Half My Handicap in 12 Months

[alistaird]

Last round out over the weekend was not great - started with a double and it didn't really get much better... Some of the old flaws came back and sometimes felt great over the ball but other times no confidence. Really muddy and at time it felt like Scotty S with the feet slipping everywhere. Coupled with putting gone awry, one to forget. The only good thing was I didn't try and change anything just settled on that was today's swing and off we go.

Here's hoping it was an anomaly (but we know it's just golf).

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[alistaird]

Been frustrated with the push/fade with the longer clubs and I seem to be unable to consistently close the face. During the last lesson I suggested trying the Hogan approach so closed the stance with the club still pointing at the target. Hit 1/2 dozen good relatively straight drives... Foam ball practice in the evenings seemed to be showing promise with this approach and combined it with some face control drills. Escaped to the range late today and hit a few balls - 20 odd with 3W and 4I and got really consistent results with no push/fades - one push but the rest either straight down the middle and a few draws.

Very promising and let's hope it continues and I can take it to the course next time.

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[alistaird]

Very promising and let's hope it continues and I can take it to the course next time.

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As is golf, on course lesson 10 days ago was a disaster…. Everything was a slice, out to in, with an open face…..


So lots of work with drills to get back to my in to out then work on slightly closing the face over the next few weeks.

Played again at the weekend with very low expectations, but after the 1st it seemed to start to come back together. Putting was hopeless for speed, the greens were hard and just been sanded so too many 3 putts , but probably one of my best rounds for fairways (7/14), hit 3/4 Par 3 greens and parred the one I missed, 8/18 FiRs. 3 of the missed greens were through the back after pitching on…

So in line with @ddec recent thread, score was not good but there were a lot of positives including finishing with the same ball I started with….

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[alistaird]

Today was hopefully a breakthrough. I do not play enough but it was warm, sunny, little wind but course was busy and slow... Shot a 71 which was 1 over par, could easily have been a bit better. Overclubbed a couple of times but for some reason, the few bad shots were followed by good recoveries, the putter was working (14 less putts than last time out), the 3W as pretty good off the tee, approach irons were very good, 8 of 14 Fairways and 9 of 18 GIRs...

Not sure whether this will achieve my halving of my handicap but we will see when the card goes in. . Clubhouse was shut when we finished.

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[ryang13]

Today was hopefully a breakthrough. I do not play enough but it was warm, sunny, little wind but course was busy and slow... Shot a 71 which was 1 over par, could easily have been a bit better. Overclubbed a couple of times but for some reason, the few bad shots were followed by good recoveries, the putter was working (14 less putts than last time out), the 3W as pretty good off the tee, approach irons were very good, 8 of 14 Fairways and 9 of 18 GIRs...

Not sure whether this will achieve my halving of my handicap but we will see when the card goes in. . Clubhouse was shut when we finished.

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Great round . There’s more where that came from.

 

[alistaird]

Great round . There’s more where that came from.

Thanks Ryan. As you know I’m following your journey with interest.

I don’t play competitively and enjoy it more for that, I’m always trying to be me vs the course and not me vs anyone else or me vs my swing! I post scores from general play when we are serious and not playing some fun games or helping each other, so my handicap is a measure of how I am playing vs the course.

The last round was an eye opener for me and would be a good vindication of “getting out of your own way” as per Dr Bob R. I didn’t even think about equalling Par on the last two holes which I bogeyed, I just hit the shot I saw and did it again….

So assuming the round gets entered correctly by my club and my calculation gives me a handicap around 8 so I have met the goal I set myself of 1/2ing my handicap as well as the goal I aspired to when I started playing 30+ years ago of reaching single figures…. I got down to 14 but probably playing off 12 when I stopped about 25 years ago, restarted about 18 months ago and was at 20 when I started this thread.

So the next target is to stay in single figures over the summer and reevaluate at the end of the season with my coach. According to Arcoss I had a load of bests in the round, but I don’t think equalling Par is realistic at the moment, more likely I will try and improve on GIR or Fairways or strokes gained off the tee….

Lesson tomorrow evening so will discuss during that, the weird thing is I could see 3 or 4 shots where I made a bad choice and could have done better. As I’m 61 maybe shooting my age one day in the next 15 years?

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[alistaird]

Good discussion with the coach... My practice has moved me back to the in-to-out swing I've had most of the time and the ball striking was really good - just sometimes I don't close the club face but I can work on that...

We saw some strange results with the 50 vs 46 vs 41 degree clubs... See separate thread I will raise on this for thoughts from the great minds here.

It looks like my handicap secretary has deleted my last round without any comments or anything so I'm not happy with them. Discussion pending.

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[ryang13]

Thanks Ryan. As you know I’m following your journey with interest.

I don’t play competitively and enjoy it more for that, I’m always trying to be me vs the course and not me vs anyone else or me vs my swing! I post scores from general play when we are serious and not playing some fun games or helping each other, so my handicap is a measure of how I am playing vs the course.

The last round was an eye opener for me and would be a good vindication of “getting out of your own way” as per Dr Bob R. I didn’t even think about equalling Par on the last two holes which I bogeyed, I just hit the shot I saw and did it again….

So assuming the round gets entered correctly by my club and my calculation gives me a handicap around 8 so I have met the goal I set myself of 1/2ing my handicap as well as the goal I aspired to when I started playing 30+ years ago of reaching single figures…. I got down to 14 but probably playing off 12 when I stopped about 25 years ago, restarted about 18 months ago and was at 20 when I started this thread.

So the next target is to stay in single figures over the summer and reevaluate at the end of the season with my coach. According to Arcoss I had a load of bests in the round, but I don’t think equalling Par is realistic at the moment, more likely I will try and improve on GIR or Fairways or strokes gained off the tee….

Lesson tomorrow evening so will discuss during that, the weird thing is I could see 3 or 4 shots where I made a bad choice and could have done better. As I’m 61 maybe shooting my age one day in the next 15 years?

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That "getting out of your own way" idea is sometimes harder than it looks. Keep up the great work my friend, I think you're on the right track!

 

[alistaird]

That "getting out of your own way" idea is sometimes harder than it looks. Keep up the great work my friend, I think you're on the right track!

Let's hope so...

Got another "Now that's a golf shot " in the last lesson ..

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[alistaird]

So a couple of not so great round and another lesson where we were mainly looking a shafts in my wedges to fix a gaping issue.

Played 18 today with my wife’s niece and her niece’s boyfriend. Both 19 years old and she plays off scratch (and she’s on a US golf scholarship)and he’s off single figures so it was interesting to see how my game held up. My 3W was pretty well arrow straight off the tee ( very promising given the push fade that’s plagued me since I took up the game again.). Distance wise I was roughly on a par with him apart from Driver which I didn’t hit…. But my short game cost me a few shots compared to them and I had mor3 duff contacts on the short irons and wedges but overall I didn’t embarrass myself so definitely a plus.


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[alistaird]

Early evening on course lesson was interesting... We had some debate over which club to hit into the green. Started with an up hill into the wind 7 iron which I hit thin but still ended up on the green, then a 100 yard into the next green where I decided to try the 52* which went right to the back. On one of the shorter Par 4s we wanted to lay up 100 yards out so he suggested 3W and I took my 5i - there were trees blocking the entry to the green if you were too close and right - my 5i went 245 yards (with a bit of wind assistance) to leave me about 75 to the front... Then next hole after not a good drive - we wanted to lay up short of the water at 210 yards - so he suggested 7i and I took the 8i and ended up 10 yards short of the water. Now these were indispersed with some less than good contacts where I was losing 20 yards but on good strikes - the ball was really flying - I was a good 1 club further than previous lesson on the range so he was really please. Just need to get the consistency of contact over the next couple of weeks and it feels like it's coming together. Definitely getting the Epic Forged Irons to work with my improved swing mechanics.

Driver is still the weak point - I hit 3W nicely off a low tee but when I pick the driver up - I'm trying to hit it with the same shot as oppose to hit it on the up. Needs some dedicated work I think on getting the feel with the tilting shoulders and hitting up on the driver to get the benefit.

Fingers crossed this continues but I know disaster lurks around the corner....

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[alistaird]

An interesting round at the weekend…. Was sitting at +1 after 7 and the both of us blew up until the final few of holes. We were on a short par 3 across the valley and the four ball called us through. Both of us hit fat sots, well short in a real mess for triple bogeys…. We didn’t get better until 14 or 15.

It was definitely all in the mind, but the positive was the first 7, par, bogey, par, par, bogey, par, birdie including 2 putts which finished 1/4 inches from falling in, so close to being under par through 7.

It shows me that I’m close to scoring well if I can just focus for 18 holes and not get sidetracked and keep focused on sensible golf.

Just hoping to keep up the progress….

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[alistaird]

Though I will keep on playing and having lessons I think…. Decided to resign my club membership due to the challenges of submitting handwritten cards. They seem to only want scores through the App and neither of my regular partners use the App and even asking how to submit cards correctly in the pro shop, they didn’t seem to know.

I will search for another club but expect to lose my handicap in the mean time.

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[alistaird]

Though I will keep on playing and having lessons I think…. Decided to resign my club membership due to the challenges of submitting handwritten cards. They seem to only want scores through the App and neither of my regular partners use the App and even asking how to submit cards correctly in the pro shop, they didn’t seem to know.

I will search for another club but expect to lose my handicap in the mean time.

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And I think I've found a new club. Very different approach to members.

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[bkuehn1952]

What is/was the handicap index on your last handicap calculation? I can see you expectd to drop to a playing handicap of "8" back in May. Well done.

The trick now is staying there!

 

[alistaird]

What is/was the handicap index on your last handicap calculation? I can see you expectd to drop to a playing handicap of "8" back in May. Well done.

The trick now is staying there!

Unfortunately, my club rejected last few rounds as you saw, so it hasn’t officially moved as it should have but my calculation if the exceptional score had been applied would be about 6!

My discussion with prospective new club indicates a more sensible and collaborative approach…. My coach is very pleased with progress so hopefully will be back officially on downwards track again soon.

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[alistaird]

For those that follow the Over 60s Thread had a reasonable first full round at the new club. Wet and windy and the front 9 was wrecked by 3 lost balls…. 2 of 3 looked good off the tee and hit the fairway but were gobbled up somewhere.

Not one single push fade, mainly straight or slight draw, one or two slight fades but they could have been the wind. Shot 40 coming home which was very pleasing as it could have easily been less as left a few tap in par/bogey putts. No doubles on the back 9……

Just need to get the contact a bit more consistent.

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[alistaird]

Interesting lesson after work yesterday...


Lots of short iron/wedge work. 3/4 back swing and truncated but extended follow through started to give very consistent results. The Apex MB gives 120 full and 110 at 3/4, which really improves the gapping into the other wedges and works with the Epic Forged PW at 135ish.

Also gained about 5 -10 yards on the full swing mid Irons - 7i was around 180 yards which is monster for me. The Epic Forged really do go when you hit them right.

Need to groove this 3/4 swing so that it becomes the norm.

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[Grand Stranded]

The Four Foundations of Golf syndrome is real.
A lot of us have read it, and agree Sherman makes sense. We’re all talking the talk, let’s see how long we walk the walk?
So far so good for me… by aiming middle back of the green, and working hard on improving my game from 140 and in, I’ve dropped 4 strokes over less than 20 rounds. To be honest though, the biggest factor has been with improved, and smarter wedge play around the greens.

 

[alistaird]

The Four Foundations of Golf syndrome is real.
A lot of us have read it, and agree Sherman makes sense. We’re all talking the talk, let’s see how long we walk the walk?
So far so good for me… by aiming middle back of the green, and working hard on improving my game from 140 and in, I’ve dropped 4 strokes over less than 20 rounds. To be honest though, the biggest factor has been with improved, and smarter wedge play around the greens.

Four Foundations is very good, as is the one I'm currently reading - Every Shot Must Have a Purpose - the Think Box/Play Box concept worked really well for me last round and enabled me to pick what ever club I felt was the right one and just commit to it. The results were better than expected especially off the Tee and Putting....

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[alistaird]

Not posted on this thread for ages….

Last year wasn’t a good golfing year, ended up changing clubs in the middle of the summer to one that is an easier drive, didn’t play anywhere enough rounds, lessons weren’t helping, even seriously considered not rejoining the new club at the beginning of March.

But rejoined and am targeting at least 9 holes a week when the weather improves and 2 full rounds a month. Used the first part of my lesson voucher (Xmas present from my wife) with the pro at the new club. So far his teaching method is a revaluation for me. No GC Quad, just a good set of eyes and some simple phone videos to start rebuilding 1 piece at a time. So change 1 thing, stabilise and then next week check and move on to the next piece.

First lesson, swing is ok above the hips but straightening the right knee at the end of the backswing is hurting in a lot of ways. So widen the stance and keep the right knee flexed. That was it. Immediate improvement in ball strike, direction and distance. Visibly better on the range even if it was getting dark and no floodlights. No slice or fade, almost all straight, a few slight pulls and pushes and a couple of baby draws…

My short game has also improved thanks mainly to reading Pelz, Sieckmann and Grieve. The 3 Releases being particularly helpful.

So fingers crossed we’re back on track to try and Half my 18 handicap in 12 months. Full reset but I’m re-inspired.

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[dAS0]

Not posted on this thread for ages….

Last year wasn’t a good golfing year, ended up changing clubs in the middle of the summer to one that is an easier drive, didn’t play anywhere enough rounds, lessons weren’t helping, even seriously considered not rejoining the new club at the beginning of March.

But rejoined and am targeting at least 9 holes a week when the weather improves and 2 full rounds a month. Used the first part of my lesson voucher (Xmas present from my wife) with the pro at the new club. So far his teaching method is a revaluation for me. No GC Quad, just a good set of eyes and some simple phone videos to start rebuilding 1 piece at a time. So change 1 thing, stabilise and then next week check and move on to the next piece.

First lesson, swing is ok above the hips but straightening the right knee at the end of the backswing is hurting in a lot of ways. So widen the stance and keep the right knee flexed. That was it. Immediate improvement in ball strike, direction and distance. Visibly better on the range even if it was getting dark and no floodlights. No slice or fade, almost all straight, a few slight pulls and pushes and a couple of baby draws…

My short game has also improved thanks mainly to reading Pelz, Sieckmann and Grieve. The 3 Releases being particularly helpful.

So fingers crossed we’re back on track to try and Half my 18 handicap in 12 months. Full reset but I’m re-inspired.

A

Glad to hear you are back at it. Consistency and short game. I can see success ahead!

What type of course is your home course? Postage stamp greens or acres large? Any narrow holes or water making things fun?

 

[alistaird]

Glad to hear you are back at it. Consistency and short game. I can see success ahead!

What type of course is your home course? Postage stamp greens or acres large? Any narrow holes or water making things fun?

It’s a traditional UK parkland course that’s been around since 1914. Tree lined and undulating with a couple of streams meandering through it. Compared to a US course, postage stamp greens!!! 6162 yards, par 71, so not long and not short, accuracy over distance on most (but not all) holes.

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[MGoBlue]

Not posted on this thread for ages….

Last year wasn’t a good golfing year, ended up changing clubs in the middle of the summer to one that is an easier drive, didn’t play anywhere enough rounds, lessons weren’t helping, even seriously considered not rejoining the new club at the beginning of March.

But rejoined and am targeting at least 9 holes a week when the weather improves and 2 full rounds a month. Used the first part of my lesson voucher (Xmas present from my wife) with the pro at the new club. So far his teaching method is a revaluation for me. No GC Quad, just a good set of eyes and some simple phone videos to start rebuilding 1 piece at a time. So change 1 thing, stabilise and then next week check and move on to the next piece.

First lesson, swing is ok above the hips but straightening the right knee at the end of the backswing is hurting in a lot of ways. So widen the stance and keep the right knee flexed. That was it. Immediate improvement in ball strike, direction and distance. Visibly better on the range even if it was getting dark and no floodlights. No slice or fade, almost all straight, a few slight pulls and pushes and a couple of baby draws…

My short game has also improved thanks mainly to reading Pelz, Sieckmann and Grieve. The 3 Releases being particularly helpful.

So fingers crossed we’re back on track to try and Half my 18 handicap in 12 months. Full reset but I’m re-inspired.

A

Looking forward to your updates! Congrats on the new club and best of luck.

 

[alistaird]

Step/lesson two tonight. The new coach is definitely a ‘get the basics right’ and one step at a time. Only 15 minutes, first to confirm last lesson established, wider stance and maintain flex in right knee, check.

Contact was heavy, but the next step was to focus on weight shift. Took a few minutes to get the feel of “stepping “ onto the left foot. Tell tale sign of not doing so is finishing on the base of the right toes and not the end of the toe. Struggled to get the feel of this and really had to concentrate on being aware of the left foot. This also helped with completing the swing without consciously trying.

Finished on 1/2 dozen good 7is.

Tried a couple of drives out of interest before the lesson just to see what happened and one absolutely flew, no idea how far as it was getting dark and we don’t have floodlights or ball tracking on the range, but I know from the feel and sound it was further and straighter than I have ever hit a driver so this is showing some promise.

Note to self - stick with the practice to ingrain the weight shift and don’t tinker!!!

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