There really isn’t all that much to wrap up since I wrote about the season on November 11. The reason being is that for the first time in 23 years, I did not play any rounds of golf in the month of December. I played only 8 more rounds the rest of the year, with the last being on November 24th. Mother Nature took over from that point, and that was that. I made it to 166 rounds for the year and managed to shoot my age 2 more times to reach a nice round number of 50. I must have thought it was a nice number because my last 2 rounds of the year I shot 76, including making a double bogey on the last hole of my last round of the year. I thought for sure I would make it to 170 rounds for the year, but it was not to be. The other news is that I got a new set of irons that arrived in mid-December. More about them when I start to play again. There is snow on the ground right now, but the temperatures this week are supposed to be in the 40’s all week through Saturday. There is supposed to be some rain also. Whether this will be enough to get rid of the snow is hard to say. It would be nice to get out and give those new irons a swing. As usual, I’m looking forward to 2026 to be able to try some new failed theories I have come up with as I am on this weather-induced hiatus. By far the shortest end-of-season wrap-up. It doesn’t take much to cover 8 rounds of golf.
Golf: The Pro Can’t Do This, Why Do You Think You Can?
There are lots of things that seem to frustrate golfers. Everyone wishes that their games were more consistent. Another one is the inability to take their game from the practice tee to the golf course. The reality is that the pros cannot do this either. The tour player is playing the game at its highest level. Their short games are unbelievable. They putt so much better than the recreational golfer. These are all things we can work on and improve. The pros, even though their games are so good, still seem to lack true consistency. They too can never predict how they are going to play based on their pregame warm-up. Let’s look at some examples of both problems. Then I will look at what is the best way to handle the problem, not solve it.
Even at the highest level of the game, the results can be inconsistent. My favorite example of this is when Peter Lonard won the Heritage Classic in the early 2000s. He shot rounds of 62-74-66 and 75 to win the tournament by two shots. His rounds varied by 12 shots worse, 8 shots better, and finally 9 shots worse on the last day. Lonard had won on other tours, but this was his first and only win on the PGA Tour. Even though this is the best example, there are many more instances of players having a great round one day and then shooting badly the next. There have been players who have had the first-round lead in tournaments but shot so poorly the next day that they missed the cut. We have seen players just barely make the cut and then play two great rounds over the weekend to win the tournament. With as much time as these guys work on their games and work hard, you would think they would be a little more consistent with their scores. The point of all this is simple: if this happens to pros on a fairly regular basis, then why do we get so upset when our scores may vary this much on a day-to-day basis? You can explain some of this due to the stress of playing in tournament golf, but certainly not all of it. Let’s get to the second issue before we look at how to handle all of this.
The problem of not being able to take our practice tee results to the golf course is a problem that has been discussed at length in articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos. To cut to the chase, all the solutions to this problem are simply wrong. I don’t care what you do on the practice range. Pretend to play a round. Change clubs at least every 3 or 4 swings. Go through your routine in great detail on every range shot. You are simply not going to fool the brain that this has anything to do with playing real golf. Another thing that proves it really can’t be done is to listen to the tour players after they have shot a particular round. After a very bad round, the player may talk about what a great warm-up session he had, but when he got to the first tee, the wheels fell off immediately. Other times, after a very good round, the player may speak of having a horrible practice session, and then when he got to the first tee, everything just fell into place. Then the final proof of the pudding is to simply watch the players on the practice range. During a big event, many times TV will cover players warming up on the practice tee. These practice tee swings do not even look close to the swings they will be taking coming down the back nine on a Sunday. Check it out. That’s not to say you do not need to practice. You have to take it for what it is worth. Anything from trying a new move or address position to just loosening up the golf muscles. This is what practice is for and nothing more. Do not try to recreate on the golf course. It is just not going to work.
So, what’s a mother to do? Number one, do not look for a solution to either problem. There is none. If there were, then you would not see the wide variance in the scores of tour players. What can you do when your game is going south? It starts with the first tee. Expect nothing and be ready for anything. If things are not going well, then get very conservative. Get the ball in play. Shoot for the middle of the green. Even in putting, just lag the ball to the hole on even shorter putts in the 15 to 20-foot range. Try to make some changes in your address position. Stand closer, open or close your stance, and change your ball position. I would not try to make any swing changes. You might try changing your rhythm or tempo. Sometimes swinging faster or slower will help. Be patient. Sometimes what changes a round is a lucky shot or a long putt that drops. All you can really do is as much damage control as possible and hope something turns it around. Finally, just accept it, get through it, and enjoy the day. Believe me, easier said than done, I will vouch for that. When it comes to practice and pre-round warm-up, you have to change your outlook. To be fair, there are just as many stories of guys having great or bad warm-up sessions and going out to play great or poor rounds. Do not look at any form of practice as the fastest route to game improvement. There are lots of golfers out there who really enjoy practice, and that’s great. It still boils down to once you get on the course, you have to find ways to perform. That is really the key to golf. I am not too sure there is really a wrong way to practice. What is wrong is what people expect from practicing. Remember, expect nothing and be ready for everything. It is your only hope in this goofy game.
Golf: The Evolving Left Heel
When you start looking at golf swings over history, the use of the left heel is one of the biggest differences. It is hard to say exactly when the golf swings of the pros changed, so these years may not be exact, but we need to divide the left heel into three different generations of golfers: the pros from 1900 to 1935, the pros from 1935 to 1990, and finally, the pros from 1990 to the present. There will be some exceptions during these times, although for the present swing of the pros, I see no exceptions, which does not mean that there may be a few. From 1935 to 1990, the use of the left heel gradually and subtly changed over those years. Let’s go through the years and see what the left heel did.
From 1900 to 1935, the great players were Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Harry Vardon, James Baird, J. H. Taylor, Tommy Armour, Willie Anderson, Ted Ray, and Jim Barnes. They all lifted their left heel quite high during the backswing. There is no question they did this lifting of the left heel consciously. The left heel, in most cases, started to come off the ground just as the swing began. Many, but not all, even lifted the heel slightly on less-than-full shots. When it came to full iron shots, the left heel would come off the ground. It would not come off the ground quite as high as the driver, but there was no doubt the left heel came up for all shots. On the driver swings, the heel came way off the ground, where just the top of the shoe was touching the ground. Of all the great players of that era, Gene Sarazen’s heel came up the least on the driver swing. In fact, he came the closest to swinging the way the pros swung during the ’40s all the way through to the ’90s.
As we got into the 50s and pretty much into the 70s and the 80s, things began to change. The left heel continued to rise on the driver swings and most of the iron shots. However, for the short irons, the heel would remain on the ground for some players. Certainly, for short game shots, nobody would lift their heel. The great players during this time were Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Lee Trevino. This was the first boom period for golf, thanks to Arnold Palmer. While practically all the players raised their left heel distinctly for all long shots, it was more of a reaction to the turning of their bodies, especially their hips. They all felt that the left heel was being pulled off the ground by a full backswing turn. Nicklaus’s heel came way off the ground for his driver swing. The difference between this swing and the swing of the early 1900s was that at the beginning of the swing, the left heel did stay on the ground. Because the left heel came off the ground so late in the backswing, it was a much quicker up and down. It may have been more of a timing mechanism. It certainly was for Jack Nicklaus. He mentioned in his instructional books that he felt the first move to begin the downswing was to plant the left heel back on the ground. I looked at a lot of golf swings from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and all the players followed this particular rule. They all felt that the left heel coming off the ground was one of the last things that happened in the backswing. There was no question that practically all the good players raised that left heel.
Beginning in the late 80s and into the 90s, a new thought process was starting to take place when it came to the left heel. Good players started to have more of a rolling process when it came to the left foot and the backswing. These players included Greg Norman, Ernie Els, and Nick Faldo. From the rolling of the left foot came keeping the left foot on the ground through the entire backswing. This was to restrict the hip turn to create a stretch at the top of the backswing to create more power. In today’s game, we have practically all the pros with Tiger Woods topping that list. I did not get too technical here because even rolling the left foot inward does keep about 90% of the left heel on the ground. There is no question this is the modern swing. Keep that left foot on the ground throughout the swing. So how should this evolving left heel affect our game?
We all should consider at least trying to lift the left heel. There are two big benefits to lifting the left heel on the backswing. First and foremost, it guarantees that you will get your weight off the left foot during the backswing. The second benefit, which Jack Nicklaus mentions in his books, is that it will keep the hips level during the swing. As your left knee turns toward the ball, if you do not lift your left heel, you will feel your left hip move closer to the ground. What method should we use when we lift the left heel? Should we feel that the left heel is being dragged off the ground, or should we start lifting the heel as soon as the swing starts? I think you can experiment with either method, but I would start out with the left heel lifting right away, simply to get used to the move. One thing lifting the left heel will do is take the strain off the back and hips. I would practice by always incorporating the left heel lifting right at the beginning of the swing. For the real deal, if your results are better by lifting the heel late in the backswing, then go ahead and make that your backswing. Lifting the left heel has long been a forgotten part of golf. For us weekend warriors, I think it should be rediscovered.
Golf: Practice Swings
To practice swing or not to practice swing, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer doing something for no reason or take the risk of having irreparable damage done to your golf game for failing to do so. Back when Shakespeare wrote “to be or not to be,” nobody in golf was taking practice swings. It was not until the turn of the 20th century that golfers and golf instructors thought there would be a benefit from rehearsing your golf swing before every shot. When you think about it, no other sport really does a practice swing. You never see a pitcher turn his back to the plate and go through the complete wind-up without throwing the ball. You do not see a tennis player go through the motions of hitting a serve and then hit the serve. You do not see a bowler take a full 4 or 5-step approach without the ball. Practice swings have been part of golf for over a hundred years. There are many possible benefits to making practice swings. Despite these benefits, we do not seem to be able to hit the ball with the same motion as our practice swings. There are many videos on YouTube to teach you how to hit the ball with your practice swing. These may be some of the worst instructional videos in the history of golf. First, let’s take a look at the general consensus when it comes to the benefit of practice swings. There are different feelings about practice swings for each part of the game. The full swing, the short game, and putting all have different ways you should be thinking of practice swings.
For all full shots, the internet says the practice swing can benefit these parts of the game. The practice swing can serve as a muscle memory rehearsal. You can create the swing that you want for a particular shot. You can use the practice swing to ingrain a new swing thought. It can help you with your tempo and rhythm. It can give you a moment to increase your mental focus. After all of that, it is a wonder that anybody could execute a golf shot before 1900. Short game practice swings are more shot oriented. You want to engage with the turf on your practice swings with chips and pitches. You want to gauge how far you want to hit the ball and the trajectory you want to use. You want to establish your swing length for the shot. Putting is about the same as the short game for practice swings, but you want to be even more precise with your distance control and rhythm of the stroke. With putting, you may want to take your practice swings from behind the ball. There is not a lot of opinion that is against the practice swing. The biggest negative is if you are doing it wrong, then it is more of a problem than a help to your game. It may ingrain bad habits, plus it might slow down your game if you take too many. It may cause some overthinking of the shot. Then there is the problem of not being able to hit the ball with the same technique as you used on the practice swing. This is the same problem as not being able to take your game from the range to the golf course, which I have written about before. It simply boils down to the fact that you cannot fool your brain. The brain knows you are taking a practice swing just like it knows you are now going to hit the ball. I will get into that in a future blog. For now, do not worry about it because there is no solution for either problem. Needless to say, I disagree with just about everything that is written about the practice swing on the full swing and about half of what is written about it in the short game and putting. So let’s cut to the chase.
The full swing practice swing should be nothing more than a loosening device to help you swing. It is especially true for me because it is rare that I ever hit balls before a round. Usually, I will start out with big practice swings to begin with and then, as I warm-up, I will take slower or shorter practice swings. Maybe the practice swing can help with some rhythm issues, but it still boils down to executing the swing. I watch a lot of old film and videos of the pros during tournament play, and all of their practice swings were just a relaxed version of their swings. Few of them ever took a full hard swing with their practice swings. Basically, you should never try to create a full swing shot with your practice swing. You may create part of it, like a high follow-through for a high shot. When it comes to the short game, I think one thing that is overlooked when the pros are preparing for their shot is the way they take a practice swing. It is more of a back-and-forth motion, not taking any time to reset. It is like they are trying to get a feel from moving backward and forward, then forward to backward without ever stopping. I think in putting, the way you take your practice swing is dictated by how you are putting. If you are having a good day at distance control, then the practice stroke should be more of a loosening device. If you are having trouble with green speed, then the practice strokes need to be done more precisely to mimic the way you are going to hit the putt. We all know the one thing that practice swings do is to slow play down. You see it all the time the individual who takes 2 or more practice swings for every shot. The bad thing, is that individual is probably not going to break a 100. So just hit the damn ball.
So are practice swings a necessary and unique element of golf? Most likely yes. I have played a few rounds without ever taking a practice swing. Sometimes I have done this in the middle of the round. Like the practice swing itself, there is no rhyme or reason why I will suddenly stop taking practice swings. Sometimes I think it is just to show that the game can be played without the practice swing. One of the main reasons you should try not to make your practice swing exactly like your regular swing is how many times do you do something exactly the same way. One of the simplest ways to show this is to simply write your name. Then try to write it exactly the same way. You will never be able to do it. Same thing with your golf swing. Let’s say that you feel you make the perfect practice swing for the shot you are trying to play. In some respect, you have just wasted that swing. When you try and do it for real and the results are poor, it just increases your frustration. Even on the short game, you do not want to feel that your practice swings are that precise. Always think in general terms and just get a good feel for the shot. The practice swing in golf, even though it is unique when compared to other sports, is here to stay. Don’t overdo it and don’t overthink it. Take it for what it is: a way to loosen up and get ready for the full shots, a way to get a general feel for short shots. Don’t be lackluster with it, especially for the short shots. Just do not get into the practice swing too much. It’s only when you hit the ball that it really counts.
Golf: Course Management Vs. Having Fun
Everyone wants to improve their game. When your handicap gets down under 10, many say that the best way to get your handicap down further is through your short game and how you manage getting around the course. Most course management advice is usually on the conservative side. In trouble, get out of trouble. Keep it in the fairway even if you lose distance. Shoot for the middle of the green. Try to stay below the hole. I could have titled this blog, maybe we are taking our games too seriously. Some people would argue that the advice I am about to give here is because I grew up watching Arnold Palmer. He had that go-for-broke style. You could argue that he cost himself as many majors with that style as he won. In later years, Phil Mickelson was a player of similar ilk. Many critics of Phil simply felt he made many dumb moves when it came to the shots he tried to play. Palmer was never criticized that way. Perhaps it was because he had so much early success and those spectacular comeback wins. Beyond that, there is no doubt that the consensus is that to improve your score, you play on the conservative side. But really, is that any fun? That is an easy question to answer; hell no, not even close. Even though we are all trying to get better, are we playing for all that much? Even if we are wagering within the friendly confines of our foursome, we certainly are not playing for that much money that it should make a difference. Let’s look at each area of the game and see what the advice usually is and why it is okay not to follow it.
Off the tee: You want to hit the fairway even if it means that you have to give up some distance. I played at a golf course that I belonged to where on the 14 non-par 3 holes, if you were going to play the course correctly, you would only hit the driver 4 to 5 times. I hit mine 13 times. There was only one hole, a very short drivable par 4, that I laid up on. The area of the green was surrounded by trees and bunkers, and it just wasn’t worth it. I would hit driver there about 3 times a year just to do it. I was working back then, and when I played on weekends, I was going to let the big dog eat. Did this cost me strokes at times? I think it did. However, I had a good time doing it. To this day, I almost always hit driver off the tee. I enjoy driving the golf ball too much. There have been many instances where I have scrambled for a par, when the driver has gotten me into trouble. Sometimes it has really gotten the round headed in the right direction. Hitting the driver in golf is to me the most fun part of the game.
Through the green: Now that you’re off the tee, let’s look at some other course management rules or suggestions. Play for the middle of the green. When in trouble, i.e. the woods, get out of trouble. On a par 5, lay up to a good distance to shoot into the green. I rarely follow any of those suggestions. I always flag hunt unless the pin is in some ridiculous spot or I am too far away to go over a bunker. When I am in the woods, I am always looking for a way to go to the green, whether it be high or low. I always try to get as close to the green as I can on a par 5. Why do I do this? First of all, it is fun to try all the shots that are required. I like to bend it toward the flag. Even if I miss the flag on the same side and short side myself, as they say, the greens I play are not that fast, and the short-sided pitch is not that difficult. Making a great recovery shot is really fun. Going around or through a bunch of trees and getting the ball on the green or near the green really is a thrill. Even if it does not turn out, I can still make a bogey most of the time. On a par 5, I hit my 3 wood even if I cannot get home in 2. It gives me great practice with my 3 wood, and I feel I can get the ball just as close with a 30 to 50-yard pitch or bump and run as I can with a full sand wedge at 100 to 110. I will lay back if there is severe trouble around the green, a creek or deep bunkers.
Around the green and putting, there is not as much strategy going on. Even the advice of not getting above the hole does not hold that much water when it comes to playing most public courses. The greens are usually not that fast. The faster the greens, the more you should adhere to that rule. Don’t get me wrong; there are going to be times when you have to take the conservative route with course management. If you want to have real fun playing golf, then 95% of the time, go for broke. Just remember, nobody is going to get hurt or die. This is just a golf game. Who knows, you may pull off a shot that you will be talking about for the rest of your life. I have never heard anybody at the bar talk about chipping out from the woods on number 12. It is time to have some fun playing this game. It is rare when you get that chance.
Golf: Our Changing Golf Games
One of the many mysteries of golf is why our games change so much from day to day. You will hear many golfers bemoan the fact that one day their drives are great and their iron game is horrible. Then the next time out, the opposite is true. Everything is clicking from tee to green, and they cannot make a putt. Their putting is fantastic, but they can’t get a ball close to the hole. They are having a horrible time with their short game when it has been good for the last 4 rounds. Here is one that I have experienced when playing competitively. For maybe the last 3 to 4 rounds I have played going into a tournament, I may be driving the ball extremely well. Maybe it’s my iron game that has been spot on. Possibly, I have had 5 very good putting rounds. The day of the tournament, that best part of my game, becomes the worst part of my game. This part of golf has been brought home to me more now that I am retired and get to play a lot more golf. Since 1996, even when I was working, I managed to play 3 to 4 times a week and probably had around 2 range sessions a week. Now that I do not practice anymore, another part of this phenomenon has been brought into focus. Whatever the bad part of my game was the day before seems to go away on its own the next day. This happens even on the pro tour. Tour players’ scores will sometimes vary by 5 to 10 shots from round to round. After a round, they are seen on the driving range “fixing” the problem. It looks to me that going to bed and waking up solves the problem too. This may really be the biggest mystery in golf. Until somebody comes up with the reason this may happen, we have to find a better way of dealing with it.
Most of the time, we are looking to find ways to correct the part of our game that has gone haywire during the round. Instead of trying to do that, we should just make the best of it. The problem will most likely correct itself the next day. Some problems are bigger than others. Let us start with driving the golf ball. You will hit your driver 13 to 14 times a round. If your shots are having a particular pattern, just go ahead and play if you are making solid contact. If you are not making good contact, then change the ball position or open or close your stance. Sometimes what you do may not even make sense, but just go with the results. If your irons are the issue, then take some pressure off your iron game by going for the middle of the green until things seem better. If that doesn’t work, then again, ball position and stance may help you get better. You may wind up hitting nothing but low punch shots or your 7 wood from 150 yards and out. Sometimes taking more club than you think may work; taking less club may actually free up your swing when you go after the ball a little harder. This can be helpful toward the end of a round that you are playing well. Never underestimate fear and adrenaline. If your short game around the greens is giving you problems, then change the way you are playing the shots. Maybe go for the bump and run for all shots, even if that means not hitting the green on the fly. Go the opposite way and hit nothing but high shots, even when the high shot is not required. Getting closer or farther away from the ball may help. We discussed putting in the last blog, but the principle is the same. A grip or stance change may help the situation. The one thing you do not want to do is to try and fix your swing or technique. Whatever you come up with is not going to last anyway. You probably have misdiagnosed your problem anyway. The bottom line is you have to go with whatever game you have that day and do the best you can on the part that is misbehaving. Once the round is over, forget about it. It most likely will go away the next round. That is the good news about your game changing so much from day to day. The bad stuff doesn’t stay around either.
The best way to think when you start a round is to be ready for anything. Try to minimize what you are doing poorly and take advantage of what you are doing well. If you are driving the ball well, use it on holes where you might otherwise use an iron or fairway wood. If your fairway woods are bad, then use irons when you are over 190 yards away. If the irons are bad, then bunt that 7 wood 150 yards. If low punch shots seem to be working, do it. If trying to lift the ball up high in the air gives you good results, do it for every shot. If everything in your game is working smoothly, just say a little prayer and don’t expect it to happen tomorrow. Remember changing ball position and stance may do wonders. Do it quickly and see if results will change. If you are hitting better shots, continue until you stop hitting better shots, and then try something else. Remember you can hit a fade from a closed stance; Hogan did it all the time. Likewise, you can hit a hook from an open stance. There are no laws on the golf course, just results. It is not that you want expectations to be low; you want them to be nonexistent.
Golf: Putting
One of my favorite subjects is putting. It is by far the most important part of the game. There are many people out there that think other aspects are more important. One that gets a lot of play is greens in regulation. I am sorry, it just won’t fly. I do not care how many greens you hit; if you don’t sink those putts, it is all for naught. I think the reason for this is that everyone wants to make shot-making the most important part of the game. It sells golf clubs, lessons, and just seems that it should be. Putting is so simple to do. There are almost no fundamentals, really. Your method is meaningless as long as you can get the ball into the hole. Many people will argue that putting is not golf. Like a lot of things in golf, there is really nothing to compare to in other sports. It would be like a basketball player having to throw a strike in bowling rather than shoot a free throw when he is fouled. I am going to touch on bowling again later. Watch any tournament down the stretch. See who holes the most putts. That will be your champion. I think this is what holds people back on their putting. They do not give it its just due. It doesn’t keep them from working on their putting. It is more of a mental thing. Subconsciously, they are more concerned and happier when they are hitting great iron shots and getting the ball on the green. They chalk up a missed putt to just one of those things. It is that unconscious lack of respect for putting that inadvertently undermines everyone’s game.
My putting had its usual ups and downs and right now it is in an up position. About 3 weeks ago I started spot putting. It is just a fact it is easier to aim at something that is 3 to 10 feet away than something that is over 15 feet away and beyond. Those spots on the bowling alley are not there just for show. I find a spot on the green or some color change on the green that is close to the line I want to go on. I line up to that. I get a picture in my mind of what speed I want the ball to go when it is going over the mark. On short putts I still try to find a mark. I have done this in the past and then got away from it. One of the big things now in golf balls is the alignment tool. I do not use it. I find that it is difficult to line it up exactly where I want it. Mentally I feel that it makes putting seem to be too exact. I will use it on short putts sometimes, especially when there is no spot between the ball and the hole. Now that leaving the flagstick in has been around for a while, there seems to be a shift toward taking the pin out. For myself, I am pretty ambivalent about it. I think the real problem here is that all flagsticks are not created equal. If during a round I see the ball being rejected by the stick a couple of times, I may start to take it out. In my mind, I think it is a crap shoot. There is no question in my mind that on certain putts the flagstick has kept balls out of the hole. It has also let other putts go into the hole that would have lipped out or gone right over the hole. I don’t know how long I will be using spot putting. Will it make it to my season-ending blog? Technique is irrelevant when it comes to putting. The key to putting is to get the ball moving at the right speed for the line that you have chosen.
The final key to putting is green reading. You can have the stroke of Ben Crenshaw and Brad Faxon combined, but if you can’t tell how much the putt is going to break and in what direction, then you are doomed. There are many green reading tips out there and cookbook methods. I think most of them are pretty worthless. My best advice is to use the laws of correction. On the very first hole, notice what you did on your first putt of the day. Whatever way you missed it, correct it immediately on the next hole. If you missed it short, on the next hole, make sure you are pass the hole. If it was low, play more break on the next putt. Instead of bemoaning the missed putt, just calmly observe why you missed it and correct it immediately. This is the only way you are going to get your putting on track. Recently, I had a day where my speed was perfect from the first hole. I did not change a thing and wound up making 5 birdies, of which 3 were putts of over 15 feet. I have no idea why my speed was so good that day. I made 5 bogeys that day, and all were related to ball striking and short game issues. If you make early corrections when putting, you will get a feel for the greens much quicker. However you do it, you must find a way to get the ball into the hole. The better you are at the most important aspect of golf, the lower you will score. It is a very simple equation.
Golf: My 2025 Season So Far
My 2025 golf season is winding down. It has been a typical year, with lots of ups and downs. I would say there have been more ups than downs. Nothing new on how to play the game, but there are a few changes. There was not as much traveling for golf this year. Many of the guys I play with had tough years with injuries and, in some cases, illnesses. Everybody made it through the year, but some better than others, to say the least. The best way to go through this year is to take a page from the classic western The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. I would say there was enough to go around for all three.
There was plenty of good. I have already broken my record for rounds played in a year. I have played 158 rounds, which eclipses my old record by 6 rounds. Right now, we have a weather break, but things are looking up to play Thursday through Sunday this week. With any luck, this year I may make the 170 mark. I have shot my age, 75 or better, 48 times so far this year. Last year I did it only 22 times. Of course, I had to shoot 74 or better last year. I did shoot a 73 from the white tees this year. Most of my rounds were played from the gold tees. My best round of the year was a 2 under 70, the same as last year. I started the year with a 5.0 index and currently, it is 4.9. I did have a much more consistent year. The highest I went was 6.3, and the lowest was 4.5. I also won my age group in the South Park Seniors and tied for the 4th best score of the day with a 75. My driving was still the stalwart of my game. My putting was up and down, so I will still put it in the good. I have actually been putting very well lately after having a downturn with putting during October. My other big improvement this year has been my sand play. I am not great, but I am not costing myself 2 or 3 shots when I am in a bunker. The weather had its ups and downs also. It was very windy and wet in March, April, May, and the early part of June. Then we went through a blistering hot spell that left a lot of courses in terrible shape. The rain we did get in this time frame was more in the form of a deluge. Beginning about the 2nd week of August, we went through some of the best weather I have ever experienced in Western Pennsylvania. Temperatures ranged from 66 to 84. It never got too hot or too cold all the way through the 3rd week of October. We could have used more rain, but we did get just enough to help some of the courses recover. Right now, we have hit a bit of a cold spell, but milder temps are on the horizon.
Next the bad, and there was plenty of that. My iron game continues to give me problems. It was the biggest reason my handicap did not go down. My iron play was especially bad from the 9-iron on up. I would have some good days with the irons. I have pretty much given up on figuring it out. My irons now consist of just the 6-iron through the lob wedge. Even though my handicap did not change much, I did have some really bad rounds this year. It wasn’t quite as bad as last year, but I had 14 rounds between 84 and 90. All of these rounds were brought on by bad iron play and a terrible short game. My problems with my irons did not have just one issue. Sometimes I would hit them fat, other times thin, and short irons just skulled low line drives. Those three shots could occur in just one round. There were some days that I had no finesse with them at all. I would have days where I did everything well with them: hit cuts, draws, high, and low shots at will. These were the days I shot my best rounds, as long as the putter behaved.
Now for the ugly and we all know where this is going. THE CHIP YIPS. Plus I added the shank chip, which I believe is nothing than a form of the chip yips. Even my good round in the South Park Seniors had a chip shank on the 17th hole. I admit I was choking down the stretch as I was just 2 over par after 16 holes. I somehow managed to hit 2 very good shots on the Par 5 and was almost green high on the left. The pin was on the front right but the green is narrow at the front. I tried to get too fancy and shanked it right out to the middle of the fairway. From there I putted from about 20 yards short of the green to avoid another shank. I putted it about 8 feet past and missed for a bogey 6. I played 18 better than I thought I would and had a 10-footer for bird but made a horrible putt but parred the hole to stagger in with my 75. The putting yips for now seem to be under control. I will be writing about that later this week. I have tried various things when it comes to the chip yips and just go back and forth with it. Some things seem to work and then everything just goes haywire. Fortunately, at times they just seem to go away. They are there more than they are not. I may discuss them further in another blog, but I don’t know. If I have a big breakthrough, I will be writing about that.
There is still some golf to be played this year, and where there is golf, there is hope. I will do the end of season right near Christmas when the year will be ending. I will be blogging some more over the next two days. The next one will be about my favorite subject: putting. Not too sure what the second one will be; most likely something about the mental game.
Golf: Don’t Become A Slave To Your Pre Shot Routine
All golf instruction recommends having a pre-shot routine. The pre-shot routine allows you to treat each shot the same way. The pre-shot routine lets you execute better when the shots become more important as the round progresses. Your long game, short game, and putting pre-shot routines will each be a little different. I do agree that it is very important to have a pre-shot routine. I feel, however, that many golfers will never vary their pre-shot routine no matter what the situation. They are also reluctant to change their pre-shot routine as a way to improve their game. They are very rigid when it comes to the pre-shot routine. In other words, they become a slave to the pre-shot routine. What winds up happening is that something that is supposed to help their game winds up making their game worse. I will use my own pre-shot routines for each phase of the game as examples.
For the long game, I have two basic pre-shot routines depending on how I am swinging the club. If my swing is good, I take a small practice swing. It is about 1/5 the length of a normal backswing. Sometimes early in the round, I feel a little stiff. Or I think my swing is off. In such cases, I will take a full practice swing. For both, I start out by standing behind the ball to help line up the shot. Then I take my address position at the ball. I take one look at the target. Then I will make my swing. Sometimes, I run into trouble when I take that first look at the target. I will feel I am aimed a little right. Or my stance is not quite right. If I make the final adjustment, I will usually hit a good shot. If I don’t, then the shot is usually not so good. This does not happen often, but sometimes I have to make two adjustments. In either example, this is a departure from my usual routine. When I do it, the shots are better.
With the short game my routine changes. This is the routine I use when things are going well. I will discuss later what I do when things are going very badly like with the chip yips. I stand behind the ball trying to imagine the shot I want to hit. On all short game shots, I use my practice swings to try to get a feel for the shot. I do not have a set number, but I take anywhere from 3 to 6 depending on the shot. While I am doing that, I am also trying to picture the shot. Once I am confident that I have a good feel for the shot, I take my address position. I look at my spot I want to hit 1 or 2 times. Then, I execute the shot. I do this for any shot that is going to need less than a full swing. Off topic for a moment. The high shot chip shot that helped for a while with the chip yips ran its course. I am back to normal chipping of hitting low running shots. Sigh.
My putting pre-shot routine is similar to my short game routine. I line up the putt from behind the ball. I rarely look at a putt from behind the hole. On extremely long putts, I will walk up to the hole. This helps me get a lay of the land close to the hole. I take one practice swing looking at the hole. The practice swing will be one that I would use to make the putt. Once I settle in for the putt, I focus on the line. I take only one look at it. I want to make certain the putt goes on this line. I look down at the ball and instantly stroke the putt. Sounds nice and simple because it is. As in the short game, this is what I do when things are going well. What if they are not?
Players are always looking at their swings and techniques in all facets of the game to improve their swings. They rarely look at something like the pre-shot routine to help improve their score. I have changed my routine right in the middle of a round. This change has helped turn around many a round that seemed headed down the drain. In the long game, I have completed my entire pre-shot routine from behind the ball. I do this instead of performing it from the side. I have had rounds where I do not take a practice swing. In the short game, I will take just one practice swing. This swing has nothing to do with the shot I am planning. I will remove the practice swing. I will take many more looks at the line before I hit the pitch or chip. In putting, I will take my practice swing while looking at the ball rather than the hole. I will try to make the stroke I want on the practice swing. All of these changes have helped me do better on the golf course. I achieved this without changing anything about my swing or technique. I believe that everyone should have a pre-shot routine for every phase of the game. Don’t be afraid to change it when things are not going well. You will be surprised by the results. It is not good to be a slave.
Golf: Chipping, Going Against The Grain.
I usually have more experience with a method before I write about it, but we are having a more normal winter here in Western Pennsylvania and playing golf is definitely on the backburner. At the end of February last year, I had played 10 rounds of golf. In 2023 I played 8 rounds. So far this year I have played 9 holes, and it does not look like I will be playing the rest of this month. I started using this method toward the end of last year, so I think I have been doing this for about 5 rounds. I have battled the chip yips for about 5 years with having good spells and bad spells but mostly bad spells. This change in chipping is not so much a change in technique but a change in chipping philosophy which goes against the grain of most chipping instruction. The basic philosophy of chipping has always been minimum air time and maximum ground time. All the great short game players have advocated this method.
One of the debates in chipping has been whether to use different clubs depending on the shot you are trying to hit or use just one club like a lob or sand wedge, manipulating the head open or closed and changing ball position, depending on the type of shot you are trying to hit. I use strictly my sand wedge now for all chip shots. However, I do not manipulate the club, because I hit every shot the same, no matter what the situation. The one exception is if I have to hit a really high shot, I will open the face to increase the loft of the club. I would have to do this eventually if I used a lob wedge instead. With the 56-degree sand wedge I hit every chip shot basically the same which is high. If I have a chip shot that is just off the green 3 or 4 yards and I have a lot of green to work with I do not hit the low chip that just lands on the green and runs up to hole. Using the sand wedge’s normal loft, I will hit a high shot short of the pin and let it roll from this point. I see many advantages of using the high method even when it is not necessary. You are hitting one type of shot for every chip. The technique is the same for every shot. The difference is how hard are you going to hit the ball to fly to a spot short of the hole. The other advantage on longer chips, where the ball is off the green by 5 to 10 yards and you have more than 50 feet of green to work with is you do not have to be reading the green for all that roll. I can’t tell you how many times that I have hit a long chip, and the ball has gone in a different direction than I thought it would because I read the green wrong. By hitting a high chip, you only have to know what the ball is going to do about 15 to 20 feet short of the hole depending on the conditions of the green. This has simplified my process greatly. In the world of riding cart golf, I always take the same club out of my bag for every shot around the green. By sticking to the same technique, at least so far, I have not had near the problems with the yips, and if I do yip, the shot still turns out better than my old yip chips. This method particular helps in longer grass around the green where a less lofted club may have a tendency to get caught up in the rough.
I have not used this method for that many rounds and eventually it may go by the wayside by the 9th or 10th round this year. Even though this is a small sample size I feel it has helped me shoot better scores. If your short game is solid then naturally I would continue what you are doing. If you are having problems even if it is not the chip yips but just not getting it up a down that often when just off the green, then I would give the high shot method a try. As we finally get into the golf season I will keep you posted on how I am doing around the greens.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 