gettin' mah game back - thanks Vijay

So the past week, my swing has been coming back to me. Yesterday was pretty good till we got rained out (see previous post).

What helped the most? Vijay Singh's "seventeen". To keep the right tempo, you say seventeen quietly or in your head. Starting slowly, you finish your backswing after "seven", and then come down through the ball on "teen". It keeps me slow going back (my body has a habit of tensing up and jerking on the start of my swing - which usually means I get out of my posture and thin my shots), and gets me to really swing through the ball more explosively. Best part is it works for all clubs (well not really the putter).

Besides that, Vijay is the man. In his 40s, from Fiji, still dominating. And he has a such an awesome swing to watch - its like a wave breaking. He practices so much, that his drivers' faces periodically collapse.

nutso storm

So we played thursday night golf last night, or tried to. Once again, like clockwork, there was inclement weather on thursday afternoon. I wish I could invest in weather futures.

We made it through the 3rd hole, and the lightning evac kicked in. We get to the restaurant and the waitresses are all freaked out. We manage to get a pitcher of beer, and the rain really started to come down. They close the kitchen before we can get wings. Then the club pro tells us we all should leave. The second we come out it's hailing. Run to my car, and I'm soaked 15 seconds later. It came down so hard, Erik forgot where his car was for a second.

I pull out and it's just a sheet of rain - the kind that your wipers can't keep up with. It was so bad at one point that a driver in front of me had become disoriented and tried to pull over, but instead of pulling over to the right, had pulled over to the left, into the lane of oncoming traffic.

15 minutes later, and it was clear skies. I was kind of annoyed that they closed the course. I was even more annoyed they kicked us out during all the rain. So I shot a 16 for the first time of my life, and wound up getting wings at the roadhouse. Which blow. Highland Meadows, for some reason, have the best wings in the FC area. The cook is from new york and said he got them from a low level mob enforcer from Rhode Island. Makes sense.

Got pretty drunky skunky with Ken, and finished the night playing CoD4 online with him. Whew.

See you in 09, Tiger

Tiger's knee blow out wasn't just theatre - apparently the 91 holes of golf that left him limping caused enough damage that he'll be out for the rest of the 08 season. I'll miss Tiger, and appreciate a season where other players can bloom free of Tiger's tall shadow. Here's to a great 08 golf season, and to Tiger making a healthy return to the center stage next spring.

June golf roundup

So I've had less time to practice and to play this year (a good thing if you look at the big picture). I had a couple of really awful rounds and bad practice sessions. Including our camping/golf trip to the Raven up in Silverthorne (totally rad course, with par 3's that were taller than they were long, and blistering 600 yard downhill par 5).

So I made up my mind that I'm going to work on one thing this year - tempo. It seems to be working. By making sure all my parts are moving in the right order, and working together, I can swing with more power, while feeling like I'm swinging easier. It's similar to my working on the torso strength, but goes beyond it. I can't worry about swing plane and things like that right now - I'm not even worrying about aim. I'm just making sure my shoulders stay "connected" and that my body is moving easily in the right sequence.

I'm actually a little shocked at how well its working, especially with the woods. Taking back the club, my body rotates in the following order:

Hands - Arms - Shoulders - Hips, Feet (feet is switching weight to the left foot) and it's all very slow

Then coming down, it's feet (firing the back forward and shifting the weight), which pulls the hips into the turn, then pulling the shoulders and hands through the ball.

The sensation is weird - it's like my feet are yanking my torso to twist through the ball, and feels like a body power I hadn't hd before. because I'm not holding the club and swinging with my arms so hard, I'm releasing the club head, not losing my balance at all, and finishing with a great "trophy" pose, which I had to force before.

Using this, my sloppy drives were about 210, and a good crank was about 260. And the slice was more of a controlled fade. Hopefully I can groove this new approach to make a more long term improvement to my game, rather than the momentary spike.

In other news, I think I've got sand shots down now. By try to spank the bottom of the club head against the sand behind the club, consistency is much improved. Chipping is still strong - I think it's the one area where I exceed my buds/playing partners. Now I just need to get everything else together, and drop that handicap down to 14, still my goal for the summer, but I am getting a little nervous about reaching it.

And I continued my putter collecting - I've buying one nice putter a year, in hopes of having a decent collection by the time the rest of my gray hair comes in. Joining the Scotty Cameron Newport and Bettinardi Mizuno putters, is a Scotty Cameron Circa 62 putter. I like Ping Anser style blade putters, and the Circa is no exception. It has a rounded bottom, and very nice dark satin finish. I love my newport and it is my playing putter, but I am going to swap it out for a bit, and try the Circa 62 for a while. I'm sure I'll go back, but for now, the circa is pretty nice.

Best Major Ever

Well, since I've been following. Granted, I'm unapologetically a huge Tiger fan. Like Michael Jordan, his contributions to his sport make his career a moment in history that others will be envious for not having seen firsthand.

But the US open this year was pretty amazing for several reasons. Phil Mickelson's quadruple bogey (he hit a chip that rolled off the green 25 feet back to his feet - 3 times in a row!). The length of the course, a monstrous 7,600 plus yards. The closeness of the field - I think the top 20 were all within 4 strokes of each other on the last day. That might not really seem like much, but it showed in the play - nobody was blowing up. Speaking of which, Lee Westwood, Tiger's matched golfer on the last day, kept up the whole time, actually having an opportunity to be in the playoff until the last putt.

Rocco Mediate, who is a sort of jittery everyman/journeyman weirdo, was just amazing. He helped bring golf back to a simple place. He had some stellar approach shots, but mostly, he showed what you can do with a steady stream of pars, and avoiding bogeys. No eagles, and few birdies got him to the playoff.

And then, there was Tiger. I can't believe this guy - you could see his face twisting in pain on almost every drive. At certain points he was concealing a hobbling limp. His ability to hit fairways was dismal, but it shows his greatness. He can make shots from anywhere. Take the fairway bunker shot from yesterday, where he cleared a dog log with a smashing power draw. From the sand! Craziness. He dropped some crazy long putts, particularly on saturday, with a 65 footer, and another long putt that gave him the eagle that pushed him into the lead.

Tiger also gained and lost the lead repeatedly, a trend that continued into the playoff. Usually, when Tiger gets the lead, he keeps it. This time, he really had to grind. Behind on the last hole, he birdied to force an 18 hole playoff. No, not a sudden-death playoff. 18 holes of golf.

And then there was monday. I had to make the executive decision to cut my day short to watch this - and it was well worth it. Twitchy everyman Rocco versus the superior, but wounded Tiger. I've never been able to watch two players hit every shot and every putt. It was amazing. And again, Tiger took the lead, had it up to 3, and lost it. He was down by on on the 18th, and did it again - and forced a sudden death playoff. It was only until the 19th hole, that the wheels fell off Rocco's cart.

Tiger earned that win, and by pushing it so far, Rocco earned major kudos (he also jumped something like 110 slots on the world golf ranking list, so live is about to get very nice for him). And with that, Tiger is at 14 major victories, with 4 left to tie Nicklaus.

Spring 2008 Golf Roundup

Future me: here's where I'm at golf-wise in 2008.

My handicap is down slightly, but I'm at a point where I feel like I should be shooting better, and possibly break down the 18 to a 14 - but that might just be me.

My slice is pretty much gone - but I'm overextending myself on drives sometimes - resulting in sharp pulls. Actually, I do find that I'll hit some 3 wood slices now and again. I tossed out the 5-wood and 5 iron. I'm still hitting it pretty short on the course, but a lot farther on the range, so I think I just get armsy when I'm not calm. I find if I remember to grip lightly and keep strong posture, that the swing usually works for me. My irons are a little short, but relatively accurate.

Short game wise, things are pretty good. I god rid of my 54°, and replaced it with a 50°. This gives me much better gaps between clubs. My pitching wedge is 46°, so I had an 8° gap, and then 2° between the 54° and the sand wedge. I'm also a lot more conscious of how far each wedge carries the ball and then rolls. I also have been factoring in uphill and down hill roll, and the lie of the ball when I pick my clubs. I'm also not afraid of busting out a 7 iron chip if the situation calls for it - so I would love to increase accuracy, but I'm pretty happy with my short game right now.

Putting - I still need a lot of work here. I find if I place the putter down, line up the sightline, and then step into the stance and line my feet up parallel, I do pretty well.

Sergio Garcia: Players Champion

Congrats to Sergio, the winner of the 2008 Players. The bad boy spaniard held up under pressure to force and win a playoff, at Sawgrass' notorious 17th island green, no less. He's not the most beloved golfer (spitting in a hole after a missed putt) but I've always liked the guy. Hopefully he can win a major one of these years - this is definitely the next best thing until then.

Latest lame ass trend in golf

Interchangeable shaft drivers. You pay 700-900 bucks for a driver head and a few shafts. You can screw in the shaft you want with a proprietary tool. Let me count the ways of lameness:

1: That is not going to help ANYBODY. Pros don't change their shaft types regularly - they get fit to the type of shaft that fits their game. That would be like alternating irons between brands, depending on course conditions and how you felt that day. Consistency is the holy grail of golf. Interchangable shafts are killing consistency; they represent the "tyranny of choice" fully manifested.

2: 700 bucks? Are you kidding me? For the price, you could basically buy 3 drivers (maybe one 2008 and 2 older models). You know how a top of the line much a shaft costs? 40-80 bucks. You could by one driver, and try 5-10 shafts and still spend less money. Of course, that shouldn't be necessary, which comes to the next lameness...

3: This lets the consumer, rather than the golf pro, decide what is best for you. If you are ready to plunk down 700 bucks, you ought to be getting fit by a professional that knows your game. Trust me - you might think you need a whippy shaft, or know how much flex should be in the tip, but you don't - the golf pro knows. Otherwise, just buy an off the rack driver.

4: You can only use the shafts that are part of their proprietary system. So you are limited to their three shafts. What are the odds that a golfer hungry for shaft experimentation is going to find the perfect marriage there?

5: Things like cutting a shaft to the right length or a different grip are going to be overlooked here - things that are way moire important that flex.

6: The driver is totally not where you want to spend money to improve your game. Get a few hybrids, or blow your budget on a nice, balanced putter. You could do both with the amount you'd need to spend on a driver - whose only requirement is to go a reasonable distance, and stay in play. You can drive a ball only 150 yards, and still make par if you've got game.

7: When you spend this much on a driver, you are apt to hold on to it way longer than normal, and also likely to continue using it, making yourself mad with shaft combinations, when maybe what you need is a different driver. The implicit statement is that the driver head is without flaw, and you just need the right shaft. Perimeter weight distribution, face height and loft are way more important, and shouldn't be taken for granted as absolutes.

8: This just points out to the sad realization that technology innovation for golf equipment is reaching a plateau. They've pushed the limit on just about every USGA regulation regarding equipment. Like square headed fairway woods, "deeper grooved" wedges and hybridized 9 irons, this is just showing that equipment makers are struggling to bring something new to the marketplace. A lot of smoke and mirrors. And in the end, this stuff won't make you better - it will just be enough of a swing nanny to make a horrible golfer into a mediocre one.

9. It smacks of desperation, but not just on the part of the manufacturers. This is for the player who will do anything to improve their drives - as long as it doesn't require practicing or a lesson. If you aren't hitting it right - trust me, three driver shafts aren't going to help you break 90, or 100.

Loving golf

Priceless golf moment tonight - chipping in the hole from a greenside bunker to birdie the 5th at highland meadows. It doesn't matter how the rest of the round goes - that's the moment that you live for.

Finally feeling "comfortable" around a course, and not so much like the "new guy". Still have so much to learn, but there is some inner peace from removing that self-conscious burr that had been irritating me my first couple of seasons. I guess its that I feel like while I'm by no means a great golfer, I could play with a stranger, and they might not guess I just picked up the game. They'd just think I suck...

more golf

now that I've noticed the shoulder turn thing, I'm seeing it everywhere. I'm a big fan of those incredibly boring teaching episodes on the golf channel. The best golfers all turn their back fully. What I am sensing now is that if you don't really make that full shoulder turn, your legs can't pull your body through the shot - and you have no choice but to muscle your arms through the shot instead - which leads to all sorts of bad things.

Remember the little drums in Karate Kid part II? They spun them and little strings with beads would hit the drum face. That's kind like the golf swing motion. Your arms are really there to do very little, except provide a bridge between your club and your body, and act like a whip or flail. Once you put your arms in it too much, they stop being whip like, and start being more stick-like.

Hopefully I'm on to something here; I'm sure it will work for two rounds and backfire, as usual.

Sidenote - looks like Ken, Erik and I are going to play in a tournament at The Raven up in the mountains in June. Should be fun - I am excited to try and play under the pressure of competition. I have so far really let other people get in my head on the course; so maybe this is the trial by fire I need.

The Masters

As much as Tiger didn't win, he did come in second for the second year in a row. The Masters pretty much demands perfection these days. In essence, it wears down Tiger the way regular tournaments wear down everybody else. 4 days of golf requires building momentum, and Tiger's putting just didn't let that happen. As much as I want to see him break Nicklaus' major record, I am glad to see he'll be earning it by giving it his all over a career. If he wasn't even trying, it wouldn't be so amazing to be able to watch unfold.

Kudos to Trevor - a fine, previously underrated golfer. That south african hit some freaking amazing shots.

Now we get to watch the rest of the majors slip by. Of course the next will be the "fifth major" - the players.

Golf Tips

So I haven't had much time to play, but I've snuck in some practice here and there when I can, as I did this morning.

I have a pretty weak stroke - my drives are at best 230 to a level LZ unless I accidentally crank it. I've been trying broaden my swing plane to get more speed, but that has an unintended effect - it pulls my torso laterally - and then I wind up cracking a pull hook.

Overall, it just feels that I am turning, but my arms are doing too much work. Add to that that I am counting on my arms to try and start grooving an inside to out swing plane, and it's no wonder why I hit the ball so short.

Today I learned a little something. The best learned techniques are the ones that don't totally throw something else off. So far so good.

What did I figure out? I focused on turning back farther, so that my shoulder and back are partially facing the ball. By focusing on turning with my torso, instead of trying to crank my spine back with my arms, I was not getting that lateral movement. I did this by trying to glimpse the back of my shoulder at the top of my backswing. Obviously that has to be peripheral, or I'll never make solid contact. I definitely felt the stretch. And the results were a solid 10-15yard gain on average.

Another nice side effect is that by turning farther, I'm getting a flatter, inside out swing plane. Which helps counteract any bad arm movement on my part. So fades were diminishing, and the drives were much lower trajectory - I suffer from pop fly drives.

It worked so well, that I am considering putting a little nib of medical tape on my shoulder next time - so I have that visual cue without having to look for it as much. I do have to say that the Superquad I got last summer really is a nice driver. I had gone through as many drivers as I had years under my belt, but it was worth it. What is nice is that the new CGB drivers now make the superquad somewhat obsolete, so they've already come down in price. Maybe next summer they'll be cheap enough that I can pick up a fresh one. The CGBs are nice, but they can't actually adjust the height of the ball flight, just counteracting slices and hooks. Personally, I am of the mind that you should learn and practice to eliminate your slice - buying equipment to mask it will eventually make it worse, because it will enable those bad habits further. I keep my driver set for a low neutral ball flight.

Golf Handicap Update

New Handicap: 18.9
Old Handicap: 19.5

Last handicap issued for 2007
2008 Golf Goal: Get to a 15 Handicap.

My first golf handicap

19.5

Coincidentally, I think that's almost the equivalent of being able to type 19.5 words a minute.

I have one more revision schedule period (beginning of november), before the season ends.

Also, it says I've played 21 rounds this year. I'd say that about 4 of those were full rounds, and 34 9 hole rounds. That's purty good - you can get in a good amount playing 9 after work in the summer.

On a lighter note...

The 6th hole is the hardest on the course - I figured out the shots that work for me. A full swing with my 5 wood will get me over the lateral hazard to the edge of the first landing zone, without spilling into the gulch. A gripped up 3 quarter swing with my hybrid will get the ball over the gulch and on the green. If I am swinging confidently that day, I will probably want to trust a 5 iron on the 2nd shot, as it will probably stop better once it hits the green. If I'm slicing mid irons at all though - stick with the hybrid.

Rhetorical question that butchers iambic pentameter

To play in, or not to play in?

I went to Highland Meadows yesterday to crank out a quick 9 holes. As is usually the case, it was pretty empty of golfers. That, combined with the fact that my first shot off the tee went in the drink, I decided to make this a practice round. I took some extra balls, and started experimenting with landing targets and club selection. That makes me sound like I know what I am doing, which is not the case. It's a good way to really feel familiar with a course. And I'm lucky that it's empty enough that you can do that, and its the type of course that rewards good ball placement throughout a hole, not just the approach shot.

After a few holes, I noticed a guy about my age, playing with his son riding along in the cart who looked like he was in that 7-10 year old range. They were a few holes back. Slowly, they started to catch up. When I got to the 9th tee box, he was getting to the green on 8.

So I cranked a nice long drive (long for me) off the tee (for Erik's benefit - it was the left side - clear of the trouble, but with that blind second shot). I hit my ball, which catches the green-side bunker (of course). Before I take off to my second shot, I look back to see if I should hustle so this guy can tee up. I guess not, because as soon as I turn around, he's hitting his shot. It flies about 10 yards past me, about 3 yards to the right. Anybody still reading this post who doesn't play, can probably guess that that's not cool.

I push my cart over to the left of the path, to let him play through, and I'm not even looking at the guy - I don't want to see him. He pulls up and and apologies.

"Hey man, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to--"

I respond, "okay. Just play though." I don't want to look at this guy any more than I have to.

"Okay. But it's. You're not. I feel like..." He has this desperate look in his eye.

"Please just play through."

It took a few more volleys before he played his ball. He thanked me and I called after for him to have a good one. I was pretty annoyed though. I don't like making people wait behind me, and I would have asked him to play through if he had been waiting during the round. but it just wasn't the case. This was the first hole where the guy had to wait at all, and he played into me. Playing in to somebody is lame. It happens once in a while, if you have a blind first shot, but I was in view the whole time. It's every golfer's responsibility to know how far he hit his driver until optimal circumstances. I usually hit the ball between 200 and 240 yards, but last weekend I hit a near 300 yard drive. If you think you could possibly hit a ball on the screws and even get it close to the group in front of you - you just wait.

It's at my own risk that I play, but its also at my discretion how I react to the play of others. If I had hooked my tee shot on the third hole into somebody's living room window (my worst fear) - they have the right to be cool about it, or to get really pissed and berate me. Same with playing in to someone. I was very cordial with this guy, but I was clearly not pleased. He had this edge in his tone and look in his eye, like I was supposed to "be cool" about it - maybe because his son was there. That's what really annoyed me: an expectation that I would be jovial and dismissive about the event. Maybe on another day, I would have.

Don't apologize until you get the type of pardon you are looking for, and don't passively make faces like I'm overreacting. I never raised my voice, never made any aggressive postures or gestures, or used bad language. Trust me, buddy, I'm a Henne - we hold the patent on overreacting. Just submit your apology, leave it to me how to receive that apology, and go hit your goddamned ball.

DORF on Golf

Well, my good kemosabe Ken is getting hitched today at the JP, before heading with his new bride to Fiji for 2 weeks. Lucky bastard - I wish I could have had a romantic wedding like that - yuk yuk.

Anyhoo - we played the home course last night. He didn't exactly have the jitters, but he shot a "10" on one hole. That means he could have shot a 17 on it. Since it's his big day, I won't air his dirty golf scores.

I bagged a 44, including one double and a brain melting triple. It's always nice to grab extra strokes like that from from knocking balls into blind spots, and then not being able to find them. If Ihad just bogeyed those two, I would have had myself a nice fat 41. Which is what E-money wound up shooting. The tuned up superquad worked fabulously - with the weighting set for low shots, my ball flight was nice and low. The slice seems to be a thing of the past... for the moment.

Screw laser distance readers and GPS for yardage - what I want is those special blue blockers I saw at Dicks. One the box, they made it look like your ball increased in contrast ten thousand percent.

Good golfing blog

the sand trap

Covers media, some equipment reviews, and golf talk. Pretty much my dream blog. These are guys who like golf as much a me, bu from their bios, are much better at it.

My 3-Wood

I'm trying to embrace the fairway woods. I'm not long off the tee, so my only hope to ever bird, or just stay in contention for pars, is to start making up some of that distance on the fairway. Unfortunately the old cleveland launcher 3-wood I was using was pretty dead at impact.

I found a used demo model TaylorMade 3-wood - I'm a discount scavenger who could care less if the bottom of the club is scuffed before I scuff it on the first swing on the range. The same spring action I feel with the TaylorMade hybrid and Superquad was evidenced here - the ball flies off the face like its trying to get away. The sound is also inspiring - think a sledgehammer pounding in a railroad spike. I'm excited to go out tomorrow evening and give it the business on the course.

The season is starting to wind down - I can see the darkness at the end of the tunnel. I should be able to continue to get 9 holes in once a week for a while, but it'll be cutting it closer and closer. What I need to do is make buddies with the club pro - and try to start getting shooed on before 3 (the limitation of the twilight pass). The other option will be to make nice nice with the range, and focus on practice until weather puts a stop to that. Well, I should have at least a month and a half until I have to start making the tough decisions.

Golf Time Capsule

2 awesome shots on Saturday at Mariana.

12th hole - two bad the first chip ran of the green, but the second chip nailed the bottom of the pin, and the ball dropped inches from the cup for bogie.

13th hole - this slightly uphill drive was clocked at over 300 yards in the cart's GPS. That's more than 70 yards farther than my average good drive. The drive sounded different and the trajectory was very low. I don't expect that to be repeated. but pretty awesome golf stuff to have happened that day.