Going Pro Golf Blog

A few weeks back while at Maples of Ballantrae, I came 12 inches from my first Eagle.  On a par 5 from about 100 yards out, I stiffed a wedge that almost went in for an eagle.  I tapped in a birdie which I was very proud of.  Well, somehow I managed to up that this past weekend.
I was out at an executive course on Saturday.  It wasn’t exactly an executive since it measured 5,000 yards but it was well shy of a full course.  We only managed to get in 9 holes before the skies opened up on us but in those 9 holes I managed my first ever Eagle!
As you all know, I have been struggling with my driver all season…well struggling might be an extreme understatement…but the last week I seem it have figured it out at the range.  I was anxious to try out my new found knowledge at the course.  The 4^{th hole was a Par 5 so I busted out the driver.  The hole played 450 yards and was fairly straight.  I didn’t catch all of the driver but still bounced the ball down the middle about 230 yards.  Based on my previous inability to drive the ball, I was ecstatic. 
I had a very nice lie and no trouble around the green so I decided to take out my 5 wood and see what I could do.  I caught the ball very cleaned and it sailed directly at the pin, landed a few feet shy of the green and rolled up near the pin.  From where I was, I knew it was a good shot and I had an Eagle putt but I had no idea how close I was.  Once again, I was ecstatic. 
As we drove closer and closer to the green, the ball seemed to be getting closer and closer to the pin.  I eventually hopped out of the cart only to see my ball nestled 12 inches from the pin, a nice tap in Eagle!  I have been walking around with a smile on my face for 2 days now.  I guess this means next week I will be walking away with an Albatross.
I’ll keep you posted}

Thanks to Heits for the comment a few days back.  Basically, Heits stated the summer is almost half over (damn, where did it go?), how do I feel and how am I doing so far?  Great question, I think I have been so focused on writing about my scores and lessons that I have gotten away from how I am dealing with the lessons, changes to my swing and my entire mental state.  I will start making this a regular update from now on. It is funny this comes up now because Jon recently asked me this question and I had to stop and think about it for a while.  My answer was that I felt like I am the best worst golfer out there.  I love stupid logic but that is really how I feel.  I am not shooting low at all but I know so much about the golf swing now.  When I hit a bad shot, I right away know what went wrong, I can even tell what other people are doing wrong (to some degree), although I never say anything because I don’t want to be “that guy” who we all hate on the course. I really feel like my game has come so far yet I still hit around 100 on average.  The reason is that we completely dismantled my swing and started from scratch.  Some friends will go for lessons and immediately shave 5 strokes off their game so they wonder how I am still shooting the same scores.  It is simple, they have gone in for a quick fix and adjustments to already bad swings.  While they may shave 5 strokes, that is about as good as they will ever do with that swing or with the knowledge they have.  My swing and golf is now a lifetime work in progress and I am fine with that.  Jon has conditioned me not to worry about results, just focus on where I will be next year and each year after that. Right now I love my short game.  I feel great from 100 yards in and am very comfortable putting.  I really need to keep focusing on my long game.  If I can ever get my driver working, I will shave a lot of strokes off my game.  This is an incredible stat but in my last 2 rounds I have only hit 6 greens in regulation.  5 were Par 3s and 1 was a par 5!!  This is not good at all but is all about my long game.  I am never in a good position to hit the green.  I have a horrible mental block that takes over me when I stand over my driver.  I have no problem with my 5 wood but the driver is 4 times the size and just scares the hell out of me.  I am going to dedicate 90% of my practice time the next 2 weeks to nothing but driver.  Let’s see if that helps. That being said, I am nowhere near the goal I set for myself.  Going into this season with never having taken lessons, I was hoping to consistently hit in the high 80s-low 90s.  There is still time but I will need to bear down and put in some serious work at the range!

This past weekend I encountered my first brush with a bad mental game.  Anyone who has golfed at any level has struggled with their mental game from time-to-time but I have hit a very serious wall.  It all revolves around my driver.  It isn’t that I can’t hit it, it is that I can’t even bear to look down at it as I address the ball.  It is pure fear.  I think about missing the ball at address, during the backswing and again during the downswing.  I don’t have this issue with my other woods but something about the driver scares me and it is killing my game.  I haven’t had a lesson with Jon in weeks but will be seeing him this Friday.  Jon has done a lot with mental game development and I plan on talking to him about this at length.  Pray for me!

I venture back to one of my favorite courses, Eagles Nest.  My last round I shot a respectable 101 especially considering it was back on May 1^st.  Needless to say I am looking for big things. 

The round starts very well on the first hole.  I hammer a nice drive over some fairway bunkers on the left which is the ideal shot.  This is a Par 5 dog-leg left so with a little roll, I should be about 225 away from the pin.  I arrive where my ball should be and it is nowhere to be found!  After 5 minutes (no one was behind us), I gave up and took and angry drop.  I ended up draining a 25ft putt to save bogey in the end.  Damn hard way to start a round.  The problem is that I wasn’t able to shake that loose from my memory and I take a nice 8 on the Par 4 2^nd hole…followed by consecutive 7s!  I did bear down and manage to shoot a decent back 9 from there, all things considered.  I walk off the 9^th with a 53.

The back goes much better.  I put the driver away and hit 5 wood off the tees.  It hurts my approach shots but saves me losing balls.  I end up with 2 pars, 2 bogies and 5 doubles for a 48.  Not a bad back 9 considering I usually blow up.

I am feeling good and looking forward to getting back out there!

May 28 – Eagles Nest
Score – 101
White Tees - 6326   

We leave Burlington Friday after Hidden Lake and arrive in Michigan that night.  After a quick bite to eat and a few watered down American beers, we head to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Saturday Morning – May 20^th 2006
We start the day bright and early with a round at Greystone Golf Club.  It is a great course.  Something I loved about this course and something I found about all the courses we played was that all the greens were fast but consistant.  I loved the way they played and my putting reflected that.  I was comfortable over every single putt I hit.
The story with this round as with all the rounds of the weekend…drive were short but my short-game saved me.
Greystone
Blue Tees – 6435
Final Score - 101
Saturday Afternoon – May 20^th, 2006
This is only the second time I will have played more than 18 in a day so I am looking forward to it.  I am a little tired but after a quick bite, I am ready to tackle The Orchards Golf Club!  Well, long story short…turns out I may have been a little more tired than I thought.  My entire game was a disaster and in hindsight, I should have seen this coming.  In my past rounds I have noticed I score worse on the back 9.  Since this is the back 18, I should have known it was going to be ugly.  I will spare you the nasty details but I took five 8s, three 9s and a 10 in what was the worst round I have EVER played.  Lets chalk this up to a mulligan.
The Orchards Golf Club
Blue Tees – 6487 Yards
Final Score – 129 (yeah that is in smaller type and is hard to read but I don’t care)
Sunday Morning – May 21^st, 2006
Shepherds Hollow is our next stop after my previous days debacle.  Turns out I am back on track and finish the day with a 101 which included taking an 8 and a 9 during the round.  As usual, a little more distance off the tee and I would be shooting much better.  As an aside, I loved this course.  The layout was great and I found it pretty challenging without being too tough to enjoy.
Shepperds Hollow
Black Tees – 6848
Final Score – 101
Monday Morning – May 22^nd, 2006
Our final stop is Westwynd.  By this time my body feels great and I really feel like I am in a groove.  My biggest issue is the mental game.  By this time all of us are having a great time and not really focused on golf.  We have been having a few drinks, telling jokes and basically golf was secondary to our good time.  This was all fine with me as this was the purpose of the trip.  I shot a very average 107 on this day.
Westwynd
Blue Tees – 6463
Final Score - 107