After a disappointing day on the course, I was on the range 24 hours later working on the (many) flaws that I identified in my game. As I wrote about yesterday, my long irons, specifically my 5-iron, and my chipping were the major downfalls of my game. Today, I exclusively practiced my 5-iron, 6-iron, 7-iron, and chipping, hitting 20 balls each with the clubs, and practicing 50 chips with my 56-wedge.
SW (+6): I was consistent with my SW, hitting 7 of 10 on target, shanking three (+6). Apart from the shanks which were on 3 of my first 5 swings of the day, I was happy with the way I hit my SW, getting good trajectory and hitting the ball on line. I will continue to focus on hitting this club well, as it will be used regularly both in approach shots and when chipping around the green.
7-iron (+23): I struggled with my 7-iron, only hitting 5 of 20 on target, missing three to the left, four to the right (+7), shanking five, and blading three more (+16). Only hitting 25% of shots on target was somewhat representative of my on-course results the day prior, where I struggled to be on-target due to pulling the ball left as opposed to shanking or blading my shots. The 7-iron will remain a focus in future sessions.
6-iron (+12): I struck my 6-iron well, hitting 9 on target, missing five to the left, and five to the right (+10), with only one shank (+2). Though I’m not happy hitting less than half of my shots on-target, the misses to the left and right will take minor adjustments, and only badly missing 5% of shots is a great result for my game in its current state.
5-iron (+9): my 5-iron was by far my best club on the day, hitting 11 of 20 on target, missing the other nine (+9), with no shanks or blades. This was in stark contrast to my results two days prior where the 5-iron likely added 10+ strokes to my score. With my currently hitting 5-iron off the tee, consistently hitting this club will have the largest impact out of each of my irons, so my 7-iron will continue to be a major focus in my game.
Chipping: similar to my previous day on the course, my chips were well struck with good trajectory, but I struggled with my distance control, leaving some chips short and hitting many more long. Towards the end of the session, I was getting a better feel for the greens, and look forward to continued improvement in this area of my game.
Overall, this was the first time I tracked this format, scoring a combined +50 on 70 shots, hitting 32 of 70 on-target, or 46% of my shots. Based on these results, I will continue to focus on my 5, 6, and 7-irons, PW, and chipping for the remainder of the week until my next round.
Breaking Ninety 