July 28, 2018

Played in a golf tournament today at Traditions club in Bryan, Texas.

The event was an MGA event and was a Chapman format. This is where both of the players tee off, switch and hit each other’s drives and then select the best shot and play alternate shot into the hole. Yes it is quite interesting format and one that could make things interesting depending on where your partner puts you to play.

I played with a gentleman from the club a very nice man thank goodness because he put up with me for the round. We played quite well i thought except for my poor tee shot on 17, and 18. I also missed a few putts of 6-8 feet one for birdie and one for par after my partner hit a couple a great shots. We shot 76 gross and 70 net and lost both for second net and third net and also third gross in a score card playoff all due to our double on 17.

I have to say I hit the ball reasonably well except for ta few shots that it seemed that i took the club back closed and was unable to get it back square so i had to make adjustments on the down swing and therefore hit the ball poorly.

When i do keep the club square i hit the ball in the middle of the club and hit it well. However i have to get it in my mind that the club is square going back and not worry about what it looks like because i am able to release the cub properly and hit it with more speed and power.

I went to see a friend last week that we have known each other since high school. He is a good putter and i asked him to look at my putting stroke. When we were on the putting green we discussed many things as we always do and one was where are my eyes when i set up over the ball. I told him i prefer then to be slightly inside the line which would give me a curved stroke and not straight back straight through.

He suggested a string which i already have, ( however I have been to lazy to use) and set it up with one stake directly behind the hole and the other one in a straight putt as far as the string will allow which is usually about 8 feet. Then set your putter up and ball on the string which is about 6 inches above the ground. So with your putter and the ball under the string putt the 6-8 footers until you get the feel of releasing the putter toward the hole. As i did this I released i have not been releasing the putter properly and started rolling the ball very well. Then we went to the wooden block called the putting arc. This also allowed me to release the putter and therefore i started striking the putt with much more impact and the ball rolled better on the surface and didn’t seem to be affected by the elements of the green as much. I also had to learn to learn how to align again because the ball rolled differently and didn’t break as much.

I played the next day and putted well except for that i missed judged the break on many putts because the ball rolled so well.

As i have said before, putting is a great equalizer in the game and we should spend 3 times as much practice time on50 yards and in as the full swing. I haven’t been doing that and after seeing good results i will start working on putting again and of course the short wedges so that when i do hit a poor shot i can recover and keep a round going.