Wet n Wild

This was what the course looked like when I arrived there on Saturday morning. It was wet and windy. We had rain going sideways just a few minutes before I took this shot. Although the day seemed unforgiving, I was looking forward to the challenge of playing in some windy conditions.

It had already felt like 18 holes after only the first two holes. The weather turned real nasty just after our tee shots, and my pants were soaked by the end of the 2nd hole. I was +2 but it felt like -2 in those conditions. Fortunately for us, the worse was over. The only thing left to battle for the rest of the day was heavy winds and a player in the group that took at least 10 waggles before committing to his shot......zzzzzzzzzzz.

The Good: Handicap down to 11
The Bad: Using my handicap up on the front 9

Stack and Tilt?

Checked out the GolfDigest website tonight and there was a swing article dubbed "The New Tour Swing". Now I'm not always buying into the latest swing tips and tricks these golf mags dish out as they can sometimes seem like they're selling snake oil. Are you going to swing a broom around to get a feel for "sweeping your drives"? I've yet to see anyone pull a broom out of their bag at the driving range.... and I don't want to be the first.

Going back the the picture. It's Aaron Baddeley at the top of his backswing. Nice and compact, but his upright spine angle is far from conventional. I've always thought that you should angle your spine away from the target and it's something I've been working at doing recently. It's been working well for me, but this new Stack and Tilt theory is intriguing.

I'm not going to overhaul my swing anytime soon (It's been working for me recently), but this new swing is different and if it's going to help with better ballstriking with my irons then I'm willing to give it a shot.

Perhaps the next time I head to the driving range after shooting a score in the 90's would be the time to try this out :)

Balls, balls, balls....

The club comp this weekend was a game of Par. You get a "+" for breaking your handicap on a hole and a "-" for going over. I finished the day on +4, which roughly equates to a 79 off the stick. Enough to win the comp and a $27 voucher for my next round. yay!

It was looking like a bad golf day for me when I hooked my first 4 drives into trees. But some scrambling saw me come out with only two bogeys. Once I got my drives straightened out, the rest of my game clicked and I managed to get around the course without too much trouble. The putter was also behaving and I didn't miss too many putts. I got this strange feeling half way through the round, where it seemed like the hole was bigger than usual and that all my putts had a good chance of hitting their mark. Most of this game is played in your head. Must be also why it's so maddening when things aren't going right. :)

I also came away with 4 new balls (2 birdies, 1 ctp, 1 long drive). It should have been 5 but some doofus lost one of the cards for closest to the pin.... It was probably me because I carried all the markers back to the club. :P

The club Winter Cup starts next week and I hope to carry some of this form into that competition. I've been told that my handicap will be 11 the next time I tee off so it's going to make comps a little harder.

49 Inches!!

I headed out for a round of 18 with a buddy of mine. It was nice to have a round with him as he hasn't been able to get out much since having a little baby. I'm trying to hold off on children as long as possible.. :)

I also carried my bag for the round... I gotta try and do something about my gut since finding out that I'm 0.1 into the overweight territory of my BMI. It's not too bad.. but my feet are aching at the end of the day. Caused by carrying the golf bag 18 holes.. or carrying my bigger gut around.

We joined up with two guys and one of them swung like Earnie Els. His drives looked so effortless and easy. They were big hits that had a nice little draw to them, and travelled about 280 - 300 meters (I felt so inadequate). We asked what his secret was and he handed me his driver.... it was almost my height! :O

Turns out his shaft is 4 inches longer than standard @ 49 inches :O