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Posted

Day 18, May 22.  After work, and before heading out for my evening plans, I took the time for 12 really good practice balls (indoors, off a mat, into the net, 6-iron).  Slow rehearsal backswing once or twice per ball before an actual swing (with a slow backswing).

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Tour Edge Exotics C723 21 degree hybrid.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 73 - (22 May 26) - Friday men’s group shootout today - however it was a different day in that the overall game came around for me - drives consistent distance and in the short grass, approaches GiR or nGIR , no 3 putts all combining for a 3 over front (39), 3 over back (39) for a 78, couple that with 0 (zero) dbls or worse and a goal I’ve came close to completing - NO SIXES - a big whoo hoo for me.  All that plus a hole out birdie on 6….

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 57: tournament day. Solid 77, +5. Got a brutal break with a fried egg buried in at the top of a bunker that led to a 7. Otherwise, 12 GIR, no lost balls, a lot of solid birdie looks. Very pleased. 

  • Thumbs Up 1

-- 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 74 (23 May 26) - Worked on low pitches (taking club back to about 7:30) with 50°, 9i and Pw focused on low flight window and good roll out.  

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

  • Administrator
Posted

Day 599 - 2026-05-23

Light day, but got my time in. Backswing work. Has to feel like a flip with a twist.

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 263 3-23

plenty of good practice in today. Getting chest to go through with speed and working on lowering arms correctly. 


Posted

Day 19, May 23.  In addition to some practice this morning before leaving, I played 18 today.  I opened with a birdie, knocking off hole one on the composite for the TST birdie challenge. 

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Tour Edge Exotics C723 21 degree hybrid.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 75 (24 May 26) - Rainy day, got a few minutes of flighted pitches w/Pw - focusing on flight window and distance control.  

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 264 5-24

Worked on getting chest through and arms down infront of chest. Contact isn't great yet but on video looking better. 


Posted

Day 20, May 24.  Played 18 today, very poor ball driving.  One GIR, and it was a 4-wood from the rough.  Several other instances of hitting a green on a full swing (and at least one full swing motion -- a 50% UW) that wasn't for GIR.   Still shot an 87 and even had a birdie (chip-in).

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Tour Edge Exotics C723 21 degree hybrid.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Day 58: night putting session for about an hour. Started with lag putting and ended with putts inside 9’. I need to work on putts from 6-12’, but in a solid spot overall. 

-- 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 76 (25 May 26) - Broke out the "vintage" clubs (MacGregor blades, Wilson 4150 laminates) to work with clubs that are much less forgiving.  Worked through the bag using hard foam balls for the full swings, regular balls for the chips and pitches.  Found it to be a more focused session on making consistent contact.  

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 265 5-25

Hit some balls just to see where i was, no "thoughts' except getting arms in front. Did some recording where i focused on getting chest through and arms in front. 


Posted

Day 21, May 25.  Hit "the whole bucket" as practice today after reviewing my Skillest lesson.  I think something crept into my swing last week that wasn't in the lesson, so I went back to the lesson and renewed my focus.  Each ball was a minute or so, 2-3 slow rehearsal backswings and checking the mirror for how far back I was going.

"The whole bucket" means every ball I have in the bin at my indoor practice room;  I counted when I put them back, that's six dozen plus six total.  That is probably more full swings than I took over the weekend (excluding range warm-ups) in two rounds!  But these were all with a 6-iron.

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Tour Edge Exotics C723 21 degree hybrid.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
Posted

Day 601 - 2026-05-25

Short-ish day with only some later Skillest lessons, so I stayed after and got some swings in. GEARS Hybrid was set up for a lefty, so… not that. 🙂 

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 59: just a short bit of mirror work and foam balls. Working on the leg stuff throughout the swing. 

-- 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 22, May 26.  I'm at the office now, but this morning, before I left, I timed 15 minutes in the practice room, hitting 6-iron practice shots off the mat with the same routine as yesterday. 

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Tour Edge Exotics C723 21 degree hybrid.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

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  • Posts

    • Day 22, May 26.  I'm at the office now, but this morning, before I left, I timed 15 minutes in the practice room, hitting 6-iron practice shots off the mat with the same routine as yesterday. 
    • That's a good question;  I think I need to review my last several rounds and see where I tend to miss it.  I can recollect my last time there, I missed left, but that's because I remember where I nearly chipped in from. The thing is, my "default" trouble shots are low shots I can hit with a 7-iron for about 80 yards, a 5-iron for about 100, or a 4-hybrid for about 130, at least without elevation changes.  Now I wonder if I'm, say, 120 yards out from that green, if a low 5-iron that I'd otherwise use to advance the ball when I have a tree to stay under would work.  I have a casual round with some friends at that course this weekend, maybe I'll try that shot with an extra ball (I wouldn't try that during a tournament, of course, but a casual round I think it's okay to hit an occasional extra "I wonder what happens if" ball if I can do so without holding up play).  That having been said, I am going to have to allow for more draw or fade than before, and that makes sense.  I think I miss the green more left or right than short or long. Thank you!
    • Struggling a bit to wrist flex the right way to square the clubface. Right now, I can’t even exaggerate it enough to hook the ball around an alignment stick. The hip piece is a struggle as well. If I try to get the arm swing speed ramped up then I tend to have older patterns. Mix of either high right hip through impact, early extension. I can do arms down and right hip down more if I swing at like sub 70%. It’s not like I’m not trying to do the wrist stuff. My forearms got the workout today. 🤣 I would like to be able to swing 95% and not hit a big high push cut. It is such a weak shot.  I probably should have had the phone camera recording. I just wanted to see if I could hit push draws. I had the alignment stick up as a reference. I will look at some video tomorrow. 
    • Question on realistic expectations.  I did a couple of quick google searches, one on "Average Club Head Speed of a 64 year old Amatuer" and one on a 64 year old Professional.  For the amatuer is indicated between 75-85 and for pros @ 105-112.  I am currently @ age 64, High HCP and @ 90mph.  I do not consider myself an above average golfer so I am a little shocked that I may be near the upper range for my age.  Are these stats accurate? I am hoping to get an increase in speed & distance, but if stats from Google are correct I am already a little above average for an amatuer my age so maybe improvement may be limited.  I plan to shoot for as much improvement as possible and am just curious what a reasonal expectation may be.
    • Where do you tend to miss it? When the green is below you, the ball is spending more time in the air, so to the extent that side spin is making it move one way or the other, it has more time to do that and therefore will be affected more. That's why it's so dang hard to hit a fairway that's a long way below you. When the ground gets in the way it stops the slice/hook spin from moving the ball away from the middle. If you play, let's say, a fade, then you want to aim further to the left to allow the fade to move the ball further. That also means if you play for a fade and don't hit a fade you're going to miss by more than you would if the green was at the same level.  I think the person who brought this up is trying to limit the impact of that by hitting it lower so the ball doesn't spend as much time in the air. If that's not how you normally hit it and you haven't practiced it, then it's likely going to be more detrimental than just figuring out how to deal with your normal shot. 
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