Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
1st May 2010 Arrived back home late last night after a 3 day break in Adelaide. Headed out early this morning top have a swing and played 9 holes a little ragged on the pitching and putting touch as was expected the driver and fairway shots were okay. Headed in to see the finals draw for the Handicap Championships ended up in 8th position out of 16 and playing the same guy I have played the last two rounds at the club with! Will be a great game of match play, I will be giving him a stroke on 3 holes as I am on a 21 hcp and he is on 24. Happy with the group of 8 I am in as well, it includes the 3 guys I beat in last years Hcp Championship and the other 4 are all on 20-25 hcps. Will be putting in some fine tuning for the rest of today on my game in case my opponent wants to play the elimination match tomorrow, get my putter and picthing wedge sharpened up as I will need to be at my best possible to win the match. Hit ‘em straight all
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
Friday, June 04, 2010
Golf - Anzac Day and the sun was shining!!!
Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
26th April 2010. Anzac Day was a surprise with a soaking of rain in the early hours of the morning to end up with a day of sunshine and a slight breeze for the Monthly Medal and second round of qualifying for the handicap Championships. Went out for a warmup hit with the Driver and hybrids a couple of hours before play. Used the shorter range area and managed to get the hybrids into a reasonable spread. The Driver was something different on this short range (220 m) for the first time. Reigned in the stroke power and put in a definite effort and received a satisfying draw and accuracy that has not been a consistent part of my game off the tee. Will be definitely taking the driver out on the short range regularly in the future, the range results were not in my game on the course that afternoon. Mostly because I tend to hit a bit harder in competition and took the strategy choice of not changing my game after one experience a couple of hours before hit off.
Had an acceptable preparation for Sunday starting to get improvement with the putter and pitching around the green since adding the Sand Wedge from my first set as a lob wedge has been returning great results. Played in the Club Chicken run 9 hole Friday comp and came second with 18 stableford points, 46 gross/14 putts in the rain. Had 4 bad drives that made it impossible to hit those greens in regulation and 2 bad seconds in the 9 holes. Broke a stick for the first time on the course, one of the bad drives had me off the fairway amongst some native currant bushes. Could have played out side ways 20 metres to the fairway, yet knew I was close to squaring up with the guy in our group who was leading, he won Friday beating me by 1 stableford point. Had a few practise swings and was confident I could go forward and over the trees in front and if I hit it sharp enough carry to the green with an 8 iron. Gave the shot my best effort and pulled the follow through after striking it and the ball flew straight and true but short, and the club felt out of balance in my hands. Looked down to see the shaft bent and creased in the middle about 75 degrees. managed to finish the hole with a bogey and even now three days later say I would still play the same shot that broke the shaft. Fortunately I had my old 8 iron to fill in the gap in the bag for Sunday. It was okay to use on the day, it is 4-5 cm shorter than my broken 8 iron and 20 years older so I struggled for some distance and pulled a couple of approach shots that should have hit the green from 120 m.
Was partnered with the guy who won on Friday and for the first time I can recall was the lowest handicapper in the group, by 4 strokes. Have come to the realisation that I am getting antsy on competition days. Was irritated with the crowd of social golfers playing in between the competition groups and the racket coming from the area alongside the first tee from players talking. One of my pet hates is pedantic people, those that demand everything to be perfect and expect it to be some one else who makes things perfect. I can wear the etiquette breaches and generally they do not bother me, having played with pedantic golfers who seem to have a new complaint every hole, becoming a hypocrite and joining their ranks would be the last straw and I would quit playing before that. Makes a lot more sense to look at my composure and attitude on the tee that needs adjustment instead of passing the responsibility off to others. Had a bit of misfortune on the first and my drive clipped a tree branch as it came down and went 10 m to the right to be out by 30 cm, bugger. hit my second with the provisional fat and 20 m forward, then started to get my game in order after that, two putting the green hurt though and ended up with a 9 on the par 5 first hole.
Just could not get the putter working for the first 5 holes 2 putts on all of them from one putt range in my opinion. The whole 18 holes I did not hit one green in regulation yet after 13 holes was back to square on the card with my handicap. The old Sand Wedge was lobbing the ball inside a metre from the hole, the one putts were coming and par scores help every time on a 21 handicap in competition. Five holes to go and I was ready to make a charge and break my handicap. The 9 on the par three 14th sunk my charge. It is not an easy hole 151 m from a tee 20-30 m above the green, native bush to the right and a water hazard to the left. Hitting into the wind down to totally still green in a gully, set myself up wrong on the tee and did not take the practise swing, overconfidence and aggression had me pay the price of two lost balls.
Finished the round with a gross 97, for nett 76(21hcp) and 28 putts. Same nett score as the previous qualifying round in much worse windy conditions and a 22 hcp. In the previous round I made my a similar error on the 15th that stopped my charge for a good score. Time to put some thought into my demeanour during rounds, I am still going to play aggressive golf it is enjoyable. My error is in my sticking to the set up routine that gets me into position instead of letting the attitude of attack replace tried and proven technique. The real pain is that I have dropped from 7th qualifier to 8th or 9th instead of getting up the rankings. Not concerned about who I am going to play in the first elimination, match play is a forte of mine and it will be close and tight. Taking into account my last few rounds I am blowing two holes a round and that is nothing in matchplay where it is the hole score that wins not the final round total. Back to the driving range this week and doing strength/stamina gym excercise, have stopped this the past few weeks and made some errors that were related to fitness over the last few holes. Hit ‘em straight all.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
26th April 2010. Anzac Day was a surprise with a soaking of rain in the early hours of the morning to end up with a day of sunshine and a slight breeze for the Monthly Medal and second round of qualifying for the handicap Championships. Went out for a warmup hit with the Driver and hybrids a couple of hours before play. Used the shorter range area and managed to get the hybrids into a reasonable spread. The Driver was something different on this short range (220 m) for the first time. Reigned in the stroke power and put in a definite effort and received a satisfying draw and accuracy that has not been a consistent part of my game off the tee. Will be definitely taking the driver out on the short range regularly in the future, the range results were not in my game on the course that afternoon. Mostly because I tend to hit a bit harder in competition and took the strategy choice of not changing my game after one experience a couple of hours before hit off.
Had an acceptable preparation for Sunday starting to get improvement with the putter and pitching around the green since adding the Sand Wedge from my first set as a lob wedge has been returning great results. Played in the Club Chicken run 9 hole Friday comp and came second with 18 stableford points, 46 gross/14 putts in the rain. Had 4 bad drives that made it impossible to hit those greens in regulation and 2 bad seconds in the 9 holes. Broke a stick for the first time on the course, one of the bad drives had me off the fairway amongst some native currant bushes. Could have played out side ways 20 metres to the fairway, yet knew I was close to squaring up with the guy in our group who was leading, he won Friday beating me by 1 stableford point. Had a few practise swings and was confident I could go forward and over the trees in front and if I hit it sharp enough carry to the green with an 8 iron. Gave the shot my best effort and pulled the follow through after striking it and the ball flew straight and true but short, and the club felt out of balance in my hands. Looked down to see the shaft bent and creased in the middle about 75 degrees. managed to finish the hole with a bogey and even now three days later say I would still play the same shot that broke the shaft. Fortunately I had my old 8 iron to fill in the gap in the bag for Sunday. It was okay to use on the day, it is 4-5 cm shorter than my broken 8 iron and 20 years older so I struggled for some distance and pulled a couple of approach shots that should have hit the green from 120 m.
Was partnered with the guy who won on Friday and for the first time I can recall was the lowest handicapper in the group, by 4 strokes. Have come to the realisation that I am getting antsy on competition days. Was irritated with the crowd of social golfers playing in between the competition groups and the racket coming from the area alongside the first tee from players talking. One of my pet hates is pedantic people, those that demand everything to be perfect and expect it to be some one else who makes things perfect. I can wear the etiquette breaches and generally they do not bother me, having played with pedantic golfers who seem to have a new complaint every hole, becoming a hypocrite and joining their ranks would be the last straw and I would quit playing before that. Makes a lot more sense to look at my composure and attitude on the tee that needs adjustment instead of passing the responsibility off to others. Had a bit of misfortune on the first and my drive clipped a tree branch as it came down and went 10 m to the right to be out by 30 cm, bugger. hit my second with the provisional fat and 20 m forward, then started to get my game in order after that, two putting the green hurt though and ended up with a 9 on the par 5 first hole.
Just could not get the putter working for the first 5 holes 2 putts on all of them from one putt range in my opinion. The whole 18 holes I did not hit one green in regulation yet after 13 holes was back to square on the card with my handicap. The old Sand Wedge was lobbing the ball inside a metre from the hole, the one putts were coming and par scores help every time on a 21 handicap in competition. Five holes to go and I was ready to make a charge and break my handicap. The 9 on the par three 14th sunk my charge. It is not an easy hole 151 m from a tee 20-30 m above the green, native bush to the right and a water hazard to the left. Hitting into the wind down to totally still green in a gully, set myself up wrong on the tee and did not take the practise swing, overconfidence and aggression had me pay the price of two lost balls.
Finished the round with a gross 97, for nett 76(21hcp) and 28 putts. Same nett score as the previous qualifying round in much worse windy conditions and a 22 hcp. In the previous round I made my a similar error on the 15th that stopped my charge for a good score. Time to put some thought into my demeanour during rounds, I am still going to play aggressive golf it is enjoyable. My error is in my sticking to the set up routine that gets me into position instead of letting the attitude of attack replace tried and proven technique. The real pain is that I have dropped from 7th qualifier to 8th or 9th instead of getting up the rankings. Not concerned about who I am going to play in the first elimination, match play is a forte of mine and it will be close and tight. Taking into account my last few rounds I am blowing two holes a round and that is nothing in matchplay where it is the hole score that wins not the final round total. Back to the driving range this week and doing strength/stamina gym excercise, have stopped this the past few weeks and made some errors that were related to fitness over the last few holes. Hit ‘em straight all.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
Golf - it never happens overnight patience is a virtue...
April 19th 2010 Worked on my swing after the problems in March were noted and the changes are not huge but a major step towards getting close to the correct technque. Long ways to go in adjusting to the new body movement freedom and getting acustomed to it. Feels strange to say the least.
Finished the week off with social rounds on Thursday (18holes) Friday (9) and Saturday (18) for the respective gross scores of 87/29 putts, 47/16putts and 91/34putts. The old putter is back in service and it will not take much longer to get the ‘feel’ and touch on the greens improving. It had better as the 2nd Qualifying round is on this coming weekend 25th April. Even though my last score should have me qualifying (currently sitting 7th out of the 16, 7 strokes off top qualifier and 4 strokes from 2 and 3). I would prefer to have a score closer to my handicap at least to feel comfortable. After last weeks 6 days of playing I have began to get some fitness and form As effective the hitting of balls on the range helps refine and improve technique and consistency, playing on the course is still the final conditioner. Had Sunday off it was an Ambrose comp. and there was not much energy left in my tank to play another 18 holes, having achieved what I wanted the rest was better.
It is another case of back to the future, almost a year since I started playing and the same practise routine that worked well then is still as effective. My technique and consistency has improved having gone from 32 to 21 in handicaps stakes explains that. Dropping the next 5 strokes will be another challenge. A major bonus has been the improved physical fitness and the additional repair of some existing injuries which did cause discomfort during some rounds and make it impossible to play several times as well. The past month has been a time of dedicated physio therapy that is returning better flexibility and movement in the lower back which is pretty much the last area that needs to be tuned up. This will be an ongoing part of my golf regime in 2010 and will eventually make it possible to complete a swing close to the technically correct manner.
The best round on Thursday was assisted with being joined on the last four holes by one of the club pennants team who was out having some practise. We have played several times socially during matchplay preparations. Given he is a single figure (9) golfer I actually beat him in one 18 hole matchplay practise off the stick in 2009. It was not me playing brilliant golf, he had several wayward shots and I came out one shot better with an 85. This time we played the 4 hole off the stick and I beat him 2up. At the time my mind was focussed on breaking 90 with 4 holes to go when we met up and this added component definitely lifted my game. Without doubt you can include me in the category of golfers who believe match play definitely improves my game play. The two things I noticed during those holes compared to the previous 14 was my concentration and preparing to play shots was much better and I putt with a more confident, direct, attack on the hole.
The last 24 hours has delivered a good soaking of rain here and whilst last week was clear and sunny with a little breeze, winter is beginning to effect the course now. The most noticeable difference is the shorter ball flight through the air, you have to put a bit of power into drives to get flight distance. The ball on fairway’s run has been gradually decreasing, fortunately for me the improved technique and using a driver will still get me 210-220 metres off the tee this winter. A big improvement on the 170-180 m I played with last season using the 3 iron off the tee. Thankyou for your time and attention, hit ‘em straight all.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
Finished the week off with social rounds on Thursday (18holes) Friday (9) and Saturday (18) for the respective gross scores of 87/29 putts, 47/16putts and 91/34putts. The old putter is back in service and it will not take much longer to get the ‘feel’ and touch on the greens improving. It had better as the 2nd Qualifying round is on this coming weekend 25th April. Even though my last score should have me qualifying (currently sitting 7th out of the 16, 7 strokes off top qualifier and 4 strokes from 2 and 3). I would prefer to have a score closer to my handicap at least to feel comfortable. After last weeks 6 days of playing I have began to get some fitness and form As effective the hitting of balls on the range helps refine and improve technique and consistency, playing on the course is still the final conditioner. Had Sunday off it was an Ambrose comp. and there was not much energy left in my tank to play another 18 holes, having achieved what I wanted the rest was better.
It is another case of back to the future, almost a year since I started playing and the same practise routine that worked well then is still as effective. My technique and consistency has improved having gone from 32 to 21 in handicaps stakes explains that. Dropping the next 5 strokes will be another challenge. A major bonus has been the improved physical fitness and the additional repair of some existing injuries which did cause discomfort during some rounds and make it impossible to play several times as well. The past month has been a time of dedicated physio therapy that is returning better flexibility and movement in the lower back which is pretty much the last area that needs to be tuned up. This will be an ongoing part of my golf regime in 2010 and will eventually make it possible to complete a swing close to the technically correct manner.
The best round on Thursday was assisted with being joined on the last four holes by one of the club pennants team who was out having some practise. We have played several times socially during matchplay preparations. Given he is a single figure (9) golfer I actually beat him in one 18 hole matchplay practise off the stick in 2009. It was not me playing brilliant golf, he had several wayward shots and I came out one shot better with an 85. This time we played the 4 hole off the stick and I beat him 2up. At the time my mind was focussed on breaking 90 with 4 holes to go when we met up and this added component definitely lifted my game. Without doubt you can include me in the category of golfers who believe match play definitely improves my game play. The two things I noticed during those holes compared to the previous 14 was my concentration and preparing to play shots was much better and I putt with a more confident, direct, attack on the hole.
The last 24 hours has delivered a good soaking of rain here and whilst last week was clear and sunny with a little breeze, winter is beginning to effect the course now. The most noticeable difference is the shorter ball flight through the air, you have to put a bit of power into drives to get flight distance. The ball on fairway’s run has been gradually decreasing, fortunately for me the improved technique and using a driver will still get me 210-220 metres off the tee this winter. A big improvement on the 170-180 m I played with last season using the 3 iron off the tee. Thankyou for your time and attention, hit ‘em straight all.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
Golf - injury rehab get the experts advice don't play doctor yourself...
April 15th 2010. The new handicapping system had a few surprised faces among the golfers on Sunday. Several had gone out 3-4 strokes and after the Stableford competition actually had smiles on their faces, having played at or just under their new handicap for the first time in months. The most disapointed golfer was of all things the club handicapper who has busted a gut over the past months getting his handicap down and he went out three strokes! He has kept his good humour about it and it is only the effect upon having reached goals set for himself and then having the achievement taken away that stung a bit.
For me I ended up dropping only one stroke, my scores over the past 3 weeks have not been good enough and the lower scores in my last twenty were all at the end of 2009 when in good form during the lead up to the Club Handicap championships. Not that it made much difference the last fortnight has had me laid up twice for two day periods with back spasms from the effects of the excercise routine from my doctor to strengthen the damaged lower back I have. This is all good in effect that this week I have had a remarkable return of flexibility and the stiffness is gone. The next four weeks will build upon this, and personally it just feels great to be able to have full movement again after so long.
The game was a struggle for me as I fronted up after Friday and Saturday being restrained to minimal movement between the lounge and bed with the back spasms. Even so it was good to get out and walk without to much discomfort, albeit very gingerly. Returning the result of 27 points given the events leading up to the round was no surprise. Even though I am an optimist there was times when it was bloody hard to see anything good about some shots. Putting was atrocious, pitching had so many where they were mis-hit and the longer shots really were a strain to play. Yet I had some great returns hitting greens in regulation, and drives that were on the fairway and long as well. The fact was I could actually move my body similar to how most players swing, it felt very strange after so many years of being restricted in the movements. Have done another video of my swing since the one at the end of March and it was great to see the front foot staying on the ground and the back foot and leg actually rotate on the follow through. Nowhere near as fluid and smooth as most golfers hahah it almost looks like an after thought in my swing because my body is surprised it can actually do this :)
Monday morning a visit to the doctor to get flu shots and get confirmation the discomfort and back spasms were actually a good thing resulting from the excercise routine. They are and here I am on Thursday and am totally relaxed and no vestige of stiffness. Went out and played 9 holes after seeing the doctor, Monday for a gross 47, Tuesday 18 holes for a gross 92 (38 putts) Wednesday 9 holes a gross 48 with 18 putts! The upshot of the last few rounds is that the new putter (mallet style) as good as it feels will be taken out only for practise and the one I have used for the past 10 months will be used in competition. Nothing wrong with the new putter it is just that I am more adept with the original one in getting accuracy and distance. To have finally managed to get lower that 30 putts a round was a big achievement for me over the past months and Tuesday I felt gutted with the 38 putt round. I hit 7 greens in regulation, not a single birdie! 5x three putts and 3x two putts that should not have happened. Back to playing as I did last year again for a couple of reasons, stacked on 5 kg in the past few weeks and playing every day last year did me the world of good when I first started. If it works why stop doing it because you think that fiddling with it is better that leaving it alone. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit ‘em straight all
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
For me I ended up dropping only one stroke, my scores over the past 3 weeks have not been good enough and the lower scores in my last twenty were all at the end of 2009 when in good form during the lead up to the Club Handicap championships. Not that it made much difference the last fortnight has had me laid up twice for two day periods with back spasms from the effects of the excercise routine from my doctor to strengthen the damaged lower back I have. This is all good in effect that this week I have had a remarkable return of flexibility and the stiffness is gone. The next four weeks will build upon this, and personally it just feels great to be able to have full movement again after so long.
The game was a struggle for me as I fronted up after Friday and Saturday being restrained to minimal movement between the lounge and bed with the back spasms. Even so it was good to get out and walk without to much discomfort, albeit very gingerly. Returning the result of 27 points given the events leading up to the round was no surprise. Even though I am an optimist there was times when it was bloody hard to see anything good about some shots. Putting was atrocious, pitching had so many where they were mis-hit and the longer shots really were a strain to play. Yet I had some great returns hitting greens in regulation, and drives that were on the fairway and long as well. The fact was I could actually move my body similar to how most players swing, it felt very strange after so many years of being restricted in the movements. Have done another video of my swing since the one at the end of March and it was great to see the front foot staying on the ground and the back foot and leg actually rotate on the follow through. Nowhere near as fluid and smooth as most golfers hahah it almost looks like an after thought in my swing because my body is surprised it can actually do this :)
Monday morning a visit to the doctor to get flu shots and get confirmation the discomfort and back spasms were actually a good thing resulting from the excercise routine. They are and here I am on Thursday and am totally relaxed and no vestige of stiffness. Went out and played 9 holes after seeing the doctor, Monday for a gross 47, Tuesday 18 holes for a gross 92 (38 putts) Wednesday 9 holes a gross 48 with 18 putts! The upshot of the last few rounds is that the new putter (mallet style) as good as it feels will be taken out only for practise and the one I have used for the past 10 months will be used in competition. Nothing wrong with the new putter it is just that I am more adept with the original one in getting accuracy and distance. To have finally managed to get lower that 30 putts a round was a big achievement for me over the past months and Tuesday I felt gutted with the 38 putt round. I hit 7 greens in regulation, not a single birdie! 5x three putts and 3x two putts that should not have happened. Back to playing as I did last year again for a couple of reasons, stacked on 5 kg in the past few weeks and playing every day last year did me the world of good when I first started. If it works why stop doing it because you think that fiddling with it is better that leaving it alone. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit ‘em straight all
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
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