shankalots

Before I broke 90 my problem was keeping the ball in bounds off the tee. I can smash it off the tee, and it's fun watching that ball go off in the distance. So I was grabbing the driver on every par 4 and 5. I was losing balls and racking my score up. This may not apply to you, but what helped me was a few things: Practice more than I play. Work hard on the driving range, I'd hit 2 buckets every other day, then on the day when I played on the course I'd hit a bucket before starting. It's amazing how much my swing changed daily. Day one: I have a 5 yard fade. Day two: I'm hitting it dead straight. Day three: Now I'm drawing the ball... the point is before you play hit a bucket of balls, and make some adjustments on the range. The thing that really improved my scores was making sure I was getting ball first contact. My iron play was so bad because I was so inconsistent. I'd hit it fat, thin, skull it.. you name it. If you practice often your ballstriking will improve dramatically, it will just click one day. Or it did for me anyway. good luck!

Hole 5, par 5 500 yards. Straight hole, downhill at first that leads to a creek right at around 250 yards. I've put so many balls in that creek off the tee I have resorted to using a 3 wood and playing this hole as a 3 shot par 5. Yesterday I was striking the ball well, especially the driver at the range and I figured I could get over the creek. That and the first 4 holes werent anything spectacular and I decided to risk it. I made sure I was aligned correctly and focused on not overswinging. I knew when the ball left the face I was clear of the creek. I was left with around a 200 yard uphill shot give or take. (I rarely hit 300 yard drives, but the ground is hard around here this time of year and it is downhill the first half of the hole) I decided on 4 iron with a slight breeze at my back. I aligned 5 yards right of the green, smooth backswing, stayed in tempo and sent a beautiful 5 yard draw landing on the front of the green. No spin, or either the green didn't accept the spin, the ball bounced all the way to the back of the green. I had a 20 footer for eagle, dead straight. Nailed it. My first eagle. One of the first holes for me where it all came together.

That article was great, especially the rings comment. On the other hand, The Heat look to be playing much better, maybe starting to gel with eachother. 7 championships type of gel, I seriously doubt it. Lebron needs to grow up, shut his mouth and play.

^^ Gotta give it to you, you called that.

I was going to post, then I read this.

From the Sobel article: Prior to the announcement, Fowler told me, "I voted for Rory. I'm not going to vote for myself, I'll tell you that. That's just not who I am. He had a great year; he's definitely deserving." That makes me like Ricky a little more. I havent been the biggest Fowler fan, the neon orange that can be seen from space annoys me on sundays. I remember one tournament late this year where someone was going through their pre shot routine on a par 3, waiting for the green to clear. You could see that bright, construction site orange so clear from 200 yards away. Back on topic - I also like that Westwood shares his true feelings and isn't as plain and boring as most pro golfers are. I do wish the PGA players took this more seriously and took the time to vote, rather than not voting or letting your wife vote for you...WTF? (Matt Kuchar-POY award) These awards mean a lot to the player that ends up with them, so by not voting or letting your wife vote seems like your undercutting the moment for the winner. These pros have everything they could ever want, have a dream job that most people would give anything for. Take your little ballot and vote, how hard is it? Makes some of them seem very spoiled to me. OK OK, sorry back on topic. I like Rory over Fowler. Kid has a beautiful swing and will be fun to watch the next 20 years or so. If I had a ballot this year (which I would have used mind you) I would have checked Rory's box personally. Fowler did have an amazing year, just too much flair and no wins. I'm sure wins will come for him though.

Leif Olson's bank shot hole in one is awesome.

On the list for next years improvements.

I hit my 3 wood between 230-250, 250 if I'm center of the face. Average is probably 235 or so. Now that I have finally learned to leave the driver in the bag unless it is wide open or a long par 5, I'm using it quite a bit. I've started to tee off in order to get a second shot distance I like, I'm more comfortable personally with a 100-150 yard second shot than a 50-90 yarder. I only hit my driver 10-20 yards farther anyway.. not really that much of a gain.

I must have been committing fashion crimes all summer! I wore khaki shorts or black shorts, with black shoes and white socks. Oh the agony.

I like Bubba, he's an extremely nice guy. I've met him a few times in Lexington NC near High Rock lake, he seems to spend a lot of time there when his schedule clears. He's always very nice to fans, he signs autographs, has his picture taken with him..etc. I have not had the opportunity to play a round of golf with him, and maybe thats a good thing with my handicap! Sometimes during TV interviews he comes off like a huge •••••••, during Firestone he did, and during the Ryder Cup he came off like that too at times. I think it may be nerves, and that he is a very direct person. He's always bouncing around and speaking faster than his brain can keep up it seems. That's just the way he is though, if you met him in person you'd understand that he isn't really an •••••••, he just has wayyyyyyy too much energy.

I will second the Nike VR split cavities. Some forgiveness there and if you hit a shot bad you will know why.

Yeah I think that's the part that is bothering me. The full cavity is supposed to be more forgiving and a GI iron, I don't understand why I hit the splits better. I'm not complaining, just sorta happily dumbfounded.

At the beginning of summer I purchased a new set of Nike VR full cavity irons, S300 high launch shafts. When I first started using them on the range it was really difficult for me to get the ball on line with the target. I went everywhere, pull far left, straight push right. Same results all summer on the course, I had no control over these irons. Two weeks ago a co-worker offered a trade for his VR split cavity clubs for my full cavities. I hadn't hit them but figured it really couldn't be worse than what I already had and that they would most likely have a higher re-sale value if they didn't work out. Both sets had the same shaft, and standard lie angles. I played that same day, went to the range one hour before tee off time to see how they felt and to find out if there was any distance changes. I did notice how much more on-line I could hit them during the range session, but I know what I do on the range usually stays there. Well I shot an 81 that day, which included one double bogey and TWO holes with 3-putts I hit some of the best iron shots I ever have, including a 190 yard shot onto a par 5 which left a 12 foot eagle putt. Which I missed but left a tap in birdie, with my handicap I'll take it! I hit every par 3, and was 11/18 GIR for the day. On range trips since this day my iron shots are crisp, on line, and seem to produce more spin. Also with these new irons when I miss a shot I usually know why immediately, and I appreciate that feedback. I apologize for the novel but is it really the irons? I don't think my swing has changed much since trading. I have noticed that with both sets I hit the ball extremely high. My distances has dramatically decreased since buying VR's, but with the way I'm striking the ball now I wont complain too much about that.

Not a fan of JM, if someone misses a putt he ALWAYS says they pushed it. Which I'm sure happens sometimes, but on some putts it seems like it was a speed issue or maybe a break issue. Also on one of Dustin Johnson's putts during the US Open I distinctly remember him saying how straight a putt was and it broke at least 6 inches right. It was clear to viewers watching from home there was no way this putt was straight. I like Feherty and McCord to a certain extent, I don't want to hear them constantly but they make good sidekicks. Faldo is great for the most part, a whole lot of ME ME ME sometimes..LOL.