My Swing (NatalieB)

[14ledo81]

Nice job!!

[chspeed]

21 hours ago, iacas said:

I knew she was off to a good start, and every hole through the 7th confirmed that she was on a good pace. I didn't say anything for fear of spoiling it or alerting her to it. I even got attitude when I told her to recap her round by writing down the scores afterward… until eventually she realized she'd broken 50.

Sounds like the clock is ticking. Next thing you know she'll be adding up her strokes and realize she's beaten you!

[RandallT]

21 hours ago, NatalieB said:

And the best part was that I played all 9 holes in 40 minutes! I ran back to and from the cart between shots and tried to take my time when I got to the ball to do my routine.

Congrats on the score! And wow, 40 minutes is showing us how to get it done. 

If you like stats, you can open up this hidden section below to see how you compare against a PGA professional:

Spoiler

Obviously I'm just guessing on the real numbers, but I did what I could from your narrative. Let me know if you want to correct the yardages to rerun them.

Nice approach on hole #4!!! It's green, so that's better than a PGA pro. Overall, your approaches seem to be the place where you can improve even more (relative to driving, short game, or putting).

 

Below, this chart says that getting near the green in regulation is key.  For the 5 holes you were on the green or near the green, you were only +3. For the 4 holes you were not near the green, you were +10.

Listen to your dad- putts between 3 and 15ft will be the ones to practice. You get lots of them, and you could save a stroke or two over 9 holes.

 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, chspeed said:

Sounds like the clock is ticking. Next thing you know she'll be adding up her strokes and realize she's beaten you!

And that will be one of my better, happier days… Guaranteed!

She already earns:

• A dollar for every par.
• Five dollars for every birdie (both are relative to the course par, not her par, which next year will be 5).
• A dollar if she beats me on the hole.

The $30 was in lieu of her "practice bingo" game which, when we moved to outside/inside practice over the summer, became unworkable.

[NatalieB]

I have been working on hinging my wrists at around when my left arm is horizontal on the backswing and to keep hinging my wrists until at least when it's horizontal on the downswing.

My dad says that the next thing to work on is my hips going backward a little. He says something about having no tilt so that is why I jump.

But he also says not to worry about that right now and that this looks pretty good for where I have been recently.

I am also looking at getting these new shoes for 2016: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=33026586 . I wish they had them in 3.5. My  shoes are getting small but a 4.0 is a bit too big for even a few months from now.

[iacas]

Yes, kiddo, the hips go back a bit because you're trying to create as much speed as you can. The jumping is not only a speed piece but a reaction to the lack of SAT. Exactly.

Good job on the wrist stuff. A few more weeks of that and we'll start to work on the hips.

[NatalieB]

 

[DrizZzY]

Her swing is better than mine!!!

[14ledo81]

1 hour ago, DrizZzY said:

Her swing is better than mine!!!

Welcome to TST!!

Don't feel bad, it's better than mine as well....

 

[NatalieB]

I am hitting everything ridiculously badly off the toe. Toe shanks. My longer clubs go 45° right because I hit them on the corner of the toe.

 

[mchepp]

Toe shanks are the worst! I had them for about a year, drove me crazy. They are worse than regular shanks in my opinion because when you are playing with other golfers the toe shank shot actually gets up in the air in the general direction of the hole and kinda looks like a decent shot, then the other golfers in your group say something like "good shot", but in your heart you know it was awful and then it lands short of the bunker in front of the green and the other people are silent.  At least with a regular shanks everyone knows it was an awful swing. 

[PhishAreFriends]

Nice looking swing Natalie!  Keep it up!

[NatalieB]

I play in my first USKG event of the year this Sunday.

[boogielicious]

22 minutes ago, NatalieB said:

I play in my first USKG event of the year this Sunday.

Have fun!

[NatalieB]

That's emphasizing my backswing stuff. I let my hip stick out sometimes.

Today I shot 89 in an EDGA Junior Tour tournament at Mound Grove. It is my first time breaking 90. I shot 46/43 and almost had a hole in one on the 17th hole.

[mchepp]

Great round. Now you can set your sights on 79.

Swing is looking good also. I am jealous of how much extension you get at A8. I wish I could get even a tenth of that.

[NatalieB]

Well I have had a good week. Sorry if I brag a little but I am pretty excited.

Sunday I played with @Slice of Life and my dad @iacas at Erie Golf Club. It is a mile from my house and my high school's (I will be in 8th grade this fall) home course but I have never played it. I wanted to see it because Monday I would have the EDGA Junior Match Play qualifier there. All age girls from 12-18 were eligible.

So I tied Ryan on Sunday and felt okay about playing there Monday. I think playing the hilly Pittsburgh courses in USKG might have helped me as Erie is hilly.

Anyway I played okay golf and shot 92 and that tied me for fourth, with four places to qualify. So I had to play off against Ali. I missed a six footer on the first hole that would have won it but hit the green in two on the parallel 13th hole and two-putted to secure a sudden-death victory and advance to face the #1 seed in match play Tuesday morning.

The #1 seed is a junior this year and hits the ball much farther than I can. Well I never trailed in the match but we were tied after 18 holes so I had to go into a sudden death playoff again. Well I hit an OK driver and had 78 yards so I hit a little 9I (it goes about 85) and it went to two feet and I thought it would go in! I gave a fist pump and jumped in the air. The other girl made a five or something and so I won and advanced to the finals.

In the finals I never trailed but was only ever 1 or 2 up or even until I lost the 15th and 16th to go one down playing 17. We tied 17 and I cried a little until my mom gave me a little pep talk about how if I can win the last hole, that I own #1 and can win there. 18 is a super steep uphill par five. I hit a driver and a 3W onto the green and the other girl hit a driver and a wedge (it is a par five but very short for women). I two putted for a birdie and she missed a two-foot putt for birdie and made par, so I went off to my third sudden-death playoff in a row.

Long story short I made a GIR and two putted, and WON again in extra holes. The girl I beat in the finals was a senior in high school this year and it was me not her that was the Erie District Golf Association Junior Match Play Champion for 2016! My high school coach-to-be (next fall) was super excited for me because the girl I beat plays for another team and she was just beat by a 13-year old!

I played three rounds and they all lasted 20, 19, and 19 holes, but I was victorious each time in sudden death. Whew!

---

So that was good and I rested up because the next day I had to get up early to drive to Buffalo, NY for the sub-regional competition in Drive, Chip, and Putt. I was third out of local qualifier (256 of them), and there are 50 sub-regionals. They filter down to 10 regionals with 10 girls in each, and one each of those winners goes to Augusta National.

I have a hard time competing in the driving (though I do get all three drives inside the grid for points and that helps), but since there are a lot of points I can do well at putting and chipping.

I missed the six-footer (just hit it too hard) and it went to the second smallest circle so I only got 15 points on a putt a lot of people made. My second 15 footer was good to the smallest circle and I got 20 points. I scouted my 30 footer with Erik and we knew where to aim it and I did with perfect speed so it sat on the back edge of the hole and fell in after a second for 25 points. I got 15-20-25 and Erik said I got great scores just backward from how most kids would get a 60.

On chipping the area was pretty beat up after everyone chipped and walked in it so I flubbed my second chip just onto the green. I thought I might have lost it then. My first chip got me 10 points, the flub just 1, but then I almost holed my third shot and got 20 points for 31 total.

There was an hour wait to do the driving so I sat and talked with my friend Sarah. I went about fifth or sixth in driving after one girl hit one outside the grid but then hit the next two 250 yards. Another girl Savannah hit all three of her drives 235 yards or so. I hit my drives just left of center (it is 40 yards wide) and there are trees on the right. I got 170, 165, and 164. The 165 got a little of the rough and didn't roll as far but I was pretty happy.

So when I walked back to give my scorecard to people I told my parents that I think I might place in almost everything because I looked at the score cards of the other girls and knew I did well in chipping and putting. I had 125 points when I got 87 points (but the chipping was weird) in the local qualifier. 125 is pretty good so I thought I might finish high.

I was second out of four scores returned (Savannah had 147) and then I waited. The scores kept coming in and they would say "85" or "108" but none were above 108 let alone 125 so I won second overall and qualified to move on to Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey in September for Regional Qualifying! There I will be one of ten girls in the age 14-15 age group looking to move on to Augusta National next April. There are only 100 girls left in the country and I am one of them!

Plus, I got first in putting and third in chipping so I got three medals yesterday. I was one point away from getting third place in driving, too, because I get points with all of my drives and some girls miss the grid.

The icing on the cake was that a rude mom whose kid went to Augusta National last year was making comments about me the whole time. She was cocky and said her daughter was "going back next year." She made comments about my putting and my "cute little swing" and in the end I beat her daughter who got only a second-place medal for putting. I even beat her in driving (by 13).

So, I had a pretty good week!

Here are some pictures:

I was in the paper on Thursday morning after my Match Play win:

Here is the bigger photo:

Here is the trophy:

Here are my medals and then the final scoreboard from Drive, Chip, and Putt:

[Slice of Life]

That's so cool!

Maybe the head to head competition with me on Sunday helped prepare you haha (Thanks for taking it easy on me)