Jamo's Blog on TheSandTrap

[jamo]

I went to Highfields Golf and Country Club today intending to play 18, but I ended up playing only 9 after I accidentally opened up a cut on my leg after hitting it with my club. It started bleeding and it hurt to walk, so I called it quits. My golf swing was what I expected after not playing for nearly a week. It felt like I still wasn't flipping, but I was over-rotating as a sort of over-correction. In consequence I was hitting a lot of pulls with a slight draw on them too, the result of a closed face (bad) and an in-to-out or straight swing path (good). My putting was pretty good, and i hit absolutely spectacular flop shots that Phil or Tiger would have struggle to pull off. Alright, maybe a slight exaggeration, but really not by much. I ended up shooting a +2 38, for a differential of 1.6. Here is my Scorecard.

Hole #1: I popped my driver up a little and pulled it a little. It finished with average distance in the left rough. I had a pretty good look at this 516 yard par in two, but I pulled my hybrid a little too and I ended up in a collection area left of the green. I putt my third one on, but 31 feet away. A good lag putt and a tap in par got me home.

Hole #2: On this wayyyy downhill 138 yard par 3 I either always pull it (or misalign it) or over club and go too far, which is a huge drop off to a lateral hazard. Today I did the latter. I hit a dead perfect soft 9 iron, straight as any shot I have ever hit, and right at the flag. It hit the back of the green, took 1 hop, and disappeared. With the pin front, I probably could have hit a soft PW or even blasted a SW. The green is very deep, and my ball was probably 10 yards off the back and another 10 yards down. No exaggeration, I had a good lie but with a green sloping away and such a steep hill in front of me I had to hit the flop with absolutely no view of the green or the background or anything to use to align myself. I ended flying the ball about a foot away from the pin, and it finished 12 feet from the hole. 12 feet might not seem that impressive (it's only 4 paces) but I cannot understate how tough that shot was. And that's not to brag, this is a blog I just want to write it down. I stepped up and sand the par putt.

Hole #3: This hole is 399 with a bit of a downhill and it is designed for a cut that started in the rough and finishes down the hill in the fairway. Today I just didn't have that shot. I pulled it into the left rough and had a 9 iron to the green. Out of the rough the ball made contact on the top of the face, and i ended up slightly short of the green, but the pin was in front so I wasn't in bad shape. I tried to putt it front the rough but I barely made it to the green, and I couldn't save par. I did make a tough 7 footer for bogey though.

Hole #4: Another par 4 (365 yards), another pull with the driver. This one almost cut the corner but it came up just short in the rough. I hit a good SW approach shot, but it came up short and spun down a hill. A really good chip from where I was left me 5 feet. My only real miscue on the green gave me a bogey.

Hole #5: A long par 3 at 218, this one has always gave me fits. I decided to go for a hybrid. It landed on the green but took a weird hop, down the hill and right. Down in another ditch, I was unable to make a par.

Hole #6: I hit the best drive of the day on this hole (a 389 yard par 4), in the left side of the fairway. It was still a pull but not as bad. My second shot was a 9 iron that made the green, but wasn't spectacular. The birdie putt lipped out.

Hole #7: I decided to take a mighty hack on this hole (a 383 yard par 4), trying to get my right shoulder through the shot (really just pulling things out of my ass, trying to turn this around, I need to get to the range and get it on video even though I know what I am going to see). The result was a slight cut. A change but still not great. But I was in the fairway. I had a soft PW that just finished short of the back tier of the green, where the pin was. I almost made the putt, but it came up just short. The line looked pretty good.

Hole #8: I really wanted to take advantage of this short par 4, at only 339 yards. I pulled my driver into the left side of the fairway, and I had the perfect angle with a SW to the green. I put it to 15 feet and made a really tricky downhill putt.

Hole #9: This 570 yard par 5 is much easier if you drive the ball into the right side of the fairway. Of course I pulled it left, and into the rough. I could either take a hybrid and hook it around a giant tree, which would take the risk of going right or too far, or lay up a little and try to hook a 6 iron over that tree and too about 100, with the possibility of having it catch the slope and roll all the way to the green. I decided on the second option because it is less risky and I have done that well in the past. I made a good swing but the rough caught the hosel and it resulted in a slight pull, right at the tree. Luckily it got through and it finished in the rough about 90 yards away. I tried to take a lot off the shot, but it came out really hot and went right over the green. I was left with nearly an identical shot to the one I had on number two, but the pin was in the back of the green, about 3 paces from the fringe. I had to hit this one even higher and land it in the fringe because there was not way to stop it with the green running away. I did really perfectly, and I was left with a 7 foot putt uphill. I made it for another really good save.

So the stories of the day were pulling the driver, and hitting two of the best three flop shots of my life. The other one (the best ever) was in a high school match play match where I had hit a really terrible approach shot. Over the green and into the next fairway, right behind a pine tree. I had to get it up really fast, and hit it the perfect distance. Because it was match play I knew I could mess up and just lose the hole, so I went for it. I put it on the lip and it nearly went in. The best shot of my life bar none. I can't say how hard that shot was, and how amazing it felt to pull it off. And in front of the coach no less! Speaking of that round, it was one of the best of my life. On the hole after that I hit a 4 iron stiff from 200, and I was 1 under and 2 holes up after 7. The rest wasn't as great. The last two holes on that course are both short par 4's. I hit great fairway drivers on both, and missed the green on each hole, bogeying each one in the process, and losing both holes to tie the match. Not great, but out teams tied, and my team was very much the underdog.

[Jonnydanger81]

I just played Highfield on Tuesday. Love that course and it's a great deal during the week. That long downhill par 3 is a tough hole. I put a 3i to the front and it took a good bounce to the middle of the green and I finally made par there but that's the only time I've hit an acceptable shot there. Is that course always empty? I've been there half a dozen times in the middle of the week and I've never ran into another group yet.

[jamo]

I've only been there on weekdays (because as a junior I can play 18 on weekdays for $20) and it always seems empty too. Strange, because it's a great course, especially for the price I can play there for. There are a lot of tough holes, but some shorter ones to take advantage of too.

I've played that long par 3 3 times this year and made bogey every time but this is the first time I have hit a good shot, I just got a little unlucky. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've ever parred that hole.

[Jonnydanger81]

I played like crap the other day when I played there, but putting up a 3 on that hole was a good one. That course has to be packed on the weekends because for the rates they charge and the shape that place is in there's no way they make money on their weekday business.

[jamo]

Today was a weird day at the Southborough range. I had done nothing all day but watch the Open and mow my lawn, so I had to get out and play after dinner. Not expecting much (except the nasty pull of yesterday) I got a medium bucket and started at it. I hit my SW first, a couple good ones, and a couple neat shanks. Then the 8 iron and I could feel my swing getting gradually better. I then decided to pull out the 6 and do my best Open Championships impression, hitting low shots, runners, big hooks, stinging cuts, and the 105 yard 6 iron shot that I am actually starting to get down.
By now my swing felt really good. I was manipulating the ball at will, and I had very few thoughts going through my head. To name them: Keep the head down (on the backswing), short swing, bump and turn (more on that later), and late release. It sounds like a lot, but by the end I didn't need to think about them.
So, feeling daring, I took out my nemesis, the 3 iron. I have been wanting to play a round from the tips of a long course lately (I wanted to a Highfields [a 74.5 rating with a 140 slope from the tips] yesterday, but I got paired up and didn't want to take too long, seeing I was already at a disadvantage because I was walking with two riding slicers), but haven't managed to yet. I really want to play one of those rainy, windy, long, grind-it-out rounds where par is a fantastic score on every hole. These kinds of rounds are really taxing on the long clubs, and my struggle with them are part of the reason I have been reluctant to.
Anyway, today the 3 iron felt no different than the 8, or the 6 , or the PW. I just took it back, and swung it through, and I don't think I missed the sweet spot a single time. And I don't mean just hitting it solidly, I mean hitting it dead pure, once-a-round perfect. Every singe time. From any lie, even divots! I don't know why. So I moved onto the driver, and no pull. No draw. Not fade. No push. I hit nearly even one great, baby draw, except for a few (1 or 2) tiny cuts. AND I DIDN'T GET VIDEO SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING RIGHT!

Golf is a frustrating game, even when you are striping the ball.

After the driver I decided to do what I went there to do, which is work on the lag stick with the 3 iron. That was pretty solid, I put it at the length between the two times I did with the 6 iron (as if that sentence made any sense), and I very rarely hit myself. So, in conclusion, I made a radical improvement sitting on the couch watching the Open on ESPN3.com (what a great invention, btw), or today was just one of those days. I'm hoping it's at least a mixture of the two. I'll try to get out for 9 tomorrow morning so I can get back and watch the leaders play, then work sunday morning followed by watching the final round, then hopefully 18 holes monday.

[jamo]

Yesterday (the 18th) I played a not so quick nine at Indian Meadows. It's not a bad course. It has some long holes, so short ones, some water, so elevations changes. Both of the par 5's are pretty easily accessible. I wasn't sure how I would fare, after a lot of pulls in my round 2 days before but striping the ball beautifully the day before on th range. My swing ended up being somewhere in the middle. I hit a few pulls and I overcooked a few draws, but I made a lot of really good contact. My putting was okay, but my short game wasn't fantastic. Ultimately my score wasn't great because I wasn't hitting the ball on the green, and I wasn't hitting it close enough. All of my misses were close to the green, but that's not really good enough. I ended up shooting a 39, 3 over par, for a differential of 2.8. Here is my Scorecard.

Hole #1: It's a 471 yard par 5. Short, easy, and reachable in two as long as you don't hook it left into the river that runs along the fairway. Even then if you get lucky you can actually make it to the 2nd fairway. I stepped up to the tee and absolutely smashed my driver. I hit it as close to the sweet spot as possible, high long and deep. We've been having a drought lately so they have been only using limited water on the course, and on the first fairway the rough and the fairway blended together. I was in short grass, and I hit the shot beautifully, so I gave myself a hit fairway. When I got to the ball I noticed a problem though. I had about 150 to the green but I had to go over a tree to get to the green, so I pulled a 7 iron and opened the face to get a little more height. I got unlucky that is hit a top branch, but I got lucky that it bounced into the fairway. I had a good look at it with a LW, but my ball went to the back of the green and I was left with a tough putt with the hole in front. Not really knowing the speed, I killed my first putt and then my second burned the edge, so I made a very disappointing bogey,

Hole #2: This 365 yard hole is just asking to be attacked with a fade hybrid, so that's what I tried. I double crossed myself a little, and I ended up in the first fairway. I had absolutely no idea how far I had to the hole, but I guessed about 115 to an elevated green. I hit basically the same shot that I hit with the 7 on the first hole, but this time with a PW. It looked good from where I was, but I came up a tad short. I did manage this time to get up and down.

Hole #3: This hole is IMO the toughest on the course. 443 yard par 4, and a dogleg left. Trees right and left, and water if you go too far left. I powered a slight draw with my driver, and ended up with a 7 iron to the green. I hit a high spinny shot, that came down and just stuck where it landed. I 2 putted from 21 feet for par.

Hole #4: This hole is 346, but it plays much shorter. I hit a hybrid off the tee, into the left of the fairway. I have been missing a lot of greens long lately, and I have been especially with the short clubs. I had to go over a tree so I tried to just power a LW there. I came up just short of the green, but it was flying right at the pin. Too bad. My chip came up a tad short of where I wanted, but I made the par putt.

Hole #5: The tees on this normally 174 yard par 3 were up, so much so that I had a 9 iron. They say the most important thing to to on an approach shot is to get your ball pin high, and I definitely did that here. The pin was on the left, and I hit it about 5 feet left of the green. Unfortunately the green was sloped away from the pin, so it bounced off the green. I hit another poor chip, and couldn't get it in for par.

Hole #6: This 480 yard par 5 is one of the hardest driving holes I have ever seen. Water right, water left, water long. You need to hit it straight. Then on the approach shot there is water short. I hit one of the longest drives I have ever hit. A 480 yard par 4 and I had 150 to the green. I couldn't measure it but it was well over 300 yards. The approach shot was from the rough and a little uphill so I went with the 7 iron. I hit it to 15 feet, but I couldn't convert the eagle putt, I burned the edge. Oh well. I still have never made an eagle putt. The only eagle I have ever made I chipping in from just off the green.

Hole #7: This 435 yard par 4 is nearly a 90 degree dogleg right, but you can cut off the corner and make it much shorter. You need to either aim where you want it to go and hit it straight or, better yet, aim a little left and cut the ball. I tried to do the latter but again double crossed and went left. Not where you want to be. I had a really long iron shot over some tree and I came up short in a bunker. I had a tough stance, but I was a little disappointed just to get it on the very front of the green. A really terrible first putt left me with a tester for bogey, but I made it.

Hole #8: This 203 yard par 3 was also up a little, and I hit a 4 iron. I hit it just as I wanted, a foot or so right of the green, but the wind never touched it and it stayed just right of the green. I had a touch of an uphill lie and I never hit those bad. I put it on the lip, and was a little disappointed it didn't go in. But tap in pars are always acceptable.

Hole #9: This 348 yard par 4 is nearly a 90 degree dogleg left at about the 150 mark, I hit hybrid dead perfect to a 9 iron distance. The wind really picked up here, and it was into and right to left. I came up a bit short and left, and again couldn't get up and down.

[jamo]

Today I played Juniper Hills, the Riverside course. I normally play the blue (back) tees, but I got paired up with a few elderly folks who were playing the yellows, so I went with them. They were't a hassle or anything and they played nice and fast, so I didn't bother moving to the back tees. the way I was playing though I actually might have scored better from the back tees. I had a lot of shots between 85 and 125 yards, and I just did not have the distances dialed in. I had a lot of half shots and A LOT of shots where I just had no idea how far I was, and as a consequence I hit a few balls over the green and I was having trouble getting pin high. That has been my problem for much of this year. Last year I was so good at those 85-125 yard shots, but this year it's just gone. It's tough to practice too, and on the course it's never going to be easy to know my yardage on those shots without a GPS or a rangefinder, neither of which are in the cards.

But anyway, I shot even par 71, with 5 birdies, 3 bogeys, and 1 double, for a differential of 4.8. Not bad, but like I said, it could have been better. Here is my (colorful) Scorecard.

If you want to follow along, here is a link to the Course Tour and to the (blurry) Scorecard .

Hole #1: 315 yard par 4. I hit a 3W to the right side of the fairway but behind a tree. I had no choice but to lay up left of the green, short. I then chunked my chip, hit another poor chip that barely got on, and 2 putter for double. Yay!

Hole #2: 281 yard par 4. I hit a very nice slight cut with my hybrid just in front of the greenside bunker. Not getting too greedy, I hit a decent pitch over the bunker to 21 feet. I burned the edge with my putt but tapped in for birdie.

Hole #3: 447 yard par 5. A slightly skyed drive left me with about 215 to an elevated green. I got antsy waiting for the group in front of me so I just hit a PW to about 100. I then hit a poor SW short of the green, and couldn't get up and down, burning the edge with my par putt.

Hole #4: 365 yard par 4. A beautiful drive left me with a soft SW. I realized too late that I was using a Top Flite and though my ball landing in perfect position it rolled all the way to the back. From 51 feet I again burned the edge, but tapped in for par.

Hole #5:159 yard par 3. I had a soft 6 iron to this green. My ball did get hole high on this one, but about 3 feet off the green. A perfect bump and run left me with a foot from par.

Hole #8: 360 yard par 4. I absolutely killed this drive. Long, far, straight, long. Did I mention long? I had a half LW to the green that went to the back of the green. I had another good run of this one, but again lipped out.

Hole #9: 295 yard par 4. A well struck hybrid left me with a SW to the green. I hit it weird. Chunky, toe-y, but it had so little spin it rolled up onto the green to 15 feet. Another lip out left me feeling like i should have been a few under par on the front 9, yet I was 3 over.

Hole #10: 395 yard par 5. I skyed this drive to, and I was left with 200 uphill to the green. I didn't hit my hybrid great, a little off the toe, but I was just off the green, short and right. A perfect chip gave me a tap in birdie, which is always appreciated.

Hole #11: 283 yard par 4. Because of the water right I had to lay up with a 6 iron to a PW distance. I hit a perfect PW to about 3 feet. I was a great push draw, and I just knocked it stiff. It was a tough 3 footer, but I knocked it in. *brushes shoulders off*

Hole #13: 281 yard par 4. I had to wait a while for the green to clear because I was going for this one. Lined up a little left to make sure my miss was playable, and left it went. Straight where I was aiming, and pin high. I had a good lie just above a sand trap but I had a tough chip. I had to land in on a hill and get it to roll back down to the hole. Unfortunately for me it landed on the upslope and stayed. I made the putt though. 25 feet, no big deal.

Hole #14: 350 yard par 4. I flared my driver a little right and into the rough, my first missed fairway of the day. I had a bad lie with the ball way above my feet but I put it on the back of the green. With the pin front I had a long putt, and 3 putted it for bogey.

Hole #15: 140 yard par 3. I had a soft 9 iron into this green, but it stayed out right and into a bunker. I hit a good bunker shot to 7 feet, but lipped out the par putt.

Hole #17: 140 yard par 3. But it was playing longer, I had a 5 iron over water. And I stuck it to 7 feet. Made the birdie.

Hole #18: 450 yard par 4: After a good drive I had just a 4 iron into this green, but I hit it off the toe and it came up short. I good pitch shot go me onto the correct tier, and I made the 10 footer for birdie to finish the day.

So I made a lot of birdies, but man I should have made a bunch more.

[jamo]

I played the other course at Juniper Hills today, the Lakeside course. It is more of a tight, narrow, wooded course, where the Riverside course that I played last week is a little more wide open that has more quirky holes. Anyway, I played the way I thought i would. I haven't been to the range in a while, and I really need to get my swing on video. In my last round my swing was very good, and I have a theory on why. Here is my theory: In the early 2000's, Tiger Woods' swing was very hip oriented. He had a very aggressive hip thrust forward and an even faster hip turn. What this did was allow his also very aggressive wrist rolling to take place with no bad results. The speed of his hips outraced the speed of his wrists, which resulted in a straight to slightly drawing shot shape. This is sort of what I had going last time. In an effort to get rid of the pull problem I was having (where I had gotten rid of a lot of the left wrist cupping but not the wrist rolling), I sped up my hips and started opening them earlier. In that round I managed to time it well, today I couldn't. I was trying to find the right combination but never did. I am pretty sure I still have a little work to do on the left wrist cupping and (now) slight chicken wing, and for now those are in the forefront. But next on the list is the wrist rolling. Of I can get rid of a lot of wrist rolling I can make my hip turn later, which will give me more late acceleration and a overall simpler swing, with fewer timing problems. Also, my stance seemed way too wide and I made a lot of swings where I just didn't feel comfortable standing over the ball.

So, onto how I did today. The problems I had were timing and inconsistency. Sometimes my wrists would roll aggressively, and sometimes it would be my hips that moved with a little more speed. A few times I got it right, a few times I didn't. I had one 3 putt, which was disappointing, and I never really made any putts, but for the most part putting wasn't the problem. My short game was poor, but that was still not the problem. My swing's inconsistency was the problem, and that is what I am working on. I don't really feel like going through holes, but Here is my Scorecard. I shot a 76, 5 over par for a differential of 3.6.

[jamo]

I went to the driving range today (well, yesterday). It was kind of a blah day. I didn't have a camera so I couldn't break down my swing, and I don't expect to be able to film for about 2 weeks. I hit a few good shots, I hit a few bad, just trying to work on different things and find what works. I don't really know if I made much progress, so from a progress standpoint it was kind of pointless, but I have fun so that's good. I now have a few blisters on my right hand though (non golf related injury) so I don't know when I will play next. Could be a few days.

[jamo]

I forgot to write this up yesterday, so I am doing it today. I had another mediocre day at the range. I started off well, but I tried messing around with my address hands position and caught a bad case of the chunks. Then with the long clubs I was pulling and pushing the ball, presumably because my timing was off. My transition, my hips, my wrists, address, and even ball position were all just off. I need to get some video and see what I am doing. I think the ball position has crept too far forward, and I should never have messed with address. So it's just work on impact, and get my wrists and hips in sync.

[jamo]

Ok, today was better. I was able to get a random guy standing next to me to film my driver swing, and I was actually quite impressed. I'll place the video first and then talk about it:



The first think I noticed when I watched the video is just how sloped the ground is. It's sloped downhill, and it gets annoying. Then I noticed a good takeaway, but my backswing was a little too long, and my head moved a little to much. But then I got to this image:



And that's why I was impressed. My left arm might be a little bent (I can't tell for sure, but I think I see a little bend), but my right arm is dead straight, my left wrist is straight, and my hands have not really turned over much at all (or at least a whole lot less than before). I'm not a huge fan of the frame during my finish when the club is horizontal over my head and my final finish looks a little "odd", but those are worries for another day.

The next goal is to see that just-past-impact frame with my irons. I could be there, but I doubt it. I didn't want to ask people to take a bunch of videos, so I'll just work with what I can.

Oh, and one more thing: my game was anything but perfect today. I was hitting an annoying 5 yard cut. I prefer the 5 yard draw, and that difference is very important to me. I think a lot of it is due to the slope that I was on (I tend to swing a tiny bit out to in with a downhill lie, and vice verse for uphill), but I still have much to work on.

EDIT: Let me just emphasize one thing- I know for a fact that my irons are not this good. I am still cupping my left wrist and roiling my wrists a little too much.

[bwdial]

I was going to say that it looks like you're on a ten degree slope.

[jamo]

I was going to say that it looks like you're on a ten degree slope.

I know, it's really annoying, and it slowly changes my swing. I tend to come a little more over the top out of worry that I am going to catch the ground behind the ball.

[uttexas]

Impact positions looking really good here.

[jamo]

Impact positions looking really good here.

Thanks, I just need to get my irons like that now. The club-ground interaction with the irons makes it a little harder than with the driver.

[jamo]

In a mood to play 9 holes today, I decided to go to Sassamon Trace. It's a par 32 9 hole course, and here is a quote from my blog post the last time I played there:

As for the course, hole 1-3 and 9 are built on the top of an old landfill, and hole 4-8 are built on an old apple orchard (don't ask who's idea it was to build an apple orchard next to a landfill :loco). The landfill holes are above the tree line and very very windy, and more links style, while the others aren't really at all.:

My swing was a hard thing to figure out today. I pured (literally pured, not just solid, but dead on pure) all but one of my iron shots. Dead straight, all of them. I only had to hit one driver, which was a tiny bit of a pull. I did hit 4 hybrids, 3 from the tee. Those tee shots all faded a little. Not what I wanted, but I made good contact. As my swing gets better the swing plane will come. It's a matter of time. I really feel like my swing is oh so close to being incredibly good. I don't want to sound cocky, but that't the best way I know how to put it.

I ended up shooting a +1, for a differential of 1.3. Here is my Scorecard. Hole #1: It's 158 yard par 3, slightly uphill, and today it was into a pretty stiff breeze. On my first swing of the day I thought I would be a little stiff, so I decided to make a smooth, easy 6 iron swing. I hit it dead pure, and flied the green. I should have hit an easy 7, and probably could have gotten away with an 8 because the pin was in front. I hit a really good chip to 2 feet and made the par. Hole #2: This hole is a 326 yard par 4 with a sizeable ravine on the right. It is next to impossible to go too far left, so I aimed over the left bunker and hit my hybrid. It faded a little and the slope of the fairway pushed it into the right rough. I had about 130 yards from a great lie in the rough, but the wind was into me and I was going a little uphill so I went with the 9 iron. I must have just flown the green, but it landed on a downslope and went all the way to the next tee. I hit a really good - and totally blind - pitch shot to 10 feet, and saved my par. Hole #3: This is a really tricky hole. Bunker right, then a waste area right of that. A big downslope long, and short isn't great either. If you go left you will hit a slope that can bring the ball back towards the green but it's pretty hard to get it close that way. This par 3 normally plays at 180 yards, but the tees were up so I had a 7 iron to the green. Here is my description from the Best Shot Of The Week thread:

7 iron from about 160 on a decently tricky par 3. The ball landed about 6 feet past the pin and spun back to 6 feet in front of the pin. It was a wonder it a) didn't hit the flag on the fly, and b) didn't roll into the hole. It much have missed by inches at the most.

I made the birdie.

Hole #4: With no reason to hit driver on this 529 yard par 5, I layed up with my hybrid. Again it faded a little but not too much- it stayed in the fairway. I then hit another hybrid to lay up again. This was my only straight hybrid of the day. I was just trying to hit it into the left rough, and to keep it away from the right woods. I hit it just where I wanted, and as an added bonus it stayed in the fairway. But I had an awkward yardage, about 85 yards. I could either baby a SW (a shot I've been really struggling with lately distance-wise) or I could kill a LW. For some reason I decided to take a nice easy swing with my LW, try to pure and and get some extra distance out of it. I hit it the way I wanted to, but the ball spun back to the front of the green, with the pin in back. From 61 feet I made an ugly 3 putt. Hole #5: A 162 yard par 3, the tees were up a little, so that I had a 9 iron to the green. I probably should have hit a PW, because I flew the green. I couldn't get this one up and down and made a second straight bogey. Hole #6: I wanted to hit a soft cut on this 341 yard par 4 with my hybrid, but I overcooked it a little. Luckily it got a good bounce back into the fairway and I had a 9 iron. Another pured iron to 10 feet. I lipped out the birdie. Hole #7: On this 177 yard par 3 I was thinking of hitting a hard 7, but I went with a soft 6 instead. I put it to 20 feet, a shot I was proud of, and again I lipped out the birdie putt. Hole #8: On this 143 yard par 3 the tees were a tad up so I had a PW. I put it to about 21 feet, and again I burned the edge with my birdie putt. The third time in 3 holes. Hole #9: An interesting finishing hole, this 367 yard par 4. With the drive you can either bite off the corner and go over the ravine and the bunker, or you can lay up left which leaves a longer approach shot. I went for the first of those two options, but I pulled the ball a little and it was as if I had chosen option 2. I had a 7 iron to the green, but I was blocked by some tall grass. I hit my shot totally perfect, but I was aimed right and my ball went straight into a bunker. I hit a decent bunker shot but it went 30 feet long. And I drained the putt. Quite the way to finish the round.

[jamo]

I was trying to play Hopedale CC, but they turn private at 11 AM on fridays and I got there about noon. I little frustrated they didn't just let me on because it wasn't that busy, I decided to go to Highfields and use the range. Their range isn't great though. It is at the top of a huge hill and is totally vulnerable to the wind. The view is great, but as you hit the ball up into the air the wind really catches it. Today the wind was pretty strong from left to right, a slice wind for me.

I hit the ball pretty well. My swing wasn't quite as crisp as it was a few days ago at Sassamon Trace, but I was still making solid contact most of the time. The wind really messed with me though, it was hard to watch every shot fade to the right, so I just stopped watching ball flight after a while, just looking at the initial direction of the ball. My driver swing was really good, long and straight. I just have to work on the things I am doing now and I really think my swing will be as good as I could hope for. Until I don't touch a club nearly all winter though.

On a side note, the week after next I am going on vacation, and there is a slight chance I will get to play Bethpage Black. not a sure thing by any means, but a chance nonetheless.

NOTE: Here is a quick list of courses I want to play before the summer is over:

• Leo J Martin
• Ponkapoag
• Shining Rock
• Hopedale CC
• Maple Gate

[jamo]

This was my worst round of the year, swing wise and with my score. I was playing Ponkapoag Golf Club, the #2 course. It was in as bad a condition as I have ever seen a golf course. There was no fairway, no tee boxes, and the greens were sparse. The dead grass everywhere is hard to get a footing on and just plain out hard to make a solid strike on the ball. My iron swing felt good - and yielded good results when I had grass to hit off - but with my hybrid, 3W, and driver I was hitting it right. I started the day off with a left to right hole that was begging for a fade, and I hit it perfectly so I was encouraged. But then hole after hole I kept hitting flares.

BTW, I have used the term "flare" a lot before. I don't know if it is a popular term or what, but I define a "flare" as a curved shot to the right that is controllable (like a fade or a cut) but leaves you farther to the right that a fade/cut would. I would say a fade/cut leaves you in the fairway, a flare leaves you in the first or second cut, and a slice leaves you in the trees. Those are all ball park definitions, but that's just how I define it.

They were controllable (hell, I still broke 80) but were hard to play with and left me with a lot of shots from the rough. It got a little better on the back nine, but I was still playing with a noticeable left-to-right ball flight that I really do not like. When I start hitting flares I lose a noticeable amount of distance and my quality of contact goes down. Basically my swing plane become out of whack, and I couldn't figure out why. I'll save the technical stuff to my next blog post because I went to the range later in the day, but the fix was a really easy one and I am disappointed it took me so long to figure out. As for the rest of my game, my putting speed was really good. I was hole high after every first putt, but I couldn't get anything to drop. I blame the conditions for part of it, but surely some of it was on me. My short game was also not very good, but when you hit every pitch shot off of hardpan and short, dead, rock-hard grass, the results aren't always always going to be marvelous. I don't really want to go through holes, but Here is My Scorecard .