First time on the course

[Smarf]

Well, I guessed right on the money with my 30 handicap, because I shot a 103 my first time out. Except on the par 3's and the dogleg rights, I sliced damn near every ball into the right woods.

Now, I've already got lessons lined up, but I'm playing another round at the same course before the lesson. I will get in some practice time at the range and would like to focus on one or two things that may help me hit straighter. From a quick flip through of Ledbetter's Faults and Fixes and the Break 80/90/100 book, I've boiled it down to the following.

- Grip: I'm still not getting that see two knuckles thing. I did learn that you're not supposed to address the ball and then change the clubface, you're supposed to adjust the clubface in your hands before placing it. So I may try that until I can get the pro to look at my hands.

Would closing the clubface a bit counteract my tendency to open it at impact and make the slice go straight or does that do the opposite and work against me?

- Ball position: I would have never guessed that the ball position could cause a slice, but apparently it can. Would I better off trying to work on that, having it lined up with my left heel?

I didn't want to confuse myself trying to work on 5 or 6 things at once. I may even just suck up my ego and hit my 4 or 5 iron off the tee since I can keep those straight 80% of the time. For my first round I bit the bullet and decided to use my driver to see how it would go.

On the bright side, I did make a few pars, one of which was a 5 foot birdie putt that I missed. Oh, and only the woods ate my balls, not the water. I left my scorecard post at home since I can't access it at work or I'd post the other stuff. I had mostly two putts on every hole except for 2 3-putts and a 1 putt.

All I know is that I'm addicted.

[kleinrider]

nice job... i am a newbie too, you did better than me first time out, i shot a 115. Keep up the good work, i am sure the lessons will be a huge help..

[inthecup]

I would go with the 4-5 irons off the tee. Hitting a slice over and over is only going to make it a bad habit. I think you might find you can reach many par 4's in two. I am also fairly sure you can hit the par 5's in three.

I recently got a GPS unit and spent the time to pick a landing area and not hit a driver if it really was not needed.
If it is a 350 yard par 4 hit a 4 iron and a (5,6,7,8) iron in.
It is about the score not blasting a good driver and hitting a sand wedge in. I would also guess you have not developed touch with a wedge yet so a full club in would be better for you.

Good luck report back.

PS a handicap is much more complex then number of strokes over par. It depends on the course.

[Smarf]

Thanks for the support and advice. I'm going to try that this Friday when we play the next round. I love the little markers you can put into the Scorecard software, so I'll be able to see how I did after playing irons only and after the lesson.

It seemed like a fairly short course and I had no problems reaching greens. My main scoring problem was the penalty strokes for losing it in the woods or OB.

Now I'm even more excited to go play, I just hope they don't consider July 3rd a holiday so we get the weekday rate instead of weekend one.