My Life (Sub 80)

Kace

matt-dublin wrote: »

To be honest after my clebrating on saturday night i can't remember the round!

my ball striking is rubbish but putting and chipping was excellent. had about 4/5 sand saves as well.

Would love to know what would have happened if i was hitting GIRs

I like your "column" so to speak. It reminds me that im not the only one who's struggling out ther!

Well done Matt - I like your standards, 6/7 over par, playing off 13 (before your round) and you say you're struggling.

I play off the same and my 'struggling' equates to a rounds of 107/106 over 2 recent weekends, 11 penalties in one of the the rounds. Thankfully I pulled it back a little last weekend with an 84 and only 3 penalties.

Frustrating old game this.....

matt-dublin

I've come to the conclusion at our level that when we have a bad hole, the automatic reaction is to absolutly whack it.

when i have a bad hole or two now im trying to choke back and keep the ball in play to recover my round rather than play harder to make something back.

IE on druids heath, id usually have a bad 12/13/14 coming into the short par 5 15 trying to get myself into a position for eagle/birdie.

Instead of just going for a par i was trying harder to do better and letting it absolutly destroy my rounds!

I still get the odd high 90s rounds but mid 80s are my average.

matt-dublin

Arrived this morning to a letter from the handicap committee, cut another shot to 11.3 tee hee hee, them single figures are getting closer

Whyner

matt-dublin wrote: »

Arrived this morning to a letter from the handicap committee, cut another shot to 11.3 tee hee hee, them single figures are getting closer

Why a letter? Don't get you

matt-dublin

It was an official handicap review notification for general play

Whyner

In April, is that not a bit strange? Thought it was only end of year

Tones69

Whyner wrote: »

In April, is that not a bit strange? Thought it was only end of year

They were afraid he was gonna start cleaning up with prizes hehe, better off anyway cos it will push you to play better as the capabilities are there

matt-dublin

handicap reviews should be done quaterly in every club regardless of the season. the GUI apparently were very praising of us because we're quite heavy handed with the cuts on such a regular basis.

charlieIRL

Just staying off topic for a sec, but I was chatting my new handicap secretary there last Thursday cause he's transferring my h/c to new club and told him how I was playing recently and my recent scores. Not interested in them and just told me to go out and play competitions.

matt-dublin

thats not right i don't think, but handicsap can vary depening on the course.

i think he should be looking to transfer it and you still need to hand in 3 cards for confirmation

charlieIRL

matt-dublin wrote: »

thats not right i don't think, but handicsap can vary depening on the course.

i think he should be looking to transfer it and you still need to hand in 3 cards for confirmation

ahh i'll just play a few competitions and let my handicap take care of itself. Looking at golfnet i only played 2 counting competitions last year:eek::eek:

matt-dublin

if thats the case thats why he's making youy play

charlieIRL

matt-dublin wrote: »

if thats the case thats why he's making youy play

probably - am gonna change that big time this year!

AldilaMan

He has to take the handicap from your old club provided it hasn't lapsed. He can adjust on general play if he sees fit afterwards but he has to start you on your official GUI handicap. You only need to submit 3 cards for evaluation of your ability if your not a GUI member.

strokes1

AldilaMan wrote: »

He has to take the handicap from your old club provided it hasn't lapsed. He can adjust on general play if he sees fit afterwards but he has to start you on your official GUI handicap. You only need to submit 3 cards for evaluation of your ability if your not a GUI member.

Lad I know handed in his hcap cert to new club and without playing another comp the new club upped his hcap by one

spacecoyote

Find this an enjoyable thread I must say. I've got similar targets for this year.

My best last year was a gross 80 (lipped out birdie putt on 18 was a killer)

I've been gettin a few lessons and working on getting a draw into my game, a high slice had made its way in over the winter!

Anyway after the usual month of struggling with swing changes its starting to come together now, scores had slipped up above 90 again, but had my 1st round back in the 80s last weekend.

Hopefully it'll start to come good now and we can break that 80 in the not too distant future!

Best of luck to all

AldilaMan

strokes1 wrote: »

Lad I know handed in his hcap cert to new club and without playing another comp the new club upped his hcap by one

very generous:D

FixdePitchmark

A fat chip, a bladed wedge, a 5 putt, a 4 putt, a shank, a slice, a hook. My game is gone , just as the finish line was in sight, I lost it. First the injury, then playing around with my putting , then playing around with wedges. I’m mad, with myself, mind, ability, failure. I’m just not good enough. I’m weak minded and chaotic.

I’m struggling to break 90 in the last 3 rounds. I need help – I’m getting it at last, first ever lesson next week. I’ve decided that I could do this alone, but there are too many flaws in my game and “sometimes you can’t make it on your own”.

I’ve been at this 6 months now, I’ve played over 50 rounds of golf, hit 1000s upon 1000s of balls. As I was leaving the driving range I was thinking, has all that been a waste of time and money ?

This week I was out on the coast playing in rough weather. It was the first time I saw dark clouds, white horses, blue sky and a rainbow all at once. It sort of summed up my mind and game at that moment.

I need a new eye, a good eye, a lighthouse to bring me in from rough seas

spacecoyote

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

A fat chip, a bladed wedge, a 5 putt, a 4 putt, a shank, a slice, a hook. My game is gone , just as the finish line was in sight, I lost it. First the injury, then playing around with my Putting , then playing around with wedges. I’m mad, with myself, mind, ability, failure. I’m just not good enough. I’m weak minded and chaotic.

I’m struggling to break 90 in the last 3 rounds. I need help – I’m getting it at last, first ever lesson next week. I’ve decided that I could do this alone, but there are too many flaws in my game and “sometimes you can’t make it on your own”.

I’ve been at this 6 months now, I’ve played over 50 rounds of golf hit 1000s upon 1000s of balls. As I was leaving the driving range I was thinking, has all that been a waste of time and money ?

This week I was out on the coast playing in rough weather. It was the first time I saw dark clouds, white horses, blue sky and a rainbow all at once. It sort of summed up my mind and game at that moment.

I need a new eye, a good eye, a lighthouse to bring me in from rough seas

Don't give up hope just yet,to have gotten to where you are without a single lesson days to me that with a small amount of guidance you'll be the right side if 80 sooner than you think.

Injury is a tough one to deal with. I broke my ankle about 3 years ago & took quite a while to get back playing.

Should be 1st qualifying competition in my place this weekend, can hopefully get off to a positive start!

Goldenjohn

spacecoyote wrote: »

Don't give up hope just yet,to have gotten to where you are without a single lesson days to me that with a small amount of guidance you'll be the right side if 80 sooner than you think.

Injury is a tough one to deal with. I broke my ankle about 3 years ago & took quite a while to get back playing.

Should be 1st qualifying competition in my place this weekend, can hopefully get off to a positive start!

Fixed, I put on another thread recently that after rubbish rounds out of the blue a good/great round usually occur , you'll never know when the slump is over but all of a sudden you'll shoot a cracker. Keep swinging at it and stop expecting even with all your efforts, there is more to golf then a scorecard.. 80 is just around the corner.... I love the saying "even your darkest hour is only 60 minutes long" (unfortunately **** golf usually takes 4 hours!! )

Rabidlamb

I was in a similar situation to the OP.
I played off 9 in my youth but once kids, mortgage, job took over I went 3 years at one stage without hitting a ball.
I eventually got out in Rathsallagh in Jan & had 6 pars & a birdie, the rest was all over the place but the core of my ability was still there.
I'm now looking forward to bringing the son out in a few years when he's old enough & like riding a bike, if you've mastered it once you'll pick it up again.

Another thing I noticed is how the technology has moved on.
I was 20 yards behind my plating partners all day with my old Burner driver.
I hit one of my playing partners 460cc titanium drivers off the last & I out drove them all.
I'm after picking up an R7 in anticipation of my next day out.

FixdePitchmark

Went to a good pro for my first ever lesson. The shock of seeing yourself swing for the first time. Awful, truly awful. If I could use a pro to give the image it would be a mix of Eamonn Darcy and John Daly. That is doing a total disservice to the two. It is no wonder my play is so inconsistent, I’m so out of position at the top of the backswing, I would call it trying to hit a sort of hammer throw.

It was sort of funny and tragic at the same time , you have these images of great hair and Luke Donald and a flowing swing, it was more like a fat balding lumberjack taking a go at a rubber tree

The pro had photos on the wall of a great life he has had, on and off the course, golf his life.

The total stranglehold I had on the club, made any sort of release impossible, it was all hand eye coordination and timing. Or lack of when wrong.

I was shown how you actually swing a club. The club does the work not the body. And as for connection, O my God, it is like putting on a pair of shoes for a wedding that you only wear once a year. The feeling is so not right for me, how can the right way feel so wrong? It is new is the answer.

This is a total game a changer. I have spent the famous 10,000 hours of my life doing the wrong thing. I was thinking I’m just never going to be great/good at golf, I’m just ok. I’ll hit an 85, 82 or on a great day with a few bounces a 79, so what, big deal!. You basically just got it, due to dog headed perseverance the wrong way.

It makes you do much soul searching, that great 7 iron you hit or drive you hit before was sort of a fluke, timing, luck. Like the saying, “even a broken clock, tells the time correctly, twice a day”.

I’m not sure why I didn’t do this 20 years ago. I think I built up a wall for various reasons, It is time to break down walls, perhaps this golf thing will break down more than one wall.

I stuck at the new swing after the lesson, in the lesson it took me about 50 balls to hit a 7 iron over 130 yrds. This was funny, heart-breaking, tragic, revealing all at once. I’m still in shock. I need a drink, an Aftershock.

I don’t know what comes next. If I went out on a course and stuck at this, it would be well over 100 strokes. My head is in a spin. This thread is dead if I go down that route.

What next? I don’t know. Give it time. Hit balls poorly the right way for a while. I don’t know how long this could take if I go down that route, months, years, never ?

Sleep on it, think of all the great shots you hit with your old swing. With flaws and all, you can still love an old friend.

k.p.h

Great post FdP, I feel your pain. Looks like you have a bit of soul searching ahead. All I can say is, How long do you plan on playing golf.? How hard do you practice.? Do you enjoy it.?

If you plan on playing regularly, practicing hard and you enjoy it then you have no reason not to take on board the swing changes and really go for it. It might take some time to see some improvement, but hey whats another season.

Enjoy the process and he challenge.

useurename

Love this thread.I would also love to break 80.Took my first lesson two weeks ago.I tried to implement the changes and it was frustrating and horrible .I'm getting there though.I've shot an 84 and 85 last year.This year my best is 86 off the blues on a very windy day(this gives me hope).I just don't know if i have the ability to get so many pars.Best of luck.You'll get there.

matt-dublin

Had a similar situation myself recently fixed. But what i founf when i was trying to do what i was told it kind of worked ok, but out on the course i was overdoing it.

after a month since the changes i've found im striking the ball a lot better now with a much more penetrating ball flight, but stiill not quite as good as i would like.

keep with the changes and they will begin to work, you have to remember a lesson will only correct your swing issues but not necessarily fix your ball striking straight away.

charlieIRL

I got great advice here when I was planning a practise routing - make sure you are practising something which is right in the first place and not perfecting a bad habit!!!

spacecoyote

nice post Fixed, I think many of us know your pain.

As I said previously, last year, I managed to hit 80 strokes, my best ever round. I've knocked 7 strokes off my handicap in the last 2 years, but over the winter I decided a few lessons were required.

It was a serious reality check. Alignment atrocious, massively out to in swing, but through decent timing, etc...I'd been getting away with it.

As the pro said to me..."If I were you I'd be very excited. To have gotten cut as many strokes as I had with that swing, if I can fix the fundamental problems, the potential to go considerably lower is there."

So after a couple of rounds of back shooting high 90s (thankfully in non-qualifying competitions) I'm starting to see a major consistency improvement off the tee & with my irons.

My advice, take the pain, you seem like a dedicated man, you can surely handle a couple of steps back if it means a big leap forward!!!

Whyner

Don't worry about where the balls go with the new swing, not for now anyway, just get used to the feeling.

The new road is a a superhighway with endless routes. The old road leads you back to the same cul de sac you're stuck in.

You've even got me talking like you now

link_2007

FixdePitchmark

link_2007 wrote: »

Sorry , did i miss something a photo ?????