Irons and Hybrids a choice of sets

31/10.12 Wednesday Arriving home yesterday I had some time to take a walk around the course after catching up with the various work and domestic tasks. Daylight saving is a good thing in that respect for a golfer who has to do a real job as well. It was a hot day and intending more to get out for the walk than practise anything specific took the irons instead of the playing set of hybrids. It has been a long time since any serious attempt to use the irons and the first hole was very ragged. Then it was with some amazement I began smacking the ball well with a birdie, bogie, bogie, par, par finish. This took a bit more effort than using the hybrid set yet the power and strength of the shots was not muted as it is with the game improvement sticks. The experience has inspired me to get out and have another hit with the irons again today. Not overlooking that the recovery from the past seasons golfing has made a marked difference to my capability with the irons though. Whist the complete hybrid set has been in my hands during this period of recuperation and I have been playing to handicap (12/13) or close to it in this period. The irons have been in my hands when playing my best golf earlier in the season so perhaps I can alternate between the two sets as part of my tournament preparations. Once again golf has delivered another interesting experiment for me to ponder and enact. I can see this as a continuing the less is more attitude and having some fun as well on the course. I am beginning to formulate a playing experiment with the two set and see if it can deliver good golf with less strain than the past season. Thankyou for your time and attention. ‘Hit ‘em straight all’ Geoff

Summer form improving still...

29/10/12 Monday Continuing with the less is more golfing approach. Having fun while playing and enjoying the reasonable form that is happening on the course. Kingston SE on Saturday a Par Round and -2 at the finish could have been better and dont care that is was not. With the improvement in my playing obvious to myself there is no need to get into 'winner' mode at the minute. The club open is coming up in a couple of weeks and as well as a work change that will make more golf possible in 6 weeks all is travelling as I want. In December I begin preparations for the Southern Ports Golf Tournament in march as well as has been done since 2010. This is what gets my game in tune and has been the core ofthe improvement from a 25+ handicap to the current 12. This season though it is going to be a lot less efort to prepare. I now have a reasonable golf game established and it is the fine tuning to be able to play single figure golf that is the practise goal. Thankyou for your time and attention. ‘Hit ‘em straight all’ Geoff

Ball goes forward a good thing...

26/10/12 Friday The past weekend of golfing delivered a return to form in my game. The Monthly Medal started off with a 9 on the par 5 first hole and ended with a 46 for the front nine and a 39 on the back a Gross 85, Nett 72 and played to my handicap on the day. The total of 29 putts was satisfactory and putting the 56 degree wedge in reserve with preference for using the pitching wedge in close was a good decision. Never been a 'pitch and run' golfer of any note and have been practising this aspect of the game a lot. It was not for lack of wanting to add this facet to my game. Lack of time to practice everything I want to develop has been a reason in the past. Fact is that these days I have less need to practice the basics as much and can work on game skills more often. I have never been in a rush to become better at the game and something that golfers realise eventually I believe is that patience is a much needed quality to play the game. On Sunday I took the trip to Penola fr the Championship Ambrose pairs competition. A fantastic day even without the golf for $30 the food alone makes it a good day let alone playing a round of golf included in the registration. Was a day when again the 56 degree wedge caused more damage than needed in the first 5 holes and after putting it away in preference to the Pitching Wedge it helped. Made up the double bogies to finish with a Nett 72. Well off the winning scores. Not disgraced at all and a lot of fun was had and that is as much a part of golfing as winning. Did win a raffle and two premium bottles of wine went into the booty bag for the day. Golf wise the day at Penola also delivered another game improvement result that has came from the latest bout of recuperating. The 2 Iron was very effective on those long second shots on par 5 holes. This club has a much more consistent accuracy standard than a fairway wood does in my hands. With summer drying out the fairways the added run has the conditions which benefit using the iron. Continued playing a moderate amount of golf this past week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with the good weather and a late afternoon 7 to 9 hole hit out. Still maintaining the less is more approach and enjoying golfing without practising a lot. Today I will play 9 holes in the club 'Chicken Run' and head to Kingston Saturday for their Par round. First chance to get away and play for a month due to various home club duties which come from being Bar Manager this season. Will be good to return to the general membership in 2013 and step back from committee. I must admit there is a twinge of guilt in stepping back officially yet I am still going to be actively involved in membership recruitment, junior development and competition and a lot of stirring to get the pot bubbling along to the future. Thankyou for your time and attention. 'Hit 'em straight all' Geoff

Steady golf improvement...

18/10/12 Thursday. Back home after a week of travelling and looking forward to having a hit today. Did get out and play four holes after arriving home yesterday that was cut short with cart hire duties for green fee players. Must admit that this will not be missed after November when I go off committee, while still volunteering for other club duties will still be a commitment on my part if it is not Junior Golf or New Membership development I will not be stepping forward. There will be a modicum of guilt at reducing my club involvement but that will pass very quickly. The members have to be made to change the operations of various aspects of the Golf Club and as far as I can see it people continuing to cover the gaps is not fixing problems. Especially when it results in me playing less golf. At the minute my game is stable, not playing to handicap but only 2-3 strokes off it. Enjoying the fitness and improved mobility has me getting out on the course as much as possible. Stil not practising a lot though at the minute it is a pleasant meander with the current game and noting the game improvements from the 2012 season. There have been several that have all strengthened my game foundation. Not huge leaps of improvement but all steady small steps that combined are a leap and that is fantastic to realise and have achieved. Ambled around on Sunday and 34 points. Apart from a couple of errors on the first and the fifth holes played the round was without any major blemishes. The score is fact, what could have happened did not. So no what if's and maybes are applicable. Thankyou for your time and attention. "Hit 'em straight all." Geoff

When the ball flies too far...

5/10/12 Friday. Out and enjoying the sunshine today in the afternoon 9 hole ‘Chicken Run’ Hitting the ball and having fun even as the greens are recovering from the coring on Monday there was a reasonable result given the social and experimental influences on the game play. Also playing off a 9 handicap in this comp. and not my official 13 hcp. with two wipes managed a credible 12 points. A couple of lost balls and a struggle with distance affected the scoring. The ball was travelling much further that expected off the tee and with the short irons. It was the shorter irons flying over the green or through them that had a lot of effect on scoring. Warm weather does enhance the travelled distance of the ball. Off the tee that is not so much a problem, having wedges and other irons getting 20 metres further than expected when going for the green is a problem that needs to be adjusted to quickly. Will be fun out on Sunday in th e18 hole comp. playing back into form in preparation for the home club open on the 11th of November. I lost 7Kg taking these African Mango + Advanced Colon Cleanser capsules 6/10/12 Saturday. A week of no weight loss and through no fault of the supplements. All was travelling along well enough diet wise until after Monday night, which included a night out to a restaurant dinner with wine and sweets included in the eating list. Unexpected social functions on Wednesday and Thursday night though had copious amounts of food and alcohol well in excess of what should be consumed be devoured in the party mode. Whilst this is a minor set back there is not the slightest concern. Being happy and celebrating birthdays and the company of family and friends far outweigh the goal of losing weight. The discipline has not been lessened and the diet supplements will still deliver the result in 3 weeks time. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all” Geoff

Played competition golf again...

1/10/12 Monday Good Grief it is true I do still play golf! Seems like forever since I have played a competition round and it is over a month since recovery from the injury flare up and getting knocked out of the championships. Finally bit the bullet and played Sunday and had a couple of goes at getting to the club, yes there was fear in my mind at playing again and doing myself an injury. Monthly Medal and finished with a 93 for a nett 80, the 26 putts won me the flat stick comp. on the day and apart from a 9 on the second hole was travelling very nicely. Until the 18th with an OB and into trees with the second off the tee and finished with an 8. Managed to claw back a decent score after the 9 and it was a driver fault from some lingering injury restrictions both times that caused the blow outs. This morning it was out to the club to do the Junior Coaching and then the bbq duties for the coring volunteers. A great day and it would have been fine to hit some balls but out of time at the finish of the day. Physically was feeling some stiffness that was noticeable yet not debilitating. The mental errors on the day were not that destructive or important to me even though they damaged the round. The most important part of the day was to front up and play and not be as crap as expected. My game has not fallen apart with less practise and play. Confidence has been given a big boost in getting on the course and playing the game again. Thankyou for your time and attention. "Hit 'em straight all' Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff