Golf Clinic #3

Today was the third installment of our golf clinics with the third-semester students at the driving range for golf fundamentals class. The focus was on our positions in our backswing. So they were looking at where the club was halfway back and at the top. I wasn't hitting the ball very well at the start of the clinic, and the student who I was paired with asked what my handicap was. I told him it was a 10 (in october it was 8.2, but in november it dropped to a 10, no biggie). So he tried giving me a few pointers to help me out, and then he had to leave early to go set up another clinic. There were some third semester students who didn't get paired with anyone because some of my class didn't show up, so another student stepped in to help me out. I met this kid when I came down here in July, so we just talked for a little bit about my swing. He asked me my handicap, and I told him it was 10, and the third semester student giving a lesson at the spot next to me stopped his lesson and came over to my area. He was like "You are not a 10 hdcp." I didn't know if he was joking, mad, serious or what, but I told him that I was indeed a 10. He said he'd been watching me swing the whole time and that I'm better than a 10 hdcp. He threw a ball at my feet and told me to hit it. So I had 2 third semester kids and another first semester kid standing behind me watching me hit this ball. I hit a beautiful high draw. The kid looked at me and again told me I'm not a 10 hdcp. He proceeded to tell me I'm sandbagging for gift cards, order of merit points, etc., but I kept telling him I'm really a 10 and that I'm not purposely bringing my handicap to such a poor level. His comments didn't make mad, on the contrary, it was a huge compliment to hear him tell me I'm a lot better than a 10 hdcp. So the two third semester kids told me to hit a ball at one of the targets. I lined up my shot and hit another perfect, high draw right at the target. Both third semester kids called over the two PGA pro's who were supervising the clinic. So now I have 5 people standing behind me watching me hit balls. The pros walked over, one of them is the same one who I played with earlier in the year, and the kids told them that I was a 10 hdcp and to watch me swing. I hit another flushed 6 iron right at the target again. The pro looked at me and was like "what's the problem?" So I told him that my miss has been to hit my shots a little thin. He had me hit another one, and he got a different view of my swing, and again, I hit a perfect shot. The third semester kids were just laughing in disbelief that I'm really a 10 hdcp. So the pro took note that my stance was a little wide, and that I have a little slide forward with my hips that could cause me to get ahead of the ball and hit it thin. So he had me put my feet together and hit some more shots to see if I could stay in balance. That worked, and then he had me take my normal stance and then move my feet a little closer together. So I hit some more shots and they all turned out really great. The pros walked off and I continued to talk with the two third semester kids. The one who started this whole fiasco told me he really enjoyed watching my swing. Again, that's a huge compliment. The kid who was actually supposed to be "teaching" me told me to schedule lessons with the pro who came over and gave me the pointers. All the third and fourth semester guys use him and he's supposed to be really helpful. So the clinic ended and I was walking back to my car and the kid who enjoyed watching me swing ran and caught up to me just to shake my hand and introduce himself. So even though my hdcp is a 10, I'm not in panic mode and worried about if I'm ever gonna get better. I know I have what it takes, it's just a matter of becoming consistent. I still have 3 more semesters to figure things out, and now I have another pro who knows my swing and I'll be getting some lessons from him in the future.

Gotta get this off my chest

I know you've heard just about as much as you can take about the Election. But since I have my own blog, I'm going to put in my two cents.

Disclaimer: These are the reasons for my decision not to vote. I am not trying to force these issues on any reader.

I've told everyone that asks me that I'm not voting this year. I've received much grief and criticism, but thankfully I'm stubborn and don't care what people think about what I say, believe or think. Just because we have the right to vote doesn't mean that we have to exercise that right. We have the right to bear arms yet I don't hear anyone yelling at me for not owning a gun. "Oh but our troops are fighting overseas so you can vote! You're a bad American!" Well guess what? They're also fighting for our right to own a firearm, our right to a fair and speedy trial. I'm not implying I don't support our troops in their efforts abroad, I do support them and I admire them for being able to put themselves in harms way for the good of our country, no matter where they are or the basis of why they're there.

"If you don't vote, you have no room to complain." I want to punch everyone in the face who has ever told me that. Why should Obama supporters get to complain when Obama starts turning our country on the path towards socialism? Why should McCain supporters get to complain when he digs the country an even deeper economic hole? Why shouldn't those who stood against these candidates get to complain? Politics is such a dirty, corrupt monster and I'm sick of hearing about all the lobbyists and "pork-belly earmarks" and scandals going on in Washington. Neither of the candidates will change the corruption.

"Vote for the lesser of two evils." Why vote for any evil? How can someone willingly vote for an "evil?" The two-party system is dead, and we as a country need to do something about it. Supporting a candidate who you feel is going to hurt this country is not the answer.

There's a lot of talk from Obama about our national debt being doubled since Bush took office. Has anyone taken into account that Bush had a war to fund? I don't remember Bill Clinton having wars to fund to take money away from the taxpayers. I know there was a little thing in the Balkans but that's nothing compared to what's going on in Afghanistan. Say what you will about how we shouldn't even be in Iraq so funding that was wrong, but going into Iraq was the right move, weapons of mass destruction or not. So shut up already Barack! Let's see how much money you spend when you let the terrorists attack our country again, because I don't hear you preaching about what you'll do about protecting our country. Ok, I think I'm done venting about this laughing-stock of an election.

Tournament in the Wind and Rain

Today we had our own mini tropical storm blow through just in time to have to play tournament golf. It was windy, and it was pouring rain. The temp was around 60, and the rain was coming down sideways. Definitely the hardest conditions I've had to play in yet, but I somehow persevered and tied for 7th. Due to the conditions, everyone played only 9 holes. I shot 42, and the leader, in my tour, shot 39. Even though my putting was horrendous, I'm still happy with the way I played in such hard conditions, and I'm happy I got more prize money. I played with some pretty cool fourth semester kids who kept me laughing the entire time. One of them was this big burly southern kid with a big southern drawl, and he was having a horrible day playing. He hit his tee shot so bad on two occasions that they didn't even leave the tee box. It was that kind of day for him, but he was just laughing about it and making jokes about how bad he was, it was a good time. I think he kept me from getting too upset with the way I was putting, cuz we'd walk off the green and get to the next tee and he'd already have me laughing with something he said, so I never had time to get mad at myself. Here's hoping I win more prize money next week...

36-hole Tournament

Today was the second day of the Playing Abilities Test. It was 36 holes over 2 days, and we had to shoot 156 or better for the two days. My Tour was assigned the hardest course of our rotation, and the conditions didn't make it any easier. Monday was about 65 degrees and windy. Today was 55 degrees with a constant 30 mile an hour wind. So it was cold and brutal to play golf in. I played pretty bad in all facets of my game yesterday and shot 89. The lowest score was 79, so that's an indication how hard it was to play. So after Day 1 I was in 20th out of 35 golfers. Today was just not fun to play in. Most of the holes were either straight into the wind or straight across the wind, never downwind. I focused on keeping the ball low so it would penetrate through the wind, and I was able to do that for the most part. My putting was good at the start, but it deteriorated as the round went on. I shot 85 for a two-day total of 174. The lowest score today was only 83, so I played one of the best rounds. So the final standings for the tournament have me in a tie for 9th. I passed 11 people today, so I'm pretty happy about that. I played with 3 kids who are in their fourth semester here at school, and they were all really cool to play with. One of them didn't say a word to me until our 15th hole. It was a 150 yd par 3 over water with the wind straight into our face. The first 3 guys hit their shots and they were all short of the green, and I stepped up and just hit a smooth 7 iron low enough to get through the wind and it landed on the middle part of the green. I picked up my tee and as I was walking off the tee box the kid who hadn't said anything to me said "You're gonna be really good when you graduate." I was so shocked he even said anything to me I just kinda stumbled and said thanks. But I'm really stoked about all the compliments I'm getting about my swing/golf game from everyone. So even though I'm not playing my best golf, I'm confident that things will start clicking. So even though today was extremely cold and windy, my group had a blast playing with each other. My riding partner was always complimenting me on my shots or the putts that I made. Most of the people I play with act like you don't exist and don't acknowledge a good shot or putt. So today was fun despite the conditions. Next week is just the standard 18 hole stroke play tournament, 1st place here I come.

I didn't get anything less than a 96 on all 6 mid-terms, so my grades are awesome, FYI.

Wow...

So today was the first tournament in our newly organized Tours. I was really excited to be playing with better competition compared to the other tournaments when I was in the lower Tour. So the best way to summarize my first 9 holes is with two words: Murphy's Law. Whatever could have gone wrong DID go wrong. My first 4 scores were 8-7-6-5. That's a grand total of 9 over par through 4 holes. Not good. The dumb kid who I was riding with kept trying to help me out and calm me down, even though I never lost my temper or hinted that I was going to, and I really wanted to punch him in the face. I never acknowledged anything he said to me regarding my game. I found out after the round that he got Disqualified, not sure why, and he shot 80! I was satisfied with that information. So I shot 48 on the front nine, 12 over par. NOT GOOD. On the tenth tee there was a considerable wait and my playing partners all decided to go inside and get a snack. I stayed behind and gave myself a good verbal beat-down. And it worked. I birdied 3 of my last 6 holes, including 2 putts of 35 feet. I shot 38 on the back nine, with a nice double-bogey 6 on the 18th. So I shot 86. It's one of those rounds where you look back on it and think of what could have been. If I shoot 40 on the front, which isn't asking too much, I shoot 78 and win my Tour. If I don't double-bogey the 18th, I shoot 84 and win 30 dollars in gift cards. But alas, I did not do any of those things, but to my surprise, I tied for 8th, and won some money after all. My first prize money as a golfer!! A random side-note, one of the kids I played with told us on the first tee that he is taking the PGA Playing Abilities Test next Monday. It's the test all golf professionals have to take and pass, and it's extremely difficult. It's a 36 hole tournament, and you have to shoot a total of 15 strokes over par or better for the two days to complete it. It's like the Bar Exam, because hardly anyone passes it on the first attempt. Well, he carded a 15 on the first hole and shot 94. That made me feel a little better about my round... Next Monday we have the Golf Academy Playing Abilities Test. They do this each semester so we get a feel for what the real Playing Abilities Test will be like. I'm excited to see how I do when I actually have a score ceiling going into the round that will determine if I suceed or fail.

Quick Update

Mid-terms have come and gone. Some were easier than others, but even the hardest wasn't too difficult. After all, it is a golf school :) The grading site the school uses has been encountering some problems this week so I don't know the exact grades yet, but hopefully it gets straightened out soon. I'd like to know where I stand.

I do, however, know how I did on the Short Game Skills Evaluation. I talked about this at the beginning of the semester as the only thing that brings everyone's grades down. Last Thursday was the Lag putting, Short putting, and chipping portion. We had 2 attempts at 20 foot putts, 30 ft, 40 ft, 50 ft, and 60 ft and the object was to get the ball within 6 ft of the hole or you lost 1 pt. The teacher had this portion set up on a downhill right to left part of the green, and I made an illustration of how it was setup below. If you made the putt, you got 3 pts, if you were inside the closest cirle, you got 2 pts, if you were inside the second closest circle you got 1 pt, and if you were inside the outter-most circle you got 0 pts. I got 12 pts total on this portion.

Once we finished the lag putting, my partner Pete and I moved on to the short putting challenge. We had 2 attempts at 3 footers, 6 footers, 9 footers, 12 footers, and 15 footers breaking both left to right and right to left. An illustration of this setup is below. For each putt we made, we received 2 pts, and if we missed we got 0 pts. This was the portion of the evaluation where it was a great chance to make up some pts you didn't get in other parts of the evalauation. I made 7 total and got 14 pts.

The chipping portion was on a seperate green out on the course, so once we finished the putting portions, we had to hike across the course to this unused green to start the chipping. I won't waste a drawing on this part, I know you're bummed cuz I'm such a great artist, but it was setup like the Lag Putting in terms of the circles around the hole. There were 2 holes setup on the green, one for the 60 foot chip and one of the 30 foot chip. The setup couldn't have played more into my favor because the green sloped back to front, which meant we were chipping straight uphill, which makes it easier to judge the speed once the ball got rolling, and my chipping style is to keep the ball low, and use a club that allows me to make the ball check, or spin, once it hits the green and then allow it release towards the hole. So I used my 9 iron on the 60 footer and put 4 of the 5 attempts inside 3 ft. Then on the 30 footer I used the 9 iron again and put all 5 inside 3 ft. 2 attempts hit the hole and came back out. So I dominated the chipping.

Yesterday was the second and final day of the Skills Evaluation. It consisted of bunker shots and pitch shots. I arrived early enough to get a feel for the sand we were going to play out of, and based on my past experience in this practice bunker, I knew it was going to be difficult to spin the ball because the sand is just powder. And to make things harder, the teacher set it up so the hole was 6 ft off the green on the near side to us in the bunker. There's a short area of rough, maybe 2 ft, a foot of fringe, then it's 6ft to the hole, so that meant you either landed the ball in the rough and take your chances on it chasing through and trickling on to the green, or take the high route and land it on the fringe and hope it lands softly and doesn't roll too far. We had 10 attempts in the bunker, and I decided I was going to take the high route. The first shot was our choice to use as practice or not. If we hit a good shot, we could take the pts and then the practice option was gone. But if we had a poor shot outside the 6 ft circle, we could consider it a practice and then the next shots would count towards the 10 attempts. Trying to hit the high shots is risky, so I took advantage of the practice option and just tried to hit a miracle spinning gem. As the ball took off like a bat out of hell and a considerable distance into the driving range, I realized I'm not Tiger Woods, so I adjusted my approach and decided to just barely get it out of the bunker and hope it would roll onto the green. In the end, I hit 4 inside 3 ft, and 3 inside 6 ft, with the final 3 outside the circle. I was satisfied with my efforts.

Then we had the same hike to the other unused green out on the course for the pitching portion. It was about 90 ft, and on the exact same line as the chipping portion from the week before. I just took out a wedge, put it in the back of my stance, and hit low chasers up the hill and inside the circle. I hit 7 inside 3 ft, 2 inside 6 ft, and 1 outside 6 ft. I was extremely happy with my efforts here. My two week total for the Short Game Skills Evaluation was 57 pts. The only score in the class that was higher was 63. That doesn't mean I got an A or anything, the teacher will have the grade scales for us next week in class. We do this same thing again for the final, and if we improve our score, he'll take that higher score along with 5 bonus points for the official Evaluation grade. If it's lower, he'll keep the higher one. So I'm happy with how I performed, and if I do better next time, great, but if I don't, I'm not worried.

Match Play

Lost my match today 2&1. Not happy. 2&1 means I was 2 holes down with 1 hole left to play. I was hitting the ball pretty crappy with my irons, so I was constantly scrambling for par, although if my putter hadn't been working, it would have been over after 9 holes. I made 10 of 10 putts inside 12 feet, and probably 8 of those were for par to halve the holes. It could have been worse, but it should have been better.

Also, our first official USGA handicaps were calculated, and mine is 8.9. When we played with the pro that first week, he put me at a 12 hdcp based on what he saw that day, but I knew I was better than that, I just had to work hard to prove it. So with the score cards I turned in throughout September, my hdcp was adjusted to 8.9. That was good enough to move me up 2 Tours to the Golden Bear Tour. I was in the Palmetto Tour, the 8th out of 10 Tours, and now I'm in the 6th out of 10. I know I'm better than an 8.9, so now I have to keep posting lower scores to keep moving up. No golf next week cuz of Mid-Terms, so I'll just keep working on the short game.