The Good, The bad, The Ugly

The Good

The Ultra Golf Tour opened this weekend and I finished tied for second in my new flight (palmer, 3-7 handicaps) and tied for 4th over all. I didnt hit the ball that well in the fairway but drove the ball well and thought my way around the course well.

The Bad

The greens were horrendous. Airatted and really long..slow and just incredibly bumpy. i was 83 and need to work on my wedges alot more, 4 or 5 bogeys from literally within 100 yards. So it can only get better. The couse was pretty long (6800 + yards) and the condition were pretty bad, lots of bad lies and pretty windy. So a lot of improvements to go but starting in.

The Ugly

Played Black on Sun and was a total disaster lol. Super windy (2-3 clubs) and really fast greens (this is good!). In my defence I took some new concepts out to the course and they worked. I was a lot, but to be honest, i hit the ball well and stroked my putts well...just NONE of them dropped.

Ok short post but will go over things in more details later in the week.

Range work (detail)

Well, just a post to go over what I was working on on the range last night.

On my wedges, really getting a straight back at address and work on Kevin Johnson take away ideas I got from the Hank Haney Ranch.

Once I get the club on plane going back and not inside really qick, if i set up correctly, man the ball just flies.

Same with the 4 iron and driver.

Theres a Tom Kite DVD I have (How I play - Tom Kite) which Dave Stockton put out (theyre all great BTW..hes done 3) where Tom Kite talks about adjusting his takeaway.

He says it feels like hes going "outside" on the way back and thats the feeling Im trying to capture, along with the wrist "upward swivel".

Also working on dropping the hands on the way down and firing down the line with good extension. Great straight controlled drives.

Well see how things fair under pressure.

Also have been reading Bob Rotella's book "The Golfers Mind" which is sort of an annondated version of his "Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect". Its a great read and only imparts confident, solid thoughts after I put it down.

Latourette, Ultra Golf Season Opener, Range Work

Well there we tonnes of rain last weekend so me and a friend went to Latourette on Staten Island.

We had planned to go to Bethpage but the course was closed on account of the heavy rain fall last weekend.

We both had never played on SI and we basically had the place to ourselves on account of the rain.

We both shot 83. My friend is a 10 handicap so in our match I gave him 4 shots. It was a great match and he ended up cleaning my clock as my wedge play was pretty off.

Plus I was hitting some good chips but was having probs judging the speeds of the greens with all the rain.

Despite the high score, i was sorta happy with the round. It showed me what I need to work on and why I shoot higher on shorter courses. I just dont hit a lot of wedges and shots from within 120yards on Black. So that part of my game really needs some tighening up.

I drove the ball well but was out of position just due to not knowing the course, so this was a good warm up for the MGA Public Links Qualifier in June or July.

Hit the range last night and worked on wedges, 4 irons and the Driver. The new Vokey 52 is feeling better and better so with some more use Ill get much more used to it. I was gonna start playing some local Par 3s just to work on stuff.

This weekend marks the opening round of the New York Metro Ultra golf tour season..now the Americian Amateur Tour I guess.

Really looking forward. Im in the Palmer flight (which is a step up from last year due to me now having a handicap). So we play from the Blues which will be good for me and it should be a great day.

It will be great to get back into competition too. Ive only played 3 rounds so expect lots of excuses! But my goals are to try and keep focused and try and get in a lower round..not looking to break 80 but just a solid low 80, since I dont know the course and my shot game if still rusty.

Looking forward and check back in!

First Weekend Back

Well hit Bethpage Black Sat and Sun this weekend

Was 82 both days.

Considering I hadnt touched a club in 5-6 weeks and had 2 new wedges, new putter (and the new driver) its not bad..not great tho.

Sat the course was set up easy and there was little wind, but I had 5 doubles just because of the bunkers. I forgot just how much sand is in the traps on black and wasnt hitting the ball enough and had to hit twice all the times. But my putting was solid and kept me in it w/ 29putts.

Sun was intensely windy and colder. Atleast 2 (or even 3) club wind and the cold was keeping the ball from flying. On 10 i smashed a drive into a really strong headwind but still ended up short after hitting 5 wood from around 190 yards out. Putting wasnt as good and sorta went cold on the back nine on some clutch par saves.

Black really gives you no chance to get back in it so any early mistakes seal your fate.

Im going to work with Kevin swing tips (dropping the hands at the start of the down swing and firing down the line) but i was hitting some solid bombs and great irons when it clicked..only a matter of time. Hit a nice 7 iron on 8 Sat..that used to be a 6 for me or even a 5 and a nice booming drive on 5 both days (8 iron in on sat no wind...then 5 but really needed 4 on sun..basically from the same spot!)

Good solid chipping tho and short wedges. My touch was good and got up and down green side quite a bit (nice sandy sun too)

My goal is to be breaking 80 consistently (or as conistently as possible..it might be too much to ask) on Black by the end of the year.

Thanks for viewing the blog. Hopefully Ill reach my goal for this year (down to a 2 or 3 handicap).

New Season Soon

Well, work has finally settled down (I led the front end implementation of a major newspapers recent re-design, so dont yell at me if something doesnt work lol) and Im getting ready for the new season.

Some changes in the bag:

Ping g5 Tess Putter:

As someone who grew up playing a Tommy Armour blade putter, I didnt realize how much problems I was having adjusting to the Anser inpsired putters of late til I tried out the Ping Tess. It instantly felt great and allowed my hands to naturally swing the blade. My stroke tends to go all over the place on the line but I tend to be able to get it back to square at contract and the Tess is still nicely wieghted on the Toe and Heel.

Im gonna see how it works on the course and also look into the Yes Blade as well. I went to a 32 INCH and it lets me arms hang nicely and keeps my wrists quiet.

Vokey 52 and 58 degree wedges:

I finally updated my wedges and pulled my 60 degree and added in a Gap Wedge. In someways I always felt a Gap Wedge was a touch of hype until I started working with it on the Range. Its basically a no brainer from 100 yards. Again getting the feel for it on the course will take some time but Ill do my best to be patient and take the time to really get to know it. the 58 Degree is a small switch too. Ill have to work on it from 60 yards and in but i think these will be both great additions.

5 wood/2 Iron:

I added a five wood and a 2 iron. The 2 Iron is a 690.mb and i really notice the extra 1/4 inch. I could always hit a 2 iron pretty well so even tho Ive gotten older, ill still need it for play on Long Island, where gusty winds really require a low long iron like the 2. The 5 wood helped near the end of last season so ill taylor the bag in terms of which set up Ill need given the conditions and course layout etc.

Return to Bethpage Black.

Bethpage opens this week so Ill be starting back in on play on my home course. The greens are so flat compared to those I was playing in Texas so Ill have to make sure I work on my pace on breaking shorter putts as the season progresses.

Im looking forward to seeing what I can do there this year. I should have my handicap soon so Ill post updates of it here.

Mental Game:

Its been a great offseason in terms of perspective and mental prep. Ive taken notice to watch alot of DVDs and also noticed how the pros handle adversity. They miss a heck of a lot of shots but they never give up and they get themselves back in with astounding shotmaking and great clutch putting. Thats one thing i really have worked on this off season

The biggest change i think will be how i handle my risk and reward holes. Im hoping to handle my emotions better this season to know when its worth going for it and when and how to play conservative. It will be a challenge but my ego feels alot more in control and I feel ill be able to take playing for "good misses" rather than trying to play outside my abilites at key moments of the round. We'll all see for sure!

Ok thanks for reading and lets see how things go. My First tourney is April 29.