It is likely that most amateur golfers are met with varying degrees of success when hitting irons. The longer the iron, the more the challenge. I can honestly say that I switch to a 3 and 4 hybrid because of how poorly I struck my long irons. Having said that, I do work diligently on making solid contact with my 5 iron through lob wedge. I feel that with these clubs I have a better than not chance of being successful. As a follow up to yesterday’s post about my second shot, most of the time it is with an iron and as such I think it is important to dedicate some time to hitting them well.
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How Important Is Your Second Shot In Golf?
In just about every conversation about golf, the drive and putt appear to be the main focus of discussion. The drive is usually related to distance and the putt to how it rolled into the hole. I can see that these dynamic shots would stick in many players minds, however I would suggest the second shot is as or more important to the other previously mentioned golf shots. I realize this might fly in the face of many discussions on The Grateful Golfer, but if you think about it, the second shot is critical to how every round sets up!
Continue readingDo You Have A Travelling Handicap Index?
During a recent conversation on Twitter with my friends Serge and Andre, we stumbled on a great topic. Actually, Andre is the person who first brought up his desire to lower his traveling handicap and that sparked a thought. I have spent years touting the benefits of creating a handicap index through Golf Canada and supporting your local golf course. I still adamantly support this view, but I wonder how solid my handicap index really is if I record 98% of my rounds on my home course!
Continue readingEven Experienced Golfers Make Rule Mistakes
Understanding the rules of golf is very important for all golfers. I studied the rules and feel that if wanted to be competitive golfer, I needed to know the ins and outs of the rule book. I feel that I understand the rules well and that I have saved many strokes because I knew the details and how to implement the rules. Regardless of how confident I felt, I still made mistakes that cost me a stroke or two. Fortunately, it did not cost me a match or a tournament.
Continue readingFirst Swing Of The Round
Depending on whether you had the time to prepare, if any, will likely determine your mental state on your first swing of your round. For many players, rushing from their car to the first tee is the norm and probably results in a less than optimal shot. At Osprey Links, I would say that I only prepared for the first hit occasionally due to the lack of driving range. They did have a driving net and I found this a reasonable substitute to hitting a small bucket of balls, but I did not really like using it…..so I didn’t. My lack of preparation did impact my fairway percentage and I am hoping this year at my new course I will be able to improve on my start of each round.
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