A lot has been going on as far as interviews and shoots lately.  One of them is going to run tomorrow (Thursday, May 17) morning at 8:30 am Eastern Time.  The CBS Morning Show is running a story on The Dan Plan that is scheduled to play during their 7-9 am broadcast.  If anyone is around the TV during that time let me know how it goes, I don’t have television over here, so will have to rely on word of mouth

Been getting back to the grind and making some good progress lately.  Played 36 holes worth of par 3 golf today against a 2 handicap and took him on the first 18 then we tied the second, which is a good sign.  The driver is still a mystery to me as it’s the newest club in the bag (Hit my first drive ever on November 13, 2011) but I realized that if I blank the swing thoughts from my mind and just swing away thinking only of solid contact I can actually hit it pretty well.  It’s all about clearing those swing thoughts and playing some Zen golf…

I will post a much more in depth blog soon.  For the time being, let me know how the CBS segment goes tomorrow and have a great end to everyone’s week!

The trend lately (completely un-golf related) is that people start letting me know that it is time for a new blog post; that I haven’t put one up in a too many days.  I’m sorry that I have not been more diligent about keeping the blog updated, it’s just been a crazy busy couple of weeks…  But, I do have a lot to talk about and it will eventually be posted.  Promise.

The last couple of days have been amazing as far as weather, attitude towards training and general playing.  I’ve shot some solid scores and played the majority of my rounds’ holes very well.  The aspect that I’m working on is stringing together a full 18.  I’ve been playing 15-16 holes well per round, which is a huge improvement over where I was just a few months ago, but a bit disappointing to not finish out the entire round.

Two days ago I shot an 80 at Heron Lakes on the Greenback course from the blue tees.  And, that was with a triple bogey on the 16th and 17th holes…  Good news:  I birdied 18, but I think either physical or mental fatigue created that back end slop.  We played the back nine first and at the turn I had shot a 40, but turned it up on the front and was even after 6 of the holes, or just 4 over after 15.  Going into 16 (a 205 yard par 3) I honestly wasn’t thinking about the score, rather had decided to hit a 3-hybrid off the tee to the fat part of the green to play it a bit safe.  Before the round, I had hit balls for 5 hours that day, and my legs were a bit tired from that and walking the course to that point, but I knew I just needed a couple more decent tee shots to finish the round.  However, I completely topped the ball into two-foot tall nettles and had to chop it out.  Then, from 160 I left it just short of the green and chipped up to 10 feet then missed the putt for an eventual triple on the hole.  It was surprisingly easy to card that many strokes when you shank the tee shot, as most everyone knows..  On the next hole, the same thing happened with the driver, just topped it to the right about 50 yards down.  I tried to hit a safe 7-iron to 150, but hit it a bit fat and it landed behind a tree.  The next shot went in the green-side bunker and the first out attempt hit the lip.  The next one got out and a two-putt left me with a seven for the par 4.  Again, really easy to do  After that I finished strong with the birdie, but the damage was done.  A quick lapse of a couple of shots and an extra six strokes are carded.

That’s golf and that’s just how it goes sometimes.  These things happen and the real trick is to get over them after just one bad shot, to not string together a group of misses.  This is what I am trying to work on right now and I think that with patience and slowing down my pre-shot routine after a miss I can get over these types of holes.

A relatively similar thing happened the next day.  Playing the Great Blue course at Heron, I made the turn at 39 and was playing solid golf.  On ten, though, I hit the best drive of my day and only had 120 to the pin, which is a perfect 52 degree wedge when the wind is helping a bit.  The 52 is my favorite club right now and I think my mind was already on the next hole when I accidentally hit it fat and sent the ball just 40 yards.  Next shot was also fat and then the next I pulled a bit into a green-side bunker..  From there my out went long and I had to chip back on to one-putt for a triple.  It’s amazing that I, or anyone, can hit so many good shots in a round and then have three or four misses in a row.  After that hole, I don’t think I hit a fat shot again for the rest of the day, something had just temporarily changed in my swing and it took the entire hole to get over it.

That’s what my game is like right now.  Playing pretty solid for the majority of the holes and then have those couple of meltdown holes where nothing seems to go right.  I can get over it pretty soon, but am trying to learn how to break the pattern after just one miss.  That is the goal right now.

Those rounds were especially good as I am hitting about 30 percent of the fairways right now.  I’m working on getting the club-face back to square at impact (rather than open and hitting a block fade as has been the issue for a while) so when I over cook it I pull hook the ball and when I revert I block it out to the left.  It will come with time and a lot of hard work, but for now it’s safe to say getting off the tee is my weakness.  It makes sense, though, because that is the newest aspect of the game for me.  On the short game side, my chips have resulted in a lot of tap ins and I have had an average of under 30 putts per round for the past 4 rounds.

Good things come with hard work, I just need to put in my time and work out those kinks.  Glad there’s a bunch of brand new range balls at CECC:

And, it’s about time for some new wedges, the one’s I’ve used for the past six months are getting a bit slick:

It has been a few days since I last wrote and I would love to explain/recap what has happened.

First off, I played in the two-man two-day best ball tournament out at Rose City with a golfer named Tyler this weekend.  It was my first time being in a tourney of this type and I actually found it to be much more stressful than an individual event.  Tyler is about a 1 handicap and being a best ball (where you each play the hole with your own ball then take the best score between the two of you for the score of record) I not only had the pressure I put on myself to do well, but also didn’t want to let him down.

The thing about Rose City is that there is not a range to warm up on.  The first round was Saturday morning and I had a radio interview in the AM before we teed it, so didn’t have a chance to go to a different course to hit some balls first.  I’m not really at the stage where I can just walk up and have my first swing of the day be the drive on the first hole, so was a bit apprehensive going into the round.  My first drive, though, hit the fairway and we were off.  I didn’t play overly bad on Saturday, but after that first fairway my drive was off all day and when you are focussing on contributing to some holes but your second shot is in the rough behind trees all day, it gets to you.  Together, we shot a team 74 but my only additions to the team were to show him a few putting lines and by getting a par on one of the 3s as well as a birdie on the 18th hole, which might be the toughest hole on the course so a great way to end.

On Sunday, I woke up early enough to head to the range at CECC and warm up before we teed it at 8.  I didn’t hit a ton of balls, but 20-30 were enough to get a feel for the drive and when we played this day, the long sticks were on.  They set up the course extra tough (one group playing behind us was a team +3 handicap and shot a 64 on Saturday, 68 on Sunday) and the holes were quite exciting in length and pin placement.  We both played much better and were cruising along, but seemed to bogey the same holes.  In the end, we shot an easy 74 as apposed to the struggle for 74 on Saturday.  What hurt us was, surprisingly, my putting.  I had a number of birdie looks but none of them dropped.  I’ve never seen so many lipped out putts in one round.  If half of them had dropped we would have posted a 70, but that’s golf and sometimes it doesn’t roll your way.  I felt much better after this round as I had contributed more and hit enough fairways and greens to allow my partner to get aggressive in his game.

After that, it was three days of filming for two different media outlets.

On Monday, CBS’ morning show was in town from New York for an all day shoot.  We met out at CECC and they filmed me doing my thing on the range and putting area and an interview with correspondent Jim Axelrod then Axelrod and I hit the links for an 18-hole match play game.  He’s a 10.7 handicap, so we decided to go straight up in match play to see what would happen.  I definitely had the advantage as it was my home course and he had only played a couple times this year so far, but the added pressure of me getting filmed on every shot, I felt, evened that out.

A bit before we began the producer mentioned that 2.4 million people watch the show, “but no pressure” of course .  I always tell myself that cameras don’t make me nervous, but it was hard to get in a groove as you have to wait for them to set up and then basically hit on command.  It’s really different, but something to get used to and to work with.  I see these times as opportunities to work under pressure, and it’s a great thing all in all.  That said, I bogeyed the first hole, took a double on the second, bogeyed the third and hit a ball in the water on the par 3 fourth for another double.  Ended up the shooting a 10-over on the front nine and was down by two holes to Axelrod.

It was time to up the game and the cameras were forgotten by the turn, so I could start playing some solid golf to gain my ground back.  I started the back with a bogey, but then got hotter and parred the next five holes to go up 2 holes on Axelrod. We tied the next two so I won the match play, but then he wanted to press on the 18th for a double or nothing.  We both had decent drives, but were blocked by trees so had to lay up.  I pitched on from the layup and his landed just short and had to chip to get on.  We both two-putted, me for bogey he for double.

All in all, I shot an 85 out there, which isn’t great, but the back was much more solid.  I learned a bit about playing under pressure and had a great time with the CBS guys.  Not sure when the piece will run, but I will let you know as soon as I hear something.  Perhaps next week.

On Tuesday and Wednesday it was Golf Channel’s turn.  The Golf in America guys came out for an update of The Dan Plan.  They shot the story last July and were in town to see what had changed.  Last time they were here my longest club was a 6-iron and I had just started playing on par-3 courses, so a lot has changed.

Here are the guys:

The days went well.  A few different interviews and then shooting on the range and course.  I don’t think their piece will run until August, but if that changes I will definitely post something.

By the end of yesterday, I was pretty beat.  I hadn’t had a day “off” for a while and it’s been a high of 50 and rainy for the past few days, which has taken a toll on my body.  My back is sore and energy levels are lower than normal.  This weather has got to pass soon.  It’s May…  Seriously, we could use a spot of sun and a day where your body actually stays warmed up between shots.  It’s pretty hard on the back to take a big swing, cool completely down and then take another large swing.  Repeat this a couple hundred of times a day and things just get stiff.

But, who’s complaining?  I love what I do and will take any type of weather!  Heading out to the “office” right now for a non-filmed session.  It’s time to get back to practice and work on some swing aspects that need tuning after last weekend’s tournament.  Namely: getting off the tee.  That has been my biggest weakness in rounds, which makes sense as it’s the newest aspect of my game.  All things come with time.

I’ve played a couple of rounds since shooting my first 79 and feel like my game has just had a breakthrough.  I’m still being kept back by a couple aspects, the largest one being getting off of the tee, but all in all I have never felt more confident in my golfing abilities.

I’m not sure if this is a by-product of having played my first tournament (successfully, in my mind) or if it’s just a natural time for a confidence boost.  Regardless of the cause, I am always ecstatic when things seem on the up and up.  There are plenty of peaks and valleys along the way and it is important to celebrate the peaks and to know that the valleys are temporary and fleeting.

I will enter this weekend’s two-man two-day best ball tournament at Rose City with a completely different mindset than last week’s tourney.  I was confident in my skills last week, but they had never been tested so that confidence was somewhat a farce.  Now, I know more of what to expect all around and have a better sense of my personal reactions to sub-optimal shots and how to get over them in preparation for the next shot.  Last week I began to hurry up a bit after hitting a bad shot, which is the exact opposite of what I should do.  I need to stop and analyze the options instead of just going for the big shot every time.  Laying up and taking my medicine could have saved a few strokes.  Live and learn.

What’s going right in my game is general ball striking with irons as well as a much cleaner short game and putting.  I have been getting a higher percentage of up-and-downs from within 20 yards of the green and have been putting well in general, although I’m still stumped by the speed of these slow Pacific Northwest greens.  It has taken my three weeks now to adjust to the speed and I’m still leaving some putts short.  Tomorrow I will get aggressive and make sure the ball gets to the hole.  The short irons and wedges have been flying well and the longer ones are coming along.

What’s causing the most strokes is getting off the tee.  I know it is the newest addition to the bag, but hitting the woods and driver off the tee has been an issue in my game.  The percentage of shots in the fairway is pretty dismal and I am often punching out and then scrambling to make a bogey.  It will take some time and work to get those longer sticks to feel more comfortable.  For now, I cannot help but wonder why I did not hit the driver for 10 minutes a day since day one.  I think that I short-sided myself by limiting my practice to just short clubs.  But, one cannot reverse time and what happened is what happened.  Now, I do feel confident around the green and that is pretty priceless.  It’s time to feet comfortable in the tee box, just need to put in another 1,000 hours or so

The game, though, is on the cusp.  Over the last 5 rounds I have started off very well, shooting just a few over after the first 9 holes and end up scoring in the low 80s with a couple of bad drives late in the day producing a double bogey or two.  Looking at my scorecards, I realize that there is definitely a difference between the first four holes and the last, so my mental goal for the next month is to work on sealing the deal.  I need to stay strong and stay in the game for 18 holes.   To do this, I am going to work on playing while fatigued, so will work out in the morning and then walk 36 holes through the day.  Whenever possible, you should try to make practice harder than competition.  Makes sense to me, at least.

Off for today’s rounds.

Before I start analyzing my tournament round I want to post about my first sub-80 round.  I shot a 79 yesterday and it felt great!  My goal for the day was to see how I played while mentally and physically drained so I walked 36 holes in heavy pants on the hottest day of the year in Oregon (it only got to 81, but was fairly humid and much hotter than normal).  I played okay on the first round: shot an 84 on the Greenback course at Heron Lakes form the blue tees, then joined a three-some on the Great Blue course starting at 5 pm.  They were playing from the whites so I teed it up with them there.  The course plays 6,050 yards from the whites, so a bit short, but still a tough track.  I shot 38 on the front with one birdie, one bogey and a double on a par 5 purely from making a poor decision and trying to go for it with a 3-wood from 255 yards into the wind.

On the back 9, I actually hit three balls in the water, but made a bogey on two of those holes and then a double on 17 to put me at 7 over for the round entering the 18th hole.  It’s a longer par 4 with water all down the right side.  I pushed my drive (lefty, so pushes go left) into a fairway bunker 150 yards from the hole.  I hit this exact shot during the tournament at Pumpkin, so new it was in the bag.  Pulled out the 7-iron and made a good pass, sending the ball to the center of the green, which I could barely see as the sun had already set.  Walking up, I noticed there was about 40 feet of putting between me and my first 79.  I was more nervous on these putts than anything in the tournament round.  I hit my lag well and it ended up pin high but 2 feet right due to slope I didn’t read well in the darkening eve.  Nervously, I rolled the ball over a ball mark I didn’t see, but it fell in the cup and finally I hit my goal of shooting in the 70s.  Great feeling.

Now on to the tournament round.

I’ve been haunted by this round for the past three days.  The cliche is true in 20/20 vision and I wish I could reverse time and slap myself around a bit entering those late-round holes.  But, it’s through these experiences that we learn: investment in loss.

At first I thought physical fatigued had set in and caused me to make bad shots and score high, but after pondering the round I realized that it was mental fatigue that caused me to make poor choices on the final holes, creating some blow-ups.  It began on the eighth hole of the round.  Pumpkin only has one place where water is available on the course and I had run out a hole before.  With the sun getting brighter, I felt parched after finishing the ninth hole.  I ran between it and number 1 to try and find water before teeing off, but the clubhouse was too far away and I didn’t have time to stop in.  Standing on the tee box, my mind was thinking about how thirsty I was and instead of sticking to my game plan of hitting 80 percent drives and I let one rip, pulling it way right of the fairway.  From there I hit a poor 6-iron and then rushed a couple of bad chips, it was my first double of the day and purely caused by losing my game plan.  I got water shortly after that, but the mental lapse had changed the overall feeling of the round.  My concentration had been broken and even though I was only 2 over for the next three holes something had changed.

Entering the 13th hole, I was 4 over for the day and playing well.  This is the real turning point, though.  I hit a bad “safe” 3-hybrid off the tee and then tried to be a hero by making an overly tough shot from a horrible lie instead of taking my medicine and laying up.  Before the round, my goal was to play consistent and lay up if I was in a spot where the odds are strongly against successfully hitting the green.  Since my game had been going south, I went for it instead of playing safe and it cost me in the form of a triple bogey.  The exact same thing happened on the tenth hole (my quad bogey hole) where I could have laid up and tried to save par or go for the easy bogey, but got too greedy and ended up in a hazard.

These are things I never would have learned if not for trying them in a tournament.  I’m still proud of my round and in all honesty am glad for the mistakes I made.  It is the mistakes that I will remember and learn how to not repeat them down the road.

I have a lot more thinking to do about this over the next three days, and then have a two-day two-man best ball tournament at Rose City this weekend.  Having a partner is a different dynamic and I’m excited for yet another new experience.

Thank you to all the wonderful Twitter peeps for donating to The Dan Plan based on the number of birdies I sank in my first tournament round.  It was awesome to get two birdies at Pumpkin Ridge and to have such amazing support!