In Winning form again...

It is one of the good things about playing competition golf, winning. Not the be all and end all but not far away from the only reason I play competition golf. The past months have been reliant upon patience on my part to gradually develop balance in my game improvement and fitness. There is a part of me that wants to say this has been easy and while realising the process was easy, doing it was not. I have been playing crap for months, with a game that had no semblance of consistency, direction or form. Yet to me I could see during the experience the individual game improvement points that were cloistered amid the miss-hits and errors. At the same time balancing an increasing fitness regime, that did not get out of hand and end up in another breakdown from pushing the body too hard too soon. The result earnt from the practise and improved fitness in past months came this weekend. Saturday was a hard slog at Kingston SE hot weather and the first time I have actually gone for the morning swim before playing golf as well. Finished with 32 points and that score was affected mostly with 3 x three putts on the back nine that all returned 1 point each. Before the round was finished I had little energy left and poor putting cost me a sub handicap round. Sunday used common sense and did not go for a swim, with the assistance of a gusting wind curtailing any latent desire to get in the ocean. Competition winner on the day with 85 gross and a Nett 69, flagging a towards the end of the round and had 2 x three putts on the back nine. Knew as soon as I finished at Kingston the day before that my game was back in form and said so to my playing partners. Yes, I called the next days victory without a semblance of arrogance, overconfidence or Bullsh#t. It was not easy either and had to work very hard and recover from some tricky situations to get the win by only one stroke at the end of the day. Satisfied at the result, which made the stiffness that set in in the hours after the round a little less uncomfortable. Still have a lot of fitness improvement to come planned and that is not so daunting now I have got the first win for summer on the board. Kingston SE Summer Open on this Saturday and I will be resting up on the body training a little and focus on the putter to get some form in the bank. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit the ball, Find the ball, Hit the ball. Geoff

Hit the ball, find the ball...

Sure enough after two days of sunshine, today is overcast with intermittent drizzle. Not a bad thing as I have had a lay day from swimming. A little tender in the lower back, brought on by the last two days of fully extended hitting with the Cleveland Driver as part of the comparison testing against the Cobra Encore. Wish i could decide between the two in a simple and conclusive way they are both good but the differences are significant in some aspects. The Cobra has the ball explode easily off the face, The Cleveland has the ball launch but has a better 'feel' with shape and accuracy in my hands. After a serious two days of use the distances are on a par. The Cobra still feeling easier in getting the same length as the Cleveland. Yesterday the shortest with the SL290 was 220 metres hitting that distance 4 times off the tee and the longest 237 once and the other 3 Drives were between 225 and 230 metres No complaints about those figures on my part at all. Considering that 200 metres is closer to my average previously. If it was just equipment that caused the improvement the decision would be easy. Instead the fitness and training of the past season is the major cause of my improvement. Hence I want to continue to build my game around accuracy as before and adjust to the benefits of more distance with all clubs. That has been a problem until recently even now with the improvement stable and able to play to the new club selections I still have some tuning to do. Even though my brain says what club to use the experience of the past 4 years still holds me to a semblance of disbelief. The better weather of late has assisted immensely. By finally being able to get out and play 9 holes without having to run for cover from rain after a couple of holes makes a big difference. For an idea dear readers of how difficult the changes have been to my game and adjusting to them following is some club choices. Distances from 2009 to 2013 are first, an 8 iron for me was 120m max.Yesterday hitting 8 irons 135-140m to the green. PW 100m max and a real effort, Now a smooth 115-120m club, The 7 iron 135m easily now I can grab it for shots to the green from 140 to 150 metres with ease and no accuracy problems. Carrying #2 to #6 Hybrids in my bag has been another benefit and even there the distances gained up to 20 meters in some situations. The #2 Hybrid has a low ball flight and the harder summer ground conditions has made it possible to get up to 210 metres with this club,Usually a comfortable 180-190 metres is this clubs range. Today will be a rest up this morning and at the minute just a review of my game progress. Putting practise will be the main focus in coming weeks I still have a poor GIR average. Until that improves I need to get a one putt game entrenched to make par and eventually make more birdies. Thankyou for your time and attention Hit the Ball ,Find the ball, Hit the ball. Geoff

Still unsure what to have in the bag...

Since winning Division II of the Club Open there has been little opportunity to play competition golf. Which has been no problem enjoying the Ambrose event on last Saturday and in the main relaxing practise session to keep the form that has returned tuned. This week I have been using the Cleveland SL290 driver instead of the Cobra Encore. This is to answer the nagging question of whether I need to upgrade. Today I was hitting the drives 220 to 240 m off the tee with the Cleveland and doing so with full effort and the Cobra is on the same level. It feels as though less effort is needed with the Cobra of the tee, in comparison the SL 290 feels as though there is a little more in the tank that a change in shaft would deliver. This is the quandary that faces my golfing at the minute. Fitness is improved, technique and ability as well. Combined with the summer weather it is time to establish the final set up of my bag and chase that goal of a single digit handicap. All ths will be fun and the Kingston Summer open on the 14th of December is my next major competition to put my game to the test. Thankyou for your time and attention Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Footy Nanna and Jame Hird...

Footy Nanna rant on James Hird http://www.reverbnation.com/geoffdening/song/18942109-footy-nanna-and-james-hird Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff