Number of balls

Thank you to all of the people who made guesses as to how many golf balls I hit in the first 3,000 hours of The Dan Plan.  To answer the question and see who made the most accurate guess (the winner gets a sleeve of Dan Plan logo balls) I had to estimate on a few occasions.  I know how many balls I have hit in rounds as I have kept all of the scores and know how many hours they generally take, but during practice it is a bit harder to put an exact number on them.

The breakdown:

First 540 hours spent just putting with an average of 3 putts per minute: 97,200

During remaining 2,460 hours, 600 hours have been spent on the course with an average of 25 balls hit per hour: 15,000

Of 1,860 hours spent practicing with both putter and longer clubs, 40 percent of those have been spent putting and short chipping with an average of 3 balls per minute over the 744 hours: 133,920

(On a side note, just finished watching Federer win his 7th Wimbledon title, amazing career.  Simply wonderful to watch)

The final 1,116 hours were spent working on the range with an average of 3 balls struck per 2 minutes on the range: 100,440

The total?  By my estimation, I have struck, in one form or another, 346,560 balls in the first 3,000 hours of The Dan Plan.  This isn’t exact science, but it is a solid estimation based on how I generally get around during a practice session.  Again, I really appreciate the guesses via comments, Twitter, Facebook and email.  I will find the winner later today and let that person know.

Based on this, I should hit around one million golf balls by the time this is all said and done.  That sounds like a good number and another goal to shoot for over this 10,000 hour journey.

As for today’s plan, it’s time to take a day break to get my head and body recharged.  I have been pushing hard lately and over the past week have had mixed results on the course due to over thinking and body breakdowns, so I think that getting away for two days is a good idea.  Heading to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington to camp for the night.  Whenever I get into the woods I always have solid realizations about my game and position in the world.  Looking forward to a 24 hour break and a short respite from the game.  Will be back in action either tomorrow afternoon or first thing Tuesday.

Thank you again for the guesses.