Point Sebago Golf - Maine

It's not bad. Point Sebago's golf course is ranked the best in Southern Maine according to Golf Digest.

I played the track four full times last week (3 eighteens and 2 nines) while *camping* there with my family.

It was completely underwater except for the greens which were surprisingly in good shape. So the 6,500 yards played rather long; and it was a tough slog with *cart path only*. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed my lonesome playing. That's right, I was the only one on the course most of the time. I didn't play one hole with another golfer; heck, I only played through one group all week. THIS is how golf is meant to be played!

As I said, the course played long from the incessant rain. Future readers take note that the past 5 weeks New England hasn't seen the sun more than a handful of times. Present-day readers know EXACTLY what I'm talking about - and they may never forget this horrible season.

The course was so long that it was extremely rare for me to pull less than a 7-iron out for my approach.

Nonetheless, my first round there was one of my all-time best. Having never played it before, and in those sloppy conditions, I shot 77.

My second round was *back to reality* - 88. Then I shot 81 and lastly 85.

By the end of the week I was fully spent and found myself aiming for the rough next to the cart path! I hadn't played 5 times in 6 days in probably 10 years.

I did plenty of tinkering, some successful, some otherwise, with my swing last week. I'll catalog my *thoughts* on my next post.

ESPN Dumps Golf

Today 48 year old Kenny Perry won the Travelers Championship with a record-breaking 22-under par total. Yet, even though there is NOTHING going on in the world of sports this time of year, ESPN's website doesn't mention the result. Click the image above to enlarge.

Furthermore, ESPN has buried the *golf* link on its site. No longer does my favorite pastime have a tab on the front page. It's actually quite a chore to find leaderboards and whatnot now.

This is yet another reason to boycott ABC/ESPN!

Messiah Golfing

First of all, he's standing on the wrong side of the ball....

Still Golfing

I am changing my approach to this blog.

Okay, no jokes about *what exactly was I doing?* with a sporadic 32 posts.

I started Marginalizing Hackers, and tried to get some help, because there were seemingly no good golf blogs out there. We were going to try to cover everything about the sport. But, bear in mind, that I have another blog that occupies my scant free time.

Now here's the change. I am going to post here my swing thoughts and struggles. Ben Hogan swore about the importance of keeping a notebook to remember what he was working on; what successes he had; etc.

After all, how many times have you gone into a golf rut for weeks that only ends when you remember a *fix* that has been needed before?

I know, me too.

So here goes....

Four weeks after setting a personal best at my home course, I have since been hitting it sideways.

My tee shot, which had been, not only splitting fairways, I was drawing it around doglegs at will....my tee shot has deserted me.

I think this past Saturday I may have figured it out after a post-round range session. My backswing was simply getting too long. More than I can count this one bad habit has been my downfall. If only I had *shorten backswing* tattooed on my arm!

Now for my short game:

Right now I am concentrating mightily on my left hand and its relationship with the club - throughout the swing.

Like most Hackers, I am and have been for 20 years....*wristy*. I pick the club up a little on the way back; the club *floats* in my hands at the top/end of my backswing; AND I flip the hands a bit through impact.

But, as a single-digit handicapper, my wristiness is quite subtle. In fact, I had to diagnose this problem completely on my own as none of the many talented golf buddies of mine has ever even mentioned my *handsy-ness*.

So, I am trying to keep the relationship between my left hand - up through almost the elbow - completely constant on my pitching (and chipping, and putting). It's not a death grip, though it feels like one. What I mean by that is that I think a strong grip in golf isn't one that applies a lot of direct pressure to the club. I think a *strong* or *firm* grip is one that doesn't let the club float in the hands on the way back; it doesn't allow the wrists to hinge or the hands to help at those points in the swing where a Hacker is most prone, i.e. at the initial takeaway, on the transition from backswing to downswing, and through impact.

I guess the mental image that I am using, is that I want my hand to feel like a piece of iron welded to the club.

And don't misunderstand. One needs really muscularly strong hands to pitch in this manner. But, if little girls on the LPGA Tour can do it, then we all can.

When any swing thought like the above is introduced, the risk is always added tension. One thing I've discovered to combat it is to focus on my shoulders. After gripping the club more *intensely*, I am trying to remember that the grip just holds onto the club. I am reminding myself to really turn my shoulder (get the left one almost under the chin) when pitching. So far these competing tips have worked nicely together.

But I still have to focus on taking the club straight to inside on the way back. My tendency is to take the club way outside on my pitches. I've watched the pros and NONE of them ever make the horrible swing path that I've grooved.

Why do I take the club so far outside? I am really not sure. I've tried standing an inch further back from the ball to no avail. I've also tried holding the club more vertically (hands higher) at address - also to no avail. Maybe my clubs aren't fit properly? After all, I just bought the set of Tommy Armour 855s as is and have done no research into the specs or my own measurements.

Tonight I was out pitching in my back yard and succeeded in finding a nice groove. I was focusing on my *iron* grip like I mentioned above; and I was using my shoulders nicely to get a crisp, heavy pop on the ball that went straight up and fell straight down with zero side-spin.

What I really discovered - I mean remembered - was to incorporate my abdominal muscles on each shot.

Yes, abs and X-Factor on 15 yard pitches. Worked like a charm, tonight anyway.

My goal is to become a pure, big-muscle golfer. Only they are capable of *consistency*.

As for my putting....that's been a problem recently too.

I have to find some time to use my Dave Pelz putting track. It works, but not when it's gathering dust!

So you get the drift. This blog is now my personal golf notebook. Hopefully I can keep it up, and shave a few strokes off my game.