Tyk

I am hitting the driver all over the place right now! Right, left, pop-ups, drop kicks, pull hooks, you name it, I got it! My last 54 holes I think I have 6 FIR total with the driver, somehow I'm not losing balls, and considering where I'm putting myself off the tee I'm scoring ok (79,79,83). The bright side is that I'm putting about as well as I ever have, canning putts inside 15' regularly and 3 putting very rarely (I think 3 3-putts in 3 rounds). I'm really happy with that as the greens are in very mediocre shape and I've been practicing with the putter quite a bit at home. So while I'm discouraged by the driver, I'm not getting to worked up about it. I know it will come. I haven't been practicing much, the weather has been all over the place, 60* one day and 20* the next so when I get a chance to get out, I just go play. Once it warms up I'll get my ass to the range and get the driver worked out. I'm starting to get the feel for the MP-58s. Distance control is still pretty iffy and I'm not sure I really like the Rifle 6.0. Can't decide if I should pull the trigger on some KBS Tours or if the Rifles will actually be ok once it warms up and can loosen up a bit. Getting good contact with the irons more often as the rust comes off, but still coming up short too often. Can't decide if its the new clubs, the shafts, the cold weather, or the rust. Basically have too many variable to really even try to sort it out. In the meantime, I'll keep smacking the driver all over the course and seeing if I can save a par!

Finally put a decent round together with some good ball striking yesterday. Shot 80 with a silly double on the first hole and about 6 makeable birdie putts that I couldn't roll in. All in all I'm pretty happy with that, it felt good to be hitting greens again.

Hey R.P., this was my first round after getting an extension in the FliHi I got from you, I had to add about 1 1/2" to it and now I finally think its going to work out pretty well for me. There's a group of us here that are pretty hard core as far as cold weather goes. Depending on the wind, if it's over 30* and sunny, there's a good chance we're playing! Cold and wind don't bother me too much, I can dress for anything, but I'm a wimp about rain, once I can't keep my grips dry, I'm done! Today was fun because we decided to play out of the snow if we were in it! Pretty funny trying to figure out how to hit those shots!

The weather finally broke enough to get out and play today, there's still big patches of snow all over the place and the ground is frozen solid, but it bumped up over 40* for the first time in awhile, so we went for it! Only a 4 holes were reasonably playable, so we played them 3 times! The snow was tough to play out of, some of it was loose but most was pretty crusty, dig too deep and the club breaks through the crust and it's all over! I played pretty well considering the conditions and the rust. They're calling for more snow tomorrow so it might be a while before I get to play again.

I can see how it would be good for a course to have these on the par 3 flag sticks on tournament days for the closest to the pin contests, also useful for marking a circle around a pin.

Played a solid front and a miserable back, which is happening way to often. Wind today was brutal, wind doesn't bother me much on full shots, but it really jacks with my short game and putting. Won a $35 skin though so it wasn't a total loss!

The swing changes I've been working on are finally starting to settle in and feel normal! I'm not having to think as much and it is paying off. Playing again today, I hope it isn't a two steps forward, 1 step back type of day, there'll be a big group out as its beautiful out this morning, should be lots of cash rolling around! Came as close as I ever have to an ace yesterday, stuck one to 2"!

I'm pulling for ya R.P., get yourself well soon! I had a tale of two nines today. 37 backed up by a 47. I am implementing a fairly major swing change so I shouldn't be frustrated, by I must confess to a club tossing incident on 12. . .

I agree with R.P. about sparnar's potential, especially from the mental side. He is far and away more self aware about his game than I was when I was trying to break 100. However, breaking 100 is still a worthy goal, and as much as it seems from our end that sparner should be kicking that door down with authority in the near future, the fact remains that he hasn't yet! It wouldn't surprise me if he did go out and break 100 and 90 on the same round, that would be quite a feat, but I'm just ready for him to break that 100 mark no matter how he does it!

Had a tune up lesson with our course pro today, in preparation for my TMaG fitting tomorrow. It was just what the doctor ordered! He helped me refind my "relaxed power" principles and I was flat out puring the ball again! Probably the single most effective lesson I've ever had, and I've taken many lessons from this pro over the years. I was hitting the ball so well that I hated to leave the range I was having so much fun! I'm ready to go!

Had a pretty rough 86 yesterday for my first round in a month. Didn't do anything horrible, but my distance was way off and I was fighting my pull hook which is my tendency when I'm rusty. Bad thing was we lost our grudge match 1-down after being 4-up on 12. Ooops. . . Today was much better, shot a 78 with a double on 18. Drove the ball very well and started to find my distance with my irons on the back and the pulls were becoming nice little draws. Was pretty encouraged by this since I have my TMag fitting this Wednesday. Arranged an hour lesson with the pro at our course on Tuesday, he knows my swing well and should be able to get me sorted out enough to take full advantage of the fitting session! Glad to be back on the course, I really was worried that it was going to be much worse than this!

Been to the range for the last 3 days after being sidelined for 3 weeks. Strength is coming back quickly, I figure I'm about 85-90% or so and the swing is starting to feel pretty good. Nice thing about being weak is that it makes me focus on technique and not try to overpower it. Tomorrow will be my first full round and of course my buddies have decided that tomorrow is our "grudge match"! They think they're going to take advantage of me and my partner while I'm recovering. . .little do they know. . . I'm so ready to play I can't stand it! Loving the new SCOR clubs and can't wait to see how this 15* Adams cannon flies on the course!

Gah I've been struggling a bit lately. Feel like I'm striking the ball too well to be scoring like I have. I'm chalking it up to having been off the home course for alot of the month and might be burning out a bit. Only a week left until the club championship though, so I'm hoping I find my game at just the right time!

I had back to back triple bogeys today! Oops!

I know it's probably hard for you to see it but it sounds to me like you played pretty well, especially given the circumstances. Anytime you go to extra holes it really is a coinflip. You had a back and forth match, slow and in the rain, so the pressure was on all day. That is a GRIND! It takes mental toughness to do that. Fun in a way, but more fun in the way it tests yourself, lets you measure yourself in a competitive way. It seems to me if anything you might have overthought things a bit. Changing clubs and all that right before a match is not really something I think is good, and really, you should know that what you did yesterday has no real bearing on what will happen tomorrow. At some point you just have to stick the peg in the ground and let it fly! I bet you learned alot even from the loss, you'll be able to use that later. In short, good job, even though it might not feel like it!

Thanks for explaining RR, I thought he was saying he "talked with a lisp"!

Good playin' Rick! I wish we had your "young guy" problems. Our association is rather. . .um. . .let's say "mature".

Wow, not often that a local rule is stricter than the rules of golf. Only time I've seen them alter rules regarding lies to is play the ball up when they shouldn't. Even as a purist I find that pretty hardcore! I kinda like it! "We don't care if your ball is on the alligator! Hit it or take a penalty, and hurry up about it!!"

JBones, you don't have to play from an embedded lie. Rule 25-2. Unless you're in the rough, then you should have hit it better!