Jamo's Blog on TheSandTrap

[NI4NI]

I've played Maplegate several times this season, and it is a good course, but certainly not worth the asking price. I have a deal membership there, so it's practically free to play at this point.

Good luck at school.

[jamo]

Thanks! .....

[jamo]

Again this is long overdue but I did play 9 holes of golf on tuesday. I only have 2 classes that day and they finish at 10:30, so the rest of the day was wide open. I went to Delcastle Golf Course in Wilmington, DE. Basically I got what I paid for. $10 for all 18 holes. The layout was decent, but there was tons of crabgrass and all of the real grass was as crispy as, well, really crispy stuff. I was really focusing on keeping my head in the same place on the backswing, and for some reason I was fighting the lefts all day. Not snappers, just long, high, majestic looking shots that started bleeding left and then ran into the rough because the grass was so crusty and hard. The greens weren't bad, and the bunkers at Delcastle were actually among some of the nicest I've seen all year.

Anyway, I shot a +2 38, for a differential of 2.4. Here is my Scorecard.

[jamo]

After watching the Deutsche Bank Championship, the fact that they were playing on holes that I have also played (well, 9 of them at least) really gave me the urge to play golf. And I don't mean on a course with dead fairways and tons of crabgrass. I mean TPC golf. With fast greens (although TPC Boston's are not fast at all), well-maintained grass, and tee boxes with actual turf. But, I'm a college student now. And thus I have no money. Plus the part about being cold.

So I decided to go to the driving range at a nice course. I went to Rock Manor Golf Course, and got a large bucket. Going up the driveway the course looked like it had a very nice (or at least very nice looking) layout, and I was expecting a nice range. It looked nice, but only the mats were open. The other disappointment was the putting/chipping green. The grass was very sandy, and the turf was half dead and very inconsistent. So the short game practice was really a wash.

The full swing practice was anything but. Today was maybe my best range session of the year. I mis-hit maybe balls all day. Every club too, LW-3 iron, plus 2 hybrid, 3 wood, and driver. Long and straight. Well, not so long because of the cold, but straight and in the middle of the clubface. It seems like my swing is really coming together. Of course, it comes together at a time when it really doesn't matter and play with few and far between, but them's the breaks. It is golf after all.

Anyway, no video, and I likely won't have any until thanksgiving at the earliest. Maybe not until Christmas. I might try to play a round tomorrow, and if I don't maybe Tuesday barring homework. We shall see.

NOTE: I think I'm going to play Chisel Creek Golf Club in Landenberg, PA on Tuesday. If anyone has played there before any comments are appreciated.

EDIT: I probably won't end up playing a round Tuesday, but I would like to check out another driving range nearby. I'm hoping to play over the weekend.

[jamo]

I got an email regarding the club golf team yesterday, so I thought I'd hit some golf balls at a course where I think we will be playing (Deerfield Golf and Tennis Club). When I got the email my heart sank as I read "due to our new competitive nature..." I really want to just go out there, play some golf, enjoy the camaraderie, and have a little fun. I don't really want or need the psychological stimulation that comes with competition, but if that's the way the team is headed so be it, I'll try it out. I read over 160 names on the email list. I expect a chunk of them to not show tomorrow at the meeting, and probably a chunk of people to not go to the first golfing day. The said they were accepting 50 people on a "first come first serve" basis. I don't really know how that phrase relates here, but I figure I'll show up nice and early to the meeting, get my forms in, and if I read "first come first serve" wrong I'll have a good laugh. then if I did read it right I'll be in good shape.

Anyway, I hit a small bucket at the range today. I got a little bit of grief because I forgot a collared shirt (though I was wearing khaki shorts and a nice Nautica t-shirt), but they let me go to the range anyway. It looked like they were punching the greens, so that kind of sucks if we do end up playing there, but the place was empty so that was nice. The range is a ways away from the clubhouse, so they give you a cart to drive over. On my way to the range (as well as my drive to the parking lot) I took a look at some of the holes. I also checked out the scorecard. The course looked extremely hilly, but it's nothing I haven't seen, growing up in Massachusetts. It seemed sort of long, and it was a par 70. Either way, it was in good shape so that's what matters.

So I started with wedges, and worked my way up to driver. My irons were really good, though I had a few where the club really got in front of my hands and I pull-hooked it left. My driver was the same way. A few pull-hooks (more like pull-draws, they would have stayed out of the deep stuff) then when I worked it out the ball was going straight. I'm pretty confident with my swing right now so if I do end up having to try out for the team, I think I'll be alright.

[Valleygolfer]

I am sure you will do fine. Just keep up the practice.

[jamo]

Update: I just got back from the meeting. There were over 100 people, but the president said that if you can't break 100 you should leave, and if you can't meet the schedule (about 8-10 foursomes a week, at 10ish and 2ish, weekdays only) you shouldn't waste your money. After that about there were about 70 left. They said they would expand the team to take on 75 people, and if anyone is interested in tournaments they should stay. I stayed around and there were about 20 people who were interested in tournaments. We signed up and he asked us our handicaps (mine is really just under 2, but I said 5 just so he wouldn't think I was a cocky freshman, plus it's a small safeguard if I shoot a 95 the first day out

) and only about 5 people said they were under a 5 handicap, though that didn't include the club officers. All in all, schedule willing, I think I should have a good chance at playing a decent amount of golf and maybe getting in some tournaments (a lot of which are in Virginia). This was kind of a small step into igniting my will to compete too, so that's nice.

I am sure you will do fine. Just keep up the practice.

Thanks. So far I've managed to practice a few times (weekends and I have most of tuesday off), and my game seems to be in unexpectedly good form right now.

[MJP]

I am kind of confused om what a golf club team is. Does your course (or Men's club) compete against others or something?

[jamo]

I am kind of confused om what a golf club team is. Does your course (or Men's club) compete against others or something?

It's at my college. We have a deal with a local course where we can play free if we are with the team and half price if we make our own tee time. We also play other colleges, all in Virginia if I am correct.

[jamo]

I had another good day at the driving range today, but it was kind of weird. I was at the range at Ed Oliver Golf Club. With my stock swing I was hitting the ball beautifully. Perfect ballflight, perfect height and distance. But when I tried to hit different shots I just couldn't. The two shots that are relatively tough for me to hit on command are the controlled fade (high and low) and the punch shot. It didn't help that I was on a (really crappy) mat because it seems harder to work the ball on a mat, but I was just not able to manipulate my swing very well today.

Like I said though, my stock swing was great. My swing thoughts were keep the head steady on the backswing, short backswing, and time the transition. The second and third are becoming relatively ingrained, and I wasn't even really thinking about them much today. The first one is really what I have been working hard on. Because I don't have a camera to video tape my swing, I am working on something I don't need video to see. Luckily the ranges that I have been too have had the sun at my back, in which case I can see my shadow and see whether or not my head moves. Because the backswing is relatively slow, I can also feel a lot of where my head is. Anyway, I am getting better at keeping it steady, and that really bodes well for my swing into the future.

[jamo]

Again this is a few days late but I don't have a bunch of free time. I played Chisel Creek Golf Club in Landenberg, PA. I was expecting a lot more than I got, but I only paid $20 for 9 holes and got a cart. My swing seemed like it was there, but buried in rust because I just haven't played a whole lot. I had a pretty bad case of the lefts going. Starting a touch left and then going even farther left. The course itself had just been punched, and even though I was within 20 feet on almost every GIR I couldn't roll in any birdies. I missed both par 3 greens GIRs and made my only two bogeys of the day there. Most of the par 4s were in the low 300s distance-wise, so I had a lot of driver-LW holes. My half wedges shots were surprisingly decent, but I never really knocked any stiff. So it was an okay round, but nothing good.

I ended up with a 2 over par 37, with a differential of 1.8. Here is my Scorecard.

EDIT: I didn't want to make a new post of this because I didn't play today, but in light of iacas' new video I thought I'd take a look at mine. While I was at home I was working on impact position, primarily my wrists and my arms, but the image below shows me a new thing to work on. Now, the point of the video was primary for the wrists at impact, flying wedge, things like that and I still have things to work on when it comes to my wrists at impact, but this video also shows me me footwork needs some, well, work. As a former baseball player, up until several years ago I had baseball style footwork, where I wound up on my left heel and the ball of my right foot. A few years ago I was able to switch to getting up onto my right toe, but I realized last year that I still needed some work. Rather than rolling my right foot onto the side of my foot and then up, as Tiger does in the picture, I push my right knee slightly outward (towards the ball) rather than towards the target and my left knee. I just want to add that to the list of things to work on.

[jamo]

So yesterday I took the forward tees challenge at Delcastle Golf Club in Wilmington, DE. It was weird going to the first tee and having to tell the starter and the guy he paired me up with that I was playing the yellow tees, which are well up from the white and blue tees on pretty much every hole. But the guys didn't seem to mind it too much, and he actually found it kind of funny. My game was pretty good. At times, especially with my driver, I just couldn't figure out how to not hit it left, but at times I was just absolutely bombing the ball straight down the middle (a lot of these are not included in the summary because I am only including bogeys and birdies). I hit a few shots left with my irons, but mainly they were solid all day. It didn't hurt that I had LW into most greens. My swing thoughts were keep the head down on the backswing, keep the swing short, and extend through impact. I have found that at times I do too good of a job at keeping my head down and it stays down on the throughswing. That is a lot of why I've been hitting it left.

Anyway, I shot a -5 67, but because the course rating from the yellow tees is 65.3 my differential was 1.8. Here is my Scorecard.

Hole #2: A 400 yard par 5, I bombed my driver and had about 70 yards in. A slightly fat LW to to just off the front edge left me with about 20 feet for eagle. I hit a poor putt to 5 feet but made the birdie.

Hole #3: I hit my driver way to the left, into an adjacent fairway on this 329 yard par 4. I had a 9 iron in and, even though I hit it perfectly, I pushed it into the right bunker. I bladed my bunker shot over the green but was able to get up and down for bogey from there.

Hole #7: A 434 yard par 5, and I hit another great driver to the 150 mark. A slightly thin 8 iron to 31 feet gave me another eagle try. I actually gave this one a scare but it came up just short.

Hole #9: I missed the green left on this 150 yard par 3, but after a chip to 7 feet I was able to save par.

Hole #10: On this 345 yard par 4 I hit a slightly popped up driver to the middle of the fairway, and I had a SW to the green. I don't know why or how but my SW went way over this elevated green. I was about 20 yards past the green, and was forced to hit a flop shot over a tree. The flop leaked to the right, and I had 25 feet for par. I missed it.

Hole #11: This par 4 is 260 yards from the yellow tees, so I was going for it. Like I said in the "Best Shot of the Week" thread, my -14* angle of attack and 4500+ rpm spin rate actually came in handy here as I put it to 7 feet from the tee. BUT I MISSED THE PUTT! Still made birdie though.

Hole #13: This hole is a huge dogleg left 294 yard par 4, but I was going for the green because I could go right over the trees. I hit it a little off the heel but the ball still went about hole high and 20 or so yards left. I hit a bad pitch shot to 31 feet and made a disappointing par.

Hole #15: On this 420 yard par 5 I got a little bit under my driver, and hit it a little short but dead straight. I had a 5 iron uphill to the green that I pulled a little left into the rough. I hit my pitch to 5 feet and made the birdie putt.

Hole #16: On this 304 yard par 5 I hit a bad driver to the left rough, but I was only about 50 yards from the green. A LW to 7 feet gave me an easy birdie putt.

Hole #17: I hit a relatively poor PW on this 124 yard par 3 to 25 feet. My putt was hit way to hard but somehow the back of the cup got in the way and it went in for an unexpected birdie.

Hole #18: Another great and long drive on this 440 yard par 5 gave me just a 6 iron to the green. I hit it right over the flag and had a 25 yard putt for eagle that I just barely left short. Tap in birdies are always appreciated though.

So that's how it went down. I had a lot of short LWs to greens and as a result made a lot of birdies. I didn't play the course anywhere near the way the architect (if this course even has one) wanted people too, but I had a lot of fun.

Also, check out my last post . It was a "rounds" post but I did do some picture swing analysis.

Note: I also got a club team tee time for tuesday. It's a 6 pm though, so we'll likely only play 9 holes.

[jamo]

I wasn't originally going to post this, but I thought I'd create a new category: partial rounds. I played a few holes at Deerfield Golf and Tennis Club on tuesday (the 21st). We started on the 4th and played 4 or 5 holes. I was hitting the ball pretty well, but I was a little rusty and just didn't have my distances down. Also, I was paired up with 2 people from the golf club team who each live in town that border mine in MA, and one of the people I had played in a high school team match my freshman year of high school. It was kind of neat to see two people who live within 5 miles from my house while I am 300+ miles away.

On another note, I bought a lefty putter a few days ago. It's an Odyssey White Hot XG #3, lefty, 33in, and bent way flat. Basically the perfect lefty putter for me, though I'm not a huge fan of the insert. Either way, it was only $40.

This coming tuesday I have another tee time, and it's earlier so I should get to play all 18 holes. Wish me luck.

[Bo the Golfer]

Hope things are going well at school Jamo-are you trying to be Notah Begay with the lefty putter?

[jamo]

Haha, I wish I was as good as Notah Begay. I did play tuesday with the lefty putter, I'll probably have a short write up up later today. It actually not that bad.

[jamo]

I've been talking for a long time about wanting to try putting lefty, and with my recent purchase of a lefty putter I gave it a try. First of all, because I was trying lefty putting, and I had never even tried out the putter on a practice green or anything, I decided before the round to designate this round as a practice round. It won't be included in my handicap, and I didn't even put it on Scorecard. Next, I'll discuss my swing. I had a case of the lefts especially with my irons. By the end I had it mostly straightened out with my driver but my irons were still leaking left. My short game was a spectacle to be seen. My chipping and putting was just downright dirty, and I almost chipping in twice, leaving both putts on the lip. As for the lefty putting- I felt like on short putts my alignment was great but my speed was off, and with long putts my speed was great but my alignment was off. Anyway I ended up with a 75. Not bad for putting lefty all day.

[jamo]

I had the best range session that I've had in a while. Basically, I was inspired by the below picture:



...and the advice that iacas and Zeph gave me in the Attack Angle thread. I was thinking about two things: keep my head still on the takeaway, and on the downswing roll my right foot over. This gave me a better weight transfer and it was a good transition point. I was striping iron after iron, and it seemed like I could do no wrong. As my clubs got longer though my hips started lagging behind and I wasn't getting through the shots. I started coming over the top and hitting pull fades, not my favorite of shots. Once I made sure that I was turning my hips through I was back to hitting it well, and I kind was really excited. So, that's it. A good day at the range.

I also put together the below picture to illustrate the change through the year in the top of my backswing. The lines aren't prefect, but they're decent enough. My point is that making my shoulders steeper and my left arm flatter has been a goal of mine throughout the year. Currently I'm probably even better than the May and July pictures because my shoulders have been a huge focus lately, but I really like the arm plane of the July picture, and I'm glad that there has been some improvement.

[jamo]

I went to the driving range again the day after one of my best range sessions ever. I was working on a few things. First, keeping my head steady on the backswing. Second was the right foot thing in the downswing, rolling rather than raising. And third, making sure that I was turning my hips. Last time I had a tendancy, especially with the longer clubs, to not turn my hips at all. This time I made sure to turn my hips, and the results with the long clubs were great. The shorter clubs weren't quite as amazing as last time, but still not very bad. So, I'm surely on the right track, and I look forward to seeing how these changes continue to help my game.