Time for a change

My time in Georgia is drawing to a close.

I have been here since December 21 and it has been an extremely productive and surprisingly warm winter.  In fact, there is a bit of reluctance about leaving as I feel that I have learned more about golf and the golf swing during my three month tenure here than I had in the 20 months prior to my arrival.  But, in keeping true to the importance of scenery changes it is time to pack up and head back west.

My actual departure date is April 4 and I am driving back to Portland, so will probably be out of pocket for 5-6 days.  Then, once back home, I will have 10 days to prepare for my first tournament at Pumpkin Ridge on April 21.  The main aspects of preparation:  getting used to playing soggy fairways and wet greens/bunkers again.  It’s been so sunny and warm here that the fairways have become as hard as cart paths so if you hit a fat shot the club just scoots into the ball minimizing the damage.  In Portland, you take an 18 inch beaver tail with any fat shot and the ball comes off completely dead so you are much better off if you hit a bit thin than a bit fat.  One way to adjust is to put the ball an inch further back in your stance.  But, the best way to adjust is to just hit it pure, good contact is good contact no matter where you are.  So, I shall continue my pursuit of pure ball striking.

Also, I’ll need to adjust for the style of Bent grass greens in Portland.  I’ve been playing on Bent here in Georgia but it’s just not the same.  There is more break here and the grain affects the ball dramatically more than in Portland.  So, for ten days I will roll the ball looking to recapture my old putting skills.  It will be fun to adjust to Oregon conditions once again and I think there is plenty of time to prepare.

But Georgia, I will be back.  I’ve met some great people here and have gone from never having played a round with a full set of clubs to a single digit handicap during the stay.  The first round I played with a full set on December 29 I shot 94 from the blue tees at Golf Club of Georgia’s Lakeside course.  Earlier this week I played from the back tournament tees of the same course and shot an easy 84.  My golf swing has made revolutionary leaps over the past 3 months and I’ve gained a firm understanding of what everything from putting to full swings “feels” like to me.  I know instantly when I hit a bad shot what I did wrong and am at the beginning stages of being able to make the correct adjustments on the course as I play.

I was a bit worried when I first came to Georgia that I would fall out of my routine and could potentially back-peddle for a while.  The exact opposite happened, though, and now I know that new scenery and keeping open to new training situations can be a huge boost to any learning experience.  I’ve no clue where life will take me down the road, but as long as I remember my sticks all shall be just fine.