Tempted to rename you to SirShankalotSqueezed in 18 holes with @Maccy last night. Had to grab a buggy to beat the light, which we did - just. A few blow up holes for me, suddenly forgot how to hit my irons on the 12th - carded consecutive 8s on par 4s, finally got some control back on the 15th but the damage was done - carded a 96
Weather is definitely coming in now though, was getting dark as we headed down the 18th at 6:15pm
Golf Thread
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Had one of those once a year rounds yesterday where everything just clicked. First time I've ever truly wiped my mind of any swing thoughts at all and just swung freely over the ball. No blow up holes, no 3 putts and hit 69% of fairways off the tee and 51% of greens in regulation. Shot 84, my best ever score.
I also completely abandoned chipping with my 56 and played little bump and runs with a PW instead. Did leave a few out there though, mainly due to getting cocky with my 4 hyrbid. Decided I'm going to get a decent utility iron instead for those long approach shots in. I feel that although the 4 Hybrid is 'easier' to hit, I sacrifice pretty much all control. I just can't seem to shape hybrids at all and it can be a real pain on those second shots into a par 4 green.
Really pleased though. All my targets for this year have been hit (break 100 almost consistently, break 90 a few times and get better off the tee).
I also completely abandoned chipping with my 56 and played little bump and runs with a PW instead. Did leave a few out there though, mainly due to getting cocky with my 4 hyrbid. Decided I'm going to get a decent utility iron instead for those long approach shots in. I feel that although the 4 Hybrid is 'easier' to hit, I sacrifice pretty much all control. I just can't seem to shape hybrids at all and it can be a real pain on those second shots into a par 4 green.
Really pleased though. All my targets for this year have been hit (break 100 almost consistently, break 90 a few times and get better off the tee).
Soldato
Fair.
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How and why does that happen? I'm trying to piece together a swing and it was going well for a few holes, then all of a sudden I couldn't hit a ball to save my life? Started coming back towards the end, but it was like I'd never swung a club before for 5 holes or so.
Played the other day and rented a golf buggy for the first time. Pretty cool. Can get round quick and much less tiring. £20 a pop though
First hole drove it straight then wedge approach shot dropped right next to the hole. Knocked the putt in for birdie. Some of the nicest golf I ever played. The round then fell apart from hole 2. Standard.
Still never shot under 100 somehow. I shot 102. It's my 3 putting that does it.
First hole drove it straight then wedge approach shot dropped right next to the hole. Knocked the putt in for birdie. Some of the nicest golf I ever played. The round then fell apart from hole 2. Standard.
Still never shot under 100 somehow. I shot 102. It's my 3 putting that does it.
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Played the other day and rented a golf buggy for the first time. Pretty cool. Can get round quick and much less tiring. £20 a pop though
First hole drove it straight then wedge approach shot dropped right next to the hole. Knocked the putt in for birdie. Some of the nicest golf I ever played. The round then fell apart from hole 2. Standard.
I'd absolutely suggest getting a putting lesson if you haven't already. Might initially seem like a waste of money but it really, really helped me to understand the fundamentals of stance and stroke. There's a great deal more to it then you'd imagine and it doesn't just come down to nailing the reads.
Soldato
I have no idea! I had a terrible couple of rounds earlier in the year where I couldn't chip at all - everything was a shank. Went back to basics and it massively improved. But yesterday, I was perfectly fine with my irons/wedges. Then suddenly, what felt like a normal swing, I shanked HARD right. Lost 4 balls on that hole alone. trying different things. Happened a few more times and the confidence dropped. Very weird.
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I played Monday morning 7.30am, dew everywhere, played pretty mediocre too.
The front 9 are pretty short compared to the back 9 at Llanishen.
Recorded a video of me getting through the F9:
Started well, even put into practice, a comment that Bryson mentioned from his YT channel, which worked pretty well.
"When on an uphill or downhill lie, open or close the face at setup, to adjust for the slope" - This is so that your ball won't go left off an uphill or right off a downhill. Worked well on the 5th for me.
Had a couple of blow-up holes, noticed my aim has started wandering again. I'm aiming far right and wondering why my shots are going that way. Now I look at the video, it's obvious to see.
Going to have to place a club down when I'm out on my own next, to see the 'real vs feel' on alignment.
I'm also trying to get used to a couple of things in my short game that my coach has me working on, so don't mind the misses on those at this stage.
The front 9 are pretty short compared to the back 9 at Llanishen.
Recorded a video of me getting through the F9:
Started well, even put into practice, a comment that Bryson mentioned from his YT channel, which worked pretty well.
"When on an uphill or downhill lie, open or close the face at setup, to adjust for the slope" - This is so that your ball won't go left off an uphill or right off a downhill. Worked well on the 5th for me.
Had a couple of blow-up holes, noticed my aim has started wandering again. I'm aiming far right and wondering why my shots are going that way. Now I look at the video, it's obvious to see.
Going to have to place a club down when I'm out on my own next, to see the 'real vs feel' on alignment.
I'm also trying to get used to a couple of things in my short game that my coach has me working on, so don't mind the misses on those at this stage.
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Nice! Your chipping and putting look on point!
Soldato
****
Soldato
played Friday and yesterday before work.
Friday was first time hitting new driver. Went out cold. No warm up yet driver straight down the middle. This continued all round and other than my double cross at times the driver was so consistent.
Tuesday I went into the round full of confidence with my new driver. Other than one terrible swing the driver performed again. Never once putting me in trouble.
Few duff chips and poor putting a pretty solid 86 on both days.
Measured a few drives using my GPS watch and both came in at 287y and 292y. Not bad on a wet morning in October. Roll on the summer and some strength training over the winter
Friday was first time hitting new driver. Went out cold. No warm up yet driver straight down the middle. This continued all round and other than my double cross at times the driver was so consistent.
Tuesday I went into the round full of confidence with my new driver. Other than one terrible swing the driver performed again. Never once putting me in trouble.
Few duff chips and poor putting a pretty solid 86 on both days.
Measured a few drives using my GPS watch and both came in at 287y and 292y. Not bad on a wet morning in October. Roll on the summer and some strength training over the winter
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Are you going to be doing anything specific to golf for strength training? Interested to hear your thoughts on that.
Not a fan of fairways I see
Putting was on point though.
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Oi, hole 5 & 8 were fairways! hahahaNot a fan of fairways I see
That's the main reason it was a mediocre session, I'm usually down the middle for hole 1, 2 & 3. 4 is a pretty narrow fairway to hit, to be in with a shot at GIR.
5 is ridiculous, worst hole in the UK for me.
You drive from a narrow tee box, into a fairway which blocks out the green with a massive tree covering 80 of the fairway.
This is a picture from years ago, but the tree is huge now and everything runs from right to left into a catchment area. If you hit it too long, it gets caught up in the tree. If you hit it short, you block yourself out. If you hit it right, there's thick rough and red stakes. You can hit a full drive and get it right of the tree if you're solid enough that day. Else you have to hit a 3/4 drive and have it roll below the tree branches about 20 yards up towards the hole.
I went for the latter in my video, and managed to reach GIR - which was a highlight of my round tbh!
Very nice - Must admit just played 10 holes this afternoon and driver is unreal - what a change for me. Height (always been a struggle for me), distance, feels amazing - literally blown away with the Srizon ZX5 head - total game changer for me. To just change a head and keep the same shaft - but hit it so long and well is amazing feeling.
Hit one 306 uphill - left myself 45 yards to the pin, hit a lovely nippy little 58 wedge with loads of check on it - holed the 5ft putt for birdie. But all setup with a booming drive.
Blown away with my switch.....
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Fantastic! That's a hellishly impressive number, especially up hill.
For the last year or so I've tried arguing that distance really isn't that important a factor when it comes to putting a 'decent' score together and to some extent I'd still stand by that, but the more I play and the 'better' I get the more I realize that at the very least you need to be able to hit driver well, at the very least 230+ if you want to go pin seeking on long par 4s or get a decent look at birdie on 5s. You reach a point in your game where distance really can make all the difference, even if you're a little wayward. I never score sub 90 if my driver isn't on form that day.
You can be a great bogey golfer with a 200yard club off the tee, but securing pars and birdies requires distance and reliable putting stats. Even a player with 'average' iron play can seem to break 90 with those two things to fall back on.
Obviously it's helped a ton that you've had a proper fitting, but that seems to be a whole other discussion xD
For the last year or so I've tried arguing that distance really isn't that important a factor when it comes to putting a 'decent' score together and to some extent I'd still stand by that, but the more I play and the 'better' I get the more I realize that at the very least you need to be able to hit driver well, at the very least 230+ if you want to go pin seeking on long par 4s or get a decent look at birdie on 5s. You reach a point in your game where distance really can make all the difference, even if you're a little wayward. I never score sub 90 if my driver isn't on form that day.
You can be a great bogey golfer with a 200yard club off the tee, but securing pars and birdies requires distance and reliable putting stats. Even a player with 'average' iron play can seem to break 90 with those two things to fall back on.
Obviously it's helped a ton that you've had a proper fitting, but that seems to be a whole other discussion xD
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Cannot hit a driver to save my life, so these tales of 280-300yd+ shots boggle my mind. Very impressive!
Played at the Isle of Purbeck golf club yesterday, lovely course with some great views but it's a tough old course, rough especially was a problem both in terms of getting out but also some holes had some decent carry required just to make the start of the fairway... I say that as a short hitter whose driver was not playing ball though
It was surprisingly dry out there as well so the ball was bouncing/rolling more than I expected it would, that plus the course design led to some surprising total distances. On the 3rd hole it's a short par 4 where the fairway goes up and then dips back down to the green, so blind tee shot but if you carry just over the peak it'll bounce/run down. I hit my 5w 257 yards on that hole, ended up just in front of the green, my previous best was 229 total on a really hot summers day so that was unexpected
Another hole later on with another blind tee shot I saw on my watch there was water ~240 yards out, 5w again but it ended up going 236 yards, dry but a bit closer than I thought it would be
Would love to play there again some time
It was surprisingly dry out there as well so the ball was bouncing/rolling more than I expected it would, that plus the course design led to some surprising total distances. On the 3rd hole it's a short par 4 where the fairway goes up and then dips back down to the green, so blind tee shot but if you carry just over the peak it'll bounce/run down. I hit my 5w 257 yards on that hole, ended up just in front of the green, my previous best was 229 total on a really hot summers day so that was unexpected
Another hole later on with another blind tee shot I saw on my watch there was water ~240 yards out, 5w again but it ended up going 236 yards, dry but a bit closer than I thought it would be
Would love to play there again some time
that was downwind to be fair - "standard" are more like around 265/270 are the "good drives" - probably 230/240 with the off centre/not as good hits.
Soldato
I think it's more fitness based for me. I haven't been to the gym in years and sometimes I can feel tired with my swing which hinders everything.
So gym for some weights etc and then the fitness may come which will improve everything