Professional advice

By the time I arrived at the club yesterday I had convinced myself that I should practice. I had hit balls on the Heath earlier but the swing was still a work in progress. As I arrived I said hello to our assistant pro Warren who suggested I take a leaf out of the Tour pro book: play nine holes, identify my weaknesses, then go practice. So despite all my plans and intentions I warmed up in the net and headed to the first.

My normal shot of late has been a pull left of the target. Imagine my joy as my tee shot only went fractionally left of target, a feeling momentarily soured as it landed on the green and rolled off the back. Our first has two tiers sloping back to front with the rear of the green raised about six foot. Three months ago this chip would have filled me with dread. Now I'm looking confidently at the contours trying to assess the right landing spot. I then debate how much roll I want. I err on the side of caution in case I over hit it. Drop the chip exactly where I wanted but the reduced release because of that cautious tee shot leaves me on the top tier. I gauge the pace of my putt but misjudge the break and finish gimme distance to the right. I've scored four on here before numerous times, but this time I was controlled and missed out on a par because of caution. A club too much from the tee and too little on my chip. To me that's progress.

I'll not detail the rest of the round but in summary. I continued to chip and putt well this is becoming a strength, I am still prone to struggling with my new grip and not scoring as well as a result. It has had most impact on my 3 wood and perhaps a visit to the driving range wouldn't go amiss to work on the longer clubs.

However, my biggest Achilles heel is bunker play. I found four bunkers in 9 holes and reviewing the scores below I'm sure you can figure out which ones. However, sometimes you have to backwards in order to get better.

So as I finished on the 9th I headed to the practice area to hit a few balls and work hard on bunkers trying Gary Smith's linear method. Verdict? Too early to tell but I think like my chipping, in three weeks time I'll be much more confident and adept. I hope my game will be in better shape for the May medal and another opportunity for a cut. Saturday's swindle will be a good barometer...

55 (36)
4(3), 8(5), 4(3), 7(4), 6(5), 5(3), 7(5), 8(4), 6(4)