Their Value Decreases Once You Drive Them Off the Lot
New clubs, new handicap, new injury, new lessons learned
It’s been a month since I updated. I leave this afternoon for a ten-day road trip, during which I will play several courses in Washington and Idaho, including Wine Valley and Gamble Sands. So, I wanted to give people an update on a few things.
The Status of the New Clubs
I have had my irons for over a month now, and my new driver and three-wood for a few weeks. Currently, I have my old three-hybrid in my bag, but that will change as I learn my gapping a bit more. The new clubs were a bit of an adjustment, and I am still dialing them in a bit. My scores have been dropping (we’ll get into that more as we go).
The driver change was kind of a nightmare. I went from a Ping with a draw-based bias to a new Cobra, which my fitter wanted me to start with on a neutral setting. And oh boy, did the big right miss begin to rear its head with it. I did see a distance increase, but having that massive slice appear on a mishit led to some pretty volatile rounds and had me going OB a lot more. I changed the club settings this weekend to a closed face and took it for a spin at Top Golf, and it seemed to limit the dispersion.
Scores and Handicap
I dropped an 85 at the Reserve a couple of weeks back, which is my second-lowest round ever; my current low is 83. Additionally, I had an 89 at Chambers Bay, which was my best score there out of the handful of times I have played there.
Two Sundays ago, I played the Home Course and had nine pars in the round, two bogies. The problem was that the other seven scores were doubles or worse, including three triples on three par 3s. Four of those holes were wayward drives where the errors got compounded, but the par-3s were absolutely inexcusable. It’s encouraging, though, to see that I am starting to tie holes together. But the blowup holes need to be contained.
The handicap was at 23.3 and is down to a flat 19, not where I want to be, but it’s moving in the right direction. A 4.3 drop in a month is something positive.
New Injury
I think I have golfer’s or tennis elbow, or both of them combined. My left elbow and forearm are swollen and are pretty painful after rounds, but while I am playing and warmed up, it is fine. Currently, I am managing it by icing it after rounds, and I am going to start trying to play with a compression sleeve. To be honest, I am avoiding going to the doctors because the first thing they are going to tell me is to rest it. I am going to try to wait until the end of the season, or if it gets worse.
New Lessons Learned
Hopefully, the driver setting change gets me back to how I was hitting my old driver. But besides the issue that change has created, the club impacting my scoring the most is my 58-degree wedge. It’s a range from complete inconsistency with it to just not having my touch dialed in. I have decided to make July work on my chipping game month. I’m going to dedicate two hours a week to pure chipping focus.
Tournament play has become a nightmare for me. I am in a few leagues, and as soon as it is a competitive round, you might as well add ten strokes to my score. It’s become a mental thing for me, and I need to figure out how to approach those rounds without completely imploding. Not sure if I should pick up another Dr. Bob book or revisit things I have read in the past for some guidance.
How do you deal with pressure rounds?