Yesterday, Blair and I traveled to Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort for our practice round before play today. We entered into a 2-Man scramble and look forward to teeing it up against 32 other teams. Mattawa golf course is a 9-hole gem with many opportunities to score very low. I shot even par yesterday with many chances to shoot lower.
Continue readingfocused practice
Focused On Playing Great Golf
As a golfing fanatic, I am focused on playing great golf. I think I do all the right things to improve my game and I am not sure I can do anything else. Sometimes, it feels as if all my effort goes unrewarded. Do you ever feel that way?
Being a student of the game takes on a life of its own sometimes. Reading books, writing articles, watching videos, practicing, playing, and talking about golf, uses up some of my free time! I believe that to be a better player, all the above things need to play some sort of role in my passion. However, I am not so sure I am on the right path to being a scratch golfer!
Practice Golf The Way You Play
3-6-9 Chipping Drill
Focused practice is nothing new at The Grateful Golfer blog. This extremely important topic has cropped up and never seems to lose its importance or relevancy to playing great golf. As I think of the many tips on this topic, I started to wonder if these perils of wisdom actually help the average player.
I am strong believer in the 3-6-9 drill for putting and chipping. I believe they offer the biggest return on your most precious investment: time. This and other drills will make us a better player and lower your golf scores, if we practice. However, after some thought, there is one aspect of focused putting that seems to be overlooked by most amateurs and teachers. Continue reading
Golf Report Card From 2014
Back in April, I reaffirmed a plan for my 2014 golf season. The intent was to improve my overall game to help achieve my goal of being a scratch golfer. My plan was met with varying success; so I thought I would share the goods, bads and uglies with you.
I have four main focus areas that help guide every golf season. With a plan in place, I am usually ready for anything on the links. Here is my plan:
- get fit – focus on exercises designed to improve my golf game;
- research – the drills and techniques required to improve my game;
- practice – dedicate time to practice to improve my game; and
- compete – either formally or informally compete every time I hit the links.
The Grateful Golfer in 2014!
Well I can say that my overall fitness for the golf season was pretty good. I felt strong during most rounds and rarely waned heading down the home stretch. I could have improved on my physical strength, but that is what this off-season is for. I would rate my fitness a B+.
My research on drills and techniques continued all season. I improved my chipping, widened my stance, and found better methods to score low. I have shared these tips and drills through the year in my blog, and they might be worth taking a look at. Interestingly, I improved more in the last two months of the season because I started hitting the ball farther off the tee. I will continue researching better ways to improve this area this winter. I would rate my research as a solid A.
Practicing was up and down this year. I started off extremely strong, but slowed during various times in the season. When I did practice, I felt rushed and unfocused. I write about practicing with intent all the time and should heed my own advice. I would rate my practice as a C+.
I did compete a bit this year, but mostly in fun tournaments. This type of competition is not good for my competitive edge, but it is competition. I played in 2 stroke events and was underwhelming. My competitive edge was not as sharp as in years past, but keep in mind that my criticism is relative to my handicap. I would rate my competitive edge as a B.
So overall, my season was about average for sticking to my plan. It is amazing how quickly the season passed and by not staying focused, I think that I missed some opportunities to improve. However, the most surprising aspect of my entire 2014 golf season is that I dropped my handicap from 4.7 to 2.8!
Wait, before you say not nice things to me, I cannot believe it either. I had a 4 week period where I could do nothing wrong and I actually broke par once. From a pure handicap perspective, 2014 was a fantastic season.
Hopefully, I will build on my successes from this year and achieve my overall goal of being a scratch golfer.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 