win a golf tournament

All of a sudden I’m not hitting so well. I was off with my PW & 8i yesterday, and totally useless with my 5i. One difference is that I was using the grass area of the driving range. When I hit the ball well, I was taking a good-size divot, so that’s a positive.

A fantastic Father’s Day—got out and played the Las Positas Executive today and scored a 57. Not a great score obviously, but pretty good for me. And I didn’t lose a single ball!

PW – very accurate today.
9i – not bad, hit one sideways, the rest OK
8i – extremely happy with this one—got on the green from 120y
7i – meh – slice-o-matic. OK on the last hole.
3i – 2 bad, one really good from the tee, about 150y.

All in all, I was pretty happy with my irons. I didn’t touch the driver or woods. putting was feast or famine – I hit a 30ft from the fringe, then 3-putted one of the later holes after an excellent 8i to the green.

OK, I think I’ve overdone it—shoulder hurts. It’s specifically in the front of my shoulder, and testing it out, it hurts when I pull through on my swing. I think I need to take a few days off. #

I did much better with the pitching wedge with the ball positioned in the center, and flexing my wrists a bit more. Did OK with the 3i (same as yesterday, which is nice), but not so good with the 5i (big slicing). I’m having trouble moving between clubs.

One overall positive is that I am able to put the ball in the air on almost every shot—not many grounders to speak of.

3i: ~120y
5i: ~100y
PW: ~90y

I felt much better with this club once I pulled the ball back in my stance a bit (now about four ball-width forward of center) and narrowed my stance to an inch or two wider than shoulder-length. I hit a few right on target and a fair distance. PW went a bit south yesterday, but I was trying it from middle of stance (I’m usually hitting it off my back foot).

On a side note—I’ve been taking my little 5yo boy out to the range as well. He’s actually hitting pretty well (in the air every time, swing looking at least similar to a real swing) with his driver and 7-i. I’m sure he’ll be better than me in a very short time :)

I love the driving range, and I think this is the very first time that I can say this honestly. More and more, I’m able to make clean contact with the ball. Here’s how it went yesterday:

PW – Hitting it consistently straight, about 50y
9 – 70% on target, about 90y
8 – 70% on target, about 105y
3 – 20% or less straight—trying some positional stuff I read online that Tiger Woods (ostensibly) wrote up, but apparently I’m no Tiger Woods…
5 – 35% straight, but couldn’t get distance over 110y or so

I may go out and hit today if I can find time. Luckily I discovered the local driving range’s bulk purchase card – 10% off for $50 purchase, up tp 30% off for $200 (buckets are $5 for ~60, 7$ for ~ 100, 10$ for about 160).

...just some local tourney, a benefit of some kind.

Here’s the thing—I just recently began to take golf seriously. It’s about the only thing that really helps me get my mind off of bad conference calls, the absolute con game that is the IT industry and enterprise computing, the hours and hours spent creating incredibly boring software. Somehow, that feeling of the perfect swing (almost never happens, mind you) and that fantastic little snap you hear when you make the right kind of contact just unwind me.

I am spending a lot of time (and money) at the driving range, and I would like to get myself to a point where, on my best day, I can keep up with the really good local players.