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Posted

Day 47 - 2026-02-05

Played a slooow 9 holes so bailed at the turn. Ball striking was exceptional for me, full swing anyway. I need to reinvest time in partial wedges.

-Chris Brooks

I've blogged about my wanderings since 2003. I love roaming throughout the USA looking for remote public golf courses to play.

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Posted

Day 18 (5 Feb 26) - Another day of inside work - grandson wanted to do a putting skills session - from stetting up impossible hole targets (try rolling from carpet to hardwood knowing you have to hit hard enough to get to the floor but not so fast as to blow by the target cup….talk about pace).  Finished with me working a two ball drill (line both up side by side and then make a solid stroke where the balls roll out together-a great drill in keeping the face square at impact).  A fun day. 

Ping G400 SFT 10deg  R flex
Ping G410 3w R flex
Ping G400 3h and 4h R flex
Taylormade SLDR 5i thru PW graphite shaft R flex
Cleveland CBX wedges - 50, 54, 58 or 52, 58 (depending on my mood)
Odyssey Versa or White Steel #5
Srixon Q Star

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Posted

Day 176 2-5

Felt a little lost tonight. Arching wrist just wasn't looking right and swing looked and felt disconnected. Recorded swings and then phone died 😆Hoping for good weather this weekend so i can upload swings for feedback.  


  • Administrator
Posted

Day 493 - 2026-02-05

GEARS lesson with a college coach today. Went well. Got in the system before he arrived for some Hybrid swings. Downswing work going slowly.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 72: solid mirror session. Worked on down and then turn. Backswing looking solid as well. 

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

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Posted

Day 19 (6 Feb 26) - partnered with a friend to play on the simulator at the recently opened sim business.  What was neat was glancing at the numbers after each swing….launch angle, backspin, etc -  had a solid session of focusing on course management.  

Ping G400 SFT 10deg  R flex
Ping G410 3w R flex
Ping G400 3h and 4h R flex
Taylormade SLDR 5i thru PW graphite shaft R flex
Cleveland CBX wedges - 50, 54, 58 or 52, 58 (depending on my mood)
Odyssey Versa or White Steel #5
Srixon Q Star

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 73: did my drill with foam balls in the garage for a solid, focused 10 minutes. 

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 177 2-6

Majority of practice was flow drill.  It really helps me after a not so great session. Hit a few balls but not many. Backswing is getting a little long. 


  • Administrator
Posted

Day 494 - 2026-02-06

Got some swing work in after a few lessons. When GEARS is set up, with Hybrid, it's easy.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 48 - 2026-02-06

Sort of an off day with just some mirror work. Everything feeling more natural and seems to be translating well. 

-Chris Brooks

I've blogged about my wanderings since 2003. I love roaming throughout the USA looking for remote public golf courses to play.

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 20 (7 Feb 26) - When your grandson is recovering from the crud bug and wants to putt some - he provided the balls: IMG_9231.thumb.jpeg.728adf793b9cf48b61f2004136237403.jpegAnother great day again of visualizing the shot and working pace to get the ball in position for the next putt (we had some angular and long putts that were 3 & 4 stroke setups that were carpet, hardwood, tile mix)…

Ping G400 SFT 10deg  R flex
Ping G410 3w R flex
Ping G400 3h and 4h R flex
Taylormade SLDR 5i thru PW graphite shaft R flex
Cleveland CBX wedges - 50, 54, 58 or 52, 58 (depending on my mood)
Odyssey Versa or White Steel #5
Srixon Q Star

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 178 2-7 

Arching wrist in downswing. Backswing is still getting a bit too long in some swings. Hit some real balls outside, that was a nice change. 


Posted

Day 74: did a stack session. 

-- Daniel

In my bag: :callaway: Paradym :callaway: Epic Flash 3.5W (16 degrees)

:callaway: Rogue Pro 3-PW :edel: SMS Wedges - V-Grind (48, 54, 58):edel: Putter

 :aimpoint:

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Day 495 - 2026-02-07

Hit twelve balls after a long day of teaching. Juniors and a GEARS session from Toronto.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

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  • Posts

    • Day 262 5-12 Got an early practice session in this morning. Arms off body was the main focus with getting chest through with speed, I did much better with wrist arching through the downswing.   
    • Yea, developing a proper shot zone for that approach should would be helpful. If you are bringing OB into play more than you like, then it is either needs to be an accepted reward for the risk. If you hit 10 shots from that tee ball landing area. If like 1 ball goes OB, that could be outlier shots you need to discard. If more than that is creeping in, then it is probably not the correct shot.  Maybe it needs to be more nuanced. Maybe you hit more shots OB from the left side of the hole than right due to shot shape. If you hit it left to right, maybe being on the left side makes you aim further right, bringing in OB right. It could be an aiming issue. 
    • Thank you, @saevel25.  First two points, definitely, and those are things I can do.  PGA Tour average being 3.0 from 100 yards in the rough (or 160 in the fairway, per ESC) is a great reminder that a 5 is a really good score on a par-5 and the occasional six isn't anything to be upset about, as long as I played it intelligently.   I'm playing in less than a week, and I checked the three par-5s against ShotScope's 5-handicap baseline.    My last par on two of them yielded a 0.23 stroke gain (each), while the last one had -0.07 on my last par (I wonder if ShotScope measures straight-line distance, because there's some slight bending going on). Hmmm, that last one, especially with between the ropes.  I think I'll go through my past rounds later today and see where I'm losing strokes there -- I would guess it's on my second shot, since that one makes me nervous because of O.B. left and right on the second shot.  Yet, I think I can hit a hybrid from my typical tee shot landing area and have a distance wedge into the green.  
    • Goal 1) Keep the ball between the ropes. The ropes being where you have a full swing at the ball to advance it as far towards the green as possible. Not in trees, bunkers, hazards, long grass, OB, etc...  Goal 2) Advance the ball as far as possible towards the green with respect to your shot zone. Keep the ball in play, ideally in the fairway, but the rough is not terrible. Stay away from hazards, including bunkers. Ideally, you will in play with a short iron, distance wedge shot, pitch shot, or on the green. If this is the case, then think of it as having a par 3 that is the distance left on the par 5. If you are hitting a full swing short iron, then that is going to be difficult to get par than bogey. PGA Tour is 3.0 from the rough from 100 yards. This might be where fairway matters the most.  PGA Tour rough is tougher than what we usually play. If you get can this close to 50/50 for par/bogey than you will most likely end up more pars than bogies on par 5's. You would probably be better than 50/50 if you end up closer to the hole. This is where the advice would be, aim at the center of the green with full swing shots into par 5's. 
    • Wordle 1,788 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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