Panic

I followed up my 78 (11.5 differential) from a few weeks ago with a 91 (23.1 differential). The round started off well enough, with acceptable bogeys on the first couple of holes. I then tripled the third hole, a pretty straightforward par 4. I topped my righty drive, topped a lefty hybrid, thinned a righty hybrid, wedged on, and three putted.

I then doubled the next hole by hitting a lefty driver directly behind a tree, where all I could do was punch out sideways. This left me 200 yards uphill to the green, which is a lefty shot I don’t have. I hit a good 6 hybrid, wedged it on from about 50 yards and two putted for double. After a par and a few bogeys, I proceeded to make four double-bogeys in a row. I parred five of the last six holes coming in, and took a double when I hit my drive too well through a dogleg and had to take a drop.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my attitude during the round. At the halfway point I knew that I was very unlikely to put up a good score for the day, but I was okay with that. I certainly wasn’t happy with the fact that I had lost several shots lost due to really bad righty swings. I cold topped a couple of righty tee shots, one with a driver, and one with a hybrid, both of which cost me a full stroke.

I also got a few bad breaks, and recognized them as such when they happened. I’ve hit a lot of lefty drives on number three to the left of the fairway. However, I’ve typically been able to at least advance my ball enough to give me a reasonable chance of reaching the green with my third shot. I missed a couple of lefty approach shots pin high that ended up in bad spots. I wasn’t short sided on either one, but the lies were such that I had extremely difficult pitch shots with very little chance of getting it on the green. In most rounds, these misses would have just required simple pitches to get the ball into safe two putt range.

This was about my third round using the Ping Eye 2 wedge, and my prior two rounds with it were some of my best. I really like the Ping around the greens, but I don’t seem to hit it as far as my prior SW on full swings. I mentioned something about this to one of the older guys I was playing with during the round, and he said something about how the old Eye 2 wedges were great, but the ball just didn’t go anywhere with them. This comment would come to haunt me after the round.

I started thinking about a few short approach shots in this round where I knew I couldn’t get there with the Ping SW, but I struggled hitting a partial PW. For one or two of these shots, had I been carrying the older SW, I might have tried to lean into the SW, but I knew that wasn’t possible with the Ping. In each case I came up short trying to take too much off of the PW. Still, I couldn’t help but to start thinking about my club gapping.

Gapping is an issue for lots of golfers, but it’s especially difficult when you’re playing with a half set, which is what I need to do to play alternate golf. When I got home from the round, I started thinking about my inventory of clubs, and what sort of changes I might be able to make to try and fill the gaps better. I started checking out the website for the nearby Play it Again Sports to see what sort of gap wedges they had in stock. I spent a lot more time than I’d care to admit thinking about this.

I then stopped and realized that in my prior round of 78, I had the exact same bag makeup as the 91. The difference in my scoring between the rounds had virtually nothing to do with the gapping at the shorter range of my righty irons. I thought about doing a hole-by-hole recap, but nobody really wants to read that sort of thing. What it all comes down to is that I made some really bad swings, some mediocre swings, and I had some bad luck. In this round I just happened to have more than my usual numbers of each.

However, I do have a gapping issue that needs to be dealt with, as the Ping wedge just doesn’t go as far. Fortunately, I have been able to carve out some extra practice time. My course doesn’t have a driving range, but it does have a practice green in an open area where you can hit approach shots up to 100 yards or so. There are also some adjacent holes where it’s feasible to jump over and play some shots so long as nobody is coming.

In a couple of practice sessions, I was pretty quickly able to figure out that I’m entirely capable of hitting “dead arm” pitching wedges the same distance as a full sand wedge, even at the reduced distance of the Ping wedge. I also figured out that what felt like a full swing wasn’t really as full as I’m capable of making. I rarely video my swing, but I did take a look and realized that I’m not taking the club back nearly as far as I used to. Granted, I’m 52, but I am going to make an effort to work more on my shoulder mobility to make it more comfortable for me to make a more full backswing. I can force the longer backswing now, but it’s not as relaxed as I’d like it.

I’m going to make a concerted effort to work on my distance control over the next few weeks. This is much more of a righty issue than a lefty issue, as from the left side I’m much more focused on just making good contact. I already make some different length swings from the left side, but my standards for myself on the right side are much higher. While I don’t have nearly the same amount of practice time as I did back when I was a low handicapper, I certainly have a lot of room for improvement from where I’m at right now.