How's your game!

billy3sheets

billy3sheets wrote: »

My game has fallen off a cliff as it does almost every year around this time.
I'm literally hitting the ball sideways and have become a danger on the course. The more I play and practice the worse I get.
I pulled out of an open last week wth 9 points after 9 holes. I thought it couldn't get any worse until I shot 1 point after 8 holes! (I had 20 for the next 10 though).
I went to my pro for a fix. In the video, I am throwing my right shoulder completely over the top so that my line of attack is about 30 degrees from out to in. Depending on how I manage to compensate with my hands, I either get a straight 30 degree left pull or a mega slice to the right.
I worked on this over several lessons last year and could't believe how much I have reverted. I'm now back to basics trying to just swing the club and not my shoulders, which I find incredibly difficult to do and I know will take me weeks to correct :mad:

It ain't working at all. I can not hit the ball out of my way. :mad:

mighty magpie

First ever lesson last night. My golf has improved a good bit over the last few months but my irons were letting me down so i thought i would book in to see if the pro could help me.

He had trackman and got me to hit PW, 52, 56, 60 to get some rough distances so i could figure out my full swing distances and to see if there was any massive gaps.

He also got me to hit some 7irons. Trackman showed the following, not sure how to read these.

92mph club speed
117 ball speed
smash factor 1.27
swing direction -4.9
attack angle -2.2
club path -3.6
face to path 3.2

The conclusion was that the ball was too close to me, and too far to the left which meant my swing was out to in. I also was hitting the ball too near the heel. He also got me to introduce some pre shot shaft lean so my left arm and shaft formed a straight line at address and hopefully impact.

The session was finished with a few adjustments in ball position which felt weird but I increased smash factor and strike position on club face.

He was using an athlete's foot spray on my clubs so I could see impact position.

Now for some practice.

FixdePitchmark

I'm probably only playing 25 % of the golf I normally play this year.
Funny year - with injuries, professional stuff and personal stuff.
The game just drifts. I still love getting out - but missing being in the mix in competitions and to be honest, winning a few things.

But had a great run for 2/3 years , it is only natural a drop off will happen.

Was nice to get out today on a neutral course and test the game - how is the game ?

I was thinking the other day, I have only played 2 rounds of golf, off a links this year. That is mad stuff for me. I said I'd hit a parkland just for the change and see can I play on one at all. I hit Clontarf, it isn't a course that people rate too highly. Too short, too tight, not a full course. It is only 5700 yards and only has got 1 par 5. So it is a course very suitable for a gentle walk and shorter hitters. The place is surrounded by Dublin and traffic and darts and houses and county grounds - but there is a strange peacefulness when you are away from the madness of the Malahide Road.

I was driving the ball very well and the par 4s on the front were PW, 9 iron, SW, SW, PW, PW, SW. That is a 9 hole I would be totally unaccustomed too - even the par 3s were 8 iron and PW. So you can see it is just a good drive and wedge course. I'm a poor wedge player - but playing a course like that would be great for my game. (If I played it more) . Turned 1 over with poor enough putting, in fact it was more a pace thing. So even if it is too easy , it makes you feel better to play a course you can handle. I almost drove the 9th (par 4) and that gave me a nice boost that perhaps the driver is coming back.

The holes are a little too similar all straight between mature trees - even at the base of the trees there is little or no trouble. You then go into a new few holes and they are all strategy over power . I played them well and only hit irons. Well, until I double crossed a 4 iron and didn't take my medicine and had a 7 at 15.

It took the wind out of my sails and dropped a few more coming home to finish 6 over.

I hit the best 3 wood I have hit this year to land just off 18 - was about 245 yards , is some feeling when you catch a 3 wood like that , even if it is only 1 in 20 for me.

Overall was very happy - there was lots of good stuff there.

But I still have the 2 or 3 very bad tee shots that kill me.
I have a weakness of not making too many birdies from good positions on fairway and green

It all adds up to rounds in the 5/6/7/8/9 over range.

I had always hoped to be a lad that could get the odd par round. But that at the moment seems very illusive.

The stars , moon , sun would have to align - and the ball would just have to have a day of dropping by mistake.

I love the game - but there is a terrible frustration in that reality for me.



P.S.
Clontarf was a very enjoyable round - but for 43 euro , it was poor value. I would probably still go back , but would be looking for a reduced rate.

dan_ep82

Feel like I'm due a low round soon, I've had great days on woods,irons and wedge/putter but just not on the same day.


Played Knightsbrook on Thursday and only missed one fairway but I had 5 3putts and hit few greens.

Very frustrating ,I usually have a 5-6i into the par4's there but I was smashing it leaving 7-9i and missing more greens than I would on a normal day.

Bunker play is much better lately once I steepend my swing to splash them out and I'm getting up and down alot more.

Going to see if I can squeeze in a lesson before the holidays in September to get my irons back on point, I'm striking them well just hooding the face and pulling them and blocking them when I try to remedy it.

This happened last week and has gotten worse since. Whether it is actually effecting the putts or if its just mental but I'm missing left on the putts since so a replacement will be needed

Glebee

Played Ballinasloe last week and got my first back to back pars ever...:D

I was mighty chuffed.

Par 3 10th hole and Par 5 11th hole. Chipped in from about 100m to about 1ft from the pin on the 11th to get my par.

dan_ep82

dan_ep82 wrote: »

This happened last week and has gotten worse since. Whether it is actually effecting the putts or if its just mental but I'm missing left on the putts since so a replacement will be needed

Emailed Callaway, they asked me to call into where I got it and get them to contact them. Headed into Halpenny Golf thinking it was a run around and left the putter overnight.

Got a phone call yesterday evening to say they're replacing it with the new model next week so no excuse for my **** putting

Class customer service

Played Ardee and came out with 35points on 17 holes. FIR is still good but GIR is just as bad as it was, everything pin high left and right. Got up and down about half the time.

3 x3putts 1 x4 putt
I was putting quite well holing from outside 10ft a few times and then had these mental putts that were hit too hard or miles off target.

Ordered Tea on the 9th, hit my drive right ( one of the few not FIR) but seen it bounce and land. Ran over and got the tea and back to the spot where the ball was and no luck. A group playing up said they didn't see it, playing partner swore it was in the spot I thought it was, just one of those things I guess.

CSWS101

Starting to get a few rounds in after not playing all summer due to work, finally get some consistency. Just a quick question, I've only played one competition all year and my club are having senior, intermediate & junior cup tomorrow. If I've only played one competition this calendar year can I play? Off 14 so would be in the intermediate section, hoping I can get out.

How's my game? Terrible :-)

I went from a driving range to a pretty fancy but difficult golf course. I've been out twice for the front 9 and found it frustrating as it is busy the evenings and, as a starter which I expected, I've lost some balls and have taken a while to get to the greens at times. It's tough for a newbie if you feel not are holding people up.

In short, I'm not ready for a 71.

I want to get out onto the par 3's for a few weeks to get a better feel for being out there, and more consistency when connecting.

Can anyone tell me if the par 3 in Spawell or Stepaside are quiet enough in the evening for someone to go around on their own?

billy3sheets

After months of desperation, I finally broke my handicap with 37 points in a stableford medal. Won my division too which is a bonus.
It's just so nice to be back playing at a competitive level, discussing missed putts and small errors rather than the heap of balls I lost or the number of people I nearly killed in the round!

seamie78

after taking up the game for the first time, I was given a 26 handicap have played about 5 comps since, this weekend it has finally started to click getting 32 points and breaking the 100 barrier, the best part was I left a good few shots out there, cant wait to get back out there and hopefully knock a few more shots of my score

Glebee

Went for a quick 9 yesterday evening on the back nine of my local club and very luck not hit my first drive into the visitors car park area. What ever way I hooked it, I drove it went low and just wide of the visitors car park area. I nearly died when I saw it heading towards the parked cars, narrowly missing any. Mortified was not the word, luckly there was no one around to see..:eek:

Still need to get my 3 cards done to get my handicap but with shots like that im in no hurry. My drive can go anywhere sometimes..

benny79

Played Sunday.. It was a scotch foursomes which I was a bit annoyed about as its coming to the end of qualifying ffs.. Anyway got to course and 1 of the lads took his name of time sheet so there was just 3 of us! Girl in pro shop said we cant go out as we have to be in pairs of 2 unless 1 wants to mark card, but wont obviously be in comp. This was after a heated debate... So 1 of us agreed..

So we get to first Tee all 3 of us a still abit p*ssed off and we said stuff the comp we just play ourselves have a little wager front, back, overall.. all 3 of us played great. I finished with 39pts (should of been alot more pressure got to me ) but a great laugh was had.. but missed out on a cut! story of my life!

MillField

Played my first round of golf in about 6 years the past weekend! I'm hitting pretty much the same as I was back then - driving with a wicked fade.

lawred2

MillField wrote: »

Played my first round of golf in about 6 years the past weekend! I'm hitting pretty much the same as I was back then - driving with a wicked fade.

that's called a slice

MillField

lawred2 wrote: »

that's called a slice

* slice

Ball starts going to the left and then turns off to the right every time :mad:

FixdePitchmark

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Feel like I'm due a low round soon, I've had great days on woods,irons and wedge/putter but just not on the same day.


Played Knightsbrook on Thursday and only missed one fairway but I had 5 3putts and hit few greens.

Very frustrating ,I usually have a 5-6i into the par4's there but I was smashing it leaving 7-9i and missing more greens than I would on a normal day.

Bunker play is much better lately once I steepend my swing to splash them out and I'm getting up and down alot more.

Going to see if I can squeeze in a lesson before the holidays in September to get my irons back on point, I'm striking them well just hooding the face and pulling them and blocking them when I try to remedy it.

This happened last week and has gotten worse since. Whether it is actually effecting the putts or if its just mental but I'm missing left on the putts since so a replacement will be needed

A bit mad this happened to mine too - and they are meant to be top of the range. :mad:

That is the problem with such a quick product release and new ideas - they are not tested fully and you end up with pieces of crap in the bag that look great new.

dan_ep82

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

A bit mad this happened to mine too - and they are meant to be top of the range. :mad:

That is the problem with such a quick product release and new ideas - they are not tested fully and you end up with pieces of crap in the bag that look great new.

I got mine replaced by Callaway with the 2017 version

The new ones have a different face insert that address this.

Just call into whoever you bought it from.

Barnaboy

After the deluge today and more on the way, I suspect that it is the end of the qualifying golf for most of us until next year. New Forest holds up fairly well in wet conditions, we had qualifying up until last Sunday.

So good time to reflect on the golfing year for me. Overall it was really disappointing, started the year at 12.8, finished last week with the final 0.1 that signified reaching the one shot limit. So now off 13.8.

Frustrated because I made a huge effort to rebuild my swing over last winter, got lessons and put more practice in than ever.

My problem is my confidence around the greens is gone. Chipping badly and have the yips over short putts. Got lessons on both, know what I am doing wrong but just can't seem to shake it.

To show how bad it had got my last 8 strokes totals are 98, 94, 92, 102, 94, 98, 105, 92. So my BEST score is +20 😂

I know I am much better than this. What worries me now is that the end of year review could see the club 'awarding' me an extra shot. Based on my form it would be hard to argue against but it would be depressing for me.

Think I just need to practice my ass off over the winter and start getting some confidence back.

I did get my first ever hole in one in 2017! So something positive. Roll on 2018.

slave1

New Forest is a very hard course to improve your handicap on, I know quite a number of guys who left it due to its difficulty and impact on handicap, plus so many non qualifying rounds

Barnaboy

slave1 wrote: »

New Forest is a very hard course to improve your handicap on, I know quite a number of guys who left it due to its difficulty and impact on handicap, plus so many non qualifying rounds

Agreed on the difficulty . Seriously thinking of moving in 2018 because of it.

On the non qualifying rounds, maybe that was an old problem? Member there for 2 years now. Can't recall any days when should have been qualifying and weren't?

slave1

That's good news so, when I mean non-qualifying I'm not talking about weather with clean and place etc. I mean qualifying competitions where the CSS was too far outside SSS, actually maybe the term is reductions only competition now I think about it, there was a lot when I was a member there

dan_ep82

This year I decided to make a real go of this and see if I can play to a better standard.

Just before Christmas I got a bagcheck in ForeGolf on everything except the putter ( May get this checked.)

Changes based on suggestions (For the curious)

Ap2 712 4-PW S300 Standard Length/Lie
Mizuno 900 Forged 4-PW Lightweight B Heads with C Taper Light Stiff .25 longer .5° Flat (Difference of 2.0° over Titleist Standard)
Ping Anser 3+5 Wood Regular
M2 3HL (4Wood) Stiff 565 Speeder ( my current driver shaft) cut to .5" shorter than stock. I'll see if I can pick one up off adverts as they're going cheap.
Callaway X2hot 23° Hybrid
Mizuno FliHi 3Iron same specs as irons. Yet to be Bought.
Callaway 815 Big Bertha 9° 565 Speeder 45.25"
David adjusted this down to 8° on the day and I'm going to put a heavier shaft into this on my own, current one is too light apparently.


The recomendations were to scrap the hybrid and get a lesson on the driver/wood as the difference wasn't enough to justify the cost. They threw in a free °50 fitted to make the gapping up with stronger lofts. The irons look class



Starting last week I'm going to the range once per week. Putting at home for 30mins.Chipping will have to wait for better weather.
I've changed course to Ardee, was a member of Tara and while the practice facilities are top notch I've found I really don't like the course. I play well in Ardee and played as many rounds there last year as I did Tara so a no brainer.


3 rounds in with the new irons and going very well.The first two rounds weren't as good as the 3rd but I could see the difference if not the benifit. My miss with the old clubs was a pull/over draw and was quite common. New clubs,while still getting used to them, don't seem to go as far offline and in general hit target more. Using the 4i (loft of old 3i) of the tee is just plain easy. Can't wait to get the 3i to get a little further on the longer par4's. I genuinly don't think its a honeymoon period but time will tell.


So yeah, playing quite well, the fitted clubs ( considering how far off my old ones were) and more time put into the game has me feeling positive for this year.

FixdePitchmark

dan_ep82 wrote: »

This year I decided to make a real go of this and see if I can play to a better standard.



Ap2 712 4-PW S300 Standard Length/Lie
Mizuno 900 Forged 4-PW Lightweight B Heads with C Taper Light Stiff .25 longer .5° Flat (Difference of 2.0° over Titleist Standard)

fair play dan you are playing good stuff ?

Did me and you have it out here - saying you were mad to be playing AP2 when there are easier irons to play ?



1/2 joking - some scoring.

FixdePitchmark

dan_ep82 wrote: »

I got mine replaced by Callaway with the 2017 version

The new ones have a different face insert that address this.

Just call into whoever you bought it from.

I glued my face on today.

I probably should have got a new one - fairly disgraceful from Odyssey for a face insert to fall off.

I glued it in - as I don't change putters unless it has stopped working.

And between shaft length , grip , face balance - I'd be slow to change a putter unless I had to.

dan_ep82

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

fair play dan you are playing good stuff ?

Did me and you have it out here - saying you were mad to be playing AP2 when there are easier irons to play ?



1/2 joking - some scoring.

Played very solid for 90% of the round yesterday. I didn't have one good strike go left which was a huge difference. The old clubs I could middle it but over turn it by 30yds on the longer irons.
Haha, we did. I wouldn't say there's that much of a difference between them to be fair. Still very much a slim top line. I think the real difference is the lie and weight. Both are extremly different to what I was playing.
Side by Side

dan_ep82

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I glued my face on today.

I probably should have got a new one - fairly disgraceful from Odyssey for a face insert to fall off.

I glued it in - as I don't change putters unless it has stopped working.

And between shaft length , grip , face balance - I'd be slow to change a putter unless I had to.

If you have the reciept its a very straight forward proccess. They will send you out the same putter just newer version.

I was away on holidays so the guys in Halpenny gave me one they had in stock instead of waiting. Only realised when I was home it was the 7s which has a kick in the shaft near the head. Still putting quite well with it but I did struggle missing left with the extra offset.

dan_ep82

So a bit of an update

I've played a good few rounds since and in general the scores have been positive but none so low as Bettystown.

The Bad

The breaks between rounds is hurting my strike with a few rounds struggling to get it away from the hosel.

Putting and chipping can suffer (not helped by the bare soft ground)

The weather and the catch up on work means I haven't practised enough and it shows.

Scratches and too many double bogey's every round.

The Good

When my strike is there I'm pulling off some quality shots so I feel pretty good about my swing/set up.

I'm having a lot more Pars and the odd Birdie, I know its only a matter of keeping the rest at bogey for the low round.

Settling into strategy quite nicely. I was always tempted to hit driver everywhere. Now I'm happy to hit 4i or 4W off the tee. 90% of the time it's more than enough.


Equipment

I picked up an M2 3HL (4w really) and cut it to the specs of what my fit was in Foregolf for €75. Its not the right shaft but its close enough that I hit it better than any other woods I've owned. I still need more skill than fitting with the woods but it has given me confidence I never had.

Picking up my 3i Utility soon. Currently using my 4i and its getting out there 200-225 so the new club should let me use it on a few more holes.

Changed the grip on my putter back to what I had on my old putter and got a mini lesson. Just felt very handsy with the putting and overall it felt heavy. New grip is feeling much better, hope it lasts.

I'm hoping to start getting some lessons again ( mainly focusing on strike) but still looking for a new coach. Felt my old Pro was good but I wasn't getting the value out of the lessons. More effort with a new pro might give me some new ideas and better results.

Kiith

Got myself a new (2nd hand) set of Irons today, after using a pretty basic set for the last year while i got back into it. Cobra S3 Pro's with a stiff shaft. Might take a bit of time to get used to them (or a lot of time :P), but looking forward to it.

Will add a 2nd hand M2 driver to that as well, which will hopefully be a bit more forgiving then my current crappy driver.

Glebee

Kiith wrote: »

Got myself a new (2nd hand) set of Irons today, after using a pretty basic set for the last year while i got back into it. Cobra S3 Pro's with a stiff shaft. Might take a bit of time to get used to them (or a lot of time :P), but looking forward to it.

Will add a 2nd hand M2 driver to that as well, which will hopefully be a bit more forgiving then my current crappy driver.

I upgraded my driver last year, made a huge difference. Now I need to upgrade my crappy irons.. What sort of money for a half decent second hand set?

Kiith

I paid €250 for mine, from a friend of a friend. They are in very good nick, with good grips and a very good (apparently) shaft , so it seemed like a decent deal. Won't get to play till the weekend, but i'm dying to try them out.