On the Cusp

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.

11 Responses to "On the Cusp"

Will says:

April 27, 2012 at 3:18 pm

Dan,

I’ve really gotten into the website lately, and I have to say that the whole journey is pretty inspiring. As a numbers man myself (accounting) the stats are something I’ve started tracking more closely in my own game. Also, you’re not alone in struggling at the end of the round, in fact our men’s golf club has a tournament format that I feel really helps me play strong through the end. Par battle.
The rules are par or better on the front 9 is worth 5 points a hole. Holes 10-17 are 10 points each, and hole 18 is worth 25 points. To be at all competitive you need to play hole 18 and the back 9 well, and it forces you to focus and grind out pars. Good luck Dan, and I look forward to more updates.
Sima says:

April 27, 2012 at 7:49 pm

“For now, I cannot help but wonder why I did not hit the driver for 10 minutes a day since day one. ”

Come on, Dan. Don’t wind us up! You *know* why you did it the way you did. And it was right.

Imagine those poor souls (I’m sure you’ve seen them), chests out after creaming another massive drive down the middle fairway, and then ten minutes later finally flopping out of a green side bunker at the third attempt and three-putting from 60 feet.

I know you only said “10 minutes a day” with the driver, but that confidence around the green – “pretty priceless” indeed!

The driver will find its place in time. This weekend will offer an interesting opportunity to consider when and how to use the big clubs – the needs of the partnership might well give you an insight into how you use them in your individual game too. I hope the different format also makes it less likely that you’ll get carried away. One swallow does not…etc.

Good luck to you an your partner. Enjoy yourselves!
Jason Bray says:

April 27, 2012 at 11:26 pm

Dan I applaud what you are doing. You are an inspiration to others. I myself have similar ambitions and desires of becoming a professional athlete by using 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. Thank you for what you do and good luck to you. The sacrifice will pay off!
dan says:

April 28, 2012 at 4:30 pm

Will,

That’s a great game to play. I need to start thinking like that during all of my rounds, that the holes get more valuable as the 18 goes on. I played pretty poorly in the 2-man best ball today, but did birdie the 18th which might be the hardest hole on the course, so I guess I made a few points back.

Hit them straight,

Dan
dan says:

April 28, 2012 at 4:32 pm

Sima,

Thank you for the good luck wishes. The driver (and long sticks) were off today and it made it hard to contribute, but the short game was on and I did manage to birdie the 18th to put us in at 74. Middle of the pack, but tomorrow is the moving day so anything is possible..

Have a great one,

Dan
dan says:

April 28, 2012 at 4:33 pm

Jason,

Thanks for the comment and email. Glad that you are heading off on your own journey, keep us posted about how you are getting along.

Keep it up!

Dan
Jim Gillespie says:

April 30, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Dan, I missed the webcast last week? I enjoy them, and get a lot out of them. You keep me thinking about my goals as well. God’s speed to your dreams.
nddaveman says:

April 30, 2012 at 2:32 pm

I really like your stats page. Is there going to be an update to those metrics?

Dave
steven says:

May 2, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Dan,

one thing that is interesting coming from a golfer of 25 years who is 34, is that you don’t look like a golfer, your mannerisms, from the way you pick up the tee, to the way you putt don’t look like the guys who have been playing for a while. It will be interesting to see if this changes with time or if you will develop your own style. What do you say in reponse to ‘there are people who have become scratch golfers playing in the amount of time you have?’ and they certainly aren’t all on tour… good luck Dan and in your recent video its ‘putting for bogEY, not bogie’
dan says:

May 5, 2012 at 1:16 pm

Hi Dave,

Wow, yeah, I need to update those… WIll put in ten rounds in the next two weeks for score and stats and then update that page. Thanks for the heads up, I hadn’t really thought about it for a while.

Cheers,

Dan
dan says:

May 5, 2012 at 1:18 pm

Steven,

I guess I didn’t grow up with golf so perhaps bring my own style to my play. It will be interesting to see if that changes over time, you’ll have to let me know as I’m a bit too involved to tell. Also, I’ll let the editor know about his “bogey” mistake on the spelling..

Thanks!

Dan

Leave a Reply Cancel reply