With all of that out of the way, it's time to update you on my "Quest For Single Figures". Once again, there have been issues, primarily on the health front and so tuition, practice and playing time have been impacted and I've not moved forward as quickly as I'd hoped. That said, I'm now back out and playing regularly again and now the clocks have changed will begin to work on my game, especially the short game with renewed vigour. That's the one area, perhaps bunkers aside, that's still woeful and is causing issues. I had hoped the linear method for pitching and chipping would have resolved this but having not invested any time into this method or indeed what you may consider a more conventional method, both are failing on the course and testing patience and resolve.
Since my last update, there has only been one competitive round, a medal (Royal Ascot Cup qualifier) played in breezy, damp conditions. I have to say, in my defence, I had come back from the latest illness with no time to work on the changes I was still bleeding in from the last lesson I'd had (Live Lesson). I actually started reasonably well and then hit the buffers at our 5th, having been in a green side bunker for three on the par five and walked off with an eight. Don't ask!
I frittered a few more shots away on the front nine to go out in 45 (+10 gross or three over handicap) and was back in a familiar scenario of not trusting what I'd worked on in the lesson, over thinking as a consequence, and getting myself into a world of hurt.
My back nine started with an ugly double bogey which led to a mental meltdown and a string of car crash holes, going double, triple, double from the 12th to the 14th. I managed a couple of pars over the closing few holes, chucked another almost obligatory double bogey in on the 16th for good measure and walked away dazed and confused with a net 79 (+9) which was still good enough for a mid-table 13th place finish in division 2 but of course led to an inevitable 0.1 handicap increase. My statistics for the round (such as they were) are here to peruse.
March 2017 Medal Statistics
Since this medal on the 18th March, I've had another lesson. I spoke in depth with my teaching professional about the video from the previous lesson and in particular how steep the shaft appears to be on the down swing and how trapped it seemed to make me. I had tinkered, as is my way, at the range at trying to lay the club flatter behind me at the start of the transition and down swing to come on a flatter plane and pass more in front of me at impact with a degree of success. My professional looked at the footage and could see the issues (cupped left wrist, high right elbow, and taking the club away outside the line) and we had a productive time sorting this out. Unfortunately, despite having the camera set up and working, the file corrupted and I wasn't able to download it to review at a later date and compare this lesson alongside the previous one as I hoped.
The positive note was the quality of strike which was better. Tempo was, and no doubt will remain an issue, but when I was in a decent rhythm I had so much more time to make a compact swing with the right elbow in particular in a far better position and not "flying". So of course I diligently worked on it on the range and rocked up for the usual Sunday morning roll up, feeling good and seeing some positive returns in practice and ready to compete. What transpired was my lowest point to date on this rocky road to single figures. I walked off after eleven holes. I was crap. Not even that good in all honesty and despite trying to have fun, swing slower and all the things you're suppose to do on an off day, everything went to pot. I was getting more and more wound up to the point where I was aware it was impacting on my playing partners. I didn't want to be there and as the tag line on all the betting adverts on TV says, "When the fun stops, STOP" so I did. I wasn't proud walking off but my head was a mess and I would rather have been anywhere else than enduring another two hours on the course and another seven holes of abject misery.
You would think that after 0.1 back in the medal and then this disaster the "Quest" would be over and I'd come to my senses and admit it's never going to happen. Not on your life dear reader. This stubborn old goat is made of sterner stuff and still has a deep ingrained desire to get to single figures and enjoy proving so many naysayers wrong. It's going to happen.
Of course you have to get back on the horse. I did so with a solo practice round the following week and some structured practice. The solo round was patchy at best, but I then took advantage of playing the back nine last week after work as soon as the clocks changed and that was far more like it. It felt like the old me. I was fortunate to have been invited back to Kingswood (where the Jolly Boys "Play Golf trio of videos on the youtube channel were shot) last Friday and it was a chance for a relaxed social round with no pressures on the swing. I was looking forward to it.
I then made the cardinal golfing error. I only went and boomed a drive down the first, only a foot into the semi rough, hit a pitch from 106 yards to three feet and holed the putt for birdie. It's well known that a round starting in such fine fashion can only go one way and that's down. To be honest I actually held it together reasonably well going out and had 21 points at the turn. That in itself was amazing but add in the condition of the greens, which frankly were a disgrace and it's even more amazing. They were like a ploughed field having been hollow tined but the holes hadn't been filled in properly and some of the grass was allowed to grow in patches. It was a lottery and if I hadn't been on a freebie would have been asking for a refund.
I let things slide on the back nine although these holes run across the top of a valley and played into a stiffening wind. A lost ball didn't help the cause but my last six holes were disappointing and my 33 points could have been so much better. There was some good stuff in there especially off the tee (bar two very wild drives) but the irons again felt off point and out of kilter. The greens were a nightmare and it was a job to two putt, let alone thinking of holing anything of meaning but all in all it did what I wanted from the day and got my game back on something of an even keel
And so to the weekend just gone. I was selected to play in a club match away at Maidenhead Golf Club. This isn't a course I have particularly fond memories of and have always struggled to play well there. The format was pairs, better ball and so I had a wing man in Gordon Barr, a Scotsman off 7 who I've inflicted my recent form on several times in recent months in both roll ups and competitions. I'm not sure what he'd done to deserve another dose but he accepted his fate with a stoic resignation. Maidenhead is one of those course that I simply can't find a way to score on and it somehow doesn't suit my eye and there are very few holes I stand on the tee and feel comfortable.
In the end, my form although again patchy, was enough with Gordon's rugged play, to ensure we got a half having been one down with three to go. I came in a few times with the odd win or a solid putt for a half although I left the course with a slightly bitter taste having saved my best drive until the last and was left with a simple eight iron into the green. With the match all square and the opposition not on the green in two, a decent approach would have given us a good chance to nick a win. As with the round the day before at Kingswood, it was the iron play that had been lacking and my approach came up short into the right hand bunker. I escaped well to about twelve feet and had a putt to win, but it missed left. To be honest the match had been played in good spirits on both sides and a half was perhaps the correct outcome. In the end, it wasn't pivotal as Royal Ascot came out 4-2 winners.
That dear reader brings you fully up to date (are you still with me?). As you can tell, the "Quest" is still stuck in first gear and my game shows no real sign of catching fire soon. I'm taking a more relaxed approach to it all and not forcing it. I'm going to scale down my long game practice, and that will focus on iron play. The remainder is going to be all about putting and the short game which is the real problem areas. With a medal to come this weekend, I'm wholly convinced it will bring anything but another 0.1 (and getting dangerously close to 15) but I live in hope and remain optimistic in my own ability. It's somewhat annoying that the work and time I've invested in my practice and lessons has failed to reap any reward yet but there have been signs over the last two rounds of some good stuff loitering somewhere near the surface. I just have to find a way, much as I did when I filmed the Jolly Boys "Play Golf" (Jolly Boys Round) and simply find a way to get it round. That was my first game after my stay in hospital and while the golf wasn't pretty I got it round enough to score close to handicap. That has to be the focus going forward. If I have to score ugly then I'll do that.
Despite it all, I remain in a golfing happy place. I'm still enjoying the process of trying to get better, enjoying the challenge of playing with card and pencil in hand and enjoying the robust banter of the social games. There is a vast amount of room to improve but I'm taking a far more chilled approach to it all. Meltdowns will be avoided and we'll take the good with the bad. The season is only just starting and so I've a whole summer and many, many more competitions to get the "Quest" back on track and get the handicap heading south back to where it should be. Hopefully by the time I post the next update, everything will be far rosier and I'll have good news to report. Keep your eyes out on here and my youtube channel for the next instalments.
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