16th March 2010 Had a casual 9 holes yesterday morning first real hit in four days or so apart from practising pitching and puttting. A bit sloppy with a few shots but that was no matter and there was a bit of experimenting being done. Mind you there is no doubt I am not a good golfer just good enough to play to my handicap on most days. With the season proper started it is time to return to my chosen way of playing the game that worked so well in 2009, Accurate and Percentage golf. Summer was filled with a lot of practise with the drivers 1 to 5 and having added the Cobra and being consistent with off the tee with accuracy and of course the extra 20-30 metres it was money well spent in lessons and club. To be honest using the 3 and 5 has really added nothing much to my game at all. (as posted before only used irons last year) Admittedly after having the original driver break as described previously, the quality of the sets drivers is in question to me. In the future the 3 & 5 drivers will be replaced with better quality clubs. The original Shark XLT-3 was good value on par five holes with the second shot yet on my club course I am easily well past the 150m marker using a 3 – 5 iron as well. The XLT-5 was handy for those occasional fairway shots 180 metres plus out or into the wind which are just too risky to attempt with belting the ball with the 3 iron.
Preferring to stick with my accuracy over distance, and the consistent results of my irons I am going to take the 3 and 5 fairway drivers out on the bag for comps. The Cobra will stay for those 15 holes it gets used on the par 4 & 5 tee blocks and the distance it gives with acceptable accuracy for me. I am going to get myself a couple of hybrids to replace the fairway drivers. Been considering this since November having seen the results other players get with them can see them as a worthwhile addition to my set. Will add a #2 Hybrid and a #3, anything with a loft from 15 to 18 degrees for the first club to go in the bag.
The practise over summer has definitely improved my golf, it took 4 months and 2nd place in the March Southern Ports Tournament “C” grade confirmed the effort was worth it. I dropped 5 strokes thanks mostly to improving a few parts of my game. Particularly pitching and chipping accuracy from 100 metres in. Hitting greens in regulation from 100m – 150 m + is still very erratic at about 20 to 30% success which for a 22 handicapper is a bonus, getting a stroke per hole and 2 stokes on 4 holes. The increase in my confidence has gone well with being more aggresive in attacking the green and even though my ability is far behind the low teen and single figure golfers it is thoroughly enjoyable getting pars and a birdie or two per round.
Off to have a bit of practise this morning, before sitting in the club this afternoon running the Beginners Ambrose comp. which the club has continued after its success in gaining new members last year. I got tired of sitting back and listening to all the ideas for membership drives, so put myself forward with a list of suggestions from other members. I believe that if you are going to suggest something then it is only fair you commit to putting in the effort instead of it being lumped on the usual members who seem to get all the jobs.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
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