Fresh off my best round of the summer the day prior, I was excited to play Marlwood the following day with my dad. While my ball striking wasn’t nearly as strong as the day prior, I was very happy about my ability to scramble for bogeys on the day and shoot a 95 on a day where I clearly didn’t have my best swing.
Putting: while it took me a while to adjust to significantly slower greens than the day prior at Cranberry, once I found my weight around the 10th hole, my putting was again a major strength, hitting several 30-foot lag putts within a few inches to ensure a two putt. It’s clear last weeks practice had a major impact on my putting, so I’m excited to see the impact of spending 60+ minutes per week working on my putting.
Chipping: I was once again happy with my short chips around the green, hitting several flop chips and bump and runs to within a few feet for tap ins. Though I certainly benefitted from the slower greens, I did a much better job getting my chips close to the pin versus the day prior where I hit chips past the pin the majority of the time. I will continue to work on both flop and bump and runs chips after range sessions.
Short irons (SW to 8): my short irons took a step back from the day prior when they were a strength. I struggled with distance on shots between 60 and 110 yards, losing three balls where I overshot the green, and also leaving several shots 20+ yards short. A major priority for me is to get to a golf simulator to determine how far I’m hitting each club. When combined with the new range finder that I got, I believe I will have much better shot selection once I am confident how far I am hitting each club.
Long irons (5 to 7): my long irons were again a weak point in my game today, particularly off the tee. In addition to the pulling and tendency to hit my 5 iron off the toe, today I chunked the club more often, on a few occasions catching the ground before the ball, and having it only travel 50 to 100 yards. When I hit my long irons well, they have a high trajectory, a slight fade, and are fairly consistent in distance. When I’m not hitting them well however, I sometimes pull left, toe the ball right, or recently, chunk the ball 50 yards in front of me. This will need to be a major area of focus for me, as too often I find myself attempting to scramble for bogey due to a poorly struck long iron earlier in the hole.
Overall, I was happy with my ability to scramble for bogeys or double bogeys. My ball striking was the worst it’s been in a couple weeks, however I was able to make up for it by being very efficient around the greens, getting up and down from greenside multiple times. If I can combine todays short game with the previous days ball striking, I believe a score in the 80s may be on the horizon. It will be another busy week of practice at the range, and the priorities will be my long irons, chipping, and putting.
Breaking Ninety 