9th August Monday Time to relax and recharge the energy after a very draining day on the course in the competition on Sunday. One of the rare occasions when I had a care factor of zero for the result and continuing the round, brought on by a continual downpour for the first 6 holes. Not a skerrick of enjoyment in those holes there were moments when it was bearable, mostly nothing but getting drenched. Being a par round and nothing more than a game with no importance in the end result apart from the final score my concentration did wander for a space of four holes and if any less effort was put into them would have been better played by a coma patient. The day was won with a score of minus 2 and my score was minus 5 so not too far off the pace even though no effort was put into the game for four holes.
On reflection as the field only had four golfers in total it shows that my commitment was better than many. Maybe having played so much during the week was a detriment to my interest in the game, although it was a very good week of development for my game. Currently planning on increasing the gym work another level with weight work together with the low impact excercise routines of the past month. The playing technique improvement with setup, swing and short game can still improve over time, with the coming club championships I will need more advantages to succeed.
Unfortunately the fact is that as much as I improve, having now gone up into “B” grade, opponents will be far more experienced and consistent in their golf game. The improvements to my game skills will be a benefit of course but I am going to add a higher level of fitness in particular stamina/strength conditioning to counter some of the advantage other players have over me. This approach has previously delivered consistency on the golf course in my game and that is going to be vital in the qualifying and matchplay rounds if I make it though. It was interesting that my playing partner persisted in saying I use the Driver off the tee Sunday. I stated that would not be happening at the start of the round and it was replaced with the #2 Hybrid. Lost about 30-40 metres on the drive distance and the accuracy gain was well worth the sacrifice. Playing from the fairways is much better than having to construct shots around, over and under obstacles on either side, or losing balls.
As I understand it the grades for the Championships are suggested to be “A” 0-14 “B” 15-22 and “C” 23-36. In which case I will be in the high figure section of “B” grade. The best I have done in competition is play to 17 handicap, without lost balls and out of bounds my scores can get to the 15-16 handicap figure. Even so it is going to take a lot more than that to win against most opponents in the grade. The short game is the key, being able to get up and down in two shots for pars and making more birdies is the only way to be able to win. At the minute my ability is better but nowhere near good enough to be able to defeat several of the “B” grade regulars. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em Straight all”
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
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