OPERATION CALLAWAY: The Pebble Project

[Super Tuna]

Keep it up Dave! Also, what are you using to display the score cards like that?

 

Project Bandon eh? Long drive from Vancouver but certainly possible...

[Kanoito]

Your scores look fine! compared to mine

 

I just shot 3 over in the front nine and 23 over in the back nine... can you beat that?

[GolfSpy Dave]

Keep it up Dave! Also, what are you using to display the score cards like that?

 

Project Bandon eh? Long drive from Vancouver but certainly possible...

I am using the basic Golfshot app (non-GPS) for my iphone. It emails me the scorecard after the round and I am just taking screen caps to post here.

 

Hopefully there will be fewer black holes on the scorecard in the future.

[GolfSpy Dave]

OPERATION CALLAWAY: The Pebble Project

Lesson 2: Short Game

 

This week, my instructor Greg Ciavarelli and I set out to work on chipping. I am having an issue with the double chip these days. It seems impossible, but I have mastered the ability to put a 30' shot only 5'. It is a skill that I need to un-master ASAP. After watching me hit some chips using my current method, Greg showed me another, simpler method. Hinge and turn is probably the best description of the chip shot. The wrists hinge to set the club, and then the body rotates to move the club through the ball as it descends. My previous chipping motion was basically all arms, with the new chip being nearly all body.

 

We started with a gap wedge from about 15' off. The hinge motion felt very awkward. I really wanted to take the club back with my arms. Once I could get the correct hinge setting, it was a matter of making sure that I finished the swing through the ball. What was interesting about the process was that even though it felt very awkward to me, the ball was going to the right spot on the green. I get the idea not that if the golf swing feels awkward and uncomfortable then I am probably doing it right, the naturally feeling swing producing nothing but trauma...

 

Again, my issue of speed and tempo was something that we worked on as well. Greg kept telling me to hit at 75% or 50% of the speed of the previous swing. When I could do this, the shots came off much softer and just hit the green and settled as opposed to rolling past the pin. I think that this is the hardest thing to get comfortable with mentally. My image of chipping is leaving the ball short, thus feeling like I need to swing harder and faster. Slow produced much better results. I need to practice this until I can trust the shot and change my mental picture.

 

We then moved back from the green and Greg had me aim at the back flag, using the same stroke but with a 9i. It was nice to realize that one swing could produce different shots just by changing the club. The same was true when we went up close to the green and hit at the close flag with the SW. It makes sense to me. That is how the clubs work with the full swing.

 

One final bit of fun with the full swing is that somehow I have altered my swing into a new area of mistake. I am hooking a bunch these days. Greg watched me and asked what I was doing. An instructor must love a student whose swing has radical changes in two weeks time. Basically I am taking the club back closed and way inside, thus exaggerating my over the top move. As he explained it, I am so far inside that over the top is the only option if I am going to actually hit the ball at all. After some work on taking the club more outside on the backswing and weakening my overly strong grip, I was back to getting near my targets on the range.

 

All in all an action packed 30 minutes

 

Round 4: Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek, Front 9

I am thinking that playing on the same day that I have a lesson may not be a very good idea. I did not really feel comfortable over the ball at all, as reflected by the outstanding score. After hitting the chips in the lesson, I probably hit 100+ balls on the range. My left shoulder was tight that afternoon and it never really loosened up.

Honestly, there were some bright spots, but some random stuff as well. Here are the highlights:

 

 

 

• Hole 1: Slight slice on drive, hit tree bouncing to fairway ☺, pull 8i to left of green, chip on (new method), close miss on putt, bogey.
  
• Hole 2: Just off edge of fairway with drive, GOLF SHOT, 2 putt par
  
• Hole 3: Pull, blade chip, chip, putt putt
  
• Hole 4: Drive to the squirrel hole, still had a chance at par, but double via poor chipping instead
  
  
• Hole 5: good drive just missed fairway off left edge, pulled approach, chip 45° from target
  
• Hole 6: Good drive to right 6' off edge, directly behind large tree, rebounds off tree and chaos follows
  
• Hole 7: Hit fairway, quite a ways down, but it was a big miss that went way left before coming back right. Would have been perfect if I was a lefty. Middle of fairway, 100y out. I love this shot and feel confident about it. To show that confidence, I hit the SW super fat and it went about 30 yards.
  
• Hole 8: Topped hook drive. May have lost my cool a bit with this one. Teed up another ball and hit a huge bomb to the middle of the fairway. Best drive of the day (life?) and it didn't count. Still had a par putt though after a solid 5i from under the trees and a big 3W
  
• Hole 9: Hook 5i into tree, ball stays in tree, stroke, drop, disbelief
  

 

Although it deserted me a bit near the end, the driver felt better. Not in the fairway, but not that far off. Putter was good, on relatively shaggy/poor greens. I spent a few hours with the new Betti/beauty and it paid off. Chipping was uncomfortable. Just felt stiff and unsure as I tried to incorporate the new method. I assume practice will make this better.

 

Bonus:

Saw this on the way home. The photo is a bit lame, but that is a truck fully decked out in the Ghostbusters motif. The laughter was welcome.

[Tony Covey MGS]

What...not a single "golf shot"?

[GolfSpy Dave]

What...not a single "golf shot"?

Fixed

There was one...

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 5: Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek, Front 9

Vindication!

 

 

How about a 10 stroke swing in three days? Golf shots all over the place. Came close to finishing birdie birdie

 

After the mess that was Friday's round I had to go back and see if fatigue played a roll in my half century last Friday. Based upon the score this time, I would say that having a lesson in the morning may impact my score in the afternoon.

 

One big thing did happen between the round Friday and today's: PRACTICE!

 

Nothing crazy. I just took my shag tube into the backyard yesterday and practiced the chip stroke that Greg taught me Friday morning. Set up about 15 away from a blue bucket on the lawn and just fired away. I hit a dozen shots, collected the balls, and repeated, probably about six or eight times. With that practice I was able to get a feel for the stroke. I focused upon pace and finishing the shot, the two things that Greg emphasized with me in our lesson. By the end, I was hitting the bucket a couple of times with each dozen, the other balls not missing my much.

 

My goal playing today was to just focus on that chipping swing. It was a resounding success. No double chips. Performed the swing with the SW, AW, PW, and 9i depending upon distance. The only miss was the one roll off on a downhill green on #4. I really think that with some more practice, this will be a real weapon.

 

So the morals of the round:

 

• Focused practice helps
  
• Keep playing, even if the last round was a bag of ass
  

[Tony Covey MGS]

Solid work, Dave. Now you need to match it on the back side.

[GolfSpy Tim]

Well done sir! Feels good to see improvement huh!?

 

Can't wait to get caught up and share some of my score changes.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Rounds 6 and 7: Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek Back 9 (x2)

So I played the same 9 holes twice yesterday. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Here is the morning card:

 

What an uninspired round of bogey golf. Not a single fairway or GIR. All 2 putts, all bogeys. Chipping was great. This is a positive as it is the only thing that I have practiced this week. Nice to know that the chip that Greg taught me seems to be sticking. Hit good irons, but often with no real shot to the green because the driver was a real evil bastard today. Putting felt off. I made all of the short ones that I am supposed to make, but the lags were short and off line. Definitely need more practice on the green.

 

Here is the afternoon round:

 

This round was a funny 43. I know I could have gone lower if the driver could have been at all close to in play. The penalty strokes on 16 and 18 were both big nasty high OB slices with me having to reload off the tee for the third stroke of the hole. Remove those 4 lost strokes and it was a different round. Putting was much better. For lags, I actually drew a line on the ball and aimed at the hole using it. This is something that I don't normally do, but as shaky as I was lagging in the morning, it seemed like a good idea. Nailed two putts from a ways back on the fringe on 14 and 15. Gotta love that. Birdie on 17th was really nice as that hole is a bit of a nasty animal. Too bad I followed up the bird with the monster slice OB.

 

I was so bummed with the driver that I came home and immediately began online shopping for other options and entertained thoughts about cutting my current one down to 45" to improve control. Instead of the FT-iZ or hacksaw though, I am going to the range today to see if I can diagnose where that long stick is going awry. I even hit the fairway woods well yesterday. It is literally just the driver that is the issue right now.

 

Lag putting and the driver (again) for the next lesson, I believe.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 8: Ancil Hoffman Golf Course

Didn't Score in the 90's

 

So look at this bad boy from today...

 

Yes that says 89. I was encouraged a few weeks ago when I broke 100 on this course for the first time. Needless to say I was stoked when I checked the score at the end of the round today. 89! This with some strokes definitely left on the course. The triple on the back was a bit of a meltdown. It is sort of a BS hole with a tree in front of the green. Sliced hybrid, great punch out to about 115. Hit thin PW about 150. Chip that didn't stick, on, putt putt 7. Stoopid. That is the only one that really pissed me off. No way should I have blasted that wedge like that. My tempo was too quick and I know I was trying to swing too hard to clear the tree and the large bunker to the right.

 

The first three holes were a little shaky as I had to go right to the first tee without any warm-up balls. Did a lIttle putting on the practice green next to the first tee and swung the Power Tool in the parking lot for about 5 min. Really could used 10-15 balls on the range to get some blood moving in the body.

 

The double on 8 was a weird hole. I leaked a bit right off the tee into the trees. I ended up behind a hill that had a tree on the top. I stood there and looked at that shot for a good two minutes saying "How the hell do I hit this one?" I decided to punch it low, over the hill and under the tree. Forgot I was on a slope and dug the club into the turf, the ball going forward about 5 feet. Still no shot at the green, so I punched again, this time moving it to about 100 where I got on with the SW. As I play more I am sure that experience will add some of shot selection to these goofy situations.

 

Driver did perform much better today. I hit the range with the demon/Razr Hawk on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a mess. I demoed some drivers in the shop though and I couldn't hit any of those (except the Ping K15, actually I was killing the K15...) demo drivers better than my own. At home Saturday afternoon I stood in front of the sliding glass door and watched my swing in the reflection. What I was trying to feel what a correct, i.e. not over the top, swing felt like. After about 15 minutes of this I felt what it should feel like, I thought.

 

I took this feeling back to the range on Sunday and it actually worked. I was able to swing inside out and made some great contact. Not all balls would have been playable on the course, but I think that I am understanding what a good swing feels like with the driver.

 

Of course I forgot what I figured out on Sunday until I hit the fourth hole today. I even made a note not to forget in my phone. Oh well. In spite of my lazy memory, I do feel like I have a basic feel for the driver, irons, and metals. The putter was great today on very nice greens. Totally diggin that Betti. Also, I was able to execute the chip that Greg taught me over and over again today. Definitely gaining confidence there.

 

I also brought an old friend to the course today...

 

The yellow goodness is getting a little dilapidated, but it was a champ. It may be time to send Boz a message

[W.J Bosley]

Hey Dave, nice round for sure! Talk soon, Boz

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 10 (Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek) and Lesson 3 (Short Game)

 

Here is the scorecard for last Friday.

 

Things actually started off very well. Especially considering the only warm-up was swinging the Power Tools wedge in the parking lot. Had a real chance to par the first five holes. Missed a silly putt on 12 and left the chip short on 14. Driver was back to its difficult self, but scrambling was good.

 

Golf shot of the day/life came on 16 where I had put my approach shot to the slope on the outside of a greenside bunker. Ball was at about thigh high. Hit a clean little chip that hit the green and tracked right into the hole. Third chip-in in two weeks. Love that!

 

Then the wheels came off the bus. I think the wheels also caught fire on 17 as I hit an OK drive to the right edge, and then sliced a 5i OB. My irons were leaking progressively more right all round and that shot was by far the worst. After taking a drop, I celebrated by duffing the first chip. Then I chipped like I am supposed to and escaped with a 7.

 

Moonball right OB on 18, followed by a second ball "par". That seems to be the way I play that hole. One of these days I will avoid that first OB drive.

 

Lesson 3: Short Game

I met my instructor Greg Ciavarelli at the Haggin Oaks practice holes Saturday morning to work on shots from 50 yards out. This distance has really been swing and pray golf for me. I just sort of go with feel. Results are usually not good. I would much rather be 100 yards out than 50...

 

Greg dropped some balls and had me show him what I would usually do. I hit the ball 45° to the right, dead into a bunker. After explaining to Greg that my normal shot was not like that, I proceeded to knock about 5 more balls off the hosel and into the trap. Man do I hate this game sometimes.

 

Thankfully this was occurring during a lesson where Greg could tell me that I was just fanning at the ball with my arms while keeping my weight on my right foot. Now I am not the best player, but I know that this is a recipe for disaster. For the next 15 minutes or so, we tried to make my body behave. Rotate the body, keep the weight to the left. Greg had me toss a medicine ball with him to get the feel of the body turning and not just the arms. Once I could do this, the club swing came together a bit more. Still not real confident at 50 yards, but at least I know what I should be doing.

 

We also spent a brief time at the end of the lesson in the bunker. Seemed to make sense as I put the balls there anyway... Although we didn't work on it for long as my time was up, I definitely need to swing through the ball in the trap rather than hit at it. Once I concentrated on swinging through and throwing sand with the club, the results improved.

 

After the official lesson, I took a large bucket of balls to the range and tried to work out the mess with my irons. Ultimately it was the same issue, rotation and poor weight shift. Kind of funny that this would creep back into the swing after the great round earlier in the week. I just need to be more careful as I set-up in general.

 

Driver did it's sprinkler thing until I realized that I was taking the club away way too steep and as a result was getting stuck over the top. Lowering the take away put me on a much better plane and I was able to hit playable drives far more consistently. Hopefully this insight stays with me at the next tee.

[GolfSpy Tim]

still inspiring me man! thanks for sharing

[GolfSpy Dave]

Lesson 4 (Short Game/Putting)

 

Lesson 4

So I met Greg Ciavarelli last Thursday afternoon at Haggin Oaks for a follow-up short game lesson and also to have him take a look at my putting stroke. Initially, I was also going to have him look at my full swing as I had developed a case of the sprays this week. Hit four perfect 5i shots while he was watching, so we went straight to the practice holes for short game work.

 

CHIPPING

There were a few things that I wanted Greg to review with me from my previous lesson. I was feeling like I had lost the short chip shot that he taught me in lesson 2 about a month ago. After a few shots, Greg let me know that I was not rotating enough through the shot. Tempo was too quick too. Of course it was...

 

 

Thankfully, Greg had some ideas for me. First, I should approach the swing as being "slow and long". My worst shots came when I was short and fast, finishing the swing at the ball. The lesson really made sense when I looked at my misses and realized that the only time I left the ball short of the green was when I swung short and fast. Long and slow sent balls toward the target, leaving me what would actually be makable putts. Long and slow <_>

 

SAND

Next Greg dropped me in the green-side bunker and had me hit some sand shots. This really came down to set-up. When I followed what Greg was telling me, I hit good shots. When I drifted off message, the shots went awry.

 

An interesting thing happened here for me. I learned what a good vs. bad bunker shot looked like. Now this is not what you may be thinking. I'm not talking about bad shots being the ones that remain in the sand, but rather ones that I hit out of the trap and onto the green. After hitting about five out of the sand, I was feeling like the shot was impossible. The pin was on the opposite side of the green, and the balls were ending up about 10 to 15 feet away. I think that watching golf on TV has skewed my perspective on what bunker play should look like. I expect the ball to end up about two feet from the hole from the bunker. I know that the TV folk only show the shots that are exceptional and that many/most of the sand play doesn't necessarily produce kick-in putts. However, that was my benchmark for a successful shot.

 

Thankfully Greg told me to get rid of that misconception. A ball from the trap that ends up with a makable putt is a good shot. I don't know why my expectation was to hole every sand shot.

 

Technique wise, Greg gave me the following sand pointers:

 

• Play the ball forward in my stance.
  
• Have my feet a bit further apart than I would have done naturally.
  
• Lean into the shot (weight to the left)
  
• Hover the club about 2" behind the ball to promote taking sand with the shot.
  
• Stay steep with the impact.
  
• ROTATE THROUGH THE SHOT!
  

 

While I do not claim mastery of the sand, I do know that when I was doing these things, the ball made it to the green. When impact became shallow or flippy, the ball did not come out. In closing, Greg buried the ball and told me to make the same swing. The ball came out lower and rolled forever. Again, I thought that I hit it poorly, but Greg explained that is the way that the ball often comes out of buried lies. I guess the other thing that comes with golf lessons is golf education. Knowing what the expected outcome will me should keep me from being too critical of my performance.

 

PUTTING

I have always prided myself on being a good putter. The putter has allowed me to avoid some really big numbers. Lately, I am leaving longer putts short and hammering short putts past. Admittedly, I have not been practicing with the putter as much as I usually do. Regardless, I wanted Greg to take a look and see what I am doing.

 

Guess what, I am OTT with the putter. Those of you who have read all of this thread are likely not shocked. I was bringing the putter back OK, but then finishing out to in. This improved with a bit of the long and slow and adjusting my stance so that I am not open. Love it when what I feel is square is actually open, and what is actually square feels closed.

 

To address pace and aiming, Greg had me stand a little taller in the stance and then bring my chin down so my eves are over the ball and the line. This is a funny thing that the body does. As I got "taller", my chin naturally wanted to lift, thus taking my eyes off the correct line. When I was set up this way, the line was much better, as was the pacing. Balls were not automatically going in, but the line was close, and they were all finishing about 20" past the hole. I would like that to be a bit closer, but it is much better than finishing 36" short. Practice should help this. Still love the feel of my BB-27, btw

 

NEXT: Putt for Patriots Round: Played as a Single; Way Too Many Doubles

[finalist]

89 at Ancil is very respectable. That's like an 84-85 at most other Sac courses.

The hinge and rotate chipping method is solid. Have you watched Phil M.'s short game videos? He talks about hinge and hold which sound the same. They're worth watch for at least the trick shots Phil does.

 

I get the shanks dping the same thing. They seem to pop up qhwn I'm tired or lazy feeling. It takes energy to turn the body and shift weight.

 

Fun thread!

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 11 Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek

So take a gander at this peach of a scorecard:

 

 

In looking at this scorecard, it is easy to see that I didn't quite play the nines with the same precision. I got off to an OK start. Piped the tee shot on 1, but pulled the 9i approach to the left. Chipping was pretty amazing on the front. That's good too, because obviously I couldn't find a GIR. Lots of chips to kick-in putts. Thanks for the lesson the day before Greg.

 

Still erratic as all get out off the tee, but there were a couple of good shots. All in all I was pretty pleased as I walked around it what was the growing heat. I was feeling good about playing a round earning some money for Putt for Patriots. Some of you may have seen this photo that I tweeted after the par on 6.

 

 

I was feeling great. I had picked up a twosome to play with. Really cool guys in their 70's. Wasn't playing great, but my misses were manageable and my score was OK. On the 7th, I blasted a high slice into the trees. First one of the day. Found the ball, made a good recovery shot to the fairway, and then proceeded to hit GW 120 on a 104 yard shot. OK chip and two putts for double. Pissed that I had a double, but finished the 9 par par so I was still feeling good at the turn.

 

Obviously, I later wished that I had made the turn into the parking lot instead. The fairway hit mark on 10 is not correct. I hit my last Vision ball high, right and long gone. I was so pissed at losing that ball and more so at myself for making that swing. I think that this hole broke me mentally for the back nine.

 

That back nine was a grind. On 12 I actually hit a fairway and a green, then proceeded to 3 putt. I had to keep going though. Lost another ball on 16. Topped my ball short on the long par 5 18th. Those 9 holes were not fun.

 

It has been a few rounds since everything fell apart. I can look at 93 total as being OK for a final score, but that 51 on the back was so bad that I don't really care about the final score. I was hot and tired and just couldn't hit any shot. I was glad when it was over.

 

Since Friday, I have headed to the range twice to see if I could come to terms with my mess of a swing. It is frustrating to have it go so far south so fast. I started with the PW and just worked at making even swings with good tempo. After a while, I gained some repetition of playable shots. Not great shots, but in play. Got ugly again switching to the long irons and the driver. I even demoed some drivers from the shop, but thankfully sucked with all of them.

 

The range went better today. I know that tempo is the issue. Also, when I just relaxed and swung, the results were better. I think that I will be ready to play tomorrow.

 

I find it interesting that that bad nine sort of shattered my confidence in being able to play at all. I have multiple recent rounds providing evidence that I am playing better. In spite of that, I felt nervous about playing when someone asked if I was in. I know I can make the good swings. I just need to keep my head in the game and stay relaxed.

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 12: Haggin Oaks Alister MacKenzie Course

Black Tees in the Heat May be Bad For Me...

 

So prior to yesterday's pool and fireworks festivities, I was invited to go and play an early morning round with some of the pros who work in the Haggin Oaks pro shop. I felt like I had worked out some of Friday's back nine demons at the range on Sunday morning, so I was looking forward to the chance to play again.

 

Here is the scorecard:

 

Now let me preface the discussion of this round with a couple of points:

 

• Although this course is part of what I consider my "home muni", I don't play this side very often because it is 18 hole play only and carts are required. Thus more expensive.
  
• I have never broken 100 on this course, but I also have not played it yet this year when I know that my game has improved.
  
• I have never played this course from the tips/black tees.
  
• We played as a five-some. Three employees and one junior whose combined HCPs would still be lower than mine by 10 shots...
  

In general, I find it very curious that my two nines were so close to the scores that I had on the easier Arcade Creek course the previous Friday. Great on the front, terrible on the back. The front nine had two real high points for me.

 

The first one came on the first tee. After hitting a few quick shots on the range, I drove up to the first tee to see the other four guys at the back tees. According to the scorecard, my 17 or so HCP should put me two tees forward. They said it was fine for me to play from those tees, but ego and wanting to be with the rest of the group had me go from the blacks. The "moment" for me came when, hitting fifth, I placed a respectable drive into the fairway. Not as far as the other four bombers, but not too far behind. Sliced the 3h a bit next, but hit the green with the wedge and made the putts.

 

The second high point was on 8 where again I was behind the others off the tee, in the first cut or so to the left. I hit 6i from 168 and put the ball 5 foot from the hole, well inside the shots of the other players. I missed the birdie, likely due to a combination of miss-read and nerves, but that hole was still great.

 

I topped two balls on the front nine off the tee. On 4, I hit a topped POS off the tee, but followed that up with four golf shots. The putt was an awesome up hill/down hill left to right breaker from 15 feet or so. Luck was involved, for sure, but I did hit the line and pace that I was looking for.

 

The second topped ball on 9 was the beginning of the "just get back to the clubhouse" play. I am not sure if the elevated temperature at this point got to me, but something slipped in my game. High/Low points for the back:

 

The bogey on 11 was actually a high point for me as that hole played 631 yards from the tips. I hit an OK drive to the middle of the fairway, a good 3w to the middle of the fairway, and was still 200 out. Missed 3h to the right, OK chip, burned first putt. 631 is just too long for me at this point unless I hit all three shots to the green perfectly. One of the other guys did have a great par here by going driver 3x, wedge, putt. Two off the deck shots with driver. Awesome.

 

As the back went on, I just got sloppy with the shots. Not real sure why, but I was not mentally sharp. Some it was the teeing off situation. I know that every tee shot was a pressure situation as these guys were long and accurate. At least on the back my driver was OK.

 

Also on the back, the guys started discussing scores and having a minor competition. They were just having fun with each other, talking a little smack as they played. They never once talked trash to me about my big number, but listening to all of them going on about who is +2 when I was +20 was not all that fun. I tried to ignore it all and just finish strong, or at least without snowmen.

 

So in reflecting on the round, I feel OK about it, but really wished I could have gotten even a small bit of scoring together on the back 9. I think that I can break 90 on this course, especially if I play the correct tees. I think that playing with the good players was overall helpful for my confidence as it will help me to be prepared for playing with good players in the future.

 

I think that the real take-home message is the one that came from one of the guys after the round:

 

"You were ballin' on the front. You just have to play within yourself throughout the round."

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 13: Yoche DeHe Golf Club

Funny how mistakes don't help the score...

 

 

So I love this golf course. When I first played Yoche DeHe I was amazed at just how nice it was. I am a muni golfer. I understand the way that the ball interacts with hardpan and how to putt on shag. I was unprepared for just how nice the Yoche DeHe course would be. The condition of this course is always outstanding. Green fees include cart and range balls. There are ice chests with water bottles every three holes. An attendant takes your clubs from the car and loads them onto the cart. Another attendant cleans your clubs while you putt out on 18. And best of all, when you turn in your cart, another attendant hands you a cold, damp towel to wipe away the heat and dirt. Amazing service. All for $65 plus a few tips here and there. There are far worse courses that charge far more in my town. Yoche DeHe is a definite gem.

 

I have included a couple of photos just so you can get a feel for the place.

 

This is the view from the first tee. You drive up a large hill and fire your drive off at a fairway that is probably a good eighty feet below. I was very happy that I actually hit this fairway.

 

 

 

These next few shots are just so you can get the feel for the course and setting.

 

 

 

 

After that beauty, I bring you a bit of the ugly...

 

Not the greatest of efforts on my part. I know that there are a few factors that came into play. First, we had to rush to get there and had all of three balls to warm up. Not real loose getting going. Second, this course is way harder than the courses I usually play on. As you can see from the previous photos, there are numerous elevation changes and rolling fairways. I am used to flat courses. Many of the holes have blind second shots, especially in the beginning of the course. The greens are very true rolling, but they are fast, and there are lots of elevation changes there too. Overall, the rough seemed long and especially punitive, more so than normal. There are definitely some teeth in this course.

 

As a sidebar for the greens. Pin placement #5 was brutal. All of the pins were back right behind bunkers or on crowns. I honestly don't remember an easy pin on any hole. Just brutal. Definitely made me sweat on some approach shots.

 

Overall, my play was OK. I do think that this is the first legit sub 100 round here for me where I counted all shots and penalties. No mulligans or do overs. I should feel OK about that, but I am expecting to play under 90 now, regardless of course. I did hit 3 balls OB off the tee, ultimately costing me 6 strokes there. I shot "par" with the second ball on both 4 and 5, but the tee shots into the water made both of those doubles. Couple of meltdown holes 11 and 14 were both lame. 11 hit driver OB then doubled the second ball for the eight. 14 is probably the only hole on the course that I don't like. It is a sharp dogleg right that if you are long, you can cut. If not, you need about a 200 yard lay-up to the right side of the fairway to shoot through the gap in the trees at the green. I hit a good first hybrid, sliced the second a bit, but not too bad. Then went wild with a 3 chip and 2 putt combo.

 

There was a few good things. Hitting the first fairway from the elevated tee was a win. I was worried that I would top it and not get to see the ball sailing off into the great unknown...

 

 

Obviously the 10th was the other high. This hole is a difficult dogleg left to a straight uphill green. I hit a good drive that the other three guys all missed, jerks. One of the guys kidded that as soon as he heard good contact, he looked away on purpose. Ok hybrid to about 80 yards, again, way below the green. Hit SW to 6 feet and made the put for a 4. This is probably 4, maybe 6, strokes fewer than I played it last time. Too bad I followed that up with an 8 on 11.

 

Good swings were there, but hard to wrestle down. Honestly, I think that I need to work on confidence and mental toughness. Too much knee knocking on the tee and greens. I am hitting the shots of my life on the range, but returning to old garbage swings on the course. Time to have a chat with that inner monologue and set it on the positive path.

 

The course was beautiful though.

[GolfSpy WD]

Not a cheap course. Once I break 90 on a regular basis I definitely want to shell out the cash on a course like that. Very nice looking.

 

BTW, can you do a mid-season recap on your clubs? Do you still feel the same way about them as you did when you first got them? Have you tried hitting other clubs for comparison?

 

Thanks.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Lessons 5 & 6 (Short game and putting)

Rounds 14 & 15 Haggin Oaks Arcade Creek (Front and Back 9's on different days...)

 

Lessons

So lets talk lessons. My attempts to master the sub-100 yard shots have continued. My instructor Greg Ciavarelliand I have spent multiple lessons going over how to hit the green. As one would suspect, my demons still resolve around getting to my left during the swing. I do feel like this is getting better though. If I am careful with my set-up, I will usually come close to the shot I was trying to make.

 

Greg and I spent quite a bit of time about 50 yards out with me hitting half sand wedges into the green. As always, my weight was an issue, but Greg gave me some suggestions on set-up that helped. We also worked on going back to 9 o'clock or so on the backswing to take some power and distance out of the swing. That, combined with what I feel is a lower follow through, produced lower flying shots to the green that landed softly and rolled a bit. I still have some issues with aiming. Often times it feels like I am aimed to the right of where I am actually aimed. Once I am hitting more consistently, maybe this adjustment will come naturally.

 

Today we did a similar drill, but this time from about 100 yards. This is usually where I would hit a GW with a full swing. The ball flight is super high, but the yardage is usually around 100 or 105. My miss with this shot is always fat. I think that my brain says "hit hard" for some reason not believing that the ball will get there. On the range, when I am relaxed and not stressing on hitting the green, I make this shot all day long. On the course, my brain gets in the way. Today, Greg had me hit the 100 yard shot with the PW. I was taking a shorter backswing and again finishing a bit lower through. These were going about 100 yards with a much lower trajectory. Greg explained that this kind of shot has more room for error than the full swing GW, and that misses should be closer to target. I did OK with this, but did hit balls a bit short. I usually think 120-ish for PW so I may have laid off it too much on some shots. When I made an aggressive move through the ball, the shot worked great. As always, I can still produce hosel music if I don't rotate, stay with my weight on my right foot, or both.

 

With all of this short game stuff, I can really see how practice will be the key to using the swing confidently on the course. Thankfully Haggin Oaks has three par 3 practice holes that you can rent for $10 an hour. I need to add an hour or two a week out there to my practice schedule.

 

During both of the lessons, we also worked on putting. Over the last few weeks, my confidence with the putter has gone missing. It started with long lags and soon progressed to everything. Greg and I worked on body alignment, hand position, head position, grip pressure, and even choice of putter. Nothing seemed to be helping. Until today when he had me adjust my grip so that my thumbs were on the flat surface of the grip. As soon as we did this, I could putt again. I actually brought five putters to the lesson to have Greg suggest which one I should be bagging. After adjusting the grip, I could putt with all of them. What a great feeling to know that the putting can come back. My driver has been much better lately (see below) and my fairways hit has gone up. I know that I have missed some strokes with the putter. Nice to know that will be getting better

 

Rounds

Here are the two nine-hole rounds I played this week after work.

 

 

Both of them left me with a sour feeling when I finished. Even the 41 which was only one stroke above my best for that 9. It took me a bit of time to figure out why I was so unhappy with the scoring. It was the putting and the doubles. On the first hole of the first 9, I hit a good drive and then a golf shot into the green. Celebrated that with a three-putt bogie. Missed a short-ish putt for birdie later that round. Blew up for a few doubles. The 45 that day was OK really. I was playing with other guys that I got paired up with at the starter. This always makes for a bit of a nervous and fast swing for me. I hit 5 fairways with the driver, which you all know should have had me celebrating all over the place. All I could think about was the missed putts, and they were bad misses, and the flubs that lead to the doubles.

 

This mindset followed through to the round yesterday. The course was empty, so I got to play by myself the whole round. First hole, lucked in a 30 footer for birdie. I felt like I had miss-hit the putt and so it didn't really count. I played good golf: 5 fairways, three GIR. Again, it was the misses that plagued me. Hit a great drive on 16 and then hit the 6i super fat. Hit SW a bit short followed by a celebratory 3-putt. Followed with a bomb on 17, missed green on a pulled 6i, then chip to 8 inches for par. Then on 18, I lost my driver magic and sliced one OB. Hit a great hybrid second shot. Pulled 9i into left trap, good out, terrible first putt, made second for double. I had two fantastic shots on that hole with the hybrid and the sand wedge, but the OB driver was in my head.

 

I went into the shop after that round and shared my scorecard with Greg. He was looking at me a bit funny as I was complaining about how I played. A 41 for me on that course is a good score, but I felt like silly swings kept me from going 38 or 39. I couldn't see the good stuff in the round.

 

Then I went home and watched some of the Open. It sort of dawned on me that these pros, the best in the world, make bad swings/shots. Granted I am not playing on a nasty links course, but for my skill set, it is similar. This is a damn hard game. It also seems really to be one where some days you are on and others you are not.

 

Looking at this, it made me realize that my "bad scores" these days are what I would have considered great a year ago, and maybe impossible a year before that. I feel like I am closer to playing consistent quality golf than I ever have been in the past. I can see a "normal" round for me being 85 in the near future. Progress is being made. I just can't expect to be perfect yet

 

With this revelation, I swung by the store and grabbed a fifth of Glenfiddich to give to Greg at our lesson today as a way of saying thanks for his patience with my swing and for making that swing better.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Not a cheap course. Once I break 90 on a regular basis I definitely want to shell out the cash on a course like that. Very nice looking.

 

BTW, can you do a mid-season recap on your clubs? Do you still feel the same way about them as you did when you first got them? Have you tried hitting other clubs for comparison?

 

Thanks.

Great idea on the club recap. So far, the only club that has left the rotation is the Odyssey Black #1 wide putter. I had a month or so with a Bettinardi BB-27, but with my putting funk I am back to the tried and true Byron Morgan twisty LN.

 

I am still very happy with the Razr X irons and head over heels with the Razr X hybrids. That 3H is my go to club in many situations. I am not so warm on the Razr Hawk metals, but that is just because I don't hit them as well. The 5W has been a real puzzle for me as I am hitting it about the same as my 3H, just perhaps a bit higher. I really wish there was a Razr X 2H. The Razr Hawk 3W has unleashed some absolute blasts here and there, but I struggle to control it a bit. I tend to lose it to the right a bit.

 

The Razr Hawk driver and I are in a working relationship these days. I am hitting it more where I want it to go, but I feel like I am not getting the distance out of it that I could. I have hit drives in 270-280 with it, but usually I am around 240. I can live with 240 in the fairway, but would love to tweak the swing a bit to get those missing yards.

 

A few weeks or so ago, I did change out all of the grips from the Golf Pride New Decades to a set of No1 48's that I have in for review. The softer grip has also been and improvement. Better driver performance corresponds exactly with replacing the grip. Funny that a grip could make that much of a difference.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Round 16: Ancil Hoffman Golf Course: Back nine goes Kaboom!

 

When I decided that I would post all of my rounds in this thread, I figured there would be some painful postings. Then over the first few months, my game improved and looked forward to posting. Well, this is not one of those filled with pride rounds. My play this time was more of a warning to others rather than an example to follow.

 

So here is the scorecard:

 

If you look back a few rounds, you will see that this is the same course where I broke 90 for the first time a few weeks ago. Not so much this time. My goal was to put up a no double round. Figuring that bogeys and pars would put me right in the glorious 80's.

 

Right off the bat, my iron play was a challenge. Driver was OK, here and there causing me to take my medicine from the trees. Ancil is big on trees... I just couldn't hit a green to save my life. Not fatal on the front, but it got progressively worse. The first double, on 6, came after a good drive to the middle I sliced a 7 iron and the ball ended up snugged up to a big tree. No real third shot to take, and the one that I did take hit off the root and ended up in the trap. Out and two putt for 6. Still didn't feel that bad though as I thought only making double after that third shot ball position was good.

 

Seventh hole is just a hard hole. Even more so when you top the drive. Ugh.

 

I know that one of the underlying issues for the round's demise was my getting annoyed with the slow group in front of us. We were waiting on them all day long. Poor players teeing off from the tips. Scores were likely around 180 or so for each. I did my best to talk myself out of the irritation, but it just kept going and going. The lousy tee shots on 10 and 14 came after waiting about 10 minutes to tee off on both. Guys went to get beers and food at the turn, more snacks on 14 at the beverage cart. No thought of waving us through and we never quite got close enough to ask. Had we been riding, not walking, we would have skipped a hole but that was not possible.

 

The other factor that came into play, especially at the end, was the heat and fatigue. Plain and simple, I got tired by the end. Drank about a gallon of water and sweated it all out again. Muscles were rubbery. Swing faded away. The fact that I ended up only 6 shots above the last round there was a miracle.

 

Putting was great though. When I missed, it was because I under-played the break rather than just duffing the putt. No 10' putts left 5' short. Now that I am feeling like I have a putting stroke again, I am going to go back to the AimPoint lessons and figure out what is going on with my green reading.

 

Next time will be better...

[GolfSpy Dave]

The Pebble Project: “The Wrap-Up”

 

So what have you been up to Dave?

It has been a while since I have updated my readers (reader?) about my progress. Now one might think that I have just been playing poorly and am embarrassed to show a scorecard. Nope, just not playing much in August. Family vacation and a wonderful low back strain seemed to chew into the time that I usually put aside to play. Although I do see myself getting back to more frequent play, I thought that I would wrap-up this thread, as it has grown a bit long and unruly. I now bring you the GolfSpy Dave 411 with regards to lessons, play, and beyond.

 

LESSONS

So most of the lessons this summer focused upon the short game. This included a wide variety of shots from 100 yards and in. In addition, Greg Ciavaelli and I spent a few different sessions working on my putting.

 

In the lesson or two since the previous update, Greg and I spent time at the academy holes at Haggin Oaks working primarily on chip and low pitch shots, focusing specifically upon how club selection changes the shot characteristics. Greg also spent some time showing me how a partial PW can actually be more effective than a full GW. Most of the lessons, regardless of skill or club, touched upon the concept that there are multiple shots to cover a given distance or need, but some of the shots have a greater margin for error than others. We were really looking for the shots where I could still come up with the “good miss”. Funny that super high LW shots that spin back 10' didn't find there way into my lessons…

 

Putting lessons came into play because I had really developed a tendency to leave the ball short. Line selection was also on the decline. The problems with the putter were really starting to snowball. As the errors were building up, my putting confidence eroded, and more errors and missed putts entered the equation. I have always avoided putting lessons in the past as it felt like the one area where I could swing however I wanted, as long as the ball hit the hole. Most of the time my putting was fairly solid, frequently saving me from big nasty scores when the rest of the game was a bag of ass. Free form putting was no longer working so I submitted to putting lessons.

 

Initially, Greg had me stand a little taller at address and also make sure that my chin was tucked while over the ball. Funny how the chin wants to go up as one stands taller. This alteration did help me to select a better line. Slight tweaks to the angle of my hands and tempo also seemed to help me with pace. Things were a bit better.

 

At my request, Greg and I also went through a SAM lab fitting and this is where my putting really went to pieces. Based upon the SAM data, I putt out to in with an open face. Not really something that shows up on tour. The iPING app doesn't have a putter suggestion for reverse arc. ☹ Now I realize that there is a level of “who cares as long as the ball rolls in” but that is the thing, the ball was not going in.

 

With the SAM data in mind, the first thing that we did was look at my stance. My shoulders and feet were both open to the target line. That silly right foot really wants to creep forward. Just this little adjustment and a little more thought about swinging inside of line on the backswing seemed to turn things around a bit.

 

One of the real interesting things is that my current model and spec of putter may not fit this new stroke as well. We hooked up the SAM sensors to my twisty Byron 006, my Bettinardi BB27, and my Yes! Gina and compared results. Initially, they were all out to in, of course, but after working on path, the Gina actually seemed to be the best fit. The extra toe hang on the Gina allowed me to close the face without extra manipulation and send the ball on line. The more face-balanced Byron and Bettinard putters would often leave me with a miss just right.

 

Nice to know that I basically get to start over with a new stroke. Hopefully it will be better in the long run though.

 

All in all, I think that the time spent on the short game will reap many benefits in the future. Right now, taking those lessons has given me the benefit of a free set of CG16 wedges.

 

 

Greg ran a promotion where whoever took the most short game lessons this summer would win a set of wedges. As a lover of contests and free stuff I was all over it. What is even cooler is that Greg was able to order them with DG S300 shafts and 2° up, thus matching the specs of my Cally Razr X irons. Even cooler than that was my surprise when I saw that sneaky Greg also had my name engraved on them. So much for selling them, LOL. Looking forward to practicing with these and getting them into the bag if I can make them work.

 

PLAYING

OK so lets look at the state of the game:

According to the Golfshot app on the iPhone, my HCP based upon all rounds played ever is 20.1. When I change that to the last 10 rounds though, the number is 16.2. While I am not really sure what that change represents, I think that it definitely looks like improvement. I would love to get rid of that ten's digit though…

 

I thought that it would also be interesting to look at my game based upon specific clubs.

 

Driver

So what was once my nemesis has become a bit less so. Driver and I are doing better. Last Monday when I played, I actually only missed with the driver once. The other drives were actually “golf shots”. This is a huge, welcome change. If I can hit more fairways, my scores will drop.

 

The funny thing about the driver improvement is that it is largely due to me trying and tweaking on my own. I did get a Power Tools driver that has helped with timing and path. Improving path has really been the main thing I focused upon. Path, and trying to keep the swing flatter. So far so good.

 

The other reason that my little Razr Hawk may be behaving better is that I have been hitting the PING G20 at the shop recently. My first impression was “holy crap”. I can really see bagging that G20. The Razr Hawk now knows this and is on its best behavior.

 

Irons

Meh. There was a stretch there this summer where I was pounding my irons. For a while, they were the strength of my game. Now, not so much. Probably due to neglect as the driver and wedges have really been the focuses. It may be that the NO1 grips are not as much of a match as I first thought. Perhaps a firmer grip and a bit more attention and we will get us back on track.

 

Woods

The Callaway Razr Hawk 3W is great and easy to hit, although I stopped carrying the 5W. I just rarely hit it. Instead, I hit the Razr X hybrids. These hybrids are amazing. Of all the Callaway gear that came from my fitting in Carlsbad, those hybrids are the best. I wish that they made a 2H. I would even look at a 1H. I love having a 200-ish yard go to club in that 3H.

 

Wedges

Thankfully better. Nothing like taking a bunch of lessons and still sucking. Although I just won the Clevelands, I am really not sure that I want to drop the Callys from the bag just yet. That massive Razr X SW now nearly always gets me out of bunkers in one. In addition, I feel like I have some touch with it for pitch shots inside of 70 yards. Changing equipment when things are going well seems silly.

 

Putter

Who the hell knows? I think that it is too early to know what the true results of the swing change are. Took the BB27 out on Monday and hit good lines, but short. Greens were shaggy and stimped at maybe 6, but I couldn't make the adjustment. Sometimes I still wish I had taken the Ti-Hot #2 in the initial Callaway fitting. I think it would actually be a great fit for the stroke I am working on. Regardless, I have a putter project in the works for the site that may help quite a bit in this area.

 

BEYOND THE PEBBLE PROJECT

So I have one lesson left in my current series and I definitely see myself taking more in the future. I need an instructor to watch me and tell me the things that I can't see happening in my swing. Maybe I can get my index under 15 by the end of the year and under 10 in the future. I look forward to the day when driver, irons, wedges, and putter are all working. I did achieve the goal of breaking 90 this summer. Perhaps breaking 80 is not that far off.

 

So you may be sitting there thinking “But Dave, shouldn't this article be ending with you playing Pebble Beach?” Yes, that was my initial plan. However, I realized after playing Edgewood in Tahoe a few weeks back that actually playing Pebble Beach was not necessary to assess the success of this project.

 

I think that this exercise in getting better at golf so I could play Pebble Beach was really more of an exercise in confidence and mental toughness. Last weekend I was watching some random show on the Golf Channel and one of the pros on the Champions Tour said that he plays the best when he has high confidence and low expectations. That really resonated with me as I think that I approach playing with low confidence and high expectations. Over the course of this project, I think that my confidence in my game has increased. My expectations have decreased a bit as well, becoming more realistic and thus more attainable.

 

So as I was playing Edgewood and scoring between par and “other” on the various holes, it dawned on me that I had actually achieved the goal of this project. I was playing golf at a famous, expensive, and difficult course. More importantly, I was enjoying it and feeling like I had the skills to actually play there. Was the course record in danger? Nope. Would I want to play for money? Nope. But I was playing at a “big boy” course and I didn't feel the need to run and hide back at my local muni. OK, maybe on a hole or two…

 

So if someone called me tomorrow and said “Dave, I got you out on Pebble, grab your clubs.” I would be ready to go. I believe that excitement would now override what would have previously been terror. In all likelihood I would lose a dozen balls and card a monster of a number, but that would not really matter. I think that, although it is a cliché, in the game of golf attitude is everything.

 

Some Final Thanks

So as I wrap this up, I just wanted to drop a few thanks to those who helped me move this along. First of all thanks to Greg Ciavarelli and Haggin Oaks for the lessons. Money well spent there. Thanks to Callaway for the fitting and the gear. Using the right gear (looking at you Razr X hybrid) makes a huge difference. Thanks to Golfspy X for giving me this forum to ramble on and on in. ☺ Thanks to the members of this forum for the support and encouragement. Not every golf forum would have been as accommodating and understanding of one's quest to improve.

 

And finally, thanks to Pebble Beach Golf Course for sending me a message that they would like me to bring myself and three friends to stay in the lodge and play their course. Awesome huh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OK so that last part didn't actually happen yet, but if or when it does, I'm ready.]

[Matt Saternus]

Very nice work, Dave. This has been a great thread to follow and I commend you for being willing to share your scores, good and bad, with the world. Hopefully we will get to play together soon....at Pebble?

[Moecat]

Very entertaining and inspiring! Now if I can only figure out a way to rig the lottery and get a divorce ... that should free up my time and give me the means to pursue similar goals on a more consistent basis!

 

Seriously though, great job on the improvement - yes, 20 to 16 is definitely improvement. Looking forward to the actual Pebble Beach epilogue. Very cool that someone from the course read this thread.

[GolfSpy Dave]

 

 

And finally, thanks to Pebble Beach Golf Course for sending me a message that they would like me to bring myself and three friends to stay in the lodge and play their course. Awesome huh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OK so that last part didn't actually happen yet, but if or when it does, I'm ready.]

 

 

 

Seriously though, great job on the improvement - yes, 20 to 16 is definitely improvement. Looking forward to the actual Pebble Beach epilogue. Very cool that someone from the course read this thread.

 

Thanks Moecat. Unfortunately I am waiting for the Epilogue as well. No contact from them yet. That's why I added the disclaimer at the end. I should make it larger as my friend was pissed that I didn't invite him to play with me

Someday...

[GolfSpy WD]

This thread inspired me to reach for a similar goal of breaking 90 consistently (it was 100 at the beginning of the summer). Are you planning on doing this again next season?

[GolfSpy Dave]

This thread inspired me to reach for a similar goal of breaking 90 consistently (it was 100 at the beginning of the summer). Are you planning on doing this again next season?

I think so. My local course, Haggin Oaks, typically offers a Fall lesson promotion. Once I save the $$$ and sign up again, I'll probably start reporting again about lessons and hopefully progress.

I find that forcing myself to post makes me pay attention a bit more during lessons and while playing. Trying real hard to avoid doubles on those posted scorecards.

 

It's been good for me to do this though. I am going to play a private club on Friday with someone who I have never played with before. In the past, this would have been a big stressor for me.

Now, although a little stress is still there, I am mainly feeling excited to play a new course with a new person. I am sure some doubles will creep in, but I also know that I will shoot some pars as well.

[Matt Saternus]

I think so. My local course, Haggin Oaks, typically offers a Fall lesson promotion. Once I save the $$ and sign up again, I'll probably start reporting again about lessons and hopefully progress.

I find that forcing myself to post makes me pay attention a bit more during lessons and while playing. Trying real hard to avoid doubles on those posted scorecards.

 

It's been good for me to do this though. I am going to play a private club on Friday with someone who I have never played with before. In the past, this would have been a big stressor for me.

Now, although a little stress is still there, I am mainly feeling excited to play a new course with a new person. I am sure some doubles will creep in, but I also know that I will shoot some pars as well.

 

I find this to be a big thing for me, and I think/know it is for many other golfers, especially those who did not grow up playing golf. You could put me on a basketball court in front of 1,000,000 people and it wouldn't phase me in the least. Put me on a tee box with an unusual foursome, and I get a little antsy. I'm improving in this regard as I have more and more positive experiences with golf and my confidence continues to grow, but it's hard to overcome this entirely. Congrats to you, Dave, on your progress down the path to confident golf. As the saying goes, golf is played on the 5 inch track between your ears.