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Retirement and Golf


Alf. S

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Last medal has been cancelled so the season is finished at the club.

End of the season/target summary.

  • Retired 28th June 2019 h/c 7.8, target to reach 5c (5.4) before 5th Jan 2021
  • Took lessons, bought new kit, used Arccos to help "improve" game.
  • Dumped new kit and Arccos at the beginning Oct 19 h/c 8.8 
  • Immediately hit a net -5 and cut back to 7.8 end 2019 season on 7.9
  • Covid hits, course closed, 1st competition 20th June 2020
    • Chipping and pitching practise during lockdown has help my short game.
  • Very consistent season with no medal wins but a couple of 2nd place finishes
  • Won the over 50s match play trophy and was cut to 5.6
  • Sitting on 5.7 on Saturday  and needed a -2 round. Finished on -1 to get to 5.5 and miss the target by 0.1
  • Learnt today I came 8th in the Scratch cumulative season comp (best 3 rounds) and I won the best Net cumulative comp.
  • WHS comes in on the 1st Nov and if my calculations are right I will go up to 5.8. Slope rating for the home course is 126.

Missed my career target by 0.1 but still fit and healthy so hopefully 2021 will get me there. So instead of before I'm 60 the target will be when I'm 60.

 

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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Last medal has been cancelled so the season is finished at the club.
End of the season/target summary.
  • Retired 28th June 2019 h/c 7.8, target to reach 5c (5.4) before 5th Jan 2021
  • Took lessons, bought new kit, used Arccos to help "improve" game.
  • Dumped new kit and Arccos at the beginning Oct 19 h/c 8.8 
  • Immediately hit a net -5 and cut back to 7.8 end 2019 season on 7.9
  • Covid hits, course closed, 1st competition 20th June 2020
    • Chipping and pitching practise during lockdown has help my short game.
  • Very consistent season with no medal wins but a couple of 2nd place finishes
  • Won the over 50s match play trophy and was cut to 5.6
  • Sitting on 5.7 on Saturday  and needed a -2 round. Finished on -1 to get to 5.5 and miss the target by 0.1
  • Learnt today I came 8th in the Scratch cumulative season comp (best 3 rounds) and I won the best Net cumulative comp.
  • WHS comes in on the 1st Nov and if my calculations are right I will go up to 5.8. Slope rating for the home course is 126.
Missed my career target by 0.1 but still fit and healthy so hopefully 2021 will get me there. So instead of before I'm 60 the target will be when I'm 60.
 

Nothing wrong w adjusting the Target a bit, it’s still 60!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Rick

 

 

Left Hand, 

Driver; PXG 0311XF Cypher 50 gr Senior  
5 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr       
7 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr      
5 hybrid; Cally Steelhead, Hazardous R2     
Irons; Mizuno JPX 923HM 7-GW Recoil 460 F2
Wedges; Titleist S9 54*, Mizuno SW 56*

Putter; Waaay too many to list

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3 hours ago, Alf. S said:

Last medal has been cancelled so the season is finished at the club.

End of the season/target summary.

  • Retired 28th June 2019 h/c 7.8, target to reach 5c (5.4) before 5th Jan 2021
  • Took lessons, bought new kit, used Arccos to help "improve" game.
  • Dumped new kit and Arccos at the beginning Oct 19 h/c 8.8 
  • Immediately hit a net -5 and cut back to 7.8 end 2019 season on 7.9
  • Covid hits, course closed, 1st competition 20th June 2020
    • Chipping and pitching practise during lockdown has help my short game.
  • Very consistent season with no medal wins but a couple of 2nd place finishes
  • Won the over 50s match play trophy and was cut to 5.6
  • Sitting on 5.7 on Saturday  and needed a -2 round. Finished on -1 to get to 5.5 and miss the target by 0.1
  • Learnt today I came 8th in the Scratch cumulative season comp (best 3 rounds) and I won the best Net cumulative comp.
  • WHS comes in on the 1st Nov and if my calculations are right I will go up to 5.8. Slope rating for the home course is 126.

Missed my career target by 0.1 but still fit and healthy so hopefully 2021 will get me there. So instead of before I'm 60 the target will be when I'm 60.

 

Oh, to be young again!!  

A very nice short season there Alf.  Would you say that the drop from 7.9 to 5.6 was mostly due to the lockdown chipping and pitching practice?  Or were there other factors?

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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2 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Oh, to be young again!!  

A very nice short season there Alf.  Would you say that the drop from 7.9 to 5.6 was mostly due to the lockdown chipping and pitching practice?  Or were there other factors?

Thanks I'll try and capture what I think I've changed.

The chipping has definitely improve my up and down rates, my swing has changed considerably over the last 6 months. I've moved to more shoulder turn in my swing and a strong left hand grip this improved my consistency. I then carried this on into the rest of my game which has improved my consistency off the tee and with my longer clubs 5i, 4h, 3h, 3w. I have a really destructive cut with the longer clubs and this may not have cured it, but it is more a controllable fade now. 

One thing I've started to do is use the acronym GAS at setup.

G = Grip, Take my strong left hand grip

A= Address/Aim, Set my shoulder pointing at my target and hands in neutral position  

S= Swing/Shoulder turn, usual have a practice takeaway moving shoulders only, ensuring weight transfer

The only swing thought I have when I swing is to start the downswing with my shoulders

It doesn't look pretty but it works.

I always describe my golf game as a bit like a clown car, you fix the left hand doro and the right door falls off.

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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Scottish Golf have started to send out their initial calculations of handicaps under WHS and mine is down to 5.2 form 5.5

I'm pretty happy with that.

Some said that WHS doesn't have categories so I can't say I became a Cat 1 golfer but 5.2 is cool.

After our Index and Slope came out I did a extrapolation on my excel and it came out at 5.14 so pretty close.

Is this a hollow victory or I'm I being harsh on myself?

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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  • 2 weeks later...

WHS went live today in the UK and my official handicap is 5.4. 

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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  • 5 months later...

Thought I would give a retirement update since I have posted on this thread since November.

The Winter off season was a bit frustrating, up until Xmas I carried on my good form then the snow came and didn't play golf for about 4 weeks. When I started back it was like a different game, my consistency had gone throughout my game and instead of averaging around 6 over a round I was hitting 10 to 15 over. This is now carried over into the start of the new season and I'm working hard on the course and practice areas to trying and get it back.

1. Driving:  the high cut is back, I don't think I'm hitting thru the ball and transferring my weight onto the front foot. I have a short 3/4 backswing and noticed on Sat if i lengthen this helped with the weight transfer and ball striking. I need to work  on this by the time I got to 14 the cut came back.

2: Long approach shot: My 3w and  hybrids are working well; still can have the occasional cut but not destructive.

3. Mid approach: I had started hitting at the ball rather than thru the ball and this had lost me distance and consistency, recently changed this with a shallower take away and this has helped. Main issue now is occasionally I get stuck on the inside which causes a push.

4: Short approach: I'm struggling a bit with gapping on full shots with PW thru to 56' wedge but in recent weeks I have started using half shots from 9i to 56' (100 to 60yds) which has helped. 

5. Chipping: This was really strong last year but has been the most troublesome part of my game at the start of this. I'm practicing really hard but not getting any better, practises goes well but when I get on the course I seem to choke on shots. The conditions of the course don't help, if you get on a path from green to tee, your left with an iffy lie, we've had very little growth yet so I'm hoping that the fringes will lush up.

6. Putting: Like the chipping pretty frustrating, I'm finding it hard to get any consistency and I'm chopping and changing putter to try and get comfortable. At the moment I'm 36 putts average per round compared to 32 last year. Like the fringes the greens are still quite bumpy and the chipping is not helping with longer proximity to the hole. Saturday tried an new setup up with the putter more forward in my stance and this seems to have helped 34 putts with 2 x 3 putts which were both 60' 1st putts from mishit chips.

I have been lucky so far that my handicap has not gone up due to my my 1st counter being 10th out of 20, with 4 rounds down I have 6 to get a couple of good scores recorded.

Need to get back to my pre-shot mantra GAS. Grip, Address, Shoulders.

Got a few key rounds coming up 1st game of the Senior League on Thursday and then the week after it is the Scottish Medal East finals so want to equipe myself well in these.

 

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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How crazy is WHS?

My 81 got me a cut to h/c of 5.3.

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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  • 2 months later...

Just over half way thru the Summer so time for another update. As mentioned with WHS I had a few rounds to play with before my good counters started to drop off so with a scratch 77 managed to get down to 4.9 in May  (lowest ever) but this has been very much the exception. As I moved into June some of the good counters dropped off which has pushed me back to 6.1.

My game is in better condition with my pitching, chipping and putting pretty solid. I bought a couple of Callaway Jaws wedges and I'm really getting on well with them c.f. the old Cleveland RTX 3.0. 70 yds and in confidence is high and getting some really good birdie opportunities. On the Putting I'm back with the Ping Heppler Floki and although I think I could be holing more it is giving good results from 6 feet and in. The driving has been a bit unpredictable, I go to the range and think I've fix my issues and the fix lasts for a couple of rounds and the cut is back. At my home course I can pretty much keep it in play because I know the lines and bail outs, away is a different matter. When I played the Old Course in June we were told on the 1st tee, left is usually a good line if you're unsure, I was playing the tiger line down the right all day and lost a couple of balls due to the cut.

We have had a pretty dry spell for the last 6 weeks in Scotland so the courses are dry but the rough is lush. If you go in the rough it is pretty much lost. It means the errant tee shot gets you a 2 shot penalty. So although in general I'm playing steady, my cards have a smattering of doubles and triples with lost balls the main issue.  Saturday 82 with a triple and quad at the 9th and 12th. Today 79 with a triple at the 5th.

It is our last Senior League match this week at a decent local course Bathgate they have a unique claim of having produced 2 Ryder Cup captains in Eric Brown and Bernard Gallacher and also Stephen Gallacher. I think my game is suited to match play at the moment, I can have a nightmare hole but come straight back. My partners and I have won 6 form 9 matches the 3 loses being away from home. In terms of games we are mid table and there is only pride to play for. 

This week it is also the Club Championship qualifiers, it is over 2 rounds. Top 16 scratch then next 16 h/c qualify into the knockout which then takes place over next week with the finals over 36 holes a week on Saturday. It is tough for me  to get into the scratch, I've made it before as one of the last qualifiers and at that level you normally come up against a seed in the 1st round i.e. the scratch or +h/c golfers.   Best hope is if I get into the handicap and maybe get a wee run.

On the retirement front, I moved back to be Semi-retired now working 2 days a week from home. My old boss coaxed me to help him out in a Cambridge based start up. The prerequisite was that it should not get in the way of a tee time.

Anyway time to sign off for now.

 

Enjoy your golf

 

WIMB

Driver Callaway Epic 10.5' Fujikura Stiff

3W Callaway Epic 15' Fujikura Stiff

3-AW Srixon Z565 Nippon Stiff

52', 56' Cleveland RTX 585 Wedges

Putter Taylormade Rosa Daytona

Bags 2017 Callaway Org14 Cart bag or 2018 Srixon Z start Carry bag 

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On 3/15/2019 at 2:35 PM, Alf. S said:

my target is to get to be a category 1 golfer before I'm 60 so with a season and a half of retirement I'm hoping this will give me the spare time to get there.

Wish me luck.

You got this.  Stay out of injury.

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