Golf Tips & Quips

This is not a misprint. I finally broke 80 yesterday with a 79 at Arizona Biltmore Golf Club. In a recent post, I mentioned that Hank Haney told Ray Romano that the day Ray breaks 80 is the day there are no double bogeys and 3-putts on his scorecard. Well Hank, I did it with three doubles and four 3-putts. The difference was the four birdies I executed during the round.

I had never had more than one birdie in a round. Birdies neutralize the high number of double and triple bogeys. When I looked back on the round, I think there were three factors that led to the birdies which helped me reach my 2011 goal.

1) Quality tee shots - I have been driving the ball really well as of late. My total driving percentage is 49.89. In my last seven rounds however, I am hitting 70.83 percent of the fairways. Playing an approach shot from the fairway is obviously better than playing from the rough. The lie is better and you have more options for you next shot. I only hit eight fairways during this round, but my misses were good misses for the most part.

2) Knowing my yardages and improved course management - I am starting to really get to know the yardages for each of my clubs. The air is thinner here in Arizona, and the ball flies a little bit longer than it did in the humidity of South Florida. I struggled for a while when I first moved out here but it is starting to come together.

Now that I know my yardages, I can play smarter rounds. Arizona Biltmore has a GPS system on each cart. You get the yardage to the pin, yardages to the front and back of the green, and also to any hazards that the hole presents.

The greens demand that you keep your approach shots below the hole as most of the greens slope from back to front. Knowing how much it is to the front the green is helpful so that I can pick the right club that will leave me with an uphill putt. In the past I would get the yardage to the pin and use the club that would get me to that distance. If I hit it well, I would often be passed the hole, facing a slippery putt. Almost impossible to two putt from above the hole as these are some fast greens.

3) A simple swing thought - Mike Southern featured a video of Lucas Glover's swing. Mike was teaching about keeping your hands in front of you during the swing. There are a lot of good points in this post but one thing stood out to me. Mike said...

The part that stuck out was "the club shaft should cross over your shoulder..." In the few days leading up this round, I worked on how it felt to have the club in this position. I didn't care so much about if it was parallel to the target line. My only concern was getting the shaft above the shoulder and the rest would take care of itself.

My ball striking was very good for my standards. I hit some great shots which translated into 10 of 18 greens in regulation. This is something Mike and I have been working on getting better at. Hitting greens in regulation gives you a chance to make a birdie and I was able to capitalize on a few occasions.

I know I have a lot of work to do and by no means am I getting big-headed. My goals at the beginning of the year was to break 80 and to get down to a 10 handicap. If I continue to average around 83, 84 per round, I should reach my handicap goal as well.

I guess I have to set a new scoring goal since we still have seven months left in 2011. Maybe I'll get together with Mike to see what it should be. For now I am going to savor the moment and enjoy the fact that my hard work paid off. It feels really good to accomplish stuff. Have a great round and always hit your target. 

Photo found here.

Golf is a game played outside and as golfers we need to know how to adjust to the ever changing conditions that Mother Nature throws at us. Lately, it has been very windy here in Phoenix, and my last round at Vistal Golf Club felt like I was back in South Florida.

Vistal Golf Club is part of a great stretch of golf courses located just off the I-10 on Baseline Rd. Arizona Grand, The Raven, and The Legacy, are all award winning courses that are must plays if you visit Phoenix. Vistal Golf Club is not as well known, but The Doctor and I found a $22.00 tee time and decided that we would check it out.

Neither of us were disappointed. For the price, it is a steal. The course was in decent condition. The only gripe I have with the course is with the condition of their bunkers. They are not maintained well at all. The dirt is rock hard. It's not hardpan, but more like clumps of hard clay, which makes it very difficult to get out. Unfortunately I found myself in the bunkers a lot during this round.

Disaster struck when I got to the par 3, 3rd hole, which measured 139 yards to the middle that day. The green is over water and guarded by a bunker front-right and a bunker back-left. Not much room for error here(picture on the right).

Normally I would hit a smooth 9-iron to this distance but the wind was into us so I took an extra club to compensate. The hole was tucked behind the front bunker so I aimed left-center to avoid the trap. As I took my swing, the wind shifted to behind us and my shot sailed over the green into the back bunker.

When I got to the ball, I discovered it was a little plugged. The flag was below me so I was facing a bunker shot to a pin that was on a downslope, with water behind it. I totally chunked my first effort and left it in the trap. Now I had an uphill lie. I ended up sculling it and the ball flew over the green and into the water. I dropped, then pitched to a reasonable distance, but 2-putted to finish with a seven. OUCH!!!

Some of the fairways have dead spots that will leave you with a hardpan lie, but other than that the course is just fine. What makes this course special and also a little tricky is that is backs up to South Mountain. The scenery is incredible, but when you have a green tucked into the side of a mountain, depth perception becomes an issue. Trusting your clubs is a must on these holes.

I finished with a 90. Pretty disappointing, knowing that I could score better. I jokingly told the Doctor that if the replay rates were $10, I would go around again. I went in to the clubhouse and what do you know...Replay rates are $10. The Doctor, being that he is a real doctor, needed to go prepare for a presentation he had the next day. I just needed to find out if my wife had any plans for us. After I got the green light, I bid The Doctor adieu, and took off for the first hole.

The first time around, I bogeyed the par 5. This time around, I hit a perfect drive, great layup to about 98 yards, and then stuck my third shot to within a foot of the cup for a tap in birdie. That's more like it.

I finished my second round in about two hours and fifteen minutes, posting an 85. I think I adjusted better this time for the wind, along with the fact that I had seen the course before. I had to skip a couple of groups who were nice enough to let me through, but other than that it was wide open. If I could play 36 holes a day, my game would definitely improve. For the price and location, Vistal Golf Club is a great value. Just remember to stay out of the bunkers. Have a great round and always hit your target.