March Stats

Apologies for the lack of updates. My chemotherapy has knocked the wind out of my sails a bit more than last time and I doubt there'll be any major golf played this weekend. It's also had a knock on effect on my practice with more time spent working in the evenings than practicing to get everything ready before I went on leave.

I just managed 7 hours 20 minutes practice this month, with the vast majority focussed on the short game. Now I'm playing the full course I'll be making less trip[s to the par 3 and will be treating those more as target golf practice sessions rather than rounds. In March I made just two outings to the Par 3 with a lowest score of 37. I also spent a couple of hours on a golf simulator with my brother though that was more of an eye opener into the world of hitting woods than a practice session!

Practice
I am making good progress with use of my wedges and my swing changes have meant improved consistency of ball striking with my mid irons down to my wedges. There is still the odd duff and slice to contend with but as you'll see from my playing stats I'm starting to keep the ball in play more.

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
150 – 200 yards	85	19%
100 – 150 yards	20	5%
Short Approach	295	67%
Putting	40	9%
Total	440	100%

My chipping is still my main area of focus, especially as I need to get used to the reduced spin levels on the NXXT Tour. I must admit I do miss the feel of the ProV1 around the green and am looking forward to trying the ProV!x courtesy of the Titleist ball offer in this month's GM. Interestingly the other ball they suggested was the NXT Tour so at least I can replenish my stocks having lost three first time out.

Rounds
Pretty similar scores from my first two outings at Waldringfield but completely different performances. I hit an amazing streak first time out but had some massive disasters. No stunning run of holes second time but more consistent scoring.

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	46%	13
Greens in Regulation	8%	23
Putts per Round*	37	21
Birdie Conversion	0%	28+
Par Scrambles	6%	28+
Penalties per Round*	4	28+

The SS2 handicap level is a calculation made indicating your performance on different facets of your game.

Using the mid irons off the tee is helping me hit more FIR and I've noticed that more often than not it's my second shot that let's me down. If I could retain the same degree of focus and preparation as I do on the tee I could put myself into scoring positions more regularly, especially on the shorter Par 4's.

My putting is making a fairly solid transition to full size greens, but I need to spend more time practicing those all important six feet and under putts. As my green reading improves I expect to see those stats fall as my distance judgement is pretty sound.

My main aim is to recover first, but hopefully I'll be back out on the course continuing my development. My next lesson will be focussed on my wood play. Depending how I get on with my friends G2 during April I may well be out shopping for a Driver and Fairway combination in May. I don't want to go overboard and liklihood is the Driver will remain a long term work in progress. At the moment the list is being headed by the MD Superstrong but I'm seriously considering the Nike Machspeed / Mizuno MX-700 because of excellent reviews on both their forgiveness.

Hopefully, by the end of this month I'll have broken the 100 barrier and be able to tell you about that elusive first birdie.