Practice with a friend

Hey Gang,

So no AAR. However I did go to my local driving range. Sunday with my son and a friend of mine.

My friend and I are heading to Iroquois to play 9 holes with a couple of old friends who live in Ottawa. I suggested that we go to the range because my friend hasn't golfed in 4-5 years.

I cleaned his clubs and replaced a few irons in his set. He has his Dad's old clubs and I noticed he had two 3, 5 and 7 irons. So I was able to give him a 4, 9 and sand wedge.

So He started warming up with a 7 iron. Then he changed to his driver. I then showed him the driving set up I have been using. It seemed to work well for him. He was getting his swing back when I suggested he try my old driver. You see my old driver is about 15 years younger than his Dad's old drivers. Mine is the "standard" large size driver. It is a Wilson titanium driver with a graphite shaft. His drivers are graphite heads. So my Wilson is larger but also lighter.

It turns out my friend really likes my old driver. He hit is longest drive with it. We slipped it into his bag and he will be playing with it next week.

I also got to try out my new Taylor Made 580 XD driver. I frightened my son the first time I hit the ball. The loud satisfying crack the ball made was louder than he has ever heard me hit a golf ball.

I can understand why there are so many positive reviews for this driver. I liked the feeling of hitting it. As a bonus I got the feel of my drives back again. While my friend was watching I hit three strait shots that went around 250 yards I'd say. I hit the fence of the range. But our section is on a bit of an angle so hitting the fence at the end of the range sounds better than it actually was ;)

My son is getting a bit better too. I think he will be ready soon to take him to Patten's Glen.

My friend ended up feeling much better about playing next week. I am heading to Iroquois early to get 9 holes in before my friends show up. I will then play 9 holes with them. So I will get my 18 holes in. I am really looking forward to spending the day on the golf course with my friends.

Dave aka The Golfing Gamer

More free golf clubs!

Hey Gang,

so a good friend of mine got a hold of some clubs recently. He decided instead of trying to sell them he gave them to me.

The jewel of the mis matched set was this bad boy:

As you can see it is a Taylor Made R580XD. I saw that it was Taylor Made so automatically it was a good golf club. I then did a little research and found many many reviews of golfers loving this club.

I can`t wait to try it out on the range. I may have to retire my big 460cc Wilson driver.

As well there was an interesting set of woods in the bag.:

 I have never heard of the brand. But they feel heavy. Similar to my hybrid club. As well there is an adjustable weight in the club. I know in principle what it does but I have no clue how these are set. As well I am not sure if I can adjust them with an allen key. I think so. But I also read that you need an actual torque wrench. I am going to email a pro I know. Maybe he can help me discover what to do. They do need a little love. I am going to clean them tonight.

Deep in the bag was a ball retriever and an umbrella. I got a bag as well. It might replace my bag because I think it will fit better on my pull cart.

I am looking forward to my next trip to the driving range.

Dave

Best game Evar! My latest After action report

Hey Gang,

I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing great just to let you know.

So I joined an old friend (Kenley Two Putts) on the golf course this morning. We went to Meadowbrook Golf Club in Cote St-Luc.

As we started my drives were not really that good. I have to try and get the feeling back I had on my first 18 hole round this season. However my first hole I managed to bogey because my Nike 4 hybrid was on fire. It became my work horse of the day. Incidentally I was also trying out those "new" clubs I got off of Kijiji. It also started to drizzle. We soldiered on.  A hole or two later the rain stopped.

I did not start out with a goal this game. I set out to play and have some fun. And I was hoping my work so far would pay off. However I did end up working on something during the round.

I have been a fan of Be Better Golf for a while now

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHgV07QZNSbB88gJIkJDUZg

Brendon gets lessons from a Pro. named Monte Scheinblum. I watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELnk6TUU4a4

Basically Monte explains a short game technique where you develop the feel of swinging the club like you would toss a golf ball by hand.

So I tried this today. When I took my practice swings I estimated the power it would take to toss a golf ball the distance I wanted. I then tried to have the same power and feel on my actual strike. As it turned out this worked really well for me. I was able to land a bunch of really nice up and down short chips with my 52 degree Gap Wedge. I also used the putting chip technique when I wanted to play it safe and chip and run it to the hole. I had two sand bunker shots both were well done from very wet sand.

I gave my driver a rest after the third bad drive. I then started driving with my 4 Nike hybrid. I had mixed results but at least I wasn't out of bounds and taking extra strokes because of really bad drives. I would take out the driver again later on to good effect. Of my last four holes three of them I was back to my drives being decent.

So we finished 14 and Kenley Two Putts wasn't feeling good so he stopped. He said he would meet me on the 18th hole. So I continued and played the last four holes solo. The first time I have ever done that on an 18 hole course.

I looked at my score card at that point. I had scored 55 on the front 9 and I was +9 on the back 9 and had 4 holes to go. I then had a goal. My previous best was on this golf course. I had hit a 110 that day. So as long as I could hit less than 10 over par on the last 4 holes I would beat my personal record.

So I teed up and whacked on into the Club's driving range. Not a good start. I took another shot and managed to hit a pretty good drive. I then took my second shot but 3 stroke. My trusty Nike 4 hybrid did not fail me. I got to about 50 yards from the green. I then pitched it on to the edge of the green. I was om the green in 5. I was realistically looking at a 7 right. Well the golf gods shined down on me. I holed it in one putt! My longest putt of the day. So of course nobody was there to see it. I fist pumped anyway :)

I bogeyed the next hole. I was happy with that. My game fell apart on the next hole it took my 9 strokes to hole that one.

So going into the 18th hole I needed to par or bogey to beat my personal best. I teed up and hit a nice fade into the light rough. I then took out trusty Nike 4 Hybrid. I hit it solid and put the ball in a green side sand bunker. I wasn't worried. I have been pretty good out of bunkers this year. The trick I have found to bunkers is hit it harder than you would to try and get the same distance. Anyway I hit a nice flop shot out of the bunker about 5 feet from the hole. I then putt the 5 footer for par. I hadn't actually done the math going into the 18th. I knew though a par result would be big. It was indeed. I scored a 53 on the back nine making my total 108!

Now that may seem high to good golfers but when you have been working hard to improve and you actually see results. That is something to celebrate. My last round at Bellevue was a 116. Hitting a 108 Meadowbrook was not only much better but also a personal best. I was pretty happy with my playing today.

On a side note we had a hawk hang out with us close to the green on 4th hole. As well I got really lucky on one hole when I miss hit and my ball was going to sail over the green. Instead my ball hit the pin and landed 15ft. from the hole.  

I had a great day of golf with an old friend.

Old is new again when it`s FREE

I am going to pick up a set of free golf clubs.

I promised myself I wouldn`t buy a new set of clubs until I broke 100. However I will be getting these clubs for free. I am mostly interested in the irons. They look like they are in good condition and I think they are a bit newer than my own irons. As well I think the face of these irons are slightly bigger than mine.

Do you see how at the toe of the club it bends down toward the heel? Well on my clubs that angle is very steep and basically meets at the heel. On these clubs there is a bit more "meat" at the bottom. Therefore they should be in theory a little more forgiving when miss hit. As I am prone to do being a high handicapper.

I am looking forward to picking them up and trying them out. I will update when I find out how they play.

Dave

2nd full 18 holes After action report

Ok gang,

Well I am feeling good. I hope you guys are feeling good too.

I was thinking of going to Patton's Glen for a little 9 hole par 3 practice today. When my wife suggested why don't I just go play 18 holes. I contacted a golfer I met the on my last 18 hole round. He said he would join me. I now have a local playing partner. WooHoo!

My goal this round was to see if my new chipping technique and putting practice would do well on a full 18 hole course.

My score was really bad on my first 9 (a whopping 62) :( and it was typical for me on the back 9 (slightly more respectable for me 56). I was having problems with my driver. I did not get a chance to warm up. I kept duffing it or topping it. As well I chose too much club a couple of times and had to take a penalty stroke and drop because of being in the woods or losing a ball in said woods. I did get a few good woodsy bounces so the Tree Elves giveth and taketh away.

However my playing partner said he saw that my chipping and putting were much improved. The time before I would hit it too hard over the green and than not enough on my way back adding quite a few strokes. As well that time I was not very good when it came to a putter in my hands.

Today on the other hand I was able to chip on more often than not. The only time I remember going past the green was on a pitch not a chip. I was also quite good around the 4-5 foot put distance. I nailed those today. I suffered with my lag putting. Many times I couldn't get to within 5 feet with only one putt. As well my 4-hybrid was on fire. I should have hit it off the tee when I noticed my driving was a F'd up.

The chipping technique I used btw is a technique where you choke down on the club and use a putting stroke to strike the ball. It is simple and there is not much mechanically that can go wrong. Now you can use a 60 degree lofted club to chip like this and your chips will make little high arcs. If you take a 7 iron and use the same power the arc will be lower and the ball will run longer. Different situations call for different clubs. I found another use for the chipping swing though.

Twice I found myself with some tree branches above and in the way of a traditional lofted pitch to get to the green. When you hit branches and leaves the luckiest thing that happens is you lose power. The worst is the ball deflects and goes somewhere else than directly forward usually deeper in the woods. So what to do? Well I held aloft my magic sword and said "By the power of Greyskull!...." sorry old 80's cartoon flashback. I took my 3 iron out of my bag. The loft you see on the 3 iron is 12-17 degrees. It is often times a difficult and unforgiving iron to hit well. But with my new chipping swing I says to myself "what the hell? I might as well try it." I just need to swing harder than I would with a normal chip. I stepped up and whacked my ball. What happened was exactly what I wanted. Yeah I was surprised too. The ball stayed low and rolled along the ground about 80 yards. I did it twice on the course!

My final score was still not where I want it to be but I was very happy with my progress of my chipping and putting. Little steps. I think if I can get my long game and short game to groove at the same time well that will be an interesting day of golf for me.

I am going to hit the driving range tomorrow with Aiden. With the goal of getting him some practice and trying to figure out what went wrong with my drives.

50 putts in a row or bust!

Hey,

How are you guys?

I am doing pretty good. Instead of my normal Patton`s Glen 9 hole par 3 round I made this.

So I will start at the beginning. I found a youtube video that described an indoor golf mat that had a hole cut out. Here is the video that inspired me. Inexpensive Indoor Putting Green to beat VD (Vitamin D Deficiency)

So I decided to buy some foam mats to lay down as a base and I bought a 6`x8` artificial grass carpet.

I cut the grass carpet in half so that I can lay them out to get a longer putting surface to work on weight or roll distance for those 9`-10` putts.

I also marked and cut holes in two of the foam mat tiles. (my dog Benjamin checking out my work as dogs are excellent supervisors)

Next I placed the carpet on the floor grass side down, and placed the mat on top. I then marked and cut out the holes in the grass carpet.

So after that I flipped them over. Here is a close up of one of the ends.

Here as above is the final work placed end to end. 4`x 12`.

Here is one of  my cats Whistler enjoying a nap on my new indoor putting green.

When finished I will need to pack everything up because I don`t want my cats sparpening thier claws on my new putting green.

So as for performance. I learned I need to pin the carpet to the mats using regular old push pins. As I walked around on the carpet it would move and the holes would need to be realigned. As well walking on it can create rolls and bumps that make the golf balls break while rolling at slow speeds. The grain of the grass does this as well.

I measured out 3` from one of the holes and started practicing. I read somewhere that an effective putting drill is try to make 50 putts in a row. If you miss one you start your count over.

Well I practiced that from 3`. It took me 5-6 attempts. I missed at 10, 15, 24, 32, 31...

However I did manage to make 50 in a row before going to bed. I wasn`t up too late.

I think what I will learn from using this green is the proper weight I need and how to roll the ball well. I think I will also learn how to stike it pure with the putter so I get a balanced non-wobbley roll.

I am not sure how well the 50 putt or bust practice will work on longer distances but I am going to practice them anyway.

The goal is to become a putting sniper inside 5` and to be an effective two putter from 10`.

I will try to go to Patten`s Glen this Friday.

Be good, and if you can`t be good don`t get caught!

Dave McBride aka The Golfing Gamer