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

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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