First rounds of the new season...

[edingc]

After spending much of the last four months buried under snow and annoying my downstairs neighbors with full wedge swings on the carpet, I finally got a chance to get out and play a couple of rounds over the last several days.

While temperatures have been creeping into the low 50s occasionally, the ground here is still very swollen with water. The only course open near me is a pretty beat-up, nine-hole field, but at $5 to walk I'm not really complaining.

I went out three times -- Saturday, Sunday and Monday -- and played two balls Monday as my friend and I were the only people on the course.

Through the four rounds, I shot: 44, 48, 47 and 43. We played using preferred lies because the ball buried itself an inch or so in the ground on almost every shot. On Monday the ground was finally dry enough in spots that not every shot stuck in the ground. Monday was also the only day that the wind was not 10-15 mph in a direction.

Highlights from Monday's round included the first birdie of the season on a long par five where I stuffed a five iron to about five feet. I also landed a 75-yard wedge about six inches from the hole on a short par four. Unfortunately, I missed the resulting four-foot birdie putt.

Overall, I am very pleased with my performances so far. I'm hitting the ball well, and I have seemed to correct the driver slice that haunted me all of last year. I occasionally hit a bit of a fade now, but most of the time it's pretty straight.

I still need a lot of work on correctly aiming my shots. I'm hitting a lot of correct distances, but I'm leaving myself with difficult chips because I'm ending up left and right of the green.

I also need some work on hitting down a little more on the ball. I'm hitting a lot of irons a little thin with no divot and my distance is suffering as a result.

Another area for concern is I sometimes get a little too far around on my drives now and hit a straight, 45-degree pull to the left. I'm guessing some time on the range will fix that.

I'm hoping to get out a few more times before the end of the week. I'm extremely busy with school and coaching baseball, but the weather is supposed to turn nasty again at the end of the week. I figure I might as well enjoy the taste of spring while it lasts.

[RIduffer]

lol, I also torture my neighbors downstairs with practice swings on the carpet. Glad you got out to play and hope you have a great season.