Break my handicap to win...

5/7/12 Thursday. Managed to get in a fifty ball practise session this morning to keep on track with improving the short iron performance. The distance matter has been resolved with the various irons from #7 to the Pitching Wedge. It has made a difference to my comfort when setting up for a shot, concentrating on playing the shot. Without the distraction of thinking, “where is it going to go?” as I settle into the stance.

This morning the balls were all on target to the recalibrated distance expectation. I still have this unplanned pull to the left with the short irons occurring. The problem with this is that I do not know what causes it exactly, it is a swing fault that has been identified previously. At that time though my decision was to leave it be as it had only began to be an irritation as my game improved. Prior to the improvements in 2012 after coaching in January my stroke play was more erratic at its best. Now at my best there are no more than five shots which really affect my scoring and that includes these shots which add a chip to the green on a handful of holes per round. The ball goes no more than five to 20 metres in the movement to the left and it is a gentle curve in the flight.

As regular readers would be aware m golf game premise is a very simple one based around hitting the ball straight. Playing draws or fades is not a consideration in my planning for any round. This has evolved from my need to establish a consistent and reliable swing since 2009. Learning to move the ball has had no part in this vital facet of my golfing standard. Having reduced my handicap twenty four strokes, from thirty six to the current twelve and on target for that original goal of a ten handicap this has worked so far.

I do know the theory on how to play strokes that will move the ball, but do not practise them at all. It is only necessary when I make an error on the practise range and the ball slicing and being able to know what to do that corrects it for the next shot. I will not consider developing this facet of a golfing armoury until I have a 100% reliable swing.

The Driver workout this morning was especially satisfactory, limited it to 20 balls to make it a ‘best or bust’ effort. I do a loosening up routine to begin a practise session, before swinging the club every time to minimise errors. Put the pressure on right from the start, the first ten balls hit flat out going for maximum distance. Not disastrous with a fifty percent accuracy on the fairway and the missed shots to the left and right were not dreadful but still off the fairway and among trees in some instances. The second set of ten balls I followed the example of yesterdays practise and went for fairway targets and returned ninety percent accuracy. With a drop of ten to twenty metres in distance this is still my optimum standard for playing in competition.

On days like this the repetitive practise can be so boring and bland without anything spectacular. The ‘best or bust’ start with the driver was a good cure for that. To then follow up with the efficient shots that hit the fairway so often made it a good fun session with a great result. The incentive to go for a place finish this weekend and the need to break my handicap and play a sub par personal round to do this is really motivating. Thankyou for your time and attention, ‘Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

Still winning and improving as well...

3/7/12 Tuesday. A good weekend of golfing fun on Saturday and Sunday, with two different rounds score wise. Saturday Decided to play at Kingston and get in eighteen holes as the home track was well covered with water after the Friday rains. Apart from a few passing light showers the rainfall was negligible and even the wind was not too strong in affecting the golf played.

Scoring a credible 38 points in the Stableford round with an 82 off the stick and 27 putt was a good enough result to win on the day. It was a reduced field with the A, B and C grade golfers playing club championship match rounds. Over all I played consistent and effective golf. Mixed in with some good and bad shots it is encouraging to know that I have and can improve further. Sunday at Robe the course had dried out significantly since Friday and I was not as focussed on playing and that showed in the end result. While the 29 points was good enough to have me in the top section of the finishers I let myself down several times with inefficient shots. From poor tee shots, fairway play as well as chipping and putting.

Importantly I did have fun and on the eighteenth hole whilst I could have still played to improve my score, instead I decided to push my limits and go for distance off the tee. Two balls went out of bounds and I was not bothered in the slightest it was better to have played and lost than not taken the risk to see what the result would be. Next week is the third and final round of the John Leake Trophy and a score of 40 stableford points will tie with the current leader and 37 will have me matching the current second highest score. This is really an exciting opportunity to know what score I am chasing and being able to go hard for the title with a scope of 3 points to be in the running for a place finish.

This week I will be working on a specific section of my game. The shorter iron shots from 130m into 50m were a particular failing this weekend. This was also noticed at Keith the weekend before, playing off a 12-13 handicap I expect a certain number of errors. When one occurs often enough that by its result puts more pressure on the next shot it is time to target it for improvement. Previously I played very few second shots from 130 metres or less to the green, with the increase distance off the tees in the past 3-4 weeks though this shot has became more prevalent. Whilst golf is about consistency, at my standard the more often I play a shot the nearer I get to having a poor one occur.

Before the need was top play good #6 to #3 irons to the green and have a good chip shot when they missed. So I practised to get them at their best. Now it is time to improve the #7 to 56 degree Wedge shots in accuracy as this is what I am using for greens in regulation shots. It is possible to play them well now but the prevalence and expectation of them is too much for my current ability. The three highest lofted clubs rarely got much use in a round outside of chipping 20 metres to the green. Now they are the clubs that are first choice to hit the green in regulation and I have faltered badly in their use.

The current golfing level of play and practise is being maintained as I prepare for the Naracoorte Winter Tournament from 27th to 29th of July. The week before is the Lucindale CAVPower Tournament and all of this is preparation for the Club Championship qualifying rounds which begin on August the 19th. The week before on the 12th of August is the Millicent Open and I am entering as many of these as possible to really push myself against the A Grade sectional competition. At this stage I am playing well enough at the home club, Golf Link has my average finishing position as 4th place. This is not good enough though to compete against the single handicap golfers in A Grade, I can hold my own against some but the current and past champions are out of my league. Absolutely nothing is guaranteed in this getting me over the line in front but it is great fun devising the program and doing it to see if it works. Not to forget that I really enjoy travelling and playing in golf tournaments with or without the current reasoning. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff