Blowing away the cobwebs...

Well I hadn't swung a golf club in October till today and rather than bashing balls on the practice ground I had a practice round instead. As expected things started off extremely poorly, an issue accentuated by the fact that in order to avoid a clutch of four balls I started on our 12th (the first in my nightmare run of four holes. Undeterred by some errant tee shots and woeful duffs, I persisted and saw enough positive signs to keep me hopeful.

I am starting to feel that I own my swing and now before I've seen the ball flight if it's gone wrong and where it is likely to have gone. My teaching pro says this is an important step to get to, so that's really encouraging. The hybrid and mid irons are still performing well and though the short game was a little off, that is down to ring rust, and still not knowing my distances. My Pitching Wedge now goes 130 yards on a full swing but I can't consistently strike my other wedges as sweetly meaning that anything under 130 yards is a bit of a lottery at the moment.

However, most startling breakthrough is bunker play. Landed in one on our long par 5, which is about 30 yards from the green. Followed the Pelz advice, though I wasn't brave enough to use a 8/9 iron, and finished on the fringe. A little more confidence in club selection and I'd have had a simple putt for par. Pelz recommends having your feet pointing 'about' 17 degrees left of the target, your club face open 45 degrees, the ball positioned inside your left heel. You then use a relaxed 9 o'clock (half) swing striking the ground in the middle of your stance and following through a little more than your backswing. Sounds technical, but early signs are that it works.

So all in all I'm very pleased with my on course loosener and am booked in for a lesson next weekend, here's hoping my pro will like what he sees.