tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008-01-27:/road_to_the_tour//2 2008-12-26T20:06:48Z My new obsession...golf. I grudgingly agreed to go play a round with my father-in-law when we went on vacation to Hilton Head in September of 2007. I don't even remember what I shot, but it was a blast. The rest is history. Now this is my log of events leading to my dream of making the tour. Movable Type Pro 4.2-en tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/road_to_the_tour//2.67 2008-12-26T19:50:45Z 2008-12-26T20:06:48Z

Keith Laymon
I like to walk, but carrying my clubs has started to wear on my shoulder and back.  I think electric carts are an abomination unless you are not physically capable of walking.  So, to take a little stress out of it, Erin got me a Clicgear 2.0 cart for hauling my bag around the course.  It's a really neat cart with lots of features and it folds up small.  More info can be found here: Clicgear 2.0

One of the most frustrating things about some of the courses I play is the lack of yardage markers.  I'm good enough now that I can hit my clubs a known distance most of the time.  Knowing how far you are from the green or hazards is kind of important.  My mother-in-law stepped up and got me a Golf Logix GPS to help me out with that.  It's a simple unit with yardage information and a nifty shot-distance feature.  Think you're driving 300?  Press the button on the tee and walk to your ball and find out.  "225?  This thing must be off..."  More info here: Golf Logix by Garmin

You have to be able to hit the ball for any of this stuff to be worth anything.  So, I went to Golf Galaxy today and picked up Mizuno CLK Fli-Hi 3 and 4 hybrids to replace my long irons.  These things are FAR easier to hit than a standard 3 or 4 iron.  Why make the game harder than it already is?

Lastly, you have to look good on the course.  Erin helped out there by getting me some kick-ass golf shirts from Tattoo Golf.  It's golf with a bit of attitude.  Their stuff can be found here: Tattoo Golf

Hopefully, Saturday pans out.  62 degrees is awesome golf weather.

]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/road_to_the_tour//2.66 2008-11-07T16:22:51Z 2008-11-07T16:28:43Z

Keith Laymon
More info about the event can be seen here:
http://www.worldamgolf.com/
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/road_to_the_tour//2.65 2008-11-07T02:57:00Z 2008-11-07T03:01:55Z

Keith Laymon
First off, I'm really focusing on a good shoulder swing so I don't get too "arms-y".  Second, I'm working on getting a good weight transfer and hip turn.  The final piece of the puzzle is my right leg.  I took some super slow motion swings and found that I was actually straightening my right leg on the down swing which pulls me up out of the shot.  What I really need to work on is getting my right knee moving toward the target when I start my hip turn.  I can best accomplish this by feeling like my hips are directly attached to my right knee and pulling it with them.  This gets me down into the shot.

If I overcook this idea I start hitting fat, but at least I'm staying down.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/road_to_the_tour//2.64 2008-11-04T18:05:46Z 2008-11-04T18:09:48Z

Keith Laymon
My goal for spring of 2009 is to get enrolled in a mini tour like The Golf Channel Amateur Tour.  I want to get into competing regularly so I can get accustomed to playing under some pressure.

More updates as progress warrants...
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/road_to_the_tour//2.63 2008-10-17T14:23:01Z 2008-10-17T14:33:43Z

Keith Laymon
Things to work on are getting may arms extended in my swing.  He showed me this move by having me hit little chips/pitches at first.  Just getting a feel for getting my hands out toward the target.  Then we coupled this with rotating my hands throughout the swing.

Putting these two ideas together worked awesome.  After my lesson, I hit a lot of shots with my PW just to help ingrain the feel of this new swing.  Usually, I can get my PW into the upper 120's when I really air it out.  With the new swing mechanics, I ended up around 135-140 with about 3/4 of the effort.  Naturally, I couldn't wait to get my driver out and see how that worked.  I could not pick up my distance very well (it was getting dark), but they were flying straight as an arrow.  Accuracy will serve me better than distance and I'll take the trade off...for now.  Once I get things cemented in a little bit, I'll start putting some ass behind it and see what I can do.

On a side note:  My HCP is now down to 16.8 which is about 12 strokes lower than when I started tracking it in May.  I'll get two more scores in before the season ends on October 31.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.32 2008-08-13T18:18:29Z 2008-08-13T18:24:52Z

Keith Laymon
I had a good ride and was not at all nervous during any of the match play.  This little bit of competition has helped my mental game a ton.

Based on the way I've been hitting the ball, I think I'm going to start playing from the blue tees.  I'm also looking into some longer courses.  I need to start playing some tracks that are closer to 7,000 yards.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.31 2008-08-06T13:23:30Z 2008-08-06T13:30:01Z

Keith Laymon tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.30 2008-08-04T17:57:00Z 2008-08-04T18:07:23Z

Well, my 7th place finish last week got me into the match play tourney at Mill Creek and I played the first round yesterday.I played the 2nd seed guy from the first tourney and pulled off an upset and scored...

Keith Laymon
I played the 2nd seed guy from the first tourney and pulled off an upset and scored an 83.  We went all 18 holes and the score was either "all-square" or me being 1-up the whole time.  He never got to move into the lead.  I was 1-up going into the 18th and he drained a 10 footer for par to beat me on that hole and tie things up.  So, they set us up on hole 9 for a playoff.

Neither of us hit a good drive.  He pulled his left into the adjoining hole's rough and I sliced mine and landed behind a small pine tree.  We both managed to escape and get on the green in 3.  We both had about a 9-10 foot putt for par and we both missed (him by 2 feet, me by 18 inches).  He stopped before putting and wanted to know if we could concede each others putt and move to another hole.  I told him let's putt out and see what happens.  He proceeded to miss his putt on the low side by about 1/2".  Then I put mine in and won the match.  Good times.

So, now I play his brother this Sunday to see if I can move on to the finals.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.29 2008-07-28T01:53:47Z 2008-07-28T02:00:18Z

Keith Laymon
I got to the course today for the second round and was shaking like a dog shitting glass.  I couldn't put two shots back to back and I shot a wondrous 97.  This included a, get this, FIVE PUTT on a par 3.  A freaking 5-putt.  That kind of set the tone for the rest of the day.

On the bright side, in my first tournament during my first year of golf, I tied for 7th in my flight which consisted of 11-15 players.  That is good enough to get me into the match play event next month.

Needless to say I was extremely disappointed and by the time I teed off on 13, my spirit was broken.  I just did the best I could do to hit the ball and realize that the damage was already done.  All I could do was try to stop the hemorrhage.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.28 2008-07-24T18:28:03Z 2008-07-24T20:09:59Z

Keith Laymon
I had been hitting well all day, but the real bomb came on one of the late holes.  It was marked as a 304 yard par 4 and the tees were all the way back.  I turned one loose and over the hill it went (blind, slightly uphill tee shot).  We went up looking for it and it was laying on the back fringe of the green at an estimated 308 yards.  I ended up finishing the day with an 85.

My next foray into the exclusive 300 Club came at Mill Creek just this past weekend.  We were on 15 which is a 310 yard par 4.  There was a guy and his son on the green that were just putting out.  I figured I had some room to spare and I went ahead a let it go.  I saw it hit the ground and bounce a couple of times.  I figured I was near the front edge of the green.  Carl and I went on up and Carl hit his approach.  As we walked up the guy on the green (still there putting and chipping around) said, "Nice drive, Tiger."  It was laying about 15 yards left of the green and even with the back edge.  Then I hit I nice one about 290-300 on 16 just down the right side.

Now let's see if I can put it all together for this weekend at the Mill Creek Championship tournament.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.27 2008-07-14T01:10:36Z 2008-07-14T01:17:14Z

Keith Laymon
I went to Mill Creek early Saturday morning.  We started on the back 9 and things started awful.  I shot an 8 on the very first hole.  Fortunately, I recovered pretty well and started shooting pars and bogeys.  I wrapped up the back 9 with an average 45.  We moved on to the front 9 and I started out by shooting par on the first hole.  I have only parred that hole one time ever.  It pretty much set the tone for the rest of the round.  I bagged 1 birdie and 9 pars during the round and shot 3 over on the front 9 to end the round with an 84.  That breaks the elusive 90 barrier and beats my previous personal best by 7 strokes.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.26 2008-07-03T01:51:34Z 2008-07-03T02:02:21Z

Keith Laymon
So, the following day, Paul (the guy whose tee time we ride on) pulled me aside at work and talked to me about it.  OK, no big deal.  I knew I was wrong and I took my medicine.  Fast forward 6 days.

The anniversary of my dad's death (Father's Day weekend, no less...as it will be every year.  Fucking hooray).  So, naturally, I'm not in the best of moods.  Oh, I also ran late on the tee time and had to catch up one hole later.  I'm just not in a good frame of mind.  I played OK, but I had my dad on my mind and I was kind of walking on egg shells because I got dressed down the week prior.  So, I was QUIET.  I really didn't say boo to anyone the whole round.

Next day...another dress down in Paul's "office".  I'm not fitting in apparently.  They have a little clique that seems to work well without me.  I was not told I couldn't play with them, but who the hell would feel comfortable playing with the guy that just read you the riot act two weeks straight?  Fuck you.  I quit.  How's that?

So, I haven't shown up to another tee time since and I don't have intentions on ever going again.  I just drop in on Sunday around 8:30 or 9:00 and the starter works me in without a problem.  Touche, asswipe.  I still get to play.

]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.25 2008-07-03T01:38:53Z 2008-07-03T01:50:59Z

Keith Laymon
My driver has been the club that kills me lately.  However, today was a different story.  I went to Mill Creek after work and put in a half-round on the back 9.  I hit every drive, with the exception of one, arrow straight and the one that went to the right on 18 ended up even with the front edge of the green in the right rough.  I had a couple of drives that were around 280 or so.

I had my driver re-shafted Sunday with a Grafalloy Pro Launch Red.  It's a much stiffer-tipped shaft with a higher torque rating (to reduce twist) and a higher kickpoint (to bring my ball flight down).  Then I started working on my swing.  I've started trying to swing slower with more shoulder and a bit of a push toward 1:00.  It's really helped to straighten things out.  My one drive tonight that went right went there because I set the ball too far back in my stance.  I thought something looked odd at address, but I swung anyway.  I need to learn to step back and re-address once in a while.

I had a couple of great shots with my long irons.  They usually give me some trouble by blading or slicing, but today they were awesome.

So, all this together netted me a 41 tonight.  I have an outing Saturday at Phoenix Links (new course for me) and my regular Sunday round at Mill Creek.  Let's see if I can keep it up.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.24 2008-06-12T01:23:12Z 2008-06-12T01:41:20Z

Keith Laymon
I started the round about average and ended the front 9 with a 49 which included one par.  This is a little higher than I've been shooting lately, but still acceptable.  I figured I was in for another mediocre round.  It was not to be.

We moved on to the back 9 and I decided it was show time.  I started off with a par and went on to par a total of 5 holes on the back.  I shot an awesome 5-over on the back and came in at a 42.  I carded a 91 which beats my previous best by 3 strokes.

Swing Mechanics

It took me a little while but I think I've kind of figured out how to swing my driver and long irons to minimize my slice.  I have flattened out my back swing and then my downswing goes on an in-to-out path.  I am definitely a two-plane player.  I even hit my 4 and 5 iron really well today.  My 3W is usually a game-killer, but today I decided to give it a go with my new swing and while I did fade a little bit, I was getting great distance with it.

I played Blackhawk a couple of weeks ago and shot a 94.  Then I shot a 95 at Mill Creek this past Sunday.  This has brought my HCP down from 27.8 to 26.2.  I can't help but think that my round today will knock it down a bit more.

New Stuff

I have not been comfortable with my putter for some time now.  I felt like I had no distance control at all and putting was as much a leap of faith as it was science.  So, I went to Golf Galaxy last week and picked up a new Odyssey White Hot Tour #1 blade putter.  I've never had more 1-putts in a round than I did today.  It's really a comfortable putter and it gives me confidence every time I step up to the ball with it.

Coming Soon

I'm extremely excited to play at Mill Creek on Sunday.  It's a course I am very familiar with and I am starting to hit the ball so much better.

I signed up for the Mill Creek Championship for this July 26-27.  I have good feelings about it, especially if I play like I have the last couple of weeks.
]]> tag:www.laymon-family.com,2008:/golf_obsession//1.23 2008-04-30T02:32:44Z 2008-04-30T13:18:07Z

Keith Laymon
The guy was a total hack, which is no big deal since I'm not exactly Tiger Woods myself, but it kind of sets the stage for what comes later.  I had two good holes on 1 and 2 (par and bogey) and was really feeling pretty good.  I teed off on 3 (par 3, 120 yards) and I completely chunked my GW like I have never chunked before (I thought I broke my wrist for a second).  This jackhole has the gall to say "I don't think I've EVER done that".  Up yours, Gary Player.  I let it go and moved on.

We get to 6 which is a nice straight par 4, about 310 yards.  I hit a really nice drive that was arrow straight and ended up around 270 yards.  I get to my ball and chip on and proceed to birdie the hole.  This dill weed starts in with "I was playing here last week and some guy teed a 3-iron and hit clear over the green and out into the road".  And your point, Mr. Daly?

I finish the front 9 with my best half ever (43) and we head over to 10.  I have a little trouble with my tee shot and hit a low burning drive that goes about 180 yards.  "Thinking about that 43 aren't ya"?  I seriously want to make this guy look like a popscicle if you get my drift.  He then finishes the round by following me around in his cart telling me what I'm doing wrong on each shot.  All this coming from a guy that probably shot 20 strokes over me and has been playing twice as long as me.

I'm glad Paul's back.
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