I was going to make it a pdf download and ask people to contribute what they thought it was worth, but I thought if I put the book up on Amazon’s website it would be better formatted for all types of digital readers.  If this doesn’t work after a couple of months I may put a link to the pdf up as well, but for the time being please think about supporting The Dan Plan by purchasing the book here:

Amazon Unites States:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MTC0NJA

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And most any other country, email me if you want a specific link or search for “The Dan Plan”.

I wish to apologize in advance as a few external links did not translate to this format.  One of the most blaring absences are videos.  On a few occasions I talk about watching a video and it’s just a blank on the page.  Outside of that the content is whole.  I edited out about one third of the posts but there is still quite a bit of content, too much in a lot of ways.  Down the road at some point I will have a professional editor (or a well versed friend, or myself when the amount of time in a day magically doubles) take a gander at the content and polish it up.  For now, this is the story, more or less, word for word from the beginning.  I hope you enjoy and get some value out of the content.

For every book purchased from Amazon almost $5 goes to The Dan Plan.  Thank you for reading and please help spread the word to anyone potentially interested in seeing what it takes to make such a drastic change in one’s life.

Cheers!

I have been under par deep into rounds (3 under for 14 holes, 2 under after 15, etc) but had yet to manage to bring it all the way home; until today, that is.  I felt the wheels come off a bit when I three-putted on the 16th hole for a bogey, but got it back in gear and finished strong shooting a 70 on a par 72 course.

The course was Heron Lakes’ Greenback track which was fitting as it was the first course I stepped a foot on during this journey and Heron is where I began my golfing practice 4 years ago. I also got to play with some of my golf friends who I have known from the beginning and then celebrate afterwords with a bunch of regulars who were sticking around to watch the basketball playoffs.  And, my first swing coach, Christopher, happened to be on the putting green when I finished so I got to share the round with him and catch up on everything he has been doing in the past 1.5 years since we last crossed paths.

Here is what the scorecard looked like:

It was a day where ball striking was pretty good, chipping was on when needed and I was putting well.  All of these aspects added up to the difference between shooting today’s 70 and a much more commonplace (for my current game) 76.  That said, there are always shots that didn’t quite go in and I had a handful of near misses to go with what did go well.

Here is how it breaks down:

1. Driver in the fairway and laid up short of some fairway bunkers with a hybrid.  I had 110 remaining and hit a gripped up 50 degree wedge to about 15 feet.  The putt was tracking the hole the entire way, but veered off an inch before the cup to be tapped in for a par.

2. Pushed the driver but it ended up in the middle of the fairway, albeit it pretty short.  I had 168 to the pin and hit a 6-iron into a slight breeze but caught it fat and the ball came up just short of the green.  Chipped it up with a wedge and made a 4 footer for par.

3. Hit an 8-iron to this par 3 which was playing to a short pin about 155 yards from the tee box.  It landed pin high but about 20 feet to the right of the pin.  Made a good putt that was tracking just like on the first hole and veered off at the end again.  I realized I need to start putting a bit more pace on putts and not rely on them dying in the hole as if the cup isn’t perfect it sometimes loses track at the end.  Tapped in for par.

4. Hit the driver and was trying to draw it from the left back to the fairway over, but the shot went pretty much dead straight and smacked into a tree hard.  It kicked back out to the fairway and was 143 yards to the pin but behind a medium sized tree.  I hit a 9-iron to get it up and over the tree but caught it fat like on the second hole (didn’t warm up on the range so was finding my swing on the course) and it came down 50 yards short.  Pitched up with a 58 degree and it landed but bounced through the green as it was coming in from the rough.  Chipped back on and made an 8 footer to save bogey.

5. Hit a good drive on this 500 yard par 5 then hit my 3-hybrid from 225 yards out and the ball landed pin high.  I had a long eagle putt, perhaps 40 feet, and missed it by a foot then knocked in the birdie putt.

6. Crazy hole.  Tried to hit a high draw drive over the fairway bunkers but closed the face and hooked it hard. The ball hit a tree solidly and shot back almost all the way to the red tees.  I had 230 yards to the middle of the green but it was slightly with the wind so hit the 3 hybrid which came down just short of the green but plugged into the face of a green side bunker.  Got my sand wedge on it well and popped the ball out to about 6 feet from the hole and made the par putt.

7. Hit a 5-iron pin high on this 197 yard par 3.  Two putts for par.

8. Drove it through some trees and back out to the fairway and had 115 yards to the pin.  Hit a 50 degree wedge a bit short and two-putted for par.

9.  A 3-wood down the middle and then stuck my 8-iron to about 3 feet from 151 yards.  Made the birdie putt to turn one under par.

At the turn we switched things up. On the front it was Eric, Brian and I playing in a 3-man skins game and then the assistant pro Nick joined up with us on the 7th hole so at the turn we needed to play a different game.  We decided to play a team game on the back and it took about a full hole to figure out what pops each person got.  We ranged from a plus 1 handicap to a 7.  It didn’t really matter though as we were all trying to just play good golf.

10. Pulled the drive low and down the right side fairly short.  Hit a 7-iron to try and get back out to the fairway and in scoring range and pulled that a bit too.  Had 124 remaining so hit a full 50 degree wedge pin high but a bit left.  Made a 15 footer for birdie.

11. Hit a good drive down the middle.  Had 118 left so hit a 50 degree a bit easy and was hoping it would land and release towards the hole but it checked up short.  Made a great putt that I thought was going to drop but it veered off at the last second again.  Tapped in for par.

12. Pushed the drive slight right into the rough and then had to hit a hard fade 7-iron around some trees to the green.  Got a hold of it well and it went long over the green.  Chipped back on and then made a 7 footer for par.

13. Pulled the drive low and short into the rough.  Laid up before some water with a hybrid as it was 300 to the stick and I didn’t have a club that could carry that far.  Had 100 remaining and  hit a half 50 degree that landed and spun back some.  Another good putt right at the hole turned at the last second and I then tapped in for par.

14. This hole can be a round changer for the worse if you are not too careful.  It was playing about 190 today and the green is protected by bunkers with water down the left side.  I hit a 6-iron as it was down wind and I would rather be a little short than long and the ball landed a few feet to the right of the green in the rough.  Chipped up to about 3 feet and made the par.

15. Shorter par 4 with water down the entire left side.  Hit a hybrid to 110 yards and then hit a 50 degree close to the pin, but it spun back about 10 feet.  Another near miss then tap in par putting scenario.

16. Water carry par 3 that was playing 162 yards today.  The pin was at the very front of the green just 4 yards from the water so you couldn’t be under the hole without serious threats to a water bound ball. I hit a 6-iron into the wind to be safe and landed about 25 feet past the hole.  The green sloped away from me all the way to the hole and then to the water and I let that get into my head leaving the ball about 5 feet short.  I took the next putt a little too lightly and just missed it leading to a 3-putt bogey.

After that putt I had a flashback to past rounds where I was under par so deep just to let it slip through my fingers.  Instead of playing “defensive” golf and trying to par out I decided to keep playing my game, which tends to be more aggressive, and stay focussed on aiming for birdies.

17. Hit a drive that was a nice draw but a bit low and it actually landed in a fairway bunker but then got a lucky hop and bounced through landing in the rough with a wide open shot at the green.  I had a downhill lie about 96 yards to the pin and knew it would come out pretty hot so hit a punch 54 degree. The result was nice with the ball ending up about 6 feet above the hole.  Made a good putt knocking in the birdie.

I was really happy about that and despite how much I had been trying to not focus on score through the round I knew that I was under par going into 18.  The best I had previously been was one over par at that point, but today I knew that I was two under and all I needed to do was double bogey or better to shoot par for the first time.  That didn’t mean it was any easier to hit a relaxed driver or approach shot, though, and even after sticking the green in 2 I was pretty nervous standing over a long putt.

18.  Just wanted to make good contact and finish strong, but got a little quick and pulled the drive some.  I had a clear shot to the pin but it was tucked behind a bunker some 150 yards from where I stood.  I pulled an 8 and was aiming to get close to the stick, but it came out of the rough hot and landed on the back of the green about 40 feet from the hole.  I wanted a birdie for a 69, but also at this point wanted to make sure I at most 2 putted.  Hit it and came up about 4 feet short, then took my time and made a good par putt.

That’s it, shot a 70!  Looking back I made a couple good saves and putted well, but also had plenty of opportunities to go lower.  I could have shot a 65 today and I could have just as easily shot a 75.  That’s the way this sport is and today I landed solidly under par with what did actually happen.  Who knows what the future holds, but just two years ago I barely broke 80 for the first time ever.  Hard to say where this path will be taking me over the next two years or the two that will follow that.  Whatever happens it’s going to be pretty darn exciting.

ps.  Thank you Schuyler and Richard for the donations based on this occasion.  Truly appreciated!

For a little retro action, here is a video from the very first day of The Dan Plan:

I had no clue what I was getting into and putting from one foot away from the hole was “golf” to me.  You can tell I was a newbie from the yellow jacket, blue jeans and running shoes.  That outfit quickly changed as I realized there was actually a type of uniform to this game, which still strikes me as a bit odd as I’ve never noticed how a collared shirt helps one golf

Learning about golf and proper attire I ran into all sorts of people/outfits from the more traditional:

To the more modern man:

I knew there was a perfect compromise for me and I slowly worked my way from a rubber raincoat to wool sweaters then to the polyester shirts you see on Tour to finally finding some, in my mind, wearable cotton shirts that I have been wearing every day since.  In a way golf has changed how I look on a daily basis as I pretty much now don some form of non-denim pant and a collared shirt whereas 4 years ago it was jeans and a t-shirt unless I had to go to a funeral or a dinner with grandma.

………

Over the years the press started warming up to the journey.  The first major story that came out was written by Michael Kruse of the Tampa Bay Times.  It was a good read and he did a wonderful job reporting, even driving the 274 miles from Tampa to Tallahassee with me and staying overnight to attend a presentation I gave at Florida State University.  That story is here:  Tampa Bay Times

Since then it has been picked up by all sorts of media outlets from TV stations in China and Korea to blogs in Norway and magazines across the globe, CBS just ran a Sunday morning piece earlier this week.  Way more exposure than I had ever imagined and it has been an honor to hear all of the reactions from the story.  These have run the gambit from adulation to completely despising the idea.  Luckily we are all fortunate enough to have our own opinions and equally fortunate is the ability to appreciate or slough off the externalizations of others.

But, what have a learned so far?  That’s a tall order as so much happens in four years of a life.  Has it been a journey filled with inspiring times and conquered obstacles or is it becoming the regretful decision in life that I sought so hard to avoid in the first place?  It really just depends on which day you ask me, although for the vast majority of days it would definitely be the former.

Sometimes I can’t imagine doing anything else and I love this journey, but on a few occasions I have found it hard to muster up the drive to remain focussed.  That’s just what happens when you do something constantly for four years.  Life’s not a movie and emotions flow like the tide.  I think the lesson I have learned is to allow the bad times to pass as the better are always on the horizon and when the good moments are here remember to appreciate them.  Also, don’t forget how green your own grass is before you start looking out over those fences.  Some cliches are better than others.

What I have done the worst over the past four years is to attract and hold on to potential sponsors.  I never imagined how hard it was going to be to find some support for a project like this and am slowly coming to the conclusion that I will have to go about it on my own for the remaining four years.  When I began I wrote down that I would give it two years and if I had not found a way to make the project self-supported I would reconsider and redirect.  Then the two year mark hit and I was still enjoying it so I kept at it as to me the payoff was in the journey and freedom that comes along with following one’s heart/dreams.  Another two years has passed and I still agree with that sentiment, but as the funds deplete and the financial needs of this pursuit grow (for example tournament entry fees: to play in mini-tours can cost around $2,000 a week after entry, travel, room and board) it becomes harder to deny a creeping sense of looming financial needs.

I’ve paddled this canoe half way cross the sea so can figure out how to make it safely home on my own if need be.  I never intended this to make money and was perfectly comfortable sidestepping my career for a few years in order to do some human potential explorations.  That was when I thought it would be a four year project, though, and now that I am approaching 35 it’s hard to not worry about future finances, retirement, helping raise a family, health care, having a safe car and all sorts of other concerns that begin popping in one’s head when life’s conceptual longevity creep into the picture.  There is a big difference between 29 and 35, surprisingly so.

I still love and cherish my freedom and decision, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that there is a greater sense of future than there was at the beginning.  The thing about golf, too, is that it’s shockingly expensive.  But that’s enough about that, this should be a celebration of time spent, not a time to linger on the finances of the future.

Long story short is that I hope to be able to finish the entire 10,000 hours and will do what I need to do in order to make that happen.  Goals often require sacrifices and I was well aware of that when I began.

Back to learning…

I have learned a lot about golf, quite a bit about what it takes to improve and that “plateaus” are just periods where more time and a fresh outlook is needed to surpass.  I have yet to see any specific or generalized reason why this goal of making it to the PGA Tour (or subsequently any specific goal) is not possible and I now firmly believe that anything is possible and that we have not yet begun to understand the limits of human potential.  It might be strange to use golf as an analogy for our capabilities, but I see it as a clear window into better understanding both mental and physical performance.

Speaking of those two types of performance, I see the second half of this pursuit becoming more about mental training than physical.

Over the past 5,000 hours I have spent the vast majority of my time learning how to physically swing a golf club and understanding the mechanics of that swing as well as the physics behind what makes a golf ball bend in the air.  It took a long time to get to the point where I had an efficient swing and that took up most of my training time.  I also spent some hours grasping the rules of the game and learning what it meant to play golf as well as how to score, but that was almost a side project during the first half.

I have noticed a lot of transition in my training and emphasis lately and it is evident that the emphasis from here on out is going to be more on the mental approach to the game.  For example, I have gotten to the point where I can work a ball well on the range with any club and hit my targets while doing so, but under the pressure of an actual match my skill level seems to, on occasions, diminish.  Learning how to perform in those situations and how to self-correct in the middle of an important round is tantamount to future success and will be the keys to moving forward.

That’s not to say I will stop focussing on mechanics nor will I not continue to try and increase my swing speed and accuracy, but just that there are crucially important aspects of getting to the next level that happen more internally than externally.  I always knew this would be both a physical and mental pursuit, but am just beginning to understand exactly how large a roll the mental aspects play in performance.

Today randomly happens to also be the 4 year anniversary of this pursuit.  A fitting day to be both half way and 4 years in.  And, the Masters start today.  To me that means my goal is to be playing in the Masters on the 10k finishing day which should be early April 2018.  Now that’s a target I can shoot for.

Thank you all for following along over these past four years.  The encouragement and support has been huge in keeping me focussed throughout each day and the fellowship of friends (either in person or via email) that has gathered along the way has easily been one of the best parts of this journey.  Here’s to another set of amazing years and unknown obstacles yet to be conquered.

To celebrate the day I played in Riverside’s Masters Day tournament.  I had no expectations heading into the round and saw it as a good position marker for the 5k to come.  I hit the ball well and despite the punched and sanded greens actually putted very well, shooting a 75 that landed me tied for 3rd out of the 88 entrants.  That score also put me in second place gross.  The low round of the day was a 73 shot by a plus two handicap golfer.  A 75 is a good sign of things to come and my lowest tournament round to date.

Also, part of the round was to pick a random pro playing in the Masters today and our rounds get paired together for a combined gross score.  I drew Phil Mickelson and proceeded to beat him by one stroke on the day.  Augusta is a much harder challenge and I didn’t play under the same pressure, but it still felt good to beat the pro I was paired with as he shot a 76 today.

I was invited last year, but the conference was in St. George, Utah and at the time I was not in a position to afford the flight, hotel and golf.  This year it happened to be in Orlando and since I was already in Hilton Head, just 300 miles north, I decided to make the drive down and meet the group.  I was also fortunate enough to get to present one of the days as well as attend all of the presentations Friday and Saturday mornings.

I left early Thursday morning, really early.  It was about 5am East Coast time, which felt like 2am due to my not-quite-acclimated Pacific Coast body, but I wanted to make it to Orange County National (OCN) in time for a practice round at noon.  The drive went pretty well and I arrived in time to hit a few balls before heading out for a round.

The practice round was on the Crooked Cat course with three ICHP participants and it was a beautiful course, as well as day:

Such a refresher after the last few rainy weeks in Portland.  Glad to be in some sunny Florida weather, even if just for a couple of days.

The practice round went pretty well, was about 4 over through 15 holes, but then hit a wall of tiredness.  I think getting just a few hours of sleep and driving 6 hours then spending 4 hours in the sun and heat took it’s toll.  I doubled 16 and then bogeyed both 17 and 18 to card an 80.  But, I got a good look at the course and was hoping to play it again when the round really mattered over the next two days.  Much to my chagrin, though, the next two rounds would be played on the other 18 at OCN: Panther Lakes.

After that round UCLA psychologists Bob and Elizabeth Bjork arrived and I decided to go out and play the Tooth course with them.  Harvard psychologist Dan Schacter joined in and we had just enough sunlight to play this 9 hole par 29 course:

This was an awesome course to practice the short game.  If I happened to live near here I would spend many a days fine tuning the wedges on this track.  It’s basically a wide open field with water hazards, sand traps and 9 unique greens.  The holes play from 60 yards to 300+ yards.  I hit it pretty well as the short game is my strength and shot even par my first time around this short course.

After the drive and playing 27 holes it was about 8pm and my entire body was shouting for me to end the day.  But, the day wasn’t quite over yet as a small group wanted to go have a putting competition in the dark.  I couldn’t pass up this opportunity no matter how tired I was and joined in the nighttime fun.  We rolled the ball on the Bermuda grass greens under a simple floodlight and a bit of shine from the moon for an hour and then I had to call it a day.

The next morning the 24 participants of this year’s ICHP congregated in a meeting room to listen to a few presentations.  They were all interesting and inspiring.  This year it was kicked off by University of Illinois Professor of Psychology Aaron Benjamin who presented research on the difference between blocked, random and “increasing” practice:

I wanted to know more about Aaron’s research and left his, and everyone’s, talk wondering how I could best transcribe/translate this type of presentation into my blog. It’s a tall order considering each of the weekend’s 8 presenters can have years of research backing up their 30 minute talk and for me to assume I can sum it up in a paragraph or two is a bit outlandish.  There is a lot of value here for anyone interested in human performance and I have been considering a lot of different ways to get this content to my blog’s readers.

What I have decided is that I need to start recording Skype conversations with all of these amazing people I cross paths with throughout this journey and posting those on this site. It’s the only way to appropriately and realistically capture the true essence of their work without me muddling it up through a poor translation.

The next non-golf goal, then, is to figure out how to record a Skype conversation and set some of these up.  There are so many incredible people out there that can help us all.  I have met countless potential resources over the past 4 years while trying to find the best sources in the human performance realm to assist me with this journey and would love to share these with everyone.

After the talks we went out and played OCN’s other course: Panther Lakes.  It was a strange day ball striking wise and it took about 6 holes to realize that I had reverted on my old takeaway which was causing some erratic drives and iron shots.  The course was beautiful and the day was lovely, but I just didn’t play well.  The game that day was a four-man team game and one of my partners had the round of his life, but unfortunately I didn’t contribute much and we ended up coming in second by one stroke.

The next day five people gave talks in the morning and then we all went out for a shotgun start on Panther Lakes.  This day the competition was for individual gross and net scores and I was determined to hit the ball better.  Playing a course for the second time is worlds different than seeing it for the first time so I had some local knowledge of where to aim and where not to let the ball end up which helped immensely.  The previous day I hit a few shots that I thought were in position A just to find out that the ball was blocked by a tree or had rolled into a hazard.  This time my aim was more purposeful and it made a difference.

Round one on Panther Lakes I shot an 86 and it was a dirty 86 marred by errant drives, missed greens and a couple of lost balls.  This time around the ball flew better and greens were hit with ease.  I still hadn’t figured out putting on Bermuda grass very well and had 3 3-putts as well as 35 total putts, but shot a 76 which on a windy day was good enough to win for low gross.  In a way it was my first competitive win involving more than a foursome, something I just realized while writing this blog.  That’s pretty cool.

The day was drawing late and I still had to drive back to Hilton Head so I said my goodbyes to the group and hopped in the car for the drive back up I-95.  It was quite the trip and my only regret is not being able to summarize the presentations.  This will have to wait until we can hear it from sources themselves.

Now I’m back in HHI and back to practice, definitely going to get to work gaining experience with Bermuda greens and chipping off of these surfaces.  Please remember, if you want to support the plan and happen to purchase on amazon just click through the link on the right and purchase anything you want.  A small percentage goes towards supporting The Plan.  Thank you!

But, I was coerced by the texts to join my normal Sunday group out at Heron Lakes.  Showing up about 30 minutes early I hit enough balls to loosen up my back and then headed for the first tee.  I hit a decent drive there to the middle of the fairway leaving me a wedge to the hole.  Knocked it tight and dropped the 3-footer for bird.  You can’t birdie them all if you don’t birdie the first.

On the second hole my drive pulled hard right, but it was a par 5 so I laid up with a hybrid to 90 yards and then stuck my approach to about 9 inches.  I thought this one had a chance of going in.  The third hole was similar in that I hit my tee shot to exactly 90 yards and then landed the approach a few feet from the pin.  I made a little downhill slider putt for the third bird in a row.

Three birdies in a row is the most that I have ever made.  Walking up to the fourth hole I was aware of this fact, but tried to disregard it and just think about the shot at hand.  It was a par 3 with total water carry and I decided to club up and hit a knock-down shot instead of going for a full swing.  I executed it well and watched as the ball landed about a foot past the hole.  Tapped it in for the fourth birdie of the round and to start four under par.

This felt great.  No matter what the rest of the day held I had set a new personal record and now know that better golf is definitely possible.

The rest of the round was pretty solid through the 14th hole.  On the 15th I have a mental block on this 150 yard par 3 water carry for some reason and for the second time in a row hit a bad tee shot leaving the ball in the water.  I also hit a poor chip on 17 ending in a bogey and then pulled my tee shot on 18 into the water for a final bogey.  Not going to think much about the finishing holes outside of the fact that I need to drink more water, eat more food and stay focussed for a full 18.

After this we all played an additional 9 holes and I shot one over for those total.  That’s 4 over for 27 holes which is also a new personal record.  Very good things were happening and outside of a few holes of sliding backwards this is the type of golf that I want and should be playing right now.

Here is the scorecard:

For the next couple of days I am heading out of town.  Today I will be playing a golf course in Salem, OR and then am going to go to Bend for Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

If anyone is in Bend and wants to tee it let me know.  Also, I have never played in central Oregon so if there are any recommendations of courses to play please tell me.  There are so many incredible golf facilities there, but if you could just play one what would it be?

I’m happy with the result.  I shot an 81 with one birdie and 25 putts on the round.  The short game was working for me for the most part and it was really making up for some big misses off the tee box.

Speaking of tee shots, I entered not knowing what to do about the driver.  I picked up a new TaylorMade R1 with a Devotion shaft this past Thursday during a demo day at CECC (for a pic, see the previous blog entry) and that Thursday I hit it decently.  On Friday I couldn’t seem to find a fairway either left or right and at the end of the day I was hitting on the range and was missing huge both directions.  Just didn’t feel right at all for some reason.  I went home and while sleeping I dreamt about hitting scattered drives.  This morning I went to the range at CECC to warm up before the tourney and everything was smooth and buttery, but then when I pulled the driver out I was pulling/pushing/hooking/slicing them.  I didn’t know if it was me or what, but I knew that I couldn’t bring that stick to the round so I talked with Jon in the pro shop and he put an RBZ head on the shaft.  I took that out and again was all over the place.  This was with no pressure and trying to hit half swings, full swings, etc.  Simply could not find straight.

Not knowing what to do, I ran home and picked up an old Nike driver that I used last Spring.  I never particularly enjoyed this driver, but felt like it was a better option as I knew more about how it reacted on the course.

I arrived at Rose City and had a good 20 minutes to get used to the greens and calm down the mental pace after running around trying to figure out a last minute driver.  The round went down something like this:

1. 360 yard par 4.  Pulled a driver into the right bunker, but it rolled through leaving me with a 145 yards.  Drew an 8-iron around a tree to hit the green and 2-putt from 25 feet. EVEN

2. 400 yard par 4.  Pulled the driver way into the right trees.  Punched out, but the punch ran too far and ended up on a steep uphill lie with 120 yards left.  Hit a PW up the hill but it landed just short of the green.  Chipped in for a par.  EVEN

3. 480 yard par 5.  Decided I was not going to risk going OB with the driver and instead make it a three shot par 5 even though it was short.  Hit a 3 hybrid (I don’t have a 3 wood in the bag right now and 3 hybrid is my longest stick besides driver) 220 yards down the middle.  With 260 remaining (just 30 yards behind the other three in my group who all hit driver, the ball was not going very far and was plugging in the mud so a long drive was about 260-270) I hit a 4 hybrid to 80 yards then gap wedged it pin high but a foot off the green.  Chipped from 7 feet and just missed but tapped it in for par. EVEN

4. 320 yard par 4. This is a super short hole that goes way down hill then sharply back uphill. A decent drives leaves you with a short pitch in.  I pulled driver and hit a weak slice down the left side. I had 167 yards uphill with a tree in between me and the green. Tried to hit a 6-iron and pushed it a bit landing pin high but with a trap in between me and the green.  Chipped on and two-putted from 15 feet.  ONE OVER

5.  170 yard par 3.  I made a mental error here.  I pulled a 6-iron thinking that I just wanted to land the ball in the middle of the green, but right before teeing off I changed my mind as I felt a slight breeze and decided to hit a 5-iron.  Typically, I can hit the 6 just as far as the 5 and with much more consistency, but I switched and think that my mind wasn’t 100 percent committed to the shot.  I tried to draw the ball but it faded and landed in the last inch of water on the hole. I had to take a drop in front of the hazard and then hit a fat muddy chip that landed short of the green. My fourth shot was knocking it on the green and then I dropped a 15 foot putt for double.  THREE OVER

Here’s what your club looked like after most shots from the fairway:

pretty funny.  Nothing like getting muddy

6. 430 yard par 4.  Pushed a big drive left into the trees that hit and landed in a little clearing.  I had 200 yards remaining and no line on the flag so hit a 7 iron over the trees and out into the fairway.  Landed with about 40 yards in.  Chipped up to the flag which was on the back of the green and the ball rolled out long dropping just off the back edge of the green.  Chipped back on and tapped in the bogey putt.  FOUR OVER

7. 350 yard par 4.  Took out the driver once again and overcooked it into the right trees landing stymied with 140 yards remaining.  Hit a gap wedge over some trees back to the fairway then chipped on and dropped a 12 foot putt for par.  FOUR OVER

8. 205 yard par 3.  Hit a 3 hybrid pin high but a little right of the green.  Chipped on and made the one foot putt.  FOUR OVER

9. 430 yard par 4. Pulled the drive hard into the right trees.  Punched straight out and had 120 remaining.  Hit my PW with too much mud before the ball and it came down a few yards short of the green.  chipped on then made a 10 foot putt for bogey.  FIVE OVER

I shot a 40 for that side as it’s par 35 with just one par 5.  At this point, I looked back at my round and realized that the driver was adding absolutely nothing to the day and I decided to leave it out for the rest of the round.  The back is the longer side, but I would rather hit a 210 yard fairway than have to punch out from each tee shot.  For the rest of the round I was going to just hit 3 hybrids off of the tees. The first two holes on the back are the scoring holes, especially if you are hitting good drives.  Still, I knew that I would be better off for the rest of the day by sitting the big stick out.

10.  488 yard par 5.  Hit a 3 hybrid 210 yards then another straight one left me with 50 yards out.  Pitched on and drained a 5 foot birdie putt.  That’s how you’re supposed to do it!  FOUR OVER

11.  470 yard par 5.  Something funny happened here.  I had been hitting the 3-hybrid so well all day, but after that birdie I started thinking about the hybrid swing.  I over thought it on the box for this hole and found myself in some trouble.  Pushed a 3-hybrid far left with 270 remaining.  Hit another one over a small pond but didn’t catch it well and it hit a tree 180 yards from the green.  I hit a 4 hybrid from here that was also a strange and bad swing that landed short of the green.  Pitched on from 50 yards and two putted from about 15 feet.  FIVE OVER

12.  205 yard par 3.  Pulled the 3-hyrbid again and was still getting mental about what happened on the last hole.  Felt like the hybrid swing had left the building for a moment.  But, swung it smooth and free and the ball landed two feet off the green about pin high but maybe 40 feet from the pin.  Chipped up to 5 feet and dropped the par putt.  FIVE OVER

13. 377 yard par 4.  This hole has a chute to it and either a fairway wood or hybrid is the right stick.  I pulled the 3hy and found the swing again, hitting it to 167 yards from the pin.  Hit a 6-iron from there but pushed it just like the earlier one and landed pin high left side.  Chipped up and the ball caught a little slope and ended up 12 feet below the hole.  Hit it straight at the hole but the ball came up a hair short.  Tapped in for a bogey.  SIX OVER

14.  344 yard par 4.  Hit a 3 hybrid down the hill and had 105 uphill remaining.  Hit a 50 degree that landed pin high 5 feet away but it was down a steep slope to the pin.  Tapped the ball and it wiggled towards then away from the hole just missing.  knocked it in for par.  SIX OVER

15. 145 yard par 3.  Down a big hill and against a small breeze I hit a 9-iron that landed on the green but about 40 feet short of the hole.  Putted hard uphill just past the cup and made the 4 foot comeback putt for par.  SIX OVER

16. 480 yard par 5.  3-hybrid to 270 then 3-hybrid to 60 yards.  Easy little pitch to a hole in the middle of the green, but I chunked it and the ball landed about 30 yards short.  I wasn’t nervous and was trying to get aggressive with my swing, just caught it fat and paid the price.  Hit the next one on but a little long and two putted from 15 feet.  SEVEN OVER

17. 410 yard par 4.  This hole plays pretty long as it’s up a big hill.  Hit the 3hy to 200 yards and hit another one just short of the green up the hill.  Wanted with everything in me to knock this chip in and almost landed it in the hole, but the ball rolled about 5 feet long.  Had another downhill quick putt and thought it would break a hair left but it rolled out completely straight missing the cup.  Tapped in a bogey.  EIGHT OVER

18. 440 yard par 4.  Into the wind this hole was long.  Hit the 3 hybrid a bit high and the breeze knocked it down.  I had 260 yards remaining so had to hit a layup on a par 4.  Hit the 3 to 50 yards and then again chunked an easy chip.  Not sure if I was getting mentally tired or what, but I really don’t like missing the straight forward shots.  hit the next one up towards the hole and made a 3 footer for a final bogey.  NINE OVER

That’s about it.  Shot an 81, which ties my best tournament round from last year.  Tomorrow is a new day and I’m not sure if I’ll try the driver or not.  At least the bag is lighter with just 12 clubs.  The driver will have to be sorted out soon, but that’s a whole different conversation.  For the time being, it’s good to know that I can shoot an 81 without it and that I was just one water ball away from my goal of breaking 80 in a tournament round.

I met a buddy, Deryk, out at Heron Lakes and on the range while warming up I jammed my right thumb trying to hit a 4-hybrid off of the frozen ground.  Before we even started I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hit my driver.  But, there was nobody out there and the course opened so we went for it and decided to play match play against each other thinking there might be some large scores due to the conditions.

And…  Only in golf can a day like today produce a career low round.  It’s the paradox that is golf; when you think you’re going to play well you often do not and when there are no expectations success springs into action.

It was the first realistic chance of shooting par or better that I have had.  The previous best was being 1-under after 10 holes but during that round I bogeyed the 11th and ended up shooting about 4 over on the day. Today I kept it under par through 14 and had a birdie putt chance to take it back to par on the 18th.  And, it was one of those rounds full of lipped out putts and missed chances, not a round where everything just happened to fall my way.

I haven’t done a hole by hole recap in a while and figured this one would be fun to write up.  To get started, my scorecard for the day:

1st:  500+ yard par five dogleg right with two sets of fairway bunkers.  When we teed off the temperature must have been 30 degrees.  I hit a short plugged fade drive and had about 300 yards remaining so knocked a 4-hybrid to 130.  I wasn’t swinging very hard and with the thick, cold air and plugging fairways nothing was traveling very far all day.  From 130 I hit a 9-iron that landed a bit short of the pin and bounced about 8 yards.  I made the 15 foot putt for birdie.

2nd:  390 par 4 slight dogleg right.  Hit a drive down the middle and had 150 left.  As has happened often early in rounds I didn’t square the club face and pulled the 7-iron right into a bunker.  The bunkers were like hitting out of frozen mud and I caught it a bit thin leaving me with a 25 foot putt which I sank in two for a bogey.

3rd: 160 yard par 3 with water almost the entire way.  Tried to hit a faded 7-iron but left the face a bit too open (attempting to correct the pull I hit on the previous hole) and it landed just short of the green.  Chipped to one foot and tapped in the par.

4th: 350 yard par 4 dogleg left with an elevated green that has almost complete bunker coverage in front.  Hit a solid drive down the middle and had 117 yards in.  A wedge into the wind landed about 15 feet short of the pin.  Hit what I thought was a perfect putt but it bumped off line a couple feet before the hole so tapped in for a par.

5th: 500+ yard par 5 with a sharp dogleg left and a bunker in the driver landing zone (in the winter months) Drove it right down the middle and the ball plugged so deep that it took us a couple of minutes to find even though the ball was literally in the middle of the fairway.  From there pushed a 3-wood short and left of the green with a bunker and just a few feet of green between me and the pin.  Tried to land it just on the edge of the green 20 yards away to get it to roll to the pin, but it landed a hair short and stuck on the fringe.  Took two putts to get it in from 15 feet out.

6th: 370 yard par 4. Pulled my drive into the trees and again it was about 5 minutes before we finally found it.  I had a line on the green but had to hit a 115 yard fade around a tree in front of me.  Hit a wedge and it faded nicely landing about 10 feet short of the hole.  Hit a solid putt that bumped along and managed to fall in for the birdie.

7th:  190 yard par 3.  Faded a 4-hybrid into the green and it landed pin high but bounced to the back fringe.  Hit a 15 foot putt from just on the fringe that died a hair short of the hole.  Tapped in for a par.

8th:  380 yard par four dogleg right with water down the left side.  My drive went exactly where I aimed:  tried to cut a dogleg right corner by hitting over some trees.  But, the ball caught the last tree and bounced back about 30 yards leaving me with 143 to the hole.  Hit an 8-iron up the little hill that landed about 12 feet from the pin and sank the putt for a birdie.  Was 2 under going into the ninth hole.

9th: 390 yard par 4 dogleg right with OB down the left.  3-wood off the tee left me with 150 yards to the hole.  Hit a 7 that landed pin high but pulled it some so had about 25 feet of putt left.  I’ve never shot my age on a 9 (33) and really wanted to drop the birdie putt to do just that.  But, it wasn’t my time and I pulled the putt a bit to leave it a foot out right.  Sank the par putt to shoot 34 on the front.

I was pretty happy with this.  Deryk is about a 2 handicap and I was up 3 holes on him as he shot a 38 on the front, which was a good score that could have been better but his putting was a bit off on the funky frozen greens.  Still, there were 9 holes left and a lot of golf that could go either way.  We let a single pass through at the turn and then teed it up in hopes of going low on the back.  The last time we played a match against each other was back in October during the Columbia Edgewater Fall match play tournament and because of handicaps Deryk gave me five strokes back then.  He’s a 2 handicap and I was about a 7 at the time.  He won that match by rolling in a 12 foot putt on the 18th hole.  Today was going to be a bit of payback.  And, we were playing straight up, without any strokes given either way.

10th: 500 yard par 5 dogleg right.  Hit the worst drive of the day on one of the best scoring holes.  Pushed it towards a left fairway bunker on this par 5 hole and the ball landed about 260 from the green just short of a bunker.  I played it safe and hit a 4-hybrid to about 60 yards out then pulled my pitch shot a bit leaving me with a 20 foot putt.  Left that about 2 inches on the left side of the hole and tapped in for the par.

11th:  400 yard par 4.  Drove it down the middle and had 115 directly into the wind remaining.  The wind took my wedge shot a mile high and it landed 4 feet short of the hole on a funky downhill breaking lie.  I barely tapped the ball and it was heading straight for the hole but hit a bump and turned 90 degrees left about 2 inches before dropping in.  Had to settle for a par on the hole, but was 2 under after 11 holes which was the deepest I had ever gone in a round on the south side of par.

12th:  397 yard par 4.  Pushed a drive to the left side of the fairway that landed about two feet past a fairway bunker with a tree in between me and the green.  Had to fade an 8-iron around the tree to hit the green and did it but the shot landed about 45 feet short of the hole.  Hit a decent lag putt to about a foot and got that in for the par.

13th:  500 yard par five with water carry on approach shot.  Drove it down the left side and was 250 into the wind short of the pin with a forced water carry so hit a 6-iron to lay up just short of the water.  Pitched on to 12 feet from the pin and hit what I felt like was a perfect putt but it again bumped all the way to the hole and ended up lipping out.  Tapped it in for par and to stay at 2 under after 13.  At this point I was 4 up on Deryk with 5 holes remaining.  He had played the back well, though, and was still at 2 over for the day.

14th:  175 yard par 3, water all down the left side and bunkers covering the green.  I hit a 5-iron wanting to land the ball a bit short of the hole, but pulled it a bit and the ball didn’t check up, rather rolled to the back of the green.  The green felt really firm and I thought it was going to roll well.  Standing over the ball on the green I actually got nervous for the first time thinking that I was on the 14th hole and on the green and still 2 under for the day.  I thought that if I sank this 45 foot putt I would be at 3 under with just 4 left to play.  I had the wrong thoughts going on in my head.  But, I tried to clear the mind and hit a good putt and I thought I did, but it just absolutely died on the green and ended up 10 feet short.  My second putt was solid and straight but it veered off line and I had to tap in for my first bogey on the back side and second bogey on the day.  I was still one under.

15th: 315 yard par 4 with water down the entire left side that pokes in to the fairway more and more the further you hit the ball and trees all down the right.  You can’t really hit a driver on this hole because the landing zone gets too tight so I hit a 3-hybrid to about 115 yards out.  I made a silly mistake here.  There was a little bit of wind behind me and I thought it was enough to add about 10 yards to my shot.  So, instead of hitting a soft wedge to the green I went for a stiff 52-degree gap wedge and tried to hit it hard.  The ball was just frozen and I had to carry water for the entire shot to the green.  Luckily, it made it over the water, but landed on the front of the green with about 50 feet of uphill putt between me and the hole.  This wasn’t a day where long putts were easy and I hit a hard putt up the hill but it came up about 10 feet short once again.  And, just like on the last hole I made a good stroke on the second putt but it just missed and I three-putted for the second time in a row and another bogey to bring me to even par after 15 holes.

I was dormy on the match with Deryk, though and just needed to tie him on the next hole in order to win on the day. But, I wasn’t thinking about that at all, I was thinking that with one more birdie I could get it back to under and get close to shooting my first even or better round of The Dan Plan.

16th: 160 yard par 3 with total water carry.  I hit a thin 7 iron that was an ugly shot but landed pin high and rolled about 10 feet past the hole before checking up.  This was a good chance to sink a birdie and I had pretty much sealed up the match between Deryk and I.  Standing over the putt I cleared my mind and forced myself to not think about the last two holes.  I executed a solid stroke that was headed straight for the hole but bumped along and ended up lipping out just to the left side.  Tapped it in for par and to stay even.  The match was over, I got a bit of redemption from the October loss and it felt good to do it without any strokes going either direction.

17th:  350 sharp dogleg right with trees along the right side and bunkers in the middle of the fairway.  This is a good scoring hole and if you drive it past the bunker you get a kick off the back side that usually leaves you with about 60 yards in.  But, I hit a mile-high fade into the wind that pushed the ball way left almost OB into the water.  With 170 yards remaining I hit a 5-iron but left the club face open and it landed in a green side bunker.  The bunkers aren’t exactly in the best shape this time of year, but I got good club on the ball and outed it to about 10 feet from the hole.  Yet another missed opportunity, though, and one more bogey to put me at 1 over for the day.

I’ve talked about the greens a lot so I figure I should show a pic of them.  As you can see there was a good bit of goose poop that was easy to move and they were punched with tines which actually wasn’t bad to putt on, but all in all it was a type of day where you really had to cram it in the middle of the hole to have a chance.  I putted well on the front but just couldn’t get anything to drop on the back side.  I had 34 putts on the day with 20 of those coming on the back.  A couple bumps in the right direction or a bit more steam on those back 9 rolls and a good round would have been a great round.  That’s golf, though, and you can’t count the balls that almost go in.  Regardless, this was going to be my best round to date as long as I could get a double bogey or better on the final hole.

18th:  380 yard par 4 straight away.  I had to get a birdie to shoot par.  I had my second worse drive of the day, pushing the ball well left into the trees.  When I walked up I was 150 yards out but there was a branch five yards in front of me that was about 5 feet off of the ground and then trees lining the entire way up to the green.  I took out a 5-iron and hit a low flying punch shot which flew about 5 feet high the whole way landing on the green pin high about 15 feet from the hole.  I actually had a chance of shooting par!  Instead of describing the putt, I’ll provide some video commentary:

I straight up missed the read.  After I missed so many chances to make birdies on the back, this time it was a missed read that left the putt out wide.  I thought it was going to break left to right but didn’t spend enough time reading it and it caught me off guard.  O well, still the best round to date and a solid chance to shoot par or better.  It will happen in time and perhaps today was just not meant to be the day.  Next go around I’ll sink a couple of those birdie chances on the back and not 3-putt two holes in a row and I’ll have the number.  All good things come with time and hard work.

The thumb was stiff afterwards, but in a retrospect it forced me to make sure my grip was perfect before every swing because if my hands were out of place it put too much pressure on that right thumb.  Jamming the thumb was kind of a good thing today, you never know why things happen and sometimes something that appears like an immediate negative can prove a positive after enough time.

Another ball for the collection:

Perhaps it’s time to invest in a ball rack.