Golf Tips & Quips

In my last post I devised a plan before playing at Kokopelli Golf Club. The pros are always well prepared before a round and I thought that I should do the same. The plan ended up being right on point. Execution of the plan, however, proved to be difficult at times.

The Doctor and I booked an early tee time so that we would be done in time to see the leaders at The Masters as they made the turn. Unfortunately, our tee time was pushed back by about 40 minutes due to the fact that there was a golf outing schedule for the same morning. It was a bit irritating, but it made no sense to get upset. It is what it is.

Besides the late start, we had an excellent time. We were paired with Bob and Wayne, a couple of retired coaches from Colorado. It so happened that they were part of the outing that held everybody up. Wayne told me that the group makes the trip to Phoenix every year, playing different courses every time they visit.

I stuck to my game plan, taking hybrid off the tee on most of the holes. A lot of the fairways are narrow and staying in the short stuff is important on this course. The rough isn't really grass. In most places, you end up in thick clay(see pictures below). There is no way to predict how the ball will react from this lie.

The par 5's ate me alive. I posted double bogey, triple bogey, double bogey, and bogey on these four holes. They are the four hardest holes on the course, so if you miss each of the fairways off the tee on these holes like I did, posting pars becomes very difficult.

My short game was pretty good. I had four pars for the round and each of those were a result of a great up and down from difficult positions. The highlight of my round occurred after I found myself buried near the top of the lip of a greenside bunker. Another foot and a half and my approach shot would have found the green.

I could hear the murmuring of my fellow playing partners in the background as I approached my ball. They thought I had no chance at getting out, and believe me, I had my doubts as well. Then I remembered this drill that I saw Phil Mickelson demonstrate. It is a clip from his DVD, Secrets Of The Short Game. It starts at about the 5:40 mark on the video.

My ball was in just about the same position as the first ball uses to demonstrate his drill. From the look of it, I had no chance. I dug into the sand with my feet to have a stable base, took a few practice swings(being careful not to touch the sand) and then I chopped into the sand just as Phil had. With sand in my face, I looked up just in time to see the ball land less than six inches from the hole. Shot Of The Day! Thanks Phil!!!

My putting was alright. Despite starting the round with two 3-putts, I finished with 32 total putts. Eight less than my last round at Eagle Mountain Golf Club where the greens had a lot of undulations, many of them being two tiered and all of them being super fast. Kokopelli's greens are by no means easy, but slower greens made it easier to read the breaks.

Overall it was great round. I didn't execute my game plan the way I wanted to but now I realize that it definitely helps to have a strategy going into a round especially if it's a course I have never played before. I'll continue to work on my game. Hopefully I can begin to put the two together and start seeing better results. Have a great round and always hit your target.

Wayne, The Doctor, Bob, and Dex