"Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery that is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid." -John Keats
We’re a little more than month away from men’s opening day at country clubs all around NEO. It won’t be long before flag sticks are quivering, putts are being misread, birdies are being made (followed by a bad bogey on the next hole of course) and beers and cocktails are flowing on courses all over the Midwest.
Always around this time, I start to romanticize how this golf season is gonna be different. I think this is a natural inclination for the sorta serious player. I am a Cubs fan or a Browns fan in that sense. Right as the weather is starting to flip, I always feel like this is the summer where I’m gonna be a scratch player, and I'm never not gonna be a scratch for the rest of my playing days. Everything is gonna click at the right time, and the muscle memory will be there forever. Well this notion has yet to come to fruition.
The swing plane that I had working last Monday is nowhere to be found the following Monday. The tour reads that I was giving myself the day I shot 79, revert back to bad reads followed by a tentative stroke on a day I shoot 85. The soft draw drives on the front 9 turn into leaky fade drives on the back 9. The same 5 iron that I just smoked a hole ago where I was 196 in, leaves me 10 yards short on a 184 yard par 3. The good-feel chips that draw a "nice play" from my foursome, turn into decelerating blades that leave me with 5 foot putts, which are naturally left to right slippery testers. All of these characteristics are par for the course for most of our games. I am not alone. Nevertheless, its gonna be another good summer in Cleveland, and playing some good golf will only add to the fun. I just wanted to get the ball rolling on this golf season with a couple thoughts, goals and action plans for this summer.
I consider myself an 7 handicap. Whenever anyone asks me, I say 7. If you asked me at 2am somewhere after some pops I would be a 5, but the general answer you are gonna get from me is 7. Now, see the problem with getting down from that 7 handicap plateau is that breaking into that 6-Scratch range usually isn’t all that complicated in my opinion. ALL IT TAKES IS PLAYING A LOT OF ROUNDS. Would you guys agree with that? That is kinda my perception. If I play well well on a Monday and shoot 81 and get to play again on a Wednesday, I feel like I'm gonna be in a nice rhythm stemming from Monday and hit the ball real well from tee to green. Especially if its warm and I feel loose. It will be up to jarring some putts. The more I play, the better rhythm and feel I have. And that leads to good play tee to green.
What's your golf philosophy? What are you trying to accomplish when you go out and play? What's make playing golf fun for you? Is the game easy for you, or hard? I have a hard time answering those questions most of the time. But I love to play golf. I love to play golf in a competitive setting, dropping and playing a couple balls, and playing with my terrible friends and just drinking pops and enjoying the day.
If I had to tell you what I'm trying to do when I play, I would go with this: I wanna try to hit the ball flush tee to green. I wanna hit shots like a pro. I wanna hit a 300 yard bomb off the tee. I wanna hit a sky high soft draw into a left corner pin position. I wanna hit one of those low pitches that go "bounce bounce" and check up real quick. I wanna be rock solid on the borderline hard putts. And I wanna go to the next tee and be able to hit the exact opposite of shots I just hit with the same kind of ability. I only wanna care about how I am hitting the ball. I don't want to care about how I am scoring. It's about swinging with me. If I am swinging and hitting the ball at a high level, I hope the scoring would start to take care of itself.
But that's a hard philosophy to maintain most of the time. Idon't get to play everyday. I barely get to play once a week. And when I play, I wanna score the ball well. I wanna take 10 bucks from my buddy or Dad anyway I can do it. It's hard to play when you lifted weights the day before, or played a couple hoop games that you're still sore from. At the end of the day, a 38 where you hit the ball crappy is better than a 45 where you hit the ball great.
I guess my point is that I would urge all of you to worry about swinging and hitting the ball well. Don't feel burdened to tell someone you shot 84 when you shot 87. How did you hit it? I'm the king of "eh I shot 42 but I nuked my driver all day." It's a great feeling to say yea, I shot even par today. But for me its about flushing every drive and iron, being smart with chips and making the putts you should make.
Pressing Issues for Me:
-Hybrid---I need to fill a ocean wide gap in my bag with a 3 iron hybrid. I need something for that 220-250 zone. When I am playing well, I can hit my 4 iron 220 yards. But I'm rarely playing well. So the hybrid is the logical play. FYI: They have great used clubs at Golf Galaxy on the cheap. That's where I am gonna hunt for a hybrid, maybe even a new big bat. My dad's buddy said he's found unbelievable clubs for less than 100 bucks. An R7 Draw and Callaway Fusion hybrid might be in the plans for April.
-Grips---I will not play a round until I get new grips on my sticks. The ones on there now are the worst ever made. I grip the club hard and I basically am wearing the grips on my hands after rounds cause they are so horrible. I wanna go with the en vogue country clubber grip. I'll have to get that from a guy who plays 5 times a week.
Tips:
-Learn to play well and drink at the same time--the guys that get asked to play are the guys who can play well while they are wasted
-Play for something with your friends--play for beers, play for pushups, play for situps, play for money, play for dates with your friend's sisters--Anything that makes you focus on the task at hand
Goals for this Summer:
-Win a huge partner match with Rudy Kirbus, with him making a 30 foot + putt to win it
-Play Sandridge, Boulder Creek, Elyria, Stonewater, Weymoth, and Firestone
-Make 5 birdies in one round
-Make 2 eagles in one round
-Shoot under 75 5 times
-Drive the ball over the plaque that Eddie Hills drove it over at Fowler's Mill
-Play with Larry Joseph and keep some serious heat on him for at least 13 holes
-Hit my 4, 5,6,7 irons really well
We’re a little more than month away from men’s opening day at country clubs all around NEO. It won’t be long before flag sticks are quivering, putts are being misread, birdies are being made (followed by a bad bogey on the next hole of course) and beers and cocktails are flowing on courses all over the Midwest.
Always around this time, I start to romanticize how this golf season is gonna be different. I think this is a natural inclination for the sorta serious player. I am a Cubs fan or a Browns fan in that sense. Right as the weather is starting to flip, I always feel like this is the summer where I’m gonna be a scratch player, and I'm never not gonna be a scratch for the rest of my playing days. Everything is gonna click at the right time, and the muscle memory will be there forever. Well this notion has yet to come to fruition.
The swing plane that I had working last Monday is nowhere to be found the following Monday. The tour reads that I was giving myself the day I shot 79, revert back to bad reads followed by a tentative stroke on a day I shoot 85. The soft draw drives on the front 9 turn into leaky fade drives on the back 9. The same 5 iron that I just smoked a hole ago where I was 196 in, leaves me 10 yards short on a 184 yard par 3. The good-feel chips that draw a "nice play" from my foursome, turn into decelerating blades that leave me with 5 foot putts, which are naturally left to right slippery testers. All of these characteristics are par for the course for most of our games. I am not alone. Nevertheless, its gonna be another good summer in Cleveland, and playing some good golf will only add to the fun. I just wanted to get the ball rolling on this golf season with a couple thoughts, goals and action plans for this summer.
I consider myself an 7 handicap. Whenever anyone asks me, I say 7. If you asked me at 2am somewhere after some pops I would be a 5, but the general answer you are gonna get from me is 7. Now, see the problem with getting down from that 7 handicap plateau is that breaking into that 6-Scratch range usually isn’t all that complicated in my opinion. ALL IT TAKES IS PLAYING A LOT OF ROUNDS. Would you guys agree with that? That is kinda my perception. If I play well well on a Monday and shoot 81 and get to play again on a Wednesday, I feel like I'm gonna be in a nice rhythm stemming from Monday and hit the ball real well from tee to green. Especially if its warm and I feel loose. It will be up to jarring some putts. The more I play, the better rhythm and feel I have. And that leads to good play tee to green.
What's your golf philosophy? What are you trying to accomplish when you go out and play? What's make playing golf fun for you? Is the game easy for you, or hard? I have a hard time answering those questions most of the time. But I love to play golf. I love to play golf in a competitive setting, dropping and playing a couple balls, and playing with my terrible friends and just drinking pops and enjoying the day.
If I had to tell you what I'm trying to do when I play, I would go with this: I wanna try to hit the ball flush tee to green. I wanna hit shots like a pro. I wanna hit a 300 yard bomb off the tee. I wanna hit a sky high soft draw into a left corner pin position. I wanna hit one of those low pitches that go "bounce bounce" and check up real quick. I wanna be rock solid on the borderline hard putts. And I wanna go to the next tee and be able to hit the exact opposite of shots I just hit with the same kind of ability. I only wanna care about how I am hitting the ball. I don't want to care about how I am scoring. It's about swinging with me. If I am swinging and hitting the ball at a high level, I hope the scoring would start to take care of itself.
But that's a hard philosophy to maintain most of the time. Idon't get to play everyday. I barely get to play once a week. And when I play, I wanna score the ball well. I wanna take 10 bucks from my buddy or Dad anyway I can do it. It's hard to play when you lifted weights the day before, or played a couple hoop games that you're still sore from. At the end of the day, a 38 where you hit the ball crappy is better than a 45 where you hit the ball great.
I guess my point is that I would urge all of you to worry about swinging and hitting the ball well. Don't feel burdened to tell someone you shot 84 when you shot 87. How did you hit it? I'm the king of "eh I shot 42 but I nuked my driver all day." It's a great feeling to say yea, I shot even par today. But for me its about flushing every drive and iron, being smart with chips and making the putts you should make.
Pressing Issues for Me:
-Hybrid---I need to fill a ocean wide gap in my bag with a 3 iron hybrid. I need something for that 220-250 zone. When I am playing well, I can hit my 4 iron 220 yards. But I'm rarely playing well. So the hybrid is the logical play. FYI: They have great used clubs at Golf Galaxy on the cheap. That's where I am gonna hunt for a hybrid, maybe even a new big bat. My dad's buddy said he's found unbelievable clubs for less than 100 bucks. An R7 Draw and Callaway Fusion hybrid might be in the plans for April.
-Grips---I will not play a round until I get new grips on my sticks. The ones on there now are the worst ever made. I grip the club hard and I basically am wearing the grips on my hands after rounds cause they are so horrible. I wanna go with the en vogue country clubber grip. I'll have to get that from a guy who plays 5 times a week.
Tips:
-Learn to play well and drink at the same time--the guys that get asked to play are the guys who can play well while they are wasted
-Play for something with your friends--play for beers, play for pushups, play for situps, play for money, play for dates with your friend's sisters--Anything that makes you focus on the task at hand
Goals for this Summer:
-Win a huge partner match with Rudy Kirbus, with him making a 30 foot + putt to win it
-Play Sandridge, Boulder Creek, Elyria, Stonewater, Weymoth, and Firestone
-Make 5 birdies in one round
-Make 2 eagles in one round
-Shoot under 75 5 times
-Drive the ball over the plaque that Eddie Hills drove it over at Fowler's Mill
-Play with Larry Joseph and keep some serious heat on him for at least 13 holes
-Hit my 4, 5,6,7 irons really well
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