I haven’t updated the blog because I’ve been too busy practicing. Seriously.
In the last two months I’ve focused a lot on improving my game with some serious practice time. I’ve realized how difficult it can be to improve your golf game as an amateur, particularly when you work 9 or more hours per day. But, that’s exactly what I’ve done.
As my swing has improved and become more solid, albeit inconsistent, I’ve put more focus on my short game around the green and putting. I’m slowly migrating toward an 80/20 plan of 80% short game and putting, and 20% full swing. Since I can’t practice all day everyday, the 2-4 hour practices per day I’ve had instead have been intense. Every swing, every putt, every chip matters. I can only make so many per day.
Around early November I started seeing massive improvement in my game, including a +3 performance that included a GIR of 89%. Obiously, ball striking was top notch that day. The only reason I didn’t make par was putting – I missed at least five 5-foot putts that I should have made. If I had made them I would have easily broken par. This is when I realized I need to start focusing more on putting.
Unfortunately, shortly after this particular round work kicked in, and I went through a stretch where I couldn’t touch a club for about 3 weeks – a long time for someone who hadn’t gone more than 2 days without touching a club in the previous 5 months. Needless to say, once I was able to touch a club again, I felt like I had regressed about 2 months.
So, I went back to my intense practice sessions and set a new goal – par by end of the year. It’s been an intense several weeks since, but I’m happy to report that as of yesterday I shot under par for the first time ever. Of course, the goal was par, but I exceeded that goal with a 2-under performance.
Everything clicked this round. I actually had a poor fairway percentage as my driver was all over the place, but I was never in a position where I couldn’t recover. I made putts I haven’t made in months, nailed all my putts less than 6 feet, and my short game was excellent, nearly always giving me putts within 3′. Basically, I made the shots when I had to make them.
One of the key differences this round compared to all my rounds prior was the amount of concentration and mental focus I had to have every shot of the round. I made sure I went through the same pre-shot routine every shot, I made sure I had a plan and committed to the plan every shot, and I made sure that as I executed the shot I focused on every detail of my body’s movement. This intense level of concentration is required for someone like myself whose body movements are not yet second nature, and obviously, it works.
Scoring -2 is a pretty big accomplishment for the year, especially when I was scoring +30 just 6 months ago. I don’t know when I’ll score that low again, but this one lesson taught me so much more about the game of golf than the previous 20 rounds have taught me. I’m expecting to see my scores continue to improve over the coming months as certain elements of my game become more consistent.
So what now? This blog was started to chronicle my journey to par. I did a decent job of that for a while, but obviously I haven’t documented the last two months very well. I want to continue the blog into the future, as I continue to learn more about the game and start entering tournaments. Perhaps I’ll expand the blog’s purpose to include other aspects of the game as well.
Speaking of tournaments, I recently joined the Golf Channel Amateur Tour. I’m looking forward to the competition and believe it will make me a better player.
2009 was an amazing year for me in the golf realm. In 6 months I went from your below-average weekend amateur to a low single digit handicapper. I can’t wait to see what I can do in another 6 months. Here’s to 2010!