Two things that I’m certain of no matter how golf I play is that you have to play the course and the conditions as they are. The course has its own particular design and layout. The conditions are just what they are for that given day and even at that moment.
I tend to practice early mornings, especially on Sundays. In many cases, the greens are soaked and my poor little Callaway balls are rolling and splashing around while I’m chipping and pitching onto the surface.
This helps me accomplish a few goals. One of the main goals that I accomplish with this type of practice is that I can get a feel for what effect different conditions have on the ball upon approach to the putting surface. That helps a lot once we start to play on any course.
I awoke early. I did some dynamic stretches and came close to emulating a few yoga poses that have helped with my back and hips. I was ready.
Once on the road, I would stop for a large coffee at a convenience store on the way. No donuts on the menu for today.
By the time I arrived at the golf course, I was ready.
My mindset was focused on the selection of clubs and the Callaway Chrome Super Soft golf balls that I had laid out in the trunk. My stretching had my body ready for taking the club back slowly and swinging through effectively for my desired results.
Everything seemed in place.
Early mornings aren’t my best time to play. I think the earliest I ever played was at 6 AM with a 5:45 AM check-in. Even for Southern California, that was too chilly to be swinging any type of club for recreation.
This Monday morning was not chilly like that, but it did have residue from the early morning overcast and fog. Dew covered the practice green and surrounding areas. The dew on the green was so thick that the golf balls would make tiny streaks that laced their own trails towards the target holes during the practice session.
I focused upon my wedges. Short game skills can always provide you with a safety net if you can’t pull the rest of the game together. And, as one who doesn’t always have it together, I tend to rely on my short game to serve as almost like an equalizer for my recovery from some bad choices on the fairway and at the tee box. That’s not perfect, but that’s definitely something I have to keep in mind every single time I tee it up these days.
In all honesty, the sand wedge and lob wedge delivered the best results. One contributing factor could be the fact that the greens were soaking wet. Additionally, I used the pitching wedge first and followed that up with the gap wedge. Therefore, by the time I got to the lob wedge and sand wedge, the surface might have lost some of its morning dew and was pretty slick with melted moisture.
Short game practice today. Chip & pitch with wedges only. Wet surface let the sand wedge & lob wedge roll. PW got snubbed a few times but I see where it was headed ⛳️ #Golf#fitness#garminpic.twitter.com/TLk0iWlbkt
I took note of the conditions causing different responses to various clubs and I tried out some trickery around the target hole on the putting surface. Technically, I’m more experienced with the lob wedge than the sand wedge. Yet, I have a greater sense of touch and feel with the sand wedge.
By the time I play a full 18 holes on a par 3 course, I think I might just go out with an 8 iron and a sand wedge. I think that would get the job done and get me ready for another test of my short game skills.
The driving range is notorious for being filled with people swinging like crazy and supposedly working on their game. The truth of the matter is that we cannot be sure of what progress everyone else is making on the range. The only thing that we can be certain of in this regard is our own progress based on goals that we have set for ourselves at one point or another.
My range practice sessions are narrowed down to 20 to 30 minutes nowadays. I focus on specific techniques. I spend a concentrated amount of time working on certain aspects of my game.
What I Do
I have been struggling with my approach shots going awry. I take to the range lately to work on mechanics for such shots, especially with my irons. I will get ahold of a 6 or 7 iron just to work on those shots that need me to focus my address and alignment to a target. For those shots at 100 yards or under, I’m looking at where the ball is at address in relationship to my feet. I use an 8 or 9 iron for such shots, and then I do similar work with a pitching wedge or a sand wedge.
What I Don’t Do
I don’t take my full bag to the driving range anymore.
I will grab 3 to 4 clubs and use only those for specific time allotted. i don’t need a full bag of hybrids, fairway woods, and a driver. I just need clubs that will help me work on the specific aspect of my game where I need more focus.
I won’t work on driving or hit the putting surface. When I work on my putts, I show up with just my putter and 4 balls. I focus on roll. I focus on contact. I focus on the feel. When I am working on my driver, I am focused on tee height and following through with a balanced stance. But that’s not every single time that I hit the range.
Am I There Yet?
Practice is a time-consuming venture. It takes time to match up your progress with your goals. It can get to you.
I’m going to keep things consistent. I’m going to keep working on my game. I’m still a work in progress.
During the holidays, I plan to play a few rounds of golf. Let me be super transparent. I plan to play as much golf as I can possibly play during the holidays.
In the past, I’ve played a lot of golf, But I’ve made plenty of mistakes on my journey.
I didn’t approach the opportunity to play golf with the right mindset. Or, my plans didn’t work out with the right execution and the wheels fell off the entire apple cart per se.
Conservative play has its place in golf. Yet, sometimes you just have to be more aggressive. I’m going to take a few more risks, albeit calculated risks but still risks.
Being More Present in the Moment
Evaluations of my last few rounds show me that I start out strong but lose it somewhere around 8th or 9th hole. I can recall on the 8th hole of my last round, playing a par 5 with some errors and mishaps to nearly save par, and then losing my stuff right off the tee on the par 3 10th hole to end up playing for bogey at best.
By being more present in the moment, I can examine what I have to do and focus on execution. By doing so, I can also manage my play to better fit my goals.
It sounds highly technical but it’s primarily mindset. The game’s definitely mental.
Just Have Fun
I enjoy playing golf. I like it when the sun is shining off the blades of grass and the birds are singing in the trees near the tee box. It seems like you get a piece of heaven on earth.
When we take it all too serious, then we forget to have fun. We forget to enjoy just being out on the course. We lose sight of the reason why we even pick up the clubs. I think the Angry Golfer might get where I’m coming from with this.
So, I am going to swing like crazy and pop a few Advil and do it some more. I’m playing golf in the winter in SoCal. I don’t need to make big golf travel plans right now. That’s for the future.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – Robert Burns
After you play, analyze how you played. Take into account what worked and what just did not go your way. From there, accept what it is and where you are. Then, plan your next outing and attack plan.
Armed with an attack plan, I believe that you can see marked improvement after 4-6 outings of consistent action and analysis based upon an improvement plan.
Nelly Korda won the LPGA’s Pelican Women’s Championship in 2021 in a storied final round showdown in a playoff against Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko and Kim Sei-young. With all 4 women knotted at 17 under, the playoff made for an eventful finish. It was essentially a memorable round of golf and a definitive standout as a hallmark of LPGA competitiveness taken totally down to the wire. Also, it gave plenty of fodder for this year’s event as Korda sought to “defend the crown.”
Golf has a way of showing us what’s possible. You can have a round where everything is clicking, and then boom it can all fall apart due to an errant drive off the tee or a missed putt to save par on the green. It doesn’t boil down to a science. It comes down to simply how the course is played on that day under those conditions in that moment.
The game of golf will reveal to you (and the rest of the world it seems) what you have in you and how well you handle any and every adversity thrown at you.
In 2021, it led to Nelly Korda capturing the title for the LPGA’s Pelican Women’s Championship.
Back Again with a Vengeance
This LPGA event in 2022 gave us plenty to consider as we watched on.
Korda returned to the event seeking to defend her title. Lexi Thompson came back with her sights set on redemption for 2021. With Brooke Henderson’s withdrawal from the tournament along with her other recent withdrawals at the Scottish Championship (July) and the Lotte Championship (April), the field at the Pelican Women’s Championship still offered some stiff competition.
Round 3 was set to reveal who was going to take home the title.
Neither Korda nor Thompson seemed out of contention for the top leaderboard position throughout the tournament. Thompson (64 – 67 – 66) showed the world that she came to play and play for keeps this year. It just wasn’t enough to fend off the defending champion Korda (66 – 66 – 64) who won by a single stroke again.
Nelly Korda showed us that consistent play wins, especially when the pressure is turned up high. The buzz throughout the golf world and women’s golf focused on the rookie rally of Fassi and Corpuz taking early round leads. Much like Lexi Thompson, Korda just seemed to handle herself with a steady delivery of great rounds of golf each time out on the course.
There’s plenty of coverage of women’s golf these days. LPGA events like this tournament are broadcasted and streamed on TV and the Internet. People like Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek provide solid reporting on women’s golf and share the stories of the high level of competition amid the ranks of these golf pros.
For someone like me, Nelly Korda shows us how to keep our head in the game. Korda gives us a sense of how to raise the level of play that we need to bring to the course. If I could master that type of consistency, then I imagine that I could see a difference in my scorecard repeatedly.
Congrats, Nelly Korda! And thanks for the motivation to level up my game’s consistency.
Lowering my score is the goal. I’m here to show how I am getting there on my journey to breaking 90 on a consistent basis.
It takes practice to get there. It calls for focus. I have to improve my fitness. Also, I’m constantly seeking ways to motivate myself to improve at a higher level.
I had recently posted about Fred Couples hitting a 60, but I’ve got to say that I’m a little bit more impressed with Mexico’s Maria Fassi scoring a 62. I’ve got my reasons, believe me.
Motivation via Maria Fassi
Motivation comes from all over.
Maria Fassi just pulled a 62 as an LPGA player. The 24-year old female golfer from Mexico had her career-best score in the LPGA’s Pelican Women’s Championship. This 8-under scorecard earned Fassi a two-shot lead in the event.
Currently ranked number 72, Fassi scored her lowest score of her career at an appropriate time. Only the top 60 players qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship. Fassi is on the hunt for her first LPGA victory. So, playing bogey-free golf is definitely one way to get there.
I play a lot of golf with a woman who can keep up with and even outdrive quite a few men off the tee. She’s an avid golfer and plays some of her best golf when facing the chauvinistic assumptions of some golfers when we meet at the first hole to be paired up. She’ll play from the whites or even the black tees if need be. I play with her because playing with her makes my game better and motivates me to give it my best while we’re having fun.
Maria Fassi has a picturesque golf swing off the tee. The slow motion view of her technique is masterful. It is like a master class in motion. Her balance and torque combine along with fully-extended swing to bring about some big results.
Fassi’s drive averages just under 280 yards. Most weekend golfers would kill for that. I’d take a consistent 250 yards without any Advil, please.
Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson are two of my favorite players to watch tackle a course. They play the course and the conditions, approaching key shots along the way with a form of confidence any golfer could respect and admire.
What Maria Fassi did with her 62 speaks volumes about what is possible for any duffer with determination. Take out the cameras and the gallery following along. Just focus on the gamesmanship, the style of play at hand. Shot selection and self-confidence are all mixed in with a rhythm that just seems to flow.
Have you ever had that round where everything seemed to just click rightly?
That’s the type of motivation that keeps guys like me coming back for more. I’m not a glutton for punishment and defeat. I’m determined to conquer the challenges offered by the game of golf. This is part of the formula for growing the game.
I put together a putting practice session video where I helped me friend see the putt lines and breaks (I had way too many reads where I just could not make it work for me on the green)
Help me with my flaws. On my quest to break 90, I’ve done it when I’ve made the right adjustments. I just need to get to the point where I can do it on a consistent basis.
I need the feedback to fix my flaws. Help a golfer out if you would be so kind.
Like many things in life, we’re not ready to talk about this one yet. I’m going to need a healthy does of time and space. I’d say at least 24 hours. I think I can regroup and break down where I broke down and need to fix some things.
In the meantime, check out the Instagram page of Piped Golf with Mark Teran. I did have the pleasure of playing a round with Mark and his brother as my cousin and I ventured out to Cottonwood Golf Club today. Mark’s got an extraordinary story to tell and I hope to give you more of his story in another format on another day.
I’m regrouping. I’m recharging. I’m hitting reset right here and it’s right up someone else’s alley. I’m going to have to make a fitness turnaround within this equation, though. That can cause more delays in fixing my game, but the benefits will outweigh those delayed opportunities.
For now, just know that I am not ready to talk about today’s round like folks watch Disney movies and agree to not talk about Bruno anymore.
My play has been anything but consistent. I can admit that.
I need to get more consistent with my play. I commit to that.
I want to be that consistent player who enjoys his play on the course and experiences something good on the scorecard.
Journeys Take Time
There’s a reason why the tagline for this site includes my journey to break 90.
It’s a journey and journeys take time.
You don’t just walk around the corner or down the block for 10 to 15 minutes and say it was a journey. No, journeys take some time.
Journeys take time for you to get the lessons that they offer. You might discover some things along the way, but you usually have most of the takeaways towards the end and after the journey has been completed.
Consistency Pays Off (in the Long Run)
Consistency has a payday.
The problem with that is that it usually takes time for it all to pay off. The payday for consistency is typically in the future. It usually pays off in the long run.
You don’t just show up and (POP or POOF) it all works out. That’s not realistic. It takes consistency. It takes time. Over time, it leads to a payoff.
Seeing Results on the Course
You’ll get the added benefit of seeing results emerge along the way. That’s the beauty of the journey. You can see where your consistency has led to game improvement and where your inconsistencies have led to repeated mistakes and errors in judgment.
Less time invested means you’ll see fewer results. Add another day on a short par 3 course. Put in an hour or so at the driving range. Place an emphasis on your short game. Whatever you do, add to it more consistently.
MyBreaking90 