An Extra 15 - 20 Meters!!

Nothing adds more distance to your drives, than a 4 putt on the previous hole.

On a related note... my usual golf club is having a demo day on the 15th. Very exciting stuff, but unfortunately I just found out that a buddy from my home group is having his bucks day then. :(
Hopefully there will be time during the day for me to hit the range for an hour or so to hit some new drivers.

Christmas Treat

Well it's the time of the year where I start to think about new equipment. Once again a new driver is on the top of my shopping list. I've been resisting the urge to get a new driver due to the fact that I've been hitting my drives fairly well. So why change? Well I'm curious about what the new technology in drivers can do and I've scored myself a new job so a treat for that would be nice :)

Some sticks on my radar:

* Callaway X460 - Pretty traditional shape and easy on the eye.
* Callaway i3 - Good performance according to some reviews, and it has been superseded so I might be able to pick one up for cheap
* Cobra L4
* TaylorMade Burner or R7 CGB

I've usually struggled with hitting big headed drivers due to it just not looking right in my eyes. It was probably all in my head anyway. So I'll hopefully get to try some out over the next few weeks to get an idea of what is out there.

Freeby

I've got another game with the club tomorrow... but this time it's free. Courtesy of the club... as long as I turn up to the AGM on time. They are providing a free game for everyone that turns up to the annual meeting.

As for the state of my golf game... the last game I played at Burswood Park was a shocker. I lost 4 balls .. and 3 of them were on one hole. But I'm still quietly confident about tomorrow.

Christmas time is coming around again, and the wife has suggested that I get myself something golf related as a treat. The usual thoughts of a new driver or a set of irons come to mind. hmmmm.... lots of possibilities. I'll see how my game goes this weekend ... if my driving is shocking then a driver might go to the top of my list. :)

If it ain't broke...

Had my second game with the club since returning from my Japan / chickenpox holiday. And I have to say that it was a good outing. The conditions were tough... light rain with gusty swirling winds. I punched a 5-iron into the breeze from about 120m away and it still ended up short of the green.

The front 9 was tough and I finished it at 8-over. But the back 9 was completed in just 3-over.. :)
No birdies were made during the day.. although I had 5 good opportunities for them. It was all good enough for a 83 gross and 71 nett. Just enough to sneak into 2nd place in the day's comp.

It was one of my better driving days with just one missed fairway.... and I was looking at new drivers in the pro shop before the round too! Guess I'll be sticking with my trusty Callaway Hawkeye :)
I also had a great putting round with no misses from within a meter (one of my weaknesses is short putts)

Hopefully this will make my handicap head in the right direction..

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

Handicap Drop

After last weeks big game, my handicap dropped by 3 shots to 12. It's heading in the right direction, and it's going to be tough to get it down further. I am feeling pretty confident with my game at the moment. It's got nothing to do with my driving or iron play, but my shortgame. I might not be hitting many green in regulation but I feel like I can get most chips close to the hole.

As for my game this week.. I finished with an 85 for 1 over the handicap. Not too bad considering I had three double bogeys on the front 9.

Oh yeah... driver shopping might be back on the agenda later this year :)
I'm not necessarily looking for more distance (although that wouldn't hurt) but a little more forgiveness.

Positives this weekend: Handicap down / didn't get drenched / free game of golf
Negatives: hurt my left wrist fixing a leaking tap at home :(

Back to the 70's

Yes.. I have shot a round in the 70's after 6 months of hacking away. 76 to be exact, +5 over the card for a net score of 61.
More than enough to give me 1st place for the day. For my troubles, I got a $27 voucher for Collier Park... enough to cover my next round. :)

I worked hard (30 mins before tee off) on my putting and chipping to try and avoid the short game debacle from my last outing. Glad I did, because my driving and iron play was pretty average. I kept most of my drives on the short stuff, but failed to hit many greens in regulation. The short game saved my round.

I haven't had a chance to play with the big hitters in the club until today. I got grouped with 3 of them. Their casual 'safe' drives go out about 230 meters (about where I max out), and when they decide to rip it... it's another 20-30 meters further out. Pretty scary playing with these guys... but I managed to keep my ego in check and stick to my game.

-ve's : didn't take any of my good ballstriking from the driving range to the course / left 2 makable birdie putts short
+ve's : $27 voucher / return of my short game

I'm starting to like this game again :)

Short, Short, Short!!!

Yes that can be used to describe my stature. It can also be used to describe my putting over the weekend.

Apart from making a birdie on the first hole, my putting for the rest of the round was terrible. I left a lot of first putts short, leaving me many testing 2nd putts. My chipping was also shoddy. Tee shots and irons were kinda average. When I think about the round, there was nothing too great about it. But I did finish the round with the same ball I started with :) It's always good to end it without losing a ball.

Considering how bad the round felt, I still managed to shoot a +12 off the stick for a 69 net. Another two or 3 strokes less would have been enough to win the monthly medal.

Oh well... I'll try again next month.

Tiger Upgrade Friends?

Tiger decided he couldn't have a best friend with only two majors, so he upgraded to Roger Federer.

:)
Courtesy of Hot & Not.

And what's with Sergio spitting in the cup? Pretty gross if you ask me.

CPGC Matchplay Trophy - 2007

CPGC Matchplay Trophy - 2007
Originally uploaded by ZanMan77.

Well... after 4 rounds of grueling matchplay, I got to take home my prize. It wasn't easy though. My game was a bit shaky for most of the 18 holes, and it completely fell apart on the 13th with me hitting my ball out of bounds. I conceded that hole to go one down with 5 holes to play, my opponent was hitting it pretty solid and it looked like he was doing it easy.

But I pulled my head out of my butt and put in some pretty solid shots to par the next 4 holes to win the match 2 & 1. I was pretty happy with those 4 holes but I wish I could play like that for all 18. :)

To top things off... I also won 3 beers at the club raffle after the game.
:)

Shanks!!!

There is nothing more terrifying than hitting shank after shank on the driving range 10mins before teeing off for a match. Well that's what happened on the weekend, and I was in a panic. I managed to hit a solid first drive with everyone watching, but then went ahead and topped my next shot. :(

I was two down after two holes and it was looking bad. But I managed to grind out the rest of the front 9 to pull even by the turn. I scored a birdie on the 10th (free ball.. yay!) and managed to pull out a 3 hole win on the match.

So I've got one more match to go before the final. And I'm playing against the club captain this weekend. Here's hoping for another win. :)

Matchplay: Through Round 1

Our club started rnd 1 of our matchplay comp and I'm happy to say that I made it through. I got to the second round last year but had to withdraw because I wouldn't be available the week after. This time I've set aside 4 weeks to try and make it to the final. I think I've got a good chance of progressing because my current HC is 15. I know I can play better than this.

And I did on Saturday. Overall my game was solid. I would have shot around 82 if it was stroke play. The good part of the day was winning 3 balls for my effort. I got two closest to the pin prizes and one for a birdie. It would have been 4 balls if I didn't get pipped by a few meters on the long drive hole.

Looking forward to this weekends play. Here's hoping that I can make it to the 3rd round. :)

Scott Nofriends

Being a regular golfer I often come across people wandering the current hole I'm playing looking for their wayward balls. But this was a first. Upon seeing a guy looking around the fairway, we told him that no balls were spotted coming through the fairway. He replied:

"I'm looking for my friends"

in a think foreign accent. I thought I misheard him but he told us that he lost his group of players.... what the!

Not knowing what to say we just wished him the best of luck finding friends and kept playing. We saw him a few minutes later playing by himself behind us, but lost him after that.

I sure hope he found his friends. :o

Tiger Trap

Not being a huge fan of Tiger Woods when he burst onto the scene many years ago, I've grown to admire his ability and his achievements. I now count myself as one of his many fans. :)

I'd be pretty pleased if he suddenly rocked up to my tee and asked to hit off with us. :)
It's hard not to like the guy when you see how he interacts with average people / golf hacks like us.

Golf stat tracking application

As one of my friends know, I've been planning for years to write a Mac application to track golf scores. It was a good idea, but I find it hard to sit down to write code after doing it all day at the office. I did write one about 4 years ago. It was called StatCaddy and was about a version 0.7 type of standard. I would have continued on with this app but it was a Windows application. This was before I discovered the joys of OS X. :)

A couple of years down the track and no lines of code written (but lot's of dreams of raking in a good living from sales of StatCaddy) I got sent a link to an application that looks like it does all that I planned.

It's called Scorecard



The demo allows you to enter 5 rounds. So far I've only added one ... but it looks quite good and polished so far.
I'll evaluate it over the next few rounds to give a buy or trash verdict. :)

Hot Hot Hot!

Itching for a round of golf, I headed out to Burswood yesterday. On a day forecast to be 41' it was a crazy idea. The worst part of the day was the humidity. I usually soak a small towel to wrap around my neck on hot days but that was close to useless. My game was out of sorts for most of the day. Overall I'd sat my game was bad... with flashes of brilliance (I did get two birdies). I was only +1 on the back 9 until I choked on the last hole with a double bogey. Overall an 80 in those conditions isn't too bad.

I've also been watching the Women's Australian Open this weekend. It's great that someone like Karrie Webb still returns back for the Aussie tourneys. As for the quality of the golf... it's outstanding. Their golf is something that I can relate to better then the men's game. I can't bomb my drives 290 meters like the guys but my distances are more similar to the ladies.

It looks like it'll be 2 weeks before my next game. I'm hoping to get out with the club for a bit of competition play and the schedule says that we're going to be playing at Meadow Springs. So I'm looking forward to that. I just hope that I'll get a chance to head down to the driving range for a quick tune up.

Golf-fest

I've had a good couple of weeks over the holidays with 2 sometimes 3 rounds of golf a week. Thanks to my awesome wife who is encouraging me to get out there with a mate who is visiting from interstate. Thanks Pessimistic Golfer for visiting and playing heaps of rounds :P

Overall I'm pretty happy with my game. I've shot two rounds in the 70's and have been striking the ball well (most of the time).

We've been trying out courses that we used to play years ago. Places like Wembly and Carammar. It's been nice to see how my game has progressed over the last 3 - 4 years. My driving distance has increased by 10 - 20 meters and I've been able to put the ball in places that I haven't been able to reach before.... and that includes an additional 10 meters into the bushes too. :)

Looking forward to the golfing year ahead.