Golf thread

[Hairyducked Idiot]

+9 38 for me today, tied personal best. Hit my first 200+ (202 yds) drive on the course, and driver is still leaking right a little bit. I should strengthen grip a tiny bit more but I'm scared of developing a pull hook. 2 pars, 2 doubles, 5 bogeys. Iron shots were usually the right length but spraying a bit both left and right. Bump-and-runs were getting me solidly into the middle of the green from everywhere. I decided I have way more faith in my ability to hit a partial 8- or 9-iron than I do a wedge, didn't even get out a wedge except for one sand shot.

 

Nephew had an amazing fifth hole. It's par-4 280 yards, but his drives usually go about 100 so he has no prayer of getting on in two but insists on playing from the tee box. He absolutely striped one 130 yards down the center of the fairway, then hit hybrid + 7-iron to get to the middle of the green in three. Two-putt for bogey. As good as he possibly could have played a hole that long.

 

I finally heard back from the coach I wanted and we're going to start lessons first week of January.

[Splendid Splinter]

+9 38 for me today, tied personal best. Hit my first 200+ (202 yds) drive on the course, and driver is still leaking right a little bit. I should strengthen grip a tiny bit more but I'm scared of developing a pull hook. 2 pars, 2 doubles, 5 bogeys. Iron shots were usually the right length but spraying a bit both left and right. Bump-and-runs were getting me solidly into the middle of the green from everywhere. I decided I have way more faith in my ability to hit a partial 8- or 9-iron than I do a wedge, didn't even get out a wedge except for one sand shot.

 

Nephew had an amazing fifth hole. It's par-4 280 yards, but his drives usually go about 100 so he has no prayer of getting on in two but insists on playing from the tee box. He absolutely striped one 130 yards down the center of the fairway, then hit hybrid + 7-iron to get to the middle of the green in three. Two-putt for bogey. As good as he possibly could have played a hole that long.

 

I finally heard back from the coach I wanted and we're going to start lessons first week of January.

 

 

I hope you'll be able to have the lessons. Will it be both you and your nephew getting lessons? Good luck!

 

I was talking to my best friend who's an asst golf pro in your area and she was saying that her golf course (Los Serranos) is probably going to stop having lessons for at least 3 weeks. She said that it's not a definitely yes, but looks like it from reading between the lines from her boss. Also said there's a 50/50 chance that the course will be closed, but she doubts that'll happen. She's supposed to know sometime today from her boss.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

+9 38 for me today, tied personal best. Hit my first 200+ (202 yds) drive on the course, and driver is still leaking right a little bit. I should strengthen grip a tiny bit more but I'm scared of developing a pull hook. 2 pars, 2 doubles, 5 bogeys. Iron shots were usually the right length but spraying a bit both left and right. Bump-and-runs were getting me solidly into the middle of the green from everywhere. I decided I have way more faith in my ability to hit a partial 8- or 9-iron than I do a wedge, didn't even get out a wedge except for one sand shot.

 

Nephew had an amazing fifth hole. It's par-4 280 yards, but his drives usually go about 100 so he has no prayer of getting on in two but insists on playing from the tee box. He absolutely striped one 130 yards down the center of the fairway, then hit hybrid + 7-iron to get to the middle of the green in three. Two-putt for bogey. As good as he possibly could have played a hole that long.

 

I finally heard back from the coach I wanted and we're going to start lessons first week of January.

 

 

I hope you'll be able to have the lessons. Will it be both you and your nephew getting lessons? Good luck!

 

I was talking to my best friend who's an asst golf pro in your area and she was saying that her golf course (Los Serranos) is probably going to stop having lessons for at least 3 weeks. She said that it's not a definitely yes, but looks like it from reading between the lines from her boss. Also said there's a 50/50 chance that the course will be closed, but she doubts that'll happen. She's supposed to know sometime today from her boss.

 

Oh yeah, that stuff is for sure up in the air. Although for now it looks like we're OK. They don't seem to be inclined to close outdoor stuff, and my county has more or less taken a "we aren't enforcing any of this, do whatever you want" stance anyway.

 

If we have to wait a few months, nbd. We're going to do a lesson-for-2 setup, although I'd rather him mostly focus on nephew.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I love this game so much.

 

Flush off my success last week working on the slice, I've been taking aim at the next big beginner flaw: the club flip. Slowing down my swing on video, I've got the classic beginner club-flip, where I stand up a little bit at impact and flip my hands to get the club to the ball. This causes inconsistent strike and loss of power.

 

I've been doing a bunch of drills at home to try to get the feeling right. The goal is to stay down, clear the hips more cleanly. strengthen the forearms, lead with the front wrist, and use body turn to deliver the club instead of hand flip.

 

I got to try it out at the range today for the first time, and the results were astounding. With 6-iron and shorter, I was adding more distance even on top of the distance I added last week, and the way they stayed online was amazing. I usually have swings where I feel like I did everything right but it just mysteriously flies way offline left or right. None of that today, almost everything was straight and pure. The only miss was I was thinning about 10% of them and getting a super low line-drive that would still go straight and bounce/roll most of the way to where I wanted.

 

I kept checking myself on video, and it's not even *that* good. My hands have gone from behind the club at impact to slightly ahead, when eventually I'd like them quite a bit more ahead.

 

It got a little tougher with the longer clubs. 5h, new 3h, driver didn't see as much benefit as the irons, I was having trouble getting the timing right of hips then hands then clubface. I think I just need more practice.

 

So a month ago, these were my distances (carry only, average but excluding mishits):

 

Driver - 160

5h - 125

7i - 100

9 - 75

 

Today I was at:

 

Driver - 195 (and this is still the old driver, I'm really hoping to get that past 200 with the new one, and there's plenty of swing improvement left to be made)

5h - 160

7i - 135

9i - 110

 

Oh, I've also got a little work to do on my grip. I think I'm using too much thumb pressure to hold the club, not engaging the fingers as much as I should. And I'm not entirely sure I like where my trail hand is placed. What feels natural is a little more closed (underneath) that it's supposed to be, so I'm not sure if I want to just go with that or put it back to neutral and get used to it.

[stitchface]

yea, I'll buy that rotation is everything. Slightly wider stance allows good rotation on longer clubs. Swinging down is my key to those hybrids. I've gone from hitting the 5h 150 to 180. outdistancing my shorter irons for the time being . . .

[Splendid Splinter]

yea, I'll buy that rotation is everything. Slightly wider stance allows good rotation on longer clubs. Swinging down is my key to those hybrids. I've gone from hitting the 5h 150 to 180. outdistancing my shorter irons for the time being . . .

 

Not only that, but provide a solid base which promote better balance throughout the swing, help shift the weight on your back/down swing, and generate power.

 

Yeah you want to hit hybrids like an iron where you're swinging down/attacking rather than "sweeping" the ball which is more suited for fairway woods.

 

Kyle- don't be surprised if you hit like 15-20 yards further with the new driver right off the bat.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm starting to get really deadly with the bump and run around the green, too.

 

I spent about an hour today just practicing those, with a special emphasis on lie. I tried to account for whether it was uphill (assume higher ball flight), downhill (assume lower) and how much grass was behind the ball (less grass = less swing speed needed, more grass = put a little extra on it) and that really seemed to help me get it from "well that's on the green" to "I have a chance to make the next putt."

[stitchface]

Well, I almost cracked 300 on a drive . . . got the elusive slight draw and ended up 293.

[squally1313]

First eagle ever yesterday (and I have like, 5 career birdies). Pretty awesome timing doing it during the (assumed) last round of the year.

[stitchface]

First eagle ever yesterday (and I have like, 5 career birdies). Pretty awesome timing doing it during the (assumed) last round of the year.

 

Nice! There is a par 5 I can reach in 2 but haven't gotten it quite right yet . . . that's awesome!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

At the range I go to, there's a big 15-feet-tall circle target at 110 yards. I always used to aim for it with my 7-iron but never actually got it on purpose.

 

Today, I was taking 5 swings with each iron. 7-iron was flying way, way past it. I hit it twice in 5 shots with the 9-iron, and the other three were all within 10 feet.

 

I cannot *believe* how much addressing the hand-flip improves iron accuracy.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

First eagle ever yesterday (and I have like, 5 career birdies). Pretty awesome timing doing it during the (assumed) last round of the year.

 

That's amazing. How'd you get it?

[squally1313]

First eagle ever yesterday (and I have like, 5 career birdies). Pretty awesome timing doing it during the (assumed) last round of the year.

 

That's amazing. How'd you get it?

 

Shorter par 5, driver/hybrid got me to about 50 yards, then one hop and hit the pin and went straight down. Was hitting over a bunker with a raised lip, so actually didn't see it go in, but heard the pin and then the people on the green let me know. Didn't quite get me into double digits, but I'll take the 102.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Finally got the chance to take the new driver to the range. My driver swing is all out of whack right now, I'm back to slicing like crazy (but I'm hitting a nice little draw with everything else).

 

But man did that ball ever fly off the face. I love the sound of it too. The few I did catch clean were an easy 220 fly. A couple of them even hit the back net of the range at 240.

[stitchface]

Finally got the chance to take the new driver to the range. My driver swing is all out of whack right now, I'm back to slicing like crazy (but I'm hitting a nice little draw with everything else).

 

But man did that ball ever fly off the face. I love the sound of it too. The few I did catch clean were an easy 220 fly. A couple of them even hit the back net of the range at 240.

 

No rain down there? - we are finally getting a decent storm. Still people out playing today but not for me!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Finally got the chance to take the new driver to the range. My driver swing is all out of whack right now, I'm back to slicing like crazy (but I'm hitting a nice little draw with everything else).

 

But man did that ball ever fly off the face. I love the sound of it too. The few I did catch clean were an easy 220 fly. A couple of them even hit the back net of the range at 240.

 

No rain down there? - we are finally getting a decent storm. Still people out playing today but not for me!

 

Can’t remember the last time we had rain

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I pull-hooked my first drive today, but it went into the creek on the other side of a tree that is 211 yards from the tee box, and I almost always slice on that hole, so I'm weirdly happy with it.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Personal best 37 today, playing from the white tees. I am the world's champion of pull it left, chip on, two putt.

 

I can't shake the pulls. I tried moving it back in my stance a little bit and that helped in warmups, but it was right back (or left back) to it in the round.

[Splendid Splinter]

Personal best 37 today, playing from the white tees. I am the world's champion of pull it left, chip on, two putt.

 

I can't shake the pulls. I tried moving it back in my stance a little bit and that helped in warmups, but it was right back (or left back) to it in the round.

 

Is it just a straight pull or do you have a draw/fade with it?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Personal best 37 today, playing from the white tees. I am the world's champion of pull it left, chip on, two putt.

 

I can't shake the pulls. I tried moving it back in my stance a little bit and that helped in warmups, but it was right back (or left back) to it in the round.

 

Is it just a straight pull or do you have a draw/fade with it?

 

Straight pull. And I can feel myself doing it with my arms, so I think it's club path and not face. If it were face, I'd think it was gonna go straight and then it would mysteriously go left. These, I keep telling myself I'm gonna swing the club path away like going the opposite way with a baseball swing, and but as soon as I make contact I can feel myself yanking a pull (heyo).

 

I think something is getting out of sync between upper body, arms and lower body. Maybe too much arm in the swing?

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

I've decided I'm going to lift my front foot and bend my lead arm on the backswing. Just because its cool.

[stitchface]

Personal best 37 today, playing from the white tees. I am the world's champion of pull it left, chip on, two putt.

 

I can't shake the pulls. I tried moving it back in my stance a little bit and that helped in warmups, but it was right back (or left back) to it in the round.

 

Is it just a straight pull or do you have a draw/fade with it?

 

Straight pull. And I can feel myself doing it with my arms, so I think it's club path and not face. If it were face, I'd think it was gonna go straight and then it would mysteriously go left. These, I keep telling myself I'm gonna swing the club path away like going the opposite way with a baseball swing, and but as soon as I make contact I can feel myself yanking a pull (heyo).

 

I think something is getting out of sync between upper body, arms and lower body. Maybe too much arm in the swing?

 

 

this sounds backwards to me. ball goes direction of face at contact. if it's a straight pull, you're swinging out to in with the face on the swing path.

[stitchface]

I've decided I'm going to lift my front foot and bend my lead arm on the backswing. Just because its cool.

 

make sure you're hat is backwards and you have a tee between your teeth.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Is it just a straight pull or do you have a draw/fade with it?

 

Straight pull. And I can feel myself doing it with my arms, so I think it's club path and not face. If it were face, I'd think it was gonna go straight and then it would mysteriously go left. These, I keep telling myself I'm gonna swing the club path away like going the opposite way with a baseball swing, and but as soon as I make contact I can feel myself yanking a pull (heyo).

 

I think something is getting out of sync between upper body, arms and lower body. Maybe too much arm in the swing?

 

 

this sounds backwards to me. ball goes direction of face at contact. if it's a straight pull, you're swinging out to in with the face on the swing path.

 

That's what is happening. I'm *trying* not to go out to in, but it's happening anyway.