[How'd you play?]

12 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

One silver lining I guess I can take away, is that as my handicap is dropping is that I now consider 94  a "disappointing" round for me. where as at the beginning of he year, I was happy with a 94. 

Feel bad for "loving" a post about a bad round, but love this last sentence. I'm in the same boat with my scores lately - some disappointing ones that would have been big wins in April. Keep chipping away. Things will click again in no time.

[How'd you play?]

Took first place in our work department scramble. (Four teams, wasn't much of a real competition but I'll take it, nonetheless.)

- 34/34 = 68 (-4) 

- 7/14 FIR  

- 14/18 GIR (5 birdies)

- 29 Putts (Including one three-putt, sadly...) 

- 3:30 Round Time

I had a terrible warm up on the range. All sorts of weird swing stuff going on that I haven't dealt with in a long time. Specifically today I was flipping a lot at impact because I was very steep into the ball. Couldn't figure it out and it really messed my mindset up for the round.

Altogether I ended up gutting out a pretty OK performance. We used my drive/tee shot on something like 12 of the 18 holes, and had I been playing by myself I would have been happy with almost every hole. Had a few good approaches, a good chip or two and several good putts. I'm not going to beat myself up about this in any way. I had a lot of fun, and lost only a single ball (unfortunately on my final non-putt of the day) on a course that usually plays very, very hard, especially when it is windy like today.

[How'd you play?]

- 42 (+6) 

- 4/9 FIR  

- 2/9 GIR (0 birdies)

- 16 Putts (7 2-putts, 2 1-putts) 

- 1:05 Round Time

I'm convinced that you never actually hit good shots in golf, just that your bad shots miss by less!

Driver was OK today, not laser accurate or long, but didn't really hurt me much either. Putting was great. Very little stress, most of my second putts were tap-ins. Irons were awful. Didn't hit a single good shot with an iron all round. Kind of carried over into my short game where I left too much work for my putter on several chips.

It all balances out. According to GAME Golf my driver and putter had a better than five handicap day. Just need to get the irons back on track.

Playing in a work scramble tomorrow. Unfortunately my home course has outings both Saturday and Sunday so not 100 percent sure next time I'll be out on the course in a non-scramble fashion.

[Post Your Swing]

Another 7 iron sequence. Pesky takeaway still causing me to get stuck. This one was decent distance, but left, as is my miss lately. With the occasional block right thrown in for good measure.

[How'd you play?]

3 hours ago, Sluggo42 said:

best part is that my mistakes were still solid hits.

Never can be angry about that.

[How'd you play?]

- 39/41 = 80 (+8) 

- 3/15 FIR  

- 6/18 GIR (2 birdies)

- 33 Putts (2 3-putts, 11 2-putts, 5 1-putts) 

- 2:45 Round Time 

Set a new personal best this morning and was oh so close to breaking 80. 

Stan Utley is awesome. Picked up his book last week, spent a few days working on his chipping technique and am loving the results. Very easy, stress free putting day for me because of how close I was leaving my chips and approaches.

I could not get the driver going on the back nine, which really hurt my chances of breaking 80. Although I only hit three fairways today, my misses on the front were a lot better than on the back, and my distance was too. Not a lot of scoring chances on the back at all, really was fighting to save par or bogey most holes.

I did have several putts come up just short or burn an edge. Those are going to start dropping soon, I know it.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

6 hours ago, CarlH said:

I'm a big fan of Stan Utley's short game teachings.  Got his book on the short game years ago.

I just finished the book last night. I love the simplicity. I'm finding more and more opportunities to from 50 and in, so I'm really hoping this will help shave a few strokes per round.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Lots and lots of short game work over the past few days. Presently working on Utley's techniques, and I'm getting good results especially with chipping. Distance control with pitching is going to take some more practice.

[#CobraCONNECT Challenge 3]

Happy to have had a momento to remember this challenge by dropped off this afternoon!

Sweet looking gear! 

 

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

23 hours ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

If you're looking for a good quick read to help you with short (<= 30 yards) shots this is worth it.

I practiced the techniques that were in the book and put them into play yesterday and had several gimme putts. 

 

 

 

Just bought this, too, and am waiting for media mail to get it here...

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

8 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

You could try bending 60 2 degrees stronger. Would fit gaps better and an easy fix. Not sure how you use 60 though. What is your GW loft?

The Wilson gap wedge is 48 degrees. I don't love the 60 degree, and much prefer to use the 54 pretty much everywhere up to 100 yards.

My full swing wedge gapping currently looks like this:

PW - 135
GW - 125
54 - 105
60 - 80ish? (Rarely going full out with it)

The 20-yard gap between the set GW and the 54 degree is what gives me fits about every other round. And I think I'd much prefer the 56 for shots less than 75 yards and around the green over the 60 I currently have.

I'm just going to roll with what I have until I can get fit for some irons this fall. Once that's done, I can re-assess what I need from my wedges.

(As far as bending the 60, the DBM finish supposedly will not handle 2 degrees of adjustment, but I could certainly try.)

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

I keep waffling on buying a 52/56 wedge combo to replace my 54/60 setup. I found a nice deal online for some new Cobra PUR wedges (2017 model), but the are just stock Dynamic Gold wedge shafts. Really wanting to drop KBS Tour Wedge shafts in whatever wedge I buy, but that adds another $50-$90 depending on grip choice and whether I splurge for the sexy matte black shafts.

I've also thought about building two more Maltby M-Series+ wedges like I already have, as I like them a lot and the DBM finish is very good. At $36/head they would come in around $180 total for a full build with the matte black shafts.

Then, I think about waiting for some deals on the original Cleveland CBX line now that the CBX2 will be out. Or some Ping Glides because they look nice, too.

I'm not sure how long I'll hang onto my Wilson C300s either, so I'm torn about buying wedges to fit my current gapping.

In the back of my head I'm also realizing it is already August 6, and I realistically have about 8 more weeks of pleasant golfing weather and maybe an additional 2-3 weeks after that if I'm lucky. Lots of money to drop just to solve a small problem at the bottom of my bag right as the season is winding down.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

21 hours ago, revkev said:

 

Hang in there brother. I’m not sure where you are in your training but ASD number 2 is a great sub in the middle day of the week. I will frequently do it between holes on the course.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

Thanks! I'm going to post another update over in that thread later, but I'm not quite to the ASD protocols yet due to life getting in the way. 

I'm beginning to realize that I'm getting to be a better player during my rounds and less great on the driving range. Honestly, I guess my tolerance for a bad shot is so much bigger during a round than on the range. 

I really need to continuing my round mentality on the range. I sometimes get to obsessed with seeing higher numbers on the Swing Caddie and completely ruin my rhythm, timing and routine.

[#CobraCONNECT Challenge 3]

26 minutes ago, Bucky CC said:

I'm also a shallow divot taker who misses more thin than fat.  I had an issue blading the versatile grind Cobra wedges when I first got them but after 8+ weeks of the challenge I'm hitting them as good as or better than any of my previous wedges (including Vokeys).

If "the guy" can't get fitted to find the best option I'm sure he would do just fine with the Cobra versatile grind option.

Thanks. Good feedback to know. Temptations, temptations.

[#CobraCONNECT Challenge 3]

Say I know a guy who was interested in purchasing a set of Cobra wedges. Would the versatile grind suffice for average to soft conditions, including wet conditions? This guy takes mostly shallow divots, miss is more thin than fat, and will use the 52 degree for full shots, while the 56 degree will be for mostly touch and feel shots, flighting up/down, including chipping and pitching around the green.

Or would the widelow grind be better for the 56 degree?

Should have asked this during wedge week, but this guy is now in the market. 

[How'd you play?]

7 minutes ago, golfertrb said:

That is so great! Some really great numbers and a very low round is coming with playing like that! The mental side really is THE side once you have a golf swing and some basic repeatable skills - looking forward to hearing about the rounds right around the corner!

Thanks for the words. Really was fun today to just focus on my target and swing. Funny how the body figures it all out. I didn't hit anything super long off of the tee because it was wet, but even with a 219-yard low-on-the-face miss on No. 9, my average driving distance for the round was 248 yards. By far the best driving round of the year; it was also my best putting round, too.

[How'd you play?]

- 40 (+4)

- 6/7 FIR 

- 3/9 GIR (1 birdie)

- 14 Putts (1 3-putt, 3 2-putts, 5 1-putts )  

- 1:20 Round Time 

Normal Tuesday morning round was definitely great! The course got 3/4" of unexpected rain last night, on top of being irrigated, so it was pretty wet and slow. 

Epic Flash with the HZRDUS Yellow is a beast of a club. Hit all but one fairway, and the one that I missed, I missed long through the dog leg. Won't complain about that one.

Birdied No. 1, nearly chipped in from 15 yards on No. 2 for birdie, left my birdie putt on No. 3 six inches short, and had putts on No. 4 and No. 6 lip out. Again, nearly a very low round for me.

Had a great look at the green for my third shot on No. 9, and unfortunately, tugged my approach from 75 yards a little long and left behind the green. Hit a poor pitch that stuck on to the fringe before getting a great chip near the pin for a one-putt. Only shot I'm really kicking myself about!

I read about half of Golf is Not A Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella last night and applied much of what I learned to my round. Amazing how mental state affects your game!

[#CobraCONNECT Challenge 3]

9 hours ago, Bucky CC said:

Seems like so far we're all fans of Arccos in general but the Caddie could definitely use some work.  Are any of you planning on purchasing the Link device so you can take your phone out of your pocket (and play connect to a bluetooth speaker)?  I pre-ordered one back in May.

This is the biggest thing preventing me from upgrading from GAME Golf to Arccos. I actually like tagging each shot and not having to have my phone running during a round. Much less intrusive. Once Link comes out I'll have to reconsider.

[Share your Shot/Hole Of The Day!]

Two great shots on one hole this morning.

Big drive for me that settled on left side of fairway. Green plays uphill, laser told me to play 150 to pin in front tucked behind bunker. Started a very smooth 8 iron just right of pin, drew right to it and landed softly on front fringe before rolling out to here.

Missed the birdie putt, though. The picture doesn't show it, but there was a good 8-10 inches of break in that four foot putt.

[How'd you play?]

- 41/41 = 82 (+10)

- 6/15 FIR 

- 9/18 GIR

- 38 Putts (3 3-putts, 14 2-putts, 1 1-putt)

- 2:45 Round Time 

Tied my personal best this morning. Driver was on fire. While the total number of fairways hit was pretty low, the ones I missed missed by feet, not yards. Huge for me. 

Not much else to say except that this was definitely a boring golf kind of round. Had a ton of fun. Left a few putts on the lip, a couple inches here or there and 80 would have been a breeze.

Kudos to everyone over in this thread for giving some great advice between my round last night and my round this morning. Made a world of difference.

 

[How'd you play?]

- 44 (+8)

- 2/7 FIR 

- 2/9 GIR

- 17 Putts (2 3-putts, 4 2-putts, 3 1-putts)

- 1:30 Round Time 

Nothing really working for me this evening. Lots of thin blocks. Did hit one drive out to 271 dead in the middle of the fairway, but unfortunately it was my third shot after hitting my first tee ball out of bounds left. 

Debated playing 18 holes, but glad I didn't. Although there were only two groups (a twosome cart and a solo walker) in front of me by two holes, I opted to instead hit a medium bucket at the range. Figured out my swing and still had time to play 17 and 18 before the cart was even visible on the 16 tee. 

My drives on 17 and 18 were both 262 yards and in the fairway, so that's a positive heading into tomorrow morning's round!

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

The last three rounds for me have been some of my best golf of my life, but I just can't seem to translate those feelings to the range.

I spent a bucket yesterday hitting nothing but wedges. Was OK. I really need to consider moving up to a 52 degree and 56 degree instead of my current 54/60 setup. There is just not a lot of confidence in the 60, and I have a big distance gap between my gap wedge (48 degrees) and 54 degree that causes problems from time to time. To get 105-125 yards, I either have to step on the 54 or try flighting the gap wedge down, neither of which is a good strategy for me.

I went back today focused on working on my driver and mid irons. Both were a major disappointment. I was able to hit several straight drives, but my distance with both the driver and 7 iron was less than usual. According to my Swing Caddie, I've actually lost 5-8 MPH in swing speed over the last week or two, so that's really frustrating. I'm pretty sure it's just sequencing, but it was very disheartening to see such poor numbers.

 

[Pics from the course]

What a difference a day makes. Same view as yesterday, nearly the same time. 

End result was better today, too. 4-iron to 18 feet and two-putt par. I'll take a par on a 200+ yard par 3 all the time!

[How'd you play?]

- 39 (+3)

- 3/7 FIR 

- 6/9 GIR (No birdies)

- 16 Putts (7 2-putts, 2 1-putts)

- 1:20 Round Time - Teed off at 7:05 AM

Great score considering I couldn't see my tee shots for the first three holes due to fog (and my shot into No. 2 green was completely obscured by fog).

Ball striking was pretty good again today, not as great as the last two rounds, but nothing horrific. Driver was pretty accurate but short for some reason. All of my clubs were short this morning, or maybe the ball just wasn't flying well, or maybe I was just tired. Did poke one drive out to 252 according to GAME Golf, which is pretty solid considering it was pretty wet. 

Only one really poor shot all day, a chunked pitch on No. 7. Otherwise a pretty clean round! Probably what you could call boring golf. 

View from No. 2 tee this morning:

[#CobraCONNECT Challenge 3]

I'll take a stab with 8.5 improvement in handicap.