b101

Last couple of days of holiday have seen a fair bit of practice and a quick nine holes this morning. I've been working on a few things (the same as the last few months), most notably: setup with irons, having forward shaft lean and hips bumped slightly forward keeping lower body more stable (loading into right hip) in backswing consistent tempo and length of swing with partial wedges raising launch angle with driver putting setup more neutral, more bent over than stood up and focusing on controlling pace with length of stroke rather than tempo Played 9 today and drove the ball really poorly on a tight track (this is the short course which is seriously tight in places and has tiny greens. Iron play was actually really good, as I started taking a little off them - that turned into a slight pull, hence a few missed greens. I felt confident over my putts and left three short right in the centre. Two birdies was really nice though and I certainly feel I'm capable of that. It's just the driver that I really need to sort at the moment as that cost most of my shots... http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2197501 After that round I spent a good 2 hours split pretty evenly between range, practice bunkers and putting greens. I don't think my bunker play is bad, but I don't practise the shots enough - changing a few feels to ensure that I keep height on downswing ensures that I'm shallower through the sand and made a lot of things easier. Putting is getting there: I spent my time working on one grip length back and through strokes (roughly 18 feet), two grips (36 feet) and three (54 feet). Then spent 20 minutes on a range of putts inside of 10 feet and just trying to get comfortable feeling that I will make them. Change of setup working well here. Last 30 minutes was on the range with those setup feels, which are making a world of difference as I remind myself of them. Would like to see my flight higher still, but pretty happy otherwise. A short video from yesterday (before all of this) - swing looks a little ropey after the time off, but some bits are still there:

This. Not sure about how it is with Fox/CBS coverage, but it's even worse for us when literally every time he's on camera you get some reference to him being 'a scientist'/'a golfing scientist'/'a golfing machine'/'having no compensations' (p.s. as if...)/'super intelligent'/'consulting his super green book'/'single length' I actually dislike him purely for what he does to the commentators.

This is a clinic - next tee shot on the par three and he hits the flag. Amazing!

Oh wow. Pitch in eagle from Tiger... Awesome stuff

Good news is that I won my competition yesterday - first ever golf win of any type! It was a society Presidents' Day, with 36 holes of foursomes - different partner before and after lunch and mixing high and low handicappers as much as possible. I ended up finishing with 70 points over the 36 holes - drove well, didn't put in any really poor approach shots or wedge shots and whilst I wouldn't have gained any strokes putting, I wouldn't have lost that many either. All in all, pretty pleased! There's still work to be done and I'm going to look at spending time with the driver and working on the consistency of strike, as I can hit some out to 280, but it can drop off massively when I don't catch it. On the course, I'm also still not confident hitting up on the ball as much as I need to. It'll come and I'll keep working on the putting and pitching as well. Still annoyed with the finger issue, but it doesn't seem to be harming my golf game for now.

I really hope that either the fairways are tighter than it looks on the videos or that the camera angle distorts the width... I would love for us not to see a repeat of last year's where (although I get that Koepka played brilliantly), it just felt like a case of just playing sensible golf. Completely understand that the US Open rewards patience, but it should force you into a few errors as well by just playing phenomenally tough - those videos make it look like a very nice course, but one the pros will eat up. That said, can't wait - always love the first three majors of the year and this has me excited.

Really hard yards at the moment - I've had a finger injury that means I haven't played in about a month before yesterday, hence why I've stayed off here (if I can't play, the last thing I want to do is think about golf in any form!). I think it's something called Trigger Finger, which is to do with the tendon being swollen - basically, I can't bend my left index finger the whole way, it randomly sends me jarring pains if it hits the wrong angle and is really stiff for the most part of the day. It shouldn't be that bad (golf-wise, it isn't), but I've been getting more and more frustrated as I can't play my guitar at all, which is my other main hobby. So, I've not touched golf or guitar for the best part of 6 weeks and no change... I've got a round booked for tomorrow with some friends and after that, it's off to the doctors we go in a couple of days. I did play yesterday and understandably, it's all a bit scrappy. Having a feel of hitting a fade worked nicely for a while on the range, but it's not something I trust and therefore fell to pieces more on the course. Scrambled and putted pretty well, but the three birdies (two of which were very fortuitous) kind of hides how poorly I was playing. Couldn't get the driver working at all for a long time - when you add the front nine being into wind to a poor ballstriking day, it was just difficult. Hoping for better tomorrow... https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2188296

Always a fan of this tourney - just love the look of the course and think it sets up pretty well for a bunched leaderboard from a good field.

First week back at work broke the little streak I was on... Will try to do better this time! Day 1: Spent an hour at the range working on partial wedges with grip change and tempo and launch angle with the driver using the Mevo. Successful day

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Not sure what Bryson's playing at on the 2nd. Looking nailed on for a 7 with a flop shot into a bunker as well... Eep.

Day 17 - played 18 holes in a bowmaker. Much better with contact, but poor close range putting didn't help. Must get better from 6ft and in...

Sorry to hear about the crap round, but it will get there - as you know! I wonder whether you're varying your stock shot too much? The driver doesn't look too far off where you'd want it to be and you've clearly got the distance. Knowing you've been on evolvr ages, I'm sure you've got that one piece you always go back to for contact. Maybe just work on that, slow and simple, keep your tempo and trust that the next time will be a better day? Hey, at least you got out for the day

I always quite like this tournament - I tend to think of it as the Poulter/Donald tournament, as they always seem to play well round Harbor Town. At least one of them's managing to do that... Nice to see something from Si Woo Kim as well after a quiet spell post Players' victory. I doubt I'll watch that much - I watched way too much of the Masters and got a Sunday afternoon golf hangover... Need to remedy that for next year.

Ok, there are differences of opinion, which are fine and then there are utterly unnecessary comments like your last line, which aren't helpful. Might I suggest you read this (the title isn't aimed at you, but I think the content could help): With regard to Tiger, here's my take: I still think he'll win this year, but he will definitely get close. His form has been so much better than expected. I think he makes the cut at Shinnecock, but not much more than that. Can see his driving accuracy really costing him there. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him win a major in 2019 or 2020, if he carries on the trajectory he's started this year. However you look at it, it's so much more exciting than his previous 'comebacks'. Remember this?

Live between +2 and +5?

Yep, not a fan. Also, what happens when we get the US Open and nobody's under par...? Does this mean they're all rubbish?

Welcome back! If I were in Bulgaria, I would be spending a lot of money at Thracian Cliffs... That place looks beautiful! Driver-wise, if you're over bogey golf level but hit it 250, you're a bit of a statistical anomaly... Is that on a good hit? If so, how often do those occur? Not doubting you (I was a 15 handicap with the odd 300 yard drive in me, so I completely get it...), but a bit more context might help. I can't recommend golfbidder enough - you get a lot of choice and going for models that are a few years old will save you a lot of money. Personally, I've always liked the Callaway X2 Hot / XR family for drivers. Easy to hit, forgiving and cheaper than their top-end stuff. I also got fitted for a Mizuno JPX at one point. Again, just a personal preference, but I've never got on with Taylormade drivers as they sound very loud, tinny and I just can't get on with the feel. That said, a lot of people love them, so perhaps that's worthless! If you can, try before you buy. I think golfbidder have a no questions return policy over 7 days, but depends whether they ship to Bulgaria, I guess. Good luck!

Yep. Paid to play Turnberry a couple of summers back and would do it again in a heartbeat. Stunning course and doesn't matter whose name is on it. That said, I had to work seriously hard to find a putter cover from the pre-Trump days!

Forgot to post it in here yesterday - played 18 holes and shot a career-low 74 at Royal St George's! Not a bad place to do it. Back to grinding from tomorrow as: Day 15: Have a lesson today on short game with the pro who fitted my Edel wedges, just to check in on technique and work on bunker play a little. Then playing 18 at a new course. Target is to do better hitting greens from outside 100 yards.

Don't think any of these were particularly bad. He carried the 8 iron a bit too far, the pitch back was always going to be tough unless he risked leaving it down there and the putt wasn't awful. Those bunkers are brutal - definitely a mistake, but not the worst shot ever, in my opinion. Hard to look beyond DJ's three putt for me. It's not so much the second putt, although that is poor, it's the three-putting from 12 feet at that moment that makes that the worst.

Er, what?

Another one for @RandallT Just had my last round of an amazing few weeks - I recently turned 30 and so arranged to play a few nice courses (on top of l'Hardelot and le Touquet, I've just played Prince's, Swinley Forest and finished up today with Royal St George's). It helps that, bar Swinley, I played them all pretty well for me, with the highlight the round at St George's today, where I shot 74 (+4) with two birdies. First up, the pictures/videos, then I'll do a little bit of reflection on where my game is currently and the plan from here on into summer: Swinley: Prince's: St George's (bad day for photography...): Hardest up and down attempt I've had in a long while (you can see the ball on the left) - didn't quite manage it. Round at St George's: www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2080294 This is what happens when I'm feeling comfortable in a round (and the rough is kind!) - I went round by myself, didn't overthink things and just played solid golf. Drove relatively well, but nowhere near as well as I can, approach play was ok, but still had a couple of really poor strikes, putted pretty well and wedge game was fine, if unspectacular. What I am appreciating about my game at the moment is that it's predictable. I'm playing more of a fade than I'd like and it's clear from the videos that I'm cutting across the ball way too much, but it's repeatable and I'm very able to just aim up the left and watch the ball curve back to safety. The main improvements recently have been hitting the 3 wood or hybrid well off the deck and three putt avoidance. Ironically, my two best shots with 3 wood and hybrid both ended up in trouble - the hybrid led to that ridiculous short-sided pitch as it just stayed bullet straight when I thought it would turn and my 3 wood on the 13th found a green-side bunker as it just found the run-off on the green. But, these are shots I was topping about a week and a half ago, so it's nice to have found something... Putting-wise, it's been the change in tempo and really committing to that on the course that has made the difference. The feel of extra long backstroke and slow through impact has helped slow the stroke down and get rid of those jabby sort of motions that are costing me. Still not holing as much as I'd like inside of 10 feet, but I think that will come the more I become accustomed to a change in setup. Game Golf - comparison with 5 handicap: Shows that I'm not as far off as I think I am and, oddly, that the one area of my game that I think is weakest (approach play) is actually a strength. I think this may be skewed slightly by my driver play, as I often have wedges into holes, but I'm really not hitting 8 iron - hybrid well at the moment. I do want to make my play from 150-175 yards a real focus when I'm on the range, as I think this is where I am giving up shots - I know my GIR % is good, but it could be excellent if I hit more from around 150 or at least always put myself in nGIR situations.

Awesome - well done and that's great news! I think it's a great sign with a clubfitter (I've had this before with Precision Golf in the UK, who are amazing) when they don't fit to a flaw and both encourage you to take the time to get better as well as help you do so rather than making quick money. Keep it up and great to hear of the renewed enthusiasm

This mirrors my thoughts exactly.