it seems exaggerated to me on par 3s. Just completely missing everything wide right when I miss. Pin high and well struck just way right. and I checked on one and sure as shit, hit it right where I was aimed. I’m certain it shows up elsewhere but yesterday it was pretty apparent on the 3s.
You can always use the line on the golf ball on tee shots as a reference point. If you use a line on putting, do the same thing on tee shots. That's always helped me to make sure I don't align too far right. Seems like that is a very common mistake. The intermediate target a foot or two in front of the ball is another easy well to quickly check alignment.
This is essentially what I do but I can still manage to get of whack periodically. Standing behind the ball, I find a spot about 2-3 feet in front of the ball and in line with the end target, then I set up and go from there.
This me but left. Thinking specifically about a downhill 3 on my course where I’m alllllllways left. I’ve started setting up what feels like comically right on that hole…and hit the right bunker yesterday.
Man, in like a month Cam Smith has gone from maybe the coolest golfer on Tour to straight up unlikable
tjosu i know you said you stick FW but you play any of the South Dallas munis? More curious what kind of shape their in these days (like Tennyson, Cedar Crest. I know Stevens is in good shape)
This made me think. I never offer advice on the course unless directly asked. It's amazing to watch people setup way offline and then hit it exactly where they unknowingly aimed. Wish I could stop them in their pre-shot routine and correct the alignment but I would never dare.
To be fair, it’s only a couple of people I play with regularly that know it’s a tendency of mine. Im definitely not one to offer unsolicited advice out there either
Speaking of on course advice…. I’ve got a work “buddy” that plays maybe 6 times a year, shoot’s in the low 100’s, and shaves strokes like it’s nobodies business that constantly asks what club to use. Well he doesn’t ask what he should use but he asks what you’re using and then clubs down like it’s some kind of flex. He’s all “What you hitting”, Me “7 iron”, “I think I’ll go with an 8”. I told my son next time I’m going to lie and tell him I’m clubbing down and see if he hits a 9 when I’m hitting a 7. Fucked up part is the guy maybe hits it 5 yards longer than I do, super fucking annoying.
Well the last week and a half of golf has been a very interesting one for me. I wanted to share the last couple of rounds and give some thoughts on my current golf game. I have always been about an 11 – 12 handicap for the past 10 years, but over the last couple of years I have worked on my game and have shot more in the 70s recently than I ever have. I got my handicap down to a 9.0 by June of this year with a 77 and a 78 in April and May respectively. Then I hit a bit of a rough patch. I felt like I was losing my overall feel of the game and breaking 80 seemed like a distant memory. I had a 91 and a 92 mixed into the scores this summer and the confidence was becoming shaky at best. Recently I have been watching a lot of Porzak Golf instructional videos on youtube and a couple of the things he talks about really clicked with me. I recently made a slight adjustment to my grip (except driver) and a different down-swing thought that has had a huge difference in my overall ball striking. I naturally play a cut, and with these couple of new adjustments, I am hitting a much more straight ball and more consistency in my accuracy. My driver and short game still need some work from a consistency standpoint, but it has been an interesting transition. It took me a few weeks to have the changes feel normal and comfortable, but the consistency is really starting to shine. I played Leslie Park in Ann Arbor 2 Fridays ago. It was my first time playing this course and I was thoroughly impressed. A public course, but well maintained, great layout, and lots of elevation change. I shot a 79 for the first time in about 3 months. I had 0 birdies, overall played pretty consistent and made a 13-foot right-to-left breaker for Par on 18 to crack 80. It felt damn good, it felt like I finally got a monkey off my back. Played from the Blue Tees around 6200 yards. Today I played a round at my home course Northville Hills Golf Club. This is an Arnold Palmer design and imo one of the best public courses in southeast Michigan. The best way to describe the course, if you are hitting the ball well you can score, but if you are off a little bit the course can punish you. Most people that play the course for the first time find it to be difficult, but if you play it often enough you can figure things out. The green complexes along with the hazards and bunker protection are the tough parts of the course. I got paired up with two retired guys and they wanted to play from the whites which are just over 5600 yards. I usually play from the Blues around 6200 and occasionally from the tips at 7000. I did not want to be “that guy” and be teeing off from a different tee box on every hole. I decided to play the whites which I don’t mind switching it up from time to time. My lowest score ever for reference is a 77 which I have shot 3 times in my life, one of which was on this course from the white tees. The first hole is the 2nd hardest hole on the course and I boggy it. For the rest of the front 9 I went even with 1 birdie and another boggy. 37 on the front and headed to the back 9 feeling pretty good. I was just hoping not to blow up on the back and give myself a chance again to break 80. I birdied 10 a par 5, bogeyed 11 a tough par 3 with my only 3 putt of the day. I had a bounce back on hole 12 with a birdie on the #1 handicap hole. I stayed at even par all the way through 17, then 18 happened. The old guys I was playing with had no idea I was even par and I didn’t want to say anything as well. It was a weird back and forth with my own mind to “stay in the moment” on the back 9 and also thinking about how I was having the best round of my life. I didn’t say anything to the old guys on the 18th tee box, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how “if” I just par this par 5, I will shoot even par, 72. I was hitting my 3 wood and hybrid off the tee great all day, and I should have hit 3 wood again. I decided to pull out driver, only my 4th time of the day pulling out driver. The little devil on my shoulder was whispering in my ear, “if you bomb a drive you can go for the green in two and potentially make birdie”. Birdie would have given me a 71 for a – 1 under par. Instead, I pull my driver right into the woods (which a pull is my miss) and have to take an unplayable drop for my 3rd. I couldn’t go for the green from where I was at, so I had to lay up. 18 has a hazard right before the green, along with a sloping two-tiered green protected by a front and back bunker. I catch a flyer with my 8 iron, blast the ball long hitting the cart path and bouncing right into the marsh before the green. I have to drop again from around 75 out hitting 5. I get on the green and two-putt for a disappointing 7. I shake the two gentlemen’s hands and head back to the clubhouse. Wow, what a round, with a disappointing 18th hole. I guess the difference in my play today, was my overall consistency with my ball striking and my putting. I have made a couple of small changes with my putting and my lag putting is getting better and my confidence on the 5-6 footers to save par is on the rise. I believe a 70 was on the table, if I don’t double the last hole and make two other very close putts earlier in the round. That is golf for ya. I thought 75 was my max potential and never thought coming close to even par was possible. I was close today, but not good enough to close out. Hopefully I will be better mentally prepared if I’m ever in the same spot again on 18. I have to thank Porzak golf for giving me the info I needed to make some fundamental changes. I hope to build on this instead of regress like I was a month or so ago.
Probably not real but drives me crazy when I see people doing this. https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChGPMalumg7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I don’t think I’ve ever played with someone that marked in front of their ball. But probably just not paying attention
When I was teaching I’d have my clients play the up tees all the time (most poo poo’d the idea) to get them into the feeling of breaking certain score barriers. I always got made fun of for playing the women’s tees like once a week. Well I shot 61 with a bogey on 18 (yes I had birdie for 59) then broke the course record the next day form the tips with a birdie on 18 as I was much more comfortable in than moment from the day before. Tldr it can be super useful to change which tees you play, especially if the bulk of your rounds come at one course.
Weird that he was doing it on long putts too. Does a 15 footer really get materially easier if it's 14'8"?
Thanks for the insight. I have heard good golfers occasionally playing from the ladies tees just to have the feeling of making a lot of birdies in a round. I like changing up the tee boxes at my home course, each tee box has a different feel playing all 18. Playing the white tees I just hit driver less. The course is still the exact same from 150 out. You're either hitting greens or you're not, you're either getting up and down or you're not, you're either making putts or you're not. Damn you are setting course records out there, impressive. Where do you teach at? What was weird for me, the 79 a week prior at a course a I have never played at, at a distance I normally play almost felt more satisfying. Also, it shows finishing strong is an important part of how you feel after a round.
This was a delightful read. Congrats on the nice round. I have found when I am close to a PR round, I do everything I can to not think about my score. I did something similar on Saturday. I was even on the back going into the short par 3 17. I bladed my 54 degree into the woods behind the green and had to drop and make double. I guess it loosened me up because I proceeded to go driver/hybrid on 18 for a 2 putt birdie.
Played a money match against a dude that did that. Marked in front of his ball with a poker chip. He was a good 3 inches in front. Then he placed the ball about 3 inches in front of the poker chip. I was all wtf? It was like a 40' putt. I didn't want to start some shit and ruin the day so I let it ride. My mistake. He then did it on the next hole. It was on a 4' slider for birdie. I immediately called him out on it. He got all embarrassed and said that I was mistaken. Then he got mad that I was calling him out and tried to pretend he didn't know how to mark a ball. That made me mad. We argued for a couple of mins. His partner told him that he was wrong and quit being a asshole. He then proceeded to make the put after I had him remark it and was all FUCK YOU I MADE IT. He then got caught on a few holes later by my partner hitting a second ball and not taking the penalty shot. Stopped the match right there. We were up too. He was a total ass about it. Turns out he was hitting a second ball half the time the day before according to the other group. It was day 2 of a 4 day trip to Pinehurst. Made me wonder how many other times he had gotten away with it? I won't play with him anymore. Also doesn't hurt that he's a first class jackass off the course. Cheating in golf is lame. It is a hard game. Take your lumps. Cheating when money is involved against friends is unacceptable. It is the reason why we have handicaps. It makes it "even" when a 6 plays a 17.
There is a guy in my dad's group who does that. He's an older guy and I guess he thinks he can get away with it by putting one hand on his knee and just kinda dropping the mark a few inches in front of the ball. It's the worst kept secret up there that he's the biggest cheater in the group. He is the owner/CEO of a large company, drove a masserati, etc. then when the pandemic came he had to leave the club because he couldn't afford the dues. So he's really just a total well rounded piece of shit.
I hit a second ball a lot to practice certain shots on the course but would never if it was in a money match, what a loser
I don’t play golf anymore, been out of the business for 15 years. Yes setting course records is fun, but unfortunately this one was broken the very next day by the other assistant pro, which I heard about from the hospital because I got into bad a car wreck driving to the course to open the shop that morning. So yea an interesting 48 hours…
We usually play distance vs tees. If the tips are 6,500 that's what we do. If they're 7,500 fuck all that noise
I have not played my own ball for 18 holes in over three years. Played a corporate scramble with rentals last year. I got my Am status back in ~2014, qualified and played in the Texas Am (the one after Zalatoris won) and multiple state mid Ams. I was practicing so much I formed this horrendous blister/callous on my left hand, so much so I basically had to play the state mid am with a wrapped hand and oversized glove (you can imagine I did not make the cut). The callous would never go away, as soon as I started playing again within one round it would reappear and be crazy painful. I had multiple friends/pros assess my grip, club grips and glove situation and no one saw anything wrong. So I just called it a day and haven’t really missed it since.
My wife probably wishes I would develop one of those. I have no other hobbies so I would lose my mind if I couldn’t unplug on the course
Yep it’s just a massive callous that forms on my left hand where the grip sits. Super painful and I basically had a breakdown on the range prior to the first round of the mid Am because I was so distraught over it. Luckily I found rock climbing as a way to get away, which in an absurd twist of fate, my skin is insanely resilient/good for.