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a new golfers journey through the first two months so far.......


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Hi BJ,

I've really have enjoyed reading about your golfing journey. I'm a bit older than you (late 40's) and I've really gotten into golf over the past year and a half with my 13 year old son. I have a lot to learn about the equipment side of golf. I've been playing with a set of Callaway X22s that I got off of ebay and I'm considering moving up to a "better players club". I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that you are considering moving down a bit from players clubs?

I'm curious as to what you consider players clubs - do you consider players clubs to be the muscle back/blade type irons?

From my reading, it seems to be that most players today no longer use muscle back/blades, but are now opting for cavity back players irons. Is this what you are talking about in terms of the "in between" type clube - cavity back players irons? It seems that the cavity backs kind of have the best of the game improvement and players clubs combined.

I'm very curious as to what specific clubs/brands you are looking at as I think I'm looking for something in between as well but I'm not sure where to start.  To be honest, I'm mostly interested in buying a used set of clubs as those seem to be more in my price range and that might limit my options as well. Curious if you have any thoughts on older models, say 2012-2013 that I might consider.

Thank you!

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Hi BJ,

I've really have enjoyed reading about your golfing journey. I'm a bit older than you (late 40's) and I've really gotten into golf over the past year and a half with my 13 year old son. I have a lot to learn about the equipment side of golf. I've been playing with a set of Callaway X22s that I got off of ebay and I'm considering moving up to a "better players club". I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that you are considering moving down a bit from players clubs?

I'm curious as to what you consider players clubs - do you consider players clubs to be the muscle back/blade type irons?

From my reading, it seems to be that most players today no longer use muscle back/blades, but are now opting for cavity back players irons. Is this what you are talking about in terms of the "in between" type clube - cavity back players irons? It seems that the cavity backs kind of have the best of the game improvement and players clubs combined.

I'm very curious as to what specific clubs/brands you are looking at as I think I'm looking for something in between as well but I'm not sure where to start.  To be honest, I'm mostly interested in buying a used set of clubs as those seem to be more in my price range and that might limit my options as well. Curious if you have any thoughts on older models, say 2012-2013 that I might consider.

Thank you!

Hello and thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it.  I've had a blast since I started playing golf and it's been fun to also continue to update this thread and look back over time to see where I was at and how far I've come.

I agree with you 100%, true muscle back irons are not seen that much anymore.  The Bridgestone J40 irons that I have, are considered a players iron.  There are actually two versions of the J40 irons, one is a cavity back style and the other is a dual pocket cavity back design.  They are beautiful clubs and while they do have a cavity back, are considered players clubs, at least in my opinion but I'm pretty sure that they are looked upon that way.  So just because an iron has a cavity back design does not mean that it's automatically a game improvement iron.  Apparently that used to be the case not too long ago but even the newer Titleist 714 AP2 irons have a cb design but they are clearly more of a players club.

I can play the Bridgestone's and get by with them, but I'd like to have a little more forgiveness in them.  Part of the issue is probably that it's winter and I'm judging myself too hardly as once spring and summer come it will not be as hard to hit the ball on normal ground.  Generally speaking, I think it's safe to say that the more years a golfer has under his/her belt, usually the better they are to a point.  So most golfers that are at a similar level of golfing skill as myself have been playing for much longer.  This is why I think there seems to me to be not that much of a selection of irons that are between the Bridgestone J40's (which are cavity backs, but a players iron, I think Brandt Snedeker used to use the same ones) and the TM Speedblades which while fantastic irons are a game improvement iron.  My theory on this is most people are not in a position like I'm in because they have the experience of years of playing golf, much more than me so they transition more gradually to higher end irons, whereas I'm right on the edge and have only a bit more than 2.5 years of golf under my belt.

I would not consider getting a traditional muscle back because I am not totally comfy with the J40's.  With that being said, the J40 cavity backs were used on tour so they are basically the same iron that I have now only with different shafts I'm sure.

I purchase just about all my golf equipment on Ebay.  It's gotten to a point where it does not make sense to do it any other way.  Once I know what I want, then I order it from Ebay.  For example, the TM SLDR irons brand new on Ebay are around $450 shipped, you'd be hard pressed to walk out of any golf retailer with those same clubs for under $750.  I have always liked Taylormade irons.  My first set was the TM Burner Plus model from 2008 that I got new in 2012.  I then went to TM R11 irons, then a first set of Bridgestone J40's that I sold, then TM Rocketbladez, then TM Speedblades, and the Bridgestone J40's.  I still have the speedblades and J40's.  As you can see I've had several taylormade sets and have always liked them.  Since the technology has really exploded in the last couple of years with the slot that TM irons have in the 3 iron through 7 iron, I'd suggest at least the Rocketbladez model or newer.  I've seen Rocketbladez irons going for under $400 at places like Golfsmith and Golf Galaxy.  That's a good deal in my opinion.

When trying out new clubs, irons specifically I look at all the specs now to compare to what I am currently hitting.  As you know, not all 7 irons are even and so I tend to focus on the lofts of the clubs to make comparison so I am comparing apples to apples.  I hit my J40 7 iron, which has 35 degree loft the same distance that I hit the speedblades 8 iron which has 34.5 degrees of loft.

I am without a doubt a victim of the manufacturers coming out with new stuff all the time.  I chose to be a victim though.  I know people that I met when I first started golfing that have the same clubs then as they do now.  On the flip side I am constantly buying and trying new things and yes it's expensive but it's fun for me and part of the experience.

Finally I'll strongly suggest you check out Ebay.  There are tons of used irons sets that are in great shape for a good price.  I've bought hundreds of items off Ebay and never had an issue with anything being fake or anything like that.  I check to make sure the seller has a great reputation and I live by the concept that if something is too good to be true then it probably is.  Thus you are not going to get a Cameron putter for $20 brand new, but you can find good deals on lots of quality items that are used but still in great shape.  Best of luck!

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  • 1 month later...

Sorry I have not posted in many weeks.  Honestly there has not been much to discuss.  The weather this winter has been terrible and I went 4 weeks in between rounds, which was the longest I went without playing a round of golf since I started golfing on 6/2/12.  I played on 2/8/15 and then did not play again until 3/8/15.  At least I have been able to play once the last two weekends as I played 3/8 and 3/15.  March 15 was opening day although it was the first day that my country club was open in more than a month.  The weather was so bitterly cold that there were times when I could only hit balls once during the week and even then I was the only one out there at the whole range!  I remember this happening a few times and I'm not really sure it helped at all as it was like 20 degrees with the wind blowing hard.  If anything it was good for me mentally I guess.

My handicap is currently at 5.5 after the most recent revision and we are now IN SEASON.  It's supposed to get colder the next few days but as long as the temperature is above 40, I'll take it.  It has been so cold that 50 degrees feels really warm!

I did end up getting a new set of irons and have had them for more than a month now and have played with them a handful of times.  With the turf conditions so terrible and frozen the Bridgestone J40 irons I have were just too difficult for me to hit in those conditions so I picked up a set of SLDR irons which have slightly weaker lofts and less offset than the Speedblades.  I traded those in.  So far the SLDR's are good.  I really like the KBS shafts in them and while I've had some issues when it's windy becuase I am a high ball hitter and the shafts in the SLDR irons launch the ball pretty high. If it's normal and just a slight breeze though there are no issues.  I'm glad I went with the SLDR's as they seem to be what I was looking for, something in between the Speedblades and the J40's.

I'm really excited for this season.  I was thinking about how I was playing this winter when I played and I realized that I played pretty good considering the cold, the wind, the lack of being able to play regularly, and most important, the terrible turf conditions.  I was thinking how I probably do not remember this as much as I should, nor give it as much importance.  It's very hard to play when the ground is either frozen or soupy as hell and it makes a huge difference obviously.

I was struggling for a while with my driving which has usually been one of the most consistent parts of my game.  I think the issue was that I was not playing consistently and even though I went to the range, hitting off those rubber tees is not the same at all.  I was able to fix the driving issues that I was having by making a stance adjustment and the last two rounds I hit 12 and 10 FIR.  I don't know how I got messed up but for a while I was slicing the ball and even ended up reverse pivoting.  I have also narrowed my stance and set up more closed now and make sure I am making a full shoulder turn now whereas before I was slapping at the ball and all messed up.

I'm finding it hard to set an objective goal for the year which is frustrating because I have been able to do this in the past seasons but I'm at the point now where improvement is harder and harder and there is "less fat" to chop off, so-to-speak.  I guess I'd like to get to 4.0 or lower for my handicap this year but I'm not sure if that is too aggressive or maybe even not aggressive enough?

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  • 1 month later...

The start of the handicap season (3/15) was definitely frustrating as the weather was cold for a bit and my short game was horrible.  The weather has improved though and the last few weeks I have worked really hard during the week working on pitches and chips around the green.  I'm seeing that the hard work is paying off as I am getting up and down with much more consistency.

My official handicap went up a bit and at one point it was trending to 6.0L, however, after the last two weekends it is now trending to 5.4L and is at 5.7 officially.  The last two weekends saw me post scores of 78, 76, 76, and 76.  Yesterday I even stepped up to the "blended" tees which are a shade under 6500 yards, up from the usual 6250 tees I usually play.  I think I'm going to continue to play the blended since I was comfortable with the distance.  I could tell a difference on few holes but it was nothing major.

I was also a bit frustrated at the start of the season because it seemed like I could not make a birdie to save my life.  This was similar to last year around the same time but as the conditions got better, they are now dropping in.  I'm averaging over 1 birdie per round.

Other than that I'm still working on my swing and going to hit balls a few times a week at the range.  I have a much better understanding of the golf swing now (although it seems like I say that every year).  My swing is one done with "quiet hands" in that I do not really hinge my wrists a lot and while I've gotten better at the butt end of the club pointing outside of the target line so that I am not too steep, I still do not open enough on the backswing, then close on the downswing.  I think it's a coordination thing but I am getting better at it slowly but surely.

I think I got to this point because early on in my golfing career a cupped left wrist with my swing plane was not good for solid ball striking so by keeping my hands "quiet", it leads to a slighlty curved left wrist instead of being cupped.  Furthermore it was one less thing I had to get right before striking the ball whereas hinging the wrists would add one more thing and I also found that it sped up my swing when I was trying to slow things down.

So long story short, that is what I'm working on now.  I decided not to go all the way at once.  Rome was not built in a day and neither are most swing changes.  Because I now understand this and can see this in my head, it's much better and easier for me to implement than before I was ready for it.  As I continue to tweak this more and more it will also allow me to go from having a completely shut club face to one that is open and pointed left of the target line which is what I ideally want.

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forgot to mention....my bag for 2015 has been made up of the following so far:

driver:   Titleist 910 D2, 9.5 degree, regular flex shaft

3W:       TM Rocketballz Tour Preferred 14.5 degree, regular flex

5W:       Titleist 913f, 19 degree, regular flex

3 iron:   TM RSI 1, graphite shaft, regular flex

4-9i:      TM SLDR, regular flex steel shafts

PW:       Cleveland 588 RTX CB 46 degree

GW:      Cleveland 588 RTX CB 52 degree

LW:       Cleveland 588 RTX CB 58 degree

Putter:   Odyssey Milled Collection #2 or Scotty Cameron Tour Only Newport Squareback Select Prototype

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since Memorial Day Weekend has just come and gone, I guess we are now unofficially in "summer".  This is very good from a weather standpoint and I probably played the best 3 day weekend of golf I ever have up to this point.  It's hard to believe that on June 2, 2015, that will mark 3 years since I first started playing golf.  The time has flown by and while it seems like just yesterday, it also seems like it has been an eternity because I have put in so much work and played so much golf.

I ended up shooting 78, 75, and 77 this weekend, all at my club (par 72).  I set a new personal best by hitting 13 GIR yesterday while hitting 12 the day before.  So ball striking is continuing to improve and is a strong point of my game.  I've been working hard during the week to improve my play around the greens to improve my scrambling percentage and play 100 yards and in.  I am definitely seeing improvement in my scrambling abilities. Statistically I have not been putting well lately and I had a whopping 35 yesterday but that was a result of hitting so many greens in regulation and I had a lot of two putts.  I've found that the more GIR I have, then usually the more putts I have whereas the more scrambling I'm doing and the less GIR usually equals less putts because I get the ball closer to the hole and thus have more one putts when I'm scrambling versus having a GIR and then two putting.  I'd love to have the best of both worlds and get the GIR and have a one putt but my game is a work in progress and frequently when I have a lot of GIR I have some good birdie opportunities but there is also a lot of times where I'm 25 to 30 feet if not more, away from the hole and a two putt is pretty good.

I know that this is the reason and it's not that I'm putting poorly (although I can definitely improve my putting).  I am averaging under one three putt per round of golf and year to year my average putts per round is decreasing.  Also, I continue to count putts as any stroke I use with my putter which inflates my average putts per round probably by 2 to 4 strokes per round (this is an estimation).  So in 27 rounds I've played in 2015, I'm averaging 32.7 putts per round which is really probably right around 30 if I counted putts the way they are counted on the PGA tour.  Considering that the greens at my club are very difficult and my handicap is trending to 5.2L currently, I don't think that averaging 30-31 putts puts me outside the general average for someone with my skill level.  Those reading this, I'd love your input as always so please tell me if you think otherwise - I wrong a lot and not afraid to admit it!

One of my golfing buddies that I normally play with at my club has moved away to Florida which stinks because he was a pretty good player, about a 10 handicap or so and I enjoyed playing with him not just because he's a great guy but also because he is closer to my skill level than anyone else I frequently play with and I think that's good for my game.  I enjoy  playing with my regular group but they are all at least high teens handicaps if not higher and I find that when I play with better players that I play better and can learn a lot myself.  It's hard though to find new people to play with since most everyone has a group established already.  That's what I'm working on though trying to find some new players.  I may even consider moving to a different country club or golf club.  I like my club but most of the people are there to play golf and have fun, which is understandable.  I'd like to find some more competitive people though along with a staff and facility that is more willing to help performance instead of a staff willing to get you another six pack and ice for the back nine.

There has been some minor changes to equipment in my bag.  Everyone that knows me knows that I am an equipment wh**e, but I have been proud to say that I've had the same driver in my bag for just over 2 years now, a Titleist 910.  I was able to obtain a brand new Titleist 913 for only $200, so I got it.  I liked the 910 shaft so much that I just swapped that out and put the new head on.  I do notice a distance increase of almost 10 yards or so probably due to better technology and new club.  I have the trusty 910 still as a backup in case anything happens.  I have also been looking for a 3 wood that I really like, one that I can hit off the tee as well as off the deck consistently (the Titleist 913f 5 wood I have in my bag is great and I hit that off the deck and sometimes off the tee, very consistently).  So I went to Golf Galaxy and tried out several different 3 woods.  I fully expected to most likely be leaving with the Titleist 915 3 wood but I did not.  I liked the Taylormade R15 3 wood better.  It went 15 to 20 yards further according to the launch monitor and also much straighter.  I put the new 3 wood in play yesterday and used it for several shots and was very pleased as I hit 11 FIR (every 3 wood off the tee was a FIR) and 13 GIR for the day.

A week from this Thursday I'm looking forward to playing in a scramble for work that I play in every year at Bulle Rock, which is a Pete Dye design and used to be (I'm not sure if it still is) a top 100 course in the US.  It's a great course and I always have fun playing in that.  Thanks for reading.  Hope we all hit it straight and long!

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  • 1 month later...

The hard work that I am putting into my short game is definitely making a difference, although I need to work on my green side bunker play.  I've been going two to three times a week after work to work on chipping and pitching for about an hour each time.  In 2014 my year to date scramble percentage was just 20.2%.  In the last five rounds that scrambling percentage is 34.1% and over the last 20 rounds it's 29.4%.

Other than that I just keep plugging away, working hard to improve.  My handicap is officially at 4.7 and trending down to 4.4L.  I feel like I am on the verge of a "breakthrough" round where I go really low.  My lowest score this year so far is 75, which I've shot twice so far and that ties my best round ever (3 over par).  I have moved up to the "blended" tees at my club which increased the total yardage from just under 6300 to just under 6500.  I have not noticed too much of a difference as it's really not that big of a jump, although on a few holes you notice the extra yardage.

I was able to use a launch monitor last night at the range and it confirmed kind of what I already knew, that I'm sort of stuck in between stiff and regular flex shafts for my clubs.  I was also hitting range balls for what it's worth, however, my driver swing speed averaged 96 mph and according to the monitor I averaged 235 yards of carry.  My driver is a TItleist 913 D2 (it's 12 degree loft that I have tuned down to 11.25 degree of loft) and I put that head on a Diamana 'ilima regular flex 60g shaft (it feels the best to me but I'm not sure it's the optimal shaft?).  My irons are new and they are the Taylormade RSI 2 and I got the stock shafts with the regular flex.

I've tried various online shaft fittings and some have come back as regular flex and some have come back with stiff.  It seems like I'm right there in between shaft flexes so I err'd on the side of caution when getting my new irons and stuck with the regular flex shafts.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been a while since I posted....there has been a lot of equipment changes in that time.  I know I've been guilty of making too many equipment changes since I started playing golf but I know that I made the right moves recently.  In retrospect, I liked the SLDR irons in regular flex I got earlier this year and I should have kept them instead of selling them and getting the RSI2 irons which clearly had shafts that were too weak.  I ended up getting Bridgestone J15 DPF irons in the stock stiff flex.  I was hesitant to go to stiff flex as I was worried I'd lose distance and my driver ss is only about 95-98 mph.

I should have done this sooner.  My shot dispersion is so much tighter with my irons and I am making a lot more birdies lately.  I also got on a launch monitor and found out that the loss of distance with my driver was because I had too much side spin so I got correctly fitted for a new driver (Ping G30 LS Tec) and the results are great.  I played three times over this past weekend all at my country club and shot my two lowest rounds ever, shooting a one over par 73 that included 5 bogeys and 4 birdies which set a new record for birdies in a round for me.  I then shot a 77 that was not too good but I was tired and it was hot out and yesterday morning I shot 74 with just one birdie and 3 bogeys.  If I made as many putts as I did the other day then this could have easily been a couple of shots under par as I was not that sharp yesterday with my putter.

I knew I had some low rounds in me and it was just a matter of time and this was what I was waiting for and needed.  My handicap is officially at 4.2 and is now trending to 3.9L.  I subscribed to a website that tracks a lot of golf stats and gives me strokes gained putting and a bunch of other things that I did not have access to or track before.  I figure this is good because I'm getting to a point where I want and need more in depth golf stats and analysis.

I just can't get over how by just going to stiff flex in my irons (Dynamic Gold DG Pro S300) my iron shots are so much closer and more accurate.  It's like night and day.  I did not lose any distance at all either, although, I'm not sure what the reason is for this but it seems to be the case with just about every set of irons I get.....my 9 iron does not fly as far as it should based on my PW and 8iron.  I'm hitting my PW to carry 125 and my 8 iron carries 145+, yet my 9 iron only carries 133 and even then I have to bash it.  I guess I need to have the loft strengthened a bit on that club?

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Been a while since I posted....there has been a lot of equipment changes in that time.  I know I've been guilty of making too many equipment changes since I started playing golf but I know that I made the right moves recently.  In retrospect, I liked the SLDR irons in regular flex I got earlier this year and I should have kept them instead of selling them and getting the RSI2 irons which clearly had shafts that were too weak.  I ended up getting Bridgestone J15 DPF irons in the stock stiff flex.  I was hesitant to go to stiff flex as I was worried I'd lose distance and my driver ss is only about 95-98 mph.  I should have done this sooner.  My shot dispersion is so much tighter with my irons and I am making a lot more birdies lately.  I also got on a launch monitor and found out that the loss of distance with my driver was because I had too much side spin so I got correctly fitted for a new driver (Ping G30 LS Tec) and the results are great.  I played three times over this past weekend all at my country club and shot my two lowest rounds ever, shooting a one over par 73 that included 5 bogeys and 4 birdies which set a new record for birdies in a round for me.  I then shot a 77 that was not too good but I was tired and it was hot out and yesterday morning I shot 74 with just one birdie and 3 bogeys.  If I made as many putts as I did the other day then this could have easily been a couple of shots under par as I was not that sharp yesterday with my putter. I knew I had some low rounds in me and it was just a matter of time and this was what I was waiting for and needed.  My handicap is officially at 4.2 and is now trending to 3.9L.  I subscribed to a website that tracks a lot of golf stats and gives me strokes gained putting and a bunch of other things that I did not have access to or track before.  I figure this is good because I'm getting to a point where I want and need more in depth golf stats and analysis.  I just can't get over how by just going to stiff flex in my irons (Dynamic Gold DG Pro S300) my iron shots are so much closer and more accurate.  It's like night and day.  I did not lose any distance at all either, although, I'm not sure what the reason is for this but it seems to be the case with just about every set of irons I get.....my 9 iron does not fly as far as it should based on my PW and 8iron.  I'm hitting my PW to carry 125 and my 8 iron carries 145+, yet my 9 iron only carries 133 and even then I have to bash it.  I guess I need to have the loft strengthened a bit on that club?

Good write up. Better fitted shafts make a difference. I did same.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update:  My official handicap is now at 3.9 and trending to 3.5L.  I'm coming off probably the best weekend of golf I've ever played.  On Saturday I shot 2 over 74, although I hit 14 fairways and had a whopping 35 putts (just 2 birdies all day).  Sunday I shot one over par 73 and had just two bogeys and one birdie.  I could not make a birdie on the front 9 on sunday to save my life as I had 5 chances within 15 feet or closer on the front 9 and made none.  I played better and putted better on the back, getting up and down to save par all four times I had the chance and having only 13 putts for 31 overall.

I played yesterday with a friend of mine that I have not played with in about 2 months and he said that I have gotten considerably better.  It's funny because when we first met, in fall of 2012, we were about the same level of golfer, although I had only been playing for a few months.  He has probably gotten a bit worse but that's because he does not hit balls at all or anything during the week and just plays.  I keep trying to get him to hit some balls during the week but I don't think he'll ever change.  Oh well.

Obviously the equipment changes (irons and driver) have had a big impact on my recent level of play, however, I'm sure a lot of it is because I have been and will continue to put in the work necessary to improve.  I'm not sure exactly how many rounds I've played so far, but it's probably between 300 and 350.  It's my hope that I can get to right around scratch by the time I get to about 500 rounds total or so - or hopefully in a year to a year and a half from now.  I think that's reasonable progress based on how things have gone up to this point.  I'm very eager to improve but don't want to push things too much, I know that you can't rush experience, it's simply impossible.

I'm probably going to have to get longer too, however, my distance continues to increase as I put in more and more work.  My backswing has a lot more room to grow which tells me that I still have room left to improve.  With that I think the distance will continue to increase.  My average drive is somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 if I had to guess, 3 wood is 230ish, 5 wood is 215-220ish, 4 iron is up to 200, 5 iron is 180ish plus depending on circumstances, 6 iron is 175, 7 iron is high 150's to 160, 8 iron is high 140's to low 150's, 9 iron is 135 (I've gotten get that club strengthened), PW is 125.  These are all in line with my swing speed which is in the 95-100 range.

I'm doing so many different things now than I was doing even just a year ago.  Some of it I don't even notice except when I go back and think about it.....for example, on the range, I'm hitting less balls than I did a year ago but the quality of each shot is better and I am not just hitting balls.  I am thinking of specific situations and shots that I need or have had to hit in rounds of golf and hitting different golf shots, not just seeing how many times in a row I could hit each iron a certain distance.  I'm also spending much more time on my short game.  I thought I was doing a lot last year....haha, my practice is much better this year and hopefully it will be even better next year than it is this year.

One thing that I would like is to play with better golfers more often.  This rarely happens for me and it's been this way for a while.  I like playing with my regular friends but it would be nice to play with someone that I could be pushed by or even learn some things from

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  • 1 month later...

I just realized that I had not posted anything in almost two months and the last time I did, which was in early August, my handicap 3.9 and trending to 3.5L.  I guess a lot happens in almost two months because my handicap is now officially 2.4 and trending to 2.0L.  This past weekend, I shot an even par 72 on Saturday and broke par for the first time on Sunday!  I shot a one under, 71 on Sunday.

It must have been shortly after I posted last when I started a streak where I shot a lot of low rounds.  I shot several 73s, and several 74s as well.  So I've been playing very well lately.  I'm not doing that much differently.....I'm still going to hit balls a few times during the week and working on my short game and then playing at least twice on the weekends and every once in a while I will get out to play once during the week.  I did start using a more detailed golf stats tracking site called birdiefire.com.  It allows me to track my strokes gained putting versus the PGA tour and things like that.

Other than that I've been busy at work which is why I have not posted in a while, sorry.  Golf is going very well lately and it just makes me more motivated to keep working and playing.  I'm already past what I thought I'd get to this year so I just want to play as much as possible as I can't believe the season is almost over!

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I just realized that I had not posted anything in almost two months and the last time I did, which was in early August, my handicap 3.9 and trending to 3.5L.  I guess a lot happens in almost two months because my handicap is now officially 2.4 and trending to 2.0L.  This past weekend, I shot an even par 72 on Saturday and broke par for the first time on Sunday!  I shot a one under, 71 on Sunday.

It must have been shortly after I posted last when I started a streak where I shot a lot of low rounds.  I shot several 73s, and several 74s as well.  So I've been playing very well lately.  I'm not doing that much differently.....I'm still going to hit balls a few times during the week and working on my short game and then playing at least twice on the weekends and every once in a while I will get out to play once during the week.  I did start using a more detailed golf stats tracking site called birdiefire.com.  It allows me to track my strokes gained putting versus the PGA tour and things like that.

Other than that I've been busy at work which is why I have not posted in a while, sorry.  Golf is going very well lately and it just makes me more motivated to keep working and playing.  I'm already past what I thought I'd get to this year so I just want to play as much as possible as I can't believe the season is almost over!

Nice job!

Updated your profile handicap!

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As of the 10/1/15 handicap revision, my handicap is now currently at 2.0 officially.  I'm really amazed at the progress that I have made, especially the last two months.  The 2015 season has been odd in that the first few months I felt like I was better than what my scores were, and then from around late July or early August to present, my handicap has really dropped dramatically.  I was just over 4 in late July and then in a two week span (1 revision), I dropped quite a bit.  In the process, I completely bypassed the 3's completely!  I went from just over 4 to being in the 2's.  Looking back at what changed during this time, it was clearly the equipment and the fact that I got equipment that fit me better made all the difference and the numbers clearly show that.  I went from the Taylormade RSI2 irons with regular stock shafts to Bridgestone J15 dual pocket cavity irons with the stiff dynamic gold S300 progressive shafts.  I also got fitted for a new driver and realized that I was losing so much distance with my Titleist 913 driver because of way too much spin.  The Ping G30 LS Tec driver has been fantastic - I really love that thing.  I am much more accurate and much longer as well. 

As a result I started making a lot more birdies.  Before I was averaging just under 1 birdie per round.  The last 20 rounds, which takes me back to 8/1/15, I have 36 birdies in 20 rounds.  That's almost two per round!

I also switched balls.  I had been playing the Bridgestone B330 RXS for a while but I switched to Pro V1.  The ball goes further and is more durable.  It's a bit harder as far as feel goes off the putter but I believe it has the same amount of spin.

After the iron change, I went from averaging just under 10 greens in regulation per round to just under 12. This increase in greens per regulation caused me to have a couple more putts per round.  I did not initially recognize the correlation though and went through a month or so when I thought something was wrong with my putting.  I could not figure it out until I realized that this was because I was consistently on more greens in regulation.  When I drilled down into the data, the extra greens in regulation per round matched almost exactly the increased number of putts.  When I took this into account, the net effect was that the shots that I had dropped off my scores were due to improved ball striking and while the number of putts went up, the improvement in ball striking more than covered the increase in putts per round.  So I went from something like around 44-47 strokes other than putts per round down to 40-43 strokes other than putts per round.  I count any stroke with a putter as a putt and my putts went from just under 32 putts per round to 33.5 to 34 putts per round.

At the beginning of the year I struggled with establishing a concrete goal for this year but decided that I would be happy if I got my handicap to below 4.  I've already accomplished that goal, albeit in an odd way that saw me not improve much at all in the first part of the year to dropping strokes at a crazy rate in the last two months with the right equipment.  I'm not really sure what to expect or shoot for in the future but I think that I can definitely get to scratch or maybe even better than that.  I was thinking that it might be reasonable to get to scratch by the end of the 2016 golf season.  That may be too weak of a goal or it may be too strong and not reasonable, I'm really not sure. 

I am planning to make a trip to Durban South Africa at some point this coming winter to see a distant relative of mine, who won twice on the European PGA Tour and now runs a golf school in Durban, Wayne Westner.  I've never had an instruction up to this point and figure that it might be good to do that and by going in the winter here, it will be summer in the Southern Hemisphere.  So I hope to be able to go down there at some point this coming winter.

My short game is still a work in progress.  I am pleased with the progress I have made this year and I know I have come a long way, however there is still a long way to go.  I started 2015 averaging just under 30% scrambling.  The last 20 rounds have me at just over 36% scrambling.  The reality is that my short game is actually better than that because my greens in regulation have gone up, the amount of scrambling opportunities that I can actually convert to save par - I am doing well on those.  I don't have the data but I'd guess it's close to 50%.  So why is the scrambling % only at 36% and change then?  Because the rest are opportunities where it's not reasonable to expect to be able to get up and down (i.e. wayward drive and I had to chip out leaving a scrambling opportunity that is not just off the green). 

So that's where I'm at currently.  As this season rapidly winds down, my focus for this winter is going to be on gaining distance by improving my flexibility and balance while continuing to hit balls several times a week and play as much as the weather will allow.  I truly believe that I have A LOT of room to improve because there is a lot of room for improvement in my balance and lengthening my swing.  This tells me that there is distance out there that I can gain and lots of room to improve.  Also, I still have not had any lessons yet, so I'm sure I can improve a lot with instruction.  I'm not chasing distance either, the reality is that even local state level tournaments are played on courses that are close to 7000 yards.  To be able to be competitive at that level, hitting my driver 250 and my 7 iron 150 and change is not going to allow me to be competitive at that level.....

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  • 1 month later...

So the handicap season is done already.  Hard to believe that it went by so fast.  On March 15, the start of the handicap season, I was at 5.3.  Now I am at 2.3.  So I lowered my handicap by 3 shots which I am pleased with.  I struggled at the beginning of the year to come up with a goal.  I never really came up with anything official other than that I thought it would be a success if I was under 3.0 at the end of the year. 

Towards the end of the season I ran into some issues as I was going long on my approach shots.  Thus I guess I am still gaining distance.  Also, the weather is colder and not as consistent and it's more windy which has made it much tougher to select the right club than it was during the nice weather conditions in the summer.  I continue to practice two or three times during the week and I go to the gym on the nights that I do not hit balls.  Unfortunately I am not able to work on my chipping and putting during the week because of how dark it gets right after work.  I've noticed that there has been a bit of a drop off in my short game as a result of this.

I improved a lot this past season in many different areas.  At one point I was averaging just over 12 greens in regulation although this has dropped to just under 11 over the last 20 rounds.  Part of this is the cold weather that has been present for the last month or so (I play early on Sat/Sun mornings).  I am making many more birdies now than I was at the start of the season.  I'm averaging almost 1.5 per round for the year.  I've also been able to increase my scrambling percentage to 36% and change which is about a 10% improvement from 2014.  I'm averaging 31 putts per round.  One of the biggest reasons for my improvement has been that I've gotten better at avoiding double bogey or worse.  I'm averaging just one double less than every two rounds.  Part of this is because I know my country club so well while the other part is attributable to the improvement in my game overall.

As I mentioned in my last post, I need to gain distance.  I'm not going to go nuts about it and shoot to hit a 7 iron 200 yards or something silly like that.  If that's what I wanted then I'm sure I could get that by changing clubs and getting some ridiculously low lofted irons to achieve that.  I know that I am still gaining distance which is good and I have to continue to do this so that I can play longer courses more reasonably.  As the spring time approaches next year, I am going to go to a guy locally that has a trackman and see if I need to change clubs/etc.  I like what I have now, but I learned this year that playing the wrong clubs can cost you a lot and I want to make sure that I am playing what I should be playing according to the numbers.

Other than that I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing.  It has worked pretty well so far in almost 3 and a half years since I started playing golf.  How much I improve in the next year is going to depend on a lot of things, some of which are not in my control, such as how bad of a winter we have here in the DC area.  I'm hoping that we get lucky and unlike last year, I am able to play golf regularly.  Last winter was brutal and I felt like I missed out on a lot of rounds.  There were some times when I was only able to play like once every 3 weeks last winter.  I really hope that is not the same way this year. 

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  • 3 months later...

Well, haven't posted all winter and figured I'd give an update.  It's been an incredibly frustrating winter.  The first few months were fine as the weather was playable which was all I could ask for.  The last month and a half or so has been terrible.  There was the blizzard that dropped 30+ inches of snow where I live which made playing golf lately very difficult.  I was able to make sure that I did not go two weekends in a row without playing.  I've played the last three weekends which was good because last weekend I finally felt back into somewhat of a rhythm again.  Of course what happens as we are approaching the coming weekend?  We get several inches of snow last night right in time for the weekend.  Everytime this seems to happen and it's very frustrating. 

I continue to hit balls 2 or 3 times per week.  Sometimes that does not go so well when it's so cold and windy out but I figure it's got to be helping.  I have not been able to work on my short game at all this winter and I am very surprised at how well it's held up despite the inconsistency in playing this winter.  My handicap has gone up to 2.9 (I have to post rounds that I play in VA and that's why it's gone up from 2.1).  When I do get to play lately the conditions are not very good at all with the courses being very soggy.  Thus I'm probably closer to a 5 right now if all scores counted.  I'm okay with that though because I know that it's just a matter of time before I can start playing every weekend at least twice a weekend and for the courses to dry out.  When that time comes I know I'll be in the best position that I've ever been in to start a golf season.  Last weekend I was able to play at my country club for the first time in well over a month and shot a 4 over 76 which included a double.  I had a streak where I went the last 5 holes of the front 9 in 1 under with 5 straight one putts.  That was the best my short game has ever been.

Amazingly I have not changed equipment at all (except putter).  This is the longest that I have gone with playing the same equipment and I'm finding that I'm very comfortable with what I have in the bag and I feel like I continue to get better with what I have.  I used to go through clubs too quickly but I've finally found what I like and what works for me the best. 

I'm not really good with goal setting the last few years because I really don't know what I am capable of and what I am not.  I suppose I'd like to get to scratch by the end of 2016 but I have not idea if that is reasonable or not?  Maybe it's not high enough of a goal?  I'm just not sure.  On June 2, 2016 that will be 4 years since I started playing golf and it's gone by so fast.  I'd like to win the club championship this year as well but again, I'm not sure if that is a realistic goal or not.

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@bjwestner, are your hips still swaying back like in the video in your signature?

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20 hours ago, iacas said:

@bjwestner, are your hips still swaying back like in the video in your signature?

Thankfully, no.  I've been working so hard on keeping my left foot on the ground and not letting any of it come off the ground during my backswing.  I still have a ways to go but that stopped the reverse pivot.  I'll see if I can get a friend to video a current swing of mine and attach it. 

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So the handicap season starts tomorrow.  We've been lucky to have some pretty warm weather the last two weeks or so where I live and while the scores did not count, it was almost identical to playing early season golf.  My handicap is officially at 3.1 to start the year and I've never been better going into the start of a golf season.  The most shocking thing for me is how well my short game has held up over the winter despite a lack of practice in that area and the distance gains that I got over the winter by working on my core and my swing mechanics.

The biggest swing change that I made was working to not let my left knee shift to the inside and keeping my left foot on the ground and not allowing any of it to come off the ground.  I still have a lot of work to do in this area but the progress that I have made since last fall is incredible.  It's amazing how much easier it is to keep my head still when I don't allow my left foot to come off the ground at all.  In not allowing any part of the bottom of my left foot to come off the ground, my left knee stays stable.  This in turn allows me to hit the ball further and look like a golf swing instead of the swing with the driver being so "whippy" and the club swinging around my body.  Because I am finishing normally, this allows my belt buckle to rotate more at the finish and point towards the target.  It's a chain reaction of things that is happening that is helping so many aspects of my swing.  It's easier to keep the same spine angle by doing this as well.  It also allows me to swing at a more consistent tempo instead of "getting quick".  I could go on and on but I think you all see my point. 

I wish I had focused on this sooner.  I worked on many things and have obviously done a decent job in my progression, however, I can tell that for me anyway, this is a real cornerstone type of thing because it effects so many different things in my swing.  The flipside of this is that I am struggling a bit with my irons.  It's not awful but, it has steepened my swing a bit and I've been hitting a few more fat shots because of this.  Before, I guess I had timed things up with a negative spine angle to hit my irons.  While not ideal, I got good enough at this which kept me as a picker, not a digger.  The ball did not go as far though as it does now with my irons. 

I firmly believe that while I've noticed a bit of a drop off in my iron consistency that this will improve a lot in time.  The only downside is that I am hitting a few more fat iron shots per round.  I have to be careful with my driver because there is a miss with this and for me that is coming right over the top because I did not turn deep enough and slicing one to the right.  This does not happen that often at all, but does on occasion and I am sure that as I continue to get my core stronger and more flexible and continue to to adapt to this that the improvement will by far outweigh what I did last year. 

While I'm no expert, I noticed that this stops me from flipping and crucially makes the turnover of the club much more natural.  My hands are higher and while this steepens the swing and I now have to be careful for hitting the ball fat where before that was never an issue because my swing was too flat and it was hard for me to turn the club over.  As such, I did not hit the ball as far as I should have and my shot was a weak fade that died at the end.  I'm truly amazed at how just by keeping the left foot on the ground throughout the swing it has cured so many ills of my swing in just a few months time.

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