bjwestner

He does not love animals, he's just sorry he got caught. It took him 6 shots......1/6 = 17%.

Played twice this past weekend and I am also playing a round this afternoon. Sat/Sun rounds were played at my country club while the round this afternoon is going to be at one of the county's municipal courses. It's one of the better and more challenging of their courses. I have played there twice before but it's been over a year since I last played there. I came into the weekend at 8.3L and my round on Saturday was an 81 (9.3 index). The revision was done after the round on Saturday which moved my handicap officially down to 8.2. Saturday's round was up and down. I started out very sharp again and was one under par after 4 holes. In fact I ended up being just 4 over par after 14 holes and was playing maybe the best round I have ever played. The last four holes got me and I played terribly coming home in 5 over par for the last 4 holes to card an 81. Sunday's round was average to okay. Once again I started out well but overall I just was not as sharp as I was on Saturday. I ended up with 8 pars, 9 bogeys, and 1 double to card an 83 (11.2 index). There was no change to my handicap trend after the round as it stayed at 8.2L.

I ended up playing twice this past weekend, once on Saturday morning and then on Sunday morning. Both rounds were at my country club. Coming into the weekend my official handicap was at 8.5 but was trending at 8.4L. For both rounds I used by Taylormade R11 irons as I did not want a repeat of what happened last Monday when I played with the J40 irons (see previous post). One thing that I have noticed over the past month or two is that when I play at my club I usually get off to really great starts where I usually am only 1 or 2 over par after the first 6 holes. Sometimes I am even or better. I know that the holes are not easier or anything as I have been tracking month by month my hole by hole play at my club. For some reason I just seem to start off very well but it usually fades as the round goes on. Again I know for certain that it's not because the first 5 or 6 holes are easier, if anything they are just as hard if not more difficult. This trend continued over this past weekend. On Saturday I par'd 3 of the first 5 holes and was just 2 over after 5 holes. I was not quite as sharp as I usually am. Overall I just did not play that well, it was average to a little below average I'd say. I went through 9 in 42 and came back in 42 for a score of just 84. 8 GIR, 7 FIR, and 34 putts. Sunday was a better round. I felt better and sharper and once again I started out well for the first 5 or 6 holes. I did not have any birdies but I was able to par the first 5 holes on Sunday which I have never done before. Especially number 5 which is statistically the hardest hole on the card and statistically the second hardest hole for me. I made the turn at just two over par, 38. I was not as sharp on the back. What was really frustrating was that I gave shots away by not executing. I came home in 41 for a total of 79. This was the third time since the beginning of August that I had been able to break 80. I had 9 GIR and 10 FIR along with 34 putts. I played with my Uncle who has been golfing for 40 plus years and he said that I should have easily shot 75 or better had I not just given shots away on the back 9. I agree with him too. I do not like to play the what if game because your score is what you actually shot, but what I did realize was that this was probably the best I have ever played. Yesterday it seemed easier to me. I'm not sure how to fully explain but it just did. It only tied the best score I have ever shot and it was not like I set a record for GIR or anything, but for some reason it just seemed like I made an advance yesterday. Even as I gave shots away on holes that I should have par'd but bogeyed only because I did not execute, it kind of slowed down? Maybe I'm crazy or maybe it was heat stroke, but I just felt like I could do this and I just have to hit the fairway then put the ball on the green and then two putt and that's it. I had some great two putts yesterday on several holes where I was mile away from the pin. It was clear to me that yesterday really could have easily been so much better had I not just duffed a few shots, something that I have not done in a while. It seemed like there was much more room for growth after yesterdays round then in any of the rounds of 79 that I had shot before. So after the weekend my handicap is trending down to 8.3L. I guess it was a good weekend and after yesterday's round I saw what I am capable of. I'm still trying to figure out why I can start the round by hitting the first 4 GIR and do so well for the first 5 or 6 holes but then drop a level after that. Maybe it's a focus issue? The round does not go completely terrible after those holes, it's just that it's not as automatic as it was to start the round.

I played three rounds of golf last weekend, each round at my country club. I played Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning. Coming into the weekend my official handicap (revision had just happened) was 8.5. On Saturday and Sunday I played with my R11 irons and on Monday I played with the Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back irons. I'm still not sure what to do as I realized during the round on Monday that I ended up coming short several times where I could have and should have been on the GIR. I thought that I had considered the change in loft between the R11's and the J40's and had enough club but there were several times on Monday where I came up short on approach shots. Twice the yardage was identical, 135 from the fairway to the center of the green. I hit 8 iron both times (one was uphill the other was not) and was short. I understand that the loft on the 8 iron on the J40's is basically equal to a 9 iron with my R11's. I would have hit 9 iron with my R11's so I picked an 8 iron with the J40's. The lofts matched the yardage and I have hit so many shots in the past from similar places with the R11's to know that I would have hit the 9 iron and been comfortably on in both situations. With the J40's though, I was short both times of the green. The shafts in the R11's are reg flex, just like the J40's, although the shafts are heavier in the J40's. The R11's have KBS 90 shafts and the J40's have Nippon NS Pro 1050GH regular flex shafts. The offset in the R11's is much more than the J40's. The "issue" that I have with the R11's is that sometimes the shaft flex is not enough with my improving and increasing swing speed to the point where I end up having too much of a draw. Overall the weekend was okay score wise....I shot 82, 81, and 82. Handicap after the weekend is at 8.4L. At this point the R11's will be in play until I get to the bottom of this and figure everything out. I had 8 GIR on Monday (I had 7 on both Sat/Sun), and it could have easily been 11 GIR which could have made Monday's round several strokes better had I not come up short on those approach shots.

You are right in that GIR is not everything, however, most people that have goals of getting to single digit handicaps GIR is very important. This is usually because most people that are 15 hc and higher are not hitting 7 or 8 GIR consistently every round. If you can hit 7+ GIR consistently then you will be right around if not under 10 hc. There are always exceptions, like people that are poor putters. The formula is just a rule of thumb and what it showed me was that if I wanted to get to single digits then I had to get more GIR. Last weekend I shot 79 but had 12 GIR as the greens were aerated and made putting very difficult. If it was normal conditions and I hit 12 GIR then I should be a few strokes better than 79. In the big picture though I believe that for most people improving GIR will bring them closer to single digits. I don't have the data but I'm willing to bet that the correlation between GIR and handicap/score is very high but starts getting less important after you get to high to mid single digits where short game has a much greater impact. Thus GIR for a scratch golfer does not have as strong of a correlation to score as it would for someone that has a 15 handicap and is trying to get down to single digits.

to the op: I have chronicled my journey to single digits in a long thread/blog under instruction/playing tips. I played golf for the first time on June 2, 2012. It has been less than 15 months and I am at an 8.5 handicap now. No lessons, just a lot of learning, practice, and rounds of golf. I started this season (March 2013) at 15.5 handicap and less than 4 months got it to single digits. Read the thread for the details but the most important thing that got me there was increasing GIR per round. The improved ball striking was the most important thing and what I have focused on mainly all year so far. I realized the impact that GIR had on a score and went to work. There is a formula out there that says your score should be as a general rule of thumb: 95 - (GIR x 2) = your score for the round. It is actually pretty accurate for the most part (assuming that you are an average putter at the very least).

I saw a similar thread to this one where someone went on a rant about golfers that use staff bags and how that upset the thread starter because he/she thought that they were not good enough to use them. I really don't understand why the OP cares? It does not have an impact on your golf game so who cares? Since there are no rules that say you have to have a certain handicap to purchase pro v1's or anything like that, this is purely subjective and judgemental. I don't care about anyone else or what they play. I want to get as good as I can so I focus on me and me only. I cannot see where judging other people's equipment will improve your golf game?

Had a busy weekend....played at my country club on Sat/Sun morning and then on Monday went up to Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport West Virginia for a scramble. Thus three straight days of golf! Also I had hit balls at the range last Thursday and Friday night. Needless to say, I am a bit tired right now so it will be a couple of days before I hit balls again. Coming into the weekend my hc was officially at 9.4 and was 8.8L. On Saturday morning I played an average round of golf I'd say. The greens at my country club were just aerated a few days before which meant that putting was very unpredictable. I had 8 FIR and 7 GIR along with 34 putts for a total score of 82 (48 strokes other than putts). My ball striking was okay and overall I'd say that I played right around average for what I should and have been playing at my home course. Sunday was one of the best rounds of my life and the front nine especially was probably the best nine I have ever played. After not hitting the GIR on the first hole (par 5), I struck the next 8 greens in regulation to go on a run like I have never been on before. I bogeyed the first hole, came back to par the second hole, and then three putt bogeyed the third hole before I really caught fire. I went birdie, par, par, par, par, and then three putted the 9th hole for a bogey that left me at just two over par after nine holes. Had I made the par it would have been one over but with the aerated greens the ball just stopped on the edge of the cup. Still, two over was as good as I have played nine holes and it was so close to being one over or even better had I not had two three putts on the front nine. So I had a score of 38 at the turn of which 19 strokes were putts and 19 strokes were other than putts! I could not stay as hot as I was on the front but was still able to come back in a respectable 5 over 41 for the back nine which gave me my second 79 in three weeks. On the 18th hole I had a 12 foot putt for 78 but I missed it (the aerated greens did not help). I ended up smashing my previous record of 10 GIR for the round as I ended up getting 12 GIR and I added 8 FIR. The putting was tough because of the aerated greens and I ended up with 36 putts for the round, meaning I had just 43 strokes other than putts for the round. It felt like my best ball striking day I have ever had and the numbers proved it as I have never had as few strokes other than putts on my home course before. Monday's round was a scramble so there was no individual score. After the weekend my handicap is now 8.5L!. Obviously I did not think that I would be able to get this low this fast. What I am really excited about though is that there is still room for improvement. Had I putted better and the greens not been aerated I could have been a few shots lower. I don't like to play the what if game because your score is what you shot, but I can tell that there is still room for me to go lower this season still. I have gone back to playing my R11 irons. While I like the Bridgestone J40 cavity backs, I do not like the shafts. The consistency is just not there yet with them like my R11's. I have to play for a big draw sometimes with the R11's because I believe that I need stronger shafts and less offset but for now the results are better than the Bridgestones. I'm not sure what I am going to do about it. For now I guess I am just going to keep using the R11's and then maybe see if I can find a shaft that I like for the Bridgestones?

I had a very solid weekend of golf. Came into the weekend with my hc being 9.4. I played 36 holes on Saturday, 18 in the morning at my country club and then 18 in the afternoon at a tough course in northern Maryland that played 6500+ from blue tees with a 134 slope. I then played 18 holes back at my country club again on Sunday morning. Sat morning I played okay, shooting 82 at my club (10 over par, 10.2 index for the round). Saturday afternoon I played one of the better rounds of my life. I shot 9 over par 81 but because of the high course rating and slope, it ended up being just a 7.8 index. Sunday morning I was pretty tired from the day before and was not as sharp as I shot an 85 at my country club. After the weekend of golf, my handicap is now 8.8L!!!!!

Had an okay weekend of golf this past weekend. I played twice, both at my country club, one on Sat and one on Sunday morning. I had a feeling going into the weekend that I may not play too well this weekend because Sunday was the two year anniversary of my father passing away......I came into the weekend with an official 9.6 handicap and it was 9.5L going into the weekend. My play on Saturday was not great and not too bad either. It was a pretty average round of golf. I started out slow and went out in 43. I played a bit better on the back and came home in 41 for a total of 84 (12.0 index for the round). I drove the ball very well though especially with my driver. I had 10 FIR but I was not as sharp with my irons and had just 6 GIR. I did putt very well though and had just 32 putts in the round which means that I had 52 strokes other than putts which told me what I could tell during the round: my ball striking and iron play was not very good. I had 7 pars, 10 bogeys, and 1 double. Sunday's round was a bit better....although I did not drive the ball quite as well, I was a bit sharper with my irons. I was on the first two GIR only to two putt both of them to walk away with 6 putts for the first two holes that were both 3 putt bogeys. Then on the third hole, a par 3, I was on the green in regulation again and had about 15 feet. I sank the birdie which made me feel better after back to back three putts. I went out in 41 and had a whopping 19 putts for the front 9. So my ball striking was excellent but my putter was not so great. I played solid on the back 9 with 5 pars and no doubles to come home in 40 which game me a total of 9 over par 81 (9.3 index for the round). I putted much better on the back 9 and got up and down to save par several times. I had just 15 putts on the back nine for a total of 34 putts total. Overall the ball striking was better on Sunday than Saturday as I had just 47 strokes other than putts on Sunday compared to 52 on Saturday which was higher than normal for me. I had 7 FIR and 7 GIR on Sunday. After the weekend was done my handicap is now 9.4L and the next revision is coming in a few days. I may try to get out and play a round during this week but I am not sure if that will happen before or after the revision. Amazingly I have used the same putter for the last 8 rounds of golf. Considering the stupid amount of putters that I have purchased, this is a surprise. I really like the putter though. I never thought that I would have ever went to a center shafted putter but for the last month plus it has been great. It's a SeeMore Si5w putter. It's the face balanced one. It was only $150 which is kind of embarassing since I have tried two Scotty Cameron Circle T putters earlier this year that cost me > $1500. I was able to sell both though and not lose any money on them so that is the positive. I should have known that after spending thousands of dollars on putters that I would end up with something off the rack that ended up working the best for me. I am still using the same ball that I have been using for a while now, the Bridgestone B330 RXS. I'm very pleased with it. Yesterday I was 3 out of 4 in sand saves and that ball has helped a lot. It stops very quickly in those situations, something that the E6 that I used to use would have never done.

I obtained a brand new set of Bridgestone J40 CB irons about a month ago. They came standard length and lie with Nippon NS Pro 1050gh shafts (reg flex). I put them in the bag right away and played 6 rounds with them and wanted to share my thoughts and review of these irons with everyone..... I've never been one to really care too much about the looks of a club as I prefer performance all day over looks. With this being said, if you can have a club that performs great and looks amazing on top of it, why not? Keeping the look classic, Bridgestone did a great job and arguably they are the best looking irons out there. Smooth lines and classic looks has you thinking that it's a blade at first until you realize that it is a true cavity back. I lost track of the compliments that I received from people that saw them and thought they were beautiful. While they are cavity backs, these irons are more player irons than game improvement. There is much less offset and the head of each iron is much thinner than most cavity back offerings from other manufacturers. They are fully forged (not just a forged face) and are well made. I was coming off playing Taylormade R11 irons and you could clearly see that the J40's were better made with their forged heads but also had smaller heads, less offset, and would be potentially less forgiving. This turned out to be very true. The first thing I noticed was the rather large difference in lofts versus the R11's and the J40s. Now each set of irons are going to have their own lofts but the difference was quite big comparing the R11's versus the J40's. We are not talking about just a degree or two here and there, the difference was at least one club and in some cases even more than that. It started at the 4 iron of the J40's which had the same loft as the 5 iron did in the R11's. It continued as you went higher with the 9 iron of the J40's being 43 degrees which was almost equal to the PW of the R11 (45 degrees). Just this difference alone took some getting used to as far as picking the right club was concerned. I tried not to let it affect me but I know that it did, the fact that I was supposed to be playing newer and better irons yet for some reason they were not going nearly as far as my older irons that were of poorer quality. While my ball flight improved (that's why I got the new irons), the distance loss was noticable and was going to take a lot of getting used to. The J40's were less forgiving but I noticed that they seemed to "cut" through the rough better which made shots out of rough a bit easier. I had to be very careful though as they were overall much less forgiving than the R11's. If you got too steep with one of the J40's on a shot from the fairway, you were going to pay for it. Both sets of irons had regular flex shafts and I was expecting I would like the Bridgestone's more since the shafts were heavier. Maybe I just have not gotten used to them enough but last weekend I put the R11's back in the bag and shot my first round of sub 80. I'm not giving up completely on the J40's, I just need to play them more and get used to them more. They are great irons, but your ball striking has to be very good and I guess mine is just not there yet. I am dissapointed with the Nippon shafts. Apparently the J40's are offered with the Project X shafts which I have heard nothing but good things about and I should have probably gotten these irons with those shafts. Overall a very good set of irons that I plan on "growing into" as my game continues to improve. While they are cavity backs, I would say that they are much more of a players irons versus a game improvement iron though.

I just broke 80 for the first time this past weekend. While I am happy that I did it, I do not view it as some others out there do. I shot 80 at a muni more than a month ago and the muni is much easier and only a par 71 versus my country club which is harder, longer, and a par 72. I knew it would happen in time. I just focused on improving ball striking and hitting more GIR. This has led to my handicap going from 15.5 in March of 2013 to currently 9.5L. The ironic part of my first sub 80 round? My ballstriking was actually not very good (8 GIR and 50 strokes other than putts). It was an average to above average day of ball striking but I had a great day of putting (just 29 putts) that got me under 80. When I first started golfing 14+ months ago, it seemed that breaking 80 was some monumental acheivement. As I improved and got closer, I realized that breaking 80 could be very impressive or it could be an okay round where you just take advantage of a particular course (i.e. playing a par 70 muni versus a par 72 course with a much higher rating/slope). When I shot 80 several weeks ago at a local muni it was a par 71 and was right at 6k yards. My index for the round was just 11.9. When I shot 80 at my country club (which is par 72, 6400 yards, 128 slope) which is not easy but by no means really hard either, my index for the round was 8.4. So on paper the score (80) was the same, but yet in reality there was almost a 4 shot difference between the two. That's why I was not that consumed by it. I knew it would happen eventually as I had been right around 80 for several weeks now. I'd rather shoot 80 and have a solid index than shoot sub 80 on a course where I could shoot par and still have an index of almost 5.

Thanks! I am a very selfish person and when I decide that I want to do something I go all out. The most recent example of this is my improvement in golf. A couple of years ago I wanted to get a certain prestigious professional designation that would help me in my career/industry. It is 8 graduate level courses and usually takes people years to do. I put my mind to it and went all out and got it done in just under a year. There is no way that I would be able to do things like that or golf if I had a wife and kids and stuff. Shoot, there is now way I could have done any of these things when my father was alive and I was taking care of him before he passed away in August of 2011. That's the ironic part of all of this......had my father not passed away I would have never started playing golf. And believe me, if I had the chance to choose, I would not have to think twice about it, I'd give anything to have my father back. No I would not be as successful in my career or have ever played golf or become a member of a country club and met so many great people, but all of that does not even come close to my father. Many people say the same thing (that they wish they could play as much golf as I do or wish they could practice as much). Being able to play a lot of golf is not "being lucky". I choose to be selfish and not have a traditional family because it's more important to me. While I like golf a lot, I wish my father was still here because if that was the case then I would have never started playing and I would take that trade in a heartbeat.......

here are my updated statistics, year to date: Golf Scoring Statistics Frequency of Score per 18 holes Year Rounds Double Eagles Eagles Birdies Pars Bogies Doubles Triples Others 2013 58 0.00 0.00 0.43 4.79 10.72 2.00 0.05 0.00 2012 48 0.00 0.02 0.10 3.31 10.31 3.56 0.69 0.00 Average Strokes Over / Under Par Year ** Rounds With Details Par 3 Par 4 Par 5 Par 6 All Holes Total Rounds Avg Score All Rnds Avg Index All Rnds 2013 58 0.71 0.87 0.72 14.45 58 86.36 14.18 2012 48 1.03 1.11 1.02 19.35 57 93.33 22.41 ** NOTE: Only rounds with hole by hole scores are included in statistics. If you use the quick entry the round won't count in your stats. Stats Averages Year Avg Fairways Avg Greens Avg Putts 2013 5.71 (58) 5.56 (57) 34.93 (58) 2012 4.24 (42) 3.73 (40) 34.98 (42) Numbers in parens are rounds with details where that stat was tracked

Just one week after breaking into the single digits I played the best round of my life so far this past Saturday. I played at my country club and it finally happened. For a while I had been hovering right around 80 as I had shot an even 80 last week at my country club and weeks ago shot an 80 on an easier par 71 muni course as well. This past Saturday I was finally able to break 80 by shooting a 7 over par 79 at my country club. I started out on fire and was just 1 over par going into the 9th hole (par 5). I then proceeded to play the 9th hole terribly and ended up with a double on the 9th hole, my only double of the day which gave me a 3 over par 39 through the first 9 holes. I played the back nine in 4 over par 40 to card a total of 79 (39 front, 40 back). My ball striking was not even that great during the round, I would say it was average or so as I had 50 strokes other than putts during the round. My putting was as good as it has ever been though as I had just 29 putts for the round. I had 9 FIR and 8 GIR. I had 10 pars, 1 birdie, 1 double bogey, and 6 bogeys. So after the weekend my handicap is trending down to 9.5L and I came into the weekend officially with a handicap of 9.6.

Well, my goal for 2013 has finally been obtained....after yesterday's round of 81 and todays round of 80, my handicap will be 9.6 when the next revision happens (July 31). I came into the weekend officially at 10.4 and trending to 10.3. After yesterday's round I was trending to 10.0 and after today I am now trending down to 9.6! Today's round of 80 ties my lowest round ever (I shot 80 several weeks ago at a local muni) and is by far the best round of my life (8.3 hc index, 8 over par). So it took 13 months and 26 days but I've gone from never playing golf to having a single digit handicap. I'm pleased with the progress that I have made. When the season started in March I was sitting on a 15.5 handicap and thought that it would be ambitious to get to single digits. It started slow but especially over the last 2 months or so I have improved at a very high rate, far surpassing my expectations. Only about two months ago was I struggling to shoot lower than an 86 on my home course and an 84 last November on an easy muni was the best I had to show for it. In the last 10 weeks or so though I have really worked hard during the week by going to the range at least once during the week and working on my ball striking. It's still a work in progress but I wanted to take this afternoon to stop and smell the roses before I decide what my next goal is and how I am going to get there. I realize that in the big picture of things that a 9.6 hc is not very good and hopefully I can continue to improve to a point where my game is respectable.

I ended up playing twice last weekend, once on Saturday and once on Sunday morning at my country club. Both rounds were very "average" at best. I purchased new irons and Saturday's round was the first time that I had used them in a round. I purchased the Bridgestone J40 cavity back irons with Nippon NS shafts in them. I like them a lot as they have a lot less offset in them but it's an adjustment. The lofts are much different versus my prior irons (Taylormade R11 irons) and so I was trying my best to select the right club for each shot. For example, with the R11 irons my 9 iron was 40 degrees where in the new set of irons, the 9 iron is 43 degrees. The 7 iron on the old set was just 32 degrees while in the new set it's 35 degrees, almost an 8 iron from my old set! Thus it's taking a little while for me to get used to the new irons and getting to know how far I can hit each club and things like that. I ended up shooting an 84 on Saturday and an 85 on Sunday. My handicap coming into last weekend was officially 10.4 and after the weekend it went down to 10.3. On the bright side of things I drove the ball very well. I tied a personal best by hitting 10 of 14 FIR on Sunday morning. It really came down to me just not being used to the new irons and trying to figure things out on the fly as far a club selection goes. The ball flight is much better with the new irons which is the reason that I got them. I am no longer seeing a severe draw/hook and this is because the offset is much less with the new irons. The time I put in working on my ballstriking has been paying off though in my opinion. I needed to hit more GIR and that's what I've done and is the main reason that my hc has dropped so much since the start of the season. Over the last 20 rounds I am averaging 6.44 GIR per round (and over the last 5 rounds it's closer to 7 GIR!) while YTD I am averaging 5.33 GIR. I've been hitting balls a few times during the week and last night I had arguably the best range session I ever had. I was going to hit a few buckets of balls but since I take my time in between shots on the range and try to do the same routine that I would before a real shot, I end up hitting much fewer balls but the quality is much higher. Thus I only went through one bucket of balls and I hit each club in my bag at least three times. The irons were sharp. I just have to continue to hit balls so that I can get used to them and also used to the weaker lofts per iron versus my old irons. I also got new wedges, since I play with just three wedges in my bag now, I got a PW with the new set of irons and I then obtained a new 52 degree Bridgestone J40 wedge and a new 58 degree Bridgestone J40 wedge as well. I hit those last night for the first time and was very pleased. Looking forward to a much better weekend than last weekend and hoping to shoot solid scores. I'm so close to single digits as my hc is now trending to just 10.3. Hopefully I will be able to execute this weekend and who knows, maybe this is the weekend that I finally go sub 80? It would require a hell of a round due to the difficulty of my course but I have shot 3 different 81's at my course which comes to a 9.3 index for the round. Thus shooting a sub 80 is possible I think?

I went to GG. I ended up getting the Bridgestone J40 CB irons. They have much less offset and while the shaft is still "regular" it is heavier than the KBS shafts I currently have. I really enjoyed hitting them and I tried lots of different brands too. The J40's that I ordered are coming with the Nippon NS Pro 1050 GH shafts.

Oh, and how can we forget what a tragic meltdown Tripp Isenhour had? I just remembered this.....Apparently he was giving a lesson or something when a red tailed hawk kept chirping in a tree near him. Tripp then proceeded to hit and kill the hawk by hitting golf shots at it. Kind of ironic that he had the accuracy to kill such a great bird yet he could not hit enough fairways or greens to stay on tour.....

I obtained a set of Taylormade R11 irons in February of 2013. I ended up with the regular flex shafts although my swing speed with my driver is close to 100mph, the KBS shafts felt great and I was hitting the ball very well with the regular flex steel shafts. I've been improving quite a bit (in March I was a 15.5hc and now down to 10.4). My ball striking has improved a lot and I am able to hit more GIR than before. I've noticed over the last several rounds and especially when I am at the range though that especially with my 6 iron - PW that that ball draws much more than before and at times it becomes a hook. My 4 iron and 5 iron were clubs that I used to hit a fade with but now they are straight or a slight draw. I have no issue with that but am starting to have issues with 7 iron through PW (sometimes 6 iron too) drawing too much and becoming a hook. Earlier in the year I was hitting a slight draw only. In talking to a good friend of mine that has been playing golf for a lot longer than me (I've only been playing for 13 months and 14 days), he believes that as my swing speed increases that the amount of offset in my irons along with maybe I need to go to stiff shafts in the irons is causing the heavy draw/hook with 7 iron - PW and is also the reason that my long irons are now even drawing a bit whereas before they would not. I'm not sure that I need both stiff shafts and less offset in the irons, maybe just one or the other? The R11 irons are considered game improvement irons. I'm going to go to GG and will bring my irons with me as well as maybe trying some other irons that they have for sale. What should I be looking for as far as numbers go on their machine? Obviously I am going to be looking at the ball flight comparison between my current irons and the ones that I try. I really like my irons that I have now and my ball striking is better than it has ever been. Occasionally I will get fast through the ball but this does not happen often and it's just been a progression towards the bigger draw as I've gotten better. Has anyone else been through this before where they improve to a point that they need to possible change shafts/clubs? What did you do and what did you look for? Here are the specs for my irons currently:

The handicap revision was done today as it's the 15th of the month. My official handicap is now down to 10.4! I ended up playing twice this weekend, once on Saturday and once on Sunday at my country club. Both times early in the morning. I played very well on Saturday morning shooting an 81 (9 over par, 9.3 index for the round). The front nine was probably the best golf I have played in my life as I went out for the front nine in just 38, which was just 2 over par. Unfortunately I was not able to keep this pace up on the back but I did not have any big numbers and while I had just two pars on the back, I came home in 7 over 43 on the back for a total of 81. I putted better but I need to convert more birdies. I had legit birdie chances on the first four holes and only converted one of them. The round on Sunday was not as good as I just was not as sharp as I was on Saturday. I shot an 86 on Sunday going 43/43. It was nothing special and was a lack-luster round in my opinion. I'm getting very close to my goal which is to be in single digits for my hc by the end of the year. I'm confident that I will be able to do it as of my last 20 rounds of golf, just 3 of the last 10 had scores that went to help my handicap. Thus 7 of them did not and 7 of my 9 most recent rounds of golf counted towards my handicap, so there is room. I've played 12 rounds of golf since 6/15/13 (a month ago) and in that time my worst score was an 87. Thus I am being more consistent and I continue to improve my ball striking and hitting more GIR. In my last 20 rounds my GIR has soared to 6.5 GIR per round where YTD I am averaging 5.38 GIR and I've played 51 rounds of golf YTD. So the ball striking is continuing to improve and now that I am at 10.4, I feel very confident that I will be able to reach my goal.

I ended up buying a new wedge last night at GG. I tried the 55 degree Rocketbladez SW on their machine and hit balls with it and liked it a lot. A short while ago I went down to three wedges from four. I think that I am going to go back to four though. It seems that my 4 iron/4h get little use so I am going to keep the 4h in the bag and take out the 4 iron and put this SW back in the bag. In addition I may put the 60 back in and take the 58 out to have better coverage. The 58 is fine but since I have a middle wedge now (when I went down to three wedges the 52 got a lot of use for anything over 60 yards as although I could hit the 58 that far, it is one of those situations where the harder I hit it the higher it goes and trying to get the 58 to go 60 or 70 yards was not a good thing). So I will keep the 52 wedge in the bag for shots of just around 100 yards. The PW is for 100 and over (situation specific, i.e. uphill/wind/etc). The 55 degree SW will allow me to comfortably hit 80 yards and in where as before I either had to muscle the lob wedge or have to judge a less than full swing with the 52. Then I'll have the 60 for shots around the green and such. It was frustrating to have a 70 yard shot uphill like I had last week. When I only had three wedges (PW, 52 GW, and 58 LW) I was right inbetween clubs. I could take something off the GW or try to muscle the 58 degree there. I tried to muscle the 58 and I guess the shot played longer than 70 because I was a bit short. Now with this 55 degree wedge I will be able to take a full swing and not have to hit a shot with one of my clubs that is outside of my comfort range. Also it will allow me more options on longer bunker shots.....I like to use the LW on most bunker shots but if it's a longer bunker shot now I can use the 55 instead of hitting the 52.

So I used the putter in a few rounds....my first round with the putter was last Thursday and I also used the putter for my round on Saturday too. It was pretty good. Again it is so easy to align. The problem that I ran into was not with the putter but was my errors in reading putts. It was very humid on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday when I played golf. The greens at my country club are very fast. They are stimping at 11 or higher in some situations. I never realized the effect that such high humidity could have on breaks. This combined with me using a new putter (the DDL) led to many missed putts because I did not realize that the humidity would take away break. So I ended up putting pretty poorly but this was my error, not the putter. I've been reading on other threads on other sites how many people love the DDL to start with and then the honeymoon ends and they end up going back to their old putter and putting better then they have before. It seemed that there is a trend that the DDL helps in some way when you go back to your old putter. So I was rolling putts on Saturday afternoon and went back to an Odyssey Versa 1 Wide putter and was on the practice green when I started draining just about everything. I decided not to use the DDL for Sunday's round and instead use the Versa. The effect was similar to what I had read about as I putted brilliantly on Sunday with just 32 putts (including some that were on the fringe) and saved par 5 times with one putts. I'm not sure what this means for the future of my DDL. I like the putter and I've only had it a short while. There are many pros but some cons to it. I will keep it for now and will use it here and there I guess. It was just odd that I experienced improvement after I had used nothing but the DDL for a few rounds and then caught fire with my old putter...... BTW, I think that on some of the putts I may have been gripping too far down on the club. When I was using the DDL I noticed this and moved my hands back up, not all the way but a bit further up and I noticed improvement. There are definitely benefits to gripping down on the putter but I think it's possible to grip too far down.....

So I ended up playing 3 times over the past "weekend". I played on Thursday, the fourth, then again on Saturday the sixth, and Sunday the seventh. All rounds were played at my country club.....I started the round on Thursday on fire with me striking the ball as well as I ever have. Unfortunately I had two three putts on the front nine and went out in 41 for the front nine with a whopping 19 putts. I had 3 really good birdie chances but only converted one of them. I was not as sharp on the back nine and faded down the stretch. I did convert another birdie but ended up double bogeying the final two holes to come home in 44 for an 85 overall. It was one of those days that I had so many birdie chances but only converted two of them and had 36 putts and 49 strokes other than putts. I had 8 GIR which was solid imo and 8 FIR. Saturday morning I was not feeling too good but played anyway. I vomited on the third tee and probably should not have played because I had a hard time focusing and it really affected my ball striking. I bogeyed the first 8 holes and got my first par on the 9th hole. I started to feel better on the back nine and it showed. I came home with a 41 for an overall 85 again. Because I was sick I played very conservatively to avoid the big number. Thus I had 5 pars and 13 bogeys. I hit only 6 FIR and 5 GIR and did not putt very well with 35 putts and 50 strokes other than putts. Sunday I was feeling better but not 100%. At least I did not vomit during the round in front of everyone again.....It was a great round, not because I played well (I did not strike the ball well at all in my opinion). I knew that I was not striking the ball as well as I could and I changed up my game to meet this. I knew that I had to play it safe and stay out of trouble since I was not as sharp. I hit just 5 GIR and only 6 GIR. I found myself many times in a not so good position off the tee but not screwed either. This left me playing it very safe. I hit my wedges as well as I ever had yesterday and while I was not on many GIR, I was able to get close enough a lot to one putt and save lots of pars. I had 5 one putts and just one three putt for just 32 putts overall. I learned soooo much from yesterday's round. For example, on the par 3 (172 yards) 6th hole, I hit a 6 iron that was terrible as the grip slipped a little bit and I barely got off the tee box. I had about 110 left and was hitting from deep rough. I focused and was able to get my PW to 3 feet and converted the putt to save par. There were several holes yesterday that were like that, strange, very strange at times but because my course management was good and I recognized this, I ended up tying my record for lowest score at my club. I went out in 41 and came back in 40 for a 9 over 81. This despite just 5 GIR and 6 GIR. No birdies but no doubles either. Just 9 pars and 9 bogeys. Part of it was that I was not feeling good and was just not as sharp as I could be. Part of it was also me tinkering with my new driver (I and still in process of tweaking adjustments on the Titleist 910 D2). Part of it was the difficulty of the course (the rough had not been mowed in almost a week and it was very wet and very penal in the rough, it was also so humid out that it was hard to play and I also learned in person just how that high humidity can affect the break in putts). So after the weekend my handicap which is officially at 11.2 is now 10.8L. The last 7 rounds that I have played (out of my last 20) have all counted towards my handicap. Of the last 20 rounds, the oldest 6 have not counted and only 2 of the oldest 10 have counted towards my handicap. Thus I am in good shape I believe. The improvement can really be seen by looking at my year to date stats versus just the last 20 rounds. Over the last 20 rounds I am hitting an average of 6.3 GIR while YTD I am hitting 5.22. Last 20 rounds I am at 34.7% par or better performance per round while YTD I am just at 27.2%.

yes and I purchased the #1 wide before I got the DDL. I just started a thread on the DDL am giddy just thinking about putting it in the bag tomorrow. I know I have commitment problems, it is something that I am dealing with. Although if not for said commitment problems then I'd be married and thus would not be able to play as much golf as I do. After thinking about it for a few seconds I'll keep the commitment problems as long as my hc continues to improve......