Post by Richie3Jack on Jul 5, 2015 9:30:38 GMT -5
Course: Havana Golf Club
Temperature: Low 90's
Wind: 8 mph ESE
Stimp: 8
Ball: Snell My Tour Ball
My dad and I along with a friend decided to play in The Villages as my dad's birthday is on Sunday. Generally, the greens here were better than most courses on The Villages because most of the courses were designed with very undulated greens so they could keep the greens slow, make them easier to care and speed up the pace of play. But Havana's were at a serviceable 8 on the stimp and rolled pretty well. I have been playing well and feeling confident to the point where I don't think there is any reason why I can't shoot under par when I go out. This actually happened a few weeks ago when I play Orange County National - Crooked Cat from the tips and shot 69 with 8 birdies. I'm starting to get more of a drive-hold release and that is making it nearly impossible to miss unacceptably left of my target, even on large toe hits.
#1: This is a 520 yard par-5, but it goes uphill and the wind (while light) was a head wind. I hit this drive well and down the middle. I then had 252 yards into the green, but there is a sizeable bunker dead smack in the green. The general rule of thumb I use is that it is okay to end up in the greenside bunker if you are going to have a bunker shot of less than 25 yards. I figured I had that distance if I went in the bunker, but I also wanted to avoid the bunker if possible. I did just that and found the left edge of the green. I had about an 80-foot putt that I had the right distance, but the ball didn't break. I then made a 7-footer for birdie (-1)
#2: Hit a drive well and down the middle. Only had about 119 yard to the hole, but with a downhill lie and a wind about 1/4 into us, I punched a P-Wedge that I hit well and pin high, but missed left. I then drained a 20-footer for birdie (-2)
#3: I tried to hit a fade here and it over-faded. To me, I think if you can stabilize the head (aka slow rate of closure) and still hit draws on command, you're going to be a dangerous ballstriker. What I've learned from working with Kelvin is that the only real '1-way miss' is when you miss right because it's simply impossible for any golfer to not miss due to an open clubface. But, we can prevent the closed clubface. The key is being able to prevent the closed clubface and still hit a draw if needed.
I'm still learning to get used to that and I should have hit a draw (or attempted to) instead. I played a fade in fear of missing left and it over-faded due to the left to right wind and went into the bunker. I then hit out with a 3-hyrid and punched a P-Wedge to 3-feet and made the birdie. Nothing like starting your round off with 3 birdies (-3)
#4: I hit this one off the toe by a wide margin, but it only drew a little. And with the Wishon 919THI head, you really don't lose much in terms of smash factor on big misses. This went forever and I only had a flip L-Wedge into the green. This green was firmer than the others and didn't spin to what I thought was a perfect shot. I then missed a 15-footer for birdie and made par (-3)
#5: I have been working a lot on sustaining my right shoulder ER and I lost it here and hit a hard pull left that ended up okay. I was using the Snell ball because I found I had 1 more brand new on. However, the ball spins too much for my tastes and I could see it here as I flushed a 6-iron that started to balloon a bit and it was going at the flag, but ended up on the front part of the green.
Ever have one of those putts you think "I don't see why I can't make this one?" Well, that's what I had and I drained a 20-footer for birdie. (-4)
#6: Again, got a little bit out of the right shoulder external rotation and pulled it left. Still found the green. Had the speed and made a good read for a double breaker, but came away with par (-4)
#7: This driver was hit well and down the middle. I punched a P-Wedge to about 25-feet and had the read but it came up just short and made par (-4)
#8: This was a well struck drive on a hole that I don't think I've ever hit a good drive with. I knew I had some room to hit this left, but I pulled it more than I wanted. It didn't make a difference as the ball rolled to about a foot and I kicked in for birdie (-5)
#9: This is a straight downhill par-3 with a huge change in elevation. I wasn't sure what to hit and I just felt a well struck P-Wedge would get close. I hit it well, but it fell short due to the wind. I chipped with a L-Wedge to about 2-feet and kicked in for par (-5)
#10: Hit a good driver down the middle and hit a nice S-Wedge, but it fell a bit short to 20-feet. I thought I had the read perfectly as I had to putt over this small hill. But, it straightened out instead of breaking and I made par (-5)
#11: This is wide open and I killed this driver about 320 yards with a good angle to the pin. I hit a L-Wedge that I thought was going to be too spinny, but it wasn't and left me with a 10-foot putt. I tend to over-think these putts, but I didn't here and I drained the birdie (-6)
#12: I was a bit unsure what to hit here because this fairway slopes downhill and there is a hazard that comes out to the right. I got lucky here as I hit this well off the toe due to the uncertainty of how to hit the shot. And I'm glad I did because it looked like I was going down the middle, but I almost went too far and into the hazard. Of course, for every good break I'm bound to get 10 bad breaks and my dad's cell phone goes off as I'm hitting the approach shot (good thing your birthday is on Sunday).
But, THAT IS A CRITICAL PART OF PLAYING THE GAME...those unexpected things that happen that serve the purpose of pissing you off and YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE PISSED OFF. But, the key is to fight against it and not let it bother you. As I say, true confidence is knowing that you can very well fail, but you know you are good enough to make up for it later on. I didn't hit a bad shot, but it took away from a good chance at making birdie. If I did hit a bad shot, a confident player would be smart enough to know that this game is FILLED with bad shots and bad breaks, but they know they are good enough to either make up for it on this hole or on the following holes.. Anyway, I 2-putted and made par (-6)
#13: I was in between clubs and went with a 3-hybrid. This was a bad swing, likely because outside of the driver, I was hitting mostly flip and punched wedges. I actually ended up in a good spot, but as luck has it, the lie was awful with no grass. My real error on the 2nd shot was not trying to hit it further from the hole and leave myself with an uphill right-to-left putt. But, I thought I could get it close and I ended up having a 20-footer for par on a terrible pin position. However, I just missed the putt. I thought it was in. Made bogey (-5)
#14: This driver was struck off the toe. But once again, the stable release had the drive going straight. Unfortunately, it took a terrible kick into the fairway bunker. Furthermore, I was close to the lip, so I just hit a 5-iron. I then had 150 yards to an elevated green. So I hit a soft 8-iron and pulled it. 2-putted and made par (-5)
#15: I had to get back my composure and focus here. I had a 480 yard par-4 coming up and I just had a phone go off in my swing, bogeyed a par-3 and made par on a par-5 I should have birdied. I did just that and hit the driver hard, but a bit low. Either way, it went about 300 yards and down the middle. I was in between a 6 or a 7-iron. I chose the 7-iron and it floated in the air again (Snell ball!) and ended up about front fringe high and left. I then chipped one with the L-Wedge to about 1.5 feet and kicked in for par (-5)
#16: Flushed a 4-iron to 10-feet. Best swing of the day. I missed the birdie putt as it was slower than molasses. But overall, can't complain about par on that par-3. (-5)
#17: Good driver that found the middle followed by a good 3-wood. I have been hitting the 3-wood well off the deck since I started lifting the left heel off the ground. Not sure why, but that's not important. I then hit a nicely low, spinny pitch with my S-Wedge that got nicely over a small tier to about 2-feet and made birdie (-6)
#18: Short hole that is a little tight. But, if I make a decent swing the drive should be fine. I made a decent swing. Got a little slidey witht he pelvis, but overall it wasn't too bad and it finished right down the middle. Had 81 yards to a very elevated green with a slight wind in our face. I can usually hit my L-Wedge about 90 yards, but to an elevated green into a slight wind with a green that slopes upward so it is going to spin, not a shot to feel comfortable with.
The problem is that I hit my S-Wedge about 125 yards. So 81 yards is a lot to take off. I then said to myself "hey, how about choking up halfway on the wedge?" I did that and hit it exactly how I wanted to and left me with a 6-footer that was straight downhill.
I knew that basically with the straight downhill putts, you just have to get them started on a decent line and not hit them too hard and they'll likely find the hole. The putt took off unexpectedly to the left, but sure enough....it directed itself towards the hole and in for birdie (-7)
31-34=65 (-7)
10/14 fwy
15/18 GIR
27 putts
2 impedes
-10 GIRO Score
+24 '15/5' Score
THOUGHTS: Another incredible round which is my 2nd lowest round of my life (shot 64 twice before).
So many great things happened. Mostly, I was really verbalizing each shot before and after the shot well with myself. I've been watching how Jordan Spieth converses with his caddie and find it to be beneficial. It really allows yourself to gather your thoughts and emotions instead of keeping them to yourself and letting them run wild.
The other thing is with the stable release it makes it hard to miss left. And with the new driver, I can hit it so long.
I remember a few years ago, right before I got into the statistics part of the game, I was playing with a member and we were talking about where we 'lose strokes' and he talked about the driver when you hit an errant shot. But the problem is that it doesn't consider what strokes you possibly gain when you hit a driver well. For me, if I hit a 320 yard driver down the middle, even on a 450-yard par-4 that leaves me with only 130 yards into the hole. So, I had a lot of flip/punch wedge shots in there, but a lot of it had to do with hitting the driver so far (this is a 7,000 yard course).
The putting was entirely better than it was at Juliette Falls. I started to notice that with the Armlock putter my hands were not far enough forward at address and I was getting too long of a follow through.
Anyway, great 3-day weekend so far. We'll see how I do at LPGA International which has usually given me a few more issues.
3JACK
Temperature: Low 90's
Wind: 8 mph ESE
Stimp: 8
Ball: Snell My Tour Ball
My dad and I along with a friend decided to play in The Villages as my dad's birthday is on Sunday. Generally, the greens here were better than most courses on The Villages because most of the courses were designed with very undulated greens so they could keep the greens slow, make them easier to care and speed up the pace of play. But Havana's were at a serviceable 8 on the stimp and rolled pretty well. I have been playing well and feeling confident to the point where I don't think there is any reason why I can't shoot under par when I go out. This actually happened a few weeks ago when I play Orange County National - Crooked Cat from the tips and shot 69 with 8 birdies. I'm starting to get more of a drive-hold release and that is making it nearly impossible to miss unacceptably left of my target, even on large toe hits.
#1: This is a 520 yard par-5, but it goes uphill and the wind (while light) was a head wind. I hit this drive well and down the middle. I then had 252 yards into the green, but there is a sizeable bunker dead smack in the green. The general rule of thumb I use is that it is okay to end up in the greenside bunker if you are going to have a bunker shot of less than 25 yards. I figured I had that distance if I went in the bunker, but I also wanted to avoid the bunker if possible. I did just that and found the left edge of the green. I had about an 80-foot putt that I had the right distance, but the ball didn't break. I then made a 7-footer for birdie (-1)
#2: Hit a drive well and down the middle. Only had about 119 yard to the hole, but with a downhill lie and a wind about 1/4 into us, I punched a P-Wedge that I hit well and pin high, but missed left. I then drained a 20-footer for birdie (-2)
#3: I tried to hit a fade here and it over-faded. To me, I think if you can stabilize the head (aka slow rate of closure) and still hit draws on command, you're going to be a dangerous ballstriker. What I've learned from working with Kelvin is that the only real '1-way miss' is when you miss right because it's simply impossible for any golfer to not miss due to an open clubface. But, we can prevent the closed clubface. The key is being able to prevent the closed clubface and still hit a draw if needed.
I'm still learning to get used to that and I should have hit a draw (or attempted to) instead. I played a fade in fear of missing left and it over-faded due to the left to right wind and went into the bunker. I then hit out with a 3-hyrid and punched a P-Wedge to 3-feet and made the birdie. Nothing like starting your round off with 3 birdies (-3)
#4: I hit this one off the toe by a wide margin, but it only drew a little. And with the Wishon 919THI head, you really don't lose much in terms of smash factor on big misses. This went forever and I only had a flip L-Wedge into the green. This green was firmer than the others and didn't spin to what I thought was a perfect shot. I then missed a 15-footer for birdie and made par (-3)
#5: I have been working a lot on sustaining my right shoulder ER and I lost it here and hit a hard pull left that ended up okay. I was using the Snell ball because I found I had 1 more brand new on. However, the ball spins too much for my tastes and I could see it here as I flushed a 6-iron that started to balloon a bit and it was going at the flag, but ended up on the front part of the green.
Ever have one of those putts you think "I don't see why I can't make this one?" Well, that's what I had and I drained a 20-footer for birdie. (-4)
#6: Again, got a little bit out of the right shoulder external rotation and pulled it left. Still found the green. Had the speed and made a good read for a double breaker, but came away with par (-4)
#7: This driver was hit well and down the middle. I punched a P-Wedge to about 25-feet and had the read but it came up just short and made par (-4)
#8: This was a well struck drive on a hole that I don't think I've ever hit a good drive with. I knew I had some room to hit this left, but I pulled it more than I wanted. It didn't make a difference as the ball rolled to about a foot and I kicked in for birdie (-5)
#9: This is a straight downhill par-3 with a huge change in elevation. I wasn't sure what to hit and I just felt a well struck P-Wedge would get close. I hit it well, but it fell short due to the wind. I chipped with a L-Wedge to about 2-feet and kicked in for par (-5)
#10: Hit a good driver down the middle and hit a nice S-Wedge, but it fell a bit short to 20-feet. I thought I had the read perfectly as I had to putt over this small hill. But, it straightened out instead of breaking and I made par (-5)
#11: This is wide open and I killed this driver about 320 yards with a good angle to the pin. I hit a L-Wedge that I thought was going to be too spinny, but it wasn't and left me with a 10-foot putt. I tend to over-think these putts, but I didn't here and I drained the birdie (-6)
#12: I was a bit unsure what to hit here because this fairway slopes downhill and there is a hazard that comes out to the right. I got lucky here as I hit this well off the toe due to the uncertainty of how to hit the shot. And I'm glad I did because it looked like I was going down the middle, but I almost went too far and into the hazard. Of course, for every good break I'm bound to get 10 bad breaks and my dad's cell phone goes off as I'm hitting the approach shot (good thing your birthday is on Sunday).
But, THAT IS A CRITICAL PART OF PLAYING THE GAME...those unexpected things that happen that serve the purpose of pissing you off and YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE PISSED OFF. But, the key is to fight against it and not let it bother you. As I say, true confidence is knowing that you can very well fail, but you know you are good enough to make up for it later on. I didn't hit a bad shot, but it took away from a good chance at making birdie. If I did hit a bad shot, a confident player would be smart enough to know that this game is FILLED with bad shots and bad breaks, but they know they are good enough to either make up for it on this hole or on the following holes.. Anyway, I 2-putted and made par (-6)
#13: I was in between clubs and went with a 3-hybrid. This was a bad swing, likely because outside of the driver, I was hitting mostly flip and punched wedges. I actually ended up in a good spot, but as luck has it, the lie was awful with no grass. My real error on the 2nd shot was not trying to hit it further from the hole and leave myself with an uphill right-to-left putt. But, I thought I could get it close and I ended up having a 20-footer for par on a terrible pin position. However, I just missed the putt. I thought it was in. Made bogey (-5)
#14: This driver was struck off the toe. But once again, the stable release had the drive going straight. Unfortunately, it took a terrible kick into the fairway bunker. Furthermore, I was close to the lip, so I just hit a 5-iron. I then had 150 yards to an elevated green. So I hit a soft 8-iron and pulled it. 2-putted and made par (-5)
#15: I had to get back my composure and focus here. I had a 480 yard par-4 coming up and I just had a phone go off in my swing, bogeyed a par-3 and made par on a par-5 I should have birdied. I did just that and hit the driver hard, but a bit low. Either way, it went about 300 yards and down the middle. I was in between a 6 or a 7-iron. I chose the 7-iron and it floated in the air again (Snell ball!) and ended up about front fringe high and left. I then chipped one with the L-Wedge to about 1.5 feet and kicked in for par (-5)
#16: Flushed a 4-iron to 10-feet. Best swing of the day. I missed the birdie putt as it was slower than molasses. But overall, can't complain about par on that par-3. (-5)
#17: Good driver that found the middle followed by a good 3-wood. I have been hitting the 3-wood well off the deck since I started lifting the left heel off the ground. Not sure why, but that's not important. I then hit a nicely low, spinny pitch with my S-Wedge that got nicely over a small tier to about 2-feet and made birdie (-6)
#18: Short hole that is a little tight. But, if I make a decent swing the drive should be fine. I made a decent swing. Got a little slidey witht he pelvis, but overall it wasn't too bad and it finished right down the middle. Had 81 yards to a very elevated green with a slight wind in our face. I can usually hit my L-Wedge about 90 yards, but to an elevated green into a slight wind with a green that slopes upward so it is going to spin, not a shot to feel comfortable with.
The problem is that I hit my S-Wedge about 125 yards. So 81 yards is a lot to take off. I then said to myself "hey, how about choking up halfway on the wedge?" I did that and hit it exactly how I wanted to and left me with a 6-footer that was straight downhill.
I knew that basically with the straight downhill putts, you just have to get them started on a decent line and not hit them too hard and they'll likely find the hole. The putt took off unexpectedly to the left, but sure enough....it directed itself towards the hole and in for birdie (-7)
31-34=65 (-7)
10/14 fwy
15/18 GIR
27 putts
2 impedes
-10 GIRO Score
+24 '15/5' Score
THOUGHTS: Another incredible round which is my 2nd lowest round of my life (shot 64 twice before).
So many great things happened. Mostly, I was really verbalizing each shot before and after the shot well with myself. I've been watching how Jordan Spieth converses with his caddie and find it to be beneficial. It really allows yourself to gather your thoughts and emotions instead of keeping them to yourself and letting them run wild.
The other thing is with the stable release it makes it hard to miss left. And with the new driver, I can hit it so long.
I remember a few years ago, right before I got into the statistics part of the game, I was playing with a member and we were talking about where we 'lose strokes' and he talked about the driver when you hit an errant shot. But the problem is that it doesn't consider what strokes you possibly gain when you hit a driver well. For me, if I hit a 320 yard driver down the middle, even on a 450-yard par-4 that leaves me with only 130 yards into the hole. So, I had a lot of flip/punch wedge shots in there, but a lot of it had to do with hitting the driver so far (this is a 7,000 yard course).
The putting was entirely better than it was at Juliette Falls. I started to notice that with the Armlock putter my hands were not far enough forward at address and I was getting too long of a follow through.
Anyway, great 3-day weekend so far. We'll see how I do at LPGA International which has usually given me a few more issues.
3JACK