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Day 168 Just a bit of indoor putting stuff in the morning, and a few balls off the mat after dinner, focusing on posture at address. 

I definitely have to get in a mental ZONE to putt well, and it is a major difference.  I can feel when I am in it, but I do not have the best focus.  So it is a challenge for me to get there and stay.  I get to the course very early whenever possible. My pre-round goals include: 1. Find that putt Nirvana. 2. Stretch my back into functioning condition (I'm missing three discs). 3. Range, then pray that I hit my drives on the front nine like I do on the range. ------------------------------------------------------- I have not been practicing putting on the practice green because, well the courses do not seem to want people to.  But there are always a few folks using the practice areas.  I wonder if them pulling the flags out and then not bothering to enforce any sort of rules reflects COVID window dressing and not any sort of genuine purpose.  My putting has not been grand since quarantine, and I would like to get on that green.

I have been doing quite well this season but we have decided to leave our home club. Moving to a new club tomorrow and will need to do a par challenge instead since it is a tougher course. But I am pretty sure I will at least par every hole once this season!

Well, after all the great posts from so many of you, the time has come for me to admit that I was right all along...and so were so many of you! We moved to AZ last year in June and I began playing with a bunch of guys from ages 70-85.  Great guys who played golf by the strict rules of the game.  At first, I shot 101 and the next week it was down to 87 and the next into the lower 80's etc.  That was from early July 2019 through early September.  And then mid-October came along and my back was simply gone.  I could no longer make a full turn (or even a half-turn) away from the ball.  The MRI's saw a bulged and herniated discs as well as the expected arthritis that we all experience as we age. Since then, it's gotten worse.  Where I could formerly hit my 6 iron over 150 yards, it now goes maybe 110 yards at most.  The money I paid to play at a rather "high-end" golf club is gone (Covid19 caused both nice restaurants and Spa areas to close) and my membership will end in early fall of this year.  Both courses are still open but with limited play and closing early in the late afternoons.  Six people have been diagnosed with the Virus and yet, the course stays open because it is considered "essential" here in AZ. My cousin is a leading Epidemiologist out of Atlanta, GA and early indications say the Virus will come back with a vengeance this fall.  I hope he is wrong!  Meanwhile, I am looking into finding an electric bicycle just to get some much-needed exercise.  Just sitting and watching Netflix is seriously getting old. I hope all of you stay well and realize what a Pandemic truly is--and of course, how our bodies just don't allow us to play golf as well as our minds think we ought to play.  HA!  Stay safe out there! Arch

Day 90: Still the one armed drilled. Did some fuller swings as well. Working on getting the hips open and my right elbow and wrist more bent at impact.