Emotionally Attached to a Golf Ball

I spent the week in Hilton Head and had a chance to play 2 nice golf courses - Barony and Oyster Reef. For the record, I really loved Oyster Reef, it was challenging and gorgeous - a terrific combination for sure.

I had a new box of Slazenger Raw balls with me and got out 2 boxes for that first round at Barony. On the 4th hole, a 364 yard (blue tees) par 4 I jacked my tee shot dead left into the rough. I hit a provisional ball a country mile but wanted to see if I could find my first ball and play it out of the woods.

After a few minutes of looking, I spotted 2 balls buried under some leaves, neither of which was my own. I traded the lost Slazenger for a Titelist and a TiTech and played my 2nd tee shot.

Cut to 2 days later, about halfway through my round at Oyster Reef. I hit an errant tee shot on #6, a gorgeous par 3 overlooking a lake butting up against the harbor. I managed to find my ball and as I looked down, I realized that it was that same Ti Tech that I had found at Barony. Some 18 holes later, I was still playing with the same ball!

I resolved to finish the Oyster Reef round with this scuffed mess of a ball. On the 8th (we played the back first, so this was the next to last hole of the day), I hit my 3 hybrid about 200 yards to the right, and headed towards trees. I yelled "no" and desperately wanted my new favorite ball of all time to bounce back from the forest. To my shock, the ball came bounding off a tree and landed on the green!

I knew I had a special ball, one that was going to do whatever it had to in order to stick with me, unlike those ungrateful Slazengers. Jerks.

In any case, I 3-putted my friend for a bogey 5 (no one said the ball you have become attached to will actually go in the hole in less shots!) and headed to my last hole of the day.

After somnething like 32 holes, I teed up a ball that I had strangely become quite emotionally attached to. My tee shot was again errant, this time slicing sharply to the left behind a tree jutting out into the fairway. I saw it bounce and I was elated. I was going to find it!

I drove up and found my ball laying in a deep bed of leaves and had only one shot - a safe play back to the fairway. Unfortunately, I thinned it and flew it over the fairway into a bunker. I tried to play a 7 iron out and thinned it again - my best friend ever landed back in the bunker, unwilling at this point to even leave my side.

A quick chip shot landed me in the fairway where I hit a beautiful 3 wood about 220 yards to the front of the green. I chipped it close and 2-putted for a triple bogey 8... but had managed to finish the round with this beautiful, mess of a ball that I might take home and put away forever.

Either that or I'll tee it up and see how much magic is left!

Read more...

Golf Week - Day 6 - The Finale

I wrapped up my biggest golf week EVER with my 6th round in 6 days, teeing off at 6:39 this morning bright and early. The round got off to a good start, but went downhill quickly. I kept thinking back to my earlier rounds and even though I didn't play well, I thought that this week was really amazing.

I got myself into the sand 3 times at Tashua, I think a new record for myself. I managed to get out nicely all 3 times and on the 18th, I used a great sand shot to save par to end the week. It felt great to end on a par!

Here are the final stats from this week:

6 days, 6 rounds
4 total courses played (Tashua Knolls, Tashua Glen, Fairchild Wheeler & Woodhaven Country Club)
81 holes played
Total score 437 (117 shots over par)
1 birdie
5 new Golf is Hard TV episodes filmed
1 Quadruple bogey
2 4 putts
3+ record setting drives of ~270 yards
1 new course played (Fairchild Wheeler)
1 cart used
1 round with a pull cart
1 sand save for par
One 12 year old playing partner (Coach Dave's daughter)
1 Eagle (made by Coach Dave)

What's the most golf you have ever played in a row?

Read more...

Golf Week Day 5 - When Does this Get Easier?

Day 5 is in the books and I have a few thoughts, as you'd expect.

First, playing golf 5 days in a row is hard work. I'm tired. I'm also in trouble with my wife. I'm going to leave playing golf every day to the pros and retired folks. For me, it's too much.

Secondly, and more importantly, when I do something every day, I expect to get better. I expect that because I'm a halfway decent athlete that I would see some improvement. Not today. For about 5 holes in a row, I started hitting drives off the hosel, directly left. It got so bad that I started dropping balls in the tee box on the ground and simply hitting hybrids (that worked).

Lesson learned, play with whatever you've got on a given day. Today, it was all about just getting off the tee safely (forget fairways!). I ended up shooting a 99 after a 51 on the front and triple/double on 10 and 11. Not good.

That said, I shot 7 over on the last 7 holes.

Now, I need to go pay some attention to my family (and catch up on British Open action. Speaking of which - Tiger, what up man?)

Read more...

Golf Week Day 4 - It's Birdie Time

Maybe it was time, or maybe Coach Dave's last blog post helped, but I finally got one! I played the back 9 at Fairchild Wheeler Black in Fairfield, CT today and on the second hole I caught a bit of magic.

The 3rd hole (middle tees) is 155 yards and today, the pin placement was slightly up front. I grabbed my 7 iron (love knowing I can actually hit a 7 iron 150 yards) and with total confidence wacked at it. As soon as it went up I knew it was good - I actually said these words:

"Go in the hole"

As soon as I said those words, I knew I had blown it... immediately, my playing partner said that he thought the ball lipped out of the cup. It stopped less than a foot from the hole, where I tapped it in for birdie.

I really liked this course, it has some interesting challenges and is quite similar to Tashua Knolls, my home course. Walking 9 this morning cost all of $13!

I shot a 46 but could have easily been 2/3 shots better if I could simply get my putter going. 3 three putts is not what I'm looking for :)

This week's stats so far:
4 days
45 holes played
64 shots over par
1 birdie
5 new Golf is Hard TV episodes filmed
1 Quadruple bogey
3+ record setting drives of ~270 yards
1 new course (Fairchild Wheeler)

Read more...

Golf Week, Day 3... OMG Those Greens are Insane

The week of golf continues (6 days, 6 rounds of golf...) at the Woodhaven Country Club in Bethany, CT. All I can say about this 9 hole course is that the greens are.. stunningly hard at times. I managed to lose my scorecard this afternoon but see on the web that the slope from the blue tees is 128. That's hard, right?

Here's a sample of one hole...

I was lying 3 on par 4 after hitting a great chip shot to about 15 feet. Pin high (very high). My putt was going to break a tad to the left and was uphill about 10 feet or so. I nailed the line and I thought it was in... the ball stopped maybe 3 inches short and started to roll back a tiny bit.

Then it rolled faster. And faster. It didn't stop until it was almost back to where it started.

Deep breath.

I lined it up again and hit my shot again. I did it again - the same exact thing. It took me a total of 4 putts and I ended up with a shiny 8.

I shot a 52 which, all things considered isn't bad. Either way, day 3 is in the books!

This week's stats so far:
3 days
36 holes played
53 shots over par
0 birdies
5 new Golf is Hard TV episodes filmed
1 Quadruple bogey
1 record setting drive, 270 yards

Read more...

The Week Continues - Day 2

Ahhh, another day, another round of golf. Today's round featured myself and Coach Dave at Tashua Knolls and ended with us shooting 5 brand new Golf is Hard TV episodes which I'll be editing and posting soon!

I played well today - putted extremely well on the back 9 and actually felt like I had some nice touch on several chip shots. I still am miserable in hitting fairways, but today was better as I'm getting used to my new Nike Str8-fit driver.


This week's stats so far:
2 days
27 holes played
36 shots over par
0 birdies
5 new Golf is Hard TV episodes filmed

Read more...

My "Week" of Golf - Day 1

This week, I've decided that I need to play golf every day, starting today Monday July 13th. We'll be shooting some new shows tomorrow the 14th, but today I played 9 with my 2 daughters on the terrific executive course here in Trumbull known as "Tashua Glen."

I played well for the first 4 holes, making bogey on all of them. I hit some terrific gap wedge shots and putted well. Unfortunately, the last 4 holes fell apart when I doubled #5 after missing an extremely easy putt for bogey. I sliced a ball into the woods on #6 and doubled it as well, again missing a short putt for bogey after a pin seeker that stopped about 8 feet past the hole.

While I'm really enjoying my new "Heavy Putter," it's taking some time to get used to it. I three putted the last 5 holes, coming up short on long putts every time. The weight of the putter is a tad distracting, but the more I use it, the more I like how it feels in my hands.

Tomorrow, Coach Dave and I are playing 18, but I've got no firm plans after that until Saturday... either way though, the goal is to play some golf every day this week!

This week's stats so far:
1 day
9 holes played
+13 over par

Read more...

Golf is Hard TV - Episode 43 - The International

We're out golfing again, this time at the gorgeous and amazing "The International" in Bolton, MA. Enjoy episode 43 of Golf is Hard TV!

Visit the Golf is Hard TV website!

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/golfishard

Read more...

Where's My Beach Towel?

Played a quick 9 tonight after work - the weather was gorgeous and the course was wonderfully empty and quiet.

I started badly as usual, making double bogey on #1, a long and straight par 5. Then I went bogey, bogey on the next two and I was actually feeling pretty good after hitting some really solid shots. On the 4th at Tashua Knolls, a par 4 dogleg left hole with bunkers all around the green I found myself in the sand.

No kidding, I thought back to episode 38 and opened my club face wayyyy up to the point where I thought Coach Dave would say, OK, that's far enough. I took a deep breath and a full swing. The ball floated high up and over the lip and gently landed on the fringe and rolled to about 10 feet! I made bogey and continued my round.

On the 9th hole, I teed off with a god awful duck hook that actually ended up on the far side of #1, about 50 yards left. I spotted the 150 yard marker and pulled out a 3 hybrid as I eyed a big bunker sitting right in front of the green.

I hit a terrific 2nd shot that looked great but ended up in the bunker. I was nervous and excited to give my new sand skills a whirl and again, opened my club face wayyyy open, then turned it just a tad further, hearing Dave in my head saying "more, more, more."

Once again, a took a full swing and once again, the ball lofted up and out of the bunker, landing 20 feet from the hole and rolled down towards the pin, stopping about about 12 feet, pin high.

Wouldn't you know it, son of a gun, I made par with a firm putt and was totally shocked. That's what Golf is Hard TV is all about!

Read more...

First Round of the Year

It started so well.

I made par on my first hole of the season!

It didn't go quite that well the rest of the round, but even so, my first round of the year was a lot of fun. It was terrific to get back out on the course and felt great to just be out there. I'll post some video from the round once I get a chance to edit it. There are a few choice words I have to remove!

I'm sure Dave will comment about his own round, but for me, it was extremely encouraging to hit the ball as well as I did today. I'm really excited about playing this year and am hopeful that my scores will go down dramatically through the year.

My driver was good, if inconsistent. I hit it straight except for one hole where I really, really sliced it hard right. Other than that, the fairway wood felt great as did my hybrids. I'm going to have to really focus some energy on making putts though. I was well on my way to 40 putts if I had played all 18 holes. I only played 13 holes today because I had to coach my daughter's softball team this afternoon.

Stay tuned for more Golf is Hard TV shows this week, we've got some golf goodness coming up including shows giving you a personal tours of the different golf social networks including Stracka, OOBGolf and The Golf Space.

Read more...

Long Drive Winner!

No, I didn't win.

From Steele Canyon

Yes, that's my name on the 2nd line.

But I did crush the ball! I played a best ball round of golf at Steele Canyon in San Diego last week and had a great time. Playing well helps for sure, but the 30 mph winds and the huge elevation changes on this course made it like a fun house. I had a blast!

We ended up +4, but I take some joy from 3 factors:

• We didn't finish last by a long shot
• In our foursome, I was the best player.
• We shot +1 on the back 9.

From Steele Canyon

From Steele Canyon

Read more...

Father/Daughter Tournament

Finally, some pics from the tourney I played in with my 9 year old... we shot a 38, +5 on an executive course and had an absolutely amazing time.

Read more...

Member/Guest Tournament

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the last few days down in Charlotte at a Member/Guest tournament - my first multi-day golf event and first member/guest as well. Instead of recapping the entire week, I'll post here my highlights and lowlights for the record. Enjoy.

Highlights

1. Not being the highest handicapper (in fact, I was 5th from worst!)
2. Winning 2 matches on the final day to pull out 3rd place in our flight
3. Pecan pie
4. Hitting my 3 wood from 195 yards, over water to about 15 feet
5. Hanging out with an old, old friend for the first time in years
6. Big break challenge - I almost busted the glass and instead, plugged a ball right through the wood base
7. Punching out of the woods from inside a gulley about 15 feet down onto the fairway

Lowlights

1. Tapping the ball by accident on the final hole of a match. I needed to make a long putt for a tie, but didn't even give myself a chance. Humiliating.
2. Losing 2 balls OB while stroking. We lost that hole.
3. Not owning a driver, and feeling lame about that
4. Losing 8-2 in our first match after shooting a net 31 in the practice round

Overall, it was an incredible event and I personally had an amazing time. My partner however, needs to either change his strategy, or find a new partner for next year if he wants to win. We ended up 2-2-1 in match play (we won both matches on the last day!).

One other note for those of you struggling with your golf game... I'm a 19/20 handicapper and had a 23 course handicap for the week. I've come to believe that there is simply a limit to how well someone with my skill (or lack of) can play. I made some good shots and some bad shots and probably shot around 99-101 gross each round which isn't horrible. But in the end, there is just no way that I was going to shave 10 strokes off my game just because it was a tournament. That meant capitalizing when I had a stroke. I managed to do that a few times, but not enough apparently.

Read more...

Tournaments Galore

I have totally lost my blogging muse and have slacked off completely here at Golf is Hard. That said, I haven't had much of interest to talk about either lately.

Last weekend, I played in a father/daugther tournament here in CT. She's 9 and still very much learning the game. That said, she's got the etiquitte almost down (she's still restless on the green while someone else is taking their shot) and is a terrific little putter. She nearly dropped 2 20 foot birdie putts and missed a 30 footer for par by about 3 inches. It was way, way too much fun playing in a scramble like that and we plan to do it again.

Meanwhile, I'm headed to Charlotte to play in a member/guest tournament with a very old friend. I'm pretty nervous for two reasons. First, I want to represent well and have this feeling that the course isn't going to be so easy). Secondly, I haven't ever played that much golf in such a short time period and I'm worried about my back. I'll have to add a ton of stretching every day to get ready and hope I'll hold up well. We'll see.

Read more...

The Broadmoor

I was in Colorado Springs this past week for the CIO 100 event and had a chance to play in the tournament at the Broadmoor Mountain course. In a 4 man scramble, we managed to miss our only 2 real birdie chances and shot an ungodly 8 over.

How do you shoot 8 over in a scramble? Easy, you stink it up and miss putt after putt. That's how! The winning team shot a 62, beating us by a country mile.

The course itself was gorgeous! Most holes are basically looking up at the mountain, and the views are really spectacular. Here's a big time tip for playing this course... putt away from the hill no matter what your eyes are telling you!



We had a putt on the 18th hole that looked like a HARD break to the left. But after our first putt, we saw the ball seemingly break upwards, and away from the mountain. Incredible.

Read more...

St. Vincents Medical Center Charity Tourney

I played in a best ball charity tournament a week or so ago at Whitney Farms Golf Course in Monroe, CT. My friend Dave invited me to play because his company, Hudson Valley Bank was a sponsor and for some reason, there were extra spots (can you believe it?).

The course was in great shape, and we had a chance to play with Dennis, a course ranger who is 75. Not only did he know the course inside and out, the man was supremely consistent and knew exaclty how to play his slicing 150 yard drive every single time. I was amazed!

The winning team shot something like a net 57. C'mon!

I played OK - and as a team we did decently shooting 4 over with 4 bogies. It was a bit frustrating not to close out any birdies, but truth be told, we only had 2 legit shots at them, and the putts simply didn't drop.

After the round, we had dinner and heard a lot of good stuff about St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport... I'll be sure to go there if something bad happens!

Read more...

I am Tiger Woods...

The weather was perfect.

The work week was over.

I had to play some golf.

When I entered my score, the handicap computer told me that the score was much lower than normal and was I sure I wanted to submit it... uhh... yea I want to submit it!

I played out of my mind. I have never, ever felt the way I felt on golf course as I did today. I wish to god I played with one of my friends (so they'd believe me) and played a full 18. But that said, the +5 (41) I shot on the back 9 at Tashua Knolls is a round I'll remember for a long, long time.

I made par back to back TWICE!

I sunk a 20 foot putt for par!

I chipped up with a lob wedge twice to within 10 feet!

I channeled my inner Tiger Woods (hmm, maybe not - when was the last time Tiger shot +5 on 9 holes?). Back to regularly scheduled suckfests soon, don't worry.

Seriously though, here's what I think I did differently. I slowed everything down by 20 or 30% and took an extra club. I tried to keep my swing smooth and to stay "long" in my back. I've been feeling like I have been dipping down to hit the ball (lots of chunks) - staying long in my back worked for me today.

Read more...

The Last Round

Played my last round of the year (most likely) a week ago. After an hour frost delay, the greens were extremely tough. Some were frozen, and some were muddy. It was odd. My putting was horrible, and I missed 4 par chances, which is 3 more par chances than I ususally miss on any given day.

After starting horribly, I settled in and ended up with a 100 on the nose (give or take a mulligan). I was disappointed at first, then realized that I'm averaging a 98 in my last two rounds. This year was a total success on the golf course.

Interestingly, I didn't pull my driver out of my bag once in either of those rounds. I managed to tee-off with my 3 hybrid which I hit about 200 yards. I think next year that I'll try to figure out my driver and will most certainly have to work on length.

That said, course management is finally something I need to consider, especially mid-iron range shots. Once I started hitting the ball somewhat consistently earlier this year, I started to realize that I need to be more strategic playing my 2nd and 3rd shots. I'm pretty good from about 40-60 yards with my gap wedge, and very good from about 120-130 with my 8 iron.

I think I'll try to play to those spots next year and see if I can lose a few more strokes. I'd love to shoot under 95 next year, maybe even get close to 90 (I'm a dreamer).

Just for the hell of it, and so I can remember, here's my club list with estimated distances.

GW 70 yards
PW 100 yards
9I 110 yards
8I 120 yards
7I 130-140 yards
6I 150 yards
5I 160 yards
3I 180-190 yards
4Hy 160-180 yards
3Hy 180-190 yards
Driver 200-220 yards (150 with a 40 yard slice)

In the meantime as the weather gets colder, I'm engrossed with Tiger Woods '08 on my Nintendo DS. If any of you play, leave a comment and we can become "friends" and play against each other online.

Read more...

Girl Power

Wow! What a great round of golf with my daughter. We played in a scramble/best ball tourney together today. We had to use at least 2 of her drives and she had to play from the green tees, which I think are the women's tees.



Some notable action from today:

Hole 1, Par 4.
I totally mis-hit my drive and barely made it past the green tees. Julia hit a decent shot just off the fairway about 100 yards forward and we played her ball. We had a chance to get on the green in 3 but I chunked a wedge badly and we ended up with a triple bogey. It would get better, thank god.

Hole 3, Par 4.
Julia drove her ball into the woods and I hit a big time drive off the fairway, but up about 100 feet on a huge hill. Oops. Thankfully, I found the ball and made an amazing recovery, hitting a 7 iron about 140 yards to just off the green. We made bogey after Julia just barely missed her par putt.

Hole 5, Par 3.
I hit a too long 9 iron but Julia hit her longest drive ever - about 150 yards. Too bad it hit the cart path and bounced out of bounds. Bogey.

Hole 6, Par 4.
I hit a perfect drive, and Julia matched my effort within 15 yards. We played her ball and ended up with par after I hit a 7 iron on the green.

Hole 9, Par 5.
I hit a good drive with my 5 Hybrid. The guy we were playing with took his turn and when he hit the ball, the club head flew off his club. We were all shocked - it was funny as hell, but we managed not to laugh too hard. Then, his kid (a 6th grade boy) drove out about 140 yards. Julia stepped up and in a pure moment of girl power nailed her drive about 15 yards past his, just off the fairway. Unreal! I flubbed a short wedge and we made bogey.

We finished +10 with a 43 and had an amazing, terrific time.

Read more...

Hipsway

When I was in High School, there was this amazing band "Hipsway" that hit the scene big time.

I played 18 today with a guy who is really, really good. He's a 4 handicapper and I met him because we were both playing "singles." So this guy crushes the ball - his driver are 280-300 easy - and I can tell he's taking it easy, sizing up the course and seeing what's what.

I can also tell he's looking at me funny half the time - I get the silent treatment when I duff the ball - and the occasional "good golf swing" comment when I manage to actually hit the ball. (Side note... new favorite club is the 5 hybrid. God I hit that thing great).

By the 17th hole, I'm +30 or so and he's about to finish with a 73. I slice the crap out of the ball and for the first time after 4+ hours, the guys says "Marc. Hipsway."

I'm trying to figure out what he just said and ask him what he means. What he was talking about what how I have now started over-compensating my shoulder turn by adding a nice hip movement (left to right) which is completely throwing off my angles.

I'd like to make 2 comments about this story:

1. Damn, golf really is hard!
2. Say something earlier man. Could have saved me from myself.

I was going to play again tomorrow, but I think I'm due for some time on the range instead.

Read more...