Tuesday, July 24, 2012

got in 18 holes yesterday

Shot a 109 (58 out, 51 in) yesterday on a 70.1/133 course.  Handicap has dropped 0.2 to 32.4 (per my spreadsheet tabulations).  I decided at the outset of the round that the longest club I'd play would be a 7-iron... wanted to really focus on reducing penalties (following the scoring outlined in this post).  And that worked out well... only had 6 shots lost to penalties (ie 3 bad shots, 3 drops) for the round which is much improved vs. the 16 lost shots I racked up playing 15 holes on the same course a couple weeks ago.

The score kind of shows it, but it seemed like I spent the front nine "warming up" for what ended up being a decent back nine.  I had a good run on the first six holes of the back nine:  5 bogeys and 1 par.  Blew up a bit the last three holes.  Anyway, on the whole, I feel like I'm improving, just need to keep plugging away.

Some things to think about for next time:

  • Before playing, hit a full token's-worth of balls on the range AND spend at least 10-15 minutes on the putting green to get a feel for speed.  Will probably need at least an hour for this kind of warm-up, so maybe think about playing only 9 holes vs. 18 (don't want to get fatigued on the last few holes; also can't be out there all day).  Generally want to avoid "warming up while playing".
  • I'm liking the penalty-avoidance approach, so I'll probably stick with the idea of playing 7-iron and below (or at least leave all drivers, woods, and hybrids in the car).  Will add length over the long-term as distance starts to become one of the longer poles.  For now, consistency and side-to-side accuracy are my biggest issues.
  • It'd be good to get in a double-token range session at some point before the next scoring round, focusing on long game side-to-side accuracy (no slices!).
I brought our new iPhone (first smartphone), intending to log shots, check yardage, etc, but ended up not using it after the first hole.  Will try again next time, as it's good to be able to check yardage to various points while playing... just need to get used to feeling it in my pocket.

Still need to find those AT journals.  They're down in the basement somewhere, just need to go digging.

2 comments:

  1. Nice blog Derek, I too am looking at getting a launch monitor. One you didn't list that I am considering is new. It's called swing byte. It attaches to the club and sends info to your iPhone, android phone, etc via Bluetooth.

    I like that it can be used on the range or course and get immediate swing analysis.

    My main goal is to a launch monitor for club distance and dispersion recording. My home course is a short iron only range and much good for calibration for club selection.

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  2. Thanks, Mithrys. Had not heard of Swingbyte, thanks for the heads up. Looks like it's a similar concept to the iTrainer and similar price range. Let me know what you think if you end up getting it.

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