Played a round on Monday, April 7th at the Riverwalk golf club…shot a solid round of 75 (+3). Unfortunately, the greens were in terrible shape, they had just punched half of the greens what looked like just the day before and the other half, where the flags were located, were still punched from about a week earlier and not very smooth. It was frustrating having putts hop and bounce around all day and it certainly cost me a few strokes.
I hit the ball very well all day long, probably my best iron play day I’ve had in a while. Hit a couple great 6 iron shots that were all over the flag sticks and stuck about 5 wedges from inside 100 yards all within 8 ft. The wedge part of my game is something I have been working on a lot to get my yardages down so that I can start sticking it close as that has been costing me key makeable birdie opportunities lately. Well on this day, I was hitting it just like I had hoped too, but the conditions of the greens and my lack of putting skills cost me taking advantage of every opportunity.
I started off the 1st with a solid birdie after a close wedge shot and nice putt. Hit a great 7 iron to the par 3 2nd, but it landed on the wrong tier of the green and stopped in a freshly aerated spot. An unlucky break and the long putt just hopped everywhere and I 3 putted that for a bogey. Next hole, a par 5, I stuck it close again with a wedge (6ft) from about 80 yards out, but I missed the birdie putt. It was a straight in putt, but was not able to convert. Missed an easy up and down on the next from about 5 ft off the green…almost chipped it in, but it ran a good 8 ft by and I missed the par putt.
Pared the next 4 holes and then on both #9 and #10, my tee shots left me under trees with no chance to reach the greens. I had to punch them out in front of the greens. On both I ended up with solid par putts of 10 ft, but missed both for bogeys. Got one back with a birdie on #11 after a close wedge shot, but missed makeable birdie putts of 10 ft or less on #12 (signature hole pictured below) #15 and #16. 
Bogeyed the par 5 18th after a terrible 3rd shot after having to lay up on my 2nd. Only 108 yards in, in the fairway, but the ball was above my feet and I didn’t play the ball back enough in my stance and I hit it slightly fat and the ball came up short of the green…..bad chip and missed the par putt for a disappointing close to a real solid round. I felt like I hit the ball well enough to shoot under par on this day, but my putting let me down. A big part of it was the conditions of the greens, but my stroke and confidence in putting is also not the best right now.
Either way, I am very pleased with this round and I continued my solid play as of late. My last 5 rounds have been scores of +2, +5, +6, +5, +3. My game is looking up and although I wasn’t able to play or practice the past couple days because I developed a little cold and my sisters birthdays, I’m ready to get back to it today and hopefully play sometime this weekend.
Stats for this round:
Riverwalk Presidio/Mission 6,550yards 71.9/126
Score: 75 (+3) Fw: 6/14 GIR: 11/18 Putts: 32 Up/Down: 3/6 Sand Saves: 0/1
My Journey 2 Scratch 
I really like the content of your blog. How long did it take you to reach a 2.5 handicap? What would you say the one thing that helped you get there?
obgolfer.com
Thanks Aleksey, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog! As for your question, I would say the most important thing that has helped me to improve my scores would be when I fully gained an understanding of what causes the different ball flights, the feelings associated with them and learning to adjust to them. Don’t just pound balls at the range, after each shot analyze the ball flight and then adjust on your next shot so you can start to find those feelings. For instance my consistent miss has been a draw, which is caused by an in to out swing path. Even though I might not feel like I am coming in to out, I know based on my ball flight that I am, so then I can adjust my next shot to feel like I’m coming more over the top and that should straighten out the flight. If the ball starts cutting then I know I’ve gone too far out to in. Once I found those feelings of what produces the different shot shapes, I’m now able to play all different types of shots; draws, cuts, “straight”. You can now start to play around the trouble when you have different shots available in your arsenal that you can pull out and execute when needed on the course. Hope that helps you!
Do you adjust your feet to change ball flight? Like closing your feet to create a fade, or by closing your stance more to create a hook ball flight?
Yea to hit a cut I set up with my feet open, but for a draw I just set up square and use my old in to out swing because I know I can hit it solid, but closing your feet would also help. Also in playing around with my swing I found that setting up with my feet open, but changing the path slightly I can hit it pretty straight and take out the right side. You really just have to play around at the range so you can find what works for you. It will take some time so just keep at it and GL!