25/7/11 Lucindale Cavpower Open day did not get a promising start with steady rain from 5.30am before leaving on the 80km drive. Thanks to the internet a quick look showed it was going to be 1 degree warmer and only shower,s instead of the thunderstorms at home. Made one oversight and forgot to pack the golf shoes which meant buying a new pair at the open and happy to be lighter in the wallet with the forced purchase. Had been considering getting a lighter pair and better waterproofed as well and this was an accident that paid off. Cannot fail to mention the fantastic lunch put on after 9 holes and afternoon tea once the round was played. Cannot go past country hospitality. The field of 54 golfers was down on numbers with an intra region comp. at Horsham between the Wimmera and South East of SA.
Unfortunately the golf played had no such good fortune. Did not play well yet not too disapointed with the result considering the amount of changes that were a result of the coaching session on Thursday. Importantly I did not revert to the ‘old’ way to try and improve the performance in the comp. Finishing the day with a 97 gross 84 nett started on No.10; 50 back 9 & front 9 47. Tee shots were affected with 4 very odd skied drives, straight thankfully but short distance forward and bemused me at a time when I did not need the problem. Struggled with distance all day in part from the changed swing plane and other improvements, together with being a little lacking in energy. A matter of more practise than usual in the two previous days there was a noticable lack of energy in the tank, with some unsual stiffness and sore spots.
The round had one birdie (chip in) 2 pars the other 15 holes were bogies and double bogies. There was not a slice/fade in the round showing that the changes have worked. Not being able to get the distance right with the clubs wounded my game, the short game killed it. Pitching and chipping a strength for so long had no consistency all day. Putting was not a disaster, two 3 putts on greens that were fast even with the soaking from 2 days of rain. Too fast for me on the day a lot of breaks that had several near misses to end with only three one putts shows where the damage was done.
Sitting here now I can see the benefits of the day outweighing the negatives of the performance on the course. Continued the attacking shot play which given that my game was erratic was another relatively new facet that was maintained on every hole. It is very satisfying now to realise that it was a small number of mistakes, 13 or so that cost me a handicap result (B Grade). The table finish has me at 11th out of 22 in the gross and 16th in nett. Threw everything I had into the game and was lights out by 8.45pm on getting home, totally knackered.
Getting up for the coming Kingston Open on Sunday is going to take a committed effort this week on the training track. Moving back to the heavier training regime is going to be one change plus play more holes instead of so much range work. It is going to be a fun week again on the golf course. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”
Geoff
