Challenge of Late (as in age)

I just joined the forum, so I thought I would post mostly to say hello.

I swung a club a couple of times as a kid, but never owned clubs or played a serious round. And I never even touched a golf club for 40 years, until this year, at age 70 - now I'm 71.

After two knee operations and having both shoulders and hips totally replaced, it occurred to me that with all plastic and metal I might have the fluidity of a younger man. But it wasn't until I saw that Nike had come out with a line of clubs called Covert that I perceived an omen. My name is Covert. So I bought a set, hired a coach, and scheduled a tee time at Pebble Beach for last month, thinking that the pressure of playing the august course with a seasoned caddy would goad me into a hurry-up offense so that I wouldn't embarrass myself too badly.

My wife walked out through the sliders of our room looking out at the famous 18th green and watched me blast out of a sand trap and two-putt to a finish. "How did you do?" "Er, my driving and putting were fine, and I didn't lose a single ball, but I chunked at least one out of three fairway iron shots, totally ruining my score." I hadn't been chunking up to that point and didn't have a clue how to stop doing it.

I since solved that issue, but I have another one that's plaguing me. I can correct pulling left by swinging out, and I can correct pushing right by keeping down, rotating 90 degrees, and following through firmly off my left foot, but there is nothing prior to my swing that signals how I should swing to go perfectly straight, even when I aim correctly. There seems to be a continuum between pushing and pulling that has no obvious stop point in the middle. I keep practicing my irons at the range, but I shoot a little left or right as often as straight.

My home is near Albany, New York, but I winter in Florida on a golf course, so I can practice and play constantly toward redeeming myself at Pebble Beach next November. My goal is to shoot par, there, that day, not all the time. A Noodle flight of fancy, almost certainly, but it's great to have something fun to work on before retiring to a rocking chair.

Welcome to TST.

I have a friend whom I will be playing a round with this Friday who's last name is "Covert" as well. He's from the NY area, but now lives in So. Cal. Kind of another coincidence.

He's probably not a relative, but you can ask him if he ever had any connection to Covert Manufacturing Company to find out. And I hope he bought a set of the Covert clubs. :)

Nah, he uses Ping Eye 2.

His father was president of the company from 1967-1986.  Started in the mid-1800s in Watervliet, NY. Making snaps, buckles and such. They started making horse harnesses. Apparently, there was some discord amongst the Coverts. He's in his 50s. Are you one of his step-uncles?

It's a really really small world we live in.

I can PM you his contact information if you like.

He's my cousin, then, either Rick, Rob or Pete! Please say hello for me, Covert Harris. I was President for the last two years the Covert family owned it, before I sold it.

I will do so!

Am I the only guy that thinks this is pretty cool???

I second the cool part!

It just goes to show what a small world we live in, I guess.

Thanks, All -

It definitely is a small world!

Covert

Now, we haven't really answered your golf questions yet. Some of the better players and instructors can answer those too!

Wishing you the Best.

Whoa, totally cool!

Another Albanyite!

I moved here last year.

Where do you normally play up here?

Those give a different meaning to a "covert operation."   Welcome to TST.

Welcome to TST, Covert. I'm originally from near Albany, NY.

Hi RFK,

Where near Albany do you live? I am in Clifton Park, just north of Albany, and I hadn't been playing for recreation in this, my first year playing, only in preparation for my Pebble Beach round. So I was strictly practicing, and a couple of par-three courses near my house: Barney Road, and Mill Road Acres, do the trick. They each only have a couple of par-four holes, but I have no trouble with my drives, so I don't need much practice with my driver. Barney beguiles players with its signature and very difficult "target" greens, on which sometimes you might have a two-foot putt for a birdie, but you miss it because of the steep slope, and your ball rolls off the green, resulting in a double bogie. Very frustrating, but it makes playing on regular greens, such as those at Pebble Beach, a breeze (pun partially intended). My best score at Mill Road was my last this fall, when I shot just one stroke over par for nine (and that frustrating fault stemmed from having no club between a five-iron and driver, so I came up a little short on a long par-three hole). That kind of short-course practicing is happily paying off. And for a playing field that requires a lot of driving, so I don't lose the ability, I occasionally play at Fairwinds of Halfmoon, which is a long, challenging regulation course.

My wife and I also own a lake house in the Adirondack Park (called a camp, there), and I do play on regular courses in that park; but it is probably too far north for you to travel. The courses in the mountains are magnificently beautiful; and one in particular, the Ausable Club, among the high peaks, can be a bucket-list course because of its spectacular scenery. But it's private, and exclusive, except during the month of October, when they permit the unwashed to play, because most of the members have probably migrated to Palm Beach by then. That might be something you could set your sights on when you have all day.

But I have your handle and will check back with you when I return to Albany in the spring to see if you want to play a round on some good course you have found, or one we could both try for the first time.

Covert

As most golfers will tell you, hitting the ball straight is one of the hardest things to do. For whatever it is worth, here is my 2¢,,,

To hit the ball straight I

1) select a distant target, usually the flag on the green, a tree, or some other object

2) select a target that is 3 to 10 yards away that is on the line to the distant target, a leaf, broken tee, or blade of grass

3) align my hips and shoulders parallel to the line I want the ball to travel

4) align my club face perpendicular to the line I want the ball to travel

5) conscientiously try to take my backswing straight back for the first 2-3 feet

6) try to square my club face on the downswing

7) try to extend my follow-though over the intermediate target

8) try to finish with some semblance of being balanced (I am right handed), my weight on my left foot and hands in a good position

I did a lot of drill and practice on this technique in my early days to develop my swing, and to some extent it has served me well over the years. Now, do I hit the ball perfectly straight? Not really, but it is straight enough that I am usually around the fairway and green.

Enjoy the website, it is terrific.

I love this game!

Thanks 415. I couldn't see your name anywhere to use.

I do use your techniques, exactly as you outlined them, and I am happy to see we concur. And I do hit around the green. But I want to hit onto the green, otherwise I usually suffer a bogie, and sometimes even worse. Maybe there isn't any way for me at my age to be that consistent, but I am giving it my best and looking for that elusive "trick" to know that I am going to hit straight. I replaced my big joints, but I can't replace my back, which is at the end-stage of degenerative disc disease. And sometimes I think my swing changes with the area of my back that is tightest, or in spasm, on a given day. So maybe the only thing I can do is make sure to hit some iron shots before I play to see which way my ball is going to go, even with all the correct techniques observed.

I call my golf strategy my zero-sum tautological strategy , as in if I can hit greens in regulation, I can play good golf. So because my drives and putts are good enough for par golf, the only thing that prevents it are my iron approach shots missing the green, requiring a chip or sand wedge. My tactic, then, is spending 90% of my practice time on fairway iron type shots, at the driving range. I am not bothering with all the other types of shots as much because if I can hit the greens I don't need them. If I miss the greens in a game, I just chalk up the bad score (made even worse because my recovery shots are not great, due to insufficient practice) and I don't tell anybody. If I do hit the greens, and thus play near par golf, then I brag about the score to my wife, at the gym, and whatnot. :)