It's a family affair...

The four amigos will be stalking the fairways come Saturday

Very excited about this weekend. My brother's and nephew are heading east for our first family golf day. It's the thing that has had me most excited since I started playing, a chance to get together, have plenty of banter and a keenly contested game. As with all siblings we are uber competitive but until now our sporting exploits have been comparative or on the same team. One interesting record was that when the three brothers played in the same cricket team we never lost a game. If we'd had my nephew we probably wouldn't have drawn any either.

I have played with my brothers individually but it will be the first time ever we're on the course as a collective. Now both of them are infrequent golfers and Miguel has revamped his swing with lessons. That said he was once a mid teen handicapper and they both hit it a bloody long way. Hoping not to get sucked into a driving contest and concentrate on my own game. After recent performances a good start could set me up to break 90 for the first time and I'd love to do that in their company.

Whatever the outcome Saturday is going to be a great day!

Over the wedge...

Got it. It's taken a while but all that practice time has finally paid off. Went over to the heath yesterday with my sand wedge and got into a great groove. Now please note that my delight here is from the perspective of a 28 handicapper. I am sure a low single digit player would hit wedge shots like mine with a degree of disdain and a commitment to practice harder to get better. One thing golf has taught me is that performance is and always should be relative. So with the caveat that the opinions below are based on my current handicap level I will get back to the point of today's post...

Pitches seemed effortless and right on the money for distance. Though the crosswind affected my dispersion a little, I was consistently hitting a similar yardage. It's also difficult to judge dispersion on the heath because they can and do bounce all over the place. I generallyt look for landing patterns around my target and yesterday it was good. My chipping was also very natural. I must control that urge to peek early and allow my swing to bring my head up as those little looks lower the trajectory and lead to more roll than I want. But all the same very solid.

But then came the pièce de résistance. Though I'd have a little go at a 20 yard flop. My word. My gob was well and truly smacked like the bottom of an insolent child in a Victorian classroom! Easy peasy as shot after shot landed within a couple of yards of my target. 

Luke Donald: my short game hero

Having these weapons in my short game arsenal is great. I can now lay up confidently to my favourite and most practiced wedge distances (anything between 105 - 90 yards) and I should hit the green or at worst the fringe. When I am trying to hit the dancefloor from further away and miss my confidence to get on the short stuff is growing on a daily basis. The long term ambition is to be sticking those shots to gimme distance or holing out but for now getting them safely on the green is a good start. It's all about getting rid of those unnecessary wasted shots that you have during a round by making my short game tighter. 

The funny thing is that it is breeding confidence in my longer game. I am less affected by an errant stroke because I feel confident in my ability to recover. I've invested a LOT of time in my wedge play. Over the past 15 months I've spent a little over 3 solid days (76 hours) practicing my short game shots but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Poll result

So the results are in, they have been counted and verified and I can now confirm that the readers of this blog have somewhat tempered their views on my degree of progress. The poll finished before the first medal of the year and based on that, as well as my shoddy front nine performance you were right on the money. The consensus was cautious with the slightly more optimistic bunch thinking I'd reach 24-25 (55%).

I have erred away from setting any sort of target this year or making any prediction. I just want to play the best golf I can and have a lot of fun at the same time. Whatever my final number is at the end of the season it will more than likely be merited. There are a few significant differences from this year to last year though. Twelve months ago I had only just started playing on a proper golf course and it was a real eye opener.

I really struggled with bunkers early on

• sucker pins
• long par 5's
• tight par 4's
• tough par 3's
• bunkers
• wind
• managing the course
• chipping to raised greens
• putting up and down tiers
• the concentration required for 18 holes, and
• taking your medicine rather than playing the hero shot

And that is to name but a few. Playing off the yellows was daunting enough but the whites were something else. They scared the hell out of me, especially on the following holes:

• the opening hole a par 3 went up to 216 yards
• the 6th went up to 185 yards
• the 16th and 17th both lengthened with more challenging tee shots
• 18th up to 190 yards

Now, I've played so many times off the whites that this is the normal course for me. Playing off the yellows almost feels like cheating. It's a different mindset, I'm more confident and most importantly I am a better more consistent golfer now. What will happen between now and August? Who knows, but hopefully there will be more cuts and few 0.1s.

No complacency

Yesterday was positive but I have no intention of resting on my laurels. I left a LOT of shots out there and although it is inevitable that golfers will always bemoan mistakes, my aim is to reduce the number of incidents. After the putting and chipping horror show that was the front nine I ventured back up to the club this morning to do some more work on my short game.

One thing that it reinforced is that putting mats are actually not as helpful as you would hope. They roll truer and faster and have no slope. They also lack that satisfying sound as the ball hits the bottom of the cup. 30 minutes practice today highlighted how important it is to spend much more quality time on the greens. Just focussed on short putts today but will work on distance judgement on Thursday evening.

My chipping is coming on leaps and bounds, especially with the more lofted clubs. Bizarrely, I find it easier to get it close with a lob or sand wedge than a bump and run with an 8 iron. I guess I am better at visualising how those shots will behave but throw an elevated green into the mix and all of a sudden I am clueless with the 8 and 9 iron! Generally, I run it too far past but it is getting better. The outgoing Club Captain came over to see how I got on yesterday and I think he was impressed with how much my chipping has improved.

Off to enjoy the sunshine with the family now, tomorrow I'll do some work on my pitching! Battle of the Brothers next week, need my game to be razor sharp. Hope you've had a good golfing weekend.

Paper cut

What a way to start the season. I played the front nine pretty much as I had played all last season and then woke from my stupor at the half way stage. Apart from a ropey tee shot on the 1st, my fault for not warming up, the biggest problem was my fringe chipping and putting. Tee to green was probably the best I have ever played and had my short game touch been there I could easily have broken 90 today. That said 97 was my best ever score off the whites, in fact the first time I have broken 100 off the back tees.

54 strokes and +18 at the turn I resolved to score no more than 5 per hole for the back nine, and but for an unlucky bounce on 16 I may well have achieved it. The putting malaise that wrecked my front nine vanished on the 12th green as one finally dropped and my confidence returned. Nightmare moments came on the 5th when a routine 9 iron went out of bounds and the next shot went horribly left and the 11th when I hit a lovely lob wedge to four foot and then three putted.

The plus points were some cracking drives, some solid iron shots and, despite some rotten luck, some good scoring coming back. So it won't be the handicap amputation I was hoping for, but this little paper cut shows that I am heading in the right direction. I played every shot on merit and didn't allow misfortune and missed putts to affect my mood. After amassing just 8 points through the first six holes I racked up 31 on the next 12. A beautiful day and things are heading in the right direction. With the adjustment for that score on 5 I am looking at a nett 68 against SSS of 70. Depending on the CSS movement I may be in line for a small cut, possibly even moving of 28. Either way I am a happy bunny, just need to decide whether my putting needs a band aid of practice or a lesson with the pro.
97 (71)
5(3), 8(5), 5(3), 5(4), 10(5), 5(3), 6(5), 5(4), 5(4), 4(4), 5(3), 5(5), 5(4), 5(4), 5(4), 6(4), 4(4), 4(3)

Sand saved

Went to the club today for a final bit of practice before tomorrow's medal. Things are shaping up nicely but was having a bit of a problem with my bunker shots. Either quitting on them or picking them clean and airmailing the green. Super Steve who was also practicing gave me a tip. I used to aim to hit the sand and slide the clubhead under ball. He suggested just aiming to hit down into the sand and let the bounce do the work for me. Oh. My. God. What a difference. All coming out beautifully, nice and controlled. This was the only thing I was concerned about before tomorrow and now I have no fear. Happy days. Tomorrow I'm going to go low. Well low by my standards!

March statistics

End of my first golf season and the signs for season two are very positive. I have no fear hitting any of my clubs. My swing is more consistent and reliable. I can trust in my swing much more and I think after a small tweak my putting will be back on track. Season 2011/12 is one where I am starting off knowing how to score and believing in my ability to do so.

Now I didn't practie as much as I would have liked to last month, but with the lighter evenings that is about to change. More time spent on the practice area honing my swing and short game can only be a good thing. The Masters is a week away, Spring is in the air and I my friends am very, very excited!

Practice
Having a look at the table below I'll give you on guess as to where I haven't been this month? Yes I have cut the driving range asunder and bizarrely my performance with my long clubs has got better in the same time frame. Instead I've been grooving swing changes with my 7 and 8 iron on the practice hole with a fair smattering of short game practice. Knocking on for 11 hours but I have neglected my putting and the consequences for that can be seen on my round stats below. I'll make amends next month, promise!

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
Driver	0	0%
Other Woods	0	0%
200 - 250 yards	0	0%
150 – 200 yards	0	0%
100 – 150 yards	180	28%
Short Approach	300	47%
Bunker Play	20	3%
Putting	145	22%
Total	645	100%

Rounds
Check out that GIR stat. It may have knocked my putting average for six but it tells me two things. I'm spending more time on the fairway with a chance to hit the green and I'm converting more of those chances. In fact my GIR stats would be higher if I hit more fairways, that's the level of confidence I have in my wedges. I am letting myself down on birdie conversion but to be honest plenty of two putt pars doesn't leave me overly worried. The scrambling, sand save and birdie stats can wait. For now more consistent scoring, fewer disasters and plenty of pars and bogeys is what I am after.

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	29% (26%)	22 (23)
Greens in Regulation	18% (8%)	15 (23)
Putts per Round	35.17 (33.98)	15 (15)
Birdie Conversion	0% (17%)	28+ (8)
Par Scrambles	4% (5%)	28+ (28+)
Sand Saves	0% (20%)	28+ (9)
Penalties per Round	1.38 (2.7)	14 (27)

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

April medal tomorrow, looking forward to getting the new season off with a bang!