2011 Season Summary

Overall, I've had an incredible second season see notables. The first half completely out shined the second half. I think the physical and mental preparation I made during the off-season set me up well to play my best. I found confidence early on and it was contagious; then I inevitably experienced failure and negativity and that also spread like a virus. It's really challenging to maintain consistency throughout the season, unless I create a dedicated practice plan and repeat it.


Most Improved: Driving, fairways hit, short game
Needs Improvement: Greens in regulation, approach shots

Helpful things I've learned in 2011

• Practicing: Need to hit balls as often as possible. Confidence is key and contagious.
  - Create a set of drills to repeat throughout the season. See Golf Digest articles.
  - Go to the range with a plan. See Ben Hogan's approach to range time.
• Swing: ELIMINATE ALL TENSION. Focus on shoulder turn and staying connected. Keep right arm tucked on backswing. Post-up on left leg. Forward press at impact with irons. Be careful with practice swings on living room carpet (tendency to scope the ball).
• Putting: The left hand is the most important component (same for the low chip). The angle of the left wrist should never break down and should be maintained throughout the entire stroke. The right hand is only acting as a guide.
• Putting: Pick out the line, address the ball, feel the speed with practice stroke. Look at the cup once more, then back to the ball, then send the ball on your intended line, keeping your head down the entire time. Lastly: Maintain solid tempo.

Notes from the book, "The Secret of Hogan's Swing"

Never looking back
Important technique developed to deal with disappointment. Hogan described how he walked the golf course imagining an enormous impenetrable wall following right behind him.

"Worst Ball" competition
Opposite to the scramble format, played individually. Each player hits two balls off the tee and picking the worst outcome. Then you hit two balls from that point, pick the worst shot and hit two more. Once on the green, you must make two putts in a row for the shot to count. "If you can score even par playing worst ball", Hogan said, "you're ready for tournament golf."

Different shots, same swing
Never alter your swing mechanics in order to hit a draw or fade. Hit different shot shapes simply by adjusting your stance while keeping the clubface square to the target line.


Understanding centrifugal forceInstruction: With an old practice club, address an imaginary ball with only your right hand, perform a 3/4 backswing, then swing and release the club into the air. "If you load the right elbow on the way down and let the lower body lead into the hitting area properly, centrifugal force releases the club straight ahead as you continue turning around your spine, toward the target."

The missing link to Hogan's "secret"
Combination of the a "weak" right-handed grip (for righties) and an inward turning of the left arm towards the left hip during the downswing. if you train it properly—the turning of the left elbow toward the left hip will automatically square up the clubface at impact.

Key factors to Hogan's teachings

• Swing in unison - By keeping the arms close, setting the elbows inward allows the arms to work together as a single unit.
• Practice is critical to success - Tour players from Hogan's era didn't practice like they do today. Hogan defined the importance of practice, found success and everyone followed. He said, "If you work hard and long enough, you can't help but achieve some degree of success."
• Pre-shot and setup routine - Hogan found that a repeatable swingmust be based on a repeatable setup procedure. He found it essential to keep the entire body in a state of relaxed activation during the setup and throughout the entire swing.
• Hips activate the downswing - "If the average golfer will only start his downswing with his hips, what a world of difference this will make in his swing and his shots, not to mention his score."

Final quote by Sam Snead
"Good positions do not produce good swings. A good swing produces good positions with lots of motion"

Hogan's Secret: Eliminating the hook

(For right-handers)

Maintain a weak left-hand grip on the club. Pressure points belong on bottom three fingers.

Best Way to Hit Solid Irons

I tend to cast/scope the ball at impact without realizing I'm doing it. It's been a reoccurring flaw for me during the second half of the 2011 season. I plan to follow this drill religiously next season in order to make consistent solid strikes.

By Rick Smith via Golf Digest

Many golfers unhinge their wrists well before impact in an attempt to help the ball off the ground. This is called casting, like you cast a fishing line, and it usually leads to poor contact—fat or thin. For solid strikes, your wrists should not unhinge fully until after impact. Get a feel for this with my punch drill: Using a 7-iron, hit punch shots with an abbreviated finish, keeping your hands ahead of the clubhead well past impact (left). Hit 10 punches, then try some normal shots re-creating that feel.

Putting: Get Your Touch Back

By Rick Smith via Golf Digest

Jack Nicklaus, one of the all-time best putters, used to say he would think about the palm of his right hand traveling down his intended line. This is one of the reasons I like my students to practice putting with the right hand only. It reminds you how to release the putterhead properly and helps you regain your hand-eye coordination. By using one hand, you tend to forget about the mechanics of the stroke and simply roll the ball to the hole. That's a great mind-set for the course.

Great tempo

Great tempo will be a key for me in breaking 80. I found this video of Adam Scott who not only possess  one of the best looking swings in the game, but also great tempo. Notice the "1-and-2" count of the swing (1-Backswing, 2-Downswing). Great way to establish consistency.

Dropping the club on an inside path

During most of the second half of this season, I've run into struggles with shanks and crooked slices. And I rediscovered a tip that I found last winter that explains the"key difference in swing mechanics between an 'amateur' and 'pro' player". The tip described's that amateurs tend to turn laterally with their right shoulder on the downswing. The result is an out-to-in swing path which produces a slice. The correct mechanic, illustrated by Ernie Els in the photo below, is that you're supposed to pull the club down from the top and fire your right shoulder down on the inside as well. If you notice in the photo, Ernie's right shoulder in far below his left which is how he delivers the club on an inside-to-out swing path, promoting a draw ball flight. Also, note how his head remains on top of the impact position. Secondly, he's staying low to the ground, fully extending his arms through the ball. I along with many other players tend to stand up at impact.

Three keys to swinging on an inside path:

• Pull club "down" from the top. Don't cast.
• Fire your right shoulder "down" rather than sideways.
• Stay back and post your weight onto your left side.
• Stay down and low to the ground through impact.

Round: John Olohan's 3-Club Tournament

4 Players (Me, Erik, John, Eric)

Pre-round practice: 40 balls, chipping and putting

18 Holes

Long story short, one random round at Braintree Muni, Erik and I met this extremely sociable, charismatic investment broker, John Olohan. No lie, by the 3rd hole, we practically knew this guy's life story. At the end of the round, we exchanged business cards and he flat out invites us to his annual 3 club tournament, he hosts every year at Stow Acres Golf Club. When we left, Erik and I weren't sure if he would follow up with the invite, but when I got home, there was a large email with a formal invitation to the tournament. Fast forward 4 months and here we are, Friday morning waiting around the practice green listening to a Scottish dude play the bagpipes. This tournament was a highlight of my career so far b/c I've never played a 3 club tournament. I thought long and hard about which clubs I'd be bringing. My strategy was built around my 3 wood, 8 iron and putter. Most people left out the putter and decided to putt with a hybrid or wedge. By the third or forth hole, my playing partners, John and Eric, were wishing they brought the putter. John and Eric, friends of Olohan, provided many laughs throughout the round. For starters, on the second hole, Eric completely missed his tee ball not once but TWICE!! It was incredible. John then got buzzed enough to take a bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonade and leave it in the hole for the group behind us. (photo below) My playing was pretty solid, I was flushing my 3 wood off the tee. At times, I struggled with the 8 iron and putter. The most impressive shot was on the 17th hole par 3, $10,000 hole-in-one reward. Olohan's assistant was present on the tee, taking photos of each group (photo below) and ensuring no one bullshits the prize. The hole measured 170 yds. which was one of the few distances that my clubs didn't match. I decided to choke down on the 3 wood and swing at 60 percent. The ball came out low, straight and online to the flag. The ball landed 15 feet from the cup, the closest ball of the day according to Olohan's assistant. I ended up 3 putting and bogeying the hole :( the best score of the group. John and I delivered the best scores for most of the holes. We ended up playing bogey golf especially when the sun went down, the temperature dropped, which made us lethargic. After the round we enjoyed some bar food and told John we were looking forward to next year. I ended up with a score of 90, which blows my mind b/c I only used three clubs!!!! This is a crazy game and that's why I love it.

Team score: +8
Score: 90

Notable
Scrambling and Tee shots

Practice
Irons, Irons, Irons

Me and the Bagpiper

Eric teeing off

John's gift to the group behind us

Team Kill 'Em All: (L-R: Me, Erik, John, Eric)

Proper Wrist Position

By Steve Silverman via Golflink.com

Your wrists provide the final movement of the golf club as it prepares to hit the ball. To hit the ball correctly, you must have excellent timing with your wrists as you start your backswing, begin your downswing and finish with your follow-through.

1. Address the ball properly as you prepare to swing. Your shoulder needs to be square to the target and your left foot should be directly underneath your shoulder. If you are in this position, your hands and wrists will be in the right position as well. Your wrists should be loose at address.
2. Cock your wrists as you begin your backswing. To get prepared for impact with the golf ball, you need to cock your wrists and get them to a 90-degree angle once you reach the apex of your backswing. This will enable you to hit an accurate shot with good distance.
3. Uncock your wrists as your reach the midpoint of your downswing. This means that once you have reached hip level on the downswing, you need to unlock your wrists and start transferring your power to your hands.
4. Turn your right wrist over as you make contact with the ball. Once your hips have come through the hitting zone, your hands will follow. The correct action with your hands is to drive through the ball with your left wrist and then turn your right wrist over to hit the ball correctly.
5. Get your wrists to finish up high to conclude your swing. Once you have finished the follow-through, your hands should be up around shoulder level. This will help you get maximum distance and increase your accuracy.

School of Golf: Speed Up the Swing

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

The 3 major speed producers are the hands/wrists, arms & body.

Left hand: Make sure you get the pad of hand on top of the grip. Ideal for proper wrist caulk backswing.
Stance: Bend forward at the hips, not at the kness or the belt.

1. As you swing club back, make 90 degree angle between left arm and club shaft at the top.
   There should be a 90 degree angle between your right arm and forearm.
   Lastly, there should be a 90 degree angle between your shoulders and your address angle.
2. Swing a piece of rope. Make your body and hips unwind and release the head of the rope on the downswing.
3. Flip around your driver and grip it. Make swings with it and listen for the WOOSH!

School of Golf: Pre-Round Warm-Up

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

"I don't see how anyone could warm-up to play well in less than 30 minutes." –Tom Watson

1. Short game first
   - (4 ft.) knock in 4 putts in row.
   - (25 ft.) knock 4 putts within 1.5 ft to hole.
   - (Long distance) knock 4 putts close to the hole.


2. Driving range
   - Start with short clubs (focus on smooth tempo).
   - Inhale on backswing, Exhale on downswing. (helps with rhythm)
   - End warm-up with club you'll use on the first tee.

Don't ever try to fix your swing during pre-round warm-up.

Round: Tedesco Country Club

4 Players (Me, Scott, Mike, Bruce)

Pre-round practice: 20 balls

18 Holes

Much anticipated round since getting the invite to play with Scott Boal, family friend, to play at his members-only Country Club. Tedesco Country Club is a beautiful course located in Marblehead, MA. Coming off a few frustrating rounds with the shanks, I seemed to clear those demons early-on while hitting balls on the range. Scott quickly found me and we both headed straight to the first tee. The first tee was an elevated shot onto a lengthy par 4 fairway. We were playing a friendly skins game between myself and Scott vs. Mike and Bruce. Scott and Bruce are both low handicappers so I was excited to finally see some good players for a change. I opened up on the first hole with a nice straight shot down the middle. After a chip on the green, I was truly surprised at how a "true" the greens were cut. I'm not familiar with greens cut this close and as a result, I began blowing all my putts way past the holes. After about 9 holes, I began to get the feel and made some impressive putts. There was an interesting issue with many of the holes on the course involving hundreds of thousands of dead worms. These worms were living beneath the grass in the rich soil and creating destructive turd mounds on the fairways. The club sprayed a chemical all throughout the course and eventually killed all the worms. On this day, the sun was out and literally baking all the dead worms producing a rotten fishy stench. It was so bad on some holes that Mike preferred to cover his face and breathe into a sweaty old golf glove. It didn't bother me at first but on the back nine there were a few gags. Moving on, for the remainder of the round I relied on my scrambling abilities and putting to eventually get the win over the other twosome. I won my first dollar in competitive golf! After the round we met up with my girlfriends family and had lunch at the BEAUTIFUL clubhouse (See photos below). All in all, it was a really great experience and it worked out as good as I had hoped. Now, back to the range!!!!

Score: 92

Notable
Scrambling and pitching

Practice
Hitting it straight off the tee

18th hole, clubhouse

3rd hole, Par 3

Round: Presidents Golf Course

4 Players (Me, Lynch, Laura, Erik)
Pre-round practice: Nada

18 Holes
Not a round worth talking about. I hit two good 8 irons and shanked everything else. So, let's reflect on the positives and enjoy all the beautiful images we captured throughout the day.

Overlooking the 3rd hole

Overlooking the 14th hole

Lynch and Laura

Me aka "The Third Wheel"

Hero shot, almost holed the chip off the fairway

Intense sun hitting into the short par 4

Diabolic elevated green

Retro edit

The Dreaded Shank

The dreaded shank has surfaced, shown its ugly face and won't go away. I'm hoping this will be the first, last and only post I ever write about this topic. I do not want to pay any attention to "the shank" other than right now. I'm having serious issues getting rid of this errant shot that is plaguing almost 1 out of every 2 short irons shots. It's creating such a destructive, confidence eliminating mindset. Every time I stand over a shot, I'm saying to myself, "Don't shank it, don't shank it, don't shank", and then THWACK! that horrid sound results. I'm seriously on the verge of tears of frustration out on the course but I'm addressing the problem thanks to tips from the pros (see video below). I'm determined to get back on track.



Drill: Try this drill: Place a headcover just outside the ball, and practice hitting wedges. To miss the headcover, you have to swing from the inside with the face more open (left). If you're hitting shanks on the course, imagine the headcover in place and miss it from the inside.
—Butch Harmon / Golf Digest Teaching Professional

Round: Paul Jensen Tournament 2011

4 Player Team (Me, Erik, Tony, Joe)
Pre-round practice: Chipping, putting

18 Holes
Much anticipated first career best ball tournament hosted by my Uncle Russ. I was able to assemble a team of four with myself as team captain. We knew we weren't going to win this year because your supposed to select a team of A-B-C-D golfers, "A" being a low-handicapper and "D" being your worst. With me being the unofficial "A" golfer, it's safe to say we weren't going to be destroying the field. We were out there to have fun and get our blood pumping. We went into the tournament with no expectations, except to just play our best and regret nothing. To my amazement, we did that and more carding a final score of 69 (-1). We should of ended with a 66 (-4) but fatigue and lost focus eventually crept into our game. Overall, I was very impressed with everyone's performance. My strategy was to have Joe shoot first (no pressure), followed by Tony, Erik and myself. The lineup proved to be very effective. Joe made our lives easy by holing some great putts. Tony was the middleman, delivering an occasional safe iron shot or lag putt. Erik did exactly what I wanted him to do and that was putting us into the fairway with deep drives. I delivered an occasional clutch wedge shot and putt. After the round all the participants met and had a steak dinner at the clubhouse. There was also a raffle in which I came away with an oversized golf glove. Wicked pissah. I had a blast and can't wait to play again next year.

Score: 69 (-1)
Winning score: 63 (-7)

School of Golf: Spinning the ball

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

Spin is needed for 

• fast & firm greens
• when there's no green to work with
• for downhill & downwind shots

The Spin Formula
The quality of the golf swing + the ball you use + grooves of the club.

• Ball should be in the middle of stance.
• Need for speed! Acceleration.
• Hit down on the ball w/ a descending blow. Weight should be on left-side.
• Short backswing, long finish.
• Be sure to always clean your grooves.

Never focus on "impact"

I've been getting caught up lately with the impact position of the swing. So much that I've seemed to develop a bad habit where my hands and body completely stop almost immediately after impact. I'm not "releasing" the club and following through to a balanced finish. The reason I bring this up is because I find it so easy to lose focus of the relationship between the club and the body. I heard some great advice about the concept of the swing by acclaimed instructor Jim Waldron. I think his quotes would be helpful to any golfer as a refresher course in understanding how the swing should feel and be executed. Jim notes...

"The impact happens in the middle of the forward swing, not the end."

"Never focus on the impact."

"Impact is something you should let happen, not make happen."

"Never focus on hitting the ball. Instead, focus and visualize sending the ball to the target."

"Don't try to control the club. The club controls you. The club and its proper path should manipulate the swing motion of your body."

Round: Ponkapoag Course #2

1 Players (Me)

Pre-round practice: None

18 Holes

UNEXPECTED BREAKTHROUGH ROUND!! I happened to record my first career eagle! And I wasn't able to share it with any one but myself. Today is labor day and a beautiful one at that. I had the day off and hadn't recorded a round since early August, so it was a good excuse to get out and get back some feel before Russ' upcoming tournament. Without any expectations, I drove to the course, paid my greens fee and stepped onto the first tee without any pre-round warm-ups or playing partners. I started by rifling a 270 yd. drive to the right and then wedged it to within 15 ft. I left with a par moved on but quickly put on the brakes as the players up ahead were scanning to woods for their balls. Slow play continued through to the 10th tee, but it was at the drivable 5th hole, 270 yd. par 4, where the special moment occurred. Now, I've had good luck in the past few rounds with getting my tee ball right around the green, so I pulled out the driver once again, envisioned a cut shot and executed it perfectly. The ball stayed on a low trajectory and landed dead center of the green, 15 ft. from the pin. I got up to the ball and saw it as an uphill putt and knew that I MUST not leave it short, which was what happened last time. The putt was very straight, I put my head down, put on a good strike and as I looked up the ball slowly krept to edge and dropped in. WOOOT!! I actually lifted my arms to the sky and let out a big scream of fulfillment. Embarrassingly, as I came back to my senses, I noticed two dudes staring at me laughing. I packed my putter and continued to the next tee. The rest of the round included many ups-and-downs with another highlight on hole #14, 400 yd, par 4. I crushed a 310 yd. drive right down the middle leaving me with only 90 yds. It was one of those rare moments when the swing was in perfect motion and the body was in complete unison. I swung at about 90 percent and I caught the ball square and dead-center of the club-face, feeling the ball compress and explode in that split second. Effortless.
Notable
Tee shots and ball-stiking

Practice
Irons

Scorecard

Monster 310 yd. drive!

Converted eagle putt!

Round: Ponkapoag Course #2

2 Players (Me, Tony)

Pre-round practice: None

18 Holes

Another BREAKTHROUGH ROUND!! This time the feat comes in the form of pure distance. I had three monster drives that reached over 300 yards! Yes, I know—Unbelievable. This year I can honestly say that my farthest drives have only reached the 270 yd. mark. For some reason, today, I pured these tee balls and they just exploded dead straight, with no spin and a lot of roll. Other contributing factors include the hot weather (ball travels farther) and my recent lower body work-outs. The more I've been learning about the swing, I realize that my power is generated from the lower core (hips, upper thighs).

My score doesn't reflect my performance. I was on pace to shoot in the low 80s but an inevitable "8" and OB penalties crept onto the scorecard. I've been hitting a ton of fairways these last few rounds but I'm not capitalizing with the approach shots (poor GIR stats). I need to dial-in on the full wedge shots. Also, it's been super hot out for most of August, the ball is traveling farther and I think my overall swing speed has increased, resulting in mis-judged club selection. My 7-iron use to go 150 yds., but now I'm getting it out there at 165 yds. We'll see if these yardages maintain into the fall season.

Score: 90

Notable
Driver

Practice
Full wedge shots

Round: D.W. Fields

3 Player (Me, Tony, James)

Pre-round practice: Quick chips, putts and swings

18 Holes

Today was a day when my swing felt solid and effortless. I played the entire round without thinking of one swing mechanic. As a result, I was rewarded with my third career score in the 80s. It's funny how my reaction to shooting in the 80s a few months ago compares to my reaction this time around. Completely different. The first and second time I was ecstatic and felt like they both belonged on the top of my lifetime achievements list. This time, I was just content that I proved to myself that I could do it once again after  struggling the last 5-8 rounds to break 100. I've recently started playing the back tees at most courses, so I expect the scoring to not be as low, but I played today as if they were the middle tees. I started the round 1-under through the first four holes. It was a cool feeling being able to say that to myself. I made a great birdie on the second hole, par 5, with an incredible putt off the first cut of the green. It was a brutal 7 ft., downhill, right-to-left putt that bled back into the fairway if I happened to over-shoot it in the slightest. The next highlight of the round was a 230 yd. 5-wood that I flushed onto the green. I hit a baby draw that hit the left ridge and kicked-right onto the green (see first photo below). The sound it made coming off the face was exquisite. After that hole, the bogeys and doubles began to show. The back nine was a struggle to keep the scores down. The ugly 6s and 7s and occasional OB penalties appeared on the card. But, It was a really good round overall; I hit about 60% of the fairways, made GIR a good amount of times, most notably on the long 180 yd. and 211 yd.. par 3s. My putting was the determining factor that saved me from reaching into the 90s. Looking back, I made a couple clutch 3-4 footers to save pars and bogeys. The wedges were back in form and that's a fantastic feeling.

Score: 88

Scorecard

Notable

Played from the back tees (blue), with tough tournament pin locations. 

Practice
Ball-striking, hitting out of rough.

4th hole, 230 yd. shot to green

10th hole, approach that I smashed over the green. Whoops!

14th hole par 3, James' baby 9-iron

Round: The Overlook Golf Club, Hollis, NH

4 Player (Me, Erik, Joe, Bob)

Pre-round practice: Quick pitch, chip and putt

18 Holes

I was looking forward to this round, especially playing with Joe and Bob who I haven't played with in awhile. Coming off a shaky day, I was a bit nervous and anxious to get things going in the right direction. I struggled off the tee the first few holes with weak hits. Once again, my iron shots were not solid and pretty shank-y. I hit most of my iron shots fat, leaving huge gaping divots. I started hitting some fairways around the turn but I couldn't capitalize with my approach shots. I was soon to forget my struggles when I happened to hit a pure 200 yd. 5-wood to a small, uphill green, landing within 10 feet to the pin. It was the very next hole when my life flashed before my eyes. It was a very scary situation where Erik was hitting out the pine-tree hazard. I was sitting in the golf cart next to him not too far way when he was trying to punch it through the trees but instead struck a tree and the ball ricocheted directly at me. The thing was moving a solid 200+ mph, or so it seemed. It whizzed behind my back, hit the cart cushion, and shot out into the fairway. Unbelievable. I could feel the incredible force this thing had as it almost took off my face. Let this be a lesson in safety on the golf course, for I will always act accordingly whenever a risky situation arises. Moving on, the rest of the round included many balls in the fairway but little success on the iron approaches. It was a long day and I had a great time regardless of my reoccurring struggles. The golf course was challenging with a lot of water running along the holes and trees absolutely everywhere, guarding the holes left and right. Looking back, I actually avoided a lot of the trouble, so I should take this as a positive. I think it's time now to stop and reflect on my progress for the season. Hopefully I can come up with a solid game plan and play some good golf for the remainder of the season.

Score: 100

Notable

3-wood tee shots

7th hole, Joe's tee shot

8th hole, Erik and I surveying the signature hole.

7th hole, my 200 yd. 5-wood blast

15th hole

Round: Townsend Ridge Country Club

1 Player (Me)

Pre-round practice: Zilch

18 Holes

Excited about a full weekend of golf. I finally found an open weekend to use both Groupon passes I purchased earlier in the year. My Saturday started at the 10th hole of Townsend Ridge CC with nobody else joining me. I was surprised the starter let me out by myself and that the course was fairly empty. Without any warm-ups I felt pretty comfortable with my swing, but slowly I began to feel uncomfortable with everything. I had no "feel" with any iron shots. Soon I began shanking balls often. I'm now on the verge of a complete meltdown. The shank is the absolute worst thing for your mental health; it completely throws you into the gutter of doubt. I began standing over every shot and praying for the ball to go anywhere but right. I spent the entire previous week working on chipping and ball-striking and all of a sudden it appears I've never hit balls before. Then suddenly, I approached an extreme downhill par 3, 167 yds. Completely defeated, I took my 8-iron and gave a it a full hack. The ball came out hot and on a brilliant line. It never left the flagstick. Landed about a foot from the flag on the left-side and rolled by the flag a few feet on the right. I was so close to my first hole-in-one. I jumped for joy like a child and ran to my cart and bombed downhill to the green. Sadly, I missed the birdie and par putt. Whatever, fuck it, it was an incredible shot, I was still pumped. The rest of the round was bumpy until I tee'd off on the 18th hole. It was the purest I've ever hit my 3-wood. It had a beautiful trajectory and flew about 270 yds. I cleaned up on the last hole and looked at my watch and realized I completed the round in under 3 hours. With time to kill I grabbed a bucket of balls and tried to find my feel again with my irons. I hit off shitty mats and I didn't find what I was looking for. A guy behind me interrupted to tell me I was hitting behind the ball. Thanks buddy, I didn't ask for your input but I'll make note of it. 

Notable

Putting

Practice
Ball-striking

15th hole, downhill 167 yd. par 3

The result!

Round: D.W. Fields

4 Players (Me, Erik, John, Steve)

Pre-round practice: Short-game, short range session

18 Holes

Feeling refreshed coming back from a weeks stay in Cape Cod, Erik and I were looking for some solid play at DW. We decided to play from the blue tees with joined playing partners John and Steve. It was the first round I used my driver on most holes. I felt pretty comfortable with it but I was swinging way too hard resulting in weak pop-ups off the tee. I only used my 3-wood off the tee once but it was evident I should of used it more. I seemed to follow bad shots with good shots and failed to follow consecutive good shots. The putts weren't dropping from within 10 feet until the 18th hole I hit a long 20 footer for par. All in all, I hit some decent shots and the comfort level in my swing is s l o w l y coming back.

Score: 96

Notable

Chipping

Practice

Stop trying to kill the ball with the driver

School of Golf: Uneven Lies

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

LEARN EVERY LIE!
"Pros try to avoid uneven lies whenever possible."

• Uphill lies: Set your spine perpendicular and shoulders should be parallel to the angle of the slope. The ball flies higher, tends to hook; doesn't go as far and requires more club. 
• Downhill lies: Ball should be back in stance. Requires as much loft as possible. The ball flies lower, tends to be pushed and requires shorter backswing.
• Ball above your feet: Stand up more erect; more weight on the balls of your feet. Choke down on the club and play for a ball with draw spin.
• Ball below your feet: Bend over; more weight towards the ball, knees bent, grip full length. Use more of an upright swing.

AROUND THE GREENS
From the bank of a bunker:

• Uphill lie: 
  Weight favoring back foot, swing up the slope. Try using a 9-iron, it will perform like a Sand wedge.
• Downhill lie: Open the clubface substantially, favor weight on front foot. Swing across your body, down the slope.

Round: Bass River GC

3 Players (Me, Bill and Dorothy)

Pre-round practice: 60 range balls

9 Holes

For the second time in two years, I'm back at Bass River GC looking for some redemption (previous round results). I haven't played as much in the last month due to many holiday weekend events, so my ball-striking and other "feel" aspects haven't been all that sharp. In preparation for this week's round, I spent hours in the backyard of our Cape house, chipping and putting balls. A few hours before the round, I got a bucket of balls and didn't hit one shot that made me satisfied. I'm making solid contact but everything is going up soooo high and as a result, I'm losing tons of distance. I'm still waiting for the round where everything clicks and my all-around game is tight. The closest I've gotten to this feeling is when I shot my first 87 at Ponkapoag on my birthday. Anyways, moving on to the round, I got to the clubhouse hoping I'd either be able to go out alone or jump in with another group of young adults. Neither ensued. First I was told that I couldn't play 18 holes because of a shotgun tourney on the front 9, then I was told they don't let out singles, and then to top it off I was assigned to a group of two elderly members. I've got nothing against elderly golfers, I respect there efforts on the course, but we (young adults) play a totally different game. So, I put on my fake smile just as the wife of my other playing partner grabs a seat in my cart. Off we go! as I became her personal chauffeur for the round. With them aside, I hit some straight shots, but just too high. I was able to navigate around the course much better than last year, carding mostly bogeys on all the holes.

Notable

Chipping and putting

Practice

Ball-striking and club lag at impact. I'm breaking my wrists too early and flipping the club.

10th hole, close approach shot from 100 yds!

On this day: Darren Clarke wins the Open Championship, 2011

School of Golf: Hitting It High

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

The Essentials

• Use common sense
• Need tremendous strength
• Need a strategy

The golden rule is...GET OUT! Be sensible and don't go for the miracle, even if you see tour pros doing it.

Two Ways to get out

1. (Most important) Need a steep angle of attack (minimal grass between ball and clubface).
   Put the ball back in your stance. Set your grip end forwards. Caulk the wrists for speed.
   Weight on your front leg.
   
2. (Advanced) If you absolutely need height, aim left and open the club-face. Swing should be more up-right, cutting across the ball at impact.
   
3. Take the safest route possible. Never follow one bad shot with another.

Hybrids out of the rough

• Replace long irons with hybrids for long distance shots. Hybrid heads pass through grass much easier.

Green-side rough approach

• Easier than using a wedge, take your putter and put the ball off the back foot, de-loft the putter and steeply pop the ball onto the green.

Round: Widow's Walk

4 Players (Me, Erik, Lynch, Shipers)

Pre-round practice: 0

18 Holes

An absolute beautiful day for a round of golf and a day that included high scores, many balls in the woods and an appreciation for a beautiful golf course. This was the first time playing Widow's Walk and I had an idea of what I was in for. The fairways were the thinnest and the greens the smallest I've ever seen. This course unfortunately does not setup for the average joe; who likes to pull out driver on every hole except par 3s. This course required conservative strategy, which I seemed to follow in the beginning only to become lazier as the holes followed. One of my best holes was on a par 4 that resulted in a satisfying bogey. My approach was unusual but effective. I hit my tee shot onto the fringe of the fairway to the left-side with 160 yards to the green. Instead of firing a six iron, I chose to hit a wedge and lay-up which left me with a short 60 yd approach for my third shot. Got onto the green and safely 2-putted for a bogey. If only I followed through with this strategy for the remainder of the round, I would of ended with a score in the low 90s, but with my growing confidence and influence from other playing partners, I resorted to risky decision-making. A really fun day overall and I'll be looking to take on this ruthless course again.

Score: 108

Notable

Tee shots

Practice

Shank removal!

Lynch tee shot, 1st hole