A bad round, and the greenside lob wedge pitch

     As I said in the last post, I played Windsor Parke a few days back with my cousin and two of his friends. Oddly enough, I'd played with one of the guys before. About two years ago, Ten Beers Over Par and I went for a round at Windsor and were asked to join another twosome. One of the guys had broken his jaw and had it wired shut. He was from Gainesville, Fl, 20 minutes from my hometown of Williston, and knew my old best friend's ex through her new fiance. Well, at the turn, we're having sandwiches and beers and talking about the course, and we realize who each other are. So, small world.
     Anyway, not a good round for me on a challenging course. Windsor is one of the top courses in the state-and Florida is a state known for its golf. Hit a few pretty good layup shots with the irons but the approaches left a bit to be desired. I only stuck three on the green, all with wedges. Putting was a different story; I had my second straight round with less than two putts per green and no three-putts. Drove the ball well too; although I only hit six of 14 fairways, everything was long and only once was I in serious trouble-when I drove through a fairway and into a lake. Really misjudged my tailwind and it JUST rolled in. I dropped, hit an easy sand wedge to about 12 feet, and nearly had a coronary when my par putt looped the cup before it dropped in.
     So, after my gut-wrenching 44 on the front, we played best-ball on the back, me and my cousin vs. our other two. We ended up starting off par-birdie-birdie en route to a two-stroke win. I did some of my best driving on the back nine, driving one green and hitting three over 300 yards.
     After the round, I went to the UNF Golfplex, just a few miles from home. I hit a small bucket with my short irons and wedges, then went to the short game area and spent about 90 minutes pitching and chipping. I found a shot I never knew I had: the lob wedge pitch. Works best for me out of the rough, obviously because there's a little fluff under the ball, but by opening the clubface up it's a perfectly useful shot from the fairway if you need to get over a bunker. Just lay the face open a bit, then turn until the face is perpendicular to the target line again. Take your usual pitch swing-try to resist the urge to cut across the ball or take a shallow swing, unless you really want to see a shank-and hit down through the ball as you usually would. The result will be a beautiful, high, soft pitch shot with a little backspin that'll check up a bit and is very easy to get close to the pin.

The Starting Line

     My problems in golf have always moved orderly from one facet of the game to another. When I started out, my driver did nothing but slice and I could do nothing but thin my irons (likely owing to the fact that I was 6'6" playing with standard length clubs), but I actually had a decent short game. I didn't three-putt until my third round and I chipped once every few rounds. Then I got lengthened irons (+2.5"; I was 6'7" by that point) and, though I had no idea how to control them, I at least could get the ball airborne. However, my short game went down the tubes. My driver slice didn't come under control until early this year, owing in no small way to my new Nike SQ SuMo5900.
     My game took a massive step forward just a few days ago as I was watching the Golf Channel infomercial for some club designed to teach to to get your hands in front of the ball. That's when it hit me: "Hitting down on the ball" is a terrible way to describe what needs to happen. A more apropos phrase would be "hit the ball earlier in your swing," or even just "hands in front of the ball." I went to the practice range that night and bought a large bucket, fully expecting to hit at least half the bucket before I was even close to comfortable.
     Couldn't have been more wrong. The first shot I hit was with my 8-iron. First thing I noticed was the divot. I can count the number of good divots I've taken before then on one hand. But I took a perfect divot. Ball had great trajectory with a slight fade, hit about ten yards past the 150 marker, bounced straight up, back down, and rolled about a foot to the right. I'd never hit a WEDGE with that kind of backspin. I figured it must be a fluke. I hit five more. All six were in about a 10-yard circle. I did the same thing with all my short-middle irons and my new TaylorMade wedges, the circle obviously expanding a hair for the lower irons and shrinking up for the wedges. My new gap wedge had about a 20-foot circle at about 125 yards. Outstanding for me.
     It's true what they say happens when you start striking the ball correctly. I'm hooked. Went back the next night and hit a bucket. Even off the crappy mats with hard plastic underneath, I was confident. Went to the short game area afterward and spent about 90 minutes getting used to my new sand wedge. It's a little tougher play out of the sand than my old Adams Golf cavity back, but it gives me a great soft pitch with even the slightest fluff under the ball.
     So that's Installment One of the Road to 80. Range tonight and a round at one of my favorites, Windsor Parke, tomorrow at 11 with my cousin. really excited to see if my new-found confidence with the irons carries over.