MPR: The Single Digit Project

[edingc]

7 hours ago, ncwoz said:

I can echo some of your confusion with course/slope ratings. We've got a few courses around here that are admittedly short, but suuuper narrow. They're all listed a lot easier than I would think they should be. I don't know near enough how they come to rank courses, but it almost feels like they don't do a great job rating certain types of courses.

Some of the ratings here have to be so, so old. Playing Meadows was like a breathe of fresh air - so much room off the tee. Miss to 5 yards either side at some courses around here and you're dead. 

Or, like today, put the ball on the fairway 220 yards off the tee and still have to hit under branches with your approach.

[edingc]

8 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

OK, time for a status update. And we'll start with the topline, which is confusion. I've either reached my goal, or I'm about where I've been for a season. According to Arccos, after last night's league match, this is where I stand:

Honestly, I'm stoked about this. I've played 36 (mostly 9-hole) rounds on Arccos this season. The first handicap it assigned me was 23 (winter rust!), and I've consistently worked it down to the current 9.1.

The confusion (as I've mentioned above) is that this is not a USGA official number, and I'm finding that most online tools have inaccurate information about our course. On the recommendation of many of you here, I also went ahead and loaded up my scores into The Grint. I haven't yet paid for a subscription ($20) to get an official handicap, but it's currently showing me in the 12–14 range.

I'm assuming the differences at attributable to course rating and slope. Earlier this year, I submitted a series of corrections to Arccos, including the yardage and rating/slope from my course's website (http://gogebiccountryclub.com/course/).

On its website, my course is:

• 6,030 yards long from the back tee
• Rated 67/113

The Grint lists my course at:

• 5,782 yards long
• Rated 68.2/115

Now, I have zero idea how or when the course rating for our course was established. I know that our course is short, but I've played with some good golfers. I don't see that a scratch player would ordinarily shoot 67 here. But maybe I'm wrong.

So all told, my handicap is somewhere between 9 and 14.

One solution: I need to try to play a few more rounds at courses other than my home course. Perhaps I'll aim to take advantage of fall rates when those start going into effect.

As for my game itself: it has been clear that putting has been the strongest aspect of my game this season.

I will attribute a lot of this success to spending quality time with my PuttOut. I have found a pretty direct correlation between time spent using my PuttOut and my best seasons of putting.

Wedge play has, for the most part, been improved since last season as well. The clock system has made my much more effective from 25–90 yards, though I'm due to re-calibrate my yardages. I've found that as the season has gone on, I'm having to make adjustments to the chart I have taped to my rangefinder. I think it's a combination of drier conditions on the course and improved striking by me, but my yardage chart is shorter than reality right now.

Approach play has a new wrinkle, since I'm now part of the Sub 70 699 Pro iron test. So far, I've played an 18-hole round irons-only (as part of the Cobra Challenge) and my 9-hole league match last night. The early returns are positive. They are an indisputable step up in feel. I've got more data-collecting to do, but I've got some optimism that on course, I'll strike them better than I did the giant G700s. Last night was a very positive sign: I didn't miss a single green short. I doubt I've ever done that in any round of my life before. I still need to tighten my dispersion just a bit. Greens are hard to hit at our course (they are very small and almost all sitting on domes that reject any imprecision).

Off the tee continues to be the bane of my game. The stats here are a bit skewed; we have a lot of doglegs and tight driving holes at our course that eliminate driver for me. For instance, our second hole is only 267 yards (par 4), but it's a full 90° dogleg. I'm not hitting more than a 9-iron off the tee to reach the middle of the dogleg. But I don't think Arccos knows that, and so it always thinks I'm hitting lame 130 yard drives on an easy hole.

Be that as it may, my new driver combination is improving: the Epic Flash Sub Zero with the Aldila Rogue White 80X. When it's on, I've hit some of my best drives ever: last night in league, I had several good ones for me, including one that went 280. But that remains a work in progress.

So here I am: I'm either at my goal or not. Either way, I see routes for additional improvement, and the grind continues.

Awesome improvement. And so jealous of your putting. 

[ncwoz]

19 minutes ago, edingc said:

Some of the ratings here have to be so, so old. Playing Meadows was like a breathe of fresh air - so much room off the tee. Miss to 5 yards either side at some courses around here and you're dead. 

Or, like today, put the ball on the fairway 220 yards off the tee and still have to hit under branches with your approach.

Oh man, couldn't agree more. Every time I play Gracewil East I get to the 5th hole and just shake my head. 405 par 4 with what feels like a 20 yard wide fairway, heavy brush, trees, and marsh 2 paces off the fairway... I really don't like that hole haha

[tchat07]

OK, time for a status update. And we'll start with the topline, which is confusion. I've either reached my goal, or I'm about where I've been for a season. According to Arccos, after last night's league match, this is where I stand:

Honestly, I'm stoked about this. I've played 36 (mostly 9-hole) rounds on Arccos this season. The first handicap it assigned me was 23 (winter rust!), and I've consistently worked it down to the current 9.1.
The confusion (as I've mentioned above) is that this is not a USGA official number, and I'm finding that most online tools have inaccurate information about our course. On the recommendation of many of you here, I also went ahead and loaded up my scores into The Grint. I haven't yet paid for a subscription ($20) to get an official handicap, but it's currently showing me in the 12–14 range.
I'm assuming the differences at attributable to course rating and slope. Earlier this year, I submitted a series of corrections to Arccos, including the yardage and rating/slope from my course's website (http://gogebiccountryclub.com/course/).
On its website, my course is:

• 6,030 yards long from the back tee
• Rated 67/113

The Grint lists my course at:

• 5,782 yards long
• Rated 68.2/115

Now, I have zero idea how or when the course rating for our course was established. I know that our course is short, but I've played with some good golfers. I don't see that a scratch player would ordinarily shoot 67 here. But maybe I'm wrong.
So all told, my handicap is somewhere between 9 and 14.
One solution: I need to try to play a few more rounds at courses other than my home course. Perhaps I'll aim to take advantage of fall rates when those start going into effect.
As for my game itself: it has been clear that putting has been the strongest aspect of my game this season.

I will attribute a lot of this success to spending quality time with my PuttOut. I have found a pretty direct correlation between time spent using my PuttOut and my best seasons of putting.
Wedge play has, for the most part, been improved since last season as well. The clock system has made my much more effective from 25–90 yards, though I'm due to re-calibrate my yardages. I've found that as the season has gone on, I'm having to make adjustments to the chart I have taped to my rangefinder. I think it's a combination of drier conditions on the course and improved striking by me, but my yardage chart is shorter than reality right now.
Approach play has a new wrinkle, since I'm now part of the Sub 70 699 Pro iron test. So far, I've played an 18-hole round irons-only (as part of the Cobra Challenge) and my 9-hole league match last night. The early returns are positive. They are an indisputable step up in feel. I've got more data-collecting to do, but I've got some optimism that on course, I'll strike them better than I did the giant G700s. Last night was a very positive sign: I didn't miss a single green short. I doubt I've ever done that in any round of my life before. I still need to tighten my dispersion just a bit. Greens are hard to hit at our course (they are very small and almost all sitting on domes that reject any imprecision).
Off the tee continues to be the bane of my game. The stats here are a bit skewed; we have a lot of doglegs and tight driving holes at our course that eliminate driver for me. For instance, our second hole is only 267 yards (par 4), but it's a full 90° dogleg. I'm not hitting more than a 9-iron off the tee to reach the middle of the dogleg. But I don't think Arccos knows that, and so it always thinks I'm hitting lame 130 yard drives on an easy hole.
Be that as it may, my new driver combination is improving: the Epic Flash Sub Zero with the Aldila Rogue White 80X. When it's on, I've hit some of my best drives ever: last night in league, I had several good ones for me, including one that went 280. But that remains a work in progress.
So here I am: I'm either at my goal or not. Either way, I see routes for additional improvement, and the grind continues.

Do you have stats for your putting prior to using the Putt Out? I would love to know the change is % of your 1, 2 and 3 putts. Also would love to know if you're holing longer putts more often.

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[EEZurg]

Just my experience....I used the Putt Out this winter to work mostly on hitting the sweet spot more often.  My putting improved dramatically.....and not how I expected.  My distance control became better than I have ever experienced.  I judge putts as missed by either speed or read....and it's usually read.   

[GolfSpy MPR]

1 hour ago, tchat07 said:

Do you have stats for your putting prior to using the Putt Out? I would love to know the change is % of your 1, 2 and 3 putts. Also would love to know if you're holing longer putts more often.

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app
 

When I'm back on a computer (rather than my phone), I'll pull up the numbers year-by-year from Game Golf. I'm interested to see this comparison as well.

[PMookie]

19 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

OK, time for a status update. And we'll start with the topline, which is confusion. I've either reached my goal, or I'm about where I've been for a season. According to Arccos, after last night's league match, this is where I stand:

Honestly, I'm stoked about this. I've played 36 (mostly 9-hole) rounds on Arccos this season. The first handicap it assigned me was 23 (winter rust!), and I've consistently worked it down to the current 9.1.

The confusion (as I've mentioned above) is that this is not a USGA official number, and I'm finding that most online tools have inaccurate information about our course. On the recommendation of many of you here, I also went ahead and loaded up my scores into The Grint. I haven't yet paid for a subscription ($20) to get an official handicap, but it's currently showing me in the 12–14 range.

I'm assuming the differences at attributable to course rating and slope. Earlier this year, I submitted a series of corrections to Arccos, including the yardage and rating/slope from my course's website (http://gogebiccountryclub.com/course/).

On its website, my course is:

• 6,030 yards long from the back tee
• Rated 67/113

The Grint lists my course at:

• 5,782 yards long
• Rated 68.2/115

Now, I have zero idea how or when the course rating for our course was established. I know that our course is short, but I've played with some good golfers. I don't see that a scratch player would ordinarily shoot 67 here. But maybe I'm wrong.

So all told, my handicap is somewhere between 9 and 14.

One solution: I need to try to play a few more rounds at courses other than my home course. Perhaps I'll aim to take advantage of fall rates when those start going into effect.

As for my game itself: it has been clear that putting has been the strongest aspect of my game this season.

I will attribute a lot of this success to spending quality time with my PuttOut. I have found a pretty direct correlation between time spent using my PuttOut and my best seasons of putting.

Wedge play has, for the most part, been improved since last season as well. The clock system has made my much more effective from 25–90 yards, though I'm due to re-calibrate my yardages. I've found that as the season has gone on, I'm having to make adjustments to the chart I have taped to my rangefinder. I think it's a combination of drier conditions on the course and improved striking by me, but my yardage chart is shorter than reality right now.

Approach play has a new wrinkle, since I'm now part of the Sub 70 699 Pro iron test. So far, I've played an 18-hole round irons-only (as part of the Cobra Challenge) and my 9-hole league match last night. The early returns are positive. They are an indisputable step up in feel. I've got more data-collecting to do, but I've got some optimism that on course, I'll strike them better than I did the giant G700s. Last night was a very positive sign: I didn't miss a single green short. I doubt I've ever done that in any round of my life before. I still need to tighten my dispersion just a bit. Greens are hard to hit at our course (they are very small and almost all sitting on domes that reject any imprecision).

Off the tee continues to be the bane of my game. The stats here are a bit skewed; we have a lot of doglegs and tight driving holes at our course that eliminate driver for me. For instance, our second hole is only 267 yards (par 4), but it's a full 90° dogleg. I'm not hitting more than a 9-iron off the tee to reach the middle of the dogleg. But I don't think Arccos knows that, and so it always thinks I'm hitting lame 130 yard drives on an easy hole.

Be that as it may, my new driver combination is improving: the Epic Flash Sub Zero with the Aldila Rogue White 80X. When it's on, I've hit some of my best drives ever: last night in league, I had several good ones for me, including one that went 280. But that remains a work in progress.

So here I am: I'm either at my goal or not. Either way, I see routes for additional improvement, and the grind continues.

That’s awesome! Having the short game as the best part is where the most strokes are made each round, so you’re in a great spot!

[GolfSpy MPR]

OK, @tchat07, here's the year-by-year summary from Game Golf. Because I play virtually all my golf at one course, the numbers should be directly comparable each year.

2016

• Strokes lost to scratch: 1.64
• Putts per hole: 1.82
• 1P%: 28% | 2P%: 60% | 3P%: 11%

2017

• Strokes lost to scratch: 2.03
• Putts per hole: 1.76
• 1P%: 31% | 2P%: 59% | 3P%: 9%

2018

• Strokes lost to scratch: 3.07
• Putts per hole: 1.81
• 1P%: 29% | 2P%: 60% | 3P%: 11%

2019

• Strokes lost to scratch: 2.45
• Putts per hole: 1.78
• 1P%: 30% | 2P%: 61% | 3P%: 9%

2020 (from Arccos rather than Game Golf)

• Strokes gained vs scratch: .5
• Putts per hole: 1.7 (doesn't go to the hundredths place)
• 1P%: 32% | 2P%: 61% | 3P%: 7%

So this year clearly is the outlier. By far, the biggest change is the reduction in three putts: essentially, the three putts were transferred into the one-putt category, which is a big swing. Some of Game Golf's numbers are hard to make sense of: my highest year for putts per hole is my best strokes gained year (2016).

[tchat07]

OK, [mention=72268]tchat07[/mention], here's the year-by-year summary from Game Golf. Because I play virtually all my golf at one course, the numbers should be directly comparable each year.
2016

• Strokes lost to scratch: 1.64
• Putts per hole: 1.82
• 1P%: 28% | 2P%: 60% | 3P%: 11%

2017

• Strokes lost to scratch: 2.03
• Putts per hole: 1.76
• 1P%: 31% | 2P%: 59% | 3P%: 9%

2018

• Strokes lost to scratch: 3.07
• Putts per hole: 1.81
• 1P%: 29% | 2P%: 60% | 3P%: 11%

2019

• Strokes lost to scratch: 2.45
• Putts per hole: 1.78
• 1P%: 30% | 2P%: 61% | 3P%: 9%

2020 (from Arccos rather than Game Golf)

• Strokes gained vs scratch: .5
• Putts per hole: 1.7 (doesn't go to the hundredths place)
• 1P%: 32% | 2P%: 61% | 3P%: 7%

So this year clearly is the outlier. By far, the biggest change is the reduction in three putts: essentially, the three putts were transferred into the one-putt category, which is a big swing. Some of Game Golf's numbers are hard to make sense of: my highest year for putts per hole is my best strokes gained year (2016).

Very interesting so basically a 2% swing from 3 putts to 1 putts has led to a 2.95 strokes gained difference. That's massive! Granted going from 3 putts to 1 putt is pretty impressive even if it's only 2% change.

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[GolfSpy MPR]

9 hours ago, tchat07 said:

Very interesting so basically a 2% swing from 3 putts to 1 putts has led to a 2.95 strokes gained difference. That's massive! Granted going from 3 putts to 1 putt is pretty impressive even if it's only 2% change.

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app
 

I don't want to underestimate the degree to which shifting tracking software messes with the strokes gained numbers. For instance: Game Golf always told me that my approach game was the second-best part of my game (next to my putting); Arccos tells me it is a weakness relative to my handicap, that my approach play is holding me back.

I took Arccos's 1P/2P/3P splits and found that my total putts per hole is 1.75. That puts my current year very close to my 2017 numbers.

(I will say that I've always been pretty diligent with both Game Golf and Arccos at manually plotting my putts on the green, since neither is accurate enough to do that automatically.)

Doing a bit of googling, it looks like there's something to the idea that GG is overly harsh judging putting, while Arccos is somewhat more generous.

A couple takeaways from this discussion:

• You will be limited by what your tools can see.
• Comparing numbers across stat-tracking platforms is probably a bad idea.
• Using a single system to see if you're improving/regressing probably still makes sense.
• In absolute terms this year, my putting has improved (fewer 3-putts, fewer overall putts). Realistically, it's probably on the level of a single-digit player.
• No matter how good my putting is, I'll still always be looking at buying another putter, because putters are endlessly fascinating to me.

[GolfSpy MPR]

One footnote on the above stats: I played about a half-dozen rounds on Game Golf this year in early July, because my Arccos putter sensor died and I was awaiting a replacement. During that time, I put up the following numbers:

1P%: 41% (whoa!)
2P%: 49% (much lower than most of the above)
3P%: 10% (higher than what I'm seeing now)

1.68 putts per hole (lower than any of the above totals)

Game Golf rated me as losing 2.5 strokes per round to a scratch golfer, with a worse strokes gained than a 10 handicap.

Add this, I think, to the data that makes me skeptical of Game Golf on Strokes Gained.

[ChrisNH]

I may have to give that puttout device a try.  I use the grint to keep stats and it shows 32.5 putts per round historically for 1.8 putts per hole, but I hit 53% of GIR so needs improvement.  I notice my avg putts per round goes way down when I hit fewer greens, but not sure that's a strategy I want to pursue for he sake of putting stats.  

 

How are you liking the Skytrak?  Have you used it as a simulator at all on any of the virtual courses, or just for range practice?  Is it accurate enough for determining club gapping distances?

I'm really close to buying one for the garage setup to make the long northern winter seem a bit more bearable.

[GolfSpy MPR]

A quick chart I built today from my previous years' Game Golf data and this year's data from Arccos:

Each category records my strokes lost to a scratch golfer by aspect of the game, and the total. In addition, I've got a column for something that should be close to my average score each year.

Obviously, comparing strokes gained from 2016-2019 against 2020 is dubious, because of the differing stats systems. But in any case, I'm pleased to see obvious, measurable improvement.

[StrokerAce]

11 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

A quick chart I built today from my previous years' Game Golf data and this year's data from Arccos:

Each category records my strokes lost to a scratch golfer by aspect of the game, and the total. In addition, I've got a column for something that should be close to my average score each year.

Obviously, comparing strokes gained from 2016-2019 against 2020 is dubious, because of the differing stats systems. But in any case, I'm pleased to see obvious, measurable improvement.

WHOA! 
Look at that short game improvement. 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

WHOA! 
Look at that short game improvement. 

Short game is looking good,  but he needs to do superspeed golf to get that driving distance up. 

[GregB135]

On 8/26/2020 at 3:05 PM, GolfSpy MPR said:

A quick chart I built today from my previous years' Game Golf data and this year's data from Arccos:

Each category records my strokes lost to a scratch golfer by aspect of the game, and the total. In addition, I've got a column for something that should be close to my average score each year.

Obviously, comparing strokes gained from 2016-2019 against 2020 is dubious, because of the differing stats systems. But in any case, I'm pleased to see obvious, measurable improvement.

Great job with the short game!! Care to share some of your practice routines? (Asking for a friend)

[GolfSpy MPR]

With multiple days in the extended forecast showing snowflakes (...sniffle...), it looks like it's time for the season in review.

The short version: I made progress this year, but I'm still short of my goal. As of right now, Arccos gives me a handicap of 11.7. Most of my progress this year was from my short game and putting.

The long version: The first obstacle to my year in review is that not only did I change my stat-tracking system this season (from Game Golf to Arccos), but midway through the season Arccos utterly revamped how they calculate strokes gained and handicaps. At one point this year, on the old system, I had a handicap well under 10; even today, the old version (which I can access because my iPhone 6 didn't get the new version) has me at a 9.4. But that was always fishy, especially considering the very low course rating of my home track.

For that reason, I'm not going to try to do much by way of year-over-year analysis. Instead, I'll mostly look at the numbers from this season and be a bit more anecdotal about how they compare to previous years.

Here's the 30,000 foot overview:

Now, let's clarify this: these stats are for the most recent 50 rounds (as many as Arccos will allow you to select) compared to an 8-handicap. I choose this benchmark because it is a good indication of where my game needs to be to accomplish my goal of getting into single figures.

The numbers here are clear: my short game (for Arccos's purposes, that's 50 yards and in) is single-digit caliber, both with the wedges and with the putter. My full swing remains my problem.

Let's break it down by facets.

Driving: I remain pretty awful off the tee. Arccos thinks I'm even worse than that.

This number ain't good, but it is (as I've explained before) somewhat misleading. My home course is (to say it kindly) quirky, and there are multiple par 4s that take driver out of your hands. What Arrcos here suggests is my "long" drive number is actual the "smart" number it gives to the holes in which I actually use my driver:

Those who've followed this thread for a while will recognize that that 234 number, while not impressive to anyone, represents a small gain in driving distance for me this season. For comparison, my Game Golf records from last year tell me that my "typical" drive (with driver) was 218 yards (since these are raw numbers and not strokes gained calculations, a comparison makes sense).

Just to do this visually (and this graphic is imperfect), here's a shot from GG of my 2019 drives and from Arccos for 2020. I've lined them up to where the 250 yard stripe is the same on both; the scale, unfortunately, is different:

This is noisy data, to be sure, but I think it's evident that I have a greater percentage of drives near the 250 mark this year than last. I also lowered the percentage of miserable short duck hooks, which was my nemesis miss last season.

As for fairway accuracy, it looks like I brought the right miss into play much more this season. Game Golf tells me that in 2019, I was 28% Left | 55% Fairway | 17% Right. This season, I was 29% Left | 48% Fairway | 23% Right. That's a solid two-way miss dispersion.

I have heard rumblings that there are plans to build a driving range at our course. This would have the potential to be a game changer for me, as it remains the case that if I want to practice driving the ball, I have an hour drive to the nearest range.

I'll say more about this in the conclusion, but most of my goals for this offseason should, at some level, contribute to better driving numbers. I'm planning to dedicate myself to the PlaneMate this winter. I also aim to get back to working out and to regular use of my DIY SuperSpeed sticks. I need more distance, and I need a better, more predictable swing, because driving remains the biggest glaring weakness and the biggest obstacle to my reaching a single figure handicap.

Approach: The big news here, of course, was putting the Sub 70 699 Pro irons in my bag for an MGS Forum review this season. If you want to dive deeper into that switch, go read the thread. The short version is that the switch from the SGI-class PING G700s to the 699 Pros had far less dramatic impact on my on-course numbers than I would have guessed. My before and after numbers were very close, and the aesthetic and subjective appeal of the Sub 70s are keeping them in the bag through the winter and into next season.

How was my approach game? In a word: mediocre. Arccos thinks it is slightly worse than my actual handicap and definitely a liability in my quest for single figures. The biggest problem: a pitiable GIR number:

Some of this is swing and contact related, but I'm finally getting it through my thick skull that some of this is strategy related. Why do I come up short so often? It isn't because I have totally unrealistic ideas of how far I hit my irons. I have way too much data, both on course and SkyTrak, to not know how far I hit my irons.

My issue is that I base my club selection on the club that will get me to the flag on a very good strike. I'm not talking about a once-in-a-lifetime, totally flushed it strike. But it's the sort of strike that I have (looking at the numbers) just under 50% of the time. The other 50+% of less-then-ideal swings, I come up short.

So I'm going into next season with (finally) a better strategy. I have a hard time simply telling myself to club up or to aim for the yardage of the back of the green. For me, that's like setting the clocks forward in my house 15 minutes so I'm not late: it doesn't work. I have a strong aversion to intentionally aiming at the wrong thing.

To convince my mind that it's OK, I've learned the right idea is to center my dispersion pattern over my target. I'm not aiming past the hole. The hole (or the center of the green, etc.) is my target, but I need to choose a club that will get the center of my shots on the center of that target.

In addition to the strategic changes, I trust that the PlaneMate and speed work this winter will also show an improvement in my approach game next season.

Short Game: Finally, on to the better news! My short game showed significant improvement this year, and most of it was because I finally committed to a clock wedge system. In short, I use three wedges for partial wedge shots: my GW, SW, and LW. With each wedge, I have a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 swing, and I tested those swings repeatedly on SkyTrak. After coming up with reliable numbers, I printed a chart with those distances and taped it to my Precision Pro NX9 HD range finder.

This revolutionized my short game. I no longer had to "guess" or "feel" partial swings; I had swings that I had confidence would go the distance I got from my laser. Obviously, this is not foolproof; I still hit plenty of poor shots this summer. But my numbers were much improved and are almost exactly what would be normal for an 8 handicap:

The chart here is interesting: in both yardage ranges, my average distance to the pin is closer than an average 8 handicap. I got up and down virtually identical with an 8 handicap from 0-25 yards and slightly higher from 25-50 yards. My greens missed were significantly higher than both; this adds to the evidence that the greens at my course are very small.

There's still room to make this is a stronger strength: I can't use the small greens as an excuse; I have no business missing so many greens from this distance. But my goal this winter is simply to continue to sharpen what I've done here; I'm not looking to reinvent this wheel.

Putting: This is now comfortably the strength of my game, where I'm now gaining strokes against an 8 handicap. If I'm going to complain about small greens for approach and short game, I have to concede: I don't have nearly as many really long putts as the average player. But the putts I do have, I tend to get without throwing too many strokes away:

I rarely 3-putt (again, small greens are a factor here). But even breaking putts down by length (and I obsessively plot the position of my putts on the green during the round):

Even on the rare occasions that I have a really long putt, it doesn't look like I'm struggling. I have a putter I like. I have a putting mat in my office with my PuttOut (I swear by the PuttOut) and my basement green. I'm going to keep grinding on my same practice routine on this. My goal here is incremental improvement rather than any wholesale change.

Summary: I'm bummed that I haven't yet reached my goal. When I begin this project, it was an attempt to figure out if an amateur working without coaching, but armed with a bunch of tech and avid appetite for golf knowledge, could easily reach single figures. I think I'm likely good evidence that, if good coaching is available, you should seek coaching.

In hindsight, I didn't practice much once the course opened this year. I played a lot, and so most of my available "golf time" was spent at the course rather than in my garage. When I set up the SkyTrak, Kirke often wants to bump me off (and the other kids want their time to play as well). This is a good thing and I'll not complain about it.

My biggest plan, as I've already noted here, is to revise my swing using the PlaneMate. I have a nagging over-the-top move that I'd like to eliminate, and I think I've made some progress on it. My hope is that the result will not be merely a more cosmetically pleasing swing, but one that has greater potential for repeated good contact. As soon as the season is officially over, I'm starting offseason workouts, including some weight training and SuperSpeed. I'm planning to include my boys in some of that, which will hopefully give me more incentive to do the needed work.

Another option that I have to consider again is online coaching. It might be time to set up a more formal coaching relationship with Adam Young.

[GolfSpy AFG]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

 

Summary: I'm bummed that I haven't yet reached my goal. When I begin this project, it was an attempt to figure out if an amateur working without coaching, but armed with a bunch of tech and avid appetite for golf knowledge, could easily reach single figures. I think I'm likely good evidence that, if good coaching is available, you should seek coaching.

In hindsight, I didn't practice much once the course opened this year. I played a lot, and so most of my available "golf time" was spent at the course rather than in my garage. When I set up the SkyTrak, Kirke often wants to bump me off (and the other kids want their time to play as well). This is a good thing and I'll not complain about it.

My biggest plan, as I've already noted here, is to revise my swing using the PlaneMate. I have a nagging over-the-top move that I'd like to eliminate, and I think I've made some progress on it. My hope is that the result will not be merely a more cosmetically pleasing swing, but one that has greater potential for repeated good contact. As soon as the season is officially over, I'm starting offseason workouts, including some weight training and SuperSpeed. I'm planning to include my boys in some of that, which will hopefully give me more incentive to do the needed work.

Another option that I have to consider again is online coaching. It might be time to set up a more formal coaching relationship with Adam Young.

Don't get too bummed, you're working hard...it will get rewarded.  PlaneMate, SuperSpeed, and weights are my plan as well.

[edingc]

5 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

This number ain't good, but it is (as I've explained before) somewhat misleading. My home course is (to say it kindly) quirky, and there are multiple par 4s that take driver out of your hands.

This is one of my frustrations with the Arccos platform. I don't understand why that distance off the tee statistic can't be smarter and only count drivers, or give an option to show distance off the tee with different clubs. My chart is much the same - I hit driver on 7 of 15 non-par 3s at my home course. To do so on several of the holes provides zero benefit if your driver dispersion is greater than 30 yards (of which, mine is much wider...).

I know you didn't quite make the handicap progress you were wanting, but I think you're still trending in the right direction and you know what areas you need to improve upon.

[GolfSpy MPR]

7 minutes ago, edingc said:

This is one of my frustrations with the Arccos platform. I don't understand why that distance off the tee statistic can't be smarter and only count drivers, or give an option to show distance off the tee with different clubs. My chart is much the same - I hit driver on 7 of 15 non-par 3s at my home course. To do so on several of the holes provides zero benefit if your driver dispersion is greater than 30 yards (of which, mine is much wider...).

I know you didn't quite make the handicap progress you were wanting, but I think you're still trending in the right direction and you know what areas you need to improve upon.

Yeah, definitely hoping that especially when they get the desktop/internet version up to date, that the club data will be presented in a more useful way.

[tchat07]

With multiple days in the extended forecast showing snowflakes (...sniffle...), it looks like it's time for the season in review.
The short version: I made progress this year, but I'm still short of my goal. As of right now, Arccos gives me a handicap of 11.7. Most of my progress this year was from my short game and putting.
The long version: The first obstacle to my year in review is that not only did I change my stat-tracking system this season (from Game Golf to Arccos), but midway through the season Arccos utterly revamped how they calculate strokes gained and handicaps. At one point this year, on the old system, I had a handicap well under 10; even today, the old version (which I can access because my iPhone 6 didn't get the new version) has me at a 9.4. But that was always fishy, especially considering the very low course rating of my home track.
For that reason, I'm not going to try to do much by way of year-over-year analysis. Instead, I'll mostly look at the numbers from this season and be a bit more anecdotal about how they compare to previous years.
Here's the 30,000 foot overview:

Now, let's clarify this: these stats are for the most recent 50 rounds (as many as Arccos will allow you to select) compared to an 8-handicap. I choose this benchmark because it is a good indication of where my game needs to be to accomplish my goal of getting into single figures.
The numbers here are clear: my short game (for Arccos's purposes, that's 50 yards and in) is single-digit caliber, both with the wedges and with the putter. My full swing remains my problem.
Let's break it down by facets.
Driving: I remain pretty awful off the tee. Arccos thinks I'm even worse than that.

This number ain't good, but it is (as I've explained before) somewhat misleading. My home course is (to say it kindly) quirky, and there are multiple par 4s that take driver out of your hands. What Arrcos here suggests is my "long" drive number is actual the "smart" number it gives to the holes in which I actually use my driver:

Those who've followed this thread for a while will recognize that that 234 number, while not impressive to anyone, represents a small gain in driving distance for me this season. For comparison, my Game Golf records from last year tell me that my "typical" drive (with driver) was 218 yards (since these are raw numbers and not strokes gained calculations, a comparison makes sense).
Just to do this visually (and this graphic is imperfect), here's a shot from GG of my 2019 drives and from Arccos for 2020. I've lined them up to where the 250 yard stripe is the same on both; the scale, unfortunately, is different:

This is noisy data, to be sure, but I think it's evident that I have a greater percentage of drives near the 250 mark this year than last. I also lowered the percentage of miserable short duck hooks, which was my nemesis miss last season.
As for fairway accuracy, it looks like I brought the right miss into play much more this season. Game Golf tells me that in 2019, I was 28% Left | 55% Fairway | 17% Right. This season, I was 29% Left | 48% Fairway | 23% Right. That's a solid two-way miss dispersion.
I have heard rumblings that there are plans to build a driving range at our course. This would have the potential to be a game changer for me, as it remains the case that if I want to practice driving the ball, I have an hour drive to the nearest range.
I'll say more about this in the conclusion, but most of my goals for this offseason should, at some level, contribute to better driving numbers. I'm planning to dedicate myself to the PlaneMate this winter. I also aim to get back to working out and to regular use of my DIY SuperSpeed sticks. I need more distance, and I need a better, more predictable swing, because driving remains the biggest glaring weakness and the biggest obstacle to my reaching a single figure handicap.
Approach: The big news here, of course, was putting the Sub 70 699 Pro irons in my bag for an MGS Forum review this season. If you want to dive deeper into that switch, go read the thread. The short version is that the switch from the SGI-class PING G700s to the 699 Pros had far less dramatic impact on my on-course numbers than I would have guessed. My before and after numbers were very close, and the aesthetic and subjective appeal of the Sub 70s are keeping them in the bag through the winter and into next season.
How was my approach game? In a word: mediocre. Arccos thinks it is slightly worse than my actual handicap and definitely a liability in my quest for single figures. The biggest problem: a pitiable GIR number:

Some of this is swing and contact related, but I'm finally getting it through my thick skull that some of this is strategy related. Why do I come up short so often? It isn't because I have totally unrealistic ideas of how far I hit my irons. I have way too much data, both on course and SkyTrak, to not know how far I hit my irons.
My issue is that I base my club selection on the club that will get me to the flag on a very good strike. I'm not talking about a once-in-a-lifetime, totally flushed it strike. But it's the sort of strike that I have (looking at the numbers) just under 50% of the time. The other 50+% of less-then-ideal swings, I come up short.
So I'm going into next season with (finally) a better strategy. I have a hard time simply telling myself to club up or to aim for the yardage of the back of the green. For me, that's like setting the clocks forward in my house 15 minutes so I'm not late: it doesn't work. I have a strong aversion to intentionally aiming at the wrong thing.
To convince my mind that it's OK, I've learned the right idea is to center my dispersion pattern over my target. I'm not aiming past the hole. The hole (or the center of the green, etc.) is my target, but I need to choose a club that will get the center of my shots on the center of that target.
In addition to the strategic changes, I trust that the PlaneMate and speed work this winter will also show an improvement in my approach game next season.
Short Game: Finally, on to the better news! My short game showed significant improvement this year, and most of it was because I finally committed to a clock wedge system. In short, I use three wedges for partial wedge shots: my GW, SW, and LW. With each wedge, I have a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 swing, and I tested those swings repeatedly on SkyTrak. After coming up with reliable numbers, I printed a chart with those distances and taped it to my Precision Pro NX9 HD range finder.
This revolutionized my short game. I no longer had to "guess" or "feel" partial swings; I had swings that I had confidence would go the distance I got from my laser. Obviously, this is not foolproof; I still hit plenty of poor shots this summer. But my numbers were much improved and are almost exactly what would be normal for an 8 handicap:

The chart here is interesting: in both yardage ranges, my average distance to the pin is closer than an average 8 handicap. I got up and down virtually identical with an 8 handicap from 0-25 yards and slightly higher from 25-50 yards. My greens missed were significantly higher than both; this adds to the evidence that the greens at my course are very small.
There's still room to make this is a stronger strength: I can't use the small greens as an excuse; I have no business missing so many greens from this distance. But my goal this winter is simply to continue to sharpen what I've done here; I'm not looking to reinvent this wheel.
Putting: This is now comfortably the strength of my game, where I'm now gaining strokes against an 8 handicap. If I'm going to complain about small greens for approach and short game, I have to concede: I don't have nearly as many really long putts as the average player. But the putts I do have, I tend to get without throwing too many strokes away:

I rarely 3-putt (again, small greens are a factor here). But even breaking putts down by length (and I obsessively plot the position of my putts on the green during the round):

Even on the rare occasions that I have a really long putt, it doesn't look like I'm struggling. I have a putter I like. I have a putting mat in my office with my PuttOut (I swear by the PuttOut) and my basement green. I'm going to keep grinding on my same practice routine on this. My goal here is incremental improvement rather than any wholesale change.
Summary: I'm bummed that I haven't yet reached my goal. When I begin this project, it was an attempt to figure out if an amateur working without coaching, but armed with a bunch of tech and avid appetite for golf knowledge, could easily reach single figures. I think I'm likely good evidence that, if good coaching is available, you should seek coaching.
In hindsight, I didn't practice much once the course opened this year. I played a lot, and so most of my available "golf time" was spent at the course rather than in my garage. When I set up the SkyTrak, Kirke often wants to bump me off (and the other kids want their time to play as well). This is a good thing and I'll not complain about it.
My biggest plan, as I've already noted here, is to revise my swing using the PlaneMate. I have a nagging over-the-top move that I'd like to eliminate, and I think I've made some progress on it. My hope is that the result will not be merely a more cosmetically pleasing swing, but one that has greater potential for repeated good contact. As soon as the season is officially over, I'm starting offseason workouts, including some weight training and SuperSpeed. I'm planning to include my boys in some of that, which will hopefully give me more incentive to do the needed work.
Another option that I have to consider again is online coaching. It might be time to set up a more formal coaching relationship with Adam Young.

Absolutely love this write up. As I am going through it i half thought about doing something similar but your write up just takes the cake. My off-season plan is very similar to yours so I am going to join in. Planemate, SuperSpeed and PuttOut is the plan!

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[HeathS16]

With multiple days in the extended forecast showing snowflakes (...sniffle...), it looks like it's time for the season in review.
The short version: I made progress this year, but I'm still short of my goal. As of right now, Arccos gives me a handicap of 11.7. Most of my progress this year was from my short game and putting.
The long version: The first obstacle to my year in review is that not only did I change my stat-tracking system this season (from Game Golf to Arccos), but midway through the season Arccos utterly revamped how they calculate strokes gained and handicaps. At one point this year, on the old system, I had a handicap well under 10; even today, the old version (which I can access because my iPhone 6 didn't get the new version) has me at a 9.4. But that was always fishy, especially considering the very low course rating of my home track.
For that reason, I'm not going to try to do much by way of year-over-year analysis. Instead, I'll mostly look at the numbers from this season and be a bit more anecdotal about how they compare to previous years.
Here's the 30,000 foot overview:

Now, let's clarify this: these stats are for the most recent 50 rounds (as many as Arccos will allow you to select) compared to an 8-handicap. I choose this benchmark because it is a good indication of where my game needs to be to accomplish my goal of getting into single figures.
The numbers here are clear: my short game (for Arccos's purposes, that's 50 yards and in) is single-digit caliber, both with the wedges and with the putter. My full swing remains my problem.
Let's break it down by facets.
Driving: I remain pretty awful off the tee. Arccos thinks I'm even worse than that.

This number ain't good, but it is (as I've explained before) somewhat misleading. My home course is (to say it kindly) quirky, and there are multiple par 4s that take driver out of your hands. What Arrcos here suggests is my "long" drive number is actual the "smart" number it gives to the holes in which I actually use my driver:

Those who've followed this thread for a while will recognize that that 234 number, while not impressive to anyone, represents a small gain in driving distance for me this season. For comparison, my Game Golf records from last year tell me that my "typical" drive (with driver) was 218 yards (since these are raw numbers and not strokes gained calculations, a comparison makes sense).
Just to do this visually (and this graphic is imperfect), here's a shot from GG of my 2019 drives and from Arccos for 2020. I've lined them up to where the 250 yard stripe is the same on both; the scale, unfortunately, is different:

This is noisy data, to be sure, but I think it's evident that I have a greater percentage of drives near the 250 mark this year than last. I also lowered the percentage of miserable short duck hooks, which was my nemesis miss last season.
As for fairway accuracy, it looks like I brought the right miss into play much more this season. Game Golf tells me that in 2019, I was 28% Left | 55% Fairway | 17% Right. This season, I was 29% Left | 48% Fairway | 23% Right. That's a solid two-way miss dispersion.
I have heard rumblings that there are plans to build a driving range at our course. This would have the potential to be a game changer for me, as it remains the case that if I want to practice driving the ball, I have an hour drive to the nearest range.
I'll say more about this in the conclusion, but most of my goals for this offseason should, at some level, contribute to better driving numbers. I'm planning to dedicate myself to the PlaneMate this winter. I also aim to get back to working out and to regular use of my DIY SuperSpeed sticks. I need more distance, and I need a better, more predictable swing, because driving remains the biggest glaring weakness and the biggest obstacle to my reaching a single figure handicap.
Approach: The big news here, of course, was putting the Sub 70 699 Pro irons in my bag for an MGS Forum review this season. If you want to dive deeper into that switch, go read the thread. The short version is that the switch from the SGI-class PING G700s to the 699 Pros had far less dramatic impact on my on-course numbers than I would have guessed. My before and after numbers were very close, and the aesthetic and subjective appeal of the Sub 70s are keeping them in the bag through the winter and into next season.
How was my approach game? In a word: mediocre. Arccos thinks it is slightly worse than my actual handicap and definitely a liability in my quest for single figures. The biggest problem: a pitiable GIR number:

Some of this is swing and contact related, but I'm finally getting it through my thick skull that some of this is strategy related. Why do I come up short so often? It isn't because I have totally unrealistic ideas of how far I hit my irons. I have way too much data, both on course and SkyTrak, to not know how far I hit my irons.
My issue is that I base my club selection on the club that will get me to the flag on a very good strike. I'm not talking about a once-in-a-lifetime, totally flushed it strike. But it's the sort of strike that I have (looking at the numbers) just under 50% of the time. The other 50+% of less-then-ideal swings, I come up short.
So I'm going into next season with (finally) a better strategy. I have a hard time simply telling myself to club up or to aim for the yardage of the back of the green. For me, that's like setting the clocks forward in my house 15 minutes so I'm not late: it doesn't work. I have a strong aversion to intentionally aiming at the wrong thing.
To convince my mind that it's OK, I've learned the right idea is to center my dispersion pattern over my target. I'm not aiming past the hole. The hole (or the center of the green, etc.) is my target, but I need to choose a club that will get the center of my shots on the center of that target.
In addition to the strategic changes, I trust that the PlaneMate and speed work this winter will also show an improvement in my approach game next season.
Short Game: Finally, on to the better news! My short game showed significant improvement this year, and most of it was because I finally committed to a clock wedge system. In short, I use three wedges for partial wedge shots: my GW, SW, and LW. With each wedge, I have a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 swing, and I tested those swings repeatedly on SkyTrak. After coming up with reliable numbers, I printed a chart with those distances and taped it to my Precision Pro NX9 HD range finder.
This revolutionized my short game. I no longer had to "guess" or "feel" partial swings; I had swings that I had confidence would go the distance I got from my laser. Obviously, this is not foolproof; I still hit plenty of poor shots this summer. But my numbers were much improved and are almost exactly what would be normal for an 8 handicap:

The chart here is interesting: in both yardage ranges, my average distance to the pin is closer than an average 8 handicap. I got up and down virtually identical with an 8 handicap from 0-25 yards and slightly higher from 25-50 yards. My greens missed were significantly higher than both; this adds to the evidence that the greens at my course are very small.
There's still room to make this is a stronger strength: I can't use the small greens as an excuse; I have no business missing so many greens from this distance. But my goal this winter is simply to continue to sharpen what I've done here; I'm not looking to reinvent this wheel.
Putting: This is now comfortably the strength of my game, where I'm now gaining strokes against an 8 handicap. If I'm going to complain about small greens for approach and short game, I have to concede: I don't have nearly as many really long putts as the average player. But the putts I do have, I tend to get without throwing too many strokes away:

I rarely 3-putt (again, small greens are a factor here). But even breaking putts down by length (and I obsessively plot the position of my putts on the green during the round):

Even on the rare occasions that I have a really long putt, it doesn't look like I'm struggling. I have a putter I like. I have a putting mat in my office with my PuttOut (I swear by the PuttOut) and my basement green. I'm going to keep grinding on my same practice routine on this. My goal here is incremental improvement rather than any wholesale change.
Summary: I'm bummed that I haven't yet reached my goal. When I begin this project, it was an attempt to figure out if an amateur working without coaching, but armed with a bunch of tech and avid appetite for golf knowledge, could easily reach single figures. I think I'm likely good evidence that, if good coaching is available, you should seek coaching.
In hindsight, I didn't practice much once the course opened this year. I played a lot, and so most of my available "golf time" was spent at the course rather than in my garage. When I set up the SkyTrak, Kirke often wants to bump me off (and the other kids want their time to play as well). This is a good thing and I'll not complain about it.
My biggest plan, as I've already noted here, is to revise my swing using the PlaneMate. I have a nagging over-the-top move that I'd like to eliminate, and I think I've made some progress on it. My hope is that the result will not be merely a more cosmetically pleasing swing, but one that has greater potential for repeated good contact. As soon as the season is officially over, I'm starting offseason workouts, including some weight training and SuperSpeed. I'm planning to include my boys in some of that, which will hopefully give me more incentive to do the needed work.
Another option that I have to consider again is online coaching. It might be time to set up a more formal coaching relationship with Adam Young.

This is such an awesome run down and very thorough! Been a pleasure to check in on this and see how you’re getting along. Sounds like it’s been a mixed bag this year but you seem to have broken down the data pretty well and have a nice plan going forward!

I can totally vouch for the Puttout as well that is an AWESOME tool for putting. I look forward to the post that you’ve reached your goal!!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[GolfSpy MPR]

Just a little something I've been toying around with:

I find the GBox interesting, but can't imagine spending close to $100 on it. A driveway marker through the belt loops seems to me to have much the same effect. This is about a 3/4 7 iron, and on the downside, I'm keeping my trail elbow in front of the stick while getting the head of the club under and behind it.

[GolfSpy MPR]

Whoa! I haven't posted in this thread in nearly three months! I'm not yet ready to post my season rollout plan, because we're almost never playing here until at least the end of April, and most often later.

But I've had a very solid off season of work so far. The most glaring gap, by far, is a lack of SkyTrak work, which is a bad confession to make here. But the garage is unheated and cold, and convincing myself to go out in well under freezing temps to hit balls is not easy.

So what has gone well? First, I've made a lot of progress in general fitness. As I mentioned elsewhere on the Forum, in November I got an Amazon Halo fitness tracker. It was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to start being more active. In the past three months, I've lost about 7lbs (down to 162ish), but according to Halo's body fat scanner, I've lost almost 4% of body fat. I'm getting in a stationary bike ride 5 days a week, using my home weight machine 3 days a week, and doing SuperSpeed 3 days a week. I last did SuperSpeed regularly back in 2018; I think my distances suffered slightly last year just due to being out of shape. Looking forward to getting some of that back, as well as being better equipped for the 9 and 18 hole walks this summer.

In terms of golf skills, I think my putting is as sharp as Arccos said it was last year. I expect that will remain one of the stronger points of my game as it's something I practice regularly with my basement green. Most of my work has been on my full swing, as Arccos clearly indicates that my driving and approach play are my biggest weaknesses. That work has three parts (in addition to the [hopefully] added speed):

• Using my PlaneMate (and some other tools) to change the way I come into impact. I'm enjoying this process, as training aids help me feel and understand the idea of proper rotation, and more: what else has to change to make that kind of swing work.
• On tempo: I learned last year that I have a very abrupt transition in my swing. In itself, there's nothing wrong with that, but what I've found is that it makes the proper sequencing of my downswing hard. In addition, in my SuperSpeed work, I find that completing my backswing is essential to hitting my highest speeds. So this isn't a matter of slowing my backswing speed, per se, but finishing the backswing before starting down.
• For strike, I've just picked up the Divot Board, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's a great way to practice strike in a place in which hitting a ball isn't possible, say for instance in the church:

I think I could get around the course with that swing, but the proof is going to be in the ball flight, obviously.

[ncwoz]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Whoa! I haven't posted in this thread in nearly three months! I'm not yet ready to post my season rollout plan, because we're almost never playing here until at least the end of April, and most often later.

But I've had a very solid off season of work so far. The most glaring gap, by far, is a lack of SkyTrak work, which is a bad confession to make here. But the garage is unheated and cold, and convincing myself to go out in well under freezing temps to hit balls is not easy.

So what has gone well? First, I've made a lot of progress in general fitness. As I mentioned elsewhere on the Forum, in November I got an Amazon Halo fitness tracker. It was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to start being more active. In the past three months, I've lost about 7lbs (down to 162ish), but according to Halo's body fat scanner, I've lost almost 4% of body fat. I'm getting in a stationary bike ride 5 days a week, using my home weight machine 3 days a week, and doing SuperSpeed 3 days a week. I last did SuperSpeed regularly back in 2018; I think my distances suffered slightly last year just due to being out of shape. Looking forward to getting some of that back, as well as being better equipped for the 9 and 18 hole walks this summer.

In terms of golf skills, I think my putting is as sharp as Arccos said it was last year. I expect that will remain one of the stronger points of my game as it's something I practice regularly with my basement green. Most of my work has been on my full swing, as Arccos clearly indicates that my driving and approach play are my biggest weaknesses. That work has three parts (in addition to the [hopefully] added speed):

• Using my PlaneMate (and some other tools) to change the way I come into impact. I'm enjoying this process, as training aids help me feel and understand the idea of proper rotation, and more: what else has to change to make that kind of swing work.
• On tempo: I learned last year that I have a very abrupt transition in my swing. In itself, there's nothing wrong with that, but what I've found is that it makes the proper sequencing of my downswing hard. In addition, in my SuperSpeed work, I find that completing my backswing is essential to hitting my highest speeds. So this isn't a matter of slowing my backswing speed, per se, but finishing the backswing before starting down.
• For strike, I've just picked up the Divot Board, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's a great way to practice strike in a place in which hitting a ball isn't possible, say for instance in the church:

I think I could get around the course with that swing, but the proof is going to be in the ball flight, obviously.

Swing's looking great! Also good for you getting on some of your fitness goals! I'm not sure I've been in the 160s since high school

[GolfSpy MPR]

10 minutes ago, ncwoz said:

Swing's looking great! Also good for you getting on some of your fitness goals! I'm not sure I've been in the 160s since high school

I'm 5'10". Graduated high school in the 140s. By the end of my first year of seminary (I was single and ate a lot of 20 piece McNuggets), I was north of 200. Roughly 180 when I got married at 29, then dropped under 150 when I did a year+ stint as a delivery driver for FedEx.

So I've been all over, but right around 160 is a good number for me at this stage of life, I think.

[GolfSpy MPR]

Just put this together:

 

[BNewton51]

30 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

I'm 5'10". Graduated high school in the 140s. By the end of my first year of seminary (I was single and ate a lot of 20 piece McNuggets), I was north of 200. Roughly 180 when I got married at 29, then dropped under 150 when I did a year+ stint as a delivery driver for FedEx.

So I've been all over, but right around 160 is a good number for me at this stage of life, I think.

WOW!  That's quite impressive!  Great job on the weight loss / fitness journey. 

[BNewton51]

3 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Just put this together:

 

Nice drop into the slot on the new swing!  Definitely a drastic change in the couple years between!!!

[BNewton51]

46 minutes ago, ncwoz said:

Swing's looking great! Also good for you getting on some of your fitness goals! I'm not sure I've been in the 160s since high school

Better than me!  I think it was probably 6 or 7th grade for me!   But then I graduated highschool before I went off to play ball in college around 280, 310 in college and now back down to 230.  Still another 30 to go.