The Breakfast Ball has moved!!!

I've moved the blog over to wordpress. Here is a link to the new site;

www.thebreakfastball.wordpress.com

There are hopefully a lot of changes coming to the blog and this is the start of those changes. Check it out and I look forward to seeing you over at WordPress!!

It’s almost history! The slice that is…

I had a real big dose of reality the other night at Callaway. My range session didn't go as well as it has been going in the past weeks. I started out in a funk of fatness. Swing after swing I was hitting it fat, and not just a little fat. It took me what seemed like an eternity to figure out, but I hunkered down and went through my swing in slow-motion and realized what I was doing wrong. My weight shift was almost nonexistent. After some practice swings focusing more on my weight shift I started hitting the ball a lot cleaner and with more consistency.

I'm happy to say I was still hitting the ball with a draw/hook, until I got to my driver. After I got my fat shots corrected I started over with my SW and worked my way through each club in my bag. My 7i was a joy to hit. The shots were very consistent and had fantastic ball flight. Same could be said for my 6i, 5i & 4i. My hybrid is still a work in progress, although I'm hitting better than I ever have, it's still a very new club to me and I just need to practice with it more. I feel the same way about my 3W. Again I'm hitting it better than I ever have I just need more practice with it. Next week I think I'm going to work a large portion of my range time with those two clubs and see if I can get the wrinkles ironed out.

My driver wasn't there for me this outing. I wasn't able to zone in on a comfort zone like I did last week, and it showed early and often. Not that every shot was bad. I did manage to get some very, very nice shots with it and in the past I would have been satisfied with that, but it's no longer acceptable to me. Consistency is what I'm after and that wasn't happening. I'd make three really good swings and follow that up with a terrible one. Knowing what went wrong made it better to deal with, but I was still frustrated with the fact I couldn't string together a nice set of swings.

I'm 90% confident that I have eliminated the "Over the Top" portion of my swing. That being said, I now know that anytime I slice the ball it's all related to an open club face at impact. That little bit of info has really helped me make a correction after I hit a slice with my driver. What "grinds my gears" is I'm making the correction after the shot and not before it. I was really hoping that at this last range session I was going to be able to go out and hit shot after shot with some consistency and accuracy. I don't think that it was an unreasonable thought considering the success I've been having of late. What I was hoping for didn't happen, for the most part, and it's something that through hard work and a lot more practice I plan on being able to execute. It's difficult to get all the moving parts working correctly and it's even more difficult get all of the moving parts working correctly together and at the same time!

After realizing that my driver didn't want to participate I decided to switch it up and work on another portion of my game that is in dire need of some practice, my short game. I'm talking about from 65 yards and in. I set up in an area of the range that has a short target green and on the green there are three flag sticks at 40, 65 and 95 yards. I took aim at the 95 yard flag and was tattooing it with my SW! I was a playing a little game to see if I could land it short and to the right and with my draw ball flight roll it right up to the flag. It worked and it worked out great. I played that game for about 30mins, it was the most success I have ever had hitting my SW. The consistency and accuracy I was looking for with driver may not have been there but it was a completely different story with my wedges.

Next I took out my 52° wedge and was hitting pitch shots at the 65 yard flag stick. The greens at Callaway are all artificial turf and the ball will roll for ever if the shot comes in low and fast. It was a good challenge to see if I could land the ball where I wanted to and get it to check up and stop on the fake stuff. My goal was to leave myself a makeable putt from 65 yards out. I probably hit 50 balls and I can honestly say that 45 of them accomplished what I had set out to do. That made the night a success in my mind it was a great workout with my wedges and a successful workout at that!

I went through my irons again from SW to 4i after I was done with the wedges and walked away satisfied. The one thing I'm very happy with is the fact that I didn't slice any of my irons. Not one of them! I didn't even hit any shots to the right, at all! My iron play has improved some much over the past month I'm dying to get out and see if I can transfer it to a course.

One last thing I want to talk about is how I've been practicing at home. Over the past seven days I have been testing out swinging my clubs without a glove. Last week at the range my glove was annoying the piss out of me. It has become a little loose over the past month and was bunching up in my fingers where I grip the club. I took it off and hit some shots and the feel was tremendous. I felt a lot more connected with the club compared to swinging with the glove on. Since the 16^th I've been practicing in my garage without a glove and I've been really happy with the way the club is feeling in my hands. Something else that has happened in relation to not wearing a glove is I'm gripping the club with the head of the iron on the ground. If you have ever seen any of my video you'll notice that I always grip the club in the air out in front of me with the shaft pointed at a 45° away from my body. I then lower the club to the ground and address the ball. It's the way I've always done it. In an effort to get the correct shaft angle so I have the proper club lie I'm now addressing the ball with the club on the ground, getting my posture and alignment in place and then gripping the club. It is a completely different process for me but I think its working, my shot have been a lot more accurate of late and the ball flight has be a lot better.

This last range session I didn't even take my glove out of the bag. Everything was going fine until I had about 20 balls left. I had worn a blister into the right side of my left hand halfway between where my pinkie meets my palm and my wrist and another one between my first and second knuckle of my middle finger. I had to break out the glove to finish. I was a little upset that it happened, but Whatcha gonna do?

I get conflicting stories about calluses. In Harvey Penick's Little Red Book he talks about how a golfer should never have calluses and says that they are caused by shifting your hands on the club after you have taken your grip, which I strongly believe I AM NOT doing. Then in Hogan's book Five Lessons he has an illustration showing the correct locations of calluses. So I don't know what to believe. I do tend to wear out gloves rather fast and that was one of the reasons I wanted to correct my grip. I happy with the way I'm gripping the club now compared to a year ago, I just wish I had it down to an exact science. When I grip the club and do it with very soft hands I feel so out of touch with it, like it's just flopping around in my hands. My shots always seem to go to the right when I hold the club that way. Then on the other hand I feel completely out of control when I grip the shit out of it. I was sure I had found a happy medium where I was still holding the club firmly but not too firm. I guess I'm going to have to do some more research on it, because I really like my swing without the glove but I can't allow it to cause blisters and hinder my practice sessions!

This just in...

Deer Creek Golf Club. Boca Raton, FL

Pat was kind enough to send me a photo this morning of one of the courses we are going to play when I head out to Florida in six weeks and five days.

1,000 piece puzzle

I've had the mat I purchased from Callaway for a week now. I never really expected to see positive results from it but I think what took place on Tuesday night was in direct correlation of it.

I've been trying, really trying, to get 40-50 swings in every day. I can say I've been probably 90% successful in that venture. Being able to record my swings on my iPhone and get some instant feedback and analysis is something that I'm really excited about. The swing plane app is fantastic and it has allowed me to analyze myself so much better than what I was previously doing.

It was another beautiful night at Callaway and the place was packed. The spring league had started Tuesday and the parking lot and tee boxes were nearly filled up to the limit. I found a couple of spots upstairs and setup there while I waited for Randy to arrive. As I looked around at the other people on the range I was pleasantly surprised to see several people swinging the new R11. It's only been out a handful of days and I counted at least four people, in just the tee boxes near me, swinging it. This one guy was all decked out in white like he had just returned from the "White Out" event that was held at the Golfsmith store in New York. He had R11 everything, hat, shirt, bag and towel.

Randy showed up and we started hitting some balls. I started out a little tight and didn't feel very comfortable in the begging, but after a few swings things started to fall back into place and I was hitting the ball really well.

I decided to try something new and it I did it without my normal over thinking of it.I read an article on the internet about how to create a draw shot. Now me being a recovering notorious slicer I really haven't been concerned with learning a draw shot, my main focus has been swing plane and contact. This particular article that I'm referring to was talking about the address for a draw shot. It describe how to do so you picking your target, aiming your body a few degrees to the right, but keep the clubface aimed at the target. Mainly a closed clubface at address is what I took from it. Why not I thought to myself and decided to give it a try after I was warmed up.

Back when I started playing golf again, which goes back 15 months now, I was unaware of how truly uninformed I was on the workings of a golf swing. I've always had a general understanding of the swing but as my desire to get better came to be I quickly realized that I didn't know shit. Lately it seems that every time I "figure" something out, like my swing plane, or learn something new, like club lie and angle, I realize just how uniformed I was. It's a lot of information to take in and store, then recall and reuse.

I recently started to think of my game as a puzzle and when I started up again back in 2009 there was just a thousand pieces lying on the floor all scattered about in utter chaos. Slowly over the past year I've been gathering the pieces up and organizing them by colors, similarities and shapes and began the process of putting the puzzle together. I've come a long way since I dumped out the pieces onto the floor and when I look at it now it's no longer a pile of scattered pieces. It's beginning to take shape and piece by piece it's coming together. When you're in the process of building a puzzle and you come across that ever elusive piece that connects to large sections together there is a sense of accomplishment. It gets you over the hump and pushes you on towards its completion. I'd like to think of this "Draw" address I tried Tuesday night as one of those pieces.

The first shot I hit in the draw setup was an 8i and right away I could feel something in my swing that felt good. It took me a few swings to get used to it but it came around quick, a lot quicker than I expected. There was a small hiccup where I was pushing the ball right again and after remembering how that was fixed a few weeks ago I regrouped and starting hitting much better shots. I went through all my irons from my 4i through SW and executed each one with a draw. Never expected that, you could say I was tickled, and I couldn't wait to grab my driver.

I've never had so much fun with my driver on the range as I did this session. The first couple of shots I hooked really badly, I was more surprised about the hook then the severity of it. I adjusted myself a bit more to the left; I was aimed way to far right, and gave it another go. That one was much better; it had a bit of a draw but it started directly at the target, not to the right, and then hooked left. One more adjustment and it all fell into place like a perfect puzzle piece. My shots were starting out to the right and drawing back to the target. "That just happened!" I told myself, "You just hit that shot." I teed it up again and again I executed the same shot.

There is a lot of fine tuning I have to make, let me be the first to say that. I do feel like I made a huge leap forward though. I look back at one of my major issues that I've always had, the slice, and what I've done to correct it, the progress I believe has been tremendous. I had no real idea what was happening back then. Even worse had no idea how to determine what was wrong or how to fix it. Now, that's a completely different story. I now know that my swing plane was horrible and I've corrected it. I now know my grip was disturbingly awful and I've corrected  that too. I now know my posture was un-athletic and my tempo was anything but rhythmic and that too has been fixed. My clubface was open at impact, my shoulders were not rotating, my backswing was very erratic and I put the ball way to far forward in my stance. It was doing ALL of these wrong actions together that made my slice. Through the process of educating myself and building my puzzle I think I'm finally getting a grasp on my golf swing and the confidence that I'm creating from this process is incredible.

Combined we must have hit nearly 500+ balls. Randy was working on some things and I was still in the process of processing this new draw of mine. We went through a ton of balls and boy did my hands and arms feel it! When we were finished I was flat out exhausted. There is a real euphoric feeling when you mix exhaustion with accomplishment. 

It wasn't my best range session, but it was for sure the most memorable.
 

TaylorMade Demo Day

TalorMade tent at the Demo Day.

This past Saturday I attended a TaylorMade Demo Day at Rio Secco Golf Club. The demo was from 7:30am to 11:30am and I had a ton of things to do Saturday so I left the house early trying to be there right at 7:30am

It was gorgeous outside. No wind, clear skies and the temperature was in the mid 50's. When I got out to the range, the TaylorMade guys had just gotten done setting up the tent and were ready to go.
Spoke with one of the gentleman and let him know I was there to test out the R11 of course! He said to grab an iron and get warmed up. He asked what I was swinging now and said he would return in a few with the R11.

The iron I happened to grab was a new one that's not available yet, which I found out later. It was a Tour Preferred CB iron. Holy shit this was a nice stick. I've never really been fond of TaylorMade when it came to their irons, but this one felt so good. It was a 7 that I had grabbed and from the first swing I took I was impressed. The club felt so good at impact and I was launching the ball. I hit about 15 balls and I can honestly say I was happy with every single one of them! It was a great way to start the day!

The TaylorMade Guy (TMG I'll call him from here on out) said he was ready whenever I was. I hit my last ball then feasted my hands on the most talked about driver I think EVER.

What a sweet club it is. I saw one last week at Las Vegas Golf and Tennis, but it was just on display. The "TMG" set me up to start with the basic setup. After a few swings, he made some adjustments and added the weight to the toe end and changed to the closed clubface setting. That, along with a tip that I was addressing the ball WAY TOO far in front of my left foot, made the next fifteen minutes a joy.

Shot after shot I was creaming the balls down the range. The impact of the R11 is astonishing. It was like I was hitting a soap bubble with it. I didn't want to put it down, but after plenty of swings I figured I had swung it enough.  Since I wasn't there to buy, I gave up my tee box.

I chatted with the "TMG" for about ten minutes after that and he talked to me about the club and the irons I was hitting. He told me I have a nice swing with good club head speed and to keep at it.
I'm not sure if I'm the right person to "review" a driver, considering my HDCP index and all, but I will say this is one VERY nice driver. I spoke with the TMG and he was explaining to me the versatility that comes with the R11. The ability to make changes as you either progress or regress is an incredible feature. I would have liked to have had more time and made some more adjustments to the club just to see ALL of what it can do, but that was all of  the time I had worked out for me and I was thrilled that I gotten the chance to swing it.

The group of TaylorMade guys that were there were so nice and pleasant to talk to.  They really have their shit together. They were as laid back as could be but were still as professional as it gets. I had a blast and will definitely be attending any other demo days that I can. It didn't hurt that this one was at my favorite golf course and was only 10 minutes away from my house!

I don't plan on going out and getting the R11 anytime soon, I have a nice driver that isn't even 8 months old, and I like it! But, I will say this when I'm in the market for some new irons I will be definitely looking at what TaylorMade is offering because those Tour Preferred CB's are incredible!

BEWARE FLORIDA!!

Why?

Because in just 54 days I'm taking my hacking skills 2500 miles away to the Sunshine State to the lovely town of Boca Raton!!

I have my travel plans all confirmed and even picked up a travel bag so I can bring my clubs along! Pat lives out there and I've never been out to see him since he left Vegas. Heck, I've only been to Florida once in my life and that was when I was 4 years old.

Needless to say this is going to be a blast. Four days of Sun, Beaches, and Fishing and of course a little thing called GOLF!!

Cannot wait!

A great night at the range!

Tonight was incredible.

I started off horrible. I warmed up with my SW and wasn't too happy. Everything was going right. Same with the 8I, 7I, and my new found love my 4I. I was slicing my Driver like a mad man and couldn't straighten it out.

Callaway is still having their 2 for 1 bucket promo so I had two large buckets to go through, at only $9 that's a deal and a half!! I had about 20 balls remaining in the first bucket when I took a break. I even called Pat and left him a message begging for some help. I was making good contact just everything was going right. I've ran across this in the past but it has always seemed to work itself out, this time that wasn't happening.

Pat hadn't called back and I didn't want to go into bucket #2 with the anxiety I was having so I sat down and took a breather. I was really windy all day today and the range was empty so I was pretty alone at the bottom right of the range area. I closed my eyes and imagined in my head a perfect swing, Hogan style in slow-motion. I got up stretched a bit and went back at it.

Started this time with my PW, I hate to say I have a favorite club, but my PW and 9I I'm money with so I wanted to start on a good note. I took a few practice swings and new right away what I was doing wrong. I wasn't committing to the backswing. Everything else was working fine but I was leaving my backswing short. That, paired with a weak shoulder turn and I had a sure fire recipe for a "to the right" ball trajectory.

With a lot more focus on my shoulder turn and getting the club back further on the backswing it all fell into place. No more "to the right" shots. I got out my nemesis 5I and had great time hitting it. Ball flight was spot on, and was very accurate. Next I wanted to give the big stick another go and see if what I had realized was causing the slice. Sure enough it fixed it. Nice relax, but powerful swings and the ball was launching off the clubface. Best work I have ever done with the driver. Gave it a go with the 3W and the 3Hy and was way too happy with the results. I hit the hybrid so good I didn't want to stop hitting it, by far the best I have ever hit that club, it felt great!

That was just one of the good things that happened tonight. The other good thing was something I've wanted to do for a while I've just always forgotten to ask. This time I didn't. I mentioned to the guy at the counter at Callaway that one of the kids outside told me you guys sell your old mats. He confirmed that and told me they ask $50 for them! Wow, I thought I probably would have paid $100 for one.

When I got done with my second bucket I went in and paid for it and the kid took me out to the shed and I got to pick one out. We hauled it over to the car and I loaded it up. I got home and couldn't believe the difference from what I had been swinging on. This was at least a $500 mat, I've been pricing them on-line for months trying to get a good deal but they just aren't out there. It's a 5'x5' mat that has so much padding in it, it feels like grass. I never realized how soft these are when I'm using them at Callaway, but compared to what I've been using this was paradise!

I hit 180 balls at the range and when I got home I swung the clubs about 50 more time. I was just too excited about having the mat in the garage!! This is going to make my 100 swings a day goal a lot more realistic.

The Chase at Coyote Springs

My day started out great. Because our tee time wasn't until 12:30pm I got to sleep in!! That doesn't often happen for me so I took full advantage. I got up, had some breakfast, got all my clubs cleaned and loaded up the car.

The Entrance to Coyote Springs off of Hwy 93

Coyote Springs is in the middle of nowhere north of the Las Vegas valley. There wasn't any traffic the entire drive so I ended up getting out there about hour and forty five minutes before our tee time. The course is still under construction, kinda like how Conestoga is still under construction. The have a nice set up though. I think they are planning on being in the trailer for a while because they really have done up the exterior to make it look like it is NOT a trailer. I was greeted in the parking lot by some attendants who asked me to pop the trunk and proceeded to get my clubs out and get them on a cart, and that was nice.

I checked in and headed out to the range. The trip out to the range seriously took about 5min. The practice area and first tee will be a lot closer to the clubhouse if and when it ever gets built, but right now it's a journey.

The driving range is a thing of beauty. It's freaking huge! By far the largest driving range I have ever seen. It was pretty packed when I got there and I found a spot on the end a little bit away from everyone to warm up.

My warm-up started awful. I couldn't get anything working. The wind had really picked up by the time I was stretched and loose. There was a 15-20mph wind coming from left to right across the range. I'm not sure if I was just trying to adjust too much for it but I was driving me crazy. I went back to basics and started my session over with my SW. That helped a ton, I got more relaxed and starting hitting some good shots, finally! Driver was another problem. My attempts at my 3W were lackluster to say the least. I was I trouble before I even got to the first tee!! A good thing for me is about 30min before our tee time it started to come together. Drives were heading straight and the irons we doing much, much better. Still was having a problem with 3W and I should have remembered that because it bit me later on.

Practice facility. This is only half of it, there is more to the left!

I drove over to the putting green and quickly learned what my friends were talking about when they told me the greens were fast. HOLY SHIT!! These things were incredibly fast. So fast if fact that Randy even said if all the holes are like this, this aint gonna be any fun.

The putting green. One word descibe this and that's FAST

I had high winds to deal with, super fast greens on the course and a course that I've never played. Odds were not on my side that's for sure, but that wasn't the unfortunate circumstance we encountered. The course decided to let a group of 12, yes 12 go out in front of us and 3 foursomes. Problem was they all wanted to play together and from the start of our round we had a group of 6-8 in front of us. I have a photo I'll get up later that has 5 golf carts and 9 people on ONE hole!! It was unbelievable!

5 carts & nine people!

That being said and off my chest I'll get to how I played. The front started and ended most excellent. I hit a great drive on #1 and two putted for par. On the second hole my tee shot found a fairway bunker and after a very nice sand out I had a decent approach to the green. There was water right so I aimed a bit too far left and missed the green by a good ten feet. A solid wedge shot and a very nice putt had me scoring back to back pars! I was off to a great start. The next five holes need not to be mentioned. I'll skip right to 8 & 9. Par, Par. There that wraps up front. I had four pars and shot 49. Yeah, 3-7 were rough on me for sure.
The back started a little better, then got worse and I never recovered. My driver started slicing REALLY bad and I just have it in me to try and figure it out while playing so I switched to me 3W off the tee. I had some great success with it. I was hitting it straight and long. Some holes it was too long and I carried the fairway, but all in all my play with it off the tee was a success. It saved me from the 110's!!



I ended up with a 107. I've taken into consideration the new course the wind and the slow play on the front (that group of 12 left after the 9^th, there were a lot of complaints called in!) for my poor performance. Not that I would have shot in the 90's but it did have some effect on me. I hit my irons probably the best so far to date; they were crisp and had good flight (the majority) I just made some really poor choices on the course.
For example, twice I decided to play out of the dirt/rocks and attempt a shot I had no business taking. The first one was my second shot and it went through the fairway and came to rest on some pebbles just after the cart path, it at least a decent lie so I went at it. If I would have taken to penalty shot and backed up to the fairway I would have had a 110 yard shot to the green and that's a shot I'm very confident with. Instead a punched a PW and left myself a nice shot from 60 yards to the green. My error was choosing a 60 yard shot (which I'm not confident with) over the 110 yard shot. I struck the 60 yard shot with a wedge and caught it thin. It raced across the green into a bush. I hacked out of that and then had to chip to the green. Mental error number 1

View looking West from the front nine.

The other error came in a similar instance. I again carried the fairway and had a terrible lie with a LARGE rock immediately in front of the ball. There was water in front and a patch of fairway 90 to the right so I decided to try and get the ball to that patch of fairway. I had my left foot on the rock about 12" above the ball & my right foot was in the dirt about 10" below the ball. This didn't go well. I hacked at the ball (I'll call it hacking cause it was nothing near a golf swing) and it went about 8' in front of me in a worse position then in was previously. That attempt went worse, the ball ended up in the before mentioned water and I was left with a horrible place to drop. The next shot ended up where the original one as planned, just I was now hitting stoke 6 instead of stroke 3. The smart play was to take the penalty and back up to the grass and hit a 95 yard shot to the green and try to save par. I hit the wedge from the fairway and two putted for 8. I cost myself possibly 4 stokes on that hole more than likely 3 with a two putt but never the less I was a huge mental error on my part.

I have to work on my course management. That is a sure fire way that I can save some strokes. Making the correct play is very important and that has never been more relevant to me then it is now!

A good thing did happen as I was loading up the car. The course manager came out and apologized for that group that was in front of us and gave us all a complimentary round of golf. That was unexpected but very refreshing.

I'm looking forward to playing it again, it is a very fun course and I highly recommend it. Hopefully next time it won't be as windy and the pace will be a lot better!

It’s coming around!

I can't believe it's been 16 days since my last post! A lot has been going on so let's get right to it!
First off I have my next round scheduled for tomorrow with fellow Breakfast Baller Randy at The Chase Golf Club in Coyote Springs, NV. This place is supposed to be amazing. I've spoken with a few people who have played it in the past few weeks and both of them said the course is in great shape and the greens are the most challenging they have ever putted on. Nice!! I think!
Here is a link to the Course:
http://www.coyotesprings.com/golf/golf_courses.html


My last post back on January 16^th I was talking about my progress with my new swing. Well I pleased to announce that in the last two weeks things have only gotten better. I had another range session on the 26^th of January that started off not so good, but I was able to get it turned around. What started it all was a new show I watched on the golf Channel called "School Of Golf". After watching the show I decided to put some of new things I watched from the lesson to the test and failed miserably. Not that the lesson was terrible, I just didn't execute it properly.

The shows instructor (I'll get his name remembered sooner or later) talked about spine angle and the 15°/20° change from address, to the top of the back swing and back to impact. It caught my attention because in watching my videos of late I've been standing very straight up & down and not moving my spine at all throughout the swing. He talked about how that is a recipe for disaster, so I went out back and started playing with the idea. I like what I was seeing and decided to give it a go at the range the next day.
I started screwing up right from the first swing. Looking back at it now I know what I was doing wrong. I'm angrier with myself for taking too long to figure it out. Randy had to take off and I had about 20 balls left to hit. We were hitting off the mats because the grass area is just crap this time of year, which we found out the hard way the week before. So, Randy leaves and I have the remaining balls to hit. I still hadn't figured out what I was doing wrong and continued to make the same errors over and over. Frustrated with what just happened I gathered up my stuff and started to head out. I got to the upper level and started to get really upset with myself. Three solid weeks of progress and I just blew it tonight. I told myself it can't end like that tonight! I went and got another bucket and found a mat upstairs to hit off.

I had a different approach this time. I thought back to the four main principles in Hogan's book; Grip, Stance and Posture, Backswing & Downswing. I'm very confident with my new grip, not the issue. The Stance hasn't changed just my posture slightly, implementing the new spice angle at address was a change but not a game changer (at least I thought). When I started to think about my backswing the realization of my error hit me like a ton of bricks!

I was executing a completely different backswing based on my new position at address. Without even hitting a ball from the new bucket I was convinced I knew what I had been doing wrong, and I was right! I relaxed calmed myself down and began my session over. This time the results were way better! I started with my 7i and was hitting some of the cleanest 7i's I've ever hit, same thing with my 8i and my 9i. The true test would come later. I hit some more with my 8i and SW and decided it was time. Over in my bag looking at me, mocking me was my 5i. I put the SW away and there was that EVIL number 5 looking right back at me almost taunting me. "Betcha can't hit me bitch!" You could easily state I had already lost the mental game at that point but considering how poor I've been with my 5i it's not like I was being beaten down further, I was at and have been at the bottom for a while now.

With the first swing of the 5i my outlook immediately changed. Shot after shot after shot I was hitting my 5i like it was supposed to be hit. I was just a tad bit giddy! In reference to my earlier statement it was a definite game changer! After I got done beating up my 5i for the first time ever in my life I brought out the driver. I was pleased with how it went, not the best I've ever stuck it, but it was decent. It's a different swing with the driver and I'm adapting to it. Ended the night on a high, I couldn't be happier that I had the passion and the drive to not be satisfied with a poor outing and did what I needed to do to leave on that high! Proud of myself for that!

******************

Over the weekend of the 29^th I really got my garage cleaned up and I moved my homemade range into there. It's been freakishly cold this winter and hitting outside in the back yard has not been enjoyable. With a now clean garage and some rearranging I was able to get my stuff setup in there where I now can hit my foam balls and get in more practice. I've told myself 100 swings a day NO EXCUSES. Yeah, then reality set in quick, almost immediately that had to be scaled down. It's very tiring to swing the club 100 times, on the range is no problem, but at home it's a different story, after about 40 swings I'm beat, so I changed that number to 40 and will work up from there. Sunday I did 40, Monday I did 40, and Tuesday I did about 25 due to time restrictions. Wednesday night I watched the 2^nd episode of "School Of Golf" this lesson was about the grip. I was real hesitant to watch it because I'm very happy with my grip right now and I didn't want to see something that would put a thought in my head and change what's working, I know, weak minded but it happens so easily. Then I thought about last week's lesson and how that turned out to be a positive and said what the hell, and I'm glad I did.

Everything he talked about in the grip I liked. I felt like he only reaffirmed what I had been doing. In all honesty I wish they would have had this show and instructor on last year! HA
Later on in the show the instructor put on a demonstration on how to help you hit the ball from the inside. Using a large inflatable ball and a hockey stick he showed how in order to hit the ball to the right you would have to strike the ball on the inside of the ball. For example if you're looking down at the ball you imagine a clock, now run a line that dissects the ball right down the middle from your target through the ball. That line would run from 12 o'clock (the front of the ball) to 6 o'clock (the back of the ball). What you want to do is attempt to strike the ball at 7 o'clock. I was immediately intrigued and headed right out to the garage to give it a go.

What I found to be so interesting is that with that swing thought in my head I could feel my hips turning sooner and faster, and I could tell that my swing plane was going from inside to out. I swung about 40 swings and afterwards I was really excited about getting to the range last night.

******************

Last night was AWESOME!

Everything was working for me. I started out with my 7i and attempted to swing at the inside of the ball like I was talking about earlier, the problem was I was hitting it straight right, a hard push. No slice, thank God, but straight right. I played around with a bit and decided that it's something that's going to need some work and went on to do some more work on my 5i. I don't know if those few swings that I made with my 7i implanted something deep in my skull, but for the rest if the night I was hitting everything with either a nice draw or a hook. Never before have I ever uttered those words in regards to my golf swing except for maybe talking about what I would like to see myself doing one day. It was something I had never experienced and it was neat. It took some time for me to adjust. One of the first things I did was to start opening up the club face just a touch. That seemed to help get me more straight towards my target. The driver was fun. I've never drawn a shot with my driver let alone hooked one. It again was an adjustment but once I got it down I was enjoying it very much!

I have another story about my club lie angle and my toe and heel of the clubs but that's for another day when I have more information or should I say more knowledge to talk about it without sounding like a moron!! I'll tease this, just because it's interesting. I picked up some of the stick on indicators that when you put on the club face it will leave a mark and let you know where you are impacting the ball at. Well the first four balls I hit with those on, ALL of them were on the heel side of the club, same thing with the driver. I don't know if the adjustment I made is the correct one, more research to come on that, but I just addressed the ball more on the toe side of the club and from then on I was dead center on all of the balls I hit. I'm sure that had a lot to do with my success last night too. I bug's the crap out of me to think I've been hitting on the heel side of the club all this time. We'll see how it goes, who knows maybe that's a game changer too!

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, this will be my first Nicklaus designed course that I've played and I can't wait. It's gotten some great reviews and from what I've been told we're in for a real treat.
Wish me luck!!

Here’s to another successful night at Callaway.

The Vegas Skyline in the background @ The Callaway Golf Center

I went through 180 balls last night. Callaway is having a two for one bucket promo for the rest of the month. It stinks that the grass area is completely shit when it comes to a hitting area, but $12 for 180 balls makes it a little better to deal with.

I had some positive moments last night. I was hitting the ball really well most of the time, I did run into a few "bad" spots where I just wasn't taking my time and I was rushing it too much. It was a good struggle though, it made me step back, take a breather and work on what was causing the problem. I downloaded an app for my phone a few days ago that allows you to record your swing and then analyze the swing in slow motion or frame by frame and lets you draw lines so you can check yourself. It's paid off already. I had Randy record a couple of my swings when I was going though that rough spot and was able to get some instant feedback via the video. You could clearly see that I was off plane on my backswing and I wasn't using my hips to start the downswing. So I went back and took some swings and tried to correct the flaw.

It's infuriating when you can't correct something right away. I knew what the problem was and even with some guidance I still couldn't manage to correct it. I was getting pretty flustered when I just told myself to relax and let my body make the swing. That's the best advice I have ever given myself!

When I take my time, relax, get my shoulders turned the correct way and let my body create the swing it's a thing of beauty. I told myself to quit trying to kill the ball and just relax. That's when I remembered one of Pat's swing thoughts "No Power". That's what he tells himself before he swings. I changed it up a bit and just told myself to "relax", and it worked. You can feel what's going on so much better when you're relaxed. When I'm tight and tense you don't feel the poor grip, the poor posture or being out of balance. When I'm relaxed and calm though, I could sense all of that. I little correction here, and little correction there and everything felt great. Made a nice backswing, let the hips take over and sure enough I started hitting some really good shots.

All in all it was a good session. I ended the night on a great run with my 7i (been an issue of late) and walked away with some really positive thoughts about the night. I can not wait to get out on the course again and see if I can apply it to a round. It looks like February 5^th is going to be the next outing. That will give me at least two more range sessions to get more consistent with this new swing. Lot's of work still to go, but it's getting better every time out!

On a side note here is who I have on my Hackers Paradise Fantasy Team this week:
Ryan Moore, Alex Prugh, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Bill Haas, Kevin Na, Kevin Stadler, Charley Hoffman, Jamie Lovemark & Mark Wilson

Still swinging

After my not so stellar performance at Badlands a few weekend ago I really started questioning myself again. I allowed myself to take a step backwards and played several holes without thinking about my new swing I'm working on. Old habits die hard has never been more true. It's very difficult to institute a new swing and have the mental capacity to deal with failure. This rollercoaster that I have been on lately got the best of me at Badlands. Over the past month I've had a great range session, and very good golf outing, a horrible golf outing, another bad golf outing, a great range session, and FANTASTIC range session followed up with another bad golf outing. Not that Badlands was all bad. Considering we did get any warm up time, and that we were playing from the back (71.3/141) I did manage to hit 8:14 fairways, not to shabby for a desert target course.

I took last week off just to try and get my head cleared. It helped that I was super busy with work and home, plus it gave me a change to reflect on what's been taking place with my game. Switching from "interlock" to "Overlap" really worked well for me on the range, but on the course at Badlands it wasn't so successful. I never could get myself into a good rhythm. I'd hit a great drive and a terrible second shot, or a bad drive and a better second shot, and my putting was way, way off. Adding up all the bad, I let it get to me and it killed any chance I had of being successful. I even blew up on an old guy that was playing with us, just because I was frustrated with myself. That's pathetic. So the week off did me some good both physically and mentally.

This last Wednesday night I was sitting at home watching some TV when out of nowhere a swing thought popped in my head that I had forgotten about. The last time I was on the range and was really striking the ball well, one of the swing thoughts I used that really helped my striking was to hit down on the ball with my right hand on the downswing. Up until a few weeks ago I have never thought about my right arm when it came to my swing. I've always been concerned with my left arm "gotta keep it straight" and have never even processed a thought on the right arm. Well, in reading Hogan's book I remembered where he talks about the downswing. A player should, after starting the downswing, only think about hitting the ball as hard as they can, with "both" hands. Both hands I thought to myself. It had never occurred to me to hit the ball with my right hand, I've always though it was just along for the ride. I applied that philosophy to my swing and when I did my contact was a lot better.

It's a shame that I didn't remember that until five days after I played. Not that the reason I did so poor was that alone, but I just wish I had better memory recognition when it comes to swing thoughts that have a positive outcome.

Something else took place when I remembered that right hand swing thought. It was a calming effect that kinda overwhelmed me. I've been allowing myself to get very frustrated and critical of my game, analyzing everything that I could think of trying to find the faults in everything that I do. What I've forgotten about is the positive. I thought to myself "why are you beating yourself up over this?" I have completely reworked my swing from the ground up, and along the way there is going to be some failures, but the positives are most certainly outweighing the negative. Doing something the incorrect way for so long makes it very difficult to adjust to doing it the proper way, so it's going to take time, and it's not going to happen overnight. I have to remember to focus in the positive. I have finally gotten the grip I've been searching for and I think I have a good idea on what I need to be working on to improve me scores. My ball striking has improved a ton in the past month, I'm hitting my driver probably the best I have since I got my new club and my putting has been a whole lot better. That being said I have come a LONG way from where I was a year ago, and that was never more relevant than this past Saturday at the Desert Willow Range.

I've mentioned Desert Willow in the past, it's a nice little Executive course that like playing at. I had a coupon for a discounted bucket of balls so I figured I'd head there after work and get in a bucket. My problems irons of late have been my 5i and 7i. It's odd but I can crack the shit out my 6i, but the 5i is like a foreign entity. After some stretches and practice swings I started with the 5i and I began with the interlock grip, I don't know why, but that how I started. I can only assume that it was because of the poor performance at Badlands with the overlap that made me switch back. Right out the gate everything was going right, not with a slice, more of a push. This was new for me. I certainly slice the ball, that's one of my major swing faults but I never push the ball. Shot after shot the pushed didn't go away. It wasn't every ball I hit, I did manage to hit a few without the push but I would say probably 75% had the, to the right push. I hit a few with my 8i and PW. Very solid, the PW was my best of day, I was making great contact, still had a bit of a push but not as predominate as the 5i and 7i. Hit the driver next. I was so happy with the six balls I hit with it I put it away for fear I have a bad swing and force myself to work in it.

Then the Golf God's sent me a preverbal angel.

A couple of tee boxes over a guy showed up and starting hitting some balls. He was struggling, and I mean STRUGGLING! Low flying to the left and to the right, fat shots, thin shots, shank shots he had them all in his bag and was using every single one of them. I took a break and stepped back to collect my thoughts for a minute. I began to watch him very closely to see if I could pick out what I thought was his issue. What I saw shocked the hell out of me. It was ME! No seriously, it was me from early 2010. Everything he was doing I could see in my head a recorded video swing of me from last year. It was chilling how close his swing was to mine. As I sat there watching him I began to pick apart his swing like it was mine. Bad posture, horrible shoulder movement or lack there of, bad backswing plane, too much head movement, terrible follow though. It was as plain as the sky was blue. Now I'm no swing coach and I certainly would never ever approach someone and offer my advice, but it was intriguing to be able so see the swing faults and know why he was hitting so poorly. At least why I thought he was hitting so poorly.

I started thinking about why my shots were going right. In all honesty I have no idea, but it made me go back to the basic that Hogan talks about; Grip, Posture, Backswing & Downswing. Somewhere in those 4 things there was and error to be found. That's when I went back to the overlap grip. I started focusing more on my shoulder turn and getting my hips to initiate the downswing, and then hit that MF as hard as I can with both hands! The timeout helped, watching that other player swing helped and refocusing really helped. The right push disappeared immediately. I was hitting some really good shots and my confidence just exploded. Nothing feels better then ending a range session on a high and I was. I even pulled out the Hybrid and was hitting it the best I ever have.

I have a lot that I'm taking from this last session. Actually it more like this last week. That would be a better way to look at it. I have a lot that I'm taking away from this last week. I have told myself that this is a work in progress, and that it's not going to be magically better after one good range session. It's going to take time and lot's of work to get to where I want to be and I know that. I'm not going to look at a bad shot as the norm like I used to, from now on a bad shot happens and you learn from it, not dwell on it. Lastly, the overlap is here to stay!

18th Green at Desert Willow

Some Badlands Photos...

Early morning. This is looking west towards Red Rock Canyon

#9 Tee box on the Desperado nine. This is where our group started.

L/R: Dave, Kevin and Randy

Dave waiting his turn on #1 Desperado.

The Hackers Paradise

Anyone who is looking to play Fantasy Golf needs to check out:

www.thehackersparadise.com

I've played in a couple of Fantasy Golf Leagues and so far this one is top on my list. Plus the website is just plain awesome. Best golf forum I have had the pleasure to be a part of. Articles are great reads, product testing and the best golf giveaways I've encountered. So check it out, it's my new favorite website!!

Badlands on Saturday!

I have some good news to share! Found out this morning that my employer is sponsoring a Golf Tourney this upcoming weekend in support of one of our local high schools softball team.

There were some spots open so I got a spot and I got one for Randy too. It's a four man scramble and its taking place at Badlands Golf Club.

It has been so long since I played at Badlands. I think it was way back in 1997. Crap that was a long time ago, anyway here's a link to the course:

http://www.badlandsgc.com/

This is taking place at a perfect time for me. I'm not going to concern myself with scores or strokes or totals I'm just going to go out (my plan anyway) and try my best to execute the shots I need to execute. Period.

Another great night at Callaway.

Last night was awesome! The weather was perfect, just a slight chill in the air, but no wind and no rain!

Everything is starting to fall in place for me. The new swing I've been working on is coming along nicely. I still have a LONG way to go, but I can certainly see a difference in just the past two outings at the range.

After the struggles I had with my driver this past Sunday, tonight was a complete 180° turnaround. I've tried to implant in my head that the body does the work, the body does the work, the body does the work and I'm trying to get out of my bad habit of letting my arms take over. It seems to be working, I know that it's only been a few session but I like what I'm seeing and I like it a lot.

I'm not sure how much the next events truly effected anything, but it's kinda a neat storyline.

My glove that I've been using for a while now (it's a Bionic) has had a hole in it for about a month now, mainly because of the incorrect grip I've been using. It reached its final swing last night and basically let me know that it was no longer going to be of service to me anymore and it was time to move on. Earlier, while Randy and I were walking to the hitting area I found a glove lying on the ground right before the steps that take you down to the grass area. An older gentleman had just walked past us and I hollered out to him and asked if was his. "Not mine." he replied. I picked it up and brought it with us with the intent of turning it in to the pro shop after we were done.

So I'm hitting away and my glove craps out on me. I probably got way more out if it than I should have, but it was done. Add to the situation a little sore that had developed on my left index finger between the knuckle and the nail on top and I was a bit concerned if I was going to be able to finish hitting the bucket. I grabbed the glove I found, just to see if it fit, and to my surprise it fit! Almost too good. I have small hands and nobody in Vegas carries small gloves, I had to order my last Bionic glove on-line so you can understand my surprise when this one went on like it was made for my hand. With the new glove on I gripped the club with my interlocking grip and the little sore on my finger was now a lot more aggravated. I don't know why, maybe it's the extra padding of the Bionic glove, but it was painful to grip the club now. I switched to an overlap grip, and with no pain at all I gave it a try.

I finished off the bucket with a very successful run, I was hitting my 7i and 8i very, VERY well. My ball flight was consistent and so was my distance. I really was focusing on getting my arm higher and my hands higher and the results were fantastic. I didn't want to stop. When I finished my bucket I looked around and found two more balls that were errant shots from the mat area and swung away. That was the best range session I've ever had. Positive, constrictive, consistent. It was all in all a very successful night for me. Call it fate or just luck that I found that glove or that the sore on my finger came to be, but whatever the reason I can tell you this, I'm glad it did.

I used to play an overlapping grip back when I worked at Las Vegas National. Chuck had shown it to me and suggested that I try it. I can remember sitting in my living room hold a club in overlap grip for hours trying to get used to it. I took a while but eventually I was grabbing it and overlapping without even thinking about it. I don't know why I switched to an interlocking grip when I started playing again last year, it just happened. I'm going to give the overlap grip a try and see how it goes. It sure felt good hitting those shots last night with it. Will it change my game, maybe. I'm optimistic, it might make it worse! Only time will tell. It did feel right that's for sure, and I can say it has been a while since I left the range feeling that confident. It's a great feeling!

First Range Night of 2K11

Things went really good tonight. It was probably one of the better range sessions I've had in a while.

I have been working on some new things and I've been dying to get out to the range and put them into action. What I've been doing the last few weeks is swinging my 5i on my generic home-made pathetic little mat I made in my back yard. It's not the best but, I can record my swings and get some decent feedback on where am at with the new things I'm trying.


After my horrible display of golf at Desert Rose a few weeks ago I really started questioning my game. I thought by now I should be showing better improvement and at least some score in the 90's. I know I don't play enough to consistently shoot in the 80's but I should be playing better. Call it fate or just dumb luck but what happened next hopefully will unlock me scoring lower in 2011.

I saw a twitter post from Rickie Fowler that said he had just got done with an awesome working out with "Joey D" from GolfGym. Intrigued by the words "GolfGym" I quickly Googled it and found the web site. Some very interesting stuff on the site and it definitely had me curious. Joey D had written a book and was promoting it on the web site. I went online to Barns & Nobel and found a local book store that carried it.
When I arrived at the book store my intent was to buy his book and that's was it. I walked over to the golf section and quickly found it. I skimmed through it quickly and like what I saw and was ready to leave when my eyes became fixed on book title that I've heard too many times not to have read by now. Ben Hogan's Five Lessons. I haven't read a lot of books about golf. The ones that I have read all have something to do with Harvey Penick or are monthly periodicals, but I have heard so much about this book I grabbed it to see what it had to offer. I was hooked at Lesson 1: The Grip. I read the lesson there in the book store and knew I had to get this book also. I was a great read and I had just read a few pages.


That night I read the entire book (it's a very easy read) front to back and even reread the chapter on the grip. This has been an issue for me since I started playing. You might recall recently I was praising an article from Golf Magazine about the grip. That was a great article, but I think it may have some me more harm than good. What I really enjoyed about the book was the way that Mr. Hogan explains the how and why of the gold swing. He puts it in very simple terms and it is very easy to relate to. It a unique way of looking at the golf swing and I really connected with his words. I could go into a lot more detail, but I won't. That could take forever.



I started practicing the grip the way he describes it and it felt amazing. It was like I was gripping the club for the first time the right way, it felt so right in my hand. I have an old shaft that I keep at work and when I'm in a slow part of the day I grab it and practice my grip. I decided that I better bring in a real club because if I'm going to practice it might as well be with a real club. So for the next five days all I did was practice this new grip. I didn't swing one time, I just wanted to get that feeling planted in my mind.



The next thing I started working on was my backswing plane. Mr. Hogan goes into great detail of the importance of the backswing plane and I was curious how I lined up in comparison to where he says you should be. I was in utter shock when I saw the video I had made several months ago. I was so far away from being under the backswing plane there was no way I was going to be hitting the ball correctly with this swing. I started working on it immediately! Back to the back yard I went and again I began to work on something new or me, this time though I knew what I needed to be working on, a huge difference from any other time!

You can see from the above pictures I have made a big change in my backswing. The first picture is from October a couple of days before I played Desert Pines. All of the pictures are at the top of my back swing, and you can clearly see that I had a real issue getting my shoulders and hips turned. Nowhere near where the club should be at that point of the swing, are real problem. The next photo was from a video I took after I read the book. Mr. Hogan's simple approach to the golf swing is a beautiful thing. It is so very basic. Grip, stance & posture, backswing and downswing, if you're having a problem look there first. I made a nice change after reading the book. My shoulder turn was much easier to make and my hips got a lot further back compared to the first picture. I watched the video and was excited that I was able to adapt to his lessons and get the club back further than I ever have before, and almost effortlessly. Then I started messing with the picture in Photoshop and was really surprised to see how off my backswing plane was compared to where the book says it should be. Back to the back yard I go. I worked on it for a few days and then the other night I got out my phone and in the freezing temps (28° that night!!) I recorded the video for the picture on the far right. I was so happy. It was working, I was getting my arm in the right position and everything was looking really good!



That last video was three days ago and to say I've been craving the range would be a gross understatement. Today I got some free time and headed down to Callaway Golf Center to hit a bucket. I thought for sure with the temps in the high 30's the place would be a ghost town. Not the case, the parking lot was as full as ever and as I walked up to the front entrance almost every tee box was being used. I paid and headed out to the mats (I know, I know bad choice but I have some work to do first!). The tip tier was definitely full but to my surprise the bottom level was almost empty, just a few people on the left side but the right side was completely empty! I went and got my balls and started to warm up. I had been using my 5i in the back yard so I grabbed it first and started my session.


I could really tell a difference right away. The ball was jumping off the club face. I was making some really solid contact and the distance I was getting with my 5i was very, very new to me. I hit about twelve balls with my 5i and then switched to my UW, what I consider my 100-110 yard club. The results were great; I was getting fantastic height out if the club and when I hit it good, it was really good. I hit several more with my 7i and then my 8i and had pretty much the same results. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hit every shot great, I mixed it up with a few fatties here and a couple of sliced shots there, but all in all it was good results. I brought out the driver next and gave it a go. I'm going to need some work with this stick. I struggled with it at first but after a few swings I was making some really good contact and hit several that I just smashed. Then all hell broke loose.

My quiet area of the range was overtaken by a group of people that felt I need some companionship. I was all alone all by myself without a person in sight all the way at the far end of the range. This group of six decided to walk by the twenty vacant hitting stations and take up camp on the two tee boxes to my right and the two tee boxes to my left. I was completely surrounded. I was ticked to say the least. I only had about twenty balls to go so I stuck it out, but it was so annoying having a group chatting it up all around me. I should have taken it as a good practice in concentration but I was so mad that they unnecessarily invaded my area I let it get the best of me and made some really poor shots to end the night. Lesson learned I guess.


All in all it was a very successful night. I felt good when I left and know what I need to work on. It's just going to take a bit of time to get used to swinging this way every time, and it's something I'm looking forward to!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year, and a wonderful 2K11!

No range tonight

More nasty weather for the Las Vegas area tonight, wind, rain and maybe snow! So it was a "no go" for the range. Going to see what the weekend has in store weather wise. I need to get out to the range; I have a bunch of new things I'm working on and I'm dying to see the results.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE BREAKFAST BALL

It was one year ago today that I started this little blog. This past year has been a blast. I've played more golf than I have in a LONG time and I'm enjoying the hell out if it. I'm really looking forward to 2011.
I've compiled a small list of things that I want to work on in 2011.

1. Practice better. I need to start taking full advantage of the time I have at the range to work on more than just smacking balls, I need to work on my chipping and pitch shots a LOT more. I'm going to make a valiant effort to go to the chipping area after I get done hitting on the range and work on my short game.
2. Mental Toughness. I tend to make stupid mistakes when I'm playing a round. Most of the time those errors lead to a blow up hole and a score destroyer. It bugs the crap out of me when after I make a poor shot that I know immediately after that I made a stupid play.
3. Exercise more. I used to work out so much and over the last six months I just haven't and my body is showing it. I was very excited when I started playing again because I had lost a lot of weight and was in the best shape I had been in since High School. Being in better shape I was sure that it would reflect my golf game. Well, I've blown it and now have to get busy getting my ass back into the shape I was this time last year!
4. Home Practice. The past couple of days I've been heading out the back patio and trying to get in at least 50 swings with a 5i. What I like about it is I'm right at home, there is no traveling and I can set up my camera and snap some shots or videos and I have instant feedback. One thing I would like to get is a real mat to hit off of. My homemade version is a joke!

There is so much that I need to work on, but these are the ones that come to mind first.

 This first year was a rough one. Playing by the rules, counting every stroke and taking penalties is a sure fire way to humble yourself. I feel that I have made some progress. I know my scores don't show it, but I can tell. When I started playing legitimately last February I was horrible with my driver. I couldn't hit a fairway at all. Now, although not greatly improved, I am hitting fairways more. My putting has really come around the last few times out. I'm hitting my putts really pure and have a lot more confidence when stepping up to hit those crucial putts. Have to thank Graham McDowell for that. His putting tip when he was a guest on the Golf Fix was just what I needed to help my putting out.

My Greens in Regulation stat has been disgusting. This is the part o my game that needs the most work. You can't score low if your ball isn't on the green when it should be. I'm at 11.8% as of today. I'd like that number to be in the 40% range. How long that will take I can only guess.

I do have some goals I want to accomplish before 2012 gets here:

1. Play at Bali Hai Golf Club
2. Shoot under 95
3. Play a round with fewer than 30 putts
4. Beat Randy straight up!
5. Get my handicap to 20 or under!

So back to the range I go. Tomorrow will be the last range session of 2010. I've been working on some new things and before I talk about them and jinx the shit out myself I'm going to see how it goes tomorrow night at Callaway. Maybe I'll talk about it on Thursday, maybe not!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

Got a nice gift from my Brother In Law:

High number balls, nice!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Going to have my Golf New Years Resolutions Blog up in a few days. Think about yours and get ready to leave a list in the comments!