Going Pro Golf Blog

I’m back at Lionhead this week.  Lionhead was the final round I played last season prior to my lessons and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.  I ended up shooting 124 on a very tough course and was emotionally devastated once leaving the course.  I promised myself I was either going to get better or quit golf altogether.  Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Jon, I chose to try and get better. 
Before I get to my score I need my usual excuse.  This past year Mr. Kaneff dumped over $1 million into upgrading the golf course.  The course looks amazing and was in pristine condition but somehow they managed to make it even harder.  This is a long course with really hard greens and to make it even tougher, they grew out the rough a few FEET!   That being said I ended up shooting a 108.  My driver was all over the place and I ended up losing numerous balls in the thick rough.  Nothing worse that losing a ball that only rolls a few feet into the rough. 
Once I can get the driver down, I will really start shooting some lower scores.  I was hitting it further than usual but still not far enough but this will come with more practice.  I have 2 rounds this upcoming week so I need to make sure I can hit the range and get some work in before hand.  Tonight I will be out at Maples of Ballantare and this weekend I will be visiting the new John Daly course Thundering Waters…which I am excited to check out.

So I made my way out to Michigan for a great golf weekend. I’ll recap the scores and courses in the next few posts but I wanted to cover where my game is, good areas and areas for improvement. Playing 5 rounds of golf in 4 days really taught me a lot about my game because I was able to get into a groove. I was quickly able to figure out what areas I was good in and what areas I really sucked at. Flat out, my short game kicked some serious ass. From 100 yards out I was gold, relatively speaking. I was usually able to stick the ball close and either drain it or come pretty close. Even around the green my chipping lessons came in handy, I was decent but with a little more time it will be better. In all I chipped in 2 from the rough which was a great feeling. The putting lessons really helped out as well. I only 3-putted a few times but they were from long range so I wasn’t too disappointed. What I really felt great about was my ability to drain the short putts. 3-4 footers are usually ones I get nervous about but I never thought twice about these. I simply went through my putting routine and drained them. It was great. Okay, enough bragging – time to get to the parts I need work. 2 area, my driver and power. My driver is still a disaster and now it was starting to weigh on me because it was killing my scores. I hit the ball about 200 yards with a severe slice so not only is it very short, it was unpredictable. I was losing balls due to the slice but even worse, it was making it impossible for me to hit greens in regulation. Any Par 4s over 360 yards actually play like Par 5s for me due to my lack of driving distance and you can only imagine what that meant for 600 yd par 5s or 180 yd Par 3s. Driving wasn’t something we addressed in training because Jon wanted to focus on other areas and initially I thought it was a mistake because I needed length to be able to shoot low but then came this trip. I couldn’t believe how good my short game had become. I was forced to learn how to be extremely good within 100 yards in order to salvage bogeys. I also learned golf course management. When I was far out, I wasn’t trying to be a hero and clear water or bunkers. I would simply hit to the 100 yd marker and make my way from there. I guess it is true was Jon always says; It isn’t about where we are today, it is about where we will be down the road. That being said, I am really itching to see when we go for the driver. I have my next lesson this afternoon so lets see where we go!

So I made my way out to Michigan for a great golf weekend.  I’ll recap the scores and courses in the next few posts but I wanted to cover where my game is, good areas and areas for improvement.  Playing 5 rounds of golf in 4 days really taught me a lot about my game because I was able to get into a groove.  I was quickly able to figure out what areas I was good in and what areas I really sucked at.  Flat out, my short game kicked some serious ass.  From 100 yards out I was gold, relatively speaking.  I was usually able to stick the ball close and either drain it or come pretty close.  Even around the green my chipping lessons came in handy, I was decent but with a little more time it will be better.  In all I chipped in 2 from the rough which was a great feeling.  The putting lessons really helped out as well.  I only 3-putted a few times but they were from long range so I wasn’t too disappointed.  What I really felt great about was my ability to drain the short putts.  3-4 footers are usually ones I get nervous about but I never thought twice about these.  I simply went through my putting routine and drained them.  It was great. Okay, enough bragging – time to get to the parts I need work.  2 area, my driver and power.  My driver is still a disaster and now it was starting to weigh on me because it was killing my scores.  I hit the ball about 200 yards with a severe slice so not only is it very short, it was unpredictable.  I was losing balls due to the slice but even worse, it was making it impossible for me to hit greens in regulation.  Any Par 4s over 360 yards actually play like Par 5s for me due to my lack of driving distance and you can only imagine what that meant for 600 yd par 5s or 180 yd Par 3s.  Driving wasn’t something we addressed in training because Jon wanted to focus on other areas and initially I thought it was a mistake because I needed length to be able to shoot low but then came this trip.  I couldn’t believe how good my short game had become.  I was forced to learn how to be extremely good within 100 yards in order to salvage bogeys.  I also learned golf course management.  When I was far out, I wasn’t trying to be a hero and clear water or bunkers.  I would simply hit to the 100 yd marker and make my way from there.  I guess it is true was Jon always says; It isn’t about where we are today, it is about where we will be down the road.  That being said, I am really itching to see when we go for the driver.  I have my next lesson this afternoon so lets see where we go!

The long weekend is coming and I have a lot of golf planned.  5 Rounds in 5 days in 2 Countries.  Reallying looking forward to it but a little concerned how the body is going to hold up.  I’m not going to lie to you, there might also be a few drinks involved so I may be a little tired and worn out next week. The trip starts tomorrow with a round in Burlington, ON at Hidden Lake.  I’ve never played it but I hear it is a nice little track.  We then pick up a friend who is finishing work and we drive to Michigan.  We then play 2 rounds Saturday, 1 Sunday and 1 more on Monday before heading back to Toronto.  In Michigan we are playing:  Greystone Orchards Shepherds Hollow Westwynd  I am feeling good especially since Jon took me through some short game lessons.  I’ll update the blog when I am back next week.  Have a great long weekend!

My first round went well and I was pleased.  While I would have loved to break 100, I thought 101 was decent especially considering Eagles Nest is a tough course.  I was happy with my drives and irons but what I need to know is what exactly worked well.  In have a bunch of lessons under my belt which is good, I just got great new equipment which is amazing and I started using a ball (look for it in my next post) to help maximize distance for someone with a slower swing speed.  Obviously all of this helps but I wonder which is helping the most.  I have a lesson Thursday with Jon so I will bring it up then. What wasn’t working: Putting and Chipping.  I had no real touch around the greens and didn’t make many putts.  Chipping was touch because I never had a sand wedge before so trying to learn how to use it during a round wasn’t a great idea.  I usually left the ball 20 ft short.  Putting was the usual story…hit it and hope for the best. The good news is that Jon wants to start working on short game the next few lessons so we’ll see what happens in these areas.