Brian Quackenbush Golf

I took the weekend off after the last TarHeel Tour event at Sapona CC and am just getting around to updating the website. It was a successful event where I finished third. I put myself into position entering the final round, two shots behind the leaders in solo third place. However, one of the leaders really put it into overdrive and left all of us in the dust. I had a respectable final round 69 where I really didn’t make much despite putting the ball well. In fact, I putted it well on the second nine in the second round and didn’t make much. So, I felt like there was some room for improvement with my long game and didn’t really make a lot of putts over the last half of the tournament. This is encouraging especially considering my lesson with Jack Lumpkin yesterday.

Jack and I reviewed my full swing and putting. He was completely satisfied with the changes I made to my putting stroke. My setup position and stroke look very good. He suggested no changes. In the full swing, he suggested two changes. First, I need to move my ball position forward and my hands back. This is a characteristic of my swing that I will probably always have. I tend to get the ball too far back and my hands too far forward. I also need to shorten my swing. Again, this is a swing characteristic that I will always need to monitor. The way that I shorten my swing is important. Basically, I need to limit my armswing and let my shoulder turn complete the backswing.

I’m very encouraged by our lesson. Everything is still pretty well “in tune”. I just need to make some small changes. And, the positive reinforcement on my putting changes was very valuable.

I made another donation to the Capital Hospice today. This brings total donations for the year to almost $1,100 and almost $2,000 since I started our partnership.

The TarHeel Tour is off this week, but I have local qualifying for the US Open on Thursday. I’m playing Stonebridge GC in Monroe, NC…a usual TarHeel Tour stop.