ShortGolfer

As a slow swingers using soft golf balls I put hardly any wear on my clubs. I now look for like new clubs.

I've always been that terrible athlete that doesn't get picked. I can't swing heavy shafts. But, I was the top player on the chess team of my High School. Never lost a match in high school. I went to an Ivy League school and lost a bunch of games every Tuesday night. Member of three academic Honor societies. I found a set of YouTube videos that explained how to set up a driver swing that answered all my questions. It took just one week for me to learn the new swing! Twenty practice sessions and three rounds of golf. 9/9/18=36 holes to become comfortable with the new swing. I easily moved on to learning my 3HL from what I learned hitting driver. The fitter was surprised that my swing allowed me to hit a 3HL off the deck despite a very slow swing speed. Now driver and 3HL are working great. It wasn't just a few weeks ago.

It is hard to learn good ball striking with irons off mats but it makes a huge diffence in being able to play good golf iby not wasting a lot of energy digging up the ground before hitting the ball You can't really tell bouncing the club head off a mat into the ball. It is easy to tell the difference on grass by comparing strikes off a tee versus off the ground.

I just look for the best deal on a club, buy it, and see if it works for me. I play ladies flex, which means that good deals are there to be had. It can also be hard to find specialty grinds in ladies flex. Ladies flex wedges can often be found with pristine faces as women typically use soft balls and slow swings which wear down club faces much slower. They may also take better care of their clubs and not abuse them. It may not be hard to re-shaft a ladies flex clubs head if you play steel shafts. Steel shafts are easier to work with than graphite shafts which can be damaged by twisting under heat application.

The expensive shafts were worth it. The fitter selected a ball flight that would allow me to hit and hold tiny postage stamp greens from 100 yards when I was first fitted, to 130 yards today! I could now make birdies on short Par 3s, 100 yards or less. I'm too short to use stock ladies clubs.

I simply use less lofted clubs and shaft lean. The most used club in my bag after the putter is my Callaway MD5 52* gap wedge with a KBS TGI 60 shaft. It isn't a distance club! It is a club for digging out of the rough as well as chip and pitch shots around the green. Accurately pltching the ball in the middle of the fairway is a quick way to play golf. I assume that the center of the fairway will give me a decent approach shots and in many cases it is. I've put an old SW in the bag and it is what it is. A reliable club from 37 yards with my high fade. I took out the 60* because I couldn't get the distances I needed. Instead I rather have a low bounce and a high bounce 58.

Those are three bags of wood mulch, not golf clubs. But point taken about storing golf clubs in the trunk of the car for safety. It is also faster to put the push cart and bag in the trunk if they will both fit, as they do.

I have a made in Japan Nissan Cube that has a surprising amount of storage space in the trunk. I can fit my Ti Lite Push cart and put my bag filled with clubs next to it. It will also hold five 3 cubic ft bags of cedar mulch or 15 cubic feet of mulch. Three additonal bags will fit on the rear seat.

Got in my early morning round between 7:30AM and 9AM, 90 minutes. Three lost balls, so the score wasn't great, but made one short Par 4 in regulation. First lost ball was a push to the right into the high rough. 2nd was a lost ball in mowed rough--must have fallen into a hole or something. And the third was another push into the trees while the guy was sitting on the mower next to the green, waiting for a few minutes for me to play the hole. I was able to make the 2nd attempt onto the green. There was an early morning twosome in walking in front of me that only seemed slow because I was pushed by a guy in a cart behind me. Someone loaded the wrong course data for the GPS! So that wasn't functional. Most likely because the park has two courses and they loaded the other course twice. Didn't need any more clubs this morning playing from the Senior tees. Approach shots were mostly hole high, but off to the right of the green. The last approach shot was blocked by a tree. My 7 iron shot clipped the top of the tree and fell short, though it did go through the tree. Another club would not have helped. I didn't consider slicing the ball around the tree, as this practice round was mostly about my new driver swing. Made a couple nice drives down the fairway. I'm pleased with how much better my new driver swing works, even with the lost ball today. I have power leak right at the end. I need to throw the club at the ball at the very end. It is a new motion so I often forget. It's only ten days, after all. If I forget I get a decent fade that ends up at the right side of the fairway. But, if if I properly execute the new swing, I'm getting a lot of time in the air and distance. 😀 It is much better for me to learn driver on the course, as none of the Tee Boxes on the muni are flat, despite the course being called the "Flat Nine."😆 The course is flat relative to the other courses built in the rolling hills of Connecticut.

The big benefit of assembling your own clubs is the ability to spend as much time as you need to get it right. Lead tape can be added to the head to determine the exact swing weight required. The shaft can then be pulled and the lead tape replaced with tip weight. My XXIO iron heads have a convenient flat shelf to affix lead weight. I add hot melt to over the tape, and use a heat gun to reflow the hot melt. Hot melt can be used to increase SW by a tiny amont. I strongly recommend getting an air compressor to blow grips on and off. That will make it easier to experiment with ideas like counter-balance weights in the butt end of the shaft. My eight iron is 1/8 inch long. I may look into that during the winter.

I play at Goodwin Park in Hartford During the Spring of 2014, the City of Hartford contracted the Connecticut Section PGA to serve as the consultants to help restore the course operations to its heyday. Under guidance and restoration of its original design, the course returned to excellent conditions and customer service. Goodwin Park offers excellent opportunity to play golf at a quick pace and learn the game.

Wear Depends or male incontinence products. When my wife passed I donated the adult diapers to the food bank as it they are highly valued. I've worn them myself for colonoscopy inspections to avoid soiling the car.

I mowed the lawn and finished at 9AM this morning. I've been taking it easy in preparation for tomorrow's round. I did 18 on Monday with a full bag in less than 3-1/2 hours walking a hilly course in 90 degree/50% humidity weather by drinking water on every hole and waiting in the shade for the golfers in front of me. I've revised my course management philosophy to favor quick play versus fewer strokes as that is what everyone wants on the private course I play. Why risk blowing up the hole when I can take an easy chip out of the rough back onto the fairway with my trusty gap wedge? I see so many golfers trying to hack their way out the rough, obviously aiming at the green, with such a tiny chance of it getting there. Much better to put it in the middle of the fairway. Then I can hit approach shot that, if its not on the green, is within range of a "Texas Wedge" or putter. My misses are close enough to roll the ball up a well mowed fairway nearly to the green.

Brutal weather forecast tomorrow in Hartford Connecticut. Planning half a set from the Senior Tees for a quick round on the nine hole North Course or Flat Nine. No bunkers. 6 club set. Driver, 7iron, 9iron, AW, 52* gap wedge, and putter.

Slow motion swings in the back yard to engrain a new pattern. I use Callaway foam golf balls to insure the motions are correct. I watch the flight of the foam balls across my back yard. My back yard is convenient for a lot of short practice sessions all day. Not enough room for fast swings, even with foam golf balls.