The blog is coming from San Diego tonight, as I am visiting the grand kids and golf will be taking a back seat for the next week. Did get in two rounds this week and they were quite contrasting rounds in play and venue. The first round was at Scenic Valley, and was highlighted by some good solid ball striking with many short putts missed, but some lengthy putts made for birdies, which resulted in a nice solid score of 74. Then I traveled to Bedford Springs for some R and Rm, and played a course called Down River. This course was in very good shape and very flat and pretty wide open. The course was fairly long from the blue tees playing about 6700 yards to a par of 72. The greens ran a 6 on the stimp and were very smooth. I played this course the next day after Scenic Valley, and it was a completely different round. Terrible ball striking with only 5 greens hit in regulation, but the short game which has been a problem all year, jumped into high gear and I managed to shoot a 77 which featured 3 up and downs from sand traps and numerous good chips and pitches from some very difficult positions. Bedford Springs is about a 2 hour drive, so Down River does not count as one of the 100 courses, but it was a very nice course to play at a very reasonable rate of 25 with a cart. This is another example of just how goofy this game can be. Even though the scores were only 3 strokes apart there was no comparison on how I struck the ball. I will be getting back home on Friday so again I will only be playing one or two rounds this week. The search will continue with the emphasis now on the mental game. I think there are three areas where the answer to this game lies. One, a permanent solution to the yips. Two a permanent solution to the shanks. Three the solution to the proverbial choke. I don’t mean even the tournament choke, but the choke we all do when we are close to shooting one of our best rounds and we fold up in the last 3 holes. The solution to these problems have not been found and may not even be close. Please don’t mention that Haney book on yips. A complete waste of book binding. So the search will go on with some hope, but with knowledge that it may never be found.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Did not play any new courses this week and in fact because of weather played less than ususal. Three rounds all in the 70’s but nothing spectacular. Started off with a 76 at Riverview, a 78 at South Park from the blues, and today at Highland Springs in Wellsburg, West Va. shot 77. I’m in one of these spells right now where I am doing all right but make one or two big mistakes which takes me out of shooting a really good round. Tried a new old putter the last two rounds which did not help at all so will be going back to the putter I have used for almost the whole year except for about 4 rounds. The swing really came together today put the putter really let me down, so again the score was not as good as it could have been. No new insights on the mental game to report on either. Obviously the American Ryder Cup team does not have any new insights either. How about Rory showing up about 10 minutes before his tee time and still playing well. That goes to show you it can be done on any level. Just show up on the first tee and give it a bang. Going to be playing a new course this week for sure but it will be too far away to put it on the list. Hopefully the weather will be a little better but we are getting into that time of the year where it could be anything, but hopefully we have a lot of golf left. We will see what another week of playing this goofy game will bring. By the way I will be writing the blog from San Diego next weekend as it will be grand kids time again.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
No new courses were added this week, but a busy week none the less. I played solid if not spectacular golf all week with scores of 77, 77, 73, and 75. My swing is slowly getting back to the feel of mid summer. This week I would like to write about what I feel is the real key to having success with the less than full swing game and putting. This has nothing to do with technique or a certain method. The key to success in both areas is to make sure that you do not look up to see where the shot is going until you can focus on the spot where the ball use to sit. You do not too be overly conscious of the ball, just the spot after the ball leaves. In the case of putting you should clearly see the blades of grass that were underneath the ball before you look up to see where the ball is. In the case of the less than full swing you should clearly see the grass that was disturbed by the shot before you look up. In the case of 40 to 80 yard pitch shots you should clearly see the divot before you look up to see where the shot went. Besides seeing a big improvement in the results of your shots you will discover one other amazing thing. Despite not looking up until you focus on the grass where the ball was, you will still see about 75 to 80 per cent of the shot. For example on a putt about 20 feet, you stroke the ball, focus on the grass, then look up and you will still see the ball about 14 to 15 feet from the hole. On chips and pitches you will notice the same phenomenon. What this means of course, is this really doesn’t take very long. Like a lot things in golf this sounds easier than it really is but if you consciously try this you will see a great improvement in that area of the game . Like everything else, this is a process and will take some time but if you really do this, the results will come. What’s great about this is you will improve with no change in your technique. I do not recommend for the full swing because it will restrict your swing too much. Try it you’ll like it see you next week.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Just got back from watching the Steelers thrash the Jets 27 to 10 and since I am on this high, thought I would get the blog done tonight rather than wait until tomorrow. Played course number 85 this week, Stoughton Acres in Butler Pa. which is a 65 minute drive. This course is one of the best bargains of all the courses we play. We only had a threesome when we played and even though they do not charge half cart fees, we played 18 holes and had lunch for 23.50 apiece. We could have had a bowl of soup, hot dog , chips, and a can of pop. We did not have the soup but the hot dog was very good and you could not beat the price. This was the course we tried to play a few weeks ago but the greens were top dressed but they healed up real well were running a 6 on the stimp and were in great shape. The course was 62oo yards and played to a par of 72. The clubhouse is more like an antique store than a pro shop but does have some cool golf stuff. The course is hilly but very playable and was in good condition with the fairways full and the rough was grown in nicely. This course we tandomed up with Lake Arthur for a very nice day. The course is worth the trip for a 36 hole day. The group played ok as I had a 79, Pete had 84 and David 89. I had a real good round out of the blue on Thursday at Indian Run, shooting a one over 72. I shot 77 at Lake Arthur and today at Scenic Valley a very non-describt 79. I have been doing this swing thing now for almost a year and overall my game has come back from the ashes. Since I started this my index has gone down from 5.7 to its current 3.0. At one time this year I was down to 2.1. The last month or so has been a little frustrating. I seemed to have lost something with the swing the last 6 weeks or so. Its been a bit of a mystery. Every time I think I am back in the groove I have a setback. The good news is this is the longest I have ever swung the club basically the same way. When I made the slight change in the swing the middle of this summer and then went back to the way I was doing it before, I just can’t seem to keep contol of the swing like I did before. We will see what the next 2 months bring. That is just about what is left of this golf season. The search will contiue as I have fifteen courses to go.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Played course number 84 today as we went to the Phoenix at Buffalo Valley. I had thought that I had never played this course before but when we pulled into the parking lot, I was beginning to recognize some things and sure enough I had played it once before about 5 or 6 years ago. Another senior moment had occured. I did remember the holes as we played them, but I still don’t remember driving there. This course is located in Freeport, Pa., about a 60 minute drive. The course played about 6400 yards from the tees we played from and can be stretched to amost 6800 yards and plays to a par of 71. This course is pretty narrow and has a good variey of holes with water and lots of trees. The course is very hilly with some blind tee shots. Unfortunately the course was in just fair shape to say the least. The fairways were really bad and the rough was ok but had many bare spots and weird grass growing in some spots. The greens were slow barely make a 4.75 on the stimp. They putted smooth enough but at times they seemed that they needed rolled because a lot of putts really seemed to wiggle back and forth. The hot dog at the turn was pretty good but overpriced. This course was the 84th course we played and that is pretty close to where it will be ranked at the end of the trek in the bottom 20. Obviously this course is not worth the trip. The group had a so so day as Tony and I shot 79, and Pete and David had 87 and 88 respectively. On Monday and Wednesday I shot 79 and 81 and did not have a lot of confidence going into the South Park Senior Championship. But some conservative thinking and a white hot putter (25 putts ) helped me stagger in with a one over 73 and a top 6 finish. This is why I call this game goofy. Needless to say I have not fixed what is ailing my game lately. Other than the tournament I have not broken 79 for about 6 or 7 straight rounds. I will be adding some more courses this week and hopefully can start to play better. Eighty four courses down and sixteen to go.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Played two new courses this week as we had a very nice 36 hole day on Wednesday. First we played Pittsburgh National in Gibsonia, Pa., about a 45 minute drive. We played from tees that played about 6400 yards and the greens were running a nice 6.5 on the stimp, and were very smooth. There are tees that will stretch the course to 6900 yards. The course was in very good condition over all and was very challenging. It had a great variety of holes and played to a par of 72. The course was tight in some places and was hilly. Lots of trees and some water that came into play. This course was worth the trip. The hot dog at the turn was just fair and it took awhile to get it, and this was around 1:30pm. The group played ok but none of us scoredvery well. I shot 83, Pete 85, David 93, and Tom 90. Then three of us went up the road to play Saxon in Sarver, Pa. This course is what I call the perfect community course. First of all it is very flat which makes walking a breeze. The two nines have quite a contrast with the front being wide open and the back tightening things up just a bit with some tree lined fairways. The course played about 6600 yards from the blues to a par of 72. The greens were not quite as good as Pittsburgh Nat. as they ran about a 5 on stimp and had some bad spots. The fairways were a little long but were fine to play the ball without getting any bad lies. This course is not worth the trip but if you live within 20 to 25 minutes of the course, this should be your go to course when you don’t want to make a trip. The hot dog at the turn was superior to the one at Pittsburgh National, with a great taste and some fine condiments. I really enjoyed this course despite some of it short comings, and again I did not score very well. I shot 82, Pete 77, and David 87. My scoring problems continued the rest of the week. I shot a 79 at Indian Run of Thursday and an 80 at Pittsburgh North today. Putting and some poor club selections on iron shots has been the main culprit for the high scores. This week with weather permitting I am playing tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. I am hitting the ball reasonalbly well but even that took a bit of decline this past week. Will see what happens this week, as on Thursday is the South Park Seniors. Eighty three courses down and seventeen to go.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
After a great night’s sleep I am ready to write about the so called “mental game” of golf. Any one, who has played the game for any length of time, knows the drill. Stay in the moment, breathe, take enough club, avoid trouble, stick to your routine and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah. All this vast knowledge of the mental game did not help Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and many others. There have been 3 times in the last 15 years that a player only needed to double bogey the last hole and win a golf tournament. One of those was a major championship. All 3 players made triple bogey to go into a playoff and lose. What is even more amazing about this, is 2 players made 7 foot putts to make the triple bogey. Here is another interesting phenomenon. In 2005 Peter Lonard won the 2005 MCI Heritage Classic for his only PGA tournament win. His scores for that week were 62, 74, 66, and 75. How is that for consistancy. His scores varied from 12 to 8 to 9 shots each day, and this on the best week of his PGA career. So why do we get so upset when our scores vary from one time to next when we play. Is there really a mental side to this game. Do mistakes on the physical side lead to brain confusion. Are we making too big a deal of the mental game saying the game is 90% mental and 10% physical. The only golfer that I ever saw that never really gave a tournament away was Jack Nicklaus. I just refreshed my memory by reading the chapter The Mind Game in Nicklaus’s book My Golden Lessons. It is not too enlightening on why this man was so mentally tough. Nicklaus has always been big on visualization. I don’t care how great your visuals are, if your grip sucks you are going hit a bad shot. This is my 55th season of playing this damn game and I have battled yips, choking and hitting bad shots when it mattered the most. Most of these things I have conquered and have played well in the heat as I like to call it. Lets clear up another thing here. Hitting a golf ball 50 yards off line or more, missing 2 foot putts, never getting the ball airborn, 3 putting, losing 4 dollar golf balls in woods and bodies of water and leaving the ball in the sand trap after you taken a mighty cut at it is not FUN. Golf is only enjoyable if you can play the game to the best of your abilities. I do know that for now I don’t have the answer to the so called mental side of this game. I also know that I am not alone.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Did add a new course this week with some odd things happening. We went to Dubbs Dred in Butler, Pa., about a 65 minute drive. The course played about 6800 yards from the tees we played from and I will expain the “about” a little later. The course was in very good shape and the greens were running a solid 6.5 and very smooth. The front nine was fairly straight forward with the holes pretty wide open and right in front of you. Then after the 11th hole on the back the course became much tighter with many blind shots. This affected me into some bad scoring and worst decision making. This course was a good course to play and I would say worth the trip but I have some very specific criticisms. First of all some of the hole yardages were off. One hole was supposed to be a 460 yard par 4 and after our drives we were 180 from the hole and I let you do the math. There were other holes like this as well. The other bigger problem when you played from the blue tees,was there are about 5 tee boxes that come out from a shoot of trees. These trees however are also over hanging the driving area. You have to keep your drive low, not only straight. This place needs to get into some tree trimming. The hot dog at the turn was ok, made better by having some banana pepper rings for condiments. I thought we were going to play another new course near by, Stoughton Acres, but when we got there, we found out they had plugged the front nine greens and so we only played the back nine and those greens were really nice and ran 6.5. I will blog this course at a later time. For the week the scores were pretty good until today. At Dubs Dred I shot a 77 and Pete a 78. It was the back nine that really did me in. I was even after 11 holes and then fell apart. I had 76 on Thursday and 74 yesterday. Today I went to North Park and laid a big 80 egg. Very poor thinking and bad luck on the greens with some average ball striking led to the 80. In the next day or two I am going to do a blog on the mental game but I am mentally and physically exhausted from a very busy playing week. Eighty one down with ninteen to go.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
No new courses this week but a very busy week where I was able to play on 5 consecutive days. The scores for the week were 79, 77, 74, and 75. The fifth round was a 2 man scramble where Pete and I did not do all that great with a 0ne over 73 at North Park. Our putting was not that good and with only fair ball striking it added up to the above score. However, I feel like I am back on track, as I had a really good ball striking week especially toward the end of the week where my 75 was more due to some poor putting on the always tough greens of Scenic Valley. The method is doing well and even the less than full swing game seems to be perking up. The trek is exactly 80% of the way through. I have 20 courses to go to find the answer. I feel how I control the golf swing now to be full proof. I got side tracked a little by trying to isolate on too small of a group of muscles. The arms are the enemy of the golf swing. But over these last 10 months I have learned that the legs are also the enemy of the golf swing. I have 20 courses to go and they will be coming fast and furious over the next 6 weeks. It will be over that time frame that I will have to come up with the mental answer to the game. It took over 2 years to come up with the physical side. Hopefully a lobotemy is not the answer. Although I would do it if I thought if would make me scratch. I don’t know for sure if I will be able to get in all 20 courses before the end of the golf season. If I don’t, then I will have all winter to figure it out. If the physical side holds up I will reveal what I now consider a superior way to go about the golf swing. I have even given it a name. Coming soon hopefully “The No Try Golf Swing”.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
A very busy week as two new courses were added this week. It was a 36 hole day on Wednesday as we traveled to Spring Valley in Mercer, Pa. an hour and fifteen drive and to Green Meadow in Volant, Pa. which is about 15 minutes closer. Spring Valley is a very unique course to say the least. It plays only to about 5800 yards from the back tees to a par of 72. The course rating is only 66.6 with a slope of 112. I can guarentee you, that if I played this course all the time I would never have a chance of being a scratch golfer. There are a lot of goofy holes, with the best example, the second hole, a 28o yard par 4, that has no fairway. They put a tee box and a green, and the rest is trees everywhere, that you either go over or around but you are not going to avoid them. The greens were smooth but slow running barely a 4.5 on the stimp. The fairways were ok but there were some burned out places and the rough had bare spots. The hot dog at turn was good with some really nice minced onions. The people that ran the place were friendly but this course was not worth the trip. I shot a 79 and Pete had the same. I had lots of strange stuff happen to me all day. The best of the lot was on the 12th hole and downhill short but narrow par 5 of 451 yards. On the tee box there are woods all down the right side and it appears there are trees all down the left side. I hit a big high hook heading into what I thought were trees on the left. I stood there waiting for the sound of my ball hitting trees and then all of a sudden we heard this KABOOM. Here, I hit the roof of a golf cart on the hole coming back with two women in it. They were ok and they graciously pointed out my ball in the middle of their fairway. We happily went down the road to Green Meadow. Green Meadow turned out to be a solid golf course in very good shape. The greens were smooth and ran a nice 6.5 on the stimp. The fairways were lush and the roughs had no barespots. The course played 6500 yards from the blues to a par of 72. There was a great variety of holes and the course was very flat and fair. The hot dog at the turn was good but the minced onions at Spring Valley were better. This course was worth the trip. Even though this was a much more enjoyable course to play, after an opening birdie, I pretty much stunk out the joint and came in with another 79. Pete got better results than I did and came in with a nice smooth 75. My ball striking was pretty much mediocre all day. I had a good practice session on Thursday and was pretty confident on Saturday but could only muster an 80 at South Park from the blues. I did strike the ball much better. Today at Rolling Acre I shot a very nice even par 73. The ball striking was good as I hit the first 13 greens in regulation. I faltered a little bit down the stretch but overall a very good end to the week. The week coming up will be a very busy one with playing golf everyday but Tuesday. No new courses will be added because of events but I feel with all the play, this should be one of those weeks that will really determine if I am on to something. I think I finally untweaked the tweak and I am back where I was about 2 months ago. Eighty down and twenty to go to find the answer.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 