Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Ping G10 driver is in the bag

Last Saturday after my lesson I was leaving ASU Karsten and saw that the PING van was there (makes sense, it's their course). Since I've been having problems with the driver, I decided that this would be the first time that I would attend a demo day and hit some drivers. I've heard really good things about the new G10 so I wanted to check them out. I hit 4 different ones, three 9 degree drivers and one 10.5 degree. The 9's were each of the 3 available shafts, the Ping branded one, a ProLaunch Red and the UST V2. Wasn't too sure about the UST one as that's what I have in my current driver, which is what is causing me the issues due to the heavy weight (76 grams).

To my surprise, the V2 in the Ping is the "high launch" version, which is only 66 grams, and is night and day difference in overall weight. I hit each one certainly better than my 905S, the ProLaunch Red quite a bit lower (and what do you know, that's what it's built for!). Clearly I hit the V2 shafted on much better. So after my round on Sunday where I think I hit maybe 6 fairways, and only 2 really well, I was ready for a change. I stopped by a local shop, but they only had the ProLaunch shafted 9 degree in stock. I checked around and found that the local Golfsmith had them in stock, so I picked one up Monday, a 9 degree UST V2 Ping G10.

I finally got a chance to hit it today due to some travel requirements for work, so after loosening up a bit with a wedge and 7 iron, I went to work breaking in the new driver. Yowza is that thing easier to hit than the 905S (for me anyway). First one was a little cut, second one was blocked, third one was pulled. Now that we got the extremes worked out, let's go to town. I must say that I did absolutely kill a couple of them. I could have sworn that I hit one or two over the fence at the back of the range at Rio Salado. Now, the range runs to about 240 yards from the looks of it (if the yardage signs are correct) and the fence is literally about 40 feet tall out there, so that would be a bit of a stretch. But just to be sure, after I finished, I drove to the end of the lot, got out and walked around to the back of the range onto the course and found exactly 4 balls that I hit over the fence. One of them actually made it onto the green behind the range out there, I guess I'm glad nobody was playing out there at that time.

Needless to say I'm happy so far with the change. I'll get the chance to put it into play this weekend, so we'll see how it measures up, but so far it's much easier to hit, harder to hit offline, and from what I can tell so far, is measurably longer than the 905S.

Whirlwind Championship results

Been too busy to keep up with the posting, so apologies for the delay. I played a practice round at Whirlwind on Saturday after my lesson with Jeff Ritter. Hit the ball really well on the front after a slight (felt like major) tweak to my position at the top. Out in 37 thanks to my worthless gap wedge, but felt pretty good about everything. Next thing I knew, I came in with 41 for a stellar 78 in the practice round. Ah well, at least I got to see the course. On to the tournament.

I showed up early after eating a hearty breakfast of Eggo's. Those didn't sit well, I choked it down a couple of times on the range, started out well on the first hole, blew up on #2, then limped it in for a total of 76, three shots out of a win. Here we go...

Got to the first tee and made the introductions, I hit last, one guy left, other guy right, 3rd guy down the middle, I hit mine well down the middle also. All three guys gave me kudo's, leading me to believe most first timers on this tour don't do well off #1. So middle of the fairway, 135 out, I put it about 30 feet above the hole with a wedge, then made the putt. Awesome, we're in a skins game as well, I'm feeling good about this. Next guy cans his, 2nd guy cans his, 3rd guy leaves his about 6 inches short. Our group played that hole well, but we didn't win any skins now did we? One under after one. The guy I'm riding with pulls his tee shot left on #2, I hit 3 wood as well, ensuring a good tee shot. I pulled mine left and we both ended up in identical bushes, unplayable. Dropped out and tried to hit a hero shot with a punch cut 6 iron under and around some trees, into the greenside bunker. The pin is cut on the back shelf, and my bunker shot nearly made it to the top, but stopped just short and rolled back down. Now I'm thinking "make this putt for 5 so we can get out of here even through 2". I'm about 20 feet away, up a severe (maybe 3'-4') incline, run it about 8 feet by. Now I have 8 feet for double, and hit a really good putt, but it burned the left edge, and ran about 4 feet by. Now anyone who's been keeping up with me can almost tell you the result of the third putt, but in case not, I missed it. So I make three on 1, then follow up with an 8 on 2. Perfectly played if I do say so myself.

Hit a decent tee shot on the par 5 third, 593 yards so no chance to get there. Good 5 iron layup to 109 yards, hit it pin high left, two putt par. Number 4 is a 190 yard par three, but the pin was up at 176 yards. I tugged a 7 iron pin high left, in a little swale. Hit a really good chip shot that landed right where I wanted, then it went about 12 feet by. I hit such a good putt there, I can't believe it didn't go in, made bogey. We're having fun now. Hit a good tee shot on 5, left me with 145 to the back pin, hit a fat 9 iron to the front of the green. I have about an identical putt to what I had on #2 now. Remember #2? I do. Hit the first putt just to the top of the ridge, about 4 feet short. Wow, I couldn't see that coming. This time I center cut the putt for a solid par. As I walked off I thanked the other 3 guys for willing my ball into the hole. I swear I could feel it. They all laughed, but you know damn well they all went "phew, at least he didn't 4 putt again". Lord knows that's what I'd have been thinking.

Hit a lame cut tee shot on the par 5 sixth, hit a good 5 iron again to the center, left me with 105 yards. Not sure what move I made but I left it out to the right, just off the green. Hit the worst chip shot of the last 3 months there, left it about 8 feet short, straight up the hill. I made sure I got it there (meaning it hit the hole at 100MPH) and it went in the middle for a good 5. Great tee shot on the par 3 seventh to about 15 feet. One of the guys we played with put it short left. He hit his putt and that thing didn't stop rolling, I thought he was about 6 feet short, but it nearly went in. Seeing that made me aware of just how fast my putt was, well maybe not, 2 feet short, good par. Number 8 is a 317 yard par 4, uphill, junk right, lots of deep bunkers left. Hit 5 iron yesterday, pin is back left, so 4 iron today. Great 4 iron, 119 yards to the stick (115 in the practice round), another perfect gap wedge. Hit it just like I did the day before, I'm about 60 feet away on the front right corner. Left the first putt about 6 feet short, hit another great par putt, slid left, bogey. Good tee shot on 9, tugged a 9 iron to the left side of the green, sidehiller that broke about 2 1/2 feet, good 2 putt there from about 18 feet for par. That's 41 on the front folks.

The previous day, I hit a bomb off of #10, and I had every intention of that again. My driver however wanted to go about 240 yards down the left side (God I hate that club). I fanned a 9 iron to the front right corner, two putted from the fringe for par. Hit another weak cut tee shot on #11, which is fine because it's only 444 yards uphill a bit into the breeze (that's a joke there). I had 208 to the pin, up on the back shelf on the right side. Hit a beautiful cut 3 iron that didn't cut, pin high left. Great chip to about 2 feet, good 4. Hit 6 iron again on #12 (191 yards) just like the day before. Planned on a cut but blocked it a bit, which ended up fine as that just put me online to the pin. Came up short though (about 15 yards short of target, hmmm). Two putt from the fringe for a solid 3. Hit another weak cut on 13, luckily weak enough to be short of the fairway bunker (that equals about 230 yards off the tee). Solid SW up the hill to about 10 feet, hit another fantastic putt, just didn't go in.

Now we get to 14, 172 yard par 3. The day before, the pin was up front, I had 148 to the stick, into a gentle breath of wind. I decided on a punch cut 7 iron and as soon as I hit it I was calling for it to go in. I dropped the club, had my hands in the air, already planning on the color of frame for my scorecard and golf ball to commemorate my hole in one. It dropped about 15 yards short. Ah well, it would have been a nice frame. So today, pin is on the top shelf, I hit it just short of the shelf and made a decent run at it, good 2 putt. Hit a great tee shot (finally) on the par five 15th. 507 yards, I had 204 to the stick, beats the hell out of those 230 yard tee shots I've been belting. Hit a slightly overcut 4 iron that just caught the front bunker, oooh that would have been good. Great bunker shot to about 3 feet, made the putt. I say to the guy I'm riding with "You know, those birdies are nice. I think I'm going to go ahead and try to make more of those".

Mediocre tee shot on 16, fat 7 iron just short, hit what I thought was a great chip, but it broke left instead of right on me, about a foot left, good 4. Par 5 17th, hit a heeled tee shot, got lucky with it as it went dead straight. There is a wash about 40-50 yards short of the green, about 280 to carry it all. I went back and forth between 6 and 7 iron, finally settled on a 7. Just nuked that thing, ended up about 5 yards short of the wash, I had to have hit that 7 iron nearly 200 yards, had to hit a sprinkler head or something. I'm 135 out, hit a good wedge about 12 feet left. I swore my putt broke right until I saw the guy putt ahead of me, his didn't move. I played it straight and it broke left, hmmmm. Another par though. Hit another weak cut tee shot, dead behind the trees at the corner on 18. I looked it over and finally settled on hitting a 6 iron through the top left of one tree as it was pretty sparse, to put me just short. It came off just like I drew it up. Left myself about 20 yards short, and kind of fatted the pitch, about 12 feet to the hole. As I mustered up all of my courage, I hit a great putt and it was center cut. 35 on the back.

So all in all, 76 on the day, 4 over with a quad on #2. I could play #2 a hundred times and not make 8, but we're playing here for the experience, so the hell with it. I experienced making a quad with a four putt and coming back to shoot one under on the back. 73 ended up winning, which is disheartening to say the least, but we'll take it on the chin and regroup. I had 19 putts on the front and 12 on the back. A drastic turnaround and better than one under on the front and 5 over on the back. Strong finishes are the order of the day.

So these events are well run from what I can see. They put a premium on pace of play, and the folks who run it and play in it are very pleasant to be around. The guy who runs it here even mentioned that he read this blog as he got a hit for the "Golf Channel Amateur Tour". So Greg if you end up reading this, thanks again for putting on the event. I look forward to playing in more of them. Can I skip #2 next time though?

Now let's go talk about some equipment changes...

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Golf Channel Amateur Tour - Whirlwind Championship

Desperately trying to find more competitive golf and stumbled across the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, a series of events played for gift certificates and points throughout the year. They are down to the last 2 events of the year in Phoenix, so I decided not to sign up for the yearly membership ($199 per 12 months) as signing up now would just leave me 2 events short at the end of next year. They were gracious enough to let me enter as a guest, so a discount on the entry fee, although I'm not eligible for the gift certificates or points. I'll live.

It's being played at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, a phenomenal track with 2 courses, we are playing Devils Claw at 6,998 yards, a bit shorter than normal as the 12th hole is being played at 191 yards rather than the standard 222 yards. All other holes are being played from the back tees as expected. I love 200+ yard par 3's, they make you feel like you earned your par, but I may be in the minority there. I played Devils Claw 5 years ago or so, I remember it being a great track, with several par 4's over 400 yards (just counted, there are 7 of them). I'm so sick of playing 360 yard par 4's I can't see straight. Hmmm, I better be hitting my driver well...

Anyway, we get to the golf course and guess who pulls up front, Jim Furyk. He heads up to the range just as we're headed up there to warm up. There are 2 people at the far right of the range, Furyk sets up at the far left. Guy I'm playing with sets up in the middle, I pull up a spot right next to Furyk. Man, I was absolutely striping it. I remember hitting a 7 iron particularly well and thinking "oh, Furyk is certainly going to compliment me on that shot". Yeah, um, I'm not even sure he even noticed I was there. Here I am hitting it as good as I can, and I can't even get a "nice swing" out of a guy on his day off. Wow, tough crowd.

At the time, I was playing with the guy I worked for (a really good stick) and we came into 17, a 551 yard par 5 all tied. I hit a decent driver, then absolutely killed a 3 wood just short of the green. I hit this pitiful thin chip onto the green that went in for eagle, just killed my man's concentration and I won one up. Haha, good times. Mark, if you are reading this, I still remember that look of exasperation on your face, good times.

I hope to get out there for a practice round Saturday, at the very least I'll be playing in a skins game with a bunch of the guys from the Chandler City event Saturday afternoon at Bear Creek, although I'd like to do both. Birdies or better, after that just pick it up. Maybe that will get me to start rolling putts to the hole. At any rate, I have another lesson with Jeff Ritter Saturday morning, so if I have a lesson, play a practice round, skins game, and then the tournament on Sunday, I should be ready to be admitted to the local Urgent Care for dehydration by then. Maybe I'll call ahead and get them to warm up an IV of saline solution for me.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Final round of the Chandler City Championship

I shot 76 in round 2, I finished the last 6 holes 4 over, eesh, not a strong finish. I was dejected and down on myself, and hey guess what, that doesn't work out too well. I "only" had 31 putts today, so 3 fewer putts, and 2 shots higher. Does that tell you how well I was hitting it? Made par on all 5 par 3's today, small victory. Here we go...

Hit driver through the fairway into the fairway bunker, had overhanging tree limbs, tried to hit a little punch cut 7 iron out of it, hit it real well, just straight, back left, pin is back right. My put of about 20 feet is uphill sitting on a crown, I remembered how many I'd left short yesterday and wasn't going to fall for that today, putted it off the green. Two more putts and we start with a bogey. Snap hook off of number 2, but in a spot where I actually have a shot, unlike yesterday. I hit 6 iron to the right side, pin is middle left, literally on the ridge (greenskeeper was pissed about that 62 yesterday). Leave the first putt 4 feet short, the 4 footer breaks literally 12 inches, missed it, made the 3 foot comebacker for another bogey. Pulled the tee shot on the par 5 3rd into the fairway bunker, hit a great 7 iron out, about 60 yards out, left it short. Chip and a putt, routine par.

Good 3 wood off of 4, pulled 9 iron to the left, nearly made it. Then I made the greatest par in history. Snap hook off the tee about 200 yards (460 yard par 4) and literally can't find the ball. I'm about 5 seconds from dropping and one of my playing partners finds it, oh it's bad. Have to hack out a 9 iron, club gets twisted in the weeds and goes "lateral" (I'm not saying the word) across the fairway into the same trash on the right side. After searching and being literally 5 seconds from declaring this one lost, the same guy finds it. I slash an 8 iron out to about 6 feet and jar the putt for 4. Man this game is easy. Hit 6 iron again on #6, like I've done 6 times in a row, but this time I'm 15 yards short of the green? Hmmm, good chip, solid putt, easy 3. Drive the par 4 7th to about 20 feet, 2 putts for birdie, then hit a gorgeous cut 3 iron to about 15 feet on the 230 yard 8th, 2 putt par. Hit a heeled cut drive, then the most solidly struck 6 iron layup shot on the par 5 9th. At the last instant I told myself to not pull the PW into the lake, and ended up pin high in the right fringe (shocking huh?). Hit a bold putt about 4 feet by and canned it for an official one putt, 3 putts fewer than yesterday on the same hole. We're one over at the turn and hitting it like shit, amazing.

Hit 3 wood into the fairway bunker on 10, and the most perfectly struck PW over the back of the green (oh my God was that hit well!). Good chip and putt for par. Hit 9 iron to the par 3 11th to about 15 feet, left it dead in the heart, one inch short, tap in 3. BOMBED the tee shot on the par 5 12th, 173 yards to the front edge. I'm back and forth between hard 8 and easy 7 (playing a bit downwind obviously), I decide on 7, then just mentally collapse and leave it short right. Good flop over the bunker to about 6 feet, uphill right to left putt for birdie, didn't give it enough gas, missed on the low side. Now I'm fuming, played like shit and scraped it around in 1 over on the front, I'm finally starting to hit it good, should be one under and I have nothing to show for it. The Golf Gods hear people bitching like this and choose these times to kick said bitchers in the nuts, and they did not disappoint.

Blocked 3 wood off of 13 into the desert, was afraid of hitting it thin, about 70 yards out, I actually got under it and left it short. Hit a really lame pitch to about 12 feet, and then proceeded to 3 putt for double. Awesome, I was just complaining about 2 missed birdie putts and get a double shoved up my ass. That's perspective folks.

Hit it a bit heavy on the par 3 14th, water in front and all along the right side, but I had plenty of club, we're about 25 feet up the hill, nearly made it, tap in par. I don't know what the hell I was thinking on the tee at 15, but if you ever play Bear Creek, don't hit it right on 15. Ever. I find the ball in more of that lovely grass / weed stuff, and feel pretty good about getting a 6 iron onto it back into the fairway. I don't know what happened as I never felt the club touch the ball, but it didn't get out. So I've advanced it 100 yards or so, but in more of the same grass, but now a perfect punched through the weeds 6 iron out, hit it well, ball went nowhere. Good news now though, my ball is actually sitting in desert with no danger of weeds. I'm 109 to the center, pin is in front, perfect SW, comes up 10 yards short. Chip and a putt for 6. Decent drive and 9 iron on 16, 2 putts for par. Hit a great cut 4 iron on 17, just into the back fringe. The wind was into us, so the flagstick was blowing a bit away from us. I elected to leave the stick in for the putt from the fringe, putt hits the stick and bounces 4 inches away. That's 3 shots deflected by the flagstick in 2 days. New rule, Paper Hogan NEVER leaves the stick in. Hit a decent drive and a horrible 6 iron into the front bunker (tried to hit a cute little cut in tight so I could make something happen). Bunkers at this course are, what's the word, terrible. Actually hit it well, it just went 25 feet by the hole. Left the putt 5 feet short (lack of any assemblance of concentration?) but canned the putt for bogey, nice 76 holmes.

Seems like a lot of folks went the same way as I did, I looked through the cards after the round (they didn't post them on the board yet) and a lot of the cards were like mine or higher. I called this evening to get the results and I finished T-24 out of the 56 man field. Full field scores "should" be posted here soon - http://www.bearcreekgolfclubarizona.com/layout9.asp?id=558&page=29924

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Sliding the Scotty Cameron into play

So I posted earlier that I was moving the Scotty Cameron putter into the lineup, goodbye 8802! Just wanted to update that I went back to Bear Creek tonight to work it back into the rotation, putted for about 1 1/2 hours to get my feel back with it. I feel like it's a major positive change on putts inside of 5 feet as the action is straight back and straight through, which is what I've been playing for 10+ years, rather than the inside/open to square to inside / closed move that you have to make with a blad putter. It just feels a lot more natural. In all I probably hit 150 putts inside of 5 feet tonight (as well as a bunch of other longer putts of course) and feel much more comfortable. Until tomorrow!

Round 1 of Chandler City Championship

All in all, not terribly bad. I shot 74 with 34 putts. Wow, that's a lot of putts. I had 2 three putts and a four putt today! I'll be updating my "What I play" post with the Scotty Cameron putter, he's back in the bag. Why I keep trying to play with old technology I'll never know. So long blade putter, you're lucky I didn't break you over my knee today. Here we go...

Opened on number 1 with a drive just through the fairway and a PW to a foot, nice birdie there. God this game is easy. Blocked the tee shot on #2 after waiting 5 full minutes for the fairway to clear, had to just wedge it out of this garbage, hit a SW to 10 feet, missed the putt, even after 2 dammit. Hit a great drive and a 3 iron to 15 feet on the par 5 third, two putt birdie, back to 1 under. Blocked my tee shot a bit on #4, but it made it through and past the cartpath crossover, hit a 80 yard wedge 95 yards and lipped out the putt. Blocked the tee shot on 5, pulled the 2nd shot and didn't get it up and down, back to even again. Three putted from 50+ feet on the par 3 6th, made a miraculous par on #7 (it was a long hole, don't ask), great 2 putt par on the 230 yard 8th, then we get to 9. Oh #9. Great drive, laid up with a 6 iron (it went long too) and had about 85 yards to the back hole location. Hit a piss poor wedge in there to about 25 feet, birdie to shoot even on the front, hit it about 4 feet by the hole. Next guy hits his chip shot near my mark, figured I would get a read. Turns out his mark was a bit in front of mine, I hit it too hard through the break, then in a pissed off state about my 3 putt, I missed that one to turn it into a 4 putt. Nice double jackass, out in 39.

On the positive side, hit a good tee shot on 10 (finally!), pulled the 9 iron to the back left, pin is front right. Tentative putt to 4 feet (hmmm, this looks familiar) but actually scraped that one in. Pulled 9 iron on the par 3 11th, and hit a wonderful explosion chip out of the rough, hit the stick and stopped 1 inch away. If the stick was out, I'd have made 2. Hit a lousy driver on the par 5 12th, 250 yards out (I've been as little as 170 yards out in the practice rounds). Hit 3 wood left of the green, up and down for birdie, 1 under on the back. Smoked driver on the next hole, half hearted wedge to the green, and 3 putt from 12 feet because I left the first putt 5 feet short. Oh we're having fun now.

Hit a beautiful 7 iron to the par 3 14th, about 15 feet above the hole, 3 feet short, made the putt. Bombed a driver on the par 5 15th, hit the fattest 3 wood on the planet short right of the green, then a nice safe pitch shot to the middle of the green (yes I was being sarcastic). Managed to 2 putt from 20 feet for par. Great tee shot on 16, just a GW in, hit it to 5 feet and made the putt, back to 1 under for the back. Rope hooked a 5 iron on the par 3 17th into the bunker, my ball was sitting in a depression with a small (fist sized) mound of sand behind it. Hit it out to about 12 feet, not bad really, then missed the putt, back to even for the back.

Here's where the fun starts. Blocked my tee shot on 18, into this scraggly weed / bush, 183 yards out. It was pretty bare, so I figured I could get it out, hit a great 6 iron out of it, but hooked it. It ended up left of the cartpath, almost to the practice putting green. Probably 8 feet above the 18th green, about 15 yards off, pin cut in back, I'm hole high. I actually stepped away from it because I actually said "get it on, don't 3 putt". WTF man, shut up. Got back up to it, hit a great flop that landed just on, ball tracked to the hole, in the cup and back out, stopped about 18" away. WOW I thought I made that one too. 3 over on the front, even on the back, 74.

Now normally, that probably wouldn't be in too bad of shape for a 2 round tournament, except that some guy threw up a 62 today. Remember 7, 8 & 9 where I put up 4, 3, 7? My man went 2, 1, 5 in that stretch, only 6 shots better than me on those 3 holes. Ah well, I'm only 12 shots back. If I can shoot 54 tomorrow, I'm right back in it. Wonder if they'll let me stop at 12?

From what I can gather, I'm about middle of the pack right now, all the scores weren't posted at the time however, so I could move down or up. I'm going off at 7:22, first tee time is 6:15, so I'm not in last place, of course I didn't shoot 62 today either.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

6 iron finally tweaked

Remember a few posts ago when I talked about my being at least 2 degrees upright? I had it checked today and it was actually 2 1/2 degrees upright. Got it bent to the correct lie (between the 5 and 7 iron) and now feel a lot better. That club cost me 3 strokes the previous round, so I'm glad I got that taken care of.

Then while I was in Golfsmith I noticed a sign for the launch monitor enabled club fitting service they have with some 3rd party outfit located in their shop. Always be wary of "teaching professionals" who operated out of a retail building rather than a golf course, but I had to ask anyway as I have the set of X200 shafts (I mis-stated earlier as X100's) ready to go in my irons and I'm still wondering about the heavy shaft in my driver.

So I ask the guy about their fitting process, how it's priced, etc. He tells me it's $50, a far cry more reasonable than the $400 Hotstix wants, then asks me what I'm looking for. I explain the situation with the driver and my set of shafts waiting to be installed, and that I want to ensure that I find a correct shaft for both the driver and to ensure that the X200's aren't too heavy. He says "X200's? How far do you hit a 7 iron?" Pardon my french, but why the hell do people ask that question? Allow me to retort jackass, uphill? Downhill? Wind? Fairways soft or hard? Pin up or back? Am I hooking it or cutting it? Did I just make birdie? Am I nervous? I CAN hit a 7 iron 120 yards, or 190 yards. I hit 2 of them today, the first one 155 yards, the 2nd one 180 yards. So now this guy who has never seen me swing, never seen me play, is going to fit me for a set of iron shafts based on the "how far do you hit a 7 iron" question?

I guess $400 at Hotstix isn't too unreasonable after all.

Fourth round with the new swing

Remember when I said I was on the verge of a breakthrough? Well I was 9 holes off in a sense as I shot 40/35 for another 75 in round 4 here. I caught myself on the turn feeling like I really didn't care, it was weird, I opened par, bogey, double and just kind of kicked back after that for the remainder of the front 9. Anyway, I'll take you through it and my thoughts so you know what I'm talking about.

Opened with a good drive and 7 iron, 2 putt par, then hit another one of those blocked cut pushed tee shots, luckily far enough right that I was actually in the other fairway. Hit it just in front, great chip to about 4 feet and missed it. Nothing new, I haven't parred that hole in 3 rounds now, hit a great tee shot on the par 5 third and just went brain dead on my 3 iron. I don't even remember looking at the ball before I took the club back, hit it thin and right and lost the ball. Ended up with a double, a full 3 shots higher than the previous round on the same hole. Maybe that's where I lost interest, 3 over after 3, I just started going through the motions. Then I made a par on #8, 230 yard par 3, nearly made the putt for 2, and I got interested again. I hit a be-a-utiful cut tee shot DEEP on #9, par 5, but still 265 to the middle, hit a 7 iron to 90 yards and then thinned a smooth SW over the back. Bummer. Hit a lame pitch to about 15 feet and thought for sure I made the putt, bogey, there's a 40. As I moped to the house to wet the towel and get a cold Diet Pepsi (because Ben Hogan's 2nd favorite drink was Diet Pepsi baby), that's when I caught myself just going through the motions. I knew I had a tough tee shot at 10 coming up (snap hooked it the last 2 rounds in a row) so I needed to get something going.

I talked myself into the fact that I was going to hit a good tee shot on 10 and started to get jazzed up. I wouldn't call it a "great" tee shot, but it was serviceable, and most importantly, in the middle of the fairway. Tugged the wedge to the left side of the green, standard 2 putt par. Hit wedge to the front hole location on #11 to about 12 feet and made the putt. Hmmm, ok. Hit a decent tee shot, nowhere near as deep as yesterday, then put 4 iron onto the front part of the green, about a 25 footer for eagle. Didn't hit the first putt bad, to about 3 feet, then yoked it, nice 3 putt par. Don't get down on yourself, keep going. Hit driver into the fairway bunker (from which I made birdie 2 rounds ago), 106 yards to the back edge, full SW out of there, caught it thin, put it up above the back of the green on a big hill. Hit a great chip shot to about 4 feet and made the putt.

Hit a solid 7 iron about 15 feet past the stick on 14, nearly made it, easy 3. Good tee shot on the par 5 15th, then hit a horrible smothered 3 iron (not having good luck with that club eh?). Decent pitch to about 6 feet and actually 3 putted from there for bogey. What just happened? Ok, keep going, back to even on the back side. Good tee shot, a little right on 16, hit a great GW that landed on the front, pin in back. Thought it was stoney, instead it's about 40 feet, great 2 putt there. Hit 5 iron to #17, about 12 feet, just missed on the high side. As I'm walking off 17, I realize I played the par 3's one under, a marked improvement over the last 2 rounds where I played them 5 over and 4 over respectively. Good tee shot, weak short approach with the upright 6 iron (more on that later). Hit the first putt from the fringe, about 6 feet by and buried the putt for par.

Out in 40, back in 35, another 75. I'm taking tomorrow off from hitting balls or playing, going to go hit some chips and putts at lunch and get ready for the weekend tournament. Round one is at 8:30 AM. Oh, almost forgot, they finally mowed the greens, and while certainly not fast, they were probably rolling about 9 - 9.5. Compared with about a 7 (I wish I was kidding) the last couple of rounds, I had quite a few more legitimate chances at birdie. Let's see, makeable putts...

#1 - 10 feet
#8 - 15 feet
#10 - 15 feet
#11 - 12 feet (made it)
#12 - 3 feet
#14 - 15 feet
#15 - 6 feet
#17 - 12 feet

So I converted 1 of 7 legitimate birdie putts. Yes, I think I will go hit some putts tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Third round with the new swing

More of the same from yesterday, albeit with a much more comfortable feeling about where the ball was going, how far it was going, etc. I ended up one higher than the last round with a 76, but post round analysis and walking the scores, it's clear I played much better than that. Here we go...

Nearly chipped in for birdie on #1, 3 putted for bogey on #2 (God these greens are slow, you would think I would know that by now). Made a solid birdie on 3 and parred my way to #8 where I hit one of the ugliest smothered 3 irons in history. Nearly got it up and down, alas it was not to be. Hit a weak 3rd shot on the par 5 9th and made another par, out in 37, 1 over. I was 2 over at the turn in the last round, but ball striking and putting wise, it was a much "easier" round of golf to this point.

Then we get to #10, the threesome of 25 year old Abercrombie boys were walking around in circles in the fairway. Hoping they weren't going to hold us up, I kept my optimism. Unfortunately I was wrong, the cover boys had no intention of letting us through, and we waited on every shot for the entire back 9. Awesome. Here's a tip, if you are playing and there is a group behind you, and they are waiting on you, LET THEM PLAY THROUGH. Jesus tap dancing Christ this should be rule #1 that is drilled into your head when you get to any golf course. I don't mind slow play in slow conditions, when there are literally 2 holes open in front of you, I have no tolerance. If this has offended you in any way while reading this, then you are probably that guy, and I don't really care if you get pissed off. Go read a book on etiquette, not this blog.

Ahem, anyway, back to the topic at hand. Last round I snap hooked driver off of #10, so being the course management expert I am, I pull 3 wood this time, and snap hooked it. Pulled a 9 iron left of the green, but made a great up and down. Routine par on 11, then SMOKED a driver on the par 5 12th, had 8 iron in. Of course, if I knew I was going to hit it so fat, I'd have probably hit 7, ah well. Anyway, tentative chip to 6 feet, miss the putt (short again, slow ass greens). Par on 13, then come to #14. Par 3, water right, junk left. The 6 iron in this set of clubs I bought is at least 2 degrees more upright than the others, and I'm thinking this as I'm pulling the club back, while at the same time thinking about not blocking it into the water. I'm really shocked to report a pull hook, ok not really. Anyway, we find the ball in a 3 foot wide cement canal with dirt in the bottom of it. We looked high and low and found no OB stakes. So I'm 30 yards left, in a concrete canal, with water over the green. As I'm about to hit the shot, I bump the ball with the wedge and move it 1/2". Great. I replace it, and hit the most ridiculous, miraculous and beautiful shot out of the canal to about 8 feet, and miss the putt. Enjoy your double Paper Hogan.

Make 2 more pars, then get to 17, remember the catalog boys? Well they just pull away as we get to the tee on 17. As we're waiting for them to find their balls and play out, I notice that one guy is holding the flag, the other guy is standing next to him, and the 3rd guy is off the right side of the green just standing there. Weird, he just keeps standing there. He finally turns a bit and I can see that he's on his freaking cell phone. There comes a time in everyone's life when they realize that they actually should have bought that sniper rifle they saw at the hunting store, this was one of those moments for me. That was it, my patience was shattered and I made back to back bogeys on 17 and 18 for a 76.

So all in all, minus 14, 17 and 18 I was 1 over and left so many makeable putts short. If I wouldn't have bumped that ball on 14, I would have had one of the worlds greatest bogeys there, 17 and 18 was nothing but a result of a complete meltdown of my composure. Make some putts and get my head back down to earth and I could have had a great round there. Encouraging to be sure. Short game was great, and I've never felt so good about my routine for short putts. We're on the verge of a profound breakthrough here, I absolutely feel it. Until next time!!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Second round with new swing

Better, much better. Maybe I'm working myself into a happy medium between old swing and new swing, not sure, ball flight and sound of contact are completely different than before, in a good way. Much better results anyway. Shot 75 at Bear Creek in a practice round for the Chandler City Championship, 10 better than the first round with the new swing. How about 65 for round 3? As I'll be doing regularly, we'll break down the finer points.

Toe blocked my first 2 tee shots with the driver, probably hit them a whopping 200 yards each. Made a good par on the first hole, then fatted a 3 iron, hit a weak ass wedge, then 3 putted for double on #2. After that, I hit the driver REALLY well the rest of the round. Something clicked there, pretty upbeat about that. I made one birdie and one bogey after that on the front for a lackluster 38 at the turn.

Standing on 10, I say "Ok, that's enough warm up, now it's time to play". Snap hooked my driver (ooops, didn't I just say I hit the driver REALLY well?). Ball was resting on the cart path, next to the only patch of grass they haven't mowed in 3 years. Took a drop in a nice patch that was trampled down next to the deep stuff, but of course the ball took one good hop left into the deep stuff. Looks like the 7 iron goes back in the bag, where's that wedge? Pulled my SW a bit from just over 100 yards, up and down for bogey.

"Ok, that's enough warm up, NOW it's time to play". Pulled my 9 iron on #11, couldn't get it up and down, another bogey. But hey good news, I then made back to back birdies, the second one via an 85 yard fairway bunker shot to 3 feet. Excellent. On a roll now, here we go. Hit 7 iron to 25 feet on the next hole, 3 putt, bogey. Par, par, hit a 5 iron on 17 that got up into the wind, fell short of the green, hit a great chip to 3 feet then hit a putt that absolutely positively goes left. Aimed for the right edge, broke right, bogey. Driver 5 iron on 18, 2 putts, hey look, 2 over on the back as well. So much for grinding.

All in all, there are 5 par 3's at Bear Creek, and I bogeyed every single one of them today. Missed 4 of 5 greens on the par 3's, didn't get up and down once. The only one I hit, I 3 putted. Talking through it like that makes me feel better, I like walking the strokes, it gives me hope that I can fix the problems. Maybe a bit naive, but hey, we need to be in this game right? 2 more practice rounds on tap, stay tuned! I'm off to the backyard putting green for some late night barefoot 3 footers.

Monday, August 13, 2007

First round with the new swing

And boy was it a doozy. I started out 5, 9, 4, 6, with par being 4, 5, 3, 4. So 8 strokes in the first 4 holes, wow, welcome to your new swing Paper Hogan. How did I make a 9? Easy, hit a be-a-utiful cut tee shot off the tee through the 90 degree dogleg into some of the deepest rough I've ever played in Arizona. Those guys at Camelback should be proud of that stuff, wow. So anyway, can't find the ball, take a drop. Smoked a 7 iron out of that into the fairway, oh wait, make that into a 45 foot tall palm tree, SMACK, dead into a palm leaf, dropped straight down. Pulled my next 7 iron left into the trees, but hey, at least I found that one. Had to punch it out, SMACK into an overhanging branch. Hmm, ok at least I've now got a shot in a fluffy lie to get it up over the trees and onto the green. SMACK into another branch. A little flip wedge onto the green, tentative putt for 8, easy tap in, there's your 9 folks.

So after I'm 8 strokes down on the course, I do a little reflecting, take a couple of extra practice swings with the driver on the next hole, 440 yard par 4. Absolutely smoked the tee shot, down the right side, just in the fairway. Get to the ball, it's only 115 to the back right hole location, I knew that tee shot felt good, but wow that thing got out there. Alas, my happiness quickly vanished upon seeing that I had the ugliest overgrown pine tree overhanging the right 1/5 of the fairway. I decide on a smooth punch fade with the wedge, and I hit the most beautiful dead straight punch shot you've ever seen, right into the back corner of the left bunker. Feet outside of the bunker, amazed I even got it out. I actually hit it too far, luckily it spun and stopped short of the fringe, about 8 feet away. How the putt didn't go in, I'll never know, but what a good putt I hit. Ah well...

So 9 after 5. Hit another perfect tee shot on the next par 5, toe hooked a 3 iron into the left rough just short of the green. Hit a little wedge to the back edge and made the 10 footer. Welcome to your first birdie with the new swing Paper Hogan. I must have made another bogey on the front because when it was all said and done I was told 44 for the front, I wasn't keeping score, just playing. Maybe I should have kept a closer eye on the card, yikes.

Ok, so I play the last 4 holes even, hitting it good (nearly made a 8 footer right after the par 5 for back to back birdies, oh what a great putt, unfortunate). Feeling good going to the 10th, 360 yard dogleg right par 4. now this hole has water and trees left, a wide open corner with 4 humongous palm trees. Those trees are surrounded by a bunker / grassy knoll contraption, that is just no good, 241 to clear it. 3 wood lands me right there, I could hit an iron, but I've just hit 3 perfect drivers in a row. Easy call right? I hit this tee shot so far right and OOB, that I think I hit a house across the street from the houses that line the golf course. But boy oh boy was it DEEP. Two putted from 50 feet after I hit a 97 yard SW that somehow went around 115 yards (touch like a surgeon baby). All in all, a great 6.

It's pretty much a blur after that, this golf course has holes that all look the same. I bogeyed 2 more coming in for a smooth 85 on the day. So 9 after 5, play the other 13 in 4 over, ok not bad for the first round with the new swing. But let me tell you this, I hit 2 more of those wickedly blocked tee shots, one each with driver and 3 wood. That's not my historical miss, so I want to get that figured out. This is beyond just blocked, it's a blocked push cut that tails right at the end. I'm no swing guru, but I'm pretty sure you want to eliminate that type of a miss.

Oh, forgot the best part. I made par on 18, a par 5, after a lost ball that stopped just short of the left greenside bunker. Is it possible to make a positive out of something that made you utter the F word 17 times under your breath? If so, yay me for something positive.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Entered the Chandler City Championship

I signed up for the Chandler City Championship at a local course called Bear Creek. It's being held 8/18 and 8/19. I nearly signed up for the Gilbert City Championship held last weekend, but knowing the changes I was going through, I didn't want to ingrain more bad habits in a tournament. Winning score at Gilbert was 137 (68, 69, par 71). Bear Creek is a longer and more difficult course, so I'm thinking 3 or 4 under wins this.

I feel like I'm so close to getting into position that if I can work this out over the weekend, I'll have a chance at a good showing. Notice I didn't say win. Why didn't I say win? Too scared about my swing changes? Yes. Too scared of looking like a fool in this blog? Yes. Do I feel like I can win? Yes. The last round I had out there was a 73 with that old ridiculous swing of mine, and I actually didn't hit my driver very well. If I was confident that my club was on line at the top and I could start putting some juice on my downswing, I'd put money on myself. Well what the hell, in my first of many potentially foolish hopes and dreams, I'll put it out there.

I'm headed to Bear Creek to win. Nothing less.

So close and yet so far...

So as you have read, I've made some swing changes to get it flattened out a bit and to get rid of the past parallel over the line move. I've been hitting balls every day at lunch (when I'm not traveling) and it's been slow going, as expected. The guy who runs the course where I practice stopped by me yesterday and told me to show up today at 1 PM so he could tweak a thing or two with my takeaway. He explained about getting it back straight to get the club behind me and online at the top. Makes sense, and sure feels a lot better. Had my wife check my position at the top last night and it looked perfect. Yeah, don't let 2 instructors work on you at once, but he knows what I'm doing and I trust his judgement.

We went to work on the takeaway, which as I said is still going outside thanks to years of me attempting to fix my across the line move by myself (unsuccessfully I might add). A few drills and I was in position. I hit a few 5 irons really well, but then the heat set in. Mike had me hit a few drivers and besides looking like I'd never played before, I hit that really bad. All in all, fun times with the driver. So we went back to the 5 iron, hit a few more fairly well, but I was spent. 109 degrees with a black shirt on will do that to a man. I hounded Mike to ensure that I was on line, he took the club out of my hands several times and had me look at the position, all was well.

After a Gatorade (Orange of course, because Ben Hogan always drank Orange Gatorade before the US Open) I cooled down and went home feeling pretty proud of my new move that put me in great position. What better to do than to go hit some more balls once it cooled down to 103 degrees? Took the video camera and hit a few shots to warm up again. Things didn't feel as crisp as earlier, but surely I was still on track. On went the camera and I took turns hitting a shot, then reviewing the footage on the camera. And wouldn't you know it, I'm back across the line again. I hit quite a few balls, each time really really bearing down on keeping the club behind me and it sure felt like earlier, but reviewing the footage, I can promise you it wasn't.

So now I'm a bit frustrated as I not only am still dealing with the club going across the line, but my 5 iron is traveling about 160 yards in the air, about 30 yards short of normal. I'm sure that's all due to the changes and the fact that I'm not really attacking the ball, but I feel really pent up, like my body is wrapped in Saran Wrap trying to keep my elbow in and my swing on plane. Headed to ASU Karsten again tomorrow to meet up with Jeff Ritter for lesson #2, so we'll talk about where I'm at now (which is 1,000 times better than I was a week ago by the way) and how this all feels. I tell you, I could live with the distance loss and the weird feelings if I had the club on line at the top and stopped it at parallel. I've been fighting that for so long, that it's pretty much my success indicator at this point.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A little dose of humble pie

My uncle Tom is a PGA Professional in Florida, and has been teaching for more years than I've been playing. I've had several discussions with him over the years regarding my desires to play professionally, and because he has a brutally honest streak in him, I seek out his advice often on such matters. I've had several discussions with him regarding this pursuit up to this point, and he's been extremely helpful and honest in his feedback.

I told him about this blog in an email last night and asked him to check it out if he had the chance. I won't bore anyone with the details of all the banter, but here are some of the highlights:

"The swing changes look fantastic - definitely on the right road there. The upside to not playing that much over the last several years is that your bad habits aren't completely grooved and you haven't had much (OK, any) success, so throwing away the old and converting to the new is actually easier to do." - Ummmm, thanks I think? Haha...

"The new and improved move looks like a guy that could possibly go play and compete. The original version looks like a guy that would be the most popular guy on any given tour to play a practice round with - because he can't play dead with that move and would be EASY to win money from in a casual wager!!" - Quote of the year right there folks. I so wish I could argue with him on that point, however I know I can't. I hate when he's right.

I'm sure over the next year, he'll have many more gems that I'll be able to post up here. I only hope they aren't so to the point that they cause me to have a nervous breakdown. No, just kidding. But seriously, I hope. Nah, just joking. Really though...

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Practice Diary

Probably not the best way to keep track of this, but I'm going to try to do it in a constantly updating blog post. Not sure if every update will move it to the top, if so, I'll re-work it. I'll just start with my practice sessions since my first lesson on 8/4/2007.

8/6/2007 - PW & 7 iron. Working on swing plane. 60 balls.
8/7/2007 - PW & 7 iron. Working on swing plane. 60 balls.
8/8/2007 - Flew to San Diego for work today, so hit some chips and putts. Worked on long lag putts, I made one bomb from about 50 feet, lipped out another from the same distance. Hit 2 of 3 others from just over the same distance to within 12". Practice green is rough, no working on 4 footers, headed out to the backyard putting green for those tonight.
8/9/2007 - PW. Working on swing plane. 60 balls.
8/10/2007 - Short lesson with Mike and then to another course for practice. 8 iron & 5 iron. Working on club position at the top. 70 balls.

Finally, I see an instructor

Enough is enough. I've had this homegrown swing for too many years. I looked high and low for someone that is modern in his instruction, yet not one of those "I'm going to re-invent the golf swing" self promoting guru's. Through friends and family recommendations, I ended up with Jeff Ritter (http://jeffrittergolf.com/). Jeff has written several articles for Golf Digest, Golf Tips and Golf Punk magazines. I even noticed that he has an endorsement on his website from Jim Hardy, who wrote the book "The Plan Truth for Golfers", a book I was reading on swing planes.


Well I finally had my first session with Jeff, it was about 45 minutes in duration. My biggest issue that I've seen firsthand on video is my way too upright, past parallel, across the line golf swing that I've settled into. I've been fortunate enough or stubborn enough to make it servicable, however we all know it won't hold up.

Jeff's first order of business was to try to tuck in that flying right elbow and get my posture back down where it needed to be. Below is a picture of the before and after of the top of my swing (before is on the right obviously). Not bad for 45 minutes worth of work. Now I just need to groove this enough times to be able to stop the old stuff from creeping back in. Easier said than done.

My next lesson is with Jeff this Saturday, hopefully he'll impart more wisdom on me.

What I play

So here's the equipment I play with currently:

Driver - Ping G10, 9 degree, UST V2 S flex
3 Wood - Taylor Made Burner (original), Dynamic Gold X-100
2-PW - Titleist 690.CB, Dynamic Gold S-300
GW - Titleist Vokey 52 degree, Dynamic Gold S-300
SW - Cleveland Tour 588 Frosted, Dynamic Gold S-300
Putter - Scotty Cameron Newport
Ball - Titleist ProV1
Preferred Ball Flight - Fade (just like Hogan baby)

I'm taking some lessons now, so I am refraining from any more equipment changes and adjustments until I'm locked in. I have a set of Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts for my new irons ready to go in, I just don't want to commit to that work until my swing changes are finished. I will be heading to Hot Stix Golf in Scottsdale to get my driver locked in as well. The UST shaft is so heavy, that I've lost some clubhead speed, and I've started drawing the ball. Yeah, a draw is pretty, been there done that. You can't smother a fade, and "grease don't help a duck hook".

How I got here

I grew up in Nebraska, where if you were psychotic you could play 7 months a year. I knew a couple of guys who were pretty good sticks, but I knew that if I was going to ever get anywhere, I needed to go where it was warm. A friend of mine had recently moved to Phoenix, so I took a couple of days off work and flew down there to visit. After playing 3 rounds during that December trip of 1995, I was sold. I flew back, resigned from my job, packed what would fit in my car and drove 17 hours straight to Phoenix.

Because I packed only what would fit in my car, I didn't have a bed, so I slept on a sheet on the floor. Lived across the street from a golf course where it was $10 to practice all day long. I was in heaven. I played a few small events and just busted out cold. Spent a lot of money I couldn't afford to and had nothing to show for it. Got a real job and played golf recreationally ever since.

During those years, I still played my Mizuno MP14 blades, switched putters and drivers a few times, but wouldn't relinquish those irons. Thankfully I just bought a set of Titleist 690.CB cavity back forged irons off of Ebay. My God, these things should be illegal they are so easy to hit. How many bad shots did I force upon myself for the sake of pride keeping those old blades?

Never had a real lesson, I've sat down with 2 instructors in my life and didn't want to listen to anything they said. I'm hooked up with an instructor now, more on that later.

Paper Hogan's adventure begins

Ok, first of all I need to give credit where due, the name Paper Hogan is derived from the book Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne. I don't like Tiger, I'm a Ben Hogan man myself, hence the name. Ok, now that that's out of the way...

Welcome to the blog. So here's the deal, waaaaaaaay back in 1996, I moved to Phoenix, AZ to play golf professionally. How did that go? Let's just say it didn't take long to realize that I sucked, and that I needed to get a real job. So I settled into playing some amateur events once a year or so, and fell into the dreaded spiral of corporate scramble outings. "Oh yeah, let's invite Sean, he's pretty good." Hit driver on every hole, run every putt 4 feet by the hole, hadn't hit a bunker shot that counted in years. So here I find myself in 2007 looking back on the last 3 years. How much have I played? I estimate ~12 rounds per year, at least half of which were scrambles. Have a hot day, shoot 78, an off day, shoot 86. Maybe make a birdie or two, but most of the time, no birdies. Eeesh...

Fast forward to June, 2007. My wife and I are talking one night, I'm lamenting how much time I've wasted not playing golf, and she suggests (yep, not me, it was her) that maybe I should give it another run. I laughed at her of course, thought it was funny. Told her how crazy she was, etc. Then I had a trip out of town and found "Tales from Q School" by John Feinstein in the airport book shop. "Hmmm" I thought to myself, "let's read this for grins". Read it cover to cover in one day and had the itch. I bought some books by Bob Rotella and started thinking about some initial goals that would be good to try to accomplish by the end of 2007. Goals I didn't tell anyone about, for fear of them laughing at me.

I surpassed every one of my conceptual goals in the first 3 weeks. Good and bad news. Good news, I'm on track. Bad news, now I actually believe I might be able to do this.

This blog will serve as the official record of my efforts, both good and bad, towards my goal of making it through Q School, 2008. I hope you find the information, stories and efforts entertaining, but most of all, I hope that maybe some of you may actually start to get on my bandwagon and also believe that I can do this. It's always nice to have supporters in your corner. Let's do this!