New Low Round

I bagged my session with Robert last night to go play 9 holes with Scott. He doubled the par 5 first hole, but I missed a short par putt and bogeyed. He got a stroke back on number 3 then gained another one on number 5. We were even the rest of the round, until a miraculous par save by me on number 9. I yanked my tee shot about 20yds left (again) and ended up with a pretty good lie going up the hill onto an elevated green. Opened the face of my pitching wedge and stuck it within a foot.... :) Tap in par. He short sided himself in the front right trap and bogeyed. I hadn't been keeping score, but it turned out that we both shot 40 for the round. I was very happy with that. Maybe I'll get with Robert next week.


Hit 'em straight,
Dale

A Little Fun with the Family

I know that the few of you that read this have wondered where I've been.....you have wondered right? I took a few days off and took the family up to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va. What a blast. They have all the Halloween trimmings and call it Howl-O-Scream. The decorations and effects were top notch. We rode all the roller coasters there, including the newest and world's tallest dive coaster, named Griffon. I must admit that I chickened out and didn't ride Griffon until Saturday. It has a 205ft vertical drop followed by a giant immelman loop, another 130ft vertical drop and a second immelman loop. It was an awe inspiring ride. I'm back at work today and ready to hit course sometime this week.

I do have another session with Robert this week. I feel like my swing is really hitting a decent groove lately. We'll see if Robert agrees :)

Hit 'em straight,
Dale

Golf Guide for Hackers

I don't have a lot going on today. I'm hoping to get out to the course after work, but it's supposed to be 94 freakin degrees today. Man I thought we were done with the heat. I know this is old, but it still makes me laugh.

A Hackers Guide to Golf
Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - How to Properly Line Up Your Fourth Putt

Chapter 2 - How to Hit a Dunlop from the Rough When You Hit a Titleist from the Tee

Chapter 3 - How to Avoid the Water When You Lie 8 in a Bunker

Chapter 4 - How to Get More Distance off the Shank

Chapter 5 - When to Give the Ranger the Finger

Chapter 6 - Using Your Shadow on the Greens to Maximize Earnings

Chapter 7 - When to Implement Handicap Management

Chapter 8 - Proper Excuses for Drinking Beer Before 9:00 a.m.

Chapter 9 - How to Rationalize a 6 Hour Round

Chapter 10 - How to Find That Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go in the Water

Chapter 11 - Why Your Spouse Doesn't Care That You Birdied the 5th

Chapter 12 - How to Let a Foursome Play Through Your Twosome

Chapter 13 - How to Relax When You Are Hitting Three off the Tee

Chapter 14 - When to Suggest Major Swing Corrections to Your Opponent

Chapter 15 - God and the Meaning of the Birdie-to-Bogey Three Putt

Chapter 16 - How to Properly Grip a Golf Club

Chapter 17 - The Correct Time to Fart When Your Partner is Going to Putt

Chapter 18 - Rules Interpretation: "Loss of Ball is Penalty Enough…"

Chapter 19 - When to Re-grip Your Ball Retriever Due to Wear

Chapter 20 - Explaining Lighted Golf Balls to Your Spouse When You Get Home After Midnight

Chapter 21 - Why Male Golfers Will Pay $5.00 a Beer from the Cart Girl and Give Her a $3 Tip, But Will Balk at $3.50 at the 19th Hole and Stiff the Bartender

I found this on a blog and forget which one it was, so I'm sorry for that.

Hit 'em straight,
Dale

Congrats Justin!

I like Justin Leonard. I always have for some reason. He's not the most colorful person on tour (Sabo might hold that title for now), he's not the longest hitter (Bubba Watson last I checked). Nothing in his game is what you would talk about with your buddies, but he is solid.

Justin overtook Jesper Parnevik on the 3rd playoff hole on Sunday, with a 10ft birdie putt, to give him his first PGA Tour win since 2005. This is his 3rd Valero Texas Open win, the first three-peater since Arnold Palmer in 1960-62. Justin was quoted as saying "...It's great company to be in..."

I hope to see Justin at the top of more leader boards in the near future. We all know he can putt...remember that bomb he drained in the Ryder Cup? :)


Hit 'em straight,
Dale

These Guys Really are Good

I saw that Jesper shot a career low round 61 on Thursday at the Valero Texas Open. Keep in mind that 2 of the par 4s are converted par 5s. Meaning that if you and I played, the course would be a par 72. So effectively, he shot 11 under. But that's not the reason I say that. Well its part of the reason.

I was watching coverage this afternoon and noticed that Jesper hit his L wedge from 110 yards out. Now his sand wedge is 56 degrees, so one would assume that his L is at least 60. I can only hit my 60 about 60 or 70 yards (unless I blade it but that's a different story) It just got me thinking. I mean we all know they are good, but where I hit a 6 or 5 iron, the pros are hitting 8 or 9. How cool would that be? I can picture it now. "Dale has about 170 yards to the flag. Looks like he's pulling out the 9 iron." I guess I'm just jealous...but they Really are Good :)

Hit 'em Straight,
Dale

I'm Back!

Well, sort of. After my horrible round on Tuesday, I went out and shot 42 with my neighbor yesterday. I only had 2 pars but nothing worse than a bogey. After the end of "regulation play", Scott (my neighbor) and I were tied. Since 8 and 9 are par 3s I suggested a 2 hole playoff.

Since I won number 9 to tie it up, I teed off first. 167 yards...6 iron. I pushed it a little right but it was on the green about 25ft from the pin....downhill fast putt. Scott came up a tick short but was putting as well. He left his first put fairly short leaving about 10ft for par. I put mine close and finished out my par to put a little pressure on him. He missed by a couple inches and tapped in for bogey.

My tee shot on number 9 was...well....bad. I pulled my 5 iron about 20yds left leaving a tricky chip over a bunker. Scott missed the green to the right leaving a slippery downhill chip. My chip was pretty good but I still had some work to do to save par. Scott's chip was nice, bounced it off the fringe to kill it and let it trickle down toward the hole. It came up about 3 ft short. I hit my putt to within 6 inches and tapped in for bogey. Scott had a short downhill putt to tie it up....didn't happen :) So, he owes me a beer....


Hit 'em straight
Dale

Dismal Round

I've been playing pretty well lately, so it was bound to happen. Its a known fact that you have to pay the golf gods back on a regular basis. You know, you sink a 30 foot snake of a putt for birdie and then double bogey the short par 4 2 holes later....

Well, it happened to me yesterday. I got paid back for all the good shots I've made lately in a single round. I have to say, it was humbling. I started off with a 3 putt double bogey and it basically went downhill from there. The front nine was a joke. I really got distracted at one point. So much so that I grabbed a pitching wedge to get out of a steep green side bunker. After noticing my mistake, I figured I could still get it on the green....not to be. So I went back and grabbed my 60 degree right? Nope...I spent 3 more shots trying to prove that I could do it....stupid, stupid, stupid.

I did manage to regroup and shoot a respectable back nine and finished up with a 92, but man what a frustrating day. Just goes to show, this game really is hard :)

Hit 'em straight,
Dale

We Won! We Won!

The US handily won the Pesident's Cup this past weekend. It drives me crazy that Tiger almost NEVER has a good showing in this type of event. I mean Tiger has the third WORST record in the Ryder Cup...Jim Furyk has the worst.

Mickelson pounded Vijay 5 and 4 on Sunday, which is no shocker considering the way Vijay ended his year.

Now if we can just get the Ryder Cup back......

On another note, I got invited to play in what is called "The Big Game" at the country club last Thursday. The Big Game is 2 5 man teams in a super 2 format. It means more to get invited than how well you play, but luckily I was hitting the ball well. I contributed several scores during the round. We did lose by 1 stroke, but it was fun. There was a big Calcutta event this past weekend at said country club where the winning 4 man team wins about $20k. I didn't play in it this year but maybe next time. I'll find out what the winning score / money was and post it later.

Sexy Patricia Hannigan launched her GolfGirlTv vlog last week. The first episode was basically just an intro. She's super cute and has a good personality. I'm sure she'll do fine. Maybe she and her hubby will come down to NC for a round this fall. Check her out at http://golfgirltv.blogspot.com/


Hit 'em straight,
Dale

A Somewhat Dissapointing 9

I have a session with Robert tonight, so I left work a little early yesterday to get in a quick 9. 1st hole is a par 5. My tee shot was down the right middle second shot just to the right of the green. Chipped on and 4 putted for a 7...what a crappy start. Next hole was a par 3. Tee shot just off the green to the left. Made par. Next hole...par 4...made par. So I was okay at this point.

I REALLY hit the ball well. I hit 5 greens and just missed a few of the others. There were a couple that just came up short due to less than pure contact. The thing that got me was my putting, which is unusual. I 4 putted 1 green and 3 putted another 2. I ended up with a 42 (par 35) which over all isn't too bad, considering. I didn't feel good standing over any of the putts. If I can keep hitting the ball as well as I did, I'll be doing fine.

Like I said, I have another session with Robert tonight, so that will probably kill my game for the next couple of rounds...hah. Maybe not. I'll keep you posted.


Dale

Arrr Matey

Went to the course and worked on my game. I was by myself and nobody was behind me so I could play a variety of shots. In 9 holes I shot around 40 again. I say around because I didn't really keep score since I had the advantage of multiple shots. I found out that I can shoot par there, I just need 4 or 5 shots from each spot :)

Arrr,
Dale

It be official International talk like a pirate day.

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Rackham

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

The FedEx Cup - Wrapup

Tiger won the FedEx Cup. No surprise there. He posted the lowest 4 round score in his career this past weekend. I really thought he might post the all time low but it wasn't to be. The scoring wasn't nearly as low on Sunday as it was the previous 3 days.

Phil didn't completely collapse the way I predicted, but he came close and was not a factor, so I wasn't too far off the mark.

Stricker disappointed me but he still pulled out second in the FedEx Cup and pulled down a cool $3 million bonus. Not too shabby for a guy who 2 yrs ago had lost his playing privileges.

All in all, there was some really great golf played down the stretch this year. The FedEx Cup seems to be here to stay. Of course, there will be some tweaking here and there. I think that there will be a bit more of a "penalty" for skipping a playoff event next year, but you never know.

I'm going over to the course this afternoon to see if I can hit 'em straight. Wish me luck.

Dale

I Played 9 on Sunday

My neighbor and I played 9 holes Sunday morning at his country club. The club only has 9 holes with 2 sets of tee boxes for playing 18. The greens are in great shape most of the time, even with the drought we've had this Summer. I don't have my score card handy so I don't have the distances but here's how it went.

First Hole - Par 5: Decent tee shot with a slight fade, middle of the fairway. Second shot was a little weak with my 3 wood but left only about 50 yards. Pitching wedge on the green and made a silly 3 putt for bogey.

Second Hole - Par 4: Topped my tee shot trying to kill it and only went about 100 yards. I hate when I do that. Hit a pretty good 3 wood to put it within 10 or 15 yards of the green. Chipped onto the green and 2 putted for bogey.

Third Hole - Par 3: I like this hole. Mainly because I usually hit it close. Not this time. Shanked a 6 iron to the right into a fat part of the "fairway" leaving about 50 yards to the green. Pitched it to 20 feet and made a nice downhill putt to save par.

Fourth Hole - Par 4: Tee shot was a bit low and the fairway is uphill...but it landed at the top of the hill to an almost ideal spot leaving about 180 to the green. Pulled my fairway wood a little leaving 40 yards to the green. Pitching wedge came up short, so I tried a little chip hoping to run it up close and save bogey. It checked up and I 2 putted for a double bogey.

Fifth Hole - Par 4: Good tee shot to about 120 yards. Water guards the front of the green, so I clubbed up to a 9 iron and put it on the left fringe leaving about a 40 foot putt for birdie. Got my first putt close and tapped in for par number 2.

Sixth Hole - Par 4: This is an uphill dogleg left where I always try and cut the corner. Pretty good tee shot that faded a bit but landed on the top of the hill in a good spot. Came up slightly short with my 9 iron. Putted it from the fringe but it was a lot faster than the other greens...and downhill, so it rolled of into the fringe. I did manage to 2 putt from there to save bogey.

Seventh Hole - Par 5: Tee shot faded off to what looked like it would be O.B. but it stayed in. 3 wood to 100 yards. Came up short with my wedge but putted off the fringe. Missed my second short putt for par by an inch. Tapped in for bogey.

Eighth Hole - Par 3: Smoked a 7 iron but the wind caught it and it just died. Landed just off the fringe. Chipped it really close leaving a tap in for par number 3.

Ninth Hole - Par 3: Nice 6 iron off the tee landed on the green leaving my best shot at birdie all day...12 feet or so uphill with little break. Thinking to myself.."don't leave it short". I left it short. Tapped in for par number 4.

Par was 35, I shot a 41. My neighbor shot a 40, so it was fun. My biggest problem on this round was coming up short with my approach. It was a bit more windy that it has been in quite sometime due to the recent oppressive heat, maybe that had something to do with it. Overall I was pleased. If I could string together 2 of those for an 82 I'd be pretty happy.

Dale

Tour Championship - Day 2

My predictions are working themselves out, just some are taking a bit longer than others. I went to lunch with my office mates yesterday and came back to see that Tiger made 5 birdies and an eagle and didn't get to see the round until last night....all I can say is "WOW". He just dominated the front nine yesterday, shooting an astounding 28. Even he couldn't believe some of the shots he was making. He leads by 3 going into today's round. I'm watching coverage now and he has started today's round with a par at the first 2 holes...the same as he did yesterday.

Phil impressed me yesterday and held it together to at least give himself an outside shot at catching up over the weekend. I still say that the wheels are going to fall off at some point and he is not going to be a factor. Bad decision taking last week off, though I don't think he would have made a difference then either.

Woody Austin is making a charge and could manage a win this weekend. He's 2 back at -11 after 2 holes today.

I do hope that Stricker ends up getting 2nd in the cup. That's still a $3 million bonus . $2 million will be the bonus for 3rd place..which should be Phil's if he doesn't COMPLETELY fall apart..which is always possible with him. Sabbatini may have a chance at third in that case.

As I'm getting ready to finish up this post, Tiger just about holed out his second shot on 3 and has a 3 inch tap in for birdie to get him to -14


Dale

The Tour Championship - Day One

After shooting a 29 on the front nine last week, Tim Clark follows up by tying the course record 62 at East Lake. I haven't heard much about this guy until lately. I know that he has good golf chops, I mean, he IS on tour right? He hasn't won a PGA event...yet, but he has had some top 10 finishes in some majors. Keep an eye on this guy, if he's got the head for it, he obviously has the game to go low and pull out a win.

That won't have any effect on the outcome of the FedEx Cup though. Tiger came out and shot a dart on number one, but before he could putt out, the horn blew for what turned out to be about a two and a half hour weather delay. After the delay Tiger came out and sank a short birdie putt and was 1 under through 1....good start. Second hole, par 3....another dart just over the flag leaving another fairly easy birdie putt....2 under through 2. Third hole, driver (odd choice for him) into the left rough but long, leaving a tricky short wedge shot. He sticks it about 15ft leaving a slow uphill putt for birdie. Bang, sinks it. 3 under through 3. Tiger is sitting at 4 under through 11 after the end of the first round. It looks like he's a shoe in for the cup.

Phil, oh Phil...my heart goes out to him. I did say that he was a choke artist didn't I? He screwed his drive on number 1 and then fluffed some sort of attempt at a towering wedge over the Georgia pines, chipped onto the green in 3 and somehow managed to save bogey. Things went downhill from there for a while. Phil was 3 over at one point but did manage to scramble back to 1 under by the end of play. We'll see what he can do today. I say that he winds up even par or maybe a couple over.

Steve Stricker is dissapointing me. I thought he would come out and give Tiger a run from the get-go. He missed a few birdie putts that he would have made last week and sits at 1 over par going into the finishing of the first round, today.

There are some notables that have a chance to win the Championship, Hunter Mahan is looking good again, Rory Sabbatini is 2 under. I'll be watching Live@ coverage today at pgatour.com Stay tuned for more updates.

Dale

Practice, Practice, Practice....

I've just started playing golf again after about a 6 year break. By just started, I mean that I started playing again back in April. I'm playing about twice a week with at least one trip to the range thrown in there. My girlfriend, Beth, has dubbed this "The Summer of Serious Golf". She's been great and very supportive. She doesn't even get too mad at me for stopping at the Golf Channel on occassion.

I'm working with a local golf pro on getting my swing figured out. His name is Robert Foxworth and he has been on the list of Golf Digest's top 100 teaching professionals. I got lucky on that part because he works at Eagle Ridge, my home course.

It seems that my biggest swing problem is my first motion to start my downswing. I tend to cast the club out and over the top a bit. This creates some crazy misshits on occassion. I've been working with him for a couple of months now, and things have progressed pretty well. I'm just having trouble getting the club on an inside-out swing plane. I'm going to post a clip from one of our sessions, so everyone can see what I'm talking about. Luckily, my short game is pretty good and I can still break 90 most of the time.

It seems like when I get one aspect of my game working pretty well, my drive for instance, I have problems with my approach shots. I'll get there I guess. My goal is to have a handicap around 12-14 by the Christmas. My current handicap is holding around 19. Living here in North Carolina, I can basically play all year with a few exceptions...I won't play when the temperature drops too low.

I know that some folks might think that putting a "due date" on a handicap is inviting failure, but I think that if you don't have a goal, you don't have anything to shoot for. I don't want to say, "I'd like to be a better golfer". I want to say, "I'm shooting for a 6 handicap", or whatever. Anyway, we'll see where this all leads.

Dale

FedEx Cup - The Tour Championship

The Tour Championship is getting ready to start on Thursday. Right now it really comes down to the obvious choice, Tiger, followed up by Phil and Steve to win the FedEx Cup. Sure KJ and and Rory have a mathematical chance in hell, but it ain't going to happen unless the top 3 decide not to show up or something more sinister happens(kidnapping, poison, etc) All kidding aside, I think Steve Stricker has a shot, but I don't think that Phil has the mental game to contend. I know that he held it together at the Deutsche Bank, but even though he's a future hall of famer, he's also a choke artist when the pressure is really on. Stricker, on the other hand, has really been a stellar performer in the pressure cooker. Yeah he shanked that tee shot on number 12 at the BMW last week, but if he gets a good start, he has a shot.

The FedEx Cup has come under fire and the only thing it really brings to the table is getting most of the marquee players in the same field for four weeks in a row. I say most because, Tiger, Ernie, Phil, and Padraig have skipped a week. How can a playoff be considered a playoff if you can skip an event and still make it to the finals? I've read ideas on other blogs on ways to force players to participate, like if you miss a cut or don't show up, you're out. The missed cut thing doesn't really hold water but I do like the "no show - no play" idea. I understand that four weeks in a row is a lot of golf considering the Wednesday pro-am events that take place and travel, etc. Maybe space out the playoffs with a week in between each event, or have a 5th event and have a best 4 event aggregate, leaving the option to skip an event if you think you can afford to.

I won't go into the $10 million "prize" ... okay, if you insist. The winner can't get the money until he's 45 and must not be an active player. I don't understand the "active player" clause. If the winner doesn't officially retire and moves onto the Champions Tour at 50 can he still not get the money? Can he retire and grab the loot then join the Champions tour? It makes no sense.....


Dale