During the day today, I was thinking about what I could do to improve the swing, particularly the long clubs.  I thought about recent videos and that I feel a little crunched at impact.  I know i need better extension at impact.  So, I tried putting the ball further away from me with my longer clubs, with exception to the 3W.  I wanted to not stretch for the ball, but feel further away than before.  My mid irons I didn't move quite as much and the low irons and wedges I didn't move at all.

I decided to play the blue tees (6650yds, 73.3, 143) because it would best represent the distances I would play at Sahalee.  Right off the bat, I used my driving iron on hole 1 and it went right down the pipe.  I hit it slightly high on the club face.  But other than that, it was good, made par here!  2 hole was a boring par. 3 hole hit 3W off tee, then my approach landed 5ft away from pin for a easy birdie (this hole by the way is one of my least favorite holes, so it was cool to birdie it).  4 got up and down for par. 5 was the first hole to use the driver, and I hooked the ball into the hazard.  I realized that I couldn't choke up like I would normally do. I had to grip normally (which I very rarely do).  I hit 3 to 100yds out, 4 to 5ft from pin, and sunk par putt.  Easy enough... 6 boring par.  7 is a downhill par 3 at 170 that I hit a easy 8iron to 3ft away.  Easy birdie.  8 I hit driver again this time with a normal grip, and it was still slightly pulled but just barely.  Still a great hit, made par.  9 is a uphill par 5, hit driver perfect down the left side with an easy draw.  Hit 2 up short right of the green, 3 pitched it 1ft away.  Easy birdie.  I've never had a 33 on the front from the blues, so I was pretty excited with what I'm doing.  10 boring par.  11 I hit driver again, and this hole needs an accurate drive.  It is only 315 or so uphill to the green, but there's trouble.  I hit a perfect drive again down the left side.  20yds out and I hit the pitch thin, easy par, but should've been birdie.  Oh well.  12 perfect driver again down the middle on a par 5, 2 up to 106 out, 3 somehow went over the green, but I got up and down for par.  13 I hooked the driver, hit the ball way off the toe and was just a miss hit.  Didn't hurt though, still had 110 out from the rough, which I put to 5ft, easy birdie.  14 was my only bogey for the day.  It was 300 down hill to reach the hazard, which I managed to do with driver.  3 hit right of the green, 4 onto the green and 2 putted.  15 is a long par 3 downhill but into the wind.  I hit my 4 iron well, but just a little right, so hit the bunker.  But I hit a good shot to 4 ft, easy par. 16 I hit driver, and actually pushed it about 5-10yds right of the line but stayed straight, so wasnt a horrible miss, had 50 out and put the shot to 5ft short of the pin, easy birdie.  17 long par 3 into the wind, hit 6iron right, but on the green.  Boring par.  18 had to hit a fade with the driver, which I did, but it stayed straighter than I hoped.  It was still in the fairway though, had 150 to pin, and made a boring par.  So, all in all, got 5 birdies and 1 bogey for a 68! Lowest round from the blues this summer!

Based on today's round, I'm going to try and play the same tomorrow and see if moving a bit further away from the ball really does help.  It feels a lot better at impact certainly, so I have high hopes.