April stats

Well the golf season has begun in earnest and I am still to play my first medal. I was supposed to be teeing it up tomorrow but bottled it as I haven't got my 3 Wood yet and would be playing with people I don't know. Anyway, more about the fitting session tomorrow.

There was a definite shift in priorities this month with just over 11.5 hours racked up in practice, with a large proportion dedicated to embedding a few critical swing changes. I'm really pleased with the progress I am making (as is my pro) and my position at the top of my swing is much improved. I'll be posting a video after my next round. Unfortunately, The time allocated to bedding in those changes has meant that for the first time I have neglected my short game. I have to say I am not getting on well with the NXT Tour's around the greens but my lack of practice and developing technique hasn't helped. My bunker play has improved markedly over the month but my chipping and putting have been less than impressive. I hope that in May that a return to focussing the short game, couple to improved ball striking and more distance from the 3 Wood will finally culminate in posting lower scores. This month is about gearing me up for June's medal competition.

Practice
As mentioned above I've dedicated a lot of time to my woods and long irons this month.

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
Driver	45	6%
Other Woods	175	25%
200 - 250 yards	50	7%
150 – 200 yards	55	8%
100 – 150 yards	55	8%
Short Approach	205	29%
Bunker Play	30	4%
Putting	80	12%
Total	695	100%

I spoke to my pro today about ball choice and he said I should be playing the Pro V1x, but if it's too costly as I'm smashing it all over the place to invest in some Pearl/Grade A lake balls. Hopefully, I'll gain more control because of my practice but also the lower spin on the V1x should help as well.

Rounds
My scoring hasn't improved and I know that owes to the quality of my performance within 120 yards. I am planning on spending the next two months focussing on getting the ball in the hole. Period!

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	45%	14
Greens in Regulation	7%	24
Putts per Round*	35.74	19
Birdie Conversion	0%	28+
Par Scrambles	6%	28+
Penalties per Round*	2.87	28+

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

This month's stats are fairly similar to those from March with the FIR (1%), GIR (1%) and Putts Per Round (1.24) all going down fractionally. Pleasingly, I was less wayward with fewer penalties per round, a downward trend I hope to continue. It didn't click for me in April, but I must remember to be patient and that I am still a novice. I am capable of more, I just need to relax and give it time.

Comments:

Spinn77
Learning from scratch is tough, but its like anything, you’ll learn, get better, level out a bit, notice or learn something else and then improve a bit more…and so on. Your doing everything really to keep this kind of cycle going. The only thing stopping you is hours spent practising and on the course itself.

You’ve set yourself a few years to do it, so relax, more than on target.

My personal view is that getting down to about 20 is pretty hard from where you’ve started from. The next 12 shots of that are easier by comparison (especially given your attitude to this). The final 8 i think will be the hardest as its so much more unforgiving.

Tiger
I hope that’s the case. Fingers crossed the arrival of the 3 Wood will alleviate the pressure a bit on the longer game. I totally understand what you mean about starting off. There are so many things to work on and learn that it will take a while to get competent at them. I think the swing is getting there so can hopefully concentrate on the scoring game for a couple of months.