I’ve been asked by the director of a mini tour (not the Tarheel Tour) to remove posts from my website under threat of lawsuit. While I think it would be comical to see someone go after me and the couple of bucks floating around in my LLC bank account, I simply don’t need the hassle. Therefore, I’ve removed all references to this tour. I’m sure my 10 or so readers will forgive me for caving in.
I finished with a 68 yesterday in the Tarheel Tour event at Cedarwood CC. With very high winds most of the day this shot me up the leaderboard from 19th to 9th. The wind really started to howl about midway through our front nine and continued to build through the rest of the round. I played a very good final nine under these conditions - 3 under including a birdie at the very difficult 18th.
The swing changes were a little better yesterday. I’ve learned how they’re holding up under pressure this week and what I have to keep working on. My short game yesterday was excellent. I got up and down 6 times. I played the first two rounds with Ben Duncan who was an absolute magician around the greens. Maybe some of that rubbed off on me.
I have a couple days off before another Tarheel Tour event at Bermuda Run CC next week.
The Bernardo family deserves special mention for their hospitality during my last two seasons playing the Tarheel Tour. The Tour is based in the Charlotte area, so Ken and Tracy have put me up at their house for numerous events. I’ve had the privilege of watching their little daughter, Lauren, grow up. It seems that every time I visit she’s doing something new. This time she was walking…and proud of it!
People like the Bernardo’s make my life enormously easier for the week. There’s no surfing around the internet looking for a cheap hotel that’s close to the course and a few restaurants.
The Bernardo’s have hosted at least one other professional golfer. Since he missed the cut at the Wachovia, I’m confident I’m still the career golf money leader for the household. Ken’s an amateur, so his betting wins don’t count.
Round 2 of the Tarheel Tour event at Cedarwood CC yielded a bit more progress with my swing changes. I was able to card 4 birdies and an eagle en route to a 3 under 68. I hit it very well on the back (first) nine. On the front (second) nine, I had some more pressure on the changes and they came apart a bit. I was still able to hold them together and made a few putts.
I picked up some ground on the leaderboard and am now in 19th place with one round to go.
Slow, steady progress. Round 1 of the Tarheel Tour event at Cedarwood wasn’t pretty, but it was prettier than it was in my last few events. I hit a bunch of really good quality shots, but still had an occasional bad miss. I needed this to put the grip change under a little competitive pressure and see where it stood.
The course played very difficult…perhaps the most difficult we’ve played this year. Cedarwood is an Ellis Maples design, but it seems a lot like what you would think of as a Donald Ross. Lots of mounds and roll-off areas. The mounds are where most of our pin placements were today. It reminded me a lot of Wannamoissett where they hold the Northeast Amateur…the course where Pat Tallent introduced me to the terms “spines”, “ridges” and “clefts” as they relate to hole locations.
After Tuesday’s lesson, I had two “two-a-days” on the range working on the new grip and quieter lower body. I hit balls in the morning and the afternoon both days with a short game session sandwiched in between. I’m absolutely making progress. My ball flight is higher and straighter. It feels more “right” at the top of my backswing.
I played today at Florence CC - an early look at the site for Stage 1. Nothing has changed at Florence in the two years since I last played there. The tees have been resurfaced, but that’s it. Greens look exceptional. The rough isn’t quite as severe as I expect it in a few weeks. One of my reasons for playing was to get slope readings for all approach shots. As expected, there are some very noticeable hills…something I couldn’t quantify my last time around since I didn’t have my Bushnell laser with slope.
I went down to see Jack in Sea Island, GA yesterday. 8 hours in the car and $400 later, I know that the grip pressure in my right hand needs to be different in two spots. Immediate improvement! He was the first instructor to videotape and show me exactly what my right hand was doing at the beginning of the swing. We could clearly see how I lost pressure between my right thumb and forefinger and lost pressure between the heel of my palm and the club. This caused me to shut the clubface immediately and shut it even more through my backswing. My backswing also got very long and I completely lost control of the club.
Two things are extremely encouraging about this discovery. First, the feeling I had going into this lesson is the feeling that I’ve gotten several times each season for the last 5 or more years. Whenever I start hitting it poorly, I’ve felt very shut and in a position where it’s impossible to naturally get to impact from the top of my swing. Now, I know exactly what this feeling represents (closed clubface, loss of control, long swing) and what causes it. Second, the changes I need to make are simple and will yield immediate benefit.
Jack also addressed my overactive lower body. Specifically, my feet are moving around too much throughout the swing. He explained the proper way to anchor my feet to the ground. This will yield substantially more control while only sacrificing a small amount of short-term power. This also is something that has been a weakness in my swing for a long time.
The third thing we worked on looks like it will resolve itself with a better grip and better anchored lower body. It involves the length and shape of my backswing and follow-through. It’s more complicated, so I’m happy that the other two things appear to resolve it.
At the end of the lesson we worked on chipping. I was allowing my hands to travel too far up and out on the backswing and that was changing the shaft angle. Very easy to spot on video and relatively simple to fix.
So, I have a few things to work on in the next few weeks. They’re not complicated and will yield immediate benefit. I can’t help but think this is absolutely perfect timing for the last phase of the year. I feel like these are fundamental things that I’ve always needed to address but have never been told about the “right way”.
I’m always so impressed by my lessons with Jack. Occassionally, I think that the 8 hours roundtrip and relatively high cost just might not be worth it. After each lesson, however, I’m reminded that the trip and money are completely worth it.
