PaperHogan goes to the FBR Open...

As a spectator. Ha, admit it, you thought for a second "How did that chop get into the FBR Open?" It's ok, I don't hate you. I'll make you eat your words someday, but I don't hate you.

So we walk in and walk down 18 from the green back to the tee as the company I work for has a tent on 17, so we have to go get some free food and check in, rub elbows, etc. So Jason Day and two other guys are finishing up their practice round. All 3 of them are 160 - 175 yards out. Jason Day hits it to 6 feet, next guy hits it short right in the fringe, third guy hits it to 4 feet. Just effortless too. We make our way around the tee and a single is coming through, don't know who it was. He busts a driver right down the pipe, frozen rope, leaving about 150 yards. Again, just effortless. We later saw Paul Azinger, JB Holmes, Kenny Perry and some "other guy" hit tee shots off 18. Paul, JB (frickin BOMBED it) and Kenny all hit stellar, effortless tee shots. The "other guy" hit 3 wood, literally in the heel, a low little cutter, maybe 250 yards. Hell yeah, I can do that too. I should be playing this week!

We finally find our tent, settle in with some food and watch a few groups go through 17. Nobody hit it on the green, not even JB Holmes. Got to see lots of pitch shots from 40 yards though, to the back right and left pin positions too. A couple of guys hit it not so good, a couple of guys just stoney. One skinny little European fellow hit it in from 40 yards on his 3rd ball, that was kind of cool to see, especially since his first 2 were no more than 4 feet away as well. About that time we decide to head to the practice facility, where I spent the rest of the day. Not a lot of action when we first got there, say 2PM. But by 4PM it was hopping.

Let's just establish this, these guys all hit it differently. Some guys (Stuart Appleby) hit it almost thin it seems, I mean it really sounds like garbage coming off his irons. Other guys (Joe Durant, yes THAT Joe Durant) hit it so pure, it almost makes you wet your pants just hearing it. As Tom Coyne said in his book Paper Tiger "These guys are good. How good? You have no fucking idea." Joe Durant = the best ballstriker I've ever seen in person, it was absolutely amazing watching him. Wedges, mid irons, long irons, 3 wood, literally all landing within feet of each other. Not 3 or 4 balls, more like 10-15 balls in a row, all the same line, different trajectories, like he was just playing around. And as good as Jason Day hit it on 18, the sound of the ball off the face of his irons on the range, and his body motion, really made it look like he wasn't striking it well. By then the sun was almost straight into us, so I couldn't see ball flight, just judging body language.

Made our way to the short game area, here's where it gets really interesting. Trevor Immelman hitting 5 footers in between telling jokes and laughing with a few guys, barely paying attention. Out of 20 putts, I think he missed two. Robert Allenby in the bunker, just sick. High, low, runners, spinners, just insane control over the ball. Hit the stick and made countless others. Joe Ogilvie, don't ever get into a chipping contest with this guy. Just for kicks, he made 3 in a row, lipped out the 4th. Turns around with the same club and hits a low skipper to a pin about 20 yards away without any time sizing it up, left it about 3 inches short. Remember Joe Durant, when he first got there, I could have taken lots of money from him on bunker shots, literally nearly thinned one into his caddies head as he was clearing balls off the green. Then, the clouds parted, Angels sang down from the heavens and what I believe to be none other than Stan Utley appeared in the bunker with Joe (Stan works with Joe, natural conclusion). Talked to Joe for about 30 seconds on his approach to bunker shots of swinging "narrow" (if you don't know what that means, do yourself a favor and buy Stan Utley's "The Art of the Short Game" book). One swing to ingrain it, and Joe Durant is now hitting it great out of the bunker. Unreal, 30 seconds? Stan Utley is good (I know of one person who will hate to hear me say that!).

To top it all off, I got to see my main man Steve Stricker. He walked about 5 feet in front of us, that guy got big over the last few years. It's been 4-5 years since I've been to the FBR, so I hadn't seen him in a while. Joe Durant said hi to Steve and congratulated him "on everything". It's official, Joe Durant is now an honorary member of the PaperHogan Fan Club, along with Steve Stricker and Stan Utley. An honor I'm sure they all cherish very much. It's my pleasure guys, no need to shower me with thanks.

What's that clicking?

Today was one of those days where things "clicked" for me during my lesson with Jeff. We've been working for a long time on flattening the swing, laying it off, etc. which is all well and good. Well now we've moved on to getting my left wrist flatter at the top vs. cupping it which I've done for years. I'll be honest, I'm really struggling with this seemingly small change as I have no "feel" for the correct position. So for the past week since we instituted the change, I've been back and forth between good shots and bad, really struggling to get it worked in.

Today Jeff added an impact element designed to provide an additional steepening influence into my swing, to combat the shallowing influences that I've had for years with the upright swing. According to Jeff, we have 2 things to add to the swing and then it's maintenance / refinement mode. We'll see if I can manage to screw that up.

So anyway, back to it. The addition today was the straightening of the left leg at impact, vs. the "soft" left knee that I had previously. My first practice swing targeting a solid blow to the turf whiffed the mat completely, but from that point on, I got it. I mean really, really got it. It connected the reason for the flatter wrist to results at impact, which over the past week had been missing. After we were done I went back outside to hit 20-30 balls while everything was fresh. I literally miss-hit one of them, the rest were as pure as the driven snow. I cannot stress enough how that move with my left leg connects the change we made last week at the top. I left the golf course today thinking that I could quite possibly be the best ball striker on the planet. Your planet may be different than mine, but on mine, it's quite possible.

I went later this afternoon to a golf course near the house to practice again (I try to hit balls again on lesson day when things are fresh). Here's where it gets weird. So I'm striping my 9 iron, just killing the center of the clubface. My landing area is no bigger than my dining room table, no lie. Ball after ball, sa-woosh off the clubface, landing in nearly the same spot, with the same line and trajectory as the last. I'm thinking "damn this game is easy". Well the flag for this particular practice green is 153 yards from my spot, not a 9 iron for me, so I pull 8 iron, it's only one more club, let's stripe some at the target. Out of the 40 or so remaining balls there, I hit exactly 3 of them as good as with my 9 iron, probably 20 of them the same distance as the 9 iron, and the remaining, well, not so good. Amazing that I could have such drastically different results from just one different club. I think we're definitely on to something here, and I'm not discouraged at all that after less than 100 balls it's not quite grooved yet. I'm extremely excited about where this latest change has me, and I can't wait until tomorrow morning to get up and go practice some more.

Wedge problems

I've been fighting a loss of distance for a couple of months, it comes and goes. It's a combination of swing changes, tentative strikes at the ball, colder weather, etc. etc. Here's what I gather to this point, due to changes in the swing, I'm impacting the ball a completely different way, specifically hitting down more, compressing the ball more, and getting distance that way. Previously my divots weren't as deep, and frankly I think I swung a few mph faster with my old swing. Now as I said, it comes and goes. In the past few rounds and tournaments, I've hit some deep drivers, hit some very solid long and mid-irons the same distance I used to. But there's been one constant. I can't hit a wedge out of my own shadow.

More to the point, I can get my PW just shy of where I used to hit it pretty consistently, my GW a bit shorter than that, say 100-105 yards vs. 115 yards with my old swing, but here's the rub...I need to hit it so pure and perfect to get a SW above 85 yards it's not even funny. Used to be that my SW was 100 yards, period. Anything less and I had to take something off of it, anything more, say up to 110 yards (and it better be downwind or downhill) and I'd have to muscle it real hard.

So I'm wondering why, I haven't spent any time talking with my instructor about it as we've had much bigger fish to fry, but we're getting closer now and the wedge thing isn't working itself out. I'm not sure if I need to make another adjustment specifically for the wedges in order to get a few additional yards out of it or not. Bottom line, I can't understand why I can't hit a SW 100 yards anymore and it's really beginning to irritate me. I hit 2 SW's on 16 and 18 in the last tournament from 87 and 94 yards respectively and hit them both dead nuts pin high, but I went freakin' after them. With my old swing, that would have been some pretty controlled swings there, not full tilt, go for broke, pull your left nut swings. I find it odd that the easiest clubs in the bag to hit are giving me the most trouble now. It just doesn't make sense. It's amazing what 10 yards can do to a man with a driver, now imagine that problem with a wedge, it seems like a mountain to overcome.

Maybe I'll get my ass out of bed early enough tomorrow to work a little more on it. Sure man, keep telling yourself that you lazy $&(#%^@!@#$$*.

This work stuff is over-rated

So I've had a pretty hectic week thus far, have only been able to get to Rio Salado once this week to practice. The last 2 days in a row I've informed my wife that I'm getting up early to practice before work as lunch meetings have been killing my practice schedule. Both days have found me pounding the hell out of my snooze button so I can get a few more minutes of beauty rest. I really wish I was a morning person. How in the heck can I change my routine to become a morning person? I've always been a guy who is wide awake at night and can never wake up, I really want to fix that. Any ideas? Besides just quitting my job and losing my house, car, wife, etc.?

YouTube site created

I've put all of my videos from my lessons with Jeff Ritter on YouTube at www.youtube.com/paperhogan. You may have noticed that I also posted my latest swing video on the top right corner of the site so we can keep an eye on changes as we progress. It's just sick how far I've come. I mean seriously, look at that first video, can anyone literally have a swing that upright and play well? I have no idea how I ever played well before with that swing. Needless to say I'm very happy with how far I've come, and I'm very excited about the possibility of how good I can be when I have a solid swing to rely on. Check out the videos if you have a chance!

Poll is open again!

In case you haven't voted, I opened up the "What are my chances?" poll. If you haven't voted yet, please do, I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

Paper Hogan nets a Top 10

Played in another Golf Channel Amateur event this past Sunday and finished T-8th out of 20 guys in the Championship flight shooting 78. Back to back doubles on 11 and 12, and not a single birdie. The funny thing is, I've never been more excited about shooting 78 in my life. Man, are we CLOSE! Here we go!

Been hitting it a lot better lately, played 9 holes on Saturday at Lone Tree to get a feel for the swing, greens, etc. Played not great, hit it ok, stopped after 9 and hit some balls, got to hitting it ok. Showed up Sunday morning and hit it decent on the range. Was not hitting the driver well on Saturday, but Sunday morning I hit 3 in a row real good. Stood up on #1, my man Gary (tournament director) announces me and I clanged one off the fence on the right side. The ball kicked dead left and settled in the fairway. Now I've been reading a bunch of phsychology books and I took the opportunity to look at this very positively. I figured it must be my day if I can hit a 1/2" wide fence stake to keep me from going OB on #1, it's a good day. So I hit a half assed weak 5 iron pin high right, great pitch shot to about 3 feet, but dead above the hole. The greenskeeper must have been pissed off because the pin on #1 was on a shelf and wicked fast. I put it out there as far as I dared and missed it, oh well, bogey on the first. I pulled the wrong club on the par 3 second, came up 20 yards short. Hit the pitch way too far to the back of the green, nearly made the putt, 2 over after 2. Toed the tee shot on 3, hit a 7 iron to about 6 feet. Again, dead above the hole, put it out there as far as I dared and it missed, rolled 9 feet by. Made the putt for a good par. Blocked my tee shot a bit on #4, hit the SW a bit fat about 15 feet short, the putt just died left at the end, tap in par.

Decent tee shot on the par 5 fifth, although a bit blocked. Solid 3 wood just short of the greenside bunker. Really straightforward pitch over the bunker, the pin isn't tucked, I'm thinking 4 here. Yeah, I dunked it in the bunker, wow, that was great. One of the other guys thins his out of the same bunker over the green, these bunkers are a thin film of sand on concrete, so now I'm really happy. I dug the ball out, one hop, hit the stick, stopped an inch away. Routine 5. Good tee shot on 6, blocked the SW pitch about 15 feet right of the hole, hit a great putt and it stayed out. Bummer. So we're 2 over and coming up on one of the most difficult holes on the golf course, 470 yard par 4, water down the right side and I've been blocking tee shots. So the first guy gets up and snap hooks it left, nearly OB, he's playing a provisional. Now my turn, I aim down the left side thinking "the hell with it, put it up in the desert on the left" and put the most rope hookinest, dive bombinest, ugliest damn snap hook you'd ever seen, on the ball. It ends up about 150 yards off the tee just left of the cart path. "ok, it's dry" I say to myself. Nothing like a little positive reinforcement to get you in the mood. But that wasn't the worst, the last guy to hit overcompensates as well, nearly tops it, bounces off some rocks and ends up 15 yards left of the tee behind a tree in some rocks. My 150 yard rope hook is looking pretty good now. So, I get to my ball, hit the most gorgeous 6 iron layup to the middle of the fairway. Hit a thin "oh shit get down" 8 iron to about 6 feet and make the damn putt. What a great 4. I told you this was going to be my day.

Hit a great 4 iron, tugged a bit, on the par 3 eighth dead into the middle of the green. Looking at about a 40 footer now, hit a great putt about 2 feet short, tap in 3. Hit a perfect tee shot on the par 5 ninth. The point here is take it over this dead tree on the right and land it purposely in the desert on the top of the hill on the right. It's a big slope and will kick your ball well forward and left back into the fairway, and I couldn't have walked my ball out there any better, just like I drew it up. Now I've got 240 yards over a lake to a pin cut just behind the bunker. Nah, 4 iron about 30 yards short right, ran about 2 feet off the fairway. Hit a nice pitch to about 5 feet, and looking at a perfect putt. Downhill, right to left, and I missed it 3 inches right. Wow, what a bad stroke. 2 over after 2, 2 over after 9. Bombed it hard off the tee on #10 (a little red ass in that swing after that last putt), couldn't get lined up properly on my approach. Thought I would tug it a bit to compensate, nope, pin high right, then it spun down the slope. Got about 20 feet uphill breaking hard right to left. I misjudged the line by a mile and left myself 8 feet straight up the hill after it stopped rolling, but jarred it for par.

Hit a huge tee shot on 11, a gorgeous cut, into the lake that runs down the right side of the fairway. Dropped the ball, had 225 in, cut a 3 iron around the bunker onto the back fringe. Hit a good looking putt and it just kept going. Left myself about 6 feet for bogey, then the caddy starts talking. I'm not going to go into detail, but there was a guy with a caddy that was "struggling" and his caddy as trying to be positive. The problem was he was talking about "the putt just doesn't break on this, it just won't move, it's crazy" consoling his player after another miss. Well I get to listening and subconsciously dont' give it enough, slips by on the low side, double. As we're riding to the next tee, the guy I'm riding with states that he missed his putt because that guy "wouldn't shutup about lack of break", we almost died laughing after comparing notes on what we heard. At least I'm not the only one right?

Now the par 3 12th. 191 yard island green monster, God I hate this hole. I hit another weak 5 iron cut, right into the water. That damn 5 iron, I haven't hit but 2 or 3 good shots with that freaking thing, surely it's not me (ahem). Anyway, to the drop area, hit it to about 10 feet, above the hole, downhill left to right for bogey. I hit it perfect, I mean perfect, halfway there it hits a rock, bounces 3 inches in the air and 2 inches right, and just misses on the low side. Made the 6 footer for double. Ouch, what a stretch. Well let's get one back on the next hole...not so fast. 481 yard par 4, into the wind. Nice. I hit a great tee shot, still had 235 yards to go. Hit a great 3 wood into the back fringe, first putt to 9 feet, made the putt. Great frickin par dude. Half hearted 7 iron on the par 3 fourteenth, about 30 feet right. 2 tiers, pin on the bottom tier, almost made it, about 3 feet past the hole, made the putt for 3. Hit a corkscrew tee shot on the 470 yard par 4 15th, leaving me 230 in (240 yard teeshot downwind, stellar...), hit 3 iron a bit too far, over the back, good chip shot but just kept rolling. About 9 feet back up the hill, big slope on the right, it's got to go left, it must go left, it has to go...straight, left it on the right side, ball never moved. The guy I'm riding with was nearly on the same line and I swear his jaw hit the green. He said "well Scott, you saw it, trust it and hit it straight". After he made his I told him he owed me one putt.

Good tee shot on 16, 87 yards into the wind, perfect SW, pulled a bit, 10 feet left, pin high, read too much and missed it on the high side, good par. Great tee shot on 17, finally. Had 170 in, hit a worthless weak cut 6 iron, 2 feet from being enough, rolled back down into the bunker. Green is 4 feet above my head, hit it to about 4 feet below the hole, made the putt. Pulled my tee shot on the par 5 18th (was thinking "water has been in play 3 times so far, you put it in twice, don't block this into the water on the right", great swing thought eh?), had about 290 yards in. So I'm going back and forth on this one "hit 3 wood because I haven't made a birdie all day, I'm a million over, let's make something happen." And then I decide on a 5 iron. Water all down the left side near the green, let's not make it worse than it already is, you can still make birdie from the fairway. Hit the 5 iron perfect (damn, maybe it's NOT the club), left me 94 yards to the stick. Blocked the SW about 15 feet right, then let it run out of gas going down the hill, it was enough distance to get there, but not enough speed to hold the line, tap in par.

So let's take inventory, started out bogey, bogey, nearly making both par putts. Back to back doubles on 11 and 12, which truth be told, I was actually thinking about NOT hitting it in the water all week in my head while preparing, and 2 putts that absolutely should have dropped that didn't, 78. In all, I hit the ball a million times better than the last tournament, and I'm hitting it even better now (more on that in the next post). I walked away from this tournament feeling so good about a 78 that I should be ashamed, but the thing is, I know I'm so close. I'm hitting shots now that just feel, sound and respond differently than ever before. Very excited right now. The next tournament is 2 weeks away on 1/27, although about 50 miles from my house. Practice round and tournament day is going to suck for this one, oh well.

Equipment Update

My wonderful wife purchased a set of Mizuno MP-67 irons for me for Christmas. I've been missing the feel of Mizuno's as I've played them for years. The Titleist 690.CB's were great clubs, but hollow feeling compared with the Mizuno blades. The notch in the back gives it "some" forgiveness, nowhere near as forgiving as the Titleist's, but I'm ok with that, especially now that I'm hitting it better. They have X-100's in them, which I was a bit worried about considering that it felt like I've been swinging my driver at about 90Mph lately, but the last round cured that concern.

I bought some Golf Pride New Decade grips (blue and black) to replace the Lamkin's that were on there as well, really nice grips.

I also received some gift certificates and purchased a Titleist Vokey Spin Milled SW to replace my worn out Cleveland 588. During one of my lessons, my instructor commented about the lack of any grooves on the face of my wedge (compliments of 15+ years of use). I've been reading about the differences in spin between new and old wedges (literally a loss of 2,300 RPM after 40 rounds) and decided it was time for a new one. Time will tell if there's a difference, but the pitch shot on #9 last week checked and spun a bit sideways, unlike I'm able to do with the Cleveland. I'm pretty excited about this.

So exactly where have I been?

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted! I've basically been in hiding, toiling away on these changes that had rendered me a lump of quivering hack. Up until a week ago, it's been brutal. During my last lesson, I spent a 3 hour block of time chipping away attempting to essentially perform a quadruple bypass on my swing. Well, I sort of did, if you consider requiring 2 months of recuperation.

So after my 3 hour session, I went and played a round with a friend of mine. I was hitting it incredibly short. I literally lost 20+ yards off my tee shots, and at least a club off my irons. On the plus side, I was hitting my irons fat AND thin on alternating shots, so the distance wasn't my main concern. While that sucked, I chalked it up to a minor glitch and continued on. What I found was that every time I practiced and every time I played, I was hitting it worse and worse, and shorter and shorter. In the past, I'd hit my driver over the fence at the end of the range at Rio Salado, but now I was rolling it into the bottom of the net. Considering the fence is 30'=40' tall, that represented a pretty serious drop in distance. Naturally I stopped playing and only practiced. My lessons started to focus on power drills, I bought a Speed Stick, and basically curled up into a fetal position at night to keep from going crazy.

My man Mike at Rio Salado always checks in on me to see how things are going and I just spilled my guts to him. Told him what was going on, told him what I was working on, how much I was reading, working out, etc. His advice, stop reading for 2 weeks. Just hit some balls, and then he invited to me to play 9 holes with him after the holiday's, just to play, no swing thoughts, just hit it and find it golf. So I kept plugging away, and I knew I was getting close. I started hitting it a little better day by day, which was a miracle considering that for a time I was hitting it worse and worse each day. I made a swing or two or three per session where I hit the ball the correct distance again. Not every time, but I was getting there.

The day I showed up to play with Mike I was hitting it well. Oh hell, 1000% better than in weeks past. Mike stopped by to let me know his lesson was almost finished, and that his buddy from Texas who played and was getting ready for Q School for the Eurpoean Sr. Tour was going to join us. Ah great, it's bad enough that Mike's going to laugh at me, but now this guy gets to pile on too? Oh well, the way I'd been hitting it, and the intention of the round, I didn't really care how I was going to play. This was about Mike kicking me in the ass and getting my head out of the way, and by God I was going to let him do it. So off we went to the first tee for the first golf I'd played in over a month.

His buddy is from Texas (I'm an Oklahoma fan, Texas can suck it. No offense to anyone, other than Texans), so right away we started jabbing each other. That was cool, a good ice breaker. Didn't feel like I hit it incredibly well off the first tee, but I got down there and had actually bombed it. Just a little flip wedge to the green. I was so stoked about the tee shot that I just fell asleep on the pitch shot. Thinned it over the green, back on, 2 putts, bogey. Hit it dead on line on the par 3 second to about 12 feet, just missed it. Hit a really good 3 wood on the third, then tried a new pitch shot move (out of the Stan Utley book I've been reading) and left it very short. New rule, no more of that garbage. Chipped on and made the putt for par. Hit it dead online on the par 3 fourth, about 20 feet short though, 2 putt par.

Now it gets good, bombed my driver (325 yards if the card's yardage is correct) on the fifth. Par 5, 430 yards, weird hole, should be a par 4. Anyway, 105 out, solid wedge to about 8 feet, and nearly made the putt, yep it even had enough steam to go past the hole, so 2 putt birdie. Feels good now, having fun, fall asleep again and yank hook a 3 wood on the 6th, huge hill on the left so it funnels back down into play. Ball is well below my feet, 100 yards out. With the old swing so upright, I tended to pull hook these shots, so I aimed right at it. Now wouldn't you know it, the new swing puts the ball right online, so it goes right and short sides me into the bunker. We start screwing around with a few shots out of the bunker, miss the putt, bogey. Or double. I think double, yeah cause I took 2 shots. Well that sucks, thought I made 5, dammit. Next tee box the guys start getting on me about how long it takes me to set and pull the trigger so they have me back away and we talk about trimming up the routine. I reset, pull the trigger quickly, right online but short of the hole, say 30 feet. I jammed the ball up the hill about 6 feet past and missed the putt.

The 8th is a weird freaking hole, they put up a fence to keep everyone from hooking it into a parking lot on the East side of the golf course. So it requires either a 30 yard hook with (what I now know to be) a 7 iron. so hitting a dead straight 5 iron puts the ball into the lateral hazard. Couldn't find it, dropped a ball, mis-judged the distance and put it into the front bunker. Out to 4 feet and made the putt. Was going to hit 3 wood off the 9th, but got my ass chewed by the guys. "Hit your driver, practice putting it in play on tight holes like this, we are PRACTICING remember?" So I hit driver, not well, but good enough to be in play. A little flip wedge in, hit it well and one hopped it to a foot for a closing birdie. Those feel good.

Felt REALLY good to play again, even if just for 9 holes. When I beared down, I got great results. Looking back over the past 2 months, I didn't think I'd ever hit a good shot again. Just this round alone, I hit several, and didn't have a bunch of swing thoughts like I'd been paralyzed with while practicing. Mike, mission accomplished my friend. Thanks for clearing my head.