Range Session May 7, 2010

[anthony]

I got off work about 45 minutes early today and went to play 9 at the local course. I think they may have had an outing or something because it was packed and there looked to be people just arriving. I didn't really feel like getting stuck behind a bunch of foursomes as I was playing alone. So, I told my girlfriend to get her clubs ready and we were going to the range.

I started off as usual with my PW. I then moved on to my 7, 5 and 9 irons. Up until this point, I was hitting them great. I then pulled out the 3 wood. I hit it fantastic. I hit a few pop ups and a few slices (slices I could live with on the course), but considering I haven't swung the club since last year sometime, I was very happy with it. Once it gets past 200, it's tough to tell how far it went because the 250 marker is well left of my usual stall. But, it was definitely past 200 and I'm guessing past 220. By the end of the session, when I figured out my 3 wood stance a bit more, I absolutely hammered a few. Obviously, when I get ahold of a driver, I can hit it further than a 3 wood. However, the consistency with the 3 wood can't be beat. 225 in the fairway is better than 260 in the trees or OB any day. After just a few swings, the 3 wood felt so much better and gave me a lot more confidence.

I hit a few drives too after about 10 3 woods. I actually hit the first 2 right down the middle. However, I sliced the shit out of the 2, put a duck hook on another and that's not acceptable. Also, I'm not sure that the good drives were that much further than my 3 woods if they were further at all. I can really put a swing on the 3 wood, where I have to mind the driver so I don't put it in the woods.

So, today's session sealed the deal on my driver. It's coming out of the bag. I'm not going to worry or stress out on the tee anymore with that club in my hand. I might still work on it at the range, but the 3 wood feels so much better. I'm hitting my 4 hybrid 200 off the deck and 210 off the tee, so I'm not worried about par 5's. I'm going to replace my 5 wood with a 3 hybrid or 2 hybrid, so that will give me more distance if I need it on long Par 5's. Now, I just need to figure out what I'm going to get for a 14th club in the bag. I can't imagine needing more loft than my 56 degree wedge. Maybe I'll get a 53 degree to go in between my gap wedge (50 degree) and my 56. Although, I'm pretty happy with my wedges and have been playing excellent inside of a 100 yds.

All in all, not too worried about the 14th club. Most importantly, I'm not worried about that driver. Time to drop my handicap by 10 strokes.