 6.4 to 4.8) since reading the Rotella books. Overall: I started the year with a really strong short game. My iron play was suspect, largely due to practicing in the dome all winter (blech). Then my swing got lazy and my short game went to pot, but I putted well. Now I'm pulling it all together, and I learned to hit some pretty nifty shots while I was in the slumps. I look forward to scoring well at the Newport Cup and next year, when I want to get and keep my handicap index to 3.0 or lower. Score: 4

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Overall, I don't think I could give my season more than a 2 . The majority of my rounds have been with my wife who's only been at the game for a couple of years. Off the tee, she might be 170+ right down the middle or, she might whiff twice before chunking one into a creek 10 yards ahead of her. Hard to get a rhythm, or tempo, working, if you see what I mean.

Oddly, my game has been re-developing backwards. The PW that I wouldn't have played at over 60-70 yards is now a comfortable 100-yard club. I've added 20-30 yards to my 9-iron and a good 10 yards to my 7 and 8 irons this season.

The kicker here is that there probably isn't a 20-35 yard difference from my 7-iron up to my 3-iron. (No, I'm not just making that up to impress everyone.) I've had two different pros tell me that my swing speed should allow me to play a 5-iron at 180-185 yards and, yet, I'd be happy to hit my 3-iron that far. Tickled to death, in fact. A little old to be worrying much about it now, though.

My 9-degree Cobra 440 SZ driver has been coming around due to some changes I've made, particularly in my grip but with some swing plane changes as well. Been thinking about putting my old mid-size Excalibur 9.5-degree driver back in the bag, however. Hate to say it but I don't like "over-sized" club heads. (The SZ 3-wood is diminutive in comparison to the driver and I hit it as well, or better, the statistics on hackers hitting 3-woods vs. drivers notwithstanding.)

Enough analysis. My head's starting to hurt. It's been fun, overall, and it's not over yet. Gonna try for Lewiston near the end of October with my wife. If we can't golf due to weather, at least we'll be away from the kids for a few days.

Rick

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Driving: I just recently replaced my R580 with a new Cobra 454 and its really helping me get into most fairways. The course I play on is really tight with tons of trees overlooking, so even the slightest fade can mean your blocked out. The Cobra is helping to eliminate those huge fades I used to hit, giving me a bit more distance too. I really should use my 3 Wood a lot more, but I just find myself feeling more confident with my driver. My big driving problem right now is my grip, I just never feel too comfortable when I've got my driver, even though weirdly with irons its fine. Score: 3

Irons: I, like everyone it seems, replaced my 3-4 irons with a hybrid and its helping with those long shots I used to hit a soft 5 Wood with. Irons are probably the strongest part of my game, I usually hit it straight and quite long, but I need to get the overswing sorted out. Score: 4

Fairway Woods: Just got rid of my 5 Wood, so I find myself using fairway woods less and less. The course I play is quite short, so I find myself using irons more than not. Score: N/A

Wedges: Originally at the start of the year, I promised myself I'd get a good wedge, now at the end of the year, I'm still with my original wedges. I don't use them too much, except the odd 100 yard in sand wedge. I always find myself getting way too far under my wedges, and then balooning them up in the air and loosing tons of distance. Something to work on. Score: 3

Chipping: A weak part of my game, I need to figure out when to use different clubs for chipping. I usually take my PW, when I should use an 8 iron or something. But its got better over the year. Score: 2

Putting: I replaced my various old putter with my Taylor Made and its made a ton of difference. 3 putting was a regularity before I got this club, now I usually 2 putt or less on every hole. Lining up the logo with the hole (something I learnt on here) has helped a lot too. Probably the biggest improvement. Score: 5

Overall: At the start of the year (April), I couldn't play golf. Now I can play to my handycap, which was my goal at the start of the year. So overall, I feel happy with how I've played. Score: 4

Driver: 454
3-Wood: 980F
Irons: Comp-CT 4-SW
Wedge: 588 51 Degree
Utility: Rescue MidPutter: Mezza MonzaBall: NXT-TourCourse: Crow Nest Golf Club

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Great thread idea. This is my first year playing the game with any consistency. Before the summer of 2004 I played maybe once a year and my best score was probably a 120... maybe thats stretching it. I'm down to the low nineties at my short little home course and having a ball. The main thing for me these days is going out, staying loose and enjoying myself regardless of what kind of day I'm having. If I keep enjoying the game like that I feel that I'll continue to improve.

Driving: I can actually use a driver these days. In the early months I was slicing so bad that using a driver was a waste, but I did anyway. I'm hitting fairways from time to time and love the big stick. Score: 3

Irons: I'm seeing steady improvement here, this is the biggest area of need for me. I get pretty chunky with the irons and have struggled with the shanks from time to time. I think I've sorted the cause out... so that is improving. Score: 2.75

Fairway Woods: Way too inconsistent to give myself a good score. I can get hot with the three wood... my biggest need is to slow down and focus on a smooth transition. Score: 2.5

Wedges: Getting better with the wedges. Still lots of room for improvement related to crisp ball striking. Score: 2

Chipping: I feel pretty good about my chipping. Lessons greatly improved my chipping as did "leading with the left hand." I'm able to get the chips up in the air with this approach and they are stopping closer to the hole. Score: 3

Putting: I started the summer with solid putting. I holed a lot in the 8-15 foot range and the 5 footers looked like gimmies. I think that was related to the amount of time I was practicing on the carpet at home. I really need to maintain focus on the greens through a short but solid routine. Distance control is a need too. Score: 3

Sand Play: I look to a few rounds that I played with a buddy earlier in the season: I must have found every bunker near the green that week but got up and down a lot. I haven't been in the sand enough to really say lately. Score: 3

Mental Game: I'm with Erik on this one... Bob Rotella's "Golf is Not A Game of Perfect" has really helped me stay positive even when things are falling apart. Saturday was a great example of that. I shot a 48 on the front nine and a 42 on the back. We don't have a practice tee at the course I play often, so I find that I'm often warming up for the first 5-8 holes. Its very important for me to stay loose and positive and to ignore almost all thoughts of mechanics.

Overall: I've had a great year golfing... it has been some of the most fun and most challenge ever. My game has improved 100% and I see that happening again this year as my ball striking improves. I'm giving myself high marks on overall because of the vast improvment I've seen. Score: 5

Jeff

10.5° Callaway FT-iZ Tour

18°, 20°, 23° Adams Idea Pro Prototype Hybrid

4-9 Titleist 690.CB
48° Titleist Vokey Tour Nickel
54°, 58° Titleist Vokey Tour Oil Can

Scotty Cameron NP2, 33"

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 6766 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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