Going North to West Fork.

For my latest endeavor I drove up to Conroe and played West Fork Golf & Country Club. The place sorta reminded me of a few places in rural Central Florida as many of holes were framed by trees or had a short forced carry over some type of grass or wetland area (which you should be able to see in the pictures). Harvey did a number on the place in regards to the traps and greens as all of the traps were under repair and the greens were VERY slow and had some rough spots, which made putting a bit of a challenge.

Despite the conditions, I enjoyed the course itself. Not overly difficult but you can find a few bad places as you made you way around. The fairways seemed wide enough on most holes, though in a couple of places I had a tough time trying to figure out exactly which line to take (admittedly I seem to find a few holes like that every time I play).

I think I'm going to go about this post differently than I have in the recent past. I never intended the blog to be a blow-by-blow account of every round I've played, that just seems too specific to me. That's not to say I might not do it again for a particularly good (or bad) round or if I happen to play an outstanding course. None of those reasons factor in here for this round, at least I don't think so. I shot 79, which is pretty good but not remarkable. Considering that I had two doubles and a triple in that 79, well, 15 good holes isn't shabby either.

The front nine was fairly outstanding as I shot a 1-over 37. I hit six fairways, eight greens and had two birdies. I also had a three-putt bogey after a horrible sand wedge approach on the par-5 third. The main blemish was a pulled 4-iron on the 181-yard par-3 fifth. I ended up hitting a second ball about 12 feet from the hole but I fully expected to find and play the first ball... but I never did find the bastard. I can only assume it settled down in the grass to a point that I just couldn't see it. So the second ball went into play and I two-putted for double. One bad swing...

The back nine was more haphazard. I doubled the tenth despite being 110 yards from the green after my drive. I misjudged my wedge and left it a bit short, semi-skulled the pitch long and three putted from there, though that green was pretty hairy. I croqueted that fucker, the ball made that "whoosh" sound like a jet taking off as it fought its way through the grass... and still ended up 10 feet short. Brutal, but shit happens.

My other disaster was on the short par-4 13th. This was one of the holes that I wasn't sure where to go from the tee. Hell, I couldn't decide what to hit. Was it 4-iron? 3-wood? Driver? I decided on 5-wood as I figured that should leave me around 80-100 yards to the green. Well, I pulled it a bit and discovered the hard way that 5-wood was too much and found the trees through the bend of this dogleg right. I found the ball but it was unplayable (penalty stroke one). I pitched out and still had 50 yards to the green. I then semi-bladed the lob wedge long, where I found a hazard (penalty stroke two). At least I got up and down for a 7, so there's that.

I hit a couple more less than stellar shots after that, the first on my attempted layup on the par-5 14th (pushed into another hazard) and the second on the 15th (a 6-iron pushed way right that still found the fringe of the green somehow). I did finish the back nine with four straight pars, including two pretty decent looks at birdie on the last two. I ended up with a 42 on the back to get that 79 I mentioned. Like I said, not bad overall but it really could have been better by avoiding those big numbers.

Over the course of the round I'd say I hit six really poor shots and all of them ended up costing me by resulting directly in a penalty or putting me in a really bad spot. I only got away with one, the pushed 6-iron, as I did get up and down for par there. Of course, I had some really good shots also. I hit several solid drives during the day, in fact I'd say that only that pulled 5-wood was truly wayward. I birdied the second hole after hitting an 8-iron to about 3 feet, that felt good. That second ball on the fifth might have been the best swing of the day (too bad it had to count). Considering that I was trying to change my swing path I'd say the day went pretty well. Sure, I had plenty of swings that had that right-hand hit reflex in it but I could definitely feel the newer swing path on quite a few others.

Now I'll post some pictures of the course. Hopefully I can remember what hole is what :

A view from the tee on the par-4 second

The par-3 fifth (trust me, the green is up there somewhere)

A look at the par-4 seventh

The par-3 eighth (my other birdie hole)

From the fairway of the par-5 ninth

The par-3 12th hole

From the tee of the par-5 14th hole

The 16th green

The green on the par-5 finishing hole

As I mentioned before, West Fork has plenty of trees and wetland-type areas defining the holes while having very few homes along the course. Its a bit rough around the edges, especially after the storm, however I don't think that this is the kind of place that has incredible conditions on a regular basis. A couple of the holes reminded me of the now-defunct Rock Springs Ridge in Apopka, especially the 15th hole with its uphill approach to the green. I'm sure the fairways have been better (not that they were awful) and the greens need time to recover. I'll definitely come back and see what the place looks like later in the year or sometime next.

As far as my game goes, I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. The swing feels... weird. I'd swear that I have this exaggerated figure-8 loop in my swing but if you see it in a video it almost looks... normal. Video doesn't lie, in fact it tells me I actually need to "exaggerate" it more in order to get it where it needs to be. That's gonna take some work, in fact it might be a good thing that my Jacksonville trip has been delayed another month just for that reason alone.

In fact, I might not even play this weekend. I might just try to simply work on this path thing for a solid 7-10 days before considering playing again. If I do play I might keep it local, perhaps I'll try Cypress Lakes again since its the course that I'm most familiar with. That place seems to have become my "home course" as that's where I've been going to practice ever since Harvey hit. The course is decent, the practice areas are good enough and while its not a high-end country club type of place its by no means a dump either.... its "comfortable" to me. I can go practice in just a regular shirt and gym shorts and they don't seem to mind. My kind of style.

OK, I'm done. Go about your business.

Clear Creek Golf Club

Saturday I headed a bit further south and found a place called Clear Creek Golf Club, a public course that seems to be adjacent to a parl of some sort. The place seemed pretty open much like a links course would be. After a decent warmup on the range and on the putting green I got to tee off around 12:30. At the time it seemed like I had the place to myself but we all know that rarely lasts.

Anyway, the first hole is a par-4 that has a creek crossing the fairway short of the green. I couldn't really tell how close that creek was but I eventually decided to hit 3-wood, just to be safe... and that was a wise decision as I ended up just about 20-25 yards short of the water. Unfortunately I either pushed or misaligned myself with my gap wedge and missed the green right and failed to get up and down so we started off with a bogey. Nothing tragic happened though.

The second is a par-4 that wanders left around a fairway bunker. The tee had to be up a bit on this day. I hit a very solid drive but I only had 100 yards left on a 400 yard hole. My approach to the green looked like this :

The second green at Clear Creek

This time I hit the gap wedge a little left and long but I was putting for birdie from about 25-30 feet. I had to come up over a rise in the green, making that putt tough to stop by the hole, a task that I failed to accomplish. I made the 6-footer for par so no damage done this time.

After hitting another solid drive that just missed the fairway left on the par-5 third I decided to go for the green from an iffy lie, probably something I shouldn't have tried with a 3-wood. I ended up hole-high to the right of the green as I hit an ugly low runner that just kinda kept stumbling forward. The pitch was nice but a little long, maybe 12-15 feet past the hole. Two putts gives me par.

I followed that up with pars on the par-4 fourth hole and the par-3 fifth. I pulled a 3-wood left on the fourth but hit a nice gap wedge from a ball-above-my-feet lie to about 20 feet past the hole. I then hit a nice 6-iron onto the green on the par-3, starting at the center of the green and drawing a bit toward the flag, again ending up about 20 feet past the hole.

On the par-5 sixth I hit another drive solid but a hade left, again just missing the fairway. After punching a 5-iron out of a haggard lie I only had about 100 yards to a back pin location on the green, shown below :

The approach to the green on the sixth hole

Gap wedge in hand, I tried to play out to the right of the pin but ended up leaving it out too far right, finding the fringe. I was only about 25 feet from the hole but I was on the wrong side of a ridge that ran through the green. The chip was hit as well as I could execute it but there was just no way I could get that ball to stop around the hole from where I was. I then missed the 8-footer for par. I felt I gave one away here, that pushed wedge cost me. The putt for par wasn't all that good either, I had been rolling it pretty well until then.

Anyway, that brings us to the par-3 seventh :

The short par-3 seventh hole at Clear Creek

The pin was on the front-right of the green so I only had a 9-iron in. While it felt solid I again pushed it to the right a little. Well, either that or I'm aiming that way today. At least I wasn't hitting those annoying weak leakers like I had been. Though I was short-sided again I hit an excellent chip for a tap-in par.

The eighth hole was another confusing tee shot, like the first. Its just 300 yards or so but has a big fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway. The fairway looks like it scurries around that same trap also. I didn't know if I should hit driver over it, hit 3-wood over the left side of it. I ended up hitting 4-iron left of the trap completely, not being sure where I'd end up with the other clubs. I pulled it a little, ending up just off the left side of the fairway, making the hole play longer. With 140 yards left to the hole from the rough I hit 8-iron and finished 25 feet past the pin, a really nice shot to be honest. Two putts for par and I was happy, though I left the birdie putt a shade short.

We close out the front nine with the 416-yard par-4 ninth :

Water protects the right side of the ninth green at Clear Creek

The hole is technically a dogleg left and I couldn't really figure out the right line to take off the tee. I picked a tree just right of the 150-pole and took a hack at it. I hit it about perfect, right at that tree, but ended up going through the fairway by about two yards. Still, I only had 170 yards to a back pin location that I really had no desire to challenge, especially considering the wet stuff to the right. I hit 5-iron about 20 feet left of the hole, slightly past the pin and onto the fringe. Again, I was on the wrong level, this time I was above the hole and needed to coax my ball down a slope to the hole. I decided to putt from the fringe this time and managed to get within a foot to the left of the cup. I was happy to take a par and finish the front nine in 38.

By this time it looked like I was catching up to the pack in front of me. There was a single immediately ahead of me ever since the fifth hole but I had been pacing myself well enough to avoid any delays. After a small wait, I hit 3-wood right at my target in the distance but again picked the wrong line, this time being two yards through the fairway on the dogleg right 10th hole. After a solid wedge to the green I had about 15 feet for birdie from above the hole, which somehow ended up being short. I had no idea how that ball stopped on that slope but a par is always good to me.

The guy ahead of me was waiting on the 11th tee so I joined him since there was a rather slow-moving threesome ahead of him. I'm not sure if this threw off my rhythm or what, but I hit my worst drive of the day here, pushing it to the right for the first time off the tee. Being a par-5 I had the chance to recover but my 5-iron from the rough didn't come out to clean. Now I had about 160-165 yards to the green, shown here :

The green of the par-5 11th hole

There is water crossing the fairway short of the green and again I had a somewhat iffy lie in the right hand rough. I decided on 6-iron and while I caught it clean I hit it a shade thin and ended up hitting the hump just short of the green and sticking there. I was only 20 feet from the hole but I had about 10 feet of rough to clear before getting to the surface. Fortunately the shot was slightly uphill, which allowed me to be aggressive and hit a firm chip to about two feet, saving par. That hole just felt like it could have been a lot worse.

We then came to the longest par-3 on the course, the 195-yard 12th. The tee was up quite a bit but the hole was cut back left. Still, the hole was 175 away and there was plenty of trouble left. I decided to hit 5-iron, thinking short was best to the back hole location. I hit another solid iron shot, much like on the fifth hole earlier. The ball hit the green on the back side and just trickled off onto the fringe again, leaving me with another downhill chip to the hole from about 30 feet away. This time the slope wasn't too severe but I gave it too much respect regardless of that fact and I left it about 10 feet short. I will still swear I made the putt even though I know it went around the hole... that ball looked good all the way there. Even now I feel like crying about it. The poor chip was to blame though.

The 13th was the longest par-5 on the course, measuring about 550 yards. My drive was again very solid but this time I didn't get the same draw or hook that I had been getting and I caught the edge of the fairway bunker on the right side. The recent flooding had washed out all of the traps so they were playing as ground under repair, as was evident here as all the sand was gone and the edges of the bunkers were washed out and my ball had settled underneath it. After a drop I laid up with 5-wood and then hit gap wedge onto the green, again just a bit past the hole. I missed the downhill 15-footer but a par is good.

I'm just now thinking to mention something about all of the putts I've had so far today and that is that every single one of them had some degree of a left-to-right break to them. Every. One. Like most right-handed players I don't do as well on those as I would on putts that scamper right-to-left. While I wasn't making too many I felt that I was making good passes at the ball so I'm not sure it mattered that much in the end. Still, after 13 holes I would have thought I'd have mixed in SOME variety.

Anyway, the 14th was the last par-3 of the day, today playing at about 145 yards. I hit 8-iron solid but a little left of the hole, safely on the green... or so I thought. The ball looked like it hit hole-high but it must have caught the slope of the green and ran off the back, stopping on the fringe. I did hit the shot a little lower than usual but I think that the ball would have normally stopped pretty quickly. I was about 30 feet from the hole but it was uphill (and yes, left-to-right again). I decided to putt and thought I might have struck it a bit too firm, instead I left myself about 4 feet short for par. Again, left-to-right, but I convinced my Titleist to roll in for par. That was probably the best putt I hit all day considering the break that was in that thing. On to the 15th!

After hitting yet another strong drive that ended up going through a fairway on the line I hit it on, I had to drop from a fairway bunker into the rough again. I seriously considered playing from the trap as I had a perfect lie but I decided to (1) play by the local rule and (2) save my club from potential damage from the exposed rocks and pebbles in the base of the bunker. I had a pitching wedge left but not quite a full shot with it as I only had about 110 yards to the pin. I was tempted to see if I could muscle a gap wedge there since what little wind we had was at my back but another trap was right in line short of the green. I took a little too much off but cleared the trap and left myself with about 20-25 feet for birdie, which I missed on the low side... to the right. Again. By this time it was a running gag between me and my playing partner, even to the point that all of HIS putts were left-to-right as well. I cursed the poor man.

By this time the threesome ahead of us was simply stuck in neutral or something. We ended up waiting long enough for another single to join us, making our happy party a threesome as well. After a bit of a wait we finally could play the short par-4 16th :

The view from the 16th tee at Clear Creek

Again, I was lost regarding what club to hit and where to hit it. My first playing partner told me about the falloff from the fairway to the left and about how far he thought the fairway ran out to the right but it didn't help too much. I ended up using 5-wood, which I rarely do off the tee. Since 4-iron seemed to be too short and 3-wood was decidedly too much I really didn't have another choice short of just ripping driver and chasing it down wherever it ended up. Anyway, I picked a line and hit a shot just left of said line, which ended up being 2 feet left of where the fairway actually was. No big deal, I made a good swing. Now I had about 90 yards left to a front hole location. Since I was in the rough I didn't want to try hitting a hard sand wedge, I've been using 85 yards as my max on that club and I didn't want to be short of an up pin. So we tried to choke down on a gap wedge instead.

The swing seemed good despite the ball drifting slightly right of the hole. The problem was I still managed to hit it about 10-15 yards too far, flying that front portion of the green and nearly ended up across the cart path. The lie was a bit narly, sitting down, and I had to try and pitch my ball up in the air if I was going to get it to stop somewhere near the hole. Perhaps it was the lie, perhaps not, but a semi-shanked it for the first time today. I truly think it was the lie, I didn't get that same "oh shit, WTF was that?" feeling that I had on those other adventures. The fact remains that I still had a tough up and down from where I was and I couldn't convert. My putt was pretty awful, I think I actually scuffed it before striking the ball. Double bogey here put me at 3-over for the nine and 5-over on the day. Rats.

The next hole is a par-4 that had a slight dogleg left to it. Some sort of hazard was on the right and would eventually cut across the fairway in front of the green. This time I had room for driver and I finally found a line that allowed my ball to stay in a fairway. I thin proceeded to hit the worst iron shot of the day, pushing a weak wedge onto the fringe short of the green. I made amends for the poor showing on the last hole by nearly holing out the chip for birdie, which made me feel a LOT better about myself.

On to the last hole, the 405-yard par-4 18th hole. There was water left but any type of good drive should clear that without issue, which was a good thing since I again hit my drive with a bit of a pull/hook. My ball hit the cart path at a point that seemed to be really close to the edge of the fairway, taking a huge bounce and disappearing over a hill. My impression was that I didn't hit the ball all that far left, later I'd discover that the fairway did kinda wander a little right at that point. I simply didn't think that part of the hole was reachable from the tee.

Anyway, eventually I found my ball in the left rough just 100 yards from the green so that bounce gave me quite a boost. I had about 110 yards to the hole and another hook lie so I tried to knock down a pitching wedge again. This time the shot came out nearly perfect, ending up slightly past the hole and to the right. I had about 12 feet down a steep slope for birdie, but this time the putt was going to break RIGHT-TO-LEFT. Finally! I now had a putt within a reasonable range that I actually might feel more comfortable with! I can make this! So what do I do? I hit it too hard and missed it high.

With a closing par I shot 77 so I came away pretty pleased. I only hit three (!) fairways but it felt like 10 or 11 with how solidly I hit those drives. I only had one drive that was poor (on 11) and I did hook a 3-wood left (on 4) but other that that the rest was reasonable at worst. I hit nine greens but found the fringe several times. Overall I played pretty well, definitely better than Falcon Point, and I felt like I made some progress with the irons, in particular some of the mid-irons I hit on the par threes.

Despite that, I know I'm coming over the top too much and coming in way too steep. On Monday I finally decided to give one of the local teaching pros a shot and had a lesson with Brian Smith over at Cypress Lakes. He had me do a drill that makes me feel like I was swinging like Jim Furyk or Lee Trevino. Not that extreme perhaps, surely much more like Trevino and his post-back issues swing but without the aiming to the left. In any case, I definitely felt like I was taking the club outside on the backswing then having to reroute to the inside coming down, swinging out to the "right" as I came into the ball.

I went to the range with that idea today and I could feel a difference after hitting a number of short swings with this drill. I hit full shots while trying to complete the same move and I liked what I saw. I'm a little concerned about taking it out on the course since its so different from what I was doing, but considering that my current swing is clearly not optimal what do I really have to lose? I'll hit the range at least one more time and then we'll give it a go on Sunday. I might shoot 73, I might fail to break 90. Either way, it'll be fun.

A tough day at Falcon Point.

In the category of "two steps forward, one step back" I present my round at The Club at Falcon Point. Sometimes when you try to break old habits and form new ones the old habits not only win out but they take revenge. That's kinda how I feel about some of what happened here.

After hitting some range balls to warm up I went to the first tee feeling somewhat fine about how things might go. My biggest concern was hitting it left with this stronger grip I've been adjusting to but for the most part I thought things would work themselves out. However, once I teed the ball up I felt a little uncomfortable with the way the hole looked to me :

The view from the first tee at Falcon Point

The water didn't bother me too much, but I wondered just how far into the fairway it might come back around. What bothered me even more was the houses on the left, especially with my previously posted corcern. For whatever reason they just looked too close to the line I thought I had to play. Naturally, I hooked it right into said houses. My second ball was right and I thought for a moment it could end up being wet but when I got to the ball it was actually in perfect position on the right side of the fairway. I had more room than I thought. I ended up hitting the next shot short, shanked a chip but then managed to nearly hole out the next chip and took a triple bogey. Great start.

The second hole is a little par-3 that has a double green shared with the fourth hole :

The second hole, complete with double green

 Playing no more than a pitching wedge, I still managed to miss the green short and right. I don't think it was a bad swing, more horrible alignment. The hole was cut in a ridiculous spot though. I don't think it was more than six feet from the back fringe, perched on a little hill with a tiny plateau. At least I was chipping nearly straight up that hill... except I shanked that one too. I ended up on the green, though whether it was considered to be on the second or the fourth green is up for debate. For this angle I had zero chance of getting the ball to settle close to the hole. I then missed the ten footer for bogey and walked away five-over after two holes.

I hit my first decent shot of the round off the tee on the par-4 third. The 6-iron approach was decent but caught thin so I ended up a little short of the green. I proceeded to only semi-shank that chip and from there got down in two for a bogey. We're gradually getting better! The trend continued with a par on the fourth hole as I hit a good drive and a decent 7-iron to the green. Two putt pars are welcome at anytime, especially at this point.

We then come to the screwy par-5 fifth hole, shown below :

A look at the fifth green from the fairway

The hole is short for a par-5, granted. However, the view you see is from where I hit my drive off the tee... with a 4-iron. Another ten yards and I'd have been in the hazard. From here, its 210 or so yards to the green protected by traps and water short. Since I was blessed with a downhill lie I figured there was no way I could hit a fairway metal high enough to clear the water so I laid up with a punch 7-iron to the peninsula there. I had 67 yards left to the hole, I'm thinking my lob wedge should be perfect here since the pin was back and I shouldn't be able to hit it long. So, I hit it long, right over the flag. The chip was difficult since I now short-sided myself but I at least executed it probably, just landing a little short and sticking on the fringe. I still only had about 10 feet left and made the putt for par.

The sixth hole at Falcon Point

The wind was starting to pick up a bit more by this time but I managed hit a good drive at the sixth. I had about 135 yards left and figured I'd need to play it more like 150 so I hit 7-iron. Finally I felt a solid iron shot and ended up about 15 feet left of the hole. A near miss for birdie gave me a solid par and hopes that maybe I could salvage the day yet.

The par-3 seventh hole

A solid 5-iron that ended up being pushed by the wind about 20-25 feet to the left of the hole on the par-3 seventh led to my fourth straight par. The eighth would end that string as I hooked my drive left and I was lucky to be able to punch out close enough to the green to give myself a short pitch and a chance for par, which I missed. Bogey wasn;t bad from where I ended up off the tee though.

The ninth is a par-5 that doglegs left around a water hazard and also has water short and right of the green. I forget to get a pic of either view (in fact, I forgot to take a few pics on the back nine also). I hit a great drive, however it ends up that it was 20 yards too far and it went through the fairway. Luckily I had a shot back to the fairway, though I had to clear the hazard to get to it. My shot came out lower that I hoped but I cleared the water, wedged onto the green and gathered in a par to shoot 43 on the front, which I guess could have been quite a bit worse.

I then showed signs of further recovery on the back nine by parring the first three holes. The tenth hole had another strange hole position, cut into the side of a hill that gave you a near zero chance of ending up close to the hole without hitting it or something. I managed to coax my 8-foot par putt in on that one though. On the 11th I hit another wedge, this time a sand wedge, right over the flag but over the green. The chip was good but ran a little longer than I thought it would but I made the putt there also. I hit what might have been the best drive of the day on the par-5 12th as I had a 5-iron into the green. I pushed it right into the trap, then blasted it out of the wet sand across the green. Good shot, I just misjudged how much the sand would affect the shot. My chip hit the flag and I had a tap-in for par.

The wind was swirling around the entire time but by now it was getting pretty strong. I mis-clubbed on the par-3 13th and failed to get up and down and took my first bogey on the back side. From here, things started to fall apart. I hit my next drive solid but left and found myself among a bunch of bushes of some type, I have no idea what they are called. I found the ball and had a blind shot to a green protected by water left. I hit it solid but one of the bush-thingys grabbed it and deflected it short and left. I pitched up from there and two-putted for bogey.

The 15th played back into the wind and my drive wasn't too solid. I couldn't see it immediately after I hit it but I have to assume I got under it a little bit as it only went about 180 yards, leaving me about 210 yards into the green. I tried to get there with 3-wood but it tailed off to the right and found another one of these bush-thingys... and disappeared. This thing wasn't far off the edge of the fairway, in fact it was a bit short of the green and probably doesn't normally come into play. Today, it did. After a few minutes of poking and prodding I located my ball, managed to advance it sideways about 10 feet, pitched on and two putts later had a double bogey.

The 16th hole is a par-5 that has water in play at the end of the landing area for the drive and protected the left side of the fairway up toward the green. My drive was solid but hung out right just enough to catch the edge of the fairway bunker. I was only about 220 yards from the green but I had no chance of trying for the green due to the lip of the bunker. I hit a decent shot out with a 5-iron, wedged onto the green and just missed the putt for birdie.

We then come to the 17th hole, an uphill par-3 that played into the wind :

The par-3 17th hole at Falcon Point

With the wind and being uphill the hole turned from a 9-iron into a 7-iron. Unfortunately I left it out to the right and found yet another one of those bushes, which you can kinda see past the bunker on the right. I was pin high but dead as I was under the bush like I was on the 15th. I manged to move it about 5 feet, pitched up and missed the bogey putt. A promising start to the nine was being wasted.

The 18th is a par-4 that was playing into the wind and at 410 yards posed a problem on the second shot. I hit a good drive but still had about 185 yards to the hole. The green was protected by water to the right and in front, but by how much I wasn't completely sure. The pin was in the front left of the green but due to the wind and the water I felt it was too risky to try to get there. So I laid up with a 7-iron, nearly going too far and into the water. From here I could see that I had more room left than I thought and the water didn't come in front of the green quite as much as I suspected. Despite that, laying up was probably at least a coin flip compared to going for it. Anyway, I pitched on but missed the 12 footer for par to shoot 43 on the back and carded an 86 for the day.

In hindsight, yeah, maybe I didn't have as many bad swings as I thought. The ones I did have certainly found bad places though, which to be honest they really haven't done so all that much lately. The start I had didn't exactly put me in a confident mood. The wind played into it and some of the hole positions didn't help either. Overall, I liked the course. While it does have some quirky things about it, like how they use and set up some of those weird bushes, I tend to like quirky stuff (which is why I love course by Mike Strantz, like True Blue in Myrtle Beach).

Since playing here on Sunday I've messed around on the range and stuff and I think I figured out the shanking of the chips. I think its a matter of how I've been moving my shoulders into the ball, which is something I tend to do incorrectly on full shots, which leads to those weak leaking shots that fall off to the right. On the full shots I guess I have enough time and hand-eye coordination to recover with my hands enough to sometimes hit the ball somewhat straight, on the chip it ends up clanking off the hozel instead. So now I've been trying to correct that issue with all my swings and, so far, things look promising. I feel like I'm coming over the top, but not exactly... I'll never be able to explain it. I'll play again on Saturday so we'll see if we can make some progress on these issues. If not, we'll have to try using sorcery again to post a decent score.

A post-Harvey replay at Cypress Lakes.

Enough about Harvey. Obviously it wiped out one weekend of play and has flooded who knows how much area as we sit here typing this. The only course that I knew that was high and dry was Cypress Lakes so I decided to go back there, especially since its about five minutes away. This time I played a tee further back as the two guys I was paired up with were playing there. Fine by me.

Since I just played here I had at least a little bit of an idea of what to expect so that helped a bit. Also, one of the guys I was playing with was definitely a quality player (he'd end up shooting 40-35=75 on the day with borrowed clubs) so that was helpful, even despite the fact that we were firmly entrenched behind a fivesome all day. The day was a little slow but at least it was possible to find a rhythm.

No pictures are in this one since we saw the course last time. I will mention the one thing I did try to change with my swing... well, really it was my grip. I strengthened my left hand to the point that it definitely felt awkward. I hit the range the day before so I was at least familiar with the feeling but it was certainly a noticeable difference. The main reason I did it was that I felt I would have the temptation to lift my arms so much as opposed to turning my shoulders. That seemed to do the trick on the range, now I had to see if I could do it on the course and still hit the ball somewhat in the direction I wanted it to go.

My first few drives were all hit solidly, I could tell a difference compared to what I was doing. The first three were a bit left, then on the fifth I left it a little right. None were grossly offline, I had shots to the green each time. The biggest surprise was how well I hit the irons, which has been my biggest issue (or at least the one I mainly complain about). I hit four of the first five greens, the one I missed was a knockdown wedge on the par five that I hit the fringe with. The best thing about them all was they were all LONG, one of them was a 5-iron that was at least 7-8 yards past the hole. I hope I keep that up, that would be really helpful.

I parred all five of those holes and then hit the fairway with a good drive on the sixth and left myself with about 125 yards to the pin. My first mistake today came when I decided to try to hit wedge instead of the 9-iron. I wanted to force it, I wanted to see if it would go the little bit further. Nope. Instead I kinda reverted back to the old weak leaker and ended up short-siding myself to a front pin. Then the shanks happened.

Yep, I cold shanked the pitch. It wasn't an easy shot, but a shank? I wasn't happy at all about that but I just assumed it was due to the type of shot I tried to hit from a semi-tight lie. I then shanked the second try. Now I'm worried. I'm still not on the green and I now have a chip going downhill to the hole that must carry the fringe in order to get rolling. Fortunately I pulled that one off and managed to at least score a double bogey but that really ruined a great start.

On to the seventh, the par-3 that was playing 167 yards today. I chose 6-iron, thinking that if I don't get that extra five yards that I was getting from the previous shots I'll be fine, under the hole and still looking at 15-20 feet for birdie. I hit it 166-1/2. Nice bounce back birdie there, the swing felt really nice too.

I then parred the eighth and butchered the ninth in a similar fashion as the sixth. This time my drive missed left and though I had a line to the green the lie wasn't too good. I either caught the ball a little heavy or I get could get it to go anywhere and left it a bit short. I then shanked another pitch, though this one at least decided to roll onto the green. I then three-jacked from about 40 feet for another double. Again, I was simply perplexed by it all but what could I really do? On to the back nine.

On the back I hit every fairway but one, the one I missed was hit really solid but a shade left on the par-5 14th. I parred the 10th, bogeyed the 200-yard par-3 11th (but I pulled off a really nice pitch, so I can do it!), bogeyed the 12th when I tried to hit less club that I should of again, parred the 13th and the 14th and bogeyed the 15th, a par-4 that was playing 433 yards. This was the one drive I didn't catch solid, which figures since it was the longest par-4 on the course.

On the 16th I hit a good drive and then hit another really nice 6-iron that landed right near the hole and rolled about 10-12 feet past. Too bad I missed the putt, which was again the status quo on these greens. My putting was pretty good as far as getting the speed right, even the three putt on the ninth wasn't awful. I just never made anything of any length. Maybe the third time I play here, whenever that is, will be the charm.

SO after parring the 16th I had a 9-iron on the short par-3 17th. I didn't hit it terrible but it was more like the weak leaker than what I had been doing earlier in the day. However, I was still only about 25 feet away but I had to pitch over the fringe to a pin cut somewhat close to the edge of the green. Again, I pulled it off as I had been the entire back side, nearly chipping in for birdie. I was feeling better about myself again.

So I stroll to the 18th hole, today playing at 425 yards. I'm sitting at 6-over on the day so I've definitely played pretty well overall, despite the disasters around a couple of the greens on the front side. I hit what was probably the best drive I hit all day, really solid with a slight draw that follows the curve of the fairway. I have 166 yards left to the hole, so that means I get to hit that 6-iron again. Good for me, right?

Nope.

I'm really not sure what happened but I hit it a bit fat and lost it well right. It ended up closer to the green than I thought it would but it was easily the worst full swing of the day. I'm not sure if I had an uneven lie and I missed that fact or if I just tried too hard to hit another solid 6-iron after than weakish 9-iron on the 17th. Anyway, at least I had some green to work with.

I get to my ball and its not good, its sitting down in the rough to where I could only see the top third to half of the ball.Since I have some space to run it up I just figured I had to get the ball out and have it carry far enough to reach the green, where it would run out by itself. OK, I've done that plenty of times before.

I shanked it again.

Maybe it was the lie. Maybe not. I really think I tried to stab at it too much and too fast. I don't know but it shook me a bit, so much that I did it again on the next try. I'm just baffled, I have NO IDEA what was going on, especially after I just hit three or four quality pitches and chips on the previous eight holes. Somehow I managed to hit another one of the quality shots to within two feet and made the putt for double. I have to admit that I felt embarrassed by those shanks, I really did. I shot 80 and shanked five shots. Five. I lost at least three shots there, maybe more if I make a putt or two.

Feeling a bit pissed off I rode over to the chipping area that they have there. I shanked the first one. I didn't do it again after spending about 15-20 minutes there. I even holed out two of them. I still don't know what I'm doing to cause it though I suspect its that stab-like motion that I felt on the one attempt earlier. Instead of turning through with the shoulders I guess I suddenly decide to go at it with my hands and arms. Or something. I don't know.

I went back to Cypress Lakes today to practice but the chipping area was crowded so I hit the putting green instead. As I was leaving I went over there with my wedge and hit five shots... all of them were near perfect, no issues at all. The one thing I did try to change was not being so open with my stance on those shots. That seemed to make it feel a little easier to do what I wanted. We'll see if it helps on the course next time.

Anyway, I'll take an 80 om a 6566 yard track even in spite of the peculiar short game issues. Overall I hit my driver solid all day and hit quite a few really solid iron shots. Yeah, I still had a few stinkers but even those weren't all that bad. I'll see if I can improve on it some more and see if its something I can repeat more consistently.

As far as where I'll play... good question. Irma killed the plan to fly out to Jacksonville for an extended golf weekend with my good friend Bill, a plan that had included a round at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. So much for that idea. What was $215 for a round would now be $499 as the twilight rates go away later in the month. We've rescheduled the trip for the end of September and we still have plenty of quality place to choose from so don't cry for us... I've already done that.