I'm in Arizona for the next week and of course that means great golf. I live in the South Florida so I have some played some great courses, but I love the courses in Arizona. Every course I have been taken to has been in great condition with scenery that is to die for. Iplayed at Arizona Grand Resort, formerly know as Phantom Horse yesterday with my good friend Anthony who was actually the one who got me into golf. He and his Dad gave me my first set of clubs and I have been addicted ever since. Playing a new course is always tough but this particular course presented some unique challenges. From the first tee I knew I was in for an interesting round. The par 4 first hole wasn't very long, measuring only 314 yards. The problem is that is an uphill blind tee shot so you really have to pick a target and hope to get into the fairway.
I hit a pretty good shot to the left side of the fairway atop the hill. When I got up to the my ball I looked over to my right and noticed a sneaky little pond just over the top of the hill. That seemed to be a trend on this course because there are many blind shot and hazards, that if you have never played here before, you basically have to go by the pictures on the scorecard or GPS and hope for the best. I didn't score as well as I wanted to but I hit some really good shots. I hit just under 50% of the fairways and the ones I missed were not in terrible position. The problem was my short game. I left a lot of chip shots short and that put way to much pressure on my putter. My putting has been better, but as Lee Trevino said, "there are two things that won't last long in this world, and that's dogs chasing cars and pros putting for pars." What really hurt was posting double bogeys on three out of the four par 5's. I have been working hard to eliminate doubles especially on par 5's. At this stage of the game I don't mind bogeys and I hope to mix in five or six pars. That would give me scores somewhere in the mid 80's. But when I post to many doubles, I can forget about it. So the game plan over the next month is to really work on my chipping and pitching. I am still working on adding distance to each of my irons so it is extra important for me hone my short game when I come up short of the green on my approach shots.
Anthony and I plan ongoing back to Arizona Grand Resort before I leave. He feels he didn't play his best and he wants to get back out there now that we know the course. All I know is even if I do know the course now, it won't make a difference if I can't get my chip shots to within eighteen inches of the cup.
I'm just trying to get better at the game I love. This blog is kind of a journal of my progress. I will share all the tips, drills, exercises, and experiences that I am using to improve. Hopefully they will help you too.
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