No Dogging It - but just nice and easy in 2010

[McGolf-Doggie]

INTRODUCTION
My name's Phil and I'm a 49-yr old hacker, I guess, as of 2010. My work supports the military and long hours mean little time for golf -- 9 holes is my solution to a manic editor's schedule.

PASSION
I love the feel of a well struck shot, and a beautiful ball flight. No matter whose it is.

I love lob and sand wedge shots from 30-75 yards that parachute in and roll up close to the pin.
I'm a bit of a hooker and a pusher -- which in any other walk of life except golf will get you in jail. But a great iron shot is redemption for most of those iniquities.

I love playing with other people a lot more than playing solo.
I have two regular golf buddies who are the nicest, kindest, most generous salt-of-the earth friends you could ask for. When we can, the 19th hole is definitely one of our favorites to linger upon.

I wish my dog could come out and, er, walk the course with us. 1/4-Border Collie, 1/4 Lab, and maybe 1/4 it's the Wolluf!, 1/4 Coonhound, there would be no geese issues guaranteed.

STATS
Putting average: 2.15 or 38.67 putts per round.*
Average score: last 3 composite rounds -- pretty consistent 88, 88, 89 (46, 42, 44, 44, 47, 42 over 9- holers)

No Mulligans! None since I shed my "learner" plates in 2007 and started keeping score.

* I think this is helped by the extra shots (from trouble) that bring me in range for a better green position, although, of course, my overall score suffers mostly because of inconsistent tee and iron work.

HEALTH
I have some health issues, herniated neck discs; asthma; hypertension; among others things that impact performance, and the ability to get out there regularly. Schedule keeps me to 9 holes mostly. Hope to get out and play some more 18-holers this year. I prefer to walk the course whenever I can, unless it's a mountain or it's too hot for my blood pressure.

Season shut down prematurely for me in October 2009, due to re-injury.

GOLF ESSENTIALS
Been playing 4 years, first 2 years were mostly at the many ranges that surround me.
The last two years, I've gotten out and played mostly 9-hole courses, including some challenging ones,
Adding up front and back nines from the last six 9-hole scores yielded an 88, 88, 88. Nothing like consistency. I figure I'd be lucky to just break 100 on a real 18-hole course, but who knows.

Toward the end of the season I was hitting more fairways.

WINTER'S MERCY
The winter layoff was great. Unintended but great. Recovered mostly form injury, but was sick a lot. Coupled with the snow and sub freezing temperatures, I didn't go to the range much at all. Did a little work indoors on basics, stance, grip, takeaway, and a little putting indoors.

"FORGOT" FLAWS
It seems like I "forgot" my swing flaws and came back with a more effective swing, by letting things flow nice and easy the first few times back at the range.

Coming off a neck injury (re-aggravated cervical hernaitions) and a long series of flu and cold bugs, irrtiable digestive tracts, plus a real severe H1N1 injection reaction, I have to take it real easy going back in, so as not to re-aggravate the injury or tire out my body and immune system.

I allowed a little left heel lift in the backswing, something I'd avoided in the past, and this seemed to free up tension and made for a more relaxed swing overall.

HOOK NO MORE?
But LOW AND BEHOLD, swinging easy and relaxed seems to be the way to go! My first times back at the range I was making some decent shots accuracy wise, and my pronounced hook was gone.

My instructor wanted me coming from inside more, but I was perhaps coming form way inside too much. The last trip to see him screwed me up way more than before I went to see him, but some other good things did come out of it.

BLOGGIT!
Now if only I could find the record of what I wrote down after that lesson .... I figure that's what these golf blogs are good for.

I straightened out the initial part of my backswing, and things got straighter in the ball flight department. Let's see if it lasts.

The weight distribution on the feet is critical for me, too. Working on that.
Too much on the toes, the ball goes right; too much on the heels and the ball hooks more.

Can someone explain that one to me?

NEW PUTTER PUTTING OK
Have gotten 2 good sessions with the new putter. New putters are good motivation to work on your putting.

This one is more of a sort of center-shafted putter with a bit more mass. It's a little gaudy color-wise but the markings are functional. I had good success with some center shafted putters before, so too the leap.

I have high "over-expectations" (yeah, that's redundant, but youget what I mean) for my putting. I'm looking for 1-putts maybe too much. Gotta understand close is good. But the reality is somewhere between 2 and 3 putts.

How come? Well in my first year I made a bunch of 20, 30 and 40 footers, with my old STX putter (church sale pickup) and I expect to make a lot of long putts as a result.

Now I get frustrated if I don't make any long (12 foot - 35 foot) putts in a while. I just wasn't happy with the STX for short putts. And switched to an old vintage Ping BeCU. No spectacular change, just a better putting average overall. (Right now I'm at about 2.15; 38.67 putts per round average.)

Who knows maybe I put that old STX in the bag for long lag putts and use the 1/2 Craz-e for shorter ones?

Still, 2-3 workman-like putting sessions under the belt helps. The greens are a bit soft and damp, so it's not summer conditions, but golf is all about playing the conditions you have, soo...

[Fairway_CY]

Good post! I feel the same as you in many regards. The game is tough... and without consistant practice and play... it gets tougher. I've yet to play more than 15 rounds in a season since I graduated high school... and that's likely the reason for my handicap staying in the same range that I was in high school.

In any event... good luck this season. I look forward to following your progress.

CY

[McGolf-Doggie]

Good post! I feel the same as you in many regards. The game is tough... and without consistant practice and play... it gets tougher. I've yet to play more than 15 rounds in a season since I graduated high school... and that's likely the reason for my handicap staying in the same range that I was in high school.

Thanks CY,

Not sure how long it is since you were out of high school, but if you are still young, (i.e. not 49 like me) you have a lot of golf left in you to enjoy and time to progress. I have one reoccurring observation as I see folk on the course and especially at the range -- the value of lessons. I see so many folk who need lessons so badly -- and I cast my mind back to the progress I made as a result of lessons, both directly and indirectly. I was in a rut, and that's when I decided to take some lessons beyond my first lesson. What a breakthrough that led to. While there's much that we can learn at places like the Sand Trap, I think talking with local golfers about their lesson experiences with this or that instructor, and finding the right instructor for you, is key to progress. Pretty much all the pros have instructors, I think. And the benefit of a second pair of eyes trained to see your problems, and with the knowledge to prescribe the right drills to get you out of a bad habit is worth the cost of dozens of rounds of golf. I see folk spend hundreds of dollars on rounds of golf and buckets of balls and different clubs, all adding up to thousands of bucks, but getting nowhere. A three lesson package for $165 or so, could be the best $165 bucks any golfer ever spends. Recording the results here helps one systematize things and stay on track. We have the best of both worlds!