Greg 504

@klineka, yessir, still working with Mitch! He has been a phenomenal instructor and he does a great job conveying the priority piece (s) for me to work on. I appreciate your input and suggestion that I check him out. I'll be eager to get back to him once I heal a bit after my surgery. Maybe I can ease back into the game this winter with some putting and short game lessons.

I would think so too. I know for me, it would be hard to think, "I'm shooting a pretty good round," and card 4 or 5 over after playing such a tough course. Will certainly be interesting to see how they react throughout the tournament.

I've been playing golf for just over a year now. I have averaged 1 lesson per month in that time and have used 3 different professional instructors. Not that any were "terrible," I felt as my game progressed, I needed to seek a coach that could continue to bring me along. I feel I have made considerable progress in just over a year of golfing. I have kept an unofficial HI primarily to measure my progress. I started at 33.9 this spring and am currently 17.1. My current swing coach has likely taken 8-9 strokes off my cap in just 5 months. Like others have said, we click well and I really understand the priority piece he is trying to teach me from each lesson. My first coach was older and his teaching was a little antiquated. Again, not terrible and he got me on the right path early, I just recognized he would only take me so far. I view this sport as a never ending process of learning. There will always be something to work on, something to improve upon. If there was not, why wouldn't I be playing on the tour? Hell, the best in the world have coaches. With that, I guess it all depends what your personal goals are as well. I'll never tell someone they need lessons if they are happy getting out and knocking the ball around. Some are fine with that and use the game more to socialize and don't care if they ever break 100. I have set goals that I want to achieve and get a lot of fulfillment when I reach those goals with the help of professional instruction. Trust me, I'm not smart enough to figure this game out all on my own. Golf is hard!

Need to knock the honey do list out early this morning so I can watch the first round. I couldn't believe the stat I read yesterday. In the 5 U.S. Opens held at Winged Foot, only 2 players have ever finished under par! Fuzzy and Greg Norman clear back in '84. Makes me wonder if the field cringes when the schedule is announced and they find out the open is at Winged Foot? I would think it has to start in on you mentally more than the game already does. Anyway, looking forward to some great humbling golf. I'm hoping Xander plays well and will also be pulling for Rory and DJ.

Shot 88 yesterday at Mill Creek even with a double and a triple on two par 5's that I usually par. Have 3 more rounds of golf scheduled before my surgery and subsequent layoff for a bit.

I went with high 80's as what I consider good for me 88-91 wasn't an option. If I shoot 83-86 on the same course, I feel I have had a great day. Amazing that eliminating a couple doubles or not having a triple on the card can make you feel so much better about your round.

Wow! Back to work the next day from bed. Great drive and dedication to his profession. Thanks for the kind words of encouragement and well wishes. @BobC, thanks for your input. Your progress seems to go hand and hand with what I have researched. Glad to hear you are back to playing and a great idea going out with your wife early to putt. I've mentally prepared and physically prepared the best I can. I am very restricted by my cardiology team as it relates to my disease and my increased risk of sudden cardia arrest (SCA). It seems I've played golf nearly every single day for the past two weeks and will continue to for the next couple leading up to my surgery! @Zippo, thanks man and I will follow the teams instructions to a "tee." I hope you are continuing to do well too.

TST friends, two weeks from today, I'll be up at Cleveland Clinic having a pretty major surgery for my Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy. It will be open heart surgery (OHS) and I'm having a myectomy, MAZE procedure and probable mitral valve repair. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease. However, the myectomy will remove a portion of heart muscle that is causing an obstruction to my outflow tract that supplies oxygenated blood to my body. The MAZE procedure will be an attempt to end/control my Afib issues as an atrial ablation only lasted 8-9 months. The possible mitral valve repair will be conducted if my mitral valve doesn't "flatten and close" properly once the obstruction is removed. To say I'm scared and nervous is an understatement. However, I am looking forward to a better quality of life and longevity of life for myself and my family. I am not looking forward to the recovery and rehab and subsequent "lay off" from golf. All this to ask what to expect from other OHS patients or members who have family members that golf that have had OHS. What is reasonable to expect to start chipping/putting? Getting back to a 3/4 swing or playing a round? I have read any where between 6-12 weeks. I will certainly follow my teams advice and not be the typical hard-headed male and do my own thing. I'm just hoping for an idea of what to expect and if other OHS patients experienced any unexpected hiccups in their game trying to get back into it, having to change shaft stiffness, etc. Thanks in advance.

Great news, Zippo! It has to feel awesome to be back on the course.

Shot 92 at the Links of Echo Springs today. I felt I was in a pretty good groove and blew up on two holes back to back. Took a triple bogey and a quad. The heat and humidity started getting to me on about the final 5-6 holes and we were cart path only. The course was so wet many of the shots plugged to the numbers with minimal rollout. Can't wait to play this course again under different conditions.

Shot 93 at a first time course, Blues Creek, Saturday. Man, it reinforced don't judge a book by the cover for me. When we pulled in, I thought I heard some Deliverance banjos. It ended up being a nice track and tested my ability for some chute tee shots or the same likeness on approaches. Had a great conversation with my playing partner that I feel will help my course management. Made me think about some shots, teeing off with a mid-iron on some holes instead of driver in tight positions, laying up, etc. Just a different approach in "dissecting" each hole. Shot 92 at another first time course yesterday, Darby Creek. A really beautiful course that played like to completely different 9's. The front is a links style while the back is mostly wooded more traditional. Despite some really challenging greens, I felt I played well here save one hole where I took a quad on a dogleg right. Two penalty strokes on this hole. I was able to get it out of my head though and bogey and par the next two holes before the turn. Playing another first time course tomorrow, The Links at Echo Springs in Johnstown. @klineka, ever play here?

Wow! I was no where close....

Had a great weekend of golf with my nephew. Started with my last post in this thread where we played 36 holes at Chapel Hill on Friday where I went 92 & 94. Played Eagle Sticks in Zanesville Saturday and shot a 90 from the blues. We had about an hour rain delay while it dumped about 2 or more inches of rain. We fought through the final 6 holes to finish the round. Would have liked to hit another 18 somewhere but after the rain, decided to head to the hotel and dry out our gear for Sunday. Sunday we played The Virtues in Nashport, near Dresden, which is also known as the "Old Longaberger course." Ended up going from the whites and shot an even 100 here as it seemed like it was my first time putting. The greens were lightning fast and I had a really tough time reading a few of them. This course layout is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend it if you are in Ohio for any reason. It is Ohio's #1 rated public course and I think it is currently #64 on the top 100 public courses in the United States. Although, I'm not sure I would have paid the $100 green fee to play on the weekend had it not been included in our package. I believe it is $80 during the week but we talked to a guy on the range that said he finds deals on golf now during the week for $50. Would definitely do this stay and play package again and thankful for the time with my nephew.

First time playing 36 in a day yesterday. Played with my nephew up at Chapel Hill and shot 92 and 94. Seem to have straightened driver back out for the most part. Found I was getting far too steep in my take away and really coming OTT. First round I had 4 birdie opportunities and only made 1, second round had 3 birdie chances and made 1. I simply didn't start the ball on the right line in putting and I paid for it. Heading out to Zanesville today to play Eagle Sticks and then The Virtues Sunday. May try to play another 18 at Jaycee golf club or Green Valley depending on pace of play at Eagle Sticks if we get out of there at a reasonable time. Never played any of these courses but have heard great things about them. I'm taking half a truck load of golf balls for Virtues at the recommendation from a friend.

Shot 94 at a new course yesterday, Kyber Run. I was a bit disappointed in the course conditions as they are doing some renovating, which is all good. However, it seems they have just let some tee boxes and several of the greens go to hell with crabgrass and so many pitch marks and some disease, it was hard to get true putts at times. I would love to play this course again after all the work is done as the layout is beautiful. Water is in play on 16 of 18 holes with several forced carries. I only rinsed one, so my fear of water is diminishing. Driver has been a bit inconsistent lately. I feel I'm spraying them left and right, more right and when I try to fix the push or block, I over correct too far left. Hoping I get it figured out soon for a bit more consistency.

Does not bother me at all. I enjoy seeing and hearing the true emotion from the pros as my reaction to poor shots is quite similar. After all, they're just like us, right? They just play much better golf, have a lot of money, hot women, fast cars. @$&% they're not just like us at all........

I only extend my right index finger while putting. Seems I've done this as long as I can remember so it feels natural for me. I'm not convinced it helps me putt better as I can still three jack 'em with the best of them at times.

Shot 91 in a windy, rainy, wet day. Pretty happy with how I played given the harsh conditions. My first time playing in such high wind with strong gusts. Driver was a little wonky today as I left a few out to the right. That's something new and I hope it's short lived. Some of my good drives hung up in the wind and got knocked ridiculously short. I even tried to tee it lower and hit a stinger without much success. After the round, I thought I should have maybe teed off with a 4i or 5i on some holes to keep the ball lower. Glad I was on my drive home when I thought of that.......

Great show of respect for Jimenez yesterday. Sucks no spectators there for such an awesome record. He certainly seems like he would be fun to hang with on and off the course. Although I could do without the red wine.......

And then BDC's reaction after his shot and half assed stagger into the offending hole made me laugh. Quite theatrical.

89 again today with a 41 out and 48 in. I had two blow up holes on the back where I lost focus and was punished for it. Tried to pull off a shot through trees on a par 5 where I should have taken my medicine and punched out to the fairway. A freaking quad on that par 5 and a triple on a par 4 and there you have the difference of front and back 9's. I really felt I had a strong round going with predictable ball striking and two holes cost me what would have been a great round. Damn it, I'm the dumbest person I know. FOCUS!!!!

Shot 89 today with 11 others from high school. Had a great time playing with old friends.

I'm still amazed at the change of course condition in just a few days. I know Jack intentionally wanted to make the course firm, but man, the heat wave we're in here in central Ohio has really made it tough. In a days time, the greens are already looking pretty terrible. Not sure about anyone else, but it gives me a boost of confidence to actually see the world's best golfers struggle much the same as me at times. Looking forward to final round coverage today. I'm sure approach shots and putting will be similar to hitting balls into the IKEA parking lot.

Glad to hear your doing well as well as the device. Good luck with the stent procedure. Sounds like they'll have you sorted and well on your way to getting back on the course in time!

Completed the no 7's challenge today for 18 HI and up. Played Mill Creek 68.6/119/6005 and finished with an 87. Went 6 5 3 4 6 3 3 6 6 - 42 6 6 6 3 4 5 6 4 5 - 45 Looking at that with eight 6's on the card will take a lot of work!