Stroke Saver: How Many Putts Did You Have?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been harping on the word “consistency” so much, it’s beginning to sounds like a broken record. I wanted to change it up a bit this week and offer up a new topic and delve into something a bit different, putting. When you have a single part of the game that accounts for almost 40% of your score, it’s hard not to focus on it very heavily. I mean, lets face it, there is nothing worse than hitting a perfect drive and a great approach only to three putt your way to a bogey, or worse yet, a four putt double bogey. Putting is such a huge part of the game and one of the most neglected areas of practice.

First, work with what you have. There is no magical piece of equipment that will make you putt better. Putters are all about feel and confidence. Once you find one that fit those needs, practice with it. I recently switched back from the putter I had shot my best golf ever with to a Wilson 8813 that I used before it. My average putts moved from 34 per round to 32 per round. Not exactly a ‘huge’ change there, but I feel a bit more confident in the 8813 at the moment so I’m staying with it. In realistic terms, you have a few different options in models, but most of them are classified in one of the four following designs: blade, improvement blade, mallet and space age. I made up that last one, but seriously, some of these things look like spaceships from the original Star Trek show. Fortunately, all four styles of these putters will roll the ball just fine, so it comes down to what can you aim and what do you feel the best with in your hands.

Once you have your putter chosen, and honestly, take your time with this one, you need to start working on your stroke. You have a few simple drills you can do inside, even if you have hardwood floors, that will help you master your putting stroke. Many people spend money on expensive aids, but you can nail about 90% of what they do with a few simple household items and a Sharpie pen. Here are my 5 favorite drills for “free” indoor putting practice.

1) The 2 Book Path Drill – Place two books on the grounds about a 1/2” wider than your putter. Starting with the putter in the middle of the books, simply pull the putter back 6 inches and then swing forward until you are about 6 inches in front of the center. You want to master this “1 foot” area as this is the contact point of the swing. What you do before this and after this in your swing doesn’t matter, as long as your 1 foot contact area is the same every time, you’ll be consistent with your putting stroke.

2) Aim At The Coins – When you finally master your stroke, the next important thing is to learn how to aim your putter so that perfect stroke hits it where you want to. For this, you’ll need a 12-18” string or ribbon, two coins and some glue (a hot glue gun works great for this tool!) Assemble the tool in the following manner – glue one end of the string to the center of the first coin, then repeat this with the opposite end on the second coin. This is going to create a line with two weights at each end. Spread these out on your floor and and work on lining up the site lines on the putter with the string just in front of the first coin. Once you feel confident in the alignment, begin making strokes, concentrating on keeping the alignment line centered on the string. Your goal is to follow the line to the second coin and stay in alignment the entire time. It’s the same as the book drill, but with a more narrow line to follow. You can even tag team this drill with the books for an even stronger practice session.

3) Man In The Mirror – It’s back to school time, so the selection of products for this drill should be at the perfect level. What you will do is get a ‘locker mirror’ or some sort of plastic mirror that is about 8x10 in size. If you are on a budget, check your local dollar store, this does not need to be a high end item. Once you have the mirror, you will need to draw a cross on the mirror at the halfway point, so the lines cross in the middle of the mirror. You will then line the face up to the lines on the mirror – the first will align the face, the second will align to the path. You can then watch the line in the mirror and yourself to work on keeping your eyes down on the ball through impact. This will build consistency in not pulling your head and increase your focus at impact.

4) Count To Three – Just like it says, this drill will have you stroking the ball with a smooth three count, no matter how far you need to hit it. Building your pace will help you increase your distance accuracy. A shorter stroke on short putts and a longer stroke on long putts is fine, but if you swing harder or faster on one than the other, your distance control will be horrible. 1 – pull the putter away from the ball, 2 – the movement back to the ball, 3 – impact through the ball. Simple, easy and done in a perfect rhythm. The smoother your swing gets with counts, the better your distance control will become. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

5) Do A Shot To Make A Putt – Ok, so this sounds more like a party game than a drill, but the point of this one is to take a standard shot glass (not one of the taller shooter glasses, but the short stubby ones) and putt to it for a target. This is something that should really only be done on carpet, but if you don’t have neighbors down below, you can even do it on hardwood. I don’t recommend it for tile though, the ball tends to bounce a bit too much. Just like the drill sounds, you take a shot glass and place it on the ground. Start at 3 feet away and hit the glass softly 5 times. Then move back to 4 feet and repeat. Get all the way to 6 feet, you win. Go have a drink and relax, your putting training for the day is complete. If you miss though, you start all over.

With these 5 simple drills, which cost practically nothing to perform, your putting can be better than ever in just a few minutes a day. Most of them don’t even involve hitting a ball. If you would like to see a tutorial on how to make any of the items that I use in my putting drills, just let me know and I will be happy to make a YouTube video of them and post it here. Most of them were assembled with common household items and a Sharpie marker, but others required a minimal purchase like the locker mirror at the dollar store. Even if you only adopt one or two of them to practice when you can, you will probably end up shaving at least 2 or 3 putts a round off your average in no time.

Equipment Deals: Save Big On Select Clearance Big Sticks

If you’ve been looking for a deal on a big stick, but aren’t sold on plunking down $500 on a new driver, check out some of the amazing deals that Golfsmith if offering. Starting with the Nike Limited Edition Vapor Speed TW driver for $199.97, a savings of $200 and moving on to the Cobra Fly-Z+ driver for just $169.97, a savings of $230, there is something for just about everyone at a substantial savings.

Callaway’s Big Bertha V Series Driver is also half off at just under $200 and their X Series N415 driver is priced at only $104.87. The Callaway savings continue with the Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver is $199.96 or a savings of $250 off the original retail. One of the best deals this week has to be the Callaway Demo FT Optiforce 440 drivers for just $49.87. Even Ping is getting in on the sale with their G25 Driver coming in at a price too low to advertise.

There are also some exceptional deals in apparel, gadgets and even some new sets of irons on the deals page. If you feel the need to do a bit of online shopping, check out the Golfsmith clearance sale!

Golfsmith Clearance Page

• Paying For This Blog With Links

The Journey To Scratch: What Is It And Why Do I Want To Do It!

Welcome to my Journey To Scratch series. No, this isn't an itchy thing, it's all about lowering my handicap to a scratch level without spending more than $500 to do it. From purchasing used clubs and clearance bags, to losing weight and becoming healthier, my goal is to start golf season next year as a scratch golfer. I've already dropped my handicap from 13.1 to 3.2 this season, but I need to get over a few mental and physical hurdles before I can get those last few strokes taken off my scores. This "quest" idea was inspired by two excellent PGA golfers from Europe and their "Quest for The Open" series that they are undertaking once again for 2017. So, thank you Peter Finch and Rick Shiels  for the inspiration on this, I know I will drop to a zero if I work hard and get my game, and myself into shape.

Image: TheGrint.com Handicap Index Page

Let's start with the numbers: After almost 10 years away from the game, I have had particularly strong rounds at The Golf Club at Echo Falls (+1 71) and at Gearhart Golf Links (+2 74) as well as an (+8 80) at Riverbend from the black tees, to bring my handicap down to 3.2. In order to bring this down to zero, I will need to post about 5 rounds at the following scores - 70 from the blue tees at Riverbend (72 from the blacks), a 69 from the blues at Echo Falls and 72 from the blue tees at Snohomish.I'm not far off from accomplishing this, but I really need to bare down and eliminate the stupid shots that lead to a wasted stroke or two a few times a round. I also need to dial in the gear that I have to be deadly accurate from the 100 yards and in positions. Currently, I'm missing the target far too often from 100 yards and in.

Dialing in the gear: With the exception of the last round I had, my "new-to-me" Wilson M3 driver has been spectacular. I had been hitting about 80% of my fairways and been very accurate off the tee. My 1 iron has been just as deadly and consistent, but the 240-250 yard distance just isn't long enough to cash in on a great score from the back tees. Playing the shorter blues and whites would give me more opportunities to play it safe with the 1 or 3 irons off the tee. Other than that, club distances have become more and more solid in the few rounds I have played with the FG-49 irons. From inside 100 yards though, my wedges definitely need some work. My target golf isn't playing out to target very well yet. More work with the 58 degree wedge and my sand wedge should help this area quite a bit. That leads to my putting, which may just be the last expense I have on my journey. I need to find a putter that I feel comfortable looking down on that I can line up straight. My Odyssey Tri-Hot #3 is still the one that I do the best with, but the short aiming line on it just doesn't seem to do what it used to for me. The 8813 that is currently in my bag seems to roll a bit better, but is even more difficult to get started on the correct line. Either way, something will be done in the way of a putter move over the next few months.

Getting in shape: As you can see from my videos and photos, I'm not the smallest kid on the course any more. In order for me to compete at a higher level, I will need to get into better shape. In 2006, when I was playing my best golf ever, I had lost 100 pounds (from basically where I am now) and had a much higher energy level. My goal this time is to mimic that loss, though maybe get down 30-50 pounds as quickly as possible, then move the rest in a slower fashion. I'd like to see myself be around 210 when the season starts next year. This means committing time to riding the stationary bike, more walking and healthier eating.

Practice makes perfect: The final step is going to be creating a full blow practice schedule. Now many of my posts over the last few months have highlighted how easy it is to practice at home, and this is exactly where most of my practice sessions will have to take place. Being on a budget with range balls costing $10-15 a pop at the local driving range, there just isn't the possibility of working the swing daily - nor would I want to with dance classes and school coming up for the kiddo. What I will be doing is getting 15-30 minutes of half and full swing practice in outside each day. I will also work putting for 15 minutes indoors as well. This should get my body in shape to play a solid round and hopefully sharpen up my swing and putting.

This isn’t going to be an easy journey, as there was never a point in the past that I was a zero handicapper. I was close in high school, and even closer in my late 20’s, but I never did reach that perfect number. As I shoot a few more rounds in the sub-80 category, this will seem like a much more possible feat for me, but until then, practice starts Monday! Make sure to follow the Back In The Fairway YouTube Channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page for all the latest and greatest information on my journey. In fact, if you are looking to take some strokes off your game, why don’t you join me and pick a number as a goal for the start of your next season!

Budget Beater: Does Your Local Course Offer Yearly Memberships?

 The single biggest expense that you will encounter during your golfing adventures will be greens fees. From the cheapest twilight local round to the most expensive resort course, just playing two times a month could easily cost you $1000 a year or more. Of course, if  the place you play the most often offers a membership, it might just be the way to play all year long, without spending more than the cost of a few months of playing. For example, a local nine hold layout on the outskirts of town offers a yearly pass for just $750. This includes unlimited golf on both weekdays and weekends. Currently 18 holes (two trips around the 9 hole layout) will cost you $25. That means that the payoff on this membership would be 30 rounds of golf, or getting out about once every other week.

While it may seem a bit crazy to think you would want to play 30 rounds a year, once the bug sets in and the summer months come around, you may find yourself wanting to play a few 9 hole rounds after work, or before the sun comes up on Saturday. Keeping yourself local opens up a world of options for sneaking in a few extra holes just about any time. I guess the best way I can sum up how valuable a membership like this can be is to look at my plan for returning to golf this year. I had planned on playing about $500 worth of golf and playing it over 12 months. Currently, I’ve played 10 rounds already and eclipsed my spending total by $150 already. Golf gets crazy expensive, so why not get something that you pay for once and never have to worry about again?

Now, there is more than one way to get a great deal on golf, but if you truly want to get out and play, whether it would be for the health benefits, the competition, or just because you are stubborn and want to be the best at anything you do, a course pass or membership is one of the best ways to save and plan for your yearly budget. If you live somewhere with cold winters and and wet springs, you might want to check out options for monthly passes or even see if they offer a peak season pass only. I mean for $750 a year, even getting three months of use out of a pass isn’t that bad, but if they happened to sell one for $500 that only covered the peak playing season (usually the end of May through the end of September) it could create an even bigger value.

Check with your local course and see what options they have for discounted tee times or memberships. You might be shocked how much you can save.

Stroke Saver: Bad Things Happen When You Have Too Much Information

 You find yourself standing in the fairway, dead center, staring at the front right flag stick that is tucked right behind the bunker. You check your GPS watch and see that the front of the green is 118 yards away. You grab your laser rangefinder from your bag and focus it on the flag, 121. You then pull your phone from your pocket to check that it is 120 to clear the back edge of the front bunker. The only problem is, you don’t have a club that hits the ball 118-121 yards. You only have clubs that hit the ball 115 and 125. In an age where we have so much information at our fingertips, its hard not to want to use it all, but there is really only one number of those three you should consider, unless you are a tour pro with incredible accuracy at a 89% swing. You should only focus on the number that gets you a full swing, not an overswing and not a partial swing, but a full swing.

In this case, all of those gadgets and gizmos are telling you that your 115 yard club will not get you where you need to be. This means a full swing of your 125 yard club will land you center of the green, and hopefully within 10 fee of the hole for a birdie putt. Too often we get caught up in if the flag stick is 118, 121 or 120 away from us instead of worrying about the fact that we need to hit it over the bunker to start with. We try to muscle up on that 115 club and just poke it to that 118 mark, and end up pushing the ball right or worse, coming up short into that front bunker. We ruin the perfect drive by trying to do too much with the second shot. The bad part is, if we were playing 20 years ago, we would have seen 125 to the middle of the green with the little discs in the fairway, or that sprinkler head marking, and hit a safer shot to the middle of the green instead of trying to be so exact.
In something that I will call a disturbing trend, I see golfers of well below average skill level carrying a $200 GPS, a $400 rangefinder and still using a third or fourth method to get information about their next shot, instead of just thinking about their swing. They step up to that shot, knowing that it’s 118 to the front, 121 to the stick and 120 to clear the bunker, and still try to hit that hard wedge right at it. Each time they do it, over and over again, only to get a bad result. These are the same people that go to the driving range and hit ball after ball without thinking about why they are doing it. They just want to ‘groove’ their swing and get out on the course and play better.

I have to say, that since I started pre-working rounds in my head, about 80% of my holes have played out pretty much exactly as planned. I’ve had to adjust my yardages a few times, but I’ve swapped irons 3 times this year, so I’m not expecting to have the distances down quite yet. I will say this though, rather than worrying about 118 or 121, I’m playing much better when I stare at the number for the center of the green. That 125 number stands out as a much better target for me than trying to get the exact 89% swing on that 125 club to stick it closer. In fact, the last time I found a green side bunker was when someone with that laser rangefinder told me an exact yardage. For now, let me work on that direction a bit more and the numbers a bit less. It’s dropped me 5 strokes in two rounds, maybe it can do the same for you.

Budget Buster: Follow Your Local Course On Facebook

While you may think you are in the know for the deals and steals at your local links, but do you really have all the scoops? Social media is becoming more and more popular as a way for local courses to reach their surrounding communities. For example, Blue Boy West in my home town of Monroe, WA is a shortish 9 hole layout that was built on a plot of farm land in the hills. The sub $20 price point is great for a quick nine holes in the afternoon, and the $25 price point makes for a steal for a double nine round of 18 on a weekend. Of course, because I follow them on Facebook, I found an even better deal – $13 for a weekday early bird 9.

With a deal that good, I can tee off at 6 AM, shoot a quick nine and still be at work by 8:00 in the morning. Make sure you take the time to follow and like your favorite course and equipment companies on social media. The deals you miss could cost you more than you think.

Playing A Round: Gearhart Golf Links, Gearhart, OR

In honor of The Open Championship this week, I decided to throw my budget out the window and double what I normally would on a round of golf. Of course, I was also on vacation this week, travelling to Seaside, Oregon for my daughter’s dance team’s trip to the Spotlight Nationals, so budget-smudget, right? After checking out the area courses, the only one that seemed like a challenging play was the Gearhart Golf Links. Designed in 1892, the Golf Links are the oldest course in Oregon. At $75 weekdays and $85 weekends, it’s also one of the more affordable “premium” courses in the area as well. The 4 different sets of tees will fit a golfer of just about any level, but for my game, it was the 6501 yard (72.0/136) “The Stones” that were getting my tees today. There are a few more options for those with lesser length off the tees. These include the Black (6176/70.5/131), White (5741/68.5/126 men or 75.0/131 women) or Green (5157/65.6/118 men or 71.1/126 women). Any way you slice it, The Links are a battlefield lined with undulating fairways and crazy bunkers that guard some small, but challenging greens.

 

 

The view from the first tee, a par 4 that measured 330 yards from the tips, was stunning. What looked to be nothing more than a flat fairway with minimal trouble ended up producing some strange lies and had a few surprises for us in it. I ripped a driver into the wind and landed 275 yards down the fairway. A lob wedge landed me within 2 putt distance and the round was underway with a solid par. The second hole, which was across the road, demanded a lower tee shot, for which my 220 yard 1 iron fit the bill nicely. My wedge to the green was caught by the wind and pushed a bit left, which left me an up and down for an easy par. The next hole blew my mind, it was a par 4 that measured 268 yards into the wind. A solid 1 iron landed 40 yards short of the green and my wedge landed just feet from the hole on my “approach shot” for this hole. I have to admit to getting lucky on my putt on this hole, as it would have run 10 feet past if it hadn’t hit the center of the hole. Thank goodness for air brakes on this one. The birdie 3 put me 1 under after three holes.

 

 

Moving on to the 4th, a par 3 that measured 217 yards, I once again found a side wind playing havoc with the hole. My 3 iron went 220 off the tee but headed left of the green. The resulting pitch to a downhill green with zero room to work had me running a two putt back for bogey and returned me to even par. The 5th, a par 4 that measured 369 yards was simply stunning. A strong drive, into the wind only travelled 220 yards up the hill before it was snagged in the right rough. The 9 iron that followed missed the green a touch left, but left me an easy chip and put for a par. The par 4 6th played much more traditionally for me. At 348 yards, this hole was more about avoiding the trouble around it than anything else. A 285 yard drive down the center left me a solid 58 degree wedge to the green. I parked the wedge at 10 feet and 2 putted for my par. That left me even after 6.

 

 

Moving on to the 7th hole, a 339 yard par 4, a beautiful 1 iron draw found the fairway, but my 115 yard 54 degree wedge did not find the green. Fortunately, from the right edge, I was able to chip to 2 feet and tap in for my par. This brought me to the first par 5 of The Links, which measured in at 487 yards. Nothing too tricky on the 8th hole, except for the elevation change. My driver “blasted” the ball 200 yards up the hill, which was far less than it felt like it was going to go. I followed that with a setup to get to my 100 yard wedge to the green. 2 putts later, that par 5 was done and I was still at even par. Finishing out the front side, was the 373 yard par 4 9th. It was long, straight and easy, as long as you stay in the narrow fairway. Fortunately I was able to do just that and hit driver, PW and a chip and a putt for another par and an even 36 on the front side.

 

 

Length starts to become a bit more fun on the back side of the course. The front side measures just 3087 yards from The Stones, but the back lengthens out to 3414 yards. This gives is more of the champion tee feel that I was expecting, but also, created a much more challenging shot selection in the winds that were blowing across the course. The 351 yard par 4 10th begins the journey away from the club house again. My 1 iron found the fairway with ease, but the 8 iron approach carried to the back edge of the green. Again, a chip and a putt moved me along to the next hole without any major incident. The par 3 11th… WOW! This hole measures up at 262 yards from the tips. With the wind blowing at me, I pulled out a driver to try and hit the 5 yard wide target, which I came pretty close to doing. The pin was placed on a side hill, which only added to the difficulty of stopping a chip near it, and I walked away with a bogey 4. What an impressive challenge though1 Don’t worry, if you are playing the Green or White tees, it is a much more manageable 183 or 122 from those. The par 4 12th seemed like a breeze after that, though my 8 iron approach missed the green to the right, resulting in a chip and 2 putt for bogey on it as well. After 12, I had moved to two over par.

 

The 544 yard par 5 13th was finally a break from the hard holes, and I only say this because, well I managed to scrape together a par on it. The irony on 13 was that I played that hole very wild with my drive going right, my next approach shot getting topped out of the rough into the fairway and then a second effort at that shot before landing my FG49 SW about 3 feet from the flag. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a par. The 14th played much cleaner for me. The 371 yard par 4 took just two simple shots to reach, a solid 1 iron off the tee and a good pitching wedge on the approach. Two putts later, my par was on the card. Moving right along to the 15th, I almost threw a party when I nailed my FG49 SW on the screws and landed about 10 feet past the flag on the short par 3. The ball hit, and immediately spun backwards to about 3 feet from the hole. My tap in birdie was almost a hole in one, but not quite.

 

 

The 16th played rather uneventful, or at least not as exciting as the par 3 that almost was a hole in one, Still, a long drive right left me a short 58 degree wedge to the green. Two putts later and the 16th was a par. 17 also played long at 347 yards. With the wind coming at me on this one, I teed up a 1 iron and drove the ball down the center of the fairway.  I hit my FG49 sand wedge to 10 feet and two putted for par. This left me only the 640 yard par 5 18th left. I hit a strong 1 iron down the middle of the fairway. I followed that with a drawing 3 iron and a solid 5 iron before I saw my ball had rolled back to the bottom of the hill below the green. A lob wedge and 2 putts later, I finished my round 2 over par. The 74 that I landed at Gearhart Golf Links was one of the best rounds I have played.

 

Gearhart was a joy to play. The links style layout was gorgeous and the course was well maintained. Even with my early morning round, bunkers were all raked, fairways were trimmed short and the greens rolled true. From rolling up to the parking lot, to the friendly face behind the pro shop counter, Gearhart will be on my list of courses to play anytime I am near it. At $75, it wasn’t the cheapest round of golf I’ve ever paid for, but it was certainly one of the best values. In fact, I wouldn’t even hesitate ponying up $100 to play this course again. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to go back again sometime soon.