I just got back from Mill Creek in Ostrander. I shot a 97 with 30 putts. I made 43% of my fairways and hit a couple GIRs. Greens were rock hard and I think I played into them pretty well. My chipping and putting went very well. My driver was kind of spotty. I topped a few, but the ones I did get a hold of got some good yardage. I had some really good iron shots. A couple I caught kind of thin and one or two fat but overall it went well.
At this point, I think I have two problems: 1) I need to make sure I get my arms straight at impact and really focus on throwing them to the target and 2) I need to get closer to the ball.
I've told a couple of people that I was going to get into the 90's by this summer. Looks like I'm a bit ahead of schedule. Maybe I can get into the 80's by summer instead. Sweet.
I just got back from another 9 holes at Raymond Memorial where I shot a 48. This beats my previous personal best from a couple of weeks ago by a stroke. I shot bogey on every hole but three, which were doubles. My driver was awful. I think I'm either not holding my wrists long enough on my downswing or I'm raising up slightly and not maintaining my spine angle.
These last trips to Raymond have dropped my handicap from a 36.4 to 25.7. Not bad for 4 months playing.
I hit about 180 balls or so at the range today. I've really started to put some yardage on my clubs. I can get about 120 yards with my pitching wedge now. This is an increase of two clubs from earlier visits (it used to take an 8-iron to reach that distance). I can directly attribute my new-found power to the fact that I am getting better at keeping my left arm ramrod-straight. Accuracy is improving. My tendency is to hit right by about 5 yards or so, but I think I have this tracked down to a setup/alignment issue.
My confidence with my new swing has increased tenfold. I still blade a shot now and then, but I've gone from hitting about 30% of my shots with good contact to in the upper 90% range. I'm getting to a point where I can trust my driver again. I still struggle a little bit with spraying it around left and right by about 30-40 yards off-line on occasion, but overall I have no hesitation about pulling it out of the bag.
I'm (not so) patiently waiting for the weather to break and the ground to soften up a bit so I can get a true read on my game progress.
I had a lesson earlier this month and it has done wonders for me so
far. I went out yesterday (22 degrees by the way) and played 9 holes. I
shot a personal best of 49. My average for 9 holes is 55-56. I think I
would have done much better in normal weather. Every time I hit the
green from any distance (80 yards or farther), the ball bounced like it
had just hit the cart path and shot off the green. There were several
holes where this cost me at least one stroke if not more. I'm confident
I'll be in the mid to low 90's when the weather breaks a little.
