Here is the post from December 9, 2010 titled I like it, I really do:

Yes!!  What a day!  It was a pretty crazy day, actually, but as far as golf goes, it was an amazing day!

The fine gentlemen working out at Heron Lakes let me head out onto the course to play some holes from about 30 yards out.  Seeing as it was absolutely pouring out, I basically had the course to myself so headed out to play the back nine of the Great Blue course.  For as much time as I spend out at Heron, I’m kind of surprised that this was the first time I’d actually walk part of the course, but perhaps good things come to those who wait.

I set it up to play 27 “holes” of golf.  I played three balls from roughly 35 yards each on every hole of the back nine.  Since I was pitching from a bit of distance I made all of them a par 3 (quite a short par 3, but I’m a newbie) and am happy to say that I scored an 81 on the day, making it an even par which is a great benchmark for my first time out on a course!  Not sure what a PGA Pro would shoot, but can assume it would be around a 55-60, so I have a LOT of work, as always, but it’s nice to have a score to beat now and I hope to make it out there more often, especially on the rainy slow days when nobody else is braving the course.

In the picture below, it’s hard to see, but I pitched from about 30 yards away and from about 30 feet above the hole, but in spite of the bunker and the stream of water cutting through the green landed it within five feet!  One of a handful of birdies I shot today.

One of the 27 “holes” I played today, it’s hard to see but the ball’s pretty close!

Not sure if you can tell, but I’m standing in about 3 inches of water, the entire course was completely flooded, as was basically all of Portland, more on that further down..

Although I had the right gear on, there was absolutely no chance of staying dry today.

I loved the view from this little hill, looking out over the 14th green with a train passing in the distance, nice!

Between the two soaked bunker, the lake and the train, this is a tough shot.

What a day!  A great day!!

I can’t help but think that if the top ring (which my ball broke) on this 185 yard hole hadn’t been in there this shot might have wormed its way into the cup.  But, you never know in golf and it just means I have to try a little harder moving forward.

It was a pretty cool way to close out the day yesterday.  And, for the record, I did make the birdie.

Over and out, back to practice.

My goal was to use this trip as a refresher course for how to best play shots from and on Bermuda grass.  It was a learning experience, as always, when transitioning from bent grass to bermuda, but I did pick up a few new ideas and began to see how this type of grass affects the club going through the ball.

One of the more interesting aspects is that they were in the middle of over-seeding here, which means that they planted ryegrass seed to replace the bermuda that goes dormant over the winter months.  I didn’t know anything about this until yesterday, but apparently the bermuda goes dormy for the season and they then seed the entire course with ryegrass to grow in for the winter months.

That process seems similar to how the courses in Portland punch their bent grass putting greens this time of year.  It’s not the same, but the overall condition of the course is pretty similar in that it’s unpredictable.  I suppose October is the best weather month across the country yet the month where golf courses do their worse to the playing conditions.  But, it’s a great time to get some deals as I did and really enjoy playing some G.

How the over-seeding affected play was that the fairways had been waterlogged by the sprinklers so every shot plugged even though it’s been 75 degrees and sunny here for weeks.  And, on the putting greens there were two different grasses which in the afternoon had grown at different rates and long putts would fishtail their way towards the cup making it kind of a crapshoot as to where the ball would end up.  Add to that the fact that I have minimal experience putting on grain and you get some 3-putts where at home you were thinking birdie all the way.

It was totally different.  From the humidity to the constant ponds and alligators to the grass, everything was different and needed a new thought process going into each shot. At times I thought my ball was buried and I needed an extra club, but the thinning almost dormant Bermuda grass proved to create flyers and the needed club was 2-down.  Then I would club down and hit out of a thicker chunk of bermuda and the club would catch grass and come up a few yards short.  Each shot from the rough was a learning experience and by the end of the second round I started to get more familiar and have a good idea what would happen depending on the depth and thickness of the rough.  It was different than Portland rough, but neither was more or less difficult.  Once you familiarize yourself with the conditions a similar score should be shot at each place.

The putting green was where the biggest differences were noted.  As mentioned, the ball just seemed to fishtail all the way to the hole regardless of how well you hit it.  Both days nobody made a birdie putt from longer than 5 feet and I am not certain I saw a putt drop from longer than 8 feet over the entire 36 holes from anyone on my 4-somes.  I just felt like nothing “acted” right around the green, but deep down I know that it’s just from not having full experience with these condition.  The difference between putting with the grain and against it was pretty dramatic.  Only problem is that I am not, yet, good at reading which way the grain lies.  This is something that I need to work on if the future holds much Bermuda grass.

Here are some photos from the first few days.  totally different than the Pacific Northwest:

This was my first tee shot look. Very luscious and pretty tight all in all, although the trees usually didn’t have OB signs and you could find your ball and punch out if you missed the fairway.  It felt a bit like a jungle on the tighter holes.

Thin grasses and plenty of water features.  Every lie was interesting as it demanded a specific attack on the ball.  This was the 18th hole of Pinecrest and after a solid drive I had around 145 remaining.

The 9th hole of Pinecrest.  Was not too happy to end up in the fairway bunker, but a little 7-iron made it to the green 160 yards away.  One thing I realized is that you have to club down when here.  What flies 150 in Portland seems to go 160 here.

Everything about this shot is different than what I have been acclimated to.  Fluffy bermuda grass, ponds with alligators, thick humid air and generally nice weather.  All complete opposites to Portland.

I shot an 81 my first round and an 82 my second.  Both days were cursed with hybrid shots hit OB or in the water and again solidifies my lack of faith in that one specific club.  This if for an entirely different blog, but I am thinking about getting a driving iron to replace my hybrid.

In the meantime, HHI golf is pretty amazing and bermuda/ryegrass greens and fairways are completely different.  It’s just something to work on and practice.  When fairways are hit it doesn’t matter so much, but the short game and putting is markedly different and extremely interesting.

I had forgotten to mention that the piece was running, so now I can at least give a heads up for anyone not in America, as that version of CNN plays elsewhere.  The show is: CNN International Connect the World with Becky Anderson and it should run tomorrow, Friday, at 4 pm EST (9pm London time).  If anyone is out there that can tune in let me know how it goes.

Today I met with Coach Christopher and we talked a lot about why I’ve been getting a case of the hosel rockets lately.  No matter where I start the club or how fast I swing, I can hit the neck of the club every single time.  For those of you who don’t golf, this isn’t a good thing..  What we’ve known for a while now is that I actually over-rotate and this is what is causing the miss-hits.  Without getting too technical about it, the issue is that my body is getting well in front of my hands so when I hit the ball my shoulders are in front of the ball and the club is going from the inside outwards.

This is not a good thing, but it’s not a terrible place to be.  A year ago, before I ever swung a club, if you told me that my issue was too much rotation I would have been a bit surprised.  Having never played golf in my first 30 years of life, a lot of people thought range of motion would be a problem that I would encounter along the way; but luckily, I have plenty of flexibility and now I actually have to practice limiting my rotation.

The trick to this:  stave off frustration and allow myself once again to really suck on the range.  Not worry about where the ball is going right now, but think just about how the body is moving.  And, do it in super slow motion.  It helps to get a feel for the new swing if I close my eyes and do a full swing that takes about 15 seconds.  Looks a bit strange out there, but it works for me.

On a random note, this happened twice yesterday.  What are the odds?

And, it’s officially fall out here, the leaves and trees are quite stunning.  This is the entrance to the third hole at Columbia Edgewater:

Those days have been greatly missed but today (or yesterday, technically) was a wonderful step in the right direction.  And, spring officially starts next week, another reason to celebrate.  I’m glad to be departing from the days of winter where there was the almost constant rain, the weeks of sub-40 days, frozen greens and the sun setting at 4 pm.  In all honesty, I didn’t mind the cold and am used to Portland’s rain, but the sun going down so early always gets under my skin.  It’s like having overly strict parents enforcing an unusually strict curfew.  Who wants to stop playing/training before dinner time?  not me, not me.

I could avoid this predicament next year by traveling south to practice, and that is a realistic option.  I would just have to sublet my place and find an affordable room somewhere in southern California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, etc.  I truly love Portland, but am willing to do whatever I need to do to get as good as possible and if avoiding the Pacific Northwest for a few months is what is needed then that’s what I’ll do.

There is no need to worry about that right now, though.  It’s just about time this city starts coming alive!  Summer, here we come.

I played ok today, not much to write about that, but two days ago I had my best 27-holes to date.  After playing nine holes from 50 yards, 75 yards and 100 yards I was one over from each.  I’ve shot even from those distance before, but I have never had three concurrent rounds clock in this low.  It’s a new record and a place where I can set the bar for future rounds.  Hopefully, I will hit my first sub-par round soon (from 50, 75 and 100) and then keep them down there.

I’m at a point where I know that I need to improve on everything, but there are certain things that jump out as being of higher importance.  Putting is one of those, lag putts in particular.  Also, distance control with my pitching game and getting the club to be closed at impact.  If I worked on getting those things to consistent, I am sure I could shoot a few under par.  I’m not sure if it’s me or the greens, but lately all my putts have been coming up a couple inches short.  Granted, the greens are soaked, sanded, seeded and pock-marked, but that doesn’t mean that I can leave the ball short.  There are a few truths in golf and one of them is that you are not going to sink a ball if you leave your putt short.  So, I spent a few hours working on lags lately and my distance has improved.  Today I holed out three putts from more than 30 feet.  Tomorrow, I’m starting the day with some pitching work, trying to get that club-face nice and square at impact, and then will lag around the putting green for a couple hours.   You can never have too much time on the putting green.

For example, I hit a great 100-yard pitch on the 18th hole of the Great Blue course out at Heron to five feet from the hole.  I then landed a 75-yard shot about 6 feet from the pin.  Finally, I hit a 50-yarder thin and blasted it 35 feet past the cup to the fringe.  From this, it would seem like two easy birdies and a par for two-putting the 35 footer.  But, golf being the unpredictable sport it is..  I made the fringe 35 footer and missed both the 5 and 6 foot putts.  ‘Tis the way of the world sometimes.

On a happier note, I had my best hole yet out there on the Greenback yesterday.  Below is the view looking back from the hole over the bridge.  It’s a lovely hole, this one and by the looks of it Spring is starting to show in Oregon.  I made a couple good putts and another decent two-putt to score two birdies and a par for this hole after playing from 50, 75 and 100 yards.  Hopefully there will be much more of these to come, and by my experience that is the case.  What was once an exciting moment soon becomes average.  There was a time when I blogged about how excited I was to sink my first 10 foot putt..

Speaking of Spring showing it’s head, it’s definitely rainbow season again in Portland.  last year it seemed like there was a rainbow over the course every single day and I became convinced that if you were outside 24 hours a day you would see one without fail.  Here is maybe the first of the year (or at least the first I have noticed.):

Today, I went out to see Christopher Smith at his swing room facility in Beaverton.  We were looking at my full swing on his high speed cameras and he pointed out a few good things about it and some areas to work on in the coming weeks.  Mostly, I have reverted to an old habit of starting my motion with moving my hips laterally backwards.  By doing this, I make it very difficult to get my body in a good position to hit the ball, leading to both thin and fat shots.  So, I’m set out to pay attention to that and adjust how I take the club away.  We also looked at my forward movement and found not enough laterally forward hip movement.  Those two things are definitely connected and are something good to focus on out at the driving range.

Speaking of driving range, I purchased a multi-play card from Heron Lakes and incorporated range tokens into the package, so will be spending lots of time out there this summer.  If anyone ever wants to come out and hit or play nine, I would be more than happy to meet you there.

Also speaking of driving range, I need to stretch my back out.  It’s been a long first week of “full” swings and my back could use a night of relaxation.  To the links in the morning!

After my last lesson with Christopher Smith we decided that in order to keep things fresh and maintain a good challenge point it would be appropriate to start into full swings.  I’m still using the same three clubs (putter, 56 degree wedge and pitching wedge) so 100-120 yards is about where I max out with them, but this allows for doubling the distance I was hitting to previously.  I’m not, of course, just hitting from 100 yards, but it is a new element to my daily practice.

Along with adding the full-swing to the repertoire, CS and I decided that for the next few months of rainy spring it would be good to bump up the time I am actually on a course to about 50-70 percent of my practice.  This is an ever changing number that needs to be malleable to stay engaged and challenged, so will probably be different when summer hits, but for now I’m excited about spending more time on courses themselves.  One downer about that, though, is that courses cost money and the last time I checked that was not something The Dan Plan had lots of, so on the suggestion of Dr. Mark Guadagnoli I am going to put together a proposal letter to send around to every course within 500 miles to see if they will let me play and train for a couple days in exchange for talking about their course on the blog.  Hopefully some people will bite with at least a discounted rate (especially in the off season), but we will see.

Heron Lakes has two great courses for the time being and I will be out there as much as possible.

As far as playing goes, I’m not just playing from 100 yards, but each time I got out I play 9 holes from 50 yards, 9 from 75 yards and 9 from 100 yards.  On my first adventure I had a few good and bad shots, this one below was probably the best shot of my young career:

It’s a bit hard to see the flag, but from 100 yards out and over a body of water, I plunked it to three feet from the hole and one-putted for my first 100 yard birdie.  This is why we keep coming back.

My scores reflected the distances some, but for my first round I played best from 75 yards.

50 yards: 29  (par is 27 for all of these 9 hole games)

75 yards: 28

100 yards: 32

I hit a couple hazards on the 100 yard.  My contact is getting very solid, but I could definitely work on distance control and aim and that is exactly what I’m doing on the driving range:

not the most exciting picture by any means, but it was an exciting time: the first time I practiced on a driving range.  Before this, I was always at distances where I could use chipping or pitching areas, now I get to actually hit the ball.

My new goal:  get my 100 yard holes to under par for the round and then I can pick up an 8 iron.