20/7/12 Friday. A week of doing real work that has interfered with my golfing obsession, have survived the withdrawal symptoms and gearing up for another weekend
on the course. The less golfing time was a definite choice besides work responsibilities it was time to freshen up and have a break from the latest dedicated practise and playing routine.
Competition wise my results were not good on the weekend with the Naracoorte Winter Open over 27 holes a poor score but a very worthwhile hit out on the course.
Struggled on the greens all day and breaking the round up into the three nines delivered a 51, 51, 41. There were very few poor shots that put me in positions where I did not have a clear shot to the fairway or green. It was
simply inability to hit greens in regulation and putt accurately. The greens are back to a slick level of speed. After the past few weeks I am improving though not totally comfortable on them.
The Saturday competition at Kingston was a Par round. It was after this that I had a revelation which exposed a mental game playing fault which had began to affect
my rounds. At my home track and in most travelling events I play the competition is stroke rounds. With few Stableford or Par rounds played, with my usual Stroke round strategy to get to the 14th hole in good shape score wise
either on my handicap or just under. Then attack the remaining holes to come in under my handicap. Can you guess what my game fault is?
I play with score minimisation as my goal for most rounds, never really try to break par on most holes. When playing a Par round it is either a win (+) half (0)
or a Loss (-), even though I was a little flat after the 27 holes on Friday that was no reason for my inability to score better in the Par round played. On all holes a half was easily achievable yet I had four losses on the
front nine and one on the back for a -5 result. That was a total of five strokes too many. It did not matter how many strokes I picked up on winning holes. In a Par competition it is the hole not the strokes that decide your
final result and my play is set in stone from playing so much stroke play. This weekend I will play Stableford at Kingston on Saturday and yes you guessed it, Stroke in the Lucindale CAVPower Open on Sunday.
Physically at the minute the weight loss program is definitely improving my enjoyment of golf. Less pain from the various broken bits is very noticeable not to
forget the extra energy and stamina. Having a break from golfing this past week has been a smart move also. Too often I end up in a debilitating state from doing too much for too long especially when feeling very energetic
and healthy. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”
Geoff
