Tournament season is about to begin in earnest - next week we have the Iowa Public Golfers Championship in Ames. This is tournament #3 on the 12-city tour. Tournaments #4-6 come in a 9-day span at the end of the month.
My game is very inconsistent this spring, and that is solely due to one factor - not hitting balls on the rangs. High-level golfers fall into two camps; the range rats (think Tom Kite, Vijay Singh) and the "practice is playing" crowd - think Crenshaw, and most likely Mickelson. The latter group thinks that playing 18 holes is practice, as you are put in all sorts of game situations throughout the round, and it never hurts to practice "how to score".
I am clearly in the latter camp, but I can tell my game is suffering from the lack of time on the range. I do not have a consistent swing - I've been pull hooking 9 irons, thinning long irons - and that is a result of not having a grooved swing. My scores aren't too bad - since I'm getting up and down OK - but it clearly is not where it should be. And those sorts of thoughts aren't going to do me well under tournament pressure.
(This also explains how I can shoot 74 and be disappointed. Derek is flummoxed by this. How can I be happy when my last 3 iron shots were: a) a wedge from 90 yards 35 feet past the pin, 2) a thin 7 iron to 20 feet, and 3) a fat 9 iron that's 15 yards short? I was +1 on three holes where I could easily have been -1. )
The only solution? More time at the range. Maybe I should stop posting so much and get out there.....
Eric Z.
2 comments:
I hit the range tonight. The short irons are much better, I think. 100 balls of nothing but 6 iron - wedge.
Glad to see that you are FINALLY starting to take my advice. Next winter, hit a 1000 wedges when there is nothing else to do. Really helps groove the swing.
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