So true.  If I birdie the first hole I start thinking about a round in the 60's.  

Taking Lessons/Practice to the Course: I've really been struggling on the course lately with the full swing. Too many big pushes, or snap hooks on tee shots and approach shots. But when I'm in a lesson, or in the indoor practice bay with launch monitors, or practicing at home with net/mat, I can't replicate the misses consistently. In these non-course situations, contact is mostly decent, start line is good, and curve is acceptable (for my ability). I'm tempted to film a couple live in-round swings to send to my instructor, or possibly see about scheduling a playing lesson to have identify where I'm going off the rails. Obviously I'm doing something different on the course and my improvements in lessons/practice aren't making it into my game. Full Swing: Setup with hands higher has been no problem. Not sure how I got to the point where they were so low. I've added this to the list of things to check on when I film my swing. Making a quicker backswing has also been no problem. I think I had been slowing down takeaway/backswing because I was practicing a lot of slo-mo backswings, and it just kind of migrated to full swing. Avoiding hip stall has been the main full swing priority. Have been doing a lot of work on this with the planemate, and making a lot of 9-3 swings really focusing on hips not stopping. I think it is coming along well, but I haven't filmed a swing to compare yet. A side benefit of the 9-3 swings has been that I have mapped distances with Mevo for this swing from LW all the way down to 7-iron, and have had some on-course chances to make use of it. Putting: Improving setup (eyes about 0.5-1 balls inside line) has made a huge difference in aiming, and has improve accuracy. I feel like when I miss, it is either a bad read or a bad stroke. Mechanically, I think my stroke is pretty good, but I get a little wobbly on shorter putts, so need to work on stability on these. Giving myself a target has helped lag putting significantly on uphill/downhill putts. By target, I mean for example, on a downhill putt, choosing a spot 4 feet short of the hole as a measurement point, rather than just thinking "hit this one a little softer than normal".

Really nice round today. Best driving round of my life. Was blocking the driver for weeks and I went to range and really worked on tempo and not rushing things at the top. For the last 3-4 weeks everything has gotten better and better culminating in a round today where I hit 10/11 fairways. I’m not counting the 2 holes I went for the green off the tee and missed them. I hit 12/18 GIR. Shot +3 on front and even on back. 11 pars, 2 birds and 5 bogeys. Best round of the season for me. Maybe the best ball striking round I’ve had ever. My misses were all solid except for the 3 wood I went at the 1st green in 2 with. Feeling very happy with where my game is right now.

Today I played at Hillandale Golf Course, which measures just over 6K from the whites (par 71).  This round was an excellent round, and it’s one that I’ll remember for a while. It didn’t start out that way though. I parred the first hole, bogeyed the par-5 second, and tripled number three after missing the green from a chip and three-jacking from three feet. I then ripped through the last six holes on the front nine at just one over, leaving my front nine score at 40. The back nine is where it got interesting. Hole-by-hole through the fourteenth: No. 10: Bomb down the middle, PW to green, two-putt for par. No. 11: Iron to middle of fairway, hybrid just short, up-and-down for par. No. 12: 5W to right side of fairway, 9I to green, two-putt for par. No. 13: Driver to fairway, 7I short, up-and-down for par. No. 14: Sliced drive, 6I layup, 9I to green, two-putt for par. At this point, I was still +5 on the day, just one over on the last 11 holes. Then I pulled my tee shot on the par-3 fifteenth, tried a bump-and-run that came up short, then couldn’t make an up-and-down for bogey. Seven over.  The 16th was better. After a tee shot that just missed the fairway, I took dead aim at the pin and hit it a tad long, still on the green. Two-putt for par. Now to the par-3 17th, where I pulled a 7I dead left (the third time in a row I’ve done it on that hole), and made double from there. I’ll spare the details of that hole.  On to the 480-yard par-5 18th, which was playing slightly downwind. I needed a birdie to shoot 79, and I knew it. In a golf camp once where I played from the golds here (makes the par-5 hole 430 yards), I needed a four to shoot 39 on the side and did so, making an 8-footer. I felt confident that I could do it again today. I gave the drive all I had, and I was rewarded with a long and straight drive. When I reached my ball, I saw the 225-yard marker a few paces in front of me. The green was in play. I went for it and hit it a bit right, but still in the fairway. I knew then that a personal best was just a formality, because I would’ve needed to take eight shots to get down to not beat my record of 85. My pitch shot settled ten feet out, leaving me with a solid chance for the birdie I wanted. I took a bit longer than usual on this putt, and then sent it on it’s way. Perfect line...but it stopped a roll short of a birdie and 79. I tapped in for a par and 80. A new personal best by five shots! This was some of the most consistent  ballstriking I’ve ever had. I’ve definitely putted better, but I’m satisfied with how I putted (with the exception of one hole). Chipping, for the most part, was also solid. No lost balls today, unlike yesterday.  Another thing I’m proud of, maybe this more than anything. Starting on the 11th hole, thoughts started to materialize about the fact that I could break 80 today. Before those thoughts got through my head, I was able to push them out and concentrate on the shot I had to hit right then. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.  But, if I hadn’t three-putted on the third hole, I would’ve shot 79 or even a 78. I’m still thrilled with an 80, especially after I shot a 91 yesterday.

FWIW to others, I replied offline (in a PM) to @louisfr.