Posts Tagged ‘walk’

First Round in 2 weeks ~ 77(+5)

Posted: November 1, 2014 in Golf Rounds
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5307917592_916b56c7d1_zI finally got to actually play a golf round!  Been battling a sore back for the past week, but this past Thursday, I met up with a couple friends and we played a round over at Riverwalk golf club.  Not having been able to actually play in 2 weeks, I didn’t come in with high expectations, but maybe that was a good thing because after the first tee shot, I knew it was going to be a good day.  I ended up shooting a 77(+5).  My long game was locked in and I hit a total of 11 out of 14 fairways!  I only hit 9 of 18 greens, but never missed a green by much and 5 of them missed just short either because of spinning off the front or a misjudging of the wind.  I account that to not playing much over the past couple months, as being able to accurately judge the wind is something that starts to get dialed in the more and more you play.

Nevertheless, I did hit a lot of close iron shots, but my putting continues to be my Achilles’ heel and I was not able to make many birdies.  Despite having multiple great looks from inside 10ft, the only birdie putt I did make on the day was from about 40ft.  Golf is a funny game and it always seems like the putts that have little chance of going in actually go in and the makeable ones slip by….at least for me lately.  I think that just comes down to the idea of having no expectations.  Dave Stockton calls it going “unconscious” when putting and it’s something that I’m working on getting better at doing.

I know I need to become less result oriented when it comes to my putting and just try to keep my same routine and put a solid roll on the ball.  If I can do that, then I’ll make my fair share of putts.  I’ve been trying to just pick a spot 1 inch in front of my ball on my line and roll the ball over that spot.  It’s hard to miss a spot 1 inch in front of the ball, so it allows me to put more emphasis on the speed of the putt.  I find my mind freed up with longer putts, but I still catch myself over thinking and steering closer putts or ones I feel I “should” be making, especially for birdie.  I’m getting better at it however and if I keep working hard on getting to a point where I can go “unconscious” on the greens, I know that’s going to give me the best chance to start going low.

Final stats for the round:

unnamedRiverwalk Presidio/Mission 6,550yards 71.7 126

Score: 77(+5) FW: 10/14 GIR: 9/18 Putts: 32 U/Down: 4/8 San Save: 0/1 Penalties: 0

Weekly Statistical Recap Week 2

Posted: April 14, 2014 in Statistics
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fotolia_2005754_XS3Weekly stat recap for Week 2 of my challenge to reach PGA Tour averages.  Only got to play one round this week and that was back last Monday over at Riverwalk.  I’m playing another round here today in a few hours and most likely on Wednesday as well.  Hopefully I can sneak another one in on the weekend too, so this week should be packed full of golf.  Below I posted my stats for the one round this week and also the running total for the overall 2 weeks.

4/7/14

unnamedRiverwalk Presidio/Mission  6,550 yards 71.9/126

Score: 75 (+3) FW: 6/14 GIR: 11/18 Putts: 32 Up/Down: 3/6 Sand Saves: 0/1

 

 

Total Stats for Week of 4/7/14-4/13/14 (Red = Below PGA Tour Avg, Green = Above PGA Tour Avg)

Number of Rounds: 1

FW: 6/14 43% GIR:  11/18 61% Up/Down %: 3/6 50% Sand Saves: 0/1 0% Total Putts/18: 32

Overall Stats, Weeks: 2

Total Rounds: 3

FW: 16/42: 38% GIR: 31/54: 57% Up/Down%: 7/16 44% Sand Saves: 2/5 40% Total Putts/18: 32

Current PGA Tour Averages – FW: 60.82% GIR: 65.36% Up/Down: 57.34%

As you can see my FW numbers need to come up, but in all honestly I’m not missing the fairways by much, nothing you can do if the ball is just a yard or two off the short stuff.  I think that can be seen by still having solid GIR numbers, just 3% off the PGA Tour average.  Although I’m not hitting many fairways, I still have shots to hit greens in regulation.  What I’m really excited about however are my up and down % numbers.  I’ve been working hard to get those numbers up significantly and they were somewhere around 25-30% not too long ago.  It feels good to see those numbers rising and I hope to keep them increasing.  I’ll post a round recap tomorrow after my round today, keep posted.

Riverwalk Round: 75 (+3)

Posted: April 10, 2014 in Golf Rounds
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unnamedPlayed 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.  20140407_173220Bogeyed 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

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My First Under Par Round!!! Well Sort of…

Posted: November 21, 2013 in Golf Rounds, Short Game Practice
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Over the past couple months I haven’t been able to play as many rounds as I want.  Heading to the course alone and walking on to play as a single has always been something I would try to avoid.  I much prefer going out to play with friends, but as a result I’ve only been able to play only once every week and a half, 2 weeks and if I’m serious about getting to scratch I need to get out and play.  I can go to the range all I want, but nothing beats on course experience/practice.  My usual playing partner has been busy lately and with the time changes it now getting dark at 5, so our usual rounds at 2 or 3 o’clock are just not going to work.  I’ve made a decision this week to start putting in a serious amount of rounds and that will mean going out often by myself.  We all know how expensive golf is and we know that twilight rates are the way to go for anybody trying to save a little money.  With the time change, getting in a full 18 holes at a regulation course at twilight times are just not going to happen right now, so for the time being I’m going to take full advantage of my local executive course.  Tuesday and Wednesday this week I headed over to my local executive course Oaks North and got in some great on course time.  The great thing is that right at about 1o’clock, the start of the twilight rate, there is almost nobody there and I’m able to just get on the course and play solo.  Was all alone out there, just me, my clubs and my iPod.  Got in a lot of great work these past 2 days, was able to play 2 balls on just about every hole and played really well.

20131119_151555On Tuesday, I was only able to complete 13 holes before I had to head back because of darkness, but after 13 I was at even par.  Shot +2 on the front 9 and then on #11 a 235 yard par 4, I hit an amazing 5-wood to just over a foot.  The tees were all the way in the back, so I had calculated to the hole it was playing about 260 yards and just crushed a perfect 5-wood that landed amazingly softly and stopped about 2 ft from its pitch mark.  It’s always a great feeling to have a tap in eagle on a par 4 and that shot I’ll remember for a long time; of course I had to take a picture for evidence!  So that eagle got me back to even par for the day and I had pars on the last 2 and called it a day due to darkness.

On Wednesday, I sort of accomplished one of my big goals and that was to shoot an under par round of golf.  I was able to play 2 balls and kept stats for both.  However, my score with the first ball after all 18 holes was 4-under par!!  I say “sort of” accomplished my goal because obviously it was only on a Par 60 executive course and my main goal is to shoot under par on a regulation 18 holes course, but still under par is under par and 4 under anywhere is solid, I mean come on!  Unfortunately, with my 2nd ball I was only able to complete 16 holes because at holes #2 and #3, a person was behind me so I just played my 1st ball to speed up play and then allowed him to pass on hole #4.  After he passed, I went back to playing 2 balls.  For the 16 holes completed with ball #2, I was +3 w/ two 3-putts that cost me. I’ll post a picture of the scorecard from today, but I’ll write out the stats for my 4-under round because it might be hard to see.

Ball #1: Score: 56 (-4) FW: 4/6 GIR: 14/18 Putts: 30 Up and Down: 4/4

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Ball #2: (16 holes) Score: +3 FW: 3/4 GIR: 11/16 Putts: 30 Up and Down: 3/6

My iron play these past 2 days has been really solid; in total I hit 36 of 54 greens in regulation, a solid 66%.  Changed a few things in my putting setup this week and I’m gaining more and more confidence.  I can tell the ball is rolling off the club face a lot better and maintaining its line.  I hope to keep that momentum rolling going forward.

Unfortunately it is going to rain here for the next few days, so looks like any practice will most likely have to be indoors.  My hope is that it clears up by Saturday and that my friend and I can play a round, will update soon.

Putting Lesson and Executive Course Practice

Posted: July 11, 2013 in Lessons, Short Game Practice
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Tuesday

Decided to schedule a putting lesson today with my instructor, we worked for an hour on different putting drills, designed for me to better feel what I’m doing and be able to self correct.  We worked on drills that helped with range of vision and really taking in your entire surroundings, not just the distance of  you to the hole.  This includes everything behind the hole, from the edge of the green to the houses or street in the distance.  When you start to just focus on the distance from you to the hole, you start to get tunnel vision, to play the best golf we must start to expand our vision.  Tunnel vision can also have the effect of making the distance between two spaces look considerably closer because you are focused on a fixed point.    One of the drills you can do to test this is to set up to a straight putt of say 15-30 ft distance (don’t pace it off before) and then stand up, turn your club so that the grip is pointing to the ground.  Now close your eyes and start walking toward the cup.  When you feel like you are close to where you believe the hole is, set the putter grip down.  This might tell you something interesting about the way you perceive the distance between putts.

My coach wants me to learn how to better feel and understand the strokes I’m making.  I would hit a putt and then based on if it started left, right or down my intended line, I would describe to him the feelings of that particular swing, in as great detail as possible.  This is a great way to learn how to self correct.  Eventually we did a variation of this drill where I would putt with my eyes closed and then tell him what I felt and whether I thought the putt started left, right or down my target line.  My coach doesn’t want to start messing with my grip and set up for right now, maybe later down the line we might tweak a few things, but he believes that putting is more about feeling than mechanics.

We also talked about the idea of not lining up the lines on my ball toward my intended line.  I’m sure you guys have seen some pros do this, most famously Tiger Woods has done it before, where he lines up a line on his ball where we wants his putt to start.  I always do this when I’m playing a round, but ironically as we were chatting about this, I realized that when I practice on a putting green, I don’t.  So I’m going to work on playing with no line up and focus on just seeing my putts rather than get locked in to a particular line and narrowing my focus.

Wednesday

Went over to Oaks North again, a local executive course with three different 9 hole courses.  Last time we played the North/East combination, but this time we played the South/East (Par 60).  Each 9 contains 6 par 3’s and 3 par 4s.  It is a great test for your irons and short game and I played very well, shooting an even par round of 60!  I’m not going to do a round recap, but I will give you a few high and low lights.   Chipped in twice, once for eagle and once for birdie!  I hit 10 of the 18 greens, but missed about 4 that were on the fringe, really close.  I managed to only 3 putt once utilizing my new putting method and that was on the 3rd hole where I only had about a 12 ft putt for birdie.  A bad 3 putt, but it was early in my round and I was trying to get used to not lining up my putts with the arrows on the ball and forgot to think about speed on the downhill putt.  So a mistake that was quickly canceled out when I made eagle on the next hole, but other than that I lag putted fairly well.  Still did not make as many putts as I would have liked from 12 ft and in, missed a few par and birdie chances from inside 10 ft, but I was more aware of why I missed them.  My chipping game is continuing to be a strength of mine and I’m just so eager to keep playing and see what I can do.

Ended up heading down to the driving range later on in the night, hit the ball well, worked a lot of my wedges trying to better understand the exact distances of each wedge.  Hit my driver and woods at the end, found myself getting a little bit too quick and as a result I was hitting them off the toe or shifting extremely forward.  Realized that it could be my tempo and once I fixed that, I was back to hitting my driver in the middle of the club face and sending it deep down range toward my intended target.  I need to remember to keep my tempo, I tend to get quick a lot and it causes me to be an inconsistent ball striker.  Hopefully going to be playing a round this weekend on either Saturday or Sunday if it does not rain.  But if not, I’ll still be playing on Monday again at Vineyard and Wednesday for sure somewhere.

Round Recap: Riverwalk Round 1 ~ Friars/Presidio 78 (+6)

Posted: July 3, 2013 in Golf Rounds
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Played at the Riverwalk today and we played the hardest of the three 9 hole combinations.  I will actually be playing the exact same 9’s tomorrow as I was able to book a July 4th tee time with my buddy.  I’m excited about being able to play on back to back days and today I wanted to come out to the Riverwalk so that I could play the same course two days in a row.  We played the Friars/Presidio combination today that plays at a rating of 71.7/129, but is much tougher than that.  If you click on the scorecard picture you’ll find at the end of each 9 recap, you can actually see the hole layouts on the scorecard.  Gives you a good visual to go along with my descriptions….enjoy!

Riverwalk: Friars/Presidio 6,627 Yards Par 72

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Front 9 Friars 3,230 Yards Par 36

Hole 1: 384 Par 4

Straight away par 4, hooked my drive into the opposite fairway to the right.  2nd shot was about 160 into the wind, took an 8 because I didn’t want to go over and it finished on the very front portion of the green.  Had a long 70ft putt up the slope, hit a nice lag putt to about 4 ft and made the par. Par

Round (E)

Hole 2: 509 Par 5

Dog leg left par 5, hit my drive down the left side.  Had a small tree in front of me so I couldn’t go for the green, just hit a 7iron over the tree, but pulled it slightly.  My 3rd shot was about 125, but had to keep it under another tree.  Wanted to just hit a low punch cut shot, took a 9iron thinking it wouldn’t go that far.  Hit it perfect and that was WAY too much club and it ended in the rough over the green.  A huge downhill slope to the flag located at the very front, hit an amazing PW chip to about 5ft and left myself an uphill putt.  Drained it, for a great up and down, par. Par

Round (E)

Hole 3: 342 Par 4

Dog leg right hole, where a lake runs down the right side. Our GPS wasn’t working so I didn’t know how much it was to carry the lake to the fairway on the other side, so I just hit a hybrid down the left side.  Turns out it wasn’t that far over the lake and I could have cut the hole off a lot if I hit driver.  Will probably go for that tomorrow depending on the wind.  Had about 128 left and hit a gap wedge.  Hit a bad shot that I layed off and it leaked to the left rough.  Had to flop it over a bunker onto a downhill slope, ball landed just a ft too short and stayed up on the collar.  Very delicate, difficult chip now left for my par down the slope…..knocked it in, boom!! Par

Round (E)

Hole 4: 171 Par 3

Hardest hole on this side, lake on the left and right of this narrow green.  Hit a 6iron, but it just came up short in the bunker.  When I got up to the green, found the ball plugged badly in the bunker….with water on the other side of the green, I was really scared of this next shot.  Tried to put the negative chatter in my mind away and I hit a great shot up to about 10ft…phew!  Missed the par putt, but that hole could have been a lot worse with the plugged lie I had in the bunker. Bogey

Round (+1)

Hole 5: 395 Par 4

Straight away par 4 that you can let the driver eat.  Hit a perfect drive, solid and down the middle, it ended in the fairway only 78 yards from hole, a nice 317yard drive.  Wedge game is killing me right now, hit a lob wedge that came up short.  Should be putting those on the green within 12 ft 80-90%% of the time, got to fix that.  Continued my great touch around the greens though with this chip that looked in, but hit the stick and stayed out.  1inch par tap in.  Par

Round (+1)

Hole 6: 175 Par 3

Wind was helping today and hit a 7iron that finished about 8ft above the hole.  A quick downhill putt that I played off the toe of the putter to try and kill some speed….birdie putt just burned the right edge of the hole, 2 putt par. Par

Round (+1)

Hole 7: 507 Par 5

Out of bounds to the left, so I made sure I went right.  Pulled my drive onto the fairway on the right, but only had 220 into the par 5.  Blind shot, so I hit a 5 iron that actually ended up just short of the green about 15 yards.  Made a good PW pitch to about 8ft below the hole…..rolled in the straight putt for my first birdie of the day, back to even! Birdie

Round (E)

Hole 8: 403 Par 4

Slight dog leg right hole, took aim over a set of bunkers on the right side and crushed it.  One of the best feeling and looking drives of my life, just perfectly in the center of the club face and ended only 73yards from the green in the fairway, 330yards!  Hit a lob wedge, to the elevated green and it ended about 15ft above hole.  2 putted for a par. Par

Round (E)

Hole 9: 344 Par 4

Took a 3 wood and hit a solid drive down the middle.  Only had 106 yards, but it was severally into the wind.  I tried to trap a lob wedge and flight it under the wind, but caught it fat and it fell way short of the green.  Had to hit a giant flop to the green and almost holed it, but it finished about 6ft away.  A little right to left breaking putt, but I missed it on the low side to make a disappointing bogey to finish this solid 9 from only 100 yards out. Bogey

Round (+1)

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A great 37 (+1) on this Par 36 Friars Front 9.  Hit a few really great drives and kept the ball in bounds.  My wedge game really killed me this 9, but my chipping was on fire.  Fairways Hit (FW): 3/7 43% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 4/9 44% Up/Downs: 3/4 75% Sand Saves: 0/1 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 13

Back 9 Presidio:3,397 Yards Par 36

Hole 10: 398 Par 4

Hit my drive solid, but left into the opposite fairway. Had about 150 into the wind, hit a great 8iron right at the flag, but it finished just on the front of the green.  Had about a 20ft birdie putt that I misjudged the speed on and left it a good 8ft short, missed the next putt for a bad 3putt start to the back 9. Bogey

Round (+2)

Hole 11: 178 Par 3

Over a lake and had a steady cross wind left to right.  Hit a 7iron and played the wind, landed on the green and rolled down the slope to about 15ft above the hole.  Another horrible lag putt as I left this putt also about 6-7ft short.  Back to back 3 putts as I missed my par putt……putting is going to be the death of me this back 9. Bogey

Round (+3)

Hole 12: 511 Par 5

Dog leg right Par 5, reachable in 2 if you hit a deep drive, but I hit mine left again into a parallel fairway.  Took a 5wood and crushed up about 60 yards from the green.  Hit an ok wedge shot this time, but it was still 15ft right of the hole.  Leaving my last two lag putts short, I was going to make sure I got it to the hole this time…..a little too much and I ran it 5 ft by.  What do you know…lipped out that putt for my 3rd consecutive 3 putt….you have got to be kidding me right now!?!?  Bogey on this par 5 from 60 yards out….unacceptable.  Bogey

 Round (+4)

Hole 13: 440 Par 4

Hit another really good drive that finished just in the rough, but was only 116 to middle of the green.  Missed another green with a wedge in my hand as I left this one out to the left again.  Continued my solid chipping as I chipped a PW to about 2ft, tap in par to stop the bogey train. Par

Round (+4)

Hole 14: 393 Par 4

Straightway par 4, but the fairway is separated by a river in the middle, so you are forced to lay up to about 220 from the tee.  Hit a 4iron today that stayed down the left side in the rough.  Had a terrible lie, basically dirty and in a depression.  Tried to advance a 6iron, but hit it fat and it came up about 90yards short of green.  Hit a good wedge to the center of the green, but missed my par putt.  Bogey

Round (+5)

Hole 15: 538 Par 5

A nice par 5 to try and get a shot back….hit my drive over to the left and then hit a nice 5wood up to about 30yards.  Had a really bad angle to the pin as it was tucked just over a bunker and I had to hit a long flop shot.  Came off perfectly and finished just 6ft from hole for birdie….pulled the putt and let a great birdie opportunity slip by. Par

Round (+5)

Hole 16: 374 Par 4

Pushed my drive left and had to hit another punch cut shot to keep it under a branch.  Only problem is this ball didn’t cut and came up short right.  Hit a real nice chip to 4ft and made a nice up and down par. Par

Round (+5) 

Hole 17: 148 Par 3

Someone in our group had a range finder and they said the pin was only 140.  I hit a solid PW thinking that it was perfect, but it came up short.  Thought it was in the hazard, but we found it almost imbedded on the edge in some long grass.  Decided to play it and I had to chock down my wedge all the way to the metal and took a hack…popped out, but only a few ft.  An unlucky break as that ball then rolled into a random pitch mark and I proceeded to leave that chip short as well.  Kind of throwing my real solid round away here on 17….ended up making a double bogey 5.  Double Bogey.

Round (+7)

Hole 18: 417 Par 4

Straight away par 4 that has out of bounds on the right side.  Hit a real solid drive down the left side, ended up getting some nice roll on the cart path and finished only 80 yards away, 337 yard drive.  Finally hit a solid wedge shot to about 8ft below the hole.  Made the left to right breaking putt and finished my round off nicely with a much needed birdie on 18 after the disaster on 17.  Birdie

Round (+6)

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Started off this 9 with 3 consecutive 3 putt bogeys and a disastrous 5 on the par 3 17th, but ended with a nice birdie on 18.  Although my stats will say I hit 0 FW’s on the back 9, I did hit a lot of solid drives that just finished outside the fairways….putting is what killed me on this 9, 41 (+5). Fairways Hit (FW): 0/7 0% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 5/9 55% Up/Downs: 2/4 50% Sand Saves: 0/0 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 18

Final Stats: Fairways Hit (FW): 3/14 22% (Drove the ball great today, many solid long drives and kept the ball in bounds all day, win for me)  Greens in Regulation (GIR): 9/18 50% Up/Downs: 5/8 63% Sand Saves: 0/1 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 32

Overall I’m pleased with this round, I feel like I’m starting to hit the ball better after a horrible last few weeks.  My back 9 was extremely disappointing, but it was not my driving that killed me like previous weeks, it was my putting.  I’m playing the same 9’s tomorrow so I should improve my speed.  My chipping and up and down game is staying really solid…I have proven that I can get up and down over 50% of the time on a consistent basis now and that feels really really good.  Still need to work on my 120 and in wedge game, can’t continue to miss greens from that distance or put it on, but 20+ft away from hole.  That should be my scoring clubs and I need to be making birdies or pars from that distance automatically, not bogeys.  That will come with more playing and consistent practice, but I feel good heading into my round tomorrow.  Will be playing the same two 9’s so I hope that I can improve on my +6 score today.  Played well enough today to shoot about 2-4 over, but I won’t complain about a round in the 70’s after the disappointing past couple weeks.

Executive Course Practice

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Long Game Practice, Short Game Practice
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Oaks North Executive Course

Quick update about the last couple days for me….On Wednesday, my buddy and I decided not to go play a full regulation 18 hole course, but rather go to an nice executive course in my area called Oaks North to practice our iron and short game.  When I first started playing golf at 13 or 14, I used to go here almost every day after school.  My mom would drop my friends and I off and we’d play a 9 or just practice for a few hours, coming back here brought back a lot of good memories.  I haven’t been up here in probably 12 years and it’s funny how much smaller the holes feel.  I remember playing the junior tournaments here every week and have a lot of first and 2nd place trophy’s and ribbons from them still.  There are three 9 holes courses at Oaks North; (North, South and East) each contains three par 4’s and the rest par 3’s.  This is not a course where the par 3’s are only 100 yards, each is anywhere from 100-190, it really does test your wedge/mid iron game and the par 4’s are all about 250-300.  As a kid I remember playing these par 4’s and thinking they were so long, now I can reach them all with 3 and 5 woods or less.  Anyway, we walked the course and it was not too busy, so we hit multiple balls from different locations just to get some nice course practice in.  I putted horrible, missed 4 putts from inside of 6 ft, feels like my putting is starting to get away from me now, where as before, these past 4 weeks, I have been putting lights out from that distance.  I’ll get it back though, still getting the feel of the smaller, new putting grip I put on last week.  I’ll definitely be back to this executive course more often than I thought, because it really is a good test of your wedge/short iron and up and down  game, something that I need to perfect, as it is probably the most important factor in getting down to a scratch.  Later that night, I went to the range to work on a few things and hit the ball alright. I still feel like I’m not doing a great job of implementing the changes my coach wants me to make; I’m working really hard to get it however.

On Thursday, I did a lot of work in front a full length mirror in my house, working on getting into the positions my teacher wants me to get into.  It’s nice to be able to see yourself, like you would with a video and it gives you exponentially more feedback than just going off of feel.  I’m still struggling with what the correct flat, layed off position is supposed to look or feel like, and so I’m going to need to get another lesson to make sure I’m doing it correctly. Thursday night, after working in the mirror for a couple hours, I went to the range to see how the ball flight and contact would be.  I really worked on flattening my swing and it seemed to help a lot with the longer irons and woods.  Was hitting a lot of solid, straight shots.  Worked on the driver near the end and was hitting it a lot better than I have been in the past week.  My last ball, I really concentrated and focused as if I was on the first tee, going through my entire pre shot routine, and crushed it down my target line.  An older man, hitting next to me, who had been watching me for a bit, looked up and said “Well that’s about as perfect as you can hit it, you really took you’re time on that one, great looking swing.”  It’s always a good feeling when you get complements on your swing at the driving range, gives you a nice boost of confidence.

I’m hoping to be able to play this weekend, but if not then hopefully we will make it 3 weeks in a row on Monday with my buddy.  Will probably be playing on July 4th also, I did that a few years back and nobody was on the course.  For my international viewers who do not know, July 4th is the holiday here in the United States to celebrate the day of our nations independence from the British in 1776, basically Americas birthday. (Sorry my many U.K viewers) It’s a great day to play some golf, BBQ and enjoy fireworks!  Speaking of the U.K. I would love to go to the U.K. one day, the last name Tyson is English and I like watching the BBC and I think Karl Pilkington is a genius and one of the funniest men on earth, haha!  The rich history of the British intrigues me and it would be a great place to visit one day.

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Round Recap: Riverwalk Golf Club – Presidio/Mission 79 (+7)

Posted: June 20, 2013 in Golf Rounds
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The Riverwalk course features 3 different 9 hole courses named Presidio, Mission and Friars.  I love this course, it is in great condition from tee to green and a really fun play.  Today we played the Presidio/Mission combination from the tips for a combined slope and rating of 71.9/126.  Enjoy!

Riverwalk Golf Club: Presidio/Mission 6,550 Yards Par 72

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Front 9 Presidio: 3,397 Yards Par 36

Hole 1: 398 Par 4

A short opening hole, slightly moves right to left, hit my tee shot left in the rough.  Had a great lie and angle to hole, knocked a wedge to about 25 ft above the hole.  Real quick putt and knocked it a good 10ft by….but made the comebacker par putt to save an opening hole 3 putt disaster. Par

Round (E)

Hole 2: 178 Par 3

Over a lake and into the wind to a back right pin location.  This type of shot sets up nice for my little draw and I tried to muscle a 7iron to flag.  Right at it, but about 15 ft short and it settled below the ridge in the middle of the green.  So an uphill right to left breaking putt for birdie.  Still not figuring out the greens yet as I left this a good 7ft short.  Clutched up again and made my 7ft par putt. Par

Round (E)

Hole 3: 511 Par 5

Dog leg right Par 5, reachable in 2 if you hit a deep drive, but I kind of hit mine off the heel and it squirted out low and left.  Still got good distance however, but had a bad lie in the rough.  Layed up with a 7iron to the middle of the fairway about 80yards away.  This part of my game, my 100 yards and in game would haunt me today and cost me an great score….hit this shot about 30ft over the flag and had a long putt for birdie.  Left this putt WAY short also, but made another 7-10ft putt for par (feeling really confident from that length right now). Par

 Round (E)

Hole 4: 440 Par 4

Crushed my drive and only had about 120 left in, ran slightly through the fairway into the rough.  Into the wind so I hit a gap wedge, stuck it to about 8ft.  Slight left to right breaker for birdie, felt confident and knocked it in for an early birdie! Birdie

Round (-1)

Hole 5: 393 Par 4

Straightway par 4, but the fairway is separated by a river in the middle, so you are forced to lay up to about 220 from the tee.  Just tried to hit a 5iron into the fairway, but blocked it WAY left.  Landed on the fringe of an adjacent green with a bridge right in front of my line to the green about 165yards away.  This is where I need to work on course management and take my medicine and just hit a Pw over the bridge and play for no worse than 5, but I thought I could get it over and went for it with a 7iron.  Hit a great shot, looked like it was going to make it through the bridge, but caught one of the top beams at the very last moment and it shot the ball who knows where.  Couldn’t find the ball and was forced to drop, hit my next on, but 2 putted for a double bogey 6.  Bad play by me. Double Bogey

Round (+1)

Hole 6: 538 Par 5

A nice par 5 to try and get a shot back….bombed my drive down the middle and only had about 220 in.  Took my 21 degree hybrid and hit a low shot just right of the hole…it landed just short and rolled up onto the green, but ended about 60ft away at the back of the green.  Hit another long putt extremely short and left myself another good 9-12ft putt….this one I missed however, letting a great opportunity to get another birdie slip away with this 3 putt for par.  Par

Round (+1)

Hole 7: 374 Par 4

Pushed my drive left into the other fairway, but had a great angle and lie about 116 to hole….left it horrible short as I didn’t play enough club for the wind.  Had to chip up to a pin in the middle of the green, anything short is flat and perfect, but past hole is a big slope….hit my chip too hard and left myself about 7 ft above the hole, big right to left breaking putt for par.  Really bad chip, no excuse to go above the hole at all and it cost me par as I hit a great putt that lipped out and I made a bad bogey on this hole. Bogey

Round (+2) 

Hole 8: 148 Par 3

Was playing about 158 today, with the wind into the face to a right pin location.  Over drew an 8iron a little too much and it landed short sided pin high.  Not much green to work with, but I made an excellent chip to about 3 ft and made a nice up and down par.  Par

Round (+2)

Hole 9: 417 Par 4

Straight away par 4 that has out of bounds on the right side.  Aimed it down the left side and hit a great drive, only left with 80 yards in.  Hit another horrible wedge, pin high left into the green side bunker.  Flag was only about 5 paces on from left so I had to try and get my shot up quickly and land it into the rough and let it just feed on….hit an perfect shot that rolled to about 4ft…..made a very difficult sand save to finish this 9 off with a par. Par

Round (+2)

Was able to get away with bad lag putting and that stupid double bogey on 5 to only shoot a (+2) 38 on this Par 36 Presidio Front 9.  Fairways Hit (FW): 1/7 14% (Wasn’t missing FW’s by much) Greens in Regulation (GIR): 5/9 55% Up/Downs: 1/2 50% Sand Saves: 1/1 100% Penalties: 1

 Back 9 Mission: 3,153 Yards Par 36

Hole 10: 388 Par 4

With a river running right in front of the tee box, I hit a 3 wood right into the center of the fairway. Had only about 90 yards in, but again missed the green, long left.  Made a nice chip to about 9ft, but lipped this one out for a bogey. Bogey

Round (+3)

Hole 11: 293 Par 4

Short dog leg left hole, layed up with just a 5iron into the fairway.  Only 88yards in and AGAIN I failed to get it close, ran just pasted the hole into the fringe about 12ft above the hole.  Hit a great putt that looked in until the very last second and it turned left and made a par.  Par

Round (+3)

Hole 12: 304 Par 4

The signature hole here at Riverwalk, (The picture at top of post is of this green) a dog leg right with a giant lake down the right side and in front of this semi island green.  Crushed a hybrid straight, but it ran just through the fairway.  Hit 85 yards again and hit a horrible short shot that just barely stayed up from rolling back into the river.  Was almost standing in the water as I hit a great flop shot to 6ft, but lipped out again, would have been a great par save. Bogey

Round (+4)

Hole 13: 526 Par 5

Hit a solid drive to the right that hit above a bunker and ALMOST rolled into the water on the other side.  It was so close against the edge that I had to hit it right handed!  Decided against taking an unplayable and wanted to give it a try righty (always wanted to try this).  Took a PW and actually advanced it up about 25yards!  Took a 5wood from the rough about 235out and hit a great low shot that ran up onto the green, 2 putted for a par.  Par

Round (+4)

Hole 14: 178 Par 3

Tough long par 3, into the wind today, hit a 6iron solid, but missed the green right.  Had to hit a flop shot, that I over cooked slightly and it just rolled off the back, 2 putted from there for a bogey. Bogey

Round (+5)

Hole 15: 354 Par 4

Dogleg right, crushed a 5wood with a nice draw into the fairway, only 80yards in.  Same type of shot I’ve been struggling with all day and no different here, I hit it over and missed green….horrible!  Hit another great chip to 6ft, but lipped out again! Bogey

Round (+6)

Hole 16: 190 Par 3

Hit a 5iron pin high, but missed left.  Flopped it to about 2 ft and tapped in for a quick par.  Par

Round (+6)

Hole 17: 378 Par 4

Hit my driver and had another 80 yard shot to flag from middle of the fairway.  Came up way short of where I wanted and had a 50 ft putt for birdie.  Crushed my putt 10ft by, but again clutched up and made the long par save, wow. Par

Round (+6)

Hole 18: 542 Par 5

Hit my drive down the left side, but just finished in the rough. Had only about 230 to carry the river in front of the green, last hole, might as well go for it right??  Hit a hybrid, pushed it a little left which meant I needed to carry more river than I had factored in.  Looked like it got over from our view point, but when we got up there it had not, found it barely in the hazard.  Had to drop and chipped up to about 5ft and still had a par saving putt.  Been making these all day long, but just miss hit this one and it missed top side.  Bogey to finish my round out. Bogey

Round (+7)

Bad back 9 score of (+5) 41, just couldn’t get my 80-100yard shots on or close to flag. Wedge game cost me on this 9.  Fairways Hit (FW): 4/7 57% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 2/9 22% Up/Downs: 2/7 29% Sand Saves: 0/0 0% Penalties: 1

Final Stats:

 Fairways Hit (FW):  5/14 36% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 7/18 38% Up/Downs: 3/9 33% Sand Saves: 1/1 100% Putts: 32 Penalties: 2

Overall I’m disappointed in my score because I finally drove the ball well…even though my stats show only 5 fairways hit, probably had about 5 more that were barely off the fairway.  My weak point today was my wedge game; 6 times I had about 100 yards in or less from fairways and could not put it close or even on the green.  It’s disappointing because that has been strength of mine these past few weeks, so it’s just one of those off days.  I need to practice a lot on getting my exact distances down with those wedges.  For example I need to know how far a chock down lob wedge goes, compared to a full grip lob wedge, 3quarter choke down lob wedge and half shot lob wedge.  If I can find out the exact distances my 60, 56 and 52 degree wedges go when I’m at full, half or low grip and at full, 3quarter and half swing lengths that will help me score better.  Right now I’m going off of feel and I need exact distances so I don’t have to second guess what to do.  Overall though, I keep saying it, but I am definitely improving.  I feel really confident out there with my swing, from tee to green.  It’s starting to come together and I cannot wait until the day that it all just clicks!

Will probably be playing again on Saturday if everything goes according to plan.  I think today I’m going to go get my putter head re-glued and get a new grip put on. (Right now I have a slightly fatter grip)  I have been putting really well, but I think my putter head is sitting closed and the grip has bothered me every since I bought it, I need something slightly smaller.  It’s time for a change and if I get it done, I’ll post a before and after picture of my putter for reference.