T M T

What a great finish of this year’s Masters.

There’s the great charge by Phil and Tiger. Phil’s brilliant front-nine of 30. Phil’s mental errors and misputts at the back-nine that cost him again another chance. Phil and Tiger trading punches at the back nine. Then there’s the 3-man playoff. And Kenny Perry’s costly collapse at the end of regulation and playoff. Kenny deserves to win the way he played. I’m sure most people felt for him. It just shows how great a pressure major championship can put on people in a sport where nerves play such a big part.

But I love seeing Angel Cabrera’s win. He doesn’t come from a “blue-blood” background. He started by caddying for rich people. He is nice and always smiles. He is very casual and plays fast on the course. He used to smoke and said that smoking calms him on the golf course. He quit smoking after he won the US Open in Oakmont in 2007. He grinds out every shot towards the end to survive and win. What a way to win in playoffs – he hit into trees in the 1st playoff hole and saw his second shot bouncing off a tree trunk to go on to survive.

Maybe by winning his second major, he will hire someone to brush up his English and play more often in US. I’d love to see that.

Played golf Sunday and I broke 100 for the first time with a score of 99.

Breaking 100 is not that exciting since it still averages more than bogey – I had 13-over par on each side. It is more interesting however the way I achieved it. I didn’t feel particularly good about my swing going into the game. In fact, I had one of those glitches that really affected my distance clubs. And it showed on the score card too. I didn’t have one of those “good” rounds where I have 4 pars and 1 birdy. I ony had one par – I could have a couple more if not for a couple of lip-out putts.

So I broke 100 by not making too many mental errors (I had 2) plus a relatively solid short game – only one bad chip and played out of sand twice safely and cleanly. My putting is also stable with only two 3-putts with two 1-putts. Overall I had only one triple and nothing worse than that either. My previous attempts were all foiled by those ugly quadruples and snowman (8 on a par-5).

Congratulations to Tiger’s 5th consecutive wins. I feel I can improve my mental game by just watching this guy play. I had a similar moment Sunday when I had to play out of the woods where I need to hit it low and between two trees with a draw to the fairway running to the left. It’s next to the park where people are gathering and yelling to us. I didn’t let it bother me and pulled the shot off as good as I had imagined.

• 1W – 230
• 3W – 215
• 5W – 195
• 3H – 180
• 4i – 170
• 5i – 160
• 6i – 150
• 7i – 140
• 8i – 130
• 9i – 120
• PW – 105
• SW – 80

Average-last-3 = 26.4
Sept: Escondido – Score = 100, Handicap = 25.6 (blue tee)
Sept: Oceanside – Score = 97, Handicap = 27.2
Sept: St Regis – Score = 97, Handicap = 26.5
Sept: Chula Vista – Score = 99, Handicap = 25.3
July: Torrey Pines – Score = 101, Handicap = 27.3
July: Balboa – Score = 102, Handicap = 30.2 (white tee)
July: Balboa – Score = 112, Handicap = 36.4 (blue tee)
June: Coronado – Score = 108, Handicap = 36.7
May: Torrey Pines – Score = 108, Handicap = 33.6
May: Chula Vista – Score = 103, Handicap = 33
———————————–
Oceanside: 72/6056/117/68.8 (white)
TPNorth: 72/6326/125/70.8 (white)
Balboa: 72/5821/124/68.9 (white)
Chula Vista: 73/6186/116/69.1 (white)
Coronado: 72/6276/117/70.0 (white)
Escondifo: 70/6301/127/71.2 (blue)
Formula: Score – Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating

• 1. Schedule at least some practice of pitching between 50 to 100 yards every time – especially half and 3/4 swings with wedges;
• 2. For wedge swing, play with “dead-hands” and focus on turning the body through;
• 3. For irons, think swing through and turn the right-side of body through, practice on rythm;
• 4. For driver, increase the speed of right arm, feel arms stretch in order to catch up with the body – it goes longer too;

Played in Coronado last Sunday. Got a similiar score than Torrey Pines. But this time both the woods and the putters have saved me from horrible irons, especially short irons.
On the driving range after, I start to wonder why this would happen: first of all the shorter clubs (irons) should be easier to hit straight than woods; second, have two very different swing thoughts really doubles the amount of work – it is destined that on any given day either set of swings would be off.
So I stared down at my 5i and pretend it is a shorter version of 5w, and the funny thing is that I immediately hit 2 very pure, very straight shots with it – and they are quite long as well.
So I guess the pro is right, I should simplify things and keep one unified swing thoughts throughout the bag. I’m going to give that a try for the next a few practice sessions.

As in life, setting lower expectations in golf not only makes you happier but also score better.
Time and time again, I have observed not only myself but also others exhibiting the interesting behavior of hitting bad shots right after great ones, getting into horrible situation after a great hole, getting worse after a great game. Psycologically, we are setting a higher expectation after a good showing of performance. The stress induced by the higher expectation is the killer.
What I have been trying to do are a couple of things:
1) Set a realistic expectation every game, for example, focusing on eliminating bad decisions and throw-away shots; instead of trying for perfect shots or other unattainable goals.
2) Forget about the last shot, period. No matter how great or poor the previous shot is, it’s over. You have a new situation to deal with. That also helps you to concentrate on recovering shots instead of wondering in futile “if only…”.

Continue to have sporatic iron problems, especially when I’m tired. The key things to remember are:

1. Check posture and setup, especially grip has to be tight;
2. Keep down-swing very tight, hands very close to body;
3. Use lower-body turn to trigger the down swing;

Overall, fitness (especially balance and flexibility) is more important now. I also like good practice routine suggested by Leadbetter’s book -

• Divide practice swings into groups of 5;
• Work on one thought in the first group;
• Work on the another thought  in the second group;
• Run on “automatic” with a clear mind on the third group;

I have been making good progress in my swing. The driver is great, the key here is full shoulder turn in the back swing – have to feel the strech in the back. For some reason that ensures a hip initiated proper downswing and release for me – much easier for my arms to get straight and rotate through impact – another important thoughts in my driving.

My woods continue to be solid, despite the changes in irons. The irons has been getting better and better, last weekend I had only one bad 5-iron throughout 9 holes. However all of the sudden I developed an iron “yip” – simply can’t hit anything well. It turned out my left arm got stuck and both chicken-wing and early wrist breakdown happened.

On wedge, it is even more important to keep head still, left wrist firm through impact and hold as long as possible, chest turn with the shot but keep lower body quiet. Focusing on swinging through the ball is also helpful – at one point I can only hit it if I focus my eyes 2 inches in front of the ball.

Finally I took the plunge and bought a Nike CPR Hybrid wood (replaces 3-4 iron). I got a good deal from rockbottomgolf.com for $80 (elsewhere it is at least $100). It is a lot easier to hit than the 3, 4, even the 5 irons. The big head and low center of the gravity corrects small inaccuracies and still provides reasonable hit. Even if it is not a perfectly centered hit, the ball still goes fairly straight and decent distance. When hit right, it easily sails past the 150 yard marker.