Gen. Applewhite

Played Berkeley Hall almost 20 years ago and it was top notch. AA had lost my brand new sticks on the way there so I had to rent a set at each course we played. As if golf in HH weren’t expensive enough already.

Ended 2021 playing the best golf of my life. Was really looking forward to focusing on fitness and short game in 2022. I think the latter is what I need to make the next jump to scratch or better. And the former is probably just a good idea for enjoying the game for a long time. But I woke up on NYE with a stiff lower back that two days later turned into a pinched nerve. I haven’t been able to stand or lay down without excruciating pain in my legs in over a week. I hope I can get back out there at some point but I fear I have a long road of ortho visits and PT, if not surgery, in my near future.

So I hadn't broken 80 my last three times out, only been to the range four times this month, and those sessions were getting progressively shittier. I went out today with very low expectations, compounded by a tough course, wind blowing and greens running at 13. But I found my swing on the range warming up. Then I reeled off a stretch of holes that I will never duplicate. Hit it inside a foot on nos. 7 and 8, 4 feet on no. 9, 3 feet on no. 10, and 3 feet on no. 11. Every one of those shots was between 130-180 yards. I missed the 3 footer on no. 10, but converted the rest for four birdies in five holes. That stretch made the three straight 8-10 footers I left myself on 15-17 (from 220, 155, and 150 out of a bunker) seem pedestrian, probably because I missed all of those putts. Then bogeyed 18 to shoot even par, which is still my personal best from the II tees, so I wasn't too pissed. Bless my mother and wife for watching the kids all day while I played with my dad. I tried to use the "I'm on a heater" argument to secure another pass to play tomorrow, but I guess they don't see things the same way I do.

My driver and irons cooled off considerably this weekend, but I took it up a notch around the greens and managed to card a 74 from the men's tees. That ties my best score from there. I got up and down for par on the first five holes, then three jacked the 6th after reaching with a beautiful driver/5W (tough par 4). On 7 I one hopped an 85 yard wedge shot off the back of the green and into a hazard after catching a flyer out of the first cut, and on 8 I straight up lost my tee shot in deep rough not more than three yards off of the fairway. I made my fair share of long and mid range putts, so I know it evens out, but then I lipped out birdie putts on the last four holes, two of which were in the expected-make range inside 10'. I credit my focus on short game practice over the last couple weeks instead of hitting balls on the range. I feel like I've had the chipping yips for a couple years but now I have my confidence back. Being able to chip and putt the ball in the hole feels like a goddamned super power, so I think for the rest of the year I will limit myself to only once a week lunch time range sessions with any other days I can practice focused on chipping or putting.

I am knocking on the door. I was a 4 handicap this time a year ago, and have only played 25 rounds since then. That 1.5 handicap was built on the back of a few 71-72s from the III tees and a few 74-76s from the II tees. Even par 71 at my home course (where I play the majority of my rounds) would give a differential of -2.7 from the II tees. Biggest weakness in my game right now is taking it to an unfamiliar course where I don't know where to miss, but if I spent a few days at an easier course I am confident I could break par. I am still content with breaking 80 from the men's tees, so perhaps my other weakness is mindset. Hence the desire to move up and hold myself to a higher (lower) standard.

My home course (par 71) is 7160 from the back tees, 6650 from the men's tees, 6100 from the senior tees. I am down to a 1.5 handicap right now and I hit my 5 iron 175. I would say that for my handicap I have average-ish length with my driver (240 carry) but am one or more clubs shorter than average through the rest of the bag, even accounting for modern GI "distance" irons. But I strike it pretty consistently. From the back tees I would be hitting driver or have to absolutely nut a 3W just to reach two of the par 3s, would have little chance of reaching three of the par 4s with a perfect drive and 3W, and would have trouble carrying a hazard off the tee on the longest par 5. I rarely play from those tees, but embrace the challenge of it when I do because pars feel like birdies. From the men's tees I hit 4i or 5W into those long par 3s and par 4s, but still have no chance of reaching any of the par 5s in two shots. I hit driver on every par 4 and par 5 though, as taking any less, even on the shorter holes, puts me at a disadvantage. From these tees I am usually just trying to aim for the center of the green on the majority of holes, and the par 5s and shortest par 4s are my only real opportunities to have reasonable birdie expectations with a short iron or wedge in (assuming I hit perfect drives to get there). These tees are where all of the club competitions play from, and my dad, a former plus handicap whose game is trending to shit as he approaches 70, still always plays from here because that is where his regular games play from. He will be eligible to move up next year when he reaches 70. When I play with him, we go from the men's tees, even though I beg him to move up. Otherwise, I have really enjoyed going from the senior tees, even though I am still a few decades away from being a senior. GHIN puts my course handicap from these tees at 73, so there is always the challenge/reward of knowing I should be playing it close to even par. I still take driver on almost every hole, and there are no short par 4s that I can reach. But on most par 3s and par 4s I am hitting 8i or less and trying to make course management decisions about where I want to be putting from, whether I want to fire at the pin or play it safe, etc., and on par 5s, two perfect shots gives me an opportunity to two putt or get up and down for birdie. Having never shot under par on 18 holes, I recently decided that I should go Earl Woods on myself and play up until I break par. Fortunately, it took only one round from the forward tees (5250 yards). Even though I putted like shit, I birdied 16 to get to one under and missed short birdie putts to push it into the 60s on 17 and 18. That would've been cool, but I will take the 70. I have a couple even par rounds already from the senior tees, but if I get some putts to drop one day I will break that barrier soon as well. When I do I can justify moving back to the men's tees as the next challenge, but I think I will still prefer paying up, unless I am magically able to add 20+ yards of driver distance in my 40s.

82 in the wind on Friday with six 3 putts, followed by a 76 on Saturday with four 3 putts. Results reflect that I have only been going to the driving range so far in 2021 and have only four total rounds with limited practice on the putting green. The speed control was atrocious, as I actually made a handful of 8-10 foot par putts. Added an emergency 9 on Saturday, which I closed by dunking my third on a par 5 from 75 yards out. I don't recall ever having an eagle before, and this was on a hole I failed to birdie in 30+ rounds in 2020. My dad's reaction: "it's a good thing you didn't have to putt on this hole."

I worked at Shady in high school and caddied for my dad when he played in the Senior Am out there. Couldn’t stop him from putting off the green multiple times during the stroke play rounds. There were no match play rounds for him.

To clarify, I shot 76 and have been breaking 80 more often than not in the last 6 months. But I haven’t broken par yet.

I scrambled like a madman yesterday. Only hit five greens but was sitting -1 in the middle of the 18th fairway. Ended up putting two in the water from there and taking a quintuple bogey 9. Six months ago I was racking up 80s and 81s and couldn't bust through to the 70s. Now I am knocking on the door of even par rounds every few times out. It'll happen. I just need to learn how to close.

PXG fitting can was out at my course today. Hit a bit with them. They’re golf clubs like everything else. If they were fucking magic wands I’m sure we’d have heard about it. Speaking of magic, I’ve got a driver fitting scheduled the 23rd to see if I can replace my 913D3. Would be nice to rediscover some distance as I enter my 40s.

Moved up a tee today and shot even par. Was sitting -2 on 15 tee and barely made contact with a 5 iron, ended up with a double. Had ~15 foot birdie looks on 16, 17 and 18 but couldn't convert any of them. Finished right at sunset. Glorious day.

This was me at the start of the year. My grip had gotten very weak, which led to an open-face/hosel-first delivery at impact. The good news is I embarked on a total swing rebuild, starting with strengthening my grip, which made me feel like I had never swung a club at first, but quickly turned into tight baby draws all day long once I got my swing back on plane. It derailed my plan to focus practice time on short game in the first half of the year, but since May I have been playing the best golf of my life. The hard part was paying $12 for a big bucket to just go hit nothing but smothered pull hooks. Felt like a waste, but I was putting in the work and it paid off.

I second the P790 recommendation. I’ve been putting in a lot of work on my game this year, but new irons are at least partially responsible for the improvements I’ve made. I hit the P770s a few weeks ago and did not like them nearly as much, but you should try both if you are inclined. Not saying they are better than the other models. I’ve only hit the T200s of those you’ve listed. Just what I picked up and it was a revelation coming off the 20 year old sets I had played recently.

Nice work. I'm on 5 straight rounds in the 70s, including a 72 (par 71) from the up tees last weekend. I had a chance for my first under par round, but couldn't close the deal as I three-jacked 15 and bogeyed 18 after nutting my drive right through the fairway into a bunker. Couldn't make a putt to save my life, but I was absolutely stroking the irons. Looking to get out again this weekend, maybe at San Pedro Pitch n Putt before the game tomorrow. I'm enjoying these nice temps.

Consecutive 75s this weekend. Yesterday a hot putter kept me in it, but today it was ice cold until I rolled in a 20 footer on 18 for my only birdie. My index has gone from a 6.1 at the start of the summer to a 2.9.

It was a given that we had to remain respectful to the course, equipment, employees.

When I was in undergrad, the head pro at Bluebonnet Hills was an alum of my fraternity. For several years we would have golf events there at his invitation. You think alcohol removes inhibitions, try knowing the authorities are on your side no matter what. Zero fucks were given.

I was playing T-Zoids until January when I got a set of P790s. I had the full on shanks when they came in, and immediately set upon a complete swing rebuild, so I didn't really notice it at the time, but my god what a difference the new tech makes. I took my T-Zoid 7 iron to the range last week because I thought I had been swinging real well lately and wanted to see if the old blades really felt better on purely struck shots. But after ten swings I still hadn't flushed one. Each shot was clunky as hell. Immediately before and immediately after I was grooving perfect 7 irons with the P790s. The sweet spots on those fuckers are massive. I will gladly trade the purest of pure feeling a couple times a round for a perhaps slightly less pure feeling that happens on damn near every shot. And when you happen to miss it with the new irons, you can feel it wasn't our, but the ball still carries 90% of the distance and flies relatively straight. I am still rocking ~20 year old wedges, and an 8 year old driver. I will probably replace the wedges next. I barely played from 2004-2019, so the grooves are fine and I get plenty of spin, but I'm intrigued by higher CGs on newer models, and probably need to add bounce and change my lofts to get better gapping. 40-100 yards is probably the strongest part of my game, while chipping is unquestionably the weakest. A 79 today with 36 putts, in the midst of a gout outbreak in my right toe no less, is going to bring me to a 4.1 handicap. I have steadily improved since getting back into the game last year, and now I am better than I ever was before quitting. Hopefully I will continue to improve, but if this is just that one magical summer of Rona before it all goes to shit, I am at least enjoying it.

They are not ideal, but at some places they are a necessity. San Pedro actually does a good job with its grass area, and opens it up as much as possible. With the volume they have, it gets chewed up quickly. The other range nearby Brack has mats around a semicircle, and if you want to hit off grass they let you to go off into the hinterlands to find some space. However, it's like hitting out of the first cut, at best. I think mats do less wear and tear on my hands than grass, and earlier this month I had some right elbow soreness that I attribute to more frequent sessions on a lush zoysia range. So from a health perspective, I am okay with mats (for now). My complaint stems from how a mat hides your misses.

Speaking of picking up yardage, I just emptied a big bucket at San Pedro range and was working specifically on making contact higher on the face of my irons and really compressing the ball, rather than picking it off the ground. I figured I would start by focusing my eyes on the very front edge of the ball and otherwise swinging normally. Instant results. I was flushing it with a consistent trajectory into a stuff breeze, and straighter ball flight, all the way through the bag. I am assuming I will get some distance gains out of that as well, but it's impossible to tell based on these conditions Mats can be deceiving, but this session just felt different. And the primo new range balls they had were leaving marks right in the sweet spot. I need to find some grass to hit off of and really dial this in.

Cadet XL for my little sausage fingers

Just finished bogey-bogey to shoot 78, which is damned good with the wind blowing like it is in the hill country today. No 3 putts but could only get one birdie to fall. Lots of tap in pars, and three clutch knee knockers in the 6-8 foot range. After knocking on the door for the last year, 4 of my last 5 rounds have been in the 70s. HCI down to a 4.5. My biggest breakthrough has been switching to mid sized full cord grips and ditching the glove for everything but the driver. I seem to get a more fundamentally sound grip on the club without it (strong left hand, in the fingers, light pressure). Now I need to figure out what to do with the 4 FJ StaSofts I bought in May.

Three straight rounds in the 70s, including Sunday when, after notching my third and fourth double bogeys on the day on holes 12 and 14, I manned up and went birdie-par-birdie-par on the way in to shoot 78.

Today was an 18 hole shamble. We took 14 of my tee shots including all five par 3s (let's not talk about the four we didn't take). I hit 13 greens but didn't make a putt longer than 5 feet all day. My gross shamble score was a 73. We won our flight going away, and got into the modified alternate shot shootout. I have never played competitive golf so I had never felt pressure over a swing like that. I should have slammed a few drinks from the beverage cart while we were waiting. You can see where this is going. I promptly duck hooked my drive into the trees, and then fanned an 8 iron from my dad's ball in the middle of the fairway. He lagged to 4 feet and I sank the putt to save our par. He can't chip for shit, so deferred to me for the five-way blind chip off. I was lining up with my putter to cross 10 feet of fringe and 50 feet of green when the pro told me I had to chip. So I went back to my bag and grabbed the 58* (I liked the weight and had no confidence in a lower lofted club), but it checked up about 10 feet short and that apparently wasn't good enough. I am sure that 104 is coming at some point, but I am dialed in right now.