Sacrafice to gain success

As I travel down the road to the center of the fairway I'm finding that obstacles and unforeseen circumstances continue to pop up and force difficult decisions just as I think I'm making strides. At this moment lack of reps and practice are creating a gaping hole in my game. The glaring inconsistency recently has really gotten my attention more than anything else. I know I can shoot even par or a few over for nine holes, but it is shooting 8-10 over par the next nine that is really the catalyst at the moment. A few months ago I was able to shoot scores in the high 70's, low 80's by not allowing the scores for a nine to get out of control, keeping them in the 38-42 range allows for some good scores. Now its, 47-38, 45-40, etc. I need to decide quickly how best to manage my time and if need be, how to create more time to work on my game. Some changes need to be made and it needs to be immediate. There is no time or room for procrastination when you are aggressively pressing toward a goal. the next few months will prove very important as the journey both down the fairway and through life continue to press on! Our tour championship is in 4 weeks and I have put myself in position to win player of the year. I need to make sure I stay to course(no pun intended) and see it through. A top 3 finish should get it done, then its on to Nationals here in the desert and that will be a true test of consistency. Time to get this party started!!!

Fairways and Greens!

puzzled future

As the journey progresses many road bumps have come around and reared their ugly head along the way. My swing has been there and then strangely decided to pick up and leave, the end of a promising relationship, mostly self inflected, friendships put to the brink and a career in flux, all trumped by the passing of my grandmother recently. I spent the weekend playing golf and the down time pondering what exactly my relationship to my late grandma as well as my closeness with my family has become. I feel a bit of a loss with family being so spread across the country. Strange thing, no one really left the sanctity of the small town feel of Wisconsin and now we find ourselves thousands of miles apart each addressing our own trials of life. My grandmother was a curious lady. She tantalized us with her childish energy and silly quips at holiday functions. Part of me misses that simplicity and ease of life. I'm left to wonder as we all do after a loss, did I give enough? I understand that dwelling on the past does not produce positive energy for the future so I will be working on pushing forward and keeping her memory alive inside, as really that is what we are left with are the simple, muses of our life full of memories! My love and sympathies go out to all my family and friends of my late grandmother as we push forward and remember her love!

As for the game of golf, I believe the swing has decided it has had enough vacation for a while and has returned. I spent a few hours this evening really trying to feel the movements and get a good rhythm going. This was by far the best range session I've had in quite some time. Shifted over to the putting green for about 45 min and really tried to focus on tempo and swing path with the putter head. Things seem to be heading in the right direction as I prepare for a short vacation back to Wisconsin to spend some quality time with good friends and family and clear the mind. Sunday I have a better ball tournament with my Friend for the ESPN National golf challenge. I'm feeling really good about this and if we do well, we'll be planning our trip to sectionals in October!

Until next time,

Fairways and Greens to all!!

beating back frustration

As I've now had some time to let the dismantling of the golf swing sink in I've had a good chance to really get a "feel" for a poor swing as it has been quite a month. I've managed to keep my scores relatively low considering I have no distance control or ball flight to speak of. I was able to post two rounds in the 70's earlier and most of the others were between 80-84. last two rounds were 90-92. As i was working through some new swing thoughts my fundamentals have really broken down. It gets incredibly difficult to "stay the course" when your not even close to hitting shots that just a month ago were basic. As I've been trying to "feel" my way through this time-frame I've found that my connection with the arms\body were way off. Also, at impact my hands were not turning through but simply flowing through, and thus creating a very weak shot that either simply floated straight or pushed to the left with a bit of a fade. After about two hours this morning at the range, i was able to get back to where I was previous to the swing I had come accustomed to having. My short game is still pretty good but it has become more average as i have not had the time to focus on that part due to the general swing being so bad. I think this is all coming full circle now and I should have more control of my game when I head back to Wisconsin in a few weeks and then hopefully I can carry some momentum as the Golf channel tour winds down and we get closer to nationals in September!

Fairways and Greens!

Time for change

It has been a few weeks since my last visit to the blog sphere and it has allowed me a bit of reflection on my game. Currently my game has been in a tailspin since my last good round(a 73 mind you!). For some reason the swing got very tight very quick and I've been unable to resolve this on my own. I went and had a quick 30 min lesson this evening with my instructor and got back on video to see exactly what was going on. Everything looked OK initially but my instructor pointed out a bit of a sway that crept back in my swing as well as the swing itself getting a bit long. we shortened it up and tried to limit the sway but were unable to do so. While she was observing me to try to establish root cause we came across some interesting things. During our conversation I mentioned that this issue began right around the time I made my way back to the gym. She immediately started observing my flexibility at the ankles and hips and noticed quite a limitation with my rotation around the ankle. We went back to some archive video from a previous lesson and found that my lead foot was turned out then and now it was turned in, severely limiting my rotation, causing the longer swing and the sway. After some initial swings we were able to get my baby draw back and I felt much more comfortable with the swing.

So now in addition to weights I'm going to be focusing heavily on flexibility and stretching going forward to keep consistency. It's amazing how the little things make a bigger difference the better you get!

As for my fitness and overall health, it has been getting much better. I'm now on day 26 of absolute sobriety. It has had its tough moments not being able to enjoy a cold beer at Stone Brewery, or having to go through the entire memorial day weekend without a drink but alas I have a goal and intend to keep it. I'm contemplating cutting the timeline from 60 days to 30 days. We shall see....

Fairways and Greens!

Jumping on the wagon!

Hello all! I have decided to dedicate myself to absolute sobriety for 60 days! WHY? you ask? Well, for no other reason than, why not? In this journey to scratch golf, I've found myself many a night before the tournaments, having drinks with friends, relaxing and just enjoying life. Not getting smashed but enough that my body knows what I did to it the next morning. To be able to eliminate any and all distractions during this journey can do nothing but help in my humble opinion. Over the next 60 days I'm going to truly dedicate myself to hitting the gym, eating right and attacking challenges head on with no hesitation.

All that being said, on to the last tournament. Overall the round was a very good round tee to green. I was living well in the center of the fairway most of the day and middle green from there. Then the putting trip from hell arrived. I counted 38 putts on the day and most frustrating were the 10 from 3 feet and in that i missed. I spent about 20 min after the round while we were awaiting the rest of the scores to be posted and just went through some fundamentals on the putting green. I believe I found the missing piece. I was putting with hands and not shoulders, causing push\pull all day long. What is most frustrating is that I probably played about as good as I can from tee to green all day long but could not make any kind of putt. If I make just over half the 3foot and in putts I'm in the low to mid 70's, vying for a piece of the lead, which by the way the gentleman who won shot a great round of 75, I was log-jammed in a 4 way tie for second with 81. The main lesson I take away from this weekends tournament is mastering the "whole" game. I've spent the better part of 18 months working on my ball striking and anyone who has played a round with me lately can testify that that part of my game is pretty solid. The chipping part has come around nicely as well. But alas, the one area neglected in all this is putting and it reared it's ugly head this weekend in a big way! With a new R11 driver and new R11 3 wood in tow it is time to face my demons and get my putting stroke inline and on pace! This has the makings of a great year, all that is left is to follow through and keep pushing!!

Fairways and Greens!

testing focus

It has been quite some time since I've attacked to blog here. Work has picked up and sent me on some grand adventures, seeing sights, meeting new people, etc...Now I'm back and ready to regain my form! All this time away has given me a good chance to reflect on my golf game and most importantly my life in general. Getting a chance to step away and really see things for what they are has helped out quite a bit. Perspective has been gained on many fronts. I was able to watch first hand some nurses who give new meaning to hard work and sacrifice. I witnessed a nurse put in 18hrs for her shift. She was there when I left in the evening and was still there when I arrived in the AM. What was most amazing was her composure. She was still patient with all the chaos going on around her. This made me re-evaluate my scheduling with regard to practice time and how I approach it. I need to have a better plan for practice. I have gotten much better at the basics and I now have to realize it is going to be the little things that are going to make the biggest difference regarding shaving strokes. Instead of being content with 25 feet for birdie from 100yds, I have to start to get more consistent putting those shots to a distance that is more conducive to making birdies, 15ft and in. That leads me into the most important part. It is no longer acceptable to just lag my 15 foot putts "close". I need to raise the level of skill and subsequently raise the expectation to make a higher percentage of putts from 15 feet, 10 feet and in! The short game work is going to be of the highest focus this summer. Club fitting is going to help, fitness makes a big difference but I think my level of golf game has increase to the point where I need to raise my expectations and not settle for average but to strive for greatness!

Fairways and Greens!!!

VICTORY!

It has finally happened!! I was able to hold on to a first round lead and win the second major of the season. After the past months results, I have a new feeling of belonging. What I mean is that I truly feel like I have arrived as a single digit handicap. Prior I was feeling like I could not compete and put up the scores my fellow competitors were. The past month has not yielded really low scores but shooting low 80's with quad bogeys tells me I'm just one step away from being in the 70's on a regular basis. I really need to now focus not on making any changes but drastically improving my 100yd and in game. I've been able to get much better with the flat stick and chip shots from 15yds in. The really glaring weak spot in my game at the moment is my sand game. I simply don't have the feel for the concept of a proper sand shot yet but that is going to be a priority over the next month until the next tournament. I'm going to reflect in a very positive manor after this victory and really try to dial in my weak points over the course of the season. It feels really good to know that I have a "muscle memory" swing now which takes a huge weight off my shoulders worrying about keeping the tee shots in play or knowing what shot shape I'm going to hit. Relief and Joy are the words of the month so far and the focus is to keep pushing to excel at short game!!

(see video!)

Fairways and Greens