Two bad shots today cost me 5 strokes total.

 

Been there, done that!

 

I always find it remarkable how quickly one bad shot can turn into many.
Like the pros say, take you medicine and get it over with.
What truly vexes me is when I decide to play intelligent golf and then hit a bad shot.
So instead of trying for that 186 yard par 4, heck just take a five iron off the tee. Get so excited about how smart I am I have to watch that 75 yard squibber and then have to resort to the 3 we to try and get on in regulation.
Can you say snow man?

 

I decided to pray to God for a little humility. He said take up golf.

I did this year. Working on it, I humbly admit.

 

I never pursued golf. I was into running which required no expensive equipment other than running shorts, and sneakers when I was younger. Then I took up swimming also requiring very little other than goggles and swim cap besides swim trunk. I often think about taking up golf but I think I am too old for a new hobby. I am afraid, if I start it, I might like it too much and become obsessed with it which I don't want. I think golf is perhaps the most difficult sport to become proficient. Since I like simple things, it will never do.

 

I started playing golf in middle school as every summer my brother and I came up to Michigan to visit my dad we go off and play as he liked it, I ended up enjoying it as well. In college I worked at a golf course and got to play almost everyday, got pretty good at it, my best handicap was 4. I did a league with my brother when we moved to Michigan in 99 (Dave will know of Jerry's Pub, they have a golf league) but we stopped playing a few years back after I broke my leg. Haven't really played much since, I do miss it though.

 

Jerry- That's something I've been working on the past season or two. I know I'm going to make bad shots, so I'm really focusing on taking 1 shot of medicine only. Behind a tree. Fairway is 20 yards to the left and 40 yards wide? Play a 40 yard shot, not just 25. Give myself room for a mishit short or long, balancing that with options for the next shot. Nothing worse than chipping 15 yards when you needed 20 and your still in deep rough or behind the other tree! On many holes, especially if I'm trouble, bogey is very acceptable and good. I can live with that.

I've also really focused on short game recently. On a good day, I get about 210 from my driver - but lately, I've been able to keep it in play on probably 12 of 14 holes. Not always in the fairway, but in a place where I'm not blocked on the next shot.. So I find myself short on many longer par 4s. Being able to hit a 60, bump and run, 1/2 wedge pending lie and pin location has been very important for me.

There's just so many aspects to the game. We all know the guys that hit 290 from the tee but have zero feel around the green. I'd rather be shorter from the tee and have skills in all other aspects.

 

When I was young, I had a 3 iron and a 3 wood my grandmother bought at a discount store for me.
Sometimes in mid teens we go to the range and see how far I could hit them.

fast forward 25 years. I was lying in the CCU watching beep, beep, beep... and said there is more to life than work I need a hobby.
a buddy liked golf, so I picked that, took lessons. bought a set of callaway big bertha irons.
I like the mental aspect to the game. As Bobby Jones said, " golf is played on the 4 inch fairway between the ears"
What is the course giving me. what is the slope doing, what's the wind doing. and so on and so forth.
You're playing against nature and your competitors and yourself.
I've been up and down a few times. I got as low as a 6 and I'm a 23 right now.

Now that I'm in retirement i'm rather disappointed. My golfing clan all downsized and moved away.
The little 9 hole nearby was closed. I always had the goal of joining the 36 hole course near me is just too damn expensive.
I also recognize it's just not my crowd. In 3 years initiation went from 35k to 100k and annual dues from 12 to 15k.

What I do regret though is they had a spectacular practice area, complete multiple putting areas, chipping out to 50 yards. bunkers and rough.
As one could expect from a nice place, balls on the range were stacked in pyramids and boxes of tees were readily available.
Plenty of well marked target greens out to 280. Even had bunkers on either side of the range for fairway escape practice.

You don't get good without practice. but for now I'm the snotty nosed kid with his face up against the glass looking in.

 

Nice...

Let me tell you a story... My friend Dave worries about everything, every shot. What shape to hit, what slope, etc... He's about a 14 index. He must scramble well, because I'd guess 1/2 of his tee shorts are errant. "I tried to play the draw" or "I wanted a little fade there". neither of which happens consistently or when needed.

I on the other hand, get a yardage, check for significant wind, find a target and swing. I know my tendencies - little fade with the driver, generally straight with the irons, with longer irons often fading and my short iron miss is a slight pull. I account for those when I align.

My friend doesn't have the shot repertoire he thinks and it costs him. If he just played his 80% tendency shot, all the time, he's probably shave 4-5 shots a round. And he has to learn to putt, he's got no feel on the green.

When he gets to the point where he's doing the simplest shots consistently well - add the draw, add a fade, add this or that. I'll have to do the same at some point - decide if its worth the time/effort to learn more shots.

 

If you consistently draw or fade the ball the fairway gets a lot wider.
once upon a time i had that game where I could pick if I wanted to draw or fade or really cut it at will.
It is hard, very hard to ignore those memories since I don't have those skills anymore.
The thing I miss most is having a swing that I simply trusted and I was focused on the shot at hand.
I didn't have swing thoughts about alignment or head position and so forth.
It's self fulfilling as well, you know the shot will be ok so you relax which makes the shot that much easier.
It just felt slow, languid and smooth. You knew it was really working when you felt the iron pat your butt on the follow through.