The TourSpoon Blog - Page 8

To qualify this, I never kept a handicap until 1998-9 and I recall that it was a 5.7 at its best and hovered in the mid 6 range. Previously to 1998, I did not keep a handicap, but I don't see it being lower than it is today because I am more consistent now, especially given the modern equipment. I just found a letter from the USGA reinstating my amateur status back in 1996. Before that, I was a PGA Apprentice when I was getting my Master's degree (I previously worked for a golf sportswear company and was laid off during the Gulf War recession). When I finished school, I dropped the golf aspirations mainly due to the the tumultuous times in the golf industry in this area and it was not something that I saw a real future in. Many of my friends were getting laid off including my brother who was an assistant pro at an exclusive club in Broward (I think the head pro really pissed off someone and they cleaned house). I stayed around golf and ran a summer golf camp for a few years and then took my hiatus as career and family demands required more attention.

When I returned to golf a couple of years ago, I knew that my main resource, time, was limited. I decided that if I was going to play, that I would want to play well enough to enjoy myself on any given weekend. To my surprise, with a little practice I returned to a mid 8 index. Soon, with a couple of lessons, I was playing to a 7 and when I broke into the 6s, I started this blog to document my journey with my goal of being a solid 5. I don't know if it had helped anyone to read it, but it has helped me. I don't know how much better I can get, but I am pretty happy with my results so far. So to answer the question, yes this is my lowest index of record and the most consistent golf that I have played.

We made it through Tropical Storm Isaac just fine with just some localized flooding. Unfortunately the flooding occurred on most of the golf courses that I play. With no practice time, I was getting cranky, but fortunately I was chosen to review the REL 3Gen Lamkin grips and they came in during the down week. I ended up trying the gray color in the .600 and set them up with one extra wrap. So far, I am hooked. They are tacky, feel great, and have superior dampening qualities. Read my review and post a comment. 

 

Sunday, I played in a Stableford Tournament and had 5 really bad holes that cost me 9 strokes with 3 penalties. I played 13 holes at par mainly because I was able to scramble (5/5 u/d, 1/2 SS). In the end I shot 81, which for a bad round is not that bad of a score. I played 17 and 18 really well as I finally felt the golf swing return. I am starting to realize how big tempo is for me. 

 

Today, I had a super early tee time and shot a respectable 77. I started with solid pars on the first 2 holes and went on a bogey train for the next five failing to get u/d once. On 8 I hit a solid drive 275 and hit a pw from 125 to 6 feet and missed the putt for birdie. I made the turn at 5 over. On ten, I hit 5 iron from a fairway bunker to the fringe of the green on the par 5 and got u/d for birdie, only to bogey the next hole. On 12, I wedge to 14 feet and make birdie 2 and I am starting to feel it. I am 15 feet for an easy par on 13 and then on 14 put a 6 iron to 7 feet for birdie 3. I par the 16 and then fail to get u/d on 17 and 18 for a bogey-bogey finish. Overall, I hung in after a suspect front to shoot even on the back and post a number. I never got into any real trouble, but it is rare to not get one u/d for par. I guess it balances out the day before when I got u/d every time. 

I have 2 more rounds logged in since my last post. I shot an 80 and a 77. The 80 had 4 bogeys and 2 doubles so the takeaway was 12 pars. The 77 had 8 bogeys, 3 birdies, and 7 pars. I feel that even though the handicap is edging up, my consistency is actually getting better. I haven't had any real low rounds, but my average score over the last ten rounds is the lowest ever at 78.8 and my anti-handicap is 7.6 also a new low. I feel that this stat is showing that the work that I put in is showing up more often and lower scores are coming. 

 

Last night I got the bug to start looking at a new driver to replace my trusty Diablo Octane Tour. I am not one for the latest unless it can clearly benefit my game. I tried out the Razr Fit, the Razr Fit TA, and the new Ping. As a baseline I hit my driver first then the Razr Fit, the Ping, then the Razr Fit TA, and ended with my driver. My DOT beat the Ping and regular Razr Fit hands down. The Razr Fit TA was a tie (really not that shocking as both have similar technology and a PX 6.0 shaft). The numbers were similar and both had my 2 biggest drives. Launch angle was 15 degrees with 2500 rpm for spin. Finally, the salesman (friend of mine that was Nike Tour so he is good) gives me a tip to open my feet and square my shoulders. I bust the DOT for the longest of the night. He told me that I would get no advantage spending money tonight unless I had to have the latest bling. I happily agreed. The only way that I would switch would be if one fell into my lap. 

Edited by TourSpoon - 9/20/12 at 10:48am

 

Thanks Stretch! 

 

Thanks bjwestner, I am glad you got something out of it. Since my last post I played a few times but my 79 round really stood out. 

 

http://tourspoon.site90.com/scorecard/rounds/20121014-p95.html

 

It  was the windiest day that I have ever played golf in and I shot a 79 despite hitting only 5 greens. Given the wind (constant 20-30 mph), I still managed to hit the ball extremely well and hung in there by keeping it in play and never really getting into a bad position. My persistence paid off with back to back birdies late in the round. 

 

I played 2 more times in 2012 and then did not pick up a club from December until today.  I have enjoyed the break and I am ready to play. Today was the Honda press conference which I skipped this year, but it did get me back in the mood along with watching Pebble (sorry the Wendy's 3 Tour doesn't do it for me). I will attend the Honda and Doral, and try to get back into a solid 4 range. Today, I shook off the rust and hit the ball fairly well. My short game was decent but I really lost some trajectory control. Putting was fine even with the Futura Mid still in the belly. 

 

One other thing is that I had more skin cancer in the form of Basel Cell Carcinoma and had the Mose surgery (again) under my left eye with a total of 13 stitches. Another reminder to wear that sunblock! Fortunately, I had no other areas that were of concern. 

 

That's the update and it's good to be back. 

Tune-up time! 

 

This morning I went to my guy for some short game work.  While my stats are really good, I have lost some confidence with a couple of skanky pitches that show up when I practice and occasionally when I play. I started about 20 yards from the green and hit 2 decent shots and then a skank. Wow. The move was described a a tight, restrictive, and flippy type seizure (not really that bad, but I have to keep it interesting). After a few more attempts I am asked to try to the right hand only drill (hitting pitches with only your right hand on the club) After 2 shots, I was back on track swinging the club and maintaining lag. I plan to really do the right hand drill a lot as it is a key to me feeling my short game. Fifteen more minutes around the greens and in the bunker it was time for full swings. 

 

Surprisingly, I hit it really well, progressing through the clubs. When I worked up to the driver, it turned out to be the highlight. I was hitting it medium high with a slight draw right in between my targets that were my imaginary fairway. Keys today were tempo (my bad swings were all too quick on the backswing) and turning (shoulders). Since I have been doing the half swing drill I had a good transition with my body starting the downswing allowing the club to be in position for solid impact. 

 

All in all, for taking a two month break, everything went well.

I got out last Saturday and played a "Shake the Rust Out" kind of practice round. Nothing really spectacular, but nothing really ugly either. My short game seemed acceptable with no real tragedies. Then it happened. I went to the chipping area and the shanks (hosel rockets) and skanks (other non-defined ugliness) returned. It was so bad that I had to stop for a minute and regroup. The right hand only drill was only working when I used my right hand only and same with the left hand, but together there was nothing. I eventually got it back together with all of the ball marks being very close to the hosel.  I left there and thought that my club should have an GAP (Golfer's Assistance Program) service similar to the EAP that I have at work. 

 

Over the next week, I was in the back yard, then at lunch I went to the course near work, then on the way home I stopped at another course. All so that I wouldn't be recognized! I had good results but no where near what I wanted. So, back to the internet, the source of all great golf instruction. After reading the 10 links on curing chipping shanks, I realized that not one of them was the same and they were all over the place. Was I too close to the ball, too far away, too flat, too steep, too much around? Ahhhhh! Then I saw something that made sense. I took it to the range and I was off my suicide watch after 10 crisp chips in a row. It seems that I was really putting a lot of weight on my toes and swinging the club around to the inside which then allowed me to make contact with the hosel. When I concentrated on evenly distributed weight being felt in the arches, the shankitos were held at bay. Nirvana at last, or so I thought. 

 

Yesterday I was back at the range and chipping with good success and then one let loose. Just an aberration I thought. Then it happened again. I concentrated on my weight and they were gone. After hitting 10 good ones I decided to put the club down and to slowly walk away and work on full shots. Finally I couldn't resist, like a kid looking at the sun, and went back to the chipping area. OK, weight not on toes, path going back and not so much around. Presto, crispiness. The full and partial wedge swing path that I practiced on the range helped me feel the mini swing path in the chipping motion. All of a sudden the grass marks moved over 1/4" and then a 1/2" so that they were almost dead center. I hit about 50 really good shots and called it a day. I only had 3 questionable skanks from some lazy look at the target before you hit the ball swipes, but other than that it was really solid. It was the kind of contact that you can only feel and not describe. So what did I learn? Don't take 3 months off again! 

 

Everyone knows that I use some literary license in this blog but there was some truth to that statement. 

Yesterday I went out and played 18. It was slightly breezy and I was short all day. The first hole I hit a 15 yard bunker shot to 3 feet and save par. I hit a similar length pitch over a bunker to 3 feet on the second and miss and then pitch to 12 feet on the 3rd and make. I finally hit a couple of greens, make some pars and drained a birdie from 30 feet. The skanky short game showed up 3 times and cost me 3 shots. I still need some work and ended up with an 82. 

 

This morning I went to the practice green with my 2 practice Vokeys. Today was more swinging the handle than worrying about the club face. This really worked out well and I hit only 5 bad shots out of 200 and sank 7. I'm starting to get my confidence back. Now, I need to let my hands heal! 

 

 

I finally figured out my chipping/pitching woes. It was an over rotation (fanning the toe) of the club going back. After much practice the shanking showed up again, so I just went to the old chip like a putt method  I noticed that the ball was coming off the more towards the center of the face. Then it dawned on me that I have a tendency to fan and then bring the hosel into the ball. I worked some hinging back into the stroke and it worked perfectly. I am so glad I got that under control. In my last 2 practice sessions, not one shank! 

 

With the time off and my golf starting back up, I decided to look at drivers. Seeing the write-up here on the Razr Fit Extreme and X Hot, I decided to give them both a whirl. My DOT fit me better. The one club that had intrigued me I had hit in August and had equal performance and a better dispersion was the Razr Fit Tour Authentic. At the time it was priced really high so I thought by now I could find one. I had a few people looking and just ordered one. I plan to cut it down to 45" and using a lighter grip and add some weight to keep the swing weight in line. I am excited because it has the ability to adjust 9 different ways and has a full weight kit. It was a super limited edition and has the real Project X Black shaft in it. For what I bought it for it was worth waiting 10 months after it hit the shelves to buy. 

Thanks MacDutch, 

 

I have a friend that has a shop so he will cut it for me. My experience is that taking .5" off a butt end doesn't really do too much to the club. There are a lot of posts that you can research with guys arguing, but the resulting stiffness would be imperceptible to me. The lighter grip (5 grams @ 1 swing weight pt.) and adding weight (2 grams @ 1) to the head is probably not really necessary for .5" but I like to retain close to stock swing weight. On my DOT, I took .5" off and even though everyone says 3 pts for .5" it was closer to 2 pts. Once I added the grip I was only 1 pt off and I left it alone at D5. With an inch you are talking 5 - 6 pts so you might want to do something to make that up. The easiest way is to go with a Winn type grip which can get you all of that back even though your club will be lighter overall. 

 

It really is funny how drivers are just getting longer. I tested a 46" driver and on the first swing skipped the head off the mat into the ball. I still got 230 out of it, lol. If I were a brave soul, I would probably cut even more off, but bringing the DOT to 45" made it easier to manage. From there I can choke down on the club if I need too.