My Golfing Diary

Hi Guys, I have wanted to keep a record of my golfing activities and thoughts for some time (sort of like a golfing diary) and even signed up for an account on a blog website.  However, lost the password for that and company firewall means I can't access my personal email killed that idea.

Since there is already a captive audience here in GR, I will unashamedly start a thread and use it sort of like a diary.

Please feel free to TCSS, go OT, comment etc etc

I'll start my first post by talking about the 5 games I played in the last 5 weeks and what I learnt (or was reminded of) from them.

About 5 weeks ago I had a great game at Legends with my cousin and brother.  We played from the white tee.  Driving was good, but it was my irons that were really sharp that day.  Can't remember chipping much, and even with acceptable putting (nothing spectacular), managed to shoot 6 over.  Most memorable moment:  Last hole on front 9, short Par 3 (128M), need Par to finish first 9 in 1 under, pull hooked a 9iron, duffed a chip, then 3 putted for double bogey.  Learning:  Mentally I am weak under pressure

The next day, I joined a flight to play at MBGC (played from Blue) and shot 10 over.  Irons weren't as sharp, either inconsistent contact or losing the ball left.  Chipping was erratic, some great chips, many below average ... luckily putter was hot ... otherwise score would have been closer to 14 or 15 over.  Learning: think I was trying too hard to recreate the iron striking from the day before, recall a lot of doubt standing over shots

A week later, played at Perangsan Templer, shot 14 over, some pulled irons into the water on protected greens.  Some pulled drives into trees that needed recovery shots.  Made a nice birdie on a Par 3 (167m) with a great shot with my 5iron from 3.5 feet.  Some duffed chips (I attributed it to soggy ground, but on hindsight, it meant my technique was not sound).

About 3 weeks ago, played at Moterrez in KL with my Korean colleagues.  Shot 17 over.  4 OBs from bad drives, 3 birdies ... it was a really see-saw day.  Only thing that stuck in my head was how uncomfortable I felt off the tee.  I had no clue or confidence where my ball would end up.

Next few weeks I could not play on weekends for a variety of reason, but I had time to practice.  So I worked on my long game (especially my driver).  Pulled out the various drivers I have, tried them out at the range, tried to find a swing I could repeat with a suitable driver.  More or less figured out something to use on the course.

Last week, went to Kinrara full of confidence and shot bloody 25 over.  First 9, tee off was good.  Fairway most of the time with decent distance (used 3 wood on a few holes) with some great drives.  Iron play was strange, great contact meant that I was about 1 club longer on the day so kept hitting over the green or over the flag.  Putting was pretty bad, even when I found the green, 3 putted most of the time. Chipping was below average, simple chips ended about 4-5 feet away, tougher chips 20-25 feet away.  Short putting was BAD, missed 4 putts inside 4 feet (realised on the last 4 holes that I was aligning my putter head slightly open, so every damn putt missed right).  Also, has 2 consecutive blow up holes, quadruple bogey and quintiple bogey, due to consecutive OBs from the tee on both holes. i.e. By the time I got in play, I was hitting my 5 shot from the tee.  However, none of the above were the worst part of my game that day.  The department in which I would give myself a COMPLETE FAIL was pitching.  Did not even hit a single pitch well.  Except for 1 shank, everything else was fat (and thus short).  Coupled with poor chipping and putting, everything was falling in place for a really lousy score.  Thankfully I sorted out my putting on the last 4 holes and finished Bogey/Par/Bogey/Par, otherwise I would have lost a lot more (we were playing on a per stroke basis, not per hole basis).

Yesterday, I went to KGPA driving range, where if you move to the sides, you can practice on actual soil.  Yes, soil, interrupted sparsely with cowgrass here and there.  Figured if I can play pitch shots from this kind of shitty lie, grass should be a breeze.  Hit about 180 balls with my wedges.  First half, all the mistakes I was making on the course were showing up.  Fat shots, shanks (a lot of them), duffs, thin ... every bad shot u can imagine.  2nd half, after having a cigarette and going through what I have learnt from various people about the short game, went through some permutations in sequence and the striking improved.  Main thing was to take a narrower stance but still keep the lower body stable without tension.

Wife coming back today, so no golf on weekends for a while.  Hopefully I'll manage another session on real grass/earth/soil to gain some confidence that I know what I am doing inside 100m so that the next time I play, the score will not be so ugly.  However, knowing golf, if my short game is sharp, very likely that my driver is going to start bring tempermental ... LOL!

You can always download "Evernote" app to record your golf diary and use some golf apps to keep track of your score. You can use it on the go, no need to log on to website.

Just a suggestion.

Derek.....always a pleasure reading your golfing adventures. 

hahaha...I can only wish I can play as much golf as you. 

Catch up with you soon