Stroke Saver: Find Your Go To Club

There’s always that one club in the bag that never misses. That one club that delivers a nearly perfect shot every time. It’s the club that everyone tries to get every other club in the bag to behave like. It’s the “go to” club. Whether it’s a 7 iron or a 3 iron, finding that club is one of the most important pieces in reducing scores on almost any course around. From the tee box to layup placement, knowing the exact shot that a go to club will produce is huge when the pressure is on. Eliminating that pressure with an easy shot that works every time is the key to dropping strokes and making birdies.

Above is one of my favorite images from last year. It’s the 640 yard, par 5, 18th at Gearhart Golf Links just outside Seaside, Oregon. When I was carrying my FG49 irons, my go to club, strangely enough, was the 1 iron. It’s still such a solid club for me, that I’m considering carrying it instead of the 4 wood that is in my current bag with the FG Tour 100 irons. The 1 iron in that set produced a perfect 250-260 yard ball every time. I could fade, draw, slice or even hook it almost on command. It was the holy grail of tee clubs. Of course, the issue now is that my 3 iron goes about 230 off the tee as well, so the 1 iron became a bit redundant in that regard, but I do have a tendency to miss left a bit more with the 3, so there is that to consider.
 
In reality though, both my 1 iron and 3 iron are great options for me off the tee. Sure, hitting 300 yard whoppers down the middle of the fairway is great, but having that one club in the bag that will guarantee you a fairway when you absolutely have to have it, that is perfection in the bag. Teeing up on a hole with water right and trees left, or OB left and bunkers right, just isn’t scary once you have “the” club in you bag.  Now here’s where it gets crazy for the ‘average’ player. Let’s say your club is your 7 iron and you hit it 150 yards, dead straight every time. I pulled my my local course, The Golf Club At Echo Falls (white tees) for this demonstration here, but you can try it with your own local course.

Hole #1 – 330 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, wedge, 2 putts (bogey)
Hole #2 – 298 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, 2 putts (par)
Hole #3 – 258 yards – 7 iron, wedge, 2 putts (par)
Hole #4 – 429 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, 9 iron, 2 putts (par)
Hole #5 – 171 yards – 7 iron, wedge, 2 putts (bogey)
Hole #6 – 501 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, 7 iron, wedge, 2 putts (bogey)
Hole #7 – 166 yards – 7 iron, wedge, 2 putts (bogey)
Hole #8 – 333 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, wedge 2 putts (bogey)
Hole #9 – 361 yards – 7 iron, 7 iron, wedge 2 putts (bogey)

So with just 4 clubs, that 150 yard 7 iron, a 9 iron, wedge and putter, it’s simple enough to put together an 85 at almost any course. If you moved up to the gold tees (Par 70 – 64.2/112) which is where someone playing with a 150 yard 7 iron should probably be anyways, that score falls to an upper 70’s number very quickly. So often we get caught up in playing the game the way the pro’s play it rather than what works for our own game. To see this in action for yourself, try it at the range, or on a simulator if you have one available. See if you are more accurate with your 5 iron than your driver. Work through your set, middle up and then back down to wedges. Find that club and learn it. Once you have that 7 iron nailed and can control it completely, try moving to the 5 iron and the 9 iron and do the same. You’ll find the 6 and 8 just fall into place after that.

If you can find your go to club, your scores will most certainly fall quickly and you game will only get stronger from tee to green.

The Journey To Scratch: And The Fitness Plan Begins…

It has been a long time in the making, but my fitness plan is officially in place and has begun. First things first, getting my food consumption under control and dropping enough weight to comfortably work out without hurting myself. Now, for you “in shape” golfers, this probably sounds stupid, but for us “fat guy” golfers, finding a balance between nutrition and our desire to eat an entire box of Girl Scout cookies can be a tough one to work out in our heads. So, I enlisted the help of Weight Watchers to get me rolling and to reprogram my eating habits. I’ve had success with calorie counting programs like Noom, MyFitnessPal and even Samsung Health in the past, but the last time I actually felt great about my weight was back in 2006 when I was on a different weight loss program. I had been toying with the idea of using that one again, but to me, the program was just a bit to restrictive on what I could and couldn’t eat. I didn’t have a family with a junk food drawer back then, so it was easy to purge the bad and keep the good. Now, not so much.

As I start out the day, I’ve made it a consistent mission to eat a decent breakfast every morning. This, for example, is 2 pieces of bread, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 2 sausage links and an orange. Now to some, this may look amazing as a breakfast goes, but in all honesty, I’m pretty sure I used to lick more than 2 tablespoons of peanut butter off the knife when I was done smothering my bread with it. I mean, I think it was a people would ask if I’d like some bread to go with my PB sort of thing. I also never let a fruit come near by breakfast plate at all. This has taken a bit of an adjustment to get down, but what I try to do is pick out a protein, for this one it’s the PB and sausage, a fruit, like an orange or banana, and something to compliment it. Like if I wanted to do breakfast burritos, it would be a tortilla (the something), eggs (protein) and then maybe spinach and tomato with salsa to finish it up. I’d probably throw a banana in on top of that just for a bit of extra filler and nutrition, but it’s a nice rounded meal. A cup of black coffee added to it and I’m set for the morning.



Lunch continues the same pattern, with a small amount of protein, a starch and vegetables. I like to use mason jars as they provide a good portion size for just about anything on the planet. They even have mini-mason jars for sides like hummus or dips. This lunch, for example, is 3 ounces of ground turkey over mashed potatoes and a green salad with yellow peppers, olives and mushrooms. I use a yogurt based dressing from Bolthouse Farms to keep the salad from becoming too unhealthy. If you’re counting calories, this lunch would be 150 for the turkey, 150 for the potatoes, about 30 for the salad and 45 for the dressing. It’s about 400 calories worth of food. Add that to breakfast, 190 for the peanut butter, 150 for the bread, 170 for the sausage and 90 for the orange. That puts breakfast at 600 calories. Now, when I was calorie counting, I tried to limit my intake to 1200-1500 calories a day, which using 1,000 calories at breakfast and lunch would have left me nothing for dinner, not to mention any snacks or fillers that I may need through out the day.

All of that said, so far, I’m completely ahead of my goal pace. As I said, retraining myself to eat better is the key with this and I have made a 6 month commitment to this program, not only to get in shape, but also, to make sure I stay there. Some of my best golf was played back when I was last in the ‘best shape’ I’d been in for a long time, and I’d like to be back to it before the summer months hit. I’ve got some strokes to shave from that handicap and I haven’t played enough this winter to start the year as sharp as I’d like to. Hopefully, the next couple of months go as well as the first week has and I will be there before I know it, and if not, I’ll keep working throughout the year to get there.

Stroke Saver: Are You Too Worried About Your Balls?

They are plastered everywhere, “We make the best ball for your game!” “The number one ball on tour.” “More spin, softer feel!” “The marketing folks are in full force when it comes to golf balls, but honestly, if you don’t hit the ball like a tour pro, what makes anyone think playing the same ball is going to help you out much? Sure, technology has come a long ways and it’s no longer impossible to dial in your game for $20-50 a dozen, but honestly, if you hit more balls into the trees than you do the hole every round, should you really worry about what kind of ball you hit out there? Fortunately, it’s not a one ball fits all world, and here are some amazing lower cost options and who they might benefit the most.



First off, for the slower swing speed folks out there, I present one of my personal favorites from testing last year – the OnCore Golf Avant. At $20 a dozen it doesn’t break the bank, but it performs extremely well. It features a 65 compression rating and a 2 piece construction. This is designed maximize distance and provide lower spin off the driver. Now, finding a distance ball is as easy as finding a dozen balls while you search for that brand new Pro V that you sliced into the woods, but finding one that performs as well as the Avant does around the greens is next to impossible. That said, this ball is designed for a bit slower swing speeds than the 100 MPH range, so be realistic about your swing speeds, and you’ll find yourself loving this ball.

Order the OnCore Avant Online

The Wilson Staff Zip was my runaway favorite of last season. Not only was it long and straight off the tee, but it also felt like butter coming off my wedges and short irons. The higher launch with straight drop made it simple for me to target flagsticks without the worry of the ball bouncing over the green or, even worse, spinning back off the front side. The Zip is an ultra-affordable ball at just $25 for two dozen, with even better deals to be found if you search. The Zip provides harder swingers with a great option for distance with a solid, but softer feel near the greens. If you are a harder swinger, I would greatly recommend giving the Zips a shot.

Order the Wilson Staff Zip Online

There are also a bevy of other great value balls on the market today. I would recommend getting sleeves locally of the balls you want to try and taking them out for an actual 9 hole round. See how it plays and what they do to your distance. Once you have narrowed it down to the right ball, get a dozen for a few rounds and try them out. Again, if you are one that loses quite a few balls a round, try reloads or a lower end ball until you get them under control a bit more. Balls are one of the cheapest pieces of equipment you will buy, but only if you don’t lost a half dozen per round.

Do you have a favorite ball? If so, let me know in the comments below!

The Journey To Scratch: Seriously, Enough With The Snow Already

Seattle. The land of rain and trees. Where our golf season is usually only interrupted by some minor flooding or something crazy like that, but not this year. This year, for the second month (almost in a row) I am finding myself putting indoors waiting for the snow to melt off. While it’s a welcome break from the dreary wet and gray that normally rules January and February in the Pacific Northwest, this off season has been about as awful as any that I have endured. It’s especially rough given the fact that I was going to try and make some progress in my game over the winter, not have to scramble to get back to where I was in March, when the posting season begins.

Of course, it’s not all bad. I get some snow days with the kiddo and we’ve had a blast out in it both days that she has missed school because of the few inches that fell. Some days, I do wish I had that practice net setup in the back yard though, just so I could maybe get a bit of swing work in with some actual ball contact. I could even steal one of those Swing Caddie 2’s that I reviewed last year from a friend to get some actual feed back on the shots. I’m telling you, I might end up having to do that once things settle with the house and the weather. Until then, another pause in the cycle and time to reset my fitness goals. It’s time to get some of this weight off and get it off faster than I needed to a month ago. Time is ticking and if I’m going to reach scratch early this season, I’ll need to start soon.