Jnoble89's 2023 Season Thread: Intro & Journey to Breaking 90

[OdinSnipes414]

7 minutes ago, sortiz003 said:

Jason,

Very excited to follow along. Your story is very similar to mine (sans gifted clubs) - former baseball player, weekend hacker, finally started getting serious about golf last fall (‘22).

 

Still haven’t broken 90 yet but hopefully soon . The lessons have helped tremendously. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what I can pickup from you in in hopes it helps my own journey. 
 

Cheers! 

good luck yall i have been shooting out of my mind this last week and but i cut out most booze except on this last outing. maybe that was the secret for me hahaha

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Looped 17, 18 and 10 again tonight as part of my new training regimen. Two GIRs and finished with a par on 10. If nothing else, I’ll be able to play those three holes very well  

Driver was meh, couple toe misses and a top spin knuckler that left me with some longer approaches, but had one GIR with my hybrid from 215ish and another with my 7i from 165!

I did scramble well out of the missed drives which I was pleased with and my 56° was really good on 100 and in

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Played 7 holes yesterday and started out on a roll, easily a personal best with +3 through four holes, and that was with a 4 putt on a par 3 where I had to cover the length of the green over a knoll in the middle and putted awful. Then the wheels fell off and went +10 over the next three holes, had an OB shot on each hole. Yay golf! Had to come home with two to play as my 6 year old wanted to stop and it was playing really slow, needed to get home for dinner and wasn't able to get back out to finish the last two holes yesterday, so hoping to after league tonight. 

Highlights for the round were a 292 yard drive on a Par 5 (new PB) and a 260 yard drive on a Par 4 that left me 78 yards to the stick. Unfortunately, I could not capitalize on the approaches. Got too lazy on the swing and came up out of posture on the misses. I did save par with a one putt on the Par 5 so that was good. The long drive was course layout aided as if you carry a fairway bunker on the right, the back side of the bunker slopes and you can get a nice kick off that. But, I would guess it carried a good 260, which is absolutely the best I have ever hit a golf ball in my life. I also had three one putts through the first four holes. Really looking forward to being able to practice more soon once school is out for my oldest. Consistency is definitely going to be my biggest challenge as I work towards improving, and I also had the thought creep into the back of my mind of "when is the blow up hole coming?". Need to get out of that mindset and just play one shot at a time. 

But the ultimate positive I can take away from the round is that I have some actual proof that I CAN be decent at golf, I just need to be able to do it over 9 and then 18 holes. Really hoping that I'll get the sticks for the Cobra challenge soon to see if the fitted irons will help with my ball striking. I know that it's the operator and not the equipment, but hoping it'll help make my misses less punishing. 

[tdroma98]

Yes you can be decent/very good golfer Jason! Your progress is really good and your understanding of your swing I'm sure is getting better.  Golf can be frustrating at times, but rewarding as well.  Yesterday, you had some great rewards, including PB drive!  Keep it going, you're on the right path! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

19 minutes ago, tdroma98 said:

Yes you can be decent/very good golfer Jason! Your progress is really good and your understanding of your swing I'm sure is getting better.  Golf can be frustrating at times, but rewarding as well.  Yesterday, you had some great rewards, including PB drive!  Keep it going, you're on the right path! 

Thanks for the words of encouragement! 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

17 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

Thanks for the words of encouragement! 

Dude. He’s dead on. I felt the same way after Saturday. All we need to do is learn to stop getting in our own ways

[tdroma98]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Dude. He’s dead on. I felt the same way after Saturday. All we need to do is learn to stop getting in our own ways

This is what makes MyGolfSpy such a great site @Jnoble89 @Vegan_Golfer_PNW! 
The passion for golf, always wanting to get better and bouncing off ideas. I enjoy your journal posting your progress in golf and it is progress! We all started at the bottom of the golf rung, struggled to find something.  Threw our clubs in the closet, professing never to play golf again, after a bad round.  But the game is so damn addicting and FUN! Challenging! It's you, the club and golf ball, oh and that little damn hole LOL!! AND the passion to play better.  You both are at a place in golf, where we all have been with our games!   Something along the journey clicks, whether it's the instructor, the equipment & both, bingo! 

You hit that great shot! Whether the goal is to make your first birdie, as a couple of MGS members previously posted (which is awesome!), getting that first eagle or breaking 90 or 100 for the first time! GOALS!  Golf is goal setting, then finding a way to achieve the goal. But it's never ending and that's what's cool! 

Jason & Randall, you guys stay positive! Keep that passion.  Golf is a game of little victories! Side note to Jason, I like your post noting your "PB".  Didn't realize the significance of that abbreviation, until 6 mos ago.  My nephews are Power weight lifters and in following their progress over the last year, I first saw the abbreviation posting of "PB" and watched how pumped they each get when they hit that "PB"! It's awesome!  Hit'em straight Gents! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Another maddeningly inconsistent night at league tonight. Was slicing my driver badly which I typically don’t do, but managed to still absolutely crush a drive. Approaches were inconsistent, but then hit a beautiful PW from 125 out in the final hole and missed the birdie putt by inches (my partner made it). Overall, we both didn’t execute well and were +4. I know I can hit it well, but I NEED to get on the range and practice. Broken record but school out next week can’t come soon enough so my twice a week range work on lunch Monday and Wednesday can kick in. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Played a practice round today using Arccos for the first time (thanks @GolfSpy BOS!) and I’ve got some learning to do when it comes to remembering to set the pin location for putting but overall really good experience with it! Only got to play 7 holes, but ended with two of the best shots I have ever, EVER, hit in my golfing life on the Par 5 7th. I still am trying to decide if I believe Arccos, simply because I’ve never hit my hybrid that far in my life. The hybrid actually flew the green as I was like 203 from the flag (front pin location). I was slicing today with my TSi3, so I made adjustments to the head to put the weight all the way heel side and adjusted the loft sleeve to .75° upright and as draw biased as I could, and the drive on 7 was the result (see screen shot below). 3 putt stunk (and it was not at 2 feet ), but I didn’t hit a good chip to get on and had a long downhill putt. Overall some good shots, some bad. Took some penalty strokes for lost balls on slices on two holes which sunk me but I was just out to play for fun.

[sirchunksalot]

11 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

I’ve got some learning to do when it comes to remembering to set the pin location for putting 

When I used Arccos I would set the pin location before hitting my putt. I like to walk up my putting line to get a feel for the slope and pace off distance, so I'd just quickly set it when I got to the hole. It's a tough one to always remember and I believe making it part of your routine is probably the best way to do it. 

That's a big shot with the hybrid and the driver! Congratulations on those bombs. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Played arguably some of my best golf tonight in scramble 2 man league. Self birdied two holes, both which I have not played particularly well this season, and hit some great knock down approach shots, including a pitching wedge from 120 yards out to about 3 feet for one of our birdies. The second bird was on the Par 5 7th, where I hit a 275 yard smash off the tee, faded my hybrid from 211 to pin high but just off the green, then sand wedge to a tap in gimmie birdie. We only had one hole where we had to go lateral hazard and ended up maybe 50 yards from the tee box, and took a double bogey on that hole. Otherwise we were solid for the most part. Super happy with how I struck it overall. Still some not so great shots, but I had more good ones than bad ones for the first time in a long while. Entire highlight of the round, even more so than the birdies, was a putt that I hit that lipped out from 60+ feet. If it had two less revolutions of speed it would have gone in. I putted well all night tonight and can’t wait to get back out. Off tomorrow morning so might try to brave it with both my boys and just get some on course practice in

[sirchunksalot]

6 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Played arguably some of my best golf tonight in scramble 2 man league. Self birdied two holes, both which I have not played particularly well this season, and hit some great knock down approach shots, including a pitching wedge from 120 yards out to about 3 feet for one of our birdies. The second bird was on the Par 5 7th, where I hit a 275 yard smash off the tee, faded my hybrid from 211 to pin high but just off the green, then sand wedge to a tap in gimmie birdie. We only had one hole where we had to go lateral hazard and ended up maybe 50 yards from the tee box, and took a double bogey on that hole. Otherwise we were solid for the most part. Super happy with how I struck it overall. Still some not so great shots, but I had more good ones than bad ones for the first time in a long while. Entire highlight of the round, even more so than the birdies, was a putt that I hit that lipped out from 60+ feet. If it had two less revolutions of speed it would have gone in. I putted well all night tonight and can’t wait to get back out. Off tomorrow morning so might try to brave it with both my boys and just get some on course practice in

Sounds like a good round, Jason! Do you think your clubs are starting to get nervous knowing you'll be getting new clubs soon? 

Great job on the sand wedge shot, that hybrid sounds like it's a beast, and that long lag putt sounds awesome! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

2 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Sounds like a good round, Jason! Do you think your clubs are starting to get nervous knowing you'll be getting new clubs soon? 

Great job on the sand wedge shot, that hybrid sounds like it's a beast, and that long lag putt sounds awesome! 

I think they might be starting to feel the heat knowing change is coming!  

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Played 9 this morning with my 6 and 3 year old in tow. Shot a 52 and took a penalty stroke on two holes. Both those holes resulted in triples, and I had a triple on a par 3 where I could not get out of the sand. 5 bogeys and one double rounded out my scoring. Did not strike the ball off the tee nearly as well today as I did yesterday in league, and was not able to make any one putts. All two putts and one three putt, but my putting was probably the strongest part of my game today. Concentration wasn’t great as I was trying to corral my boys at least half the round, but it was still fun to get out and I’ll take the score considering I was not as focused as I was in league last night. 

[tdroma98]

Jason, how you liking the Cobra clubs? 
You were a bit distracted this morning, but how are the irons? Do you think they are making a difference?

[GolfSpy_KFT]

7 minutes ago, tdroma98 said:

Jason, how you liking the Cobra clubs? 
You were a bit distracted this morning, but how are the irons? Do you think they are making a difference?

I actually don’t have my cobras yet, still playing my usual clubs. Hoping to see those come in next week or the week after. I am thinking it may help my ball striking a bit since those will be 3° upright which I was fitted into and my current irons are standard lie. 

[tdroma98]

35 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

I actually don’t have my cobras yet, still playing my usual clubs. Hoping to see those come in next week or the week after. I am thinking it may help my ball striking a bit since those will be 3° upright which I was fitted into and my current irons are standard lie. 

Apologies, I thought you were already playing the clubs.  
I do think you will see a difference in the striking of your irons,  with lie being 3' upright. That's a huge difference! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

More information to come later but set a PB today with a 99. Shot a 46 (PB) on the front and that included a 9 on one Par 5, and almost blew it on the final three holes. Opportunities to play much better but still managed to break 100!

[sirchunksalot]

57 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

More information to come later but set a PB today with a 99. Shot a 46 (PB) on the front and that included a 9 on one Par 5, and almost blew it on the final three holes. Opportunities to play much better but still managed to break 100!

That's awesome Jason! Congratulations on the PB. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

6 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

That's awesome Jason! Congratulations on the PB. 

Thanks, man! A low to mid 90s score was within reach but had a quad on a par 5 on the front and just fell apart on the last 4 holes on the back (including a quad and triple). So all things considered, pretty miraculous to get in at 99. 5 pars and 1 birdie helped a lot!

[sirchunksalot]

2 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Thanks, man! A low to mid 90s score was within reach but had a quad on a par 5 on the front and just fell apart on the last 4 holes on the back (including a quad and triple). So all things considered, pretty miraculous to get in at 99. 5 pars and 1 birdie helped a lot!

Sounds like you pulled through under pressure. Scoring milestones in this game have a way of getting to us and I'm ecstatic you pulled it off. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for you.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

28 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

Sounds like you pulled through under pressure. Scoring milestones in this game have a way of getting to us and I'm ecstatic you pulled it off. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for you.

I am hoping so! Hoping the fitted irons will help my mid to long approach, need them badly!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Alright getting a little time to sit down and reflect on todays round. The obvious killers were two Quads and two Triple Bogeys. Not going to break 90 doing that, but I was able to break 100 for the first time legitimately that I can remember and I am PUMPED about that. 

Highlights were ZERO three putts, and I am really proud of that. My lag putting was really solid as I had two 1st putts from outside 40’, one from outside 30’ and 5 from outside 20’. I also had three one putts, with the highlight for birdie which was a 14’ downhill putt. Putter has really been working for me and according to Arccos I am +1.6 SG against a 20 handicap. 

Including a screenshot of the Par 5 11th that I birdied. Hit a 261 yard drive but missed left of my target and the hole is a dog leg right, so I was left with over 250 to get to the green. I knew I couldn’t make it in two, so played strategically and hit a PW next to get me into range of scoring clubs I am most comfortable with. Followed it with a pured 9 iron that flew directly over the top of the flag, landed and rolled two feet at the most, and sank a 14’ downhill putt for birdie. 

All in all, I had 5 pars and the one birdie, which is the best I have done in 18 holes. I need to work most on my approach as that is where I am giving up the most strokes according to Arccos and that is clear from my play today. Too many fat misses on approach shots and I would say those cost me at least those 7 strokes if not a few more. 

I feel like I have made some small strides over the past two weeks and I am going to continue to work towards those small steps and try to creep closer to 90. I am also employing the thought process of bogey golf, and giving myself an extra shot to get to the green. Helps me relax more on that first approach and after today, I am very confident I can two putt most (not always) holes. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Went out and replayed some holes I didn’t play well yesterday evening. Doesn’t count towards yesterday’s round, but still felt good and always can use the extra practice. Hit a 277 yard drive on a Par 5 that I doubled yesterday that carried two left fairway bunkers. Shanked my 3 wood but recovered with a PW that just missed the green, PW bump and run to 14' that I made for the Par save.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Went to the range on my lunch break to work on the top end of my bag today. Been struggling with my 5-7 irons and woods have been inconsistent at best. I did OK with my 7 iron, but the 5 and 6 I had a ton of fat misses. I am also noticing that the majority of my divot seems to come from the toe side of my club. For the Cobra challenge, I was fitted into 3* upright for my irons, so that may help alleviate some of that, but it comes down to the operator and not the equipment. To my surprise, I hit great shot after great shot with my 3 wood off the deck. I have struggled with that club off the tee to this point this year and haven't even tried it off the deck in rounds due to that fact. Whether or not I can repeat that into playing rounds is another story, but I was really happy about that. My 3 hybrid also performed quite well today on the range, but I have gotten some good shots out of that already this year. I was also consistently finding the center of the face on my driver, but all misses were hard fades/slices. I would say about 60/40 for the fade/slice against a straight ball. Again, being fitted into the Aerojet Max driver for the Cobra challenge, I'll be curious to see if that helps a bit with that miss. I currently game a TSi3 and have it set lofted up .75* and draw biased, with the sliding weight in the heel. 

I need to remember my tripod so I can see what I am doing with my swing with long irons to determine what is causing that consistent fat miss. 8 iron and down I have been hitting really well lately and am super confident in those clubs. That could also play a role in my struggles with long irons. I also ended up overthinking quite a bit and that is not a good combo when missing. 

League tomorrow night so I'll get a little warm up on the range before that, and hoping to go back to the range Wednesday afternoon over my lunch break again, depending on how I am feeling physically.

[Kenny B]

7 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Went to the range on my lunch break to work on the top end of my bag today. Been struggling with my 5-7 irons and woods have been inconsistent at best. I did OK with my 7 iron, but the 5 and 6 I had a ton of fat misses. I am also noticing that the majority of my divot seems to come from the toe side of my club. For the Cobra challenge, I was fitted into 3* upright for my irons, so that may help alleviate some of that, but it comes down to the operator and not the equipment. To my surprise, I hit great shot after great shot with my 3 wood off the deck. I have struggled with that club off the tee to this point this year and haven't even tried it off the deck in rounds due to that fact. Whether or not I can repeat that into playing rounds is another story, but I was really happy about that. My 3 hybrid also performed quite well today on the range, but I have gotten some good shots out of that already this year. I was also consistently finding the center of the face on my driver, but all misses were hard fades/slices. I would say about 60/40 for the fade/slice against a straight ball. Again, being fitted into the Aerojet Max driver for the Cobra challenge, I'll be curious to see if that helps a bit with that miss. I currently game a TSi3 and have it set lofted up .75* and draw biased, with the sliding weight in the heel. 

I need to remember my tripod so I can see what I am doing with my swing with long irons to determine what is causing that consistent fat miss. 8 iron and down I have been hitting really well lately and am super confident in those clubs. That could also play a role in my struggles with long irons. I also ended up overthinking quite a bit and that is not a good combo when missing. 

League tomorrow night so I'll get a little warm up on the range before that, and hoping to go back to the range Wednesday afternoon over my lunch break again, depending on how I am feeling physically.

Your description sound a lot like me a few years ago.  Take a little time practicing the feel of releasing the club down the target line... slowly.  Start at impact position and slowly extend down the line as you rotate to your finish.  Then start with club parallel as in a downswing and do the same thing.  Do it a lot!  Your welcome!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Played 9 today before league and shot a 49. Took a few penalty strokes on OB shots so overall not awful with where my game is. Really struggled off the tee but my iron striking was better than it has been recently. Still having a hard time with long irons and at this point it’s as much a mental block as it is physically with my swing. I also know it’s not an overnight fix, just need to keep working at it. My 8 iron and down continues to be pretty reliable, but I am just struggling with 7 iron and up. Ball striking with my woods from yesterday’s range session didn’t carry over, but I think I am getting in my own way. Definitely getting too steep in transition and missing high toe. 

In league the same trends followed. I managed to hit two decent drives and my short game was solid along with my putting. Think I will take the day off tomorrow as I am playing in a scramble outing Thursday so want to let my back and body rest a bit. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Spent about 1.5 hours on the range this morning working through the new bag. Irons were really, really good. I struggled a bit with the 6 iron, but still got some good shots out of it. I did not hit the King Tec hybrid particularly well. It’s going to require the most work for me hands down as I just have never visually loved the look of hybrids behind the ball. I hit a couple solid and it feels great when you do, I just didn’t do it much today. 7 wood and 3 wood were both really solid too. I hit a couple high on the face and noticed the paint along the very edge where the crown meets the face cracking and peeling off a bit, but it is what it is. Hit the center of the face and avoid that problem . Driver almost feels like I have to try to miss the center of the face. I’m not saying I was on the screws every time, but I had one heely miss and one high toe miss, otherwise almost everything was close to the center. I am still slicing driver, so need to work on face to path and getting squared at impact. I hit some that flew straight and seemed to travel just as far as my TSi3 when I catch it on the screws. Linking a couple videos, one of my GW and one Driver. The irons are a nice, crisp thwack, and the driver is loud but not obnoxious. Going to get back on the range today and work on trying to get the driver straightened out as my main focus.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Hoping to sneak a practice round 9 in today before league, but we will see how the day plays out. I recently un-synced my arccos sensors to move them to my new clubs, and since I haven't gotten the Cobra putter yet, I went to re-sync that sensor and I cannot for the life of me get it to sync. I've reset my phone, covered the sensor just before trying to sync, have tapped on it, etc., and can't get anything to work! It's frustrating because I had it working before lol. I have two different putter sensors and neither will sync, but the other sensors sync no problem. One of the putter sensors has never been used, either. So kind of a bummer because you can't track rounds with Arccos without a putter sensor synced as well. I do have a message out to them about it so hoping to hear back soon, otherwise I may just buy a single sensor. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

4 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Hoping to sneak a practice round 9 in today before league, but we will see how the day plays out. I recently un-synced my arccos sensors to move them to my new clubs, and since I haven't gotten the Cobra putter yet, I went to re-sync that sensor and I cannot for the life of me get it to sync. I've reset my phone, covered the sensor just before trying to sync, have tapped on it, etc., and can't get anything to work! It's frustrating because I had it working before lol. I have two different putter sensors and neither will sync, but the other sensors sync no problem. One of the putter sensors has never been used, either. So kind of a bummer because you can't track rounds with Arccos without a putter sensor synced as well. I do have a message out to them about it so hoping to hear back soon, otherwise I may just buy a single sensor. 

Update: I spoke to Arccos on the phone just now and they will be sending out a replacement putter sensor, so I won't have too many rounds where I won't have the shot tracking, which is nice!