Stroke Saver: Save The Gear Money For Lessons Instead

It’s the holidays and everyone on the planet is trying to sell you a club that will lower your score. If not a club, then a set of clubs. The ads are everywhere with splashy terms and high tech names that will deliver amazing performance and blow your current sticks out of the water. The big question, how much better can you shoot and how many stroke can you save with new clubs?

For me, I’ve played tour blade style clubs since the beginning of time. My very first set of Northwestern Concords were a blade design, though a very cheaply made one, and I shot plenty of scores in the low 80s with them before the faces wore off and an upgrade was needed. That upgrade was my first set of Wilson Staff Fluid Feel Blades. Those clubs remained in my bag for next 15 years and never left it. I then made a short swing into the Ping S59 tour blades before flipping back to my Staff blades when I came back. 20 years later, my clubs were still shooting the mid 70’s and looking great.

Since coming back this year, I’ve upgraded twice, once to a used set of FG49 tour blades (it was time to reshaft my beloved Fluid Feels, but the cost was a bit more than I wanted to spend) and then to the FG Tour 100’s when I found out that both sets I had would have to be sent to the USGA to have them approved for competition. The 100’s fixed all three issues very quickly – they were new, did not need work and were already approved for competition. It was a perfect match. Honestly though, the play almost identical to my original Fluid Feel irons from 1989. Still, over the years, I have tried just about every gimmick, technological break through and new style of club that has come onto the market and never found anything that I hit any better than these old style tour blades.

It’s not that the tech can’t help some people hit the ball better, but the honest truth is that most people USE their new clubs more to make their investment make sense to them. In other words, if you go drop $2000 on a new setup, you’re going to go to the range more and play more rounds with them to make that seem like a great price. Truth be told, you could probably get better scores from taking the $2000 and putting it into a season’s worth of lessons with your older gear. There are definitely some tech breakthroughs that can be seen from a set that is a few years older, but if you put your hard earned money into your swing, rather than the equipment your swinging, you’ll see much better results.

Budget Beater: Black Friday Fairway Finds

GAME GOLF Live Tracking System ($109.99 – save $190.00) - Winner of a 2016 Golf Digest Editor's Choice Award for 'BEST GAME ANALYZER', GAME GOLF LIVE is the world's first automatic, real-time shot tracker for iPhone, Android and Smartwatch platforms. Track your on course performance and view every shot you hit instantly on your phone to pinpoint where your strengths and weaknesses lie. See how far you hit every club in the bag and monitor your tendencies off the tee and on approach. Compete for bragging rights with friends and challenge other golfers around the world to earn prizes and accolades.



Bushnell Pro X7 Golf Laser Rangefinder with JOLT ($319.99 – save $120.00) - The most powerful Laser Rangefinder in the world. The Pro X7 features incredible ranging capability (550+ yards to a flag). The Pro X7 is accurate to 1/2 yard. Features 7x magnification with HD optics. The Pro X7 is waterproof and tour certified.

Designed exclusively with the bottom of the cup in mind, this mode allows easy acquisition of the flag without inadvertently capturing background target distances. When more than one object is acquired, the closer of the two objects is shown on the LCD display. JOLT Technology eliminates all doubt by delivering short vibrating bursts to reinforce the laser has locked onto the flag. Use what the Pros use, feel the exact distance. FEEL THE JOLT.



M-Tracer MT500GII Golf Swing Analyzer ($129.97 – save $70.02) - Endorsed by world renowned golf instructor David Leadbetter, the M-Tracer golf swing analyzer helps you make positive changes to your game by providing instant access to swing data via a mobile app. This highly-accurate tool gives you a complete 360-degree view of your swing and provides insights that are invisible to the naked eye. The lightweight M-Tracer fastens to most clubs (putters excluded) and recalibrates with every swing. You get critical swing metrics you need to improve your game. But don’t take our word for it. Listen to Leadbetter: 'M-Tracer offers game-changing information — data you couldn’t get by just videotaping.'

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Equipment Review: Is The Snell My Tour Ball Really A Tour Ball?

When I first learned of Snell golf, I was intrigued to say the least. Any company with the heritage of Snell’s, is obviously going to make a quality product. The question that comes along anytime that a golf company uses the word “Tour” in their product name, is if it really is something that a tour player would use? First, take a quick look at who Snell Golf is, and that question should be answered. Then, take a look at what that person has accomplished, and the answer to that question is a resounding, yep. So, without needing to question the pedigree of the Snell My Tour Ball or MTB, let’s take a look at the performance of the ball.



Starting out, the Snell MTB is a three piece ball that is designed to give you top performance from tee to green. The low compression core give the ball a softer feel while providing a lower spin rate for longer drives. The “outer” inner layer, also called the mantle, works with longer shots on controlling the spin rate for better accuracy. It teams with a thermoset cast urethane cover to react with more spin on wedges and greater control around the green. Overall, the Snell MTB seems like it is making a run straight at the big boys of the industry, but it’s doing so from a $31.99 a dozen price point. That’s about 35% lower than the tour caliber balls from those “more well known” manufacturers.



Fortunately, reading about it on the internet is one thing, but getting the Snell MTB on the course is another. Being someone that is a fan of huge distance, higher spin into the green and that squishy feel when putting, I couldn’t wait for my dozen to arrive to take for a spin. Finally, after a few days wait, my balls arrived and I was off for a round with them. I played them side by side for a few holes with my standard Wilson Zip ball, and I can honestly tell you that the Snell MTB was a good 5 yards longer than the Zip. I was also getting a bit more spin on them, but nothing noticeable when compared to the lower cost ball off my wedges. Putting, however, was where the difference really came out. The Zip has an ionomer blend cover that has way more ‘click’ to it off the putter face than the Snell MTB did. The Snell MTB reminded me of hitting my older balata balls off the old brass Bullseye putters. It just felt right.

Scarier than the nostalgic feeling that putting delivered was the consistency in putts. There were no hot spot putts like I had experienced with the Zips, nor were there any soft spots either. I spent about 2 minutes putting with it on the first green before I had my distances dialed in and was ready to fly around the course. The 15 putts on the front side (including two that lipped out that should have dropped) was my best putting performance for quite some time. I blame this ball for that. It’s easy to say that the Snell MTB is definitely one of those balls that you should consider trying if you are in the market for a new ball for 2017.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to using the Snell MTB. First, there’s the availability thing… Snell sells direct, which means going online is one of the only ways to get these guys in your bag is to order them online. Amazon has the Snell MTB for $31.99 + $6.99 shipping. If you order direct from Snell Golf, you can get them for the same $31.99 but shipping is free. They also have a value pack with 6 dozen for $157.99 – or $26.33 per dozen. The 6 pack is a great way to go if you are looking to stock up on them, but you might want to order a single dozen to start out with just to see how they work for your game. I was pleasantly surprised by the Snell MTB, and I think you will be as well.

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Stroke Saver: Play Lift And Clean If You Aren’t Posting

Let’s face it, during the winter months, the southwest is the place to play golf. If you aren’t lucky enough to live there, you’re probably either preparing for playing in the wet, or shelving your clubs for the winter. Living in an area with seasonal score posting is always a bit rough, but if you are already out of your posting season, you shouldn’t worry about conditions as much as you should about just having fun on a wet and cold day at the course. The first way to start having more fun is to pick that ball up and clean off that mud before you try and hit it again. Don’t worry about getting out that tee and marking it, just pick it up and give it a quick wipe before you hit it.

Lift and clean isn’t something new, but many people fail to play it unless their ball is embedded in the fairway. I play by a simple rule. If the carts are on a ‘path only’ notice and I’m not posting my score, it’s a lift and clean round. What this does is it gives me a chance to score well enough in terrible conditions that it makes it worth while to get out and enjoy a practice round. It also speeds up my pace of play, by not having to hit bad shots because of a wet lie or muddy ball. Plus, if your entire group is playing this way, you can still play match play or an alternate scoring method and have a blast with it.

Next time you are out and about on a course that looks like what I walked through, make sure you take the chance to play lift and clean with your group. Everyone should agree it’s a much better way to play when the fairways resemble the lake next to it.

Equipment Deals: What I Want Under My Tree

With Black Friday coming up, the golf deals will be EVERYWHERE this week. Instead of my usual – found this great deal for you post this week, I decided to post what I am most looking forward to finding under my tree this year. Without much fanfare, here’s my top 5 gifts that I hope to find under my tree!

Golf Pride Tour Wrap 2G Grip Kit ($70.43) – As much as I love wearing the Wilson Staff branding on my FG Tour 100’s, the Lamkin Crossline grips that are on them are not my favorite grip ever. In fact, a set of tour wraps out does them every day of the week. This 13 grip kit comes with everything you would need to regrip a full set, minus the putter.



Putt-A-Bout Grassroots Par Three Putting Green ($36.49) – When those cold nights start at 4:00, there’s not much of a chance to sneak out for some putting practice. The Putt-A-Bout seems to be the best value green for the money as it offers a minimal incline to the cup without being so flimsy that it wants to lift off the ground.




Wilson Staff Caddie Tour Towel ($19.99 + shipping) – If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a bit of a Wilson Staff fan. Sure, I can carry an entire Wilson Staff bag, but something is missing without the towel. So, Wilson guys, if you’re reading this today, I know my wife isn’t putting this one under the tree…



Wilson Staff Pro Tour Golf Umbrella ($44.73) – Do you see the size of that logo! So, I play a ton in the rain during the winter. My black and white old school Wilson Staff umbrella is being held together by fishing line and some interesting stitching. It’s time for a new one and this would definitely be the one to get. Plus, the red color will match my bag beautifully!



Wilson Staff FG Tour V4 Utility 2 Iron – Stiff ($99.96) – So, not that I know for sure that I want to go down this route, but I need to find a more reliable fairway club with a bit more distance than my 3 iron. I tried the 3 wood once again this year and frankly, 20 years later, I still can’t hit a fairway wood as well as my 3 iron. The 18 degree loft of the V4 Utility Iron puts it in the perfect spot to fill the gap and the extra forgiveness of the hollowed cavity back iron should increase the ease of finding some of those tighter fairways. At least that’s the plan.



And at the completely obscene level of crazy (if those Wilson guys are still reading this – Hi Mr. Clarke!) would be a lovely Wilson Staff Tour Bag (with my name on it of course) loaded up with a lovely set of the new (coming January 9, 2017) Wilson Staff V6 Tour Irons. I mean, if I’m going to ask for the impossible, why not make it a good one right? Oh and again, if the guys at Wilson are reading this, remember, if the Triton wins Driver Vs. Driver, make sure you toss a head in the ball pocket for me. I’m only slightly kidding about this one, I mean, I love my Tour 100 irons and my F5 driver, but who wouldn’t take this if it showed up under the tree!

Playing A Round: The Most Superb Front Nine I’ve Ever Played

I managed to sneak off to The Golf Club At Echo Falls today, despite the windy and rainy conditions that we’ve had for the past – oh, 2 months – to sneak in a quick nine holes. It was pretty dodgy all day long as even as I went to the clubhouse, the weather radar was showing heavy rains in the areas around me. Still, it wasn’t raining, or at least raining hard, so off I went in search of getting in a walk more than anything. My plan was to actually play the front tees with irons only today – a theory that was stopped by the mushy yellow tee boxes on the first hole. Instead, I still hit irons off the tees trying to get some accurate numbers for my GolfPad GPS settings. I can honestly say, the numbers are starting to come in and they are starting to look really good.



Back to the first tee, and a blazing 3 iron off the tee. It landed a square 185 into the uphill par 4 and basically plugged in the fairway. My 100 yard sand wedge landed short of the pin for a two putt par. The greens were rolling smooth and were not hard to read today, so that helped on the distance putts like the first. The uphill, par 4, second was next up. Another great 195 yard 3 iron found the fairway leaving me a very short wedge into the green. A somewhat sloppy lob wedge left me 50 feet to the flag. Another 2 putt par had me moving on to the third hole. I managed to block out my 3 iron on the 3rd hole, but hit it so badly that I managed to hit into the area across the water. A light pitching wedge landed about 20 feet from the flag for another 2 putt par.



The excitement level picked up on the par 5 fourth hole. A gorgeous, 249 yard, three iron drew perfectly down the fairway and landed in a somewhat dry patch. A cut swing 7 iron faded into the green and landed about 20 feet from the flag. A quick two putt snagged my first birdie of the day. The par 3 fifth has been the bane of my existence at Echo Falls so far, being a hole that the first time I hit to the wrong green and the second time I missed far enough right to think I did again, but today was different. I took an 8 iron to cover the 170 yard shot, since it was a little downhill. I started the ball a touch right of the green, over the trap and drew it back in to the center of the green. With the pin on the back edge, the ball landed about 10 feet past the flagstick and stopped hard. The straight in putt was an easy one for my second birdie.



The second par 5 on the front side was up next. The sixth hole plays very short if you can make your drive reach the hill, so I had to play a full driver off the tee box. What followed was possibly the best drive I’ve ever hit with my Wilson FG Tour F5 driver. A beeline shot that had a slight fade to it, just like I wanted it to go in my head. It settled 305 yards down the fairway in a dry patch of the hill. A 185 yard downhill 8 iron found the back of the green leaving me about 15 feet for eagle. Unfortunately, I left that eagle putt short by about 10 inches. Still an easy tap in birdie to take me to three under was more than fine with me.



I’m giving the seventh hole it’s own photo here. Measuring 159 yards today, I blasted a nine iron off to the right of the green hoping to draw it back in. As I watched the ball flight, I knew it was going to be a good shot – just how good, I had no idea. What happened next was scary… It looked good from the tee box, but I figured it would be short of the pin, but I didn’t know how short. When I arrived at the green, I looked at the pin to see my ball embedded in the green, about 1/4” short of the hole. It was about as close to a hole in one as you can get without actually making it in the cup. After I repaired my ball mark, and the cup, I tapped in for a birdie to make it four straight.

From there, I pulled out a 4 iron for the tee shot on 8 again. I’m not sure why I keep hitting a 4 iron here, but I do, and it seems to work out well for me. The 186 yard shot left me about 140 to the middle of the green. A quick 9 iron our of the wet fairway left me about 20 feet. I was able to get down in two from there and secure yet another par for my round, keeping me at 4 under par. From there, the 9th hole played very easy in the wet weather. A 211 yard 3 iron found the center of the fairway before a 152 yard 8 iron found the back edge of the green. Another 2 putt par gave me my round of the year – even if it was just for 9 holes. A four under par 32 with 16 putts is about the best possible round I could ever hope for. Now, how can I top that?

Blog Babble: What Happens When Costco Makes A Golf Ball?

Call me old fashioned, but I’m not jumping on the Kirkland Signature Golf Ball like so many other budget golfers are right now. If you want to know why, I’ll tell you, but you might not like my answer. I mean, for the most part, people have loved these things as much as their TaylorMade or Titleist balls, but they are a fraction of the price, so why wouldn’t everyone jump on board. My reason is more about the ethics of golf than it is about my pocket book, but you can decide if I’m right or wrong all on your own.

You see, back in the day, I spent $3 a ball on Maxfil HT100 Balata’s that lasted me about 3 to 4 holes before my blades had scuffed them up and my driver had knocked them out of round. That meant I was spending between $12-15 a round on balls. Of course, Titleist began to R&D better balls and out spend Maxfli like there was no tomorrow, which moved them from the second place tour ball down the list to being obscure. Nike then blew up the market by getting rid of the “wound ball” and nothing has been the same since. Manufacturers have made balls all over the world and they have never been a higher quality then they are today. Of course, it’s that R&D that got them there, and when someone comes in with a clone or a copy of something that someone else spent millions developing, pretty soon, there gets to be a major issue.

That major issue is that those front running companies begin to cut costs to get competitive on price. If Costco can sell a ball at $15 a dozen, why can’t I get a Pro V1x for the same price? They are made of the same materials, and you have to figure that Titleist can make them cheaper than Costco can purchase them for, right? Well, as we saw from Nike, everything can seem fine, until it’s too late. Nike, the maker of some of the best golf equipment in the game today, with names splashed through the list of the best golfers in the world using them, was losing money. The R&D costs were higher than the goods they were able to sell. When this flips over, smaller manufacturers like Vice, Snell and OnCore won’t stand a chance. Even companies like TaylorMade, Callaway and Srixon will feel the pressure and begin dialing back their research to save money. What’s left is a void in the next generation of equipment.

We have seen a huge leap forward in golf equipment over the last 15 years. Where 360cc drivers used to be considered gigantic, now 460cc heads are more common than bogeys on most courses. Where Tip Flite distance balls used to be the number one ball on your local course, there’s now so many different ones, most people don’t even have to mark them any more. Call me a doomsdayer, but when Costco imports a value ball that performs as well as a $50 dozen ball that is made here, there will be a serious fall out to those companies that make the $5 balls. My issue is that Costco didn’t have to work for that ball. They put zero effort into it and have no idea what they are selling. Someone in an office somewhere said, “Why are we selling Titleist balls when we could make a generic and sell it for less, and make more?” They hide under the umbrella of “saving their members money” but do they really? For me, my Wilson Zips are still cheaper and perform as well as I need them to.

My worry with the Costco ball revolution is that other retailers will jump on board when they see that Costco is having success. Wait until Costco, Walmart, Target and a few other retailers start private labelling their own balls and see what happens to the market share of Callaway, TaylorMade and some of the other ball manufacturers. Many of them are barely surviving the golf slump that is happening and any further blows will just knock them out out the game. That’s why I’ll keep buying a name brand ball, to encourage them to research the next level and continue to grow the game and the technology of the game. Without moving forward, we’d never get any better and if we aren’t getting better, why are we playing?

These are just my thoughts on this and hopefully it didn’t come across too babbly, but remember, when you don’t purchase (even a low end model) from someone that is developing what’s next, you might not have an opportunity to do it the next time you want to.

Budget Beater: Don’t Let Wet Ruin Your Round

Making winter play happen isn’t always easy, but if you live somewhere that isn’t covered in that white stuff for the next 3 months, you can use a few of these little tips to make the most of a wet weather round – whether it’s falling from the sky or embedded in the fairway.

Get a cheaper or used ball – Let’s be honest… Playing in cold, wet weather does not require a brand new Titleist Pro V1x to shoot down the fairway. Instead, pick up a dozen Reload Pro V1x’s for about 40% of the regular price and shoot with those when the conditions won’t let you put in an optimal round. You’ll find that you’ll end up losing more balls that plug in the fairway,. so why offer up $4 a ball that could only last a few shots on course. Also, with those soft greens and the cold weather, you might even want to try a softer compression ball like the $.86 a ball Wilson Staff Zips.

Get good shoes – This should be a tip for the entire year, but there is nothing more important during the wet winter months than wearing shoes that will keep your feet dry and comfortable. It’s equally important to check the spikes on your shoes after the long summer season. Most people perform their maintenance in the spring, right before the season starts, but it’s a great idea to replace spikes and check grips before the wettest part of the year sets in. I’ll cover more on the grips next, but if your spikes are worn, you’ll have no shot of keeping a stable footing on the saturated teeboxes or fairways.

Check your grips – Again, it seems backwards to look at an equipment change when you won’t use them as much, but hear me out. During the winter months, your grips will be tested harder than any other time during the year. Cold, wet weather is brutal on them, but they will only be used a few times during the off season, which is why it’s the best time to regrip them. The softer, newer rubber on a set of new grips will help you maintain control of your clubs in the wetter weather and will easily last through the following season unless you are playing 20-30 rounds over the winter months. This will also give you a great opportunity to get a feel of the new grips before tournament season starts next season. Remember, you don’t have to spend a ton to find your grip, you just need to shop around a bit and not just buy something because you need it.

Make some hand warmers – Cold weather play can be down right sucky when you get down to it, but a few simple items can really help make it a bit nicer. One of these is a homemade hand warmer set that you can take with you out on the course. These are one of the most simple pieces to make, using just a small amount of fabric, some rice and a spice or essential oil of your choice on them. What you will do is make a ‘bag’ with one end open out of the fabric – someone that can sew is very helpful with this step, so if you aren’t sure how – get some help here. If you stitch from the inside of the bag, you can flip it inside out and have a nice clean bag on the outside. Leave one end of the bag open and fill it with the rice and some spice like cinnamon (unless you will be using oils instead) and then stitch the bag closed. Before your round starts, have the restaurant at the course microwave your warmers for you for a minute or two and go hit the front nine with nice warm pockets for your hands to go in. After the front side, swing back into the restaurant and do it again – and maybe grab a coffee to enjoy as well.

Spray your bag with waterproofing spray – Something like the Kiwi Heavy Duty Water Repellant will really help keep what’s in your bag dry when you need it to be. Most bags start off being waterproof or at the very least, water resistant. The problem is after a long summer or a few long summers, the fabric starts to break down and seams start to wear out. A simple empting of the bag and a quick spray down of the entire thing with a good water proofing spray will help keep your gear dry even in the wettest conditions. Just remember to let it dry completely before you put everything back in.

There’s a few simple ways to get a bit more enjoyment out of your cold, wet rounds this winter. If you have any questions about getting more from your winter golf practice, ask away in the comments below!

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Blog Babble: A Shameless Plug For Essential Oils

A few years ago, my wife got involved with one of those groups that convinces you to purchase some miracle cures for just about anything can be found in a little bottle of liquid. Needless to say, I let her order a few hundred dollars of this stuff just to see what all the hub-bub was about. What arrived was simply amazing. Little tiny bottles of Lavender, Peppermint and Lemon oils. I was immediately online reading about how Lavender oil could be used to make itches go away, provide relief to burns and even help reduce the appearance of scars. I grabbed her little catalog and found a few more that were must haves and ordered those up. Over these last 2 years, our over the counter medicine use has drastically dropped to the point where I pretty much have ibuprofen and DayQuil in my medicine cabinet. Virtually everything else is treaded with a diffuser or a roll on oil mix.

When Plant Therapy offered me the ability to share this content with everyone reading this blog, I felt genuinely excited about it. I mean, honestly, I can barely say how amazing essential oils are and how feeling better can improve not only yourself, but also your golf game. For example, if you are one of those golfers that gets those “neck sunburns” every time you hit the course, that lavender oil sure could help you feel better faster. If you have those muscle aches after your weekend round, the Muscle-Aid Synergy Blend can help ease those pains and get you ready for the next day. If you need a bit of a mental boost before the round, the Energy Synergy Blend is designed to make you more alert and focused. It revitalizes you and gets you ready for a great day.



If you are more of the household user, the cleaning set that is pictured above is an excellent way to eliminate some of the chemical cleaners that aren’t quite so environmentally friendly. By blending some of the oils in this kit together, you can create powerful, earth friendly cleaners for just about anything in your home. Oils aren’t just for cleaning though, using them in a diffuser will help change the mood of a room or even help you relax with just the tap of a button. With the seasonal scents that are offered for diffusing, you can even get away with using a plastic tree while still enjoying smell of a fresh cut pine tree. That’s enough of the home, cleaning and chores talk, let’s get back to how these guys can help your golf game.

As I mentioned above, recovering from sore muscles is simple with Plant Therapy products. The Muscle Aloe Jelly can replace those horrible smelling pain rubs like Icy/Hot and Ben Gay with something that is much more gentle on your body. If you need something with a bit more kick, the Muscle-Aid Synergy Blend can be mixed with a carrier oil like coconut or tea tree oil for an even more powerful, longer lasting form of relief.  If your suffering from more of a pre-round energy problem during these dank winter rounds, the Energy Synergy Blend is a great way to get yourself a bit of a boost without sugar or caffeine. Just roll some of the blood orange/peppermint/lemon/ginger mix on your wrist and continue to inhale it before you start your round. If you’re on the flip side to that group and need something to calm the nerves a bit before you hit the first tee box, hitting up that lavandin oil is a great way to go. Just placing a small amount of diluted lavandin on your wrist will allow you to relax and settle in for that first drive, no matter how many people are going to be watching. Just apply it before you leave for the course, and then renew the application as needed throughout your round. The final oil blend that is a great one to have in the bag is the Nature Shield Synergy Blend. This is an all natural blend that will replace those horrible smelling chemicals you carry in your bag to keep the pesky mosquitos and other bugs off you during your round. The best part is, most of these are available in pre-diluted roll-ons that will carry easily in your bag.

Like I said, when all this oil stuff started, I was as skeptical as most, if not more so. Over the last few years though, I’ve become quite a fan. If you think you could benefit from pumping up your energy level naturally or by ditching those smelly chemical recovery ointments, take a quick visit to the Plant Therapy website and get started today. It may be the start of ditching some issues that plague your game – or maybe they will just make you smell a bit better to the others in your group. Either way, it’s a win-win! I want to thank Plant Therapy for allowing me to post this and thank you in advance if you try these products. I make a small commission on each sale that I make through these links, which will help fund more golfing adventures and purchase products for testing. I can’t thank you enough for giving them a try if you choose to do so. Oh, and did I mention that all orders ship for free? Happy holidays everyone!

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The Journey To Scratch: It’s Time To Get In Shape

Wow, what a year it has been. From getting back into golf to spend some time with my dad to overhauling my game and shaving 12 points from my handicap, it’s been a crazy journey. Now, with my game almost back to where it needs to be, it’s time to make myself over to where I can play more golf, more consistently. To put things in a nutshell, I’m not your prototypical golfer by any means, nor is the amount of weight that I lug around the course with me. That is all about to change though as I start my winter efforts at dropping a good chunk of the extra padding before the spring golf season rolls around. With some dates already penned in for next year, I only have so long to get this done before real tournaments start, and I’m hoping to have you all along for the ride.

Right now, I figure I need to drop 60 pounds to feel good on the course and I have room for even more as I get down to my first goal weight. Once I’m there, I believe I will be at a point where my flexibility will be back far enough that I can challenge some of the 7500 yard courses that host the major amateur tournaments. It’s going to be a big part of my journey, and a necessary one if I want to play golf long into my ‘retirement’ age. Without making some of these moves now, the knees will start to go faster, flexibility will disappear completely and who knows if I will even ‘feel’ like playing later on. I’ve done this type of thing before, and this probably won’t be my last time doing it, but for now, the simple plan of eating more good foods than bad and getting out and about should get me there.

So follow along with my new “quest” that runs along side my Journey To Scratch, in my Drop 60 posts. I’ll try and post them each Wednesday just to keep additional content flowing daily. This will put me publishing Equipment Deals on Monday, Stroke Savers on Tuesday, Drop 60 on Wednesday and Budget Beaters on Fridays. I’ll also post my Playing A Rounds and Blog Babbles as I get something to post on those! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to root me on to the PNGA Mid-Amateur next fall and maybe the USGA Mid-Am next summer!

Stroke Saver: Tee It Higher In Wet Weather

During the summer months, I tee the ball pretty low to the ground, especially with irons. This is a great plan when I’m running a 3 iron out 220 yards off the tee and want a bit of roll out of it, but during the wetter months, everything seems to shorten up a bit and that 3 iron ends up well short of that. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for this. When you hit your long irons or hybrids more like that oversized driver, the ball will carry more and roll less. Some call this catching it on the upswing, but I just call it teeing it higher.

The overall ball position won’t vary much from you standard long iron position. The ball may move slightly forward if you normally play it back, but overall, nothing will really change with your swing except for one key point, you’ll try to catch the ball after the low point of your swing. Normally with irons, I try to catch the ball just before the bottom of the swing. For my “higher ball flight” wet weather shots, I’ll try to let me swing bottom out and then clip the ball on the way back up. This is not a monumental change, but a minute one. If you move the ball too far forward, you will immediately see either a pull hook or a slice depending on the angle of the face at impact.

This is also a great shot to have in the bag for uphill par 3’s and shorter par 4’s that put a premium on high, accurate tee shots. The next time you make it to the range, try teeing the ball up about 1/4” higher than normal and moving it up in your stance about a ball or two and see if this shot works with your swing. The extra carry you get during these cold, wet, winter days may be enough to help you keep that even par round a reality during the winter.

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Playing A Round: The Golf Club At Echo Falls–Snohomish, WA

I’m changing up from my usual Friday Budget Beater this week in favor of getting in a quick nine holes. I love sneaking in a round when I can, but it doesn’t happen that the weather lines up with some time off, but it just happened to today. It’s always fun to get in a quick nine after work, or maybe on a lazy afternoon, but getting a quick nine and shooting well is even better. Yesterday I was lucky enough to have both happen to me in a great round at The Golf Club At Echo Falls. While the course was definitely in winter play conditions after the record rainfall we had in October, besides the wet fairways and mucky rough, the course has actually held up rather well. I would say a few weeks of dry weather and it will be back in top shape in no time at all. All things considered, for a quick afternoon sneak in, this round played out about as well as I could have hoped. In my two hour afternoon break, I was able to sneak in an even par 36 on the tough front side at Echo Falls.



The first hole started out with a great 263 yard drive, that drew into the left center of the fairway. It probably would have been much worse off, but the wet fairway held the ball and didn’t allow it to roll down the slope into the rough. A 51 yard lob wedge found the front of the green and a two putt from 30 feet landed me a par on the first hole. The par 4 second is a short, but uphill hole that only measures 265 yards from the white tees. With the hill though, the hole plays much longer. In fact, my solid drive up the hill only made it 221 yards, leaving me a 41 yard lob wedge to the green. I misjudged the distance off the hill to the green and left my self a 45 footer for birdie. Another 2 putt let me escape even par after two. Ah, now to the third hole, the hardest easy hole that I have ever played. This hole is short, measuring only 258 from the white tees. The problem with this hole is that there is a ton of trouble on it. From the water that runs the right side to the trees that line the left, there’s not much room for error. Then you finally find the green which has enough hardened bunkers around it to scare off most folks. Well, my drive was about as good as possible, finding the front center bunker on the green. A quick shot out with my lob wedge and another two putt and I was off to the 4th, still even.



The fourth is another one of those sneaky holes that requires more targeting than distance. As you hit your drive down the fairway, there’s not much in the way of trouble. A left center drive is best, but going right won’t penalize you much. My drive drifted to the right side of the fairway and came up much shorter than I expected, coming in at only 234 yards. I had a possible shot into the green with a 3 iron, but when I struck the ball, it pushed down into the soft fairway and only travelled 153 yards. Again, a 61 yard lob wedge played into the green where a 2 putt left me an easy par. I’m just going to go on record right now as saying that I don’t like the fifth hole. This annoying little par 3 only plays 160 yards, but it seems to be the hardest hole on the planet for me to play. Once again, it played tough for me today. My 7 iron off the tee drifted right and ended up almost closer to the 13th green than the 5th. A great lob wedge over to the green left me a 5 foot putt for par and another hole of even golf. On the long, downhill sixth hole, my drive found the center of the fairway and actually rolled out to 277 yards. It was definitely the most solid strike of the day. I took my gap wedge from there to lay up as the landing area near the green was very tight and if one went left on a day like this, the ball would be lost forever in the soft rough. My layup landed almost where I wanted it, but was actually a bit close for what I was trying. A 61 yard lob wedge found the front edge of the green, but left me a 57 foot putt. Fortunately, my putter was still hot and I ran the 57 footer to a few feet away and tapped in for par. This left me even par after 6.



I stepped up to the final three holes feeling pretty confident about the nine. Drives were going well, irons weren’t bad given the conditions and my putting was strong. It was obvious to me that I needed to work on my mid wedges a bit, but overall, for a wet November round, my game was about as on as it could be. The par 3 seventh drove me insane. Again, an easy shot to a large landing area should make for an easy hole. What it ended up being was an 8 iron into the side bunker, then a brilliant sand shot and one putt for par. That’s just the kind of day it had been. The slightly up hill eighth hole left me feeling a bit strange off the tee, so I thought I would try something new and hit a 4 iron off of it to see what it would do. Of course, trying to get stats on it let me over swing a touch, which caused me to fan the shot right and lose a ton of distance. I tried to hit it again on the next shot, but hitting it out of the rough was more like hitting it out of a puddle today. Needless to say, I was 60 yards out on my third shot. I popped another lob wedge close and somehow drained the 35 foot putt (I’m still not sure how it went it, but it did) and made yet another par. The ninth hole was set up perfectly for my driver swing today, even though I didn’t need that much distance from the white tees. A slight draw, just to the right of the big tree in the center of the image above would be a perfect shot. What ended up happening is a 295 yard drive that found its way past the tree and in a perfect line to the green. A 58 yard lob wedge and a 2 putt from 57 feet and the round was done and I had finished at even par.

If I were to take anything away from this round, it’s that I need to work on those shorter irons and really put some effort into my sub 60 yard wedge game. Other than that, continuing to work on my putting and getting used to the F5 driver will be the big areas of focus over the winter. I will be sneaking in as many rounds as the weather allows at Echo Falls over the next few months. The course is close enough for me to sneak in 9 after an early day at work and also that if the weather is good enough to get in a round that I can do that without much planning. I’ll be continuing my drive to becoming a scratch handicap next spring, hopefully, with quite a bit of practice over the winter. Let’s just hope it’s not as wet as the record setting October we just had!

Stroke Saver: Pinch The Ball To Get More Stick

During my weekend round on Sunday, I made a conscious effort to begin moving the ball a touch further back in my stance on my wedges. The results far exceeded my expectations. Not only did the move back create a descending blow into the ball, which creates more spin, but it also changed the trajectory of the ball from a hump to a drop. What I mean by drop instead of hump is rather simple. The arc of a typical wedge looks very similar to the blue pattern below. If you were to split it in half, it would be almost identical in each half. The end of the flight would be a bit more drop as ball speed falls and gravity kicks in, but overall, it’s a very smooth pattern.



The red line above represents a downward blow onto the ball. Even with the club delofted slightly at impact, the ball spins off the face at a higher launch angle and will come into the green at a much steeper approach angle. This means your ball will be able to start holding those faster, harder greens in the summer, and during these wetter fall and winter months, you ball should land and virtually plug in place. Now, this may not be as easy at it looks for you given the fact that you really need to generate a decent amount of club head speed to drive the ball up higher, but more of it may have to do with how well you can ‘pinch’ your wedges. Pinching is what I call nailing the timing between hitting the ball and the ground. A perfect pinch will catch the ball and let it click off the face and fly at an increased launch angle. If that is done correctly, you will see a very similar distance to your current wedge shots, but you will see a steeper approach angle. If not, you will still see the steeper angle but you will lose some distance off the ball.

Learning to drop your wedges at a steeper angle will only help your game. If you are able to master pinching the ball with your wedges, and even your short irons, you should start seeing some huge drops in your distance to the hole on approach shots. From not having to guess on if the ball will roll out or spin back, to having shots that stop on a dime, accuracy going into the green can save you anywhere from 3-5 putts a round and get you braking your goals in no time.