Conference 7.286::golf

    
    Hi,
    
    	Yesterday I was playing Berlin CC and when I reached the first
    green, very quickly realized it was going to be a long day...  The
    greens were faasssstttt. Till this time due to alll the rain/snow
    of late, the greens were slow. I was hoping to get some needed advice
    on pitching. The pins were up front leaving no room to pitch and
    roll, along with the fact the fairway grass was high. Earlier I
    was told to use the pitching wedge on ALL approach shots, because
    the way the sand wedge will sometimes bounce and top the shot...
    and the 60 degree wedge will dig deep and leave it short. I'd like
    to get it on and close under these conditions...  What is your
    technique?
    
    
    		Thank you,
    				Walt 
    

    Played both days this weekend! Had a good front 9 Saturday at Pine
    Meadows in Lexington (for me - 10 over with one quadruple bogey,
    and didn't make a putt longer than 4'). Played Unicorn Sunday for
    the first time (on William St in Stoneham). Experimented with an
    old blade putter to see if I could start sinking some of those makeable
    putts - the experiment failed, so it's back to the Bullseye again.
    The course itself is a little 9-holer that plays pretty tough. The
    longest hole is a 499-yard par 5, but there are a couple of 440-yard
    plus par 4's, and the par 3's are well trapped in front, so it takes
    an honest shot to get on in 1.
    
    I liked the course, despite a lousy score, fairly scabrous greens
    (one temporary green was in use), and the starter's putting out
    several 5-somes ahead of us! As you can imagine, that slowed things
    down considerably. I'll certainly give it another try. The high
    point of the round for me was a crushed 5-wood on the par 5, which
    I reached in regulation (and then proceeded to 4-putt). After
    struggling with fairway woods the past two seasons (and almost deciding
    to leave them out of the bag altogether), I think I have a glimmer
    of a solution: I now think of them as just funny-looking long irons,
    rather than as woods. For some reason, that seems to be making the
    difference between a horrible flub and a beautiful shot.
    
    So for the moment at least the only club really giving me fits is
    the putter. I was so ticked off that I putted the last hole with
    the driver - knocked it stiff, a foot from the pin! Best putt of
    the day...
    
    
    	Frank
    

    
    Hi Frank,
    
    	That's pretty funny, I have been employing the same exact trick
    regarding the woods. I too just treat them like irons concentrating
    only on the face, the only difference being I play the ball more
    on my left foot (I'm a righty). 
    	When you have putting problems the only sure way of fixing them
    is to putt, then try putting, then putt some more. I use a ball
    return device my sister got for me, it's very good for teaching
    distance and accuracy. I found the short putts to drop much more
    probably just from the confidence I got from all that practice.
    If you have a rug and a wall socket you're on your way...
    
    		When is the rain going to stop ????????????
    
    			wet in Maynard		Walt

    
    
      Hey that trick sounds familiar, I've been trying to preach that
    to people for years. I've always used my 3w off the fairway and
    treat just like a one iron or two. I'll admit I prefer the one iron
    for accurancy but its fun once and a while to go for a par five
    in two. I play golf once a week right now,(I have a new son) so
    each time out is a new adventure. I can get around the links in
    about a two or three over par performance stiil though, it's not
    a pretty round but I like to scramble. I use to have a MGA handicap
    of 2. But after getting married and chained to the yard, I've had
    to give up my golf time. Its still fun to get out and hack around
    though. I do have one of thought putter shooters also. you know
    putt the ball in and it fires it back at ya. I love watching the cat
    stick her paw in there to see what going on. ZAP!!! out come the
    paw and there goes kitty and her come mom BYE!!!
    
    
    
    ps: I play Saturdays at 06:00 to avoid those slowwww crowds

    When it comes to using woods vs irons... which club do you give
    up to get the 1 or 2 iron in your bag? I see the pro's pulling
    out a 2 iron on occasion and got to wondering what selection
    most of them use? I hit the 3 iron 210 yds. and have often thought
    of picking up a 2 iron and retiring the 5 wood. The only thing
    stopping me is I'd be sacrificing the long/high shot which I use
    to get back in the correct fairway.
                                         
    Curiosity never killed the cat... but their paws definitely take
    a beatin' !
    

    Hi, Walt:
    
    Yeah, with all this rain, about all I've been able to practise has
    been my putting. I'm concentrating on smoothness and not peeking
    (my tendency is to look up and scuff the putt, leaving it way short
    of the hole). For a while I tried lining up the putt and then just
    watching the hole (or the spot I was trying to hit). It worked for
    a while, but not for long!
    
    I have one of those electric putting devices, and I have stopped
    plugging it in, because often it spits the ball back out and leaves
    it in the line. So I just putt till it's full and then go retrieve
    the balls myself! My cat hasn't stuck his paws into it yet, but
    he goes crazy chasing the ones I miss (or intercepting them on the
    way).
    
    	Frank
    

    RE # .5
    
    	I just bought a new set of irons and because I hit my old two
    iron well I went the whole route. I now carry 1-9,pitching and sand
    wedges, putter, driver and four wood. That's 14 clubs and that's
    the limit. If I had a choise between a five wood and a four wood
    I would go with the five wood.
    
    						Tom

    Thanks for the info Tom,
    
    I think it may well be worth a stroke or two swapping out at least
    one of my woods for a long iron. The times I hit a green from way
    out with a fairway wood I can count with two fingers...
    
    Hi Frank,
    
    One thing I have learned about putting, when you're on  ENJOY IT!
    What frustration ! I wonder if anyone putts consistently ? I read
    another note where someone said they can two putt any hole... If
    that person is reading this, it would be great to hear what steps
    you take in setting up to get such results. Pleeaaaasssssseeeeee????
    
    		leave it thin, never goes in
    
    				Walt
    

    Can't help but brag.  Today I shot a 69 on my home course from the
    championship tees.  Hit 14 greens and had 30 putts.  Had 3 birdies,
    one bogey, and one penalty shot (but made par anyway).  It was my
    first sub 70 round in about 6 years.  My arm is sore from patting
    myself on the back!!!!

    In the words of an old Texas buddy of mine: It ain't braggin' if
    y'all kin do it. Congratulations! Just curious: how long have you
    been playing, and how often do you play? There was an item in the
    new issue of GOLF magazine, indicating that the average male golfer
    shoots 23 over par for 18, and that 38% NEVER practice! I'm still
    struggling to break 90 consistently (did it once last year and the
    first time about 20 years ago) and have the feeling that my swing's
    there, and my irons are getting better, my chipping's getting close
    and all I need is more confidence on the greens and I'll be in the
    low 80's. But 69!? Nice going.
    
    	Frank
             

	 Re .9,.10

	 My hat's off too.  I'm impressed - why aren't you working as a golf
	 pro  somewhere  instead of at DEC? My goals are more down-to-earth,
	 I'm trying to go below 90...

	 -- Mr Litby

    I guess that this is a good spot for this story.  A couple of weeks
    ago I was playing a friendly match.  We started on the back which
    my partner and I won 3 up.  The front was a different matter.  After
    the 4th hole we were 1 over (both bogyed #1) and were 1 down.  The
    5th hole is a par 5.  I was hole high in 2 about 50 feet from the
    pin.  Clearly we will even the side on this hole.  I hit an aweful
    chip shot about 8 feet left of the pin.  Our opponent chips in a
    no brainer for birdie.  I made the putt to tie, my partner birdied
    6, they birdied 7 and my partner birdied 9.  It was quite a match
    to have 5 birdies in 5 holes.  We played the side in 2 under par
    and the 18 in 1 or 2 over.  Not bad for a couple of hackers from
    Vermont!
    
    					KO
    

    Re .9   
    
    	69 ?? You must have been/are sky high after such excellence!
    Sounds like target practice hittin' 14 holes in regulation... One
    question...  when it's going well I tend to start thinking "How
    long till I screw this up?" Does it ever cross your mind? Or are
    you actually looking forward to the remaining holes to do even better?
    I feel if I could only maintain my optimism things would go much
    smoother...  I have been shooting an occasional 4 over for 9, and
    can't seem to keep it going enough for a scratch 9 holes. But a
    sub par 18 ?  Do you give lessons?
    
    			Congradulations !  Love to hear it !
    
    						Walt
    
    re .12
    
    	Seems like you guys were playing for a Mich Light ! (like a
    case, that is) .  Good battle.
    

    re. 13
    
    Hey, Walt, that's what happens to me: I start off well (as with
    Saturday - booming tee shot, 8-iron on the green, then started
    thinking, "Boy, I sure hope I don't mess up the putt," and left
    myself a good 8' short, for a bogey) and can't or won't keep it
    going. Too much history. It's like you can't believe you're really
    capable of doing well. One encouraging thing: where I used to fear
    using fairway woods, I now look forward to them. Just a matter of
    changing your self-image from "I'm a hopeless hacker" to "I can
    really play this silly game, after all."
    
    	Frank
    

    Re: .14  Yep, attitude is the whole thing once you have the
    fundamentals down. I took up the game last year after a 13 or 14
    year layoff. Awful, terrible, but I love playing. I quickly worked
    my way down from about 115 to the high 90s. Once I dipped down to
    93, and on one miracle day had an 89, but basically I was a 97-98
    golfer. I didn't have a temper, but I would get down on myself and
    decide early on that a round was "lost." Of course, then it was.
    
    But late last season -- I played through December in Mass. -- I
    seemed to calm down. I had been in most situations and knew what
    to do. Sometimes I'd screw up, but at least I knew the right way
    to handle a situation. I ended the season with a few 91s, and an
    87.
    
    This year I started where I left off!!! I don't know why, but I
    feel more relaxed on the course. I can finally hit a 9 or a wedge
    to the green without chilly-dipping. I can hit a 3 wook off the
    fairway. I can even get out of sand!! All my rounds have been 92s
    or 93s. I'm reasonably happy, but I'm blowing 4 or 5 strokes a round
    missing -- get this -- 2 footers! I can put a 35 footer within 2
    feet, no problem. Then I blow the tap in.  Well, I'm working on
    it.
    
    Anyway, the main difference I think is that I know what to do, so
    I can concentrate on doing it right. When I have a disaster, like
    a quad due to lost ball and trees, I regroup and keep playing. I've
    been studying my cards and I notice an interesting trend. Each time
    I have a triple or a quad, I follow it with a couple of pars, or
    a par and a bogey. At my level bogey is OK. Last year a quad meant
    total collapse. You know, you can blow a lot of strokes and still
    shoot a 91 0r 92.
    
    This year I can't play much (three week old son), but when I play
    I'm better and I really enjoy myself. I hum that song by Simply
    Red: "The Right Thing." Great golf anthem, the chorus is "I'm going
    to do the right thing." Every time I'm tempted to attempt a bonehead
    shot, I hum that line and play it smart. Well, 95% of the time.
    Sometimes, you just can't resist!  ;-)
    
    DC-who-will-finally-start-dropping-those-2-footers-and become-an-
    85-golfer-this-year
    
    

    re. 15 - That's the DEC motto, eh? "Do the right thing." I really
    believe we set up a lot of artificial mental barriers (jeez, I'm
    sounding like Norman Vincent Peale here), when we think of these
    "magic" numbers. I had a hell of a time breaking 100 (must have
    taken a good 5 years), but once I did, I never shot over 99 again.
    I'm sure once I break 90 (on a "real" course), I'll be consistently
    in the 80's, because I'll think of myself as someone who shoots
    in the 80's! The fundamentals are there - even the putting, which
    is even more mental than the rest of the game! If I can just stop
    thinking of myself as a "lousy putter," I'm sure the putts will
    start dropping.
    
    As for the "right" shot vs. the "high risk" shot: hell, anyone can
    chip it onto the fairway, but where's the thrill in that? Yeah,
    you're right - that's REALLY dumb! Some of my best 4-irons have
    been hit from amongst the heavy timber, only to carom off a limb
    and wind up even deeper in the forest! But if you don't live for
    the thrill of creaming a super drive off the first tee, in full
    view of about a million other hackers ("Wow, did you see that?"
    Are there any sweeter words ever spoken, at least on a golf course?),
    you probably ought to take up tiddley-winks (not you, personally,
    but someone who always plays it safe).
    
    Frank-who's-on-the-verge-of-shooting-82-any-day-now-McGowan
    
    start dropping. Maybe self-hypnosis ... nah, no gimmicks!

    re. .10
    Thanks for the kind words Frank.  I have been playing since college
    days at the Univ. of Fla. (1960).  Down here in Dixieland we play
    all year, although I sometimes think it would be advantageous to
    put up the clubs for a few months each year.  I play once or twice
    a week when the weather permits.
    
    re. .11
    Thanks to you too, Mr. Litby, for your tip 'o the hat.  Believe
    me, I play more golf than most club pro's I know, and don't work
    near the hours!  My hats off to you for setting up this conference
    and monitoring it for us nuts!
    
    re. .13
    Walt, believe me, my arm is still sore from patting myself on the
    back.  I, too, am very subject to the screw up when I've got it
    going.  I had blown numerous chances at the sub 70 round over the
    past year.  I find that my best play comes when I can concentrate
    totally on executing the shot at hand.  I try to determine the exact
    yardage and establish that mental image of the shot prior to pulling
    the trigger.  By the way, I had only to par the 18th for the 69.
     I pulled the shot to the left and thought it was in the lake!!
     Fortunately I found the ball on the far side of the lake and was
    able to play it.  Talk about a grown man almost crying!!!
    
    Thanks again,
    Closs

    My friends and I play a local course Berlin CC, par 33 with no par
    5's. One of my friends Tony shot a 37 last year leading the pack
    for lowest 9 holes. This week alone Tony and I have gone to Berlin CC
    4 times, three of which I shot a 38 . Last night I birdied the 5th
    par'd the 6,7,8 th and if I par'd the 9th would've tied his 37.
    But by the time we were teeing off the 9th it was 8:15 , we should
    have easily finished the round at 7:30. The Berlin CC let 8 somes
    go off because the league teeing off was too large. What frustration!
    I could barely make out the green as I took the shot, hitting it too
    hard and bogeying the hole...  Tony if you are reading this you
    better not be laughing !!! 
    
    	Thanks to Closs's advice on taking it one shot at a time, and
    visualizing (sp) the pre-shot, my game has become steadier. Watch
    out Tony ...
    
    		Walt
    

    Closs,
    
    	Shooting 69 really is an accomplishment.  But the fact that
    you got it up and down from the other side of the water on 18 shows
    that you're a player too.  If you ever need a partner!!!!!!
    
    
    						KO

    Hi Everyone,
    
    	I have been playing as an alternate in the DEC league. We play
    at Stow Acres, tee times of 4:15 and 5:15. I have been lucky up
    till last night in teeing off with the 4:15 crowd, due to the fact 
    they have been ending at 5:30 ish. By the time the last foursome
    tee's off for the 5:15 group it's close to 7pm ! Many players to
    date have only played 4 holes for the $10 greens fee... Seems Stow
    dropped one monday league and picked up two, along with that and
    previous weather cancellations it is total bedlam. My question is,
    Will this continue? Stow says it's only "temper"ary.
    
    			Drivin' while blind
    						Walt

Had my first hole-in-one this weekend!!

It was at Saddle Hill CC in Hopkinton, MA. - 6th hole, 
161 yd par 3. The green is elevated, and the pin was tucked
tightly behind a trap on the right.  I hit a 7 iron, and watched 
the ball disappear behind the trap.  When we got up to the green,
I thought the ball went over, so we began to walk to the other side
of the green to look for the ball.  We passed the pin and looked down.
There it was!  I had been playing really poorly up until that hole too.
I was six over after 5 holes.  I guess the hole-in-one got me so excited
that I began to play well again.  I shot an 81, my best round of the year.
I can feel the seventies not too far away!

    RE. -1
    
               Congrats..........still lookin' for mine.

    	Great shot Barry!!!  My Conrats too.  Hope you find the 70's
    real soon.
    
                                                  Beak

    Gotta do a little braggin'... thanks to a new set of irons (MacGregor
    CG1800's) and [incredibly] keeping my head still till AFTER hitting
    the ball, I managed to do something last Saturday I've been trying
    to do since 1962: broke 40 for 9! In fact, shattered 40... 2-over
    37 (7 pars, 2 bogeys).
    
    I have my wife to thank (Slammin' Susie). She's been improving so
    fast, I had to get better just to maintain the stroke-a-hole handi-
    cap. She managed to break 50 the very next day!! I don't want to
    admit how long it took me to do THAT!
    
    It won't be long till she's only going to get strokes on the par
    5's!
    
    Frank
    

    RE .24
    
    Frank,
    
    I'm glad to see that your game has improved.  You and SS must be
    really enjoying the game now.  It's fun to play but it's more fun
    to play well.  Congrats!!

    Thanks, Kevin. It sure is a lot more fun. I attribute my better
    play to helping Sue - the more I tried to teach her (and she's one
    hell of a fine student), the more I reinforced my own understanding
    of the game. Her swing is now the prototype of what a good swing
    is supposed to look like: anytime I lose that image, I just hand
    her a club and ask her to take a swing with it. Great reminder!
    Once her chipping and putting come together, watch out. But isn't
    that what we all say??
    
    Frank (Swing it, don't steer it) McGowan
    

    I've been golfing for 25 years and I finally broke 80.  It happened
    this last Sunday on a difficult course that I was playing for the
    first time.  The course was called Hidden Greens and the name was
    very appropriate.  Most holes were not visible from the tees (except
    for par 3's) and the fairways were very narrow with thousands of
    trees all over.  The only saving grace was that there were no bunkers
    on the course.  
    
    Generally I play fairly open courses where I can swing away.  I
    believe the tightness of this course caused me to swing more for
    placement than distance.   I had only about 4 drives that went into
    the woods all day.  On each one I was able to punch out to be in
    position to save bogey.   Also, it didn't hurt that I chipped one in on
    17 for a birdie 2.  
    
    I've felt all along this year that my game is improving, although
    my handicap isn't moving far.  I attribute this to keeping statistics.
    Following an article in Golf Digest this spring, I put a spreadsheet
    on my pc to track holes, score, putts, fairways hit, greens in
    regulation, missed shots, penalties, pars, and birdies.  My score
    average is 90, I hit only 30% of the fairways, and 25% of the greens,
    putting is atrocious at 34 per round, pars at 5 and birdies at .8.
    I believe the key is not so much in the statistics, but in the fact
    that on each shot I'm trying my best to improve the statistics by
    trying to hit the fairway, green, etc.               
    
    

    
    RE: .26
    
    You know Frank I think you're right.  Helping someone else with
    their swing tends to improve your swing.  I was helping a couple
    of people this spring and I found myself saying, stand up to it
    square, grip it like this (show grip), start it back with the shoulder
    hit with your legs etc.......  True to form I started to make real
    good contact with the ball myself.  Funny how reviewing the
    fundamentals makes you hit the ball better!  One other thing that
    stuck in my mind was, one of the guys I was helping asked me to
    show him what I meant by staying behind the ball.  I thought, 'oh
    boy did I ask for it this time, I've got to make a good swing!'
    I tried to make the best pass that I could, and it was a good one.
    Well not long ago I was having all kinds of trouble with my iron
    game.  I couldn't hit a bull in the a** with a shovel let alone
    a golf ball.  I thought about that situation on the range, and just
    tried to make a good swing.  It worked, the game is starting to
    come back.  Now I just try to think about putting a good move on
    the ball because 'I've got ot make a good swing.'
    
    I must be one of the few golfers that doesn't say wait until the
    chipping and putting comes around.  I miss so damn many greens that
    up and down is the strongest part of my game.  I believe that I
    could get it up and down from the ball washer if I had to. ^8)
    Wait'll my irons come back!!!!!
    
    
    					KO

    Rep. 27
    
    Way to go! That's my next goal (80 or under for a continuous 18).
    I combined for a 77 last weekend, but it was 37 one day and 40 the
    next (on different 9-hole courses), so that doesn't really count.
    
    What's all the more impressive about your score is that you did
    it while concentrating on location: the usual tendency (mine, at
    least) is to start "steering" the ball, rather than just making
    sure of alignment and then swinging normally. Not to mention the
    almost irresistible urge to peek! Congratulations. All that work
    of 25 years finally paid off! I'll be playing a pretty tight little
    9-holer this Saturday, which will be a good test of my ability to
    swing normally under trying conditions. If you don't hear from me
    about it, you'll know I didn't have a lot of success...
    
    	Frank
    

    Well, I did my bragging last week; not a lot of that this week!
    That tricky little 9-holer (Petersham CC) really did me in (along
    with a bad night's sleep). After the 6th, I just stopped counting,
    it was so bad. Needless to say, my best shot (one of the few good
    ones of the day) came on the final hole: stuck a 9-iron about 6
    feet from the pin, and got my par.
    
    I wanted desperately to get out again Sunday (kind of like being
    thrown from a horse: you have to climb right back on before you
    lose your nerve). Unfortunately, everybody and his brother decided
    to play golf on Father's Day. After putting a ball in the rack and
    waiting three (3) hours, my buddy and I decided it wasn't such a
    great idea. Even if we'd managed to tee off before dark (we got
    to the course at 7 a.m.), it would have been slow torture once we
    got started. Wait'll next week!
    
    Frank
    
    P.S. Oh, yeah, after playing this misery-plagued 9-holer in Peters-
    ham, I had very little sympathy for the pro's on the US Open course.
    You call that "rough"? Hah! The Petersham fairways looked worse
    than that!!
    

    	RE .27
    		I think you've misunderstood the reasons behind keeping
    those stats.  I too, read the article, and have kept stats on my
    rounds.  And while concentrating on each shot, trying to better
    your stats for that particular catagory, helps and doesn't hurt
    at all, the real reason for keeping these stats, is to help you
    determine which part of your game needs the most work.  If you find
    yourself hitting 50% of the fairways and only 25% of the greens,
    it's your iron play that probably needs the most work.  If you're
    not hiiting a good percentage of fairways, then this could cause
    your Greens hit percentage to suffer, because of hitting out of
    rough or woods often.  
    	You mentioned you took an average of 34 putts a round, and stated
    that was terrible.  On the contrary.  You're averaging 1.88 putts
    per hole, and for an amateur, especially one who shoots over 80
    for each round, that's not to shabby at all!!!  After looking at
    your stats, I would say you should spend some time on hitting more
    accurate tee shots and/or hitting more accurate approach shots.
    Hitting more greens will also encourage you to practice your putting
    more, as you will have more birdie opportunities, and will want
    to make some.
    	By the way here are my stats so far.  Greens hit, 36%
                                            Fairways hit, 55%
                                    Avg. putts per/round, 34.48
    
    	What I get out of this is, I need to practice my iron play more.
    I make good contact and hit the ball well, but because of the distance
    I've been getting, these are new clubs and I'm hitting my 8 iron
    155 to 165 yards, and my 5 iron about 190 to 195 yards, I've been
    missing a lot of greens either long or short.  I also have to learn
    to putt better.  I seem to be able to lag putt pretty well, but
    am not making enough of those 6 to 12 footers.
    	I hope this helps you.
    
                                                Beak

    My last two times out have been more trying than usual, owing to
    an affliction known as "shanking." First it was just the pitching
    wedge, so I decided to leave that safely in the bag; then it was
    the 9-iron, so I switched to a choked-down, half-punched 8-iron.
    Yesterday even THAT wouldn't do right!
    
    I understand how shanks happen, and I even know (or think I do)
    how they're happening to me (the more I try to make a smooth swing
    and not look up, the more I make a lousy swing and look up!). I
    have now lost all confidence in the short irons, and fear that at
    the rate things are going, it'll be another week or so and ALL my
    irons will be victims of shankitis.
    
    Sure, all I have to do is relax and all my troubles will be over...
    Anyone got any advice? Some kind of mantra I can mumble just before
    starting the backswing ("don't look up" sure doesn't work)? I think
    maybe the best medicine is taking a week or two off, not looking
    at a golf club, and then giving it a try (but can I stand two weeks
    of cold turkey? Probably "yes" if the alternative is a string of
    shank-induced double and triple bogeys!
    
    		Frank
    

    Hi Frank,
    
    	I know what works with me when I "peak". Seems whenever I do
    peak it is due to aiming the ball. Once I go back to hitting for
    correct distance rather than direction I avoid picking my head up
    and concentrate more on contact. Proper set-up will then give me
    direction. If that doesn't work, tie a rope around your neck and
    attach it to a weight...  increase the weight until you reach the
    desired result. I was up to 115 lbs. ...  
    
    		Walt

    
    Frank,
    
    	Whenever a problem creeps into your swing, the first thing to
    do is to review the fundamentals alingment, stance and grip.  If
    that doesn't work, go see a pro.  I've seen people have that problem
    so bad that there was no hope for the entire season.  I've been
    lucky it's never happened to me (insert small prayer here) but from
    what I've seen, it's got to be devistating.
    
    BTW we NEVER use "THAT WORD".....  It's called a snap fade or a
    pitch out, but never "THAT WORD" :-}
    
    
    						KO

    rep 34
    
    Yeah, I like that: "snap fade"...the second I'd s****ed, I turned
    to my playing companion and said "Don't say it!" To which he replied
    (innocently), "You mean 'shank'?"
    
    With some trepidation, I took the sticks out into the back yard
    last night, dropped a few whiffle balls, and did all the things
    you're supposed to do: thanks be, I didn't snap-fade any of them.
    It's just another example of how fear of bad results can cause a
    bad result! Now all I have to do is make it happen on the course.
    
    A friend (a relative tyro at golf) made the mistake of commenting
    that the wedge was the most difficult club to hit, to which I re-
    torted that it only seemed that way because it was the club you
    used under the most stressful circumstances (except the putter,
    of course, but few of us take a full swing with our putter).
    
    Frank
    

    One of the elements of golf that make it such a mystery, and endlessly
    fascinating and frustrating, is the apparent random nature of the
    things that can go wrong: the round before last, my tee shots were
    out there, long and straight, and I couldn't hit the wedge to save
    my life (much less par); yesterday, after work, I got in a fast
    (hah!) 9 at Leo J Martin, and could hardly keep my tee shots in
    the 617 area code, but hit the wedge like I was born to it...
    
    One other weird and wonderful occurrence: on the 13th (played the
    back 9), I found myself with an uphill/downhill lie! The ball was
    above my feet, on the side of a hill, but on the downward slope.
    Naturally, after careful analysis of the situation (including con-
    sidering declaring it unplayable, and taking a stroke), I pushed
    a 4-iron into the trees! I gave myself credit for just making solid
    contact...
    

    How can a round be frustrating and satisfying at the same time?
    Well, that's golf, I guess. SS (Slammin' Susie) and I played at
    Millwood in Framingham Sunday. The Slammer had a fine day (she
    started playing this year), hitting her tee shots long and straight,
    and scoring a pretty legitimate (1 mulligan) 50 for the front 9.
    
    I, her mentor, had a frustrating 48 (also with 1 mulligan), which
    included 5 3-putt greens (all for bogeys), and one horrendous 8!
    On completing the 14 holes (yes, 14), I had parred 4 of the final
    6, but had committed atrocities on the other 2. The most satisfying
    moment was canning a 40-foot putt for par (especially satisfying
    after so many 3-putts). Oh, yeah, I missed a birdy on the 9th when
    the putt rimmed the cup and rolled out...
    
    Obviously, it's time to adjust the handicap! We negotiated, and
    finally agreed she'd get a stroke only on holes longer than 350
    yards (and I don't think she needs one on those, either...she's
    a real quick learner).  So, how was your weekend round? Has anyone
    played either Candelwood or Cape Ann in Essex? We drove by them
    Saturday, and I'm just curious.
    
    	Frank

    
    After reporting my personal best (a 79) in this note a few months
    ago, I can now top that one.  In our club tournament this past weekend,
    I shot a 77 for the first round.  It was the first time I broke
    80 on my home course.  I followed it up with an 85 the next day
    to win my flight by a comfortable margin.
    
    I was in the 4th flight (15, 16, handicaps).  The 162 was good enough
    to win that flight, plus the 3rd and the 2nd flights.  In addition, it
    was just one stroke out of the 36 hole qualifying for the championship
    flight. 
    
    Needless to say, I've received more that one accusation about being
    a "sandbagger".  All I can do is smile, ....all the way to the bank....
                                                  
    
    
    

    I think I've made a breakthrough and cemented it into something
    I can count on (I hope). My last five rounds are 90-89-89-91-89.
    The 91 included a 2 stroke penalty for a ball lost in the long rough
    just off the fairway. In my mind at least, it's another 89.
    
    For me this is big progress. I started playing golf last season
    after a 15 year layoff. (As a kid I never played regulation courses
    anyway, just par 3s). I started at about 115. I broke 100 in May,
    '86, and spent the rest of the season diddling around in the mid
    90s. My best last year was 93. 
    
    But this year I picked up where I left off. Shot lots of 93s and
    94s to start, then gradually brought it down. Now I expect to break
    90 every time. So far, for 3 weeks anyway, I have. Next stop, sub-85!
    
    Why has this happened?
    
    Well, for one thing I got my wedge play together. I'm not afraid
    of it anymore ... in fact, I love that club. I'd rather hit a pitching
    wedge from 40 yrds than face a 40 foot putt.
    
    Then there's keeping the tee shots in play. That's just a matter
    of slowing down, forgetting about distance, and serving it out there.
    Sand play is now OK. Fairway irons are reliable. I lost my ability
    to hit a fairway wood for a while, but now it's coming back. I find
    that if I choke down on a club that's giving me trouble, swing slow,
    and think only of making good contact, the club comes back pretty
    well.
    
    
    But, above all, it's in my head. Playing a fair number of rounds,
    facing every kind of trouble, and making every bonehead mistake
    has taught me lessons that I can rely on to score well (by my
    standards) even if I'm not playing that well. I remember:
    
    1. Never to give up. I expect 4-6 doubles in a round. I don't like
    them, but I make damn sure I follow a double with a par.
    
    2. Loosen my grip, particularly in tense situations. I can now avoid
    my typical OB right shot on that lousy 14th at Sandy Burr by relaxing
    my grip...fear of the OB markers used to make me take a death grip,
    slice, and fulfill my worst fear.
    
    3. Aim at the target. I used to get fancy and try to correct my
    slice by aiming left. Of course, that only increased the slice,
    and if I happened to hit straight I was then way left. I aim at
    the target and trust in my swing. Most of the time it works.
    
    4. Putting. Used to hate it. Now I love it. I concentrate on a straight
    slow takeaway, and follow through on the target line. Easy advice,
    right? I didn't do it for 2 years and was a lousy putter. Now I'm
    typically using 31-34 putts per round. 
    
    5. Good attitude. Even Hogan said he expects to make three or four
    bad hits per round. It used to make me furious. Now, for some reason,
    the storm passes quickly and I bear down to save bogey, double,
    triple, or whatever. I used to get discouraged and slap it around,
    usually resulting in some horrendous score. I still get mad, but
    now I stop myself quickly and remember to save what I can out of
    a bad situation.
    
    6. No mullies, no gimmes. I play with some hardnosed guys. We no
    longer give mullies or putts. 6-incher? Putt it in. This is great
    for the concentration.
    
    That's what I've been doing to help myself. Now I know I need to
    work on hitting par 5s in 2 sometimes, and in 3 all the time. I
    still hit only 5 or 6 greens in reg. in 18 holes. I tend to lay
    up safely, but now I'm going to use more club on the second shot
    and see what happens. I also realize that I still have about 3
    completely bonehead shots per round. The usual reason is getting
    fancy and forgetting the most basic thing: hit the ball.
    
    Still, I'm happy with how it's going. My three 89s were consecutive
    rounds on the same course, but very different experiences. The first
    time was a hot round that I almost blew on the last two holes (finished
    double triple!). The second was a good back saving a bad front (47-42).
    Yesterday was the opposite (42-47). In each of those rounds something
    key was missing. Couldn't drive, or chip, or hit a fairway wood.
    But I was able to fight back by going with what was working. For
    me, that's a change. Last year I would have given up early and left
    pissed.
    
    Anyway, I hope to keep this on track. Last year my goal to to break
    100. This year it's to break 85. It's amazing how many bad shots
    you can hit and still score reasonably well. I try to remember that,
    and maybe next week I'll shoot that 84.
    
    Dave C

	 Thanks Dave  for  your encouraging words.  At the beginning of this
	 season,  I  developed a terrible slice problem, not only on drives,
	 but with every club in the bag except perhaps the putter.  All this
	 made  my  scores  go from the high 80s/low 90s to the 100s.  And it
	 kept going worse. 

	 I decided my swing needed intensive care, so I went to the pro, who
	 immediately  discovered  that  my swing plane had deteriorated to a
	 point  where  the swing was incredibly outside-in.  He gave me some
	 tips  on  how  to  rebuild  the swing, and then suggested I try the
	 ``baseball'' grip.

	 OK, I  started  to rebuild the swing using the new swing plane.  Of
	 course,  the  slice  went away, but I also lost the ability to make
	 contact  with  the ball in the process.  I've now had two months of
	 gruelling  practice,  and terrible golf.  But finally the new swing
	 is starting to work, after I forgot about trying to hit it into the
	 next county, and instead concentrated on making solid contact.

	 The day  before  yesterday  it  finally  seemed to fall into place,
	 during  a  short  2-day golf vacation.  I shot an 89, and that on a
	 very  narrow  course  in  the  woods.   I  hit all my drives in the
	 fairway except two, which were HOOKS.

	 This breakthrough  came at the critical moment.  I was on the verge
	 of  giving up, but now I can enjoy the game again - just about time
	 for the Swedish Digital Championship on September 3...

	 -- Mr Litby

    RE. 39 - Talk about "words to live by"! I plan to print that one
    out and paste it inside my golf cap. My last few rounds have been
    real rollerecoasters: par one then triple the next. Total inconsis-
    tency. Played a course in Arundel, Maine last week (Dutch Elm, as
    in the disease), started with a par, and should have gone home right
    then. On one hole (short par 5) had the following sequence: Pulled
    first tee shot deep into woods on left; sliced next tee shot deep
    into woods on right; pushed fairway wood deep into right rough.
    Three swings, three lost (brand-new) balls! On the next hole, a 202-
    yard par 3, knocked 5-wood tee shot onto the green, then 3-putted!! 
    
    Desperate, went to Stow driving range at lunch today, to see what
    I could discover about my alarming tendency to slice. Tried every
    home remedy known to man (stronger grip, choke up on club, close
    club face, etc) to no avail: then made a fundamental discovery -
    I was bringing it back outside! Concentrated on the inside-out groove
    and immediately got a major improvement. Jeez, what a frustrating
    game! Well, I certainly can't give it up until I see whether the
    new swing groove makes a difference on the course...
    
    Frank
    

	---- Note by Walter (ADVAX::) KALLUNKI mis-clubbed... ---
    
    
    	Hi,
    
    	   Boy ! What a season... the weather has been so nice in Mass.
         this summer it has allowed for an abundance of great golf days.
         I really enjoy hearing all the good news on personal best's.
         It's such an exciting feeling when your game comes together
         and produces a good round, or even one great shot.
    
    	   I played Juniper Hill 2 weekends ago, we were the first group
         out... 6AM . After being 5 over after the first 3 holes...
         with a triple bogie on the 3rd. I ended up shooting a 3 over
    	 74. I never broke the 80's before, and it was my first time
    	 shooting par or better for 9 holes, with a 2 under 34 on the
    	 back 9. 
    
    	   After which I quickly returned to playing my DEC handicap
         of 7 over for 9. 
    
    
    	  One thing that happened I thought was funny... After shooting
         the 74, I came home and watched the tube. A golf tournament
         was on and they were announcing the scores after the first
         18... Jack was 4 over that day !  Ok Ok Ok   I know... if
         he was playing the same course as me he'd have been 12 under.
         Then again...  just maybe !  hee hee  ...
    
    
    
    		Keep the Golf News coming 
    
    
    			Walt

    After last week's Disaster At Dutch Elm, I needed a shot of confidence
    restorer, so yesterday I went out to my favorite (and only) 14-hole
    course, Millwood in Framingham, where the longest hole is 460 yards
    (par 5) and the fairways (mostly) are oceanic in width. Ah, what
    a treat! Not having fairways that look like bowling alleys did wonders
    for my mental condition, and I'm happy to say, for my score: I wound
    up with a 44 for the front 9, and that included two horror-show triple
    bogeys (on neither of which did I hit the ball all that badly, just
    in the wrong places). The lower anxiety level made it easier for
    me to avoid peeking, since I wasn't so concerned about having the
    ball disappear into the forest primeval on just about every shot
    except putts.  A couple more sessions at Millwood and I may be ready
    for a grown-up course again!
    
    
    

    Had one of those strangely satisfying "bad" rounds the other day:
    scored lousy, but walked off feeling okay because I'd done so many
    things well that I'd been doing badly the past few times out (like
    hitting tee shots and fairway irons). I don't know why I take so
    much comfort in the phrase "if I'd only made a few putts." Maybe
    because I'd been putting well when everything else was going
    poorly. In fact, I'd been saving bogey and double bogey by knocking
    in 6 to 10 footers because my long game had gone to pot. Now I seem
    to have that back, and the short game is AWOL! Wonderful pastime,
    golf...
    
    		Frank