+4
Practice, practice, practice
This week was all about getting back on track, with two focused practice sessions, a quality singles round, and another Texas Scramble under the belt.
Practice sessions
My short game session consisted of another 2 rounds of ‘Bank’ form last year. Scoring was very similar, with the first round including 1 ‘disaster’ strike, in this case a slightly bladed wedge, meaning I ended up in minus numbers. The second round was more ‘consistent’ in terms of strike I finished the 9 holes with 6 feet left from a 40 feet starting point. I included 2 bunker shots in both rounds. I get out of bunkers 99% of the time but often struggle to accurately judge the distance. I feel I may need more experience hitting different distances so will spend a dedicated block of time this coming week working through some thoughts and techniques to build up some feels.
My second session was on the full swing and included 2 skill drills, designed to balance out my tendencies. I can lack depth and turn at times, and also can cast the club to counteract an open face at the top. As a result, I work on getting a consistent grip (checking and being intentional about how I get my left hand on the club) and my practice swings aim to give me the feel of a slightly cupped wrist and full turn.
The first drill (pictured above) was given to me by Ryan Mouque as helps me come a little more from the inside of the ball. If I didn’t, I would make contact with the alignment stick hovering above the ball.
The second drill pictured below helps me in two ways. Firstly, it helps me start the ball on a line I have selected. Secondly, it helps me match up my path to a desired shot shape, in this case; starting it to the left of the stick and fading it back or starting it right of the stick and drawing it back. It is a drill I go back to so often as I can see my ball flight sometimes getting a little ‘fadey’ and I can feel my path becoming too far left and across. In this session I hit 4 balls, 2 left and 2 right then removed the stick and hit a full shot at a target. I had 5 rounds of this, totalling 25 balls.
A solid singles round
I played a practice round with friends at my home course at Durham City. I should have committed to logging it on the MYEG app, as it turned to out be a quality performance.
I started with a solid birdie on the par 5, after a good drive down the left, hybrid just short and a good chip and putt. 7 pars followed with only 1 up and down required after several fairways and greens in regulation. I missed the green left and caught the bunker up the 9th, leading to a bogie and a level par front 9.
The back 9 started with another birdie after my drive left me that pitch shot (pictured above to a front flag). A tap in par followed on the par 5 11th after missing a 15 footer for back to back birdies. Stroke index 18, a short par 4 and I got out of position off the tea, with a wafty iron shot which led to knock out from under the trees and missing my par putt after an average chip left me 12 feet. On to and a great drive left me 131y in to a middle pin and I hit my worst shot of the day, a heely, high, wafty cut in the bunker right of the green. My bunker shot got out cleanly but caught the rough and snagged up, then another average chip left me 10 feet, which I missed to card a double bogey 6. A bogey followed after a poor chip from just off the green in 2, led to a fast downhill 3 putt to take me to +3 for the day.
2 solid tap in pars followed after missing 2 20-25 footers and onto the 17th. I nice iron shot over the stick to the bottom of the bank left 105y to the middle of the green. I struck my gap wedge well but pulled it slightly and the ball ran through, leaving a quick downhill chip. I misjudged the landing spot and raced it 20 feet past the hole, missing the come back for another bogey. The final hole was a par but missing a 12 footer for birdie on the low side left me feeling a little disappointed with the par.
All in all, I was am so pleased with my long game, with only one error leading to a knock out on 12, kept me in the hunt on every hole. My irons were solid throughout, almost always hitting the distance in mind. The overall feeling, in reflection, is one of excitement mixed with the need to get to work on my chipping and putting.
I am away for a weekend of golf at Alnmouth Golf Club this Saturday and Sunday so i’m hoping for more of the same.
Texas Scramble at Alnmouth GC
I had the pleasure of playing in another Scramble with 3 friends on Sunday. The conditions weren’t too kind but the course was immaculate and we had a blast. We finished 4 under par after 6 birdies and 2 bogeys. We’re back there for the weekend coming up and it was great to get some insight into the holes and in particular the tee shots required to score well. I can’t wait!