Hole 1: Fairly easy par 4. Trouble on the left is a row of trees backed by endless underbrush and scrub. If you pull or hook it you pray you didn’t go too far astray else your ball is gone, baby. There’s a bunker along the left edge at roughly 200 yards. On the right is fairly open, though a serious banana ball will find the same junk to get lost in, and there’s a stand of trees on the right just about the 200 yard point to trap the too-vigorous fade. My drive is a beauty, striped down the middle and just under 200 yards long. If I’d sliced it badly I was going to try keeping the driver in the bag and teeing up with my 3 wood for this round, but it earned some cred with that shot. Now about 140 out, I try hybrid but chunk it badly. Now just inside 100, my 8 iron goes wide and long (hit it thin), past the green and under trees to the right. I make a decent 7 iron punch shot and make the green. Fairly routine two-putt and I start with double bogey. Not too bad, I had a couple of bad shots in a row and recovered nicely, and the good drive was a nice start.

Hole 2: Almost a copy of the first hole, except it’s more open on the right and the front right of the green is guarded by a large bunker. I pull my drive hot and fast, and it streaks past the trees and into the crud beyond. We spend a couple of half-hearted minutes looking for it, then I take a drop. The ball is sitting up nicely so I pull out the 3 wood and aim left along the tree line, expecting some fade into the fairway proper. Nope. What I get is another chunky shot that squirts out right but rolls for more yardage than I deserved. At least I’m dead middle of the fairway now. I’m still about 170 out so I keep the 3 wood out; I make good contact and it flies straight, and almost makes it even with the green, though a little left (I was aiming for a fade). My chip on was a bit too strong, and I two-putt for a triple thanks to the lost ball. Ouch.

Hole 3: This is a 185-yard par 3, the only real challenge is the large bunker guarding the right half of the green. You can also find yourself mired among trees if you slice badly. I tee it up with my 3 wood and let fly. Nice! It rolls to a stop just short of the bunker, a little right of the green itself. Small problem, it’s nestled down into some tough, scrub-like stuff so I’m going to have trouble getting under the ball. I try a chip with my SW, face a little open, but the scrub kicks it up and it bounces into a scull over the green. Damn! The lie is better on the other side, regular grass, but I’m now gun-shy and fluff the come-backer so it only makes it halfway. After that great tee shot, I’m lying 3 and not even on the green yet. Argh! My next chip gets it on but I miss my first putt and end up with another triple. Not a good run, no sir.

Hole 4: This one is a lot like hole 2, except the bunker on the right of the green is farther back, almost behind the green. My tee shot is a weak push, barely 100 yards and under a tree in a huge bed of fallen leaves—at least I found it! I can’t take a full backswing with the branches hanging around me, so I use my 3 wood and punch it out into the fairway with some forward progress. Pretty decent return on my effort and now I’m about where a good drive would have taken me. I promptly slice hell out of my next 3 wood shot, well right and on the other side of the tree line though it did fly pretty far. I can only see the right fringe of the green and there are branches hanging all over the place in my way. I try a 7 iron punch shot, catch it wrong and it flies instead. I hear leaves catching at it and lose sight of where it went, but my buddies spot it landing to the right of the bunker. I made it through! A little luck never hurts. Alas, I fluff another chip, so it takes me a fifth shot to make the green, and I two-putt for my third triple in a row. This is getting annoying!

Hole 5: This is a medium par 5, about 450 yards. To the right is fairly open, though the usual tree line is there to trap the bad slicer. On the left from about 180 yards on is a large concrete area, remains of some old military flight line segment. It’s a free lift off the pavement but you don’t want to end up there and have to come back all that way. My tee shot is a nice one! Well over 200 yards and dead middle of the fairway. A real pick-me-up after the grief I’ve been having. I follow it up with a great 3 wood shot that flies nearly as far, landing well within 100 yards of the green (which is guarded by a large bunker in front of the entire right half) and on the left edge of the fairway. I have GIR thoughts in mind as I line up my short iron, so of course I hit it short and right and it drops into the bunker. I play my next shot like a traditional bunker splash, forgetting all the sand is going to be packed and damp. There’s no splash, just bounce, and the ball picks clean and flies well over the back of the green. My return chip is pretty good, but leaves me a long-ish putt for bogey. I drain it! The line just came to me and I hit it perfectly and in it dropped. Yes, finally a score to be pleased about!

Hole 6: The Number 1 handicap hole, a 430-yard par 4. This thing is my nemesis. There’s a tree just to the left that catches your ball if you stray (or aim left for a slice). The right is sort of open but the rough is thick and spotted with trees all over , and they choke in close closer to the green so you can’t get a clear shot at it. A large bunker cuts completely across the fairway about 120-ish from the green so there’s no way you can roll a second approach close: you have to fly it in. Last time I played this course, a few weeks ago, I carded a nine on this hole. Okay, off we go! My tee shot is just okay, maybe 170 yards and sliced more than I’d like, though not enough to get me behind the choke point. I’m sitting up well enough to try 3 wood, and hit it nicely, a bit of a fade around the trees and it rolls up not far from the bunker—a perfect lay up! I hit 8 iron for my approach shot, and clip it nicely, though a hair short and left, almost on the fringe. It’s too clumpy and thick for the Texas Wedge approach, so I take a 9 iron and tap it with a putting stroke, and it bumps-n-runs to inside 3 feet. Nice! I drain the bogey putt easily, and thus have I conquered my nemesis!

Hole 7: A short par 4, maybe 340 yards, but with a dog leg left and the whole left edge is OB. Lots of thick stuff to the right, and some trees dead ahead if your shot goes too long past the turn left. Again I stripe my tee shot. It flew dead straight and easily 250 yards (measured via GPS). One of my best ever, and I was actually afraid I’d put it into the trees beyond. Nope, I find it in perfect position for a wedge onto the green. What do I do? Duff the shot. Sigh. I regroup and put the next one on the green but too far for an easy one-putt. I lag it really close and tap in for bogey. Okay, I’ll take it!

Hole 8: The beer hole for this round. Loser buys the first go-round at the 19th hole. I have a long tradition of being the guy stuck with the tab after these. It’s a par 3 playing at 145 yards this time (the tees are a bit farther back than I’ve seen before, usually plays around 130). I tee up with my 4 iron (a hybrid, really, my irons are Hibore Xli) and let fly. Oh, yes. It flies straight and true, finds the center of the green and tears up a small circle, one hop and stop. To make it sweeter none of the other guys finds the green. I fuss with trying to fix the ball mark (it’s pretty deep) while they take their chips, then I try my hand at a birdie putt for a change. Long, slight downhill, right-to-left break. Alas, I leave it a tiny bit short but on a great line. Tap in for par, my mates both settle for bogeys and I’ll be drinking for free tonight!

Hole 9: Nice finishing hole. Another medium par 5, maybe 470 yards. The tee shot enjoys a very open vista, but your next shot has to navigate a tight choke point: trees on the left and a huge bunker on the right. The green itself has a bunker around the back left edge to trap your approach if you don’t stick it. My tee shot, if anything, is better than the one on number 7. I don’t know what I’m doing, but except for the pull and push shots my driver is doing me well today. I’m feeling pretty confident, and the left-hand trees covering my view of the green are begging to be cleared with a nice 3 wood shot. I go for it, but hit it fat and with a bit of a push. Still, it rolls great, clears the trees and comes to a stop just short of the big right-hand bunker. Another lucky break. I have a good lie, and a clear view of the green, about 110 out. I select 8 iron, clip it quite nicely, and this one lands on the center of the green and only rolls a bit past. GIR! My second birdie opp of the day, another long downhiller with right-to-left break. I give it a great attempt, just miss the hole right and have a gimme for par. Felt great to end on back-to-back pars, let me tell you!

Final score: 50. Those duffed shots loom large in failing to break fifty.

I think my tee shots are a strength, most go pretty straight and if I swing under control the slice is minimal. The pull and push shots were just lack of concentration, methinks, with sloppy swinging. I was also putting very well, in my mind, I didn’t have a single three-putt today and was lagging some tough ones really close. My biggest problem is still chunking shots fat, and that’s where I plan to work starting with my lesson after work today.

I picked our local muni, a Robert Trent Jones course named Valley View because the panorama lives up to the name. Here’s a link:

http://www.cityofutica.com/Entertainment/Attractions/Valley+View+Golf+Course.htm

In typical RTJ fashion there are numerous and massive elevation changes (the course goes all up and down a hillside) and the greens are generally severely contoured. Playing it is like a putting clinic, and it’s responsible for most of the improvements in my putting game (such as it is). The course slope is 118 and at par 72 it rates 69.2.

By the time I got there it was a little after 2:00 and the starter would only let me go out for 9 holes. Even this early in the afternoon up here the sun was already low in the sky, glinting off the grass tips and making finding your ball in the rough a dicey proposition (not even counting the fallen leaves everywhere). The course was practically empty, though, probably by virtue of the lousy weather forecast that had today suffering rain showers and maybe even some snow. They really blew that one!

I did a little stretching, mounted up and off I went.

Hole 1: This is a pretty straightforward par 4, 340 yards from the whites. The only real trouble is if you pull or hook it badly, there’s a road close by on the left and an intervening gulley that swallows balls. Given the thick leaves everywhere you really don’t want to go there–so of course the first thing I did was pull my drive right into the danger zone. I got lucky, it stopped in a nice level spot short of the gulley and I was able to find it with reasonable effort. Good lie, too. I didn’t have a view of the green, too many trees, so I fired up the 3 wood and gave it a good smack out in that general direction. I made good contact, only a slight fade, and ended up with a satisfactory lie just off the right of the fairway and inside the 100. My approach chip was left and a little short, leaving me a bit of a bump-and-run from the fringe. This is where I usually employ a 9 iron; I hit it a little strong and had a lengthy bogey putt ahead of me. I got a pretty good read on the contour and lagged it really close; tap-in for double bogey. Nothing special, an average hole for me.

Hole 2: This is the only par 5 on the front nine. It’s pretty much the same as hole 1, just longer (480 from the whites), with the same danger left and lots of trees around. This time I avoided pulling my drive, but sliced it instead. It took me a few minutes to find it in the rough and amid the leaves, but find it I did. I hit a couple of mediocre 3 wood shots, managing to keep them both in the fairway, and had a short (~70) chip approach for my 4th shot. Hit my gap wedge a little too strong and it rolled off the back edge of the green, but close enough to use the flat stick to get on in 5. Didn’t lag it close enough, alas, and had another 2-putt for a second double bogey. Still not too shabby, my goal at this stage of my game is still averaging double for the round. I’m content.

Hole 3: This is a ball breaker. Number 1 handicap hole, also called “cardiac hill.” Par 4, 394 from the whites. The tee box is extremely elevated, there’s a carry over a creek at about 130, and from there it slopes dramatically uphill again to an elevated green that you can’t even see until you’re right on it. Golf carts can’t usually get up the slope except by crisscrossing, and within about 70 yards you can’t take a cart up it at all, rather have to use the paved path up one side. Bogey on this hole is great, and for the ladies it’s listed as a par 5 (they have to use the same tees here). I tee it up, and let fly. It’s a beauty! Long, picture-perfect and straight, well over 220 yards (which for me is exciting). I’m now in the center of the fairway and about 175-ish from the green. I hit a pretty good 3 wood, but as happens with this hole it bounces into the hillside and rolls to a stop about 50 yards from the green, on a severe uphill lie. I fire up the PW, because there’s still so much elevation to gain and I know the lie will add loft. I hit it really nicely, and it arcs up and out of sight, but on a line that tells me I probably made the green. I find it on the green, all right, but well left as the slope drained it that way. Long putt left with several contours to navigate. To make a long story short I 3-putt for yet another double. It’s okay, I tell myself, I got on the green in 3 which ties my personal best for this hole. I’ll take the six!

Hole 4: One of my un-favorites. It stretches across the side of the hill, so everything drains severely right, downhill and then over a ledge into no-man’s-land. You simply do not want to be too right on this hole, ever. It’s just at 400 from the whites, and there are bunkers guarding the left of the green which drops off steeply on the right edge. What do I do? I slice my drive. Sigh. I arrive at the last place I saw it, and am rewarded with a gift: it clipped a branch on the way down (the broken-off branch was there as mute evidence) which caused it to drop straight down. It’s playable and even with a good lie. Thank you, golfing gods! I play my 3 wood left of the green to allow for the inevitable right drift and roll, and it drops nicely near the left edge of the green, maybe 30 yards out. Here’s where my short game deserted me: My chip is too strong, off the back of the green. My come-backer is also too strong, and I have a long bogey putt which I just miss. Another double. At least I’m consistent!

Hole 5: This is a fairly easy hole, until you get to the green. It’s a dogleg right, 370 yards, but the green slopes all over the place and drains off into several directions at once, or so it seems. I have witnessed many a four-putt here from pretty good golfers. I tee it up, and slice my driver yet again, but not too badly. I have a decent lie but I still have the turn to negotiate and I’m on the wrong side of the fairway to have a look at the green. I select a 9 iron and punch it towards the 100 yard marker, which I can just see around the intervening trees. It’s a beauty of a shot, even a bit of a fade, and settles nicely past the 100 marker and then rolls even closer. I’m loving it! With about 70 yards to the green I decide to try my SW and see if I can stick it—which I do! It went a little long, but damned if I didn’t stick it. My par putt stops short, alas (I had a downhill putt and was afraid of draining it off the green again) but I’m left with a tap-in. My first bogey of the day!

Hole 6: This is the only par 3 on the front nine. It’s also the second-easiest hole on the course, supposedly. It normally plays 130-ish from the whites, with a huge steep bunker guarding the left side of the green, and a green that starts with a high hill on the right and then drains severely left and back. If you’re long here you end up off the rear/left edge, the only way to get it close is stick it or drop it front/right and let it dribble in. Today the whites are way back and right, right up with the tips. Odd, it’s the first time I’ve seen them here. Now it’s playing around 180, which changes things dramatically. At this range it’s an automatic 3 wood for me, and I’m usually pretty handy with it off the tee. I could have tried my 3 iron to see how far I hit it, but habit took over. I tee it up and let fly, aiming for the huge bunker to allow for the expected fade. Nope, it’s a good, clean hit and also ruler-straight, right at the bunker. I watch as it hits the sand, then with glee I note it skips the surface, flies right up the steep edge, and over! Yes! Another lucky break! I find it in the rough off the left side of the green, nearly pin high and with a nice lie. A little pop-up with my SW lands close, but a little too close and it rolls well past the hole helped by the slope of the green. I just miss the par putt, which rolls past more than I would like. It’s okay, I still manage to drain the bogey putt, to card a four. I’m stoked by now, two bogeys in a row!

Hole 7: This is the signature hole of the course. An elevated tee with a fabulous panoramic view of the valley below. The hole plays 425 from the whites, with a creek at the bottom just short of the green, which then rises sharply with a strong back-to-front slope. Long hitters really risk rolling their tee shot into the creek. Not a problem for me, of course! I play my tee shot left, knowing I’ve been slicing it badly today. It just clips a couple of leaves on the left, then arcs nicely out and right, ending up just short and right of the 150 marker. Not bad! I’m about 120 to the creek. Now, a more confident player might go for this, but I know that’s a recipe for a duff-roll right into the drink, been there/done that. I elect to lay up with a 9 iron—which I promptly duff. Now I’m only 80 from the creek and 120 to the green, and this time I decide to go for it. I select 7 iron, knowing the green is going back uphill on the other side. I duff it again! Right at the creek. Damn! Then my third lucky break of the day shows up: the creek has a wide, grassy bed and the water is only in the center of that area. My ball clears the water and is lying up in the clumpy grass, at the bottom but playable. I set up with my SW, and take a short choppy stroke at it that sticks in the rising side of the ditch. The ball takes off, and soars nearly straight up and towards the green—looks great! Alas, it comes to a stop well past the hole, and I have a long, long downhill putt for bogey. I’m pretty spooked by the slope, and leave my first putt short. Then my second. My third goes in, leaving me with a 3-putt triple bogey for the hole. Sigh. Can’t win ‘em all, I guess.

Hole 8: Back to reasonably level holes, albeit with one of the trickiest greens on the course. It’s kind of saddle-shaped with a strong back-to-front slope. You pretty much just try to drop it short, let it run up, and hope for the best when it stops. Playing 395 from the whites, there’s also a bit of a trend to drain right. I slice yet another drive, but have a good vantage. My 3 wood also fades just a tiny bit, but the slope catches it and it runs to the right and back off the fairway. Sigh. Gap wedge range, there’s a tree partially in the way but I can easily see the left half of the green. I clip the wedge and it feels pretty good, but I guess I still hit it fat because it arced nicely over the left side of the tree but landed well short of the green. Hmm. I don’t understand why it didn’t go further, but whatever. Next try is SW, and I drop it on the green but too far for an easy bogey putt, especially with this green. I’m proud of my lag putt, it leaves me with an easy second for a double on the hole. Okay, fair enough.

Hole 9: This is an interesting finish. Plays 405 from the whites, you’re starting uphill then it drops out of sight so your tee shot is usually landing blind unless you’re a really short hitter (or layup). The second half of the hole is all downhill, including the green, so you can expect your approach shot to drain off the back unless you stick it. I hit a respectable drive, albeit with the usual slice. This hole is thankfully wide open to the right and for my second shot I have a really good look at the green from about 190 yards out. I hit a very nice 3 wood, aimed perfectly to allow for the slight fade, and it lands and rolls right towards the green and stops close. Yes! My approach shot is the closest thing to a flop I know how to do: SW with the face open. I flip it up really nicely and it lands on the leading edge of the green right where I hoped to put it, but the slope is just too much and it rolls on past a good distance. I misread the break on my par putt and it misses left, but I easily drain the second one for bogey. Nice finish!

In the end I card a 52, and I’m really happy with it. My main issues today were slicing my driver, distance control on my chips, and missing long-ish putts. I’ve gotten pretty good at lagging them close enough for a fair shot at a second, though, and given the tricky greens on this course I’m not too unhappy with my flatstick today. I made pretty crisp contact with my irons except for the back-to-back duffs on hole seven, and for me that’s a huge improvement. I rate the day a success.

Well, I just had another revelation. At address, don’t stand too close to the ball.

A little background: during yesterday’s round I happened to set up for a practice swing (I was on the tee box) with my club head grounded on some discolored grass. For some unknown reason I paid attention to where the head actually swept through the grass during the practice swing itself, and noted it was missing the discolored spot by a good inch or more on the outside. I said to myself, “Self? What if the ball were where the club head actually came through, instead of where I was setting up?”

Instead of my more-upright stance at address, I crouched just a little bit more, extended my arms a little further from my body (less vertical, more horizontal), and took a couple of practice swings (no one on the course to mind the extra time I was taking with this). Felt pretty good, so I went for it.

Bang. The ball leapt off the tee, dead straight and sailing as pretty as I’ve ever seen. I measured the distance via my Swami GPS unit and it went nearly 220 yards. Wow! For contrast, just a day earlier I’d been hitting off the tee maybe 170 yards with a wicked slice.

Folks, it wasn’t a fluke. I nailed every single driver swing just the same way. I got into trouble only twice, once when I pulled it left into trees on the edge of the fairway (and no sharp fade to save it), and once when I used driver where my new-found distance meant I should have used 3 wood. I’ll talk about both of those cases later, because I love blabbing about memorable holes played.

Analysis? I’m far from a swing coach, but I think I know a little about what happened. First, standing too close to the ball meant I wasn’t able to use full arm extension. That means I’d have to use muscle memory to keep the head on the same path from back swing to down swing, and of course I’d be off quite a bit each time. At full extension there’s nothing left to correct, you’re already at the limit, so the head stays on the same path. Also, my subconscious knew what was going on, and wanted me to pull the club closer into my chest to make sure I was on that desired path. That lead (my brother-in law was watching me and confirmed this) to an armsy, elbow-cocked kind of pull swing that couldn’t help but be outside-in and awkward, almost guaranteeing a slice. Again, you guys who already know this stuff, kindly stop snickering. You were this clueless once, and you know it.

How about away from the tee box? My first attempt at 3 wood on the fairway (and yes, it felt good to be in the short grass and looking at maybe reaching in two) was a bust. I over-did it, and the ball glanced off the toe of the club in a nasty shank. Being as how no one was around to care, I dropped another ball and tried again: similar result, slightly less shank. Okay, that was helpful in figuring out how far was too far. Yes, I played the original ball where it lay, so quit looking at me like that!

Ditto for irons. I was now far right and had trees in the way to the green, maybe 115 yards out. Normally that’s 7 iron for me, and that’s assuming I even hit it. I tried just a little bit of extra extension on the address, squatting a wee bit more than usual, and took an easy swing. I watched the prettiest arc I’ve ever generated from a 7 iron, all the way over the part of the tree that was in the way, and landing a good 20 yards past the green. Wow! Yeah, cost me a stroke to get back from there, but hitting 7 iron like that was a rush!

In sum, except for the inevitable mis-hits, I got similar results for the whole round. This was truly a revelation for me, and the results were consistent and immediate. If you’re still struggling with weak slices and fat shots, take a look at where you set up, talk to your pro (or buddy) about whether you’re really getting full arm extension with your current address position.

About those holes where I found trouble off the tee? Sure. I’ll start with the second one, because it ended well.

The hole was a medium par 4, maybe 380 yards long, with enough dogleg left you can’t see the green from the tee box. All along the left side of the fairway is OB, just a narrow strip of rough. Due to events during the hole just prior to this I was reluctant to press that left edge, so aimed it dead down the middle of the fairway and let rip with my driver. Another beauty of a shot, long and fast, with just a hint of fade towards the end. Problem was, the dogleg to the left. Never before was just banging down the middle with driver a problem for me. This time the drive went easily over 220 yards (yeah, I measured it), and ended up into a stand of trees just past the knuckle of the turn. I couldn’t decide whether to be excited (again) about the drive, or pissed about the results. I chose excited.

Got to the ball, surveyed the damage. If I knelt behind the ball I had a clear look at the green, no trunks in the way. Punch shot it would be, then! I took my 2 hybrid (being my lowest-lofted “iron”), set up with the ball off the toe of my back foot, and slapped down at the ball with locked wrists and a steep downswing (abbreviated to miss a possibly club-wrecking tree root). Sometimes a plan comes together, and the ball scooted on a perfect line, under the trees and with a ton of roll. I ended up inside 60 yards, made my chip, and two-putted for bogey. Success!

Okay, now about that other hole…

Sometimes, even when things are going well overall, the wheels come off the wagon for one hole. This hole is a long-ish (410 yars) par 4, the number 1 handicap hole on the course. The chief difficulty (apart from trees hugging the left part of the fairway at one point) is a huge bunker going all the way across the fairway, high lip on the front edge, about 80 yards from the green. There’s almost no getting around this puppy unless you play from the deep stuff up the right side.

I hit my drive, another scorcher, but I pulled it a bit left. No fade at all, ruler-straight, and one of those fairway-hugging trees on the left snagged it and spit it out right at its base. Ouch. I was in some deep cabbage, but still elected to try to dig it out with my 3 wood (probably a mistake, when I had 4 hybrids in my bag). I hit it really open-faced and it glanced off across the fairway (okay distance, nothing to exult over) and ended in more deep stuff off the right of the fairway and behind Yet More Trees. These were evergreens, no getting under them, but I could just see the left edge of the green peeking around. I figured if I played a slice with the 3 wood again, I could carry the bunker and worst case be off the left side of the green in three (I was about 150-160 out at this point). Again, why I didn’t pull out the 2 or 3 hybrid I’ll never know.

Tension of knowing I had to dig the ball out, plus the bunker in my face…it got to me. I over-swung and dug a 6-inch trench in the rough that ended at the ball, which popped out and rolled to within 20 yards or so from the bunker. Argh! Now I’m about 100 yards out, thinking an easy 8 iron will get me on track to maybe save double bogey from this mess. Klonk. My mind was full of woe instead of swing thoughts and I went back to my usual shtick of chunking my irons—right into the forward edge of the bunker.

Unprintable thoughts ensued.

My sand shot was unremarkable. I dug it out, sure, but it flew almost straight up, and almost straight down, landing (again) in thick stiff just forward of the bunker’s edge. Now I’m 70 yards out and lying five. I still believe I can’t carry my sand wedge more than 50 yards or such, so I got out my gap wedge. I’m used to getting about 70 yards out of it from a good lie, and this was a buried one, so I gave it a full swing. Up, up and awaaaaaaaay! It sailed picture-perfect to a soft landing well beyond the far side of the (rather large) green. No way in Hell would I have said I could hit a gap wedge that far, and out of a buried lie! Just goes to show you how much guess-work is involved in this game when you don’t have distances dialed in.

Facing a chip back onto a large green, now, and it sloped away from me towards the front with the hole placed dead center. I knew if I got too froggy with the chip it’d scoot well past the hole, so naturally I over-did my caution and landed it well short. Now a long downhill putt, and lying seven. Of all the crappy shots I’d managed to string together this far, my putt for snowman was actually pretty good, and I lagged it to tap-in range to end with a nine for the hole.

Le Sigh.

And that, my friends, is why I was loathe to crowd the left edge OB on the next hole.

(Oh, that next hole where I pulled a bogey out of my ass? That was my brother-in-law’s turn to card a nine. He ran afoul of those OB markers. So there.)

Okay, again, maybe it’s just me.

That being said, today I’m all about how that’s really a crock. A crock, I say! Thunderous drives, killer fairway shots, they’re all very satisfying and impressive to watch, but I’m here to say how they don’t mean squat if you don’t have the short game to back them up. Witness, if you will, how quickly the wheels can come off the wagon:

It’s a short par 4, reachable in 2 even for my short distance game. I hit one of the best drives of the day, a soaring shot with only a bit of fade that I cleverly allowed for in my aim point. Rolls to well within the 150 marker–yeah baby! Next shot is, for once, too close for a hybrid. I select an iron that might be too much club, might not be, depending on how well I hit at that precise instant (juxtaposed against the alignment of the stars). I clip it clean and it flies, O how it flies. Onto the front third of the green and–oops, all the way to the back quarter. Still, it’s a Green In Regulation! Don’t get many of those.

Time for the flat stick. Ooh, this is a tricksy one, My Precious. The green mostly slopes back to front, but there’s a ridge across it so the first part of this putt is actually going to be uphill to the crest, then down into doom. Hmm. I take a pretty decent line, but my first effort is too short: I feared the drop past the crest and didn’t quite make it there. Sigh. I’ve still got a ways to the hole and it’s all downhill. I take a stab at it and, as feared, I give it just that much too much and it scoots off almost to the front of the green. Take three. This one aaaaaaaalmost makes it back, but stops just at tap-in range. Argh. The glow of a GIR is replaced with the anguish of a four-putt and a double bogey for the hole. And it started out so promising!

Want another tale of woe? A medium-length par 4, mostly uphill with a bit of a dogleg right. I knock down a pretty decent drive, maybe a bit left of where I wanted to be but I’d allowed for more fade than actually appeared. What I get for daring to hit it straight, eh? My next shot is near 200 yards and all uphill, so I take out my 3 wood and hope to knock it close, at least. What I get is a weak slice that ends up maybe 80 yards short of the hole and, joy of joys, near the only damned tree in the area. I survey the damage: I have a clear shot at the green angles-wise, but the tree cover means any wedge I use would get snagged. Time for a punch shot. I pull out my 7 iron, play the ball off my rear toe, and slap it towards the hole. Man, does it go. Makes the green and scoots well on by, ending up maybe 10 yards off the back of the green. Holy sheep dip, did I really send it that far?

Here’s where a nice bit of wedge work would be great, save a bogey and call the hole a success. Nope: remember that hill? Yep, pretty severe slope back to front. I set up my sand wedge (my shortest club), open the face, and go for it. Too far. It hops up nicely and drops, but catches the hill too far away and ends up rolling well off the front of the green. Argh! Feeling like I’m trying to find the green by binary search, I pop it back up the hill but, thanks to being spooked, leave it too short for an easy putt. A two-putt later and I’m carding a triple bogey. I was within 80 yards in two! I might give myself a pass on the punch shot, who really has a place to practice those, but the two short little wedge shots? Murder.

How about an example where what started out looking bad ended up well? Short par 3, maybe 130 yards. That’s right on the money for an easy pop with my shortest hybrid (yeah, I avoid irons whenever possible), and I hit it exactly the right distance–but pull it left into trees. They grab and gobble and toss the ball back and forth and eventually spit it back out well short of the hole (but thankfully clear of obstructions). There’s sand in play, and I can’t afford to go much left else risk another round of tree fun. Same drill as before: sand wedge, open the face a bit, short easy stroke. This time it clicks, the ball drops on the front quarter of the green and rolls nicely to within two feet. Almost a tap-in for par, and that after a really botched tee shot–all because of one good chip shot.

So, obviously, I’m having to re-think my game. Sure, it’s all well and good to boom a nice drive, and a clean fairway shot soaring towards the green is a lovely sight to behold, but once I get within 100 yards the real work starts–and where most of my strokes live. Dave Pelz might be on to something after all, eh?

Lessons: The New Way to Improve

Um…they’re just figuring this out?

Heh.

Okay, so it struck me funny, at least.

So, anyway, what’s the big revelation? Don’t grip the god-damned club so hard.

There, that’s it. Isn’t a proper grip supposed to be the very first thing you learn in golf’s equivalent of kindergarten? Hasn’t it been stressed in every book I’ve read, every lesson I’ve taken?

Just call me stubborn-stupid. In the scaly recesses of my lizard brain you have to have a death grip on that sucker if you’re ever going to use it to apply massive force.

Sigh.

So, during Tuesday’s round I took a chance. I held the club gingerly in my left hand, wrapped the fingers properly so I had the strong grip my pro suggests I use, relaxed the fingers deliberately so the grip was just nestled in there a bit, put the right hand on, and tried some test swings. It felt like I was going to launch the club into the stands like Johnny Damon swinging for the fences. I tried it again, anyway. Hmm. The head did feel like it was whipping around better, I felt more relaxed on the downswing (necessary, due to the fear-feeling of losing the thing), and by gosh and golly the club grazed the grass very nicely, no digging a post hole.

I tried it with the ball in the way. Ka-blooey. Clean contact and, while I didn’t come close to getting the kind of distance that would make me the envy of armchair hacks the world over, the shot was respectable. I didn’t hit it fat, didn’t shank it into the next fairway, didn’t end up with Yet Another Wasted Stroke. The ball flight was even decent, a slight fade and a good roll at the end.

I kept at it. It kept working. Fairway wood, hybrids, irons…they all started working for me. I didn’t end up with the round of my life, but I scored right on the goal I had set for myself, and that on a Robert Trent Jones course with wicked hard greens that had me three-putting often. Then I played my “home” course yesterday, and subtract the evil greens (this course is tons easier) I began the round with two pars (including par on a hole that I have NEVER made better than double on before), and broke 50 handily after 9 holes–still a big deal for me.

Okay, okay already. I believe it now. The lizard has been silenced. The death grip I was maintaining was forcing the head down into the ground too early, enabling me to tense up and “grip-n-rip” during the swing, and causing all kinds of nastiness. I’m thinking my major problem all these years hasn’t been what I thought it was, it’s been that silly-ass grip.

So, my droogies, believe it. Get that grip worked out before you try to progress to the rest of your golf swing. Take it from me.

I can hear the “I told you so!” from my pro at tomorrow’s lesson. Sigh.

Spinny

To start with I didn’t feel well prepared for this next lesson. Sure, I had played a few rounds in the interim, but I only got to the range once. It amazed me how much I had already forgotten in just one week. This is going to take a while, I can tell.

I actually came right off a round of nine where the temp was pushing 90 and the humidity was in the “oh, crap” range. I was as wet as though I’d been playing in the rain. I walked the round, but used my push cart so it wasn’t as bad as though I’d been schlepping my bag, too. The two guys I golfed with were both shoulder-strappers, and by the end they were pretty beat. We’re not used to this kind of weather up here!

I arrived at the range an hour early, but the pro was free and was glad to move up my lesson. Yay!

First order of business: hit some balls and see where I was at. Yikes. Over the top and gripping and ripping again. It is to sigh. The golf swing has been all arms for me for so long it’s really going to be hard to take them out of the picture as much as will be necessary. I also wasn’t turning my body enough on the back swing and the club was way too high back there. We went back to the feet-together drill and I loosened up some and started getting more body turn into it. He also added the drill where I stand on my lead foot only, with my trailing foot behind me toe to the ground. Then he stuck some slanted rods into the ground on either side of me, and I worked on taking full swings without hitting either one–I had to be below the back one and above the front one. I actually caught on to that fairly quickly.

Once I was taking a decent swing plane again, he had me start rotating my forearms through body-turn part of the swing. I didn’t start nearly soon enough at first, but got better over time. His goal right now is for me to hit hooks, every time. He feels that once I can consistently hook the ball he can work on straightening out the ball flight. I’m far from there yet, and my plans to get to the range on Friday were overcome by work-related events, but I pushed my next lesson off until Thursday to give me more time to work in some practice. It doesn’t help the nearest ranges to me are about a half-hour’s drive away from my house. Oh, well.

Later!

That was last year. In this latest case I learned of a real, certified PGA pro who set up shop reasonably close to where I work. He was highly recommended to me by two members of my league, and was recognized as the #1 Central New York teaching pro in 2007. He also teaches for a full hour at a time. Why not give it a go, right?

I arrived at the driving range where he holds forth. Besides a couple of main buildings there was a fabric “portable garage” type building set well off to one side where he was finishing with a student. He wrapped up quickly and greeted me, and we were off.

He looked over my clubs, selected a 6 iron, and had me hit a few shots while he watched. Normally he’d have filmed that, as well, but his video gear was on the fritz (he told me that when I booked the lesson, and gave a discount on the fee). I settled in and produced my usual fat chunky shots with divots consistently behind the ball.

Right off he seemed to know what was up, and began with getting me to re-think the entire concept of what a golf swing is. His philosophy? There are only two main parts to the swing. The arms bring the club up and down, the body makes it swing around your spine. And that’s it. The trick is to apply the philosophy. What I was doing, he said, was trying to force the club down and around, tensing my arms and shoulders and pulling the club into the ground instead of letting it swing freely. Other issues were the result of so-helpful advice from various golfing buddies: keep your head still, don’t look up, do this, don’t do that. I was so stiff and afraid to move much it’s a miracle I could even get the club up for a backswing. Your head has to move if your body moves freely, it’s the up-and-down bobbing of the upper body that you need to minimize. At the height of your backswing your head has to be turned somewhat to the side or else you’re not turning your upper body enough. In your follow-through you HAVE to look up, it’s part of your whole body unwinding and facing the direction of the ball flight.

Agree or disagree with his philosophy, he seemed to have my issues nailed.

He introduced several drills to help me visualize what I’m supposed to be doing. One is the “mini medicine ball” where I would hold it about waist high, he’d stand to my left (I’m right-handed) and I’d pivot away from him and then towards him while tossing him the ball. Very good for spine pivot feel, and you can do it with a throw pillow against a couch or something. He said tour pros toss a weighted ball like that sometimes hundreds of times a day to keep their spine pivot smooth.

Then came the two-step swing drills. Main one was to keep my feet together, make sure my grip was loose (and strong, if you know what I mean), and then do repetitions of takeaway, wrist/arm cock (the arms go up), then reversing that: the arms go down, then the body pivots the rest of the way to bring the club down and against the ground. Relaxed and smooth and let gravity bring the club down to the ground instead of trying to help it. I started to get it a little towards the end, where I was making pretty good ball contact. It was only going about 100 yards, but straight and with decent height. He said distance would come later when I was more comfortable in the groove of the swing and could speed up the second, pivot part without forcing it.

The cool thing about this visualization to me is that I know the swing is really a complicated mass of moving parts that all need to mesh together, but by focusing on just those two parts of the swing the rest of the body seems naturally to move to follow suit. By keeping my feet together I had to allow my body to wind/unwind as it’s supposed to–otherwise I’d lose my balance.

When I was starting to get it he had me take a normal stance and swing that way. Right away I started trying to force the club down and around and was hitting fats and toppers. It’s really, really hard to relax and trust gravity to do the work. I have a ton of practicing to do before my next lesson (I’m going to try a weekly pace at first and see where this goes) and my rounds today and tomorrow are certainly going to be very weird as I try to incorporate some of this new stuff on the course.

More to come….

My league partner calls me “golf whore,” but I counter that implies being a paid professional. I’m more like a golf slut.

Do I consider myself a skilled player? Hells, no. I’ve never so much as broken 100, much less risen to the level of play that seems to be the norm among the golf bloggers whose sites I visit—and that brings me to another reason I started this blog. I don’t see much representation from the ranks of the true hacker. Oh, sure, I read posts from guys who call themselves “hacker,” but then they let drop how they can hit a fairway wood 200-plus yards, or are down on themselves because they don’t break 90 often enough, and right away I know they’re not a real “hack.”

A “hack” is a truly struggling high handicapper, the sort of golfer who would top out way over the USGA handicap index limit if they didn’t cap it. My kind of golfer. You who, like me, aspire to being able to play at double bogey consistently and for whom bogey is a good hole and an actual par damn near a life-altering event. Someone for whom a 100-yard carry over a pond is fraught with worry because duffing into the water is a very real possibility.

We true hackers love the game, too. We keep coming back, again and again, despite the proliferation of snowmen on our cards, despite the three- and four-putts, despite the duffed fairway shots and the sculled/fluffed chips. Every now and again a shining moment brings a 240-yard dead straight drive, or a great fairway shot that nearly makes the green, or a chip that leaves an easy putt for bogey (or, dare I say, par). Those moments keep us coming back as they dangle the hope in front of us like a shiny lure: maybe, just maybe, we just might become a golfer some day.

How well do I actually play? My best-ever round of nine was a 49. Lately I’ve been shooting nine on an average of mid-to-low 50s. I recently shot 104 on a round of 18, my best-ever, with a 50 on the front nine (par 35) and a 54 on the back (par 37). My drives are improving somewhat: I can clear 180 reasonably often and sometimes clear 200. I’ve reached 240 a couple of times. I school myself to a very leisurely pace because trying to get faster club head speed just results in over-swinging and a badly sliced drive. My standard 150 club is my 3 wood, though in the past couple of weeks I’ve ended up shooting longer (I’ll get into why in a future post) so I might have to revise that. I struggle mightily with my irons, often as not hitting behind the ball and chunking them. When I make good contact I hit 9 iron about 90 yards, and the rest of the bag varies by 10 or so up and down from that basis. It’s hard to pin down a distance for each club because the quality of my shot can still vary widely from one swing to the next. My chipping is tolerable, though I have trouble with tight/hardpan lies (quite common on the courses I play around here) and bouncing into a thin hit. My putting is actually not half bad, and often a good lag gets me out of trouble after a lousy chip. Three-putts are thankfully rare, except on really tricky greens.

This is going to be a site for people like you and me. When I share a golfing tip, it’s not going to be something alien like how to shape a shot. Shape a shot? How about being able to hit the ball straight (or even hit the ball) in the first place, eh? I’ve had some lessons, and they’re not the “tune up” kind; they’re the kind where you get basic instruction about how to stand and how to start your backswing—the stuff we true hackers need to know so we can start to improve. I’ll do my best to share some of what I’ve picked up at such lessons, as well as from things I’ve read or watched. I’ve amassed a small collection of how-to books and DVDs of varying degrees of usefulness; I’ll talk about the good stuff I come across, and maybe some of the not-so-good. I might even do some bitching about the “Get Way Better Instantly, Without Having to Change a Thing!” ads I tend to get flooded with, not to mention the e-books that turn out just to be rip-offs of classic books you can get from anywhere. I’ll probably also upset some purists, because in my belief a couple of the “faddish” techniques out there actually seem to offer some benefit, even if they’re not the “insta-cure” the marketing hype would have you believe.

I’m going to present some equipment reviews now and then, too. No, you’re not going to see an analysis of how Driver X hits five yards better than Driver Y. In my case I probably can’t hit either one to a consistent enough distance to tell the difference without taking an average across several dozen shots—even if I had access to a facility where I could get accurate distance measurements (I don’t). I do know something about where and how you can get some damned good gear for a lot less than the purists pay, and even when I do pony up for “name brand” stuff I’ve got preferences and experiences to share. At the level you and I play, we just want to know where you can get some decent gear that will do the job well, without sweating dropping hundreds of buckaroos on something that really isn’t going to do you any measureable good. Am I right? Thought so.

Stay tuned.