WillieT

Our church group had its monthly 9-hole "superball" outing yesterday. I was teamed up with a couple guys older than me (one is a typical bogey golfer" and my 31 yr old son. It was one of those days of good fun and truly honest play. We ended up 1 over at 37, but what made it a worthwhile round was the fact that all the shots we played were "makeable" in my personal game. We used good course management and in the end everyone contributed to the round score. I was thinking to myself, "so this is what par golf feels like". For me the driver and approaches w/irons & hybrids were my strong suit as the putter was close but not good. Wedge play did not come into too often. Still it was a fun round that was as one guy said "good practice".

Today was another 101 day (50 on the front, 51 on the back). My son, along with his 4yr old son (who is my backyard playing partner), was with me as we played one of the older local courses. It is just over 6,500 yds from the tips so we played the next set back or just over 6,200. It was a good day on the driver, very consistent with 9 of 14 drives in or just off the fairway. Attribute that to dialing in the face of the SLDR (used the foot powder trick on the face to correlate face contact to flight path) to where I am more consistent under "game" conditions. Also accuracy on the irons was good (used the 962 Titlelists). Putting was good, the greens were in good shape. Iron play was good, I love hitting the 962s especially when I flush them. Fairway and hybrid play was very consistent. It was a really good day. I love that the past few rounds, my play has been within a shot front to back. Used to be if it was good on the front, it was going to be bad on the back. Have to attribute this to LSW and remembering - head down, weight forward and straight line on swings and using course management to "eliminate hero" shots with good shots that are always moving forward. Final score: me - 101 my son - 109 (he is struggling with the drives - whether driver or fairway off the tee) grandson - all holes were "4", so we figured he was the winner with a 72 for the round. Actually he does pretty well as his "tee box" is around the 100 yard marker. He has a great natural swing and puts without swing thoughts - and sinks more on the first swing than I ever thought about. Day was priceless....

My son, who is pretty much my regular playing partner, and I just completed a round at the nearby (just over an hour away) host course for the local university. We love this course as it plays tough - with great reward and great punishment opportunities. My score was pretty close to the last time we played (which was last Sept), however I left a lot of opportunities for par or better. My score was 106, which is not great but better than last time. One thing I had going for me, each hole is its own opportunity and as such I was able to leave the last hole behind as the new one presented itself. It was a great day on the course with a number of GIRs and nGIRs, several one putts and lots of focus on Separation Value.

Gotcha and should have presumed that you were employing the what the books outlines. The emphasizing was meant to reinforce the thought process that we must employ the info if we truly want change. By the way, you may want to check out the COVID-19 30 day challenge that @iacas put on here during April. There are some great putting drills within that plan that helped me tremendously.

+1 on reading the book AND employing the techniques, plans outlined.....Understanding where the biggest bang for your swing occurs will cut strokes, increase consistency and put you in position to sink more putts that start closer, must closer to the pin.....

Spending a good amount of time working on the first 3 keys - Steady Head, Proper Weight Transfer and Inline Swing. My biggest issue centers on getting a proper weight shift as I have to deal with a left foot that was partially amputated in 2016 due to a motorcycle wreck. Grafted skin does not like a lot of pressure placed on it - breaks down quickly. As I noted during the COVID-19 30 Challenge, this has been my nemesis as I want to favor the back foot in terms of weight (body protecting the front (left) foot). Been working with foot placement as outlined, i.e. how much toe out do I do to help assist with weight shift. One thing I have seen - more consistent ground impact with the irons (hitting in the same general spot, at or just past the ball; drivers - more consistent strikes on the face (thanks foot spray)). Still have a long way to go, but I can see good things like fewer shots in the weeds, trees, creeks happening. As I said before, this book is one of the best investments I've made in addition to being part of this site.

No truer words spoken....since the COVID-19 30 day plan, I have focused more on correcting little things rather than sweeping changes. Setting goals of what I want to see at each practice has helped get the most of each swing. Slowing down - way down has been the biggest factor of change. Make a shot, view results and make changes as needed. When I make adjustments, I do like I do when teching a guitar - make the adjustments in incremental amounts until I've over adjusted, then back up to the previous adjustment. Then work on making the most of that setting, i.e. complete repeatability. In golf trying to do the same - find the sweet spot and then working on repeatability until it becomes automatic.

Gotcha as the "dimly lit light bulb comes on". The question for me now becomes, what is better - to "lose" the net par or to "gain" it back. In my life I have always cherished the recovery moments better than the have it in my grasp and lose it. In recent rounds, seeing myself play better after disaster moments (shanks included) provided a deeper sense of accomplishment. Great question Erik (@iacas) - have missed these questions.

For me "knowing" is the operative word here. Since we would be foretold that three shanks would happen and when, I would rather get them out of the way early on for a couple of reasons as it would get the monkey off the back and second early on says that it won't be an issue later. This plays into the mental side as well, as it frees the mind to know that after the first three holes, it will be relatively event free.

Played the "home" course today, no new holes to check off. Was a so-so round in terms of scoring, but a great round as it was my youngest son's first round ever of golf (he's 29). Had opportunities for a few birdies and pars but it was not to be, but a fun round anyway.

Got to play a "birthday round" today as it was my youngest son's birthday. Shot 103, but it was more about time on the course with him (it was the first round he's ever played, he's 29). Had a couple of opportunities at birdie and more for par which would have greatly lowered the score as these were either bogey or double scores. Also never got into a great rhythm but like I said it was about time with my son. Good thing, the new to me putter, an Odyssey White Steel 5, was a treat to putt with. Now to get the approach game back to speed. Several nGIRs as well. It is relaxing to "know" that GIR is not the end of the hole and that good nGIR's are the doors to par!

Between all the rain of late here in Eastern NC and my left foot developing a breakdown in the grafted skin, life on the links has been non-existent. I am hoping to get back out again soon...sure missing the feel of a flushed ball sailing down the fairway. Love reading the daily game reports on here.

I put this in the LSW thread and realized that it fits better here, so I am reposting this. Its not earth shaking, just a good observation of what I was shooting last Friday.... I got to play a round at a local course yesterday that was a true challenge in course strategy/management. Our area had been deluged with rain for the past week to the point the course was cart paths only. The fairways were wet to say the least, the bunker were hard packed (some even hand pools of water standing), and the greens had more hip-hop than any rap artist ever thought about having! So what was the verdict - still shot an even 100 (50 on the front/50 on the back). The great thing was I had 5 legit opportunities for birdie - which I failed to capitalize. What I was most excited about was how often I was nGIR. Knowing that I was going to legitimately putt for par on most holes is a game changer. Knowing that planning to aim for the middle of the green on approaches is a game changer. Knowing that greens typically break certain ways even with hip-hop surfaces is a game changer. I really believe this change in perspective was a direct result of my time reading LSW. Big observation is that soggy fairways really affect ball striking - tend to find "fat" more often or thinning by trying scoop off the turf just like soggy landing zones are usually zero to little roll-out and any ball with any backspin plugs or sticks and rolls about 1 foot.

Thanks Bill - that's sort of what I thought.

Quick note - got to play a round at a local course yesterday that was a true challenge in course strategy/management. Our area had been deluged with rain for the past week to the point the course was cart paths only. The fairways were wet to say the least, the bunker were hard packed (some even hand pools of water standing), and the greens had more hip-hop than any rap artist ever thought about having! So what was the verdict - still shot an even 100 (50 on the front/50 on the back). The great thing was I had 5 legit opportunities for birdie - which I failed to capitalize. What I was most excited about was how often I was nGIR. Knowing that I was going to legitimately putt for par on most holes is a game changer. Knowing that planning to aim for the middle of the green on approaches is a game changer. Knowing that greens typically break certain ways even with hip-hop surfaces is a game changer. I really believe this change in perspective was a direct result of my time reading LSW. Big question of the day - do soggy fairways really affect ball striking? I know they affect roll-out as more than once any ball with any backspin plugged or stuck and rolled about 1 foot.