When I woke up Wednesday, golf didn’t look like a good idea. Once I arrived at Palmer Golf Course, the small number of cars in the parking lot confirmed I was correct, but I went out anyway. Though it was too cold and wet, I’m glad I played, because my game was really starting to click.
To recap, Round 1 was pretty poor. Contactless play for half a round, meaning literally almost whiffing the ball, then decent striking on the back nine.
I began Round 2 without range warm-up. My first shot was my first swing of the day and I laced my tee shot right down the center. I went on to par the first four holes and was in position to par or birdie for the first 16 holes. I finished with a pair of sixes on the last two holes and shot 79.
When I replayed the round in my mind that night, it was clear I could have shot 65 real easy. I only hit two bad tee shots and they were on the last two holes in the worst of the weather and when this old man may have been getting tired. Eliminate those and I’m down to 77. The other 12 strokes to shave my way to 65 would have to come from short game.
For example, I hit a makable chip shot too hard on five and made bogey, just missed a short birdie putt at the sixth, failed to convert an easy up-and-down at nine, another at 11, another at 14. You get the idea. Were there really 12 shots to make up on and around the greens? absolutely.
The only alternative to making up the strokes within the short game is to find a way to hit my iron shots to five feet all day, on every hole. That’s not going to happen, for many reasons; the biggest reason being, there is no way for me to practice with ProV1s and a trackman for hours a week, determining exactly how far I hit each club in my bag.
So, if I’m checking boxes on technique alone, just two rounds in to the season, I can say putting is a check, chipping is a check, iron play is a check and tee shots are a check. The only thing to work on is touch and feel, primarily on and around the greens.
The greens were all open at Palmer, by the way, and the course has potential to be really nice this year. The weather should be a little warmer, maybe topping 50 degrees Wednesday for Round 3.
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