Yesterday I played a round of hickory stick golf with my friend Charlie. We scooted around the 18 holes in around 3 hours. Playing from the shorter distances and using a cart sure helps to play a quick round. During my round, I had 3 birdies, six pars, seven bogeys and two doubles for a score of 82 on the par 74 course at Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort. There were a few highlights and a few not so pretty shots. So, my round went as expected. I did, however, find out something that I need to focus upon moving forward. This small tidbit is prevalent when using my modern clubs as well. Go figure!

The first hole was amazing. It is a longish par 5 which I birdied out the gate. I hit a decent drive and my second shot left me about 85 yards from the green. Hitting a knockdown 7 iron, my ball popped up onto the green and came to rest about 2 feet from the pin. It was a great shot regardless of club vintage and it resulted in a tap in birdie! What a great way to start.

As I continued to play my round, I found that a majority of my approach shots were pulled left or my club face closed drastically at contact. After much frustration and analyzing the situation I found that I was doing two things wrong. They are not something I had challenges with in the past, but they did open my eyes as to something I need to pay attention to moving forward.

Basically, the challenge I faced was two-fold. First, my grip was such that when I completed my down swing my clubface closed drastically. I thought I was holding the club properly, however this was not the case. It was crazy how much different hitting hickory sticks are compared to my modern clubs. Yet, closing the clubface was definitely something serious at the time.

The second was my aim point. It was way off to the left. I could not believe how poorly I was aiming. I followed my same process as normal with strangely bad results. After 10 holes (except for the first) of erratic ball contact, I started to focus on what was going wrong. Thank goodness my up and down game was working or else I would have a very high score. After plenty of introspection, I think I figure out that my setup was off and after a couple minor adjustments, I was able to par the last four holes.

The entire series of errors can be boiled down to one aspect of my game I will focus on today when playing with my friends Blair and Mike. My focus will be centered around my setup. For some reason, I was setting up left (feeling it was to the right) and gripping my club with a strong grip. Both of these is atypical for my game and will be rectified for today’s round. It was interesting how I was not 100% focused on my game and that small (yet dramatic) errors crept into my game. Well, I am aware now so they should not be an issue.

Golf, whether using 100 year old clubs or modern sticks, is a game that can teach you something each round. I try to be a student of the game and yesterday’s round with hickory sticks taught me to pay attention when playing. I will see if this lesson pays off today or if need to go back to school.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!